a transcriber's note is at the end of the book. * * * * * [illustration: queen victoria receiving the news of her accession to the throne, june , from the picture by h. t. wells, r.a., at buckingham palace _frontispiece, vol. i._] the letters of queen victoria a selection from her majesty's correspondence between the years and published by authority of his majesty the king edited by arthur christopher benson, m.a. and viscount esher, g.c.v.o., k.c.b. in three volumes vol. i.-- - london john murray, albemarle street, w. _copyright in great britain and dependencies, , by_ h.m. the king. _in the united states by_ messrs longmans, green & co. _all rights reserved._ preface entrusted by his majesty the king with the duty of making a selection from queen victoria's correspondence, we think it well to describe briefly the nature of the documents which we have been privileged to examine, as well as to indicate the principles which have guided us throughout. it has been a task of no ordinary difficulty. her majesty queen victoria dealt with her papers, from the first, in a most methodical manner; she formed the habit in early days of preserving her private letters, and after her accession to the throne all her official papers were similarly treated, and bound in volumes. the prince consort instituted an elaborate system of classification, annotating and even indexing many of the documents with his own hand. the result is that the collected papers form what is probably the most extraordinary series of state documents in the world. the papers which deal with the queen's life up to the year have been bound in chronological order, and comprise between five and six hundred volumes. they consist, in great part, of letters from ministers detailing the proceedings of parliament, and of various political memoranda dealing with home, foreign, and colonial policy; among these are a few drafts of her majesty's replies. there are volumes concerned with the affairs of almost every european country; with the history of india, the british army, the civil list, the royal estates, and all the complicated machinery of the monarchy and the constitution. there are letters from monarchs and royal personages, and there is further a whole series of volumes dealing with matters in which the prince consort took a special interest. some of them are arranged chronologically, some by subjects. among the most interesting volumes are those containing the letters written by her majesty to her uncle leopold, king of the belgians, and his replies.[ ] the collection of letters from and to lord melbourne forms another hardly less interesting series. in many places queen victoria caused extracts, copied from her own private diaries, dealing with important political events or describing momentous interviews, to be inserted in the volumes, with the evident intention of illustrating and completing the record. [footnote : a set of volumes containing the queen's letters to lord john russell came into our hands too late to be made use of for the present publication.] it became obvious at once that it was impossible to deal with these papers exhaustively. they would provide material for a historical series extending to several hundred volumes. moreover, on the other hand, there are many gaps, as a great deal of the business of state was transacted by interviews of which no official record is preserved. his majesty the king having decided that no attempt should be made to publish these papers _in extenso_, it was necessary to determine upon some definite principle of selection. it became clear that the only satisfactory plan was to publish specimens of such documents as would serve to bring out the development of the queen's character and disposition, and to give typical instances of her methods in dealing with political and social matters--to produce, in fact, a book for british citizens and british subjects, rather than a book for students of political history. that the inner working of the unwritten constitution of the country; that some of the unrealised checks and balances; that the delicate equipoise of the component parts of our executive machinery, should stand revealed, was inevitable. we have thought it best, throughout, to abstain from unnecessary comment and illustration. the period is so recent, and has been so often traversed by historians and biographers, that it appeared to us a waste of valuable space to attempt to reconstruct the history of the years from which this correspondence has been selected, especially as sir theodore martin, under the auspices of the queen herself, has dealt so minutely and exhaustively with the relations of the queen's innermost circle to the political and social life of the time. it is tempting, of course, to add illustrative anecdotes from the abundant biographies and memoirs of the period; but our aim has been to infringe as little as possible upon the space available for the documents themselves, and to provide just sufficient comment to enable an ordinary reader, without special knowledge of the period, to follow the course of events, and to realise the circumstances under which the queen's childhood was passed, the position of affairs at the time of her accession, and the personalities of those who had influenced her in early years, or by whom she was surrounded. the development of the queen's character is clearly indicated in the papers, and it possesses an extraordinary interest. we see one of highly vigorous and active temperament, of strong affections, and with a deep sense of responsibility, placed at an early age, and after a quiet girlhood, in a position the greatness of which it is impossible to exaggerate. we see her character expand and deepen, schooled by mighty experience into patience and sagacity and wisdom, and yet never losing a particle of the strength, the decision, and the devotion with which she had been originally endowed. up to the year the queen's career was one of unexampled prosperity. she was happy in her temperament, in her health, in her education, in her wedded life, in her children. she saw a great empire grow through troubled times in liberty and power and greatness; yet this prosperity brought with it no shadow of complacency, because the queen felt with an increasing depth the anxieties and responsibilities inseparable from her great position. her happiness, instead of making her self-absorbed, only quickened her beneficence and her womanly desire that her subjects should be enabled to enjoy a similar happiness based upon the same simple virtues. nothing comes out more strongly in these documents than the laborious patience with which the queen kept herself informed of the minutest details of political and social movements both in her own and other countries. it is a deeply inspiring spectacle to see one surrounded by every temptation which worldly greatness can present, living from day to day so simple, vivid, and laborious a life; and it is impossible to conceive a more fruitful example of duty and affection and energy, displayed on so august a scale, and in the midst of such magnificent surroundings. we would venture to believe that nothing could so deepen the personal devotion of the empire to the memory of that great queen who ruled it so wisely and so long, and its deeply-rooted attachment to the principle of constitutional monarchy, as the gracious act of his majesty the king in allowing the inner side of that noble life and career to be more clearly revealed to a nation whose devotion to their ancient liberties is inseparably connected with their loyalty to the throne. editorial note our special thanks, for aid in the preparation of these volumes, are due to viscount morley of blackburn, who has read and criticised the book in its final form; to mr j. w. headlam, of the board of education, and formerly fellow of king's college, cambridge, for much valuable assistance in preparing the prefatory historical memoranda; to mr w. f. reddaway, fellow of king's college, cambridge, for revision and advice throughout, in connection with the introductions and annotations; to lord knollys, for criticism of selected materials; to lord stanmore, for the loan of valuable documents; to dr eugene oswald, for assistance in translation; to mr c. c. perry and m. g. hua, for verification of french and german documents; to miss bertha williams, for unremitting care and diligence in preparing the volumes for press; to mr john murray, our publisher, for his unfailing patience and helpfulness; and especially to mr hugh childers, for his ungrudging help in the preparation of the introductory annual summaries, and in the political and historical annotation, as well as for his invaluable co-operation at every stage of the work. table of contents chapter i ancestry of queen victoria--houses of brunswick, hanover, and coburg --family connections--the english royal family--the royal dukes--duke of cumberland--family of george iii.--political position of the queen (pages - ) chapter ii queen victoria's early years--duke and duchess of kent--parliamentary grant to duchess of kent--the queen of würtemberg--george iv. and the princess--visits to windsor--duchess of saxe-coburg-saalfeld --education of the princess--the duchess of kent's letter to the bishops--religious instruction--result of examination--speech by duchess of kent--the princess's reminiscences of claremont--william iv. and the princess--the accession--queen victoria's character and temperament--her sympathy with the middle classes (pages - ) chapter iii queen victoria's relations and friends--king leopold's influence --queen adelaide--baroness lehzen--baron stockmar (pages - ) chapter iv - observations on the correspondence with king leopold and others--first letter received by queen victoria--her first letter to prince leopold --birthday letters--king leopold's description of his queen--his valuable advice--the princess's visit to hever castle--king leopold's advice as to reading, and the princess's reply--new year greeting --on autographs--the princess's confirmation--king leopold's advice as to honesty and sincerity (pages - ) chapter v visit of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg--invitation to the prince of orange--arrival of princes ernest and albert--the princess's appreciation of prince albert--king leopold's advice as to conversation--crisis in spain--farewell letter--the princess and the church--death of charles x.--abuse of king leopold--revolution at lisbon--the princess's name--newspaper attacks on king leopold (pages - ) chapter vi spain and portugal--music with princes ernest and albert --parliamentary language and political passion--the throne of greece --queen of the belgians' dowry--the english press--the princess's establishment--young belgian cousins--irish municipal bill--whig ministers--birthday rejoicings--king leopold's advice and encouragement--accession imminent--condition of the king--reliance on lord melbourne--the princess and the church--the accession--the queen's journal--interview with lord melbourne--the queen's first council--letter from the king of the french--congratulations from king leopold--nationality of the queen--the queen and her ministers --reflection advised--baron stockmar--important subjects for study --sister queens--letter from queen adelaide--buckingham palace--madame de lieven--parliament prorogued--england and russia--discretion advised --singing lessons--the elections--prevalence of bribery--end of king leopold's visit--reception at brighton--security of letters--england and france--france and the peninsula--count molé--the french in africa --close of the session--prince albert's education--canada--army estimates--secretaries of state (pages - ) chapter vii lord melbourne--canada--influence of the crown--daniel o'connell --position of ministers of state in england and abroad--new poor law --pressure of business--prince albert's education--favourite horses --deaths of old servants--the coronation--address from bishops--ball at buckingham palace--independence and progress of belgium --anglo-belgian relations--foreign policy--holland and belgium --coronation day--westminster abbey--the enthronement--receiving homage--popular enthusiasm--coronation incidents--pages of honour --extra holidays for schools--review in hyde park--lord durham and canada--government of canada--ireland and o'connell--death of lady john russell--the queen's sympathy with lord john russell--belgium and english government--belgium and holland--canada--resignation of the earl of durham--english church for malta--disappointment of duke of sussex--brighton (pages - ) chapter viii murder of lord norbury--holland and belgium--dissension in the cabinet --the duke of lucca--portugal--ireland and the government--england and belgium--prince albert's tour in italy--jamaica--change of ministry imminent--the queen's distress--interviews with the duke of wellington and sir robert peel--lord melbourne on sir robert peel--the household --proposed new cabinet--interview with lord melbourne--the ladies of the household and sir robert peel--reply to sir robert peel --resignation of sir robert peel--the queen's journal--cabinet minute --whigs resume office--ball at buckingham palace--lord john russell and sir robert peel--the queen on the crisis--king leopold's approval --the penny postage--the queen and prince albert--syria--england and the sultan--proposed visit of king louis philippe--preparing the queen's speech--king leopold's feeling for the queen--coming visit of prince albert--arrival of princes ernest and albert--the queen's engagement to prince albert--lord melbourne's congratulations--king leopold's satisfaction--austria and the porte--the queen's happiness --queen louise's congratulations--the queen's letters to the royal family--the prince's religion--announcement to the council--marriage treaty--question of a peerage--english susceptibilities--letter from donna maria--household appointments--mayor of newport knighted--the word "protestant"--the prince's coat-of-arms--the prince and mr anson --appointment of treasurer--the prince and lord melbourne (pages - ) chapter ix letters to prince albert--opening of parliament--the prince's grant --the prince at brussels--marriage of the queen and prince--public enthusiasm--plays in lent--debate on the corn laws--england and china --disturbance at the opera--murder of lord william russell--mrs norton --character of princess charlotte--english manners--oxford's attempt on the queen's life--egypt and the four powers--prince louis napoleon --king leopold at wiesbaden--a threatened crisis--france and the east --a difficult question--serious measures--palmerston and france--views of king louis philippe--propositions for settlement--attitude of france--pacific instructions--the porte and mehemet ali--bombardment of beyrout--guizot and thiers--differing views--the queen's influence --an anxious time--attempt on life of king louis philippe--negotiation with france advised--thiers more moderate--death of lord holland --change of ministry in france--importance of conciliation--the prince's name in the prayer-book--king leopold on lord palmerston --birth of the princess royal--settlement of eastern question (pages - ) chapter x letter to king leopold--the prince and literature--the speech from the throne--domestic happiness--duke of wellington's illness--england and the united states--operations in china--lord cardigan--army discipline --the nottingham election--the budget--irish registration bill--sugar duties--ministerial crisis--lord melbourne's advice--dissolution or resignation--the household question--sir robert peel--mr anson's intervention--interview with lord melbourne--king leopold's sympathy --the corn laws--the queen's journal--the prince's support--further interviews--resignation postponed--the queen and the church--king leopold's advice--the queen's impartiality--difficulties removed--vote of want of confidence--the country quiet--king leopold's views--fiscal policy--marriage of lord john russell--visit to nuneham--archbishop harcourt--the prince visits oxford--letter from lord brougham--visit to woburn abbey--lord melbourne and the garter--a dreaded moment --debate on the speech--overwhelming majority--resignation--new arrangements--parting with lord melbourne--the prince in a new position--the queen and sir robert peel--lord melbourne's opinion of the prince--the household question--new cabinet--lord melbourne's official farewell--sir robert peel's reception--new appointments --council at claremont--the lord chamberlain's department--the french ambassador--confidential communications--the diplomatic corps --governor-general of canada--india and afghanistan--lord ellenborough --russia and central asia--indian finances--the spanish mission --correspondence with lord melbourne--fine arts commission--peers and audiences--lord radnor's claim--the chinese campaign--english and foreign artists--lord melbourne and the court--the queen and her government--baron stockmar's opinion--lord melbourne's influence --baron stockmar and sir robert peel--professor whewell--queen christina--queen isabella--french influence in spain--holland and belgium--dispute with united states--portugal--the english constitution--the "prime minister"--the "secretaries of state"--baron stockmar expostulates with lord melbourne--birth of heir-apparent --created prince of wales--the royal children (pages - ) chapter xi letter from queen adelaide--disasters in afghanistan--the oxford movement--church matters--the duke of wellington and the christening --lord melbourne ill--a favourite dog--the king of prussia--marriage of prince ernest--christening of the prince of wales--the corn laws --marine excursion--fall of cabul--candidates for the garter--the earl of munster--the queen and income tax--lambeth palace--sale at strawberry hill--selection of a governess--party politics--a brilliant ball--the prince and the army--lady lyttelton's appointment--goethe and schiller--edwin landseer--the mensdorff family--attack on the queen by francis--letters from queen adelaide and lord melbourne --successes in afghanistan--sir r. sale and general pollock--debate on income tax--the queen's first railway journey--conviction of francis--presents for the queen--another attack on the queen by bean --death of duke of orleans--grief of the queen--letters from the king and queen of the french--leigh hunt--lord melbourne on marriages --resignation of lord hill--appointment of duke of wellington --manchester riots--military assistance--parliament prorogued--causes of discontent--mob in lincoln's inn fields--trouble at the cape--tour in scotland--visit to lord breadalbane--return to windsor--royal visitors--a steam yacht for the queen--future of queen isabella--the princess lichtenstein--historical works--walmer castle--lord melbourne's illness--the crown jewels--provision for princess augusta --success in china--a treaty signed--victories in afghanistan--honours for the army--the gates of somnauth--france and spain--major malcolm --the scottish church--a serious crisis--letter from lord melbourne --esteem for baron stockmar ( - ) chapter xii recollections of claremont--historical writers--governor-generalship of canada--mr drummond shot--mistaken for sir robert peel--death of mr drummond--demeanour of macnaghten--letter from lord melbourne --preparations for the trial--the royal family and politics--king leopold and sir robert peel--the american treaty--position of the prince of wales--good wishes from queen adelaide--proposed exchange of visits--mr cobden's speech--the new chapel--fanny burney's diary --macnaghten acquitted--question of criminal insanity--princess mary of baden--the prince and the levées--sir robert peel's suggestions --police arrangements--looking for the comet--flowers from lord melbourne--the royal children--the toast of the prince--king of hanover's proposed visit--gates of somnauth restored--death of duke of sussex--birth and christening of princess alice--irish agitation --rebecca riots--duchess of norfolk's resignation--duelling in the army--outpensioners of chelsea--crown jewels--obstruction of business --lord melbourne on matrimonial affairs--visit to château d'eu --increased troubles in wales--royal visitors--england and spain --arrest of o'connell--duc de bordeaux not received at court--duc de nemours expected--visit to cambridge--duc d'aumale's engagement --indian affairs--loyalty at cambridge--proposed visit to drayton manor--travelling arrangements--duchesse de nemours--birmingham --canadian seat of government--chatsworth--american view of monarchy --prince metternich and spain ( - ) list of illustrations queen victoria receiving the news of her accession to the throne, th june . _from the picture by h. t. wells, r.a., at buckingham palace_ t.r.h. the duchess of kent and the princess victoria. _from the miniature by h. bone, after sir w. beechey, at windsor castle_ h.r.h. the princess victoria, . by plant, after stewart. _from the miniature at buckingham, palace_ h.m. king william iv. _from a miniature at windsor castle_ h.r.h. the prince consort, . _from the portrait by john partridge at buckingham palace_ h.m. queen victoria, . _from the drawing by e. f. t., after h. e. dawe, at buckingham palace_ * * * * * chapter i the ancestry of the queen--houses of brunswick, hanover, and coburg queen victoria, on her father's side, belonged to the house of brunswick, which was undoubtedly one of the oldest, and claimed to be actually the oldest, of german princely families. at the time of her birth, it existed in two branches, of which, the one ruled over what was called the duchy of brunswick, the other over the electorate (since the kingdom) of hanover, and had since occupied the throne of england. there had been frequent intermarriages between the two branches. the dukes of brunswick were now, however, represented only by two young princes, who were the sons of the celebrated duke who fell at quatre-bras. between them and the english court there was little intercourse. the elder, charles, had quarrelled with his uncle and guardian, george iv., and had in been expelled from his dominions. the obvious faults of his character made it impossible for the other german princes to insist on his being restored, and he had been succeeded by his younger brother william, who ruled till his death in . both died unmarried, and with them the ducal family came to an end. one princess of brunswick had been the wife of george iv., and another, augusta, was the first wife of frederick i., king of würtemberg, who, after her death, married a daughter of george iii. the king of würtemberg was also, by his descent from frederick prince of wales, first cousin once removed of the queen. we need only notice, in passing, the distant connection with the royal families of prussia, the netherlands, and denmark. the prince of orange, who was one of the possible suitors for the young queen's hand, was her third cousin once removed. [pageheading: the house of saxe-coburg-gotha] the house of saxe-coburg-gotha, to which the queen belonged on her mother's side, and with which she was to be even more intimately connected by her marriage, was one of the numerous branches into which the ancient and celebrated house of wettin had broken up. since the th century they had ruled over meissen and the adjoining districts. to these had been added upper saxony and thuringia. in the th century the whole possessions of the house had been divided between the two great branches which still exist. the albertine branch retained meissen and the saxon possessions. they held the title of elector, which in was exchanged for the title of king. though the saxon house had been the chief protectors of the reformation, frederick augustus i. had, on being elected to the throne of poland, become a roman catholic; and thereby the connection between the two branches of the house had to a great extent ceased. the second line, that of the ernestines, ruled over thuringia, but, according to the common german custom, had again broken up into numerous branches, among which the duchies of thuringia were parcelled out. at the time of the queen's birth there were five of these, viz., gotha-altenburg, coburg-saalfeld, weimar-eisenach, meiningen, and hildburghausen. on the extinction of the gotha line, in , there was a rearrangement of the family property, by which the duke of hildburghausen received altenburg, gotha was given to the duke of coburg, and saalfeld with hildburghausen added to meiningen. these four lines still exist. the ernestine princes had, by this constant division and sub-division, deprived themselves of the opportunity of exercising any predominant influence, or pursuing any independent policy in german affairs; and though they had the good fortune to emerge from the revolution with their possessions unimpaired, their real power was not increased. like all the other princes, they had, however, at the congress of vienna, received the recognition of their full status as sovereign princes of the germanic confederation. together they sent a single representative to the diet of frankfort, the total population of the five principalities being only about , inhabitants. it was owing to this territorial sub-division and lack of cohesion that these princes could not attach to their independence the same political importance that fell to the share of the larger principalities, such as hanover and bavaria, and they were consequently more ready than the other german princes to welcome proposals which would lead to a unification of germany. it is notable that the line has produced many of the most enlightened of the german princes; and nowhere in the whole of germany were the advantages of the division into numerous small states so clearly seen, and the disadvantages so little felt, as at weimar, meiningen, gotha, and coburg. [pageheading: the house of coburg] the house of coburg had gained a highly conspicuous and influential position, owing, partly, to the high reputation for sagacity and character which the princes of that house had won, and partly to the marriage connections which were entered into about this time by members of the coburg house with the leading royal families of europe. within ten years, princes of coburg were established, one upon the throne of belgium, and two others next to the throne in portugal and england, as consorts of their respective queens. by the first marriage of the duchess of kent, the queen was also connected with a third class of german princes--the mediatised, as those were called who during the revolution had lost their sovereign power. many of these were of as ancient lineage and had possessed as large estates as some of the regnant princes, who, though not always more deserving, had been fortunate enough to retain their privileges, and had emerged from the revolution ranking among the ruling houses of europe. the mediatised princes, though they had ceased to rule, still held important privileges, which were guaranteed at the congress of vienna. first, and most important, they were reckoned as "_ebenburtig_," which means that they could contract equal marriages with the royal houses, and these marriages were recognised as valid for the transmission of rights of inheritance. many of them had vast private estates, and though they were subjected to the sovereignty of the princes in whose dominions these lay, they enjoyed very important privileges, such as exemption from military service, and from many forms of taxation; they also could exercise minor forms of jurisdiction. they formed, therefore, an intermediate class. since germany, as a whole, afforded them no proper sphere of political activity, the more ambitious did not disdain to take service with austria or prussia, and, to a less extent, even with the smaller states. it was possible, therefore, for the queen's mother, a princess of saxe-coburg, to marry the prince of leiningen without losing caste. her daughter, the princess feodore, the queen's half-sister, married ernest, prince of hohenlohe-langenburg, and thus established an interesting connection with perhaps the most widely-spread and most distinguished of all these families. the house of hohenlohe would probably still have been a reigning family, had not the prince of hohenlohe preferred to fight in the prussian army against napoleon, rather than receive gifts from him. his lands were consequently confiscated and passed to other princes who were less scrupulous. the family has given two ministers president to prussia, a general in chief command of the prussian army, a chancellor to the german empire, and one of the most distinguished of modern military writers. they held, besides their extensive possessions in würtemberg and bavaria, the county of gleichen in saxe-coburg. [pageheading: family connections] it will be seen therefore that the queen was intimately connected with all classes that are to be found among the ruling families of germany, though naturally with the catholic families, which looked to austria and bavaria for guidance, she had no close ties. but it must be borne in mind that her connection with germany always remained a personal and family matter, and not a political one; this was the fortunate result of the predominance of the coburg influence. had that of the house of hanover been supreme, it could hardly have been possible for the queen not to have been drawn into the opposition to the unification of germany by prussia, in which the house of hanover was bound to take a leading part, in virtue of its position, wealth, and dignity. it will be as well here to mention the principal reigning families of europe to which queen victoria was closely allied through her mother. the duchess of kent's eldest brother, ernest, duke of saxe-coburg, was the father of albert, prince consort. her sister was the wife of alexander, duke of würtemberg. the duchess of kent's nephew, ferdinand (son of ferdinand, the duchess's brother), married maria da gloria, queen of portugal, and was father of pedro v. and luis, both subsequently kings of portugal. the duchess's third brother, leopold (afterwards king of the belgians), married first the princess charlotte, daughter of george iv., and afterwards the princess louise marie, eldest daughter of king louis philippe. prince augustus (son of ferdinand, the duchess of kent's brother) married another daughter of louis philippe, the princess clémentine, while prince augustus's sister, victoria, married the duc de nemours, a son of louis philippe. another nephew, duke friedrich wilhelm alexander, son of the duchess of würtemberg, married the princess marie, another daughter of louis philippe. thus queen victoria was closely allied with the royal families of france, portugal, belgium, saxe-coburg, and würtemberg. on turning to the immediate royal family of england, it will be seen that the male line at the time of the queen's accession was limited to the sons, both named george, of two of the younger brothers of george iv., the dukes of cumberland and cambridge. the sons of george iii. played their part in the national life, shared the strong interest in military matters, and showed the great personal courage which was a tradition of the family. [pageheading: the english royal family] it must be borne in mind that abstention from active political life had been in no sense required, or even thought desirable, in members of the royal house. george iii. himself had waged a life-long struggle with the whig party, that powerful oligarchy that since the accession of the house of hanover had virtually ruled the country; but he did not carry on the conflict so much by encouraging the opponents of the whigs, as by placing himself at the head of a monarchical faction. he was in fact the leader of a third party in the state. george iv. was at first a strong whig, and lived on terms of the greatest intimacy with charles james fox; but by the time that he was thirty, he had severed the connection with his former political friends, which had indeed originally arisen more out of his personal opposition to his father than from any political convictions. after this date he became, with intervals of vacillation, an advanced tory of an illiberal type. william iv. had lived so much aloof from politics before his accession, that he had had then no very pronounced opinions, though he was believed to be in favour of the reform bill; during his reign his tory sympathies became more pronounced, and the position of the whig ministry was almost an intolerable one. his other brothers were men of decided views, and for the most part of high social gifts. they not only attended debates in the house of peers, but spoke with emotion and vigour; they held political interviews with leading statesmen, and considered themselves entitled, not to over-rule political movements, but to take the part in them to which their strong convictions prompted them. they were particularly prominent in the debates on the catholic question, and did not hesitate to express their views with an energy that was often embarrassing. the duke of york and the duke of cumberland had used all their influence to encourage the king in his opposition to catholic emancipation, while the duke of cambridge had supported that policy, and the duke of sussex had spoken in the house of lords in favour of it. the duke of york, a kindly, generous man, had held important commands in the earlier part of the revolutionary war; he had not shown tactical nor strategical ability, but he was for many years commander-in-chief of the army, and did good administrative work in initiating and carrying out much-needed military reforms. he had married a prussian princess, but left no issue, and his death, in , left the succession open to his younger brother, the duke of clarence, afterwards king william iv., and after him to the princess victoria. [pageheading: the royal dukes] the duke of kent was, as we shall have occasion to show, a strong whig with philanthropic views. but the ablest of the princes, though also the most unpopular, was the duke of cumberland, who, until the birth of the queen's first child, was heir presumptive to the throne. he had been one of the most active members of the ultra-tory party, who had opposed to the last the emancipation of the catholics and the reform bill. he had married a sister-in-law of the king of prussia, and lived much in berlin, where he was intimate with the leaders of the military party, who were the centre of reactionary influences in that country, chief among them being his brother-in-law, prince charles of mecklenburg. in private life the duke was bluff and soldier-like, of rather a bullying turn, and extraordinarily indifferent to the feelings of others. "ernest is not a bad fellow," his brother william iv. said of him, "but if anyone has a corn, he will be sure to tread on it." he was very unpopular in england. on the death of william iv. he succeeded to the throne of hanover, and from that time seldom visited england. his first act on reaching his kingdom was to declare invalid the constitution which had been granted in by william iv. his justification for this was that his consent, as heir presumptive, which was necessary for its validity, had not at the time been asked. the act caused great odium to be attached to his name by all liberals, both english and continental, and it was disapproved of even by his old tory associates. none the less he soon won great popularity in his own dominions by his zeal, good-humour, and energy, and in he came to terms with the estates. a new constitution was drawn up which preserved more of the royal prerogatives than the instrument of . few german princes suffered so little in the revolution of . the king died in , at the age of eighty, and left one son, george, who had been blind from his boyhood. he was the last king of hanover, being expelled by the prussians in . on the failure of the ducal line of brunswick, the grandson of ernest augustus became heir to their dominions, he and his sons being now the sole male representatives of all the branches of the house of brunswick, which a few generations ago was one of the most numerous and widely-spread ruling houses in germany.[ ] [footnote : of the daughters of george iii., princess amelia had died in , and the queen of würtemberg in ; two married daughters survived--elizabeth, wife of the landgrave of hesse-homburg, and mary, who had married her cousin, the duke of gloucester, and lived in england. there were also two unmarried daughters, the princesses augusta and sophia, living in england.] the duke of sussex was in sympathy with many liberal movements, and supported the removal of religious disabilities, the abolition of the corn laws, and parliamentary reform. the duke of cambridge was a moderate tory, and the most conciliatory of all the princes. but for more than twenty years he took little part in english politics, as he was occupied with his duties as regent of hanover, where he did much by prudent reforms to retain the allegiance of the hanoverians. on his return to england he resumed the position of a peacemaker, supporting philanthropic movements, and being a generous patron of art and letters. he was recognised as "emphatically the connecting link between the crown and the people." another member of the royal family was the duke of gloucester, nephew and son-in-law of george iii.; he was more interested in philanthropic movements than in politics, but was a moderate conservative, who favoured catholic emancipation but was opposed to parliamentary reform. thus we have the spectacle of seven royal princes, of whom two succeeded to the throne, all or nearly all avowed politicians of decided convictions, throwing the weight of their influence and social position for the most part on the side of the tory party, and believing it to be rather their duty to hold and express strong political opinions than to adopt the moderating and conciliatory attitude in matters of government that is now understood to be the true function of the royal house. [pageheading: independence of the queen] the queen, after her accession, always showed great respect and affection for her uncles, but they were not able to exercise any influence over her character or opinions. this was partly due to the fact that from an early age she had imbibed a respect for liberal views from her uncle leopold, king of the belgians, to whom she was devoted from her earliest childhood, and for whom she entertained feelings of the deepest admiration, affection, and confidence; but still more was it due to the fact that, from the very first, the queen instinctively formed an independent judgment on any question that concerned her; and though she was undoubtedly influenced in her decisions by her affectionate reliance on her chosen advisers, yet those advisers were always deliberately and shrewdly selected, and their opinions were in no case allowed to do more than modify her own penetrating and clear-sighted judgment. chapter ii memoir of queen victoria's early years alexandrina victoria, queen of great britain and ireland and empress of india, was born on monday, th may , at kensington palace. her father, edward, duke of kent and strathearn ( - ), the fourth son of george iii., was a man of decided character, kindly, pious, punctual, with a strict sense of duty and enlightened ideas. he was a devoted soldier, and, as queen victoria once said, "was proud of his profession, and i was always taught to consider myself a soldier's child." he had a wide military experience, having served at gibraltar, in canada, and in the west indies. he had been mentioned in despatches, but was said to be over-strict in matters of unimportant detail. his active career was brought to an end in , when he had been sent to gibraltar to restore order in a mutinous garrison. order had been restored, but the duke was recalled under allegations of having exercised undue severity, and the investigation which he demanded was refused him, though he was afterwards made a field-marshal. he was a man of advanced liberal ideas. he had spoken in the house of lords in favour of catholic emancipation, and had shown himself interested in the abolition of slavery and in popular education. his tastes were literary, and towards the end of his life he had even manifested a strong sympathy for socialistic theories. at the time of the death of the princess charlotte, th november , the married sons of king george iii. were without legitimate children, and the surviving daughters were either unmarried or childless. alliances were accordingly arranged for the three unmarried royal dukes, and in the course of the year the dukes of cambridge, kent, and clarence led their brides to the altar. [pageheading: the duke and duchess of kent] the duchess of kent ( - ), victoria mary louisa, was a daughter of francis, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld. she was the widow of emich charles, prince of leiningen,[ ] whom she had married in , and who had died in , leaving a son and a daughter by her. [footnote : _leiningen_, a mediatised princely house of germany, dating back to . in the head of one of the branches into which it had become divided, the count of leiningen-dachsburg-hardenburg, was raised to the rank of a prince of the empire, but the peace of lunéville ( ) deprived him of his ancient possessions, extending about miles on the left bank of the rhine. though no longer an independent prince, the head of the house retains his rank and wealth, and owns extensive estates in bavaria and hesse.] the duke of kent died prematurely--though he had always been a conspicuously healthy man--at sidmouth, on the rd of january , only a week before his father. a paper preserved in the windsor archives gives a touching account of the duke's last hours. the regent, on the nd of january, sent to him a message of solicitude and affection, expressing an anxious wish for his recovery. the duke roused himself to enquire how the prince was in health, and said, "if i could now shake hands with him, i should die in peace." a few hours before the end, one who stood by the curtain of his bed heard the duke say with deep emotion, "may the almighty protect my wife and child, and forgive all the sins i have committed." his last words--addressed to his wife--were, "do not forget me." the duchess of kent was an affectionate, impulsive woman, with more emotional sympathy than practical wisdom in worldly matters. but her claim on the gratitude of the british nation is that she brought up her illustrious daughter in habits of simplicity, self-sacrifice, and obedience. as a testimony to the sincere appreciation entertained by the politicians of the time for the way in which the duchess of kent had appreciated her responsibilities with regard to the education of a probable heir to the crown of england, we may quote a few sentences from two speeches made in the house of commons, in the debate which took place ( th may ) on the question of increasing the parliamentary annuity paid to the duchess, in order to provide duly for the education of the young princess. the chancellor of the exchequer, mr robinson, afterwards lord ripon, said: "the position in which this princess stood with respect to the throne of the country could not fail to make her an object of general interest to the nation. he had not himself the honour of being acquainted with the duchess of kent, but he believed that she had taken the greatest pains with her daughter's education. she had been brought up in principles of piety and morality, and to feel a _proper_ sense, he meant by that an humble sense, of her own dignity, and the rank which probably awaited her. perhaps it might have been fit to have brought this matter before parliament at an earlier period." mr canning said: "all parties agreed in the propriety of the grant, and if government had anything to answer for on this point, it was for having so long delayed bringing it before the house. there could not be a greater compliment to her royal highness than to state the quiet unobtrusive tenor of her life, and that she had never made herself the object of public gaze, but had devoted herself to the education of her child, whom the house was now called upon to adopt." [pageheading: early reminiscences] in the year queen victoria wrote down with her own hand some reminiscences of her early childhood, the manuscript of which is preserved at windsor, and which may be quoted here. "my earliest recollections are connected with kensington palace, where i can remember crawling on a yellow carpet spread out for that purpose--and being told that if i cried and was naughty my 'uncle sussex' would hear me and punish me, for which reason i always screamed when i saw him! i had a great horror of _bishops_ on account of their wigs and _aprons_, but recollect this being partially got over in the case of the then bishop of salisbury (dr fisher, great-uncle to mr fisher, private secretary to the prince of wales), by his kneeling down and letting me play with his badge of chancellor of the order of the garter. with another bishop, however, the persuasion of showing him my 'pretty shoes' was of no use. claremont remains as the brightest epoch of my otherwise rather melancholy childhood--where to be under the roof of that beloved uncle--to listen to some music in the hall when there were dinner-parties--and to go and see dear old louis!--the former faithful and devoted dresser and friend of princess charlotte--beloved and respected by all who knew her--and who doted on the little princess who was too much an idol in the house. this dear old lady was visited by every one--and was the only really devoted attendant of the poor princess, whose governesses paid little real attention to her--and who never left her, and was with her when she died. i used to ride a donkey given me by my uncle, the duke of york, who was very kind to me. i remember him well--tall, rather large, very kind but extremely shy. he always gave me beautiful presents. the last time i saw him was at mr greenwood's house, where d. carlos lived at one time,--when he was already very ill,--and he had punch and judy in the garden for me. [pageheading: early reminiscences] "to ramsgate we used to go frequently in the summer, and i remember living at townley house (near the town), and going there by steamer. mamma was very unwell. dear uncle leopold went with us. "to tunbridge wells we also went, living at a house called mt. pleasant, now an hotel. many pleasant days were spent here, and the return to kensington in october or november was generally a day of tears. "i was brought up very simply--never had a room to myself till i was nearly grown up--always slept in my mother's room till i came to the throne. at claremont, and in the small houses at the bathing-places, i sat and took my lessons in my governess's bedroom. i was not fond of learning as a little child--and baffled every attempt to teach me my letters up to years old--when i consented to learn them by their being written down before me. [pageheading: george iv.] "i remember going to carlton house, when george iv. lived there, as quite a little child before a dinner the king gave. the duchess of cambridge and my cousins, george and augusta, were there. my aunt, the queen of würtemberg (princess royal), came over, in the year ' , i think, and i recollect perfectly well seeing her drive through the park in the king's carriage with red liveries and horses, in a _cap_ and evening dress,--my aunt, her sister princess augusta, sitting _opposite_ to her, also in evening attire, having dined early with the duke of sussex at kensington. she had adopted all the german fashions and spoke broken english--and had not been in england for many many years. she was very kind and good-humoured but very large and unwieldy. she lived at st james's and had a number of germans with her. in the year ' (i think) george iv. asked my mother, my sister and me down to windsor for the first time; he had been on bad terms with my poor father when he died,--and took hardly any notice of the poor widow and little fatherless girl, who were so poor at the time of his (the duke of kent's) death, that they could not have travelled back to kensington palace had it not been for the kind assistance of my dear uncle, prince leopold. we went to cumberland lodge, the king living at the royal lodge. aunt gloucester was there at the same time. when we arrived at the royal lodge the king took me by the hand, saying: 'give me your little paw.' he was large and gouty but with a wonderful dignity and charm of manner. he wore the wig which was so much worn in those days. then he said he would give me something for me to wear, and that was his picture set in diamonds, which was worn by the princesses as an order to a blue ribbon on the left shoulder. i was very proud of this,--and lady conyngham pinned it on my shoulder. her husband, the late marquis of conyngham, was the lord chamberlain and constantly there, as well as lord mt. charles (as vice-chamberlain), the _present_ lord conyngham. "none of the royal family or general visitors lived at the royal lodge, but only the conyngham family; all the rest at cumberland lodge. lady maria conyngham (now dead, first wife to lord athlumney, daughter of lord conyngham), then quite young, and lord graves (brother-in-law to lord anglesey and who afterwards shot himself on account of his wife's conduct, who was a lady of the bedchamber), were desired to take me a drive to amuse me. i went with them, and baroness (then miss) lehzen (my governess) in a pony carriage and , with grey ponies (like my own), and was driven about the park and taken to sandpit gate where the king had a menagerie--with wapitis, gazelles, chamois, etc., etc. then we went (i think the next day) to virginia water, and met the king in his phaeton in which he was driving the duchess of gloucester,--and he said 'pop her in,' and i was lifted in and placed between him and aunt gloucester, who held me round the waist. (mamma was much frightened.) i was greatly pleased, and remember that i looked with great respect at the scarlet liveries, etc. (the royal family had crimson and green liveries and only the king scarlet and blue in those days). we drove round the nicest part of virginia water and stopped at the fishing temple. here there was a large barge and every one went on board and fished, while a band played in another! there were numbers of great people there, amongst whom was the last duke of dorset, then master of the horse. the king paid great attention to my sister,[ ] and some people fancied he might marry her!! she was very lovely then--about --and had charming manners, about which the king was extremely particular. i afterwards went with baroness lehzen and lady maria c. to the page whiting's cottage. whiting had been at one time in my father's service. he lived where mr walsh now does (and where he died years ago), in the small cottage close by; and here i had some _fruit_ and amused myself by cramming one of whiting's children, a little girl, with peaches. i came after dinner to hear the band play in the conservatory, which is still standing, and which was lit up by coloured lamps--the king, royal family, etc., sitting in a corner of the large saloon, which still stands. [footnote : the princess feodore of leiningen, afterwards princess of hohenlohe, queen victoria's half-sister.] "on the second visit (i _think_) the following year, also in summer, there was a great encampment of tents (the same which were used at the camp at chobham in ' , and some single ones at the breakfasts at buckingham palace in ' - ), and which were quite like a house, made into different compartments. it rained dreadfully on this occasion, i well remember. the king and party dined there, prince and princess lieven, the russian ambassador and ambassadress were there. "i also remember going to see aunt augusta at frogmore, where she lived always in the summer. "we lived in a very simple, plain manner; breakfast was at half-past eight, luncheon at half-past one, dinner at seven--to which i came generally (when it was no regular large dinner party)--eating my bread and milk out of a small silver basin. tea was only allowed as a great treat in later years. [pageheading: duchess of saxe-coburg-saalfeld] "in (i think) my dear grandmother, the dowager duchess of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, came to claremont, in the summer. mamma and my sister went on part of the way to meet her, and uncle leopold i think had been to fetch her as far as dover. i recollect the excitement and anxiety i was in, at this event,--going down the great flight of steps to meet her when she got out of the carriage, and hearing her say, when she sat down in her room, and fixed her fine clear blue eyes on her little grand-daughter whom she called in her letters 'the flower of may,' 'ein schönes kind'--'a fine child.' she was very clever and adored by her children but especially by her sons. she was a good deal bent and walked with a stick, and frequently with her hands on her back. she took long drives in an open carriage and i was frequently sent out with her, which i am sorry to confess i did not like, as, like most children of that age, i preferred running about. she was excessively kind to children, but could not bear naughty ones--and i shall never forget her coming into the room when i had been crying and naughty at my lessons--from the next room but one, where she had been with mamma--and scolding me severely, which had a very salutary effect. she dined early in the afternoon and uncle leopold asked many of the neighbours and others to dinner to meet her. my brother prince leiningen came over with her, and was at that time paying his court to one of her ladies, countess klebelsberg, whom he afterwards married--against the wish of his grandmother and mother--but which was afterwards quite made up. in november (i think, or it may have been at the end of october) she left, taking my sister with her back to coburg. i was very ill at that time, of dysentery, which illness increased to an alarming degree; many children died of it in the village of esher. the doctor lost his head, having lost his own child from it, and almost every doctor in london was away. mr blagden came down and showed much energy on the occasion. i recovered, and remember well being very cross and screaming dreadfully at having to wear, for a time, flannel next my skin. up to my th year i had been very much indulged by every one, and set pretty well _all_ at defiance. old baroness de späth, the devoted lady of my mother, my nurse mrs brock, dear old mrs louis--_all_ worshipped the poor little fatherless child whose future then was still very uncertain; my uncle the duke of clarence's poor little child being alive, and the duchess of clarence had one or two others later. at years old, miss lehzen was placed about me, and though she was most kind, she was very firm and i had a proper respect for her. i was naturally very passionate, but always most contrite afterwards. i was taught from the first to beg my maid's pardon for any naughtiness or rudeness towards her; a feeling i have ever retained, and think every one should _own_ their fault in a kind way to any one, be he or she the lowest--if one has been rude to or injured them by word or deed, especially those below you. people will readily forget an insult or an injury when others _own_ their fault, and express sorrow or regret at what they have done." [pageheading: the education of the princess] in the duchess of kent wished to be satisfied that the system of education then being pursued with the princess was based on the right lines, and that due moral and intellectual progress was being made. a memorandum, carefully preserved among the archives, gives an interesting account of the steps which she took to this end. [pageheading: letter to the bishops] [pageheading: religious instruction] the duchess therefore brought the matter under the consideration of those whom, from their eminent piety, great learning, and high station, she considered best calculated to afford her valuable advice upon so important a subject. she stated to the bishops of london and lincoln[ ] the particular course which had been followed in the princess's education, and requested their lordships to test the result by personal examination. the nature and objects of her royal highness's appeal to these eminent prelates will be best shown by the following extracts from her letter to the bishops:-- "'the princess will be eleven years of age in may; by the death of her revered father when she was but eight months old, her sole care and charge devolved to me. stranger as i then was, i became deeply impressed with the absolute necessity of bringing her up entirely in this country, that every feeling should be that of her native land, and proving thereby my devotion to duty by rejecting all those feelings of home and kindred that divided my heart. "'when the princess approached her fifth year i considered it the proper time to begin in a moderate way her education--an education that was to fit her to be either the sovereign of these realms, or to fill a junior station in the royal family, until the will of providence should shew at a later period what her destiny was to be. "'a revision of the papers i send you herewith will best shew your lordships the system pursued, the progress made, etc. i attend almost always myself every lesson, or a part; and as the lady about the princess is a competent person, she assists her in preparing her lessons for the various masters, as i resolved to act in that manner so as to be her governess myself. i naturally hope that i have pursued that course most beneficial to all the great interests at stake. at the present moment no concern can be more momentous, or in which the consequences, the interests of the country, can be more at stake, than the education of its future sovereign. "'i feel the time to be now come that what has been done should be put to some test, that if anything has been done in error of judgment it may be corrected, and that the plan for the future should be open to consideration and revision. i do not presume to have an over-confidence in what i have done; on the contrary, as a female, as a stranger (but only in birth, as i feel that this is my country by the duties i fulfil, and the support i receive), i naturally desire to have a candid opinion from authorities competent to give one. in that view i address your lordships; i would propose to you that you advert to all i have stated, to the papers i lay before you, and that then you should personally examine the princess with a view of telling me-- "' . if the course hitherto pursued in her education has been the best; if not, where it was erroneous. "' . if the princess has made all the progress she should have made. "' . and if the course i am to follow is that you would recommend, and if not in what respect you would desire a change, and on what grounds. "'mr davys[ ] will explain to you the nature of the princess's religious education, which i have confided to him, that she should be brought up in the church of england as by law established. when she was at a proper age she commenced attending divine service regularly with me, and i have every feeling, that she has religion at her heart, that she is morally impressed with it to that degree, that she is less liable to error by its application to her feelings as a child capable of reflection. the general bent of her character is strength of intellect, capable of receiving with ease, information, and with a peculiar readiness in coming to a very just and benignant decision on any point her opinion is asked on. her adherence to truth is of so marked a character that i feel no apprehension of that bulwark being broken down by any circumstance. "'i must conclude by observing that as yet the princess is not aware of the station that she is likely to fill. she is aware of its duties, and that a sovereign should live for others; so that when her innocent mind receives the impression of her future fate, she receives it with a mind formed to be sensible of what is to be expected from her, and it is to be hoped, she will be too well grounded in her principles to be dazzled with the station she is to look to.'" [footnote : charles james blomfield, bishop of london, - , and john kaye, bishop of lincoln, - .] [footnote : the rev. george davys, the princess's instructor, afterwards successively dean of chester and bishop of peterborough.] the examination was undertaken by the bishops, with highly satisfactory results. their report says: "the result of the examination has been such as in our opinion amply to justify the plan of instruction which has been adopted. in answering a great variety of questions proposed to her, the princess displayed an accurate knowledge of the most important features of scripture history, and of the leading truths and precepts of the christian religion as taught by the church of england, as well as an acquaintance with the chronology and principal facts of english history remarkable in so young a person. to questions in geography, the use of the globes, arithmetic, and latin grammar, the answers which the princess returned were equally satisfactory. "upon the whole, we feel no hesitation in stating our opinion that the princess should continue, for some time to come, to pursue her studies upon the same plan which has been hitherto followed, and under the same superintendence. nor do we apprehend that any other alterations in the plan will be required than those which will be gradually made by the judicious director of her highness's studies, as the mind expands, and her faculties are strengthened." [pageheading: result of examination] the duchess of kent referred all this correspondence to the archbishop of canterbury.[ ] his memorandum is preserved; it states he has considered the report, and further, has himself personally examined the princess. he continues: "i feel it my duty to say that in my judgment the plan of her highness's studies, as detailed in the papers transmitted to me by command of your royal highness, is very judicious, and particularly suitable to her highness's exalted station; and that from the proficiency exhibited by the princess in the examination at which i was present, and the general correctness and pertinency of her answers, i am perfectly satisfied that her highness's education in regard to cultivation of intellect, improvement of talent, and religious and moral principle, is conducted with so much care and success as to render any alteration of the system undesirable." [footnote : dr william howley.] the princess was gradually and watchfully introduced to public life, and was never allowed to lose sight of the fact that her exalted position carried with it definite and obvious duties. the following speech, delivered at plymouth in , in answer to a complimentary deputation, may stand as an instance of the view which the duchess of kent took of her own and her daughter's responsibilities:-- "it is very agreeable to the princess and myself to hear the sentiments you convey to us. it is also gratifying to us to be assured that we owe all these kind feelings to the attachment you bear the king, as well as to his predecessors of the house of brunswick, from recollections of their paternal sway. the object of my life is to render the princess worthy of the affectionate solicitude she inspires, and if it be the will of providence she should fill a higher station (i trust most fervently at a very distant day), i shall be fully repaid for my anxious care, if she is found competent to discharge the sacred trust; for communicating as the princess does with all classes of society, she cannot but perceive that the greater the diffusion of religion, knowledge, and the love of freedom in a country, the more orderly, industrious, and wealthy is its population, and that with the desire to preserve the constitutional prerogatives of the crown ought to be co-ordinate the protection of the liberties of the people." [pageheading: claremont] the strictness of the _régime_ under which the princess was brought up is remarkable; and it is possible that her later zest for simple social pleasures is partly to be accounted for by the austere routine of her early days. in an interesting letter of to the queen, recalling the days of their childhood, princess feodore, the queen's half-sister, wrote-- "many, many thanks, dearest victoria, for your kind letter of the th from dear claremont. oh i understand how you like being there. claremont is a dear quiet place; to me also the recollection of the few pleasant days i spent during my youth. i always left claremont with tears for kensington palace. when i look back upon those years, which ought to have been the happiest in my life, from fourteen to twenty, i cannot help pitying myself. not to have enjoyed the pleasures of youth is nothing, but to have been deprived of all intercourse, and not one cheerful thought in that dismal existence of ours, was very hard. my only happy time was going or driving out with you and lehzen; then i could speak and look as i liked. i escaped some years of imprisonment, which you, my poor darling sister, had to endure after i was married. but god almighty has changed both our destinies most mercifully, and has made us _so_ happy in our homes--which is the only real happiness in this life; and those years of trial were, i am sure, very useful to us both, though certainly not pleasant. thank god they are over!... i was much amused in your last letter at your tracing the _quickness_ of our tempers in the female line up to grandmamma,[ ] but i must own that you are _quite right_!" [footnote : augusta caroline sophia, dowager-duchess of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, a princess of reuss ebersdorf ( - ).] but if there was little amusement, there was, on the other hand, great devotion; the princess, as a child, had that peculiar combination of self-will and warm-heartedness which is apt to win for a child a special love from its elders. the princess feodore wrote to the queen, in -- "... späth[ ] wished _me_ to thank you for the coronation print, as she could not write to you or albert _now_, she says! why, i don't see. there certainly never was such devotedness as hers, to all our family, although it sometimes shows itself rather foolishly--with you it always was a sort of idolatry, when she used to go upon her knees before you, when you were a child. she and poor old louis did all they could to spoil you, if lehzen had not prevented and scolded them nicely sometimes; it was quite amusing." [footnote : baroness späth, lady-in-waiting to the duchess of kent.] [pageheading: william iv.] the princess was brought up with exemplary simplicity at kensington palace, where her mother had a set of apartments. she was often at claremont, which belonged to her uncle leopold, king of the belgians; holidays were spent at ramsgate, tunbridge wells, broadstairs, and elsewhere. in june george iv. died, and william iv. succeeded to the throne. he had no legitimate offspring living; and it consequently became practically certain that if the princess outlived her uncle she would succeed him on the throne. the duchess of kent's parliamentary grant was increased, and she took advantage of her improved resources to familiarise the princess with the social life of the nation. they paid visits to historic houses and important towns, and received addresses. this was a wise and prudent course, but the king spoke with ill-humour of his niece's "royal progresses." the chief cause of offence was that the princess was not allowed by the duchess of kent to make her public appearances under his own auspices, as he not unnaturally desired. he also began to suspect that the princess was deliberately kept away from court; a painful controversy arose, and the duchess became gradually estranged from her brother-in-law, in spite of the affectionate attempts of queen adelaide to smooth matters over. his resentment culminated in a painful scene, in , when the king, at a state banquet at windsor, made a speech of a preposterous character; speaking of the duchess, who sat next him, as "that person," hinting that she was surrounded with evil advisers, and adding that he should insist on the princess being more at court. the princess burst into tears; the duchess sate in silence: when the banquet was over, the duchess ordered her carriage, and was with difficulty prevailed upon to remain at windsor for the night. the king went so far in may as to offer the princess an independent income, and the acceptance of this by the princess caused the duchess considerable vexation; but the project dropped. the king died in the following month, soon after the princess had attained her legal majority; he had always hoped that the duchess would not be regent, and his wish was thus fulfilled. it is no exaggeration to say that the accession of the princess victoria reinstated the english monarchy in the affections of the people. george iv. had made the throne unpopular; william iv. had restored its popularity, but not its dignity. both of these kings were men of decided ability, but of unbalanced temperament. in politics both kings had followed a somewhat similar course. george iv. had begun life as a strong whig, and had been a close friend of fox. later in life his political position resolved itself into a strong dislike of roman catholic relief. william iv. had begun his reign favourably inclined to parliamentary reform; but though gratified by the personal popularity which his attitude brought him in the country, he became alarmed at the national temper displayed. it illustrates the tension of the king's mind on the subject that, when he was told that if the reform bill did not pass it would bring about a rebellion, he replied that if it did bring about a rebellion he did not care: he should defend london and raise the royal standard at weedon (where there was a military depôt); and that the duchess of kent and the princess victoria might come in if they could. [pageheading: character and temperament] [pageheading: sympathy with middle classes] the reign of william iv. had witnessed the zenith of whig efficiency. it had seen the establishment of parliamentary and municipal reform, the abolition of slavery, the new poor law, and other important measures. but, towards the end of the reign, the whig party began steadily to lose ground, and the tories to consolidate themselves. lord melbourne had succeeded lord grey at the head of the whigs, and the difference of administration was becoming every month more and more apparent. the king indeed went so far as abruptly to dismiss his ministers, but parliament was too strong for him. lord melbourne's principles were fully as liberal as lord grey's, but he lacked practical initiative, with the result that the whigs gradually forfeited popular estimation and became discredited. the new reign, however, brought them a decided increase of strength. the princess had been brought up with strong whig leanings, and, as is clear from her letters, with an equally strong mistrust of tory principles and politicians. a word may here be given to the princess's own character and temperament. she was high-spirited and wilful, but devotedly affectionate, and almost typically feminine. she had a strong sense of duty and dignity, and strong personal prejudices. confident, in a sense, as she was, she had the feminine instinct strongly developed of dependence upon some manly adviser. she was full of high spirits, and enjoyed excitement and life to the full. she liked the stir of london, was fond of dancing, of concerts, plays, and operas, and devoted to open-air exercise. another important trait in her character must be noted. she had strong monarchical views and dynastic sympathies, but she had no aristocratic preferences; at the same time she had no democratic principles, but believed firmly in the due subordination of classes. the result of the parliamentary and municipal reforms of william iv.'s reign had been to give the middle classes a share in the government of the country, and it was supremely fortunate that the queen, by a providential gift of temperament, thoroughly understood the middle-class point of view. the two qualities that are most characteristic of british middle-class life are common sense and family affection; and on these particular virtues the queen's character was based; so that by a happy intuition she was able to interpret and express the spirit and temper of that class which, throughout her reign, was destined to hold the balance of political power in its hands. behind lay a deep sense of religion, the religion which centres in the belief in the fatherhood of god, and is impatient of dogmatic distinctions and subtleties. chapter iii queen victoria's relations and friends it may be held to have been one of the chief blessings of queen victoria's girlhood that she was brought closely under the influence of an enlightened and large-minded prince, leopold, her maternal uncle, afterwards king of the belgians. he was born in , being the youngest son of francis, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and his youth was spent in the russian military service. he had shown talent and courage in the field, and had commanded a battalion at lützen and leipsic. he had married, in , the princess charlotte, only child of george iv. for many years his home was at claremont, where the princess charlotte had died; there the princess victoria spent many happy holidays, and grew to regard her uncle with the most devoted affection, almost, indeed, in the light of a father. it is said that prince leopold had hoped to be named regent, if a regency should be necessary.[ ] he was offered, and accepted, the throne of greece in , but shrank from the difficulties of the position, and withdrew his acceptance upon the plea that lord aberdeen, who was then foreign secretary, was not prepared to make such financial arrangements as he considered satisfactory.[ ] [footnote : a practical proof of his interest in his niece may be found in the fact that for years he contributed between three and four thousand a year to the expenses of her education, and for necessary holidays by the sea, at a time when the duchess of kent's parliamentary grant was unequal to the increasing expenses of her household.] [footnote : greece after having obtained autonomy was in a practically bankrupt condition, and the powers had guaranteed the financial credit of the country until it was able to develop its own resources.] it is interesting to observe from the correspondence that king leopold seems for many years to have continued to regret his decision; it was not that he did not devote himself, heart and soul, to the country of his adoption, but there seems to have been a romantic element in his composition, which did not find its full satisfaction in presiding over the destinies of a peaceful commercial nation. [pageheading: the king of the belgians] in , when louis philippe, under pressure from lord palmerston, declined the throne of belgium for his son the duc de nemours, prince leopold received and accepted an offer of the crown. a dutch invasion followed, and the new king showed great courage and gallantry in an engagement near louvain, in which his army was hopelessly outnumbered. but, though a sensitive man, the king's high courage and hopefulness never deserted him. he ruled his country with diligence, ability, and wisdom, and devoted himself to encouraging manufactures and commerce. the result of his firm and liberal rule was manifested in , when, on his offering to resign the crown if it was thought to be for the best interests of the country, he was entreated, with universal acclamation, to retain the sovereignty. belgium passed through the troubled years of revolution in comparative tranquillity. king leopold was a model ruler; his deportment was grave and serious; he was conspicuous for honesty and integrity; he was laborious and upright, and at the same time conciliatory and tactful. he kept up a close correspondence with queen victoria, and paid her several visits in england, where he was on intimate terms with many leading englishmen. it would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of his close relations with the queen; by example and precept he inspired her with a high sense of duty, and from the first instilled into her mind the necessity of acquainting herself closely with the details of political administration. his wisdom, good sense, and tenderness, as well as the close tie of blood that existed between him and the queen, placed him in a unique position with regard to her, and it is plain that he was fully aware of the high responsibility thus imposed upon him, which he accepted with a noble generosity. it is true that there were occasions when, as the correspondence reveals, the queen was disposed to think that king leopold endeavoured to exercise too minute a control over her in matters of detail, and even to attempt to modify the foreign policy of england rather for the benefit of belgium than in the best interests of great britain; but the queen was equal to these emergencies; she expressed her dissent from the king's suggestions in considerate and affectionate terms, with her gratitude for his advice, but made no pretence of following it. for her aunt, queen adelaide, the princess victoria had always felt a strong affection; and though it can hardly be said that this gentle and benevolent lady exercised any great influence over her more vigorous and impetuous niece, yet the letters will testify to the closeness of the tie which united them. [pageheading: queen adelaide] queen adelaide was the eldest child of george, duke of saxe-meiningen; her mother was a princess of hohenlohe-langenburg. at the age of twenty-six she was married to the duke of clarence, then in his fifty-third year, without any preliminary courtship. they lived for a year in hanover, and then principally at bushey park. two daughters were born to them, the elder of whom lived only a few hours; the younger, princess elizabeth, died in the first year of her age. their married life was a happy one, in spite of the disparity of age. queen adelaide was a woman of a deeply affectionate disposition, sensible, sympathetic, and religious. she had a very definite ideal of the duties of a wife and a queen; she made it her pleasure to meet and anticipate, as far as possible, her husband's wishes; and her husband, hasty and choleric though he was, repaid her with tender affection. to such an extent did the queen merge her views in those of her husband, that she passed at one time through a period of general unpopularity. it was believed that she was adverse to reform, and used her influence against it. she was mobbed in the streets at the time when the reform agitation was at its height; and it is said that when the melbourne ministry of was dismissed, london was (owing to an unjustifiable communication of lord brougham to the _times_) placarded with posters bearing the words, "the queen has done it all!" it is a pathetic instance of the irony of fate that queen adelaide should have thus been supposed to desire to take an active part in politics. it is obvious, from her letters, that she had practically no political views at all, except a gentle distrust of all proposed changes, social or political. her one idea of her position as queen was to agree with any expression of opinion that fell from the king. she was fond of music, and took a deep interest in her religious duties and in all that concerned the welfare of the protestant communion. but apart from this, her interests were entirely domestic and personal, and her letters reveal her character in the most amiable light. her devotion to the king, and the tender and respectful diffidence with which she welcomed her niece to the throne, show a very sweet nature. the rest of her life, after king william's death, was passed to a great extent under invalid conditions, though she was only forty-four at the time of her niece's accession. she travelled a good deal in search of health, and lived a quiet life in england, surrounded by a small but devoted circle of friends and relations. her personal popularity with the nation became very great, not only for the simple kindliness of her life, but for her splendid munificence; it is said that her public subscriptions often exceeded £ , a year. she died in december . queen victoria was very much attached to her gentle, simple-minded, and tender-hearted aunt, and treated her with the utmost consideration and an almost daughterly affection. [pageheading: baroness lehzen] another person who had a large share in forming the queen's character was louise lehzen, the daughter of a hanoverian clergyman, who came to england as governess to princess feodore of leiningen, queen victoria's half-sister, shortly before the queen's birth. in she became governess to the princess victoria. in george iv. conferred upon her the rank of a hanoverian baroness. when the duchess of northumberland, in , was appointed the princess's official governess, she remained as lady in attendance. the princess was devoted to her, but "greatly in awe of her." she remained at court after the accession till , without holding an official position, and then returned to germany, where she died in . [pageheading: baron stockmar] baron stockmar was another of the interesting personalities who came into very close contact with the queen in her early years. he was forty-nine at the time of the accession, but he had come to england more than twenty years before as private physician to prince leopold. he endeared himself to the princess charlotte, who died holding his hand. he afterwards became prince leopold's private secretary, and took a prominent part as the prince's representative in the successive negotiations with regard to his candidature for the thrones of greece and belgium. upon the accession of queen victoria, stockmar joined the court in a private capacity, and for fifteen months he held an unofficial position as her chief adviser. there was a general feeling of dislike in the minds of the english public to the german influences that were supposed to be brought to bear on the queen; and lord melbourne found it necessary to make a public and categorical denial of the statement that stockmar was acting as the queen's private secretary. but the statement, if not technically, was virtually true. stockmar lived at court, had interviews with the queen and her ministers, and though he industriously endeavoured to efface himself, yet there is no doubt that he was consulted on most important questions. in , he had been entrusted by king leopold, with the queen's knowledge and consent, with a mission of great delicacy: he was asked to accompany prince albert on a tour in italy, with the idea of completing his education, and in order to satisfy himself that the prince would be a worthy consort for the queen. this task he discharged admirably, and became the most confidential and trusted of all the prince's friends. there are many letters of stockmar's to the prince extant, which prove that stockmar never shrank from speaking the plainest truth to the prince on matters of duty and faults of temperament, without any courtier-like attempt to blink criticism that might have been unpalatable. the prince had the generosity and humility to value this trait of stockmar's very highly, to such an extent that stockmar's influence possessed if anything too great a preponderance. stockmar had jealously nursed two profound political ideals--the unity of germany under prussia, and the establishment of close relations between germany and england. he induced prince albert, heavily burdened as he was with work, to devote almost too much time and thought to the former of these aims. stockmar was a profound student of social and constitutional questions. he had made a close study of english political institutions; but though he grasped the constitutional theory of the english throne, and saw that the first necessity for the sovereign was to hold a position independent of party, he never clearly understood that the monarch should keep as far as possible clear of political details. stockmar's view of the position was that the sovereign should be practically premier as well; and much of the jealousy that was felt, on various occasions, at the position which prince albert assumed with regard to political situations, is referable to stockmar's influence. he was a very able man, with immense political knowledge, and without personal ambition; lord palmerston, who was no friend to stockmar's theory of government, admitted that he was the most disinterested man he had ever encountered. stockmar's ambition was to achieve his own political ideals, and to modify the course of events in what he conceived to be beneficial directions; he was entirely indifferent to the trappings of power, and this very disinterestedness made his influence more supreme. he suffered all his life from feeble health and a hypochondriacal tendency, and was genuinely fond of retirement and quiet life. he certainly deserved the devoted confidence reposed in him by prince albert and the queen; it may perhaps be questioned whether his own _doctrinaire_ bias did not make itself too strongly felt, in the minuteness with which prince albert dealt with english politics; but the net result of his influence was that the danger, which lies in wait for strictly constitutional sovereigns, was averted--the danger, that is, of leaving the administration of state affairs in the hands of specialists, and depriving it of the wise control and independent criticism which only the crown can adequately supply. introductory note to chapter iv queen victoria, from the very first, took great pleasure in filing the correspondence addressed to her. there are many volumes of letters received from her various relations. we have thought it best to give some of queen adelaide's early letters; they indicate in a remarkable manner the growing estrangement between king william iv. and the duchess of kent. in the earlier letters the king enquires very affectionately after the duchess, and constant mention is made of presents sent to her; but the references made to her become less frequent and colder, till at last the king contents himself with sending messages only to the princess. but the letters of queen adelaide are always written in a strain of touching devotion and affection, and reveal her as a woman of large heart and great simplicity of character. [pageheading: king leopold] but the most interesting series of letters are the queen's own correspondence with king leopold, of which several hundred are preserved. the letters, too, received by her from the king of the belgians are preserved in their entirety. the letters which the queen wrote to king leopold are of extraordinary interest; she kept up an unbroken correspondence with him, and spoke freely of all that was in her mind. two points are worthy of special mention: though she was early convinced of the necessity of holding an independent constitutional position in politics she mentions the tory party with undisguised mistrust; and further, the name of king william hardly ever occurs until his last illness. king leopold's early letters reveal his character in the most amiable light. he familiarised the queen with all the complicated details of foreign politics; he gave her the most sensible and wise advice; he warned and encouraged her; he answered her enquiries with the minutest care: and the warm affection to which he gave frequent expression is a very sacred and beautiful thing to contemplate. we have selected several of the princess victoria's letters to the king of the belgians before her accession, because they throw a remarkable light upon her temperament. in the first place, they reveal the deep affectionateness of her character, and, what is still more remarkable at her age, her frankness and outspokenness in expressing her feelings. in the second place, they show with what interest and eagerness the princess was following the course of foreign politics. her view was naturally a personal one, but it may be said that there can have been very few, if any, girls in england, of the princess's age, who were taking any interest at all in continental affairs. it is true that king leopold had early impressed upon the princess that it was a duty to become acquainted with the course of current events; but the letters show that the interest she felt was congenial and innate, and did not spring from a sense of duty. the allusions to home politics are not so frequent, but still show that here also her attention was alert. thirdly, they reveal her abounding vitality, her love of life and amusement, her devotion to music, and the simple unspoilt zest with which she threw herself into all that surrounded her. there is a special interest which attaches to the correspondence between queen victoria and king leopold after the accession. the letters reveal, as no other documents could do, the monarchical point of view. however intimate may be the relations between a sovereign and a subject, there is bound to appear a certain discretion, and even condescension, on the one hand, and on the other a due degree of deference. but here we have the remarkable spectacle of two monarchs, both of eminent sagacity, and both, so to speak, frankly interested in the task of constitutional government, corresponding freely on all the difficulties and problems inseparable from their momentous task, and with an immense sense of their weighty responsibilities. it is impossible to exaggerate the deep and abiding interest of such a correspondence; and the seriousness, the devotion, the public spirit that are displayed, without affectation or calculated impressiveness, make the whole series of letters singularly memorable. the king of the belgians had married princess louise of orleans, daughter of louis philippe, in . she was only seven years older than the princess victoria, who grew to regard her with the tenderest affection. the letters from queen louise are very numerous. a few are in french, but they are mostly written in brisk, lively english, not always very correct, either in construction or in spelling. they are full of small family details--the movements of various relations, the improvement in her brothers' looks, court festivities, the childish ailments of her little boys, the journeys and expeditions, recollections of windsor, their visitors, elaborate descriptions of dresses--interesting to read, but difficult to select from. they are full of heart-felt expressions of the sincerest affection for "your dear majesty," a quaint phrase that often occurs. [pageheading: prince albert] after their marriage in , prince albert naturally became the queen's confidential secretary. a close study of the queen's correspondence reveals the character of the prince in a way which nothing else could effect. traces of his untiring labour, his conscientious vigilance, his singular devotedness, appear on every page. there are innumerable memoranda in his own hand; the papers are throughout arranged and annotated by him; nothing seems to have escaped him, nothing to have dismayed him. as an instance of the minute laboriousness which characterised the royal household, it may be mentioned that there are many copies of important letters, forwarded to the prince for his perusal, the originals of which had to be returned, written not only by the prince himself, but by the queen under his direction. but besides keeping a vigilant eye upon politics, the prince took the lead in all social and educational movements of the time, as well as devoting a close and continuous attention to the affairs of europe in general, and germany in particular. it is obvious from the papers that the prince can hardly ever have taken a holiday; many hours of every day must have been devoted by him to work; yet he was at the same time a tender husband and father, always ready with advice and sympathy, and devoted to quiet domestic life. after the queen's marriage the correspondence becomes far more voluminous. it is difficult to exaggerate the amount of conscientious labour bestowed by the queen and the prince consort on all matters which concerned the welfare of the nation. the number of documents which passed through their hands, and which were carefully studied by them, was prodigious. the drafts of the queen's replies to letters are in many cases in the handwriting of the prince consort, but dated by herself, and often containing interlinear corrections and additions of her own. whether the queen indicated the lines of the replies, whether she dictated the substance of them, or whether they contain the result of a discussion on the particular matter, cannot be precisely ascertained. but they contain so many phrases and turns of expression which are characteristic of her outspoken temperament, that it is clear that she not only followed every detail, but that the substance of the communication bore in most cases the impress of her mind. a considerable number of the drafts again are in her own hand, with interlinear corrections and additions by the prince; and these so strongly resemble in style the drafts in the handwriting of the prince, that it is clear that the queen did not merely accept suggestions, but that she had a strong opinion of her own on important matters, and that this opinion was duly expressed. one fact must, however, be borne in mind. it happens in many cases that a correspondence on some particular point seems to be about to lead up to a definite conclusion, but that the salient and decisive document is absent. in these cases it is clear that the matter was settled at a personal interview; in many cases the prince prepared a memorandum of an important interview; but there are a considerable number of such correspondences, where no record is preserved of the eventual solution, and this incompleteness is regrettable, but, by the nature of the case, inevitable. [pageheading: leading statesmen in ] the young queen, on coming to the throne, had little technical knowledge of the details of diplomacy, but she already had a real and intelligent acquaintance with foreign affairs, though it was rather personal than political, and, as we have seen, was more inspired by her interest in the fortunes and position of her numerous maternal relations than by the political views of her paternal relatives. among the english statesmen of the day there were few who were qualified to help and instruct her. the two men who for over twenty years alternately guided the foreign policy of the country were lord aberdeen and lord palmerston. they represented two opposed schools. lord aberdeen, a peelite, was naturally and by tradition inclined to desire harmonious relations with all foreign powers, and to abstain, as far as was consistent with maintaining british interests, from any sort of intervention in european affairs; palmerston was a disciple of canning, who had definitely broken with the principles of the congress of vienna, and openly avowed his approval of a policy of intervention, to any extent short of actual war, in the interests of liberty and good government. the only other man who had any title to speak with authority on foreign affairs was the duke of wellington, who had held the seals as foreign secretary for a few months in and . he had, however, lost much of the reputation for political sagacity which he had held at the time when he was the arbiter of europe and virtual ruler of france. moreover, being, as he was, a much occupied man, with varied business to transact, and at the mercy of his almost excessive conscientiousness, he held himself to a considerable extent aloof from current politics, though he never lost his absorbing interest in continental affairs. chapter iv - [the first letter ever received by queen victoria appears to be the following little note, written by the duchess of clarence, afterwards queen adelaide, in may , when the princess entered upon her third year. it is pathetic to recollect that the duchess's surviving child, princess elizabeth, had died, aged three months, in march of the same year.] my dear little heart,--i hope you are well and don't forget aunt adelaide, who loves you so fondly. loulou and wilhelm[ ] desire their love to you, and uncle william also. god bless and preserve you is the constant prayer of your most truly affectionate aunt, adelaide. [footnote : princess louise and prince william of saxe-weimar, children of duchess ida of saxe-weimar (sister of the duchess of clarence). they were the eldest brother and sister of prince edward of saxe-weimar.] _the duchess of clarence to the princess victoria._ _ th may ._ uncle william and aunt adelaide send their love to _dear little victoria_ with their best wishes on her birthday, and hope that she will now become a _very good girl_, being now _three years old_. uncle william and aunt adelaide also beg little victoria to give dear mamma and to dear sissi[ ] a kiss in their name, and to aunt augusta,[ ] aunt mary[ ] and aunt sophia[ ] too, and also to the _big doll_. uncle william and aunt adelaide are very sorry to be absent on that day and not to see their _dear, dear_ little victoria, as they are sure she will be very good and obedient to dear mamma on that day, and on many, many others. they also hope that dear little victoria will not forget them and know them again when uncle and aunt return. to dear little xandrina victoria. [footnote : princess feodore, the queen's half-sister.] [footnote : augusta, daughter of frederick, landgrave of hesse-cassel, wife of the duke of cambridge.] [footnote : princess mary, a daughter of george iii., married to her cousin the duke of gloucester.] [footnote : princess sophia, daughter of george iii.] [pageheading: early letters] [the following is the earliest letter preserved of the long series written by the queen to king (then prince) leopold. the princess was then nine years old.] kensington palace, _ th november ._ my dearest uncle,--i wish you many happy returns of your birthday; i very often think of you, and i hope to see you soon again, for i am very fond of you. i see my aunt sophia[ ] often, who looks very well, and is very well. i use every day your pretty soup-basin. is it very warm in italy? it is so mild here, that i go out every day. mama is tolerable well and am quite well. your affectionate niece, victoria. _p.s._--i am very angry with you, uncle, for you have never written to me once since you went, and that is a long while. [footnote : princess sophia, daughter of george iii.] _prince leopold_[ ] _to the princess victoria._ paris, _ th april ._ my dearest love,--though in a few days i hope to have the happiness of seeing you, still i wish to recall myself even before that time to your recollection, and to tell you how delighted i shall be to embrace my dearest little child. i have travelled far over the world and shall be able to give you some curious information about various matters. stockmar, who was very ill, and whom i despaired of seeing here, did arrive before yesterday,[ ] and you may guess what pleasure it gave me. now i will conclude; _au revoir_, and let me find you grown, blooming, and kind to your old and faithful uncle, leopold. [footnote : afterwards king of the belgians.] [footnote : i.e. _avant hier_.] [pageheading: birthday letters] _the princess hohenlohe[ ] to the princess victoria._ [_may ._] if i had wings and could fly like a bird, i should fly in at your window like the little robin to-day, and wish you many very happy returns of the th, and tell you how i love you, dearest sister, and how often i think of you and long to see you. i think if i were once with you again i could not leave you so soon. i should wish to stay with you, and what would poor ernest[ ] say if i were to leave him so long? he would perhaps try to fly after me, but i fear he would not get far; he is rather tall and heavy for flying. so you see i have nothing left to do but to write to you, and wish you in this way all possible happiness and joy for this and many, many years to come. i hope you will spend a very merry birthday. how i wish to be with you, dearest victoire, on that day! i have not thanked you, i believe, for a very dear letter you have written to me, which gave me the greatest pleasure. your descriptions of the plays you had seen amused me very much. i wish i had seen your performance too. your most affectionate sister, feodore. [footnote : the princess feodore of leiningen, the queen's half-sister, had married, in january , the prince (ernest) of hohenlohe-langenburg.] _the duchess of clarence to the princess victoria._ bushey park, _ th august ._ a thousand thanks to you, dear victoria, for your very nice and well-written letter full of good wishes, which i had the pleasure to receive yesterday; and many thanks more for the pretty gifts your dear mamma has sent me in your name. i wore them last night for your sake, dearest child, and thought of you _very often_. it gives me great satisfaction to hear that you are enjoying the sea air and like the place which you now occupy. i wish i could pay your mamma a visit there and see you again, my dear little niece, for i long to have that pleasure, and must resign myself at being deprived of it some time longer. your uncle desires to be most kindly remembered to you, and hopes to receive soon also a letter from you, of whom he is as fond as i am. we speak of you very often, and trust that you will always consider us to be amongst your best friends.... god bless you, my dear victoria, is always the prayer of your most truly affectionate aunt, adelaide. _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ brussels, _ nd may ._ my dearest love,--let me offer you my _sincerest_ and _best_ wishes on the return of the anniversary of your birthday. may heaven protect and prosper you, and shower all its best blessings on you. time flies: it is now thirteen years that you came into the world of trouble; i therefore can hardly venture to call you any longer a little princess. this will make you feel, my dear love, that you must give your attention more and more to graver matters. by the dispensation of providence you are destined to fill a most eminent station; to fill it _well_ must now become your study. a good heart and a trusty and honourable character are amongst the most indispensable qualifications for that position. you will always find in your uncle that faithful friend which he has proved to you from your earliest infancy, and whenever you feel yourself in want of support or advice, call on him with perfect confidence. if circumstances permitted my leaving ostend early to-morrow morning, i should be able to place myself my birthday present into your fair hair; as this happiness has not fallen to my lot, your excellent mother has promised to act as my representative. you will probably have little time to spare. i therefore conclude with the assurance of the sincere attachment and affection with which i shall ever be, my dearest love, your faithful and devoted friend and uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: the queen of the belgians] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken,[ ] _ st august ._ my dearest love,--you told me you wished to have a description of your new aunt.[ ] i therefore shall both mentally and physically describe her to you. she is extremely gentle and amiable, her actions are always guided by principles. she is at all times ready and disposed to sacrifice her comfort and inclinations to see others happy. she values goodness, merit, and virtue much more than beauty, riches, and amusements. with all this she is highly informed and very clever; she speaks and writes english, german and italian; she speaks english very well indeed. in short, my dear love, you see that i may well recommend her as an example for all young ladies, being princesses or not. now to her appearance. she is about feodore's height, her hair very fair, light blue eyes, of a very gentle, intelligent and kind expression. a bourbon nose and small mouth. the figure is much like feodore's but rather less stout. she rides very well, which she proved to my great alarm the other day, by keeping her seat though a horse of mine ran away with her full speed for at least half a mile. what she does particularly well is dancing. music unfortunately she is not very fond of, though she plays on the harp; i believe there is some idleness in the case. there exists already great confidence and affection between us; she is desirous of doing everything that can contribute to my happiness, and i study whatever can make her happy and contented. you will see by these descriptions that though my good little wife is not the tallest queen, she is a very great prize which i highly value and cherish.... now it is time i should finish my letter. say everything that is kind to good lehzen, and believe me ever, my dearest love, your faithful friend and uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the royal palace, four miles from brussels, which napoleon owned for many years. a monument to king leopold now stands there.] [footnote : louise marie, princess of orleans, daughter of king louis philippe of france, was married to king leopold on th august .] [pageheading: a birthday letter] [pageheading: valuable advice] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ st may ._ my dearest love,--to make quite sure of my birthday congratulations reaching you on that day, i send them by to-day's messenger, and confide them to the care of your illustrious mother. my sincere good wishes for many happy returns of that day which gave you, dear little soul, to us, will be accompanied by some few reflections, which the serious aspect of our times calls forth. my dearest love, you are now fourteen years old, a period when the delightful pastimes of childhood must be mixed with thoughts appertaining already to a matured part of your life. i know that you have been very studious, but now comes the time when the judgment must form itself, when the character requires attention; in short when the young tree takes the shape which it retains afterwards through life. to attain this object it is indispensable to give some little time _to reflection_. the life in a great town is little calculated for such purposes; however, with some firmness of purpose it can be done. _self-examination_ is the most important part of the business, and a very useful mode of proceeding is, for instance, every evening to recapitulate the events of the day, and the motives which made one act oneself, as well as to try to guess what might have been the motives of others. amiable dispositions like yours will easily perceive if your own motives _were good_. persons in high situations must particularly guard themselves against selfishness and vanity. an individual in a high and important situation will easily see a great many persons eager to please the first, and to flatter and encourage the last. selfishness, however, makes the individual itself miserable, and is the cause of constant disappointment, besides being the surest means of being disliked by everybody. vanity, on the other hand, is generally artfully used by ambitious and interested people to make one a tool for purposes of their own, but too often in opposition with one's own happiness and destruction of it. to learn to know oneself, to judge oneself with truth and impartiality, must be the great objects of one's exertion; they are only attainable by constant and cool self-examination. the position of what is generally called great people has of late become extremely difficult. they are more attacked and calumniated, and judged with less indulgence than private individuals. what they have lost in this way, they have not by any means regained in any other. ever since the revolution of they are much less secure than they used to be, and the transition from sovereign power to _absolute want_ has been as frequent as sudden. it becomes, therefore, necessary that the character should be so formed as not to be intoxicated by greatness and success, nor cast down by misfortune. to be able to do so, one must be able to appreciate things according to their real value, and particularly avoid giving to trifles an undue importance. nothing is so great and clear a proof of unfitness for greater and nobler actions, than a mind which is seriously occupied with trifles. trifling matters may be objects of amusement and relaxation to a clever person, but only a weak mind and a mean spirit consider trifles as important. the good sense must show itself by distinguishing what is and what is not important. my sermon is now long enough, my dear child. i strongly recommend it, however, to your reflection and consideration. my gift consists in a set of views of the former kingdom of the netherlands, out of which you will be able to discover all those of the present belgium. let me soon hear from you; and may god bless and preserve you. ever, my dear love, your affectionate uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: visit to hever castle] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ tunbridge wells, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--allow me to write you a few words, to express how thankful i am for the very kind letter you wrote me. it made me, though, very sad to think that all our hopes of seeing you, which we cherished so long, this year, were over. i had so hoped and wished to have seen you again, my _beloved_ uncle, and to have made dearest aunt louisa's acquaintance. i am delighted to hear that dear aunt has benefited from the sea air and bathing. we had a very pretty party to hever castle yesterday, which perhaps you remember, where anne boleyn used to live, _before she lost her head_. we drove there, and rode home. it was a most beautiful day. we have very good accounts from dear feodore, who will, by this time, be at langenburg. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your very affectionate and dutiful niece, victoria. [pageheading: historical reading] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th october ._ my dearest love,--i am happy to learn that tunbridge wells has done you good. health is the first and most important gift of providence; without it we are poor, miserable creatures, though the whole earth were our property; therefore i trust that you will take great care of your own. i feel convinced that air and exercise are most useful for you. in your leisure moments i hope that you study a little; history is what i think the most important study for you. it will be difficult for you to learn human-kind's ways and manners otherwise than from that important source of knowledge. your position will more or less render practical knowledge extremely difficult for you, till you get old, and still if you do not prepare yourself for your position, you may become the victim of wicked and designing people, particularly at a period when party spirit runs so high. our times resemble most those of the protestant reformation; then people were moved by religious opinions, as they now undoubtedly are by political passions. unfortunately history is rarely written by those who really were the chief movers of events, nor free from a party colouring; this is particularly the case in the works about english history. in that respect france is much richer, because there we have authenticated memoirs of some of the most important men, and of others who really saw what passed and wrote it down at the time. political feelings, besides, rarely created _permanent_ parties like those in england, with the exception, perhaps, of the great distinctions of catholics and protestants. what i most should recommend is the period before the accession of henry iv. of france to the throne, then the events after his death till the end of the minority of louis xiv.; after that period, though interesting, matters have a character which is more personal, and therefore less applicable to the present times. still even that period may be studied with some profit to get knowledge of mankind. _intrigues_ and _favouritism_ were the chief features of that period, and madame de maintenon's immense influence was very nearly the cause of the destruction of france. what i very particularly recommend to you is to study in the memoirs of the great and good sully[ ] the last years of the reign of henry iv. of france, and the events which followed his assassination. if you have not got the work, i will forward it to you from hence, or give you the edition which i must have at claremont. as my paper draws to a close, i shall finish also by giving you my best blessings, and remain ever, my dearest love, your faithfully attached friend and uncle, leopold r. [footnote : maximilien, duc de sully, was henry's minister of finance. a curious feature of the memoirs is the fact that they are written in the second person: the historian recounts the hero's adventures to him.] [pageheading: the princess's reading] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ tunbridge wells, _ nd october ._ my dearest uncle,--you cannot conceive how happy you have made me, by your very kind letter, which, instead of tiring, delights me beyond everything. i must likewise say how very grateful i feel for the kind and excellent advice you gave me in it. for the autographs i beg to return my best thanks. they are most valuable and interesting, and will be great additions to my collections. as i have not got sully's memoirs, i shall be delighted if you will be so good as to give them to me. reading history is one of my greatest delights, and perhaps, dear uncle, you might like to know which books in that line i am now reading. in my lessons with the dean of chester,[ ] i am reading russell's _modern europe_,[ ] which is very interesting, and clarendon's _history of the rebellion_. it is drily written, but is full of instruction. i like reading different authors, of different opinions, by which means i learn not to lean on one particular side. besides my lessons, i read jones'[ ] account of the wars in spain, portugal and the south of france, from the year till . it is well done, i think, and amuses me very much. in french, i am now in _la rivalité de la france et de l'espagne_, par gaillard,[ ] which is very interesting. i have also begun rollin.[ ] i am very fond of making tables of the kings and queens, as i go on, and i have lately finished one of the english sovereigns and their consorts, as, of course, the history of my own country is one of my first duties. i should be fearful of tiring you with so long an account of myself, were i not sure you take so great an interest in my welfare. pray give my most affectionate love to _dearest_ aunt louisa, and please say to the queen of the french and the two princesses how grateful i am for their kind remembrance of me. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your very affectionate, very dutiful, and most attached niece, victoria. [footnote : the rev. george davys. see _ante_, p. . (ch. ii, footnote )] [footnote : this _history of modern europe_, in a series of letters from a nobleman to his son, vols. ( - ), deals with the rise of modern kingdoms down to the peace of westphalia ( ).] [footnote : sir john thomas jones, bart. ( - ), a royal engineer, who served in the peninsular war.] [footnote : gabriel henri gaillard ( - ), member of the french academy.] [footnote : the _histoire ancienne_, by charles rollin ( - ), rector of the university of paris.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ st. leonards, _ th november ._ my dearest uncle,--it is impossible for me to express how happy you have made me by writing so soon again to me, and how pleased i am to see by your very kind letter that you intend to write to me often. i am much obliged to you, dear uncle, for the extract about queen anne, but must beg you, as you have sent me to show what a queen _ought not_ to be, that you will send me what a queen _ought to be_.[ ] might i ask what is the very pretty seal with which the letter i got from you yesterday was closed? it is so peculiar that i am anxious to know. believe me always, dear uncle, your very affectionate, very dutiful, and very attached niece, victoria. [footnote : king leopold had sent the princess an extract from a french memoir, containing a severe criticism of the political character of queen anne.] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ nd december ._ my dearest love,--you have written a very clever, sharp little letter the other day, which gave me great pleasure. sure enough, when i show you what a queen ought not to be, i also ought to tell you what she should be, and this task i will very conscientiously take upon myself on the very first occasion which may offer itself for a confidential communication. now i must conclude, to go to town. i must, however, say that i have given orders to send you sully's memoirs. as they have not been written exclusively for young ladies, it will be well to have lehzen to read it with you, and to judge what ought to be left for some future time. and now god bless you! ever, my beloved child, your attached friend and uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: a new year greeting] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ st. leonards, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--i must again, with your permission, write you a few lines, to wish you a very happy new year, not only for _this_ year, but for _many_ to come. i know not how to thank you sufficiently for the _invaluable_ and precious autographs which you were so very kind as to send me. some of them i received a few days ago, and the others to-day, accompanied by a very kind letter from you, and a beautiful shawl, which will be most useful to me, particularly as a favourite one of mine is growing very old. i wish you could come here, for many reasons, but also to be an eye-witness of my extreme prudence in eating, which would astonish you. the poor sea-gulls are, however, not so happy as you imagine, for they have great enemies in the country-people here, who take pleasure in shooting them. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your very affectionate and most grateful niece, victoria. _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ kensington palace, _ nd february ._ my dearest uncle,--i know not how to thank you sufficiently for the most valuable autographs you were kind enough to send me. i am particularly delighted with that of louis quatorze, "le grand roi," and my great admiration.... you will not, i hope, think me very troublesome if i venture to ask for two more autographs which i should very particularly like to have; they are mme. de sévigné's[ ] and racine's; as i am reading the letters of the former, and the tragedies of the latter, i should prize them highly. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your most affectionate and dutiful niece, victoria. [footnote : marie de rabutin chantal, marquise de sévigné, born . at twenty-four she was left a widow, and devoted herself to her children's education. when her daughter married the count de grignan, she began that correspondence with her on which her reputation chiefly rests. she died in , and the letters were first published in .] [pageheading: the princess's confirmation] [pageheading: honesty and sincerity] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ camp of beverloo (in the north of the province of limburg), _ rd august ._ my dear love,--by your mother's letter of the st ult^o., i learned of the serious and important action in your young life[ ] which has passed recently, and i cannot let it pass without saying some words on the subject. i am perhaps rather strangely situated for a preaching--somewhat in the style of those old camp preachers who held forth to many thousand people on some heath in scotland. i am also on an immense heath, surrounded by , men, mostly young and gay, cooking, singing, working, and not very like the stern old covenanters; however, i shall try. first of all, let me congratulate you that it passed happily and well off. secondly, let me entreat you to look with a serious and reflective mind on the day which is past. many are the religions, many the shades of those religions, but it must be confessed the principles of the christian religion are the most perfect and the most beautiful that can be imagined.... there is one virtue which is particularly christian; this is the knowledge of our own heart in _real humility_. _hypocrisy_ is a besetting sin of all times, but _particularly of the present_, and many are the wolves in sheep's clothes. i am sorry to say, with all my affection for old england, the very _state of its society and politics_ renders many in that country _essentially humbugs and deceivers_; the _appearance_ of the thing is generally _more_ considered than the _reality_; provided matters go off well, and opinion may be gained, the _real good is matter of the most perfect indifference_. defend yourself, my dear love, against this system; let your dear character always be true and loyal; this does not _exclude prudence_--worldly concerns are now unfortunately so organised that you _must be cautious_ or you may injure yourself and others--but it does not prevent the being sterling and true. nothing in persons gives greater reliance, greater weight, than when they are known to be _true_. from your earliest childhood i was anxious to see in you this important virtue _saved_ and _developed_, and lehzen will still be able to recollect that. if it is god's pleasure that you should once[ ] fill the arduous situation to which you seem destined, you will find the importance of what i now say to you. and when others may tremble to have at last their real character found out, and to meet all the contempt which they may deserve, your mind and heart will be still and happy, because it will know that it acts honestly, that truth and goodness are the motives of its actions. i press you now against my heart; may god bless you as i wish and hope it, and may you always feel some affection for your sincerely devoted camp preacher and uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the princess was confirmed at the chapel royal, on th july .] [footnote : king leopold not infrequently uses "once" like the latin _olim_, as referring to any indefinite date in the future as well as in the past. "some day" is what is intended here.] introductory note to chapter v the year was not an eventful one at home; the whig ministry were too weak to carry measures of first-rate importance, and could hardly have maintained themselves in power against the formidable opposition of sir robert peel without the support of o'connell. parliament was chiefly occupied by the consideration of the secret societies in ireland, tithes, municipal corporations, and such matters; the marriage act, and the act for the registration of births have probably been the most important measures of the year to the country. troubles which were destined to become more acute arose in lower canada and jamaica, both taking the form of disputes between the executive and the legislature. on the continent of europe, affairs were more disturbing. several attempts were made on the life of the king of the french, while an abortive insurrection with a view of establishing a military empire was made by louis bonaparte at strasburg. the prince was allowed to leave the country and go to the united states, but his accomplices were detained for trial. in algiers the french government determined to prosecute operations against the arab chief abd-el-kader, and they sent an expedition to constantin. holland and belgium were occupied with a dispute about their boundary line, the cession to belgium of luxemburg being the chief point of difference. the difficulties that arose in passing an important municipal act for belgium caused king leopold temporarily to regret he had not accepted the throne of greece. portugal was still convulsed by revolutionary agitation. dom pedro, the eldest son of king john vi., had been proclaimed emperor of brazil in his father's lifetime, and had abdicated the throne of portugal in favour of his daughter donna maria, a child seven years old, while dom miguel, his younger brother, who had acted in opposition to his father in portugal, claimed the throne for himself. dom pedro had agreed that his daughter should marry miguel, who was in appointed regent. miguel, had he acted wisely, might have maintained himself on the throne, but dom pedro, who had been expelled from brazil by a revolution, took active steps to recover the portuguese throne for his daughter, and equipped an expedition for that end with english and french volunteers. in this way, donna maria, who had spent part of her exile in england, and formed a friendship with the princess victoria, was through british instrumentality placed on her throne, but still could only maintain herself with difficulty against miguel. she was a few weeks older than the princess victoria, and had recently lost her first husband, the duc de leuchtenberg. she was married by proxy on the st of january , and in person on the th of april, to prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg. there was also a disputed succession in spain, where by the ancient law women might succeed to the throne. ferdinand vii., who had revoked the pragmatic sanction of and restored the former system, died in , leaving no son. his elder daughter isabella, then three years of age, was proclaimed queen (her mother christina being appointed regent), and isabella's claims were recognised by england and france. the late king's brother, don carlos, taking his stand upon the salic law as established by the pragmatic sanction, raised the standard of revolt and allied himself with dom miguel, the young queens maria and isabella mutually recognising each other, and being supported by france and england against the "holy alliance" of austria, russia, and prussia. a seven years' civil war resulted, which did not end till, from sheer exhaustion, the carlists had to cease fighting the christinos, as the loyal party was called. the english government in the previous year had sanctioned the enlistment of , men; who, commanded by colonel (afterwards sir de lacy) evans, landed at san sebastian in august to assist the christinos. a british auxiliary contingent was already with the spanish army, while a naval squadron under lord john hay was active on the coast. mendizabal was prime minister at the beginning of the year , and was succeeded in may by isturitz. riots took place at madrid, and isturitz fled to france; calatrava succeeding him, assisted by mendizabal. the christino cause did not much advance during the year. chapter v _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ _ th march ._ my dearly beloved child,--you wrote me again a long, _dear_, _good_ letter, like all those which i received from your kind hands. time approaches now for the arrival of the cousins, and most probably of your uncle ferdinand also. he has informed me of his arrival for the th or th; notwithstanding this, i mean to leave everything settled as it has been arranged. they will set off on the th, arrive at paris on the th, and leave it again on the th.... fernando[ ] has still a very bad cold; change of air is likely to cure that. the stay here has done fernando a great deal of good, and it cannot be denied that he is quite another person. it has given me some trouble, but i have written down for him everything which he ought to know about the organisation of a government _in general_, and what will be necessary in specie to carry on successfully the government in portugal.... my inclinations, as you are aware, would have led me to the east, but certainly the only thing which reconciles me with my not having done so is that it has made me to remain near you, and will enable me to see you and to be useful to you. [footnote : the queen's first cousin, prince ferdinand (son of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, who was brother of the duchess of kent and the king of the belgians), aged nineteen, who married the queen of portugal on th april. he was at this time visiting the king of the belgians on his way to portugal.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ kensington palace, _ th march ._ ... you are very kind, my dearest, best uncle, to say that "the only thing which reconciles you" for not having gone to greece is, that you are near me and can see me. thank heaven that you did not go there! it would have been dreadful for me and for all your relations to be thus, as it were, cut off from almost all intercourse! it is _hard_ enough, that you are as far as you are, when i recollect the happy time when i could see you, and be with you, _every_ day!... _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ kensington palace, _ th march ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... as concerning the "fatigues" we are said to have undergone, they were none to me, and made me very happy; i only wish they could have lasted longer, for all, all is over now, and our _beloved_ ferdinand[ ] himself leaves our shores this _very_ morning. we accompanied them all on sunday, where we took a final leave of our dear ferdinand, and i cannot tell you how sorry i was, and am, to see him go, for i love him dearly. he is so truly excellent, kind, and good, and endears himself so much by his simplicity and good-heartedness! i may venture to say, that no one has his prosperity and happiness more at heart than i have. i am extremely sanguine about his success. he goes there full of courage, spirits, and goodwill, and being naturally clever and observant, i doubt not that with good counsel, and prudence, he will do very well. _your_ kind advice will be of the greatest and most important use to him, the more so as he is so exceedingly fond of you.... ferdinand leaves behind him here a most favourable impression on all parties, for _i_ have even _heard_ from some great tories themselves that there was a great feeling _for_ him in this country. [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. v, footnote ). he had latterly been visiting the duchess of kent.] [pageheading: the princes ernest and albert] _the princess hohenlohe to the princess victoria._ stuttgart, _ th april ._ ... you will like our two coburg cousins also, i think; they are more manly than i think the two others are, after the description. i am very fond of them both. ernest is my favourite, although albert is much handsomer, and cleverer too, but ernest is so honest and good-natured. i shall be very curious to hear your opinion upon them.... _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ kensington palace, _ th april ._ my dearest, best uncle,-- ... you will, i am sure, have been delighted with m. de neumann's[ ] account of the complete success of our dear ferdinand. all has gone off better than even our most sanguine hopes could have desired. he is much pleased with the good queen, and she is delighted with him, and m. de neumann says that they are already quite happy together. this is really a great blessing, but i fear that all the _exterior_ affairs are not in quite _so_ good a state. i hope, however, that the good people will not make any more difficulties about fernando's being commander-in-chief, as i hear from all accounts it is necessary he should be so.... uncle ernest and my cousins will probably come here in the beginning of next month, i hear, and will visit you on their return. you ask me about sully's memoirs, and if i have finished them. i have not finished them, but am reading them with great interest, and find there is a great deal in them which applies to the present times, and a great deal of good advice and reasoning in them. as you say, very truly, it is extremely necessary for me to follow the "events of the day," and to do so impartially. i am always both grateful and happy when you give me any advice, and hope you will continue to do so as long as i live. i am glad to hear you approve my singing, and i cannot tell you how delightful it would be for me, if you could join with us. _À propos_, dear uncle, you did not answer what i said to you in a former letter about your visiting us again. you know, dear uncle, that this is a subject upon which i am very _earnest_ and _very_ eager, and as the summer approaches i grow more and more anxious about it. you know, also, that _pleasure_ does more good than a hundred walks and rides. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your truly devoted and attached niece, victoria. [footnote : baron neumann, who acted as minister plenipotentiary during the absences of prince esterhazy, succeeded him as austrian minister in . he married lady augusta somerset in .] [pageheading: the prince of orange] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ _ th may ._ my dearest child,--i got this time a very small letter from your good little ladyship, and i shall repay it probably in larger coin, as my letter going through a messenger of my own will become longer, as it will be more confidential than through the usual mode of conveyance. i am really _astonished_ at the conduct of your old uncle the king; this invitation of the prince of orange and his sons, this forcing him upon others, is very extraordinary.[ ] it is so, because persons in political stations and champions of great political passions cannot put aside their known character as you would lay your hat upon a table. not later than yesterday i got a half official communication from england, insinuating that it would be _highly_ desirable that the visit of _your_ relatives _should not take place, this year--qu'en dites-vous_? the relations of the queen and the king, therefore, to the god-knows-what degree, are to come in shoals and rule the land, when _your relations_ are to be _forbidden_ the country, and that when, as you know, the whole of your relations have ever been very dutiful and kind to the king. really and truly i never heard or saw anything like it, and i hope it will a _little rouse your spirit_; now that slavery is even abolished in the british colonies, i do not comprehend _why your lot alone should be to be kept, a white little slavey in england_, for the pleasure of the court, who never bought you, as i am not aware of their having gone to any expense on that head, or the king's even having _spent a sixpence for your existence_. i expect that my visits in england will also be prohibited by an order in council. oh consistency and political or _other honesty_, where must one look for you! i have not the least doubt that the king, in his passion for the oranges, will be _excessively rude to your relations_; this, however, will not signify much; they are _your guests_ and not _his_, and will therefore _not_ mind it.... [footnote : king leopold had for some time cherished a hope of uniting the princess victoria in marriage with her cousin, prince albert of coburg. he therefore arranged that the prince, with his elder brother, prince ernest, should pay a visit to the duchess of kent at kensington palace. king william naturally opposed a scheme which he knew met with the approval of his sister-in-law. he accordingly invited the prince of orange and his two sons at the same time, and favoured the candidature of the younger son, prince alexander. the king (it is believed) went so far as to say that no other marriage should ever take place, and that the duke of saxe-coburg and his son should never put foot in the country; they should not be allowed to land, and must go back whence they came. the prince of orange had himself been a candidate for the hand of princess charlotte, and had no reason to be friendly to king leopold, of whom it is recorded that he said, "voilà un homme qui a pris ma femme et mon royaume."] [pageheading: arrival of prince albert] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ rd may ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... uncle ernest and my cousins arrived here on wednesday, _sains et saufs_. uncle is looking remarkably well, and my cousins are most delightful young people. i will give you no detailed description of them, as you will so soon see them yourself. but i must say, that they are both very amiable, very kind and good, and extremely merry, just as young people should be; with all that, they are extremely sensible, and very fond of occupation. albert is extremely handsome, which ernest certainly is not, but he has a most good-natured, honest, and intelligent countenance. we took them to the opera on friday, to see the _puritani_, and as they are excessively fond of music, like me, they were in perfect ecstasies, having never heard any of the singers before.... [pageheading: prince albert] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june ._ my dearest uncle,--these few lines will be given to you by my dear uncle ernest when he sees you. i must thank you, my beloved uncle, for the prospect of _great_ happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear albert. allow me, then, my dearest uncle, to tell you how delighted i am with him, and how much i like him in every way. he possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. he is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. he has, besides, the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see. i have only now to beg you, my dearest uncle, to take care of the health of one, now _so dear_ to me, and to take him under _your special_ protection. i hope and trust that all will go on prosperously and well on this subject of so much importance to me. believe me always, my dearest uncle, your most affectionate, devoted, and grateful niece, victoria. [pageheading: conversation] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ _ th june ._ my dearest and most beloved child,--i begged your mother, in the meantime, to offer you my best thanks for your very pretty drawing representing the provost of bruges and his daughter[ ]; i admired also that for your aunt. they do your spirit of invention honour, and it is a very good plan to draw subjects from books or plays which interest you. you will feel the loss of a pleasant society in the old palace, the more so as your relations are good unsophisticated people, a thing which one does not so often meet with. i suppose that part of your london amusements will soon be over. you were going to windsor, which you will probably have left by this time. i hope you were very prudent; i cannot disguise from you, that though the inhabitants are good-natured people, still that i think you want all your natural caution with them. never permit yourself to be induced to tell them any opinion or sentiment of yours which is _beyond the sphere of common conversation_ and its ordinary topics. bad use would be made of it against yourself, and you cannot in that subject be too much guarded. i know well the people we have to deal with. i am extremely impartial, but i shall also always be equally watchful.... god bless you! ever, my dear child, your very devoted uncle and friend, leopold r. [footnote : leading characters in _the heiress of bruges_, by grattan.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th august ._ my beloved uncle,-- ... i was sure you would be very much pleased with ernest and albert as soon as you knew them more; there cannot be two more good and sensible young men than they are. pray, dear uncle, say everything most kind from me to them. we go to buxted[ ] to-morrow morning, and stay there till next monday. all the gaieties are now over. we took leave of the opera on saturday, and a most brilliant conclusion to the season it was. yesterday i took my farewell lesson with lablache,[ ] which i was very sorry to do. i have had twenty-six lessons with him, and i look forward with pleasure to resume them again next spring. [footnote : lord liverpool's house. charles cecil cope jenkinson, third earl of liverpool, was fifty-three years old at the time of the queen's accession. he was a moderate tory, and had held office as under-secretary for the home department in , and in as under-secretary for war and the colonies. he succeeded to the earldom in . the title, since revived, became extinct on his death in . he was a friend of the duchess of kent, who often stayed with him at buxted park in sussex, and at pitchford in shropshire. at three successive visits at the latter house the princess occupied the same small room without a fireplace.] [footnote : luigi lablache ( - ), a famous opera-singer, was the princess's singing-master.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ nd september ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... the state of spain is most alarming and unfortunate.[ ] i do hope something will be done. the news were rather better yesterday and the day before. the christinos had gained a victory over the carlists.[ ] i take a great interest in the whole of this unfortunate affair. i hope and trust portugal may not suffer by all the affairs of spain, but much is to be feared. dieskau will have told you much about the internal affairs, which seem to go on very prosperously. pray has the duchess of braganza[ ] written to you or aunt louise since ferdinand's marriage? you did not send me the king of naples'[ ] letter, as you said you would; pray do so in your next letter. i hope he will come here next year. you do not mention france, so i hope all is quiet. the duke of orleans is quite well again, i am happy to hear from aunt louise. now i must conclude, begging you to believe me, always, your most truly attached and really devoted niece, victoria. [footnote : see introductory note for the year, _ante_, p. . (to ch. v)] [footnote : the civil war was favourable to the carlists at this time, general gomez obtaining a victory on th august. by the end of the year he had twice traversed the kingdom, hampered with plunder and prisoners, and surrounded by armies greater than his own, and in no district did he find the inhabitants disposed to act against him.] [footnote : step-mother of the queen of portugal.] [footnote : ferdinand ii., commonly named "bomba." he married _en secondes noces_, the archduchess theresa of austria.] [pageheading: a farewell letter] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._[ ] claremont, _ st september ._ my most dearly beloved uncle,--as i hear that mamma is going to send a letter to you which will reach you at dover, and though it is only an hour and a half since we parted, i must write you one line to tell you how _very, very sad_ i am that you have left us, and to repeat, what i think you know pretty well, _how_ much i love you. when i think that but two hours ago we were happily together, and that now you are travelling every instant farther and farther away from us, and that i shall with all probability not see you for a _year_, it makes me cry. yes, dearest uncle, it is dreadful in this life, that one is destined, and _particularly unhappy me_, to be almost always separated from those one loves most dearly. i live, however, in the hopes of your visit next year with dear aunt, and i cannot say how thankful and happy i am that we have had you here for six short, and to me _most bright happy_ days! i shall look back with the greatest delight on them. believe me, always, your ever devoted and most affectionately attached niece and _child_, victoria. [footnote : written at the conclusion of the king's visit to england.] [pageheading: the princess and the church] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ my very dear child,-- ...i know attempts have been made to represent you as indifferent to the established church. you know that in england the sovereign is the head of the church, and that the church looks upon the protestant religion as it is established as the _state_ religion. in times like the present, when the crown is already a good deal weakened, i believe that it is of importance to maintain as much as possible this state of affairs, and i believe that you will do well, whenever an occasion offers itself to do so without affectation, to express your sincere interest for the church, and that you comprehend its position and count upon its good-will. the poor church will be a good deal persecuted, i have no doubt, but it would be desirable that the men belonging to it should be united, _sensible_, and moderate.... _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ ramsgate, _ th november ._ ... what you say to me relative to church matters i quite comprehend, and always am very thankful for advice from you. i am reading away famously. i like mrs. hutchinson's life of her husband[ ] only _comme cela_; she is so dreadfully violent. she and clarendon are so totally opposite, that it is quite absurd, and i only believe the _juste milieu_.... your speech interested me very much; it is very fine indeed; you wrote it yourself, did you not? belgium is indeed the happiest country in the world, and it is _all, all_ owing to your _great care_ and _kindness_. "nous étions des enfans perdus," general goblet[ ] said to me at claremont, "quand le roi est venu nous sauver." and so it is.... pray, dear uncle, say everything most kind from me to ernest and albert, and believe me, always, your affectionate niece, victoria. pray, dear uncle, is the report of the king of naples' marriage to the archduchess theresa true? i hear the king has behaved uncommonly well at naples during the cholera panic. i enclose the measure of my finger. [footnote : the regicide, colonel hutchinson's, fame rests more on his wife's commemoration of him than on his own exploits. she was the daughter of sir allen apsley, lieutenant of the tower of london, and highly educated. between and she wrote the biography of her husband, first published in . "the figure of colonel hutchinson," says j. r. green, "stands out from his wife's canvas with the grace and tenderness of a portrait by van dyck."] [footnote : the belgian general, albert joseph goblet. count d'alviella.] [pageheading: death of charles x] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ ... poor charles x. is dead, it is said of the cholera. i regret him; few people were ever kinder to me than the good old man. he was blinded by certain absolute ideas, but a good man, and deserving to be loved. history will state that louis xviii. was a most liberal monarch, reigning with great mildness and justice to his end, but that his brother, from his despotic and harsh disposition, upset all the other had done, and lost the throne. louis xviii. was a clever, hard-hearted man, shackled by no principle, very proud and false. charles x. an honest man, a kind friend, an honourable master, sincere in his opinions, and inclined to do everything that is right. that teaches us what we ought to believe in history as it is compiled according to ostensible events and results known to the generality of people. memoirs are much more instructive, if written honestly and not purposely fabricated, as it happens too often nowadays, particularly at paris.... i shall not fail to read the books you so kindly recommend. i join you a small copy of our very liberal constitution, hitherto conscientiously executed--no easy matter. you may communicate it to your mother; it is the best answer to an infamous radical or tory-radical paper, the _constitutional_, which seems determined to run down the coburg family. i don't understand the meaning of it; the only happiness poor charlotte knew was during her short wedded existence, and there was but one voice on that subject, that we offered a bright prospect to the nation. since that period i have (though been abused, and vilified merely for drawing an income which was the consequence of a treaty ratified by both houses of parliament, and that without one dissenting voice, a thing not very likely to happen again) done everything to see england prosperous and powerful. i have spared her, in , much trouble and expense, as _without my coming here very serious complications, war and all the expensive operations connected with it_, must have taken place. i give the whole of my income, without the reservation of a farthing, to the country; i preserve unity on the continent, have frequently prevented mischief at paris, and to thank me for all that, i get the most scurrilous abuse, in which the good people from _constant practice so much excel_.... the conclusion of all this--and that by people whose very existence in political life may be but of a few years' standing--is scurrilous abuse of the coburg family. i should like to know what harm the coburg family has done to england? but enough of this. your principle is very good; one must not mind what newspapers say. their power is a fiction of the worst description, and their efforts marked by the worst faith and the greatest untruths. if all the editors of the papers in the countries where the liberty of the press exists were to be assembled, we should have a _crew_ to which you would _not_ confide a dog that you would value, still less your honour and reputation.... [pageheading: revolution at lisbon] [pageheading: the princess's name] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ st november ._ my most dearly beloved uncle,--you cannot imagine how happy you have made me by your very dear, kind, long, and interesting letter of the th, which i received yesterday morning, and for which i beg you to accept my _very warmest_ and best thanks. you know, i think, my dearest uncle, that _no_ creature on earth _loves_ you _more_ dearly, or has a higher sense of admiration for you, than i have. independent of all that you have done--which i never, never can be grateful enough for--my love for you exceeds all that words can express; it is innate in me, for from my earliest years the name of _uncle_ was the dearest i knew, the word _uncle_, _alone_, meant no other but you! your letter is so interesting and instructive that i could read it over and over again. i hope, dear uncle, you will in process of time give me the _aperçu_ you mention, which would be so very interesting for me. i cannot tell you how distressed i was by the late unfortunate _contre-révolution manquée_ at lisbon,[ ] and how sorry i was to see by the letter you wrote me, that you were still unaware of it on the th. mamma received a letter from lord palmerston yesterday morning, which she has sent you, and which is consolatory, i think. he speaks in the highest terms of our beloved ferdinand, which proves that he becomes daily more and more worthy of his arduous situation, and says that the queen's situation "is better than it was," less bad than it might have been "after such an affair," and not so good as it would have been had poor donna maria waited patiently till all was ripe for action. dietz[ ] wrote mamma a most desponding letter, so much so, that had we not got lord palmerston's letter we must have thought all, all was over.[ ] i hope, dear uncle, you will tell _me_ _your_ feeling about the whole, which will only satisfy me; no one else could, for i take an interest in ferdinand's welfare as though he were my brother. allow me, dearest uncle, to say a few words respecting my _name_, to which you allude. you are aware, i believe, that about a year after the accession of the _present_ king there was a desire to change my favourite and dear name _victoria_ to that of _charlotte_, also _most dear_, to which the king willingly consented. on its being told me, i said nothing, though i felt grieved beyond measure at the thought of any change. not long after this, lord grey, and also the archbishop of canterbury, acquainted mamma that the country, having been accustomed to hear me called victoria, had become used to it, _enfin_, _liked it_, and therefore, to my great delight, the idea of a change was given up.[ ] i was sure the death of old charles x. would strike you.... i thank you much for the _constitution de la belgique_. those attacks on you are infamous, but must not be minded; they are the language of a _few jealous_, _envious_ people. _en revanche_, i enclose a paragraph from a speech of o'connell's[ ] i think worth your reading. pray, dearest uncle, say everything most kind to my beloved and dearest aunt, and thank her in my name for her kind letter, which i shall answer on friday. i am happy she and the dear little man are well. believe me, always, your most devoted and affectionately attached niece, victoria. [footnote : prince ferdinand was appointed commander-in-chief of the portuguese army on the advice of the duc de terceira, then prime minister. the appointment was highly unpopular; riots broke out, the army mutinied, and rose against the authorities, with the result that the queen of portugal was compelled to accept the radical constitution of , in the place of dom pedro's constitutional charter of . later in the year the queen, assisted by palmella, terceira, and saldanha, made a counter-move, believing that the people of lisbon would support her, and proposed to dismiss her ministers; she had, however, been misled as to the popular aid forthcoming, and had to give up the struggle, sá da bandeira becoming prime minister. the queen, virtually a captive, had to accede to the revolutionary requirements.] [footnote : dietz was a former governor of prince ferdinand, who accompanied him to portugal on his marriage with donna maria, and took a considerable part in political affairs.] [footnote : a former minister of the interior was killed by the national guards, who threatened to march on belem, where the queen was; she had to apply to the british marines for protection.] [footnote : in the course of the debate ( rd august ) on lord althorp's proposition to add £ , a year to the duchess of kent's income, sir m. w. ridley suggested changing the princess's name to elizabeth, as being "more accordant to the feelings of the people," saying that he had heard the subject "frequently and seriously argued." hunt, the radical, who opposed the grant, saw no objection to the change, and lord althorp thought the matter of no particular consequence. the princess's own feelings, and those of her mother, do not seem to have been considered. see _hansard_, rd series, vol. v. , _et seq._] [footnote : probably that on the irish church question at the general (formerly "catholic") association, dublin.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--... i have begun since a few days lord clive's life, by sir john malcolm,[ ] which is very interesting, as it gives much insight into the affairs of india, over parts of which, i fear, it would be well to throw a _veil_. i am reading it by myself, _et je vous le recommande_.... [footnote : the book reviewed by macaulay, who spoke of sir john malcolm as one whose "love passes the love of biographers, and who can see nothing but wisdom and justice in the actions of his idol."] introductory note to chapter vi the closing months of the reign of william iv. were not marked by any stirring events at home. the conservative opposition to the melbourne ministry was strengthened before the meeting of parliament by a great speech by sir robert peel at glasgow, and lord brougham later on emerged from his retirement to become the able and venomous critic of his former friends. the government failed to carry important measures on church rates and irish municipal corporations, while the radical group pressed persistently their favourite motions in support of the ballot, and against the property qualification of members, primogeniture, the septennial act, the bishops' seats and proxy voting in the house of lords. the ministry was saved from shipwreck by the demise of the crown and by the accession of the princess victoria, who, on attaining her legal majority a month earlier, had received marked signs of enthusiastic popular favour. the general election in the autumn did not materially affect the position of parties, the radicals losing and o'connell gaining seats; but the prestige of lord melbourne was increased by the unique position he now held in reference to the sovereign. parliament was opened in person by the queen on th november, and the civil list dealt with, the amount allocated being £ , as against £ , in the late reign (of which £ , , formerly paid in pensions, was now struck off, and other arrangements made). for some time past the state of canada had caused grave anxiety. by an act of , it had been divided into upper and lower canada, each with a governor, council, and house of representatives, lower canada being in the main french, while upper canada was occupied by british settlers. friction first arose in the former, between the nominee council and the popular assembly, the assembly declining to pay the salaries of officials whom they had censured, but whom the executive had retained in their posts. mr papineau, who had been speaker of the assembly, was leader in the popular movement. lord gosford, the governor of lower canada, dismissed some militia officers who had taken part in political demonstrations, and warrants were issued for the apprehension of certain members of the assembly, on the charge of high treason: within a short time the discontented party broke out into rebellion. the course which events would take in upper canada was for a time doubtful. sir francis head, the governor, placed his regular troops at the service of lord gosford, preferring to rely on the militia. this unusual action was successful, but was not approved by the colonial office. the state of affairs became very alarming at the close of the year, when it was announced in parliament that lord gosford had resigned and that sir john colborne (afterwards lord seaton) had been appointed to succeed him. in france the confederates of louis napoleon in the strasburg outbreak were tried and acquitted; a treaty was concluded at tafna with abd-el-kader, but negotiations for a similar agreement with achmet bey were less successful, and operations were continued against constantin with successful results, the town being carried by an assault on th october, with some loss of officers and men on the french side. affairs continued unsettled in the peninsula. in spain general evans was defeated near san sebastian, but afterwards, in conjunction with lord john hay, captured irun, the frontier town. don carlos meanwhile marched on madrid, but was encountered by espartero, commander-in-chief of the christinos, who was prime minister for a brief period during the year. the british legion was dissolved, and evans returned to england. in portugal the english were becoming unpopular for their supposed intervention: ferdinand, the queen's consort, who was naturally believed to be in harmony with the british cabinet, acted tactlessly in accepting the commandership-in-chief, and internal hostilities continued throughout the year. in hanover a reactionary step was taken by king ernest, who had succeeded his brother, william iv. of england, on the throne of hanover; by letters patent he abrogated the constitution of , an action which, imperfect and open to criticism though the constitution was, naturally aroused anxiety among the supporters of representative institutions throughout europe. chapter vi _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th january ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... we saw van de weyer[ ] on tuesday, and his conversation was most interesting. he praises our dear ferdinand most exceedingly, but as for the poor queen, what he told us does not redound much to her credit; one good quality, however, she has, which is her excessive fondness for and real _obedience_ to ferdinand. she is unfortunately surrounded by a _camarilla_[ ] who poison her ears, and fetter all her actions; poor soul! she is _much_ to be pitied. about lavradio[ ] you will also have, i fear, heard but too much. honesty and single-heartedness seems to have left portugal. van de weyer is so clear in all that he says, so sensible, so quiet, so clever, and, last but not least, so agreeable; i hope we shall soon see him again. you see, dear uncle, how much interest i take in portugal; but i must say that i think every one who knows dear ferdinand, and particularly who loves him as i do, must feel a very deep interest as to the fate of the unhappy country in which he is destined to play so prominent and difficult a part. i have been reading to-day a very clever speech of sir robert peel's (not a political one) to the university at glasgow, on the occasion of his being elected lord rector of that college. there is another speech of his at the dinner at glasgow which _is political_, but which i have not yet read....[ ] [footnote : sylvain van de weyer (b. ) was, in , belgian plenipotentiary at the conference of london. he returned to his own country and became foreign minister. his exertions contributed greatly to render successful the candidature of prince leopold for the throne of belgium. the king appointed him belgian minister in london, to which post he returned in , and held it till . he was treated by the queen until his death in as a very intimate friend and adviser.] [footnote : _i.e._ a clique.] [footnote : the portuguese statesman who had gone to gotha to arrange the queen's marriage, and was destined to act in a similar manner for her son in .] [footnote : sir r. peel was installed as lord rector of glasgow on th january, and delivered an address on the principles of education: strong political feeling was manifested, groans being given for lord melbourne and the ministry. at a civic banquet given in sir r. peel's honour, he expounded the principles of conservative reform.] [pageheading: spain and portugal] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ rd january ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... the affairs of the peninsula are indeed very distressing,[ ] and what you tell me in your letter of the th, as also in the former one, is highly interesting and, alas! but too true. i trust, not withstanding what you say, i may yet live to see spain and portugal settled. but i greatly fear that the time is far distant. do you know mendizabal?[ ] i saw him at our house in . alava[ ] presented him to us; he is a tall, dark, fine, and clever-looking man. i remember his being so much struck with my likeness to donna maria, which i was not aware was the case. pray, dear uncle, may i ask you a silly question?--is not the queen of spain[ ] rather clever? you know her, and what do you think of her? and do you know what sort of people are about poor little queen isabel?[ ] poor, good donna maria! i feel much for her; her education was one of the worst that could be. as long as those ficalhos and melos remain about her, nothing can be done. could they not be got rid of in time? i was sorry to see that the french chambers were rather stormy.[ ] i thank you much for the list of the ball of the th, which must have been very splendid. the last ball _i_ was at was our own, and i concluded that very ball at half-past three in the morning with a country dance, albert being my partner. pray, dear uncle, tell both young gentlemen, with my kindest love, that i _often_ think of that night and of many other pleasant evenings we passed together. the singing will come all in time. who is their singing-master? i wish they had my worthy lablache. i sing regularly every evening, as i think it better to do so every day to keep the voice manageable. oh, my beloved uncle, could you join us, how delightful that would be! how i should delight in singing with you all our favourite things from _la gazza_, _otello_, _il barbiere_, etc., etc. the little cousin[ ] must be a little love: oh, could i but see him and play with him! pray, dear uncle, does he know such a thing as that he has got an aunt and cousin on the other side of the water? ... pray, dear uncle, have you read sir r. peel's two speeches? i wish you would, and give me your opinion of them. [footnote : some interesting observations on these events may be read in borrow's _bible in spain_.] [footnote : don juan alvarez y mendizabal ( - ), spanish politician and financier.] [footnote : miguel ricardo di alava ( - ), spanish general; he acted as the representative of spain at paris, at the court of the bourbons; he was a great friend of the duke of wellington, and was with him at his headquarters during the peninsular war.] [footnote : the queen regent, christina.] [footnote : then six years old; she died in .] [footnote : this was in reference to the trial at strasburg of the confederates of prince louis bonaparte (afterwards napoleon iii.) in his abortive attempt to establish a military despotism on th october. the prince was permitted to go to the united states, being conveyed in a french frigate; the other conspirators were acquitted.] [footnote : leopold, born in , afterwards duke of brabant, the present king of the belgians.] [pageheading: parliamentary language] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th january ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... i am very sorry that the portuguese news are still so very unfavourable; i trust that, in time, things will come right. the portuguese are, as you say, a most inconceivable set of selfish politicians. our friend, mr hume,[ ] made a most violent speech at a dinner given to him and old george byng[ ] at drury lane last week.[ ] he called sir r. peel and some other tories "the cloven foot," which i think rather strong. i think that _great_ violence and striving such a pity, on both sides, don't you, dear uncle? they irritate one another so uselessly by calling one another fools, blockheads, liars, and so forth for no purpose. i think violence so bad in everything. they should imitate you, and be calm, for you have had, god knows! enough cause for irritation from your _worthy_ dutch neighbours and others. you will, i fear, laugh at my _politics_, but i like telling _you_ my feelings, for you alone can put me right on such subjects. [footnote : joseph hume, leader of the radical party, was now m.p. for middlesex.] [footnote : george byng, for many years member for middlesex, was great-grandson of william wentworth, earl of strafford, of the creation. his younger brother, sir john byng, the well-known general of the peninsula and waterloo, was created earl of strafford in .] [footnote : this was a dinner given by the middlesex reformers to their representatives. grote also spoke and said that the tories well knew that their dominion rested upon everything that was antiquated and corrupt and anti-popular in the nation--upon oligarchical predominance in the state, and sectarian pride and privileges in the church.] [pageheading: political passion] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ _ rd february ._ my dear child,-- ... i am sorry to see so much violence in england at this moment; i consider it as the most lamentable circumstance, as it renders matters so very difficult to settle. besides, the poor crown is more or less the loser in all this, as it generally ends with the abolition of something or other which might have proved useful for the carrying on of government. a rule which you may thus early impress on your mind is, that people are far from acting generally according to the dictates of their interests, but oftener in consequence of their passions, though it may even prove injurious to their interests. if the tory part of parliament could have brought themselves to act without passion, much in the reform of parliament might have been settled much more in conformity with their best interests. i was authorised, in , to speak in this sense to the duke of wellington by lord grey;[ ] the effect would have been highly beneficial to both parties, but passion made it impossible to succeed. this is a dangerous part of the business, and we must see during the present session of parliament if parties are grown wiser. i fear they are not. the business of the highest in a state is certainly, in my opinion, to act with great impartiality and a spirit of justice for the good of all, and not of this or that party.[ ] [footnote : this refers to the rejection of the reform bill by the house of lords in ; as a consequence, mobs broke the windows of apsley house, and fired nottingham castle.] [footnote : on th april , sir robert peel wrote to j. w. croker:-- ... "we are, in short, in this state of things. all the convictions and inclinations of the government are with their conservative opponents. half their actions and all their speeches are with the radicals." (_croker papers_, ii. .)] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th february ._ my beloved uncle,-- ... i do not know quite for certain when we leave this place, but i should think to-day week. you must be pleased, dear uncle, i think, for we shall have been _six months_ in the country next thursday, as we left town on the th of august last, and i am sure you will stand by me for my having my season fully, as you may understand that my _operatic_ and _terpsichorean_ feelings are pretty strong, now that the season is returning, and i have been a very good child, not even _wishing_ to come to town till now. we shall certainly come here for the easter week. dr clark[ ] arrived here quite happy last night, bringing the news that van de weyer had had the best news from lisbon he had received since his return, that all had gone off quietly, that ferdinand was daily gaining popularity, and that both he and the queen had been very well received at the theatre. the man who threw a stone at ferdinand was a frenchman, whom, it seems, ferdinand had relieved with money over and over again. a fine specimen of gratitude! i hope and trust with you that there will be less violence in parliament this year, but much is to be feared. you will miss my good cousins ernest and albert very much, i am sure; i hope you will instil into them to take enough exercise and not to study too much. there were two questions in my last letter but one, which you have not answered, dear uncle. they are: st, what you think of the queen christina of spain, what opinion _you_ have of her, as one cannot believe _reports_? nd, if you know what sort of people are about poor little queen isabel, and if she is being _well_ or _ill_ brought up?... [footnote : afterwards sir james clark, and physician-in-ordinary to the queen.] [pageheading: a dinner party] [pageheading: the throne of greece] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th march ._ ... we had a dinner on saturday which amused me, as i am very fond of _pleasant_ society, and we have been for these last three weeks immured within our old palace, and i longed sadly for some gaiety. after being so very long in the country i was preparing to go out in right earnest, whereas i have only been _twice_ to the play since our return, which is marvellous! however, we are to have another dinner to-morrow, and are going to the play and opera. after easter i trust i shall make ample amends for all this solitariness. i hope to begin singing with lablache shortly after easter. but to return to last saturday's dinner. we had the archbishop of dublin,[ ] a clever but singular man, and his lady; lord palmerston, with whom i had much pleasant and amusing conversation after dinner--you know how agreeable he is; then lady cadogan,[ ] who enquired much after you and aunt louise; lord and lady rosebery,[ ] mr and mrs e. stanley,[ ] lord morpeth,[ ] lord templetown,[ ] sir john cam hobhouse,[ ] dr lushington,[ ] and mr woulfe,[ ] the solicitor-general for ireland, a roman catholic and a very clever man. lady cadogan, who is not long come back from paris, says that the duke of orleans has been going out very little and is remarkably well. i saw a report in the papers that he and the duc de nemours were coming over here, which i fear is not true; i wish it was.... there is one thing in your former letter which i must answer, or, rather, more advert to. you said to me, that if it was not for me, you would regret greece very much. now, i assure you, dearest uncle, you ought not to regret it, though there is not a doubt that _greece_ would be much happier were you there. but i have heard from various people who have been staying in greece that they very soon got to like the turks much better than the greeks, who are very untrue, and are quite banditti-like; then, again, the country, though undoubtedly fine in parts, is a rocky and barren country, and also you are constantly exposed to the effects of the plague, that most dreadful of all evils; and then, lastly, how very, very far you would be, how cut off from all those who are dear to you, and how exposed to dangers of all kinds! i much grieve that they are quarrelling so much in the french chambers.[ ] i must now conclude. [footnote : richard whateley, formerly principal of st alban hall, and drummond professor of political economy at oxford.] [footnote : louisa honoria, wife of the third earl, and sister of joseph, first lord wallscourt.] [footnote : archibald, fourth earl of rosebery, and anne margaret, his second wife, daughter of the first viscount anson.] [footnote : edward stanley, afterwards fourteenth earl of derby, thrice prime minister.] [footnote : chief secretary for ireland.] [footnote : john henry, first viscount, formerly m.p. for bury st edmunds.] [footnote : sir john cam hobhouse, a radical, and a friend of byron, at whose wedding he acted as best man; he was imprisoned in for breach of privilege. he was elected m.p. for westminster in as burdett's colleague, and afterwards for nottingham and harwich. commissioner of woods and forests (the old houses of parliament being burned down during his term of office), and later president of board of control. created lord broughton, .] [footnote : stephen lushington, advocate in the old ecclesiastical court, m.p. for ilchester and the tower hamlets, and a judge in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts from to .] [footnote : stephen woulfe, m.p. for carlisle, solicitor-general, and subsequently attorney-general, for ireland, becoming chief baron in .] [footnote : on th march a heated debate took place in the french chamber on the question of the queen of the belgians' dowry, a deputy calling for the production of king louis philippe's rent-roll, and a complete statement of his income.] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ st march ._ my beloved child,--your dear letter of the th gave me the greatest pleasure. i was sure from your constant affection for us that you would feel much interested in the event of the th. it was a moment of some anxiety, but all passed over very well. your aunt is going on very well, and the little cousin[ ] also. he is smaller than his brother was, but promises to be like him; the features are much the same, the shape of the forehead and mouth. the elder prince was much interested about his _frère_, and anxious to see him; at first, however, he declared after a long contemplation, "_pas beau frère!_" now he thinks better of him, but makes a very odd little face when he sees him. the name of the little one will be philippe eugène ferdinand marie clément baudouin (baldwin)--a name of the old counts of flanders--léopold georges. my aunt, who is his godmother, wished he should be called philippe in honour of his grandfather, and as philippe _le bon_ was one of the most powerful princes of this country, i gave him the name with pleasure. eugène is her own name, ferdinand that of chartres, marie of the queen and also of princess marie, clément of princess clémentine; léopold your aunt wished, and george in honour of st george of england and of george iv. probably i shall hereafter give to léopold the title of duke of brabant, and to philippe that of count of flanders, both fine old titles. [footnote : philippe, second son of king leopold, afterwards count of flanders. he died in .] [pageheading: press comments] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th april ._ my dearest child,--... you have been the subject of all sorts of newspaper paragraphs; your good and sensible way of looking on these very creditable productions _will be of use to you_. if the press says useful things, and makes observations which merit attention, there is no doubt that sometimes, though god knows very rarely, something useful may be gleaned from them. but when you see its present state, when the one side says black and the other white, when the opposite political characters are treated by their respective antagonists as rogues, fools, blockheads, wretches, and all the other names in which the english political dictionary is so _very rich_, one stands like the ass, between two bundles of hay, considerably embarrassed which ought to be chosen.... [pageheading: the princess's establishment] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th april ._ ... as i believe the visit at windsor is fixed for the th, i hope this letter will arrive in time. perhaps the king will speak to you about the necessity of forming you an establishment.[ ]... your position, having a mother with whom you very naturally remain, would render a _complete_ independent establishment perhaps matter of _real_ inconvenience; still something like that which charlotte had will become desirable. my idea, if it meets with your approbation, would be this: the duchess of northumberland would remain your first lady, baroness lehzen would fill a position similar to that of mrs campbell, who had been charlotte's governess in her younger days, and the dean[ ] would step into the position which good dr short[ ] held. an equerry, i do not think--as you will not go out without your mother--you would require. on the other hand, it may become matter of examination if you will perhaps like to have some young ladies attendants in the style of lady catherine jenkinson;[ ] should this be your wish, it would become necessary to make very good choices, else perhaps you would derive more trouble than comfort from the arrangement; _cela va sans dire_, that the choice could only be made by yourself, and that nobody should be given you _against_ your wishes. should the king speak to you on the subject, i would at once express this my wish if you should approve some such arrangement, and beg him to let _you choose_. resist mildly but _positively_ any nomination of a gentleman other than the dean; it is highly probable that any other would be put about you as a spy, and turn out at all events a great bore, which is better avoided.... i received a messenger from coburg. i enclose the letters and also a packet with fans. ever, my beloved child, your faithfully attached uncle and friend, leopold r. [footnote : the princess was to attain her legal majority on th may.] [footnote : george davys, the princess victoria's instructor, dean of chester, and afterwards bishop of peterborough.] [footnote : thomas vowler short, rector of st george's, bloomsbury, appointed in bishop of sodor and man.] [footnote : lady catherine jenkinson, daughter of the earl of liverpool, soon after the queen's accession married colonel francis vernon harcourt.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th april ._ ... what you say about the newspapers is very true and very flattering. they are indeed a curious compound of truth and untruth. i am so used to newspaper nonsense and attacks that i do not mind it in the least.... how happy i am that that beloved aunt is going on so well and does not suffer from the cold, as also the _jeune philippe_. leopold must be great fun with his aunt marie;[ ] does he still say "_pas beau frère!_" or is he more reconciled to his brother? it is very noble in the duc de nemours to have thus given up his _apanage_;[ ] i am sorry there were such difficulties about it. there is no ministry formed yet, i see by the papers. [footnote : princess marie of orleans, born , daughter of king louis philippe, and thus sister to the queen of the belgians.] [footnote : this grant was surrendered in order that due provision might be made by the legislature for the elder brother, the duke of orleans, on the occasion of his marriage with the princess hélène of mecklenburg-schwerin.] [pageheading: the irish municipal bill] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th april ._ my most beloved uncle,--.... sir henry hardinge's[ ] motion was quite lost, i am happy to say, and don't you think, dearest uncle, that it has almost done good, as it proves that the tories have lost all chance of getting in? it was a trial of strength, and the ministry have triumphed. i have been reading in the papers, what i suppose you already know, that it is believed that the lords _will_ pass the irish corporation bill;[ ] and also that ministers mean to drop for the present the question about church rates,[ ] as the radicals, being angry with ministers relative to the canada business, would not support them well. [footnote : on a motion for going into supply, sir h. hardinge proposed an amendment censuring the government for the authorisation of the raising of a force of volunteers to assist the spanish government, and for the method in which that force had been organised. the amendment was lost by a majority of , on th april.] [footnote : the irish municipal bill, to convert corporations of municipalities into electoral councils, was introduced in the house of commons on the th of february. the bill was opposed by the conservatives, but passed the house of commons. in the lords an amendment of lyndhurst's struck out the constructive clauses, and the act became, on the th of may, an act for the abolition of municipalities in ireland. lord john russell brought forward a motion to reconstruct the bill. but the peers declined to pass it, and it was postponed.] [footnote : as ministers only obtained a majority of in a house of , the measure was dropped.] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th april ._ ... i hope you occupy yourself with the several great questions which agitate parties. i think a good mode will be to talk concerning them sometimes with the dean. he is a good moderate man, and still well able to give you sufficient information. from conversation with clever people, such as dine sometimes with you, much may be very usefully gathered, and you will do well to attend to this. i am no enemy to this way of instruction, and have seen people who were sharp enough to profit wonderfully by it. you hear in this way the opinions of a variety of persons, and it rests with your own good sense to classify and appreciate them.... [pageheading: ministerial anxiety] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ nd may ._ ... you may depend upon it that i shall profit by your excellent advice respecting politics. pray, dear uncle, have you read lord palmerston's speech concerning the spanish affairs,[ ] which he delivered the night of the division on sir henry hardinge's motion? it is much admired. the irish tithes question came on last night in the house of commons,[ ] and i am very anxious for the morning papers, to see what has been done. lord melbourne looks remarkably well, lord palmerston not very well, and as for poor little lord john russell, he is only a shadow of himself. it must be dreadfully fagging work for them; they sit so very late too, for when the spanish question came on, the division only took place at four o'clock in the morning, and i saw them at the drawing-room the same day afterwards.... [footnote : lord palmerston indignantly asked whether england should continue to fulfil her engagement with the queen of spain, or disgracefully abandon an ally whom she had pledged herself to succour.] [footnote : the irish tithe bill, a measure to facilitate the collection of tithes, was abandoned because the tories would not consent to any secular appropriation of church revenues, and the whigs would not consent to the withdrawal of their amendments. a remarkable feature in the bill was a proposal that a portion of every clergyman's income should be applied to education, as was already prescribed by a former act.] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th may ._ my dearest uncle,--it was very kind of you to write to me from your new château; i hardly ventured to hope for my usual letter, and yet i should have been much disappointed had i not received it. i am sorry that the house is so bad, but hope you will have found a good position for a new one.... pray, dearest uncle, may i ask such an indiscreet question as, if major stroekens is a clever man; he was so nervous and embarrassed when he came here, that i could not make him out. he brought me a very nice letter from donna maria. i am anxiously waiting to hear the issue of the battle between the carlists and christinos, which is, they say, to decide a great deal.[ ] now farewell, dearest uncle. i beg my affectionate love to my dear aunt, and my most respectful _hommages_ to the members of the family with you. believe me, always, your affectionate niece, victoria. old pozzo[ ] dined here last wednesday, and he gave me a long, i must say clever, dissertation about the state of france, during dinner-time. [footnote : after an obstinate investment by the carlists, espartero had relieved bilbao on christmas day, . the christino commanders then began to concert a combined movement on the carlist lines, which stretched from irun to villafranca.] [footnote : count pozzo di borgo ( - ), russian ambassador. by birth a corsican and a devoted patriot, he was a life-long opponent of napoleon and his designs. he entered the russian diplomatic service in , and after waterloo became russian ambassador in paris. he was ambassador in london for two years, when his health gave way.] [pageheading: the princess's establishment] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th may ._ my dearest child,--you have had some battles and difficulties of which i am completely in the dark. the thing i am most curious to learn is what the king proposed to you concerning your establishment.... i shall reserve my opinion till i am better informed, but by what i heard i did not approve of it, because i thought it ill-timed. stockmar will be able to do much. two things seem necessary; not to be fettered by any establishment other than what will be _comfortable to you_, and then to avoid any breach with your mother. i have fully instructed stockmar, and i must say he left me in such good disposition that i think he will be able to be of great use to you. the great thing is to act without precipitation and with caution. the king seems better again. i am very curious to know what he proposed; you will have it in your power to modify his proposition, as it is difficult your _approbation_ should be dispensed with; it would be a great fault in your situation to _submit_ to this.... they seemed to think the king dying, which does not appear to be the case. be steady, my good child, and _not_ put out by _anything_; as long as i live _you will not want a faithful friend and supporter_.... here your somewhat curious little soul has at least the outlines of things.... _ th._--i received yesterday the whole of the papers concerning the king's propositions.[ ] i approve your letter to the king, as it is amiable and generous, and this in your position will always tell favourably. i think that if _he_ is well advised he will chiefly consult _your wishes_. this is the footing on which you must place matters. it is not worth while to be told that one is in some sort of age when the consequence is that you are not consulted in what concerns you most personally. avoid in future to say much about your great _youth_ and _inexperience_. who made the letter? was it yourself, or came it from your mother? you have now the baron at your elbow, and even your mother was most anxious for his arrival. _speak sometimes with him_; it is necessary to accustom you to the thing. about the king's health.[ ] i am doubtful what to think. we have foreseen the case and treated it formerly. the great thing would be to make no change, to keep ministers and everything as it is, and to gain time; in this way _no one is hurt and no amour-propre blessé_. for this reason i lean to your keeping, to begin with, sir herbert taylor[ ] for your _official_ secretary, though i am not quite _decided_ on the subject. he knows the manner in which the _daily business_ is carried on; this is important. i believe him, and have found him to be an honest man, that would do for state matters; it would not be required that he should be your _confidential_ adviser. now i conclude, and send you this letter through stockmar. my best regards to lehzen. ever your faithful uncle and friend, leopold r. [footnote : the king had offered the princess an establishment of £ , a year, independent of her mother. this was accepted, to the great vexation of the duchess of kent, but the arrangement was not carried into effect.] [footnote : king william's health was at this time causing much anxiety.] [footnote : private secretary to king william iv.] [pageheading: birthday rejoicings] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th may ._ ... the demonstrations of affection and kindness from all sides towards me on my birthday, were most gratifying. the parks and streets were crowded all day as though something very extraordinary had happened. yesterday i received twenty-two addresses from various places, all very pretty and loyal; one in particular was very well written which was presented by mr. attwood[ ] from the political union at birmingham. i am delighted to hear stockmar is at length arrived; he reached london on wednesday, and we shall see him to-day. how distressed i am that poor dear ernest[ ] has been so ill! thank god! that he is now better. the spanish affairs have turned out better than you had expected; the triumphant capture of irun[ ] was a great thing for the christinos. the king is much better. [footnote : thomas attwood founded in the birmingham political union, which helped to pass the reform act. previously he had been known for his opposition to the orders in council, and the resumption of cash payments. birmingham elected him without opposition in , and he sat till .] [footnote : prince ernest of saxe-coburg.] [footnote : the frontier town of spain, near st sebastian, captured, th may, by the christinos, supported by british troops.] [pageheading: advice and encouragement] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ tuileries, _ th june ._ ... the _entrée_[ ] last sunday was something remarkably splendid; we saw it from the tuileries, as we had nothing to do with the business itself, and your aunt's rank would have clashed with that of the duchess of orleans. the effect of all this on the people of this great town has been _very great_, and evidently much ground has been solidly regained. the king, getting out of that sort of confinement in which it was necessary to keep, has gained much in personal comfort, and also in a political point of view; because to have a king who cannot show himself without being shot at, is a state of society which lowers his authority.... for the present the best plan is to continue to act as you have done hitherto; to avoid quarrels, but also to stick _firmly to your resolution when once_ taken. the violence which is sometimes shown is so well known to you, you know also so well that you have nothing to fear from these people, that _you must keep up your usual cool spirit_, whatever may be tried in the house to _teaze you out of it_. i mean to wait some more detailed accounts of what is going on in england before i give my opinion on what ought to be done in the case that the king's disease should take a more fatal turn. as i told you before, however, when we treated this subject verbally and in writing, i believe it to be your interest to act very mildly, _to begin by taking everything as the king leaves it_. by this system you avoid disappointing those whose hopes may remain unchanged, as your own choices, as it were, are not yet made. parties, which at present are so nearly balanced, remain _in statu quo_, and you gain time. i must conclude now this letter. my winding up is, keep your mind _cool_ and _easy_; be _not alarmed_ at the prospect of becoming perhaps sooner than you expected queen; aid will not be wanting, and the great thing is that you should have some honest people about you who have your welfare _really at heart_. stockmar will be in this respect all we can wish, and we must hope that _useful_ occupation will prevent his health from suffering. now once more god bless you. ever, my dear child, your faithful uncle and friend, leopold r. [footnote : the entry into paris of the duke and duchess of orleans, who had been married at fontainebleau on may th.] [pageheading: the accession imminent] _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th june ._ my beloved child,--i hope that to-day will not pass over without bringing me a letter from you. in the meantime i will begin this epistle, which will go by a messenger of my own to-morrow. in every letter i shall write to you i mean to repeat to you, as a _fundamental rule_, _to be courageous, firm and honest, as you have been till now_. you may count upon my faithful good offices in all difficulties, and you have at your command stockmar, whose _judgment_, _heart_, and _character_ offer all the guarantees we can wish for. i wish nothing but to see you _happy and prosperous_, and by sunday i shall probably write you a long letter, which will enter into details about most things. my object is that you should be no one's _tool_, and though young, and naturally not yet experienced, your good natural sense and the _truth_ of your character will, with faithful and proper advice, get you very well through the difficulties of your future position, should it be the will of providence to take the king from this earthly life. of his real position i am still not quite able to judge, there being so much contradictory in the reports. be this as it may, the great thing for you is, not to be hurried into important measures, and to _gain time_. a new reign is always a time of hope; everybody is disposed to see something for his own wishes and prospects. the policy of a new sovereign must therefore be to act in such a manner as to hurt as little as possible the _amour-propre_ of people, to let circumstances and the force of things bring about the disappointments which no human power could prevent coming sooner or later: that they should come as _late_ as possible is in your interest. should anything happen to the king before i can enter more fully into the necessary details, limit yourself to _taking kindly_ and in a _friendly_ manner the present administration into your service. they are _naturally friendly to your interests_, _as you are in fact the only possible sovereign of the whole family_, with the exception of the duke of sussex, they can _serve_ with _sincerity_ and _attachment_. this is of great importance to you, as it is by no means the same thing to have people who aid and assist you with feelings of real attachment, or merely from cold and calculating motives of political expediency and self-interest. this being done, no other step should be taken without consulting seriously. the very time which is necessary to attain this end is favourable to you, as it is your greatest interest for the _present moment_ to act most cautiously and to gain as much _time_ as possible. in high positions it is excessively difficult to _retrace_ a false move to get out of a mistake; and there exists very rarely, except in time of war and civil feuds, a necessity for an _immediate_ decision. your part must be, to resume once more what i said before, to remain as long as possible _agreeable_ to all parties, and after the formation of the ministry, to be most careful how you take any measure of importance.... [pageheading: the king's illness] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june ._ my beloved uncle,--... i cannot say how happy i am that the _entrée publique_ into paris succeeded so well, and that the dear king was so well received; i trust he will now at last be rewarded for all the troubles and anxiety he has had ever since . lord palmerston said that the french say that _l'assassinat est hors de mode_. i hope and trust in heaven that this may be the case, and _for ever_! you know, of course, dear uncle, how _very ill_ the king is; it may _all be over_ at _any moment_, and yet _may_ last a few days. consequently, we have not been out anywhere in public since tuesday, th, and since wednesday all my lessons are stopped, as the news may arrive very suddenly.... _the king of the belgians to the princess victoria._ laeken, _ th june ._ my beloved child,--... i shall to-day enter on the subject of what is to be done when the king ceases to live. the moment you get official communication of it, you will entrust lord melbourne with the office of retaining the present administration as your ministers. you will do this in that honest and kind way which is quite your own, and say some kind things on the subject. the fact is that the present ministers are those who will serve you personally with the greatest _sincerity_ and, i trust, attachment. for them, as well as for the liberals at large, you are the _only_ sovereign that offers them _des chances d'existence et de durée_. with the exception of the duke of sussex, there is no _one_ in the family that offers them anything like what they can reasonably hope from you, and your immediate successor, with the mustaches,[ ] is enough to frighten them into the most violent attachment for you. ... the irksome position in which you have lived will have the merit to have given you the habit of _discretion_ and _prudence_, as in your position you never can have _too much_ of either. great measures of state i hope you will be able to avoid at first. i have already--if you would read it over, and perhaps let stockmar see it--written to you some months ago on the subject of the necessity of maintaining the influence of conservative principles, and of protecting the church. you will do well to keep both objects in view. you will do wisely by showing yourself attached to the english protestant church as it exists in the state; you are particularly where you are, because you are a protestant. i know you are averse to persecution, and you are right; miss, however, _no opportunity_ to show your sincere feeling for the existing church; it is _right_ and _meet_ that you should do so. i must repeat that you will do well as long as it will be possible to hurt no one's hopes or prospects. that this will not always, or very long, be possible is the consequence of the state of parties; still, one may be frank and honest, and still kind to all. concerning foreign policy i shall write on some future occasion. in the meantime i trust you will protect the two queens in the peninsula, who are miserably ill off. i am sure, with your good sense you will not find it difficult to judge questions yourself. i cannot too much recommend this, as it will then become a habit, and even an amusement to you. cultivate always a genuine feeling of right and wrong, and be very true and honourable in your dealings; this gives great strength. i have taken into consideration the advantage or disadvantage of my coming over to you _immediately_. the result of my _examen_ is that i think it better to visit you later. if, however, you wanted me at any time, i should come in a moment. people might fancy i came to enslave you, while i glory in the contrary; and, thirdly, that they might be jealous, or _affect_ it at least, of my coming, as if i thought of ruling the realm for _purposes of my own_.... i am now at the end, i think, of what i had to say. may heaven bless you and keep up your spirits. ever, my beloved child, your faithful uncle and friend, leopold r. pardon the hurry in which this letter was written. [footnote : the duke of cumberland.] [pageheading: the king's condition hopeless] _the princess victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june ._ my dearly beloved uncle,--your _kind_ and _dear_ letter, containing _most wholesome_, _prudent_, _sound_ and _excellent_ advice, was given me by our _good_ and _invaluable honest_ friend, stockmar, and i beg you to accept my best thanks for it. before i say anything else, let me tell you how happy and thankful i am to have stockmar here; he has _been_, and _is_, of the _greatest_ possible use, and be assured, dearest uncle, that he possesses my _most entire confidence_! the king's state, i may fairly say, is _hopeless_; he may _perhaps_ linger a few days, but he cannot recover _ultimately_. yesterday the physicians declared he could not live till the morning, but to-day he is a little better; the great fear is his _excessive_ weakness and no _pulse_ at all. poor old man! i feel sorry for him; he was always personally kind to me, and i should be ungrateful and devoid of feeling if i did not remember this. i look forward to the event which it seems is likely to occur soon, with calmness and quietness; i am not alarmed at it, and yet i do not suppose myself quite equal to all; i trust, however, that with _good-will_, _honesty_, and _courage_ i shall not, at all events, _fail_. your advice is most excellent, and you may depend upon it i shall make use of it, and follow it, as also what stockmar says. i _never showed_ myself, _openly_, to belong to _any party_, and i _do not_ belong to any party. the administration will undoubtedly be well received by me, the more so as i have _real_ confidence in them, and in particular in lord melbourne, who is a straightforward, honest, clever and good man. i need not add much more, dearest uncle, but that i trust that the all-powerful being who has so long watched over my destinies will guide and support me, in whatever situation and station it may please him to place me!... [pageheading: the accession] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th june ._ viscount melbourne[ ] presents his humble duty to your majesty, and being aware that your majesty has already received the melancholy intelligence of the death of his late majesty, will do himself the honour of waiting upon your majesty a little before nine this morning. viscount melbourne has requested the marquis of lansdowne[ ] to name eleven as the hour for the meeting of the council at kensington palace. [footnote : lord melbourne, so far as can be augured from his handwriting, which is extremely difficult to decipher, appears always to have written his own name _melburne_. but it is not the correct spelling, and no one else seems to have employed it.] [footnote : lord president of the council; formerly for a brief period ( - ) chancellor of the exchequer.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june _ (_half-past eight_ a.m.). dearest, most beloved uncle,--two words only, to tell you that my poor uncle, the king, expired this morning at twelve minutes past two. the melancholy news were brought to me by lord conyngham[ ] and the archbishop of canterbury[ ] at six. i expect lord melbourne almost immediately, and hold a council at eleven. ever, my beloved uncle, your devoted and attached niece, victoria r. [footnote : francis nathaniel, second marquis of conyngham, had been m.p. for westbury and donegal, and was now lord chamberlain.] [footnote : william howley ( - ), bishop of london - , primate - .] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th june ._ my dearest niece ... i feel most grateful for your kind letter full of sympathy with my irreparable loss, and thank you with all my heart for your feeling expressions on this melancholy occasion. i am, as you may suppose, deeply affected by all the sad scenes i have gone through lately; but i have the great comfort to dwell upon the recollection of the perfect resignation, piety, and patience with which the dear king bore his trials and sufferings, and the truly christian-like manner of his death. excuse my writing more at present, my heart is overwhelmed and my head aches very much. accept the assurance of my most affectionate devotion, and allow me to consider myself always as your majesty's most affectionate friend, aunt, and subject, adelaide. [pageheading: the queen's journal] [pageheading: the queen's first council] _extract from the queen's journal._ _tuesday, th june ._ i was awoke at o'clock by mamma, who told me that the archbishop of canterbury and lord conyngham were here, and wished to see me. i got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing-gown) and _alone_, and saw them. lord conyngham (the lord chamberlain) then acquainted me that my poor uncle, the king, was no more, and had expired at minutes past this morning, and consequently that i am _queen_. lord conyngham knelt down and kissed my hand, at the same time delivering to me the official announcement of the poor king's demise. the archbishop then told me that the queen was desirous that he should come and tell me the details of the last moments of my poor good uncle; he said that he had directed his mind to religion, and had died in a perfectly happy, quiet state of mind, and was quite prepared for his death. he added that the king's sufferings at the last were not very great but that there was a good deal of uneasiness. lord conyngham, whom i charged to express my feelings of condolence and sorrow to the poor queen, returned directly to windsor. i then went to my room and dressed. since it has pleased providence to place me in this station, i shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; i am very young and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but i am sure that very few have more real goodwill and more real desire to do what is fit and right than i have. breakfasted, during which time good, faithful stockmar came and talked to me. wrote a letter to dear uncle leopold and a few words to dear good feodore. received a letter from lord melbourne in which he said he would wait upon me at a little before . at came lord melbourne, whom i saw in my room, and of _course quite alone_, as i shall _always_ do all my ministers. he kissed my hand, and i then acquainted him that it had long been my intention to retain him and the rest of the present ministry at the head of affairs, and that it could not be in better hands than his. he again then kissed my hand. he then read to me the declaration which i was to read to the council, which he wrote himself, and which is a very fine one. i then talked with him some little time longer, after which he left me. he was in full dress. i like him very much, and feel confidence in him. he is a very straightforward, honest, clever and good man. i then wrote a letter to the queen. at about lord melbourne came again to me, and spoke to me upon various subjects. at about half-past i went downstairs and held a council in the red saloon. i went in of course quite alone and remained seated the whole time. my two uncles, the dukes of cumberland and sussex, and lord melbourne conducted me. the declaration, the various forms, the swearing in of the privy councillors, of which there were a great number present, and the reception of some of the lords of the council, previous to the council, in an adjacent room (likewise alone) i subjoin here. i was _not_ at all nervous and had the satisfaction of hearing that people were satisfied with what i had done and how i had done it. received after this, audiences of lord melbourne, lord john russell, lord albemarle (master of the horse), and the archbishop of canterbury, all in my room and alone. saw stockmar. saw clark, whom i named my physician. saw mary. wrote to uncle ernest. saw ernest hohenlohe, who brought me a kind and very feeling letter from the poor queen. i feel very much for her, and really feel that the poor good king was always so kind personally to me, that i should be ungrateful were i not to recollect it and feel grieved at his death. the poor queen is wonderfully composed now, i hear. wrote my journal. took my dinner upstairs alone. went downstairs. saw stockmar. at about twenty minutes to came lord melbourne and remained till near . i had a very important and a very _comfortable_ conversation with him. each time i see him i feel more confidence in him; i find him very kind in his manner too. saw stockmar. went down and said good-night to mamma, etc. my _dear_ lehzen will _always_ remain with me as my friend, but will take no situation about me, and i think she is right. [pageheading: the house of commons] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ nd june ._ lord john russell[ ] presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that he presented to the house of commons this day your majesty's gracious message. he then moved an address of condolence and congratulation, which was seconded by sir robert peel. sir robert peel very properly took occasion to speak in terms of high admiration of the deportment of your majesty before the privy council on tuesday. the address was agreed to without a dissentient voice, and your majesty may rest assured that the house of commons is animated by a feeling of loyalty to the throne, and of devotion to your majesty. [footnote : writing as leader of the house of commons.] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ (undated--_ nd or rd june ._) my dearest niece,--i am most grateful for your amiable letter and truly kind offer to come and see me next week. any day convenient to your majesty will be agreeable to me, the sooner the better, for i am equally anxious to see you again, and to express to you in person all that i feel for you at this trying moment. if monday will suit you i shall be ready to receive you and your dear mother on that day. my prayers are with you and my blessing follows you in all you have to go through. my health is as well as it can be after the great exertions i have suffered, and i try to keep up under my heavy trial and deep affliction. my best wishes attend you, my dearest niece, and i am for ever your majesty's most affectionate and faithful friend, aunt and subject, adelaide. [pageheading: congratulations] _the king of the french to queen victoria._ paris, _le juin ._ madame ma s[oe]ur,--j'ai appris avec une vive peine la perte que votre majesté vient de faire dans la personne de son très cher et bien aimé oncle le roi guillaume iv. d'auguste et vénérable mémoire. la vive et sincère amitié que je porte à votre majesté, et à ceux qui lui sont chers, les liens de parenté qui rapprochent nos deux familles par l'alliance de ma fille chérie avec le roi des belges votre oncle bien aimé, et enfin le souvenir qui m'est toujours bien cher de la tendre amitié qui m'attachait au feu prince votre père, depuis que nous nous étions vus en amérique, il y a déjà trente-huit ans,[ ] me déterminent à ne pas attendre les formalités d'usage, pour offrir à votre majesté mes félicitations sur son avènement au trône de la grande-bretagne. il m'est doux de penser que l'heureuse direction que la princesse votre excellente et bien aimée mère a si sagement donnée à votre jeune âge, vous met à portée de supporter dignement le grand fardeau qui vous est échu. je fais les v[oe]ux les plus sincères pour que la providence bénisse votre règne, et qu'il soit une époque de bonheur et de prospérité pour les peuples que vous êtes appelée a gouverner. puissiez-vous aussi jouir longtemps de tout le bonheur personnel que je vous souhaite du fond de mon c[oe]ur. je serai toujours bien empressé de manifester à votre majesté tous les sentiments d'attachement et d'affection que je lui porte. qu'elle me permette d'y ajouter l'expression de la haute estime et de l'inviolable amitié avec lesquelles je ne cesserai d'être, madame ma s[oe]ur, de votre majesté le bon frère, louis philippe r. [footnote : in the duke of kent was commander-in-chief in british north america.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ rd june ._ my beloved child,--your new dignities will not change or increase my old affection for you; may heaven assist you, and may i have the _happiness of being able to be of use to you_, and to contribute to those successes in your new career for which i am so anxious. your letter of the th, written very shortly before the important event took place, gave me _great satisfaction_; it showed me a temper of mind well calculated for the occasion. to see the difficulties of the task without shrinking from them or feeling alarm, and to meet them with courage, is the way to succeed. i have often seen that the _confidence_ of success has been the _cause of the success itself_, and you will do well to _preserve_ that sentiment. i have been most happy to learn that the swearing in of the council passed so well. the declaration in the newspapers i find simple and appropriate. the translation in the papers says, "_j'ai été élevés en angleterre._" . i should advise to say as often as possible that you are _born_ in england. george iii. _gloried_ in this, and as _none_ of your cousins are born in england, it is your interest _de faire reporter cela fortement_. . you never can say too much in praise of your country and its inhabitants. two nations in europe are really almost ridiculous in their own exaggerated praises of themselves; these are the english and the french. your being very national is highly important, and as you happen to be born in england and never to have left it a moment,[ ] it would be odd enough if people tried to make out the contrary. . the established church i also recommend strongly; you cannot, without _pledging_ yourself to anything _particular_, _say too much on the subject_. . before you decide on anything important i should be glad if you would consult me; this would also have the advantage of giving you time. in politics most measures will come in time within a certain number of days; to retrace or back out of a measure is on the contrary extremely _difficult_, and almost always _injurious_ to the highest authority. [footnote : the duke and duchess of kent were settled at amorbach, in leiningen, till a short time before the birth of their child, when they came to kensington.] [pageheading: the ministers] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june ._ my beloved uncle,--though i have an _immense_ deal of _business_ to do, i shall write you a few lines to thank you for your kind and useful letter of the rd, which i have just received. _your_ advice is always of the _greatest importance_ to me. respecting claremont, stockmar will be able to explain to you the _total_ impossibility of my being out of london, as i must see my ministers _every_ day. i am _very_ well, sleep well, and drive every evening in the country; it is so hot that walking is out of the question. before i go further let me pause to tell you how fortunate i am to have at the head of the government a man like lord melbourne. i have seen him now every day, with the exception of friday, and the more i see him, the more confidence i have in him; he is not only a clever statesman and an honest man, but a good and a kind-hearted man, whose aim is to do his duty for his country and not for a _party_. he is of the greatest use to me both politically and privately. i have seen almost all my other ministers, and do regular, hard, but to _me delightful_, work with them. it is to me the _greatest pleasure_ to do my duty for my country and my people, and no fatigue, however great, will be burdensome to me if it is for the welfare of the nation. stockmar will tell you all these things. i have reason to be highly pleased with all my ministers, and hope to god that the elections[ ] may be favourable, as i well know that the present ministry is the best and most moderate we can have. do not, my dearly beloved uncle, fear for my health; i shall take _good_ care of it. i beg your advice on the enclosed paper. ever your devoted and grateful niece and affectionate _child_, victoria r. [footnote : at that time rendered necessary by the demise of the crown.] [pageheading: deliberation advised] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th june ._ my dear child,--... now i must touch on another subject which is of vital importance for you and your comfort, viz. the habits of business which you will contract now. the best plan is to devote certain hours to it; if you do that, you will get through it with great ease. i think you would do well to tell your ministers that for the present you would be ready to receive those who should wish to see you between the hours of eleven and half-past one. this will not plague you much, and will be sufficient in most cases for the usual business that is to be transacted. i shall add to this a piece of advice. whenever a question is of some importance, it should not be decided on the day when it is submitted to you. whenever it is not an urgent one, i make it a rule not to let any question be forced upon my _immediate_ decision; it is really not doing oneself justice _de décider des questions sur le pouce_. and even when in my mind i am disposed to accede, still i always keep the papers with me some little time before i return them. the best mode for you will be, that each minister should bring his box with him, and when he submits to you the papers, _explain them to you_. then you will keep the papers, either to think yourself upon it or to consult somebody, and either return them the next time you see the minister to whom they belong, or send them to him. good habits formed _now_ may for ever afterwards be kept up, and will become so natural to you that you will not find them at all fatiguing. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ kensington palace, _ th june ._ the queen has received lord melbourne's communication, and thinks, as prince ernest of hesse goes to the funeral, it would be proper the prince of leiningen should do just the same. the queen requests that lord melbourne will be so good as to take care that the prince of leiningen is informed as to the proper dress he ought to wear on the occasion. lord albemarle mentioned yesterday to the queen, that all the ladies' saddle-horses, including the queen-dowager's own favourite horses, belonged to the queen; but it strikes her that it would be well if the queen was to give the queen-dowager the choice of two or three of her own horses, and that she might keep them. the queen would wish lord melbourne to give her his opinion on this subject.... [pageheading: stockmar] [pageheading: subjects for study] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th june ._ my dearest child,--... i am glad to see that you are so much pleased with lord melbourne. i believe him to be as you think him. his character is a guarantee which is valuable, and remember that _cleverness_ and _talent_, _without an honest heart and character_, _will never do for your minister_. i shall name nobody, but what i said just now applies to some people you have recently seen. i am so happy that you enter into the important affairs which providence has entrusted to you with so much interest and spirit; if you continue you will be _sure of success_, and your own conscience will give you the most delightful and satisfactory feelings. to be _national_ is the _great thing_, and i was sure you would agree with what i said repeatedly to you on this _vital subject_, and you will be certain in this way of the _love_ of the nation you govern. i recommend to your kind attention what stockmar will think it his duty to tell you; he will never press anything, never plague you with anything, without the thorough conviction that it is indispensable for your welfare. i can guarantee his independence of mind and disinterestedness; nothing makes an impression upon him but what his experience makes him feel to be of importance for you. i am delighted with your plan. you will recollect that i pressed upon you repeatedly how necessary it was for you to continue your studies on a more _extended_ scale, more appropriate to the station you were destined once to fill. no one is better qualified to direct those studies for the next few years than stockmar, few people possess more general information, and very, very few have been like him educated, as it were, by fate itself since . there is no branch of information in which he may not prove useful-- ( ) history, considered in a practical and philosophical way; ( ) international law and everything connected with it; ( ) political economy, an important branch nowadays; ( ) classic studies; ( ) _belles lettres_ in general; ( ) physical science in all its branches, etc., etc.--the list would be very long if i were to enumerate it all. the _sooner_ you do this the better; in all countries and at all times men like stockmar have filled similar situations, even in the most bigoted and jealous countries, such as spain, austria, etc. you will have him in this case _constantly near you without_ anybody having the right of finding fault with it, and to be useful to you he should be near you. stockmar would have the _immense_ advantage, for so young a queen, to be a _living_ dictionary of all matters scientific and politic that happened these thirty years, which to you is of the greatest importance, because you _must study_ the political history of at least the last thirty-seven years _more particularly_. i had begun something of the sort with you, even so far back as george ii.; you will do well to go through the reign of george iii., and to follow the various circumstances which brought on finally the present state of affairs.... my letter grows too long, and you will not have time to read it; i will therefore come to an end, remaining ever, my beloved victoria, your faithfully attached uncle and friend, leopold r. [pageheading: spanish affairs] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ rd july ._ my dearest uncle,--i had the happiness of receiving your kind letter of th june yesterday, and hasten to thank you for it. your dear and kind letters, full of kind and excellent advice, will always be of the greatest use to me, and will always be my delight. you may depend upon it that i shall profit by your advice, as i have already so often done. i was sure you would be of my opinion relative to lord melbourne. indeed, dearest uncle, nothing is to be done without a good heart and an honest mind; i have, alas! seen so much of bad hearts and dishonest and _double_ minds, that i know how to value and appreciate _real worth_. all is going on well at present, and the elections promise to be favourable. god grant they may be so! i had a very long and highly interesting conversation with palmerston on saturday, about turkey, russia, etc., etc. i trust something may be done for my sister queens. they have got a constitution in spain at length, and the cortes have done very well. we hope also to conclude a treaty of commerce with the spaniards shortly, which would be an immense thing. if you could get my kind and dear friend louis philippe, whom i do so respect, and for whom i have a great affection, to do something for poor spain, it would be of great use. i am quite _penetrated_ by the king's kindness in sending good old general baudrand[ ] and the duc d'elchingen[ ] over to compliment me; baudrand did it very well, and with much good feeling. in portugal, affairs look very black, i grieve to say. they have no money, and the _chartists_ want to bring about another counter-revolution, which would be fatal to the poor queen's interests, i fear. that you approve my plan about stockmar i am delighted to hear. i hope to go into buckingham palace very shortly after the funeral. now, dearest uncle, i must invite you _en forme_. i should be most _delighted_ if you, dearest aunt louise, and leopold (_j'insiste_) could come about the _middle_ or _end_ of _august_. then i should beg you would stay a little longer than usual, a fortnight at _least_. you could bring as many gentlemen, ladies, _bonnes_, etc., etc., as you pleased, and i should be _too_ happy and proud to have you under _my own_ roof.... [footnote : general comte baudrand ( - ).] [footnote : son of marshal ney.] _the earl of liverpool to baron stockmar._ _ th july ._ went about half-past ten o'clock to apsley house, and told the duke of wellington the whole of my communication with the queen, duchess of kent, and sir john conroy on th june, also of my communication subsequently with lord melbourne, all of which he very much approved of. he said that he was quite sure that the queen would find lord melbourne an honourable man, and one in whom her majesty might put confidence; that he was a man apt to treat matters too lightly, or, as he expressed it, a _poco curante_, but in the main an honest and an honourable man. upon my speaking to him of the kind and paternal conduct of king leopold towards his niece, he said that he was fully persuaded of this, and should at all and any time be ready to uphold it by his approbation, but that he had no immediate connection with the press, whose attacks indeed he held very cheap, though they were frequently very offensive. he then asked me whether it was not true that the queen had thought of some reviews at which she would appear on horseback. i said there had been some talk of it. he desired me to say that he thought this would be very dangerous, that she had much better do this in an open carriage, as no one except such as himself knew how difficult it was to get steady riding horses, and besides that, she could not be attended by any female, and that this would appear indelicate. [pageheading: queen adelaide] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th july ._ my dearest niece,--i must, before i leave this dear castle, once more express to you the grateful sense i entertain for the kind treatment i have experienced from you since it has pleased our heavenly father to put you in possession of it. you have contributed much to my comfort under all the painful and distressing circumstances of this time of woe, and i assure you that i ever shall remember it with sincere gratitude. i hope that you continue quite well and do not suffer from the exertions and duties of your new position. my best wishes and prayers attend you on all occasions, for i shall be for the rest of my life devoted and attached to you as your most affectionate aunt and subject, adelaide. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ kensington palace, _ th july ._ the queen regrets very much to hear of lord melbourne's indisposition, and trusts it will be of no duration. the queen has just seen the lord chamberlain and has given him all her orders. the lord chamberlain says that he will do everything in his power to facilitate the queen's going into buckingham palace on thursday. the queen fears that there may have been some mistake with respect to the chapter of the garter, for lord conyngham,[ ] as well as several others, imagined it would be held on _wednesday_ instead of _friday_. the queen requests lord melbourne to rectify this mistake, as it is the queen's intention to hold the chapter on _friday_. [footnote : the lord chamberlain.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th july ._ my dearest, best uncle,--... i have got very little time and very little to say. i _really_ and _truly_ go into buckingham palace the day after to-morrow, but i must say, though i am very glad to do so, i feel sorry to leave for _ever_ my poor old birthplace.... _ th._--i shall not go out of town, i think, before the th or thereabouts of next month. windsor requires thorough cleaning, and i must say i could not think of going in sooner after the poor king's death. windsor always appears very melancholy to me, and there are so many sad associations with it. these will vanish, i daresay, if i see you there soon after my arrival there. i have very pleasant large dinners every day. i invite my premier generally once a week to dinner as i think it right to show publicly that i esteem him and have confidence in him, as he has behaved so well. stockmar is of this opinion and is his great admirer.... [pageheading: madame de lieven] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ th july ._ ... having still a few moments before a special messenger sets off, i take advantage of it to add a few words. by all i can hear, there are many intrigues on foot in england at this moment. princess lieven[ ] and another individual recently imported from her country seem to be very active in what concerns them not; beware of them. a rule which i cannot sufficiently recommend is, _never to permit_ people to speak on subjects concerning yourself or your affairs, without your having yourself desired them to do so. the moment a person behaves improperly on this subject, change the conversation, and make the individual feel that he has made a mistake.... people will certainly try to speak to you on your _own personal_ affairs; decline it boldly, and they will leave you alone.... now i conclude with my warmest wishes for your happiness. ever, my dear victoria, your faithfully attached uncle and friend, leopold r. [footnote : the princess dorothea de benckendorff married the count de lieven at fifteen; in , he became russian minister (and later ambassador) in london, whither she accompanied him. she was a woman of extraordinary cleverness, enjoying the confidence of george iv., liverpool, canning, castlereagh, and wellington. inspiring the efforts, and even composing the despatches of her husband, she became herself the confidential correspondent of nesselrode, esterhazy, posso di borgo, guizot, and lord aberdeen. in , the lievens returned to st petersburg, where the emperor nicholas, though indifferent to the society of women of talent, showed her special marks of regard. her husband died at rome, in january , and she established herself in paris, afterwards seeking a home in england during the troubles of . returning to paris, her _salon_ became again the resort of diplomatists, politicians, and men of the world. she died in january . madame de lieven about this time told greville that she had had an audience of the queen, "who was very civil and gracious, but timid and embarrassed, and talked of nothing but commonplaces"; and greville adds that the queen "had probably been told that the princess was an _intrigante_, and was afraid of committing herself." madame de lieven wrote to lord aberdeen on the th july :-- j'ai vu la reine deux fois, je l'ai vue seule, et je l'ai vue dans la société du soir, et avec son premier ministre. elle a un aplomb, un air de commandement, de dignité, qui avec son visage enfantin, sa petite taille, et son joli sourire, forment certainement le spectacle le plus extraordinaire qu'il soit possible de se figurer. elle est d'une extrême réserve dans son discours. on croit que la prudence est une de ses premières qualités. lord melbourne a auprès d'elle un air d'amour, de contentement, de vanité même, et tout cela mêlé avec beaucoup de respect, des attitudes très à son aise, une habitude de première place dans son salon, de la rêverie, de la gaieté, vous voyez tout cela. la reine est pleine d'aimables sourires pour lui. la société le soir n'était composée que du household de la reine, de tout le household de la duchesse de kent (moins la famille conroy, qui n'approche pas du palais), et de quelques étrangers. la duchesse de kent est parfaitement mécontente,--elle m'en a même parlé. je doute que la mère et la fllle habitent longtemps sous le même toit. quant à lord melbourne, il me semble que la duchesse le déteste. il est évident qu'il est dans la possession entière et exclusive de la confiance de la reine, et que ses ressentiments, comme ses peines passées, sont confiés sans réserve à son premier ministre....] [pageheading: parliament prorogued] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th july ._ my beloved uncle,--... i have been so busy, i can say but two words more, which are that i prorogued parliament yesterday in person, was very well received, and am not at all tired to-day, but quite frisky. there is to be no review _this year_, as i was determined to have it only if i _could ride_, and as i have not ridden for two years, it was better not. believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ stanhope street, _ nd july ._ ... with regard to count orloff,[ ] your majesty will probably renew to him, on his taking leave, the assurances which your majesty has already given, of your desire to cement and maintain the friendly alliance which subsists between the two crowns; and an expression might be repeated of the pleasure which your majesty has derived from the selection of a person who possesses the confidence and esteem of the emperor so fully as count orloff is known to do. it might, perhaps, be as well to avoid any allusion to your majesty's not being personally acquainted with the emperor, or anything that might be construed into an invitation to that sovereign to come to england, because viscount palmerston has reason to believe that any such hint would be eagerly caught at, while at the same time such a visit does not, under all circumstances, seem to be a thing particularly to be desired.... [footnote : the russian ambassador.] [pageheading: discretion advised] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th july ._ my dearest child,--... i hear that the levée went off very well, and i have no doubt that the drawing-room did the same. your _spirit_ in all these new and trying proceedings makes me _happy beyond expression_. believe me, with _courage_ and _honesty_, you will get on beautifully and successfully. the firmness you displayed at the beginning of your reign will be for your quiet of the utmost importance. people must come to the opinion _it is of no use intriguing, because when her mind is once made up, and she thinks a thing right_, no earthly power will make her change. to these qualities must be added one which is of great importance, this is _discretion_; humble as it seems, it has often brought about successes in which talent failed and genius did not succeed. discretion in the great affairs of the world does wonders, and safety depends frequently and is chiefly derived from it.... now i must quickly conclude, with the prayer that you will _not permit_ anybody, be it even your prime minister, to speak to you on matters that concern you _personally_, without _your_ having expressed the wish of its being done. you have no idea of the importance of this for your peace and comfort and safety. i always act on this principle, and i can say with great success. believe me ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th july ._ my dearest child,--your dear letter of the th inst. is, amongst _so many kind letters_, _almost the kindest i yet received_ from your dear hands. my happiness and my greatest pride will always be, to be a _tender and devoted father to you, my beloved child_, and to watch over you and stand by you with _heart_ and _soul as long_ as the heart which _loves_ you so sincerely will beat. i have no doubt that lord melbourne will always do everything in his power to be useful to you. his position is become extremely happy; after having been, under the late king at least, in an awkward position, he is now sure of enjoying your confidence and sincere support. if the elections turn out favourably to the ministry, it will, i hope, give them the means of trying to _conciliate_ the great mass of the _moderate_ tories, who from their nature and in consequence of their opinions are safe and desirable supporters of the crown. the two extremes will give them trouble, and the ultra-tories appear to me to be even the _more unreasonable_ of the two. i am most happy to see you on your guard against princess lieven and such-like people. your life amongst intriguers and tormented with intrigues has given you an experience on this important subject which you will do well not to lose sight of, as it will unfortunately often _reproduce itself_, though the names and manner of carrying on the thing may not be the same. i also think windsor a little melancholy, but i believe that one likes it more and more, as the park in particular is uncommonly beautiful. we shall try our best to enliven it by our presence, and probably soon after your arrival. i am most happy to see you so spirited and happy in your new position; it will go a great way to ensure your success, and your spirit and courage will never be _de trop_. now i will conclude for the day, not to bore you, and beg you always to believe me, my dear and beloved victoria, your devoted uncle and friend, leopold r. [pageheading: princess hohenlohe] _the princess hohenlohe to queen victoria._ langenburg, _ st july ._ my dearest victoria,--on arriving here, i found your dear letter of the th of this month; and some days ago i received the one of the th. many, many thanks for them both; it is indeed kind of you to write to me now when you have so much to do. you have no idea what a feeling it is, to hear and read of you, and to think that it is _you_, _my own dear sister_, who are the object of general observation, and, i may say, admiration; it is sometimes like a dream. for those who are near you it is quite different than for me, who have not seen you yet in your new position, but must represent to myself all through the report of others. the description in the papers of your proroguing parliament i read with great interest; it must have been an imposing moment for you, your standing for the first time in your life in the middle of that assembly where the interests and welfare of your country are discussed and decided upon. it is with pride, pleasure, and anxiety i think of you at the description of such scenes and occurrences. i saw too by the papers that your _incognito_ at the opera was not quite kept as you wished it.... [pageheading: the elections] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ st august ._ my dearest uncle,--... i should be _most_ happy to "peep once" into your country, and wish that it _could_ be. with respect to politics, lord melbourne told me this morning that he thinks the lords will be more moderate and reasonable next session. the duke of wellington made a speech shortly before the dissolution of parliament, in which he said that _he wished as much as the government did to pass the questions now pending_. you do not think alexander[ ] _near_ handsome enough in my opinion; you know, ladies are much better judges. he is somewhat colossal, i own, but very proportionate and good-looking, i think. i am all impatience to hear more about all this, and when you imagine the marriage will take place. i have resumed my singing lessons with lablache[ ] twice a week, which form an agreeable recreation in the midst of all the business i have to do. he is such a good old soul, and greatly pleased that i go on with him. i admire the music of the _huguenots_ very much, but do not sing it, as i prefer italian to french for singing greatly. i have been learning in the beginning of the season many of your old favourites, which i hope to sing with you when we meet. i wish i could keep lablache to sing with us, but he will be gone by that time, i greatly fear. now farewell, my beloved uncle. give my affectionate love to my dear aunt, and believe me always, your devoted niece, victoria r. _j'embrasse léopold et philippe._ [footnote : prince alexander of würtemberg, betrothed to princess marie of orleans, daughter of louis philippe. she died th january . see letter of queen victoria to the king of the belgians, th january .] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. v, footnote )] [pageheading: the elections] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th august ._ my beloved uncle,--... with respect to the elections, they are, i'm thankful to say, rather favourable, though not quite so much so as we could wish. but upon the whole we shall have as good a house as we had, and, _i_ hope (as lord melbourne does also), a more moderate one than the last one. the irish elections are very favourable to us; we have gained six in the english boroughs, and lost, i grieve to say, several in the counties. the country is very quiet, and i have good reason to believe all will do very well. the king of würtemberg is to arrive to-night, under the name of count teck, and wishes to be in strict _incognito_. he comes on purpose to see me; you know he is my second cousin--his mother[ ] was sister to queen caroline and daughter to my grand-aunt.[ ] i shall give the king a large dinner on friday and a little concert after it.... [footnote : queen augusta of würtemberg.] [footnote : augusta, duchess of brunswick, sister of george iii.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ endsleigh, _ th august ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to lay before your majesty a general statement of the result of the elections, which, with the exception of one or two doubtful counties in ireland, may be said to be completed.... it is not to be denied that this near balance of parties makes the task of conducting the government difficult for any ministry. on the other hand, the circumstances of the country do not present any extraordinary difficulty, and were any such to arise, the general composition of the new house of commons affords a security that the maintenance of the constitution and the welfare of the country would be permanent objects to the majority of its members.[ ] lord john russell had some time ago the honour of stating to your majesty that the return of mr fox maule for perthshire, and of mr hume for middlesex, were hardly to be expected. in this as in many other instances the superior organisation of the tory party have enabled them to gain the appearance of a change of opinion, which has not in fact taken place. lord john russell is sorry to add that bribery, intimidation, and drunkenness have been very prevalent at the late elections, and that in many cases the disposition to riot has only been checked by the appearance of the military, who have in all cases conducted themselves with great temper and judgment. [footnote : while the extreme radicals were in several cases defeated, the number of o'connell's followers was decidedly increased. the general balance of parties was not much affected, though the complaint made by mr roebuck, the radical member for bath, in the last days of william iv.'s reign, that there was no government, and that the machinery of legislation was at a dead stop, was no longer warranted.] [pageheading: leaving windsor] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ endsleigh, _ st august ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to submit to your majesty a letter from the earl of coventry requesting an audience. it is usual for the sovereign to receive any peer who may be desirous of an audience, without any other person being present. but if the peer who is thus admitted to the honour of an audience should enter upon political topics, it has been the custom for your majesty's predecessors merely to hear what is offered, and not to give any opinion, or to enter into any discussion or conversation upon such topics. should your majesty be pleased to grant lord coventry's request of an audience, perhaps the most convenient course will be that the lord-in-waiting should signify to him, direct from windsor, your majesty's pleasure. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._[ ] windsor castle, _ th september ._ (_ m(inutes) p(ast) ._) my dearest, most beloved uncle,--one line to express to you, _imperfectly_, my thanks for all your _very_ great kindness to me, and _my great_, _great_ grief at your departure! god knows _how sad_, _how forlorn_, i feel! _how_ i _shall_ miss you, my dearest, dear uncle! _every, every where_! _how_ i shall miss your conversation! _how_ i shall miss your _protection_ out riding! oh! i feel _very_, _very_ sad, and cannot speak of you both without crying! farewell, my beloved uncle and _father!_ may heaven bless and protect you; and do not forget your most affectionate, devoted, and attached niece and _child_, victoria r. [footnote : written on the conclusion of a visit of the king of the belgians to england.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians_. windsor castle, _ rd october ._ my beloved uncle,--... i am quite sad to leave this fine place, where, if it had not been for the meeting of parliament _so_ early this year, i would have remained till november. i have passed _such_ a pleasant time here, the _pleasantest summer_ i have _ever_ passed in my life; i have had the _great_ happiness of having you and my beloved aunt here, i have had pleasant people staying with me, and i have had delicious rides which have done me more good than anything. it will be such a break-up of our little circle! besides my own people, lord melbourne and lord palmerston are the only people who have been _staying_ here, and this little party was very social and agreeable. the princess augusta of saxony[ ] has been here for two nights; she is neither young nor handsome, but a very kind good person. the news from portugal are bad which i got this morning. the civil war is _ended_, and the _chartists_ have been _completely defeated_; this is sad enough, but i was fearful of it: a counter-revolution _never_ does well.[ ] _en revanche_, the news from spain are by far better.... believe me always, in haste, your devoted and affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : daughter of king frederick augustus of saxony.] [footnote : on july st a new ministry had come into power in portugal. the finances of the country were in great confusion, a military insurrection broke out in the north at braga, the ministry resigned, and a new ministry came into office in august. on the th august, the duke of terceira, followed by many persons of distinction, joined the insurgents, and, establishing himself at mafra, advanced upon lisbon with the chartist troops, issuing a proclamation of provisional regency. a convention was eventually signed, and the cortes proceeded to discuss measures of constitutional reform.] [pageheading: reception at brighton] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in acknowledging your majesty's gracious communication, of yesterday returns his thanks for the very lively account which your majesty has given of the journey and the entrance into brighton. lord melbourne entirely partakes in the wish your majesty has been graciously pleased to express that he had been there to witness the scene; but your majesty will at once perceive that it was better that he was not, as in that case lord melbourne would have been accused of an attempt to take a political advantage of the general enthusiasm and to mix himself and the government with your majesty's personal popularity. lord melbourne fears that for some time your majesty will find yourself somewhat incommoded by the desire, which naturally prevails amongst all ranks and classes, to obtain an opportunity of seeing your majesty.... _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october ._ ... i have also told stockmar to try to settle something for _regular_ safe communication; in quiet times like the present, one a week would be sufficient. you know now that all letters are read, and that should not be _always_ the case with ours. there is, however, one thing about which i think it right to warn you. this way of reading people's letters is often taken advantage of by the writers of them, who are _not so ignorant of the thing as is imagined_ to write the very subject which they wish to convey to the ears of persons without compromising themselves. i will give you an example: we are still plagued by prussia concerning those fortresses; now, to tell the prussian government many things, which we _should not like_ to tell them _officially_, the minister is going to write a despatch to our man at berlin, sending it _by post_; the prussians _are sure_ to read it, and to learn in this way what we wish them to hear. the diplomats in england may resort to this same mode of proceeding to injure people, to calumniate, and to convey to your knowledge such things as they may hope to have the effect of injuring some people _they may fear_, in your eyes. i tell you the _trick_, that you should be able to guard against it; it is of importance, and i have no doubt will be resorted to by various political people.... ever, my dearest victoria, your faithfully devoted uncle and friend, leopold r. [pageheading: england and france] [pageheading: louis philippe's policy] [pageheading: count molÉ] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ trianon, _ th october ._ my dearest victoria,--... there is a great disposition here to be on the best possible terms with england. as it has but too often happened that the diplomatic agents of the two countries have drawn, or been believed to draw, different ways, i recommended strongly to count molé[ ] to give strong and clear instructions to his people, particularly at madrid, lisbon, and athens.... he is going to read them to lord granville, and also to communicate as much as possible all the despatches of the french diplomats to the english government. this will be a proof of confidence, and it will besides have the advantage of giving often useful information, enabling thereby the english government to hear two opinions instead of one. it cannot be denied that the idea that the plenipotentiaries of the two countries were following two different lines of policy has been hurtful to the causes of the two queens in the peninsula. to put a stop to this double action is the only benefit which the queens will at present derive from a better understanding between england and france; but as it is, it will be still of some importance to them, and take away from the different political parties the possibility of using the pretended misunderstanding against the government of the queens. i trust that you will tell your ministers to meet this friendly disposition with frankness and kindness. the wish of the king here is, to have matters concerted between the plenipotentiaries of both countries. in this way it would become difficult for the parties in spain or portugal to say that the two plenipotentiaries support different candidates for ministerial power, and the division in the parties connected with the queens might be in this manner _prevented_ or _reconciled_. many and many are the ill-natured hints thrown out against the king's policy here, and because he is clever, he is suspected of having _ambitious schemes without end_; it may not be without some importance to set this, in your mind at least, to rights. whatever may have been the king's views immediately after the revolution of july[ ] i will not decide; perhaps he may a moment have wished to be able to do something for france. supposing this for the sake of argument to have been so, two months of his reign were sufficient to show him that the great question was not to conquer territories or foreign influence, but to save monarchy. he saw clearly that though _he_ might begin a war, necessarily it would soon degenerate into a war of propaganda, and that he and his family would be the first victims of it. his struggle has constantly been to strengthen his government, to keep together or create anew the elements indispensable for a monarchical government, and this struggle is far from being at its end, and most probably the remainder of his life will be devoted to this important task; and whatever may be the more lively disposition of the duke of orleans, great part of his reign if he comes to the throne, and perhaps the _whole_ of it, will, _bon gré mal gré_, take the same turn. that it should be so _is very natural_, because of _what use_ would be some _foreign provinces_ if they would only add to the difficulty of governing the old? therefore, knowing as i do all the proceedings of the king and his cabinet, even more fully than i do those of your government; seeing constantly in the most unreserved manner the whole of the despatches; knowing as the nearest neighbour the system that they constantly followed up towards us, i must say that no one is more against acquiring influence in foreign states, or even getting burthened with family aggrandisement in them, than he. he rejected most positively the marriage of joinville with donna maria because he will not have anything to do with portugal. he rejects a _mille_ times the idea of a future union of the queen of spain with aumale, because he will not have a son where it _is not_ his intention to support him. his fear of being drawn into a real intervention has been the cause of his having been so anxious not to have a french legion in spain. he may be right or wrong on this subject--i do not decide this, as i was of a different opinion last year; but his fear of being drawn too far, like a man whose clothes get caught by a steam-engine, is natural enough. his dislike to the ultra-liberals in the peninsula is also very natural, because they uphold principles of government which render monarchy impossible, and the application of which to france would be the ruin of the king. england, from the peculiarity of its position, can do many things which in france would upset everything.... i must close my letter, and shall answer yours to-morrow. god bless you! ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : french premier and foreign secretary.] [footnote : .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ pavilion, brighton, _ th october ._ ... now, dearest uncle, i must speak to you _un peu de politique_. i made lord melbourne read the _political_ part of your letter. he wished me to communicate to you part of the contents of a letter of lord granville's which we received yesterday. lord granville complains a good deal of molé,[ ] and says, that though he is apparently very cordial and friendly towards us, and talks of his desire that we should be on a better footing as to our foreign ministers than we have hitherto been, that whenever lord granville urges him to do anything decisive (to use lord g.'s own words) "he _shrinks_ from the discussion," says he must have time to reflect before he can give any answer, and evades giving any reply, whenever anything of _importance_ is required. this, you see, dear uncle, is not satisfactory. i merely tell you this, as i think you would like to know what molé tells _our_ ambassador; this differs from what he told _you_. what you say about louis philippe i am sure is very true; his situation is a very peculiar and a very difficult one.... [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. vi, footnote )] [pageheading: the french in africa] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ trianon, _ th october ._ ... political matters i shall not touch upon to-day; there is nothing very particular except the taking of constantin.[ ] the duc de nemours has greatly distinguished himself. i am sorry to see that in england people are sometimes _sufficiently absurd_ to be jealous of these french conquests. nothing indeed can be more absurd, as nothing is of greater _importance to the peace_ of europe than that a powerful and military nation like the french should have this outlet for their love of military display. if one had named a council of wise men to fix upon a spot where this might be done with _the least mischief_ to the rest of the world, one should have named the coast of africa. by their being there they will render to civilisation a country which for about years has been growing worse and worse, and which was in the times of the romans one of the richest provinces. it settles, besides, upon the french a constant _petite guerre_ with the natives, which is the very thing that will do them good. [footnote : the french losses amounted to officers and men killed, with officers and men wounded. the french government had failed in its efforts for an amicable arrangement with achmet bey, and it appeared probable that the turkish fleet would also oppose them. the commander, however, merely landed some men at tripoli, and the french success was complete.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th november ._ ... now, dearest uncle, before i say anything more, i will answer the various questions in your letter, which i have communicated to lord melbourne and lord palmerston. ( ) with respect to ferdinand's question to you, it is impossible for _us_ to say _beforehand_ _what_ we _shall_ do in _such_ an _emergency_; it depends so entirely on the peculiar _circumstances_ of the _moment_ that we cannot say what we should do. you know, dear uncle, that the fleet has orders to protect the king and queen in case they should be in any personal danger. as to lord howard,[ ] though what you say about him is true enough, it would not do to recall him at present; it would give bois le comte[ ] all the advantage he _wishes_ for, and which would be injurious to our interests and influence. ( ) with regard to spain, a very decided mention is made of the _queen_ herself in the speech which is to be delivered by me to-morrow in the house of lords. we have great reason to know that, of late, the queen has positively declared her intention to remain at madrid to the very last. villiers'[ ] conduct has been, i fear, much misrepresented, for his _own_ opinions are not at all those of the _ultra-liberal_ kind; and his _only_ aim has been, to be on good terms with the spanish ministry for the time being. ( ) concerning france, i need not repeat to you, dear uncle, how _very_ anxious we all are to be upon the _best_ and _most friendly_ terms with her, and to co-operate with her. [footnote : lord howard de walden, british minister at lisbon.] [footnote : french minister at madrid.] [footnote : british minister at madrid, afterwards fourth earl of clarendon, and twice foreign secretary.] [pageheading: close of the session] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--... you will, i am sure, be happy to hear that this session is happily closed, and that the whole has gone off very satisfactorily, much more so even than any of us could hope. i went on saturday to the house of lords to give my assent to the civil list bill. i shall return to town on the th of january, when parliament meets again; it meets sooner than it was at first intended it should, on account of the affairs of canada. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._[ ] laeken, _ th december ._ my dearest child,--you were _somewhat irritable_ when you wrote to me!... affairs stand now as follows: the studies at bonn take the whole of april, and may be concluded at the beginning of may. from may till the end of august, if you approved of the visit, the time should be _utilisé_. a _séjour_ at coburg would _not_ be of much use; here we are generally absent in the summer. to confide therefore the young gentleman to his uncle mensdorff[ ] for three months, would give him so much time for some _manly accomplishments_, which do no harm to a young man. to make him _enter the service_ would _not_ do at all. what you say about his imbibing principles of a political nature, there is no great fear of that. first of all, prague is not a town where politics are at all agitated; these topics are very rarely touched upon; besides, albert is clever, and it is not at the eleventh hour that anybody in three months will make him imbibe political principles. perhaps you will turn in your mind what you think on the subject, and communicate me the result of it.... [footnote : this letter refers to the course of study which prince albert was about to pursue.] [footnote : count emmanuel de mensdorff-pouilly, who married, in , sophia, princess of saxe-coburg-saalfeld.] [pageheading: canada] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and acquaints your majesty that he has this morning received a letter from the speaker[ ] consenting to remain until whitsuntide. this is inconvenient enough, but the delay relieves your present embarrassment upon this head, and puts off changes until a period of the session when public affairs will be more decisively settled. lord melbourne is sorry to have to inform your majesty that there was a good deal of difference of opinion yesterday in the cabinet upon the affairs of canada.[ ] all are of opinion that strong measures should be taken for the repression of the insurrection, but some, and more particularly lord howick, think that these measures of vigour should be accompanied by measures of amendment and conciliation. we are to have a cabinet again upon the subject on wednesday next, when lord melbourne hopes that some practical result will be come to without serious difference. [footnote : mr james abercromby, afterwards lord dunfermline. he remained in the chair till . he had little hold over the house, and many regrettable scenes occurred.] [footnote : see introductory note, p. . (to ch. vi)] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen received lord melbourne's communication yesterday evening, and is glad to see that the speaker consents to remain a little while longer, though, as lord melbourne says, it is still very inconvenient. the queen regrets that there should have been any difference of opinion with respect to canada, but hopes with lord melbourne that some final arrangement may be come to next wednesday. the queen is very sorry to learn that lord melbourne will be detained in london until saturday. she omitted to ask lord melbourne when he thinks it would be convenient for lord palmerston to come down to windsor for a few days, as it is the queen's wish to ask him in the course of the recess. the queen is very thankful to lord melbourne for his kind enquiries after her health; she is sorry to say she had one of her bad headaches yesterday, but feels very well this morning and thinks a drive will quite cure her. [pageheading: army estimates] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen received lord melbourne's two letters yesterday evening, and another this morning, enclosing one from lord duncannon.[ ] the queen is very much gratified by the kind expressions in the letter she got last night; she is grieved to see lord melbourne is so much oppressed with business. the queen thinks lord melbourne has acted with the greatest judgment with respect to sir j. conroy,[ ] and highly approves the course he intends pursuing. the queen regrets that there should be so much difficulty with respect to the report of the army estimates, but fervently trusts that no serious difficulties will arise from it; she will be very anxious to talk about this and many other matters when she sees lord melbourne, which the queen _hopes_ (as lord melbourne says nothing to the contrary) she will do on the rd or th. the queen thinks that it will be quite right if lord melbourne writes to lord john about the staffordshire yeomanry. the queen will be delighted to see lady john russell's little girl, and would be very happy if lady john was to bring the _baby_ also. the queen begs lord melbourne to invite them (lord and lady john) in her name on the th, and to stay till the th. the duke and duchess of cambridge are here, and the queen is very sorry to say, that from what she _sees_ and _hears_, she has reason to fear all is _not_ as it _should_ be; _her_ mother is most _markedly_ civil and affectionate towards both the duke and duchess, and spoke politics with the former. the queen will tell lord melbourne more about this when she sees him. the weather was beautiful yesterday, and the queen had a _long_ drive and _walk_, which have done her great good; it is still finer to-day. [footnote : commissioner of woods and forests and lord privy seal.] [footnote : sir j. conroy, who had been comptroller to the duchess of kent, made certain claims which it was not considered expedient to grant. he received a pension and a baronetcy.] [pageheading: canada] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th december ._ ... lord melbourne will do his utmost to compose these differences respecting canada and the army,[ ] but your majesty must contemplate the possibility, not to say the probability, of his not being able to succeed. it will not do for the sake of temporary accommodation to sacrifice the honour of your majesty's crown or the interests of your majesty's subjects. [footnote : _see_ introductory notes for and , pp. and . (to ch. vi and ch. vii)] [pageheading: state departments] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st december ._ ... lord melbourne has not yet been able to leave london. in order to have a chance of arranging these troublesome affairs it is necessary continually to see those who are principally engaged in them. from a conversation which he has had this evening with lord howick, lord melbourne has better hopes of producing a general agreement upon canadian affairs, but the question of the administration of the army, which is of less immediate importance, is of more difficulty. your majesty knows the importance attached by the king of the belgians to this matter. the opinion of the duke of wellington is also strongly against the projected alteration. on the other hand, five cabinet ministers have pledged themselves to it by signing the report, and consider themselves as having publicly undertaken to the house of commons that some such measure shall be proposed. lord melbourne has asked for the opinions of lord hill[ ] and sir hussey vivian[ ] in writing. when lord melbourne receives them he must submit them to your majesty with as short and as clear a statement as he can make of a question which is of a technical and official character, and with which lord melbourne does not feel himself to be very familiar. lord melbourne transmits a copy of the proposed order in council to carry the recommendation of the report into effect, which will acquaint your majesty precisely what the powers and duties are which it is intended to transfer from the secretary of state[ ] to the secretary-at-war. it is the more necessary to be cautious, because it can be done without taking the opinion or having recourse to the authority of parliament. your majesty will not suppose that lord melbourne by laying before you the whole case has an idea of throwing the weight of such a decision entirely upon your majesty. lord melbourne will deem it his duty to offer your majesty a decided opinion upon the subject. lord melbourne is much rejoiced to hear that your majesty enjoys windsor. the duchess of sutherland,[ ] who appreciates both the grand and the beautiful, could not be otherwise than delighted with it.... lord melbourne has the pleasure of wishing your majesty a happy and prosperous new year. [footnote : commander-in-chief.] [footnote : master-general of the ordnance.] [footnote : the secretaries of state (then three, now five in number) have co-extensive authority, that is to say, any one of them can legally execute the duties of all, although separate spheres of action are for convenience assigned to them; at that time the administration of colonial and military affairs were combined, the secretary-at-war not being a secretary of state. after the crimean war a fourth secretary was appointed, and after the indian mutiny a fifth was added, entrusted severally with the supervision of military affairs and the administration of india. see letters of lord melbourne of st, th, and th november . (ch. x, 'secretaries of state')] [footnote : harriet elizabeth georgiana, duchess of sutherland ( - ), was the daughter of the sixth earl of carlisle, and married her cousin, earl gower ( - ), who became duke of sutherland in . on the accession of the queen, the duchess of sutherland became mistress of the robes, a post which she held till , and on three subsequent occasions. the duchess was a cultivated woman with many tastes, and made stafford house a great social centre. she was deeply interested in philanthropic and social movements, such as the abolition of slavery, and had a strong sympathy for national movements, which she showed by entertaining garibaldi in . she combined a considerable sense of humour with a rare capacity for affection, and became one of the queen's closest friends; after the prince consort's death she was for some weeks the queen's constant companion.] introductory note to chapter vii the melbourne ministry were able to maintain themselves in office during the year ( ), but were too weak to carry important measures. the prevailing distress led to much criticism of the poor law act of , and the disturbances in canada turned the tide of emigration to australia. but public interest in politics was eclipsed by the gaieties of the coronation, in which all ranks partook. the events of imperial importance elsewhere centred in jamaica and canada, the apprenticeship system in the former place leading to a renewal of the anti-slavery agitation at home, and the passing of a colonial bill for absolute emancipation. the canadian troubles brought about the passing of an imperial act for the suspension for two years of the legislative assembly of lower canada, and lord durham, an impulsive and generous-hearted man, was sent out as high commissioner. having dismissed the executive council of his predecessor, he nominated a fresh one, but an ordinance thereafter promulgated in reference to the rebels was severely criticised. lord brougham, rejoicing at the opportunity of paying off old scores, castigated the government, especially lord glenelg, the colonial secretary, and carried a measure censuring their canadian policy. the ministry disallowed the ordinance of lord durham, who, finding himself unsupported, resigned his commission and returned home. on his arrival at plymouth, he made a speech, in which he described the rebellion as finally at an end; the news, however, subsequently arrived that after his departure from canada, disturbances had broken out afresh. sir john colborne was appointed to succeed lord durham with full powers. the civil war continued in spain through the year, and intermittent rioting took place in portugal, a country which was now verging on bankruptcy. the old dutch and belgian controversy as to the possession of luxemburg was revived, the king of holland, who had obstinately withheld his concurrence for six years from the articles on the faith of which king leopold accepted the throne of belgium, now showing overt hostility in the disputed territory. as was natural, france was in sympathy with belgium, and the two countries entered into a treaty of commerce and reciprocity. chapter vii _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st january ._ ... lord melbourne feels most deeply the extreme kindness of your majesty's expressions. whatever may happen in the course of events, it will always be to lord melbourne a source of the most lively satisfaction to have assisted your majesty in the commencement of your reign, which was not without trouble and difficulty, and your majesty may depend that whether in or out of office lord melbourne's conduct will always be directed by the strongest attachment to your majesty's person, and by the most ardent desire to promote your majesty's interests, which from his knowledge of your majesty's character and disposition lord melbourne feels certain will be always identified with the interests of your people. [pageheading: canada] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour of acknowledging your majesty's gracious communication, which he received this evening. lord melbourne has this morning seen lord durham upon the subject of his assuming the government of canada,[ ] and has had a long conversation with him. lord melbourne is to receive his final answer before the cabinet to-morrow, which meets at ten o'clock. lord durham is anxious that your majesty should express to him your wish, or rather, as he phrased it, lay upon him your commands that he should undertake this duty, and also that, as his absence will be but temporary, that lady durham[ ] should retain her situation in your majesty's household. lord melbourne thinks that your majesty may properly gratify him in both these points. lord durham made some other stipulations, which lord melbourne will explain to your majesty, but, upon the whole, lord melbourne feels little doubt that he will accept. lord glenelg[ ] is on monday to make a statement to the house of lords upon the subject of canada, on which a debate may not improbably arise by which lord melbourne may be detained. on wednesday there is neither house of lords nor cabinet dinner. wednesday, friday, and sunday will therefore be festive days, on which lord melbourne will have great pleasure in obeying your majesty's commands and also on monday, if he should not be kept in the house of lords. lord melbourne thinks it was prudent in your majesty not to expose yourself to the cold of the chapel. he is himself better, but has still much cough, though he has kept himself very quiet and been very careful of his diet since he has been in london. [footnote : in the room of lord gosford. see _ante_, p. . ch. vii, (introductory note to ch. vii)] [footnote : daughter of earl grey.] [footnote : colonial secretary.] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ (_half-past nine o'clock._) the queen has written _approved_ on lord melbourne's letter as he desired; but adds a line to express her _satisfaction_ at lord durham's having accepted the office of governor-general of canada. the queen will be very happy to see lord melbourne at half-past three. [pageheading: influence of the crown] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ th january ._ my dearly beloved child,--... i am very grateful for lord melbourne's kind recollection of me. i have a sincere regard for him, and i think that our intercourse has satisfied him of one thing, that i have nothing so much at heart than your welfare, and what is for the good of your empire. i wish very much that you would speak with him on the subject of what ought to be done to keep for the crown the little influence it still may possess. his views on this important subject are the more trustworthy as he always has belonged to the moderate liberals, and therefore has had the means of judging the matter with great impartiality. monarchy to be carried on requires certain elements, and the occupation of the sovereign must be constantly to _preserve these elements_, or should they have been too much weakened by untoward circumstances, to contrive by every means to _strengthen them again_. you are too clever not to know, that it is _not_ the being _called_ queen or king, which can be of the _least consequence_, when to the title there is not also annexed the power indispensable for the exercise of those functions. all trades must be learned, and nowadays the trade of a _constitutional sovereign, to do it well, is a very difficult one_. ... i must end, and remain ever, most affectionately, my dear child, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ my dearest niece,--having just been informed of your gracious consideration of, and your generosity towards, the dear king's children,[ ] i must express to you how deeply i feel this kind proof of your attachment to the late king, whose memory you respect by the generous continuance of their former allowances from the privy purse. nothing could have given me more real satisfaction, and i trust and hope that they will prove their gratitude and entire devotion to you by their future conduct. let me thank you, dearest victoria, from the bottom of my heart, and be assured that the heavenly blessing of our beloved king will be upon you for your generous kindness to those he loved so much in this world. i hope that you have not suffered at all from the severity of the weather, and are as well as all your subjects can wish you to be, amongst whom there is none more anxiously praying for your welfare and happiness than, my dear niece, your most devoted and affectionate aunt, adelaide. [footnote : the eldest of the five illegitimate sons of william iv. and mrs. jordan had been created earl of munster, and his sisters and brothers had been given the precedence of the daughters and younger sons of a marquis. the queen now continued the same allowances as they had received from the late king.] [pageheading: daniel o'connell] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ nd february ._ my dear uncle,--... i had a very brilliant levée again yesterday, at which o'connell and all his sons, son-in-law, nephew, etc., appeared. i received him, as you may imagine, with a very smiling face; he has been behaving very well this year.[ ] it was quite a treat for me to see him, as i had for long wished it. we are going on most prosperously here, which will, i am sure, give you as much pleasure as it does me. we have no fear for any of the questions. lord john russell is much pleased with the temper of the house of commons, which he says is remarkably good, and the duke of wellington is behaving uncommonly well, going _with ministers_, and behaving like an honest man _should_ do.... [footnote : ever since the accession, o'connell's speeches had been full of expressions of loyalty, and he had been acting in concert with the whigs.] [pageheading: departments of state] [pageheading: bureaucracy] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ stanhope street, _ th february ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and with reference to your majesty's question upon the subjects to which lord william russell's recent despatch relates, he has the honour to state: that in the governments of the continent, and more especially in those which have no representative assemblies, the second class of persons in the public offices possess and exercise much more power and influence than the corresponding class of persons do in this country. in england the ministers who are at the head of the several departments of the state, are liable any day and every day to defend themselves in parliament; in order to do this, they must be minutely acquainted with all the details of the business of their offices, and the only way of being constantly armed with such information is to conduct and direct those details themselves. on the continent, where ministers of state are not liable so to be called to account for their conduct, the ministers are tempted to leave the details of their business much more to their under-secretaries and to their chief clerks. thus it happens that all the routine of business is generally managed by these subordinate agents; and to such an extent is this carried, that viscount palmerston believes that the ministers for foreign affairs, in france, austria, prussia, and russia, seldom take the trouble of writing their own despatches, except, perhaps, upon some very particular and important occasion. your majesty will easily see how greatly such a system must place in the hands of the subordinate members of the public departments the power of directing the policy and the measures of the government; because the value and tendency, and the consequences of a measure, frequently depend as much upon the manner in which that measure is worked out, as upon the intention and spirit with which it was planned. another circumstance tends also to give great power to these second-class men, and that is their permanence in office. in england when, in consequence of some great political change, the heads of departments go out, the greater part of the under-secretaries go out also; thus the under-secretary (with two or three exceptions) having come in with his chief, has probably no more experience than his chief, and can seldom set up his own knowledge to overrule the opinion, or to guide the judgment, of his superior. but on the continent, changes of ministers are oftener changes of individual men from personal causes, than changes of parties from political convulsions; and therefore when the chief retires, the under-secretary remains. there are consequently in all the public offices abroad a number of men who have spent the greater part of their lives in their respective departments, and who by their long experience are full of knowledge of what has been done in former times, and of the most convenient and easy manner of doing what may be required in the time present. this affords to the chiefs an additional motive for leaning upon their subordinates, and gives to those subordinates still more real influence. this class of subordinate men has, from the fact of its being possessed of so much power, been invested by the jargon of the day with the title of "bureaucratic"--a name fabricated in imitation of the words "aristocratic" and "democratic," each being compounded of the word "cratic," which is a corruption from the greek word "kratos," which means power; and the prefix, denoting the particular class of society whose power is meant to be expressed. thus "_aristo_-cratic" is the power of the upper, or, as in greek it is called, the "aristos" class of society; "_demo_-cratic" is the power of the people, which in greek is called the "demos"; and "_bureau_-cratic" is the power of the public offices or "bureaus," for which latter the french name has been taken instead of a greek word. it appears, then, to be the opinion of lord william russell, that this second class of public men in prussia are animated by a desire to see the general policy of their country rendered more national and independent than it has hitherto been; that for this purpose they were desirous of urging on the government to take its stand against foreign influence upon some point or other, not much caring what that point might be; that they thought it would be difficult to choose a political question, because on such a question the king of prussia might be against them, and that consequently they chose a religious question, on which they knew they should have the king with them; and that accordingly they led the government on to a quarrel with the court of rome, and with the catholic or austrian party in germany, more with a view to place prussia in an independent national position than from any particular importance which they attached to the question itself upon which the rupture was to be effected. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st march ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the house sate until half-past eleven last night. lord stanhope[ ] made a long declamatory speech, very violent, but having in it nothing defined or specific, and was answered by lord brougham in a most able and triumphant defence and maintenance of the late act for amending the laws for the relief of the poor.[ ] lord melbourne was very sorry to be prevented from waiting upon your majesty. he is very grateful for your majesty's enquiries, and feels very well this morning.... lord minto[ ] told lord melbourne last night to acquaint your majesty that lord amelius beauclerck,[ ] your majesty's first naval aide-de-camp, intended to ask an audience to-day of your majesty, and that the object of it was to request that he and the other aides-de-camp might wear sashes. this was always refused by the late king as being absurd and ridiculous--as it is, particularly considering lord amelius's figure--and your majesty had perhaps better say that you can make no change. lord melbourne will be at st james's twenty minutes before ten. [footnote : philip henry, fourth earl.] [footnote : before a great source of public abuse was the out-door relief given to able-bodied paupers, either in kind or money. the act of that year was based on the principle that no one must perish through the want of the bare necessities of life. poor law commissioners were established, england was divided into districts, and the districts into unions. out-door relief was to be given, on the order of two justices, to poor persons wholly unable, from age or infirmity, to work. but there was much opposition to the new law; it was considered a grievance that old couples were refused relief at home, and that the sexes must be separated at the workhouse, to which the name of "bastille" began to be attached. in devonshire it was even believed that the bread distributed by the relieving officers was mixed with poisonous ingredients.] [footnote : the first lord of the admiralty.] [footnote : a son of the eighth duke of st albans.] [pageheading: pressure of business] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ my dearest uncle,--_vous ne m'en voudrez pas_, i sincerely hope, for not having written to you sooner to thank you for your kind letter, which i received last week, but i really could not do so. as _honesty is the best policy_, i will tell you the simple fact. i have been out riding every day for about three hours, which quite renovates me, and when i come home i have consequently a good deal to do, what with seeing people, reading despatches, writing, etc. you will, i trust, now quite forgive your poor niece, whom you so often call "the little queen," which is, i fear, true; but her _feelings_ of affection are not so small as her _body_ is, i can assure you. the prince de ligne[ ] will be received with every possible attention, i can promise; it would have been so _without_ his being recommended; his rank, and, above all, his being one of your subjects, would of course entitle him to a good reception from me.... there is another _sujet_ which i wish to mention to you, _et que j'ai bien à c[oe]ur_, which is, if you would consult stockmar with respect to the finishing of albert's education; he knows best my feelings and wishes on that subject.... [footnote : he was appointed to attend the coronation as minister extraordinary from king leopold.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is much distressed that, being in the house of lords, he was unable to answer your majesty's letter as soon as he received it. lord melbourne went to the palace about half-past four, but learning from the porter at the gate that your majesty was not returned, went away thinking that there was not left time to see your majesty before the house of lords. lord melbourne is very much concerned that your majesty should have hastened at all, and most earnestly requests your majesty never will do so upon his account. lord melbourne hears with great pleasure that your majesty has had a pleasant ride, and likes your horse. lord melbourne is very well himself, and will wait upon your majesty to-morrow morning about ten minutes before ten. [pageheading: favourite horses] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ my dearest uncle,--i received your kind letter of the th on sunday, and return you my best thanks for it. i shall, before i say another word, answer your question about the horses which i ride, which i do the more willingly as i have got two _darlings_, if i may use that word. they are, both of them, _quite perfect_ in every sense of the word; _very handsome_, full of _spirit_, delightful easy-goers, very quiet, and _never_ shying at anything. is not this perfection? the one called _tartar_ (which belonged to lord conyngham), an irish horse, is a very dark brown, a beautiful creature; the other, which lord uxbridge[ ] got for me, is called _uxbridge_; he is smaller than tartar, and is a dark chestnut, with a beautiful little arabian head. i am afraid i shall have bored you with this long account of my horses. i am going to windsor to-morrow afternoon, and have got a great deal to do in consequence.... poor dear louie[ ] _lingers_ on, but, alas! i can only say _lingers_; she does not gain strength. i cannot say how it grieves me, i am so sincerely attached to the good old soul, who has known me ever since my birth. but i still entertain a hope that she may get over it. we shall have a fortnight's respite from our political campaign. i trust we shall do as well as we have done when parliament meets again. believe me always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : henry, earl of uxbridge, afterwards second marquis of anglesey ( - ).] [footnote : louisa louis was born at erbach in . the queen erected a tablet to her memory in st martin's-in-the-fields, where she is described as "the faithful and devoted friend of princess charlotte of wales, and from earliest infancy honoured by the affectionate attachment of her majesty queen victoria." see reminiscences, _ante_, p. . (ch. i, 'early reminiscences')] [pageheading: prince albert's education] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ ... concerning the education of our friend albert, it has been the best plan you could have fixed upon, to name stockmar your commissary-general; it will give _unité d'action et de l'ensemble_, which otherwise we should not have had. i have communicated to him what your uncle and the young gentleman seem to wish, and what strikes me as the best for the moment. stockmar will make a regular report to you on this subject. they will return to bonn at the beginning of may, and remain till the end of august.... i agree with this, as nothing enlarges the mind so much as travelling. but stockmar will best treat this affair verbally with you. the young gentlemen wished to pay me another visit at the beginning of may, prior to their return to bonn. nothing definite is, however, as yet settled about it. on one thing you can rely, that it is my _great anxiety_ to see albert a _very good_ and _distinguished young man_, and _no pains will be thought too much_ on my part if this end can be attained.... _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ (_undated._) your majesty will perceive by this box, which i received this morning but had not time to open, that marshal soult, duke of dalmatia,[ ] has been appointed ambassador to the coronation.... [footnote : soult entered the french army in , and became marshal of france in . after distinguishing himself at austerlitz in , he was made duke of dalmatia in . serving in the peninsular war, he pursued moore to corunna, and became commander-in-chief in spain in . subsequently he conducted the french retreat before wellington in southern france, - ; was banished, but recalled and created a peer. he was minister of war - .] [pageheading: old servants] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th april ._ my dearest uncle,--... you will by this time have learnt the _sad_ loss we have all sustained in the death of _dearest_, _faithful_, _excellent_ louie, who breathed her last, without a struggle or a suffering, on sunday night at nine o'clock. i don't think i have _ever_ been so much overcome or distressed by anything, almost, as by the death of this my earliest friend; it is the first link that has been broken of my first and infantine affections. i always loved louie, and shall cherish her memory as that of the purest and best of mortals as long as i live! i took leave of her before i left london on wednesday, and _never_, _never_ shall i forget the blessing she gave me, and the grasp she gave my hand! i was quite upset by it! and i feared and felt i should behold her on earth no more; it was, however, a beautiful lesson of calmness and contentment and resignation to the will of her god! prepared as she was at every moment of her life to meet her heavenly father, she was full of hope of recovery, and quite unconscious of her approaching end. you will, i am sure, dearest uncle, feel the loss of this excellent creature; i cannot restrain my tears while writing this. one great consolation i have, which is, that i have been the means of making her last days as happy as she could wish to be, after having lost what she loved most! ... poor _mason_, our faithful coachman for so many years, is also dead. these old servants cannot be replaced; and to see those whom one has known from one's birth drop off, one by one, is melancholy! you will think this letter a very sad one, but _i feel sad_.... _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ marlborough house, _ th april ._ ... i can well enter into all your feelings of regret at the death of one so truly attached and so faithful as dear old louie had been to you from your infancy, and i quite understand your grief; yet i feel sure that you will also rejoice for her, that she has been relieved from her earthly sufferings. for _her_ the change of existence was a happy one; good and pious as she was, we may trust that her state at present is one of felicity and bliss through the redeeming grace of our saviour.... [pageheading: the coronation] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ ... the parliamentary affairs will, please heaven, continue to go on well; i am more than ever bound to wish it, as i am not anxious to exchange my clever and well-informed friend palmerston, with lord aberdeen, for instance, of whose sweetness the greek negotiation[ ] has given me very fair means of judging. now i will conclude by touching on one subject which concerns your great goodness to us. when we left england you expressed a wish to see us at the time of the coronation, which was then believed to take place at the end of may. more mature reflection has made me think that a king and queen at your dear coronation might perhaps be a _hors-d'[oe]uvre_, and i think, if it meets with your approbation, that it may be better to pay you our respects at some other period, which you might like to fix upon. i do not deny that having been deprived by circumstances from the happiness of wishing you joy at your birthday, since , in person, i feel strongly tempted to make a short apparition to see you, as seeing and speaking is much pleasanter than ink and paper.... [footnote : referring to the offer of the throne of greece to king leopold in .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ my beloved uncle,--... with respect to the happiness of seeing you and my dearest aunt, i shall now respectfully state my feelings. it would have made me very happy to see you both at the coronation, but i think upon the whole it is perhaps better you should not do so. then, with respect to your coming for my _old_ birthday, i must observe that i could not enjoy you or my aunt at all _à mon aise_. first of all, i could not lodge you, and if one is not in the same house together, there is _no real_ seeing one another; secondly, the town will be so full of all sorts of foreigners that i should have _no peace_ to see you and aunt quietly. if therefore, dearest uncle, it suits you and aunt louise, would you come about the end of august, and stay with me as long as you can? i trust, dearest uncle, _que vous me comprendrez bien_, and that you are assured of the great happiness it is for me to see you at any time. since i have written to you we have received from lord granville the news of marshal soult's appointment as ambassador for the coronation, and of the duc de nemours' intention of coming here as a spectator. you may be assured that i shall be delighted to see the duke, as i always am any of the dear french family. with regard to soult, i am sure you are aware that whoever the king chose to send would be equally well received by me and the government. [pageheading: the train-bearers] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen sends the papers relating to the coronation as lord melbourne wished. the queen also transmits the names of the young ladies who she proposes should carry her train. if lord melbourne sees any objection to any of these she hopes he will say so. the queen has put down lady mary talbot, as being the daughter of the oldest earl in the kingdom[ ] and a roman catholic; and lady anne fitzwilliam, as she is anxious to show civility to lord fitzwilliam, who has been very kind to the queen. perhaps, when the names are agreed to, lord melbourne would kindly undertake to speak or write to the parents of the young ladies proposing it to them. lady caroline lennox. lady adelaide paget. lady fanny cowper. lady wilhelmina stanhope. lady mary talbot. lady anne fitzwilliam. lady mary grimston. lady louisa jenkinson. [footnote : john, sixteenth earl of shrewsbury ( - ).] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thinks that your majesty had better direct lord conyngham to ask the archbishop, before the audience, who has generally been there and how it ought to be conducted. your majesty had better read the answer and not give it to the archbishop, as lord melbourne apprehends the archbishop does not give your majesty the address. your majesty had better say something kind to each of the bishops as they are presented. they are presented to your majesty in this manner as a sort of privilege, instead of being presented at the drawing-room with others, and your majesty should conduct yourself towards them exactly as if they had been presented in the usual circle. the time is about half-past one, and your majesty had better be punctual so as not to delay the drawing-room. [pageheading: the slave trade] _in the same letter is enclosed a draft of a letter which it was suggested by lord melbourne that the queen should write to the king of portugal, with regard to the suppression of the slave trade._ [draft enclosed] that you hope that the king and queen of portugal will not consider the strong representations made by your government on the subject of the slave trade as arising from any desire to embarrass them. that there is every disposition to make allowance for the difficulties of portugal, but allowance must also be made for the feelings of the people of england; that those feelings on the slave trade are as strong as they are just. that england has made great sacrifices for the suppression of that crime, that she has made sacrifices to portugal, and that she has been extremely indignant at finding that traffic so obstinately continued to be sheltered and protected under the flag of portugal. that portugal must not expect that england will much longer refrain from taking effectual measures for preventing these practices. that you have spoken thus openly because you wish them to be aware of the truth, and that you entreat both the queen and the king to use their power and influence in procuring such a treaty to be concluded without delay, as will satisfy england and exonerate portugal from the reproach under which she now labours. this is the substance of what might be written. it is perhaps a little harshly worded, but your majesty may soften it. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ my dearest uncle,--i am most thankful for your very kind letter, and for the beautiful little sword, which delights me. i have been dancing till past four o'clock this morning; we have had a charming ball, and i have spent the happiest birthday that i have had for many years; oh, _how_ different to last year! everybody was so kind and so friendly to me. we have got a number of austrians and milanese here, among whom are a prince odescalchi, and a count eugène zichy, renowned for his magnificent _turquoises_ and his famous valzing, a good-natured _élégant_; we have also esterhazy's daughter marie--now countess chorinsky--a count and countess grippa, and a marquis and marchioness of trivalzi, etc. old talleyrand[ ] is at last dead. i hear he showed wonderful composure and firmness to the last. he was one of those people who i thought never would die. did you know what pozzo said to somebody here about him? he said he (talleyrand) would not die yet, "_parce que le diable ne voulait pas l'avoir_." [footnote : died th may, aged eighty-four.] [pageheading: independence of belgium] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ nd june ._ ... i have not all this time touched on our affairs, from motives of _great discretion_, but as the battle draws nigh,[ ] i cannot very well help writing a few words on the subject. i found an article in the french _constitutionnel_ which paints our position in pretty true colours. as it is not very long, i beg you to have the goodness to read it. you have given me so many proofs of affection, and your kind speech at windsor is so fresh in my memory, that it would be _very wrong_ in me to think that in so short a time, and without any cause, those feelings which are so _precious_ to me could have changed. this makes me appeal to those sentiments. the independent existence of the provinces which form this kingdom has always been an object of importance to england; the surest proof of it is, that for centuries england has made the greatest sacrifices of blood and treasure for that object. the last time i saw the late king at windsor, in , he said to me: "if ever france or any other power invades your country, it will be a question of immediate war for england; we cannot suffer that." i answered him i was happy to hear him speak so, as i also did not want any foreign power to invade us.... all i want from your kind majesty is, that you will _occasionally_ express to your ministers, and particularly to good lord melbourne, that, as far as it is _compatible_ with the interests _of your own_ dominions, you do _not_ wish that your government should take the _lead_ in such measures as might in a short time bring on the _destruction_ of this country, as well as that of your uncle and his family. europe has enjoyed ever since , in our part of it, a state of _profound peace_ and real happiness and prosperity. none can deny that the measures which i adopted to organise this country have greatly contributed to this happy state of affairs; this makes me think that the changes which are to take place should be brought about in a _very gentle manner_.... i am sorry to have you to listen to so much about politics, but it is not my fault; i wished nothing so much as _to be left alone_. i shall do all i can to bring about a good conclusion, but it must not be forgotten that these seven years _all the dangers, all the trouble_, fell constantly to _my share_.... now i will make haste to conclude, and remain ever, my dearest victoria, your truly devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the execution of the treaty of , called the twenty-four articles, assigning part of luxemburg to holland, had been reluctantly agreed to by leopold, but the king of holland withheld his assent for seven years.] [pageheading: anglo-belgian relations] [pageheading: progress of belgium] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ my dearest uncle,--it is indeed a long while since i have written to you, and i fear you will think me very lazy; but i must in turn say, dearest uncle, that your silence was longer than mine, and that it grieved me, and _m'a beaucoup peinée_. i know, however, you have had, and still have, _much_ to do. many thanks, my dear uncle, for your very kind letter of the nd inst.... it would indeed, dearest uncle, be _very wrong_ of you, if you thought my feelings of warm and devoted attachment to you, and of great affection for you, could be changed. _nothing_ can ever change them! independent of my feelings of affection for you, my beloved uncle, you must be aware that the ancient and hereditary policy of this country with respect to belgium must make me most anxious that my government not _only_ should not be parties to any measure that would be prejudicial to belgium, but that my ministers should, as far as may not conflict with the interests or engagements of this country, do _everything_ in their power to promote the prosperity and welfare of your kingdom. my ministers, i can assure you, share all my feelings on this subject, and are most anxious to see everything settled in a satisfactory manner between belgium and holland. we all feel that we cannot sufficiently or adequately express how much belgium owes to your wise system of government, which has rendered that country so flourishing in every way, and how much all europe is indebted to you for the preservation of general peace; because it is certain that when you ascended the throne of belgium that country was the one from which the occasion of a general war was much to be feared; whereas now it is become a link to secure the continuance of peace; and by the happy circumstances of your double near relationship to me and to the king of the french, _belgium_--which was in former times the cause of discord between england and france--becomes now a mutual tie to keep them together. this, my beloved uncle, we owe to you, and it must be a source of pride and gratification to you. i perfectly understand and feel that your position with respect to all these affairs is very difficult and trying, and the feelings of your subjects are far from unnatural; yet i sincerely hope that you will use the great influence you possess over the minds of the leading men in belgium, to mitigate discontent and calm irritation, and procure acquiescence in whatever arrangements may ultimately be found inevitable. you are right in saying that i, though but a child of twelve years old when you went to belgium, remember much of what took place, and i have since then had the whole matter fully explained to me. the treaty of november was perhaps not so advantageous to the belgians as could have been wished, yet it cannot have been thought very advantageous to the dutch, else they would have most probably urged their government before this time to accept it; besides, when these conditions were framed, england was only one out of _five_ powers whose concurrence was required, and consequently they were made under very difficult circumstances. this treaty having been ratified, it is become binding, and therefore it is almost impossible to consider it as otherwise, and to set aside those parts of it which have been ratified by all the parties. i feel i must in turn, dearest uncle, entreat your indulgence for so long a letter, and for such full explanations, but i felt it my duty to do so, as you had spoken to me on the subject. you may be assured, my beloved uncle, that both lord melbourne and lord palmerston are most anxious at all times for the prosperity and welfare of belgium, and are consequently most desirous of seeing this difficult question brought to a conclusion which may be satisfactory to you. allow me once more therefore, dearest uncle, to beseech you to use your powerful influence over your subjects, and to strive to moderate their excited feelings on these matters. your situation is a very difficult one, and nobody feels more for you than i do. i trust, dearest uncle, that you will, at all times, believe me your devoted and most affectionate niece, victoria r. [pageheading: foreign policy] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _june [ ] ._ my dearest and most beloved victoria,--you have written me a _very dear_ and long letter, which has given me _great pleasure and satisfaction_. i was much moved with the expressions of truly felt affection, which it contains, and i shall _never_ again doubt your affection for me, but rely on your dear heart and the constancy of your character. i will now tell you honestly that i had some misgivings; i did not exactly think that you had quite forgotten me, but i thought i had been put aside as one does with a piece of furniture which is no longer wanted. i did not complain, because i fear if affection is once on the decline, reproaches only diminish it the faster. i therefore said nothing, but in a life full of grief and disappointments like mine, the loss of your affection would have been one of the most severe. it was in this point of view that the declaration made by lord palmerston at the beginning of may to the prussian government chagrined me much.[ ] it was premature, because the negotiation was not yet renewed. it looked as if the english government had been anxious to say to the northern powers, who always steadfastly _protected_ holland, "you imagine, perhaps, that we mean to have _égards_ for the uncle of the queen; there you see we shall make even shorter work with him now than we did under our late master." this impression had been _general_ on the continent; they considered the declaration to prussia in this way: "la reine et ses ministres sont donc entièrement indifférents sur le compte du roi l.; _cela change entièrement_ la position, et nous allons faire mains basses sur lui." from that moment their language became extremely imperious; they spoke of nothing but acts of coercion, bombardment, etc., etc. i firmly believe, because i have been these many years on terms of great and sincere friendship with palmerston, that he did not himself quite foresee the importance which would be attached to his declaration. i must say it hurt me more in my _english_ capacity than in my belgian, as i came to this country _from england_, and was chosen _for that very reason_. besides, i am happy to say, i was never as yet in the position to ask for any act of kindness from you, so that whatever little service i may have rendered you, remained on a basis of perfect disinterestedness. that the first diplomatic step in our affairs should seem by your government to be directed against me, created therefore all over the continent a considerable sensation. i shall never ask any favours of you, or anything that could in the least be considered as _incompatible_ with the interests of england; but you will comprehend that there is a great difference in claiming favours and in being treated as an enemy.... i will conclude my overgrown letter with the assurance that you never were in greater favour, and that i love you dearly. believe me, therefore, ever, my best beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the day of the month is not given.] [footnote : prussia was giving unmistakable evidence of a disposition to support holland against belgium.] [pageheading: the coronation] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ marlboro' house, _ th june ._ (_at a quarter before o'clock on the coronation day._) my dearest niece,--the guns are just announcing your approach to the abbey, and as i am not near you, and cannot take part in the sacred ceremony of your coronation, i must address you in writing to assure you that my thoughts and my whole heart are with you, and my prayers are offered up to heaven for your happiness, and the prosperity and glory of your reign. may our heavenly father bless and preserve you, and his holy ghost dwell within you to give you that peace which the world cannot give! accept of these my best wishes, and the blessing of your most devoted and attached aunt, adelaide. _extract from the queen's journal._ _thursday, th june ._ i was awoke at four o'clock by the guns in the park, and could not get much sleep afterwards on account of the noise of the people, bands, etc., etc. got up at seven, feeling strong and well; the park presented a curious spectacle, crowds of people up to constitution hill, soldiers, bands, etc. i dressed, having taken a little breakfast before i dressed, and a little after. at half-past i went into the next room, dressed exactly in my house of lords costume; and met uncle ernest, charles,[ ] and feodore (who had come a few minutes before into my dressing-room), lady lansdowne, lady normanby, the duchess of sutherland, and lady barham, all in their robes. [footnote : prince charles of leiningen, the queen's half-brother.] [pageheading: the abbey] at i got into the state coach with the duchess of sutherland and lord albemarle and we began our progress. i subjoin a minute account of the whole procession and of the whole proceeding,--the route, etc. it was a fine day, and the crowds of people exceeded what i have ever seen; many as there were the day i went to the city, it was nothing, nothing to the multitudes, the millions of my loyal subjects, who were assembled _in every spot_ to witness the procession. their good humour and excessive loyalty was beyond everything, and i really cannot say _how_ proud i feel to be the queen of _such_ a nation. i was alarmed at times for fear that the people would be crushed and squeezed on account of the tremendous rush and pressure. i reached the abbey amid deafening cheers at a little after half-past eleven; i first went into a robing-room quite close to the entrance where i found my eight train-bearers: lady caroline lennox, lady adelaide paget, lady mary talbot, lady fanny cowper, lady wilhelmina stanhope, lady anne fitzwilliam, lady mary grimston, and lady louisa jenkinson--all dressed alike and beautifully in white satin and silver tissue with wreaths of silver corn-ears in front, and a small one of pink roses round the plait behind, and pink roses in the trimming of the dresses. after putting on my mantle, and the young ladies having properly got hold of it and lord conyngham holding the end of it, i left the robing-room and the procession began as is described in the annexed account, and all that followed and took place. the sight was splendid; the bank of peeresses quite beautiful all in their robes, and the peers on the other side. my young train-bearers were always near me, and helped me whenever i wanted anything. the bishop of durham[ ] stood on the side near me, but he was, as lord melbourne told me, remarkably _maladroit_, and never could tell me what was to take place. at the beginning of the anthem, where i've made a mark, i retired to st edward's chapel, a dark small place immediately behind the altar, with my ladies and train-bearers--took off my crimson robe and kirtle, and put on the supertunica of cloth of gold, also in the shape of a kirtle, which was put over a singular sort of little gown of linen trimmed with lace; i also took off my circlet of diamonds and then proceeded bareheaded into the abbey; i was then seated upon st edward's chair, where the dalmatic robe was clasped round me by the lord great chamberlain. then followed all the various things; and last (of those things) the crown being placed on my head--which was, i must own, a most beautiful impressive moment; _all_ the peers and peeresses put on their coronets at the same instant. [footnote : edward maltby, - .] my excellent lord melbourne, who stood very close to me throughout the whole ceremony, was _completely_ overcome at this moment, and very much affected; he gave me _such_ a kind, and i may say _fatherly_ look. the shouts, which were very great, the drums, the trumpets, the firing of the guns, all at the same instant, rendered the spectacle most imposing. [pageheading: homage] the enthronisation and the homage of, first, all the bishops, and then my uncles, and lastly of all the peers, in their respective order was very fine. the duke of norfolk (holding for me the sceptre with a cross) with lord melbourne stood close to me on my right, and the duke of richmond with the other sceptre on my left, etc., etc. all my train-bearers, etc., standing behind the throne. poor old lord rolle, who is , and dreadfully infirm, in attempting to ascend the steps fell and rolled quite down, but was not the least hurt; when he attempted to re-ascend them i got up and advanced to the end of the steps, in order to prevent another fall. when lord melbourne's turn to do homage came, there was loud cheering; they also cheered lord grey and the duke of wellington; it's a pretty ceremony; they first all touch the crown, and then kiss my hand. when my good lord melbourne knelt down and kissed my hand, he pressed my hand and i grasped his with all my heart, at which he looked up with his eyes filled with tears and seemed much touched, as he was, i observed, throughout the whole ceremony. after the homage was concluded i left the throne, took off my crown and received the sacrament; i then put on my crown again, and re-ascended the throne, leaning on lord melbourne's arm. at the commencement of the anthem i descended from the throne, and went into st edward's chapel with my ladies, train-bearers, and lord willoughby, where i took off the dalmatic robe, supertunica, etc., and put on the purple velvet kirtle and mantle, and proceeded again to the throne, which i ascended leaning on lord melbourne's hand. there was another most dear being present at this ceremony, in the box immediately above the royal box, and who witnessed all; it was my dearly beloved angelic lehzen, whose eyes i caught when on the throne, and we exchanged smiles. she and späth, lady john russell, and mr. murray saw me leave the palace, arrive at the abbey, leave the abbey and again return to the palace!! [pageheading: popular enthusiasm] i then again descended from the throne, and repaired with all the peers bearing the regalia, my ladies and train-bearers, to st edward's chapel, as it is called; but which, as lord melbourne said, was more _un_like a chapel than anything he had ever seen; for what was _called_ an _altar_ was covered with sandwiches, bottles of wine, etc., etc. the archbishop came in and _ought_ to have delivered the orb to me, but i had already got it, and he (as usual) was _so_ confused and puzzled and knew nothing, and--went away. here we waited some minutes. lord melbourne took a glass of wine, for he seemed completely tired. the procession being formed, i replaced my crown (which i had taken off for a few minutes), took the orb in my left hand and the sceptre in my right, and thus _loaded_, proceeded through the abbey--which resounded with cheers, to the first robing-room; where i found the duchess of gloucester, mamma, and the duchess of cambridge with their ladies. and here we waited for at least an hour, with _all_ my ladies and train-bearers; the princesses went away about half an hour before i did. the archbishop had (most awkwardly) put the ring on the wrong finger, and the consequence was that i had the greatest difficulty to take it off again, which i at last did with great pain. lady fanny, lady wilhelmina, and lady mary grimston looked quite beautiful. at about half-past four i re-entered my carriage, the crown on my head, and the sceptre and orb in my hands, and we proceeded the same way as we came--the crowds if possible having increased. the enthusiasm, affection, and loyalty were really touching, and i shall ever remember this day as the _proudest_ of my life! i came home at a little after six, really _not_ feeling tired. [pageheading: incidents of the coronation] at eight we dined. besides we thirteen--my uncles, sister, brother, späth, and the duke's gentlemen--my excellent lord melbourne and lord surrey dined here. lord melbourne came up to me and said: "i must congratulate you on this most brilliant day," and that all had gone off so well. he said he was not tired, and was in high spirits. i sat between uncle ernest[ ] and lord melbourne; and lord melbourne between me and feodore, whom he had led in. my kind lord melbourne was much affected in speaking of the whole ceremony. he asked kindly if i was tired; said the sword he carried (the first, the sword of state) was excessively heavy. i said that the crown hurt me a good deal. he was so much amused at uncle ernest's being astonished at our still having the litany. we agreed that the whole thing was a very fine sight. he thought the robes, and particularly the dalmatic, "looked remarkably well." "and you did it all so well--excellent!" said he, with tears in his eyes. he said he thought i looked rather pale and "moved by all the people" when i arrived; "and that's natural; and that's better." the archbishop's and dean's copes, which were remarkably handsome, were from james the second's time; the very same that were worn at his coronation, lord melbourne told me. spoke of the bishop of durham's awkwardness, lord rolle's fall, etc. of the duc de nemours being like his father in face; of the young ladies' (train-bearers') dresses; which he thought beautiful; and he said he thought the duchess of richmond (who had ordered the make of the dresses, etc., and had been much condemned by some of the young ladies for it) quite right. she said to him: "one thing i was determined about; that i would have no discussion with their mammas about it." spoke of talleyrand and soult having been very much struck by the ceremony of the coronation; of the english being far too generous _not_ to be kind to soult. lord melbourne went home the night before, and slept very deeply till he was woke at six in the morning. i said i did not sleep well. spoke of the illuminations and uncle ernest's wish to see them. [footnote : the king of hanover.] after dinner, before we sat down, we (that is charles, lord melbourne, and i) spoke of the numbers of peers at the coronation, which, lord melbourne said, with the tears in his eyes, was unprecedented. i observed that there were very few viscounts; he said: "there are very few viscounts," that they were an odd sort of title and not really english; that they came from _vice-comités_; that dukes and barons were the only _real_ english titles; that marquises were likewise not english; and that they made people marquises when they did not wish to make them dukes. spoke of lord audley who came as the first baron, and who lord melbourne said was a very odd young man, but of a very old family; his ancestor was a sir something audley in the time of the black prince, who, with chandos, gained the battle of poictiers. i then sat on the sofa for a little while with lady barham and then with charles; lord melbourne sitting near me the whole evening. mamma and feodore remained to see the illuminations and only came in later, and mamma went away before i did. uncle ernest drove out to see the illuminations. [pageheading: pages of honour] i said to lord melbourne when i first sat down that i felt a little tired on my feet; "you must be very tired," he said. spoke of the weight of the robes, etc., etc., the coronets; and he turned round to me with the tears in his eyes, and said _so_ kindly: "and you did it beautifully--every part of it, with so much taste; it's a thing that you can't give a person advice upon; it must be left to a person." to hear this, from this kind impartial friend, gave me great and real pleasure. mamma and feodore came back just after he said this. spoke of the bishops' copes, about which he was very funny; of the pages who were such a nice set of boys, and who were so handy, lord melbourne said, that they kept them the whole time. little lord stafford and slane (lord mountcharles) were pages to their fathers and looked lovely; lord paget (not a fine boy) was lord melbourne's page and remarkably handy, he said. spoke again of the young ladies' dresses, about which he was very amusing; he waited for his carriage with lady mary talbot and lady wilhelmina; he thinks lady fanny does not make as much show as other girls, which i would not allow. he set off for the abbey from his house at half-past eight, and was there long before anybody else; he only got home at half-past six and had to go round by kensington. he said there was a large breakfast in the jerusalem chamber where they met _before_ all began; he said, laughing, that whenever the clergy, or a dean and chapter, had anything to do with anything, there's sure to be plen'y to eat. spoke of my intending to go to bed, etc.; he said, "you may depend upon it, you are more tired than you think you are." i said i had slept badly the night before; he said that was my mind, that nothing kept people more awake than any consciousness of a great event going to take place, and being agitated. he was not sure if he was not going to the duke of wellington's. stayed in the dining room till twenty minutes past eleven, but remained on mamma's balcony looking at the fireworks in green park, which were quite beautiful. uncle ernest, charles, feodore, and the ladies and gentlemen (like lehzen, etc.) saw me leave the palace, arrive at the abbey, leave the abbey, and return to the palace. got a long letter from aunt louise. [pageheading: extra holidays for schools] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ the queen is very anxious to hear if lord melbourne got home safe, and if he is not tired, and quite well this morning. lord melbourne will be glad to hear that the queen had an excellent night, is not the least tired, and is perfectly well this morning; indeed she feels much better than she has done for some days. the queen hears that it is usual to ask for an additional week's holiday for the boys at the various public schools, on the occasion of the coronation. perhaps lord melbourne will enquire about this, in order that there may be no neglect on my part. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ nd july ._ my dearest uncle,--_many_ thanks for _two_ kind letters, one which i got last monday and one this morning. the kind interest you take in me and my country (of which, and of the nation, i'm more proud than i ever was, since i've witnessed their excessive affection and loyalty to me) makes me certain that you will be glad to hear how _beautifully_ everything went off. it was a memorable and glorious day for me. the millions assembled to witness the progress to and from the abbey was _beyond_ belief, and _all_ in the highest good-humour. it is a fine ceremony, and a scene i shall _ever_ remember, and with pleasure. i likewise venture to add that people thought i did my part very well. the amiable duc de nemours dined with me on friday, comes to _my_ ball to-night, and dines again with me on wednesday. pray tell dearest aunt louise that i thank her much for her very kind letter, and will avail myself of her kindness and _not_ write to her this mail. feodore is writing in my room, well and happy. uncle ernest still very lame, and charles well. there's an account of the family. ever and ever your most devoted niece, victoria r. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th july ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. as your majesty does not ride, the question is between driving down the line or not going down it at all,[ ] and it appears to lord melbourne that the first is the best, namely, to drive down; but if your majesty feels a strong repugnance, there is no more to be said. lord melbourne thinks it safer and more prudent that your majesty should not ride; but still it might have been done, and if lord melbourne had thought that your majesty wished it much, he would not have dissuaded it. [footnote : referring to the hyde park review on the next day.] [pageheading: loyal demonstrations] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ th july ._ my dearest victoria,--i am very grateful for your kind letter; it is extremely _meritorious_, amidst such fatigues and festivities and occupations of every kind, to find a moment to write. i expressed already the _great satisfaction_ with which i read and heard all the accounts of the coronation, and i believe that there _never_ was anything like it. the only one which in point of loyal demonstration may approach it is that of george iii., but i think it fell short of yours. i am happy to see that it has _increased_, if possible, your affection and attachment to your country, and this is in every respect a great blessing. you will remember that i have never varied on that subject, the great thing is to be the _national_ sovereign of your _own_ country, and to love its very faults. this strengthens the _mutual attachment_, and that can _never be too strong_.... believe me, ever, my dearest victoria, your very devoted uncle, leopold r. the whole of the family here offer their best _hommages_. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ th july ._ i feel most grateful for your dear kind letter of the th inst., which i received a few days ago. i hear that the review was something _most splendid_, and i feel always some regret at having been deprived of the happiness of seeing you _en fonction_, which you do in a degree of rare perfection. may the remembrance of all this long remain in your mind, to cheer and strengthen you when occasionally there will be a darker sky.... [pageheading: lord durham] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the very difficult and embarrassing situation in which lord durham and the canadas and the ministry are left by the vote of the house of lords of last night, requires that a cabinet should be held to-day, and lord melbourne has directed one to be summoned at two. lord melbourne will wait upon your majesty either before that hour or after, about four o'clock. the vote of last night and the bill of lord brougham[ ] is a direct censure upon lord durham. lord durham's conduct has been most rash and indiscreet, and, as far as we can see, unaccountable. but to censure him now would either be to cause his resignation, which would produce great embarrassment, and might produce great evil, or to weaken his authority, which is evidently most undesirable.... [footnote : this bill (which emphasised the illegality of lord durham's ordinance) was read a second time by to . on the following day lord melbourne announced to the peers that ministers had resolved to advise that the ordinance should be disallowed.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to inform you that the cabinet have determined to advise your majesty to disallow lord durham's ordinance, and to announce the same to the house of lords.[ ] this is absolutely necessary, but very disagreeable, and will be very much so to lord durham. [footnote : _see_ introductory note for the year, _ante_, p. . (introductory note to ch. vii)] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ _ th september ._ my most beloved victoria,--i can never thank you enough for the dear letter which i found on my table on arriving here, sunday evening. it was most kind of you to have written so soon after our departure, and such an affectionate, good, kind letter. the tears came to my eyes as i read it, and i felt quite moved. short as has been our stay, and great, as always, the pain of leaving you, it has been a _great happiness_ for me to see you again, a happiness for which i shall always thank god, you, and your dear uncle. i need not add how _very precious_ is your affection to me, and how _very grateful_ i am for every new proof of it. you know my feelings on this point, and you know they are better _felt_ than _expressed_. your calling me _louise_, and in such a kind way, gave me great pleasure. almost all those dear to me call me so, and i think it looks more affectionate; i would fain say now _sister-like_, although i am rather an old sister for you now.... leopold is half crazy with the steam-engine, and particularly with the _tools_ which you sent him. i enclose here the expression of his gratitude. i wrote exactly what he told me to write, and i did not add a word. he has found again his kie (key), and he wears it suspended to his neck by a blue riband, with the duchess's little seal. he felt deeply the attention you had to have an _l_ engraved on each tool, and after his letter was closed he charged me to thank you for it, and to tell you that it gave him great pleasure. an _iron spade_ was the greatest object of his ambition, and he worked so hard yesterday with it, that i feared he would hurt himself with the exertion. he will go to-day to the races with us, in the scotch dress which the duchess had the kindness to send him. it fits very well, and he is very proud of having a coat shaped _like that of a man_.... [pageheading: ireland and o'connell] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty.... mr stanley of the treasury[ ] arrived in london yesterday, and acquaints me that lord normanby makes no secret of his willingness, and indeed his desire, to undertake the government of canada. it would have been better if lord normanby had acquainted lord melbourne quietly of this, and not made it at once public to all the world. it is not necessary to do anything at present. if lord durham remains, which lord melbourne does not, however, think likely, there will be no successor to be appointed, and if he returns, the authority of governor of lower canada will devolve upon sir john colborne,[ ] in whose hands it may be very safely left for the present. if ireland should be vacant, there is a strong feeling amongst many that it would be nice to name the duke of sussex. it is said that it would be popular in ireland, that the name of one of the royal family would do good there, and that it would afford to o'connell a pretext and opportunity for giving up his new scheme of agitation. it is also added that the duke would suffer himself to be guided on all essential matters by the advice of his chief secretary, and that he would content himself with discharging the ceremonial duties. here are the reasons for it--your majesty is so well acquainted with the reasons on the other side, that it is unnecessary for me to detail them. i am afraid that times of some trouble are approaching, for which your majesty must hold yourself prepared; but your majesty is too well acquainted with the nature of human affairs not to be well aware that they cannot very well go on even as quietly as they have gone on during the last sixteen months. [footnote : "ben" stanley, afterwards lord stanley of alderley, secretary to the treasury.] [footnote : field-marshal sir john colborne, afterwards lord seaton, had been military secretary to sir john moore, had commanded a brigade with much distinction in the peninsula, and had contributed greatly to the success of the british arms at waterloo.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th november ._ lord melbourne is very well, but sir james clark,[ ] a scotchman and a physician, and therefore neither by country nor by profession very religious, detained him from church in order to go through the report upon the state of buckingham palace. this is not a very good excuse, but it is the true one. lord melbourne is very grateful to your majesty for your enquiries, and having some letters to submit, will be happy to attend upon your majesty. [footnote : physician-in-ordinary to the queen.] [pageheading: death of lady john russell] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dear uncle,--.... we have all been much distressed by the melancholy and untimely death of poor lady john russell,[ ] which took place on the st. she was safely confined on the th of october with a little girl, who bears my name, and seemed to be going on very well; but on wednesday she began to sink from weakness, not disease, and died at three o'clock on thursday. it is a dreadful blow to _him_, for he was _so_ attached to her, and i don't believe two people ever were happier together. i send you his pretty letter to me, which i think you may be interested to see; he is _dreadfully_ beat down by it, but struggles manfully against his grief, which makes one pity him more. she has left four children by her first husband, _now orphans_, the eldest a sweet girl twelve years old, and two little girls by lord john; the eldest of these two is two and a half, and the youngest a _fortnight_. i had known her _very_ well and liked her, and i assure you i was dreadfully shocked at it. you may also imagine what a loss she is to poor miss lister, who has no mother, and whose only sister she was. i fear, dear uncle, i have made a sad and melancholy letter of this, but i have been so much engrossed by all this misery, and knowing you take an interest in poor lord john, that i let my pen run on almost involuntarily. we have very good accounts of the queen-dowager from gibraltar. please return me lord john's letter when you have done with it. lord and lady howard[ ] have been here, and i urged him to _bear_ dietz as an inevitable evil, and i think he seems very anxious to do what is right. i have likewise written to ferdinand, urging _him_ and dietz to be reasonable. will you tell aunt louise that she will receive a box containing the limerick lace dress (just like mine), which i lay at her feet. i fear, dear uncle, you will think i'm making you my commissioner _de toilette_, as in these two letters i have plagued you with commissions on that subject.... [footnote : daughter of mr thomas lister. she had been widow of the second lord ribblesdale, and married lord john russell in april .] [footnote : charles augustus, sixth lord howard de walden, was the british minister at lisbon, and afterwards ( - ) at brussels.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ my dearest victoria,--your kind and interesting letter of the th reached me yesterday morning. i hail in you those simple and unaffected feelings which it contains. may you _always_ preserve that great warmth and truth of character which you now possess, and rest assured that it will be an ornament to you, and the means of finding the same truth and warmth of feeling in others. those who serve, from whatever motive it may be, have always their eyes wide open on their superiors, and no qualities impose so much on them the necessity of respect, which they _gladly avoid_, than a warm and noble character that knows how to feel for others, and how to sympathise with their sorrows. i pity lord john from all my heart, having always had for him sentiments of the sincerest regard. i fear that as a political man it may prove also a severe blow. all depends on how he takes it, if he will wish to forget his grief by occupying himself with political strife or if his greater sensibility will make him wish to indulge it in solitude.... [pageheading: lord john russell] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dearest uncle,--i was certain you _would_ take interest in and feel for poor lord john; he is, i hear, still dreadfully shaken, and quite unequal to do any business at present. his chief consolation is in attending to the children. i felt much for you, and still more for poor dear aunt louise, when the sad separation from poor marie[ ] took place; it is so melancholy to see a dear relation depart who is _so ill_. i have this morning heard from ferdinand that the good queen is at last confined, after keeping us for _two months_ and _more dans l'attente_ of the event. it took place on the rd, and ferdinand writes such a funny letter, saying, "nous sommes tous bien heureux surtout moi qui craignais que ce ne fût une petite fille ce qui m'eût été un peu désagréable, car en fait d'enfants j'aime mieux les petits garçons, parce qu'ils sont plus gais et plus tapageurs."[ ] isn't this very good? i believe the king of the french is to be godfather.... [footnote : see _post_, p. . (ch. viii, th january, )] [footnote : the prince received the title of duke of oporto.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and transmits a copy of mr. macaulay's letter.[ ]... lord melbourne fears, from what he hears of the language of lord howick and mr. monson, that much difficulty will be found in making arrangements and deciding upon questions. but lord melbourne will use every effort in his power in order to keep the administration together and to carry on the public service. lord melbourne hears with concern from mr fox maule that lord john russell does not return to business as readily as mr maule had hoped that he would, and lord melbourne fears that he will not do whilst he remains at cassiobury with the children. solitude and retirement cherish and encourage grief. employment and exertion are the only means of dissipating it. [footnote : declining to join the government. the original is not preserved among the queen's papers.] [pageheading: canada and lord durham] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acknowledge your majesty's gracious communication received yesterday. lord melbourne had nothing particular to lay before your majesty, but still regrets that he did not write, as your majesty might have wished to hear from him. lord melbourne returns the king of portugal's[ ] letter, which, as your majesty observes, is very rough and ill-tempered with reference to lord howard.[ ] lord melbourne read it with much concern, as it shows so much dislike and alienation, as renders it very improbable that they should ever go on together well and in a friendly spirit. lord melbourne fears that the epithets applied to lord howard, though very severe and full of resentment, are not entirely ill-chosen and inappropriate. all the ministers, except lord duncannon[ ] and lord john russell, dined here yesterday, and they all appeared to be in very good-humour and disposed to co-operate in order to meet the difficulties by which we are surrounded.... with respect to canada, lord melbourne feels that it may be considered somewhat presumptuous in him to undervalue danger, which is considered by those upon the spot to be so great and so imminent, but still he cannot feel the alarm which seems to be felt there. lord durham, lord melbourne is convinced, exaggerates the peril in order to give greater _éclat_ to his own departure. the worst symptom which lord melbourne perceives is the general fear which seems to prevail there, and which makes every danger ten times as great as it really is. [footnote : the birth of an heir on th september conferred on prince ferdinand the right to the title of king.] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch vii, footnote )] [footnote : lord duncannon ( - ), at this time lord privy seal and first commissioner of woods and forests, was afterwards (as earl of bessborough) lord-lieutenant of ireland. he must not be confused with the lord dungannon who sat in the house of commons as mr hill-trevor from - , and, as viscount dungannon, was elected in , but immediately unseated on petition.] [pageheading: belgium and england] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ my dear victoria,--van praet[ ] is bearer of this letter. the present moment being one of some importance--which may, if imprudently managed, cause great disturbances in the west of europe, and exercise a reaction on your own government--i think it my duty to inform you of what is going on. i join a copy of a letter to lord palmerston. i should feel obliged to you if you would read it _in the presence_ of good lord melbourne, in whose fairness and sense of justice i must say i feel great confidence.... i will not complain, only one subject i must touch upon as really very unfair. that your ministers should take a line unfavourable to this country may be explained by their political position, but why should they press so much on the french government? i really see no cause for it. england is in an _excellent_ position for a _mediator_, and for all parties it is highly desirable that that position should be maintained.[ ] i will not plague with a longer letter. you know from experience that i _never ask anything of you._ i prefer remaining in the position of having rendered services without wanting any return for it but your affection; but, as i said before, if we are not careful we may see serious consequences which may affect more or less everybody, and _this_ ought to be the object of our most anxious attention. i remain, my dear victoria, your affectionate uncle, leopold r. [footnote : jules van praet, author of a history of flanders, was secretary of the belgian legation in london in , and took a leading part in the negotiations which placed king leopold on the throne.] [footnote : king leopold considered that the interests of belgium were being neglected by the four powers, and in his speech at the opening of his parliament, on th november, stated amid loud acclamations that those interests would be defended with perseverance and courage. the deputies, in reply, said that belgium had consented to painful sacrifices only under a formal guarantee by the powers, which they now shrank from carrying out.] [pageheading: belgium and holland] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns this letter with the enclosures. he has read it and them with great attention. your majesty will probably think it right to acquaint the king that your majesty had already seen his letter to lord palmerston. lord melbourne cannot perceive the justice of the king's complaint. for the sake of the king himself and of the belgian nation, we are most anxious to settle speedily and definitely the questions so long pending between belgium and holland, and which arose from the separation of the two countries in . we can only settle it by the agreement of the four great powers who constitute the conference to which the question was referred, viz., austria, prussia, england, france. of course it is of vital importance for us to carry them all along with us, and for that reason we press france. if she differs from us, there is a ground immediately laid for difference and war. lord melbourne would suggest that your majesty should say "that your great affection for the king, as well as your anxiety for the interests of your own country, and your desire for the promotion of peace, render you most solicitous to have the belgian question speedily and definitively settled; that it appears to you that it can only be settled by the agreement of the four powers who constitute the conference, and that therefore you cannot but wish most strongly to carry france as well as the two others along with you."[ ] [footnote : see the queen's letter of th december to the king of the belgians.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ rd december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acquaint that as soon as he arrived at half-past two, sir george grey[ ] ran in to acquaint him that the whole insurrection in canada was put down and suppressed.[ ] despatches have been received from sir john colborne to say that the british turned out with the utmost alacrity, the volunteers beat the french wherever they met them, the whole are dispersed, and sir john says that he feels no doubt of the tranquillity of the colony during the rest of the winter. unless, therefore, the americans make an attempt upon upper canada, all is well. lord melbourne will have the pleasure of returning to windsor to-morrow, unless there should be any impediment, of which lord melbourne will inform your majesty. [footnote : sir george grey ( - ), at this time under-secretary for the colonies, afterwards secretary of state successively for home and colonial affairs.] [footnote : on the rd of november, however, the insurrection had broken out anew in lower canada, while in upper canada many american "sympathyzers" joined the insurgents there; these were decisively defeated at prescott. this fight cost the british in killed and wounded; of their opponents (including natives of the united states) were taken, and conveyed to kingston, to be tried by court-martial.] [pageheading: belgian affairs] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dear uncle,--i have to thank you for two letters, one brought by van praet, and the other received on tuesday. before i proceed further i must tell you that both lord melbourne and i had already seen your letter to lord palmerston, which he sent to us immediately on receiving it. i have read these letters with the greatest attention, and can quite understand that your difficulties are great in trying to restrain the eagerness and violence of some of your people. my great affection for you, of course, makes me most anxious to see these troublesome and long pending affairs settled, for the sake of a continuance of peace and tranquillity; but, dear uncle, as it appears to me that these affairs can only be settled by the agreement of the four powers, it is absolutely necessary that france should go with us as well as the others, and i think, dear uncle, you wrong us in thinking that we urged france too much and unfairly. you must not, dear uncle, think that it is from want of interest that i, in general, abstain from touching upon these matters in my letters to you; but i am fearful, if i were to do so, to change our present delightful and familiar correspondence into a formal and stiff discussion upon political matters which would not be agreeable to either of us, and which i should deeply regret. these are my reasons, and i trust you will understand them, and be convinced of my unalterable and _very_ great affection for you, my dearest uncle, and of the great interest i take in all that concerns your welfare and happiness and the prosperity of your country.... pray give my affectionate love to aunt louise and the children, and believe me, always, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [pageheading: lord durham's resignation] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has just received your majesty's letters. lord durham arrived yesterday evening, and lord melbourne has just seen mr. stanley, who has seen him. he represents him as calm, but much hurt and vexed at the last despatch which expresses your majesty's disapprobation of his conduct in issuing the proclamation.[ ] lord durham said that he should immediately write an answer to it, in which he should state that he would communicate to the government all the information which he had collected upon the state of the canadas. that he should not ask an audience of your majesty. this is his present decision. he may alter it; if he should, and through any channel request an audience, lord melbourne is now clearly of opinion that your majesty should merely say that an answer will be sent and the propriety of granting an audience may then be fully considered by your majesty's confidential servants. mr stanley represents lord durham as not speaking with much violence or asperity, but seeming to feel much the censure conveyed in the last despatch. your majesty will receive from the colonial office a _précis_ of sir john colborne's despatches. nothing can be more honourable. the american force which made an incursion into upper canada have all been taken prisoners.... lord melbourne thinks that as long as lord durham is here and some communication has been received from him, he had better remain to-night in london. he will return to windsor to-morrow.... [footnote : lord durham stated at devonport: "i shall, when parliament meets, be prepared to make a representation of facts wholly unknown here, and disclosures which the parliament and people have no conception of."] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acquaint your majesty that lord glenelg has this evening received a letter from lord durham, tendering formally his resignation, and stating that his general report upon the affairs of canada must be delayed until the gentlemen connected with his mission return from that country, which they were to leave on or about the th of last month, and therefore may be shortly expected here. it will be necessary to ask lord durham whether he has no intelligence of immediate importance to give. [pageheading: an english church for malta] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ palace, valetta,[ ] _ th december ._ my dearest niece,--the english mail going to-day gives me another opportunity to address you, and to name a subject to you which i think deserves your consideration, and about which i feel most anxious. it is the want of a _protestant church_ in this place which i mean. there are so many english residents here, it is the seat of an english government, and there is _not one_ church belonging to the church of england.... the consequence of this want of church accommodation has been that the dissenters have established themselves in considerable numbers, and one cannot blame persons for attending their meetings when they have no church of their own. i address myself to you, as the head of the church of england, and entreat you to consider well this important subject, and to talk it over with your ministers and the archbishop, in order to devise the best means of remedying a want so discreditable to our country. should there be no funds at your disposal to effect this object, most happy shall i feel to contribute to any subscription which may be set on foot, and i believe that a considerable sum may be raised amongst the protestants of this island, where all parties are most anxious to see a proper place of divine worship erected; without assistance from england, however, it cannot be effected. i therefore most humbly and confidently submit this subject to you, dearest victoria, who will bestow upon your protestant subjects of this island an everlasting benefit by granting them what they want most.[ ]... i hope this will find you quite well and happy, and that i shall soon again have the pleasure of hearing from you. give my affectionate love to your dear mother, and all my dear sisters, and believe me ever, my dearest niece, your most devoted and faithfully attached aunt, adelaide. [footnote : the queen-dowager was at this time cruising in the mediterranean, and made some stay at malta.] [footnote : queen adelaide herself erected the church at a cost of £ , .] [pageheading: lord melbourne's anxieties] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st december ._ ... lord melbourne saw mr. stephenson this morning and learns from him that the duke of sussex[ ] is in the highest degree discontented at being informed decisively that there is no intention of sending him to ireland. he is very loud against the government, and is also very angry with mr stephenson, and the latter expects that he shall receive his dismissal.... mr stephenson assures lord melbourne that he has mentioned this matter to no one but lord melbourne and lady mary, and it is of importance that it should be kept secret. lord melbourne thinks it his duty to apprise your majesty of the feelings of the duke, and of the possible origin of them. lord and lady holland return to london to-day and lord melbourne is going to dine with them. [footnote : the duke of sussex was anxious to be appointed viceroy of ireland. mr stephenson was his private secretary. see _ante_, p. . (ch. vii, 'ireland and o'connell)] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and cannot express how deeply concerned he is to find himself restrained from obeying your majesty's commands, and repairing without delay to brighton. both his duty and his inclination would prompt him to do this without a moment's delay, if he did not find it incumbent upon him to represent to your majesty the very important circumstances which require his presence for two or three days longer in london. the session of parliament approaches; the questions which are to be considered and prepared are of the most appalling magnitude, and of the greatest difficulty. many of your majesty's servants, who fill the most important offices, are compelled by domestic calamity to be absent, and it is absolutely necessary that there should be some general superintendence of the measures to be proposed, and some consideration of the arrangements to be made. lord melbourne assures your majesty that he would not delay in london if he did not feel it to be absolutely necessary for your majesty's service.... [pageheading: brighton] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th december ._ my dearest victoria,--i have to thank you for two extremely kind and dear letters, which made me very happy, and your kind heart would be pleased to know _how happy_. sir h. seymour[ ] gave me a very favourable account of your dearest majesty, and was deeply gratified by your gracious reception. i am glad to find that you like brighton better than last year. i think brighton very agreeable at this time of the year, till the east winds set in. it also gives the possibility of seeing people without having them on one's hands the whole day, as is the case in the country. the pavilion, besides, is comfortable; that cannot be denied. before my marriage it was there that i met the regent. charlotte afterwards came with old queen charlotte. how distant all this already, but still how present to one's memory. the portrait of your aunt and leopold is nicely done. don leopoldo is like, and has at times even a more intelligent look; he would amuse you--he is very original and very sly. i often call him the little tyrant, because nobody knows so well _de faire aller le monde_.... my most beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : sir hamilton seymour, minister at brussels.] introductory note to chapter viii the chief political event of the year ( ) at home arose out of the troubles in jamaica. in addition to the apprenticeship question, the state of the prisons, much overcrowded owing to the planters' severity, had excited attention, and an imperial act was passed for their regulation. to this action the colonial assembly showed marked hostility, and, after the dissolution by sir lionel smith, the governor, the new house was no more placable. accordingly, the home government brought in a bill, in april, to suspend temporarily the jamaica constitution, but on a division had a majority of five only in a house of five hundred and eighty-three. the ministers therefore resigned, and sir robert peel was sent for; a difficulty as to the ladies of the household, commonly called the bedchamber plot, compelled him to resign the task, and the whigs, much injured in reputation, resumed office. some changes took place, macaulay joining the ministry, and lord normanby, who had succeeded lord glenelg at the colonial office, exchanging places with lord john russell, the home secretary. the trial of strength over the speakership ended in a victory for the ministerial candidate, mr shaw lefevre, by a majority of eighteen in a house of six hundred and sixteen. penny postage was introduced by an act of this session. the princes ernest and albert of saxe-coburg arrived on a visit to the queen in october, and on the th the queen's engagement to the latter was announced by herself to lord melbourne. a few weeks later the queen announced her betrothal at a meeting of the privy council. during the year risings in favour of the "people's charter" took place in various parts of the country, especially birmingham and newport, the six points demanded being the ballot, universal suffrage, annual parliaments, payment of members, the abolition of a property qualification for members, and equal electoral districts. at newport one frost, a linen-draper whom lord john russell had made a magistrate, headed a riot. he was tried with his confederates by a special commission at monmouth, and, with two others, sentenced to death; a sentence afterwards commuted. in the east, war broke out between the sultan mahmoud and the pasha of egypt, mehemet ali, who had originally helped turkey against greece, but had since revolted and driven the turks from syria. on that occasion ( ) turkey had been saved by russian intervention, a defensive alliance, known as the treaty of unkiar skelessi, made between russia and turkey, and mehemet granted syria as well as egypt. on the revival of hostilities, ibrahim, son of mehemet, defeated the turkish army on june ; a week later the sultan mahmoud died, and the turkish admiral treacherously delivered over the turkish fleet to mehemet at alexandria. once more the four powers (great britain, austria, prussia, and russia) interfered to save the sultan. the czar accepted the principle of a joint mediation, the advance of the egyptians was stopped, and the sultan was informed that no terms of peace would be accepted which had not received the approval of the powers. the terms were settled at a congress held in london. mehemet refused to accept the terms, and was encouraged by france to persevere in his refusal. the dispute between belgium and holland as to the luxemburg territory was settled by a treaty in the course of the year. lord durham presented his report on canada, a document drafted by charles buller but inspired by lord durham himself; though legislation did not take place this year, this document laid the foundation of the federal union of the canadas, and of the constitution of other autonomous colonies, but for the present the ex-commissioner met with much criticism of his actions. our troops were engaged during the year against dost mahommed, the ameer of afghanistan, a usurper who many years earlier had driven shah sooja into exile. lord auckland, the viceroy of india, had sent captain (afterwards sir alexander) burnes on a mission to cabul, and the ameer had received him hospitably at first, but subsequently dismissed him from his court. lord auckland thereupon resolved to restore shah sooja, and in the autumn of issued a manifesto dethroning dost mahommed. operations were accordingly directed against him under sir john (afterwards lord) keane, who, on august , , entered cabul and placed shah sooja on the throne. however open to criticism, the news of this result was enthusiastically received in england, and lord auckland was promoted to an earldom. in china a dispute of long standing became acute. with the renewal of the east india company's charter, in , the chinese ports had been thrown open, and the opium trade became a source of great profit to private traders. in spite of the prohibition which the chinese government laid on importation of opium, the traffic was actively carried on, and, as a result of the strained relations which ensued, captain elliot, the british chief superintendent, requested that warships should proceed to china for the protection of british life and property. chapter viii _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ pavilion [brighton], _ st january ._ my dear uncle,--... i don't like your _croaking_ so about damp climates; if a niece may venture to say such a thing, i might almost say it is ungrateful to your faithful and attached belgians. the queen-dowager's letters do tantalize one a good deal, i must own.[ ] you will see that old lord clarendon[ ] is dead, which makes our friend villiers earl of clarendon, but i am afraid not with a large income. lord palmerston has been unwell and obliged to go to broadlands, where he still is. he had gone through so much grief and labour, that it was absolutely necessary for him to recruit his strength. the normanbys spent two nights here.[ ] lord melbourne is the only person staying in the house besides several of my court and my suite, and, i am sorry to say, is not very well; he has also had, i fear, too much business to do. lady breadalbane[ ] is my new lady of the bedchamber, and a very nice person. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. forgive this short scrawl. [footnote : queen adelaide had described the orange-trees and tropical fruits in the gardens of the palace of st antonio, valetta.] [footnote : john charles, third earl, chief justice-in-eyre, north of trent. his successor, who had been minister to spain since , was afterwards the celebrated foreign secretary.] [footnote : lord normanby, at this time lord-lieutenant of ireland, became successively during the year, colonial and home secretary. lady normanby, who had been a lady-in-waiting since the accession, was a daughter of the first lord ravensworth.] [footnote : eliza, daughter of george baillie of jerviswood. her brother afterwards became tenth earl of haddington.] [pageheading: murder of lord norbury] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns his best and warmest thanks for the very kind and gracious communication which he had the honour and pleasure of receiving from your majesty yesterday evening. your majesty will have seen in the newspapers that lord norbury was shot at in his own grounds and dangerously wounded.[ ] lord melbourne learns to-day by a letter from lord morpeth that lord norbury is since dead. this is a shocking event, and will, of course, create a strong sensation, much stronger than the death in the same manner of several persons of inferior degree. it is almost the first time that an attempt of this kind has been directed against an individual of that rank or station.... lord melbourne has seen sir henry halford,[ ] who says that his pulse is low and his system languid. he has prescribed some draughts, which lord melbourne trusts will be of service, but he feels much depressed to-day. he dined yesterday at lady holland's, where he met mr ellice,[ ] civil and friendly enough in appearance, but lord melbourne fears hostile at heart, and a determined partisan of lord durham. lord durham has not yet made to lord glenelg the promised communication of his report and plan, but it is said that he will do so soon.... [footnote : at kilbeggan abbey, county meath. the murderer escaped.] [footnote : the celebrated physician: he attended george iv. and william iv., as well as queen victoria.] [footnote : son-in-law of lord grey, as was also lord durham.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th january ._ my dear uncle,--the dreadful moment has arrived, and dear marie[ ] is no more to bless her loving relations with her presence on this earth of grief and troubles! it is a heavy dispensation, and one that it is difficult to comprehend, but we must submit. i thought it best to write to my poor dear aunt, for whom this will be a sad blow; but i abstained from doing so to the dear queen of the french just as yet. i have no letters, and only learnt the melancholy event by the papers. poor wretched alexander! what a loss, what a change for him, poor fellow! _you_ will, i am sure, regret that sweet amiable creature, as poor marie was, very much, having known her so well, and her attachment to you was great. i will not prolong this letter, but merely repeat _how_ much i feel for you all, and beg you to believe me, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : princess marie of orleans, born , sister to the queen of the belgians, had married prince alexander of würtemberg, in .] [pageheading: holland and belgium] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th january ._ ... your aunt as well as myself are very anxious to be of use to poor alexander. the dispositions of the whole family are extremely kind towards him, but he is shy and a little helpless; his present melancholy situation is of course calculated to increase this. his position puts me in mind of mine in .... he, besides, is surrounded by people who are kind to him. of george iv., then regent, it was observed that for years he had not been in such good spirits than by the loss of his daughter. she was more popular than himself--that was, since her mariage, her only crime.... i feel very grateful for lord melbourne's kindness on the subject of our sad loss. he is so feeling and kindhearted that he, much more than most men who have lived so much in the _grand monde_, has preserved a certain warmth and freshness of feeling.... your cousins kiss your hands, and i remain, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ stanhope street, _ th january ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns to your majesty the accompanying papers which he received from viscount melbourne. your majesty will have seen by sir edward disbrowe's[ ] despatches that the concentration of dutch troops mentioned in these reports was purely defensive, and was the consequence of the military demonstrations previously made by the belgians; and it appears, moreover, that the dutch force is inferior in number to the belgian force opposite to it; and that affords an additional security against the chance of an invasion of belgium by the dutch. it is, however, undeniable that when two armies are drawn up in face of each other, separated by a small distance, and animated by mutual hatred, the chances of collision become great and imminent. but it is to be hoped in the present case that the communication made by the conference to the two parties on thursday last may avert danger of hostilities between the dutch and belgians.[ ] [footnote : minister at the hague.] [footnote : _see_ next letter.] [pageheading: belgium and england] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ my dear uncle,--i am much grieved to learn that poor philippe[ ] has given you such anxiety. my poor aunt! it really is too much upon her to have these cares added to her recent severe affliction. i hope to god that i shall get news of philippe's complete recovery to-morrow. i regret to hear that your government gives you so much trouble, but trust that you will exert all your influence, as you have so frequently done, to persuade your ministers to be reasonable, and not to resist the favourable offers made to the government. _everybody_ here is exceedingly anxious for the conclusion of these long pending affairs, and hope that the answer from belgium will soon arrive.[ ] you will forgive me, dear uncle, if i express to you my earnest hope that these expectations may not be disappointed, for i feel that since the dutch have so instantly accepted the proposition of the conference, belgium would suffer in the eyes of this country were she to delay, and, what i am still more fearful of, my beloved uncle, you might be blamed, and suffer for what your government may do. you will, i know, forgive this freedom, which is prompted by my great anxiety for your _welfare_ and _happiness_ (which i know you are well aware of), and for the preservation of the inestimable blessings of peace. no one feels more for you than i do at this difficult moment, nor than i have done throughout these trying and embarrassing affairs. that all may be peaceably and amicably settled is my earnest prayer. everything went off well yesterday,[ ] and we are again launched into a political campaign, which it is impossible not to contemplate with a certain degree of anxiety. adieu! my dear uncle. give my love to my dear aunt, and believe me, always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see _ante_, p. . ( th april, )] [footnote : the twenty-four articles, to which belgium had acceded in , had then been rejected by holland. now, however, holland wished to adopt them. the belgian government vainly proposed different schemes, but at last the bill for ratifying the proposal of the powers (made rd january , and accepted by holland on th february) passed the belgian chambers.] [footnote : the queen opened parliament in person on th february.] [pageheading: cabinet dissension] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thinks it right and necessary to acquaint your majesty that the cabinet yesterday was very stormy and unpleasant. lord john russell brought on the question of the civil government of the army, in a temperate and judicious manner, but lord howick made a most violent speech, strongly condemning the whole of the present system and arraigning the conduct of the treasury and other departments, saying that he should not throw up his office because no measure was brought forward, but that, when questioned upon the subject by mr hume in the house of commons, as it was certain that he would be, he should say that government would do nothing upon the subject, until he (mr hume) compelled them, and that he should express his entire disapprobation of the present system, and his reasons in detail for that disapprobation. your majesty will perceive that nothing could be more violent than this course. it was borne with great patience by the rest of the cabinet, although mr. rice,[ ] against whom the greater part of lord howick's speech was directed, felt himself most deeply hurt, and so expressed himself in private afterwards to lord melbourne. upon the whole, lord melbourne cannot but consider that affairs are in a most precarious state, and that whilst there is so much discontent fermenting within the cabinet itself, there must be great doubt of lord melbourne's being much longer able to hold the administration together. [footnote : the chancellor of the exchequer.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is very sorry that his communication has occasioned your majesty so much alarm and uneasiness. lord melbourne hopes that there is nothing imminent and immediate, but this sort of outbreak and contention may so soon become serious, that lord melbourne thought it his duty to take an early opportunity of informing your majesty of what had taken place. lord melbourne would wait upon your majesty without delay, but trusts that this letter will be sufficient to dispel any disquietude which his former communication may have excited. [pageheading: the duke of lucca] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th february ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that mr charles villiers[ ] moved yesterday, after a very able speech, that the petitioners against the corn laws should be heard at the bar of the house. sir robert peel opposed the motion on the ground that he meant to resist any change in the corn laws. he made a very skilful use of the returns of cotton, etc., exported. [footnote : m.p. for wolverhampton - , becoming "father of the house."] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ stanhope street, _ th march ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and requests to be honoured with your majesty's commands upon the accompanying letter from count pollon.[ ] viscount palmerston at the same time begs to state that he has reason to believe, from what count pollon said to him in conversation two days ago, that the duke of lucca[ ] has a notion that sovereign princes who have had the honour of dining with your majesty, have been invited by note and not by card. if that should be so, and if your majesty should invite the duke of lucca to dine at the palace before his departure, perhaps the invitation might be made by note, instead of by card, as it was when the duke last dined at the palace. your majesty may think this a small matter, but the duke is a small sovereign. [footnote : for many years sardinian minister in england.] [footnote : lucca was an independent italian state.] [pageheading: portugal] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th march ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and feels very deeply the very kind and gracious concern which your majesty expresses for his health, as well as your majesty's solicitude and interest upon all occasions. lord melbourne will take your majesty's advice, but his experience teaches him that illness is not so easily put off, and that it will have its course in spite of precaution.... lord melbourne thinks, upon the whole, that your majesty had perhaps better write by messenger a few lines of kindness and recollection. it can be no descent on your majesty's part to do so, and as we may be obliged to take very strong measures with respect to portugal, it is as well that there should be no appearance of any deficiency of affection or attention. lord melbourne [thinks] that, for the reason given by your majesty, your majesty may perhaps as well not go to the play this evening, but is very sorry to hear that your majesty is low and out of spirits. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th march ._ my dear uncle,--many thanks for two letters, one which i received last sunday, and the other enclosing a letter from stockmar this morning. i am glad you agree with me about victoire.[ ] since i wrote to you, i got these two letters from the portuguese children--as i disrespectfully but very deservedly call them--which i send you, in order that you may see how they wish victoire to come to them, which i fear and think is totally impracticable, for it would never do for victoire to go so far without her mother. nevertheless, i thought it but right by them to send you these letters, and i have written to them giving them little hope. the french ministry are gone, and i am sure the poor king will be much vexed by it. they talk of broglie as minister for foreign affairs,[ ] but i am afraid thiers is inevitable. we are rather in fear of thiers here, but it is a pity that louis philippe should show so much dislike to a man he must take, for it will have the effect of a defeat. i have no time to add more, but to beg you to believe me, always, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : daughter of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, and married in april to the duc de nemours.] [footnote : after a provisional cabinet, in which the duc de montebello was foreign minister, the king appointed a ministry with soult as premier and foreign minister.] [pageheading: difficulties of the ministry] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd march ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acquaint your majesty that the cabinet have decided-- . that it is impossible to acquiesce in the vote of last night in the house of lords.[ ] . that it would not be justifiable to resign in the face of the declaration which i made in the year , in the house of lords, that i would maintain my post as long as i possessed the confidence of the crown and of the house of commons, particularly as there is no reason to suppose that we have lost the confidence of the house. . that the course to be pursued is to give notice in the house of commons to-night, that the sense of that house will be taken immediately after the easter holidays, upon a vote of approbation of the principles of lord normanby's government of ireland. if we lose that question, or carry it by a small majority, we must resign. if we carry it, we may go on. this is a plain statement of the case, and this course will at least give your majesty time to consider what is to be done. [footnote : by to lord roden carried a motion for a select committee to enquire into the state of ireland; the ministry replied by obtaining a vote of the house of commons in their favour by to .] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall,[ ] _ st april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has just received your majesty's letters, for which he returns many and warm thanks. nothing could be more prosperous than his journey down, although it rained hard the greater part of the way. lord melbourne slept well, and has walked out this morning, although it was still showery. nothing is so fatiguing as the first exposure to the air of the country, and lord melbourne feels the influence of it. lord melbourne returns the letters of the king of the belgians. he accounts very naturally for the conduct of the poor duchess,[ ] but she should have recollected the extreme disadvantage and discredit which attaches to a change of religion. _un gentilhomme ne change jamais la religion_, was the saying of napoleon, and is very just. it is difficult to understand the movements and motives of parties in a foreign country, and therefore lord melbourne does not feel able to pronounce any opinion upon the transactions in france. lord melbourne had seen g----'s letters, a pert jackanapes, who always takes the worst view of every subject, and does as much mischief as he can.... lord melbourne is just starting for panshanger.[ ] the evening is better than the morning was, but cold. [footnote : lord melbourne's house on the lea, about three miles north of hatfield. its construction was begun by sir matthew lamb, and completed by his son, sir peniston, the first lord melbourne.] [footnote : princess alexander of würtemberg. on her death-bed, she had expressed a wish to her husband that he should join the roman catholic church.] [footnote : panshanger, not far distant from brocket, the house of lord melbourne's brother-in-law, lord cowper, and celebrated for its pictures, was bought by lord chancellor cowper, _temp._ queen anne.] [pageheading: england and belgium] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ my dear uncle,--... i regret to learn you are still not easy about your own affairs, but trust all will now be speedily adjusted. you always allow me, dear uncle, to speak frankly to you; you will, therefore, i hope, not be displeased if i venture to make a few observations on one or two parts of your letter. you say that the anger of the belgians is principally directed against england.[ ] now, i must say you are very unjust towards us, and (if i could) i might be even a little angry with you, dear uncle. we only _pressed_ belgium for her _own_ good, and _not_ for ours. it may seem hard at first, but the time will come when you will see that we were right in urging you not to delay any longer the signature of the treaty. i think that you will see in this frank expression of my sentiments no wish to annoy or hurt you, but only an anxious desire to prove to you that england is belgium's sincere friend, and that my government are ever desirous of doing what is in their power for the welfare, security, and prosperity of yourself and your kingdom. i regret much the state of affairs in france,[ ] which cannot but make us all somewhat anxious; you will, i hope tell me what news you hear from paris. pray, dearest uncle, receive my best, my very warmest, wishes for many happy returns of dear leopold's birthday, and also, though somewhat late, for philippe's birthday. give my love to my dear aunt, and believe me, always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : he had written on th april:--"the feeling is strongest against england, in which the people expected to see a support, and only found a strong determination to decide _everything against them_ and at _their expense_. if there was a great explosion in france, it would not be astonishing to see the people here join it; it would rather be astonishing to see it otherwise, after the kind treatment they received from the powers."] [footnote : the king was for a time without any ministry, and the meeting of the chambers had to be postponed.] [pageheading: prince albert in italy] _baron stockmar to queen victoria._ naples, _ th april ._ madam,--as it is some time that i had the honour to address your majesty, i hope that a further account of our crusades will meet with a favourable reception. it is now somewhat better than a month that we left florence, i may say with regret, for we were there very comfortably in every respect. on our route to rome we enjoyed the beautiful sight of the cataract at terni, the place where queen caroline sojourned for some time. we were particularly fortunate that day, as the brightest sunshine heightened its picturesque effects beyond description. we found old rome very full, and to see it and its ecclesiastic governors to advantage, the holy week is certainly the properest time. from morning to noon the prince was at seeing sights, and he made so good a use of his time, that i don't think that something really remarkable was left unseen. upon this very principle, we paid our respects to the holy father,[ ] of which interview the prince made so admirable a sketch, so very worthy of h.b.,[ ] that i am very much tempted to send it for the inspection of your majesty. we assisted at the church ceremonies of the holy week from the beginning to the end. the music of the sistine chapel, which is only vocal, may be well considered as unique, and has not failed to make a lasting impression upon a mind so musical as the prince's.... i never think of your majesty--and i take the liberty of thinking very frequently of you--without praying for health, serenity of mind, comfort and success for you, and i can well say that i am from my heart, your majesty's sincerely attached and devoted servant, stockmar. [footnote : gregory xvi.] [footnote : initials adopted by mr doyle, father of richard doyle, in his _reform caricatures_.] [pageheading: belgium] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ ... i am glad i extracted some spark of politics from your dear majesty, very _kindly_ and _nicely_ expressed. i know that your generous little heart would not have wished at any time but what was good for a country in which you were _much beloved_. but the fact is, that certainly your government have taken the lead in maintaining a condition which time had rendered difficult to comply with. physicians will tell you that often an operation, which might have been performed at one time, could not, without great danger for the patient, be undertaken some years later. we have not been listened to, and arrangements _are forced_ on us, in themselves full of seeds of danger, when by consulting the _real interests_ of holland and belgium, both countries might have been placed on a footing of _sincere peace_ and good neighbourhood. this country feels now humbled and _désenchanté_ with its _soi-disant_ political independence as it pleased the conference to settle it. they will take a dislike to a political state which _wounds their vanity_, and will, in consequence of this, _not wish it to continue_. two things will happen, therefore, on the very first opportunity, either that this country will be involved in war to better a position which it thinks _too humiliating_, or that it will voluntarily throw up a nominal independence in which it is now hemmed in between france and holland, which begins on the north sea, and ends, of all the things in this world, on _the moselle_! i think old pirson, who said in the chamber that if the treaty was carried into execution i was likely to be the first and last king of the country, was not wrong. whenever this will happen, it will be _very awkward_ for england, and _deservedly so_. to see, after eight years of hard work, blooming and thriving political plantations cut and maimed, and that by those who have a real interest to protect them, is very melancholy. i do not say these things with the most distant idea of bringing about any change, but only because in the high and very responsible position in which providence has placed you, it is good to tell you the truth, as you ought to have weight and influence on the affairs of europe; and england, not being in the possibility of making territorial acquisition, has a real and permanent interest in the proper maintenance of a balance of political power in europe. now i will leave you to enjoy the beginning of spring, which a mild rain seems to push on prodigiously. believe me ever, my dear victoria, your very attached uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: jamaica] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to inform your majesty that the result of the cabinet has been a decision to stand by the bill as we have introduced it, and not to accede to sir robert peel's proposal. the bill is for suspending the functions of the legislative assembly of jamaica, and governing that island for five years by a governor and council.[ ] if sir robert peel should persist in his proposal, and a majority of the house of commons should concur with him, it will be such a mark of want of confidence as it will be impossible for your majesty's government to submit to. [footnote : _see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . ( to ch. viii)] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ my dear uncle,--i have to thank you for your last letter, which i received on sunday. though you seem not to dislike my political sparks, i think it is better not to increase them, as they might finally take fire, particularly as i see with regret that upon this one subject we cannot agree. i shall therefore limit myself to my expressions of very sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of belgium. the grand duke,[ ] after a long delay, is at length to arrive on friday night; i shall put myself out of my way in order to be very civil to such a great personage. i am already thinking how i shall lodge all my relations; you must prepare uncle ferdinand for its not being _very ample_, but this palace, though large, is not calculated to hold many visitors.... believe me, always, your very affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : the hereditary grand duke of russia, afterwards the emperor alexander ii.] [pageheading: ministerial crisis] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has to acquaint your majesty that the division upon the jamaica bill, which took place about two this morning, was two hundred and ninety-nine against the measure, and three hundred and four in favour of it.[ ] lord melbourne has not heard from lord john russell since this event, but a cabinet will of course be summoned early this morning, and lord melbourne cannot conceal from your majesty that in his opinion the determination of the cabinet must be that the relative numbers upon this vote, joined to the consideration of no less than nine members of those who have hitherto invariably supported the government having gone against it now, leave your majesty's confidential servants no alternative but to resign their offices into your majesty's hands. they cannot give up the bill either with honour or satisfaction to their own consciences, and in the face of such an opposition they cannot persevere in it with any hope of success. lord melbourne is certain that your majesty will not deem him too presuming if he expresses his fear that this decision will be both painful and embarrassing to your majesty, but your majesty will meet this crisis with that firmness which belongs to your character, and with that rectitude and sincerity which will carry your majesty through all difficulties. it will also be greatly painful to lord melbourne to quit the service of a mistress who has treated him with such unvarying kindness and unlimited confidence; but in whatever station he may be placed, he will always feel the deepest anxiety for your majesty's interests and happiness, and will do the utmost in his power to promote and secure them. [footnote : the numbers are apparently incorrectly stated. the division was to .] [pageheading: resignation imminent] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ the present circumstances have been for some time so probable, or rather so certain, that lord melbourne has naturally been led to weigh and consider maturely the advice which, if called upon, he should tender to your majesty when they did arrive. that advice is, at once to send for the duke of wellington. your majesty appears to lord melbourne to have no other alternative. the radicals have neither ability, honesty, nor numbers. they have no leaders of any character. lord durham was raised, one hardly knows how, into something of a factitious importance by his own extreme opinions, by the panegyrics of those who thought he would serve them as an instrument, and by the management of the press, but any little public reputation which he might once have acquired has been entirely dissipated and destroyed by the continued folly of his conduct in his canadian government. there is no party in the state to which your majesty can now resort, except that great party which calls itself conservative, and of that party, his rank, station, reputation, and experience point out the duke of wellington as the person to whom your majesty should apply. lord melbourne therefore advises that your majesty should send for the duke of wellington, and should acquaint him, provided your majesty so feels, that you were entirely satisfied with your late government, and that you part from them with reluctance; but that as he and the party of which he is the head have been the means of removing them from office, you naturally look to him to advise you as to the means of supplying their places and carrying on the business of the country. if the duke should be unwilling to form the government himself, and should desire to devolve the task upon sir robert peel, lord melbourne would advise your majesty to accede to that suggestion; but lord melbourne would counsel your majesty to be very unwilling to suffer the government to be formed by sir robert peel, without the active assistance in office of the duke of wellington. with respect both to measures and appointments, your majesty should place the fullest confidence in those to whom you entrust the management of affairs, exercising at the same time, and fully expressing, your own judgment upon both. your majesty will do well to be from the beginning very vigilant that all measures and all appointments are stated to your majesty in the first instance, and your majesty's pleasure taken thereon previously to any instruments being drawn out for carrying them into effect, and submitted to your majesty's signature. it is the more necessary to be watchful and active in this respect, as the extreme confidence which your majesty has reposed in me may have led to some omission at times of these most necessary preliminaries. the patronage of the lord chamberlain's department is of the greatest importance, and may be made to conduce at once to the beneficial influence of the crown, and to the elevation and encouragement of the professions of the church and of medicine. this patronage, by being left to the uncontrolled exercise of successive lord chamberlains, has been administered not only wastefully but perniciously. the physicians to the late king were many of them men of little eminence; the chaplains are still a sorry set. your majesty should insist with the new ministers that this patronage should be disposed of, not by the lord chamberlain, but, as it has hitherto been during your majesty's reign, by your majesty upon consultation with your prime minister. [pageheading: distress of the queen] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen thinks lord melbourne may possibly wish to know how she is this morning; the queen is somewhat calmer; she was in a wretched state till nine o'clock last night, when she tried to occupy herself and try to think less gloomily of this dreadful change, and she succeeded in calming herself till she went to bed at twelve, and she slept well; but on waking this morning, all--all that had happened in one short eventful day came most forcibly to her mind, and brought back her grief; the queen, however, feels better now; but she couldn't touch a morsel of food last night, nor can she this morning. the queen trusts lord melbourne slept well, and is well this morning; and that he will come precisely at eleven o'clock. the queen has received no answer from the duke, which is very odd, for she knows he got her letter. the queen hopes lord melbourne received her letter last night. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is much grieved that he did not answer your majesty's letter yesterday evening, as your majesty desired, but he did not get it till late, and he felt much tired and harassed by all that had passed during the day. the situation is very painful, but it is necessary for your majesty to be prudent and firm. it is of all things necessary not to be suspected of any unfair dealing. whilst lord melbourne holds his office, everything of course may be written to him as usual; but still the resolutions for the formation of the new government will now commence, and it will never do, whilst they are going on, either for appearance or in reality, that lord melbourne should dine with your majesty, as he did before this disturbance. it would create feeling, possibly lead to remonstrance, and throw a doubt upon the fairness and integrity of your majesty's conduct. all this is very painful both to do and to say, but it is unavoidable; it must be said, and it must be done. lord melbourne will wait upon your majesty at eleven.[ ] [footnote : lord melbourne had made the not unnatural mistake of recommending to the queen, as members of her first household, ladies who were nearly related to himself and his whig colleagues. no doubt these were the ladies whom he knew best, and in whom he had entire confidence; but he ought to have had sufficient prescience to see that the queen would probably form strong attachments to the ladies who first served her: and that if the appointments had not in the first instance a political complexion, yet that the whig tendencies which these ladies represented were likely to affect the queen, in the direction of allying her closely with a particular party in the state.] [pageheading: the duke of wellington] [pageheading: sir robert peel] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ _ th may ._ the queen told lord melbourne she would give him an account of what passed, which she is _very_ anxious to do. she saw the duke for about twenty minutes; the queen said she supposed he knew why she sent for him, upon which the duke said, no, he had no idea. the queen then said that she had had the greatest confidence in her late ministry, and had parted with them with the greatest reluctance; upon which the duke observed that he could assure me no one felt more pain in hearing the announcement of their resignation than he did, and that he was deeply grieved at it. the queen then continued, that as his party had been instrumental in removing them, that she must look to him to form a new government. the duke answered that he had no power whatever in the house of commons, "that if he was to say black was white,[ ] they would say it was not," and that he advised me to send for sir robert peel, in whom i could place confidence, and who was a gentleman and a man of honour and integrity. the queen then said she hoped he would at all events have a place in the new cabinet. the duke at first rather refused, and said he was so deaf, and so old and unfit for any discussion, that if he were to consult his own feelings he would rather not do it, and remain quite aloof; but that as he was very anxious to do anything that would tend to the queen's comfort, and would do everything and at all times that could be of use to the queen, and therefore if she and her prime minister urged his accepting office, he would. the queen said she had more confidence in him than in any of the others of his party. the queen then mentioned the subject of the household, and of those who were not in parliament. the duke did not give any decisive answer about it, but advised the queen not to begin with conditions of this sort, and wait till the matter was proposed. the queen then said that she felt certain he would understand the great friendship she had for lord melbourne, who had been to her quite a parent, and the duke said _no one felt and knew that better than he did, and that no one could still be of greater use to the queen than lord melbourne_. the duke spoke of his personal friendship for lord melbourne, and that he hoped i knew that he had often done all he could to help your (lord melbourne's) government. the queen then mentioned her intention to prove her great _fairness_ to her new government in telling them, that they might know there was no unfair dealing, that i meant to see you often as a friend, as i owed _so_ much to you. the duke said he quite understood it, and knew i would not exercise this to weaken the government, and that he would take my part about it, and felt for me. he was very kind, and said he called it "a misfortune" that you had all left me. the queen wrote to peel, who came after two, embarrassed and put out. the queen repeated what she had said to the duke about her former government, and asked sir robert to form a new ministry. he does not seem sanguine; says entering the government in a minority is very difficult; he felt unequal to the task, and far from exulting in what had happened, as he knew what pain it must give me; he quite approved that the duke should take office, and saw the importance of it; meant to offer him the post of secretary for foreign affairs, and if he refused, lord aberdeen; lord lyndhurst, chancellor; hoped to secure stanley and graham; goulburn to be the candidate for the speaker's chair; he expects a severe conflict then, and if he should be beat must either resign or dissolve parliament. before this the queen said she was against a dissolution, in which he quite agreed, but of course wished no conditions should be made; he felt the task arduous, and that he would require me to demonstrate (_a certain_ degree, if _any_ i can only feel) confidence in the government, and that my household would be one of the marks of that. the queen mentioned the same thing about her household, to which he at present would give no answer, and said nothing should be done without my knowledge or approbation. he repeated his surprise at the course you had all taken in resigning, which he did not expect. the queen talked of her great friendship for, and gratitude to lord melbourne, and repeated what she had said to the duke, in which peel agreed; but he is such a cold, odd man she can't make out what he means. he said he couldn't expect me to have the confidence in him i had in you (and which he never can have) as he has not deserved it. my impression is, he is not _happy_ and sanguine. he comes to me to-morrow at one to report progress in his formation of the new government. the queen don't like his manner after--oh! how different, how dreadfully different, to that frank, open, natural and most kind, warm manner of lord melbourne.[ ] the duke i like by far better to peel. the queen trusts lord melbourne will excuse this long letter, but she was so very anxious he should know all. the queen was very much collected, and betrayed no agitation during these two trying audiences. but afterwards again _all_ gave way. she feels lord melbourne will understand it, amongst enemies to those she most relied on and esteemed, and people who seem to have no heart; but what is worst of all is the being deprived of seeing lord melbourne as she used to do. [footnote : _sic_: an obvious mistake for "black was black."] [footnote : lady de grey had written to peel on th may:--"the queen has always expressed herself much impressed with lord melbourne's open manner, and his truth. the latter quality you possess, the former not. "now, dear peel, the first impression on so young a girl's mind is of immense consequence, accustomed as she has been to the open and affectionate manner of lord melbourne, who, _entre nous_, treats her as a father, and, with all his faults, feels for her as such."--_sir robert peel_, parker, vol. ii. p. .] [pageheading: lord melbourne's advice] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has read with the greatest attention the very clear and distinct account which your majesty has written of that which passed at the audiences which your majesty has given to the duke of wellington and sir robert peel. nothing could have been more proper and judicious than your majesty's conduct, and they appear to have acted upon their part with propriety and sincerity. lord melbourne has no doubt that both with respect to him (lord melbourne) and to themselves and their own feelings and position, they expressed what they really think. the duke was right in saying that in general, in affairs of this nature, it is best not to begin with conditions; but this matter of the household is so personal to yourself, that it was best to give an intimation of your feelings upon it in the first instance. lord melbourne has little doubt that if they could have acted from themselves, they would have acceded to your majesty's wish at once; but your majesty must recollect that they have others to satisfy, and must not attribute entirely to them anything that is harsh and unreasonable. lord melbourne advises your majesty to urge this question of the household strongly as a matter due to yourself and your own wishes; but if sir robert is unable to concede it, it will not do to refuse and to put off the negotiation upon it. lord melbourne would strongly advise your majesty to do everything to facilitate the formation of the government. everything is to be done and to be endured rather than run the risk of getting into the situation in which they are in france, of no party being able to form a government and conduct the affairs of the country.[ ] the dissolution of parliament is a matter of still more importance, and if this should be again pressed upon your majesty, lord melbourne would advise your majesty to reserve your opinion, not to give a promise that you will dissolve, nor to say positively that you will not. you may say that you do not think it right to fetter the prerogative of the crown by previous engagements, that a dissolution of parliament is to be decided according to the circumstances at the time, that you mean to give full confidence to the government that shall be formed, and to do everything in your power to support them, and that you will consider whether parliament shall be dissolved, when you are advised to dissolve it, and have before you the reasons for such a measure. lord melbourne earnestly entreats your majesty not to suffer yourself to be affected by any faultiness of manner which you may observe. depend upon it, there is no personal hostility to lord melbourne nor any bitter feelings against him. sir robert is the most cautious and reserved of mankind. nobody seems to lord melbourne to know him, but he is not therefore deceitful or dishonest. many a very false man has a very open sincere manner, and _vice versâ_.... lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty is better this morning. [footnote : alluding to the successive failures of soult, thiers, and broglie.] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen cannot sufficiently thank lord melbourne for his most kind letter, and for his excellent advice, which is at once the greatest comfort and of the greatest use to her; the queen will follow it in every respect, and nothing of importance shall be done without due reflection; and she trusts lord melbourne will help her and be to her what she told him he was, and begged him still ever to be--a father to one who never wanted support more than she does now. lord melbourne shall hear again after she sees peel this morning.... the queen has just now heard lord liverpool is not in town. the queen hopes lord melbourne is able to read her letters; if ever there is anything he cannot read, he must send them back, and mark what he can't read. [pageheading: lord palmerston's gratitude] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ stanhope street, _ th may ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to return your majesty his grateful thanks for your majesty's gracious communication of this morning. it affords viscount palmerston the most heart-felt satisfaction to know that his humble but zealous endeavours to promote the interests of his country and to uphold the honour of your majesty's crown, have had the good fortune to meet with your majesty's approbation; and he begs most respectfully to assure your majesty that the deep impression produced by the condescending kindness which he has upon all occasions experienced from your majesty can never be effaced from his mind. [pageheading: the household] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to suggest that if sir robert peel presses for the dismissal of those of your household who are not in parliament, you may observe that in so doing he is pressing your majesty more hardly than any minister ever pressed a sovereign before. when the government was changed in , the principal posts of the household were placed at the disposal of lord grey, but the grooms and equerries were not removed. when sir robert peel himself became minister in , no part of the household were removed except those who were in parliament. when i became prime minister again in , none of the grooms or equerries were removed because none of them were in parliament. they press upon your majesty, whose personal feelings ought from your circumstances to be more consulted, a measure which no minister before ever pressed upon a sovereign. if this is put to him by your majesty, lord melbourne does not see how he can resist it. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen writes one line to prepare lord melbourne for what _may_ happen in a very few hours. sir robert peel has behaved very ill, and has insisted on my giving up my ladies, to which i replied that i never would consent, and i never saw a man so frightened. he said he must go to the duke of wellington and consult with him, when both would return, and he said this must suspend all further proceedings, and he asked whether i should be ready to receive a decision, which i said i should; he was quite perturbed--but this is _infamous_. i said, besides many other things, that if he or the duke of wellington had been at the head of the government when i came to the throne, perhaps there might have been a few more tory ladies, but that then if you had come into office you would never have _dreamt_ of changing them. i was calm but very decided, and i think you would have been pleased to see my composure and great firmness; the queen of england will not submit to such trickery. keep yourself in readiness, for you may soon be wanted. [pageheading: proposed new cabinet] _extract from the queen's journal._ _thursday, th may ._ _at half-past two_ i saw the duke of wellington. i remained firm, and he told sir robert that i remained firm. i then saw sir robert peel, who stopped a few minutes with me; he must consult those (of whom i annex the list) whom he had named: the duke of wellington _secretary for foreign affairs_ sir james graham _secretary for the home department_ lord stanley _secretary for the colonies_ lord lyndhurst _lord chancellor_ lord ellenborough _president of the board of control_ sir h. hardinge _secretary at war_ and he said he would return in two or three hours with the result, which i said i should await.[ ] [footnote : it was a curious circumstance, much commented on at the time, that in the _globe_ of th may, a ministerial evening paper, which would probably have gone to press at two o'clock in the afternoon, the following paragraph appeared: "the determination which it is well known her majesty has taken, not to allow the change in the government to interfere with the ladies of her court, has given great offence to the tories."] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen has received lord melbourne's letter. lord melbourne will since have heard what has taken place. lord melbourne must not think the queen rash in her conduct; she saw both the duke and sir robert again, and declared to them she could not change her opinion. the ladies are not (as the duke imagined was stated in the civil list bill) in the _place_ of the lords; and the queen felt this was an attempt to see whether she could be led and managed like a child; if it should lead to sir robert peel's refusing to undertake the formation of the government, which would be absurd, the queen will feel satisfied that she has only been defending her own rights, on a point which so nearly concerned her person, and which, if they had succeeded in, would have led to every sort of unfair attempt at power; the queen maintains _all_ her ladies,--and thinks her prime minister will cut a sorry figure indeed if he resigns on this. sir robert is gone to consult with his friends, and will return in two or three hours with his decision. the queen also maintained the mistress of the robes, for as he said _only_ those who are _in parliament_ shall be removed, i should like to know if they mean to give the _ladies_ seats in parliament? we shall see what will be done. the queen would not have _stood so firmly_ on the grooms and equerries, but her _ladies_ are _entirely_ her own affair, and _not_ the ministers'. [pageheading: the crisis] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. lord melbourne had certainly never expected that this demand would be urged, and therefore had never advised your majesty as to what was to be done in such a case. lord melbourne strongly advises your majesty to hear what the duke of wellington and sir robert peel urge, but to take time before you come to a peremptory and final decision. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. this is a matter of so much importance, and may have such grave results, that any advice which lord melbourne could give would be of little importance unless it coincided with the opinions of others, and particularly of all those who were and intend still [to] continue to be his colleagues. it will depend upon their determination whether your majesty is to be supported or not. the best course will perhaps be that you should hear sir robert peel's determination, say nothing, but send for lord melbourne, and lay the matter before him. lord melbourne will then summon a cabinet to consider of it. [pageheading: the ladies of the bedchamber] _extract from the queen's journal._ _ th may ._ at half-past six came lord melbourne and stayed with me till ten minutes past seven. [pageheading: the ladies] i then began by giving him a detailed account of the whole proceeding, which i shall state here as briefly as possible. i first again related what took place in the two first interviews, and when i said that the duke said he had assisted my government often very much, lord melbourne said: "well, that is true enough, but the duke did all he could about this vote." "well, then," i said, "when sir robert peel came this morning, he began first about the ministry. i consented, though i said i might have my personal feelings about lord lyndhurst and lord aberdeen, but that i would suppress every personal feeling and be quite fair. i then repeated that i wished to retain about me those who were not in parliament, and sir robert _pretended_ that i had the preceding day expressed a wish to keep about me those who _were_ in parliament. i mentioned my wish to have lord liverpool, to which sir robert readily acceded, saying he would offer him the place of lord steward, or of lord in waiting. he then suggested my having lord ashley,[ ] which i said i should like, as treasurer or comptroller. soon after this sir robert said: 'now, about the ladies,' upon which i said i could _not_ give up _any_ of my ladies, and never had imagined such a thing. he asked if i meant to retain _all_. '_all_,' i said. 'the mistress of the robes and the ladies of the bedchamber?' i replied, '_all_,'--for he said they were the wives of the opponents of the government, mentioning lady normanby[ ] in particular as one of the late ministers' wives. i said that would not interfere; that i never talked politics with them, and that they were related, many of them, to tories, and i enumerated those of my bedchamber women and maids of honour; upon which he said he did not mean _all_ the bedchamber women and _all_ the maids of honour, he meant the mistress of the robes and the ladies of the bedchamber; to which i replied _they_ were of more consequence than the others, and that i could _not_ consent, and that it had never been done before. he said i was a queen regnant, and that made the difference. 'not here,' i said--and i maintained my right. sir robert then urged it upon _public grounds only_, but i said here i could not consent. he then begged to be allowed to consult with the duke upon such an important matter. i expressed a wish also to see the duke, if sir robert approved, which he said he did, and that he would return with the duke, if i would then be prepared for the decision, which i said i would. well," i continued, "the duke and sir robert returned soon, and i first saw the duke, who talked first of his being ready to take the post of secretary for foreign affairs, which i had pressed peel to urge on him (the duke having first wished to be in the cabinet, without accepting office), and the duke said, 'i am able to do anything,' for i asked him if it would not be too much for him. then i told him that i had been very well satisfied with sir robert yesterday, and asked the duke if sir robert had told him what had passed about the ladies. he said he had, and then i repeated all my arguments, and the duke his; but the duke and sir robert differed considerably on two points. the duke said the _opinions_ of the ladies were nothing, but it was the _principle_, whether the minister could remove the ladies or not, and that he (the duke) had understood it was stated in the civil list bill, 'that the _ladies were instead of the lords_,' which is quite false, and i told the duke that there were not _twelve lords_, as the expense _with the ladies_ would have been too great." lord melbourne said: "there you had the better of him, and what did he say?" "not much," i replied. i repeated many of my arguments, all which pleased lord melbourne, and which he agreed to, amongst others, that i said to the duke, was sir robert so weak that _even_ the ladies must be of his opinion? the duke denied that. the duke then took my decision to sir robert, who was waiting in the next room; after a few minutes sir robert returned. after stopping a few minutes, as i have already stated, sir robert went to see his colleagues, and returned at five: said he had consulted with those who were to have been his colleagues, and that they agreed that, with the probability of being beat the first night about the speaker, and beginning with a minority in the house of commons, that unless there was _some_ (_all_ the officers of state and lords i gave up) demonstration of my confidence, and if i retained all my ladies this would not be, "they agreed unanimously they could not go on." i replied i would reflect, that i felt certain i should not change my mind, but that i should do nothing in a hurry, and would write him my decision either that evening or the next morning. he said, meanwhile, he would suspend all further proceedings. [footnote : afterwards earl of shaftesbury, the well-known philanthropist.] [footnote : j. w. croker wrote to the king of hanover:-- "_ th may ._ "... this is the sum of the whole affair. sir r. peel could not admit that broad principle that all were to remain. lady normanby (whom the queen particularly wishes for), for instance, the wife of the very minister whose measures have been the cause of the change, two sisters of lord morpeth, the sisters-in-law of lord john russell, the daughter of the privy seal and the chancellor of the exchequer.... "her majesty's ball last night was, i am told, rather dull, though she herself seemed in high spirits, as if she were pleased at retaining her ministers. she has a great concert on the th, but to both, as i hear, the invitations have been on a very exclusive principle, no tories being invited who could on any pretence be left out. these are small matters, but everything tends to create a public impression that her majesty takes a personal and strong interest in the whigs--a new ingredient of difficulty."--_croker papers_, ii. .] i also told lord melbourne that i feared i had embarrassed the government; that i acted quite alone. lord melbourne saw, and said i could not do otherwise. "i must summon the cabinet," said lord melbourne, at half-past nine. "it may have very serious consequences. if we can't go on with this house of commons, we may have to dissolve parliament, and we don't know if we may get as good a house of commons." i begged him to come, and he said: "i'll come if it is in any time--if it's twelve; but if it's one or two, i'll write." after dinner (as usual with the household) i went to my room, and sat up till a quarter past two. at a quarter to two i received the following letter from lord melbourne, written at one o'clock:-- [pageheading: the queen's ultimatum] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may _ ( a.m.). lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the cabinet has sate until now, and, after much discussion, advises your majesty to return the following answer to sir robert peel:-- "the queen having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by sir robert peel to remove the ladies of her bedchamber, cannot consent to adopt a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant to her feelings."[ ] [footnote : greville asserts that the plan adopted by the outgoing cabinet, of meeting and suggesting that this letter should be despatched, was "utterly anomalous and unprecedented, and a course as dangerous as unconstitutional.... they ought to have explained to her that until sir robert peel had formally and finally resigned his commission into her hands, they could tender no advice.... the cabinet of lord melbourne discussed the proposals of that of sir robert peel, and they dictated to the queen the reply in which she refused to consent to the advice tendered to her by the man who was _at that moment_ her minister."--_greville's journal, th may ._] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th may ._ the queen having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by sir robert peel, to remove the ladies of her bedchamber, cannot consent to adopt a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant to her feelings.[ ] [footnote : sixty years later the queen, during a conversation at osborne with sir arthur bigge, her private secretary, after eulogising sir robert peel, said: "i was very young then, and perhaps i should act differently if it was all to be done again."] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen wrote the letter before she went to bed, and sent it at nine this morning; she has received no answer, and concludes she will receive none, as sir robert told the queen if the ladies were not removed, his party would fall directly, and could not go on, and that he only awaited the queen's decision. the queen therefore wishes to see lord melbourne about half-past twelve or one, if that would do. the queen fears lord melbourne has much trouble in consequence of all this; but the queen was fully prepared, and fully intended to give these people a fair trial, though she always told lord melbourne she knew they couldn't stand; and she must rejoice at having got out of the hands of people who would have sacrificed every personal feeling and instinct of the queen's to their bad party purposes. how is lord melbourne this morning? [pageheading: an anxious week] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ half-past one will do as well as one; any hour will do that lord melbourne likes, for the queen will not go out. there is no answer from peel. the queen is wonderfully well, considering all the fatigue of yesterday, and not getting to bed till near half-past two, which is somewhat of a fatigue for to-night when the queen must be very late. really all these fêtes in the midst of such very serious and anxious business are quite overwhelming. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen forgot to ask lord melbourne if he thought there would be any harm in her writing to the duke of cambridge that she really was fearful of fatiguing herself, if she went out to a party at gloucester house on tuesday, an ancient concert on wednesday, and a ball at northumberland house on thursday, considering how much she had to do these last four days. if she went to the ancient concert on wednesday, having besides a concert of her own here on monday, it would be four nights of fatigue, really exhausted as the queen is. but if lord melbourne thinks that as there are only to be english singers at the ancient concert, she ought to go, she could go there for one act; but she would much rather, if possible, get out of it, for it is a fatiguing time.... as the negotiations with the tories are quite at an end, and lord melbourne _has been here_, the queen hopes lord melbourne will not object to dining with her on _sunday_? [pageheading: resignation of peel] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour of receiving your majesty's note of this morning. in respectfully submitting to your majesty's pleasure, and humbly returning into your majesty's hands the important trust which your majesty had been graciously pleased to commit to him, sir robert peel trusts that your majesty will permit him to state to your majesty his impression with respect to the circumstances which have led to the termination of his attempt to form an administration for the conduct of your majesty's service. in the interview with which your majesty honoured sir robert peel yesterday morning, after he had submitted to your majesty the names of those whom he proposed to recommend to your majesty for the principal executive appointments, he mentioned to your majesty his earnest wish to be enabled, with your majesty's sanction, so to constitute your majesty's household that your majesty's confidential servants might have the advantage of a public demonstration of your majesty's full support and confidence, and that at the same time, as far as possible consistently with that demonstration, each individual appointment in the household should be entirely acceptable to your majesty's personal feelings. on your majesty's expressing a desire that the earl of liverpool[ ] should hold an office in the household, sir robert peel requested your majesty's permission at once to offer to lord liverpool the office of lord steward, or any other which he might prefer. sir robert peel then observed that he should have every wish to apply a similar principle to the chief appointments which are filled by the ladies of your majesty's household, upon which your majesty was pleased to remark that you must reserve the whole of those appointments, and that it was your majesty's pleasure that the whole should continue as at present, without any change. the duke of wellington, in the interview to which your majesty subsequently admitted him, understood also that this was your majesty's determination, and concurred with sir robert peel in opinion that, considering the great difficulties of the present crisis, and the expediency of making every effort in the first instance to conduct the public business of the country with the aid of the present parliament, it was essential to the success of the commission with which your majesty had honoured sir robert peel, that he should have that public proof of your majesty's entire support and confidence which would be afforded by the permission to make some changes in that part of your majesty's household which your majesty resolved on maintaining entirely without change. having had the opportunity through your majesty's gracious consideration, of reflecting upon this point, he humbly submits to your majesty that he is reluctantly compelled, by a sense of public duty and of the interests of your majesty's service, to adhere to his opinion which he ventured to express to your majesty. he trusts he may be permitted at the same time to express to your majesty his grateful acknowledgments for the distinction which your majesty conferred upon him by requiring his advice and assistance in the attempt to form an administration, and his earnest prayers that whatever arrangements your majesty may be enabled to make for that purpose may be most conducive to your majesty's personal comfort and happiness, and to the promotion of the public welfare. [footnote : charles cecil cope jenkinson, third earl, - , became lord steward in .] [pageheading: the queen's journal] _extract from the queen's journal._ _friday, th may ._ lord melbourne came to me at two and stayed with me till ten minutes to three. i placed in his hands sir robert peel's answer, which he read. he started at one part where he (sir robert) says, "_some_ changes"--but some or all, i said, was the same; and lord melbourne said, "i must submit this to the cabinet." lord melbourne showed me a letter from lord grey about it--a good deal alarmed, thinking i was right, and yet half doubtful; one from spring rice, dreadfully frightened, and wishing the whig ladies should resign; and one from lord lansdowne wishing to state that the ladies would have resigned. lord melbourne had also seen the duke of richmond, and lord melbourne said we might be beat; i said i never would yield, and would never apply to peel again. lord melbourne said, "you are for standing out, then?" i said, "certainly." i asked how the cabinet felt. "john russell, strongly for standing out," he said; "duncannon, very much so; holland, lord minto, hobhouse, and the chancellor, all for standing out; poulett thomson too, and normanby also; s. rice and howick alarmed." [pageheading: cabinet minute] cabinet minute. _present._ the lord chancellor. the lord president. the lord privy seal. viscount melbourne. the marquis of normanby. the earl of minto. the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster. the lord john russell. the viscount palmerston. the viscount howick. the viscount morpeth. sir john hobhouse, bart. the chancellor of the exchequer. mr. poulett thomson. her majesty's confidential servants having taken into consideration the letter addressed by her majesty to sir robert peel on the th of may, and the reply of sir robert peel of the same day, are of opinion that for the purpose of giving to an administration that character of efficiency and stability and those marks of the constitutional support of the crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully for the public service, it is reasonable that the great offices of the court and the situations in the household held by members of either house of parliament should be included in the political arrangements made on a change of administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by ladies in her majesty's household.[ ] [footnote : this paragraph was read by lord john russell to the house of commons during the course of the ministerial explanations on th may.] her majesty's confidential servants are therefore prepared to support her majesty in refusing to assent to the removal of the ladies of her household, which her majesty conceived to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant to her feelings, and are prepared to continue in their offices on these grounds. viscount howick concurs in the opinion expressed in the foregoing minute that the removal of the ladies of her majesty's household ought not to form part of the arrangements consequent upon a change of administration, and shares in the readiness his colleagues have declared to support her majesty in acting upon this opinion; but he thinks it his duty to state his conviction that the immediate resumption of their offices by her majesty's confidential servants is not the mode in which their support can be most effectively afforded and is not calculated to promote the good of her majesty's service. he conceives that before it is determined that the present administration should be continued, further explanation should be sought with sir robert peel, by which it is not impossible that his concession to her majesty's just objection to the removal of the ladies of her household might have been obtained, while the endeavour to arrive at this result, even though unsuccessful, would at all events tend to secure additional support to her majesty's present servants, and thus to enable them to surmount those difficulties, which have recently compelled them humbly to tender their resignations to her majesty, and which he fears will be found not to have been diminished by the course it has now been determined to pursue. in humbly submitting this opinion to her majesty, viscount howick begs permission to add that he nevertheless acquiesces in the determination of his colleagues, and will render them the best assistance in his power in their endeavour to carry on her majesty's service. [pageheading: melbourne resumes office] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen is very anxious to hear that lord melbourne has not suffered from the ball last night, as it was very hot at first. the beginning was rather dull and heavy, but after supper it got very animated, and we kept it up till a quarter past three; the queen enjoyed herself very much and isn't at all tired; she felt much the kindness of many of her kind friends, who are her _only real_ friends. lady cowper and lord and lady minto, the duchess of somerset, and lord anglesey were particularly kind. on the other hand, there were some gloomy faces to be seen, and the duchess of gloucester was very cross. the queen is ashamed to say it, but she has forgotten _when_ she appointed the judge advocate; when will the cabinet be over? the queen danced the first and the last dance with the grand duke,[ ] made him sit near her, and tried to be very civil to him, and i think we are great friends already and get on very well; i like him exceedingly. [footnote : the hereditary grand duke of russia, afterwards the emperor alexander ii.] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen anxiously hopes lord melbourne is quite well this morning, and has _not_ suffered from the dinner at pozzo's. the queen wishes to know if she ought to say anything to the duchess, of the noble manner in which her government mean to stand by her? the account in the _observer_ of the whole proceeding is the most correct both as to details and facts, that the queen has yet seen; were they told what to put in? there was considerable applause when the queen entered the theatre, which she, however, thought best and most delicate not to encourage, and she was cheered when she drove up to the theatre and got out, which she never is in general. the grand duke came and sat with the queen in her box, for at least half an hour last night--and the queen asked him if he knew exactly what had happened, which he said he did not--and the queen accordingly gave him an account of what passed, and he was _shocked_ at sir robert peel's proposal, thought his resignation on that account absurd, and was delighted at the continuance in office of my present government. the queen supposes and fears that lord melbourne dines with the lansdownes to-morrow, but she wishes to know if wednesday, saturday, and sunday would suit him? lord melbourne must not forget the list of our supporters in the house of commons, which the queen is very anxious to have as soon as possible. if lord melbourne can dine here to-morrow the queen would be glad, of course. [pageheading: lord john russell's opinion] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that he this day made his statement to the house, in answer to sir robert peel. sir robert peel made a skilful, and not unfair statement. he, however, spoke only of his intention of changing some of the ladies of the bedchamber. but he did not say that he had made this intention clear to your majesty; only that he had so arranged the matter with his political friends. the popular impression is greatly in favour of the course pursued by your majesty. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is most sorry to hear that your majesty does not feel well. it is very natural that your majesty does not. lord melbourne does not believe that there was anything wanting in your majesty's manner yesterday evening,[ ] but depend upon it, if there was, every allowance would be made for the fatigue and anxiety which your majesty has gone through, and for the painful and embarrassing situation in which your majesty is still placed. lord melbourne will wait upon your majesty at two, and will have the honour of conversing with your majesty upon peel's speech. [footnote : at the state concert.] [pageheading: the queen's view] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ my dear uncle,--i begin to think you have forgotten me, and you will think i have forgotten you, but i am certain you will have guessed the cause of my silence. how much has taken place since monday the th to yesterday the th. you will have easily imagined how dreadful the resignation of my government--and particularly of that truly inestimable and excellent man, lord melbourne--was for me, and you will have felt for me! what i suffered i cannot describe! to have to take people whom i should have no confidence in, ... was most painful and disagreeable; but i felt i must do it, and made up my mind to it--nobly advised and supported by lord melbourne, whose character seems to me still more perfect and noble since i have gone through all this. i sent for the duke of wellington, who referred me to peel, whom i accordingly saw. everything fair and just i assented to, even to having lord lyndhurst as chancellor, and sir h. hardinge and lord ellenborough in the cabinet; i insisted upon the duke in the foreign office, instead of lord aberdeen.... all this i granted, as also to give up all the officers of state and all those of my household who are in parliament. when to my utter astonishment he asked me to change my ladies--my principal ladies!--this i of course refused; and he upon _this resigned_, saying, as he felt he should be beat the very first night upon the speaker, and having to begin with a minority, that unless he had this demonstration of my confidence he could not go on! you will easily imagine that i firmly resisted this attack upon my power, from these people who pride themselves upon upholding the prerogative! i acted quite alone, but i have been, and shall be, supported by my country, who are very enthusiastic about it, and loudly cheered me on going to church on sunday. my government have nobly stood by me, and have resumed their posts, strengthened by the feelings of the country.... pray tell my dearest aunt that i really cannot write to her to-day, for you have no conception of what i have to do, for there are balls, concerts, and dinners all going on besides. adieu! my beloved uncle. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: approval of king leopold] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th may ._ my dearest victoria,--i feel deeply grateful for your very kind and interesting letter, which reached me yesterday, inclusive of the papers. you have passed a time of great agitation and difficulty, which will, however, contribute to enlarge the circle of your experience. _i approve very highly of the whole mode in which you proceeded_; you acted with great _good faith_ and _fairness_, and when finally propositions were made which you considered you could not submit to, you were very right to resist them. the march of the whole affair is very clear and fair, and does you _great credit_.... peel in making his demand misjudged you; he remembered george iv., and even the late king, and dreamt of court influence of people near the sovereign. you have the great merit, for which you cannot be too much praised, of being _extremely honest_ and honourable in your dealings. if you had kept peel, you would have acted honestly by him, without any lady's having a chance of doing him a bad turn. when he asked the measure as an expression of your great confidence in him, it was not fair, because _you_ had not wished to take him; he was forced upon you, and therefore, even if you had granted his request, nobody would have seen in it a proof of your confidence in him, but rather a sacrifice to a far-stretched pretence. besides, that he was to have encountered difficulties as a minister was partly the consequence of the policy of his party, and you were not bound to give him any assistance beyond what he had a right to ask as a minister. i was sure that lord melbourne would give you both the fairest and the most honourable advice in this painful crisis. he was kind enough last year to speak to me on the subject, and i could but approve what he said on the subject. altogether, keeping now your old ministers, you will have reason to congratulate yourself on the result; it is likely to strengthen them, by showing the radicals what may be the consequences. rumour spoke of their wishing to add some radicals to the cabinet; i don't see that they could improve the ministry by it, which is perfectly well composed as it is at present, and new elements often have a dissolving effect. it was very kind of you to have explained everything so clearly to me, but i deserve it for the _great interest_ i take in all that concerns you.... [pageheading: a small liberal majority] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th june ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that sir robert peel's bill[ ] was discussed yesterday in the house of commons, with great fairness and an entire absence of party spirit. viscount melbourne will have acquainted your majesty with the result of the cabinet of yesterday. it appears to lord john russell that the liberal party, with some explanation, will be satisfied with the state of things for the present, and that the great difficulties which attend the complete union of the majority will be deferred till the commencement of next session. it is always well to have some breathing-time. [footnote : the jamaica bill for the temporary suspension of the constitution.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th june ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that the division of last night was extremely encouraging to the future prospects of the government. combined with the division on the speakership,[ ] it shows that the liberal party have still a clear though small majority in the house of commons, and that it may probably not be necessary to resort to a dissolution. indeed, such a measure in present circumstances would be of very doubtful issue. lord john russell stated last night that he would not divide on the canada resolutions, but move for leave to bring in a bill. [footnote : mr shaw lefevre was elected by against for mr goulburn.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th july ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that mr. rice yesterday brought forward his financial statement with great ability. he moved a resolution in favour of a penny postage, which sir robert peel declared it to be his intention to oppose on the report. this will be on friday next. this seems a mistake on the part of the opposition.[ ] [footnote : the penny postage scheme came into operation on th january .] [pageheading: the queen and prince albert] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ (_ minutes to ._) the queen is really quite shocked to see that her box was taken to lord melbourne to park lane, and she fears (by the manner in which lord melbourne's note is written) that he was at dinner at lady elizabeth h. vere's when he got it. the queen had imagined that the house of lords was still sitting, and therefore desired them to take the box there, but never had intended it should follow him to dinner; she begs lord melbourne to excuse this mistake which must have appeared so strange. did the dinner go off well at lady elizabeth h. vere's, and were there many people there? did lord melbourne go to lady r. grosvenor's party or did he go home? the queen hopes lord melbourne is quite well and not tired. monday at two o'clock for the judge advocate. the queen hears lady sandwich is very much delighted at her appointment. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ my dear uncle,--i have no letter from you, but hope to get one soon.... i shall send this letter by a courier, as i am anxious to put several questions to you, and to mention some feelings of mine upon the subject of my cousins' visit, which i am desirous should not transpire. first of all, i wish to know if _albert_ is aware of the wish of his _father_ and _you_ relative to _me?_ secondly, if he knows that there is _no engagement_ between us? i am anxious that you should acquaint uncle ernest, that if i should like albert, that i can make _no final promise this year_, for, at the _very earliest_, any such event could not take place till _two or three years hence_. for, independent of my youth, and my _great_ repugnance to change my present position, there is _no anxiety_ evinced in _this country_ for such an event, and it would be more prudent, in my opinion, to wait till some such demonstration is shown,--else if it were hurried it might produce discontent. though all the reports of albert are most favourable, and though i have little doubt i shall like him, still one can never answer beforehand for _feelings_, and i may not have the _feeling_ for him which is requisite to ensure happiness. i _may_ like him as a friend, and as a _cousin_, and as a _brother_, but not _more_; and should this be the case (which is not likely), i am _very_ anxious that it should be understood that i am _not_ guilty of any breach of promise, for _i never gave any_. i am sure you will understand my anxiety, for i should otherwise, were this not completely understood, be in a very painful position. as it is, i am rather nervous about the visit, for the subject i allude to is not an agreeable one to me. i have little else to say, dear uncle, as i have now spoken openly to you, which i was very, _very anxious_ to do. you will be at paris, i suppose, when you get this letter, and i therefore beg you to lay me at the feet of the whole family, and to believe me ever your very devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ the queen anxiously hopes lord melbourne has slept well, and has not suffered from last night. it was very wrong of him not to wish the queen good-night, as she expected he would in so small a party, for she _saw_ that he did _not_ go away immediately after supper. when did he get home? it was great pleasure to the queen that he came last night. we kept up the dancing till past three, and the queen was much amused, and slept soundly from four till half-past ten, which she is ashamed of. she is quite well, but has got a good deal of cold in her head; she hopes to see lord melbourne at two. [pageheading: the duchess of braganza] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ the queen has seen the duchess of braganza,[ ] who, though a good deal changed, is still handsome, and very amiable; she seemed so glad, too, to see the queen again. the child[ ] is grown a dear fine girl. lord palmerston thought it right that i should ask her to dinner also on saturday and take her to the opera; and on sunday, as she came on purpose to see the queen, and goes on monday. on sunday (besides lord melbourne) the queen proposes asking palmerston, normanby, uxbridge, and surrey, and no one else except the duchess's suite. the queen hopes lord melbourne will approve of this. he will not forget to let the queen know how the debate is going on, at about nine or ten, as she will be curious to know. she trusts he will not suffer from the fatigue of to-night. [footnote : the step-mother of donna maria. pedro i. assumed the title of duke of braganza after his abdication.] [footnote : probably the princess known as "chica," afterwards princesse de joinville.] [pageheading: syrian affairs] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ st cloud, _ th july ._ ... everything is pretty quiet, and the _grâce accordée à barbès_[ ] has put down the rage against the king personally, at least for some little time. the affairs of the orient interest a good deal. i think that it is better the porte should be on a favourable footing with mehemet ali than if that gentleman had pushed on in arms, as it will put the _casus foederis_ out of the question, and the turks will not call in the assistance of the russians. whoever pushed the late sultan into this war has done an act of great folly, as it could only bring the porte into jeopardy. [footnote : armand barbès, the leader of a fatal riot in paris, was sentenced to death, a sentence afterwards remitted.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ rd august ._ lord melbourne will wait upon your majesty at a quarter before five, if possible, but there is much to discuss at the cabinet. the caspian pasha has taken the turkish fleet to alexandria,[ ] and mehemet ali says that he will not give it up to the sultan until he dismisses the grand vizier, and acknowledges the hereditary right of the pasha to the countries which he at present governs. this is to make the sultan his subject and his vassal. the accounts from birmingham are by no means good.[ ] there has been no disturbance of the peace, but the general disposition is both violent and determined. [footnote : the viceroy of egypt had revolted against the porte, and on th june the sultan purported to deprive him and ibrahim, his son, of their dignities. war was declared, and the turkish fleet despatched to syria. but the admiral treacherously sailed to alexandria, and the ottoman troops, under hafiz, who had succeeded mehemet ali in the government of egypt, were utterly routed. with the traitorous conduct of the turkish admiral, disraeli, a few years later, compared peel's conversion to free trade.] [footnote : chartist riots were very frequent at the time. _see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . (to ch. viii)] [pageheading: the opera] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th august ._ the queen hopes lord melbourne is quite well this morning, and did not sit up working very late last night; the queen met him twice yesterday in the park, and really wondered how anybody _could_ ride, for she came home much hotter than she went out, and thought the air quite like as if it came out of an oven; to-day we can breathe again. it was intensely hot at the opera; the queen-dowager visited the queen in her box, as did also the young grand duke of weimar, who is just returned from scotland, and whom the queen has asked to come after dinner to-morrow. the queen has not asked the duke of sussex to come after dinner to-morrow, as she thought he would be bored by such a sort of party; does not lord melbourne think so? and she means to ask him to dinner soon. the queen has not asked lord melbourne about any days this week besides to-morrow (when she trusts he may be able to come, but she does not know what there is in the house) and wednesday; but perhaps lord melbourne will consent to leave thursday and friday open in _case_ he should be able to come one or both of those days. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th august ._ the queen has just received lord melbourne's letter; and wishes to know if lord melbourne means by "to-day" that he is also coming to see her _this afternoon_, (which she does not expect) as well as _this evening_? for she did _not_ ask him in her note of this morning _if_ he would come to-night (for she felt _sure_ of that), but if he could come _to-morrow_, about which he has not answered her, as to whether he expects there will be anything of great length in the house of lords. lord melbourne will forgive the queen's troubling him again, but she felt a little puzzled by his letter; she sent him a card for wednesday without previously asking him, as she thought that would suit him, and hopes it does? the queen will follow lord melbourne's advice respecting the duke of sussex. we have just returned from hearing not only a very long, and very bad, but also, a very ludicrous, sermon. the heat is somewhat less, but the queen is undecided as to driving out or not. [pageheading: king louis philippe] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th august ._ ... i am sorry that you are less pleased with the old duke, but party spirit is in england an incurable disease. these last two years he had rendered essential service to the present administration; perhaps he has been soured by last summer's events. it was my intention to have answered your questions sooner, but from paris i had not the means. now the time draws so near when i hope to have the happiness of seeing you, that i think it will be better to treat the matter verbally, the more so as my most beloved majesty is easily displeased with what may be written with the best intention, instead that in conversation the immediate reply renders any misunderstanding, however small, very difficult; and as i do not wish to have any great or small with you, and see no occasion for it, i will give my answer _de vive voix_. now comes a subject which will _astonish_ you. i am charged _de sonder_ your will and pleasure on the following subject. the king my father-in-law goes to eu, where he hopes to remain till the th or th of september. having at his disposition some very fine steamers, his great wish would be to go over to brighton, just for one afternoon and night, to offer you his respects in person. he would in such a case bring with him the queen, my aunt, clémentine,[ ] aumale and montpensier. the first step in this business is to know what your pleasure is, and to learn that very frankly, as he perfectly understands that, however short such a visit, it must be submitted to the advice even of some of your ministers. what renders the thing very difficult, in my opinion, is that in a country like france, and with so many ministerial difficulties, the king to the _last hour_ will hardly know if he can undertake the thing. as, however, the first object is to know your will, he begged me to ascertain that, and to tell you that if you had the _smallest objection_ you would not be carried away by the apprehension of hurting him by telling me honestly that you did _not_ see how the affair could be arranged, but to speak out, that he knew enough how often objections may arise, and that even with himself he could only be sure of the thing at the last moment. [footnote : who afterwards married queen victoria's cousin, prince augustus (gusti) of coburg.] [pageheading: the new sultan] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th august ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in submitting the accompanying private letter from the earl granville[ ] begs to state that neither viscount melbourne nor viscount palmerston are of opinion that it would be expedient that your majesty should send an ambassador extraordinary to compliment the young sultan[ ] on his accession. the circumstances connected with his accession are indeed fitter matter for condolence than for congratulation, and he would probably be better pleased by the restoration of his fleet than by the arrival of ambassadors extraordinary. moreover, it has not been customary for the sovereign of england to send such missions upon the accession of sultans. [footnote : the first earl granville ( - ), formerly ambassador extraordinary to the russian court, at this time ambassador at paris.] [footnote : abdul medjid, a lad of sixteen, succeeded the sultan mahmoud. the majority of the powers agreed to place him under the protection of europe, and to warn mehemet ali that the matter was for europe, not him, to decide. france, however, wished to support mehemet, and direct the alliance against russia. but nicholas i. of russia was prepared to support england as far as regarded the affairs of turkey and egypt, and to close the dardanelles and bosphorus to warships of all nations, it being stipulated that russian ships of war only were to pass the bosphorus, as acting under the mandate of europe in defence of the turks. _see_ further, introductory notes for and . (to ch. viii and ch. ix)] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ ostende, _ th august ._ ... the king's intention would be to leave eu in the evening, let us say at eight or nine o'clock, and to land, perhaps at ten or eleven, at brighton on the _following morning_. he would have the honour of dining with you, and would re-embark in the _evening of the same day_, so as to be back on the _following morning_ at eu. he will therefore, as you see, _not_ sleep in england. if you cannot give any _pied-à-terre_ in the palace for these few hours, they will remain in an hotel. but i must say that as the king and queen put themselves to _some inconvenience in coming_ to see you, it would be _rather desirable_ to offer them rooms in the palace, which i think might be easily managed. as far as we are concerned, it _does not matter_ if we are housed in an hotel or where we bivouac. i will charge van de weyer to take rooms for us somewhere.... do not imagine that i have done the least to bring this about for my own satisfaction, which is _very limited_ in this business, but the king wished _much to see you once_, and so did the queen, who abhors sailing more than anybody, and this is perhaps the _only_ opportunity which may ever offer of doing it, even with some political benefit, as it certainly is desirable that it should appear that the two maritime powers are on good terms.... and now, god bless you! ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: louis philippe's visit] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ ostende, _ th august ._ (_la st louis._) my dear victoria,--to keep up the fire of letters, i write again, having received this morning interesting news. as i must forward this letter by calais, and know not who may read it in these times of curiosity, i am forced to be guarded; but the news are as follows, of the rd--curious coincidence, as your letter was also of that date--that, the moment _approaching, many and serious_ difficulties arise, and that the expedition was considered imprudent by some people, that, besides, the presence would perhaps be required, before the _possible_ departure, at the _usual home_ of the person interested, that therefore for the present it would perhaps be best to give it up. i must say that i am _most happy_ that matters have come to this pass, because it would have been next to impossible to arrange affairs properly in proper time. you may now consider everything _as over_, and settle your plans without reference to it.... [pageheading: the visit postponed] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th august ._ my dearest uncle,--i had already written you a letter when i received your two very kind ones, and i shall therefore not send my first. my friendship for the dear king and queen makes me, as you may easily understand, wish most exceedingly to see them and to make the acquaintance of the queen and all the family. and i feel the immense kindness of them all in wishing to see me, and in coming over for only a few hours. politically it would be _wished_ by _us all_, and the _only_ difficulty i see is the following, which is, that _i do not feel quite_ equal to going to brighton and receiving them all, so soon after the prorogation.[ ] i do not _feel_ well; i feel _thoroughly_ exhausted from all that i have gone through this session, and am quite knocked up by the two little trips i made to windsor. this makes me fear, uncertain as it all is, with such a pressure of business, so many affairs, and with so much going on, that i should be unequal to the journey and the whole thing. this, and this _alone_, could make me express a wish that this most kind visit should take place _next_ year instead of this year. i feel such regret really in saying this--i should so wish to see them, and yet i feel i am not _quite_ up to it. you will understand me, dear uncle, i am certain, as i know the anxiety you always express for my health. for _once_ i _long_ to leave london, and shall do so on friday. if you could be at windsor by the th, i should be delighted. the dear ferdinands, whom i _all dearly_ love, will await you here. i have had so much to do and so many people to see, that i feel quite confused, and have written shockingly, which you must forgive. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : on th august.] [pageheading: the queen's speech] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ august ._ (_ minutes to ._) the queen has received both lord melbourne's notes; she was a good deal vexed at his not coming, as she had begged him herself to do so, and as he wrote to say he would, and also as she thinks it right and of importance that lord melbourne should be here at large dinners; the queen _insists_ upon his coming to dinner to-morrow, and also begs him to do so on wednesday, her two last nights in town, and as she will probably not see him at all for two days when she goes on friday; the queen would wish to see lord melbourne _after_ the prorogation to-morrow at any hour _before_ five he likes best. the queen has been a good deal annoyed this evening at normanby's telling her that john russell was coming to town next monday in order to _change_ with _him_.[ ] lord melbourne _never_ told the queen that this was definitely settled; on the contrary, he said it would "remain in our hands," to use lord melbourne's own words, and only be settled during the vacation; considering all that the queen has said on the subject to lord melbourne, and considering the great confidence the queen has in lord melbourne, she thinks and feels he ought to have told her that this was _settled_, and not let the queen be the last person to hear what is settled and done in her own name; lord melbourne will excuse the queen's being a little eager about this, but it has happened once before that she learnt from other people what had been decided on. the queen has such unlimited confidence in lord melbourne that she knows all that he does is right, but she cannot help being a little vexed at not being told things, when she is accustomed to great confidence on lord melbourne's part. lord melbourne may rely on the queen's secrecy respecting howick; he knows the queen always keeps things to herself; normanby hinted at his wish to get rid of howick. the speech is safely arrived, has been read over twice, and shall not be forgotten to-morrow; the queen wishes they would not use such thin and slippery paper--for it is difficult to hold with nervous, and, as lord melbourne knows, _shaking_ hands. the queen trusts lord melbourne will be less tired in the morning. [footnote : _see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . (to ch. viii)] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ ostende, _ st september ._ my dearest victoria,--your _delightful_ little letter has just arrived and went like _an arrow to my heart._ yes, my beloved victoria! i _do love you tenderly_, and with all the power of affection which is often found in characters who do not make much outward show of it. i love you _for yourself_, and i love in you the dear child whose welfare i carefully watched. my great wish is always that you should _know_ that i am _desirous_ of _being useful_ to you, without _hoping for any other return_ than some little affection from your warm and kind heart. i am even so far pleased that my eternal political affairs are settled, as it takes away the _last possibility_ of imagining that i may want something or other. i have all the honours that can be given, and i am, politically speaking, very solidly established, more so than most sovereigns in europe. the only political longing i still have is for the orient, where i perhaps shall once end my life, unlike the sun, rising in the west and setting in the east. i never press my services on you, nor my councils, though i may say with some truth that from the extraordinary fate which the higher powers had ordained for me, my experience, both political and of private life, is great. i am _always ready_ to be useful to you _when and where_ it may be, and i repeat it, _all i want in return is some little sincere affection from you_.... and now i conclude for to-day, not without expressing again my satisfaction and pleasure at having seen you yesterday morning with your dear honest face, looking so dear in your morning attire. our time was spent very satisfactorily, and only the weather crossed our wishes, and to that one can submit when everything else is delightful. once more, god bless you! ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: visit of prince albert] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ my dear uncle,--you will, i think, laugh when you get this letter, and will think i only mean to employ you in _stopping_ my relations at brussels, but i think you will approve of my wish. in the first place i don't think one can _reckon_ on the cousins arriving here on the th. well, all i want is that _you_ should detain them one or two days longer, in order that they may arrive here on _thursday, the rd_, if possible _early_. my reason for this is as follows: a number of the ministers are coming down here on monday to stay till thursday, on affairs of great importance, and as you know that people are always on the alert to make remarks, i think if _all_ the ministers were to be down here when they arrive, people would say--it was to _settle matters_. at all events it is better to avoid this. i think indeed a day or two at brussels will do these young gentlemen good, and they can be properly fitted out there for their visit. ever yours devotedly, victoria r. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st october ._ my dear uncle,--i received your kind letter on sunday, for which many thanks. the _retard_ of these young people puts me rather out, but of course cannot be helped. i had a letter from albert yesterday saying they could not set off, he thought, before the th. i think they don't exhibit much _empressement_ to come here, which rather shocks me. i got a very nice letter from dear alexander yesterday from reinhardtsbrun;[ ] he says albert is very much improved, but not taller than augustus. his description of him is as follows:--"albert, i found, had become stronger and more handsome; still he has not grown much taller; he is of about the same size as augustus; he is a most pleasant, intelligent young man. i find, too, that he has become more lively than he was, and that sits well on him, too." (_translation._) i think you may like to hear this, as i know alexander is a very correct observer of persons, and his opinion may be relied upon. he adds that albert plagues leopold beyond measure. i shall take care and send a gentleman and carriages to meet my cousins, either at woolwich or the tower, at whichever place you inform me they land at. the sooner they come the better. i have got the house _full_ of ministers. on monday the queen dowager is coming to sleep here for two nights; it is the _first time_, and will be a severe trial. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : a picturesque castle, about eight miles from gotha.] [pageheading: a charm against evil] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ the queen sends the little _charm_ which she hopes may keep lord melbourne from _all evil_, and which it will make her very happy if he will put [? it with] his keys. if the ring is too small lord melbourne must send it back to her, and she will have it altered. the queen has made up her mind at length to ask lady clanricarde, as lord melbourne wishes it so much. shall surrey invite her, or lord palmerston? and from thursday to friday? _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dear uncle,--i have to thank you for three kind letters of the st, th, and th, the last which i received yesterday. i received another letter from alex. m. yesterday, _since ernest's arrival_, and he says that they have determined on setting off, so as to embark at antwerp on the th and be here after all on the th! i suppose you will have also heard. i shall therefore (unless i hear from you to the contrary) send one of my equerries and two carriages to the tower on _thursday_. i am sorry to hear of the serious disturbances at ghent; i trust it is all got under now. if you should hear anything more of roi guillaume's[ ] marriage, pray let me hear it, as it is such an odd story. old alava, who was here for two nights last week, told me he knew _pauline d'oultremont_ many years ago, when she was young and very gay and pretty, but that he wonders much at this marriage, as the king hates catholics. alava is _rayonnant de bonheur_. i told lord melbourne of your alarms respecting the financial crisis, which _we_ did not bring on--those wild american speculations are the cause of it--and he desires me to assure you that we will pursue as moderate and cautious a course as possible. the queen dowager came here yesterday and stays till to-morrow; she is very cheerful and in good spirits.... i must conclude in haste. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. many thanks for the two supplies of ortolans, which were delicious. [footnote : william i., king of the netherlands, was greatly attached to the roman catholic countess d'oultremont, and in october , being sixty-seven, abdicated his crown to marry her. he was father of the prince of orange, who succeeded him.] [pageheading: arrival of prince albert] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dear uncle,--... the dear cousins arrived at half-past seven on thursday, after a very bad and almost dangerous passage, but looking both very well, and much improved. having no clothes, they could not appear at dinner, but nevertheless _débutéd_ after dinner in their _négligé_. ernest is grown quite handsome; albert's _beauty_ is _most striking_, and he so amiable and unaffected--in short, very _fascinating_; he is excessively admired here. the granvilles and lord clanricarde[ ] happened just to be here, but are gone again to-day. we rode out yesterday and danced after dinner. the young men are very amiable, delightful companions, and i am very happy to have them here; they are playing some symphonies of haydn _under_ me at this very moment; they are passionately fond of music. in the way of news i have got nothing to tell you to-day. everything is quiet here, and we have no particular news from abroad. in spain the fueros[ ] seem to give sad difficulty to the cortes. ever, my dearest uncle, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : ulick john, first marquis of clanricarde ( - ), ambassador at st petersburg, afterwards lord privy seal.] [footnote : certain rights and privileges of the basques.] [pageheading: a momentous decision] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--this letter will, i am sure, give you pleasure, for you have always shown and taken so warm an interest in all that concerns me. my mind is quite made up--and i told albert this morning of it; the warm affection he showed me on learning this gave me _great_ pleasure. he seems _perfection_, and i think that i have the prospect of very great happiness before me. i _love_ him _more_ than i can say, and i shall do everything in my power to render the sacrifice he has made (for a _sacrifice_ in my opinion it is) as small as i can. he seems to have a very great tact--a very necessary thing in his position. these last few days have passed like a dream to me, and i am so much bewildered by it all that i know hardly how to write; but i _do_ feel _very_, _very_ happy. it is absolutely necessary that this determination of mine should be known to _no one_ but yourself, and uncle ernest--till the meeting of parliament--as it would be considered otherwise neglectful on my part not to have assembled parliament at once to have informed them of it.... lord melbourne, whom i of course have consulted about the whole affair, quite approves my choice, and expresses great satisfaction at the event, which he thinks in every way highly desirable. lord melbourne has acted in this business, as he has always done towards me, with the greatest kindness and affection. we also think it better, and albert quite approves of it, that we should be married very soon after parliament meets, about the beginning of february; and indeed, loving albert as i do, i cannot wish it should be delayed. my feelings are a _little_ changed, i must say, since last spring, when i said i couldn't _think_ of marrying for _three or four years_; but seeing albert has changed all this. pray, dearest uncle, forward these two letters to uncle ernest (to whom i beg you will enjoin _strict_ secrecy, and explain these details, which i have not time to do) and to faithful stockmar. i think you might tell louise of it, but none of her family. i should wish to keep the dear young gentlemen here till the end of next month. ernest's sincere pleasure gave me great delight. he does so adore dearest albert. ever, dearest uncle, your devoted niece, victoria r. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ lord melbourne will be ready to wait upon your majesty at a little before one. lord melbourne reads with great satisfaction your majesty's expression of feeling, as your majesty's happiness must ever be one of lord melbourne's first objects and strongest interests. [pageheading: king leopold's satisfaction] [pageheading: austria and the porte] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ wiesbaden, _ th october ._ my dearest victoria,--nothing could have given me greater pleasure than your dear letter. i had, when i saw your decision, almost the feeling of old zacharias[ ]--"now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace"! your choice had been for these last years my conviction of what might and would be _best_ for your happiness; and just because i was convinced of it, and knowing how _strangely_ fate often _deranges_ what one tries to bring about as being the best plan one could fix upon, _the maximum of a good arrangement_, i feared that it would _not_ happen. in your position, which may and will, perhaps, become in future even more difficult in a political point of view, _you could not exist_ without having a _happy_ and an _agreeable intérieur_. and i am much deceived--which i think i am not--or you will find in albert just the very qualities and dispositions which are indispensable for your happiness, and _which will suit your own character, temper, and mode of life_. you say most amiably that you consider it a sacrifice on the part of albert. this is true in many points, because his position will be a difficult one; but much, i may say _all_, will depend on your affection for him. if _you love him, and are kind to him_, he will easily bear the burthen of the position; and there is a steadiness and at the same time cheerfulness in his character which will facilitate this. i think your plans excellent. if parliament had been called at an unusual time it would make them uncomfortable, and if, therefore, they receive the communication at the opening of the session, it will be best. the marriage, as you say, might then follow as closely as possible. lord melbourne has shown himself the _amiable_ and _excellent_ man i always took him for. another man in his position, instead of _your_ happiness, might have merely looked to his own personal views and imaginary interests. not so our good friend; he saw what was best _for you_, and i feel it deeply to his praise. your keeping the cousins next month with you strikes me as a very good plan. it will even show that you had sufficient opportunity of judging of albert's character.... on the nd, prince metternich came to see me. he was very kind, and talked most confidentially about political affairs, particularly the oriental concerns.[ ] m. de brunnow had been with him. the short of his views is this: he wishes that the powers could be _unanimous_, as he sees in this the best chance of avoiding measures of violence against the pasha of egypt, which he considers _dangerous_, either as _not_ sufficiently effective, or of a nature to bring on complications most earnestly to be avoided, such as making use of russian troops. austria naturally would like to bring about the best possible arrangement for the porte, but it will adhere to any arrangement or proposition which can be agreed upon by england and france. he is, however, positive that candia must be given back to the porte, its position being too threatening, and therefore constantly alarming the porte. he made me write the import of our conversation to king louis philippe, which i did send after him to frankfort, where he was to forward it to paris. perhaps you will have the goodness to communicate this political scrap to good lord melbourne with my best regards. he spoke in praise of lord beauvale.[ ] the prince is better, but grown very old and looking tired. it gave me great pleasure to see him again. i drink the waters now four days, and can therefore not yet judge of their good or bad effects. my palpitations are rather increased here; if my stupid heart will get diseased i shall soon be departing for some other world. i would it could be soon then. till further orders i shall say nothing to your mother, charles, or feodore. now i will conclude with my best blessings, and remain, my dearest and most beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : an obvious slip for simeon.] [footnote : _see_ introductory notes for and . (to ch. viii and ch. ix)] [footnote : frederick lamb, younger brother of lord melbourne, ambassador extraordinary at vienna, who had recently been made a peer.] [pageheading: the queen's happiness] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--your most kind and most welcome letter of the th arrived yesterday, and gave me very, very great pleasure. i was sure you would be satisfied and pleased with our proceedings. before i proceed further, i wish just to mention one or two alterations in the plan of announcing the event. as parliament has _nothing_ whatever to say respecting the marriage, can neither approve nor disapprove it (i mean in a manner which might _affect_ it), it is now proposed that, as soon as the cousins are gone (which they now intend to do on the th or th of november, as time presses), i should assemble all the privy councillors and announce to them my intention.... oh! dear uncle, i _do_ feel so happy! i do so adore albert! he is quite an angel, and so very, very kind to me, and seems so fond of me, which touches me much. i trust and hope i shall be able to make him as happy as he _ought_ to be! i cannot bear to part from him, for we spend such happy, delightful hours together. poor ernest has been suffering since wednesday last with the jaundice, which is very distressing and troublesome, though not alarming.... i love him dearly too, and look upon him quite as a brother. what you say about lord melbourne has given me great pleasure; it is very just and very true. there are not many _such_ honest kind friends to be found in this world. he desires me to say that he is deeply sensible of your good opinion, and that he can have no other object than that which he considers best to secure my happiness, which is closely connected with the well-being of the country. i am glad you saw prince metternich, and that you were satisfied with the interview. i hope and trust you may derive much benefit from your stay at wiesbaden. pray name me to good stockmar, and believe me, always, your most devoted niece and child, victoria r. [pageheading: congratulations] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ my most beloved victoria,--your uncle has already told you, i trust, with what feelings of deep affection and gratitude i received the so _interesting_ and _important_ communication which you permitted him to make to me; but i was longing for an opportunity to speak to you myself of the great subject which fills now our hearts, and to tell you how very grateful i have been, i am, and will ever be, for the confidence and trust which you so kindly placed in me. all i can say is that you did full justice to my feelings, for _nothing_ could interest _more_ my heart than _your_ marriage, my most dearly loved victoria, and i could not have heard even of that of clémentine with _more_ anxious affection and sisterly love. i cannot really tell you _with words_ how deeply and strongly i was moved and affected by the great news itself, and by your dear, unaffected, confiding, happy letter. when i received it i could do nothing but cry, and say internally, "may god bless her now and ever!" ah! may god bless you, my most beloved victoria! may he shower on you his best blessings, fulfil _all_ your heart's wishes and hopes, and let you enjoy for _many, many years_ the happiness which the dearest ties of affection _alone_ can give, and which is the only _real_ one, the only worthy of the name in this uncertain and transitory world! i have seen much of dear albert two years ago, i have watched him, as you may well think, with particular care, attention, and interest, and although he was very young then, i am well convinced that he is not only fit for the situation which he is now called to fulfil, but, what is still more important in my eyes, that he has _all those qualities_ of the heart and the mind which can give and ensure happiness. i think even that his disposition is particularly well calculated to suit yours, and i am fully confident that you will be both happy together. what you tell me of your fear of not being worthy of him, and able to make him sufficiently happy, is for me but a proof more of it. deep affection makes us always diffident and _very humble_. those that we love stand so high in our own esteem, and are in our opinion so much above us and all others that we naturally feel unworthy of them and unequal to the task of making them happy: but there is, i think, a mingled charm in this feeling, for although we regret not to be what we should wish to be for them, feeling and acknowledging the superiority of those we love and must always love and respect, is a great satisfaction, and an increasing and everlasting one. you will feel it, i am sure, as well as i do.... you will excuse my blots and hurried scribbling when i will tell you that in order to profit of the private messenger which goes to-morrow morning i write to you at ten in the evening, a thing quite unusual for me, and even rather forbidden: but after having been deprived of expending my heart for so many days, i could not _not_ avail myself of the present opportunity. when i write to you by the ordinary messenger i will continue to be _silent_; but i trust you will permit me to say some time a word, when a safe opportunity presents itself, for my heart is with you more than i can tell. i would that i could see you, when it could be, for an hour. i remain, my most beloved victoria, ever and ever your most affectionate louise. [pageheading: the announcement] _queen victoria to the duke of sussex._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dear uncle,--the affection which you have shown me makes me feel certain that you will take interest in an event which so nearly concerns the future happiness of my life; i cannot, therefore, delay any longer to inform you of my intended marriage with my cousin albert, the merits of whose character are so well known by all who are acquainted with him, that i need say no more than that i feel as assured of my own happiness as i can be of anything in this world. as it is not to be publicly known, i beg you not to mention it except to our own family. i hope you are well and enjoying yourself. believe me, always, your affectionate niece, victoria r.[ ] [footnote : similar letters with slight variations were written to the duke of cambridge, the princess augusta, the princess sophia, the duchess of gloucester, the princess sophia matilda, the king of hanover, and the princess elizabeth (landgravine of hesse-homburg).] _queen victoria to queen adelaide._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dear aunt,--your constant kindness and the affection you have ever shown me make me certain that you will take much interest in an event which so nearly concerns the future happiness of my life; i cannot, therefore, any longer delay to inform you of my intended marriage with my cousin albert. the merits of his character are so well known to all who are acquainted with him, that i need say no more than that i feel as assured of my own happiness as i can be of anything here below, and only hope that i may be able to make him as happy as he deserves to be. it was both my duty and my inclination to tell you of this as soon as it was determined upon; but, as it is not to be yet publicly announced i beg you not to mention it except to our own family. i thank you much for your kind letter, and rejoice to hear you have enjoyed yourself so much. believe me, always, your very affectionate niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen just writes two lines to send lord melbourne the accompanying civil letter from the queen dowager, and to give him an account of the visit of the cambridges. they were all very kind and civil, george grown but not embellished, and much less reserved with the queen, and evidently happy to be _clear_ of me. he gave a very indifferent account of the king of greece, but a favourable one of the queen. the duchess said she had expected the queen would marry albert, and was not surprised at the event. they were very discreet and asked no questions, but described the duchess of gloucester to be _suffering_ much from the necessity of keeping the secret. the weather cleared up, and the queen has just returned from a walk. she hopes lord melbourne got safe to london in spite of the wet and the water on the road; and she hopes he will take great care of himself. she would be thankful if he would let her know to-morrow if he will dine with her also on thursday or not. [pageheading: letters to prince albert] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my dear uncle,--many thanks for your kind letter of the th, received last week. i am in a great hurry, and therefore have only time to write to you a line to tell you, first, that on the th i wrote to all the royal family announcing the event to them, and that they answered all very kindly and civilly; the duchess of cambridge and augusta, with the duke and george, came over on purpose to congratulate me yesterday; secondly, that the marriage is to be _publicly announced_ in an open council on the rd, at buckingham palace, where i am going to-morrow. i return here _after_ the council on the rd. i am so happy to think i need not then conceal my feelings any longer. i have also written to the king of hanover and the landgravine,[ ] and to all our relations abroad. i hope, dear uncle, you will not have _ill-treated_ my dearest albert! i am very anxious to hear from him from wiesbaden. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : princess elizabeth ( - ), daughter of george iii. and widow of the landgrave frederick joseph louis of hesse-homburg.] [the following extracts of letters from the queen to prince albert were written partly in english and partly in german. the english portions are printed in italics, the german, translated, in ordinary type. these letters are all written in terms of profound affection, which deepened very shortly into complete and absolute devotion to the prince.] _queen victoria to prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ st november ._ ... it is desired here that the matter should be declared at coburg as soon as possible, and immediately after that i shall send you the order.[ ] _your rank will be settled just before you come over, as also your_ _rank in the army._ everything will be very easily arranged. lord melbourne showed me yesterday the _declaration_, which is very simple and nice. i will send it you as soon as possible.... _lord melbourne told me yesterday, that the whole cabinet are strongly of opinion that you should not be made a peer._ i will write that to uncle.... [footnote : the garter.] [pageheading: the religious question] _ nd november ._ ... lord melbourne has just been with me, and greatly wishes the declaration to be made at coburg as soon as possible. _he also desired me to ask you to see if you can ... a short history of the house of saxe-coburg, who our direct ancestors were, and what part they took in the protestant, or rather lutheran, religion; he wishes to hear this in order to make people here know exactly who your ancestors are, for a few stupid people_ here _try_ to say you are a _catholic, but nobody will believe it._ send (it) as soon as possible; perhaps good mr. schenk would write it out in english.... _as there is nothing to be settled for me, we require no treaty of marriage; but if you should require anything to be settled, the best will be to send it here. respecting the succession, in case ernest should die without children, it would not do to stipulate now, but your second son, if you had one, should reside at coburg. that can easily be arranged if the thing should happen hereafter, and the english would not like it to be arranged now...._ [pageheading: the declaration] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ rd november ._ ... just arrived here, . . everything has gone off very well. the council[ ] was held at two o'clock; more than a hundred persons were present, and _there_ i had to read the declaration. _it was rather an awful moment, to be obliged to announce this to so many people, many of whom were quite strangers, but they told me i did it very well, and i felt so happy to do it._ good lord melbourne was deeply moved about it, and uxbridge likewise; it lasted only two or three minutes. _everybody, they tell me, is very much pleased, and i wish you could have seen the crowds of people who cheered me loudly as i left the palace for windsor._ i am so happy to-day! oh, if only _you_ could be here! i wish that you were able to participate in all the kindness which is shown to me. to-day i can only send you the declaration.[ ] _the description of the whole_ i will send after this.... send me as soon as possible the report of the announcement at coburg. i wear your dear picture mornings and evenings, and wore it also at the meeting of the _conseil._ [footnote : a special meeting of the privy council was held on the rd november, to receive the queen's intimation of her engagement. the queen wrote in her journal:-- "i went in; the room was full, but i hardly knew who was there. lord m. i saw, looking at me with tears in his eyes, but he was not near me. i then read my short declaration. i felt my hands shook, but i did not make one mistake. i felt more happy and thankful when it was over."] [footnote : j. w. croker wrote to lady hardwicke:-- "_ th november ._ "... she then unfolded a paper and read her declaration, which you will, before this can reach you, have seen in the newspapers. i cannot describe to you with what a mixture of self-possession and feminine delicacy she read the paper. her voice, which is naturally beautiful, was clear and untroubled; and her eye was bright and calm, neither bold nor downcast, but firm and soft. there was a blush on her cheek which made her look both handsomer and more interesting; and certainly she _did_ look as interesting and as handsome as any young lady i ever saw. "i happened to stand behind the duke of wellington's chair, and caught her eye twice as she directed it towards him, which i fancy she did with a good-natured interest. ...the crowd, which was not great but very decent, i might almost say respectable, expressed their approbation of the duke of wellington and sir r. peel, and their disapprobation of the ministers very loudly. lord john and lord normanby, they tell me, were positively hooted.... lord melbourne ... seemed to me to look _careworn_, and on the whole the meeting had a sombre air."--_croker papers_, ii. .] [pageheading: the peerage question] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ wiesbaden, _ nd november ._ my dearest victoria,--i was delighted with your dear little letter. you write these kind of letters with a very great facility, and they are generally so natural and clever, that it makes one very happy to receive them. i had written less of late, because i thought you occupied more agreeably than to read my letters. i have on purpose kept back a courier, to be able to send you the latest news from here of m. albert. the young people arrived here only on the th, in the morning, having very kindly stopped at bonn. i find them looking well, particularly albert; it proves that happiness is an excellent remedy, and keeps people in better health than any other. he is much attached to you, and moved when he speaks of you. he is, besides, in great spirits and gaiety, and full of fun; he is a very amiable companion. concerning the peerage, that is a matter to be considered at any time; the only reason why i do wish it is, that albert's foreignership should disappear as much as possible. i have, in different circumstances to be sure, suffered greatly from my having declined conditionally the peerage when it was offered me in .[ ] your uncle[ ] writes to you in german: as far as i understood him, he speaks of the necessity of a marriage treaty; that is a matter of course. there is, however, something additional to be regulated concerning the possible succession in the coburg-gotha dominions, there being betwixt it and albert but good ernest. some regulation becomes therefore necessary, at least reasonable. the duke wishes also to know if the treaty is to be made in england or in germany. should the last of the two be fixed upon, he thinks that one of your ministers abroad would be the proper person for it. ever, my dear victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the dukedom of kendal was offered to, and, after consideration, declined by, prince leopold.] [footnote : the duke of saxe-coburg (ernest i.).] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dear uncle,--i thank you for your kind letter which i received the day before yesterday; but i fear you must have been very dull at wiesbaden.... everything went off uncommonly well on the rd, but it was rather formidable;[ ] eighty-two privy councillors present; everybody very much pleased--and i was loudly greeted on leaving the palace _after_ the council. the _whole cabinet_ agree with me in being _strongly_ of opinion that albert should _not_ be a peer; indeed, i see everything against it and _nothing_ for it; the english are very jealous at the idea of albert's having any political power, or meddling with affairs here--which i know from himself he will _not_ do. as wiesbaden is half-way (or thereabouts) to coburg, i take the liberty of enclosing a large letter to albert, which i beg you to send on to him. we are quite flooded here, and the road to datchet is quite impassable. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : greville mentions that the queen's hands trembled so, that she could hardly read the declaration which she was holding.] [pageheading: british susceptibilities] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty.... a little civility would be well bestowed upon lord and lady tankerville, and might not be without its effect, but if your majesty does not like it, it cannot be helped. the others also shall, if possible, be kept in good humour. the misrepresentation, respecting prince alexander[ ] your majesty will see corrected in the _morning chronicle_ of that morning, but of course your majesty will not expect that this contradiction will put an end to bitter and offensive remarks. it will now be said that, knowing the true religion, he has given over his children to the false, and that he has sacrificed their eternal welfare to his own worldly objects.[ ] there is nothing which cannot be turned in an hostile and malignant manner by malignant and perverted ingenuity. can your majesty inform lord melbourne what is the arrangement respecting king leopold's children? they are, lord melbourne presumes, to be brought up roman catholics. lord melbourne earnestly hopes to hear that your majesty is better and more free from pain. he is himself very well. [footnote : prince alexander of würtemberg.] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. viii, footnote )] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ _the english are very jealous of any foreigner interfering in the government of this country, and have already in some of the papers (which are friendly to me and you) expressed a hope that you would not interfere. now, though i know you never would, still, if you were a peer, they would all say, the prince meant to play a political part._ i am certain you will understand this, but it is much better not to say anything more about it now, and to let the whole matter rest. the tories make a great disturbance (saying) that you are _a papist_, because the words "_a protestant prince_" have not been put into the declaration--a thing which would be quite unnecessary, seeing that i _cannot_ marry a _papist_.... _queen victoria to the prince albert._ _ th november ._ i had a talk with lord melbourne last night. he thinks your view about the peerage question quite correct. uncle seems to me, after all, much more reasonable about it. we had a good talk this morning about your arrangements for our marriage, and also about your official attendants, and he[ ] has told me that young mr. anson (his private secretary), who is with him, greatly wishes to be with you. i am very much in favour of it, because he is an excellent young man, and very modest, very honest, very steady, very well-informed, and will be of _much use_ to you. he is not a member of the house of commons, which is also convenient; so long as lord melbourne is in office he remains his secretary--but william cowper[ ] was also for some time secretary to his uncle, and at the same time my groom-in-waiting. lord melbourne feared it was not advisable for you to have mr. anson, and also his uncle, but i told him that did not matter if the people are fit for the posts.... [footnote : lord melbourne.] [footnote : afterwards william cowper-temple and lord mount temple, author of the well-known amendment to the education act of .] [pageheading: the queen of portugal] _queen maria ii. of portugal to queen victoria._ lisbonne, _ décembre ._ ma bien chÈre victoire,--hier ayant reçu la communication de votre mariage avec albert, je ne veux pas tarder un seul instant à vous en féliciter sur votre heureux choix, et en même temps vous prier de croire aux v[oe]ux sincères que je forme pour votre bonheur avec votre excellent c[oe]ur il n'est pas possible le contraire. permettez que je vous dise que votre choix ne m'a pas dû étonner, car sachant combien albert est bon, vous ne pouviez pas choisir un autre dont vous fussiez aussi sûre qu'il puisse vous rendre aussi heureuse comme vous le méritez, chère victoire. pour que tous mes souhaits soient exaucés je vous désire un bonheur aussi complet que l'est le mien. qu'albert soit comme ferdinand et vous serez parfaitement heureuse. adieu! ma chère victoire. je vous prie de me croire, votre dévouée cousine, marie. ferdinand vous fait dire mille choses. [pageheading: the prince's household] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ as to your wish about your gentlemen, my dear albert, i must tell you quite honestly that it will not do. you may entirely rely upon me that the people who will be about you will be absolutely pleasant people, of high standing and good character. _these gentlemen will not be in continual attendance on you; only on great occasions, and to accompany you when you go anywhere, and to dinners, etc. seymour is your confidential attendant, and also schenk and anson,[ ] whom lehzen has written to you about._ _old sir george anson has been told of your gracious wish to have him as groom of the bedchamber and is delighted._ _i_ can only have _lords_, and they will not be _peers_, but _lords_, the eldest sons of dukes or marquesses, or earls (counts), and who as far as possible are not in parliament, for then they need not change, _but your people are appointed by you and not by me (nominally), and therefore, unless they were to vote against my government (which would be awkward), they need not change. you may rely upon my care that you shall have proper people, and not idle and not too young, and lord melbourne has already mentioned several to me who would be very suitable...._ i have received to-day an ungracious letter from uncle leopold. he appears to me to be nettled because i no longer ask for his advice, but dear uncle is given to believe that he must rule the roast everywhere. however, that is not a necessity. as he has written to melbourne, melbourne will reply to him on every point, and will also tell him that stockmar ought to come here as soon as possible to arrange everything about the treaty. that will be a very good thing, because stockmar understands all english things so well. the _second_, as you always called palmerston, is to be married within the next few days to lady cowper, the sister of my premier (_primus_); i have known this for a long time, but melbourne asked me not to tell it to any one. they are, both of them, above fifty, and i think that they are quite right so to act, because palmerston, since the death of his sisters, is quite alone in the world, and _lady c._ is a very clever woman, and _much_ attached to him; still, i feel sure it will make you smile. [footnote : mr george anson had been private secretary to lord melbourne; it was on lord melbourne's recommendation that the queen appointed him private secretary to prince albert. the prince was inclined to resent the selection, and to think that in the case of so confidential an official he should have been allowed to make his own nomination. but they became firm friends, and the prince found mr anson's capacity, common sense, and entire disinterestedness of the greatest value to him. later he became keeper of the prince's privy purse, and died in .] (_continued on the th_).--to-day i have had a _conseil_, and then i knighted the mayor of newport[ ] (who distinguished himself so much in that _riot of the chartists_[ ]); he is a very timid, modest man, and was very happy when i told him orally how exceedingly satisfied i am with his conduct.... the officers have been rewarded too.... i am plaguing you already with tiresome politics, but you will in that find a proof of my [confidence] love,[ ] because i must share with you everything that rejoices me, everything that vexes or grieves me, and i am certain you will take your part in it.... to-day i saw lord william russell--you know him, don't you? i forgot to tell you that you will have a _great officer of state_ at the head of your household, who is called the _groom of the stole_; it is a position in the court for prestige only, without any business; he will be a _peer_.... [footnote : mr t. phillips, the mayor of newport, monmouthshire, had behaved with great coolness and courage during the riot on th november. he read the riot act among showers of bullets before ordering the troops to fire.] [footnote : frost, williams, and others, afterwards convicted at monmouth.] [footnote : the queen had begun the word "confidence" but struck it out and substituted "love."] (_continued th december_).--i am very impatient at your bust not having yet arrived; the duchess of sutherland wrote to me she had seen it in rome, and it was so beautiful!... who has made the little copy which you sent me, and who the original? feodore writes to me so much about you.... we expect queen adelaide to-day, who will stay here until the day after to-morrow. melbourne has asked me to enquire of you whether you know lord grosvenor? he is the eldest son of the marquis of westminster, and does not belong to any party; he is not in parliament. he is very pleasant, speaks german very well, and has been a good deal on the continent. if he accepts, he might be one of your _gentlemen_. _lord melbourne is particularly desirous of doing everything that is most agreeable to you._ i have a request to make, too, viz., that you will appoint poor clark your _physician_; you need not consult him unless you wish it. it is only an honorary title, and would make him very happy.... [pageheading: the protestant question] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dear uncle,--... i was quite miserable at not hearing from albert for _ten_ days; such a long silence is quite insupportable for any one in my position towards albert, and i was overjoyed on receiving yesterday the _most_ dear, _most_ affectionate, delightful long letter from him. he writes so beautifully, and so simply and unaffectedly. i hope, dear uncle, you received my last letter (quite a packet) for albert, on the th or th? i send you another now. i fear i am very indiscreet about these letters, but i have so much to tell him, and it will only last two months, so that i trust you will forgive it, and forward them. i mentioned the topics you spoke of to me in your letter to our good friend lord melbourne, and as he is writing, i leave it to him to explain to you, as he writes so much better than i do. he will explain to you _why_ the word protestant was left out in the declaration, which i think was quite right; for do what one will, nothing will please these tories.... i shall be delighted to see stockmar here, for so many reasons, and the quicker he comes the better.... i have a favour to ask you, dear uncle, which i hope you will grant, unless it should be _indiscreet_ in me. it is, if you have still got aunt charlotte's bust at claremont, if you would give it to me to put in the gallery here, where you would see it _oftener_ than you do at claremont, and i am so anxious there should be one of her _here_. we have _vile_ weather, cold and foggy; such fogs we have here! i move to london for good on the th or th of january. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ ... i like lady a---- very much too, only she is a little _strict and particular_, and too severe towards others, which is not right; for i think one ought always to be indulgent towards other people, _as i always think, if we had not been well brought up and well taken care of, we might also have gone astray_. that is always my feeling. yet it is always right to show that one does not like to see what is obviously wrong; but it is very dangerous to be _too_ severe, and i am certain that as a rule such people always greatly regret that in their youth they have not been as careful as they ought to have been. i have explained this so badly, and written it so badly, that i fear you will hardly be able to make it out. _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ ... again no letter from you!... lord melbourne left here this morning, but comes back to-morrow evening, after the wedding of his sister. i hope he will remain here, because i am fond of him, and because he has a share in all my happiness, and is the only man with whom i can speak without _gêne_ on everything, which i cannot do with my court. "islay"[ ] is still plagued by him every evening--a thing which he much enjoys--and constantly begs for the spectacles. i forgot to tell you that karl has given me a pretty little rowley, who likewise lives in the house. the multitude of dogs is really terrible! the ceremony of declaration must have been very fine and touching, and i am most happy that the good people of coburg are so pleased with our marriage.... [footnote : a pet dog of the queen's.] _dec. th._--i have spoken to lord m. about your wish, and he says--what is my own opinion too--_that your people ought to be as much as possible out of parliament when they have hardly any politics, which is the best thing--as your household must not form a contrast to mine--and therefore you could not have violent tories amongst your people; but you may be quite certain that both i and lord melbourne will take the greatest care to select respectable and distinguished people, and people of good character. perhaps lord grosvenor may be your groom of the stole, though he is no peer; but his rank and family are so high, that he would do very well; and, besides, not belonging to any party, and being out of parliament, is such a great advantage._ the design of our arms without _supporters_ is unfortunately not finished, but i send you a little drawing which i have made of it myself. the report of sir william woods i beg you will send back, but the arms you can keep. i add a little pin as a small christmas present. i hope you will sometimes wear it. [pageheading: the protestant question] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th december ._ my dearest victoria,--i lived in the hope of receiving some letters for you from albert, but nothing is arrived to-day. your dear long letter gave me great pleasure. before i answer some parts of it, i will say a few words on lord melbourne's letter. perhaps you will be so good to tell him that it gratified me much. it is the letter of an honest and an amiable statesman, practical and straightforward. in the omission of the word "protestant" he was probably right, and it is equally probable that they would have abused him--maybe even more if he had put it in. there is only this to say, however: the ernestine branch of the saxon family has been, there is no doubt, the real cause of the establishment of protestantism in germany, and consequently in great parts of northern europe. this same line became a martyr to that cause, and was deprived of almost all its possessions in consequence of it. recently there have been two cases of catholic marriages, but the main branch has remained, and is, in fact, very sincerely protestant. both ernest and albert are much attached to it, and when deviations took place they were connected more with new branches transplanted out of the parent soil than with what more properly must be considered as the reigning family. the peerage question may remain as it is, but it will not be denied that the great object must be to make albert as english as possible, and that nothing will render this more difficult than a foreign name.... i shall be most happy to see poor charlotte's bust in the gallery at windsor, and it is kind of you to have had the thought. she was a high and noble-minded creature, and her affection and kindness for me very great. she had placed the most unbounded confidence in me; our principle had been never to let a single day pass over any little subject of irritation. the only subjects of that sort we had were about the family, particularly the regent, and then the old queen charlotte. now i must conclude with my best love. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: a missing letter] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dear uncle,--many thanks for your two most kind letters. i suppose i _may_ send for aunt charlotte's bust, for which i am most grateful--and say i have your authority to do so? you are very kind to think about my stupid health; i don't think i _ever_, at least not for _very_ long, have _walked_ so regularly as i have done this last month--out in fog, and mist, and wind, and cold. but i cannot be otherwise than agitated; getting _no_ letter makes me ill, and _getting_ them excites me.... i have much to write, and therefore cannot make this a long letter, but _one_ thing more i must mention. the very day of the declaration in council, on the rd ult., i sent off a letter to albert, by van de weyer, saying it was to be forwarded _sans délai_ to coburg; now, albert _never_ has received that letter, which was a long one, and thanks me for two, of the th and th. this vexes me much, and i can't help thinking the letter is lying either at wiesbaden or brussels. would you graciously enquire, for i should not like it to be lost. forgive my writing such a letter so full of _myself_. ever, dearest uncle, your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the prince's secretary] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle. _the nd._--i have but little time to write. the duchess of sutherland is here, who admires you much, and is very sympathetic.... _the rd._--your letter of the th just received. i will now answer at once. _it is, as you rightly suppose, my greatest, my most anxious wish to do everything most agreeable to you, but i must differ with you respecting mr anson.... what i said about anson giving you advice, means, that if you like to ask him, he can and will be of the greatest use to you, as he is a very well-informed person. he will leave lord melbourne as soon as he is appointed about you. with regard to your last objection, that it would make you a party man if you took the secretary of the prime minister as your treasurer, i do not agree in it; for, though i am very anxious you should not appear to belong to a party, still it is necessary that your household should not form a too strong contrast to mine, else they will say, "oh, we know the prince says he belongs to no party, but we are sure he is a tory!" therefore it is also necessary that it should appear that you went with me in having some of your people who are staunch whigs; but anson is not in parliament, and never was, and therefore he is not a violent politician. do not think because i urge this, lord m. prefers it; on the contrary, he never urged it, and i only do it as i know it is for your own good._ you will pardon this long story. _it will also not do to wait till you come to appoint all your people. i am distressed to tell you what i fear you do not like_, but it is necessary, my dearest, most excellent albert. once more i tell you that you can perfectly rely on me in these matters.... [pageheading: the tories] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ ... the historical sketch has interested us greatly; lord melbourne read it through immediately. i greatly thank you also for the genealogical tree you sent me. now, my dearest, to be about what is _not so pleasant or amusing. i mean, now for business. i always think it safer to write that in english, as i can explain myself better, and i hope you can read my english, as i try to be very legible. i am much grieved that you feel disappointed about my wish respecting your gentlemen, but very glad that you consent to it, and that you feel confidence in my choice. respecting the treasurer, my dearest albert, i have already written at great length in my last letter, so i will not say much more about it to-day, but i will just observe that, tho' i fully understand (indeed no one could feel more for you in the very trying position you will be placed in than i do) your feelings, it is absolutely necessary that an englishman should be at the head of your affairs; therefore (tho' i will not force mr. anson on you) i ask you if it is not better to take a man in whom i have confidence, and whom i know well enough to trust perfectly, than a man who is quite a stranger, and whom i know nothing of?_ i am very glad that your father knows lord grosvenor. as to the tories, i am still in a rage;[ ] they abuse and grumble incessantly in the most incredible manner. i will tell good lord melbourne that you are very grateful. that you will write to him is very nice of you, and makes me glad. i shall always feel very happy if you, my dearest albert, will be very friendly to this good and just man; and i am convinced that, when you will know him more intimately, you will be as fond of him as i am. no one is more abused by bad people than lord m.--_and nobody is so forgiving_.... i have just learned that my two uncles, the dukes of sussex and cambridge (_to whom lord m. had written_) _very willingly consent to let you take precedence of them; it was, of course, necessary to ask them about it...._ [footnote : _lit._ raging (_wuthend_). the phrase was a favourite one of king leopold's, from whom the queen had adopted it.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dear uncle,--just two words (though you don't deserve _half a one_, as your silence is unpardonable) to say i have just heard from albert, who, i am glad to say, consents to _my_ choosing his people; so _one essential_ point is gained, and we have only the treasurer to carry now. i am sure, as you are so anxious albert should be thoroughly english, you will see how necessary it is that an englishman should be at the head of his financial affairs. i see that you wrote to lord melbourne that you were glad to hear i took more walking exercise, but i must tell you that ever since i have done so i sleep badly, and feel unwell! if the weather would only allow me to ride i should be quite well. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the prince and lord melbourne] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ ... i here enclose lord melbourne's letter. i have read it, and _i think that nothing could be better; it is just what i told you, and it is the honest and impartial advice of a very clever, very honest, and very impartial man, whose_ greatest wish is to secure your and my happiness. follow this advice and you may be sure of success. lord melbourne told me that he had it written on purpose in a clear hand, by one of his secretaries, as he thought and feared you would not be able to read his own hand, which i daresay would have been the case, as he writes a very peculiar hand; he has therefore only signed it. i saw to-day the duke of cambridge, who has shown me your letter, with which he is quite delighted--and, indeed, it is a very nice one. the duke told lord melbourne he had always greatly desired our marriage, and never thought of george; but that _i_ do not believe. i must conclude, my dearest, beloved albert. be careful as to your valuable health, and be assured that no one loves you as much as your faithful victoria. introductory note to chapter ix the marriage of the queen and prince albert took place amid great splendour and general rejoicings on the th of february; the general satisfaction being unaffected by the tactless conduct of ministers who, by not acting in conjunction with the opposition, had been defeated on the question of the amount of the prince's annuity, the house of commons reducing it from £ , to £ , . at home, the privilege question aroused great interest, a point which for months convulsed the courts and parliament being whether a report, ordered by the house to be printed, of a committee appointed by the house, was protected by privilege against being the subject of an action for libel. the courts having decided that it was not, an act was passed to alter the rule for the future, but meanwhile the sheriffs had been imprisoned by the house for executing the judgment in the usual course. the ministry tottered on, getting a majority of nine only on their china policy, and twenty-one on a direct vote of confidence. the bill for the union of the two canadas was, however, passed without difficulty. an attempt by a barman named oxford to assassinate the queen on constitution hill fortunately failed, and oxford was committed, after trial, to a lunatic asylum. in july, the prospect of an heir being born to the throne led to the passing of a regency bill, naming prince albert regent, should the queen die leaving issue; the duke of sussex alone entered a formal protest against it. afghanistan continued unsettled, and lord auckland's policy seemed hardly justified by the unpopularity at cabul of shah sooja; dost mahommed still made efforts to regain his position, but he ultimately surrendered to sir william macnaghten, the british envoy at cabul. the disputes with china continued, and hostilities broke out; british ships proceeded to china, and chusan was captured. in france an attempt against the government was made by louis napoleon, who landed at boulogne in a british steamer, was captured, and sentenced to life imprisonment. more serious difficulties between this country and france arose out of eastern affairs. the four powers, england, russia, austria, and prussia, had addressed an ultimatum to mehemet, requiring him to evacuate north syria, france declining to take part in the conference on the subject. an anglo-austrian army undertook to eject him, st jean d'acre was stormed, and france thrust into a position of unwilling isolation. thiers, who had been made minister, expected that mehemet would be able to retain his conquests, and for a time it looked as though france would interfere to protect him. ultimately, in spite of some ostentatious preparations in france, peaceful counsels prevailed, and thiers found it advisable to retire in favour of guizot. in holland, william i. (then sixty-seven) abdicated in favour of his son, the prince of orange (william ii.). the need of a younger and firmer ruler was the reason officially stated in the royal proclamation. the real reasons were probably the king's attachment to the roman catholic countess d'oultremont, whom he now privately married, and the humiliation he felt at the unfavourable termination of the belgian dispute. chapter ix _queen victoria to the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th january ._ stockmar is here; i saw him yesterday and to-day, and have begged him to explain to you _all the court affairs, and the affairs concerning the treaty_, in my name. he will explain to you the treasury affair, and will do it much better than i should. i am very happy to see him again, and to have him here; he can give such good advice to both of us, and he understands england so fully.... stocky (as i always used to call him) is so sensible about everything, and is _so much_ attached to you. i shall have no great dinners, because the large rooms in the upper story here are not yet ready. my good old primus[ ] usually dines with me three or four times a week, almost always on sundays, _when i cannot invite other people to dinner, as it is not reckoned right here for me to give dinners on sunday, or to invite many people_. your song (the bust has been mentioned before) is very fine; there is something touching in it which i like so much.... [footnote : _i.e._ premier.] [pageheading: opening of parliament] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th january ._ this letter will be handed you by torrington personally. i recommend you not to leave late, so as to make the journey without hurry. i did not go to church to-day; the weather is very cold, and i have to be careful not to catch cold before the th, because i open parliament in person. _this is always a nervous proceeding, and the announcement of my marriage at the beginning of my speech is really a very nervous and awful affair for me. i have never failed yet, and this is the sixth time that i have done it, and yet i am just as frightened as if i had never done it before. they say that feeling of nervousness is never got over, and that wm. pitt himself never got up to make a speech without thinking he should fail. but then i only read my speech._ i had to-day a visit from george[ ] whom i received _alone_, and he was very courteous. his papa i have also seen. [footnote : prince george of cambridge.] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th january ._ ... yesterday just as i came home from the house of lords,[ ] i received your dear letter of the th. i cannot understand at all why you have received no letters from me, seeing that i always wrote twice a week, regularly.... i observe with horror that i have not formally invited your father; though that is a matter of course. my last letter will have set that right. i ought not to have written to you on picture notepaper, seeing that we are in deep mourning for my poor aunt, the landgravine,[ ] but it was quite impossible for me to write to you on mourning paper.... _but this will not interfere with our marriage in the least; the mourning will be taken off for that day, and for two or three days after, and then put on again._ everything went off exceedingly well yesterday. there was an immense multitude of people, and perhaps never, certainly not for a long time, have i been received so well; and what is remarkable, i _was not nervous_, and read the speech really well. the tories began immediately afterwards to conduct themselves very _badly_ and to plague us. but everyone praised you very much. melbourne made a very fine speech about you and your ancestors. to-day i receive the address of the house of lords, and, perhaps, also that of the house of commons. [footnote : the queen had opened parliament in person, and announced her intended marriage.] [footnote : the princess elizabeth (born ), third daughter of george iii. and widow of the landgrave frederick joseph louis of hesse-homburg. _see_ p. . (ch. viii, footnote )] [pageheading: tories, whigs, and radicals] _queen victoria to the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ st january ._ i am awaiting with immense impatience a letter from you. here hardly anything to relate to-day, because we are living in great retirement, until informed that my poor aunt has been buried. with the exception of melbourne and my own people, no one has dined for the last week. we are all of us very much preoccupied with politics. the tories really are very astonishing; _as they cannot and dare not attack us in parliament, they do everything that they can to be personally rude to me.... the whigs are the only safe and loyal people, and the radicals will also rally round their queen to protect her from the tories; but it is a curious sight to see those, who as tories, used to pique themselves upon their excessive loyalty, doing everything to degrade their young sovereign in the eyes of the people. of course there are exceptions._ _queen victoria to the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ st january ._ ... you have written to me in one of your letters about our stay at windsor, but, dear albert, you have not at all understood the matter. _you forget, my dearest love, that i am the sovereign, and that business can stop and wait for nothing. parliament is sitting, and something occurs almost every day, for which i may be required, and it is quite impossible for me to be absent from london; therefore two or three days is already a long time to be absent. i am never easy a moment, if i am not on the spot, and see and hear what is going on, and everybody, including all my aunts (who are very knowing in all these things), says i must come out after the second day, for, as i must be surrounded by my court, i cannot keep alone. this is also my own wish in every way._ now as to the arms: _as an english prince you have no right, and uncle leopold had no right to quarter the english arms, but the sovereign has the power to allow it by royal command: this was done for uncle leopold by the prince regent, and i will do it again for you. but it can only be done by royal command._ i will, therefore, without delay, have a seal engraved for you. you will certainly feel very happy too, at the news of the coming union of my much-beloved vecto[ ] with nemours. it gives me quite infinite pleasure, because then i can see the dear child more frequently. i read in the newspaper that you, dear albert, have received many orders; also that the queen of spain will send you the golden fleece.... farewell, dearest albert, and think often of thy faithful victoria r. [footnote : the princess victoire of saxe-coburg, cousin of queen victoria.] [pageheading: the prince's grant] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ st january ._ my dearest victoria,--i am most grateful for your long letter of the th and th inst. i send a messenger to be able to answer quite confidentially. i must confess that i never saw anything _so disgraceful_ than the discussion and vote in the commons.[ ] the whole mode and way in which those who opposed the grant treated the question was so extremely _vulgar_ and _disrespectful_, that i cannot comprehend the tories. the men who uphold the dignity of the crown to treat their sovereign in such a manner, on such an occasion! even in private life the most sour and saturnine people relax and grow gay and mildly disposed on occasions like this. clearly, as you are queen regnant, albert's position is to all intents and purposes that of a male queen consort, and the same privileges and charges ought to be attached to it which were attached to queen adelaide's position. the giving up the income which the queen-dowager came into, and which i hope and trust albert would never have, or have had, any chance of having had himself, was in reality giving up a thing which _custom_ had sanctioned. that prince george of denmark[ ] was considered to be in the same position as a queen consort there can be, i think, no doubt about, and when one considers the immense difference in the value of money then and now, it renders matters still more striking. i must say such conduct in parliament i did _not expect_, and the less when i consider that your civil list was rather curtailed than otherwise, perhaps not quite fairly. i rejoice to think that i induced lord melbourne to propose to you not to accede to the giving up of the duchy of lancaster. parliament did not deserve it, and by good management i think something may be made of it. another thing which made me think that parliament would have acted with more decency, is that i return to the country now near £ , a year, _not because_ i thought my income _too large_, as worthy sir robert peel said, but from motives of political delicacy, which at least might be acknowledged on such occasions. i was placed by my marriage treaty in the position of a princess of wales, which in reality it was, though not yet by law, there existing a possibility of a prince of wales as long as george iv. lived. i can only conclude by crying _shame, shame_!... i hope and trust you will not be too much worried with all these unpleasant things, and that albert will prove a comforter and support to you. and so good-bye for to-day. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the ministers proposed an income of £ , a year for the prince--the conservatives and radicals united on an amendment reducing it to £ , , which was carried by a majority of .] [footnote : the consort of queen anne.] [pageheading: the prince at brussels] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ st february ._ my dearest victoria,--i hope you will be pleased with me, as i send a messenger on purpose to inform you of albert's arrival. he will write himself this night, though rather inclined to surrender himself to morpheus. he looks well and handsome, but a little interesting, being very much irritated by what happened in the house of commons. he does not care about the money, but he is much shocked and exasperated by the disrespect of the thing, as he well may. i do not yet know the exact day of their departure, but i suppose it will be on the th, to be able to cross on the th. i have already had some conversation with him, and mean to talk _à fond_ to him to-morrow. my wish is to see you both happy and thoroughly united and of one mind, and i trust that both of you will ever find in me a faithful, honest, and attached friend. as it is eleven o'clock at night, i offer you my respects, and remain, ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. your poor aunt fainted this morning; she is much given to this, but it was rather too long to-day. [pageheading: amiability of the prince] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ th february ._ my dearest victoria,--i have now treated all the questions you wished me to touch upon with albert, and i was much pleased with his amiable disposition. at a certain distance explanations by letter are next to impossible, and each party in the end thinks the other unreasonable. when he arrived he was rather exasperated about various things, and pretty full of grievances. but our conversations have dissipated these clouds, and now there will only remain the new parliamentary events and consequences, which change a good deal of what one could reasonably have foreseen or arranged. you will best treat these questions now verbally. albert is quick, not obstinate, in conversation, and open to conviction if good arguments are brought forward. when he thinks himself right he only wishes to have it _proved_ that he _misunderstands_ the case, to give it up without ill-humour. he is not inclined to be sulky, but i think that he may be rendered a little melancholy if he thinks himself unfairly or unjustly treated, but being together and remaining together, there _never_ can arise, i hope, any occasion for any disagreement even on trifling subjects.... ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ th february ._ my dearest victoria,--this letter will arrive when i trust you will be most happily occupied; i don't mean therefore to trespass on your time. may heaven render you as happy as i always wished you to be, and as i always tried hard to see you. there is every prospect of it, and i am sure you will be mistress in that respect of your own _avenir_. _perfect confidence_ will best ensure and consolidate this happiness. our rule in poor charlotte's time was never to permit _one single day_ to pass over _ein missverständniss_, however trifling it might be.[ ] i must do charlotte the justice to say that she kept this compact most religiously, and at times even more so than myself, as in my younger days i was sometimes inclined to be sulky and silently displeased. with this rule no misunderstandings can take root and be increased or complicated by new ones being added to the old. albert is gentle and open to reason; all will therefore always be easily explained, and he is determined never to be occupied but by what is important or useful to you.... now i conclude, with my renewed warmest and sincerest good wishes for you, ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold. [footnote : _(from an unpublished contemporary memoir by admiral sir william hotham, g.c.b.)_ "her royal highness was now and then apt to give way to a high flow of animal spirits, natural at her time of life, and from carelessness more than unkindness to ridicule others. in one of these sallies of inconsiderate mirth, she perceived the prince, sombre and cold, taking no apparent notice of what was going on, or if he did, evidently displeased. she at length spoke to him about it, and he at once manifested reluctance to join in the conversation, saying that though he had been a tolerably apt scholar in many things, he had yet to learn in england what pleasure was derived from the exercise of that faculty he understood to be called "quizzing"; that he could by no means reconcile it to himself according to any rule either of good breeding or benevolence. the tears instantly started in her eye, and feeling at once the severity and justice of the reproof, assured him most affectionately that, as it was the first time she had ever merited his royal highness's reproof on this subject, she assured him most solemnly it should be the last."] [pageheading: the wedding-day] _queen victoria to the prince albert._[ ] _ th february ._ dearest,--... how are you to-day, and have you slept well? i have rested very well, and feel very comfortable to-day. what weather! i believe, however, the rain will cease. send one word when you, my most dearly loved bridegroom, will be ready. thy ever-faithful, victoria r. [footnote : a note folded in _billet_ form, to be taken by hand. addressed: "his royal highness the prince. "the queen." this was the day of their marriage at the chapel royal. after the wedding breakfast at buckingham palace they drove to windsor, and on the th they returned to london.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ my dearest uncle,--i write to you from here, the happiest, happiest being that ever existed. really, i do not think it _possible_ for any one in the world to be _happier_, or as happy as i am. he is an angel, and his kindness and affection for me is really touching. to look in those dear eyes, and that dear sunny face, is enough to make me adore him. what i can do to make him happy will be my greatest delight. independent of my great personal happiness, the reception we both met with yesterday was the most gratifying and enthusiastic i ever experienced; there was no end of the crowds in london, and all along the road. i was a good deal tired last night, but am quite well again to-day, and happy.... my love to dear louise. ever your affectionate, victoria r. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ st february ._ my dearest victoria,--i am more grateful than i can express that, notwithstanding your many _empêchements_ and occupations, you still found a little moment to write to me. news from you are always most precious to me, and now almost more than ever. this is such an important moment in your life, it will so much decide how the remainder is to be, that i am deeply interested in all i can hear on the subject. hitherto, with the exception of your own dear and royal self, i have not been spoiled, _et j'ai puisé beaucoup de mes nouvelles_ in the _times_ and such like sources. god be praised that the dear _ménage_ is so happy! i can only say may it be so for ever and ever. i always thought that with your warm and feeling heart and susceptibility for strong and lasting affection, you would prefer this _genre_ of happiness, if you once possessed it, to every other. it must be confessed that it is less frequent than could be wished for the good of mankind, but when it does exist, there is something delightful to a generous heart like yours in this sacred tie, in this attachment for better for worse, and i think the english church service expresses it in a simple and touching manner. i was happy to see that the addresses of both houses of parliament were voted in a decent and becoming way. how mean people are! if they had not seen the public at large take a great interest in your marriage and show you great affection, perhaps some would again have tried to bring on unpleasant subjects.... my letter is grown long; i will therefore conclude it with the expression of my great affection for your dear self. ever, my most beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: popular enthusiasm] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th march ._ ... as your majesty has by your lord chamberlain permitted plays to be acted on wednesdays and fridays in lent, it would be condemning yourself if you did not go to see them if you like to do so.... ... lord melbourne is much pleased to hear that your majesty and the prince liked _the school for scandal_. it is upon the whole the cleverest comedy in the english language, the fullest of wit and at the same time the most free from grossness. [pageheading: the corn laws] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that the house of commons having resumed the consideration of the corn laws, the debate was closed by sir robert peel, in a speech much inferior to those which he usually makes. mr warburton moved an adjournment, which caused many members to leave the house. the motion being opposed, there were on a division against adjournment, and only in favour of it. mr warburton then by some blunder moved that the house adjourn, which puts an end to the debate. this was eagerly caught at by the opposite party, and agreed to. so that the question is lost by this ridiculous termination, and it is to be feared that it will produce much discontent in the manufacturing class.[ ] [footnote : the opposition to the corn laws was now increasing in the north.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is quite well but much tired. he has so much to do this morning that he will not be able to speak to albemarle,[ ] but if albemarle dines at the palace, he certainly will then. lord melbourne always feared anything like a mixture of the stable establishments. it would have been much better that what horses the prince had should have been kept quite separate, and that the horses of your majesty's which he should have to use should have been settled, and some plan arranged by which they could have been obtained when wanted. horses to be used by one set of people and kept and fed by another will never do. servants and subordinate agents in england are quite unmanageable in these respects. if they get [matters] into their hands neither the deity nor the devil, nor both together, can make them agree. lord melbourne writes this in ignorance of the actual facts of the case, and therefore it may be inapplicable. [footnote : master of the horse.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that sir james graham yesterday brought forward his motion on china in a speech of nearly three hours.[ ] he was answered by mr macaulay in a manner most satisfactory to his audience, and with great eloquence. sir william follett spoke with much ingenuity, but in the confined spirit of a lawyer. [footnote : the motion was to censure ministers for their want of foresight in their dealings with china in connection with the extension of commerce, and with the opium trade. the motion was rejected by to .] [pageheading: england and china] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that the debate went on yesterday, when mr hawes spoke against the motion. in the course of the debate mr gladstone[ ] said the chinese had a right to poison the wells, to keep away the english! the debate was adjourned. [footnote : mr gladstone had been member for newark since .] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd may ._ mr cowper has just come in and tells me that they have determined to begin the disturbance to-night at the opera, at the very commencement of the performance.[ ] this may be awkward, as your majesty will arrive in the middle of the tumult. it is the intention not to permit the opera to proceed until laporte gives way. lord melbourne is afraid that if the row has already begun, your majesty's presence will not put an end to it; and it might be as well not to go until your majesty hears that it is over and that the performance is proceeding quietly. some one might be sent to attend and send word. [footnote : a _fracas_ took place at the opera on th april. the manager, laporte, not having engaged tamburini to sing, the audience made a hostile demonstration at the conclusion of the performance of _i puritani_. an explanation made by laporte only made matters worse, and eventually the tamburinists took possession of the stage.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has just received this from lord john russell--a most shocking event,[ ] which your majesty has probably by this time heard of. the persons who did it came for the purpose of robbing the house; they entered by the back of the house and went out at the front door.[ ] the servants in the house, only a man and a maid, never heard anything, and the maid, when she came down to her master's door in the morning, found the horrid deed perpetrated.... [footnote : the murder of lord william russell by his valet, courvoisier, in norfolk street, park lane.] [footnote : this was the original theory.] [pageheading: murder of lord william russell] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. since he wrote to your majesty, he has seen mr fox maule,[ ] who had been at the house in norfolk street. he says that it is a most mysterious affair. lord william russell was found in his bed, quite dead, cold and stiff, showing that the act had been perpetrated some time. the bed was of course deluged with blood, but there were no marks of blood in any other part of the room; so that he had been killed in his bed and by one blow, upon the throat, which had nearly divided his head from his body. the back door of the house was broken open, but there were no traces of persons having approached the door from without. his writing-desk was also broken open and the money taken out, but otherwise little or nothing had been taken away. the police upon duty in the streets had neither heard nor seen anything during the night. in these circumstances strong suspicion lights upon the persons in the house, two maids and a man, the latter a foreigner[ ] and who had only been with lord william about five weeks. these persons are now separately confined, and the commissioners of police are actively employed in enquiring into the affair. an inquest will of course be held upon the body without delay. lord melbourne has just received your majesty's letter, and will immediately convey to lord john your majesty's kind expressions of sympathy. [footnote : under-secretary for home affairs; afterwards, as lord panmure, secretary for war.] [footnote : courvoisier.] [pageheading: mrs norton] [pageheading: princess charlotte] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ nd may ._ my dearest victoria,--i received yesterday a most kind and dear letter from your august hands. charles,[ ] who wanted to cross yesterday, will have had very bad weather. he _is_ prepared not to make too long a stay in england. he dined here on the th. louise was prepared to come to dinner, but was not quite equal to it; she therefore came after it. he came also to see me on the th, before his departure for ostende. it is very gracious of you to have given him subsidies, but in fact poor feo stands more in need of it. she really is too poor; when one thinks that they have but £ a year, and that large castles, etc., are to be kept up with it, one cannot conceive how they manage it. it was a very generous feeling which prompted you to see mrs norton, and i have been too much her friend to find fault with it. true it is that norton was freely accepted by her, but she was very poor, and could therefore hardly venture to refuse him. many people will flirt with a clever, handsome, but poor girl, though not marry her--besides, the idea of having old shery[ ] for a grandfather had nothing very captivating. a very unpleasant husband norton certainly was, and one who had little tact. i can well believe that she was much frightened, having so many eyes on her, some of which, perhaps, not with the most amiable expression. i was delighted to learn that you meant to visit poor claremont, and to pass there part of your precious birthday. claremont is the place where in younger days you were least plagued, and generally i saw you there in good spirits. you will also _nolens volens_ be compelled to think of me, and maybe of poor charlotte. this gives me an opening for saying a few words on this subject. i found several times that some people had given you the impression that poor charlotte had been hasty and violent even to imperiousness and _rudeness_. i can you assure that it was _not so_; she was quick, and even violent, but i never have seen anybody so open to conviction, and so fair and candid when wrong. the proverb says, and not without some truth, that ladies come always back to the first words, to avoid any symptom of having been convinced. generous minds, however, do not do this; they fight courageously their battles, but when they clearly see that they are wrong, and that the reasons and arguments submitted to them are _true_, they frankly admit the truth. charlotte had eminently this disposition; besides, she was so anxious to please me, that often she would say: "let it be as it may; provided you wish it, i will do it." i always answered: "i never want anything for myself; when i press something on you, it is from a conviction that it is for your interest and for your good." i know that you have been told that she ordered everything in the house and liked to show that she was the mistress. it was not so. on the contrary, her pride was to make me appear to my best advantage, and even to display respect and obedience, when i least wanted it from her. she would almost exaggerate the feeling, to show very clearly that she considered me as her lord and master. and on the day of the marriage, as most people suspected her of a very different disposition, everybody was struck with the manner in which she pronounced the promise of obedience. i must say that i was much more the master of the house than is generally the case in private life. besides, there was something generous and royal in her mind which alone would have prevented her doing anything vulgar or ill-bred. what rendered her sometimes a little violent was a slight disposition to jealousy. poor lady maryborough,[ ] at all times some twelve or fifteen years older than myself, but whom i had much known in , was once much the cause of a fit of that description. i told her it was quite childish, but she said, "it is not, because she is a very coquettish, dissipated woman." the most difficult task i had was to change her manners; she had something brusque and too rash in her movements, which made the regent quite unhappy, and which sometimes was occasioned by a struggle between shyness and the necessity of exerting herself. i had--i may say so without seeming to boast--the manners of the best society of europe, having early moved in it, and been rather what is called in french _de la fleur des pois_. a good judge i therefore was, but charlotte found it rather hard to be so scrutinised, and grumbled occasionally how i could so often find fault with her. nothing perhaps speaks such volumes as the _positive fact_ of her manners getting _quite changed_ within a year's time, and that to the openly pronounced satisfaction of the very fastidious and not over-partial regent. to explain how it came that manners were a little odd in england, it is necessary to remember that england had been for more than ten years completely cut off from the rest of the world.... we have bitter cold weather which has given colds to both the children. uncle ferdinand [ ] is now only arriving _si dice_ on sunday next. he has been robbed of , francs in his own room _au palais-royal_, which is very unpleasant for all parties. my letter is so long that i must haste to conclude it, remaining ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. my love to alberto. [footnote : prince charles of leiningen.] [footnote : the three sisters, mrs norton, lady dufferin, and lady seymour (afterwards duchess of somerset), the latter of whom was "queen of beauty" at the eglinton tournament, were grand-daughters of r. b. sheridan. lord melbourne was much in mrs norton's company, and norton, for whom the premier had found a legal appointment, sued him in the court of common pleas for _crim. con._; the jury found for the defendant.] [footnote : lord maryborough ( - ) was william wellesley pole, brother of the marquess wellesley and the duke of wellington. he married katherine elizabeth forbes, grand-daughter of the third earl of granard.] [footnote : prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, king leopold's brother.] [pageheading: the queen and the prince] _memorandum by mr anson._ _minutes of conversations with lord melbourne and baron stockmar._ _ th may ._ _lord melbourne._--"i have spoken to the queen, who says the prince complains of a want of confidence on trivial matters, and on all matters connected with the politics of this country. she said it proceeded entirely from indolence; she knew it was wrong, but when she was with the prince she preferred talking upon other subjects. i told her majesty that she should try and alter this, and that there was no objection to her conversing with the prince upon any subject she pleased. my impression is that the chief obstacle in her majesty's mind is the fear of difference of opinion, and she thinks that domestic harmony is more likely to follow from avoiding subjects likely to create difference. my own experience leads me to think that subjects between man and wife, even where difference is sure to ensue, are much better discussed than avoided, for the latter course is sure to beget distrust. i do not think that the baroness[ ] is the cause of this want of openness, though her name to me is never mentioned by the queen." _baron stockmar._--"i wish to have a talk with you. the prince leans more on you than any one else, and gives you his entire confidence; you are honest, moral, and religious, and will not belie that trust. the queen has not started upon a right principle. she should by degrees impart everything to him, but there is danger in his wishing it all at once. a case may be laid before him; he may give some crude and unformed opinion; the opinion may be taken and the result disastrous, and a forcible argument is thus raised against advice being asked for the future. "the queen is influenced more than she is aware of by the baroness. in consequence of that influence, she is not so ingenuous as she was two years ago. i do not think that the withholding of her confidence does proceed wholly from indolence, though it may partly arise, as the prince suggests, from the entire confidence which she reposes in her present ministers, making her inattentive to the plans and measures proposed, and thinking it unnecessary entirely to comprehend them; she is of necessity unable to impart their views and projects to him who ought to be her friend and counsellor." [footnote : baroness lehzen.] [pageheading: oxford's attempt] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ carlton terrace, _ th june ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and though your majesty must be overwhelmed with congratulations at your majesty's escape from the aim of the assassin,[ ] yet viscount palmerston trusts that he may be allowed to express the horror with which he heard of the diabolical attempt, and the deep thankfulness which he feels at your majesty's providential preservation. viscount palmerston humbly trusts that the failure of this atrocious attempt may be considered as an indication that your majesty is reserved for a long and prosperous reign, and is destined to assure, for many years to come, the welfare and happiness of this nation. [footnote : edward oxford, a pot-boy, aged eighteen, fired twice at the queen on constitution hill. the queen, who was untouched either shot, immediately drove to the duchess of kent's house to announce her safety. on his trial, oxford was found to be insane.] _the king of the french to queen victoria._ _ juin ._ madame ma s[oe]ur,--c'est avec une profonde indignation que je viens d'apprendre l'horrible attentat qui a menacé les précieux jours de votre majesté. je rends grâce du fond de mon c[oe]ur à la divine providence qui les a miraculeusement conservés, et qui semble n'avoir permis qu'ils fussent exposés à un si grand danger, que pour faire briller aux yeux de tous, votre courage, votre sang-froid, et toutes les qualités qui vous distinguent. j'ose espérer que votre majesté me permettra de recourir à son entremise pour offrir à s.a.r. le prince albert, l'expression de tous les sentiments dont je suis pénétré, et qu'elle voudra bien recevoir l'assurance de tous ceux que je lui porte, ainsi que celle de ma haute estime, de mon inaltérable attachement et de mon inviolable amitié. je suis, madame ma s[oe]ur, de votre majesté, le bon frère, louis philippe r. [pageheading: a providential escape] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns your majesty many, many thanks for your letter. lord melbourne was indeed most anxious to learn that your majesty was well this morning. it was indeed a most awful and providential escape. it is impossible not to shudder at the thought of it. lord melbourne thinks that it will be necessary to have an examination of this man before such of your majesty's confidential servants as are of the privy council;[ ] it should take place this morning. addresses will be moved in both houses immediately upon their meeting. [footnote : _i.e._, the cabinet.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th june ._ my dearest and most beloved victoria,--i cannot find words _strong enough_ to express to you my horror at what happened on the th, and my happiness and delight to see your escape from a danger which was really very great. in your good little heart i hope that it made you feel grateful to god for a protection which was very signal. it does good and is a consolation to think that matters are not _quite_ left to take care of _themselves_, but that an all-powerful hand guides them. louise i told the affair mildly, as it might have made too great an impression on her otherwise. she always feels so much for you and loves you so much, that she was rejoiced beyond measure that you escaped so well and took the thing with so much _courage_. that you have shown _great fortitude_ is not to be doubted, and will make a very great and good impression. i see that the general feeling is excellent, but what a melancholy thing to see a young man, without provocation, capable of such a diabolical act! that attempts of that sort took place against george iii., and even george iv., one can comprehend; but you have not only been extremely liberal, but in no instance have you hitherto come into contact with any popular feeling or prejudice; besides, one should think that your being a lady would alone prevent such unmanly conduct. it shows what an effect bad example and the bad press have. i am sure that this act is _une singerie_ of what passes in france, that it is a fancy of some of those societies _de mort aux rois et souverains_, without knowing wherefore, merely as a sort of fashion.... [pageheading: egypt and the powers] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ st cloud, _ th july ._ my dearest victoria,--your dear letter of the th greatly delighted me.... let me now add a few words on politics. the _secret_ way in which the arrangement about the arbitration of the turco-egyptian affairs has been signed, the keeping out of france in an affair so _near_ it and touching its interests in various ways, has had here a very _disastrous_ effect.[ ] i cannot disguise from you that the consequences may be very serious, and the more so as the thiers ministry is supported by the movement party, and as _reckless of consequences_ as your own minister for foreign affairs, even much more so, as thiers himself would not be sorry to see everything existing upset. he is strongly impregnated with all the notions of fame and glory which belonged to part of the republican and the imperial times; he would not even be much alarmed at the idea of a convention ruling again france, as he thinks that _he_ would be the _man to rule_ the assembly, and has told me last year that he thinks it for france perhaps the _most powerful_ form of government.[ ] the mode in this affair ought to have been, as soon as the four powers had agreed on a proposition, to communicate it officially to france, to join it. france had but two ways, either to join or to refuse its adhesion. if it had chosen the last, it would have been a free decision on her part, and a secession which had nothing offensive in the eyes of the nation. but there is a material difference between leaving a company from motives of one's own, or being _kicked out_ of it. i must beg you to speak seriously to lord melbourne, who is the head of your government, on these important affairs; they may upset everything in europe if the mistake is not corrected and moderated. i shall write again to you next friday from hence, and on saturday, st august, we set off. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : on the th of july a convention was signed in london by representatives of england, russia, austria, and prussia, offering an ultimatum to the viceroy of egypt. the exclusion of france was hotly resented in paris. guizot, then ambassador in london, had been kept in ignorance of the project, but the foreign secretary, lord palmerston, denied that there had been any discourtesy intended, or want of consideration shown.] [footnote : louis adolphe thiers ( - ), who through the press had contributed to the downfall of the bourbons, had held various cabinet offices under louis philippe, and, from march to october , was for the second time premier.] [pageheading: prince louis napoleon] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ ( p.m.) lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the house of lords lasted until eight, and lord melbourne might by an exertion have got to the palace to dinner, but as he had the speech, by no means an easy one, to prepare for the consideration of the cabinet to-morrow, he thought it better to take this evening for that purpose, and he hopes therefore that your majesty will excuse his not coming, which is to him a great sacrifice to have made. your majesty will have probably seen by this time the report from your majesty's consul at boulogne of the mad attempt of louis bonaparte.[ ] it is rather unfortunate that it should have taken place at this moment, as the violent and excited temper of the french nation will certainly lead them to attribute it to england. it will also be highly embarrassing to the king of the french to have in his possession a member of the family of bonaparte and so many bonapartists who have certainly deserved death but whom it may not be prudent or politic to execute. [footnote : the prince, afterwards the emperor napoleon iii., descended on boulogne with fifty-three persons, and a tame eagle which had been intended, with stage effect, to alight on the colonne de napoléon. he was captured, tried for high treason, and sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. he effected his escape, which was undoubtedly connived at by the authorities, in .] [pageheading: the convention of ] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ wiesbaden, _ nd september ._ my dearest victoria,--i was most happy in receiving this morning per messenger your dear little letter of the th, though it is grown a little elderly. the life one leads here is not favourable to writing, which, besides, is prohibited, and easily gives me palpitation enough to sing "_di tanti palpiti!_" i get up at half after six and begin to drink this hot water; what with drinking and walking one comes to ten o'clock or half after ten for breakfast. then i read papers and such like things. at one o'clock i have been generally bored with some visit or other till two o'clock. i try to finish some writing, and then i walk and ride out till dinner-time, generally at seven. in the evening i have written sometimes, but it certainly does one harm. you see that there remains but little time for writing. i am most happy to find that you are well; the papers, which don't know what to invent to lower the funds, said that you had been unwell on the th, which, god be praised! is not at all true. i pity poor princess augusta[ ] from all my heart. i am sure that if she had in proper time taken care of herself she might have lived to a great age. i have not time to-day to write at any length on the politics of the day, but i am _far from thinking_ that the french _acted wisely_ in the oriental affair. i must say that i think the king _meant well_, but i should not have _abstained_ from the conference as he did, though, in france, interference with mehemet ali was certainly not popular. in england much of the _fond_ is logical, but the form towards france was, and is still, harsh and insulting. i don't think france, which these ten years behaved well, and the poor king, who was nearly murdered i don't remember how often, deserved to be treated so unkindly, and all that seemingly to please the great autocrat. we must not forget what were the fruits of the _first_ convention of july --i think the th or th of that month; i ought to remember it, as i took its name in vain often enough in the greek affair. this first convention brought about the battle of navarino and the second campaign of the russians, which ended with, in fact, the demise of the poor old porte, the _treaty of adrianople_.[ ] your majesty was then afflicted with the age of ten, in itself a good age, and may not remember much about it except that in the affair about my going to greece began, and that your affectionate heart took some interest in that. lord melbourne, however, you _must encourage to speak about this matter_. canning's intention was this: he said we must remain with russia, and by this means _prevent_ mischief. the duke of wellington, who came to me shooting at claremont in , really did cry, though he is not of a crying disposition, and said "_by this convention the russians will have the power of doing all they never would have dared to do single-handed_, and shielded by this infernal convention, it will not be in our power _to stop them_." russia is again in this very snug and comfortable position, that _the special protection of the porte_ is confided to its tender mercies--_la chèvre gardant le chou_, the wolf the sheep, as i suppose i must not compare the turcs to lambs. the power which ruined the ottoman empire, which since a hundred and forty years nearly _pared_ it all round nearly in every direction, is to be the protector and guardian of that same empire; and we are told that it is the most scandalous calumny to suspect the russians to have any other than the most humane and disinterested views! "_ainsi soit-il_," as the french say at the end of their sermons. this part of the convention of the th of july strikes impartial people as strange, the more so as nothing lowers the porte so much in the eyes of the few patriotic turks who remain than the protection of the arch-enemy of the concern, russia. i beg you to read this part of my letter to my good and dear friend, lord melbourne, to whom i beg to be kindly remembered. [footnote : princess augusta, second daughter of george iii. _see_ p. . (ch. ix, th september )] [footnote : under this treaty ( th september ) the danubian principalities were made virtually independent states, the treaty rights of russia in the navigation of the bosphorus and dardanelles were confirmed, and greek affairs were arranged, by incorporating in the treaty the terms of the protocol of nd march .] [pageheading: a threatened crisis] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._[ ] windsor castle, _ th september ._ this is certainly awkward; but the latter part about peel is most absurd; to him i can never apply, we must do everything but that. but for god's sake do not bring on a crisis;[ ] the queen really could not go through that _now_, and it might make her _seriously ill_ if she were to be kept in a state of agitation and excitement if a crisis were to come on; she has had already so much lately in the distressing illness of her poor aunt to harass her. i beseech you, think of _all_ this, and the consequences it might cause, not only to me, but to all europe, as it would show our weakness in a way that would be seriously injurious to this country. [footnote : the letter, to which this is a reply, seems not to have been preserved. the queen's letter, having been shown to lord john russell and copied by him, has hitherto been supposed to be a letter from lord melbourne to lord john russell. _see_ walpole's _russell_, vol. i., chap. xiii.] [footnote : the cabinet met on the th to consider the oriental question. the government was on the verge of dissolution, as lord palmerston and lord john russell were in conflict. the meeting was adjourned till st october.] [pageheading: france and the east] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i have unfortunately very little time to-day, but i will try and answer your kind letters of the th and th briefly. you know now that the sufferings of good excellent aunt augusta were terminated on the nd of this month. i regret her _very, very_ sincerely, though for herself we are all most thankful for the release of such unexampled sufferings, borne with such unexampled patience. almost the last thing she said when she was still conscious, the day before she died, was to mr more (the apothecary), who wrote me every morning a report: "have you written to my darling?" is this not touching? the queen-dowager had her hand in hers when she died, and closed her eyes when all was over; all the family were present. i have seen your letters to palmerston, and his answer to you, and i also send you a paper from lord melbourne. i assure you that i _do_ give these affairs my _most serious_ attention: it would be indeed _most_ desirable if france could _come back to us_, and i think what metternich suggests very sagacious and well-judged.[ ] you must allow me to state that _france_ has _put herself_ into this unfortunate state. _i_ know (as i saw _all_ the _papers_) how she was engaged to join us--and i know how strangely she refused; i know also, that france _agrees_ in the _principle_, but only doubts the _efficacy_ of the measures. where then is "_la france outragée_"? wherefore arm when there is _no_ enemy? wherefore raise the war-cry? but this has been _done_, and has taken _more_ effect than i think the french government _now_ like; and _now_ she has to undo all this and to calm the general agitation and excitement, which is not so easy. still, though france is in the wrong, and _quite_ in the wrong, still _i_ am most anxious, as i am sure my government also are, that france should be pacified and should again take her place amongst the five powers. i am sure she might easily do this.... albert, who sends his love, is much occupied with the eastern affairs, and is quite of my opinion.... [footnote : metternich's suggestion was that if other means of coercion failed, the allies should renew their deliberations in conjunction with france.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is quite well, and will be ready at half-past one. the prince's[ ] observations are just, but still the making an advance to france now, coupled with our constant inability to carry into effect the terms of our convention, will be an humiliating step. lord melbourne sends a letter which he has received this morning from lord normanby, whom he had desired to see lord palmerston and lord john russell, and try what he could do. lord melbourne also sends a letter which he has received from lord lansdowne. lord melbourne would beg your majesty to return them both. [footnote : prince metternich.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ downing street, _ st october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. we have had the cabinet and it has passed over quietly. we have agreed to make a proposition to france founded upon the communication of prince metternich to the king of the belgians.[ ] palmerston will propose to-morrow to neumann,[ ] the prussian minister, and brunnow,[ ] that he should write to granville, authorising him to acquaint thiers that if france will concur in respecting the principle of the treaty, we, without expecting her to adopt coercive measures, will concert with her the further course to be adopted for the purpose of carrying the principle into effect. this is so far so good. lord melbourne trusts that it will get over the present entanglement, but of course we must expect that in a matter so complicated and which we have not the power of immediately terminating, further difficulties will arise. [footnote : _see_ p. . (ch. ix, footnote )] [footnote : austrian minister.] [footnote : russian minister.] [pageheading: mehemet ali] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ downing street, _ nd october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. we have just had another cabinet,[ ] which was rendered necessary by brunnow and the prussian minister refusing to concur in what we determined yesterday without reference to their courts and authority from them. this makes it impossible for us to take the step in the way we proposed, but we have now settled that palmerston should direct granville to submit the proposition to thiers, and ask him how he would be disposed to receive it if it were formally made to him. this, so far as we are concerned, will have all the effect which could have been attained in the other way. very important despatches of the th inst. have come from constantinople. the ministers of the porte held the last proposition of mehemet ali as a positive refusal of the terms of the convention, and proceeded by the advice of lord ponsonby[ ] at once to divest mehemet ali of the pashalik of egypt; to direct a blockade of the coasts both of syria and egypt, and to recall the four consuls from alexandria. these are serious measures, and there are despatches from lord beauvale[ ] stating that prince metternich is much alarmed at them, and thinks that measures should be immediately taken to diminish and guard against the effect which they may have in france. lord melbourne humbly begs your majesty's pardon for this hurried scrawl upon matters of such importance, but lord melbourne will have the opportunity of speaking to your majesty more fully upon them to-morrow. [footnote : the peace party in the cabinet were defeated and palmerston triumphant.] [footnote : british ambassador at constantinople.] [footnote : frederick james lamb, younger brother of lord melbourne, and his successor in the title ( - ). he was at this time ambassador at vienna, having previously been ambassador at lisbon.] [pageheading: palmerston and france] [pageheading: views of louis philippe] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ wiesbaden, _ nd october ._ ... there is an idea that mehemet ali suffers from what one calls _un charbon_, a sort of dangerous ulcer which, with old people, is never without some danger. if this is true, it only shows how little one can say that the pashalik of aleppo is to decide who is to be the master of the ottoman empire in europe and asia, the sultan or mehemet? it is highly probable that if the old gentleman dies, his concern will go to pieces; a division will be attempted by the children, but that in the east hardly ever succeeds. there everything is personal, except the sort of caliphate which the sultan possesses, and when the man is gone, his empire _also goes_. runjeet singh[ ] is a proof of this; his formidable power will certainly go to the dogs, though the sikhs have a social link which does not exist in the egyptian concern. if we now were to set everything in europe on a blaze, have a war which may change totally all that now exists, and in the midst of it we should hear that mehemet is no more, and his whole _boutique_ broken up, would it not be _really laughable_, if it was not _melancholy_? and still the war _once raging_, it would no longer put a stop to it, but go on for _other reasons_. i cannot understand what has rendered palmerston so _extremely hostile to the king_ and government of france. a _little civility_ would have gone a great way with the french; if in your speech on the th of august some regret had been expressed, it would have greatly modified the feelings of the french. but palmerston _likes to put his foot on their necks_! _now, no statesman must triumph over an enemy that is not quite dead_, because people forget a real loss, a real misfortune, but they won't forget _an insult_. napoleon made great mistakes that way; he hated prussia, insulted it on all occasions, but still _left it alive_. the consequence was that in they rose to a man in prussia, even children and women took arms, not only because they had been injured, but because they had been treated with _contempt_ and _insulted_. i will here copy what the king wrote to me lately from paris: "vous ne vous faites pas d'idée à quel point l'approbation publique soutient les armements, c'est universel. je regrette que cela aille bien au-delà, car la fureur contre l'angleterre s'accroît et un des points que je regrette le plus, c'est que tout notre peuple est persuadé que l'angleterre veut réduire la france _au rang de puissance secondaire_, et vous savez ce que c'est que l'orgueil national et la vanité de tous les peuples. je crois donc bien urgent que la crise actuelle se termine bientôt pacifiquement. plus je crois que l'union de l'angleterre et de la france est la base du repos du monde, plue je regrette de voir susciter tant d'irritation entre nos deux nations. la question est de savoir ce que veut véritablement le gouvernement anglais. j'avoue que je ne suis pas sans crainte et sans inquiétude à cet égard quand je récapitule dans ma tête tout ce que lord ponsonby a fait pour l'allumer et tout ce qu'il fait encore. je n'aurais aucune inquiétude si je croyais que le gouvernement suivrait la voix de sa nation, et les véritables intérêts de son pays qui repoussent l'alliance russe et indiquent celle de la france, ce qui est tout-à-fait conforme à mes v[oe]ux personnels. mais ma vieille expérience me rappelle ce que font les passions personnelles, qui prédominent bien plus de nos jours que les véritables intérêts, et ce que peut le gouvernement anglais pour entraîner son pays, et je crains beaucoup l'art de la russie ou plutôt de l'empereur nicolas de captiver, par les plus immenses flatteries, les ministres anglais, preuve lord durham. or si ces deux gouvernements veulent ou osent entreprendre _l'abaissement_ de la france, la guerre s'allumera, et pour _mon compte alors je m'y_ jetterai _à outrance_, mais si comme je l'espère encore, malgré mes soupçons, ils ne veulent pas la guerre, alors l'affaire de l'orient, s'arrangera à l'amiable, et le cri de toutes les nations fera de nouveau justice de ces humeurs belliqueuses et consolidera la paix générale, comme cela est arrivé dans les premières années de mon règne." i think it right to give you this extract, as it is written from the very bottom of the king's heart, and shows the way in which he considers the present position of affairs. perhaps you will be so kind to read it or to let it be read by lord melbourne. it is this _abaissement de la france_ which now sticks in their throats. chartres[ ] has quite the same feeling, and then the refrain is, _plutôt périr que de souffrir cette ignominie!_ really my paper is abominable, but it is a great shame that in the residence of such a rich prince nothing can be had. my letter being long, i conclude it with my best blessings. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : runjeet singh, known as the lion of the punjab, had died in , having consolidated the sikh power. as an outcome of the sikh wars in and , the punjab was annexed by great britain in .] [footnote : ferdinand, duke of orléans, who died th july , was generally called chartres in the family circle; this title, which he had previously borne, was conferred on his younger son, born th november .] [pageheading: negotiations with france] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ claremont, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the king's letter to lord melbourne is in many respects just and true.[ ] the practical measure which it recommends, namely, that lord granville should make to thiers a general proposition for settling the whole matter, is very much the same as that which we agreed upon at the cabinet should be adopted. lord melbourne expects that this has been carried into effect, and if it has not, lord melbourne has urged that it should be done without delay. these affairs are very troublesome and vexatious, but they are, unfortunately, more than troublesome, they are pregnant with danger. [footnote : the king of the belgians had written a letter to lord melbourne on st october, which he had sent to queen victoria, asking her to read it and forward it to lord melbourne.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ wiesbaden, _ th october ._ ... it is to-day the poor king of the french's birthday; he is sixty-seven years old, and these last ten years he has had a pleasant time of it. and now he has this serious and difficult complication to deal with, and still i find him always fair and amiable in his way of looking at all these things, and bearing the almost unbearable annoyance and plagues of his arduous position with a degree of firmness and courage worthy of kinder treatment from the european powers than he has received.... _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. lord john russell has directed a cabinet to be summoned for to-morrow at three o'clock, at which he intends to propose that "instructions should be sent to lord granville to ascertain from the french government what terms france would consider satisfactory for the immediate arrangement of the affairs of the east." that if such terms shall appear satisfactory, mr henry bulwer[ ] or some person of similar rank should be sent to constantinople to urge their acceptance on the sultan, and that our allies should be invited to co-operate in that negotiation. that the french government should be informed that the only mode in which the pacification can be carried into effect is by mehemet ali's accepting the terms of the treaty and then receiving from the sultan the terms which shall have been previously agreed upon by his allies. lord melbourne feels certain that lord palmerston will not accede to these proposals, and indeed lord melbourne himself much doubts whether, after all that has passed, it would be right to submit the whole matter, as it were, to the decision and arbitration of france. lord john russell seems very much determined to press this question to a decision to-morrow, and lord melbourne much fears that such a decision may lead to serious consequences. lord melbourne is much grieved to have to send your majesty intelligence which he knows will greatly disquiet your majesty, but there is no remedy for it. lord melbourne's lumbago is somewhat better to-day but not much. his being compelled to attend at the house of lords yesterday prevented him from recovering. he has remained in bed to-day, and hopes to be better to-morrow. [footnote : henry bulwer ( - ), afterwards lord dalling, then first secretary of the embassy in paris, became minister to spain, - ; to the united states, - ; to tuscany, - ; and ambassador to turkey, - .] [pageheading: pacific instructions] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has just received your majesty's box. he will do all he can to put everything together, and it does not appear to him that there is any necessity on any side for a decisive step at present. a letter is arrived to-day from bulwer, which states that the instructions given to guizot are, through the interposition of the king, of a very pacific character. it would surely be well to see what they are, and whether they will not afford the means of arranging the whole affair. lord melbourne thought with your majesty that the letter to lord granville upon prince metternich's proposition was a great deal too short and dry and slight, but the importance of this step is now a good deal superseded by what has taken place, and the position of affairs has already become different from that in which it was resolved upon. lord melbourne very much thanks the prince for his letter, which may do much service and have an effect upon the antagonists. lord melbourne has just seen dr holland.[ ] lord melbourne is very much crippled and disabled. lord melbourne does not think that the shooting has had anything to do with it. his stomach has lately been out of order, which is always the cause of these sort of attacks. lord melbourne will come down on sunday if he possibly can, and unless he should be still disabled from moving. [footnote : dr (afterwards sir) henry holland, physician-in-ordinary to the queen, - , father of lord knutsford.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. ... all the question at the cabinet to-day as to whether we should write a communication to france was fortunately put an end to by guizot desiring to see palmerston in the morning and making a communication to him. this communication is very much in substance what mr. bulwer's note had led us to expect. it is a strong condemnation of the act of the porte depriving mehemet ali of the government of egypt, an expression of satisfaction at having already learned from lord palmerston and count apponyi[ ] that austria and england are not prepared to consider this act as irrevocable, and a threat on the part of france that he considers the power of mehemet ali in egypt a constituent part of the balance of europe, and that he cannot permit him to be deprived of that province without interfering. it was determined that this intimation should be met in an amicable spirit, and that lord palmerston should see the ministers of the other powers and agree with them to acquaint the french that they with england would use their good offices to induce the porte not to insist upon the deprivation of mehemet ali as far as egypt is concerned. lord melbourne hopes that this transaction may lead to a general settlement of the whole question. lord melbourne feels himself much fatigued to-night. though better, he is yet far from well, and he knows by experience that this malady when once it lays hold of him does not easily let go. it was so when he was younger. he fears, therefore, that it will not be prudent for him to leave town so early as monday, but will do so as soon as he can with safety. [footnote : born ; at this time the austrian ambassador in france.] [pageheading: mehemet ali] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ panshanger, _ th october ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty. viscount palmerston submits to your majesty some interesting letters, which he received some days ago from paris, showing that there never has been any real foundation for the alarm of war with france which was felt by some persons in this country. viscount palmerston also submits a despatch from mons. thiers to mons. guizot which was communicated to him yesterday by mons. guizot, and which seems to open a prospect of an amicable and satisfactory understanding between france and the four powers. viscount palmerston also submits a note from mr bulwer intimating that the french government would be contented with an arrangement which should leave mehemet ali in possession of egypt alone, without any part of syria, and viscount palmerston submits that such is the arrangement which it would on all accounts be desirable to accomplish. there seems reason to think that the bombardment of beyrout[ ] and the deposal of mehemet ali by the sultan have greatly contributed to render the french more reasonable on this question, by exciting in their minds an apprehension that unless some arrangement be speedily effected, the operations now going on in the levant will end in the entire overthrow of mehemet ali. [footnote : on th october ibrahim was defeated by the allies, and next day beyrout was occupied by british, austrian, and turkish troops.] [pageheading: guizot and thiers] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has not written before to-day, because he had nothing new to lay before your majesty. lord melbourne anxiously hopes she feels some confidence that the present state of the eastern affairs is such as may lead to a speedy, amicable termination--at the same time, with a nation so irritable as the french, and with the constitution which they have and which they are unused to exercise, it is impossible to feel secure for a moment. guizot, when he gave the despatch of thiers to lord palmerston, said that he had nothing to do with the reasonings of that despatch, and would not enter into any argument upon them. he delivered them only in his official capacity as the ambassador of the king of france. all he would say was that they were the result of a great effort of that party in france which was for peace. this was a sufficient intimation that he himself did not approve of them, but it was not possible to collect from what he said upon what grounds his dissent was founded. lord melbourne has since heard that he says, that he considers that france has taken too low a tone and has made too much concession, and that he could not have been a party to this step if he had been one of the king's ministers. the step is also probably contrary to the declared opinion of m. thiers; whether it be contrary to his real opinion is another question. but if it was written principally by the influence of the king, it is a measure at once bold and friendly upon his part, and the success of which will much depend upon its being met in an amicable spirit here. lord melbourne returns the letter of the king of the belgians. lord melbourne kept it because he wished to show it to lord john russell, and some others, as containing an authentic statement of the feelings of the king of the french, which it is well that they should know.... _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ the queen in returning these letters must express to lord palmerston her very great satisfaction at the favourable turn affairs have taken, and the queen earnestly trusts that this demonstration of returning amity on the part of france will be met in a very friendly spirit by lord palmerston and the rest of her government. the queen feels certain that this change on the part of france is also greatly owing to the peaceable disposition of the king of the french, and she thinks that in consideration of the difficulties the king has had to contend with, and which he seems finally to have overcome, we should make some return; and indeed, as lord palmerston states, the arrangement proposed is the best which can be desired. [pageheading: feeling in france] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is much better to-day, free from pain and difficulty of moving, but he thinks that it would not be prudent, and that he should run the risk of bringing back the complaint, if he should leave town to-morrow. he thinks it might also be imprudent in another point of view, as affairs are still in a very unsettled state, and the rest of the cabinet watch with great impatience, and, to say the truth, not without suspicion, the manner in which palmerston will carry into effect the decision of saturday. they are particularly anxious for speed, and i have written both last night and this morning to palmerston, to urge him not to delay. he will go down to windsor to-morrow, and your majesty will then have an opportunity of speaking to him, upon which lord melbourne will write again to your majesty. guizot has been with lord melbourne this morning for the purpose of repeating what he had before said to palmerston, that the note which he delivered on saturday was the result of a great effort made by the party who are for peace, that it had been conquered against a strong opposition, that if it were not taken advantage of here now, it would not be renewed, that the conduct of affairs in france would probably fall into the hands of the violent party, and that it would be no longer possible to control the excited feelings of the people of france. the worst is that palmerston, and john russell, with now the greater part of the cabinet, proceed upon principles, opinions, and expectations which are entirely different from one another, and which therefore necessarily lead to a different course of action. we are anxious to finish the business speedily, because we fear that there is danger of the government of france being forced into violent measures by popular outcry. palmerston, on the contrary, thinks that there is no danger of war, that the french do not mean war, and that there is no feeling in france but what has been produced by the ministry and their instruments the press. we are anxious that the opportunity should be seized now whilst we have the appearance of success in syria, not being at all confident of the ultimate result. palmerston, on the contrary, is so confident of complete success, that he wishes to delay concluding the affair until he can have the benefit of the full advantages, which he anticipates, in the negotiation. we should be too glad to see the matter settled, leaving mehemet ali in possession of egypt. palmerston has both the wish and the hope of getting him out of egypt, as well as syria. these great differences of view, object, and expectation render it difficult for those who hold them to pursue the same line of conduct. there is also, as your majesty knows, much suspicion, distrust and irritation, and all these circumstances throw great obstacles in the way of the progress of affairs, but lord melbourne hopes that they will all be overcome, and that we shall arrive at a safe conclusion. [pageheading: relations with france] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. it is absolutely necessary that we should have a cabinet on thursday. there is so much natural impatience, and so deep an interest taken in what is now going on, that it cannot be avoided.... your majesty will naturally seize this opportunity of stating strongly to palmerston your wishes that this opportunity should be taken advantage of, with a view to the speedy accommodation of the whole difference. your majesty will see the necessity of at the same time not appearing to take too much the part of france, which might irritate and indispose. your majesty will find john russell perfectly right and reasonable. he was before somewhat embarrassed by the position in which he was placed. having agreed to the convention, it was difficult for him to take steps which might appear to be in departure from its policy, and to be occasioned by the gravity of its consequences. but this step upon the part of france will enable all the friends of peace to act cordially together. john russell thinks that you have not been put fully in possession of his sentiments. lord melbourne thinks this is not the case; but it would be well if your majesty would try to efface this impression from his mind as much as possible. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,-- ... i have three kind letters of yours unanswered before me, of the st, nd, and th, for which many thanks. my time is very short indeed to-day, but albert has, i know, written to you about the favourable turn which the oriental affairs have taken, and of the proposition of france, which is very amicably received here; austria and prussia are quite ready to agree, but brunnow has been making already difficulties (this is in confidence to you). i hope and trust that this will at length settle the affair, and that peace, the blessings of which are innumerable, will be preserved. i feel we owe _much_ of the change of the conduct of france to the peaceable disposition of the dear king, for which i feel grateful.[ ] pray, dear uncle, when an opportunity offers, do offer the king my best, sincerest wishes for his health and happiness in _every_ way, on the occasion of his birthday; may he live many years, for the benefit of all europe!... [footnote : the king of the french was alarmed at the warlike language of his ministers. he checked the preparations for war which thiers was making; he went further, and on the th of october he dismissed the thiers ministry, and entrusted the management of affairs to soult and guizot, who were pacifically inclined and anxious to preserve the anglo-french _entente_.] [pageheading: the queen's influence] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--i received your kind but anxious letter of the th, the day before yesterday, and hasten to reply to it by the courier who goes to-day. indeed, dearest uncle, i have worked hard this last week to bring about something conciliatory, and i hope and trust i have succeeded. lord melbourne, who left claremont on the same day as we did, was confined to the house till yesterday, when he arrived here, by a lumbago and bilious attack; but i had a constant correspondence with him on this unfortunate and alarming question, and he is, i can assure you, fully aware of the danger, and as anxious as we are to set matters right; and so is lord john, and palmerston, i hope, is getting more reasonable. they have settled in consequence of thiers' two despatches that palmerston should write to lord ponsonby to urge the porte _not_ to dispossess mehemet ali finally of egypt, and i believe the other foreign ministers at constantinople will receive similar instructions; this despatch palmerston will send to granville (to-night, i believe) to be communicated to thiers, and _i_ have made palmerston _promise_ to put into the despatch to granville "that it would be a source of great satisfaction to england, if this would be the cause of bringing back france to that alliance (with the other four powers) from which we had seen her depart with so much regret." i hope this will have a good effect. now, in _my_ humble opinion (but this i say of myself and without anybody's knowledge), if france, upon this, were to make some sort of advance, and were to _cease arming_, i think all would do; for you see, if france goes on arming, we shall hardly be justified in not doing the same, and that would be very bad. couldn't you suggest this to the king and thiers, as of yourself? my anxiety is great for the return of amity and concord, i can assure you. i think our child ought to have besides its other names those of _turco egypto_, as we think of nothing else! i had a long talk with palmerston on wednesday, and also with j. russell. i hope i have done good. the dutch don't like the abdication. i'm so sorry for poor little paris![ ] pray excuse this dreadful scrawl, but i am so hurried. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the comte de paris, born th august , eldest son of ferdinand, duke of orleans, who was louis philippe's eldest son.] [pageheading: attempt on louis philippe] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october ._ my dearest victoria,--you will, i am sure, have been very much shocked on hearing that on the th there was a new attempt made to kill the poor good king at paris.[ ] the place was cleverly chosen, as the king generally puts his head out of the carriage window to bow to the guard. i join the letter which he had the goodness to forward us through an _estafette_.[ ] may this melancholy _attentat_ impress on your ministers the necessity of aiding the king in his arduous task.... you will have the goodness to show this letter to albert. louise was much alarmed when it arrived at such an unusual hour; it was ten o'clock. at first we thought it might be something about poor little paris, who is not yet so well as one could wish. we have gloomy miserable weather, and i feel much disgusted with this part of the world. ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the king was fired at as he was leaving the tuileries, by darmes, a marseillais. as croker wrote to lord brougham on the st of october :--"poor louis philippe lives the life of a mad dog, and will soon, i fear, suffer the death of that general object of every man's shot."] [footnote : express messenger.] [pageheading: france and egypt] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october ._ my most beloved victoria,--i must write to you a few lines by m. drouet, who returns to-morrow morning to england. _god bless you_ for the _great zeal_ you have _mis en action_ for our great work, the maintenance of peace; it is one of the greatest importance for everything worth caring for in europe. you know well that no personal interest guides me in my exertions; i am in fact bored with being here, and shall ever regret to have remained in these regions, when i might so easily have gone myself to the orient, the great object of my predilection. i never shall advise anything which would be against the interests and honour of yourself, your government, or your country, in which i have so great a stake myself. the great thing now is _not to refuse to negotiate_ with france, even if it should end in nothing. still for the king louis philippe there is an _immense strength_ and facility in that word "_nous négocions_"; with this he may get over the opening of the session, and this once done, one may hope to come to a conclusion. since i wrote to lord melbourne to-day, i have received a letter from the king, of the th, _i.e._ yesterday, in which he tells me, "_pourvu qu'il y ait, pour commencer, des négociations, cela me donne une grande force._" i have written yesterday to him most fully a letter he may show thiers also concerning the armaments. i think that my arguments will make some impression on thiers. the king writes me word that by dint of great exertion he had brought thiers to be more moderate. if it was possible to bring france and mehemet ali to agree to the greatest part of the treaty, it will be worth while for everybody to consent. the way to bring france to join in some arrangement, and to take the engagement to compel mehemet to accept it, would be the best practical way to come to a conclusion. it is probable, though i know nothing about it in any positive way, that the efforts of getting possession of syria will fail, if the country itself does not take up arms on a large scale, which seems not to be believed. to conclude then my somewhat hurried argumentation, the greatest thing is to negotiate. the negotiation cannot now have the effect of weakening the execution as that goes on, and it may have the advantage of covering the non-success if that should take place, which is at all events possible if not probable. may i beg you to read these few confused words to lord melbourne as a supplement of my letter to him. darmes says that if chartres had been with the king, he would not have fired, but that his reason for wishing to kill the king was his conviction that one could not hope for war till he was dead. it is really melancholy to see the poor king taking this _acharnement_ very much to heart, and upon my word, the other powers of europe owe it to themselves and to him to do everything to ease and strengthen his awful task. what do you say to poor christina's departure?[ ] i am sorry for it, and for the poor children. she is believed to be very rich. now i must conclude, but not without thanking you once more for your _great and most laudable exertions_, and wishing you every happiness, which you so _much deserve_. ever, my most beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : queen christina abdicated the regency of spain, and went to paris. in the following may general espartero, duke of vittoria, was appointed sole regent.] [pageheading: death of lord holland] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ rd october ._ my dearest uncle,--many thanks for your two kind letters of the th and th. i have very little time to-day, and it being besides _not_ my regular day, i must beg you to excuse this letter being very short. i return you the king's letters with _bien des remercîments_. it is a horrid business. we have had accounts of successes on the syrian coast. guizot is here since wednesday, and goes this morning. albert (who desires me to thank you for your kind letter) has been talking to him, and so have i, and he promised in return for my expressions of sincere anxiety to see matters _raccommodées_, to do all in his power to do so. "_je ne vais que pour cela_," he said. we were much shocked yesterday at the sudden death of poor good, old lord holland.[ ] i send you dr holland's letter to lord melbourne about it. he is a great loss, and to _society_ an irreparable one. i'm sure you will be sorry for it. mamma comes back sooner than the st. she is in great distress at poor polly's death. you will regret him. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pray _do_ try and get the king's speech to be _pacific_, else parliament must meet here in november, which would be dreadful for me. [footnote : chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, who, by reason of his social influence, great wealth, and high intellectual endowments, was one of the most efficient supporters of the whig party.] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october ._ ... the duke of cambridge arrived, as you know, before yesterday evening, at brussels. your uncle visited him yesterday, and at six he came to laeken to dine with us. i found him looking well, and he was as usual very good-natured and kind. i need not tell you that conversation did not flag between us, and that i thought of you almost the whole time. in the course of the evening he took leave. he left brussels this morning early, on his way to calais, and i suppose you will hear of him before this letter reaches you. he took charge of all my love and _hommages_ for you, dear albert, and all the royal family. before dinner the children were presented to him (that is leopold and philippe), but i am sorry to say that poor lippchen was so much frightened with his appearance, loud voice, and black gloves, that he burst out crying, and that we were obliged to send him away. the duke took his shyness very kindly; but i am still ashamed with his behaviour. [pageheading: news from syria] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ carlton terrace, _ th november ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in addition to the good news from syria, which confirms the defeat and dispersion of the forces, both of ibrahim and of solyman pasha, with the loss of , prisoners, pieces of cannon, the whole of their camp, baggage, and stores, followed by the flight of those two generals with a small escort, he has the satisfaction of informing your majesty that the new french ministers had a majority of , upon the vote for the election of the president of the chamber.[ ] this majority, so far exceeding any previous calculation, seems to place the stability of the government beyond a doubt, though it must, of course, be expected that upon other questions their majority will not be so overwhelming. [footnote : m. sauzet was elected in preference to m. odillon barrot. thiers resigned the premiership on th october; in the new ministry soult was president of the council, guizot minister of foreign affairs, and duchatel minister of the interior.] [pageheading: disaffection in france] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and with reference to your majesty's memorandum of the th inst., he entreats your majesty not to believe that there exists at present in france that danger of internal revolution and of external war which the french government, to serve its own diplomatic purposes, endeavours to represent. there is no doubt a large party among the leading politicians in france, who have long contemplated the establishment of a virtually, if not actually, independent state in egypt and syria, under the direct protection and influence of france, and that party feel great disappointment and resentment at finding their schemes in this respect baffled. but that party will not revenge themselves on the four powers by making a revolution in france, and they are enlightened enough to see that france cannot revenge herself by making war against the four powers, who are much stronger than she is. ... but your majesty may be assured that there is in france an immense mass of persons, possessed of property, and engaged in pursuits of industry, who are decidedly adverse to unnecessary war, and determined to oppose revolution. and although those persons have not hitherto come prominently forward, yet their voice would have made itself heard, when the question of peace or unprovoked war came practically to be discussed. with regard to internal revolution, there is undoubtedly in france a large floating mass of republicans and anarchists, ready at any moment to make a disturbance if there was no strong power to resist them; but the persons who would lose by convulsion are infinitely more numerous, and the national guard of paris, consisting of nearly , men, are chiefly persons of this description, and are understood to be decidedly for internal order, and for external peace. it is very natural that the french government, after having failed to extort concessions upon the turkish question, by menaces of foreign war, should now endeavour to obtain those concessions, by appealing to fears of another kind, and should say that such concessions are necessary in order to prevent revolution in france; but viscount palmerston would submit to your majesty his deep conviction that this appeal is not better founded than the other, and that a firm and resolute perseverance on the part of the four powers, in the measures which they have taken in hand, will effect a settlement of the affairs of turkey, which will afford great additional security for the future peace of europe, without producing in the meantime either war _with_ france, or revolution _in_ france. france and the rest of europe are entirely different now from what they were in . the french nation is as much interested now to avoid further revolution, as it was interested then in ridding itself, by any means, of the enormous and intolerable abuses which then existed. france then imagined she had much to gain by foreign war; france now knows she has everything to lose by foreign war. europe then (at least the continental states) had also a strong desire to get rid of innumerable abuses which pressed heavily upon the people of all countries. those abuses have now in general been removed; the people in many parts of germany have been admitted, more or less, to a share in the management of their own affairs. a german feeling and a spirit of nationality has sprung up among all the german people, and the germans, instead of receiving the french as liberators, as many of them did in - , would now rise as one man to repel a hateful invasion. upon all these grounds viscount palmerston deems it his duty to your majesty to express his strong conviction that the appeals made to your majesty's good feelings by the king of the french, upon the score of the danger of revolution in france, unless concessions are made to the french government, have no foundation in truth, and are only exertions of skilful diplomacy. viscount palmerston has to apologise to your majesty for having inadvertently written a part of this memorandum upon a half-sheet of paper. and he would be glad if, without inconvenience to your majesty, he could be enabled to read to the cabinet to-morrow the accompanying despatches from lord granville. [pageheading: the state of france] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._[ ] windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen has to acknowledge the receipt of lord palmerston's letter of this morning, which she has read with great attention. the queen will just make a few observations upon various points in it, to which she would wish to draw lord palmerston's attention. the queen does so with strict impartiality, having had ample opportunities of hearing both sides of this intricate and highly-important question. first of all, it strikes the queen that, even if m. thiers _did_ raise the cry, which was so loud, for war in france (but which the queen cannot believe he _did_ to the extent lord palmerston does), that such an excitement _once_ raised in a country like france, where the people are more excitable than almost any other nation, it cannot be so easily controuled and stopped again, and the queen thinks this will be seen in time. secondly, the queen cannot either quite agree in lord palmerston's observation, that the french government state the danger of internal revolution, if not supported, merely to extract further concessions for mehemet ali. the queen does not pretend to say that this danger is not exaggerated, but depend upon it, a _certain_ degree of danger does exist, and that the situation of the king of the french and the present french government is not an easy one. the majority, too, cannot be depended upon, as many would vote against odillon barrot,[ ] who would _not_ vote on other occasions with the soult-guizot ministry. thirdly, the danger of war is also doubtless greatly exaggerated, as also the numbers of the french troops. but lord palmerston must recollect how very warlike the french are, and that if once roused, they will not listen to the calm reasoning of those who wish for peace, or think of the great risk they run of _losing_ by war, but only of the glory and of revenging insult, as they call it. fourthly, the queen sees the difficulty there exists at the present moment of making any specific offer to france, but she must at the same time repeat how _highly_ and _exceedingly_ important she considers it that some sort of conciliatory agreement should be come to with france, for she cannot believe that the appeals made to her by the king of the french are only exertions of skilful diplomacy. the queen's earnest and only wish is peace, and a maintenance of friendly relations with her allies, consistent with the honour and dignity of her country. she does not think, however, that the last would be compromised by attempts to soften the irritation still existing in france, or by attempts to bring france back to her former position in the oriental question. she earnestly hopes that lord palmerston will consider this, will reflect upon the importance of not driving france to extremities, and of conciliatory measures, without showing fear (for our successes on the coast of syria show our power), or without yielding to threats. france has been humbled, and france is in the wrong, but, therefore, it is easier than if we had failed, to do something to bring matters right again. the queen has thus frankly stated her own opinion, which she thought it right lord palmerston should know, and she is sure he will see it is only dictated by an earnest desire to see _all_ as much united as possible on this important subject. [footnote : a copy of this letter was sent at the same time to lord melbourne.] [footnote : the unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the chamber.] _baron stockmar to viscount melbourne._ _ st november ._ my dear lord,--i have just received her majesty's order to express to you her great desire to have from this day the prince's name introduced into the church prayer. her own words were: "that i should press it with lord melbourne as the wish she had most at heart at this moment." ever yours most sincerely, stockmar. [pageheading: king leopold on french affairs] _the king of the belgians to the prince albert._ [_translated._] laeken, _ th november ._ ... as to politics, i do not wish to say much to-day. palmerston, _rex_ and autocrat, is, for a minister finding himself in such fortunate circumstances, far _too irritable and violent_. one does not understand the use of showing so much hatred and anger. what he says about the _appeal to the personal feeling of the queen, on the part of the king of the french_, is childlike and malicious, for it has _never_ existed. the king was for many years the great friend of the duke of kent, after whose death he remained a friend of victoria. his relations with the latter have, up to , passed through very varied phases; she was for a long time an object of hatred in the family, who had not treated the duke of kent over-amicably, and a proof of this is the fact that the regent, from the year , forbade the duke his house and presence--which was probably another nail in the duke's coffin. many of these things are quite unknown to victoria, or forgotten by her. still it is only fair not to forget the people who were her friends before ; after that date there was a violent outbreak of affection among people who in the year would still not go near victoria. october , when he sat next her at dinner, was the first time that palmerston himself had ever seen victoria except at a distance. as you have the best means of knowing, the king has not even dreamt of applying to victoria. as to danger, it was very great in september, on the occasion of the _ouvrier_ riot--for a paris mob fires at once, a thing which--heaven be thanked!--english mobs rarely do. towards the end of october, when thiers withdrew, there was a possibility of a revolution, and it was only the fear of people of wealth that kept them together, and drew them towards guizot. a revolution, at once democratic and bellicose, could not but become most dangerous. that was on the cards, and only a fairly fortunate combination of circumstances saved matters. the king and my poor mother-in-law were terribly _low_, _on both occasions_, and i confess that i looked everyday with the greatest anxiety for the news. if the poor king had been murdered, or even if he were now to be murdered, what danger, what confusion would follow! all these things were met by palmerston with the excessively _nonchalante_ declaration, _it was not so, and it is not so_! those are absolutely baseless assertions, and totally valueless. at least i could estimate the danger as well as he and bulwer--and, indeed, it was an anxious crisis. i should think the revolution of _et ce qui s'en est suivi_ had done a brisk enough business in europe, and to risk a new one of the same kind would really be somewhat scandalous. what, however, may be the future fruit of the seed of palmerston's sowing, we do not in the least know as yet; it may, however, prove sufficiently full of misfortune for the future of innocent people. the eastern affairs will be put on an intelligible footing only when, after these differences with mehemet ali, something is done for the poor porte, which is now so much out of repair. otherwise there remains a little place which is called sebastopol, and from which, as the wind is almost constantly favourable, one can get very quickly to constantinople--and constantinople is always the one place which exercises the greatest influence, and all the more because the ducats come from that quarter, with results which the marked economy of england is hardly likely to effect.... victoria has borne herself bravely and properly in the matter, and _deserves to be greatly praised_.... [pageheading: birth of the princess royal] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th november ._ my most beloved victoria,--i have been longing to write to you ever since we got the _joyful_ tidings,[ ] but i would not do so before the nine days were at an end. now that they are over, i hope as you are, thank god, so well, i may venture a few lines to express _a part_ of my feelings, and to wish you joy on the happy birth of your dear little girl. i need not tell you the _deep, deep_ share i took in this most _happy event_, and all i felt for you, for dear albert, when i heard of it, and since we last met. you know my affection for you, and i will not trouble you with the repetition of what you know. all i will say is that i thanked god with all my heart, and as i have scarcely thanked him for any other favour.... [footnote : the princess royal, afterwards the empress frederick of germany, was born st november .] [pageheading: settlement of eastern question] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--many thanks for your kind little letter of the th from ardenne. i am very prosperous, walking about the house like myself again, and we go to windsor on the nd or rd, which will quite set me up. i am _very_ prudent and careful, you may _rely_ upon it. your little grand-niece is most flourishing; she gains daily in health, strength and, i may add, beauty; i think she will be very like her dearest father; she grows amazingly; i shall be proud to present her to you. the _dénouement_ of the oriental affair is most fortunate, is it not?[ ] i see stockmar often, who is very kind about me and the princess royal.... albert sends his affectionate love, and pray believe me always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : on the rd of november st jean d'acre was captured by the allied fleet, admiral sir robert stopford commanding the british contingent; the battle is said to have been the first to test the advantages of steam. admiral napier proceeded to alexandria, and threatened bombardment, unless the pasha came to terms. on th november a convention was signed, by which mehemet ali resigned his claims to syria, and bound himself to restore the ottoman fleet, while the powers undertook to procure for him undisturbed possession of the pashalik of egypt.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th december ._ ... i can well understand that you feel quite astonished at finding yourself within a year of your marriage a very respectable mother of a nice little girl, but let us thank heaven that it is so. any illness to which, unfortunately, we poor human creatures are very subject, would almost have kept you longer in bed, and make you longer weak and uncomfortable, than an event which in your position as sovereign is of a very great importance. because there is no doubt that a sovereign without heirs direct, or brothers and sisters, which by their attachment may stand in lieu of them, is much to be pitied, viz., queen anne's later years. moreover, children of our own, besides the affection which one feels for them, have also for their parents sentiments which one rarely obtains from strangers. i flatter myself therefore that you will be a delighted and delightful _maman au milieu d'une belle et nombreuse famille_.... introductory note to chapter x at the beginning of the year the ministry were confronted with monetary difficulties and bad trade; their special weakness in finance, contrasted with sir robert peel's great ability, in addition to their many reverses, indicated that a change was at hand; and confidential communications were, with lord melbourne's full approval, opened up by the prince with sir robert peel, to avert the recurrence of a bedchamber dispute. the ministry were defeated on their budget, but did not resign. a vote of want of confidence was then carried against them by a majority of one, and parliament was dissolved; the ministers appealing to the country on the cry of a fixed duty on corn. the conservative and protectionist victory was a decisive one, the most significant successes being in the city of london, northumberland, and the west riding. somewhat improving their position in scotland and ireland, and just holding their own in the english boroughs, the whigs were absolutely overwhelmed in the counties, and in the result three hundred and sixty-eight conservatives and only two hundred and ninety-two liberals were returned. the modern practice of resigning before meeting parliament had not then been introduced, and the ministry was defeated in both houses on amendments to the address, the duke of wellington taking the opportunity of eulogising lord melbourne's great services to the queen. a powerful protectionist ministry was formed by sir robert peel, including the duke of wellington, lord aberdeen, sir james graham, and lord lyndhurst. great national rejoicings took place when, on the th of november, a male heir to the throne, now his majesty king edward vii., was born. in france the bitter feeling against england, arising out of the syrian expedition, still continued, but thiers' supersession by the more pacific guizot, and the satisfaction with which both the latter and his sovereign regarded the displacement of palmerston by aberdeen, began to lead to a better _entente_. the scheme of fortifying paris continued, however, to be debated, while the orleanist family were still the subjects of futile _attentats_. spain was disturbed, the question of the guardianship of the young queen giving rise to dissension: insurrections in the interests of the queen-mother took place at pampeluna and vittoria, and her pension was suspended by espartero, the regent. in the east, mehemet ali surrendered the whole of the turkish fleet, and he was subsequently guaranteed the hereditary pashalik of egypt by the four european powers who had intervened in the affairs of the levant. in afghanistan, an insurrection broke out, and sir alexander burnes was murdered; our envoy at cabul, sir william macnaghten, in an unfortunate moment entered into negotiations with akbar khan, a son of dost mahommed, who treacherously assassinated him. somewhat humiliating terms were arranged, and the english force of , soldiers, with , camp-followers, proceeded to withdraw from cabul, harassed by the enemy; after endless casualties, general elphinstone, who was in command, with the women and children, became captives, and one man alone, of the , --dr brydon--reached jellalabad to tell the tale. in china, operations were continued, sir henry pottinger superseding captain elliot, and canton soon lying at the mercy of the british arms; the new superintendent co-operated with sir hugh gough and admiral sir william parker, in the capture of amoy, chusan, chintu, and ningpo. in america, the union of the two canadas was carried into effect, but a sharp dispute with the united states arose out of the upper canada disturbances of . some canadian loyalists had then resented the interference of a few individual americans in favour of the rebels, and an american named durfee had been killed. one m'leod, a british subject, was now arrested in the state of new york, on a charge of having been concerned in the affray. he was acquitted, reprisals were made by canadians, and international feeling was for a time highly acute. much interest naturally attaches to lord melbourne's continued correspondence with the queen, after the change of government. baron stockmar's remonstrance on the subject shows that he misunderstood the character of the correspondence, and over-estimated its momentousness. these letters dealt chiefly with social and personal matters, and although full of interest from the light which they throw on lord melbourne's relations with the queen, they show him to have behaved with scrupulous honour and delicacy, and to have tried to augment, rather than undermine, peel's growing influence with the queen and prince. there are comparatively few of peel's letters in the collection. he wrote rarely at first, and only on strictly official matters. but before long his great natural reserve was broken through, and his intercourse with the prince, to whom his character was particularly sympathetic, became very close and intimate. of all the english ministers with whom the prince was brought in contact, it is known that he preferred the stately and upright commoner, who certainly, of all english ministers, estimated and appreciated the prince's character most truly and clearly. chapter x _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th january ._ my dearest uncle,--i have to thank you for two very kind letters, of the th december and st january, and for all your very kind and good wishes. i am sorry to hear you have all been plagued with colds; we have as yet escaped them, and i trust will continue to do so. i think, dearest uncle, you cannot _really_ wish me to be the "mamma d'une _nombreuse_ famille," for i think you will see with me the great inconvenience a _large_ family would be to us all, and particularly to the country, independent of the hardship and inconvenience to myself; men never think, at least seldom think, what a hard task it is for us women to go through this _very often_. god's will be done, and if he decrees that we are to have a great number of children, why we must try to bring them up as useful and exemplary members of society. our young lady flourishes exceedingly, and i hope the van de weyers (who have been here for three days), who have seen her twice, will give you a favourable description of her. i think you would be amused to see albert dancing her in his arms; he makes a capital nurse (which i do not, and she is much too heavy for me to carry), and she already seems so happy to go to him. the christening will be at buckingham palace on the th of february, our dear marriage-day. affairs are certainly still precarious, but i feel confident all will come right.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th january ._ ... i trust also that affairs will come right; what is to be feared is the _chapter of accidents_. your name bears glorious fruits in all climes; this globe will soon be too small for you, and something must be done to get at the other planets.... [pageheading: the queen's education] _memorandum--mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ lord melbourne said, "the prince is bored with the sameness of his chess every evening. he would like to bring literary and scientific people about the court, vary the society, and infuse a more useful tendency into it. the queen however has no fancy to encourage such people. this arises from a feeling on her part that her education has not fitted her to take part in such conversation; she would not like conversation to be going on in which she could not take her fair share, and she is far too open and candid in her nature to pretend to one atom more knowledge than she really possesses on such subjects; and yet, as the world goes, she would, as any girl, have been considered accomplished, for she speaks german well and writes it; understands italian, speaks french fluently, and writes it with great elegance. in addition to this old davys instilled some latin into her during his tutorship. the rest of her education she owes to her own natural shrewdness and quickness, and this perhaps has not been the proper education for one who was to wear the crown of england. "the queen is very proud of the prince's utter indifference to the attractions of all ladies. i told her majesty that these were early days to boast, which made her rather indignant. i think she is a little jealous of his talking much even to men." [pageheading: the queen's speech] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has just received your majesty's letter. lord melbourne is very sorry not to come down to windsor, but he really thinks that his absence from london at this moment might be prejudicial. lord melbourne will do his utmost to have the speech worded in the most calm manner, and so as in no respect to offend or irritate any feelings. some mention of the good conduct and gallantry of the navy there must be--to omit it would be injurious and disheartening--but as to any expressions complimentary to france or expressive of regret at our separation from it, it will be hardly possible to introduce anything of that nature.[ ] it is quite unusual in our speeches from the throne to express either approbation or disapprobation of the conduct of foreign nations and foreign governments. it is surprising how very seldom it has been done, and the wisdom and prudence of abstaining from it is very manifest. it would be giving an opinion upon that which does not belong to us. anything which would have the effect of producing satisfaction in france must be of an apologetic character, which there is no ground for, and for which neither the government nor the country is prepared. the best course will be a total reserve upon this head, certainly abstaining from anything that can be in the slightest degree offensive. [footnote : france was not mentioned, though the convention with the other powers, and the naval operations in conjunction with austria, were referred to.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. lord melbourne will be most happy to wait upon your majesty on saturday and sunday. lord melbourne is very sorry that your majesty is compelled to come to london contrary to your inclinations; but lord melbourne much rejoices that your majesty expresses that reluctance, as there is no surer sign of complete happiness and contentment in the married life than a desire to remain quietly in the country, and there is nothing on the earth lord melbourne desires more anxiously than the assurance of your majesty's happiness. [pageheading: the queen's infancy] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ nd january ._ my dearest victoria,--i thank you very sincerely for your kind letter of the th, which i hasten to answer. i should not have bored you by my presence, but the act of the christening is, in my eyes, a sort of closing of the first cyclus of your dear life. i was shooting at the late lord craven's in berkshire, when i received the messenger who brought me the horrifying news of your poor father's deadly illness. i hastened in bitter cold weather to sidmouth, about two days before his death. his affairs were so much deranged that your mother would have had no means even of leaving sidmouth if i had not taken all this under my care and management. that dreary journey, undertaken, i think, on the th of january, in bitter cold and damp weather, i shall not easily forget. i looked very sharp after the poor little baby, then about eight months old. arrived in london we were very unkindly treated by george iv., _whose great wish was to get you and your mamma out of the country_, and i must say without my assistance you could _not_ have remained.... i state these facts, because it is useful to remember through what _difficulties_ and _hardships_ one had to struggle. you will also remember that though there existed the _possibility_ of your eventually succeeding to the crown, that possibility was very doubtful, the then duchess of clarence having been confined after your mother, and there being every reason to think that, though poor little princess elizabeth did not live more than some months, other children might appear.[ ] it was a long time from to ! we got over it, however, and, as far as you are concerned, god be praised! safely and happily. you are married, with every prospect of many happy years to come, and your happiness is _crowned_, and _consolidated_, as it were, by the birth of the dear little lady. having from motives of discretion, perhaps _carried even too far_, not assisted at your coming to the throne, nor at your coronation, nor afterwards at your marriage, i wished to assist at the christening of the little princess, an event which is of great importance.... [footnote : two children were born to the duke and duchess of clarence--charlotte augusta louisa, born and died th march , and elizabeth georgina adelaide, born th december , and died th march .] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ carlton terrace, _ st february ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in submitting this letter from earl granville, which coupled with the despatches from sir robert stopford virtually show that the turkish question is brought to a close, begs most humbly to congratulate your majesty upon this rapid and peaceful settlement of a matter which at different periods has assumed appearances so threatening to the peace of europe.[ ] [footnote : see _ante_, pp. , . (ch. ix, footnote ; intro. note to ch. x)] [pageheading: illness of duke of wellington] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ nd february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. lord melbourne will be happy to wait upon your majesty on thursday, saturday and sunday, but he finds that there is to be a cabinet dinner to-morrow. lord melbourne will speak to lord palmerston about lord john russell. lord melbourne does not see the name of the archbishop of canterbury as a subscriber to this "parker" society, and if your majesty will give him leave, he will ask him about it before he gives your majesty an answer. it is in some degree a party measure, and levelled against these new oxford doctrines. the proposal is to republish the works of the older divines up to the time of the death of queen elizabeth. up to that period the doctrines of the church of england were decidedly calvinistic. during the reign of james ii.,[ ] and particularly after the synod of dort ( - ), the english clergy very generally adopted _arminian_ opinions. it is proposed to republish the works of the divines who wrote during the first period, and to stop short when they come to the second. there is meaning in this. but, after all, the object is not a bad one, and it may not be worth while to consider it so closely. [footnote : lord melbourne must have meant james i.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th february ( o'clock)._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is very sorry to have to acquaint your majesty that the duke of wellington was taken ill in the house of lords this evening with a seizure, probably paralytic, and of the same nature with those which he has had before. lord brougham, who was standing opposite to the duke and addressing the house, observed the duke's face to be drawn and distorted, and soon afterwards the duke rose from his seat and walked staggeringly towards the door. he walked down the gallery, supported on each side, but never spoke. a medical man was procured to attend him; he was placed in his carriage and driven home.... [pageheading: the united states] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _ th march ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that the remainder of the navy estimates, and nearly the whole of the army estimates, were voted last night without any serious opposition. indeed the chief fault found with the army estimates was that they are not large enough. sir robert peel made a remarkable speech. adverting to the present state of our affairs with the united states,[ ] he said that much as he disliked war, yet if the honour or interests of the country required it, he should sink all internal differences, and give his best support to the government of his country. this declaration was received with loud cheers. it must be considered as very creditable to sir robert peel. [footnote : _see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . (intro note to ch. x)] [pageheading: china] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th april ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to submit the accompanying letters, which he received yesterday, about the operations in china, and which have just been returned to him by viscount melbourne, whose letter he also transmits.[ ] viscount palmerston has felt greatly mortified and disappointed at this result of the expedition to china, and he much fears that the sequel of the negotiation, which was to follow the conclusion of these preliminary conditions, will not tend to render the arrangement less objectionable. captain elliot seems to have wholly disregarded the instructions which had been sent to him, and even when, by the entire success of the operations of the fleet, he was in a condition to dictate his own terms, he seems to have agreed to very inadequate conditions.[ ] the amount of compensation for the opium surrendered falls short of the value of that opium, and nothing has been obtained for the expenses of the expedition, nor for the debts of the bankrupt hong[ ] merchants. the securities which the plenipotentiaries were expressly ordered to obtain for british residents in china have been abandoned; and the island of chusan which they were specifically informed was to be retained till the whole of the pecuniary compensation should have been paid, has been hastily and discreditably evacuated. even the cession of hong kong has been coupled with a condition about the payment of duties, which would render that island not a possession of the british crown, but, like macao, a settlement held by sufferance in the territory of the crown of china. viscount palmerston deems it his duty in laying these papers before your majesty, to state some few of the objections which he feels to the arrangement, but the cabinet will have to consider, as soon as they meet after the recess, what advice they may wish humbly to tender to your majesty upon these important matters. there is no doubt, however, that much has been accomplished, but it is very mortifying to find that other things which the plenipotentiaries were ordered to obtain, and which the force placed at their command was amply sufficient to enable them to accomplish, have not been attained. viscount palmerston has sent a small map of the canton river, which your majesty may like to keep for future reference. [footnote : captain elliot, after capturing the chinese position at the mouth of canton river, concluded a preliminary treaty with the chinese government, which did not satisfy the chinese, and which was strongly disapproved of by the english ministry, as containing no mention of the opium traffic, which had been the cause of all the difficulties; elliot was accordingly recalled, and succeeded by sir henry pottinger.] [footnote : they were the cession of hong-kong, and payment of an indemnity of , , dollars to great britain, with provision for commercial facilities and collection of customs.] [footnote : the native canton merchants,--hong here probably meaning a "row of houses," a "street." hong kong (hiang kiang) means the "fragrant lagoon."] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th april ._ my dearest uncle,--i thank you much for your kind letter of the th, received yesterday. i have just heard from stockmar (who, i hope, reported favourably of us all) that your ministry is at _last_ settled, of which i wish you joy. i think, dear uncle, that you would find the east not only as "absurd" as the west, but very barbarous, cruel, and dangerous into the bargain. the chinese business vexes us much, and palmerston is deeply mortified at it. _all_ we wanted might have been got, if it had not been for the unaccountably strange conduct of charles elliot (_not admiral_ elliot,[ ] for _he_ was obliged to come away from ill-health), who completely disobeyed his instructions and _tried_ to get the _lowest_ terms he could.... the attack and storming of the chorempee forts on the th of january was very gallantly done by the marines, and immense destruction of the chinese took place.[ ] the accounts of the cruelty of the chinese to one another are horrible. albert is so much amused at my having got the island of hong kong, and we think victoria ought to be called princess of hong kong in addition to princess royal. she drives out every day in a close carriage with the window open, since she has been here, which does her worlds of good, and she is to have a _walk_ to-day. stockmar writes me word that charlotte[ ] is quite beautiful. _i_ am very jealous. i think vecto quite right not to travel without nemours; for it would look just as if she was unhappy, and ran to her parents for help. i am sure _if_ albert ever should be away (which, however, _will_ and _shall never_ happen, for i would go with him even if he was to go to the _north pole_), i should never think of travelling; but i can't make mamma understand this. now farewell. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : they were both cousins of lord minto, the first lord of the admiralty.] [footnote : commodore bremer very speedily reduced some of the forts, but his further operations were stopped.] [footnote : daughter of king leopold, who married in the archduke ferdinand of austria (afterwards emperor maximilian of mexico).] [pageheading: lord cardigan] [pageheading: army discipline] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. mr labouchere[ ] has desired that the five-pound piece which is about to be issued from the mint should be submitted for your majesty's inspection and approbation. we have had under our consideration at the cabinet the unfortunate subject of the conduct of lord cardigan.[ ] the public feeling upon it is very strong, and it is almost certain that a motion will be made in the house of commons for an address praying your majesty to remove him from the command of his regiment. such a motion, if made, there is very little chance of resisting with success, and nothing is more to be apprehended and deprecated than such an interference of the house of commons with the interior discipline and government of the army. it was also felt that the general order issued by the horse guards was not sufficient to meet the case, and in these circumstances it was thought proper that lord melbourne should see lord hill, and should express to him the opinion of the cabinet, that it was necessary that he should advise your majesty to take such measures as should have the effect of removing lord cardigan from the command of the th hussars. the repeated acts of imprudence of which lord cardigan has been guilty, and the repeated censures which he has drawn down upon himself, form a ground amply sufficient for such a proceeding, and indeed seem imperiously to demand it.[ ] lord melbourne has seen lord hill and made to him this communication, and has left it for his consideration. lord hill is deeply chagrined and annoyed, but will consider the matter and confer again with lord melbourne upon it to-morrow. [footnote : president of the board of trade, afterwards created lord taunton.] [footnote : "within the space of a single twelvemonth, one of his [lord cardigan's] captains was cashiered for writing him a challenge; he sent a coarse and insulting verbal message to another, and then punished him with prolonged arrest, because he respectfully refused to shake hands with the officer who had been employed to convey the affront; he fought a duel with a lieutenant who had left the corps, and shot him through the body; and he flogged a soldier on sunday, between the services, on the very spot where, half an hour before, the man's comrades had been mustered for public worship."--sir g. trevelyan, _life and letters of lord macaulay_, chap. viii.] [footnote : in february he had been acquitted on technical grounds by the house of lords of shooting a captain harvey garnett phipps tuckett. he had accused tuckett of being the author of letters which had appeared in the papers reflecting on his character; a duel on wimbledon common followed, and tuckett was wounded. the evidence, consisting in part of a visiting card, showed that a captain harvey tuckett had been wounded, which was held to be insufficient evidence of identity.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is most anxious upon all subjects to be put in possession of your majesty's full and entire opinions. it is true that this question may materially affect the discipline of the army, by subjecting the interior management of regiments to be brought continually under the inspection and control of the house of commons upon complaints of officers against their superiors, or even of private men against the officers. the danger of the whole of lord cardigan's proceedings has been lest a precedent of this nature should arise out of them. the question is whether it is not more prudent to prevent a question being brought forward in the house of commons, than to wait for it with the certainty of being obliged to yield to it or of being overpowered by it. but of course this cannot be done unless it is consistent with justice and with the usage and prestige of the service. lord melbourne has desired the cabinet ministers to assemble here to-day at four o'clock, in order to consider the subject. lord melbourne has seen lord hill again this morning, and lord hill has seen and consulted the duke of wellington, who has stated his opinion very fully. the opinion of the duke is that the punishment on sunday was a great impropriety and indiscretion upon the part of lord cardigan, but not a military offence, nor a breach of the mutiny act or of the articles of war; that it called for the censure of the commander-in-chief, which censure was pronounced by the general order upon which the duke was consulted before it was issued, and that according to the usage of the service no further step can be taken by the military authorities. this opinion lord melbourne will submit to-day to the cabinet ministers. lord melbourne perceives that he has unintentionally written upon two sheets of paper, which he hopes will cause your majesty no inconvenience. [pageheading: the nottingham election] _lord melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has himself seen the result of the election at nottingham[ ] without the least surprise, from his knowledge of the place and his observation of the circumstances of the contest. what john russell reported to your majesty was the opinion of those who act for us in that place, but as soon as lord melbourne saw that there was a disposition upon the part of the violent party, radicals, chartists, and what not, to support the tory candidate, he knew that the contest was formidable and dubious. the tory party is very strong, naturally, at nottingham, and if it received any accession of strength, was almost certain to prevail. this combination, or rather this accession of one party to the tories, which has taken place at nottingham, is very likely, and in lord melbourne's opinion almost certain, to take place in many other parts of the country in the case of a general election, and forms very serious matter for consideration as to the prudence of taking such a step as a dissolution of the parliament. lord melbourne will wait upon your majesty after the levée. it signifies not how late, as there is no house of lords. [footnote : where mr walter, a tory, was elected with a majority of .] [pageheading: the budget] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ st may ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that mr baring yesterday brought forward the budget in a remarkably clear and forcible speech. the changes in the duties on sugar and timber,[ ] and the announcement made by lord john russell of a proposal for a fixed duty on corn, seemed to surprise and irritate the opposition. sir robert peel refused to give any opinion on these propositions, and satisfied himself with attacking the government on the state of the finances. the supporters of the government were greatly pleased with mr baring's plan, and loud in their cheers. it is the general opinion that lord stanley will not proceed with his bill,[ ] and there seems little doubt of this fact. but the two parties are now evenly balanced, and the absence or defection of some two or three of the ministerial party may at any time leave the government in a minority. [footnote : the proposals were to increase the duty on colonial timber from _s._ to _s._ a load, reducing it on foreign timber from _s._ to _s._, to leave the duty on colonial sugar unloaded at _s._ a cwt., reducing that on foreign sugar from _s._ to _s._ a cwt.] [footnote : on irish registration.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ rd may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. we decided at the cabinet on friday that we could not sanction the agreement which captain elliot has probably by this time concluded with the government of china, but that it would be necessary to demand a larger amount of indemnity for the past injury, and also a more complete security for our trade in future. for this purpose it was determined to send out instructions, in case the armament should not have left the chinese coasts and have been dispersed, to reoccupy the island of chusan,[ ] a measure which appears to have had a great effect upon the minds of the chinese government. it was also determined to recall captain elliot, and to send out as soon as possible another officer with full instructions from hence as to the views and intentions of your majesty's government. sir henry pottinger,[ ] an officer in the east india company's service, much distinguished in the recent operations in afghanistan, is designated with your majesty's approbation for this service, which he has signified his willingness to undertake. it was also thought that it would be proper to entrust lord auckland[ ] with general discretionary powers as to the further conduct of the expedition. these determinations lord melbourne hopes that your majesty will approve. lord john russell informed lord melbourne yesterday that he knew that it was not the intention of the opposition to press lord stanley's bill; but it is not to be expected in the present position of affairs that they will not determine upon taking some decisive and united measure in advance. in the present state of public measures and of public feeling, when debate may arise at any moment, it would not be fitting for lord melbourne to absent himself on any sitting day from the house of lords. but unless there should be anything so urgent as to prevent him, he will come down after the house on tuesday evening and stay until thursday morning. fanny is highly delighted and immeasurably grateful for your majesty's offer of the lodge in richmond park, and most desirous to avail herself of your majesty's kindness, and so is jocelyn. lord melbourne has little doubt that they will thankfully accept it.[ ] [footnote : the island of chusan, off the coast of china, had been occupied in july as a base of operations, but evacuated by elliot in . it was retaken in september , after elliot's recall, by sir henry pottinger.] [footnote : he had served in the mahratta war, and been political agent in scinde.] [footnote : governor-general of india.] [footnote : lady fanny cowper, lord melbourne's niece, was married to lord jocelyn on th april.] [pageheading: christening of comte de paris] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ paris, _ rd may ._ my beloved victoria,--as you know surely already, the day of yesterday went off very well. the christening[ ] was very splendid, the weather beautiful, and everything extremely well managed.... the arrival at notre-dame, and the _coup d'[oe]il_ of the old church, all hung interiorly with crimson velvet draperies and trophies of flags, was very splendid. there was in the church three rows _de tribunes_ all full of well-dressed people. _les grands corps de l'État étaient rangés de chaque côté et dans le ch[oe]ur; l'autel était placé au centre de l'église. les cardinaux et tout le clergé étaient alentour._ when my father arrived, the archbishop of paris received him at the door of the church, and we all walked in state. my father _ouvrait la marche_ with the queen. _prie-dieu_ and chairs were disposed for us _en demi-cercle_ before the altar, or rather before the baptismal font, which was placed in front of it, in the very middle of the church. my father and mother stood in the centre of the row near each other. your uncle, chartres, and all the princes followed on the side of my father, and the princesses on the side of my mother. paris remained with hélène till the moment of the christening. when the ceremony began he advanced near the font with my father and mother (sponsors), and was taken up in the arms of his nurse. after the christening a mass and _te deum_ were read, and when we came back to the tuileries the _corps municipal_ brought the sword which the city of paris has given to the comte de paris.... [footnote : of the comte de paris, at this time nearly three years old, son of the duc d'orléans.] [pageheading: the sugar duties] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th may ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that lord stanley yesterday postponed his bill for a fortnight, which at this period of the year is equivalent to its abandonment. on the other hand, lord sandon gave a notice for friday for a resolution on sugar duties. if, as is probable, this motion is made as a party movement, it is probable that, with the addition of those on the ministerial side who have an interest in the west indies, the motion will be successful. the whole scheme of finance for the year will thus be overturned. the tory party seem to expect a dissolution of parliament, but your majesty's advisers will hardly be able to recommend to your majesty such a step. the cry against the poor law is sure to be taken up by the worst politicians of the tory party, and, as at nottingham, may be successful against that most useful law. the friends of government who represent counties will be taunted with the proposal to alter the corn law. bribery is sure to be resorted to beyond anything yet seen. a defeat of the ministry on a dissolution would be final and irreparable. on the other hand, their successors in the government would have to provide for the excess in the expenditure pledged against the best measures that could be resorted to for the purpose. it would be a difficulty of their own seeking, and their want of candour and justice to their opponents would be the cause of their own embarrassments. the moment is a very important one, and the consequences of the vote of friday, or probably monday, cannot fail to be serious. [pageheading: a ministerial crisis] _memorandum by mr anson._ _"the ministry in jeopardy." (heading in the prince albert's hand.)_ windsor castle, _ th may ._ lord melbourne came down from town after the house of lords. i went with him to his room for an hour after the queen had retired. he said the main struggle would take place on the sugar duties on friday. his impression was that the government would be beat, and he must then decide whether to go out or dissolve. he leaned to the former. i said, "i trusted he would not dissolve unless he thought there was some prospect of increasing his strength, and begged him to remember what was done would not be considered the act of the government but that of himself and the queen, and that he individually would be held as the responsible person." he said he had not written to the queen to prepare h.m. for coming events and the course that it would be incumbent upon her to take, for he felt it extremely difficult and delicate, especially as to the use she should make of the prince, and of her mode of communication when she required it with lord melbourne. he thought she ought never to ask his advice direct, but if she required his opinion there would be no objection to her obtaining it through the prince. he said h.m. had relied so implicitly upon him upon all affairs, that he felt that she required in this emergency advice upon almost every subject. that he would tell h.m. that she must carefully abstain from playing the same part she did, again, on sir r. peel's attempt to form a ministry, for that nothing but the forbearance of the tories had enabled himself and his colleagues to support h.m. at that time. he feared peel's doggedness and pertinacity might make him insist, as a point of honour, on having all discretion granted to him in regard to the removal of ladies. i told him of the prince's suggestion that before the queen saw sir r. peel some negotiation might be entered into with sir robert, so that the subject might be avoided by mutual consent, the terms of which might be that sir robert should give up his demand to extort the principle. the queen, on the other hand, should require the resignation of those ladies objected to by sir robert. lord melbourne said, however, that the prince must not have personal communication with sir robert on this subject, but he thought that i might through the medium of a common friend. [pageheading: lord melbourne's advice] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th may ._ saw lord melbourne after his interview this morning with the queen. he says her majesty was perfectly calm and reasonable, and seemed quite prepared for the resignation of the government. he said she was prepared to give way upon the ladies if required, but much wished that that point might be previously settled by negotiation with sir r. peel, to avoid any discussion or difference. lord melbourne thinks i might do this. he would also like peel to be cautioned not to press her majesty to decide hastily, but to give her majesty time, and that he should feel that if he acted fairly he would be met in the same spirit by the queen. with regard to future communication with lord melbourne, the queen said she did not mean that a change should exclude her from lord melbourne's society, and when lord melbourne said that in society her majesty could not procure lord melbourne's opinion upon any subject, and suggested that that should be obtained through the prince, her majesty said that that could pass in writing under cover to me, but that she must communicate direct. the queen, he says, leans to sending for the duke of wellington. lord melbourne advised that her majesty should make up her mind at once to send for sir robert. he told me that it would not be without precedent to send for both at once; this it appears to me would obviate every objection. the queen, he thinks, has a perfect right to exercise her judgment upon the selection of all persons recommended to her majesty for household appointments, both as to liking, but chiefly as to their character and as to the character of the husband or wife of the person selected. he would advise the queen to adopt the course which king william did with lord melbourne in , viz. desiring lord melbourne, before his majesty approved of any appointments, to send a list of those proposed even to the members of every board, and the king having them all before him expressed his objections to certain persons, which lord melbourne yielded to. told lord melbourne that the prince wished him to impress upon the queen's mind not to act upon the approaching crisis without the prince, because she would not be able to go through difficulties by herself, and the prince would not be able to help her when he was ignorant of the considerations which had influenced her actions. he would wish lord melbourne when with the queen to call in the prince, in order that they might both be set right upon lord melbourne's opinions, that he might express in the presence of each other his views, in order that he should not convey different impressions by speaking to them separately, so that _they_ might act in concert. the prince says the queen always sees what is right at a glance, but if her feelings run contrary she avoids the prince's arguments, which she feels sure agree with her own, and seeks arguments to support her wishes against her convictions from other people. [pageheading: dissolution or resignation] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and laments much the prospect that lies before us, more especially as it is so repugnant to your majesty's feelings. your majesty has often observed that these events must come in the course of affairs at some moment or another, but lord melbourne knows not whether it is much consolation to reflect that what is very disagreeable is also natural and unavoidable. lord melbourne feels certain that your majesty will consider the situation calmly and impartially, will do that which shall appear the best for your own interests and those of the country, which are identical. everything shall be done that can be; the questions which may arise shall be considered well, and upon as full information as can be obtained. but lord melbourne has little to add to what he wrote to your majesty yesterday. so many interests are affected by this sugar question, the west indian, the east indian, the opponents of slavery and others, that no small number of our supporters will be induced either to stay away or to vote against us, and this must place us in a minority upon the main points of our budget. in this we can hardly acquiesce, nor can we adopt a different policy and propose other taxes, when in our opinion the necessary revenue can be raised without imposing them. this state of things imposes upon us the alternative of dissolution or of resignation, and to try the former without succeeding in it would be to place both your majesty and ourselves in a worse situation than that in which we are at present. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. we have been considering this question of dissolution at the cabinet, and we have had before us a general statement of the public returns for england and wales. it is not very favourable, but lord melbourne fears that it is more favourable than the reality would prove. the chancellor,[ ] palmerston, and hobhouse are strongly for dissolution, but the opinion of the majority is the other way, and in that opinion lord melbourne is strongly inclined to agree. lord melbourne will have the honour of waiting upon your majesty to-morrow at three. [footnote : the earl of cottenham.] [pageheading: sir robert peel] _memorandum by mr anson._ notes upon an interview with sir robert peel (no. ).[ ] _ th may ._ told sir robert that i had wished to have sought him through the medium of a common friend, which would have given him a greater confidence than i had now a right to expect at his hands, but i felt upon so delicate a mission it was safer, and would be more in accordance with his wishes, to come direct. that the prince had sent me to him, with the object of removing difficulties upon his coming into office. that her majesty was anxious that the question of the removal of the ladies of the bedchamber should not be revived, and would wish that in any personal communication with sir robert this question might be avoided. that it might be arranged that if sir robert would not insist upon carrying out his principle, her majesty might procure the resignation of any ladies whom sir robert might object to; that i thought there might be a disposition to yield to the removal of the mistress of the robes, lady normanby, and the duchess of bedford, as being connected with leading political persons in government. endeavoured to impress upon sir robert that if he acts fairly and kindly towards the queen, he will be met in the same spirit. sir robert said he had considered the probable object of my interview, and thought, from my former position with lord melbourne, that lord melbourne would be aware of my coming. he must be assured of this before he could speak confidentially to me. upon this i admitted that lord melbourne had knowledge of my intention, but that i was not authorised to say that he had. sir robert said, "i shall put aside all form, and treat you frankly and confidentially. you may depend upon every word you say being held as sacred. no part, without further permission, shall be mentioned even to the duke, much less to any of my other colleagues. "_i would waive every pretension to office, i declare to god! sooner than that my acceptance of it should be attended with any personal humiliation to the queen._" he thought that giving in the names of those ladies whom he considered obnoxious was an offensive course towards the queen. for the sake of office, which he did not covet, he could not concede any constitutional principle, but it was not necessary that that principle should be mooted. "it would be repulsive to my feelings that her majesty should part with any of her ladies, as the _result of a forced stipulation on my part_; in a party sense it would doubtless be advantageous to me to say that i had demanded from the queen, and the queen had conceded to me the appointments of these three ladies." the mode he would like, and which he considered as least objectionable for her majesty, was for her majesty to say to him, "there is no occasion to revive this constitutional question, as those ladies immediately connected with prominent members of the administration have sent in their resignation." the vacancies existing before sir robert peel sees her majesty, there is no necessity for discussion. on the one hand, by this means, there was less appearance of insult to the queen, and on the other, there was no appearance of concession of principle upon his. sir robert was ready to make any personal sacrifice for her majesty's comfort, except that of his honour. "can the queen for an instant suppose that i would permit my party to urge me on to insist upon anything incompatible with her majesty's dignity, which it would be my great aim and honour to defend?" [this was his indignant reply to my remark upon the rumours that his party would press him to coerce and subdue her majesty.] sir robert thinks it better for the queen to avoid anything in the shape of a stipulation. he would like what he would have done upon a former occasion (and upon which, on the honour of a gentleman, his views had undergone no change) to be taken as a test of what he would be ready to concede to. nothing but misconception, he said, could in his opinion have led to failure before. "_had the queen told me_" (after the question was mooted, which it never need have been) "_that those three ladies immediately connected with the government had tendered their resignation, i should have been perfectly satisfied_, and should have consulted the queen's feelings in replacing them." sir robert said this conversation shall remain sacred, and to all effect, as if it had never happened, until he saw me again to-morrow morning. there is nothing said, he added, which in any way pledges or compromises the queen, the prince, or lord melbourne. [footnote : see parker's _sir robert peel_, vol. ii. p. , _et seq._, where peel's memorandum of the interview is set out.] [pageheading: sir robert peel] [pageheading: household appointments] _memorandum by mr anson._ interview with sir robert peel (no. ). _ th may ._ peel said: "it is essential to my position with the queen that her majesty should understand that i have the feelings of a gentleman, and where my duty does not interfere, i cannot act against her wishes. her majesty doubtless knows how pressed i am as the head of a powerful party, but the impression i wish to create in her majesty's mind is, that i am bound to defend her against their encroachments." in regard to household appointments the holders of which are not in parliament, he had not considered the question, but in the meantime he would in no way commit himself to anyone, or to any understanding upon the subject, without previous communication. he had no personal objects to serve, and the queen's wishes would always be consulted. he again repeated, that if the queen's personal feelings would suffer less by forming an administration to his exclusion, he should not be offended. private life satisfied him, and he had no ambition beyond it. lord melbourne might rest assured that _he_ fully appreciated his aim, that his only object was to do that which was most for her majesty's advantage, and no human being should know that he was privy to this overture. lord melbourne might depend upon his honour. if lord melbourne was pressed to a dissolution he should still feel the same impression of lord melbourne's conduct, that it was honourable and straightforward. he wished the prince to send him a list of those ladies whom it would be agreeable to her majesty to have in her household. sir robert must propose it to the ladies, but will be entirely guided by her majesty's wishes. there should be no appearance that her majesty has any understanding, as he was bound to his party to make it appear that the appointments emanated from himself.[ ] [footnote : there was a further interview on the following day at which various detailed points were arranged.] _memorandum by the queen._ _ th may ._ the queen considers it her right (and is aware that her predecessors were peculiarly tenacious of this right) to appoint her household. she, however, gives up the great officers of state and those of her lords-in-waiting, equerries, and grooms-in-waiting, who are _in parliament_, to the appointment of the prime minister, subject to her approval. the queen has _always_ appointed her _ladies of the bedchamber herself_, but has generally mentioned their names to the prime minister before appointing them, in order to leave him room for objection in case he should deem their appointment injurious to his government, when the queen would probably not appoint the lady. the maids of honour and women of the bedchamber are of course not included amongst those who are mentioned to the prime minister before their appointment, but are at once appointed by the queen. [pageheading: pressure of business] _extract from the queen's journal._ _wednesday, th may ._ "at seven minutes to five lord melbourne came to me and stayed till half-past five. he gave me the copies of anson's conversations with peel. lord melbourne then gave me a letter from the chancellor to read, strongly advocating a dissolution, and wishing that there should be a division also on lord john russell's amendment.[ ] "lord melbourne left the letter with me. the first part of the letter, relative to lord john's amendment, we think good, but the other part we can't quite agree in. 'there is to be a cabinet to-morrow to consider what is to be done,' said lord melbourne, 'for the chancellor's opinion must be considered. there is a preferment amongst our people for dissolution,' lord m. added. the feeling in the country good. i asked lord m., 'must they resign directly, the next day, after the division (if they intended resigning)?' 'why,' he said, 'it was awkward _not_ to do so if parliament was sitting; if the division were only to take place on friday, then they needn't announce it till monday,' which we hope will be the case, as we agreed it wouldn't do for me to have a ball the day lord m. had resigned, and before i had sent for anybody else, and therefore i hoped that it could be managed that the division did not take place till friday. lord m. said that in case they resigned, he wished vernon smith[ ] to be made a privy councillor; the only addition to the peers he mentioned the other day he wished to make is surrey;[ ] we agreed that too many peers was always a bad thing." [footnote : to lord sandon's resolution on the sugar duties.] [footnote : robert vernon smith ( - ), under-secretary for war and the colonies, afterwards lord lyveden.] [footnote : the earl of surrey ( - ) was now m.p. for west sussex, and treasurer of the household, and was afterwards thirteenth duke of norfolk.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th may ._ ... i am sure you will forgive my writing a very short letter to-day, but i am so harassed and occupied with business that i cannot find time to write letters. you will, i am sure, _feel_ for me; the probability of parting from so kind and excellent a being as lord melbourne as a _minister_ (for a _friend_ he will _always_ remain) is very, _very_ painful, even if one feels it will not probably be for long; to take it philosophically is my great wish, and _quietly_ i certainly shall, but one cannot help _feelings_ of affection and gratitude. albert is the greatest possible comfort to me in every way, and my position is much more independent than it was before. i am glad you see the french feeling in the right light. i rejoice that the christening, etc., went off so well. believe me, ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: question of dissolution] _extract from the queen's journal._ _thursday, th may ._ "saw lord melbourne at a little past four. "... 'we have had a cabinet,' lord melbourne said, 'and we have been considering the question of dissolution and what is the best course to be pursued; if we were to dissolve, john russell,' he said, 'would pursue quite a different course; he would then announce the sugar duties at once. i (lord melbourne) said, that i had been considering well the whole question, and the chancellor's letter, but that altogether i did not think it advisable to have recourse to a dissolution--and i think the greater part lean towards that opinion; but there _are_ a few who are very much for a dissolution--the chancellor and hobhouse very much so, and palmerston. they have, however, not quite finally decided the matter. i understand the debate will certainly go over to-night,' he said, 'and that they would have time on saturday and sunday to consider about lord john's amendment.'" _extract from the queen's journal._ _saturday, th may ._ "lord melbourne came to me at twenty minutes past one, and we talked about this question of dissolution. 'we shall have a long debate upon it this morning at the cabinet,' lord melbourne said. 'the worst thing is, that if we carry the sugar duties, we must dissolve. if we were to dissolve,' he continued, 'and were to have the parties equal as they are now, it would be very bad; if we _were_ to have a _majority_, it would be a great thing; _but_ if we were to have a minority it would be still worse.... we know that charles i. and charles ii., and even cromwell, appealed to the country, and had a parliament returned into their very teeth' (so strong an opposition), 'and that produced deposition, and convulsion, and bloodshed and death; but since then the crown has always had a majority returned in favour of it. even queen anne,' he continued, 'who removed marlborough in the midst of his most glorious victories and dissolved parliament, had an immense majority, though her measures were miserable; william iv.,' he said, 'even though he had a majority against him which prevented him from keeping his ministers, had a much stronger feeling for him in that parliament, than he ever had before. but i am afraid,' he added, 'that for the first time the crown would have an opposition returned smack against it; and that would be an affront to which i am very unwilling to expose the crown.' this is very true." [pageheading: king leopold's sympathy] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ tuileries, _ th may ._ my dearest victoria,--i am deeply grateful for your kind letter, which reached me this morning. letters from hence ought not to be longer on their way than, at the longest, forty hours; forty-eight is the maximum. i fear that they are delayed at the foreign office; here it cannot be, as for instance these lines go this evening. i can easily understand that the present crisis must have something very painful for you, and you will do well for your health and comfort to try to take it as philosophically as possible; it is a part of the constitutional system which is for the sovereign very hard to get over. _nous savons tous des paroles sur cet air_, as the french say. i was convinced that lord melbourne's right and good feeling would make him pause before he proposed to you a dissolution. a general election in england, when great passions must be roused or created to render it efficacious for one party or another, is a dangerous experiment, always calculated to shake the foundations on which have hitherto reposed the great elements of the political power of the country. albert will be a great comfort to you, and to hear it from yourself has given me the sincerest delight. his judgment is good, and he is mild and safe in his opinions; they deserve your serious attention; young as he is, i have really often been quite surprised how quick and correct his judgment is.... [pageheading: tory dissensions] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th may ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that the general effect of last week's debate[ ] has been greatly in favour of the measures of your majesty's ministers. the speeches of mr labouchere, sir george grey, and lord howick, with the powerful argument of the chancellor of the exchequer on friday night, have not been met by any corresponding ability on the other side. in fact the opposition seem to have concealed their own views of policy, and to have imagined that the anti-slavery feeling would carry them through successfully. but this expectation has been entirely disappointed; debate has unmasked the hollow pretence of humanity, and the meetings at exeter hall and in the country have completely counteracted the impressions which dr lushington's speech[ ] had produced. lancashire, cheshire, and the west riding of yorkshire have been roused to strong excitement by the prospect of a reduction of the duty on corn. several of the large towns have expressed their opinions without distinction of party. these symptoms are said to have created some dissensions among the opponents of your majesty's present government. sir robert peel, lord stanley, and nearly all the eminent leaders of the party, profess their adherence to the principles of mr huskisson.[ ] on the other hand, the duke of buckingham,[ ] with many lords and commoners, is opposed to any relaxation of the present corn laws. this difference must ultimately produce serious consequences, and it is possible they may break out before the present debate is ended. one consequence of the propositions of the ministry is the weakening of the power of the chartists, who have relied on the misrepresentation that neither whigs nor tories would ever do anything for the improvement of the condition of the working classes. all these circumstances have a bearing on the question of a dissolution of parliament, and are to be weighed against the risks and inconveniences of so bold a measure. [footnote : on lord sandon's resolution.] [footnote : against the budget, on the ground that it tended to encourage slavery.] [footnote : which were opposed to protection and the navigation laws.] [footnote : richard plantagenet ( - ), second duke of the creation, m.p. for bucks - , and author of the "chandos clause," became lord privy seal this year, but resigned shortly after. he dissipated his property, and had to sell the contents of stowe.] [pageheading: the queen's journal] _extract from the queen's journal._ _monday, th may ._ "lord melbourne came to me at twenty minutes to three. there were no _new_ news. he gave me a letter from the duke of roxburgh,[ ] saying he could not support government on the corn laws, and writing an unnecessarily cold letter. lord melbourne fears this would lose roxburgh in case of an election. a great many of the friends of the government, however, are against any alteration in the corn laws. talked of the excellent accounts from the country with which the papers are full, and i said i couldn't help thinking the government would gain by a dissolution, and the feeling in the country so strong, and daily increasing. they would lose the counties, lord melbourne thinks, and the question is whether their successes in the manufacturing towns would be sufficient to counterbalance that. the debate may last longer, lord melbourne says, as j. russell says he will continue it as long as their friends wish it. many of their friends would be very angry if we did not dissolve, lord melbourne says. 'i say always,' said lord melbourne, 'that your majesty will be in such a much worse position' (if a majority should be returned against us), 'but they say not, for that the others would dissolve.' i said that if that was so we _must dissolve_, for then that it would come to just the same thing, and that that changed my opinion very much. 'you would like us then to make the attempt?' lord melbourne asked. i said 'almost.' i asked if he really thought they would dissolve. 'i've great reason to believe they would,' he replied. 'hardinge[ ] told vivian[ ] "we shall prevent _your_ dissolving, but _we shall_ dissolve."' ... i asked did lord melbourne think they (the conservatives) would remain in long, and melbourne said: 'one can't tell beforehand what may happen, but you would find their divisions and dissensions amongst themselves sufficient to prevent their staying in long.' ... "saw lord john russell, who didn't feel certain if the debate would end to-night. talked of the very good feeling in the country. he said he understood sir edward knatchbull[ ] was exceedingly displeased at what peel had said concerning free trade, and said in that case peel would be as bad as the present government. he thinks the tories, if in power, might try and collect the sugar duties without law, which would do them a great deal of harm and be exceedingly unpopular. he does _not_ think the tories intend _certainly_ to dissolve. he thinks they would not dissolve now, and that they would hereafter get so entangled by their own dissensions, as to render it unfavourable to them." [footnote : james, sixth duke. the duchess was afterwards a lady of the bedchamber.] [footnote : sir henry hardinge ( - ) had been secretary at war, and chief secretary for ireland, under former tory governments.] [footnote : master-general of the ordnance.] [footnote : m.p. for east kent. he became paymaster-general in peel's cabinet.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th may ._ ... i was sure you would feel for me. since last monday, the th, we have lived in the daily expectation of a final event taking place, and the debate _still_ continues, and it is not certain whether it will even finish to-night, this being the eighth night, it having begun on friday the th, two saturdays and two sundays having intervened! our plans are so unsettled that i can tell you nothing, only that you may depend upon it nothing will be done without having been duly, properly, and maturely weighed. lord melbourne's conduct is as usual perfect; fair, calm, and totally disinterested, and i am certain that in whatever position he is _you_ will treat him _just_ as you have always done. my dearest angel is indeed a great comfort to me. he takes the greatest interest in what goes on, feeling with and for me, and yet abstaining as he ought from biassing me either way, though we talk much on the subject, and his judgment is, as you say, good and mild.... _p.s._--pray let me hear soon _when_ you come. you, i know, like me to tell you what i hear, and for me to be frank with you. i therefore tell you that it is believed by some people here, and even by some in the government, that _you_ wish my government to be _out_. now, i never for an instant can believe such an assertion, as i know your liberal feelings, and your interest in my welfare and in that of the country too well to think you could wish for such a thing, and i immediately said i was sure this was not so; but i think you would do well to say to seymour something which might imply interest in my present government. i know you will understand my anxiety on your account, lest such a mischievous report should be believed. it comes, you see, from the idea that your feelings are very french. [pageheading: the corn laws] _extract from the queen's journal._ _tuesday, th may ._ "saw lord melbourne.[ ] he said lord john russell had been to see him, and, 'he now wishes us not to resign, but to give notice immediately of a motion on the corn laws. this, he thinks, will make the others propose a vote of confidence, or make them oppose the sugar duties, which, he thinks, will be better for us to resign upon, and when it would be clear to our people that we couldn't dissolve. everybody says it would be a very bad thing for us to resign now, upon such a question as this, and we must consider the party a little.' i said, of course, this would be agreeable to me as it gave us another chance. i said it would be awkward if they resigned thursday, on account of the birthday. lord melbourne said i could wait a day and only send for peel on saturday, that that wouldn't signify to peel, as he could come down to claremont.... i asked, in case they meant to bring on this corn law question, when would they do so. 'perhaps about the th,' lord melbourne said. it would be a more dangerous question, but it would make them (the tories) show their colours, which is a great advantage. he said they prevented sir edward knatchbull from speaking last night." [footnote : after eight days' discussions of lord sandon's motion, the ministers were defeated by to .] [pageheading: resignation postponed] _wednesday, th may._ "at twenty minutes to one came lord melbourne.... i returned him lord john russell's letter, and talked of it, and of john russell's saying the division and peel's speech made it absolutely necessary to decide _to-day_ whether to _resign_ or _dissolve_. i asked what peel had said in his speech about the corn laws. 'i'll tell you, ma'am, what he said,' lord melbourne replied, 'that he was for a sliding duty and not for a fixed duty; but he did not pledge himself as to what rate of duty it should be. i must say,' lord melbourne continued, 'i am still against dissolution. i don't think our chances of success are sufficient.' i replied that i couldn't quite believe that, but that i might be wrong. lord john is for dissolving. '_you_ wish it?' i said i always did. talked of the feeling in the city and in the country being so good. lord melbourne don't think so much of the feeling in the country. talked of the majority of thirty-six having not been more than they expected.... lord melbourne said people thought the debate was lengthened to please me. i said not at all, but that it was more convenient for me. anyhow i need do nothing till saturday. the house of commons was adjourned to the next day, and the house of lords to monday. 'mr baring says,' he said, 'if there was only a majority one way or another, it would be better than this state of complete equality.' "at twenty minutes past four lord melbourne returned. 'well, ma'am,' he said, 'we've considered this question, and both the sides of it well, and at last we voted upon it; and there were--the lord chancellor for dissolution, lord minto[ ] for it, lord normanby against it, but greatly modified; lord john for, lord palmerston for, lord clarendon for, lord morpeth for, lord lansdowne for, labouchere for, hobhouse for, duncannon[ ] for, baring for, macaulay for; and under those circumstances of course i felt i could not but go with them.[ ] lord melbourne was much affected in saying all this. 'so we shall go on, bring on the sugar duties, and then, if things are in a pretty good state, dissolve. i hope you approve?' i said i did highly ... and that i felt so happy to keep him longer. 'you are aware we may have a majority against us?' he said; he means in our election. the sugar duties would probably take a fortnight or three weeks to pass, and they would dissolve in june and meet again in october. he thought they must." [footnote : lord minto was first lord of the admiralty.] [footnote : then first commissioner of land revenue.] [footnote : see sir john hobhouse's account of this cabinet meeting, _edinburgh review_, vol. , p. .] [pageheading: the queen and the church] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st may ._ lord melbourne thinks that what your majesty proposes to say will do very well, but it is thought best to say "church as reformed" at the reformation. if your majesty could say this, it would be well: "i am very grateful for your congratulations on the return of this day. i am happy to take this opportunity of again expressing to you my firm determination to maintain the church of england as settled at the reformation, and my firm belief in her articles and creeds, as hitherto understood and interpreted by her soundest divines." nothing could go off better than the dinner. everybody was much pleased with the prince. lord melbourne is not conscious of having slept.[ ] [footnote : it seems that some one had told the queen that lord melbourne had fallen asleep at dinner.] [pageheading: feeling in france] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ brussels, _ th may ._ my dearest victoria,--i receive this very moment your dear letter of the th, and without loss of time i begin my answer here, though the messenger can only go to-morrow. i cannot _sufficiently_ express to you my _gratitude_ for the frankness with which you have written to me--and let me entreat you, whenever you have anything _sur le c[oe]ur_, to _do the same_. i shall begin with your postscript concerning the idea that i wished your present ministers to retire, because they had become disagreeable to france. the people who _avancent quelque chose de la sorte_ probably have some ill-natured motive which it is not always easy to guess; perhaps in the present instance does it mean, let us say, _that?_ whatever opinion he may then express we can easily counteract it, representing it as the result of _strong partiality to france_. let us therefore examine what france has to gain in a change of administration. certainly your present ministers are _not_ much loved _now_ in france, not so much in consequence of the political events of last year themselves, than for the _manner_ in which they came to pass. nevertheless, when i was at paris, king and council were decided to sign the treaty with the four other powers, which would put an end to the _isolement_, though many people are stoutly _for the isolement_. there end the relations which will exist for some time between the two countries--they will be on _decent_ terms; that is all i wish for the present, and it is matter of moonshine who your ministers are. no doubt, formerly there existed such a predilection in favour of lord grey's[ ] administration and those who continued it, that the coming in of the tories would have been considered as a great public calamity; but even now, though this affection is gone, the tories will also be looked on with some suspicion. lord melbourne's administration has had the great merit of being liberal, and at the same time prudent, conservative in the good sense of the word, preserving what was good. monarchy, by an adherence to this system, was very safe, and the popular liberal cry needless. [footnote : - .] [pageheading: king leopold's advice] (_continued at_) laeken, _ st may._ i regret that the corn question was brought forward somewhat abruptly;[ ] it is a dangerous one, as it roused the most numerous and poorest classes of society, and may easily degenerate into bloodshed. the dissolution under such circumstances would become still more a source of agitation, as it generally always is in england. lord melbourne, i am sure, will think so too. i am delighted by what you say of albert; it is just the proper line for him to take, without biassing you either way, to show you honestly the consequences which in his opinion the one or the other may have. as he has really a very clear and logical judgment, his opinion will be valuable for you. i feel very much for you, and these ministerial complications are of a most painful and perplexing nature, though less in england than on the continent, as the thing is at least better understood. to amuse you a little, and to prove to you how impartial i must be to be in this way accused by both parties, i must tell you that it is said in france that, conjointly with lord melbourne, we _artfully_ ruined the thiers administration,[ ] to the great detriment of the honour and welfare of france. but what is still stranger is, that the younger branches of the family, seeing that my arrival at paris was delayed from time to time, became convinced that _i would not come at all_, and that my intention was to _cut them completely_, not to _compromettre_ myself with england! truly people are strange, and the unnecessary suspicions and stories which they love to have, and to tell, a great bore.... pray have the goodness of giving my _kindest_ regards to lord melbourne. i will love him very _tenderly_ in and out of office, as i am really attached to him. now last, though first, i offer my sincerest wishes on the happy return of your birthday; may every blessing be always bestowed on your beloved head. you possess _much_, let your warm and honest heart _appreciate_ that. let me also express the hope that you always will maintain your _dear character true_ and _good_ as it is, and let us also humbly express the hope that our warmth of feeling, a valuable gift, will not be permitted to grow occasionally a little violent, and particularly not against your uncle. you may pull albertus by the ear, when so inclined, but be never irritated against your uncle. but i have _not to complain_ when other people do not instigate such things; you have always been kind and affectionate, and when you look at my deeds for you, and on behalf of you, these twenty-two years, i think you will not have many hardships to recollect. i am happy to hear of my god-daughter's teeth, and that she is so well. may god keep the whole dear little family well and happy for ever. my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the ministerial proposal of a fixed duty instead of a sliding scale.] [footnote : the thiers government had resigned in the preceding october, owing to the king objecting to the warlike speech which they wished him to pronounce to the chambers. the soult-guizot cabinet was accordingly formed.] [pageheading: sir robert peel] _memorandum of mr anson's last secret interview with sir r. peel._ (no. .) _sunday, rd may ._ called upon sir robert peel this morning. i said i could not feel satisfied without seeing him after the very unexpected course which political affairs had taken. i wished to know that he felt assured, though i trusted there could be no doubt upon his mind, that there had been perfect honesty of purpose on my part towards him, and more especially upon the part of those with whose knowledge i had been acting. i assured sir robert that h.m. had acted in _the most perfect fairness towards him_, and i was most anxious that there should be no erroneous impression upon his mind as to the conduct of either h.m. or the prince. i said (quoting the prince's expression), "that the queen has a natural modesty upon her constitutional views, and when she receives an advice from men like the lord chancellor, lord john russell, mr baring, mr labouchere, and lord clarendon, and knows that they have been weighing the question through so many days, she concludes that her judgment cannot be better than theirs, and that she would do wrong to reject their advice." the prince, i said, however strongly impressed for or against a question, thinks it wrong and impolitic, considering his age and inexperience and his novelty to the country, to press upon the queen views of his own in opposition to those of experienced statesmen. sir robert said he could relieve my mind entirely; that he was convinced that all that had taken place had been with the most perfect honesty; that he had no feeling whatever of annoyance, or of having been ill-used; that, on the contrary, he had the feeling, and should always retain it, of the deepest gratitude to the queen for the condescension which her majesty had been pleased to show him, and that it had only increased his devotion to her majesty's person. he said that much of the reserve which he had shown in treating with me was not on _his own_ account, but that he felt from his own experience that events were by no means certain, and he most cautiously abstained from permitting her majesty in any way to commit herself, or to bind herself by any engagement which unforeseen circumstances might render inconvenient. sir robert said it was very natural to try and remove obstacles which had before created so much confusion, and he was convinced that they would have been practically removed by what had passed. he said that neither lord stanley nor sir james graham knew a word of what had passed. that mr greville had asked his friend mr arbuthnot whether some understanding had not been entered into between lord melbourne and him. that mr arbuthnot had replied that he was certain that nothing of the sort could have passed,[ ] as, if it had, sir robert peel would have informed him (mr arbuthnot) of the fact. again, lady de grey, the night of the ball at the palace, came up to him and said the duke of bedford had been speaking to her about the resignation of the duchess of bedford, and asking her whether she thought it necessary. she volunteered to find out from sir robert whether he thought it requisite. she asked the question, which sir robert tried to evade, but not being able, he said it struck him that if it was a question of doubt the best means of solving it, was for the duke of bedford to ask lord melbourne for his opinion. i added that if the dissolution was a failure, which it was generally apprehended would be the case, i felt convinced that sir robert would be dealt with in the most perfect fairness by her majesty. [footnote : "after i had been told by the duke of bedford that peel was going to insist on certain terms, which was repeated to me by clarendon, i went to arbuthnot, told him melbourne's impression, and asked him what it all meant. he said it was all false, that he was certain peel had no such intentions, but, on the contrary, as he had before assured me, was disposed to do everything that would be conciliatory and agreeable to the queen."--_greville's journal_, th may .] [pageheading: vote of want of confidence] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has to acquaint your majesty that in the house of commons this evening sir robert peel gave notice that on thursday next he would move a resolution to the following effect: "that her majesty's ministers not possessing power sufficient to carry into effect the measures which they considered necessary, their retention of office was unconstitutional and contrary to usage."[ ] these are not the exact words, but they convey the substance. this is a direct vote of want of confidence, and lord melbourne would be inclined to doubt whether it will be carried, and if it is, it certainly will not be by so large a majority as the former vote. when the chancellor of the exchequer moved the resolution upon the sugar duties, sir robert peel seconded the motion, thereby intending to intimate that he did not mean to interfere with the supplies. this course was determined upon at a meeting held at sir r. peel's this morning. [footnote : the closing words of the resolution were as follows: "... that her majesty's ministers do not sufficiently possess the confidence of the house of commons to enable them to carry through the house measures which they deem of essential importance to the public welfare, and that their continuance in office under such circumstances is at variance with the spirit of the constitution."] [pageheading: prospect of dissolution] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th may ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that sir robert peel yesterday brought forward his motion in a remarkably calm and temperate speech. sir john hobhouse and mr macaulay completely exposed the fallacy of his resolution, and successfully vindicated the government. lord worsley[ ] declared he would oppose the resolution, which declaration excited great anger, and produced much disappointment in the tory party. if the debate is carried on till next week, it is probable the ministers may have a majority of one or two. the accounts from the country are encouraging. it does not appear that sir robert peel, even if he carries this motion, intends to obstruct the measures necessary for a dissolution of parliament. [footnote : m.p. for lincolnshire, who had voted for lord sandon's motion.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ st may ._ ... i beg you _not_ to be alarmed about what is to be done; it is _not_ for a party triumph that parliament (_the longest_ that has sat for _many_ years) is to be dissolved; it is the fairest and most constitutional mode of proceeding; and you may trust to the moderation and prudence of my whole government that nothing will be done without due consideration; if the present government get a majority by the elections they will go on prosperously; if not, the tories will come in for a short time. the country is quiet and the people very well disposed. i am happy, dearest uncle, to give you these quieting news, which i assure you are _not_ partial.... [pageheading: king leopold's views] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken _ st may ._ my dearest victoria,--your mother[ ] is safely arrived, though she was received close to ostende by a formidable thunderstorm. i had given directions that everywhere great civilities should be shown her. she stood the fatigues better than i had expected, and is less sleepy than in england. she seems to be pleased with her _séjour_ here, and inclined in fact to remain rather than to go on; but i am sure, when once in germany she will be both pleased and interested by it. it will amuse you to hear from herself her own impressions. i cannot help to add a few political lines. i regret much, i must confess, that the idea of a dissolution has gained ground, and i will try to show in a very few words why i am against it. in politics, a great rule ought to be to rule with the things which one _knows already_, and not to jump into something entirely new of which no one can do more _than guess the consequences._ the present parliament has been elected at a moment most favourable to the present administration after a most popular accession to the throne, everything new and fresh, and with the natural fondness of the great mass of people, a change is always popular; it was known that you were kindly disposed towards your ministers, everything was therefore _à souhait_ for the election of a new parliament. in this respect ministers have nothing like the favourable circumstances which smiled upon them at the last general election. feeling this, they raise a cry, which may become popular and embarrass their antagonists about _cheap_ bread! i do not think this is quite befitting their dignity; such things do for revolutionaries like thiers, or my late ministers.... if the thing rouses the people it may do serious mischief; if not, it will look awkward for the ministers themselves. if you do not grant a dissolution to your present ministers you would have, at the coming in of a new administration, the right to tell them that they must go on with the present parliament; and i have no doubt that they could do so. the statistics of the present house of commons are well known to all the men who sit in it, and to keep it a few years longer would be a real advantage. you know that i have been rather maltreated by the tories, formerly to please george iv., and since i left the country, because i served, in their opinion, on the revolutionary side of the question. i must say, however, that for your service as well as for the quiet of the country, it would be good to give them a trial. if they could not remain in office it will make them quieter for some time. if by a dissolution the conservative interest in the house is too much weakened the permanent interests of the country can but suffer from that. if, on the contrary, the conservatives come in stronger, your position will not be very agreeable, and it may induce them to be perhaps less moderate than they ought to be. i should be very happy if you would discuss these, my _hasty_ views, with lord melbourne. i do not give them for more than what they are, mere _practical_ considerations; but, as far as i can judge of the question, if i was myself concerned i should have no dissolution; if even there was but the very _banale_ consideration, _qu'on sait ce qu'on a, mais qu'on ne sait nullement ce qu'on aura_. the moment is not without importance, and well worthy your earnest consideration, and i feel convinced that lord melbourne will agree with me, that, notwithstanding the great political good sense of the people in england, the machine is so complicated that it should be handled with great care and tenderness. to conclude, i must add that perhaps a permanent duty on corn may be a desirable thing, but that it ought to be sufficiently high to serve as a real protection. it may besides produce this effect, that as it will be necessary, at least at first, to buy a good deal of the to be imported corn with _money_, the currency will be seriously affected by it. the countries which would have a chance of selling would be chiefly poland in all its parts, prussia, austria, and russia, the south of russia on the black sea, and maybe sicily. germany does not grow a sufficient quantity of wheat to profit by such an arrangement; it will besides not buy more from england for the present than it does now, owing to the zollverein,[ ] which must first be altered. but i will not bore you too long, and conclude with my best love to little victoria, of whom her grandmama speaks with raptures. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the duchess of kent had left england for a tour on the continent.] [footnote : after the fall of napoleon, the hopes of many germans for a united national germany were frustrated by the congress of vienna, which perpetuated the practical independence of a number of german states, as well as the predominance within the germanic confederation of austria, a power largely non-german. one of the chief factors in the subsequent unification of germany was the zollverein, or customs union, by which north germany was gradually bound together by commercial interest, and thus opposed to austria. the success of this method of imperial integration has not been without influence on the policies of other lands.] [pageheading: the opposition elated] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ _wilton crescent, th june ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that the house divided about three this morning. for sir robert peel against --- majority the opposition were greatly elated by this triumph. lord stanley, and sir robert peel who spoke last in the debate, did not deny that the crown might exercise the prerogative of dissolution in the present case. but they insisted that no time should be lost in previous debates, especially on such a subject as the corn laws. lord john russell spoke after lord stanley, and defended the whole policy of the administration. after the division he stated that he would on monday propose the remaining estimates, and announce the course which he meant to pursue respecting the corn laws. [pageheading: marriage of lord john russell] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ th june ._ ... now, many thanks for two letters of the st ult. and th june. the former i shall not answer at length, as albert has done so, and i think has given a very _fair_ view of the state of affairs. let me only repeat to you again that you need not be alarmed, and that i think you will be pleased and _beruhigt_ when you talk to our friend lord melbourne on the subject... i fear you will again see nothing of the season, as parliament will probably be dissolved by the st.... as to my letters, dear uncle, i beg to _assure_ you (for lord palmerston was _most indignant_ at the doubt when i once asked) that _none_ of our letters nor any of those _coming_ to us, are ever opened at the foreign office. my letters to brussels and paris are _quite safe_, and all those to germany, which are of any _real_ consequence, i always send through rothschild, which is perfectly _safe_ and very quick. we are, and so is _everybody here_, so charmed with mme. rachel;[ ] she is perfect, _et puis_, such a nice modest girl; she is going to declaim at windsor castle on monday evening. now adieu in haste. believe me, always, your very devoted niece, victoria r. really leopold _must_ come, or i shall _never_ forgive you. [footnote : the young french actress, who made her _début_ in england on th may as hermione in racine's _andromaque._ she was received with great enthusiasm.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is quite well, and has nothing particular to relate to your majesty, at least nothing that presses; except that he is commissioned by lord john russell respectfully to acquaint your majesty that his marriage is settled, and will take place shortly. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ does lord melbourne _really_ mean j. russell's _marriage_? and to whom? [pageheading: visit to nuneham] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ the lady fanny eliot.[ ] lord melbourne did not name her before, nor does not now, because he did not remember her christian name. [footnote : daughter of lord minto. lord melbourne originally wrote _the lady ---- eliot_ at the head of his letter (spelling the surname wrong, which should be elliot). the word "fanny" is written in subsequently to the completion of the letter.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ nuneham,[ ] _ th june ._ affairs go on, and all will take some shape or other, but it keeps one in hot water all the time. in the meantime, however, the people are in the best possible humour, and i never was better received at ascot, which is a great test, and also along the roads yesterday. this is a most lovely place; pleasure grounds in the style of claremont, only much larger, and with the river thames winding along beneath them, and oxford in the distance; a beautiful flower and kitchen garden, and all kept up in perfect order. i followed albert here, faithful to my word, and he is gone to oxford[ ] for the whole day, to my great grief. and here i am all alone in a strange house, with not even lehzen as a companion, in albert's absence, but i thought she and also lord gardner,[ ] and some gentlemen should remain with little victoria for the first time. but it is rather a trial for me. i must take leave, and beg you to believe me always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the house of edward vernon harcourt, archbishop of york.] [footnote : to receive an address at commemoration.] [footnote : alan legge, third and last lord gardner ( - ) was one of the queen's first lords-in-waiting.] [pageheading: the prince visits oxford] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has just received your majesty's letter, and will wait upon your majesty at half-past five. lord melbourne is sorry to hear that your majesty has been at all indisposed. it will suit him much better to wait upon your majesty at dinner to-morrow than to-day, as his hand shows some disposition to gather, and it may be well to take care of it. lord melbourne is very glad to learn that everything went off well at oxford. lord melbourne expected that the duke of sutherland[ ] would not entirely escape a little public animadversion. nothing can be more violent or outrageous than the conduct of the students of both universities upon such occasions; the worst and lowest mobs of westminster and london are very superior to them in decency and forbearance. the archbishop[ ] is a very agreeable man; but he is not without cunning, and lord melbourne can easily understand his eagerness that the queen should not prorogue parliament in person. he knows that it will greatly assist the tories. it is not true that it is universal for the sovereign to go down upon such occasions. george iii. went himself in ; he did not go in , because he had been prevented from doing so by his infirmities for three years before. william iv. went down himself in .[ ] lord melbourne sends a note which he has received from lord normanby upon this and another subject. [footnote : who was, of course, associated with the whig ministry.] [footnote : archbishop vernon harcourt, of york, the queen's host.] [footnote : the queen prorogued parliament in person on nd june.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ my dearest uncle,--a few lines i must write to you to express to you my _very great_ delight at the certainty, god willing, of seeing you all _three_ next week, and to express a hope, and a _great hope_, that you will try and arrive a little earlier on wednesday.... i must again repeat i am so sorry you should come when society is dispersed and at sixes and sevens, and in such a state that naturally i cannot at the moment of the elections invite many tories, as that _tells_ so at the elections. but we shall try and do our best to make it as little dull as we can, and you will kindly take the will for the deed. we came back from nuneham yesterday afternoon. albert came back at half-past five on tuesday from oxford, where he had been enthusiastically received, but the students ... had the bad taste to show their party feeling in groans and hisses when the name of a whig was mentioned, which they ought not to have done in my husband's presence. i must now conclude, begging you ever to believe me, your devoted niece, victoria r. my coiffeur will be quite at louise's disposal, and he can _coiffer_ in any way she likes, if her dresser tells him how she wishes it. [pageheading: lord brougham] [pageheading: letter from lord brougham] _lord brougham to queen victoria._[ ] grafton street, _ th june ._ most gracious sovereign,--i crave leave humbly to approach your majesty and to state in writing what i should have submitted to your royal consideration at an audience, because i conceive that this course will be attended with less inconvenience to your majesty. in the counsel which i ventured with great humility, but with an entire conviction of its soundness, to tender, i cannot be biassed by any personal interest, for i am not a candidate for office; nor by any parliamentary interest, for i have no concern with elections; nor by any factious interest, for i am unconnected with party. my only motive is to discharge the duty which i owe to both the crown and the country. nor am i under the influence of any prejudice against your majesty's servants or their measures; for i charge your majesty's servants with nothing beyond an error, a great error, in judgment, and i entirely approve of the measures which they have lately propounded (with a single exception partially applicable to one of them), while i lament and disapprove of the time and manner of propounding them, both on account of the government and of the measures themselves. i feel myself, madam, under the necessity of stating that the dissolution of the parliament appears to me wholly without justification, either from principle or from policy. they who advise it must needs proceed upon the supposition that a majority will be returned favourable to the continuance of the present administration and favourable to their lately announced policy. on no other ground is it possible that any such advice should be tendered to your majesty. for no one could ever think of such a proceeding as advising the crown to dissolve the parliament in order to increase the force of the opposition to its own future ministers, thus perverting to the mere purposes of party the exercise of by far the most eminent of the royal prerogatives; and i pass over as wholly unworthy of notice the only other supposition which can with any decency be made, when there is no conflict between the two houses, namely, that of a dissolution in entire ignorance of the national opinion and for the purpose of ascertaining to which side it inclines. your majesty's advisers must, therefore, have believed, and they must still believe, that a majority will be returned favourable both to themselves and their late policy. i, on the other hand, have the most entire conviction that there will be a considerable majority against them, and against their policy a majority larger still, many of their supporters having already joined to swell that majority. whoever examines the details of the case must be satisfied that the very best result which the government can possibly hope for is a narrow majority against them--an event which must occasion a second dissolution by whatever ministry may succeed to the confidence of your majesty. but those best acquainted with the subject have no doubt at all that the majority will be much more considerable. i beg leave, madam, humbly to represent to your majesty, in my own vindication for not having laid my opinion before your majesty as soon as i returned from the continent, that when i first heard of the course taken by the government early in may, i formed the opinion which i now entertain, but conceived that i must have mistaken the facts upon which they were acting; and when i arrived twelve days ago i was confirmed in the belief (seeing the fixed resolution taken to dissolve) that i must have been under an erroneous impression as to the probable results of the elections. but i have since found ample reason for believing that my original conviction was perfectly well founded, and that no grounds whatever exist sufficient to make any one who considers the subject calmly, and without the bias of either interest or prejudice, really believe that this ill-fated proceeding can have any other result than lasting injury to your majesty's service, to the progress of sound and just views of policy, and to the influence of those in whom the crown and the country alike should repose confidence. that a number of short-sighted persons whose judgments are warped by exclusive attention to a single subject, or by personal feelings, or by party views (and these narrow and erroneous), may have been loudly clamorous for the course apparently about to be pursued, is extremely possible, and affords no kind of excuse for it. many of these will be the slowest to defend what they have so unfortunately called for; some will be among the first to condemn it when a manifest failure shall have taken place, and general discomfiture shall throw a few local successes into the shade. my advice is humbly offered to your majesty, as removed far above such confined and factious views; as the parent of all your people; as both bound and willing to watch over their true interests; and as charged by virtue of your exalted office with the preservation of the public peace, the furtherance of the prosperity, and the maintenance of the liberties of your subjects. i am, with profound respect, madam, your majesty's faithful and dutiful subject, brougham.[ ] [footnote : mention has been made earlier of the resentment which brougham cherished against his late colleagues, after his exclusion from the whig cabinet, and this letter, on the proposal to dissolve parliament, was, no doubt, prompted by that feeling.] [footnote : parliament, however, notwithstanding this rescript of lord brougham, was dissolved, and the ministry went to the country with the cry of a fixed duty on corn, as against a sliding scale, and they attacked, as monopolists, at once the landowner, who enjoyed protection for his wheat, and the west indian proprietor, who profited by the duty on foreign sugar. the conservatives impugned the general policy of the whig administration. the result, a majority of seventy-six, was an even greater conservative triumph than the most sanguine of the party anticipated.--_see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . (intro note to ch. x)] [pageheading: visit to woburn] _memorandum by mr anson._ woburn abbey, _ th july ._ arrived here last night with the prince and the queen; this is now the second expedition (nuneham being the first) which her majesty has taken, and on neither occasion has the baroness accompanied us. the prince went yesterday through a review of the many steps he had made to his present position--all within eighteen months from the marriage. those who intended to keep him from being useful to the queen, from the fear that he might ambitiously touch upon her prerogatives, have been completely foiled; they thought they had prevented her majesty from yielding anything of importance to him by creating distrust through imaginary alarm. the queen's good sense, however, has seen that the prince has no other object in all he seeks but a means to her majesty's good. the court from highest to lowest is brought to a proper sense of the position of the queen's husband. the country has marked its confidence in his character by passing the regency bill _nem. con._ the queen finds the value of an active right hand and able head to support her and to resort to for advice in time of need. cabinet ministers treat him with deference and respect. arts and science look up to him as their especial patron, and they find this encouragement supported by a full knowledge of the details of every subject. the good and the wise look up to him with pride and gratitude as giving an example, so rarely shown in such a station, of leading a virtuous and religious life. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ rd august ._ ... our little tour was most successful, and we enjoyed it of all things; nothing could be more enthusiastic or affectionate than our reception _everywhere_, and i am happy to hear that our presence has left a favourable impression, which i think will be of great use. the loyalty in this country is certainly _very striking_. we enjoyed panshanger[ ] still more than woburn; the country is quite beautiful, and the house so pretty and _wohnlich_; the picture-gallery and pictures very splendid. the cowpers are such good people too. the visit to brocket naturally interested us very much for our excellent lord melbourne's sake. the park and grounds are beautiful. i can't admit the duke of bedford[ ] ever was radical; god knows! i wish everybody now was a little so! what _is_ to come hangs over me like a baneful dream, as you will easily understand, and when i am often happy and merry, comes and damps it all![ ] but god's will be done! and it is for our best, we _must_ feel, though we can't feel it. i can't say _how_ much we think of our little visit to you, god willing, next year. you will kindly let our good old grandmother[ ] come there to see her dear albert _once again_ before she dies, wouldn't you? and you would get the nemours to come? and you would persuade the dear queen[ ] to come for a little while with clémentine? now farewell! believe me, always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the house of earl cowper.] [footnote : the duke, who had formerly been m.p. for bedfordshire, was inclined to go further in the direction of reform than lord john, yet he applauded the latter's attitude on the occasion of the speech which earned him the nickname of "finality jack."] [footnote : alluding to the ministerial defeat at the polls.] [footnote : the dowager duchess of saxe-gotha-altenburg.] [footnote : marie amélie, queen of the french.] [pageheading: lord melbourne and the garter] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ i went to lord melbourne this morning in his room as he had desired me. he said: "the prince has been urging me to accept the blue riband before i quit office, and i wished to tell you that i am very anxious that this should not be pressed upon me by the queen; it may be a foolish weakness on my part, but i wish to quit office without having any honour conferred upon me; the queen's confidence towards me is sufficiently known without any public mark of this nature. i have always disregarded these honours, and there would be an inconsistency in my accepting this. i feel it to be much better for my reputation that i should not have it forced upon me. mr pitt never accepted an order, and only the cinque ports on being pressed to do so. lord grenville accepted a peerage, but never any other honour or advantage, and i wish to be permitted to retire in like manner. if i was a poor man, i should have no hesitation in receiving money in the shape of place or pension; i _only don't wish_ for place, because i do not _want_ it." in the course of conversation lord melbourne said that he considered it very improbable that he should ever again form a part of any administration. he did not think that a violent course was at all to be apprehended from lord john russell; he said lord john had been far more of a "finality" man than he had, and in the cabinet had always been averse to violent change. he added, "i think you are in error in forming the opinion which you have of him." lord melbourne thought the queen very much disliked being talked _at_ upon religion; she particularly disliked what her majesty termed a _sunday face_, but yet that it was a subject far more thought of and reflected upon than was [thought to be?] the case. [pageheading: a dreaded moment] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ ... lord melbourne well knows the feeling which your majesty describes. the expectation of an event which is dreaded and deprecated, and yet felt to be certain and imminent, presents itself continually to the mind and recurs at every moment, and particularly in moments of satisfaction and enjoyment. it is perhaps no consolation to be told that events of this nature are necessary and incidental to your majesty's high situation, but lord melbourne anxiously hopes that the change, when it does take place, will not be found so grievous as your majesty anticipates, and your majesty may rely that lord melbourne will do everything in his power to reconcile it to your majesty's feelings. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ lord melbourne is very glad to hear of the princess's tooth. lord melbourne is much obliged to your majesty for informing him about the mourning. he is quite well and will be ready when your majesty sends. _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ rd august ._ lord john russell was staying at the castle, and asked to-day for an audience of her majesty, and was closeted for a long time. the prince asked her majesty what lord john came for. the queen said he came about several things, but particularly he wished to impress upon the queen that her majesty should not allow sir robert peel to propose any new grants in parliament, as they (the whigs) could not well oppose it, and this being felt, the whole unpopularity would fall upon the queen's person. an idea existed that the tories were always jobbing with money, and the grant for the building the new stables at windsor had shown how suspicious people were. lord john did not speak clearly out, but on consultation with lord melbourne the queen thought lord john must have alluded to peel having spoken equivocally at the end of his speech relative to the prince's annuity, and would now probably propose a further grant, and would say the time was now come in order to stand well with the queen. the queen replied that she would never allow such a thing to be proposed and that it would be a disgrace to owe any favour to that party. the only answer the prince gave was that these views were _very agreeable_ for him. [pageheading: a carriage accident] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ ... our accident[ ] was not so very bad, and considering that it is the _very first_ that had happened in the course of _five summers_, with _so many_ carriages and horses, one cannot be surprised. i beg leave also to say that i _can_ get out _very_ quick. i am very thankful that you agree to the couriers. i am a little sorry that you have put poor mamma off _so_ late, as she is _very_ much hurt at it, i fear, by what i hear, and accuses me of it. but that will, i trust, be forgiven. you don't say that _you_ sympathise with me in my present heavy trial,[ ] the heaviest i have ever had to endure, and which will be a sad heartbreaking to me--but i know you do feel for me. i am quiet and prepared, but still i fell very _sad_, and god knows! very wretched at times, for myself and my country, that _such_ a change must take place. but god in his mercy will support and guide me through all. yet i feel that my constant headaches are caused by annoyance and vexation! adieu, dearest uncle! god bless you! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the queen had driven to virginia water to see prince albert's beagles hunting, when owing to the hounds running between the horses' legs and frightening them, a pony phaeton and four containing lord erroll, lady ida hay, and miss cavendish was upset. one of the postillions was (not dangerously) hurt.] [footnote : _i.e._, lord melbourne being succeeded by sir robert peel as prime minister.] [pageheading: debate on the address] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. we have just delivered the speech in the house of lords, and the debate will commence at five o'clock. we understand that the amendment is to be a repetition of the motion of want of confidence, which sir robert peel made in the house of commons before the dissolution, and nearly in the same terms. it is to be moved by lord ripon[ ] in the house of lords, and by mr. stuart wortley[ ] in the house of commons. it is understood to be their intention to avoid, as much as possible, debate upon the corn laws, and upon the other topics in the speech, and to place the question entirely upon the result of the general election and the proof which that affords that the ministry does not possess the confidence of the country. lord melbourne thinks that it will not be found easy to repress debate in the house of commons, but would not be surprised if the course which it is intended to pursue should much shorten it in the house of lords. lord melbourne will write again to your majesty after the debate, and will certainly come down to-morrow, unless anything unexpected should occur to prevent him. it will be necessary to receive the address of the convocation in some manner or another. lord melbourne will write confidentially to the archbishop[ ] to learn how it may be received in the quietest manner and with the least trouble. lord melbourne has little doubt that the lords and commons will send their addresses by the officers of the household. lord melbourne entreats your majesty to pick up your spirits. [footnote : the first earl ( - ) who had, as lord goderich, been premier in - .] [footnote : j. stuart wortley ( - ), m.p. for the west riding, afterwards the second lord wharncliffe.] [footnote : dr howley.] [pageheading: cobden's speech] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th august ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that nothing remarkable occurred in the debate of yesterday, except a powerful speech from mr cobden, a manufacturer.[ ] the debate will probably close this evening. no one of the tory leaders, except sir robert peel, appears disposed to speak. should the address be voted to-night, and reported to-morrow, it may be presented to your majesty by lord marcus hill[ ] on saturday. but should the debate be continued over this night, the report of the address can hardly take place till monday. this, however, is not very likely. [footnote : cobden had just been elected for the first time for stockport.] [footnote : son of lord downshire, and m.p. for evesham; afterwards (under a special remainder) the third lord sandys.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. upon his arrival he found that there was no precedent of the house meeting again after an address, without receiving an answer from the crown. lord erroll therefore delivered the answer in the terms which had been submitted by lord melbourne to your majesty, and it appeared to give satisfaction. the debate will probably terminate in the house of commons to-night; at the same time it may not. if it does we must place our resignation in your majesty's hands on saturday, and it must be announced to the houses of parliament on monday. your majesty will then do well not to delay sending for some other person beyond tuesday. lord melbourne will write to your majesty more fully upon all these subjects to-morrow, when he will know the result of the night's debate, and be able more surely to point out the course of events. lord melbourne received the eau-de-cologne, and returns your majesty many thanks for it. lord melbourne understands that the duke of wellington is, in fact, very desirous of having the foreign seals,[ ] and that if your majesty feels any preference for him in that department the slightest intimation of your majesty's wish in that respect will fix him in his desire to have it. [footnote : the duke had been foreign secretary in .] [pageheading: an overwhelming majority] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ wilton crescent, _ th august ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to report that the amendment to the address was carried by , the numbers being-- for the address for the amendment --- --- the tory party proposed that the house should meet this day, and the speaker signified that he should take the chair at twelve o'clock. the address will be carried to windsor by lord marcus hill this evening if then ready. lord john russell takes this opportunity of closing his reports again, to express to your majesty his deep sense of your majesty's goodness towards him. it is his fervent prayer that your majesty may enjoy a long and happy reign. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ ... your majesty must, of course, consider us as having tendered our resignations immediately after the vote of last night, and your majesty will probably think it right to request us to continue to hold our offices and transact the current business until our successors are appointed. lord melbourne will have the honour of writing again to your majesty in the course of the day. [pageheading: the resignation] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ ... albert will not stay for the dinner, and i expect him back at about eleven to-night. he went at half-past eleven this morning. it is the first time that we have ever been separated for so long since our marriage, and i am quite melancholy about it. you will forgive me if i mention it to you, but i understand that the queen dowager has been somewhat offended at your not taking leave of her when she came here, and at your not answering her, when she wrote to you. perhaps you would write to her and soften and smoothen matters. she did not the least expect you to come to her. believe me always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acknowledge gratefully the communication which he has just received from your majesty. lord melbourne feels certain that your majesty's sense and firmness will enable your majesty to bear up under this which your majesty names a severe trial. the kindness of your majesty's expressions emboldens lord melbourne to say that he also feels deeply the pain of separation from a service, which has now for four years and more been no less his pleasure than his pride. lord melbourne would have been anxious to have waited upon your majesty to-day, but he feels that his presence is in some degree material at a meeting, at which not only the present situation of your majesty's servants, but also their future conduct and prospects, will be considered. lord melbourne is sure that your majesty will at once perceive that it would not have a good appearance if he were to return to windsor immediately after having announced his resignation to the house of lords on monday next. it is right that there should be no appearance of delay or of unwillingness to carry into effect the wishes of both houses of parliament, and, therefore, your majesty will forgive lord melbourne if he suggests that it would be well if your majesty could make up your mind to appoint sir r. peel on monday next, so that there might be as little delay as possible in the formation of a new government. on all accounts, and particularly on account of the lateness of the season, it is desirable that this should be done as speedily as possible. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he knows well what that feeling of working under the impression of trouble and annoyance is, but if the first gloom is brushed away, confidence and hope and spirits return, and things begin to appear more cheerful. lord melbourne is much obliged by your majesty's enquiries. he slept well, but waked early, which he always does now, and which is a sure sign of anxiety of mind. lord melbourne will be ready to attend your majesty at any time. [pageheading: delay undesirable] [pageheading: parting with lord melbourne] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ lord melbourne is to take his farewell audience of the queen to-morrow, and her majesty has appointed sir robert peel to come down here at three o'clock to-morrow. i went with lord melbourne from luncheon to his room. he seemed in tolerable spirits, though somewhat sad when he alluded to taking leave of the queen. he said he was anxious that her majesty should lose no time in writing to appoint sir robert peel to be here to-morrow, for though he was not afraid of sir robert taking affront, his party would be too ready to construe any delay on the queen's part into a slight. he said the prince had been with him just before, and amongst other things had urged him to continue to him and to the queen his advice and assistance, especially on measures affecting their private concerns and family concerns; he told lord melbourne it was on these points that he felt lord melbourne's advice had been peculiarly sound, and there was no reason why this should not be continued, and any communication might be made through me. lord melbourne said that the prince had also entered upon the subject of the baroness, and expressed the constant state of annoyance he was kept in by her interference. lord melbourne said to me: "it will be far more difficult to remove her after the change of government than now, because if pressed to do it by a tory minister, the queen's prejudice would be immediately aroused." i admitted this, but said that though the prince felt that if he pressed the point against the baroness remaining, he should be able to carry it, still his good feeling and affection for the queen prevented him from pressing what he knew would be painful, and what could not be carried without an exciting scene; he must remain on his guard, and patiently abide the result. people were beginning much better to understand that lady's character, and time must surely work its own ends. on my being sent for by the prince, lord melbourne said, "i shall see you again before i take my leave." i was much affected by the earnestness with which this was said, and said i would certainly be with him before he saw the queen to-morrow. the prince said that her majesty was cheerful and in good spirits, and the only part of the approaching scene which he dreaded was the farewell with lord melbourne. the queen had, however, been much relieved by the prince arranging for her hearing from lord melbourne whenever she wished it. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for the very clever and interesting etchings which your majesty most kindly sent him yesterday evening. lord melbourne will ever treasure them as remembrances of your majesty's kindness and regard, which he prizes beyond measure. they will, as your majesty says, certainly recall to recollection a melancholy day, but still lord melbourne hopes and trusts that with the divine blessing it will hereafter be looked back upon with less grief and bitterness of feeling, than it must be regarded at present. [pageheading: the prince's position] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ directly i got here this morning the prince sent for me, and said he had been made somewhat uneasy by a conversation he had just had with the queen. her majesty said that after the manner in which the tories had treated the prince (relative to annuity) he ought now to keep them at a distance. she said they would try to flatter him, and would all come to see him; this he should resist, and should refuse to see them, at all events for some time. the prince wished me to mention this to lord melbourne when i went to take leave of him, and to urge lord melbourne to set this right with the queen by his advice before he parted with the queen, reminding him that his view had always been that from this moment the prince would take up a new position, and that the queen, no longer having lord melbourne to resort to in case of need, must from this moment consult and advise with the prince. that lord melbourne should urge the queen to have no scruple in employing the prince, and showing that unless a proper understanding existed from the first, he in attempting to do good would be easily misrepresented. i found lord melbourne alone in his dressing-room and put this case before him. he said he had always thought that when he left the service of the queen the prince would of necessity be brought forward, and must render great assistance to the queen; and the queen's confidence in his judgment having so much increased, this consequence was the more natural. the prince must, however, be very cautious at first, and in a little time he would fall into it. he must be very careful not to alarm the queen, by her majesty for an instant supposing that the prince was carrying on business with peel without her cognisance. if it were possible for any one to advise peel, he would recommend that he should write fully to her majesty, and _elementarily_, as her majesty always liked to have full knowledge upon everything which was going on. he would advise the queen to be cautious in giving a verbal decision, that she should not allow herself to be _driven into a corner_, and forced to decide where she felt her mind was not made up and required reflection. peel should be very careful that intelligence came first from him direct. king william was very particular upon this point, so was the queen. i asked lord melbourne if he had considered the future position of himself with the queen, and also of peel with the queen. he said he owned he had not and would avoid entering into any discussion--he felt sure that he should be regarded with extreme jealousy, not so much by peel as by the party. he would be looked upon as lord bute had been in his relation to george iii.,--always suspected of secret intercourse and intrigue. he would make me the medium of any written communication. with regard to peel's position with the queen, he thought that circumstances must make it. he thought the queen must see him oftener than king william did him, as he thought the present state of things would require more frequent intercourse. the late king used to see him once a week after the levée, seldom oftener; all the rest of the business was transacted by correspondence, but this mode, though it had its merits in some respect, very much impeded the public business. the less personal objections the queen took to any one the better, as any such expression is sure to come out and a personal enemy is made. it was also to be recollected that peel was in a very different position now, backed by a large majority, to when the other overture was made. he had the power _now_ to extort what he pleased, and he fancied he saw the blank faces of the heads of the party when peel told them that he had agreed to the dismissal or resignation of only three of the queen's ladies. lord melbourne said the queen was afraid she never could be at ease with peel, because his manner was so embarrassed, and that conveyed embarrassment also to her, which it would be very difficult to get over. the queen took leave of lord melbourne to-day. her majesty was much affected, but soon recovered her calmness. peel had his first audience at half-past three o'clock. [pageheading: melbourne's opinion of the prince] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ th august _ ( p.m.). lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. the announcement has been made in both houses of parliament. a few words were said by lord stanley[ ] in the house of commons, and nothing in the house of lords. lord melbourne cannot satisfy himself without again stating to your majesty in writing what he had the honour of saying to your majesty respecting his royal highness the prince. lord melbourne has formed the highest opinion of his royal highness's judgment, temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great consolation and security in the reflection that he leaves your majesty in a situation in which your majesty has the inestimable advantage of such advice and assistance. lord melbourne feels certain that your majesty cannot do better than have recourse to it, whenever it is needed, and rely upon it with confidence. lord melbourne will be anxious to hear from your majesty as to what has passed with sir r. peel. your majesty will, lord melbourne is sure, feel that the same general secrecy which your majesty has always observed respecting public affairs is more particularly necessary at the present moment. lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty is well and composed, and with the most anxious wishes for your majesty's welfare and happiness, remains ever your majesty's most devoted and attached servant, and he trusts that he may add, without presumption, your majesty's faithful and affectionate friend. [footnote : who now became colonial secretary.] [pageheading: the household] _memorandum: viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ your majesty might say, if to your majesty it seems good, that in consequence of the addresses voted by both houses of parliament, your majesty's servants had tendered their resignations, and that for the same reason your majesty had accepted those resignations. that your majesty's present servants possessed your majesty's confidence, and that you only parted with them in deference to the opinion of parliament. that your majesty naturally had recourse to sir robert peel as possessing the confidence of the great party which constitutes the majority of both houses, and that you were prepared to empower him to form an administration. that your majesty did not conceive that the giving him this commission of itself empowered him to advise the removal of the officers of your majesty's household; that you conceive that all that the constitution required was that the sovereign's household should support the sovereign's ministers; but that you were prepared to place at his disposal, and to take his advice upon all the offices of the household at present filled by members of either house of parliament, with the exception of those whom your majesty might think proper to name, _i.e._, lord byron[ ]--and it should be understood that this exception was not to extend further than to him. if sir robert peel should wish that in case of lord byron's remaining it should be considered as a fresh appointment made by his advice, this wish might properly be acceded to. _the ladies._--if any difficulty should arise it may be asked to be stated in writing, and reserved for consideration. but it is of great importance that sir robert peel should return to london with full power to form an administration. such must be the final result, and the more readily and graciously it is acquiesced in the better. your majesty must take care not to be driven to the wall, and to be put into a situation in which it is necessary to aye or no. no positive objection should be taken either to men or measures. it must be recollected that at the time of the negotiation in lord melbourne and lord john russell were still at the head of a majority in the house of commons. this is not the case now. [footnote : george anson, seventh lord byron ( - ), cousin and successor of the poet.] [pageheading: the new cabinet] the cabinet of lord melbourne, _as it stood in september ._ _first lord of the treasury_ viscount melbourne. _lord chancellor_ lord (afterwards earl of) cottenham. _chancellor of the exchequer_ mr francis baring (afterwards lord northbrook). _lord president of the council_ marquis of lansdowne. _lord privy seal_ earl of clarendon. _home secretary_ marquis of normanby. _foreign secretary_ viscount palmerston. _colonial secretary_ lord john (afterwards earl) russell. _first lord of the admiralty_ earl of minto. _president of the board of control_ sir john cam hobhouse (afterwards lord broughton). _secretary at war_ mr t. b. (afterwards lord) macaulay. _president of the board of trade_ mr labouchere (afterwards lord taunton). _chief secretary for ireland_ viscount morpeth (afterwards earl of carlisle). _first commissioner of land revenue_ viscount duncannon (afterwards earl of bessborough). _chancellor of the duchy of lancaster_ sir george grey. the cabinet of sir robert peel,[ ] _as formed in september ._ _first lord of the treasury_ sir robert peel. _lord chancellor_ lord lyndhurst. _chancellor of the exchequer_ mr. h. goulburn. (_without office_) duke of wellington. _lord president of the council_ lord wharncliffe. _lord privy seal_ duke of buckingham. _home secretary_ sir james graham. _foreign secretary_ earl of aberdeen. _colonial secretary_ lord stanley (afterwards earl of derby). _first lord of the admiralty_ earl of haddington. _president of the board of control_ lord (afterwards earl of) ellenborough _secretary at war_ sir henry (afterwards viscount) hardinge. _president of the board of trade_ earl of ripon. _paymaster-general_. sir edward knatchbull. [footnote : the peel ministry of was unique in containing three ex-premiers: sir robert peel himself, the earl of ripon, and the duke of wellington, who succeeded lord goderich as premier in . ripon's career was a curious one; he was a singularly ineffective prime minister, and indeed did not, during the course of his ministry (august -january ), ever have to meet parliament. he was disappointed at not being invited to join the wellington ministry, subsequently joined the reform ministry of lord grey, but followed lord stanley, sir james graham, and the duke of richmond out of it. in august he moved the vote of want of confidence in the melbourne ministry, and became president of the board of trade in peel's government. in it fell to him, when president of the board of control, to move the corn law repeal bill in the lords. the only later instance of an ex-premier accepting a subordinate office was in the case of lord john russell, who, in , took the foreign office under aberdeen, subsequently vacating the office and sitting in the cabinet without office. in june , he became lord president of the council, and left the ministry when it was menaced by roebuck's motion. when lord palmerston formed a ministry in , lord john, after an interval, became colonial secretary, again resigning in five months. finally, in , he went back to the foreign office, where he remained until he succeeded palmerston as premier in . the government also contained three future premiers, aberdeen, stanley, and gladstone.] [pageheading: interview with peel] [pageheading: household appointments] [pageheading: the queen's distress] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle _ th august ._ ... the first interview with sir robert peel has gone off well, and only lasted twenty minutes; and he sends the queen to-morrow, in writing, the proposed arrangements, and will only come down on wednesday morning. he first wished to come to-morrow, but on the queen's saying that he need not to do that, but might send it and only come down wednesday, he thought the queen might prefer having it to consider a little, which she said she certainly should, though she meant no want of confidence. the queen, in the first instance, stated that she concluded he was prepared for her sending for him, and then stated exactly what lord melbourne wrote, viz., the resignation having taken place in consequence of the addresses--the queen's great regret at parting with her present ministers--the confidence she had in them, and her only acceding in consequence of the addresses in parliament, and then that consequently she looked to him (sir robert peel) as possessing the confidence of both houses of parliament to form an administration. he made many protestations of his sorrow, at what must give pain to the queen (as she said to him it did), but of course said he accepted the task. the duke of wellington's health too uncertain, and himself too prone to sleep coming over him--as peel expressed it--to admit of his taking an office in which he would have much to do, but to be in the cabinet, which the queen expressed her wish he should. he named lord de grey[ ] as lord lieutenant of ireland, and lord eliot[ ] as secretary for ireland, who, he said, were both moderate people. the queen said she gave up to him the officers of state and those of her household who were in parliament, and he then asked if lord liverpool would be agreeable as lord steward (the queen said he would), and if she would object to lord jersey as master of the horse (she said she would not), as she believed he understood it perfectly. he said he was so anxious to do everything which could be agreeable to the queen, that he wished her to name whom she should like as lord chamberlain; she said he might suggest some one, but as he would not, and pressed the queen to name whoever she pleased, she said she should like the duke of rutland, and he said he would certainly name it to him. the queen said that lord melbourne had always been very particular to name no one who might be disagreeable to her in the household, and sir r. peel said he felt this, and should be most anxious to do what could be agreeable to me and for my comfort, and that he would even sacrifice any advantage to this. the queen mentioned the three ladies' resignation, and her wish not to fill up the three ladies' places immediately. she mentioned lady byron,[ ] to which he agreed immediately, and then said, as i had alluded to those communications, he hoped that he had been understood respecting the _other_ appointments (meaning the ladies), that provided i chose some who had a leaning towards the politics of the administration, i might take any i liked, and that he quite understood that i should notify it to them. the queen said this was her rule, and that she wished to choose moderate people who should not have scruples to resign in case another administration should come in, as changing was disagreeable to her. here it ended, and so far well. he was very anxious the queen should understand _how_ anxious he was to do everything which was agreeable to the queen. the queen wishes to know if lord melbourne thinks she should name the duchess of buccleuch mistress of the robes, on wednesday, and if she shall ask sir robert to sound the duchess, or some one else, and then write to appoint her? she thinks of proposing lady de la warr and lady abercorn by and by as the two ladies, but these she will sound herself through other people, or lady canning, or lady rosslyn, in case these others should not take it. she should say she meant to sound those, and no more. what the queen felt when she parted from her dear, kind friend, lord melbourne, is better imagined than described; she was dreadfully affected for some time after, but is calm now. it is very, very sad; and she cannot quite believe it yet. the prince felt it very, very much too, and really the queen cannot say how kind and affectionate he is to her, and how anxious to do everything to lighten this heavy trial; he was quite affected at this sad parting. we do, and shall, miss you so dreadfully; lord melbourne will easily understand what a change it is, after these four years when she had the happiness of having lord melbourne always about her. but it will not be so long till we meet again. happier and brighter times will come again. we anxiously hope lord melbourne is well, and got up well and safe. the queen trusts he will take care of his valuable health, now more than ever. [footnote : thomas, earl de grey ( - ); he was the elder brother of lord ripon, who had been previously known as mr robinson and viscount goderich, and whose son, besides inheriting his father's and uncle's honours, was created marquis of ripon.] [footnote : afterwards third earl of st germans.] [footnote : lady byron had been miss elizabeth chandos-pole.] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ st august ._ i was sent up to town to-day to see lord melbourne and sir robert peel. i found lord melbourne as usual up in his bedroom. he had received the account of her majesty's first interview with peel, which he thought very satisfactory. sir robert very much regretted that he should have been the instrument of obliging her majesty to change her government. the queen had said to sir robert that though she did not conceive the minister could demand any of the household appointments, still it was her majesty's intention to give up to him the great offices of state, and all other places in the household filled by people in parliament. he was to send his proposed list for offices the next day and be at windsor the morning after that. lord melbourne had written to the queen the night before, stating his opinion of the prince--that he had great discretion, temper, and judgment, and that he considered him to be well worthy of her majesty's confidence, and that now was the time for her majesty to feel comfort and assistance from giving him her fullest confidence. he had just received the queen's answer to this, saying what "pleasure it had given the queen to receive his letter with this expression of his opinion of her beloved husband, and that what he said could not fail to increase the confidence which she already felt in him. he was indeed a great comfort to her in this trying moment; at times she was very low indeed though she strove to bear up. it would always be a satisfaction to her to feel secure of lord melbourne's faithful and affectionate friendship to her and the prince. she hoped after a time to see him here again, and it would always be a pleasure to her to hear from him frequently." from south steet i went to sir robert peel's. i told him i came to speak to him about lord exeter, whom the prince proposed to make the head of his household, should it not interfere with any of sir robert's arrangements for the queen. sir robert said he was so good a man and one that he felt sure the prince would like, and he therefore thought he had better propose the situation to him at once. [pageheading: melbourne's official farewell] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st august ._ lord melbourne had the pleasure of receiving last night both your majesty's letters, the one dated four o'clock, and written immediately after your majesty's interview with sir r. peel, the other dated half-past nine. lord melbourne thanks your majesty much for them both, and for the expressions of kindness contained in them. lord melbourne will ever consider the time during which your majesty is good enough to think that he has been of service to your majesty the proudest as well as the happiest part of his life. lord melbourne has read with great care your majesty's very clear and full account of what passed. it appears to lord melbourne that nothing could be better. sir robert peel seems to have been anxious to act with the utmost respect and consideration for your majesty, and your majesty most properly and wisely met him half-way. in the spirit in which the negotiation has been commenced i see the prospect of a termination of it, which will be not so unsatisfactory to your majesty as your majesty anticipated, and not, lord melbourne trusts, disadvantageous to the country.... lord melbourne concludes with the most anxious wishes for your majesty's happiness and with expressing a great admiration of the firmness, prudence, and good sense with which your majesty has conducted yourself. lord melbourne begs to be remembered to his royal highness most respectfully, most affectionately. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ _ st august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has just received your majesty's letter. lord melbourne rejoices much to learn that your majesty feels more composed and that you are well. recollect how precious is your majesty's health, and how much health depends upon tranquillity of mind.... lord melbourne will either write to sir francis chantrey[ ] to-morrow morning, or call upon him and settle without further delay about the bust. there is no end of subscriptions to monuments, but perhaps your majesty will do well to subscribe to sir david wilkie's.[ ] your majesty is very good about the blue ribband, but lord melbourne is certain that upon the whole, it is better for his own position and character that he should not have it. [footnote : sir francis chantrey, the sculptor, born in , died on th november .] [footnote : sir david wilkie, painter-in-ordinary to the queen, had died on st june, aged fifty-six.] [pageheading: peel's reception] _the earl of clarendon[ ] to viscount melbourne.[ ]_ grosvenor crescent, _ st august ._ my dear melbourne,--you may like to know that peel was perfectly satisfied with his reception yesterday, and does full justice to the queen's declaration of her regret at parting with her ministers, which he said it was quite natural she should feel, and quite right she should express. this i know from undoubted authority, and from a person who came to enquire of me whether i could tell what impression peel had produced upon the queen, which of course i could not. he assured the queen that he had had no communication with his friends, and was not prepared to submit an administration for her approval, but he is to see her again to-morrow morning. the only appointment yet settled is de grey to ireland; he was very unwilling, but peel insisted. yours sincerely, clarendon. [footnote : the retiring lord privy seal.] [footnote : letter forwarded by lord melbourne to the queen.] [pageheading: farewell audiences] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ carlton terrace, _ st august ._ ... viscount palmerston begs to be allowed to tender to your majesty the grateful thanks of himself and of viscountess palmerston for your majesty's gracious expressions towards them. viscount palmerston sees with deep regret the termination of those duties in your majesty's service, in the course of which he has had the honour of experiencing from your majesty so much condescending personal kindness, and such flattering official confidence; and it affords him the highest gratification to have obtained your majesty's approbation. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ nd september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received your majesty's letter yesterday evening, and was very glad to learn from it that your majesty was not ill satisfied with sir robert peel, and that the arrangements were going on smoothly, which it is highly desirable that they should. your majesty should desire sir robert peel to give notice to all those who have insignia of office, such as seals, wands, to give up, to attend at claremont on friday; but of course he will do this of himself. your majesty will have much to go through upon that day and much that is painful. your majesty should spare yourself and be spared as much as possible. it will not be necessary for lord melbourne to go down. he may be considered as having resigned at the audience which he had of your majesty at windsor, and lord melbourne has ventured to tell lord lansdowne that he thinks he need not do so either, and that your majesty will excuse his attendance. lord melbourne need say nothing about the secretaries of state, with all of whom your majesty is so well acquainted; but perhaps your majesty will not omit to thank mr baring[ ] cordially for his services. he is a thoroughly honest man and an able public servant. if your majesty could say to the lord chancellor,[ ] "that you part with him with much sorrow; that you are sensible that much of the strength of the late administration was derived from the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office, and that you consider his retirement a great and serious loss to the country," it would certainly be no more than he deserves. it is thought by some who know him here that the duke of rutland will be so extremely pleased with the offer being made, and that by your majesty yourself, that he will accept it; but he is a year older than lord melbourne, and therefore hardly fit for any very active duty.... the appointment of colonel arbuthnot will of course be very agreeable to the duke of wellington. the arbuthnots are quiet, demure people before others; but they are not without depth of purpose, and they are very bitter at bottom. your majesty will not forget the two knights for mr de la beche[ ] and major monro. lord melbourne begins to hope that this affair will be got through more satisfactorily and with less annoyance than your majesty anticipated. as long as your majesty is desirous of receiving his communications, he will be always most careful to give your majesty his impartial opinion and the best advice which he has to offer. his most fervent prayer will always be for your majesty's welfare and happiness. [footnote : the retiring chancellor of the exchequer.] [footnote : lord cottenham.] [footnote : sir henry t. de la beche, an eminent geologist.] [pageheading: melbourne's last official letter] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ nd september ._ ....lord melbourne hopes and trusts that when to-morrow is over your majesty will recover from that depression of spirits under which your majesty now labours. lord melbourne never doubted that it would be so, but is glad to learn from your majesty the support and consolation which your majesty finds in the advice and affection of the prince. this is the last letter which lord melbourne will send in a box. he will to-morrow morning return his keys to the foreign office, and after that your majesty will be good enough to send the letters, with which you may honour lord melbourne, through mr anson. lord melbourne most anxiously wishes your majesty every blessing. [pageheading: council at claremont] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ rd september ._ lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty is well after this trying day.[ ] lord melbourne has thought and felt for your majesty all this morning. but now that the matter is settled it will be necessary that your majesty should take a calm and composed view of the whole situation, which lord melbourne trusts that your majesty will find by no means unsatisfactory. and first with respect to public affairs. in the concerns of a great nation like this there will always be some difficulties and entanglements, but upon the whole the present state is good and the prospect is good for the future. there is no reason to expect that sir robert peel will either be desirous or be able to take a very different course from that which has been taken by your majesty's late servants, and some difficulties will certainly be removed, and some obstacles smoothed, by the change which has lately taken place. with respect to the effect which will be produced upon the comfort of your majesty's private life, it would be idle in lord melbourne, after what your majesty has said, to doubt of the manner in which your majesty will feel the change, which must take place in your majesty, to long accustomed habits and relations. but your majesty may rest assured of lord melbourne's devoted and disinterested attachment to your majesty, and that he will devote himself to giving to your majesty such information and advice as may be serviceable to your majesty with the sole view of promoting your majesty's public interests and private happiness. lord melbourne hopes, and indeed ventures to expect, that your majesty, upon reflection and consideration of the real state of circumstances, will recover your spirits, and lord melbourne has himself great satisfaction in thinking upon the consideration of the advice which he has given, that it has not tended to impair your majesty's influence and authority, but, on the contrary, to secure to your majesty the affection, attachment, approbation, and support of all parties. in the course of this correspondence lord melbourne has thought it his duty to your majesty to express himself with great freedom upon the characters of many individuals, whose names have come under consideration, but lord melbourne thinks it right to say that he may have spoken upon insufficient grounds, that he may have been mistaken, and that the persons in question may turn out to be far better than he has been induced to represent them. [footnote : a council had been held at claremont for the outgoing ministers to give up their seals of office, which were bestowed upon sir robert peel and the incoming cabinet.] [pageheading: melbourne on the new ministry] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he was most happy to hear yesterday the best account of everything that had taken place at claremont. everybody praised, in the highest manner, the dignity, propriety, and kindness of your majesty's deportment, and if it can be done without anything of deceit or dissimulation, it is well to take advantage of the powers and qualities which have been given, and which are so well calculated to gain a fair and powerful influence over the minds and feelings of others. your majesty may depend upon it, that the impression made upon the minds of all who were present yesterday, is most favourable. of course, with persons in new and rather awkward situations, some of whom had never been in high office before, all of whom had not been so now for some years, there was a good deal of embarrassment and mistakes. forms which are only gone through at long intervals of time, and not every day, are necessarily forgotten, and when they are required nobody knows them. but lord melbourne cannot really think that they looked cross; most probably they did look shy and embarrassed. strange faces are apt to give the idea of ill humour.... lord melbourne anxiously hopes that your majesty is well and happy to-day. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. your majesty may depend upon it, that if lord melbourne hears anything respecting your majesty, which it appears to him to be important or advantageous, that your majesty should know, lord melbourne will not fail to convey it to your majesty. lord melbourne encloses the exact names of the two gentlemen to whom knighthood has been promised by your majesty.... your majesty is very good, very good indeed, to think of doing what your majesty mentions for fanny; but lord melbourne fears that it would hardly suit with their present situation, or with the comfort of their domestic life. but lord melbourne mentioned the matter yesterday to his sister, and he encloses the letter which she has written to him this morning, after reflecting upon the subject. by that letter your majesty will perceive that jocelyn is not so much in debt, as lord melbourne's letter had led your majesty to suppose.... lord b---- is a very old friend of lord melbourne's. they were at eton together, and intimate there. he is a gentlemanly man and a good man, but not very agreeable. few of the p----s are, and very bitter in politics; but still lord melbourne is glad, for old acquaintance' sake, that your majesty has taken him. lord melbourne must again repeat that when he writes with so much freedom about individual characters, it is only to put your majesty in possession of what he knows respecting them, and not with a view of inducing your majesty to object to their being appointed.... might not fanny have the bedchamber woman's place? it would be a help to her, and would not take her away from home. this only strikes lord melbourne as he is writing. [pageheading: melbourne on peel] _ th september ._ lord melbourne wrote the above yesterday, but had no opportunity of sending it, as there was no post. lord melbourne has since seen lady palmerston, and finds that his last suggestion about fanny will not do. lord melbourne encloses lady palmerston's two notes upon the subject, which will explain to your majesty what she wishes. but if jocelyn is himself to get a place, this will be a better arrangement, and puts an end to all the others. what lady palmerston says about sir r. peel is very unjust. there is no shabbiness whatever in his not coming to a decision upon the factory question.[ ] [footnote : lady palmerston (no doubt in sympathy with lord ashley) expected some factory legislation to be announced.] _queen victoria to the countess of gainsborough._[ ] claremont, _ th september ._ my dearest lady gainsborough,--i had the pleasure of receiving your two kind letters of the th and th ult. yesterday, and thank you much for them. i am so happy that you are _really_ better.... i hoped that you would be pleased at what you thank me for; you see i _did not_ forget what you told me once at windsor when we were out driving, and i assure you that lord melbourne was very anxious to do it. last week was a most painful, trying one to me, and this separation from my truly excellent and kind friend lord melbourne, _most_ distressing. you will understand _what_ a change it must be to me. i am, however, so happy in my home, and have such a perfect angel in the prince, who has been such a comfort to me, that one must be thankful and grateful for these blessings, and take these hard trials as lessons sent from above, for our best. our little girl makes great progress, and suffers comparatively but very little from her teething. we came here to be _quiet_ for a few days, as this place is so very private. the baroness will write to lord gainsborough to say that i wish much you would take lady lyttelton's waiting, which begins on rd of november. the prince begs to be kindly named to you, and i to fanny and your brother, and pray believe me always, dearest lady gainsborough, ever yours most affectionately, victoria r. pray thank fanny for her kind letter. [footnote : formerly, as lady barham, a lady of the bedchamber. lord barham had been created earl of gainsborough in the course of the year ( ).] [pageheading: lord chamberlain's department] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th september ._ the queen wishes that sir robert peel would mention to lord de la warr[ ] that he should be very particular in always naming to the queen any appointment he wishes to make in his department, and always to take her pleasure upon an appointment before he settles on them; this is a point upon which the queen has always laid great stress. this applies in great measure to the appointment of physicians and chaplains, which used to be very badly managed formerly, and who were appointed in a very careless manner; but since the queen's accession the physicians and chaplains have been appointed only for merit and abilities, by the queen herself, which the queen is certain sir robert peel will at once see is a far better way, and one which must be of use in every way. sir robert peel may also tell lord de la warr that it is unnecessary for him to appear in uniform, as the queen always dispenses with this in the country. this applies also to the ministers, who the queen does not expect or wish should appear in uniform at councils which are held in the country. the queen concludes that it will be necessary to hold a council some time next week to swear in some of the new officers who are not privy councillors; but sir robert peel will be able to tell the queen when he thinks this will be necessary. [footnote : see _ante_, p .(ch. viii, th may, )] [pageheading: diplomatic appointments] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th september ._ there is a subject which the queen wishes to mention to sir robert peel, as she is at present so little acquainted with lord aberdeen; the queen is very desirous that, if it were possible, sir hamilton seymour should not be removed from brussels. the queen believes that his political views are not violent either way, and she knows that he is peculiarly agreeable to her uncle, which has, therefore, prompted her to write this to sir robert peel. the queen seizes the same opportunity to say that she is also very anxious that a moderate and conciliatory person should be sent to lisbon, as it is of great importance there. [pageheading: the french ambassador] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i begin my letter to-day, for fear i should have no time to write to-morrow. your kind letter gave me great pleasure, and i must own your silence on all that was going on distressed me very much! it has been indeed a sad time for me, and i am still bewildered, and can't believe that my excellent lord melbourne is no longer my minister, but he will be, as you say, and has _already_ proved himself, _very_ useful and _valuable_ as my friend out of office. he writes to me often, and i write to him, and he gives really the fairest and most impartial advice possible. but after seeing him for four years, with very few exceptions--_daily_--you may imagine that i _must_ feel the change; and the longer the time gets since we parted, the _more_ i feel it. _eleven days_ was the _longest_ i ever was without seeing him, and this time will be elapsed on saturday, so you may imagine what the change must be. i cannot say what a comfort and support my beloved angel is to me, and how well and how kindly and properly he behaves. i cannot resist copying for you what lord melbourne wrote to me about albert, the evening after we parted; he has already praised him greatly to me, before he took leave of me. it is as follows: "lord melbourne cannot satisfy himself without again stating to your majesty in writing what he had the honour of saying to your majesty respecting h.r.h. the prince. lord melbourne has formed the highest opinion of h.r.h.'s judgment, temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great consolation and security in the reflection that he leaves your majesty in a situation in which your majesty has the inestimable advantage of such advice and assistance. lord melbourne feels certain that your majesty cannot do better than have recourse to it, whenever it is needed, and rely upon it with confidence." this naturally gave me great pleasure, and made me very proud, as it comes from a person who is no flatterer, and would not have said it if he did not think so, or feel so. the new cabinet you have by this time seen in the papers. the household (of which i send you a list) is well constituted--_for tories_. lord aberdeen has written to me to say bourqueney has announced ste aulaire[ ] as ambassador. this is very well, but let me beg you, for decency's sake, to stop his coming immediately; if _even not meant_ to, it would have the effect of their sending an ambassador the moment the government changed, which would be too marked, and most _offensive personally_ to _me_. indeed guizot behaved very badly about refusing to sign the slave trade treaty[ ] which they had so long ago settled to do; it is unwise and foolish to irritate the late government who may so easily come in again; for palmerston will _not_ forgive nor _forget_ offences, and then france would be worse off than before, with england. i therefore _beg_ you to stop ste aulaire for a little while, else _i_ shall feel it a great personal offence. _ th._--i have had a letter from lord melbourne to-day, who is much gratified by yours to him.... now adieu! believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see _post_, p. . (ch. x, st october, )] [footnote : a treaty on the subject was signed in london, on th december, between great britain, france, austria, prussia, and russia.] [pageheading: queen adelaide] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ sudbury hall, _ th september ._ my dearest niece,--i have not ventured to disturb you with a letter since we parted, knowing how fully your time was employed with business of importance. i cannot any longer now refrain to enquire after you, after all you have gone through lately, and i must congratulate you with all my heart on having so well completed your difficult task. there is but one voice of praise, i hear, of your perfect composure and beautiful conduct during the trying scenes of last week. it has gratified me more than i can express, for i had fully expected it of you, and it has made me very happy to find that it has been generally remarked and has given so much satisfaction. everybody feels deeply for you, and the devotion and zeal in your service is redoubled by the interest your trying position has evoked. may our heavenly father support and guide you always as hitherto, is my constant prayer! i hope that the selection of your government is to your own satisfaction, and though the change must have been trying to you, i trust that you will have perfect confidence in the able men who form your council. our beloved late king's anxious wishes to see wellington and peel again at the head of the administration is now fulfilled. his blessing rests upon you. excuse my having touched upon this subject, but i could not keep silent whilst the heart is so full of earnest good wishes for your and the country's prosperity. i hope that an article of the newspapers, of the indisposition of your darling child, is not true, and that she is quite well. god bless and protect her!... i am much amused with reading your life by miss strickland,[ ] which, though full of errors, is earnest on the whole, and very interesting to _me_. however, i wish she would correct the gross errors which otherwise will go down to posterity. she ought to have taken first better information before she published her work.... with my affectionate love to dear prince albert, believe me ever, my dearest niece, your most devoted and affectionate aunt, adelaide. [footnote : miss agnes strickland ( - ), who also edited _letters of mary queen of scots_, etc.] _memorandum by mr anson._ claremont, _ th september ._ the ministerial arrangements are now nearly completed. writs for new elections moved last night. wrote to sir robert, telling him the queen ought to have heard from him respecting the adjournment of the house of commons, instead of seeing it first in the public papers. told him also of its being the queen's wish that a short report of the debates in each house should always be sent to her majesty, from him in the commons and from the duke of wellington in the lords. the queen had a letter to-day from the queen dowager, which was kindly meant, but which made her majesty rather angry, complimenting her majesty on the good grace with which she had changed her government, and saying that the late king's blessing rested upon her for calling the duke of wellington and peel to her councils, etc.... [pageheading: the queen criticises appointments] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th september ._ the queen takes this opportunity of writing to sir robert peel _confidentially_ about another person: this is about lord ----. the queen is strongly of opinion that lord ---- should _not_ be employed in any post of importance, as his being so would, in her opinion, be detrimental to the interests of the country. the queen wishes sir robert to state this to lord aberdeen as her opinion. the queen is certain that sir robert will take care that it should not be known generally that this is her opinion, for she is always most anxious to avoid anything that might appear personal towards anybody. the queen cannot refrain from saying that she cannot quite approve of sir charles bagot's appointment,[ ] as from what she has heard of his qualities she does not think that they are of a character quite to suit in the arduous and difficult position in which he will be placed. at the same time the queen does not mean to object to his appointment (for she has already formally approved of it), but she feels it her duty to state frankly and at all times her opinion, as she begs sir robert also to do unreservedly to her. for the future, it appears to the queen that it would be best in all appointments of such importance that before a direct communication was entered into with the individual intended to be proposed, that the queen should be informed of it, so that she might talk to her ministers fully about it; not because it is likely that she would object to the appointment, but merely that she might have time to be acquainted with the qualities and abilities of the person. the queen has stated this thus freely to sir robert as she feels certain that he will understand and appreciate the motives which prompt her to do so. the queen would wish the council to be at two on tuesday, and she begs sir robert would inform her which of the ministers besides him will attend. [footnote : as governor-general of canada.] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ _ th september ._ ... sir robert peel will have the honour of writing to your majesty to-morrow on the subjects adverted to in the note which he has just received from your majesty. he begs for the present to assure your majesty that he shall consider every communication which your majesty may be pleased to address to him in reference to the personal merits or disqualifications of individuals as of a most confidential character. [pageheading: peel apologises] _sir robert peel to mr anson._ whitehall, _ th september ._ my dear sir,--i am sorry if i have failed to make any communication to her majesty respecting public matters, which her majesty has been in the habit of receiving, or which she would have wished to receive. having been occupied in the execution of the important trust committed to me not less than sixteen or eighteen hours of the twenty-four for several days past, it may be that i have made some omissions in this respect, which under other circumstances i might have avoided. i did not think her majesty would wish to be informed of the issue of writs, necessarily following the appointments to certain offices, of all which her majesty had approved. i certainly ought to have written to her majesty previously to the adjournment of the house of commons until thursday the _ th of september_. it was an inadvertent omission on my part, amid the mass of business which i have had to transact, and i have little doubt that if i had been in parliament i should have avoided it. the circumstances of my having vacated my seat, and of having thus been compelled to leave to others the duty of proposing the adjournment of the house, was one cause of my inadvertence. both the duke of wellington and i fully intended to make a report to her majesty after the close of the parliamentary business of each day, and will do so without fail on the reassembling of parliament. i am, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, robert peel. [pageheading: diplomatic appointments] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th september ._ ... lord melbourne has no doubt that sir robert peel has the most anxious wish to do everything that can be agreeable to your majesty. your majesty should not omit to speak fully and seriously to him upon the disposal of great appointments. their diplomatic corps, from which ambassadors and governors are generally taken, is the weakest part of their establishment. they have amongst them men of moderate abilities and of doubtful integrity, who yet have held high offices and have strong claims upon them. the public service may suffer most essentially by the employment of such men. lord melbourne would say to peel that "affairs depend more upon the hands to which they are entrusted than upon any other cause, and that you hope he will well consider those whose appointment to high and important situations he sanctions, and that he will not suffer claims of connection or of support to overbalance a due regard for your majesty's service and the welfare of the country." such an expression of your majesty's opinion may possibly be a support to sir robert peel against pretensions which he would be otherwise unable to resist; but this is entirely submitted to your majesty's judgment, seeing that your majesty, from an exact knowledge of all that is passing, must be able to form a much more correct opinion of the propriety and discretion of any step than lord melbourne can do.... lord melbourne has a letter from lord john russell, rather eager for active opposition; but lord melbourne will write to your majesty more fully upon these subjects from woburn. [pageheading: canada] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ woburn abbey, _ th september ._ lord melbourne has this morning received your majesty's letter of yesterday. lord melbourne entirely agrees with your majesty about appointments. he knows, as your majesty does from experience, that with all the claims which there are to satisfy, with all the prejudices which are to be encountered, and with all the interests which require to be reconciled, it is impossible to select the best men, or even always those properly qualified. he is the last man who would wish that a minister who has the whole machine of the government before him should be necessarily thwarted or interfered with in the selection of those whom he may be desirous to employ. lord melbourne would therefore by no means advise your majesty to throw difficulty in the way of the diplomatic arrangements which may be proposed, unless there should be in them anything manifestly and glaringly bad. the nomination of lord ---- would have been so, but otherwise it cannot very greatly signify who is the ambassador at vienna, or even at petersburg or paris. stuart de rothesay[ ] and strangford[ ] are not good men, either of them, but it will be difficult for lord aberdeen to neglect their claims altogether. heytesbury[ ] is an able man, the best they have. sir robert gordon[ ] is an honest man, slow but not illiberal. it would be well if your majesty showed lord aberdeen that you know these men, and have an opinion upon the subject of them. canada is another matter. it is a most difficult and most hazardous task. there has been recent rebellion in the country. a new constitution has lately been imposed upon it by parliament. the two provinces have been united, and the united province is bordered by a most hostile and uncontrollable community, the united states of north america. to govern such a country at such a moment requires a man of great abilities, a man experienced and practical in the management of popular assemblies.... it is possible that matters may go smoothly there, and that if difficulties do arise sir c. bagot may prove more equal to them than from his general knowledge of his character lord melbourne would judge him to be.... upon the subject of diplomatic appointments lord melbourne has forgotten to make one general observation which he thinks of importance. upon a change of government a very great and sudden change of all or many of the ministers at foreign courts is an evil and to be avoided, inasmuch as it induces an idea of a general change of policy, and disturbs everything that has been settled. george iii. always set his face against and discouraged such numerous removals as tending to shake confidence abroad in the government of england generally and to give it a character of uncertainty and instability. it would be well if your majesty could make this remark to lord aberdeen. [footnote : the new ambassador to st petersburg.] [footnote : percy, sixth viscount strangford ( - ), formerly ambassador to constantinople, whom byron described as "hibernian strangford, with thine eyes of blue, and boasted locks of red or auburn hue."] [footnote : see _post_, p. . (ch. x, th september, )] [footnote : the new ambassador to vienna.] [pageheading: india and afghanistan] [pageheading: lord ellenborough's report] [pageheading: indian finances] _lord ellenborough[ ] to queen victoria._ lord ellenborough presents his most humble duty to your majesty, and humbly acquaints your majesty that having, on the morning after the council held at claremont on the third of this month, requested the clerks of the india board to put him in possession of the latest information with respect to the political, military, and financial affairs of india, he ascertained that on the th of june instructions had been addressed to the governor-general of india in council in the following terms:--"we direct that unless circumstances now unknown to us should induce you to adopt a different course, an adequate force be advanced upon herat, and that that city and its dependencies may be occupied by our troops, and dispositions made for annexing them to the kingdom of cabul."[ ] the last letters from calcutta, dated the th of july, did not intimate any intention on the part of the governor-general in council of directing any hostile movement against herat, and the governor-general himself having always evinced much reluctance to extend the operations of the army to that city, it seemed almost probable that the execution of the orders of the th of june would have been suspended until further communication could be had with the home authorities. nevertheless, in a matter of so much moment it did not appear to be prudent to leave anything to probability, and at lord ellenborough's instance your majesty's confidential servants came to the conclusion that no time should be lost in addressing to the governor-general in council a letter in the following terms--such letter being sent, as your majesty must be aware, not directly by the commissioners for the affairs of india, but, as the act of parliament prescribes in affairs requiring secrecy, by their direction through and in the name of the secret committee of the court of directors:-- "from the secret committee of the court of directors of the east india company to the governor-general of india in council. "her majesty having been pleased to form a new administration, we think it expedient that no step should be taken with respect to herat which would have the effect of compelling the prosecution of a specific line of policy in the countries beyond the indus, until the new ministers shall have had time to take the subject into their deliberate consideration, and to communicate to us their opinions thereupon. "we therefore direct that, unless you should have already taken measures in pursuance of our instructions of the th of june --which commit the honour of your government to the prosecution of the line of policy which we thereby ordered you to adopt, or which could not be arrested without prejudice to the public interests, or danger to the troops employed--you will consider those instructions to be suspended. "we shall not fail to communicate to you at an early period our fixed decision upon this subject." it was not possible to bring this subject before your majesty's confidential servants before the afternoon of saturday the th. the mail for india, which should have been despatched on the st, had been detained till monday the th by the direction of your majesty's late ministers, in order to enable your majesty's present servants to transmit to india and china any orders which it might seem to them to be expedient to issue forthwith. further delay would have been productive of much mercantile inconvenience, and in india probably of much alarm. in this emergency your majesty's ministers thought that your majesty would be graciously pleased to approve of their exercising at once the power of directing the immediate transmission to india of these instructions. your majesty must have had frequently before you strong proofs of the deep interest taken by russia in the affairs of herat, and your majesty cannot but be sensible of the difficulty of maintaining in europe that good understanding with russia which has such an important bearing upon the general peace, if serious differences should exist between your majesty and that power with respect to the states of central asia. but even if the annexation of herat to the kingdom of cabul were not to have the effect of endangering the continuance of the good understanding between your majesty and russia, still your majesty will not have failed to observe that the further advance of your majesty's forces miles into the interior of central asia for the purpose of effecting that annexation, could not but render more difficult of accomplishment the original intention of your majesty, publicly announced to the world, of withdrawing your majesty's troops from afghanistan as soon as shah sooja should be firmly established upon the throne he owes to your majesty's aid. these considerations alone would have led lord ellenborough to desire that the execution of the orders given on the th of june should at least be delayed until your majesty's confidential servants had had time to consider maturely the policy which it might be their duty to advise your majesty to sanction with respect to the countries on the right bank of the indus; but financial considerations strengthened this desire, and seemed to render it an imperative duty to endeavour to obtain time for mature reflection before any step should be taken which might seriously affect the tranquillity of europe, and must necessarily have disastrous effects upon the administration of india. it appeared that the political and military charges now incurred beyond the indus amounted to £ , , a year--that the estimate of the expense of the additions made to the army in india, since april , was £ , , a year, and that the deficit of indian revenue in - having been £ , , , a further deficit of £ , , was expected in - . your majesty must be too well informed of the many evils consequent upon financial embarrassment, and entertains too deep a natural affection for all your majesty's subjects, not to desire that in whatever advice your majesty's confidential servants may tender to your majesty with respect to the policy to be observed in afghanistan, they should have especial regard to the effect which the protracted continuance of military operations in that country, still more any extension of them to a new and distant field, would have upon the finances of india, and thereby upon the welfare of eighty millions of people who there acknowledge your majesty's rule. [footnote : president of the board of control.] [footnote : for the progress of affairs in afghanistan, _see_ introductory notes for - . (to ch. viii; ch. ix; ch. x; ch. xi)] _queen victoria to lord ellenborough._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ the queen thanks lord ellenborough for this clear and interesting memorandum he has sent. it seems to the queen that the course intended to be pursued--namely to take time to consider the affairs of india without making any precipitate change in the policy hitherto pursued, and without involving the country hastily in expenses, is far the best and safest. [pageheading: diplomatic appointments] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ in the conversation that the queen had with lord aberdeen last week, she omitted mentioning two persons to him. the one is lord heytesbury; the queen believes him to be a very able man, and would it not therefore be a good thing to employ him in some important mission? the other person is mr aston, who is at madrid; the queen hopes it may be possible to leave him there, for she thinks that he acted with great discretion, prudence, and moderation since he has been there, and the post is one of considerable importance. he was, the queen believes, long secretary to the legation at paris. _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ st september ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty.... lord aberdeen has seen the favourable opinion which your majesty has been graciously pleased to express of lord heytesbury, and he humbly presumes to think that this honour is not unmerited. the situation of governor-general of india has recently been proposed by sir robert peel for lord heytesbury's acceptance, which has been declined by him, and it is understood that lord heytesbury is not at present desirous of public employment.[ ] your majesty's servants have not yet fully considered the propriety of submitting to your majesty any proposal of a change in the spanish mission; but the opinion which your majesty has been pleased to signify respecting the conduct of mr aston at madrid appears, in the humble judgment of lord aberdeen, to be fully confirmed by the correspondence in this office. lord aberdeen would, however, venture humbly to mention that the person filling this mission has usually been replaced on a change of the administration at home. should this be the case in the present instance, lord aberdeen begs to assure your majesty that the greatest care will be taken to select an individual for your majesty's approbation who may be qualified to carry into effect the wise, just, and moderate policy which your majesty has been graciously pleased to recognise in the conduct of mr aston. [footnote : he was made governor and captain of the isle of wight, and governor of carisbrooke castle.] [pageheading: melbourne and peel] _memorandum by mr anson._ royal lodge, _ st september ._ saw baron stockmar this morning at the castle, and had a good deal of conversation with him on various matters. he is very apprehensive that evil will spring out of the correspondence now carried on between the queen and lord melbourne. he thinks it is productive of the greatest possible danger, and especially to lord melbourne; he thought no government could stand such undermining influence. i might tell this to lord melbourne, and say that if he was totally disconnected from his party, instead of being the acknowledged head, there would not be the same objection. he said, remind lord melbourne of the time immediately after the queen's accession, when he had promised the king of the belgians to write to him from time to time an account of all that was going on in this country; and upon lord melbourne telling him of this promise, he replied, this will not do. it cannot be kept a secret that you keep up this correspondence, and jealousy and distrust will be the fruit of a knowledge of it. "leave it to me," he said, "to arrange with the king; you cease to write, and i will put it straight with the king." the baron seemed to expect lord melbourne to draw the inference from this that a correspondence between lord melbourne and the queen was fraught with the same danger, and would, when known, be followed by distrust and jealousy on the part of sir robert peel. i said i reconciled it to myself because i felt that it had been productive of much good and no harm--and that, feeling that it was conducted on such honourable terms, i should not, if it were necessary, scruple to acquaint sir robert peel of its existence. the baron said, "ask lord melbourne whether he would object to it." he said peel, when he heard it, would not, on the first impression, at all approve of it; but prudence and caution would be immediately summoned to his aid, and he would see that it was his policy to play the generous part--and would say he felt all was honourably intended, and he had no objection to offer--"but," said the baron, "look to the result. distrust, being implanted from the first, whenever the first misunderstanding arose, or things took a wrong turn, all would, in peel's mind, be immediately attributed to this cause." _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i have already thanked you for your two kind letters, but i did not wish to answer them but by a messenger. i feel thankful for your praise of my conduct; all is going on well, but it would be needless to attempt to deny that i _feel_ the _change_, and i own i am much happier when i need _not_ see the ministers; luckily they do not want to see me often. i feel much the king's kindness about ste aulaire;[ ] i shall see him here on tuesday next. i return you our excellent friend melbourne's letter, which i had already seen, as he sent it me to read, and then seal and send. i miss him much, but i often hear from him, which is a great pleasure to me. it is a great satisfaction to us to have stockmar here; he is a great resource, and is now in excellent spirits. mamma is, i suppose, with you now, and we may expect her here either next thursday or friday. how much she will have to tell us! i am very grateful for what you say of claremont, which could so easily be made perfect; and i must say we enjoy ourselves there always _particulièrement_.... albert begs me to make you his excuses for not writing, but i can bear testimony that he really has not time to-day. and now _addio!_ dearest uncle, and pray believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see _post_, p. . (ch. x, st october, )] [pageheading: fine arts commission] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ _ th september ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to be permitted to submit for your majesty's consideration a suggestion which has occurred to sir robert peel, and which has reference to the communication which he recently addressed to your majesty on the subject of the promotion of the fine arts in connection with the building of the new houses of parliament. sir robert peel would humbly enquire from your majesty whether (in the event of your majesty's being graciously pleased to approve of the appointment of a royal commission for the further investigation and consideration of a subject of such deep importance and interest to the encouragement of art in this country) your majesty would deem it desirable that the prince should be invited in the name of your majesty to place himself at the head of this commission, and to give to it the authority and influence of his high name, and the advantage of his taste and knowledge. sir robert peel will not of course mention this subject to any one, until he has had the honour of receiving from your majesty an intimation of your majesty's opinions and wishes on this subject. [pageheading: diplomatic appointments] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th september ._ ... the diplomatic appointments are as well as they could be made. at least lord melbourne thinks so--at least as much in consequence of those whom they exclude, as of those whom they admit. the duke of beaufort will do better for petersburg than for vienna. he is hardly equal to the place, which requires a clever man, it being more difficult to get information there, and to find out what is going on, than in any other country in europe.... but lord melbourne does not much regard this, and the duke of beaufort possesses one advantage, which is of the greatest importance in that country. he is a soldier, was the duke of wellington's aide-de-camp, and served during much of the peninsular war. he will therefore be able to accompany the emperor to reviews, and to talk with him about troops and man[oe]uvres. sir robert gordon and sir s. canning will do very well.[ ] lord melbourne is very glad to hear that your majesty was pleased and impressed with archdeacon wilberforce's[ ] sermon and his manner of delivering it. lord melbourne has never seen nor heard him. his father had as beautiful and touching a voice as ever was heard. it was very fine in itself. he spoiled it a little by giving it a methodistical and precatory intonation. hayter has been to lord melbourne to-day to press him to sit to him, which he will do as soon as he has done with chantrey. chantrey says that all lord melbourne's face is very easy except the mouth. the mouth, he says, is always the most difficult feature, and he can rarely satisfy himself with the delineation of any mouth, but lord melbourne's is so flexible and changeable that it is almost impossible to catch it. [footnote : for vienna and constantinople.] [footnote : samuel, son of william wilberforce, at this date archdeacon of surrey, and chaplain to prince albert; afterwards, in , appointed bishop of oxford, and eventually translated to the see of winchester.] [pageheading: melbourne's advice] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received your majesty's letter yesterday evening, and cannot express to your majesty how much obliged he feels by your majesty's taking the trouble to give him so much information upon so many points. ste aulaire's hair-powder seems to make a very deep and general impression.[ ] everybody talks about it. "he appears to be very amiable and agreeable," everybody says, but then adds, "i never saw a man wear so much powder." a head so whitened with flour is quite a novelty and a prodigy in these times. lord melbourne has not yet seen him, but means to call upon him immediately. lord melbourne is upon the whole glad that the duke of beaufort has declined st petersburg. it is an appointment that might have been acquiesced in, but would not have been approved. bulwer[ ] will not be a bad choice to accompany sir charles[ ] to canada. your majesty knows bulwer well. he is clever, keen, active; somewhat bitter and caustic, and rather suspicious. a man of a more straightforward character would have done better, but it would be easy to have found many who would have done worse. lord melbourne is very glad that it has been offered to the prince to be at the head of this commission, and that his royal highness has accepted it. it is an easy, unexceptionable manner of seeing and becoming acquainted with a great many people, and of observing the mode of transacting business in this country. the commission itself will be a scene of very considerable difference of opinion. lord melbourne is for decorating the interior of the houses of parliament, if it be right to do so, but he is not for doing it, whether right or wrong, for the purpose of spending the public money in the encouragement of the fine arts. whether it is to be painting or sculpture, or both; if painting, what sort of painting, what are to be the subjects chosen, and who are to be the artists employed? all these questions furnish ample food for discussion, difference, and dispute. chantrey says fresco will never do; it stands ill in every climate, will never stand long in this, even in the interior of a building, and in a public work such as this is, durability is the first object to be aimed at. he says that there is in the vatican a compartment of which the middle portion has been painted by giulio romano[ ] in fresco, and at each of the ends there is a figure painted by raphael in oil. the fresco painting has been so often repaired in consequence of decay, that not a vestige of the original work remains; while the two figures painted by raphael in oil still stand out in all their original freshness, and even improved from what they were when first executed.... lord melbourne dined and slept on wednesday at wimbledon.[ ] he met there lord and lady cottenham, lord[ ] and lady langdale, lord glenelg and his brother, mr wm. grant, who was his private secretary, and is an amusing man. lord melbourne is going there again to-morrow to stay until monday. the place is beautiful; it is not like claremont, but it is quite of the same character, and always puts lord melbourne in mind of it. the duchess has many merits, but amongst them is the not small one of having one of the best cooks in england. [footnote : madame de lieven wrote to aberdeen, th september : "ne jugez pas cet ambassadeur par son exterieur; il personnifie un peu les marquis de molière.... passez-lui ses cheveux poudrés, son air galant et papillon auprès des femmes. he cannot help it."] [footnote : sir henry bulwer, afterwards lord dalling.] [footnote : sir charles bagot.] [footnote : he was a pupil of raphael, celebrated for (among other works) his "fall of the titans."] [footnote : the word is almost illegible. wimbledon was at that time in the occupation of the duke of somerset.] [footnote : master of the rolls.] [pageheading: peers and audiences] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ nd october ._ sir james graham with humble duty begs to lay before your majesty two letters, which he has received from the earl of radnor,[ ] together with the copy of the answer which sir james graham returned to the first of the two letters. if the presentation of petitions were the sole subject of the audience, it might be needless to impose on your majesty the trouble incident to this mode of receiving them, since they might be transmitted through the accustomed channel of one of the secretaries of state; but sir james graham infers from a conversation which, since the receipt of the letters he has had with lord radnor, that the audience is asked in exercise of a right claimed by peers of the realm. the existence of this right is not recognised by statute; but it rests in ancient usage, and is noticed by judge blackstone in his commentaries on the laws of england in the following terms:-- "it is usually looked upon to be the right of each particular peer of the realm to demand an audience of the king, and to lay before him, with decency and respect, such matters as he shall judge of importance to the public weal." the general practice on the part of the sovereign has been not to refuse these audiences when peers have asked them.... the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [footnote : william, third earl, formerly m.p. for salisbury.] _queen victoria to sir james graham._ windsor castle, _ rd october ._ the queen has received sir james graham's communication with the enclosures. she thinks that it would be extremely inconvenient if audiences were to be granted to peers for the purpose of presenting petitions or addresses. the queen knows that it has always been considered a sort of right of theirs to ask for and receive an audience of the king or queen. but the queen knows that upon several occasions lord melbourne and lord john russell wrote to the peers who requested audiences, stating that it would be very inconvenient for the queen, particularly in the country, and that they had better either put off asking for it, till the queen came to town, or send what they had to say; communicate in writing--which was complied with. if, therefore, sir james graham would state this to lord radnor, he may probably give up pressing for an audience. should he, however, urge his wish very strongly, the queen will see him in the manner proposed by sir james. the queen would wish to hear from sir james again before she gives a final answer. [pageheading: the chinese campaign] _lord ellenborough to queen victoria._ india board, _ nd october ._ lord ellenborough, with his most humble duty to your majesty, humbly acquaints your majesty that your majesty's ministers, taking into consideration the smallness of the force with which the campaign in china was commenced this year, and the advanced period of the season at which the reinforcements would arrive (which reinforcements would not so raise the strength of the army as to afford any reasonable expectation that its operations will produce during the present year any decisive results), have deemed it expedient that instructions would be at once issued to the indian government with a view to the making of timely preparations for the campaign of .[ ] your majesty's ministers are of opinion that the war with china should be conducted on an enlarged scale, and the indian government will be directed to have all their disposable military and naval force at singapore in april, so that the operations may commence at the earliest period which the season allows. lord ellenborough cannot but entertain a sanguine expectation that that force so commencing its operations, and directed upon a point where it will intercept the principal internal communication of the chinese empire, will finally compel the chinese government to accede to terms of peace honourable to your majesty, and affording future security to the trade of your majesty's subjects. [footnote : ningpo was taken by sir hugh gough on th october , and no further operations took place till the spring of the following year. _see_ introductory note, _ante_, p. . (intro note to ch. x)] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ rd october ._ sat by the queen last night at dinner. her majesty alluded to sir robert peel's awkward manner, which she felt she could not get over. i asked if her majesty had yet made any effort, which i was good-humouredly assured her majesty "thought she really had done." sir robert's ignorance of character was most striking and unaccountable; feeling this, made it difficult for her majesty to place reliance upon his judgment in recommendations. [pageheading: english and foreign artists] [pageheading: sir francis chantrey] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he had the honour of receiving your majesty's letter of the nd inst. yesterday, at wimbledon. if lord melbourne should hear of anything of what your majesty asks respecting the impression made upon sir robert and lady peel, he will take care and inform your majesty, but, of course, they will speak very favourably, and if they feel otherwise will not breathe it except in the most secret and confidential manner. lord melbourne is very much rejoiced to hear that the duchess of kent arrived safe and well and in good spirits. lord melbourne sat to sir f. chantrey on saturday last. he will, lord melbourne believes, require only one more sitting, which he wishes to be at the distance of a week from the last, in order that he may take a fresh view of the bust, and not become reconciled to its imperfections by continually looking at it. it may give the prince some idea of the national feeling which prevails here, when he is told that lord melbourne upon asking sir f. chantrey what ought to be done if foreign artists were employed to paint the houses of parliament, received from him the following answer: "why, their heads ought to be broke and they driven out of the country, and, old as i am, i should like to lend a hand for that purpose." _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ ... lord melbourne, by telling your majesty what sir francis chantrey said respecting foreign artists, and by requesting your majesty to repeat it to the prince, by no means intended to imply that there was any disposition on the part of his royal highness to recommend the employment of foreigners. he only meant to convey the idea of the strength of the prejudice which is felt by enlightened and able men upon the subject. lord melbourne has been sitting this morning to hayter for the picture of the marriage, and he (hayter) held an entirely contrary language. his tone is: "if foreign artists are more capable than english, let them be employed. all i require is that the work should be done as well as it can be." the english are certainly very jealous of foreigners, and so, lord melbourne apprehends, are the rest of mankind, but not knowing himself any nation except the english, he cannot venture to make positively that assertion. lord melbourne has been reading the evidence given before the committee of the house of commons upon this subject. it is well worth attention, particularly mr eastlake's,[ ] which appears to lord melbourne to be very enlightened, dispassionate, and just.... [footnote : afterwards sir charles eastlake, keeper of the national gallery, - , president of the royal academy, - .] [pageheading: the prince's grant] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ sat by her majesty last night at dinner. the queen had written to lord melbourne about coming to the castle, but in his answer he had made no allusion to it; she did not know whether this was accidental or intentional, for he very often gave no answer to questions which were put. i told her majesty that i feared he had raised an obstacle to his visit by making a strong speech against the government just at the time he was thinking of coming. that this attack had identified him as the leader of his party, at a moment when i had been most anxious that he should abstain from taking an active part, and by withdrawing himself from politics he would enable himself to become the more useful friend to her majesty. the queen had not seen the speech, was sorry he had felt himself obliged to make it, but it would be difficult for him to avoid it after having been so long prime minister. her majesty told me that previous to the exit of the late government, lord john had earnestly cautioned her majesty not to propose any new grant of money, as it would in the case of £ , for the new stables, however unfairly, bring great unpopularity upon the queen. i said in regard to any increase to the prince's annuity, i thought it would be very imprudent in him to think of it, except under very peculiar circumstances which might arise, but which could not yet be foreseen. the queen said that _nothing_ should induce her majesty to accept such a favour from these ministers. peel probably now regretted his opposition to the grant, but it was, and was intended to be, a personal insult to herself, and it was followed up [by] opposition to her private wishes in the precedency question, where the duke of wellington took the lead against her wishes, as peel had done in the commons against the prince's grant. she never could forget it, and no favour to her should come from such a quarter. i told her majesty i could not rest the prince's case on her majesty's objections if they were the only ones which could be brought forward. if the case again rose i feared her majesty would find many who before, from party views, voted according to her majesty's wishes, would now rank on the opposite side. her majesty asked dr hawtrey the evening before who was the cleverest boy at eton. dr hawtrey made a profound bow to the queen and said, "i trust your majesty will excuse my answering, for if i did i make enemies at once." _memorandum by baron stockmar._ _ th october ._ the queen had asked lord melbourne whether he would soon visit her at windsor. he had not replied on that point, but had written to prince albert in order to learn first the prince's opinion on the feasibility of the matter. the prince sent for me and consulted with me. i was of opinion that the prince had better refrain from giving an answer, and that i should give my opinion in the written form of a memorandum, with which anson should betake himself to town. he was to read it aloud to melbourne, and orally to add what amplifications might be necessary. and so it was done. [pageheading: relations with peel] my memorandum was as follows:-- sir robert peel has yet to make his position opposite[ ] the queen, which for him to obtain is important and desirable for obvious reasons. i have good cause to doubt that sir robert is sure within himself of the good-will and confidence of the queen. as long as the secret communication exists between her majesty and lord melbourne, this ground, upon which alone sir robert could obtain the position necessary to him as premier, must remain cut away from under his feet. i hold, therefore, this secret interchange an _essential injustice_ to sir robert's present situation. i think it equally wrong to call upon the prince to give an opinion on the subject, as he has not the means to cause his opinion to be either regarded or complied with. in this particular matter nobody has paramount power to do right or wrong but the queen, and more especially lord melbourne himself. to any danger which may come out of this to her majesty's character, the caution and objection must come from him, and from him alone; and if i was standing in his shoes i would show the queen, of my own accord, and upon constitutional grounds _too_, that a continued correspondence of that sort must be fraught with imminent danger to the queen, especially to lord melbourne, and to the state. [footnote : _i.e._ with.] i then gave anson the further arguments with which he was to accompany the reading out of this memo. [pageheading: discretion urged on melbourne] [pageheading: melbourne's influence] on the next day anson went to melbourne and told him that his note to him had raised a great consultation, that the prince felt much averse to giving any opinion in a case upon which he could exercise no control, and in which, if it was known that he had given his sanction, he would be held responsible for any mischief which might arise. he had consulted baron stockmar, who had written the enclosed opinion, which the prince had desired anson to read to lord melbourne. melbourne read it attentively twice through, with an occasional change of countenance and compression of lips. he said on concluding it: "this is a most decided opinion indeed, quite an '_apple[ ] opinion_.'" anson told him that the prince felt that if the queen's confidence in peel was in a way to be established, it would be extremely shaken by his (lord melbourne's) visit at such a moment. he felt that it would be better that lord melbourne's appearance should be in london, where he would meet the queen only on the terms of general society, but at the same time he (the prince) was extremely reluctant to give an opinion upon a case which lord melbourne's own sense of right ought to decide. anson added how he feared his speech of yesterday in the house of lords[ ] had added another impediment to his coming at this moment, as it had identified him with and established as the head of the opposition party, which he (anson) had hoped melbourne would have been able to avoid. melbourne, who was then sitting on the sofa, rushed up upon this, and went up and down the room in a violent frenzy, exclaiming--"god eternally d--n it!" etc., etc. "flesh and blood cannot stand this. i only spoke upon the defensive, which ripon's speech at the beginning of the session rendered quite necessary. i cannot be expected to give up my position in the country, neither do i think that it is to the queen's interest that i should." anson continued that the baron thought that no ministry could stand the force of such an undercurrent influence, that all the good that was to be derived from pacifying the queen's mind at the change had been gained, and that the danger which we were liable to, and which threatened him in particular, could only be averted by his own straightforward decision with the queen. anson asked him if _he_ saw any danger likely to arise from this correspondence. after a long pause he said, "_i certainly cannot think it right_," though he felt sure that some medium of communication of this sort was no new precedent. he took care never to say anything which could bring his opinion in opposition _to sir robert's, and he should distinctly advise the queen to adhere to her ministers in everything,[ ] unless he saw the time had arrived at which it might be resisted_.[ ] the principal evil, replied anson, to be dreaded from the continuance of lord melbourne's influence was, according to the baron's opinion, that so long as the queen felt she could resort to lord melbourne for his advice, she never would be disposed (from not feeling the necessity) to place any real confidence in the advice she received from peel. [footnote : no doubt lord melbourne said an "apple-pie" opinion.] [footnote : at the opening of the session lord ripon had reprobated the late government for resorting to temporary expedients, and lord melbourne, on the second reading of the exchequer-bills funding bill, caustically but good-humouredly replied to the attack.] [footnote : _note by baron stockmar._--if he wishes to carry this out consistently and quite honestly, what then is the value of his advice, if it be only the copy of that of sir r. peel?] [footnote : _note by baron stockmar._--this means, in my way of reading it: "the queen, by her correspondence with me, puts peel into my hands, and there i mean to let him stay unhurt, until time and extraneous circumstances--but more especially the advantage that will accrue to me by my secret correspondence with the queen--shall enable me to plunge, in all security, the dagger into his back."] _the earl of liverpool to baron stockmar._[ ] fife house, _ th october ._ my dear baron,--peel sent for me this morning to speak to me about the contents of his letter to me. after some general conversation on matters respecting the royal household, he said that he had had much satisfaction in his intercourse lately with her majesty, and specifically yesterday, and he asked me whether i had seen her majesty or the prince yesterday, and whether they were satisfied with him. i told him that except in public i had not seen her majesty, and except for a moment in your room i had not seen the prince; but that as he spoke to me on this matter, i must take the opportunity of saying a word to him about _you_, from whom i had learnt yesterday that both the queen and prince are extremely well pleased with him. that i had known you very long, but that our great intimacy began when king leopold sent you over just previous to the queen's accession; that we had acted together on that occasion, and that our mutual esteem and intimacy had increased; that your position was a very peculiar one, and that you might be truly said to be a species of second parent to the queen and the prince; that your only object was their welfare, and your only ambition to be of service to them; that in this sense you had communicated with melbourne, and that i wished that in this sense you should communicate with him (peel). he said that he saw the matter exactly as i did, that he wished to communicate with you, and felt the greatest anxiety to do everything to meet the wishes of the queen and prince in all matters within his power, and as far as consistent with his known and avowed political principles; that in all matters respecting the household and their private feelings that the smallest hint sufficed to guide him, as he would not give way to any party feeling or job which should in any way militate against her majesty or his royal highness's comfort; that he wished particularly that it should be known that he never had a thought of riding _roughshod_ over her majesty's wishes; that if you would come to him at any time, and be candid and explicit with him, you might depend upon his frankness and discretion; that above all, if you had said anything to him, and expressed a wish that it might not be communicated even to the duke of wellington, (that was his expression), that he wished me to assure you that your wishes should be strictly attended to. pray give me a line to say that you do not disapprove of what i have done. we had a great deal more conversation, but with this i will not now load my letter, being ever sincerely yours, liverpool. direct your answer to this house. [footnote : this letter was submitted to the queen.] [pageheading: audiences of peers] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has this morning received your majesty's letter of yesterday. there can be no doubt that your majesty is right about the audiences which have been requested.... sir robert peel is probably right in supposing that the claim of a peer to an audience of the sovereign originated in early times, and before the present course of government by responsible advisers was fully and decidedly established, which it hardly can be said to have been until after the accession of the house of hanover, but the custom of asking for such audiences, and of their being in general granted, was well known, and has for the most part been observed and adhered to. lord melbourne remembers that during the part of the french war, when considerable alarm began to prevail respecting its duration, and the serious aspect which it was assuming, george iii. gave audiences to the duke of norfolk and others which he certainly would not have been inclined to do if he had not thought himself bound by his duty and by constitutional precedent. at the time of the passing of the roman catholic relief act, george iv. received very many peers, much no doubt against his will, who came to remonstrate with him upon the course which his ministers were pursuing. william iv. did the same at the time of the reform bill, and certainly spoke upon the subject in a manner which lord melbourne always thought indiscreet and imprudent. upon the whole, the practice has been so much acted upon and established, that lord melbourne will certainly not think it wise to make any alteration now, especially as it has in itself beneficial effects, especially as in a time of strong political feeling it is a satisfaction to the people to think that their wishes and opinions are laid before the sovereign fairly and impartially. it is not likely to be a very heavy burthen, inasmuch as such audiences are only asked at particular moments, and they are not in themselves very burthensome nor difficult to deal with. it is only for the sovereign to say that he is convinced of the good motives which have actuated the step, and that consideration will be given to the matter and arguments which have been stated. lord melbourne has one vague recollection of a correspondence upon this subject between lord holland and some king, but does not remember the circumstances with any accuracy. duncannon[ ] persuaded brougham to give up asking an audience upon condition of lord melbourne's promising to place his letters in your majesty's hands, which he did.[ ] lord charlemont[ ] also was prevented in some manner or another, which lord melbourne forgets. upon the whole, lord melbourne thinks that it is best to concede this privilege of the peerage, whether it actually exists or not, but to restrain it within due and reasonable bounds, which in ordinary times it is not difficult to do. extraordinary times must be dealt with as they can be.... lady a---- is, as your majesty says, good-natured. she talks three or four times as much as she ought, and like many such women often says exactly the things she ought not to say. lady b---- has ten times the sense of her mother, and a little residue of her folly. [footnote : ex-first commissioner of land revenue.] [footnote : see _ante_, pp. and - . (ch. x, 'lord brougham'; 'peers and audiences')] [footnote : francis william, fifth viscount charlemont ( - ), created a peer of the united kingdom in .] [pageheading: governor-generalship of india] [pageheading: lord ellenborough] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ _ th october ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to inform your majesty that in consequence of the opinion which your majesty was graciously pleased to express when sir robert peel last had the honour of waiting upon your majesty, with respect to the superior qualifications of lord ellenborough for the important trust of governor-general of india, sir robert peel saw his lordship yesterday, and enquired whether he would permit sir robert peel to propose his appointment to your majesty. lord ellenborough was very much gratified by the proposal, admitted at once that it was very difficult to find an unexceptionable candidate for an office of such pre-eminent importance, but made some difficulty on two points. first--considerations of health, which though disregarded personally, might, he feared, interfere with the execution of such unremitting and laborious duties as would devolve upon the governor-general of india. secondly--the consideration that on his acceptance of the office he would be required by law to give up during his tenure of it no less than £ , per annum, the amount of compensation now paid to him in consequence of the abolition of a very valuable office[ ] which he held in the courts of law. during lord ellenborough's conversation with sir robert peel, and while the mind of lord ellenborough was very much in doubt as to the policy of his acceptance of the office, the box which contained your majesty's note of yesterday was brought to sir robert peel. sir robert peel humbly acquaints your majesty that he ventured to read to lord ellenborough on the instant the concluding paragraph of your majesty's note, namely-- "the more the queen thinks of it, the more she thinks that lord ellenborough would be far the most fit person to send to india." sir robert peel is perfectly convinced that this opinion of your majesty, so graciously expressed, removed every doubt and difficulty from lord ellenborough's mind, and decided him to forgo every personal consideration rather than appear unmindful of such a favourable impression of his qualifications for public service on the part of his sovereign. sir robert peel humbly hopes that your majesty will not disapprove of the use which he made of a confidential note from your majesty. as your majesty kindly permitted sir robert peel to send occasionally letters to your majesty of a private rather than a public character, he ventures to enclose one from the duke of wellington on the subject of the appointment of governor-general. sir robert peel had observed to the duke of wellington that he had great confidence in lord ellenborough's integrity, unremitting industry, and intimate knowledge of indian affairs; that his only fear was that lord ellenborough might err from _over-activity_ and eagerness--but that he hoped his tendency to hasty decisions would be checked by the experience and mature judgment of indian advisers on the spot. the duke of wellington's comments have reference to these observations of sir robert peel. your majesty will nevertheless perceive that the duke considers, upon the whole, "that lord ellenborough is better qualified than any man in england for the office of governor-general." [footnote : he was joint chief clerk of the pleas in the queen's bench, a sinecure conferred on him by his father, who was lord chief justice of the king's bench, - .] [pageheading: affairs in spain] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--- ... respecting the spanish affairs,[ ] i can give you perfectly satisfactory intelligence concerning the infants' return. espartero sees them return with the greatest regret, but said he felt he could not prevent them from doing so. if, however, they should be found to intrigue at all, they will not be allowed to remain. respecting a marriage with the eldest son of dona carlotta, i know _positively_ that espartero _never_ would _hear_ of it; but, on the other hand, he is equally strongly opposed to poor little isabel marrying any french prince, and i must add that _we_ could _never allow that_. you will see that i have given you a frank and fair account.... [footnote : the queen-mother, who was living in paris, had been deprived by a vote of the cortes of the guardianship of the young queen, isabella ii., and risings in her interest now took place at pampeluna and vittoria. on the th october, a bold attempt was made at madrid to storm the palace and get possession of the person of the young queen. queen christina denied complicity, but the regent, espartero, suspended her pension on the ground that she had encouraged the conspirators.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns many thanks for the letter received yesterday informing lord melbourne of the time of your majesty's coming to london. lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty continues well. lord melbourne is very glad to hear of the appointment of lord ellenborough. the reasons which your majesty gives are sound and just, and it is of great importance that a man not only of great ability but of high station, and perfectly in the confidence of the government at home, should be named to this important post. lord ellenborough is a man of great abilities, of much knowledge of india, of great industry and of very accurate habits of business, and lord melbourne knows of no objection to his appointment, except the loss of him here, where, whether in or out of office, he has always been of great service. he has hitherto been an unpopular man and his manners have been considered contemptuous and overbearing, but he is evidently much softened and amended in this respect, as most men are by time, experience, and observation. lord fitzgerald[ ] is a very able public man, lord melbourne would say one of the most able, if not the most able they have; but lord melbourne is told by others, who know lord fitzgerald better, that lord melbourne overrates him. he is a very good speaker, he has not naturally much industry, and his health is bad, which will probably disable him from a very close and assiduous attention to business. it is, however, upon the whole an adequate appointment, and he is perhaps more likely to go on smoothly with the court of directors, which is a great matter, than lord ellenborough. [footnote : on lord ellenborough becoming governor-general, lord fitzgerald and vesci, an ex-m.p., and former chancellor of the irish exchequer, succeeded him at the board of control.] [pageheading: france and spain] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th october ._ lord aberdeen, with his most humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty a private letter from m. guizot, which has just been communicated to him by m. de ste-aulaire, on the recent attempt in favour of queen christina in spain. your majesty will see that although m. guizot denies, with every appearance of sincerity, all participation of the french government in this attempt, he does not conceal that it has their cordial good wishes for its success. these feelings, on the part of such a government as that of france, will probably be connected with practical assistance of some kind, although m. guizot's declarations may perhaps be literally true. _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ the queen must say that she fears the french are at the bottom of it, for their jealousy of our influence in spain is such, that the queen fears they would not be indisposed to see civil war to a certain degree restored rather than that spain should go on quietly supported by us.[ ] the queen, however, hopes that, as far as it is possible, the english government will support the present regent, who is thoroughly attached to england, and who, from all that the queen hears of him, is the fittest man they have in spain for the post he occupies; and indeed matters till now had gone on much more quietly than they had for some time previous, since espartero is at the head of the government. the french intrigues should really be frustrated. the queen certainly thinks that m. guizot's veracity is generally not to be doubted, but the conduct of france regarding spain has always been very equivocal. [footnote : see _post_, p. . (ch. x, th october, )] [pageheading: mastership of trinity] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ _ th october ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the master of trinity college, cambridge, has formally signified his wish to retire from the duties of that important trust. sir robert peel has reason to believe that it would be advantageous that the selection of a successor to dr. wordsworth should be made from members of trinity college who are or have been fellows of the college. of these, the most eminent in respect to the qualifications required in the office of master, and to academical distinction, are:-- professor whewell.[ ] the rev. mr martin,[ ] bursar of the college. the rev. dr wordsworth,[ ] head master of harrow school, and son of the present master of trinity. the latter is a highly distinguished scholar, but his success as head master of harrow has not been such as to overcome the objection which applies on general grounds to the succession of a father by a son in an office of this description. professor whewell is a member of trinity college of the highest scientific attainments. his name is probably familiar to your majesty as the author of one of the bridgewater treatises,[ ] and of other works which have attracted considerable notice. he is a general favourite among all who have had intercourse with him from his good temper and easy and conciliatory manners. though not _peculiarly_ eminent as a divine (less so at least than a writer on scientific and philosophical subjects), his works manifest a deep sense of the importance of religion and sound religious views. the archbishop of canterbury[ ] and the bishop of london[ ] (himself of trinity college) incline to think that the most satisfactory appointment upon the whole would be that of professor whewell. sir robert peel, after making every enquiry into the subject, and with a deep conviction of the importance of the appointment, has arrived at the same conclusion, and humbly therefore recommends to your majesty that professor whewell should succeed dr wordsworth as master of trinity college, cambridge. [footnote : then knightsbridge professor of moral philosophy.] [footnote : francis martin, afterwards vice-master, died .] [footnote : christopher wordsworth, afterwards bishop of lincoln.] [footnote : by the will (dated ) of the eighth earl of bridgewater--who must not be confounded with the third and last duke, projector of inland navigation--£ , was left for the best work on the "goodness of god as manifested in the creation." the money was divided amongst eight persons, including whewell, who wrote on astronomy considered in reference to natural theology.] [footnote : william howley.] [footnote : o. j. blomfield.] [pageheading: queen isabella] [pageheading: the spanish marriage] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ _ th october ._ the queen received lord aberdeen's letter yesterday evening, and quite approves of the draft to mr aston, and of lord aberdeen's having sent it off at once. her earnest wish is that the english government should be firm, and uphold the regent as far as it is in our power. the queen has perused m. guizot's letter with great attention, but she cannot help fearing that assistance and encouragement has been given in some shape or other to the revolts which have taken place. the queen christina's residence at paris is very suspicious, and much to be regretted; every one who saw the queen and knew her when regent, knew her to be clever and _capable_ of governing, had she but attended to her duties. this she did not, but wasted her time in frivolous amusements and neglected her children sadly, and finally left them. it was her _own_ doing, and therefore it is not the kindest conduct towards her children, but the very _worst_, to try and disturb the tranquillity of a country which was just beginning to recover from the baneful effects of one of the most bloody civil wars imaginable. the queen is certain that lord aberdeen will feel with her of what importance it is to england that spain should not become subject to french interests, as it is evident _france wishes_ to make it. the marriage of queen isabel is a most important question, and the queen is likewise certain that lord aberdeen sees at once that we could never let her marry a french prince. ere long the queen must speak to lord aberdeen on this subject. in the meantime the queen thought it might be of use to lord aberdeen to put him in possession of her feelings on the state of spain, in which the queen has always taken a very warm interest. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ panshanger, _ st october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received here yesterday your majesty's letter of the th inst., and he earnestly hopes that your majesty has arrived quite safe and well in london. besides the family, we have had hardly anybody here except lady clanricarde.[ ] yesterday sir edward l. bulwer[ ] came, beating his brother hollow in ridiculousness of attire, ridiculous as the other is. he has, however, much in him, and is agreeable when you come to converse with him.... lord melbourne is rather in doubt about his own movements. lord leicester[ ] presses him much to go to holkham, where lord fortescue,[ ] mr ellice[ ] and others are to be, and considering lord leicester's age, lord melbourne thinks that it will gratify him to see lord melbourne again there. but at holkham they shoot from morning until night, and if you do not shoot you are like a fish upon dry land. lord melbourne hardly feels equal to the exertion, and therefore thinks that he shall establish himself for the present at melbourne, where he will be within reach of trentham, beau desert,[ ] wentworth,[ ] and castle howard,[ ] if he likes to go to them. the only annoyance is that it is close to lord and lady g----, whom he will be perpetually meeting. [footnote : a daughter of george canning, the prime minister.] [footnote : afterwards lord lytton, the novelist.] [footnote : the famous country gentleman, "mr coke of norfolk."] [footnote : hugh, second earl, k.g.] [footnote : the right hon. edward ellice, m.p. ("bear" ellice).] [footnote : near lichfield, a seat of lord anglesey.] [footnote : lord fitzwilliam's house, near rotherham.] [footnote : lord carlisle's house, near york, built by vanbrugh.] [pageheading: holland and belgium] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ october ._ ... in france there is a great outcry that a bourbon must be the future husband of the queen of spain, etc. i must say that as the spaniards and the late king changed themselves the salic custom which philip v. had brought from france,[ ] it is natural for the rest of europe to wish that no bourbon should go there. besides, it must be confessed that the thing is not even easy, as there is great hatred amongst the various branches of that family. the king of the french himself has always been _opposed_ to the idea of one of his sons going there; in france, however, that opinion still exists, and thiers had it, strongly. i confess that i regret that queen christina was encouraged to settle at paris, as it gave the thing the appearance of something preconcerted. i believe that a wish existed that christina would retire peaceably and _par la force des circonstances_, but now this took a turn which i am sure the king does not like; it places him, besides, into _une position ingrate_; the radicals hate him, the moderates will cry out that he has left them in the lurch, and the carlists are kept under key, and of course also not much pleased. i meant to have remained in my wilds till yesterday, but my ministers were so anxious for my return, there being a good many things on the _tapis_, that i came back on tuesday, the th.... here one is exactly shut up as if one was in a menagerie, walking round and round like a tame bear. one breathes here also a mixture of all sorts of moist compounds, which one is told is fresh air, but which is not the least like it. i suppose, however, that my neighbour in holland, where they have not even got a hill as high as yours in buckingham gardens, would consider laeken as an alpine country. the tender meeting of the old king and the new king,[ ] as one can hardly call him a young king, must be most amusing. i am told that if the old king had not made that love-match, he would be perfectly able to dethrone his son; i heard that yesterday from a person rather attached to the son and hating the father. in the meantime, though one can hardly say that he is well at home, some strange mixture of cut-throats and ruined soldiers of fortune had a mind to play us some tricks here; we have got more and more insight into this. is it by instigation from him personally, or does he only know of it without being a party to it? that _is_ difficult to tell, the more so as he makes immense demonstration of friendly dispositions towards us, and me in particular. i would i could make a _chassez croisez_ with otho;[ ] he would be the gainer in solids, and i should have sun and an interesting country; i will try to make him understand this, the more so as you do not any longer want me in the west. [footnote : the pragmatic sanction of philip v. was repealed in by the cortes, but the repeal was not promulgated by the king. under the salic law, don carlos would have been on the throne. see _ante_, p. . (ch. v, footnote )] [footnote : william i., who had abdicated in order to marry again, and william ii., his son, who was nearly fifty.] [footnote : the king of greece, elected in .] [pageheading: ambassadors' audiences] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th october ._ with respect to the appointment of chief justice of the queen's bench, the queen approves of mr pennefather[ ] for that office. the queen may be mistaken, for she is not very well acquainted with the judicial officers in ireland, but it strikes her that serjeant jackson belonged to the very violent orange party in ireland, and if this should be the case she suggests to sir robert peel whether it would not be better _not_ to appoint him. if, on the other hand, the queen should be mistaken as to his political opinions, she would not disapprove of his succeeding mr pennefather. the queen saw in the papers that lord stuart de rothesay is already gone. the queen can hardly believe this, as no ambassador or minister _ever_ left england without previously asking for an audience and receiving one, as the queen wishes always to see them before they repair to their posts. would sir robert be so very good as to ask lord aberdeen whether lord stuart de rothesay is gone or not, and if he should be, to tell lord aberdeen that in future she would wish him always to inform her when they intend to go, and to ask for an audience, which, if the queen is well, she would always grant. it is possible that as the queen said the other day that she did not wish to give many audiences after the council, that lord aberdeen may have misunderstood this and thought the queen would give none, which was _not_ her intention. the queen would be thankful to sir robert if he would undertake to clear up this mistake, which she is certain (should lord stuart be gone) arose entirely from misapprehension. the queen also wishes sir robert to desire lord haddington to send her some details of the intended reductions in the fleet which she sees by a draft of lord aberdeen's to mr bulwer have taken place.[ ] [footnote : recently appointed solicitor-general; sergeant j. d. jackson now succeeded him.] [footnote : the statement of the royal navy in commission at the beginning of sets out vessels carrying , guns.] [pageheading: stockmar and melbourne] [pageheading: stockmar's advice] _memorandum by baron stockmar._ _ th october ._ ... i told [lord melbourne] that, as i read the english constitution, it meant to assign to _the sovereign in his functions a deliberative part_--that i was not sure the queen had the means within herself to execute this deliberative part properly, but i was sure that the only way for her to execute her functions at all was to be strictly honest to those men who at the time being were her ministers. that it was chiefly on this account that i had been so very sorry to have found now, on my return from the continent, that on the change of the ministry a capital opportunity to read a great constitutional maxim to the queen had not only been lost by lord melbourne, but that he had himself turned an instrument for working great good into an instrument which must produce mischief and danger. that i was afraid that, from what lord melbourne had been so weak as to have allowed himself to be driven into, _against his own and better conviction_, the queen must have received a most pernicious bias, which on any future occasion would make her inclined to act in a similar position similarly to that what she does now, being convinced that what she does _now_ must be right on all future occasions, or else lord melbourne would not have sanctioned it. upon this, lord melbourne endeavoured to palliate, to represent the danger, which would arise from his secret correspondence with the queen as very little, to adduce precedents from history, and to screen his present conduct behind what he imagined lord bute's conduct had been under george iii.[ ] i listened patiently, and replied in the end: all this might be mighty fine and quite calculated to lay a flattering unction on his own soul, or it might suffice to tranquillize the minds of the prince and anson, but that i was too old to find the slightest argument in what i had just now heard, nor could it in any way allay my apprehension. i began then to dissect all that he had produced for his excusation, and showed him--as i thought clearly, and as he admitted convincingly--that it would be impossible to carry on this secret commerce with the sovereign for any length of time without exposing the queen's character and creating mighty embarrassments in the quiet and regular working of a constitutional machine. my representations seemed to make a very deep impression, and lord melbourne became visibly nervous, perplexed, and distressed. after he had recovered a little i said, "i never was inclined to obtrude advice; but if you don't dislike to hear my opinion, i am prepared to give it to you." he said, "what is it?" i said, "you allow the queen's confinement to pass over quietly, and you wait till her perfect recovery of it. as soon as this period has arrived, you state of your own accord to her majesty that this secret and confidential correspondence with her must cease; that you gave in to it, much against your feelings, and with a decided notion of its impropriety and danger, and merely out of a sincere solicitude to calm her majesty's mind in a critical time, and to prevent the ill effects which great and mental agitation might have produced on her health. that this part of your purpose now being most happily achieved, you thought yourself in duty bound to advise her majesty to _cease all her communications_ to you on political subjects, as you felt it wrong within yourself to receive them, and to return your political advice and opinions on such matters; that painful as such a step must be to your feelings, which to the last moment of your life will remain those of the most loyal attachment and devotion to the queen's person, it is dictated to you by a deep sense of what you owe to the country, to your sovereign, and to yourself." [footnote : for some time after the accession of george iii., bute, though neither in the cabinet nor in parliament, was virtually prime minister, but he became secretary of state on th march . george ii. had disliked him, but he was generally believed to have exercised an undue influence over the consort of prince frederic of wales, mother of george iii.] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ _ th october ._ with respect to serjeant jackson, the queen will not oppose his appointment, in consequence of the high character sir robert peel gives him; but she cannot refrain from saying that she very much fears that the favourable effect which has hitherto been produced by the formation of so mild and conciliatory a government in ireland, may be endangered by this appointment, which the queen would sincerely regret. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and returns your majesty the letters of the king of the belgians, with many thanks. it certainly is a very unfortunate thing that the queen christina was encouraged to fix her residence at paris, and the suspicion arising, therefore, cannot but be very injurious both to the king of the french and to the french nation. lord melbourne returns his warmest thanks for your majesty's kind expressions. he felt the greatest pleasure at seeing your majesty again and looking so well, and he hopes that his high spirits did not betray him into talking too much or too heedlessly, which he is conscious that they sometimes do. the king leopold, lord melbourne perceives, still hankers after greece; but crowns will not bear to be chopped and changed about in this manner. these new kingdoms are not too firmly fixed as it is, and it will not do to add to the uncertainty by alteration.... [pageheading: dispute with united states] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th october ._ ... sir robert peel humbly assures your majesty that he fully participates in the surprise which your majesty so naturally expresses at the extraordinary intimation conveyed to mr fox[ ] by the president of the united states.[ ] immediately after reading mr fox's despatch upon that subject, sir robert peel sought an interview with lord aberdeen. the measure contemplated by the president is a perfectly novel one, a measure of a hostile and unjustifiable character adopted with pacific intentions. sir robert peel does not comprehend the object of the president, and giving him credit for the desire to prevent the interruption of amicable relations with this country, sir robert peel fears that the forcible detention of the british minister, after the demand of passports, will produce a different impression on the public mind, both here and in the united states, from that which the president must (if he be sincere) have anticipated. it appears to sir robert peel that the object which the president professes to have in view would be better answered by the immediate compliance with mr fox's demand for passports, and the simultaneous despatch of a special mission to this country conveying whatever explanations or offers of reparation the president may have in contemplation. sir robert peel humbly assures your majesty that he has advised such measures of preparation to be taken in respect to the amount of disposable naval force, and the position of it, as without bearing the character of menace or causing needless disquietude and alarm, may provide for an unfavourable issue of our present differences with the united states. sir robert peel fears that when the president ventured to make to mr fox the communication which he did make, he must have laboured under apprehension that m'leod might be executed in spite of the efforts of the general government of the united states to save his life. [footnote : british minister at washington.] [footnote : one alexander m'leod was tried at utica on the charge of being implicated in the destruction of the _caroline_ (an american vessel engaged in carrying arms to the canadian rebels), in , and in the death of mr durfee, an american. the vessel had been boarded by canadian loyalists when lying in american waters, set on fire and sent over niagara falls, and in the affray durfee was killed. m'leod was apprehended on american territory, and hence arose the friction between the two countries. m'leod was acquitted th october .] [pageheading: portugal] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ st october ._ the queen received yesterday evening lord aberdeen's letter with the accompanying despatches and draft. she certainly _is_ surprised at the strange and improper tone in which lord howard's[ ] despatches are written, and can only attribute them to an over-eager and, she fully believes, mistaken feeling of the danger to which he believes the throne of the queen to be exposed. the queen has carefully perused lord aberdeen's draft, which she highly approves, but wishes to suggest to lord aberdeen whether upon further consideration it might not perhaps be as well to _soften_ the words under which she has drawn a pencil line, as she fears they might irritate lord howard very much. the queen is induced to copy the following sentences from a letter she received from her cousin, the king of portugal, a few days ago, and which it may be satisfactory to lord aberdeen to see:-- "_je dois encore vous dire que nous avons toutes les raisons de nous louer de la manière dont le portugal est traité par votre ministre des affaires Étrangères, et nous ferons de notre côté notre possible pour prouver notre bonne volonté."_ [footnote : lord howard de walden, minister plenipotentiary at lisbon.] [pageheading: secretaries of state] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st november ._ ... now for his royal highness's questions.... how the power of prime ministry grew up into its present form it is difficult to trace precisely, as well as how it became attached, as it were, to the office of first commissioner of the treasury. but lord melbourne apprehends that sir robert walpole was the first man in whose person this union of powers was decidedly established, and that its being so arose from the very great confidence which both george i. and george ii. reposed in him, and from the difficulty which they had in transacting business, particularly george i., from their imperfect knowledge of the language of the country. with respect to the secretary of state, lord melbourne is not prepared from memory to state the dates at which the different arrangements of that office have taken place. there was originally but one officer, and at the present the three are but the heads of the different departments of one office. the first division was into two, and they were called the secretary for the northern and the secretary for the southern department. they drew a line across the world, and each transacted the business connected with the countries within his own portion of the globe. another division then took place, and the foreign affairs were confided to one secretary of state, and the home and colonial affairs to the other; but the present arrangement was finally settled in the year , when the junction was formed between mr pitt on the one hand, and those friends of mr fox who left him because they differed with him upon the french revolution. the home affairs were placed in the hands of one secretary of state, the foreign of another, and the colonial and military affairs of a third, and this arrangement has continued ever since.[ ] the persons then appointed were the duke of portland,[ ] lord grenville,[ ] and mr dundas,[ ] home, foreign, and colonial secretaries. writing from recollection, it is very possible that lord melbourne may be wrong in some of the dates which he has ventured to specify.[ ] [footnote : a fourth secretary of state was added at the time of the crimean war, so as to separate colonial and military affairs, and a fifth after the indian mutiny to supersede the president of the board of control. _see_ lord melbourne's letter of st december , _ante_, p. . (ch. vi, 'state departments')] [footnote : third duke ( - ).] [footnote : william wyndham, lord grenville ( - ).] [footnote : henry dundas ( - ), afterwards lord melville.] [footnote : see _post_, pp. , . (ch. x, 'the english constitution', et seq.)] [pageheading: the english constitution] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has this morning had the honour and pleasure of receiving your majesty's letter of yesterday.... lord melbourne sends a letter which he has received from his sister, which may not be unentertaining. lady palmerston is struck, as everybody is who goes to ireland, with the candid warmth and vehement demonstration of feeling. england always appears cold, heartless, and sulky in comparison.... with respect to the questions put to me by your majesty at the desire of his royal highness, lord melbourne begs leave to assure your majesty that he will be at all times most ready and anxious to give any information in his power upon points of this sort, which are very curious, very important, very worthy to be enquired into, and upon which accurate information is not easily to be found. all the political part of the english constitution is fully understood, and distinctly stated in blackstone and many other books, but the ministerial part, the work of conducting the executive government, has rested so much on practice, on usage, on understanding, that there is no publication to which reference can be made for the explanation and description of it. it is to be sought in debates, in protests, in letters, in memoirs, and wherever it can be picked up. it seems to be stupid not to be able to say at once when two secretaries of state were established; but lord melbourne is not able. he apprehends that there was but one until the end of queen anne's reign, and that two were instituted by george i., probably because upon his frequent journeys to hanover he wanted the secretary of state with him, and at the same time it was necessary that there should be an officer of the same authority left at home to transact the domestic affairs. _prime minister_ is a term belonging to the last century. lord melbourne doubts its being to be found in english parliamentary language previously. sir robert walpole was always accused of having introduced and arrogated to himself an office previously unknown to the law and constitution, that of prime or sole minister, and we learn from lady charlotte lindsay's[ ] accounts of her father, that in his own family lord north would never suffer himself to be called _prime_ minister, because it was an office unknown to the constitution. this was a notion derived from the combined whig and tory opposition to sir robert walpole, to which lord north and his family had belonged. lord melbourne is very sorry to hear that the princess royal continues to suffer from some degree of indisposition. from what your majesty had said more than once before, lord melbourne had felt anxiety upon this subject, and he saw the baron yesterday, who conversed with him much upon it, and informed him of what had taken place. lord melbourne hopes that your majesty will attribute it only to lord melbourne's anxious desire for the security and increase of your majesty's happiness, if he ventures to say that the baron appears to him to have much reason in what he urges, and in the view which he takes. it is absolutely required that confidence should be reposed in those who are to have the management and bear the responsibility, and that they should not be too much interrupted or interfered with. [footnote : daughter of lord north (afterwards earl of guilford) and wife of lieut.-colonel the hon. john lindsay. she lived till --a link with the past.] [pageheading: secretaries of state] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. not feeling satisfied of the correctness of the information which he had given to your majesty respecting the office of secretary of state, he yesterday evening requested mr allen[ ] to look into the matter, and he has just received from him the enclosed short memorandum, which he has the honour of transmitting to your majesty. this shows that lord melbourne was quite wrong with respect to the period at which two secretaries of state were first employed, and that it was much earlier than he had imagined. the year , when the third secretary of state was abolished, was the period of the adoption of the great measure of economical reform which had been introduced by mr. burke in . the present arrangement was settled in , which is about the time which lord melbourne stated. [footnote : secretary and librarian at holland house.] [pageheading: lord melbourne's position] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th november ._ ... your majesty asks whether lord melbourne thinks that prince metternich holds the opinion of sir robert gordon, which he expresses to lord beauvale. it is difficult to say what prince metternich's real sentiments are. lord melbourne takes him not to have a very high opinion of the abilities of others in general, and he is not unlikely to depreciate sir robert gordon to lord beauvale. sir robert gordon is a man of integrity, but he is tiresome, long and pompous, which cannot be agreeable to the prince, who has about him much of the french vivacity, and also much of their settled and regular style of argument.... with respect to the latter part of your majesty's letter, lord melbourne returns for the expressions of your majesty's kindness his warm and grateful thanks. your majesty may rest assured that he will always speak to your majesty without scruple or reserve, and that he will never ask anything of your majesty, or ever make a suggestion, which he does not consider to be for your majesty's service and advantage. lord melbourne is of opinion that his visits to the palace should not only avoid exciting suspicion and uneasiness in your majesty's present advisers, a result of which he has very little apprehension, but they should not be so frequent as to attract public notice, comment, and observation, of which he would be more fearful. a public rumour, however unfounded and absurd, has more force in this country than objections which have in them more of truth and reality. upon these grounds, and as your majesty will probably not see much company at present, and the parties therefore will be a good deal confined to the actual household, lord melbourne thinks it would perhaps be as well if he were not again to dine at the palace at present. the course which it may be prudent to take hereafter will depend very much upon that which cannot now be foreseen, namely, upon the general course which will be taken by politics and political parties. in this lord melbourne does not at present discern his way, and he will not therefore hazard opinions which would not be founded upon any certainty, and might be liable to immediate change and alteration. [pageheading: stockmar's advice] [pageheading: stockmar's expostulations] _memorandum: baron stockmar to viscount melbourne._ _ november ._ the apprehension which haunts me since my return to england is well known to you. it was my intention to have written to you upon it some time hereafter, but the contents of a certain letter, sent by you just before your departure, accelerates the execution of my design. from your own expressions used some time back, i was led to expect that you would be glad to take advantage _of any fair opportunity_ which might contribute towards that devoutly to be wished for object, viz., to let a certain correspondence die a natural death. you may easily conceive how much i felt disappointed when i heard that you had written again, without a challenge, and that, without apparent cause, you had volunteered the promise to write from time to time. this happens at a moment when _your_ harassing apprehension received new life and strength from two incidents which i think it my duty to make known to you, and of which the one came to pass _before_, the other after, your departure from here. some weeks back i was walking in the streets with dr prætorius,[ ] when, finding myself opposite the house of one of my friends, it came across my mind to give him a call. prætorius wanted to leave me, on a conception that, as a stranger, he might obstruct the freedom of our conversation. i insisted, however, on his remaining with me, and we were shown into the drawing-room, where in all there were five of us. for some minutes the conversation had turned on insignificant things, when the person talking to me said quite abruptly: "so i find the queen is in daily correspondence with lord melbourne." i replied, "who told you this?" the answer was, "mrs norton; she told me the other evening. don't you believe that lord melbourne has lost his influence over the queen's mind; he daily writes to her, and receives as many answers, in which she communicates everything to him." without betraying much emotion i said, "i don't believe a word of it; the queen may have written once or twice on private matters, but the daily correspondence on all matters is certainly the amplification of a thoughtless and imprudent person, who is not aware of such exaggerated assertions." my speech was followed by a general silence, after which we talked of other things, and soon took our leave. when we were fairly in the open air, prætorius expressed to me his amazement at what he had heard, and he remained for some time at a loss to comprehend the character of the person who, from mere giddiness, let out so momentous a secret. the other fact took place the day after you had left. from the late events at brussels, it had become desirable that i should see sir robert peel. from belgium we travelled over to home politics. i expressed my delight at seeing the queen so happy, and added a hope that more and more she would seek and find her real happiness in her domestic relations only. he evidently caught at this, and assured me that he should at all times be too happy to have a share in anything which might be thought conducive to the welfare of her majesty. that no consideration of personal inconvenience would ever prevent him from indulging the queen in all her wishes relating to matters of a private nature, and that the only return for his sincere endeavours to please her majesty he looked to, was honesty in public affairs. becoming then suddenly emphatic, he continued, "but on this i must insist, and i do assure you, that that moment i was to learn that the queen takes advice upon public matters in another place, i shall throw up; for such a thing i conceive the country could not stand, and i would not remain an hour, whatever the consequences of my resignation may be." fully sensible that he was talking at me, i received the charge with the calmness of a good conscience, and our time being exhausted i prepared for retreat. but he did not allow me to do so, before he had found means to come a second time to the topic uppermost in his own mind, and he repeated, it appeared to me with increased force of tone, his determination to throw up, fearless of all consequences, that moment he found himself and the country dishonestly dealt by. i think i have now reported to you correctly the two occurrences which of late have added so much to my antecedent suspicions and fears. permit me to join to this a few general considerations which, from the nature of the recited incidents alone, and without the slightest intervention of any other cause, must have presented themselves to my mind. the first is, that i derive from the events related quite ground enough for concluding that the danger i dread is great and imminent, and that, if ill luck is to have its will, no human power can prevent an explosion for a day, or even for an hour. the second is the contemplation--what state will the queen be placed in by such a catastrophe? that in my position, portraying to myself all the consequences of such a possibility, i look chiefly to the queen, needs hardly, i trust, an excuse.... can you hope that the queen's character will ever recover from a shock received by a collision with peel, upon such a cause? pray illustrate to yourself this particular question by taking a purely political and general survey of the time and period we live in at this moment. in doing so must you not admit that all england is agreed that the tories must have another trial, and that there is a decided desire in the nation that it should be a fair one? would you have it said that sir robert peel failed in his trial, merely because the queen alone was not fair to him, and that principally you had aided her in the game of dishonesty? and can you hope that this game can be played with security, even for a short time only, when a person has means of looking into your cards whom you yourself have described to me some years ago as a most passionate, giddy, imprudent and dangerous woman? i am sure beforehand that your loyalty and devotion has nothing to oppose to the force of my exposition. there are, however, some other and minor reasons which ought likewise to be considered before you come to the determination of trusting entirely to possibilities and chance. for the results of your deliberation you will have to come to will in their working and effects go beyond yourself, and must affect two other persons. these will have a right to expect that your decision will not be taken regardless of that position, which accidental circumstances have assigned to them, in an affair the fate of which is placed entirely within your discretion. this is an additional argument why you should deliberate very conscientiously. a mistake of yours in this respect might by itself produce fresh difficulties and have a complicating and perplexing retro effect upon the existing ones; because both, seeing that they must be sufferers in the end, may begin to look only to their own safety, and become inclined to refuse that passive obedience which till now constitutes the vehicle of your hazardous enterprize. approaching the conclusion of this letter, i beg to remind you of a conversation i had with you on the same subject in south street, the th of last month.[ ] though you did not avow it then in direct words, i could read from your countenance and manner that you assented in your head and heart to all i had said, and in particular to the advice i volunteered at the end of my speech. at that time i pointed out to you a period when i thought a decisive step ought to be taken on your part. this period seems to me to have arrived. placing unreserved confidence into your candour and manliness, i remain, for ever, very faithfully yours, stockmar. [footnote : librarian and german secretary to prince albert.] [footnote : _ante_, pp. - . (ch. x, 'stockmar and melbourne')] [pageheading: melbourne's reply] _viscount melbourne to baron stockmar._ _ th november ._ (_half-past _ p.m.) my dear baron,--i have just received your letter; i think it unnecessary to detain your messenger. i will write to you upon the subject and send it through anson. yours faithfully, melbourne. [pageheading: the heir apparent] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th november ._ my dearest uncle,--i have to thank you for four most kind letters, of the th, th, th and th; the last i received yesterday. i would have written sooner, had i not been a little bilious, which made me very low, and not in spirits to write. the weather has been so exceedingly relaxing, that it made me at the end of the fortnight quite bilious, and this, you know, affects the spirits. i am much better, but they think that i shall not get my appetite and spirits back till i can get out of town; we are therefore going in a week at latest. i am going for a drive this morning, and am certain it will do me good. in all _essentials_, i am better, if possible, than last year. our little boy[ ] is a wonderfully strong and large child, with very large dark blue eyes, a finely formed but somewhat large nose, and a pretty little mouth; i _hope_ and _pray_ he may be like his dearest papa. he is to be called _albert_, and edward is to be his second name. pussy, dear child, is still _the_ great pet amongst us all, and is getting so fat and strong again. i beg my most affectionate love to dearest louise and the dear children. the queen-dowager is recovering wonderfully. i beg you to forgive this letter being so badly written, but my feet are being rubbed, and as i have got the box on which i am writing on my knee, it is not easy to write quite straight--but you must _not_ think my hand trembles. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pussy is _not_ at all pleased with her brother. [footnote : his majesty king edward vii., born th november.] [pageheading: the infant prince] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ trentham, _ st december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour of receiving here your majesty's letters of yesterday, by which he learns with sincere pleasure and satisfaction that your majesty is so much recovered as to go to windsor on so early a day as your majesty names. lord melbourne hears with great concern that your majesty has been suffering under depression and lowness of spirits.... lord melbourne well knows how to feel for those who suffer under it, especially as he has lately had much of it himself. lord melbourne is much rejoiced to hear so good an account of the heir apparent and of the princess royal, and feels himself greatly obliged by the information respecting the intended names and the sponsors. lord melbourne supposes that your majesty has determined yourself upon the relative position of the two names, but _edward_ is a good english appellation, and has a certain degree of popularity attached to it from ancient recollections. albert is also an old anglo-saxon name--the same, lord melbourne believes, as ethelred--but it has not been so common nor so much in use since the conquest. however, your majesty's feelings, which lord melbourne perfectly understands, must determine this point. the notion of the king of prussia[ ] gives great satisfaction here, and will do so with all but puseyites and newmanites and those who lean to the roman catholic faith. his strong protestant feelings, and his acting with us in the matter of the syrian bishop, have made the king of prussia highly popular in this country, and particularly with the more religious part of the community. your majesty cannot offer up for the young prince a more safe and judicious prayer than that he may resemble his father. the character, in lord melbourne's opinion, depends much upon the race, and on both sides he has a good chance. be not over solicitous about education. it may be able to do much, but it does not do so much as is expected from it. it may mould and direct the character, but it rarely alters it. george iv. and the duke of york were educated quite like english boys, by english schoolmasters, and in the manner and upon the system of english schools. the consequence was that, whatever were their faults, they were quite englishmen. the others, who were sent earlier abroad, and more to foreign universities, were not quite so much so. the late king was educated as a sailor, and was a complete sailor.... lord melbourne will tell your majesty exactly what he thinks of john russell's reply to the plymouth address. it is very angry and very bitter, and anger and bitterness are never very dignified. lord melbourne certainly would not have put in those sarcasms upon the duke of wellington and sir robert peel, for their change of opinion and conduct upon the roman catholic question. but the tone of the rest of the answer is, in lord melbourne's opinion, just and right. we certainly delivered the affairs of the country into their hands in a good state, both at home and abroad, and we should be acting unfairly by ourselves if we did not maintain and assert this upon every occasion. lord melbourne's notion of the conduct which he has to pursue is, that it should not be aggressive, but that it must be defensive. he would oppose no right measures, but he cannot suffer the course of policy which has been condemned in him to be adopted by others without observation upon the inconsistency and injustice.... lord melbourne concludes with again wishing your majesty health and happiness, and much enjoyment of the country. [footnote : king frederick william iv., who was to be a sponsor.] [pageheading: prince of wales] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th december ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to enclose for the signature of your majesty the letters patent creating his royal highness, the prince of the united kingdom, prince of wales and earl of chester.[ ] understanding that it is your majesty's pleasure to have this creation inserted in the _gazette_ of to-morrow night, sir james graham has given directions, which will ensure the publication, though the letters patent themselves may not be completed. the warrant already signed by your majesty is a sufficient authority. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [footnote : his present majesty had been referred to in letters of the previous month as the duke of cornwall. "know ye," ran the present letters patent, "that we have made ... our most dear son, the prince of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland (duke of saxony, duke of cornwall ...) prince of wales and earl of chester ... and him our said most dear son, ... as has been accustomed, we do ennoble and invest with the said principality and earldom, by girding him with a sword, by putting a coronet on his head, and a gold ring on his finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into his hand, that he may preside there, and may direct and defend those parts...."] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--we arrived here _sains et saufs_ with our awfully large nursery establishment yesterday morning. it was a nasty warm and very rainy day, but to-day is very bright, clear and dry, and we walked out early and felt like prisoners freed from some dungeon. many thanks for your kind letter of the nd, by which i grieve to see that you are not quite well. but let me repeat again, you _must_ not despond so; you must not be so out of spirits. i have likewise been suffering so from _lowness_ that it made me quite miserable, and i know how difficult it is to fight against it. i am delighted to hear that all the children are so well. i wonder very much who our little boy will be like. you will understand _how_ fervent my prayers and i am [sure] _everybody's_ must be, to see him resemble his angelic dearest father in _every, every_ respect, both in body and mind. oh! my dearest uncle, i am sure if you knew _how_ happy, how blessed i feel, and how _proud_ i feel in possessing _such_ a perfect being as my husband, as he is, and if you think that you have been instrumental in bringing about this union, it must gladden your heart! how happy should i be to see our child grow up _just_ like him! dear pussy travelled with us and behaved like a grown-up person, so quiet and looking about and coquetting with the hussars on either side of the carriage. now adieu! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the approaching christening] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ castle howard, _ nd december ._ ... lord melbourne will consider himself most highly honoured by being invited to the christening, and will hold himself in readiness to attend, whenever it may take place. he has written to mr anson in answer to the letter which he received from him this morning. lord melbourne has been obliged to consent to receive an address from derby, and has fixed monday the th inst. for that purpose. he could have wished to have avoided this, but it was impossible, and he must make the best of it that he can, which he conceives will be effected by conceiving his reply in very guarded terms, and in a tone defensive of his own administration, but not offensive to those who have succeeded him.... lord melbourne is very glad to hear of the feelings of the king of prussia. for religious matters he is at present very popular with many in this country, and popularity, though transient and uncertain, is a good thing while it lasts. the king of the belgians should not be surprised or mortified at the conduct of the king of holland. we must expect that people will act according to their nature and feelings. the union of belgium and holland has been for a long time the first wish and the daily dream of the house of orange. it has been the great object of their lives, and by the separation, which took place in , they saw their fondest hopes disappointed and destroyed at once. it must be expected that under such a state of things, they will be unquiet, and will try to obtain what they so eagerly desire and have once possessed. lord melbourne is much rejoiced to hear that your majesty is in the enjoyment of such good health. your majesty's observations upon your own situation are in the highest degree just and prudent, and it is a sign of a right mind and of good feelings to prize the blessings we enjoy, and not to suffer them to be too much altered by circumstances, which may not turn out exactly according to our wishes. [pageheading: the united states] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th december ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty. he ventures to request your majesty's attention for a moment to the character of your majesty's present relations with the government of the united states. your majesty is aware that several questions of great difficulty and importance have been long pending between the two governments.[ ] some of these have become more complicated than they were ten years ago; and any of them might, at any moment, lead to consequences of the most disastrous nature. instead of continuing negotiations, necessarily tedious and which promise to be interminable, your majesty's servants are humbly of opinion that an effort ought to be made, by a special mission at washington, to bring all these differences promptly to an adjustment. the public feeling in the united states at this time does not appear to be unfavourable for such an attempt. should it be undertaken by a person whose rank, character, and abilities would ensure respect, and whose knowledge of the subjects under discussion, and of the people of the country, together with his conciliatory manners, would render him generally acceptable, your majesty might perhaps indulge the hope of a successful result. lord aberdeen humbly ventures to think that such a person may be found in lord ashburton,[ ] whom he submits for your majesty's gracious approbation. [footnote : the question of the north-west boundary had long been one source of dispute; another was the right the british government claimed of searching vessels suspected of being engaged in the slave trade.] [footnote : alexander, first lord ashburton, who had held office in peel's short ministry, and married miss bingham of philadelphia. see _post_, p. . (ch. xii, footnote )] [pageheading: christmas] _memorandum by mr anson._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ christmas has brought its usual routine of festivity and its agreeable accompaniment of christmas presents. the queen was not at all well again yesterday, being again troubled with lowness. the melbourne correspondence still is carried on, but i think not in its pristine vigour by any means. he has taken no notice of the baron's remonstrance to him, and we are in the dark in what manner, if at all, he means to deal with it. i have sat by her majesty at dinner several times lately. i should say that her majesty interests herself less and less about politics, and that her dislike is less than it was to her present ministers, though she would not be prepared to acknowledge it. her majesty is a good deal occupied with the little princess royal, who begins to assume companionable qualities. in the evening, instead of her usual conversation with her old prime minister, some round game at cards is substituted, which always terminates at eleven. the prince, to amuse the queen at this, has nearly left off his chess; his amusements--shooting or hunting--always commence and terminate between eleven and two, not to interfere with her majesty's arrangements, in which he is included as her companion. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ melbourne, _ th december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received here yesterday your majesty's letter of the th inst., upon a paper adorned with many quaint and humorous christmas devices, and lord melbourne begs to offer to your majesty, most sincerely and most fervently, the good wishes of the season. lord melbourne will be in town on friday evening next, and after that day will wait upon your majesty, whenever your majesty is pleased to command.... lord melbourne is very glad to hear that the king of the belgians is reassured by his journey to mons and his reception upon it. he need not mind the king of holland, if he can keep all right at paris. the railway smash[ ] is awful and tremendous, as all railway mishaps are, and lord melbourne fears must always be. these slips and falls of earth from the banks are the greatest danger that now impends over them, and if they take place suddenly and in the dark, lord melbourne does not see how the fatal consequences of them are to be effectually guarded against. they are peculiarly likely to happen now, as the cuttings have been recently and hastily made, the banks are very steep, and the season has been peculiarly wet, interrupted by severe frosts. lord melbourne received the deputation from derby, a large and respectable one, here on monday last. the address was very guarded, temperate, and judicious, and lord melbourne strove to construct his answer in the same manner. [footnote : this accident took place on th december in the sonning hill cutting, two and a half miles from reading. eight persons were killed on the spot.] introductory note to chapter xi the session was mainly occupied by the great ministerial measure of finance, direct taxation by means of income tax being imposed, and the import duties on a large number of articles being removed or relaxed, mr gladstone, now at the board of trade, taking charge of the bills. two more attempts on the queen's life were made, the former again on constitution hill by one francis, whose capital sentence was commuted; the latter by a hunchback, bean, who was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. an act was promptly passed to deal with such outrages in future as misdemeanours, without giving them the importance of high treason. lord ashley's bill was passed, prohibiting woman and child labour in mines and collieries. but the anti-corn law league of manchester was not satisfied with the policy of the government and objected to the income tax; while riots broke out in the manufacturing districts of the north. in afghanistan, the disasters of the previous year were retrieved; sir robert sale, who was gallantly defending jellalabad, made a _sortie_ and defeated akbar khan; general nott arrived at ghuznee, but found it evacuated; he destroyed the citadel and removed the gates of somnauth. general pollock swept the khyber pass and entered cabul. the captives taken on the retreat from cabul were recovered--lady macnaghten and lady sale among them. in retribution for the murder of macnaghten, the great bazaar of cabul, where his remains had been dishonoured, was destroyed by pollock; the british force was then withdrawn. dost mahommed made himself again ruler of cabul, and a proclamation of lord ellenborough announced that the british government accepted any sovereign and constitution approved by the afghans themselves. in china, also, operations were successfully terminated, chapoo being taken in may, and an attack by admiral parker upon nanking being only averted by the conclusion of a favourable treaty, involving an indemnity, the cession by china of hong kong, and the opening of important ports to commerce. a dispute had arisen between this country and the united states as to the boundary line between the latter country and the british possessions in north america. lord ashburton was accordingly sent out on a special mission to effect the adjustment of this and other disputes, and a treaty was concluded for the purpose of defining each country's territorial rights, and imposing mutual obligations for the suppression of the slave trade. chapter xi _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ sudbury hall, _ th january ._ my dear niece,--most grateful for your very amiable kind letter full of good wishes for me, i hasten to answer it and to assure you that i deeply feel all your affectionate kindness to me in wishing my life to be prolonged. from ill-health i have become such a useless member of your family, that i must wonder you have not long been tired of me. i wish i was more able to be of any use to you which you might like to make of me. my services would be most faithful, i can assure you. should my life be spared, there may perhaps yet be a time when i can prove to you, that what i say is not merely a _façon de parler_, but my sincere wish. your domestic happiness, dearest victoria, gives me great satisfaction whenever i think of it, and that is very often. god continue it so, uninterrupted, is my daily prayer. your approbation of my little offering to my dear godchild gives me much pleasure. it occupied me several days during my illness to make the drawing, weak as i then was, and it was a _pleasant occupation_. we have frost again, with a clear blue sky, which is much better for me than the damp close weather of last week, which oppressed me so much. i breathe again, and my spirits get their usual tone, which they had lost, but i still cough a great deal, which is very fatiguing. will you kiss your darlings in my name and bless them, and pray believe me ever, my dear niece, your most affectionately devoted aunt, adelaide. [pageheading: windsor] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ broadlands,[ ] _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to return to your majesty and to his royal highness his thanks for all the kindness shown him at windsor. he was very happy to find himself there again and in your majesty's society. he has seen many fine places and much fine country, but after all there is nothing like windsor and the park. twenty very fine places might easily be made out of the latter. lord melbourne as he drove to bagshot was very glad to see the plantations at and about cumberland lodge and onwards so well and judiciously thinned. he had a very prosperous journey here. it is a lovely place, with the greatest beauty that a place can have, a very swift, clear, natural stream, running and winding in front of the house. the whole place is much improved since lord melbourne saw it last; a great deal of new pleasure-ground has been made. the trees, cypresses, elders, planes, elms, white poplars and acacias are very fine indeed.... lord melbourne thinks of staying here six or seven days, and then returning to london and going to brocket hall and panshanger, but he has not fixed his plans decidedly, which he is never very fond of doing. lord melbourne was delighted at thinking that he left your majesty in good health, which he earnestly hopes and fervently prays may, together with every other blessing, long continue. [footnote : the house of lord palmerston in hants.] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th january ._ ... sir robert peel has informed lord aberdeen that he had mentioned to your majesty the suggestion of the king of prussia to confer the order of the black eagle[ ] upon the prince of wales, immediately after the christening of his royal highness. lord aberdeen therefore abstains from troubling your majesty with any observations on this subject. [footnote : founded by frederick i. in .] [pageheading: disasters in afghanistan] _lord fitzgerald to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ lord fitzgerald, with his most humble duty to your majesty, begs leave humbly to inform your majesty that despatches have been this day received at the india house from the earl of auckland, governor-general of india, which most officially confirm to too great an extent the disastrous intelligence contained in the public journals of yesterday, the particulars of which the editors of these journals had received by express messengers from marseilles.[ ] this intelligence is of a most painful character, and though the details which have arrived do high honour to the courage and the gallantry of your majesty's forces, as well as of the east india company's army, yet the loss sustained has been very great, and many valuable officers have fallen the victims of a widespread conspiracy which seems to have embraced within its confederation the most warlike tribes of the afghan nation. lord fitzgerald begs leave most humbly to lay before your majesty an interesting despatch from lord auckland, comprising the most important details of the late events in afghanistan. it is very satisfactory to lord fitzgerald to be enabled humbly to acquaint your majesty that lord auckland has decided on waiting the arrival of his successor, lord ellenborough, and states to lord fitzgerald that he will feel it to be his duty to remain in his [government], in the present critical state of affairs, until he is relieved by the new governor-general. all of which is most humbly submitted to your majesty, by your majesty's most dutiful subject and servant, fitzgerald and vesci. [footnote : _see_ introductory note, , _ante_, p. . the rebellion broke out at cabul on nd november, and sir alexander burnes was murdered. (intro note to ch. x)] [pageheading: the oxford movement] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has this morning received your majesty's letter of the th inst., and is glad to infer from it that your majesty and the prince are both well and in good spirits. with respect to the oxford affair, your majesty is aware that for a long time a serious difference has been fermenting and showing itself in the church of england, one party leaning back towards popery, and the other either wishing to keep doctrines as they are, or, perhaps, to approach somewhat nearer to the dissenting churches. this difference has particularly manifested itself in a publication, now discontinued, but which has been long going on at oxford, entitled _tracts for the times_, and generally called the oxford tracts. the professorship of poetry is now vacant at oxford, and two candidates have been put forward, the one mr williams, who is the author of one or two of the most questionable of the oxford tracts, and the other mr garbett, who is a representative of the opposite party. of course the result of this election, which is made by the masters of arts of the university, is looked to with much interest and anxiety, as likely to afford no unequivocal sign of which is the strongest party in the university and amongst the clergy generally. it is expected that mr garbett will be chosen by a large majority.... [pageheading: the morning chronicle] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to acknowledge your majesty's letter of the th, which he has received here this morning. lord melbourne does not think this puseyite difference in the church so serious or dangerous as others do. if it is discreetly managed, it will calm down or blow over or sink into disputes of little significance. all lord melbourne fears is lest the bishops should be induced to act hastily and should get into the wrong. the puseyites have the most learning, or rather, have considered the points more recently and more accurately than their opponents. lord melbourne hopes that the spanish affair will be settled. lord melbourne cannot doubt that the french are wrong. even if the precedents are in their favour, the spanish court has a right to settle its own etiquette and its own mode of transacting business, and to change them if it thinks proper.[ ] lord melbourne was at broadlands when the article to which your majesty alludes appeared in the _morning chronicle_, and he talked it over with palmerston. he does not think that palmerston wrote it, because there were in it errors, and those errors to palmerston's disadvantage; but it was written by easthope under the impression that it conveyed palmerston's notions and opinions. your majesty knows very well that palmerston has long had much communication with the _morning chronicle_ and much influence over it, and has made great use of it for the purpose of maintaining and defending his own policy. in this sort of matter there is much to be said upon both sides. a minister has a great advantage in stating his own views to the public, and if palmerston in the syrian affair had not had as devoted an assistant as the _morning chronicle_, he would hardly have been able to maintain his course or carry through his measures. it has always been lord melbourne's policy to keep himself aloof from the public press and to hold it at arm's-length, and he considers it the best course, but it is subject to disadvantages. you are never in that case strongly supported by them, nor are the motives and reasons of your conduct given to the public with that force and distinctness which they might be. lord melbourne has no doubt that your majesty's assurance is well founded, and that the present government are anxious for the welfare and prosperity and tranquillity of spain. it cannot be otherwise. palmerston dislikes aberdeen and has a low opinion of him. he thinks him weak and timid, and likely to let down the character and influence of the country. your majesty knows that lord melbourne does not partake these opinions, certainly not at least to anything like the extent to which palmerston carries them. lord melbourne is going down to panshanger to-morrow, where he understands that he is to meet lord and lady lansdowne and lord and lady leveson.[ ] lord melbourne will take care and say nothing about brighton, but is glad to hear that your majesty is going thither. [footnote : an ambassador, m. de salvandy, had been sent from france to madrid. espartero, the regent, required the credentials to be presented to him and not to the young queen. the french ambassador having refused to comply, an unseemly dispute arose, and m. de salvandy left madrid.] [footnote : the late lord granville and his first wife, only child of the duc de dalberg, and widow of sir ferdinand acton.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ my dear uncle,--not to miss my day, i write a line to thank you for your kind letters of the th and th, but shall write fully by the messenger. our claremont trip was very enjoyable, only we missed pussy so much; another time we shall take her with us; the dear child was so pleased to see us again, particularly dear albert, whom she is _so_ fond of.... we think of going to brighton early in february, as the physicians think it will do the children great good, and perhaps it may _me_; for i am very strong as to fatigue and exertion, but not quite right otherwise; i am growing thinner, and there is a want of tone, which the sea may correct. albert's great _fonction_[ ] yesterday went off beautifully, and he was so much admired in all ways; he always _fascinates_ the people wherever he goes, by his very modest and unostentatious yet dignified ways. he only came back at twelve last night; it was very kind of him to come. the king of prussia means, i believe, to cross on the th. now _addio_. ever your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : the prince laid the foundation stone of the new royal exchange.] [pageheading: the duke of wellington] _the duke of wellington to queen victoria._ london, _ st january ._ field-marshal the duke of wellington presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is much flattered by your majesty's most gracious desire that he should bear the sword of state at the ceremony of the christening of his royal highness the prince of wales. he had already received from sir robert peel an intimation of your majesty's gracious pleasure on this subject. he is in such good health, as to be able to perform any duty upon which your majesty may think proper to employ him; and he will attend your majesty's gracious ceremony at windsor castle on tuesday morning, the th jan. inst. all of which is humbly submitted to your majesty by your majesty's most dutiful and devoted subject and servant, wellington. _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ windsor castle, _ nd january ._ the queen cannot say _how grieved_ she is, and the prince also, at hearing of lord melbourne's serious indisposition, by his letter this morning. how _very_ provoking if he cannot come on tuesday. it will be the _only_ important ceremony during the queen's reign which lord melbourne has _not_ been present at, and it grieves her _deeply_. it was already a deep mortification not to see him in his old place, but not to see him _at all_ is _too_ provoking. if lord melbourne should soon get well we shall hope to see him later during the king's[ ] stay. the prince is gone to greenwich to meet the king, and i expect them about five o'clock. the queen hopes to hear soon of lord melbourne's being better, and expresses again her very sincere regret at his being prevented from coming. [footnote : frederick wilham iv., king of prussia.] [pageheading: the slave trade] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ _ th january ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty. some time ago, your majesty was graciously pleased to express a desire to have a copy of the treaty concluded by your majesty with the four great powers of europe, for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade.[ ] lord aberdeen has had one prepared for your majesty's use, which he humbly begs to lay before your majesty. in obeying your majesty's commands lord aberdeen thinks it his duty, at the same time, to state to your majesty that, with the exception of some alterations and additions of little importance, the treaty in its present form had existed for a considerable time in the foreign office. he found, also, that there had been a reluctance to sign it on the part of the french government; but as the objection was chiefly of a personal nature, it was speedily removed. the only share, therefore, which lord aberdeen can properly be said to have had in this transaction is that of having been enabled to afford your majesty the great satisfaction of completing this blessed work at an earlier period than would otherwise have been the case. [footnote : the treaty conferred a mutual right of search.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has to thank your majesty for the letters of the th and the st ult., the last of which he received this morning. lord melbourne is very glad that your majesty opens the parliament in person. your majesty knows lord melbourne's opinion, that it ought always to be done, when it can be, without reference to ministers, politics, or political questions. lord melbourne hopes to be able to go to the house in the evening, but he fears that it would be too much for him if he were to attempt to attend also in the morning. lord melbourne was in despair at hearing of poor eos.[ ] favourites often get shot; lord melbourne has known it happen often in his time. that is the worst of dogs; they add another strong interest to a life which has already of itself interest enough, and those, god knows! sufficiently subject both to accident and decay. lord melbourne is sorry to do anything that could trouble your majesty in the slightest degree, but he doubts not that your majesty is already aware of the matter, and therefore he has less scruple in sending to your majesty a letter[ ] which he has received from the duke of sussex. upon the plea of not being well, lord melbourne has put off seeing the duke upon this subject until after monday next, and when he does see him, he will try to keep him quiet, which your majesty knows when he has got a thing of this sort into his head, is no easy matter. [footnote : a favourite greyhound of the prince, accidentally shot by prince ferdinand. _see_ king leopold's letter, th february.] [footnote : this letter is not preserved among the queen's papers.] [pageheading: the king of prussia] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st february ._ my dear uncle,--i have to thank you for a kind, short note of the th inst., which i received on sunday. i gave your kind message to the king of prussia, who was much _touché_ by it. he is a most amiable man, so kind and well-meaning, and seems so much beloved. he is so amusing too. he is very anxious that belgium should become _liée_ with germany, and i think, dearest uncle, that it would be for the _real_ good of belgium if it could be so. you will have heard how perfectly and splendidly everything went off on the th. nothing could have done better, and _little_ albert (_what_ a pleasure that he has that _dearest_ name!) behaved so well. the king left us yesterday morning to go to town, where we follow him to-morrow; he was quite sad to leave windsor, which he admired so much. he dined with the sutherlands yesterday, and dines with the duke of wellington to-day, and the cambridges to-morrow. on thursday he dines with us (he lodges in buckingham palace), and on friday takes his departure. he is really a most agreeable visitor, though i must own that i am somewhat knocked up by our great exertions. uncle ferdinand is very well, and we are delighted with dear leopold;[ ] he is so much improved, and is such a modest, sensible boy. i can't say much for poor gusti,[ ] though i love him, but he is really too odd and inanimate. i hope louise will see the king of prussia. you have heard our great misfortune about dear eos; she is going on well, but slowly, and still makes us rather anxious. it made me quite ill the first day, and keeps me fidgety still, till we know that she is quite safe. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. we were grieved to hear papa had been so ill. [footnote : son of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, and brother of the king of portugal, afterwards a candidate for the hand of queen isabella of spain. see _post_, p. . (ch. xii, footnote )] [footnote : prince augustus, afterwards married to the princess clémentine, daughter of king louis philippe.] [pageheading: the king of prussia] [pageheading: betrothal of prince ernest] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th february ._ my dear victoria,--thousand thanks for your kind letter of the st, which i received yesterday. the king of prussia is a very delightful person;[ ] he is so clever and amiable, and, owing to his good-nature, not by any means fatiguing. i fear you had cold weather yesterday for the opening of parliament. to-day we have here a tremendous fog; heaven grant that it may not be so heavy on the thames! else the king's journey will be rendered difficult. we expect him to-morrow about eleven o'clock; he wishes to be at antwerp at five, which would indicate his departure from hence at three o'clock. there can be no doubt that nothing could be better than to link this country as much as possible to germany. the public feeling was and is still favourable to this, but in germany some years ago they were childishly ultra, and kicked us off most unnecessarily, which renders everything of the sort now much less easy. in a political point of view the king's journey will prove useful, as it takes him still more out of the clutches of russia and gives him more _correct_ views of what is going on in the west of europe. i wish the king may also talk to his helter-skelter cousin in holland; if the man goes on in his wild intrigues, though he will get most probably nothing by it _himself_, he may do a great deal of harm, and may force us to incline more towards france for fear of _his_ intrigues with france. i was extremely sorry to hear the accident which befell dear eos, a great friend of mine. i do not understand how your uncle managed it; he ought rather to have shot somebody else of the family. ernest has then been going on fast enough; all i hear of the lady is very satisfactory.[ ] i don't yet know when he means to come here. now i must conclude. in haste, ever, my dear victoria, your affectionate uncle, leopold r. [footnote : lord aberdeen wrote to madame de lieven: "i passed a great deal of time with the king of prussia when he was in this country, and perfectly subscribe to the truth of the description you gave me of him before his arrival--intelligent, high-minded, and sincere. like all germans, he is sometimes a little in the clouds, but his projects are generous, and he wishes to do what is right."] [footnote : he married the princess alexandrina of baden on rd may .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ my dearest uncle,--i thank you _de tout mon c[oe]ur_ for your kind letter of the th, which i received the day before yesterday. you have now seen our good, kind, amiable king of prussia, for whom i have really the greatest affection and respect. we were quite sorry to lose him, and he was much affected at going. he is so open and natural, and seems really so anxious to do good whenever he can. his liberality and generosity here has been immense. he is very much displeased with his "helter-skelter cousin,"[ ] and quite unhappy at the state of things in that country.... ernest's marriage is a _great, great delight_ to us; thank god! i say, as i so ardently wished it, and alexandrina is said to be really _so_ perfect. i have begged ernest beforehand to pass his honeymoon with us, and i beg you to urge him to do it; for he witnessed our first happiness, and we must therefore witness his. leopold is a dear, sweet boy, really, so full of feeling, and so very good-tempered and modest; the king was charmed with him and he with the king. i am happy to say faithful eos is quite convalescent; she walks about wrapped up in flannel. we are off for brighton the day after to-morrow; i can't say i _like_ it at all. we were, and the boy too, all three, vaccinated from the same child yesterday! now adieu! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. fanny jocelyn is taking her first waiting, and makes a most excellent and sedate _dame d'honneur_. i am sorry she is so very thin still. [footnote : the king of holland. _see_ king leopold's letter of th february.] [pageheading: christening of prince of wales] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ marlborough house, _ th february ._ my dear niece,--i thank you a thousand times for your kind letter, just received, and am delighted with the hope of seeing you, if you have time to spare, when you come to town next week. i hardly dare to expect it, but it will make me very happy should you be able to fulfil your kind intention. i was happy to hear how well the holy ceremony went off on tuesday, and how splendid the whole was. the earnest attention of the king of prussia to the ceremony, and the manner with which he read the responses, was universally remarked and admired. may your dear child, our beloved prince of wales, follow his pious example in future, and become as truly estimable and amiable and good as his godfather really is. he is indeed most charming, and so very agreeable and affable to every one, that he must be loved and respected by all who have the good fortune to approach him. i hope he does not over-fatigue himself, for he does a great deal in the short time of his stay in england. he expresses himself delighted with his reception. i regret to find that your dear little girl is still suffering so much from her teeth. god bless and guard her and her brother!--who by all descriptions must be a very fine babe. the king of prussia admires little victoria _very much_; he described her to me as the most lovely child he ever saw. i enclose the impression of my seal, according to your wish.... with my best love to dear albert, i beg you to believe me ever, dearest victoria, your most attached and devoted aunt, adelaide. may i ask you to give my affectionate respects to the king of prussia, and my love to your mamma? _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th february, monday night._ (_half-past_ a.m.) sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to acquaint your majesty that lord john russell proposed this evening in the house of commons a resolution condemnatory of the principle of the plan for the adjustment of the corn laws, brought forward by your majesty's servants. lord john russell was followed in the debate by mr gladstone, the vice-president of the board of trade, who vindicated the plan.... sir robert peel had a meeting yesterday of the friends of the government in the house of commons, and he is convinced that although many may have wished that the plan of the government had given an increased degree of protection to agriculture, the great body will support the measure, and that we shall have no difficulty in resisting any detached efforts that may be made to add to the duties on foreign corn. [pageheading: peel and prince albert] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ whitehall, _ th february(?) ._ sir,--when i had the honour of last seeing your royal highness at windsor castle, i stated to your royal highness that it would give me great satisfaction to have the opportunity from time to time of apprising your royal highness of the legislative measures in contemplation of her majesty's servants, and of explaining in detail any matters in respect to which your royal highness might wish for information. in conformity with this feeling on my part, i take the liberty of sending to your royal highness two confidential memoranda prepared for the information of her majesty's servants on the important subjects respectively of the state of slavery in the east indies, and of the poor laws in this country. they may probably be interesting to your royal highness, and if your royal highness should encourage me to do so, i will, as occasion may arise, make similar communications to your royal highness. i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. _p.s._--i do not think that the measure which i have brought forward for the diminution of the duties on the import of foreign corn, will deprive us of any portion of the support or goodwill of our friends. many wish that the reduction had not been carried so far, but almost all are aware of the consequences of rejecting or obstructing the measure. [pageheading: afghanistan] _lord fitzgerald and vesci to queen victoria._ india board, _ st march ._ lord fitzgerald, with his most humble duty to your majesty, requests permission humbly to submit to your majesty, that the communications received yesterday at the india house present a dark and alarming picture of the position and danger of the british troops in afghanistan.[ ] although the governor-general's despatch announcing these melancholy tidings also states that no strictly official intelligence had reached him from cabul, yet the opinion of lord auckland evidently is, that the reports on which his despatch is founded are but too likely to be true. from them it would appear that a numerous and excited native population had succeeded in intercepting all supplies, that the army at cabul laboured under severe privations, and that in consequence of the strict investment of the cantonments by the enemy, there remained, according to a letter from the late sir william macnaghten to an officer with sir robert sale's force, only three days' provision in the camp. under such circumstances it can perhaps be but faintly hoped that any degree of gallantry and devotion on the part of your majesty's forces can have extricated them from the difficulties by which they were encompassed on every side. capitulation had been spoken of, and it may, unhappily, have become inevitable, as the relieving column, expected from candahar, had been compelled by the severity of an unusual season to retrace its march. the despatches from calcutta being voluminous, and embracing minute unofficial reports, lord fitzgerald has extracted and copied those parts which relate to the military operations in afghanistan, and most humbly submits them to your majesty. he at the same time solicits permission to annex a _précis_ of some of the most important of the private letters which have been forwarded from india; and, as your majesty was graciously pleased to peruse with interest some passages from the first journal of lady sale, lord fitzgerald ventures to add the further extracts, transmitted by lord auckland, in which lady sale describes successive actions with the enemy, and paints the state of the sufferings of the army, as late as the th of december. nothing contained in any of these communications encourages the hope of sir alexander burnes's safety. in one letter the death of an individual is mentioned, who is described as the assassin of that lamented officer. all of which is most humbly submitted to your majesty by your majesty's most dutiful subject and servant, fitzgerald and vesci. [footnote : _see_ introductory note, _ante_, pp. , . (intro note to ch. x; intro note to ch. xi)] [pageheading: a marine excursion] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ pavilion, _ th march ._ the queen thanks lord melbourne for his kind letter, received the day before yesterday, by which she is glad to see he is well, and fanny got safe to dublin. our excursion was most successful and gratifying. it rained very much all monday evening at portsmouth, but, nevertheless, we visited the _st vincent_ and the _royal george_ yacht, and the prince went all over the dockyards. it stormed and rained all night, and rained when we set off on bord the _black eagle_ (the _firebrand_ that was) for spithead on tuesday morning; it, however, got quite fine when we got there, and we went on board the _queen_, and a glorious sight it was; she is a magnificent ship, so wide and roomy, and though only just commissioned, in the best order. with marines, etc., her crew is near upon a thousand men! we saw the men at dinner, and tasted the grog and soup, which pleased them very much. old sir edward owen is very proud of her. it was a great pleasure for the queen to be at sea again, and not a creature _thought_ even of being sick. the saluting of all those great ships in the harbour at once, as we came out and returned, has a splendid effect. the queen was also much pleased at seeing four of the crew of the _emerald_ again whom she knew so well _nine years_ ago! the prince was delighted with all he saw, as were also our uncle and cousins; these last, we are sorry to say, leave us on monday,--and we go up to town on tuesday, where the queen hopes to see lord melbourne soon. the queen sends lord melbourne a letter from the queen of portugal, all which tends to show how _wrong_ it is to _think_ that they connive at the restoration of the charter.... lady dunmore is in waiting, and makes an excellent lady-in-waiting. lord hardwicke the queen likes very much, he seems so straightforward. he took the greatest care of the queen when on board ship. was not his father drowned at spithead or portsmouth?[ ] the queen hopes to hear that lord melbourne is very well. [footnote : "his father, sir joseph yorke," lord melbourne replied, "was drowned in the southampton river, off netley abbey, when sailing for pleasure. the boat was supposed to have been struck by lightning. his cousin, lord royston, was drowned in the year in the baltic, at cronstadt" [according to burke in , off lubeck, _æt._ twenty-three], "which event, together with the death of two younger sons of lord hardwicke, gave the earldom ultimately to the present lord."] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ pavilion, _ th march ._ my dear uncle,--as i wrote you so long a letter yesterday, i shall only write you a few lines to-day, to thank you for your kind letter of the th, received yesterday. our dear uncle and dear cousins have just left us, and we are very sorry to see them go; for the longer one is together the more intimate one gets, and they were quite become as belonging to us, and were so quiet and unassuming, that we shall miss them much, particularly dear leopold, whom poor uncle ferdinand recommended to my especial care, and therefore am really very anxious that we should settle something for his _future_. uncle ferdinand likes the idea of his passing some time at brussels, and some time here, very much, and i hope we may be able to settle that. uncle and cousins were sorry to go. you will have heard how well our portsmouth expedition went off; the sea was quite smooth on tuesday, and we had a delightful visit to the _queen_, which is a splendid ship. i think it is in these immense wooden walls that our real greatness exists, and i am proud to think that no _other_ nation _can_ equal us in _this_.... now _addio!_ ever your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the fall of cabul] _lord fitzgerald and vesci to queen victoria._ _ th march ._ lord fitzgerald, with his most humble duty to your majesty, begs leave most humbly and with deep sorrow to lay before your majesty reports which he has only within this hour received. they are to be found in a despatch from the governor and council of bombay, and unhappily confirm, to an appalling degree, the disastrous intelligence from afghanistan. the commercial expresses, which reached london yesterday, gave to the public some of the details of the fall of cabul; and lord fitzgerald laments that it is his painful duty most humbly to inform your majesty that the despatches just arrived confirm to their full extent the particulars of sir william macnaghten's fate, and of the fate of that remnant of gallant men who, on the faith of a capitulation, had evacuated that cantonment which they had defended with unavailing courage. in addition to the despatch from the council of bombay, lord fitzgerald humbly ventures to submit to your majesty a letter addressed to him by mr anderson, the acting-governor of that presidency, with further details of these melancholy events. the despatches from the governor-general of india come down to the date of the nd of january (three days previous to the tragical death of sir william macnaghten). lord auckland was then uninformed of the actual state of the force in cabul, though not unprepared for severe reverses. [pageheading: the garter] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th march ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and will take an opportunity to-morrow of ascertaining your majesty's pleasure with respect to the remaining garter which still remains undisposed of, as your majesty may probably think it advisable that the investiture of all the knights selected for the vacant garters should take place at the same time. sir robert peel humbly represents to your majesty that those peers who may severally be considered from their rank and station candidates for this high distinction, have behaved very well in respect to it, as since sir robert peel has had the honour of serving your majesty he has never received, excepting in the cases of the duke of buckingham and recently of lord cardigan, a direct application on the subject of the garter. of those who from their position and rank in the peerage, and from the garter having been heretofore conferred on their ancestors or relations, may be regarded as competitors, the principal appear to sir robert peel to be the following:-- the duke of cleveland the duke of montrose the marquis of hertford the marquis of bute the marquis of abercorn the marquis camden the marquis of londonderry. sir robert peel names all, without meaning to imply that the pretensions of all are very valid ones. he would humbly represent for your majesty's consideration, whether on account of rank, fortune and general character and station in the country, the claims of the duke of cleveland do not upon the whole predominate.[ ] his grace is very much mortified and disappointed at sir robert peel's having humbly advised your majesty to apply the general rule against the son's succeeding the father immediately in the lieutenancy of a county to his case in reference to his county of durham. sir robert peel thinks it better to write to your majesty upon this subject, as your majesty may wish to have an opportunity of considering it. [footnote : the garter was conferred on the duke of cleveland.] [pageheading: the earl of munster] [pageheading: the queen and the income tax] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st march ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. a letter from charles fox to lady holland, and which she has sent to me, informs me of the shocking end of munster,[ ] which your majesty will have heard long before you receive this. charles fox attributes it entirely to the vexatious and uneasy life which he led with lady munster, but he was always, as your majesty knows, an unhappy and discontented man, and there is something in that unfortunate condition of illegitimacy which seems to distort the mind and feelings and render them incapable of justice or contentment. it is not impossible that upon this event application may be made to your majesty for the continuance of the pension upon the privy purse to his son. as lord melbourne advised your majesty to continue these pensions upon the late king's death, perhaps it may not be improper that he should now say that it is his strong opinion that they should not be continued further. there is no reason for it. they are not very rich, but neither are they poor, and they have very opulent connections and relations. it appears to me that the first opportunity should be taken to show that it is not your majesty's intention to charge the crown with the maintenance and support of all these families, which will otherwise be the case. lord melbourne thinks it not improper to mention this matter thus early, as otherwise the [compassionate] feelings naturally raised by such an event might lead to a different determination. there is another matter mentioned in your majesty's letter, relating to money, which is of considerable importance, and that is the determination taken by your majesty to subject your own provision to the proposed duty on income. when it was put to your majesty lord melbourne is disposed to think that your majesty's determination[ ] was right, and it certainly will be very popular, which in the present circumstances of the country and state of public feelings is a great advantage. at the same time it is giving up a principle of the constitution, which has hitherto exempted the sovereign from all direct taxation, and there are very great doubts entertained whether the announcement to parliament of the intention was not in a constitutional point of view objectionable, inasmuch as it pronounced the opinion of the crown upon a tax which was still under discussion. it is also a great pecuniary sacrifice, and, as your majesty says, together with the loss of the duchy of cornwall and other revenues, will make a great change in your majesty's pecuniary circumstances. these defalcations can only be repaired by care and economy. your majesty has all the most right feelings and the best judgment about money, and lord melbourne has no doubt that your majesty will so act as to avoid pecuniary embarrassment--the only difficulty which lord melbourne fears for your majesty, and the only contingency which could involve your majesty in serious personal inconvenience. lord melbourne thanks your majesty much for the kindness of your letter.... everybody says that the marriage between miss stuart and lord waterford[ ] is likely to take place. it is said that he would do almost anything rather than go to st. petersburg. lord melbourne has not seen lord waterford, but he is said to be very good-looking; we know him to be rich and of high rank, and, after all, that sort of character is not disliked by all ladies. perhaps also she counts upon the effect of her influence to soften, to tranquillise, and to restrain. lord melbourne hears a very bad account of lord anglesey's affairs. his case is a hard one, for these pecuniary difficulties are owing to the extravagance of others, and by no means to his own. lord melbourne saw uxbridge and ellen at lady palmerston's on saturday evening. the latter seemed in good spirits, and said that she did not mean to shut herself up too closely in hertfordshire. lord melbourne thought that your majesty would be pleased with lambeth. the view from the great window in the drawing-room over the river, and to the houses of parliament and the abbey, is very fine indeed, but like all london views can rarely be seen in consequence of the foggy atmosphere.... no doubt your majesty and his royal highness must be anxious for a little quiet and repose, which lord melbourne hopes that your majesty will enjoy. lord melbourne had feared that your majesty's health was not quite so good as it appeared.... lord melbourne concludes this very long letter with the most fervent expression of his most sincere wishes for your majesty's health and happiness. lord melbourne in speaking of poor lord munster forgot to mention that at the levée on wednesday last he followed lord melbourne down the long gallery as he was going away, came up to him with great emotion of manner, pressed his hand warmly, and said that he wished to take the earliest opportunity of thanking lord melbourne for all the kindness he had shown him whilst he had been in office. [footnote : the earl of munster, son of william iv. and mrs. jordan, shot himself, th march. his wife was a daughter of the earl of egremont.] [footnote : the queen had decided that she would herself pay income tax.] [footnote : henry, third marquis, and louisa, second daughter of lord stuart de rothesay, were married on th june.] [pageheading: strawberry hill] [pageheading: the royal governess] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ panshanger, _ st march ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is much rejoiced to learn that your majesty has had fine weather and has enjoyed it. it rained here hard yesterday in the morning, but cleared up about half-past twelve and was very fine indeed. lord melbourne went over to brocket hall and enjoyed it much. he does not intend to return to london until monday next, when the house of lords reassembles. it is to be hoped that we shall then soon have the corn bill up from the commons and pass it. the income tax will give some trouble, but that done, and the poor law bill, the end of the session may begin to be looked forward to. the sale of strawberry hill[ ] naturally excites interest, and things are not unlikely to be sold high. the collection has after all been kept together, and the place has remained in the family of his niece,[ ] the duchess of gloucester, to whom he bequeathed it, longer than he himself expected. he says in one of his letters that he would send a statue down to linton, sir horace mann's place in kent, because there it had a better chance of remaining permanently, "for as to this poor bauble of a place," he adds, "it will be knocked to pieces in a very few years after my decease." it has stood, however, and remained five-and-forty years, a longer period than he had anticipated. some of the works, such as the bell by benvenuto cellini, and the antique eagle, are very fine; others are only curious. lord melbourne would not give much money for a mere curiosity, unless there were also some intrinsic merits or beauty. what is the value of cardinal wolsey's cap, for instance? it was not different from that of any other cardinal, and a cardinal's cap is no great wonder. lord melbourne returns lord munster's letter. it is without date, but was evidently written in contemplation of the dreadful act which he afterwards perpetrated. it is very melancholy. lord melbourne was certain that your majesty would send to lord adolphus[ ] the assurance which you have done, and that you would be anxious to assist his children, and promote their interests by every means in your power. but both their brothers and they must be made sensible that they must make some effort for themselves. lord melbourne is very glad to learn that your majesty intends to offer the round tower[ ] to the duke of sussex. it is in every respect kind. it will be of essential service to him, and it will gratify him most exceedingly. lord melbourne thinks that your majesty's decision respecting the governess[ ] is right. it should be a lady of rank; but that she should be a woman of sense and discretion, and capable of fulfilling the duties of the office, is of more importance than whether she is a duchess, a marchioness, or a countess. the selection is difficult, but if your majesty can find a person, it would not be well to consider either high or low rank as a disqualification. lord melbourne intends to take advantage of his freedom from the restraints of office in order to see a little of the bloom of spring and summer, which he has missed for so many years. he has got one or two horses, which he likes well enough, and has begun to ride again a little. lord melbourne wishes your majesty much of the same enjoyment, together with all health, happiness, and prosperity. [footnote : near twickenham, formerly the residence of horace walpole, and filled with his collection of pictures and _objets de vertu_.] [footnote : the duke of gloucester, brother of george iii., married in maria, countess-dowager waldegrave, illegitimate daughter of sir edward walpole, and niece of horace walpole. this, and the duke of cumberland's marriage in to lady anne horton, occasioned the passing of the royal marriages act.] [footnote : lord adolphus fitzclarence ( - ), a rear-admiral, brother of the earl of munster.] [footnote : the earl of munster had held the office of governor and constable of windsor castle, with a salary of £ , a year.] [footnote : to the royal children. lady lyttelton was ultimately appointed.] [pageheading: party politics] [pageheading: the garter] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has this morning received your majesty's very kind and confidential letter, for which he greatly thanks your majesty. your majesty may depend upon it that lord melbourne will do everything in his power to discourage and restrain factious and vexatious opposition, not only on account of your majesty's wish, but because he disapproves it as much as your majesty can possibly do. but everything in his power he fears is but little. the leaders of a party, or those who are so called, have but little sway over their followers, particularly when not in government, and when they have it not in their power to threaten them with any very serious consequences, such as the dissolution of the administration. mr pulteney, afterwards earl of bath, is reported to have said that political parties were like snakes, guided not by their heads, but by their tails. lord melbourne does not know whether this is true of the snake, but it is certainly so of the party. the conduct of the opposition upon the resolution respecting the income tax is rendered peculiarly ridiculous by the result. they forcibly put it off until after the holidays, and then upon the first day of the meeting they vote it without a division. what is this but admitting that they looked to a movement in the country which they have not been able to create? moreover, all oppositions that lord melbourne has ever seen are more or less factious. the opposition of mr fox to mr pitt was the least so, but these were great men, greater than any that exist at the present day, although lord melbourne is by no means inclined to depreciate his own times. the factiousness of one opposition naturally produces the same in the next. they say, "they did so to us; why should we not do so to them?" your majesty may rest assured that lord melbourne will do everything he can to prevent delay, and to accelerate the transaction of the public business. lord melbourne sends a letter which he has received this morning from the duke of sussex, and which expresses very right and proper feeling. lord melbourne has written in reply that, "your majesty was no doubt influenced principally by your natural affection for him, and by your sense of the generosity of his conduct towards lord munster, but that if any thought of lord melbourne intervened, your majesty could not have given a higher or a more acceptable proof of your approbation and regard." the garters[ ] seem to lord melbourne to be given well enough. your majesty's feelings upon the subject are most kind and amiable. but these things cannot be helped, and it is upon the whole advantageous that each party should have their portion of patronage and honours. if there is very distinguished service, the garter should be bestowed upon it. otherwise, in lord melbourne's opinion, it is better given to noblemen of high rank and great property. the chapter in ecclesiasticus, read in st george's chapel on obiit sunday, well describes those who ought to have it, with the exception of those "who find out musical tunes." lord melbourne does not think it well given to ministers. it is always then subject to the imputation of their giving it to themselves, and pronouncing an approbation of their own conduct. lord melbourne hopes that the pope's standing sponsor for the young prince of portugal is a sign of complete reconciliation with the see of rome. it is a very awkward thing for a roman catholic government to be at variance with the pope. he is still a very ugly customer. lord melbourne is very much concerned to hear of the baron's[ ] illness--very much indeed; he is an excellent and most valuable man, with one of the soundest and coolest judgments that lord melbourne has ever met with. your majesty knows that lord melbourne has never had a favourable opinion of his health. there seems to be about him a settled weakness of the stomach, which is in fact the seat of health, strength, thought and life. lord melbourne sees that a great physician says that napoleon lost the battle of leipsic in consequence of some very greasy soup which he ate the day before, and which clouded his judgment and obscured his perceptions. lord melbourne is very glad to hear that your majesty has amused yourself so well in the country, and is not surprised that you are unwilling to quit it. he means himself to see a little of the coming in of the spring, which he has not done for many years. [footnote : the recipients had been the king of saxony, the duke of beaufort, the duke of buckingham, the marquess of salisbury, the duke of cleveland.] [footnote : baron stockmar.] [pageheading: a brilliant ball] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ dearest uncle,--i am so sorry to see by your kind letter of the th that you are all so _enrhumés_, but hear to-day from vecto that charlotte is quite well again. i am quite bewildered with all the arrangements for our _bal costumé_, which i wish you could see; we are to be edward iii. and queen philippa, and a great number of our court to be dressed like the people in those times, and very correctly, so as to make a grand _aufzug_; but there is such asking, and so many silks and drawings and crowns, and god knows what, to look at, that i, who hate being troubled about dress, am quite _confuse_. to get a little rest we mean to run down to claremont with the children from friday to monday. my last ball was very splendid, and i have a concert on monday next.... i hope ernest and dear alexandrine will come in june, and stay some time _quietly_ with us in the country. i saw another beautiful letter of hers, so well and sensibly and religiously written, it would have pleased you. now adieu! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for your letter of the th inst. lord melbourne has been so much occupied with the debates in the house of lords during the last two days, that he has ventured to put off replying to your majesty's letters, which he trusts that your majesty will excuse. lord melbourne did not leave the ball until ten minutes after one, and as there were so many persons there, which lord melbourne thinks quite right and was very glad to see, lord melbourne had little hope of seeing your majesty again, and therefore ventured to take advantage of having ordered his carriage at half-past twelve and of its having come at the time that it was ordered. it was a very brilliant and very beautiful and a very gay ball. lord melbourne is very sorry to be obliged to express his fear that your majesty will prove more in the right than he was about the duration of parliament. there will be much debate in the committee upon the details of the income tax, and the discussions upon the tariff of duties, which affects so many interests, are likely to be very long indeed. there is one good thing in the house of lords, and that is that it never much delays or obstructs public business.... as lord melbourne drove down the park on saturday evening last to dine with his sister, he could see clearly into your majesty's room, so as to be able to distinguish the pictures, tables, etc., the candles being lighted and the curtains not drawn. your majesty was just setting off for the opera. [pageheading: prince albert and the army] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ the queen encloses the prince's letter to sir robert peel, containing his acceptance of the guards. at the same time, both the prince and queen feel much regret at the prince's leaving the th, which is, if possible, enhanced by seeing the regiment out to-day, which is in beautiful order. it was, besides, the regiment which escorted the prince from dover to canterbury on his arrival in england in february ' . the queen fears, indeed knows, that lord cardigan will be deeply mortified at the prince's leaving the regiment, and that it will have the effect of appearing like another slight to him; therefore, the queen much wishes that at some fit opportunity[ ] a mark of favour should be bestowed upon him.... the queen hopes sir robert will think of this. [footnote : lord cardigan was promoted major-general in . he became inspector-general of cavalry, and received the k.c.b. in .] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and acknowledges with many thanks your majesty's letter of the th inst., which he received yesterday morning. lord melbourne learns with the greatest satisfaction that lady lyttelton has undertaken the important and interesting charge, for which she is so well fitted. lord melbourne is most sincerely of opinion that no other person so well qualified could have been selected. lord melbourne will keep the matter strictly secret; he has not yet mentioned it to any one, nor has he heard it mentioned by any other person, which, as it must be known to some, rather surprises him. unreserved approbation cannot be expected for anything, but when it is known, lord melbourne anticipates that it will meet with as general an assent as could be anticipated for a choice in which all the community will take, and indeed have, so deep an interest. [pageheading: goethe and schiller] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th may ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is very sorry indeed, and entreats your majesty's pardon for his great omission on monday evening. he was never told that he was to pass before your majesty at the beginning; at the same time he admits that it was a blundering piece of stupidity not to find this out of himself. after this he never saw the glimmer of a chance of being able to get near to your majesty. lord melbourne wonders much who could have whispered to your majesty that he felt or expressed anything but the most unqualified admiration of the ball, which was the most magnificent and beautiful spectacle that he ever beheld. lord melbourne also believes it to be very popular, for the reasons which your majesty mentions. your majesty having generally chosen handsome and attractive girls for the maids of honour, which is very right, must expect to lose them in this way. lord melbourne is very glad of the marriage. lord emlyn[ ] always seemed to him a very pleasing young man, and well calculated to make a woman happy. lord melbourne felt quite sure that there had been a mistake about ben stanley, which was the reason that he mentioned his name. he is sorry that he has made a fool of himself by writing. having had so much to do with invitations during the two last years, he was not altogether unnaturally mortified to find himself not invited there.[ ] stanley is not a man to whom lord melbourne is very partial, but we must give every one his due. lord melbourne always discourages to the utmost of his power the notion of any one's having a right or claim to be asked, which notion, however, has a strong possession of the minds of people in general. lord melbourne is come down here again, being determined to see this spring thoroughly and completely. his feelings are like those, so beautifully described by schiller, of max piccolomini,[ ] when, after a youth passed entirely in war, he for the first time sees a country which has enjoyed the blessings of peace. the germans seem to lord melbourne generally to prefer goethe to schiller, a decision which surprises him, although he feels that he has no right to dictate to a people, of whose language he does not understand a word, their judgment upon their own authors. but the one, schiller, seems to him to be all truth, clearness, nature and beauty; the other, principally mysticism, obscurity, and unintelligibility. lord melbourne intends to return on wednesday, and will have the honour and pleasure of waiting upon your majesty on thursday. [footnote : the second earl cawdor, who married miss sarah mary cavendish.] [footnote : edward john, afterwards second lord stanley of alderley, was nicknamed ben, after "sir benjamin backbite." he had mentioned to lord melbourne that he was disappointed at not receiving an invitation to the royal ball.] [footnote : in the wallenstein trilogy.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th may ._ my dearest victoria,--i found here yesterday a very long and dear letter from your august hand, which made me very happy. your _fête_ i believe to have been most probably one of the most splendid _ever_ given. there is hardly a country where so much magnificence exists; austria has some of the means, but the court is not elegant from its nature. we regret sincerely not to have been able to witness it, and will admire the exhibition of your splendid costume. [pageheading: mr edwin landseer] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th may ._ ... sir robert peel humbly submits his opinion to your majesty that mr landseer's eminence as an artist would fully justify his having the honour of knighthood, and would not give any legitimate ground of complaint to any other artist on account of a similar distinction not being conferred on him. sir robert peel proposes therefore to write to mr landseer on the subject, as your majesty's opinion appears to be in favour of his name appearing with the others, should he wish for the distinction.... _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ the queen is quite vexed at having been quite unable to write to lord melbourne sooner, but we have been so occupied that she could not. she was so vexed too to have not had her head turned the other way when she met him yesterday, but she was looking at the prince, her uncle, and cousins riding, and only turned to see lord melbourne's groom whom she instantly recognised, but too late, alas! the queen spent a very merry, happy birthday at dear old claremont, and we finished by dancing in the gallery. she was grieved lord melbourne could not be there. we have got our dear uncle mensdorff[ ] and his four sons here, which is a great happiness to us. dear uncle (who lord melbourne is aware is a _most_ distinguished officer) is a delightful and amiable old man, and the sons are all so nice and amiable and kind and good; lord melbourne remembers seeing alexander here in , and that the queen was very partial to him. the two eldest and the youngest--hugo, alphonse, and arthur--are all amiable, though none near so good-looking, but so very well brought up and so unassuming. the second is very clever. and it is quite beautiful to see the love the father has for his sons, and _vice versâ_--and the affection the four brothers have for one another; this is so rarely seen that it does one's heart good to witness it. the queen has appointed the duchess of norfolk in lady lyttelton's place, and intends appointing lady canning in lady dalhousie's, who has resigned from ill-health. lady lyttelton _is_ established here in her new office, and does everything admirably. the queen must conclude here as she has got so much to do--hoping lord melbourne is well. [footnote : _see_ p. .] [pageheading: landseer declines knighthood] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ st may ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to acquaint your majesty, that he has just seen mr landseer. mr landseer repeated his expressions of deep and sincere gratitude for the favour and kindness with which your majesty had contemplated his claims for professional distinction, but appeared to retain the impression that he had yet scarcely done enough to entitle him to the honour which it was contemplated to bestow upon him. in the course of conversation he observed that he was now occupied upon works of a more important character than any that he had yet completed, and mentioned particularly an equestrian portrait of your majesty. he said that when these works were finished, and should they prove successful and meet with your majesty's approbation, he might feel himself better entitled to receive a mark of your majesty's favour. as these were evidently his sincere impressions and wishes, sir robert peel forbore from pressing upon him the immediate acceptance of the honour of knighthood. [pageheading: attempt on the queen] [pageheading: john francis] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ st may ._ my dearest uncle.--i wish to be the first to inform you of what happened yesterday evening, and to tell you that we are _saines et sauves_. on returning from the chapel on sunday, albert was observing how civil the people were, and then suddenly turned to me and said it appeared to him as though a man had held out a pistol to the carriage, and that it had hung fire; accordingly, when we came home he mentioned it to colonel arbuthnot, who was only to tell it to sir j. graham and sir robert peel, and have the police instructed, and _nobody else_. no one, however, who was with us, such as footmen, etc., had seen anything at all. albert began to doubt what he believed he had seen. well, yesterday morning (monday) a lad came to murray[ ] (who of course knew nothing) and said that he saw a man in the crowd as we came home from church, present a pistol to the carriage, which, however, did not go off, and heard the man say, "fool that i was not to fire!" the man then vanished, and this boy followed another man (an old man) up st james's street who repeated twice, "how very extraordinary!" but instead of saying anything to the police, asked the boy for his direction and disappeared. the boy accordingly was sent to sir robert peel, and (doubtful as it all still was) every precaution was taken, still keeping the thing completely secret, not a soul in the house knowing a word, and accordingly after some consultation, as _nothing_ could be done, we drove out--many police then in plain clothes being distributed in and about the parks, and the two equerries riding so close on each side that they must have been hit, if anybody had; still the feeling of looking out for such a man was not _des plus agréables_; however, we drove through the parks, up to hampstead, and back again. all was so quiet that we almost thought of nothing,--when, as we drove down constitution hill, very fast, we heard the report of a pistol, but not at all loud, so that had we not been on the alert we should hardly have taken notice of it. we saw the man seized by a policeman _next to whom he was standing when he_ fired, but we did not stop. colonel arbuthnot and two others saw him take aim, but we only _heard_ the report (looking both the other way). we felt both very glad that our drive had had the effect of having the man seized. whether it was loaded or not we cannot yet tell, but we are again full of gratitude to providence for invariably _protecting_ us! the feeling of horror is very great in the public, and great affection is shown us. the man was yesterday examined at the home office, is called john francis, is a cabinet-maker, and son of a machine-maker of covent garden theatre, is good-looking (they say). i have never seen him at all close, but arbuthnot gave the description of him from what he saw on sunday, which exactly answered. only twenty or twenty-one years old, and _not_ the _least_ mad--but very cunning. the boy identified him this morning, amongst many others. everything is to be kept secret _this_ time, which is very right, and altogether i think it is being well done. every further particular you shall hear. i was really not at all frightened, and feel _very_ proud at dear uncle mensdorff calling me "_sehr muthig_," which i shall ever remember with peculiar pride, coming from so distinguished an officer as he is! thank god, my angel is also well! but he says that had the man fired on sunday, he must have been hit in the head! god is merciful; that indeed we must feel daily more! uncle and cousins were quite horrified.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. you will tell louise _all_, of course. [footnote : the hon. charles augustus murray, master of the household, afterwards consul-general of egypt, and minister in persia and at dresden.] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ bushey house (_monday night_), _may ._ my dear niece,--i must write a line to express to you what i felt when i took up the newspapers which informed me of what had happened yesterday. is it possible?--can it be true? was my first question. however, the detailed accounts leave no doubt that a pistol was pointed at you again, though not fired. it is really shocking that such wretches exist who dare tempt (_sic_) to alarm you--though in this instance there was nothing alarming except the evil spirit which inspired the boy. how grateful must we not feel to our merciful god, who protects you so visibly, and gives you courage and confidence in him, who is and ever will be your safest guard and support. trust in him and you will not fail to be well guided. i hope it is true that you were not aware of what had happened when you went to church, not to be disturbed in your devotions, and that the account did not agitate you. edward[ ] came yesterday from town, but he knew nothing but that a pistol had been taken from a man in the park. we hardly believed the story till the papers informed us of the truth. pray say to dear albert what i feel _for_ and _with you both_, and how i thank god and pray that his merciful protection may never fail you. we are going to frogmore to-morrow, and from there shall drive in the park and to st george's chapel. i hope the weather will be as fine as it was to-day. god bless and guard you ever and ever! dearest victoria, prays your most devotedly attached aunt, adelaide. [footnote : prince edward of saxe-weimar.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ st june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he was much shocked at learning, which he did not do until six o'clock yesterday evening, the event which took place on monday. after what took place on sunday, it must have been a trial to your majesty's nerves, and still more to those of the prince, to go out on monday; but it appears to lord melbourne that your majesty judged quite correctly in doing so. lord melbourne hardly knows what to say of this repeated attempt. it is a depravity and a malice as unintelligible as it is atrocious. lord melbourne is at least as grateful as any one of your majesty's subjects, and the gratitude is universal and fervent for your majesty's safety. lord melbourne had ridden over in the morning to visit lord and lady uxbridge in their rural retirement, and upon his return to brocket hall, about six o'clock, found the morning newspaper with the accounts of what had happened. if they had sent him down a messenger on monday night, which it would have been better to have done, he would have been yesterday in his place in the house of lords. lord melbourne found uxbridge enveloped in parcels and boxes, which he was busy unpacking, lady uxbridge reclining by the stream under the shade of a plane-tree, and the two young ladies somewhat pensive. the place looked beautiful, but lord melbourne fears that all its beauty will not be a compensation to them for london at this time of the year. [pageheading: the address] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ st june ._ sir james graham, with humble duty to your majesty, submits a copy of the answer to the address; and an alteration has been made in the answer which sir james graham hopes may render it conformable to the tender and generous feelings which your majesty has deigned to express with reference to the prince. the two houses of parliament followed the exact precedent which has been established in oxford's case; and although the life of the prince, so dear to your majesty, is highly valued by all your loving subjects, yet the crime of treason attaches only to an attack on the sacred person of your majesty; and the expressions used by parliament with reference to these atrocious crimes, when directed against the sovereign, are necessarily inapplicable to any other person, and could not be used with propriety. hence the omission in the former case of all allusion to the prince; and the silence of parliament on the present occasion is to be ascribed to the same cause--not to any cold indifference, which the general feeling of attachment to the prince entirely forbids. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th june ._ my dearest uncle,--i was sure of the kind interest you would take in the event of the th and th. i am most thankful for your very kind, long letter of the rd, which i received the day before yesterday. i have so little time--as we are just setting off for ascot--that i can hardly write anything to you. there seems no doubt whatever that francis is totally without accomplices, and a _mauvais sujet_. we shall be able probably to tell you more when we see you. i am grieved that you have deferred your visit again. we are then to expect your arrival either on the tuesday or wednesday? very thankful we should be soon to hear whom you bring with you. dear uncle and the cousins are delighted with windsor, and the weather is beautiful, only unfortunately _too_ hot to be pleasant. i rode on my little barb at a review of cavalry at wormwood scrubbs on saturday, _dont je suis bien fière_. now adieu! dearest uncle. in haste, your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: news from afghanistan] [pageheading: sale and pollock] _lord fitzgerald and vesci to queen victoria._ india board, _ th june ._ lord fitzgerald, with his most humble duty to your majesty, humbly acquaints your majesty that despatches have been this day received from the governor-general and the several presidencies of india. they announce a signal victory, achieved by sir robert sale and his admirable garrison.[ ] the circumstances attending his glorious success, and the consequences likely to result from it, are amongst the most important of this hurtful war. they are described in sir robert sale's report, as published in the _bombay gazette_, a copy of which is most humbly submitted to your majesty. the despatches further bring the gratifying intelligence that general pollock had forced the khyber pass, and, defeating the enemy on every point, had surmounted the chief obstacles of that dangerous defile.[ ] the relief of the brave men under sir robert sale, to which their own gallantry and their late victory have so mainly contributed, may now be regarded as certain from the success of general pollock's advance. it is with regret that lord fitzgerald has to add that the citadel of ghuznee has surrendered on the faith of a capitulation, perhaps already violated, and that general england, who had marched with a convoy of treasure, and other supplies for the army at candahar, had been forced to retrace his steps and had arrived at quetta. at the same time, however, general nott had dispersed considerable assemblages of rebel tribes, whom he had defeated with loss, while an attack made during his absence on the city of candahar had been effectually repulsed by that portion of his force which had been left for its defence. the governor-general having proceeded in person to the north-western provinces of bengal, had issued at benares general orders congratulating the army on the return of victory to its ranks, and on the fresh lustre thus added to your majesty's arms. fitzgerald and vesci. [footnote : sir r. sale, who with his column had thrown himself into jellalabad on th november , and had heard brydon's narrative, made a _sortie_ on th april, and secured a great victory over akbar khan, whose force outnumbered sale's by five to one.] [footnote : general pollock, whom auckland had selected for the command, and who found everything in confusion on the frontier, swept the khyber pass of the enemy, and joined sale. the insurrection had spread to candahar, where general (afterwards sir william) nott was in command with a force of , men. he heard of macnaghten's murder on st january, and, like sale, refused to follow the order received (under coercion, as he believed) from elphinstone to return to india. on the contrary, he ordered all afghans to leave candahar, marched out himself and attacked and dispersed the enemy, , strong; while a flank movement made by the enemy on the city was repulsed with great loss. general (afterwards sir richard) england started from quetta with reinforcements, but met with a reverse at haikalzai; meanwhile also colonel palmer had had to make terms at ghuznee, and had to encounter treachery. nott, who was badly in want of money and ammunition for the troops, sent imperative orders to general england to reinforce him, which he did early in may.] [pageheading: debate on the income tax] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has thought it better not to interrupt your majesty with letters during the bustle of the last week, but he cannot omit to express to your majesty how much he was struck with the letter of the nd inst. which he received, and how entirely he concurs in the justice and propriety of your majesty's feelings and observations. let us hope that we shall have no more of these horrid attempts, which are generated by the wild notions of the time, and by the expectation, extravagant and unfounded, so industriously inculcated into the public mind, of advantages to be derived from change and confusion; lord melbourne anxiously hopes that the painful impressions which such events are calculated to produce upon your majesty's mind, and which they necessarily must produce, will pass away and that nothing will happen to renew and revive them. lord melbourne is happy to hear from normanby that everything passed off well and successfully at windsor and at ascot. the last is always rather a doubtful and disagreeable ordeal to pass through. we should have got through the debate upon the income tax this evening in the house of lords, if lansdowne had not unfortunately this morning had an access of gout in the hand, which prevented him from attending, and obliged the debate to be deferred. lord melbourne hopes that the resolution which lansdowne is to move[ ] is put in such a shape as to vindicate our course, and at the same time not to condemn that which has been adopted overmuch, nor to pledge us for the future.... lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty is well and not too much affected by the heat of this weather, which does not suit lord melbourne very well. in conjunction with a large dinner which we had at the reform club in honour of the duke of sussex, it has given lord melbourne a good deal of headache and indisposition. the duke was in very good humour, and much pleased with the dinner, but he was by no means well or strong. [footnote : this resolution was in favour of altering the corn, sugar, and timber duties, in preference to imposing an income tax. it was negatived by to .] [pageheading: queen's first railway journey] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ my dearest uncle,--though i shall have the inexpressible happiness of seeing you and dearest louise so soon, i write these few lines to thank you for your very kind letter of the th. we arrived here yesterday morning, having come by the railroad, from windsor, in half an hour, free from dust and crowd and heat, and i am quite charmed with it.[ ] we spent a delightful time at windsor, which would have been still pleasanter had not the heat been such, ever since saturday week, that one is quite overcome; the grass is quite brown, and the earth full of wide cracks; there has not been a drop of rain since the th, my birthday! we rode and walked and danced, and i think i never was better than in all this fatigue and exercise.... i get every day fonder of dearest, excellent uncle mensdorff and the dear cousins, who are so amiable and good and unassuming; really, in society they keep quite in the background. they are out and out the nicest cousins we have. i am sure what i can do for them i shall be too happy to do. alexander is the most distinguished and solid, but alphonse and arthur the most unassuming. there is something so peculiarly _good_ in dear arthur! and they are all five so fond of pussy, and she so fond of them.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : this was the queen's first journey on the great western railway. the prince had often used it, and had been known to say, on descending from the train, "not quite so fast next time, mr conductor, if you please."--acworth, _the railways of england_, p. .] [pageheading: the income tax bill] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and offers many thanks for the letter, which he received yesterday evening. lord melbourne is very glad to hear that your majesty has enjoyed in the society of your near and dear relations so much happiness, which, like all other things, must have its portion of alloy in their departure. lord melbourne was much pleased with the short conversation which he had with count mensdorff at stafford house, and it is highly interesting to see at this distance of time a man who has been engaged in affairs so important and of so awful and melancholy a character. your majesty is surely right in terming your cousins young men; if the health and constitution be good, thirty-six is a young man, twenty-nine and thirty-two very young men, and twenty-five quite a boy. the weather has been very hot but very fine. the rain was so much required that lord melbourne cannot lament its coming, but he also regrets the hot suns which it has banished. the course which had been taken upon the income tax in the house of commons,[ ] contrary to lord melbourne's wish and opinion, rendered it impossible for lord melbourne directly to support the bill in the house of lords without offending and separating himself from the whole body of those who supported the last government. he therefore acquiesced in the resolution, which was moved by lord lansdowne, and which did not oppose the measure, but declared that it might have been avoided if the course which we had proposed had been taken. in the debate lord melbourne argued as strongly as he could in favour of the tax, and ended by declaring that if it was imposed, he could not pledge himself for the future against maintaining and even extending it. lord melbourne is anxious to make this explanation of his conduct to your majesty, and hopes therefore that your majesty will forgive his writing thus much upon this subject. lord melbourne very much lamented that the business did not terminate as amiably as it began, and that a contest should have been got into respecting the third reading of the bill; but considering that the measure had passed by accident through its first stages without any debate, and that there were lords who were still desirous of speaking upon it, it was imprudent of the ministers not at once to give another day for that purpose, especially as they were sure to be compelled to do so by repeated motions of adjournment. the feelings which your majesty expresses upon the conviction of this man[ ] are natural, and such as must arise in your majesty's bosom; but lord melbourne knows very well that your majesty will at once see the necessity of not yielding to your own feelings, and of leaving the issue entirely in the hands of your advisers. without any reference to personal or particular circumstances, without adverting to your majesty's age, sex, qualities mental or personal, without attending to any sentiments of attachment or affection which may be felt for your majesty's person, it must be remembered that your majesty's life is, from the position which you occupy and the office which you fill, the most important life in these realms; it is also too clear that it is the most exposed life in the country, the life the most obnoxious[ ] to danger; and therefore it is a duty to throw around it every protection which the law and the execution of the law can afford. lord melbourne was sure that your majesty, being fond of speed, would be delighted with the railway. lord melbourne hopes that your majesty was not much affected by the heat, which he feared that you would be. has your majesty read the last volume of madame d'arblay's (miss burney) diary, which contains the account of her service in the family of george iii.?[ ] it is a curious [work], gives a curious account of the _intérieur_, and shows the king and queen and the princesses in a very amiable light. [footnote : lord john russell had strenuously opposed the income tax bill, but had been defeated by large majorities.] [footnote : frances was tried on th june, and convicted. the death sentence was commuted to one of transportation for life.] [footnote : used in the classical sense of "exposed to"; _cf._ "obnoxia fato."] [footnote : the first five volumes were published this year, madame d'arblay having died in , at the age of eighty-seven. croker somewhat rancorously attacked them in the _quarterly_, to which macaulay replied in the _edinburgh_.] [pageheading: a present from muscat] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th june ._ lord aberdeen, with his humble duty, begs to enclose for your majesty's information a list of the presents brought by the envoy of the imam of muscat for your majesty. lord aberdeen will attend to-morrow with the envoy, at the hour your majesty has been pleased to command; and he will suggest that the presents should be sent previously to the palace, in order to be laid before your majesty. [list of articles sent for her most gracious majesty, the mighty queen, a trifling gift scarce worth being mentioned.] two pearl necklaces, two emeralds, an ornament made like a crown, ten cashmere shawls, one box containing four bottles otto of roses. four horses, before mentioned in a former letter, but for the transmission of which no opportunity offered in bombay, but now sent in my own ship. through your kindness have those things taken[ ] from ali bin nassur, and make an excuse for me to her most gracious majesty, and peace be on you! [footnote : _i.e._ accept.] _lord fitzgerald and vesci to queen victoria._ india board, _ th july ._ ... from the seat of war, the intelligence is most satisfactory. the conduct of the army, its perseverance and its courage, have not been surpassed in the military history of british india. recent events have not, however, changed the views of lord ellenborough as to the general policy which he recommends to be pursued. he regards as the best result of that success which has attended the arms of your majesty, that it admits of withdrawing, without dishonour, the british force to positions of safety, having certain and uninterrupted communications with the british territory. from other quarters the reports are equally favourable. the successful advance of a division commanded by brigadier-general england may be regarded as ensuring the safety of the force at candahar. in the indian dominions and in the native army the best spirit prevails. all of which is most humbly submitted to your majesty, by your majesty's most dutiful subject and servant, fitzgerald and vesci. [pageheading: bean's attempt on the queen] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th july ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is anxious to express his earnest hope that your majesty is well and not disturbed by the event[ ] which took place yesterday, and which, although it appears not to have been dangerous in itself, is formidable as affording additional evidence of the ease with which persons of the lower orders can incite themselves, or be incited by others, to the contemplation and commission of such acts. the only observation that can be made upon these attempts is, that hitherto they appear to have been made by those who have not the means of executing their own wicked designs, and that they are not marked by the same determination and the same long and ferocious preparation which characterised in france the conduct of fieschi and alibaud.[ ] lord melbourne is not of opinion that the extension of mercy to francis--which from what lord melbourne hears of the opinion of the judges he apprehends to have been unavoidable--could have had any effect in encouraging this man to a similar act; at the same time it is impossible to say what may have had an effect upon the mind, and we can only collect the intentions of men from the deeds which they perform. lord melbourne thanks your majesty much for your letter of the th ult. lord melbourne again expresses his fervent wishes for your majesty's health, safety, and tranquillity of mind. [footnote : bean, a deformed lad, presented a pistol at the queen in the mall.] [footnote : the perpetrators of attempts on king louis philippe.] [pageheading: death of the duke of orleans] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th july ._ my dearest uncle,--these two horrible news of poor dear chartres'[ ] fatal accident have quite overcome us. it is the most dreadful misfortune i ever remember, and will be felt everywhere. i can't say _how_ i feel it; i liked and admired him, and know how he was adored by all of you, and by poor wretched hélène, whom this will kill. those poor helpless little children! it is _too_ melancholy. after escaping from so many dangers, to be cut off in this way is _too_ dreadful! god knows what is for our best, but this does seem difficult to understand. i pray and hope that you will all be mercifully supported under this heavy bereavement. i think it is so dreadful that poor hélène could not be with him in his last moments! god be with you all, and believe me, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. i had begun a letter to poor _chartres_ this morning. [footnote : on th july the duke of orleans (formerly duc de chartres), eldest son of louis philippe, was thrown from his phaeton near the porte maillot, paris, and died shortly afterwards. he was the father of the comte de paris and the duc de chartres.] [pageheading: account of the accident] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th july ._ my beloved victoria,--you have surely already heard of the heavy visitation god has sent us. my beloved brother was unexpectedly taken away from us before yesterday evening. before yesterday morning he went to neuilly to take leave of my parents, previous to his departure for st omer. the horses ran away: he had the unfortunate idea to jump out from his barouche--a thing i cannot understand, as he had on all occasions an uncommon presence of mind--fell upon his head, and expired a few hours afterwards, in presence of my too unfortunate parents, without having recovered his consciousness. it is the greatest misfortune that could happen to us. we are quite stunned by the sudden and horrid blow, and i cannot believe it yet, although i have before me the letter of my poor parents. they are full of courage and resignation to the will of providence; but i do not understand what will become of them, particularly of my mother, who loved so fondly, and with so much reason, my brother, and of the too unfortunate hélène. may god help them and have mercy on them! clémentine and victoire are gone to plombières to give to hélène the fatal news, and bring her back: it will most probably be her death. my parents wished to see us immediately, and we go to-morrow to paris. i am sure, my beloved victoria, of the share you will take in the misfortune, the greatest which could befall us, and i thank you beforehand for it. god's will be done! may he at least always bless you, and preserve those you love from all evil and danger! in affliction as in joy, i am, ever, my beloved victoria, yours most devotedly, louise. _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ claremont, _ th july ._ the queen is anxious to draw sir robert peel's attention to a circumstance which she has already some months ago mentioned to him: this is relative to sir edward disbrowe.[ ] the queen knows that sir robert peel shares her opinion as to sir edward disbrowe's abilities not being of the first order, but this is not the only thing; what she chiefly complains of is his decided unfairness towards belgium, which she thinks has always shown itself, and again most strongly in his last despatches. the king of the belgians has never dropped a word on the subject, but the queen really feels it her duty by her uncle to state this frankly to sir robert peel, and to say that she thinks it highly important that sir edward disbrowe should be removed to some other mission. of course she wishes that this should be done quietly, but she thinks that with a man like the present king of the netherlands, who is continually intriguing in belgium and making her uncle's position very painful, it is of the utmost importance that our minister there should be totally _unbiassed_--which sir edward disbrowe most decidedly is not. could not sir t. cartwright be sent there, and sir edward disbrowe go to stockholm? the queen merely suggests this; but, of course, as long as the man sent to the hague is sensible and _fair_, it is indifferent to her who goes there.... [footnote : then british minister at the hague.] [pageheading: grief of the queen] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ claremont, _ th july ._ the queen had intended to have written to lord melbourne some time ago to have thanked him for his kind letter of the th, but she was so occupied, first of all with the arrival of our brother and sister, with our removal here, and lastly by the dreadful misfortune at paris, which has completely overpowered her, and made her quite ill--that it prevented her from doing so. the queen is sure that lord melbourne will have warmly shared the universal horror and regret at the untimely and fearfully sudden end of so amiable and distinguished a prince as poor chartres (as we all called the duke of orleans) was! the loss to france, and indeed europe, is very great; but to the royal family, dearest louise (who all doted on him), and above all to poor unfortunate hélène, who adored him (and he was a most devoted husband to her), and to his two poor little boys of four and one years old--he is an irreparable loss. the queen has heard from none yet, but has seen a letter from guizot, who was a witness of the _last scene_, which is quite truly reported in the papers; he says it was fearful--the poor duke lying and dying on a mattress on the floor surrounded by his parents and sisters, kneeling and praying around their dearly beloved child! alas! poor hélène had not even that comfort! the queen is very glad that the bill for the better security of her person has passed so quickly and in so gratifying a manner through both houses. we are here since yesterday week, enjoying the fine weather, and great quiet and peace; but the news from paris have damped our spirits. the queen is charmed with her new sister,[ ] who is a most amiable, sensible, and gentle creature, and without being really handsome, very pretty and pleasing. we return to town to-morrow and the queen hopes soon to see lord melbourne. we intend going to windsor to settle, on saturday. the queen trusts lord melbourne is quite well. [footnote : the duchess ernest of saxe-coburg.] [pageheading: letter from king louis philippe] _the king of the french to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ juillet ._ madame ma bien chÈre et bien bonne s[oe]ur,--j'ai bien reconnu le c[oe]ur de votre majesté dans l'empressement qu'elle a mis à m'exprimer la part qu'elle prend à mon malheur. ma malheureuse reine en est également bien touchée, et si elle ne le témoigne pas elle-même dès aujourd'hui à votre majesté, c'est qu'elle est encore dans l'impossibilité d'écrire. nous osons lui demander tous les deux, d'être notre interprète auprès du prince albert, et de lui dire combien nous sommes sensibles à son intérêt. s'il pouvait y avoir une consolation au coup affreux qui a frappé nos vieux jours, ce serait ces témoignages d'intérêt, et les regrets dont on entoure le tombeau de mon enfant chéri, et la perte immense que tous ont faite en lui! c'est à présent qu'on sent ce qu'il était, et ce qu'il devenait chaque jour de plus en plus. je remercie de nouveau votre majesté, du fond de mon c[oe]ur brisé, de tous les sentiments dont elle veut bien me donner tant de preuves, et je la prie d'agréer l'expression de la haute estime et de l'inviolable amitié avec lesquelles, je suis, madame, ma très chère s[oe]ur, de votre majesté, le bien affectionné frère, louis philippe r. _the queen of the french to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ juillet ._ madame ma trÈs chÈre s[oe]ur,--je comptais que votre majesté et le prince albert s'associeraient à notre immense douleur; que dieu vous bénisse pour les tendres expressions de votre lettre. nous sommes anéantis par le coup dont dieu nous a frappés, que sa sainte volonté soit faite! j'ai perdu l'objet de ma plus vive tendresse, celui qui depuis ans avait été mon amour, mon bonheur, et ma gloire, plein de vie, d'avenir, ma tête n'y est plus, mon c[oe]ur est flétri, je tâche de me résigner, je pleure et je prie pour cette ame qui m'était si chère et pour que dieu nous conserve l'infortuné et précieux roi dont la douleur est incommensurable; nous tâchons de nous réunir tous pour faire un faisceau autour de lui. notre ange de louise et votre excellent oncle sont arrivés avant-hier; leur présence nous a fait du bien. hélène, anéantie par la douleur, a un courage admirable, sa santé se soutient. nemours, dont l'affliction est inexprimable, tâche de prendre des forces pour nous consoler tous, et les bonnes victoire et clémentine après l'horrible et douleureuse scène à laquelle elles avaient assisté, ont passé trois nuits pour aller chercher leur infortunée belle-s[oe]ur. enfin, dieu veut que nous vivions pour nous soutenir les uns les autres, que ce dieu tout puissant vous bénisse, madame, et vous préserve à jamais de pareilles douleurs, c'est le v[oe]u bien sincère de celle qui se dit de tout son c[oe]ur, madame, de votre majesté la toute dévouée s[oe]ur, marie amÉlie. [pageheading: leigh hunt] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ nd july ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty, and ventures to transmit the copy of mr leigh hunt's poem, which he mentioned to your majesty in his last letter. lord melbourne also sends the letter which mr leigh hunt has taken the liberty of addressing to your majesty, as well as that which he has addressed to lord melbourne. lord melbourne will inform mr hunt that he has done this, and it is not at all required that any further notice should be taken.[ ] it is a very gay and lively work, and has in it some wit and fun. lord melbourne had great pleasure yesterday in seeing your majesty well and in good spirits. [footnote : the poem was no doubt _the palfrey; a love-story of old times_.] _mr leigh hunt to viscount melbourne._ edwardes square, kensington, _ th july ._ my lord,--i was once speaking to mr fonblanque[ ] of my unwillingness to trouble your lordship, when prime minister, with a request to lay my tragedy of the _legend of florence_[ ] before her majesty; and he said that he was sure your good-nature would not have been displeased with it. this is the reason why i now venture to ask whether a similar kindness might be shown the accompanying little poem, supposing no etiquette to stand in the way of it. i have no tory channels of communication with the palace, nor wish to seek any; neither can i trespass upon any friendships of her majesty's, unless they can find my excuse in some previous knowledge of me. on the other hand, i have no fear of being supposed by your lordship to approach one who is no longer premier with less respect than when he was in power. i would even venture to say, if the mode of testifying it were not so poor a one, that it is in a double spirit of respectfulness the application is made. should it be of a nature calculated to give your lordship any perplexity, i can only blush for having been the occasion of it, and beg it may be laid to the account of an ignorance which lives very much out of the world. the same reason will plead my excuse for not knowing whether a letter to her majesty ought, or ought not, to accompany the book; and for begging your lordship, after its perusal, to suppress it or otherwise accordingly, in case you can oblige me in the other part of my request. your lordship will perceive that the address prefixed to the poem, not having ventured to ask her majesty's permission, does not presume to call itself a dedication; neither does it leave the public under any erroneous impression whatsoever as to the nature of its intentions: and on this account i not only expect, of course, no acknowledgment of its receipt on the part of any one about her majesty's person, but shall be more than content to understand by your lordship's own silence that my book has reached its destination, and therefore not been considered altogether unworthy of it. the bookseller tells me that it is no longer "the mode" for authors to present their volumes _bound_; but in regard to books intended to go to court, he is not quite so certain; and i find it so difficult to disassociate the idea of dress from any such proceeding, that i trust my inexperience in this respect also will procure me whatever pardon it may require. i have the honour to be, my lord, your lordship's ever grateful and faithful servant, leigh hunt. [footnote : hunt had founded _the examiner_ in , and albany fonblanque ( - ) had succeeded him on it as leader writer.] [footnote : leigh hunt's play, _a legend of florence_, had had a great success at covent garden in ; in it was performed at windsor by the queen's command.] [pageheading: the afflicted family] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ st july ._ my beloved victoria,--i was unable to thank you the other day for your kind and feeling letter of the th, although i was greatly touched by it, and i trust you will have excused me. i thank you to-day very sincerely for both your letters, and for the share and sympathy you and dear albert take in our _great misfortune_. i know it is very heart-felt, and we are all very grateful for it. victoire and my poor mother have already given you news from the unfortunate hélène. she has sustained and outlived the first shock and shows wonderful courage. she is even well in health, and much better and stronger in all ways than i had expected. she takes very much upon herself on account of the poor children, to prevent that any melancholy or painful feeling should be connected for them with the remembrance of their beloved and unfortunate father. my parents show great fortitude and resignation, but their hearts are for ever broke. they are only sustained by their feeling of duty. my poor mother bears up for my father, and my father bears up to fulfil his duties of father and of king. their health is, thank god! good, and my father retains all his strength of mind and quickness of judgment; but they are both grown old in looks, and their hairs are turned quite white. the first days, my poor father could do nothing but sob, and it was really heartbreaking to see him. he begins now to have more command upon his grief, and the presence of your uncle, whom he dearly loves, seems to do him good. the poor children are well and _merry_ and seem unconscious of their dreadful loss. from time to time only they jump round us as if looking for protection. the contrast of their gaiety with their horrid misfortune is very painful. paris is looking remarkably well and strong. robert[ ] is much grown, extremely quick and lively, and begins to speak. the remainder of the family is, as you may easily imagine, in the _deepest affliction_. nemours especially is quite broken down with grief. chartres was _more_ than a _brother_ to him, as he was _more_ than a _second father_ to us all. he was the _head_ and the _heart_ and _soul_ of the whole family. we all looked up to him, and we found him on all occasions. a _better_, or even _such_ a brother was never seen; our loss is as great as irreparable; but god's will be done! he had surely his motives in sending on my unfortunate parents the horrid affliction in their old days, and in removing from us the being who seemed the _most necessary_ to the hope and happiness of all; we must submit to his decrees, hard as they are; but it is impossible not to regret that my poor brother has not at least found the death of a soldier, which he had always wished for, instead of such a useless, horrid, and miserable one! it seems, for no one saw him fall, that he did not jump, as we had thought at first, but that he was thrown from the barouche, while standing; and i like it in some measure better so, as god's will is still more manifest in this way. it is equally manifest in _all_ the circumstances attending the catastrophe. my poor brother was not even to have come to neuilly. he had taken leave of my parents the day before, and would not have gone again if my unfortunate mother had not asked him, and if my parents, who were to go to paris, had not delayed their departure.... i thank you again and again, my beloved victoria, for all your interest and sympathy. i was sure you would think of us and of me: you know how much i loved my brother. i little expected to outlive him, as i had done my beloved mary;[ ] but once more, _god's will be done_. i remain now and ever, yours most devotedly, louise. i perceive i forgot mentioning ernest. pray thank him for his sympathy also. he knows what a brother is, and may feel for us! we expect on saturday poor joinville. my father will have thus his four remaining sons round him for the opening of the session, which takes place on the th, and at which he must preside in person. it is a hard duty for him. [footnote : the young duc de chartres, born in .] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. viii, footnote )] [pageheading: the corn laws] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ rd july ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to acquaint your majesty that last night was occupied in the house of commons with another debate on the corn laws, again impeding any progress with the government business. the debate was entirely confined to those members who act in concert with the anti-corn law league.[ ] it continued until twelve, when mr cobden, the member for stockport, moved an adjournment of the house, on the ground that none of your majesty's servants had taken a part in the debate.... several members of the opposition voted with the government, and declared that they would not be parties to such vexatious proceedings. a division on the main question--a committee to enquire into the state of the country with a view to the repeal of the corn laws--then took place. the motion was negatived by a majority of to -- . the house did not adjourn until three this morning. [footnote : the anti-corn law league was rapidly gaining importance, and fiscal policy occupied a great part of the session of . peel was already reducing import duties on articles other than corn. cobden had been elected at stockport, for the first time, in .] [pageheading: further particulars of accident] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ neuilly, _ nd july ._ my dearest victoria,--i was anxious to write to you on the th, but i was so overpowered with all that surrounded me that i could really not. yesterday i received your dear letter of the th, and i will answer it, so as to give you a clear view of the sad case. on the th, tuesday, chartres had taken leave, as he meant to go to st omer, the th; however, in the family the queen and others said he ought to come once more to see them. the king had ordered his carriage to go to town on the th, to a council; chartres meant to have called shortly after ten. it is necessary to tell you all this, as it shows how strangely circumstances turned fatally. chartres did not want to return once more to neuilly, and the king, if exact, might see him once more in town. chartres, however, instead of coming early, set off after eleven; his off. d'ordonnance, m. bertin de veaux, his _valet de chambre_, a german, holder, begged him not to go quite alone in that small phaeton through paris, as he was in uniform, but all this did not avail; he insisted to go in the phaeton and to go _alone_. he set out later than he expected, and if the king had set out _exactly_ as he had named, the parents and the son would probably have met on the rising avenue of the champs elysees, towards the barrière de l'Étoile and arc de triomphe. however, the king delayed his departure and the son set off. at the place where from the great avenue one turns off towards neuilly, the horses, which were not even young horses, as i am told that he has had them some years, moved by that stupid longing to get to neuilly, where they knew their stables, got rather above the postillion, and ran _quasi_ away. chartres got up and asked the postillion if he could hold his horses no longer; the boy called out "non, monseigneur"; he had looked back when he said this, and saw his master for the last time _standing_ in the phaeton. people at some distance saw him come out of his carriage and describe a sort of semicircle falling down. nobody knows exactly if he jumped out of the carriage, or if he lost his position and fell out. i am inclined to think that, trusting to his lightness and agility, he wanted to jump out, forgetting the impulse which a quick-going carriage gives, as there were marks on his knees as if he had first fallen that way. the principal blow was, however, on the head, the skull being entirely fractured. he was taken up senseless, that is to say confused, but not fainting, and carried into a small inn. at first his appearance, sitting in a chair, was so little altered that people thought it was nothing of any consequence. he _knew_ no one, and only spoke a few incoherent words in german. the accident happened about a quarter before twelve, and at four he was no more. i refer for some other details to albert. poor louise looks like a shadow, and only her great devotion for me supports her. it may serve as a lesson how fragile all human affairs are. poor chartres, it seems, with the prospect of these camps and altogether, was _never in better spirits_. but i must end. ever, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: sir edward disbrowe] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th july ._ the queen thanks lord aberdeen for the letter she has this morning received. the queen thinks that a reprimand would hardly do, as it is not so much from any particular despatch that she has formed this opinion of sir edward disbrowe, but more from the general tenor of his conduct and despatches; therefore she thinks it would be difficult to censure him, which would probably not have the desired effect.[ ] for this reason the queen would prefer his being removed without his being told that it was for his conduct, and without his being able to find this out, which, the queen concludes from lord aberdeen's letter, could easily be done. [footnote : _see_ p. . lord aberdeen had suggested sending sir edward disbrowe a private admonition.] (ch. xi, th july, ) _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ nd august ._ dearest uncle,--i had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of the th, late on sunday evening. you know _all_ we have felt, and do _feel_, for the dear and exemplary french family. really it is too dreadful, but god's will be done! perhaps poor chartres is saved great sorrow and grief. _him_ we must _not_ pity! god grant all may go off well on these dreadful days, and may he support the dear afflicted parents, widow, and brothers and sisters! my dearest louise! i hope and trust that her dear children will occupy her and divert her attention; only don't let her swallow and suppress her grief and keep it to herself; that is dreadful, and very hurtful. let her give way to her sorrow, and talk of it to her. pray, dearest uncle, will not and ought not paris to be duke of orleans now? hélène is sole guardian, is she not?... dear louise will, i trust, excuse my not answering her kind letter to-day; pray give her my best love, and believe me, always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the fatherless children] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th august ._ my dearest victoria,--... little paris,[ ] who has gained much of late, will keep the name of paris, at least for the present. hélène will be, after the poor king's demise, sole guardian of her children; till then the king as head of the family will be supreme in all matters relating to the children.... your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the late comte de paris, who bore this title to the end of his life, father of the present duc d'orléans.] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th august ._ my beloved victoria,--... poor little paris is aware of his misfortune in the way he can be. hélène told him that he saw everybody weep because he would see no more his beloved father. the poor child wept then very much, and he has done several times since, when the same thing was repeated to him. he wonders why he does not go any more in his unfortunate father's room, and why there is no more "_de cher papa_," as he says: else he makes no question or observation and is very quiet and cheerful. he cannot yet feel what he has lost and his melancholy fate: but hélène does what she can to keep alive in him the remembrance of his father.... yours most affectionately, louise. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he thanks your majesty much for the letter of the th. it can hardly be expected that the grief of the french family will, as yet, much diminish, but lord melbourne hopes that they are somewhat more composed. he has heard this morning that lord and lady beauvale were at boulogne on saturday; they would probably cross yesterday, and will be in london to-day. lord melbourne understands that lord beauvale had an interview of three hours with the king of the french. charles howard was married this morning, and lord melbourne is going to meet lord and lady carlisle and the rest of the family at baron parke's[ ] at dinner. lord melbourne thinks that lord prudhoe's marriage[ ] was to be expected.[ ] upon looking at the peerage, he is only fifty years old, and fifty is young enough to marry anybody. the only fault of fifty is that it advances too rapidly on to sixty, which, on the other hand, is too old to marry anybody. it is lord melbourne's opinion that if a man does marry either at fifty or sixty, he had much better take a young girl than a woman of more age and experience. youth is more malleable, more gentle, and has often more respect and compassion for infirmity than middle-age. [footnote : afterwards lord wensleydale.] [footnote : to lady eleanor grosvenor.] [footnote : admiral lord algernon percy ( - ), president of the royal institution, was created in baron prudhoe: in , on the death of his brother, he became fourth duke of northumberland.] [pageheading: resignation of lord hill] _lord hill to queen victoria._ hardwicke grange,[ ] _ th august ._ lord hill presents his humble duty to your majesty, and craves your majesty's gracious permission to lay before your majesty his resignation of the command of your majesty's army. lord hill deeply regrets the necessity of taking a step which will deprive him of a charge that has been so long committed to his hands, and for his continuance in which he is indebted to your majesty's grace and favour; but he has again suffered much from the illness under which he laboured in the early part of the year, and his health has in consequence become so indifferent as to render him unequal to the adequate discharge of the various important duties of his command, which therefore he feels he could not retain with due regard to the interests of your majesty's service. lord hill had flattered himself that he should have been able to have laid his application for retirement before your majesty himself, and personally to have expressed to your majesty his deep and lasting sense of your majesty's gracious kindness to him on all occasions. having, however, left london by the advice of his medical attendants, and being too unwell to undertake a second journey, lord hill avails himself of this mode of assuring your majesty of his unabated zeal for the service, of his dutiful devotion to your majesty's person, and of the pain and sorrow with which he relinquishes an appointment that afforded him the honour and advantage of executing your majesty's commands, and receiving many gracious proofs of your majesty's support and confidence. [footnote : lord hill's country house in shropshire.] [pageheading: appointment of commander-in-chief] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th august ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that he received at a late hour last night the accompanying letter to your majesty from lord hill. from the one which accompanied it, addressed to sir robert peel, he has reason to believe that it conveys to your majesty the wish of lord hill to be relieved, on the ground of ill-health and increasing infirmities, from the command of your majesty's forces. sir robert peel would humbly submit for your majesty's consideration whether it might not be a deserved mark of your majesty's approbation to confer upon lord hill the rank of viscount, with remainder to his nephew sir rowland hill,[ ] who will succeed lord hill in the barony. lord beresford[ ] and lord combermere[ ] have the rank of viscounts, and perhaps the long, faithful services of lord hill as commander-in-chief may appear to your majesty to entitle him to equal distinction in the peerage. sir robert peel has reason to believe that when lord hill's retirement shall be known there will be many competitors for the office of commander-in-chief. sir george murray,[ ] sir edward paget,[ ] lord londonderry,[ ] lord combermere, and perhaps lord beresford, will severally urge their pretensions. sir robert peel humbly submits to your majesty that should the duke of wellington be willing to undertake the duties of this important trust, no claims could stand in competition with his, and no selection from the candidates whom he has named would be satisfactory to the army or public in general. sir robert peel would therefore humbly recommend to your majesty that the offer of this appointment should be made to the duke of wellington, with the signification of a wish on the part of your majesty (should your majesty be pleased to approve of the arrangement), that his grace should continue a member of the cabinet, and the organ of the government, as at present, in the house of lords. [footnote : lord hill died th december , and was succeeded in his peerages by sir rowland hill, who died in .] [footnote : william carr beresford ( - ), created viscount beresford in for the victory of albuera, .] [footnote : sir stapleton cotton ( - ), created viscount combermere for the capture of bhurtpore.] [footnote : sir george murray ( - ), received a k.c.b. for his services in the peninsula, m.p. for perth, and afterwards commander-in-chief in ireland.] [footnote : general sir edward paget, g.c.b. ( - ), brother of the first marquis of anglesey.] [footnote : prior to being ambassador at vienna, lord londonderry had distinguished himself in the peninsula.] [pageheading: the duke accepts] _the duke of wellington to queen victoria._ london, _ th august ._ field-marshal the duke of wellington presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has been informed by sir robert peel that your majesty had been graciously pleased to approve of the recommendation submitted by your majesty's servants that he should be appointed the commander-in-chief of your majesty's forces. he is sensible of and grateful for this fresh proof of your majesty's confidence in him and gracious favour towards him. he hopes that your majesty will believe that your majesty may rely upon his making every effort in his power to promote your majesty's views for the honour and interest of the country in any situation in which he may be placed. which is humbly submitted to your majesty by your majesty's most dutiful and devoted subject and servant, wellington. _queen victoria to lord hill._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ the queen has received lord hill's letter of the th inst., and is much concerned to learn that lord hill's health is so indifferent that he thinks it is his duty to resign the important office which he has so long and so honourably held. the queen can only reluctantly give her consent to this determination, as she regrets to lose lord hill's services at the head of her army. she cannot, however, miss this opportunity of expressing to lord hill her entire approbation of his conduct throughout the time he served her. the prince begs to have his kind regards sent to lord hill. [pageheading: riots in manchester] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ cabinet room, downing street, _ th august ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is sorry to be under the necessity of troubling your majesty so suddenly, but he is sure your majesty will excuse him for making any proposal to your majesty which the public service may render requisite.[ ] the accounts received this morning from manchester with regard to the state of the country in that neighbourhood are very unsatisfactory, and they are confirmed by the personal testimony of magistrates who have arrived in london for the purpose of making representations to your majesty's servants on the subject. a cabinet has just been held, and it is proposed to send a battalion of guards by the railway this evening. the th of august (tuesday next) is the anniversary of a conflict which took place in manchester in the year [ ] between the yeomanry cavalry and the populace, and it is feared that there may be a great assemblage of persons riotously disposed on that day. under these circumstances it appears desirable to your majesty's confidential advisers that a proclamation should be immediately issued, warning all persons against attendance on tumultuous meetings, and against all acts calculated to disturb the public peace. it is necessary that a council should be held for the issue of this proclamation, and important that it should arrive in manchester on monday. these considerations have prevented sir robert peel from giving previous notice to your majesty, and having your majesty's sanction for the holding of a council. on account of the urgency of the case, he has requested a sufficient number of privy councillors to repair to windsor this evening, in order that should your majesty be graciously pleased to hold a council, the proclamation may be forthwith issued. the members of the privy council will be in attendance about half-past six o'clock, as sir robert peel has considered that from that time to half-past seven will probably be the least inconvenient to your majesty. he writes this immediately after the breaking up of the cabinet. [footnote : the disturbances of this month, which originated in a strike for wages in lancashire, were inflamed by agitators, and rapidly spread through cheshire, staffordshire, warwickshire, and yorkshire, eventually extending to the populous parts of scotland and wales. several conflicts took place between the populace and the military, and there was much loss of life and property, as well as aggravated distress.] [footnote : on th august , a great popular demonstration in favour of parliamentary reform, presided over by henry hunt, the radical, had taken place in st peter's fields, manchester. a riot ensued, and the yeomanry charged the populace, with some loss of life. the affair was afterwards known as the peterloo massacre.] [pageheading: chartist disturbances] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th august ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty the enclosed letter from major-general sir william warre[ ] in command of the northern district. from this report it is evident that a strong and salutary moral impression had been produced by the arrival of a reinforcement of , men in the disturbed district in the short time of six-and-thirty hours after the first requisition for assistance had been sent from manchester; and the general has now at his disposal a force quite adequate to cope with the vast assemblage of people who are expected to meet to-morrow at manchester. some symptoms of this disposition forcibly to suspend labour have appeared in the west riding of yorkshire; but on the whole the accounts, both from scotland and the disturbed district, which have been received this morning, may be considered favourable. the railroad communications as yet are uninterrupted; no collision has taken place between the troops and the multitude, except at preston;[ ] and sir james graham is willing to hope that this insurrectionary movement may be suppressed without recourse to extreme measures. every precaution, however, has been taken, and arrangements are made for augmenting the force under the command of sir william warre, if it should become necessary. the character of these riots has assumed more decidedly a political aspect. it is no longer a strike for higher wages, but the delegates, who direct the movement, avow that labour shall not be resumed until the people's charter be granted.[ ] sir james graham will hasten to-morrow to inform your majesty of the accounts which he may receive. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [footnote : lieutenant-general sir william warre ( - ), a distinguished peninsular officer.] [footnote : the mob attacked the military, who fired and killed three or four persons.] [footnote : a colossal petition in favour of the charter had been presented during the session by mr t. duncombe.] [pageheading: satisfactory results] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th august ._ (_thursday morning._) sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that he returned to london last night. he has this morning gone through all the letters received from the country, with sir james graham, by whom the details of the information will be forwarded to your majesty. it appears to sir robert peel that the general tenor of the reports is _satisfactory_. from manchester, from wigan, from preston, the reports are very good. the movement is not one caused by distress. the demand for employment has increased, and the price of provisions--and particularly of potatoes, bread, and bacon--has rapidly fallen within the last fortnight or three weeks. people of property and the magistrates (notwithstanding their political dissensions) are now acting in harmony, and with more energy. orders have been sent to apprehend the delegates assembled in manchester, _the very moment_ that the law will warrant their apprehension, and sir robert peel should not be surprised to hear of their committal to lancaster castle in the course of to-day. every vigilance will be exerted with reference to _cooper_[ ] (whom your majesty names) and all other itinerant agitators. as might be naturally expected, the movements and disorderly spirit spreading from the centre (manchester) are appearing in remote points; but when peace and confidence are thoroughly restored at manchester, the example will quickly tell in the circumjacent districts. birmingham is tranquil and well-disposed. the accounts from scotland are favourable. [footnote : a leicester chartist, who was afterwards tried for sedition.] [pageheading: parliament prorogued] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ th august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is going down to-day to brocket hall with lord and lady beauvale. lord and lady palmerston are coming down to-morrow, and lord and lady cowper will probably come over from panshanger. your majesty read extremely well in the house of lords on friday last.[ ] lord melbourne can judge better of this from the body of the house than he could when he stood close to your majesty. nothing can be more clear and distinct, and at the same time more natural and free from effort. perhaps if your majesty could read a tone louder it would be as well. charles buller, who was amongst the house of commons, told lord melbourne that, where he stood, the voice, although well heard, sounded somewhat weak. but this should not be attempted unless it can be done with perfect ease. nothing injures reading so much as the attempt to push the organ beyond its natural powers. lord melbourne hopes that these tumults in the manufacturing districts are subsiding, but he cannot conceal from your majesty that he views them with great alarm--much greater than he generally thinks it prudent to express. he fears that they may last in the form of strike, and turn out much longer than is looked for, as they did in and . there is a great mass of discontented feeling in the country arising from the actual state of society. it arises from the distress and destitution which will fall at times upon a great manufacturing population, and from the wild and extravagant opinions which are naturally generated in an advanced and speculative state of society. this discontent has been aggravated and fermented by the language of every party in the state. lord melbourne can exempt no party from this blame, nor hardly any individual except himself. the tories and conservatives (not the leaders, but the larger portion of the party) have done what they could to inflame the public mind upon that most inflammable topic of the poor laws. the _times_ newspaper has been the most forward in this. the whigs and radicals have done what they could in the same direction upon the corn laws. mr attwood[ ] and another set have worked the question of the currency, and the whole career of mr o'connell in ireland has been too manifest to be mistaken. it is no wonder if working in this manner altogether they have at last succeeded in driving the country into this which is certainly very near, if not actually a rebellion. lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty and the prince, the prince, and princess are all well. [footnote : parliament was prorogued by the queen in person on th august.] [footnote : who represented the radical views of the birmingham school.] [pageheading: the disturbed districts] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th august ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, is happily enabled to state to your majesty that the accounts from the disturbed districts received this morning are more satisfactory. in lancashire a disposition to resume work has been partially evinced; and at preston, where the most vigorous measures were taken in the first instance, there has hardly been a cessation of employment. sir james graham encloses a letter from the chief constable of the county of lancashire detailing a successful resistance to a fresh attempt on the part of a mob to enter preston; and he sends also a report from the mayor of manchester and from mr forster, the stipendiary magistrate. decisive measures will be adopted for the immediate apprehension of the delegates, not only at manchester, but in every other quarter where legal evidence can be obtained which will justify their arrest. the law, which clearly sanctions resistance to the entry of these mobs into cities, is now understood by the local authorities. a bolder and firmer spirit is rising among all classes possessing property in defence of their rights against these bands of plunderers, who are the enemies both of law and of property. the prisoners taken in the commission of treasonable felonies are numerous; warrants are issued against others whose persons are known: the supremacy of the law will be promptly vindicated, and sir james graham entertains the confident hope that order will be soon restored. in the potteries a signal example was made by a handful of your majesty's troops opposed to a riotous multitude which had burnt houses and spread devastation, and sir james graham encloses a letter from captain powys giving a description of the occurrence. the effect of this example has been that yesterday throughout this district no rioting took place. [pageheading: disturbances in london] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th august ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to announce to your majesty that the accounts from the north, on the whole, may be considered satisfactory.... five of the principal delegates at manchester have been apprehended. warrants are out against four others. a very important seizure of papers has been made which discloses a conspiracy, extensive in its ramifications, going back as far as july . it is hoped that these papers, which are still at manchester, may lead to fresh discoveries. sir james graham will send to manchester to-night an experienced law officer, for the purpose of pursuing the investigation on the spot. there was a meeting last night in the neighbourhood of london, of a violent character. sir james graham had given positive orders to the police not to allow any mob, as night approached, to enter london. notwithstanding these directions, a mob assembled in lincoln's inn fields about eleven o'clock, and moved through the city to bethnal green. sir james graham had the troops on the alert, but the multitude dispersed without any serious disturbance. _sir james graham to queen victoria._ _ th august ._ ... an attempt to hold a meeting at dusk in the suburbs of london was resisted by the police yesterday evening in pursuance of orders issued by the government in conjunction with the lord major, and the peace of the metropolis was preserved. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [pageheading: trouble at the cape] _lord stanley to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th august ._ lord stanley, with his humble duty, submits for your majesty's perusal copies of three despatches, received yesterday from the governor of the cape of good hope, detailing the unfortunate result of an attack made by a small party of your majesty's troops upon the camp of the insurgent boers at natal; and also the copy of a despatch which lord stanley has sent in consequence to sir george napier,[ ] which, he trusts, may meet your majesty's approbation. lord stanley would have submitted the draft for your majesty's approval previous to sending it, had not an opportunity presented itself of sending it off by a fast-sailing private ship which sailed this morning, the intelligence having only been received yesterday. the instructions sent to sir george napier, on the th of april, but not received when this unfortunate affair took place, were in substance not to attempt the subjugation of these people by direct force, but to warn them that their titles to the land which they occupy would not be recognised by your majesty, that they would have no title to claim protection from the aggression of the neighbouring tribes, to interdict communication between them and the settled parts of the colony, and to prevent any intercourse by sea with foreign or british traders. the unfortunate event which has now occurred will render it necessary to take steps, as sir george napier has already done, for vindicating the power of your majesty's arms; but when that shall have been effected, lord stanley would still hope that a considerable number of these misguided men may be induced to return to their allegiance, and to the settled parts of your majesty's dominions, and he feels confident that in such an event he will be fulfilling your majesty's wishes in directing that they may be treated with all possible lenity. all which is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, stanley. [footnote : sir george napier ( - ) governed cape colony for seven years, and the boers were extruded from natal by him.] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ bushey house, _ th september ._ my dearest niece,--... your mamma's visit gave me great pleasure, and it has been a great treat to me to hear her sing again, and _so well_, which put me in mind of former happy days. i regret _much_ that she leaves me already this afternoon again, but the strong and powerful _magnet_ which you have left at the castle draws her back, and i dare not keep her away from such treasures. i beg you, my dearest victoria, to give my affectionate love to dear albert, and to believe me ever most devotedly, your very affectionate aunt, adelaide. [pageheading: the queen visits scotland] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ taymouth,[ ] _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i make no excuses for not having written, as i know that you will understand that when one is travelling about and seeing so much that is _totally_ new, it is very difficult to find time to write.... albert has told you already how successfully everything had gone off hitherto, and how much pleased we were with edinburgh, which is an unique town in its way. we left dalkeith on monday, and lunched at dupplin, lord kinnoul's, a pretty place with quite a new house, and which poor lord kinnoul displayed so well as to fall head over heels down a steep bank, and was proceeding down another, if albert had not caught him; i did not see it, but albert and i have nearly died with laughing at the _relation_ of it. from dalkeith we went through perth (which is _most_ beautifully situated on the tay) to scone palace,[ ] lord mansfield's, where we slept; fine but rather gloomy. yesterday morning (tuesday) we left scone and lunched at dunkeld, the beginning of the highlands, in a tent; _all_ the highlanders in their fine dress, being encamped there, and with their old shields and swords, looked very romantic; they were chiefly lord glenlyon's[ ] men. _he_, poor man! is suddenly become _totally_ blind, and it was very melancholy to see him do the _honours_, _not_ seeing _anything_. the situation of dunkeld, down in a valley surrounded by wooded hills, is very, very pretty. from thence we proceeded to this enchanting and princely place; the whole drive here was beautiful. all lord breadalbane's[ ] highlanders, with himself at their head, and a battalion of the nd highlanders, were drawn up in front of the house. in the evening the grounds were splendidly illuminated, and bonfires burning on the hills; and a number of highlanders danced reels by torchlight, to the bagpipes, which was very wild and pretty.... [footnote : lord breadalbane's house. the queen left london on th august for scotland by sea, reaching edinburgh on st september.] [footnote : scone abbey was granted to sir david murray (afterwards viscount stormont) by james vi. of scotland, whose cup-bearer he was, and whose life he saved.] [footnote : afterwards george, sixth duke of atholl ( - ).] [footnote : john, second marquis of breadalbane, k.t. ( - ).] [pageheading: drummond castle] _queen victoria to viscount melbourne._ taymouth, _ th september ._ it has been long the queen's intention to write to lord melbourne, but we have seen and done so much, it has been impossible. everything has gone off so well at edinburgh, perth, and elsewhere. this is a princely and most beautiful place, and we have been entertained by lord breadalbane in a magnificent way. the highland volunteers, two hundred in number (without the officers), keeping guard, are encamped in the park; the whole place was twice splendidly illuminated, and the sport he gave the prince out shooting was on the largest scale. the highlands and the mountains are too beautiful, and we _must_ come back for longer another time. the queen will finish this letter at drummond castle,[ ] as we leave this in half an hour. _drummond castle, th._--we arrived here yesterday evening at seven, having had a most beautiful journey. we went with lord breadalbane up the loch tay (by water) to ochmore[ ] (i don't know _how_ it is written), a cottage belonging to lord breadalbane, close to killin. the morning was very fine, and the view indescribably beautiful; the mountains so high, and so wooded close to killin. it is impossible to say how kind and attentive lord breadalbane and poor lady breadalbane (who is so wretchedly delicate) were to us. we were so sorry to go away, and might perhaps have managed to stay two days longer at taymouth, were we not fearful of delaying our sea voyage back too much. however, we mean to visit him for longer another time; the highlands are so beautiful, and so new to _me_, that we are most anxious to return there again. the journey from killin to comrie was _most_ beautiful, and through such wild scenery--glen ogle, which of course lord melbourne knows--and then along loch ern. this house is quite a cottage, but the situation is fine, and the garden very beautiful. we leave this on tuesday for dalkeith[ ] where we sleep, and re-embark the next day for _england_. we greatly admire the extreme beauty of edinburgh; the situation as well as the town is most striking; and the prince, who has seen so much, says it is the finest town he ever saw. scone palace (where we slept on tuesday night) is fine, but gloomy; perth is beautiful. the queen hopes lord melbourne is very well. the prince begs to be remembered to him. dalkeith is a fine good house, and the park and grounds very pretty. [footnote : the seat of lord willoughby d'eresby.] [footnote : it should be written auchmore.] [footnote : the seat of the duke of buccleuch.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--pray accept my best thanks for your kind letter of the th, which i received on saturday, the day of our arrival here. dearest louise will have told you what i wrote to her. we had a speedy and prosperous voyage home of forty-eight hours, on board a fine large and very fast steamer, the _trident_, belonging to the general steam navigation company. we found our dear little victoria so grown and so improved, and speaking so plain, and become so independent; i think really few children are as forward as she is. she is quite a dear little companion. the baby is sadly backward, but also grown, and very strong. i am so distressed about dearest louise's still coughing, but she tells me it is decreasing. only pray let her give way to her grief; much crying, even if it makes her cough for the moment, can do her no real harm, but stifling and swallowing _grief_ (which she _cannot_ repress) gnaws at the very roots of life and undermines health. ostend and sea-baths would, i should think, do her good. i am very glad that you went to see the king of prussia, and saw so many old friends; fritz of mecklenburg[ ] is, you know, albert's very dear friend; he is just arrived here. alexandrine's brother everybody praises; the whole family are handsome and well brought up. the archduke frederic[ ] comes here to-morrow for a week's visit. everybody praises him, and ferdinand liked him very much; all archduke charles's[ ] sons are said to be very well brought up. how i wish archduke john[ ] had come over here! now, dearest uncle, adieu! and pray believe me, always, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. it would be _very_ kind of you if you would tell me if there is a chance of augustus's marrying clementine.[ ] don't believe i should say a word _against_ it; but i have heard so much about it that i should be really and sincerely glad to know a _little_ of the _truth_ from _you_. [footnote : frederic william ( - ), afterwards grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz. see _post_, p . (ch. xi, footnote )] [footnote : son of the archduke charles.] [footnote : ( - ), third son of the emperor leopold ii. distinguished in the napoleonic wars.] [footnote : ( - ), younger son of the emperor leopold ii. commanded on the rhine, . administrator of the empire, .] [footnote : prince augustus of saxe-coburg and princess clementine of orleans were married in the following april. prince ferdinand of bulgaria is their son.] [pageheading: the queen's steam yacht] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ nd september ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave, with reference to your majesty's note of yesterday, to state to your majesty that the _first_ act of sir robert peel on his return from scotland was to write to lord haddington[ ] and strongly urge upon the admiralty the necessity of providing a steam yacht for your majesty's accommodation. sir robert peel trusts that your majesty may entirely depend upon being enabled to make any excursions your majesty may resolve upon in the early part of next summer, in a steam vessel belonging to your majesty, and suitable in every respect for your majesty's accommodation. sir robert peel has had a personal communication with sir john barrow,[ ] one of the secretaries to the admiralty, this morning, upon the subject, and sir robert peel has written by this post to sir george cockburn,[ ] who is out of town. he finds that the admiralty is now building a large vessel to be worked by steam power, applied by means of a revolving screw instead of paddles. it may be doubtful whether the same degree of velocity can be attained by means of the screw, particularly in a very large vessel. of this a full trial will be made. sir john barrow assures sir robert peel that he has been on board a steam-boat moved by the screw, and that the working of the engine is scarcely perceptible; that there is none of the tremulous motion which accompanies the beats of the paddles, and that it will be possible to apply an apparatus by means of which the smoke can be consumed, and the disagreeable smell in great measure prevented. sir robert peel will leave nothing undone to ensure your majesty's comfort and safety in any future naval excursions that your majesty may be pleased to make. [footnote : first lord of the admiralty.] [footnote : barrow had been made second secretary in by dundas; he was a self-made man, and a most indefatigable traveller, writer, and promoter of arctic exploration.] [footnote : admiral of the fleet sir george cockburn ( - ), first naval lord.] [pageheading: queen isabella] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ _ th september ._ lord aberdeen, with his most humble duty, lays before your majesty a letter which he has received from mr aston, respecting the marriage of the queen of spain, and which, after what has already passed, may perhaps cause your majesty some surprise. lord aberdeen is humbly of opinion that the language hitherto employed by your majesty's government upon this subject ought not to undergo any change, and that it ought to be treated entirely as a spanish question. great britain would naturally regard a marriage with a son of the king of the french as injurious to spain and menacing to europe, but would probably not feel it necessary to give such an opinion respecting any other alliance. while this might be plainly stated, and the spanish government exhorted to act according to their own independent view of the real interests of the country and of the queen, lord aberdeen would humbly propose that the regent should be explicitly informed by mr aston that he must not expect to receive any assistance from your majesty's government in promoting a marriage with a prince of the netherlands. lord aberdeen believes that the difficulties in the way of such an alliance will be found to be very great, and especially that the religion of the prince will present an obstacle which in spain must be nearly insurmountable. [pageheading: lord melbourne on scotland] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has to acknowledge your majesty's letter of the th inst., which he had the honour and pleasure of receiving here on the th. lord melbourne is well aware how much your majesty's time must have been occupied by the number of visitors at the castle. we are much rejoiced here that your majesty saw the prince and princess liechtenstein.[ ] the latter is a great favourite of lady beauvale's, to whom she was always very kind, and who describes her exactly as your majesty does, as being very "amiable and unassuming," and though one of the first, if not the first lady at vienna, as not at all partaking of the insolence and hauteur which is by some ascribed to the society of that capital. as a beauty, she is perhaps upon too large a scale, except for those who admire women of all shapes and sizes; but her eyes and brow are very fine, and there is a very peculiarly soft and radiant expression about them. lord melbourne had heard of his sovereignty, but understands that his territory is extremely limited. his possessions as a subject of austria are worth a good deal more than his german principality. lord melbourne greatly congratulates your majesty upon the happy progress and termination of the expedition to scotland. he is very glad of three things--that your majesty returned by sea, in the steamer, and that the passage was a good one.... the country is indeed most interesting, full of real picturesque beauty and of historical and poetical associations and recollections. there is nothing to detract from it, except the very high opinion that the scotch themselves entertain of it. edinburgh is magnificent--situation, buildings, and all--but the boasting of the articles in the newspapers respecting it almost inclined one to deny its superiority. it is also, as your majesty says, most striking to contemplate in the clans the remains of feudal times and institutions. it is quite as well, however, particularly for monarchy, that they are but remains, and that no more of them have been left. lord melbourne thanks your majesty much for your kind enquiries after his health. he thinks that he is getting better and stronger than he has been, and has a notion of trying a little shooting in october. lord melbourne begs to be respectfully remembered to the prince. [footnote : prince aloysius joseph of liechtenstein ( - ) and his wife, princess françoise-de-paule, countess kinsky.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--i only received your kind letter yesterday, for which my best thanks. i am delighted to hear that louise's cough is decidedly better, and that upon the whole the dear family are well, thank god! certainly where he sees fit to afflict, he gives strength to bear up! louise says vecto is in great beauty, and the baby magnificent. i wish you could see pussy now; she is (_unberufen_) the picture of health, and has just cut her first eye-tooth, without the slightest suffering. we are going to brighton on the st of november for a month; it is the _best_ month _there_ and the _worst here_. i think i _may_ announce augusta cambridge's[ ] marriage as certain, as i have just received a note from the duke, which is as follows:-- "being very anxious to communicate to you as soon as possible an event which concerns deeply my family, i take the liberty of requesting you to let me know on what day and at what hour i may wait upon you." i shall see him to-morrow, and report the result to louise on friday. i have just taken leave of poor esterhazy, who has presented his letters of recall. he looked wretched, and lord aberdeen told me he is only ill at being obliged to go; he is quite miserable to do so, but the great gentleman at johannisberg has most ungraciously refused to listen to his entreaties to remain, which is very foolish, as they don't know who to send in his place. i am _very_ sorry to lose him, he is so amiable and agreeable, and i have known him ever since i can remember anybody; he is, besides, _equally liked_ and on _equally good terms_ with _both_ parties _here_, which was of the greatest importance. it was touching to see him so low and ill and unlike himself. the accounts of poor dear alexandrine's eyes continue _very bad_; she cannot write at all, or go out, or do anything. say everything proper from us to the whole family, and pray believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the princess augusta of cambridge, who was married to frederic william, afterwards grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz, in the following june.] [pageheading: historical studies] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th october ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave respectfully to acknowledge your majesty's of the th inst., which he received here the day before yesterday. lord melbourne is very glad to hear that your majesty is reading with the prince. hallam's work[ ] certainly requires much consideration and much explanation, but it is a fair, solid, impartial work, formed upon much thought and much reading. st simon's[ ] is an excellent work; he has some prejudices, but was a good honest man, and his book is full of useful information. if your majesty wishes for a book relating to what passed from one hundred to two hundred years ago, lord melbourne would strongly recommend the private memoirs of the lord chancellor clarendon (edward hyde), not the great work, _the history of the rebellion_, though that is well worth reading, but the _memoirs_, and bishop burnet's history of his own time. the reigns of charles ii., james ii., and the revolution are very curious in the latter. during queen anne's reign the bishop was not so much consulted, and his work is therefore not so interesting. if your majesty wishes to turn your attention to more recent events, professor smyth's[ ] lectures upon modern history, and particularly upon the french revolution, seem to lord melbourne sound, fair, and comprehensive. lord mahon's[ ] is also a good work, and gives a good account of the reigns of george i. and george ii. he has been thought by some in his last volume to have given too favourable a character of the chevalier, charles edward stuart. lord melbourne is much touched by what your majesty says of the princess royal, and the delight and comfort which your majesty finds in her, as well as by the whole picture which your majesty draws of your domestic happiness. when your majesty refers to what passed three years ago, your majesty may be assured that it is with no small pleasure that lord melbourne recalls any share which he may have had in that transaction, and congratulates himself as well as your majesty and the prince upon results which have been so fortunate both for yourselves and for the country. lord melbourne ventures to hope that your majesty will convey these feelings to the prince, together with the assurance of his respectful remembrance. [footnote : the _constitutional history_, published in .] [footnote : louis rouffroy, duc de saint-simon, author of the celebrated _mémoires_, published - .] [footnote : william smyth ( - ), regius professor of modern history at cambridge.] [footnote : afterwards fifth earl stanhope: the book referred to is his _history of england from the peace of utrecht to the peace of versailles_.] [pageheading: walmer castle] _the duke of wellington to sir robert peel._ walmer castle, _ th october ._ my dear peel,--arbuthnot has shown me your letter to him respecting this house. nothing can be more convenient to me than to place it at her majesty's disposition at any time she pleases.... i am only apprehensive that the accommodation in the castle would scarcely be sufficient for her majesty, the prince, and the royal children, and such suite as must attend.... it is the most delightful sea-residence to be found anywhere, particularly for children. they can be out all day, on the ramparts and platforms quite dry, and the beautiful gardens and wood are enclosed and sheltered from the severe gales of wind. there are good lodgings at walmer village and on walmer beach at no great distance from the castle, not above half a mile. believe me, ever, yours most sincerely, wellington. if the queen should send anybody here, i beg that he will write me a line, that i may have an apartment prepared for him. [pageheading: letter from queen adelaide] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ canford house, _ st october ._ my dearest niece,--a thousand thanks for your very kind dear letter of yesterday with its enclosures, which i have just received. your opinion respecting george of hanover's[ ] marriage is quite my own, and i regret that the king does not seem to be inclined to settle it and fix a day for the celebration of it. i do not know his reasons against it, for i have not heard from him for a long, long time. i am so sorry to find that the accounts of his health are so indifferent, and fear he is not careful enough. i am happy to hear that you thought the cambridge visit went off well, and that the affianced[ ] looked and seemed happy. i hope it will always be the same, and that the marriage will not be delayed too long. i always had imagined that the duke of cambridge was rich and would give a fortune to his daughters, but i have lately heard that it is not the case. i do not know what is the usual marriage portion of an english princess given by the country. in germany those portions are called _die prinzessin teuer_. we received , fl. each when we married, and , fl. for our _trousseaux_ each. if the young couple are to live in future with the grand duke they will not want any plate, but if they are to have a separate _ménage_, then they will want it. i shall find it out by and by. i wonder that the duchess likes to part with her fine sapphires. i thought the turquoises had been intended for augusta. i wish you could see the convent to which i went the other day. the nuns belong to the order of the cistercian _trappists_. they are not allowed to speak amongst themselves--what a relief my visit must have been to them!--and they neither eat meat, nor butter, nor eggs--nothing but milk, vegetables and rice. they look healthy, and there were several young rather pretty ones amongst them. one, the best-looking of them all, sister marie josepha, took me affectionately by the hand and said, "i hope the air agrees with you here and that you feel better?" and then she added, "come again--will you, before you leave this country again?" she told me that she was born in ireland and had a german grandfather. she seemed to be the favourite amongst them all, for when i bought of their works and asked them to make up my bill, they called marie josepha to summon it up, and she said to me, "do not stay for that; we will send you your things with the bill." two hours after my visit to them i received my things, with a wreath of flowers besides as their gift to me; on the paper attached to it was written, "to the queen-dowager, from the reverend mother and her community." this old reverend mother, the abbess, was very infirm, and could not get up from her chair, but she spoke very politely and ladylike to me in french. she has been forty years in her present _situation_, and comes from bretagne. the chaplain of the convent is also an old frenchman, and there are several other french nuns amongst them--one who had been condemned to be guillotined in the revolution, and was set at liberty just at the moment the execution was to have taken place. i should like to know whether these good nuns resumed again at once their silence when i left them, or whether they were permitted to talk over the events of that day.... your most affectionately devoted aunt, adelaide. [footnote : afterwards king george v. of hanover. he married princess marie of saxe-altenburg, th february .] [footnote : princess augusta of cambridge. _see_ p. . (ch. xi, footnote )] [pageheading: lord melbourne's illness] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _ st november ._ ... many thanks for your most kind and amiable letter of the th, which i received yesterday. the prospect of the possibility of dearest louise's spending some time with us _quite enchants_ us, and i hope and trust that you will carry your plan into execution. our plans, which we only settled last night, are as follows:--the scarlet fever is on the decrease at brighton, but not sufficiently so to justify our going there immediately; so we therefore intend going to walmer with the children, but a very reduced suite (as the house is considerably smaller than claremont), on the th, and to stay there till the nd inst., when we shall go to brighton and remain there till the th of december. now if dearest louise would meet us there then, and perhaps come back with us here for a little while _then_? windsor is _beautiful_ in december. the news of lord melbourne, i am thankful to say, are _excellent_, and he improves rapidly under dr holland's care, but his first seizure was very alarming.[ ] i shall not fail to convey your kind message to this worthy friend of ours. i am so pleased at your account of nemours and poor hélène. tatane[ ] is not your favourite, is he? lord douglas's[ ] marriage with princess m. of baden _is_ settled; _i_ shall of course treat her as a princess of baden--i can't do otherwise (it is like aunt sophie,[ ] and princess m. of würtemberg who married count neipperg[ ])--and him as lord douglas, which won't please him. i wish clem's marriage was no longer a secret, now that it _is settled_, as it is (forgive my saying it) really a fashion in our family to have these _secrets de la comédie_, when one is almost forced to tell a lie about what is true. i _own_ i dislike these secrets; it was so with poor marie and with vecto. now _adieu!_ dearest, kindest uncle, and believe me, always, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : he had a paralytic seizure, and never regained his former health or spirits.] [footnote : duc de montpensier.] [footnote : afterwards eleventh duke of hamilton: he was married to princess mary on rd february following.] [footnote : sister of the duchess of kent and of the king of the belgians, and the wife of count mensdorff.] [footnote : alfred, count neipperg, who died in .] [pageheading: the crown jewels] [pageheading: provision for princess augusta] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th november ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that he brought under the consideration of your majesty's servants the questions relating to certain of the crown jewels, and the claim upon them preferred by the king of hanover.[ ] in the course of the discussion it appeared to sir robert peel that there were still some points in respect to this very embarrassing question which required the grave consideration of legal authorities, and that it would not be prudent to take any step, even that of submitting the case to arbitration, without the highest legal authority. the submission to arbitration might avoid the evil (and a very great one it would be) of public controversy in a court of justice, and of public examination of members of the royal family on a matter partly of a domestic nature; but on the other hand, great care must be taken that by submitting the case to the award of arbitrators, even should they be nominated altogether by your majesty, we do not relinquish any _fair_ advantage for the crown of england which would have accompanied an appeal to the regularly constituted tribunals of the country. your majesty's solicitor-general was employed as counsel for the king of hanover, and it has been thought therefore advisable to make the reference to the attorney-general and to the queen's advocate. sir robert peel has attempted to bring every questionable point in the case submitted to them under the consideration of your majesty's law advisers, and when their report shall be received he will not fail to lay it before your majesty. sir robert peel had a personal interview a few days since with his royal highness the duke of cambridge, on the subject of a public provision for the princess augusta on the occasion of her marriage.[ ] sir robert peel thought it advisable to enquire from the duke of cambridge, as the impression of the public (of which his royal highness is quite aware) is that he has a considerable fortune of his own, independently of his annual allowance from parliament. the duke of cambridge seemed entirely to share the impressions of sir robert peel that in the present state of the country, and of the public revenue, great caution is requisite in respect to the proposal of a grant of public money as a marriage portion to the princess augusta, and that it would be important that in any proposal to be made there should be a general acquiescence on the part of the house of commons. as the marriage is not to take place for some time it appears to sir robert peel that it might be advisable to postpone a decision, at least in respect to the particular amount of any provision to be made, till a period nearer to the meeting of parliament. a public intimation, or the public notoriety long beforehand of the intention to propose a grant of public money might, in the present temper of the times, interpose additional obstacles in the way of it. sir robert peel proposes to return to drayton manor for a short time, and to leave london to-morrow morning. [footnote : the king claimed them on the ground that part belonged to the crown of hanover, and part had been bequeathed to him by queen charlotte. the matter was referred to a commission consisting of lords lyndhurst and langdale, and chief justice tindal. the two former were divided in opinion, and the chief justice died before the award was made. it was not till that a final decision, substantially in favour of hanover, was given.] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch xi, footnote , st october, )] [pageheading: successes in china] _lord stanley to queen victoria._ downing street, _ rd november ._ lord stanley, with his humble duty, has the honour of submitting to your majesty an original despatch from lieutenant-general sir hugh gough, received this morning, detailing the triumphant successes which had crowned the exertions of your majesty's naval and military forces in china,[ ] and of the completely satisfactory result in the execution of a treaty of peace with the emperor of china, upon terms highly honourable to your majesty and advantageous to this country. lord stanley learns from lord fitzgerald that he is also forwarding to your majesty, by this messenger, the details which the same mail has brought of the complete and triumphant issue of the campaign in afghanistan. lord stanley trusts that he may be permitted to offer to your majesty his humble congratulations upon intelligence so glorious to british arms, and so important to british interests. it is difficult to estimate the moral effect which these victories may produce, not on asia merely, but throughout europe also. at the same moment your majesty has brought to a triumphant issue two gigantic operations, one in the centre of asia, the other in the heart of the hitherto unapproachable chinese empire. in the former, past disasters have been retrieved; a signal victory has been achieved on the very spot memorable for former failure and massacre; the honour of the british arms has been signally vindicated; the interests of humanity have been consulted by the rescue of the whole of the prisoners; and, after a series of victories, the governor-general of india is free, without discredit, to enter upon measures of internal improvement, and having established the supremacy of british power, to carry on henceforth a more pacific policy. in china a termination has been put to the effusion of blood by the signature of a treaty which has placed your majesty's dominions on a footing never recognised in favour of any foreign power--a footing of perfect equality with the chinese empire; which has obtained large indemnity for the past, and ample security for the future, and which has opened to british enterprise the commerce of china to an extent which it is almost impossible to anticipate. it may interest your majesty to hear that already enquiries are made in the city for superintendents of ships to trade to _ningpo direct_. lord stanley has taken upon himself to give orders in your majesty's name for firing the park and tower guns in honour of these glorious successes. a _gazette_ extraordinary will be published to-morrow, the voluminous nature of the despatches rendering it necessary to take some time lest an important despatch should be omitted. all which is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, stanley. [footnote : chapoo was taken by sir hugh gough in may: in june the squadron, under admiral william parker, entered the waters of the yang-tze, captured chin-kiang-fu, and were about to attack nanking, when the treaty was concluded, embracing among other things a payment by the chinese of , , dollars, the cession of hong kong, and the opening of the ports of canton, amoy, foochow, ningpo, and shanghai.] [pageheading: victories in afghanistan] _lord fitzgerald and vesci to queen victoria._ india board, _ rd november ._[ ] lord fitzgerald, with his most humble duty to your majesty, begs leave most humbly to inform your majesty that the despatches received from the governor-general of india announce the results of a series of most brilliant exploits by the armies under major-general nott and general pollock in afghanistan. each of those armies has achieved a glorious victory over superior numbers of the enemy. the city of ghuznee has been captured, and its formidable fortress utterly razed and destroyed. the survivors of the british garrison, which had capitulated in the spring of the year, and who had been reduced to slavery, have been redeemed from bondage. the splendid victory of general pollock has been obtained over the army commanded by akbar khan in person, on the very spot where the greatest disaster had befallen the british army on their retreat, and where the last gun had been lost. on the th of september, general pollock entered cabul with his victorious troops and planted the colours of your majesty in the bala hissar, on the spot most conspicuous from the city. an extract from a letter from general pollock to lord ellenborough, dated at cabul the st of september, gives the most gratifying intelligence that _all_ the british prisoners, with the exception of captain bygrave, have been rescued from akbar khan, and were expected in the british camp on the nd of september. an extract from a letter from general pollock announcing the redemption of the prisoners is also most humbly submitted to your majesty, by your majesty's most dutiful subject and servant, fitzgerald and vesci. [footnote : the mail, which informed ministers of the chinese success, also brought the news of the capture of cabul. general nott (see _ante_, p. (ch xi, 'sale and pollock')) had by the end of july completed his preparations, and marched upon ghuznee, having arranged to meet pollock at cabul, and having transferred the scinde command to general england. nott was before ghuznee on th september, but at daylight on the th found it evacuated; the citadel was destroyed by him and the gates of somnauth removed, as directed by lord ellenborough. pollock, to whose discretion ellenborough had entrusted the policy of advancing on cabul, secured supplies at gundamuck, and on his advance met the enemy in a strong position in the jugdulluck pass and dispersed them; then at tezeen, on th september, he was attacked by akbar khan with , men. the pass was forced, and the afghans retired to the haft kotal, where they were utterly defeated, close to the scene of elphinstone's disaster. nott arrived at cabul on the day after pollock.] [pageheading: affairs of portugal] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ ardenne, _ th november ._ my dearest victoria,--... i do not think, or i may say i am pretty certain, because i have often seen donna maria's letters, they hardly ever speak of politics, except just saying that they are surrounded by such very sad people without honour or honesty. i am sure they are not french at lisbon beyond the kindly feelings which result from the recollection of donna maria's stay at paris. my constant advice has been to look exclusively to the closest alliance with england, and ferdinand is now _well aware_ of it; but you know that the liberal party tried to even harm him by representing him as a _mere_ creature of england. we live in odd times when really one very often thinks people mad; their _uncontrouled_ passions do not develop amiable feelings, but on the contrary everything that is bad and unreasonable.... you are a very affectionate and kind mamma, which is very praiseworthy; may heaven preserve your dear little children! victoria is very clever, and it will give you great pleasure to see the development which takes place with children just at that time of life. what you say of ernest is unfortunately but too true; that trick of exaggeration is one of the worst i almost know, and particularly in people in high stations, as one finally knows not what to believe, and it generally ends with people disbelieving all such individuals do say.... your devoted uncle, leopold r. _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ walmer castle, _ th november ._ the queen wishes sir robert to consider, and at an _early_ period to submit to her, his propositions as to how to recompense and how to mark her high approbation of the admirable conduct of all those meritorious persons who have by their strenuous endeavour, brought about the recent brilliant successes in china and afghanistan. [pageheading: military honours] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ walmer castle, _ th november ._ approve of the g.c.b. given to-- sir h. pottinger. sir w. parker. general nott. general pollock. likewise of the proposed pension to sir r. sale, and the baronetcy to sir hugh gough. thinks the latter very fit to succeed sir jasper nicols[ ] as commander-in-chief in india. grants with pleasure the permission _to her troops_ engaged in afghanistan to accept and wear the four medals which the governor-general has had struck for the indian army, and hopes that besides gratifying the troops, it will have the beneficial effect of still further strengthening the good feeling existing between the two armies. were it not for this impression, the queen would have thought it more becoming that she herself should have rewarded her troops with a medal than leaving it to the governor-general. [footnote : lieut.-general sir jasper nicols ( - ), created a k.c.b. for his services at bhurtpore.] [pageheading: the gates of somnauth] _lord ellenborough to queen victoria._ simla, _ th october ._ lord ellenborough, with his most humble duty to your majesty, humbly offers to your majesty his congratulation on the entire success which has attended the operations of the fleet and army under your majesty's direction in the yantze-kiang,[ ] and submits to your majesty the general order which, on the receipt of the intelligence of that success and of the peace concluded with the emperor of china upon the terms dictated by your majesty, he issued to the army of india. your majesty will have observed that in the letter of the th of july to major-general nott, that officer was instructed to bring away the gates of the temple of somnauth, from the tomb of mahmood of ghuznee, and the club of mahmood also. the club was no longer upon the tomb, and it seems to be doubtful whether it was taken away by some person of lord keane's army in , or by shah sooja, or whether it was hidden in order to prevent its being taken away at that time. the gates of the temple of somnauth have been brought away by major-general nott. these gates were taken to ghuznee by sultan mahmood in the year . the tradition of the invasion of india by sultan mahmood in that year, and of the carrying away of the gates after the destruction of the temple, is still current in every part of india, and known to every one. so earnest is the desire of the hindoos and of all who are not mussulmans to recover the gates of the temple, that when ten or twelve years ago runjeet singh was making arrangements with shah sooja for assisting him in the endeavour to recover his throne,[ ] he wished to make a stipulation that when shah sooja recovered his power he should restore the gates to india, and shah sooja refused. lord ellenborough transmits for your majesty's information a copy of the address he intends to publish on announcing that the gates of the temple will be restored.[ ] the progress of the gates from ferozepore to somnauth will be one great national triumph, and their restoration to india will endear the government to the whole people.[ ] [footnote : see _ante_, p. , note . (ch. xi, 'successes in china')] [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (intro note to ch. viii)] [footnote : "the insult of years," he wrote in this rather theatrical proclamation, "is at last avenged. the gates of the temple of somnauth, so long the memorial of your humiliation, are become the proudest record of your national glory.... you will yourselves, with all honour, transmit the gates of sandal-wood, through your respective territories, to the restored temple of somnauth."] [footnote : see _post_, pp. , , and . (ch. xii, footnote ; th march, ; th february, )] [pageheading: france and spain] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ dearest uncle,--i have to thank you for two most kind letters of the th and th. i can report very favourably of the healths of young and old; we are all very flourishing, and have since yesterday perfectly _may_ weather. clear, dry frost would be wholesome. victoire gave me yesterday a much better account of poor little robert.[ ] in portugal affairs seem quieted down, but ferdinand is imprudent enough to say to mamma that he would be wretched to lose dietz (very naturally), and _would not be at all sorry to go away_. now, this is _folly_, and a most dangerous language to hold, as if he entertains this, i fear the portuguese will _some beau matin_ indulge him in his wishes. the news from spain are better, but i must own frankly to you, that _we are all disgusted_ at the _french intrigues_ which have _without a doubt_ been at the bottom of it all, and can, i fear, be traced very close to the tuileries. why attempt to ruin a country (which they luckily _cannot succeed_ in) merely out of personal dislike to a man who certainly has proved himself capable of keeping the country quiet, and certainly is by far the _most honest_ spaniard in existence, whatever crimes or faults the french may choose to bring against him. and what will be the effect of all this? a total dislike and mistrust of france, and a still closer alliance with england. i have spoken thus freely, as a repetition of last year's scenes is _too much_ to remain silent, and as i have ever been privileged to tell you, dearest uncle, my feelings, and the truth. poor lord hill's death, though fully expected, will grieve you, as it has grieved us. i am much amused at what you say about charles, and shall tell it him, when i write to him. believe me, always, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : the infant duc de chartres.] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen is very desirous that something should be done for major malcolm[ ] (who was the bearer of "the news of victory and peace"), either by promotion in the army or by any other distinction. he is a very intelligent and well-informed officer, and has been employed in china both in a civil and military capacity, and has made, and is going to make again, a long journey at a very bad time of the year, though suffering severely at this moment from ague. [footnote : in such cases it has been usual to confer some distinction.] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen thanks sir robert for his letter of the rd. she thinks that major malcolm's going back to china the bearer of verbal instructions as well as written ones will greatly facilitate the matter and prevent misunderstandings, which at such a great distance are mostly fatal. the queen joins in sir robert's opinion, that before coming to a final arrangement it will be most valuable to have sir h. pottinger's opinion upon your present message, and thinks it much the best that sir h. should in the meantime be entrusted with the _extraordinary_ full powers for concluding any provisional arrangements, as she believes that very great confidence may be placed in him. lord stanley's suggestions strike the queen as very judicious and calculated to facilitate the future government of hong-kong. the queen hopes to hear more from sir robert when she sees him here, which she hopes to do from monday the nd to wednesday the th. [pageheading: the scotch church] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ drayton manor, _ th december ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and with reference to enquiries made by your majesty when sir robert peel was last at windsor, on the subject of the scotch church and the proceedings of the last general assembly, begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the moderator of the assembly has recently addressed a letter to sir robert peel, requiring an answer to the demands urged by the general assembly in a document entitled a protest and declaration of right.[ ] the demands of the general assembly amount to a reversal by law of the recent decisions of the court of session and of the house of lords, and to a repeal of the act of queen anne, which establishes the right of patronage in respect to livings in the church of scotland. that act by no means gives any such absolute right of appointment to the crown or other patrons of livings, as exists in england. it enables those legally entitled to the patronage to present a clergyman to the living, but the church courts have the power, on valid objections being made and duly sustained by the parishioners, to set aside the presentation of the patron, and to require from him a new nomination. the church, however, requires the absolute repeal of the act of anne. an answer to the demands of the church will now become requisite. sir james graham has been in communication with the law advisers of your majesty in scotland upon the legal questions involved in this matter, and will shortly send for your majesty's consideration the draft of a proposed answer to the general assembly.[ ] [footnote : the famous auchterarder case had decided that, notwithstanding the vetoing by the congregation of the nominee of the patron, the presbytery must take him on trial if qualified by life, learning, and doctrine,--in other words, that the act of anne, subjecting the power of the presbytery to the control of the law courts, was not superseded by the veto act, a declaration made by the general assembly. in the strathbogie case, a minister had been nominated to marnock, and out of heads of families had objected to him. the general assembly having directed the presbytery to reject him, the civil court held that he must be taken on trial. seven members of the presbytery obeyed the civil power, and the general assembly, on the motion of dr chalmers, deposed them and declared their parishes vacant.] [footnote : sir james graham's letter is printed in the annual register for . a petition in answer was drawn by the assembly and presented to parliament by mr fox maule. after the debate on it in the commons, preparations were made throughout scotland for the secession of the non-intrusionists, as they were called, which event took place on th may , when about ministers, headed by chalmers, seceded from the old kirk, and founded the free church.] [pageheading: a serious crisis] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ drayton manor, _ th december ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and rejoices to hear that your majesty approved of the letter which, with your majesty's sanction, james graham proposes to write to the moderator of the general assembly of the church of scotland. sir robert peel fears that there is too much ground for the apprehensions expressed by your majesty in respect to future embarrassment arising out of the position of the church question in scotland. sir robert peel saw yesterday a letter addressed by dr abercrombie,[ ] the eminent physician in edinburgh, to sir george sinclair,[ ] declaring his conviction that the secession of ministers from their livings would take place to _a very great extent_--would comprise very many of the ministers most distinguished for learning and professional character, and would meet with very general support among their congregations. sir robert peel has little doubt that a serious crisis in the history of the church of scotland is at hand, and that the result of it will be greatly to be lamented; but still he could not advise your majesty to seek to avert it by the acquiescence in demands amounting to the abrogation of important civil rights and to the establishment in scotland of an ecclesiastical domination independent of all control.... he is very confident that your majesty will feel that in the present state of the controversy with the church of scotland, there is peculiar reason for taking the greatest care that every minister presented to a crown living should be not only above exception, but should, if possible, be pre-eminently distinguished for his fitness for a pastoral charge. [footnote : john abercrombie ( - ), one of the chief consulting physicians in scotland, and a great medical writer. he left the established church.] [footnote : sir george sinclair ( - ), m.p. for caithness-shire, was a supporter of the anti-patronage society, and joined the free church.] [pageheading: historical reading] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th december ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has been much delighted this morning by receiving your majesty's letter of the th. he was the more gratified, as he had begun to be a little annoyed at being such a very long time without hearing from your majesty. lord mahon has sent lord melbourne his book.[ ] lord melbourne has not yet read it, but he has read the review of it in the _quarterly_, which seems to be a sort of abstract or abridgment of the book. the effect of writing it in french has naturally been to direct all attention and criticism from the merits of the work to the faults of the french. people who have read the work speak of it as entertaining, and the times are curious and interesting. the characters engaged in them, striking and remarkable. lord melbourne is very glad to hear that pottinger's conduct is so universally approved. he always appeared to lord melbourne to be a man of great ability, resolution and discretion, and lord melbourne much rejoices that he has turned out so. hallam's opinions lord melbourne believes to be in general sound, and such as have been held and approved by the most able and constitutional statesmen in this country. lord melbourne is much rejoiced to hear of the princess and the prince of wales, and also that your majesty is pursuing your studies quietly, cheerfully, and happily. lord melbourne is very sensible of the interest which the baron takes in his health and which he warmly reciprocates. there is no man whom he esteems more, nor of whose head and heart he has a better opinion. we expect here to-morrow the duchess of sutherland[ ] and lady elizabeth gower,[ ] who have been kind enough to propose to pay lord melbourne a visit. [footnote : _essai sur la vie du grand condé_, afterwards published in english.] [footnote : formerly mistress of the robes.] [footnote : afterwards duchess of argyll.] introductory note to chapter xii repeated debates took place during the year ( ) on the corn laws, the agitation against them steadily growing, mr cobden coming on one occasion into violent conflict with the premier. the events of the previous year in afghanistan were also the subject of constant discussion in parliament. a movement of some importance took place in wales in opposition to the increasing number of toll-bars, bands of rioters dressed in women's clothes and known as "rebecca and her daughters," demolishing the gates and committing acts of greater or less violence. a verse in genesis (xxiv. ) fancifully applied gave rise to this name and disguise. in scotland the system of private patronage in the established kirk had become very unpopular, the act of anne in favour of the nomination by lay patrons, and the control given to the law courts over the revising action of the presbytery being ultimately modified by a declaration of the general assembly known as the veto act. but it was decided in what was called the strathbogie case that the veto was illusory, the disruption of the old kirk followed, and on th may dr chalmers and five hundred other ministers seceded from it in order to form the free church. in ireland the agitation for repeal was at its height. o'connell, supported by the _nation_ newspaper, founded a repeal association in dublin, and monster meetings were held on sundays on some conspicuous spot of free and historic associations to claim the re-establishment of a parliament on college green. it was believed that a quarter of a million people were present on one occasion, and the government, alarmed at the absolute power wielded by o'connell over these huge bodies of men, resolved to prohibit the meetings, and somewhat tardily issued a proclamation against that announced for clontarf on th october. o'connell accordingly disbanded the meeting, but his action did not please his more zealous supporters, and his ascendency came to an end. the agitation collapsed and the principal actors were arrested. a military duel fought in the summer of this year, in which a colonel in the army was shot by his brother-in-law, made the code of honour existing on the subject a burning question, the criminal law of homicide being the same then as now. on prince albert's suggestion, the question was taken up by the heads of the army and navy, and the articles of war were in the following year amended so as to admit of an apology and a tender of redress. the better feeling existing between this country and france enabled the queen and prince to visit louis philippe at the château d'eu. chapter xii _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ dearest uncle,--... we have been _very_ gay; danced into the new year, and again _last_ night, and were _very_ merry, though but a very small party; young and old danced. good lord melbourne was here from saturday till this morning, looking very well, and i _almost_ fancied happy old times were returned; but alas! the dream is _past_! he enquired much after you. now adieu! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: betrothal of prince de joinville] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th january ._ my dearest uncle,--i am happy to write to you again from this so very dear and comfortable old place, where you will have heard from louise that we arrived with our dear pussy on thursday last. we are _all_ so particularly well, including pussy, that we intend, to my great delight, to prolong our stay till next monday. this place has a peculiar charm for us both, and to me it brings back recollections of the _happiest_ days of my otherwise _dull_ childhood--where i experienced such kindness from you, dearest uncle, which has ever since continued. it is true that my _last_ stay here _before_ i came to the throne, from november ' to february ' , was a peculiarly painful and disagreeable one, but somehow or other, i do _not_ think of those times, but only of all the former _so_ happy ones. victoria plays with my old bricks, etc., and i think you would be pleased to see this and to see her _running_ and jumping in the flower garden, as _old_--though i fear _still little_--_victoria of former days_ used to do. she is very well, and such an amusement to us, that i can't bear to move without her; she is _so_ funny and speaks so well, and in french also, she knows almost everything; she would therefore get on famously with charlotte.... might i ask you some questions about joinville's match,[ ] which interests me much? first of all, _have_ you heard of his arrival at rio? secondly, if the donna francesca pleases, is he empowered _at once to make the demand_, or must he write home first? how nice it would be if the _two_ marriages could take place at _once_; but i suppose, under any circumstances, that could _not_ be.... alexandrine is nearly quite recovered; she writes such pretty, affectionate, kind letters, poor dear child, and is so fond of ernest. i must say i think _he_ seems improved, as he likes to live _quietly_ with her, and speaks of her too with the greatest affection. now, my dearest uncle, let me take my leave, begging you to believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : he was married to the princess francesca of brazil on st may.] [pageheading: historical reading] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for your letter of the th inst. which he received yesterday. every letter that he receives from your majesty brings back to his mind the recollection of times, which, though they were clouded with much care and anxiety, were still to lord melbourne a period of much happiness and satisfaction.... hallam has not written a history of the church, but in all his books there is necessarily much about the church, and much that is worthy of mention. a short history of the church is, lord melbourne fears, not to be found, the subject is so large and so difficult that it cannot be treated shortly. dr short[ ] has written and published a clever, brief, and distinct summary, but it relates principally to the church of england, and in order to be fully understood, requires to be read by one who has already some acquaintance with the subject. the book which your majesty remembers lord melbourne reading is the production of dr waddington,[ ] whom your majesty, under lord melbourne's recommendation, made dean of durham, which dignity he now holds. it is a very good book. adolphus's[ ] history is by no means a bad book, and will give your majesty the facts of the beginning of the reign of george iii. well and accurately enough. the duke of sussex once told lord melbourne that he had asked his father whether adolphus's account of the beginning of his reign was correct, and that the king had replied that substantially it was so, but that there were some mistakes, and that what had been done by one person was often attributed to another. adolphus's history will receive some illustration from horace walpole's letters of that period.... lord melbourne thinks that he is really getting rid of the gout, and gathering strength. he still has some doubt whether he shall be able to go up for the meeting of parliament. lord melbourne begs to renew to your majesty the warm and respectful assurance of his gratitude and attachment. [footnote : bishop, then of sodor and man, afterwards of st asaph. his book, a _sketch of the history of the church of england_, was published in .] [footnote : george waddington ( - ), dean of durham, published in the _history of the church from the earliest ages to the reformation_.] [footnote : john adolphus, barrister, wrote a history of england from to .] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ canford house, _friday, th january ._ my dearest niece,--... as you take so kind an interest in our dear thesy,[ ] i send you a letter which i have received from her mother-in-law, with an excellent account of her and her infant. her happiness is a great blessing, and i thank god that she is so well this time. can you imagine her with _two boys_? it seems so odd, for it is but a short time since she was here with us. how time flies rapidly. i own i was not a little surprised to find that you are probably the godmother; or is the little boy only to be named after you? i remember well what you said to me when i was asked to be the godmother of the first boy, "_that i could not accept it_," as i must not take the responsibilities attached to a sponsor with a roman catholic child. on that ground alone, and having learned your opinion which sanctioned my own, i refused it then at the risk of offending the dear parents. now, after all that was said on the subject, if _you have accepted_ the offer of becoming sponsor to this little _victor_, you, as the head of the english church, give to understand that _i_ was wrong in my notions of the duties which our church imposes upon sponsors, having refused what you accepted. i tell you fairly and openly that it has vexed me, but of course i say this only to _yourself_, dearest victoria, and not to any one else, for it does not become me to find fault with what you please to do. but i could not entirely pass it over in silence, and regret that my former refusal must now become doubly annoying to my relations. i beg your pardon for thus frankly stating my feelings to you on a subject which i shall now despatch from my mind, and i trust you will not take it ill, and excuse me for having mentioned it to you _alone_.... your most attached and devoted aunt, adelaide. [footnote : princess thérèse, daughter of the prince of hohenlohe-schillingsfurst, and wife of prince frederick charles of hohenlohe-waldenburg.] _queen victoria to queen adelaide._ claremont, _ th january ._ i am at a loss to comprehend, my dear aunt, what you mean by saying that you refused being godmother to thesy's first child, as _i_ had sanctioned your doing so. i never remember even _talking_ to _you_ on the subject, but only heard from mamma that _you_ had refused doing so--which i was surprised at. i therefore felt no hesitation in accepting the offer of thesy, particularly as i am already godmother to one of the children of prince esterhazy's daughter. i am grieved, dearest aunt, that this occurrence should annoy you, but i can _assure_ you that i do not remember _ever_ having spoken to you on the subject at all. [pageheading: governor-generalship of canada] _lord stanley to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th january ._ lord stanley, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty that in pursuance of the permission which your majesty was pleased to give him personally, he has this day offered to sir charles metcalfe[ ] the governor-generalship of canada; and lord stanley has much satisfaction in adding that the offer has been readily and thankfully accepted. this appointment, lord stanley is convinced, is, under the circumstances, the best which could have been made, and he believes not only that it will be generally approved, but that sir charles metcalfe's long experience and tried discretion will afford the best prospect of conducting the affairs of canada safely and successfully through the present crisis. as sir charles metcalfe will naturally be anxious previous to his embarkation (which, however, will probably not take place for at least six weeks) to have the honour of being presented to your majesty on his appointment, lord stanley hopes he may be honoured by your majesty's commands as to the time when it may be your majesty's pleasure to admit him to an audience. perhaps sir charles's attendance after the council at which your majesty's speech on the opening of the session has to be settled, may give your majesty as little trouble as any time that could be named. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's most, dutiful servant and subject, stanley. [footnote : metcalfe had had a long indian career, and for a year had been provisional governor-general, when he removed the restrictions on the liberty of the press. he was created a peer in , but never took his seat. he resigned his post at the end of that year, and died soon after.] [pageheading: assassination of mr drummond] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ whitehall, _ th january ( )._ sir,--i have the painful duty of acquainting your royal highness that mr drummond, my private secretary, was shot at this day about quarter past three o'clock, in the neighbourhood of charing cross.[ ] two pistols were discharged, the first close to mr drummond's back, the second after the assassin had been seized by a policeman. the ball entered in the back and has been extracted, after passing round the ribs. i have just left mr drummond's house. no vital part appears to have been injured, and there is no unfavourable symptom whatever. the assassin gives his name _macnaghten_, and appears to be a glasgow man. two five-pound notes were, i understand, found upon his person, and a receipt for £ given to daniel macnaghten, confirming, therefore, the man's account of his name. we have not hitherto been able to discover that this man had any alleged grievance or complaint against the treasury or any public office. he has been loitering about the public offices for the last fortnight, and being questioned, i understand, some days since, by the office keeper of the council office, said he was a policeman. this, of course, for the purpose of evading further enquiry. the policeman who apprehended the man, says that he heard the man exclaim after firing the shots: "he or she (the policeman is uncertain which) shall not disturb my peace of mind any more." these are all the particulars i have heard or learned. i am afraid i have given them to your royal highness in a hurried manner. i have thought it better to convey this information to her majesty, through the kind intervention of your royal highness, than by a direct communication to the queen. i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. [footnote : edward drummond had been private secretary to canning, ripon, and wellington, as well as to peel, and was very popular; he was in his fifty-first year. he had just left his uncle's bank at charing cross, when he was shot.] [pageheading: mistaken for sir robert peel] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ st january ._ sir robert peel begs leave to mention to your majesty a fact _which has not hitherto transpired_--and of which he was not aware until he had an interview this morning with sir james graham. on the inspector tierney going into the cell of macnaghten this morning, he said to macnaghten: "i suppose you are aware who is the person whom you have shot?" he (macnaghten) said: "yes--sir robert peel." from this it would appear that he had mistaken mr drummond for sir robert peel. the magistrate thought it better not to have this evidence at present placed on record. [pageheading: death of mr drummond] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th january ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the very painful duty to report to your majesty the fatal consequences of the attack on mr drummond. he breathed his last this morning about half-past ten o'clock. a very unfavourable change took place last night, and no hopes were entertained after seven o'clock in the evening. this sad event has had such an effect on lady peel, and all the circumstances attending it are so distressing to sir robert peel, that relying upon your majesty's great kindness, he ventures to express a hope that your majesty will have the goodness to permit sir robert and lady peel to remain for the present in london, or should your majesty desire to see sir robert peel before wednesday next, to allow him to wait upon your majesty in the morning of any day which your majesty may be pleased to name. he need scarcely assure your majesty that nothing but such a sad event as that which has occurred would induce him to prefer this request to your majesty. sir robert peel encloses such further information as has reached him respecting macnaghten. he does not hesitate to send to your majesty every word of information of the least importance which he receives.... the evidence of his mental delusion is strong, but it must be borne in mind that he was exactly the instrument which others would employ. sir robert peel has no reason for surmising this to be the case, but the possibility of it ought not and shall not be overlooked. [pageheading: demeanour of macnaghten] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th january ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and makes no apology for frequently writing to your majesty on the painful subject in respect to which your majesty has manifested so deep an interest. sir robert peel humbly thinks that your majesty's observations with respect to the clear distinctions in the cases of insanity are most just. it will be most unfortunate indeed if the law does not attach its severest penalty to a crime so premeditated and so deliberately and savagely perpetrated, as that of macnaghten. the jury are, however, the sole judges on this point, that is to say, it rests with them exclusively, either to find an absolute verdict of guilty of murder, or to acquit on the ground of insanity. macnaghten will be charged with the offence of murder, and every effort will be made to bring him to condign punishment. his counsel will probably endeavour to establish his insanity. nothing can be more collected and intelligent in many respects than his conduct in prison. he was conversing with the gaoler, and seemed not disinclined to unburden his mind, when he suddenly stopped and enquired from the gaoler whether such conversations as that which he was holding went beyond the prison walls. on being informed that no security could be given that they would remain secret, he said he should hold his tongue, but that all would come out by and by. sir robert peel takes the liberty of enclosing for your majesty's perusal a note which he has just received from miss emily eden, sister of lord auckland, and of mrs charles drummond. if it should be in your majesty's power to assign apartments at some future period to miss drummond, who lived with her brother edward, and was mainly dependent upon him, it would be a very great comfort to a lady of the most unexceptionable conduct, and most deeply attached to her poor brother. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th january ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has been much gratified this morning by receiving your majesty's letter of the rd; he has determined upon following your majesty's advice, and upon not hazarding the throwing himself back by coming up to london and attempting to attend the house of lords at the commencement of the session. the assassination of mr drummond, for lord melbourne fears it must be called so, is indeed a dreadful thing. lord melbourne is not surprised, for people are very apt to turn all their wrath and indignation upon the man from whom they actually receive an answer which they do not like, without in the least considering whether he is really responsible for it. lord melbourne used often to be himself assailed with threats of personal violence. sometimes he took notice of them by swearing the peace against those who used them, and having them bound over in sureties. sometimes he disregarded them, but he does not think it either prudent or justifiable entirely to neglect such intimations. lord melbourne does not wonder that this event brings to your majesty's recollection what has taken place in your own case. hallam is, in lord melbourne's opinion, right about ireland. her advocates are very loud in their outcry, but she has not really much to complain of. lord melbourne was very glad to hear of the marriage of prince augustus of coburg with the princess clémentine, as he apprehends that the connection must be very agreeable to your majesty. lord melbourne begs to be respectfully and affectionately remembered to his royal highness. [pageheading: committal of macnaghten] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th january ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to inform your majesty, that the prisoner daniel macnaghten was fully committed for trial this afternoon. he was not defended before the magistrates; but in his manner he was quite cool, intelligent, and collected; he asked no questions, but he expressed a wish to have copies of the depositions. his trial will probably commence on friday or saturday next, and there is reason to believe that, at the request of his relatives in glasgow, counsel will be retained, and that the plea of insanity will be raised in his defence.[ ] every preparation is in progress to meet this vague and dangerous excuse. it will turn out that the pistols were bought at paisley by macnaghten on the th of august last; and information has reached sir james graham, which, he thinks, will prove that macnaghten is a chartist, that he has attended political meetings at glasgow, and that he has taken a violent part in politics. he yesterday saw a presbyterian clergyman, who prayed with him; who pointed out the atrocity of his crime, the innocence of his victim, the pangs of sorrowing relatives, and who exhorted him to contrition and repentance. some impression was made at the moment; but his general demeanour is marked by cold reserve and hardness of heart. [footnote : he was defended by four counsel, including mr cockburn, afterwards lord chief justice.] [pageheading: the royal family and politics] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ nd february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks much for the letter of the th ult., which he received here yesterday morning. he believes it is more prudent not to go to london, but he greatly regrets that his not doing so will deprive him for so long a time of the honour and pleasure of seeing your majesty. the duke of sussex acquainted lord melbourne and took his opinion before he issued his cards for the dinner. lord melbourne does not think that he can have any idea of playing the part to which lord erroll alluded. it is better that a dinner should be given somewhere. he having nothing of the kind would look too much like giving up the whole business and disbanding the party. lord melbourne entirely agrees with your majesty as to the political conduct which ought to be pursued by the members of the royal family, but he remembers no time in which they have been induced to act with so much prudence and propriety. your majesty will see in adolphus the very prominent share which the duke of cumberland,[ ] the general of culloden, took in the party contentions of those days. he was a strong partisan and in a great measure the founder of the whig party. lord melbourne has often heard george iv. converse upon that subject, and he used to contend that it was quite impossible for a prince of wales in this country to avoid taking an active part in politics and political contentions. the fact is, that george iii. did not discourage this in his own family sufficiently, and the king of hanover always said that his father had encouraged him in the active part which he took, and which certainly was sufficiently objectionable. the assassination of drummond is indeed a horrible event. lord melbourne does not see as yet any clear, distinct, and certain evidence of what were the real motives and object of the man. but we shall hear upon his trial what it is that he urges. your majesty will, of course, recollect that the jury acquitted oxford, and there then was nothing to do but to acquiesce in the verdict. if the jury should take a similar view of this man's crime, it will be impossible for the government to do anything to remedy the evil which lord melbourne thinks will be caused by such a decision. lord melbourne knew mr drummond pretty well. he used formerly to be much in hertfordshire, both at hatfield and at gorhambury, and lord melbourne has often met him at both places, and thought him with all the rest of the world, a very quiet, gentlemanly, and agreeable man. lord melbourne very well remembers the murder of mr perceval and bellingham's trial. lord melbourne was then in the house of commons, but was not present at the time the crime was perpetrated. there were differences of opinion as to the manner in which sir james mansfield conducted the trial. many thought that he ought to have given more time, which was asked for on the part of the prisoner, in order to search for evidence at liverpool. but the law which he laid down in his charge is certainly sound, correct, and reasonable. lord melbourne is very glad to think that your majesty has not to go to the house of lords to-day. [footnote : this duke died unmarried in , and his nephew, the fourth son of frederick, prince of wales, was created duke of cumberland in . he in his turn died without issue, in , and in the fifth son of george iii. (afterwards king of hanover) received the same title.] [pageheading: the american treaty] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ rd february ._ ... lord melbourne thinks that the speech was very well and judiciously drawn; the only paragraph which he does not like is that about the american treaty.[ ] it betrays too great an anxiety for peace, and too much fear of war.[ ] [footnote : see _ante_, pp. , (ch. x, 'the united states'). the treaty had been negotiated by lord ashburton.] [footnote : "by the treaty which her majesty has concluded with the united states of america, and by the adjustment of those differences which, from their long continuance, had endangered the preservation of peace, her majesty trusts that the amicable relations of the two countries have been confirmed."] _the queen of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th february ._ my beloved victoria,--i am quite of your opinion about balls. _nothing_ can change what _cannot change_, and i consider all these things, which have always been _a bore_ to me, as a matter _of duty_ and not otherwise. the duties of station are to be fulfilled like the others, and my _first_ and _most pleasant_ duty is to do _all_ that your uncle may command or wish. your uncle was much _shocked_ by your answer about _miss meyer_,[ ] whom he considered of _uncommon beauty_. he is quite in love with her picture, and is very anxious to discover who she is. the other pictures of the _book of beauty_ he abandons to you, and they are certainly worthy of a _book of ugliness_.... yours most devotedly, louise. [footnote : eugénie meyer, step-daughter of colonel gurwood, c.b., married the first viscount esher, master of the rolls. the queen had written that she did not admire that style of beauty.] [pageheading: king leopold and peel] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th february ._ my dearest victoria,--... i am very much gratified by your having shown my hasty scrawl to sir robert peel, and that the sincere expression of a conscientious opinion should have given him pleasure. it was natural at first that you should _not_ have liked to take him as your premier; many circumstances united against him. but i must say for you and your family, as well as for england, it was a great blessing that so firm and honourable a man as peel should have become the head of your administration. the state machine breaks often down in consequence of mistakes made forty and fifty years ago; so it was in france where even louis xiv. had already laid the first foundation for what happened nearly a hundred years afterwards. i believe, besides, sir robert sincerely and warmly attached to you, and as you say with great truth, _quite above_ mere party feeling. poor lady peel must be much affected by what has happened.... your truly devoted uncle, leopold r. _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received here on friday last, the th, your majesty's letter of the th, which gave him great pleasure, and for which he gratefully thanks your majesty. lord melbourne is getting better, and hopes soon to be nearly as well as he was before this last attack, but he still finds his left hand and arm and his left leg very much affected, and he does not recover his appetite, and worse still, he is very sleepless at night, an evil which he is very little used to, and of which he is very impatient.... lord melbourne adheres to all he said about lord ashburton and the treaty, but he thinks more fire than otherwise would have taken place was drawn upon lord ashburton by the confident declaration of stanley that his appointment was generally approved. the contrary is certainly the case. there is much of popular objection to him from his american connection and his supposed strong american interests. lady ashburton, with whom he received a large fortune, is a born american. but he is supposed to possess much funded property in that country, and to have almost as strong an interest in its welfare as in that of great britain. with all this behind, it is a bad thing to say that his appointment was liable to no suspicion or objection. it seems to lord melbourne that what with ellenborough with the gates of ghuznee upon his shoulders,[ ] and ashburton with the american treaty round his neck, the ministry have nearly as heavy a load upon them as they can stand up under, and lord melbourne would not be surprised if they were to lighten themselves of one or the other. [footnote : the somnauth proclamation created a good deal of ridicule.] [pageheading: position of the prince of wales] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ th february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has just recollected that in the letter which he wrote yesterday, he omitted to advert to a part of your majesty's last to which your majesty may expect some answer. he means the part relating to the character and situation of a prince of wales in this country. george iv. was so conscious of having mixed himself most unrestrainedly in politics, and of having taken a very general part in opposition to his father's government and wishes, that he was naturally anxious to exonerate himself from blame, and to blame it upon the necessity of his position rather than upon his own restless and intermeddling disposition. but lord melbourne agrees with your majesty that his excuse was neither valid nor justifiable, and lord melbourne earnestly hopes that your majesty and the prince may be successful in training and instructing the young prince of wales, and to make him understand correctly his real position and its duties, and to enable him to withstand the temptations and seductions with which he will find himself beset, when he approaches the age of twenty-one. it is true that sir john made the observation, which lord melbourne mentioned to your majesty, and which you now remember correctly. he made it to sir james graham, when he went to talk to him about the offence which william iv. had taken at the duchess of kent's marine excursion; and at the receiving of royal salutes. your majesty was not very long in the situation of an acknowledged, admitted, and certain heir apparent, but still long enough to be aware of the use which those around you were inclined to make of that situation and of the petitions and applications which it naturally produced from others, and therefore to have an idea of the difficulties of it. lord melbourne heartily wishes your majesty every success in the interesting and important task in which you are engaged of forming the character and disposition of the young prince. [pageheading: domestic happiness] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ canford house, _ th february ._ my dearest niece,--your delightful letter of tuesday gave me such pleasure and satisfaction that i must thank you with all my heart for it. your happiness, and your gratitude for that happiness, is most gratifying to my feelings, having loved you from your infancy almost as much as if you had been my own child. it is therefore happiness to me to hear from yourself those expressions to which you gave vent. i thank god that you have such an excellent husband, so well calculated to make you happy and to assist you in your arduous duties by his advice, as well as his help in sharing your troubles. i pray that your domestic happiness may last uninterruptedly, and that you may enjoy it through a long, long period of _many, many years_. you cannot say too much of _yourself_ and dear albert when you write to me, for it is a most interesting subject to my heart, i assure you. what a _shame_ to have put on darling little victoria a _powdered wig_! poor dear child must have looked very strange with it! did her brother appear in _einer allonge-perücke_?... i shall hope to follow you to town early next month, and look forward with great pleasure to seeing you so soon again. forgive me my horrible scrawl, and with my best love to dearest albert, believe me, ever, my dearest victoria, your most affectionate and faithfully devoted aunt, adelaide. pray tell your dear mother, with my affectionate love, that i will answer her letter to-morrow. [pageheading: interchange of visits] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ my dearest uncle,--many thanks for your kind letter of the th, which i received on sunday. i am only a little wee bit distressed at your writing _on the th_, and not taking any notice of the _dearest, happiest_ day in my life, to which i owe the present _great_ domestic happiness i now enjoy, and which is much greater than i deserve, though certainly my kensington life for the last six or seven years had been one of great misery and oppression, and i may expect some little retribution, and, indeed, _after_ my accession, there was a great deal of worry. indeed i _am_ grateful for possessing (_really without_ vanity or flattery or _blindness_) the _most perfect_ being as a husband in existence, or who ever did exist; and i doubt whether anybody _ever_ did love or respect another as i do my dear angel! and indeed providence has ever mercifully protected us, through manifold dangers and trials, and i feel confident will continue to do so, and then let outward storms and trials and sorrows be sent us, and we can bear all.... i could not help smiling at the exactitude about monday the th of june; it is a great happiness to us to think with such certainty (_d.v._) of your kind visit, which would suit perfectly. _À propos_ of this, i am anxious to tell you that we are full of hope of paying you in august a little visit, which last year was in so melancholy a way interrupted; but we think that for _many_ reasons it would be better for us to pay you our _first_ visit only at _ostend_, and not at brussels or laeken; you could lodge us _anywhere_, and we need then bring but very few people with us--it might also facilitate the meeting with albert's good old grandmother, who fears to cross the sea, and whose great _wish_ is to behold albert again--and would not be so difficult (_pour la lère fois_) in many ways. i could, nevertheless, see bruges and ghent from thence by help of the railroad, and return the same day to ostend. what you say about peel is very just. good lord melbourne is much better. i hope soon to hear more about joinville and donna francesca. now, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. we are all very well (_unberufen_) and move, _to our horror_, to town on friday. [pageheading: cobden's attack on peel] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th february ( )._ (_saturday morning._) sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the debate was brought to a close this morning about half-past three o'clock. the motion of lord howick[ ] was rejected by a large majority, the number being-- for the motion against it --- majority --- the chief speakers were mr r. cobden and lord john russell in favour of the motion, mr attwood, lord francis egerton, and sir robert peel against it. in the course of the evening there was much excitement and animated discussion, in consequence of the speech of mr cobden, who is the chief patron of the anti-corn law league. mr cobden with great vehemence of manner observed more than once that sir robert peel ought to be held _individually responsible_ for the distress of the country.[ ] coupling these expressions with the language frequently held at the meetings of the anti-corn law league, and by the press in connection with it, sir robert peel in replying to mr cobden charged him with holding language calculated to excite to personal violence. [footnote : to go into committee on the depression of the manufacturing industry. the debate turned mainly on the corn laws.] [footnote : to this attack peel replied with excessive warmth, amid the frantic cheering of his party, who almost refused to hear cobden's explanation in reply. peel, alarmed at the fate of drummond, thought (or affected to think) that cobden was singling him out as a fit object for assassination. for years cobden resented this language of peel most deeply. "peel's atrocious conduct towards me ought not to be lost sight of," he wrote in february . a _rapprochement_ was effected by miss martineau--see her letter to peel (parker, vol. iii. p. )--and a reference to the matter by disraeli in the house of commons led to satisfactory explanations on both sides.] _queen victoria to the earl of lincoln._[ ] buckingham palace, _ th february ._ the queen, immediately on her arrival yesterday, went to look at the new chapel, with which she is much pleased, but was extremely disappointed to find it still in such a backward state. as it is of the utmost importance to the queen to be able to _use_ it _very soon_, she wishes lord lincoln would be so good as to hurry on the work as much as possible; perhaps lord lincoln could increase the number of workmen, as there seemed to her to be very few there yesterday. [footnote : chief commissioner of woods and forests.] [pageheading: fanny burney's diary] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ st february ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received safely your majesty's letter of the th inst. lord melbourne entreats your majesty that you never will think for a moment that you can tire him by questions, or that it can be to him anything but a great pleasure to answer them. he will be only too happy if any information that he possesses or can procure can be of the least use or pleasure to your majesty. lord melbourne conceives that your majesty must be surprised at his complaining of sleeplessness. he is much obliged by the suggestion of the camphor. he mentioned it to the gentleman who attends him, and he said that it was a very good thing, and certainly has a soothing and quieting effect, and that in fact there was some in the draught which lord melbourne now takes at night. but lord melbourne has taken to going down to dinner with those who are in the house, and sitting up afterwards until near twelve o'clock, and since he has done this he has slept better. we expect the duke and duchess of bedford for two nights on wednesday next. lord and lady uxbridge and ella and constance often come over in the morning and eat their luncheon here, which lord melbourne takes very kindly of them. george byng[ ] came the other morning in a waistcoat of peel's velveteen. lord strafford brought the whole piece off the manufacturer, and let george byng have enough for a waistcoat. it is a dull blue stuff, and the device and inscription not very clear nor easy to make out.[ ] adolphus is, as aberdeen says, too rigidly tory, but there are plenty of narratives of the same period, such as belsham[ ] and others, of whom it may be said with equal truth that they are too whig.... lord melbourne read the _edinburgh_ on madame d'arblay, which is certainly macaulay's, but thought it unnecessarily severe upon queen charlotte, and that it did not do her justice, and also that it rather countenanced too much miss burney's dislike to her situation. it appears to lord melbourne that miss burney was well enough contented to live in the palace and receive her salary, but that she was surprised and disgusted as soon as she found that she was expected to give up some part of her time to conform to some rules, and to perform some duty. lord melbourne is sorry to say that he missed the article on children's books,[ ] a subject of much importance, and in which he is much interested. lord melbourne has received the engraving of the princess, and is much pleased by it, and returns many thanks. it is very pretty, very spirited, and as far as lord melbourne's recollection, serves him, very like. lord melbourne remains, ever, your majesty's faithful, devoted, and attached servant. [footnote : brother-in-law of lord uxbridge, and afterwards earl of stratford.] [footnote : the allusion is to a hoax played on the premier, by a presentation made to him of a piece of the then novel fabric, velveteen, stamped with a free-trade design. peel afterwards wrote that he was unaware that the specimen bore "any allusion to any matters which are the subject of public controversy."] [footnote : william belsham ( - ) wrote, in twelve volumes, _a history of great britain to the conclusion of the peace of amiens in _.] [footnote : in the _quarterly review_, by lady eastlake.] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall (_ th march _). (_sunday morning._) sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the prisoner macnaghten was acquitted last night, after a trial which lasted two days, upon the ground of insanity. the fuller account of the evidence which sir robert peel has seen is on the accompanying newspaper. the only other information which has reached sir robert peel is contained in a note (enclosed) from mr maule, the solicitor to the treasury, who conducted the prosecution. the three judges[ ] appear to have concurred in opinion, that the evidence of insanity was so strong as to require a verdict of acquittal--and the chief justice advised the jury to find that verdict without summing up the evidence or delivering any detailed charge upon the facts of the case and the law bearing upon them. it is a lamentable reflection that a man may be at the same time so insane as to be reckless of his own life and the lives of others, and to be pronounced free from moral responsibility, and yet capable of preparing for the commission of murder with the utmost caution and deliberation, and of taking every step which shall enable him to commit it with certainty. [footnote : chief justice tindal, and justices williams and coleridge.] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th march ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the house of commons was occupied last night with the attack upon lord ellenborough for the somnauth proclamation.[ ] the motion was made by mr vernon smith.[ ] the resolution proposed condemned the proclamation as _unwise_, _indecorous_ and _reprehensible_. mr vernon smith was followed by mr emerson tennent,[ ] one of the secretaries to the board of controul. mr macaulay next spoke, and condemned the conduct of lord ellenborough in a speech of great bitterness and great ability. the motion was negatived by a majority of to . the minority included lord ashley, sir robert inglis, and six other gentlemen, who generally support your majesty's servants. the debate was a very animated one, with a strong infusion of party zeal. [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. xi, 'the gates of somnauth')] [footnote : robert vernon smith ( - ), afterwards president of the board of control, created lord lyveden in .] [footnote : james emerson ( - ), afterwards sir james emerson tennent, m.p. for belfast, author of _letters from the Ægean_, etc.] [pageheading: criminal insanity] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ buckingham palace, _ th march ._ the queen returns the paper of the lord chancellor's to sir robert peel with her best thanks. the law may be perfect, but how is it that whenever a case for its application arises, it proves to be of no avail? we have seen the trials of oxford and macnaghten conducted by the ablest lawyers of the day--lord denman, chief justice tindal, and sir wm. follett,[ ]--and _they allow_ and _advise_ the jury to pronounce the verdict of _not guilty_ on account of _insanity_,--whilst _everybody_ is morally _convinced_ that both malefactors were perfectly conscious and aware of what they did! it appears from this, that the force of the law is entirely put into the judge's hands, and that it depends merely upon his charge whether the law is to be applied or not. could not the legislature lay down that rule which the lord chancellor does in his paper, and which chief justice mansfield did in the case of bellingham; and why could not the judges be _bound_ to interpret the law in _this_ and _no other_ sense in their charges to the juries?[ ] [footnote : solicitor-general. his health gave way in middle life, and he died in .] [footnote : in consequence of the manner in which the trial terminated, and the feeling excited in the country, the house of lords put certain questions on the subject of criminal insanity to the judges, whose answers have been since considered as establishing the law.] [pageheading: princess mary of baden] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th march ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. in obedience to your majesty's commands he has endeavoured to consider the letter of the grand duke of baden with reference to the position of the princess mary[ ] in this country. lord aberdeen does not find in the proceedings of the conference of great powers at vienna, at aix la chapelle, or at paris, anything which can materially affect the question. the great difficulty with respect to the princess appears to arise from the fact that in this country the rank and precedence of every person are regulated and fixed by law. should your majesty be disposed to deviate from the strict observance of this, although lord aberdeen cannot doubt that it would receive a very general acquiescence, it is still possible that the princess might be exposed to occasional disappointment and mortification.... there is a consideration, to which lord aberdeen would humbly advert, which may not altogether be unworthy of your majesty's notice. your majesty does not wish to encourage alliances of this description; and although there may be no danger of their frequent occurrence, it cannot be denied that an additional inducement would exist if princesses always retained their own rank in this country. on the whole, lord aberdeen would humbly submit to your majesty that the princess might be received by your majesty, in the first instance, with such distinction as was due to her birth--either by a royal carriage being sent to bring her to your majesty's presence, or in any manner which your majesty might command--with the understanding that she should permanently adopt the title and station of her husband. your majesty's favour and protection, afforded to her in this character will probably realise all the expectations of the grand duke; and, without acknowledging any positive claim or right, your majesty would secure the gratitude of the princess. [footnote : the princess mary of baden had recently married the marquis of douglas, eldest son of the duke of hamilton. _see_ p. . (ch. xi, st november, )] [pageheading: the prince to hold levÉes] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ buckingham palace, _ th march ._ the queen has spoken again to the prince about the levées, who has kindly consented to do what can be of use and convenience to the queen. there is one circumstance which must be considered and settled, and which the queen omitted to mention to sir robert peel when she saw him. the chief, indeed the _only_, object of having these levées, is to save the queen the _extreme fatigue_ of the _presentations_ which would come in such a _mass_ together when the queen _held them herself_; the prince naturally holds the _levées for_ the queen, and _represents her_; could not therefore everybody who was presented to him be made to understand that this would be tantamount to a presentation to the queen herself? there might perhaps be an objection on the part of people presented to kneel and kiss the prince's hand. but this could be obviated by merely having the people named to the prince. the inconvenience would be _so great_ if nobody at all could be presented till late in the season, that something must be devised to get over this difficulty. [pageheading: levÉes] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th march ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to submit to your majesty that should your majesty determine that the prince should hold levées on behalf of your majesty, the best course will be to announce the intention from the lord chamberlain's office in terms to the following purport: "his royal highness prince albert will, by her majesty's command, hold a levée on behalf of her majesty on ---- "it is her majesty's pleasure that presentations to the prince at this levée shall be considered equivalent to presentations to the queen. "addresses to her majesty may be presented to her majesty through the secretary of state, or may be reserved until her majesty can hold a levée in person." sir robert peel humbly submits to your majesty that it would not be advisable to _prohibit_ by notice in the _gazette_ subsequent presentations to your majesty. it will probably answer every purpose to state that they shall be considered _equivalent_, and when your majesty shall hold a levée it may be then notified at the time that second presentations are not necessary. when the prince shall hold the levée, it may be made known at the time, without any formal public notification, that kneeling and the kissing of hands will not be required. sir robert peel hopes that the effect of holding these levées may be materially to relieve your majesty, but it is of course difficult to speak with certainty. he was under the impression that in the reign of queen anne, prince george had occasionally held levées on the part of the queen during the queen's indisposition, but on searching the _gazette_ of the time he cannot find any record of this. _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ claremont, _ th march ._ the queen has received sir robert's letter, and quite approves of his suggestions concerning the levées. the prince is quite ready to do whatever may be thought right, and the queen wishes sir robert to act upon the plan he has laid before her in his letter of yesterday. perhaps it would be right before making anything public to consider the question of drawing-rooms likewise, which are of such importance to the trades-people of london. it would be painful for the queen to think that she should be the cause of disappointment and loss to this class of her subjects, particularly at this moment of commercial stagnation. the queen conceives that it would be the right thing that the same principle laid down for the levées should be followed with regard to drawing-rooms, the prince holding them for her. the queen is anxious to have soon sir robert's opinion upon this subject. the queen on looking at the almanac finds that _only_ the _two_ next weeks are available for these purposes _before_ easter. _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th march ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and hastens to reply to your majesty's note of this date. sir robert peel assures your majesty that he does not think that there is the slightest ground for apprehension on the occasion of the levée, but sir robert peel will, without the slightest allusion to your majesty's communication to him, make personal enquiries into the police arrangements, and see that every precaution possible shall be taken. he begs, however, humbly to assure your majesty that there never has reached him any indication of a hostile feeling towards the prince. it could only proceed from some person of deranged intellect, and he thinks it would be almost impossible for such a person to act upon it on the occasion of a levée. it may tend to remove or diminish your majesty's anxiety to know that sir robert peel has _walked_ home every night from the house of commons, and, notwithstanding frequent menaces and intimations of danger, he has not met with any obstruction. he earnestly hopes that your majesty will dismiss from your mind any apprehension, and sincerely believes that your majesty may do so with entire confidence. but nothing shall be neglected. [pageheading: the comet] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th march ._ my dearest uncle,--i had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of the th, on sunday. how lucky you are to have seen the comet![ ] it is distinctly _to be seen_ here, and _has been seen_ by many people, but we have till now looked out in vain for it. we shall, however, persevere. we left dear claremont with great regret, and since our return have been regaled with regular march winds, which, however, have not kept me from my daily walks. to-day it is finer again. it is most kind and good of dearest albert to hold these levées for me, which will be a great relief for hereafter for me. besides _cela le met dans sa position_; _he_ and _i_ must be _one_, so that i can _only be represented_ by _him_. i think this, therefore, a good thing for that reason also; and god knows, he, dear angel, _deserves_ to be the _highest_ in _everything_. our consecration went off extremely well, and the chapel is delightful, and so convenient. i am sure you will like it. you will be glad to hear that dear old eos (who is still at claremont) is going on most favourably; they attribute this sudden attack to her over-eating (she steals whenever she can get anything), living in too warm rooms, and getting too little exercise since she was in london. certainly her wind was _not_ in the _slightest_ degree affected by her accident, for in the autumn she coursed better than all the other young dogs, and ran and fetched pheasants, etc., from any distance, and ran about the very evening she was taken so ill, as if nothing was the matter. evidently part of her lungs must be _very_ sound still; and they say _no one's_ lungs are _quite sound_. she must be well starved, poor thing, and not allowed to sleep in beds, as she generally does. [footnote : its appearance gave rise to much discussion among astronomers. on the th sir john herschel saw its nucleus from collingwood in kent, and on the following night a dim nebula only; so it was probably receding with great velocity.] [pageheading: melbourne on diet] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ brocket hall, _ nd april ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he received yesterday morning your majesty's letter of the th ult., for which he sincerely thanks your majesty. lord melbourne is delighted to find that your majesty was pleased with the bouquet. the daphnes are neither so numerous nor so fine as they were, but there are still enough left to make another bouquet, which lord melbourne will take care is sent up by his cart to-morrow, and left at buckingham palace. lord melbourne is very much touched and obliged by your majesty's very kind advice, which he will try his utmost to follow, as he himself believes that his health entirely depends upon his keeping up his stomach in good order and free from derangement. he owns that he is very incredulous about the unwholesomeness of dry champagne, and he does not think that the united opinion of the whole college of physicians and of surgeons would persuade him upon these points--he cannot think that a "hohenlohe" glass of dry champagne, _i.e._ half a _schoppen_,[ ] can be prejudicial. lord and lady erroll[ ] and lord auckland and miss eden are coming in the course of the week, and they would be much surprised not to get a glass of champagne with their dinner. lord melbourne is very glad to learn that the prince's levée did well, and feels that his royal highness undertaking this duty must be a great relief and assistance to your majesty. lord melbourne hopes to see the baron here when he comes. the spring still delays and hangs back, but it rains to-day, which lord melbourne hopes will bring it on. [footnote : a _schoppen_ is about a pint; it is the same word etymologically as "scoop."] [footnote : william george, seventeenth earl of erroll, married a sister of the first earl of munster.] [pageheading: the royal children] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ dearest uncle,--many thanks for your very kind letter of the st, which i received on sunday, just as our excellent friend stockmar made his appearance. he made us very happy by his excellent accounts of you _all_, including dearest louise, and the children he says are _so_ grown; leo being nearly as tall as louise! _en revanche_ he will, i hope, tell you how prosperous he found us all; and how surprised and pleased he was with the children; he also is struck with albert junior's likeness to his dearest papa, which everybody is struck with. indeed, dearest uncle, i will venture to say that not only _no royal ménage_ is to be found equal to _ours_, but _no other ménage_ is to be compared to ours, nor is _any one_ to be compared, take him altogether, to _my dearest_ angel!... _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th april ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has this moment received your majesty's note. sir robert peel will immediately make enquiry in the first instance in respect to the correctness of the report of the dinner. the omission of the health of the prince is certainly very strange--it would be very unusual at any public dinner--but seems quite unaccountable at a dinner given in connection with the interests of one of the royal theatres. the toasts are generally prepared not by the chairman of the meeting, but by a committee; but still the omission of the name of the prince ought to have occurred at once to the duke of cambridge, and there cannot be a doubt that he might have rectified, and ought to have rectified, the omission. sir robert peel is sure your majesty will approve of his ascertaining in the first instance the real facts of the case--whether the report be a correct one, and if a correct one, who are the parties by whom the arrangements in respect to the toasts were made. this being done, sir robert peel will then apply himself to the execution of your majesty's wishes, in the manner pointed out by your majesty. he begs humbly to assure your majesty that he enters most fully into your majesty's very natural feelings, and that he shall always have the greatest pleasure in giving effect to your majesty's wishes in matters of this nature, and in proving himself worthy of the confidence your majesty is kindly pleased to repose in him. [pageheading: the toast of the prince] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th april ._ sir robert peel, with his humble duty to your majesty, hastens to make a communication to your majesty, on the subject of your majesty's letter of this morning, which he hopes will remove from your majesty's mind any unfavourable impression with regard to the _toasts_ at the theatrical dinner, or to the conduct of the duke of cambridge in reference to them. sir robert peel, since he addressed your majesty, has made enquiry from colonel wood, the member for brecon, who was present at the meeting. in order to have the real statement of the case, sir robert peel did not mention the object of the enquiry. the following were the questions and the answers:-- _q._ what were the toasts at the theatrical dinner last night? colonel wood. the first was _the queen and the prince_. the duke said he thought he could not give the health of the queen in a manner more satisfactory than by coupling with the name of her majesty that of her illustrious consort. colonel wood said that his impression was that the duke meant to do that which would be most respectful to the prince, and that he had in his mind when he united the name of the prince with that of your majesty, the circumstances of the prince having recently held the levée on behalf of your majesty. it might perhaps have been better had his royal highness adhered to the usual custom, and proposed the health of the prince distinctly and separately, but he humbly submits to your majesty that the _intention_ of his royal highness must have been to show respect to the prince. the reports of public dinners are frequently incorrect, the reporters being sometimes placed at a great distance from the chairman. [pageheading: the king of hanover] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th april ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and will not fail to forward by the first opportunity the letter to lord ellenborough which accompanied your majesty's note. in consequence of his conversation yesterday morning with baron stockmar, sir robert peel begs to mention to your majesty that he saw to-day a private letter from berlin, which mentioned that the king of hanover had apparently abandoned the intention of visiting england this year, but that on the receipt of some letters from england, which he suspected to be written for the purpose of discouraging his visit, the king suddenly changed his intention and wrote a letter to your majesty, stating that he had thoughts of such a visit. it was not stated from whence the letters advising the king to remain on the continent had proceeded. this letter also stated that the king of hanover proposed to waive his rank of sovereign as far as he possibly could on his arrival in england, and to take his seat in the house of lords without taking any part in the proceedings. it added that the king could not, in any event, be in england before the latter end of may or beginning of june, and rather hinted that as his proposed visit was more out of a spirit of contradiction and impatience of obstacles being thrown in the way of it, than from any strong wish on his part to come here, he might probably change his intention and defer his visit, particularly if he should find that there was no particular impediment in the way of it. _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th april ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to acquaint your majesty that the duke of cambridge having called on sir robert peel this morning, he took an opportunity of asking his royal highness whether he thought the king of hanover had made up his mind to visit england this year. the duke's reply was, as nearly as possible, as follows:-- "oh yes, the king will certainly come, but i can tell you privately he means to have nothing to do with the house of lords. he will not make his appearance there. the king has taken his servants for six weeks--that is, engaged their attendance upon him for that time. i know the porter is engaged and the stable servants. the king has written to her majesty. his real object in coming is to arrange his private papers, which were left in confusion, and to consult sir henry halford."[ ] this was all that was material that his royal highness said. [footnote : the eminent physician.] [pageheading: the gates of somnauth] _lord ellenborough to queen victoria._ camp, delhi, _ th february ._ ... the gates of the temple of somnauth, which have been escorted to delhi by five hundred cavalry of the protected sikh states, will be escorted from delhi to muttra, and thence to agra by the same force of cavalry, furnished by the rajahs of bhurtpore and alwar.[ ] while there has been universally evinced a feeling of gratitude to the british government for the consideration shown to the people of hindustan in the restoration of these trophies, there has not occurred a single instance of apparent mortification amongst the mussulmans. all consider the restoration of the gates to be a national, not a religious, triumph. at no place has more satisfaction been expressed than at paniput, a town almost exclusively mussulman, where there exist the remains of the first mosque built by sultan mahmood after he had destroyed the city and temples of the hindoos.... [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. xi, 'the gates of somnauth')] [pageheading: death of the duke of sussex] _extract from the will of his late royal highness the duke of sussex, dated the th august [ ] (sent at the queen's request by sir robert peel to the duke of wellington for his advice.)_ "i desire that on my death my body may be opened, and should the examination present anything useful or interesting to science, i empower my executors to make it public. and i desire to be buried in the public cemetery at kensal green in the parish of harrow, in the county of middlesex, and not at windsor." [footnote : the duke of sussex died on st april of erysipelas. his first marriage in to lady augusta murray, daughter of the fourth earl of dunmore, was declared void under the royal marriage act. lady augusta died in ; her daughter married sir thomas wilde, afterwards lord truro. the duke contracted a second marriage with lady cecilia underwood, daughter of the earl of arran and widow of sir george buggin: she was created duchess of inverness in , with remainder to her heirs-male.] _the duke of wellington to sir robert peel._ strathfieldsaye, _ st april ._ my dear peel,--i have just now received your letter of this day, and i return the enclosure in the box. it appears to me that the whole case must be considered as hanging together; that is, the desire to be buried at kensal green, that of freemasons to pay masonic honours,[ ] that the body of the duchess of inverness should be interred near to his when she dies. parties still alive have an interest in the attainment of the two last objects, which are quite incompatible with the interment of a prince of the blood, a knight of the garter, in st george's chapel at windsor. the queen's royal command might overrule the duke's desire to be buried at kensal green.[ ] nobody would complain of or contend against it. but there will be no end of the complaints of interference by authority on the part of freemasons, and of those who will take part with the duchess of inverness: and it is a curious fact that there are persons in society who are interested in making out that she was really married to the duke.[ ] against this we must observe that it will be urged that the omission to insist that the interment should take place in the collegiate chapel of st george's, windsor, and thus to set aside the will, lowers the royal family in the opinion of the public, and is a concession to radicalism. but it is my opinion that the reasons will justify that which will be done in conformity with the will. i confess that i don't like to decide upon cases in such haste; and i cannot consider it necessary that a decision should be made on the course to be taken in respect to the duke's funeral, on the morrow of the day on which he died. it would be desirable to know the opinion of the lord chancellor, the archbishop, and others. i can't think of anything likely to occur, which might alter me: and i'll abide by that which i have above given. it will be absolutely necessary to take effective measures for the preservation of the peace at this funeral at kensal green: and even that the magistrates should superintend the procession of the freemasons. believe me, ever yours most sincerely, wellington. [footnote : the duke of sussex being grand master of england, and master of the lodge of antiquity.] [footnote : the body lay in state at kensington, and was eventually buried, as the duke had desired, in the kensal green cemetery.] [footnote : see _ante_, p. , note (this ch., above). the marriage took place, by special licence, at lady cecilia's house in great cumberland place.] _queen adelaide to queen victoria._ _ nd april ._ my dearest niece,--i am just come back and feel very anxious to know how you are, and beg at the same time to offer to you my most affectionate condolence on the melancholy event which has taken again another member of our family from us. pray do not trouble _yourself_ with answering this note, but let me hear how you feel, and whether you will like to see me to-morrow or at any time most convenient to you. i feel deeply our new loss, which recalls all the previous sad losses which we have had so forcibly, and i pray that it may not affect you too much, dearest victoria, and that you will not suffer from the shock it must have been to you. i was not in the least aware of the danger and near approach of the fatal end, and only yesterday began to feel alarmed by the accounts which i had received. i have been with the poor duchess of inverness on my way to town, and found her as composed as possible under the sad circumstances, and full of gratitude to you and all the family for all the kindness which she had received. i pity her very much. it must be her comfort to have made the last years of the duke's life happy, and to have been his comfort to the last moment. i wish you good-night, dearest niece, and beg you to give my best love to dear albert, and to believe me most devotedly your most affectionate aunt, adelaide. [pageheading: birth of princess alice] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ my dearest uncle,--your kind and dear letter of the th has given me great pleasure. i am happy to give you still better accounts of myself.[ ] i have been out every day since saturday, and have resumed all my usual habits almost (of course resting often on the sofa, and not having appeared in society yet), and feel so strong and well; much better (independent of the nerves) than i have been either time. we are most thankful for it. the king of hanover has never said _when_ he will come, even _now_, but always threatens that he will.... our little baby, who i really am proud of, for she is so very forward for her age, is to be called _alice_, an old english name, and the other names are to be _maud_ (another old english name and the same as matilda) and _mary_, as she was born on aunt gloucester's birthday. the sponsors are to be: the king of hanover,--ernestus the pious; poor princess sophia matilda,[ ] and feodore, and the christening to be on the nd of june. it will be delightful to see you and dearest louise on the th of june, god willing. are there any news of joinville's proceedings at rio?[ ] ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : princess alice was born on th april.] [footnote : princess sophia matilda of gloucester.] [footnote : he married princess francesca, sister of the emperor of the brazils and of queen donna maria.] [pageheading: christening of princess alice] _the earl of ripon to queen victoria._ india board, _ th june ._ lord ripon, with his humble duty to your majesty, begs to inform your majesty that despatches have been this day received at the india house from the governor-general of india and from the governor of bombay, announcing the successful issue of a battle, on the th of march, between sir charles napier and meer shere mahommed.[ ] the forces of the latter were completely routed, with the loss of all the guns and several standards. ripon. [footnote : sir charles napier, who was in command in scinde, defeated the army of the ameers of upper and lower scinde at meeanee on th february, and on the th took hyderabad. on the th march he attacked the enemy, who were posted in a strong position on the banks of a tributary of the indus, and obtained a decisive victory.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ claremont, _ th june ._ dearest uncle,--i received your kind letter on sunday, and thank you much for it. i am sorry that you could not take the children to ardenne, as nothing is so good for children as _very_ frequent change of air, and think you do not let the children do so often enough. ours do so continually, and are so movable that it gives us no trouble whatever. our christening went off very brilliantly, and i wish you could have witnessed it; nothing could be more _anständig_, and little _alice_ behaved extremely well. the _déjeuner_ was served in the gallery, as at dear pussy's christening, and there being a profusion of flowers on the table, etc., had a beautiful effect. the king of hanover arrived _just in time_ to be _too late_. he is grown very old and excessively thin, and bends a good deal. he is very gracious, for _him_. pussy and _bertie_ (as we call the boy) were not at all afraid of him, _fortunately_; they appeared after the _déjeuner_ on friday, and i wish you could have seen them; they behaved so beautifully before that great number of people, and i must say looked _very dear_, all in white, and _very distingués_; they were much admired. we came here on saturday. the news from ireland continue to be very alarming. hoping to hear soon, for _certain_, when you come, believe me, ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. i hope you will _kindly answer_ my letter of _last tuesday_. [pageheading: irish affairs] _sir thomas fremantle_[ ] _to sir robert peel._[ ] house of commons, _ th june ( )._ my dear sir robert,--the king of hanover took his seat at twenty minutes past four. he is now on the woolsack with the lord chancellor, the duke of wellington, and lord strangford; no other peers are in the house, the time of meeting being five o'clock. it was not necessary that any other peers should introduce his majesty. he merely produced his writ of summons, and went to the table to be sworn. i remain, yours sincerely, thomas fremantle. [footnote : one of the secretaries of the treasury: afterwards lord cottesloe.] [footnote : forwarded to the queen by sir robert peel.] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ whitehall, _ th june ._ (_sunday._) sir,--in consequence of the conversation which i had with your royal highness on thursday last on the subject of ireland, i beg to mention to your royal highness that the cabinet met again to-day at lord aberdeen's house. we had a very long discussion. the prevailing opinion was that if legislation were proposed,[ ] that legislation should be as effectual as possible; that there would be no advantage in seeking for new powers unless these powers were commensurate with the full extent of the mischief to be apprehended. foreseeing, however, all the difficulties of procuring such powers, and the increased excitement which must follow the demand for them, we were unwilling to come to an immediate decision in favour of recommending new legislation, and resolved therefore to watch the course of events for some time longer, continuing precautionary measures against disturbances of the public peace. i have not received any material information from ireland by the post of this day, nor has sir james graham. i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. [footnote : in consequence of the repeal agitation, the ministers had already introduced an irish arms bill, which was carried.] [pageheading: the rebecca riots] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ nd june ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty. he was infinitely obliged to your majesty for coming into the room the other evening when he was with the prince, and very much delighted to have an opportunity of seeing your majesty, especially in such good health and spirits. lord melbourne is very glad that your majesty has seen _as you like it_. it is indeed a most gay, lively, and beautiful play. to see or to read it is quite like passing an hour or two in a forest of fairyland. it is so lively, and at the same time so romantic. all depends upon rosalind, which was an excellent part of mrs. jordan. jaques is also a very particular character and difficult to play. lord melbourne feels himself better, but still weak. he does not like to say much about politics, but he cannot refrain from observing that they seem to him to have permitted these lawless riotings in south wales[ ] to go on with success and impunity a great deal too long. when such things begin nobody can say how far they will go or how much they will spread. there are many who expect and predict a general rising against property, and this is invariably the way in which such things begin. [footnote : the agitation against the turnpike system which had broken out in south wales. _see_ introductory note, p. . (to ch. xii)] _queen victoria to sir james graham._ buckingham palace, _ rd june ._ the queen returns these communications to sir james graham, which are of a very unpleasant nature. the queen trusts that measures of the greatest severity will be taken, as well to suppress the revolutionary spirit as to bring the culprits[ ] to immediate trial and punishment. the queen thinks this of the greatest importance with respect to the effect it may have in ireland, likewise as proving that the government is willing to show great forbearance, and to trust to the good sense of the people; but that if outrages are committed and it is called upon to act, it is not to be trifled with, but will visit wrong-doers with the utmost severity. [footnote : _i.e._, the rebecca rioters.] [pageheading: military medals] _queen victoria to lord stanley._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ the queen follows lord stanley's recommendation to confer the g.c.b. on sir charles napier with great pleasure, from her high opinion of his late achievements, and she thinks it might be advisable that some of the officers who most contributed to the victories of meeanee and hyderabad[ ] should receive lower grades of the bath. the queen is much _impressed with the propriety_ of a medal being given to the troops who fought under sir charles napier, as the armies under nott, pollock, and sale received such distinctions for actions hardly equal to those in scinde. [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. xii, th june, )] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th june ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty the report received from carmarthen this morning. the earl of cawdor went to carmarthen this morning.[ ] every effort will be made to trace this lawless outbreak to its source, and to bring the principal offenders to justice. sir james graham encloses two police reports, which have been received this morning from dublin. they would seem to indicate some foreign interference, and some hope of foreign assistance mingled with this domestic strife. several frenchmen have lately made their appearance in different parts of ireland. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [footnote : lord cawdor was lord-lieutenant of carmarthenshire.] _queen victoria to the duchess of norfolk._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ my dear duchess,--the same right which you feel, and which you had to overcome before you took the final step of tendering your resignation,[ ] has kept me from sooner acknowledging the receipt of your letter. under the circumstances which you allude to, it is incumbent upon me to accept of your resignation, but as you throw out yourself a hint that it would be agreeable to you sometimes to perform the duties (which you have hitherto fulfilled), it would give me the greatest gratification if you would let me continue your name on the list of my ladies of the bedchamber, and sometimes at your convenience have the pleasure of your society. i agree with you that for the present your step should not be known, till i shall have had time to find a successor, and i am pleased to think that you will take your waitings, which are at present settled. with the prince's kind regards to yourself, and mine to the duke, believe me, always, yours very affectionately, victoria r. [footnote : of her position as bedchamber woman.] [pageheading: duelling in the army] _queen victoria to the duke of wellington_. (_july ._) the queen having attentively perused the proposed general order for the more efficient repression of the practice of duelling in the army, approves of the same, but recommends that the duke of wellington should submit to the cabinet the propriety of considering of a general measure applicable to _all branches_ of the naval and military service.[ ] [footnote : an influential anti-duelling association had been formed this year, and subsequently public attention was drawn to the question by a duel on st july, at camden town, in which colonel fawcett was shot by his brother-in-law, lieutenant munro, who had reluctantly gone out, after enduring much provocation. mainly owing to prince albert's efforts, the articles of war were so amended as to put a stop to the practice.] [pageheading: the spanish marriage] _the prince albert to lord aberdeen._ _ th july ._ my dear lord aberdeen,--the queen and myself have been taken much by surprise by lord howard de walden's despatch marked "most confidential." the opinions of the portuguese court must have entirely changed. although we have not heard anything on the subject, we are fully convinced of the correctness of lord howard's statements and of his conjectures. we are both pleased to see the view which he takes, and the good opinion he has of our little cousin. the queen thinks it right that you should inform lord howard that the possibility of a marriage between prince leopold[ ] and the queen of spain has been for some time a favourite thought of hers and mine, and that you thought that this combination had some advantages which hardly any other could offer. but that the matter had been and was treated here as one purely and solely spanish, in which we carefully abstained from interfering with, and that we leave it to work itself out or not by its own merit. that you wished him to take the same view, but not to lose sight of it, and to report to you whatever he might hear bearing upon the subject. believe me, etc., albert. [footnote : son of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, and brother of the king of portugal. see _ante_, p. , and _post_, p. . (ch. xi, footnote ; ch. xii, 'the spanish marriage')] _queen victoria to the duchess of norfolk._ dear duchess,--i write to inform you that i have named your successor,[ ] who is to be lady douro.[ ] the great regret i experience at your leaving me is certainly diminished by the arrangement which we have agreed upon together, and which will still afford me the pleasure of having you occasionally about me. i trust that the duke's health will admit of your taking your waiting in september, but think it right to tell you that we shall probably at that time be making some aquatic excursions in our new yacht, and consequently be from home the greater part of your waiting. with the prince's best regards to yourself, and mine to the duke, believe me, always, yours very affectionately, victoria r. [footnote : as bedchamber woman.] [footnote : elizabeth, daughter of the eighth marquis of tweeddale, afterwards duchess of wellington. she died in .] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ rd august ._ the queen returns the enclosed papers, and gives her sanction to the bringing in of the bill for enrolling and arming the out-pensioners of chelsea hospital with great pleasure, as she thinks it a very good measure at the present crisis, calculated to relieve the troops which are rather overworked, and to secure a valuable force to the service of the government. the queen hopes that in bringing in the bill sir robert peel will make as little of it as possible, in order not to make it appear a larger measure than it is. the regulations strike the queen as very judicious, and she has little doubt that they will raise the military spirit in the pensioners, and will make the measure popular with them, which cannot fail to attach them more to the crown. _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ the queen is desirous that whatever is right should be done, but is strongly of opinion that the king of hanover's threat (for as such it must be regarded) not to leave this country till the affair[ ] is decided upon, should in _no way_ influence the transaction, as it is quite immaterial whether the king stays longer here or not. [footnote : of the crown jewels; _ante_, p. . (ch. xi, 'crown jewels')] [pageheading: the spanish marriage] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ the queen sees with great regret, in sir robert gordon's despatch of th august, that prince metternich has resumed his favourite scheme of a marriage between the queen of spain and a son of don carlos, and that king louis philippe has almost come to a secret understanding with him upon that point.[ ] the queen is as much as ever convinced that instead of tending to pacify spain _this_ combination cannot fail to call _new_ principles of discord into action, to excite the hopes of a lost and vanquished party for revenge and reacquisition of power, and to carry the civil war into the very interior of the family. the queen is anxious (should lord aberdeen coincide in this view of the subject, as she believes he does) that it should be _clearly_ understood by sir robert gordon, and prince metternich. [footnote : since the quadruple alliance (of england, france, spain, and portugal) in to expel don carlos and dom miguel from the peninsula, the question of the marriage of queen isabella (then aged four) had been a subject of incessant consideration by england and france. the queen-mother had suggested to louis philippe the marriages of the queen to the duc d'aumale and of the infanta (her sister) to the duc de montpensier: such a proposal, however gratifying to the french king's ambition, would naturally not have been favourably viewed in england; but guizot promoted warmly the alternative project of a marriage of the queen to her cousin don francisco de asis, duke of cadiz, son of don francisco de paula, the infanta being still to marry montpensier. it was believed that, if this marriage of the queen took place, there would be no issue of it, and louis philippe's ambition would be ultimately gratified. to palmerston's protest against this scheme (before the melbourne ministry fell), guizot replied, "_la reine aura des enfants et ne mourra pas._" the other possible candidates for the queen's hand from the french point of view were count montemolin, the son of don carlos, the count de trapani, son of francis i., king of the two sicilies, and thus brother of queen christina, and the duke of seville, a brother of the duke of cadiz. other candidates also favoured by the queen-mother were (while he was unmarried) prince albert's brother, and his cousin leopold, brother of the king of portugal; but the french king was bent upon a marriage of the queen with some descendant of philip v., and equally determined to prevent the infanta's marriage either with leopold or any other prince not a descendant of philip v. the view of prince albert and of lord aberdeen was that it was a matter for the young queen herself and the spanish people. see _ante_, p. . (ch. xii, th july, )] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th august ._ lord aberdeen, with his most humble duty, begs to assure your majesty that he will not fail to give his best attention to your majesty's communication respecting the marriage of the queen of spain. in a recent despatch to sir robert gordon, lord aberdeen has repeated the opinion entertained by your majesty's government, that the marriage of the queen with the son of don carlos, instead of leading to the conciliation and unison of parties, would be more likely to produce collision and strife, and to increase the existing animosity between the different political factions by which spain is distracted. this marriage, however, has always been a favourite project with austria and the northern courts; and it has also been apparently supported by the french government. it cannot be denied that at first sight there are many considerations by which it may seem to be recommended; but the weight of these can only be duly estimated by the authorities and people of spain. the same may be said respecting the marriage of the queen with any other spanish prince, a descendant of philip v. which, in the opinion of many, would be most agreeable to the feelings and prejudices of the nation. to this project also it appears that the french government have recently assented. lord aberdeen humbly thinks that the interests of this country and of all europe are deeply concerned in the exclusion of a french prince from the possibility of receiving the hand of the queen; and that it would not be a wise policy to oppose any marriage by which this should be effected, consistently with the free choice of the queen, and the sanction of the spanish government and people. the avowed predilections of queen christina, and her increased means of influence recently acquired, render this a matter of considerable anxiety and importance at the present moment. [pageheading: parliamentary obstruction] _queen victoria to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ th august ._ the queen cannot refrain from writing a line to express her indignation at the very unjustifiable manner in which the minority of thirteen members obstructs the progress of business.[ ] she hopes that every attempt will be made to put an end to what is really indecent conduct. indeed, how is business to go on at all if such vexatious opposition prevails? at all events, the queen hopes that sir robert will make _no kind_ of concession to these gentlemen, which [could] encourage them to go on in the same way. the queen forgot to say this morning that she thinks it would be better that the investiture of the thistle should be put off for the present. [footnote : by opposition to the bill removing doubts as to the admission of ministers in scotland.] _queen victoria to sir james graham._ windsor castle, _ nd august ._ the queen returns these papers to sir j. graham, and thinks that this important memorial[ ] should _not_ be decided on without the opinion of the house of lords; the queen trusts that everything will be done to secure inviolate the maintenance of the marriage act. [footnote : the memorial was that of sir augustus d'este ( - ), the son of the union of the duke of sussex and lady augusta murray. on th april they were married at rome by an english clergyman, the ceremony being repeated in the same year at st george's, hanover square. the court of arches annulled the marriage in , but sir augustus now preferred a claim to the peerage. ultimately the lords, after consulting the judges, disallowed it.] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ south street, _ rd august ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for the last note which he had the honour of receiving. lord melbourne is much pleased that your majesty is glad of wilhelmina stanhope's marriage,[ ] and was very glad to hear that your majesty had congratulated her and lady stanhope upon it, which was very kind, and gave much satisfaction. lord dalmeny is an excellent young man, and altogether it is an event much to be rejoiced at, especially as it has been so long delayed, and fears began to be entertained that it would never happen. the duke and duchess of sutherland seem also much pleased with evelyn's[ ] marriage. she is a beautiful girl, and a very nice person in every respect, and everybody must wish her happy. lord melbourne has been at panshanger for two or three days with uxbridge and lady uxbridge, ella, and constance. uxbridge is having continual cricket matches as he used to have, which is a very good thing, making the country gay, and pleasing the people. matrimonial affairs, lord melbourne is afraid, remain _in statu quo_. lord melbourne was very glad to hear from anson yesterday and to learn that he thinks himself getting better. lord liverpool had given lord melbourne a very poor account of him. lord melbourne hopes that your majesty may have a pleasant tour, but he cannot refrain from earnestly recommending your majesty to take care about landing and embarking, and not to do it in dangerous places and on awkward coasts. lord melbourne is going the day after to-morrow with lord and lady beauvale to brocket hall, and from thence on the th to melbourne, to stay about three weeks or a month. lord melbourne congratulates your majesty upon the near approaching termination of the session of parliament, which is always a relief to all parties. some great measures have been passed. lord melbourne wishes your majesty health and happiness, and begs to be respectfully remembered to the prince. [footnote : to lord dalmeny. _en secondes noces_, she married the fourth duke of cleveland.] [footnote : lady evelyn leveson gower, married, on th october, to charles, lord blantyre.] [pageheading: visit to the chÂteau d'eu] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ chÂteau d'eu, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i write to you from this dear place, where we are in the midst of this admirable and truly amiable family, and where we feel quite at home, and as if we were one of them. our reception by the dear king and queen has been most kind, and by the people really gratifying.[ ] everything is very different to england, particularly the population. louise has told you all about our doings, and therefore tell you nothing but that i am highly interested and amused. little chica (mdme. hadjy)[ ] is a charming, sprightly, lively creature, with immense brown eyes. we leave this the day after to-morrow for brighton, where the children are, who are extremely well, i hear. many thanks, dearest uncle, for your kind letter of the th, by which i see that poor prince löwenstein[ ] came to see you; he is mamma's old friend. as i am in a great hurry, and as i hope, god willing, to see you very soon, i must conclude in haste, and leave all my remarks for another day. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pray forgive this confused and horrid scrawl. [footnote : the queen was enthusiastically received at tréport. on the nd there was a great entertainment in the banqueting-room of the château, and on the th a _fête champêtre_ on the mont d'orléans in the forest. on the th there was a review, and on the th the queen returned to england.] [footnote : the princess of joinville. see _ante_, p. . (ch. xii, th january, ). hadjy is the prince of joinville.] [footnote : prince william of löwenstein ( - ).] [pageheading: the french visit] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ melbourne, _ th september ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for your letter of the th ult., which he received here some days ago. we have been quite dismayed and overwhelmed with the melancholy intelligence of death after death which has followed us. i was much concerned for poor charles howard's loss, but we were quite struck down by the melancholy event of poor mrs w. cowper.[ ] she promised to suit us all well, my sister particularly, and to be a great source of happiness and comfort. your majesty is quite right in supposing that lord melbourne would at once attribute your majesty's visit to the château d'eu to its right cause--your majesty's friendship and affection for the french royal family, and not to any political object. the principal motive now is to take care that it does not get mixed either in reality or in appearance with politics, and lord melbourne cannot conceal from your majesty that he should lament it much if the result of the visit should turn out to be a treaty upon any european matter, unfavourable to england and favourable to france. do not let them make any treaty or agreement there. it can be done elsewhere just as well, and without any of the suspicion which is sure to attach to any transaction which takes place there. [footnote : mr and mrs william cowper had only been married on th june.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th september ._ my dearest and most beloved victoria,--i have been highly gratified that you found a moment to write me such a dear letter. i am sure that the personal contact with the family at eu would interest you, and at the same time remove some impressions on the subject of the king, which are really untrue. particularly the attempt of representing him like the most astute of men, calculating constantly everything to deceive people. his vivacity alone would render such a system extremely difficult, and if he appears occasionally to speak too much and to seem to hold a different language to different people, it is a good deal owing to his vivacity and his anxiety to carry conviction to people's mind. the impression of your visit will besides do wonders in removing the silly irritation which had been got up since , and which might have in the end occasioned serious mischief, and that without being _in the least_ called for, the passions of nations become very inconvenient sometimes for their governors.... your devoted uncle, leopold r. my best love to dearest albert; he seems to have had the greatest success, and i am very glad of it, as it had some time ago been the fashion to invent all sorts of nonsense. i left stockmar extremely hypochondriacal, but i trust not so unwell as he fancied. his son accompanies him to coburg. [pageheading: the queen's return] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ on board the _victoria and albert_, in the river,[ ] _ st september ._ my dearly beloved uncle,--i seize the first opportunity of informing you of our excellent passage; we shall be in half-an-hour or three-quarters at woolwich; it is now half-past ten a.m. the day and night were beautiful, and it is again, very fine to-day. we anchored in margate roads at eleven last night, and set off again about five. let me thank you and my beloved louise in both our names again for your _great kindness_ to us, which, believe me, we feel _deeply_. we were _so happy_ with you, and the stay was _so delightful_, but so painfully short! it was such a joy for me to be once again under the roof of one who has ever been a father to me! i was _very_ sad after you left us; it seems so strange that all should be over--but the _delightful_ souvenir will _ever_ remain. to leave my dearest louise too was so painful--and also poor aunt julia,[ ] so immediately after making her acquaintance; pray tell her that, for me. i shall write to louise to-morrow. you must forgive my hand being so trembling, but we are _lighter_ than usual, which causes the tremulous motion to be so much more felt. that god may bless and protect you _all always_ is our fervent prayer. believe me, always, your devoted and grateful niece and child, victoria r. [footnote : on the th the queen and prince albert sailed from brighton on a visit to king leopold. they visited ostend, bruges, ghent, brussels, and antwerp.] [footnote : sister of the duchess of kent, married to the grand duke constantine.] _queen victoria to sir james graham._ windsor castle, _ nd september ._ the queen has received sir james graham's letter of the nd.[ ] she has long seen with deep concern the lamentable state of turbulence in south wales, and has repeatedly urged the necessity of its being put an end to, by _vigorous_ efforts on the part of the government. the queen, therefore, willingly gives her sanction to the issuing of a special commission for the trial of the offenders and to the issuing of a proclamation. monday, the nd, being the earliest day at which, sir james says, the necessary council could be held, will suit the queen very well; she begs, therefore, that sir james will cause the council to meet here on that day at three o'clock. [footnote : the insurrection of the rebeccaites was assuming a more dangerous form, and at hendy gate they committed a cold-blooded act of murder.] [pageheading: matrimonial projects] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i cannot sufficiently thank you for your two _most kind_ and affectionate letters of the nd and rd, which gave me the greatest pleasure. _how often_ we think of our _dear_ and _delightful_ visit it is impossible for me to say; indeed, i fear these _two_ never-to-be-forgotten _voyages_ and _visits_ have made me think windsor and its daily occurrences very dull. but this is very ungrateful for what i have had, which is so much more than i ever dared to hope for. the weather is become colder, and yesterday and the day before were horrid, foggy, raw days; to-day it is finer again.... feodore and ernest came to us yesterday, and i find them both _very_ well; feodore is, i think, grown more serious than she was.... you remember that when we were together we talked of who aumale could marry; he will only marry a catholic, and no spaniard, no neapolitan, no austrian, and also no brazilian, as louise tells me. why should not princess alexandrine of bavaria do? it would be a good connection, and you say (though not as pretty as princess hildegarde) that she is not ill-looking. _qu'en pensez-vous?_ then for _tatane_[ ]--a princess of saxony would be extremely _passlich_. how long does aunt julia stay with you? albert, i suppose, writes to you, and i, dearest uncle, remain ever and ever, your _most truly_ devoted and _warmly attached_ niece, victoria r. we find pussy amazingly advanced in intellect, but alas! also in naughtiness. i hold up charlotte as an example of every virtue, which has its effect; for when she is going to be naughty she says: "dear ma, what does cousin charlotte do?" [footnote : antoine, duc de montpensier.] [pageheading: royal visitors] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ rd october ._ my dearest uncle,--many, many thanks for your kind letter of the th, received on sunday, which was written from the camp of beverloo, which albert recollects with _great pleasure_ and interest, having amused himself so much there. i can give you excellent accounts of ourselves. the boy returned from brighton yesterday, looking really the picture of health, and much _embelli_; pussy is in great force, but not to be compared to charlotte in beauty; and fatima (_alias_ alice) is as enormous and flourishing as ever. dearest louise seems much pleased with aunt julia, which i am glad of, and i rejoice that poor aunt has had the happiness of making my beloved louise's acquaintance, for it will be a happy recollection for her in her solitude. we expect the grand duke michael here this afternoon; he is to stay till friday. the michael woronzows,[ ] with a son and daughter, are also coming, and we shall be a large party, and are going to dine in the waterloo gallery, which makes a very handsome dining-room, and sit after dinner in that beautiful grand reception room. _how_ i envy your going to that dear french family! i hope that you will like my favourite chica. i trust, however, that you will _not_ stay too long away for your good people's sake. not being quite sure of your going, i shall direct this to brussels still. we went this morning to kew, visited the old palace--which is not at all a bad house--the botanical gardens, and then my aunt's.[ ] the revolution at athens[ ] looks like _le commencement de la fin_; it was _very_ unanimous. now, dearest uncle, adieu! ever, your most affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : prince michael woronzow ( - ) was a plenipotentiary at the congress of aix-la-chapelle ( ), and was in command at the siege of varna in .] [footnote : the duchess of cambridge.] [footnote : a bloodless revolution had taken place on the th of september, partly in consequence of king otho exercising his patronage in favour of bavarians rather than greeks. he now acceded to the popular demands.] [pageheading: the duc de bordeaux] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ the queen has received lord aberdeen's two letters. she has been reflecting upon his proposition that mr lytton bulwer[ ] should be appointed minister at madrid, and quite approves it. the queen trusts that he will try and keep on the best terms with the french minister there, and that without in any way weakening our interests, the representatives of these two powerful countries will act _together_. the queen feels _certain_ that if it is known by _our_ respective ministers that _both_ governments _wish_ to act _together_, and not _against_ one another, that much irritation will be avoided; and that our agents, particularly in distant countries, will understand that they are _not_ fulfilling the wishes of their sovereign by representing every little incident in the most unfavourable light.... the queen hopes that lord aberdeen will take some early opportunity of employing mr aston. who will replace mr bulwer at paris? his successor ought to be an efficient man, as lord cowley[ ] is rather infirm. the queen regrets to say that the duc de bordeaux[ ] is coming here; he really must not be received by the queen, as she fears his reception at berlin has done _no_ good; and altogether, from what she sees in the papers, she fears there is no good purpose in his coming here. [footnote : afterwards lord dalling.] [footnote : lord cowley, brother of the duke of wellington, and one of four brothers all either raised in or promoted to the peerage, was now seventy years of age. in after-years his son was also ambassador at paris.] [footnote : afterwards known as comte de chambord, and claiming the french throne as henri v.: he was grandson of charles x., and at this time about twenty-three years of age.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--it is not my day, but my object in writing is to speak to you about the _dear_ nemours' visit, which we are so anxious to see accomplished. louise writes to me about the duke of bordeaux coming to england making some difficulty, and i wish therefore to state what we know of the affair. we _understand_ (for of course we have had no direct communication) that the duc de bordeaux has embarked at hamburg for _hull_, and intends travelling in scotland _before_ he visits england, and _that_ incognito and under the name of comte _tel et tel_; his being in scotland when nemours is in england, and particularly _on a visit to us here_, _could_ make _no_ difficulty, and even if he were travelling about _incognito_ in england, it could not signify, i think. moreover, i feel certain that if he knew that _i_ had invited the nemours and that they were coming over shortly, he would go away, as the legitimists would not be pleased at nemours being _fêted_ by me--_while their henry v._ was _not_ even noticed or received. i could easily, and indeed have almost done so, make it known generally that _i_ expect the nemours, and i would say _immediately_, and he would be sure to get out of the way. i cannot tell you _how very_ anxious we are to see the nemours; i have been thinking of nothing else, and to lose this great pleasure would be too mortifying. moreover, as i really and truly do not think it need be, it would be _best_ if the nemours could come _before_ the th of november; which is the _latest_ term when they could come? now pray, dearest uncle, do settle this for me; you have no notion _how_ we wish it. i will be sure to let you know what i hear, and if there is anything you could suggest about this, i need not say but that we shall attend to it with pleasure. the grand duke michael will be gone by the end of this month. _ainsi je mets cette chère visite dans vos mains._ ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pray, dearest uncle, let me have an answer by the next post about this, as i am all in a _fidget_ about it. [pageheading: arrest of o'connell] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--your kind letter of the th i received yesterday, and return you my warmest thanks for it.... by your letter, and by one i received from victoire yesterday morning, i see every reason to hope that we shall see the dear nemours, for there will be no difficulty to prevent that poor stupid duc de bordeaux from being _in london_ at the time. he is to be informed indirectly that the nemours are coming at the beginning of next month on a visit to us, in consequence of a pressing invitation of ours; this alone will keep him off, as the contrast would be disagreeable to the legitimists. independent of this, his disembarkation at hull, and proceeding at once to scotland, seems to indicate his wish to be in private. the great event of the day is o'connell's arrest;[ ] they have found bail, but the trial will shortly commence. the case against him is _very_ strong, the lawyers say. everything is perfectly quiet at dublin. you will have seen how o'connell has abused the king; it is all because our visit to eu has put an end to _any_ hopes of assistance from france, which he pretended there would be, and he now declares for the duc de bordeaux!... you must encourage the dear king and queen to send over some of the dear family often to us; _ils seront reçus a bras ouverts_.... we intend to take advantage of feodore and ernest's going to the queen dowager's to pay a visit to cambridge, where we have never been; we mean to set off to-morrow week, to sleep at trinity lodge that night, and the two following nights at lord hardwicke's,[ ] which is close to cambridge. these journeys are very popular, and please and interest albert very much.... believe me, always, my dearest uncle, your very affectionate niece, victoria r. [footnote : after the official prohibition on th october of the intended clontarf meeting, o'connell and others were arrested in dublin for conspiracy. after giving bail, o'connell issued an address to the irish people. the trial was postponed till the following year.] [footnote : wimpole, near royston, nine miles from cambridge.] [pageheading: the duc de bordeaux] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ drayton manor, _ th october ._ sir,--the enclosed letter[ ] from sir james graham to me (which as your royal highness will perceive is _entirely of a private character_) contains details of a conversation with baron neumann which will, i think, be interesting to her majesty and to your royal highness; and knowing your royal highness will consider the communication a confidential one, i prefer sending the letter _in extenso_ to the making of any extracts from it. i am afraid there is more in the duc de bordeaux's visit than the mere gratification of a desire on his part to see again places with which he was familiar in his youth. if, however, he should be so ill-advised as to make any political demonstration, or to ally himself with any particular party in this country, he would, in my opinion, derive little from it, and there would be the opportunity of giving to the king of the french a new proof of our fidelity to our engagements, and of the steadiness of our friendship towards him and his dynasty. the great body of the french people would comprehend the object of any such demonstrations on the part of the duc de bordeaux, and would, it is to be hoped, see in them an additional motive for union in support of the king, and confidence in the honour and integrity of this country. i will not fail to inform the grand duke of her majesty's intended visit to cambridge, and to suggest to him that it will not be convenient to the queen to receive him at windsor before saturday at the earliest, and probably monday. on the day after i spoke to your royal highness i gave instructions for enquiries to be made respecting the two properties in the isle of wight.[ ] it is necessary to make such enquiries through some very confidential channel, as a suspicion of the object of them would probably greatly enhance the price. the party on whom i could entirely rely was out of town, but will return to-morrow, and will immediately find out what he can respecting the properties. the result shall be made known to the queen and your royal highness without delay. will your royal highness have the goodness to mention this to her majesty?... i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. [footnote : referring to the visit of the duc de bordeaux.] [footnote : the queen and the prince were at this time making enquiries about a suitable residence in the isle of wight. the purchase of osborne resulted.] [pageheading: the queen's decision] _the prince albert to sir robert peel._ windsor castle, _ st october ._ my dear sir robert,--i return you sir james graham's letter. there is a pretty general impression of the duc de bordeaux's visit being a got-up thing for various political intrigues. i confess i do not understand the link with ireland, or at least the importance of his being well received by the roman catholics, but am strongly impressed that his presence whether in scotland, england, or ireland is for no good, and therefore think it our duty that we should render it difficult for him to protract it. the queen and myself think that the uncertainty of his being received at court or not is doing harm, and would _much_ wish, therefore, that it was _decidedly_ stated _that the queen will not receive him_. his coming here without ever asking (indeed knowing that it was disliked), as well as the part which austria and prussia seem to have taken in the matter, do not strengthen his claim for such a favour. no good can come from the reception, and the king of the french must prefer its not taking place. let us, therefore, settle that point, and show that we are neither afraid of him nor prepared to be made dupes of. the queen is desirous that no official person should treat the duke with a distinction which is likely to attract unnecessary attention. believe me, always yours truly, albert. [pageheading: the duc de nemours] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--i had the happiness of receiving your most kind letter of the th yesterday, for which i thank you very much. the good news of the dear nemours coming is a great happiness to us, and i fervently hope and trust that the duc de bordeaux will be kept off, which i _fully_ expect he will. suppose, however, he could _not_ be, and the nemours could not come _then_, would the king not kindly allow them to come later? even if the chambers were to be sitting--such a little _ausflug_ of ten days only could really not be a great inconvenience? surely if you were to mention this to the dear king, with my affectionate respects, he would grant it. it is besides only in _case_ bordeaux should come to london, which i _really_ think he will _not_, if he once knows that the nemours are coming. and i must add that i think nemours not coming at _all_ this year, after it had been announced, would have a bad effect, particularly as people here think that some great powers have instigated bordeaux's coming here,--and even think that the roman catholics and repealers in ireland mean to make use of him. consequently nemours _not_ coming _at all_, should he be prevented from coming at the beginning of november, would not be a good thing _politically_, independent of the _extreme disappointment_ it would cause us.... the accounts both you and louise gave me of good hadjy and chica give me great pleasure, as i take a lively interest in both, and am very fond of them. we found amongst some very curious old miniatures several of catherine of braganza when young (charles ii.'s wife), which are so like chica;[ ] it is curious how sometimes you can trace likenesses many generations back.... pray offer our respects to _all_. how long do you stay? ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the princess de joinville was a sister of queen maria ii. of portugal, and queen catherine of braganza was daughter of king john iv.] [pageheading: the duc de bordeaux] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ drumlanrig, _ th october ._ lord aberdeen, with his humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty another letter received last night from lord morton,[ ] which gives an account of the visit of the duc de bordeaux, and of his further communication with the duc de lévis on the projects and views of his royal highness. lord aberdeen has ventured to submit this letter to your majesty, although not intended for your majesty's perusal, as it gives a pleasing and satisfactory description of the conduct and sentiments of this unfortunate prince. in order to explain to your majesty how lord morton, who lives in a very retired manner, should have received a visit from the duc de bordeaux, lord aberdeen begs to mention that when the family of charles x. resided at edinburgh, after the revolution of july , they received information more than once, from the present royal family of france, that certain desperate characters had left paris for edinburgh, with the intention of assassinating the duc de bordeaux, in order to prevent all possibility of a restoration. in consequence of this information, it was thought to be dangerous for the prince to walk or to expose himself in the neighbourhood of holyrood house. he was frequently driven in a carriage to lord morton's,[ ] where he remained for a few hours, taking exercise in the park, and playing with lord morton's children. it is the recollection of this which has led the prince to make his acknowledgments on the present occasion. lord aberdeen also begs humbly to mention to your majesty that on his arrival here he found the duke and duchess of buccleuch in expectation of a visit from the duc de bordeaux, on his way from glasgow to carlisle. lord aberdeen informed the duke and duchess of the objections which might exist to this visit; but he believes that communications on the subject had already gone too far to render it possible to break it off with any degree of propriety. the great attentions paid by the duke and his predecessors to the french royal family, both during the former and last emigration, sufficient account for this desire on the part of the prince. [footnote : george sholto, nineteenth earl of morton ( - ).] [footnote : dalmahoy, midlothian.] [pageheading: visit to cambridge] [pageheading: betrothal of the duc d'aumale] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st october ._ my dearest uncle,--i had the pleasure of receiving your dear and kind letter of the th yesterday, by which i learn that you are all well and going on the th. forgive me, dearest uncle, if i say that i am glad that you are _at length_ going back to belgium, as (though i fully understand from _personal_ experience how delightful it must be to be in the midst of that dear and perfect family) i think these long absences distress your faithful belgians a little. we returned on saturday, highly pleased and interested with our tour,[ ] though a little _done up_. i seldom remember more enthusiasm than was shown at cambridge, and in particular by the undergraduates. they received my dear angel, too, with the greatest enthusiasm. this is useful, as these young people _will all, in time_, have a certain part to play; they are the rising generation, and an event of this kind makes a lasting impression on their minds. you will have heard from louise that there is no longer any impediment to the dear nemours coming, which you may easily conceive gives me the greatest satisfaction. since then, i have heard that bordeaux does not intend visiting london till he sees by the papers that the nemours are gone. i saw a letter from a gentleman, with whom he had been staying, and who says that he is very pleasing and unaffected, and very easily amused, and quite pleased "with missing a few pheasants, and dancing quadrilles in the evening to a pianoforte." poor fellow! his fate certainly is a melancholy one. he should renounce, buy some property in germany, and marry, and settle there. i am glad to hear of montpensier's arrival, and that my favourite chica is in your good graces; she is a dear natural child. i am so impatient to see my dear victoire and good nemours--who was always a great ally of mine--again! the grand duke came here last night, and goes away after luncheon, and leaves england on thursday. he is charmed with all he has seen, and i must say is very amiable and civil. he has got a most charming large dog, called dragon, like a newfoundland, only brown and white, with the most expressive eyes imaginable and _si bien dressé_. prince alexander of the netherlands is also coming down to take leave this week. we never had so many visitors. i am beyond everything interested with that beautiful novel by rellstab,[ ] _ _, which i know you admire so much. the description of the russian campaign is incomparable, and so beautifully written. you quite _see_ everything before you. have you read his other, _paris und algier_? by the by, have you read custine's[ ] book on russia? they say it is very severe on russia, and full of hatred to the english. we found the children very well, and bertie quite recovered, but poor fat alice (who, i _must_ say, is becoming _very_ pretty) has had the earache. mamma with feo and ernest are with the queen dowager at witley court since thursday last, and only return next thursday (the day after to-morrow). clem seems very happy, and writes that she is happiest when she is _tête-à-tête_ with poor gusti, which _i_ should _not_ fancy. ever, dearest uncle, your devoted niece, victoria r. i open my letter, dearest uncle, to say that i have _just_ seen in a confidential despatch from lord cowley that aumale is authorised to ask for the hand of the daughter of the prince de salerno[ ] (a singular coincidence after what i wrote to you in _utter ignorance_ of this report), and that he was also to find out what the opinions of the neapolitan royal family were respecting an alliance with the queen of spain. but tell me, dearest uncle, if these reports are true? you may _rely_ on my discretion, and i shall not breathe a word of what you may answer me, if you wish the secret to be kept. [footnote : the royal party went by road from paddington to cambridge, and stayed at the lodge at trinity; on the following day prince albert was made ll.d. the party then went to wimpole, and visited bourn (lord delawarr's). at the ball which was given at wimpole, there was a sofa, covered with a piece of drapery given by louis xiv. to the poet prior and by him to lord oxford, the owner of wimpole, before its purchase by lord chancellor hardwicke. _see_ lord melbourne's letter of th november, _post_, p. . (ch. xii, th november, )] [footnote : louis rellstab ( - ), a prolific german writer of novels, whose thinly-veiled attacks on public men earned him at one time a sentence of imprisonment.] [footnote : the marquis astolphe de custine ( - ), author of _la russie en _, at this time recently published.] [footnote : the due d'aumale married in november , caroline, daughter of the prince and princess of salerno.] [pageheading: indian affairs] _sir robert peel to queen victoria._ drayton manor, _ st october ._ sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs leave to return to your majesty the accompanying communication from lord ellenborough, and a letter which your majesty proposes to send to lord ellenborough. in compliance with your majesty's desire that sir robert peel should inform your majesty whether he sees anything objectionable in that letter, sir robert peel humbly represents to your majesty that he does not think it would be advisable for your majesty personally to express to the governor-general of india your majesty's opinion with regard either to the policy of retaining scinde,[ ] as being of the greatest importance to the security of the indian empire, or as to the completeness of the defence of sir charles napier from the accusations brought against him. he humbly and most respectfully takes the liberty of submitting to your majesty, that these being matters of important public concern, the regular and constitutional channel for conveying the opinion of your majesty with respect to them would be through your majesty's servants. in the particular case, indeed, of india, instructions do not proceed from your majesty's servants, directly signifying your majesty's pleasure, but are conveyed in despatches to the governor-general, signed by the three members of the secret committee of the court of directors. the secret court of directors--that is, the whole court acting in secret--have come to a resolution (in sir robert peel's opinion very unwisely and precipitately) expressing the gravest doubt, on their part, as to the policy and justice of the recent transactions in scinde.[ ] the court is aware that your majesty's servants disapprove of this proceeding on their part, and that they have declined to transmit officially to lord ellenborough, through the secret committee, the condemnatory resolution of the court. one of the grounds on which they deprecated the resolution was the passing of it in the absence of full and complete information from india, in respect to the policy and to the events which led to the occupation of scinde. under these circumstances, as well on the general constitutional ground, as with reference to the present state of the public correspondence in regard to scinde, and the particular relation of the governor-general to the east india company, and the court of directors, sir robert peel humbly advises your majesty to forbear from expressing an opinion, in a private communication to the governor-general, with regard to events in scinde or to the policy hereafter to be pursued in respect to that country. sir robert peel begs to add that in a private letter by the last mail to lord ripon, lord ellenborough observes that he is going on very harmoniously with the members of council at calcutta. [footnote : earlier in the year lord ellenborough had appointed sir charles napier governor of scinde, and had by proclamation applied the slave trade and slavery abolition acts to scinde.] [footnote : see parker's _sir robert peel_, vol. iii. chap. .] _viscount melbourne to queen victoria._ melbourne, _ th november ._ lord melbourne presents his humble duty to your majesty, and thanks your majesty much for the letter of the th inst., which he has received this morning with great satisfaction. lord melbourne hears with great pleasure of the gratification which your majesty and the prince received in your visit to cambridge. lord melbourne collects from all the accounts that the proceedings in the senate house were not only full of loyalty, enthusiasm, and gratitude, but also perfectly decorous, respectful, academic, and free from all those political cries which have recently prevailed so much in the theatre at oxford on similar occasions.[ ] lord melbourne hopes he is within [the mark]; if he is it forms a remarkable and advantageous contrast. lord melbourne does not know anywhere a better account of cambridge, its foundations, and the historical recollections of its founders, than is given in mr. gray's ode on the installation of the duke of grafton, which it would not be amiss to read with the large explanatory notes that are given in the editions of mason and mathias.[ ] lord melbourne is very partial to lord hardwicke, who always is and has been very civil and good-natured to lord melbourne, and these are qualities to which lord melbourne is not at all indifferent. wimpole is a curious place. lord melbourne is not exactly aware how the yorkes got hold of it.[ ] there is much history and more poetry connected with it. prior[ ] mentions it repeatedly, and always calls the first lady harley, the daughter of the duke of newcastle, belphebe.[ ] if hardwicke should have a daughter, he should christen her belphebe. the lady belphebe yorke would not sound ill.... [footnote : see _ante_, p. . (ch. x, th june, )] [footnote : gray, the poet, who had been appointed by the duke professor of modern history, composed an ode (set to music by randall) for the latter's installation as chancellor, on st july .] [footnote : the cultured but indolent edward, lord harley, afterwards earl of oxford (son of the great minister), sold wimpole to lord chancellor hardwicke in to pay off a debt of £ , . he had married lady henrietta cavendish holles, daughter and heiress of john, duke of newcastle, who brought him £ , , most of which he dissipated. their only child, margaret, the "noble lovely little peggy" of prior, married william bentinck, second duke of portland. lady oxford sold to the nation the "harleian collection" of manuscripts, now in the british museum.] [footnote : who died there in .] [footnote : alluding to the rarely printed poem "colin's mistakes," where "bright ca'ndish holles harley" is seen in the glades of wimpole by the dreamy youth, and mistaken for gloriana, belphebe, etc.] [pageheading: proposed visit to peel] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ whitehall, _ th november ._ sir,--i was greatly gratified by learning on my return to london last night from witley court that it is not improbable that her majesty and your royal highness may confer the high honour of a visit to drayton manor towards the conclusion of the present month. i venture to think, from what i saw of witley court, that the arrangement proposed by your royal highness will be more convenient to her majesty than the staying at witley court. i can assure your royal highness that nothing shall be left undone by lady peel and me to contribute to the comfort of her majesty and your royal highness during your occupation of drayton manor, and to mark our sense of the kind condescension of her majesty and your royal highness in making it your abode. i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. [pageheading: travelling arrangements] _sir robert peel to the prince albert._ whitehall, _sunday, th november ._ sir,--i send to your royal highness a little book which is published every month, giving very useful information as to distances, or at least times, on all the railways. possibly your royal highness has this book regularly sent to you. i think, before her majesty promises a visit to witley court, there are one or two points worthy of consideration which are in favour of proposing to the queen dowager to meet the queen at drayton manor first. the queen would have to go and to return in the same day. the queen dowager might remain either one night or two nights at drayton. secondly, the birmingham and derby line is not on the same level with the line which goes to droitwich (eleven miles from witley court), and there is a little delay in posting a carriage, or in passing from the lower line of railway to the upper. thirdly, there is the passage for her majesty, though not through birmingham as in an ordinary travelling carriage, yet in the immediate outskirts of the town, and this twice in the same day. the corporation (which is a completely radical one) might solicit permission to present an address to her majesty at the station. there would, i am sure, be nothing but demonstrations of the greatest loyalty and attachment to her majesty, but there would probably be a great concourse of people, and some delay, if the address were received. perhaps your royal highness will think of these suggestions, which i am induced to offer by the desire to foresee everything which may have a bearing upon the personal comfort of the queen. i have the honour to be, sir, with sincere respect, your royal highness's most faithful and humble servant, robert peel. [pageheading: the duchesse de nemours] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dearest, kindest uncle,--a long and most _interesting_ letter reached me on sunday, dated th and th, and i beg to return my warmest thanks for it. the confidence you show me i feel deeply and gratefully, and you may rely on my discretion. before i touch upon any of the subjects in your letter i will give you news of our visitors. the dear nemours arrived safely after a good passage on saturday, well but very tired. they are now quite recovered, and we are too happy to have them here. nemours looks well, and is very kind and amiable, but i think there is a seriousness since poor chartres' death which used not to be formerly, though he always was _reserved_, and that, i think, he is _not_ now. dearest victoire is _amazingly_ improved and _développée_--really quite wonderfully so. we are all so struck by it, by her good sense and by her conversation; and with that she has kept that innocence and gentleness which she always had--and is _so lovely_, dear sweet child. i must always look at her, and she, dear child, seems so pleased to see me again. i find her _grown_, but grown very thin, and she has not those bright colours she used to have. all that you say of bordeaux is just what nemours says, and what guizot writes, and what _i_ and also sir robert peel _always_ felt and thought. aberdeen, with the greatest wish to do _all_ that is kind and right, _really thought_ that b. was only come to amuse himself, and had no idea till _now_ that the feeling in france in _all_ the different parties was so strong. you will have heard by this time that we have decided _not_ to receive b. in _any way_ whatever. it is a pleasure to hear how mildly and sensibly nemours speaks upon all these subjects, and indeed every subject.... i think you did _uncommonly right_ in what you answered the poor king about the _arrêté_ in favour of the _prussians_, and i am very glad you _have_ done so. it will have a good effect here. louise will tell you how we celebrated good bertie's birthday. the children are in great favour with the nemours. pray, dearest uncle, do not forget to send me the list of rellstab's works. we think of making another little tour after the dear nemours' departure, to drayton (sir robert peel's), chatsworth, and belvoir. we are very sorry to lose dear feo and ernest. they are so good and excellent, and she is so _brav_. ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: birmingham] [_memorandum enclosed from sir robert peel to prince albert, about the political condition of birmingham, which the prince was intending to visit._] the mayor is a hosier--of _extreme_ political opinions--_in fact, a chartist_. the contest for the office of mayor was between him and a man of radical opinions, but chartism prevailed. the mayor has taken a violent part, before his mayoralty, against church rates, and in reference to the state of ireland. the conservative party took no part whatever in the municipal elections, and would not vote. they would, if invited or permitted by the mayor and town council, cordially co-operate with men of opposite opinions in any mark of respect to the prince. no probability of any tumult or of any demonstration but one of respect personally towards the prince, if his visit be clearly and manifestly unconnected with politics. an immense concourse of people must be expected, not only from birmingham, but wolverhampton, walsall, and all the neighbouring towns, and previous police arrangements must be very carefully made. there may be a proposal of a collation and of an address, to be received in the town hall. should not the lord lieutenant (lord warwick) have notice? is the mayor to accompany the prince in the same carriage?[ ] the mayor has no carriage. no communication should be made to any party in birmingham, except to the municipal authorities, notwithstanding their political bias and _extreme_ opinions. the late mayor, mr james, though a radical, would have summoned the leading men of different parties. doubts as to whether the present mayor would, or whether he would not, place the whole arrangement in the hands of the party with which he is connected. this risk must be incurred, as communications to other parties would not be advisable. [footnote : this was the course adopted.] [pageheading: the duc de bordeaux] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ st december ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has not yet received any communication from the duc de lévis, notwithstanding he had been led to expect it, from a notice repeatedly conveyed to him to that effect. it seems probable that in consequence of what the duc de lévis may have heard, as well as from the course pursued by the friends of the duc de bordeaux, lord aberdeen may not now see him at all. should this be the case, lord aberdeen is rather inclined to regret it; as although he would formerly have seen him with some reluctance, he would now be glad to have an opportunity of expressing his sentiments very plainly respecting the proceedings of the prince and his adherents in this country. lord aberdeen understands from sir robert peel that your majesty would like to be informed of any particulars connected with the levée lately held by the duc de bordeaux. lord aberdeen would willingly communicate these particulars, but in reality there is very little to be added to the official accounts contained in the _morning post_, which it is obvious are inserted by authority. he saw m. de ste aulaire this morning, who was a good deal excited by what has taken place, and has written very fully to paris; but he knew nothing more than he had seen in the newspapers. it may perhaps be worth mentioning to your majesty that at the presentation of the address by m. chateaubriand[ ] on friday, the cries of "vive le roi!" and "vive henri v.!" were so loud as to be distinctly audible in the square. lord aberdeen understands that this enthusiasm has been the cause of serious differences amongst many of those who had come to pay their respects to the duc de bordeaux, a large portion of whom are by no means disposed to recognise him as king during the life of the duc d'angoulême.[ ] lord aberdeen cannot learn that any other member of the diplomatic body has been presented to the duc de bordeaux, and does not believe that any such presentation has taken place. indeed, there appears to be a general disinclination that such should be the case; although some of them feel considerable difficulty in consequence of the relationship existing between their sovereigns and the prince. [footnote : françois, vicomte de chateaubriand ( - ), a great supporter of the bourbons, and made a peer in . he was ambassador in london in .] [footnote : eldest son of charles x.] _queen victoria to lord stanley._ chatsworth, _ rd december ._ the queen approves of lord stanley's proposed draft to sir charles metcalfe.[ ] this question can in no way be settled without giving offence to one part of the country; the queen, however, hopes that the fixing upon montreal as the seat of government will hereafter be considered as fair by impartial minds. sir charles continues to show great discretion and firmness in his most arduous and unsatisfactory situation, and deserves much praise and encouragement. [footnote : governor-general of canada.] [pageheading: visit to chatsworth] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ belvoir castle, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--being much hurried, i can only write you a few lines to thank you for your kind letter of the th, received this morning. you will have heard from louise the account of our stay at drayton (which is a very nice house), and of albert's brilliant reception at birmingham. we arrived at chatsworth on friday, and left it at nine this morning, quite charmed and delighted with everything there. splendour and comfort are so admirably combined, and the duke does everything so well. i found many improvements since i was there eleven years ago. the conservatory is out and out the finest thing imaginable of its kind. it is one mass of glass, feet high, long, and wide.[ ] the grounds, with all the woods and cascades and fountains, are so beautiful too. the first evening there was a ball, and the next the cascades and fountains were illuminated, which had a beautiful effect. there was a large party there, including many of the duke's family, the bedfords, buccleuchs, the duke of wellington, the normanbys, lord melbourne (who is much better), and the beauvales. we arrived here at half-past two, we perform our journey so delightfully on the railroad, so quickly and easily. it puts me in mind of our dear stay in belgium, when we stop at the various stations. albert is going out hunting to-morrow, which i wish was _over_, but i am assured that the country is much better than the windsor country. the duc de bordeaux's proceedings in london are most highly improper. the queen dowager is also here. we leave this place on thursday for home, which, i own, i shall be glad of at last. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : it was built by mr joseph paxton, then superintendent of the gardens, whose intelligence had attracted the duke of devonshire's attention. in he was the successful competitor for the great exhibition building, and was knighted on its completion. he superintended its re-erection at sydenham, and afterwards became m.p. for coventry.] _the princess hohenhohe to queen victoria._ langenburg, _ th december ._ my dearest victoria,--... you ask in your letter about the manner in which my children say their prayers? they say it when in their beds, but not kneeling; how absurd to find _that_ necessary, as if it could have anything to do with making our prayers more acceptable to the almighty or more holy. how really clever people can have those notions i don't understand. i am sorry it is the case there, where there is so much good and, i am certain, real piety. dear pussy learning her letters i should like to see and hear; i am sure she will learn them very quick. has bertie not learned some more words and sentences during your absence?... your attached and devoted sister, feodora. [pageheading: prince albert with the hounds] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--i thank you much for your kind letter of the th, which i received as usual on sunday. louise will be able to tell you _how_ well the remainder of our journey went off, and how well albert's hunting answered.[ ] one can hardly credit the absurdity of people here, but albert's riding so boldly and hard has made such a sensation that it has been written all over the country, and they make much more of it than if he had done some great act! it rather disgusts one, but still it had done, and does, good, for it has put an end to all impertinent sneering for the future about albert's riding. this journey has done great good, and my beloved angel in particular has had _the greatest success_; for instance, at birmingham the good his visit has done has been immense, for albert spoke to all these manufacturers _in their own language_, which they did not expect, and these poor people have only been accustomed to hear demagogues and chartists. we cannot understand how you can think the country about chatsworth _not_ pretty, for it is (with the exception of the moors) beautiful, wooded hills and valleys and rapid streams. the country round belvoir i do not admire, but the view from the castle is very fine and extensive, and albert says puts him so in mind of the kalenberg.... pray have you heard anything about aumale's plans? dear little gaston seems much better. the duc de bordeaux has been informed of my and the government's extreme displeasure at their conduct; they say there shall be no more such displays. he was to leave london yesterday, only to return again for a day, and then to leave england altogether. with albert's love, ever, dearest uncle, your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the prince hunted with the belvoir hounds on the th.] [pageheading: an american view of monarchy] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th december ._ my dearest victoria,--i am most happy to see that your journey passed so well, and trust you are not sorry to be again in your very dear and comfortable home, and with your dear children. people are very strange, and their great delight is to find fault with their fellow-creatures; what harm could it have done them if albert had _not_ hunted at all? and still i have no doubt that his having hunted well and boldly has given more satisfaction than if he had done heaven knows what praiseworthy deed; _ainsi est et sera le monde_. i am glad also that the birmingham course succeeded so well; the theme had been for some years, particularly amongst manufacturers, that royalty was useless and ignorant, and that the greatest blessing would be, to manufacture beyond measure, and to have an american form of government, with an elective head of state. fortunately, there has always hitherto been in england a very aristocratic feeling freely accepted by the people, who like it, and show that they like it.... i was much amused, some time ago, by a very rich and influential american from new york assuring me that they stood in great need of a government which was able to grant protection to property, and that the feeling of many was for monarchy instead of the misrule of mobs, as they had it, and that he wished very much _some branch of the coburg family might be disposable_ for such a place. _qu'en dites-vous_, is not this flattering?... there is nothing very remarkable going on, besides i mean to write again on some subjects. give my best love to albert, and pussy, who may remember me perhaps, and i remain, ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--your kind and dear letter of the th, written in your true wit and humour, reached me on sunday and gave me great pleasure. we have had also most wonderfully mild weather, but _i_ think very disagreeable and unseasonable; it always makes me so bilious. the young folks are very flourishing and prosperous--pussette knowing all her letters, and even beginning to read a little. when i mentioned your birthday to her, she said, "i cried when i saw uncle leopold," which _was_ the case, i am sorry to say, the first time she saw you this year.... i don't believe that the _white_ flag on the house at belgrave square[ ] is true. lord melbourne and the beauvales were here for three nights; and it was a pleasure to see lord melbourne so much himself again; the first evening he was a good deal excited and talked and laughed as of old; the two other evenings he was in the quite silent mood which he often used to be in formerly, and really _quite_ himself, and there was hardly any strangeness at all. lady beauvale is really a _very, very_, charming person, and so attentive and kind to both her husband and lord melbourne. our little chapel here (which is extremely pretty) is to be consecrated this morning, and lady douro comes into waiting for the first time. to-morrow mamma gives us a dinner. poor lord lynedoch[ ] is, i fear, dying, and lord grey is so bad he cannot last long.[ ] ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the house occupied by the duc de bordeaux.] [footnote : thomas, lord lynedoch, had died the previous day, aged ninety-five. he highly distinguished himself in the peninsula and in holland, and received the thanks of parliament, and a peerage in .] [footnote : he died in july .] [pageheading: the spanish marriage] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen has been much amused to see by sir robert gordon's despatch of the th, the extreme fright of prince metternich at the proposed marriage of queen isabel with count trapani,[ ] but she regrets that sir robert tried to make excuses for the conduct we have pursued, which the queen thinks requires no apology. [footnote : see _ante_, p. , note . (this ch., above)] * * * * * _printed by hazell, watson & viney, ld., london and aylesbury. paper supplied by john dickinson & co., ld., london_. * * * * * transcriber's note: this is the first volume of three. the index is in volume . it is suggested that all three volumes be downloaded to the same folder. [ae] and [oe] are used for the diphthongs/ligatures in (mostly) french words. (e.g. c[oe]ur, heart; s[oe]ur, sister; ch[oe]ur, choir, chorus; v[oe]ux, wishes.) some hyphenation is inconsistent and has been retained. there are a number of 'period' spellings, which i have retained (e.g. bord, controuled, uncontrouled, controul, woud, etc.). the original pageheadings have been retained, moving them to appropriate positions, to the beginning of letters and text to which they refer, so as not to interrupt the flow of the text. thus, a long letter may be prefaced by two, or even three pageheadings. likewise, footnotes have been moved to the end of the appropriate letter, or the appropriate paragraph, in the case of longer pieces of text. initial letters are spaced as in the original, i.e., personal initials: spaced; academic initials: unspaced. there are many footnotes which refer to earlier or later pages. e.g.: [footnote : of the crown jewels; _ante_, p. . (ch. xi, 'crown jewels')] for clarification, i have added (ch. and 'pageheading') or (ch. and date). errata and [sic]: page : '... were desired to take me a drive to amuse me.' [sic] page : removed extraneous opening quote. page : replaced 'it' with 'if' (it you could get my kind....) page : 'mariage' [sic]: king leopold may have used the french spelling 'mariage' for the english 'marriage'. page : changed 'anxety' to 'anxiety' - old typo? page : removed duplicated word (lord lord melbourne) page : corrected 'houeshold' to 'household'. page : corrected 'beng' to 'being'. page : corrected 'affecionate' to 'affectionate'. page : replaced missing period. page : replaced missing period ... '_i.e._, lord melbourne being succeeded page : corrected 'every our' to 'ever your'. page : '... on bord the _black eagle_ ...' [sic] page : 'i ... am quite _confuse_. [sic] queen victoria used the feminine form of the french adjective, "confus, e, confused, overpowered; obscure, dim." page : corrected page no. in footnote from to . page : _uncontrouled_ [sic] page , footnote : 'a' corrected to 'at'. page : 'woud' [sic] (though followed by 'would' in same paragraph). page : corrected 'as' to 'at' ...'look at'... page : '... one of the secretaries to the board of controul.' [sic] page : replaced missing period ... 'viney, ld.,' none [frontispiece: queen victoria] queen victoria _by_ e. gordon browne, m.a. _with twelve full-page illustrations_ london george g. harrap & company & portsmouth street kingsway w.c. mcmxv _turnbull & spears, printers, edinburgh, great britain_ _contents_ chapter i. a look back ii. childhood days iii. early years iv. husband and wife v. family life vi. strife vii. the children of england viii. ministering women ix. balmoral x. the great exhibition xi. albert the good xii. friends and advisers xiii. queen and empire xiv. stress and strain xv. victoria the great _illustrations_ queen victoria the queen's first council at kensington palace kensington palace the duke and duchess of kent the announcement of the queen's accession prince albert buckingham palace florence nightingale queen victoria in the highlands the albert memorial sir robert peel, lord melbourne, and benjamin disraeli the secret of england's greatness the victoria and albert museum chapter i: _a look back_ in the old legend of rip van winkle with which the american writer washington irving has made us so familiar, the ne'er-do-weel rip wanders off into the kaatskill mountains with his dog and gun in order to escape from his wife's scolding tongue. here he meets the spectre crew of captain hudson, and, after partaking of their hospitality, falls into a deep sleep which lasts for twenty years. the latter part of the story describes the changes which he finds on his return to his native village: nearly all the old, familiar faces are gone; manners, dress, and speech are all changed. he feels like a stranger in a strange land. now, it is a good thing sometimes to take a look back, to try to count over the changes for good or for evil which have taken place in this country of ours; to try to understand clearly why the reign of a great queen should have left its mark upon our history in such a way that men speak of the victorian age as one of the greatest ages that have ever been. if an elizabethan had been asked whether he considered the queen of england a great woman or not, he would undoubtedly have answered "yes," and given very good reasons for his answer. it was not for nothing that the english almost worshipped their queen in "those spacious times of great elizabeth." edmund spenser, one of the world's great poets, hymned her as "fayre elisa" and "the flowre of virgins": helpe me to blaze her worthy praise; which, in her sexe doth all excell! throughout her long reign, courtiers, statesmen, soldiers, and people all united in serving her gladly and to the best of their powers. yet she could at times prove herself to be hard, cruel, and vindictive; she was mean, even miserly, when money was wanted for men or ships; she was excessively vain, loved dress and finery, and was often proud almost beyond bearing. notwithstanding all her faults, she was the best beloved of all english monarchs because of her never-failing courage and strength of mind, and she made the crown respected, feared, and loved as no other ruler had done before her, and none other, save queen victoria, has reigned as she did in her people's hearts. she lived for her country, and her country's love and admiration were her reward. during her reign the seas were swept clear of foreign foes, and her country took its place in the front rank of great powers. hers was the golden age of literature, of adventure and learning, an age of great men and women, a new england. if an elizabethan rip van winkle had fallen asleep and awakened again at the opening of victoria's reign, more than years later, what would he have found? england still a mighty power, it is true, scarcely yet recovered from the long war against napoleon, with nelson and wellington enthroned as the national heroes. but the times were bad in many ways, for it was "a time of ugliness: ugly religion, ugly law, ugly relations between rich and poor, ugly clothes, ugly furniture." the england of that day, it must be remembered, was the england described so faithfully in charles dickens' early works. it was far from being the england we know now. in appeared the first number of mr pickwick's travels. _the pickwick papers_ is not a great work of humour merely, for in its pages we see england and the early victorians--a strange country to us--in which they lived. it is an england of old inns and stagecoaches, where "manners and roads were very rough"; where men were still cast into prison for debt and lived and died there; where the execution of a criminal still took place in public; where little children of tender years were condemned to work in the depths of coal-pits, and amid the clang and roar of machinery. it was a hard, cruel age. no longer did the people look up to and reverence their monarch as their leader. england had yet to pass through a long and bitter period of 'strife and stress,' of war between rich and poor, of many and bewildering changes. the introduction of coal, steam, and mechanism was rapidly changing the character of the whole country. the revenue had grown from about , , pounds in to , , pounds in , and there seemed to be no limit to the national wealth and resources. but these very changes which enriched some few were the cause of misery and poverty to struggling thousands. machinery had ruined the spinning-wheel industry and reduced the price of cloth; the price of corn had risen, and, after the close of the great war, other nations were free once again to compete against our country in the markets where we so long had possessed the monopoly of trade. [illustration: the queen's first council at kensington palace photo w.a. mansell & co.] the period which followed the year was one of incessant struggle for reform, and chiefly the reform of a parliament which no longer represented the people's wishes. considerably more than half the members were not elected at all, but were recommended by patrons. the average price of a seat in parliament was pounds for a so-called 'rotten borough.' scotland returned forty-five members and cornwall forty-four members to parliament! the reformers also demanded the abolition of the 'taxes on knowledge,' by which was meant the stamp duty of fourpence on every copy of a newspaper, a duty of threepence on every pound of paper, and a heavy tax upon advertisements. the new poor laws aroused bitter discontent. instead of receiving payment of money for relief of poverty, as had formerly been the case, the poor and needy were now sent to the 'union' workhouse. a series of bad harvests was the cause of great migrations to the factory towns, and the already large ranks of the unemployed grew greater day by day. the poverty and wretchedness of the working class is painted vividly for us by carlyle when he speaks of "half a million handloom weavers, working hours a day, in perpetual inability to procure thereby enough of the coarsest food; scotch farm-labourers, who 'in districts the half of whose husbandry is that of cows, taste no milk, can procure no milk' . . . the working-classes can no longer go on without government, without being _actually_ guided and governed." such was victoria's england when she ascended the throne, a young girl, nineteen years of age. chapter ii: _childhood days on the western side of kensington gardens stands the old palace, built originally in the solid dutch style for king william and mary. the great architect, sir christopher wren, made notable additions to it, and it was still further extended in for george the first. within its walls passed away both william and his queen, queen anne and her husband, and george the second. after this time it ceased to be a royal residence. the charm of kensington gardens, with its beautiful walks and secluded sylvan nooks--the happy hunting-ground of london children and the home of 'peter pan'--has inspired many writers to sing its praises: in this lone, open glade i lie, screen'd by deep boughs on either hand; and at its end, to stay the eye, those black-crown'd, red-boled pine trees stand! birds here make song, each bird has his, across the girding city's hum. how green under the boughs it is! how thick the tremulous sheep cries come! here at my feet what wonders pass, what endless, active life is here! what blowing daisies, fragrant grass! an air-stirred forest, fresh and clear. matthew arnold beaconsfield spoke of its "sublime sylvan solitude superior to the cedars of lebanon, and inferior only in extent to the chestnut forests of anatolia." kensington palace was the birthplace of queen victoria, and in the garden walks she used to play, little knowing that she would one day be queen of england. her doll's house and toys are still preserved in the rooms which she inhabited as a little girl. [illustration: kensington palace] four years had passed since the battle of waterloo when the princess victoria was born, and england was settling down to a time of peace after long years of warfare. in george the fourth died, and was succeeded by his brother, the duke of clarence, as william the fourth, the 'sailor king.' though not in any respect a great monarch, he proved himself to be a good king and one who was always wishful to do the best that lay in his power for the country's good. he was exceedingly hospitable, and gave dinners to thousands of his friends and acquaintances during the year, particularly inviting all his old messmates of the navy. he had two daughters by his marriage, and as these both died young it was evident that the princess victoria might some day succeed to the throne. her father, the duke of kent, married the dowager princess of leiningen, who was the sister of prince leopold, afterward king of the belgians. as a young man the duke had seen much service, for when he was only seventeen years of age he entered the hanoverian army, where the discipline was severe and rigid. he afterward served in the west indies and canada, and on his return to england he was made a peer with the title of duke of kent. he was afterward general and commander-in-chief in canada and governor of gibraltar. at the latter place his love of order and discipline naturally made him unpopular, and, owing to strong feeling on the part of the troops, it was considered wise to recall the duke in . in he settled in brussels, and soon afterward met his future wife in germany. princess victoire marie louise was the youngest daughter of the duke of saxe-coburg and widow of prince charles of leiningen, who on his death had left her as the regent of his principality. they were married at coburg in may . some months afterward they came over to england, and on may , , their daughter alexandrina victoria was born. [illustration: the duke of kent sir wm. beechey photo w.a. mansell & co.] [illustration: the duchess of kent and princess victoria sir wm. beechey photo w.a. mansell & co.] the duke still kept up his simple, soldierly habits, for throughout his life he had always believed in regularly ordering one's day. he rose betimes and took a cup of coffee at six o'clock. each servant of the household was allotted his or her regular duties, and was obliged at least once a day to appear before the duke. there was a separate bell for each servant, and punctuality in attendance was insisted upon. the christening was attended by members of the royal family, and a dinner was held to celebrate the happy event. the duke and duchess removed soon afterward to devonshire, and they were both much pleased with the beautiful surroundings of their new home. the duke wrote at this time of his daughter: "my little girl thrives under the influence of a devonshire climate, and is, i am delighted to say, strong and healthy; too healthy, i fear, in the opinion of some members of my family, by whom she is regarded as an intruder. how largely she contributes to my happiness at this moment it is needless for me to say to you." the duke had been determined from the first that his child should be born in england, for he wished her to be english both in upbringing and in feeling. his wife, who is described by those who knew her as being a singularly attractive woman, full of deep feeling and sympathy, fully shared his views on this point. in january , when only fifty-three years of age, the duke died quite suddenly from inflammation of the lungs, following upon a neglected cold. he was a man of deep religious feeling, and once in talking to a friend about his little daughter's future career he said earnestly: "don't pray simply that hers may be a brilliant career, and exempt from those trials and struggles which have pursued her father, but pray that god's blessing may rest on her, that it may overshadow her, and that in all her coming years she may be guided and guarded by god." the widowed mother now returned to london, where the duchess of clarence, afterward queen adelaide, interested herself greatly in little victoria. the duchess now devoted herself entirely to the care of her child, and never did any little girl have a more loving and devoted mother. as much time as possible was spent in the open air, and victoria went for rides about kensington on a donkey, which was led by an old soldier, a great friend and favourite. she always had her breakfast and supper with her mother, and at nine o'clock retired to her bed, which was placed close to her mother's. until the time of her accession she led as simple and regular a life as thousands of other little girls. many stories are told of her early years to illustrate the thoroughness of her home training. even as a small child she was absolutely truthful, and her chief fault--that of wilfulness--was due to some extent to her high spirits and abundant energy. she was especially fond of dolls, and possessed a very large number, most of which were dressed as historical personages. she had practically no playmates of her own age, and in later life she often spoke of these early years as being rather dull. a description of her at this period runs: "she was a beautiful child, with the cherubic form of features, clustered round by glossy, fair ringlets. her complexion was remarkably transparent, with a soft and often heightening tinge of the sweet blush rose upon her cheeks that imparted a peculiar brilliancy to her clear blue eyes. whenever she met any strangers in her usual paths she always seemed by the quickness of her glance to inquire who and what they were." there was, as was natural, much correspondence between england and saxe-coburg, the home of the duchess, for the second son of the duke of coburg, charles albert augustus emmanuel, was already spoken of as being destined to be victoria's husband in the future. prince albert had been born at rosenau on august , , and was thus slightly younger than his cousin. he is spoken of as being a very handsome boy, "like a little angel with his fair curls," and was for a time much spoilt until his father interfered and superintended the children's education himself. ernest, the elder son, gives us a charming picture of his father: "we children beheld in him, and justly, our ideal of courtesy, and although he never said a harsh word to us, we bore towards him, through all our love and confidence, a reverence bordering on fear. he never lectured, seldom blamed; praised unwillingly; and yet the effect of his individuality was so powerful that we accomplished more than if we had been praised or blamed. when he was once asked by a relative whether we were industrious and well behaved, he answered: 'my children cannot be naughty, and as they know well that they must learn in order to be worthy men, so i do not trouble myself about it.'" the duke liked both his sons to listen to the conversation of their elders and to take an interest in art and literature. outdoor exercise, riding, fishing, hunting, and driving formed part of their education; they were taught from the first to endure cold and discomfort without complaint or murmur. the religious teaching they received had a deep and lasting influence upon the two boys, both at that time and in later years. but they had a thoroughly happy boyhood and did not suffer from a lack of companions. after their confirmation their father took them on a visit to several courts in germany, and also to vienna--a journey which was intended to open their minds to the great world of which they had learnt so much and seen so little; and it was about this time that king leopold, the brother of the duke of coburg, thought it wise to make a careful inquiry into the life and character of the young prince. chapter iii: _early years_ god save thee, weeping queen! thou shalt be well beloved! the tyrant's sceptre cannot move, as those pure tears have moved! e.b. browning when she was five years old the princess victoria began to have lessons, chiefly with a governess, miss von lehzen--"my dearly beloved angelic lehzen," as she called her. these two remained devotedly attached to one another until the latter's death in . the young princess was especially fond of music and drawing, and it was clear that if she had been able to devote more time to study she would in later years have excelled in both subjects. her education was such as to fit her for her future position of queen of england. the princess did not, however, know that she was likely at any future time to be queen. she read much, chiefly books dealing with history, and these were often chosen for her by her uncle, the king of the belgians. the family life was regular and simple. lessons, a walk or drive, very few and simple pleasures made up her day. breakfast was at half-past eight, luncheon at half-past one, and dinner at seven. tea was allowed only in later years as a great treat. the queen herself said: "i was brought up very simply--never had a room to myself till i was nearly grown up--always slept in my mother's room till i came to the throne." sir walter scott wrote of her at this period of her life: "this little lady is educated with much care, and watched so closely that no busy maid has a moment to whisper, 'you are heir of england.' i suspect if we could dissect the little heart, we should find some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter." in her uncle, george the fourth, died, and his brother, william the fourth, came to the throne. the young princess was now the next in succession. her governess thought that her pupil should be told of this fact, and as the duchess of kent agreed, the table of genealogy was placed inside victoria's history book, where by and by she found it. the story goes that she then said, "i see, i am nearer the throne than i thought," and giving her hand to her governess added: "i will be good. i understand now, why you urged me so much to learn, even latin. my cousins augusta and mary never did, but you told me that latin was the foundation of english grammar, and of all the elegant expressions, and i learned it as you wished. but i understand it all better now." in later years the queen recollected crying very much when she heard of it, but could not recall exactly what had happened. it is interesting to note what those who knew little victoria at this time say about her. she was, we are told, exceedingly affectionate, very full of high spirits, fond of life in the open air, and already possessed a strong sense of duty and religion. she had been taught by her devoted uncle leopold, with whom she corresponded regularly, how necessary it was for her to understand thoroughly the duties which fall to the share of a ruler. during the years which followed she went more into society and paid visits to the most interesting places in the kingdom. everywhere she went she was received with the greatest enthusiasm. in the duke of coburg, with his two sons, ernest and albert, arrived at kensington palace on a visit, and thus the princess met for the first time her future husband. her uncle leopold had long desired to carry out the cherished wish of his mother, the dowager duchess of coburg, that the two cousins should be united in marriage. during william the fourth's lifetime all mention of such a marriage had to be kept secret, as the king much disliked the coburg family, and had more than once been very rude to the duchess of kent. victoria wrote to her uncle saying how much she liked albert in every way, and that he possessed every quality that could be desired to render her perfectly happy. she was very anxious that her uncle should take her cousin under his special protection. on may , , victoria attained her majority. she received numbers of magnificent presents, congratulations from public bodies, and in the evening a state ball was given at st james's palace. on tuesday, june of that year, at twelve minutes past two, king william the fourth died. the archbishop of canterbury and the lord chamberlain set out at once for kensington to convey the sad news. they arrived at five in the morning, and were told that the princess was asleep. they replied that they were on important business of state to the queen, and even her sleep must give way to that. our illustration depicts the scene which then ensued. [illustration: the announcement of the queen's accession by the archbishop of canterbury and the lord chancellor h.t. wells, r.a. photo w.a. mansell & co.] even during the first days of her reign, the queen's dignity, calm, and knowledge of state affairs astonished her ministers, and were complete proof of the careful training she had received during her girlhood days. greville, clerk to the council, wrote: "she presided with as much ease as if she had been doing nothing else all her life. . . . the gracefulness of her manner and the good expression of her countenance give her on the whole a very agreeable appearance, and with her youth inspire an excessive interest in all who approach her, and which i can't help feeling myself." in july the queen and her mother left their home to take up their residence in buckingham palace, formerly known as the queen's house. the present palace occupies the site of buckingham house, which was erected by john sheffield, duke of buckingham, in . it was bought by george the third for his wife in , remodelled by george the fourth, and completed by william the fourth, who, however, had never lived there. four days later the queen went in state to dissolve parliament, and soon afterward removed to windsor castle, where she was joined for a time by her uncle and his wife. prince albert wrote her a warm letter of congratulation. "you are now," he said, "queen of the mightiest land in europe. in your hands lie the happiness of millions. may heaven assist and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task! i hope that your reign may be long, happy, and glorious, and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects." on thursday, june , , the coronation ceremony took place in westminster abbey. afterward the queen made a royal progress and was greeted by immense crowds of her people with the utmost loyalty and enthusiasm. in her journal she described it as the proudest day of her life. mrs jamieson, an onlooker, wrote of her as follows: "when she returned, looking pale and tremulous, crowned and holding her sceptre in a manner and attitude which said, 'i have it, and none shall wrest it from me,' even carlyle, who was standing near me, uttered with emotion, 'a blessing on her head!'" as a small instance of the queen's consideration for others, one of her first thoughts after the ceremony was for the school-children. she wrote to her minister, lord melbourne, asking if it was not usual to give a week's additional holiday to the schools on such an occasion as this. lord melbourne was from the moment of her accession the queen's chief adviser, and from the many letters which passed between them it is extremely interesting to see with what affection the young and inexperienced girl regarded him. "he is not only a clever statesman and an honest man," she wrote to her uncle, leopold, "but a good and a kind-hearted man, whose aim is to do his duty for his country and not for a _party_." lord melbourne was almost a second father to her, and there is no doubt that it was largely due to his excellent and homely advice that the queen was able during the early years of her reign to develop in such an astonishing manner and yet at the same time to retain such a sweet and womanly character. of her regularity of life and careful attention to detail we learn from greville's diary. she rose soon after eight o'clock, and after breakfast was occupied with business the whole morning. during this time lord melbourne visited her regularly. at two o'clock she rode out, attended by her suite, and amused herself afterward for the rest of the afternoon with music, singing, or romps with children. dinner was served at eight o'clock to the whole household, and the queen usually retired soon after eleven. "she orders and regulates every detail herself; she knows where everybody is lodged in the castle, settles about the riding or driving, and enters into every particular with minute attention." she never signed a single document of any importance until she had thoroughly mastered its contents. in october, , her cousins ernest and albert paid her a visit, bringing with them a letter from their uncle leopold, in which he recommended them to her care. they were at once upon intimate terms, and the queen confided to her uncle that "albert was very fascinating." four days after their arrival she informed lord melbourne that she had made up her mind as to the question of marriage. he received the news in a very kindly manner and said: "i think it will be very well received, for i hear that there is an anxiety now that it should be, and i am very glad of it. you will be much more comfortable, for a woman cannot stand alone for any time, in whatever position she may be." the queen described her betrothal as follows: "at half-past twelve i sent for albert. he came to the closet, where i was alone, and after a few minutes i said to him that i thought he would be aware why i wished him to come, and that it would make me happy if he would consent to what i wished, namely, to marry me. there was no hesitation on his part, but the offer was received with the greatest demonstrations of kindness and affection. . . . i told him i was quite unworthy of him. . . . he said he would be very happy to spend his life with me." she wrote to her uncle: "i _love_ him _more_ than i can say, and i shall do everything in my power to render the sacrifice he has made (for a sacrifice in my opinion it is) as small as i can." in the following november the news was made public, but it was not received with any great enthusiasm, as a german alliance was unpopular. there were other suitors for the queen's hand, and the majority would have preferred one of her english cousins to have been chosen. on february , , the marriage was solemnized at the chapel royal, st james's. the queen was described by those who saw her as looking extremely happy, and to her uncle she wrote of her delight at seeing the huge crowds which lined the streets to see the procession pass. "god grant that i may be the happy person, the _most_ happy person, to make this dearest, blessed being happy and contented! what is in my power to make him happy, i will do." chapter iv: _husband and wife_ after four short days the queen and her husband returned to london, and from this time onward the prince acted as his wife's secretary, attending to every little detail of the mass of correspondence and state documents which grew larger with every succeeding year. all the letters received by the queen during the course of a long and busy life-time were carefully preserved, and at her death they amounted to no fewer than five or six hundred large bound volumes. they include letters from crowned heads of europe, from her ministers of state, from her children, and from her friends and relations. all these the queen read and answered. she was thus at all times fully aware of everything that was happening both at home and abroad, and in her great empire, an empire which was destined to grow greater and greater in power and extent during her reign. day by day, year in, year out, without a single break, this immense correspondence arrived. ministers resigned and ministers were appointed, but there was neither halt nor rest. truly 'the burden of empire' is heavy for those who bear it. the young prince determined from the first to master both national and european politics, for it must always be remembered that as he was a foreigner everything in this country was for some time strange to him. in addition to being his wife's right hand he took a leading part in all movements which might help to improve the education and conditions of life of the people. his fine training and sympathetic nature enabled him, little by little, to be the means of helping on important reforms. in addition to this, both he and his wife found time to work at drawing and music, which they studied together under the best masters. throughout the queen's correspondence one reads of his devotion to her both as husband and helpmate. the times were hard; discontent with poverty and bad trade kept the nation ill at ease, and, as is always the case, there were many who did their best to stir up riot. as a consequence, possibly, of this unrest, attempts were made on the queen's life, once in and twice in . the relief and joy felt by the whole nation at their young queen's lucky escapes from death by an assassin's hand are expressed in the following lines by an anonymous author:-- god saved the queen--all thoughts apart this crowning joy fills every mind! she sits within the nation's heart, an angel shrined. the assassin's hand the steel enclosed, he poised his ruthless hand on high-- but god in mercy interposed his shadow for her panoply. then let ten thousand lyres be swept, let paeans ring o'er sea and land-- the almighty hath our sovereign kept within the hollow of his hand! in july , it was considered necessary to appoint a regent in case of the queen's death. a bill for this purpose was brought in and passed, naming the prince as regent. this pleased the queen, for it was a clear proof of the golden opinions the prince had won everywhere since his marriage, and it was passed, as she herself said, entirely on account of his noble character. at an earlier period it is certain, as lord melbourne assured her, that parliament would not have passed such a bill. the queen was soon to lose her chief adviser and friend, for in june parliament dissolved and the whigs were not returned to power. lord melbourne could, however, resign with an easy mind, for he himself recognized how valuable a counsellor the queen now possessed in her husband. after handing his resignation to the queen, he wrote to her: "lord melbourne has formed the highest opinion of his royal highness's judgment, temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great consolation and security in the reflection that he leaves your majesty in a situation in which your majesty has the inestimable advantage of such advice and assistance." the queen was exceedingly proud of these words of praise, coming as they did unasked from a minister of such long experience. it was in the same year that the prince was appointed head of the royal commission which had been formed to encourage the study of the fine arts throughout the kingdom. this was work of a kind which he especially loved, and he was now in a position to influence the movement which led to the great exhibition of . [illustration: prince albert f.x. winterhalter photo emery walker ltd.] but all was not plain sailing for the prince, who was still regarded, if not with dislike, at any rate with some mistrust, as being a foreigner. for a long time yet he felt himself a stranger, the queen's husband and nothing more. still, "all cometh to him who knoweth how to wait," and he set himself bravely to his uphill task. to use his own words, "i endeavour to be as much use to victoria as i can,"--this was the keynote of his whole life. the prince took sides with neither of the political parties, and first of all by careful economy he lessened the enormous household expenses and proved that it was possible for royalty to live without always being in debt. he established model farms at osborne and windsor, introduced different and better breeds of cattle, and even made a profit on the undertaking. he persuaded his wife to give up the late hours which were still usual, and gradually, by kindness and sympathy, won the household staff over to his way of thinking. the prince's life was an extremely full one. soon after six o'clock was his time for rising. until nine he read and answered letters. he then looked through all the principal newspapers and gave the queen a summary of the most important news. he found time also to work and play with his children during his short intervals of leisure. consultations with ministers, reading and writing dispatches followed, and then a short time was devoted to open-air exercise. after lunch he often accompanied the queen on a drive. more reading and writing took up his time until dinner, after which there was either a social evening or a visit to a theatre. he was "complete master in his house, and the active centre of an empire whose power extends to every quarter of the globe. . . . no british cabinet minister has ever worked so hard during the session of parliament, and that is saying a good deal, as the prince consort did for years. . . . the prince had no holidays at all, he was always in harness."[ ] [footnote : miss c.m. yonge, _life of h.r.h. the prince consort_.] louis philippe, the first french king who had ever visited this country, except king john, wrote of him: "oh, he will do wonders; he is so wise; he is not in a hurry; he gains so much by being known. he will always give you good advice. do not think i say so in flattery. no! no! it is from my heart. he will be like his uncle, equally wise and good. . . . he will be of the greatest use to you, and will keep well at your side if a time of vicissitude should come, such as i hope may never be--but, after all, no one can tell." chapter v: _family life "upon the good education of princes, and especially of those who are destined to govern, the welfare of the world in these days very greatly depends." the love of children was always a strong connecting link between the queen and her people. no trouble was ever spared by her to obtain the best possible advice on the training of her own family. the nursery was as well governed as her kingdom. acting upon the advice of baron stockmar, the queen determined to have some one at the head on whom she could thoroughly rely, as her many occupations prevented her from devoting so much time to these duties as she could have wished. lady lyttelton, who had been a lady-in-waiting, was appointed governess to the royal family in , and for eight years she held this post, winning the affection and respect of her young pupils and the gratitude of the queen and her husband. from time to time the queen wrote her views upon the subject. "the greatest maxim of all is," she declared, "that the children should be brought up as simply, and in as domestic a way as possible; that (not interfering with their lessons) they should be as much as possible with their parents, and learn to place their greatest confidence in them in all things." training in religion, to be of real and lasting value, must be given by the mother herself, and in the queen noted with regret that it was not always possible for her to be with the princess royal when the child was saying her prayers. "i am _quite_ clear," she said, "that she ought to be taught to have great reverence for god and for religion, but that she should have the feeling of devotion and love which our heavenly father encourages his earthly children to have for him, and not one of fear and trembling; and that the thoughts of death and an after-life should not be represented in an alarming and forbidding view, and that she should be made to know _as yet_ no difference of creeds, and not think that she can only pray on her knees, or that those who do not kneel are less fervent and devout in their prayers." on november , , the queen's first child, victoria adelaide mary louisa, the princess royal, was born. the prince's care of his wife "was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder, wiser, or more judicious nurse." only for a moment was he disappointed that his first child was a daughter and not a son. the children were all brought up strictly and were never allowed to appear at court until a comparatively late age. they were all taught to use their hands as well as their heads, and at osborne, in the swiss cottage, the boys worked at carpentering and gardening, while the girls were employed in learning cooking and housekeeping. christmas was always celebrated in splendid fashion by the family, and the royal children were always encouraged to give as presents something which they had made with their own hands. lessons in riding, driving, and swimming also formed part of their training, for the queen was wise enough to realize that open-air exercise was very necessary for the health of her children. in the question arose as to who should educate the prince of wales (born ). a pamphlet on the subject had been published and created general interest. baron stockmar was again consulted, and gave it as his opinion that the prince's education should be one "which will prepare him for approaching events"--that is, he was to be so educated that he would be in touch with the movements of the age and able to respond sympathetically to the wishes of the nation. the rapid growth of democracy throughout europe made it absolutely necessary that his education should be of a different kind. the task of governing well was becoming more and more difficult, and reigning monarchs were criticized in an open fashion, such as had not hitherto been possible. after much thought the post was given to mr henry birch (formerly a master at eton college, and at that time rector of prestwich, near manchester), who had made a very favourable impression upon the queen and her husband. plain people as well as princes must be educated, and this fact was never lost sight of by the queen and her husband. in the prince called attention to the fact that there were at that time no fewer than , children between the ages of three and fifteen absent from school but known to be employed in some way; he pointed out also--and this seems in these days difficult to believe--that no less than _two million_ children were not attending school, and were, so far as could be ascertained, not employed in any way at all. [illustration: buckingham palace] the most interesting visitors whom the queen entertained during her early married life were the emperor nicholas of russia and louis napoleon of france. the emperor nicholas came to england, as he told the queen, to see things with his own eyes, and to win, if he could, the confidence of english statesmen. "i esteem england highly; but as to what the french say of me, i care not." he was, however, undoubtedly jealous of this country's growing friendship with her old enemy, france, but any attempt to weaken this met with no encouragement. the queen, in writing to her uncle leopold, said, "he gives albert and myself the impression of a man who is _not_ happy, and on whom the burden of his immense power and position weighs heavily and painfully. he seldom smiles, and when he does, the expression is _not_ a happy one. he is very easy to get on with." in a further letter she continued, "by living in the same house together quietly and unrestrainedly (and this albert, and with great truth, says is the great advantage of these visits, that i not only _see_ these great people, but _know_ them), i got to know the emperor and he to know me. . . . he is sincere, i am certain, _sincere_ even in his most despotic acts--from a sense that that _is_ the _only_ way to govern. . . . he _feels_ kindness deeply--and his love for his wife and children, and for all children, is _very_ great. he has a strong feeling for domestic life, saying to me, when our children were in the room: 'these are the sweet moments of our life.' one can see by the way he takes them up and plays with them that he is very fond of children." and again she wrote: "he also spoke of princes being nowadays obliged to strive to make themselves worthy of their position, so as to reconcile people to the fact of their being princes." the effect of this visit was to make france somewhat suspicious, and the queen expressed her wish that it might not prevent the visit which had been promised by king louis philippe. there was at one time actually danger of war over trouble in the east, but king leopold, whose kingdom was in the happy position of having its independence guaranteed by the powers,[ ] was able to bring his influence to bear, and the critical period passed over, to the great relief of the queen. [footnote : this, however, did not protect belgium in , when germany did not hesitate to attack her.] in king louis philippe paid his promised visit, of which the queen said, "he is the first king of france who comes on a visit to the sovereign of this country. a very eventful epoch, indeed, and one which will surely bring good fruits." the king was immensely pleased with everything he saw, and with the friendly reception he received. he assured the queen that france did not wish to go to war with england, and he told her how pleased he was that all their difficulties were now smoothed over. during his stay he was invested with the order of the garter--an order, it is interesting to recollect, which had been created by edward the third after the battle of cressy, and whose earliest knights were the black prince and his companions. the corporation of london went to windsor in civic state to present the king with an address of congratulation. he declared in his answer that "france has nothing to ask of england, and england has nothing to ask of france, but cordial union." but in the orleans dynasty was overthrown, france proclaimed a republic, and king louis philippe, his wife and family were forced to flee to england. here in , broken in health, the king died. in louis napoleon, who had been elected president for life, created himself emperor, and in , after the conclusion of the crimean war and the death of the emperor nicholas, he visited england. a state ball was held of which the queen wrote: "how strange to think that i, the granddaughter of george iii, should dance with the emperor napoleon, nephew of england's great enemy, now my nearest and most intimate ally, in the waterloo room, and this ally only six years ago living in this country an exile, poor and unthought of! . . . i am glad to have known this extraordinary man, whom it is certainly impossible not to like when you live with him, and not even to a considerable extent to admire. i believe him to be capable of kindness, affection, friendship, and gratitude. i feel confidence in him as regards the future; i think he is frank, means well towards us, and, as stockmar says, 'that we have insured his sincerity and good faith towards us for the rest of his life.'" the queen and her husband paid frequent visits, and made many tours during their early married life. it was a great source of pleasure to both of them to feel that everywhere they went they were received with the greatest delight and enthusiasm. in they visited cambridge university, of which prince albert was now chancellor. "every station and bridge, and resting-place, and spot of shade was peopled with eager faces watching for the queen, and decorated with flowers; but the largest, and the brightest, and the gayest, and the most excited assemblage was at cambridge station itself. . . . i think i never saw so many children before in one morning, and i felt so much moved at the spectacle of such a mass of life collected together and animated by one feeling, and that a joyous one, that i was at a loss to conceive how any woman's sides can bear the beating of so strong a throb as must attend the consciousness of being the object of all that excitement, the centre of attraction to all those eyes. but the queen has royal strength of nerve."[ ] [footnote : the duke of argyll, _queen victoria_.] in they paid their first visit to ireland, and received a royal welcome on landing in cork. the queen noticed particularly that "the beauty of the women is very remarkable, and struck us much; such beautiful dark eyes and hair, and such fine teeth; almost every third woman was pretty, and some remarkably so." the royal children were the objects of great admiration. "oh! queen, dear!" screamed a stout old lady, "make one of them prince patrick, and all ireland will die for you." in dublin, the capital of a country which had very recently been in revolt, the loyal welcome was, if possible, even more striking. the queen writes: "it was a wonderful and striking spectacle, such masses of human beings, so enthusiastic, so excited, yet such perfect order maintained; then the numbers of troops, the different bands stationed at certain distances, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, the bursts of welcome which rent the air--all made a never-to-be-forgotten scene." lord clarendon, writing of the results of the irish tour, said, "the people are not only enchanted with the queen and the gracious kindness of her manner and the confidence she has shown in them, but they are pleased with themselves for their own good feelings and behaviour, which they consider have removed the barrier that hitherto existed between the sovereign and themselves, and that they now occupy a higher position in the eyes of the world." in they visited for the first time the palace of holyrood. this was a memorable occasion, for since mary, queen of scots, had been imprisoned there, no queen had ever stayed within its walls. the queen took the liveliest interest in the many objects of historical interest which were shown to her. "we saw the rooms where queen mary lived, her bed, the dressing-room into which the murderers entered who killed rizzio, and the spot where he fell, where, as the old housekeeper said to me, 'if the lady would stand on that side,' i would see that the boards were discoloured by the blood. every step is full of historical recollections, and our living here is quite an epoch in the annals of this old pile, which has seen so many deeds, more bad, i fear, than good." both the queen and her husband had an especial love for animals, and the queen's suite, when she travelled, always included a number of dogs. her favourites were skye terriers and the so-called 'turnspits' which were introduced into this country by prince albert. one of the queen's great delights at windsor was to walk round the farms and inspect the cattle, which are still, owing largely to the careful methods of feeding and tending instituted by the prince, among the finest in the world. kindness to animals was a lesson she taught to all her children, and pictures and statuettes of all her old favourites were to be found in her homes. the royal family queen victoria _m_. prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha | | ------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | victoria, princess | princess alice | | | | | princess beatrice royal (empress | (grand duchess | | | | | (princess henry of frederick of | of hesse) | | | | | battenberg) germany) born | born | | | | | born | | | | | | -------------------- | | | | ----------- | | | | | | | ----------------------- | | | | | | | | | prince leopold | | --------- | | (duke of albany) | prince alfred, duke | | | born | of edinburgh (duke | | | | of saxe-coburg and princess helena | -------- | gotha) born (princess christian | | | of schleswig- | | | holstein) born | prince arthur | | (duke of connaught) | | born | | | princess louise -------------- (duchess of argyll) | born | albert edward, prince of wales, _m_. princess alexandra of denmark born (king edward vii) | | ---------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | albert victor george frederick, | | | prince alexander (duke of clarence) prince of wales, | | | born born born | | | (king george v), | | | _m_., , princess | | | victoria mary of teck | | | | | | -------------------- | -------------- | | | | | | princess louise princess victoria princess maud (duchess of fife) born (queen of norway) born born chapter vi: _strife_ "two men i honour, and no third. first, the toilworn craftsman that with earth-made implement laboriously conquers the earth, and makes her man's. . . . a second man i honour, and still more highly: him who is seen toiling for the spiritually indispensable; not daily bread, but the bread of life. . . . unspeakably touching is it, however, when i find both dignities united; and he that must toil outwardly for the lowest of man's wants, is also toiling inwardly for the highest."[ ] [footnote : carlyle, _sartor resartus_.] to understand the many and bewildering changes which followed one another in rapid succession during the early years of victoria's reign it is necessary to read the literature, more especially the works of those writers who took a deep and lasting interest in the lives and work of the people. democracy, the people, or the toiling class, was engaged in a fierce battle with those forces which it held to be its natural enemies. it was a battle of the rich against the poor, of the masters against the men, of right against might. england was a sick nation, at war with itself, and chartism and the chartists were some of the signs of the disease. the early victorian age is the age of thomas carlyle, the stern, grim prophet, who, undaunted by poverty and ill-health, painted england in dark colours as a country hastening to its ruin. his message was old and yet new--for men had forgotten it, as they always have from age to age. this was an age of competition, of 'supply and demand'; brotherly love had been forgotten and 'cash payment' had taken its place. carlyle denounced this system as "the shabbiest gospel that had been taught among men." he urged upon government the fact that it was their _duty_ to educate and to uplift the masses, and upon the masters that they should look upon their workers as something more than money-making machines. the old system of guilds, in which the apprentice was under the master's direct care, had gone and nothing had been put in its place. the value of carlyle's teaching lies in the fact that he insisted upon the sanctity of work. "all true work is religion," he said, and the essence of every true religion is to be found in the words, "know thy work and do it." the best test of the worth of every nation is to be found in their standard of life and work and their rejection of a life of idleness. "to make some nook of god's creation a little fruitfuller, better, more worthy of god; to make some human hearts, a little wiser, manfuler, happier--more blessed, less accursed! it is work for a god. . . . unstained by wasteful deformities, by wasted tears or heart's-blood of men, or any defacement of the pit, noble, fruitful labour, growing ever nobler, will come forth--the grand sole miracle of man, whereby man has risen from the low places of this earth, very literally, into divine heavens. ploughers, spinners, builders, prophets, poets, kings: . . . all martyrs, and noble men, and gods are of one grand host; immeasurable; marching ever forward since the beginnings of the world."[ ] [footnote : carlyle, _past and present_.] carlyle was, above all things, sincere; he looked into the heart of things, and hated half-beliefs. men, he said, were accustoming themselves to say what they did not believe in their heart of hearts. the standard of english work had become lower; it was 'cheap and nasty,' and this in itself was a moral evil. good must in time prevail over evil; the christian religion was the strongest thing in the world, and for this reason had conquered. he believed in wise compassion--that is to say, he kept his sympathy for those who truly deserved it, for the mass of struggling workers with few or none to voice their bitter wrongs. his teachings are a moral tonic for the age, and though for a long time they were unpopular and distasteful to the majority, yet he lived to see much accomplished for which he had so earnestly striven. literature was beginning to take a new form. the novel of 'polite' society was giving place to the novel which pictured life in cruder and harsher colours. the life of the toiling north, of the cotton spinners and weavers was as yet unknown to most people. in appeared _mary barton_, a book dealing with the problems of working life in manchester. mrs gaskell, its author, who is best known to most readers by her masterpiece _cranford_, achieved an instant success and became acquainted with many literary celebrities, including ruskin, dickens, and charlotte bronte, whose life she wrote. _mary barton_ was written from the point of view of labour, and _north and south_, which followed some years later, from that of capital. her books are exact pictures of what she saw around her during her life in manchester, and many incidents from her own life appear in their pages. _north and south_ shows us the struggle not only between master and men, as representing capital and labour, but also between ancient and modern civilizations. the south is agricultural, easy-going, idyllic; the north is stern, rude, and full of a consuming energy and passion for work. these are the two englands of mrs gaskell's time. the ways of the manufacturing districts, which seem unpleasing to those who do not really know them, are described with a faithful yet kindly pen, and we see that each life has its trials and its temptations. in the south all is not sunshine, and the life of the labourer can be very hard--"a young person can stand it; but an old man gets racked with rheumatism, and bent and withered before his time; yet he must work on the same, or else go to the workhouse." in the north men are often at enmity with their masters, and fight them by means of the strike. "state o' trade! that's just a piece of masters' humbug. it's rate o' wages i was talking of. th' masters keep th' state o' trade in their own hands, and just walk it forward like a black bug-a-boo, to frighten naughty children with into being good. i'll tell yo' it's their part--their cue, as some folks call it--to beat us down, to swell their fortunes; and it's ours to stand up and fight hard--not for ourselves alone, but for them round about us--for justice and fair play. we help to make their profits, and we ought to help spend 'em. it's not that we want their brass so much this time, as we've done many a time afore. we'n getten money laid by; and we're resolved to stand and fall together; not a man on us will go in for less wage than th' union says is our due. so i say, 'hooray for the strike.'" the story appeared in _household words_, a new magazine of which charles dickens was the editor. he expressed especial admiration for the fairness with which mrs gaskell had spoken of both sides. nicholas higgins, whose words are quoted above, is a type of the best lancashire workman, who holds out for the good of the cause, even though it might mean ruin and poverty to himself--"that's what folk call fine and honourable in a soldier, and why not in a poor weaver-chap?" dickens himself wrote _hard times_, dealing with the same subject. this appeared about the same time, and the two books should be read and compared, for, although _hard times_ is not equal in any way to _north and south_, it is interesting. as ruskin said of dickens' stories, "allowing for the manner of telling them, the things he tells us are always true. . . . he is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially _hard times_, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions." during all these years the 'chartists' had been vainly struggling to force parliament to proceed with reform of their grievances. in a monster petition was to be presented to both houses by their leaders, but london was garrisoned by troops under the duke of wellington on the fateful day, and the chartist army broke up, never to be reunited. quarrels among themselves proved, in the end, fatal to their cause. a new party, the christian socialists, took their place; force gave way to union and co-operation. a new champion, charles kingsley, or 'parson lot,' stood forth as the chartist leader. the hard winter and general distress of the year nearly provoked another rising, and in his novel entitled _yeast_ kingsley pictures the 'condition of england' question as it appeared to one who knew it from the seamy side. especially did he blame the church, which, he said, offered a religion for "jacob, the smooth man," and was not suited for "poor esau." this was indeed most true as regards the agricultural classes, where the want was felt of a real religion which should gain a hold upon a population which year by year was fast drifting loose from all ties of morality and christianity. the peasantry, once the mainstay of england and now trodden down and neglected, cannot rise alone and without help from those above them. "what right have we to keep them down? . . . what right have we to say that they shall know no higher recreation than the hogs, because, forsooth, if we raised them they might refuse to work--_for us_? are _we_ to fix how far their minds may be developed? has not god fixed it for us, when he gave them the same passions, talents, tastes, as our own?" the farm labourer, unlike his brothers in the north, had no spirit left to strike. his sole enjoyment--such as it was--consisted in recalling "'the glorious times before the war . . . when there was more food than there were mouths, and more work than were hands.' "'i say, vather,' drawled out some one, 'they say there's a sight more money in england now than there was afore the war-time.' "'ees, booy,' said the old man, 'but _it's got into too few hands_.'" the system of 'sweating' among the london tailors had grown to such an extent that kingsley was determined, if possible, to put an end to it, and with this purpose in view he wrote _cheap clothes and nasty_. the government itself, he declares, does nothing to prevent sweating; the workmen declare that "government contract work is the worst of all, and the starved-out and sweated-out tailor's last resource . . . there are more clergymen among the customers than any other class; and often we have to work at home upon the sunday at their clothes in order to get a living." he followed this up with _alton locke_, dealing especially with the life and conditions of work of the journeymen tailors, and the chartist riots. both sides receive some hard knocks, for kingsley was a born fighter, and his courage and fearlessness won him many friends, even among the most violent of the chartists. the character of alton locke was probably drawn from life, and was intended to be william lovett, at one time a leader in the chartist ranks. after a long fight with poverty, when he frequently went without a meal in order to save the money necessary for his education, he rose to a position of some influence. he was one of the first to propose that museums and public galleries should be opened on sundays, for he declared that most of the intemperance and vice was owing to the want of wholesome and rational recreation. he insisted that it was necessary to create a moral, sober, and thinking working-class in order to enable them to carry through the reforms for which they were struggling. disgust with the violent methods of many of his associates caused him at last to withdraw from their ranks. kingsley looked up to carlyle as his master, to whom he owed more than to any other man. "of the general effect," he said, "which his works had upon me, i shall say nothing: it was the same as they have had, thank god, on thousands of my class and every other." when, finally, violent methods proved of no avail and the chartist party dissolved, the democratic movement took a fresh lease of life. as carlyle had already pointed out, the question of the people was a 'knife and fork' question--that is to say, so long as taxes were levied upon the necessities of life, the poorer classes, who could least of all afford to pay, would become poorer. sir robert peel was the first to remove this injustice, by substituting a tax upon income for the hundred and one taxes which had pressed so heavily upon the poor. manufacturers were now able to buy their raw materials at a lower price, and need no longer pay such low wages to keep up their profits. in peel went a step farther, and in order to relieve the famine in ireland, he removed the duty on corn. thus, since corn could now be imported free, bread became cheaper. the corn law repealers had fought for years to bring this about. their leader and poet, ebenezer elliott, declared that "what they wanted was bread in exchange for their cottons, woollens, and hardware, and no other thing can supply the want of that one thing, any more than water could supply the want of air in the black hole of calcutta." bad government is the deadly will that takes what labour ought to keep, it is the deadly power that makes bread dear and labour cheap. it was not until there had been many riots and much bloodshed that the irish famine forced peel at last to give way. a third party of reformers were working for the same end. this was the 'young england' party, whose leader was disraeli, a rising young politician. by birth a jew, he had joined the english church and the ranks of the tory party. his early works are chiefly sketches of social and political life and are not concerned with the 'question of the people.' he took as his motto the words shakespeare puts into ancient pistol's mouth, why, then the world's mine oyster, which i with sword will open, thus showing at an early age that he had a firm belief in his own powers. from the beginning of his career he never hesitated in championing the cause of the people, and declared that "he was not afraid or ashamed to say that he wished more sympathy had been shown on both sides towards the chartists." the people had begun to look upon the upper classes as their oppressors, who were living in comfort upon the profits wrung from their poorer brethren. thomas cooper in his autobiography describes the reckless and irreligious spirit which continued poverty was creating among the half-starved weavers: "'let us be patient a little longer, lads, surely god almighty will help us.' 'talk no more about thy goddle mighty,' was the sneering reply; 'there isn't one. if there _was_ one, he wouldn't let us suffer as we do.'" the chartists were opposed to the anti-corn law party, for they thought that the cry of 'cheap bread' meant simply 'low wages,' and was a trap set to catch them unawares. the young england party believed in themselves as the leaders of a movement which should save england through its youth. they were, however, known in parliament in their early days as "young gentlemen who wore white waistcoats and wrote spoony poetry." 'young england' wished for a return of the feudal relations between the nobility and their vassals; the nobles and the church, as in olden days, were to stretch out a helping hand to the poor, to feed the hungry, and succour the distressed. national customs were to be revived, commerce and art were to be fostered by wealthy patrons. the crown was once more to be in touch with the people. "if royalty did but condescend to lower itself to a familiarity with the people, it is curious that they will raise, exalt, and adore it, sometimes even invest it with divine and mysterious attributes. if, on the contrary, it shuts itself up in an august seclusion, it will be mocked and caricatured . . . if the great only knew what stress the poor lay by the few forms that remain, to join them they would make many sacrifices for their maintenance and preservation."[ ] [footnote : george smythe, viscount strangford, _historic fancies_.] it was to lay the views of his party and himself before the public that disraeli published the three novels, _coningsby_, _sybil_, and _tancred_. _coningsby_ deals with the political parties of that time, and is full of thinly-disguised portraits of people then living; _sybil_, from which a quotation is given elsewhere, is a study of life among the working-classes; _tancred_ discusses what part the church should take in the government of the people. though the life of the 'young england' party was short, it succeeded by means of agitation in and out of parliament in calling public attention to the harshness of the new poor law and the need for social reform. carlyle was again the writer who influenced the young disraeli, for the latter saw that to accomplish anything of real value he must form his own party and break loose from the worn-out beliefs and prejudices of both political parties. though in later days he will be remembered as a statesman rather than as a novelist, it is necessary to study those three books in order to understand what england and the english were in victoria's early years. each of these reform parties had rendered signal service in their own fashion: church, government, and people were no longer disunited, distinctions of class had been broken down, and with their disappearance chartism came to an end. the failure of the "physical force" chartists in had served to enforce the lesson taught by carlyle and kingsley, that the way to gain reform was not through deeds of violence and bloodshed. each man must learn to fit himself for his part in the great movement toward reform. intelligence, not force, must be their weapon. after years of bitter strife between the two nations, england a last enjoyed peace within her own borders--that peace which a patriot poet, ernest jones, during a time of bitter trial had so earnestly prayed for: god of battles, give us peace! rich with honour's proud increase; peace that frees the fettered brave; peace that scorns to make a slave; peace that spurns a tyrant's hand; peace that lifts each fallen land; peace of peoples, not of kings; peace that conquering freedom brings; peace that bids oppression cease; god of battles, give us peace! _appendix to chapter vi_ . the chartist movement. the chartists demanded ( ) annual parliaments; ( ) manhood suffrage; ( ) vote by ballot; ( ) equal electoral districts; ( ) abolition of the property qualification for members of parliament; ( ) payment for members of parliament. the reform act of had brought the middle classes into power, and the working classes were now striving to better their own condition. the anti-corn law league, formed in this year, was largely a middle-class agitation supported by merchants and manufacturers. the great northern towns had been enfranchised by the reform bill, and sent as leaders of the movement richard cobden and john bright. both parties in parliament were opposed to a total abolition of the corn laws. . a motion for free trade defeated in parliament by a large majority. . agitation in ireland for the repeal of the union. daniel o'connell, the leader, arrested. he was found guilty of conspiracy, but his sentence was afterward revoked by the house of lords. . failure of the potato crop in ireland. . repeal of the corn laws, in order to open the ports free to food stuffs. free trade established and the prices of food begin to fall. . the year of revolution. france proclaims a republic with prince louis napoleon, nephew of napoleon i, as its president. risings in austria and italy. renewal of the chartist agitation. the meeting in london to present a petition to parliament proves a failure. - . years of prosperity owing to free trade and growth of intelligence among the working classes prove the chief causes of the death of chartism. the workers now begin to aim at reforms through their trades unions. the co-operative movement set on foot in rochdale in leads to the formation of many other branches. between the years and national imports nearly treble, and exports more than double, themselves. thomas carlyle ( - ). his writings more than those of any other man give us a key to the meaning of the early victorian age. . _chartism_. . _heroes and hero worship_. . _past and present_. . _latter-day pamphlets_. charles dickens ( - ). . _pickwick papers_. . _oliver twist_ (the evils of the workhouse). . _david copperfield_ (contains sketches of dickens' early life). . _hard times_. . _little dorrit_ (the marshalsea prison for debtors). disraeli, lord beaconsfield ( - ). . _coningsby_ (political life and the 'young england' policy). . _sybil_ (the claims of the people). . _tancred_ (the church and the state). ebenezer elliott ( - ). . _corn law rhymes_ (the poet of the workers and of sorrow). elizabeth cleghorn gaskell ( - ). . _mary barton_ (industrial lancashire during the crisis of ). . _north and south_ (the struggle between master and man). charles kingsley[ ] ( - ). . _yeast_ (the hard lives of the agricultural labourers). . _alton locke_ (life and labour of the city poor). [footnote : the prince consort was a great admirer of the works of charles kingsley, which, he said, in speaking of _two years ago_, showed "profound knowledge of human nature, and insight into the relations between man, his actions, his destiny, and god." the queen was also one of his admirers, and in she appointed him one of her chaplains. later on he delivered a series of lectures on history to the prince of wales.] charles reade ( - ). . _it is never too late to mend_ (life in an english prison). . _hard cash_ (an exposure of bad administration of lunatic asylums). john ruskin ( - ). . _the two paths_. . _unto this last_. . _fors clavigera_. (in the last-named book ruskin describes the scheme of his st george's guild, an attempt to restore happiness to england by allying art and science with commercial industry.) chapter vii: _the children of england_ "from the folding of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. . . . they were a boy and a girl. yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. . . . 'they are man's,' said the spirit, looking down upon them. 'and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. this boy is ignorance. this girl is want. beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow i see that written which is doom, unless the writing be erased.'"[ ] [footnote : charles dickens, _a christmas carol_.] in surveying the long reign of queen victoria nothing strikes one more than the gradual growth of interest in children, and the many changes in the nation's ideas of their upbringing and education. at the beginning of her reign the little children of the poor were for the most part slaves, and were often punished more cruelly by their taskmasters than the slaves one reads of in _uncle tom's cabin_. when disraeli, afterward lord beaconsfield and prime minister, wrote _sybil_, he drew, in that book, a terrible picture of the life of children in the manufacturing districts and in the country villages. the following extract speaks for itself: "there are many in this town who are ignorant of their very names; very few who can spell them. it is rare that you meet with a young person who knows his own age; rarer to find the boy who has seen a book, or the girl who has seen a flower. ask them the name of their sovereign and they will laugh; who rules them on earth or who can save them in heaven are alike mysteries to them." in such a town as disraeli describes there were no schools of any kind, and the masters treated their apprentices "as the mamelouks treated the egyptians." the author declares that "there is more serfdom now in england than at any time since the conquest. . . . the people were better clothed, better fed, and better lodged just before the wars of the roses than they are at this moment. the average term of life among the working classes is seventeen." one of the first results of machinery taking the place of human labour was that an enormous number of women and young children of both sexes were employed in the factories in place of grown men, who were no longer needed. especially in the spinning mills thousands of men were thrown out of work, and lower wages were paid to those who took their place. this led directly to the breaking up of the home and home-life. the wives were often obliged to spend twelve to thirteen hours a day in the mills; the very young children, left to themselves, grew up like wild weeds and were often put out to nurse at a shilling or eighteenpence a day. one reads of tired children driven to their work with blows; of children who, "too tired to go home, hide away in the wool in the drying-room to sleep there, and could only be driven out of the factory with straps; how many hundreds came home so tired every night that they could eat no supper for sleepiness and want of appetite, that their parents found them kneeling by the bedside where they had fallen asleep during their prayers." elizabeth barrett browning, one of the greatest poets of victoria's reign, pleads for mercy and human kindness in her "cry of the children." do ye hear the children weeping, o my brothers, ere the sorrow comes with years? they are leaning their young heads against their mothers, and _that_ cannot stop their tears. the young lambs are bleating in the meadows, the young birds are chirping in the nest, the young fawns are playing with the shadows, the young flowers are blowing toward the west-- but the young, young children, o my brothers, they are weeping bitterly! they are weeping in the playtime of the others, in the country of the free. "for oh," say the children, "we are weary, and we cannot run or leap; if we cared for any meadows, it were merely to drop down in them and sleep. our knees tremble sorely in the stooping, we fall upon our faces, trying to go; and, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping the reddest flower would look as pale as snow; for, all day, we drag our burden tiring through the coal-dark underground-- or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron in the factories, round and round." in the country the state of affairs was no better. new systems of industrial production threw large numbers of farm hands out of work, the rate of wages fell, and machinery, steam, and the work of women and children took the place of the labourer. the children found a champion in lord ashley, afterward lord shaftesbury, who succeeded in the face of much opposition in his efforts to pass laws which should do away with such shameful wrong and injustice. the increased amount of coal used ( - / million tons at the beginning of the century, - / million tons in ) naturally led to the demand for more workers, and it was owing to this that the proposals of lord shaftesbury met with such opposition from the mine-owners, who feared that if child labour were made illegal they would not have sufficient 'hands' to work the mines and that they would have to pay higher wages. the act of forbade altogether the employment of women and girls in the mines, and allowed only boys of the age of ten or more to do such work. the poor law guardians of the time used to send children into the mines at the age of seven as a means of finding employment for them. the hours of work were limited to ten daily and fifty-eight each week. little or no attempt was made in the bill to give children the means of obtaining a good education, although considerably more than half the children in the country never went to school at all, and many large towns were without a proper school. by a previous factory act of all children under fourteen years of age were compelled to attend school for two hours daily. the employer was allowed to deduct one penny a week from the child's wages to pay the teacher. this proved absolutely useless, as the masters employed worn-out workers as teachers, and in consequence the children learnt nothing at all. it was not until the year that a bill was passed in parliament to create an adequate number of public elementary schools for every district in the kingdom. to show the increase in the number of schools built, there were in the year , , and in the year , , . but the children of england owe almost as much to charles dickens as they do to lord shaftesbury. he was almost the first, and certainly the greatest, writer who, with a heart overflowing with sympathy for little children, has left us in his books a gallery of portraits which no one can ever forget. he himself, "a very small and not over-particularly-taken-care-of boy," passed through a time of bitter poverty, and his stay at school, short as it was, was not a period of his life upon which he looked back with any pleasure. the material for his books was drawn from life--from his own and from the lives of those around him--and for this reason all that he wrote will always be of great value, as it gives us a good idea of the early and mid victorian days. his ambition was to strike a blow for the poor, "to leave one's hand upon the time, lastingly upon the time, with one tender touch for the mass of toiling people." who can ever forget in the _christmas carol_ the crippled tiny tim, "who behaved as good as gold and better. somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. he told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon christmas day who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see." other pictures of suffering childhood are 'little nell' and 'the marchioness' in _the old curiosity shop_, 'jo' and 'charley' in _bleak house_, and 'smike,' the victim of the inhuman schoolmaster 'squeers.' the cruelty of the times is shown in the case of an unfortunate sempstress who tried to earn a living by making shirts for three-halfpence each. once, when she had been robbed of her earnings, she tried to drown herself. the inhuman magistrate before whom she was brought told her that she had "no hope of mercy in this world." it was after hearing of this from charles dickens that thomas hood wrote the well-known "song of the shirt": work--work--work! from weary chime to chime, work--work--work as prisoners work for crime! band, and gusset, and seam, seam, and gusset, and band, till the heart is sick, and the brain benumbed, as well as the weary hand. the age might well take to heart the lesson taught by the great-souled writer--that the two chief enemies of the times were ignorance and want. the lot of the unfortunate children in the union workhouses was no better. they were treated rather worse than animals, with no sympathy or kindness, owing to the ignorance of those who were set in authority over them. any one who reads _oliver twist_ may learn the nature of the life led by the 'pauper' children in those 'good old days.' "the members of this board were very sage, deep, philosophical men; and when they came to turn their attention to the workhouse, they found out at once, what ordinary folks would never have discovered--the poor people liked it! it was a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes; a tavern where there was nothing to pay; a public breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper all the year round; a brick and mortar elysium, where it was all play and no work. 'oho!' said the board, looking very knowing, 'we are the fellows to set this to rights; we'll stop it all, in no time.' so, they established the rule, that all poor people should have the alternative (for they would compel nobody, not they) of being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by a quick one out of it. with this view, they contracted with the waterworks to lay on an unlimited supply of water; and with a corn-factor to supply periodically small quantities of oatmeal; and issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half a roll on sundays. . . . relief was inseparable from the workhouse and the gruel; and that frightened people." a movement which helped, possibly far more than any other, to better the lot of the children of the poor commenced with the foundation of the ragged school union, of which the queen became the patroness. out of this sprang a small army of agencies for well-doing. commencing only with evening schools, which soon proved insufficient, the founders established day schools, with classes for exercise and industrial training: children were sent to our colonies where they would have a better chance of making a fair start in life; training ships, cripples' homes, penny banks, holiday homes followed, and from these again the numerous homes and orphanages which entitle us to call the victorian age the age of kindness to children. charles dickens took the keenest interest in the work of the ragged schools. a letter from lord shaftesbury quoted in his life gives a clear idea of the marvellous work they had accomplished up to the year : "after a period of years, from a single school of five small infants, the work has grown into a cluster of some schools, an aggregate of nearly , children, and a body of voluntary teachers, most of them the sons and daughters of toil. . . . of more than , children, which, on the most moderate calculation, we have a right to conclude have passed through these schools since their commencement, i venture to affirm that more than , of both sexes have been placed out in various ways--in emigration, in the marine, in trades and in domestic service. for many consecutive years i have contributed prizes to thousands of the scholars; and let no one omit to call to mind what these children were, whence they came, and whither they were going without this merciful intervention. they would have been added to the perilous swarm of the wild, the lawless, the wretched, and the ignorant, instead of being, as by god's blessing they are, decent and comfortable, earning an honest livelihood, and adorning the community to which they belong." dickens believed, first of all, in teaching children cleanliness and decency before attempting anything in the form of education. "give him, and his," he said, "a glimpse of heaven through a little of its light and air; give them water; help them to be clean; lighten the heavy atmosphere in which their spirits flag and which makes them the callous things they are . . . and then, but not before, they will be brought willingly to hear of him whose thoughts were so much with the wretched, and who had compassion for all human sorrow." chapter viii: _ministering women_ honour to those whose words or deeds thus help us in our daily needs; and by their overflow raise us from what is low! longfellow no account of the reign of queen victoria would be complete without some reference to the achievements of women, more especially when their work has had for its chief end and aim the alleviation of suffering. woman has taken a leading part in the campaign which has been and is now being ceaselessly carried on against the forces of sin, ignorance, and want. in the early years of victoria's reign the art of sick-nursing was scarcely known at all. the worst type of nurse is vividly pictured for us by charles dickens in _martin chuzzlewit_: "she was a fat old woman, this mrs gamp, with a husky voice and a moist eye, which she had a remarkable power of turning up, and only showing the white of it. having very little neck, it cost her some trouble to look over herself, if one may say so, at those to whom she talked. she wore a very rusty black gown, rather the worse for snuff, and a shawl and bonnet to correspond. in these dilapidated articles of dress she had, on principle, arrayed herself, time out of mind on such occasions as the present; . . . the face of mrs gamp--the nose in particular--was somewhat red and swollen, and it was difficult to enjoy her society without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits." for a long time, though it had been recognized that the care of the sick was woman's work, no special training was required from those undertaking it. florence nightingale did away with all such wrong ideas. in a letter on the subject of training she wrote: "i would say also to all young ladies who are called to any particular vocation, qualify yourselves for it, as a man does for his work. don't think you can undertake it otherwise. . . . if you are called to man's work, do not exact a woman's privileges--the privilege of inaccuracy, of weakness, ye muddle-heads. submit yourselves to the rules of business, as men do, by which alone you can make god's business succeed; for he has never said that he will give his success and his blessing to inefficiency, to sketchy and unfinished work." she prepared herself for her life's work by years of hard study and ten years' training, visiting all the best institutions in germany, france, and italy. she gave up a life of ease and comfort in order to develop her natural gift to the utmost. her opportunity was not long in coming. in the crimean war broke out. most of the generals in the english army were old men whose experience of actual warfare dated back to the early days of the century. everything was hopelessly mismanaged from the beginning. in august the english and french allied forces moved against the fortress of sebastopol, from which russia was threatening an attack on constantinople. troops were landed in a hostile country without the means of moving them away again; there was little or no provision made to transport food, baggage, or medical stores. after the victory of alma lord raglan marched on to balaclava, and here the transport utterly broke down. the soldiers, in addition to undertaking hard fighting, were forced to turn themselves into pack-mules and tramp fourteen miles through the mud in the depth of winter in order to obtain food and warm blankets for their comrades and themselves. their condition rapidly became terrible. their clothing wore to rags, their boots--mostly of poor quality--gave out entirely. their food--such as it was--consisted of biscuit, salt beef or pork, and rum. no vegetables could be obtained, and for want of green food scurvy broke out among the troops. stores were left decaying in the holds of transports, and the doctors were forced to see men dying before their eyes without the means of helping them. the loss of life from the actual fighting was considerable, but more particularly so from the insanitary condition of the camp and the wretched hospital arrangements. the actual figures of our losses in the war speak for themselves. out of a total loss of , , only fell in battle; , died from other causes in hospital. several regiments lost nearly all their men, and during the first seven months of the siege men died so fast that in a year and a half no army would have been left at all. william russell, the special correspondent of _the times_, first brought this appalling state of affairs to the notice of the public, and the nation at last woke up. a universal outburst of indignation forced ministers to act, and to act quickly. stores were hurried to the front; fresh troops were sent out to relieve the almost exhausted remnants of the army, and on the st october florence nightingale, with a band of nurses, set sail; she arrived on the very eve of the battle of inkerman. within a few months of her arrival it is estimated that she had no fewer than ten thousand sick men in her charge, and the rows of beds in one hospital alone measured two and one-third miles in length. her influence over the rough soldiers was extraordinary; one of them said of her: "she would speak to one and another, and nod and smile to many more; but she could not do it to all, you know--we lay there in hundreds--but we could kiss her shadow as it fell, and lay our heads on the pillow again, content." out of chaos she made order, and there were no more complaints of waste and inefficiency. she never quitted her post until the war was at an end, and on her return to england she received a national welcome. she was received by the queen and presented with a jewel in commemoration of her work, and no less than fifty thousand pounds was subscribed by the nation, a sum which was presented by miss nightingale to the hospitals to defray the expenses of training nurses. [illustration: florence nightingale] since this time no war between civilized peoples has taken place without trained nurses being found in the ranks of both armies, and at the convention of geneva, some years later, it was agreed that in time of war all ambulances, military hospitals, etc., should be regarded as neutral, and that doctors and nurses should be considered as non-combatants. nursing rapidly became a profession, and from the military it spread to the civil hospitals, which were used as training schools for all who took up the work. florence nightingale's advice was sought by the government and freely given upon every matter which affected the health of the people, and it is entirely owing to her influence and example that speedy reforms were carried out, especially in the army. her noble work was celebrated by longfellow, in his poem "santa filomena," often better known as "the lady with the lamp": thus thought i, as by night i read of the great army of the dead, the trenches cold and damp, the starved and frozen camp, the wounded from the battle-plain, in dreary hospitals of pain, the cheerless corridors, the cold and stony floors. lo! in that house of misery a lady with a lamp i see pass through the glimmering gloom, and flit from room to room. and slow, as in a dream of bliss, the speechless sufferer turns to kiss her shadow, as it falls upon the darkening walls. the queen followed the course of the war with painful interest. "this is a terrible season of mourning and sorrow," she wrote; "how many mothers, wives, sisters, and children are bereaved at this moment. alas! it is that awful accompaniment of war, disease, which is so much more to be dreaded than the fighting itself." and again, after a visit to chatham: "four hundred and fifty of my dear, brave, noble heroes i saw, and, thank god, upon the whole, all in a very satisfactory state of recovery. such patience and resignation, courage, and anxiety to return to their service. such fine men!" many acts had been passed in previous reigns to improve the disgraceful state of the prisons in this country, but it was left to a band of workers, mostly quakers, led by elizabeth fry, to bring about any real improvement. any one who wishes to read what dens of filth and hotbeds of infection prisons were at this time need only read the account of the fleet prison in the _pickwick papers_ and of the marshalsea in _little dorrit_. reform proved at first to be a very slow and difficult matter. new laws passed in and insisted upon cleanliness and regular labour for all prisoners; chaplains and matrons for female prisoners were appointed. the public, however, got the idea--as in the case of workhouses--that things were being made too comfortable for the inmates, and the society for the improvement of prison discipline was bitterly attacked. mrs fry had started work in newgate prison, then justly considered to be the worst of all the bad prisons in the country. the condition of the women and children was too dreadful to describe, and she felt that the only way to introduce law and decency into this 'hell upon earth' was by influencing the children. she founded a school in the prison, and it was not long before there was a marked improvement in the appearance and behaviour of both the children and the women. the success of her work attracted public attention, and a committee of the house of commons was appointed to inquire into the condition of the london prisons. mrs fry was called upon to give evidence, and she recommended several improvements, _e.g._ that prisoners should be given some useful work to do, that rewards should be given for good behaviour, and that female warders should be appointed. she visited other countries in order to study foreign prison systems, and her work in the prisons led her to consider what could be done to improve the condition of the unfortunate women who were transported as convicts. she succeeded in improving matters so much that female warders were provided on board ship, and proper accommodation and care on their arrival at their destination. even such a tender-hearted man and friend of the poor as thomas hood, author of "song of the shirt," misunderstood mrs fry's aims, for in a poem called "a friendly address to mrs fry," he wrote: no--i will be your friend--and, like a friend, point out your very worst defect--nay, never start at that word! but i _must_ ask you why you keep your school _in_ newgate, mrs fry? your classes may increase, but i must grieve over your pupils at their bread and waters! oh, though it cost you rent--(and rooms run high)-- keep your school _out_ of newgate, mrs fry! in the face of domestic sorrows and misfortunes, mrs fry persevered until the day of her death in in working for the good of others. the work in this direction was continued by mary carpenter, whose father was the headmaster of a bristol school. she began her life's work after a severe outbreak of cholera in bristol in . at this time there were practically no reformatory or industrial schools in the country, and mary carpenter set to work with some friends to found an institution near bristol. she worked to save children--especially those whose lives were spent in the midst of sin and wickedness--from becoming criminals, and in order to bring this about she aimed at making their surroundings as homelike and cheerful as possible. she even helped to teach the children herself, as she found great difficulty in finding good assistants. she wished to convince the government that her methods were right, and so persuade them to set up schools of a similar kind throughout the country. the great lord shaftesbury was her chief supporter, but it was not until the year that mary carpenter succeeded in her desire, when a bill was passed establishing reformatory schools. from this time her influence rapidly increased, and it is mainly owing to her efforts that at the present day such precautions are taken to reform young criminals on the sound principle of "prevention is better than cure." mary carpenter also visited india no fewer than four times in order to arouse public opinion there to the need for the better education of women, and at a later date she went to america, where she had many warm friends and admirers. she had, as was only natural, been keenly interested in the abolition of negro slavery. one of the most distinguished women in literature during the victorian age was harriet martineau. at an early age it was evident that she was gifted beyond the ordinary, and at seven years old she had read milton's "paradise lost" and learnt long portions of it by heart. her health was extremely poor; she suffered as a child from imaginary terrors which she describes in her autobiography, and she gradually became deaf. she bore this affliction with the greatest courage and cheerfulness, but misfortunes followed one another in rapid succession. her elder brother died of consumption, her father lost large sums of money in business, and the grief and anxiety so preyed upon his mind that he died, leaving his family very badly off. this, and the loss later on of the little money they had left, only served to strengthen miss martineau's purpose. she studied and wrote until late in the night, and after her first success in literature, when she won all three prizes offered by the unitarian body for an essay, she set to work on a series of stories which were to illustrate such subjects as the effect of machinery upon wages, free trade, etc. after the manuscript had been refused by numerous publishers, she succeeded in getting it accepted, and the book proved an extraordinary success. she moved to london, and her house soon became the centre where the best of literature and politics could always be discussed. she was consulted even by cabinet ministers, but in spite of all the praise and adulation she remained quite unspoiled. the idea of women taking part in public movements was still not altogether pleasing to the majority of people, who were apt to look upon 'learned' women as 'blue-stockings,' a name first used in england in the previous century in rather a contemptuous way. come, let us touch the string, and try a song to sing, though this is somewhat difficult at starting, o! and in our case more than ever, when a desperate endeavour, is made to sing the praise of harry martineau! of bacon, eggs, and butter, rare philosophy she'll utter; not a thing about your house but she'll take part in, o! as to mine, with all my soul, she might take (and pay) the whole-- but that is all my eye and harry martineau! her political economy is as true as deuteronomy; and the monster of distress she sticks a dart in, o! yet still he stalks about, and makes a mighty rout, but that we hope's my eye and harry martineau! in she visited the united states, and here she was able to study the question of slavery. she joined the body of the 'abolitionists,' and as a result was attacked from all sides with the utmost fury, for the northern states stood solid against abolition. but she remained unmoved in her opinion, and when in the great civil war broke out, her writings were the means of educating public opinion. it was largely due to her that this country did not foolishly support the secession of the southern states from the union. during a period of five years she was a complete invalid, and some of her best books, including her well-known stories for children, _feats on the fiord_ and _the crofton boys_, were written in that time. after her recovery her life was busier than ever. she wrote articles for the daily papers, but her chief pleasure lay in devising schemes for improving the lot of her poorer neighbours. she organized evening lectures for the people, and founded a mechanics' institute and a building society. during her life-time she was the acknowledged leader on all moral questions, especially those which affected the lives of women. "it has always been esteemed our special function as women," she said, "to mount guard over society and social life--the spring of national existence." chapter ix: _balmoral_ it was in balmoral castle that the husband and wife most loved to be with their children. here they could lead a simple life free from all restraints, "small house, small rooms, small establishment. . . . there are no soldiers, and the whole guard of the sovereign consists of a single policeman, who walks about the grounds to keep off impertinent intruders and improper characters. . . . the prince shoots every morning, returns to luncheon, and then they walk or drive. the queen is running in and out of the house all day long, and often goes about alone, walks into the cottages, and chats with the old women." the queen loved her life here even more than the prince, and every year she yearned for it more and more. "it is not alone the pure air, the quiet and beautiful scenery, which makes it so delightful," she wrote; "it is the atmosphere of loving affection, and the hearty attachment of the people around balmoral which warms the heart and does one good." it was during the year that the royal couple paid their first visit to balmoral. the queen had long wished to possess a home of her own in the highlands where her husband could indulge in some outdoor sport, and where they both could enjoy a brief rest, from time to time, from the anxiety and care of state affairs. their life there during the years - is described by the queen in her diary, _leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands_. it was first published after the prince's death and was dedicated to him in the words: "to the dear memory of him who made the life of the writer bright and happy, these simple records are lovingly and gratefully inscribed." the first impressions were very favourable: "it is a pretty little castle in the old scottish style. there is a picturesque tower and garden in front, with a high wooded hill; at the back there is wood down to the dee; and the hills rise all around." their household was, naturally, a small one, consisting of the queen's maid of honour, the prince's valet, a cook, a footman, and two maids. among the outdoor attendants was john brown, who in was attached to the queen as one of her regular attendants everywhere in the highlands, and remained in her service until his death. "he has all the independence and elevated feelings peculiar to the highland race, and is singularly straightforward, simple-minded, kind-hearted and disinterested; always ready to oblige; and of a discretion rarely to be met with." the old castle soon proved to be too small for the family, and in september the foundation-stone of a new house was laid. after the ceremony the workmen were entertained at dinner, which was followed by highland games and dancing in the ballroom. two years later they entered the new castle, which the queen described as "charming; the rooms delightful; the furniture, papers, everything perfection." the prince was untiring in planning improvements, and in the queen wrote: "every year my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise, and so much more so now, that _all_ has become my dearest albert's _own_ creation, own work, own building, own laying out as at osborne; and his great taste, and the impress of his dear hand, have been stamped everywhere. he was very busy today, settling and arranging many things for next year." visits to the cottages of the old people on the estate and in the neighbourhood were a constant source of delight and pleasure to the queen, and often when the prince was away for the day shooting, she would pay a round of calls, taking with her little presents. the old ladies especially loved a talk with their queen. "the affection of these good people, who are so hearty and so happy to see you, taking interest in everything, is very touching and gratifying," she remarked upon them. "we were always in the habit of conversing with the highlanders--with whom one comes so much in contact in the highlands. the prince highly appreciated the good breeding, simplicity, and intelligence, which make it so pleasant, and even instructive to talk to them." in september , soon after moving into the new castle, the news arrived of the fall of sebastopol, and this was taken as an omen of good luck. the prince and his suite sallied forth, followed by all the population, to the cairn above balmoral, and here, amid general cheering, a large bonfire was lit. the pipes played wildly, the people danced and shouted, guns and squibs were fired off, and it was not until close upon midnight that the festivities came to an end. during the same month the princess royal became engaged to prince frederick william of prussia, who was then visiting balmoral. acting on the queen's advice, prince frederick did not postpone his good fortune until a later date, as he had at first intended, but during a ride up craig-na-ban, he picked a piece of white heather (the emblem of 'good luck') and offered it to the young princess, and this gave him an opportunity of declaring his love. these extracts, printed from the queen's journals, were intended at first for presentation only to members of the royal family and her majesty's intimate friends, especially to those who had accompanied her during her tours. it was, however, suggested to the queen that her people would take even as keen an interest in these simple records of family life, especially as they had already shown sincere and ready sympathy with her personal joys and sorrows. "the book," its editor says, "is mainly confined to the natural expressions of a mind rejoicing in the beauties of nature, and throwing itself, with a delight rendered keener by the rarity of its opportunities, into the enjoyment of a life removed, for the moment, from the pressure of public cares." it is of particular interest because here the queen records from day to day her thoughts and her impressions in the simplest language; here she can be seen less as a queen than as a wife and mother. her interest in her whole household and in all those immediately around her is evident on almost every page. to quote again: "she is, indeed, the mother of her people, taking the deepest interest in all that concerns them, without respect of persons, from the highest to the lowest." as a picture of the royal court in those days this is exceedingly valuable, for it shows what an example the queen and her husband were setting to the whole nation in the simple life they led in their highland home. that the old people especially loved her can be seen from the greetings and blessings she received in the cottages she used to visit. "may the lord attend ye with mirth and with joy; may he ever be with ye in this world, and when ye leave it." [illustration: queen victoria in the highlands g. amato] the queen was never weary of the beauties of the highlands, and quotes the following lines from a poem by arthur hugh clough to describe 'god's glorious works': the gorgeous bright october, then when brackens are changed, and heather blooms are faded, and amid russet of heather and fern, green trees are bonnie; alders are green, and oaks; the rowan scarlet and yellow; one great glory of broad gold pieces appears the aspen, and the jewels of gold that were hung in the hair of the birch tree; pendulous, here and there, her coronet, necklace, and earrings, cover her now, o'er and o'er; she is weary and scatters them from her. in the year the queen published _more leaves from the journal_, and dedicated it "to my loyal highlanders, and especially to the memory of my devoted personal attendant and faithful friend, john brown." they are records of her life in scotland during the years to . in the august of a huge cairn, thirty-five feet high, was erected to the memory of the prince consort. it was set on the summit of craig lowrigan, where it could be seen all down the valley. a short extract will serve as a specimen of the queen's style of writing: "at a quarter to twelve i drove off with louise and leopold in the waggonette up to near the 'bush' (the residence of william brown, the farmer) to see them 'juice the sheep.' this is a practice pursued all over the highlands before the sheep are sent down to the low country for the winter. it is done to preserve the wool. not far from the burnside, where there are a few hillocks, was a pen in which the sheep were placed, and then, just outside it, a large sort of trough filled with liquid tobacco and soap, and into this the sheep were dipped one after the other; one man took the sheep one by one out of the pen and turned them on their backs; and then william and he, holding them by their legs, dipped them well in, after which they were let into another pen into which this trough opened, and here they had to remain to dry. to the left, a little lower down, was a cauldron boiling over a fire and containing the tobacco with water and soap; this was then emptied into a tub, from which it was transferred into the trough. a very rosy-faced lassie, with a plaid over her head, was superintending this part of the work, and helped to fetch the water from the burn, while children and many collie dogs were grouped about, and several men and shepherds were helping. it was a very curious and picturesque sight." chapter x: _the great exhibition_ the idea of a "great exhibition of the works and industries of all nations" was prince albert's. the scheme when first proposed in was coldly received in this country. it was intended, to use the prince's own words, "to give us a true test and a living picture of the point of development at which the whole of mankind has arrived in this great task, and a new starting-point from which all nations will be able to direct their further exertions." _the times_ led the attack against the proposed site in hyde park, and the public was uneasy at the thought of large numbers of foreigners congregating in london, and at the expected importation of foreign goods. as showing the absurd things which 'john bull' could say at this time in his jealousy and dislike of foreigners the prince wrote: "the strangers, they give out, are certain to commence a thorough revolution here, to murder victoria and myself, and to proclaim the red republic in england; the plague is certain to ensue from the confluence of such vast multitudes, and to swallow up those whom the increased price of everything has not already swept away. for all this i am to be responsible, and against all this i have to make efficient provision." _punch_ pictured the young prince begging, cap in hand, for subscriptions: pity the sorrows of a poor, young prince whose costly schemes have borne him to your door; who's in a fix, the matter not to mince, oh! help him out, and commerce swell your store! such constant worry and anxiety affected the prince's health, but the support of sir robert peel and of many great firms gradually wore down the opposition. the building was designed by paxton, who had risen from being a gardener's boy in the duke of devonshire's service to the position of the greatest designer of landscape-gardening in the kingdom. he took his main ideas for the crystal palace from the great conservatories at kew and chatsworth. it was like a huge greenhouse in shape, nearly one thousand feet long and ninety feet high, with fountains playing in the naves and a great elm-tree in full leaf under the roof. on may , , the opening day, everything went well. the crowds in the streets were immense, and there were some , visitors present in the building during the opening ceremony. lord macaulay was much impressed with the exhibition, for he wrote after the opening: "i was struck by the numbers of foreigners in the streets. all, however, were respectable and decent people. i saw none of the men of action with whom the socialists were threatening us. . . . i should think there must have been near three hundred thousand people in hyde park at once. the sight among the green boughs was delightful. the boats, and little frigates, darting across the lake; the flags; the music; the guns;--everything was exhilarating, and the temper of the multitude the best possible. . . . "i made my way into the building; a most gorgeous sight; vast; graceful; beyond the dreams of the arabian romances. i cannot think that the caesars ever exhibited a more splendid spectacle. i was quite dazzled, and i felt as i did on entering st peter's. i wandered about, and elbowed my way through the crowd which filled the nave, admiring the general effect, but not attending much to details." and again on the last day he wrote: "alas! alas! it was a glorious sight; and it is associated in my mind with all whom i love most. i am glad that the building is to be removed. i have no wish to see the corpse when the life has departed." the royal party were received with acclamation all along the route. "it was a complete and beautiful triumph,--a glorious and touching sight, one which i shall ever be proud of for my beloved albert and my country," wrote the queen. six million people visited the great fair during the time it remained open. in one respect, however, it could scarcely be considered a triumph for this country. it was still an ugly, and in some respects a vulgar, age. the invention of machinery had done little or nothing to raise the level of the public taste for what was appropriate and beautiful in design. that an article cost a large sum of money to manufacture and to purchase seemed sufficient to satisfy the untrained mind. generally speaking, the taste of the producers was uneducated and much inferior to that of the french. most of the designs in carpets, hangings, pottery, and silks were merely copies, and were often extremely ugly. england, at this time the first among the industrial nations, had utterly failed to hold her own in the arts. machinery had taken the place of handwork, and with the death of the latter art and industry had ceased to have any relation. public taste in architecture was equally bad. a 'revival' of the art of the middle ages resulted only in a host of poor imitations. "thirty or forty years ago, if you entered a cathedral in france or england, you could say at once, 'these arches were built in the age of the conqueror--that capital belonged to the earlier henrys.' . . . now all this is changed. you enter a cathedral, and admire some iron work so rude you are sure it must be old, but which your guide informs you has just been put up by smith of coventry. you see . . . some painted glass so badly drawn and so crudely coloured it must be old--jones of newcastle."[ ] [footnote : fergusson, _history of modern styles of architecture_.] john ruskin, who was in many ways the greatest art teacher of his age, was the first to point out the value and the method of correct observation of all that is beautiful in nature and in art. in an address on "modern manufacture and design," delivered to the working men of bradford, he declared: "without observation and experience, no design--without peace and pleasurableness in occupation, no design--and all the lecturings, and teachings, and prizes and principles of art, in the world are of no use, so long as you don't surround your men with happy influences and beautiful things. . . . inform their minds, refine their habits, and you form and refine their designs; but keep them illiterate, uncomfortable, and in the midst of unbeautiful things, and whatever they do will still be spurious, vulgar, and valueless." at the time, however, the exhibition proved a great success, and the duke of coburg carried most favourable impressions away with him. he says: "the queen and her husband were at the zenith of their fame. . . . prince albert was not satisfied to guide the whole affair only from above; he was, in the fullest sense of the word, the soul of everything. even his bitterest enemies, with unusual unreserve, acknowledged the completeness of the execution of the scheme." so far from there being a loss upon the undertaking there was actually half a million of profit. the proceeds were devoted to securing ground at south kensington upon which a great national institute might be built. this undertaking (the purchase of the ground) was not carried through without great difficulty and anxiety. the queen's sympathy and encouragement were, as always, of the greatest help to her husband, and he quoted a verse from a german song, to illustrate how much he felt and appreciated it: when man has well nigh lost his hope in life, upwards in trust and love still looks the wife, towards the starry world all bright with cheer, faint not nor fear, thus speaks her shining tear. the great exhibition was sufficient proof--if any had been needed--of how the prince with his wife laboured incessantly for the good of others. without his courage, perseverance, and ability there is no doubt that this great undertaking would never have been carried through successfully. he recognized the fact that princes live for the benefit of their people; his desire for the improvement in all classes was never-ending, and from him his wife learnt many lessons which proved of the greatest value to her in later life when she stood alone and her husband was no longer there to aid her with his unfailing wise advice. a second exhibition was held in , and so far as decorative art was concerned there were distinct signs of improvement. 'art manufacture' had now become a trade phrase, but manufacturers were still far from understanding what 'art' really meant. as an instance of this, one carpet firm sent a carpet to be used as a hanging on which napoleon iii is depicted presenting a treaty of commerce to the queen. particular attention had apparently been paid to the 'shine' on napoleon's top boots and to the queen's smile! the prince's great wish was to restore to the workman his pride in the work of his hands, to relieve the daily toil of some of its irksomeness by the interest thus created in it, and, where the work was of a purely mechanical nature, and individual skill and judgment were not called for, he wished the worker to understand the principles upon which the machine was built and the ingenuity with which it worked. his schemes for the building and equipment of museums of science and art were arranged with the purpose in view that both rich and poor should have equal opportunities of seeing what improvements had been made throughout the ages, and how vast and far-reaching the effects of such improvements were on the lives of the whole nation. it was under his direction that the pictures in the national gallery were first arranged in such a manner as to show the history and progress of art. in his own words: "our business is not so much to create, as to learn to appreciate and understand the works of others, and we can never do this till we have realized the difficulties to be overcome. acting on this principle myself, i have always tried to learn the rudiments of art as much as possible. for instance, i learnt oil-painting, water-colours, etching, lithography, etc., and in music i learnt thorough bass, the pianoforte, organ, and singing--not, of course, with a view of doing anything worth looking at or hearing, but simply to enable me to judge and appreciate the works of others." it is interesting to note how closely the views of the prince agreed with those of john ruskin in matters of art and literature. ruskin declared that it was the greatest misfortune of the age that, owing to the wholesale introduction of machinery, the designer and maker were nearly always different people instead of being one and the same person. he declared that no work of art could really be 'living' or capable of moving us to admiration as did the masterpieces of the middle ages unless the maker had thought out and designed it himself. it was largely owing to his teachings that the 'arts and crafts' movement under william morris and walter crane arose--a movement which has since that time spread over the whole civilized world. in , together with some of his friends, morris formed a company to encourage the use of beautiful furniture and to introduce 'art in the house.' morris himself had learnt to be a practical carpet-weaver and dyer, and had founded the society for the protection of ancient buildings. all the work of this firm was done by hand as far as possible; only the best materials were to be used and designs were to be original. they manufactured stained glass, wall paper, tapestry, tiles, embroidery, carpets, etc., and many of the designs were undertaken by edward burne-jones. dante gabriel rossetti, the poet-painter, holman hunt (best remembered by his famous picture "the light of the world ") and others, formed what was known as the pre-raphaelite brotherhood, to instruct public taste in creative work in art and literature. at the kelmscott press some of the most beautiful printed books of their kind were produced under the direction of morris. ruskin, like so many others of his time, was greatly influenced by carlyle, and his views on the 'condition of england' question were practically the same. he bewailed the waste of work and of life, the poverty and the 'sweating.' he urged employers to win the goodwill of those who worked for them as the best means of producing the best work. he preached the 'rights' of labour--that high wages for good work was the truest economy in the end, and that beating down the wages of workers does not pay in the long run. he declared that the only education worth having was a 'humane' education--that is, first of all, the building of character and the cultivation of wholesome feelings. "you do not educate a man by telling him what he knew not, but by making him what he was not," was the theory which he endeavoured to put into practice by experiments such as an attempt to teach every one to "learn to do something well and accurately with his hands." in common with wordsworth ruskin held that the love of nature was the greatest of educators. he believed that the world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. the beauty and the everlasting marvel of nature's works were, to him as to the poet of the lakes, the real road to knowledge: come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher. an education of not the brain alone, but of heart and hand as well, all three working in co-operation, was necessary to raise man to the level of an intelligent being. ruskin's teachings fared no better than those of carlyle at first, and though he is spoken of sometimes as being 'old-fashioned,' yet his lesson is of the old-fashioned kind which does live and will live, for, like dickens, he knew how to appeal to the hearts of his readers. he is one of the most picturesque writers in the language, a man of great nobility of character and generous feelings, who had a tremendous belief in himself and knew how to express his thoughts in the most beautiful language. some of his books, for example _sesame and lilies_ and _unto this last_, are probably destined for immortality. chapter xi: _albert the good_ the year was a black year for the queen. on march th her mother, the duchess of kent, died. she had been living for some time at frogmore, a pleasant house in the windsor home park, and here in the mausoleum erected by her daughter her statue is to be seen. she was sincerely loved by every member of her household, and her loss was felt as one affecting the whole nation. in the words of disraeli: "she who reigns over us has elected, amid all the splendour of empire, to establish her life on the principle of domestic love. it is this, it is the remembrance and consciousness of this, which now sincerely saddens the public spirit, and permits a nation to bear its heartfelt sympathy to the foot of a bereaved throne, and to whisper solace to a royal heart." the death of the queen's' mother came as a great shock to the prince consort. the queen was, for a time, utterly unable to transact any business, and this added to his already heavy burden of cares and responsibilities. in the following november the king of portugal died. the prince had loved him like a son, and this fresh disaster told so severely upon his health that he began to suffer much from sleeplessness. the strain of almost ceaseless work for many years was gradually wearing him out. he had never been afraid of death, and not long before his last illness he had said to his wife: "i do not cling to life. you do; but i set no store by it. if i knew that those i love were well cared for, i should be quite ready to die to-morrow. . . . i am sure, if i had a severe illness, i should give up at once, i should not struggle for life." on the st of december the queen felt anxious and depressed. her husband grew worse and could not take food without considerable difficulty, and this made him very weak and irritable. the physicians in attendance were now obliged to tell her that the illness was low fever, but that the patient himself was not to know of this. the ministers became alarmed at his state, and when the news of his illness became public there was the greatest and most universal anxiety for news. in spite of slight improvements from time to time, the prince showed no power of fighting the disease, and on the evening of the th december he passed gently away. it is no exaggeration to say that the death of the queen's beloved husband saddened every home in the land; it was a sorrow felt equally by the highest and the lowest. he died in the fulness of his manhood, leaving her whom he had loved and guarded so tenderly to reign in lonely splendour. in the dedication of _idylls of the king_ to the memory of prince albert, tennyson, the poet-laureate, wrote: break not, o woman's-heart, but still endure; break not, for thou art royal, but endure, remembering all the beauty of that star which shone so close beside thee that ye made one light together, but has past and leaves the crown a lonely splendour. when one looks over the vista of years which have passed since that mournful day, it is with sadness mingled with regret. for it is too true that "a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country." 'albert the good' was, like many other great men, in advance of his times, and not until he was dead did the nation as a whole realize the blank he had left behind him. even so late as greville writes in his diary of the extraordinary attacks which were made upon the prince in the public press. letter after letter, he noted, appeared "full of the bitterest abuse and all sorts of lies. . . . the charges against him are principally to this effect, that he has been in the habit of meddling improperly in public affairs, and has used his influence to promote objects of his own and the interests of his own family at the expense of the interests of this country; that he is german and not english in his sentiments and principles; that he corresponds with foreign princes and with british ministers abroad without the knowledge of the government, and that he thwarts the foreign policy of the ministers when it does not coincide with his own ideas and purposes." and again: "it was currently reported in the midland and northern counties, and actually stated in a scotch paper, that prince albert had been committed to the tower, and there were people found credulous and foolish enough to believe it." but english gratitude is always such to hate the hand which doth oblige too much. these words of daniel defoe help to explain something of the attitude of a part of the nation toward the prince in his lifetime. he had given his life in the service of his wife and his adopted country, but he was a 'foreigner,' and the insular briton, brought up in the blissful belief that "one englishman was as good as three frenchmen," could not and would not overcome his distrust of one who had not been, like himself, so singularly blessed in his nationality. but time has its revenges, and the services of prince albert will "smell sweet and blossom in the dust" long after the very names of once famous lights of the victorian era have been forgotten. his home life was singularly sweet and happy, and a great contrast to that of some of his wife's predecessors upon the english throne. the queen, writing to her uncle leopold in this the twenty-first year of their marriage, says: "_very_ few can say with me that their husband at the end of twenty-one years is _not_ only full of the friendship, kindness, and affection which a truly happy marriage brings with it, but the same tender love of the _very first days of our marriage_!" the prince, in a letter to a friend, rejoiced that their marriage "still continues green and fresh and throws out vigorous roots, from which i can, with gratitude to god, acknowledge that much good will yet be engendered for the world." the finest tribute to the prince consort's memory is to be found in the dedication written by lord tennyson to his _idylls of the king_: these to his memory--since he held them dear, perchance as finding there unconsciously some image of himself--i dedicate, i dedicate, i consecrate with tears-- these idylls. like arthur, 'the flower of kings,' he was a man of ideals, above petty jealousies and small ambitions: hereafter, thro' all times, albert the good. the _idylls_ produced such a deep impression upon the prince that he wrote to the author, asking him to inscribe his name in the volume. the book remained always a great favourite with him, and princess frederick william was engaged upon a series of pictures illustrating her favourite passages at the time of his death. an enumeration of the varied activities of prince albert during his lifetime would need a volume. his position was always a difficult one and was seldom made easier by the section of the press which singled him out as a target for its poisoned arrows. only a strong sense of duty and an unwavering belief in his wife's love could have sustained him through the many dark hours of tribulation and sorrow. he rose early all the year round, and prepared drafts of answers to the queen's ministers, wrote letters and had cleared off a considerable amount of work before many men would have thought of beginning the day's tasks. [illustration: the albert memorial] no article of any importance in the newspapers or magazines escaped his attention. every one appealed to him for help or advice, and none asked in vain. his wide knowledge and judgment were freely used by the queen's statesmen, and the day proved all too short for the endless amount of work which had to be done. in spite of increasing burdens and poor health he was always in good spirits. "at breakfast and at luncheon, and also at our family dinners, he sat at the top of the table, and kept us all enlivened by his interesting conversation, by his charming anecdotes, and droll stories without end of his childhood, of people at coburg, of our good people in scotland, which he would repeat with a wonderful power of mimicry, and at which he would himself laugh most heartily. then he would at other times entertain us with his talk about the most interesting and important topics of the present and of former days, on which it was ever a pleasure to hear him speak."[ ] [footnote : queen victoria's _journal_.] his rule in life was to make his position entirely a part of the queen's, "to place all his time and powers at her command." every speech which he made in public was carefully considered beforehand, and then written out and committed to memory. as he had to speak in a foreign tongue, he considered this precaution absolutely necessary. at the same time it often made him feel shy and nervous when speaking before strangers, and this sometimes gave to those who did not know him a mistaken impression of coldness and reserve. his sympathy with the working classes was sincere and practical. he was convinced that "any real improvement must be the result of the exertion of the working people themselves." he was president of the society for improving the condition of the labouring classes, and never lost an opportunity of pointing out that, to quote his own words, "the royal family are not merely living upon the earnings of the people (as these publications try to represent) without caring for the poor labourers, but that they are anxious about their welfare, and ready to co-operate in any scheme for the amelioration of their condition. we may possess these feelings, and yet the mass of the people may be ignorant of it, because they have never heard it expressed to them, or seen any tangible proof of it." his grasp of detail and knowledge of home and foreign political affairs astonished every one who met him, ministers and ambassadors alike. his writing-table and that of the queen stood side by side in their sitting-room, and here they used to work together, every dispatch which left their hands being the joint work of both. the prince corrected and revised everything carefully before it received the queen's signature. considering the small amount of time at his disposal, it was remarkable how much he was able to read, and read thoroughly, both with the queen and by himself. "not many, but much," was his principle, and every book read was carefully noted in his diary. even to the last he exerted his influence in the cause of peace. the american civil war broke out in , and great britain declared her neutrality. but an incident, known as 'the trent affair,' nearly brought about a declaration of war. the southern states, or 'confederates,' as they were usually called, sent two commissioners to europe on board the british mail steamer _trent_. the _trent_ was fired upon and boarded by a federal officer, who arrested the commissioners. this was regarded as an insult to our flag, as it was a breach of international law to attack the ship of a neutral power. the government therefore decided to demand redress, and a dispatch, worded by palmerston, was forwarded to the queen for her signature. the prince realized at once that if the dispatch were forwarded as it was written it would lead to open war between the northern states and our country, and he suggested certain alterations to the queen, who agreed to them. a more courteously worded message was sent, and the northern states at once agreed to liberate the commissioners and offered an ample apology. chapter xii: _friends and advisers_ possibly the person to whom the queen owed most--next to her husband--was lord melbourne. his position at the time when the young queen came to the throne was a unique one. victoria was just eighteen years of age--that is to say, if she had been a little younger it would have been necessary to appoint a regent until such time as she came of age. for many years it had not been a matter of certainty that she would succeed to the throne, and the late king's unreliable temper had been the means of preventing the matter from being properly arranged as regards certain advantages which might have been given to the princess during his life-time. in many ways, however, it was fortunate that the queen came to the throne at such an early age: if her knowledge of state politics was small, she possessed, at any rate, a well-trained mind, a sense of duty, and a clear idea as to the responsibilities of her position as ruler of a great nation. there had been four reigning queens in this country before victoria, but all of them had had some previous training for their duties. the two tudor queens came of a ruling stock, and were older in years and experience. the times, too, were very different. queen elizabeth, for example, before coming to the throne possessed an intimate knowledge of political affairs, and experience--she had been confined in the tower of london and narrowly escaped losing her head--had endowed her with the wisdom of the serpent. the two stuart queens were no longer young, and both were married. the circumstances in the case of the young victoria were thus totally different. she stood alone, and it was clear that some one must help her to grapple with the thousand and one difficulties which surrounded her. it was for some time uncertain who would undertake the duty, until, almost before he had realized it himself, lord melbourne found himself in the position of 'guide, philosopher, and friend.' how he devoted himself to this work can be judged from the fact that no one--not even any of his opponents--regarded him with the slightest mistrust or jealousy. melbourne was at this time fifty-eight years of age, an honourable, honest-hearted englishman. he was sympathetic by nature, fond of female society, and, in addition, was devoted to the queen. his manner toward her was always charming, and he was in constant attendance upon her. nor was the training which the queen received from him limited to politics, but matters of private interest were often discussed. every morning he brought dispatches with him to be read and answered; after the midday meal he went out riding with her, and, whenever his parliamentary duties allowed, he was to be found at her side at the dinner-table. when he retired from office he was able to state with pride that he had seen his sovereign every day during the past four years. the news of her engagement to prince albert was received by him with the keenest pleasure, and the queen in writing to her uncle says: "lord melbourne, whom i of course have consulted about the whole affair, quite approves my choice, and expresses great satisfaction at the event, which he thinks in every way highly desirable. lord melbourne has acted in this business, as he has always done toward me, with the greatest kindness and affection." it was a real wrench to the queen when the time for parting came. melbourne, with his easy-going nature and somewhat free and easy language, had schooled himself as well as his young pupil, and had become a friend as well as an adviser. some words of greville's might aptly serve for this great statesman's epitaph: "it has become his providence to educate, instruct, and form the most interesting mind and character in the world. no occupation was ever more engrossing or involved greater responsibility . . . it is fortunate that she has fallen into his hands, and that he discharges this great duty wisely, honourably, and conscientiously." the queen was equally fortunate in his successor, sir robert peel, a statesman for whom she had every confidence and respect, "a man who thinks but little of party and never of himself." peel was never afraid of making up his mind and then sticking to his plan of action, although, as often happened, it brought him into opposition with members of his own party. in his hands both the queen and her husband felt that the interests of the crown were secure. peel naturally felt considerable embarrassment on first taking up office, as he had given support in the previous year to a motion which proposed cutting down the prince's income. but the prince felt no resentment, and so frank and cordial was his manner that peel, following lord melbourne's lead, continued to keep him, from day to day, thoroughly in touch with the course of public affairs. the relations between the queen and her minister were cordial in the extreme. peel appreciated very fully her simple domestic tastes, and he was able at a later date to bring before her notice osborne, which might serve as a "loophole of retreat" from the "noise and strife and questions wearisome." the queen was delighted with the estate. "it is impossible to see a prettier place, with woods and valleys and _points de vue_, which would be beautiful anywhere; but when these are combined with the sea (to which the woods grow down), and a beach which is quite private, it is really everything one could wish." in the queen asked lord aberdeen if she could not show in some way her appreciation of the courage with which sir robert peel had brought forward and supported two great measures, in the face of tremendous opposition. she suggested that he should be offered the order of the garter, the highest distinction possible. sir robert peel's reply was that he would much prefer not to accept any reward at all; he sprang, he said, from the people, and such a great honour in his case was out of the question. the only reward he asked for was her majesty's confidence, and so long as he possessed that he was content. when his ministry came to an end the prince wrote to him, begging that their relations should not on that account cease. sir robert replied, thanking him for "the considerate kindness and indulgence" he had received at their hands, and regretting that he should no longer be able to correspond so frequently as before. the prince and he were in the fullest sympathy in matters of politics, art, and literature, and peel had supported the prince loyally through all the anxieties connected with the arrangements for the great exhibition. his death in was a calamity. prince albert, in a letter, speaks of peel as "the best of men, our truest friend, the strongest bulwark of the throne, the greatest statesman of his time." the duke of wellington said in the upper house: "in all the course of my acquaintance with sir robert peel i never knew a man in whose truth and justice i had a more lively confidence, or in whom i saw a more invariable desire to promote the public service. in the whole course of my communications with him i never knew an instance in which he did not show the strongest attachment to truth; and i never saw in the whole course of my life the slightest reason for suspecting that he stated anything which he did not believe to be the fact." the queen writing to her uncle said that "albert . . . felt and feels sir robert's loss dreadfully. he feels he has lost a second father." as a statesman it was said of him that "for concocting, producing, explaining and defending measures, he had no equal, or anything like an equal." by far the most interesting person who acted as both friend and adviser to the queen and her husband was the baron christian friedrich von stockmar, who had been private physician to prince leopold, and afterward private secretary and controller of his household. he took an active part in the negotiations which led to his master becoming king of the belgians. long residence in this country had given him a thorough knowledge of england and the english, and he claimed friendship with the leading diplomatists both at home and on the european continent. in he retired to coburg, but later was chosen, as we have seen, to lend his valuable advice toward bringing about a union between prince albert and queen victoria, both of whom he knew and admired. immediately before victoria's accession king leopold had sent him to england, where his counsel, judgment, and thorough knowledge of the english constitution were placed at the service of the young princess. he accompanied prince albert on a tour in italy, and again returned to england to make arrangements for the prince's future household. all that he did during this period was done quietly and behind the scenes, and though he was a foreigner by birth, he worked to bring about the marriage for the sake of the country he loved so well. he looked upon england as the home of political freedom. "out of its bosom," he stated, "singly and solely has sprung america's free constitution, in all its present power and importance, in its incalculable influence upon the social condition of the whole human race; and in my eyes the english constitution is the foundation-, corner-, and cope-stone of the entire political civilization of the human race, present and to come." he soon became the prince's confidential adviser, and his unrivalled knowledge and strict sense of truth and duty proved of the utmost value. he endeared himself to both the queen and the prince, and successive statesmen trusted him absolutely for his freedom from prejudice and for his sincerity. in he drew up for the queen some rules for the education of her children. "a man's education begins the first day of his life," was one of his maxims. he insisted that "the education of the royal infants ought to be from its earliest beginning _a truly moral and a truly english one_." the persons to whom the children are entrusted should receive the full support and confidence of the parents, otherwise "education lacks its very soul and vitality." he suggested that a lady of rank should be placed at the head of the nursery, as being better able to understand the responsibilities and duties attached to the education and upbringing of the queen's children. his advice was again taken when it was necessary to settle upon what plan the young prince of wales should be educated. stockmar's judgment of men was singularly correct and just. he formed the highest opinion of sir robert peel, and on the duke of wellington's death in he wrote in a letter to the prince a masterly analysis of the great commander's character, concluding with these words: "as the times we live in cannot fail to present your royal highness with great and worthy occasions to distinguish yourself, you should not shrink from turning them to account . . . as wellington did, for the good of all, yet without detriment to yourself." the prince corresponded regularly with 'the good stockmar,' and always in time of doubt and trial came sage counsel from his trusted friend. in fact, the prince took both the queen and his friend equally into his confidence; they were the two to whom he could unbosom himself with entire freedom. disraeli, afterward lord beaconsfield, obtained the queen's fullest confidence and won her friendship to an extent which no minister since melbourne had ever been able to do. 'dizzy,' the leader of the 'young england' party, the writer of political novels, was a very different person from the statesman of later years. it is difficult to remember or to realize in these days that it was looked upon as something quite extraordinary for a member of a once despised and persecuted race, the jews, to hold high office. the annual celebrations of 'primrose day,' april , the anniversary of his death, are sufficient proof that this great statesman's services to the british empire are not yet forgotten. lord beaconsfield, whom she regarded with sincere affection, possessed a remarkable influence over the queen, for the simple reason that he never forgot to treat her as a woman. he was noted throughout his life for his chivalry to the opposite sex, and his devotion to his wife was very touching. he was a firm believer in the power of the crown for good. "the proper leader of the people," he declared, "is the individual who sits upon the throne." he wished the sovereign to be in a position to rule as well as to reign, to be at one with the nation, above the quarrels and differences of the political parties, and to be their representative. when quite a young man, he declared that he would one day be prime minister, and with this end in view he entered parliament against the wishes of his family. he was an untiring worker all his life, and a firm believer in action. "act, act, act without ceasing, and you will no longer talk of the vanity of life," was his creed. his ideas on education were original, and he did everything in his power to improve the training of the young. in he supported the great measure for a scheme of national education. some years earlier he declared that "it is an absolute necessity that we should study to make every man the most effective being that education can possibly constitute him. in the old wars there used to be a story that one englishman could beat three members of some other nation. but i think if we want to maintain our power, we ought to make one englishman equal really in the business of life to three other men that any other nation can furnish. i do not see otherwise how . . . we can fulfil the great destiny that i believe awaits us, and the great position we occupy." he did more than any other minister to raise the crown to the position it now occupies, and no monarch ever had a more devoted and faithful servant. his high standard of morals and his force of character especially appealed to the english people, and his loyalty to his friends and colleagues remained unshaken throughout his whole life. he impressed not only his own countrymen, but also foreigners, with his splendid gifts of imagination and foresight. bismarck, the man of 'blood and iron,' who welded the disunited states of germany into a united and powerful empire, considered that queen victoria was the greatest statesman in europe, and of the great beaconsfield he said: "disraeli _is_ england." disraeli was a master of wit and phrase, and many of his best sayings and definitions have become proverbial, _e.g._ "the hansom, the 'gondola' of london," "our young queen and our old institutions," "critics, men who have failed," "books, the curse of the human race." [illustration: sir robert peel, lord melbourne, benjamin disraeli photo w.a. mansell & co.] the central figure of his time was the statesman-warrior, the great duke of wellington, '_the_ duke.' after the famous marlborough, england had not been able to boast of such a great commander. he was the best known figure in london, and though he never courted popularity or distinction, yet he served his queen as prime minister when desired. "the path of duty" was for him "the way to glory." in the greatest wish of his life was realized when the queen and her husband paid him a two days' visit at his residence, strathfieldsaye. alfred tennyson's "ode on the death of the duke of wellington," in , praises him as 'truth-teller' and 'truth-lover,' and mourns for him: let the long, long procession go, and let the sorrowing crowd about it grow, and let the mournful, martial music blow; the last great englishman is low. in striking contrast to the 'iron duke' was the man whom disraeli could never learn to like, lord john russell. generally depicted in the pages of _punch_ as a pert, cocksure little fellow, 'little johnny,' the leader of the whig party was a power as a leader. he knew how to interpret the queen's wishes in a manner agreeable to herself, yet he did not hesitate, when he thought it advisable, to speak quite freely in criticism of her actions. his ancestors in the bedford family had in olden days been advisers of the crown, and lord john thus came of a good stock; he himself, nevertheless, was always alert to prevent any encroachment upon the growing powers and rights of the people. he was a favourite of the queen, and she gave him as a residence a house and grounds in richmond park. he was a man of the world and an agreeable talker, very well read, fond of quoting poetry, and especially pleased if he could indulge in reminiscences in his own circle of what his royal mistress had said at her last visit. finally, mention must be made of one who, though he held no high position of state, can with justice be regarded as both friend and adviser of the queen--john brown. he entered the queen's service at balmoral, became later a gillie to the prince consort, and in the queen's personal outdoor attendant. he was a man of a very straightforward nature and blunt speech, and even his royal mistress was not safe at times from criticism. in spite of his rough manner, he possessed many admirable qualities, and on his death in the queen caused a granite seat to be erected in the grounds of osborne with the following inscription: a truer, nobler, trustier heart, more loving and more loyal, never beat within a human breast. chapter xiii: _queen and empire_ what should they know of england who only england know? the england of queen elizabeth was the england of shakespeare: this royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of mars, this other eden, demi-paradise; this fortress built by nature for herself against infection and the hand of war; this happy breed of men, this little world, this precious stone set in the silver sea, which serves it in the office of a wall, or as a moat defensive to a house, against the envy of less happier lands; this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this england. in tennyson's _princess_ we find an echo of these words, where the poet, in contrasting england and france, monarchy and republic--much to the disadvantage of the latter--says: god bless the narrow sea which keeps her off, and keeps our britain, whole within herself, a nation yet, the rulers and the ruled. but at a later date, in an "epilogue to the queen," at the close of the _idylls of the king_, tennyson has said farewell to his narrow insular views, and speaks of our ocean-empire with her boundless homes for ever-broadening england, and her throne in our vast orient, and one isle, one isle, that knows not her own greatness: if she knows and dreads it we are fall'n. he had come to recognize the necessity for guarding and maintaining the empire, with all its greatness and all its burdens, as part of this country's destiny. it is a little difficult to realize that the british empire, as we now know it, has been created within only the last hundred years. beaconsfield, in his novel _contarini fleming_, describes the difference between ancient and modern colonies. "a modern colony," he says, "is a commercial enterprise, an ancient colony was a political sentiment." in other words, colonies were a matter of 'cash' to modern nations, such as the spaniards: in the time of the ancients there was a close tie, a feeling of kinship, and the colonist was not looked upon with considerable contempt and dislike by the mother country. beaconsfield believed that there would come a time, and that not far distant, when men would change their ideas. "i believe that a great revolution is at hand in our system of colonization, and that europe will soon recur to the principles of the ancient polity." this feeling of pride in the growth and expansion of our great over-seas dominions is comparatively new, and there was a time when british ministers seriously proposed separation, from what they considered to be a useless burden. the ignorance of all that concerned the colonies in the early years of victoria's reign was extraordinary, and this accounted, to a great extent, for the indifference with which the english people regarded the prospect of drifting apart. lord beaconsfield was a true prophet, for this indifference is now a thing of the past, and in the year an imperial federation league was formed, which, together with the celebrations at the jubilees in and , helped to knit this country and the dominions together in bonds of friendship and sympathy. the rapid improvements in communication have brought the different parts of the empire closer together; the imperial penny postage and an all-british cable route to australia have kept us in constant touch with our kinsmen in every part of the world where the union jack is flown. but this did not all come about in a day. prejudice and dislike are difficult to conquer, and it was chiefly owing to the efforts of lord beaconsfield that they were eventually overcome. imperialism too often means 'jingoism,'--wild waving of flags and chanting of such melodies as: we don't want to fight, but, by jingo, if we do, we've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too. the true imperialism is "defence, not defiance." beaconsfield looked back into the past and sought to "resume the thread of our ancient empire." for him empire meant no easy burden but a solemn duty, a knitting together of all the varied races and religions in one common cause. "peace with honour" was his and england's watchword. he believed, in fact, like shakespeare, in saying beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear't, that th' opposed may beware of thee. he was very particular on the duty of "if necessary, saying rough things kindly, and not kind things roughly," which was a lesson lord palmerston never seemed to be capable of learning. another of his maxims was that it was wiser from every point of view to treat semi-barbarous nations with due respect for their customs and feelings. he preached confederation and not annexation. "by pursuing the policy of confederation," he declared, "we bind states together, we consolidate their resources, and we enable them to establish a strong frontier, that is the best security against annexation." his whole policy was to foster the growth of independence and build the foundations of a peace which should be enduring. "both in the east and in the west our object is to have prosperous, happy, and contented neighbours." the object of his imperialism was to progress, at the same time paying due respect to the traditions of the past; he rightly believed that the character of a nation, like that of an individual, is strengthened by responsibility. "the glory of the empire and the prosperity of the people" was what he hoped to achieve. during the anxious times of the indian mutiny he alone seemed to grasp the real meaning of this sudden uprising of alien races. he declared that it was a revolt and not a mutiny; a revolt against the english because of their lack of respect for ancient rights and customs. after the war was ended he declared that the government ought to tell the people of india "that the relation between them and their real ruler and sovereign, queen victoria, shall be drawn nearer." this should be done "in the queen's name and with the queen's authority." he appealed to the whole indian nation by his 'royal titles bill,' by means of which the queen received the title of empress of india. this brought home to the minds and imaginations of the native races the real meaning and grandeur of the empire of which they were now a part. the great queen was now _their_ empress, or, to use the indian title, '_kaiser-i-hind_.' the queen took the deepest interest in the proclamation to the indian people in , and insisted on a number of alterations before she would allow it to be passed as satisfactory. she wrote to lord derby asking him to remember that "it is a female sovereign who speaks to more than a hundred millions of eastern people on assuming the direct government over them after a bloody, civil war, giving them pledges which her future reign is to redeem, and explaining the principles of her government. such a document should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence, and religious feeling, pointing out the privileges which the indians will receive in being placed on an equality with the subjects of the british crown, and the prosperity following in the train of civilization." direct mention was to be made of the introduction of railways, canals, and telegraphs, with an assurance that such works would be the cause of general welfare to the indian people. in conclusion she added: "her majesty wishes expression to be given to her feelings of horror and regret at the results of this bloody civil war, and of pleasure and gratitude to god at its approaching end, and her majesty thinks the proclamation should terminate by an invocation to providence for its blessing on a great work for a great and good end." the amended proclamation was read in every province in india and met everywhere with cordial approval by princes and natives alike. the feeling of loyalty was aroused by the queen's assurance that "in your prosperity is our strength, in your contentment our security, and in your gratitude our best reward." on may , , in england, and on july , , in india, there was a general thanksgiving for the restoration of peace. although the queen was never able to visit india in person, in the prince of wales went, at her request, to mark her appreciation of the loyalty of the native princes. the welcome given to the future king of england was truly royal. reviews, banquets, illuminations, state dinners followed one another in rapid succession. benares, the sacred city of the hindoos, was visited, and here the prince witnessed a great procession which included large numbers of elephants and camels, and an illumination of the entire river and city. at delhi, the capital of the great mogul, the prince was met by lord napier of magdala at the head of fifteen thousand troops, and at lucknow an address and a crown set with jewels were presented to him. [illustration: the secret of england's greatness j.t. baker photo w.a. mansell & co.] it was in the same year that disraeli, on behalf of the british government, purchased a very large number of shares in the suez canal, thus gaining for us a hand in its administration--a vitally important matter when one realizes how much closer india has been brought by this saving in time over the long voyage round the cape. to pass in review the growth and expansion of the empire during the queen's reign would be a difficult task, and an impossible one within the limits of a small volume. the expressions of loyalty and devotion from the representatives of the great over-seas dominions on the occasion of the queen's jubilee in were proof enough that england and the english were no longer an insular land and people, but a mighty nation with one sovereign head. in the address which was presented to the queen it was stated that during her reign her colonial subjects of european descent had increased from two to nine millions, and in asia and india there was an increase of population from ninety-six to two hundred and fifty-four millions. after the great ceremony of thanksgiving in st paul's cathedral the queen expressed her thanks to her people in the following message: "i am anxious to express to my people my warm thanks for the kind, and more than kind, reception i met with on going to and returning from westminster abbey with all my children and grandchildren. "the enthusiastic reception i met with then, as well as on those eventful days in london, as well as in windsor, on the occasion of my jubilee, has touched me most deeply, and has shown that the labours and anxieties of fifty long years--twenty-two years of which i spent in unclouded happiness, shared with and cheered by my beloved husband, while an equal number were full of sorrows and trial borne without his sheltering arm and wise help--have been appreciated by my people. this feeling and the sense of duty towards my dear country and subjects, who are so inseparably bound up with my life, will encourage me in my task, often a very difficult and arduous one, during the remainder of my life. "the wonderful order preserved on this occasion, and the good behaviour of the enormous multitudes assembled, merits my highest admiration. that god may protect and abundantly bless my country is my fervent prayer." and in laying the foundation-stone of the imperial institute, she said: "i concur with you in thinking that the counsel and exertions of my beloved husband initiated a movement which gave increased vigour to commercial activity, and produced marked and lasting improvements in industrial efforts. one indirect result of that movement has been to bring more before the minds of men the vast and varied resources of the empire over which providence has willed that i should reign during fifty prosperous years. "i believe and hope that the imperial institute will play a useful part in combining those resources for the common advantage of all my subjects, conducing towards the welding of the colonies, india, and the mother-country, into one harmonious and united community. . . ." when war was declared in south africa and the boer forces invaded cape colony and natal, contingents from canada, australia, new zealand, cape colony, and natal joined the british force and fought side by side throughout that long and trying campaign. in was celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the queen's reign, and every colony sent a detachment of troops to represent it. at the steps of st paul's cathedral the queen remained to return thanks to god for all the blessings of her reign, and after the magnificent procession had returned she once again sent a message to her people: "in weal and woe i have ever had the true sympathy of all my people, which has been warmly reciprocated by myself. it has given me unbounded pleasure to see so many of my subjects from all parts of the world assembled here, and to find them joining in the acclamations of loyal devotion to myself, and i wish to thank them all from the depth of my grateful heart." _appendix to chapter xiii_ the british empire the population of the empire is estimated to be millions of coloured and millions of white people. canada . the act of union passed. the two colonies of upper and lower canada united, and a representative assembly formed. . bill for the federation of canada passed. the various provinces united under the title of dominion of canada, ruled by a governor-general, nominated by the crown. the central parliament, which dealt with matters relating to the dominion, established at ottawa. . completion of the canadian pacific railway, which led to the opening up of the north-west. the great stream of emigration from europe commences. australia australia became a united commonwealth at the beginning of the present century. from onward the transportation of convicts was prohibited. the expansion of the commonwealth has taken place to a great extent during the reign of queen victoria. the majority of the settlers are of british descent. south africa south africa finally united in with self-government. india disraeli, in , introduced the royal titles bill, by means of which the queen was able to assume the title of empress of india. chapter xiv: _stress and strain_ forward, forward let us range, let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change. tennyson the greatest revolutions are not always those which are accompanied by riot and bloodshed. england's revolution was peaceful, but it worked vast and almost incredible changes. we find, in the first place, that after the great napoleonic wars and during the 'forty years' peace' a new class, the 'middle class,' came into being. it had, of course, existed before this time, but it had been unable to make its power felt. the astonishing increase of trade and consequently of wealth, the application of steam power with special influence upon land and sea transit, transformed england into "the workshop of the world." by the year railways were no longer regarded as something in the nature of an experiment, which might or might not prove a success; they had, indeed, become an integral part of the social life of the nation. in the railway regulation act was passed, followed in by the cheap trains act, which required that passengers must be carried in covered waggons at a charge of not more than one penny a mile and at a speed of not less than twelve miles an hour. from onward the construction of railways proceeded apace, until by the year no less than , miles had been laid. ocean traffic under steam progressed equally rapidly; in the first steamer appeared upon the clyde, and in the famous _great western_ steamed from bristol to new york. the quickening and cheapening of transport called for new and improved methods of manufacture; small business concerns grew into great mercantile houses with interests all over the face of the globe. everywhere movement and expansion; everywhere change. a powerful commercial class came into existence, and power--that is, voting power--passed to this class and was held by it until the year . from this year, roughly speaking, the power passed into the hands of the democracy. education, which had been to a great extent a class monopoly, gradually penetrated to all ranks and grades of society. in the second reform act was passed; a very large proportion of the urban working classes were given the power of voting, and it was naturally impossible to entrust such powers for long to an illiterate democracy. therefore, in , mr forster's education act was passed, which required that in every district where sufficient voluntary schools did not exist a school board should be formed to build and maintain the necessary school accommodation at the cost of the rates. by a later act of school attendance was made compulsory. every effort was made in succeeding years to raise the level of intelligence among present and future citizens. education became national and universal. during the period - the population of the kingdom increased, and the emigration to the british colonial possessions reached its maximum in the year , when the figures were , . the rapid rise in population of the large towns drew attention more and more urgently to the question of public health. every city and every town had its own problems to face, and the necessity for solving these cultivated and strengthened the sense of civic pride and responsibility. we find during this period an ever-growing interest throughout the country in the welfare, both moral and mental, of the great mass of the workers. municipal life became the training-ground where many a member of parliament served his apprenticeship. municipalities took charge of baths and washhouses, organized and built public markets, ensured a cheap and ample supply of pure water, installed modern systems of drainage, provided housing accommodation at low rents for the poorer classes, built hospitals for infectious diseases, and, finally, carried on the great and important work of educating its citizens. the power of labour began, at last, to make itself felt. the first attempt at co-operation made by the rochdale pioneers in stimulated others to follow their example, and in the co-operative union was formed. the trade unions showed an increased interest in education, in forming libraries and classes, and in extending their somewhat narrow policy as their voting power increased. out of this movement sprang working men's clubs attached to the unions and carrying on all branches of work, educational and beneficial, amongst its members. the standard of society was continually rising, and it was already a far cry to the early victorian england described in an earlier chapter. the world was growing smaller--that is to say, communications between country and country, between continent and continent, were growing more easy. the first insulated cable was laid in , across the hudson river, from jersey city to new york, and in an unsuccessful attempt was made to connect the new and the old world. in the _great eastern_, after two trials, succeeded in laying a complete cable. the expansion of the powers of human invention led to a great increase in the growth of comfort of all classes. to take only a few striking examples: at the beginning of the century matches were not yet invented, and only in were the 'congreve' sulphur matches put on the market; they were sold at the rate of one shilling a box containing eighty-four matches! in the year gas was still considered a luxury; soap and candles were both greatly improved and cheapened. by the withdrawal of the window tax in obvious and necessary advantages were gained in the building of houses. in the stamp duty on newspapers was abolished. in these days of cheap halfpenny papers with immense circulations it is difficult to realize that at a date not very far distant from us, the poor scarcely, if ever, saw a newspaper at all. friends used to club together to reduce the great expense of buying a single copy, and agents hired out copies for the sum of one penny per hour. the only effect of the stamp duty had been to cut off the poorer classes from all sources of trustworthy information. in not a single town in the kingdom with the exception of london possessed a daily paper. the invention of steam printing, and the introduction of shorthand reporting and the use of telegraph and railways, revolutionized the whole world of journalism. charles dickens, on the occasion of his presiding, in may , at the second annual dinner of the newspaper press fund, gave his hearers an idea of what newspaper reporters were and what they suffered in the early days. "i have pursued the calling of a reporter under circumstances of which many of my brethren here can form no adequate conception. i have often transcribed for the printer, from my shorthand notes, important public speeches in which the strictest accuracy was required, and a mistake in which would have been to a young man severely compromising, writing on the palm of my hand, by the light of a dark lantern, in a post-chaise and four, galloping through a wild country, and through the dead of the night, at the then surprising rate of fifteen miles an hour. . . . i have worn my knees by writing on them on the old back-row of the old gallery of the old house of commons; and i have worn my feet by standing to write in a preposterous pen in the old house of lords, where we used to be huddled together like so many sheep--kept in waiting, say, until the woolsack might want re-stuffing. returning home from exciting political meetings in the country to the waiting press in london, i do verily believe i have been upset in almost every description of vehicle known in this country. i have been, in my time, belated on miry by-roads, towards the small hours, forty or fifty miles from london, in a wheelless carriage, with exhausted horses and drunken post-boys, and have got back in time for publication, to be received with never-forgotten compliments by the late mr black, coming in the broadest of scotch from the broadest of hearts i ever knew." during these later years england came to look upon her duties and responsibilities toward her colonial possessions in quite a different light. imperialism became a factor in the political life of the nation. the builders of empire in the time of queen elizabeth took a very narrow view of their responsibilities; they were not in the least degree concerned about the well-being of a colony or possession for its own sake. the state of ireland in those days spoke for itself. the horrors of the indian mutiny in was the first lesson which opened england's eyes to the fact that an empire, if it is to be anything more than a name, must be a united whole under wise and sympathetic guidance. the rebellion proved to be the end of the old east indian company. england took over the administration of indian affairs into her own hands. an "act for the better government of india" was passed in , which provided that all the territories previously under the government of the company were to be vested in her majesty, and all the company's powers to be exercised in her name. the viceroy, with the assistance of a council, was to be supreme in india. in a great colonial reform was carried out, the confederation of the north american provinces of the british empire. by this act the names of upper and lower canada were changed respectively to ontario and quebec. the first dominion parliament met in the autumn of the same year, and lost no time in passing an act to construct an inter-colonial railway affording proper means of communication between the maritime and central provinces. in the hudson bay territory was acquired from the company which held it, and after the red river insurrection, headed by a half-breed, louis riel, had been successfully crushed by the wolseley expedition, the territory was made part of the federation. in british columbia became part of the dominion, on condition that a railway was constructed within the following ten years which should extend from the pacific to the rocky mountains and connect with the existing railway system. the great canadian pacific railway was completed in , opening out the west to all-comers. the rise and growth of the imperialistic spirit has been greatly influenced by the literature on the subject, which dated its commencement from professor seeley's _expansion of england_ in . this was followed by an immense number of works by various writers, the chief of whom, rudyard kipling, has popularized the conception of imperialism and extended its meaning: never was isle so little, never was sea so lone, but over the scud and the palm-trees an english flag was flown. the empire was not, however, to be consolidated without war and bloodshed, for relations with the two boer republics, the transvaal and the orange river, became more and more strained as years went on. the last years of the queen's life were destined to be saddened by the outbreak of war in south africa. the facts which led to the outbreak were briefly these, though it is but fair to state that there are, even now, various theories current as to the causes. the discovery and opening up of the gold mines of the transvaal had brought a stream of adventurous emigrants into the country, and it was these 'outlanders' of whom the dutch were suspicious. the transvaal government refused to admit them to equal political rights with the dutch inhabitants. it was certain, however, that the outlanders would never submit to be dependent on the policy of president kruger, although the dutch declared that they had only accepted the suzerainty of great britain under compulsion. negotiations between the two governments led to nothing, as neither side would give way, and at last, in , following upon an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of british troops from the borders of the republic, war broke out. it had undoubtedly been hastened by the ill-fated and ill-advised raid in of dr jameson, the administrator of rhodesia. it is scarcely necessary to review the details of this war at any length. it proved conclusively that the government of this country had vastly underrated the resisting powers of the boers. for three years the british army was forced to wage a guerilla warfare, and adapt itself to entirely new methods of campaigning. on may , , the orange free state was annexed under the name of the orange river colony. in june lord roberts entered pretoria, but the war dragged on until , when a peace conference was held and the boer republics became part of the british empire. very liberal terms were offered to and accepted by the conquered dutch. but long before this event took place queen victoria had passed away. she had followed the whole course of the war with the deepest interest and anxiety, and when lord roberts returned to this country, leaving lord kitchener in command in south africa, the queen was desirous of hearing from his own lips the story of the campaign. the public was already uneasy about the state of her health, and on january th it was announced that her condition had become serious. on tuesday, january , she was conscious and recognized the members of her family watching by her bedside, but on the afternoon of the same day she peacefully passed away. one of the last wishes she expressed was that her body should be borne to rest on a gun-carriage, for she had never forgotten that she was a soldier's daughter. on the day of the funeral the horses attached to the gun-carriage became restive, and the sailors who formed the guard of honour took their place, and drew the coffin, draped in the union jack, to its last resting-place. through the streets of london, which had witnessed two great jubilee processions, festivals of rejoicing and thanksgiving, the funeral cortege passed, and a great reign and a great epoch in history had come to an end. chapter xv: _victoria the great_ the keynote of queen victoria's life was simplicity. she was a great ruler, and at the same time a simple-minded, sympathetic woman, the true mother of her people. she seemed by some natural instinct to understand their joys and their sorrows, and this was the more remarkable as for forty years she reigned alone without the invaluable advice and assistance of her husband. her qualities were not those which have made other great rulers famous, but they were typical of the age in which she lived. all her life she was industrious, and never spared herself any time or trouble, however arduous and disagreeable her duties might be. she possessed the keenest sense of duty, and in dealing with men and circumstances she never failed to do or say the right thing. her daily intercourse with the leading english statesmen of the time gave her an unrivalled knowledge of home and foreign politics. in short, her natural ability and good sense, strengthened by experience, made her what she was, a perfect model of a constitutional monarch. during her reign the crown once again took its proper place: no longer was there a gulf between the ruler and the people, and patriotism, the love of queen and country, became a real and living thing. pope's adage, "a patriot is a fool in every age," could no longer be quoted with any truth. queen victoria was, above all, a great lover of peace, and did all in her power for its promotion. her personal influence was often the means of smoothing over difficulties both at home and abroad when her ministers had aggravated instead of lessening them. she formed her own opinions and held to them, though she was always willing to listen to reason. the memorandum which she drew up in the year shows how firm a stand she could take when her country's peace seemed to be threatened. lord palmerston, though an able minister in many respects, was a wilful, hot-headed man, who was over-fond of acting on the spur of the moment without consulting his sovereign. his dispatches, written as they so often were in a moment of feverish enthusiasm, frequently gave offence to foreign monarchs and statesmen, and were more than once nearly the cause of war. it was remarked of him that "the desk was his place of peril, his pen ran away with him. his speech never made an enemy, his writing has left many festering sores. the charm of manner and urbanity which so served him in parliament and in society was sometimes wanting on paper, and good counsels were dashed with asperity." lord palmerston, the queen complained, did not obey instructions, and she declared that before important dispatches were sent abroad the sovereign should be consulted. further, alterations were sometimes made by him when they had been neither suggested nor approved by the crown. such proceedings caused england, in the queen's own words, to be "generally detested, mistrusted, and treated with indignity by even the smallest powers." in the memorandum the queen requires: "( ) that he will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the queen may know as distinctly to what she has given her royal sanction. "( ) having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister. such an act she must consider as a failure in sincerity towards the crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that minister. she expects to be kept informed of what passes between him and the foreign ministers, before important decisions are taken, based upon that intercourse; to receive the foreign dispatches in good time and to have the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their contents before they must be sent off. the queen thinks it best that lord john russell should show this letter to lord palmerston." more than once the alteration of a dispatch by the queen prevented what might easily have plunged this country into a disastrous war. after the mutiny in india a proclamation was issued to the native races, and the queen insisted upon alterations which would clearly show that their religious beliefs should in no way be interfered with, thus preventing a fresh mutiny. on rare occasions her indignation got the better of her--once, notably, when, owing to careless delay on the part of the ministry, general gordon perished at khartoum, a rescue party failing to reach him in time. in a letter to his sisters she spoke of this as "a stain left upon england," and as a wrong which she felt very keenly. her style of writing was as simple as possible, yet she always said the right thing at the right moment, and her letters of sympathy or congratulation were models of their kind and never failed in their effect. few, if any, reigns in history have been so blameless as hers, and her domestic life was perfect in its harmony and the devotion of the members of her family to one another. she possessed the 'eye of the mistress' for every detail, however small, which concerned housekeeping matters, and though her style of entertaining was naturally often magnificent, everything was paid for punctually. after the visits of king louis philippe and the emperor nicholas of russia, sir robert peel acknowledged that "her majesty was able to meet every charge and to give a reception to the sovereigns which struck every one by its magnificence without adding one tittle to the burdens of the country. i am not required by her majesty to press for the extra expenditure of one single shilling on account of these unforeseen causes of increased expenditure. i think that to state this is only due to the personal credit of her majesty, who insists upon it that there shall be every magnificence required by her station, but without incurring one single debt." when one remembers that the queen had to superintend the household arrangements of buckingham palace, balmoral castle, osborne, and windsor, and that the latter alone gave employment, in one way and another, to two thousand people, it can be realized that this was a tremendous undertaking in itself. method and neatness, first instituted by the prince consort, were always insisted upon in place of the disorder and waste which had reigned supreme before the queen became head of the household. [illustration: the victoria and albert museum, south kensington] before her life was saddened by the untimely loss of her husband the queen was the leader of english society, and her influence was, as may be imagined, thoroughly wholesome and good. she was all her life a deeply religious woman, and though her observance of sunday was strict, she never allowed it to become a day of penance. her religion was 'humane'--indeed, her intense sympathy with all sorrow and suffering was one of her supreme virtues, and her early upbringing made her dislike all elaborate forms of ceremony during the service. when in the highlands she always attended the simple little presbyterian church, where the congregation was, for the most part, made up of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. it is this simplicity and 'homeliness' of the queen which were so often misunderstood by those who could not realize how much she was at one with her people. the queen was never more happy than when she was visiting some poor sufferer and comforting those in sorrow. her memory for the little events which made up the lives and happiness of those far below her in social rank was amazing. she was a great and a truly democratic queen. she gave the greater portion of her jubilee present toward a fund to establish institutions to provide nurses for the sick poor. during the latter years of her reign, when she was less and less to be seen at public functions and ceremonies, many complaints were made about her reputed neglect of royal duties. she felt the injustice of such statements very keenly and with good reason. no allowances were made for her poor health, for her years, for the family losses which left her every year more and more a lonely woman. her duties, ever increasing in number and extent, left her no time, even if she had possessed the inclination, to take part in pomp and ceremony. the outburst of loyalty and affection on the occasion of her two jubilee celebrations proved that she still reigned supreme in the nation's heart. the queen was not only a great monarch, but also a great statesman. consider for a moment the many and bewildering changes which took place in her own and other countries during her reign. our country was almost continually at war in some portion of the globe. the british army fought side by side with the french against russia in the crimea, and against the rebels in the indian mutiny; two boer wars were fought in south africa in , and - . there were also lesser wars in china, afghanistan, abyssinia, zululand and egypt. the queen lived to see france change from a monarchy to a republic; to see germany beat france to her knees and become a united empire, thanks to the foresight of her great statesman bismarck, and her great general von moltke. during the same year ( ) the italian army entered rome, as soon as the french garrison had been withdrawn, and italy became a united country under king victor emmanuel. despite the fact that the map of europe was continually changing, england managed to keep clear of international strife, and this was in no small degree due to the personal influence of the queen. the england of her early years would be an absolutely foreign country to us, if by some magic touch we were to be transplanted back down the line of years. it was different in thought, feeling, and outlook. the extraordinary changes in the modes of travelling, by means of which numbers of people who had never even thought of any other country beside their own, were enabled to visit other lands, broke down, bit by bit, the barrier between the continent and ourselves. england became less of an insular and more of a continental power. the social changes were, as has been shown, all for good. education became not the privilege of the few but the right of all who wished for it. step by step the people gained in power and in the right to govern themselves. the idea of citizenship, of a patriotism which extended beyond the narrow limits of these isles, slowly took root and blossomed. through all these manifold changes the queen reigned, ever alert, and even in her last years taking the keenest interest in the growth of her mighty kingdom. "the use of the queen in a dignified capacity is incalculable," declared walter bagehot in his famous essay on _the english constitution_. he continues: "without her in england, the present english government would fail and pass away." it is interesting to read the reasons which such a clear and distinguished thinker gives to explain the hold which the monarchy retains upon the english nation as a whole. firstly: there is the family, of which the queen is the head; the nation looks upon her as its mother, witness its enthusiasm at the marriage of the prince of wales. secondly: the monarchy strengthens the government with the strength of religion. it is the duty of a loyal citizen to obey his queen; the oath of allegiance is no empty form. the queen from her very position acts as a symbol of unity. thirdly: the queen is the head of our society; she represents england in the eyes of foreign nations. fourthly: the monarchy is the head of our morality. the example of queen victoria's simple life has not been lost upon the nation. it is now quite a natural thing to expect and to find the domestic virtues personified in the ruling monarch, and this in spite of the fact that history has shown what temptations lie in the way of those possessed of the highest power in the state. shakespeare voiced the feeling of the people for the kingship in the words which he put into the mouth of henry v: upon the king! let us our lives, our souls, our debts, our careful wives, our children, and our sins, lay on the king: we must bear all. o hard condition! twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath of every fool, whose sense no more can feel but his own wringing! what infinite heart's ease must kings neglect, that private men enjoy? and what have kings that privates have not too, save ceremony, save general ceremony? and lastly, the actual government of the country may change but the monarch remains, subject to no changes of parliament, above and aloof from the strife of political parties, the steadying influence in times of transition. the sovereign has three rights: "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn." a comparison of the reigns of the four georges with the reign of queen victoria shows that it was only during the latter's reign that the duties of the constitutional monarch were well and conscientiously performed. the queen worked as well as her ministers, and was their equal and often their superior in business capacity. to conclude: "the benefits of a good monarch are almost invaluable, but the evils of a bad monarch are almost irreparable." on the death of the queen, mr arthur balfour, speaking in the house of commons, described his visit to osborne at a time when the royal family was already in mourning. the queen's desk was still littered with papers, the inkstand still open and the pen laid beside it. "she passed away with her children and her children's children to the third generation around her, beloved and cherished of all. she passed away without, i well believe, a single enemy in the world. even those who loved not england loved her. she passed away not only knowing that she was, i had almost said, worshipped and reverenced by all her subjects, but that their feelings towards her had grown in depth and intensity with every year she was spared to rule over us." _appendix_ victoria alexandrina, only daughter of edward, duke of kent, fourth son of george iii. born at kensington, may , . became queen, june , . married prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha, prince consort, born august , , died december , . died january , , after a reign of sixty-three years. _summary of chief events during the queen's reign_ . commencement of the chartist movement. . penny postage established mainly through the efforts of rowland hill. war with china. . sir robert peel appointed premier. . war with afghanistan. peace with china. the chinese cede hong kong. . agitation in ireland for the repeal of the union. arrest of daniel o'connell. . war with the sikhs. failure of potato crop in ireland, which resulted in a famine in the following winter. . repeal of the corn laws. lord john russell appointed premier. . revolution in france. prince louis napoleon becomes president of the republic. chartist agitation in london. . annexation of the punjab. . death of sir robert peel. . the great exhibition. . death of the duke of wellington. louis napoleon elected emperor of france. . turkey declares war against russia. . great britain and france declare war against russia. the crimean war. invasion of the crimea. the battle of the alma (sept. ). siege of sebastopol. battle of balaclava and charge of the light brigade (oct. ). battle of inkerman (nov. ). . lord palmerston appointed premier. death of the emperor nicholas of russia. fall of sebastopol (sept.). . peace concluded with russia by the treaty of paris. . the indian mutiny. the massacre at cawnpore (july). capture of delhi (sept.). sir colin campbell relieves lucknow (nov.). . suppression of the mutiny. abolition of the east india company. the possessions and powers of the company transferred to the crown. the queen's proclamation to india issued by lord canning, first viceroy. . establishment of the volunteer army. fenianism in ireland. trial of o'donovan rossa. . second chinese war and occupation of pekin. . the american civil war. repeal of the duty on paper. . the second great exhibition. . death of lord palmerston. lord russell appointed premier. . the atlantic cable laid. lord derby appointed premier. the war between austria and prussia. . the second reform bill passed. it largely extended the suffrage in english boroughs. . disraeli appointed premier. . suez canal opened. . the elementary education act passed, which compelled the attendance of children at efficient schools. the franco-german war. halfpenny postcards first came into use. . establishment of the german empire. treaty of washington, which settled by arbitration the alabama claims. . the ballot act passed to secure secret voting at elections. . disraeli appointed premier for the second time. . purchase of shares in the suez canal. . disraeli becomes earl of beaconsfield. the queen proclaimed empress of india. . congress of berlin to settle the eastern question. great britain was represented by lords salisbury and beaconsfield. second afghan war. . war in zululand. . rising of the boers in the transvaal. . defeat of the british at majuba hill. peace concluded in march. death of lord beaconsfield. . occupation of egypt. bombardment of alexandria and the battle of tel-el-kebir. . war in the soudan. defeat of hicks pasha. . fall of khartoum and death of general gordon. redistribution bill. number of members of parliament increased from to . the revised version of the bible. . annexation of upper burmah. . jubilee celebration. . death of the emperor william i. of germany, and of his son frederick iii. succession of william ii. the local government act, by which england and wales was divided into counties and county boroughs for purposes of local government. . charter granted to british south african co. . the jameson raid. . the 'diamond' jubilee. . death of gladstone. war in soudan. battle of omdurman. . south african war. queen victoria by lytton strachey new york harcourt, brace and company, contents i. antecedents ii. childhood iii. lord melbourne iv. marriage v. lord palmerston vi. last years of the prince consort vii. widowhood viii. mr. gladstone and lord beaconsfield ix. old age x. the end bibliography queen victoria chapter i. antecedents i on november , , died the princess charlotte, only child of the prince regent, and heir to the crown of england. her short life had hardly been a happy one. by nature impulsive, capricious, and vehement, she had always longed for liberty; and she had never possessed it. she had been brought up among violent family quarrels, had been early separated from her disreputable and eccentric mother, and handed over to the care of her disreputable and selfish father. when she was seventeen, he decided to marry her off to the prince of orange; she, at first, acquiesced; but, suddenly falling in love with prince augustus of prussia, she determined to break off the engagement. this was not her first love affair, for she had previously carried on a clandestine correspondence with a captain hess. prince augustus was already married, morganatically, but she did not know it, and he did not tell her. while she was spinning out the negotiations with the prince of orange, the allied sovereign--it was june, --arrived in london to celebrate their victory. among them, in the suite of the emperor of russia, was the young and handsome prince leopold of saxe-coburg. he made several attempts to attract the notice of the princess, but she, with her heart elsewhere, paid very little attention. next month the prince regent, discovering that his daughter was having secret meetings with prince augustus, suddenly appeared upon the scene and, after dismissing her household, sentenced her to a strict seclusion in windsor park. "god almighty grant me patience!" she exclaimed, falling on her knees in an agony of agitation: then she jumped up, ran down the backstairs and out into the street, hailed a passing cab, and drove to her mother's house in bayswater. she was discovered, pursued, and at length, yielding to the persuasions of her uncles, the dukes of york and sussex, of brougham, and of the bishop of salisbury, she returned to carlton house at two o'clock in the morning. she was immured at windsor, but no more was heard of the prince of orange. prince augustus, too, disappeared. the way was at last open to prince leopold of saxe-coburg. this prince was clever enough to get round the regent, to impress the ministers, and to make friends with another of the princess's uncles, the duke of kent. through the duke he was able to communicate privately with the princess, who now declared that he was necessary to her happiness. when, after waterloo, he was in paris, the duke's aide-de-camp carried letters backwards and forwards across the channel. in january he was invited to england, and in may the marriage took place. the character of prince leopold contrasted strangely with that of his wife. the younger son of a german princeling, he was at this time twenty-six years of age; he had served with distinction in the war against napoleon; he had shown considerable diplomatic skill at the congress of vienna; and he was now to try his hand at the task of taming a tumultuous princess. cold and formal in manner, collected in speech, careful in action, he soon dominated the wild, impetuous, generous creature by his side. there was much in her, he found, of which he could not approve. she quizzed, she stamped, she roared with laughter; she had very little of that self-command which is especially required of princes; her manners were abominable. of the latter he was a good judge, having moved, as he himself explained to his niece many years later, in the best society of europe, being in fact "what is called in french de la fleur des pois." there was continual friction, but every scene ended in the same way. standing before him like a rebellious boy in petticoats, her body pushed forward, her hands behind her back, with flaming cheeks and sparkling eyes, she would declare at last that she was ready to do whatever he wanted. "if you wish it, i will do it," she would say. "i want nothing for myself," he invariably answered; "when i press something on you, it is from a conviction that it is for your interest and for your good." among the members of the household at claremont, near esher, where the royal pair were established, was a young german physician, christian friedrich stockmar. he was the son of a minor magistrate in coburg, and, after taking part as a medical officer in the war, he had settled down as a doctor in his native town. here he had met prince leopold, who had been struck by his ability, and, on his marriage, brought him to england as his personal physician. a curious fate awaited this young man; many were the gifts which the future held in store for him--many and various--influence, power, mystery, unhappiness, a broken heart. at claremont his position was a very humble one; but the princess took a fancy to him, called him "stocky," and romped with him along the corridors. dyspeptic by constitution, melancholic by temperament, he could yet be lively on occasion, and was known as a wit in coburg. he was virtuous, too, and served the royal menage with approbation. "my master," he wrote in his diary, "is the best of all husbands in all the five quarters of the globe; and his wife bears him an amount of love, the greatness of which can only be compared with the english national debt." before long he gave proof of another quality--a quality which was to colour the whole of his life-cautious sagacity. when, in the spring of , it was known that the princess was expecting a child, the post of one of her physicians-in-ordinary was offered to him, and he had the good sense to refuse it. he perceived that his colleagues would be jealous of him, that his advice would probably not be taken, but that, if anything were to go wrong, it would be certainly the foreign doctor who would be blamed. very soon, indeed, he came to the opinion that the low diet and constant bleedings, to which the unfortunate princess was subjected, were an error; he drew the prince aside, and begged him to communicate this opinion to the english doctors; but it was useless. the fashionable lowering treatment was continued for months. on november , at nine o'clock in the evening, after a labour of over fifty hours, the princess was delivered of a dead boy. at midnight her exhausted strength gave way. when, at last, stockmar consented to see her; he went in, and found her obviously dying, while the doctors were plying her with wine. she seized his hand and pressed it. "they have made me tipsy," she said. after a little he left her, and was already in the next room when he heard her call out in her loud voice: "stocky! stocky!" as he ran back the death-rattle was in her throat. she tossed herself violently from side to side; then suddenly drew up her legs, and it was over. the prince, after hours of watching, had left the room for a few moments' rest; and stockmar had now to tell him that his wife was dead. at first he could not be made to realise what had happened. on their way to her room he sank down on a chair while stockmar knelt beside him: it was all a dream; it was impossible. at last, by the bed, he, too, knelt down and kissed the cold hands. then rising and exclaiming, "now i am quite desolate. promise me never to leave me," he threw himself into stockmar's arms. ii the tragedy at claremont was of a most upsetting kind. the royal kaleidoscope had suddenly shifted, and nobody could tell how the new pattern would arrange itself. the succession to the throne, which had seemed so satisfactorily settled, now became a matter of urgent doubt. george iii was still living, an aged lunatic, at windsor, completely impervious to the impressions of the outer world. of his seven sons, the youngest was of more than middle age, and none had legitimate offspring. the outlook, therefore, was ambiguous. it seemed highly improbable that the prince regent, who had lately been obliged to abandon his stays, and presented a preposterous figure of debauched obesity, could ever again, even on the supposition that he divorced his wife and re-married, become the father of a family. besides the duke of kent, who must be noticed separately, the other brothers, in order of seniority, were the dukes of york, clarence, cumberland, sussex, and cambridge; their situations and prospects require a brief description. the duke of york, whose escapades in times past with mrs. clarke and the army had brought him into trouble, now divided his life between london and a large, extravagantly ordered and extremely uncomfortable country house where he occupied himself with racing, whist, and improper stories. he was remarkable among the princes for one reason: he was the only one of them--so we are informed by a highly competent observer--who had the feelings of a gentleman. he had been long married to the princess royal of prussia, a lady who rarely went to bed and was perpetually surrounded by vast numbers of dogs, parrots, and monkeys. they had no children. the duke of clarence had lived for many years in complete obscurity with mrs. jordan, the actress, in bushey park. by her he had had a large family of sons and daughters, and had appeared, in effect to be married to her, when he suddenly separated from her and offered to marry miss wykeham, a crazy woman of large fortune, who, however, would have nothing to say to him. shortly afterwards mrs. jordan died in distressed circumstances in paris. the duke of cumberland was probably the most unpopular man in england. hideously ugly, with a distorted eye, he was bad-tempered and vindictive in private, a violent reactionary in politics, and was subsequently suspected of murdering his valet and of having carried on an amorous intrigue of an extremely scandalous kind. he had lately married a german princess, but there were as yet no children by the marriage. the duke of sussex had mildly literary tastes and collected books. he had married lady augusta murray, by whom he had two children, but the marriage, under the royal marriages act, was declared void. on lady augusta's death, he married lady cecilia buggin; she changed her name to underwood, but this marriage also was void. of the duke of cambridge, the youngest of the brothers, not very much was known. he lived in hanover, wore a blonde wig, chattered and fidgeted a great deal, and was unmarried. besides his seven sons, george iii had five surviving daughters. of these, two--the queen of wurtemberg and the duchess of gloucester--were married and childless. the three unmarried princesses--augusta, elizabeth, and sophia--were all over forty. iii the fourth son of george iii was edward, duke of kent. he was now fifty years of age--a tall, stout, vigorous man, highly-coloured, with bushy eyebrows, a bald top to his head, and what hair he had carefully dyed a glossy black. his dress was extremely neat, and in his whole appearance there was a rigidity which did not belie his character. he had spent his early life in the army--at gibraltar, in canada, in the west indies--and, under the influence of military training, had become at first a disciplinarian and at last a martinet. in , having been sent to gibraltar to restore order in a mutinous garrison, he was recalled for undue severity, and his active career had come to an end. since then he had spent his life regulating his domestic arrangements with great exactitude, busying himself with the affairs of his numerous dependents, designing clocks, and struggling to restore order to his finances, for, in spite of his being, as someone said who knew him well "regle comme du papier a musique," and in spite of an income of l , a year, he was hopelessly in debt. he had quarrelled with most of his brothers, particularly with the prince regent, and it was only natural that he should have joined the political opposition and become a pillar of the whigs. what his political opinions may actually have been is open to doubt; it has often been asserted that he was a liberal, or even a radical; and, if we are to believe robert owen, he was a necessitarian socialist. his relations with owen--the shrewd, gullible, high-minded, wrong-headed, illustrious and preposterous father of socialism and co-operation--were curious and characteristic. he talked of visiting the mills at new lanark, he did, in fact, preside at one of owen's public meetings; he corresponded with him on confidential terms, and he even (so owen assures us) returned, after his death, from "the sphere of spirits" to give encouragement to the owenites on earth. "in an especial manner," says owen, "i have to name the very anxious feelings of the spirit of his royal highness the late duke of kent (who early informed me that there were no titles in the spititual spheres into which he had entered), to benefit, not a class, a sect, a party, or any particular country, but the whole of the human race, through futurity." "his whole spirit-proceeding with me has been most beautiful," owen adds, "making his own appointments; and never in one instance has this spirit not been punctual to the minute he had named." but owen was of a sanguine temperament. he also numbered among his proselytes president jefferson, prince metternich, and napoleon; so that some uncertainty must still linger over the duke of kent's views. but there is no uncertainty about another circumstance: his royal highness borrowed from robert owen, on various occasions, various sums of money which were never repaid and amounted in all to several hundred pounds. after the death of the princess charlotte it was clearly important, for more than one reason, that the duke of kent should marry. from the point of view of the nation, the lack of heirs in the reigning family seemed to make the step almost obligatory; it was also likely to be highly expedient from the point of view of the duke. to marry as a public duty, for the sake of the royal succession, would surely deserve some recognition from a grateful country. when the duke of york had married he had received a settlement of l , a year. why should not the duke of kent look forward to an equal sum? but the situation was not quite simple. there was the duke of clarence to be considered; he was the elder brother, and, if he married, would clearly have the prior claim. on the other hand, if the duke of kent married, it was important to remember that he would be making a serious sacrifice: a lady was involved. the duke, reflecting upon all these matters with careful attention, happened, about a month after his niece's death, to visit brussels, and learnt that mr. creevey was staying in the town. mr. creevey was a close friend of the leading whigs and an inveterate gossip; and it occurred to the duke that there could be no better channel through which to communicate his views upon the situation to political circles at home. apparently it did not occur to him that mr. creevey was malicious and might keep a diary. he therefore sent for him on some trivial pretext, and a remarkable conversation ensued. after referring to the death of the princess, to the improbability of the regent's seeking a divorce, to the childlessness of the duke of york, and to the possibility of the duke of clarence marrying, the duke adverted to his own position. "should the duke of clarence not marry," he said, "the next prince in succession is myself, and although i trust i shall be at all times ready to obey any call my country may make upon me, god only knows the sacrifice it will be to make, whenever i shall think it my duty to become a married man. it is now seven and twenty years that madame st. laurent and i have lived together: we are of the same age, and have been in all climates, and in all difficulties together, and you may well imagine, mr. creevey, the pang it will occasion me to part with her. i put it to your own feelings--in the event of any separation between you and mrs. creevey... as for madame st. laurent herself, i protest i don't know what is to become of her if a marriage is to be forced upon me; her feelings are already so agitated upon the subject." the duke went on to describe how, one morning, a day or two after the princess charlotte's death, a paragraph had appeared in the morning chronicle, alluding to the possibility of his marriage. he had received the newspaper at breakfast together with his letters, and "i did as is my constant practice, i threw the newspaper across the table to madame st. laurent, and began to open and read my letters. i had not done so but a very short time, when my attention was called to an extraordinary noise and a strong convulsive movement in madame st. laurent's throat. for a short time i entertained serious apprehensions for her safety; and when, upon her recovery, i enquired into the occasion of this attack, she pointed to the article in the morning chronicle." the duke then returned to the subject of the duke of clarence. "my brother the duke of clarence is the elder brother, and has certainly the right to marry if he chooses, and i would not interfere with him on any account. if he wishes to be king--to be married and have children, poor man--god help him! let him do so. for myself--i am a man of no ambition, and wish only to remain as i am... easter, you know, falls very early this year--the nd of march. if the duke of clarence does not take any step before that time, i must find some pretext to reconcile madame st. laurent to my going to england for a short time. when once there, it will be easy for me to consult with my friends as to the proper steps to be taken. should the duke of clarence do nothing before that time as to marrying it will become my duty, no doubt, to take some measures upon the subject myself." two names, the duke said, had been mentioned in this connection--those of the princess of baden and the princess of saxe-coburg. the latter, he thought, would perhaps be the better of the two, from the circumstance of prince leopold being so popular with the nation; but before any other steps were taken, he hoped and expected to see justice done to madame st. laurent. "she is," he explained, "of very good family, and has never been an actress, and i am the first and only person who ever lived with her. her disinterestedness, too, has been equal to her fidelity. when she first came to me it was upon l a year. that sum was afterwards raised to l and finally to l ; but when my debts made it necessary for me to sacrifice a great part of my income, madame st. laurent insisted upon again returning to her income of l a year. if madame st. laurent is to return to live amongst her friends, it must be in such a state of independence as to command their respect. i shall not require very much, but a certain number of servants and a carriage are essentials." as to his own settlement, the duke observed that he would expect the duke of york's marriage to be considered the precedent. "that," he said, "was a marriage for the succession, and l , for income was settled, in addition to all his other income, purely on that account. i shall be contented with the same arrangement, without making any demands grounded on the difference of the value of money in and at present. as for the payment of my debts," the duke concluded, "i don't call them great. the nation, on the contrary, is greatly my debtor." here a clock struck, and seemed to remind the duke that he had an appointment; he rose, and mr. creevey left him. who could keep such a communication secret? certainly not mr. creevey. he hurried off to tell the duke of wellington, who was very much amused, and he wrote a long account of it to lord sefton, who received the letter "very apropos," while a surgeon was sounding his bladder to ascertain whether he had a stone. "i never saw a fellow more astonished than he was," wrote lord sefton in his reply, "at seeing me laugh as soon as the operation was over. nothing could be more first-rate than the royal edward's ingenuousness. one does not know which to admire most--the delicacy of his attachment to madame st. laurent, the refinement of his sentiments towards the duke of clarence, or his own perfect disinterestedness in pecuniary matters." as it turned out, both the brothers decided to marry. the duke of kent, selecting the princess of saxe-coburg in preference to the princess of baden, was united to her on may , . on june , the duke of clarence followed suit with a daughter of the duke of saxe-meiningen. but they were disappointed in their financial expectations; for though the government brought forward proposals to increase their allowances, together with that of the duke of cumberland, the motions were defeated in the house of commons. at this the duke of wellington was not surprised. "by god!" he said, "there is a great deal to be said about that. they are the damnedest millstones about the necks of any government that can be imagined. they have insulted--personally insulted--two-thirds of the gentlemen of england, and how can it be wondered at that they take their revenge upon them in the house of commons? it is their only opportunity, and i think, by god! they are quite right to use it." eventually, however, parliament increased the duke of kent's annuity by l . the subsequent history of madame st. laurent has not transpired. iv the new duchess of kent, victoria mary louisa, was a daughter of francis, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and a sister of prince leopold. the family was an ancient one, being a branch of the great house of wettin, which since the eleventh century had ruled over the march of meissen on the elbe. in the fifteenth century the whole possessions of the house had been divided between the albertine and ernestine branches: from the former descended the electors and kings of saxony; the latter, ruling over thuringia, became further subdivided into five branches, of which the duchy of saxe-coburg was one. this principality was very small, containing about , inhabitants, but it enjoyed independent and sovereign rights. during the disturbed years which followed the french revolution, its affairs became terribly involved. the duke was extravagant, and kept open house for the swarms of refugees, who fled eastward over germany as the french power advanced. among these was the prince of leiningen, an elderly beau, whose domains on the moselle had been seized by the french, but who was granted in compensation the territory of amorbach in lower franconia. in he married the princess victoria, at that time seventeen years of age. three years later duke francis died a ruined man. the napoleonic harrow passed over saxe-coburg. the duchy was seized by the french, and the ducal family were reduced to beggary, almost to starvation. at the same time the little principality of amorbach was devastated by the french, russian, and austrian armies, marching and counter-marching across it. for years there was hardly a cow in the country, nor enough grass to feed a flock of geese. such was the desperate plight of the family which, a generation later, was to have gained a foothold in half the reigning houses of europe. the napoleonic harrow had indeed done its work, the seed was planted; and the crop would have surprised napoleon. prince leopold, thrown upon his own resources at fifteen, made a career for himself and married the heiress of england. the princess of leiningen, struggling at amorbach with poverty, military requisitions, and a futile husband, developed an independence of character and a tenacity of purpose which were to prove useful in very different circumstances. in , her husband died, leaving her with two children and the regency of the principality. after her brother's marriage with the princess charlotte, it was proposed that she should marry the duke of kent; but she declined, on the ground that the guardianship of her children and the management of her domains made other ties undesirable. the princess charlotte's death, however, altered the case; and when the duke of kent renewed his offer, she accepted it. she was thirty-two years old--short, stout, with brown eyes and hair, and rosy cheeks, cheerful and voluble, and gorgeously attired in rustling silks and bright velvets. she was certainly fortunate in her contented disposition; for she was fated, all through her life, to have much to put up with. her second marriage, with its dubious prospects, seemed at first to be chiefly a source of difficulties and discomforts. the duke, declaring that he was still too poor to live in england, moved about with uneasy precision through belgium and germany, attending parades and inspecting barracks in a neat military cap, while the english notabilities looked askance, and the duke of wellington dubbed him the corporal. "god damme!" he exclaimed to mr. creevey, "d'ye know what his sisters call him? by god! they call him joseph surface!" at valenciennes, where there was a review and a great dinner, the duchess arrived with an old and ugly lady-in-waiting, and the duke of wellington found himself in a difficulty. "who the devil is to take out the maid of honour?" he kept asking; but at last he thought of a solution. "damme, freemantle, find out the mayor and let him do it." so the mayor of valenciennes was brought up for the purpose, and--so we learn from mr. creevey--"a capital figure he was." a few days later, at brussels, mr. creevey himself had an unfortunate experience. a military school was to be inspected--before breakfast. the company assembled; everything was highly satisfactory; but the duke of kent continued for so long examining every detail and asking meticulous question after meticulous question, that mr. creevey at last could bear it no longer, and whispered to his neighbour that he was damned hungry. the duke of wellington heard him, and was delighted. "i recommend you," he said, "whenever you start with the royal family in a morning, and particularly with the corporal, always to breakfast first." he and his staff, it turned out, had taken that precaution, and the great man amused himself, while the stream of royal inquiries poured on, by pointing at mr. creevey from time to time with the remark, "voila le monsieur qui n'a pas dejeune!" settled down at last at amorbach, the time hung heavily on the duke's hands. the establishment was small, the country was impoverished; even clock-making grew tedious at last. he brooded--for in spite of his piety the duke was not without a vein of superstition--over the prophecy of a gipsy at gibraltar who told him that he was to have many losses and crosses, that he was to die in happiness, and that his only child was to be a great queen. before long it became clear that a child was to be expected: the duke decided that it should be born in england. funds were lacking for the journey, but his determination was not to be set aside. come what might, he declared, his child must be english-born. a carriage was hired, and the duke himself mounted the box. inside were the duchess, her daughter feodora, a girl of fourteen, with maids, nurses, lap-dogs, and canaries. off they drove--through germany, through france: bad roads, cheap inns, were nothing to the rigorous duke and the equable, abundant duchess. the channel was crossed, london was reached in safety. the authorities provided a set of rooms in kensington palace; and there, on may , , a female infant was born. chapter ii. childhood i the child who, in these not very impressive circumstances, appeared in the world, received but scant attention. there was small reason to foresee her destiny. the duchess of clarence, two months before, had given birth to a daughter, this infant, indeed, had died almost immediately; but it seemed highly probable that the duchess would again become a mother; and so it actually fell out. more than this, the duchess of kent was young, and the duke was strong; there was every likelihood that before long a brother would follow, to snatch her faint chance of the succession from the little princess. nevertheless, the duke had other views: there were prophecies... at any rate, he would christen the child elizabeth, a name of happy augury. in this, however, he reckoned without the regent, who, seeing a chance of annoying his brother, suddenly announced that he himself would be present at the baptism, and signified at the same time that one of the godfathers was to be the emperor alexander of russia. and so when the ceremony took place, and the archbishop of canterbury asked by what name he was to baptise the child, the regent replied "alexandria." at this the duke ventured to suggest that another name might be added. "certainly," said the regent; "georgina?" "or elizabeth?" said the duke. there was a pause, during which the archbishop, with the baby in his lawn sleeves, looked with some uneasiness from one prince to the other. "very well, then," said the regent at last, "call her after her mother. but alexandrina must come first." thus, to the disgust of her father, the child was christened alexandrina victoria. the duke had other subjects of disgust. the meagre grant of the commons had by no means put an end to his financial distresses. it was to be feared that his services were not appreciated by the nation. his debts continued to grow. for many years he had lived upon l a year; but now his expenses were exactly doubled; he could make no further reductions; as it was, there was not a single servant in his meagre grant establishment who was idle for a moment from morning to night. he poured out his griefs in a long letter to robert owen, whose sympathy had the great merit of being practical. "i now candidly state," he wrote, "that, after viewing the subject in every possible way, i am satisfied that, to continue to live in england, even in the quiet way in which we are going on, without splendour, and without show, nothing short of doubling the seven thousand pounds will do, reduction being impossible." it was clear that he would be obliged to sell his house for l , , if that failed, he would go and live on the continent. "if my services are useful to my country, it surely becomes those who have the power to support me in substantiating those just claims i have for the very extensive losses and privations i have experienced, during the very long period of my professional servitude in the colonies; and if this is not attainable, it is a clear proof to me that they are they are not appreciated; and under that impression i shall not scruple, in due time, to resume my retirement abroad, when the duchess and myself shall have fulfilled our duties in establishing the english birth of my child, and giving it material nutriment on the soil of old england; and which we shall certainly repeat, if providence destines, to give us any further increase of family." in the meantime, he decided to spend the winter at sidmouth, "in order," he told owen, "that the duchess may have the benefit of tepid sea bathing, and our infant that of sea air, on the fine coast of devonshire, during the months of the year that are so odious in london." in december the move was made. with the new year, the duke remembered another prophecy. in , a fortune-teller had told him, two members of the royal family would die. who would they be? he speculated on the various possibilities: the king, it was plain, could not live much longer; and the duchess of york had been attacked by a mortal disease. probably it would be the king and the duchess of york; or perhaps the king and the duke of york; or the king and the regent. he himself was one of the healthiest men in england. "my brothers," he declared, "are not so strong as i am; i have lived a regular life. i shall outlive them all. the crown will come to me and my children." he went out for a walk, and got his feet wet. on coming home, he neglected to change his stockings. he caught cold, inflammation of the lungs set in, and on january he was a dying man. by a curious chance, young dr. stockmar was staying in the house at the time; two years before, he had stood by the death-bed of the princess charlotte; and now he was watching the duke of kent in his agony. on stockmar's advice, a will was hastily prepared. the duke's earthly possessions were of a negative character; but it was important that the guardianship of the unwitting child, whose fortunes were now so strangely changing, should be assured to the duchess. the duke was just able to understand the document, and to append his signature. having inquired whether his writing was perfectly clear, he became unconscious, and breathed his last on the following morning! six days later came the fulfilment of the second half of the gipsy's prophecy. the long, unhappy, and inglorious life of george the third of england was ended. ii such was the confusion of affairs at sidmouth, that the duchess found herself without the means of returning to london. prince leopold hurried down, and himself conducted his sister and her family, by slow and bitter stages, to kensington. the widowed lady, in her voluminous blacks, needed all her equanimity to support her. her prospects were more dubious than ever. she had l a year of her own; but her husband's debts loomed before her like a mountain. soon she learnt that the duchess of clarence was once more expecting a child. what had she to look forward to in england? why should she remain in a foreign country, among strangers, whose language she could not speak, whose customs she could not understand? surely it would be best to return to amorbach, and there, among her own people, bring up her daughters in economical obscurity. but she was an inveterate optimist; she had spent her life in struggles, and would not be daunted now; and besides, she adored her baby. "c'est mon bonheur, mes delices, mon existence," she declared; the darling should be brought up as an english princess, whatever lot awaited her. prince leopold came forward nobly with an offer of an additional l a year; and the duchess remained at kensington. the child herself was extremely fat, and bore a remarkable resemblance to her grandfather. "c'est l'image du feu roi!" exclaimed the duchess. "c'est le roi georges en jupons," echoed the surrounding ladies, as the little creature waddled with difficulty from one to the other. before long, the world began to be slightly interested in the nursery at kensington. when, early in , the duchess of clarence's second child, the princess elizabeth, died within three months of its birth, the interest increased. great forces and fierce antagonisms seemed to be moving, obscurely, about the royal cradle. it was a time of faction and anger, of violent repression and profound discontent. a powerful movement, which had for long been checked by adverse circumstances, was now spreading throughout the country. new passions, new desires, were abroad; or rather old passions and old desires, reincarnated with a new potency: love of freedom, hatred of injustice, hope for the future of man. the mighty still sat proudly in their seats, dispensing their ancient tyranny; but a storm was gathering out of the darkness, and already there was lightning in the sky. but the vastest forces must needs operate through frail human instruments; and it seemed for many years as if the great cause of english liberalism hung upon the life of the little girl at kensington. she alone stood between the country and her terrible uncle, the duke of cumberland, the hideous embodiment of reaction. inevitably, the duchess of kent threw in her lot with her husband's party; whig leaders, radical agitators, rallied round her; she was intimate with the bold lord durham, she was on friendly terms with the redoubtable o'connell himself. she received wilberforce-though, to be sure, she did not ask him to sit down. she declared in public that she put her faith in "the liberties of the people." it was certain that the young princess would be brought up in the way that she should go; yet there, close behind the throne, waiting, sinister, was the duke of cumberland. brougham, looking forward into the future in his scurrilous fashion, hinted at dreadful possibilities. "i never prayed so heartily for a prince before," he wrote, on hearing that george iv had been attacked by illness. "if he had gone, all the troubles of these villains (the tory ministers) went with him, and they had fred. i (the duke of york) their own man for his life. he (fred. i) won't live long either; that prince of blackguards, 'brother william,' is as bad a life, so we come in the course of nature to be assassinated by king ernest i or regent ernest (the duke of cumberland)." such thoughts were not peculiar to brougham; in the seething state of public feeling, they constantly leapt to the surface; and, even so late as the year previous to her accession, the radical newspapers were full of suggestions that the princess victoria was in danger from the machinations of her wicked uncle. but no echo of these conflicts and forebodings reached the little drina--for so she was called in the family circle--as she played with her dolls, or scampered down the passages, or rode on the donkey her uncle york had given her along the avenues of kensington gardens the fair-haired, blue-eyed child was idolised by her nurses, and her mother's ladies, and her sister feodora; and for a few years there was danger, in spite of her mother's strictness, of her being spoilt. from time to time, she would fly into a violent passion, stamp her little foot, and set everyone at defiance; whatever they might say, she would not learn her letters--no, she would not; afterwards, she was very sorry, and burst into tears; but her letters remained unlearnt. when she was five years old, however, a change came, with the appearance of fraulein lehzen. this lady, who was the daughter of a hanoverian clergyman, and had previously been the princess feodora's governess, soon succeeded in instilling a new spirit into her charge. at first, indeed, she was appalled by the little princess's outbursts of temper; never in her life, she declared, had she seen such a passionate and naughty child. then she observed something else; the child was extraordinarily truthful; whatever punishment might follow, she never told a lie. firm, very firm, the new governess yet had the sense to see that all the firmness in the world would be useless, unless she could win her way into little drina's heart. she did so, and there were no more difficulties. drina learnt her letters like an angel; and she learnt other things as well. the baroness de spath taught her how to make little board boxes and decorate them with tinsel and painted flowers; her mother taught her religion. sitting in the pew every sunday morning, the child of six was seen listening in rapt attention to the clergyman's endless sermon, for she was to be examined upon it in the afternoon. the duchess was determined that her daughter, from the earliest possible moment, should be prepared for her high station in a way that would commend itself to the most respectable; her good, plain, thrifty german mind recoiled with horror and amazement from the shameless junketings at carlton house; drina should never be allowed to forget for a moment the virtues of simplicity, regularity, propriety, and devotion. the little girl, however, was really in small need of such lessons, for she was naturally simple and orderly, she was pious without difficulty, and her sense of propriety was keen. she understood very well the niceties of her own position. when, a child of six, lady jane ellice was taken by her grandmother to kensington palace, she was put to play with the princess victoria, who was the same age as herself. the young visitor, ignorant of etiquette, began to make free with the toys on the floor, in a way which was a little too familiar; but "you must not touch those," she was quickly told, "they are mine; and i may call you jane, but you must not call me victoria." the princess's most constant playmate was victoire, the daughter of sir john conroy, the duchess's major-domo. the two girls were very fond of one another; they would walk hand in hand together in kensington gardens. but little drina was perfectly aware for which of them it was that they were followed, at a respectful distance, by a gigantic scarlet flunkey. warm-hearted, responsive, she loved her dear lehzen, and she loved her dear feodora, and her dear victoire, and her dear madame de spath. and her dear mamma, of course, she loved her too; it was her duty; and yet--she could not tell why it was--she was always happier when she was staying with her uncle leopold at claremont. there old mrs. louis, who, years ago, had waited on her cousin charlotte, petted her to her heart's content; and her uncle himself was wonderfully kind to her, talking to her seriously and gently, almost as if she were a grown-up person. she and feodora invariably wept when the too-short visit was over, and they were obliged to return to the dutiful monotony, and the affectionate supervision of kensington. but sometimes when her mother had to stay at home, she was allowed to go out driving all alone with her dear feodora and her dear lehzen, and she could talk and look as she liked, and it was very delightful. the visits to claremont were frequent enough; but one day, on a special occasion, she paid one of a rarer and more exciting kind. when she was seven years old, she and her mother and sister were asked by the king to go down to windsor. george iv, who had transferred his fraternal ill-temper to his sister-in-law and her family, had at last grown tired of sulking, and decided to be agreeable. the old rip, bewigged and gouty, ornate and enormous, with his jewelled mistress by his side and his flaunting court about him, received the tiny creature who was one day to hold in those same halls a very different state. "give me your little paw," he said; and two ages touched. next morning, driving in his phaeton with the duchess of gloucester, he met the duchess of kent and her child in the park. "pop her in," were his orders, which, to the terror of the mother and the delight of the daughter, were immediately obeyed. off they dashed to virginia water, where there was a great barge, full of lords and ladies fishing, and another barge with a band; and the king ogled feodora, and praised her manners, and then turned to his own small niece. "what is your favourite tune? the band shall play it." "god save the king, sir," was the instant answer. the princess's reply has been praised as an early example of a tact which was afterwards famous. but she was a very truthful child, and perhaps it was her genuine opinion. iii in the duke of york, who had found some consolation for the loss of his wife in the sympathy of the duchess of rutland, died, leaving behind him the unfinished immensity of stafford house and l , worth of debts. three years later george iv also disappeared, and the duke of clarence reigned in his stead. the new queen, it was now clear, would in all probability never again be a mother; the princess victoria, therefore, was recognised by parliament as heir-presumptive; and the duchess of kent, whose annuity had been doubled five years previously, was now given an additional l , for the maintenance of the princess, and was appointed regent, in case of the death of the king before the majority of her daughter. at the same time a great convulsion took place in the constitution of the state. the power of the tories, who had dominated england for more than forty years, suddenly began to crumble. in the tremendous struggle that followed, it seemed for a moment as if the tradition of generations might be snapped, as if the blind tenacity of the reactionaries and the determined fury of their enemies could have no other issue than revolution. but the forces of compromise triumphed: the reform bill was passed. the centre of gravity in the constitution was shifted towards the middle classes; the whigs came into power; and the complexion of the government assumed a liberal tinge. one of the results of this new state of affairs was a change in the position of the duchess of kent and her daughter. from being the protegees of an opposition clique, they became assets of the official majority of the nation. the princess victoria was henceforward the living symbol of the victory of the middle classes. the duke of cumberland, on the other hand, suffered a corresponding eclipse: his claws had been pared by the reform act. he grew insignificant and almost harmless, though his ugliness remained; he was the wicked uncle still--but only of a story. the duchess's own liberalism was not very profound. she followed naturally in the footsteps of her husband, repeating with conviction the catchwords of her husband's clever friends and the generalisations of her clever brother leopold. she herself had no pretensions to cleverness; she did not understand very much about the poor law and the slave trade and political economy; but she hoped that she did her duty; and she hoped--she ardently hoped--that the same might be said of victoria. her educational conceptions were those of dr. arnold, whose views were just then beginning to permeate society. dr. arnold's object was, first and foremost, to make his pupils "in the highest and truest sense of the words, christian gentlemen," intellectual refinements might follow. the duchess felt convinced that it was her supreme duty in life to make quite sure that her daughter should grow up into a christian queen. to this task she bent all her energies; and, as the child developed, she flattered herself that her efforts were not unsuccessful. when the princess was eleven, she desired the bishops of london and lincoln to submit her daughter to an examination, and report upon the progress that had been made. "i feel the time to be now come," the duchess explained, in a letter obviously drawn up by her own hand, "that what has been done should be put to some test, that if anything has been done in error of judgment it may be corrected, and that the plan for the future should be open to consideration and revision... i attend almost always myself every lesson, or a part; and as the lady about the princess is a competent person, she assists her in preparing her lessons, for the various masters, as i resolved to act in that manner so as to be her governess myself. when she was at a proper age she commenced attending divine service regularly with me, and i have every feeling that she has religion at her heart, that she is morally impressed with it to that degree, that she is less liable to error by its application to her feelings as a child capable of reflection." "the general bent of her character," added the duchess, "is strength of intellect, capable of receiving with ease, information, and with a peculiar readiness in coming to a very just and benignant decision on any point her opinion is asked on. her adherence to truth is of so marked a character that i feel no apprehension of that bulwark being broken down by any circumstances." the bishops attended at the palace, and the result of their examination was all that could be wished. "in answering a great variety of questions proposed to her," they reported, "the princess displayed an accurate knowledge of the most important features of scripture history, and of the leading truths and precepts of the christian religion as taught by the church of england, as well as an acquaintance with the chronology and principal facts of english history remarkable in so young a person. to questions in geography, the use of the globes, arithmetic, and latin grammar, the answers which the princess returned were equally satisfactory." they did not believe that the duchess's plan of education was susceptible of any improvement; and the archbishop of canterbury, who was also consulted, came to the same gratifying conclusion. one important step, however, remained to be taken. so far, as the duchess explained to the bishops, the princess had been kept in ignorance of the station that she was likely to fill. "she is aware of its duties, and that a sovereign should live for others; so that when her innocent mind receives the impression of her future fate, she receives it with a mind formed to be sensible of what is to be expected from her, and it is to be hoped, she will be too well grounded in her principles to be dazzled with the station she is to look to." in the following year it was decided that she should be enlightened on this point. the well--known scene followed: the history lesson, the genealogical table of the kings of england slipped beforehand by the governess into the book, the princess's surprise, her inquiries, her final realisation of the facts. when the child at last understood, she was silent for a moment, and then she spoke: "i will be good," she said. the words were something more than a conventional protestation, something more than the expression of a superimposed desire; they were, in their limitation and their intensity, their egotism and their humility, an instinctive summary of the dominating qualities of a life. "i cried much on learning it," her majesty noted long afterwards. no doubt, while the others were present, even her dear lehzen, the little girl kept up her self-command; and then crept away somewhere to ease her heart of an inward, unfamiliar agitation, with a handkerchief, out of her mother's sight. but her mother's sight was by no means an easy thing to escape. morning and evening, day and night, there was no relaxation of the maternal vigilance. the child grew into the girl, the girl into the young woman; but still she slept in her mother's bedroom; still she had no place allowed her where she might sit or work by herself. an extraordinary watchfulness surrounded her every step: up to the day of her accession, she never went downstairs without someone beside her holding her hand. plainness and regularity ruled the household. the hours, the days, the years passed slowly and methodically by. the dolls--the innumerable dolls, each one so neatly dressed, each one with its name so punctiliously entered in the catalogue--were laid aside, and a little music and a little dancing took their place. taglioni came, to give grace and dignity to the figure, and lablache, to train the piping treble upon his own rich bass. the dean of chester, the official preceptor, continued his endless instruction in scripture history, while the duchess of northumberland, the official governess, presided over every lesson with becoming solemnity. without doubt, the princess's main achievement during her school-days was linguistic. german was naturally the first language with which she was familiar; but english and french quickly followed; and she became virtually trilingual, though her mastery of english grammar remained incomplete. at the same time, she acquired a working knowledge of italian and some smattering of latin. nevertheless, she did not read very much. it was not an occupation that she cared for; partly, perhaps, because the books that were given her were all either sermons, which were very dull, or poetry, which was incomprehensible. novels were strictly forbidden. lord durham persuaded her mother to get her some of miss martineau's tales, illustrating the truths of political economy, and they delighted her; but it is to be feared that it was the unaccustomed pleasure of the story that filled her mind, and that she never really mastered the theory of exchanges or the nature of rent. it was her misfortune that the mental atmosphere which surrounded her during these years of adolescence was almost entirely feminine. no father, no brother, was there to break in upon the gentle monotony of the daily round with impetuosity, with rudeness, with careless laughter and wafts of freedom from the outside world. the princess was never called by a voice that was loud and growling; never felt, as a matter of course, a hard rough cheek on her own soft one; never climbed a wall with a boy. the visits to claremont--delicious little escapes into male society--came to an end when she was eleven years old and prince leopold left england to be king of the belgians. she loved him still; he was still "il mio secondo padre or, rather, solo padre, for he is indeed like my real father, as i have none;" but his fatherliness now came to her dimly and indirectly, through the cold channel of correspondence. henceforward female duty, female elegance, female enthusiasm, hemmed her completely in; and her spirit, amid the enclosing folds, was hardly reached by those two great influences, without which no growing life can truly prosper--humour and imagination. the baroness lehzen--for she had been raised to that rank in the hanoverian nobility by george iv before he died--was the real centre of the princess's world. when feodora married, when uncle leopold went to belgium, the baroness was left without a competitor. the princess gave her mother her dutiful regards; but lehzen had her heart. the voluble, shrewd daughter of the pastor in hanover, lavishing her devotion on her royal charge, had reaped her reward in an unbounded confidence and a passionate adoration. the girl would have gone through fire for her "precious lehzen," the "best and truest friend," she declared, that she had had since her birth. her journal, begun when she was thirteen, where she registered day by day the small succession of her doings and her sentiments, bears on every page of it the traces of the baroness and her circumambient influence. the young creature that one sees there, self-depicted in ingenuous clarity, with her sincerity, her simplicity, her quick affections and pious resolutions, might almost have been the daughter of a german pastor herself. her enjoyments, her admirations, her engouements were of the kind that clothed themselves naturally in underlinings and exclamation marks. "it was a delightful ride. we cantered a good deal. sweet little rosy went beautifully!! we came home at a / past ... at minutes to we went out to the opera... rubini came on and sang a song out of 'anna boulena' quite beautifully. we came home at / past ." in her comments on her readings, the mind of the baroness is clearly revealed. one day, by some mistake, she was allowed to take up a volume of memoirs by fanny kemble. "it is certainly very pertly and oddly written. one would imagine by the style that the authoress must be very pert, and not well bred; for there are so many vulgar expressions in it. it is a great pity that a person endowed with so much talent, as mrs. butler really is, should turn it to so little account and publish a book which is so full of trash and nonsense which can only do her harm. i stayed up till minutes past ." madame de sevigne's letters, which the baroness read aloud, met with more approval. "how truly elegant and natural her style is! it is so full of naivete, cleverness, and grace." but her highest admiration was reserved for the bishop of chester's 'exposition of the gospel of st. matthew.' "it is a very fine book indeed. just the sort of one i like; which is just plain and comprehensible and full of truth and good feeling. it is not one of those learned books in which you have to cavil at almost every paragraph. lehzen gave it me on the sunday that i took the sacrament." a few weeks previously she had been confirmed, and she described the event as follows: "i felt that my confirmation was one of the most solemn and important events and acts in my life; and that i trusted that it might have a salutary effect on my mind. i felt deeply repentant for all what i had done which was wrong and trusted in god almighty to strengthen my heart and mind; and to forsake all that is bad and follow all that is virtuous and right. i went with the firm determination to become a true christian, to try and comfort my dear mamma in all her griefs, trials, and anxieties, and to become a dutiful and affectionate daughter to her. also to be obedient to dear lehzen, who has done so much for me. i was dressed in a white lace dress, with a white crepe bonnet with a wreath of white roses round it. i went in the chariot with my dear mamma and the others followed in another carriage." one seems to hold in one's hand a small smooth crystal pebble, without a flaw and without a scintillation, and so transparent that one can see through it at a glance. yet perhaps, after all, to the discerning eye, the purity would not be absolute. the careful searcher might detect, in the virgin soil, the first faint traces of an unexpected vein. in that conventual existence visits were exciting events; and, as the duchess had many relatives, they were not infrequent; aunts and uncles would often appear from germany, and cousins too. when the princess was fourteen she was delighted by the arrival of a couple of boys from wurtemberg, the princes alexander and ernst, sons of her mother's sister and the reigning duke. "they are both extremely tall," she noted, "alexander is very handsome, and ernst has a very kind expression. they are both extremely amiable." and their departure filled her with corresponding regrets. "we saw them get into the barge, and watched them sailing away for some time on the beach. they were so amiable and so pleasant to have in the house; they were always satisfied, always good-humoured; alexander took such care of me in getting out of the boat, and rode next to me; so did ernst." two years later, two other cousins arrived, the princes ferdinand and augustus. "dear ferdinand," the princess wrote, "has elicited universal admiration from all parties... he is so very unaffected, and has such a very distinguished appearance and carriage. they are both very dear and charming young men. augustus is very amiable, too, and, when known, shows much good sense." on another occasion, "dear ferdinand came and sat near me and talked so dearly and sensibly. i do so love him. dear augustus sat near me and talked with me, and he is also a dear good young man, and is very handsome." she could not quite decide which was the handsomer of the two. "on the whole," she concluded, "i think ferdinand handsomer than augustus, his eyes are so beautiful, and he has such a lively clever expression; both have such a sweet expression; ferdinand has something quite beautiful in his expression when he speaks and smiles, and he is so good." however, it was perhaps best to say that they were "both very handsome and very dear." but shortly afterwards two more cousins arrived, who threw all the rest into the shade. these were the princes ernest and albert, sons of her mother's eldest brother, the duke of saxe-coburg. this time the princess was more particular in her observations. "ernest," she remarked, "is as tall as ferdinand and augustus; he has dark hair, and fine dark eyes and eyebrows, but the nose and mouth are not good; he has a most kind, honest, and intelligent expression in his countenance, and has a very good figure. albert, who is just as tall as ernest but stouter, is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful; c'est a la fois full of goodness and sweetness, and very clever and intelligent." "both my cousins," she added, "are so kind and good; they are much more formes and men of the world than augustus; they speak english very well, and i speak it with them. ernest will be years old on the st of june, and albert on the th of august. dear uncle ernest made me the present of a most delightful lory, which is so tame that it remains on your hand and you may put your finger into its beak, or do anything with it, without its ever attempting to bite. it is larger than mamma's grey parrot." a little later, "i sat between my dear cousins on the sofa and we looked at drawings. they both draw very well, particularly albert, and are both exceedingly fond of music; they play very nicely on the piano. the more i see them the more i am delighted with them, and the more i love them... it is delightful to be with them; they are so fond of being occupied too; they are quite an example for any young person." when, after a stay of three weeks, the time came for the young men and their father to return to germany, the moment of parting was a melancholy one. "it was our last happy happy breakfast, with this dear uncle and those dearest beloved cousins, whom i do love so very very dearly; much more dearly than any other cousins in the world. dearly as i love ferdinand, and also good augustus, i love ernest and albert more than them, oh yes, much more... they have both learnt a good deal, and are very clever, naturally clever, particularly albert, who is the most reflecting of the two, and they like very much talking about serious and instructive things and yet are so very very merry and gay and happy, like young people ought to be; albert always used to have some fun and some clever witty answer at breakfast and everywhere; he used to play and fondle dash so funnily too... dearest albert was playing on the piano when i came down. at dear uncle, my dearest beloved cousins, and charles, left us, accompanied by count kolowrat. i embraced both my dearest cousins most warmly, as also my dear uncle. i cried bitterly, very bitterly." the princes shared her ecstasies and her italics between them; but it is clear enough where her secret preference lay. "particularly albert!" she was just seventeen; and deep was the impression left upon that budding organism by the young man's charm and goodness and accomplishments, and his large blue eyes and beautiful nose, and his sweet mouth and fine teeth. iv king william could not away with his sister-in-law, and the duchess fully returned his antipathy. without considerable tact and considerable forbearance their relative positions were well calculated to cause ill-feeling; and there was very little tact in the composition of the duchess, and no forbearance at all in that of his majesty. a bursting, bubbling old gentleman, with quarterdeck gestures, round rolling eyes, and a head like a pineapple, his sudden elevation to the throne after fifty-six years of utter insignificance had almost sent him crazy. his natural exuberance completely got the best of him; he rushed about doing preposterous things in an extraordinary manner, spreading amusement and terror in every direction, and talking all the time. his tongue was decidedly hanoverian, with its repetitions, its catchwords--"that's quite another thing! that's quite another thing!"--its rattling indomitability, its loud indiscreetness. his speeches, made repeatedly at the most inopportune junctures, and filled pell-mell with all the fancies and furies that happened at the moment to be whisking about in his head, were the consternation of ministers. he was one part blackguard, people said, and three parts buffoon; but those who knew him better could not help liking him--he meant well; and he was really good-humoured and kind-hearted, if you took him the right way. if you took him the wrong way, however, you must look out for squalls, as the duchess of kent discovered. she had no notion of how to deal with him--could not understand him in the least. occupied with her own position, her own responsibilities, her duty, and her daughter, she had no attention to spare for the peppery susceptibilities of a foolish, disreputable old man. she was the mother of the heiress of england; and it was for him to recognise the fact--to put her at once upon a proper footing--to give her the precedence of a dowager princess of wales, with a large annuity from the privy purse. it did not occur to her that such pretensions might be galling to a king who had no legitimate child of his own, and who yet had not altogether abandoned the hope of having one. she pressed on, with bulky vigour, along the course she had laid out. sir john conroy, an irishman with no judgment and a great deal of self-importance, was her intimate counsellor, and egged her on. it was advisable that victoria should become acquainted with the various districts of england, and through several summers a succession of tours--in the west, in the midlands, in wales--were arranged for her. the intention of the plan was excellent, but its execution was unfortunate. the journeys, advertised in the press, attracting enthusiastic crowds, and involving official receptions, took on the air of royal progresses. addresses were presented by loyal citizens, the delighted duchess, swelling in sweeping feathers and almost obliterating the diminutive princess, read aloud, in her german accent, gracious replies prepared beforehand by sir john, who, bustling and ridiculous, seemed to be mingling the roles of major-domo and prime minister. naturally the king fumed over his newspaper at windsor. "that woman is a nuisance!" he exclaimed. poor queen adelaide, amiable though disappointed, did her best to smooth things down, changed the subject, and wrote affectionate letters to victoria; but it was useless. news arrived that the duchess of kent, sailing in the solent, had insisted that whenever her yacht appeared it should be received by royal salutes from all the men-of-war and all the forts. the king declared that these continual poppings must cease; the premier and the first lord of the admiralty were consulted; and they wrote privately to the duchess, begging her to waive her rights. but she would not hear of it; sir john conroy was adamant. "as her royal highness's confidential adviser," he said, "i cannot recommend her to give way on this point." eventually the king, in a great state of excitement, issued a special order in council, prohibiting the firing of royal salutes to any ships except those which carried the reigning sovereign or his consort on board. when king william quarrelled with his whig ministers the situation grew still more embittered, for now the duchess, in addition to her other shortcomings, was the political partisan of his enemies. in he made an attempt to prepare the ground for a match between the princess victoria and one of the sons of the prince of orange, and at the same time did his best to prevent the visit of the young coburg princes to kensington. he failed in both these objects; and the only result of his efforts was to raise the anger of the king of the belgians, who, forgetting for a moment his royal reserve, addressed an indignant letter on the subject to his niece. "i am really astonished," he wrote, "at the conduct of your old uncle the king; this invitation of the prince of orange and his sons, this forcing him on others, is very extraordinary... not later than yesterday i got a half-official communication from england, insinuating that it would be highly desirable that the visit of your relatives should not take place this year--qu'en dites-vous? the relations of the queen and the king, therefore, to the god-knows-what degree, are to come in shoals and rule the land, when your relations are to be forbidden the country, and that when, as you know, the whole of your relations have ever been very dutiful and kind to the king. really and truly i never heard or saw anything like it, and i hope it will a little rouse your spirit; now that slavery is even abolished in the british colonies, i do not comprehend why your lot alone should be to be kept a white little slavey in england, for the pleasure of the court, who never bought you, as i am not aware of their ever having gone to any expense on that head, or the king's ever having spent a sixpence for your existence... oh, consistency and political or other honesty, where must one look for you!" shortly afterwards king leopold came to england himself, and his reception was as cold at windsor as it was warm at kensington. "to hear dear uncle speak on any subject," the princess wrote in her diary, "is like reading a highly instructive book; his conversation is so enlightened, so clear. he is universally admitted to be one of the first politicians now extant. he speaks so mildly, yet firmly and impartially, about politics. uncle tells me that belgium is quite a pattern for its organisation, its industry, and prosperity; the finances are in the greatest perfection. uncle is so beloved and revered by his belgian subjects, that it must be a great compensation for all his extreme trouble." but her other uncle by no means shared her sentiments. he could not, he said, put up with a water-drinker; and king leopold would touch no wine. "what's that you're drinking, sir?" he asked him one day at dinner. "water, sir." "god damn it, sir!" was the rejoinder. "why don't you drink wine? i never allow anybody to drink water at my table." it was clear that before very long there would be a great explosion; and in the hot days of august it came. the duchess and the princess had gone down to stay at windsor for the king's birthday party, and the king himself, who was in london for the day to prorogue parliament, paid a visit at kensington palace in their absence. there he found that the duchess had just appropriated, against his express orders, a suite of seventeen apartments for her own use. he was extremely angry, and, when he returned to windsor, after greeting the princess with affection, he publicly rebuked the duchess for what she had done. but this was little to what followed. on the next day was the birthday banquet; there were a hundred guests; the duchess of kent sat on the king's right hand, and the princess victoria opposite. at the end of the dinner, in reply to the toast of the king's health, he rose, and, in a long, loud, passionate speech, poured out the vials of his wrath upon the duchess. she had, he declared, insulted him--grossly and continually; she had kept the princess away from him in the most improper manner; she was surrounded by evil advisers, and was incompetent to act with propriety in the high station which she filled; but he would bear it no longer; he would have her to know he was king; he was determined that his authority should be respected; henceforward the princess should attend at every court function with the utmost regularity; and he hoped to god that his life might be spared for six months longer, so that the calamity of a regency might be avoided, and the functions of the crown pass directly to the heiress-presumptive instead of into the hands of the "person now near him," upon whose conduct and capacity no reliance whatever could be placed. the flood of vituperation rushed on for what seemed an interminable period, while the queen blushed scarlet, the princess burst into tears, and the hundred guests sat aghast. the duchess said not a word until the tirade was over and the company had retired; then in a tornado of rage and mortification, she called for her carriage and announced her immediate return to kensington. it was only with the utmost difficulty that some show of a reconciliation was patched up, and the outraged lady was prevailed upon to put off her departure till the morrow. her troubles, however, were not over when she had shaken the dust of windsor from her feet. in her own household she was pursued by bitterness and vexation of spirit. the apartments at kensington were seething with subdued disaffection, with jealousies and animosities virulently intensified by long years of propinquity and spite. there was a deadly feud between sir john conroy and baroness lehzen. but that was not all. the duchess had grown too fond of her major-domo. there were familiarities, and one day the princess victoria discovered the fact. she confided what she had seen to the baroness, and to the baroness's beloved ally, madame de spath. unfortunately, madame de spath could not hold her tongue, and was actually foolish enough to reprove the duchess; whereupon she was instantly dismissed. it was not so easy to get rid of the baroness. that lady, prudent and reserved, maintained an irreproachable demeanour. her position was strongly entrenched; she had managed to secure the support of the king; and sir john found that he could do nothing against her. but henceforward the household was divided into two camps.(*) the duchess supported sir john with all the abundance of her authority; but the baroness, too, had an adherent who could not be neglected. the princess victoria said nothing, but she had been much attached to madame de spath, and she adored her lehzen. the duchess knew only too well that in this horrid embroilment her daughter was against her. chagrin, annoyance, moral reprobation, tossed her to and fro. she did her best to console herself with sir john's affectionate loquacity, or with the sharp remarks of lady flora hastings, one of her maids of honour, who had no love for the baroness. the subject lent itself to satire; for the pastor's daughter, with all her airs of stiff superiority, had habits which betrayed her origin. her passion for caraway seeds, for instance, was uncontrollable. little bags of them came over to her from hanover, and she sprinkled them on her bread and butter, her cabbage, and even her roast beef. lady flora could not resist a caustic observation; it was repeated to the baroness, who pursed her lips in fury, and so the mischief grew. (*) greville, iv, ; and august , (unpublished). "the cause of the queen's alienation from the duchess and hatred of conroy, the duke (of wellington) said, was unquestionably owing to her having witnessed some familiarities between them. what she had seen she repeated to baroness spaeth, and spaeth not only did not hold her tongue, but (he thinks) remonstrated with the duchess herself on the subject. the consequence was that they got rid of spaeth, and they would have got rid of lehzen, too, if they had been able, but lehzen, who knew very well what was going on, was prudent enough not to commit herself, and who was, besides, powerfully protected by george iv and william iv, so that they did not dare to attempt to expel her." v the king had prayed that he might live till his niece was of age; and a few days before her eighteenth birthday--the date of her legal majority--a sudden attack of illness very nearly carried him off. he recovered, however, and the princess was able to go through her birthday festivities--a state ball and a drawing-room--with unperturbed enjoyment. "count zichy," she noted in her diary, "is very good-looking in uniform, but not in plain clothes. count waldstein looks remarkably well in his pretty hungarian uniform." with the latter young gentleman she wished to dance, but there was an insurmountable difficulty. "he could not dance quadrilles, and, as in my station i unfortunately cannot valse and gallop, i could not dance with him." her birthday present from the king was of a pleasing nature, but it led to a painful domestic scene. in spite of the anger of her belgian uncle, she had remained upon good terms with her english one. he had always been very kind to her, and the fact that he had quarrelled with her mother did not appear to be a reason for disliking him. he was, she said, "odd, very odd and singular," but "his intentions were often ill interpreted." he now wrote her a letter, offering her an allowance of l , a year, which he proposed should be at her own disposal, and independent of her mother. lord conyngham, the lord chamberlain, was instructed to deliver the letter into the princess's own hands. when he arrived at kensington, he was ushered into the presence of the duchess and the princess, and, when he produced the letter, the duchess put out her hand to take it. lord conyngham begged her royal highness's pardon, and repeated the king's commands. thereupon the duchess drew back, and the princess took the letter. she immediately wrote to her uncle, accepting his kind proposal. the duchess was much displeased; l a year, she said, would be quite enough for victoria; as for the remaining l , it would be only proper that she should have that herself. king william had thrown off his illness, and returned to his normal life. once more the royal circle at windsor--their majesties, the elder princesses, and some unfortunate ambassadress or minister's wife--might be seen ranged for hours round a mahogany table, while the queen netted a purse, and the king slept, occasionally waking from his slumbers to observe "exactly so, ma'am, exactly so!" but this recovery was of short duration. the old man suddenly collapsed; with no specific symptoms besides an extreme weakness, he yet showed no power of rallying; and it was clear to everyone that his death was now close at hand. all eyes, all thoughts, turned towards the princess victoria; but she still remained, shut away in the seclusion of kensington, a small, unknown figure, lost in the large shadow of her mother's domination. the preceding year had in fact been an important one in her development. the soft tendrils of her mind had for the first time begun to stretch out towards unchildish things. in this king leopold encouraged her. after his return to brussels, he had resumed his correspondance in a more serious strain; he discussed the details of foreign politics; he laid down the duties of kingship; he pointed out the iniquitous foolishness of the newspaper press. on the latter subject, indeed, he wrote with some asperity. "if all the editors," he said, "of the papers in the countries where the liberty of the press exists were to be assembled, we should have a crew to which you would not confide a dog that you would value, still less your honour and reputation." on the functions of a monarch, his views were unexceptionable. "the business of the highest in a state," he wrote, "is certainly, in my opinion, to act with great impartiality and a spirit of justice for the good of all." at the same time the princess's tastes were opening out. though she was still passionately devoted to riding and dancing, she now began to have a genuine love of music as well, and to drink in the roulades and arias of the italian opera with high enthusiasm. she even enjoyed reading poetry--at any rate, the poetry of sir walter scott. when king leopold learnt that king william's death was approaching, he wrote several long letters of excellent advice to his niece. "in every letter i shall write to you," he said, "i mean to repeat to you, as a fundamental rule, to be firm, and courageous, and honest, as you have been till now." for the rest, in the crisis that was approaching, she was not to be alarmed, but to trust in her "good natural sense and the truth" of her character; she was to do nothing in a hurry; to hurt no one's amour-propre, and to continue her confidence in the whig administration! not content with letters, however, king leopold determined that the princess should not lack personal guidance, and sent over to her aid the trusted friend whom, twenty years before, he had taken to his heart by the death-bed at claremont. thus, once again, as if in accordance with some preordained destiny, the figure of stockmar is discernible--inevitably present at a momentous hour. on june , the king was visibly sinking. the archbishop of canterbury was by his side, with all the comforts of the church. nor did the holy words fall upon a rebellious spirit; for many years his majesty had been a devout believer. "when i was a young man," he once explained at a public banquet, "as well as i can remember, i believed in nothing but pleasure and folly--nothing at all. but when i went to sea, got into a gale, and saw the wonders of the mighty deep, then i believed; and i have been a sincere christian ever since." it was the anniversary of the battle of waterloo, and the dying man remembered it. he should be glad to live, he said, over that day; he would never see another sunset. "i hope your majesty may live to see many," said dr. chambers. "oh! that's quite another thing, that's quite another thing," was the answer. one other sunset he did live to see; and he died in the early hours of the following morning. it was on june , . when all was over, the archbishop and the lord chamberlain ordered a carriage, and drove post-haste from windsor to kensington. they arrived at the palace at five o'clock, and it was only with considerable difficulty that they gained admittance. at six the duchess woke up her daughter, and told her that the archbishop of canterbury and lord conyngham were there, and wished to see her. she got out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and went, alone, into the room where the messengers were standing. lord conyngham fell on his knees, and officially announced the death of the king; the archbishop added some personal details. looking at the bending, murmuring dignitaries before her, she knew that she was queen of england. "since it has pleased providence," she wrote that day in her journal, "to place me in this station, i shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; i am very young, and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but i am sure, that very few have more real good will and more real desire to do what is fit and right than i have." but there was scant time for resolutions and reflections. at once, affairs were thick upon her. stockmar came to breakfast, and gave some good advice. she wrote a letter to her uncle leopold, and a hurried note to her sister feodora. a letter came from the prime minister, lord melbourne, announcing his approaching arrival. he came at nine, in full court dress, and kissed her hand. she saw him alone, and repeated to him the lesson which, no doubt, the faithful stockmar had taught her at breakfast. "it has long been my intention to retain your lordship and the rest of the present ministry at the head of affairs;" whereupon lord melbourne again kissed her hand and shortly after left her. she then wrote a letter of condolence to queen adelaide. at eleven, lord melbourne came again; and at half-past eleven she went downstairs into the red saloon to hold her first council. the great assembly of lords and notables, bishops, generals, and ministers of state, saw the doors thrown open and a very short, very slim girl in deep plain mourning come into the room alone and move forward to her seat with extraordinary dignity and grace; they saw a countenance, not beautiful, but prepossessing--fair hair, blue prominent eyes, a small curved nose, an open mouth revealing the upper teeth, a tiny chin, a clear complexion, and, over all, the strangely mingled signs of innocence, of gravity, of youth, and of composure; they heard a high unwavering voice reading aloud with perfect clarity; and then, the ceremony was over, they saw the small figure rise and, with the same consummate grace, the same amazing dignity, pass out from among them, as she had come in, alone. chapter iii. lord melbourne i the new queen was almost entirely unknown to her subjects. in her public appearances her mother had invariably dominated the scene. her private life had been that of a novice in a convent: hardly a human being from the outside world had ever spoken to her; and no human being at all, except her mother and the baroness lehzen, had ever been alone with her in a room. thus it was not only the public at large that was in ignorance of everything concerning her; the inner circles of statesmen and officials and high-born ladies were equally in the dark. when she suddenly emerged from this deep obscurity, the impression that she created was immediate and profound. her bearing at her first council filled the whole gathering with astonishment and admiration; the duke of wellington, sir robert peel, even the savage croker, even the cold and caustic greville--all were completely carried away. everything that was reported of her subsequent proceedings seemed to be of no less happy augury. her perceptions were quick, her decisions were sensible, her language was discreet; she performed her royal duties with extraordinary facility. among the outside public there was a great wave of enthusiasm. sentiment and romance were coming into fashion; and the spectacle of the little girl-queen, innocent, modest, with fair hair and pink cheeks, driving through her capital, filled the hearts of the beholders with raptures of affectionate loyalty. what, above all, struck everybody with overwhelming force was the contrast between queen victoria and her uncles. the nasty old men, debauched and selfish, pig-headed and ridiculous, with their perpetual burden of debts, confusions, and disreputabilities--they had vanished like the snows of winter, and here at last, crowned and radiant, was the spring. lord john russell, in an elaborate oration, gave voice to the general sentiment. he hoped that victoria might prove an elizabeth without her tyranny, an anne without her weakness. he asked england to pray that the illustrious princess who had just ascended the throne with the purest intentions and the justest desires might see slavery abolished, crime diminished, and education improved. he trusted that her people would henceforward derive their strength, their conduct, and their loyalty from enlightened religious and moral principles, and that, so fortified, the reign of victoria might prove celebrated to posterity and to all the nations of the earth. very soon, however, there were signs that the future might turn out to be not quite so simple and roseate as a delighted public dreamed. the "illustrious princess" might perhaps, after all, have something within her which squared ill with the easy vision of a well-conducted heroine in an edifying story-book. the purest intentions and the justest desires? no doubt; but was that all? to those who watched closely, for instance, there might be something ominous in the curious contour of that little mouth. when, after her first council, she crossed the ante-room and found her mother waiting for her, she said, "and now, mamma, am i really and truly queen?" "you see, my dear, that it is so." "then, dear mamma, i hope you will grant me the first request i make to you, as queen. let me be by myself for an hour." for an hour she remained in solitude. then she reappeared, and gave a significant order: her bed was to be moved out of her mother's room. it was the doom of the duchess of kent. the long years of waiting were over at last; the moment of a lifetime had come; her daughter was queen of england; and that very moment brought her own annihilation. she found herself, absolutely and irretrievably, shut off from every vestige of influence, of confidence, of power. she was surrounded, indeed, by all the outward signs of respect and consideration; but that only made the inward truth of her position the more intolerable. through the mingled formalities of court etiquette and filial duty, she could never penetrate to victoria. she was unable to conceal her disappointment and her rage. "il n'y a plus d'avenir pour moi," she exclaimed to madame de lieven; "je ne suis plus rien." for eighteen years, she said, this child had been the sole object of her existence, of her thoughts, her hopes, and now--no! she would not be comforted, she had lost everything, she was to the last degree unhappy. sailing, so gallantly and so pertinaciously, through the buffeting storms of life, the stately vessel, with sails still swelling and pennons flying, had put into harbour at last; to find there nothing--a land of bleak desolation. within a month of the accession, the realities of the new situation assumed a visible shape. the whole royal household moved from kensington to buckingham palace, and, in the new abode, the duchess of kent was given a suite of apartments entirely separate from the queen's. by victoria herself the change was welcomed, though, at the moment of departure, she could afford to be sentimental. "though i rejoice to go into b. p. for many reasons," she wrote in her diary, "it is not without feelings of regret that i shall bid adieu for ever to this my birthplace, where i have been born and bred, and to which i am really attached!" her memory lingered for a moment over visions of the past: her sister's wedding, pleasant balls and delicious concerts and there were other recollections. "i have gone through painful and disagreeable scenes here, 'tis true," she concluded, "but still i am fond of the poor old palace." at the same time she took another decided step. she had determined that she would see no more of sir john conroy. she rewarded his past services with liberality: he was given a baronetcy and a pension of l a year; he remained a member of the duchess's household, but his personal intercourse with the queen came to an abrupt conclusion. ii it was clear that these interior changes--whatever else they might betoken--marked the triumph of one person--the baroness lehzen. the pastor's daughter observed the ruin of her enemies. discreet and victorious, she remained in possession of the field. more closely than ever did she cleave to the side of her mistress, her pupil, and her friend; and in the recesses of the palace her mysterious figure was at once invisible and omnipresent. when the queen's ministers came in at one door, the baroness went out by another; when they retired, she immediately returned. nobody knew--nobody ever will know--the precise extent and the precise nature of her influence. she herself declared that she never discussed public affairs with the queen, that she was concerned with private matters only--with private letters and the details of private life. certainly her hand is everywhere discernible in victoria's early correspondence. the journal is written in the style of a child; the letters are not so simple; they are the work of a child, rearranged--with the minimum of alteration, no doubt, and yet perceptibly--by a governess. and the governess was no fool: narrow, jealous, provincial, she might be; but she was an acute and vigorous woman, who had gained by a peculiar insight, a peculiar ascendancy. that ascendancy she meant to keep. no doubt it was true that technically she took no part in public business; but the distinction between what is public and what is private is always a subtle one; and in the case of a reigning sovereign--as the next few years were to show--it is often imaginary. considering all things--the characters of the persons, and the character of the times--it was something more than a mere matter of private interest that the bedroom of baroness lehzen at buckingham palace should have been next door to the bedroom of the queen. but the influence wielded by the baroness, supreme as it seemed within its own sphere, was not unlimited; there were other forces at work. for one thing, the faithful stockmar had taken up his residence in the palace. during the twenty years which had elapsed since the death of the princess charlotte, his experiences had been varied and remarkable. the unknown counsellor of a disappointed princeling had gradually risen to a position of european importance. his devotion to his master had been not only whole--hearted but cautious and wise. it was stockmar's advice that had kept prince leopold in england during the critical years which followed his wife's death, and had thus secured to him the essential requisite of a point d'appui in the country of his adoption. it was stockmar's discretion which had smoothed over the embarrassments surrounding the prince's acceptance and rejection of the greek crown. it was stockmar who had induced the prince to become the constitutional sovereign of belgium. above all, it was stockmar's tact, honesty, and diplomatic skill which, through a long series of arduous and complicated negotiations, had led to the guarantee of belgian neutrality by the great powers. his labours had been rewarded by a german barony and by the complete confidence of king leopold. nor was it only in brussels that he was treated with respect and listened to with attention. the statesmen who governed england--lord grey, sir robert peel, lord palmerston, lord melbourne--had learnt to put a high value upon his probity and his intelligence. "he is one of the cleverest fellows i ever saw," said lord melbourne, "the most discreet man, the most well-judging, and most cool man." and lord palmerston cited baron stockmar as the only absolutely disinterested man he had come across in life, at last he was able to retire to coburg, and to enjoy for a few years the society of the wife and children whom his labours in the service of his master had hitherto only allowed him to visit at long intervals for a month or two at a time. but in he had been again entrusted with an important negotiation, which he had brought to a successful conclusion in the marriage of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, a nephew of king leopold's, with queen maria ii of portugal. the house of coburg was beginning to spread over europe; and the establishment of the baron at buckingham palace in was to be the prelude of another and a more momentous advance. king leopold and his counsellor provide in their careers an example of the curious diversity of human ambitions. the desires of man are wonderfully various; but no less various are the means by which those desires may reach satisfaction: and so the work of the world gets done. the correct mind of leopold craved for the whole apparatus of royalty. mere power would have held no attractions for him; he must be an actual king--the crowned head of a people. it was not enough to do; it was essential also to be recognised; anything else would not be fitting. the greatness that he dreamt of was surrounded by every appropriate circumstance. to be a majesty, to be a cousin of sovereigns, to marry a bourbon for diplomatic ends, to correspond with the queen of england, to be very stiff and very punctual, to found a dynasty, to bore ambassadresses into fits, to live, on the highest pinnacle, an exemplary life devoted to the public service--such were his objects, and such, in fact, were his achievements. the "marquis peu-a-peu," as george iv called him, had what he wanted. but this would never have been the case if it had not happened that the ambition of stockmar took a form exactly complementary to his own. the sovereignty that the baron sought for was by no means obvious. the satisfaction of his essential being lay in obscurity, in invisibility--in passing, unobserved, through a hidden entrance, into the very central chamber of power, and in sitting there, quietly, pulling the subtle strings that set the wheels of the whole world in motion. a very few people, in very high places, and exceptionally well-informed, knew that baron stockmar was a most important person: that was enough. the fortunes of the master and the servant, intimately interacting, rose together. the baron's secret skill had given leopold his unexceptionable kingdom; and leopold, in his turn, as time went on, was able to furnish the baron with more and more keys to more and more back doors. stockmar took up his abode in the palace partly as the emissary of king leopold, but more particularly as the friend and adviser of a queen who was almost a child, and who, no doubt, would be much in need of advice and friendship. for it would be a mistake to suppose that either of these two men was actuated by a vulgar selfishness. the king, indeed, was very well aware on which side his bread was buttered; during an adventurous and chequered life he had acquired a shrewd knowledge of the world's workings; and he was ready enough to use that knowledge to strengthen his position and to spread his influence. but then, the firmer his position and the wider his influence, the better for europe; of that he was quite certain. and besides, he was a constitutional monarch; and it would be highly indecorous in a constitutional monarch to have any aims that were low or personal. as for stockmar, the disinterestedness which palmerston had noted was undoubtedly a basic element in his character. the ordinary schemer is always an optimist; and stockmar, racked by dyspepsia and haunted by gloomy forebodings, was a constitutionally melancholy man. a schemer, no doubt, he was; but he schemed distrustfully, splenetically, to do good. to do good! what nobler end could a man scheme for? yet it is perilous to scheme at all. with lehzen to supervise every detail of her conduct, with stockmar in the next room, so full of wisdom and experience of affairs, with her uncle leopold's letters, too, pouring out so constantly their stream of encouragements, general reflections, and highly valuable tips, victoria, even had she been without other guidance, would have stood in no lack of private counsellor. but other guidance she had; for all these influences paled before a new star, of the first magnitude, which, rising suddenly upon her horizon, immediately dominated her life. iii william lamb, viscount melbourne, was fifty-eight years of age, and had been for the last three years prime minister of england. in every outward respect he was one of the most fortunate of mankind. he had been born into the midst of riches, brilliance, and power. his mother, fascinating and intelligent, had been a great whig hostess, and he had been bred up as a member of that radiant society which, during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, concentrated within itself the ultimate perfections of a hundred years of triumphant aristocracy. nature had given him beauty and brains; the unexpected death of an elder brother brought him wealth, a peerage, and the possibility of high advancement. within that charmed circle, whatever one's personal disabilities, it was difficult to fail; and to him, with all his advantages, success was well-nigh unavoidable. with little effort, he attained political eminence. on the triumph of the whigs he became one of the leading members of the government; and when lord grey retired from the premiership he quietly stepped into the vacant place. nor was it only in the visible signs of fortune that fate had been kind to him. bound to succeed, and to succeed easily, he was gifted with so fine a nature that his success became him. his mind, at once supple and copious, his temperament, at once calm and sensitive, enabled him not merely to work, but to live with perfect facility and with the grace of strength. in society he was a notable talker, a captivating companion, a charming man. if one looked deeper, one saw at once that he was not ordinary, that the piquancies of his conversation and his manner--his free-and-easy vaguenesses, his abrupt questions, his lollings and loungings, his innumerable oaths--were something more than an amusing ornament, were the outward manifestation of an individuality that was fundamental. the precise nature of this individuality was very difficult to gauge: it was dubious, complex, perhaps self--contradictory. certainly there was an ironical discordance between the inner history of the man and his apparent fortunes. he owed all he had to his birth, and his birth was shameful; it was known well enough that his mother had passionately loved lord egremont, and that lord melbourne was not his father. his marriage, which had seemed to be the crown of his youthful ardours, was a long, miserable, desperate failure: the incredible lady caroline, "with pleasures too refined to please, with too much spirit to be e'er at ease, with too much quickness to be ever taught, with too much thinking to have common thought," was very nearly the destruction of his life. when at last he emerged from the anguish and confusion of her folly, her extravagance, her rage, her despair, and her devotion, he was left alone with endless memories of intermingled farce and tragedy, and an only son, who was an imbecile. but there was something else that he owed to lady caroline. while she whirled with byron in a hectic frenzy of love and fashion, he had stayed at home in an indulgence bordering on cynicism, and occupied his solitude with reading. it was thus that he had acquired those habits of study, that love of learning, and that wide and accurate knowledge of ancient and modern literature, which formed so unexpected a part of his mental equipment. his passion for reading never deserted him; even when he was prime minister he found time to master every new important book. with an incongruousness that was characteristic, his favourite study was theology. an accomplished classical scholar, he was deeply read in the fathers of the church; heavy volumes of commentary and exegesis he examined with scrupulous diligence; and at any odd moment he might be found turning over the pages of the bible. to the ladies whom he most liked, he would lend some learned work on the revelation, crammed with marginal notes in his own hand, or dr. lardner's "observations upon the jewish errors with respect to the conversion of mary magdalene." the more pious among them had high hopes that these studies would lead him into the right way; but of this there were no symptoms in his after-dinner conversations. the paradox of his political career was no less curious. by temperament an aristocrat, by conviction a conservative, he came to power as the leader of the popular party, the party of change. he had profoundly disliked the reform bill, which he had only accepted at last as a necessary evil; and the reform bill lay at the root of the very existence, of the very meaning, of his government. he was far too sceptical to believe in progress of any kind. things were best as they were or rather, they were least bad. "you'd better try to do no good," was one of his dictums, "and then you'll get into no scrapes." education at best was futile; education of the poor was positively dangerous. the factory children? "oh, if you'd only have the goodness to leave them alone!" free trade was a delusion; the ballot was nonsense; and there was no such thing as a democracy. nevertheless, he was not a reactionary; he was simply an opportunist. the whole duty of government, he said, was "to prevent crime and to preserve contracts." all one could really hope to do was to carry on. he himself carried on in a remarkable manner--with perpetual compromises, with fluctuations and contradictions, with every kind of weakness, and yet with shrewdness, with gentleness, even with conscientiousness, and a light and airy mastery of men and of events. he conducted the transactions of business with extraordinary nonchalance. important persons, ushered up for some grave interview, found him in a towselled bed, littered with books and papers, or vaguely shaving in a dressing-room; but, when they went downstairs again, they would realise that somehow or other they had been pumped. when he had to receive a deputation, he could hardly ever do so with becoming gravity. the worthy delegates of the tallow-chandlers, or the society for the abolition of capital punishment, were distressed and mortified when, in the midst of their speeches, the prime minister became absorbed in blowing a feather, or suddenly cracked an unseemly joke. how could they have guessed that he had spent the night before diligently getting up the details of their case? he hated patronage and the making of appointments--a feeling rare in ministers. "as for the bishops," he burst out, "i positively believe they die to vex me." but when at last the appointment was made, it was made with keen discrimination. his colleagues observed another symptom--was it of his irresponsibility or his wisdom? he went to sleep in the cabinet. probably, if he had been born a little earlier, he would have been a simpler and a happier man. as it was, he was a child of the eighteenth century whose lot was cast in a new, difficult, unsympathetic age. he was an autumn rose. with all his gracious amenity, his humour, his happy-go-lucky ways, a deep disquietude possessed him. a sentimental cynic, a sceptical believer, he was restless and melancholy at heart. above all, he could never harden himself; those sensitive petals shivered in every wind. whatever else he might be, one thing was certain: lord melbourne was always human, supremely human--too human, perhaps. and now, with old age upon him, his life took a sudden, new, extraordinary turn. he became, in the twinkling of an eye, the intimate adviser and the daily companion of a young girl who had stepped all at once from a nursery to a throne. his relations with women had been, like everything else about him, ambiguous. nobody had ever been able quite to gauge the shifting, emotional complexities of his married life; lady caroline vanished; but his peculiar susceptibilities remained. female society of some kind or other was necessary to him, and he did not stint himself; a great part of every day was invariably spent in it. the feminine element in him made it easy, made it natural and inevitable for him to be the friend of a great many women; but the masculine element in him was strong as well. in such circumstances it is also easy, it is even natural, perhaps it is even inevitable, to be something more than a friend. there were rumours and combustions. lord melbourne was twice a co-respondent in a divorce action; but on each occasion he won his suit. the lovely lady brandon, the unhappy and brilliant mrs. norton... the law exonerated them both. beyond that hung an impenetrable veil. but at any rate it was clear that, with such a record, the prime minister's position in buckingham palace must be a highly delicate one. however, he was used to delicacies, and he met the situation with consummate success. his behaviour was from the first moment impeccable. his manner towards the young queen mingled, with perfect facility, the watchfulness and the respect of a statesman and a courtier with the tender solicitude of a parent. he was at once reverential and affectionate, at once the servant and the guide. at the same time the habits of his life underwent a surprising change. his comfortable, unpunctual days became subject to the unaltering routine of a palace; no longer did he sprawl on sofas; not a single "damn" escaped his lips. the man of the world who had been the friend of byron and the regent, the talker whose paradoxes had held holland house enthralled, the cynic whose ribaldries had enlivened so many deep potations, the lover whose soft words had captivated such beauty and such passion and such wit, might now be seen, evening after evening, talking with infinite politeness to a schoolgirl, bolt upright, amid the silence and the rigidity of court etiquette. iv on her side, victoria was instantaneously fascinated by lord melbourne. the good report of stockmar had no doubt prepared the way; lehzen was wisely propitiated; and the first highly favourable impression was never afterwards belied. she found him perfect; and perfect in her sight he remained. her absolute and unconcealed adoration was very natural; what innocent young creature could have resisted, in any circumstances, the charm and the devotion of such a man? but, in her situation, there was a special influence which gave a peculiar glow to all she felt. after years of emptiness and dullness and suppression, she had come suddenly, in the heyday of youth, into freedom and power. she was mistress of herself, of great domains and palaces; she was queen of england. responsibilities and difficulties she might have, no doubt, and in heavy measure; but one feeling dominated and absorbed all others--the feeling of joy. everything pleased her. she was in high spirits from morning till night. mr. creevey, grown old now, and very near his end, catching a glimpse of her at brighton, was much amused, in his sharp fashion, by the ingenuous gaiety of "little vic." "a more homely little being you never beheld, when she is at her ease, and she is evidently dying to be always more so. she laughs in real earnest, opening her mouth as wide as it can go, showing not very pretty gums... she eats quite as heartily as she laughs, i think i may say she gobbles... she blushes and laughs every instant in so natural a way as to disarm anybody." but it was not merely when she was laughing or gobbling that she enjoyed herself; the performance of her official duties gave her intense satisfaction. "i really have immensely to do," she wrote in her journal a few days after her accession; "i receive so many communications from my ministers, but i like it very much." and again, a week later, "i repeat what i said before that i have so many communications from the ministers, and from me to them, and i get so many papers to sign every day, that i have always a very great deal to do. i delight in this work." through the girl's immaturity the vigorous predestined tastes of the woman were pushing themselves into existence with eager velocity, with delicious force. one detail of her happy situation deserves particular mention. apart from the splendour of her social position and the momentousness of her political one, she was a person of great wealth. as soon as parliament met, an annuity of l , was settled upon her. when the expenses of her household had been discharged, she was left with l , a year of her own. she enjoyed besides the revenues of the duchy of lancaster, which amounted annually to over l , . the first use to which she put her money was characteristic: she paid off her father's debts. in money matters, no less than in other matters, she was determined to be correct. she had the instincts of a man of business; and she never could have borne to be in a position that was financially unsound. with youth and happiness gilding every hour, the days passed merrily enough. and each day hinged upon lord melbourne. her diary shows us, with undiminished clarity, the life of the young sovereign during the early months of her reign--a life satisfactorily regular, full of delightful business, a life of simple pleasures, mostly physical--riding, eating, dancing--a quick, easy, highly unsophisticated life, sufficient unto itself. the light of the morning is upon it; and, in the rosy radiance, the figure of "lord m." emerges, glorified and supreme. if she is the heroine of the story, he is the hero; but indeed they are more than hero and heroine, for there are no other characters at all. lehzen, the baron, uncle leopold, are unsubstantial shadows--the incidental supers of the piece. her paradise was peopled by two persons, and surely that was enough. one sees them together still, a curious couple, strangely united in those artless pages, under the magical illumination of that dawn of eighty years ago: the polished high fine gentleman with the whitening hair and whiskers and the thick dark eyebrows and the mobile lips and the big expressive eyes; and beside him the tiny queen--fair, slim, elegant, active, in her plain girl's dress and little tippet, looking up at him earnestly, adoringly, with eyes blue and projecting, and half-open mouth. so they appear upon every page of the journal; upon every page lord m. is present, lord m. is speaking, lord m. is being amusing, instructive, delightful, and affectionate at once, while victoria drinks in the honied words, laughs till she shows her gums, tries hard to remember, and runs off, as soon as she is left alone, to put it all down. their long conversations touched upon a multitude of topics. lord m. would criticise books, throw out a remark or two on the british constitution, make some passing reflections on human life, and tell story after story of the great people of the eighteenth century. then there would be business a despatch perhaps from lord durham in canada, which lord m. would read. but first he must explain a little. "he said that i must know that canada originally belonged to the french, and was only ceded to the english in , when it was taken in an expedition under wolfe: 'a very daring enterprise,' he said. canada was then entirely french, and the british only came afterwards... lord m. explained this very clearly (and much better than i have done) and said a good deal more about it. he then read me durham's despatch, which is a very long one and took him more than / an hour to read. lord m. read it beautifully with that fine soft voice of his, and with so much expression, so that it is needless to say i was much interested by it." and then the talk would take a more personal turn. lord m. would describe his boyhood, and she would learn that "he wore his hair long, as all boys then did, till he was ; (how handsome he must have looked!)." or she would find out about his queer tastes and habits--how he never carried a watch, which seemed quite extraordinary. "'i always ask the servant what o'clock it is, and then he tells me what he likes,' said lord m." or, as the rooks wheeled about round the trees, "in a manner which indicated rain," he would say that he could sit looking at them for an hour, and "was quite surprised at my disliking them. m. said, 'the rooks are my delight.'" the day's routine, whether in london or at windsor, was almost invariable. the morning was devoted to business and lord m. in the afternoon the whole court went out riding. the queen, in her velvet riding--habit and a top-hat with a veil draped about the brim, headed the cavalcade; and lord m. rode beside her. the lively troupe went fast and far, to the extreme exhilaration of her majesty. back in the palace again, there was still time for a little more fun before dinner--a game of battledore and shuttlecock perhaps, or a romp along the galleries with some children. dinner came, and the ceremonial decidedly tightened. the gentleman of highest rank sat on the right hand of the queen; on her left--it soon became an established rule--sat lord melbourne. after the ladies had left the dining-room, the gentlemen were not permitted to remain behind for very long; indeed, the short time allowed them for their wine-drinking formed the subject--so it was rumoured--of one of the very few disputes between the queen and her prime minister;(*) but her determination carried the day, and from that moment after-dinner drunkenness began to go out of fashion. when the company was reassembled in the drawing-room the etiquette was stiff. for a few moments the queen spoke in turn to each one of her guests; and during these short uneasy colloquies the aridity of royalty was apt to become painfully evident. one night mr. greville, the clerk of the privy council, was present; his turn soon came; the middle-aged, hard-faced viveur was addressed by his young hostess. "have you been riding to-day, mr. greville?" asked the queen. "no, madam, i have not," replied mr. greville. "it was a fine day," continued the queen. "yes, madam, a very fine day," said mr. greville. "it was rather cold, though," said the queen. "it was rather cold, madam," said mr. greville. "your sister, lady frances egerton, rides, i think, doesn't she?" said the queen. "she does ride sometimes, madam," said mr. greville. there was a pause, after which mr. greville ventured to take the lead, though he did not venture to change the subject. "has your majesty been riding today?" asked mr. greville. "oh yes, a very long ride," answered the queen with animation. "has your majesty got a nice horse?" said mr. greville. "oh, a very nice horse," said the queen. it was over. her majesty gave a smile and an inclination of the head, mr. greville a profound bow, and the next conversation began with the next gentleman. when all the guests had been disposed of, the duchess of kent sat down to her whist, while everybody else was ranged about the round table. lord melbourne sat beside the queen, and talked pertinaciously--very often a propos to the contents of one of the large albums of engravings with which the round table was covered--until it was half-past eleven and time to go to bed. (*) the duke of bedford told greville he was "sure there was a battle between her and melbourne... he is sure there was one about the men's sitting after dinner, for he heard her say to him rather angrily, 'it is a horrid custom-' but when the ladies left the room (he dined there) directions were given that the men should remain five minutes longer." greville memoirs, february , (unpublished). occasionally, there were little diversions: the evening might be spent at the opera or at the play. next morning the royal critic was careful to note down her impressions. "it was shakespeare's tragedy of hamlet, and we came in at the beginning of it. mr. charles kean (son of old kean) acted the part of hamlet, and i must say beautifully. his conception of this very difficult, and i may almost say incomprehensible, character is admirable; his delivery of all the fine long speeches quite beautiful; he is excessively graceful and all his actions and attitudes are good, though not at all good-looking in face... i came away just as hamlet was over." later on, she went to see macready in king lear. the story was new to her; she knew nothing about it, and at first she took very little interest in what was passing on the stage; she preferred to chatter and laugh with the lord chamberlain. but, as the play went on, her mood changed; her attention was fixed, and then she laughed no more. yet she was puzzled; it seemed a strange, a horrible business. what did lord m. think? lord m. thought it was a very fine play, but to be sure, "a rough, coarse play, written for those times, with exaggerated characters." "i'm glad you've seen it," he added. but, undoubtedly, the evenings which she enjoyed most were those on which there was dancing. she was always ready enough to seize any excuse--the arrival of cousins--a birthday--a gathering of young people--to give the command for that. then, when the band played, and the figures of the dancers swayed to the music, and she felt her own figure swaying too, with youthful spirits so close on every side--then her happiness reached its height, her eyes sparkled, she must go on and on into the small hours of the morning. for a moment lord m. himself was forgotten. v the months flew past. the summer was over: "the pleasantest summer i ever passed in my life, and i shall never forget this first summer of my reign." with surprising rapidity, another summer was upon her. the coronation came and went--a curious dream. the antique, intricate, endless ceremonial worked itself out as best it could, like some machine of gigantic complexity which was a little out of order. the small central figure went through her gyrations. she sat; she walked; she prayed; she carried about an orb that was almost too heavy to hold; the archbishop of canterbury came and crushed a ring upon the wrong finger, so that she was ready to cry out with the pain; old lord rolle tripped up in his mantle and fell down the steps as he was doing homage; she was taken into a side chapel, where the altar was covered with a table-cloth, sandwiches, and bottles of wine; she perceived lehzen in an upper box and exchanged a smile with her as she sat, robed and crowned, on the confessor's throne. "i shall ever remember this day as the proudest of my life," she noted. but the pride was soon merged once more in youth and simplicity. when she returned to buckingham palace at last she was not tired; she ran up to her private rooms, doffed her splendours, and gave her dog dash its evening bath. life flowed on again with its accustomed smoothness--though, of course, the smoothness was occasionally disturbed. for one thing, there was the distressing behaviour of uncle leopold. the king of the belgians had not been able to resist attempting to make use of his family position to further his diplomatic ends. but, indeed, why should there be any question of resisting? was not such a course of conduct, far from being a temptation, simply "selon les regles?" what were royal marriages for, if they did not enable sovereigns, in spite of the hindrances of constitutions, to control foreign politics? for the highest purposes, of course; that was understood. the queen of england was his niece--more than that--almost his daughter; his confidential agent was living, in a position of intimate favour, at her court. surely, in such circumstances, it would be preposterous, it would be positively incorrect, to lose the opportunity of bending to his wishes by means of personal influence, behind the backs of the english ministers, the foreign policy of england. he set about the task with becoming precautions. he continued in his letters his admirable advice. within a few days of her accession, he recommended the young queen to lay emphasis, on every possible occasion, upon her english birth; to praise the english nation; "the established church i also recommend strongly; you cannot, without pledging yourself to anything particular, say too much on the subject." and then "before you decide on anything important i should be glad if you would consult me; this would also have the advantage of giving you time;" nothing was more injurious than to be hurried into wrong decisions unawares. his niece replied at once with all the accustomed warmth of her affection; but she wrote hurriedly--and, perhaps, a trifle vaguely too. "your advice is always of the greatest importance to me," she said. had he, possibly, gone too far? he could not be certain; perhaps victoria had been hurried. in any case, he would be careful; he would draw back--"pour mieux sauter" he added to himself with a smile. in his next letters he made no reference to his suggestion of consultations with himself; he merely pointed out the wisdom, in general, of refusing to decide upon important questions off-hand. so far, his advice was taken; and it was noticed that the queen, when applications were made to her, rarely gave an immediate answer. even with lord melbourne, it was the same; when he asked for her opinion upon any subject, she would reply that she would think it over, and tell him her conclusions next day. king leopold's counsels continued. the princess de lieven, he said, was a dangerous woman; there was reason to think that she would make attempts to pry into what did not concern her, let victoria beware. "a rule which i cannot sufficiently recommend is never to permit people to speak on subjects concerning yourself or your affairs, without you having yourself desired them to do so." should such a thing occur, "change the conversation, and make the individual feel that he has made a mistake." this piece of advice was also taken; for it fell out as the king had predicted. madame de lieven sought an audience, and appeared to be verging towards confidential topics; whereupon the queen, becoming slightly embarrassed, talked of nothing but commonplaces. the individual felt that she had made a mistake. the king's next warning was remarkable. letters, he pointed out, are almost invariably read in the post. this was inconvenient, no doubt; but the fact, once properly grasped, was not without its advantages. "i will give you an example: we are still plagued by prussia concerning those fortresses; now to tell the prussian government many things, which we should not like to tell them officially, the minister is going to write a despatch to our man at berlin, sending it by post; the prussians are sure to read it, and to learn in this way what we wish them to hear. analogous circumstances might very probably occur in england. i tell you the trick," wrote his majesty, "that you should be able to guard against it." such were the subtleties of constitutional sovereignty. it seemed that the time had come for another step. the king's next letter was full of foreign politics--the situation in spain and portugal, the character of louis philippe; and he received a favourable answer. victoria, it is true, began by saying that she had shown the political part of his letter to lord melbourne; but she proceeded to a discussion of foreign affairs. it appeared that she was not unwilling to exchange observations on such matters with her uncle. so far so good. but king leopold was still cautious; though a crisis was impending in his diplomacy, he still hung back; at last, however, he could keep silence no longer. it was of the utmost importance to him that, in his manoeuvrings with france and holland, he should have, or at any rate appear to have, english support. but the english government appeared to adopt a neutral attitude; it was too bad; not to be for him was to be against him, could they not see that? yet, perhaps, they were only wavering, and a little pressure upon them from victoria might still save all. he determined to put the case before her, delicately yet forcibly--just as he saw it himself. "all i want from your kind majesty," he wrote, "is, that you will occasionally express to your ministers, and particularly to good lord melbourne, that, as far as it is compatible with the interests of your own dominions, you do not wish that your government should take the lead in such measures as might in a short time bring on the destruction of this country, as well as that of your uncle and his family." the result of this appeal was unexpected; there was dead silence for more than a week. when victoria at last wrote, she was prodigal of her affection. "it would, indeed, my dearest uncle, be very wrong of you, if you thought my feelings of warm and devoted attachment to you, and of great affection for you, could be changed--nothing can ever change them"--but her references to foreign politics, though they were lengthy and elaborate, were non-committal in the extreme; they were almost cast in an official and diplomatic form. her ministers, she said, entirely shared her views upon the subject; she understood and sympathised with the difficulties of her beloved uncle's position; and he might rest assured "that both lord melbourne and lord palmerston are most anxious at all times for the prosperity and welfare of belgium." that was all. the king in his reply declared himself delighted, and re-echoed the affectionate protestations of his niece. "my dearest and most beloved victoria," he said, "you have written me a very dear and long letter, which has given me great pleasure and satisfaction." he would not admit that he had had a rebuff. a few months later the crisis came. king leopold determined to make a bold push, and to carry victoria with him, this time, by a display of royal vigour and avuncular authority. in an abrupt, an almost peremptory letter, he laid his case, once more, before his niece. "you know from experience," he wrote, "that i never ask anything of you... but, as i said before, if we are not careful we may see serious consequences which may affect more or less everybody, and this ought to be the object of our most anxious attention. i remain, my dear victoria, your affectionate uncle, leopold r." the queen immediately despatched this letter to lord melbourne, who replied with a carefully thought-out form of words, signifying nothing whatever, which, he suggested, she should send to her uncle. she did so, copying out the elaborate formula, with a liberal scattering of "dear uncles" interspersed; and she concluded her letter with a message of "affectionate love to aunt louise and the children." then at last king leopold was obliged to recognise the facts. his next letter contained no reference at all to politics. "i am glad," he wrote, "to find that you like brighton better than last year. i think brighton very agreeable at this time of the year, till the east winds set in. the pavilion, besides, is comfortable; that cannot be denied. before my marriage, it was there that i met the regent. charlotte afterwards came with old queen charlotte. how distant all this already, but still how present to one's memory." like poor madame de lieven, his majesty felt that he had made a mistake. nevertheless, he could not quite give up all hope. another opportunity offered, and he made another effort--but there was not very much conviction in it, and it was immediately crushed. "my dear uncle," the queen wrote, "i have to thank you for your last letter which i received on sunday. though you seem not to dislike my political sparks, i think it is better not to increase them, as they might finally take fire, particularly as i see with regret that upon this one subject we cannot agree. i shall, therefore, limit myself to my expressions of very sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of belgium." after that, it was clear that there was no more to be said. henceforward there is audible in the king's letters a curiously elegiac note. "my dearest victoria, your delightful little letter has just arrived and went like an arrow to my heart. yes, my beloved victoria! i do love you tenderly... i love you for yourself, and i love in you the dear child whose welfare i tenderly watched." he had gone through much; yet, if life had its disappointments, it had its satisfactions too. "i have all the honours that can be given, and i am, politically speaking, very solidly established." but there were other things besides politics, there were romantic yearnings in his heart. "the only longing i still have is for the orient, where i perhaps shall once end my life, rising in the west and setting in the east." as for his devotion to his niece, that could never end. "i never press my services on you, nor my councils, though i may say with some truth that from the extraordinary fate which the higher powers had ordained for me, my experience, both political and of private life, is great. i am always ready to be useful to you when and where and it may be, and i repeat it, all i want in return is some little sincere affection from you." vi the correspondence with king leopold was significant of much that still lay partly hidden in the character of victoria. her attitude towards her uncle had never wavered for a moment. to all his advances she had presented an absolutely unyielding front. the foreign policy of england was not his province; it was hers and her ministers'; his insinuations, his entreaties, his struggles--all were quite useless; and he must understand that this was so. the rigidity of her position was the more striking owing to the respectfulness and the affection with which it was accompanied. from start to finish the unmoved queen remained the devoted niece. leopold himself must have envied such perfect correctitude; but what may be admirable in an elderly statesman is alarming in a maiden of nineteen. and privileged observers were not without their fears. the strange mixture of ingenuous light-heartedness and fixed determination, of frankness and reticence, of childishness and pride, seemed to augur a future that was perplexed and full of dangers. as time passed the less pleasant qualities in this curious composition revealed themselves more often and more seriously. there were signs of an imperious, a peremptory temper, an egotism that was strong and hard. it was noticed that the palace etiquette, far from relaxing, grew ever more and more inflexible. by some, this was attributed to lehzen's influence; but, if that was so, lehzen had a willing pupil; for the slightest infringements of the freezing rules of regularity and deference were invariably and immediately visited by the sharp and haughty glances of the queen. yet her majesty's eyes, crushing as they could be, were less crushing than her mouth. the self-will depicted in those small projecting teeth and that small receding chin was of a more dismaying kind than that which a powerful jaw betokens; it was a self--will imperturbable, impenetrable, unintelligent; a self-will dangerously akin to obstinacy. and the obstinacy of monarchs is not as that of other men. within two years of her accession, the storm-clouds which, from the first, had been dimly visible on the horizon, gathered and burst. victoria's relations with her mother had not improved. the duchess of kent, still surrounded by all the galling appearances of filial consideration, remained in buckingham palace a discarded figure, powerless and inconsolable. sir john conroy, banished from the presence of the queen, still presided over the duchess's household, and the hostilities of kensington continued unabated in the new surroundings. lady flora hastings still cracked her malicious jokes; the animosity of the baroness was still unappeased. one day, lady flora found the joke was turned against her. early in , travelling in the suite of the duchess, she had returned from scotland in the same carriage with sir john. a change in her figure became the subject of an unseemly jest; tongues wagged; and the jest grew serious. it was whispered that lady flora was with child. the state of her health seemed to confirm the suspicion; she consulted sir james clark, the royal physician, and, after the consultation, sir james let his tongue wag, too. on this, the scandal flared up sky-high. everyone was talking; the baroness was not surprised; the duchess rallied tumultuously to the support of her lady; the queen was informed. at last the extraordinary expedient of a medical examination was resorted to, during which sir james, according to lady flora, behaved with brutal rudeness, while a second doctor was extremely polite. finally, both physicians signed a certificate entirely exculpating the lady. but this was by no means the end of the business. the hastings family, socially a very powerful one, threw itself into the fray with all the fury of outraged pride and injured innocence; lord hastings insisted upon an audience of the queen, wrote to the papers, and demanded the dismissal of sir james clark. the queen expressed her regret to lady flora, but sir james clark was not dismissed. the tide of opinion turned violently against the queen and her advisers; high society was disgusted by all this washing of dirty linen in buckingham palace; the public at large was indignant at the ill-treatment of lady flora. by the end of march, the popularity, so radiant and so abundant, with which the young sovereign had begun her reign, had entirely disappeared. there can be no doubt that a great lack of discretion had been shown by the court. ill-natured tittle-tattle, which should have been instantly nipped in the bud, had been allowed to assume disgraceful proportions; and the throne itself had become involved in the personal malignities of the palace. a particularly awkward question had been raised by the position of sir james clark. the duke of wellington, upon whom it was customary to fall back, in cases of great difficulty in high places, had been consulted upon this question, and he had given it as his opinion that, as it would be impossible to remove sir james without a public enquiry, sir james must certainly stay where he was. probably the duke was right; but the fact that the peccant doctor continued in the queen's service made the hastings family irreconcilable and produced an unpleasant impression of unrepentant error upon the public mind. as for victoria, she was very young and quite inexperienced; and she can hardly be blamed for having failed to control an extremely difficult situation. that was clearly lord melbourne's task; he was a man of the world, and, with vigilance and circumspection, he might have quietly put out the ugly flames while they were still smouldering. he did not do so; he was lazy and easy-going; the baroness was persistent, and he let things slide. but doubtless his position was not an easy one; passions ran high in the palace; and victoria was not only very young, she was very headstrong, too. did he possess the magic bridle which would curb that fiery steed? he could not be certain. and then, suddenly, another violent crisis revealed more unmistakably than ever the nature of the mind with which he had to deal. vii the queen had for long been haunted by a terror that the day might come when she would be obliged to part with her minister. ever since the passage of the reform bill, the power of the whig government had steadily declined. the general election of had left them with a very small majority in the house of commons; since then, they had been in constant difflculties--abroad, at home, in ireland; the radical group had grown hostile; it became highly doubtful how much longer they could survive. the queen watched the development of events in great anxiety. she was a whig by birth, by upbringing, by every association, public and private; and, even if those ties had never existed, the mere fact that lord m. was the head of the whigs would have amply sufficed to determine her politics. the fall of the whigs would mean a sad upset for lord m. but it would have a still more terrible consequence: lord m. would have to leave her; and the daily, the hourly, presence of lord m. had become an integral part of her life. six months after her accession she had noted in her diary "i shall be very sorry to lose him even for one night;" and this feeling of personal dependence on her minister steadily increased. in these circumstances it was natural that she should have become a whig partisan. of the wider significance of political questions she knew nothing; all she saw was that her friends were in office and about her, and that it would be dreadful if they ceased to be so. "i cannot say," she wrote when a critical division was impending, "(though i feel confident of our success) how low, how sad i feel, when i think of the possibility of this excellent and truly kind man not remaining my minister! yet i trust fervently that he who has so wonderfully protected me through such manifold difficulties will not now desert me! i should have liked to have expressed to lord m. my anxiety, but the tears were nearer than words throughout the time i saw him, and i felt i should have choked, had i attempted to say anything." lord melbourne realised clearly enough how undesirable was such a state of mind in a constitutional sovereign who might be called upon at any moment to receive as her ministers the leaders of the opposite party; he did what he could to cool her ardour; but in vain. with considerable lack of foresight, too, he had himself helped to bring about this unfortunate condition of affairs. from the moment of her accession, he had surrounded the queen with ladies of his own party; the mistress of the robes and all the ladies of the bedchamber were whigs. in the ordinary course, the queen never saw a tory: eventually she took pains never to see one in any circumstances. she disliked the whole tribe; and she did not conceal the fact. she particularly disliked sir robert peel, who would almost certainly be the next prime minister. his manners were detestable, and he wanted to turn out lord m. his supporters, without exception, were equally bad; and as for sir james graham, she could not bear the sight of him; he was exactly like sir john conroy. the affair of lady flora intensified these party rumours still further. the hastings were tories, and lord melbourne and the court were attacked by the tory press in unmeasured language. the queen's sectarian zeal proportionately increased. but the dreaded hour was now fast approaching. early in may the ministers were visibly tottering; on a vital point of policy they could only secure a majority of five in the house of commons; they determined to resign. when victoria heard the news she burst into tears. was it possible, then, that all was over? was she, indeed, about to see lord m. for the last time? lord m. came; and it is a curious fact that, even in this crowning moment of misery and agitation, the precise girl noted, to the minute, the exact time of the arrival and the departure of her beloved minister. the conversation was touching and prolonged; but it could only end in one way--the queen must send for the duke of wellington. when, next morning, the duke came, he advised her majesty to send for sir robert peel. she was in "a state of dreadful grief," but she swallowed down her tears, and braced herself, with royal resolution, for the odious, odious interview. peel was by nature reserved, proud, and shy. his manners were not perfect, and he knew it; he was easily embarrassed, and, at such moments, he grew even more stiff and formal than before, while his feet mechanically performed upon the carpet a dancing-master's measure. anxious as he now was to win the queen's good graces, his very anxiety to do so made the attainment of his object the more difficult. he entirely failed to make any headway whatever with the haughty hostile girl before him. she coldly noted that he appeared to be unhappy and "put out," and, while he stood in painful fixity, with an occasional uneasy pointing of the toe, her heart sank within her at the sight of that manner, "oh! how different, how dreadfully different, to the frank, open, natural, and most kind warm manner of lord melbourne." nevertheless, the audience passed without disaster. only at one point had there been some slight hint of a disagreement. peel had decided that a change would be necessary in the composition of the royal household: the queen must no longer be entirely surrounded by the wives and sisters of his opponents; some, at any rate, of the ladies of the bedchamber should be friendly to his government. when this matter was touched upon, the queen had intimated that she wished her household to remain unchanged; to which sir robert had replied that the question could be settled later, and shortly afterwards withdrew to arrange the details of his cabinet. while he was present, victoria had remained, as she herself said, "very much collected, civil and high, and betrayed no agitation;" but as soon as she was alone she completely broke down. then she pulled herself together to write to lord melbourne an account of all that had happened, and of her own wretchedness. "she feels," she said, "lord melbourne will understand it, amongst enemies to those she most relied on and most esteemed; but what is worst of all is the being deprived of seeing lord melbourne as she used to do." lord melbourne replied with a very wise letter. he attempted to calm the queen and to induce her to accept the new position gracefully; and he had nothing but good words for the tory leaders. as for the question of the ladies of the household, the queen, he said, should strongly urge what she desired, as it was a matter which concerned her personally, "but," he added, "if sir robert is unable to concede it, it will not do to refuse and to put off the negotiation upon it." on this point there can be little doubt that lord melbourne was right. the question was a complicated and subtle one, and it had never arisen before; but subsequent constitutional practice has determined that a queen regnant must accede to the wishes of her prime minister as to the personnel of the female part of her household. lord melbourne's wisdom, however, was wasted. the queen would not be soothed, and still less would she take advice. it was outrageous of the tories to want to deprive her of her ladies, and that night she made up her mind that, whatever sir robert might say, she would refuse to consent to the removal of a single one of them. accordingly, when, next morning, peel appeared again, she was ready for action. he began by detailing the cabinet appointments, and then he added "now, ma'am, about the ladies-" when the queen sharply interrupted him. "i cannot give up any of my ladies," she said. "what, ma'am!" said sir robert, "does your majesty mean to retain them all?" "all," said the queen. sir robert's face worked strangely; he could not conceal his agitation. "the mistress of the robes and the ladies of the bedchamber?" he brought out at last. "all," replied once more her majesty. it was in vain that peel pleaded and argued; in vain that he spoke, growing every moment more pompous and uneasy, of the constitution, and queens regnant, and the public interest; in vain that he danced his pathetic minuet. she was adamant; but he, too, through all his embarrassment, showed no sign of yielding; and when at last he left her nothing had been decided--the whole formation of the government was hanging in the wind. a frenzy of excitement now seized upon victoria. sir robert, she believed in her fury, had tried to outwit her, to take her friends from her, to impose his will upon her own; but that was not all: she had suddenly perceived, while the poor man was moving so uneasily before her, the one thing that she was desperately longing for--a loop-hole of escape. she seized a pen and dashed off a note to lord melbourne. "sir robert has behaved very ill," she wrote, "he insisted on my giving up my ladies, to which i replied that i never would consent, and i never saw a man so frightened... i was calm but very decided, and i think you would have been pleased to see my composure and great firmness; the queen of england will not submit to such trickery. keep yourself in readiness, for you may soon be wanted." hardly had she finished when the duke of wellington was announced. "well, ma'am," he said as he entered, "i am very sorry to find there is a difficulty." "oh!" she instantly replied, "he began it, not me." she felt that only one thing now was needed: she must be firm. and firm she was. the venerable conqueror of napoleon was outfaced by the relentless equanimity of a girl in her teens. he could not move the queen one inch. at last, she even ventured to rally him. "is sir robert so weak," she asked, "that even the ladies must be of his opinion?" on which the duke made a brief and humble expostulation, bowed low, and departed. had she won? time would show; and in the meantime she scribbled down another letter. "lord melbourne must not think the queen rash in her conduct... the queen felt this was an attempt to see whether she could be led and managed like a child."(*) the tories were not only wicked but ridiculous. peel, having, as she understood, expressed a wish to remove only those members of the household who were in parliament, now objected to her ladies. "i should like to know," she exclaimed in triumphant scorn, "if they mean to give the ladies seats in parliament?" (*) the exclamation "they wished to treat me like a girl, but i will show them that i am queen of england!" often quoted as the queen's, is apocryphal. it is merely part of greville's summary of the two letters to melbourne. it may be noted that the phrase "the queen of england will not submit to such trickery" is omitted in "girlhood," and in general there are numerous verbal discrepancies between the versions of the journal and the letters in the two books. the end of the crisis was now fast approaching. sir robert returned, and told her that if she insisted upon retaining all her ladies he could not form a government. she replied that she would send him her final decision in writing. next morning the late whig cabinet met. lord melbourne read to them the queen's letters, and the group of elderly politicians were overcome by an extraordinary wave of enthusiasm. they knew very well that, to say the least, it was highly doubtful whether the queen had acted in strict accordance with the constitution; that in doing what she had done she had brushed aside lord melbourne's advice; that, in reality, there was no public reason whatever why they should go back upon their decision to resign. but such considerations vanished before the passionate urgency of victoria. the intensity of her determination swept them headlong down the stream of her desire. they unanimously felt that "it was impossible to abandon such a queen and such a woman." forgetting that they were no longer her majesty's ministers, they took the unprecedented course of advising the queen by letter to put an end to her negotiation with sir robert peel. she did so; all was over; she had triumphed. that evening there was a ball at the palace. everyone was present. "peel and the duke of wellington came by looking very much put out." she was perfectly happy; lord m. was prime minister once more, and he was by her side. viii happiness had returned with lord m., but it was happiness in the midst of agitation. the domestic imbroglio continued unabated, until at last the duke, rejected as a minister, was called in once again in his old capacity as moral physician to the family. something was accomplished when, at last, he induced sir john conroy to resign his place about the duchess of kent and leave the palace for ever; something more when he persuaded the queen to write an affectionate letter to her mother. the way seemed open for a reconciliation, but the duchess was stormy still. she didn't believe that victoria had written that letter; it was not in her handwriting; and she sent for the duke to tell him so. the duke, assuring her that the letter was genuine, begged her to forget the past. but that was not so easy. "what am i to do if lord melbourne comes up to me?" "do, ma'am? why, receive him with civility." well, she would make an effort... "but what am i to do if victoria asks me to shake hands with lehzen?" "do, ma'am? why, take her in your arms and kiss her." "what!" the duchess bristled in every feather, and then she burst into a hearty laugh. "no, ma'am, no," said the duke, laughing too. "i don't mean you are to take lehzen in your arms and kiss her, but the queen." the duke might perhaps have succeeded, had not all attempts at conciliation been rendered hopeless by a tragical event. lady flora, it was discovered, had been suffering from a terrible internal malady, which now grew rapidly worse. there could be little doubt that she was dying. the queen's unpopularity reached an extraordinary height. more than once she was publicly insulted. "mrs. melbourne," was shouted at her when she appeared at her balcony; and, at ascot, she was hissed by the duchess of montrose and lady sarah ingestre as she passed. lady flora died. the whole scandal burst out again with redoubled vehemence; while, in the palace, the two parties were henceforth divided by an impassable, a stygian, gulf. nevertheless, lord m. was back, and every trouble faded under the enchantment of his presence and his conversation. he, on his side, had gone through much; and his distresses were intensified by a consciousness of his own shortcomings. he realised clearly enough that, if he had intervened at the right moment, the hastings scandal might have been averted; and, in the bedchamber crisis, he knew that he had allowed his judgment to be overruled and his conduct to be swayed by private feelings and the impetuosity of victoria. but he was not one to suffer too acutely from the pangs of conscience. in spite of the dullness and the formality of the court, his relationship with the queen had come to be the dominating interest in his life; to have been deprived of it would have been heartrending; that dread eventuality had been--somehow--avoided; he was installed once more, in a kind of triumph; let him enjoy the fleeting hours to the full! and so, cherished by the favour of a sovereign and warmed by the adoration of a girl, the autumn rose, in those autumn months of , came to a wondrous blooming. the petals expanded, beautifully, for the last time. for the last time in this unlooked--for, this incongruous, this almost incredible intercourse, the old epicure tasted the exquisiteness of romance. to watch, to teach, to restrain, to encourage the royal young creature beside him--that was much; to feel with such a constant intimacy the impact of her quick affection, her radiant vitality--that was more; most of all, perhaps, was it good to linger vaguely in humorous contemplation, in idle apostrophe, to talk disconnectedly, to make a little joke about an apple or a furbelow, to dream. the springs of his sensibility, hidden deep within him, were overflowing. often, as he bent over her hand and kissed it, he found himself in tears. upon victoria, with all her impermeability, it was inevitable that such a companionship should have produced, eventually, an effect. she was no longer the simple schoolgirl of two years since. the change was visible even in her public demeanour. her expression, once "ingenuous and serene," now appeared to a shrewd observer to be "bold and discontented." she had learnt something of the pleasures of power and the pains of it; but that was not all. lord melbourne with his gentle instruction had sought to lead her into the paths of wisdom and moderation, but the whole unconscious movement of his character had swayed her in a very different direction. the hard clear pebble, subjected for so long and so constantly to that encircling and insidious fluidity, had suffered a curious corrosion; it seemed to be actually growing a little soft and a little clouded. humanity and fallibility are infectious things; was it possible that lehzen's prim pupil had caught them? that she was beginning to listen to siren voices? that the secret impulses of self-expression, of self-indulgence even, were mastering her life? for a moment the child of a new age looked back, and wavered towards the eighteenth century. it was the most critical moment of her career. had those influences lasted, the development of her character, the history of her life, would have been completely changed. and why should they not last? she, for one, was very anxious that they should. let them last for ever! she was surrounded by whigs, she was free to do whatever she wanted, she had lord m.; she could not believe that she could ever be happier. any change would be for the worse; and the worst change of all... no, she would not hear of it; it would be quite intolerable, it would upset everything, if she were to marry. and yet everyone seemed to want her to--the general public, the ministers, her saxe-coburg relations--it was always the same story. of course, she knew very well that there were excellent reasons for it. for one thing, if she remained childless, and were to die, her uncle cumberland, who was now the king of hanover, would succeed to the throne of england. that, no doubt, would be a most unpleasant event; and she entirely sympathised with everybody who wished to avoid it. but there was no hurry; naturally, she would marry in the end--but not just yet--not for three or four years. what was tiresome was that her uncle leopold had apparently determined, not only that she ought to marry, but that her cousin albert ought to be her husband. that was very like her uncle leopold, who wanted to have a finger in every pie; and it was true that long ago, in far-off days, before her accession even, she had written to him in a way which might well have encouraged him in such a notion. she had told him then that albert possessed "every quality that could be desired to render her perfectly happy," and had begged her "dearest uncle to take care of the health of one, now so dear to me, and to take him under your special protection," adding, "i hope and trust all will go on prosperously and well on this subject of so much importance to me." but that had been years ago, when she was a mere child; perhaps, indeed, to judge from the language, the letter had been dictated by lehzen; at any rate, her feelings, and all the circumstances, had now entirely changed. albert hardly interested her at all. in later life the queen declared that she had never for a moment dreamt of marrying anyone but her cousin; her letters and diaries tell a very different story. on august , , she wrote in her journal: "to-day is my dearest cousin albert's th birthday, and i pray heaven to pour its choicest blessings on his beloved head!" in the subsequent years, however, the date passes unnoticed. it had been arranged that stockmar should accompany the prince to italy, and the faithful baron left her side for that purpose. he wrote to her more than once with sympathetic descriptions of his young companion; but her mind was by this time made up. she liked and admired albert very much, but she did not want to marry him. "at present," she told lord melbourne in april, , "my feeling is quite against ever marrying." when her cousin's italian tour came to an end, she began to grow nervous; she knew that, according to a long-standing engagement, his next journey would be to england. he would probably arrive in the autumn, and by july her uneasiness was intense. she determined to write to her uncle, in order to make her position clear. it must be understood she said, that "there is no no engagement between us." if she should like albert, she could "make no final promise this year, for, at the very earliest, any such event could not take place till two or three years hence." she had, she said, "a great repugnance" to change her present position; and, if she should not like him, she was "very anxious that it should be understood that she would not be guilty of any breach of promise, for she never gave any." to lord melbourne she was more explicit. she told him that she "had no great wish to see albert, as the whole subject was an odious one;" she hated to have to decide about it; and she repeated once again that seeing albert would be "a disagreeable thing." but there was no escaping the horrid business; the visit must be made, and she must see him. the summer slipped by and was over; it was the autumn already; on the evening of october albert, accompanied by his brother ernest, arrived at windsor. albert arrived; and the whole structure of her existence crumbled into nothingness like a house of cards. he was beautiful--she gasped--she knew no more. then, in a flash, a thousand mysteries were revealed to her; the past, the present, rushed upon her with a new significance; the delusions of years were abolished, and an extraordinary, an irresistible certitude leapt into being in the light of those blue eyes, the smile of that lovely mouth. the succeeding hours passed in a rapture. she was able to observe a few more details--the "exquisite nose," the "delicate moustachios and slight but very slight whiskers," the "beautiful figure, broad in the shoulders and a fine waist." she rode with him, danced with him, talked with him, and it was all perfection. she had no shadow of a doubt. he had come on a thursday evening, and on the following sunday morning she told lord melbourne that she had "a good deal changed her opinion as to marrying." next morning, she told him that she had made up her mind to marry albert. the morning after that, she sent for her cousin. she received him alone, and "after a few minutes i said to him that i thought he must be aware why i wished them to come here--and that it would make me too happy if he would consent to what i wished (to marry me.)" then "we embraced each other, and he was so kind, so affectionate." she said that she was quite unworthy of him, while he murmured that he would be very happy "das leben mit dir zu zubringen." they parted, and she felt "the happiest of human beings," when lord m. came in. at first she beat about the bush, and talked of the weather, and indifferent subjects. somehow or other she felt a little nervous with her old friend. at last, summoning up her courage, she said, "i have got well through this with albert." "oh! you have," said lord m. chapter iv. marriage i it was decidedly a family match. prince francis charles augustus albert emmanuel of saxe-coburg--gotha--for such was his full title--had been born just three months after his cousin victoria, and the same midwife had assisted at the two births. the children's grandmother, the dowager duchess of coburg, had from the first looked forward to their marriage, as they grew up, the duke, the duchess of kent, and king leopold came equally to desire it. the prince, ever since the time when, as a child of three, his nurse had told him that some day "the little english may flower" would be his wife, had never thought of marrying anyone else. when eventually baron stockmar himself signified his assent, the affair seemed as good as settled. the duke had one other child--prince ernest, albert's senior by one year, and heir to the principality. the duchess was a sprightly and beautiful woman, with fair hair and blue eyes; albert was very like her and was her declared favourite. but in his fifth year he was parted from her for ever. the ducal court was not noted for the strictness of its morals; the duke was a man of gallantry, and it was rumoured that the duchess followed her husband's example. there were scandals: one of the court chamberlains, a charming and cultivated man of jewish extraction, was talked of; at last there was a separation, followed by a divorce. the duchess retired to paris, and died unhappily in . her memory was always very dear to albert. he grew up a pretty, clever, and high-spirited boy. usually well-behaved, he was, however, sometimes violent. he had a will of his own, and asserted it; his elder brother was less passionate, less purposeful, and, in their wrangles, it was albert who came out top. the two boys, living for the most part in one or other of the duke's country houses, among pretty hills and woods and streams, had been at a very early age--albert was less than four--separated from their nurses and put under a tutor, in whose charge they remained until they went to the university. they were brought up in a simple and unostentatious manner, for the duke was poor and the duchy very small and very insignificant. before long it became evident that albert was a model lad. intelligent and painstaking, he had been touched by the moral earnestness of his generation; at the age of eleven he surprised his father by telling him that he hoped to make himself "a good and useful man." and yet he was not over-serious; though, perhaps, he had little humour, he was full of fun--of practical jokes and mimicry. he was no milksop; he rode, and shot, and fenced; above all did he delight in being out of doors, and never was he happier than in his long rambles with his brother through the wild country round his beloved rosenau--stalking the deer, admiring the scenery, and returning laden with specimens for his natural history collection. he was, besides, passionately fond of music. in one particular it was observed that he did not take after his father: owing either to his peculiar upbringing or to a more fundamental idiosyncrasy he had a marked distaste for the opposite sex. at the age of five, at a children's dance, he screamed with disgust and anger when a little girl was led up to him for a partner; and though, later on, he grew more successful in disguising such feelings, the feelings remained. the brothers were very popular in coburg, and, when the time came for them to be confirmed, the preliminary examination which, according to ancient custom, was held in public in the "giants' hall" of the castle, was attended by an enthusiastic crowd of functionaries, clergy, delegates from the villages of the duchy, and miscellaneous onlookers. there were also present, besides the duke and the dowager duchess, their serene highnesses the princes alexander and ernest of wurtemberg, prince leiningen, princess hohenlohe-langenburg, and princess hohenlohe-schillingsfurst. dr. jacobi, the court chaplain, presided at an altar, simply but appropriately decorated, which had been placed at the end of the hall; and the proceedings began by the choir singing the first verse of the hymn, "come, holy ghost." after some introductory remarks, dr. jacobi began the examination. "the dignified and decorous bearing of the princes," we are told in a contemporary account, "their strict attention to the questions, the frankness, decision, and correctness of their answers, produced a deep impression on the numerous assembly. nothing was more striking in their answers than the evidence they gave of deep feeling and of inward strength of conviction. the questions put by the examiner were not such as to be met by a simple 'yes' or 'no.' they were carefully considered in order to give the audience a clear insight into the views and feelings of,the young princes. one of the most touching moments was when the examiner asked the hereditary prince whether he intended steadfastly to hold to the evangelical church, and the prince answered not only 'yes!' but added in a clear and decided tone: 'i and my brother are firmly resolved ever to remain faithful to the acknowledged truth.' the examination having lasted an hour, dr. jacobi made some concluding observations, followed by a short prayer; the second and third verses of the opening hymn were sung; and the ceremony was over. the princes, stepping down from the altar, were embraced by the duke and the dowager duchess; after which the loyal inhabitants of coburg dispersed, well satisfied with their entertainment." albert's mental development now proceeded apace. in his seventeenth year he began a careful study of german literature and german philosophy. he set about, he told his tutor, "to follow the thoughts of the great klopstock into their depths--though in this, for the most part," he modestly added, "i do not succeed." he wrote an essay on the "mode of thought of the germans, and a sketch of the history of german civilisation," "making use," he said, "in its general outlines, of the divisions which the treatment of the subject itself demands," and concluding with "a retrospect of the shortcomings of our time, with an appeal to every one to correct those shortcomings in his own case, and thus set a good example to others." placed for some months under the care of king leopold at brussels, he came under the influence of adolphe quetelet, a mathematical professor, who was particularly interested in the application of the laws of probability to political and moral phenomena; this line of inquiry attracted the prince, and the friendship thus begun continued till the end of his life. from brussels he went to the university of bonn, where he was speedily distinguished both by his intellectual and his social activities; his energies were absorbed in metaphysics, law, political economy, music, fencing, and amateur theatricals. thirty years later his fellow--students recalled with delight the fits of laughter into which they had been sent by prince albert's mimicry. the verve with which his serene highness reproduced the tones and gestures of one of the professors who used to point to a picture of a row of houses in venice with the remark, "that is the ponte-realte," and of another who fell down in a race and was obliged to look for his spectacles, was especially appreciated. after a year at bonn, the time had come for a foreign tour, and baron stockmar arrived from england to accompany the prince on an expedition to italy. the baron had been already, two years previously, consulted by king leopold as to his views upon the proposed marriage of albert and victoria. his reply had been remarkable. with a characteristic foresight, a characteristic absence of optimism, a characteristic sense of the moral elements in the situation, stockmar had pointed out what were, in his opinion, the conditions essential to make the marriage a success. albert, he wrote, "was a fine young fellow, well grown for his age, with agreeable and valuable qualities; and it was probable that in a few years he would turn out a strong handsome man, of a kindly, simple, yet dignified demeanour. thus, externally, he possesses all that pleases the sex, and at all times and in all countries must please." supposing, therefore, that victoria herself was in favour of the marriage, the further question arose as to whether albert's mental qualities were such as to fit him for the position of husband of the queen of england. on this point, continued the baron, one heard much to his credit; the prince was said to be discreet and intelligent; but all such judgments were necessarily partial, and the baron preferred to reserve his opinion until he could come to a trustworthy conclusion from personal observation. and then he added: "but all this is not enough. the young man ought to have not merely great ability, but a right ambition, and great force of will as well. to pursue for a lifetime a political career so arduous demands more than energy and inclination--it demands also that earnest frame of mind which is ready of its own accord to sacrifice mere pleasure to real usefulness. if he is not satisfied hereafter with the consciousness of having achieved one of the most influential positions in europe, how often will he feel tempted to repent his adventure! if he does not from the very outset accept it as a vocation of grave responsibility, on the efficient performance of which his honour and happiness depend, there is small likelihood of his succeeding." such were the views of stockmar on the qualifications necessary for the due fulfilment of that destiny which albert's family had marked out for him; and he hoped, during the tour in italy, to come to some conclusion as to how far the prince possessed them. albert on his side was much impressed by the baron, whom he had previously seen but rarely; he also became acquainted, for the first time in his life, with a young englishman, lieutenant francis seymour, who had been engaged to accompany him, whom he found sehr liebens-wurdig, and with whom he struck up a warm friendship. he delighted in the galleries and scenery of florence, though with rome he was less impressed. "but for some beautiful palaces," he said, "it might just as well be any town in germany." in an interview with pope gregory xvi, he took the opportunity of displaying his erudition. when the pope observed that the greeks had taken their art from the etruscans, albert replied that, on the contrary, in his opinion, they had borrowed from the egyptians: his holiness politely acquiesced. wherever he went he was eager to increase his knowledge, and, at a ball in florence, he was observed paying no attention whatever to the ladies, and deep in conversation with the learned signor capponi. "voila un prince dont nous pouvons etre fiers," said the grand duke of tuscany, who was standing by: "la belle danseuse l'attend, le savant l'occupe." on his return to germany, stockmar's observations, imparted to king leopold, were still critical. albert, he said, was intelligent, kind, and amiable; he was full of the best intentions and the noblest resolutions, and his judgment was in many things beyond his years. but great exertion was repugnant to him; he seemed to be too willing to spare himself, and his good resolutions too often came to nothing. it was particularly unfortunate that he took not the slightest interest in politics, and never read a newspaper. in his manners, too, there was still room for improvement. "he will always," said the baron, "have more success with men than with women, in whose society he shows too little empressement, and is too indifferent and retiring." one other feature of the case was noted by the keen eye of the old physician: the prince's constitution was not a strong one. yet, on the whole, he was favourable to the projected marriage. but by now the chief obstacle seemed to lie in another quarter, victoria was apparently determined to commit herself to nothing. and so it happened that when albert went to england he had made up his mind to withdraw entirely from the affair. nothing would induce him, he confessed to a friend, to be kept vaguely waiting; he would break it all off at once. his reception at windsor threw an entirely new light upon the situation. the wheel of fortune turned with a sudden rapidity; and he found, in the arms of victoria, the irrevocable assurance of his overwhelming fate. ii he was not in love with her. affection, gratitude, the natural reactions to the unqualified devotion of a lively young cousin who was also a queen--such feelings possessed him, but the ardours of reciprocal passion were not his. though he found that he liked victoria very much, what immediately interested him in his curious position was less her than himself. dazzled and delighted, riding, dancing, singing, laughing, amid the splendours of windsor, he was aware of a new sensation--the stirrings of ambition in his breast. his place would indeed be a high, an enviable one! and then, on the instant, came another thought. the teaching of religion, the admonitions of stockmar, his own inmost convictions, all spoke with the same utterance. he would not be there to please himself, but for a very different purpose--to do good. he must be "noble, manly, and princely in all things," he would have "to live and to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his new country;" to "use his powers and endeavours for a great object--that of promoting the welfare of multitudes of his fellowmen." one serious thought led on to another. the wealth and the bustle of the english court might be delightful for the moment, but, after all, it was coburg that had his heart. "while i shall be untiring," he wrote to his grandmother, "in my efforts and labours for the country to which i shall in future belong, and where i am called to so high a position, i shall never cease ein treuer deutscher, coburger, gothaner zu sein." and now he must part from coburg for ever! sobered and sad, he sought relief in his brother ernest's company; the two young men would shut themselves up together, and, sitting down at the pianoforte, would escape from the present and the future in the sweet familiar gaiety of a haydn duet. they returned to germany; and while albert, for a few farewell months, enjoyed, for the last time, the happiness of home, victoria, for the last time, resumed her old life in london and windsor. she corresponded daily with her future husband in a mingled flow of german and english; but the accustomed routine reasserted itself; the business and the pleasures of the day would brook no interruption; lord m. was once more constantly beside her; and the tories were as intolerable as ever. indeed, they were more so. for now, in these final moments, the old feud burst out with redoubled fury. the impetuous sovereign found, to her chagrin, that there might be disadvantages in being the declared enemy of one of the great parties in the state. on two occasions, the tories directly thwarted her in a matter on which she had set her heart. she wished her husband's rank to be axed by statute, and their opposition prevented it. she wished her husband to receive a settlement from the nation of l , a year; and, again owing to the tories, he was only allowed l , . it was too bad. when the question was discussed in parliament, it had been pointed out that the bulk of the population was suffering from great poverty, and that l , was the whole revenue of coburg; but her uncle leopold had been given l , , and it would be monstrous to give albert less. sir robert peel--it might have been expected--had had the effrontery to speak and vote for the smaller sum. she was very angry; and determined to revenge herself by omitting to invite a single tory to her wedding. she would make an exception in favour of old lord liverpool, but even the duke of wellington she refused to ask. when it was represented to her that it would amount to a national scandal if the duke were absent from her wedding, she was angrier than ever. "what! that old rebel! i won't have him:" she was reported to have said. eventually she was induced to send him an invitation; but she made no attempt to conceal the bitterness of her feelings, and the duke himself was only too well aware of all that had passed. nor was it only against the tories that her irritation rose. as the time for her wedding approached, her temper grew steadily sharper and more arbitrary. queen adelaide annoyed her. king leopold, too, was "ungracious" in his correspondence; "dear uncle," she told albert, "is given to believe that he must rule the roost everywhere. however," she added with asperity, "that is not a necessity." even albert himself was not impeccable. engulfed in coburgs, he failed to appreciate the complexity of english affairs. there were difficulties about his household. he had a notion that he ought not to be surrounded by violent whigs; very likely, but he would not understand that the only alternatives to violent whigs were violent tories; and it would be preposterous if his lords and gentlemen were to be found voting against the queen's. he wanted to appoint his own private secretary. but how could he choose the right person? lord m. was obviously best qualified to make the appointment; and lord m. had decided that the prince should take over his own private secretary--george anson, a staunch whig. albert protested, but it was useless; victoria simply announced that anson was appointed, and instructed lehzen to send the prince an explanation of the details of the case. then, again, he had written anxiously upon the necessity of maintaining unspotted the moral purity of the court. lord m's pupil considered that dear albert was strait-laced, and, in a brisk anglo-german missive, set forth her own views. "i like lady a. very much," she told him, "only she is a little strict awl particular, and too severe towards others, which is not right; for i think one ought always to be indulgent towards other people, as i always think, if we had not been well taken care of, we might also have gone astray. that is always my feeling. yet it is always right to show that one does not like to see what is obviously wrong; but it is very dangerous to be too severe, and i am certain that as a rule such people always greatly regret that in their youth they have not been so careful as they ought to have been. i have explained this so badly and written it so badly, that i fear you will hardly be able to make it out." on one other matter she was insistent. since the affair of lady flora hastings, a sad fate had overtaken sir james clark. his flourishing practice had quite collapsed; nobody would go to him any more. but the queen remained faithful. she would show the world how little she cared for their disapproval, and she desired albert to make "poor clark" his physician in ordinary. he did as he was told; but, as it turned out, the appointment was not a happy one. the wedding-day was fixed, and it was time for albert to tear himself away from his family and the scenes of his childhood. with an aching heart, he had revisited his beloved haunts--the woods and the valleys where he had spent so many happy hours shooting rabbits and collecting botanical specimens; in deep depression, he had sat through the farewell banquets in the palace and listened to the freischutz performed by the state band. it was time to go. the streets were packed as he drove through them; for a short space his eyes were gladdened by a sea of friendly german faces, and his ears by a gathering volume of good guttural sounds. he stopped to bid a last adieu to his grandmother. it was a heartrending moment. "albert! albert!" she shrieked, and fell fainting into the arms of her attendants as his carriage drove away. he was whirled rapidly to his destiny. at calais a steamboat awaited him, and, together with his father and his brother, he stepped, dejected, on board. a little later, he was more dejected still. the crossing was a very rough one; the duke went hurriedly below; while the two princes, we are told, lay on either side of the cabin staircase "in an almost helpless state." at dover a large crowd was collected on the pier, and "it was by no common effort that prince albert, who had continued to suffer up to the last moment, got up to bow to the people." his sense of duty triumphed. it was a curious omen: his whole life in england was foreshadowed as he landed on english ground. meanwhile victoria, in growing agitation, was a prey to temper and to nerves. she grew feverish, and at last sir james clark pronounced that she was going to have the measles. but, once again, sir james's diagnosis was incorrect. it was not the measles that were attacking her, but a very different malady; she was suddenly prostrated by alarm, regret, and doubt. for two years she had been her own mistress--the two happiest years, by far, of her life. and now it was all to end! she was to come under an alien domination--she would have to promise that she would honour and obey... someone, who might, after all, thwart her, oppose her--and how dreadful that would be! why had she embarked on this hazardous experiment? why had she not been contented with lord m.? no doubt, she loved albert; but she loved power too. at any rate, one thing was certain: she might be albert's wife, but she would always be queen of england. he reappeared, in an exquisite uniform, and her hesitations melted in his presence like mist before the sun. on february , , the marriage took place. the wedded pair drove down to windsor; but they were not, of course, entirely alone. they were accompanied by their suites, and, in particular, by two persons--the baron stockmar and the baroness lehzen. iii albert had foreseen that his married life would not be all plain sailing; but he had by no means realised the gravity and the complication of the difficulties which he would have to face. politically, he was a cipher. lord melbourne was not only prime minister, he was in effect the private secretary of the queen, and thus controlled the whole of the political existence of the sovereign. a queen's husband was an entity unknown to the british constitution. in state affairs there seemed to be no place for him; nor was victoria herself at all unwilling that this should be so. "the english," she had told the prince when, during their engagement, a proposal had been made to give him a peerage, "are very jealous of any foreigner interfering in the government of this country, and have already in some of the papers expressed a hope that you would not interfere. now, though i know you never would, still, if you were a peer, they would all say, the prince meant to play a political part. i know you never would!" in reality, she was not quite so certain; but she wished albert to understand her views. he would, she hoped, make a perfect husband; but, as for governing the country, he would see that she and lord m. between them could manage that very well, without his help. but it was not only in politics that the prince discovered that the part cut out for him was a negligible one. even as a husband, he found, his functions were to be of an extremely limited kind. over the whole of victoria's private life the baroness reigned supreme; and she had not the slightest intention of allowing that supremacy to be diminished by one iota. since the accession, her power had greatly increased. besides the undefined and enormous influence which she exercised through her management of the queen's private correspondence, she was now the superintendent of the royal establishment and controlled the important office of privy purse. albert very soon perceived that he was not master in his own house. every detail of his own and his wife's existence was supervised by a third person: nothing could be done until the consent of lehzen had first been obtained. and victoria, who adored lehzen with unabated intensity, saw nothing in all this that was wrong. nor was the prince happier in his social surroundings. a shy young foreigner, awkward in ladies' company, unexpansive and self-opinionated, it was improbable that, in any circumstances, he would have been a society success. his appearance, too, was against him. though in the eyes of victoria he was the mirror of manly beauty, her subjects, whose eyes were of a less teutonic cast, did not agree with her. to them--and particularly to the high-born ladies and gentlemen who naturally saw him most--what was immediately and distressingly striking in albert's face and figure and whole demeanour was his un-english look. his features were regular, no doubt, but there was something smooth and smug about them; he was tall, but he was clumsily put together, and he walked with a slight slouch. really, they thought, this youth was more like some kind of foreign tenor than anything else. these were serious disadvantages; but the line of conduct which the prince adopted from the first moment of his arrival was far from calculated to dispel them. owing partly to a natural awkwardness, partly to a fear of undue familiarity, and partly to a desire to be absolutely correct, his manners were infused with an extraordinary stiffness and formality. whenever he appeared in company, he seemed to be surrounded by a thick hedge of prickly etiquette. he never went out into ordinary society; he never walked in the streets of london; he was invariably accompanied by an equerry when he rode or drove. he wanted to be irreproachable and, if that involved friendlessness, it could not be helped. besides, he had no very high opinion of the english. so far as he could see, they cared for nothing but fox-hunting and sunday observances; they oscillated between an undue frivolity and an undue gloom; if you spoke to them of friendly joyousness they stared; and they did not understand either the laws of thought or the wit of a german university. since it was clear that with such people he could have very little in common, there was no reason whatever for relaxing in their favour the rules of etiquette. in strict privacy, he could be natural and charming; seymour and anson were devoted to him, and he returned their affection; but they were subordinates--the receivers of his confidences and the agents of his will. from the support and the solace of true companionship he was utterly cut off. a friend, indeed, he had--or rather, a mentor. the baron, established once more in the royal residence, was determined to work with as wholehearted a detachment for the prince's benefit as, more than twenty years before, he had worked for his uncle's. the situations then and now, similar in many respects, were yet full of differences. perhaps in either case the difficulties to be encountered were equally great; but the present problem was the more complex and the more interesting. the young doctor who, unknown and insignificant, had nothing at the back of him but his own wits and the friendship of an unimportant prince, had been replaced by the accomplished confidant of kings and ministers, ripe in years, in reputation, and in the wisdom of a vast experience. it was possible for him to treat albert with something of the affectionate authority of a father; but, on the other hand, albert was no leopold. as the baron was very well aware, he had none of his uncle's rigidity of ambition, none of his overweening impulse to be personally great. he was virtuous and well-intentioned; he was clever and well-informed; but he took no interest in politics, and there were no signs that he possessed any commanding force of character. left to himself, he would almost certainly have subsided into a high-minded nonentity, an aimless dilettante busy over culture, a palace appendage without influence or power. but he was not left to himself: stockmar saw to that. for ever at his pupil's elbow, the hidden baron pushed him forward, with tireless pressure, along the path which had been trod by leopold so many years ago. but, this time, the goal at the end of it was something more than the mediocre royalty that leopold had reached. the prize which stockmar, with all the energy of disinterested devotion, had determined should be albert's was a tremendous prize indeed. the beginning of the undertaking proved to be the most arduous part of it. albert was easily dispirited: what was the use of struggling to perform in a role which bored him and which, it was quite clear, nobody but the dear good baron had any desire that he should take up? it was simpler, and it saved a great deal of trouble, to let things slide. but stockmar would not have it. incessantly, he harped upon two strings--albert's sense of duty and his personal pride. had the prince forgotten the noble aims to which his life was to be devoted? and was he going to allow himself, his wife, his family, his whole existence, to be governed by baroness lehzen? the latter consideration was a potent one. albert had never been accustomed to giving way; and now, more than ever before, it would be humiliating to do so. not only was he constantly exasperated by the position of the baroness in the royal household; there was another and a still more serious cause of complaint. he was, he knew very well, his wife's intellectual superior, and yet he found, to his intense annoyance, that there were parts of her mind over which he exercised no influence. when, urged on by the baron, he attempted to discuss politics with victoria, she eluded the subject, drifted into generalities, and then began to talk of something else. she was treating him as she had once treated their uncle leopold. when at last he protested, she replied that her conduct was merely the result of indolence; that when she was with him she could not bear to bother her head with anything so dull as politics. the excuse was worse than the fault: was he the wife and she the husband? it almost seemed so. but the baron declared that the root of the mischief was lehzen: that it was she who encouraged the queen to have secrets; who did worse--undermined the natural ingenuousness of victoria, and induced her to give, unconsciously no doubt, false reasons to explain away her conduct. minor disagreements made matters worse. the royal couple differed in their tastes. albert, brought up in a regime of spartan simplicity and early hours, found the great court functions intolerably wearisome, and was invariably observed to be nodding on the sofa at half-past ten; while the queen's favourite form of enjoyment was to dance through the night, and then, going out into the portico of the palace, watch the sun rise behind st. paul's and the towers of westminster. she loved london and he detested it. it was only in windsor that he felt he could really breathe; but windsor too had its terrors: though during the day there he could paint and walk and play on the piano, after dinner black tedium descended like a pall. he would have liked to summon distinguished scientific and literary men to his presence, and after ascertaining their views upon various points of art and learning, to set forth his own; but unfortunately victoria "had no fancy to encourage such people;" knowing that she was unequal to taking a part in their conversation, she insisted that the evening routine should remain unaltered; the regulation interchange of platitudes with official persons was followed as usual by the round table and the books of engravings, while the prince, with one of his attendants, played game after game of double chess. it was only natural that in so peculiar a situation, in which the elements of power, passion, and pride were so strangely apportioned, there should have been occasionally something more than mere irritation--a struggle of angry wills. victoria, no more than albert, was in the habit of playing second fiddle. her arbitrary temper flashed out. her vitality, her obstinacy, her overweening sense of her own position, might well have beaten down before them his superiorities and his rights. but she fought at a disadvantage; she was, in very truth, no longer her own mistress; a profound preoccupation dominated her, seizing upon her inmost purposes for its own extraordinary ends. she was madly in love. the details of those curious battles are unknown to us; but prince ernest, who remained in england with his brother for some months, noted them with a friendly and startled eye. one story, indeed, survives, ill-authenticated and perhaps mythical, yet summing up, as such stories often do, the central facts of the case. when, in wrath, the prince one day had locked himself into his room, victoria, no less furious, knocked on the door to be admitted. "who is there?" he asked. "the queen of england" was the answer. he did not move, and again there was a hail of knocks. the question and the answer were repeated many times; but at last there was a pause, and then a gentler knocking. "who is there?" came once more the relentless question. but this time the reply was different. "your wife, albert." and the door was immediately opened. very gradually the prince's position changed. he began to find the study of politics less uninteresting than he had supposed; he read blackstone, and took lessons in english law; he was occasionally present when the queen interviewed her ministers; and at lord melbourne's suggestion he was shown all the despatches relating to foreign affairs. sometimes he would commit his views to paper, and read them aloud to the prime minister, who, infinitely kind and courteous, listened with attention, but seldom made any reply. an important step was taken when, before the birth of the princess royal, the prince, without any opposition in parliament, was appointed regent in case of the death of the queen. stockmar, owing to whose intervention with the tories this happy result had been brought about, now felt himself at liberty to take a holiday with his family in coburg; but his solicitude, poured out in innumerable letters, still watched over his pupil from afar. "dear prince," he wrote, "i am satisfied with the news you have sent me. mistakes, misunderstandings, obstructions, which come in vexatious opposition to one's views, are always to be taken for just what they are--namely, natural phenomena of life, which represent one of its sides, and that the shady one. in overcoming them with dignity, your mind has to exercise, to train, to enlighten itself; and your character to gain force, endurance, and the necessary hardness." the prince had done well so far; but he must continue in the right path; above all, he was "never to relax." "never to relax in putting your magnanimity to the proof; never to relax in logical separation of what is great and essential from what is trivial and of no moment; never to relax in keeping yourself up to a high standard--in the determination, daily renewed, to be consistent, patient, courageous." it was a hard programme perhaps, for a young man of twenty-one; and yet there was something in it which touched the very depths of albert's soul. he sighed, but he listened--listened as to the voice of a spiritual director inspired with divine truth. "the stars which are needful to you now," the voice continued, "and perhaps for some time to come, are love, honesty, truth. all those whose minds are warped, or who are destitute of true feeling, will be apt to mistake you, and to persuade themselves and the world that you are not the man you are--or, at least, may become... do you, therefore, be on the alert be times, with your eyes open in every direction... i wish for my prince a great, noble, warm, and true heart, such as shall serve as the richest and surest basis for the noblest views of human nature, and the firmest resolve to give them development." before long, the decisive moment came. there was a general election, and it became certain that the tories, at last, must come into power. the queen disliked them as much as ever; but, with a large majority in the house of commons, they would now be in a position to insist upon their wishes being attended to. lord melbourne himself was the first to realise the importance of carrying out the inevitable transition with as little friction as possible; and with his consent, the prince, following up the rapprochement which had begun over the regency act, opened, through anson, a negotiation with sir robert peel. in a series of secret interviews, a complete understanding was reached upon the difficult and complex question of the bedchamber. it was agreed that the constitutional point should not be raised, but that on the formation of the tory government, the principal whig ladies should retire, and their places be filled by others appointed by sir robert. thus, in effect, though not in form, the crown abandoned the claims of , and they have never been subsequently put forward. the transaction was a turning point in the prince's career. he had conducted an important negotiation with skill and tact; he had been brought into close and friendly relations with the new prime minister; it was obvious that a great political future lay before him. victoria was much impressed and deeply grateful. "my dearest angel," she told king leopold, "is indeed a great comfort to me. he takes the greatest interest in what goes on, feeling with and for me, and yet abstaining as he ought from biasing me either way, though we talk much on the subject, and his judgment is, as you say, good and mild." she was in need of all the comfort and assistance he could give her. lord m. was going, and she could hardly bring herself to speak to peel. yes; she would discuss everything with albert now! stockmar, who had returned to england, watched the departure of lord melbourne with satisfaction. if all went well, the prince should now wield a supreme political influence over victoria. but would all go well?? an unexpected development put the baron into a serious fright. when the dreadful moment finally came, and the queen, in anguish, bade adieu to her beloved minister, it was settled between them that, though it would be inadvisable to meet very often, they could continue to correspond. never were the inconsistencies of lord melbourne's character shown more clearly than in what followed. so long as he was in office, his attitude towards peel had been irreproachable; he had done all he could to facilitate the change of government, he had even, through more than one channel, transmitted privately to his successful rival advice as to the best means of winning the queen's good graces. yet, no sooner was he in opposition than his heart failed him. he could not bear the thought of surrendering altogether the privilege and the pleasure of giving counsel to victoria--of being cut off completely from the power and the intimacy which had been his for so long and in such abundant measure. though he had declared that he would be perfectly discreet in his letters, he could not resist taking advantage of the opening they afforded. he discussed in detail various public questions, and, in particular, gave the queen a great deal of advice in the matter of appointments. this advice was followed. lord melbourne recommended that lord heytesbury, who, he said, was an able man, should be made ambassador at vienna; and a week later the queen wrote to the foreign secretary urging that lord heytesbury, whom she believed to be a very able man, should be employed "on some important mission." stockmar was very much alarmed. he wrote a memorandum, pointing out the unconstitutional nature of lord melbourne's proceedings and the unpleasant position in which the queen might find herself if they were discovered by peel; and he instructed anson to take this memorandum to the ex-minister. lord melbourne, lounging on a sofa, read it through with compressed lips. "this is quite an apple-pie opinion," he said. when anson ventured to expostulate further, suggesting that it was unseemly in the leader of the opposition to maintain an intimate relationship with the sovereign, the old man lost his temper. "god eternally damn it!" he exclaimed, leaping up from his sofa, and dashing about the room. "flesh and blood cannot stand this!" he continued to write to the queen, as before; and two more violent bombardments from the baron were needed before he was brought to reason. then, gradually, his letters grew less and less frequent, with fewer and fewer references to public concerns; at last, they were entirely innocuous. the baron smiled; lord m. had accepted the inevitable. the whig ministry resigned in september, ; but more than a year was to elapse before another and an equally momentous change was effected--the removal of lehzen. for, in the end, the mysterious governess was conquered. the steps are unknown by which victoria was at last led to accept her withdrawal with composure--perhaps with relief; but it is clear that albert's domestic position must have been greatly strengthened by the appearance of children. the birth of the princess royal had been followed in november, , by that of the prince of wales; and before very long another baby was expected. the baroness, with all her affection, could have but a remote share in such family delights. she lost ground perceptibly. it was noticed as a phenomenon that, once or twice, when the court travelled, she was left behind at windsor. the prince was very cautious; at the change of ministry, lord melbourne had advised him to choose that moment for decisive action; but he judged it wiser to wait. time and the pressure of inevitable circumstances were for him; every day his predominance grew more assured--and every night. at length he perceived that he need hesitate no longer--that every wish, every velleity of his had only to be expressed to be at once victoria's. he spoke, and lehzen vanished for ever. no more would she reign in that royal heart and those royal halls. no more, watching from a window at windsor, would she follow her pupil and her sovereign walking on the terrace among the obsequious multitude, with the eye of triumphant love. returning to her native hanover she established herself at buckeburg in a small but comfortable house, the walls of which were entirely covered by portraits of her majesty. the baron, in spite of his dyspepsia, smiled again: albert was supreme. iv the early discords had passed away completely--resolved into the absolute harmony of married life. victoria, overcome by a new, an unimagined revelation, had surrendered her whole soul to her husband. the beauty and the charm which so suddenly had made her his at first were, she now saw, no more than but the outward manifestation of the true albert. there was an inward beauty, an inward glory which, blind that she was, she had then but dimly apprehended, but of which now she was aware in every fibre of her being--he was good--he was great! how could she ever have dreamt of setting up her will against his wisdom, her ignorance against his knowledge, her fancies against his perfect taste? had she really once loved london and late hours and dissipation? she who now was only happy in the country, she who jumped out of bed every morning--oh, so early!--with albert, to take a walk, before breakfast, with albert alone! how wonderful it was to be taught by him! to be told by him which trees were which; and to learn all about the bees! and then to sit doing cross-stitch while he read aloud to her hallam's constitutional history of england! or to listen to him playing on his new organ 'the organ is the first of instruments,' he said; or to sing to him a song by mendelssohn, with a great deal of care over the time and the breathing, and only a very occasional false note! and, after dinner, to--oh, how good of him! he had given up his double chess! and so there could be round games at the round table, or everyone could spend the evening in the most amusing way imaginable--spinning counters and rings.' when the babies came it was still more wonderful. pussy was such a clever little girl ("i am not pussy! i am the princess royal!" she had angrily exclaimed on one occasion); and bertie--well, she could only pray most fervently that the little prince of wales would grow up to "resemble his angelic dearest father in every, every respect, both in body and mind." her dear mamma, too, had been drawn once more into the family circle, for albert had brought about a reconciliation, and the departure of lehzen had helped to obliterate the past. in victoria's eyes, life had become an idyll, and, if the essential elements of an idyll are happiness, love and simplicity, an idyll it was; though, indeed, it was of a kind that might have disconcerted theocritus. "albert brought in dearest little pussy," wrote her majesty in her journal, "in such a smart white merino dress trimmed with blue, which mamma had given her, and a pretty cap, and placed her on my bed, seating himself next to her, and she was very dear and good. and, as my precious, invaluable albert sat there, and our little love between us, i felt quite moved with happiness and gratitude to god." the past--the past of only three years since--when she looked back upon it, seemed a thing so remote and alien that she could explain it to herself in no other way than as some kind of delusion--an unfortunate mistake. turning over an old volume of her diary, she came upon this sentence--"as for 'the confidence of the crown,' god knows! no minister, no friend, ever possessed it so entirely as this truly excellent lord melbourne possesses mine!" a pang shot through her--she seized a pen, and wrote upon the margin--"reading this again, i cannot forbear remarking what an artificial sort of happiness mine was then, and what a blessing it is i have now in my beloved husband real and solid happiness, which no politics, no worldly reverses can change; it could not have lasted long as it was then, for after all, kind and excellent as lord m. is, and kind as he was to me, it was but in society that i had amusement, and i was only living on that superficial resource, which i then fancied was happiness! thank god! for me and others, this is changed, and i know what real happiness is--v. r." how did she know? what is the distinction between happiness that is real and happiness that is felt? so a philosopher--lord m. himself perhaps--might have inquired. but she was no philosopher, and lord m. was a phantom, and albert was beside her, and that was enough. happy, certainly, she was; and she wanted everyone to know it. her letters to king leopold are sprinkled thick with raptures. "oh! my dearest uncle, i am sure if you knew how happy, how blessed i feel, and how proud i feel in possessing such a perfect being as my husband..." such ecstasies seemed to gush from her pen unceasingly and almost of their own accord. when, one day, without thinking, lady lyttelton described someone to her as being "as happy as a queen," and then grew a little confused, "don't correct yourself, lady lyttelton," said her majesty. "a queen is a very happy woman." but this new happiness was no lotus dream. on the contrary, it was bracing, rather than relaxing. never before had she felt so acutely the necessity for doing her duty. she worked more methodically than ever at the business of state; she watched over her children with untiring vigilance. she carried on a large correspondence; she was occupied with her farm--her dairy--a whole multitude of household avocations--from morning till night. her active, eager little body hurrying with quick steps after the long strides of albert down the corridors and avenues of windsor, seemed the very expression of her spirit. amid all the softness, the deliciousness of unmixed joy, all the liquescence, the overflowings of inexhaustible sentiment, her native rigidity remained. "a vein of iron," said lady lyttelton, who, as royal governess, had good means of observation, "runs through her most extraordinary character." sometimes the delightful routine of domestic existence had to be interrupted. it was necessary to exchange windsor for buckingham palace, to open parliament, or to interview official personages, or, occasionally, to entertain foreign visitors at the castle. then the quiet court put on a sudden magnificence, and sovereigns from over the seas--louis philippe, or the king of prussia, or the king of saxony--found at windsor an entertainment that was indeed a royal one. few spectacles in europe, it was agreed, produced an effect so imposing as the great waterloo banqueting hall, crowded with guests in sparkling diamonds and blazing uniforms, the long walls hung with the stately portraits of heroes, and the tables loaded with the gorgeous gold plate of the kings of england. but, in that wealth of splendour, the most imposing spectacle of all was the queen. the little hausfrau, who had spent the day before walking out with her children, inspecting her livestock, practicing shakes at the piano, and filling up her journal with adoring descriptions of her husband, suddenly shone forth, without art, without effort, by a spontaneous and natural transition, the very culmination of majesty. the tsar of russia himself was deeply impressed. victoria on her side viewed with secret awe the tremendous nicholas. "a great event and a great compliment his visit certainly is," she told her uncle, "and the people here are extremely flattered at it. he is certainly a very striking man; still very handsome. his profile is beautiful and his manners most dignified and graceful; extremely civil--quite alarmingly so, as he is so full of attentions and politeness. but the expression of the eyes is formidable and unlike anything i ever saw before." she and albert and "the good king of saxony," who happened to be there at the same time, and whom, she said, "we like much--he is so unassuming-" drew together like tame villatic fowl in the presence of that awful eagle. when he was gone, they compared notes about his face, his unhappiness, and his despotic power over millions. well! she for her part could not help pitying him, and she thanked god she was queen of england. when the time came for returning some of these visits, the royal pair set forth in their yacht, much to victoria's satisfaction. "i do love a ship!" she exclaimed, ran up and down ladders with the greatest agility, and cracked jokes with the sailors. the prince was more aloof. they visited louis philippe at the chateau d'eu; they visited king leopold in brussels. it happened that a still more remarkable englishwoman was in the belgian capital, but she was not remarked; and queen victoria passed unknowing before the steady gaze of one of the mistresses in m. heger's pensionnat. "a little stout, vivacious lady, very plainly dressed--not much dignity or pretension about her," was charlotte bronte's comment as the royal carriage and six flashed by her, making her wait on the pavement for a moment, and interrupting the train of her reflections. victoria was in high spirits, and even succeeded in instilling a little cheerfulness into her uncle's sombre court. king leopold, indeed, was perfectly contented. his dearest hopes had been fulfilled; all his ambitions were satisfied; and for the rest of his life he had only to enjoy, in undisturbed decorum, his throne, his respectability, the table of precedence, and the punctual discharge of his irksome duties. but unfortunately the felicity of those who surrounded him was less complete. his court, it was murmured, was as gloomy as a conventicle, and the most dismal of all the sufferers was his wife. "pas de plaisanteries, madame!" he had exclaimed to the unfortunate successor of the princess charlotte, when, in the early days of their marriage, she had attempted a feeble joke. did she not understand that the consort of a constitutional sovereign must not be frivolous? she understood, at last, only too well; and when the startled walls of the state apartments re-echoed to the chattering and the laughter of victoria, the poor lady found that she had almost forgotten how to smile. another year, germany was visited, and albert displayed the beauties of his home. when victoria crossed the frontier, she was much excited--and she was astonished as well. "to hear the people speak german," she noted in her diary, "and to see the german soldiers, etc., seemed to me so singular." having recovered from this slight shock, she found the country charming. she was feted everywhere, crowds of the surrounding royalties swooped down to welcome her, and the prettiest groups of peasant children, dressed in their best clothes, presented her with bunches of flowers. the principality of coburg, with its romantic scenery and its well-behaved inhabitants, particularly delighted her; and when she woke up one morning to find herself in "dear rosenau, my albert's birthplace," it was "like a beautiful dream." on her return home, she expatiated, in a letter to king leopold, upon the pleasures of the trip, dwelling especially upon the intensity of her affection for albert's native land. "i have a feeling," she said, "for our dear little germany, which i cannot describe. i felt it at rosenau so much. it is a something which touches me, and which goes to my heart, and makes me inclined to cry. i never felt at any other place that sort of pensive pleasure and peace which i felt there. i fear i almost like it too much." v the husband was not so happy as the wife. in spite of the great improvement in his situation, in spite of a growing family and the adoration of victoria, albert was still a stranger in a strange land, and the serenity of spiritual satisfaction was denied him. it was something, no doubt, to have dominated his immediate environment; but it was not enough; and, besides, in the very completeness of his success, there was a bitterness. victoria idolised him; but it was understanding that he craved for, not idolatry; and how much did victoria, filled to the brim though she was with him, understand him? how much does the bucket understand the well? he was lonely. he went to his organ and improvised with learned modulations until the sounds, swelling and subsiding through elaborate cadences, brought some solace to his heart. then, with the elasticity of youth, he hurried off to play with the babies, or to design a new pigsty, or to read aloud the "church history of scotland" to victoria, or to pirouette before her on one toe, like a ballet-dancer, with a fixed smile, to show her how she ought to behave when she appeared in public places. thus did he amuse himself; but there was one distraction in which he did not indulge. he never flirted--no, not with the prettiest ladies of the court. when, during their engagement, the queen had remarked with pride to lord melbourne that the prince paid no attention to any other woman, the cynic had answered, "no, that sort of thing is apt to come later;" upon which she had scolded him severely, and then hurried off to stockmar to repeat what lord m. had said. but the baron had reassured her; though in other cases, he had replied, that might happen, he did not think it would in albert's. and the baron was right. throughout their married life no rival female charms ever had cause to give victoria one moment's pang of jealousy. what more and more absorbed him--bringing with it a curious comfort of its own--was his work. with the advent of peel, he began to intervene actively in the affairs of the state. in more ways than one--in the cast of their intelligence, in their moral earnestness, even in the uneasy formalism of their manners--the two men resembled each other; there was a sympathy between them; and thus peel was ready enough to listen to the advice of stockmar, and to urge the prince forward into public life. a royal commission was about to be formed to enquire whether advantage might not be taken of the rebuilding of the houses of parliament to encourage the fine arts in the united kingdom; and peel, with great perspicacity, asked the prince to preside over it. the work was of a kind which precisely suited albert: his love of art, his love of method, his love of coming into contact--close yet dignified--with distinguished men--it satisfied them all; and he threw himself into it con amore. some of the members of the commission were somewhat alarmed when, in his opening speech, he pointed out the necessity of dividing the subjects to be considered into "categories-" the word, they thought, smacked dangerously of german metaphysics; but their confidence returned when they observed his royal highness's extraordinary technical acquaintance with the processes of fresco painting. when the question arose as to whether the decorations upon the walls of the new buildings should, or should not, have a moral purpose, the prince spoke strongly for the affirmative. although many, he observed, would give but a passing glance to the works, the painter was not therefore to forget that others might view them with more thoughtful eyes. this argument convinced the commission, and it was decided that the subjects to be depicted should be of an improving nature. the frescoes were carried out in accordance with the commission's instructions, but unfortunately before very long they had become, even to the most thoughtful eyes, totally invisible. it seems that his royal highness's technical acquaintance with the processes of fresco painting was incomplete! the next task upon which the prince embarked was a more arduous one: he determined to reform the organisation of the royal household. this reform had been long overdue. for years past the confusion, discomfort, and extravagance in the royal residences, and in buckingham palace particularly, had been scandalous; no reform had been practicable under the rule of the baroness; but her functions had now devolved upon the prince, and in , he boldly attacked the problem. three years earlier, stockmar, after careful enquiry, had revealed in an elaborate memorandum an extraordinary state of affairs. the control of the household, it appeared, was divided in the strangest manner between a number of authorities, each independent of the other, each possessed of vague and fluctuating powers, without responsibility, and without co-ordination. of these authorities, the most prominent were the lord steward and the lord chamberlain--noblemen of high rank and political importance, who changed office with every administration, who did not reside with the court, and had no effective representatives attached to it. the distribution of their respective functions was uncertain and peculiar. in buckingham palace, it was believed that the lord chamberlain had charge of the whole of the rooms, with the exception of the kitchen, sculleries, and pantries, which were claimed by the lord steward. at the same time, the outside of the palace was under the control of neither of these functionaries--but of the office of woods and forests; and thus, while the insides of the windows were cleaned by the department of the lord chamberlain--or possibly, in certain cases, of the lord steward--the office of woods and forests cleaned their outsides. of the servants, the housekeepers, the pages, and the housemaids were under the authority of the lord chamberlain; the clerk of the kitchen, the cooks, and the porters were under that of the lord steward; but the footmen, the livery-porters, and the under-butlers took their orders from yet another official--the master of the horse. naturally, in these circumstances the service was extremely defective and the lack of discipline among the servants disgraceful. they absented themselves for as long as they pleased and whenever the fancy took them; "and if," as the baron put it, "smoking, drinking, and other irregularities occur in the dormitories, where footmen, etc., sleep ten and twelve in each room, no one can help it." as for her majesty's guests, there was nobody to show them to their rooms, and they were often left, having utterly lost their way in the complicated passages, to wander helpless by the hour. the strange divisions of authority extended not only to persons but to things. the queen observed that there was never a fire in the dining-room. she enquired why. the answer was "the lord steward lays the fire, and the lord chamberlain lights it;" the underlings of those two great noblemen having failed to come to an accommodation, there was no help for it--the queen must eat in the cold. a surprising incident opened everyone's eyes to the confusion and negligence that reigned in the palace. a fortnight after the birth of the princess royal the nurse heard a suspicious noise in the room next to the queen's bedroom. she called to one of the pages, who, looking under a large sofa, perceived there a crouching figure "with a most repulsive appearance." it was "the boy jones." this enigmatical personage, whose escapades dominated the newspapers for several ensuing months, and whose motives and character remained to the end ambiguous, was an undersized lad of , the son of a tailor, who had apparently gained admittance to the palace by climbing over the garden wall and walking in through an open window. two years before he had paid a similar visit in the guise of a chimney-sweep. he now declared that he had spent three days in the palace, hiding under various beds, that he had "helped himself to soup and other eatables," and that he had "sat upon the throne, seen the queen, and heard the princess royal squall." every detail of the strange affair was eagerly canvassed. the times reported that the boy jones had "from his infancy been fond of reading," but that "his countenance is exceedingly sullen." it added: "the sofa under which the boy jones was discovered, we understand, is one of the most costly and magnificent material and workmanship, and ordered expressly for the accommodation of the royal and illustrious visitors who call to pay their respects to her majesty." the culprit was sent for three months to the "house of correction." when he emerged, he immediately returned to buckingham palace. he was discovered, and sent back to the "house of correction" for another three months, after which he was offered l a week by a music hall to appear upon the stage. he refused this offer, and shortly afterwards was found by the police loitering round buckingham palace. the authorities acted vigorously, and, without any trial or process of law, shipped the boy jones off to sea. a year later his ship put into portsmouth to refit, and he at once disembarked and walked to london. he was re-arrested before he reached the palace, and sent back to his ship, the warspite. on this occasion it was noticed that he had "much improved in personal appearance and grown quite corpulent;" and so the boy jones passed out of history, though we catch one last glimpse of him in falling overboard in the night between tunis and algiers. he was fished up again; but it was conjectured--as one of the warspite's officers explained in a letter to the times--that his fall had not been accidental, but that he had deliberately jumped into the mediterranean in order to "see the life-buoy light burning." of a boy with such a record, what else could be supposed? but discomfort and alarm were not the only results of the mismanagement of the household; the waste, extravagance, and peculation that also flowed from it were immeasurable. there were preposterous perquisites and malpractices of every kind. it was, for instance, an ancient and immutable rule that a candle that had once been lighted should never be lighted again; what happened to the old candles, nobody knew. again, the prince, examining the accounts, was puzzled by a weekly expenditure of thirty-five shillings on "red room wine." he enquired into the matter, and after great difficulty discovered that in the time of george iii a room in windsor castle with red hangings had once been used as a guard-room, and that five shillings a day had been allowed to provide wine for the officers. the guard had long since been moved elsewhere, but the payment for wine in the red room continued, the money being received by a half-pay officer who held the sinecure position of under-butler. after much laborious investigation, and a stiff struggle with the multitude of vested interests which had been brought into being by long years of neglect, the prince succeeded in effecting a complete reform. the various conflicting authorities were induced to resign their powers into the hands of a single official, the master of the household, who became responsible for the entire management of the royal palaces. great economies were made, and the whole crowd of venerable abuses was swept away. among others, the unlucky half-pay officer of the red room was, much to his surprise, given the choice of relinquishing his weekly emolument or of performing the duties of an under-butler. even the irregularities among the footmen, etc., were greatly diminished. there were outcries and complaints; the prince was accused of meddling, of injustice, and of saving candle-ends; but he held on his course, and before long the admirable administration of the royal household was recognised as a convincing proof of his perseverance and capacity. at the same time his activity was increasing enormously in a more important sphere. he had become the queen's private secretary, her confidential adviser, her second self. he was now always present at her interviews with ministers. he took, like the queen, a special interest in foreign policy; but there was no public question in which his influence was not felt. a double process was at work; while victoria fell more and more absolutely under his intellectual predominance, he, simultaneously, grew more and more completely absorbed by the machinery of high politics--the incessant and multifarious business of a great state. nobody any more could call him a dilettante; he was a worker, a public personage, a man of affairs. stockmar noted the change with exultation. "the prince," he wrote, "has improved very much lately. he has evidently a head for politics. he has become, too, far more independent. his mental activity is constantly on the increase, and he gives the greater part of his time to business, without complaining." "the relations between husband and wife," added the baron, "are all one could desire." long before peel's ministry came to an end, there had been a complete change in victoria's attitude towards him. his appreciation of the prince had softened her heart; the sincerity and warmth of his nature, which, in private intercourse with those whom he wished to please, had the power of gradually dissipating the awkwardness of his manners, did the rest. she came in time to regard him with intense feelings of respect and attachment. she spoke of "our worthy peel," for whom, she said, she had "an extreme admiration" and who had shown himself "a man of unbounded loyalty, courage patriotism, and high-mindedness, and his conduct towards me has been chivalrous almost, i might say." she dreaded his removal from office almost as frantically as she had once dreaded that of lord m. it would be, she declared, a great calamity. six years before, what would she have said, if a prophet had told her that the day would come when she would be horrified by the triumph of the whigs? yet there was no escaping it; she had to face the return of her old friends. in the ministerial crises of and , the prince played a dominating part. everybody recognised that he was the real centre of the negotiations--the actual controller of the forces and the functions of the crown. the process by which this result was reached had been so gradual as to be almost imperceptible; but it may be said with certainty that, by the close of peel's administration, albert had become, in effect, the king of england. vi with the final emergence of the prince came the final extinction of lord melbourne. a year after his loss of office, he had been struck down by a paralytic seizure; he had apparently recovered, but his old elasticity had gone for ever. moody, restless, and unhappy, he wandered like a ghost about the town, bursting into soliloquies in public places, or asking odd questions, suddenly, a propos de bottes. "i'll be hanged if i do it for you, my lord," he was heard to say in the hall at brooks's, standing by himself, and addressing the air after much thought. "don't you consider," he abruptly asked a fellow-guest at lady holland's, leaning across the dinner-table in a pause of the conversation, "that it was a most damnable act of henri quatre to change his religion with a view to securing the crown?" he sat at home, brooding for hours in miserable solitude. he turned over his books--his classics and his testaments--but they brought him no comfort at all. he longed for the return of the past, for the impossible, for he knew not what, for the devilries of caro, for the happy platitudes of windsor. his friends had left him, and no wonder, he said in bitterness--the fire was out. he secretly hoped for a return to power, scanning the newspapers with solicitude, and occasionally making a speech in the house of lords. his correspondence with the queen continued, and he appeared from time to time at court; but he was a mere simulacrum of his former self; "the dream," wrote victoria, "is past." as for his political views, they could no longer be tolerated. the prince was an ardent free trader, and so, of course, was the queen; and when, dining at windsor at the time of the repeal of the corn laws, lord melbourne suddenly exclaimed, "ma'am, it's a damned dishonest act!" everyone was extremely embarrassed. her majesty laughed and tried to change the conversation, but without avail; lord melbourne returned to the charge again and again with--"i say, ma'am, it's damned dishonest!"--until the queen said "lord melbourne, i must beg you not to say anything more on this subject now;" and then he held his tongue. she was kind to him, writing him long letters, and always remembering his birthday; but it was kindness at a distance, and he knew it. he had become "poor lord melbourne." a profound disquietude devoured him. he tried to fix his mind on the condition of agriculture and the oxford movement. he wrote long memoranda in utterly undecipherable handwriting. he was convinced that he had lost all his money, and could not possibly afford to be a knight of the garter. he had run through everything, and yet--if peel went out, he might be sent for--why not? he was never sent for. the whigs ignored him in their consultations, and the leadership of the party passed to lord john russell. when lord john became prime minister, there was much politeness, but lord melbourne was not asked to join the cabinet. he bore the blow with perfect amenity; but he understood, at last, that that was the end. for two years more he lingered, sinking slowly into unconsciousness and imbecility. sometimes, propped up in his chair, he would be heard to murmur, with unexpected appositeness, the words of samson:-- "so much i feel my general spirit droop, my hopes all flat, nature within me seems, in all her functions weary of herself, my race of glory run, and race of shame, and i shall shortly be with them that rest." a few days before his death, victoria, learning that there was no hope of his recovery, turned her mind for a little towards that which had once been lord m. "you will grieve to hear," she told king leopold, "that our good, dear, old friend melbourne is dying... one cannot forget how good and kind and amiable he was, and it brings back so many recollections to my mind, though, god knows! i never wish that time back again." she was in little danger. the tide of circumstance was flowing now with irresistible fullness towards a very different consummation. the seriousness of albert, the claims of her children, her own inmost inclinations, and the movement of the whole surrounding world, combined to urge her forward along the narrow way of public and domestic duty. her family steadily increased. within eighteen months of the birth of the prince of wales the princess alice appeared, and a year later the prince alfred, and then the princess helena, and, two years afterwards, the princess louise; and still there were signs that the pretty row of royal infants was not complete. the parents, more and more involved in family cares and family happiness, found the pomp of windsor galling, and longed for some more intimate and remote retreat. on the advice of peel they purchased the estate of osborne, in the isle of wight. their skill and economy in financial matters had enabled them to lay aside a substantial sum of money; and they could afford, out of their savings, not merely to buy the property but to build a new house for themselves and to furnish it at a cost of l , . at osborne, by the sea-shore, and among the woods, which albert, with memories of rosenau in his mind, had so carefully planted, the royal family spent every hour that could be snatched from windsor and london--delightful hours of deep retirement and peaceful work. the public looked on with approval. a few aristocrats might sniff or titter; but with the nation at large the queen was now once more extremely popular. the middle-classes, in particular, were pleased. they liked a love-match; they liked a household which combined the advantages of royalty and virtue, and in which they seemed to see, reflected as in some resplendent looking-glass, the ideal image of the very lives they led themselves. their own existences, less exalted, but oh! so soothingly similar, acquired an added excellence, an added succulence, from the early hours, the regularity, the plain tuckers, the round games, the roast beef and yorkshire pudding oft osborne. it was indeed a model court. not only were its central personages the patterns of propriety, but no breath of scandal, no shadow of indecorum, might approach its utmost boundaries. for victoria, with all the zeal of a convert, upheld now the standard of moral purity with an inflexibility surpassing, if that were possible, albert's own. she blushed to think how she had once believed--how she had once actually told him--that one might be too strict and particular in such matters, and that one ought to be indulgent towards other people's dreadful sins. but she was no longer lord m's pupil: she was albert's wife. she was more--the embodiment, the living apex of a new era in the generations of mankind. the last vestige of the eighteenth century had disappeared; cynicism and subtlety were shrivelled into powder; and duty, industry, morality, and domesticity triumphed over them. even the very chairs and tables had assumed, with a singular responsiveness, the forms of prim solidity. the victorian age was in full swing. vii only one thing more was needed: material expression must be given to the new ideals and the new forces so that they might stand revealed, in visible glory, before the eyes of an astonished world. it was for albert to supply this want. he mused, and was inspired: the great exhibition came into his head. without consulting anyone, he thought out the details of his conception with the minutest care. there had been exhibitions before in the world, but this should surpass them all. it should contain specimens of what every country could produce in raw materials, in machinery and mechanical inventions, in manufactures, and in the applied and plastic arts. it should not be merely useful and ornamental; it should teach a high moral lesson. it should be an international monument to those supreme blessings of civilisation--peace, progress, and prosperity. for some time past the prince had been devoting much of his attention to the problems of commerce and industry. he had a taste for machinery of every kind, and his sharp eye had more than once detected, with the precision of an expert, a missing cog-wheel in some vast and complicated engine. a visit to liverpool, where he opened the albert dock, impressed upon his mind the immensity of modern industrial forces, though in a letter to victoria describing his experiences, he was careful to retain his customary lightness of touch. "as i write," he playfully remarked, "you will be making your evening toilette, and not be ready in time for dinner. i must set about the same task, and not, let me hope, with the same result... the loyalty and enthusiasm of the inhabitants are great; but the heat is greater still. i am satisfied that if the population of liverpool had been weighed this morning, and were to be weighed again now, they would be found many degrees lighter. the docks are wonderful, and the mass of shipping incredible." in art and science he had been deeply interested since boyhood; his reform of the household had put his talent for organisation beyond a doubt; and thus from every point of view the prince was well qualified for his task. having matured his plans, he summoned a small committee and laid an outline of his scheme before it. the committee approved, and the great undertaking was set on foot without delay. two years, however, passed before it was completed. for two years the prince laboured with extraordinary and incessant energy. at first all went smoothly. the leading manufacturers warmly took up the idea; the colonies and the east india company were sympathetic; the great foreign nations were eager to send in their contributions; the powerful support of sir robert peel was obtained, and the use of a site in hyde park, selected by the prince, was sanctioned by the government. out of plans for the exhibition building, the prince chose that of joseph paxton, famous as a designer of gigantic conservatories; and the work was on the point of being put in hand when a series of unexpected difficulties arose. opposition to the whole scheme, which had long been smouldering in various quarters, suddenly burst forth. there was an outcry, headed by the times, against the use of the park for the exhibition; for a moment it seemed as if the building would be relegated to a suburb; but, after a fierce debate in the house, the supporters of the site in the park won the day. then it appeared that the project lacked a sufficient financial backing; but this obstacle, too, was surmounted, and eventually l , was subscribed as a guarantee fund. the enormous glass edifice rose higher and higher, covering acres and enclosing towering elm trees beneath its roof: and then the fury of its enemies reached a climax. the fashionable, the cautious, the protectionists, the pious, all joined in the hue and cry. it was pointed out that the exhibition would serve as a rallying point for all the ruffians in england, for all the malcontents in europe; and that on the day of its opening there would certainly be a riot and probably a revolution. it was asserted that the glass roof was porous, and that the droppings of fifty million sparrows would utterly destroy every object beneath it. agitated nonconformists declared that the exhibition was an arrogant and wicked enterprise which would infallibly bring down god's punishment upon the nation. colonel sibthorpe, in the debate on the address, prayed that hail and lightning might descend from heaven on the accursed thing. the prince, with unyielding perseverance and infinite patience, pressed on to his goal. his health was seriously affected; he suffered from constant sleeplessness; his strength was almost worn out. but he remembered the injunctions of stockmar and never relaxed. the volume of his labours grew more prodigious every day; he toiled at committees, presided over public meetings, made speeches, and carried on communications with every corner of the civilised world--and his efforts were rewarded. on may , , the great exhibition was opened by the queen before an enormous concourse of persons, amid scenes of dazzling brilliancy and triumphant enthusiasm. victoria herself was in a state of excitement which bordered on delirium. she performed her duties in a trance of joy, gratitude, and amazement, and, when it was all over, her feelings poured themselves out into her journal in a torrential flood. the day had been nothing but an endless succession of glories--or rather one vast glory--one vast radiation of albert. everything she had seen, everything she had felt or heard, had been so beautiful, so wonderful that even the royal underlinings broke down under the burden of emphasis, while her remembering pen rushed on, regardless, from splendour to splendour--the huge crowds, so well--behaved and loyal-flags of all the nations floating--the inside of the building, so immense, with myriads of people and the sun shining through the roof--a little side room, where we left our shawls--palm-trees and machinery--dear albert--the place so big that we could hardly hear the organ--thankfulness to god--a curious assemblage of political and distinguished men--the march from athalie--god bless my dearest albert, god bless my dearest country!--a glass fountain--the duke and lord anglesey walking arm in arm--a beautiful amazon, in bronze, by kiss--mr. paxton, who might be justly proud, and rose from being a common gardener's boy--sir george grey in tears, and everybody astonished and delighted. a striking incident occurred when, after a short prayer by the archbishop of canterbury, the choir of voices burst into the "hallelujah chorus." at that moment a chinaman, dressed in full national costume, stepped out into the middle of the central nave, and, advancing slowly towards the royal group, did obeisance to her majesty. the queen, much impressed, had no doubt that he was an eminent mandarin; and, when the final procession was formed, orders were given that, as no representative of the celestial empire was present, he should be included in the diplomatic cortege. he accordingly, with the utmost gravity, followed immediately behind the ambassadors. he subsequently disappeared, and it was rumoured, among ill-natured people, that, far from being a mandarin, the fellow was a mere impostor. but nobody ever really discovered the nature of the comments that had been lurking behind the matchless impassivity of that yellow face. a few days later victoria poured out her heart to her uncle. the first of may, she said, was "the greatest day in our history, the most beautiful and imposing and touching spectacle ever seen, and the triumph of my beloved albert... it was the happiest, proudest day in my life, and i can think of nothing else. albert's dearest name is immortalised with this great conception, his own, and my own dear country showed she was worthy of it. the triumph is immense." it was. the enthusiasm was universal; even the bitterest scoffers were converted, and joined in the chorus of praise. congratulations from public bodies poured in; the city of paris gave a great fete to the exhibition committee; and the queen and the prince made a triumphal progress through the north of england. the financial results were equally remarkable. the total profit made by the exhibition amounted to a sum of l , , which was employed in the purchase of land for the erection of a permanent national museum in south kensington. during the six months of its existence in hyde park over six million persons visited it, and not a single accident occurred. but there is an end to all things; and the time had come for the crystal palace to be removed to the salubrious seclusion of sydenham. victoria, sad but resigned, paid her final visit. "it looked so beautiful," she said. "i could not believe it was the last time i was to see it. an organ, accompanied by a fine and powerful wind instrument called the sommerophone, was being played, and it nearly upset me. the canvas is very dirty, the red curtains are faded and many things are very much soiled, still the effect is fresh and new as ever and most beautiful. the glass fountain was already removed... and the sappers and miners were rolling about the little boxes just as they did at the beginning. it made us all very melancholy." but more cheerful thoughts followed. when all was over, she expressed her boundless satisfaction in a dithyrambic letter to the prime minister. her beloved husband's name, she said, was for ever immortalised, and that this was universally recognised by the country was a source to her of immense happiness and gratitude. "she feels grateful to providence," her majesty concluded, "to have permitted her to be united to so great, so noble, so excellent a prince, and this year will ever remain the proudest and happiest of her life. the day of the closing of the exhibition (which the queen regretted much she could not witness), was the twelfth anniversary of her betrothal to the prince, which is a curious coincidence." chapter v. lord palmerston i in the prince's fortunes reached their high-water mark. the success of the great exhibition enormously increased his reputation and seemed to assure him henceforward a leading place in the national life. but before the year was out another triumph, in a very different sphere of action, was also his. this triumph, big with fateful consequences, was itself the outcome of a series of complicated circumstances which had been gathering to a climax for many years. the unpopularity of albert in high society had not diminished with time. aristocratic persons continued to regard him with disfavour; and he on his side, withdrew further and further into a contemptuous reserve. for a moment, indeed, it appeared as if the dislike of the upper classes was about to be suddenly converted into cordiality; for they learnt with amazement that the prince, during a country visit, had ridden to hounds and acquitted himself remarkably well. they had always taken it for granted that his horsemanship was of some second-rate foreign quality, and here he was jumping five-barred gates and tearing after the fox as if he had been born and bred in leicestershire. they could hardly believe it; was it possible that they had made a mistake, and that albert was a good fellow after all? had he wished to be thought so he would certainly have seized this opportunity, purchased several hunters, and used them constantly. but he had no such desire; hunting bored him, and made victoria nervous. he continued, as before, to ride, as he himself put it, for exercise or convenience, not for amusement; and it was agreed that though the prince, no doubt, could keep in his saddle well enough, he was no sportsman. this was a serious matter. it was not merely that albert was laughed at by fine ladies and sneered at by fine gentlemen; it was not merely that victoria, who before her marriage had cut some figure in society, had, under her husband's influence, almost completely given it up. since charles the second the sovereigns of england had, with a single exception, always been unfashionable; and the fact that the exception was george the fourth seemed to give an added significance to the rule. what was grave was not the lack of fashion, but the lack of other and more important qualities. the hostility of the upper classes was symptomatic of an antagonism more profound than one of manners or even of tastes. the prince, in a word, was un-english. what that word precisely meant it was difficult to say; but the fact was patent to every eye. lord palmerston, also, was not fashionable; the great whig aristocrats looked askance at him, and only tolerated him as an unpleasant necessity thrust upon them by fate. but lord palmerston was english through and through, there was something in him that expressed, with extraordinary vigour, the fundamental qualities of the english race. and he was the very antithesis of the prince. by a curious chance it so happened that this typical englishman was brought into closer contact than any other of his countrymen with the alien from over the sea. it thus fell out that differences which, in more fortunate circumstances, might have been smoothed away and obliterated, became accentuated to the highest pitch. all the mysterious forces in albert's soul leapt out to do battle with his adversary, and, in the long and violent conflict that followed, it almost seemed as if he was struggling with england herself. palmerston's whole life had been spent in the government of the country. at twenty-two he had been a minister; at twenty-five he had been offered the chancellorship of the exchequer, which, with that prudence which formed so unexpected a part of his character, he had declined to accept. his first spell of office had lasted uninterruptedly for twenty-one years. when lord grey came into power he received the foreign secretaryship, a post which he continued to occupy, with two intervals, for another twenty-one years. throughout this period his reputation with the public had steadily grown, and when, in , he became foreign secretary for the third time, his position in the country was almost, if not quite, on an equality with that of the prime minister, lord john russell. he was a tall, big man of sixty-two, with a jaunty air, a large face, dyed whiskers, and a long sardonic upper lip. his private life was far from respectable, but he had greatly strengthened his position in society by marrying, late in life, lady cowper, the sister of lord melbourne, and one of the most influential of the whig hostesses. powerful, experienced, and supremely self-confident, he naturally paid very little attention to albert. why should he? the prince was interested in foreign affairs? very well, then; let the prince pay attention to him--to him, who had been a cabinet minister when albert was in the cradle, who was the chosen leader of a great nation, and who had never failed in anything he had undertaken in the whole course of his life. not that he wanted the prince's attention--far from it: so far as he could see, albert was merely a young foreigner, who suffered from having no vices, and whose only claim to distinction was that he had happened to marry the queen of england. this estimate, as he found out to his cost, was a mistaken one. albert was by no means insignificant, and, behind albert, there was another figure by no means insignificant either--there was stockmar. but palmerston, busy with his plans, his ambitions, and the management of a great department, brushed all such considerations on one side; it was his favourite method of action. he lived by instinct--by a quick eye and a strong hand, a dexterous management of every crisis as it arose, a half-unconscious sense of the vital elements in a situation. he was very bold; and nothing gave him more exhilaration than to steer the ship of state in a high wind, on a rough sea, with every stitch of canvas on her that she could carry. but there is a point beyond which boldness becomes rashness--a point perceptible only to intuition and not to reason; and beyond that point palmerston never went. when he saw that the cast demanded it, he could go slow--very slow indeed in fact, his whole career, so full of vigorous adventure, was nevertheless a masterly example of the proverb, "tout vient a point a qui sait attendre." but when he decided to go quick, nobody went quicker. one day, returning from osborne, he found that he had missed the train to london; he ordered a special, but the station master told him that to put a special train upon the line at that time of day would be dangerous and he could not allow it. palmerston insisted declaring that he had important business in london, which could not wait. the station-master supported by all the officials, continued to demur the company, he said, could not possibly take the responsibility. "on my responsibility, then!" said palmerston, in his off-hand, peremptory way whereupon the station-master ordered up the train and the foreign secretary reached london in time for his work, without an accident. the story, is typical of the happy valiance with which he conducted both his own affairs and those of the nation. "england," he used to say, "is strong enough to brave consequences." apparently, under palmerston's guidance, she was. while the officials protested and shook in their shoes, he would wave them away with his airy "my responsibility!" and carry the country swiftly along the line of his choice, to a triumphant destination--without an accident. his immense popularity was the result partly of his diplomatic successes, partly of his extraordinary personal affability, but chiefly of the genuine intensity with which he responded to the feelings and supported the interests of his countrymen. the public knew that it had in lord palmerston not only a high-mettled master, but also a devoted servant--that he was, in every sense of the word, a public man. when he was prime minister, he noticed that iron hurdles had been put up on the grass in the green park; he immediately wrote to the minister responsible, ordering, in the severest language, their instant removal, declaring that they were "an intolerable nuisance," and that the purpose of the grass was "to be walked upon freely and without restraint by the people, old and young, for whose enjoyment the parks are maintained." it was in this spirit that, as foreign secretary, he watched over the interests of englishmen abroad. nothing could be more agreeable for englishmen; but foreign governments were less pleased. they found lord palmerston interfering, exasperating, and alarming. in paris they spoke with bated breath of "ce terrible milord palmerston;" and in germany they made a little song about him-- "hat der teufel einen sohn, so ist er sicher palmerston." but their complaints, their threats, and their agitations were all in vain. palmerston, with his upper lip sardonically curving, braved consequences, and held on his course. the first diplomatic crisis which arose after his return to office, though the prince and the queen were closely concerned with it, passed off without serious disagreement between the court and the minister. for some years past a curious problem had been perplexing the chanceries of europe. spain, ever since the time of napoleon a prey to civil convulsions, had settled down for a short interval to a state of comparative quiet under the rule of christina, the queen mother, and her daughter isabella, the young queen. in , the question of isabella's marriage, which had for long been the subject of diplomatic speculations, suddenly became acute. various candidates for her hand were proposed--among others, two cousins of her own, another spanish prince, and prince leopold of saxe-coburg, a first cousin of victoria's and albert's; for different reasons, however, none of these young men seemed altogether satisfactory. isabella was not yet sixteen; and it might have been supposed that her marriage could be put off for a few years more; but this was considered to be out of the question. "vous ne savez pas," said a high authority, "ce que c'est que ces princesses espagnoles; elles ont le diable au corps, et on a toujours dit que si nous ne nous hations pas, l'heritier viendrait avant le mari." it might also have been supposed that the young queen's marriage was a matter to be settled by herself, her mother, and the spanish government; but this again was far from being the case. it had become, by one of those periodical reversions to the ways of the eighteenth century, which, it is rumoured, are still not unknown in diplomacy, a question of dominating importance in the foreign policies both of france and england. for several years, louis philippe and his prime minister guizot had been privately maturing a very subtle plan. it was the object of the french king to repeat the glorious coup of louis xiv, and to abolish the pyrenees by placing one of his grandsons on the throne of spain. in order to bring this about, he did not venture to suggest that his younger son, the duc de montpensier, should marry isabella; that would have been too obvious a move, which would have raised immediate and insurmountable opposition. he therefore proposed that isabella should marry her cousin, the duke of cadiz, while montpensier married isabella's younger sister, the infanta fernanda; and pray, what possible objection could there be to that? the wily old king whispered into the chaste ears of guizot the key to the secret; he had good reason to believe that the duke of cadiz was incapable of having children, and therefore the offspring of fernanda would inherit the spanish crown. guizot rubbed his hands, and began at once to set the necessary springs in motion; but, of course, the whole scheme was very soon divulged and understood. the english government took an extremely serious view of the matter; the balance of power was clearly at stake, and the french intrigue must be frustrated at all hazards. a diplomatic struggle of great intensity followed; and it occasionally appeared that a second war of the spanish succession was about to break out. this was avoided, but the consequences of this strange imbroglio were far-reaching and completely different from what any of the parties concerned could have guessed. in the course of the long and intricate negotiations there was one point upon which louis philippe laid a special stress--the candidature of prince leopold of saxe-coburg. the prospect of a marriage between a coburg prince and the queen of spain was, he declared, at least as threatening to the balance of power in europe as that of a marriage between the duc de montpensier and the infanta; and, indeed, there was much to be said for this contention. the ruin which had fallen upon the house of coburg during the napoleonic wars had apparently only served to multiply its vitality, for that princely family had by now extended itself over europe in an extraordinary manner. king leopold was firmly fixed in belgium; his niece was queen of england; one of his nephews was the husband of the queen of england, and another the husband of the queen of portugal; yet another was duke of wurtemberg. where was this to end? there seemed to be a coburg trust ready to send out one of its members at any moment to fill up any vacant place among the ruling families of europe. and even beyond europe there were signs of this infection spreading. an american who had arrived in brussels had assured king leopold that there was a strong feeling in the united states in favour of monarchy instead of the misrule of mobs, and had suggested, to the delight of his majesty, that some branch of the coburg family might be available for the position. that danger might, perhaps, be remote; but the spanish danger was close at hand; and if prince leopold were to marry queen isabella the position of france would be one of humiliation, if not of positive danger. such were the asseverations of louis philippe. the english government had no wish to support prince leopold, and though albert and victoria had some hankerings for the match, the wisdom of stockmar had induced them to give up all thoughts of it. the way thus seemed open for a settlement: england would be reasonable about leopold, if france would be reasonable about montpensier. at the chateau d'eu, the agreement was made, in a series of conversations between the king and guizot on the one side, and the queen, the prince, and lord aberdeen on the other. aberdeen, as foreign minister, declared that england would neither recognise nor support prince leopold as a candidate for the hand of the queen of spain; while louis philippe solemnly promised, both to aberdeen and to victoria, that the duc de montpensier should not marry the infanta fernanda until after the queen was married and had issue. all went well, and the crisis seemed to be over, when the whole question was suddenly re-opened by palmerston, who had succeeded aberdeen at the foreign office. in a despatch to the english minister at madrid, he mentioned, in a list of possible candidates for queen isabella's hand, prince leopold of coburg; and at the same time he took occasion to denounce in violent language the tyranny and incompetence of the spanish government. this despatch, indiscreet in any case, was rendered infinitely more so by being communicated to guizot. louis philippe saw his opportunity and pounced on it. though there was nothing in palmerston's language to show that he either recognised or supported prince leopold, the king at once assumed that the english had broken their engagement, and that he was therefore free to do likewise. he then sent the despatch to the queen mother, declared that the english were intriguing for the coburg marriage, bade her mark the animosity of palmerston against the spanish government, and urged her to escape from her difficulties and ensure the friendship of france by marrying isabella to the duke of cadiz and fernanda to montpensier. the queen mother, alarmed and furious, was easily convinced. there was only one difficulty: isabella loathed the very sight of her cousin. but this was soon surmounted; there was a wild supper-party at the palace, and in the course of it the young girl was induced to consent to anything that was asked of her. shortly after, and on the same day, both the marriages took place. the news burst like a bomb on the english government, who saw with rage and mortification that they had been completely outmanoeuvred by the crafty king. victoria, in particular, was outraged. not only had she been the personal recipient of louis philippe's pledge, but he had won his way to her heart by presenting the prince of wales with a box of soldiers and sending the princess royal a beautiful parisian doll with eyes that opened and shut. and now insult was added to injury. the queen of the french wrote her a formal letter, calmly announcing, as a family event in which she was sure victoria would be interested, the marriage of her son, montpensier--"qui ajoutera a notre bonheur interieur, le seul vrai dans ce monde, et que vous, madame, savez si bien apprecier." but the english queen had not long to wait for her revenge. within eighteen months the monarchy of louis philippe, discredited, unpopular, and fatally weakened by the withdrawal of english support, was swept into limbo, while he and his family threw themselves as suppliant fugitives at the feet of victoria. ii in this affair both the queen and the prince had been too much occupied with the delinquencies of louis philippe to have any wrath to spare for those of palmerston; and, indeed, on the main issue, palmerston's attitude and their own had been in complete agreement. but in this the case was unique. in every other foreign complication--and they were many and serious--during the ensuing years, the differences between the royal couple and the foreign secretary were constant and profound. there was a sharp quarrel over portugal, where violently hostile parties were flying at each other's throats. the royal sympathy was naturally enlisted on behalf of the queen and her coburg husband, while palmerston gave his support to the progressive elements in the country. it was not until , however, that the strain became really serious. in that year of revolutions, when, in all directions and with alarming frequency, crowns kept rolling off royal heads, albert and victoria were appalled to find that the policy of england was persistently directed--in germany, in switzerland, in austria, in italy, in sicily--so as to favour the insurgent forces. the situation, indeed, was just such a one as the soul of palmerston loved. there was danger and excitement, the necessity of decision, the opportunity for action, on every hand. a disciple of canning, with an english gentleman's contempt and dislike of foreign potentates deep in his heart, the spectacle of the popular uprisings, and of the oppressors bundled ignominiously out of the palaces they had disgraced, gave him unbounded pleasure, and he was determined that there should be no doubt whatever, all over the continent, on which side in the great struggle england stood. it was not that he had the slightest tincture in him of philosophical radicalism; he had no philosophical tinctures of any kind; he was quite content to be inconsistent--to be a conservative at home and a liberal abroad. there were very good reasons for keeping the irish in their places; but what had that to do with it? the point was this--when any decent man read an account of the political prisons in naples his gorge rose. he did not want war; but he saw that without war a skilful and determined use of england's power might do much to further the cause of the liberals in europe. it was a difficult and a hazardous game to play, but he set about playing it with delighted alacrity. and then, to his intense annoyance, just as he needed all his nerve and all possible freedom of action, he found himself being hampered and distracted at every turn by... those people at osborne. he saw what it was; the opposition was systematic and informed, and the queen alone would have been incapable of it; the prince was at the bottom of the whole thing. it was exceedingly vexatious; but palmerston was in a hurry, and could not wait; the prince, if he would insist upon interfering, must be brushed on one side. albert was very angry. he highly disapproved both of palmerston's policy and of his methods of action. he was opposed to absolutism; but in his opinion palmerston's proceedings were simply calculated to substitute for absolutism, all over europe, something no better and very possibly worse--the anarchy of faction and mob violence. the dangers of this revolutionary ferment were grave; even in england chartism was rampant--a sinister movement, which might at any moment upset the constitution and abolish the monarchy. surely, with such dangers at home, this was a very bad time to choose for encouraging lawlessness abroad. he naturally took a particular interest in germany. his instincts, his affections, his prepossessions, were ineradicably german; stockmar was deeply involved in german politics; and he had a multitude of relatives among the ruling german families, who, from the midst of the hurly-burly of revolution, wrote him long and agitated letters once a week. having considered the question of germany's future from every point of view, he came to the conclusion, under stockmar's guidance, that the great aim for every lover of germany should be her unification under the sovereignty of prussia. the intricacy of the situation was extreme, and the possibilities of good or evil which every hour might bring forth were incalculable; yet he saw with horror that palmerston neither understood nor cared to understand the niceties of this momentous problem, but rushed on blindly, dealing blows to right and left, quite--so far as he could see--without system, and even without motive--except, indeed, a totally unreasonable distrust of the prussian state. but his disagreement with the details of palmerston's policy was in reality merely a symptom of the fundamental differences between the characters of the two men. in albert's eyes palmerston was a coarse, reckless egotist, whose combined arrogance and ignorance must inevitably have their issue in folly and disaster. nothing could be more antipathetic to him than a mind so strangely lacking in patience, in reflection, in principle, and in the habits of ratiocination. for to him it was intolerable to think in a hurry, to jump to slapdash decisions, to act on instincts that could not be explained. everything must be done in due order, with careful premeditation; the premises of the position must first be firmly established; and he must reach the correct conclusion by a regular series of rational steps. in complicated questions--and what questions, rightly looked at, were not complicated?--to commit one's thoughts to paper was the wisest course, and it was the course which albert, laborious though it might be, invariably adopted. it was as well, too, to draw up a reasoned statement after an event, as well as before it; and accordingly, whatever happened, it was always found that the prince had made a memorandum. on one occasion he reduced to six pages of foolscap the substance of a confidential conversation with sir robert peel, and, having read them aloud to him, asked him to append his signature; sir robert, who never liked to commit himself, became extremely uneasy; upon which the prince, understanding that it was necessary to humour the singular susceptibilities of englishmen, with great tact dropped that particular memorandum into the fire. but as for palmerston, he never even gave one so much as a chance to read him a memorandum, he positively seemed to dislike discussion; and, before one knew where one was, without any warning whatever, he would plunge into some hare-brained, violent project, which, as likely as not, would logically involve a european war. closely connected, too, with this cautious, painstaking reasonableness of albert's, was his desire to examine questions thoroughly from every point of view, to go down to the roots of things, and to act in strict accordance with some well-defined principle. under stockmar's tutelage he was constantly engaged in enlarging his outlook and in endeavouring to envisage vital problems both theoretically and practically--both with precision and with depth. to one whose mind was thus habitually occupied, the empirical activities of palmerston, who had no notion what a principle meant, resembled the incoherent vagaries of a tiresome child. what did palmerston know of economics, of science, of history? what did he care for morality and education? how much consideration had he devoted in the whole course of his life to the improvement of the condition of the working-classes and to the general amelioration of the human race? the answers to such questions were all too obvious; and yet it is easy to imagine, also, what might have been palmerston's jaunty comment. "ah! your royal highness is busy with fine schemes and beneficent calculations exactly! well, as for me, i must say i'm quite satisfied with my morning's work--i've had the iron hurdles taken out of the green park." the exasperating man, however, preferred to make no comment, and to proceed in smiling silence on his inexcusable way. the process of "brushing on one side" very soon came into operation. important foreign office despatches were either submitted to the queen so late that there was no time to correct them, or they were not submitted to her at all; or, having been submitted, and some passage in them being objected to and an alteration suggested, they were after all sent off in their original form. the queen complained, the prince complained: both complained together. it was quite useless. palmerston was most apologetic--could not understand how it had occurred--must give the clerks a wigging--certainly her majesty's wishes should be attended to, and such a thing should never happen again. but, of course, it very soon happened again, and the royal remonstrances redoubled. victoria, her partisan passions thoroughly aroused, imported into her protests a personal vehemence which those of albert lacked. did lord palmerston forget that she was queen of england? how could she tolerate a state of affairs in which despatches written in her name were sent abroad without her approval or even her knowledge? what could be more derogatory to her position than to be obliged to receive indignant letters from the crowned heads to whom those despatches were addressed--letters which she did not know how to answer, since she so thoroughly agreed with them? she addressed herself to the prime minister. "no remonstrance has any effect with lord palmerston," she said. "lord palmerston," she told him on another occasion, "has as usual pretended not to have had time to submit the draft to the queen before he had sent it off." she summoned lord john to her presence, poured out her indignation, and afterwards, on the advice of albert, noted down what had passed in a memorandum: "i said that i thought that lord palmerston often endangered the honour of england by taking a very prejudiced and one-sided view of a question; that his writings were always as bitter as gall and did great harm, which lord john entirely assented to, and that i often felt quite ill from anxiety." then she turned to her uncle. "the state of germany," she wrote in a comprehensive and despairing review of the european situation, "is dreadful, and one does feel quite ashamed about that once really so peaceful and happy country. that there are still good people there i am sure, but they allow themselves to be worked upon in a frightful and shameful way. in france a crisis seems at hand. what a very bad figure we cut in this mediation! really it is quite immoral, with ireland quivering in our grasp and ready to throw off her allegiance at any moment, for us to force austria to give up her lawful possessions. what shall we say if canada, malta, etc., begin to trouble us? it hurts me terribly." but what did lord palmerston care? lord john's position grew more and more irksome. he did not approve of his colleague's treatment of the queen. when he begged him to be more careful, he was met with the reply that , despatches passed through the foreign office in a single year, that, if every one of these were to be subjected to the royal criticism, the delay would be most serious, that, as it was, the waste of time and the worry involved in submitting drafts to the meticulous examination of prince albert was almost too much for an overworked minister, and that, as a matter of fact, the postponement of important decisions owing to this cause had already produced very unpleasant diplomatic consequences. these excuses would have impressed lord john more favourably if he had not himself had to suffer from a similar neglect. as often as not palmerston failed to communicate even to him the most important despatches. the foreign secretary was becoming an almost independent power, acting on his own initiative, and swaying the policy of england on his own responsibility. on one occasion, in , he had actually been upon the point of threatening to break off diplomatic relations with france without consulting either the cabinet or the prime minister. and such incidents were constantly recurring. when this became known to the prince, he saw that his opportunity had come. if he could only drive in to the utmost the wedge between the two statesmen, if he could only secure the alliance of lord john, then the suppression or the removal of lord palmerston would be almost certain to follow. he set about the business with all the pertinacity of his nature. both he and the queen put every kind of pressure upon the prime minister. they wrote, they harangued, they relapsed into awful silence. it occurred to them that lord clarendon, an important member of the cabinet, would be a useful channel for their griefs. they commanded him to dine at the palace, and, directly the meal was over, "the queen," as he described it afterwards, "exploded, and went with the utmost vehemence and bitterness into the whole of palmerston's conduct, all the effects produced all over the world, and all her own feelings and sentiments about it." when she had finished, the prince took up the tale, with less excitement, but with equal force. lord clarendon found himself in an awkward situation; he disliked palmerston's policy, but he was his colleague, and he disapproved of the attitude of his royal hosts. in his opinion, they were "wrong in wishing that courtiers rather than ministers should conduct the affairs of the country," and he thought that they "laboured under the curious mistake that the foreign office was their peculiar department, and that they had the right to control, if not to direct, the foreign policy of england." he, therefore, with extreme politeness, gave it to be understood that he would not commit himself in any way. but lord john, in reality, needed no pressure. attacked by his sovereign, ignored by his foreign secretary, he led a miserable life. with the advent of the dreadful schleswig-holstein question--the most complex in the whole diplomatic history of europe--his position, crushed between the upper and the nether mill-stones, grew positively unbearable. he became anxious above all things to get palmerston out of the foreign office. but then--supposing palmerston refused to go? in a memorandum made by the prince, at about this time, of an interview between himself, the queen, and the prime minister, we catch a curious glimpse of the states of mind of those three high personages--the anxiety and irritation of lord john, the vehement acrimony of victoria, and the reasonable animosity of albert--drawn together, as it were, under the shadow of an unseen presence, the cause of that celestial anger--the gay, portentous palmerston. at one point in the conversation lord john observed that he believed the foreign secretary would consent to a change of offices; lord palmerston, he said, realised that he had lost the queen's confidence--though only on public, and not on personal, grounds. but on that, the prince noted, "the queen interrupted lord john by remarking that she distrusted him on personal grounds also, but i remarked that lord palmerston had so far at least seen rightly; that he had become disagreeable to the queen, not on account of his person, but of his political doings--to which the queen assented." then the prince suggested that there was a danger of the cabinet breaking up, and of lord palmerston returning to office as prime minister. but on that point lord john was reassuring: he "thought lord palmerston too old to do much in the future (having passed his sixty-fifth year)." eventually it was decided that nothing could be done for the present, but that the utmost secrecy must be observed; and so the conclave ended. at last, in , deliverance seemed to be at hand. there were signs that the public were growing weary of the alarums and excursions of palmerston's diplomacy; and when his support of don pacifico, a british subject, in a quarrel with the greek government, seemed to be upon the point of involving the country in a war not only with greece but also with france, and possibly with russia into the bargain, a heavy cloud of distrust and displeasure appeared to be gathering and about to burst over his head. a motion directed against him in the house of lords was passed by a substantial majority. the question was next to be discussed in the house of commons, where another adverse vote was not improbable, and would seal the doom of the minister. palmerston received the attack with complete nonchalance, and then, at the last possible moment, he struck. in a speech of over four hours, in which exposition, invective, argument, declamation, plain talk and resounding eloquence were mingled together with consummate art and extraordinary felicity, he annihilated his enemies. the hostile motion was defeated, and palmerston was once more the hero of the hour. simultaneously, atropos herself conspired to favour him. sir robert peel was thrown from his horse and killed. by this tragic chance, palmerston saw the one rival great enough to cope with him removed from his path. he judged--and judged rightly--that he was the most popular man in england; and when lord john revived the project of his exchanging the foreign office for some other position in the cabinet, he absolutely refused to stir. great was the disappointment of albert; great was the indignation of victoria. "the house of commons," she wrote, "is becoming very unmanageable and troublesome." the prince, perceiving that palmerston was more firmly fixed in the saddle than ever, decided that something drastic must be done. five months before, the prescient baron had drawn up, in case of emergency, a memorandum, which had been carefully docketed, and placed in a pigeon-hole ready to hand. the emergency had now arisen, and the memorandum must be used. the queen copied out the words of stockmar, and sent them to the prime minister, requesting him to show her letter to palmerston. "she thinks it right," she wrote, "in order to prevent any mistake for the future, shortly to explain what it is she expects from her foreign secretary. she requires: ( ) that he will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the queen may know as distinctly to what she has given her royal sanction; ( ) having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister; such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that minister." lord john russell did as he was bid, and forwarded the queen's letter to lord palmerston. this transaction, which was of grave constitutional significance, was entirely unknown to the outside world. if palmerston had been a sensitive man, he would probably have resigned on the receipt of the queen's missive. but he was far from sensitive; he loved power, and his power was greater than ever; an unerring instinct told him that this was not the time to go. nevertheless, he was seriously perturbed. he understood at last that he was struggling with a formidable adversary, whose skill and strength, unless they were mollified, might do irreparable injury to his career. he therefore wrote to lord john, briefly acquiescing in the queen's requirements--"i have taken a copy of this memorandum of the queen and will not fail to attend to the directions which it contains"--and at the same time, he asked for an interview with the prince. albert at once summoned him to the palace, and was astonished to observe, as he noted in a memorandum, that when palmerston entered the room "he was very much agitated, shook, and had tears in his eyes, so as quite to move me, who never under any circumstances had known him otherwise than with a bland smile on his face." the old statesman was profuse in protestations and excuses; the young one was coldly polite. at last, after a long and inconclusive conversation, the prince, drawing himself up, said that, in order to give lord palmerston "an example of what the queen wanted," he would "ask him a question point-blank." lord palmerston waited in respectful silence, while the prince proceeded as follows: "you are aware that the queen has objected to the protocol about schleswig, and of the grounds on which she has done so. her opinion has been overruled, the protocol stating the desire of the great powers to see the integrity of the danish monarchy preserved has been signed, and upon this the king of denmark has invaded schleswig, where the war is raging. if holstein is attacked also, which is likely, the germans will not be restrained from flying to her assistance; russia has menaced to interfere with arms, if the schleswigers are successful. what will you do, if this emergency arises (provoking most likely an european war), and which will arise very probably when we shall be at balmoral and lord john in another part of scotland? the queen expects from your foresight that you have contemplated this possibility, and requires a categorical answer as to what you would do in the event supposed." strangely enough, to this pointblank question, the foreign secretary appeared to be unable to reply. the whole matter, he said, was extremely complicated, and the contingencies mentioned by his royal highness were very unlikely to arise. the prince persisted; but it was useless; for a full hour he struggled to extract a categorical answer, until at length palmerston bowed himself out of the room. albert threw up his hands in shocked amazement: what could one do with such a man? what indeed? for, in spite of all his apologies and all his promises, within a few weeks the incorrigible reprobate was at his tricks again. the austrian general haynau, notorious as a rigorous suppressor of rebellion in hungary and italy, and in particular as a flogger of women, came to england and took it into his head to pay a visit to messrs. barclay and perkins's brewery. the features of "general hyena," as he was everywhere called--his grim thin face, his enormous pepper-and-salt moustaches--had gained a horrid celebrity; and it so happened that among the clerks at the brewery there was a refugee from vienna, who had given his fellow-workers a first-hand account of the general's characteristics. the austrian ambassador, scenting danger, begged his friend not to appear in public, or, if he must do so, to cut off his moustaches first. but the general would take no advice. he went to the brewery, was immediately recognised, surrounded by a crowd of angry draymen, pushed about, shouted at, punched in the ribs, and pulled by the moustaches until, bolting down an alley with the mob at his heels brandishing brooms and roaring "hyena!" he managed to take refuge in a public house, whence he was removed under the protection of several policemen. the austrian government was angry and demanded explanations. palmerston, who, of course, was privately delighted by the incident, replied regretting what had occurred, but adding that in his opinion the general had "evinced a want of propriety in coming to england at the present moment;" and he delivered his note to the ambassador without having previously submitted it to the queen or to the prime minister. naturally, when this was discovered, there was a serious storm. the prince was especially indignant; the conduct of the draymen he regarded, with disgust and alarm, as "a slight foretaste of what an unregulated mass of illiterate people is capable;" and palmerston was requested by lord john to withdraw his note, and to substitute for it another from which all censure of the general had been omitted. on this the foreign secretary threatened resignation, but the prime minister was firm. for a moment the royal hopes rose high, only to be dashed to the ground again by the cruel compliance of the enemy. palmerston, suddenly lamblike, agreed to everything; the note was withdrawn and altered, and peace was patched up once more. it lasted for a year, and then, in october, , the arrival of kossuth in england brought on another crisis. palmerston's desire to receive the hungarian patriot at his house in london was vetoed by lord john; once more there was a sharp struggle; once more palmerston, after threatening resignation, yielded. but still the insubordinate man could not keep quiet. a few weeks later a deputation of radicals from finsbury and islington waited on him at the foreign office and presented him with an address, in which the emperors of austria and russia were stigmatised as "odious and detestable assassins" and "merciless tyrants and despots." the foreign secretary in his reply, while mildly deprecating these expressions, allowed his real sentiments to appear with a most undiplomatic insouciance there was an immediate scandal, and the court flowed over with rage and vituperation. "i think," said the baron, "the man has been for some time insane." victoria, in an agitated letter, urged lord john to assert his authority. but lord john perceived that on this matter the foreign secretary had the support of public opinion, and he judged it wiser to bide his time. he had not long to wait. the culmination of the long series of conflicts, threats, and exacerbations came before the year was out. on december , louis napoleon's coup d'etat took place in paris; and on the following day palmerston, without consulting anybody, expressed in a conversation with the french ambassador his approval of napoleon's act. two days later, he was instructed by the prime minister, in accordance with a letter from the queen, that it was the policy of the english government to maintain an attitude of strict neutrality towards the affairs of france. nevertheless, in an official despatch to the british ambassador in paris, he repeated the approval of the coup d'etat which he had already given verbally to the french ambassador in london. this despatch was submitted neither to the queen nor to the prime minister. lord john's patience, as he himself said, "was drained to the last drop." he dismissed lord palmerston. victoria was in ecstasies; and albert knew that the triumph was his even more than lord john's. it was his wish that lord granville, a young man whom he believed to be pliant to his influence, should be palmerston's successor; and lord granville was appointed. henceforward, it seemed that the prince would have his way in foreign affairs. after years of struggle and mortification, success greeted him on every hand. in his family, he was an adored master; in the country, the great exhibition had brought him respect and glory; and now in the secret seats of power he had gained a new supremacy. he had wrestled with the terrible lord palmerston, the embodiment of all that was most hostile to him in the spirit of england, and his redoubtable opponent had been overthrown. was england herself at his feet? it might be so; and yet... it is said that the sons of england have a certain tiresome quality: they never know when they are beaten. it was odd, but palmerston was positively still jaunty. was it possible? could he believe, in his blind arrogance, that even his ignominious dismissal from office was something that could be brushed aside? iii the prince's triumph was short-lived. a few weeks later, owing to palmerston's influence, the government was defeated in the house, and lord john resigned. then, after a short interval, a coalition between the whigs and the followers of peel came into power, under the premiership of lord aberdeen. once more, palmerston was in the cabinet. it was true that he did not return to the foreign office; that was something to the good; in the home department it might be hoped that his activities would be less dangerous and disagreeable. but the foreign secretary was no longer the complacent granville; and in lord clarendon the prince knew that he had a minister to deal with, who, discreet and courteous as he was, had a mind of his own. these changes, however, were merely the preliminaries of a far more serious development. events, on every side, were moving towards a catastrophe. suddenly the nation found itself under the awful shadow of imminent war. for several months, amid the shifting mysteries of diplomacy and the perplexed agitations of politics, the issue grew more doubtful and more dark, while the national temper was strained to the breaking-point. at the very crisis of the long and ominous negotiations, it was announced that lord palmerston had resigned. then the pent-up fury of the people burst forth. they had felt that in the terrible complexity of events they were being guided by weak and embarrassed counsels; but they had been reassured by the knowledge that at the centre of power there was one man with strength, with courage, with determination, in whom they could put their trust. they now learnt that that man was no longer among their leaders. why? in their rage, anxiety, and nervous exhaustion, they looked round desperately for some hidden and horrible explanation of what had occurred. they suspected plots, they smelt treachery in the air. it was easy to guess the object upon which their frenzy would vent itself. was there not a foreigner in the highest of high places, a foreigner whose hostility to their own adored champion was unrelenting and unconcealed? the moment that palmerston's resignation was known, there was a universal outcry and an extraordinary tempest of anger and hatred burst, with unparalleled violence, upon the head of the prince. it was everywhere asserted and believed that the queen's husband was a traitor to the country, that he was a tool of the russian court, that in obedience to russian influences he had forced palmerston out of the government, and that he was directing the foreign policy of england in the interests of england's enemies. for many weeks these accusations filled the whole of the press; repeated at public meetings, elaborated in private talk, they flew over the country, growing every moment more extreme and more improbable. while respectable newspapers thundered out their grave invectives, halfpenny broadsides, hawked through the streets of london, re-echoed in doggerel vulgarity the same sentiments and the same suspicions(*). at last the wildest rumours began to spread. (*)"the turkish war both far and near has played the very deuce then, and little al, the royal pal, they say has turned a russian; old aberdeen, as may be seen, looks woeful pale and yellow, and old john bull had his belly full of dirty russian tallow." chorus: "we'll send him home and make him groan, oh, al! you've played the deuce then; the german lad has acted sad and turned tail with the russians." * * * * * "last monday night, all in a fright, al out of bed did tumble. the german lad was raving mad, how he did groan and grumble! he cried to vic, 'i've cut my stick: to st. petersburg go right slap.' when vic, 'tis said, jumped out of bed, and wopped him with her night-cap." from lovely albert! a broadside preserved at the british museum. in january, , it was whispered that the prince had been seized, that he had been found guilty of high treason, that he was to be committed to the tower. the queen herself, some declared, had been arrested, and large crowds actually collected round the tower to watch the incarceration of the royal miscreants.(*) (*)"you jolly turks, now go to work, and show the bear your power. it is rumoured over britain's isle that a------ is in the tower; the postmen some suspicion had, and opened the two letters, 'twas a pity sad the german lad should not have known much better!" lovely albert! these fantastic hallucinations, the result of the fevered atmosphere of approaching war, were devoid of any basis in actual fact. palmerston's resignation had been in all probability totally disconnected with foreign policy; it had certainly been entirely spontaneous, and had surprised the court as much as the nation. nor had albert's influence been used in any way to favour the interests of russia. as often happens in such cases, the government had been swinging backwards and forwards between two incompatible policies--that of non-interference and that of threats supported by force--either of which, if consistently followed, might well have had a successful and peaceful issue, but which, mingled together, could only lead to war. albert, with characteristic scrupulosity, attempted to thread his way through the complicated labyrinth of european diplomacy, and eventually was lost in the maze. but so was the whole of the cabinet; and, when war came, his anti-russian feelings were quite as vehement as those of the most bellicose of englishmen. nevertheless, though the specific charges levelled against the prince were without foundation, there were underlying elements in the situation which explained, if they did not justify, the popular state of mind. it was true that the queen's husband was a foreigner, who had been brought up in a foreign court, was impregnated with foreign ideas, and was closely related to a multitude of foreign princes. clearly this, though perhaps an unavoidable, was an undesirable, state of affairs; nor were the objections to it merely theoretical; it had in fact produced unpleasant consequences of a serious kind. the prince's german proclivities were perpetually lamented by english ministers; lord palmerston, lord clarendon, lord aberdeen, all told the same tale; and it was constantly necessary, in grave questions of national policy, to combat the prepossessions of a court in which german views and german sentiments held a disproportionate place. as for palmerston, his language on this topic was apt to be unbridled. at the height of his annoyance over his resignation, he roundly declared that he had been made a victim to foreign intrigue. he afterwards toned down this accusation; but the mere fact that such a suggestion from such a quarter was possible at all showed to what unfortunate consequences albert's foreign birth and foreign upbringing might lead. but this was not all. a constitutional question of the most profound importance was raised by the position of the prince in england. his presence gave a new prominence to an old problem--the precise definition of the functions and the powers of the crown. those functions and powers had become, in effect, his; and what sort of use was he making of them? his views as to the place of the crown in the constitution are easily ascertainable; for they were stockmar's; and it happens that we possess a detailed account of stockmar's opinions upon the subject in a long letter addressed by him to the prince at the time of this very crisis, just before the outbreak of the crimean war. constitutional monarchy, according to the baron, had suffered an eclipse since the passing of the reform bill. it was now "constantly in danger of becoming a pure ministerial government." the old race of tories, who "had a direct interest in upholding the prerogatives of the crown," had died out; and the whigs were "nothing but partly conscious, partly unconscious republicans, who stand in the same relation to the throne as the wolf does to the lamb." there was a rule that it was unconstitutional to introduce "the name and person of the irresponsible sovereign" into parliamentary debates on constitutional matters; this was "a constitutional fiction, which, although undoubtedly of old standing, was fraught with danger"; and the baron warned the prince that "if the english crown permit a whig ministry to follow this rule in practice, without exception, you must not wonder if in a little time you find the majority of the people impressed with the belief that the king, in the view of the law, is nothing but a mandarin figure, which has to nod its head in assent, or shake it in denial, as his minister pleases." to prevent this from happening, it was of extreme importance, said the baron, "that no opportunity should be let slip of vindicating the legitimate position of the crown." "and this is not hard to do," he added, "and can never embarrass a minister where such straightforward loyal personages as the queen and the prince are concerned." in his opinion, the very lowest claim of the royal prerogative should include "a right on the part of the king to be the permanent president of his ministerial council." the sovereign ought to be "in the position of a permanent premier, who takes rank above the temporary head of the cabinet, and in matters of discipline exercises supreme authority." the sovereign "may even take a part in the initiation and the maturing of the government measures; for it would be unreasonable to expect that a king, himself as able, as accomplished, and as patriotic as the best of his ministers, should be prevented from making use of these qualities at the deliberations of his council." "the judicious exercise of this right," concluded the baron, "which certainly requires a master mind, would not only be the best guarantee for constitutional monarchy, but would raise it to a height of power, stability, and symmetry, which has never been attained." now it may be that this reading of the constitution is a possible one, though indeed it is hard to see how it can be made compatible with the fundamental doctrine of ministerial responsibility. william iii presided over his council, and he was a constitutional monarch; and it seems that stockmar had in his mind a conception of the crown which would have given it a place in the constitution analogous to that which it filled at the time of william iii. but it is clear that such a theory, which would invest the crown with more power than it possessed even under george iii, runs counter to the whole development of english public life since the revolution; and the fact that it was held by stockmar, and instilled by him into albert, was of very serious importance. for there was good reason to believe not only that these doctrines were held by albert in theory, but that he was making a deliberate and sustained attempt to give them practical validity. the history of the struggle between the crown and palmerston provided startling evidence that this was the case. that struggle reached its culmination when, in stockmar's memorandum of , the queen asserted her "constitutional right" to dismiss the foreign secretary if he altered a despatch which had received her sanction. the memorandum was, in fact, a plain declaration that the crown intended to act independently of the prime minister. lord john russell, anxious at all costs to strengthen himself against palmerston, accepted the memorandum, and thereby implicitly allowed the claim of the crown. more than that; after the dismissal of palmerston, among the grounds on which lord john justified that dismissal in the house of commons he gave a prominent place to the memorandum of . it became apparent that the displeasure of the sovereign might be a reason for the removal of a powerful and popular minister. it seemed indeed as if, under the guidance of stockmar and albert, the "constitutional monarchy" might in very truth be rising "to a height of power, stability, and symmetry, which had never been attained." but this new development in the position of the crown, grave as it was in itself, was rendered peculiarly disquieting by the unusual circumstances which surrounded it. for the functions of the crown were now, in effect, being exercised by a person unknown to the constitution, who wielded over the sovereign an undefined and unbounded influence. the fact that this person was the sovereign's husband, while it explained his influence and even made it inevitable, by no means diminished its strange and momentous import. an ambiguous, prepotent figure had come to disturb the ancient, subtle, and jealously guarded balance of the english constitution. such had been the unexpected outcome of the tentative and fainthearted opening of albert's political life. he himself made no attempt to minimise either the multiplicity or the significance of the functions he performed. he considered that it was his duty, he told the duke of wellington in , to "sink his own individual existence in that of his wife--assume no separate responsibility before the public, but make his position entirely a part of hers--fill up every gap which, as a woman, she would naturally leave in the exercise of her regal functions--continually and anxiously watch every part of the public business, in order to be able to advise and assist her at any moment in any of the multifarious and difficult questions or duties brought before her, sometimes international, sometimes political, or social, or personal. as the natural head of her family, superintendent of her household, manager of her private affairs, sole confidential adviser in politics, and only assistant in her communications with the officers of the government, he is, besides, the husband of the queen, the tutor of the royal children, the private secretary of the sovereign, and her permanent minister." stockmar's pupil had assuredly gone far and learnt well. stockmar's pupil!--precisely; the public, painfully aware of albert's predominance, had grown, too, uneasily conscious that victoria's master had a master of his own. deep in the darkness the baron loomed. another foreigner! decidedly, there were elements in the situation which went far to justify the popular alarm. a foreign baron controlled a foreign prince, and the foreign prince controlled the crown of england. and the crown itself was creeping forward ominously; and when, from under its shadow, the baron and the prince had frowned, a great minister, beloved of the people, had fallen. where was all this to end? within a few weeks palmerston withdrew his resignation, and the public frenzy subsided as quickly as it had arisen. when parliament met, the leaders of both the parties in both the houses made speeches in favour of the prince, asserting his unimpeachable loyalty to the country and vindicating his right to advise the sovereign in all matters of state. victoria was delighted. "the position of my beloved lord and master," she told the baron, "has been defined for once amid all and his merits have been acknowledged on all sides most duly. there was an immense concourse of people assembled when we went to the house of lords, and the people were very friendly." immediately afterwards, the country finally plunged into the crimean war. in the struggle that followed, albert's patriotism was put beyond a doubt, and the animosities of the past were forgotten. but the war had another consequence, less gratifying to the royal couple: it crowned the ambition of lord palmerston. in , the man who five years before had been pronounced by lord john russell to be "too old to do much in the future," became prime minister of england, and, with one short interval, remained in that position for ten years. chapter vi. last years of prince consort i the weak-willed youth who took no interest in polities and never read a newspaper had grown into a man of unbending determination whose tireless energies were incessantly concentrated upon the laborious business of government and the highest questions of state. he was busy now from morning till night. in the winter, before the dawn, he was to be seen, seated at his writing-table, working by the light of the green reading--lamp which he had brought over with him from germany, and the construction of which he had much improved by an ingenious device. victoria was early too, but she was not so early as albert; and when, in the chill darkness, she took her seat at her own writing-table, placed side by side with his, she invariably found upon it a neat pile of papers arranged for her inspection and her signature. the day, thus begun, continued in unremitting industry. at breakfast, the newspapers--the once hated newspapers--made their appearance, and the prince, absorbed in their perusal, would answer no questions, or, if an article struck him, would read it aloud. after, that there were ministers and secretaries to interview; there was a vast correspondence to be carried on; there were numerous memoranda to be made. victoria, treasuring every word, preserving every letter, was all breathless attention and eager obedience. sometimes albert would actually ask her advice. he consulted her about his english: "lese recht aufmerksam, und sage wenn irgend ein fehler ist,"(*) he would say; or, as he handed her a draft for her signature, he would observe, "ich hab' dir hier ein draft gemacht, lese es mal! ich dachte es ware recht so."(**) thus the diligent, scrupulous, absorbing hours passed by. fewer and fewer grew the moments of recreation and of exercise. the demands of society were narrowed down to the smallest limits, and even then but grudgingly attended to. it was no longer a mere pleasure, it was a positive necessity, to go to bed as early as possible in order to be up and at work on the morrow betimes. (*) "read this carefully, and tell me if there are any mistakes in it." (**) "here is a draft i have made for you. read it. i should think this would do." the important and exacting business of government, which became at last the dominating preoccupation in albert's mind, still left unimpaired his old tastes and interests; he remained devoted to art, to science, to philosophy, and a multitude of subsidiary activities showed how his energies increased as the demands upon them grew. for whenever duty called, the prince was all alertness. with indefatigable perseverance he opened museums, laid the foundation stones of hospitals, made speeches to the royal agricultural society, and attended meetings of the british association. the national gallery particularly interested him: he drew up careful regulations for the arrangement of the pictures according to schools; and he attempted--though in vain--to have the whole collection transported to south kensington. feodora, now the princess hohenlohe, after a visit to england, expressed in a letter to victoria her admiration of albert both as a private and a public character. nor did she rely only on her own opinion. "i must just copy out," she said, "what mr. klumpp wrote to me some little time ago, and which is quite true--'prince albert is one of the few royal personages who can sacrifice to any principle (as soon as it has become evident to them to be good and noble) all those notions (or sentiments) to which others, owing to their narrow-mindedness, or to the prejudices of their rank, are so thoroughly inclined strongly to cling.' there is something so truly religious in this," the princess added, "as well as humane and just, most soothing to my feelings which are so often hurt and disturbed by what i hear and see." victoria, from the depth of her heart, subscribed to all the eulogies of feodora and mr. klumpp. she only found that they were insufficient. as she watched her beloved albert, after toiling with state documents and public functions, devoting every spare moment of his time to domestic duties, to artistic appreciation, and to intellectual improvements; as she listened to him cracking his jokes at the luncheon table, or playing mendelssohn on the organ, or pointing out the merits of sir edwin landseer's pictures; as she followed him round while he gave instructions about the breeding of cattle, or decided that the gainsboroughs must be hung higher up so that the winterhalters might be properly seen--she felt perfectly certain that no other wife had ever had such a husband. his mind was apparently capable of everything, and she was hardly surprised to learn that he had made an important discovery for the conversion of sewage into agricultural manure. filtration from below upwards, he explained, through some appropriate medium, which retained the solids and set free the fluid sewage for irrigation, was the principle of the scheme. "all previous plans," he said, "would have cost millions; mine costs next to nothing." unfortunately, owing to a slight miscalculation, the invention proved to be impracticable; but albert's intelligence was unrebuffed, and he passed on, to plunge with all his accustomed ardour into a prolonged study of the rudiments of lithography. but naturally it was upon his children that his private interests and those of victoria were concentrated most vigorously. the royal nurseries showed no sign of emptying. the birth of the prince arthur in was followed, three years later, by that of the prince leopold; and in the princess beatrice was born. a family of nine must be, in any circumstances, a grave responsibility; and the prince realised to the full how much the high destinies of his offspring intensified the need of parental care. it was inevitable that he should believe profoundly in the importance of education; he himself had been the product of education; stockmar had made him what he was; it was for him, in his turn, to be a stockmar--to be even more than a stockmar--to the young creatures he had brought into the world. victoria would assist him; a stockmar, no doubt, she could hardly be; but she could be perpetually vigilant, she could mingle strictness with her affection, and she could always set a good example. these considerations, of course, applied pre-eminently to the education of the prince of wales. how tremendous was the significance of every particle of influence which went to the making of the future king of england! albert set to work with a will. but, watching with victoria the minutest details of the physical, intellectual, and moral training of his children, he soon perceived, to his distress, that there was something unsatisfactory in the development of his eldest son. the princess royal was an extremely intelligent child; but bertie, though he was good-humoured and gentle, seemed to display a deep-seated repugnance to every form of mental exertion. this was most regrettable, but the remedy was obvious: the parental efforts must be redoubled; instruction must be multiplied; not for a single instant must the educational pressure be allowed to relax. accordingly, more tutors were selected, the curriculum was revised, the time-table of studies was rearranged, elaborate memoranda dealing with every possible contingency were drawn up. it was above all essential that there should be no slackness: "work," said the prince, "must be work." and work indeed it was. the boy grew up amid a ceaseless round of paradigms, syntactical exercises, dates, genealogical tables, and lists of capes. constant notes flew backwards and forwards between the prince, the queen, and the tutors, with inquiries, with reports of progress, with detailed recommendations; and these notes were all carefully preserved for future reference. it was, besides, vital that the heir to the throne should be protected from the slightest possibility of contamination from the outside world. the prince of wales was not as other boys; he might, occasionally, be allowed to invite some sons of the nobility, boys of good character, to play with him in the garden of buckingham palace; but his father presided, with alarming precision, over their sports. in short, every possible precaution was taken, every conceivable effort was made. yet, strange to say, the object of all this vigilance and solicitude continued to be unsatisfactory--appeared, in fact, to be positively growing worse. it was certainly very odd: the more lessons that bertie had to do, the less he did them; and the more carefully he was guarded against excitements and frivolities, the more desirous of mere amusement he seemed to become. albert was deeply grieved and victoria was sometimes very angry; but grief and anger produced no more effect than supervision and time-tables. the prince of wales, in spite of everything, grew up into manhood without the faintest sign of "adherence to and perseverance in the plan both of studies and life--" as one of the royal memoranda put it--which had been laid down with such extraordinary forethought by his father. ii against the insidious worries of politics, the boredom of society functions, and the pompous publicity of state ceremonies, osborne had afforded a welcome refuge; but it soon appeared that even osborne was too little removed from the world. after all, the solent was a feeble barrier. oh, for some distant, some almost inaccessible sanctuary, where, in true domestic privacy, one could make happy holiday, just as if--or at least very, very, nearly--one were anybody else! victoria, ever since, together with albert, she had visited scotland in the early years of her marriage, had felt that her heart was in the highlands. she had returned to them a few years later, and her passion had grown. how romantic they were! and how albert enjoyed them too! his spirits rose quite wonderfully as soon as he found himself among the hills and the conifers. "it is a happiness to see him," she wrote. "oh! what can equal the beauties of nature!" she exclaimed in her journal, during one of these visits. "what enjoyment there is in them! albert enjoys it so much; he is in ecstasies here." "albert said," she noted next day, "that the chief beauty of mountain scenery consists in its frequent changes. we came home at six o'clock." then she went on a longer expedition--up to the very top of a high hill. "it was quite romantic. here we were with only this highlander behind us holding the ponies (for we got off twice and walked about). . . . we came home at half-past eleven,--the most delightful, most romantic ride and walk i ever had. i had never been up such a mountain, and then the day was so fine." the highlanders, too, were such astonishing people. they "never make difficulties," she noted, "but are cheerful, and happy, and merry, and ready to walk, and run, and do anything." as for albert he "highly appreciated the good-breeding, simplicity, and intelligence, which make it so pleasant and even instructive to talk to them." "we were always in the habit," wrote her majesty, "of conversing with the highlanders--with whom one comes so much in contact in the highlands." she loved everything about them--their customs, their dress, their dances, even their musical instruments. "there were nine pipers at the castle," she wrote after staying with lord breadalbane; "sometimes one and sometimes three played. they always played about breakfast-time, again during the morning, at luncheon, and also whenever we went in and out; again before dinner, and during most of dinner-time. we both have become quite fond of the bag-pipes." it was quite impossible not to wish to return to such pleasures again and again; and in the queen took a lease of balmoral house, a small residence near braemar in the wilds of aberdeenshire. four years later she bought the place outright. now she could be really happy every summer; now she could be simple and at her ease; now she could be romantic every evening, and dote upon albert, without a single distraction, all day long. the diminutive scale of the house was in itself a charm. nothing was more amusing than to find oneself living in two or three little sitting--rooms, with the children crammed away upstairs, and the minister in attendance with only a tiny bedroom to do all his work in. and then to be able to run in and out of doors as one liked, and to sketch, and to walk, and to watch the red deer coming so surprisingly close, and to pay visits to the cottagers! and occasionally one could be more adventurous still--one could go and stay for a night or two at the bothie at alt-na-giuthasach--a mere couple of huts with "a wooden addition"--and only eleven people in the whole party! and there were mountains to be climbed and cairns to be built in solemn pomp. "at last, when the cairn, which is, i think, seven or eight feet high, was nearly completed, albert climbed up to the top of it, and placed the last stone; after which three cheers were given. it was a gay, pretty, and touching sight; and i felt almost inclined to cry. the view was so beautiful over the dear hills; the day so fine; the whole so gemuthlich." and in the evening there were sword-dances and reels. but albert had determined to pull down the little old house, and to build in its place a castle of his own designing. with great ceremony, in accordance with a memorandum drawn up by the prince for the occasion, the foundation-stone of the new edifice was laid, and by it was habitable. spacious, built of granite in the scotch baronial style, with a tower feet high, and minor turrets and castellated gables, the castle was skilfully arranged to command the finest views of the surrounding mountains and of the neighbouring river dee. upon the interior decorations albert and victoria lavished all their care. the wall and the floors were of pitch-pine, and covered with specially manufactured tartars. the balmoral tartan, in red and grey, designed by the prince, and the victoria tartan, with a white stripe, designed by the queen, were to be seen in every room: there were tartan curtains, and tartan chair-covers, and even tartan linoleums. occasionally the royal stuart tartan appeared, for her majesty always maintained that she was an ardent jacobite. water-colour sketches by victoria hung upon the walls, together with innumerable stags' antlers, and the head of a boar, which had been shot by albert in germany. in an alcove in the hall, stood a life-sized statue of albert in highland dress. victoria declared that it was perfection. "every year," she wrote, "my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise, and so much more so now, that all has become my dear albert's own creation, own work, own building, own lay-out... and his great taste, and the impress of his dear hand, have been stamped everywhere." and here, in very truth, her happiest days were passed. in after years, when she looked back upon them, a kind of glory, a radiance as of an unearthly holiness, seemed to glow about these golden hours. each hallowed moment stood out clear, beautiful, eternally significant. for, at the time, every experience there, sentimental, or grave, or trivial, had come upon her with a peculiar vividness, like a flashing of marvellous lights. albert's stalkings--an evening walk when she lost her way--vicky sitting down on a wasps' nest--a torchlight dance--with what intensity such things, and ten thousand like them, impressed themselves upon her eager consciousness! and how she flew to her journal to note them down! the news of the duke's death! what a moment--when, as she sat sketching after a picnic by a loch in the lonely hills, lord derby's letter had been brought to her, and she had learnt that "england's, or rather britain's pride, her glory, her hero, the greatest man she had ever produced, was no morel." for such were here reflections upon the "old rebel" of former days. but that past had been utterly obliterated--no faintest memory of it remained. for years she had looked up to the duke as a figure almost superhuman. had he not been a supporter of good sir robert? had he not asked albert to succeed him as commander-in-chief? and what a proud moment it had been when he stood as sponsor to her son arthur, who was born on his eighty-first birthday! so now she filled a whole page of her diary with panegyrical regrets. "his position was the highest a subject ever had--above party--looked up to by all--revered by the whole nation--the friend of the sovereign... the crown never possessed--and i fear never will--so devoted, loyal, and faithful a subject, so staunch a supporter! to us his loss is irreparable... to albert he showed the greatest kindness and the utmost confidence... not an eye will be dry in the whole country." these were serious thoughts; but they were soon succeeded by others hardly less moving--by events as impossible to forget--by mr. macleod's sermon on nicodemus--by the gift of a red flannel petticoat to mrs. p. farquharson, and another to old kitty kear. but, without doubt, most memorable, most delightful of all were the expeditions--the rare, exciting expeditions up distant mountains, across broad rivers, through strange country, and lasting several days. with only two gillies--grant and brown--for servants, and with assumed names. it was more like something in a story than real life. "we had decided to call ourselves lord and lady churchill and and party--lady churchill passing as miss spencer and general grey as dr. grey! brown once forgot this and called me 'your majesty' as i was getting into the carriage, and grant on the box once called albert 'your royal highness,' which set us off laughing, but no one observed it." strong, vigorous, enthusiastic, bringing, so it seemed, good fortune with her--the highlanders declared she had "a lucky foot"--she relished everything--the scrambles and the views and the contretemps and the rough inns with their coarse fare and brown and grant waiting at table. she could have gone on for ever and ever, absolutely happy with albert beside her and brown at her pony's head. but the time came for turning homewards, alas! the time came for going back to england. she could hardly bear it; she sat disconsolate in her room and watched the snow falling. the last day! oh! if only she could be snowed up! iii the crimean war brought new experiences, and most of them were pleasant ones. it was pleasant to be patriotic and pugnacious, to look out appropriate prayers to be read in the churches, to have news of glorious victories, and to know oneself, more proudly than ever, the representative of england. with that spontaneity of feeling which was so peculiarly her own, victoria poured out her emotion, her admiration, her pity, her love, upon her "dear soldiers." when she gave them their medals her exultation knew no bounds. "noble fellows!" she wrote to the king of the belgians, "i own i feel as if these were my own children; my heart beats for them as for my nearest and dearest. they were so touched, so pleased; many, i hear, cried--and they won't hear of giving up their medals to have their names engraved upon them for fear they should not receive the identical one put into their hands by me, which is quite touching. several came by in a sadly mutilated state." she and they were at one. they felt that she had done them a splendid honour, and she, with perfect genuineness, shared their feeling. albert's attitude towards such things was different; there was an austerity in him which quite prohibited the expansions of emotion. when general williams returned from the heroic defence of kars and was presented at court, the quick, stiff, distant bow with which the prince received him struck like ice upon the beholders. he was a stranger still. but he had other things to occupy him, more important, surely, than the personal impressions of military officers and people who went to court. he was at work--ceaselessly at work--on the tremendous task of carrying through the war to a successful conclusion. state papers, despatches, memoranda, poured from him in an overwhelming stream. between and fifty folio volumes were filled with the comments of his pen upon the eastern question. nothing would induce him to stop. weary ministers staggered under the load of his advice; but his advice continued, piling itself up over their writing-tables, and flowing out upon them from red box after red box. nor was it advice to be ignored. the talent for administration which had reorganised the royal palaces and planned the great exhibition asserted itself no less in the confused complexities of war. again and again the prince's suggestions, rejected or unheeded at first, were adopted under the stress of circumstances and found to be full of value. the enrolment of a foreign legion, the establishment of a depot for troops at malta, the institution of periodical reports and tabulated returns as to the condition of the army at sebastopol--such were the contrivances and the achievements of his indefatigable brain. he went further: in a lengthy minute he laid down the lines for a radical reform in the entire administration of the army. this was premature, but his proposal that "a camp of evolution" should be created, in which troops should be concentrated and drilled, proved to be the germ of aldershot. meanwhile victoria had made a new friend: she had suddenly been captivated by napoleon iii. her dislike of him had been strong at first. she considered that he was a disreputable adventurer who had usurped the throne of poor old louis philippe; and besides he was hand-in-glove with lord palmerston. for a long time, although he was her ally, she was unwilling to meet him; but at last a visit of the emperor and empress to england was arranged. directly he appeared at windsor her heart began to soften. she found that she was charmed by his quiet manners, his low, soft voice, and by the soothing simplicity of his conversation. the good-will of england was essential to the emperor's position in europe, and he had determined to fascinate the queen. he succeeded. there was something deep within her which responded immediately and vehemently to natures that offered a romantic contrast with her own. her adoration of lord melbourne was intimately interwoven with her half-unconscious appreciation of the exciting unlikeness between herself and that sophisticated, subtle, aristocratical old man. very different was the quality of her unlikeness to napoleon; but its quantity was at least as great. from behind the vast solidity of her respectability, her conventionality, her established happiness, she peered out with a strange delicious pleasure at that unfamiliar, darkly-glittering foreign object, moving so meteorically before her, an ambiguous creature of wilfulness and destiny. and, to her surprise, where she had dreaded antagonisms, she discovered only sympathies. he was, she said, "so quiet, so simple, naif even, so pleased to be informed about things he does not know, so gentle, so full of tact, dignity, and modesty, so full of kind attention towards us, never saying a word, or doing a thing, which could put me out... there is something fascinating, melancholy, and engaging which draws you to him, in spite of any prevention you may have against him, and certainly without the assistance of any outward appearance, though i like his face." she observed that he rode "extremely well, and looks well on horseback, as he sits high." and he danced "with great dignity and spirit." above all, he listened to albert; listened with the most respectful attention; showed, in fact, how pleased he was "to be informed about things he did not know;" and afterwards was heard to declare that he had never met the prince's equal. on one occasion, indeed--but only on one--he had seemed to grow slightly restive. in a diplomatic conversation, "i expatiated a little on the holstein question," wrote the prince in a memorandum, "which appeared to bore the emperor as 'tres compliquee.'" victoria, too, became much attached to the empress, whose looks and graces she admired without a touch of jealousy. eugenie, indeed, in the plenitude of her beauty, exquisitely dressed in wonderful parisian crinolines which set off to perfection her tall and willowy figure, might well have caused some heart-burning in the breast of her hostess, who, very short, rather stout, quite plain, in garish middle-class garments, could hardly be expected to feel at her best in such company. but victoria had no misgivings. to her it mattered nothing that her face turned red in the heat and that her purple pork-pie hat was of last year's fashion, while eugenie, cool and modish, floated in an infinitude of flounces by her side. she was queen of england, and was not that enough? it certainly seemed to be; true majesty was hers, and she knew it. more than once, when the two were together in public, it was the woman to whom, as it seemed, nature and art had given so little, who, by the sheer force of an inherent grandeur, completely threw her adorned and beautiful companion into the shade. there were tears when the moment came for parting, and victoria felt "quite wehmuthig," as her guests went away from windsor. but before long she and albert paid a return visit to france, where everything was very delightful, and she drove incognito through the streets of paris in a "common bonnet," and saw a play in the theatre at st. cloud, and, one evening, at a great party given by the emperor in her honour at the chateau of versailles, talked a little to a distinguished-looking prussian gentleman, whose name was bismarck. her rooms were furnished so much to her taste that she declared they gave her quite a home feeling--that, if her little dog were there, she should really imagine herself at home. nothing was said, but three days later her little dog barked a welcome to her as she entered the apartments. the emperor himself, sparing neither trouble nor expense, had personally arranged the charming surprise. such were his attentions. she returned to england more enchanted than ever. "strange indeed," she exclaimed, "are the dispensations and ways of providence!" the alliance prospered, and the war drew towards a conclusion. both the queen and the prince, it is true, were most anxious that there should not be a premature peace. when lord aberdeen wished to open negotiations albert attacked him in a "geharnischten" letter, while victoria rode about on horseback reviewing the troops. at last, however, sebastopol was captured. the news reached balmoral late at night, and in a few minutes albert and all the gentlemen in every species of attire sallied forth, followed by all the servants, and gradually by all the population of the village-keepers, gillies, workmen--"up to the top of the cairn." a bonfire was lighted, the pipes were played, and guns were shot off. "about three-quarters of an hour after albert came down and said the scene had been wild and exciting beyond everything. the people had been drinking healths in whisky and were in great ecstasy." the "great ecstasy," perhaps, would be replaced by other feelings next morning; but at any rate the war was over--though, to be sure, its end seemed as difficult to account for as its beginning. the dispensations and ways of providence continued to be strange. iv an unexpected consequence of the war was a complete change in the relations between the royal pair and palmerston. the prince and the minister drew together over their hostility to russia, and thus it came about that when victoria found it necessary to summon her old enemy to form an administration she did so without reluctance. the premiership, too, had a sobering effect upon palmerston; he grew less impatient and dictatorial; considered with attention the suggestions of the crown, and was, besides, genuinely impressed by the prince's ability and knowledge. friction, no doubt, there still occasionally was, for, while the queen and the prince devoted themselves to foreign politics as much as ever, their views, when the war was over, became once more antagonistic to those of the prime minister. this was especially the case with regard to italy. albert, theoretically the friend of constitutional government, distrusted cavour, was horrified by garibaldi, and dreaded the danger of england being drawn into war with austria. palmerston, on the other hand, was eager for italian independence; but he was no longer at the foreign office, and the brunt of the royal displeasure had now to be borne by lord john russell. in a few years the situation had curiously altered. it was lord john who now filled the subordinate and the ungrateful role; but the foreign secretary, in his struggle with the crown, was supported, instead of opposed, by the prime minister. nevertheless the struggle was fierce, and the policy, by which the vigorous sympathy of england became one of the decisive factors in the final achievement of italian unity, was only carried through in face of the violent opposition of the court. towards the other european storm-centre, also, the prince's attitude continued to be very different to that of palmerston. albert's great wish was for a united germany under the leadership of a constitutional and virtuous prussia; palmerston did not think that there was much to be said for the scheme, but he took no particular interest in german politics, and was ready enough to agree to a proposal which was warmly supported by both the prince and the queen--that the royal houses of england and prussia should be united by the marriage of the princess royal with the prussian crown prince. accordingly, when the princess was not yet fifteen, the prince, a young man of twenty-four, came over on a visit to balmoral, and the betrothal took place. two years later, in , the marriage was celebrated. at the last moment, however, it seemed that there might be a hitch. it was pointed out in prussia that it was customary for princes of the blood royal to be married in berlin, and it was suggested that there was no reason why the present case should be treated as an exception. when this reached the ears of victoria, she was speechless with indignation. in a note, emphatic even for her majesty, she instructed the foreign secretary to tell the prussian ambassador "not to entertain the possibility of such a question... the queen never could consent to it, both for public and for private reasons, and the assumption of its being too much for a prince royal of prussia to come over to marry the princess royal of great britain in england is too absurd to say the least. . . whatever may be the usual practice of prussian princes, it is not every day that one marries the eldest daughter of the queen of england. the question must therefore be considered as settled and closed." it was, and the wedding took place in st. james's chapel. there were great festivities--illuminations, state concerts, immense crowds, and general rejoicings. at windsor a magnificent banquet was given to the bride and bridegroom in the waterloo room, at which, victoria noted in her diary, "everybody was most friendly and kind about vicky and full of the universal enthusiasm, of which the duke of buccleuch gave us most pleasing instances, he having been in the very thick of the crowd and among the lowest of the low." her feelings during several days had been growing more and more emotional, and when the time came for the young couple to depart she very nearly broke down--but not quite. "poor dear child!" she wrote afterwards. "i clasped her in my arms and blessed her, and knew not what to say. i kissed good fritz and pressed his hand again and again. he was unable to speak and the tears were in his eyes. i embraced them both again at the carriage door, and albert got into the carriage, an open one, with them and bertie... the band struck up. i wished good-bye to the good perponchers. general schreckenstein was much affected. i pressed his hand, and the good dean's, and then went quickly upstairs." albert, as well as general schreckenstein, was much affected. he was losing his favourite child, whose opening intelligence had already begun to display a marked resemblance to his own--an adoring pupil, who, in a few years, might have become an almost adequate companion. an ironic fate had determined that the daughter who was taken from him should be sympathetic, clever, interested in the arts and sciences, and endowed with a strong taste for memoranda, while not a single one of these qualities could be discovered in the son who remained. for certainly the prince of wales did not take after his father. victoria's prayer had been unanswered, and with each succeeding year it became more obvious that bertie was a true scion of the house of brunswick. but these evidences of innate characteristics only served to redouble the efforts of his parents; it still might not be too late to incline the young branch, by ceaseless pressure and careful fastenings, to grow in the proper direction. everything was tried. the boy was sent on a continental tour with a picked body of tutors, but the results were unsatisfactory. at his father's request he kept a diary which, on his return, was inspected by the prince. it was found to be distressingly meagre: what a multitude of highly interesting reflections might have been arranged under the heading: "the first prince of wales visiting the pope!" but there was not a single one. "le jeune prince plaisit a tout le monde," old metternich reported to guizot, "mais avait l'air embarrasse et tres triste." on his seventeenth birthday a memorandum was drawn up over the names of the queen and the prince informing their eldest son that he was now entering upon the period of manhood, and directing him henceforward to perform the duties of a christian gentleman. "life is composed of duties," said the memorandum, "and in the due, punctual and cheerful performance of them the true christian, true soldier, and true gentleman is recognised... a new sphere of life will open for you in which you will have to be taught what to do and what not to do, a subject requiring study more important than any in which you have hitherto been engaged." on receipt of the memorandum bertie burst into tears. at the same time another memorandum was drawn up, headed "confidential: for the guidance of the gentlemen appointed to attend on the prince of wales." this long and elaborate document laid down "certain principles" by which the "conduct and demeanour" of the gentlemen were to be regulated "and which it is thought may conduce to the benefit of the prince of wales." "the qualities which distinguish a gentleman in society," continued this remarkable paper, "are:-- ( ) his appearance, his deportment and dress. ( ) the character of his relations with, and treatment of, others. ( ) his desire and power to acquit himself creditably in conversation or whatever is the occupation of the society with which he mixes." a minute and detailed analysis of these subheadings followed, filling several pages, and the memorandum ended with a final exhortation to the gentlemen: "if they will duly appreciate the responsibility of their position, and taking the points above laid down as the outline, will exercise their own good sense in acting upon all occasions all upon these principles, thinking no point of detail too minute to be important, but maintaining one steady consistent line of conduct they may render essential service to the young prince and justify the flattering selection made by the royal parents." a year later the young prince was sent to oxford, where the greatest care was taken that he should not mix with the undergraduates. yes, everything had been tried--everything... with one single exception. the experiment had never been made of letting bertie enjoy himself. but why should it have been? "life is composed of duties." what possible place could there be for enjoyment in the existence of a prince of wales? the same year which deprived albert of the princess royal brought him another and a still more serious loss. the baron had paid his last visit to england. for twenty years, as he himself said in a letter to the king of the belgians, he had performed "the laborious and exhausting office of a paternal friend and trusted adviser" to the prince and the queen. he was seventy; he was tired, physically and mentally; it was time to go. he returned to his home in coburg, exchanging, once for all, the momentous secrecies of european statecraft for the little-tattle of a provincial capital and the gossip of family life. in his stiff chair by the fire he nodded now over old stories--not of emperors and generals--but of neighbours and relatives and the domestic adventures of long ago--the burning of his father's library--and the goat that ran upstairs to his sister's room and ran twice round the table and then ran down again. dyspepsia and depression still attacked him; but, looking back over his life, he was not dissatisfied. his conscience was clear. "i have worked as long as i had strength to work," he said, "and for a purpose no one can impugn. the consciousness of this is my reward--the only one which i desired to earn." apparently, indeed, his "purpose" had been accomplished. by his wisdom, his patience, and his example he had brought about, in the fullness of time, the miraculous metamorphosis of which he had dreamed. the prince was his creation. an indefatigable toiler, presiding, for the highest ends, over a great nation--that was his achievement; and he looked upon his work and it was good. but had the baron no misgivings? did he never wonder whether, perhaps, he might have accomplished not too little but too much? how subtle and how dangerous are the snares which fate lays for the wariest of men! albert, certainly, seemed to be everything that stockmar could have wished--virtuous, industrious, persevering, intelligent. and yet--why was it--all was not well with him? he was sick at heart. for in spite of everything he had never reached to happiness. his work, for which at last he came to crave with an almost morbid appetite, was a solace and not a cure; the dragon of his dissatisfaction devoured with dark relish that ever-growing tribute of laborious days and nights; but it was hungry still. the causes of his melancholy were hidden, mysterious, unanalysable perhaps--too deeply rooted in the innermost recesses of his temperament for the eye of reason to apprehend. there were contradictions in his nature, which, to some of those who knew him best, made him seem an inexplicable enigma: he was severe and gentle; he was modest and scornful; he longed for affection and he was cold. he was lonely, not merely with the loneliness of exile but with the loneliness of conscious and unrecognised superiority. he had the pride, at once resigned and overweening, of a doctrinaire. and yet to say that he was simply a doctrinaire would be a false description; for the pure doctrinaire rejoices always in an internal contentment, and albert was very far from doing that. there was something that he wanted and that he could never get. what was it? some absolute, some ineffable sympathy? some extraordinary, some sublime success? possibly, it was a mixture of both. to dominate and to be understood! to conquer, by the same triumphant influence, the submission and the appreciation of men--that would be worth while indeed! but, to such imaginations, he saw too clearly how faint were the responses of his actual environment. who was there who appreciated him, really and truly? who could appreciate him in england? and, if the gentle virtue of an inward excellence availed so little, could he expect more from the hard ways of skill and force? the terrible land of his exile loomed before him a frigid, an impregnable mass. doubtless he had made some slight impression: it was true that he had gained the respect of his fellow workers, that his probity, his industry, his exactitude, had been recognised, that he was a highly influential, an extremely important man. but how far, how very far, was all this from the goal of his ambitions! how feeble and futile his efforts seemed against the enormous coagulation of dullness, of folly, of slackness, of ignorance, of confusion that confronted him! he might have the strength or the ingenuity to make some small change for the better here or there--to rearrange some detail, to abolish some anomaly, to insist upon some obvious reform; but the heart of the appalling organism remained untouched. england lumbered on, impervious and self-satisfied, in her old intolerable course. he threw himself across the path of the monster with rigid purpose and set teeth, but he was brushed aside. yes! even palmerston was still unconquered--was still there to afflict him with his jauntiness, his muddle-headedness, his utter lack of principle. it was too much. neither nature nor the baron had given him a sanguine spirit; the seeds of pessimism, once lodged within him, flourished in a propitious soil. he "questioned things, and did not find one that would answer to his mind; and all the world appeared unkind." he believed that he was a failure and he began to despair. yet stockmar had told him that he must "never relax," and he never would. he would go on, working to the utmost and striving for the highest, to the bitter end. his industry grew almost maniacal. earlier and earlier was the green lamp lighted; more vast grew the correspondence; more searching the examination of the newspapers; the interminable memoranda more punctilious, analytical, and precise. his very recreations became duties. he enjoyed himself by time-table, went deer-stalking with meticulous gusto, and made puns at lunch--it was the right thing to do. the mechanism worked with astonishing efficiency, but it never rested and it was never oiled. in dry exactitude the innumerable cog-wheels perpetually revolved. no, whatever happened, the prince would not relax; he had absorbed the doctrines of stockmar too thoroughly. he knew what was right, and, at all costs, he would pursue it. that was certain. but alas! in this our life what are the certainties? "in nothing be over-zealous!" says an old greek. "the due measure in all the works of man is best. for often one who zealously pushes towards some excellence, though he be pursuing a gain, is really being led utterly astray by the will of some power, which makes those things that are evil seem to him good, and those things seem to him evil that are for his advantage." surely, both the prince and the baron might have learnt something from the frigid wisdom of theognis. victoria noticed that her husband sometimes seemed to be depressed and overworked. she tried to cheer him up. realising uneasily that he was still regarded as a foreigner, she hoped that by conferring upon him the title of prince consort ( ) she would improve his position in the country. "the queen has a right to claim that her husband should be an englishman," she wrote. but unfortunately, in spite of the royal letters patent, albert remained as foreign as before; and as the years passed his dejection deepened. she worked with him, she watched over him, she walked with him through the woods at osborne, while he whistled to the nightingales, as he had whistled once at rosenau so long ago. when his birthday came round, she took the greatest pains to choose him presents that he would really like. in , when he was thirty-nine, she gave him "a picture of beatrice, life-size, in oil, by horsley, a complete collection of photographic views of gotha and the country round, which i had taken by bedford, and a paper-weight of balmoral granite and deers' teeth, designed by vicky." albert was of course delighted, and his merriment at the family gathering was more pronounced than ever: and yet... what was there that was wrong? no doubt it was his health. he was wearing himself out in the service of the country; and certainly his constitution, as stockmar had perceived from the first, was ill-adapted to meet a serious strain. he was easily upset; he constantly suffered from minor ailments. his appearance in itself was enough to indicate the infirmity of his physical powers. the handsome youth of twenty years since with the flashing eyes and the soft complexion had grown into a sallow, tired-looking man, whose body, in its stoop and its loose fleshiness, betrayed the sedentary labourer, and whose head was quite bald on the top. unkind critics, who had once compared albert to an operatic tenor, might have remarked that there was something of the butler about him now. beside victoria, he presented a painful contrast. she, too, was stout, but it was with the plumpness of a vigorous matron; and an eager vitality was everywhere visible--in her energetic bearing, her protruding, enquiring glances, her small, fat, capable, and commanding hands. if only, by some sympathetic magic, she could have conveyed into that portly, flabby figure, that desiccated and discouraged brain, a measure of the stamina and the self-assurance which were so pre-eminently hers! but suddenly she was reminded that there were other perils besides those of ill-health. during a visit to coburg in , the prince was very nearly killed in a carriage accident. he escaped with a few cuts and bruises; but victoria's alarm was extreme, though she concealed it. "it is when the queen feels most deeply," she wrote afterwards, "that she always appears calmest, and she could not and dared not allow herself to speak of what might have been, or even to admit to herself (and she cannot and dare not now) the entire danger, for her head would turn!" her agitation, in fact, was only surpassed by her thankfulness to god. she felt, she said, that she could not rest "without doing something to mark permanently her feelings," and she decided that she would endow a charity in coburg. "l , , or even l , , given either at once, or in instalments yearly, would not, in the queen's opinion, be too much." eventually, the smaller sum having been fixed upon, it was invested in a trust, called the "victoria-stift," in the name of the burgomaster and chief clergyman of coburg, who were directed to distribute the interest yearly among a certain number of young men and women of exemplary character belonging to the humbler ranks of life. shortly afterwards the queen underwent, for the first time in her life, the actual experience of close personal loss. early in the duchess of kent was taken seriously ill, and in march she died. the event overwhelmed victoria. with a morbid intensity, she filled her diary for pages with minute descriptions of her mother's last hours, her dissolution, and her corpse, interspersed with vehement apostrophes, and the agitated outpourings of emotional reflection. in the grief of the present the disagreements of the past were totally forgotten. it was the horror and the mystery of death--death, present and actual--that seized upon the imagination of the queen. her whole being, so instinct with vitality, recoiled in agony from the grim spectacle of the triumph of that awful power. her own mother, with whom she had lived so closely and so long that she had become a part almost of her existence, had fallen into nothingness before her very eyes! she tried to forget, but she could not. her lamentations continued with a strange abundance, a strange persistency. it was almost as if, by some mysterious and unconscious precognition, she realised that for her, in an especial manner, that grisly majesty had a dreadful dart in store. for indeed, before the year was out, a far more terrible blow was to fall upon her. albert, who had for long been suffering from sleeplessness, went, on a cold and drenching day towards the end of november, to inspect the buildings for the new military academy at sandhurst. on his return, it was clear that the fatigue and exposure to which he had been subjected had seriously affected his health. he was attacked by rheumatism, his sleeplessness continued, and he complained that he felt thoroughly unwell. three days later a painful duty obliged him to visit cambridge. the prince of wales, who had been placed at that university in the previous year, was behaving in such a manner that a parental visit and a parental admonition had become necessary. the disappointed father, suffering in mind and body, carried through his task; but, on his return journey to windsor, he caught a fatal chill. during the next week he gradually grew weaker and more miserable. yet, depressed and enfeebled as he was, he continued to work. it so happened that at that very moment a grave diplomatic crisis had arisen. civil war had broken out in america, and it seemed as if england, owing to a violent quarrel with the northern states, was upon the point of being drawn into the conflict. a severe despatch by lord john russell was submitted to the queen; and the prince perceived that, if it was sent off unaltered, war would be the almost inevitable consequence. at seven o'clock on the morning of december , he rose from his bed, and with a quavering hand wrote a series of suggestions for the alteration of the draft, by which its language might be softened, and a way left open for a peaceful solution of the question. these changes were accepted by the government, and war was averted. it was the prince's last memorandum. he had always declared that he viewed the prospect of death with equanimity. "i do not cling to life," he had once said to victoria. "you do; but i set no store by it." and then he had added: "i am sure, if i had a severe illness, i should give up at once, i should not struggle for life. i have no tenacity of life." he had judged correctly. before he had been ill many days, he told a friend that he was convinced he would not recover. he sank and sank. nevertheless, if his case had been properly understood and skilfully treated from the first, he might conceivably have been saved; but the doctors failed to diagnose his symptoms; and it is noteworthy that his principal physician was sir james clark. when it was suggested that other advice should be taken, sir james pooh-poohed the idea: "there was no cause for alarm," he said. but the strange illness grew worse. at last, after a letter of fierce remonstrance from palmerston, dr. watson was sent for; and dr. watson saw at once that he had come too late the prince was in the grip of typhoid fever. "i think that everything so far is satisfactory," said sir james clark.(*) (*) clarendon, ii, - : "one cannot speak with certainty; but it is horrible to think that such a life may have been sacrificed to sir j. clark's selfish jealousy of every member of his profession." the earl of clarendon to the duchess of manchester, december , . the restlessness and the acute suffering of the earlier days gave place to a settled torpor and an ever--deepening gloom. once the failing patient asked for music--"a fine chorale at a distance;" and a piano having been placed in the adjoining room, princess alice played on it some of luther's hymns, after which the prince repeated "the rock of ages." sometimes his mind wandered; sometimes the distant past came rushing upon him; he heard the birds in the early morning, and was at rosenau again, a boy. or victoria would come and read to him "peveril of the peak," and he showed that he could follow the story, and then she would bend over him, and he would murmur "liebes frauchen" and "gutes weibchen," stroking her cheek. her distress and her agitation were great, but she was not seriously frightened. buoyed up by her own abundant energies, she would not believe that albert's might prove unequal to the strain. she refused to face such a hideous possibility. she declined to see dr. watson. why should she? had not sir james clark assured her that all would be well? only two days before the end, which was seen now to be almost inevitable by everyone about her, she wrote, full of apparent confidence, to the king of the belgians: "i do not sit up with him at night," she said, "as i could be of no use; and there is nothing to cause alarm." the princess alice tried to tell her the truth, but her hopefulness would not be daunted. on the morning of december , albert, just as she had expected, seemed to be better; perhaps the crisis was over. but in the course of the day there was a serious relapse. then at last she allowed herself to see that she was standing on the edge of an appalling gulf. the whole family was summoned, and, one after another, the children took a silent farewell of their father. "it was a terrible moment," victoria wrote in her diary, "but, thank god! i was able to command myself, and to be perfectly calm, and remained sitting by his side." he murmured something, but she could not hear what it was; she thought he was speaking in french. then all at once he began to arrange his hair, "just as he used to do when well and he was dressing." "es kleines frauchen," she whispered to him; and he seemed to understand. for a moment, towards the evening, she went into another room, but was immediately called back; she saw at a glance that a ghastly change had taken place. as she knelt by the bed, he breathed deeply, breathed gently, breathed at last no more. his features became perfectly rigid; she shrieked one long wild shriek that rang through the terror-stricken castle and understood that she had lost him for ever. chapter vii. widowhood i the death of the prince consort was the central turning-point in the history of queen victoria. she herself felt that her true life had ceased with her husband's, and that the remainder of her days upon earth was of a twilight nature--an epilogue to a drama that was done. nor is it possible that her biographer should escape a similar impression. for him, too, there is a darkness over the latter half of that long career. the first forty--two years of the queen's life are illuminated by a great and varied quantity of authentic information. with albert's death a veil descends. only occasionally, at fitful and disconnected intervals, does it lift for a moment or two; a few main outlines, a few remarkable details may be discerned; the rest is all conjecture and ambiguity. thus, though the queen survived her great bereavement for almost as many years as she had lived before it, the chronicle of those years can bear no proportion to the tale of her earlier life. we must be content in our ignorance with a brief and summary relation. the sudden removal of the prince was not merely a matter of overwhelming personal concern to victoria; it was an event of national, of european importance. he was only forty-two, and in the ordinary course of nature he might have been expected to live at least thirty years longer. had he done so it can hardly be doubted that the whole development of the english polity would have been changed. already at the time of his death he filled a unique place in english public life; already among the inner circle of politicians he was accepted as a necessary and useful part of the mechanism of the state. lord clarendon, for instance, spoke of his death as "a national calamity of far greater importance than the public dream of," and lamented the loss of his "sagacity and foresight," which, he declared, would have been "more than ever valuable" in the event of an american war. and, as time went on, the prince's influence must have enormously increased. for, in addition to his intellectual and moral qualities, he enjoyed, by virtue of his position, one supreme advantage which every other holder of high office in the country was without: he was permanent. politicians came and went, but the prince was perpetually installed at the centre of affairs. who can doubt that, towards the end of the century, such a man, grown grey in the service of the nation, virtuous, intelligent, and with the unexampled experience of a whole life-time of government, would have acquired an extraordinary prestige? if, in his youth, he had been able to pit the crown against the mighty palmerston and to come off with equal honours from the contest, of what might he not have been capable in his old age? what minister, however able, however popular, could have withstood the wisdom, the irreproachability, the vast prescriptive authority, of the venerable prince? it is easy to imagine how, under such a ruler, an attempt might have been made to convert england into a state as exactly organised, as elaborately trained, as efficiently equipped, and as autocratically controlled, as prussia herself. then perhaps, eventually, under some powerful leader--a gladstone or a bright--the democratic forces in the country might have rallied together, and a struggle might have followed in which the monarchy would have been shaken to its foundations. or, on the other hand, disraeli's hypothetical prophecy might have come true. "with prince albert," he said, "we have buried our... sovereign. this german prince has governed england for twenty-one years with a wisdom and energy such as none of our kings have ever shown. if he had outlived some of our 'old stagers' he would have given us the blessings of absolute government." the english constitution--that indescribable entity--is a living thing, growing with the growth of men, and assuming ever-varying forms in accordance with the subtle and complex laws of human character. it is the child of wisdom and chance. the wise men of moulded it into the shape we know, but the chance that george i could not speak english gave it one of its essential peculiarities--the system of a cabinet independent of the crown and subordinate to the prime minister. the wisdom of lord grey saved it from petrifaction and destruction, and set it upon the path of democracy. then chance intervened once more; a female sovereign happened to marry an able and pertinacious man; and it seemed likely that an element which had been quiescent within it for years--the element of irresponsible administrative power--was about to become its predominant characteristic and to change completely the direction of its growth. but what chance gave chance took away. the consort perished in his prime; and the english constitution, dropping the dead limb with hardly a tremor, continued its mysterious life as if he had never been. one human being, and one alone, felt the full force of what had happened. the baron, by his fireside at coburg, suddenly saw the tremendous fabric of his creation crash down into sheer and irremediable ruin. albert was gone, and he had lived in vain. even his blackest hypochondria had never envisioned quite so miserable a catastrophe. victoria wrote to him, visited him, tried to console him by declaring with passionate conviction that she would carry on her husband's work. he smiled a sad smile and looked into the fire. then he murmured that he was going where albert was--that he would not be long. he shrank into himself. his children clustered round him and did their best to comfort him, but it was useless: the baron's heart was broken. he lingered for eighteen months, and then, with his pupil, explored the shadow and the dust. ii with appalling suddenness victoria had exchanged the serene radiance of happiness for the utter darkness of woe. in the first dreadful moments those about her had feared that she might lose her reason, but the iron strain within her held firm, and in the intervals between the intense paroxysms of grief it was observed that the queen was calm. she remembered, too, that albert had always disapproved of exaggerated manifestations of feeling, and her one remaining desire was to do nothing but what he would have wished. yet there were moments when her royal anguish would brook no restraints. one day she sent for the duchess of sutherland, and, leading her to the prince's room, fell prostrate before his clothes in a flood of weeping, while she adjured the duchess to tell her whether the beauty of albert's character had ever been surpassed. at other times a feeling akin to indignation swept over her. "the poor fatherless baby of eight months," she wrote to the king of the belgians, "is now the utterly heartbroken and crushed widow of forty-two! my life as a happy one is ended! the world is gone for me!... oh! to be cut off in the prime of life--to see our pure, happy, quiet, domestic life, which alone enabled me to bear my much disliked position, cut off at forty-two--when i had hoped with such instinctive certainty that god never would part us, and would let us grow old together (though he always talked of the shortness of life)--is too awful, too cruel!" the tone of outraged majesty seems to be discernible. did she wonder in her heart of hearts how the deity could have dared? but all other emotions gave way before her overmastering determination to continue, absolutely unchanged, and for the rest of her life on earth, her reverence, her obedience, her idolatry. "i am anxious to repeat one thing," she told her uncle, "and that one is my firm resolve, my irrevocable decision, viz., that his wishes--his plans--about everything, his views about every thing are to be my law! and no human power will make me swerve from what he decided and wished." she grew fierce, she grew furious, at the thought of any possible intrusion between her and her desire. her uncle was coming to visit her, and it flashed upon her that he might try to interfere with her and seek to "rule the roost" as of old. she would give him a hint. "i am also determined," she wrote, "that no one person--may he be ever so good, ever so devoted among my servants--is to lead or guide or dictate to me. i know how he would disapprove it... though miserably weak and utterly shattered, my spirit rises when i think any wish or plan of his is to be touched or changed, or i am to be made to do anything." she ended her letter in grief and affection. she was, she said, his "ever wretched but devoted child, victoria r." and then she looked at the date: it was the th of december. an agonising pang assailed her, and she dashed down a postcript--"what a xmas! i won't think of it." at first, in the tumult of her distresses, she declared that she could not see her ministers, and the princess alice, assisted by sir charles phipps, the keeper of the privy purse, performed, to the best of her ability, the functions of an intermediary. after a few weeks, however, the cabinet, through lord john russell, ventured to warn the queen that this could not continue. she realised that they were right: albert would have agreed with them; and so she sent for the prime minister. but when lord palmerston arrived at osborne, in the pink of health, brisk, with his whiskers freshly dyed, and dressed in a brown overcoat, light grey trousers, green gloves, and blue studs, he did not create a very good impression. nevertheless, she had grown attached to her old enemy, and the thought of a political change filled her with agitated apprehensions. the government, she knew, might fall at any moment; she felt she could not face such an eventuality; and therefore, six months after the death of the prince, she took the unprecedented step of sending a private message to lord derby, the leader of the opposition, to tell him that she was not in a fit state of mind or body to undergo the anxiety of a change of government, and that if he turned the present ministers out of office it would be at the risk of sacrificing her life--or her reason. when this message reached lord derby he was considerably surprised. "dear me!" was his cynical comment. "i didn't think she was so fond of them as that." though the violence of her perturbations gradually subsided, her cheerfulness did not return. for months, for years, she continued in settled gloom. her life became one of almost complete seclusion. arrayed in thickest crepe, she passed dolefully from windsor to osborne, from osborne to balmoral. rarely visiting the capital, refusing to take any part in the ceremonies of state, shutting herself off from the slightest intercourse with society, she became almost as unknown to her subjects as some potentate of the east. they might murmur, but they did not understand. what had she to do with empty shows and vain enjoyments? no! she was absorbed by very different preoccupations. she was the devoted guardian of a sacred trust. her place was in the inmost shrine of the house of mourning--where she alone had the right to enter, where she could feel the effluence of a mysterious presence, and interpret, however faintly and feebly, the promptings of a still living soul. that, and that only was her glorious, her terrible duty. for terrible indeed it was. as the years passed her depression seemed to deepen and her loneliness to grow more intense. "i am on a dreary sad pinnacle of solitary grandeur," she said. again and again she felt that she could bear her situation no longer--that she would sink under the strain. and then, instantly, that voice spoke: and she braced herself once more to perform, with minute conscientiousness, her grim and holy task. above all else, what she had to do was to make her own the master-impulse of albert's life--she must work, as he had worked, in the service of the country. that vast burden of toil which he had taken upon his shoulders it was now for her to bear. she assumed the gigantic load; and naturally she staggered under it. while he had lived, she had worked, indeed, with regularity and conscientiousness; but it was work made easy, made delicious, by his care, his forethought, his advice, and his infallibility. the mere sound of his voice, asking her to sign a paper, had thrilled her; in such a presence she could have laboured gladly for ever. but now there was a hideous change. now there were no neat piles and docketings under the green lamp; now there were no simple explanations of difficult matters; now there was nobody to tell her what was right and what was wrong. she had her secretaries, no doubt: there were sir charles phipps, and general grey, and sir thomas biddulph; and they did their best. but they were mere subordinates: the whole weight of initiative and responsibility rested upon her alone. for so it had to be. "i am determined"--had she not declared it?--"that no one person is to lead or guide or dictate to me;" anything else would be a betrayal of her trust. she would follow the prince in all things. he had refused to delegate authority; he had examined into every detail with his own eyes; he had made it a rule never to sign a paper without having first, not merely read it, but made notes on it too. she would do the same. she sat from morning till night surrounded by huge heaps of despatch--boxes, reading and writing at her desk--at her desk, alas! which stood alone now in the room. within two years of albert's death a violent disturbance in foreign politics put victoria's faithfulness to a crucial test. the fearful schleswig-holstein dispute, which had been smouldering for more than a decade, showed signs of bursting out into conflagration. the complexity of the questions at issue was indescribable. "only three people," said palmerston, "have ever really understood the schleswig-holstein business--the prince consort, who is dead--a german professor, who has gone mad--and i, who have forgotten all about it." but, though the prince might be dead, had he not left a vicegerent behind him? victoria threw herself into the seething embroilment with the vigour of inspiration. she devoted hours daily to the study of the affair in all its windings; but she had a clue through the labyrinth: whenever the question had been discussed, albert, she recollected it perfectly, had always taken the side of prussia. her course was clear. she became an ardent champion of the prussian point of view. it was a legacy from the prince, she said. she did not realise that the prussia of the prince's day was dead, and that a new prussia, the prussia of bismarck, was born. perhaps palmerston, with his queer prescience, instinctively apprehended the new danger; at any rate, he and lord john were agreed upon the necessity of supporting denmark against prussia's claims. but opinion was sharply divided, not only in the country but in the cabinet. for eighteen months the controversy raged; while the queen, with persistent vehemence, opposed the prime minister and the foreign secretary. when at last the final crisis arose--when it seemed possible that england would join forces with denmark in a war against prussia--victoria's agitation grew febrile in its intensity. towards her german relatives she preserved a discreet appearance of impartiality; but she poured out upon her ministers a flood of appeals, protests, and expostulations. she invoked the sacred cause of peace. "the only chance of preserving peace for europe," she wrote, "is by not assisting denmark, who has brought this entirely upon herself. the queen suffers much, and her nerves are more and more totally shattered... but though all this anxiety is wearing her out, it will not shake her firm purpose of resisting any attempt to involve this country in a mad and useless combat." she was, she declared, "prepared to make a stand," even if the resignation of the foreign secretary should follow. "the queen," she told lord granville, "is completely exhausted by the anxiety and suspense, and misses her beloved husband's help, advice, support, and love in an overwhelming manner." she was so worn out by her efforts for peace that she could "hardly hold up her head or hold her pen." england did not go to war, and denmark was left to her fate; but how far the attitude of the queen contributed to this result it is impossible, with our present knowledge, to say. on the whole, however, it seems probable that the determining factor in the situation was the powerful peace party in the cabinet rather than the imperious and pathetic pressure of victoria. it is, at any rate, certain that the queen's enthusiasm for the sacred cause of peace was short-lived. within a few months her mind had completely altered. her eyes were opened to the true nature of prussia, whose designs upon austria were about to culminate in the seven weeks' war. veering precipitately from one extreme to the other, she now urged her ministers to interfere by force of arms in support of austria. but she urged in vain. her political activity, no more than her social seclusion, was approved by the public. as the years passed, and the royal mourning remained as unrelieved as ever, the animadversions grew more general and more severe. it was observed that the queen's protracted privacy not only cast a gloom over high society, not only deprived the populace of its pageantry, but also exercised a highly deleterious effect upon the dressmaking, millinery, and hosiery trades. this latter consideration carried great weight. at last, early in , the rumour spread that her majesty was about to go out of mourning, and there was much rejoicing in the newspapers; but unfortunately it turned out that the rumour was quite without foundation. victoria, with her own hand, wrote a letter to the times to say so. "this idea," she declared, "cannot be too explicitly contradicted. the queen," the letter continued, "heartily appreciates the desire of her subjects to see her, and whatever she can do to gratify them in this loyal and affectionate wish, she will do... but there are other and higher duties than those of mere representation which are now thrown upon the queen, alone and unassisted--duties which she cannot neglect without injury to the public service, which weigh unceasingly upon her, overwhelming her with work and anxiety." the justification might have been considered more cogent had it not been known that those "other and higher duties" emphasised by the queen consisted for the most part of an attempt to counteract the foreign policy of lord palmerston and lord john russell. a large section--perhaps a majority--of the nation were violent partisans of denmark in the schleswig-holstein quarrel; and victoria's support of prussia was widely denounced. a wave of unpopularity, which reminded old observers of the period preceding the queen's marriage more than twenty-five years before, was beginning to rise. the press was rude; lord ellenborough attacked the queen in the house of lords; there were curious whispers in high quarters that she had had thoughts of abdicating--whispers followed by regrets that she had not done so. victoria, outraged and injured, felt that she was misunderstood. she was profoundly unhappy. after lord ellenborough's speech, general grey declared that he "had never seen the queen so completely upset." "oh, how fearful it is," she herself wrote to lord granville, "to be suspected--uncheered--unguided and unadvised--and how alone the poor queen feels!" nevertheless, suffer as she might, she was as resolute as ever; she would not move by a hair's breadth from the course that a supreme obligation marked out for her; she would be faithful to the end. and so, when schleswig-holstein was forgotten, and even the image of the prince had begun to grow dim in the fickle memories of men, the solitary watcher remained immutably concentrated at her peculiar task. the world's hostility, steadily increasing, was confronted and outfaced by the impenetrable weeds of victoria. would the world never understand? it was not mere sorrow that kept her so strangely sequestered; it was devotion, it was self-immolation; it was the laborious legacy of love. unceasingly the pen moved over the black-edged paper. the flesh might be weak, but that vast burden must be borne. and fortunately, if the world would not understand, there were faithful friends who did. there was lord granville, and there was kind mr. theodore martin. perhaps mr. martin, who was so clever, would find means to make people realise the facts. she would send him a letter, pointing out her arduous labours and the difficulties under which she struggled, and then he might write an article for one of the magazines. "it is not," she told him in , "the queen's sorrow that keeps her secluded. it is her overwhelming work and her health, which is greatly shaken by her sorrow, and the totally overwhelming amount of work and responsibility--work which she feels really wears her out. alice helps was wonderfully struck at the queen's room; and if mrs. martin will look at it, she can tell mr. martin what surrounds her. from the hour she gets out of bed till she gets into it again there is work, work, work,--letter-boxes, questions, etc., which are dreadfully exhausting--and if she had not comparative rest and quiet in the evening she would most likely not be alive. her brain is constantly overtaxed." it was too true. iii to carry on albert's work--that was her first duty; but there was another, second only to that, and yet nearer, if possible, to her heart--to impress the true nature of his genius and character upon the minds of her subjects. she realised that during his life he had not been properly appreciated; the full extent of his powers, the supreme quality of his goodness, had been necessarily concealed; but death had removed the need of barriers, and now her husband, in his magnificent entirety, should stand revealed to all. she set to work methodically. she directed sir arthur helps to bring out a collection of the prince's speeches and addresses, and the weighty tome appeared in . then she commanded general grey to write an account of the prince's early years--from his birth to his marriage; she herself laid down the design of the book, contributed a number of confidential documents, and added numerous notes; general grey obeyed, and the work was completed in . but the principal part of the story was still untold, and mr. martin was forthwith instructed to write a complete biography of the prince consort. mr. martin laboured for fourteen years. the mass of material with which he had to deal was almost incredible, but he was extremely industrious, and he enjoyed throughout the gracious assistance of her majesty. the first bulky volume was published in ; four others slowly followed; so that it was not until that the monumental work was finished. mr. martin was rewarded by a knighthood; and yet it was sadly evident that neither sir theodore nor his predecessors had achieved the purpose which the queen had in view. perhaps she was unfortunate in her coadjutors, but, in reality, the responsibility for the failure must lie with victoria herself. sir theodore and the others faithfully carried out the task which she had set them--faithfully put before the public the very image of albert that filled her own mind. the fatal drawback was that the public did not find that image attractive. victoria's emotional nature, far more remarkable for vigour than for subtlety, rejecting utterly the qualifications which perspicuity, or humour, might suggest, could be satisfied with nothing but the absolute and the categorical. when she disliked she did so with an unequivocal emphasis which swept the object of her repugnance at once and finally outside the pale of consideration; and her feelings of affection were equally unmitigated. in the case of albert her passion for superlatives reached its height. to have conceived of him as anything short of perfect--perfect in virtue, in wisdom, in beauty, in all the glories and graces of man--would have been an unthinkable blasphemy: perfect he was, and perfect he must be shown to have been. and so, sir arthur, sir theodore, and the general painted him. in the circumstances, and under such supervision, to have done anything else would have required talents considerably more distinguished than any that those gentlemen possessed. but that was not all. by a curious mischance victoria was also able to press into her service another writer, the distinction of whose talents was this time beyond a doubt. the poet laureate, adopting, either from complaisance or conviction, the tone of his sovereign, joined in the chorus, and endowed the royal formula with the magical resonance of verse. this settled the matter. henceforward it was impossible to forget that albert had worn the white flower of a blameless life. the result was doubly unfortunate. victoria, disappointed and chagrined, bore a grudge against her people for their refusal, in spite of all her efforts, to rate her husband at his true worth. she did not understand that the picture of an embodied perfection is distasteful to the majority of mankind. the cause of this is not so much an envy of the perfect being as a suspicion that he must be inhuman; and thus it happened that the public, when it saw displayed for its admiration a figure resembling the sugary hero of a moral story-book rather than a fellow man of flesh and blood, turned away with a shrug, a smile, and a flippant ejaculation. but in this the public was the loser as well as victoria. for in truth albert was a far more interesting personage than the public dreamed. by a curious irony an impeccable waxwork had been fixed by the queen's love in the popular imagination, while the creature whom it represented--the real creature, so full of energy and stress and torment, so mysterious and so unhappy, and so fallible and so very human--had altogether disappeared. iv words and books may be ambiguous memorials; but who can misinterpret the visible solidity of bronze and stone? at frogmore, near windsor, where her mother was buried, victoria constructed, at the cost of l , , a vast and elaborate mausoleum for herself and her husband. but that was a private and domestic monument, and the queen desired that wherever her subjects might be gathered together they should be reminded of the prince. her desire was gratified; all over the country--at aberdeen, at perth, and at wolverhampton--statues of the prince were erected; and the queen, making an exception to her rule of retirement, unveiled them herself. nor did the capital lag behind. a month after the prince's death a meeting was called together at the mansion house to discuss schemes for honouring his memory. opinions, however, were divided upon the subject. was a statue or an institution to be preferred? meanwhile a subscription was opened; an influential committee was appointed, and the queen was consulted as to her wishes in the matter. her majesty replied that she would prefer a granite obelisk, with sculptures at the base, to an institution. but the committee hesitated: an obelisk, to be worthy of the name, must clearly be a monolith; and where was the quarry in england capable of furnishing a granite block of the required size? it was true that there was granite in russian finland; but the committee were advised that it was not adapted to resist exposure to the open air. on the whole, therefore, they suggested that a memorial hall should be erected, together with a statue of the prince. her majesty assented; but then another difficulty arose. it was found that not more than l , had been subscribed--a sum insufficient to defray the double expense. the hall, therefore, was abandoned; a statue alone was to be erected; and certain eminent architects were asked to prepare designs. eventually the committee had at their disposal a total sum of l , , since the public subscribed another l , , while l , was voted by parliament. some years later a joint stock company was formed and built, as a private speculation, the albert hall. the architect whose design was selected, both by the committee and by the queen, was mr. gilbert scott, whose industry, conscientiousness, and genuine piety had brought him to the head of his profession. his lifelong zeal for the gothic style having given him a special prominence, his handiwork was strikingly visible, not only in a multitude of original buildings, but in most of the cathedrals of england. protests, indeed, were occasionally raised against his renovations; but mr. scott replied with such vigour and unction in articles and pamphlets that not a dean was unconvinced, and he was permitted to continue his labours without interruption. on one occasion, however, his devotion to gothic had placed him in an unpleasant situation. the government offices in whitehall were to be rebuilt; mr. scott competed, and his designs were successful. naturally, they were in the gothic style, combining "a certain squareness and horizontality of outline" with pillar-mullions, gables, high-pitched roofs, and dormers; and the drawings, as mr. scott himself observed, "were, perhaps, the best ever sent in to a competition, or nearly so." after the usual difficulties and delays the work was at last to be put in hand, when there was a change of government and lord palmerston became prime minister. lord palmerston at once sent for mr. scott. "well, mr. scott," he said, in his jaunty way, "i can't have anything to do with this gothic style. i must insist on your making a design in the italian manner, which i am sure you can do very cleverly." mr. scott was appalled; the style of the italian renaissance was not only unsightly, it was positively immoral, and he sternly refused to have anything to do with it. thereupon lord palmerston assumed a fatherly tone. "quite true; a gothic architect can't be expected to put up a classical building; i must find someone else." this was intolerable, and mr. scott, on his return home, addressed to the prime minister a strongly-worded letter, in which he dwelt upon his position as an architect, upon his having won two european competitions, his being an a.r.a., a gold medallist of the institute, and a lecturer on architecture at the royal academy; but it was useless--lord palmerston did not even reply. it then occurred to mr. scott that, by a judicious mixture, he might, while preserving the essential character of the gothic, produce a design which would give a superficial impression of the classical style. he did so, but no effect was produced upon lord palmerston. the new design, he said, was "neither one thing nor 'tother--a regular mongrel affair--and he would have nothing to do with it either." after that mr. scott found it necessary to recruit for two months at scarborough, "with a course of quinine." he recovered his tone at last, but only at the cost of his convictions. for the sake of his family he felt that it was his unfortunate duty to obey the prime minister; and, shuddering with horror, he constructed the government offices in a strictly renaissance style. shortly afterwards mr. scott found some consolation in building the st. pancras hotel in a style of his own. and now another and yet more satisfactory task was his. "my idea in designing the memorial," he wrote, "was to erect a kind of ciborium to protect a statue of the prince; and its special characteristic was that the ciborium was designed in some degree on the principles of the ancient shrines. these shrines were models of imaginary buildings, such as had never in reality been erected; and my idea was to realise one of these imaginary structures with its precious materials, its inlaying, its enamels, etc. etc." his idea was particularly appropriate since it chanced that a similar conception, though in the reverse order of magnitude, had occurred to the prince himself, who had designed and executed several silver cruet-stands upon the same model. at the queen's request a site was chosen in kensington gardens as near as possible to that of the great exhibition; and in may, , the first sod was turned. the work was long, complicated, and difficult; a great number of workmen were employed, besides several subsidiary sculptors and metal--workers under mr. scott's direction, while at every stage sketches and models were submitted to her majesty, who criticised all the details with minute care, and constantly suggested improvements. the frieze, which encircled the base of the monument, was in itself a very serious piece of work. "this," said mr. scott, "taken as a whole, is perhaps one of the most laborious works of sculpture ever undertaken, consisting, as it does, of a continuous range of figure-sculpture of the most elaborate description, in the highest alto-relievo of life-size, of more than feet in length, containing about figures, and executed in the hardest marble which could be procured." after three years of toil the memorial was still far from completion, and mr. scott thought it advisable to give a dinner to the workmen, "as a substantial recognition of his appreciation of their skill and energy." "two long tables," we are told, "constructed of scaffold planks, were arranged in the workshops, and covered with newspapers, for want of table-cloths. upwards of eighty men sat down. beef and mutton, plum pudding and cheese were supplied in abundance, and each man who desired it had three pints of beer, gingerbeer and lemonade being provided for the teetotalers, who formed a very considerable proportion... several toasts were given and many of the workmen spoke, almost all of them commencing by 'thanking god that they enjoyed good health;' some alluded to the temperance that prevailed amongst them, others observed how little swearing was ever heard, whilst all said how pleased and proud they were to be engaged on so great a work." gradually the edifice approached completion. the one hundred and seventieth life-size figure in the frieze was chiselled, the granite pillars arose, the mosaics were inserted in the allegorical pediments, the four colossal statues representing the greater christian virtues, the four other colossal statues representing the greater moral virtues, were hoisted into their positions, the eight bronzes representing the greater sciences--astronomy, chemistry, geology, geometry, rhetoric, medicine, philosophy, and physiology--were fixed on their glittering pinnacles, high in air. the statue of physiology was particularly admired. "on her left arm," the official description informs us, "she bears a new-born infant, as a representation of the development of the highest and most perfect of physiological forms; her hand points towards a microscope, the instrument which lends its assistance for the investigation of the minuter forms of animal and vegetable organisms." at last the gilded cross crowned the dwindling galaxies of superimposed angels, the four continents in white marble stood at the four corners of the base, and, seven years after its inception, in july, , the monument was thrown open to the public. but four more years were to elapse before the central figure was ready to be placed under its starry canopy. it was designed by mr. foley, though in one particular the sculptor's freedom was restricted by mr. scott. "i have chosen the sitting posture," mr. scott said, "as best conveying the idea of dignity befitting a royal personage." mr. foley ably carried out the conception of his principal. "in the attitude and expression," he said, "the aim has been, with the individuality of portraiture, to embody rank, character, and enlightenment, and to convey a sense of that responsive intelligence indicating an active, rather than a passive, interest in those pursuits of civilisation illustrated in the surrounding figures, groups, and relievos... to identify the figure with one of the most memorable undertakings of the public life of the prince--the international exhibition of --a catalogue of the works collected in that first gathering of the industry of all nations, is placed in the right hand." the statue was of bronze gilt and weighed nearly ten tons. it was rightly supposed that the simple word "albert," cast on the base, would be a sufficient means of identification. chapter viii. gladstone and lord beaconsfield i lord palmerston's laugh--a queer metallic "ha! ha! ha!" with reverberations in it from the days of pitt and the congress of vienna--was heard no more in piccadilly; lord john russell dwindled into senility; lord derby tottered from the stage. a new scene opened; and new protagonists--mr. gladstone and mr. disraeli--struggled together in the limelight. victoria, from her post of vantage, watched these developments with that passionate and personal interest which she invariably imported into politics. her prepossessions were of an unexpected kind. mr. gladstone had been the disciple of her revered peel, and had won the approval of albert; mr. disraeli had hounded sir robert to his fall with hideous virulence, and the prince had pronounced that he "had not one single element of a gentleman in his composition." yet she regarded mr. gladstone with a distrust and dislike which steadily deepened, while upon his rival she lavished an abundance of confidence, esteem, and affection such as lord melbourne himself had hardly known. her attitude towards the tory minister had suddenly changed when she found that he alone among public men had divined her feelings at albert's death. of the others she might have said "they pity me and not my grief;" but mr. disraeli had understood; and all his condolences had taken the form of reverential eulogies of the departed. the queen declared that he was "the only person who appreciated the prince." she began to show him special favour; gave him and his wife two of the coveted seats in st. george's chapel at the prince of wales's wedding, and invited him to stay a night at windsor. when the grant for the albert memorial came before the house of commons, disraeli, as leader of the opposition, eloquently supported the project. he was rewarded by a copy of the prince's speeches, bound in white morocco, with an inscription in the royal hand. in his letter of thanks he "ventured to touch upon a sacred theme," and, in a strain which re-echoed with masterly fidelity the sentiments of his correspondent, dwelt at length upon the absolute perfection of albert. "the prince," he said, "is the only person whom mr. disraeli has ever known who realised the ideal. none with whom he is acquainted have ever approached it. there was in him a union of the manly grace and sublime simplicity, of chivalry with the intellectual splendour of the attic academe. the only character in english history that would, in some respects, draw near to him is sir philip sidney: the same high tone, the same universal accomplishments, the same blended tenderness and vigour, the same rare combination of romantic energy and classic repose." as for his own acquaintance with the prince, it had been, he said, "one of the most satisfactory incidents of his life: full of refined and beautiful memories, and exercising, as he hopes, over his remaining existence, a soothing and exalting influence." victoria was much affected by "the depth and delicacy of these touches," and henceforward disraeli's place in her affections was assured. when, in , the conservatives came into office, disraeli's position as chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the house necessarily brought him into a closer relation with the sovereign. two years later lord derby resigned, and victoria, with intense delight and peculiar graciousness, welcomed disraeli as her first minister. but only for nine agitated months did he remain in power. the ministry, in a minority in the commons, was swept out of existence by a general election. yet by the end of that short period the ties which bound together the queen and her premier had grown far stronger than ever before; the relationship between them was now no longer merely that between a grateful mistress and a devoted servant: they were friends. his official letters, in which the personal element had always been perceptible, developed into racy records of political news and social gossip, written, as lord clarendon said, "in his best novel style." victoria was delighted; she had never, she declared, had such letters in her life, and had never before known everything. in return, she sent him, when the spring came, several bunches of flowers, picked by her own hands. he despatched to her a set of his novels, for which, she said, she was "most grateful, and which she values much." she herself had lately published her "leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands," and it was observed that the prime minister, in conversing with her majesty at this period, constantly used the words "we authors, ma'am." upon political questions, she was his staunch supporter. "really there never was such conduct as that of the opposition," she wrote. and when the government was defeated in the house she was "really shocked at the way in which the house of commons go on; they really bring discredit on constitutional government." she dreaded the prospect of a change; she feared that if the liberals insisted upon disestablishing the irish church, her coronation oath might stand in the way. but a change there had to be, and victoria vainly tried to console herself for the loss of her favourite minister by bestowing a peerage upon mrs. disraeli. mr. gladstone was in his shirt-sleeves at hawarden, cutting down a tree, when the royal message was brought to him. "very significant," he remarked, when he had read the letter, and went on cutting down his tree. his secret thoughts on the occasion were more explicit, and were committed to his diary. "the almighty," he wrote, "seems to sustain and spare me for some purpose of his own, deeply unworthy as i know myself to be. glory be to his name." the queen, however, did not share her new minister's view of the almighty's intentions. she could not believe that there was any divine purpose to be detected in the programme of sweeping changes which mr. gladstone was determined to carry out. but what could she do? mr. gladstone, with his daemonic energy and his powerful majority in the house of commons, was irresistible; and for five years ( - ) victoria found herself condemned to live in an agitating atmosphere of interminable reform--reform in the irish church and the irish land system, reform in education, reform in parliamentary elections, reform in the organisation of the army and the navy, reform in the administration of justice. she disapproved, she struggled, she grew very angry; she felt that if albert had been living things would never have happened so; but her protests and her complaints were alike unavailing. the mere effort of grappling with the mass of documents which poured in upon her in an ever-growing flood was terribly exhausting. when the draft of the lengthy and intricate irish church bill came before her, accompanied by an explanatory letter from mr. gladstone covering a dozen closely-written quarto pages, she almost despaired. she turned from the bill to the explanation, and from the explanation back again to the bill, and she could not decide which was the most confusing. but she had to do her duty: she had not only to read, but to make notes. at last she handed the whole heap of papers to mr. martin, who happened to be staying at osborne, and requested him to make a precis of them. when he had done so, her disapproval of the measure became more marked than ever; but, such was the strength of the government, she actually found herself obliged to urge moderation upon the opposition, lest worse should ensue. in the midst of this crisis, when the future of the irish church was hanging in the balance, victoria's attention was drawn to another proposed reform. it was suggested that the sailors in the navy should henceforward be allowed to wear beards. "has mr. childers ascertained anything on the subject of the beards?" the queen wrote anxiously to the first lord of the admiralty. on the whole, her majesty was in favour of the change. "her own personal feeling," she wrote, "would be for the beards without the moustaches, as the latter have rather a soldierlike appearance; but then the object in view would not be obtained, viz. to prevent the necessity of shaving. therefore it had better be as proposed, the entire beard, only it should be kept short and very clean." after thinking over the question for another week, the queen wrote a final letter. she wished, she said, "to make one additional observation respecting the beards, viz. that on no account should moustaches be allowed without beards. that must be clearly understood." changes in the navy might be tolerated; to lay hands upon the army was a more serious matter. from time immemorial there had been a particularly close connection between the army and the crown; and albert had devoted even more time and attention to the details of military business than to the processes of fresco-painting or the planning of sanitary cottages for the deserving poor. but now there was to be a great alteration: mr. gladstone's fiat had gone forth, and the commander-in-chief was to be removed from his direct dependence upon the sovereign, and made subordinate to parliament and the secretary of state for war. of all the liberal reforms this was the one which aroused the bitterest resentment in victoria. she considered that the change was an attack upon her personal position--almost an attack upon the personal position of albert. but she was helpless, and the prime minister had his way. when she heard that the dreadful man had yet another reform in contemplation--that he was about to abolish the purchase of military commissions--she could only feel that it was just what might have been expected. for a moment she hoped that the house of lords would come to the rescue; the peers opposed the change with unexpected vigour; but mr. gladstone, more conscious than ever of the support of the almighty, was ready with an ingenious device. the purchase of commissions had been originally allowed by royal warrant; it should now be disallowed by the same agency. victoria was faced by a curious dilemma: she abominated the abolition of purchase; but she was asked to abolish it by an exercise of sovereign power which was very much to her taste. she did not hesitate for long; and when the cabinet, in a formal minute, advised her to sign the warrant, she did so with a good grace. unacceptable as mr. gladstone's policy was, there was something else about him which was even more displeasing to victoria. she disliked his personal demeanour towards herself. it was not that mr. gladstone, in his intercourse with her, was in any degree lacking in courtesy or respect. on the contrary, an extraordinary reverence impregnated his manner, both in his conversation and his correspondence with the sovereign. indeed, with that deep and passionate conservatism which, to the very end of his incredible career, gave such an unexpected colouring to his inexplicable character, mr. gladstone viewed victoria through a haze of awe which was almost religious--as a sacrosanct embodiment of venerable traditions--a vital element in the british constitution--a queen by act of parliament. but unfortunately the lady did not appreciate the compliment. the well-known complaint--"he speaks to me as if i were a public meeting-" whether authentic or no--and the turn of the sentence is surely a little too epigrammatic to be genuinely victorian--undoubtedly expresses the essential element of her antipathy. she had no objection to being considered as an institution; she was one, and she knew it. but she was a woman too, and to be considered only as an institution--that was unbearable. and thus all mr. gladstone's zeal and devotion, his ceremonious phrases, his low bows, his punctilious correctitudes, were utterly wasted; and when, in the excess of his loyalty, he went further, and imputed to the object of his veneration, with obsequious blindness, the subtlety of intellect, the wide reading, the grave enthusiasm, which he himself possessed, the misunderstanding became complete. the discordance between the actual victoria and this strange divinity made in mr. gladstone's image produced disastrous results. her discomfort and dislike turned at last into positive animosity, and, though her manners continued to be perfect, she never for a moment unbent; while he on his side was overcome with disappointment, perplexity, and mortification. yet his fidelity remained unshaken. when the cabinet met, the prime minister, filled with his beatific vision, would open the proceedings by reading aloud the letters which he had received from the queen upon the questions of the hour. the assembly sat in absolute silence while, one after another, the royal missives, with their emphases, their ejaculations, and their grammatical peculiarities, boomed forth in all the deep solemnity of mr. gladstone's utterance. not a single comment, of any kind, was ever hazarded; and, after a fitting pause, the cabinet proceeded with the business of the day. ii little as victoria appreciated her prime minister's attitude towards her, she found that it had its uses. the popular discontent at her uninterrupted seclusion had been gathering force for many years, and now burst out in a new and alarming shape. republicanism was in the air. radical opinion in england, stimulated by the fall of napoleon iii and the establishment of a republican government in france, suddenly grew more extreme than it ever had been since . it also became for the first time almost respectable. chartism had been entirely an affair of the lower classes; but now members of parliament, learned professors, and ladies of title openly avowed the most subversive views. the monarchy was attacked both in theory and in practice. and it was attacked at a vital point: it was declared to be too expensive. what benefits, it was asked, did the nation reap to counterbalance the enormous sums which were expended upon the sovereign? victoria's retirement gave an unpleasant handle to the argument. it was pointed out that the ceremonial functions of the crown had virtually lapsed; and the awkward question remained whether any of the other functions which it did continue to perform were really worth l , per annum. the royal balance-sheet was curiously examined. an anonymous pamphlet entitled "what does she do with it?" appeared, setting forth the financial position with malicious clarity. the queen, it stated, was granted by the civil list l , a year for her private use; but the rest of her vast annuity was given, as the act declared, to enable her "to defray the expenses of her royal household and to support the honour and dignity of the crown." now it was obvious that, since the death of the prince, the expenditure for both these purposes must have been very considerably diminished, and it was difficult to resist the conclusion that a large sum of money was diverted annually from the uses for which it had been designed by parliament, to swell the private fortune of victoria. the precise amount of that private fortune it was impossible to discover; but there was reason to suppose that it was gigantic; perhaps it reached a total of five million pounds. the pamphlet protested against such a state of affairs, and its protests were repeated vigorously in newspapers and at public meetings. though it is certain that the estimate of victoria's riches was much exaggerated, it is equally certain that she was an exceedingly wealthy woman. she probably saved l , a year from the civil list, the revenues of the duchy of lancaster were steadily increasing, she had inherited a considerable property from the prince consort, and she had been left, in , an estate of half a million by mr. john neild, an eccentric miser. in these circumstances it was not surprising that when, in , parliament was asked to vote a dowry of l , to the princess louise on her marriage with the eldest son of the duke of argyle, together with an annuity of l , , there should have been a serious outcry(*). (*) in it was officially stated that the queen's total savings from the civil list amounted to l , , but that out of this sum much had been spent on special entertainments to foreign visitors. taking into consideration the proceeds from the duchy of lancaster, which were more than l , a year, the savings of the prince consort, and mr. neild's legacy, it seems probable that, at the time of her death, victoria's private fortune approached two million pounds. in order to conciliate public opinion, the queen opened parliament in person, and the vote was passed almost unanimously. but a few months later another demand was made: the prince arthur had come of age, and the nation was asked to grant him an annuity of l , . the outcry was redoubled. the newspapers were filled with angry articles; bradlaugh thundered against "princely paupers" to one of the largest crowds that had ever been seen in trafalgar square; and sir charles dilke expounded the case for a republic in a speech to his constituents at newcastle. the prince's annuity was ultimately sanctioned in the house of commons by a large majority; but a minority of fifty members voted in favour of reducing the sum to l , . towards every aspect of this distasteful question, mr. gladstone presented an iron front. he absolutely discountenanced the extreme section of his followers. he declared that the whole of the queen's income was justly at her personal disposal, argued that to complain of royal savings was merely to encourage royal extravagance, and successfully convoyed through parliament the unpopular annuities, which, he pointed out, were strictly in accordance with precedent. when, in , sir charles dilke once more returned to the charge in the house of commons, introducing a motion for a full enquiry into the queen's expenditure with a view to a root and branch reform of the civil list, the prime minister brought all the resources of his powerful and ingenious eloquence to the support of the crown. he was completely successful; and amid a scene of great disorder the motion was ignominiously dismissed. victoria was relieved; but she grew no fonder of mr. gladstone. it was perhaps the most miserable moment of her life. the ministers, the press, the public, all conspired to vex her, to blame her, to misinterpret her actions, to be unsympathetic and disrespectful in every way. she was "a cruelly misunderstood woman," she told mr. martin, complaining to him bitterly of the unjust attacks which were made upon her, and declaring that "the great worry and anxiety and hard work for ten years, alone, unaided, with increasing age and never very strong health" were breaking her down, and "almost drove her to despair." the situation was indeed deplorable. it seemed as if her whole existence had gone awry; as if an irremediable antagonism had grown up between the queen and the nation. if victoria had died in the early seventies, there can be little doubt that the voice of the world would have pronounced her a failure. iii but she was reserved for a very different fate. the outburst of republicanism had been in fact the last flicker of an expiring cause. the liberal tide, which had been flowing steadily ever since the reform bill, reached its height with mr. gladstone's first administration; and towards the end of that administration the inevitable ebb began. the reaction, when it came, was sudden and complete. the general election of changed the whole face of politics. mr. gladstone and the liberals were routed; and the tory party, for the first time for over forty years, attained an unquestioned supremacy in england. it was obvious that their surprising triumph was pre-eminently due to the skill and vigour of disraeli. he returned to office, no longer the dubious commander of an insufficient host, but with drums beating and flags flying, a conquering hero. and as a conquering hero victoria welcomed her new prime minister. then there followed six years of excitement, of enchantment, of felicity, of glory, of romance. the amazing being, who now at last, at the age of seventy, after a lifetime of extraordinary struggles, had turned into reality the absurdest of his boyhood's dreams, knew well enough how to make his own, with absolute completeness, the heart of the sovereign lady whose servant, and whose master, he had so miraculously become. in women's hearts he had always read as in an open book. his whole career had turned upon those curious entities; and the more curious they were, the more intimately at home with them he seemed to be. but lady beaconsfield, with her cracked idolatry, and mrs. brydges-williams, with her clogs, her corpulence, and her legacy, were gone: an even more remarkable phenomenon stood in their place. he surveyed what was before him with the eye of a past-master; and he was not for a moment at a loss. he realised everything--the interacting complexities of circumstance and character, the pride of place mingled so inextricably with personal arrogance, the superabundant emotionalism, the ingenuousness of outlook, the solid, the laborious respectability, shot through so incongruously by temperamental cravings for the coloured and the strange, the singular intellectual limitations, and the mysteriously essential female elements impregnating every particle of the whole. a smile hovered over his impassive features, and he dubbed victoria "the faery." the name delighted him, for, with that epigrammatic ambiguity so dear to his heart, it precisely expressed his vision of the queen. the spenserian allusion was very pleasant--the elegant evocations of gloriana; but there was more in it than that: there was the suggestion of a diminutive creature, endowed with magical--and mythical--properties, and a portentousness almost ridiculously out of keeping with the rest of her make-up. the faery, he determined, should henceforward wave her wand for him alone. detachment is always a rare quality, and rarest of all, perhaps, among politicians; but that veteran egotist possessed it in a supreme degree. not only did he know what he had to do, not only did he do it; he was in the audience as well as on the stage; and he took in with the rich relish of a connoisseur every feature of the entertaining situation, every phase of the delicate drama, and every detail of his own consummate performance. the smile hovered and vanished, and, bowing low with oriental gravity and oriental submissiveness, he set himself to his task. he had understood from the first that in dealing with the faery the appropriate method of approach was the very antithesis of the gladstonian; and such a method was naturally his. it was not his habit to harangue and exhort and expatiate in official conscientiousness; he liked to scatter flowers along the path of business, to compress a weighty argument into a happy phrase, to insinuate what was in his mind with an air of friendship and confidential courtesy. he was nothing if not personal; and he had perceived that personality was the key that opened the faery's heart. accordingly, he never for a moment allowed his intercourse with her to lose the personal tone; he invested all the transactions of state with the charms of familiar conversation; she was always the royal lady, the adored and revered mistress, he the devoted and respectful friend. when once the personal relation was firmly established, every difficulty disappeared. but to maintain that relation uninterruptedly in a smooth and even course a particular care was necessary: the bearings had to be most assiduously oiled. nor was disraeli in any doubt as to the nature of the lubricant. "you have heard me called a flatterer," he said to matthew arnold, "and it is true. everyone likes flattery, and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with a trowel." he practiced what he preached. his adulation was incessant, and he applied it in the very thickest slabs. "there is no honor and no reward," he declared, "that with him can ever equal the possession of your majesty's kind thoughts. all his own thoughts and feelings and duties and affections are now concentrated in your majesty, and he desires nothing more for his remaining years than to serve your majesty, or, if that service ceases, to live still on its memory as a period of his existence most interesting and fascinating." "in life," he told her, "one must have for one's thoughts a sacred depository, and lord beaconsfield ever presumes to seek that in his sovereign mistress." she was not only his own solitary support; she was the one prop of the state. "if your majesty is ill," he wrote during a grave political crisis, "he is sure he will himself break down. all, really, depends upon your majesty." "he lives only for her," he asseverated, "and works only for her, and without her all is lost." when her birthday came he produced an elaborate confection of hyperbolic compliment. "to-day lord beaconsfield ought fitly, perhaps, to congratulate a powerful sovereign on her imperial sway, the vastness of her empire, and the success and strength of her fleets and armies. but he cannot, his mind is in another mood. he can only think of the strangeness of his destiny that it has come to pass that he should be the servant of one so great, and whose infinite kindness, the brightness of whose intelligence and the firmness of whose will, have enabled him to undertake labours to which he otherwise would be quite unequal, and supported him in all things by a condescending sympathy, which in the hour of difficulty alike charms and inspires. upon the sovereign of many lands and many hearts may an omnipotent providence shed every blessing that the wise can desire and the virtuous deserve!" in those expert hands the trowel seemed to assume the qualities of some lofty masonic symbol--to be the ornate and glittering vehicle of verities unrealised by the profane. such tributes were delightful, but they remained in the nebulous region of words, and disraeli had determined to give his blandishments a more significant solidity. he deliberately encouraged those high views of her own position which had always been native to victoria's mind and had been reinforced by the principles of albert and the doctrines of stockmar. he professed to a belief in a theory of the constitution which gave the sovereign a leading place in the councils of government; but his pronouncements upon the subject were indistinct; and when he emphatically declared that there ought to be "a real throne," it was probably with the mental addition that that throne would be a very unreal one indeed whose occupant was unamenable to his cajoleries. but the vagueness of his language was in itself an added stimulant to victoria. skilfully confusing the woman and the queen, he threw, with a grandiose gesture, the government of england at her feet, as if in doing so he were performing an act of personal homage. in his first audience after returning to power, he assured her that "whatever she wished should be done." when the intricate public worship regulation bill was being discussed by the cabinet, he told the faery that his "only object" was "to further your majesty's wishes in this matter." when he brought off his great coup over the suez canal, he used expressions which implied that the only gainer by the transaction was victoria. "it is just settled," he wrote in triumph; "you have it, madam... four millions sterling! and almost immediately. there was only one firm that could do it--rothschilds. they behaved admirably; advanced the money at a low rate, and the entire interest of the khedive is now yours, madam." nor did he limit himself to highly-spiced insinuations. writing with all the authority of his office, he advised the queen that she had the constitutional right to dismiss a ministry which was supported by a large majority in the house of commons, he even urged her to do so, if, in her opinion, "your majesty's government have from wilfulness, or even from weakness, deceived your majesty." to the horror of mr. gladstone, he not only kept the queen informed as to the general course of business in the cabinet, but revealed to her the part taken in its discussions by individual members of it. lord derby, the son of the late prime minister and disraeli's foreign secretary, viewed these developments with grave mistrust. "is there not," he ventured to write to his chief, "just a risk of encouraging her in too large ideas of her personal power, and too great indifference to what the public expects? i only ask; it is for you to judge." as for victoria, she accepted everything--compliments, flatteries, elizabethan prerogatives--without a single qualm. after the long gloom of her bereavement, after the chill of the gladstonian discipline, she expanded to the rays of disraeli's devotion like a flower in the sun. the change in her situation was indeed miraculous. no longer was she obliged to puzzle for hours over the complicated details of business, for now she had only to ask mr. disraeli for an explanation, and he would give it her in the most concise, in the most amusing, way. no longer was she worried by alarming novelties; no longer was she put out at finding herself treated, by a reverential gentleman in high collars, as if she were some embodied precedent, with a recondite knowledge of greek. and her deliverer was surely the most fascinating of men. the strain of charlatanism, which had unconsciously captivated her in napoleon iii, exercised the same enchanting effect in the case of disraeli. like a dram-drinker, whose ordinary life is passed in dull sobriety, her unsophisticated intelligence gulped down his rococo allurements with peculiar zest. she became intoxicated, entranced. believing all that he told her of herself, she completely regained the self-confidence which had been slipping away from her throughout the dark period that followed albert's death. she swelled with a new elation, while he, conjuring up before her wonderful oriental visions, dazzled her eyes with an imperial grandeur of which she had only dimly dreamed. under the compelling influence, her very demeanour altered. her short, stout figure, with its folds of black velvet, its muslin streamers, its heavy pearls at the heavy neck, assumed an almost menacing air. in her countenance, from which the charm of youth had long since vanished, and which had not yet been softened by age, the traces of grief, of disappointment, and of displeasure were still visible, but they were overlaid by looks of arrogance and sharp lines of peremptory hauteur. only, when mr. disraeli appeared, the expression changed in an instant, and the forbidding visage became charged with smiles. for him she would do anything. yielding to his encouragements, she began to emerge from her seclusion; she appeared in london in semi-state, at hospitals and concerts; she opened parliament; she reviewed troops and distributed medals at aldershot. but such public signs of favour were trivial in comparison with her private attentions. during his flours of audience, she could hardly restrain her excitement and delight. "i can only describe my reception," he wrote to a friend on one occasion, "by telling you that i really thought she was going to embrace me. she was wreathed with smiles, and, as she tattled, glided about the room like a bird." in his absence, she talked of him perpetually, and there was a note of unusual vehemence in her solicitude for his health. "john manners," disraeli told lady bradford, "who has just come from osborne, says that the faery only talked of one subject, and that was her primo. according to him, it was her gracious opinion that the government should make my health a cabinet question. dear john seemed quite surprised at what she said; but you are used to these ebullitions." she often sent him presents; an illustrated album arrived for him regularly from windsor on christmas day. but her most valued gifts were the bunches of spring flowers which, gathered by herself and her ladies in the woods at osborne, marked in an especial manner the warmth and tenderness of her sentiments. among these it was, he declared, the primroses that he loved the best. they were, he said, "the ambassadors of spring, the gems and jewels of nature." he liked them, he assured her, "so much better for their being wild; they seem an offering from the fauns and dryads of osborne." "they show," he told her, "that your majesty's sceptre has touched the enchanted isle." he sat at dinner with heaped-up bowls of them on every side, and told his guests that "they were all sent to me this morning by the queen from osborne, as she knows it is my favorite flower." as time went on, and as it became clearer and clearer that the faery's thraldom was complete, his protestations grew steadily more highly--coloured and more unabashed. at last he ventured to import into his blandishments a strain of adoration that was almost avowedly romantic. in phrases of baroque convolution, he conveyed the message of his heart. "the pressure of business," he wrote, had "so absorbed and exhausted him, that towards the hour of post he has not had clearness of mind, and vigour of pen, adequate to convey his thoughts and facts to the most loved and illustrious being, who deigns to consider them." she sent him some primroses, and he replied that he could "truly say they are 'more precious than rubies,' coming, as they do, and at such a moment, from a sovereign whom he adores." she sent him snowdrops, and his sentiment overflowed into poetry. "yesterday eve," he wrote, "there appeared, in whitehall gardens, a delicate-looking case, with a royal superscription, which, when he opened, he thought, at first, that your majesty had graciously bestowed upon him the stars of your majesty's principal orders." and, indeed, he was so impressed with this graceful illusion, that, having a banquet, where there were many stars and ribbons, he could not resist the temptation, by placing some snowdrops on his heart, of showing that, he, too, was decorated by a gracious sovereign. then, in the middle of the night, it occurred to him, that it might all be an enchantment, and that, perhaps, it was a faery gift and came from another monarch: queen titania, gathering flowers, with her court, in a soft and sea-girt isle, and sending magic blossoms, which, they say, turn the heads of those who receive them. a faery gift! did he smile as he wrote the words? perhaps; and yet it would be rash to conclude that his perfervid declarations were altogether without sincerity. actor and spectator both, the two characters were so intimately blended together in that odd composition that they formed an inseparable unity, and it was impossible to say that one of them was less genuine than the other. with one element, he could coldly appraise the faery's intellectual capacity, note with some surprise that she could be on occasion "most interesting and amusing," and then continue his use of the trowel with an ironical solemnity; while, with the other, he could be overwhelmed by the immemorial panoply of royalty, and, thrilling with the sense of his own strange elevation, dream himself into a gorgeous phantasy of crowns and powers and chivalric love. when he told victoria that "during a somewhat romantic and imaginative life, nothing has ever occurred to him so interesting as this confidential correspondence with one so exalted and so inspiring," was he not in earnest after all? when he wrote to a lady about the court, "i love the queen--perhaps the only person in this world left to me that i do love," was he not creating for himself an enchanted palace out of the arabian nights, full of melancholy and spangles, in which he actually believed? victoria's state of mind was far more simple; untroubled by imaginative yearnings, she never lost herself in that nebulous region of the spirit where feeling and fancy grow confused. her emotions, with all their intensity and all their exaggeration, retained the plain prosaic texture of everyday life. and it was fitting that her expression of them should be equally commonplace. she was, she told her prime minister, at the end of an official letter, "yours aff'ly v. r. and i." in such a phrase the deep reality of her feeling is instantly manifest. the faery's feet were on the solid earth; it was the ruse cynic who was in the air. he had taught her, however, a lesson, which she had learnt with alarming rapidity. a second gloriana, did he call her? very well, then, she would show that she deserved the compliment. disquieting symptoms followed fast. in may, , the tsar, whose daughter had just been married to victoria's second son, the duke of edinburgh, was in london, and, by an unfortunate error, it had been arranged that his departure should not take place until two days after the date on which his royal hostess had previously decided to go to balmoral. her majesty refused to modify her plans. it was pointed out to her that the tsar would certainly be offended, that the most serious consequences might follow; lord derby protested; lord salisbury, the secretary of state for india, was much perturbed. but the faery was unconcerned; she had settled to go to balmoral on the th, and on the th she would go. at last disraeli, exercising all his influence, induced her to agree to stay in london for two days more. "my head is still on my shoulders," he told lady bradford. "the great lady has absolutely postponed her departure! everybody had failed, even the prince of wales... and i have no doubt i am not in favour. i can't help it. salisbury says i have saved an afghan war, and derby compliments me on my unrivalled triumph." but before very long, on another issue, the triumph was the faery's. disraeli, who had suddenly veered towards a new imperialism, had thrown out the suggestion that the queen of england ought to become the empress of india. victoria seized upon the idea with avidity, and, in season and out of season, pressed upon her prime minister the desirability of putting his proposal into practice. he demurred; but she was not to be baulked; and in , in spite of his own unwillingness and that of his entire cabinet, he found himself obliged to add to the troubles of a stormy session by introducing a bill for the alteration of the royal title. his compliance, however, finally conquered the faery's heart. the measure was angrily attacked in both houses, and victoria was deeply touched by the untiring energy with which disraeli defended it. she was, she said, much grieved by "the worry and annoyance" to which he was subjected; she feared she was the cause of it; and she would never forget what she owed to "her kind, good, and considerate friend." at the same time, her wrath fell on the opposition. their conduct, she declared, was "extraordinary, incomprehensible, and mistaken," and, in an emphatic sentence which seemed to contradict both itself and all her former proceedings, she protested that she "would be glad if it were more generally known that it was her wish, as people will have it, that it has been forced upon her!" when the affair was successfully over, the imperial triumph was celebrated in a suitable manner. on the day of the delhi proclamation, the new earl of beaconsfield went to windsor to dine with the new empress of india. that night the faery, usually so homely in her attire, appeared in a glittering panoply of enormous uncut jewels, which had been presented to her by the reigning princes of her raj. at the end of the meal the prime minister, breaking through the rules of etiquette, arose, and in a flowery oration proposed the health of the queen-empress. his audacity was well received, and his speech was rewarded by a smiling curtsey. these were significant episodes; but a still more serious manifestation of victoria's temper occurred in the following year, during the crowning crisis of beaconsfield's life. his growing imperialism, his desire to magnify the power and prestige of england, his insistence upon a "spirited foreign policy," had brought him into collision with russia; the terrible eastern question loomed up; and when war broke out between russia and turkey, the gravity of the situation became extreme. the prime minister's policy was fraught with difficulty and danger. realising perfectly the appalling implications of an anglo-russian war, he was yet prepared to face even that eventuality if he could obtain his ends by no other method; but he believed that russia in reality was still less desirous of a rupture, and that, if he played his game with sufficient boldness and adroitness, she would yield, when it came to the point, all that he required without a blow. it was clear that the course he had marked out for himself was full of hazard, and demanded an extraordinary nerve; a single false step, and either himself, or england, might be plunged in disaster. but nerve he had never lacked; he began his diplomatic egg-dance with high assurance; and then he discovered that, besides the russian government, besides the liberals and mr. gladstone, there were two additional sources of perilous embarrassment with which he would have to reckon. in the first place there was a strong party in the cabinet, headed by lord derby, the foreign secretary, which was unwilling to take the risk of war; but his culminating anxiety was the faery. from the first, her attitude was uncompromising. the old hatred of russia, which had been engendered by the crimean war, surged up again within her; she remembered albert's prolonged animosity; she felt the prickings of her own greatness; and she flung herself into the turmoil with passionate heat. her indignation with the opposition--with anyone who ventured to sympathise with the russians in their quarrel with the turks--was unbounded. when anti-turkish meetings were held in london, presided over by the duke of westminster and lord shaftesbury, and attended by mr. gladstone and other prominent radicals, she considered that "the attorney-general ought to be set at these men;" "it can't," she exclaimed, "be constitutional." never in her life, not even in the crisis over the ladies of the bedchamber, did she show herself a more furious partisan. but her displeasure was not reserved for the radicals; the backsliding conservatives equally felt its force. she was even discontented with lord beaconsfield himself. failing entirely to appreciate the delicate complexity of his policy, she constantly assailed him with demands for vigorous action, interpreted each finesse as a sign of weakness, and was ready at every juncture to let slip the dogs of war. as the situation developed, her anxiety grew feverish. "the queen," she wrote, "is feeling terribly anxious lest delay should cause us to be too late and lose our prestige for ever! it worries her night and day." "the faery," beaconsfield told lady bradford, "writes every day and telegraphs every hour; this is almost literally the case." she raged loudly against the russians. "and the language," she cried, "the insulting language--used by the russians against us! it makes the queen's blood boil!" "oh," she wrote a little later, "if the queen were a man, she would like to go and give those russians, whose word one cannot believe, such a beating! we shall never be friends again till we have it out. this the queen feels sure of." the unfortunate prime minister, urged on to violence by victoria on one side, had to deal, on the other, with a foreign secretary who was fundamentally opposed to any policy of active interference at all. between the queen and lord derby he held a harassed course. he gained, indeed, some slight satisfaction in playing on the one against the other--in stimulating lord derby with the queen's missives, and in appeasing the queen by repudiating lord derby's opinions; on one occasion he actually went so far as to compose, at victoria's request, a letter bitterly attacking his colleague, which her majesty forthwith signed, and sent, without alteration, to the foreign secretary. but such devices only gave a temporary relief; and it soon became evident that victoria's martial ardour was not to be sidetracked by hostilities against lord derby; hostilities against russia were what she wanted, what she would, what she must, have. for now, casting aside the last relics of moderation, she began to attack her friend with a series of extraordinary threats. not once, not twice, but many times she held over his head the formidable menace of her imminent abdication. "if england," she wrote to beaconsfield, "is to kiss russia's feet, she will not be a party to the humiliation of england and would lay down her crown," and she added that the prime minister might, if he thought fit, repeat her words to the cabinet. "this delay," she ejaculated, "this uncertainty by which, abroad, we are losing our prestige and our position, while russia is advancing and will be before constantinople in no time! then the government will be fearfully blamed and the queen so humiliated that she thinks she would abdicate at once. be bold!" "she feels," she reiterated, "she cannot, as she before said, remain the sovereign of a country that is letting itself down to kiss the feet of the great barbarians, the retarders of all liberty and civilisation that exists." when the russians advanced to the outskirts of constantinople she fired off three letters in a day demanding war; and when she learnt that the cabinet had only decided to send the fleet to gallipoli she declared that "her first impulse" was "to lay down the thorny crown, which she feels little satisfaction in retaining if the position of this country is to remain as it is now." it is easy to imagine the agitating effect of such a correspondence upon beaconsfield. this was no longer the faery; it was a genie whom he had rashly called out of her bottle, and who was now intent upon showing her supernal power. more than once, perplexed, dispirited, shattered by illness, he had thoughts of withdrawing altogether from the game. one thing alone, he told lady bradford, with a wry smile, prevented him. "if i could only," he wrote, "face the scene which would occur at headquarters if i resigned, i would do so at once." he held on, however, to emerge victorious at last. the queen was pacified; lord derby was replaced by lord salisbury; and at the congress of berlin der alte jude carried all before him. he returned to england in triumph, and assured the delighted victoria that she would very soon be, if she was not already, the "dictatress of europe." but soon there was an unexpected reverse. at the general election of the country, mistrustful of the forward policy of the conservatives, and carried away by mr. gladstone's oratory, returned the liberals to power. victoria was horrified, but within a year she was to be yet more nearly hit. the grand romance had come to its conclusion. lord beaconsfield, worn out with age and maladies, but moving still, an assiduous mummy, from dinner-party to dinner-party, suddenly moved no longer. when she knew that the end was inevitable, she seemed, by a pathetic instinct, to divest herself of her royalty, and to shrink, with hushed gentleness, beside him, a woman and nothing more. "i send some osborne primroses," she wrote to him with touching simplicity, "and i meant to pay you a little visit this week, but i thought it better you should be quite quiet and not speak. and i beg you will be very good and obey the doctors." she would see him, she said, "when we, come back from osborne, which won't be long." "everyone is so distressed at your not being well," she added; and she was, "ever yours very aff'ly v.r.i." when the royal letter was given him, the strange old comedian, stretched on his bed of death, poised it in his hand, appeared to consider deeply, and then whispered to those about him, "this ought to be read to me by a privy councillor." chapter ix. old age i meanwhile in victoria's private life many changes and developments had taken place. with the marriages of her elder children her family circle widened; grandchildren appeared; and a multitude of new domestic interests sprang up. the death of king leopold in had removed the predominant figure of the older generation, and the functions he had performed as the centre and adviser of a large group of relatives in germany and in england devolved upon victoria. these functions she discharged with unremitting industry, carrying on an enormous correspondence, and following with absorbed interest every detail in the lives of the ever-ramifying cousinhood. and she tasted to the full both the joys and the pains of family affection. she took a particular delight in her grandchildren, to whom she showed an indulgence which their parents had not always enjoyed, though, even to her grandchildren, she could be, when the occasion demanded it, severe. the eldest of them, the little prince wilhelm of prussia, was a remarkably headstrong child; he dared to be impertinent even to his grandmother; and once, when she told him to bow to a visitor at osborne, he disobeyed her outright. this would not do: the order was sternly repeated, and the naughty boy, noticing that his grandmama had suddenly turned into a most terrifying lady, submitted his will to hers, and bowed very low indeed. it would have been well if all the queen's domestic troubles could have been got over as easily. among her more serious distresses was the conduct of the prince of wales. the young man was now independent and married; he had shaken the parental yoke from his shoulders; he was positively beginning to do as he liked. victoria was much perturbed, and her worst fears seemed to be justified when in he appeared as a witness in a society divorce case. it was clear that the heir to the throne had been mixing with people of whom she did not at all approve. what was to be done? she saw that it was not only her son that was to blame--that it was the whole system of society; and so she despatched a letter to mr. delane, the editor of the times, asking him if he would "frequently write articles pointing out the immense danger and evil of the wretched frivolity and levity of the views and lives of the higher classes." and five years later mr. delane did write an article upon that very subject. yet it seemed to have very little effect. ah! if only the higher classes would learn to live as she lived in the domestic sobriety of her sanctuary at balmoral! for more and more did she find solace and refreshment in her highland domain; and twice yearly, in the spring and in the autumn, with a sigh of relief, she set her face northwards, in spite of the humble protests of ministers, who murmured vainly in the royal ears that to transact the affairs of state over an interval of six hundred miles added considerably to the cares of government. her ladies, too, felt occasionally a slight reluctance to set out, for, especially in the early days, the long pilgrimage was not without its drawbacks. for many years the queen's conservatism forbade the continuation of the railway up deeside, so that the last stages of the journey had to be accomplished in carriages. but, after all, carriages had their good points; they were easy, for instance, to get in and out of, which was an important consideration, for the royal train remained for long immune from modern conveniences, and when it drew up, on some border moorland, far from any platform, the highbred dames were obliged to descend to earth by the perilous foot-board, the only pair of folding steps being reserved for her majesty's saloon. in the days of crinolines such moments were sometimes awkward; and it was occasionally necessary to summon mr. johnstone, the short and sturdy manager of the caledonian railway, who, more than once, in a high gale and drenching rain with great difficulty "pushed up"--as he himself described it--some unlucky lady blanche or lady agatha into her compartment. but victoria cared for none of these things. she was only intent upon regaining, with the utmost swiftness, her enchanted castle, where every spot was charged with memories, where every memory was sacred, and where life was passed in an incessant and delightful round of absolutely trivial events. and it was not only the place that she loved; she was equally attached to "the simple mountaineers," from whom, she said, "she learnt many a lesson of resignation and faith." smith and grant and ross and thompson--she was devoted to them all; but, beyond the rest, she was devoted to john brown. the prince's gillie had now become the queen's personal attendant--a body servant from whom she was never parted, who accompanied her on her drives, waited on her during the day, and slept in a neighbouring chamber at night. she liked his strength, his solidity, the sense he gave her of physical security; she even liked his rugged manners and his rough unaccommodating speech. she allowed him to take liberties with her which would have been unthinkable from anybody else. to bully the queen, to order her about, to reprimand her--who could dream of venturing upon such audacities? and yet, when she received such treatment from john brown, she positively seemed to enjoy it. the eccentricity appeared to be extraordinary; but, after all, it is no uncommon thing for an autocratic dowager to allow some trusted indispensable servant to adopt towards her an attitude of authority which is jealously forbidden to relatives or friends: the power of a dependent still remains, by a psychological sleight-of-hand, one's own power, even when it is exercised over oneself. when victoria meekly obeyed the abrupt commands of her henchman to get off her pony or put on her shawl, was she not displaying, and in the highest degree, the force of her volition? people might wonder; she could not help that; this was the manner in which it pleased her to act, and there was an end of it. to have submitted her judgment to a son or a minister might have seemed wiser or more natural; but if she had done so, she instinctively felt, she would indeed have lost her independence. and yet upon somebody she longed to depend. her days were heavy with the long process of domination. as she drove in silence over the moors she leaned back in the carriage, oppressed and weary; but what a relief--john brown was behind on the rumble, and his strong arm would be there for her to lean upon when she got out. he had, too, in her mind, a special connection with albert. in their expeditions the prince had always trusted him more than anyone; the gruff, kind, hairy scotsman was, she felt, in some mysterious way, a legacy from the dead. she came to believe at last--or so it appeared--that the spirit of albert was nearer when brown was near. often, when seeking inspiration over some complicated question of political or domestic import, she would gaze with deep concentration at her late husband's bust. but it was also noticed that sometimes in such moments of doubt and hesitation her majesty's looks would fix themselves upon john brown. eventually, the "simple mountaineer" became almost a state personage. the influence which he wielded was not to be overlooked. lord beaconsfield was careful, from time to time, to send courteous messages to "mr. brown" in his letters to the queen, and the french government took particular pains to provide for his comfort during the visits of the english sovereign to france. it was only natural that among the elder members of the royal family he should not have been popular, and that his failings--for failings he had, though victoria would never notice his too acute appreciation of scotch whisky--should have been the subject of acrimonious comment at court. but he served his mistress faithfully, and to ignore him would be a sign of disrespect to her biographer. for the queen, far from making a secret of her affectionate friendship, took care to publish it to the world. by her orders two gold medals were struck in his honour; on his death, in , a long and eulogistic obituary notice of him appeared in the court circular; and a brown memorial brooch--of gold, with the late gillie's head on one side and the royal monogram on the other--was designed by her majesty for presentation to her highland servants and cottagers, to be worn by them on the anniversary of his death, with a mourning scarf and pins. in the second series of extracts from the queen's highland journal, published in , her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend" appears upon almost every page, and is in effect the hero of the book. with an absence of reticence remarkable in royal persons, victoria seemed to demand, in this private and delicate matter, the sympathy of the whole nation; and yet--such is the world--there were those who actually treated the relations between their sovereign and her servant as a theme for ribald jests. ii the busy years hastened away; the traces of time's unimaginable touch grew manifest; and old age, approaching, laid a gentle hold upon victoria. the grey hair whitened; the mature features mellowed; the short firm figure amplified and moved more slowly, supported by a stick. and, simultaneously, in the whole tenour of the queen's existence an extraordinary transformation came to pass. the nation's attitude towards her, critical and even hostile as it had been for so many years, altogether changed; while there was a corresponding alteration in the temper of--victoria's own mind. many causes led to this result. among them were the repeated strokes of personal misfortune which befell the queen during a cruelly short space of years. in the princess alice, who had married in the prince louis of hesse-darmstadt, died in tragic circumstances. in the following year the prince imperial, the only son of the empress eugenie, to whom victoria, since the catastrophe of , had become devotedly attached, was killed in the zulu war. two years later, in , the queen lost lord beaconsfield, and, in , john brown. in the prince leopold, duke of albany, who had been an invalid from birth, died prematurely, shortly after his marriage. victoria's cup of sorrows was indeed overflowing; and the public, as it watched the widowed mother weeping for her children and her friends, displayed a constantly increasing sympathy. an event which occurred in revealed and accentuated the feelings of the nation. as the queen, at windsor, was walking from the train to her carriage, a youth named roderick maclean fired a pistol at her from a distance of a few yards. an eton boy struck up maclean's arm with an umbrella before the pistol went off; no damage was done, and the culprit was at once arrested. this was the last of a series of seven attempts upon the queen--attempts which, taking place at sporadic intervals over a period of forty years, resembled one another in a curious manner. all, with a single exception, were perpetrated by adolescents, whose motives were apparently not murderous, since, save in the case of maclean, none of their pistols was loaded. these unhappy youths, who, after buying their cheap weapons, stuffed them with gunpowder and paper, and then went off, with the certainty of immediate detection, to click them in the face of royalty, present a strange problem to the psychologist. but, though in each case their actions and their purposes seemed to be so similar, their fates were remarkably varied. the first of them, edward oxford, who fired at victoria within a few months of her marriage, was tried for high treason, declared to be insane, and sent to an asylum for life. it appears, however, that this sentence did not commend itself to albert, for when, two years later, john francis committed the same of fence, and was tried upon the same charge, the prince propounced that there was no insanity in the matter. "the wretched creature," he told his father, was "not out of his mind, but a thorough scamp." "i hope," he added, "his trial will be conducted with the greatest strictness." apparently it was; at any rate, the jury shared the view of the prince, the plea of insanity was, set aside, and francis was found guilty of high treason and condemned to death; but, as there was no proof of an intent to kill or even to wound, this sentence, after a lengthened deliberation between the home secretary and the judges, was commuted for one of transportation for life. as the law stood, these assaults, futile as they were, could only be treated as high treason; the discrepancy between the actual deed and the tremendous penalties involved was obviously grotesque; and it was, besides, clear that a jury, knowing that a verdict of guilty implied a sentence of death, would tend to the alternative course, and find the prisoner not guilty but insane--a conclusion which, on the face of it, would have appeared to be the more reasonable. in , therefore, an act was passed making any attempt to hurt the queen a misdemeanor, punishable by transportation for seven years, or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding three years--the misdemeanant, at the discretion of the court, "to be publicly or privately whipped, as often, and in such manner and form, as the court shall direct, not exceeding thrice." the four subsequent attempts were all dealt with under this new law; william bean, in , was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment; william hamilton, in , was transported for seven years; and, in , the same sentence was passed upon lieutenant robert pate, who struck the queen on the head with his cane in piccadilly. pate, alone among these delinquents, was of mature years; he had held a commission in the army, dressed himself as a dandy, and was, the prince declared, "manifestly deranged." in arthur o'connor, a youth of seventeen, fired an unloaded pistol at the queen outside buckingham palace; he was immediately seized by john brown, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment and twenty strokes of the birch rod. it was for his bravery upon this occasion that brown was presented with one of his gold medals. in all these cases the jury had refused to allow the plea of insanity; but roderick maclean's attempt in had a different issue. on this occasion the pistol was found to have been loaded, and the public indignation, emphasised as it was by victoria's growing popularity, was particularly great. either for this or for some other reason the procedure of the last forty years was abandoned, and maclean was tried for high treason. the result was what might have been expected: the jury brought in a verdict of "not guilty, but insane"; and the prisoner was sent to an asylum during her majesty's pleasure. their verdict, however, produced a remarkable consequence. victoria, who doubtless carried in her mind some memory of albert's disapproval of a similar verdict in the case of oxford, was very much annoyed. what did the jury mean, she asked, by saying that maclean was not guilty? it was perfectly clear that he was guilty--she had seen him fire off the pistol herself. it was in vain that her majesty's constitutional advisers reminded her of the principle of english law which lays down that no man can be found guilty of a crime unless he be proved to have had a criminal intention. victoria was quite unconvinced. "if that is the law," she said, "the law must be altered:" and altered it was. in an act was passed changing the form of the verdict in cases of insanity, and the confusing anomaly remains upon the statute book to this day. but it was not only through the feelings--commiserating or indignant--of personal sympathy that the queen and her people were being drawn more nearly together; they were beginning, at last, to come to a close and permanent agreement upon the conduct of public affairs. mr. gladstone's second administration ( - ) was a succession of failures, ending in disaster and disgrace; liberalism fell into discredit with the country, and victoria perceived with joy that her distrust of her ministers was shared by an ever-increasing number of her subjects. during the crisis in the sudan, the popular temper was her own. she had been among the first to urge the necessity of an expedition to khartoum, and, when the news came of the catastrophic death of general gordon, her voice led the chorus of denunciation which raved against the government. in her rage, she despatched a fulminating telegram to mr. gladstone, not in the usual cypher, but open; and her letter of condolence to miss gordon, in which she attacked her ministers for breach of faith, was widely published. it was rumoured that she had sent for lord hartington, the secretary of state for war, and vehemently upbraided him. "she rated me," he was reported to have told a friend, "as if i'd been a footman." "why didn't she send for the butler?" asked his friend. "oh," was the reply, "the butler generally manages to keep out of the way on such occasions." but the day came when it was impossible to keep out of the way any longer. mr. gladstone was defeated, and resigned. victoria, at a final interview, received him with her usual amenity, but, besides the formalities demanded by the occasion, the only remark which she made to him of a personal nature was to the effect that she supposed mr. gladstone would now require some rest. he remembered with regret how, at a similar audience in , she had expressed her trust in him as a supporter of the throne; but he noted the change without surprise. "her mind and opinions," he wrote in his diary afterwards, "have since that day been seriously warped." such was mr. gladstone's view,; but the majority of the nation by no means agreed with him; and, in the general election of , they showed decisively that victoria's politics were identical with theirs by casting forth the contrivers of home rule--that abomination of desolation--into outer darkness, and placing lord salisbury in power. victoria's satisfaction was profound. a flood of new unwonted hopefulness swept over her, stimulating her vital spirits with a surprising force. her habit of life was suddenly altered; abandoning the long seclusion which disraeli's persuasions had only momentarily interrupted, she threw herself vigorously into a multitude of public activities. she appeared at drawing-rooms, at concerts, at reviews; she laid foundation-stones; she went to liverpool to open an international exhibition, driving through the streets in her open carriage in heavy rain amid vast applauding crowds. delighted by the welcome which met her everywhere, she warmed to her work. she visited edinburgh, where the ovation of liverpool was repeated and surpassed. in london, she opened in high state the colonial and indian exhibition at south kensington. on this occasion the ceremonial was particularly magnificent; a blare of trumpets announced the approach of her majesty; the "natiohal anthem" followed; and the queen, seated on a gorgeous throne of hammered gold, replied with her own lips to the address that was presented to her. then she rose, and, advancing upon the platform with regal port, acknowledged the acclamations of the great assembly by a succession of curtseys, of elaborate and commanding grace. next year was the fiftieth of her reign, and in june the splendid anniversary was celebrated in solemn pomp. victoria, surrounded by the highest dignitaries of her realm, escorted by a glittering galaxy of kings and princes, drove through the crowded enthusiasm of the capital to render thanks to god in westminster abbey. in that triumphant hour the last remaining traces of past antipathies and past disagreements were altogether swept away. the queen was hailed at once as the mother of her people and as the embodied symbol of their imperial greatness; and she responded to the double sentiment with all the ardour of her spirit. england and the people of england, she knew it, she felt it, were, in some wonderful and yet quite simple manner, hers. exultation, affection, gratitude, a profound sense of obligation, an unbounded pride--such were her emotions; and, colouring and intensifying the rest, there was something else. at last, after so long, happiness--fragmentary, perhaps, and charged with gravity, but true and unmistakable none the less--had returned to her. the unaccustomed feeling filled and warmed her consciousness. when, at buckingham palace again, the long ceremony over, she was asked how she was, "i am very tired, but very happy," she said. iii and so, after the toils and tempests of the day, a long evening followed--mild, serene, and lighted with a golden glory. for an unexampled atmosphere of success and adoration invested the last period of victoria's life. her triumph was the summary, the crown, of a greater triumph--the culminating prosperity of a nation. the solid splendour of the decade between victoria's two jubilees can hardly be paralleled in the annals of england. the sage counsels of lord salisbury seemed to bring with them not only wealth and power, but security; and the country settled down, with calm assurance, to the enjoyment of an established grandeur. and--it was only natural--victoria settled down too. for she was a part of the establishment--an essential part as it seemed--a fixture--a magnificent, immovable sideboard in the huge saloon of state. without her the heaped-up banquet of would have lost its distinctive quality--the comfortable order of the substantial unambiguous dishes, with their background of weighty glamour, half out of sight. her own existence came to harmonise more and more with what was around her. gradually, imperceptibly, albert receded. it was not that he was forgotten--that would have been impossible--but that the void created by his absence grew less agonising, and even, at last, less obvious. at last victoria found it possible to regret the bad weather without immediately reflecting that her "dear albert always said we could not alter it, but must leave it as it was;" she could even enjoy a good breakfast without considering how "dear albert" would have liked the buttered eggs. and, as that figure slowly faded, its place was taken, inevitably, by victoria's own. her being, revolving for so many years round an external object, now changed its motion and found its centre in itself. it had to be so: her domestic position, the pressure of her public work, her indomitable sense of duty, made anything else impossible. her egotism proclaimed its rights. her age increased still further the surrounding deference; and her force of character, emerging at length in all its plenitude, imposed absolutely upon its environment by the conscious effort of an imperious will. little by little it was noticed that the outward vestiges of albert's posthumous domination grew less complete. at court the stringency of mourning was relaxed. as the queen drove through the park in her open carriage with her highlanders behind her, nursery-maids canvassed eagerly the growing patch of violet velvet in the bonnet with its jet appurtenances on the small bowing head. it was in her family that victoria's ascendancy reached its highest point. all her offspring were married; the number of her descendants rapidly increased; there were many marriages in the third generation; and no fewer than thirty-seven of her great-grandchildren were living at the time of her death. a picture of the period displays the royal family collected together in one of the great rooms at windsor--a crowded company of more than fifty persons, with the imperial matriarch in their midst. over them all she ruled with a most potent sway. the small concerns of the youngest aroused her passionate interest; and the oldest she treated as if they were children still. the prince of wales, in particular, stood in tremendous awe of his mother. she had steadily refused to allow him the slightest participation in the business of government; and he had occupied himself in other ways. nor could it be denied that he enjoyed himself--out of her sight; but, in that redoubtable presence, his abounding manhood suffered a miserable eclipse. once, at osborne, when, owing to no fault of his, he was too late for a dinner party, he was observed standing behind a pillar and wiping the sweat from his forehead, trying to nerve himself to go up to the queen. when at last he did so, she gave him a stiff nod, whereupon he vanished immediately behind another pillar, and remained there until the party broke up. at the time of this incident the prince of wales was over fifty years of age. it was inevitable that the queen's domestic activities should occasionally trench upon the domain of high diplomacy; and this was especially the case when the interests of her eldest daughter, the crown princess of prussia, were at stake. the crown prince held liberal opinions; he was much influenced by his wife; and both were detested by bismarck, who declared with scurrilous emphasis that the englishwoman and her mother were a menace to the prussian state. the feud was still further intensified when, on the death of the old emperor ( ), the crown prince succeeded to the throne. a family entanglement brought on a violent crisis. one of the daughters of the new empress had become betrothed to prince alexander of battenberg, who had lately been ejected from the throne of bulgaria owing to the hostility of the tsar. victoria, as well as the empress, highly approved of the match. of the two brothers of prince alexander, the elder had married another of her grand-daughters, and the younger was the husband of her daughter, the princess beatrice; she was devoted to the handsome young man; and she was delighted by the prospect of the third brother--on the whole the handsomest, she thought, of the three--also becoming a member of her family. unfortunately, however, bismarck was opposed to the scheme. he perceived that the marriage would endanger the friendship between germany and russia, which was vital to his foreign policy, and he announced that it must not take place. a fierce struggle between the empress and the chancellor followed. victoria, whose hatred of her daughter's enemy was unbounded, came over to charlottenburg to join in the fray. bismarck, over his pipe and lager, snorted out his alarm. the queen of england's object, he said, was clearly political--she wished to estrange germany and russia--and very likely she would have her way. "in family matters," he added, "she is not used to contradiction;" she would "bring the parson with her in her travelling bag and the bridegroom in her trunk, and the marriage would come off on the spot." but the man of blood and iron was not to be thwarted so easily, and he asked for a private interview with the queen. the details of their conversation are unknown; but it is certain that in the course of it victoria was forced to realise the meaning of resistance to that formidable personage, and that she promised to use all her influence to prevent the marriage. the engagement was broken off; and in the following year prince alexander of battenberg united himself to fraulein loisinger, an actress at the court theatre of darmstad. but such painful incidents were rare. victoria was growing very old; with no albert to guide her, with no beaconsfield to enflame her, she was willing enough to abandon the dangerous questions of diplomacy to the wisdom of lord salisbury, and to concentrate her energies upon objects which touched her more nearly and over which she could exercise an undisputed control. her home--her court--the monuments at balmoral--the livestock at windsor--the organisation of her engagements--the supervision of the multitudinous details of her daily routine--such matters played now an even greater part in her existence than before. her life passed in an extraordinary exactitude. every moment of her day was mapped out beforehand; the succession of her engagements was immutably fixed; the dates of her journeys--to osborne, to balmoral, to the south of france, to windsor, to london--were hardly altered from year to year. she demanded from those who surrounded her a rigid precision in details, and she was preternaturally quick in detecting the slightest deviation from the rules which she had laid down. such was the irresistible potency of her personality, that anything but the most implicit obedience to her wishes was felt to be impossible; but sometimes somebody was unpunctual; and unpunctuality was one of the most heinous of sins. then her displeasure--her dreadful displeasure--became all too visible. at such moments there seemed nothing surprising in her having been the daughter of a martinet. but these storms, unnerving as they were while they lasted, were quickly over, and they grew more and more exceptional. with the return of happiness a gentle benignity flowed from the aged queen. her smile, once so rare a visitant to those saddened features, flitted over them with an easy alacrity; the blue eyes beamed; the whole face, starting suddenly from its pendulous expressionlessness, brightened and softened and cast over those who watched it an unforgettable charm. for in her last years there was a fascination in victoria's amiability which had been lacking even from the vivid impulse of her youth. over all who approached her--or very nearly all--she threw a peculiar spell. her grandchildren adored her; her ladies waited upon her with a reverential love. the honour of serving her obliterated a thousand inconveniences--the monotony of a court existence, the fatigue of standing, the necessity for a superhuman attentiveness to the minutia: of time and space. as one did one's wonderful duty one could forget that one's legs were aching from the infinitude of the passages at windsor, or that one's bare arms were turning blue in the balmoral cold. what, above all, seemed to make such service delightful was the detailed interest which the queen took in the circumstances of those around her. her absorbing passion for the comfortable commonplaces, the small crises, the recurrent sentimentalities, of domestic life constantly demanded wider fields for its activity; the sphere of her own family, vast as it was, was not enough; she became the eager confidante of the household affairs of her ladies; her sympathies reached out to the palace domestics; even the housemaids and scullions--so it appeared--were the objects of her searching inquiries, and of her heartfelt solicitude when their lovers were ordered to a foreign station, or their aunts suffered from an attack of rheumatism which was more than usually acute. nevertheless the due distinctions of rank were immaculately preserved. the queen's mere presence was enough to ensure that; but, in addition, the dominion of court etiquette was paramount. for that elaborate code, which had kept lord melbourne stiff upon the sofa and ranged the other guests in silence about the round table according to the order of precedence, was as punctiliously enforced as ever. every evening after dinner, the hearth-rug, sacred to royalty, loomed before the profane in inaccessible glory, or, on one or two terrific occasions, actually lured them magnetically forward to the very edge of the abyss. the queen, at the fitting moment, moved towards her guests; one after the other they were led up to her; and, while dialogue followed dialogue in constraint and embarrassment, the rest of the assembly stood still, without a word. only in one particular was the severity of the etiquette allowed to lapse. throughout the greater part of the reign the rule that ministers must stand during their audiences with the queen had been absolute. when lord derby, the prime minister, had an audience of her majesty after a serious illness, he mentioned it afterwards, as a proof of the royal favour, that the queen had remarked "how sorry she was she could not ask him to be seated." subsequently, disraeli, after an attack of gout and in a moment of extreme expansion on the part of victoria, had been offered a chair; but he had thought it wise humbly to decline the privilege. in her later years, however, the queen invariably asked mr. gladstone and lord salisbury to sit down. sometimes the solemnity of the evening was diversified by a concert, an opera, or even a play. one of the most marked indications of victoria's enfranchisement from the thraldom of widowhood had been her resumption--after an interval of thirty years--of the custom of commanding dramatic companies from london to perform before the court at windsor. on such occasions her spirits rose high. she loved acting; she loved a good plot; above all, she loved a farce. engrossed by everything that passed upon the stage she would follow, with childlike innocence, the unwinding of the story; or she would assume an air of knowing superiority and exclaim in triumph, "there! you didn't expect that, did you?" when the denouement came. her sense of humour was of a vigorous though primitive kind. she had been one of the very few persons who had always been able to appreciate the prince consort's jokes; and, when those were cracked no more, she could still roar with laughter, in the privacy of her household, over some small piece of fun--some oddity of an ambassador, or some ignorant minister's faux pas. when the jest grew subtle she was less pleased; but, if it approached the confines of the indecorous, the danger was serious. to take a liberty called down at once her majesty's most crushing disapprobation; and to say something improper was to take the greatest liberty of all. then the royal lips sank down at the corners, the royal eyes stared in astonished protrusion, and in fact, the royal countenance became inauspicious in the highest degree. the transgressor shuddered into silence, while the awful "we are not amused" annihilated the dinner table. afterwards, in her private entourage, the queen would observe that the person in question was, she very much feared, "not discreet"; it was a verdict from which there was no appeal. in general, her aesthetic tastes had remained unchanged since the days of mendelssohn, landseer, and lablache. she still delighted in the roulades of italian opera; she still demanded a high standard in the execution of a pianoforte duet. her views on painting were decided; sir edwin, she declared, was perfect; she was much impressed by lord leighton's manners; and she profoundly distrusted mr. watts. from time to time she ordered engraved portraits to be taken of members of the royal family; on these occasions she would have the first proofs submitted to her, and, having inspected them with minute particularity, she would point out their mistakes to the artists, indicating at the same time how they might be corrected. the artists invariably discovered that her majesty's suggestions were of the highest value. in literature her interests were more restricted. she was devoted to lord tennyson; and, as the prince consort had admired george eliot, she perused "middlemarch:" she was disappointed. there is reason to believe, however, that the romances of another female writer, whose popularity among the humbler classes of her majesty's subjects was at one time enormous, secured, no less, the approval of her majesty. otherwise she did not read very much. once, however, the queen's attention was drawn to a publication which it was impossible for her to ignore. "the greville memoirs," filled with a mass of historical information of extraordinary importance, but filled also with descriptions, which were by no means flattering, of george iv, william iv, and other royal persons, was brought out by mr. reeve. victoria read the book, and was appalled. it was, she declared, a "dreadful and really scandalous book," and she could not say "how horrified and indignant" she was at greville's "indiscretion, indelicacy, ingratitude towards friends, betrayal of confidence and shameful disloyalty towards his sovereign." she wrote to disraeli to tell him that in her opinion it was "very important that the book should be severely censured and discredited." "the tone in which he speaks of royalty," she added, "is unlike anything one sees in history even, and is most reprehensible." her anger was directed with almost equal vehemence against mr. reeve for his having published "such an abominable book," and she charged sir arthur helps to convey to him her deep displeasure. mr. reeve, however, was impenitent. when sir arthur told him that, in the queen's opinion, "the book degraded royalty," he replied: "not at all; it elevates it by the contrast it offers between the present and the defunct state of affairs." but this adroit defence failed to make any impression upon victoria; and mr. reeve, when he retired from the public service, did not receive the knighthood which custom entitled him to expect. perhaps if the queen had known how many caustic comments upon herself mr. reeve had quietly suppressed in the published memoirs, she would have been almost grateful to him; but, in that case, what would she have said of greville? imagination boggles at the thought. as for more modern essays upon the same topic, her majesty, it is to be feared, would have characterised them as "not discreet." but as a rule the leisure hours of that active life were occupied with recreations of a less intangible quality than the study of literature or the appreciation of art. victoria was a woman not only of vast property but of innumerable possessions. she had inherited an immense quantity of furniture, of ornaments, of china, of plate, of valuable objects of every kind; her purchases, throughout a long life, made a formidable addition to these stores; and there flowed in upon her, besides, from every quarter of the globe, a constant stream of gifts. over this enormous mass she exercised an unceasing and minute supervision, and the arrangement and the contemplation of it, in all its details, filled her with an intimate satisfaction. the collecting instinct has its roots in the very depths of human nature; and, in the case of victoria, it seemed to owe its force to two of her dominating impulses--the intense sense, which had always been hers, of her own personality, and the craving which, growing with the years, had become in her old age almost an obsession, for fixity, for solidity, for the setting up of palpable barriers against the outrages of change and time. when she considered the multitudinous objects which belonged to her, or, better still, when, choosing out some section of them as the fancy took her, she actually savoured the vivid richness of their individual qualities, she saw herself deliciously reflected from a million facets, felt herself magnified miraculously over a boundless area, and was well pleased. that was just as it should be; but then came the dismaying thought--everything slips away, crumbles, vanishes; sevres dinner-services get broken; even golden basins go unaccountably astray; even one's self, with all the recollections and experiences that make up one's being, fluctuates, perishes, dissolves... but no! it could not, should not be so! there should be no changes and no losses! nothing should ever move--neither the past nor the present--and she herself least of all! and so the tenacious woman, hoarding her valuables, decreed their immortality with all the resolution of her soul. she would not lose one memory or one pin. she gave orders that nothing should be thrown away--and nothing was. there, in drawer after drawer, in wardrobe after wardrobe, reposed the dresses of seventy years. but not only the dresses--the furs and the mantles and subsidiary frills and the muffs and the parasols and the bonnets--all were ranged in chronological order, dated and complete. a great cupboard was devoted to the dolls; in the china room at windsor a special table held the mugs of her childhood, and her children's mugs as well. mementoes of the past surrounded her in serried accumulations. in every room the tables were powdered thick with the photographs of relatives; their portraits, revealing them at all ages, covered the walls; their figures, in solid marble, rose up from pedestals, or gleamed from brackets in the form of gold and silver statuettes. the dead, in every shape--in miniatures, in porcelain, in enormous life-size oil-paintings--were perpetually about her. john brown stood upon her writing-table in solid gold. her favourite horses and dogs, endowed with a new durability, crowded round her footsteps. sharp, in silver gilt, dominated the dinner table; boy and boz lay together among unfading flowers, in bronze. and it was not enough that each particle of the past should be given the stability of metal or of marble: the whole collection, in its arrangement, no less than its entity, should be immutably fixed. there might be additions, but there might never be alterations. no chintz might change, no carpet, no curtain, be replaced by another; or, if long use at last made it necessary, the stuffs and the patterns must be so identically reproduced that the keenest eye might not detect the difference. no new picture could be hung upon the walls at windsor, for those already there had been put in their places by albert, whose decisions were eternal. so, indeed, were victoria's. to ensure that they should be the aid of the camera was called in. every single article in the queen's possession was photographed from several points of view. these photographs were submitted to her majesty, and when, after careful inspection, she had approved of them, they were placed in a series of albums, richly bound. then, opposite each photograph, an entry was made, indicating the number of the article, the number of the room in which it was kept, its exact position in the room and all its principal characteristics. the fate of every object which had undergone this process was henceforth irrevocably sealed. the whole multitude, once and for all, took up its steadfast station. and victoria, with a gigantic volume or two of the endless catalogue always beside her, to look through, to ponder upon, to expatiate over, could feel, with a double contentment, that the transitoriness of this world had been arrested by the amplitude of her might. thus the collection, ever multiplying, ever encroaching upon new fields of consciousness, ever rooting itself more firmly in the depths of instinct, became one of the dominating influences of that strange existence. it was a collection not merely of things and of thoughts, but of states of mind and ways of living as well. the celebration of anniversaries grew to be an important branch of it--of birthdays and marriage days and death days, each of which demanded its appropriate feeling, which, in its turn, must be itself expressed in an appropriate outward form. and the form, of course--the ceremony of rejoicing or lamentation--was stereotyped with the rest: it was part of the collection. on a certain day, for instance, flowers must be strewn on john brown's monument at balmoral; and the date of the yearly departure for scotland was fixed by that fact. inevitably it was around the central circumstance of death--death, the final witness to human mutability--that these commemorative cravings clustered most thickly. might not even death itself be humbled, if one could recall enough--if one asserted, with a sufficiently passionate and reiterated emphasis, the eternity of love? accordingly, every bed in which victoria slept had attached to it, at the back, on the right-hand side, above the pillow, a photograph of the head and shoulders of albert as he lay dead, surmounted by a wreath of immortelles. at balmoral, where memories came crowding so closely, the solid signs of memory appeared in surprising profusion. obelisks, pyramids, tombs, statues, cairns, and seats of inscribed granite, proclaimed victoria's dedication to the dead. there, twice a year, on the days that followed her arrival, a solemn pilgrimage of inspection and meditation was performed. there, on august --albert's birthday--at the foot of the bronze statue of him in highland dress, the queen, her family, her court, her servants, and her tenantry, met together and in silence drank to the memory of the dead. in england the tokens of remembrance pullulated hardly less. not a day passed without some addition to the multifold assemblage--a gold statuette of ross, the piper--a life-sized marble group of victoria and albert, in medieval costume, inscribed upon the base with the words: "allured to brighter worlds and led the way-" a granite slab in the shrubbery at osborne, informing the visitor of "waldmann: the very favourite little dachshund of queen victoria; who brought him from baden, april ; died, july , ." at frogmore, the great mausoleum, perpetually enriched, was visited almost daily by the queen when the court was at windsor. but there was another, a more secret and a hardly less holy shrine. the suite of rooms which albert had occupied in the castle was kept for ever shut away from the eyes of any save the most privileged. within those precincts everything remained as it had been at the prince's death; but the mysterious preoccupation of victoria had commanded that her husband's clothing should be laid afresh, each evening, upon the bed, and that, each evening, the water should be set ready in the basin, as if he were still alive; and this incredible rite was performed with scrupulous regularity for nearly forty years. such was the inner worship; and still the flesh obeyed the spirit; still the daily hours of labour proclaimed victoria's consecration to duty and to the ideal of the dead. yet, with the years, the sense of self-sacrifice faded; the natural energies of that ardent being discharged themselves with satisfaction into the channel of public work; the love of business which, from her girlhood, had been strong within her, reasserted itself in all its vigour, and, in her old age, to have been cut off from her papers and her boxes would have been, not a relief, but an agony to victoria. thus, though toiling ministers might sigh and suffer, the whole process of government continued, till the very end, to pass before her. nor was that all; ancient precedent had made the validity of an enormous number of official transactions dependent upon the application of the royal sign-manual; and a great proportion of the queen's working hours was spent in this mechanical task. nor did she show any desire to diminish it. on the contrary, she voluntarily resumed the duty of signing commissions in the army, from which she had been set free by act of parliament, and from which, during the years of middle life, she had abstained. in no case would she countenance the proposal that she should use a stamp. but, at last, when the increasing pressure of business made the delays of the antiquated system intolerable, she consented that, for certain classes of documents, her oral sanction should be sufficient. each paper was read aloud to her, and she said at the end "approved." often, for hours at a time, she would sit, with albert's bust in front of her, while the word "approved" issued at intervals from her lips. the word came forth with a majestic sonority; for her voice now--how changed from the silvery treble of her girlhood--was a contralto, full and strong. iv the final years were years of apotheosis. in the dazzled imagination of her subjects victoria soared aloft towards the regions of divinity through a nimbus of purest glory. criticism fell dumb; deficiencies which, twenty years earlier, would have been universally admitted, were now as universally ignored. that the nation's idol was a very incomplete representative of the nation was a circumstance that was hardly noticed, and yet it was conspicuously true. for the vast changes which, out of the england of , had produced the england of , seemed scarcely to have touched the queen. the immense industrial development of the period, the significance of which had been so thoroughly understood by albert, meant little indeed to victoria. the amazing scientific movement, which albert had appreciated no less, left victoria perfectly cold. her conception of the universe, and of man's place in it, and of the stupendous problems of nature and philosophy remained, throughout her life, entirely unchanged. her religion was the religion which she had learnt from the baroness lehzen and the duchess of kent. here, too, it might have been supposed that albert's views might have influenced her. for albert, in matters of religion, was advanced. disbelieving altogether in evil spirits, he had had his doubts about the miracle of the gaderene swine. stockmar, even, had thrown out, in a remarkable memorandum on the education of the prince of wales, the suggestion that while the child "must unquestionably be brought up in the creed of the church of england," it might nevertheless be in accordance with the spirit of the times to exclude from his religious training the inculcation of a belief in "the supernatural doctrines of christianity." this, however, would have been going too far; and all the royal children were brought up in complete orthodoxy. anything else would have grieved victoria, though her own conceptions of the orthodox were not very precise. but her nature, in which imagination and subtlety held so small a place, made her instinctively recoil from the intricate ecstasies of high anglicanism; and she seemed to feel most at home in the simple faith of the presbyterian church of scotland. this was what might have been expected; for lehzen was the daughter of a lutheran pastor, and the lutherans and the presbyterians have much in common. for many years dr. norman macleod, an innocent scotch minister, was her principal spiritual adviser; and, when he was taken from her, she drew much comfort from quiet chats about life and death with the cottagers at balmoral. her piety, absolutely genuine, found what it wanted in the sober exhortations of old john grant and the devout saws of mrs. p. farquharson. they possessed the qualities, which, as a child of fourteen, she had so sincerely admired in the bishop of chester's "exposition of the gospel of st. matthew;" they were "just plain and comprehensible and full of truth and good feeling." the queen, who gave her name to the age of mill and of darwin, never got any further than that. from the social movements of her time victoria was equally remote. towards the smallest no less than towards the greatest changes she remained inflexible. during her youth and middle age smoking had been forbidden in polite society, and so long as she lived she would not withdraw her anathema against it. kings might protest; bishops and ambassadors, invited to windsor, might be reduced, in the privacy of their bedrooms, to lie full-length upon the floor and smoke up the chimney--the interdict continued! it might have been supposed that a female sovereign would have lent her countenance to one of the most vital of all the reforms to which her epoch gave birth--the emancipation of women--but, on the contrary, the mere mention of such a proposal sent the blood rushing to her head. in , her eye having fallen upon the report of a meeting in favour of women's suffrage, she wrote to mr. martin in royal rage--"the queen is most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'woman's rights,' with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety. lady--ought to get a good whipping. it is a subject which makes the queen so furious that she cannot contain herself. god created men and women different--then let them remain each in their own position. tennyson has some beautiful lines on the difference of men and women in 'the princess.' woman would become the most hateful, heartless, and disgusting of human beings were she allowed to unsex herself; and where would be the protection which man was intended to give the weaker sex? the queen is sure that mrs. martin agrees with her." the argument was irrefutable; mrs. martin agreed; and yet the canker spread. in another direction victoria's comprehension of the spirit of her age has been constantly asserted. it was for long the custom for courtly historians and polite politicians to compliment the queen upon the correctness of her attitude towards the constitution. but such praises seem hardly to be justified by the facts. in her later years victoria more than once alluded with regret to her conduct during the bedchamber crisis, and let it be understood that she had grown wiser since. yet in truth it is difficult to trace any fundamental change either in her theory or her practice in constitutional matters throughout her life. the same despotic and personal spirit which led her to break off the negotiations with peel is equally visible in her animosity towards palmerston, in her threats of abdication to disraeli, and in her desire to prosecute the duke of westminster for attending a meeting upon bulgarian atrocities. the complex and delicate principles of the constitution cannot be said to have come within the compass of her mental faculties; and in the actual developments which it underwent during her reign she played a passive part. from to the power of the crown steadily increased in england; from to it steadily declined. the first process was due to the influence of the prince consort, the second to that of a series of great ministers. during the first victoria was in effect a mere accessory; during the second the threads of power, which albert had so laboriously collected, inevitably fell from her hands into the vigorous grasp of mr. gladstone, lord beaconsfield, and lord salisbury. perhaps, absorbed as she was in routine, and difficult as she found it to distinguish at all clearly between the trivial and the essential, she was only dimly aware of what was happening. yet, at the end of her reign, the crown was weaker than at any other time in english history. paradoxically enough, victoria received the highest eulogiums for assenting to a political evolution, which, had she completely realised its import, would have filled her with supreme displeasure. nevertheless it must not be supposed that she was a second george iii. her desire to impose her will, vehement as it was, and unlimited by any principle, was yet checked by a certain shrewdness. she might oppose her ministers with extraordinary violence, she might remain utterly impervious to arguments and supplications; the pertinacity of her resolution might seem to be unconquerable; but, at the very last moment of all, her obstinacy would give way. her innate respect and capacity for business, and perhaps, too, the memory of albert's scrupulous avoidance of extreme courses, prevented her from ever entering an impasse. by instinct she understood when the facts were too much for her, and to them she invariably yielded. after all, what else could she do? but if, in all these ways, the queen and her epoch were profoundly separated, the points of contact between them also were not few. victoria understood very well the meaning and the attractions of power and property, and in such learning the english nation, too, had grown to be more and more proficient. during the last fifteen years of the reign--for the short liberal administration of was a mere interlude imperialism was the dominant creed of the country. it was victoria's as well. in this direction, if in no other, she had allowed her mind to develop. under disraeli's tutelage the british dominions over the seas had come to mean much more to her than ever before, and, in particular, she had grown enamoured of the east. the thought of india fascinated her; she set to, and learnt a little hindustani; she engaged some indian servants, who became her inseparable attendants, and one of whom, munshi abdul karim, eventually almost succeeded to the position which had once been john brown's. at the same time, the imperialist temper of the nation invested her office with a new significance exactly harmonising with her own inmost proclivities. the english polity was in the main a common-sense structure, but there was always a corner in it where common-sense could not enter--where, somehow or other, the ordinary measurements were not applicable and the ordinary rules did not apply. so our ancestors had laid it down, giving scope, in their wisdom, to that mystical element which, as it seems, can never quite be eradicated from the affairs of men. naturally it was in the crown that the mysticism of the english polity was concentrated--the crown, with its venerable antiquity, its sacred associations, its imposing spectacular array. but, for nearly two centuries, common-sense had been predominant in the great building, and the little, unexplored, inexplicable corner had attracted small attention. then, with the rise of imperialism, there was a change. for imperialism is a faith as well as a business; as it grew, the mysticism in english public life grew with it; and simultaneously a new importance began to attach to the crown. the need for a symbol--a symbol of england's might, of england's worth, of england's extraordinary and mysterious destiny--became felt more urgently than ever before. the crown was that symbol: and the crown rested upon the head of victoria. thus it happened that while by the end of the reign the power of the sovereign had appreciably diminished, the prestige of the sovereign had enormously grown. yet this prestige was not merely the outcome of public changes; it was an intensely personal matter, too. victoria was the queen of england, the empress of india, the quintessential pivot round which the whole magnificent machine was revolving--but how much more besides! for one thing, she was of a great age--an almost indispensable qualification for popularity in england. she had given proof of one of the most admired characteristics of the race--persistent vitality. she had reigned for sixty years, and she was not out. and then, she was a character. the outlines of her nature were firmly drawn, and, even through the mists which envelop royalty, clearly visible. in the popular imagination her familiar figure filled, with satisfying ease, a distinct and memorable place. it was, besides, the kind of figure which naturally called forth the admiring sympathy of the great majority of the nation. goodness they prized above every other human quality; and victoria, who had said that she would be good at the age of twelve, had kept her word. duty, conscience, morality--yes! in the light of those high beacons the queen had always lived. she had passed her days in work and not in pleasure--in public responsibilities and family cares. the standard of solid virtue which had been set up so long ago amid the domestic happiness of osborne had never been lowered for an instant. for more than half a century no divorced lady had approached the precincts of the court. victoria, indeed, in her enthusiasm for wifely fidelity, had laid down a still stricter ordinance: she frowned severely upon any widow who married again. considering that she herself was the offspring of a widow's second marriage, this prohibition might be regarded as an eccentricity; but, no doubt, it was an eccentricity on the right side. the middle classes, firm in the triple brass of their respectability, rejoiced with a special joy over the most respectable of queens. they almost claimed her, indeed, as one of themselves; but this would have been an exaggeration. for, though many of her characteristics were most often found among the middle classes, in other respects--in her manners, for instance--victoria was decidedly aristocratic. and, in one important particular, she was neither aristocratic nor middle-class: her attitude toward herself was simply regal. such qualities were obvious and important; but, in the impact of a personality, it is something deeper, something fundamental and common to all its qualities, that really tells. in victoria, it is easy to discern the nature of this underlying element: it was a peculiar sincerity. her truthfulness, her single-mindedness, the vividness of her emotions and her unrestrained expression of them, were the varied forms which this central characteristic assumed. it was her sincerity which gave her at once her impressiveness, her charm, and her absurdity. she moved through life with the imposing certitude of one to whom concealment was impossible--either towards her surroundings or towards herself. there she was, all of her--the queen of england, complete and obvious; the world might take her or leave her; she had nothing more to show, or to explain, or to modify; and, with her peerless carriage, she swept along her path. and not only was concealment out of the question; reticence, reserve, even dignity itself, as it sometimes seemed, might be very well dispensed with. as lady lyttelton said: "there is a transparency in her truth that is very striking--not a shade of exaggeration in describing feelings or facts; like very few other people i ever knew. many may be as true, but i think it goes often along with some reserve. she talks all out; just as it is, no more and no less." she talked all out; and she wrote all out, too. her letters, in the surprising jet of their expression, remind one of a turned-on tap. what is within pours forth in an immediate, spontaneous rush. her utterly unliterary style has at least the merit of being a vehicle exactly suited to her thoughts and feelings; and even the platitude of her phraseology carries with it a curiously personal flavour. undoubtedly it was through her writings that she touched the heart of the public. not only in her "highland journals" where the mild chronicle of her private proceedings was laid bare without a trace either of affectation or of embarrassment, but also in those remarkable messages to the nation which, from time to time, she published in the newspapers, her people found her very close to them indeed. they felt instinctively victoria's irresistible sincerity, and they responded. and in truth it was an endearing trait. the personality and the position, too--the wonderful combination of them--that, perhaps, was what was finally fascinating in the case. the little old lady, with her white hair and her plain mourning clothes, in her wheeled chair or her donkey-carriage--one saw her so; and then--close behind--with their immediate suggestion of singularity, of mystery, and of power--the indian servants. that was the familiar vision, and it was admirable; but, at chosen moments, it was right that the widow of windsor should step forth apparent queen. the last and the most glorious of such occasions was the jubilee of . then, as the splendid procession passed along, escorting victoria through the thronged re-echoing streets of london on her progress of thanksgiving to st. paul's cathedral, the greatness of her realm and the adoration of her subjects blazed out together. the tears welled to her eyes, and, while the multitude roared round her, "how kind they are to me! how kind they are!" she repeated over and over again. that night her message flew over the empire: "from my heart i thank my beloved people. may god bless them!" the long journey was nearly done. but the traveller, who had come so far, and through such strange experiences, moved on with the old unfaltering step. the girl, the wife, the aged woman, were the same: vitality, conscientiousness, pride, and simplicity were hers to the latest hour. chapter x. the end the evening had been golden; but, after all, the day was to close in cloud and tempest. imperial needs, imperial ambitions, involved the country in the south african war. there were checks, reverses, bloody disasters; for a moment the nation was shaken, and the public distresses were felt with intimate solicitude by the queen. but her spirit was high, and neither her courage nor her confidence wavered for a moment. throwing her self heart and soul into the struggle, she laboured with redoubled vigour, interested herself in every detail of the hostilities, and sought by every means in her power to render service to the national cause. in april , when she was in her eighty-first year, she made the extraordinary decision to abandon her annual visit to the south of france, and to go instead to ireland, which had provided a particularly large number of recruits to the armies in the field. she stayed for three weeks in dublin, driving through the streets, in spite of the warnings of her advisers, without an armed escort; and the visit was a complete success. but, in the course of it, she began, for the first time, to show signs of the fatigue of age. for the long strain and the unceasing anxiety, brought by the war, made themselves felt at last. endowed by nature with a robust constitution, victoria, though in periods of depression she had sometimes supposed herself an invalid, had in reality throughout her life enjoyed remarkably good health. in her old age, she had suffered from a rheumatic stiffness of the joints, which had necessitated the use of a stick, and, eventually, a wheeled chair; but no other ailments attacked her, until, in , her eyesight began to be affected by incipient cataract. after that, she found reading more and more difficult, though she could still sign her name, and even, with some difficulty, write letters. in the summer of , however, more serious symptoms appeared. her memory, in whose strength and precision she had so long prided herself, now sometimes deserted her; there was a tendency towards aphasia; and, while no specific disease declared itself, by the autumn there were unmistakable signs of a general physical decay. yet, even in these last months, the strain of iron held firm. the daily work continued; nay, it actually increased; for the queen, with an astonishing pertinacity, insisted upon communicating personally with an ever-growing multitude of men and women who had suffered through the war. by the end of the year the last remains of her ebbing strength had almost deserted her; and through the early days of the opening century it was clear that her dwindling forces were only kept together by an effort of will. on january , she had at osborne an hour's interview with lord roberts, who had returned victorious from south africa a few days before. she inquired with acute anxiety into all the details of the war; she appeared to sustain the exertion successfully; but, when the audience was over, there was a collapse. on the following day her medical attendants recognised that her state was hopeless; and yet, for two days more, the indomitable spirit fought on; for two days more she discharged the duties of a queen of england. but after that there was an end of working; and then, and not till then, did the last optimism of those about her break down. the brain was failing, and life was gently slipping away. her family gathered round her; for a little more she lingered, speechless and apparently insensible; and, on january , , she died. when, two days previously, the news of the approaching end had been made public, astonished grief had swept over the country. it appeared as if some monstrous reversal of the course of nature was about to take place. the vast majority of her subjects had never known a time when queen victoria had not been reigning over them. she had become an indissoluble part of their whole scheme of things, and that they were about to lose her appeared a scarcely possible thought. she herself, as she lay blind and silent, seemed to those who watched her to be divested of all thinking--to have glided already, unawares, into oblivion. yet, perhaps, in the secret chambers of consciousness, she had her thoughts, too. perhaps her fading mind called up once more the shadows of the past to float before it, and retraced, for the last time, the vanished visions of that long history--passing back and back, through the cloud of years, to older and ever older memories--to the spring woods at osborne, so full of primroses for lord beaconsfield--to lord palmerston's queer clothes and high demeanour, and albert's face under the green lamp, and albert's first stag at balmoral, and albert in his blue and silver uniform, and the baron coming in through a doorway, and lord m. dreaming at windsor with the rooks cawing in the elm-trees, and the archbishop of canterbury on his knees in the dawn, and the old king's turkey-cock ejaculations, and uncle leopold's soft voice at claremont, and lehzen with the globes, and her mother's feathers sweeping down towards her, and a great old repeater-watch of her father's in its tortoise-shell case, and a yellow rug, and some friendly flounces of sprigged muslin, and the trees and the grass at kensington. bibliography and list of references in the notes, arranged alphabetically. adams. the education of henry adams: an autobiography. . ashley. the life and correspondence of h.j. temple, viscount palmerston. by a.e.m. ashley. vols. . bloomfield. reminiscences of court and diplomatic life. by georgiana, lady bloomfield. vols. . broughton. recollections of a long life. by lord brougton. edited by lady dorchester. vols. - . buckle. the life of benjamin disraeli, earl of beaconsfield. by w.f. monypenny and g.e. buckle. vols. - . bulow. gabriele von bulow, - . berlin. . bunsen. a memoir of baron bunsen. by his widow, frances, baroness bunsen. vols. . busch. bismarck: some secret pages of history. by dr. moritz busch. (english translation.) vols. . childers. the life and correspondence of the rt. hon. hugh c.e. childers. vols. . clarendon. the life and letters of the fourth earl of clarendon. by sir herbert maxwell. vols. . cornhill magazine, vol. . crawford. victoria, queen and ruler. by emily crawford. . creevey. the creevey papers. edited by sir herbert maxwell. vols. . croker. the croker papers. edited by l.j. jennings. . dafforne. the albert memorial: its history and description. by j. dafforne. . dalling. the life of h.j. temple, viscount palmerston. by lord dalling. vols. - . dictionary of national biography. disraeli. lord george bentinck: a political biography. by b. disraeli. . eckardstein. lebens-erinnerungen u. politische denkwurdigheiten. von freiherrn v. eckardstein. vols. leipzig. . ernest. memoirs of ernest ii, duke of saxe-coburg-gotha. vols. . (english translation.) fitzmaurice. the life of earl granville. by lord fitzmaurice. vols. . gaskell. the life of charlotte bronte. by mrs. gaskell. vols. . girlhood. the girlhood of queen victoria. edited by viscount esher. vols. . gossart. adolphe quetelet et le prince albert de saxe-cobourg. academie royale de belgique. bruxelles. . granville. letters of harriet, countess granville. vols. . greville. the greville memoirs. vols. (silver library edition.) . grey. early years of the prince consort. by general charles grey. . halle. life and letters of sir charles halle. edited by his son. . hamilton. parliamentary reminiscences and reflections. by lord george hamilton. . hare. the story of my life. by augustus j.c. hare. vols. - . haydon. autobiography of benjamin robert haydon. vols. . hayward. sketches of eminent statesmen and writers. by a. hayward. vols. . huish. the history of the life and reign of william the fourth. by robert huish. . hunt. the old court suburb: or memorials of kensington, regal, critical, and anecdotal. vols. . jerrold, early court. the early court of queen victoria. by clare jerrold. . jerrold, married life. the married life of queen victoria. by clare jerrold. . jerrold, widowhood. the widowhood of queen victoria. by clare jerrold. . kinglake. the invasion of the crimea. by a.w. kinglake. vols. (cabinet edition.) - . knight. the autobiography of miss cornelia knight. vols. . laughton. memoirs of the life and correspondence of henry reeve. by sir john laughton. vols. . leaves. leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands, from to . by queen victoria. edited by a. helps. . lee. queen victoria: a biography. by sidney lee. . leslie. autobiographical recollections by the late charles robert leslie, r.a. edited by tom taylor. vols. . letters. the letters of queen victoria. vols. . lieven. letters of dorothea, princess lieven, during her residence in london, - . edited by lionel g. robinson. . the london mercury. lovely albert! a broadside. lyttelton. correspondence of sarah spencer, lady lyttelton, - . edited by mrs. hugh wyndham. . martin. the life of his royal highness the prince consort. by theodore martin. vols. - . martin, queen victoria. queen victoria as i knew her. by sir theodore martin. . martineau. the autobiography of harriet martineau. vols. . maxwell. the hon. sir charles murray, k.c.b.: a memoir. by sir herbert maxwell. . more leaves. more leaves from the journal of a life in the highlands, from to . by queen victoria. . morley. the life of william ewart gladstone. by john morley. vols. . murray. recollections from to . by the hon. amelia murray. . national memorial. the national memorial to h.r.h. the prince consort. . neele. railway reminiscences. by george p. neele. . owen. the life of robert owen written by himself. . owen, journal. owen's rational quarterly review and journal. panam. a german prince and his victim. taken from the memoirs of madame pauline panam. . private life. the private life of the queen. by one of her majesty's servants. . the quarterly review, vols. and . robertson. bismarck. by c. grant robertson. . scott personal and professional recollections. by sir george gilbert scott. . smith. life of her majesty queen victoria. compiled from all available sources. by g. barnett smith. . spinster lady. the notebooks of a spinster lady. . stein. denkschriftenuber deutsche verfassunyen. herausgegeben von g.h. pertz. vols. . stockmar. denkwurdigkeiten aus den papieren des freiherrn christian friedrich v. stockmar, zusammengestellt von ernst freiherr v. stockmar. braunschweig. . tait. the life of archibald campbell tait, archbishop of canterbury. vols. . the london times. the times life. the life of queen victoria, reproduced from the london times. . torrens. memoirs of william lamb, second viscount melbourne. by w. m. torrens. (minerva library edition.) . vitzhum. st. petersburg und london in den jahren - . carl friedrich graf vitzthum von eckstadt. stuttgart. . walpole. the life of lord john russell. by sir spencer walpole. vols. . wilberforce, samuel. life of samuel wilberforce, bishop of oxford. by his son, r.g. wilberforce. vols. . wilberforce, william. the life of william wilberforce. vols. . wynn. diaries of a lady of quality. by miss frances williams wynn. . note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations and also the index for all three volumes of the set with links to the other two volumes. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/files/ / -h.zip) volumes i and ii are available in the project gutenberg library: volume i--see http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/ volume ii--see http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/ transcriber's note: [ae] and [oe] are used for the diphthongs/ligatures in (mostly) french words. (e.g. c[oe]ur, heart; s[oe]ur, sister; ch[oe]ur; choir). the original page headings have been retained and moved to appropriate positions at the beginning of letters and text to which they refer, so as not to interrupt the flow of the text. thus, a long letter may be prefaced by two, or even three page headings. likewise, footnotes have been moved to the end of the appropriate letter, or the appropriate paragraph in the case of longer pieces of text. in the text file version, for "see _ante_/_post_, p. xyz", the date and note number (where applicable) have been given instead of the page number, for easier reader look-up. index page numbers have been adjusted to allow for the re-positioning of footnotes. other (numerous) page numbering errors have been corrected. a list of corrections will be found at the end of the text. [illustration: h.m. queen victoria, h.r.h. the prince consort, and children from the picture by f. winterhalter at buckingham palace _frontispiece, vol. iii._] the letters of queen victoria a selection from her majesty's correspondence between the years and published by authority of his majesty the king edited by arthur christopher benson, m.a. and viscount esher, g.c.v.o., k.c.b. in three volumes vol. iii.-- - london john murray, albemarle street, w. _copyright in great britain and dependencies, , by_ h.m. the king. _in the united states by_ messrs longmans, green & co. _all rights reserved._ table of contents chapter xxiii pages the eastern question--attack on the prince--the french alliance--the orleans family--the reform bill--the baltic command--the british ultimatum--departure of the guards--war declared--cabinet dissensions--austrian interests--the sultan--prussian policy--marshal st arnaud--invasion of the principalities--separation of departments--the russian loan--debates on the war--prince albert and the emperor napoleon--the crimea--battle of the alma--maharajah dhuleep singh--attack on sebastopol--battle of inkerman--death of sir g. cathcart--a hurricane--lord john russell and the premiership--miss nightingale's mission - chapter xxiv peace proposals--the four points--offer of the garter to the premier--sufferings of the troops in the crimea--resignation of lord john--the queen's disapproval--lord palmerston as leader--the ministry defeated--lord derby sent for--lord palmerston and the leadership--lord derby's failure--lord lansdowne consulted--lord john sent for--disappointment of lord john--lord palmerston to be premier--intervention of lord aberdeen--the new cabinet--the vienna conference--resignation of the peelites--death of the czar--lord panmure at the war office--negotiations at vienna--visit of the emperor--russia and the black sea--estimate of the emperor--retirement of canrobert--death of lord raglan--general simpson in command--lord john resigns--battle of the tchernaya--visit to paris--at the tomb of bonaparte--fall of sebastopol--life peerages--prince frederick william of prussia--offer to lord stanley--france and austria--visit of the king of sardinia - chapter xxv the conference--the queen's determination--russia accepts the terms--sardinia and the conference--protection of neutrals--the crimean enquiry--incorporation of oudh--canning succeeds dalhousie--unclouded horizon in india--future of the principalities--birth of the prince imperial--the princess royal--the treaty of paris--end of the war--garter for lord palmerston--the title of prince consort--position of the queen's husband--retirement of lord hardinge--appointment of the duke of cambridge--lord granville's mission--coronation of the czar--a royal proposal--russian procrastination--death of lord hardinge--the archduke maximilian--affair of neuchâtel--death of prince charles of leiningen--dispute with the united states - chapter xxvi the china war--position of parties--defeat of the government--the general election--the divorce bill--betrothal of princess charlotte of belgium--the indian mutiny--delhi--cawnpore--marriage of princess charlotte--visit of the emperor napoleon--death of sir henry lawrence--condition of lucknow--sir colin campbell--reinforcement of lucknow--death of the duchesse de nemours--crisis in the city--future government of india--clemency of lord canning--death of havelock - chapter xxvii marriage of princess royal--the orsini _attentat_--the conspiracy bill--resignation of the government--lord derby summoned--the new cabinet--trial of bernard--the emperor and the carbonari--capture of lucknow--confirmation of the prince of wales--the second india bill--the oudh proclamation--lord ellenborough's despatch--a crisis--lord derby's despatch--lord aberdeen consulted--prerogative of dissolution--collapse of the attack--views of sir james outram--offer to mr gladstone--purification of the thames--visit to cherbourg--british columbia--the ionian islands--the princess royal in prussia the india office--lord canning's proclamation--napoleon and italy - chapter xxviii the emperor napoleon and m. hübner--attitude of the pope--northern italy--the queen's first grandchild--advice to the emperor napoleon--meeting of parliament--the indian forces--the prince of wales at rome--advice to emperor of austria--mission of lord cowley--question of a conference--the summons to sardinia--revolution in the duchies--the compact of plombières--the general election--policy of the emperor napoleon--meeting a new parliament--question of neutrality--debate on the address--the ministry defeated--the garter for lord derby--lord granville summoned--the rival leaders--lord palmerston premier--offer to mr cobden--india pacified--victory of the french--the emperor napoleon's appeal--end of the war--ascendancy of france--views of the pope--cavour's disappointment--meeting of the emperors--the provisions of villafranca--italian policy--sardinia and central italy--the emperor napoleon and lord palmerston--invitation from president buchanan--pro-italian ministers--objections to sir j. hudson--divorce court reports - chapter xxix the emperor napoleon's pamphlet, _the pope and the congress_--annexation of savoy--meeting of parliament--sardinian designs--mr gladstone's budget--scene at the tuileries--the emperor and lord cowley--the swiss protest--death of prince hohenlohe--the indian civil service--the paper duties--the lords and money bills--mr gladstone and resignation--the prince of wales's tour--the volunteer review--flight of the king of naples--the king's appeal to queen victoria--tour of prince alfred--sardinia and naples--the empress of austria--betrothal of princess alice--episcopal appointments--visit of the empress eugénie - chapter xxx conservative overtures to lord palmerston--illness of king of prussia--his death--the absorption of naples--garter for new king of prussia--the provostship of eton--lord john and garibaldi--death of duchess of kent--bereavement--the war in america--recognition of the south--death of cavour--death of lord campbell--the new foreign office--earldom for lord john russell--swedish politics--the emperor napoleon's aims--at frogmore--visit to ireland--tranquillity of ireland--the orleans princes--the prussian coronation--fêtes at berlin--_the times_ and prussia--death of king of portugal--the affair of the _trent_--the compiègne interview--an ultimatum--the prince's last letter--illness of the prince--the crisis--sympathy--bereavement--death of lady canning--a noble resolve--comfort and hope - index - list of illustrations h.m. queen victoria, h.r.h. the prince consort, and children. _from the picture by f. winterhalter at buckingham palace_ _frontispiece_ h.m. eugÉnie, empress of the french. _from a miniature by sir w. k. ross at windsor castle_ _facing p._ viscount palmerston, k.g. _from the drawing by sir george richmond, r.a., in the possession of the earl of carnwath_ " h.r.h. the prince of wales. _from a drawing by f. winterhalter, _ " h.r.h. the prince consort, . _from the picture by smith, after corbould, at buckingham palace_ " introductory note to chapter xxiii at the meeting of parliament, on the st of january , the ministry were able triumphantly to refute the charge of illegitimate interference in state affairs which had been made by a section of the press against prince albert; they were, however, severely attacked for not acting with greater vigour in eastern affairs. in february, the russian ambassador left london, the guards were despatched to the east, and the russian government was peremptorily called upon by great britain and france to evacuate the principalities. the peace party, bright, cobden, and others, were active, but unheeded; the society of friends sending a pacific but futile deputation to the czar. in march, the demand for evacuation being disregarded, war was declared, and a treaty of alliance signed between england and france; lord raglan and marshal st arnaud were appointed to command the respective armies, vice-admiral sir james dundas and sir charles napier having command of the mediterranean and baltic fleets respectively. the attitude of austria was ambiguous, and, after england and france were committed to war, she contracted an offensive and defensive alliance with prussia, each country engaging to make limited preparations for war. at home, with a view to greater efficiency, the duties of the secretary of state for war and the colonies, till then united in a single secretaryship, were divided, the duke of newcastle assuming the former office, while sir george grey became colonial secretary; lord john russell also resumed office as president of the council. the russians were unsuccessful in their operations against the turks, notably at silistria and giurgevo, while, as the summer advanced, public opinion in support of an invasion of the crimea rose steadily, the _times_ indicated the taking of sebastopol as indispensable, and lord aberdeen's hand was forced. on the th of june, the cabinet sanctioned a despatch to lord raglan, urging (almost to the point of directing) an immediate attack upon sebastopol; the french emperor was in favour of the plan, though both commanders-in-chief entertained doubt as to whether it was immediately feasible. on the th of september, the allied forces ( , strong) sailed from varna, a landing being effected a few days later at old fort, near eupatoria; at about the same time an important interview took place at boulogne between prince albert and the emperor napoleon. the signal victory at the alma, on the th of september, was followed by the death of st arnaud, and the appointment of canrobert as his successor. decisive successes were next obtained at balaklava on the th of october, and at inkerman on the th of november; but on the th a fierce gale did immense damage to life and property, both at balaklava and on the sea. meanwhile, indignation at home was aroused by the tidings of the breakdown of the commissariat and transport departments, and the deplorable state of the hospitals; miss florence nightingale, who had sailed from england with a number of nurses, arrived at scutari early in november, and proceeded to remedy deficiencies as far as possible; while lord john russell vainly urged on the premier the substitution of lord palmerston for the duke of newcastle as secretary for war. sir charles napier, who, previously to his departure with the baltic fleet, had been fêted at the reform club, and extravagantly lauded by cabinet ministers, was by the month of october engaged in a recriminatory correspondence with the first lord of the admiralty. at about the same time the patriotic fund was established under the presidency of prince albert. in parliament, the last vestige of the old navigation system, limiting the coasting trade to british ships, was repealed, and a bill also passed for preventing corrupt practices at elections. owing to the war, the reform bill was withdrawn, lord john russell, on announcing the fact in parliament, being overcome, and giving way to tears. in the short session, which took place during the latter half of december, a foreign enlistment act was passed, providing for a force of , foreigners, to be drilled in this country. the exhibition building, which had been constructed in hyde park in , and had been re-erected at sydenham, was opened with great ceremony by the queen, and was henceforth known as the crystal palace. chapter xxiii _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. he cannot wonder at the indignation expressed by your majesty at the base and infamous attacks made upon the prince during the last two or three weeks in some of the daily papers.[ ] they are chiefly to be found in those papers which represent ultra-tory or extreme radical opinions; but they are not sanctioned by the most respectable portion of the press. lord aberdeen has received some information respecting the origin of these attacks; but it is vague and uncertain. at all events he believes that your majesty may safely make yourself at ease upon the subject, as he is satisfied that these hostile feelings are shared by few. it is much to be desired that some notice of the subject may be taken in parliament, when, by being treated in a proper manner, it may be effectually stopped. lord aberdeen has spoken to lord john russell, who will be quite prepared to moot it in the house of commons. it cannot be denied that the position of the prince is somewhat anomalous, and has not been specially provided for by the constitution; but the ties of nature, and the dictates of common sense are more powerful than constitutional fictions; and lord aberdeen can only say that he has always considered it an inestimable blessing that your majesty should possess so able, so zealous, and so disinterested an adviser. it is true that your ministers are alone responsible for the conduct of public affairs, and although there is no man in england whose opinion lord aberdeen would more highly respect and value, still if he had the misfortune of differing from his royal highness, he would not hesitate to act according to his own convictions, and a sense of what was due to your majesty's service. the prince has now been so long before the eyes of the whole country, his conduct so invariably devoted to the public good, and his life so perfectly inattackable, that lord aberdeen has not the slightest apprehension of any serious consequences arising from these contemptible exhibitions of malevolence and faction. your majesty will graciously pardon lord aberdeen for writing thus plainly; but there are occasions on which he almost forgets your majesty's station, and only remembers those feelings which are common to all ranks of mankind. [footnote : a section of the press, favourable to lord palmerston, had insinuated that his resignation was due to "an influence behind the throne." similar attacks were made by other journals, and not abandoned upon lord palmerston's re-admission to the cabinet: the most extravagant charges of improper interference in state affairs were made against the prince, and it was even rumoured that he had been impeached for high treason and committed to the tower! the cartoons in _punch_ usually present a faithful reflection of current popular opinion, and in one of them the prince was depicted as skating, in defiance of warning, over dangerous ice.] [pageheading: persia] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen thanks lord clarendon for his letter just received with the enclosures. as the proposed answer to the emperor contains perhaps necessarily only a repetition of what the queen wrote in her former letter,[ ] she inclines to the opinion that it will be best to defer any answer for the present--the more so, as a moment might possibly arrive when it would be of advantage to be able to write and to refer to the emperor's last letter. with respect to the persian expedition[ ] the queen will not object to it--as the cabinet appears to have fully considered the matter, but she must say that she does not much like it in a moral point of view. we are just putting the emperor of russia under the ban for trying "to bring the sultan to his senses" by the occupation of part of his territory after a diplomatic rupture, and are now going to do exactly the same thing to the shah of persia! [footnote : see _ante_, vol. ii, th october- th november, , notes , , .] [footnote : under the belief that persia had declared war against turkey, and that diplomatic relations between england and persia were suspended, the cabinet had agreed upon the occupation of the island of karak by a british force.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th january ._ my dearest victoria,--i wrote you a most abominable scrawl on friday, and think myself justified in boring you with a few words to-day. the plot is thickening in every direction, and we may expect a great confusion. the dear old duke used to say "you cannot have a little war." the great politicians of the press think differently. the duke told me also once: "at the place where you are you will always have the power to force people to go to war." i have used that power to _avoid_ complications, and i still think, blessed are the peacemakers. how the emperor could get himself and everybody else into this infernal scrape is quite incomprehensible; the more so as i remain convinced that he did not aim at conquest. we have very mild weather, and though you liked the cold, still for every purpose we must prefer warmth. many hundred boats with coal are frozen up, and i am told that near two hundred ships are wanting to arrive at antwerp.... i am much plagued also by little parliamentary nonsense of our own here, a storm in a bottle; this is the way of human kind, and in such cases it always pleases me to think that i am not bound to be always their working slave, and i cast a sly look at my beautiful villa on the lake of como, _quite furnished_.... my beloved victoria. your devoted uncle. leopold r. [pageheading: the press] [pageheading: the french alliance] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th january ._ my beloved victoria,--i grieve to see how unjustly you are plagued, and how wonderfully untrue and passionate are the attacks of part of the press. abuse is somewhat the _staff of life in england_, everything, everybody is to be abused; it is a pity, as nothing more unproductive as this everlasting abuse can well be imagined. as nothing ever gave the slightest opening to this abuse, it is to be hoped that it will be soon got over--the meeting of parliament will now do good in this respect. as far as your few continental relations are concerned, i don't think they will be able to fix anything upon your faithful servant. i have done england at all times good services, in the sense of her best interests. i hold a position of great geographical importance for england, just opposite the mouth of the thames. successes of vanity i am never fishing for in england, nor anywhere else. the only influence i may exercise is to prevent mischief where i can, which occasionally succeeds; if war can be avoided, and the same ends obtained, it is natural _that_ that _should be tried first_. many english superficial newspaper politicians imagine that threatening is the thing--i believe it the worst of all systems. the emperor nicholas and menschikoff wanted by threatening the turks to get certain things, and they have by that means got a very troublesome and expensive affair on their hands. i wish england too well to like to see it, but one of these days they will get into some scrape in the same way. the foolish accusation that we are doing all we can to break up the french alliance is certainly the _most absurd of all_; if anything can be for our local advantage, it is to see england and france closely allied, and for a long period--for ever i should say.... i have heard, and that from the prussian quarter, that great efforts are making on the part of russia, to _gain over_ louis napoleon. i understand, however, that though louis napoleon is _not_ anxious for war, that his opinion is favourable to the continuation of a good understanding with england. that it should be so is, i must say, highly desirable. the poor orleans will be grieved and hurt by all these things. the death of the child of the poor queen of spain will not be a favourable omen for spain.[ ]... with my best love to albert. believe me ever, my beloved victoria, your truly devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : a daughter had been born to the queen of spain on the th of january, and lived only three days.] [pageheading: the orleans family] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen sends the answer she has this morning received from the duc de nemours, which she hopes is on the whole satisfactory as regards the reported visit of the count de chambord.[ ] the duke does not see in so strong a light as _we_ do, the danger of even the _report_ being believed--probably from living so much out of the world as he does. what would lord aberdeen wish her to do farther, and what does he think can be done in the way of contradiction? the queen wishes likewise to have lord aberdeen's opinion and advice on the following subjects. he knows that we have invariably received the poor orleans family (in particular our own near relations, the nemours) from time to time _here_ and in london, and that the queen has _always_ from the first year done this _openly_ but _unostentatiously_. it is by _no means_ her intention to change her conduct in this respect--but since the great noise caused by the "fusion" she thought it better _not_ to invite the nemours either to osborne or here, hoping that by _this time_ these tiresome rumours would have ceased. they have not, however, and we think that perhaps it would be wiser _not_ to see them here, _at any rate_ till after the meeting of parliament, though it is very painful to the queen to hurt their feelings by apparent neglect. is lord aberdeen of this opinion, and does he think that it will _not_ be misconstrued into an _admission_ of having encouraged _intrigues_ or of _submission_ to the will and pleasure of louis napoleon? for the queen would never submit to such an accusation, nor would she continue (after the excitement is past) to exclude these poor exiles from occasional visits--which have been paid and received ever since _' _, and which would be unworthy and ungenerous conduct. likewise does lord aberdeen think that a morning visit to the duchess of aumale to enquire after her health would be imprudent? it goes much against the queen's feelings of generosity and kindness to neglect the poor exiles as she has done this winter, but the present moment is one of _unparalleled_ excitement and of great political importance, which requires great prudence and circumspection. there is an admirable article in the _morning chronicle_ of to-day, taking quite the _right line_ upon the infamous and _now_ almost ridiculous attacks on the _queen_ and prince. has lord aberdeen any idea who could have written it? the queen sends a letter she had received from her uncle, which may amuse and interest him. to make the statement of the queen's intercourse with the orleans family quite clear, she should add, that when the family visit the queen or she visits them, that it is put into the court circular, and this of course gets copied into country papers and foreign papers; but after consideration the queen thought this the wiser course, for with all the spies who are no doubt about--if this were not done, and the queen's visits and _vice versâ_ were suppressed and _yet_ found out--it would give them an air of _mystery_ which is just what we wish to avoid. [footnote : son of the duc de berri, and known formerly as the duc de bordeaux. (see _ante_, vol. i., th october, , note ). the duc de nemours denied all knowledge of the rumoured visit, and thought its importance had been exaggerated.] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th january ._ ... with respect to your majesty's custom of seeing the french royal family, lord aberdeen humbly thinks that there is no good reason for making any change. it has always taken place without parade or ostentation; and knowing, as lord aberdeen does, that no political object is in view, he would feel ashamed to advise your majesty to do anything at variance with that sympathy which your majesty has been careful to keep within the bounds of prudence and moderation.... lord aberdeen hopes that he may venture to congratulate your majesty on the commencement of a change with respect to the newspaper attacks upon the prince. he observed the article, to which your majesty refers, in the _morning chronicle_ of yesterday; and he believes he may certainly say that it was written by mr gladstone, although he would not wish it to be known. there was also a very sensible letter in the _standard_ of last night, signed d. c. l. this is the signature always assumed by mr alexander hope,[ ] in his contributions to the press, and lord aberdeen does not doubt that it is written by him. it is only a wonder to find it in such a quarter; and it shows some disposition on the part of that scurrilous paper to alter its course. there is perhaps no great objection to the papers dealing with the subject as they think proper, before the meeting of parliament, provided the _times_ takes no part at present; for as this paper is supposed to be influenced by the government, this belief would injure the effect of anything that might appear in its columns.[ ]... [footnote : mr. a. j. hope (afterwards beresford-hope), at this time out of parliament, had written over the signature "d.c.l." a series of letters to the press on the papal claims.] [footnote : on the re-assembling of parliament, the charges against the prince were at once refuted by the prime minister and lord john russell; and his right to assist the queen completely established by those ministers, with the concurrence of lord derby and mr walpole, on behalf of the opposition, and lord campbell, the chief justice of the queen's bench.] [pageheading: the reform bill] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ st january ._ the queen has received lord john russell's letter of the th, and the bill as now agreed upon by the cabinet, which she hopes may meet the wishes of the country and pass into law.[ ] from what she understands the chief argument used in opposition to the measure will be, that corruption and bribery is the evil which the country really complains of, and not an unequal distribution of the representation, and that a new distribution or even extension of the franchise will not touch the evil, and may be said perhaps in some instances to tend towards increasing it. the success of the measure will therefore, she concludes, in some degree depend upon the bribery bills which will accompany it. how far are these advanced? and what expectation has lord john russell of succeeding in framing such a measure as would remove that ground of objection to the reform bill? [footnote : notwithstanding the impending war, the government considered itself bound in honour to bring in a reform bill. lord palmerston and his special supporters were opposed to the project, but the measure was brought forward on the th of february. after a chequered career it was withdrawn. the bill for the prevention of corrupt practices at elections was introduced on the th of february, and after many vicissitudes and several ministerial defeats in the commons as well as in the lords, it was, in a modified form, carried.] _queen victoria to mr gladstone._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ the queen must apologise for having kept the enclosed papers so long, and in now sending them back she does so without feeling sure in her mind that she could with safety sanction mr gladstone's new and important proposal.[ ] the change it implies will be very great in principle and irretrievable, and the queen must say that lord john russell's apprehensions as to the spirit it is likely to engender amongst the future civil servants of the crown have excited a similar feeling in her mind. where is moreover the application of the principle of public competition to stop, if once established? and must not those offices which are to be exempted from it necessarily degrade the persons appointed to them in public estimation? [footnote : mr gladstone had written on the th of january on the subject of competitive examinations for the civil service; in reply to the queen's letter, he referred to the discontent existing in the service with the system of appointment by favour, and of promotion by seniority alone.] [pageheading: the baltic command] [pageheading: sir charles napier] _sir james graham to queen victoria._ admiralty, _ th february ._ sir james graham, with humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty certain important considerations which were discussed at the cabinet yesterday with respect to the selection of a commander-in-chief for the fleet about to be appointed for service in the baltic.[ ]... [footnote : war had not yet been declared, but the russian ambassador left london on the th of february, and sir hamilton seymour was recalled from st petersburg on the same day.] lord dundonald[ ] is seventy-nine years of age; and though his energies and faculties are unbroken, and though, with his accustomed courage, he volunteers for the service, yet, on the whole, there is reason to apprehend that he might deeply commit the force under his command in some desperate enterprise, where the chances of success would not countervail the risk of failure and of the fatal consequences, which might ensue. age has not abated the adventurous spirit of this gallant officer, which no authority could restrain; and being uncontrollable it might lead to most unfortunate results. the cabinet, on the most careful review of the entire question, decided that the appointment of lord dundonald was not expedient.... [footnote : this was the lord cochrane who had been unjustly convicted in , under the direction of lord ellenborough, chief justice, of conspiracy to defraud. his naval honours were restored to him in . he is said to have stipulated, on this occasion, that he should be allowed to destroy cronstadt by a chemical process invented by himself.] sir charles napier is an excellent seaman, and combines boldness with discretion.[ ] he has served in large squadrons, and he has commanded them. as a second, he may not have been submissive; as a chief, he has been successful in command. his appointment will give confidence both to officers and men; and his name is not unknown both to enemies and allies. if he has the faults of his family, he is not without their virtues; courage, genius, love of country are not wanting; and the weighty responsibilities of high command, without oppressing him, would give steadiness to his demeanour. he behaved ill to lord john russell and to sir francis baring; and on shore he has given just cause of complaint; but at sea and in command he is a different person; and lord john russell in the cabinet yesterday, regardless of all former displeasure, pronounced an opinion favourable to the appointment of sir charles napier. lord aberdeen, also, together with the entire cabinet, came to the same conclusion; and sir james graham on their behalf, and in concurrence with his own opinion, ventures to ask the permission of your majesty to appoint sir charles napier to this important naval command.[ ] the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's dutiful subject and servant, j. r. g. graham. [footnote : he had had a long naval career. in he commanded the portuguese fleet for donna maria, and won a small engagement against dom miguel. he was "not submissive" at beyrout, where, having command of the land forces, and being told to retire and hand over the command, he advanced and won a victory, resulting in the evacuation of the city. he also disobeyed orders at acre.] [footnote : the inadequate results of an appointment which promised so well are described in parker's _sir james graham_, vol. ii. pp. _et seq_.] _queen victoria to mr gladstone._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ the queen has received mr gladstone's letter and memorandum, and had heard from the prince the further explanation of the grounds upon which he, mr gladstone, thinks the new regulations respecting the civil service necessary. the queen, although not without considerable misgivings, sanctions the proposed plan, trusting that mr gladstone will do what he can, in the arrangements of the details of it, to guard against the dangers, which she has pointed out in her former letter and through the prince when he saw mr gladstone. a check, for instance, would be necessary upon the admission of candidates to compete for employment, securing that they should be otherwise eligible, besides the display of knowledge which they may exhibit under examination. without this a young man might be very ineligible, and still after having been proclaimed to the world as first in ability, it would require very strong evidence of misconduct to justify his exclusion by the government. [pageheading: competitive examinations] _mr gladstone to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th february ._ the chancellor of the exchequer presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to acknowledge your majesty's gracious letter. he takes blame to himself for having caused your majesty trouble by omitting to include in his short memorandum an explanation of the phrase "qualified persons." experience at the universities and public schools of this country has shown that in a large majority of cases the test of open examination is also an effectual test of character; as, except in very remarkable cases, the previous industry and self-denial, which proficiency evinces, are rarely separated from general habits of virtue. but he humbly assures your majesty that the utmost pains will be taken to provide not only for the majority but for all cases, by the strictest enquiries of which the case will admit; and he has the most confident belief that the securities for character under the system, although they cannot be unerring, will be stronger and more trustworthy than any of which the present method of appointment is susceptible. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ st february ._ my dearest uncle,--... war is, i fear, _quite_ inevitable. you will have seen that the emperor nicholas has not given a favourable answer to _our brother_ napoleon (which i hear has disappointed him extremely, as he expected very great results from it); and the last proposals or attempts made by buol[ ] it is to be hoped will not be accepted by russia, for france and england could _not_ accept them; but if austria and prussia go with us--as we hope they will--the war will only be a local one. our beautiful guards sail to-morrow. albert inspected them yesterday. george is quite delighted to have a division.... i must now conclude, with albert's affectionate love. believe me always, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : austrian premier and minister of foreign affairs.] [pageheading: the british army] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ the queen must write to lord aberdeen on a subject which at this moment appears to her of paramount importance--viz., the augmentation of the army. the ten thousand men by which it has been ordered to be augmented can hardly be considered to have brought it up to more than an improved peace _establishment_, such as we have often had during profound peace in europe; but even these ten thousand men are not yet obtained. we have nearly pledged ourselves to sending twenty-five thousand men to the east, and this pledge will have to be redeemed. to keep even such a force up in the field will require a strong, available reserve at home, of which we shall be quite denuded. but we are going to make war upon russia! encouraging austria and prussia to do so likewise, whereby we assume a moral obligation not to leave them without assistance. we engage in a war which may assume in its course a totally different character from that of its beginning. who can say it is impossible that our own shores may be threatened by powers now in alliance with us? we are powerless for offence or defence without a _trained_ army; to obtain this will require considerable time. the queen must, therefore, urge lord aberdeen to consider with the cabinet whether it will not be essential to augment the army at once, and by at least thirty thousand men. considerations of home policy make this also advisable; the country is eager for war at this moment, and ready to grant men and money. it will be a great facility hereafter to have obtained what is most needed at first. if the force should finally not be wanted, retrenchments may very easily be made. the crown should at least have the power of raising the men without the necessity for further application to parliament. [pageheading: the british ultimatum] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th february ._ lord aberdeen, with his humble duty, begs to inform your majesty that another cabinet was held to-day, in order to consider the draft of a letter which it is proposed that lord clarendon should address to count nesselrode, and in which he should summon the russian government to evacuate the principalities. the messenger will be directed to wait six days for an answer, and the british government will consider the refusal or the silence of count nesselrode as equivalent to a declaration of war, and proceed to act accordingly.[ ] an assurance has been received, in general terms, of the intention of austria to support this demand; and a telegraphic message has been sent to vienna with a desire to know whether the austrian government will join in this summons, or in what manner support will be given.[ ] no answer has yet been received, and lord aberdeen would think it right not to make the summons until austria has declared her intention; but the cabinet appears to desire that the letter should be sent to-morrow evening. the period fixed for the complete evacuation of the principalities is the th of april. as it cannot be supposed that the emperor of russia will listen to such a demand as this, immediate hostilities must be expected, with all their consequences. [footnote : this summons to evacuate the principalities, and an ultimatum to a similar purport from paris, were delivered to the czar on the th of march; on their receipt the czar intimated that he did not think it fitting (_convenable_) that he should make any reply. his decision was known in london on the th.] [footnote : the attitude of austria caused great perplexity. count orloff had gone to vienna to obtain a pledge of neutrality in the event of war, but refused to give the emperor francis joseph satisfactory assurances as to the czar's future policy, and, in particular, as to the evacuation of the principalities at the close of the war. the austrian government accordingly announced its intention of acting as circumstances might dictate, but subsequently limited the assistance which it now expressed itself willing to give to england and france in insisting upon the evacuation, to diplomatic support.] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ the queen has received lord aberdeen's letter of this day. to be able to form a judgment on the important question to which it refers, the queen would require to be furnished with the exact terms of "the general assurance" which austria has given with respect to it. the queen, however, does not doubt for a moment that the gain of a day or two in making the summons to russia could not be compared to the advantage of being able to make the summons conjointly with austria. she must therefore wish that the answer to the telegraphic message should be awaited before the messenger is sent off. [pageheading: departure of the guards] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ my dearest uncle,--... the news from austria are quite excellent, and much more than we had any reason to expect. it will make a great difference in the nature and duration of the war. our summons to russia went last night _viâ_ paris, berlin, and vienna, and if they are received either with silence, or the emperor refuses to evacuate the principalities--_war_ will be considered as declared. the french send a similar summons. the messenger is to wait _six_ days for an answer, but no longer. the last battalion of the guards (scots fusiliers) embarked to-day. they passed through the courtyard here at seven o'clock this morning. we stood on the balcony to see them--the morning fine, the sun rising over the towers of old westminster abbey--and an immense crowd collected to see these fine men, and cheering them immensely as they with difficulty marched along. they formed line, presented arms, and then cheered us _very heartily_, and went off cheering. it was a _touching and beautiful_ sight; many sorrowing friends were there, and one saw the shake of many a hand. my best wishes and prayers will be with them all.... _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ [_undated._] the queen was rather annoyed at the manner in which lord clarendon pressed the duke of cambridge's going to the tuileries last night.[ ] she thought it an immense boon upon her part to allow the duke of cambridge _to go to paris_--and instead of its being considered as such by lord clarendon and count walewski, the queen was told it would offend the emperor if the duke did not go to the tuileries also. the queen observed that it was unnecessary and unusual for the duke, or any prince almost, to live at the _palace_ of the sovereign, unless he was a very particular friend or near relation. the duke of genoa had refused going there, though he had received other civilities here; in the same manner _no prince_ comes to this _palace_ unless he is a very _near relation_ or particular friend. to this lord clarendon replied that it was "because the _emperor wished_ it," which rather shocked the queen, and she spoke _strongly_ to him upon the subject. the result was that the queen said she would speak to the duke of cambridge about it, and see, as the emperor made _so great a point of it_, and lord clarendon considered that the _alliance depended upon it_, what he would do.... the queen must and _will_ protest, for she cannot mix up personal friendship with a political alliance. the former is the _result_ of the _experience_ of years of mutual friendship, and cannot be _carried by storm_.... there would be nothing unusual in apartments being offered to the duke of cambridge, and declined by him. this was done by the king of the belgians only last summer at berlin and vienna, without anybody's construing it into an affront. the queen adds a list of the royal personages who have been in england and never resided at the palace. lord aberdeen may show this letter to lord clarendon. [footnote : the duke was going to the crimea, and it was arranged that he should stop at paris on the way.] [pageheading: stability of the government] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ st march ._ the queen has to acknowledge lord john russell's letter of this morning. much as she must regret the postponement of the second reading of the reform bill, she must admit its wisdom under the present peculiar circumstances;[ ] but she doubts the advantage of naming a precise day after easter on which it is to come on. considering the _importance_ to the country of _preserving_ the present government and of not allowing it to be beat on so vital a question, the opportunity should not be lost of ascertaining the state of feeling both in the house of commons and in the country after the reassembling of parliament, before the government decide on entering upon the struggle which the carrying through of the measure might entail. it is quite impossible _now_ to conjecture with certainty what that state of feeling and the general political circumstances at home and abroad may be at that time. possibly the country may be more eager _then for_ the measure--or the war may _disincline_ it _altogether_ towards it. the queen seizes this opportunity of expressing her sense of the _imperative importance_ of the cabinet being _united_ and of one mind at this moment, and not to let it _appear_ that there are differences of opinion within it. the knowledge that there are such is a cause of great _anxiety_ to the queen, at a time when she is to enter upon a european war, of which nobody can confidently predict the extent. [footnote : see the queen's letter of the th of march, _post_.] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ nd february (? march) ._ in returning these letters to lord aberdeen the queen must express to him that there are _hints_ in them which give her great uneasiness. the stability of this government is not only of _paramount importance_ at the _commencement_ of the war, but throughout it; the moment for negotiation may arrive much sooner than we now expect--and _then_, more than _now even_, the government ought to be composed of the _ablest and most moderate_ men which this country can produce. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th march ._ the queen thanks lord john russell for his letter received this morning. she has read the proceedings in the house of commons with much interest.[ ] she was particularly pleased with lord john's second speech, in which he affirmed the principle that public men ought not to oppose the regard for personal honour or reputation to the well-understood interests of the country. indeed, the queen cannot conceive the possibility of their collision, as an exclusive regard for the well-understood interests of the country must always redound to the honour and reputation of a statesman. [footnote : lord john russell had announced the decision of the government to postpone till the th of april the second reading of the reform bill, and, in reply to some sarcastic comments from mr disraeli, stated that he would be ashamed of himself if he preferred anything connected with his own personal reputation to the interest of the country. he added that the security of the country depended upon its confidence in the character of public men.] [pageheading: the baltic fleet] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th march ._ my dearest uncle,--your kind letter of the th arrived here on saturday just when we returned from a splendid and never-to-be-forgotten sight-- the sailing of our noble fleet for the baltic;[ ] the navy and nation were particularly pleased at _my leading them out_, as they call it, which in fact was the case, as, in our little _fairy_ we went on and lay to, to see them all come out, which (the wind being fair) they did, with sails set, each passing us close by, and giving us three hearty cheers, as i think none but british tars _can_ give. gloriously they bore along, followed by the prayers and good wishes of all. you should read the account in yesterday's _times_. another sailing squadron goes to-morrow. the captains and admirals all took leave on board, and seemed much impressed with the solemnity of the moment.... ever your truly devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the fleet, under sir charles napier, had been assembled at spithead.] [pageheading: the king of prussia] [pageheading: prussian neutrality] [pageheading: war declared] _queen victoria to the king of prussia._ [_translation._] osborne, _ th march ._ dear sir and brother,--general count von der gröben has brought me the official letter of your majesty, as well as the confidential one,[ ] and i send your kind messenger back, with these two answers to you. he will be able to tell you, orally, what i can express only imperfectly in writing, how deep my pain is, after our going so far, faithfully, hand in hand, to see you, at this weighty moment, separating yourself from us. my pain is still further increased by the fact that i cannot even conceive the grounds which move your majesty to take this step. [footnote : the prussian court considered itself under no obligation to engage in the impending struggle, till its own interests became directly involved; it would not (said baron manteuffel, president of the ministry, on the th of march) take part, for the protection of the integrity of the ottoman empire, "in a conflict, the full scope of which cannot yet be apprehended, and the original subject matter of which does not affect the interests of our fatherland."] the most recent russian proposals came as an answer to the _last_ attempt for an understanding which the powers believed could be arrived at honourably, and they have been rejected by the vienna conference, not because they were not in accordance with the literal wording of the programme, but because they were contrary to the intention of it. your majesty's ambassador has taken part in this conference and its decision, and when your majesty now says: "the task of diplomacy ceases at the exact point where that of the sovereigns emphatically begins"; i am unable to assent to such a definition. for what my ambassador does, he does in my name, and i feel myself not only bound in honour thereby, but also placed under an obligation to take upon myself the _consequences_ which the step which he is directed to take may lead to. the dreadful and incalculable consequences of a war weigh upon my heart not less than on your majesty's. i also know that the emperor of russia does not wish for it. he, none the less, demands from the porte things which all the powers of europe--among them, yourself--have solemnly declared to be incompatible with the independence of the porte, and the european balance of power. in view of this declaration and of the presence of the russian army of invasion in the principalities, the powers could not but be ready to confirm their word by action. if "the turk" now goes into the background, and if the approaching war appears to you as a "war of tendency" this is the case only because the very motives which may induce the emperor to insist on his demands--in defiance of the opposition of the whole of europe, and with the danger of a war that may devastate the world, do betray a _distinct tendency_, and because the grave consequences of the war must appear much more momentous than the original ostensible cause of it, which at first appeared only as the request for a key to the back door of a mosque. your majesty asks me "to examine the question in a spirit of love for peace, and even now to build a bridge for the imperial honour." ah, my dear sir and brother, all the inventive gifts, all the architecture of diplomacy and of goodwill, have been uselessly wasted during these last nine months in this bridge-building! the _projets de notes, de conventions, de protocoles_, etc., etc., have proceeded, by the dozen, from the chancelleries of the different powers, and one might call the ink wasted on them another black sea. but everything has been shipwrecked against the self-will of your honourable brother-in-law. if now your majesty informs me "_that now you mean to persist in complete neutrality_," and if, on this occasion, you refer us to your nation, who are said to exclaim with sound common sense: "acts of violence have been done by the turks, the turk has good friends in large numbers, and the emperor has done us no harm"--i do not understand you. certainly i should understand this language if i heard it from the kings of hanover or of saxony. but i have, hitherto, looked upon prussia as one of the great powers which, since the peace of , have been guarantors of treaties, guardians of civilisation, defenders of the right, the real arbiters of the nations; and for my part i have felt the divine responsibility of this sacred office, without undervaluing at the same time the heavy obligation, not unconnected with danger, which it imposes on me. if you, dear sir and brother, abdicate these obligations, you have also abdicated that position for prussia. and should such an example find imitators, then the civilisation of europe would be delivered up to the play of winds; right will then no longer find a champion, the oppressed will find no longer an umpire. let not your majesty believe that what has been said in this letter is aimed at persuading you to change your resolves; it flows from the affectionate heart of a sister, who could not pardon herself, were she not, at so weighty a moment, to let you see into her inmost soul. so little is it my intention to desire to win you over to our view, that nothing has grieved me more than the suspicion, expressed in your name by general von der gröben, that england had desired to seduce you from your purpose by opening a prospect of advantages to be gained. the baselessness of such a supposition is evident from the treaty itself which had been offered to you, and whose most important clause consisted in the promise of the contracting parties, _not to desire in any case to derive from the war any advantage for themselves_. your majesty could not have given a more powerful proof of your unselfishness than by the very fact of attaching your signature to this treaty. to come to a close. you suppose that war may already have been declared; you express, however, at the same time, the hope that it may not already have actually broken out. i cannot unfortunately hold out any hope that the sentence will be followed by any stay of execution. shakespeare's words: "beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear it that the opposer may beware of thee," are deeply engraved on the hearts of all englishmen. sad that they are to find an application at this crisis, in a nation with whom previously nothing prevailed but friendship and affection! and how much more melancholy must be the present emotions of your majesty's heart and mind to see such words applied to a beloved brother-in-law, whom yet--however much you love him--your conscience cannot absolve from the crime of having brought upon the world wilfully and frivolously such awful misery! may the almighty take you under his protection! with albert's most cordial compliments, and our united greetings to the dear queen, i remain, my much honoured sir and brother, your majesty's faithful sister and friend, victoria r.[ ] [footnote : the king afterwards agreed to the proposed protocol for the preservation of the integrity of turkey, which was signed at vienna on the th of april.] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ _ st april ._ the queen rejoices to see the debate was favourable in the house of lords, and that it was concluded in the house of commons.[ ] she is rather startled at seeing lord aberdeen's answer to lord roden upon the subject of a day of humiliation, as he has never mentioned the subject to her, and it is one upon which she feels strongly. the only thing the queen ever heard about it was from the duke of newcastle, who suggested the _possibility_ of an _appropriate_ prayer being introduced into the liturgy, in which the queen quite agreed; but he was strongly against a day of humiliation, in which the queen also entirely agreed, as she thinks we have recourse to them far too often, and they thereby lose their effect. the queen therefore hopes that this will be reconsidered carefully, and a _prayer_ substituted for the _day of humiliation_. were the services selected for these days of a different kind to what they are--the queen would feel less strongly about it; but they always select chapters from the old testament and psalms which are so totally inapplicable that it does away with all the effect it ought to have. moreover, really to say (as we probably should) that the _great sinfulness of the nation_ has brought about this war, when it is the selfishness and ambition of _one_ man and his servants who have brought this about, while our conduct has been throughout actuated by unselfishness and honesty, would be too manifestly repulsive to the feelings of every one, and would be a mere act of hypocrisy. let there be a prayer expressive of our great thankfulness for the benefits we have enjoyed, and for the immense prosperity of this country, and entreating god's help and protection in the coming struggle. in this the queen would join heart and soul. if there is to be a day set apart, let it be for prayer in this sense. [footnote : on the th of march the queen announced to parliament that the negotiations with the czar had terminated, and that she felt bound "to afford active assistance to her ally, the sultan." next day the declaration of war was issued, containing a narrative of the events which finally led to the rupture. the debates on the address in answer to the message took place on the st of march, mr bright, in the commons, censuring the declaration, and being replied to by lord palmerston. the addresses were presented to the queen on the rd of april.] [pageheading: the reform question] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ the queen is anxious to express to lord john russell the extreme satisfaction she experiences at the communication lord aberdeen yesterday evening made her of the settlement of the reform question, viz., of its postponement for the present session, with the understanding that it is to be brought forward again whenever the state of affairs will admit of its being fairly and calmly considered by parliament.[ ] the sacrifice of personal feeling which no doubt this may cost lord john will, she is certain, be amply compensated by the conviction that he has done so for the interest and tranquillity of his sovereign and country, to whom a dissolution of the present government would have been a source of immense danger and evil. [footnote : from a memorandum, made by prince albert, of interviews with lord aberdeen, it appears that before the cabinet of the th of april lord palmerston declared that under neither present nor any future conditions could he vote for the second reading of the reform bill. lord john thereupon tendered his resignation; this lord aberdeen asked him to suspend until after the meeting of the cabinet.] [pageheading: dissension in the cabinet] [pageheading: lord john russell] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ th april ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he cannot think it consistent with fairness to conceal from your majesty the deep feelings of mortification which affect him on reviewing the proceedings of the cabinet yesterday.[ ] lord aberdeen was the only person who behaved with due regard to the honour of the administration. the rest appeared ready to sacrifice everything in order to keep the ministry together; and lord john russell feels bound to warn your majesty that, although he was quite willing to waive the consideration of the reform bill for the present session, he is not ready to consent that it shall be entirely set aside in order to keep together a ministry whose continuance would be dearly bought at the price of the welfare of the country, and the consistency of public men. lord john russell must reflect further on this subject before he comes to a final determination. [footnote : lord john russell's actions at this period of his career seem often incomprehensible; but his private domestic anxieties seem to have weighed him down. having made the great sacrifice, for an ex-premier, of taking office under an old opponent, he was now engaged in trying to regain the first place for himself. lord aberdeen had always contemplated retiring in his favour, but would not give up the premiership in the face of the dangers threatening the country. moreover, he had believed his continuance in office to be a guarantee for peace. lord john russell, after accepting the foreign office, had then insisted on being a minister without office; later still, by displacing mr strutt and transferring lord granville to the duchy, he himself became lord president of the council, an office which no commoner had held since the reign of henry viii. by such action, coupled with perpetual threats of resignation, he marred his prospects of succeeding lord aberdeen, and, as will be seen, failed in his attempt to construct an administration when the opportunity was offered him.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ the queen received lord john russell's letter last night. she is much grieved that he should be "affected by deep feelings of mortification on reviewing the proceedings of the cabinet." from all the queen had heard of the views of the different members of the cabinet, she believes them to have been fully convinced that the present moment would be inopportune to press the reform bill, but _quite_ prepared to take it up again on the first fitting opportunity; she, of course, does _not_ speak of lord palmerston. the queen would, no more than lord john, wish to see "the reform bill set aside in order to keep together a ministry," but does not consider the decision of the cabinet at all to imply this, whatever lord palmerston's personal wishes may be, and trusts that the country will fully understand and appreciate the motives which have guided the government. lord aberdeen and lord john will always receive every support from the queen when they shall think it right to propose the re-introduction of the measure. [pageheading: lord john russell] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ lord aberdeen has just left the queen, after an interview which he had had with sir james graham and lord john russell at lord john's request. he reported that at that interview lord john renewed his complaint of the cabinet, declared that he could not state to the house what was untrue, and must therefore resign. lord aberdeen called this "really too monstrous" after the pledge given by the sovereign, himself as prime minister, and the whole cabinet, with the exception of one man, and he would repeat his promise that whenever lord john said, "the reform bill is to come on," and lord palmerston opposed it, he should go. lord john could not be appeased, but spoke with the greatest bitterness. he had written to lord palmerston in the same sense; and lord palmerston's answer arrived during the interview. it was to the effect that if one of them was to resign, it was not lord john, who agreed with the rest of the cabinet upon the bill, but himself, who was the dissentient. lord aberdeen asked lord john whether lord palmerston's resignation would satisfy him; to which he answered, he believed it would not mend matters. lord aberdeen's opinion, however, is that it is what lord john, and still more what lady john, wants. he thinks the country will never understand how the government could break up, and that lord john is cutting his own throat, and told him so. if lord john went, he could not go on with lord palmerston as leader of the house of commons, which he called "perfectly ludicrous." lord palmerston would probably insist upon this, however; lord palmerston's retirement would be a great blow to the government, as the country persisted in thinking him the only able war minister, and would cry out at "the imbecile old head of the government having it now all his own way." he thought, should he not be able to go on, new combinations could be formed, perhaps under the duke of newcastle and mr gladstone, as the country liked younger men. lord john must give his answer in the house of commons to-morrow at half-past four. lord aberdeen would wish to see the duke of newcastle, sir james graham, and mr gladstone, as his more particular friends, this evening, to discuss the whole question with them, and would see lord palmerston and lord john to-morrow, before he could make any report to the queen. this is all really very bad! albert. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th april ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he has the honour to acknowledge, with gratitude, your majesty's communication of yesterday. lord john russell waited to see lord aberdeen before he answered, and having now had a long conversation with him, lord john russell being assured of your majesty's support, of lord aberdeen's concurrence, and of the assent of the majority of his colleagues, is willing to continue his humble services in the cabinet, and in the house of commons. lord john russell must ask your majesty to excuse what may have seemed intemperate in his letter of sunday last. he is still of opinion that without public confidence in his integrity and uprightness he can be of no use to your majesty, or to the country. and on that confidence must depend the continuance of his services.[ ] [footnote : on the same day lord john announced in the commons the withdrawal of the reform bill. he admitted that this course would expose him to the taunts and sarcasms of his opponents, and to the suspicions of his supporters. here "his feelings overcame him, and, as he used the word 'suspicion' in reference to his motive, his utterance was choked, and the sentence he struggled to pronounce was evidently given through tears." (_ann. reg._, , p. .) loud and sympathetic cheers followed from all parts of the house.] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th april ._ we saw lord aberdeen at three o'clock to-day, who reported to the queen that the change of mind of lord john had been the result of an hour and a half's discussion with him this morning. he must admit, however, that he found lord john in a mood willing to let himself be convinced. the queen's letter might have contributed to this as well as the entreaties of the duke of bedford and lord lansdowne. lord aberdeen could tell lord john in truth that there was not a shadow of difference of opinion amongst any of his friends, that he would lose himself for ever, and meet with universal reprobation, if he persisted in resigning after every cause for it had been removed, and he had agreed to the course lord palmerston had insisted upon. lord palmerston had written a very clever letter to lord john, begging him not to desert the queen and the country, which, if he read it to the house of commons, would floor lord john completely. we asked what had been agreed upon at yesterday evening's meeting. lord aberdeen told us the decision, under the impression that lord john would resign, had been for lord aberdeen to call upon lord palmerston, and to explain to him that although he had acted cordially with him as a colleague in this government, yet they had been political antagonists during their whole lives--the government also was still a reform government; from personal, therefore, as well as public, reasons it was impossible that he should be entrusted with the lead of the house of commons, being the only anti-reformer. and it was hoped that he would have no difficulty in letting mr gladstone lead the house, as sir james graham was the same age and political standing with lord palmerston, but at once cheerfully contented to waive all his claims in favour of mr gladstone. albert. [pageheading: the duke of cambridge] [pageheading: the emperor of austria] _the duke of cambridge to queen victoria._[ ] vienna, _ th april ._ my dear cousin,--before leaving this place i think it right that i should once more trouble you with a letter, to inform you that the messenger has arrived who brought your autograph letter for the emperor, which i presented to him to-day at an audience i had for this purpose.... i had a very long and most interesting conversation with the emperor, who opened frankly and fairly upon the great questions of the day. the impression he made upon me was an excellent one, his confidence and frankness are complete, and i have the firm conviction that he is a man of his word, and that he never would say a thing that he did not in his heart mean. the result of what he said was the following: that he naturally was most distressed at all that had occurred; that he was placed by the emperor of russia in a most difficult position; that he quite disapproved his acts; but that he could not but have a great disinclination to break with a very old ally; and that even still he hoped this painful step might be spared to him by the emperor of russia making some proposal so honourable to all parties, that it would not be rejected by the western powers, who would naturally not be disinclined to a peace, honourable to themselves and tranquillising for the future; that the basis of such treaty would be the position of the christian population of the east; that this might be discussed in conference, the russians having _first_ evacuated the principalities, upon which the turks would hold the right bank of the danube, our fleets to await events in the bosphorus, and our armies at constantinople, such position being highly honourable and advantageous to us in the eyes of europe, and certainly not nearly so favourable to russia; that he was certainly sensible that the english government had not pressed him, feeling as they had done the extreme delicacy of his position, and the great extent of his frontier so easily attacked; that he did not wish to say now, till the moment of decision came, thinking it more honourable and straightforward not to raise false expectations, but that his interests being so completely with us, should the emperor of russia do nothing in the honourable direction he hoped to see him adopt, he should then consider himself called upon to express frankly to us what he proposed to do, in order that our action might become united and of advantage to one another. he further thought that the treaty with prussia would greatly facilitate all this, as prussia had acceded to the wishes of austria in the event of certain eventualities, which, however, for the moment are not named, but which, as far as i understand, go to the length of leaving austria unfettered to act as she likes at the moment when she considers her so doing essential to her position as a young empire. it is quite evident to me that this is the general feeling here, amongst all those who have any weight in the councils of the empire. these are _austrian_ views, and i must say i can understand them and appreciate them as such. i am confident, i am certain, they are _honest_ on the part of the emperor, and i doubt not he will carry them through to the letter, for i am confident the emperor never would say what he did not mean. rely upon it, this country will never go with russia; she knows her interests too well for that; she would like to avoid a war altogether if she could, and with that view she would be delighted to see some honourable and acceptable proposal made, but should this fail she will then take a very decided line, and that line will be in accordance with austrian interests--which means with us. i find that most of the more prudent people, and many of those in high office, are fully alive to the advantages of the english alliance, and would wish to see this alliance confirmed _de novo_; and i think it would be very well for us to meet them half-way with this. but then it would be better to avoid all after-dinner speeches such as those at the reform club,[ ] all polish legions such as are talked of, and in short any of these little matters, which are painfully felt here, and which always produce an uncomfortable and distrustful effect. the emperor expressed himself in the most grateful manner towards yourself, and i think is pleased at your having permitted me to be present on this occasion.... hoping that you will approve of my humble endeavours here, and with sincere regards to albert, i beg to remain, my dear cousin, your most dutiful cousin, george. [footnote : the english forces destined for the east were under the command of lord raglan (formerly lord fitzroy somerset). the duke of cambridge commanded one infantry division, the other three being respectively under sir george brown, sir de lacy evans, and sir richard england; the cavalry division was commanded by the earl of lucan, general scarlett commanding the heavy cavalry, and lord cardigan the light brigade.] [footnote : at a dinner given on the th of march by the reform club to sir charles napier, lord palmerston, who was in the chair, and sir james graham, had made provocative and unbecoming speeches; on attention being called in parliament to the proceedings, mr bright complained of the reckless levity displayed; lord palmerston made a flippant and undignified defence, the tone of which was much resented.] [pageheading: bombardment of odessa] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may ._ my dearest uncle,--accept my best thanks for your kind letter of the th. i return you the emperor's kind letter. nothing could be more satisfactory than the reception george met with by everybody at vienna--beginning with the emperor. they showed him much confidence, and he obtained from them intelligence which i think no one else would. the fleets have done their duty admirably at odessa;[ ] the town has not been touched, and all the fortifications and many ships have been destroyed.... we had a concert last night, and i saw good sir h. seymour, who is full of your kindness and goodness; and a most worthy, honourable and courageous little man he is.[ ] if the poor emperor nicholas had had a few such--_nous ne serions pas où nous en sommes_. but unfortunately the emperor does _not like_ being _told_ what is unpleasant and _contrary_ to _his wishes_, and gets very violent when he hears the _real_ truth--which _consequently_ is not told him! there is the misery of being violent and passionate; if princes and still more kings and emperors are so, _no_ one will _ever_ tell them the truth, and _how_ dreadful that is! i think one never can be too careful in bringing up princes to inculcate the principle of _self-control_. we have a good deal of rain and thunder since yesterday, which i hope will revive poor parched nature. i must now wish you good-bye, as i expect dear victoire shortly. nemours intends going to fetch the queen. with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : in consequence of the russians firing upon a flag of truce, odessa was bombarded on the nd of april, and most of its batteries silenced or destroyed.] [footnote : the conversations of sir hamilton seymour and the emperor nicholas in the year had now been given to the world. the czar, believing the time ripe for the dismemberment of turkey, had expressed himself openly to the british ambassador, and the conversations were all reported to the british ministry. on the nd of march , an obviously inspired article in the _journal de st. pétersbourg_ professed to contradict the statements of lord john russell in the house of commons reflecting on the bad faith of the russian government, and accordingly, in their own vindication, the english cabinet now published the conversations above referred to.] [pageheading: the sultan] [pageheading: the british forces] _the duke of cambridge to queen victoria._ constantinople, _ th may ._ my dear cousin,--i have not as yet announced to you my safe arrival here, as i was anxious first to see the sultan and the general state of things before giving you a report of what was really going on.... i found a great proportion of the infantry arrived, a portion of the artillery, but as yet no cavalry. lord raglan is well and in good spirits, lord stratford de redcliffe ill in bed with a bad fit of the gout--most miserable to see in every respect. the sultan[ ] received me at once on the day of arrival, and made his return visit to me yesterday. i confess i was not much impressed with either his appearance or general ability. he is, to say the truth, a wretched creature, prematurely aged, and having nothing whatever to say for himself. a few commonplace civilities was all the conversation which passed between us. i said everything i could think of to make a conversation, among other things messages of civility from yourself; but though he appeared pleased and expressed his satisfaction at our being here, i could not get him to enter into anything, and i was not sorry on both occasions when our interview was at an end. as to his ministers, and in fact the whole population and country, with the exception of redschid pasha,[ ] they are all a most wretched and miserable set of people, and far, far worse than anything i could possibly have imagined or supposed. in fact, the "sick man" is _excessively sick indeed_, dying as fast as possible; and the sooner diplomacy disposes of him the better, for no earthly power can save him, that is very evident. this is the opinion of every person out here of both armies, french and english, and you may rest assured it is the truth. the great thing is that we are here and no other power can now step in, but diplomacy must settle what is to happen, for as to the turks remaining in europe that is out of the question, and the very fact of our being here now has given them their death-blow. i hope, my dear cousin, you will forgive me for being very candid on this point, but i really do not think that anybody in england had any idea of the real state of affairs here. the sooner therefore that they are put in possession of the truth unvarnished the better. the great and imperative necessity is that the four powers of europe should strike together, otherwise things will become much worse than they are even at present. everybody is very civil and obliging to me, the sultan has put me into one of his best palaces, very nicely fitted up, and is anxious to do everything i wish. i find it inconvenient, as the troops are on the other side of the bosphorus, and i therefore intend going over there to reside if possible. marshal st arnaud is here and prince napoleon, but no french troops. i have seen the latter once; he was very civil indeed to me, but i do not think he has made at all a good impression here, his manner being offensive and harsh. i do not think the army like him at all. i am afraid the french ambassador is giving much trouble. neither st arnaud nor the prince like him at all, and i believe they have written to demand his recall, which would be a very good thing, as he cannot hit it off with anybody. as to our movements, i know nothing of them as yet, nor do i think that much has as yet been settled, but i fear we shall not be fit to move for some time; the difficulty of transport is very great, our artillery only partly arrived, and no cavalry. we require more troops, more particularly of the latter arm, in which the russians are very strong. we ought to have at least , men more, and the sooner they are sent out the better. even that number is not enough, for the french talk of , men, and we should be in a most dreadful minority unless we had , to , . i am afraid all this will alarm people in england, but it is the truth.... i remain, my dear cousin, your most dutiful cousin, george. we never hear any news here. all that does come to us generally comes by way of europe; another proof of what a miserable country this is. [footnote : abdul medjid, born , who had succeeded to the throne at the time of the syrian war; see _ante_, vol. i., th august, , note .] [footnote : minister of foreign affairs, born , died .] [pageheading: the king of prussia] _the king of prussia to queen victoria._ [_translation._] sans souci, _ th may ._ most gracious queen,--... my policy,[ ] which has been so terribly criticised and derided as "vacillating," has been, since the beginning of this most inauspicious conflict, one and the same, and _without a hairsbreadth of deviation_ either to the right or to the left. as it rests on the unshakable foundation which my conscience as a king and a christian has laid down, and which does not admit _que je fasse la besogne ni de l'un ni de l'autre parti_, i am abused and insulted at the winter palace, and regarded, by way of contrast in london and paris, as a kind of simpleton--neither of which is pleasant. may your majesty believe my royal word: i was, i am, i remain the truest and most faithful friend of great britain, as well in principle as from religious feeling and from true affection. i desire and practise a good and honest understanding with france; but when it comes to helping the french--to whom prussia's geographical position between paris and warsaw is very inconvenient--to pull the _chestnuts from the fire_ for them, for such a task i am frankly too good. if the emperor wishes to force me to assist--as evidently he is inclined to do--it will end by becoming too difficult for him. he ought to thank god that my view of russian policy and my fidelity to your majesty have prevented me from making him begin this _turkish_ war on the _other side of his own frontier_. the great advantage of this result is totally forgotten in france, and, unfortunately, in england too. those who every day fill the papers of home and foreign countries with accounts of my vacillations, nay, who represent me as leaping from my own horse on to a russian one, are inventing lies, in a great measure, deliberately. i tell your majesty, on my honour and conscience, that my policy is to-day _the same_ as it was nine months ago. i have recognised it as my duty before god to preserve, for my people and my provinces, peace, _because i recognise peace as a blessing and war as a curse_. i cannot and will not side with russia, because russia's arrogance and wickedness have caused this _horrible_ trouble, and because duty and conscience and tradition forbid me to draw the sword against old england. in the same degree duty and conscience forbid me to make unprovoked war against russia, because russia, so far, has done me no harm. so i thought, so i willed when i thought myself isolated. how then could i now suddenly abandon a steady policy, preserved in the face of many dangers, and incline to russia at the moment when i have concluded with austria an alliance defensive and offensive, in which (if god grant his blessing) the whole of germany will join in a few days, thus welding, for the entire duration of the war, the whole of central europe into a unity, comprising , , people, and easily able to put , , men into the field? and yet, most gracious queen, i do not take up a defiant position on the strength of this enormous power, but i trust in the lord's help and my own sacred right; i also believe, honestly and firmly, that the character of a so-called great power must justify itself, _not by swimming with the current_, but _by standing firm like a rock in the sea_. i close this letter which, in consequence of various interruptions, is almost a week old, on the th of may. this is your birthday, ever dearest, most gracious queen. on this day i lay at your majesty's feet the expression of my wishes for every blessing. may god grant your majesty a joyful day, and a richly blessed year of rule. may he strengthen, preserve, and invigorate your precious health, and may he give you, within the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year of your life which begins to-day, _that_ one day of overabundant blessing, of unspeakable joy, for which i long, for which i pray to god--_that blissful day on which you can utter the word_ peace. now i beg your majesty from the bottom of my heart not to be angry with me for my unconscionably long letter, nor to worry yourself about sending an answer, but, on the other hand, graciously to keep it secret, communicating it only to the dear prince. it is a matter of course that the facts which it contains, and the resulting explanations, which may be of importance for your majesty's government, must, from their nature, no longer be kept secret, so soon as you think it right to announce them. i embrace the dear prince tenderly, and commend myself to the grace, goodwill, and friendship of my august royal sister, i being your majesty's most faithfully devoted, most attached servant and good brother, frederic william. [footnote : in the previous portion of this long letter, here omitted, the king gives a detailed account of his position and policy.] [pageheading: marshal st arnaud] _queen victoria to the duke of newcastle._ osborne, _ th may ._ the queen acknowledges the receipt of the duke of newcastle's letter, which she received quite early this morning. the duke of cambridge's letter does _not_ give a flourishing account of the state of turkey. what alarms the queen most is the news given by the duke of newcastle of the pretensions of marshal st arnaud.[ ] she does not quite understand whether he has received the supreme command over the turkish army, but at any rate if the porte should be willing to allow its army to be placed under foreign command, a portion of it ought to be claimed by us for lord raglan, which, joined to his english forces, would produce an army capable of taking the field independently. the queen trusts that the government will take this into serious consideration, and, if they should concur in this view, that no time will be lost. [footnote : the duke had written to say that a demand had been made by marshal st arnaud upon the porte that omar pasha should be superseded, and the turkish army placed under his (st arnaud's) orders; also that marshal st arnaud was desirous of assuming the supreme command of the allied forces. the incident is graphically recorded by mr kinglake.] [pageheading: the queen's reply] [pageheading: invasion of the principalities] [pageheading: friendly relations] _queen victoria to the king of prussia._ [_translation._] buckingham palace, _june ._ dearest sir and brother,--your faithful bunsen has handed me your majesty's long explanatory letter, and has taken his leave of us,[ ] with tears in his eyes, and i can assure your majesty that i, too, see with pain the departure of one whom i have been accustomed to consider as the faithful mirror of your feelings, wishes, and views, and whose depth and warmth of heart i esteem no less highly than his high mental gifts. sympathy with his fate is general here. i entirely recognise in your letter the expression of your friendship, which is so dear to me, and which does not admit any sort of misunderstanding to exist between us, without my endeavouring at once to clear it up and remove it. how could i meet your friendship otherwise than by equally absolute frankness, allowing you to look into my inmost heart! though you have shown me a proof of your gracious confidence in giving me, down to the smallest detail, an account of your personal and business relations with your servants, i still believe that i have no right to formulate any judgment. only one thing my heart bids me to express, viz., that the men with whom you have broken were faithful, veracious servants, warmly devoted to you, and that just by the freedom and independence of spirit, with which they have expressed their opinions to your majesty, _they have given an indisputable proof_ of having had in view, not their own personal advantage and the favour of their sovereign, but his true interests and welfare alone; and if just such men as these--among them even your loving brother, a thoroughly noble and chivalrous prince, standing next to the throne--find themselves forced, in a grave crisis, to turn away from you, this is a _momentous sign_, which might well give cause to your majesty to take counsel with yourself, and to examine with anxious care, whether perhaps the hidden cause of past and future evils may not lie in your majesty's own views?[ ] you complain, most honoured sire and brother, that your policy is blamed as _vacillating_, and that your own person is insulted at home and abroad (a thing which has often filled me with _deep grief and indignation_), and you asseverate that your policy rests upon a firm basis, which the conscience of "a king and a christian has laid down for it." but should it be possible to discover in your majesty's fundamental views something self-contradictory, then necessarily, the more consistently and conscientiously these fundamental views are revealed in their consequences, the more contradictory must your actions appear to those who are not intimately aware of your intentions, and cannot but force upon the world the impression that your views themselves were wavering. you will not take it amiss in a true friend and sister, if she endeavours to place before you her impressions on this matter, as frankly as they appear to her. your majesty has acknowledged in the face of the world that russia has addressed to the porte demands which she had no right to make. you have further acknowledged that the forcible taking possession of two turkish provinces with the intention of enforcing the demand was a political wrong. you have, together with austria, france, and england, several times declared in protocols the preservation of the integrity of the turkish empire to be a european interest. notwithstanding all this, russia continues to occupy the danube principalities, penetrates further into turkey, and, by forcing on a sanguinary and exhausting war, leads the unhappy and _suffering_ empire on to the brink of the grave. what should europe then do under these circumstances? it could not possibly be the intention of the powers to declare the preservation and integrity of the porte to be a matter of european concern, solely in order to allow that empire to be destroyed before their very eyes! as to prussia, i can conceive a line of policy, not that indeed which i should think in harmony with the generosity and chivalry of your rule, but still one possible in itself, by which she would say to herself: "the preservation of this integrity i have indeed declared to be a matter of european concern, but i wish to leave england and france to defend that policy with their wealth and blood, and reserve to myself only a _moral_ co-operation." but what am i to think if, after england and france with courageous readiness have taken upon themselves alone this immense responsibility, sacrifice, and danger, your majesty is now mainly considering the erection of a barrier of , , of men between them and that power, against whose encroachment the european interest is to be defended? what am i to say to the threat uttered against the _west_ as well as against the _east?_ and to your even asking from the west gratitude for "the enormous advantage" that you do not, into the bargain, yourself join in attacking it!! for your majesty says expressly in your letter: "the emperor ought to thank god that my view of russian policy, my _fidelity_ to your majesty, have prevented me from making him begin the turkish war on the other side of his own frontier. the enormous advantage of this abstention is totally forgotten in france, and, unfortunately, in england too!" dearest sir and brother, this language shows a contradiction in your own mind, which fills me with the greatest anxiety for possible consequences, an anxiety not diminished by your kindly adding: "duty, conscience, and tradition forbid you to draw the sword against old england." i shall gladly with you bless the day on which the word of peace can be uttered. your majesty can, by vigorous co-operation, help to usher in that day, just as you might have--in my conviction--contributed, by vigorous co-operation to prevent the war altogether. whatever these troublous times may bring us, i harbour the firm confidence that the warmth of our friendly relations cannot be troubled by anything, and rejoice in the circumstance that the personal relations of the two sovereigns are, in this matter, so entirely in harmony with the interests of the two nations. albert sends you his homage, and i remain, with most cordial remembrance to the dear queen, and with thanks for the kind wishes expressed by both of you, ever your majesty's faithful sister and friend, victoria r. [footnote : the influence of russia over the king had been proved by the recall of baron bunsen, and the dismissal of all those ministers who had opposed the policy of the czar in turkey.] [footnote : the prince of prussia had shown his dissatisfaction with the king's policy by quitting berlin.] [pageheading: the war office] _minute of interview by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ lord aberdeen had an audience to-day before the council, and represented that what was intended was merely a division of the office of secretary of state, and not the creation of any new power, and must be considered rather as a means of avoiding further changes.[ ] lord grey, in hearing of this intention, called it in a letter "the worst arrangement of all," as unfavourable to his further views; the duke of newcastle would fill the office, and would have to prepare the changes, inherent in the arrangement, and was determined not to break down the present arrangements; lord john russell was agreed herewith, and sir george grey would take office knowing this to be lord aberdeen's firm decision. but there was in fact no choice. mr rich would this afternoon bring forward a motion in the house of commons for the consolidation of all military offices under one department and a civil head, and lord john russell, to whom lord aberdeen had said that the queen still hesitated about admitting the separation of the duties of secretary of state, declared to him angrily, if that was so, he would go down to the house and vote for mr rich's motion!! the motion would be carried without fail in the house. so this important measure had been carried by storm (as the queen could only give way under these circumstances), and carried without a definite plan, leaving everything to the future!! lord john is to be lord president, and he insisted upon sir george grey taking the colonies. lord aberdeen fears much dissatisfaction from lord canning, mr cardwell, and mr peel, and just dissatisfaction; the cabinet are very angry at the whole proceeding. lord granville behaved exceedingly well, putting himself and his office entirely at lord aberdeen's disposal.[ ] it is supposed that in the house expressions will be dropped in favour of lord palmerston's taking the conduct of the war in his hands. the duke of newcastle, whom we saw, also states the extreme difficulty of _defining_ the duties of the secretary of state, but promises to do so, as far as possible, for the queen's convenience. albert. [footnote : lord john russell had some time before proposed the separation of the war and colonial departments, with a view of filling the colonial office himself, "which, in every point of view." wrote lord aberdeen to the queen, "would have been a most satisfactory arrangement."] [footnote : lord fitzmaurice, in his _life of lord granville_, points out that mr strutt was really the person who had a right to complain. he was abruptly removed from the chancellorship of the duchy, and replaced by lord granville to suit lord john's convenience.] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ the queen has not yet acknowledged lord aberdeen's letter of the th. she is very glad to hear that he will take an opportunity to-day of dispelling misapprehensions which have arisen in the public mind in consequence of his last speech in the house of lords, and the effect of which has given the queen very great uneasiness.[ ] she knows lord aberdeen so well that she can fully enter into his feelings and understand what he means, but the public, particularly under strong excitement of patriotic feeling, is impatient and annoyed to hear at this moment the first minister of the crown enter into an _impartial_ examination of the emperor of russia's character and conduct. the qualities in lord aberdeen's character which the queen values most highly, his candour and his courage in expressing opinions even if opposed to general feelings of the moment, are in this instance dangerous to him, and the queen hopes that in the vindication of his own conduct to-day, which ought to be triumphant, as it wants in fact _no_ vindication, he will not undertake the ungrateful and injurious task of vindicating the emperor of russia from any of the exaggerated charges brought against him and his policy at a time when there is enough in it to make us fight with all might against it. [footnote : the speech of lord aberdeen, to which the queen here refers, had created a very unsatisfactory impression. on the th of june the venerable lord lyndhurst had denounced the aggressive policy and the perfidy of russia; in the debate which followed, lord aberdeen spoke coldly, in a strain of semi-apology for russia, and with an unlucky reference to the treaty of adrianople. popular feeling against russia being then at a white heat, the speech was considered indicative of apathy on behalf of the government in the prosecution of the war. accordingly, by moving on a later day for a copy of his own despatch of , relative to the treaty, the premier obtained an opportunity of dispelling some of the apprehensions which his speech had excited.] [pageheading: the russian loan] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th june ._ the queen observes in lord cowley's letter a suggestion of m. drouyn de lhuys to stop, if possible, the russian loan. she thinks this of the highest importance as _cutting_ the _sinews_ of war of the enemy. the queen does not know whether we have by law the power to forbid the quotation of this stock in our market, but a short act of parliament might be obtained for the purpose. the london and paris markets rejecting such paper would have the greatest influence upon its issue.[ ] [footnote : lord clarendon replied:--"... with reference to your majesty's note of this morning, lord clarendon begs to say that having laid a case fully before the law officers, and having ascertained from them that it would be high treason for any subject of your majesty's to be concerned in the russian loan, he will give all possible circulation to the opinion, and he has this evening sent it to vienna, berlin, and the hague...."] [pageheading: instructions to lord raglan] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th june ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. the cabinet assembled yesterday evening at lord john russell's, at richmond, and continued to a very late hour.[ ] a draft of instructions to lord raglan had been prepared by the duke of newcastle, in which the necessity of a prompt attack upon sebastopol and the russian fleet was strongly urged. the amount of force now assembled at varna, and in the neighbourhood, appeared to be amply sufficient to justify such an enterprise, with the assistance of the english and french fleets. but although the expedition to the crimea was pressed very warmly, and recommended to be undertaken with the least possible delay, the final decision was left to the judgment and discretion of lord raglan and marshal st arnaud, after they should have communicated with omar pasha. it was also decided to send the reserve force, now in england, of , men, to join lord raglan without delay. this will exhaust the whole disposable force of the country at this time, and renders it impossible to supply british troops for any undertaking in the baltic. a communication was therefore made yesterday to the french government to know whether they would be disposed to send , french troops, to be conveyed in english transports, to the baltic, in order to join in an attack upon the aland islands,[ ] which appeared to be attended with no great difficulty; although any attempt upon helsingfors, or cronstadt, was pronounced by sir charles napier to be hopeless. [footnote : the war now entered upon a new phase. though the land forces of the allies had hitherto not come into conflict with the enemy, the turks under omar pasha had been unexpectedly successful in their resistance to the russians, whom a little later they decisively defeated at giurgevo. silistria had been determinedly besieged by the russians, and its fall was daily expected. yet, under the leadership of three young englishmen, captain butler and lieutenants nasmyth and ballard, the russians were beaten off and the siege raised. the schemes of the czar against turkey in europe had miscarried. mr kinglake describes, in an interesting passage, the growth in the public mind of a determination that the crimea should be invaded, and sebastopol destroyed. the emperor napoleon had suggested the plan at an earlier stage, and the _times_ newspaper fanned popular enthusiasm in favour of it. the improved outlook in the east warranted the attempt being made, but the plan was not regarded with unqualified approval by the commanders of the allied forces in the east. in the speech, already referred to, of lord lyndhurst, the project had been urged upon the government, and lord raglan considered that the despatch now sanctioned by the cabinet, which is printed in the _invasion of the crimea_, left him no discretion in the matter. the scheme had previously been considered in all its aspects by the cabinet, and mr kinglake gives an exaggerated importance to the fact that some of the members of the cabinet gave way to sleep while the long draft of instructions was being read to them at the after-dinner council at pembroke lodge.] [footnote : bomarsund, a fortress on one of these islands, was taken by sir charles napier, aided by a french contingent under general baraguay d'hilliers, on the th of august; but the high expectations raised as to the success of the operations in the baltic were not realised.] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th june ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. he begs to call your majesty's attention to the circumstance that, in , your majesty was graciously pleased to authorise sir robert peel to declare that your majesty had determined that the income tax should be charged upon the sum payable to your majesty under the civil list act, and that this declaration was received with marked satisfaction. lord aberdeen humbly presumes that your majesty will be disposed to follow the same course with reference to the augmentation of the tax; and should this be the case, lord aberdeen begs to intimate that the time for making it known has now fully arrived.... [pageheading: home defences] _queen victoria to the duke, of newcastle._ buckingham palace, _ rd july ._ in consequence of the departure of these additional , men for the east, the queen feels very uneasy at the very defenceless state in which the country will be left, not from any want of confidence arising from the present conjuncture of affairs, but from a strong sense of the impolicy and danger of leaving this great country in such a helpless state under any circumstances, for we never can foresee what events may not suddenly spring up at any moment (like greece, for instance[ ]) which may require a force to be in readiness for any particular purpose. the queen therefore wishes the duke of newcastle to give her detailed answers upon the various points stated in the accompanying paper; but the queen wishes to have the "_effective_ state" and not "the state upon paper only." the duke will be able to obtain these reports from the different departments. what store of muskets are there _here?_ when will the new ones be ready? what is the force of artillery left in the country in men and horses? what amount of troops are there in the country of infantry (deducting the , men under orders for the east), and of cavalry, and where are they stationed? how much militia has been and will be embodied? what is the naval force at home? how much serviceable ammunition is there both of artillery and small arms in the country? [footnote : a violently hostile feeling between the turks and greeks had culminated earlier in the year in a formidable insurrection among the sultan's greek subjects. it was terminated on the th of june by an engagement at kalampaka, in thessaly.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ the queen approves the enclosed drafts, and wishes only to remark on one passage, where lord clarendon says, "that he acts by the unanimous desire of the cabinet," which she thinks better altered or omitted. if left, it might weaken the authority of future instructions emanating from the secretary of state alone; moreover, he acts constitutionally under the authority of the queen, on his own responsibility and not that of the cabinet. _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ the queen has just received lord aberdeen's letter, and has fully considered the contents of it. she has finally decided to make no change in her intended departure, from a conviction that her doing so might shake confidence in the result of this night's debate. should anything serious occur, she would be ready to return to-morrow or at any time that her presence in town was considered of importance to the public service. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th july ._ the queen has received lord john russell's letter of yesterday, and was very glad to hear that both the meeting and the debate went off so well. the party which supports the government is certainly "a strange basis for a government to rest upon," but such as it is we must make the best of it, and nothing will contribute more to keeping it together than to give it the impression that the government is thoroughly united.[ ] [footnote : during a desultory discussion on the th of july, mr disraeli had assailed the government and its chief in the commons, to such purpose that lord john russell, stung by his sarcasms, and mortified by his own failure, asked lord aberdeen to relieve him of the leadership of the house. the queen, to whom he had also written, entreated lord john not to let his opponent see that his object in making his attack had been successful. a meeting of the ministerialists was held on the th at the foreign office, at which one hundred and eighty members of the house of commons were present, and some diversity of opinion was expressed; the result of the meeting was that the government was more satisfactorily supported.] [pageheading: indian affairs] _queen victoria to the marquis of dalhousie._ buckingham palace, _ th july ._ it is a very long time since the queen has had the pleasure of hearing from lord dalhousie, but she supposes that (fortunately) there is very little to say, everything being so quiet and prosperous. the queen highly appreciates and values lord dalhousie's kind offer to remain in india while there is any prospect of difficulty being caused by the present war, which will be a source of great satisfaction and tranquillity to her, as she feels that her indian dominions cannot be in safer hands. the queen wishes to tell lord dalhousie how much interested and pleased we have been in making the acquaintance of the young maharajah dhuleep singh.[ ] it is not without mixed feelings of pain and sympathy that the queen sees this young prince, once destined to so high and powerful a position, and now reduced to so dependent a one by her arms; his youth, amiable character, and striking good looks, as well as his being a christian, the first of his high rank who has embraced our faith, must incline every one favourably towards him, and it will be a pleasure to us to do all we can to be of use to him, and to befriend and protect him. it also interested us to see poor old prince gholam mohammed, the last son of the once so dreaded tippoo sahib. we both hope that lord dalhousie's health is good, and the prince sends him his kind remembrance. [footnote : this young prince was born in , and was a younger son of runjeet singh, chief of the sikhs, who, after a loyal alliance with england for thirty years, died in . in dhuleep singh was raised to the throne, which had been occupied successively by runjeet's elder sons. after the sikh war in , the british government gave to the boy-king the support of a british force. in , after the destruction of the sikh army at gujerat, and the annexation of the punjab, a pension was bestowed on the young maharajah on condition of his remaining loyal to the british government. he became a christian and was at this time on a visit to england.] [pageheading: military appointments] _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ osborne, _ th august ._ the queen has received lord hardinge's letter of the th.[ ] she would for the future wish all papers for signature to be accompanied by a descriptive list showing at a glance the purport of the documents, as is done with papers from other government offices. the queen has looked over the lists of major-generals made by the last brevet which lord hardinge submitted, and must confess that it does not afford a great choice; yet, leaving out the cavalry officers and those disqualified by age or infirmities, there remain some few whom she has marked with an "x," for whose exclusion no adequate reason is apparent. an exclusion of officers who have served in the guards, _merely on that account_, the queen would not wish to see adopted as a principle, and the selection of colonels of the line (because there are no generals fit), in preference to generals of the guards who are perfectly so, will amount to this. general eden,[ ] moreover, has been in command of a regiment of the line, and general knollys[ ] has not been promoted from the guards, and, in accepting the governorship of guernsey, specially begged that this might not exclude him from active service--a circumstance which he mentioned to the prince at the time. both these have the reputation of very good officers. the queen does not wish anything to be arranged prospectively now, but would recommend the subject to lord hardinge's future consideration. [footnote : in reply to a letter from the queen, stating that she had inadvertently signed certain papers in the ordinary course. her attention had not been drawn to their important features.] [footnote : lieut.-general john eden, c.b., nephew of the first lord auckland.] [footnote : sir william knollys, k.c.b., - , became in the organiser of the newly formed camp at aldershot.] [pageheading: special prayers] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ osborne, _ st august ._ the queen must repeat what she has frequently done, that she strongly objects to these _special_ prayers which _are_, in fact, _not_ a sign of gratitude or confidence in the almighty--for if this is the course to be pursued, we _ought_ to have one for every _illness_, and certainly in ' the influenza was notoriously more _fatal_ than the cholera had ever been, and _yet no one_ would have thought of having a prayer against _that_. our liturgy _has_ provided for these calamities, and we may have frequent returns of the cholera--and yet it would be difficult to _define_ the _number_ of deaths which are to _make_ "a form of prayer" _necessary_. the queen would, therefore, strongly recommend the usual prayer being used, and no other, as is the case for the prayer in time of war. what is the use of the prayers in the liturgy, which were no doubt composed when we were subject to other equally fatal diseases, if a new one is always to be framed specially for the cholera? the queen would wish lord aberdeen to give this as her decided opinion to the archbishop, at all events, for the present. last year the cholera quite decimated newcastle, and was bad in many other places, but there was _no special_ prayer, and _now_ the illness is in _london_ but _not_ in any other place, a prayer is proposed by the archbishop. the queen cannot see the difference between the one and the other. [pageheading: civil list pensions] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ st september ._ lord aberdeen, with his humble duty, begs to lay before your majesty the pensions proposed to be granted on the civil list at this time. the only case requiring any special remark is that of the children of lord nelson's adopted daughter. there seems little doubt that the person referred to was really lord nelson's daughter, according to evidence recently produced, and was recommended by him to the care of the country, just before the battle of trafalgar.[ ] a numerous party in the house of commons wished that your majesty's government should propose a special vote for this person and her family; but the cabinet thought that it would give rise to much scandal and disagreeable debate, and finally recommended lord aberdeen to place the three daughters on the pension list. the circumstances of the case are, no doubt, very peculiar; and although lord aberdeen does not feel perfectly satisfied with the course pursued, he thinks it very desirable to avoid the sort of parliamentary debates to which the discussion of such a subject would necessarily give rise. [footnote : horatia, daughter of nelson and lady hamilton, was born on the th of january , and married in the rev. philip ward of tenterden. she died in .] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._[ ] boulogne, _le septembre ._ madame et bonne s[oe]ur,--la présence du digne époux de votre majesté au milieu d'un camp français est un fait d'une grande signification politique, puisqu'il prouve l'union intime des deux pays: mais j'aime mieux aujourd'hui ne pas envisager le côté politique de cette visite et vous dire sincèrement combien j'ai été heureux de me trouver pendant quelques jours avec un prince aussi accompli, un homme doué de qualités si séduisantes et de connaissances si profondes. il peut être convaincu d'emporter avec lui mes sentiments de haute estime et d'amitié. mais plus il m'a été donné d'apprécier le prince albert, plus je dois être touché de la bienveillance qu'a eue votre majesté de s'en séparer pour moi quelque jours. je remercie votre majesté de l'admirable lettre qu'elle a bien voulu m'écrire et des choses affectueuses qu'elle contenait pour l'impératrice. je me suis empressé de lui en faire part et elle y a été très sensible. je prie votre majesté de recevoir l'expression de mes sentiments respectueux et de me croire, de votre majesté, le bon frère, napolÉon. [footnote : the french emperor had established a camp between boulogne and st omer, and early in the summer had invited prince albert to visit him. it was reasonably conjectured at the time that one of the chief purposes of the invitation was by personal intercourse to overcome the prejudice which the emperor believed prevailed against him. the visit lasted from the th till the th of september, and the prince's impressions were recorded in a memorandum, "the value of which," writes sir theodore martin, by way of preface to his publication of it, "cannot be overstated; nor is it less valuable for the light which it throws upon the prince's character, by the remarkable contrasts between himself and the emperor of the french, which were elicited in the unreserved discussions which each seems equally to have courted."] [pageheading: prince albert and the emperor] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ nd september ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty.... count walewski told lord clarendon to-day that the emperor had spoken with enthusiasm of the prince, saying that in all his experience he had never met with a person possessing such various and profound knowledge, or who communicated it with the same frankness. his majesty added that he had never learned so much in a short time, and was grateful. he began his conversation with reproaching count walewski for not having written to him much oftener respecting the prince, and endeavoured to ascertain the opinions of his royal highness upon all important subjects. with respect to the invitation, the emperor's account of it to count walewski was that he had apologised to the prince for the bad reception he had given his royal highness, and expressed a hope that he might have an opportunity of _doing better_ at paris, if your majesty and the prince would honour him with a visit; and that his royal highness had then said, "the queen hopes to see your majesty at windsor, and will be happy to make acquaintance with the empress." the emperor, however, had only taken this as a courteous return to his invitation, and not as intended for a positive invitation. lord clarendon told count walewski that he believed the matter had passed inversely, and that the prince had first communicated your majesty's message. be that as it may, count walewski said the emperor will be delighted to avail himself of the queen's gracious kindness; nothing will give him so much pleasure.... [pageheading: the emperor's visit] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ th september ._ the queen returns the two letters from lord cowley. she is very sorry to see doubts arise as to the correctness of the intelligence about the safe debarkation of our whole expeditionary force in the crimea, but still clings to the hope of its being true. count walewski's account of the emperor's version of his conversation with the prince explains what the prince suspected at one time himself, that the emperor had not understood the prince's remark as conveying a _direct_ invitation, but merely as a general term of civility. what the prince intended to convey was something between the two, making it clear that he would be well received, and leaving it entirely open to him to come or not according to his own political views and circumstances. this appeared to the prince the most polite and delicate, preventing all appearance as if a counter-visit for his own at boulogne was expected. lest the emperor should not have rightly understood the prince, he repeated the wish to see the emperor in england, and the hope of the queen to make the empress's acquaintance also, _more directly_ to marshal vaillant, who gave the same answer as the emperor had done--he hoped we should come to paris in return. matters stand as well as possible with regard to the visit; in the queen's opinion, the emperor can come if he likes, and if prevented, is bound to nothing. should he ask when his visit would be most agreeable to the queen, the middle of november would be the time. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ th september ._ the queen returns the enclosed letters. the french show their usual vivacity in pressing so hard for decision upon what is to be done with sebastopol when taken.[ ] surely we ought to have taken it first before we can dispose of it, and everything as to the decision about it must depend upon the state in which we receive it, and the opinion of the military and naval commanders after they find themselves in possession of it. the queen hopes, therefore, that lord clarendon will succeed in restraining french impatience as he has often done before. [footnote : lord clarendon had given the queen the two reasons for which the french were pressing, in anticipation, the retention of the crimea, viz. as affording suitable winter quarters, and as a guarantee in case of peace negotiations. on the th of september the allied forces had sailed for the crimea; on the st the queen learned by telegram that , english, , french, and , turks had landed safely without encountering resistance, and begun the march to sebastopol. the queen, with her usual kindly solicitude for the health and comfort of her ministers, had summoned lord aberdeen from london to have the benefit of the scotch air; he remained at balmoral from the th till the th, when he went to his own house at haddo. immediately after his departure, a telegram arrived from lord clarendon announcing the victory of the alma.] [pageheading: battle of the alma] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ haddo house, _ st october ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. he had the honour of receiving your majesty's box this morning at nine o'clock by post; and he now sends a messenger to aberdeen, with despatches received this morning from london, to meet the special conveyance to balmoral this evening. lord aberdeen humbly presumes to offer his most cordial congratulations to your majesty on the great intelligence received by telegraph this morning. the account sent by lord stratford of the victory on the alma must be correct; the report mentioned by mr colquhoun[ ] may possibly be so too. at all events, we may fairly hope that the fall of sebastopol cannot long be delayed. lord aberdeen has written to lord clarendon this morning on the subject of the fortifications of sebastopol, which although, somewhat embarrassing at the moment, is not attended with any great practical importance. lord aberdeen regrets that the speedy return of the post prevents him from sending your majesty a copy of his letter, which in substance, however, was to the following effect. without attaching any undue importance to the decision, he was inclined to adhere to his first proposition of the immediate and entire destruction of the works. he did not see the advantage of doing the thing by halves; while the destruction of the sea defences only might give rise to erroneous impressions and would be of an equivocal character. the fall of sebastopol would in fact be the conquest of the crimea, and the allies might winter there with perfect security, as, by occupying the lines of perekop,[ ] any access to the crimea would effectually be prevented by land. lord aberdeen thought that with a view to peace, and the restitution of the crimea to russia, it would be more easy for the emperor to accept the destruction of the fortifications when accomplished, than to agree to any stipulation having such an object. on the whole, lord aberdeen was inclined to think that if the place should not be at once destroyed, it might be better to preserve it in its present state, until the matter should be further considered. the allies would always have it in their power to act as they thought best, and the question might in some degree be affected by future events. the great objection to leaving the matter undecided for the present appeared to be from the possibility of differences hereafter between france and england upon the subject. after the astounding proposition made to lord raglan by the french generals when actually embarked and at sea, it would be well to leave nothing in doubt. the turks, too, might perhaps desire to have a voice in the matter, and might become troublesome.... [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) robert gilmour colquhoun ( - ), agent and consul-general at bucharest.] [footnote : a district on the isthmus of crimea, guarded by a wall and a ditch, the name meaning "cross-ditch." the whole isthmus is now often called perekop.] [pageheading: indian affairs] [pageheading: india and russia] _the marquis of dalhousie to queen victoria._ government house, _ nd october ._ the governor-general presents his most humble duty to your majesty, and begs to offer his respectful thanks for the very gracious manner in which your majesty has been pleased to acknowledge the offer he has made to retain still the government of india during the ensuing year. the governor-general does not affect to say that he makes no sacrifice in so doing. many things unite to warn him that it is time he were gone: and his family circumstances, in which your majesty has long shown so gracious an interest, have rendered the prospect of his remaining longer absent from england a source of much anxiety and perplexity to him. but he felt that this was no time for any man, high or low, to leave his post. and as a seven-years' experience must needs have rendered him more capable of immediate usefulness than any other, though a far abler man, without such experience could possibly be, he did not hesitate to offer the continued service which your majesty might most justly expect, and which he is proud to render cheerfully. your majesty's remark on the absence of any letter from the governor-general of late would have disquieted him with apprehensions that he had been thought neglectful, but that your majesty at the same time ascribed the silence to its real cause. since the announcement of the termination of the burmese war there has, in truth, been no occurrence which, of itself, seemed worthy of being made the subject of a report to your majesty. india has been tranquil in all her borders. and although no event could well be more gratifying than this continuous tranquillity was in itself, still the periodical report of peace and quiet on all sides seemed likely to be as uninteresting as the monotonous, though satisfactory, "all's well" of a ring of sentries. at christmas the governor-general anticipated having the honour of narrating to your majesty the events of a year which he hoped would, before its close, have been fruitful of great results.... very recently an interesting mission has arrived from the khan of kokan, a state to the north of bokhara, reporting the capture of their fort of ak mussid by the russians. the fact was known before; but the mission is important from the certainty it imparts to us that all the turcomans, the people of kokan, of khiva, and of bokhara, all detest as much as they dread the muscovites, with whose approach they are threatened. the khan asks for aid. we can render him but little. the only real bulwark which can be raised for these states of central asia--the only real barrier to the progress of russia which can be set up there--must have their foundations in the treaty, which may be framed by the allied powers after the present war shall have brought the spirit of russia into temporary subjection. the war in which your majesty has engaged with that great power has not been directly felt in this part of your majesty's dominions; but its indirect influence is most sensibly apparent. the notions entertained of russia, and the estimate formed of her powers, by the nations of india, are exaggerated in the extreme. although our pride must wince on hearing it, it is an unquestionable fact that the general belief in india at this moment is that russia gravely menaces the power of england, and will be more than a match for her in the end. this feeling cannot prudently be disregarded. the governor-general need hardly say to your majesty that he believes that any direct attack by russia on these dominions at the present time is utterly impracticable; and that there is no more risk of an invasion of india by the emperor nicholas than of another by mahmood of ghuznee. nevertheless, the uneasy feeling which now prevails among native states and among ourselves, partly of alarm, partly of indefinite expectation, ought to be guarded against; and the means of meeting any difficulties which may arise out of it should be at our command. earnestly desirous to contribute every possible aid to your majesty's arms in the great contest now going on in europe, the governor-general has respectfully placed at the disposal of your majesty's ministers all the four regiments of royal cavalry now serving in india. the infantry is already hardly adequate for our own necessities: and while the governor-general will be quite ready to accept and to face any additional responsibilities which he may be called upon to bear, he has felt it to be his duty to state that, beyond the four regiments of cavalry, european troops cannot safely be spared from india at the present time. the governor-general, however, feels that he is not indulging in any vain boast when he ventures to assure your majesty that, under god's good blessing, these, your dominions in the east, are at present absolutely safe.... your majesty's most obedient, most humble, and devoted subject and servant, dalhousie. [pageheading: deposed indian princes] [pageheading: maharajah dhuleep singh] _queen victoria to the marquis of dalhousie._ balmoral, _ nd october ._ as the queen knows that the east india company are chiefly guided by lord dalhousie's advice with respect to all indian affairs in public as well as of a more private nature, she thinks that she cannot do better than write to him upon a subject which she _feels_ strongly upon, and which she is sure that lord dalhousie will enter into. it is the position of those unfortunate indian princes who have, either themselves or their fathers, been for public reasons deposed. two instances are now before the queen's eyes upon which she wishes to state her opinion. the first is old prince gholam mohammed, and his son prince feroz shah. the queen understands (though she is not sure of the fact) that the old man is here in order to try to obtain his pension continued to his son. this is very natural, and it strikes the queen to be an arrangement difficult to be justified, in a moral point of view, to give these poor people--who after _all_ were once so mighty--_no_ security beyond their lives. whilst we remain permanently in possession of their vast empire, they receive a pension, which is not _even_ continued to their descendants. would it not be much the best to allow them, instead of a pension, to hold, perhaps under the government, a property, which would enable them and their descendants to live respectably, maintaining a certain rank and position? the queen believes that lord dalhousie himself suggested this principle in the case of the ameers of scinde. nothing is more painful for _any_ one than the thought that their children and grandchildren have no future, and may become absolutely beggars. how much more _dreadful_ must this be to proud people, who, like prince gholam, are the sons and grandsons of great princes like hyder ali and tippoo sahib! besides it strikes the queen that the more kindly we treat indian princes, whom _we_ have _conquered_, and the more consideration we show for their birth and former grandeur, the more we shall attach indian princes and governments to us, and the more ready will they be to come under our rule. the second instance is that of the young maharajah dhuleep singh (and the queen must here observe that the favourable opinion she expressed of him, in her last letter to lord dalhousie, has only been confirmed and strengthened by closer acquaintance). this young prince has the _strongest_ claims upon our generosity and sympathy; deposed, for _no_ fault of his, when a little boy of ten years old, he is as innocent as any private individual of the misdeeds which compelled us to depose him, and take possession of his territories. he has besides since become a christian, whereby he is for ever cut off from his own people. his case therefore appears to the queen still stronger than the _former_ one, as he was not even a conquered enemy, but merely powerless in the hands of the sikh soldiery. there is something too painful in the idea of a young deposed sovereign, once so powerful, receiving a pension, and having _no_ security that his children and descendants, and these moreover christians, should have any home or position. the queen hears that lord dalhousie himself would wish and advise his pension to be exchanged for a property on which the maharajah might live, which he might improve (giving thereby a most valuable example) and transmit some day to his descendants, should he have any; she hopes therefore that this may be so settled, and that he may, on attaining the age of eighteen, have a comfortable and fitting position worthy his high rank. where such a property might be must be of course left to lord dalhousie to decide, but the queen hopes that lord dalhousie will give it his serious attention. [pageheading: the austrian proposals] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ th october ._ the queen has received lord clarendon's letters of the th.[ ] she cannot consider it wise to reject the austrian proposals _altogether_, although we may usefully amend them. the success in the crimea ought to be followed up by strengthening the alliance of the european powers, else it may turn out a sterile victory, and the english blood will have flowed in vain; for supposing even the whole crimea to fall into our hands, it is not likely that the war will be concluded on that account. how are england and france to bring it to a termination single-handed? our army in the crimea is the only one we have.... it is true that the austrian proposal promises little performance on her part, yet the stipulation by treaty that she will never let the russians pass the pruth again is a positive advantage to us; and the other, that a defensive and offensive alliance with us is to follow the breaking out of the war by russia against austria, although being entirely at _our_ expense, yet realises the chief condition which will make austria hesitate less to bring it to a war with russia. she always (and not without reason) dreaded to have to fight russia single-handed, and the allied armies in the crimea could not assist her. what reason could austria put forward and justify to prussia and germany, for going to war at this moment? to obtain the evacuation of the principalities was a tangible one, indeed the same _we_ put forward when _we_ declared war; but this is now obtained. we must certainly not allow our policy to be mixed up with the miserable german squabbles, but we must acknowledge that austria, as a member of the confederation, is not and cannot be independent of them. the queen would accordingly advise a temperate consideration of the austrian proposals and an amendment of them in those points which seem to require them, and which lord clarendon clearly points out in his letter, and the avoidance of anything which could weaken the _accord européen_.[ ] the emperor napoleon's answer to lord cowley with reference to this visit to england renders it probable to the queen that he was not anxious to have the general invitation changed into a special one, _obliging_ him to come or to refuse. the answer is almost a refusal now, and has not improved our position. the queen would wish that no anxiety should be shown to obtain the visit, now that it is quite clear to the emperor that he will be _le bienvenu_ at any time. his reception here ought to be a boon to him and not a boon to us. the queen fully enters into the feelings of exultation and joy at the glorious victory of the alma, but this is somewhat damped by the sad loss we have sustained, and the thought of the many bereaved families of all classes who are in mourning for those near and dear to them. [footnote : in one of which, in reference to austria's desire for an offensive and defensive treaty with great britain, lord clarendon had described the austrian terms as irritating, and the discussion of them a mere waste of time.] [footnote : the cabinet, at its meeting on the th, decided to meet the austrian proposals in the most conciliatory manner possible.] [pageheading: the alma] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ hull, _ th october ._ my dearest uncle,--already far away from my loved beautiful highlands and mountains, i find a few minutes to write and thank you for your kind letter of the nd, with such lively and glowing descriptions of such glorious and beautiful scenery, which i hope and trust to see _some day_. still, with all its beauties, i would not exchange it for our northern beauties, which really they are--for a _lovelier_ country with a _more beautiful_ combination of wood and mountain, and river, and cultivation with the greatest wildness, at the same time close at hand, cannot, i am sure, be seen; stockmar is in the greatest admiration of it. we left it yesterday morning, slept at holyrood last night, and came here this evening; the good people of this large port, having since two years entreated us to come here. we shall reach windsor to-morrow. we are, and indeed the whole country is, _entirely_ engrossed with one idea, one _anxious_ thought--the _crimea_. we have received all the _most_ interesting and _gratifying_ details of the _splendid_ and decisive victory of the alma; alas! it was a bloody one. our loss was a heavy one--many have fallen and many are wounded, but my noble troops behaved with a _courage_ and _desperation_ which was beautiful to behold. the russians expected their position would hold out three weeks; their loss was immense--the whole garrison of sebastopol was out. since that, the army has performed a wonderful march to balaklava, and the bombardment of sebastopol has begun. lord raglan's behaviour was worthy of the old duke's--such coolness in the midst of the hottest fire. we have had all the details from young burghersh[ ] (a remarkably nice young man), one of lord raglan's aides-de-camp whom he sent home with the despatches, who was in the midst of it all. i feel so _proud_ of my dear noble troops, who, they say, bear their privations, and the sad disease which still haunts them, with such courage and good humour. george did enormously well, and was not touched. now with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : francis, lord burghersh, afterwards twelfth earl of westmorland ( - ).] [pageheading: france and austria] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen has received lord clarendon's letter referring to the new draft of a treaty with austria proposed by the french government, and has since attentively perused the treaty itself.[ ] vague and inconclusive as it is as to _co-operation_ (which is the main object of our desire), it is a step in advance, and has the advantage of assuring austria of our alliance should the war between her and russia break out. the queen regrets to find a clause omitted which stood in the former french project (rejected by us about three weeks ago), stipulating that austria was to prevent the re-entry of russia into the principalities. although she would of her own accord have to do this, a treaty obligation towards the _belligerents_ to that effect would have made a considerable inroad into her position as a _neutral_ power, and secured a co-operation in the war--_ad hoc_ at least. austria ought to be told, in the queen's opinion, that this project of treaty contains almost nothing; and that her signing it _at once_ would give a moral pledge of her sincerity towards the western powers, who have to pay with the lives of their best troops every day that austria hesitates to do what in the end she must find it in her own interest to do. as to m. olozaga's proposal,[ ] the queen thinks it ought to be treated like all the former ones, viz. met with the remark that we cannot discuss eventualities implying the dethronement of a sovereign with whom we are on a footing of amity. [footnote : lord clarendon wrote that he and lord john russell approved of the treaty, but that lord aberdeen thought that austria would not accept it; while lord palmerston felt confident that austria, even if her co-operation were not now secured, would at least not lend her support to the king of prussia's scheme. at this date only partial and misleading accounts had arrived of the battle of balaklava, and it was believed that four english (not turkish) redoubts had been taken; and, while the disastrous charge of the light brigade had been announced, the success of the heavy cavalry was not yet known. anxiety began accordingly to be felt at home as to the adequacy of the allied forces to encounter the russian army, augmented as it now was by the troops which had recently evacuated the principalities. accordingly fresh efforts were being made to engage austria in effectual alliance with the western powers.] [footnote : the document containing this proposal does not seem to have been preserved among the papers. it was not impossibly a scheme for betrothing king pedro to the infant princess of the asturias, thereby uniting the two crowns, and bringing about the dethronement of queen isabella.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen returns the letters from lord cowley and count walewski.[ ] no consideration on earth ought to stand in the way of our sending what ships we can lay hold of to transport french reinforcements to the crimea, as the safety of our army and the honour of the country are at stake. the queen is ready to give her own yacht for a transport which could carry , men. every account received convinces the queen more and more that numbers alone can ensure success in this instance, and that without them we are running _serious_ risks. [footnote : the count wrote that france was ready to send , men to the crimea, if england could furnish transports. lord clarendon added: "we have not a single available steamer, as all must be left in the baltic until the ice sets in, and the stores, ammunition, and clothing for the army are going out in sailing vessels."] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ my dearest uncle,--i am quite shocked to find that i missed writing my letter to-day--but really _la tête me tourne_. i am so bewildered and excited, and my mind so entirely taken up by the news from the crimea, that i really forget, and what is worse, i get so confused about everything that i am a very unfit correspondent. my whole soul and heart are in the crimea. the conduct of our _dear noble_ troops is _beyond praise_; it is quite heroic, and really i feel a pride to have _such troops_, which is only equalled by my grief for their sufferings. we now know that there has been a pitched battle on the th, in which we have been victorious over much greater numbers, but with great loss on both sides--the greatest on the russian. but we know _nothing_ more, and now we must live in a suspense which is indeed dreadful. then to think of the numbers of families who are living in _such_ anxiety! it is terrible to think of all the wretched wives and mothers who are awaiting the fate of those nearest and dearest to them! in short, it is a time which requires courage and patience to bear as one ought. many thanks, dearest uncle, for your kind letter of the th, which i received on saturday. the brabants will soon leave you; i shall write to leo to-morrow or next day, _quand je pourrais un peu rassembler mes idées_. i must now conclude, dearest uncle. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: inkerman] _queen victoria to lord raglan._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen has received with pride and joy the telegraphic news of the glorious, but alas! bloody victory of the th.[ ] these feelings of pride and satisfaction are, however, painfully alloyed by the grievous news of the loss of so many generals, and in particular sir george cathcart--who was so distinguished and excellent an officer.[ ] we are most thankful that lord raglan's valuable life has been spared; and the queen trusts that he will not expose himself more than is absolutely necessary. the queen cannot sufficiently express her high sense of the great services he has rendered and is rendering to her and the country, by the very able manner in which he has led the bravest troops that ever fought, and which it is a pride to her to be able to call her own. to mark the queen's feelings of approbation she wishes to confer on lord raglan the baton of field-marshal. it affords her the sincerest gratification to confer it on one who has so nobly earned the highest rank in the army, which he so long served in under the immortal hero, who she laments could not witness the success of a friend he so greatly esteemed. both the prince and queen are anxious to express to lord raglan their unbounded admiration of the heroic conduct of the army, and their sincere sympathy in their sufferings and privations so nobly borne. the queen thanks lord raglan for his kind letter of the th ultimo. [footnote : the english loss at the battle of inkerman was over , killed and wounded; the french lost , . the loss of the enemy was doubtful, but the russian estimate (much smaller than our own) was about , killed, wounded, and prisoners. the grand dukes nicholas and michael both fought in the battle.] [footnote : besides sir george cathcart, brigadier-generals strangways and goldie were killed. sir george brown was shot through the arm, major-generals bentinck and codrington, and brigadier-general adams were all severely wounded, but not so seriously. sir de lacy evans a few days earlier, being then in shattered health, had had a fall from his horse, and was absent from the battle.] [pageheading: lord john russell's proposal] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ rd november ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty. he regrets, at a moment of such public interest and importance, to trouble your majesty with domestic difficulties; but he thinks it his duty to lay before your majesty the enclosed correspondence without delay.[ ] lord aberdeen has for some time past expected a proposition of this kind, and it is impossible not to see that it may be attended with very serious consequences. at first lord aberdeen was in doubt whether the proposition was made by lord j. russell in concert with lord palmerston; but this appears not to be the case. much will therefore depend on the decision of lord palmerston. should he join with lord john, matters will probably be pushed to extremity; but should he decline, lord aberdeen does not think that lord john will venture to act alone. [footnote : lord john russell urged, in this correspondence, that lord palmerston should supersede the duke of newcastle at the war office.] [pageheading: maharajah dhuleep singh] _queen victoria to the marquis of dalhousie._ _ th november ._ the queen thanks lord dalhousie for his long and most interesting and satisfactory letter of the nd of october. it is peculiarly gratifying to hear of such quiet and prosperity in her vast indian dominions, in which the queen ever takes the liveliest interest, and at the present moment of intense anxiety, when england's best and noblest blood is being profusely shed to resist the encroaching spirit of russia. the heroism of our noble troops in the midst of herculean difficulties and great privations is unequalled, and will fill lord dalhousie's loyal and patriotic heart with pride and admiration. though entirely concurring in his opinion that russia can undertake no invasion of india, her spirit of encroachment on the north frontier must be carefully watched and, if possible, put a stop to, when peace is made. the progress of the railroad will make an immense difference in india, and tend more than anything else to bring about civilisation, and will in the end facilitate the spread of christianity, which hitherto has made but very slow progress. the queen was already aware of the idea formerly entertained by the maharajah dhuleep singh of marrying the young princess of coorg.[ ] agreeing as she does with lord dalhousie in the wisdom of advising the young man to pause before he makes his choice of a wife, she thinks such a marriage between these two most interesting young christians most desirable; indeed, as lord dalhousie himself observes, the difficulty of any other marriage for either must be great. the young people have met and were pleased with each other, so that the queen hopes that their union will, in the course of time, come to pass. her little god-daughter has been here lately, and though still childish for her age (she is nearly fourteen) is pretty, lively, intelligent, and going on satisfactorily in her education. of the young maharajah, who has now been twice our guest, we can only speak in terms of praise. he promises to be a bright example to all indian princes, for he is thoroughly good and amiable, and most anxious to improve himself. [footnote : a few years earlier, while still holding his ancestral creed, dhuleep singh, had made overtures to the ex-rajah of coorg with a view to his betrothal to the eldest daughter of the latter; but at that time the matter was dropped. after becoming a christian, and having also heard of the baptism of the princess of coorg, the maharajah renewed his proposal, which, however, was not eventually accepted. the princess married an english officer, and died in , aged twenty-four.] [pageheading: battle of inkerman] _prince edward of saxe-weimar[ ] to queen victoria._ camp before sebastopol, _ th november ._ madam,--your majesty's very kind letter reached me by the last mail. i avail myself of your permission to write to you again, although there is not much to say since i last wrote to prince albert on the th or th of this month. i wrote to him soon after the battle of inkerman, when i was still under the excitement of that fearful scene, and i am afraid that i made use of expressions that i was afterwards sorry that i had done. i believe i made some reflections on our commanders, which are at all times wrong. by this time your majesty will, of course, be in possession of all the details of that fearful day, on which our loss was so very great.[ ] i made a mistake in stating the number of dead in the grenadiers; it was much larger than i stated. i think we must have suffered more than any other corps, for, on the following day, when the roll was called, two hundred and twenty-five men were absent; of these one hundred and one were killed, and the rest wounded. there cannot be any doubt that we allowed ourselves to be surprised, for the first notice we had of the russians was receiving their heavy shot in the camp of the nd division. nearly all their tents were torn by round shot. it is even said that a shell lodged in an officer's portmanteau, burst, and, of course, scattered all his goods to the winds. experience has made us wise, or rather lord raglan wise, for since that day the french and ourselves have been busy in entrenching our right; it is now so strong that no enemy can attack us there with the slightest chance of success; it is only a pity it was not done before. the turks were chiefly employed making these redoubts, which is in fact the only thing they have done except burying the dead russians. never shall i forget the sight of the dead and dying russians on the field. some of these poor wretches had to lie on the field for at least sixty hours before they were removed to the hospital tents; the majority of course died. i am afraid this is one of the necessities of war, for we had to remove our own people first. i went round the hospitals next morning. it was a horrid sight to see the bodies of the men who had died during the night stretched before the tents, and to see the heaps of arms and legs, with the trousers and boots still on, that had been cut off by the surgeons. the russians were so near that most of the officers had to use their swords and revolvers. many single acts of daring took place; among others, colonel percy,[ ] of our regiment, dashed in front of his company, sword in hand, into a dense body of russians who were in a battery. i was not in the thick of it, but was engaged with an outlying picquet on the left of the attack. george was in the very thick of it, and, not seeing me, kept asking some of our men where i was. they did not know. he tells me that he thought for a long time i was killed, and even fancied that he had seen me lying on the ground; it turned out later to have been poor colonel dawson's[ ] body which he mistook for me. on the th we had a terrible storm, such a one as, fortunately for mankind, does not happen but very rarely. all our tents of course were blown down, and we passed the day very uncomfortably; but at sea it was terrible. at balaklava alone more than two hundred and sixty souls perished, and eleven ships went down. george will have been able to give you a perfect account of it, for, for many hours, the _retribution_ was in imminent danger. i went a few days after the storm to see him on board.[ ] ... he had a little fever or ague on him, but was otherwise well. he has now gone to constantinople.... may i beg of your majesty to remember me kindly to prince albert and the duchess of kent. i have the honour, etc. edward of saxe-weimar. [footnote : son of duke charles bernard and duchess ida, the latter being a princess of saxe-meiningen and sister to queen adelaide. the prince was at this time lieut.-colonel and a.d.c. to lord raglan. he was afterwards a.d.c. to the queen and ultimately commander of the forces in ireland. he died in .] [footnote : see _ante_, th november, , note .] [footnote : colonel henry hugh manvers percy, - , whose father afterwards became the fifth duke of northumberland. the legion of honour, the medjidie, and the v.c. were all subsequently conferred on him.] [footnote : hon. thomas vesey dawson, brother of the third lord cremorne (created earl of dartrey).] [footnote : in this terrible hurricane the _prince_, a new and magnificent steamer, with a cargo of the value of £ , , including powder, shot and shell, beds, blankets, warm clothing for the troops, and medical stores for the hospitals, was lost; six men only of a crew of one hundred and fifty were saved; but the soldiers of the forty-sixth, whom she was conveying to balaklava, had happily been landed. thirty of our transports, as well as the french warship _henri iv._, were wrecked. a thousand men were lost, and many more escaped drowning, only to fall into the hands of the cossacks and be carried to sebastopol. one solitary source of consolation could be found in the circumstance that the tempest did not occur at an earlier period, when six hundred vessels, heavily laden and dangerously crowded together, were making their way from varna to old fort.] [pageheading: the crimean medal] _queen victoria to the duke of newcastle._ windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen thinks that no time should be lost in announcing the intention of the queen to confer a _medal_ on all those who have been engaged in the arduous and brilliant campaign in the crimea. the medal should have the word "_crimea_" on it, with an appropriate device (for which it would be well to lose no time in having a design made) and _clasps_--like to the peninsular medal, with the names _alma_ and _inkerman_ inscribed on them, according to who had been in one or both battles. _sebastopol_, should it fall, or any other name of a battle which providence may permit our brave troops to gain, can be inscribed on other clasps hereafter to be added. the names _alma_ and _inkerman_ should likewise be borne on the colours of all the regiments who have been engaged in these bloody and glorious actions. the queen is sure that nothing will gratify and encourage our noble troops more than the knowledge that this is to be done. we have just had two hours' most interesting conversation with general bentinck,[ ] whose sound good sense and energy make us deeply regret that he is not now on the spot; he is, however, ready to go out again next year, as lord raglan wishes to give him a division. we hope that, after two or three months' rest, he may be able to go out again. [footnote : general (afterwards sir henry) bentinck had been wounded at inkerman; he returned to the crimea to command a division.] [pageheading: lord john russell] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th december ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. he would have been desirous of personally submitting to your majesty the result of the meeting of the cabinet last night; but he was apprehensive that his sudden journey to windsor castle this morning would give rise to speculations and conjectures which, in the present state of the ministry, it is as well to avoid. lord aberdeen thinks he may venture to assure your majesty that the correspondence recently circulated is regarded by all the members of the cabinet precisely in the same light; and that the propositions of lord john russell are considered by all as quite untenable. lord palmerston forms no exception; and, whatever may be his views in future, it is clear that at present he contemplates no changes in the government. lord john was himself fully aware of this unanimity, and remained entirely silent with respect to his former suggestions. he dwelt in general terms on the absence of vigour in the prosecution of the war, and stated his conviction that the same course would be observed in future. he referred to his position in the house of commons with much bitterness, and declared that he would never pass such another session of parliament as the last. he attributed the frequent defeats of the government in the house of commons to the reform bill having been withdrawn, by which it was shown that hostile attacks might be made with impunity. it was obvious, however, that the drift of his observations tended to the substitution of himself as the head of the government rather than to any change of departments; and this he did not deny, when lord aberdeen pointed out the inference to be drawn from his remarks. finally, lord john said that he had quite made up his mind. he was ready to continue in office during the short session before christmas, and to defend all that had been done; but that he was determined to retire after christmas. an observation being made that it would be unconstitutional to go into parliament with such a determination, he replied that, if such was the opinion, he would request lord aberdeen to convey his resignation to-morrow morning to your majesty, which, at all events, would be perfectly constitutional. lord aberdeen feels it to be his duty to state to your majesty that, whatever may be the real cause, lord john has made up his mind to act in the manner he has announced. in this situation it is lord aberdeen's desire to come to your majesty's assistance by any means in his power. lord john's defection will be a great blow, from which it is very doubtful if the government could recover; but lord aberdeen will come to no conclusion or form any decided opinion until he shall have had the honour of seeing your majesty. [pageheading: cabinet dissensions] _memorandum by the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ lord aberdeen arrived yesterday evening, leaving the cabinet sitting, revising the speech from the throne.[ ] he had come to no decision. sir james graham and mr gladstone had been anxious that he should accept lord john's resignation at once. he himself felt reluctant to do anything which might be considered harsh towards lord john, and might make him a martyr hereafter. there was no doubt, however, that they could not go on with lord john. the universal feeling of the cabinet seemed to be one of indignation ... at lord john's conduct. nobody had expressed himself stronger about it than lord lansdowne to lord clarendon, feeling it, as he said, "quite a necessity to speak out." the chancellor said he owed his political allegiance to lord john as well as his office; but as a man of honour he could not go with him. lord granville feels the same. lord palmerston had written a long and very able letter to lord john, proving the impossibility of joining the offices of secretary at war and secretary of state for war. lord john had now, however, dropped his proposal altogether, and made it quite clear that it was lord aberdeen he wished to have removed. he said to lord palmerston: "when the cabinet was formed, i always understood that lord aberdeen would soon give me up my old place; it has now lasted more than two years, and he seemed to get enamoured with office, and i could not meet the house of commons in the position i was in last session." [footnote : parliament was to meet on the th, chiefly for the purpose of passing a foreign enlistment bill, authorising the immediate enlistment of , (afterwards reduced to , ) foreigners, to be drilled in this country.] in answer to lord palmerston's enquiry what he would do, and how he could expose the country to such fearful risks at such a moment, he said that he would support the government out of office. "you will support it at the head of a very virulent opposition," was lord palmerston's reply; "and when you have succeeded in overthrowing the government, which has difficulty enough to hold its ground even with your assistance, what will you say to the country? will you say: 'here i am. i have triumphed, and have displaced, in the midst of most hazardous operations, all the ablest men the country has produced; but i shall take their place with mr vernon smith, lord seymour, lord minto, and others....'" sir charles wood is the only person who says it is all nothing, and he knows lord john, and it is sure to blow over. lord aberdeen said it is come to a point where this is no longer possible, as he laid his ground not only on the position that the war had been badly conducted, but that it _would_ be so for the future. at the cabinet yesterday a significant incident occurred: lord john asked what should become of reform. lord aberdeen's answer was, that it had been set aside on account of the war, and that as the war was now raging at its height, it could not be brought on again. later, when they came to the passage about education, lord john made an alteration in the draft, adding something about strengthening the institutions of the country. lord palmerston started up and asked: "does that mean reform?" lord john answered: "it might or might not." "well, then," said lord palmerston, with a heat of manner which struck the whole cabinet, and was hardly justified by the occasion, "i wish it to be understood that i protest against any direct or indirect attempt to bring forward the reform question again!" lord john, nettled, muttered to himself, but loud enough to be heard by everybody: "then i shall bring forward the reform bill at once." it is evident to me that after this a junction between lord palmerston and lord john is impossible, and that it must have been lord palmerston's object to make this clear to the cabinet. lord aberdeen has declared that he is quite willing to yield his post to lord john--but that it would not suffice to have got a head--that there must be some members also, and where are they to be found? he is certain that not one of the present cabinet could now serve under lord john. an attempt to solve the question how the present government is to be maintained, naturally leads everybody to the same conclusion: that lord palmerston must be substituted for lord john as the leader of the house of commons. disagreeable as this must be ... to lord aberdeen, and dangerous as the experiment may turn out, we agreed with lord aberdeen that he should make the offer to him with the queen's consent. an alternative proposed by lord clarendon, that lord aberdeen should ask lord john what he advised him to do under the circumstances, was strongly condemned by me, as depriving lord aberdeen of all the advantage of the initiative with lord palmerston. lord aberdeen states his great difficulty to be not only the long antecedent and mutual opposition between him and lord palmerston, but also the fact that lord palmerston loved war for war's sake, and he peace for peace' sake.... he consoled himself, however, at last by the reflection that lord palmerston was not worse than lord john in that respect, and, on the other hand, gave greater weight to the consideration of what was practicable. it remains open for the present whether lord john is to act as the organ for the government during the short session, and resign afterwards, or to resign now. albert. [pageheading: lord rokeby] _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ the queen is glad to hear of lord rokeby's readiness to go out, as she is sure that he will prove himself an efficient officer in command of that noble brigade of guards.[ ] the queen must repeat again her opinion relative to general bentinck. she thinks that he ought to go out again, and that, if a division were offered to him, he would not hesitate (when he has recruited his health) to go out. for the sake of example it would be most desirable, for there evidently is an inclination to ask for leave to go home, which would be very detrimental to the army. [footnote : lord rokeby had on the previous evening been offered and had accepted the command.] [pageheading: lord john russell] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th december ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. the cabinet met to-day, and discussed various measures, with a view to their introduction into parliament during the course of the ensuing session. in this discussion lord john russell took an active part, and must have greatly astonished his colleagues, after their knowledge of all that had recently passed. lord aberdeen had been previously made aware, although not by himself, of the change which had taken place in lord john's intentions. after the meeting of the cabinet, lord john came to lord aberdeen, and spoke of the affair of mr kennedy,[ ] but did not seem disposed to advert to any other subject. lord aberdeen therefore took an opportunity of referring to the correspondence which had taken place, and the notice which had been given by lord john. without any embarrassment, or apparent sense of inconsistency, he at once admitted that he had changed his intention, and attributed it chiefly to a conversation yesterday with lord panmure, who, although a great military reformer, had convinced him that the present was not a fitting time for his proposed changes. lord aberdeen had not seen any member of the cabinet this evening since the meeting terminated, and does not know how they may be affected by this change. some, he feels sure, will be disappointed; but, on the whole, he feels disposed to be well satisfied. it is true that there can be no security for a single week; and it is impossible to escape from a sense of self-degradation by submitting to such an unprecedented state of relations amongst colleagues; but the scandal of a rupture would be so great, and the evils which might ensue so incalculable, that lord aberdeen is sincerely convinced it will be most advantageous for your majesty's service, and for the public, to endeavour, by a conciliatory and prudent course of conduct, to preserve tranquillity and union as long as possible. this does not exclude the necessity of firmness; and in the present case lord aberdeen has yielded nothing whatever, but he has received lord john's change without resentment or displeasure. [footnote : mr kennedy (who was remotely connected by marriage with lord john) had been removed by mr gladstone from an office he held. lord john took it up as a family matter.] [pageheading: the scutari hospital] _the duke of newcastle to queen victoria._ war department, _ nd december ._ ... the duke of newcastle assures your majesty that the condition of the hospital at scutari, and the entire want of all method and arrangement in everything which concerns the comfort of the army, are subjects of constant and most painful anxiety to him, and he wishes most earnestly that he could see his way clearly to an early and complete remedy.[ ] nothing can be more just than are all your majesty's comments upon the state of facts exhibited by these letters, and the duke of newcastle has repeatedly, during the last two months, written in the strongest terms respecting them--but hitherto without avail, and with little other result than a denial of charges, the truth of which must now be considered to be substantiated. your majesty is aware that the duke of newcastle sent out a commission to enquire into the whole state of the medical department nearly three months ago, and he expects a report very soon. in the meantime, the duke of newcastle will again write in the sense of your majesty's letter to him. [footnote : early in november, a band of capable and devoted nurses, under the superintendence of miss florence nightingale, had arrived at scutari, the experiment having been devised and projected by mr sidney herbert, who was a personal friend of miss nightingale. the party was accompanied by mr and mrs bracebridge, whose letters describing the condition of the hospitals had been sent by the queen to the duke of newcastle.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december ._ my dearest uncle,--once more, in this old and very _eventful_ year, allow me to address you, and to ask you for the continuation of that love and affection which you have ever borne me! may god bless you and yours in this new year--and though the old one departs in war and blood, may we hope to see this year restore peace to this troubled world, and may _we_ meet again also! with the affectionate wishes of all the children, believe me always, your most devoted niece, victoria r. introductory note to chapter xxiv at the end of the year , negotiations had been on foot with a view to terminating the war, on terms which were known as the "four points," the third of which was designed to extinguish russian preponderance in the black sea; and a conference of the powers ultimately assembled at vienna for the purpose. early in , sardinia, under the influence of cavour, her premier, joined the western alliance against russia. on parliament re-assembling in january, mr roebuck gave notice of a motion for the appointment of a committee to enquire into the conduct of the war. lord john russell, finding himself unable to resist the motion, at once resigned, and the ministry was overwhelmingly defeated by a majority of more than two to one. lord derby, as leader of the conservative opposition, was summoned to form a ministry, but failed to do so; the age of lord lansdowne prevented his accepting the premiership; and lord john russell, whose action had largely contributed to the defeat of the coalition, then attempted the task, but found that he could not command the support even of his old whig colleagues. the queen accordingly desired lord palmerston, whom the voice of the country unmistakably indicated for the premiership, to construct a government; he was successful in the attempt, the cabinet being a reconstruction of that of lord aberdeen, with lord panmure substituted for the duke of newcastle at the war office, while lord john russell was appointed british plenipotentiary at the vienna conference. the new premier desired to prevent the actual appointment of the committee which mr roebuck's motion demanded, the displacement of the late ministry--the real objective of the attack--having been effected; but as the house of commons manifested a determination to proceed with the appointment of the committee, the peelite section of the cabinet (sir james graham, mr gladstone, and mr sidney herbert) withdrew, and lord john russell, who was then on his way to vienna, accepted the secretaryship of the colonies. early in march, the czar nicholas died suddenly of pulmonary apoplexy, and the expectation of peace increased; shortly afterwards, the emperor and empress of the french paid a state visit to this country, and were received with much enthusiasm, the emperor being made a knight of the garter. in february, a determined attack by the russians upon eupatoria was repulsed by the turks; the defenders of sebastopol, however, succeeded in occupying and fortifying an important position, afterwards known as the "mamelon." the bombardment was resumed by the allies in april, and a successful attack made upon kertsch, from which the supplies of sebastopol were mainly drawn; while a squadron under captain lyons destroyed the russian magazines and stores in the sea of azov. general canrobert was succeeded in the french command by general pélissier, and on the th of june the mamelon was taken by the french. a desperate but, as it proved, unsuccessful assault was then made by the allies on the redan and malakhoff batteries; at this juncture lord raglan died, and was succeeded in the command by general simpson. the vienna conference proved abortive, russia refusing to accept the third point, and though a compromise was proposed by austria, which was favoured by the british and french plenipotentiaries, their respective governments did not ratify their views. the negotiations accordingly broke down, and lord john russell, on his return, used language in parliament quite inconsistent with the view which it afterwards appeared he had urged at vienna. he was loudly denounced for this, and, to avoid parliamentary censure, again resigned office. among the measures which became law during the session, were those for enabling companies to be formed with limited liability, and for granting self-government to some of the australasian colonies. the committee appointed by the house of commons held its meetings in public (after a proposal to keep its investigations secret had been rejected), and, by the casting vote of the chairman, reported that the late cabinet, when directing the expedition to the crimea, had had no adequate information as to the force they would have to encounter there; but a motion to "visit with severe reprehension" every member of the cabinet was parried by carrying the "previous question." in august, the queen and prince albert paid a return visit to the french emperor, and were received with great magnificence in paris, while later in the year king victor emmanuel of sardinia visited this country, and was made a knight of the garter. on the th of august, sweaborg was severely bombarded by the allied fleets in the baltic, and a forlorn attempt to raise the siege of sebastopol resulted in another decisive success at the tchernaya, the sardinian contingent fighting with great bravery. sebastopol fell on the th of september, after a siege of three hundred and forty-nine days; the citadel of kinburn was bombarded and surrendered in october, after which general simpson retired, in favour of sir william codrington. on the other hand, the fortress of kars in armenia, which had been defended by general fenwick williams, had to surrender to the russian general mouravieff, in circumstances, however, so honourable, that the officers were allowed to retain their swords, and their general received a baronetcy and a pension of £ a year. chapter xxiv [pageheading: the four points] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ th january ._ the queen received lord clarendon's box by special messenger yesterday evening. the acceptance by russia of our interpretation of the four points[ ] is a most clever, diplomatic man[oe]uvre, and very embarrassing for us at this moment, before sebastopol is taken, and before austria has been compelled to join in the war. it leaves us no alternative but to meet in conference, which, however, in the queen's opinion, ought to be preceded by a despatch to austria, putting on record our opinion as to the nature and object of the step taken by russia, and the advantages she hopes to derive by it from austria and germany, and the disadvantages she expects to inflict on the western powers. as hostilities ought not to be interrupted unless the russians give up sebastopol and evacuate the crimea (which would give rest and quiet to our poor soldiers), there still remains the hope of our getting the place before preliminaries of peace could be signed; and in that case a peace on the four points would be everything we could desire, and much preferable to the chance of future convulsions of the whole state of europe. russia would then have yielded all our wishes for the future. a mere moral defeat, such as count buol seems disposed to consider as sufficient, would soon prove to have been none at all, and austria would be the power which, to its cost, would find out (when too late) that the preponderance of russia is by no means diminished. the queen has given her permission to lord john to go to paris; he will find the emperor as little able to help himself in this stage of the business as ourselves. the queen is afraid that the news of the russian acceptance may induce our commanders in the crimea to rest on their oars, and thinks it necessary, therefore, that immediate orders should go out, pointing out that the early fall of the town is just now more important than ever. the queen wishes lord clarendon to communicate this letter to lord aberdeen and the duke of newcastle. she returns to windsor this afternoon. [footnote : the celebrated "four points" were-- . cessation of the russian protectorate over moldavia, wallachia, and servia: the privileges granted by the sultan to the principalities to be collectively guaranteed by the powers. . free navigation of the danube. . termination of the preponderance of russia in the black sea. . abandonment by russia of her claim over any subjects of the porte; the five powers to co-operate in obtaining from the sultan the confirmation and observance of the religious privileges of the different christian communities, and to turn to account in their common interest the generous intentions manifested by the sultan, without infringing his dignity or the independence of his crown. towards the end of , negotiations as to the four points had been proceeding between the allies and austria, and on the th of december the three powers had agreed in communicating to russia a memorandum giving a more exact interpretation of the four points. this was agreed upon as the basis on which the plenipotentiaries were to meet at vienna to settle the eastern question, and to conclude the war. another event, productive ultimately of results of great importance, took place at the end of january. king victor emmanuel of sardinia joined the western alliance, and despatched , men under general la marmora to the crimea. this act was inspired by cavour, the sardinian prime minister, who took the step that austria hesitated to take, and thereby established strong claims both upon the emperor napoleon and lord palmerston.] [pageheading: lord aberdeen and the garter] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ before parliament meets for probably a very stormy session, the queen wishes to give a public testimony of her continued confidence in lord aberdeen's administration, by offering him the vacant blue ribbon. the queen need not add a word on her personal feelings of regard and friendship for lord aberdeen, which are known to him now for a long period of years. _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty. he has had the honour of receiving your majesty's most gracious letter, and humbly begs to return your majesty his grateful acknowledgments for this mark of your majesty's continued confidence and favour. when your majesty mentioned the subject to lord aberdeen some time ago, he had not thought of any such distinction; and perhaps at his time of life, and with his present prospects, he scarcely ought to do so. there is no doubt that this unequivocal mark of gracious favour might strengthen his hands, and especially in those quarters where it would be most useful; but the power of misconstruction and malevolence is so great that the effect might possibly be more injurious than beneficial. perhaps your majesty would be graciously pleased to permit lord aberdeen to reflect a little on the subject, and to submit his thoughts to your majesty. lord aberdeen entreats your majesty to believe that in this, as in everything else, it is his desire to look exclusively to your majesty's welfare. when he leaves your majesty's service, your majesty may be fully aware of his many imperfections as a minister; but he trusts that your majesty will always have reason to regard him as perfectly disinterested. _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your majesty. he has maturely reflected on the subject of your majesty's gracious letter of yesterday, and he is fully sensible of the very important advantage which, in his official position, he might derive from such a public and signal proof of your majesty's confidence and favour. although this might naturally give rise to more or less of political animadversion, lord aberdeen would not hesitate in his decision, if the alternative were only between himself and some peer of high rank whose claim consisted in being a supporter of the government; but lord aberdeen believes that he may venture to make a suggestion to your majesty, the effect of which would redound to your majesty's honour, and which might not prove altogether disadvantageous to himself. lord aberdeen understands that in consequence of the regulations of the order, lord cardigan could not properly receive the grand cross of the bath. from his rank and station, lord cardigan might fairly pretend to the garter, but his violent party politics would make it impossible for lord aberdeen, under ordinary circumstances, to submit his name to your majesty for this purpose. at the same time, lord cardigan's great gallantry and personal sacrifices seem to afford him a just claim to your majesty's favourable consideration; and lord aberdeen believes that to confer upon him the blue ribbon at this moment would be regarded as a very graceful act on the part of your majesty. it is even possible that lord aberdeen's political opponents might give him some credit for tendering such advice. if therefore your majesty should be pleased to take the same view of this matter, lord aberdeen would communicate with lord cardigan on his arrival in london, and would willingly postpone all consideration of your majesty's gracious intentions towards himself. but lord aberdeen will venture humbly to repeat his grateful sense of all your majesty's kindness, and his acknowledgments for the expression of sentiments which he can never sufficiently value.[ ] [footnote : subsequently lord aberdeen yielded to the queen's affectionate insistence, and was installed knight of the garter at a chapter held on the th of february.] [pageheading: welfare of the army] _queen victoria to the duke of newcastle._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen returns the enclosed despatch to the duke of newcastle, which she has read with much pleasure, as bringing before lord raglan in an official manner--which will require official enquiry and _answer_--the various points so urgently requiring his attention and remedial effort. it is at the same time so delicately worded that it ought not to offend, although it cannot help, from its matter, being painful to lord raglan. the queen has only one remark to make, viz. the entire omission of her name throughout the document. it speaks simply in the name of the _people_ of england, and of _their_ sympathy, whilst the queen feels it to be one of her highest prerogatives and dearest duties to care for the welfare and success of _her_ army. had the despatch not gone before it was submitted to the queen, in a few words the duke of newcastle would have rectified this omission. the duke of newcastle might with truth have added that, making every allowance for the difficulties before sebastopol, it is difficult to imagine how the army could ever be _moved_ in the field, if the impossibility of keeping it alive is felt in a _stationary camp_ only seven miles from its harbour, with the whole british navy and hundreds of transports at its command. _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen has received lord aberdeen's letter of the th, and has since seen lord john russell's letter. it shows that the practice of the queen's different cabinet ministers going to paris, to have personal explanations with the emperor, besides being hardly a constitutional practice, must lead to much misunderstanding. how is the emperor to distinguish between the views of the queen's government and the private opinions of the different members of the cabinet, all more or less varying, particularly in a coalition government? the queen hopes therefore that this will be the last such visit. the ambassador is the official organ of communication, and the foreign secretary is responsible for his doing his duty, and has the means of controlling him by his instructions and the despatches he receives, all of which are placed on record.[ ] [footnote : the cause of lord john's visit to paris had been the illness there of his sister-in-law, lady harriet elliot; but he took the opportunity of conferring both with the emperor and his ministers on the conduct of the war.--walpole's _life of lord john russell_, chap. xxv.] [pageheading: letter from lord raglan] [pageheading: the commissariat] _lord raglan to queen victoria._ before sebastopol, _ th january ._ lord raglan presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to acknowledge with every sentiment of devotion and gratitude your majesty's most gracious letter of st january, and the kind wishes which your majesty and the prince are pleased to unite in offering to the army and your majesty's most humble servant on the occasion of the new year. the deep concern and anxiety felt by your majesty and the prince for the privations of the troops, their unceasing labours, their exposure to bad weather, and the extensive sickness which prevails among them, are invaluable proofs of the lively interest which your majesty and his royal highness take in the welfare of an army which, under no circumstances, will cease to revere the name, and apply all its best energies to the service of your majesty. lord raglan can with truth assure your majesty that his whole time and all his thoughts are occupied in endeavouring to provide for the various wants of your majesty's troops. it has not been in his power to lighten the burthen of their duties. those exacted from them before sebastopol are for the preservation of the trenches and batteries; and there are many other calls upon the men, more especially when, as at present, the roads are so bad that wheeled carriages can no longer be used, and that the horse transport is diminished by sickness and death, and that the commissariat, having no longer any sufficient means of conveyance at its command, cannot bring up the daily supplies without their assistance, thereby adding, however inevitably, to their labour and fatigue. lord raglan begs leave to submit, for your majesty's information, that the allied armies have no intercourse with the country, and can derive no resources from it; and consequently all the requirements for the conveyance of stores and provisions, as well as the stores and provisions themselves, must be imported. such a necessity forms in itself a difficulty of vast magnitude, which has been greatly felt by him, and has been productive of the most serious consequences to the comfort and welfare of the army. the coffee sent from constantinople has been received and issued to the troops green, the commissariat having no means whatever of roasting it. very recently, however, an able officer of the navy, captain heath of the _sanspareil_, undertook to have machines made by the engineers on board his ship for roasting coffee; and in this he has succeeded, but they have not yet produced as much as is required for the daily consumption. the commissary-general applied to the treasury for roasted coffee three months ago. none has as yet arrived. a very large amount of warm clothing has been distributed, and your majesty's soldiers, habited in the cloaks of various countries, might be taken for the troops of any nation as well as those of england. huts have arrived in great abundance, and as much progress is made in getting them up as could be hoped for, considering that there has been a very heavy fall of snow, and that a thaw has followed it, and the extremely limited means of conveyance at command. much having been said, as lord raglan has been given to understand, in private letters, of the inefficiency of the officers of the staff, he considers it to be due to your majesty, and a simple act of justice to those individuals, to assure your majesty that he has every reason to be satisfied with their exertions, their indefatigable zeal, and undeviating, close attention to their duties, and he may be permitted to add that the horse and mule transport for the carriage of provisions and stores are under the charge of the commissariat, not of the staff, and that the department in question engages the men who are hired to take care of it, and has exclusive authority over them. lord raglan transmitted to the duke of newcastle, in the month of december, the report of a medical board, which he caused to assemble at constantinople for the purpose of ascertaining the state of health of the duke of cambridge. the report evidently showed the necessity of his royal highness's return to england for its re-establishment. this, lord raglan knows, was the opinion of the honourable lieutenant-colonel macdonald,[ ] whose attention and devotion to his royal highness could not be surpassed, and who was himself very anxious to remain with the army. the duke, however, has not gone further than malta, where, it is said, his health has not improved. [footnote : the hon. james bosville macdonald [ - ], son of the third baron macdonald, a.d.c., equerry and private secretary to the duke of cambridge.] [pageheading: the army board] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ nd january ._ the queen has received lord aberdeen's letter of yesterday, giving an account of the proceedings of the last cabinet.... the queen is quite prepared to sanction the proposal of constituting the secretary of state for war, the commander-in-chief, the master-general of the ordnance, and the secretary at war, a board on the affairs of the army, which promises more unity of action in these departments, and takes notice of the fact that the powers and functions of the commander-in-chief are not to be changed. as these, however, rest entirely on tradition, and are in most cases ambiguous and undefined, the queen would wish that they should be clearly defined, and this the more so as she transacts certain business directly with him, and ought to be secured against getting into any collision with the secretary of state, who also takes her pleasure, and gives orders to the commander-in-chief. she would further ask to be regularly furnished with the minutes of the proceedings of the new board, in order to remain acquainted with what is going on. unless, however, the militia be made over to the direction of the secretary of state for _war_, our army system will still remain very incomplete. the last experience has shown that the militia will have to be looked upon as the chief source for recruiting the army, and this will never be done harmoniously and well, unless they both be brought under the same control. with reference to the investiture of the garter, the queen need not assure lord aberdeen that there are few, if any, on whom she will confer the blue ribbon with greater pleasure than on so kind and valued a friend as he is to us both. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th january ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he has had the honour of receiving your majesty's gracious invitation to windsor castle. he would have waited upon your majesty this day had he not been constrained by a sense of duty to write to lord aberdeen last night a letter of which he submits a copy. lord john russell trusts your majesty will be graciously pleased to comply at once with his request. but he feels it would be right to attend your majesty's farther commands before he has the honour of waiting upon your majesty. [pageheading: mr. roebuck's motion] [_enclosure in previous letter._] _lord john russell to the earl of aberdeen._ chesham place, _ rd january ._ my dear lord aberdeen,--mr roebuck has given notice of a motion to enquire into the conduct of the war. i do not see how this motion is to be resisted. but as it involves a censure of the war departments with which some of my colleagues are connected, my only course is to tender my resignation. i therefore have to request you will lay my humble resignation of the office, which i have the honour to hold, before the queen, with the expression of my gratitude for her majesty's kindness for many years. i remain, my dear lord aberdeen, yours very truly, j. russell. [pageheading: lord john russell resigns] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, th _january ._ the queen has this moment received lord john russell's letter and enclosure, and must express to him her surprise and concern at hearing so abruptly of his intention to desert her government on the motion of mr roebuck. _memorandum by the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ yesterday evening lord aberdeen came down here. he had heard that lord john had written to the queen, and she showed him the correspondence. he then reported that lord john's letter to him had come without the slightest notice and warning, and whatever the cause for it might be, the object could only be to upset the government. upon receiving it, he had sent for the duke of newcastle and shown it to him. the duke at once proposed, that as a sacrifice seemed to be required to appease the public for the want of success in the crimea, he was quite ready to be that sacrifice, and entreated that lord aberdeen would put his office into the hands of lord palmerston, who possessed the confidence of the nation; lord aberdeen should propose this at once to the cabinet, he himself would support the government _out_ of office like _in_ office. lord aberdeen then went to lord palmerston to communicate to him what had happened, and ascertain his feelings. lord palmerston was disgusted at lord john's behaviour,[ ] and did not consider himself the least bound to be guided by him; he admitted that somehow or other the public had a notion that he would manage the war department better than anybody else; as for himself, he did not expect to do it half so well as the duke of newcastle, but was prepared to try it, not to let the government be dissolved, which at this moment would be a real calamity for the country. [footnote : lord palmerston wrote him a most scathing letter on the subject.] the cabinet met at two o'clock, and lord aberdeen laid the case before it. the duke then made his proposal, and was followed by lord palmerston, who stated pretty much the same as he had done in the morning, upon which sir george grey said it did both the duke and lord palmerston the highest honour, but he saw no possibility of resisting mr roebuck's motion without lord john; sir charles wood was of the same opinion. lord clarendon proposed that, as the duke had given up his department to lord palmerston, lord john might be induced to remain; but this was at once rejected by lord aberdeen on the ground that they might be justified in sacrificing the duke to the wishes of the country, but they could not to lord john, with any degree of honour. the upshot was, that the whig members of the cabinet, not being inclined to carry on the government (including lord lansdowne), they came to the unanimous determination to tender their resignations. the queen protested against this, as exposing her and the country to the greatest peril, as it was impossible to change the government at this moment without deranging the whole external policy in diplomacy and war, and there was nobody to whom the reins could be confided. lord derby and his party would never have done, but now he had allied himself with lord ellenborough, who was determined to have the conduct of the war.... lord aberdeen thought yet, that on him[ ] devolved the responsibility of replacing what he wantonly destroyed. the queen insisted, however, that lord aberdeen should make one appeal to the cabinet to stand by her, which he promised to do to the best of his ability, but without hope of success. the cabinet will meet at twelve o'clock to-day, but at five the ministers will have to announce their determination to the houses of parliament, as mr roebuck's motion stands for that hour. albert. [footnote : _i.e._, lord john russell.] [pageheading: lord john's justification] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th january ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has received with deep regret the imputations of deserting the government. lord john russell, after being at the head of the ministry for more than five years, and being then the leader of a great party, consented to serve under lord aberdeen, and served for more than a year and a half without office. after sacrificing his position and his reputation for two years, he has come to the conclusion that it would not be for the benefit of the country to resist mr roebuck's motion. but it is clear that the enquiry he contemplates could not be carried on without so weakening the authority of the government that it could not usefully go on. in these circumstances lord john russell has pursued the course which he believes to be for the public benefit. with the most sincere respect for lord aberdeen, he felt he could not abandon his sincere convictions in order to maintain the administration in office. it is the cause of much pain to him that, after sacrificing his position in order to secure your majesty's service from interruption, he should not have obtained your majesty's approbation. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen has received lord john russell's letter of to-day in explanation of his resignation. she has done full justice to the high-minded and disinterested manner in which lord john sacrificed two years ago his position as former prime minister and as leader of a great party, in consenting to serve under lord aberdeen, and hopes she has sufficiently expressed this to him at the time. he will since have found a further proof of her desire to do anything which could be agreeable to him in his position, by cheerfully agreeing to all the various changes of offices which he has at different times wished for. if lord john will consider, however, the moment which he has now chosen to leave her government, and the abrupt way in which his unexpected intention of agreeing in a vote implying censure of the government was announced to her, he cannot be surprised that she could not express her approbation. [pageheading: lord john's indignation] _memorandum by queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen arrived at six o'clock to report the result of the meeting of the cabinet, which was so far satisfactory that they agreed upon retaining office at present for the purpose of meeting mr roebuck's motion. they expect (most of them, at least) to be beat and to have to resign, but they think it more honourable to be driven out than to run away. they will meet parliament therefore without making any changes in the offices. lord aberdeen and the duke of newcastle fancy even that they will have a chance of defeating mr roebuck's motion. sir george grey has declared, however, that, perfectly willing as he is not to desert his post at this moment, he will consider himself at liberty to resign even after success, as he thinks the government has no chance of standing with lord john in opposition. the other whigs would in that case very likely do the same, and the government come to an end in this way; but it is not impossible that sir george grey may be prevailed upon by the queen to stay. much must depend upon the nature of the debate. lord aberdeen seems to have put the queen's desire that the cabinet should reconsider their former decision in the strongest words, which seems to have brought about the present result. he saw lord john this morning who, though personally civil towards himself, was very much excited and very angry at a letter which he had received from the queen. he said he would certainly vote with mr roebuck. the houses are to be adjourned to-day, and the whole discussion comes on to-morrow. lord aberdeen brought a copy of a letter lord palmerston had written to lord john. the peelites in the cabinet, viz. the dukes of newcastle and argyll, sir j. graham, mr gladstone, and mr s. herbert, seem to be very bitter against lord john, and determined to oppose him should he form a government, whilst they would be willing to support a derby government. victoria r. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th january ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is very grateful for your majesty's communication of yesterday. he confesses his resignation was very abrupt, but it is the consequence of many previous discussions in which his advice had been rejected or overruled. lord john russell acknowledges the repeated instances of your majesty's goodness in permitting him to leave the foreign office, and subsequently to serve without office as leader of the house of commons. these changes, however, were not made without due consideration. to be leader of the house of commons and foreign secretary is beyond any man's strength. to continue for a long time leader without an office becomes absurd. lord aberdeen at first meant his own continuance in office to be short, which justified the arrangement. [pageheading: mr roebuck's motion] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._[ ] piccadilly, _ th january ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that lord john russell having made his statement, concluding with an announcement that he did not mean to vote on mr roebuck's motion, and viscount palmerston having made a few remarks on that statement, mr roebuck rose to make his motion; but the paralytic affection under which he has for some time laboured soon overpowered him, and before he had proceeded far in his speech he became so unwell that he was obliged to finish abruptly, make his motion, and sit down. mr sidney herbert, who was to reply to mr roebuck, rose therefore under great disadvantage, as he had to reply to a speech which had not been made; but he acquitted himself with great ability, and made an excellent statement in explanation and defence of the conduct of the government. he was followed by mr henry drummond,[ ] colonel north for the motion, mr monckton milnes against it; lord granby who, in supporting the motion, praised and defended the emperor of russia; mr layard, who in a speech of much animation, gave very strong reasons to show the great impropriety of the motion, and ended by saying he should vote for it; sir george grey, who made a spirited and excellent speech; mr walpole, who supported the motion and endeavoured, but fruitlessly, to establish a similarity between the enquiry proposed by mr roebuck and the enquiry in a committee of the whole house into the conduct of the walcheren expedition when the operation was over and the army had returned to england. mr vernon smith declared that his confidence in the government had been confined to three members--lord lansdowne, lord john russell, and lord palmerston--and that it was greatly diminished by the retirement of lord john russell. colonel sibthorp,[ ] sir john fitzgerald, and mr knightley[ ] followed, and mr disraeli having said that his side of the house required that the debate should be adjourned, an adjournment to monday was agreed to; but viscount palmerston, in consenting to the adjournment, expressed a strong hope that the debate would not be protracted beyond that night. viscount palmerston regrets to say that the general aspect of the house was not very encouraging. [footnote : his first letter to the queen as leader of the house of commons.] [footnote : m.p. for west surrey.] [footnote : sibthorp, whose name is almost forgotten, earned some fame as an opponent of the exhibition of , and remained faithful to protection, after lord derby and his party had dropped it. his beard, his eye-glass, and his clothes were a constant subject for the pencil of leech.] [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) reginald knightley, m.p. for south northamptonshire, - . in the latter year he was created lord knightley of fawsley.] [pageheading: the debate] _the earl of aberdeen to queen victoria._ london, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen presents his humble duty to your majesty. it is probable that your majesty may have heard from lord palmerston some account of the debate in the house of commons last night; but perhaps your majesty may not object to learn the impressions which lord aberdeen has received on the present state of affairs both in and out of the house. there can be no doubt that lord john russell has injured his position by the course which he has pursued. his own friends having remained in the cabinet, is his practical condemnation. he made a very elaborate and dexterous statement; but which, although very plausible, did not produce a good effect. it had been decided that he should be followed by mr gladstone, who was in full possession of the subject; but at the cabinet yesterday held before the meeting of the house, it was decided that lord palmerston should follow lord john, in order to prevent the appearance of a division in the cabinet between the whig and peelite members. as lord palmerston was to act as leader of the house, the substitution of mr gladstone would have appeared strange. but the decision was unfortunate, for by all accounts the speech of lord palmerston was singularly unsuccessful. in the debate which followed, the impression in the house was strongly against the war department; and the indications which occasionally appeared of the possibility of lord palmerston filling that office were received with great cordiality. sir george grey made an excellent speech, and his censure must have been deeply felt by lord john. lord aberdeen has waited until the cabinet had met to-day before he had the honour of writing to your majesty, in order that he might learn the impressions and opinions of the members, especially of those who are in the house of commons. all agree that if the division had taken place last night, mr roebuck's motion would have been carried by a large majority. this still seems to be the prevailing opinion, but there is considerable difference. the motion is so objectionable and so unconstitutional that delay is likely to be favourable to those who oppose it. a little reflection must produce considerable effect. lord aberdeen sees that mr gladstone is preparing for a great effort, and he will do whatever can be effected by reason and eloquence. it is said that lord derby shows some reluctance to accept the responsibility of overthrowing the government; but the part taken last night by mr walpole, and the notice of a motion in the house of lords by lord lyndhurst, would appear to denote a different policy. the result of the division on monday will depend on the course adopted by his friends, _as a party_. it is said that mr disraeli has signified a difference of opinion from mr walpole. [pageheading: defeat of the ministry] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th january ._ ( a.m.) viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that mr roebuck's motion has been carried by to , being a majority of against the government, a great number of the liberal party voting in the majority. the debate was begun by mr stafford,[ ] who gave a very interesting but painful account of the mismanagement which he had witnessed in the hospitals at scutari and sebastopol, while he gave due praise to the conduct of his royal highness the duke of cambridge toward the men under his command, and related the cheering effect produced by your majesty's kind letter, when read by him to the invalids in hospital. he was followed by mr bernal osborne,[ ] who found fault with all the military arrangements at home, and with the system under which commissions in the army are bought and sold, but who declared that he should vote against the motion. mr henley then supported the motion, directing his attack chiefly against the management of the transport service. admiral berkeley,[ ] in reply, defended the conduct of the admiralty. major beresford supported the motion, but defended lord raglan against the attacks of the newspapers. mr. rice, member for dover, opposed the motion. mr miles[ ] found fault with the commissariat, and supported the motion, saying that the proposed enquiry would apply a remedy to the evils acknowledged to exist in the army in the crimea; and sir francis baring, after ably pointing out the inconveniences of the proposed committee, said he should vote against it, as tending to prevent those evils from being remedied. mr rich criticised the composition of the ministry, and the conduct of the war, and supported the motion as a means of satisfying public opinion. sir edward lytton bulwer supported the motion in a speech of considerable ability, and was replied to by mr gladstone in a masterly speech, which exhausted the subject, and would have convinced hearers who had not made up their minds beforehand. he was followed by mr disraeli, who in the course of his speech made use of some expressions in regard to lord john russell, which drew from lord john some short explanations as to the course which he had pursued. viscount palmerston then made some observations on the motion, and, after a few words from mr muntz,[ ] mr thomas duncombe[ ] asked mr roebuck whether, if he carried his motion, he really meant to name and appoint the committee and prosecute the enquiry, saying that he hoped and trusted that such was mr roebuck's intention. mr roebuck declared that he fully meant to do so, and after a short speech from mr roebuck, who lost the thread of his argument in one part of what he said, the house proceeded to a division. the conservative party abstained, by order from their chiefs, from giving the cheer of triumph which usually issues from a majority after a vote upon an important occasion.... [footnote : augustus stafford (formerly stafford o'brien), secretary of the admiralty in the derby ministry of .] [footnote : secretary of the admiralty, who, contrary to modern practice, criticised on this occasion the action of his own colleagues.] [footnote : maurice frederick fitzhardinge berkeley, - , m.p. for gloucester - .] [footnote : m.p. for bristol.] [footnote : m.p. for birmingham.] [footnote : m.p. for finsbury.] [pageheading: lord aberdeen resigns] [pageheading: lord derby summoned] _memorandum by queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ lord aberdeen arrived here at three. he came from the cabinet, and tendered their unanimous resignation. nothing could have been better, he said, than the feeling of the members towards each other. had it not been for the incessant attempts of lord john russell to keep up party differences, it must be confessed that the experiment of a coalition has succeeded admirably. we discussed future possibilities, and agreed that there remained nothing to be done but to offer the government to lord derby, whose party was numerically the strongest, and had carried the motion. he supposed lord derby would be prepared for it, although he must have great difficulties, unless he took in men from other parties, about which, however, nothing could be known at present. lord aberdeen means to behave more generously to lord derby than he had done to him, and felt sure that his colleagues would feel a desire to support the queen's new government. he said lord grey's plan[ ] had not met with the approbation of the house of lords. the indignation at lord john's conduct on all sides was strongly on the increase. lord aberdeen was much affected at having to take leave of us. victoria r. [footnote : for concentrating in a single department the business connected with the administration of the army.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle, _ th january ._ the queen would wish to see lord derby at buckingham palace (whither she is going for a few hours) to-morrow at half-past eleven. _queen victoria to the duke of newcastle._ buckingham palace, _ st january ._ the queen has just received the duke of newcastle's letter. she readily grants him the permission he asks,[ ] and seizes this opportunity of telling him how much she feels for him during this trying time, and what a high sense she shall ever entertain of his loyal, high-minded, and patriotic conduct, as well as of his unremitting exertions to serve his sovereign and country. [footnote : the duke, in order to refute lord john russell, asked leave to state what had passed in the cabinet.] [pageheading: interview with lord derby] [pageheading: the leadership] _memorandum by queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ st january ._ we went up to buckingham palace and saw lord derby at half-past eleven. the queen informed him of the resignation of the government, and of her desire that he should try to form a new one. she addressed herself to him as the head of the largest party in the house of commons, and which had by its vote chiefly contributed to the overthrow of the government. lord derby threw off this responsibility, saying that there had been no communication with mr roebuck, but that his followers could not help voting when lord john russell told them on authority that there was the most ample cause for enquiry, and the whole country cried out for it. moreover, the government, in meeting the motion, laid its chief stress upon its implying a want of confidence in the government--a confidence which they certainly did not enjoy. he owned that his party was the most compact--mustering about two hundred and eighty men--but he had no men capable of governing the house of commons, and he should not be able to present an administration that would be accepted by the country unless it was strengthened by other combinations; he knew that the whole country cried out for lord palmerston as the only man fit for carrying on the war with success, and he owned the necessity of having him in the government, were it even only to satisfy the french government, the confidence of which was at this moment of the greatest importance; but he must say, speaking without reserve, that whatever the ignorant public might think, lord palmerston was totally unfit for the task. he had become very deaf as well as very blind, was seventy-one years old, and ... in fact, though he still kept up his sprightly manners of youth, it was evident that his day had gone by.[ ] ... lord derby thought, however, he might have the lead of the house of commons, which mr disraeli was ready to give up to him. for the war department there were but two men--both very able, but both liable to objections: the first was lord grey, who would do it admirably, but with whom he disagreed in general politics, and in this instance on the propriety of the war, which he himself was determined to carry on with the utmost vigour; then came his peculiar views about the amalgamation of offices, in which he did not at all agree. the other was lord ellenborough, who was very able, and would certainly be very popular with the army, but was very unmanageable; yet he hoped he could keep him in order. it might be doubtful whether lord hardinge could go on with him at the horse guards. we agreed in the danger of lord grey's army proposal, and had to pronounce the opinion that lord ellenborough was almost mad. this led us to a long discussion upon the merits of the conduct of the war, upon which he seemed to share the general prejudices, but on being told some of the real facts and difficulties of the case, owned that these, from obvious reasons, could not be stated by the government in their defence, and said that he was aware that the chief fault lay at headquarters in the crimea. lord raglan ought to be recalled, as well as his whole staff, and perhaps he could render this less painful to him by asking him to join the cabinet, where his military advice would be of great value. [footnote : lord derby's judgment was not borne out by subsequent events. lord palmerston was prime minister when he died on the th of october , ten years later. "the half-opened cabinet-box on his table, and the unfinished letter on his desk, testified that he was at his post to the last,"--ashley's _life of lord palmerston_, vol. ii. p. .] to be able to meet the house of commons, however, lord derby said he required the assistance of men like mr gladstone and mr s. herbert, and he was anxious to know whether the queen could tell him upon what support he could reckon in that quarter. we told him we had reason to believe the peelites would oppose a government of lord john russell, but were inclined to support one of lord derby's; whether they were inclined to join in office, however, appeared very doubtful. the queen having laid great stress on a good selection for the office of foreign affairs, lord derby said he would have to return to lord malmesbury, who, he thought, had done well before, and had now additional experience. should he not be able to obtain strength from the peelites, he could not be able to form a creditable government; he must give up the task, and thought the queen might try some other combinations with lord john russell or lord lansdowne, etc. he did not think a reconstruction of the old government would be accepted by the country; however, whatever government was formed to carry on the war, should not only not be opposed by him, but have his cordial support, provided it raised no question of general constitutional importance. should all attempts fail, he would be ready to come forward to the rescue of the country with such materials as he had, but it would be "a desperate attempt." lord derby returned a little before two from lord palmerston, to whom he had gone in the first instance. lord palmerston was ready to accept the lead of the house of commons, and acknowledged that the man who undertook this could not manage the war department besides. he undertook to sound mr gladstone and mr s. herbert, but had, evidently much to lord derby's surprise, said that it must be a coalition, and not only the taking in of one or two persons, which does not seem to suit lord derby at all--nor was he pleased at lord palmerston's suggestion that he ought to try, by all means, to retain lord clarendon at the foreign office. lord palmerston was to sound the peelites in the afternoon, and lord derby is to report the result to the queen this evening. victoria r. [pageheading: lord clarendon] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james' square, _ st january ._ ( : p.m.) lord derby, with his humble duty, hastens to submit to your majesty the answer which he has this moment received from viscount palmerston to the communication which he made to him this morning by your majesty's command. lord derby has not yet received from mr sidney herbert and mr gladstone the answers referred to in lord palmerston's letter; but, from the tenor of the latter, he fears there can be no doubt as to their purport. with respect to lord clarendon, lord derby is fully sensible of the advantage which might accrue to your majesty's service from the continuance in office of a minister of great ability, who is personally cognizant of all the intricate negotiations and correspondence which have taken place for the last two years; and neither personally nor politically would he anticipate on the part of his friends, certainly not on his own part, any difficulty under existing circumstances, in co-operating with lord clarendon; but the present political relations between lord clarendon and lord derby's friends are such that, except upon a special injunction from your majesty, and under your majesty's immediate sanction, he would not be justified in making any overtures in that direction.[ ] should lord derby receive any communication from mr gladstone or mr. sidney herbert before morning, he will send it down to your majesty by the earliest opportunity in the morning. lord derby trusts that your majesty will forgive the haste in which he writes, having actually, at the moment of receiving lord palmerston's answer, written a letter to say that he could not longer detain your majesty's messenger. lord derby will take no farther step until he shall have been honoured by your majesty's farther commands. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, derby. [pageheading: lord derby's refusal] _memorandum by the prince albert._ _ st february ._ lord derby came down here at eleven o'clock, and brought with him two letters he had received from mr gladstone and mr sidney herbert, who both declared their willingness to give lord derby's government an independent support, but on mature consideration their impossibility to take office in his administration. lord derby said, as to the independent support, it reminded him of the definition of an independent member of parliament, viz. one that could not be depended upon. under the circumstances, he would not be able to form such an administration as could effectively carry on the government. [footnote : although opposed to the ordinary procedure of party government, there were recent precedents for such overtures being made. when the whigs displaced peel in , lord john russell attempted to include three of the outgoing ministers in his cabinet, and on the formation of the coalition ministry, negotiations were on foot to retain lord st. leonards on the woolsack.] he thought that lord palmerston had at first been willing to join, but it was now evident that the three letters had been written in concert.[ ] [footnote : lord palmerston wrote that, upon reflection, he had come to the conclusion that he would not, by joining the government, give to it that stability which lord derby anticipated. he, however, gave the promise of his support to any government which would carry on the war with energy and vigour, and maintain the alliances which had been formed.] he was anxious to carry any message to any other statesman with which the queen might wish to entrust him. this the queen declined, with her best thanks. he then wanted to know what statement lord aberdeen would make to-night in the house, stating it to be very important that it should not appear that the administration had gone from lord aberdeen through any other hands than the ones which should finally accept it. it would be well known that he had been _consulted_ by the queen, but there was no necessity for making it appear that he had undertaken to form an administration. the fact was, that he had consulted none of his party except mr disraeli, and that his followers would have reason to complain if they thought that he had put them altogether out of the question. we told him that we did not know what lord aberdeen meant to say, but the best thing would be on all accounts to state exactly the truth as it passed. after he had taken leave of the queen with reiterated assurances of gratitude and loyalty, i had a further long conversation with him, pointing out to him facts with which he could not be familiar, concerning our army in the crimea, our relations with our ally, negotiations with the german courts, the state of public men and the press in this country, which convinced me that this country was in a crisis of the greatest magnitude, and the crown in the greatest difficulties, which could not be successfully overcome unless political parties would show a little more patriotism than hitherto. they behaved a good deal like his independent member of parliament, and tried to aggravate every little mishap in order to get party advantages out of it. i attacked him personally upon his ... opposition to the foreign enlistment bill, and pointed to the fact that the french were now obtaining the services of that very swiss legion we stood so much in need of. his defence was a mere parliamentary dialectic, accusing the clumsy way in which ministers had introduced their bill, but he promised to do what he could to relieve the difficulties of the country. in conclusion i showed him, under injunctions of secrecy, the letter i had received from count walewski, which showed to what a state of degradation the british crown had been reduced by the efforts on all sides for party objects to exalt the emperor napoleon, and make his will and use the sole standard for the english government.[ ] [footnote : this curious letter of the count stated in effect that the alliance of england and france, and the critical circumstances of the day, made lords palmerston and clarendon indispensable members of any ministry that might be formed.] lord derby called it the most audacious thing he had ever seen, adding that he had heard that count walewski had stated to somebody with reference to the vienna conferences: "what influence can a country like england pretend to exercise, which has no army and no government?" i told him he was right, as every one here took pains to prove that we had no army, and to bring about that the queen should have no government. [pageheading: lord lansdowne consulted] [pageheading: lord john russell suggested] _memorandum by the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ nd february ._ lord lansdowne arrived late yesterday evening. the queen, after having stated that lord derby had given up the task of forming a government, asked his advice under the present circumstances, to which he replied that he had little advice to give. i interrupted that at least he could impart knowledge to the queen, upon which she could form a decision. the first and chief question was, what was lord john russell's position? lord lansdowne declared this to be the most difficult question of all to answer. he believed lord john was not at all dissatisfied with the position he had assumed, and was under the belief that he could form an administration capable of standing, even without the support of the peelites. he (lord lansdowne) would certainly decline to have anything to do with it, as it could receive its support only from the extreme radical side, which was not favourable to lord john, but shrewd enough to perceive that to obtain a government that would have to rest entirely upon themselves would be the surest mode of pushing their own views. lord john, although not intending it, would blindly follow this bias, excusing himself with the consideration that he must look for support somewhere. he himself doubted, however, even the possibility of lord john succeeding; but till he was brought to see this no strong government was possible. we asked about the peelites, lord palmerston, etc. he did not know whether the peelites would serve with lord john russell--they certainly would not under him. there was a strong belief, however, particularly on the part of lord clarendon, and even shared by lord palmerston, that without lord john a stable government could not be formed. the queen asked whether they could unite under him (lord lansdowne). he replied he had neither youth nor strength to make an efficient prime minister, and although lord john had often told him "if you had been in aberdeen's place my position would have been quite different," he felt sure lord john would soon be tired of him and impatient to see him gone. he thought an arrangement might be possible by which lord clarendon might be prime minister, lord john go to the house of lords and take the foreign office, and lord palmerston the lead in the house of commons. we told him that would spoil two efficient men. lord clarendon had no courage for prime minister, and lord john had decidedly failed at the foreign office. lord lansdowne had had lord palmerston with him during the derby negotiation, and clearly seen that at first he was not unwilling to join, but had more and more cooled upon it when he went further into the matter. lord derby and lord palmerston had had a full discussion upon lord grey, and discarded him as quite impracticable.... after much farther discussion it was agreed that lord lansdowne should go up to town this day, see first lord palmerston, then the peelites, and lastly lord john, and come to buckingham palace at two o'clock, prepared to give answers upon the question what was feasible and what not. he inclines to the belief that we shall have to go through the ceremony at least of entrusting lord john with the formation of an administration. lord john was not without large following amongst the whigs, and whatever was said about his late conduct in the higher circles, he believed that it is well looked upon by the lower classes. his expression was, that it would be found that the first and second class carriages in the railway train held opposite opinions. _memorandum by queen victoria._ buckingham palace, _ nd february ._ lord lansdowne arrived at two o'clock, and reported that he had seen all the persons intended, but he could not say that he saw his way more clearly. they all gave pledges generally to support any government, but were full of difficulties as to their participation in one. mr gladstone would clearly not serve under lord john--might possibly with him--if much pressed by lord aberdeen to do so. he would probably serve under lord palmerston. mr s. herbert expressed apprehension at the effect upon the prospects of peace which would be produced by lord palmerston's being at the head of the government. lord john russell would not serve under lord palmerston, and fancies he might form a whig administration himself, of which lord palmerston, however, must be the chief member. lord palmerston would not like to serve under lord john russell--would be ready to form an administration, which could not have duration, however, in his opinion, if lord john russell held aloof! he found lord john fully impressed with the fact of his having brought the queen into all these difficulties, and of owing her what reparation he could make. lord palmerston also felt that he had some amends to make to the queen for former offences. we asked lord lansdowne whether they could not be combined under a third person. he felt embarrassed about the answer, having to speak of himself. both expressed their willingness to serve under him--but then he was seventy-five years old, and crippled with the gout, and could not possibly undertake such a task except for a few months, when the whole administration would break down--of which he did not wish to be the cause. in such a case, lord john had stated to him that the man to be leader of the house of commons was lord palmerston, meaning himself to be transferred to the house of lords, in his former office as president of the council. without presuming to give advice, lord lansdowne thought that under all circumstances it would do good if the queen was to see lord john russell, and hear from himself what he could do. she could perfectly keep it in her power to commission whom she pleased hereafter, even if lord john should declare himself willing to form a government. victoria r. [pageheading: lord john russell summoned] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ nd february ._ the queen has just seen lord lansdowne. as what he could tell her has not enabled her to see her way out of the difficulties in which the late proceedings in parliament have placed her, she wishes to see lord john russell in order to confer with him on the subject. [pageheading: interview with lord john] [pageheading: negotiations] _memorandum by queen victoria_[ ] buckingham palace, _ nd february ._ lord john russell came at five o'clock. the queen said she wished to consult him on the present crisis, and hear from him how the position of parties stood at this moment. he said that immediately at the meeting of parliament a general desire became manifest for a modification of the government; that the protectionists were as hostile to the peelites as they had been in the year ' ; that the old whigs had with difficulty been made to support the late government; that the dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war was general, and the country cried out for lord palmerston at the war department; that he considered it of the greatest importance that lord clarendon should remain at the foreign office, where he had gained great reputation, and nobody could replace him. on the question whether lord palmerston would be supported if he formed an administration, he said everybody would give a general support, but he doubted the whigs joining him. he did not know what the peelites would do, but they would be an essential element in the government, particularly mr gladstone; the best thing would be if lord palmerston took the lead of the house of commons. a government formed by lord lansdowne or lord clarendon would ensure general support, but lord lansdowne had declared that he would not undertake it for more than three months, and then the government would break down again; and we objected that lord clarendon ought, as he had said, not to be moved from the foreign office, to which he agreed. he himself would prefer to sit on the fourth bench and support the government. the queen asked him whether he thought he could form a government. after having taken some time for reflection, he said he thought he could,[ ] but he thought it difficult without the peelites, and next to impossible without lord palmerston; he did not know whether both or either would serve with or under him; he would offer lord palmerston the choice between the lead of the house of commons and the war department--and in case he should choose the former, ask himself to be removed to the house of lords; he had been leader of the house of commons since ' , and as far as being able to support his title, he was enabled to do so, as his brother, the duke of bedford, intended to leave an estate of £ a year to his son. the queen asked him whether he would do the same under the administration of lord lansdowne, for instance; he begged to be allowed time to consider that. he acknowledged to the queen--on her remark that he had contributed to bring her into the present difficulties--that he was bound to do what he could to help her out of them; and on the queen's question what he could do, he answered that depended very much on what the queen would wish him to do. [footnote : this memorandum, though signed by the queen, was written by the prince.] [footnote : colonel phipps thus describes lord aberdeen's comment on lord john russell's words:--"i told lord aberdeen that lord john had said that he thought that he could form a government. he laughed very much, and said: 'i am not at all surprised at that, but whom will he get to serve under him? has he at present any idea of the extent of the feeling that exists against him?' i replied that i thought not, that it was difficult for anybody to tell him, but that i thought that it was right that he should know what the feeling was, and that he would soon discover it when he began to ask people to join his government. lord aberdeen said that was very true...."] she commissioned him finally to meet lord lansdowne and lord palmerston, to consult together, and to let lord lansdowne bring her the result of their deliberation this evening, so that she might see a little more clearly where the prospect of a strong government lay. we had some further discussion upon mr roebuck's committee, which he thinks will not be as inconvenient as all his friends suppose. it would meet with great difficulties, and might be precluded from drawing up a report. on lord grey's motion[ ] and the army question he declared that he held to his memorandum of the nd january which the duke of newcastle had read to the house of lords, and acknowledged the necessity of maintaining the office of the commander-in-chief, although subordinate to the secretary of state, and retaining the army patronage distinct from the political patronage of the government. [footnote : see _ante_, th january, , note .] i omitted to mention that lord john, in answer to the question whether lord clarendon would serve under lord palmerston, answered that he could not at all say whether he would; he had mentioned to him the possibility, when lord clarendon drew up and made a long face. victoria r. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ nd february ._ the queen has just seen lord lansdowne after his return from his conference with lord john russell and lord palmerston. as moments are precious, and the time is rolling on without the various consultations which lord lansdowne has had the kindness and patience to hold with the various persons composing the queen's late government having led to any positive result, she feels that she ought to entrust some one of them with the distinct commission to attempt the formation of a government. the queen addresses herself in this instance to lord john russell, as the person who may be considered to have contributed to the vote of the house of commons, which displaced her late government, and hopes that he will be able to present her such a government as will give a fair promise successfully to overcome the great difficulties in which the country is placed. it would give her particular satisfaction if lord palmerston could join in this formation. [pageheading: lord john russell's attempt] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ nd february ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty. he acknowledges that having contributed to the vote of the house of commons, which displaced your majesty's late government (although the decision would in any case have probably been unfavourable), he is bound to attempt the formation of a government. as your majesty has now entrusted him with this honourable task, and desired that lord palmerston should join in it, lord john russell will immediately communicate with lord palmerston, and do his utmost to form a government which will give a fair promise to overcome the difficulties by which the country is surrounded. lord john russell considers lord clarendon's co-operation in this task as absolutely essential. _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ rd february ._ lord john russell arrived at half-past one o'clock, and stated that he had to report some progress and some obstacles. he had been to lord palmerston, and had a long and very free discussion with him. he (lord palmerston) told him although the general voice of the public had pointed him out as the person who ought to form a government, he had no pretensions himself or personal views, and was quite ready to accept the lead of the house of commons under lord john in the house of lords; but that he thought that, if the queen would see him, now that she had seen lord derby, lord john, and lord lansdowne, it would remove any impression that there were personal objections to him entertained by the queen, which would much facilitate the position of the new government. they then discussed the whole question of offices, agreed that lord panmure would be the best person for the war department; that lord grey could not be asked to join, as his views on the foreign policy differed so much from theirs, and he had always been an intractable colleague; that if mr gladstone could not be prevailed upon to join, mr labouchere,[ ] although an infinitely weaker appointment, might be chancellor of the exchequer, and sir f. baring replace sir j. graham, if he could not be got to stay. [footnote : he had been president of the board of trade in the former administration of lord john russell.] lord john then saw mr s. herbert, who declared to him that it was impossible for any of the peelites to join his government, connected as they were with lord aberdeen and the duke of newcastle, but that they would infinitely prefer a government of lord john's to one of lord palmerston, whose views on foreign policy, uncontrolled by lord aberdeen, they sincerely dreaded. lord john then went to lord clarendon, and was surprised to find that he could not make up his mind to remain at the foreign office under his government. lord john thought that the expression of a wish on the part of the queen would go a great way to reconcile him. his objections were that he had always received the handsomest support from the peelites, and thought the government too weak without their administrative ability. lord john had seen none of his own friends, such as sir g. grey, sir c. wood, lord lansdowne, and lord granville, but had not the smallest doubt that they would cordially co-operate with him. lord john is to come again at a quarter before six o'clock. the queen has appointed lord palmerston for three o'clock, and lord clarendon at four. [pageheading: attitude of the peelites] [pageheading: the foreign office] [pageheading: lord clarendon] _memorandum by queen victoria._[ ] buckingham palace, _ rd february ._ [footnote : this memorandum, though signed by the queen, was written by the prince.] in the audience which the queen has just granted to lord palmerston, he thanked her for the message which she had sent him through lord john russell, and declared his readiness to serve her in any way he could under the present difficulties. he had preferred the lead of the house of commons to the war department, having to make a choice between two duties which no man could perform together. in answer to a question from the queen, he said he hoped that the present irritation in the whig party would subside, and that he would be able to complete a government. he regretted that the peelites thought it impossible for them to join, which would make it very difficult for lord john. he had just heard from count walewski that lord clarendon was very much disinclined to remain at the foreign office under lord john. they were to have a meeting at lord john's at five, where he hoped to find that he had waived his objections; but he must say that if lord clarendon persisted he must himself withdraw, as he had indeed made it a condition with lord john. the queen asked him whether, if this attempt failed, she could reckon upon his services in any other combination. his answer was that it was better not to answer for more than one question at a time; we must now suppose that this will succeed. what he stated with reference to the army question and the committee of the house of commons was perfectly satisfactory. lord clarendon, whom we saw at four o'clock, complained very much of the unfairness of lord john in making him personally answerable for impeding the progress of lord john's government. the fact was that his opinion was only that of every other member of the late government, and of the public at large; which could be heard and seen by anybody who chose to listen or to read. so impossible had it appeared to the public that lord john should be blind enough to consider his being able to form a government feasible, that it was generally supposed that he had been urged to do so by the queen, in order to escape the necessity of lord palmerston. he acknowledged that the queen's decision in that respect had been the perfectly correct and constitutional one, and perhaps necessary to clear the way; but he hoped that for her own sake, and to prevent false impressions taking root in the public mind, the queen would give afterwards lord palmerston his fair turn also, though he could not say that he would be able to form an administration. the queen said that this was her intention, that she never had expected that lord john would be able to form one, but that it was necessary that his eyes should be opened; lord clarendon only regretted the precious time that was lost. he must really say that he thought he could do no good in joining lord john; his government would be "a stillborn government," which "the country would tread under foot the first day," composed as it would be of the same men who had been bankrupt in , minus the two best men in it, viz. lord lansdowne and lord grey, and the head of it ruined in public opinion. if he were even to stay at the foreign office, his language to foreign countries would lose all its weight from being known not to rest upon the public opinion of england, and all this would become much worse when it became known that from the first day of lord john's entering into lord aberdeen's government, he had only had one idea, viz. that of tripping him up, expel the peelites, and place himself at the head of an exclusive whig ministry. besides, he felt that the conduct of all his colleagues had been most straightforward and honourable towards him, and he was not prepared "to step over their dead bodies to the man who had killed them." the attempt of lord john ought _not_ to succeed if public morality were to be upheld in this country. he had avoided lord john ever since his retirement, but he would have now to speak out to him, as when he was asked to embark his honour he had a right to count the cost. lord lansdowne had no intention to go to lord john's meeting, as he had originally taken leave of public life, and had only entered the coalition government in order to facilitate its cohesion; among a government of pure whigs he was not wanted, for there was no danger of their not _cohering_. sir c. wood declared he had no business to be where lord lansdowne refused to go in. he thought lord palmerston would have equal difficulty in forming an administration, but when that had failed some solid combination would become possible. lord lansdowne had declared that he could not place himself at the head for more than three months, but that was a long time in these days. victoria r. [pageheading: fresh difficulties] _memorandum by queen victoria._ lord john russell returned at six o'clock from his meeting, much put out and disturbed. he said he had nothing good to report. mr gladstone, whom he had seen, had declined to act with him, saying that the country did not wish for coalitions at this moment. sir j. graham, whom he had visited, had informed him that the feeling against him was very strong just now, precluding support in parliament; he gave him credit for good intentions, but said the whole difficulty was owing to what he termed his (lord john's) _rashness_. he felt he could not separate from lord aberdeen, and had no confidence in the views of foreign affairs of lord palmerston. he had then seen sir george grey, who told him he had no idea that a government of lord john's could stand at this moment; the country wanted lord palmerston either as war minister or as prime minister. he must hesitate to engage himself in lord john's government, which, separated from the peelites, would find no favour. lord clarendon had reiterated his objections, saying always that this must be gone through, and something new would come up at the end, when all these attempts had failed. he could not understand what this should be. did lord clarendon think of himself as the head of the new combination? i asked what lord lansdowne had said. he answered he had a letter from him, which was not very agreeable either. he read it to us. it was to the purport--that as lord john had been commissioned to form an administration, and he did not intend to join it, he thought it better not to come to his house in order to avoid misconstruction. lord john wound up, saying that he had asked lord clarendon and sir g. grey to reflect further, and to give their final answer to-morrow morning. the loss of the peelites would be a great blow to him, which might be overcome, however; but if his own particular friends, like lord clarendon and sir g. grey, deserted him, he felt that he could go on no farther, and he hoped the queen would feel that he had done all he could. victoria r. [pageheading: lord john's failure] _memorandum by queen victoria._[ ] buckingham palace, _ rd february ._ [footnote : this memorandum, though signed by the queen, was written by the prince.] lord lansdowne arrived at half-past nine in the evening, and met our question whether he had anything satisfactory to report, with the remark that he saw his way less than ever, and that matters had rather gone backward since he had been here in the morning. he had been in the afternoon at sir james graham's bedside, who had had a consultation with mr gladstone, and declared to him that the country was tired of coalitions, and wanted a united cabinet; that they (the peelites) could not possibly serve under lord john or even with him after what had happened; that he felt the strongest objections to serving under lord palmerston. they were one and all for the vigorous prosecution of the war, but in order to attain a speedy peace. lord palmerston was known to entertain ulterior views, on which he was secretly agreed with the emperor of the french; and when it came to the question of negotiations, the government was sure to break up on a ground most dangerous to the country. lord lansdowne could but agree in all this, and added he had been tempted to feel his pulse to know how much it had gone down since he had been with sir james. the meeting between lord palmerston and lord john had just taken place in his presence. they had discussed everything most openly, but being both very guarded to say nothing which could lead the other to believe that the one would serve under the other. he confessed everything was darker now than before. they both seemed to wish to form a government, but he could really not advise the queen what to do under the circumstances. i summed up that the queen appeared to me reduced to the necessity of now entrusting one of the two with a _positive_ commission. it was very important that it should not appear that the queen had any personal objection to lord palmerston; on the other hand, under such doubtful circumstances, it would be safest for the queen to follow that course which was clearly the most constitutional, and this was, after having failed with lord derby, to go to lord john, who was the other party to the destruction of the late government. the queen might write such a letter to lord john as would record the political reasons which led to her determination. lord lansdowne highly approved of this, and suggested the addition of an expression of the queen's hope of seeing lord palmerston associated in that formation. i drew up the annexed draft which lord lansdowne read over and entirely approved. he has no idea that lord john will succeed in his task, but thinks it a necessary course to go through, and most wholesome to lord john to have his eyes opened to his own position, of which he verily believed he was not the least aware. victoria r. _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ the queen quite approves of the pension to sir g. grey, which he has fully earned, but would wish lord aberdeen well to consider the exact moment at which to offer it to him, as sir george is so very delicate in his feelings of honour. lord john russell will probably have to give up the task of forming an administration on account of sir george's declining to join him. if the pension were offered to him by lord aberdeen during the progress of negotiations, he could not help feeling, she thinks, exceedingly embarrassed. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th february ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty. he saw last night sir george grey, who is extremely averse to the formation of a purely whig government at this time. since that time he has received the two notes enclosed: one from lord palmerston, the other early this morning from lord clarendon.[ ] it only remains for him to acknowledge your majesty's great kindness, and to resign into your majesty's hands the task your majesty was pleased to confide to him. [footnote : lord palmerston wrote:-- " piccadilly, _ rd february ._ "my dear john russell,--i certainly inferred from what clarendon said this afternoon at your house, that he had pretty well made up his mind to a negative answer, and i could only say to you that which i said to derby when he asked me to join him, that i should be very unwilling, in the present state of our foreign relations, to belong to any government in which the management of our foreign affairs did not remain in clarendon's hands. "george grey, by your account, seems to tend to the same conclusion as clarendon, and i think, from what fell from molesworth, whom i sat next to at the speaker's dinner this evening, that he would not be disposed to accept any offer that you might make him. --yours sincerely, palmerston." lord clarendon wrote:-- "grosvenor crescent, _ rd february ._ "my dear lord john,--the more i reflect upon the subject, the more i feel convinced that such a government as you propose to form would not satisfy the public nor command the confidence of the country. "to yourself personally i am sure it would be most injurious if you attempted to carry on the government with inadequate means at this moment of national danger. "on public and on private grounds, therefore, i should wish to take no part in an administration that cannot in my opinion be either strong or permanent. yours sincerely, clarendon."] [pageheading: lord palmerston premier] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th february ._ lord john russell having just informed the queen that he was obliged to resign the task which the queen confided to him, she addresses herself to lord palmerston to ask him whether he can undertake to form an administration which will command the confidence of parliament and efficiently conduct public affairs in this momentous crisis? should he think that he is able to do so, the queen commissions him to undertake the task. she does not send for him, having fully discussed with him yesterday the state of public affairs, and in order to save time. the queen hopes to receive an answer from lord palmerston as soon as possible, as upon this her own movements will depend. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and with a deep sense of the importance of the commission which your majesty asks whether he will undertake, he hastens to acknowledge the gracious communication which he has just had the honour to receive from your majesty. viscount palmerston has reason to think that he can undertake with a fair prospect of success to form an administration which will command the confidence of parliament and effectually conduct public affairs in the present momentous crisis, and as your majesty has been graciously pleased to say that if such is his opinion, your majesty authorises him to proceed immediately to the accomplishment of the task, he will at once take steps for the purpose; and he trusts that he may be able in the course of to-morrow to report to your majesty whether his present expectations are in the way to be realised. [pageheading: whig support] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february ._ ( p.m.) viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour to receive your majesty's communication of to-day; and in accordance with your majesty's desire, he begs to report the result of his proceedings up to the present time. the marquis of lansdowne, the lord chancellor, the earl of clarendon, the earl granville, sir george grey, sir charles wood, have expressed their willingness to be members of the administration which viscount palmerston is endeavouring to form, provided it can be constructed upon a basis sufficiently broad to give a fair prospect of duration. mr gladstone, mr sidney herbert, and the duke of argyll have declined chiefly on the ground of personal and political attachment to the earl of aberdeen, against whom, as well as against the duke of newcastle, they say they consider the vote of the house of commons of last week as having been levelled. viscount palmerston has not yet been able to ascertain the decision of sir james graham, but it will probably be the same as that of his three colleagues. viscount palmerston hopes, nevertheless, to be able to submit for your majesty's consideration such a list as may meet with your majesty's approval, and he will have the honour of reporting further to your majesty to-morrow. [pageheading: the peelites] _memorandum by queen victoria._ buckingham palace, _ th february ._ we came to town to hear the result of negotiations, and saw lord palmerston at one o'clock. he said there were circumstances which prevented him from submitting a list of the cabinet, but would at all events be able to do so in the afternoon. lords lansdowne, clarendon, granville, sir g. grey, sir c. wood, sir william molesworth, and the chancellor had consented to serve--unconditionally--having withdrawn their former conditions in consequence of the very general opinion expressed out of doors that the country could not much longer be left without a government. he heard this had also made an impression upon the peelites, who had refused to join. he submitted their letters (declining) to the queen, of which copies are here annexed. they had been written after consultation with sir j. graham, but lord aberdeen and the duke of newcastle having heard of it, have since exerted themselves strongly to prevail upon them to change their opinion, and it was still possible that they would do so. lord clarendon had suggested that if lord aberdeen himself was invited to join the government, and could be induced to do so, this would obviate all difficulty. he had in consequence asked lord lansdowne to see lord aberdeen on the subject, as his joining could only be agreeable to him. many of the peelites not in the late cabinet had strongly disapproved of the decision taken by mr gladstone and friends, and offered their services, amongst others lord canning, lord elcho,[ ] and mr cardwell. [footnote : now earl of wemyss.] lord palmerston had been with lord john russell yesterday, and had had a very long conversation with him in a most friendly tone; he asked lord john whether he would follow out the proposal which he had lately made himself, and take the lead in the house of lords as president of the council. he declined, however, saying he preferred to stay out of office and to remain in the house of commons, which lord palmerston obviously much regretted. they went, however, together all over the offices and their best distribution. he would recommend lord panmure for the war department and mr layard as under secretary.... lord palmerston was appointed to report further progress at five o'clock. victoria r. _the prince albert to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dear lord aberdeen,--it would be a great relief to the queen if you were to agree to a proposal which we understand is being made to you to join the new government, and by so doing to induce also mr gladstone, mr s. herbert, and sir james graham to do the same. ever yours truly, albert. [pageheading: lord aberdeen intervenes] _the earl of aberdeen to the prince albert._ london, _ th february _. sir,--i am sanguine in believing that the great object of the union of my friends with the new government may be attained without the painful sacrifice to which your royal highness refers. contrary to my advice, they yesterday declined to remain in the cabinet, but i have renewed the subject to-day, and they have finally decided to place themselves in my hands. this rendered other explanations necessary, before i could undertake so great a responsibility. when i shall have the honour of seeing your royal highness, i will, with your royal highness's permission, communicate what has passed, so far as i am concerned. i venture to enclose the copy of a letter which i addressed to mr herbert this morning, in answer to one received from him late last night, in which he expressed his doubts of the propriety of the first decision at which they had arrived. i have the honour to be, sir, your royal highness's most humble and devoted servant, aberdeen. [pageheading: mr sidney herbert] [_enclosure--copy._] _the earl of aberdeen to mr s. herbert._ argyll house, _ th february _. my dear herbert,--i received your letter too late to answer it last night. in fact, i had gone to bed. you say that you are in a great difficulty as to the course you ought to take. i am in none whatever. i gave you my decided opinion yesterday that you ought to continue in palmerston's administration; and i endeavoured to support this opinion by the very arguments which you repeat in your letter to me. surely this letter ought to have been addressed to gladstone and graham, and not to me. i fully concur in thinking that you came to a wrong conclusion yesterday, and i would fain hope that it would still be reversed. when you sent to me yesterday to attend your meeting, i certainly hoped it was with the intention of following my advice. your reluctance to continue in palmerston's cabinet is chiefly founded on the apprehension that he will pursue a warlike policy beyond reasonable bounds. i have already told you that i have had some explanations with him on the terms of peace, with which i am satisfied. but whatever may be his inclinations, you ought to rely on the weight of your own character and opinions in the cabinet. i am persuaded that the sentiments of the great majority of the members of the cabinet are similar to your own, and that you may fairly expect reason and sound policy to prevail in the question of peace and war. but above all i have recently had some very full conversations with clarendon on the subject, and i am entirely satisfied with his disposition and intentions. i am sanguine in the belief that he will give effect to his present views. a perseverance in the refusal to join palmerston will produce very serious effects, and will never be attributed to its true cause. the public feeling will be strongly pronounced against you, and you will greatly suffer in reputation, if you persevere at such a moment as this in refusing to continue in the cabinet. in addition to the public necessity, i think you owe much to our late whig colleagues, who behaved so nobly and generously towards us after lord john's resignation. they have some right to expect this sacrifice. although your arguments do not apply to me, for i yesterday adopted them all, you conclude your letter by pressing me to enter the cabinet. now there is really no sense in this, and i cannot imagine how you can seriously propose it. you would expose me to a gratuitous indignity, to which no one ought to expect me to submit. i say _gratuitous_, because i could not be of the slightest use in such a situation for the purpose you require. i can retire with perfect equanimity from the government in consequence of the vote of the house of commons; but to be stigmatised as the head and tolerated as the subordinate member i cannot endure. if at any future time my presence should be required in a cabinet, i should feel no objection to accept any office, or to enter it without office. but to be the head of a cabinet to-day, and to become a subordinate member of the very same cabinet to-morrow, would be a degradation to which i could never submit, that i would rather die than do so--and indeed the sense of it would go far to kill me. if you tell me that your retaining your present offices, without the slightest sacrifice, but on the contrary with the approbation of all, is in any degree to depend on my taking such a course, i can only say that, as friends, i cannot believe it possible that you should be guilty of such wanton cruelty without any national object. i must, then, again earnestly exhort you to reconsider the decision of yesterday, and to continue to form part of the government. i will do anything in my power to facilitate this. if you like, i will go to palmerston and promote any explanation between him and gladstone on the subject of peace and war. or i will tell him that you have yielded to my strong recommendation. in short, i am ready to do anything in my power. i wish you to show this letter to gladstone and to graham, to whom, as you will see, it is addressed as much as to yourself. i hope to meet you this morning, and gladstone will also come to the admiralty. yours, etc. aberdeen. [pageheading: adhesion of the peelites] _the prince albert to the earl of aberdeen._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dear lord aberdeen,--we are just returning to windsor. lord palmerston kissed hands after having announced that his peelite colleagues also have agreed to keep their offices. the queen is thus relieved from great anxiety and difficulty, and feels that she owes much to your kind and disinterested assistance. i can quite understand what you say in the letter which i return. you must make allowances also, however, for the wishes of your friends not to be separated from you. you will not be annoyed by further proposals from here. to-morrow we shall have an opportunity of further conversation with you upon the state of affairs. believe me always, yours, etc., albert _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--we are here again for a few hours in order to try and facilitate the formation of a government, which seemed almost hopeless. van de weyer will have informed you of the successive failures of lord derby and _lord john_ ... and of lord palmerston being now charged with the formation of a government! i had _no_ other alternative. the whigs _will_ join with him, and i have got hopes, _also_ the peelites, which would be very important, and would tend to allay the _alarm_ which his name will, i fear, produce abroad. i will leave this letter open to the last moment in the hope of giving you some decisive news before we return to windsor.... i am a good deal worried and knocked up by all that has passed; my nerves, which have suffered very severely this last year, have not been improved by what has passed during this trying fortnight--for it _will_ be a _fortnight_ to-morrow that the beginning of the mischief began.... _six o'clock p.m._--one word to say that _lord palmerston_ has just _kissed_ hands as _prime_ minister. all the _peelites_ except poor dear aberdeen (whom i am deeply grieved to lose) and the duke of newcastle, remain. it is _entirely_ aberdeen's _doing_, and very patriotic and handsome of him. in haste, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: a farewell letter] _queen victoria to the earl of aberdeen._ windsor castle, _ th february _. though the queen hopes to see lord aberdeen at six, she seizes the opportunity of approving the appointment of the hon. and rev. a. douglas[ ] to the living of st olave's, southwark, to say what she hardly dares to do verbally without fearing to give way to her feelings; she wishes to say what a pang it is for her to separate from so kind and dear and valued a friend as lord aberdeen has ever been to her since she has known him. the day he became prime minister was a very happy one for her; and throughout his ministry he has ever been the kindest and wisest adviser--one to whom she could apply on all and trifling occasions even. this she is sure he will still ever be. but the thought of losing him as her first adviser in her government is very painful. the pain is to a certain extent lessened by the knowledge of all he has done to further the formation of this government, in so noble, loyal, and disinterested a manner, and by his friends retaining their posts, which is a great security against possible dangers. the queen is sure that the prince and herself may ever rely on his valuable support and advice in all times of difficulty, and she now concludes with the expression of her warmest thanks for all his kindness and devotion, as well as of her unalterable friendship and esteem for him, and with every wish for his health and happiness. [footnote : the hon. arthur gascoigne douglas ( - ), son of the nineteenth earl of morton; bishop of aberdeen and orkney, - .] [pageheading: leadership of the lords] [pageheading: the new cabinet] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that a difficulty has arisen in regard to the reconstruction of the administration, which your majesty might perhaps be able to assist in removing. it is considered by the members of the proposed cabinet to be a matter of great importance that lord lansdowne should not only be a member of the cabinet, but that he should also be the organ of the government in the house of lords. viscount palmerston pressed this upon lord lansdowne yesterday afternoon, and was under the impression that lord lansdowne had consented to be so acknowledged, with the understanding that lord granville, as president of the council, should relieve him from the pressure of the daily business of the house, while lord clarendon would take the burthen of foreign office discussions, and that thus the ordinary duties of leader of the house of lords would be performed by others, while lord lansdowne would still be the directing chief, who would give a character and tone to the body. but viscount palmerston learns this morning from lord granville and lord bessborough that lord lansdowne does not so understand the matter, and is unwilling to assume the ostensible leadership, even upon the above-mentioned arrangement, and that he wishes lord granville to be the leader in the house of lords. lord granville, however, with reason urges that there are many members of the house of lords who would show to lord lansdowne, from his long standing and high political position, a deference which they would not show towards lord granville, so much younger a man. if lord lansdowne were in town, viscount palmerston would have gone to him strongly to entreat him to be the person to announce in the house of lords the formation of a ministry, and to continue to be the organ of the government in that house, at least till easter, and upon such matters and occasions as might require the weight of his authority; but if your majesty were to view the matter in the same light in which it has presented itself to viscount palmerston, to the chancellor, to lord clarendon, to lord granville and others, and if your majesty should think fit to express an opinion upon it to lord lansdowne, such an opinion would no doubt have great weight with lord lansdowne. viscount palmerston submits a list of the proposed cabinet. until sir george grey returns to town this afternoon from portsmouth, whither he went yesterday evening to take leave of his son, who has a commission in the rifles,[ ] and was to embark this morning for the crimea, viscount palmerston will not know whether he prefers the colonial office or the home office. whichever of the two he chooses, mr herbert will take the other. viscount palmerston does not submit to your majesty the name of any person for the office of secretary at war, as he proposes that that office shall merge in the office of secretary of state for the war department, and viscount palmerston suspends for the present any recommendation to your majesty for the office of chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, as that office may be made available for giving strength either in the house of lords or in the house of commons according to circumstances. proposed cabinet. _first lord of treasury_ viscount palmerston. _organ of the government or_ } marquis of lansdowne. _leader of the house of lords_} _lord chancellor_ lord cranworth. _president of the council_ earl granville. _privy seal_ duke of argyll. _foreign affairs_ earl of clarendon. _war department_ lord panmure. _home office_ {mr sidney herbert { or sir george grey. _colonial department_ {sir george grey or { mr sidney herbert. _admiralty_ sir james graham. _chancellor of exchequer_ mr gladstone. _india board_ sir charles wood. _board of works_ sir william molesworth. _post office_ viscount canning. [footnote : george henry grey, afterwards lieut.-colonel of the northumberland militia, and captain in the grenadier guards; father of the present sir edward grey, m.p. he predeceased his father in .] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen has just received lord palmerston's letter with the list of the government, which she approves. she entirely agrees with him in the view he takes with respect to lord lansdowne's position in the house of lords, and will write to him on the subject. from what he said, however, the queen would hope that he would not be disinclined to make the announcement of the government as well as to take the lead on all occasions of great importance.[ ] the queen approves that the office of secretary at war should remain open at present; but as regards the question itself of these two offices, she reserves her judgment till the subject is submitted to her in a definite form. [footnote : lord lansdowne consented, on particular occasions only, to represent the government, but claimed to be himself the judge of the expediency or necessity of his doing so. the ministerial life of this _doyen_ of the whig party spanned half a century, for he had, as lord henry petty, been chancellor of the exchequer in the ministry of "all the talents" in - . lord granville now assumed the liberal leadership in the lords, which, as lord fitzmaurice points out, he held, with a brief exception of three years, till his death in ]. [pageheading: the vienna conference] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ _ th february ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that, with the permission of lord palmerston, and at the urgent recommendation of lord aberdeen and lord lansdowne, he has made to lord john russell the proposal to act as our negotiator at vienna, which your majesty was pleased to sanction on wednesday night.[ ] lord clarendon thinks, that whether the negotiations end in peace or are suddenly to be broken off, no man is so likely as lord john to be approved by the country for whichever course of proceeding he may adopt, and it will be a great advantage that the negotiator himself should be able to vindicate his own conduct in parliament. lord clarendon has this evening received a very kind and friendly answer from lord john, who is disposed to accept, but desires another day to consider the proposal. as our relations with the united states are of the utmost importance at this moment, and as they have rather improved of late, lord clarendon humbly hopes he may be excused if he ventures to suggest to your majesty the expediency of inviting mr buchanan[ ] to windsor. [footnote : in pursuance of the negotiations referred to (_ante_, p. ), a conference of the powers was held at vienna. lord john's view of the attitude which he hoped great britain would take up is clearly stated in his letter of the th to lord clarendon, printed in walpole's _life of lord john russell_, vol. ii. p. . he favoured the admission of prussia to the conference.] [footnote : american minister to great britain, afterwards president of the united states.] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that having been very kindly received at paris by the emperor of the french, he thought it would be useful to write to the emperor on the formation of the present government, and he submits a copy of the letter[ ] which he addressed to the emperor. the emperor, when viscount palmerston took leave of him, signified his intention of writing occasionally to viscount palmerston, and that is the reason why viscount palmerston adverts to such communications in his letter. viscount palmerston has just had the honour to receive your majesty's communication of this day, and will not fail to bear in mind the suggestions which it contains. [footnote : _viscount palmerston to the emperor of the french._ londres, _ février _. sire,--appelé par la reine ma souveraine au poste que maintenant j'occupe, je m'empresse de satisfaire au besoin que je sens d'exprimer à votre majesté la grande satisfaction que j'éprouve à me trouver en rapport plus direct avec le gouvernement de votre majesté. l'alliance qui unit si heureusement la france et l'angleterre et qui promet des résultats si avantageux pour toute l'europe, prend son origine dans la loyauté, la franchise, et la sagacité de votre majesté; et votre majesté pourra toujours compter sur la loyauté et la franchise du gouvernement anglais. et si votre majesté avait jamais une communication à nous faire sur des idées non encore assez mûries pour être le sujet de dépêches officielles, je m'estimerais très honoré en recevant une telle communication de la part de votre majesté. nous allons mettre un peu d'ordre à notre camp devant sevastopol, et en cela nous tâcherons d'imiter le bel exemple qui nous est montré par le camp français. a quelque chose cependant malheur est bon, et le mauvais état de l'armée anglaise a donné aux braves et généreux français l'occasion de prodiguer à leurs frères d'armes des soins, qui ont excité la plus vive reconnaissance tant en angleterre qu'à balaclava. j'ai l'honneur d'être, sire, etc. etc., palmerston.] [pageheading: palmerston and the emperor] _memorandum by the prince albert._ windsor castle, _ th february _. this letter gave us great uneasiness.... the sort of private correspondence which lord palmerston means to establish with the emperor napoleon is a novel and unconstitutional practice. if carried on behind the back of the sovereign, it makes her minister the privy councillor of a foreign sovereign at the head of her affairs. how can the foreign secretary and ambassador at paris, the legitimate organs of communication, carry on their business, if everything has been privately preconcerted between the emperor and the english prime minister? what control can the cabinet hope to exercise on the foreign affairs under these circumstances?... _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen thanks lord palmerston for his letter of the th, and for communicating to her the letter which he had addressed upon the th to the emperor of the french on the formation of the present government, the copy of which the queen herewith returns. [pageheading: the roebuck committee] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. (_friday night._) viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that after he had made his statement this afternoon, a conversation of some length took place, in which mr disraeli, mr roebuck, mr thomas duncombe, and several other members took part, the subject of discussion being whether mr roebuck's committee should or should not be appointed. viscount palmerston is concerned to say that it was not only his own impression but the opinion of a great number of persons with whom he communicated in the course of the evening, including the speaker, that the appointment of the committee will be carried by a very great majority, perhaps scarcely less great than that by which the original motion was affirmed; and it was also the opinion of good judges that a refusal to grant an enquiry would not be a good ground on which to dissolve parliament and appeal to the country. the general opinion was that the best way of meeting the motion for naming the committee which mr roebuck has fixed for next thursday, would be to move some instruction to the committee directing or limiting the range of its enquiry. this is a matter, however, which will be well considered at the meeting of the cabinet to-morrow.... the reason alleged for the determination of members to vote for mr roebuck's committee is the general desire throughout the country that an enquiry should be instituted to ascertain the causes of the sufferings of your majesty's troops in the crimea. _queen victoria to the king of prussia._ [_translation._] buckingham palace, _ th february _. dearest brother,--i must not let lord john russell visit berlin without personally recommending him to your majesty--an honour which he deserves in a high degree, as a statesman of wide outlook, well-informed, and moderate. at the same time i may be allowed to repeat my conviction, which i have expressed several times already, that it appears to me impossible to obtain peace so long as prussia continues indisposed to maintain, in case of necessity by force of arms, the principles publicly expressed in concert with the belligerent powers and austria. much blood, very much blood, has already been shed. honour and justice force the belligerent powers to make every sacrifice in continually defending those principles to the utmost. whether diplomacy will succeed in saving prussia from taking an active share in this defence--that remains the secret of the future, which the king of kings alone possesses! albert presents his homage to your majesty, and i beg to be most cordially remembered, and remain as ever, my dear brother, your majesty's faithful servant and friend, victoria r. [pageheading: mr gladstone] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ st february _. i have just seen mr gladstone, who received my box so late that i did not wish to detain him more than a few minutes, as the cabinet was waiting for him. i told him, however, the substance of lord palmerston's letter, and of the queen's answer, the wisdom of which, he said, nobody could doubt for a moment, and added that the choice lying only between many evils, i hoped he and his friends would not strive to obtain an absolute good, and thereby lose the queen the services of an efficient government. he begged that i should rest assured that the first and primary consideration which would guide their determination would be the position of the crown in these critical circumstances. he had had no opportunity of consulting these last days either mr s. herbert or sir james graham. but for himself he felt the greatest difficulty in letting the house of commons succeed in what he must consider a most unconstitutional, most presumptuous, and most dangerous course, after which it would be impossible for the executive ever to oppose again the most absurd and preposterous demands for enquiry.[ ] [footnote : see _post_, st february, , note .] i asked, "but can you stop it?" he answered: i believe lord palmerston made a mistake in not grappling with it from the first, and using all the power the crown had entrusted to him, even ostentatiously, for the purpose. now it might be most difficult--but it ought not to pass without a solemn protest on the part of the men who were not connected with the government, and should not be supposed to have any other than the interests of the country at heart. a government was powerless in resisting such an encroachment of the house, where the whole opposition, from personal motives, and the supporters of government from fear of their constituents, were bent upon carrying it. such a protest, however, might form a rallying-point upon which future resistance might be based, and the country, now intoxicated by agitation, might come to its senses. as to the strength of the government, he believed it had very little at this moment in the house, and that such would be the case with any government lord palmerston could form, he had foretold him, when lord derby had made him the offer to join an administration of his forming. at this moment the secession of the peelites would rather strengthen the government than otherwise, as, from their connection with lord aberdeen, they had been decried in the country with him, and the whigs looked upon them with all the personal feelings of men deprived of their offices by them. he agreed with me that in the present disruption of parties, the difficulty of obtaining any strong government consists, not in the paucity of men, but in the over-supply of right honourable gentlemen produced by the many attempts to form a government on a more extended base. there were now at least three ministers for each office, from which the two excluded were always cried up as superior to the one in power. he said this could not be amended until we got back to two parties--each of them capable of presenting to the queen an efficient administration. now the one party did not support its chief from personal rivalry--and the other, from the very feeling of its own incapacity, became reckless as to the course of its political actions. he concluded by saying he felt it right to reserve his final determination till the last moment at which it would become necessary. albert. [pageheading: resignation of the peelites] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ st february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and feels extreme regret in having to state to your majesty that sir james graham, mr gladstone, and mr sidney herbert announced at the cabinet meeting to-day their determination to retire from the government in consequence of their inability to consent to the nomination of mr roebuck's committee.[ ] _no other_ member of the government has as yet intimated any intention to retire. viscount palmerston will assemble the remaining members of the government to-morrow at twelve to take into consideration the steps to be taken for supplying the places of the retiring members.[ ] an endeavour has been made to induce mr roebuck to postpone the appointment of the committee till monday, but he will not consent to delay it beyond to-morrow, and he will insert in the votes to-night, to be printed to-morrow morning (in accordance with the rules of the house), the proposed list of names which have been settled between the government and mr roebuck, and which seem to be unobjectionable, all things considered.... [footnote : the retirement of the peelites in a body from lord palmerston's ministry is a curious instance of the tenacity of party ties, since the prosecution of the enquiry into the conduct of the war affected the whig as much as the peelite section of the aberdeen cabinet. in reference to their reason for resignation (_viz._ that the investigation was a dangerous breach of a great constitutional principle, and that similar enquiries could never thenceforward be refused), see parker's _sir james graham_, vol. ii. pp. - . the secession of the peelites, however, did not make the ministry a whig government. the last whig administration was that which left office early in . had lord john russell succeeded in his attempt on the present occasion, the whig party might have endured _co nomine_; but palmerston had, notwithstanding cobden's distrust, been popular with the radicals, and henceforward his supporters must be known as the liberal party.] [footnote : sir charles wood became first lord of the admiralty (mr. vernon smith succeeding him at the board of control), sir george lewis succeeded mr gladstone at the exchequer, and the colonial office was offered to and accepted by lord john russell, who was at the moment in paris on his way to attend the vienna conference.] [pageheading: crimean heroes] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--since i last wrote to you, we have again had much trouble, as van de weyer will have informed you. we have lost our _three_ best men--certainly from the purest and best of motives--but the result is _unfortunate_. altogether, affairs are very unsettled and very unsatisfactory. the good people here are really a little _mad_, but i am certain it _will_ right itself; one must only _not_ give way to the nonsense and absurdity one hears. lord john's return to office _under_ lord palmerston is very extraordinary![ ] i hope he may do good in his mission; he is most anxious for it. many thanks for your kind letter of the rd. the frost has left us, which personally i regret, as it agrees so well with me; but i believe it was very necessary on account of the great distress which was prevalent, so many people being thrown out of employment. the emperor's meditated voyage[ ]--though natural in him to wish--i think most alarming; in fact, i don't know how things are to go on without him, independent of the great danger he exposes himself to besides. i own it makes one tremble, for _his life_ is of such _immense importance_. i still hope that he may be deterred from it, but walewski was in a great state about it. on thursday we saw twenty-six of the wounded coldstream guards, and on friday thirty-four of the scotch fusileers. a most interesting and touching sight--_such_ fine men, and so brave and patient! _so ready_ to go back and "_be at them again_." a great many of them, i am glad to say, will be able to remain in the service. those who have lost their limbs cannot, of course. there were two poor boys of nineteen and twenty--the one had lost his leg, quite high up, by the bursting of a shell in the trenches, and the other his poor arm so shot that it is perfectly useless. both had smooth girls' faces; these were in the coldstream, who certainly look the worst. in the scotch fusileers, there were also two very young men--the one shot through the cheek, the other through the _skull_--but both recovered! among the grenadiers there is one very sad object, shot _dreadfully_, a ball having gone in through the cheek and behind the nose and eye and out through the other side! he is shockingly disfigured, but is recovered. i feel so much for them, and am _so fond_ of my dear soldiers--so _proud_ of them! we could not have avoided sending the guards; it would have been their ruin if they had not gone.... i must now conclude. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : for twenty years lord john russell had been leader of the whig party in the house, and lord palmerston subordinate to him.] [footnote : the emperor had announced his intention of going to the crimea, and assuming the conduct of the war. the project was most unfavourably regarded by the queen and the prince, by lord palmerston, and by the emperor's own advisers. but the intention, which had been carefully matured, was arrived at in full loyalty to the alliance with this country, and had to be tactfully met. accordingly, it was arranged that when napoleon was at the camp in boulogne in march, lord clarendon should visit him there, and discuss the question with him. eventually, the foreign secretary persuaded the emperor to relinquish, or at any rate defer, his expedition; a memorandum of what passed on the occasion was drawn up by the prince from the narration of lord clarendon, and printed by sir theodore martin. (_life of the prince consort_, vol. iii. p. .)] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ st march _. the queen thanks lord clarendon for his letter received this evening, and will return the enclosures to-morrow. the queen gathers from what she has read that the emperor is bent upon going, and that nothing in the shape of remonstrance or argument will turn him from his purpose. should the emperor's journey take place, lord cowley's accompanying him appears to the queen in all respects a most useful step, and the queen gives accordingly her permission for him to go. the emperor's taking the management of the whole campaign, as well as the command of our forces, entirely into his own hands, involves so many considerations that it may be worth considering whether we ought not previously to come to a more direct and comprehensive understanding with him, such as full and verbal discussion would alone afford--to which, in some shape or other, his present stay at boulogne might afford some facilities. [pageheading: death of the czar] _from sir ralph abercromby._[ ] the hague. _ nd march _. (received . p.m.) the emperor nicholas died this morning at a.m. of pulmonic apoplexy, after an attack of influenza.[ ] [footnote : who had married the sister of lady john russell.] [footnote : nothing had been known publicly of the czar's illness, and the startling news of his death caused a sensation in england of tragedy rather than of joy. mr kinglake has vividly depicted the feelings of agony and mortification with which the news of the earlier russian reverses had been received by nicholas. on the st of march, he received the full account of the disaster at eupatoria, after which he became delirious, and died on the following day. he had stated, in referring to the horrors of that crimean winter, that russia had still two generals on whom she could rely: generals janvier and février; and leech, with matchless art, now made his famous cartoon--"general février turned traitor," depicting death, in the uniform of a russian officer, laying his bony hand on the emperor's heart.] [pageheading: the committee of enquiry] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ nd march _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... the death of the emperor of russia may or may not produce important changes in the state of affairs. it is probable that the grand duke hereditary will succeed quietly, notwithstanding the notion that a doubt would be started whether he, as son of the grand duke nicholas, would not be superseded by his younger brother born son of the czar.[ ] it is possible that the new emperor may revert to that peaceful policy which he was understood to advocate in the beginning of these transactions, but it is possible, on the other hand, that he may feel bound to follow out the policy of his father, and may be impelled by the headstrong ambition of his brother constantine. at all events, this change at petersburg should not for the present slacken the proceedings and the arrangements of the allies. the house of commons has been engaged in discussing mr roebuck's proposal that the committee of enquiry should be a secret one. this proposal was made by the majority of the committee on the ground that they anticipated a difficulty in conducting their enquiries without trenching on the delicate and dangerous ground of questioning the proceedings of the french. the proposal was objected to by lord seymour[ ] and mr ellice, members of the committee, by sir james graham as unjust towards the duke of newcastle, and others whose conduct ought to be enquired into with all the safeguards which publicity secures for justice, and not before a secret tribunal in the nature of an inquisition. the general sense of the house was against secrecy, and viscount palmerston expressed an opinion adverse to it, on the ground that it could not be enforced because the committee could not gag the witnesses, and that the character of secrecy would excite suspicion and disappoint public expectation. sir john pakington, a member of the committee, was for secrecy, mr disraeli spoke against it, and the motion has been withdrawn. [footnote : the eldest son, the grand duke alexander ( - ), succeeded as czar alexander ii.] [footnote : lord seymour (afterwards duke of somerset) drafted the report of the committee.] _queen victoria to the princess of prussia._ [_translation._] buckingham palace, _ th march _. dear augusta,--the astounding news of the death of your poor uncle the emperor nicholas reached us the day before yesterday at four o'clock. a few hours previously we had learnt that his condition was hopeless. the news is sudden and most unexpected, and we are naturally very anxious to learn details. his departure from life at the present moment cannot but make a particularly strong impression, and what the consequences of it may be the all-knowing one alone can foresee. although the poor emperor has died as our enemy, i have not forgotten former and more happy times, and no one has more than i regretted that he himself evoked this sad war.[ ] to you i must address my request to express to the poor empress, as well as to the family, my heartfelt condolence. i cannot do it officially, but you, my beloved friend, you will surely be able to convey it to your sister-in-law as well as to the present young emperor in a manner which shall not compromise me. i have a deep, heartfelt desire to express this. to your dear, honoured mother convey, pray, my condolence on the death of her brother.... [footnote : the queen records, in the _life of the prince consort_, that she entertained a sincere respect for the emperor personally, and received the news of his death with regret (vol. iii. p. , note).] [pageheading: the hospital question] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. the queen is very anxious to bring before lord panmure the subject which she mentioned to him the other night, viz. that of hospitals for our sick and wounded soldiers. this is absolutely necessary, and _now_ is the moment to have them built, for no doubt there would be no difficulty in obtaining the money requisite for this purpose, from the strong feeling now existing in the public mind for improvements of all kinds connected with the army and the well-being and comfort of the soldier. nothing can exceed the attention paid to these poor men in the barracks at chatham (or rather more fort pitt and brompton), and they are in that respect very comfortable; but the buildings are bad--the wards more like prisons than hospitals, with the windows so high that no one can look out of them; and the generality of the wards are small rooms, with hardly space for you to walk between the beds. there is no dining-room or hall, so that the poor men must have their dinners in the same room in which they sleep, and in which some may be dying, and at any rate many suffering, while others are at their meals. the proposition of having hulks prepared for their reception will do very well at first, but it would not, the queen thinks, do for any length of time. a hulk is a very gloomy place, and these poor men require their spirits to be cheered as much as their physical sufferings to be attended to. the queen is particularly anxious on this subject, which is, he may truly say, constantly in her thoughts, as is everything connected with her beloved troops, who have fought so bravely and borne so heroically all their sufferings and privations. the queen hopes before long to visit all the hospitals at portsmouth, and to see in what state they are. _when_ will the medals be ready for distribution? [pageheader: lord dalhousie resigns] _the marquis of dalhousie to queen victoria._ ootacamund, _ th march _. the governor-general presents his most humble duty to your majesty; and in obedience to the command, which your majesty was pleased to lay upon him, that he should keep your majesty acquainted with the course of public events in india, he has the honour to inform your majesty that he has now felt it to be his duty to request the president of the board of control to solicit for him your majesty's permission to retire from the office of governor-general of india about the close of the present year. the governor-general begs permission respectfully to represent, that in january next, he will have held his present office for eight years; that his health during the last few months has seriously failed him; and that although he believes that the invigorating air of these hills will enable him to discharge all his duties efficiently during this season, yet he is conscious that the effects of an indian climate have laid such a hold upon him that by the close of the present year he will be wholly unfit any longer to serve your majesty. lord dalhousie, therefore, humbly trusts that your majesty will graciously permit him to resign the great office which he holds before he ceases to command the strength which is needed to sustain it. he has the honour to subscribe himself, your majesty's most obedient, most humble and devoted subject and servant, dalhousie. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. the queen returns the letter and despatches from vienna. they don't alter her opinion as to our demands. every concession in form and wording ought to be made which could save russian _amour-propre_; but this ought in no way to trench upon the _substance_ of our demands, to which austria must feel herself bound.[ ] [footnote : as has already been stated, the "four points" were the basis of the negotiations at vienna; the third alone, which the allies and austria had defined as intended to terminate russian preponderance in the black sea, caused difficulty.] [pageheading: the vienna conference] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ th march _. the queen has read with the greatest interest lord cowley's three reports. the changeableness of the french views are most perplexing, although they have hitherto not prevented a steady course from being followed in the end. lord cowley seems to have been a little off his guard when he took the proposal of our taking sinope as a second malta or gibraltar, for a mere act of generosity and confidence towards us. we must be careful not to break down ourselves the barrier of the "abnegation clause" of our original treaty.[ ] the austrian proposal can hardly be serious, for to require , , men before going to war is almost ridiculous. the queen read with much concern the two simultaneous proposals from the king of prussia's simultaneous plenipotentiaries--both inadmissible, in her opinion. a very civil answer would appear to the queen as the best, to the effect that, as prussia was evidently not now in a mood to resume her position amongst the great powers with the responsibilities attaching to it, we could not hope to arrive at any satisfactory result by the present negotiations, but shall be ready to treat prussia with the same regard with which we have always done, when she shall have something tangible to propose. [footnote : _i.e._ the formal renunciation by the allies of any scheme of territorial acquisition.] [pageheading: the baltic expedition] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th march _. with regard to the expedition to the baltic[ ] the queen concurs in believing it probable that we shall have to confine ourselves to a blockade, but this should be with the _certainty_ of its being done effectually and free from any danger to the squadron, from a sudden start of the russian fleet. twenty sail of the line (to which add five french) would be a sufficient force if supported by the necessary complement of frigates, corvettes, and gunboats, etc., etc.; alone, they would be useless from their draught of water, and if twenty ships only are meant (not sail of the line), the force would seem wholly inadequate. the queen would therefore wish, before giving her sanction to the proposed plan of campaign, to have a complete list submitted to her of what it is intended to constitute the baltic fleet.[ ] we ought likewise not to leave ourselves destitute of any reserve at home, which the uncertain contingencies of another year's war may call upon at any moment. the queen regrets lord shaftesbury's declining office, and approves of lord elgin's selection in his place.[ ] she thanks lord palmerston for the clear and comprehensive explanation of sir george lewis's stamp duties bill,[ ] and approves of lord palmerston's proposal for the adjournment of parliament for the easter holidays. [footnote : the expedition was commanded by rear-admiral richard dundas. about the same time vice-admiral sir james dundas retired from the mediterranean command, in favour of sir edmund lyons.] [footnote : the allied fleet comprised line-of-battle ships, frigates and corvettes, smaller steamers and gunboats, and other craft.] [footnote : as chancellor of the duchy of lancaster; mr matthew talbot baines was ultimately appointed.] [footnote : imposing a penny stamp upon bankers' cheques, if drawn within fifteen miles of the place where they were payable.] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ osborne, _ nd march _. the other day, when the queen spoke to lord panmure on the subject of the distribution of the _medal_ for the _crimean_ campaign amongst the officers, and those who _are_ in _this_ country, no decision was come to as to how this should be done. the queen has since thought that the value of this medal would be greatly enhanced if _she_, were _personally_ to deliver it to the officers and a certain number of men (selected for that purpose). the valour displayed by our troops, as well as the sufferings they have endured, have never been surpassed--perhaps hardly equalled; and as the queen has been a witness of _what_ they have gone through, having visited them in their hospitals, she would _like_ to be able _personally_ to give them the reward they have earned so well, and will value so much. it will likewise have a very beneficial effect, the queen doubts not, on the recruiting. the manner in which it should be done, and the details connected with the execution of this intention of hers, the queen will settle with lord panmure, when she sees him in town. will the medals now be soon ready? [pageheading: the imperial visit] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th april _. dearest uncle,--your kindness will, i know, excuse any description of all that has passed, and _is_ passing, and i leave it to charles. the impression is very favourable.[ ] there is great fascination in the quiet, frank manner of the emperor, and _she_ is very pleasing, very graceful, and very unaffected, but very delicate. she _is_ certainly very pretty and very uncommon-looking. the emperor spoke very amiably of you. the reception by the public was _immensely_ enthusiastic. i must end here. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the emperor and empress of the french arrived on the th of april, on a visit to england. they were enthusiastically received both at dover (notwithstanding a dense fog, which endangered the safety of the imperial yacht) and on their progress from the south-eastern terminus to paddington. in passing king street, the emperor was observed to indicate his former residence to the empress.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. dearest uncle,... i have not a moment to myself, being of course entirely occupied with our imperial guests, with whom i am much pleased, and who behave really with the greatest tact.[ ] the investiture went off very well, and to-day (we came from windsor) the enthusiasm of the thousands who received him in the city was immense. he is much pleased. since the time of my coronation, with the exception of the opening of the great exhibition, i don't remember anything like it. to-night we go in state to the opera. in haste, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : a review of the household troops in windsor park was held on the th, and a ball was given at the castle in the evening. a council of war on the th was attended by the prince, the emperor, and some of their ministers; in the afternoon the queen invested the emperor with the garter. on the following day the emperor received an address at windsor from the corporation of london, and lunched at the guildhall; the queen and prince and their guests paid a state visit to her majesty's theatre in the evening to hear _fidelio_. on the th the party, with brilliant ceremonial, visited the crystal palace at sydenham, and were enthusiastically received by an immense multitude; another important council, relative to the future conduct of the war, was held in the evening.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. my dearest uncle,--many thanks for your kind letter of the th and th, by which i am glad to see that you were well. our great visit is past, like a brilliant and most successful dream, but i think the effect on the visitors will be a good and lasting one; they saw in our reception, and in that of the whole nation, nothing _put on_, but a warm, hearty welcome to a faithful and steady ally. i think also that for belgium this visit will be very useful, for it will increase the friendly feelings of the emperor towards my dear uncle, and towards a country in which england takes so deep an interest. the negotiations are broken off, and austria has been called upon to act according to the treaty of the nd december. she intends, i believe, to make some proposal, but we know nothing positive as yet. in the meantime i fear the emperor (i mean napoleon) _will_ go to the crimea, which makes one anxious.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen has read the letter of lady ---- to lady palmerston, and now returns it to lord palmerston. she has to observe that it has been with her an invariable rule never to take upon herself the office of sitting in judgment upon accusations or reports against private character. no person therefore can have any reason to suppose that she will by marked neglect or manner appear to pronounce a verdict upon matters in which she is not the proper court of appeal. [pageheading: the emperor's letter] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._ palais des tuileries, _le avril _. madame et bonne s[oe]ur,--a paris depuis trois jours, je suis encore auprès de votre majesté par la pensée, et mon premier besoin est de lui redire combien est profonde l'impression que m'a laissée son accueil si plein de grâce et d'affectueuse bonté. la politique nous a rapprochés d'abord, mais aujourd'hui qu'il m'a été permis de connaître personnellement votre majesté c'est une vive et respectueuse sympathie qui forme désormais le véritable lien qui m'attache à elle. il est impossible en effet de vivre quelques jours dans votre intimité sans subir le charme qui s'attache à l'image de la grandeur et du bonheur de la famille la plus unie. votre majesté m'a aussi bien touché par ses prévenances délicates envers l'impératrice; car rien ne fait plus de plaisir que de voir la personne qu'on aime devenir l'objet d'aussi flatteuses attentions. je prie votre majesté d'exprimer au prince albert les sentiments sincères que m'inspirent sa franche amitié, son esprit élevé et la droiture de son jugement. j'ai rencontré à mon retour à paris bien des difficultés diplomatiques et bien d'autres intervenants au sujet de mon voyage en crimée. je dirai en confidence à votre majesté que ma résolution de voyage s'en trouve presque ébranlée. en france tous ceux qui possèdent sont bien peu courageux! votre majesté voudra bien me rappeler au souvenir de sa charmante famille et me permettre de lui renouveler l'assurance de ma respectueuse amitié et de mon tendre attachement. de votre majesté, le bon frère, napolÉon. [pageheading: the queen's reply] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ buckingham palace, _le avril _. sire et mon cher frÈre,--votre majesté vient de m'écrire une bien bonne et affectueuse lettre que j'ai reçue hier et qui m'a vivement touchée. vous dites, sire, que vos pensées sont encore auprès de nous; je puis vous assurer que c'est bien réciproque de notre part et que nous ne cessons de repasser en revue et de parler de ces beaux jours que nous avons eu le bonheur de passer avec vous et l'impératrice et qui se sont malheureusement écoulés si vite. nous sommes profondément touchés de la manière dont votre majesté parle de nous et de notre famille, et je me plais à voir dans les sentiments que vous nous témoignez un gage précieux de plus pour la continuation de ces relations si heureusement et si fermement établies entre nos deux pays. permettez que j'ajoute encore, sire, combien de prix j'attache à l'entière franchise avec laquelle vous ne manquez d'agir envers nous en toute occasion et à laquelle vous nous trouverez toujours prêts à répondre, bien convaincus que c'est le moyen le plus sûr pour éloigner tout sujet de complication et de mésentendu entre nos deux gouvernements vis-à-vis des graves difficultés que nous avons à surmonter ensemble. depuis le départ de votre majesté les complications diplomatiques ont augmenté bien péniblement et la position est assurément devenue bien difficile mais le ciel n'abandonnera pas ceux qui n'ont d'autre but que le bien du genre humain. j'avoue que la nouvelle de la possibilité de l'abandon de votre voyage en crimée m'a bien tranquillisée parce qu'il y avait bien des causes d'alarmes en vous voyant partir si loin et exposé à tant de dangers. mais bien que l'absence de votre majesté en crimée soit toujours une grande perte pour les opérations vigoureuses dont nous sommes convenus, j'espère que leur exécution n'en sera pas moins vivement poussée par nos deux gouvernements. le prince me charge de vous offrir ses plus affectueux hommages et nos enfants qui sont bien flattés de votre gracieux souvenir, et qui parlent beaucoup de votre visite, se mettent à vos pieds. avec tous les sentiments de sincère amitié et de haute estime, je me dis, sire et cher frère, de v.m.i. la bien bonne s[oe]ur, victoria r. [pageheading: russia and the black sea] [pageheading: austrian proposals] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._[ ] piccadilly, _ th april _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the members of the cabinet who met yesterday evening at the chancellor's were of opinion that the austrian proposal adopted by m. drouyn de lhuys, even with his pretended modification, could not be described more accurately than in the concise terms of h.r.h. the prince albert, namely, that instead of making to cease the preponderance of russia in the black sea, it would perpetuate and legalise that preponderance, and that instead of establishing a secure and permanent peace, it would only establish a prospective case for war. such a proposal therefore your majesty's advisers could not recommend your majesty to adopt; but as the step to be taken seems rather to be to make such a proposal to austria than to answer such a proposal which austria has not formally made, and as m. drouyn's telegraphic despatch stated that he thought that lord john russell would recommend such an arrangement to his colleagues, the cabinet were of opinion that the best course would be simply to take no step at all until lord john russell's return, which may be expected to-morrow or next day, especially as lord clarendon had already, by telegraphic message of yesterday, intimated to the french government that such an arrangement as that proposed by m. drouyn, and which would sanction a russian fleet in the black sea to any amount short by one ship of the number existing in , could not be agreed to by the british government. such an arrangement would, in the opinion of viscount palmerston, be alike dangerous and dishonourable; and as to the accompanying alliance with austria for the future defence of turkey and for making war with russia, if she were to raise her black sea fleet up to the amount of , what reason is there to believe that austria, who shrinks from war with russia now that the army of russia has been much reduced by the losses of the last twelve months--now that her forces are divided and occupied elsewhere than on the austrian frontier, and now that england and france are actually in the field with great armies, supported by great fleets, what reason is there to believe that this same austria would be more ready to make war four or five years hence, when the army of russia shall have repaired its losses and shall be more concentrated to attack austria, when the austrian army shall have been reduced to its peace establishment, and when the peace establishments of england and france, withdrawn within their home stations, shall be less ready to co-operate with austria in war? what reason, moreover, is there for supposing that austria, who has recently declared that though prepared for war she will not make war for ten sail of the line more or less in the russian black sea fleet, will some few years hence, when unprepared for war, draw the sword on account of the addition of one ship of war to the russian fleet in the black sea? such proposals are really a mockery. [footnote : it had long become evident that russia would refuse assent to the third point, terminating her preponderance in the black sea, but austria now came forward with a proposal to limit the russian force there to the number of ships authorised before the war. this was rejected by russia, whereupon the representatives of england and france withdrew from the negotiations. count buol, representing austria, then came forward again with a scheme the salient features of which were that, if russia increased her black sea fleet beyond its existing strength, turkey might maintain a force equal to it, and england and france might each have a naval force in the black sea equal to half the russian force, while the increase of the russian fleet beyond its strength in would be regarded by austria as a _casus belli_. these terms were satisfactory neither to the british government nor to the french emperor, so that it was learned with some surprise that lord john russell and m. drouyn de lhuys (the french plenipotentiary) had approved of them. upon the emperor definitely rejecting the proposals, m. drouyn de lhuys resigned; he was succeeded as foreign minister by count walewski, m. de persigny becoming ambassador in london. lord john russell tendered his resignation, but, at lord palmerston's solicitation, and most unfortunately for himself, he withdrew it.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen returns these very important letters. she thinks that it will be of great use to ask the emperor to send m. drouyn de lhuys over here after having discussed the plans of peace with him, in order that he should hear our arguments also, and give us his reasons for thinking the terms acceptable. the influence of distance and difference of locality upon the resolves of men has often appeared to the queen quite marvellous. [pageheading: the imperial visit] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ st may _. my dearest uncle,--on this day, the fifth birthday of our darling little arthur--the anniversary of the opening of the great exhibition--the _once_ great day at paris, viz. the poor king's name-day--and also the birthday of the dear old duke--i write to thank you for your kind and affectionate letter of the th. the _attentat_[ ] on the emperor will have shocked you, as it did us; it shocked me _the more_ as we had _watched over_ him with such anxiety while he was with us. it has produced an immense sensation in france, we hear, and many of _his_ political _enemies_, he says, cheered him loudly as he returned to the tuileries. as you say, he is _very personal_, and _therefore_ kindness _shown_ him _personally_ will make a _lasting_ effect on his mind, peculiarly susceptible to _kindness_. another feature in his character is that _il ne fait pas de phrases_--and _what_ is said is the result of deep reflection. i therefore send you (in _strict confidence_) a copy of the really very kind letter he wrote me, and which i am sure is _quite sincere_. he felt the simple and kind treatment of him and her _more_ than _all_ the outward homage and display. please kindly to return it when you have done with it. i am sure you would be charmed with the empress; it is not such great beauty, but such grace, elegance, sweetness, and _nature_. her manners are charming; the _profile_ and figure beautiful and particularly _distingués_. you will be pleased (as i was) at the abandonment of the journey to the crimea, though i think, as regarded the campaign, it would have been a good thing.... lord john is returned. i can't say more to-day, but remain, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. we have a childs' _ball_ to-night. [footnote : an italian, giacomo pianori, fired twice at the emperor, while he was riding in the champs elysées, on the th of april; the emperor was uninjured.] [pageheading: the queen's impressions] [pageheading: louis philippe and napoleon iii] [pageheading: isolation of the emperor] [pageheading: the french alliance] _memorandum by queen victoria._ buckingham palace, _ nd may _. the recent visit of the emperor napoleon iii. to this country is a most curious page of history, and gives rise to many reflections. a remarkable combination of circumstances has brought about the very intimate alliance which now unites england and france, for so many centuries the bitterest enemies and rivals, and this, under the reign of the present emperor, the nephew of our greatest foe, and bearing his name, and brought about by the policy of the late emperor of russia, who considered himself as the head of the european alliance against france! in reflecting on the character of the present emperor napoleon, and the impression i have conceived of it, the following thoughts present themselves to my mind: that he _is_ a very _extraordinary_ man, with great qualities there can be _no_ doubt--i might almost say a mysterious man. he is evidently possessed of _indomitable courage_, _unflinching firmness of purpose_, _self-reliance_, _perseverance_, and _great secrecy_; to this should be added, a great reliance on what he calls his _star_, and a belief in omens and incidents as connected with his future destiny, which is almost romantic--and at the same time he is endowed with wonderful _self-control_, great _calmness_, even _gentleness_, and with a _power_ of _fascination_, the effect of which upon all those who become more intimately acquainted with him is _most sensibly_ felt. how far he is actuated by a strong _moral_ sense of _right_ and _wrong_ is difficult to say. on the one hand, his attempts at strasbourg and boulogne, and this last after having given a solemn promise never to return or make a similar attempt--in which he openly called on the subjects of the then king of the french to follow him as the successor of napoleon, the _coup d'État_ of december , followed by great ... severity and the confiscation of the property of the unfortunate orleans family, would lead one to believe that he is not. on the other hand, his kindness and gratitude towards all those, whether high or low, who have befriended him or stood by him through life, and his straightforward and steady conduct towards us throughout the very difficult and anxious contest in which we have been engaged for a year and a half, show that he is possessed of noble and right feelings. my impression is, that in all these apparently inexcusable acts, he has invariably been guided by the belief that he is _fulfilling a destiny_ which god has _imposed_ upon him, and that, though cruel or harsh in themselves, they were _necessary_ to obtain the result which he considered _himself_ as _chosen_ to carry out, and _not_ acts of _wanton_ cruelty or injustice; for it is impossible to know him and not to see that there is much that is truly amiable, kind, and honest in his character. another remarkable and important feature in his composition is, that everything he says or expresses is the _result_ of deep reflection and of settled purpose, and not merely _des phrases de politesse_, consequently when we read words used in his speech made in the city, we may feel sure that he _means_ what he says; and therefore i would rely with confidence on his behaving honestly and faithfully towards us. i am not able to say whether he is deeply versed in history--i should rather think not, as regards it _generally_, though he may be, and probably is, well informed in the history of his own country, certainly fully so in that of the _empire_, he having made it his special study to contemplate and reflect upon all the acts and designs of his great uncle. he is very well read in german literature, to which he seems to be very partial. it is said, and i am inclined to think with truth, that he reads but little, even as regards despatches from his own foreign ministers, he having expressed his surprise at my reading them daily. he seems to be singularly ignorant in matters not connected with the branch of his _special_ studies, and to be ill informed upon them by those who surround him. if we compare him with poor king louis philippe, i should say that the latter (louis philippe) was possessed of vast knowledge upon all and every subject, of immense experience in public affairs, and of great activity of mind; whereas the emperor possesses greater judgment and much greater firmness of purpose, but no experience of public affairs, nor mental application; he is endowed, as was the late king, with much fertility of imagination. another great difference between king louis philippe and the emperor is, that the poor king was _thoroughly french_ in character, possessing all the liveliness and talkativeness of that people, whereas the emperor is as _unlike_ a _frenchman_ as possible, being much more _german_ than french in character.... how could it be expected that the emperor _should_ have any _experience_ in _public affairs_, considering that till six years ago he lived as a poor exile, for some years even in prison, and never having taken the slightest part in the _public_ affairs of _any_ country? it is therefore the more astounding, indeed almost incomprehensible, that he should show all those powers of government, and all that wonderful tact in his conduct and manners which he evinces, and which many a king's son, nurtured in palaces and educated in the midst of affairs, never succeeds in attaining. i likewise believe that he would be incapable of such tricks and over-reachings as practised by poor king louis philippe (for whose memory, as the old and kind friend of my father, and of whose kindness and amiable qualities i shall ever retain a lively sense), who in great as well as in small things took a pleasure in being cleverer and more cunning than others, often when there was no advantage to be gained by it, and which was, unfortunately, strikingly displayed in the transactions connected with the spanish marriages, which led to the king's downfall and ruined him in the eyes of all europe. on the other hand, i believe that the emperor napoleon would not hesitate to do a thing by main force, even if in itself unjust and tyrannical, should he consider that the _accomplishment of his destiny_ demanded it. the _great advantage_ to be derived for the permanent alliance of england and france, which is of such vital importance to both countries, by the emperor's recent visit, i take to be this: that, with his peculiar character and views, which are very personal, a kind, unaffected, and hearty reception by us _personally_ in our own family will make a lasting impression upon his mind; he will see that he can rely upon our friendship and honesty towards him and his country so long as he remains faithful towards us; naturally frank, he will see the advantage to be derived from continuing so; and if he reflects on the downfall of the former dynasty, he will see that it arose _chiefly_ from a _breach_ of pledges,... and will be sure, if i be not very much mistaken in his character, to _avoid_ such a course. it must likewise not be overlooked that this kindly feeling towards us, and consequently towards england (the interests of which are _inseparable_ from us), must be increased when it is remembered that _we_ are almost the only people in _his_ own position with whom he has been able to be on any terms of intimacy, consequently almost the only ones to whom he could talk easily and unreservedly, which he cannot do naturally with his inferiors. he and the empress are in a most isolated position, unable to trust the only relations who are near them in france, and surrounded by courtiers and servants, who from fear or interest do not tell them the truth. it is, therefore, natural to believe that he will not willingly separate from those who, like us, do not scruple to put him in possession of the real facts, and whose conduct is guided by justice and honesty, and this the more readily as he is supposed to have always been a searcher after truth. i would go still further, and think that it is in our power to _keep_ him in the right course, and to protect him against the extreme flightiness, changeableness, and to a certain extent want of honesty of his own servants and nation. we should never lose the opportunity of checking in the bud any attempt on the part of his agents or ministers to play us false, frankly informing him of the facts, and encouraging him to bring forward in an equally frank manner whatever he has to complain of. this is the course which we have hitherto pursued, and as he is france in his own sole person, it becomes of the utmost importance to encourage by every means in our power that very open intercourse which i must say has existed between him and lord cowley for the last year and a half, and now, since our personal acquaintance, between ourselves. as i said before, the words which fall from his lips are the result of deep reflection, and part of the deep plan which he has staked out for himself, and which he intends to carry out. i would therefore lay stress on the following words which he pronounced to me immediately after the investiture of the order of the garter: "_c'est un lien de plus entre nous, j'ai prêté serment de fidélité à votre majesté et je le garderai soigneusement. c'est un grand événement pour moi, et j'espère pouvoir prouver ma reconnaissance envers votre majesté et son pays._" in a letter said to be written by him to mr f. campbell, the translator of m. thiers's _history of the consulate and empire_, when returning the proof-sheets in , he says "let us hope the day may yet come when i shall carry out the intentions of my uncle by uniting the policy and interests of england and france in an indissoluble alliance. that hope cheers and encourages me. it forbids my repining at the altered fortunes of my family." if these be truly his words, he certainly has acted up to them, since he has swayed with an iron hand the destinies of that most versatile nation, the french. that he should have written this at a moment when louis philippe had succeeded in all his wishes, and seemed securer than ever in the possession of his throne, shows a calm reliance in his destiny and in the realisation of hopes entertained from his very childhood which borders on the supernatural. these are a few of the many reflections caused by the observation and acquaintance with the character of this most extraordinary man, in whose fate not only the interests of this country, but the whole of europe are intimately bound up. i shall be curious to see if, after the lapse of time, my opinion and estimate of it has been the right one. victoria r. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen returns these interesting letters to lord clarendon. when the emperor expresses a wish that positive instructions should be sent to lord raglan to join in a general forward movement about to take place, he should be made aware that lord raglan has been ready and most anxious for the assault taking place on the th, and that he only consented to postpone it for a few days at general canrobert's earnest desire, who wished to wait for the army of reserve. it should be kept in mind, however, that the english cannot proceed farther as long as the mamelon has not been taken, and that as long as the french refuse to do this they must not complain of lord raglan's not advancing. the refusal to undertake this has, the queen is sorry to say, produced a bad feeling amongst many of our officers and men, which she owns alarms her.[ ] [footnote : general canrobert was deficient in dash and initiative; he knew his defects, and was relieved of his command at his own request, being succeeded by general pélissier. on the th of may (the queen's birthday) a successful expedition was made against kertsch, the granary of sebastopol, and vast quantities of coal, corn, and flour were either seized by the allies, or destroyed in anticipation of their seizure by the russians. on the th of june, the mamelon (a knoll crowned by a redoubt and protected by the rifle pits) was taken by the french, and the gravel pits, an outwork in front of the redan, by the english.] [pageheading: the crimean medal] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ nd may _. my dearest, kindest uncle,--... the state of affairs is uncomfortable and complicated just now, but our course is _straight_; we _cannot_ come to any peace unless we have such guarantees by _decided_ limitation of the fleet, which would secure us against russian preponderance for the future.[ ] ernest will have told you what a _beautiful_ and _touching_ sight and ceremony (the first of the kind ever witnessed in england) the distribution of the medals was. from the highest prince of the blood to the lowest private, all received the same distinction for the bravest conduct in the severest actions, and the rough hand of the brave and honest private soldier came for the first time in contact with that of their sovereign and their queen! noble fellows! i own i feel as if they were _my own children_; my heart beats for _them_ as for my _nearest and dearest_. they were so touched, so pleased; many, i hear, cried--and they won't hear of giving up their medals, to have their names engraved upon them, for fear they should _not_ receive the _identical one_ put into _their hands by me_, which is quite touching. several came by in a sadly mutilated state. none created more interest or is more gallant than young sir thomas troubridge, who had, at inkerman, _one leg_ and the _other foot_ carried away by a round shot, and continued commanding his battery till the battle was won, refusing to be carried away, only desiring his shattered limbs to be raised in order to prevent too great a hemorrhage! he was dragged by in a bath chair, and when i gave him his medal i told him i should make him one of my aides-de-camp for his very gallant conduct, to which he replied: "i am amply repaid for everything!"[ ] _one must_ revere and love such soldiers as those! the account in the _times_ of saturday is very correct and good. i must, however, conclude now, hoping soon to hear from you again. could you kindly tell me if you could in a few days forward some letters and papers with _safety_ to good stockmar. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : prince albert, in a memorandum dated the th of may, emphasised the difficulties in the way of peace caused by the attitude of austria, and the possibility of her passing from the one alliance to the other.] [footnote : he was made a c.b. and a brevet-colonel; and also received the legion of honour.] [pageheading: successor to lord dalhousie] _queen victoria to mr vernon smith._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen has received mr vernon smith's letter on the subject of lord dalhousie's resignation and the appointment of a successor. she was somewhat astonished that the name of a successor to that most important appointment should for the first time be brought before her after all official steps for carrying it out had been completed. if the selection should now not receive the queen's approval, it is evident that great awkwardness must arise.[ ] [footnote : mr vernon smith, in reply, referred to the statutory power then existing of the directors of the east india company to nominate a governor-general, subject to the approbation of the crown.] _queen victoria to mr vernon smith._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen received mr v. smith's letter yesterday evening after her return from chatham. she readily acquits him of any _intentional_ want of respect towards her, or of any neglect in going through the prescribed forms with regard to the appointment in question, neither of which she meant to insinuate by her letter. but she does not look upon the question as one of form. she takes a deep and natural interest in the welfare of her indian empire, and must consider the selection of the fittest person for the post of governor-general as of paramount importance. she had frequently discussed this point with lord palmerston, but the name of lord canning never occurred amongst the candidates alluded to. the queen is even now quite ignorant as to the reasons and motives which led to his selection in preference to those other names, and mr v. smith will see at once that, were the queen inclined to object to it, she could not _now_ do so without inflicting a deep, personal injury on a public man, for whose personal qualities and talents the queen has a high regard. she accordingly approves the recommendation, but must repeat her regret that no opportunity had been given to her to discuss the propriety of it with her ministers previous to the intention of the recommendation becoming known to all concerned in it. [pageheading: death of lord raglan] _general simpson to lord panmure._[ ] [_telegram._] _ th june ._ ( . a.m.) lord raglan had been going on favourably until four in the afternoon yesterday, when very serious symptoms made their appearance. difficulty of breathing was experienced, which gradually increased. up to five o'clock he was conscious, and from this time his strength declined almost imperceptibly until twenty-five minutes before nine, when he died. i have assumed the command, as sir george brown is too ill on board ship. [footnote : on the th of june, the fortieth anniversary of waterloo, a combined attack by the english on the redan, and the french on the malakhoff, was repulsed with heavy losses. the scheme was that of pélissier, and lord raglan acquiesced against his better judgment. the result depressed him greatly; he was attacked with cholera, and died on the th.] _queen victoria to general simpson._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. not being aware whether sir george brown is well enough by this time to assume the command of the army, the queen writes to general simpson, as the chief of his staff, to express to him, and _through_ him to the army, her deep and _heartfelt grief_ at the irreparable loss of their gallant and excellent commander, lord raglan, which has cast a gloom over us all, as it must do over the whole army. but, at the same time, the queen wishes to express her earnest hope and confident trust that every one will more than ever now do their duty, as they have hitherto so nobly done, and that she may continue to be as proud of her beloved army as she has been, though their brave chief who led them so often to victory and to glory, has been taken from them. most grievous and most truly melancholy it is that poor lord raglan should die _thus_--from sickness--on the eve, as we have every reason to hope, of the glorious result of so much labour, and so much anxiety, and not be allowed to witness it. the queen's prayers will be more than ever with her army, and most fervently do we trust that general simpson's health, as well as that of the other generals, may be preserved to them unimpaired! _queen victoria to lady raglan._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. dear lady raglan,--words _cannot_ convey _all_ i feel at the irreparable loss you have sustained, and i and the country have, in your noble, gallant, and excellent husband, whose loyalty and devotion to his sovereign and country were unbounded. we both feel _most deeply_ for you and your daughters, to whom this blow must be most severe and sudden. he was so strong, and his health had borne the bad climate, great fatigues, and anxieties so well, ever since he left england, that, though we were much alarmed at hearing of his illness, we were full of hopes of his speedy recovery. we must bow to the will of god; but to be taken away thus, on the eve of the successful result of so much labour, so much suffering, and so much anxiety, is cruel indeed! we feel much, too, for the brave army, whom he was so proud of, who will be sadly cast down at losing their gallant commander, who had led them so often to victory and glory. if sympathy can be any consolation, you have it, for _we all_ have _alike_ to mourn, and no one more than i, who have lost a faithful and devoted servant, in whom i had the greatest confidence. we both most anxiously hope that your health, and that of your daughters, may not materially suffer from this dreadful shock. believe me always, my dear lady raglan, yours very sincerely, victoria r. [pageheading: general simpson takes command] _queen victoria to general simpson._ buckingham palace, _ th july _. when the queen last wrote to general simpson to express to him, and through him to her army in the crimea, her _deep_ grief at the loss of their noble, gallant, and excellent commander, it was not yet known that sir george brown would return home, and that the command of the army would devolve upon general simpson. she writes to him, therefore, to-day, for the _first_ time as the commander-in-chief of her heroic army in the east, to assure him of her confidence and support. it is as proud a command as any soldier could desire, but its difficulties and responsibilities are also very great. general simpson knows well how admirably his lamented predecessor conducted all the communications with our allies the french, and he cannot do better than follow in the same course. while showing the greatest readiness to act with perfect cordiality towards them, he will, the queen trusts, never allow her army to be unduly pressed upon, which would only injure both armies. the queen feels very anxious lest the fearful heat which the army is exposed to should increase cholera and fever. both the prince and herself, the queen can only repeat, have their minds _constantly_ occupied with the army, and count the days and hours between the mails, and it would be a relief to the queen to hear herself directly from general simpson from time to time when he has leisure to write. the prince wishes to be most kindly named to general simpson, and joins with the queen in every possible good wish for himself and her brave and beloved troops. [pageheading: lord john russell's unpopularity] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... viscount palmerston very much regrets to have to say that the adverse feeling in regard to lord john russell grows stronger and spreads wider every day, and there is a general desire that he should resign.[ ] this desire is expressed by the great bulk of the steadiest supporters of the government, and was conveyed to lord john this evening in the house of commons by mr bouverie on behalf of those members of the government who are not in the cabinet. lord john has himself come to the same conclusion, and informed viscount palmerston this evening in the house of commons that he has finally determined to resign, and will to-morrow or next day write a letter to that effect to be laid before your majesty. viscount palmerston told him that however great would be the loss of the government by his resignation, yet as this is a question which more peculiarly regards lord john personally, his course must be decided by his own judgment and feelings; but that if he did not think necessary to resign, viscount palmerston would face sir edward bulwer's motion with the government as it is.[ ] he asked lord john, however, whether, if he determined to resign, there was any arrangement which he would wish to have submitted for your majesty's consideration, and especially whether, if your majesty should be graciously pleased to raise him to the peerage, such an honour would be agreeable to him. he said that perhaps in the autumn such an act of favour on the part of your majesty might fall in with his views and would be gratefully received, but it would not do at present, and should not be mentioned.... [footnote : lord john russell had, as stated above, favoured the proposals of count buol at vienna, compromising the third point to the advantage of russia. the ministry had disavowed this view, but lord john had remained in office. on the th of may, mr disraeli moved a vote of censure on the government for its conduct of the war, fiercely assailing lord john for his proceedings both at vienna and as minister. in repelling the charge, lord john made a vigorous speech disclosing no disposition to modify the british attitude towards russian preponderance in the black sea, and mr disraeli's motion was lost by a majority of . on a subsequent night he made a further speech strongly antagonistic to russia, his attitude as to the austrian proposals being still undisclosed to the public. but these speeches caused count buol to reveal the favourable view taken of his proposals by the english and french plenipotentiaries, and lord john russell's inconsistency aroused widespread indignation.] [footnote : this motion was one of censure on lord john russell for his conduct at vienna, and it was deeply galling to be informed by subordinate members of the government that, unless he resigned, they would support the vote of censure. lord john bowed before the storm and retired from office.] [pageheading: lord john russell resigns] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and submits for your majesty's gracious acceptance the resignation of lord john russell's office, which viscount palmerston trusts your majesty will think is expressed in terms highly honourable to lord john russell's feelings as a man and as a minister. the step, viscount palmerston regrets to say, has become unavoidable. the storm of public opinion, however much it may exceed any just or reasonable cause, is too overbearing to be resisted, and lord john russell has no doubt best consulted his own personal interests in yielding to it. after a time there will be a reaction and justice will be done; but resistance at present would be ineffectual, and would only increase irritation. viscount palmerston is not as yet prepared to submit for your majesty's consideration the arrangement which will become necessary for filling up the gap thus made in the government.... _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen is much concerned by what lord palmerston writes respecting the feeling of the house of commons. lord john's resignation, although a severe loss, may possibly assuage the storm which he had chiefly produced. but she finds that sir e. lytton's motion will be equally applicable to the government after this event as it would have been before it. she trusts that no stone will be left unturned to defeat the success of that motion, which would plunge the queen and the executive government of the country into new and most dangerous complications. these are really not times to play with the existence of governments for personal feeling or interests! _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has received lord palmerston's letter of yesterday, and returns lord john russell's letter,[ ] which reflects the greatest credit on him. the resignation had become unavoidable, and lord palmerston will do well to let the debate go by before proposing a successor, whom it will be difficult to find under any circumstances. having expressed her feelings on the position of affairs in her letter of yesterday, she will not repeat them here. she grants her permission to lord palmerston to state in parliament what he may think necessary for the defence of the cabinet. she could have the council here on wednesday, which day will probably be the least inconvenient to the members of the government. the queen has just received lord palmerston's letter of last night, which gives a more cheering prospect.[ ] [footnote : stating that his continuance in office would embarrass and endanger the ministry.] [footnote : in consequence of lord john's resignation, the motion of censure was withdrawn.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th july _. my dearest uncle,--i feel _quite_ grieved that it must again be _by letter_ that i express to you all my feelings of love and affection, which yesterday morning i could still do _de vive voix_. it was indeed a _happy_ time; i only fear that i was a dull companion--silent, absent, stupid, which i feel i have become since the war; and the constant anxiety and preoccupation which that odious sebastopol causes me and my dear, brave army, added to which the last week, or indeed the _whole fortnight_ since we arrived here, was one of such uncertainty about this tiresome scarlatina, that it made me still more _préoccupée_. the _only_ thing that at all lessened my sorrow at seeing you depart was my thankfulness that you got safe _out_ of our _hospital_.... ever your devoted niece and child, victoria r. [pagheading: affairs of sweden] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has delayed answering lord clarendon's letter respecting sweden till she received the first letter from mr magenis,[ ] omitted in lord clarendon's box. now, having read the whole of these documents, she confesses that she requires some explanation as to the advantages which are to arise to england from the proposed treaty, before she can come to any decision about it. when a treaty with sweden was last in contemplation, she was to have joined in the war against russia and to have received a guarantee of the integrity of her dominions by england and france in return; yet this clause was found so onerous to this country, and opening so entirely a new field of questions and considerations, that the cabinet would not entertain it. now the same guarantee is to be given by us without the counterbalancing advantage of sweden giving us her assistance in the war. [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) arthur charles magenis, minister at stockholm (and afterwards at lisbon), had written to say that an attempt was being made to change the partial guarantee of finmark into a general guarantee on behalf of sweden and norway. an important treaty was concluded between sweden and norway, and the western powers, in the following november, which secured the integrity of sweden and norway.] [pageheading: general simpson's difficulties] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has received lord panmure's letter of yesterday evening, and has signed the dormant commission for sir w. codrington. a similar course was pursued with regard to sir george cathcart. the queen hopes that general simpson may still rally. he must be in a great state of helplessness at this moment, knowing that he wants, as everybody out there, the advantages which lord raglan's name, experience, position, rank, prestige, etc., etc., gave him, having his military secretary ill on board, the head of the intelligence department dead, and no means left him whereby to gather information or to keep up secret correspondence with the tartars--colonel vico[ ] dead, who, as prince edward told the queen, had become a _most important_ element in the good understanding with the french army and its new commander, and not possessing military rank enough to make the sardinian general[ ] consider him as his chief. if all these difficulties are added to those inherent to the task imposed upon him, one cannot be surprised at his low tone of hopefulness. as most of these will, however, meet every commander whom we now can appoint, the queen trusts that means will be devised to assist him as much as possible in relieving him from too much writing, and in the diplomatic correspondence he has to carry on. the queen repeats her opinion that a _chef de chancellerie diplomatique_, such as is customary in the russian army, ought to be placed at his command, and she wishes lord panmure to show this letter to lords palmerston and clarendon, and to consult with them on the subject. neither the chief of the staff nor the military secretary can supply that want, and the general himself must feel unequal to it without any experience on the subject, and so will his successor. prince edward told the queen _in strict confidence_ that general simpson's position in lord raglan's headquarters had been anything but pleasant, that the staff had been barely civil to him; he was generally treated as an interloper, so that the sardinian and french officers attached to our headquarters observed upon it as a strange thing which would not be tolerated in their armies, and that general simpson showed himself grateful to them for the civility which they showed to a general officer of rank _aux cheveux blancs_. these little details, considered together with the general's extreme modesty, enable one to conceive what his present feelings must be.[ ] [footnote : colonel vico, the french commissioner attached to lord raglan's staff, had died on the th.] [footnote : general la marmora.] [footnote : the russian resources for the defence of sebastopol, both as to ammunition and provisions, were becoming exhausted, and a supreme effort was to be made, by massing more russian troops in the crimea, to inflict a decisive blow on the besieging forces of the allies. early on the morning of the th of august prince gortschakoff attacked the french and piedmontese at the river tchernaya. the attack on the left was repulsed by the french with the utmost spirit and with very little loss; while the russian loss, both in killed and wounded, was severe. the sardinian army, under general la marmora, were no less successful on the right. the news of this victory did not reach england until the queen and prince had left for their visit to paris.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ [osborne, _ th august _.] the queen has read sir b. hall's[ ] letter, and must say that she quite concurs in the advantage resulting from the playing of a band in kensington gardens on sunday afternoon, a practice which has been maintained on the terrace at windsor through good and evil report, and she accordingly sanctions this proposal.[ ] [she would wish lord palmerston, however, to notice to sir b. hall that hyde park, although under the management of the board of works, is still a royal park, and that all the regulations for opening and shutting gates, the protection of the grounds and police regulations, etc., etc., stand under the ranger, who alone could give the order sir b. hall proposes to issue....][ ] [footnote : first commissioner of public works; afterwards lord llanover.] [footnote : the government granted permission for the band to play, but the practice was discontinued in . see _post_, st june, , note .] [footnote : the portion of the letter within brackets was struck out of the draft by the queen.] [pageheading: visit to paris] [pageheading: enthusiastic reception] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ st cloud[ ] _ rd august _. my dearest uncle,--i do not intend to attempt any description, for i have no time for anything of the sort; besides, i have no doubt you will read the papers, and i know good van de weyer has written _au long_ to you about it all. i will therefore only give in a few words my impressions. i am _delighted_, _enchanted_, _amused_, and _interested_, and think i never saw anything more _beautiful_ and gay than paris--or more splendid than all the palaces. our reception is _most_ gratifying--for it is enthusiastic and really kind in the highest degree; and maréchal magnan[ ] (whom you know well) says that such a reception as i have received _every day here_ is much greater and much more enthusiastic even than napoleon on his return from his victories had received! our entrance into paris was a scene which was _quite feenhaft_, and which could hardly be seen anywhere else; was quite _overpowering_-- splendidly decorated--illuminated--immensely crowded--and , troops out--from the gare de strasbourg to st cloud, of which , gardes nationales, who had come great distances to see me. the emperor has done wonders for paris, and for the bois de boulogne. everything is beautifully _monté_ at court--_very_ quiet, and in excellent order; i must say we are both much struck with the difference between this and the poor king's time, when the noise, confusion, and bustle were great. we have been to the exposition, to versailles--which is most splendid and magnificent--to the grand opéra, where the reception and the way in which "god save the queen" was sung were _most magnificent_. yesterday we went to the tuileries; in the evening _théâtre ici_; to-night an immense ball at the hôtel de ville. they have asked to call a new street, which we opened, _after me!_ the heat is very great, but the weather splendid, and though the sun may be hotter, the air is certainly _lighter_ than ours--and i have no headache. the _zouaves_ are on guard here, and you can't see finer men; the cent gardes are splendid too. we drove to look at poor neuilly on sunday, the emperor and empress proposing it themselves; and it was a most _melancholy sight_, all in ruins. at _le grand trianon_ we saw the pretty chapel in which poor marie was married; at the tuileries the cabinet where the poor king signed his fatal abdication. i wish _you_ would take an opportunity of telling the poor queen that we had thought much of her and the family here, had visited those spots which were connected with them in particular, and that we had greatly admired the king's great works at versailles, which have been left _quite intact_. indeed, the emperor (as in everything) has shown _great_ tact and good feeling about all this, and spoke without any bitterness of the king. i still mean to visit (and this was _his_ proposition) the chapelle de st ferdinand, which i hope you will likewise mention to the queen.... the children are so fond of the emperor, who is so very kind to them. he _is_ very _fascinating_, with that great quiet and gentleness. he has certainly excellent manners, and both he and the dear and _very_ charming empress (whom albert likes particularly) do the _honneurs extremely_ well and _very_ gracefully, and are full of _every kind_ attention.... instead of my short letter i have written you a very long one, and must end. many thanks for your kind letter of the th. how beautiful and how enjoyable is this place! ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the queen and prince left osborne early on the th in their new yacht, _victoria and albert_, for boulogne, and the visit to france, which lasted nine days, was brilliantly successful. the queen, in her journal, recorded with great minuteness the details of this interesting time, and some extracts are printed by sir theodore martin in _the life of the prince consort_.] [footnote : marshal magnan had repressed an insurrection in lyons in , and aided in the _coup d'État_ of .] [pageheading: letter to the emperor] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ osborne, _le août _. sire et mon cher frÈre,--une de mes premières occupations en arrivant ici est d'écrire à votre majesté et d'exprimer du fond de mon c[oe]ur combien nous sommes pénétrés et touchés de l'accueil qui nous a été fait en france d'abord par votre majesté et l'impératrice ainsi que par toute la nation. le souvenir ne s'effacera jamais de notre mémoire, et j'aime à y voir un gage précieux pour le futur de la cordialité qui unit nos deux gouvernements ainsi que nos deux peuples. puisse cette heureuse union, que nous devons surtout aux qualités personnelles de votre majesté, se consolider de plus en plus pour le bien-être de nos deux nations ainsi que de toute l'europe. c'était avec le c[oe]ur bien gros j'ai pris congé de vous, sire, après les beaux et heureux jours que nous avons passés avec vous et que vous avez su nous rendre si agréables. hélas! comme toute chose ici-bas, ils se sont écoulés trop vite et ces dix jours de fêtes paraissent comme un beau rêve, mais ils nous restent gravés dans notre mémoire et nous aimons à passer en revue tout ce qui s'est présenté à nos yeux d'intéressant et de beau en éprouvant en même temps le désir de les voir se renouveler un jour. je ne saurais vous dire assez, sire, combien je suis touchée de toutes vos bontés et de votre amitié pour le prince et aussi de l'affection et de la bienveillance dont vous avez comblé nos enfants. leur séjour en france a été la plus heureuse époque de leur vie, et ils ne cessent d'en parler. nous avons trouvé tous les autres enfants en bonne santé, et le petit arthur se promène avec son bonnet de police qui fait son bonheur et dont il ne veut pas se séparer. que dieu veille sur votre majesté et la chère impératrice pour laquelle je forme bien des v[oe]ux. vous m'avez dit encore du bateau "au revoir," c'est de tout mon c[oe]ur que je le répète aussi! permettez que j'exprime ici tous les sentiments de tendre amitié et d'affection avec lesquelles je me dis, sire et cher frère, de votre majesté impériale, la bien bonne et affectionnée s[oe]ur et amie, victoria r. je viens à l'instant même de recevoir la si aimable dépêche télégraphique de votre majesté. recevez-en tous mes remercîments les plus affectueux. [pageheading: an _entente cordiale_] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th august _. my dearest uncle,--here we are again, after the _pleasantest_ and _most interesting_ and triumphant ten days that i think i ever passed. so complete a success, so very hearty and kind a reception with and from so _difficile_ a people as the french is indeed _most_ gratifying and _most_ promising for the future. the army were most friendly and amicable towards us also. in short, the _complete_ union of the two countries is stamped and sealed in the most satisfactory and solid manner, for it is not _only_ a union of the two governments--the two sovereigns--it is that of the _two nations!_ albert has told you of all the very extraordinary combinations of circumstances which helped to make all so interesting, so satisfactory. of the splendour of the _fête_ at versailles i can really give _no_ faint impression, for it exceeded all imagination! i have formed a _great_ affection for the emperor, and i believe it is very reciprocal, for he showed us a confidence which we must feel as very gratifying, and spoke to us on all subjects, even the _most delicate_. i find _no_ great personal rancour towards the orleans. he has destroyed nothing that the king did, even to the gymnastics of the children at st cloud, and showed much kind and good feeling in taking us to see poor chartres' monument, which is beautiful. nothing could exceed his tact and kindness. i find i must end in a great hurry, and will say more another day. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: personal friendship] _queen victoria to baron stockmar._ osborne, _ st september _. you continue to refuse to answer me, but i am _not_ discouraged by it; but on the contrary _must_ write to you to give _vent_ to my _delight_ at our triumphant, most interesting, and most enjoyable visit to paris! the prince has written to you, and given you some general accounts, which will please you, and the _times_ has some descriptions ... of the wonderful beauty and magnificence of _every_thing. i never enjoyed myself more, or was more delighted or more interested, _and i can think_ and talk of nothing else. i am _deeply_ touched by the extraordinary warmth, heartiness, and enthusiasm with which we have been received by _all_ ranks, and the kindness shown to every one has brought us all back--beginning with ourselves and ending with the lowest of our servants--full of gratitude, pleasure, admiration, regret at its being over, and a great desire to see such a visit renewed! it was touching and pleasing in the extreme to see the alliance sealed so completely, and without lowering _either_ country's pride, and to see old enmities and rivalries _wiped out_ over the tomb of napoleon i., before whose coffin i stood (by torchlight) at the arm of napoleon iii., now my nearest and dearest ally! we have come back with feelings of _real_ affection for and interest in _france_--and indeed how could it be otherwise when one saw _how_ much was done to _please_ and delight us? the army too (such a fine one!) i feel a real affection for, as the companions of my beloved troops! for the emperor _personally_ i have conceived a _real_ affection and friendship, and so i may truly say of the prince. you know what _i felt_ the moment i saw him and became acquainted with him, what i wrote down about him, etc. well, we have now seen him for full _ten days_, from twelve to fourteen hours every day--often alone; and i cannot say _how_ pleasant and easy it is to live with him, or how attached one becomes to him. i know _no_ one who puts me more at my ease, or to whom i felt more inclined to talk unreservedly, or in whom involuntarily i should be more inclined to confide, than the emperor! he was entirely at his ease with us--spoke most openly and frankly with us on all subjects--even the _most_ delicate, viz. the orleans family (this was with _me_, for i was driving alone with him), and i am happy to _feel_ that there is nothing now between us which could _mar_ our personal good _entente_ and friendly and intimate footing. he is so simple, so _naïf_, never making _des phrases_, or paying compliments--so full of tact, good taste, high breeding; his attentions and respect towards us were so simple and unaffected, his kindness and friendship for the prince so natural and so gratifying, _because_ it is _not_ forced, not _pour faire des compliments_. he is quite _the emperor_, and yet in _no_ way playing it; the court and whole house infinitely more _regal_ and better managed than in poor louis philippe's time, when all was in great noise and confusion, and there was _no_ court. we parted with _mutual_ sorrow, and the emperor expressed his hope that we shall frequently meet and "pas avec de si grandes cérémonies"! what i write here is my feeling and conviction: wonderful it is that this _man_--whom certainly we were _not_ over well-disposed to--should by _force_ of _circumstances_ be drawn into such close connection with us, and become _personally_ our friend, and _this_ entirely by his _own personal_ qualities, in spite of so much that _was and could_ be said against him! to the children (who behaved beautifully, and had the most extraordinary success) his kindness, and judicious kindness, was _great_, and they are _excessively_ fond of him. in short, without _attempting_ to do anything particular to _make_ one like him, or any personal attraction in outward appearance, he _has_ the power of _attaching_ those to him who come near him and know him, which is _quite incredible_. he is excessively kind in private, and so very quiet. i shall always look back on the time passed not only in france, but with _him_ personally, as _most_ agreeable. the prince, though less enthusiastic than i am, i can see well, shares this feeling, and i think it is very reciprocal on the emperor's part; he is very fond of the prince and truly appreciates him. with respect to the war, nothing can be more frank and fair and honest than he is about it, but it makes him unhappy and anxious. the dear empress, who was all kindness and goodness, whom we are all very fond of, we saw comparatively but little of, as for _really_ and _certainly very_ good reasons she must take great care of herself.... victoria r. [pageheading: misgovernment at naples] [pageheading: co-operation of the powers] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ rd september _. the queen has read the enclosed papers, and must express her strongest objection to a naval demonstration (which to be effectual must be prepared to pass on to measures of hostility), in order to obtain changes in the _internal system of government_ of the kingdom of naples.[ ] england would thereby undertake a responsibility which she is in no way capable of bearing, unless she took the government permanently into her own hands. the plea on which the interference is to be based, viz. that the misgovernment at naples brings monarchical institutions into disrepute, and might place weapons in the hands of the democracy (as put forth by sir w. temple),[ ] would be wholly _insufficient_ to justify the proceeding. whether such an armed interference in favour of the people of naples against their government would lead to a revolution or not, as apprehended by the french government and disbelieved by lord palmerston, must be so entirely a matter of chance that it would be idle to predict the exact consequences. if out of every neapolitans, however, are dissatisfied with their government (as lord palmerston states), it is not unreasonable to expect that our demonstration may give them confidence enough to rise, and if beat down by the king's troops in presence of our ships, our position would become exceedingly humiliating. any insult offered to the british government, on the other hand, it has a perfect right to resent, and to ask reparation for. the case, however, is a very unpleasant one. the neapolitan government deny having intended any slight on the british legation by the order respecting the box of the "intendant du théâtre," which they state to have been general, and deny any intention to interfere with the free intercourse of the members of our legation with neapolitans, to which sir w. temple merely replies that notwithstanding the denial such an intention is believed by the public to exist. the case becomes therefore a very delicate one, requiring the greatest care on our part not to put ourselves in the wrong. it will be of the greatest importance to come to a thorough understanding with france, and if possible also with austria, on the subject. [footnote : lord palmerston had suggested co-operation by england and france in obtaining the dismissal of the neapolitan minister of police as an _amende_ for an affront offered to this country, to be enforced by a naval demonstration, coupled with a demand for the liberation of political prisoners.] [footnote : the hon. sir william temple, k.c.b. [_d._ ], only brother of lord palmerston, minister plenipotentiary to the court of naples.] _lord panmure to earl granville._[ ] [_telegram._] _ th september ._ telegram from general simpson, dated crimea, nine september, one eight five five, ten nine a.m. "sebastopol is in the possession of the allies. the enemy during the night and this morning have evacuated the south side after exploding their magazines and setting fire to the whole of the town. all the men-of-war were burnt during the night with the exception of three steamers, which are plying about the harbour. the bridge communicating with the north side is broken." war department, tenth september, one eight five five, four forty-five p.m.... [footnote : minister in attendance at balmoral. the queen and prince occupied their new home for the first time on the th of september; it was not yet completed, but, the queen wrote, "the house is charming, the rooms delightful, the furniture, papers, everything, perfection."] [pageheading: fall of sebastopol] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral castle, _ th september _. my dearest uncle,--the great event has at length taken place--_sebastopol has fallen!_ we received the news here last night when we were sitting quietly round our table after dinner. we did what we could to celebrate it; but that was but little, for to my grief we have not _one_ soldier, no band, nothing here to make any sort of demonstration. what we did do was in highland fashion to light a _bonfire_ on the top of a hill opposite the house, which had been built last year when the premature news of the fall of sebastopol deceived every one, and which we had to leave _unlit_, and found here on our return! on saturday evening we heard of one russian vessel having been destroyed, on sunday morning of the destruction of another, yesterday morning of the fall of the malakhoff tower--and _then_ of _sebastopol!_ we were not successful against the redan on the th, and i fear our loss was considerable. still the _daily_ loss in the trenches was becoming so serious that no loss in achieving such a result is to be compared to that. this event will delight my brother and faithful ally--and _friend_, napoleon iii.--i may add, for we really are _great friends_; this attempt,[ ] though that of a madman, is very distressing and makes one _tremble_.... we expect the young prince fritz wilhelm[ ] of prussia on a little visit here on friday. i must now conclude. with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : as he was about to enter the opera house on the evening of the th, the emperor was fired at without effect by one bellegarde, who had been previously convicted of fraud, on which occasion his punishment had been mitigated by the emperor's clemency; he was now sentenced to two years' imprisonment.] [footnote : only son of the prince of prussia, and afterwards the emperor frederick.] [pageheading: the malakhoff] _lord panmure to general simpson._ [_telegram._] _ th september ._ the queen has received, with deep emotion, the welcome intelligence of the fall of sebastopol. penetrated with profound gratitude to the almighty, who has vouchsafed this triumph to the allied armies, her majesty has commanded me to express to yourself, and through you to the army, the pride with which she regards this fresh instance of its heroism. the queen congratulates her troops on the triumphant issue of this protracted siege, and thanks them for the cheerfulness and fortitude with which they have encountered its toils, and the valour which has led to its termination. the queen deeply laments that this success in not without its alloy in the heavy losses which have been sustained; and while she rejoices in the victory, her majesty deeply sympathises with the noble sufferers in their country's cause. you will be pleased to congratulate general pélissier in her majesty's name upon the brilliant result of the assault on the malakhoff, which proves the irresistible force as well as indomitable courage of her brave allies. _queen victoria to general simpson._ balmoral, _ th september _. with a heart full of gratitude and pride, as well as of sorrow for the many valuable lives that have been lost, the queen writes to general simpson to congratulate him, as well on her own part as on that of the prince, on the glorious news of the _fall of sebastopol!_ general simpson must indeed _feel proud_ to have commanded the queen's noble army on _such_ an occasion. she wishes him to express to that gallant army her high sense of their gallantry, and her joy and satisfaction at their labours, anxieties, and cruel sufferings, for nearly a year, having _at length_ been crowned with such success. to general pélissier[ ] also, and his gallant army, whom the queen ever unites in her thoughts and wishes with her own beloved troops, she would wish general simpson to convey the expression of her personal warm congratulations, as well as of her sympathy for their losses. the queen intends to mark her sense of general simpson's services by conferring upon him the grand cross of the bath. we are _now_ most anxious that not a moment should be lost in following up this great victory, and in driving the russians, while still under the depressing effect of their failure, from the crimea! [footnote : he now became duke of malakhoff, and a marshal of the french army.] [pageheading: attitude of austria] _earl granville to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ th september _. my dear clarendon,--i was sent for after breakfast. the queen and the prince are much pleased with the draft of your despatch to naples; they think it good and dignified. with respect to the draft to lord stratford, instructing him to recommend to the porte an application to the austrian government for the withdrawal or diminution of the austrian troops in the principalities, i have been commanded to write what the queen has not time this morning to put on paper. her majesty does not feel that the objects of this proposed despatch have been sufficiently explained. it does not appear to her majesty that, in a military point of view, the plans of the allies are sufficiently matured to make it clear whether the withdrawal of the austrian army would be an advantage or a disadvantage. if the allies intend to march through the principalities, and attack russia on that side, the presence of the austrians might be an inconvenience. if, on the other hand, they advance from the east, it is a positive advantage to have the russians contained on the other flank, by the austrians in their present position. looking at the political bearing of this move, her majesty thinks that it will not fail to have an unfavourable effect on austria, who will be hurt at the allies urging the porte to endeavour to put an end to an arrangement entered into at the suggestion, or at all events with the approval, of the allies. it cannot be an object at this moment, when extraneous circumstances have probably acted favourably for us on the minds of the emperor of austria and his government, to check that disposition, make them distrust us, and incline them to throw themselves towards russia, who now will spare no efforts to gain them. her majesty sees by your proposed despatch you do not expect the austrians to comply with this demand. even if they consented to diminish the numbers of their troops, they would do so only to suit their own convenience, and such diminution would in no ways decrease the evils of the occupation. lastly, the queen is of opinion that if such a proposal is to be made, it ought not to be done through lord stratford and the porte, but that the subject should be broached at vienna and the austrian government asked what their intentions are; that this would be the more friendly, more open, and more dignified course, and more likely than the other plan of being successful. her majesty, however, doubts that any such demand will be acceded to by the austrians, and believes that their refusal will put the allies in an awkward position. this is, i believe, the pith of her majesty's opinions--there appears to me to be much sense in them--and they are well deserving of your and palmerston's consideration. yours sincerely, granville. [pageheading: life peerages] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen has to thank lord palmerston for his letter of the th. the want of law lords in the upper house has often been complained of, and the queen has long been of opinion that in order to remedy the same without adding permanently to the peerage, the crown ought to use its prerogative in creating peers for life only. lord lansdowne coincided with this view, and lord john russell actually proposed a "life peerage" to dr. lushington, who declined it, however, from a dislike to become the first of the kind. mr pemberton leigh has _twice_ declined a peerage, but the queen can have no objection to its being offered to him again.[ ]... [footnote : see _ante_, vol. ii., th january, , note .] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th september _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... a blue ribbon has become vacant by the death of the late duke of somerset, and viscount palmerston having communicated with lord lansdowne and lord clarendon on the subject, would beg to submit for your majesty's gracious consideration that this honour might be well conferred upon the duke of newcastle, who has been the object of much undeserved attack, though certainly from inexperience not altogether exempt from criticism, and who since his retirement from office has shaped his public course in a manner honourable to himself, and advantageously contrasting with the aberrations of some of his former colleagues.[ ] your majesty must no doubt have been struck with the vast accumulation of warlike stores found at sebastopol. that there should have remained there four thousand cannon, after the wear and tear of the siege, proves the great importance attached by the russian government to that arsenal over which your majesty's flag is now triumphantly flying. [footnote : he had gone out to the crimea, and entered sebastopol with general simpson. the duke did not at this time accept the garter, which was bestowed on earl fortescue. see _post_, th november, , note .] [pageheading: distribution of honours] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ balmoral, _ st september _. the queen is anxious to mark her sense of the services of the army and military departments at home by conferring the rank of field-marshal on lord hardinge, who, from his position as commander-in-chief, and his long, distinguished services, has a strong claim to such an honour. moreover, marshal vaillant receiving the g.c.b., whilst it has been thought more prudent not to accept the _légion d'honneur_ for lord hardinge, makes it the more desirable. the prince is now again the only field-marshal in the army, which has always had several. the queen thinks that lord combermere, being the second senior officer of the whole army, a full general of , might expect not to be passed over when lord hardinge is made. the only other general of distinction and seniority might be lord strafford, but he is only a full general of . on this point lord palmerston might consult lord hardinge himself. if he and lord combermere alone are made, the honour is the greater for him.[ ] the queen thinks likewise that lord panmure ought to receive a mark of favour and approval of his conduct on the occasion of the fall of sebastopol; either the civil g.c.b. or a step in the peerage--that of viscount.[ ] lord palmerston would perhaps, without delay, give his opinion on these subjects to the queen; the honours she would wish then _personally_ to bestow upon the recipients, and she thinks the arrival of the official despatches the right moment for doing so. [footnote : lord hardinge, lord strafford, and lord combermere were all made field-marshals.] [footnote : he received the g.c.b.] _the prince albert to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ st september _. my dear lord clarendon,--the queen wishes me to send you the enclosed letters, with the request that they may be sent by messengers to coblentz.[ ] i may tell you in the strictest confidence that prince frederic william has yesterday laid before us his wish for an alliance with the princess royal with the full concurrence of his parents, as well as of the king of prussia. we have accepted his proposal as far as we are personally concerned, but have asked that the child should not be made acquainted with it until after her confirmation, which is to take place next spring, when he might make it to her himself, and receive from her own lips the answer which is only valuable when flowing from those of the person chiefly concerned. a marriage would not be possible before the completion of the princess's seventeenth year, which is in two years from this time. the queen empowers me to say that you may communicate this event to lord palmerston, but we beg that under present circumstances it may be kept a strict secret. what the world may say we cannot help. ever yours, etc., albert. [footnote : the prince and princess of prussia were then at coblentz.] [pageheading: prince frederich william] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral, _ nd september _. my dearest uncle,--i profit by your own messenger to confide to _you_, and to _you alone_, begging you not to mention it to your children, that _our_ wishes on the subject of a future marriage for vicky _have_ been realised in the _most gratifying_ and _satisfactory_ manner. on thursday ( th) after breakfast, fritz wilhelm said he was anxious to speak of a subject which _he_ knew his parents had never broached to us--which _was to belong to our_ family; that this had long been his wish, that he had the entire concurrence and _approval_ not only of his parents but of the king--and that finding vicky _so allerliebst_, he could delay _no_ longer in making this proposal. i need _not_ tell you with _what_ joy _we_ accepted him _for_ our part; but the child herself is to know nothing till _after_ her confirmation, which is to take place next easter, when he probably will come over, and, as he wishes himself, make her the proposal, which, however, i have little--indeed no--doubt she will gladly _accept_. he is a dear, excellent, charming young man, whom we shall give our dear child to with perfect confidence. what pleases us greatly is to see that he is really delighted with vicky. now, with albert's affectionate love, and with the prayer that _you_ will give _your_ blessing to this alliance, as you have done to ours, ever your devoted niece and child, victoria r. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ nd september _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs, in the first place, to be allowed to offer to your majesty his most sincere congratulations upon the prospective arrangement which his royal highness the prince albert announced in his letter to lord clarendon, but which, for obvious reasons, should be left to public conjecture for the present. viscount palmerston trusts that the event, when, it takes place, will contribute as much to the happiness of those more immediately concerned, and to the comfort of your majesty and of the royal family, as it undoubtedly will to the interests of the two countries, and of europe in general.... viscount palmerston begs to state that the professorship of greek at the university of oxford, which was held by the late dean of christchurch,[ ] is still vacant, viscount palmerston having doubts as to the best person to be appointed. the present dean of christchurch admitted that the professorship ought to be separated from the deanery; he has now recommended for the professorship the rev. b. jowett, fellow and tutor of balliol college, who is an eminent greek scholar and won the hertford scholarship; and viscount palmerston submits, for your majesty's gracious approval, that mr jowett may be appointed. [footnote : the very rev. thomas gaisford, d.d., who was appointed regius professor of greek in , and dean of christchurch in .] [pageheading: the colonial office] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ st october _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that he has this morning seen lord stanley, and offered to him the post of secretary of state for the colonies.[ ] lord stanley expressed himself as highly gratified personally by an offer which he said he was wholly unprepared to receive, and which was above his expectations and pretensions; but he said that as he owed to his father lord derby whatever position he may have gained in public life, he could not give an answer without first consulting lord derby. viscount palmerston said that of course in making the proposal, he had taken for granted that lord stanley would consult lord derby first, because a son would not take a decision on such a subject without consulting his father, even if that father were merely in private life; and next because such a course would be still more natural in this case, considering lord derby's political position with reference to those with whom lord stanley has more or less been generally acting. lord stanley said that he should go down to knowsley by the five o'clock train this afternoon, and that he would at an early moment communicate his answer to viscount palmerston; but he said that if he was to state now his anticipation of what lord derby would recommend and wish him to do, it would rather be to decline the offer. [footnote : sir william molesworth, who had represented radicalism in the cabinets of lord aberdeen and lord palmerston, died on the nd, at the age of forty-five. the premier thereupon offered the vacant place to lord stanley, one of his political opponents, then only twenty-eight, who was the son of the leader of the conservative opposition, and had already held office under his father. lord stanley's temperament was, in fact, more inclined to liberalism than that of lord palmerston himself, and, twenty-seven years later, he took the office in a liberal government which he now declined.] [pageheading: mr sidney herbert] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that in consequence of some things that passed in conversation at sir charles wood's two days ago, when mr and mrs sidney herbert dined there, sir charles wood is under a strong impression that mr herbert would be willing to separate himself from mr gladstone and sir james graham, and the peace party, and to join the present government. viscount palmerston having well considered the matter in concert with sir charles wood and sir george grey, is of opinion that it would be advantageous not only for the present, but also with a view to the future, to detach mr herbert from the clique with which accidental circumstances have for the moment apparently associated him, and to fix him to better principles of action than those by which mr gladstone and sir james graham appear to be guided. for this purpose viscount palmerston proposes with your majesty's sanction to offer to mr herbert to return to the colonial office, which he held on the formation of the present government. mr herbert is the most promising man of his standing in the house of commons, and is personally very popular in that house; he is a good and an improving speaker, and his accession to the government would add a good speaker to the treasury bench, and take away a good speaker from ranks that may become hostile. he would also supply the place of lord canning as a kind of link between the government and some well-disposed members of both houses who belonged more or less to what is called the peel party. it would be necessary, of course, to ascertain clearly that mr herbert's views about the war and about conditions of peace are the same as they were when he was a member of the government, and not such as those which mr gladstone and sir james graham have of late adopted. if mr herbert were to accept, sir george grey, who has a strong disinclination for the colonies, would remain at the home office; and if lord harrowby would take the post office, which must be held by a peer, the duchy of lancaster, which may be held by a commoner, might be offered to mr baines[ ] with a seat in the cabinet, and mr baines might perhaps, with reference to his health, prefer an office not attended with much departmental business of detail, while he would be thus more free to make himself master of general questions. such an arrangement would leave the cabinet, as stated in the accompanying paper, seven and seven; and if afterwards lord stanley of alderley were added in the lords, and sir benjamin hall in the commons, which, however, would be a matter entirely for future consideration, the equality of division would still be preserved.[ ] viscount palmerston finds that mr herbert is gone down to wilton, and as viscount palmerston is going this afternoon to broadlands to remain there till tuesday morning, he proposes during the interval to communicate with mr herbert, wilton being not much more than an hour's distance from broadlands by the salisbury railway. [footnote : mr. matthew talbot baines died prematurely in . his abilities were of a solid rather than a brilliant kind.] [footnote : mr. labouchere became colonial secretary. see list of cabinet as it stood in , _post_, th february, .] [pageheading: mr herbert declines office] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that he has seen mr sidney herbert, who declines joining the government, because he thinks that his doing so would expose both him and the government to the suspicion of having altered their opinions. the difference between him and the government is not as to the necessity of prosecuting the war with vigour, but as to the conditions of peace with which he would be satisfied. he would consent to accept conditions which he is aware that the country would not approve, and to which he does not expect that the government would agree. viscount palmerston will have to consider with his colleagues on tuesday what arrangement it will be best for him to submit for the sanction of your majesty. [pageheading: peace negotiations] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen returns the enclosed most important letters. she has read them with much interest, but not without a very anxious feeling that great changes are taking place in the whole position of the eastern question and the war, without our having the power to direct them or even a complete knowledge of them.[ ] should austria really be sincere,--if the emperor napoleon is really determined not to carry on the war on a large scale without her joining, we shall be obliged by common prudence to follow him in his negotiations. he may mistrust our secrecy and diplomacy, and wish to obtain by his personal exertions a continental league against russia. the missions to stockholm and copenhagen, the language to baron beust and m. von der pfordten and m. de bourqueney's single-handed negotiation, seem to point to this. can russia have secretly declared her readiness to accept the "neutralisation"? it is hardly possible, and if so it would be a concession we cannot refuse to close upon. whatever may be the case, the queen thinks it the wisest course not to disturb the emperor's plans, or to show suspicion of them, but merely to insist upon the importance of the army in the crimea being kept so imposing that russia cannot safely arrange her plans on the supposition of a change of policy on the part of the western powers. had the queen known of lord cowley's letter a few hours earlier, she could have spoken to the duke of cambridge, who was here; as it was, both she and the prince were very cautious and reserved in what they told him. the queen thought it right to let sir hamilton seymour, who is staying here, see the letters, as his thorough acquaintance with the present position of affairs is most important. [footnote : the emperor was now bent on the termination of hostilities, and the french and austrian governments had concerted proposals for peace to be submitted to russia, with which they somewhat peremptorily demanded that england should concur. lord palmerston announced that, rather than make an unsatisfactory peace, he would continue the war without the aid of france. states such as saxony and bavaria favoured russia, and baron beust and m. von der pfordten, their respective prime ministers, had interviews with the emperor, who was anxious for peace on the basis of the third point, on which, since the fall of sebastopol, the allies were in a better position to insist.] _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen wishes to draw sir charles wood's attention to a subject which may become of much importance for the future. it is the absence of any dockyard for building and repairing out of the channel, with the exception of pembroke. should we ever be threatened by a combination of russia and france, the absence of a government establishment in the north would be very serious. it strikes the queen that the present moment, when our yards hardly supply the demands made upon them, and when attention is directed to the baltic, is a particularly favourable one to add an establishment in the firth of forth, for which the queen believes the government possess the ground at leith. such a measure would at the same time be very popular in scotland, and by making the queen's navy known there, which it hardly is at present, would open a new field for recruiting our marine. whether cork in ireland should not also be made more available is very well worth consideration. the queen would ask sir charles to communicate this letter to lord palmerston, who has always had the state of our powers of defence so much at heart. [pageheading: the austrian ultimatum] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen has attentively perused the voluminous papers, which she now returns according to lord clarendon's wish. an anxious consideration of their contents has convinced her that it would be the height of impolicy if we were not to enter fairly and unreservedly into the french proposal, and she wishes lord clarendon to express this her opinion to the cabinet. the terms of the austrian ultimatum are clear and complete and very favourable to us, if accepted by russia.[ ] if refused, which they almost must be, rupture of diplomatic relations between austria and russia is a decided step gained by us, and will produce a state of things which can scarcely fail to lead them to war. a refusal to entertain the proposal may induce and perhaps justify the emperor of the french in backing out of the war, which would leave us in a miserable position. if we are to agree to the emperor's wishes, it must be politic not to risk the advantage of the whole measure by a discussion with austria upon minor points of detail, which will cost time, and may lead to differences. [footnote : the queen and her ministers, however, insisted that the neutralisation clause (the third point) should be made effective, not left illusory, and incorporated in the principal and not in a supplementary treaty. modified in this and other particulars, an ultimatum embodying the austrian proposals, which stipulated, _inter alia_, for the cession of a portion of bessarabia, was despatched to st petersburg on the th of december, and the th of january was fixed as the last day on which a reply would be accepted.] _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ windsor castle, _ nd november _. the queen informs lord hardinge that on speaking to sir colin campbell yesterday, and informing him how much she wished that his valuable services should not be lost to her army in the crimea, he replied in the handsomest manner, that he would return immediately--"for that, if the queen wished it, he was ready to serve under a corporal"! conduct like this is very gratifying, and will only add to sir colin campbell's high name; but, as by lord hardinge's and lord panmure's advice, the queen has obtained from him this _sacrifice_ of _his own_ feelings to _her_ wishes, _she_ feels personally bound _not_ to _permit_ him to be passed over a _second_ time should the command again become vacant. the queen has had a good deal of conversation with him, and from what he told her, as well as from what she has heard from others, there seems to be a good deal of laxity of discipline--particularly as regards the officers--in the army in the crimea; and she thinks lord hardinge should give an order to prevent so many officers coming home on leave except when _really ill_. the effect of this on the french is very bad, and the prince had a letter only two days ago from the prince of prussia, saying that every one was shocked at the manner in which our officers came home, and that it lowered our army very much in the eyes of foreign armies, and generally decreased the sympathy for our troops. we deeply regret the death of poor general markham.[ ] [footnote : he commanded the nd division of the army at the attack on the redan, and after the fall of sebastopol, his health, already shattered, broke down completely; he returned home, and died on the st of november.] [pageheading: france and austria] [pageheading: the neutralisation clause] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ rd november _. the queen has received lord clarendon's letter, and returns the very satisfactory enclosures from lord cowley. count walewski remains true to himself; yet the admission that the neutralisation clause ought to be part of the european treaty, and not an annex, which _he makes_, is the most important concession which we could desire. that the sea of azov is to be dropped the queen is glad of, as it would appear so humiliating to russia that austria would probably decline proposing it. what the queen is most afraid of, and what she believes actuates the emperor also, is the consideration that austria, made aware of the intense feeling for peace _à tout prix_ in france, might get frightened at the good terms for us she meant to propose to russia, and might long for an opportunity given by us, in any unreasonable demand for modification, to back out of her proposal altogether. lord a. loftus in his last letter states that baron manteuffel[ ] even was afraid of having admitted as proper, terms too hard upon russia, since peace is wanted at paris. the course intended to be pursued by lord clarendon in summing up the whole question in a public despatch seems quite the right one, as it would never do, on the other hand, to let england be considered as merely _à la remorque_ of france, an impression unfortunately very prevalent on the continent at this moment.[ ] as to marshal pélissier, the best thing the emperor could do would be to recall him, and to put a younger and more enterprising man in his place. as we have got our hero coming home, his french colleague might be recalled also. the duke of newcastle's letter is very interesting; the queen will return it this evening. it confirms the truth of the axiom that a _settled policy_ ought to precede a military plan of campaign, for which the prince is always contending. we have been much pleased with old sir colin campbell, who is a thorough soldier, and appears not at all wanting in good sense. on asking him about our rising men, and the officer whom _he_ would point out as the one of most promise, he said that colonel mansfield[ ] was without comparison the man from whom great services could be expected both in the field and as an administrator. lord clarendon will be pleased to hear this, but will also not be surprised if the queen should look out for an opportunity to reclaim him for the army from the foreign office. [footnote : president of the prussian ministry.] [footnote : lord clarendon, in the letter to which this was a reply, observed that he had asked lord cowley to inform count walewski that he would have to learn that england was a principal in the matter, and "not a political and diplomatic contingent."] [footnote : he had distinguished himself in the first sikh war, and was in military adviser to the british ambassador at constantinople.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen returns lord cowley's letter and general pélissier's telegram. lord cowley is quite right in insisting upon a clear understanding between england and france before negotiations are entered into with austria. to come to a speedy agreement, it will be wise to drop the minor points and _insist_ upon the most important. these the queen takes to be the incorporation of the _neutralisation_ clause in the general treaty, and the promise on the part of austria not to accept and communicate to us counter-proposals from russia. if france agreed to this, we might agree to the rest of the arrangement. general pélissier's plan has the advantage of setting us free, but deprives us of the sardinians in the field, an object the french have kept steadily in view. the duke of cambridge will come down here to-night, and we may then hear more on the subject. the queen of the french has been taken dangerously ill at genoa; the duc d'aumale and prince de joinville have been summoned by telegraph. the queen has asked the foreign office to telegraph to enquire after the queen's state. [pageheading: sir william codrington] _queen victoria to sir william codrington._[ ] windsor castle, _ th november _. the first despatches of sir william codrington, acknowledging his appointment to the command of the queen's gallant army in the east, having arrived, she will no longer delay writing herself to sir william, to assure him of her support and confidence in his new, proud, and important, though at the same time difficult position. she wishes to assure him of her confidence and support. it is with pleasure that she sees the son of her old friend and devoted servant, himself so distinguished in the sister service, raised by his own merits to so exalted a position. sir william knows the queen's pride in her beloved troops, as well as her unceasing solicitude for their welfare and glory, and she trusts he will on all occasions express these feelings from herself personally. the queen feels certain that sir william codrington will learn, with great satisfaction, that that distinguished and gallant officer, sir colin campbell, has most readily and handsomely complied with the queen's wishes that he should return to the crimea and take command of the first corps d'armée. his presence and his assistance will be of essential service to sir william codrington, who, the queen knows, entertains so high an opinion of him. the prince wishes his sincere congratulations and kind remembrance to be conveyed to sir william codrington. the queen would be glad if sir william could--when he has leisure to do so--from time to time write to her himself, informing her of the state of her army, and of affairs in the crimea. she concludes with every wish for his welfare and success. [footnote : considerable difficulty had been found in appointing a successor to general simpson, who had resigned a task which he found overtaxed his powers. sir william codrington was junior to three other generals, who might have felt aggrieved by being passed over. the sagacity of the prince found a way out of the difficulty by appointing two of the three to the commands of the two _corps d'armée_ into which the army had, at his instance, been subdivided. see _ante._ nd november, , note .] [pageheading: visit of king of sardinia] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my dearest uncle,--i must make many excuses for not writing to you yesterday, to thank you for your kind letter of the th, as on friday and saturday my time was entirely taken up with my _royal_ brother, the king of sardinia,[ ] and i had to make up for loss of time these last days. he leaves us to-morrow at an extraordinary hour--four o'clock in the morning (which you did once or twice)--wishing to be at compiègne to-morrow night, and at turin on tuesday. he is _eine ganz besondere, abenteuerliche erscheinung_, startling in the extreme in appearance and manner when you _first_ see him, but, just as aumale says, _il faut l'aimer quand on le connaît bien_. he is so frank, open, just, straightforward, liberal and tolerant, with much sound good sense. he never breaks his word, and you may rely on him, but wild and extravagant, courting adventures and dangers, and with a very strange, short, rough manner, an exaggeration of that short manner of speaking which his poor brother had. he is shy in society, which makes him still more brusque, and he does not know (never having been out of his own country or even out in society) what to say to the number of people who are presented to him here, and which is, i know from experience, a most odious thing. he is truly attached to the orleans family, particularly to aumale, and will be a friend and adviser to them. to-day he will be invested with the order of the garter. he is more like a knight or king of the middle ages than anything one knows nowadays. on monday we go to osborne till the st. one word about vicky. i must say that she has a quick discernment of character, and i have never seen her take _any_ predilection for a person which was _not motivé_ by personal amiability, goodness, or distinction of some kind or other. you need be under no apprehension whatever on this subject; and she has, moreover, great tact and _esprit de conduite_. it is quite extraordinary how popular she is in society--and again now, all these foreigners are so struck with her sense and _conversation_ for her age. hoping soon to hear from you again, and wishing that naughty stockmar may yet be brought to come, believe me ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : king victor emmanuel was received with great cordiality by the english people, grateful for his co-operation and for the gallantry of his soldiers at the tchernaya. count cavour accompanied him, and drafted the reply read by the king at guildhall to the address of the corporation.] [pageheading: garter fees] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th december _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty and submits a letter which he received a few days ago from the duke of newcastle declining the garter. viscount palmerston on his return from woburn, where he was for two days, saw the duke of newcastle, but found that the enclosed letter expressed the intention which he had formed. viscount palmerston would propose to your majesty the earl of fortescue as a deserving object of your majesty's gracious favour; lord fortescue held the high office of lord-lieutenant of ireland, and is a person highly and universally respected.[ ] viscount palmerston cannot refrain from saying on this occasion that he is not without a misgiving that the high amount of fees which he understands is paid by persons who are made knights of the garter may have some effect in rendering those whose incomes are not very large less anxious than they would otherwise be to receive this distinction; and he cannot but think that it is unseemly in general that persons upon whom your majesty may be disposed to confer dignities and honours, either as a mark of your majesty's favour or as a reward for their public services, should on that account be subject to a heavy pecuniary fine; and he intends to collect information with a view to consider whether all such fees might not be abolished, the officers to whom they are now paid receiving compensation in the shape of adequate fixed salary.[ ] ... [footnote : earl fortescue received the garter; he died in .] [footnote : this reform was effected in .] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ windsor castle, _ nd december _. the queen has received lord panmure's answer to her letter from osborne, and is glad to see from it that he is quite agreed with the queen on the subject of the land transport corps. she would _most strongly_ urge lord panmure to give at once _carte blanche_ to sir w. codrington to organise it as he thinks best, and to make him personally responsible for it. we have only eight weeks left to the beginning of spring; a few references home and their answers would consume the whole of that time! the army has now to carry their huts on their backs up to the camp; if it had been fighting, it would have perished for want of them, like the last winter. if each division, brigade, and battalion has not got within itself what it requires for its daily existence in the field, a movement will be quite impossible. the queen approves the intended increase of artillery and sappers and miners; but hopes that these will be taken from the _nominal_ and _not_ the existing strength of the army. introductory note to chapter xxv after two years' duration, the crimean war was terminated in march , at a conference of the powers assembled at paris, by a treaty the principal terms of which provided for the integrity of turkey, and her due participation in the public law and system of europe, the neutralisation of the black sea, and the opening of its waters to commerce (with the interdiction, except in a limited degree, of the flag of war of any nation, and of the erection by either russia or turkey of arsenals), free navigation of the danube, cession of a portion of bessarabia by russia, and the reciprocal evacuation of invaded territories; the principalities to be continued in their existing privileges under the suzerainty of the porte and a guarantee of the contracting powers. no european protectorate was to be established over the sultan's christian subjects. certain general principles of international law were also agreed upon. in the course of the summer, the guards made a public re-entry into london; and the crimea was finally evacuated; great reviews of the returned troops taking place at aldershot. the thanks of parliament were accorded to the soldiers and sailors engaged, and peace-rejoicings celebrated on a great scale. the commissioners who had been sent out, nearly a year before, to the crimea, to investigate the causes of the breakdown in various military departments, presented a report, censuring several high officials; a military commission was accordingly appointed to investigate the report, and after sitting for some months at chelsea, completely exonerated the officials in question. the government having resolved to strengthen the administration of the appellate jurisdiction of the house of lords, letters patent were made out purporting to create sir james parke, an ex-judge, a baron for his life, under the title of lord wensleydale. after frequent and protracted debates on this question, the peers decided that such a patent conferred no right to sit and vote in parliament. the government gave up the contest by creating sir james (who had no son) a hereditary peer. the czar alexander was crowned at moscow in september with great ceremonial, the sultan being duly represented, while lord granville was present as special ambassador for the queen. the discovery of the cruelty with which political offenders were being treated in neapolitan prisons led to the rupture of diplomatic relations between england in union with france on the one hand, and king ferdinand on the other; while a dispute as to the enlistment of recruits for the english army in the united states led to the dismissal of the british minister at washington, and to temporary friction between the two countries. the provisions of the treaty of paris were not carried out without considerable procrastination on the part of russia, which, by its method of evacuating kars and surrendering ismail and reni, and by laying claim to serpent's island at the mouth of the danube, compelled england to send a fleet to the black sea, to enforce strict observance of the treaty. by the end of the year the matter was arranged, though in the meantime the possibility of great britain being represented at the czar's coronation had been imperilled. the abuses which had long existed in the government of oudh induced the governor-general of india, early in the year, to issue a proclamation placing that kingdom permanently under the authority of the british crown. lord dalhousie at this time retired from the office (which he had held for eight years) of governor-general, and was succeeded by lord canning. it fell to the lot of the latter to announce the commencement of hostilities between this country and persia, on the ground that the latter was endeavouring, in defiance of treaties, to subvert the independence of herat. the shah had laid siege to the town, when, in december, the english fleet, under admiral sir henry leeke, attacked and captured bushire on the persian gulf. soon afterwards, sir james outram arrived on the scene from bombay, and assumed the command. chapter xxv _queen victoria to lord panmure._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen returns the drawings for the "victoria cross." she has marked the one she approves with an x; she thinks, however, that it might be a trifle smaller. the motto would be better "for valour" than "for the brave," as this would lead to the inference that only those are deemed brave who have got the victoria cross. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen has received lord clarendon's letter, and in answer to his question expresses her opinion that lord cowley's presence at the council of war will be absolutely necessary.[ ] she believes lord clarendon to be agreed with her, that the value of a plan of military campaign is entirely dependent upon the _general policy_ which the government intends to pursue. as none of our commissioners at the council of war are in the least acquainted with the latter, they might be drawn into plans which would not at all agree with it. lord cowley would take that part of the question into his own hands, in which it will be quite safe. the queen thinks that it is of secondary importance whether count walewski attends or not, but that the emperor cannot have the same need of his presence which we have of that of our ambassador. [footnote : a satisfactory and speedy conclusion of hostilities appearing at this time far from probable, a council of war to settle the course of operations was, at the emperor's suggestion, summoned to meet at paris. lord cowley, count walewski, prince jérôme bonaparte, and others, were present, besides naval and military representatives of the allies, among whom was the duke of cambridge.] [pageheading: policy of cavour] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen has read sir j. hudson's[ ] letter with much interest. there is much truth in what count cavour says, and it must ever be our object and our interest to see sardinia independent and strong; as a liberal constitutional country, opposing a barrier alike to unenlightened and absolute as well as revolutionary principles--and this she has a right to expect us to support her in. but _what_ she wants to obtain from austria is not clear. she has no right, however, to expect further assurances from us on wishes which she seems even to be afraid to state distinctly. it is clearly impossible to ask austria to give up a portion of italy to her, if nothing has occurred to make this necessary to austria. at any rate sardinia can have lost nothing, but on the contrary must have gained by the position which she is placed in as an ally of the western powers. [footnote : british minister at turin, and an enthusiastic sympathiser with cavour. the latter had complained to him that if the austrian proposals were accepted, and peace were made, sardinia could expect no realisation of her cherished hopes, viz. anglo-french support against austria and against papal aggression, increased political consideration in europe, and the development of constitutional government.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen now returns the draft[ ] to lord bloomfield, which she could only write about in haste yesterday, as being of a nature not to be sanctioned by her. it is quite natural and excusable that our patience should at last be worn out by the miserable policy which prussia is pursuing, but it can never be our interest openly to quarrel with her. this would be simply playing the game of russia, who would thus be relieved from all attacks upon her and see the theatre of the war transferred to germany; all other complications (which would arise therefrom)--ruinous to the best interests of the western powers as they would be--the queen need not refer to. but when the draft concludes with a declaration to prussia that england "_considers her neutrality as now at an end_," this is tantamount to a declaration of _war!_ the late articles in our newspapers, and the language of count walewski to lord cowley, make the queen doubly anxious to warn the government not to let themselves be drawn on to such a policy. [footnote : the draft expressed disapproval of the silence maintained by the prussian government towards england with regard to the austrian proposals, of the active measures adopted to induce the german powers not to take part with austria, as well as of the extended facilities afforded by prussia to russia for carrying on the war.] [pageheading: letter from napoleon iii] [pageheading: the emperor and peace] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._ tuileries, _le janvier _. madame et chÈre s[oe]ur,--votre majesté m'ayant permis de lui parler à c[oe]ur ouvert toutes les fois que des circonstances graves se présenteraient, je viens aujourd'hui profiter de la faveur qu'elle a bien voulu m'accorder. je viens de recevoir aujourd'hui la nouvelle de la réponse de la russie à l'ultimatum de vienne, et avant d'avoir manifesté mon impression à qui que ce soit, pas même à walewski, je viens la communiquer à votre majesté pour avoir son avis. je résume la question: la russie accepte tout l'ultimatum autrichien sauf la rectification de frontière de la bessarabie, et sauf le paragraphe relatif aux conditions _particulières_ qu'elle déclare ne pas connaître. de plus, profitant du succès de kars, elle s'engage à rendre cette forteresse et le territoire occupé en échange des points que nous possédons en crimée et ailleurs. dans quelle position allons-nous nous trouver? d'après la convention, l'autriche est obligée de retirer son ambassadeur, et nous, nous poursuivons la guerre! mais dans quel but allons-nous demander à nos deux pays de nouveaux sacrifices d'hommes et d'argent? pour un intérêt purement autrichien et pour une question qui ne consolide en rien l'empire ottoman. cependant nous y sommes obligés et nous ne devons pas avoir l'air de manquer à nos engagements. nous serions donc placés dans une alternative bien triste si l'autriche elle-même ne semblait pas déjà nous inviter de ne point rompre toute négociation. or en réfléchissant aujourd'hui à cette situation, je me disais: ne pourrait-on pas répondre à l'autriche ceci: la prise de kars a tant soit peu changé nos situations; puisque la russie consent à évacuer toute l'asie mineure nous nous bornons à demander pour la turquie, au lieu de la rectification de frontière, les places fortes formant _tête de pont_ sur le danube, tels que ismail et kilia. pour nous, nous demandons en fait de conditions particulières, l'engagement de ne point rétablir les forts des îles d'aland et une amnistie pour les tartares. mon sentiment est qu'à ces conditions-là la paix serait très désirable; car sans cela je ne puis pas m'empêcher de redouter l'opinion publique quand elle me dira: "vous aviez obtenu le but réel de la guerre, aland était tombé et ne pouvait plus se relever, sebastopol avait eu le même sort, la flotte russe était anéantie, et la russie promettait non seulement de ne plus la faire reparaître dans la mer noire, mais même de ne plus avoir d'arsenaux maritimes sur toutes ses rives; la russie abandonnait ses conquêtes dans l'asie mineure, elle abandonnait son protectorat dans les principautés, son action sur le cours du danube, son influence sur ces correligionnaires sujets du sultan, etc., etc. vous aviez obtenu tout cela non sans d'immenses sacrifices et cependant vous allez les continuer, compromettre les finances de la france, répandre ses trésors et son sang et pourquoi: pour obtenir quelques landes de la bessarabie!!!" voilà, madame, les réflexions qui me préoccupent; car autant je me sens de force quand je crois être dans le vrai pour inculquer mes idées à mon pays et pour lui faire partager ma persuasion, autant je me sentirais faible si je n'étais pas sûr d'avoir raison ni de faire mon devoir. mais ainsi que je l'ai dit en commençant à votre majesté je n'ai communiqué ma première impression qu'au duc de cambridge, et autour de moi au contraire j'ai dit qu'il fallait continuer la guerre. j'espère que votre majesté accueillera avec bonté cette lettre écrite à la hâte et qu'elle y verra une nouvelle preuve de mon désir de m'entendre toujours avec elle avant de prendre une résolution. en remerciant votre majesté de l'aimable lettre que s.a.r. le duc de cambridge m'a remise de sa part, je la prie de recevoir la nouvelle assurance de mes sentiments de tendre et respectueux attachement avec lesquels je suis de votre majesté, le bon frère et ami, napoleon. je remercie bien le prince arthur de son bon souvenir. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. ... the queen will send her letter to the emperor this evening for transmission to paris. she will enclose it _open_ to lord clarendon, who will seal and send it after having read it. the queen cannot conceal from lord clarendon what _her own_ feelings and wishes at this moment are. they _cannot_ be for peace _now_, for she is _convinced_ that this country would _not_ stand in the eyes of europe as she _ought_, and as the queen is convinced she _would_ after _this_ year's campaign. the honour and glory of her dear army is as _near_ her heart as almost anything, and she cannot _bear_ the thought that "the failure on the redan" should be our _last fait d'armes_, and it would cost her more than words can express to conclude a peace with _this_ as the end. however, what is best and wisest must be done. the queen cannot yet bring herself to believe that the russians are at all sincere, or that it will _now_ end in peace. [pageheading: the queen's reply] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ windsor castle, _le janvier _. sire et cher frÈre,--la bonne et aimable lettre que je viens de recevoir de la main de votre majesté m'a causé un très-vif plaisir. j'y vois une preuve bien satisfaisante pour moi que vous avez apprécié tous les avantages de ces épanchements sans réserve, et que votre majesté en sent comme moi le besoin dans les circonstances graves où nous sommes. je sens aussi toute la responsabilité que votre confiance m'impose, et c'est dans la crainte qu'une opinion formée et exprimée par moi trop à la hâte pourrait nuire à la décision finale à prendre que je me vois obligée de différer pour le moment la réponse plus détaillée sur les considérations que vous avez si clairement et si consciencieusement développées. cependant, je ne veux point tarder de vous remercier de votre lettre, et de vous soumettre de mon côté les réflexions qui me sont venues en la lisant. la réponse russe ne nous est pas encore arrivée; nous n'en connaissons pas exactement les termes; par conséquent, il serait imprudent de former une opinion définitive sur la manière d'y répondre, surtout comme le prince gortschakoff paraît avoir demandé un nouveau délai du gouvernement autrichien et de nouvelles instructions de st pétersbourg, et comme m. de bourqueney paraît penser que la russie n'a pas dit son dernier mot. nous pourrions donc perdre une chance d'avoir de meilleures conditions, en montrant trop d'empressement à accueillir celles offertes dans ce moment. celles-ci arriveront peut-être dans le courant de la journée, ou demain, quand mon cabinet sera réuni pour les examiner. nous sommes au ; le les relations diplomatiques entre l'autriche et la russie doivent être rompues; je crois que notre position vis-à-vis de la russie sera meilleure en discutant ses propositions après la rupture et après en avoir vu les effets. en attendant, rien ne sera plus utile à la cause de la paix que la résolution que vous avez si sagement prise de dire à tous ceux qui vous approchent qu'il faut continuer la guerre. soyez bien sûr que dans l'opinion finale que je me formerai, votre position et votre persuasion personnelle seront toujours présentes à mon esprit et auront le plus grand poids. [pageheading: the british army] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen returns the duke of cambridge's and lord cowley's letters, which together with the account which lord clarendon gives of his interview with m. de persigny causes the queen no little anxiety. if negotiations on a vague basis are allowed to be begun, the russian negotiator is sure to find out that the french are ready to grant anything.... however, whatever happens, one consolation the queen ever will have, which is--that with the one exception of that failure on the _redan_, her noble army--in spite of every possible disadvantage which any army could labour under, _has_ invariably been victorious, and the russians have always and everywhere been beaten excepting at kars, where _famine_ alone enabled them to succeed. let us therefore not be (as alas! we have often been) its detractors by our croaking. [pageheading: position of the emperor] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th january _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and concludes that lord lansdowne informed your majesty that the cabinet, after hearing from lord clarendon a statement of the course of the recent negotiations as explained by the despatches which lord clarendon read, came to the decision that no further step should be taken, and no further communication should be made to the government of france on the matters at issue, until the final decision of the russian government on the pure and simple adoption of the austrian ultimatum[ ] should be known. viscount palmerston begs to congratulate your majesty upon the telegraphic message received this morning from sir hamilton seymour, announcing that the russian government has adopted that austrian ultimatum. so far so well, and the success which has attended firmness and steadiness of purpose in regard to those conditions may be looked upon as a tolerably sure indication that a perseverance in the same course will bring the russian government to consent to those remaining conditions which the austrian government has not yet (as it says) made known to the cabinet of petersburg. with regard to the letter of the emperor of the french to your majesty, and the statements made to lord clarendon by the count de persigny as to the difficulties of the emperor's internal position with respect to finance, and a general desire for peace throughout the nation, viscount palmerston expressed his opinion to the cabinet yesterday that all those representations were greatly exaggerated. he is convinced that the emperor of the french is perfectly master of his own position, and that he can as to peace or war take the course which he may determine to adopt. the cabal of stock-jobbing politicians, by whom he is surrounded, _must_ give way to him if he is firm. they have no standing place in the confidence and respect of their fellow-countrymen, they represent nothing but the stock exchange speculations in which they are engaged, and the emperor's throne would probably be stronger, rather than weaker, if they were swept away, and better men put in their places. and it is a very remarkable circumstance that at the very moment when your majesty and your majesty's government were being told that the emperor would be unable to go on with the war on account of the difficulty of finding money, the french government was putting forth in the _moniteur_ an official statement showing that they have a reserve surplus of twenty-one millions sterling for defraying the expenses of a campaign in the ensuing spring, without the necessity of raising any fresh loan. viscount palmerston fully concurs in the sentiment of regret expressed by your majesty to lord clarendon that the last action of the war in which your majesty's troops have been engaged, should, if peace be now concluded, have been the repulse at the redan; but however it may suit national jealousy, which will always be found to exist on the other side of the channel, to dwell upon that check, yet your majesty may rely upon it that the alma and inkerman have left recollections which will dwell in the memory of the living and not be forgotten in the page of history; and although it would no doubt have been gratifying to your majesty and to the nation that another summer should have witnessed the destruction of cronstadt by your majesty's gallant navy, and the expulsion of the russians from the countries south of the caucasus by your majesty's brave army, yet if peace _can_ now be concluded on conditions honourable and secure, it would, as your majesty justly observes, not be right to continue the war for the mere purpose of prospective victories. it will, however, be obviously necessary to continue active preparations for war up to the moment when a definite treaty of peace is signed, in order that the russians may not find it for their interest to break off negotiations when the season for operations shall approach, emboldened by any relaxation on the part of the allies induced by too ready confidence in the good faith of their adversary.... [footnote : see _ante_, th november, , note .] [pageheading: duke of cambridge at paris] _the duke of cambridge to queen victoria._ tuileries, _ th january _. my dear cousin,--your letters of the th and th have reached me, and i am happy to find by them that you approve in conjunction with the government with what has been done by me and my colleagues whilst at paris.[ ] i have given all the messages and carried out all the instructions as contained in your letters, and i trust as far as possible i have been enabled to do some good. on the other hand, i cannot deny that the feelings universally expressed here as to the prospects of a speedy peace are so different from those felt in england, that it is extremely difficult to produce any impression in the sense that we could wish it. france wishes for peace more than anything else on earth, and this feeling does not confine itself to walewski or the ministers--it extends itself to all classes. the emperor alone is reasonable and sensible in this respect, but his position is a most painful one, and he feels it very much. the fact is that public opinion is much more felt and more loudly expressed in this country than anybody in england at all imagines. no doubt the emperor can do much that he wishes, but still he cannot go altogether against a feeling which so loudly expresses itself on all occasions, without thereby injuring his own position most seriously. i have written to clarendon very fully on this subject, and have explained to him my reasons for wishing to return to england as soon as possible, now that our military mission is concluded. it is essential that i should see the members of the government, and that i should communicate to them the exact state of feeling here and the views of the emperor as to the mode of smoothing down all difficulties. this can only be done by a personal interview on the part of somebody thoroughly aware of the present position of affairs. probably at this moment i am in a better position to do this than anybody else, from the peculiar circumstances in which i have been placed while here, and it is this feeling which makes me desirous to return to england with the least possible delay. it is my intention therefore to start with my colleagues to-morrow, monday night, for england, to which arrangement the emperor has given his sanction, and by which time he will be prepared to tell me what he thinks had best be done, from his view of the question. i think it my duty to communicate this to you, and hope that you will give my resolution your sanction. i beg to remain, my dear cousin, your most dutiful cousin, george. [footnote : at the council of war. see _ante_, th january, , note .] [pageheading: england and france] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen sends a letter which she wishes lord clarendon to give to general la marmora.[ ] we have been extremely pleased with him (indeed he is a universal favourite) and found him so sensible, mild, and right-minded, in all he says--and a valuable adviser to the king. the queen wishes _just_ to mention to lord clarendon that the duke of cambridge told her that the emperor had spoken to _him_ about what the king of sardinia had said relative to _austria and france_, asking the duke whether such a thing had been said.[ ] the duke seems to have answered as we could wish, and the queen pretended _never_ to have _heard_ the report, merely saying that as the proposed ultimatum was then much talked of, it was very possible the king might unintentionally have mistaken the observations of the ministers and ourselves as to our being _unable_ to _agree_, without great caution, to what appeared to be _agreed_ on beforehand between _france_ and _austria_, and possibly _might_ have in his blunt way stated something which alarmed the emperor--but that she could not imagine it could be anything else. there seems, however, really no _end_ to _cancans_ at _paris_; for the duke of cambridge seems to have shared the same fate. the two atmospheres of france and england, as well as the society, are so different that people get to talk differently. it seems also that the king got frightened lest he should at paris be thought too liberal in his _religious_ views (having been complimented for it) which he was very proud of--and thought it necessary to tell the _emperor_ he was a _good catholic_. this is not unnatural in his peculiar position. when lord clarendon goes to paris, he will be able to _silence_ any further allusion to these idle stories which only lead to mischief, and which even lord cowley seems to have made more of (as to his own feelings upon them) than was necessary, but that is equally natural. speaking of his king--general la marmora said: "il ne dira jamais ce qu'il ne pense pas, mais il dit quelquefois ce qui serait mieux qu'il ne dit pas." he more than any other regrets the king's not having seen more of the world, and says his journey had done him a _great_ deal of good. [footnote : the sardinian commander had been attending the council of war at paris.] [footnote : the king of sardinia was reported to have told the emperor that the latter's loyalty to the alliance was questioned by great britain, and that it was conjectured in london that he was in favour of co-operation with austria instead.] [pageheading: the speech from the throne] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ _ th january ._ the queen returns to lord palmerston the draft of the speech, which she thinks _extremely well_ worded, and which she therefore trusts will be (with the exception of those passages marked) as little altered as possible. lord john russell used to say that as soon as a speech was discussed in the cabinet, it was so much _pruned_ and altered as to lose all its force. the queen must own that she is _much_ alarmed at hearing that the _papers_ of the war council were to be printed and circulated amongst the cabinet, as she fears that the secrecy, which is so necessary, upon which the emperor laid so _much stress_, will be very difficult to be maintained. the emperor's opinion at least, the queen hopes, will _not_ be printed or generally circulated? the queen must again press for a very early decision on the subject. if this is allowed to _drag_, it will appear, particularly to the _emperor_, as if we were not really in earnest, though we stickled so much for our additional conditions, which might lessen the hopes of peace. of course the government must not give any answer on this subject--should parliament be so indiscreet as to ask _what_ the result of the deliberations of the council of war has been. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january _. my dearest uncle,--you will kindly forgive my letter being short, but we are going to be present this morning at the wedding of phipps's daughter[ ] with that handsome lame young officer whom you remember at osborne. it is quite an event at windsor, and takes place in st george's chapel, which is very seldom the case. many thanks for your kind letter of the th, by which i am glad to see that dear good philip has arrived safe and well and brought back _de bons souvenirs_. we shall always be _happy_ to see him. the _peace negotiations_ occupy every one; _if_ russia is _sincere_, they will end most probably in peace; but _if_ she is _not_, the war will be _carried_ on with _renewed vigour_. the recollection of last year makes one _very distrustful_. england's policy throughout has been the _same_, _singularly unselfish_, and _solely_ actuated by the _desire_ of _seeing europe saved_ from the _arrogant_ and _dangerous pretensions_ of that _barbarous power_ russia--and of having _such safeguards_ established for the _future_, which may ensure us against a _repetition_ of similar _untoward events_. i repeat now, what we have said from the beginning, and what i have _repeated_ a _hundred_ times, _if prussia_ and _austria_ had held _strong and decided_ language to _russia in_ ' , we should _never_ have had _this war!_ now i must conclude. with albert's best love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : maria henrietta sophia, daughter of sir charles beaumont phipps, k.c.b., keeper of the privy purse, married captain frederick sayer, rd royal welsh fusiliers.] [pageheading: miss nightingale] _queen victoria to miss florence nightingale._ windsor castle, _[january] _. dear miss nightingale,--you are, i know, well aware of the high sense i entertain of the christian devotion which you have displayed during this great and bloody war, and i need hardly repeat to you how warm my admiration is for your services, which are fully equal to those of my dear and brave soldiers, whose sufferings you have had the _privilege_ of alleviating in so merciful a manner. i am, however, anxious of marking my feelings in a manner which i trust will be agreeable to you, and therefore send you with this letter a brooch, the form and emblems of which commemorate your great and blessed work, and which, i hope, you will wear as a mark of the high approbation of your sovereign![ ] it will be a very great satisfaction to me, when you return at last to these shores, to make the acquaintance of one who has set so bright an example to our sex. and with every prayer for the preservation of your valuable health, believe me, always, yours sincerely, victoria r. [footnote : the presentation took place on the th of january. the jewel resembled a badge rather than a brooch, bearing a st george's cross in red enamel, and the royal cypher surmounted by a crown in diamonds. the inscription "blessed are the merciful" encircled the badge which also bore the word "crimea."] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th february _. with respect to lord clarendon's observation that he hopes that the queen "will approve of his upholding the sardinians in the conference and in all other respects," she can only assure him that she is _most sincerely_ anxious that he should do so, as the queen has the greatest respect for that noble little country, which, since it has possessed an honest, straightforward as well as courageous king, has been a bright example to all continental states. the queen rejoices to hear that count cavour is coming to paris. the queen hopes that the determination not to admit prussia will be adhered to.[ ] she hears that baron beust[ ] means to go to paris to represent the german confederation; this should be prevented by all means. [footnote : prussia was not admitted to the sitting of the conference until a later stage.] [footnote : prime minister of saxony.] [pageheading: belgian neutrality] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--i had the happiness of receiving your kind letter of the th on saturday, and thank you much for it. i gave your kind message to colonel phipps, who was much gratified by it. we came here in wretched weather yesterday, leaving mamma _still_ at frogmore. the conferences will begin very shortly; lord clarendon starts for paris on friday. _no_ one but him could undertake these difficult negotiations. _no_ one can tell _what_ the result will be--and i will say nothing, for i have _too strong_ personal feelings to speak upon the subject. with respect to your answer respecting your _neutrality_, and the possibility of your being obliged to break it, i must repeat that i see _no possibility_ or _eventuality_ that _could oblige_ you to do so. _belgium_ of its own accord bound itself to remain neutral, and its very existence is _based_ upon that neutrality, which the other powers have guaranteed and are bound to maintain _if belgium keeps_ her engagements. i cannot at all see how you could _even_ entertain the question, for, as i just said, the _basis_ of the _existence_ of belgium is her _neutrality_. the weather is so mild that we should almost hope stockmar would start soon. if _he_ can't come himself, he should send his son for a few days, who could bring us any confidential communication from his father, and could be the bearer of any from us. something of this kind is most necessary, for it is overwhelming to write to one another upon so many details which require immediate answer.... with albert's love, and ours to your young people, believe me, always, your devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ _ th february ._ the queen has seen in the reports of the house of commons that a return has been moved for of all the decorations of the bath given since the war. the queen hopes the government will not allow the house of commons so much further to trespass upon the prerogatives of the crown as now _virtually_ to take also the control over the distribution of honours and rewards into their hands. [pageheading: terms of peace] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th february _. my dearest victoria,--i have to thank you for your dear kind letter of the th. madame de sévigné says, with great truth, that a letter to be a good letter ought to be as if one heard the person speak; your dear letters are always so, and you would therefore be praised by madame de sévigné, and that very deservedly. lord clarendon is, heaven be praised, well calculated to bring matters to a happy conclusion. i will try to make some impression on the mind of the emperor alexander, his best policy will be the most honest. by all i can learn they wish most sincerely the conclusion of this war. if on the side of the allies only the things which really protect the territories of the present turkish empire are asked, the russians ought not to man[oe]uvre, but grant it, and the allies also ought to be moderate. you are very properly never to be contradicted, but there are a few things to be remarked. this neutrality was in the real interest of this country, but our good congress here did _not_ wish it, and even opposed it; it was _imposé_ upon them. a neutrality to be respected must be _protected_. france at all time in cases of general war can put an end to it, by declaring to us _vous devez être avec nous ou contre nous_. if we answer _nous sommes neutres_, they will certainly try to occupy us; then the case of self-defence arises and the claim to be protected by the other powers.... my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: the conference] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ buckingham palace, _le février _. sire et cher frÈre,--mes commissaires pour le conseil de guerre sont à peine revenus de paris et notre plan de campagne est à peine arrêté, que mes plénipotentiaires pour la conférence de paix se mettent en route pour assister sous les yeux de v.m. à l'[oe]uvre de la pacification. je n'ai pas besoin de vous recommander lord clarendon, mais je ne veux pas le laisser partir sans le rendre porteur de quelques mots de ma part. quoique bien convaincue qu'il ne pourra dans les discussions prochaines s'élever de questions sur lesquelles il y aurait divergence d'opinions entre nos deux gouvernements, j'attache toutefois le plus haut prix à ce que l'accord le plus parfait soit établi avant que les conférences ne soient ouvertes; et c'est dans ce but que j'ai chargé lord clarendon de se rendre à paris quelques jours avant, afin qu'il pût rendre un compte exact des opinions de mon gouvernement, et jouir de l'avantage de connaître _à fond_ la pensée de v.m. j'éprouverai un sentiment d'intime satisfaction dans ce moment critique, et je le regarderai comme une preuve toute particulière de votre amitié, si vous voulez permettre à lord clarendon de vous exposer personnellement mes vues et d'entendre les vôtres de votre proper bouche. les opérations de nos armées et de nos flottes combinées, sous un commandement divisé, ont été sujettes à d'énormes difficultés; mais ces difficultés ont été heureusement vaincues. dans la diplomatie comme à la guerre, les russes auront sur nous le grand avantage de l'unité de plan et d'action, et je les crois plus forts sur ce terrain que sur le champ de bataille; mais à coup sûr, nous y resterons également victorieux, si nous réussissons à empêcher l'ennemi de diviser nos forces et de nous battre en détail. sans vouloir jeter un doute sur la sincérité de la russie en acceptant nos propositions, il est impossible d'avoir à ce sujet une conviction pleine et entière. j'ai tout lieu de croire cependant que nul effort et nul stratagème ne seront negligés pour rompre, s'il était possible, ou au moins pour affaiblir notre alliance. mais je repose à cet égard dans la fermeté de v.m. la même confiance qui saura détruire toutes ces espérances, que j'ai dans la mienne et dans celle de mes ministres. cependant, on ne saurait attacher trop d'importance à ce que cette commune fermeté soit reconnue et appréciée dès le commencement des négociations, car de là dépendra, j'en ai la conviction, la solution, si nous devons obtenir une paix dont les termes pourront être considérés comme satisfaisants pour l'honneur de la france et de l'angleterre, et comme donnant une juste compensation pour les énormes sacrifices que les deux pays ont faits. une autre considération encore me porte à attacher le plus haut prix à cet accord parfait, c'est que si, par son absence, nous étions entraînés dans une paix qui ne satisferait point la juste attente de nos peuples, cela donnerait lieu à des plaintes et à des récriminations qui ne pourraient manquer de fausser les relations amicales des deux pays au lieu de les cimenter davantage comme mon c[oe]ur le désire ardemment. d'ailleurs, je ne doute pas un moment qu'une paix telle que la france et l'angleterre ont le droit de la demander sera bien certainement obtenue par une détermination inébranlable de ne point rabaisser les demandes modérées que nous avons faites. vous excuserez, sire, la longueur de cette lettre, mais il m'est si doux de pouvoir épancher mes sentiments sur toutes ces questions si importantes et si difficiles, avec une personne que je considère non seulement comme un allié fidèle, mais comme un ami sur lequel je puis compter en toute occasion, et qui, j'en suis sûre, est animé envers nous des mêmes sentiments. le prince me charge de vous offrir ses hommages les plus affectueux, et moi je me dis pour toujours, sire et cher frère, de v.m.i., la très affectionnée s[oe]ur et amie, victoria r. [pageheading: the crimean enquiry] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. the subject to which lord palmerston refers in his letter of last night, and upon which the cabinet is going to deliberate to-day, has also caused the queen much anxiety. a civil commission is sent out by the government to enquire into the conduct of the officers in command in the crimea; this is done without any consultation with the commander-in-chief. they report to the government, inculpating several general officers and others in high command; this report is not communicated to the military authorities, nor to the persons affected by it, but is laid on the table of both houses of parliament.[ ] these officers then for the first time find themselves accused under the authority of government, and that accusation communicated to the legislature without ever having been heard in answer or allowed an opportunity to defend themselves. it is stated in both houses by the government that the officers may send papers in reply if they choose! but who is to be the judge on the trial? the press, of course, and the _times_ at the head, have already judged and condemned, and the house of commons is now moving _in default of another judge_ to constitute its tribunal by a committee of enquiry. it is quite evident if matters are left so, and military officers of the queen's army are to be judged as to the manner in which they have discharged their military duties before an enemy by a committee of the house of commons, the command of the army is at once transferred from the crown to that assembly. this result is quite inevitable if the government appear as accusers, as they do by the report of their commission, and then submit the accusation for parliament to deal with, without taking any steps of their own! the course suggested by sir james graham and alluded to by lord palmerston, of following the precedent of the enquiry into the convention of cintra,[ ] appears therefore to the queen to be the only prudent one. the queen thinks it most unfair to the officers to publish their statements beforehand, as these will not go before judges feeling the weight of their responsibility, but before the newspapers who are their sworn enemies and determined to effect their ruin, for which they possess unlimited means. the queen wishes lord palmerston to read this letter to the cabinet. [footnote : sir john macneill and colonel tulloch had been sent out to the crimea early in to investigate the breakdown of various military departments. they had issued a preliminary report in the summer of , and a final one in january , which was presented to parliament. the officers specially censured were lord lucan (who had been given the command of a regiment), lord cardigan, inspector of cavalry, sir richard airey, quartermaster-general, and colonel gordon, deputy quartermaster-general. lord panmure wrote on the th of february that the government recommended the appointment of a commission of enquiry, consisting of general sir howard douglas and six other high military officers. the commission sat at chelsea, and made its report in july, exonerating the officers censured.] [footnote : the convention of cintra was concluded on the th of august . it was founded on the basis of an armistice agreed upon between sir arthur wellesley and general kellerman, on the day after the battle of vimiera, and some of its provisions were considered too favourable to the french. a board of enquiry, under the presidency of sir david dundas, in the first instance exculpated the british officers; but the government having instructed the members of the board to give their opinions individually, four were found to approve and three to disapprove the armistice and convention.] [pageheading: the emperor's cordiality] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ paris, _ th february _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that he dined last night at the tuileries, and had a conversation of two hours with the emperor, which was in all respects satisfactory. on no occasion has lord clarendon heard the emperor express himself more warmly or with greater determination in favour of the alliance, and h.m. entirely concurred with lord clarendon, that upon the perfect understanding between the two governments, and the conviction on the part of others that the alliance was not to be shaken, depended the facility with which negotiations might be conducted, and the terms on which peace would be made. lord clarendon spoke with the utmost frankness about the flattery that had been and would continue to be addressed to his majesty, and the contrast perpetually drawn between england and france, to the disparagement of the former, for the purpose of disturbing the relations between them; but that your majesty and your majesty's government had always treated these tricks with contempt, because the confidence in the emperor's honour and loyalty was complete. lord clarendon dwelt particularly upon the feelings of your majesty and of the prince on this subject, and the pleasure it gave the emperor was evident; and he desired lord clarendon to say that your majesty should never find such confidence misplaced. he promised lord clarendon that he would give baron brunnow and count buol to understand that if they thought the alliance could be disturbed by them they would find themselves grievously mistaken, and that it would be waste of time to try and alter any conditions upon which he had agreed with the english government. the emperor appeared to be much gratified by your majesty's letter, for the first thing he said to lord clarendon on coming into the room before dinner was "_quelle charmante lettre vous m'avez apportée de la reine_," and then began upon the extraordinary clearness with which your majesty treated all matters of business, and the pleasure he derived from every discussion of them with your majesty.... the empress was looking in great health and beauty. she was in the highest spirits, and full of affectionate enquiry for your majesty. [pageheading: oudh] [pageheading: the king's appeal] _the marquis of dalhousie to queen victoria._ calcutta, _ th february _. the governor-general presents his most humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour of submitting to your majesty a copy of a proclamation, whereby the kingdom of oudh has been placed exclusively and permanently under the authority of your majesty's government.[ ] the various considerations, and the course of public events, which led to this necessity, have long since been laid before your majesty's government in great detail. the governor-general during the past summer communicated to the home authorities his readiness to remain in india as long as he dared, namely, for one additional month, until the st of march, for the purpose of carrying into effect the proposed policy regarding oudh--if it was desired that he should do so. the orders from the home government reached the governor-general only upon the nd of january, leaving barely two months for the assembling of the military force which was necessary to provide against all risks--for the negotiations with the king--and for the organisation of the future civil and military administration of oudh. every preparation having been completed, the resident at lucknow waited upon the king in person--communicated to him the resolution which the british government had taken--and tendered for his acceptance a new treaty, whereby the transfer of the government of oudh would have been made a matter of amicable agreement. the king wholly refused to sign any treaty. he declared himself ready to submit to the will of the british government in all things. he bade the resident observe that every mark of power had already been laid down by his majesty's own orders--the guns at the palace gates were dismounted, the guards bore no arms, and, though drawn up as usual in the court, they saluted the resident with their hands only; while not a weapon was worn by any officer in the palace. the king gave way to passionate bursts of grief and anger--implored the intercession of the resident in his behalf--and finally, uncovering his head, he placed his turban in the resident's hands. this act--the deepest mark of humiliation and helplessness which a native of the east can exhibit--became doubly touching and significant when the head thus bared in supplication was one that had worn a royal crown. the government, however, had already borne too long with the wrongs inflicted by the sovereigns of oudh upon their unhappy subjects. the clamorous grief of the king could not be allowed to shut out the cry of his people's misery. the king's appeal, therefore, could not be listened to; and as his majesty, at the end of the three days' space which was allowed him for deliberation, still resolutely refused to sign a treaty, the territory of oudh was taken possession of, by the issue of the proclamation which has now been respectfully submitted to your majesty. it is the fourth kingdom in india which has passed under your majesty's sceptre during the last eight years.[ ] perfect tranquillity has prevailed in oudh since the event which has just been narrated. general outram writes that the populace of lucknow, more interested than any other community in the maintenance of the native dynasty, already "appear to have forgotten they ever had a king." in the districts the proclamation has been heartily welcomed by the middle and lower classes; while even the higher orders, who of course lose much in a native state by the cessation of corruption and tyranny, have shown no symptoms of dissatisfaction. there seems every reason to hope and expect that the same complete tranquillity will attend the further progress of our arrangements for the future administration of oudh.... the governor-general has only further to report to your majesty that lord canning arrived at madras on the th inst., and that he will assume the government of india on the last day of this month. the governor-general will report hereafter lord canning's arrival at fort william; and he has now the honour to subscribe himself, your majesty's most obedient, most humble and devoted subject and servant, dalhousie. [footnote : in a letter of the th, mr vernon smith had told the queen that the press rumours of "annexation" were premature, and that the use of the word itself had been avoided in lord canning's correspondence with the court of directors.] [footnote : the earlier annexations were those of the punjab ( ), pegu ( ), and nagpur ( ); some minor additions were also made under what was called the "doctrine of lapse."] [pageheading: preliminaries of peace] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. the queen returns lord clarendon's letter. the matter becomes very serious, and it would be a bad position for us to be left quite alone in the conference, which the russians, the queen has every reason to believe, are anxiously striving to bring about. in fact, well-informed persons pretend that this was the main aim of russia in accepting the austrian ultimatum and going to paris. would it not answer to take this line: to say to russia, "you have accepted the ultimatum, _pur et simple_, and have now again recognised its stipulations as preliminaries of peace. you will, therefore, first of all, have to execute them; you may then come to the question of kars and say you mean to keep it--then you will see that europe, bound to maintain the integrity of turkey, will be obliged to go on with the war, and it will be for you to consider whether you mean to go on fighting for kars; but at present this is not in question, as you are only called upon to fulfil the engagements to which you have solemnly pledged yourself"? perhaps lord palmerston will discuss this suggestion with his colleagues to-night. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that as the result of the deliberations of the cabinet this evening, the accompanying telegraphic message is proposed to be sent to-morrow morning to lord clarendon. it is founded upon the substance of your majesty's memorandum of this afternoon. viscount palmerston has taken another copy of this draft. _telegram to the earl of clarendon._ _ th february _. [_enclosure._] your letter has been considered by the cabinet. russia should be told that she cannot recede from the conditions which she deliberately agreed to by a _pur et simple_ acceptance at petersburg, which she afterwards formally recorded in a protocol at vienna, and which she has within a few days solemnly converted into preliminaries of peace. those engagements must be fulfilled, and those conditions must be carried into execution. as to kars, austria, france, and great britain have undertaken to maintain the integrity of the turkish empire, and that integrity must be maintained. russia received no equivalent for giving up the principalities which she had occupied as a material pledge. she can receive none for giving up kars. if russia determines to carry on the war, rather than give up kars, things must take their course. [pageheading: tranquillity of india] _the marquis of dalhousie to queen victoria._ government house, _ th february _. lord dalhousie presents his most humble duty to your majesty. the guns are announcing from the ramparts of fort william that lord canning has arrived. in an hour's time he will have assumed the government of india. lord dalhousie will transfer it to him in a state of perfect tranquillity. there is peace, within and without. and although no prudent man will ever venture to predict the certainty of continued peace in india, yet lord dalhousie is able to declare, within reservation, that he knows of no quarter in which it is probable that trouble will arise.[ ] lord dalhousie desires that his very last act, as governor-general, should be to submit to your majesty a respectful expression of the deep sense he entertains of your majesty's constant approbation of his public conduct while he has held the office of governor-general of india; together with a humble assurance of the heartfelt gratitude with which he shall ever remember your majesty's gracious favour towards him through the eight long years during which he has borne the ponderous burden he lays down to-day. lord dalhousie begs permission to take leave of your majesty, and has the honour to subscribe himself, with deep devotion, your majesty's most obedient, most humble and faithful subject and servant, dalhousie. [footnote : it has been, however, freely alleged that the failure to repress acts of insubordination in the administration of lord dalhousie was a contributory, if not the direct, cause of the events of . see _post_, introductory note to chapter xxvi, and walpole's _history of england from the conclusion of the great war in _, ch. xxvii., and authorities there referred to.] [pageheading: lord clarendon's instructions] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, [_? march_] _ _. the queen returns these letters to lord palmerston. she entirely concurs in lord palmerston's general views of the question, but at the same time she thinks--as circumstances, which are beyond our control, may so vary from day to day or even from hour to hour--that lord clarendon should receive full powers to act according to what may appear to him to be best and wisest at the time, even if it should not be in strict accordance with what we originally contemplated and must naturally wish. such a power would certainly not be misplaced in lord clarendon's hands; his firmness, and his sense of what this country expects, are too well known to lead us to doubt of his permitting anything but what would _really_ be for the best of this country, and for the maintenance of the alliance. [pageheading: the peace negotiations] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. with reference to lord clarendon's letter, the queen must say that she, though _very reluctantly_, shares his opinion, that we have no choice _now_ but to accept the peace, even if it is not all we could desire, and if another campaign might have got us better terms. she feels certain that the bad accounts of the french army in the crimea, which appears to suffer _now_ all the misery which ours suffered last year at the worst time of the siege, will more than ever indispose the emperor from risking a renewal of hostilities. it is affirmed that the french have beyond , men in hospital! if we are to have this peace, however, the queen must again agree with lord clarendon that we ought not _ourselves_ to depreciate it, as our press has done the deeds of our army. with regard to the principalities, it is the queen's opinion that nothing will oppose a barrier to russia and her intrigues but the arrangement which will satisfy the people themselves, viz. an _hereditary monarchy_. the example of egypt might perfectly well be followed in wallachia and moldavia. the subject of poland would, in the queen's opinion, be much better left unintroduced into the present negotiations; we have no claim arising out of this war to ask russia to make concessions on that head, which, moreover, would be treated by her as an internal question not admitting of foreign interference. the clause in the treaty of vienna about the bonapartes is a dead letter, as this very treaty, now to be signed, will prove, and the emperor would act very unwisely to call for an alteration in which all powers who signed the original treaty would claim to be consulted. we have every interest not to bring about a european congress _pour la révision des traités_, which many people suspect the emperor wishes to turn the present conference into. the queen wishes only to add that, should prussia be asked to join in the final treaty on the ground of her having been a party to the july treaty, we should take care that it does not appear that this was an act of courtesy of all the other powers towards prussia except england, who need not be made to take additional unpopularity in germany upon herself. _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ paris, _ th march ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that the emperor gave him to-day the most satisfactory report of the empress and the young prince.[ ] there appears to be little or no fever now, and a great power of sleeping. the emperor's eyes filled with tears when he described the tortures of the empress and his own sensations. he said he hardly knew how to express his gratitude for the interest which your majesty had manifested for the empress, and for the letters which he had received from your majesty and the prince. the prussian plenipotentiaries[ ] were admitted at the close of the conference this afternoon--all important matters under negotiation having been concluded. count walewski made an ineffectual attempt to make it appear by a doubtful form of expression that prussia had taken part throughout in the negotiations. lord cowley and lord clarendon said that they wished to show all courtesy to prussia, but could not consent to sign what was manifestly untrue.... [footnote : the prince imperial, napoléon eugène louis jean joseph, was born on the th of march.] [footnote : baron manteuffel and count hatzfeldt.] [pageheading: the princess royal] _extract of a letter from mr cobden to a friend._[ ] midhurst, _ th march ._ ... it is generally thought that the young prince frederic william of prussia is to be married to our princess royal. i was dining _tête-à-tête_ with mr buchanan, the american minister, a few days ago, who had dined the day before at the queen's table, and sat next to the princess royal. he was in raptures about her, and said she was the most charming girl he had ever met: "all life and spirit, full of frolic and fun, with an excellent head, and a _heart as big as a mountain_"--those were his words. another friend of mine, colonel fitzmayer, dined with the queen last week, and in writing to me a description of the company, he says, that when the princess royal smiles, "it makes one feel as if additional light were thrown upon the scene." so i should judge that this said prince is a lucky fellow, and i trust he will make a good husband. if not, although a man of peace, i shall consider it a _casus belli_.... [footnote : submitted to the queen.] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ paris, _ th march ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that the emperor sent general ney to him this morning to request that lord clarendon would convey the cordial thanks of the emperor to your majesty for the _feu de joie_ fired by your majesty's troops in the crimea upon the announcement of the birth of the prince imperial. lord clarendon was much embarrassed by a letter this morning from lord palmerston, desiring that the signature of the treaty should be postponed till monday, in case the cabinet should have any amendments to propose; and lord clarendon humbly hopes that your majesty may not be displeased at his not having acted upon this injunction, because he had promised to sign the treaty to-morrow in accordance with the general wish of the congress, notwithstanding that it was sunday, and he could not therefore go back from his engagement--every preparation is made for illuminations, not alone at paris, but throughout france, as all the prefects have been informed of the signature--the odium that would have fallen [on] us all would have been extreme throughout europe it may be said, and it would have been regarded as a last proof of our unwillingness to make peace. the friendly feeling of the congress towards the english p.p.'s[ ] would have changed, and they probably would have agreed to no amendments, requiring that all the seven copies of the treaty should be recopied. in short, lord clarendon felt that he had no choice but to take upon himself the responsibility of signing to-morrow; but he has suggested that lord palmerston's private letter should be converted into a despatch, in order that the sole and entire blame should rest with lord clarendon....[ ] [footnote : _i.e._, plenipotentiaries.] [footnote : for the chief stipulations of the treaty, see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxv. in addition to the actual treaty, an important declaration was made as to the rules of international maritime law, to be binding only on the signatory powers, dealing with the following points:-- (_a_) abolition of privateering. (_b_) neutral flag to cover enemy's goods, other than contraband of war. (_c_) neutral goods, other than contraband of war, under enemy's flag, to be exempt from seizure. (_d_) blockades to be binding must be effective, _i.e._ maintained by adequate marine force.] [pageheading: terms arrived at] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th march ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in submitting the accompanying letter from lord clarendon, he begs to state that he informed lord clarendon by the messenger yesterday evening that all he had done and agreed to was approved, and that he might sign the treaty to-day. it was to be signed at half-past twelve this day. viscount palmerston begs to congratulate your majesty upon an arrangement which effects a settlement that is satisfactory for the present, and which will probably last for many years to come, of questions full of danger to the best interests of europe. greater and more brilliant successes by land and sea might probably have been accomplished by the allies if the war had continued, but any great and important additional security against future aggressions by russia could only have been obtained by severing from russia large portions of her frontier territory, such as finland, poland, and georgia; and although by great military and financial efforts and sacrifices those territories might for a time have been occupied, russia must have been reduced to the lowest state of internal distress, before her emperor could have been brought to put his name to a treaty of peace finally surrendering his sovereignty over those extensive countries; and to have continued the war long enough for these purposes would have required greater endurance than was possessed by your majesty's allies, and might possibly have exhausted the good-will of your majesty's own subjects.... [pageheading: the treaty of paris] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ paris, _ th march ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to congratulate your majesty upon the signature of peace this afternoon. it is not to be doubted that another campaign must have brought glory to your majesty's arms, and would have enabled england to impose different terms upon russia, but setting aside the cost and the horrors of war, in themselves evils of the greatest magnitude, we cannot feel sure that victory might not have been purchased too dearly--a continuation of the war would hardly have been possible either with or without france--if we had dragged her on with us it would have been most reluctantly on her part, her finances would have suffered still more, she would have borne us ill-will, would have acted feebly with us, and would on the first favourable occasion have left us in the lurch. if we had continued the war single-handed, france would feel that she had behaved shabbily to us, and would _therefore_ have hated us all the more, and become our enemy sooner than under any other circumstances; a coalition of europe might then have taken place against england, to which the united states would but too gladly have adhered, and the consequence might have been most serious. lord clarendon would not make such an assertion lightly, but he feels convinced that your majesty may feel satisfied with the position now occupied by england--six weeks ago it was a painful position here, everybody was against us, our motives were suspected, and our policy was denounced; but the universal feeling now is that we are the only country able and ready, and willing, if necessary, to continue the war; that we might have prevented peace, but that having announced our readiness to make peace on honourable terms we have honestly and unselfishly acted up to our word. it is well known, too, that the conditions on which peace is made would have been different if england had not been firm, and everybody is, of course, glad _even here_ that peace should not have brought dishonour to france. lord clarendon, therefore, ventures to hope that the language in england with respect to the peace will not be apologetic or dissatisfied. it would be unwise and undignified, and would invite criticism if such language were held before the conditions are publicly known. [pageheading: end of the war] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ st march ._ the queen thanks lord clarendon much for his two letters of saturday and yesterday; and we congratulate _him_ on the success of his _efforts_ in obtaining the peace, for to him _alone_ it is due, and also _to him alone_ is due the dignified position which the queen's beloved country holds, and which she owes to a straightforward, steady, and unselfish policy throughout. much as the queen disliked the idea of _peace_, she has become reconciled to it, by the conviction that france would either not have continued the war, or continued it in such a manner that _no_ glory could have been hoped for for us. we have a striking proof of this in pélissier not having obeyed the emperor's orders and never having thought of occupying sak.[ ] _this really might_ be hinted to the emperor.... the queen finds lord palmerston very well pleased with the peace, though he struggled as long as he could for better conditions.... [footnote : the word is so written in the original draft. there was a place of the name near old fort in the crimea, but this is more probably an abbreviation for sakatal in caucasia.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st april _. my dearest uncle,--... _peace is signed!_ but till the ratifications have taken place its terms cannot be known. that so _good_ a peace _has_ been obtained, and that this country stands in the high position she now does by _having_ made peace, but _not_ yielding to _unworthy_ and dishonourable terms, is _all_ owing to lord clarendon, whose difficulties were immense, and who cannot be too highly praised. may i beg to remind you to make enquiries, _quietly_, about the young prince of orange[ ]--as to his education, _entourage_, and disposition? pray also don't forget to try and let us have a _new_ russian; it would be infinitely _better_.[ ] we were much grieved to hear the day before yesterday from sommer that poor stockmar had had a relapse, but the illness is clearly of a spasmodic nature and therefore _not_ at all dangerous, and the pain had speedily left him, but of course left him again weaker, which is most distressing. now with albert's affectionate love and our reiterated _warmest_ thanks, in which vicky is included, for your having so very kindly come over for her confirmation, believe me, ever, your devoted niece and child, victoria r. [footnote : prince william nicholas, born , elder son of king william iii. of holland.] [footnote : the new russian ambassador was count creptowitch.] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ palais de buckingham, _le avril _. sire et mon cher frÈre,--v.m. me permettra de lui offrir toutes mes félicitations à l'occasion de la paix qui a été conclue sous vos auspices, et peu de jours seulement après l'heureux événement qui vous a donné un fils. quoique partageant le sentiment de la pluspart de mon peuple qui trouve que cette paix est peut-être un peu précoce, j'éprouve le besoin de vous dire que j'approuve hautement les termes dans lesquels elle a été conçue, comme un résultat qui n'est pas indigne des sacrifices que nous avons faits mutuellement pendant cette juste guerre, et comme assurant autant que cela se peut, la stabilité de l'équilibre européen.... le prince me charge de vous offrir ses hommages les plus affectueux, et je me dis pour toujours, sire et cher frère, de v.m.i., la bien affectionnée s[oe]ur et amie, victoria r. [pageheading: honours gratefully declined] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ paris, _ th april _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty.... lord clarendon humbly begs in lord cowley's name and his own most gratefully to acknowledge the kind and gracious intention of your majesty to raise each of them a step in the peerage, and they venture to hope that your majesty will not have been displeased at their having respectfully declined this great distinction. lord cowley's reason was his extreme poverty, and the feeling that an accession of rank would only aggravate the inconvenience he already experiences from being a peer.... lord clarendon felt that courtesy titles to his younger sons would be a positive injury to them in working for their bread, and he relied upon your majesty's unvarying kindness for appreciating his reluctance to prefer himself to his children. he may, with entire truth, add that the knowledge that your majesty has approved of their conduct is ample and abundant reward for lord cowley and himself. lord clarendon hopes it is not presumptuous in him to say that he would not exchange your majesty's letters of approval for any public mark of your majesty's favour.... [pageheading: lord palmerston and the garter] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. now that the moment for the ratification of the treaty of peace is near at hand, the queen wishes to delay no longer the expression of her satisfaction as to the manner in which both the war has been brought to a conclusion, and the honour and interests of this country have been maintained by the treaty of peace, under the zealous and able guidance of lord palmerston. she wishes as a public token of her approval to bestow the order of the garter upon him. should the two vacant ribbons already have been promised to the peers whose names lord palmerston has on a former occasion submitted to the queen, there could be no difficulty in his being named an extra knight, not filling up the next vacancy which may occur; this course was followed when lord grey received the garter from the hands of king william. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th april _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is unable to express in words the gratification and thankfulness which he feels upon the receipt of your majesty's most gracious and unexpected communication of this morning. the utmost of his ambition has been so to perform the duties of the high position in which your majesty has been pleased to place him, as to prove himself not unworthy of the confidence with which your majesty has honoured him; and the knowledge that your majesty has found no reason to be dissatisfied with your choice; and that his endeavour properly to discharge his duties to your majesty and the country have met with your majesty's approval would of itself be an ample reward for any labour or anxiety with which the performance of those duties may have been attended, and, therefore, the gracious communication which he has this morning received from your majesty will be preserved by him as in his eyes still more valuable even than the high honour which it announces your majesty's intention to confer upon him. that high and distinguished honour viscount palmerston will receive with the greatest pride as a public mark of your majesty's gracious approbation, but he begs to be allowed to say that the task which he and his colleagues have had to perform has been rendered comparatively easy by the enlightened views which your majesty has taken of all the great affairs in which your majesty's empire has been engaged, and by the firm and steady support which _in_ all these important transactions your majesty's servants have received from the crown. [pageheading: service retrenchments] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen returns the draft of treaty, which she approves, and of which she would wish to have a copy. the queen believes that the cabinet are going to consider to-day the amount of retrenchments which may be necessary in the army and navy. she trusts and _expects_ that this will be done with great _moderation_ and very _gradually_; and that the difficulties we have had, and the sufferings which we have endured, may not be forgotten, for to the miserable reductions of the last thirty years are entirely owing our state of _helplessness_ when the war began; and it would be unpardonable if we were to be found in a similar condition, when another war--and _who_ can tell _how_ soon there may be one?--breaks out. we must _never_ for a moment forget the very peculiar state of france, and _how entirely all there_ depends upon _one_ man's life. we _ought_ and _must_ be prepared for every _eventuality_, and we have splendid material in that magnificent little army in the crimea. the queen wishes lord palmerston to show this letter to the cabinet. [pageheading: letter from the emperor] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._ paris, _le avril _. madame et trÈs chÈre s[oe]ur,--votre majesté m'a fait grand plaisir en me disant qu'elle était satisfaite de la conclusion de la paix, car ma constante préoccupation a été, tout en désirant la fin d'une guerre ruineuse, de n'agir que de concert avec le gouvernement de votre majesté. certes je conçois bien qu'il ait été désirable d'obtenir encore de meilleurs résultats, mais était-ce raisonnable d'en attendre de la manière dont la guerre avait été engagée? j'avoue que je ne le crois pas. la guerre avait été trop lentement conduite par nos généraux et nos amiraux et nous avions laissé le temps aux russes de se rendre presque imprenables à cronstadt comme en crimée. je crois donc que nous aurions payé trop chèrement sous tous les rapports les avantages que nous eussions pu obtenir. je suis pour cette raison heureux de la paix, mais je suis heureux surtout que notre alliance sorte intacte des conférences et qu'elle se montre à l'europe aussi solide que le premier jour de _notre union_. (je prie le prince albert de ne pas être jaloux de cette expression.) nous avons appris avec la plus vive satisfaction que les projets que votre majesté avait conçus pour le bonheur de la princesse royale allaient bientôt se réaliser. on dit tant de bien du jeune prince frédéric guillaume que je ne doute pas que votre charmante fille ne soit heureuse. l'impératrice, qui attend avec impatience le moment de pouvoir écrire à votre majesté, a été bien touchée de votre aimable lettre. vers le commencement de mai nous irons à st cloud où votre souvenir nous y accompagne toujours, car ces lieux nous rappellent le séjour de votre majesté et nous faisons des v[oe]ux pour qu'un si heureux événement puisse se renouveler. je prie votre majesté de me rappeler au souvenir du prince albert et de recevoir avec bonté l'assurance des sentiments de respectueuse amitié avec lesquels je suis, de votre majesté, le dévoué frère et ami, napolÉon. _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ buckingham palace, _ st april _. the queen has heard from colonel phipps that lord hardinge is most anxious for her sanction to the paper submitted yesterday, if even as merely a temporary measure, before the mail goes this evening, as all the shipping at balaklava is waiting for it. she hopes lord hardinge will see how inconvenient and unpleasant it must be to the queen to have important matters submitted at such short notice that they cannot even be discussed by her without detriment to the public service, and trusts that she may not again be placed in a similar position. she has now signed the paper, but _only_ as a temporary measure, and upon the understanding that lord hardinge will submit to her, between this and the next mail, the arrangements which are now wanting. she has also signed the proposal about canada, but must express her conviction that general le marchant,[ ] as civil governor of the colony, cannot possibly attend to the command of the brigade, which ought to have a distinct commander. there may be artillery in canada, but is it horsed? and in batteries? we are rapidly falling back into the old ways! [footnote : sir john gaspard le marchant, - , lieutenant-governor of nova scotia from to .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. my dearest uncle,--having returned late from a drive, i have but little time to spare to thank you for your kind letter of the nd. last thursday ( st) was our darling arthur's sixth birthday, which he enjoyed duly. on the rd we received brunnow[ ]--who was so nervous and humble, and so _ému_ that he could hardly speak. he dines with us to-night, and the dinner is given for him, being a _funny collection of antagonistic elements_--granville, clarendon, lansdowne, aberdeen, graham, john russell, derby, and malmesbury! "the happy family," i call it. the opposition have taken the line of disapproving the peace and showing great hostility to russia. to-morrow we have a levée, and on thursday a ball in our fine new room, which we open on that day; and on friday there is a _peace_ fête at the crystal palace. on saturday we go out of town; and now i must end, begging to be forgiven for so hurried a scrawl, but i had to write a long letter and to _sit_ to winterhalter. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : he had come to england, charged with a special mission.] [pageheading: colonial governorships] _queen victoria to mr labouchere._ osborne, _ th may _. the queen has received mr labouchere's letter, and hastens to express her opinion that mr wilson[ ] would not be at all a proper person to be governor of so large and important a colony as victoria. it ought to be a man of higher position and standing, and who could represent his sovereign adequately.... she wishes further to observe that mr labouchere should in future take care that, while he tries to ascertain the feelings of people as to their accepting the offer of a colonial appointment, before he submits them to the queen, that these enquiries should be made in such a manner as not to lead these persons to _expect_ the appointment, else, if the _queen_ does not approve of them, the whole odium of the refusal will fall upon her. the best way, and the way in which similar appointments are conducted in the other offices, would be to mention the names first to the queen, and if she approves of them, to ascertain the feelings of the respective candidates. this would avoid all difficulties on the subject. [footnote : james wilson, the founder of _the economist_, was at this time financial secretary to the treasury. in he accepted the new office of financial member of the council of india, but died in the following year.] _queen victoria to mr labouchere._ _ th may _. the queen would quite approve of the selection of sir h. bulwer, lord lyttelton, or sir h. barkly for victoria. she is decidedly of opinion that the governor should be an englishman and not a colonist. now that self-government has been established in the colonies, the person of the governor is the only connection remaining with the mother country; and if the government were once filled from among the public men in the colonies, this would become a precedent most difficult to break through again, and possibly paving the way for total separation.[ ] [footnote : sir henry bulwer declined. sir henry barkly was appointed.] [pageheading: naval policy] _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ osborne, _ th may _. the queen has to thank sir c. wood for his long and clear statement as to the present position of the naval force, which she quite understands. she attaches the greatest importance to perfect faith being kept with the sailors, and on that account was distressed to hear of the misapprehension at portsmouth the other day. a good system for a naval reserve would be most important. the queen thinks a commission, composed chiefly of _younger officers_ still conversant with the _present_ feelings of our sailors, would best be able to advise on the subject; the old admirals are always and not unnaturally somewhat behind their time. with respect to the policy of not too rapidly reducing our naval armaments, sir c. wood only anticipates the queen's most anxious wish on this subject, for we cannot tell what may not happen anywhere at any moment; our relations with america are very unsettled, and our alliance with france _depends_ upon the life of one man. and it is best to be prepared, for else you excite suspicion if you have suddenly to make preparations without being _able_ to state for what they are intended. with regard to the sailors' homes, the queen concurs in the advantage of leaving them to private management; but the government, having so large a stake in the sailors' welfare, would act wisely and justly to make a handsome donation to all of them at the present moment, taking care that this should be used by the different establishments for their permanent extension. five thousand pounds amongst them would be by no means an unreasonable sum to give as a token of the interest taken in the well-being of these brave men when no immediate return in shape of service was expected for it. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ st may _. the queen is very anxious about the fixing of our peace establishment both for the army and navy. although lord hardinge's proposals are before the government already for some time, no proposal has yet been submitted to the queen; and on enquiry from sir c. wood, he stated but two days ago that no reduction of the navy was yet settled. on the other hand, the queen sees from the chancellor of the exchequer's speech that he specifies the sums by which both army and navy estimates are to be reduced. this _prejudges_ the whole question, and will deprive the government of all power freely to consider these important questions. the queen was, moreover, sorry to find mr disraeli, mr gladstone, and sir francis baring agreeing with the doctrine of the _times_ and lord grey that we ought _not_ to improve our state of preparation for war; and if we had been better prepared for the late war, we should have been still more disappointed.[ ] [footnote : in the course of an elaborate reply, lord palmerston stated that the country had never been in a better condition of defence than at the present time, but he insisted that the militia, which from to had been allowed to become extinct, must be maintained in an efficient state-- , strong.] [pageheading: title of prince consort] [pageheading: precedence of prince albert] _memorandum by queen victoria._ windsor castle, _may _. it is a strange omission in our constitution that while _the wife_ of a _king_ has the highest rank and dignity in the realm after her husband assigned to her by law, the _husband_ of a _queen regnant_ is entirely ignored by the law. this is the more extraordinary, as a husband has in this country such particular rights and such great power over his wife, and as the queen is married just as any other woman is, and swears to obey her lord and master, as such, while by law he has no rank or defined position. this is a strange anomaly. no doubt, as is the case _now_--the queen _can_ give her husband the highest _place_ by _placing_ him _always near her person_, and the nation would give it him as a _matter of course_. still, when i first married, we had much difficulty on this subject; much bad feeling was shown, and several members of the royal family showed bad grace in giving precedence to the prince, and the late king of hanover positively resisted doing so. i gave the prince precedence by issuing letters patent, but these give no rank in parliament--or at the council board--and it would be far better to put this question beyond all doubt, and to secure its settlement for _all future consorts of queens_, and thus have this omission in the constitution rectified. naturally my own feeling would be to give the prince the same title and rank as i have, but a titular king is a complete novelty in this country, and might be productive of more inconveniences than advantages to the individual who bears it. therefore, upon mature reflection, and after considering the question for nearly _sixteen years_, i have come to the conclusion that the title which is now by universal consent given him of "prince consort," with the highest rank in and out of parliament immediately after the queen, and before every other prince of the royal family, should be the one assigned to the husband of the queen regnant _once and for all_. this ought to be done before our children grow up, and it seems peculiarly easy to do so _now_ that none of the old branches of the royal family are still alive. the present position is this: that while every british subject, down to the knight, bachelor, doctor, and esquire, has a rank and position by _law_, the queen's husband alone has one by _favour_--and by his wife's favour, who may grant it or not! when granted as in the present case, it does not extend to parliament and the council, and the children may deny the position which their mother has given to their father as a usurpation over them, having the law on their side; or if they waive their rights in his favour, he will hold a position granted by the forbearance of his children. in both cases this is a position most derogatory to the queen as well as to her husband, and most dangerous to the peace and well-being of her family. if the children resist, the queen will have her husband pushed away from her side by her children, and they will take precedence over the man whom she is bound to obey; if they are dutiful, she will owe her peace of mind to their continued generosity. with relation to foreign courts, the queen's position is equally humiliating in this respect. _some_ sovereigns (crowned heads) address her husband as "brother," some as "brother and cousin," some merely as "cousin." when the queen has been abroad, her husband's position has always been a subject of negotiation and vexation; the position which has been accorded to him the queen has always had to acknowledge as a grace and favour bestowed on her by the sovereign whom she visited. while last year the emperor of the french treated the prince as a royal personage, his uncle declined to come to paris avowedly because he would not give precedence to the prince; and on the rhine in the king of prussia could not give the place to the queen's husband which common civility required, because of the presence of an archduke, the third son of an uncle of the then reigning emperor of austria, who would not give the _pas_, and whom the king would not offend. the only legal position in europe, according to international law, which the husband of the queen of england enjoys, is that of a younger brother of the duke of saxe-coburg, and this merely because the english law does not know of him. this is derogatory to the dignity of the crown of england. but _nationally_ also it is an injury to the position of the crown that the queen's husband should have no other title than that of prince of saxe-coburg, and thus be perpetually represented to the country as a foreigner. "the queen and her foreign husband, the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha!" the queen has a right to claim that her husband should be an englishman, bearing an english title, and enjoying a legal position which she has not to defend with a wife's anxiety as a usurpation against her own children, her subjects, and foreign courts. the question has often been discussed by me with different prime ministers and lord chancellors, who have invariably entirely agreed with me; but the wish to wait for a good moment to bring the matter before parliament has caused one year after another to elapse without anything being done. if i become _now_ more anxious to have it settled, it is in order that it should be so before our children are grown up, that it might not appear to be done in order to guard their father's position against them personally, which could not fail to produce a painful impression upon their minds. if properly explained to parliament and the country, i cannot foresee the slightest difficulty in getting such a necessary measure passed, particularly if it be made quite clear to the house of commons that it is in no way connected with a desire to obtain an increased grant for the prince.[ ] victoria r. [footnote : see _post_, th june, , note .] [pageheading: sabbatarianism] _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ buckingham palace, _ st june _. the queen understands that there is an attempt to be made to prevent the military bands from playing when the troops march to church on a sunday. she is anxious to express to lord hardinge her very strong feeling on this subject, and her wish that he should on _no_ account give way to such a proposal. _whatever_ has been the custom should be firmly adhered to, and lord hardinge is perfectly at liberty to make use of the queen's name, and say he could not bring such a proposal before her, as he knew she would not consent to it.[ ] [footnote : the custom of bands playing in the public parks on sundays had been objected to by various religious bodies, and in april a letter on the subject was written to lord palmerston by the archbishop of canterbury, after which the performances were discontinued, the government giving way before the threat of a vote of censure. a similar movement was made in opposition to the playing of regimental bands. see _ante_, th august, , note .] [pageheading: wellington college] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ rd june _. my dearest uncle,--i hasten to thank you for your very kind letter of yesterday, just received. your kind _question_ puts me into considerable perplexity, and i think i cannot do better than by putting you in full possession of the state of the case. our house is very full--and it is _possible_ that we may have very shortly the visit of prince oscar of sweden. these princes have very large _suites_, and i should therefore in such a case be totally unable to lodge you and _them_. but there is another reason. while fritz wilhelm is here, _every_ spare moment vicky has (and _i_ have, for i must chaperon this loving couple--which takes away so much of my precious time) is devoted to her bridegroom, who is _so_ much in love, that, even if he is out driving and walking with her, he is not satisfied, and says he has not seen her, unless he can have her for an hour to himself, when i am naturally bound to be acting as chaperon. under these circumstances i may truly say that dear charlotte would have very little enjoyment; she would see very little of vicky, _i could not_ take care of her, and i fear it would be anything but agreeable for her. fritz wilhelm would besides be miserable if i took vicky more away from him than i already do, and therefore _while he_ is here, it would _not_, i think, be advisable that _charlotte_ should come. could you _not_ come a little in august when the prince and princess of prussia have left us? or would you prefer coming in october, when we return from scotland? you will easily believe, dearest uncle, _what_ pleasure it gives me to see you; but i know you will understand the reasons i here give for begging you to delay this dear visit either to august or october.... i had a little hope that the archduke and charlotte _might_ take a mutual liking; it would be such a good _parti_. we had an interesting ceremony yesterday, the laying of the first stone of the wellington college--which is the monument to the memory of the dear old duke. dear little arthur appeared for the first time in public, and i hope you will approve my answer.[ ] now, dearest uncle, ever your truly devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the queen's reply to an address presented to her, on behalf of the college, by lord derby.] [pageheading: the national gallery] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ windsor castle, _ th june _. the queen and prince had intended to take their visitors down to the camp on monday next--the _only day_ which we shall have for a fortnight free from other engagements--and hears, to her _utter astonishment_, that _all_ the troops are gone--not only the militia, but the rd battalion of the rifles!--and this without the queen's hearing _one_ word of it! the queen is the more astonished and annoyed, as lord panmure had promised that the militia regiments should _not_ be disembodied until there were other troops to replace them, which will not be the case for some little time. _what_ is the cause of this, sudden determination? the queen is much vexed, as her visitors will not stay long, and are very anxious to visit the camp; and it is of much importance that foreign princes should see what we have, and in what state of efficiency our troops are. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen hopes lord palmerston will make it quite clear to the subordinate members of the government that they cannot be allowed to vote against the government proposal about the national gallery to-morrow, as she hears that several fancy themselves at liberty to do so. [pageheading: title of prince consort] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._[ ] st james's square, _ th june _. lord derby, with his humble duty ... will be prepared, as well as lord lyndhurst, to give his cordial support to such a bill as that sketched out by the lord chancellor; but using that freedom which is invited by and due to the gracious confidence reposed in him by your majesty, he hopes he may be pardoned for earnestly submitting to your majesty's serious consideration the question whether it may be expedient to raise a discussion on such a subject during the short remainder of the present session of parliament. measures of public importance already in progress are now beginning to be abandoned in consequence of the advanced period of the session, and lord lyndhurst concurs very strongly in lord derby's apprehensions as to the result on public feeling of the introduction of such a measure at the present moment. if it could be stated that your majesty contemplated a foreign visit in the course of the summer, which rendered it desirable that a measure should be passed to obviate the embarrassment which had been created on previous occasions of the same sort, some case might be made out for immediate legislation, though even then the question would arise why it was not thought of sooner; but in the absence of any change of circumstances, and in the present unfortunate temper of the house of commons, of which a proof was given last night, such a course would probably lead to suspicions and remarks of the most painful character. it would be said, and with some justice, that the greater the constitutional importance of a settlement, the greater was also the necessity of ample opportunity for consideration being given to parliament; and the hurry of passing the bill would be cited as a proof that it covered some unavowed and objectionable design. if such suspicions should lead to the postponement of the measure, not only would the crown have been subjected to a mortifying defeat, but the bill would be open to the hostile criticisms of the press during the whole summer and autumn, the effect of which might even endanger its ultimate success.... should your majesty be otherwise advised, lord derby will be ready to give the bill his personal support, but he would be wanting in candour if he did not frankly state to your majesty the serious apprehensions which he should entertain as to the result. such an unreserved expression of his opinions is the only and very inadequate return which he can make to your majesty for the gracious confidence with which your majesty has honoured him, and for which he feels most deeply grateful. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, derby. [footnote : the queen had sent to lord derby a copy of her memorandum, _ante_, may, , a letter from lord palmerston to herself on the same subject, and the sketch of a bill drawn up by the lord chancellor to give effect to her wishes. on the th of june , the title of "prince consort" was conferred on prince albert by royal letters patent. "i should have preferred," wrote the queen, "its being done by act of parliament, and so it may still be at some future period; but it was thought better upon the whole to do it _now_ in this simple way."] [pageheading: retirement of lord hardinge] _viscount hardinge to queen victoria._ great stanhope street, _ th july _. field-marshal viscount hardinge,[ ] with his most humble duty to your majesty, is conscious that his power of serving your majesty in the high position of general commanding-in-chief has ceased in consequence of the state of his health, which leaves him no other course to pursue than that of placing in your majesty's hands the resignation of his office, the duties of which his sudden and severe illness has rendered him incapable of performing. lord hardinge cannot take this step without thanking your majesty for the great consideration and support which he has at all times received at a period of no ordinary difficulty, and which have impressed him with such sentiments of gratitude as can only cease with his life. all of which is most humbly submitted to your majesty by your majesty's dutiful and devoted servant, hardinge. [footnote : a great review of the troops lately returned from the crimea was held in most unfavourable weather at aldershot, on the th of july, king leopold among others being present; lord hardinge, who had brought with him the report of the military commission which had been sitting at chelsea, was struck by paralysis during an audience with the queen; the next day lord panmure wrote: "his leg is entirely useless, and his right arm visibly affected. i spoke to him for a moment as he got into his carriage, and his head is quite clear, but his public career is closed; and knowing his high mind as i do, i would not be surprised to learn that he made a communication to that effect to the queen very shortly."] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th july _. the queen has received the enclosed letter from lord hardinge, conveying his resignation, for which she was prepared. she asks lord palmerston to enable her, by the assistance of his advice, soon to appoint a successor to the important office of commander-in-chief. she has again considered the question, and is confirmed in her opinion that the duke of cambridge stands almost without a competitor. _queen victoria to viscount hardinge._ buckingham palace, _ th july _. the queen received yesterday evening field-marshal lord hardinge's letter resigning his office of commander-in-chief. she cannot sufficiently express how deeply grieved she is to feel that from lord hardinge's state of health she must accept his resignation. the loss of his services will be immense to the queen, the country, and the army--and she trusts that he is well assured of her high sense of the very valuable services he has long rendered. she hopes, however, that she may still reckon on his advice and assistance on matters of importance, though he will no longer command her noble army. she cannot conclude without expressing the prince's and her fervent wishes that he may rapidly recover, and his valuable life be long preserved to all his friends, amongst whom we shall ever consider ourselves. [pageheading: the commandership-in-chief] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that he has consulted with his colleagues as to the advice to be tendered to your majesty in regard to the appointment of a successor to lord hardinge as general commanding-in-chief; and upon a full consideration of the subject, the cabinet are of opinion that your majesty's choice could not fall upon any general officer better suited to that important position than his royal highness the duke of cambridge, and lord panmure will have the honour of taking your majesty's pleasure upon the matter officially. it seems quite clear that there is no general officer senior to his royal highness the duke of cambridge to whom it would in all respects be desirable to intrust the duties of the command of the army, and there is no general officer below him in seniority who has claim sufficiently strong to justify his being preferred to his royal highness.... _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ buckingham palace, _ th july _. the queen wishes to ask, before she sanctions this draft, whether the cabinet have fully considered the consequences of this declaration to the persians, which may be war;[ ] and if so, whether they are prepared to go to war with persia, and have provided the means of carrying it on? the draft itself the queen approves. [footnote : the shah, availing himself of the departure of the british minister from teheran, laid siege to herat, in direct violation of a treaty of .] [pageheading: the duke of cambridge] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ st july _. my dearest uncle,--... we had a delightful little _séjour_ at aldershot--much favoured by fine weather. the first day, wednesday, the wind was too high for _me_ to ride, but the second (thursday) we had one of the prettiest and _most_ interesting field days i ever remember. i rode about everywhere and enjoyed it so much. on thursday and friday morning we visited the camp. the new troops from the crimea which we saw were the th, st, and th, particularly fine regiments; the rd highlanders, the nd rifle battalion, and three companies of splendid sappers and miners, all very fine; and the scots greys and enniskillen dragoons. the prussians[ ] were _émerveillés_ at the looks of our troops on returning from the crimea! we came here on the th, and have really _hot_ weather. george has been appointed commander-in-chief. there was really _no one_ who could have been put over him; though in some respects it may be a weakness for the crown, it is a great strength for the army.... i fear i must end here for to-day. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the prince and princess of prussia were on a visit to the queen and prince.] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and will give directions for the council at osborne at one o'clock on monday, according to your majesty's desire; and he would beg to submit for your majesty's gracious consideration that the general commanding-in-chief has usually been a privy councillor, and that his royal highness the duke of cambridge might, if your majesty thought fit, be sworn in on monday. viscount palmerston will communicate with dr. goodford, but he finds that he was misled by the headmaster and one of the governors of harrow at the speech day; he understood from them that an additional week's holiday would at his request be given to the boys at this vacation in commemoration of the peace. he has now received a letter from the governors to say that the school had an additional week on the occasion of the peace at easter, and that an additional week will be given, not now, but at christmas, in commemoration of the laying the first stone of the new chapel. if, therefore, the eton boys had an additional week at easter in honour of the peace, as the harrow boys had, there will be no reason for any addition to the eton holidays now.... [pageheading: south africa] _mr labouchere to queen victoria._ _ th july ._ with mr labouchere's humble duty to her majesty. mr labouchere begs to submit the following observations in reply to her majesty's enquiries respecting the free states in the vicinity of the british colonies in south africa. there are two independent states there:-- ( .) the transvaal republic, founded by boers who left the colony for the most part from ten to fifteen years ago. the territory on which they are established never was british. the government of the day, thinking it useless and impolitic to pursue them there, entered into a capitulation with them and recognised their independent existence. they inhabit the plains north of the vaal or yellow river. ( .) the orange river free state. this occupies the territory between the vaal river to the north and the orange river to the south. this territory, like the former, was occupied originally by emigrant boers, and was beyond the boundaries of the colony of the cape of good hope. but sir harry smith, in , after a severe military struggle with the boers, thought proper without authority from home to annex it to british dominion.[ ] this annexation was ratified by lord grey, and the country remained for three or four years under british rule. afterwards it was resolved to abandon it, during the administration of the duke of newcastle, as a result of the general revision of our affairs which took place at the conclusion of the kaffir war. the orange river territory was recognised as a separate republic in . it is certainly true that the existence of these free states may complicate our relations with the kaffirs, and possibly be a source of danger to the security of british dominion in south africa. but the latter danger seems very remote. they possess _no_ portion of the sea coast, and are altogether a pastoral people, and are engaged in a constant struggle with the barbarous tribes in their neighbourhood. to retain and protect these territories would have involved an immense expenditure, and been attended with great difficulties. besides, the same question would have speedily recurred, as these emigrant boers would have soon gone further into the interior, and again have asserted their independence. our present relations with both these states are very amicable. when governor sir george grey went to the cape all these questions had been finally disposed of.[ ] there seems to be good reason to hope that the apprehensions of a kaffir war will not be realised. the colony is very prosperous, and is beginning to export wool in large quantities. the new legislature appears to be disposed to act harmoniously with the governor, and to be actuated by a spirit of loyalty and attachment to this country. what they most want is a supply of european settlers, which it is to be hoped that the soldiers of the german and swiss legions will give them. [footnote : see _ante_, vol. ii., introductory note to chapter xvii, and th october, , note .] [footnote : sir george grey had been sent out by the duke of newcastle in . he had previously been governor of south australia and new zealand successively. he returned to new zealand as governor in , and was premier of the colony, - . he died in , and was buried in st paul's cathedral.] [pageheading: foreign orders] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th july _. my dearest uncle,--i am much grieved to have to retract the permission which in my letter of yesterday i said i would give to lord westmorland.[ ] when i said so, i had _not_ received the opinion of the ministers, which i have since done, and this is, i am sorry to say, conclusive _against_ it. i quite overlooked _one_ very important case of very late date, viz. the plenipotentiary at paris--on whom the emperor pressed very hard to confer his order in commemoration of the peace; but it was refused, and the emperor was a good _deal hurt_. if _now_ lord westmorland received the permission, the emperor might with _right_ complain. i am much grieved, dearest uncle, at all this, but it was quite unavoidable, and i was at the time much distressed at your giving the order to lord westmorland as i foresaw nothing but difficulties. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : king leopold had proposed to bestow a decoration on lord westmorland.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ st august _. my dearest victoria,--... when your excellent ministers will consider things coolly, which is not to be expected in this hot weather, i am sure they will come to other conclusions. the rule is a _very wise one_, and has been kept up even at the time of those great congresses of paris, vienna, and ditto paris in . but in cases of particular affection and feeling _not_ connected with politics, there have been during the reigns of george iv. and william iv. exceptions. the duke of devonshire was sent to the coronation, i think, of the emperor nicholas, because one knew the emperor liked him. and he has worn ever since that diamond star of the st andrew of the largest dimensions. our napoleon is too wise not to understand that a treaty has a direct political character. and, during the next fifty years of your glorious reign, there will be most probably a great many more treaties and congresses. you may get all sorts of things during that time, but you cannot either by the power of heaven or of earth get a new uncle, who has kept his word twenty-five years; rather an undertaking considering circumstances.... i remain, my dearest victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ on board the _victoria and albert_, _ th august _. dearest uncle,--you will be surprised to get a letter so soon again from me, and still more on _so_ trivial a subject, but i come as a petitioner for a supply of the cakes or _oblaten_ which you kindly always send me, but which have come to a dead _stop_, having been too rapidly consumed; _all_ the children having taken to eat them. as i am not a very good breakfast eater, they are often the _only_ things i _can_ take at that time, and consequently i miss them much. may i therefore beg them to be sent? we are still here; profiting by the _bad_ sea, to visit many beautiful _points de vue_ in this really beautiful country. we saw yesterday one of the loveliest places possible--_endsleigh_--the duke of bedford's, about twenty miles from here. the weather is so bad, and it blows so hard, that we shall go back to southampton to-morrow by railroad--a beautiful line which we have never seen. i must close in haste. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. we went to saltram, lord morley's, this afternoon. [pageheading: lord granville's mission] [pageheading: the czar alexander] [pageheading: coronation of the czar] _earl granville to queen victoria._[ ] moscow, _ th august _. lord granville presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs, according to your majesty's desire, to submit to your majesty the impressions which he has received during the short time of his stay in this country. lord granville's conversation with the emperor of russia, and what he has heard from various reliable sources, have led him to the following conclusions respecting his imperial majesty. he is handsome, but thinner and graver than when he was in england. when speaking with energy to lord granville his manner seemed to be rather an imitation of some one else than his own, and he did not look lord granville in the face. his usual manner is singularly gentle and pleasing. he does not give the idea of having much strength either of intellect or of character, but looks intelligent and amiable. although the education of a cæsarwitch must be subject to pernicious influences, the present emperor has had advantages which those in his position have not usually had. the emperor nicholas came to the throne without having had the confidences of his predecessor. he initiated his son into everything that was going on, while others who knew the good-nature of the grand duke alexander's character, told him that which they did not tell his father. he was supposed to have different tastes from the late emperor, but, since the death of the latter, he has liked the late emperor's favourite residence which he himself had formerly disliked, he has taken to all the military pursuits of his father, and is said to have shown undignified haste in issuing regulations about, and in appearing in, new uniforms. he is liked by those who surround him, but is blamed for not having those habits of punctuality and of quick decision in business which characterised the late emperor. there is still much talk of stimulants to be applied by his imperial majesty to commerce and to the development of the resources of the country.... there are persons, however, here well qualified to judge, who doubt whether much more will be performed than has formerly been done, after brilliant promises at the beginning of a reign. his imperial majesty is not supposed to have that power of will which will enable him to deal with the mass of corruption which pervades every class in this country. the empress,[ ] a woman of sense and ability, is believed to have great influence with her husband when he is with her, but he is generally guided by the person who speaks last to him before he acts--and his imperial majesty has not the talent of surrounding himself with able men. his ministers certainly do not appear to be men of that remarkable intellect as have been usually supposed to be employed by the court of st petersburg. count orloff is stated to have but little influence, and to have lost his former activity. prince gortschakoff is clever in society, of easy conversation and some smartness in repartee. he is vain, a great talker, and indiscreet. it is difficult to keep him to the point. he flies about from one thing to another, and he is so loose in his talk, that the repetition of isolated phrases might lead to impressions of his meaning, which would not be correct.... the serf question is admitted by all to be of a very difficult character, and will become more so as the wealth of the country increases. indeed when that state of things occurs, it is more than likely that popular movements will take place, and it is frightful to consider the immediate results of a revolution in a country organised as this is at present. no country in europe will furnish so fair a chance of success to socialism. the reins of government were held so tight during the last reign, that even the relaxation which now exists is not altogether without danger. the preparations for the coronation are on an immense scale. the present estimate of the expenses is £ , , ; the last coronation cost half that sum; the coronation of alexander, £ , ; while that of the emperor paul did not exceed £ , . the military household of the present emperor consists of one hundred and twenty generals--that of nicholas, at the beginning of his reign, consisted of twenty. your majesty is spoken of by the emperor and by the society here with the greatest respect. lord and lady granville have met with nothing but remarkable civility from all classes. lord granville has had great pleasure in seeing his royal highness prince frederick william of prussia in such good health and spirits. his only anxiety was an interval of fourteen days during which his royal highness did not hear from england. that anxiety has been relieved by a letter received to-day. lord granville ventures to request your majesty to present his respectful remembrances to the princess royal with his congratulations at her royal highness's complete recovery. lord granville begs to advise her royal highness, when residing abroad, not to engage a russian maid. lady wodehouse found hers eating the contents of a pot on her dressing-table--it happened to be castor oil pomatum for the hair. lord granville has been requested to convey to your majesty and to his royal highness prince albert the prince of nassau's expressions of devotion and respect. the atmosphere in which his highness at present resides does not appear to have had much influence on his highness's opinions. [footnote : lord granville was appointed head of a special mission, with the temporary rank of ambassador, to attend the coronation of the czar alexander.] [footnote : marie alexandrovna, formerly the princess marie of hesse, daughter of the grand duke louis ii.] [pageheading: church appointments] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ st leonards, _ th september _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to submit for your majesty's gracious approval that dr tait, dean of carlisle, should be appointed bishop of london with a clear explanation to him that the diocese will probably be divided into two--one of london and one of westminster. that the bishop of ripon[ ] should be appointed bishop of durham, with a like explanation that the diocese of durham may possibly be divided into two--one for durham and one for northumberland. that the dean of hereford[ ] should be appointed bishop of ripon; and that dr trench[ ] be appointed dean of westminster with the condition that he is not to receive any fees or emoluments arising out of appointments of knights of the bath. dr trench is a man of the world and of literature, and would in those respects be well suited to be dean of westminster, and if his tendencies are, as some persons suppose, rather towards high church opinions, his position as dean would not afford him any particular means of making those opinions prevail; while his appointment would show that the patronage of the crown was not flowing exclusively in one direction. viscount palmerston will, on another occasion, submit to your majesty the names of persons for the deaneries of hereford and carlisle.[ ] [footnote : charles thomas longley ( - ) became bishop of durham , archbishop of york , and archbishop of canterbury .] [footnote : richard dawes, who became dean in , and restored the cathedral. he did not become bishop of ripon; robert bickersteth, a canon of salisbury, being eventually appointed. see _post_, th november, , note .] [footnote : richard chenevix trench ( - ), archbishop of dublin from - .] [footnote : francis close ( - ), rector of cheltenham, succeeded dr tait as dean of carlisle.] _the duke of cambridge to queen victoria._ st james's palace, _ th september ._ my dear cousin,--this morning the reply from baden reached me, and i hasten to inform you at once of the purport of it, embodied in a very excellent letter written by my sister mary, who _declines_ the proposal made to her on the part of the king of sardinia, for some very excellent and weighty reasons.[ ] i must confess that i fully agree with her in the view she has taken, and, i can say with truth, that i think her decision is a very judicious and very correct one, and i am not at all sorry she has come to it. as i know that clarendon was very anxious to have an early reply, i have in the first instance sent mary's letter on to him, and have requested him, after perusing it, to send it on to you, and i hope you will not think that i have been wanting in respect to you in so doing. with many thanks to you for your great kindness in having left the decision of this weighty matter entirely in our hands, i beg to remain, my dear cousin, your most dutiful cousin, george. [footnote : the king had, in january , lost his consort, queen marie adélaïde, daughter of the archduke rénier of austria. lord clarendon wrote to baron marochetti:--... "the queen's first care was for the happiness of princess mary, and it was the wish of her majesty and of her majesty's government that the decision should be left to the unbiassed judgment of her royal highness. "princess mary, having maturely weighed the matter in all its different bearings, has come to the conclusion that it is her duty as regards both the king of sardinia and herself to decline the offer, which you were empowered to make on the part of his majesty. "princess mary fully appreciates the many excellent and noble qualities of the king. she does not doubt that in him individually she would be happy, and she thinks that the alliance would be popular in england; but her royal highness feels that as the protestant queen of sardinia she must be in a false position, and that a wife can never find herself thus placed without injury to her husband. "princess mary is deeply attached to her religion, which is the first consideration in this world, and in the free and undisturbed exercise of that religion, however much it might be sanctioned by the king, and supported by his majesty's government, she feels that she would be the object of constant suspicion, that her motives would be liable to misconstruction, and that the king would be exposed to grave embarrassments, which time would only serve to increase. "i am not surprised at this decision, which, from my knowledge of princess mary's profound religious feeling, i rather led you to anticipate; but i am bound to say that with reference to her religion, and with reference to that alone, her royal highness has, in my opinion, decided with wisdom and foresight. "i am convinced, however, that in renouncing upon conscientious grounds the brilliant position which has been offered to her, of which she fully appreciated the advantages, princess mary can only have added to the respect which the king already feels for the noble and elevated character of her royal highness."] [pageheading: the king of portugal] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral, _ th september ._ my dearest uncle,--i cannot have your kind and confidential letter of the th answered, and therefore write to-day to thank you for it. you may rely on our divulging nothing. we are, however, both very anxious that dear pedro should be preferred.[ ] he is out and out _the_ most distinguished young prince there is, and besides that, good, excellent, and steady according to one's heart's desire, and as one could wish for an _only and beloved daughter_. for portugal, too, an _amiable_, well-educated queen would be an immense blessing, for there _never_ has been one. i am sure you would be more likely to secure charlotte's happiness if you gave her to pedro than to one of those innumerable archdukes, or to prince george of saxony. pedro should, however, be written to, if you were favourably inclined towards him. i must end now, hoping soon to hear from you again. pedro is _just_ nineteen; he can therefore well wait till he has completed his twentieth year. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : both the queen and king leopold were desirous of arranging a marriage between king pedro and the princess charlotte, which, however, did not take place. see _post_, th october, , th june, , and rd may, .] [pageheading: russian procrastination] _queen victoria to the empress of the french._ [_draft._][ ] _septembre ._ je regrette autant que v.m.i. les divergences existantes entre les vues de nos deux gouvernements au sujet du traité de paris.[ ] [il est impossible pour nous cependant de céder aux russes les demandes qu'ils mettent en avant, seulement parcequ'elles sont soutenues par la france. le fait est que] ma manière d'envisager la situation actuelle est celle-ci: les russes ne cessent de suivre la même politique dès le commencement de la complication orientale jusqu'à présent. ils cèdent où la force majeure les y contraint, mais tâchent de se réserver par des chicanes ou subterfuges les moyens de reprendre à un temps plus opportun leurs attaques sur l'indépendance et l'intégrité de cette pauvre turquie. [nous au contraire sommes déterminés.] la france et l'angleterre au contraire ont manifesté leur détermination de la sauver et de l'assurer contre ces attaques. c'était là la cause de la guerre; c'était là le but de la paix; mon gouvernement n'oserait le sacrifier vis-à-vis de mon peuple par complaisance envers l'empereur de russie. un coup d'oeil sur la carte, par exemple, démontre qu'en détruisant ismail, kilia, etc., etc. [(acte auquel nous ne venons qu'à présent d'apprendre que la france avait donné son assentiment à notre insu)] la russie a privé l'aile droite de la nouvelle ligne de frontière de toute défense; tandis qu'en substituant le nouveau bolgrad à celui connu au congrès elle pousserait un point stratégique au centre, couperait la partie cédée de la bessarabie du reste de l'empire ottoman, et se mettrait à même de devenir de nouveau maîtresse de la rive gauche du danube, quand elle le voudra. comme dans ce cas [nous] nos deux pays sont tenus par traité à reprendre les armes, il me paraît de notre devoir à prévenir de tels dangers. ces dangers seront écartés à l'instant que la france s'unira à nous pour tenir un langage ferme à la russie, qui tâche de nous désunir et il ne faut pas qu'elle y réussisse. je vous exprime là toute ma pensée, sachant que l'empereur attend une franchise entière de son amie, convaincue aussi, que si son opinion diffère de la mienne, c'est dû au moins d'importance qu'il attache peut-être aux points en dispute avec la russie, et à un sentiment de générosité envers un ennemi vaincu, auquel il me serait doux de m'abandonner avec lui, si je pouvais le faire de manière à concilier les intérêts de la turquie et de l'europe. [footnote : this is the original draft, which appears to have been modified later by the omission of the sentences in brackets.] [footnote : the treaty had involved the restitution of the fortress and district of kars to turkey. the russians, however, delayed the stipulated evacuation in an unwarrantable manner. ismail also was included within the portion of bessarabia to be ceded to turkey, but, instead of surrendering it intact, the russians destroyed its fortifications; they also laid claim to serpent's island at the mouth of the danube, which was within the ceded portion, and of bolgrad, the future ownership of which was, owing to the inaccuracies of maps, in dispute. the english government sent a fleet to the black sea to enforce the obligations of the treaty, while the french government seemed to make unnecessary concessions to russia.] [pageheading: alterations suggested] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ taymouth, _ st september _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly ventures to express his opinion that the empress might think the tone of your majesty's letter rather too severe. it is by no means severe, but perfectly just and true as regards the conduct of russia and france, and on that very account it might wound the _amour-propre_ of the emperor. lord clarendon ventures to suggest the omission of the second sentence beginning by "_il est impossible_," and of the parenthesis at the bottom of the second page.[ ] in the concluding sentence it might perhaps be better to say "_la france et l'angleterre_" instead of "_nous_," which would possibly be taken as an announcement of separate action. your majesty might perhaps think it right to add after the last words "_tels dangers_"--"_ces dangers seront écartés à l'instant que la france s'unira à nous pour tenir un langage ferme à la russie qui tâche de nous désunir et il ne faut pas a s qu'elle y réussisse_."[ ] [footnote : _i.e._ the passage from "acte auquel" to "notre insu."] [footnote : the prince wrote in reply to this letter: "the draft of letter to the empress of the french has been altered in every particular as you suggest, and i will send you a corrected copy of it by to-morrow." see _post_, th november, , note .] _queen victoria to the duke of cambridge._ balmoral, _ nd september _. my dear george,--i waited to thank you for your letter of the th till i had received mary's from lord clarendon, which i did yesterday morning, and which i now return to you. it is admirably written, and does dear mary the greatest credit; she puts it on the _right_ ground, viz. that of the _protestant feeling_ which should _always_ actuate our family, and to this we _now must_ keep. it _effectually_ closes, however, the door to _all catholic_ proposals--whether from kings or princes, which makes matters easier. i must say, however, that i think it very wrong of _certain_ ladies to have spoken of mary's feelings and wishes on the subject, which has no doubt encouraged the idea when they had no reason for doing so. i am very glad that the decision has been so entirely dear mary's own, and that _she is_ convinced of my anxious wish for her happiness and welfare--which i have as much at heart as if she were my own sister. it is very necessary, however, that _not_ a word should be breathed of this whole affair, and i trust that you will caution your mother and sisters and their relations to be very silent on the subject, as it would be otherwise very offensive to the king. with albert's love, ever your very affectionate cousin, victoria r. [pageheading: death of lord hardinge] _queen victoria to viscountess hardinge._ balmoral, _ th september _. my dear lady hardinge,--where can i find words to express to you our _deep heartfelt_ sorrow at the sad and totally unexpected news conveyed to us by telegraph yesterday.[ ] my first thought was for you, dear lady hardinge, whose whole existence was so completely bound up in _his_, that this blow must be awful indeed. we feel _truly_ and sincerely what we, and the country, have lost in your dear, high-minded, noble husband, whose _only_ thought was _his duty_. a more loyal, devoted, fearless public servant the crown never possessed. his loss to _me_ is one of those which in our times is quite _irreparable_. added to all this we have ever had _such_ a true affection and personal friendship for dear lord hardinge, and know how warmly these feelings were requited. _all_ who had the pleasure of knowing him must ever remember his benevolent smile and kind eye. but i speak of ourselves and of what we have lost, when i _ought_ only to express _our_ sympathy with _you_, in your present overwhelming loss, but i could not restrain my pen, and the expression of our feelings may perhaps be soothing to your bleeding heart. most truly also do we sympathise with your children. pray do not think of answering this yourself, but let us hear through your son or daughter how you are. ever, dear lady hardinge, with the sincerest regard and truest sympathy, yours affectionately, victoria r. [footnote : lord hardinge, who had only temporarily rallied from the stroke he had received at aldershot, died on the th.] [pageheading: the archduke maximilian] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october _. my dearest victoria,--since your kind letter of the nd i have not had any communications from you. i can well understand that it grieves you to leave the highlands. it is not a great proof of the happiness of human kind, that all love to be elsewhere than at the place where their real residence is, notwithstanding all songs of home sweet home, etc. i plead quite guilty to this, though i used to be much attached to my old home at coburg and to claremont. that the weather should have been unfavourable is a great pity; here we have had a most beautiful and mild weather till the th, when a severe thunderstorm put an end to it. poor lord hardinge! i believe after all, though all these people pretend _not_ to mind it, that the press killed him. i once told lady maryborough and the late duchess of wellington that it was fortunate the duke cared so little for the press. "care little," they said; "why, nothing annoys and irritates him more." i find it natural; doing one's best, working with all one's nerves, and to be abused for it, is not pleasant. to explain the real state of dear charlotte's affair i enclose the only copy of my letter which exists, and pray you kindly to send it me back. my object is and was that charlotte should decide as _she_ likes it, and uninfluenced by what i might prefer. _i_ should _prefer_ pedro, that i confess, but the archduke[ ] has made a favourable impression on charlotte; i saw that long before any question of engagement had taken place. the archduke is out at sea, and nothing can well be heard before the th of this month. if the thing takes place the emperor ought to put him at the head of venice; he is well calculated for it. i am going on the th to ardenne for a week. i have been since that revolution of kept away from it almost entirely, compared to former days. and now, with my best love to albert, i must end, remaining ever, my dearest victoria, your truly devoted and only uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the archduke ferdinand maximilian joseph of austria, afterwards emperor of mexico.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral, _ th october _. my dearest uncle,--i am truly thankful for your kind letter and the very confidential enclosure which i return, and which has interested us both very much, and is truly kind and paternal. i _still hope_ by your letter that charlotte has not finally made up her mind--as we both feel so strongly convinced of the immense superiority of pedro over any other young prince even _dans les relations journalistes_, besides which the position is so infinitely preferable. the austrian society is _médisante_ and profligate and worthless--and the italian possessions very shaky. pedro is full of resource--fond of music, fond of drawing, of languages, of natural history, and literature, in all of which charlotte would suit him, and would be a _real_ benefit to the country. if charlotte asked _me_, i should not hesitate a moment, as i would give any of my own daughters to him were he not a catholic; and if charlotte consulted her friend vicky i know what _her_ answer would be as she is so very fond of pedro. _ th._--i could not finish last night, and so continue to-day. i shall be most anxious to hear from you about charlotte, when a _final_ decision has been taken. since the th we have the _most beautiful weather_--with the country in the _most_ brilliant beauty--but _not_ the bracing weather which did one so much good; yesterday and to-day it is _quite_ warm and relaxing. albert has continued to have wonderful sport; not only has he killed seven more stags since i wrote, but the finest, largest stags in the whole neighbourhood--or indeed killed in almost any forest!... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: military efficiency] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen has received lord panmure's two boxes of the th. she is glad to hear that the military and the defence committees of the cabinet are to be reassembled. the absence of all plans for our defences is a great evil, and hardly credible. there should exist a well-considered general scheme for each place supported by a detailed argument; this when approved by the government, should be sanctioned and signed by the sovereign, and not deviated from except upon resubmission and full explanation of the causes which render such deviation necessary; no special work should be undertaken which does not realise part of this general scheme. the queen trusts that lord panmure will succeed in effecting this. it is very much to be regretted that so few of the soldiers of the german legion should have accepted the liberal terms of the government. those should, however, be made to sail soon. the returns of the different departments for the last quarter show a lamentable deficiency in small arms. fifty-two thousand three hundred and twenty-two for the whole of the united kingdom is a sadly small reserve to have in store; we should never be short of , . the queen was struck also with the little work done at enfield. it appears that during the whole quarter this new and extensive establishment has completed only three muskets! with regard to some of the barracks, the tenders have not even yet been accepted, although the year is nearly drawing to a close. the queen hopes soon to receive the returns for the fortification department, which is fully two months in arrear.... with respect to the list for the bath, the queen is somewhat startled by the large number. before sanctioning it, she thinks it right to ask for an explanation of the services of the officers, and the reasons for which they are selected for the honour. she returns the list for that purpose to lord panmure, who will perhaps cause the statement to be attached to each name. this, of course, does not apply to the foreigners. amongst the sardinians, however, the queen observes the absence of the names of the military commissioners attached first to lord raglan and afterwards to general simpson. the first was a count revel, who has frequently applied for the honour, and the queen thinks ought to have it. [pageheading: france and russia] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th november _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty, and humbly begs to transmit a letter from the empress which was left here this afternoon by m. de persigny, who also left a despatch from count walewski, of which lord clarendon begs to transmit a copy.[ ] it is a most unsatisfactory result of all the tripotage that has been going on, as it is an invitation _pur et simple_ to reassemble the conference with prussia, and to abide by the decision of the majority. lord clarendon is to see m. de persigny to-morrow morning. [footnote : count walewski had written to count persigny: "the communications which i have received give us cause to fear that her majesty's government may persist in declining the proposal to reassemble the conference.... we only know of five powers which have had an opportunity to express an opinion on the point at issue.... it appears that sardinia has not yet formed her decision. we cannot therefore foresee in what sense the majority will pronounce, and it is evident to us that the reunion will realise the object desired, that of bringing on a decision which cannot be questioned by any one, seeing that it will have been obtained by the concurrence of the representatives of all the powers."] [pageheading: neuchÂtel] _the empress of the french to queen victoria._ compiÈgne, _le novembre _. madame et trÈs chÈre s[oe]ur,--je viens après plus de deux mois m'excuser près de votre majesté d'une faute bien involontaire; par quelques mots que persigny m'a dit j'ai cru comprendre que votre majesté s'étonnait que je ne lui eusse pas écrit en réponse à sa lettre. la seule crainte d'ennuyer votre majesté m'a empêché de le faire, je croyais d'ailleurs que vous n'aviez pas besoin d'assurances sur la bonne foi et surtout sur la bonne volonté de l'empereur. j'espère que grâce à dieu tous les petits différens qui ont surgi dans ces derniers temps s'aplaniront, car c'est l'intérêt des deux pays, et le v[oe]u le plus cher que nous puissions former.[ ] l'empereur a été bien peiné d'apprendre les fausses suppositions auxquelles out donné lieu un désaccord momentaire; il n'aurait jamais supposé que le désir de maintenir un engagement pris peut-être même trop à la hâte, mais dont un honnête homme ne peut se départir ait pu faire croire que l'alliance avec votre majesté ne lui était pas tout aussi chère et tout aussi précieuse qu'auparavant; il est heureux de penser que la réunion de la conférence sera un moyen de tout arranger, puisque l'opinion de la sardaigne n'était pas encore connue; elle créera par sa voix une majorité, et le gouvernement français ne faisant rien pour influencer l'opinion du piémont, le cabinet de votre majesté peut sans concession accepter cette combinaison. je ne saurais assez dire combien pour ma part je suis tourmentée, car je voudrais partout et en tout voir nos deux pays marcher d'accord et surtout quand ils ont le même but. nous sommes à compiègne depuis trois semaines, l'empereur chasse souvent, ce qui l'amuse beaucoup et lui fait beaucoup de bien... l'empereur me charge de le mettre aux pieds de votre majesté. je la prie en même temps de ne point nous oublier auprès du prince albert, et vous, madame, croyez au tendre attachement que [je] vous ai voué et avec lequel je suis, madame et très chère s[oe]ur, de votre majesté la toute dévouée s[oe]ur, eugÉnie. [footnote : besides the complications arising out of the procrastination of russia, in carrying out the treaty of paris, an international difficulty had lately arisen in switzerland. a rising, professedly in defence of the hereditary interests of the king of prussia, took place in the canton of neuchâtel, but was suppressed, and some of the insurgents taken prisoners by the republican government. the king of prussia virtually expressed his approval of the movement by claiming the liberation of the prisoners, and his action was, to some extent, countenanced by the french emperor. the matter was finally adjusted in .] [pageheading: m. de persigny] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th november _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to transmit the letters which arrived yesterday together with a copy of count walewski's despatch. lord clarendon begs to return his thanks to your majesty for allowing him to see the empress's letter.... the letter does not seem to require an answer at present. lord clarendon had a conversation of two hours this morning with m. de persigny, who fought all his battles o'er again, but did not say much beyond what lord cowley had reported. he is quite sure that the emperor is as staunch as ever to the alliance, and that he believes all his own personal interests as well as those of france are bound up with england. he said, too, that the empress was not the least taken in by the flatteries of russia, which she estimates at their _juste valeur_. m. de persigny seems to have performed an act of painful duty and rather of true devotion, by giving the empress some advice about her own conduct and the fate she was preparing for herself if she was not more properly mindful of her position and the obligations it entails. lord clarendon has seldom heard anything more eloquent or more touching than the language of m. de persigny in describing what he said to the empress, who appears to have taken it in the best part, and to have begun acting upon the advice the next day. m. de persigny has no doubt that count walewski will soon be removed from his present office, and will be _promoted to st. petersburg_, but lord clarendon will wait to believe this until it is a _fait accompli_, as it is more likely than not that when m. de persigny is no longer on the spot to urge the emperor, count walewski will resume his influence. count walewski's despatch made a very unfavourable impression upon the cabinet, who were of opinion that upon such an invitation and such slender assurances respecting the course that sardinia might take, we ought not to give up our solid and often repeated objections to reassembling the congress--at all events it was considered that we ought to have a positive answer from turin before we gave a final answer.... [pageheading: sir alexander cockburn] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that sir alexander cockburn[ ] accepts the office of chief justice of the common pleas, but expresses a strong wish not altogether to be shut out from parliamentary functions. his health, which has frequently interfered with his attendance in the house of commons, makes him feel uncertain as to the future, and he is not desirous of being immediately placed in the house of lords, but he would be glad to be allowed to look forward to such a favour from your majesty at some future time if he should find his health stand sufficiently good to give him a fair prospect of being useful in the house of lords. he says that with the baronetcy of an uncle he will succeed to an estate of £ , a year, independent of what he has realised by his own professional exertions; and that consequently there would be a provision for a peerage. viscount palmerston begs to submit for your majesty's gracious approval that such a prospect might be held out to sir alexander cockburn. the chancellor and lord lansdowne and lord granville concur with viscount palmerston in thinking that much public advantage would arise from the presence of both sir alexander cockburn, and of the master of the rolls,[ ] in the house of lords, and there are numerous precedents for the chief justice of the common pleas, and for the master of the rolls being peers of parliament.[ ] their judicial duties would no doubt prevent them from sitting in the morning on appeal cases, but their presence in the evening in debates in which the opinions and learning of men holding high positions in the legal profession would be required, could not fail to be of great public advantage. of course any expectation to be held out to sir alexander cockburn would for the present be a confidential and private communication to himself.... [footnote : sir alexander cockburn's parliamentary success dated from his speech in the don pacifico debate; see _ante_, vol. ii., p. , note . he was made solicitor-general shortly after, and then attorney-general, being reappointed to the latter office in the end of . he had defended both mcnaghten and pate for attacks on the queen's person. the uncle whom he soon afterwards succeeded as baronet was now dean of york.] [footnote : sir john romilly, created a peer in .] [footnote : _e.g._, lord eldon in the former office; lord langdale in the latter.] [pageheading: prince charles of leiningen] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ st november _. my dearest victoria,--on vicky's sixteenth birthday i cannot write on black-edged paper, it looks too gloomy, and i begin by wishing you joy on this day, with the sincere hope that it will also _dans l'avenir_ prove to you one of satisfaction and happiness. i must now turn to your kind and affectionate letter of the th. i was sure that your warm heart would feel deeply the loss we have sustained.[ ] you must, however, remember that you were ever a most affectionate sister, and that charles was fully aware and most grateful for these your kind and sisterly sentiments. the real blow was last year; if that could have been mitigated, life might have been preserved under tolerable circumstances. as things, however, proceeded, if the present attack could have been warded off, charles's existence would have been one of the most awful suffering, particularly for one whose mental disposition was quick and lively. your sentiments on this occasion do you honour; it is by feelings like those you express that evidently _der anknüpfungspunkt_ with a future life must be looked for, and that alone with such sentiments we can show ourselves fit for such an existence. for your precious health we must now claim that you will not permit your imagination to dwell too much on the very melancholy picture of the last moments of one whom you loved, however natural it may be, and however difficult it is to dismiss such ideas. feo feels all this in a most beautiful and truly pious way. it is strange that november should be so full of sad anniversaries. i can well understand what vicky must have suffered, as it could not be expected that fritz wilhelm could quite understand her grief.... now i must leave you, remaining ever, my beloved victoria, your truly devoted uncle, leopold r. my best love to albert. [footnote : the queen's half-brother, prince charles of leiningen, had died on the th.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen approves the recommendation of mr bickersteth[ ] for the vacant bishopric of ripon, but she cannot disguise from herself that however excellent a man mr bickersteth may be, his appointment will be looked upon as a strong party one, as he is one of the leaders of the low church party; but perhaps lord palmerston may be able in the case of possible future appointments to remove any impression of the church patronage running unduly towards party extremes. [footnote : mr bickersteth (a nephew of lord langdale, a former master of the rolls) was then rector of st giles'. lord palmerston had written that he thought him well qualified for a diocese "full of manufacturers, clothier-workmen, methodists, and dissenters."] [pageheading: the queen's grief] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my dearest uncle,--i was again prevented from writing to you yesterday as i intended, by multitudinous letters, etc. i therefore come only to-day with my warmest thanks for your most kind, feeling, and sympathising letter of the rd, which i _felt deeply_. poor dear charles, i loved him _tenderly_ and _dearly_, and feel every day _more_ how impossible it is that the great blank caused by his loss should _ever_ be filled up, and how _impossible it is to realise_ the dreadful thought that i shall never see his dear, dear face again in this world! all the accounts of his peaceful death, of his fine and touching funeral, seem to me to be the descriptions of _another person's_ death and burial--not poor dear charles's. don't fear for my health, it is particularly good--and _grief_ never seems to affect it; little worries and annoyances fret and irritate me, but _not great_ or sad events. and i _derive_ benefit and _relief_ both in my body and soul in _dwelling_ on the sad object which is _the_ one which fills my heart! the having to think and talk of other and indifferent things (i mean _not_ business so much) is very trying to my nerves, and does me harm. vicky is well again, and the young couple seem really very fond of each other. we have from living [together] for twelve days--as we did entirely alone with him and vicky in our own apartments--got to know him much more intimately, and to be much more _à notre aise_ with him than we could be in the london season, and he is now quite _l'enfant de la maison!_ he is excellent and very sensible. i hope that you may be equally pleased and satisfied with _your_ future son-in-law. i must now conclude in great haste; excellent stockmar is particularly well and brisk. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th december _. lord palmerston's explanation of lord panmure's object in proposing the appointment of a director-general of education of the army in the civil department of its government has but confirmed the queen's apprehensions as to the effect of that step, if sanctioned. the queen has for some time been expecting the proposal of a well-digested and considered plan for the education of the officers of the army, and knows that the duke of cambridge has had such a one elaborated. surely, in the absence of any fixed and approved system of education, it would be most imprudent to establish an office for the discharge of certain important functions which are not yet defined. the queen must therefore ask that the system of education to be in future adopted should first be submitted to her, and afterwards only the plan for the machinery which is to carry this out, the fitness of which can only be properly judged of with reference to the object in view. _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ th december _. the queen returns the enclosed letters. sir h. bulwer's is a clever composition, showing his wit and powers of writing. the queen has never, however, seen anything from him producing the impression that great and important affairs would be safe in his hands. the mission to washington will be difficult to fill.[ ] is it necessary to be in a hurry about it? lord elgin is sure to perform the duties very well, but is his former position as governor-general of canada not too high for him to go to washington as minister?... [footnote : a complaint had been made by the government of the united states of the unlawful enlistment in that country of recruits for the english army, and mr crampton, the british minister at washington, had been dismissed. diplomatic relations were resumed after a suspension of some months; and lord napier was appointed british minister in march .] [pageheading: the maharajah dhuleep singh] _memorandum by queen victoria._ osborne, _ th december ._ the queen has seen the memorandum which the maharajah dhuleep singh has sent to the east india company; she thinks all he asks very fair and reasonable, and she trusts that the east india company will be able to comply with them. as we are in complete possession since of the maharajah's enormous and splendid kingdom, the queen thinks we ought to do _everything_ (which does not interfere with the safety of her indian dominions) to render the position of this interesting and peculiarly good and amiable prince as agreeable as possible, and not to let him have the feeling that he is _a prisoner_. his being a christian and completely european (or rather more english) in his habits and feelings, renders this much more necessary, and at the same time more easy. the queen has a very strong feeling that everything should be done to show respect and kindness towards these poor fallen indian princes, whose kingdoms we have taken from them, and who are naturally very sensitive to attention and kindness. amongst all these, however, the maharajah stands to a certain degree alone, from his civilisation, and likewise from his having lost his kingdom when he was a child entirely by the faults and misdeeds of others.[ ] [footnote : in reply, mr vernon smith stated that he had brought all the queen's wishes before the company.] [pageheading: military education] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th december ._ in answer to lord palmerston's explanation with regard to colonel lefroy's[ ] appointment, the queen has to say, that if he is to be made inspector of regimental schools, she has no objection; but she must protest against his being made _director_ of education for the army generally. we want a director-general of education very much, but he ought to be immediately under the commander-in-chief, if possible a general officer of weight, assisted by a board of officers of the different arms. education ought to be made one of the essential requisites of an officer, and the reports on his proficiency ought to go direct through the proper superior from the bottom to the top, particularly if selection by merit is to receive a greater application for the future. if for his military proficiency and moral discipline, an officer is to be responsible to his military chief, but for his mental acquirements to a civil department, the unity of the system will be broken and the army ruined; and this _must_ be the case if the superintendence of the education is separated from the military command. the subject of military education has, as lord palmerston says, often been discussed in parliament, which expects that some sufficient arrangement shall be made for it. but the mere creation of a place for an officer, however meritorious, to find him an equivalent for one which has to be reduced, can hardly be so called, and may even defeat the object itself. this subject is a most important one, and ought to be thoroughly examined before acting. the queen understands that the duke of cambridge has transmitted to lord panmure a complete scheme, which must be now before him. if lord palmerston, lord panmure, the duke of cambridge, and the prince were to meet to consider this scheme, and the whole question in connection with it, the queen would feel every confidence that a satisfactory decision would be arrived at. [footnote : john henry lefroy, who now became inspector-general of army schools, was an artillery officer of considerable scientific attainments. many years later he was k.c.m.g. and governor of tasmania.] [pageheading: bessarabia] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._ [_undated._] madame et trÈs chÈre s[oe]ur,--le prince frédéric guillaume m'a remis la lettre que votre majesté a bien voulu lui donner pour moi. les expressions si amicales employées par votre majesté m'ont vivement touché et quoique je fusse persuadé que la diversité d'opinion de nos deux gouvernements ne pouvait en rien altérer vos sentiments à mon égard, j'ai été heureux d'en recevoir la douce confirmation. le prince de prusse nous a beaucoup plu et je ne doute pas qu'il ne fasse le bonheur de la princesse royale, car il me semble avoir toutes les qualités de son âge et de son rang. nous avons tâché de lui rendre le séjour de paris aussi agréable que possible, mais je crois que ses pensées étaient toujours à osborne ou à windsor. il me tarde bien que toutes les discussions relatives au traité de paix aient un terme, car les partis en france en profitent pour tenter d'affaiblir l'intimité de l'alliance.[ ] je ne doute pas néanmoins que le bon sens populaire en fasse promptement justice de toutes les faussetés qu'on a répandues. votre majesté, je l'espère, ne doutera jamais de mon désir de marcher d'accord avec son gouvernement et du regret que j'éprouve quand momentairement cet accord n'existe pas. en la priant de présenter mes hommages à s.a.r. la duchesse de kent et mes tendres amitiés au prince, je lui renouvelle l'assurance de la sincère amitié et de l'entier dévouement avec lesquels je suis, de votre majesté, le bon frère et ami, napolÉon. [footnote : a settlement with russia of the disputed bessarabian frontier was at length decided upon, on lines suggested by the emperor to the british government.] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ the grove, _ nd december ._ lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to transmit a letter from lord cowley, which contains the report of a curious conversation with the emperor, and which might make a despatch not very unlike sir h. seymour's when he reported the partitioning views of the emperor nicholas.[ ] it is curious that in both cases the bribe to england should be egypt. the emperor of the french said nothing about the share of the spoils that france would look for, but his majesty means morocco, and marshal vaillant[ ] talked to lord clarendon of morocco as necessary to france, just as the americans declare that the united states are not safe without cuba.... [footnote : see _ante_, th may, , note . the queen does not appear to have preserved a copy of lord cowley's letter.] [footnote : minister of war.] [pageheading: the dispute adjusted] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ chÂteau de windsor, _le décembre ._ sire et cher frÈre,--je saisis avec empressement l'occasion de la nouvelle année pour remercier votre majesté de son aimable lettre, en vous priant d'agréer mes bons v[oe]ux autant pour le bonheur de v.m. que pour celui de l'impératrice et de votre fils. la nouvelle année commence encore avec le bruit des préparatifs de guerre, mais j'espère qu'on restera aux préparatifs et après le rapprochement qui a eu lieu entre vous, sire, et la prusse, j'ai toute confiance qu'il vous sera possible d'assurer une solution pacifique de cette question suisse,[ ] malheureusement envenimée par l'amour-propre froissé de tous côtés. je suis bien heureuse que nos difficultés survenues à l'exécution du traité de paris soient maintenant entièrement aplanies et que ce que v.m. signalait dans votre lettre comme une espérance soit à présent une réalité. rien ne viendra désormais, je l'espère, troubler notre bonne entente qui donne une garantie si importante au bien-être de l'europe. nous avons été bien contents d'apprendre que notre futur gendre vous ait tant plu; il nous a écrit plein de reconnaissance de l'aimable accueil que vous lui avez donné et plein d'admiration de tout ce qu'il a vu à paris. ma mère se remet peu à peu de la terrible secousse qu'elle a éprouvée, et me charge ainsi que le prince de leurs félicitations pour le jour de l'an. j'embrasse l'impératrice et me dis pour toujours, sire et cher frère, de v.m.i., la bien affectionnée s[oe]ur, et fidèle amie, victoria r. [footnote : see _ante_, th november, , note .] introductory note to chapter xxvi the closing months of had witnessed the beginning of a dispute with china, a party of chinese having boarded the lorcha _arrow_, a vessel registered under a recent ordinance of hong kong, arrested the crew as pirates, and torn down the british flag. the captain's right to fly the flag was questionable, for the term of registry, even if valid in the first instance, which was disputed, had expired (though the circumstance was unknown to the chinese authorities), and the ship's earlier history under the chinese flag had been an evil one. but sir john bowring, british plenipotentiary at hong kong, took punitive measures to enforce treaty obligations; admiral seymour destroyed the forts on the river, and occupied the island and fort of dutch folly. in retaliation, the chinese governor yeh put a price on bowring's head, and his assassination, and that of other residents, by poison, was attempted. the british government's action, however, was stigmatised as highhanded, and a resolution censuring them was carried in the commons, being moved by mr cobden and supported by a coalition of conservatives, peelites, and the peace party,--lord john russell also opposing the government. in consequence of this vote, parliament was dissolved, and at the ensuing election the peace party was scattered to the winds; bright, milner gibson, and cobden all losing their seats. lord palmerston obtained a triumphant majority in the new house of commons, of which mr j. e. denison was elected speaker in succession to mr shaw-lefevre, now created viscount eversley. at the end of the year an ultimatum was sent to governor yeh, requiring observance of the treaty of nankin, canton was bombarded, and subsequently occupied by the english and french troops. hostilities with persia were terminated by a treaty signed at paris; the shah engaging to abstain from interference in afghanistan, and to recognise the independence of herat. a century had passed since the victory of clive at plassey, but the afghan disasters and the more recent war with russia had caused doubts to arise as to british stability in india, where the native forces were very large in comparison with the european. other causes, among which may be mentioned the legalising of the remarriage of hindoo widows, and a supposed intention to coerce the natives into christianity, were operating to foment dissatisfaction, while recent acts of insubordination and symptoms of mutiny had been inadequately repressed; but the immediate visible provocation to mutiny among the bengal troops was the use of cartridges said to be treated with a preparation of the fat of pigs and cows, the use of which was abhorrent, on religious grounds, both to hindoos and mohammedans. the governor-general assured the sepoys by proclamation that no offence to their religion or injury to their caste was intended; but on the th of may the native portion of the garrison at meerut broke out in revolt. the mutineers proceeded to delhi, and were joined by the native troops there; they established as emperor the octogenarian king, a man of unscrupulous character, who had been living under british protection. great cruelties were practised on the european population of all ages and both sexes, at lucknow, allahabad, and especially cawnpore; by the end of june, the sepoys had mutinied at twenty-two stations--the districts chiefly affected being bengal, the north-west provinces, and oudh. to cope with this state of things, a large body of british soldiers on their way to china were diverted by lord elgin to india, and a force of , men was despatched from england round the cape; while sir colin campbell was sent out as commander-in-chief. meanwhile reinforcements had been drawn from the punjab, which had remained loyal. lucknow was for a long time besieged by the rebels, and sir henry lawrence, its gallant defender, killed. the garrison was reinforced on the th of september by general havelock; but the non-combatants could not be extricated from their perilous position till november, when the garrison was relieved by sir colin campbell. delhi was taken in the course of september, but a considerable period elapsed before the rebellion was finally suppressed. summary vengeance was inflicted on the sepoy rebels, which gave rise to some criticism of our troops for inhumanity; but lord canning, the governor-general, was no less severely blamed for his clemency; and the general verdict was in favour of the measures adopted by the military and civilian officers, whose zeal and capacity suppressed the mutiny. before the dissolution of parliament, mr gladstone and mr disraeli had joined in an attack on the budget of sir george lewis, and the peelite ex-chancellor of the exchequer seemed for the moment disposed definitely to return to the conservative party. to the divorce bill, the chief legislative result of the second session, mr gladstone gave a persistent and unyielding opposition: but it passed the commons by large majorities; a bill for the removal of jewish disabilities was much debated, but not carried. in august, another visit, this time of a private character, was paid by the emperor and empress of the french to the queen at osborne. in the middle of november a series of commercial disasters of great magnitude took place. the government, as in , authorised the infringement for a time of the bank charter act, and a third session was held to pass an act of indemnity. chapter xxvi _queen victoria to mr labouchere._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the despatches from sir george grey[ ] which the queen returns are most interesting. the two chief objects to accomplish appear to be the bringing the kaffirs in british kaffraria within the pale of the law, so that they may know the blessings of it--and the re-absorption, if possible, of the orange river free state. to both these objects the efforts of the government should be steadily directed. [footnote : see _ante_, th july, . the task of dealing with the hottentots and kaffirs, and coming to an understanding with the recalcitrant boers, was a difficult one.] [pageheading: home and foreign policy] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th january _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and he and lady palmerston will have the honour of waiting upon your majesty as soon as he is able to move. he is, however, at present on crutches, and can hardly expect to be in marching order for some few days to come. with regard to the matters that are likely to be discussed when parliament meets, viscount palmerston would beg to submit that the one which has for some months past occupied the attention of all europe, namely, the execution of the treaty of paris, has been settled in a manner satisfactory to all parties; and this is not only a great relief to the government, but is also a security for the continuance of the anglo-french alliance, which would have been greatly endangered by the discussions and explanations that might otherwise have been forced on. the various questions of difference between your majesty's government, and that of the united states, have also been settled, and the diplomatic relations between the two countries are about to be replaced upon their usual footing. this result will have given great satisfaction to the commercial and manufacturing interests. some discussion will take place as to the expedition to the coast of persia, and some persons will, of course, find fault with the whole policy pursued on that matter; but people in general will understand that herat is an advanced post of attack against british india, and that whatever belongs nominally to persia must be considered as belonging practically to russia, whenever russia may want to use it for her own purposes. the outbreak of hostilities at canton[ ] was the result of the decision of your majesty's officers on the spot, and not the consequence of orders from home. the first responsibility must therefore rest with the local authorities, but viscount palmerston cannot doubt that the government will be deemed to have acted right in advising your majesty to approve the proceedings, and to direct measures for obtaining from the chinese government concessions which are indispensable for the maintenance of friendly relations between china and the governments of europe. of domestic questions, that which will probably be the most agitated will be a large and immediate diminution of the income tax; but any such diminution would disturb the financial arrangements of the country, and it is to be hoped that parliament will adopt the scheme which will be proposed by sir g. c. lewis, by which the income tax would be made equal in each of the next three years, the amount now fixed by law for being diminished, but the amount now fixed by law for and being increased.... viscount palmerston hears from persons likely to know, that the conservative party are not more united than they were last session. that mr disraeli and the great bulk of his nominal followers are far from being on good terms together, and that there is no immediate junction to be expected between mr disraeli and mr gladstone.[ ] mr cobden has given it to be understood that he wishes at the next general election to retire from the west riding of yorkshire. the real fact being that the line he took about the late war has made him so unpopular with his constituents that he would probably not be returned again.[ ] viscount palmerston has heard privately and confidentially that lord john russell wrote some little time ago to the duke of bedford to say that it had been intimated to him that an offer would be made to him if he were disposed to accept it, to go to the house of lords and to become there the leader of the government. in case your majesty may have heard this report, viscount palmerston thinks it right to say that no such communication to lord john russell was ever authorised by him, nor has been, so far as he is aware, ever made, and in truth viscount palmerston must candidly say that in the present state of public opinion about the course which lord john has on several occasions pursued, he is not inclined to think that his accession to the government would give the government any additional strength. [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note, to chapter xxvi. the difficulty with china had arisen out of her refusal to throw open the city of canton to european trade in conformity with the treaty of nankin, _ante_, vol. i. rd november, . sir john bowring, chief superintendent of trade (and, in effect, british plenipotentiary) at hong-kong, had resented this, and the feeling thus engendered had come to a crisis on the occasion of the seizure of the crew of the _arrow_.] [footnote : the probability of this combination was now being perpetually mooted, and, in fact, the two ex-chancellors combined in attacking the budget.] [footnote : he stood instead for huddersfleld, and was defeated by an untried politician; one liberal (the present lord ripon) and one conservative were returned unopposed in the west riding.] [pageheading: church appointments] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. the queen would wish to know before she approves of the appointment of mr alford, of quebec chapel, to the head deanery of canterbury, whether he is a very low churchman, as lord palmerston will remember that he agreed in her observation after the appointment of several of the bishops, that it would be advisable to choose those who were of moderate opinions--not leaning too much to either side. extreme opinions lead to mischief in the end, and produce much discord in the church, which it would be advisable to avoid.[ ] with respect to the garter, which the duke of norfolk has declined, she approves of its being offered to the duke of portland.[ ] she thinks that the one now vacant by the death of poor lord ellesmere[ ] might most properly be bestowed on lord granville--he is lord president and leader of the house of lords, and acquitted himself admirably in his difficult mission as ambassador to the emperor of russia's coronation. should lord palmerston agree in this view he might at once mention it to lord granville. [footnote : the deanery was offered to and accepted by mr alford.] [footnote : william john cavendish bentinck-scott, fifth duke ( - ). he did not accept the honour, which was conferred on the marquis of westminster.] [footnote : lord francis egerton had inherited a vast property from the third and last duke of bridgewater (the projector of english inland navigation), and was created earl of ellesmere in . the garter was accepted by lord granville.] [pageheading: debate on chinese affairs] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has seen mr hayter[ ] this morning, and finds from him that the disposition of the house of commons is improving, and that many of the supporters of the government who had at first thought of voting with mr cobden[ ] are changing their minds. it has been suggested to viscount palmerston that it would be useful to have a meeting of the party in downing street on monday, and that many wavering members only want to have something said to them which they could quote as a reason for changing their intended course; and viscount palmerston has given directions for summoning such a meeting. lord derby has had meetings of his followers, and has told them that unless they will support him in a body he will cease to be their leader, as he will not be the head of a divided party. viscount palmerston can scarcely bring himself to believe that the house of commons will be so fickle as suddenly and without reason to turn round upon the government, and after having given them last session and this session large majorities on important questions, put them in a minority on what mr disraeli last night in a few words said on the motion for adjournment described as a vote of censure. with regard, however, to the question put by your majesty as to what would be the course pursued by the government in the event of a defeat, viscount palmerston could hardly answer it without deliberation with his colleagues. his own firm belief is that the present government has the confidence of the country in a greater degree than any other government that could now be formed would have, and that consequently upon a dissolution of parliament, a house of commons would be returned more favourable to the government than the present. whether the state of business as connected with votes of supply and the mutiny act would admit of a dissolution, supposing such a measure to be sanctioned by your majesty, would remain to be enquired into; but viscount palmerston believes that there would be no insurmountable difficulty on that score. he will have the honour of waiting upon your majesty at a little before three to-morrow. [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) william hayter, liberal whip, the father of lord haversham.] [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note, to chapter xxvi. mr cobden's motion of censure affirmed that the papers laid on the table of the house did not justify the violent measures resorted to by the government at canton in the affair of the _arrow_. he was supported by lord john russell, mr roebuck, mr gladstone, and mr disraeli, the latter emphatically challenging the premier to appeal to the country.] _the prince albert to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ rd march _. my dear lord palmerston,--the queen has this moment received your letter giving so unfavourable an account of the prospects of to-night's division. she is sorry that her health imperatively requires her going into the country for a few days, and having put off her going to windsor on account of the debate which was expected to close yesterday, she cannot now do so again to-day. she feels, however, the inconvenience of her absence should the division turn out as ill as is now anticipated. the queen could not possibly come to a decision on so important a point as a dissolution without a personal discussion and conference with you, and therefore hopes that you might be able to go down to-morrow perhaps for dinner and to stay over the night. the queen feels herself physically quite unable to go through the anxiety of a ministerial crisis and the fruitless attempt to form a new government out of the heterogeneous elements out of which the present opposition is composed, should the government feel it necessary to offer their resignation, and would on that account _prefer any other alternative_.... ever, etc., albert. [pageheading: defeat of the government] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._[ ] house of commons, _ th march ._ (_quarter to eight._) viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that his communication to the house of an intention to give the constituencies of the country an opportunity of judging between the present government and any other administration which might be formed, has been on the whole well received, and, with the exception of mr gladstone, most of the persons who spoke intimated a willingness to allow without interruption the completion of such business as may be necessary before the dissolution. mr disraeli said that he and those who act with him would give all fair assistance consistent with their opinions, but hoped nothing would be proposed to which they could reasonably object. mr gladstone, with great vehemence, repelled the charge of combination, evidently meaning to answer attacks made out of the house.... the result of what passed seems to be that no serious difficulty will be thrown in the way of an early dissolution. [footnote : mr cobden's motion was carried by to , and lord palmerston promptly accepted mr disraeli's challenge to dissolve parliament.] _earl granville to queen victoria._ [_undated._ ? _ th march ._] lord granville presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to submit that lord derby made a speech of two hours, in which he glanced at the present state of affairs.[ ] he made a personal attack on lord palmerston, and described his colleagues as cyphers and appendages. the rest of his speech was of a singularly apologetic and defensive character. he was quite successful in clearing himself from an understanding--not from political conversations with mr gladstone. lord granville, in his reply, was thought very discourteous by lord malmesbury and lord hardwicke, who closed the conversation. [footnote : lord derby's resolutions in the lords, which were to the same effect as mr cobden's motion, were rejected by to . on the th of march lord derby took the opportunity of announcing the views of his chief supporters in reference to the general election.] [pageheading: retirement of the speaker] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._[ ] piccadilly, _ th march _. ... viscount palmerston begs to state that the speaker has chosen the title of eversley, the name of a small place near his residence[ ] in hampshire, all the large towns in the county having already been adopted as titles for peers. the ordinary course would be that your majesty should make him a baron, and that is the course which was followed in the cases of mr abbot made lord colchester, and mr abercromby made lord dunfermline; but in the case of mr manners sutton a different course was pursued, and he was made viscount canterbury. the present speaker is very anxious that his services, which, in fact, have been more meritorious and useful than those of mr manners sutton, should not appear to be considered by your majesty as less deserving of your majesty's royal favour, and as the present speaker may justly be said to have been the best who ever filled the chair, viscount palmerston would beg to submit for your majesty's gracious approval that he may be created viscount eversley. it will be well at the same time if your majesty should sanction this arrangement that a record should be entered at the home office stating that this act of grace and favour of your majesty being founded on the peculiar circumstances of the case, is not to [be] deemed a precedent for the cases of future speakers. lord canterbury was also made a grand cross of the civil order of the bath; it will be for your majesty to consider whether it might not be gracious to follow in all respects on the present occasion the course which was pursued in the case of mr manners sutton. [footnote : on the th, mr speaker shaw-lefevre had announced in the house of commons his intended retirement from the chair, which he had occupied since , when his election had been made a trial of strength between parties. he was voted an annuity of £ , a year, and created viscount eversley, receiving also the g.c.b.] [footnote : heckfield place, near winchfield.] [pageheading: the general election] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. my dearest uncle,--... the opposition have played their game most foolishly, and the result is that _all_ the old tories say they will certainly _not_ support them; they very truly say lord derby's party--that is those who want to get into office _coûte que coûte_--whether the country suffers for it or not, wanted to get in under _false colours_, and that they won't support or abide--which they are _quite_ right in. there is reason to hope that a better class of men will be returned, and returned to support the government, not a particular cry of this or that.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r.[ ] [footnote : in his address to the electors of tiverton, the premier declared that "an insolent barbarian, wielding authority at canton, had violated the british flag, broken the engagements of treaties, offered rewards for the heads of british subjects in that part of china, and planned their destruction by murder, assassination, and poison." the courage and good temper displayed by lord palmerston, and the energy with which he had carried the country through the crimean struggle, had won him widespread popularity, and the peace party were generally routed, the prominent members all losing their seats. the peelite ranks were also thinned, but lord john russell, contrary to general expectation, held his seat in the city. there were one hundred and eighty-nine new members returned, and the ministry found themselves in command of a handsome majority.] _earl granville to queen victoria._ [_undated._ ? _ th may ._] lord granville presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to submit that the lord chancellor made the best statement he has yet done, introducing his divorce bill.[ ]... lord lyndhurst made a most able speech in favour of the bill, but wished it to go further, and give permission to a woman to sue for a divorce if she was "maliciously deserted" by her husband.... the bishop of oxford pretended that he was not going to speak at all, in order to secure his following instead of preceding the bishop of london; but upon a division being called he was obliged to speak, and did so with considerable force and eloquence, but betraying the greatest possible preparation. the bishop of london, after showing that the bishop of oxford's speech was a repetition of mr keble's speech, made an excellent answer. the debate was finished by the duke of argyll. for the bill, . against it, . [footnote : before this date a divorce could only be obtained in england by act of parliament, after sentence in the ecclesiastical court, and (in the case of a husband's application) a verdict in _crim. con._ against the adulterer. the present english law was established by the bill of , the chief amendment made in committee being the provision exempting the clergy from the obligation to marry divorced persons. bishop wilberforce opposed the bill strenuously, while archbishop sumner and bishop tait of london supported it. sir richard bethell, the attorney-general, piloted the measure most skilfully through the commons, in the teeth of the eloquent and persistent opposition of mr gladstone, who, to quote a letter from lord palmerston to the queen, opposed the second reading "in a speech of two hours and a half, fluent, eloquent, brilliant, full of theological learning and scriptural research, but fallacious in argument, and with parts inconsistent with each other."] [pageheading: the french _entente_] [pageheading: the emperor's visit] _the earl of clarendon to the prince albert._ _ th may ._ sir,--i have the honour to inform your royal highness that i have had a very long and interesting conversation with m. de persigny to-day. he told me of the different _utopias_ which the emperor had in his head, of his majesty's conviction that england, france, and russia ought between them to _régler les affaires de l'europe_, of the _peu de cas_ which he made of austria or any other power, and of the various little complaints which his majesty thought he had against her majesty's government, and which had been magnified into importance by the malevolence or the stupidity of the persons who had more or less the ear of the emperor.[ ] m. de persigny told me also that in a conversation with the emperor at which he had taken care that count walewski should be present, he had solemnly warned the emperor of the danger he would incur if he swerved the least from the path of his true interest which was the english alliance, that all the sovereigns who were flattering and cajoling him for their own purposes looked down upon him as an adventurer, and no more believed in the stability of his throne, or the duration of his dynasty, than they did in any other events of which extreme improbability was the character; whereas the english, who never condescended to flatter or cajole anybody, but who looked to the interests of england, were attached to the french alliance and to the sovereign of france because peaceful relations with that country were of the utmost importance to england. france was the only country in europe that could do england harm, and on the other hand england was the only country that could injure france--the late war with russia had not the slightest effect upon france except costing her money, but a war with england would set every party in france into activity each with its own peculiar objects, but all of them against the existing order of things--_l'ordre social serait bouleversé_ and the empire might perish in the convulsion. the result of this and other conversations appears to be an earnest desire of the emperor to come to england on a private visit to the queen, if possible at osborne, and at any time that might be convenient to her majesty. m. de persigny describes him as being intent upon this project, and as attaching the utmost importance to it in order to _éclairer_ his own ideas, to guide his policy, and to prevent by personal communication with the queen, your royal highness, and her majesty's government the dissidences and _mésintelligences_ which the emperor thinks will arise from the want of such communications. i fear that such a visit would not be very agreeable to her majesty, but in the emperor's present frame of mind, and his evident alarm lest it should be thought that the alliance has been in any way _ébranlée_, i cannot entertain a doubt that much good might be done, or, at all events, that much mischief might be averted by the emperor being allowed to pay his respects to her majesty in the manner he proposes. i have discussed the matter after the cabinet this evening with lord palmerston, who takes entirely the same view of the matter as i have taken the liberty of expressing to your royal highness. i have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, sir, your royal highness's most faithful and devoted servant, clarendon. [footnote : a difference had arisen as to the future of the principalities--france, sardinia, and russia favouring their union, while england, austria, and turkey held that a single state, so formed, might become too russian in its sympathies.] _the prince albert to the earl of clarendon._ osborne, _ st may _. my dear lord clarendon,--i have shown your letter to the queen, who wishes me to say in answer to it that she will, of course, be ready to do what may appear best for the public interest. we shall, therefore, be ready to receive the emperor, with or without the empress, here at osborne in the quiet way which he proposes. the present moment would, however, hardly do, drawing-rooms and parties being announced in london, parliament sitting, and the season going on and the queen having only a few days from the grand duke's visit to her return to town. the latter half of july, the time at which the queen would naturally be here and the best yachting season, might appear to the emperor the most eligible, as being the least _forcé_. till then a cottage which is rebuilding will, we hope, be ready to accommodate some of the suite, whom we could otherwise not properly house. i have no doubt that good will arise from a renewed intercourse with the emperor; the only thing one may perhaps be afraid of is the possibility of his wishing to gain us over to his views with regard to a redistribution of europe, and may be disappointed at our not being able to assent to his plans and aspirations. albert.[ ] [footnote : see _post_, th august, , note .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. my dearest uncle,--the christening of little beatrice[ ] is just over--and was very brilliant and nice. we had the luncheon in the fine ball-room, which looked very handsome. the archduke maximilian (who is here since sunday evening) led me to the chapel, and at the luncheon i sat between him and fritz. i cannot say how much we like the archduke; he is charming, so clever, natural, kind and amiable, so _english_ in his feelings and likings, and so anxious for the best understanding between austria and england. with the exception of his mouth and chin, he is good-looking; and i think one does not the least care for that, as he is so very kind and clever and pleasant. i wish you really joy, dearest uncle, at having got _such_ a husband for dear charlotte, as i am sure he will make her happy, and is quite worthy of her. he may, and will do a great deal for italy.[ ]... i must conclude for to-day, hoping soon to hear from you again. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : princess beatrice (now princess henry of battenberg) was born on the th of april.] [footnote : the tragic end of a union which promised so brightly came in , when the archduke maximilian, having accepted the imperial crown of mexico, offered to him by the provisional government, was shot by order of president juarez. the empress charlotte had come to europe a year earlier to seek help for her husband from the french emperor. in consequence of the shock caused by the failure of her mission, her health entirely gave way.] [pageheading: the indian mutiny] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th june _. ... viscount palmerston is sorry to have received the accompanying account of the extension of the mutiny among the native troops in india, but he has no fear of its results.[ ] the bulk of the european force is stationed on the north-west frontier, and is, therefore, within comparatively easy reach of delhi, and about six thousand european troops will have returned to bombay from persia. it will, however, seem to be advisable to send off at once the force amounting to nearly eight thousand men, now under orders for embarkation for india; and when the despatches arrive, which will be about the middle of next week, it will be seen whether any further reinforcements will be required. the extent of the mutiny appears to indicate some deeper cause than that which was ascribed to the first insubordination. that cause may be, as some allege, the apprehension of the hindoo priests that their religion is in danger by the progress of civilisation in india, or it may be some hostile foreign agency. [footnote : alarming accounts of disturbances in india had been received for some weeks past, but lord palmerston failed to grasp the gravity of the situation. even after the intelligence reached england of the mutiny of the native regiments at meerut, on the th of may, and of the horrible massacres of women and children, the ministry did not fully realise the peril threatening our indian possessions.] [pageheading: the victoria cross] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ [_undated,_ ? _june ._] the queen thinks that the persons decorated with the victoria cross might very properly be allowed to bear some distinctive mark after their name.[ ] the warrant instituting the decoration does not style it "an order," but merely "a naval and military decoration" and a distinction; nor is it properly speaking an order, being not _constituted_. v.c. would not do. k.g. means a _knight_ of the garter, c.b. a _companion_ of the bath, m.p. a _member_ of parliament, m.d. a _doctor_ of medicine, etc., etc., in all cases designating a person. no one could be called a victoria cross. v.c. moreover means vice-chancellor at present. d.v.c. (decorated with the victoria cross) or b.v.c. (bearer of the victoria cross) might do. the queen thinks the last the best. [footnote : the victoria cross had just been instituted by royal warrant, and the queen had, with her own hand, decorated those who had won the distinction, in hyde park, on the th of june.] [pageheading: reinforcements for india] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen has to acknowledge the receipt of lord panmure's letter of yesterday. she had long been of opinion that reinforcements waiting to go to india ought not to be delayed. the moment is certainly a very critical one, and the additional reinforcements now proposed will be much wanted. the queen entirely agrees with lord panmure that it will be good policy to oblige the east india company to keep permanently a larger portion of the royal army in india than heretofore. the empire has nearly doubled itself within the last twenty years, and the queen's troops have been kept at the old establishment. they are the body on whom the maintenance of that empire depends, and the company ought not to sacrifice the highest interests to love of patronage. the queen hopes that the new reinforcements will be sent out in their brigade organisation, and not as detached regiments; good commanding officers knowing their troops will be of the highest importance next to the troops themselves. the queen must ask that the troops by whom we shall be diminished at home by the transfer of so many regiments to the company should be forthwith replaced by an increase of the establishment up to the number voted by parliament, and for which the estimates have been taken, else we denude ourselves altogether to a degree dangerous to our own safety at home, and incapable of meeting a sudden emergency, which, as the present example shows, may come upon us at any moment. if we had not reduced in such a hurry this spring, we should now have all the men wanted! the queen wishes lord panmure to communicate this letter to lord palmerston. the accounts in to-day's papers from india are most distressing. _queen victoria to lord panmure._ buckingham palace, _ rd july _. the queen has received lord panmure's letter of yesterday. she has sanctioned the going of four regiments to the east indies. with regard to the reduction of the garrison of malta to four regiments, she hopes the government will well consider whether this will not reduce this valuable and exposed spot to a state of insecurity. the queen is sorry to find lord panmure still objecting to a proper brigade system, without which no army in the world can be efficient. we want general officers, and cannot train them unless we employ them on military duty, not on clerks' duty in district or colony, but in the command of troops. the detachment of regiments is no reason for having no system, and the country will not pay for general officers whose employment is not part of a system; our army is then deprived of its efficiency by the refusal to adopt a system on the part of the government. [pageheading: delhi] [pageheading: grave anxiety] _viscount canning to queen victoria._ calcutta, _ th july _. lord canning presents his humble duty to your majesty, and although unable to give to your majesty the complete details of the capture of delhi, and of the defeat of the rebels in that city,[ ] as he has long desired to do, he can at least announce to your majesty that the city is in the possession of the british troops, under major-general sir henry barnard; and that nothing remains in the hands of the insurgents except the palace or fort, in which they have all taken refuge. this was the state of things on the th and th of june, the latest day of which any certain accounts have been received from delhi; but nothing was likely to interfere with the completion of the capture within forty-eight hours. this event has been long and anxiously awaited, and the time which has elapsed has cost england and india very dear. many precious lives have been lost, and much heartrending suffering has been endured, for which there can be no compensation. the reputation of england's power, too, has had a rude shake; and nothing but a long-continued manifestation of her might before the eyes of the whole indian empire, evinced by the presence of such an english force as shall make the thought of oppositon hopeless, will re-establish confidence in her strength. lord canning much fears that there are parts of india where, until this is done, a complete return to peace and order will not be effected. wherever the little band of english soldiers--little when compared with the stretch of country over which they have to operate--which lord canning has at his disposal has shown itself, the effect has been instantaneous. except at delhi, there has scarcely been an attempt at resistance to an european soldier, and the march of the smallest detachments has preserved order right and left of the roads. the same has been the case in large cities, such as benares, patna, and others; all going to prove that little more than the presence of english troops is needed to ensure peace. on the other hand, where such troops are known not to be within reach, anarchy and violence, when once let loose, continue unrestrained; and, until further additions are made to the english regiments in the disturbed districts, this state of things will not only continue, but extend itself. the fall of delhi will act to some degree as a check; but where rapine and outrage have raged uncontrolled, even for a few hours, it is to be feared that nothing but the actual presence of force will bring the country into order. lord canning rejoices to say that to-day the first regiment of your majesty's forces destined for china has entered the hooghly. lord canning did not scruple, knowing how much was at stake, earnestly to press lord elgin to allow those forces to be turned aside to india before proceeding to the support of your majesty's plenipotentiary in china;[ ] and to this, so far as regards the first two regiments, lord elgin readily assented. from what lord canning has ventured to state above, your majesty will easily understand the satisfaction with which each new arrival of an english transport in calcutta is regarded by him. as yet no military operations south of delhi have been undertaken. next week, however, a column composed of your majesty's th and th (highland) regiments will reach cawnpore[ ] and lucknow, in the neighbourhood of which it is probable that an opportunity will offer of striking a decisive blow at the band of rebels which, after that in delhi, is the strongest and most compact. but lord canning greatly doubts whether they will await the onset. unfortunately, they may run away from the english troops, and yet prove very formidable to any who are weaker than themselves--whether indians or unarmed europeans. your majesty is aware that in the critical condition of affairs which now exists, lord canning has felt himself compelled to adopt the measure of placing the king of oudh in confinement in fort william, in consequence of the use made of his name by those who have been busy tampering with the sepoys; and of the intrigues which there is good reason to believe that the minister of the king, who is also in the fort, has carried on in his master's name.[ ] the king has been, and will continue to be, treated with every mark of respect and indulgence which is compatible with his position, so long as it may be necessary that he should be retained in the fort. lord canning earnestly hopes that your majesty and the prince are in the enjoyment of good health, and prays your majesty to be graciously pleased to accept the expression of his sincere devotion and dutiful attachment. [footnote : after the outbreak at meerut in may, the fugitive sepoys fled to delhi, and endeavoured to capture the magazine, which, however, was exploded by british soldiers. delhi was not captured until september (see _post_, th september, ). on the th of july, the government received intelligence of the spread of the mutiny throughout bengal, and the resulting diminution of the indian army.] [footnote : for sir george grey's action at cape town, in reference to the troops destined for china, see his memoir, in the _dictionary of national biography_.] [footnote : on the th of june, two native regiments had mutinied at cawnpore, and the english residents, under general sir hugh wheeler, were besieged. after many deaths and much privation, the garrison were induced by the perfidy of nana sahib, who had caused the cawnpore rising, to surrender, on condition of their lives being spared. on the th of june, not suspecting their impending fate, the enfeebled garrison, or what was left of it, gave themselves up. the men were killed, the women and children being first enslaved and afterwards massacred. on the th of july, general havelock defeated nana sahib at cawnpore, the city was occupied by the english, and a sanguinary, but well-merited, retribution exacted.] [footnote : the ex-king had been living under the protection of the indian government. the arrest took place early in june at his residence at garden beach.] [pageheading: debate on indian affairs] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that mr disraeli this afternoon, in a speech of three hours, made his motion on the state of india. his motion was ostensibly for two papers, one of which does not exist, at least in the possession of the government, and the other of which ought not to be made public, as it relates to the arrangements for defending india against external attack. he represented the disturbances in india as a national revolt, and not as a mere military mutiny; and he enumerated various causes which in his opinion accounted, for and justified this general revolt. some of these causes were various measures of improved civilisation which from time to time during the last ten years the indian government had been urged by parliament to take. mr vernon smith followed, and in a very able speech answered in great detail mr disraeli's allegations. sir erskine perry,[ ] who evidently had furnished mr disraeli with much of his mistaken assertions, supported his views. mr campbell, member for weymouth, who had been many years in india, showed the fallacy of mr disraeli's arguments, and the groundlessness of many of his assertions. mr whiteside supported the motion. lord john russell, who had after mr disraeli's speech communicated with the government, expressed his disapprobation of mr disraeli's speech, and moved as an amendment an address to your majesty expressing the assurance of the support of the house for measures to suppress the present disturbances, and their co-operation with your majesty in measures for the permanent establishment of tranquillity and contentment in india.[ ] mr mangles, the chairman of the directors, replied at much length, and very conclusively to mr disraeli's speech. mr liddell, with much simplicity, asked the speaker to tell him how he should vote, but approved entirely of lord john russell's address. mr ayrton moved an adjournment of the debate, which was negatived by to . mr hadfield then shortly stated in his provincial dialect that "we can never keep our 'old upon hindia by the force of harms." mr disraeli then made an animated reply to the speeches against him, but in a manner almost too animated for the occasion. mr thomas baring set mr disraeli right, but in rather strong terms, about some proceedings of the committee on indian affairs in , with regard to which mr disraeli's memory had proved untrustworthy. viscount palmerston shortly made some observations on the motion and the speech which had introduced it; and the motion was then negatived without a division, and the address was unanimously carried. [footnote : chief justice of bombay - , and m.p. for devonport - .] [footnote : "one of those dry constitutional platitudes," said mr disraeli in reply, "which in a moment of difficulty the noble lord pulls out of the dusty pigeon-holes of his mind, and shakes in the perplexed face of the baffled house of commons." mr disraeli was admittedly much annoyed by the statesmanlike intervention of lord john.] [pageheading: marriage of princess charlotte] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th july _. my dearest uncle,--at _this_ very _moment_ the marriage[ ] is going on--the _knot_ is being tied which binds your lovely sweet child to a thoroughly worthy husband--and i am sure you will be much moved. may every blessing attend her! i wish _i_ could be present--but my dearest _half_ being there makes me feel as i were there myself. i try to picture to myself how _all_ will be. i could not give you a greater proof of my love for you all, and my anxiety to give you and dearest charlotte pleasure, than in urging my dearest albert to go over--for i encouraged and _urged_ him to go though you cannot think _combien cela me coûte_ or how completely _déroutée_ i am and _feel_ when he is away, or how i count the hours till he returns. _all_ the numerous children are as _nothing_ to me when _he is away_; it seems as if the whole life of the house and home were gone, when he is away! we do all we can to _fêter_ in our very _quiet_ way this dear day. we are all out of mourning; the younger children are to have a half-holiday, alice is to _dine_ for the first time in the evening with us; we shall drink _the archduke and archduchess's_ healths; and i have ordered _wine_ for our servants, and _grog_ for our sailors to do the same. vicky (who is painting in the alcove near me) wishes me to say everything to you and the _dear young couple_, and pray tell dear charlotte _all_ that we have been doing.... here we are in anxious (and i fear many people in very _cruel_) suspense, for news from india. they _ought_ to have arrived the day before yesterday. on thursday, then, we are to have prince napoleon, and on the following thursday the emperor and empress; and after them for _one_ night, the queen of holland,[ ] whose activity is astounding--and she sees everything and everybody and goes everywhere; she is certainly clever and amiable.... now, with our children's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pray offer my kind regards to _all_ your visitors, even to those whom i do _not_ know. i only hope my dearest husband will tell me _all_ about everything. vicky is constantly talking and thinking of charlotte. [footnote : of the princess charlotte to the archduke ferdinand maximilian at brussels.] [footnote : sophia frederica, born , daughter of king william i. of würtemberg.] [pageheading: the militia] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ nd august _. the queen has to thank lord palmerston for his letter of the th july. the embodying of the militia will be a most necessary measure, as well for the defence of our own country, and for keeping up on the continent of europe the knowledge that we are not in a defenceless state, as for the purpose of obtaining a sufficient number of volunteers for the army. the queen hopes, therefore, that the militia to be embodied will be on a proper and sufficient scale. she must say, that the last accounts from india show so formidable a state of things that the military measures hitherto taken by the home government, on whom the salvation of india must mainly depend, appear to the queen as by no means adequate to the emergency. we have nearly gone to the full extent of our available means, just as we did in the crimean war, and may be able to obtain successes; but we have not laid in a store of troops, nor formed reserves which could carry us over a long struggle, or meet unforeseen new calls. herein we are always most shortsighted, and have finally to suffer either in power and reputation, or to pay enormous sums for small advantages in the end--generally both. the queen hopes that the cabinet will look the question boldly in the face; nothing could be better than the resolutions passed in the house of commons, insuring to the government every possible support in the adoption of vigorous measures. it is generally the government, and not the house of commons, who hang back. the queen wishes lord palmerston to communicate this letter to his colleagues. [pageheading: the navy] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th august _. the defenceless state of our shores, now that the army has been reduced to eighteen effective battalions, and the evident inclinations of the continental powers, chiefly france and russia, to dictate to us with regard to the oriental question, makes the queen naturally turn her attention to the state of our naval preparations and force. to render it possible to salute the emperor[ ] when he comes here, the old _st vincent_ has been brought out of the harbour, but has been manned chiefly by the men of the _excellent_ gunnery ship; and we have been warned by the admiralty not to visit the _excellent_ in consequence. this does not show a very brilliant condition! but what is still more worthy of consideration is, that our new fleet, which had been completed at the end of the russian war, was _a steam_ fleet; when it was broken up at the peace the dockyard expenses were also cut down, and men discharged at the very moment when totally new and extensive arrangements became necessary to repair and keep in a state of efficiency the valuable steam machinery, and to house our gunboat flotilla on shore. to render any of these steamships fit for sea, now that they are dismantled, with our _small_ means as to basins and docks, must necessarily cost much time. the queen wishes accordingly to have a report sent to her as to the force of screw-ships of the line and of other classes which can be got ready at the different dockyards, and the time required to get them to sea for actual service; and also the time required to launch and get ready the gunboats. she does not wish for a mere general answer from the lords of the admiralty, but for detailed reports from the admirals commanding at the different ports, and particularly the captains in command of the steam reserve. she would only add that she wishes no unnecessary time to be lost in the preparation of these reports. she requests lord palmerston to have these, her wishes, carried out. [footnote : the emperor and empress of the french arrived at osborne on the th of august on a visit to the queen and prince, lasting for four days, during which time much discussion took place between the prince and emperor on affairs in eastern europe.] [pageheading: death of sir henry lawrence] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ nd august _. the queen is afraid from the telegram of this morning that affairs in india have not yet taken a favourable turn. delhi seems still to hold out, and the death of sir h. lawrence[ ] is a great loss. the queen must repeat to lord palmerston that the measures hitherto taken by the government are not commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis. we have given nearly all we have in reinforcements, and if new efforts should become necessary, by the joining of the madras and bombay armies in the revolt, for instance, it will take months to prepare reserves which ought now to be ready. ten battalions of militia to be called out is quite inadequate; forty, at least, ought to be the number, for these also exist only on paper. the augmentation of the cavalry and the guards has not yet been ordered. financial difficulties don't exist; the , men sent to india are taken over by the indian government, and their expense saved to us; and this appears hardly the moment to make savings on the army estimates. [footnote : on the previous day, the queen and prince had returned from a visit to cherbourg, and found very disquieting news from india. sir henry lawrence was the military administrator and chief commissioner of oudh; on the th of may, the st n.i. mutinied at lucknow, but sir henry drove them from their position and fortified the residency. some weeks later, on sallying out to reconnoitre, the english were driven back and besieged in the residency; sir henry dying from the effects of a wound caused by a shell.] [pageheading: recruiting] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ nd august _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... viscount palmerston has had the honour of receiving your majesty's communication of this morning. it is, no doubt, true that the telegraphic account received yesterday evening does not show, that at the dates mentioned from india, any improvement had taken place in the state of affairs, and the loss of sir henry lawrence and of general barnard,[ ] but especially of the former, is deeply to be lamented. with regard, however, to the measures now taking to raise a force to supply the place of the troops sent to india, and to enlist recruits to fill up vacancies in the regiments in india, viscount palmerston would beg to submit that the steps now taking seem to be well calculated for their purpose. the recruiting for the army has gone on more rapidly than could have been expected at this particular time of year, and in a fortnight or three weeks from this time will proceed still more rapidly; the ten thousand militia to be immediately embodied will be as much as could probably be got together at the present moment without much local inconvenience; but if that number should be found insufficient, it would be easy afterwards to embody more. but, if the recruiting should go on successfully, that number of militiamen in addition to the regulars may be found sufficient. viscount palmerston begs to assure your majesty that there is no wish to make savings on the amount voted for army services, but, on the other hand, it would be very inconvenient and embarrassing to exceed that amount without some urgent and adequate necessity.... [footnote : he died of cholera at delhi, on the th of july.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ nd august _. in answer to lord palmerston's observations on our military preparations, the queen must reply that, although lord palmerston disclaims, on the part of the government, the intention of making a saving on the army estimates out of the fearful exigencies caused by the indian revolt, the facts still remain. the government have sent fourteen battalions out of the country and transferred them to the east india company, and they mean to replace them only by ten new ones, whose organisation has been ordered; but even in these, they mean for the present to save four companies out of every twelve. the queen, the house of lords, the house of commons, and the press, all call out for vigorous exertion, and the government alone take an apologetic line, anxious to do as little as possible, to wait for further news, to reduce as low as possible even what they do grant, and reason as if we had at most _only_ to replace what was sent out; whilst if new demands should come upon us, the reserves which ought now to be decided upon and organised, are only then to be discussed. the queen can the less reconcile herself to the system, of "letting out a little sail at a time," as lord palmerston called it the other day, as she feels convinced that, if vigour and determination to get what will be eventually wanted is shown by the cabinet, it will pervade the whole government machinery and attain its object; but that if, on the other hand, people don't see what the government really require, and find them satisfied with a little at a time, even that little will not be got, as the subordinates naturally take the tone from their superiors. ten militia regiments would not even represent the , men whom parliament has voted the supplies for. a battalion will probably not reach for a time, and from these we hope to draw volunteers again! the queen hopes the cabinet will yet look the whole question in the face, and decide while there is time what they must know will become necessary, and what must in the hurry at the end be done less well and at, probably, double the cost. the queen can speak by very recent experience, having seen exactly the same course followed in the late war. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ rd august _. the queen approves of lord fife[ ] and lord r. grosvenor being made peers, and of an offer being made to mr macaulay, although she believes he will decline the honour.... [footnote : james, fifth viscount macduff and earl of fife in the peerage of ireland, was, on the st of october, created a baron of the united kingdom; he was the father of the present duke of fife. lord robert grosvenor became lord ebury, and mr macaulay lord macaulay of rothley temple (his birthplace), in the county of leicester.] [pageheading: the army reserves] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th august _. the queen has received lord palmerston's letter of yesterday, and must say that she is deeply grieved at her want of success in impressing upon him the importance of meeting the present dangers by agreeing on, and maturing a general plan by which to replace _in kind_ the troops sent out of the country, and for which the money _has_ been voted by parliament.[ ] to the formation of the full number of battalions, and their full strength in companies, lord palmerston objects that the men will not be found to fill them, and therefore it is left undone; to the calling-out of more militia, he objects that they ought not to be used as recruiting depôts, and if many were called out the speed with which the recruiting for the army went on, would oblige them to be disbanded again. the war office pride themselves upon having got , men since the recruiting began; this is equal to , a month or , a year, the ordinary wear and tear of the army!! where will the reserves for india be to be found? it does not suffice merely to get _recruits_, as lord palmerston says; they will not become _soldiers_ for six months when got, and in the meantime a sufficient number of militia regiments ought to be drilled, and made efficient to relieve the line regiments already sent, or yet to be sent, for these also are at present necessarily good for nothing. the queen must say that the government incur a fearful responsibility towards their country by their apparent indifference. god grant that no unforeseen european complication fall upon this country--but we are really tempting providence. the queen hopes lord palmerston has communicated to the cabinet her views on the subject. [footnote : after referring to the necessity for supplying by fresh drafts the gaps created in the regiments in india, lord palmerston had written:-- "if the militia officers were to find that they were considered merely as drill sergeants for the line, they would grow careless and indifferent, and many whom it is desirable to keep in the service would leave it. "with regard to the number of militiamen to be embodied, the question seems to be, what is the number which will be wanted for the whole period to the st of march, because it would be undesirable to call out and embody now militia regiments which would become unnecessary during the winter by the progress of recruiting, and which, from there being no funds applicable to their maintenance, it would become necessary to disembody. the men would be now taken from industrial employment at a time when labour is wanted, and would be turned adrift in the winter when there is less demand for labour. "with respect to recruiting for the army, every practicable means has been adopted to hasten its success. recruiting parties have been scattered over the whole of the united kingdom, and the permanent staff of the disembodied militia have been furnished with beating warrants enabling them to enlist recruits for the line; and the recruiting has been hitherto very successful. the only thing to be done is to raise men as fast as possible, and to post them as they are raised to the regiments and battalions for which they engage. the standard, moreover, has been lowered...."] [pageheading: lord lansdowne] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ st august _. ... viscount palmerston would beg to submit for your majesty's consideration whether he might be authorised by your majesty to offer to lord lansdowne promotion to the title of duke. your majesty may possibly not have in the course of your majesty's reign, long as it is to be hoped that reign will be, any subject whose private and public character will during so long a course of years as those which have been the period of lord lansdowne's career, have more entitled him to the esteem and respect of his fellow-countrymen, and to the approbation of his sovereign. lord lansdowne has now for several years given your majesty's government the great and valuable support of his advice in council, his assistance in debate, and the weight of his character in the country, without any office. his health and strength, viscount palmerston cannot disguise from himself, have not been this year such as they had been; and if your majesty should contemplate marking at any time your majesty's sense of lord lansdowne's public services, there could not be a better moment for doing so than the present; and viscount palmerston has reason to believe that such an act of grace would be very gratifying to the liberal party, and would be deemed well bestowed even by those who are of opposite politics.[ ] mr macaulay accepts the peerage with much gratitude to your majesty. [footnote : lord lansdowne declined the honour.] [pageheading: the indian mutiny] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral castle, _ nd september _. dearest uncle,--... we are in sad anxiety about india, which engrosses all our attention.[ ] troops cannot be raised fast or largely enough. and the horrors committed on the poor ladies--women and children--are unknown in these ages, and make one's blood run cold. altogether, the whole is so much more distressing than the crimea--where there was _glory_ and honourable warfare, and where the poor women and children were safe. then the distance and the difficulty of communication is such an additional suffering to us all. i know you will feel much for us all. there is not a family hardly who is not in sorrow and anxiety about their children, and in all ranks--india being _the_ place where every one was anxious to place a son! we hear from _our_ people (not fritz) from berlin, that the king is in a very unsatisfactory state. _what_ have you heard?... now, with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : at balmoral the queen learned in greater detail of the atrocities which had been committed upon the garrison at cawnpore.] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ brocket, _ th september _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty and begs to submit that an impression is beginning to prevail that it would be a proper thing that a day should be set apart for national prayer and humiliation with reference to the present calamitous state of affairs in india, upon the same principle on which a similar step was taken during the crimean war; and if your majesty should approve, viscount palmerston would communicate on the subject with the archbishop of canterbury.... it is usual on such occasions that the archbishop of canterbury should attend,[ ] but in consideration of the distance his attendance might well be dispensed with on the present occasion. [footnote : _i.e._ at the meeting of the council which was to be summoned.] [pageheading: a day of intercession] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ balmoral, _ th september _. lord palmerston knows what the queen's feelings are with regard to fast-days, which she thinks do not produce the desired effect--from the manner in which they are appointed, and the selections made for the service--but she will not oppose the natural feeling which any one must partake in, of a desire to pray for our fellow-countrymen and women who are exposed to such imminent danger, and therefore sanctions his consulting the archbishop on the subject. she would, however, suggest its being more appropriately called a day of prayer and intercession for our suffering countrymen, than of fast and humiliation, and of its being on a _sunday_, and not on a week-day: on the last fast-day, the queen heard it generally remarked, that it produced more harm than good, and that, if it were on a sunday, it would be much more generally observed. however, she will sanction whatever is proper, but thinks it ought to be as soon as possible[ ] (in a fortnight or three weeks) if it is to be done at all. she will hold a council whenever it is wished.[ ] [footnote : it was kept on the th of october (a wednesday).] [footnote : shortly after the date of this letter came the intelligence from india that delhi had not fallen, and that the lucknow garrison was not yet relieved. this news, coupled with the tidings of fresh outbreaks, and the details of the horrors of cawnpore, generated deep feelings of resentment in the country.] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral castle, _ rd september _. the queen hopes that the arrival of troops and ships with lord elgin will be of material assistance, but still it does not alter the state of affairs described by the queen in her letter, which she wrote to lord palmerston, and which she is glad to see lord clarendon agrees in. though we might have perhaps wished the maharajah[ ] to express his feelings on the subject of the late atrocities in india, it was hardly to be expected that he (naturally of a negative, though gentle and very amiable disposition) should pronounce an opinion on so painful a subject, attached as he is to his country, and naturally _still_ possessing, with all his amiability and goodness, an _eastern nature_; he can also hardly, a deposed indian sovereign, _not very_ fond of the british rule as represented by the east india company, and, above all, impatient of sir john login's[ ] tutorship, be expected to _like_ to hear his country-people called _fiends_ and _monsters_, and to see them brought in hundreds, if not thousands, to be executed. his best course is to say nothing, she must think. it is a great mercy he, poor boy, is not there. [footnote : lord clarendon had written that he was "sorry to learn that the maharajah (dhuleep singh) had shown little or no regret for the atrocities which have been committed, or sympathy with the sufferers."] [footnote : sir john spencer login, formerly surgeon at the british residency, lucknow, guardian of the maharajah dhuleep singh, - .] [pageheading: letter from lord canning] [pageheading: sir colin campbell] [pageheading: india] [pageheading: the policy of clemency] _viscount canning to queen victoria._ calcutta, _ th september _. lord canning presents his humble duty to your majesty, and asks leave again to address your majesty, although the desire which he has felt that his next letter should announce to your majesty the fall of delhi, and the first steps towards a restoration of your majesty's authority throughout the revolted districts, cannot as yet be accomplished. but although it is not in lord canning's power to report any very marked success over the rebels, he can confidently assure your majesty that a change in the aspect of affairs is gradually taking place, which gives hope that the contest is drawing to a close, and the day of punishment at hand.... another ground for good hopes is the appearance of things at lucknow. news just received from sir james outram announces that he has joined general havelock's force at cawnpore, and that the troops crossed the ganges into oudh on the th, with hardly any opposition. the european force now advancing on lucknow is about [....][ ] strong, well provided with artillery. the beleaguered garrison was in good spirits on the th of september, and had provisions enough to last to the end of the month. they had lately inflicted severe losses on their assailants, and some of the latter had dispersed. the influential proprietors and chiefs of the country had begun to show symptoms of siding with us. this is a very different state of things from that which existed when general havelock's force retired across the ganges in july; and lord canning prays and believes that your majesty will be spared the pain and horror of hearing that the atrocities of cawnpore have been re-enacted upon the brave and enduring garrison of lucknow. every english soldier who could be made to reach cawnpore has been pushed on to general outram, even to the denuding of some points of danger in the intervening country, and general outram's instructions are to consider the rescue of the garrison as the one paramount object to which everything else is to give way. the garrison (which, after all, is nothing more than the house of the resident, with defences hastily thrown up) contains about three hundred and fifty european men, four hundred and fifty women and children, and one hundred and twenty sick, besides three hundred natives, hitherto faithful. the city, and even the province, may be abandoned and recovered again, but these lives must be saved now or never; and to escape the sorrow and humiliation of such barbarities as have already been endured elsewhere is worth any sacrifice. it is in consideration of the state of things at these two most critical points, delhi and lucknow, that lord canning ventures to ask your majesty to look hopefully to the events of the next few weeks; notwithstanding that he is unable to announce any signal success.... sir colin campbell has been in a state of delight ever since his favourite rd landed five days ago.[ ] he went to see them on board their transport before they disembarked, and when lord canning asked how he found them, replied that the only thing amiss was that they had become too fat on the voyage, and could not button their coats. but, indeed, all the troops of the china force have been landed in the highest possible condition of health and vigour. the rd, from its large proportion of young soldiers, is perhaps the one most likely to suffer from the climate and the hardships of the service--for, although no care or cost will be spared to keep them in health and comfort, lord canning fears that hardships there must be, seeing how vast an extent of usually productive country will be barren for a time, and that the districts from which some of our most valuable supplies, especially the supply of carriage animals, are drawn, have been stripped bare, or are still in revolt. as it is, the commander-in-chief has most wisely reduced the amount of tent accommodation for officers and men far below the ordinary luxurious indian allowance. the presence of the ships of the royal navy has been of the greatest service. at least eleven thousand seamen and marines have been contributed by them for duty on shore, and the broadsides of the _sanspareil_, _shannon_, and _pearl_, as they lie along the esplanade, have had a very reassuring effect upon the inhabitants of calcutta, who, until lately, have insisted pertinaciously that their lives and property were in hourly danger.[ ] no line-of-battle ship has been seen in the hooghly since admiral watson sailed up to chandernagore just a hundred years ago;[ ] and certainly nothing in his fleet was equal to the _sanspareil_. the natives stare at her, and call her "the four-storied boat." for the future, if delhi should fall and lucknow be secured, the work of pacification will go forward steadily. many points will have to be watched, and there may be occasional resistance; but nothing like an organised contest against authority is probable. the greatest difficulties will be in the civil work of re-settlement. the recent death of mr colvin,[ ] the lieutenant-governor of the north-western provinces, has removed an officer whose experience would there have been most valuable. he has died, fairly exhausted; and is the fourth officer of high trust whose life has given way in the last four months. one of the greatest difficulties which lie ahead--and lord canning grieves to say so to your majesty--will be the violent rancour of a very large proportion of the english community against every native indian of every class. there is a rabid and indiscriminate vindictiveness abroad, even amongst many who ought to set a better example, which it is impossible to contemplate without something like a feeling of shame for one's fellow-countrymen. not one man in ten seems to think that the hanging and shooting of forty or fifty thousand mutineers, besides other rebels, can be otherwise than practicable and right; nor does it occur to those who talk and write most upon the matter that for the sovereign of england to hold and govern india without employing, and, to a great degree, trusting natives, both in civil and military service, is simply impossible. it is no exaggeration to say that a vast number of the european community would hear with pleasure and approval that every hindoo and mohammedan had been proscribed, and that none would be admitted to serve the government except in a menial office. that which they desire is to see a broad line of separation, and of declared distrust drawn between us englishmen and every subject of your majesty who is not a christian, and who has a dark skin; and there are some who entirely refuse to believe in the fidelity or goodwill of any native towards any european; although many instances of the kindness and generosity of both hindoos and mohammedans have come upon record during these troubles. to those whose hearts have been torn by the foul barbarities inflicted upon those dear to them any degree of bitterness against the natives may be excused. no man will dare to judge them for it. but the cry is raised loudest by those who have been sitting quietly in their homes from the beginning and have suffered little from the convulsions around them unless it be in pocket. it is to be feared that this feeling of exasperation will be a great impediment in the way of restoring tranquillity and good order, even after signal retribution shall have been deliberately measured out to all chief offenders.[ ] lord canning is ashamed of having trespassed upon your majesty's indulgence at such length. he will only add that he has taken the liberty of sending to your majesty by this mail a map which has just been finished, showing the distribution of the army throughout india at the time of the outbreak of the mutiny. it also shows the regiments of the bengal army which have mutinied, and those which have been disarmed, the number of european troops arrived in calcutta up to the th of september, and whence they came; with some few other points of information. there may be some slight inaccuracies, as the first copies of the map have only just been struck off, and have not been corrected; but lord canning believes that it will be interesting to your majesty at the present moment. lord canning begs to be allowed to express his earnest wishes for the health of your majesty, and of his royal highness prince albert, and to offer to your majesty the humble assurance of his sincere and dutiful devotion. [footnote : word omitted in the original.] [footnote : at the battle of the alma, sir colin campbell, in command of the nd or highland brigade of the st division, had, with his highlanders in line, routed the last compact column of the russians. on the th of july , he was appointed commander-in-chief in india, and started literally at one day's notice, reaching calcutta on the th of august.] [footnote : the services of the naval brigade, at the relief of lucknow, were warmly recognised by sir colin campbell, and especially the gallantry of captain peel of the _shannon_.] [footnote : in retribution for the atrocity of the black hole of calcutta, watson, under instructions from clive, reduced chandernagore on the rd of march ; the battle of plassey was fought on the rd of june.] [footnote : john russell colvin, formerly private secretary to lord auckland, had been lieutenant-governor since .] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen is much surprised at lord clarendon's observing that "from what he hears the maharajah was either from nature or early education cruel."[ ] he must have changed very suddenly if this be true, for if there was a thing for which he was remarkable, it was his extreme gentleness and kindness of disposition. we have known him for three years (our two boys intimately), and he always shuddered at hurting anything, and was peculiarly gentle and kind towards children and animals, and if anything rather timid; so that all who knew him said he never could have had a chance in his own country. his valet, who is a very respectable englishman, and has been with him ever since his twelfth year, says that he never knew a kinder or more amiable disposition. the queen fears that people who do not know him well have been led away by their present very natural feelings of hatred and distrust of all indians to slander him. what he might turn out, if left in the hands of unscrupulous indians in his own country, of course no one can foresee. [footnote : see _ante_, rd september, , note .] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th october _. the queen has received yesterday evening the box with the dockyard returns. it will take her some time to peruse and study them; she wishes, however, to remark upon two points, and to have them pointed out also to sir charles wood,[ ] viz. first, that they are dated some as early as the th august, and none later than the th september, and that she received them, only on the _ th october_; and then that there is not one original return amongst them, but they are all copies! when the queen asks for returns, to which she attaches great importance, she expects at least to see them in original. [footnote : first lord of the admiralty.] [pageheading: marriage of the princess royal] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th october _. the queen returns these letters. it would be well if lord clarendon would tell lord bloomfield not to _entertain_ the _possibility_ of such a question as the princess royal's marriage taking place at berlin.[ ] the queen _never_ could consent to it, both for public and private reasons, and the assumption of its being _too much_ for a prince royal of prussia to _come_ over to marry _the princess royal of great britain_ in england is too _absurd_, to say the least. the queen must say that there never was even the _shadow_ of a _doubt_ on _prince frederick william's_ part as to _where_ the marriage should take place, and she suspects this to be the mere gossip of the berliners. whatever may be the usual practice of prussian princes, it is not _every_ day that one marries the eldest daughter of the queen of england. the question therefore must be considered as settled and closed.... [footnote : the marriage took place at the chapel royal, st james's.] [pageheading: death of the duchess de nemours] _queen victoria to the earl of clarendon._ windsor castle, _ th november _. the queen thanks lord clarendon much for his kind and sympathising letter, and is much gratified at count persigny's kind note. he _is_ a good, honest, warm-hearted man, for whom we have sincere esteem. the news from india was a great relief and a _ray_ of sunshine in our great affliction.[ ] the queen had the happiness of informing poor sir george couper of the relief of lucknow, in which for four months his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren were shut up. the loss of two such distinguished officers as generals nicholson and neill, and alas! of many inferior ones, is, however, very sad. we visited the house of mourning yesterday, and _no words can_ describe the scene of woe.[ ] there was the venerable queen with the motherless children, admirable in her deep grief, and her pious resignation to the will of god! yet even now the support, the comfort of all, thinking but of others and ready to devote her last remaining strength and her declining years to her children and grandchildren. there was the broken-hearted, almost distracted widower--_her son_--and lastly, there was in one room the lifeless, but oh! even in its ghostliness, most beautiful form of his young, lovely, and angelic wife, lying in her bed with her splendid hair covering her shoulders, and a heavenly expression of peace; and in the next room, the dear little pink infant sleeping in its cradle. the queen leaves to lord clarendon's kind heart to imagine what this spectacle of woe must be, and how _deeply_ afflicted and impressed _we must be_--who have only so lately had a child born to us and have been so fortunate! the prince has been _completely_ upset by this; and she was besides like a dear sister to us. god's will be done! but it seems _too_ dreadful almost to believe it--too hard to bear. the dear duchess's death must have been caused by some affection of the heart, for she was perfectly well, having her hair combed, suddenly exclaimed to the nurse, "oh! mon dieu, madame"--her head fell on one side--and before the duke could run upstairs her hand was cold! the queen had visited her on saturday--looking well--and _yesterday_ saw her lifeless form in the very same spot! if lord clarendon could give a slight hint to the _times_ to say a few words of sympathy on the awful and unparalleled misfortune of these poor exiles, she is sure it would be very soothing to their bleeding hearts.... the sad event at claremont took place just five days later than the death of poor princess charlotte under very similar circumstances forty years ago; and the poor duchess was the niece of princess charlotte's husband. [footnote : havelock, in consequence of the strength of the rebels in oudh, had been unable to march to the assistance of lucknow immediately after the relief of cawnpore. he joined hands with outram on the th of september, and reinforced the lucknow garrison on the th.] [footnote : in a pathetic letter, just received, the duc de nemours (second son of louis philippe) had announced the death of his wife, queen victoria's beloved cousin and friend. she was only thirty-five years of age, and had been married at eighteen. she had seemed to make a good recovery after the birth of a child on the th of october, but died quite suddenly on the th of november, while at her toilette.] [pageheading: crisis in the city] [pageheading: suspension of bank charter act] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the condition of financial affairs became worse to-day than it was yesterday.[ ] the governor of the bank represented that almost all private firms have ceased to discount bills, and that the reserve fund of the bank of england, out of which discounts are made and liabilities satisfied, had been reduced last night to £ , , , and that if that fund should become exhausted the bank would have to suspend its operations. under these circumstances it appeared to viscount palmerston, and to the chancellor of the exchequer, that a case had arisen for doing the same thing which was done under somewhat similar circumstances in --that is to say, that a letter should be written by the first lord of the treasury and the chancellor of the exchequer to the governor of the bank of england, saying that if under the pressure of the emergency the bank should deem it necessary to issue more notes than the amount to which they are at present confined by law, the government would apply to parliament to grant them an indemnity. this measure, in , had the effect of stopping the then existing panic, and the necessity for making such an issue did not arise; on the present occasion this announcement will, no doubt, have a salutary effect in allaying the present panic, but as the bank had to discount to-day bills to the amount of £ , , , which they could not have done out of a fund of £ , , , unless deposits and payments in, to a considerable amount, had been made, the probability is that the issue thus authorised will actually be made. the governor and deputy-governor of the bank represented that the communication, in order to be effectual and to save from ruin firms which were in imminent danger, ought to be made forthwith, so that they might be enabled to announce it on the stock exchange before the closing of business at four o'clock. viscount palmerston and sir george lewis therefore signed at once, and gave to the governor of the bank the letter of which the accompanying paper is a copy, the pressure of the matter not allowing time to take your majesty's pleasure beforehand. the state of things now is more urgent than that which existed in , when the similar step was taken; at that time the reserve fund was about £ , , , last night it was only £ , , ; at that time the bullion in the bank was above £ , , , it is now somewhat less than £ , , ; at that time things were mending, they are now getting worse. but however necessary this measure has been considered, and however useful it may be expected to be, it inevitably entails one very inconvenient consequence. the government have authorised the bank to break the law, and whether the law shall actually be broken or not, it would be highly unconstitutional for the government not to take the earliest opportunity of submitting the matter to the knowledge of parliament. this course was pursued in . the letter from lord john russell and sir charles wood to the governor of the bank was dated on the th october, parliament then stood prorogued in the usual way to the th november, but a council was held on the st october, at which your majesty summoned parliament to meet for the despatch of business on the th november; and on that day the session was opened in the usual way by a speech from the throne. it would be impossible under present circumstances to put off till the beginning of february a communication to parliament of the step taken to-day. viscount palmerston therefore would beg to submit for your majesty's approval that a council might be held at windsor on monday next, and that parliament might then be summoned to meet in fourteen days. this would bring parliament together in the first days of december, and after sitting ten days, or a fortnight, if necessary, it might be adjourned till the first week in february.[ ] viscount palmerston submits an explanatory memorandum which he has just received for your majesty's information from the chancellor of the exchequer.... [footnote : the financial crisis had originated in numerous stoppages of banks in the united states, where premature schemes of railway extension had involved countless investors in ruin; in consequence, the pressure on firms and financial houses became even more acute than in ; see _ante_, vol. ii., th october, . the bank rate now rose to per cent. as against per cent. in that year, and the bank reserve of bullion was alarmingly depleted.] [footnote : parliament accordingly met on the rd of december, and the session was opened by the queen in person. the act of indemnity was passed without serious opposition, and a select committee re-appointed to enquire into the operation of the bank charter act.] [pageheading: army establishment] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ osborne, _ th december _. the queen has had some correspondence with lord panmure upon the establishment of the army for the next financial year.[ ] she wishes now to lay down the principle which she thinks ought to guide our decision, and asks lord palmerston to consider it with his colleagues in cabinet. last year we reduced our army suddenly to a low peace establishment to meet the demand for reduction of taxation raised in the house of commons. with this peace establishment we had to meet the extraordinary demands of india, we have sent almost every available regiment, battalion, and battery, and are forced to contemplate the certainty of a large increase of our force in india as a permanent necessity. what the queen requires is, that a well-considered and digested estimate should be made of the additional regiments, etc., etc., so required, and that after deducting this number from our establishment of - , that for the next year should be brought up again to the same condition as if the indian demand, which is foreign to our ordinary consideration, had not arisen. if this be done it will still leave us militarily weaker than we were at the beginning of the year, for the larger english army maintained in india will require proportionally more reliefs and larger depôts. as the indian finances pay for the troops employed in india, the force at home and in the colonies will, when raised to its old strength, not cost a shilling more than the peace establishment of settled under a pressure of financial reduction. anything less than this will not leave this country in a safe condition. the queen does not ask only for the same number of men as in - , but particularly for regiments of cavalry, battalions of infantry and batteries of artillery, which alone would enable us in case of a war to effect the increase to a war establishment. the queen encloses her answer to lord panmure's last letter. [footnote : on the th of december, the queen had pressed the immediate formation of two new cavalry regiments.] [pageheading: government of india] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th december _. the queen only now returns to lord palmerston the memorandum containing the heads of an arrangement for the future government of india, which the committee of cabinet have agreed to recommend. she will have an opportunity of seeing lord palmerston before the cabinet meet again, and to hear a little more in detail the reasons which influenced the committee in their several decisions. she wishes only to recommend two points to lord palmerston's consideration: st, the mode of communication between the queen and the new government which it is intended to establish. as long as the government was that of the company, the sovereign was generally left quite ignorant of decisions and despatches; now that the government is to be that of the sovereign, and the direction will, she presumes, be given in her name, a direct official responsibility to her will have to be established. she doubts whether any one but a secretary of state could speak in the queen's name, like the foreign secretary to foreign courts, the colonial secretary to the governors of the colonies, and the home secretary to the lord-lieutenant of ireland and the lieutenants of the counties of great britain, the judges, convocations, mayors, etc., etc. on the other hand, would the position of a secretary of state be compatible with his being president of a council? the treasury and admiralty act as "my lords," but they only administer special departments, and do not direct the policy of a country in the queen's name. the mixture of supreme direction, and also of the conduct of the administration of the department to be directed, has in practice been found as inconvenient in the war department as it is wrong in principle. the other point is the importance of having only _one_ army, whether native, local, or general, with one discipline and one command, that of the commander-in-chief. this is quite compatible with first appointments to the native army, being vested as a point of patronage in the members of the council, but it ought to be distinctly recognised in order to do away with those miserable jealousies between the different military services, which have done more harm to us in india than, perhaps, any other circumstance. perhaps lord palmerston would circulate this letter amongst the members of the committee who agreed upon the proposed scheme? [pageheading: death of havelock] _viscount canning to queen victoria._ government house, calcutta, _ th december _. lord canning presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs permission to express to your majesty at the earliest opportunity the respectful gratitude with which he has received your majesty's most gracious letter of the th of november. however certain lord canning might have been as to the sentiments with which your majesty would view the spirit of bitter and unreasoning vengeance against your majesty's indian subjects with which too many minds are imbued in england as well as in this country, it has been an indescribable pleasure to him to read what your majesty has condescended to write to him upon this painful topic. your majesty's gracious kindness in the reference made by your majesty to what is said by the newspapers is also deeply felt by lord canning. he can truly and conscientiously assure your majesty of his indifference to all such attacks--an indifference so complete indeed as to surprise himself. lord canning fears that the satisfaction which your majesty will have experienced very shortly after the date of your majesty's letter, upon receiving the news of sir henry havelock's entry into lucknow, will have been painfully checked by the long and apparently blank interval which followed, and during which your majesty's anxieties for the ultimate safety of the garrison, largely increased by many precious lives, must have become more intense than ever. happily, this suspense is over; and the real rescue effected by a glorious combination of skill and intrepidity on the part of sir colin campbell and his troops must have been truly gratifying to your majesty.[ ] the defence of lucknow and the relief of the defenders are two exploits which, each in their kind, will stand out brightly in the history of these terrible times. ... lord canning has not failed to transmit your majesty's gracious message to sir colin campbell, and has taken the liberty to add your majesty's words respecting his favourite rd, which will not be less grateful to the brave old soldier than the expression of your majesty's consideration for himself. your majesty has lost two most valuable officers in sir henry havelock and brigadier-general neill. they were very different, however. the first was quite of the old school--severe and precise with his men, and very cautious in his movements and plans--but in action bold as well as skilful. the second very open and impetuous, but full of resources; and to his soldiers as kind and thoughtful of their comfort as if they had been his children. with earnest wishes for the health and happiness of your majesty and the prince, lord canning begs permission to lay at your majesty's feet the assurance of his most dutiful and devoted attachment. [footnote : sir colin campbell had relieved lucknow on the th of november, but sir henry havelock (as he had now become) died from illness and exhaustion. general neill had been killed on the occasion of the reinforcement in september, _ante_, th november, .] [pageheading: army organisation] _queen victoria to lord panmure._ windsor castle, _ th december _. the queen has received lord panmure's letter and memorandum of the th. she must say that she still adheres to her views as formerly expressed. lord panmure admits that the two plans don't differ materially in expense. it becomes, then, a mere question of organisation and of policy. as to the first, all military authorities of all countries and times agree upon the point that numerous _cadres_ with fewer men give the readiest means of increasing an army on short notice, the main point to be attended to in a constitutional and democratic country like england. as to the second, a system of organisation will always be easier defended than mere numbers arbitrarily fixed, and parliament ought to have the possibility of voting more or voting fewer men, according to their views of the exigencies of the country, or the pressure of finance at different times, and to be able to do so without deranging the organisation. the queen hopes lord panmure will look at our position, as if the indian demands had not arisen, and he will find that to come to parliament with the cavalry borne on the estimates reduced by three regiments (as will be the case even after two shall have returned from india, and the two new ones shall have been formed), will certainly not prove _too little_ anxiety on the part of the government to cut down our military establishments. introductory note to chapter xxvii on the th of january of the new year ( ) prince frederick william of prussia (afterwards the emperor frederick) was married, with brilliant ceremonial, to the princess royal, at the chapel royal, st james's, an event marked by general national rejoicings; another event in the private life of the queen, but one of a melancholy character, was the death of the duchess of orleans at the age of forty-four. a determined attempt was made by orsini, pierri, and others, members of the carbonari society, to assassinate the emperor and empress of the french by throwing grenades filled with detonating powder under their carriage. the emperor was only slightly hurt, but several bystanders were killed, and very many more wounded. the plot had been conceived, and the grenades manufactured in england, and a violently hostile feeling was engendered in france against this country, owing to the prescriptive right of asylum enjoyed by foreign refugees. the french _militaires_ were particularly vehement in their language, and lord palmerston so far bowed to the demands of the french foreign minister as to introduce a bill to make the offence of conspiracy to murder, a felony instead of, as it had previously been, a misdemeanour. the conservative party supported the introduction of the bill, but, on the second reading, joined with eighty-four liberals and four peelites in supporting an amendment by mr milner gibson, postponing the reform of the criminal law till the peremptory demands of count walewski had been formally answered. the ministry was defeated and resigned, and lord derby and mr disraeli returned to office. orsini and pierri were executed in paris, but the state trial in london of a dr bernard, a resident of bayswater, for complicity, ended, mainly owing to the menacing attitude of france over the whole question, in an acquittal. the italian nationality of the chief conspirators endangered, but only temporarily, the important _entente_ between france and sardinia. before the resignation of the ministry, the thanks of both houses of parliament were voted to the civil and military officers of india for their exertions in suppressing the mutiny; the opposition endeavoured to obtain the omission of the name of lord canning from the address, till his conduct of affairs had been discussed. the difficulties in india were not at an end, for sir colin campbell had been unable to hold lucknow, and had transferred the rescued garrison to cawnpore, which he re-occupied. it was not till the end of march that lucknow was captured by the commander-in-chief, who was raised to the peerage as lord clyde, after the taking of jhansi and of gwalior in central india, by sir hugh rose, had virtually terminated the revolt. in anticipation of the capture of lucknow, the governor-general had prepared a proclamation for promulgation in oudh, announcing that, except in the case of certain loyal rajahs, proprietary rights in the soil of the province would be confiscated. one copy of the draft was sent home, and another shown to sir james outram, chief commissioner of oudh, and, in consequence of the latter's protest against its severity, as making confiscation the rule and not the exception, an exemption was inserted in favour of such landowners as should actively co-operate in restoring order. on receiving the draft in its unaltered form, lord ellenborough, the new president of the board of control, forwarded a despatch to lord canning, strongly condemning his action, and, on the publication of this despatch, the ministry narrowly escaped parliamentary censure. lord ellenborough himself resigned, and was succeeded by lord stanley. attempts had been made by both lord palmerston and lord derby to pass measures for the better government of india. after two bills had been introduced and withdrawn, the procedure by resolution was resorted to, and a measure was ultimately passed transferring the government of india to the crown. the china war terminated on the th of june, by the treaty of tien-tsin, which renewed the treaty of , and further opened up china to british commerce. a dispute with japan led to a treaty signed at yeddo by lord elgin and the representatives of the tycoon, enlarging british diplomatic and trade privileges in that country. the budget of mr disraeli imposed for the first time a penny stamp on bankers' cheques; a compromise was arrived at on the oaths question, the words "on the true faith of a christian" having hitherto prevented jews from sitting in parliament. they were now enabled to take the oath with the omission of these words, and baron rothschild took his seat for the city of london accordingly. among the other events of importance in the year were the satisfactory termination of a dispute with the neapolitan government arising out of the seizure of the _cagliari_; a modified union, under a central commission, of moldavia and wallachia; the despatch of mr gladstone by the conservative government as high commissioner to the ionian islands; and the selection of ottawa, formerly known as bytown, for the capital of the dominion of canada. chapter xxvii _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january _. my dearest uncle,--accept my warmest thanks for your kind and affectionate letter of the th. i hope and trust to hear that your cold has left you, and that on monday i shall have the immense happiness of embracing you. it is a time of immense bustle and agitation; i _feel_ it is terrible to give up one's poor child, and _feel_ very nervous for the coming time, and for the departure. but i am glad to see vicky is quite well again and _unberufen_ has got over her cold and is very well. but she has had ever since january ' a succession of emotions and leave-takings--most trying to any one, but particularly to so young a girl with such _very_ powerful feelings. she is so much improved in self-control and is so clever (i may say wonderfully so), and so sensible that we can talk to her of anything--and therefore shall miss her sadly. but we try _not_ to dwell on or to think of _that_, as i am sure it is much better _not_ to do so and not get ourselves _émus_ beforehand, or she will break down as well as we, and that never would do. to-day arrive (on a visit _here_) _her_ court--which is a very good thing, so that she will get acquainted with them.... the affection for her, and the loyalty shown by the country at large on this occasion is _most_ truly gratifying--and for so young a child really _very, very_ pleasing to our feelings. the nation look upon her, as cobden said, as "_england's_ daughter," and as if they married a child of their own, which is _very_ satisfactory, and shows, in spite of a few newspaper follies and absurdities, how really _sound_ and _monarchical_ everything is in this country. now, with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: marriage of the princess royal] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--accept my warmest thanks for your very kind and affectionate letter of the th, with such kind accounts of our dear child, who was so thankful for your kindness and affection, and of whose immense and universal success and admirable behaviour--natural yet dignified--we have the most charming accounts. i send you a letter from augusta[ ] (mecklenburg), which will give you an idea of the impression produced, begging you to let me have it back soon. she is quite well and _not_ tired. but the separation was _awful_, and the poor child was _quite_ broken-hearted, particularly at parting from her dearest beloved papa, whom she _idolises_. _how_ we miss her, i can't say, and never having been separated from her since thirteen years above a fortnight, i am in a constant fidget and impatience to know everything about _every_thing. it is a _great, great_ trial for a _mother_ who has watched over her child with such anxiety day after day, to see her far away--dependent on herself! but i have great confidence in her good sense, clever head, kind and good heart, in fritz's excellent character and devotion to her, and in faithful e. stockmar, who possesses her _entire_ confidence. the blank she has left behind is _very great_ indeed.... to-morrow is the eighteenth anniversary of my blessed marriage, which has brought such universal blessings on this country and europe! for _what_ has not my beloved and perfect albert done? raised monarchy to the _highest_ pinnacle of _respect_, and rendered it _popular_ beyond what it _ever_ was in this country! the bill proposed by the government to improve the law respecting conspiracy and assassination will pass, and lord derby has been most useful about it.[ ] but people are very indignant here at the conduct of the french officers, and at the offensive insinuations against this country.[ ].... hoping to hear that you are quite well, and begging to thank leopold very much for his very kind letter, believe me, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : elder daughter of adolphus, duke of cambridge, and now grand duchess-dowager of mecklenburg-strelitz.] [footnote : lord derby and his party, however, changed their attitude in the next few days, and succeeded in putting the government in a minority.] [footnote : on the th of january, the assassination of the french emperor, which had been planned in england by felice orsini and other refugees, was attempted. on the arrival of the imperial carriage at the opera house in the rue lepelletier, explosive hand-grenades were thrown at it, and though the emperor and empress were unhurt, ten people were either killed outright or died of their wounds, and over one hundred and fifty were injured. notwithstanding the scene of carnage, their majesties maintained their composure and sat through the performance of the opera. in the addresses of congratulation to the emperor on his escape (published, some of them inadvertently, in the official _moniteur_), officers commanding french regiments used language of the most insulting character to england, and count walewski, the french foreign minister, in a despatch, recommended the british government to take steps to prevent the right of asylum being abused.] [pageheading: defeat of the government] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and is sorry to have to inform your majesty that the government were beat this evening on mr milner gibson's[ ] amendment by a majority of ,[ ] the numbers being for his amendment, , and against it . mr milner gibson began the debate by moving his amendment in a speech of considerable ability, but abounding in misrepresentation, which nevertheless produced a marked effect upon the house. mr baines followed, but only argued the bill without replying to mr gibson's speech. this was remarked upon by mr walpole, who followed him, and who said that though he approved of the bill he could not vote for reading it a second time until count walewski's despatch had been answered. mr macmahon supported the amendment, as did mr byng. sir george grey, who followed mr walpole, defended the bill and the course pursued by the government in not having answered count walewski's despatch until after the house of commons should have affirmed the bill by a second reading. mr spooner remained steady to his purpose, and would vote against the amendment, though in doing so he should differ from his friends. lord harry vane opposed the amendment, as interfering with the passing of the bill, and mr bentinck took the same line, and replied to some of the arguments of mr milner gibson. mr henley said he should vote for the amendment. the lord advocate made a good speech against it. mr gladstone spoke with his usual talent in favour of the amendment, and was answered by the attorney-general in a speech which would have convinced men who had not taken a previous determination. he was followed by mr disraeli, who seemed confident of success, and he was replied to by viscount palmerston, and the house then divided. it seems that lord derby had caught at an opportunity of putting the government in a minority. he saw that there were ninety-nine members who were chiefly of the liberal party, who had voted against the bill when it was first proposed, and who were determined to oppose it in all its stages. he calculated that if his own followers were to join those ninety-nine, the government might be run hard, or perhaps be beaten, and he desired all his friends[ ] to support mr milner gibson; on the other hand, many of the supporters of the government, relying upon the majority of , by which the leave to bring the bill in had been carried, and upon the majority of of last night, had gone out of town for a few days, not anticipating any danger to the government from mr gibson's motion, and thus an adverse division was obtained. moreover, count walewski's despatch, the tone and tenor of which had been much misrepresented, had produced a very unfavourable effect on the mind of members in general, and there was a prevailing feeling very difficult to overcome, that the proposed bill was somehow or other a concession to the demand of a foreign government. the cabinet will have to consider at its meeting at three o'clock to-morrow what course the government will have to pursue. [footnote : mr milner gibson had found a seat at ashton-under-lyne.] [footnote : the conspiracy bill aimed at making conspiracy to murder a felony, instead of, as it had previously been, a misdemeanour, and leave had been given by a large majority to introduce it; but when count walewski's despatch to count de persigny came to be published, the feeling gained ground that the government had shown undue subservience in meeting the representations of the french ambassador. the despatch had not actually been answered, although verbal communications had taken place. the opposition to the bill was concerted by lord john russell and sir james graham; see parker's _sir james graham_, vol. ii. p. , and the observation of the prince, _post_, st february, . the purport of the amendment was to postpone any reform in the criminal law till the french despatch had been replied to.] [footnote : see ashley's _life of lord palmerston_, vol. ii. p. .] [pageheading: resignation of the government] [pageheading: lord derby summoned] [pageheading: offer to lord derby] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ st february _. lord palmerston came at five o'clock from the cabinet, and tendered his resignation in his own name, and that of his colleagues. the cabinet had well considered their position and found that, as the vote passed by the house, although the result of an accidental combination of parties, was virtually a vote of censure upon their conduct, they could not with honour or with any advantage to the public service carry on the government. the combination was the whole of the conservative party (lord derby's followers), lord john russell, the peelites, with mr gladstone and the whole of the radicals; but the liberal party generally is just now very angry with lord palmerston personally, chiefly on account of his apparent submission to french dictation, and the late appointment of lord clanricarde as privy seal, who is looked upon as a reprobate.[ ] lord clanricarde's presence in the house of commons during the debate, and in a conspicuous place, enraged many supporters of lord palmerston to that degree that they voted at once with the opposition. [footnote : since his triumph at the polls in , lord palmerston had been somewhat arbitrary in his demeanour, and had defied public opinion by taking lord clanricarde into the government, after some unpleasant disclosures in the irish courts. while walking home on the th, after obtaining an immense majority on the india bill, he was told by sir joseph bethell that he ought, like the roman consuls in a triumph, to have some one to remind him that he was, as a minister, not immortal. next day he was defeated.] the queen wrote to lord derby the letter here following;[ ] he came a little after six o'clock. he stated that nobody was more surprised in his life than he had been at the result of the debate, after the government had only a few days before had a majority of more than on the introduction of their bill. he did not know how it came about, but thought it was the work of lord john russell and sir james graham in the interest of the radicals; mr gladstone's junction must have been accidental. as to his own people, they had, owing to his own personal exertions, as the queen was aware, though many very unwillingly, supported the bill; but the amendment of mr milner gibson was so skilfully worded, that it was difficult for them not to vote for it; he had to admit this when they came to him to ask what they should do, merely warning them to save the measure itself, which the amendment did. he then blamed the government very much for leaving count walewski's despatch unanswered before coming before parliament, which he could hardly understand. [footnote : summoning him to advise her.] on the queen telling him that the government had resigned, and that she commissioned him to form a new administration, he begged that this offer might not be made to him without further consideration, and would state clearly his own position. after what had happened in and , if the queen made the offer he _must_ accept it, for if he refused, the conservative party would be broken up for ever. yet he would find a majority of two to one against him in the house of commons, would have difficulty in well filling the important offices, found the external and internal relations of the country in a most delicate and complicated position, war in india and in china, difficulties with france, the indian bill introduced and a reform bill promised; nothing but the forbearance and support of some of his opponents would make it possible for him to carry on any government. the person who was asked first by the sovereign had always a great disadvantage; perhaps other combinations were possible, which, if found not to answer, would make him more readily accepted by the country. the position of lord palmerston was a most curious one, the house of commons had been returned chiefly for the purpose of supporting him _personally_, and he had obtained a working majority of (unheard of since the reform bill), yet his supporters had no principles in common and they generally suspected him; the question of the reform bill had made him and lord john run a race for popularity which might lead to disastrous consequences. lord derby did not at all know what support he would be able to obtain in parliament. the queen agreed to deferring her offer, and to take further time for consideration on the understanding that if she made it it would at once be accepted. lord derby expressed, however, his fear that the resignation of the palmerston cabinet might only be for the purpose of going through a crisis in order to come back again with new strength, for there existed different kinds of resignations, some for this purpose, others really for abandoning office. a conversation which i had with lord clarendon after dinner, convinced me that the cabinet had sent in their resignations from the real conviction of the impossibility to go on with honour and success; all offers of the friends of the government to pass a vote of confidence, etc., etc., had been rejected. lord derby was the only man who could form a government; mr gladstone would probably join him. the whole move had been planned, and most dexterously, by sir james graham. albert. _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ st february _. the queen has reconsidered the question of the formation of a new government as she had settled with lord derby yesterday, and now writes to him to tell him that further reflection has only confirmed her in her former resolution to offer the task to lord derby. the resignation of the present government is the result of a conscientious conviction on their part, that, damaged by the censure passed upon them in the house of commons, they cannot with honour to themselves, or usefulness to the country, carry on public affairs, and lord derby is at the head of the only party which affords the materials of forming a new government, is sufficiently organised to secure a certain support, and which the country would accept as an alternative for that hitherto in power. before actually offering any specific office to anybody, lord derby would perhaps have another interview with the queen; but it would be right that he should have satisfied himself a little as to his chances of strengthening his hands before she sees him. with regard to the position of the india bill, the queen must also have a further conversation with him. [pageheading: lord derby's view] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ st february _. lord derby, with his humble duty, begs your majesty to accept his grateful acknowledgment of the signal mark of your majesty's favour, with which he has this morning been honoured. encouraged by your majesty's gracious confidence, he does not hesitate to submit himself to your majesty's pleasure, and will address himself at once to the difficult task which your majesty has been pleased to entrust to him. he fears that he can hardly hope, in the formation of a government, for much extrinsic aid; as almost all the men of eminence in either house of parliament are more or less associated with other parties, whose co-operation it would be impossible to obtain. lord derby will not, however, hesitate to make the attempt in any quarters, in which he may think he has any chance of success. with regard to the filling up of particular offices, lord derby would humbly beg your majesty to bear in mind that, although among his own personal friends there will be every desire to make individual convenience subservient to the public interest, yet among those who are not now politically connected with him, there may be some, whose co-operation or refusal might be greatly influenced by the office which it was proposed that they should hold; and, in such cases, lord derby must venture to bespeak your majesty's indulgence should he make a definite offer, subject, of course, to your majesty's ultimate approval. as soon as lord derby has made any progress in his proposed arrangements, he will avail himself of your majesty's gracious permission to solicit another audience. _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ st february _. the queen has just received lord derby's letter, and would wish under all circumstances to see him at six this evening, in order to hear what progress he has made in his plans. the two offices the queen is most anxious should not be prejudged in any way, before the queen has seen lord derby again, are the foreign and the war departments. [pageheading: mr gladstone and lord grey] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ st february _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty the two letters which he has this evening received from lord grey and mr gladstone.[ ] the reasons contained in the latter do not appear to lord derby to be very conclusive; but he fears the result must be that he cannot look, in the attempt to form a cabinet, to much extraneous assistance. with deep regret lord derby is compelled to add that he finds he cannot rely with certainty on the support of his son as a member of his proposed cabinet.[ ] still, having undertaken the task he has in obedience to your majesty's commands, lord derby will not relax in his efforts to frame such a government as may be honoured with your majesty's gracious approval, and prove itself equal to the emergency which calls it together. while in the very act of putting up this letter, lord derby has received one, which he also presumes to enclose to your majesty, from lord st leonards, alleging his advanced age as a reason for not accepting the great seal which he formerly held. this reply has been wholly unexpected; and it is yet possible that lord st leonards may be induced, at least temporarily, to withdraw his resignation. should it, however, prove otherwise, and lord derby should succeed in making his other arrangements, he would humbly ask your majesty's permission to endeavour to persuade mr pemberton leigh to accept that high office, of course accompanied by the honour of the peerage, which he is aware has been already on more than one occasion offered to him. lord derby begs to add that he has not had the slightest communication with mr pemberton leigh on the subject, nor has the least idea as to his feelings upon it. [footnote : lord grey wrote--"i am much obliged to you for the manner in which you have asked my assistance in performing the task confided to you by her majesty. "i am not insensible to the danger of the present crisis, or to the duty it imposes on public men, of giving any aid in their power towards forming an administration which may command respect. i am also aware that the settlement of the important political questions, on which we have differed, has removed many of the obstacles which would formerly have rendered my acting with you impracticable. upon the other hand, upon carefully considering the present state of affairs and the materials at your disposal (especially in the house of commons) for forming an administration, and that all the political friends with whom i have been connected, would probably be opposed to it, i do not think it would be either useful to you or honourable to myself that i should singly join your government." mr gladstone wrote--"i am very sensible of the importance of the vote taken on friday, and i should deeply lament to see the house of commons trampled on in consequence of that vote. the honour of the house is materially involved in giving it full effect. it would therefore be my first wish to aid, if possible, in such a task; and remembering the years when we were colleagues, i may be permitted to say that there is nothing in the fact of your being the head of a ministry, which would avail to deter me from forming part of it. "among the first questions i have had to put to myself in consequence of the offer, which you have conveyed to me in such friendly and flattering terms, has been the question, whether it would be in my power by accepting it, either alone, or in concert with others, to render you material service. "after the long years, during which we have been separated, there would be various matters of public interest requiring to be noticed between us; but the question i have mentioned is a needful preliminary. "upon the best consideration which the moment allows, i think it plain that alone, as i must be, i could not render you service worth your having. "the dissolution of last year excluded from parliament men with whom i had sympathies, and it in some degree affected the position of those political friends with whom i have now for many years been united, through evil and (much more rarely) good report. "those who lament the rupture of old traditions may well desire the reconstruction of a party; but the reconstitution of a party can only be effected, if at all, by the return of the old influences to their places, and not by the junction of one isolated person. "the difficulty is now enhanced in my case by the fact that in your party, reduced as it is at the present moment in numbers, there is a small but active and not unimportant section, who avowedly regard me as the representative of the most dangerous ideas. i should thus, unfortunately, be to you a source of weakness in the heart of your own adherents, while i should bring you no party or group of friends to make up for their defection or discontent. "for the reasons which i have thus stated or glanced at, my reply to your letter must be in the negative. "i must, however, add that a government formed by you at this time will in my opinion have strong claims upon me, and upon any one situated as i am, for favourable presumptions, and in the absence of conscientious difference on important questions, for support. "i have had an opportunity of seeing lord aberdeen and sidney herbert, and they fully concur in the sentiment i have just expressed."] [footnote : see _ante_, st october, , note .] [pageheading: the chancellorship] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ nd february _. the queen acknowledges lord derby's letter of yesterday, and returns him these three letters. she much regrets that he cannot reckon on the support and assistance in the government, which he is about to form, of such able men. the queen authorises lord derby to offer the office of lord chancellor with a peerage to mr pemberton leigh; but she fears from what passed on previous occasions that he is not likely to accept it.[ ] [footnote : he declined the office, and the great seal was offered to and accepted by sir frederick thesiger, who was created lord chelmsford.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ nd february _. the queen has had a long conversation with the duke of newcastle, which however ended, as lord derby will have expected from what the duke must have told him, in his declaring his conviction that he could be of no use to the new government by joining it, or in persuading his friends to change their minds as to joining. the duke was evidently much pleased by the offer, but from all he said of his position, the queen could gather that it was in vain to press him further. [pageheading: the new cabinet] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ th february _. lord derby presents his humble duty to your majesty, and fears that after your majesty's most gracious acceptance of the propositions which he has made, he may appear to your majesty very vacillating, in having at the last moment to submit to your majesty another change.... but he finds that lord john manners, though he consented to take the colonial department, would infinitely prefer resuming his seat at the board of works; and on the urgent representation of his colleagues that the government would be strengthened by such a step, lord stanley has consented to accept office; and the arrangement which he would now venture humbly to submit to your majesty would be the appointment of lord stanley to the colonial secretaryship, and lord john manners to the board of works.... the ministry as it the ministry as formed stood on the st of by the earl of derby january . in february . viscount palmerston _first lord of the_ earl of derby. _treasury_ marquis of lansdowne (_without office_). lord cranworth _lord chancellor_ lord chelmsford. earl granville _president of the_ marquis of salisbury. _council_ marquis of clanricarde _lord privy seal_ earl of hardwicke. sir george grey _home secretary_ mr walpole. earl of clarendon _foreign secretary_ earl of malmesbury. mr labouchere _colonial secretary_ lord stanley (afterwards lord (afterwards earl taunton) of derby). lord panmure _war secretary_ general peel. (afterwards earl of dalhousie) sir g. c. lewis _chancellor of the_ mr disraeli _exchequer_ (afterwards earl of beaconsfield) sir charles wood _first lord of the_ sir john pakington (afterwards viscount _admiralty_ (afterwards lord halifax) hampton). mr vernon smith _president of the_ earl of ellenborough. (afterwards lord _board of control_ lyveden) lord stanley of _president of the_ mr henley. alderley _board of trade_ mr m. t. baines _chancellor of the_ (_not in the cabinet._) _duchy of lancaster_ duke of argyll _postmaster-general_ (_not in the cabinet._) (_not in the cabinet_) _first commissioner_ lord john manners _of works and_ (afterwards _public buildings_ duke of rutland). [pageheading: the orsini plot] [pageheading: the emperor and the carbonari] _the earl of malmesbury to queen victoria._ whitehall, _ th march _. the earl of malmesbury presents his humble duty to the queen, and has the honour to thank your majesty for the interesting letter[ ] sent to him by your majesty, and which he returns to your majesty by this messenger. lord malmesbury hopes and believes that much of the excitement that prevailed on the _other_ side the water is subsiding. all his letters from _private_ sources, and the account of colonel claremont, agree on this point. in this country, if our differences with france are settled, it is probable that the popular jealousy of foreign interference will be killed; but at least for some time it will show foreign courts how dangerous it is _even to criticise_ our _domestic_ institutions. lord malmesbury has carefully abstained from giving lord cowley or m. de persigny the slightest hope that we could alter the law, but has confined himself to saying that the law was itself as much on its trial as the prisoners bernard and truelove.[ ] if, therefore, the law should prove to be a phantom of justice, or anomalous in its action, whatever measures your majesty's government may hereafter take to reform it, it will be received by france as an unexpected boon and a proof of good faith and amity. in attending to the idea referred to by your majesty that the emperor took the oath of the assassins' society, lord malmesbury can almost assure your majesty that such is not the case.[ ] lord malmesbury first made his majesty's acquaintance in italy when they were both very young men (twenty years of age). they were _both_ under the influence of those romantic feelings which the former history and the present degradation of italy may naturally inspire even at a more advanced time of life--and the prince louis napoleon, to the knowledge of lord malmesbury, certainly engaged himself in the conspiracies of the time--but it was with the higher class of the carbonari, men like general sercognani and general pépé. the prince used to talk to lord malmesbury upon these men and their ideas and plans with all the openness that exists between two youths, and lord malmesbury has many times heard him condemn with disgust the societies of villains which hung on the flank of the conspirators, and which deterred many of the best families and ablest gentlemen in romagna from joining them. lord malmesbury believes the report therefore to be a fable, and at some future period will, if it should interest your majesty, relate to your majesty some details respecting the emperor's share in the conspiracies of - .... [footnote : this was a letter from the prince de chimay to the king of the belgians in reference to the orsini plot.] [footnote : before lord palmerston's government had retired, simon bernard, a resident of bayswater, was committed for trial for complicity in the orsini _attentat_. he was committed for conspiracy only, but, at the instance of the new government, the charge was altered to one of feloniously slaying one of the persons killed by the explosion. as this constructive murder was actually committed on french soil, bernard's trial had, under the existing law, to be held before a special commission, over which lord campbell presided. the evidence overwhelmingly established the prisoner's guilt, but, carried away by the eloquent, if irrelevant, speech of mr edwin james for the defence, the jury acquitted him. truelove was charged with criminal libel, for openly approving, in a published pamphlet, orsini's attempt, and regretting its failure. the government threw up the prosecution, pusillanimously in the judgment of lord campbell, who records that he carefuly studied, with a view to his own hearing of the case, the proceedings against lord george gordon for libelling marie antoinette, against vint for libelling the emperor paul, and against peltier for libelling napoleon i.] [footnote : the queen had written:--"there are people who pretend that the emperor, who was once a member of the carbonari club of italy, and who is supposed to be condemned to death by the rules of that secret society for having violated his oath to them, has offered them to pardon orsini, if they would release him from his oath, but that the society refused the offer. the fact that all the attempts have been made by italians, orsini's letter, and the almost mad state of fear in which the emperor seems to be now, would give colour to that story." orsini had written two letters to the emperor, one read aloud at his trial by his counsel, jules favre, the other while lying under sentence of death. he entreated the emperor to secure italian independence.] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th march _. (_friday._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the opposition benches very full; the temper not kind. the french announcement,[ ] which was quite unexpected, elicited cheers, but only from the ministerial side, which, he confesses, for a moment almost daunted him. then came a question about the _cagliari_ affair,[ ] on which the government had agreed to take a temperate course, in deference to their predecessors--but it was not successful. the ill-humour of the house, diverted for a moment by the french news, vented itself on this head. what struck the chancellor of the exchequer in the course of the evening most was the absence of all those symptoms of "fair trial," etc., which have abounded of late in journals and in society. lord john said something; mr gladstone said something; but it was not encouraging. nevertheless, in "fair trial" observations abounded, and the result was not satisfactory; now it may be the reverse. the house is wild and capricious at this moment. your majesty once deigned to say that your majesty wished in these remarks to have the temper of the house placed before your majesty, and to find what your majesty could not meet in newspapers. this is the chancellor of the exchequer's excuse for these rough notes, written on the field of battle, which he humbly offers to your majesty. [footnote : parliament reassembled on the th of march, and mr disraeli then stated that the "painful misconceptions" which had for some time existed between england and france had been "terminated in a spirit entirely friendly and honourable."] [footnote : two english engineers, watt and park, had been on the sardinian steamer _cagliari_ when she was seized by the neapolitan government, and her crew, including the engineers, imprisoned at naples. at the instance of the conservative government, who acted more vigorously than their predecessors had done, the engineers were released, and £ , paid to them as compensation.] [pageheading: the navy] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ osborne, _ th march _. the queen sends to lord derby a memorandum on the state of preparation of our navy in case of a war, the importance of attending to which she has again strongly felt when the late vote of the house of commons endangered the continuance of the good understanding with france. the whole tone of the debate on the first night of the reassembly of parliament has shown again that there exists a great disposition to boast and provoke foreign powers without any sincere desire to investigate our means of making good our words, and providing for those means which are missing. the queen wishes lord derby to read this memorandum to the cabinet, and to take the subject of which it treats into their anxious consideration. the two appendices, stating facts, the one with regard to the manning of the navy by volunteers with the aid of bounties, the other with regard to impressment, have become unfortunately more lengthy than the queen had wished, but the facts appeared to her so important that she did not like to have any left out. _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ nd march _. (_monday, half-past eight o'clock._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. this evening was a great contrast to friday. house very full on both sides.... mr b. osborne commenced the general attack, of which he had given notice; but, after five years' silence, his weapons were not as bright as of yore. he was answered by the government, and the house, which was very full, became much excited. the ministerial benches were in high spirit. the debate that ensued, most interesting and sustained. mr horsman, with considerable effect, expressed the opinions of that portion of the liberal party, which does not wish to disturb the government. lord john russell vindicated the reform bill of from the attacks of the chancellor of the exchequer, and with great dignity and earnestness. he was followed by mr drummond on the same subject in a telling epigram. then lord palmerston, in reply to the charges of mr horsman, mild and graceful, with a sarcastic touch. the general impression of the house was very favourable to the ministry; all seemed changed; the debate had cleared the political atmosphere, and, compared with our previous state, we felt as if the eclipse was over. [pageheading: resignation of persigny] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ rd march _. my dearest uncle,--you will, i trust, forgive my letter being short, but we have only just returned from aldershot, where we went this morning, and really have been quite baked by a sun which was hardly hotter in august, and without a breath of wind.... good marie[ ] has not answered me, will you remind her? i _did_ tell her i hoped for her child's[ ] sake she would give up the nursing, as we princesses had other duties to perform. i hope she was not shocked, but i felt i only did what was right in telling her so. i grieve to say we lose poor persigny, which is a real loss--but he would resign. walewski behaved ill to him. the emperor has, however, named a successor which is _really_ a compliment to the army and the alliance--and besides a distinguished and independent man, viz. the duc de malakhoff.[ ] this is very gratifying. in all this business, pélissier has, i hear, behaved extremely well. i must now conclude. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : marie henriette, duchess of brabant, afterwards queen of the belgians; died .] [footnote : princess louise of belgium was born on the th of february.] [footnote : formerly general pélissier; see _ante_, th september, , note .] [pageheading: the house of commons] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ rd march _. (_tuesday._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the discussion on the passport question, this evening, was not without animation; the new under-secretary, mr fitzgerald,[ ] makes way with the house. he is very acute and quick in his points, but does not speak loud enough. his tone is conversational, which is the best for the house of commons, and the most difficult; but then the conversation should be heard. the general effect of the discussion was favourable to the french government. in a thin house afterwards, the wife's sister bill was brought in after a division. your majesty's government had decided among themselves to permit the introduction, but a too zealous member of the opposition forced an inopportune division. [footnote : william robert seymour vesey fitzgerald, m.p. for horsham - . he was governor of bombay - .] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th march _. (_thursday._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the lease of the lord-lieutenancy was certainly renewed to-night--and for some years. the majority was very great against change at present, and the future, which would justify it, it was agreed, should be the very decided opinion of the irish members. it was left in short to ireland. the debate was not very animated, but had two features--a most admirable speech by lord naas,[ ] quite the model of an official statement, clear, calm, courteous, persuasive, and full of knowledge; it received the praises of both sides. the other incident noticeable was mr roebuck's reply, which was one of the most apt, terse, and telling i well remember, and not bitter. [footnote : chief secretary to the lord-lieutenant, afterwards (as earl of mayo) viceroy of india, assassinated in the andaman islands, .] [pageheading: capture of lucknow] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th april._ (_tuesday night._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the night tranquil and interesting--lord bury, with much intelligence, introduced the subject of the straits settlements;[ ] the speech of sir j. elphinstone,[ ] master of the subject, and full of striking details, produced a great effect. his vindication of the convict population of singapore, as the moral element of that strange society, might have been considered as the richest humour, had it not been for its unmistakable simplicity. his inquiry of the governor's lady, who never hired any servant but a convict, whether she employed in her nursery "thieves or murderers?"--and the answer, "always murderers," was very effective.... the secretary of state having sent down to the chancellor of the exchequer the telegram of the fall of lucknow,[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer read it to the house, having previously in private shown it to lord palmerston and others of the late government. after this a spirited debate on the conduct of members of parliament corruptly exercising their influence, in which the view recommended by the government, through mr secretary walpole, was adopted by the house. [footnote : these detached provinces were at this time under the control of the governor-general of india; but in they were formed into a crown colony.] [footnote : sir j. d. h. elphinstone, conservative member for portsmouth, afterwards a lord of the treasury.] [footnote : sir colin campbell had at length obtained entire possession of the city, which had been in the hands of the rebels for nine months.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ nd april _. my dear uncle,--i am sure you will kindly be interested in knowing that the examination and confirmation of bertie have gone off extremely well.[ ] everything was conducted as at vicky's, and i thought _much_ of you, and wished we could have had the happiness of having you there. i enclose a programme. the examination before the archbishop and ourselves by the dean on wednesday was long and difficult, but bertie answered extremely well, and his whole manner and _gemüthsstimmung_ yesterday, and again to-day, at the sacrament to which we took him, was gentle, good, and proper.... now, good-bye, dear uncle. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see the prince consort's letter to stockmar, _life of the prince consort_, vol. iv. p. .] [pageheading: naval preparations] _queen victoria to sir john pakington._ windsor castle, _ th april _. the queen has received sir john pakington's letter of the th, and thanks him for the transmission of the printed copy of his confidential memorandum. the object of the paper which the queen sent from osborne to lord derby was to lead by a thorough investigation to an exact knowledge of the state of our naval preparations in the event of a war, with the view to the discovery and suggestion of such remedies as our deficiencies imperatively demand. this investigation and thorough consideration the queen expects from her board of admiralty, chosen with great care, and composed of the most competent naval authorities. she does not wish for the opinion of this or that person, given without any responsibility attaching to it, nor for mere returns prepared in the office for the first lord, but for the collective opinion of sir john pakington and his board with the responsibility attaching to such an opinion given to the sovereign upon a subject upon which the safety of the empire depends. the queen has full confidence in the honour of the gentlemen composing the board, that they will respect the _confidential_ character of the queen's communication, and pay due regard to the importance of the subject referred to them. [pageheading: procedure by resolution] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th april _. (_monday night._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. house reassembled--full. chancellor of exchequer much embarrassed with impending statement, on the part of your majesty's servants, that they intended to propose resolutions on the government of india, instead of at once proceeding with their bill.[ ] received, five minutes before he took his seat, confidential information, that lord john russell, wishing to defeat the prospects of lord palmerston, and himself to occupy a great mediatory position, intended, himself, to propose the mezzotermine of resolutions! chancellor of exchequer felt it was impossible, after having himself introduced a bill, to interfere with the resolutions of an independent member, and one so weighty and distinguished: therefore, confined his announcement to the budget on monday week, and consequent postponement of india bill. soon after, lord john rose, and opened the case, in a spirit most calm and conciliatory to the house, and to your majesty's government. the chancellor of exchequer responded, but with delicacy, not wishing rudely to deprive lord john of his position in the matter; deeming it arrogant--but the real opposition, extremely annoyed at all that was occurring, wishing, at the same time, to deprive lord john of the mediatory position, and to embarrass your majesty's government with the task and responsibility of preparing and introducing the resolutions, _insisted_ upon government undertaking the task. as the chancellor of exchequer read the sketch of the resolutions in his box, this was amusing; he undertook the responsibility, thus urged, and almost menaced; lord john, though greatly mortified at not bringing in the resolutions himself, for it is since known they were prepared, entirely and justly acquits chancellor of exchequer of any arrogance and intrusion, and the affair concludes in a manner dignified and more than promising. it is now generally supposed that after the various resolutions have been discussed, and passed, the bill of your majesty's servants, modified and reconstructed, will pass into a law. the chancellor of exchequer will have a copy of the resolutions, though at present in a crude form, made and forwarded to your majesty, that they may be considered by your majesty and his royal highness. chancellor of exchequer will mention this to lord derby, through whom they ought to reach your majesty. after this unexpected and interesting scene, because it showed, in its progress, a marked discordance between lord john and lord palmerston, not concealed by the latter chief, and strongly evinced by some of his principal followers, for example, sir c. wood, mr hall, mr bouverie, the house went into committee on the navy estimates which sir j. pakington introduced in a speech, lucid, spirited, and comprehensive. the feeling of the house as to the maintenance of the navy was good. [footnote : lord palmerston had obtained leave, by a large majority, to introduce an india bill, vesting the government of india in a council nominated by the crown. on his accession to office, mr disraeli proposed that the council should be half nominative and half elective, and in particular that london, manchester, liverpool, glasgow, and belfast should each be entitled to elect one member. these proposals were widely condemned, and especially by mr bright.] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ buckingham palace, _ st may _. the queen has received a draft to lord cowley on the danish question,[ ] which she cannot sanction as submitted to her. the question is a most important one, and a false step on our part may produce a war between france and germany. the queen would wish lord malmesbury to call here in the course of to-morrow, when the prince could discuss the matter with him more fully. [footnote : the dispute as to the duchies of schleswig and holstein. the german diet had refused to ratify the danish proposal that commissioners should be appointed by germany and denmark to negotiate an arrangement of their differences. lord malmesbury had written that the governments (including england) which had hitherto abstained from interference, should now take measures to guard against any interference with the integrity of the danish monarchy. the queen and prince considered that the attitude of the british government was unnecessarily pro-danish.] [pageheading: the oudh proclamation] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th may _. the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. at half-past four o'clock, before the chancellor of the exchequer could reach the house, the secretary of the board of control had already presented the proclamation of lord canning, and the despatch thereon of lord ellenborough, without the omission of the oudh passages.[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer has employed every means to recall the papers, and make the necessary omissions, and more than once thought he had succeeded, but unhappily the despatch had been read by mr bright, and a considerable number of members, and, had papers once in the possession of the house by the presentation of a minister been surreptitiously recalled and garbled, the matter would have been brought before the house, and the production of the complete documents would have been ordered. in this difficult and distressing position the chancellor of the exchequer, after consultation with his colleagues in the house of commons, thought it best, and, indeed, inevitable, to submit to circumstances, the occurrence of which he deeply regrets, and humbly places before your majesty. [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxvii. the draft proclamation (differing from the ultimate form in which it was issued), with a covering despatch, were sent home to the board of control by lord canning, who at the same time wrote an unofficial letter to mr vernon smith, then president of the board, stating that he had not been able to find time before the mail left to explain his reasons for adopting what appeared a somewhat merciless scheme of confiscation. lord ellenborough thereupon wrote a despatch, dated the th of april, reprobating the governor-general for abandoning the accustomed policy of generous conquerors, and for inflicting on the mass of the population what they would feel as the severest of punishments. this despatch was made public in england, as will be seen from the dates, before it could possibly have reached lord canning.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen has received lord derby's letter of last night, and was glad to see that he entirely concurs with her in the advantage and necessity of appointing a commission to consider the question of the organisation of the future army of india.[ ] she only hopes that no time will be lost by the reference to the different bodies whom lord derby wishes previously to consult, and she trusts that he will not let himself be overruled by lord ellenborough, who may very likely consider the opinion and result of the labours of a committee as entirely valueless as compared with his own opinions. the queen has not the same confidence in them, and is, therefore, doubly anxious to be advised by a body of the most competent persons after most careful enquiry. [footnote : the queen had written that she thought the commission should be composed of officers of the home and the indian armies, some politicians, the commander-in-chief, the president of the board of control, with the secretary-for-war as president.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen has received lord derby's letter of yesterday. she is very sorry for the further complication likely to arise out of the communication to the house of commons of the despatch in full, which is most unfortunate, not less so than the communication of it previously to mr bright and his friends. the queen is anxious not to add to lord derby's difficulties, but she must not leave unnoticed the fact that the despatch in question ought never to have been written without having been submitted to the queen. she hopes lord derby will take care that lord ellenborough will not repeat this, which must place her in a most embarrassing position. [pageheading: ellenborough's resignation] _the earl of ellenborough to queen victoria._ eaton square, _ th may _. lord ellenborough presents his most humble duty to your majesty, and regarding the present difficult position of your majesty's government as mainly occasioned by the presentation to parliament of the letter to the governor-general with reference to the proclamation in oudh, for which step he considers himself to be solely responsible, he deems it to be his duty to lay his resignation at your majesty's feet. lord ellenborough had no other object than that of making it unmistakably evident to the governor as well as to the governed in india that your majesty was resolved to temper justice with clemency, and would not sanction any measure which did not seem to conduce to the establishment of permanent peace.[ ] [footnote : on the same day lord shaftesbury in the lords and mr cardwell in the commons gave notice of motions censuring the government for lord ellenborough's despatch. the debates commenced on the th.] [pageheading: a crisis] [pageheading: ellenborough's statement] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. lord derby had an audience at twelve o'clock. he said he had received a copy of lord ellenborough's letter, and had told him that should the queen consult him (lord derby) he should advise her to accept the resignation, lord ellenborough had behaved in the handsomest manner, and expressed his belief that he had brought bad luck to the government, for this was now the second difficulty into which they had got by his instrumentality, the first having been the election clause in the india bill. lord derby hoped that this resignation would stop the vote of censure in the house of commons, as the house could not hold responsible and punish the cabinet for that with which they had had no concern. if the house persisted, it was clear that the motives were factious, and he hoped the queen would allow him to threaten a dissolution of parliament, which he was certain would stop it. the queen refused to give that permission; she said he might leave it quite undecided whether the queen would grant a dissolution or not, and take the benefit of the doubt in talking to others on the subject; but she must be left quite free to act as she thought the good of the country might require at the time when the government should have been beat; there had been a dissolution within the year, and if a reform bill was passed there must be another immediately upon it; in the meantime most violent pledges would be taken as to reform if a general election were to take place now. lord derby concurred in all this, and said he advised the threat particularly in order to render the reality unnecessary; when she persisted in her refusal, however, on the ground that she could not threaten what she was not prepared to do, he appeared very much disappointed and mortified. we then discussed the state of the question itself, and urged the necessity of something being done to do away with the injurious impression which the publication of the despatch must produce in india, as the resignation of lord ellenborough left this quite untouched, and parliament might with justice demand this. he agreed, after much difficulty, to send a telegraphic despatch, which might overtake and mitigate the other. on my remark that the public were under the impression that there had been collusion, and that mr bright had seen the despatch before he asked his question for its production, he denied this stoutly, but let us understand that mr bright had known of the existence of such a despatch, and had wished to put his question before, but had been asked to defer it until lord canning's proclamation should have appeared in the newspapers! (this is nearly as bad!!) the queen could not have pledged herself to dissolve parliament in order to support such tricks! albert. it was arranged that lord derby should accept lord ellenborough's resignation in the queen's name. _queen victoria to the earl of ellenborough._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen has to acknowledge lord ellenborough's letter, which she did not wish to do before she had seen lord derby. the latter has just left the queen, and will communicate to lord ellenborough the queen's acceptance of his resignation, which he has thought it right to tender to her from a sense of public duty. [pageheading: lord derby's despatch] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square [_ th may_]. ( p.m., _tuesday_.) lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty the expression of his hope that the discussion, or rather conversation, which has taken place in the house of lords this evening, may have been not only advantageous to the government, but beneficial in its results to the public service.... after the discussion, lord ellenborough made his statement; and it is only doing bare justice to him to say that he made it in a manner and spirit which was most highly honourable to himself, and was fully appreciated by the house. public sympathy was entirely with him, especially when he vindicated the policy which he had asserted, but took upon himself the whole and sole responsibility of having authorised the publication of the despatch--which he vindicated--and announced his own resignation rather than embarrass his colleagues. lord grey shortly entered his protest against bringing into discussion the policy of the proclamation and of the consequent despatch, into which lord ellenborough had certainly entered too largely, opposing, very broadly, the principle of confiscation against that of clemency. lord derby followed lord grey, and after an interruption on a point of form, vindicated the policy advocated in lord ellenborough's despatch, at the same time that he expressed not only his hope, but his belief, that in practice the governor-general would be found (and more especially judging from the alterations inserted in the last proclamation of which an unofficial copy has been received) acting on the principles laid down in lord ellenborough's despatch. in the tribute which he felt it his duty to pay to the personal, as well as political, character of lord ellenborough, the house concurred with entire unanimity and all did honour to the spirit which induced him to sacrifice his own position to the public service; and to atone, and more than atone, for an act of indiscretion by the frank avowal that he alone was responsible for it. lord derby thinks that the step which has been taken may, even probably, prevent the motions intended to be made on friday; and if made, will, almost certainly, result in a majority for the government. lord derby believes that he may possibly be in time to telegraph to malta early to-morrow, to lord canning. in that case he will do himself the honour of submitting to your majesty a copy of the message[ ] sent, though he fears it will be impossible to do so before its despatch. he proposes in substance to say that the publication has been disapproved--that lord ellenborough has resigned in consequence--but that your majesty's government adhere in principle to the policy laid down in the despatch of th april, and entertain an earnest hope that the governor-general, judging from the modifications introduced into the amended proclamation, has, in fact, the intention of acting in the same spirit; but that your majesty's government are still of opinion that confiscation of private property ought to be made the exception, and not the rule, and to be enforced only against those who may stand out after a certain day, or who may be proved to have been guilty of more than ordinary crimes. lord derby hopes that your majesty will excuse a very hasty sketch of a very large subject. [footnote : _the earl of derby to lord lyons._ _ th may ._ send on the following message to lord canning by the indian mail. the publication of the secret despatch of th april has been disapproved. lord ellenborough has resigned office. his successor has not been appointed. nevertheless the policy indicated in the above despatch is approved by her majesty's government. confiscation of property of private individuals (talookdars and others) ought to be the exception and not the rule. it ought to be held out as a penalty on those who do not come in by a given day. from your amended proclamation it is hoped that such is your intention. let it be clearly understood that it is so. you were quite right in issuing no proclamation till after a signal success. that once obtained, the more generous the terms, the better. a broad distinction must be drawn between the talookdars of oudh and the sepoys who have been in our service. confidence is felt in your judgment. you will not err if you lean to the side of humanity, especially as to nations of oudh. no private letters have been received from you since the change of government.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ _ th may ._ the queen returns the extracts lord derby has sent to her. lord ellenborough's despatch,[ ] now before her for the first time, is very good and just in principle. but the queen would be much surprised if it did not entirely coincide with the views of lord canning, at least as far as he has hitherto expressed any in his letters. so are also the sentiments written by sir j. lawrence; they contain almost the very expressions frequently used by lord canning. sir j. login,[ ] who holds the same opinion, and has great indian experience, does not find any fault with the proclamation, however seemingly it may sound at variance with these opinions, and this on account of the peculiar position of affairs in oudh. it is a great pity that lord ellenborough, with his knowledge, experience, activity, and cleverness, should be so entirely unable to submit to general rules of conduct. the queen has been for some time much alarmed at his writing letters of his own to all the most important indian chiefs and kings explaining his policy. all this renders the position of a governor-general almost untenable, and that of the government at home very hazardous. [footnote : this was a later despatch of lord ellenborough's, also in reference to the pacification of oudh, and not shown to the cabinet before it was sent.] [footnote : see _ante_, rd september, , note .] [pageheading: lord aberdeen consulted] [pageheading: prerogative of dissolution] [pageheading: state of parties] _memorandum by sir charles phipps._ [_undated._ ? _ th may ._] upon being admitted to lord aberdeen, i informed him that the queen and prince were anxious to hear his opinion upon the present most unfortunate state of affairs, but that, knowing how easily every event was perverted in such times as the present, her majesty and his royal highness had thought that it might have been subject to misapprehension had he been known to have been at buckingham palace, and that i had been therefore directed to call upon him, with a view of obtaining his opinion and advice upon certain important points. the first was the question of a dissolution of parliament in the event of the government being defeated upon the question which was at present pending. i told him that i was permitted to communicate to him in the strictest confidence, that in a late audience which lord derby had with the queen, he had asked her permission to be allowed to announce that, in the event of an adverse majority, he had her majesty's sanction to a dissolution of parliament. that the queen had declined to give such sanction, or even such a pledge, and equally guarded herself against being supposed to have made up her mind to refuse her sanction to a dissolution, had told lord derby that she could not then make any prospective decision upon the subject. i told him that in point of fact her majesty was disinclined to grant to lord derby her authority for a dissolution, but that the queen had at once refused to grant to lord derby her sanction for making the announcement he wished, as she considered that it would be a very unconstitutional threat for him to hold over the head of the parliament, with her authority, by way of biassing their decision. lord aberdeen interrupted me by saying that the queen had done quite right--that he never heard of such a request being made, or authority for such an announcement being sought--and he could not at all understand lord derby making such an application. he knew that the government had threatened a dissolution, that he thought that they had a perfect right to do so, but that they would have been quite wrong in joining the queen's name with it. he said that he had never entertained the slightest doubt that if the minister advised the queen to dissolve, she would, as a matter of course, do so. the minister who advised the dissolution took upon himself the heavy responsibility of doing so, but that the sovereign was bound to suppose that the person whom she had appointed as a minister was a gentleman and an honest man, and that he would not advise her majesty to take such a step unless he thought that it was for the good of the country. there was no doubt of the power and prerogative of the sovereign to refuse a dissolution--it was one of the very few acts which the queen of england could do without responsible advice at the moment; but even in this case whoever was sent for to succeed, must, with his appointment, assume the responsibility of this act, and be prepared to defend it in parliament. he could not remember a single instance in which the undoubted power of the sovereign had been exercised upon this point, and the advice of the minister to dissolve parliament had been rejected--for it was to be remembered that lord derby would be still at this time her minister--and that the result of such refusal would be that the queen would take upon herself the act of dismissing lord derby from office, instead of his resigning from being unable longer to carry on the government. the queen had during her reign, and throughout the numerous changes of government, maintained an unassailable position of constitutional impartiality, and he had no hesitation in saying that he thought it would be more right, and certainly more safe, for her to follow the usual course, than to take this dangerous time for exercising an unusual and, he believed he might say, an unprecedented, course, though the power to exercise the authority was undoubted. he said that he did not conceive that any reasons of expediency as to public business, or the possible effects of frequent general elections, would be sufficient grounds for refusing a dissolution (and reasons would have to be given by the new minister in parliament), and, as he conceived, the only possible ground that could be maintained as foundation for such an exercise of authority would be the fearful danger to the existence of our power in india, which might arise from the intemperate discussion upon every hustings of the proceedings of the government with respect to that country--as the question proposed to the country would certainly be considered to be severity or mercy to the people of india. upon the second point, as to a successor to lord derby in the event of his resignation, he said that the queen would, he thought, have no alternative but to send for lord palmerston. the only other person who could be suggested would be lord john russell, and he was neither the mover of the resolutions which displaced the government, nor the ostensible head of the opposition, which the late meeting at cambridge house pointed out lord palmerston to be. that he was not very fond of lord palmerston, though he had forgiven him all, and he had had _much_ to forgive; and that in the last few days it had appeared that he had less following than lord john; but the queen could not act upon such daily changing circumstances, and it was evident that lord palmerston was the ostensible man for the queen to send for. lord aberdeen seemed very low upon the state of public affairs. he said that the extreme liberals were the only party that appeared to gain strength. not only was the whig party divided within itself, hated by the radicals, and having a very doubtful support from the independent liberals, but even the little band called the peelites had entirely crumbled to pieces. in the house of lords, whilst the duke of newcastle voted with the opposition, he (lord aberdeen) had purposely abstained from voting, whilst, in the house of commons, cardwell moved the resolution, and mr sidney herbert would, he believed, vote for it; gladstone would speak on the other side, and sir j. graham would also vote with the government. he concluded by saying that if the majority against the government was a very large one, he thought that lord derby ought not to ask to dissolve; but that he knew that the members of the government had said that the present parliament was elected upon a momentary palmerstonian cry, and was quite an exceptional case, and that they would not consent to be driven from office upon its verdict. [pageheading: the queen and dissolution] _memorandum by the prince albert._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. we saw lord derby after church. he brought interesting letters from lord canning to lord ellenborough, of which copies follow here. it is evident that lord canning thinks that he is taking a most merciful course, and expects pacification from his "proclamation," attributing the slow coming in of the chiefs to the proclamation not being yet sufficiently known. lord ellenborough's, and indeed the government's, hearts, must have had curious sensations in reading lord canning's frank declaration, that he did not mean to resign on hearing of the formation of the tory government unless told to do so, and he had no fears that he would be treated in a way implying want of confidence to make him resign, feeling safe as to that in lord ellenborough's hands! lord derby spoke much of the debate, which he expects to go on for another week. he expects to be beaten by from to votes under present circumstances, but thinks still that he could be saved if it were known that the queen had not refused a dissolution, which was stoutly maintained by lord palmerston's friends. he begged again to be empowered to contradict the assertion. the queen maintained that it would be quite unconstitutional to threaten parliament, and to use her name for that purpose. lord derby quite agreed, and disclaimed any such intention, but said there were modes of letting the fact be known without any risk. we agreed that we could not enter into such details. the queen allowed him (lord derby) to know that a dissolution would not be refused to him, and trusted that her honour would be safe in his hands as to the use he made of that knowledge. he seemed greatly relieved, and stated that had he had to resign, he would have withdrawn from public business, and the conservative party would have been entirely, and he feared for ever, broken up. on a dissolution he felt certain of a large gain, as the country was in fact tired of the "whig family clique"; the radicals, like mr milner gibson, bright, etc., would willingly support a conservative government. albert. [pageheading: collapse of the attack] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._[ ] house of commons, _ st may _. the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the fullest house; it is said members present; it was supposed we should have divided at three o'clock in the morning; mr gladstone was to have spoken for the government at half-past ten--very great excitement--when there occurred a scene perhaps unprecedented in parliament. one after another, perhaps twenty members, on the opposition benches, rising and entreating mr cardwell to withdraw his resolution. after some time, silence on the government benches, mr cardwell went to lord john russell, then to lord palmerston, then to lord john russell again, then returned to lord palmerston, and retired with him. what are called the interpellations continued, when suddenly lord palmerston reappeared; embarrassed, with a faint smile; addressed the house; and after various preluding, announced the withdrawal of the motion of censure. a various debate followed; the chancellor of the exchequer endeavouring, as far as regards lord canning, to fulfil your majesty's wishes. it is impossible to estimate the importance of this unforeseen event to your majesty's servants. it has strengthened them more than the most decided division in their favour, for it has revealed complete anarchy in the ranks of their opponents. with prudence and vigilance all must now go right. the speech of sir james graham last night produced a very great effect. no report gives a fair idea of it. the great country gentleman, the broad views, the fine classical allusions, the happiest all omitted, the massy style, contrasted remarkably with sir richard bethell. [footnote : lord shaftesbury's motion in the lords had been lost by a majority of nine. in the commons, mr cardwell was replied to in a brilliant speech by sir hugh cairns, the solicitor-general. the speeches of sir james graham, mr bright, and others, showed that the opposition was disunited, and when it was understood that mr gladstone would support the ministry, the liberal attack collapsed. mr disraeli, deprived of the satisfaction of making an effective reply, subsequently compared the discomfiture of his opponents to an earthquake in calabria or peru. "there was," he said, in the course of a speech at slough, "a rumbling murmur, a groan, a shriek, a sound of distant thunder. no one knew whether it came from the top or bottom of the house. there was a rent, a fissure in the ground, and then a village disappeared, then a tall tower toppled down, and the whole of the opposition benches became one great dissolving view of anarchy."] [pageheading: causes of the collapse] [pageheading: offer to mr gladstone] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ rd may _. (_sunday night._) lord derby, with his humble duty, gratefully acknowledges your majesty's gracious letter just received, and the telegraphic message with which he was honoured in answer to his on friday night. your majesty can hardly be expected to estimate, at a distance from the immediate scene of action, the effect of the event of that evening. it was the utter explosion of a well-constructed mine, under the feet, not of the assailed, but of the assailants; and the effect has been the greater from the immense attendance in london of members of the house of commons. no effort had been spared. lord castlerosse, only just married, had been sent for from italy--but lord derby hopes that he had not been induced to come--for nothing. it is said that of the members of whom the house is composed, were actually in london. the government could rely on to , and the whole question turned on the absence, or the conversion, of a small number of "liberal" members. the result is to be attributed to two causes; first, and principally, to the fear of a dissolution, and to the growing conviction that in case of necessity your majesty would sanction such a course, which had been strenuously denied by lord palmerston--and in which lord derby hopes that your majesty will have seen that your majesty's name has never, for a moment, been brought in question; and secondly, to the effect produced by the correspondence between the governor-general and sir james outram.[ ] and here lord derby may perhaps be allowed the opportunity of removing a misconception from your majesty's mind, as to any secret intelligence or underhand intrigue between lord ellenborough and sir james outram, to the detriment of lord canning. lord derby is in the position to know that if there is one person in the world to whom lord ellenborough has an utter aversion, and with whom he has no personal or private correspondence, it is sir james outram. anything therefore in common in their opinions must be the result of circumstances wholly irrespective of private concert. lord derby has written fully to lord canning, privately, by the mail which will go out on tuesday; and while he has not concealed from him the opinion of your majesty's servants that the proclamation, of which so much has been said, conveyed too sweeping an edict of confiscation against the landowners, great and small, of oudh, he has not hesitated to express also his conviction that lord canning's real intentions, in execution, would not be found widely to differ from the views of your majesty's servants. he has expressed to lord canning his regret at the premature _publication_ of the draft proclamation, at the same time that he has pointed out the injustice done both to your majesty's government and to the governor-general by the (lord derby will hardly call it fraudulent) suppression of the private letters addressed to the president of the board of control, and deprecating judgment on the text of the proclamation, until explanation should be received. lord derby cannot but be of opinion that this suppression, of which lord palmerston was fully cognisant, was an act which no political or party interests were sufficient to justify. the state of the government, during the late crisis, was such as to render it impossible to make any arrangement for filling up lord ellenborough's place at the board of control. application has since been made to mr gladstone,[ ] with the offer of that post, or of that of the colonial department, which lord stanley would give up for the convenience of your majesty's government, though unwillingly, for india. mr gladstone demurred, on the ground of not wishing to leave his friends; but when pressed to name whom he would wish to bring with him, he could name none. finally, he has written to ask advice as to his course of sir james graham, who has returned to netherby, and of lord aberdeen; and by them he will probably be guided. should he finally refuse, lord stanley _must_ take india; and the colonies must be offered in the first instance to sir e. b. lytton, who probably will refuse, as he wants a peerage, and is doubtful of his re-election; and failing him, to sir william heathcote, the member for the university of oxford, who, without official experience, has great parliamentary knowledge and influence, and, if he will accept, is quite equal to the duties of the office. lord derby trusts that your majesty will forgive this long intrusion on your majesty's patience. he has preferred the risk of it, to leaving your majesty uninformed as to anything which was going on, or contemplated.... if lord dalhousie should be in a state to converse upon public affairs, there is no one with whom lord derby could confer more confidentially than with him; nor of whose judgment, though he regrets to differ with him as to the annexation of oudh, he has a higher opinion. he will endeavour to ascertain what is his present state of health, which he fears is very unsatisfactory, and will see and converse with him, if possible. [footnote : especially outram's remonstrance against what he considered the excessive severity of the proclamation.] [footnote : see mr disraeli's curious letter printed in morley's _gladstone_, vol. i. p. , asking mr gladstone whether the time had not come when he might deign to be magnanimous. sir e. b. lytton accepted the office.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen has to thank lord derby for his satisfactory letter received yesterday. she has heard from mr disraeli to-day relative to the answer given by him to the question asked yesterday in the house of commons as to what the government meant to do.[ ] he says that he hears there are rumours of other motions on the subject. these the queen hopes there will be no difficulty in defeating. the duke of cambridge seems rather uneasy altogether, but the queen, though equally anxious about it, owns she cannot contemplate the possibility of any _real_ attempt to divest the crown of its prerogative in this instance. the army will not, she feels sure, stand it for a moment, and the queen feels sure, that if properly defined and explained, the house of commons will not acquiesce in any such disloyal proceeding. the queen does not understand lord john russell's voting with the majority, for she never understood him to express any such opinion. [footnote : a question was asked whether it was the intention of the government to take any step in consequence of a resolution of the house in favour of placing the whole administration and control of the army under the sole authority of a single minister. mr. disraeli replied that "considering the great importance of the subject,... the comparatively small number of members in the house when the division took pace, and the bare majority by which the decision was arrived at, her majesty's government do not feel that it is their duty to recommend any measure in consequence of that resolution."] [pageheading: government of india] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th june _. the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. the india bill was read a second time without a division.[ ] lord stanley made a clear and vigorous exposition of its spirit and provisions; mr bright delivered a powerful oration on the condition of india--its past government and future prospects; the rest of the discussion weak and desultory. no serious opposition apprehended in committee, which the chancellor of the exchequer has fixed for this day (friday)[ ] and almost hopes that he may conclude the committee on monday. he proposes to proceed with no other business until it is concluded. when the bill has passed, the temper of the house, and its sanitary state,[ ] will assist him in passing the remaining estimates with rapidity; and he contemplates an early conclusion of the session. it will be a great thing to have carried the india bill, which mr thomas baring, to-night, spoke of in terms of eulogy, and as a great improvement on the project of the late government. it is, the chancellor of the exchequer really thinks, a wise and well-digested measure, ripe with the experience of the last five months of discussion; but it is only the antechamber of an imperial palace; and your majesty would do well to deign to consider the steps which are now necessary to influence the opinions and affect the imagination of the indian populations. the name of your majesty ought to be impressed upon their native life. royal proclamations, courts of appeal, in their own land, and other institutions, forms, and ceremonies, will tend to this great result. [footnote : this was the third bill of the session, and was founded on the resolutions, _ante_, th april, , note . the government of india was transferred from the dual jurisdiction of the company and the board of control, to the secretary of state for india in council, the members of the council (after the provisions for representing vested interests should have lapsed) to be appointed by the secretary of state. a certain term of residence in india was to be a necessary qualification, and the members were to be rendered incapable of sitting in parliament, and with a tenure of office as assured as that of judges under the act of settlement.] [footnote : the letter is ante-dated. the th of june was a thursday.] [footnote : in consequence of the polluted condition of the thames, the government carried a measure enabling the metropolitan board of works, at a cost of £ , , , to purify "that noble river, the present state of which is little creditable to a great country, and seriously prejudicial to the health and comfort of the inhabitants of the metropolis."--extract from the queen's speech, at the close of the session.] [pageheading: indian civil service] [pageheading: the sovereign's prerogatives] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen in reading in the papers yesterday, on her way here from the camp, the debate in the house of commons of the previous night, was shocked to find that in several important points her government have surrendered the prerogatives of the crown. she will only refer to the clauses concerning the indian civil service and the right of peace and war. with respect to the first, the regulations under which servants of the crown are to be admitted or examined have always been an undoubted right and duty of the executive; by the clause introduced by lord stanley the system of "competitive examination" has been confirmed by act of parliament. that system may be right or wrong; it has since its introduction been carried on under the orders in council; now the crown and government are to be deprived of any authority in the matter, and the whole examinations, selection, and appointments, etc., etc., are to be vested in the civil commissioners under a parliamentary title. as to the right of the crown to declare war and make peace, it requires not a word of remark; yet lord stanley agrees to mr gladstone's proposal to make over this prerogative with regard to indian questions to parliament under the auspices of the queen's government; she is thus placed in a position of less authority than the president of the american republic.[ ] when a bill has been introduced into parliament, after having received the sovereign's approval, she has the right to expect that her ministers will not subsequently introduce important alterations without previously obtaining her sanction. in the first of the two instances referred to by the queen, lord stanley introduced the alteration himself; in the second he agreed to it even without asking for a moment's delay; and the opposition party, which attempted to guard the queen's prerogative, was overborne by the government leader of the house. the queen must remind lord derby that it is to him as the head of the government that she looks for the protection of those prerogatives which form an integral part of the constitution. [footnote : an important amendment made at the instance of mr gladstone provided that, except for repelling actual invasion or upon urgent necessity, the queen's indian forces should not be employed in operations outside india, without parliamentary sanction.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th july _. my truly beloved victoria,--nothing can be _kinder_ or more _affectionate_ than your dear letter of the th, and it would have done _your warm heart_ good to have _seen how much i have been delighted and moved by it_. i can only say that i love you both more tenderly than i could love my own children. when your plans will be nearer maturity, you will have the great kindness to let me know what will be your royal pleasure, to enable me _de m'y conformer bien exactement_. the feeling which occasions some grumbling at the cherbourg visit[ ] is in fact a good feeling, but it is not over-wise. two things are to be done--( ) to make every reasonable exertion to remain on personal good terms with the emperor--which can be done. one party in england says it is with the french nation that you are to be on loving terms; this _cannot_ be, as the french dislike the english as a nation, though they may be kind to you also personally. ( ) the next is, instead of a good deal of unnecessary abuse, to have the navy so organised that it can and must be superior to the french. all beyond these two points is sheer nonsense. after talking of chambord,[ ] to my utter horror he is here, and asked yesterday to see me to-day. it is not fair to do so, as the legitimists affect to this hour to consider [us] here as rebels. i could not refuse to see him, as, though distantly, still he is a relation; but i mean to do as they did in holland, to receive him, but to limit to his visit and my visit our whole intercourse. if he should speak to me of going to england, i certainly mean to tell him _que je considérais une visite comme tout à fait intempestive_.... your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : on the th of august, the queen and prince, accompanied by the prince of wales, visited the emperor and empress at cherbourg.] [footnote : see _ante_, th january, , and note .] [pageheading: british columbia] _queen victoria to sir e. bulwer lytton._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has received sir e. bulwer lytton's letter.[ ] if the name of new caledonia is objected to as being already borne by another colony or island claimed by the french, it may be better to give the new colony west of the rocky mountains another name. new hanover, new cornwall, and new georgia appear from the maps to be the names of sub-divisions of that country, but do not appear on all maps. the only name which is given to the whole territory in every map the queen has consulted is "columbia," but as there exists also a columbia in south america, and the citizens of the united states call their country also columbia, at least in poetry, "british columbia" might be, in the queen's opinion, the best name. [footnote : stating that objections were being made in france to the name of new caledonia being given to the proposed colony between the pacific and the rocky mountains.] [pageheading: army commissions] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has been placed in a most unpleasant dilemma by the last vote in the house of commons;[ ] she feels all the force of lord derby's objections to risking another defeat on the same question and converting the struggle into one against the royal prerogative; yet, on the other hand, she can hardly sit still, and from mere want of courage become a party to the most serious inroad which has yet been made upon it. it is the introduction of the principle into our legislation that the sovereign is no longer the source of all appointments under the crown, but that these appointments are the property of individuals under a parliamentary title, which the queen feels bound to resist. lord john russell's motion and sir james graham's speech only went to the civil appointments; but after their motion had been carried on a division, lord stanley gave way to sir de lacy evans also with regard to a _portion of the army!_ if this principle is recognised and sanctioned by the entire legislature, its future extension can no longer be resisted on constitutional grounds, and lord john in fact reminded lord stanley that the latter had stated that he only refrained from making the application general from thinking it _premature_, himself being of opinion that it ought to be carried further, and yet its extension to the army reduces the sovereign to a mere signing machine, as, to carry the case to its extreme consequence, _law_ would _compel_ her to sign the commission for the officers, and they might have the right to sue at law for the recovery of their property vested in them by act of parliament (viz., their commissions) if the crown doubted for any reason the fitness of an appointment!! have these consequences been considered and brought distinctly before parliament? it strikes the queen that all the commons want is a parliamentary security against the abolition of the competitive system of examinations by the executive. can this not be obtained by means less subversive of the whole character of our constitution? the queen cannot believe that lord derby could not find means to come to some agreement with the opposition, and she trusts he will leave nothing undone to effect this. [footnote : the lords amendments on the subject of competitive examination were rejected by a majority of thirteen in the commons, and, in the circumstances, lord derby had advised abiding by the decision and not risking another defeat.] [pageheading: naval estimates] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ osborne, _ nd august _. the queen feels it her duty to address a few lines to lord derby on the subject of the reports made to sir john pakington on the subject of the french naval preparations, to which she has already verbally adverted when she saw lord derby last. these reports reveal a state of things of the greatest moment to this country. it will be the first time in her history that she will find herself in an absolute minority of ships on the sea! and this inferiority will be much greater in reality than even apparent, as our fleet will have to defend possessions and commerce all over the world, and has even in europe a strategical line to hold extending from malta to heligoland, whilst france keeps her fleet together and occupies the centre of that line in europe. the queen thinks it irreconcilable with the duty which the government owes to the country to be aware of this state of things without straining every nerve to remedy it. with regard to men in whom we are also totally deficient in case of an emergency, a commission of enquiry is sitting to devise a remedy; but with regard to our ships and dockyards we require action, and immediate action. the plan proposed by the surveyor of the navy appears to the queen excessively moderate and judicious, and she trusts that the cabinet will not hesitate to empower its execution, bearing in mind that £ , spent now will probably do more work during the six or nine months for working before us, than £ , , would if voted in next year's estimate, letting our arrears in the dockyards, already admitted to be very great, accumulate in the interval. time is most precious under these circumstances! it is true that this sum of money would be in excess of the estimates of last session, but the queen feels sure that on the faith of the reports made by the admiralty, the government would find no difficulty in convincing parliament that they have been good stewards of the public money, in taking courageously the responsibility upon themselves to spend judiciously what is necessary, and that the country will be deeply grateful for the honesty with which they will have served her. the queen wishes lord derby to communicate this letter to the cabinet. _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ babelsberg, _ th august _. the queen has asked lord malmesbury to explain in detail to lord derby her objections to the draft of proclamation for india. the queen would be glad if lord derby would write it himself in his excellent language, bearing in mind that it is a female sovereign who speaks to more than , , of eastern people on assuming the direct government over them after a bloody civil war, giving them pledges which her future reign is to redeem, and explaining the principles of her government. such a document should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence, and religious feeling, pointing out the privileges which the indians will receive in being placed on an equality with the subjects of the british crown, and the prosperity following in the train of civilisation.[ ] [footnote : the draft proclamation was accordingly altered so as to be in strict harmony with the queen's wishes. see _post_, nd december, , and note .] [pageheading: proclamation for india] _queen victoria to lord stanley._ osborne, _ th september _. the queen sends to lord stanley a memorandum embodying her wishes with respect to the transaction of business between herself and the new secretary of state. he will find that she has omitted any reference to military appointments, as lord stanley seemed anxious to defer a settlement on this point; she expects, however, that in all cases in which her pleasure was taken by the commander-in-chief, even during the administration of the east india company and board of control, the same practice will be continued unaltered. the queen has received lord stanley's letter of yesterday. he has given her no answer with respect to sir james melvill.[ ] whenever the proclamation is finally printed, the queen would wish to have a copy sent her. a letter she has received from lady canning speaks of lord canning's supposed amnesty in oudh as a fabrication; she has sent the letter to lord derby. [footnote : the queen had asked how it was that sir j. melvill's name was not included among those submitted to her for appointments in connection with the new military organisation in india. sir james had been financial secretary, and afterwards chief secretary, for the east india company. he now became the government director of indian railways, and a member of the council of india.] _memorandum by queen victoria._ osborne, _ th september _. the queen wishes the practice of the office[ ] with reference to submissions to her to be as nearly as possible assimilated to that of the foreign office. all despatches, when received and perused by the secretary of state, to be sent to the queen. they may be merely forwarded in boxes from the office without being accompanied by any letter from the secretary of state, unless he should think an explanation necessary. no draft of instructions or orders to be sent out without having been previously submitted to the queen. the label on the boxes of the office containing such drafts to be marked "for approval." in cases of civil appointments the secretary of state will himself take the queen's pleasure before communicating with the gentlemen to be appointed. copies or a _précis_ of the minutes of the council to be regularly transmitted to the queen. the secretary of state to obtain the queen's sanction to important measures previously to his bringing them before the council for discussion. [footnote : the india office.] [pageheading: lord palmerston] _memorandum by the prince albert._ osborne, _ th september _. the most remarkable feature of the last session of parliament has been the extraordinary unpopularity of lord palmerston, for which nothing can account; the only direct reproach which is made to him, is to have appointed lord clanricarde privy seal, and to have been overbearing in his manner. yet a house of commons, having been elected solely for the object, and on the ground of supporting lord palmerston personally (an instance in our parliamentary history without parallel), holds him suddenly in such abhorrence, that not satisfied with having upset his government, which had been successful in all its policy, and thrown him out, it will hardly listen to him when he speaks. he is frequently received with hooting, and throughout the last session it sufficed that [he] took up any cause for the whole house voting against it, even if contrary to the principles which they had themselves advocated, merely to have the satisfaction of putting him into a minority. how can this be accounted for? the man who was without rhyme or reason stamped the only _english_ statesman, the champion of liberty, the man of the people, etc., etc., now, without his having changed in any one respect, having still the same virtues and the same faults that he always had, young and vigorous in his seventy-fifth year, and having succeeded in his policy, is now considered the head of a clique, the man of intrigue, past his work, etc., etc.--in fact hated! and this throughout the country. i cannot explain the enigma except by supposing that people had before joined in a cry which they thought was popular without themselves believing what they said and wrote, and that they now do the same; that the radicals used his name to destroy other statesmen and politicians, and are destroying him now in his turn; that they hoped to govern through him, and that they see a better chance now of doing it through a weak and incapable tory government which has entered into a secret bargain for their support. still the phenomenon remains most curious.[ ] [footnote : charles greville, in his journal ( th june ), noted the same circumstance, and drew the inference that palmerston's public career was drawing to a close.] lord palmerston himself remains, outwardly at least, quite cheerful, and seems to care very little about his reverses; he speaks on all subjects, bids for the liberal support as before, even at the expense of his better conviction (as he used to do), and keeps as much as possible before the public; he made an official tour in ireland, and is gone to visit the emperor napoleon at paris; his chinese policy upon which the general dissolution had taken place in has just been crowned by the most complete success by the advantageous treaty signed at pekin by lord elgin; and yet even for this the public will not allow him any credit. lady palmerston, on the contrary, is said to be very unhappy and very much hurt. albert. [pageheading: the ionian islands] _sir e. bulwer lytton to queen victoria._ colonial office, _ st november _. sir e. b. lytton, with his humble duty to the queen, submits to your majesty's pleasure the appointment of the right honourable w. e. gladstone, as special high commissioner to the ionian islands. differences of long standing between the executive and legislative branches of the ionian constitution, aggravated by recent dissensions between the senate and municipal magistrature, render it very expedient to obtain the opinion of a statesman of eminence, formed upon the spot, as to any improvements in the workings and results of the constitution which it might be in the power of the protecting sovereign to effect. and sir edward thinks it fortunate for the public service that a person so distinguished and able as mr gladstone should be induced to undertake this mission. sir edward ventures to add that, should her majesty be graciously pleased to approve this appointment, it is extremely desirable that mr gladstone should depart at the earliest possible day, and that sir edward may be enabled to make the requisite announcement to the lord high commissioner by the first mail. [pageheading: lord stanley and mr disraeli] [pageheading: suggested resignation] _mr disraeli to the prince albert._ grosvenor gate, _ th november _. (_wednesday night._) sir,--after the committee of the cabinet on the reform bill, which sat this morning for five hours, lord stanley expressed a wish to have some private conversation with me. although i would willingly have deferred the interview till a moment when i was less exhausted, i did not think it wise, with a person of his temperament, to baulk an occasion, and therefore assented at once. i give your royal highness faithfully, but feebly, and not completely, the results of our conversation. . with respect to the relations between his office and her majesty, he said he was conscious that they had been conducted with great deficiency of form, and, in many respects, in an unsatisfactory manner; but he attributed all this to the inexperience and "sheer ignorance" of a department which had not been accustomed to direct communication with the crown. some portion of this, he said, he had already remedied, and he wished to remedy all, though he experienced difficulties, on some of which he consulted me. he accepted, without reserve, and cordially, my position, that he must act always as the minister of the queen, and not of the council, but he said i took an exaggerated view of his relations with that body; that he thoroughly knew their respective places, and should be vigilant that they did [? not] overstep their limits; that he had never been, of which he reminded me, an admirer of the east india company, and had no intention of reviving their system; that the incident of submitting the legal case to the council, etc., had originated in a demand on the part of the commander-in-chief, which involved, if complied with, a grant of money, and that, under these circumstances, an appeal to the council was inevitable. . he agreed with me, that, on all military matters, he would habitually communicate with the commander-in-chief, and take his royal highness's advice on all such points; and that copies of all military papers, as i understood lord stanley, should be furnished to his royal highness. . having arrived at this point, i laid before him the views respecting _military unity_, which formed the subject matter of recent conversations. lord stanley assented to the principles which i attempted to enforce; and in reply to my reminding him that the old military system of india had entirely broken down, he said he contemplated terminating the independent authority of the commander-in-chief at the inferior presidencies, and of establishing the absolute and complete authority of her majesty's commander-in-chief in india. he did not seem to see his way to any further step at present, and i did not think it judicious on this occasion to press the subject further. throughout this interview, lord stanley's manner was candid, very conciliatory, and, for him, even soft. he was pleased to say that it was a source of great satisfaction to him that your royal highness had deigned to confer confidentially with me on the subject, and make me, as it were, a "mediator" on matters which, he assured me with great emphasis, had occasioned him an amount of anxiety almost intolerable. he had recurred, in the course of this interview, to a suggestion which he had thrown out on tuesday, viz. that the difficulties of the position might be removed, or greatly mitigated, by his retirement from the office, and accepting, if his continuance in the government was desirable, another post. i therefore thought it best at once to point out to him that such a course of proceeding would only aggravate all the inconveniences and annoyances at present existing; that his retirement would be the signal for exaggerated rumours and factious machinations, and would have the most baneful effect on the discussion in parliament generally of all those military topics with which we were threatened; that, far from being satisfactory to her majesty and your royal highness, i was convinced that the queen and yourself would hear of such an intention with regret. lord stanley ultimately adopted entirely this view of his position, and he parted from me with an earnest expression of his hope that the painful misconceptions which had prevailed might at once, or at least in due course, entirely disappear. this, sir, is a very imperfect report of an important interview, but, as i collected from lord stanley, that nothing was really settled in his conference on tuesday with lord derby and the lord chancellor, i have thought it my duty, without loss of time, to forward it to your royal highness, and have the honour to remain, ever, sir, your most obedient and sincerely obliged servant, b. disraeli. _the prince albert to mr disraeli._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my dear mr disraeli,--i am very much obliged to you for your long letter after a cabinet meeting of five hours, and subsequent interview with lord stanley, whom i am much pleased to hear you found so anxious to remedy the present state of things. i am glad that you made it clear to him that the queen had never connected in her mind the objections which she felt bound to take with anything personal, which could be removed by lord stanley's relinquishing the indian secretaryship. the difficulty would still remain to be solved, only under additional complication and disadvantage. lord derby told me to-day that he was drawing up a memorandum which, when seen by the chancellor and lord stanley, was to be submitted to the queen. ever yours truly, albert.[ ] [footnote : on the same day lord stanley wrote a lengthy letter to the queen justifying the course he had taken.] [pageheading: the india office] _queen victoria to lord stanley_. windsor castle, _ th november ._ the queen has received lord stanley's letter entering into the subject of the difficulties which have arisen in the conduct of the new indian department. she had from the first foreseen that it would not be an easy matter to bring the establishments of the old company's government to fall into the practice and usages of the constitutional monarchy, and was therefore most anxious that distinct rules should be laid down before the installation of the new government, which unfortunately was not done, but she trusts will now be devised and adopted. the queen most readily gives lord stanley credit for every intention to remove the obstacles in the way of the solution of these difficulties as far as he was able, but she cannot but fear that the particular form in which the opinion of the law officers has been asked, and the fact [that] the eighteen members of the council (all naturally wedded to a system under which they were trained) were made parties to the discussion between herself and her secretary of state on these difficulties--must increase instead of diminishing them. the account given by mr temple, together with the last printed letters and memoranda from the punjab, give us serious cause of apprehension for the future, and show that the _british_ army is the only safeguard at present. [pageheading: lord canning's proclamation] _queen victoria to viscount canning._[ ] windsor castle, _ nd december _. the queen acknowledges the receipt of lord canning's letter of the th october, which she received on the th november, which has given her great pleasure. it is a source of great satisfaction and pride to her to feel herself in direct communication with that enormous empire which is so bright a jewel of her crown, and which she would wish to see happy, contented, and peaceful. may the publication of her proclamation be the beginning of a new era, and may it draw a veil over the sad and bloody past! the queen rejoices to hear that her viceroy approves this passage about religion.[ ] she strongly insisted on it. she trusts also that the certainty of the amnesty remaining open till the st january may not be productive of serious evil. the queen must express our admiration of lord canning's own proclamation, the wording of which is beautiful. the telegram received to-day brings continued good news, and announces her proclamation having been read, and having produced a good effect. the queen hopes to hear from lord canning, whenever he can spare time to write. she misses hearing from lady canning, not having heard from her since the th august; but the queen fears that she is herself to blame, as she has not written to lady canning for a long time; she intends doing so by the next mail.... both the prince and herself hope that lord canning's health is now perfectly good, as well as dear lady canning's. we ask him to remember us to her, and also to lord clyde. the queen concludes with every wish for lord canning's success and prosperity, and with the assurance of her undiminished and entire confidence. [footnote : the queen's proclamation to her indian subjects had been received by lord canning on the th of october, when he also learned that the title of viceroy was in future to dignify the governor-general's office.] [footnote : "firmly relying ourselves on the truth of christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we disclaim alike the right and desire to impose our convictions on any of our subjects." the proclamation proceeded to state that all the queen's indian subjects should be impartially protected by the law, and live unmolested in the observance of their several religions.] [pageheading: france and italy] _the earl of malmesbury to queen victoria._ london, _ th december _. the earl of malmesbury presents his humble duty to the queen, and has already anticipated your majesty's wishes respecting the emperor napoleon.[ ] lord malmesbury has written to lord cowley a private letter, desiring him to show it to his majesty. it is in the same sense as your majesty's, and states that if he is anxious to improve the lot of the worst governed country, namely the papal states, he should, instead of sulking with austria, make an attempt with his catholic brother to ameliorate the papal government. it is not for protestant england to take the initiative, as her object would be misunderstood and attributed to sectarian motives; but england could give her moral support, and even her material aid _eventually_, if it were required to establish an improved administration of the roman states. austria would gain by having a quiet frontier. the correspondence which took place in and between lord clarendon and mr lyons shows that this is the only effective way of ameliorating the condition of italy without a war. lord malmesbury thinks he can assure your majesty that none is at present contemplated by the emperor napoleon (who has just contradicted the report officially), and count buol is of the same opinion. the latter is constantly hurting the vanity of the french government by his irritable despatches, and neither party makes the slightest effort to command their temper; but it appears impossible that napoleon can make a _casus belli_ against austria. besides this, your majesty may be assured that no warlike preparations are making in france, such as must precede such a plan as an italian war. lord malmesbury entirely agrees with your majesty that it is desirable that his royal highness the prince of wales should visit and remain at rome incognito. it is also indispensable that when there his royal highness should receive no foreigner or stranger _alone_, so that no reports of pretended conversations with such persons could be circulated without immediate refutation by colonel bruce. lord malmesbury will instruct mr odo russell to inform his holiness of your majesty's intentions in respect of the prince. [footnote : viz. that the emperor's mind should be diverted from his project of originating a war in italy. on the previous day lord malmesbury had written to the queen: "lord clarendon may have told your majesty that the emperor napoleon was so ignorant of the locality of villafranca that he looked for it on the map in the adriatic, and was confounded when lord clarendon showed his majesty that it was the port of nice and ten miles from his frontier!"] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th december _. my dearest uncle,--i wrote in such a hurry on wednesday that i wish to make amends by writing again to-day, and entering more properly into what _you_ wrote about in your kind letter.... i really _hope_ that there is no _real_ desire for war in the emperor's mind; we have also explained to him strongly how _entirely_ he would _alienate_ us from him if there was any _attempt_ to _disturb standing and binding treaties_. the empress-dowager of russia[ ] is very ill, they say, with bronchitis and fever. i did not tell you, that when we went on the nd to claremont i was _not_ pleased with the queen's appearance. she had had a slight cold, and i thought her very _feeble_. they keep her rooms so fearfully [hot] that it must really be _very_ weakening for her and predispose her to cold. i am ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the empress alexandra feodorovna (formerly the princess louise charlotte of prussia, sister to king frederick william iv.), widow of the emperor nicholas.] introductory note to chapter xxviii parliamentary reform was the question of the hour at the outset of the year , and the derby government, though with difficulty able to maintain itself in power, took the courageous step of introducing a reform bill, the chief feature of which was the introduction of a franchise based on personal property. mr walpole and mr henley thereupon withdrew from the ministry, and lord john russell, from below the gangway, proposed an amendment, protesting against interference with the established freehold franchise, and calling for a larger extension of the suffrage in towns. lord palmerston and the liberal opposition supported the amendment, while mr gladstone, who was opposed to most of the provisions of the bill, supported it in preference to the amendment, pleading, at the same time, for the retention of the small boroughs. the ministry were defeated, and parliament thereupon dissolved, but not until the civil functionaries and all ranks of the native and european army had received its thanks for the final suppression of the indian mutiny. the ministry gained twenty-five seats at the polls, but were still in a minority, and as soon as it was known that lord john russell and lord palmerston were reconciled, the end was in sight. a hostile amendment to the address was carried by a majority of thirteen, but on lord derby's resignation, the queen was placed in a dilemma by the competing claims of lord palmerston and lord john russell, who had each been prime minister and leader of the liberal party. unwilling to be compelled to decide between them, she called upon lord granville to form a ministry representative of all sections of the liberal party; but the difficulties proved insuperable, and lord palmerston eventually formed a ministry in which the whigs, the peelites, and the manchester school were all represented, though mr cobden declined to join the government. mr gladstone, who had returned from the mission he had undertaken for the derby cabinet, and voted with them in the critical division, became chancellor of the exchequer, and kept his seat for oxford university by a majority of nearly two hundred. the continent of europe was the scene of a contest between austria on the one hand, who was struggling to maintain her position in italy, and france with sardinia on the other. sardinia, under the guidance of cavour, had joined the alliance of england and france against russia; and in july an interview at plombières, under rather mysterious circumstances, between cavour and louis napoleon, led to effective confederacy; a marriage, arranged or suggested at the same time, between princess clothilde of sardinia and a cousin of the emperor, brought the two illustrious houses still closer together. in the spring of , sardinia prepared to take up arms to resist austrian predominance, and the assistance of the guerilla leader, garibaldi, was obtained. count cavour, in reply to interrogatories from the british government, stated officially his grievances against austria, while lord malmesbury despatched lord cowley on a special mission to vienna to mediate between austria and france. in april, however, after a curt summons to the sardinians to disarm had been disregarded, austria invaded piedmont, and victor emmanuel placed himself at the head of his army. the first engagement took place, with unfavourable results to the austrians, at montebello, followed by french victories at palestro and magenta. a revolution had meanwhile taken place in florence. the grand duke had fled, and a commissioner to administer the affairs of the grand duchy had been appointed by the king of sardinia with the assent of the tuscans, who now joined the franco-sardinian alliance, while risings also took place in parma and modena. the austrians were again defeated at malegnano, and, on the th of june, the french emperor and king victor emmanuel entered milan amid great enthusiasm. the bloody action of solferino was fought on the th of june, but on the th of july a treaty of peace was, somewhat unexpectedly, concluded between the french and austrian emperors at villafranca, under which an italian confederation was to be erected, lombardy substantially ceded to sardinia, the grand duke of tuscany and the duke of modena reinstated, and venetia, though included in the confederation, to remain subject to the imperial crown of austria; these preliminaries were subsequently converted into a definite treaty at zurich. meanwhile, the newly constituted representative assemblies in tuscany, romagna, and the duchies, unanimously pronounced for incorporation in the kingdom of victor emmanuel. at home, on the th of october, the queen opened the glasgow waterworks at the outflow of loch katrine, the construction of which had necessitated engineering operations at that time considered stupendous; a few days later an appalling shipping calamity occurred, in the wreck of the _royal charter_ near anglesey, and the loss of lives. chapter xxviii _queen victoria to sir edward bulwer lytton._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen returns mr gladstone's letters, and gladly accepts his patriotic offer.[ ] he will have difficulty in solving a delicate question, affecting national feeling, against time, but his offer comes most opportunely. [footnote : see _ante_, st november, . mr gladstone had been sent to enquire into the causes of the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of the ionian islands with their high commissioner, sir john young. he now offered to act himself for a limited time as high commissioner, should it be decided to recall sir john. he was succeeded in february by sir henry storks.] [pageheading: national defences] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle, _ th january _. as the cabinet are now meeting, and will probably come to a decision about the estimates for the year, the queen thinks it her duty to urge upon them in the strongest manner her conviction that, under the present aspect of political affairs in europe, there will be no safety to the honour, power, and peace of this country except in naval and military strength. the extraordinary exertions which france is making in her naval department oblige us to exercise the utmost vigour to keep up a superiority at sea, upon which our very existence may be said to depend, and which would be already lost at any moment that france were to be joined by any other country possessing a navy.[ ] the war in india has drained us of every available battalion. we possess at this moment only fourteen old battalions of the line within the three kingdoms, and twelve second battalions newly raised, whilst our mediterranean possessions are under-garrisoned, and alderney has not as yet any garrison at all. under these circumstances the queen has heard it rumoured that the government intend to propose a reduction on the estimates of , men for this year. she trusts that such an idea, if ever entertained, will upon reflection be given up as inconsistent with the duty which the government owe to the country. even if it were said that these , men have only existed on paper, and have not yet been raised, such an act at this moment would be indefensible; for it would require a proof that circumstances have arisen which make it desirable to ask for fewer troops than were considered requisite when the last estimates were passed, which really cannot be said to be the case! to be able to raise at any time an additional , men (in political danger) without having to go to parliament for a supplementary vote and spreading alarm thereby, must be of the utmost value to the government, and if not wanted, the vote will entail no additional expense. england will not be listened to in europe, and be powerless for the preservation of the general peace, which must be her first object under the present circumstances, if she is known to be despicably weak in her military resources, and no statesman will, the queen apprehends, maintain that if a european war were to break out she could hope to remain long out of it. for peace and for war, therefore, an available army is a necessity to her. the queen wishes lord derby to communicate this letter to the cabinet. [footnote : the french emperor had signalised the opening of a new year by an ominous speech. to m. hübner, the austrian ambassador at paris, who had attended, with the other foreign representatives, to offer the usual congratulations on the st of january, he observed: "i regret that the relations between our two governments are not more satisfactory; but i beg you to assure the emperor that they in no respect alter my feelings of friendship to himself."] [pageheading: the pope] [pageheading: the pope and lord palmerston] _mr odo russell[ ] to mr corbett._[ ] (_submitted to queen victoria_.) rome, _ th january _. sir,--i had the honour of being received by the pope at a private audience this morning at the vatican. no one else was present. his holiness, whose manner towards me was most kind and benevolent, said: "you are appointed to succeed a very good man,[ ] for whom i felt great affection, and i regret that he has left rome. you may be as good as he was, and we shall become friends, but i do not know you yet, and mr lyons i had known for many years; he is going to america, i hear, and he will find the americans far more difficult to deal with than with us. "i am much gratified to hear that the prince of wales is likely to visit rome, and her majesty, i feel sure, has done well to allow him to prosecute his studies here. it will be an honour to me to receive him at the vatican, and i beg that you will confer with cardinal antonelli[ ] as to the best means of making the prince's visit here useful and pleasant. we are anxious that all his wishes should be attended to, that he may preserve a pleasant recollection of rome in the future. alas! so many erroneous impressions exist about this country that i hope you will not judge of us too rashly. we are advised to make reforms, and it is not understood that those very reforms, which would consist in giving this country a government of laymen, would make it cease to exist. it is called 'states of the church' (_États de l' Église_), and that is what it must remain. it is true i have lately appointed a layman to a post formerly held by an ecclesiastic, and i may do so again occasionally; but, however small we may be, we cannot yield to outer pressure, and this country must be administered by men of the church. for my part, i shall fulfil my duties according to my conscience, and should governments and events turn against me they cannot make me yield. i shall go with the faithful to the catacombs, as did the christians of the early centuries, and there await the will of the supreme being, for i dread no human power upon earth and fear nothing but god." "but, holy father," i said, "you speak as if some great danger threatened rome--is there any [real?] cause for apprehension?" "have you not heard," his holiness answered, "that great excitement prevails throughout italy?--the state of lombardy is deplorable; evil spirits are at work even in my dominions, and the late speech of the king of sardinia is calculated to inflame the minds of all the revolutionary men of italy. it is true he says he will observe existing treaties, but that will scarcely counter-balance the effect produced by other portions of his speech. news has also reached me of an extensive amnesty granted by the king of naples--he did not yield to outer pressure, and he was right--but now, on the occasion of the marriage of his son, an act of clemency on his part is well advised." "is it true," i said, "that political prisoners are included in that amnesty?" "yes," his holiness answered; "i saw the name of settembrini, and i think also of that other man in whom your government took so much interest--his name begins with a 'p' if i remember rightly----" "poerio," i suggested. "that is the name," the pope continued; "and i fancy that all the other political prisoners will be released; they are to be sent to cadiz at the expense of the king, they are to be clothed and receive some money, i believe, and after that arrangements have been made with the minister of the united states to have them conveyed to that country; they are to be exiled for life. i hope this event may have the effect of making your government and that of france renew diplomatic relations with naples; i always regretted that rupture, but the king was right not to yield to outer pressure. "it is lucky," the pope ended with a smile, "that lord palmerston is not in office; he was too fond of interfering in the concerns of foreign countries, and the present crisis would just have suited him. _addio, caro_," the pope then said, and dismissed me with his blessing. i then, according to usage, called on cardinal antonelli, and recounted to him what had passed. he confirmed all the pope had said, but denied that there was any very serious cause for immediate apprehension of any general disturbance of the peace of italy. i have, etc., odo russell. [footnote : secretary of legation at florence, resident in rome, afterwards lord ampthill.] [footnote : secretary of legation at florence, afterwards successively minister at rio janeiro and stockholm.] [footnote : richard bickerton pemell lyons, who had just been transferred from rome to washington. he had recently succeeded his father, the admiral, in the barony of lyons, and was himself subsequently promoted to an earldom.] [footnote : secretary of foreign affairs for the papal states.] _the earl of malmesbury to queen victoria._ london, _ th january _. the earl of malmesbury presents his humble duty to the queen, and has the honour to inform your majesty that he has seen the french ambassador to-day, who came of his own accord to say that we need be in no apprehension, of a war _at present_, as the public opinion in france, especially in the large towns, had been so strongly pronounced against a war that it was impossible. lord malmesbury is also glad to inform your majesty that the cabinet has agreed to-day to make a great addition to the effective force of your majesty's navy. your majesty's commands are obeyed respecting the telegram to berlin. _the earl of malmesbury to queen victoria._ london, th _january _. the earl of malmesbury presents his humble duty to the queen, and regrets to say that he shares your majesty's apprehensions. the emperor is extremely irritated at our not concurring in his views on italy, and lord malmesbury believes that nothing will restrain him but the public opinion expressed against them, in france.[ ] austria has, against all our advice and common prudence, made a false move by sending troops into the papal states _against_ the wish of _the pope_, and is now obliged to recall them. the speech of your majesty is to be discussed in cabinet to-day. lord derby intended to introduce a paragraph stating that your majesty's alliance with france remained "unimpaired," but it now appears to us that such a statement might provoke a question "_why_" it should be made a special one. lord malmesbury entirely agrees with your majesty as to an allusion to treaties. [footnote : yet the emperor had just written to queen victoria on th january: "le corps législatif va bientôt s'ouvrir, presque en même temps que le parlement; je tâcherai d'exprimer dans mon discours tout le désir que j'ai de vivre toujours en bonne et sincère intelligence avec votre majesté et son gouvernement." early in february the pamphlet _napoléon et l'italie_, nominally written by m. de la guéronnière, but inspired by the emperor, foreshadowed the war in italy, and attempted to justify it.] [pageheading: lord canning] _queen victoria to lord stanley._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen thinks that the time is come when the bestowal of some honour or reward on lord canning ought no longer to be delayed. he has now nearly arrived at the end of his tremendous task of quelling the rebellion, and has triumphed over all his many difficulties. if any man deserves an acknowledgment of his services at the hands of the crown, it is surely he, and the queen would be sorry that the grace of it should be taken away from her by questions being asked in parliament when it is assembled again, which will now be the case very soon. a step in the peerage and the g.c.b. appear to the queen an appropriate reward. perhaps a pension should be awarded to him? lord elphinstone also ought not to be left unrewarded, and a step in the peerage with the g.c.b. does not appear too high an honour for him, for he also has greatly contributed to the saving to the indian empire.[ ] [footnote : lord canning was made an earl and lord elphinstone (who had been governor of bombay during the mutiny) a peer of the united kingdom, and both received the g.c.b.] [pageheading: the queen's first grandchild] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ nd february _. my dearest, kindest uncle,--accept my warmest thanks for your most kind letter of the th. i know how pleased you would be at the safety of our dear vicky, and at the birth of our first grandson![ ] everything goes on so beautifully, vicky recovering as fast and well as i did, and the dear little boy improving so much and thriving in every way.... the joy and interest taken _here_ is as great almost as in prussia, which is _very_ gratifying. i _think_ that _the speech_ will do good, but it has not been easy to frame it, as the feeling _against_ the _emperor here_ is _very strong_. i think _yet_ that if _austria_ is _strong_ and _well prepared,_ and _germany strong_ and _well inclined_ towards _us_ (as _prussia certainly_ is), france will _not_ be so eager to attempt what i _firmly_ believe would _end_ in the _emperor's_ downfall! old malakhoff _himself_ said to the duchess of wellington that if the french had the _slightest defeat ce serait fini avec la dynastie!_ a pretty speech for an ambassador, but a _very true one!_ pray say everything most kind to your dear children and believe me ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. we are just arrived here, and go back to windsor to-morrow _afternoon_. [footnote : frederick william victor albert, now german emperor, born on the th of january.] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ buckingham palace, _ rd february _. the queen has this moment received lord malmesbury's letter. as she has not yet written (only telegraphed) to announce to the emperor the birth of our grandson (we being in the habit since we know the emperor and empress personally to communicate to one another _reciprocally family events_), the queen has an opportunity or a pretext for writing to the emperor, and is therefore prepared to do so _to-morrow_. but as the terms to be used are of the most _vital_ importance, she would wish lord malmesbury to consult forthwith with lord derby, and to let her have "the matter" to be put into the letter _before_ the queen _leaves town_, which we do at half-past four this afternoon. [pageheading: letter to the emperor napoleon] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ rd february _. (_thursday_, p.m.) lord derby, with his humble duty, and in obedience to your majesty's commands, received within this half hour through lord malmesbury, submits the accompanying very hastily drawn sketch of the language which, in his humble opinion, your majesty might hold in a private and confidential letter to the emperor of the french. lord derby is not sure that it is what your majesty desired that he should submit; but he trusts that your majesty will be pleased to receive it as an attempt to obey your majesty's commands, and will excuse its many imperfections on account of the extreme haste in which it has unavoidably been written. "i cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of expressing confidentially to your imperial majesty my deep anxiety for the preservation of the peace of europe, nor can i conceal from myself how essentially that great object must depend upon the course which your imperial majesty may be advised to take. your majesty has now the opportunity, either by listening to the dictates of humanity and justice, and by demonstrating unmistakably your intention to adhere strictly to the faithful observance of treaties, of calming the apprehensions of europe, and restoring her confidence in your majesty's pacific policy; or, by permitting yourself to be influenced by the ambitious or interested designs of others, of involving europe in a war, the extent and termination of which can hardly be foreseen, and which, whatever glory it may add to the arms of france, cannot but interfere materially with her internal prosperity and financial credit. i am sure that your majesty will not doubt the sincerity of the friendship which alone induces me to write thus unreservedly to your majesty, and if anything could add to the sorrow with which i should view the renewal of war in europe, it would be to see your majesty entering upon a course with which it would be impossible for england to associate herself."[ ] [footnote : the queen accordingly wrote a letter, which is printed in the _life of the prince consort_, assuring the emperor that rarely had any man had such an opportunity as was now his for exercising a personal influence for the peace of europe, and that, by faithful observance of treaty obligations, he might calm international anxieties.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th february _. my dearest victoria,--... heaven knows what dance our emperor _napoléon troisième de nom_ will lead us. in a few days he will have to make his speech. i fear he is determined on that italian war. the discussions in parliament may influence him; i fear party spirit in lieu of a good and right sense of what is the interest of europe. it was praiseworthy that you said in your speech that _treaties_ must be respected, else indeed we return to the old _faustrecht_ we have been striving to get rid of. it is curious that your speech has made the funds fall again: i presume they hoped at paris that you would have been able to say that you congratulated parliament on the prospect of peace being preserved. for us poor people who find ourselves _aux premières loges_, these uncertainties are most unsatisfactory. your devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: the indian army] [pageheading: the queen and lord stanley] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle. _ th february _. with regard to a decision which will have to be taken when the report of the indian army commission shall have been received, the queen thinks it incumbent upon her not to leave lord derby in ignorance of her firm determination not to sanction, under any form, the creation of a british army, distinct from that known at present as the army of the crown. she would consider it dangerous to the maintenance of india, to the dependence of the indian empire on the mother country, and to her throne in these realms. such an army would be freed from the proper control of the constitutional monarchy. it would be removed from the direct command of the crown, and entirely independent of parliament. it would throw an unconstitutional amount of power and patronage into the hands of the indian council and government; it would be raised and maintained in antagonism to the regular army of the crown; and professional jealousy, and personal and private interests, would needs drive it into a position of permanent hostility towards that army. this hostility has been already strongly marked in the proceedings of the commission itself. its detrimental effects would not be confined to india alone, but would form a most dangerous obstacle to the maintenance of the government of the regular army by the queen. already, during the crimean war, most of the blows levelled at the army and the prerogative of the crown were directed by indian officers, of whom, in future, a vast number would be at home, without employment or recognised position, in compact organisation, and moved by a unity of feeling. there may be points of detail, admitting differences of opinion as to the relative advantages of a purely local or general military force for india; but these are mere trifles, which sink into insignificance in the queen's estimation, when she has to consider the duty which she owes to her crown and her country. the queen hopes lord derby will not consider that she intends, by this letter, unduly to influence his free consideration and decision as to the advice he may think it his duty to offer, but merely to guard against his being taken by surprise, and to prevent, if possible, an unseemly public difference between herself and lord stanley. she is impelled to the apprehension that such may arise from the manner in which, since the first transfer of the indian government to the crown, every act of lord stanley has uniformly tended to place the queen in a position which would render her helpless and powerless in resisting a scheme which certain persons, imbued with the old indian traditions, would appear to wish to force upon the crown. the queen does not expect an answer to this letter from lord derby, and asks him to treat it as strictly confidential. the queen sees that lord stanley means to make a statement on monday on the indian finances. she trusts that there will be nothing said in that statement to prejudge the army question. _decipher from lord cowley._ paris, _ th february _. ( a.m. _received_ a.m.) a great change for the better. the queen's letter has produced an excellent effect, as also the debates in parliament.[ ] the emperor has expressed himself ready to subscribe to every word of lord derby's speech. [footnote : parliament was opened by the queen in person on the rd; the ensuing debates, and especially the speeches of the liberal leaders, showed that, however much the english nation, as a whole, might sympathise with italian aspirations for the expulsion of the austrians from lombardy, they would regard unfavourably a war commenced in defiance of treaty obligations.] [pageheading: the indian army] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ th february _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty his respectful acknowledgment of the explicitness with which the letter he had the honour of receiving last night conveys to him the intimation of your majesty's views upon the important subject of the indian army. he cannot, however, disguise from your majesty the deep pain which that communication has occasioned him; first, that your majesty should think that lord stanley has so far mistaken his duty as systematically to place your majesty in a false position; and next because unless lord derby misconceives the purport of your majesty's letter, he fears that it may leave him no alternative but that of humbly entreating to be relieved from a responsibility which nothing should have induced him to undertake but a sense of duty to your majesty, and the conviction that he might rely with confidence upon your majesty's continued support. it would ill become lord derby to attempt to argue a question on which your majesty has expressed so strong a determination; he has studiously avoided taking any step which might prejudge a question so important as the organisation of your majesty's forces in india. he has awaited the report of the commission appointed to enquire into the subject, and though aware of the wide difference of opinion which prevailed, has desired impartially to weigh and examine the arguments adduced on both sides, and he has in the meantime refused to give his sanction to a proposition, earnestly pressed upon the government by lord canning, for immediately raising additional regiments for indian service. but the announcement of your majesty's determination (if he rightly understands it), under no circumstances to continue an european army in india, under terms of service different from those of the line, paid out of indian revenues, and officered by men educated for that especial service, and looking to india for their whole career, places lord derby in a position of no little embarrassment; for notwithstanding the gracious intimation that your majesty does not desire unduly to influence his judgment as to the advice which he may tender, it amounts to a distinct warning that if tendered in a particular direction it has no chance of being accepted by your majesty. nor, with that knowledge on his part not shared by his colleagues, can he freely discuss with them the course which they may consider it their duty to pursue. lord derby humbly trusts, therefore, that your majesty will be graciously pleased, so far as the members of the government are concerned, to absolve him from the obligation of secrecy, and to allow him to place before them a state of things which may lead to the most serious results, so far as their power of serving your majesty is concerned. lord derby will give lord stanley a caution not to say anything in his statement of indian finance which may prejudge the question of a single or separate armies; but he hardly thinks the caution necessary, as european troops, whether in one service or in two, will equally be chargeable to the revenues of india, which will only be affected by the proportion which the whole of the european may bear to the whole of the native forces. lord derby hopes that he may be permitted to offer his humble congratulations to your majesty on the very favourable reports received from paris by telegraph, and upon the highly satisfactory effects produced by your majesty's private letter to the emperor. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, derby. [pageheading: indivisibility of army] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen is very sorry to learn from lord derby's letter, received last evening, that her communication to him on the indian army question had caused him deep pain. she had long hesitated whether she should write it, from a fear that its purport and motive might possibly be misunderstood; but feeling that there ought to exist nothing but the most unreserved and entire confidence between herself and her prime minister, she thought it incumbent upon her to let lord derby see exactly what was passing in her mind. if, notwithstanding the queen's expressed hope that lord derby might not consider the communication as intended unduly to influence his free consideration of the important subject, he should feel that its possession, without being at liberty to communicate it to his colleagues, does so in effect, she would ask him to return it to her, and to consider it as not having been written. if he should think, however, that a communication of the queen's views to the cabinet is due to them, she is quite prepared to make one. in that case it would naturally have to be differently worded, would omit every reference to lord stanley, and might go more into detail. the queen cannot close this letter without correcting some misapprehensions into which lord derby seems to have fallen. it was not the queen's intention to impute any motives of systematic action to lord stanley; she referred simply to facts and steps, known as well to lord derby as to herself, which "uniformly tended" to place her in a powerless position with regard to the army question. the queen protested against "the _creation_ of a british army distinct (in its existence and constitutional position) from that of the crown," and not against the "_continuance_ of an european army, under terms of service different from the line, paid out of indian revenues, and officered by men educated for that special service, and looking to india for their whole career." in fact, she does not understand what meaning lord derby attaches to the words "terms of service." every force kept in india, however constituted, would be paid out of indian revenues. _this_ would therefore not form the distinction, and lord derby cannot intend to convey that on these revenues one set of englishmen can have a greater claim than another; nor does she see why english officers, commanding english soldiers and charged with the maintenance of _their_ discipline and efficiency, should for that object require to be specially and differently educated, and be restricted to look to india for their whole career. officers attached to native troops are in a different position. [pageheading: misapprehension removed] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ th february _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty his grateful acknowledgments for your majesty's most gracious note received this evening, the contents, and still more the tenor of which have relieved him from the painful apprehension that he might be called upon to choose between a strong sense of public duty, and, on the other side, his deep devotion to your majesty's service, and his gratitude for the favourable consideration which his imperfect attempts to discharge his public duty had always received at your majesty's hand. the explanation, with which he has now been honoured, of your majesty's views has entirely dispelled those apprehensions, and he feels that he has only to thank your majesty for the gracious explanation, with which he has been honoured, of your majesty's motives in addressing to him the letter which certainly caused him "deep pain."...[ ] [footnote : lord derby then proceeded to deal at some length with the status of the troops in india, concluding with the opinion that the local forces in india should never exceed those sent from home as part of the regular army, subject to the ordinary routine of service.] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen has received lord derby's letter of yesterday, and is pleased to find that he now appreciates the motives which dictated her first letter. it needs no assurance on her side that she never doubted those which actuate lord derby. the queen will, in compliance with his request, defer any further notice of the subject until the commissioners shall have made their report; it would not be fair, however, to lord derby, not to add that she fears from his explanation that he has not now correctly estimated the nature of the queen's objection, which is not to a variety of forces, terms of service, local or general employment, etc., etc., etc., established in one army, but to the principle of _two_ british armies. [pageheading: the emperor's speech] _queen victoria to general peel._[ ] _ th february _. the queen relies with confidence that when the question of the indian army comes before the cabinet, general peel will stoutly defend the interests of the crown and the british army. on the opinion which he will give and maintain much of their decision must depend, and unless he speaks out boldly the indian secretary will have it all his own way. [footnote : general jonathan peel, brother of sir robert peel (the premier), and secretary of state for war.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--we came here to _settle_ yesterday--and also here spring seems _wonderfully forward!_ it can't last--and frost is _sure_ to _follow_ and cut off everything. at windsor and frogmore everything is budding--willow i see is green--rose-leaves _out_, and birds singing like in may! accept my warmest thanks for your kind letter of the th. i _still_ hope that matters _will cool_ down--the emperor _personally_ expressed regret to hübner for his words, disclaiming the construction put upon them, and saying that _no one could dispute_ the right of austria to her italian possessions.[ ] he has not written to me lately, but i wrote him ten days ago a long friendly letter, speaking out _plainly_ our fears for the future, and urging him to aid us in averting the calamity of _war_.... our parliament is as quiet as possible as _yet_, but it will soon have more cause for _action_ and excitement.... bertie's interview with the pope went off extremely well. he was extremely kind and gracious, and colonel bruce was present; it would never have done to have let bertie go alone, as they might hereafter have pretended, god knows! what bertie had said.... with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see _ante_, th january, , note .] [pageheading: the emperor of austria] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ downing street, _ st february _. lord derby, with his humble duty, and in obedience to the commands which he had the honour of receiving from your majesty last night, submits the following suggestions, as embodying the substance of what, in his humble judgment your majesty might address with advantage in a private letter to the emperor of austria. your majesty might say, that deeply penetrated with the conviction of the duty imposed upon your majesty of acting on the principles enunciated in the speech from the throne, of exercising whatever influence your majesty could employ for the preservation of the general peace, your majesty had looked with anxiety to the circumstances which threatened its continued existence. that your majesty was unable to see in those circumstances, any which were beyond the reach of diplomatic skill, if there were only a mutual desire, on the part of the chief powers concerned, to give fair play to its exercise. that the only source of substantial danger was the present state of italy; and that even in that there would be little danger of interruption to the general tranquillity, were it not for the antagonism excited by interests and engagements, real or supposed, of france and austria. that your majesty believed that the supposed divergence of these interests and engagements might be capable of reconciliation if entered into with mutual frankness, and with a mutual disposition to avoid the calamities of war; but that, as it appeared to your majesty, neither party would be willing to invite the other to a friendly discussion of the points of difference between them. that in this state of affairs your majesty, as a mutual friend of both sovereigns, and having no individual interests to serve, entertained the hope that by the spontaneous offer of good offices, your majesty might be the means of establishing certain bases, on which the powers mainly interested might subsequently enter into amicable negotiations with regard to the questions chiefly in dispute, or threatening serious results. of these, the most pressing are those which relate to the italian peninsula. that your majesty, anxiously revolving in your mind the question how your majesty's influence could best be brought to bear, had come to the conclusion that your majesty's ambassador at paris, having the fullest knowledge of the views entertained by that court, and possessing your majesty's entire confidence, might usefully be intrusted with a highly confidential, but wholly unofficial mission, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there were any possibility consistently with the views of the two courts of offering such suggestions as might be mutually acceptable as the basis of future arrangements; and, if such should happily be found to be the case, of offering them simultaneously to the two parties, as the suggestions of a mutual friend. that your majesty trusted his r.i.a.[ ] majesty would look upon this communication in the truly friendly light in which it was intended, and that lord cowley, in his unofficial and confidential character, might be permitted fully to develop the views which your majesty entertained, and to meet with the most favourable consideration of his suggestions from his r.i.a. majesty. lord derby, before submitting the above to your majesty, has thought it right to communicate it to lord malmesbury and lord cowley, and he is enabled to say that it meets with their entire concurrence.[ ] he will be highly gratified if he is permitted to know that it is honoured by your majesty's gracious approval. all which is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, derby. [footnote : royal and imperial apostolic.] [footnote : the queen acted on this advice, and wrote a letter on the nd to the emperor of austria, on the lines of lord derby's suggestions. the material parts of it are printed in the _life of the prince consort_, vol. iv. chap. .] [pageheading: church rates] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ st february _. (_monday._) the chancellor of the exchequer, with his humble duty to your majesty, informs your majesty that the government measure on church rates was introduced to-night, in a very full house, and was received with so much favour that the chancellor of the exchequer has every belief that it will pass. this is very unexpected, and the satisfactory settlement of this long agitated and agitating question will be a great relief to public life, and tend to restore and augment the good-humour of the country.[ ] it is generally rumoured that, on friday next, lord palmerston is to move a vote of censure upon your majesty's government with respect to their foreign policy. the chancellor of the exchequer scarcely credits this, and would rather suppose that the formal censure will take the shape of a rattling critique, preceding some motion for papers. [footnote : since the braintree case in , no rate could legally be levied except by the majority of the rate-payers. the present bill was designed to exempt dissenters from payment, excluding them at the same time from voting on the subject in the vestry meeting. sir john trelawney, the leader of the abolitionist party in the house, however, procured the rejection of the proposed measure, and a solution was not arrived at till .] [pageheading: lord cowley's mission] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ st march _. my dearest uncle,--many thanks for your kind letter of the th. matters remain much in the same state. lord cowley arrived on sunday at vienna, but we know nothing positive yet. i much fear the obstinacy of austria. it will indeed be a blessing if _we_ could do something not only to avert the war for the present, but to prevent the _causes_ of it, for the future. nothing but improvement in the italian governments _can_ bring about a _better state_ of things. what is _really_ the matter with the king of naples[ ]? we found the poor queen really very tolerably well at claremont on saturday. she is decidedly better than when we saw her at the end of november. poor joinville is suffering from an accident to his bad knee. here our reform bill has been brought in yesterday.[ ] it is moderate, and ... [lord john] has therefore allied himself with mr bright and mr roebuck against it! he has _no_ other followers. the debate on foreign affairs on friday was extremely moderate, and can only have done good.[ ] it is rumoured that you are going to berlin to the christening, but i doubt it! oh! dearest uncle, it _almost breaks_ my heart _not_ to witness our _first grandchild_ christened! i don't think i _ever_ felt so bitterly disappointed _about anything_ as about this! and then it is an _occasion_ so gratifying to both _nations_, which brings them _so much_ together, that it is _most_ peculiarly mortifying! it is a _stupid law_ in prussia, i must say, to be so particular about having the child christened so soon. however, it is now no use lamenting; please god! we shall be more fortunate another time! with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. affectionate love to your children. when does philip go to italy? [footnote : ferdinand ii., known as bomba, died on the nd of may in the same year.] [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxviii.] [footnote : in this debate lord palmerston urged the ministry to mediate between austria and france, in order to obtain their simultaneous withdrawal from rome, and mr disraeli announced the confidential mission of lord cowley as "one of peace and conciliation."] [pageheading: the emperor's reply] _the emperor of austria to queen victoria._ vienne, _le mars _. madame et chÈre s[oe]ur,--j'ai reçu des mains de lord cowley la lettre que votre majesté a bien voulu lui confier et dont le contenu m'a offert un nouvel et précieux témoignage de l'amitié et de la confiance qu'elle m'a vouées, ainsi que des vues élevées qui dirigent sa politique. lord cowley a été auprès de moi le digne interprète des sentimens de votre majesté, et je me plais à lui rendre la justice, qu'il s'est acquitté avec le zèle éclairé, dont il a déjà fourni tant de preuves, de la mission confidentielle dont il était chargé. j'ai hautement apprécié les motifs qui vous ont inspiré la pensée de m'envoyer un organe de confiance pour échanger nos idées sur les dangers de la situation. je m'associe à tous les désirs, que forme votre majesté pour le maintien de la paix, et ce n'est pas sur moi que pèsera la responsabilité de ceux, qui évoquent des dangers de guerre sans pouvoir articuler une seule cause de guerre. lord cowley connaît les points de vue auxquels j'envisage les questions qui forment l'objet ou le prétexte des divergences d'opinion qui subsistent entre nous et la france; il sait aussi que nous sommes disposés à contribuer à leur solution dans l'esprit le plus conciliant, en tant qu'on n'exige pas de nous des sacrifices que ne saurait porter aucune puissance qui se respecte. je forme des v[oe]ux pour que votre majesté puisse tirer parti des élémens que lui apportera son ambassadeur, dans l'intérêt du maintien de la paix que nous avons également à c[oe]ur. mais quelles que soient les chances et les épreuves que l'avenir nous réserve, j'aime à me livrer à l'espoir que rien ne portera atteinte aux rapports d'amitié et d'union que je suis heureux de cultiver avec votre majesté, et que ses sympathies seront acquises à la cause que je soutiens et qui est celle de tous les États indépendans. c'est dans ces sentimens que je renouvelle à votre majesté l'assurance de l'amitié sincère et de l'inaltérable attachement avec lesquels je suis, madame et chère s[oe]ur, de votre majesté, le bon et dévoué frère et ami, franÇois joseph. [pageheading: a proposed conference] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ _ th march ._ the queen has received lord malmesbury's letter[ ] written before the cabinet yesterday. the memorandum of lord cowley and the telegrams from vienna give better hopes of the idea of congress or conference leading to a good result. everything will now depend upon the emperor napoleon's acceptance of the conditions on which austria is willing to agree to a conference. the queen would like to have a copy of lord cowley's memorandum.[ ] [footnote : lord cowley had returned from his mission to vienna, and was now again at paris. the complexion of affairs had been changed by a suggestion on the part of russia (which may or may not have been ultimately prompted from paris) for a conference between england, france, austria, prussia and russia, to settle the italian question. cavour pressed for the admission of piedmont to the conference.] [footnote : lord malmesbury's letter to lord cowley, written immediately after the cabinet, enjoined him to impress upon the emperor that england would only address herself to the four points--evacuation of the roman states by foreign troops, reform, security for sardinia, and a substitute for the treaties of between austria and the duchies.] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ osborne, _ nd march _. the queen thanks lord malmesbury for his communication of yesterday, which she received this morning. she quite approves the steps taken by the government,[ ] and concurs in lord malmesbury's views. if the understanding about a conference first of the five powers, and then of the italian states with them, _could be_ so far come to that france and austria agree with us upon the conditions on which it is to take place, we need not wait for russia's proposing it. she is evidently playing, as she always does, a double game, and from sir john crampton's[ ] letter it appears that she never meant to propose a congress, but merely to _accept_ one, for ulterior objects. [footnote : an attempt to obtain the disarmament of austria and sardinia, and a proposal to obtain the co-operation of france, in guaranteeing to defend sardinia against invasion by austria for five years, unless sardinia left her own territory. on the rd, lord malmesbury wrote that all the great powers, except austria, had agreed to a congress upon the conditions laid down by the british government.] [footnote : english ambassador at st petersburg, formerly minister at washington; see _ante_, th december, , note . he had succeeded to the baronetcy in .] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ osborne, _ th march _. the queen trusts that lord malmesbury will act with the utmost circumspection in answering the many telegrams crossing each other from all directions respecting the proposed congress. an understanding with austria on every point ought, if possible, to precede our giving our opinion to france or russia. if they can _once_ get the powers to agree upon a point upon which austria disagrees, they have won the game, and the emperor can proceed to his war, having a declaration of europe against austria as his basis. _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen has marked a passage in this draft, which she thinks it would be advisable to modify--so as not to _put_ upon _record_ (should the austrians refuse to give way on this point) that we consider their conduct as "_reckless_." should they persist, they would certainly not meet with as much sympathy as they would do if they yielded, and such a course on their part would be very much to be regretted, as we consider every sacrifice small, in comparison to the blessings of preserving peace; but still austria would have a perfect right to stand out--and we originally supported her in this demand. if something which _expressed_ the _above_ sentiments and opinions could therefore be substituted for the present passage, the queen thinks it would be very desirable _for the future_, both as regards austria and england. [pageheading: england and austria] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ downing street, _ st april _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty that it has appeared to him, in consultation with his colleagues, with the exception of lord hardwicke and sir john pakington, who are out of town, that the only step which can properly be taken at present is to protest strongly against the course which austria is now taking, and to warn her that whatever may be the results to herself, she deprives herself of all claim to the support or countenance of england.[ ] your majesty will see by another telegram, received a few minutes ago from lord cowley, that hübner!! advises that england should threaten to come to the aid of sardinia, if the contemplated invasion should take place! your majesty's servants are not, however, prepared to take so strong a step, which would commit them to measures to which they might be unable at the moment to give due effect; and which, if austria were to disregard the measure, would involve them in war as the allies of france. they have therefore limited themselves to a protest, the terms of which will require to be very carefully considered before it is embodied in a despatch. lord malmesbury will submit to your majesty by this messenger the terms of his telegram.... to appeal at once to arms, when no question, except this of form, remained unsettled as to the meeting of congress, and the subjects to be then discussed, had been unanimously agreed to, appears to lord derby to indicate a reckless determination to go to war which it will be very difficult to justify in the eyes of europe. _for the moment_ these events rather diminish than increase the probability of a rupture with france, while they will task her means to the uttermost, and not improbably overthrow her personal dynasty! [footnote : on the th, count buol despatched an emissary, baron kellersberg, to turin, with a summons to sardinia to disarm, under the threat of immediate hostilities if she declined. sardinia indignantly refused, whereupon the austrian troops crossed the ticino.] [pageheading: war imminent] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th april _. my dearest uncle,--i hardly know _what_ to say, so confused and bewildered are we by the reports which come in three or four times a day! i have _no hope_ of peace _left_. though it is _originally_ the wicked folly of russia and france that have brought about this fearful crisis, it is the madness and blindness of austria which have brought on the war _now!_[ ] it has put _them_ in the wrong, and entirely changed the feeling here, which was all that one could desire, into the most _vehement_ sympathy for _sardinia_, though we hope now again to be able to _throw_ the blame of the war on france, who _now_ won't hear of mediation, while austria is again inclined to do so! it is a melancholy, sad easter; but what grieves me the most (indeed, distracts me)--for i have had nothing but disappointments in that quarter since november--is that in all probability vicky will be unable to come in may! it quite _distracts me_. you also must be very anxious about dear charlotte; i hope she will not remain at trieste, but go to vienna. her being in italy is really _not_ safe.... now with kind loves to your children, ever your affectionate and devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : referring to an understanding reported to have been arrived at between france and russia, the suspicion of which created great indignation in england. prince gortschakoff and the french emperor, in answer to enquiries, gave conflicting explanations.] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ roehampton, _ th april _. ... lord derby has thought it necessary, in consequence of the attitude assumed by russia, notwithstanding her assurances that there is nothing hostile to england in her secret treaty with france, to call upon sir j. pakington to say what addition could be made to the channel fleet within a period of two or three months, without weakening that in the mediterranean. he has the honour of enclosing the answer, which he has just received by messenger. lord derby proposes to go up to town to confer with sir j. pakington on this important subject to-morrow, and lord malmesbury has summoned a cabinet for friday to consider the general state of affairs. france having absolutely refused the proffered mediation of england, and austria having only accepted it under the condition of the disarmament of sardinia, every effort to preserve the peace has been exhausted; and it only remains for this country to watch the course of events, to protect her own interests, and to look out for any opportunity which may offer to mediate between the contending parties. this policy, announced by lord derby in the city on monday,[ ] was received with unanimous approval. it will require a great deal to induce the country to be drawn into a war under any circumstances, and lord derby's anxious efforts will not be wanting to avoid it as long as possible. [footnote : he had there described austria's action as hasty, precipitate, and (because involving warfare) criminal, but the government would still (he added) strive to avert war, by urging austria, under the treaty of paris, to invoke the mediation of the powers. the derby government, however, were supposed to be giving encouragement to austria. see lord derby's letter of the nd of june, _post_.] [pageheading: lord derby's policy] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ windsor castle, _ th april _. the queen has read the last telegrams with much pain, as they show that there is no chance left of stopping war. indeed she thinks, considering the progress of revolution in the duchies, and the daily increase of military strength of france and financial exhaustion of austria, that it would not be morally defensible to try to restrain austria from defending herself while she still can. count buol's proposal to continue negotiations during the fight sounds strange, but ought not to be altogether put aside. the king of sardinia's assumption of the government of tuscany[ ] and military occupation of massa-carrara form gross infractions of the treaties of and international law, and can hardly be left without a protest from us. has lord derby heard that a russian fleet is expected soon to appear in the black sea? the queen has just heard it from berlin, where it is supposed to be certain, and it would explain lord cowley's report of (the queen believes) prince napoleon's[ ] account of the russian engagements, which are admitted to contemplate a junction of the french and russian fleets to defend the treaty closing the dardanelles. [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxviii. the duchy of modena and the grand duchy of tuscany were in revolution, and the duchy of parma soon followed their example.] [footnote : see _post_, st may, , note .] [pageheading: france and russia] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ roehampton, _ st may _. (_sunday night_, p.m.) ... lord derby entirely concurs in your majesty's opinion that no credit is to be attached to the denials of the french or russian governments in regard to the engagements subsisting between them.[ ] it is very easy to convey denials in terms which are literally true, but practically and in spirit false; and lord derby has no doubt but that france is well assured that in any case she may rely upon the tacit assistance, if not the active co-operation, of russia; and that both powers are using their utmost endeavours to excite troubles in the east, as well as in italy, as the result of which france may gratify her cherished designs of ambition in the latter, while russia carries on her projects of aggrandisement in the former. this is a lamentable state of affairs; but it is lord derby's duty to assure your majesty that no government which could be formed in this country could hope to carry public opinion with it in taking an active part, as matters now stand, in opposition to france and russia, if in truth they are acting in concert, as lord derby believes that they are. all that can be done is to maintain the principle of strict neutrality in regard to the affairs of italy, and probably of montenegro also, though there is not sufficient evidence of facts in that case to justify a positive conclusion. but in the meantime everything shows more conclusively the absolute necessity for the increase of your majesty's naval force,[ ] which was determined at the council yesterday, and respecting which it will be necessary, on the very first day of the meeting of the new parliament, to call for an explicit expression of opinion. your majesty enquires as to a supposed pledge given by the emperor of the french as to a denial of any treaty with sardinia. so far as lord derby can recollect at this moment, there never was more than an assurance that so long as austria remained within her own limits, he would not interfere; and that he would not support sardinia, unless she were herself invaded in any _unjustifiable_ attack on austria; and there was also a denial in the _moniteur_, to which your majesty probably refers, of there having been any engagement entered into _as a condition of the marriage_.[ ] these are just the denials to which lord derby has already adverted, which appear at first sight satisfactory, but which may be afterwards explained away, so as to escape the charge of absolute falsehood. lord derby trusts that your majesty will have understood, and excused, his absence from the council on saturday, in consequence of the misunderstanding as to the time appointed. [footnote : lord cowley, in a letter of the th of april to lord malmesbury, described an interview with the emperor of the french, when the latter denied in terms the existence of a signed treaty between france and russia. but, as lord cowley added, there might be moral engagements which might easily lead to a more specific alliance.] [footnote : the emperor had interrogated lord cowley as to this.] [footnote : in july , the joint action of france and sardinia had been concerted at the confidential interview at plombières, between the emperor and cavour, the former undertaking to assist sardinia, under certain contingencies, against austria. on the same occasion the marriage was suggested of the princess clothilde of sardinia to the prince napoleon joseph paul, son of prince jerome napoleon bonaparte. an interesting account of the events of this time, and of the character and aims of cavour, will be found in de la gorce's _histoire du second empire_; see especially vol. ii. book .] [pageheading: the position of france] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ windsor castle, _ rd may _. the queen has carefully read the enclosed draft. she thinks that, without saying anything offensive to france,[ ] this important document would not place matters before that power in the world in accordance with the facts, and would lead to erroneous inferences if it left out altogether, as it does, any reference to the responsibility which france has had in bringing about the present state of affairs.... austria and sardinia are spoken of as the offenders, and blamed, not without sufficient ground, for the parts which they have respectively acted, and france is treated as if standing on a line with us in fostering civilisation, liberty, and peace. the inference would be that _we_ forsake her in her noble course, and deserve again the name of "_perfide albion_." the queen would ask lord malmesbury to consider this. for the sake of showing how she thinks the omissions dangerous to our position might be supplied, she has added some pencil remarks. [footnote : _i.e._, if the despatch were to abstain from reprobating the french policy.] [pageheading: the general election] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ rd may _. dearest uncle,--many thanks for you dear, kind letter of the th. god knows we _are_ in a sad mess. the rashness of the austrians is indeed a _great_ misfortune, for it has placed them in the wrong. still there is _one_ universal feeling of _anger_ at the conduct of france, and of _great suspicion_. the treaty with russia is _denied_, but i am perfectly certain that there _are engagements_.... here the elections are not as satisfactory as could be wished, but the government still think they will have a clear gain of to seats, which will make a difference of or votes on a division. it gives unfortunately no majority; still, it must be remembered that the opposition are very much divided, and not at all a compact body, which the supporters of the government are.[ ] lord john has been holding moderate and prudent language on foreign affairs, whereas lord palmerston has made bad and mischievous speeches, but _not_ at all in accordance with the feelings of the country. the country wishes for strict neutrality, but strong defences, and we are making our navy as strong as we can. you ask me if louis oporto[ ] is grown? he is, and his figure much improved. he is a good, kind, amiable boy whom one must like. he has sailed this morning with the bridegroom, and on the th or th we may expect them back with the dear young bride. i venture to send you a letter i received some days ago from dear vicky, and the religious tone of which i think will please you. may i beg you to return it me, as her letters are very valuable to me?... we are well fagged and worked and worried; we return to town to-morrow afternoon. with kindest love to your children, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : after their defeat on the st of april on the proposed reform bill, the ministry had dissolved parliament, and had gained in the elections twenty-five seats--not enough to counterbalance the palmerstonian triumph of . if, therefore, the various sections of the liberal party could unite, the displacement of the derby government was inevitable. such a combination was, in fact, arranged at a meeting at willis's rooms organised by lord palmerston, lord john russell, mr bright and mr sidney herbert.] [footnote : brother and successor of king pedro v. of portugal, and father of king carlos. the king had married in may the duchess stéphanie (born ), daughter of prince antoine of hohenzollern.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. my dearest uncle,--i write to-day instead of to-morrow to profit by the return of your messenger. many, many thanks for your dear letter of the th. what _are_ the austrians about? they would _not_ wait when they ought to have done so, and _now_ that they should have long ago made a rush and an attack with their overwhelming force, they do _nothing!_ nothing since the th! leaving the french to become stronger and more _fit_ for the struggle every day!! it is indeed distracting, and most difficult to understand them or do anything for them. the emperor leaves paris for genoa to-morrow. it is _not_ true that the empress was so warlike; lord cowley says, on the contrary, she is very unhappy about it, and that the emperor himself is low and altered. old vaillant goes with him as general-major.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: policy of the emperor napoleon] _the earl of malmesbury to queen victoria._ _ th may ._ the earl of malmesbury presents his humble duty to the queen, and has the honour to inform your majesty that count de persigny[ ] called on him yesterday. he passed an hour in attempting to prove what it seems he really believes himself--that the emperor had no plan or even intention to make war in italy; that his imperial majesty was drawn into it step by step by m. de cavour, who finally menaced to publish his most confidential correspondence, etc.; that his army was totally unprepared, and is now in a very imperfect state, and that he himself was overcome with surprise and fear when he learnt in the middle of last month that the austrians had , men on the ticino.[ ] the emperor, however, now believes that he will easily gain a _couple_ of victories, and that when he has _rejeté les autrichiens dans leur tanière_ (by which he means their great fortresses), he will return to govern at paris, and leave a marshal to carry on the sieges and the war. m. de persigny's letters of appointment are not yet signed, and must go to italy to be so. he stated that a week ago he was named minister of foreign affairs, and that fould,[ ] walewski, and others were to be dismissed, but that two days before the emperor's departure madame walewska[ ] and the empress had on their knees obtained a reprieve, and that m. de persigny was ordered to come here _sans raisonner_... [footnote : who had been re-appointed to london, where marshal pélissier, duc de malakhoff, had replaced him in . see _ante_, rd march, . both malakhoff and walewski were out of sympathy with the emperor's present policy.] [footnote : sir james hudson, in a letter written at turin on the th of february, and shown to queen victoria, described an interview with cavour, who, in answer to the direct question, "do you mean to attack austria?" replied that the italian question was becoming so complex that it was impossible to say what might happen. sir j. hudson added that he had learned confidentially that the understanding on the same subject between cavour and the emperor napoleon was complete, and that it had been expressed thus: "non seulement nous prendrons la première occasion de faire la guerre à l'autriche, mais nous chercherons un prétexte."] [footnote : achille fould, a jewish banker, was a colleague of walewski, though not a loyal one, in the french government.] [footnote : madame walewska was a florentine by birth, descended on her mother's side from the princely family of poniatowski.] [pageheader: attitude of russia] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen was much surprised to receive the enclosed telegram. an alliance with russia to _localise_ and _arrest_ the war by joint interference, which is here proposed to russia, is a policy to which the queen has not given her sanction, and which would require very mature deliberation before it could ever be entertained. the queen is much afraid of these telegraphic short messages on principles of policy, and would beg lord malmesbury to be most cautious as they may lead us into difficulties without the possibility of previous consideration. how can we propose to join russia, whom we know to be pledged to france? the queen hopes lord malmesbury will stop the communication of this message, to prince gortschakoff.[ ] [footnote : a telegram had been received from st petersburg, saying that prince gortschakoff entirely coincided with lord malmesbury's views as to localising the war; and lord malmesbury had proposed to send a telegraphic reply containing the words: "we are anxious to unite with russia, not only in localising the war, but in arresting it."] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ osborne, _ nd may _. in answer to lord derby's letter of yesterday referring to the importance of concerting with russia the best modes of preventing the extension of the war, the queen wishes merely to observe: that russia has acknowledged her desire to see the austrians defeated, and her indifference to the maintenance of the treaties of ; france wages war to drive the austrians out of italy, wresting from them the italian provinces secured to them by those treaties; and that the queen has declared from the throne her adhesion to these treaties to which parliament unanimously responded. france and russia may therefore have an interest, and indeed _must_ have one, in not being disturbed in any way in the prosecution of their italian scheme. england can have no such interest. if france prove successful, the territorial arrangements of europe, in which england has found safety, and which she helped to establish in order to obtain safety against france after a war of twenty years' duration, will be subverted, and she herself may some day (perhaps _soon_) have her own safety imperilled. the saxon provinces of prussia will be in much greater danger when france shall have destroyed austria in italy and ruined her at home, than while the latter remains a powerful member of the german confederation. what the queen is naturally anxious to guard against is our being drawn by degrees into playing the game of those who have produced the present disturbance, and whose ulterior views are very naturally and very wisely by them concealed from us. the queen is glad to hear that the telegram in question was not sent, having been alarmed by its being marked as having been despatched "at noon" on the th. the queen wishes lord derby to show this letter to lord malmesbury. [pageheader: illness of duchess of kent] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th may _. dearest uncle,--thousand thanks for your dear kind letter and good wishes for my old birthday, and for your other dear letter of the st. albert, who writes to you, will tell you how dreadfully our _great, great_ happiness to have dearest vicky, flourishing and so well and gay with us, was on monday and a good deal too yesterday, clouded over and spoilt by the _dreadful_ anxiety we were in about dearest mamma. thank god! to-day i feel another being--for we know she is "in a satisfactory state," and improving in every respect, but i am thoroughly shaken and upset by this _awful_ shock; for it came on _so suddenly_--that it came like a thunderbolt upon us, and i think i _never_ suffered as i did those four dreadful hours till we heard she was better! i hardly myself _knew how_ i loved her, or how _my whole_ existence seems bound up with her--till i saw looming in the distance the fearful possibility of _what_ i will _not_ mention. she was actually packing up to start for here! _how_ i missed her yesterday i cannot say, or how gloomy my poor birthday on first getting up appeared i _cannot_ say. however, that is passed--and please god we shall see her, with care, restored to her usual health ere long. i trust, dearest uncle, you are quite well now--and that affairs will not prevent you from coming to see us next month? dear vicky is now a most dear, charming companion--and so _embellie!_ i must end, having so much to write. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. i shall write again to-morrow or next day how dear mamma is. [pageheader: the queen's speech] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ st june _. the queen takes objection to the wording of the two paragraphs[ ] about the war and our armaments. as it stands, it conveys the impression of a determination on the queen's part of maintaining a neutrality--_à tout prix_--whatever circumstances may arise, which would do harm abroad, and be inconvenient at home.[ ] what the queen may express is her wish to remain neutral, and her hope that circumstances will allow her to do so. the paragraph about the navy[ ] as it stands makes our position still more humble, as it contains a public apology for arming, and yet betrays fear of our being attacked by france. the queen suggests two amended forms for these passages, in which she has taken pains to preserve lord derby's words as far as is possible, with an avoidance of the objections before stated. "those endeavours have unhappily failed, and war has been declared between france and sardinia on one side, and austria on the other. i continue to receive at the same time assurances of friendship from both contending parties. it being my anxious desire to preserve to my people the blessing of uninterrupted peace, i trust in god's assistance to enable me to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality." "considering, however, the present state of europe, and the complications which a war, carried on by some of its great powers, may produce, i have deemed it necessary, for the security of my dominions and the honour of my crown, to increase my naval forces to an amount exceeding that which has been sanctioned by parliament." [footnote : in the speech to be delivered by the queen at the opening of parliament on the th of june.] [footnote : the passage originally ran: "receiving assurances of friendship from both the contending parties, i intend to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality, and i hope, with god's assistance, to preserve to my people the blessing of continued peace."] [footnote : the passage originally ran: "i have, however, deemed it necessary, in the present state of europe, with no object of aggression, but for the security of my dominions, and for the honour of my crown, to increase my naval forces to an amount exceeding that which has been sanctioned by parliament."] [pageheader: the question of neutrality] [pageheader: the navy] [pageheading: lord derby's criticisms] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ downing street, _ nd june _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty that he has most anxiously, and with every desire to meet your majesty's wishes, reflected upon the effect of the alterations suggested by your majesty in the proposed speech from the throne. he has considered the consequences involved so serious that he has thought it right to confer upon the subject with the chancellor of the exchequer, as leader of the house of commons; and it is a duty which he owes to your majesty not to withhold the expression of their clear and unhesitating conviction. lord derby trusts that your majesty will forgive the frankness with which, in the accompanying observations, he feels it necessary to submit to your majesty the grounds for the view which they are compelled to take. the first paragraph to which your majesty takes exception is that which intimates your majesty's "intention" to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality, and "hope" to be enabled to preserve peace. your majesty apprehends that this may be interpreted into a determination to preserve neutrality _à tout prix_; but lord derby would venture to observe that such an inference is negatived by the subsequent words, which only imply a "hope" of preserving peace. with the cessation of that hope, neutrality would necessarily terminate. but as matters stand at present, lord derby is warranted in assuring your majesty that if there is one subject on which more than another the mind of the country is unanimous, it is that of an entire abstinence from participation in the struggle now going on in italy. he collects this from the language of politicians of almost every class, from all the public papers, from addresses and memorials which he receives every day--some urging, and some congratulating him upon the adoption of a perfectly neutral policy. the sympathies of the country are neither with france nor with austria, but were it not for the intervention of france, they would be general in favour of italy. the charge now made against your majesty's servants, by the opposition press, as the _morning post_ and _daily news_, is that their neutrality covers such wishes and designs in favour of austria; and any word in your majesty's speech which should imply a doubt of the continuance of strict impartiality, would, undoubtedly, provoke a hostile amendment, which might very possibly be carried in the sardinian sense, and which, if so carried, would place your majesty in the painful position of having to select an administration, pledged against the interests of austria and of germany. lord derby says nothing of the personal results to your majesty's present servants, because, in such cases, personal considerations ought not to be allowed to prevail; and it is in the interest of the country only, and even of the very cause which your majesty desires to uphold, that he earnestly trusts that your majesty will not require any alteration in this part of the speech. there is, at this moment, in the country, a great jealousy and suspicion of france, and of her ulterior designs--as indicated by the demand of means of defence, the formation of volunteer corps, etc.--but it is neutralised, partly by sympathy for italy, partly by suspicions, industriously circulated, of the pro-austrian tendencies of the present government. it is very important that the language of the speech should be so decided as to negative this impression, and lord derby cannot but feel that if neutrality be spoken of not as a thing decided upon, but which, it is hoped, may be maintained, such language will be taken to intimate the expectation of the government that it may, at no distant time, be departed from. in lord derby's humble opinion peace should be spoken of as subject to doubt, because, out of the present struggle, complications may arise which may necessarily involve us in war; but neutrality, as between the present belligerents, should be a matter open to no doubt or question. if there be no attempt made to run counter to public opinion, and austria should sustain serious reverses, the jealousy of france will increase, and the feeling of the country will support your majesty in a war, should such arise, against her aggression; but if the slightest pretext be afforded for doubting the _bonâ fide_ character of british neutrality, or the firm determination to maintain it, an anti-german feeling will be excited, which will be fatal to the administration, and seriously embarrassing to your majesty. the same observations apply, with hardly less force, to part of the amendment suggested by your majesty to the paragraph regarding the navy. with submission to your majesty, lord derby can hardly look upon it as humiliating to a great country, in announcing a large increase of its naval force, to disclaim any object of aggression. these words, however, might, if your majesty were so pleased, be omitted, though lord derby cannot go so far as to say that in his humble judgment the omission would be an improvement; but he trusts that your majesty will be satisfied with a general reference to the "state of europe" without speaking of the "complications which a war carried on by some of the great powers may produce." these words would infallibly lead to a demand for explanation, and for a statement of the nature of the "complications" which the government foresaw as likely to lead to war. in humbly tendering to your majesty his most earnest advice that your majesty will not insist on the proposed amendments in his draft speech, he believes that he may assure your majesty that he is expressing the unanimous opinion of his colleagues. of their sentiments your majesty may judge by the fact that in the original draft he had spoken of your majesty's "intention" to preserve peace "as long as it might be possible"; but by universal concurrence these latter words were struck out, and the "hope" was, instead of them, substituted for the "intention." should your majesty, however, be pleased so to order, lord derby will immediately submit the question to the consideration of his colleagues, in order that your majesty may be put, in the most authentic form, in possession of their views. he assures your majesty that nothing can be more repugnant to his feelings than to appear to offer objections to any suggestions emanating from your majesty; and he has only been induced to do so upon the present occasion by the deep conviction which he entertains of the danger attending the course proposed, and the serious embarrassments which it would cause your majesty. he regrets more especially having been compelled to take this step at a moment when your majesty's thoughts are very differently engaged, and when it may be doubly irksome to have matters of public business pressed upon your majesty's consideration. the above is humbly submitted by your majesty's most dutiful servant and subject, derby. _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ rd june _. the queen has received lord derby's answer to her observations on the proposed speech. there is in fact no difference of opinion between her and lord derby; the latter only keeps in view the effect which certain words will have in parliament and upon the country, whilst she looks to the effect they will produce upon the european conflict. if the queen were not obliged to speak, both positions might be well reconciled; but if what she is going to declare from the throne is to allay suspicions purposely raised by the opposition against the government that they intended to take part at some moment or other in the war, and is to give absolute security to the country against this contingency, this will be the very thing france would wish to bring about in order to ensure to her the fullest liberty in prosecuting her schemes for disturbing and altering the territorial state of europe. how is this impression to be avoided? lord derby thinks that the expression of "hope" to be able to preserve peace to this country is a sufficient indication that this country reserves to herself still a certain liberty of action; but the queen would have interpreted it rather as the expression of a hope, that we may not be attacked, particularly when followed by the sentence in which all intention of aggression is disclaimed, and that our armaments are merely meant for defence. the sense would then appear as this: "as the belligerents separately assure me of their friendship, i am determined to maintain a strict neutrality between them, and hope they may not change their minds, and attack me; i arm, but merely to defend myself if attacked." this would abdicate on the part of this country her position as one of the arbiters of europe, declare her indifference to treaties or the balance of power (which are, in fact, of the greatest value to her), and would preclude her from any action to preserve them. the queen fully enters into the parliamentary difficulty, and would deprecate nothing more than to expose the government to a defeat on an amendment which would lead to the formation of a new government on the principle of neutrality _à tout prix_ imposed by parliament on the crown. it will be for lord derby and his colleagues to consider how far they may be able to avoid this danger without exposing themselves to that pointed out by the queen. she puts herself entirely in his hands, and had suggested the verbal amendments merely with a view to indicate the nature of the difficulty which had struck her. whatever decision lord derby may on further reflection come to, the queen is prepared to accept.[ ] [footnote : ultimately the cabinet recommended the modification of the declaration of neutrality by the insertion of the words "between them"; so as to run: "i intend to maintain _between them_ a strict and impartial neutrality," etc.; and in the second paragraph proposed to omit the words "with no object of aggression, but"--and adopting the form of the queen's paragraph, but omitting the words referring to possible complications, to leave it thus: "considering, however, the present state of europe, i have deemed it necessary for the security of my dominions," etc.] [pageheading: negotiations with russia] _queen victoria to the earl of malmesbury._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen has read lord cowley's letter with regret. nothing could be more dangerous and unwise than at this moment to enter into negotiations with russia on the best manner of disposing of the emperor of austria's dominions. the queen cannot understand how lord cowley can propose anything so indefensible in a moral point of view. [pageheading: debate on the address] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons [? _ th june _.] (_tuesday, quarter-past eight o'clock._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty. lord hartington[ ] spoke like a gentleman; was badly seconded. chancellor of exchequer rose immediately at six o'clock, and is just down. the house very full, and very enthusiastic. the chancellor of exchequer presumes to say he thinks he satisfied his friends.[ ] [footnote : lord hartington, afterwards eighth duke of devonshire, moved an amendment to the address, expressing a want of confidence in the ministry.] [footnote : he flung his taunts right and left at the now united opposition, and was especially bitter against sir james graham. referring to the liberal meeting on the th, mr disraeli reminded the house that willis's rooms had, as almack's, formerly been maintained by fashionable patronesses. "the distinguished assemblies that met within those walls were controlled by a due admixture of dowagers and youthful beauties--young reputations and worn celebrities--and it was the object of all social ambition to enter there. now willis's rooms are under the direction of patrons, and there are two of these patrons below the gangway" (indicating lord john russell and mr sidney herbert). in regard to its foreign policy, he said the government should not be condemned without direct documentary evidence. lord malmesbury has since deplored mr disraeli's neglect to produce the blue book with the correspondence relating to the affairs of italy and austria, and stated that, had he laid it on the table, the debate would have ended differently (_memoirs of an ex-minister_, vol. ii. p. ).] _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ th june _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty that the tone of the government agents in the house of commons is less sanguine to-day than it was yesterday with regard to the issue of the debate to-night. there are no actual changes announced of votes, but the tone of the opposition is more confident; and when an opinion begins to prevail that the government are likely to be in a minority, it often realises itself by the effect which it produces on waverers and lukewarm supporters. the division will certainly take place to-night; and, without absolutely anticipating failure, lord derby cannot conceal from your majesty that he considers the situation very critical. mr gladstone expressed privately his opinion last night that, even if successful on the present occasion, the government could not possibly go on, which does not look like an intention, on the part of the liberal party, of considering the present division as decisive.[ ]... [footnote : the rest of the letter relates to the distribution of honours to the outgoing ministers.] _mr disraeli to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th june _. (_saturday morning, half-past two o'clock._) the chancellor of the exchequer with his humble duty to your majesty: for the amendment for the address --- majority against your majesty's servants --- [pageheading: the ministry defeated] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen was very much grieved to receive mr disraeli's report of the division of yesterday, although she was fully prepared for this event. she did not answer lord derby's letter of yesterday in order not to anticipate it. now that the fate of the government is decided, she is prepared to grant those favours and acknowledgments of service for which lord derby asked in his letter. the queen _could_ not reconcile it with her own feelings, however, were she to omit this opportunity, when lord derby for the second time resigns the post of her prime minister, of giving to him personally a public mark of her approbation of his services. the queen therefore asks him to accept the garter from her hands. as the queen holds a drawing-room to-day, and receives the city address after it, lord derby will be aware how little time she has this morning (being naturally anxious to have some conversation with him with as little delay as possible); she would ask him to come here either at half-past eleven or half-past twelve o'clock. _the earl of derby to queen victoria._ st james's square, _ th june _. lord derby, with his humble duty, submits to your majesty the expression of his deep gratitude for your majesty's most gracious note this moment received, and for the terms in which your majesty has been pleased to speak of his very imperfect services. he gratefully accepts the honour which your majesty has been pleased to confer upon him as a mark of your majesty's personal favour. as a minister, he could never have advised your majesty to bestow it upon him, and he could not have accepted it on the recommendation of any government to which he was politically opposed; but as a spontaneous act of your majesty, it acquires in his eyes a value which nothing else could have given to it. lord derby is this moment going down to the cabinet, as a matter of form, and will obey your majesty's commands as soon as possible after half-past eleven, when he will have an opportunity of expressing in person his deep sense of your majesty's goodness, and his entire devotedness, in whatever situation he may be placed, to your majesty's service. [pageheading: lord granville summoned] _memorandum by earl granville._ [_undated. th june ._] i waited at four o'clock this afternoon[ ] upon the queen by her majesty's gracious commands. the queen was pleased to remark upon the importance of the present crisis. her majesty informed me that lord derby had resigned, and that she had sent for me to desire that i should attempt to form another administration, which her majesty wished should be strong and comprehensive. i respectfully assured the queen that her majesty's commands came upon me by surprise; that at any time i felt my own insufficiency for such a post, and that at this time there were special difficulties; that i believed the only two persons who could form a strong liberal government were either lord palmerston or lord john russell; and that, although it had sometimes happened that two statesmen of equal pretensions preferred having a nominal chief to serving under one another, i did not believe that this was the case now. i said that i had reason to believe that lords palmerston and john russell were ready to co-operate with one another, while i doubted whether either would consent to serve under a younger man of such small pretensions as myself. the queen in reply informed me that her first thoughts had been turned to lord palmerston and lord john russell, that they had both served her long and faithfully, and that her majesty felt it to be an invidious task to select one of the two. her majesty was also of opinion that as different sections of the liberal party were more or less represented by each, it might be more easy for the party to act together under a third person. her majesty added that she had selected me as the leader of the liberal party in the house of lords, and a person in whom both lord palmerston and lord john russell had been in the habit of placing confidence, and she expressed her confident hope that their attachment to herself would induce them to yield that assistance without which it would be difficult to form a strong and comprehensive government. i proceeded to state some of the most salient difficulties of the task, and asked her majesty's permission to ascertain by negotiation what it would be possible to do. her majesty informed me that her majesty's experience of former changes of administration had taught her that the construction of an administration had failed when the person entrusted with the task had acted merely as a negotiator, and that the success of other attempts had been owing to the acceptance of the charge by the person for whom she had sent. her majesty laid her majesty's commands upon me to make the attempt, and i had the honour of conveying two letters from her majesty to lord palmerston and lord john russell, stating that her majesty relied upon their assistance. [footnote : the th of june.] [pageheading: the rival leaders] _queen victoria to_ {_viscount palmerston._ {_lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen gives these lines to lord granville, whom she has entrusted with the task of forming an administration on the resignation of lord derby. she has selected him as the leader of the liberal party in the house of lords. she feels that it is of the greatest importance that both lord palmerston and lord john russell should lend their services to the crown and country in the present anxious circumstances, and thought at the same time that they might do so most agreeably to their own feelings by acting under a third person. they having both served the queen long and faithfully as her first minister, she must not conceal from lord palmerston (john russell) that it is a great relief to her feelings not to have to make the choice of one of them, and she trusts that they will feel no difficulty to co-operate with one in whom they have both been in the habit of placing confidence. from the long experience the queen has had of lord palmerston's (john russell's) loyal attachment to her and the service of the crown, she feels confident she may rely on lord palmerston's (john russell's) hearty assistance.[ ] [footnote : in reply, lord palmerston (in a letter printed in ashley's _life of lord palmerston_, vol. ii. p. ) accepted his responsibility for uniting with others to overthrow the derby ministry, and undertook to serve under either lord john russell or lord granville, but stipulated that any government he joined must be an efficient and representative one.] [pageheading: lord granville unsuccessful] _earl granville to queen victoria._ bruton street, _ th june _. ( a.m.) lord granville presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to submit that he saw lord palmerston immediately after he had left buckingham palace. lord granville stated what had passed there, omitting any reference to your majesty's objection to the effect likely to be produced on the continent by lord palmerston's name, if he had the direction of the foreign affairs. nothing could be more frank and cordial than lord palmerston's manner. he agreed to lead the house of commons; he said that he had certainly anticipated that your majesty would have sent for either lord john or himself, but having taken a part in the defeat of the present government, he felt bound to put aside any personal objects, and co-operate with me; and that there was no person whom he should prefer or even like as much as myself. he added that his co-operation must depend upon my being able to form a strong government. lord granville then saw lord john russell, and had a very long conversation with him. lord john had no objection to serving under lord granville, but thought that he could not give effect to his political views unless he was either prime minister or leader of the house of commons, and he doubted whether he had confidence in any one but lord palmerston for the foreign office. lord granville again saw lord palmerston, who informed him that if he had been sent for, he should have objected to go to the house of lords, and that he could not now give up the lead of the house of commons (which lord granville had already proposed to him to retain) to lord john. this answer rendered it unnecessary for lord granville to allude to the objections to his holding the foreign office. lord granville has seen lord clarendon, who acted up to the full spirit of your majesty's letter, but deprecates strongly the attempt to form a government without lord john russell. sir george grey is of the same opinion. sir george lewis, mr herbert, and mr gladstone think every effort should be made to secure lord john, but that it would not be impossible to form a government without him. mr milner gibson, with whom lord granville had a more reserved conversation, considered it a _sine quâ non_ condition of support from the liberal party below the gangway, that lord john should be a member of the government. lord granville thinks that in his third interview with lord palmerston he observed more dissatisfaction at not being sent for by your majesty. lord palmerston suggested that lord john's absence from the government would make it more difficult for a leader of the house, who was not prime minister, to hold his position. lord granville has written to lord john asking for a final answer before he informs your majesty, whether he is able to attempt the task which your majesty has with so much kindness and indulgence laid upon him.[ ] [footnote : this letter, and lord john's reply declining to occupy only the third office in the state, and expressing his anxiety for adequate security in the handling of foreign affairs and reform, are printed in walpole's _life of lord john russell_, vol. ii. chap. xxvii. lord granville then wrote to lord john: "i am glad that i wrote to you yesterday evening, as your answer gave me information which i had not gathered from your conversation in the morning. i came away from chesham place with the impression that union between you and palmerston with or without me was impossible. your letter afforded a good opportunity of arrangement. as soon as i found by it that i was an obstacle instead of a facility towards the formation of a strong government. i went to the queen to ask her to excuse me from the task which she had so unexpectedly and so graciously imposed upon me. in answer to a question, i stated to her majesty that it was disagreeable to me to advise as to which of you and palmerston she should send for, but that i was ready to do so if it was her wish. "the queen did not press me. it is a great relief to have finished this business. i have asked palmerston to do whatever would strengthen the government, and assist him the most as regards myself."] [pageheading: lord palmerston premier] _queen victoria to the earl of derby._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen writes to inform lord derby that after a fruitless attempt on the part of lord granville to form a government comprising lord palmerston and lord john russell, she has now charged lord palmerston with the task, which she trusts may prove more successful.... _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th june _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to report that he has been to pembroke lodge, and has had a satisfactory conversation with lord john russell, who has agreed to be a member of the government without any suggestion that viscount palmerston should leave the house of commons; but viscount palmerston is sorry to say that lord john russell laid claim to the foreign office in a manner which rendered it impossible for viscount palmerston to decline to submit his name to your majesty for that post when the list of the new government shall be made out for your majesty's consideration and approval.... _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ _ th june ._ lord clarendon has just left the queen. she had a long and full conversation with him. nothing could be more friendly than his language, and he expressed himself ready to do anything for the queen's service. but he positively declines entering the cabinet or taking any _other office_. he says, as _foreign_ secretary, he should be ready to join the government should there be a vacancy; but that he has never directed his attention much to general politics, and his taking any other office, after having held the foreign seals during a long and important time, would be of no use to the government, and would only injure himself. the queen told him that he might have any office almost (naming several of those which lord palmerston discussed with her), but she could not urge nor press him to do what _he felt_ would injure him, and indeed she found him quite determined in his purpose. his absence from the cabinet the queen sincerely deplores, and she knows that lord palmerston will feel it a serious loss. [pageheading: an indiscreet disclosure] _queen victoria to earl granville._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen is much shocked to find her whole conversation with lord granville yesterday and the day before detailed in this morning's leading article of the _times_.[ ] what passes between her and a minister in her own room in confidential intercourse ought to be sacred, and it will be evident to lord granville that if it were not so, the queen would be precluded from treating her ministers with that unreserved confidence which can alone render a thorough understanding possible; moreover, any minister could state what he pleased, against which the queen would have no protection, as she could not well insert contradictions or explanations in the newspapers herself. [footnote : a circumstantial account of the queen's conversation with lord granville had appeared in the _times_, and lord derby drew attention to the matter in the house of lords. lord granville in reply expressed his regret in not having used more complete reserve, and frankly attributed the disclosures to his non-observance of adequate discretion.] _earl granville to queen victoria._ london, _ th june _. lord granville presents his humble duty to your majesty, and feels deeply your majesty's reproof. lord granville was extremely annoyed this morning at seeing the article in the _times_ of to-day, repeating with some accuracy, but in a vulgar, inflated manner, the account which lord granville gave yesterday afternoon to many of his political friends, and which he believed your majesty had authorised him to do. lord granville in that account laid much stress on the reasons which your majesty gave for sending for lord granville, as he found that attempts had been made to attribute every sort of motive which might render the court unpopular. besides the gross impropriety of the appearance of reporting your majesty's conversation, lord granville regrets the indirect attack upon lord john russell. lord granville begs respectfully to express to your majesty his vexation at the annoyance, which he has thus been the cause of inflicting on your majesty, particularly at a moment when your majesty had just given him an additional proof of the indulgent kindness and confidence which your majesty has been pleased to place in him. [pageheading: mr cobden] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ st july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has been unable till within the last few minutes to make any report about mr cobden, from whom he had received no communication till about an hour ago, when mr cobden came to him.[ ] the result of a long conversation between them has been that mr cobden, against the advice of all his friends and of his constituents, has decided to decline taking office. he grounds his decision upon feelings personal to himself. he thinks that after having so often and so strongly disapproved of the foreign policy of viscount palmerston as tending too much to involve this country in war, it would be inconsistent for him to join the present cabinet, and he also said that, at his time of life and with his general habits, he does not consider himself fit for administrative office. viscount palmerston used every [means] in his power to induce him to change his decision, and showed that, with respect to present and future action, there is no apparent difference between his views and those of mr cobden, since both would desire that this country should remain neutral in the war now raging in italy. all his arguments, however, were useless, and though mr cobden discussed the matter in the most friendly and good-humoured manner, and promised to give out of office all support to the government, and said that he thought he could do so more effectually out of office than in office, he could not be persuaded to make any change in the answer which he came to give. viscount palmerston will consider what arrangement he may have to propose to your majesty in consequence of mr cobden's answer. [footnote : mr cobden had been visiting the united states. on landing at liverpool he learned that he had been elected at rochdale, and at the same time he received an offer of the board of trade.] the ministry as formed by viscount palmerston. _in the month of june_ . _first lord of the treasury_ viscount palmerston. _lord chancellor_ lord campbell. _president of the council_ earl granville. _lord privy seal_ duke of argyll. _home secretary_ sir g. c. lewis. _foreign secretary_ lord john (afterwards earl) russell. _colonial secretary_ duke of newcastle. _secretary for war_ mr sidney herbert (afterwards lord herbert of lea). _secretary for india_ sir charles wood (afterwards viscount halifax). _chancellor of the exchequer_ mr gladstone.[ ] _first lord of the admiralty_ duke of somerset. _president of the board of trade_ mr milner gibson (appointed in july). _postmaster-general_ earl of elgin. _chancellor of the duchy of lancaster_ sir george grey. _chief secretary for ireland_ mr (afterwards viscount) cardwell. [footnote : lord aberdeen wrote, in a letter printed in parker's _sir james graham_, vol. ii. p. , that the wish of lord palmerston, expressed in a speech at tiverton, "to see the germans turned out of italy by the war, has secured gladstone ... notwithstanding the three articles of the _quarterly_ and the thousand imprecations of late years."] [pageheading: mr bright] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ nd july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... viscount palmerston has heard from several persons that mr bright would be highly flattered by being made a privy councillor; would your majesty object to his being so made if it should turn out that he wishes it? there have been instances of persons made privy councillors without office, and if mr bright could be led by such an honour to turn his thoughts and feelings into better channels such a change could not fail to be advantageous to your majesty's service.... _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ nd july _. the queen has received lord palmerston's letter of to-day. she is sorry not to be able to give her assent to his proposal with regard to mr bright.[ ] privy councillors have sometimes exceptionally been made without office, yet this has been as rewards, even in such cases, for services rendered to the state. it would be impossible to allege any service mr bright has rendered, and if the honour were looked upon as a reward for his systematic attacks upon the institutions of the country, a very erroneous impression might be produced as to the feeling which the queen or her government entertain towards these institutions. it is moreover very problematical whether such an honour conferred upon mr bright would, as suggested, wean him from his present line of policy, whilst, if he continued in it, he would only have obtained additional weight in the country by his propounding his views as one of the queen's privy councillors. [footnote : in , lord palmerston, in offering mr cobden a seat in the cabinet, rejected the idea of accepting mr bright as a colleague, on the ground that his public speeches made it impossible. mr bright, later in life, was a welcome guest at windsor, and the queen became warmly attached to him as one of her ministers.] [pageheading: pacification of india] _earl canning to queen victoria._ calcutta, _ th july _. lord canning presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs permission to offer to your majesty his respectful thanks for your majesty's most gracious letter of the th of may. lord canning ventures to believe that he is well able to figure to himself the feelings with which your majesty will have welcomed the termination of the mutiny and rebellion in india, and of the chief miseries which these have brought in their train. he hopes that your majesty will not have thought that there has been remissness in not marking this happy event by an earlier public acknowledgment and thanksgiving in india, as has already been done in england.[ ] the truth is, that although this termination has long been steadily and surely approaching, it is but just now that it can be said to be complete in the eyes of those who are near to the scene of action. it is only within the last three weeks that the exertions of our troops on the oudh and nepaulese frontier, and in some other parts, have been remitted, and almost every gazette has recounted engagements with the rebels, which, although they have invariably had the same issue, would scarcely have consisted with a declaration that peace and tranquillity were restored. now, however, military operations have fairly ceased, and the rains and the climate, which would make a continuance of those operations much to be regretted, will do their work amongst the rebels who are still in arms in the nepaul jungles more terribly than any human avengers. lord canning has used every exertion and device to bring these wretched men to submission; but many--it is difficult to say how many, but certainly some few thousands--still hold out. with some of them the reason no doubt is that they belong to the most guilty regiments, and to those which murdered their officers; but this cannot apply to all; and it is to be feared that the prevailing cause is the bad influence of their leaders--the nana, bala rao, and the begum;[ ] or rather the begum's infamous advisers. it is certain that all of these, believing their own position to be desperate, have spared no pains to persuade their followers that the government is seeking to entrap them, and that, if they submit, their lives will be taken.... [footnote : there had been a public thanksgiving in england on the st of may.] [footnote : bala rao was a brother of nana sahib, chief instigator of the sepoy mutiny. see _ante_, th july, , note .] [pageheading: a military enquiry] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ th july _. the queen is much shocked to see that the government last night moved for a committee of the house of commons to enquire into the military departments, without having previously communicated with the queen on the subject. she is the more surprised at this, as lord palmerston told her, when she saw him on the formation of the present government, and she expressed her anxiety on the subject, that there would be no more trouble about it, and he thought it would drop. the queen expects that the names of those who it is proposed should compose the committee, and the wording of it, will be submitted to her. [pageheading: constitutional question] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the re-appointment of the committee on the organisation of the military departments was unavoidable. that committee had been affirmed by the house of commons and consented to by the late government, and had begun its sittings; but when a dissolution of parliament was announced, it suspended its further sittings, with the understanding that it should be revived in the new parliament; and to have departed from that understanding would have been impossible. that which viscount palmerston intended to convey in what he said to your majesty on the subject was, that the evidence given by lord panmure might be deemed as having fully set aside the objection urged against the present organisation by persons unacquainted with the bearing upon it of the fundamental principles of the constitution, namely, that the crown acts in regard to military matters without having any official adviser responsible for its acts. such a condition of things, if it could exist, would be at variance with the fundamental principles of the british constitution, and would be fraught with danger to the crown, because then the sovereign would be held personally answerable for administrative acts, and would be brought personally in conflict in possible cases with public opinion, a most dangerous condition for a sovereign to be placed in. the maxim of the british constitution is that the sovereign can do no wrong, but that does not mean that no wrong can be done by royal authority; it means that if wrong be done, the public servant who advised the act, and not the sovereign, must be held answerable for the wrongdoing. but the ministers of the crown for the time being are the persons who are constitutionally held answerable for all administrative acts in the last resort, and that was the pith and substance of the evidence given by lord panmure. those persons who want to make great changes in the existing arrangements were much vexed and disappointed by that evidence, and the attempt made yesterday to put off the committee till next year on the ground that the evidence now to be taken would be one-sided only, and would tend to create erroneous impressions, was founded upon those feelings of disappointment. viscount palmerston submits names of the persons whom mr sidney herbert proposes to appoint on the committee, and they seem to be well chosen. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ th july _. ( p.m.) lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty. he has just received from lord palmerston, who is here, the paper, a copy of which is enclosed.[ ] lord john russell has to add that lord palmerston and he are humbly of opinion that your majesty should give to the emperor of the french the moral support which is asked. it is clearly understood that if the emperor of austria declines to accept the propositions, great britain will still maintain her neutral position. but it is probable that her moral support will put an end to the war, and your majesty's advisers cannot venture to make themselves responsible for its continuance by refusing to counsel your majesty to accept the proposal of france. [footnote : at the seat of war, a series of decisive french victories had culminated in the battle of solferino, on midsummer day (see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxviii). but the french emperor was beginning to think these successes too dearly purchased, at the expense of so many french lives, and, actuated either by this, or some similar motive, he attempted, on the th of july, to negotiate through the british government with austria. the attempt was a failure, but an armistice was signed on the th, and again the emperor sought the moral support of england. the paper which lord john russell submitted was a rough memorandum of m. de persigny's, proposing as a basis of negotiation the cession of lombardy to piedmont, the independence of venetia, and the erection of an italian confederation.] [pageheading: france and austria] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ pavilion, aldershot, _ th july _. the queen has just received lord john russell's letter with the enclosure which she returns, and hastens to say in reply, that she does not consider the emperor of the french or his ambassador justified in asking the support of england to proposals he means to make to his antagonist to-morrow. he made war on austria in order to wrest her two italian kingdoms from her, which were assured to her by the treaties of , to which england is a party; england declared her neutrality in the war. the emperor succeeded in driving the austrians out of one of these kingdoms after several bloody battles. he means to drive her out of the second by diplomacy, and neutral england is to join him with her moral support in this endeavour. the queen having declared her neutrality, to which her parliament and people have given their unanimous assent, feels bound to adhere to it. she conceives lord john russell and lord palmerston ought not to ask her to give her "moral support" to one of the belligerents. as for herself, she sees no distinction between moral and general support; the moral support of england _is_ her support, and she ought to be prepared to follow it up. the queen wishes this letter to be communicated to the cabinet.[ ] [footnote : the queen not having been informed whether this instruction had been complied with, a correspondence took place on the subject between the prince and lord granville. see the _life of lord granville_, vol. i. chap. xiii.] [pageheading: end of the war] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has to acknowledge the receipt of lord john russell's letter reporting to her the result of the deliberations of the cabinet, which has very much relieved her mind. lord john does not say whether her letter was read to the cabinet, but from his former letter she concludes it was. she is most anxious that there should exist no misapprehension on their part as to the queen's views. our position must be consistent and precisely defined. a negotiation to stop the effusion of blood, and to attain "a peace which would be for the interests of all belligerents," is a very vague term. who is to judge of those interests? is m. de persigny or the emperor napoleon's opinion to be the guide, as they just now proposed to us? austria must be considered the exponent of her own interests. prussia has explained to us the interests of germany in the maintenance of the line of the fortresses on the mincio, and was answered; her views were entirely erroneous, and her apprehensions exaggerated. it will require the greatest caution on our part not to lose our neutral position, nor to be made the advocate of one side. are the wishes of the lombards, tuscans, etc., really ascertainable, while their countries are occupied by french and sardinian armies? the queen encloses an extract of a letter from the first napoleon to his son, prince eugène,[ ] showing how the expression of a wish for annexation has already of old been used as a means for conquest. [footnote : eugène de beauharnais, duke of leuchtenberg, son of the empress josephine by her first marriage, and adopted son of napoleon i.] [pageheading: ascendancy of france] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen has received the news of a concluded peace,[ ] which lord john russell has sent to her yesterday, with as much surprise as it must have caused lord john. it was a joyous intelligence, as far as the stopping of the further effusion of innocent blood and the security against further diplomatic complications is concerned, but it gives cause for serious reflection. the emperor napoleon, by his military successes, and great apparent moderation or prudence immediately after them, has created for himself a most formidable position of strength in europe. it is remarkable that he has acted towards austria now just as he did towards russia after the fall of sebastopol; and if it was our lot then to be left alone to act the part of the extortioner whilst he acted that of the generous victor, the queen is doubly glad that we should not now have fallen into the trap, to ask austria (as friends and neutrals) concessions which he was ready to waive. he will now probably omit no occasion to cajole austria as he has done to russia, and turn her spirit of revenge upon prussia and germany--the emperor's probable next victims. should he thus have rendered himself the master of the entire continent, the time may come for us either to obey or to fight him with terrible odds against us. this has been the queen's view from the beginning of this complication, and events have hitherto wonderfully supported them. how italy is to prosper under the pope's presidency, whose misgovernment of his own small portion of it was the ostensible cause of the war, the queen is at a loss to conceive. but the emperor will be able to do just as he pleases, being in military command of the country, and having sardinia, the pope, and austria as his debtors. the queen would like this letter to be communicated to the cabinet. [footnote : the armistice had arranged that the emperors should meet at villafranca, where peace was concluded. see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxviii. the italian confederation was to be under the presidency of the pope.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th july _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he will read your majesty's letter to the cabinet to-morrow. the emperor napoleon is left no doubt in a position of great power. that position has been made for him by allowing him to be the only champion of the cause of the people of italy. but that is no reason why we should seek a quarrel with france, and there is some reason to doubt whether the speeches made in the house of lords, while they display our weakness and our alarm, are really patriotic in their purpose and tendency. to be well armed, and to be just to all our neighbours, appears to lord john russell to be the most simple, the most safe, and the most honest policy. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen acknowledges the receipt of lord john russell's communications of yesterday. she entirely agrees with him "that we have no reason to seek a quarrel with france," and that "the most simple and most safe and most honest" line of conduct for us will be "to be well armed, and to be just to all our neighbours." she trusts that as the poor duchess of parma[ ] appears to be overlooked in the italian peace merely because nobody thinks it his business to befriend her, we shall in the above spirit ask for justice and consideration for her. the queen concurs with lord john that it will now be useless to communicate to france the advice given to the porte. [footnote : louise marie de bourbon, daughter of the duc de berri, and widow of charles iii., duke of parma. she was at this time regent for her son robert, a minor (born ), the present duke.] [pageheading: the views of the pope] [pageheading: the pope on english liberalism] [pageheading: the temporal power] _mr odo russell to lord john russell._ (_submitted to the queen._) rome, _ th july _. my lord,--some days since a letter from the "pontifical antechamber," directed to "signor odoni russell, agente officioso di sua maestà britannica," informed me that his holiness the pope desired to see me. in consequence i proceeded to the vatican, and was ushered into the presence of his holiness by monsignore talbot, the "cameriere" in waiting, who immediately withdrew, and i remained alone with the pope. his holiness welcomed me with his usual benevolence and good humour. he seemed very gay, and spoke with more than customary frankness, so much so indeed that i have felt some hesitation as to the propriety of submitting what passed between us to your lordship. but after mature reflection, i think it best you should be in possession of an accurate and conscientious account of the sentiments of his holiness in the present important juncture of affairs. "caro mio russell," the pope said, "you have been so long at naples that i was already thinking of sending after you to bring you back; we do not like you to leave us, and the more so as i have heard you were attached to the mission of mr elliot,[ ] who is a son of lord minto; and if he entertains the same political views as his father, he is a dangerous man to the peace of italy. now i knew lord minto here, and although he may be a very good man, i do not think him a man of any capacity, and his doctrines were calculated to bring on the ruin of italy." i replied, "i cannot agree with your holiness, for i consider lord minto to be a very clever man, whose honest, sound, and liberal views, had they been listened to, might have prevented the crisis which is now convulsing italy." the pope said, "well, of course you belong to his party, but, _poveri noi!_ what is to become of us with your uncle and lord palmerston at the head of affairs in england? they have always sympathised with the turbulent spirits of italy, and their accession to power will greatly increase the hopes of the piedmontese party. indeed, i well know what the english government want: they want to see the pope deprived of his temporal power." i replied, "again i regret to find your holiness so entirely mistaken with respect to the policy of england. we derive great happiness from our free institutions, and we would be glad to see our neighbours in europe as happy and as prosperous as we are, but we have no wish to interfere with the internal concerns of other nations, or to give advice without being asked for it; least of all as a protestant power would _we_ think of interfering one way or the other with the government of your holiness." the pope said, "i do not doubt the good intentions of england, but unfortunately you do not understand this country, and your example is dangerous to the italian minds, your speeches in parliament excite them, and you fancy because constitutional liberties and institutions suit you, that they must suit all the world. now the italians are a dissatisfied, interfering, turbulent and intriguing race; they can never learn to govern themselves, it is impossible; only see how they follow sardinia in all she tells them to do, simply because they love intrigue and revolution, whilst in reality they do not know what they want; a hot-headed people like the italians require a firm and just government to guide and take care of them, and italy might have continued tranquil and contented, had not the ambition of sardinia led her to revolutionise the whole country. the grand duke of tuscany, for instance, is an excellent and just man, and nevertheless, at the instigation of piedmont, he was turned out of the country, and for no earthly purpose. i suppose you have read monsieur about's book about rome[ ]? well, all he says is untrue, pure calumny, and it would be easy for me to have it all refuted; but he is really not worthy of such an honour. his book, i see, has been translated into english, and i have no doubt it will be much read and believed in england. such books and our refugees mislead your countrymen, and i often wonder at the language your statesmen hold about us in the houses of parliament. i always read their speeches. lord palmerston, lord john russell, and mr gladstone do not know us; but when i think how kindly and hospitably lord granville was received at rome last winter, and then read the extraordinary speech he made last february about us, i think the gout he suffered from here must have gone to his head when he reached england, and i wonder how her majesty the queen could send for him to form a government! then again, mr gladstone, who allowed himself to be deceived about the neapolitan prisoners--he does not know us and italy--and mr cobden,--i knew him in --he is always in favour of peace, and he must be very fond of animals, for when he came here from spain he wanted me to write to that country and put a stop to bull-fights--a very good man, but i do not know his views about italy. and lord stratford de redcliffe, do you think he will be employed again? he seemed so anxious to get a place. mr disraeli was my friend; i regret him. but tell me, _caro mio russell_, if you are a prophet, how all this war and fuss is to end?" i replied, "your holiness has better claims to being a prophet than i have, and i sincerely hope all this may end well for italy; but as regards the present and the past, i must again say that i deeply regret to see your holiness misconceive the honest views and sincere sympathies of the statesmen you have named, for the welfare of italy; they would like to see italy independent, prosperous, progressing and contented, and able to take care of herself without foreign troops. your holiness has done me the honour to speak freely and openly with me; permit me to do the same, and ask your holiness what england must think when she sees the temporal power of your holiness imposed upon three millions of people by the constant presence of french and austrian bayonets, and when, after ten years of occupation, the austrians withdraw suddenly, there is at once an insurrection throughout the country; and if the french were to leave rome it is generally acknowledged that a revolution would compel your holiness to seek refuge in some foreign country. at the same time, when the troops of your holiness are employed as at perugia,[ ] the government is too weak to control them; they pillage and murder, and, instead of investigating their conduct, the excesses committed by them are publicly rewarded." the pope smiled, paused, took a pinch of snuff, and then said good-humouredly: "although i am not a prophet, i know one thing; this war will be followed by an european congress, and a congress about italian affairs is even worse for us than war. there will be changes in italy, but mark my words, whatever these changes are, the pope will ever be the pope, whether he dwells in the vatican or lives concealed in the catacombs. "lastly, i will give you some advice. prepare and take care of yourselves in england, for i am quite certain the french emperor intends sooner or later to attack you." the pope then beckoned to me to approach, and making the sign of the cross, he gave me his blessing in latin, then with both his hands, he took one of mine, pressed it, and said with great warmth, "be our friend in the hour of need." i have the honour to be, etc., etc., odo russell. [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) henry elliot, p.c., g.c.b., was plenipotentiary to naples. he was subsequently ambassador at vienna, and died in .] [footnote : edmond about, a french journalist ( - ), had published _la question romaine,_ an attack on the papacy. see de la gorce, _histoire du second empire_, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : an insurrection against the pope at perugia bad been put down with great cruelty on the th of june.] [pageheading: disappointment of cavour] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen returns these interesting letters to lord john.[ ] the whole aspect of affairs gives cause for serious reflection and great anxiety for the future. the conduct of france as regards italy shows how little the emperor napoleon cared for, or thought of, its independence when he undertook this war, which (though in the last instance begun by austria) _he_ brought on, for purposes of his own. the manifesto of the emperor of austria shows how unfortunate for her own interests the policy of prussia has been.[ ] she had made herself answerable for the issue of the war by restraining the minor states, and stands now humiliated and isolated. her position in germany is at present very painful, and may be for the future very dangerous. the queen feels strongly that we are not without considerable responsibility in having from the first urged her to take no part in the war, which certainly had great influence on her actions--and she will very naturally look to us not to desert her when the evil hour for her may come.[ ] [footnote : these were letters from lord cowley and sir james hudson in reference to the peace of villafranca. the former announced, as a result of his conversation with the empress and other persons, that among the causes which induced the french emperor to consent to peace were his horror at any further sacrifice of life and time, disgust at what he considered italian apathy for the cause which the french were upholding, and distrust of the intentions of the king of sardinia and count cavour. sir james hudson described the unanimous feeling at turin that the nationalist cause had been betrayed. cavour, he wrote, could obtain no further response to his remonstrances with napoleon than "il fait bien chaud: il fait bien chaud." moreover, napoleon knew (continued sir james) "that mazzini had dogged his footsteps to milan, for, the day before yesterday, sixty-six orsini bombshells were discovered there by the chief of the sardinian police, who arrested the man (a known follower of mazzini) who had them. the story is that he brought them from england for the purpose of using them against the austrians!!" count cavour, who resigned in disgust and was succeeded by rattazzi, remained out of office till the following january.] [footnote : he stated that he believed he could obtain better terms direct from the french emperor than those to which england, russia, and prussia were likely to give their moral support as a basis of mediation.] [footnote : lord cowley wrote to lord john russell on the th of july:-- "... the two emperors met in the most cordial manner, shaking hands as if no difference had existed between them. as soon as they were alone, the emperor of austria took the initiative, and stated at once that he was ready to cede to the emperor of the french, for the sake of the restoration of peace, the territory which the latter had conquered, but that he could not do more, giving the reasons which i have mentioned to your lordship in former despatches. the emperor of the french replied that his own position in france, and the public declarations which he had made, rendered something in addition necessary: that the war had been undertaken for the freedom of italy, and that he could not justify to france a peace which did not ensure this object. the emperor francis joseph rejoined that he had no objection to offer to the confederation which formed part of the emperor napoleon's programme, and that he was ready to enter it with venetia, and when the emperor napoleon remarked that such a result would be a derision, if the whole power and influence of austria were to be brought to bear upon the confederation, the emperor francis joseph exclaimed against any such interpretation being given to his words, his idea being that venetia should be placed on the same footing, in the italian confederation, as luxemburg holds in the germanic confederation.... "in the course of conversation between the two imperial sovereigns, the emperor of austria remarked to the emperor of the french with many expressions of goodwill, and of a desire to see the dynasty of the latter firmly established on the throne of france, that his majesty took an odd way to accomplish his end. 'believe me,' said the emperor francis joseph, 'dynasties are not established by having recourse to such bad company as you have chosen; revolutionists overturn, but do not construct.' the emperor napoleon appears to have taken the remark in very good part, and even to have excused himself to a certain degree, observing that it was a further reason that the emperor francis joseph should aid him in putting an end to the war, and to the revolutionary spirit to which the war had given rise. "the emperors having separated in the same cordial manner in which they had met, the emperor of the french himself drew up the preliminaries and sent them in the evening to verona by his cousin, the prince napoleon. being introduced to the emperor of austria, who received his imperial highness very courteously, his majesty said, after reading the preliminaries, that he must beg the prince to excuse him for a short time, as he had others to consult before signing them. he then went into an adjoining room where, according to prince napoleon's account, a loud and angry discussion ensued, in which the prince distinguished the emperor's voice broken by tears, as if his majesty had been obliged to have recourse to persuasion, to silence the opposition made to the conditions, and it was not until some time had elapsed that his majesty returned and signed the paper containing them, or rather i infer that he retained the paper signed by the emperor napoleon, and returned one of similar purport signed by himself; for among all the curious circumstances connected with this transaction, not the least curious is the fact that there does not exist any document recording the preliminaries with the double signature of both emperors."] [pageheading: indian affairs] _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ osborne, _ rd july _. the queen's attention has been attracted by no. (foreign department) of the printed abstracts of letters received from india, relating to the affairs of bussahir.[ ] she would ask sir c. wood to consider, with his council, whether means could not be found for making acts of confiscation, sequestration, spoliation, transfer of government, or whatever they may be called, dependent upon some formal and judicial proceeding which should secure the queen from acts being done in her name--which might not be entirely justifiable morally, as well as legally--which should relieve the government agents from the fearful responsibility of being sole advisers on steps implying judicial condemnation without trial on their mere personal opinion, and from which they derive themselves additional personal advancement in power, position, possibly emolument, etc., etc., and lastly, which would give the people of india security that the government only acts after impartial judicial investigation and the sifting of evidence. the queen would wish a report to be made to her upon this important subject. [footnote : bussahir was a state in the upper course of the sutlej. in january, the punjab, including the sutlej states, had been made a distinct presidency, but bussahir was not finally included until .] [pageheading: non-intervention] _queen victoria to lord john russell._[ ] osborne, _ st august _. the queen sends the enclosed draft to lord john russell; she is very sorry that she cannot give her approval to it. there are many points in it to which she cannot but feel the gravest objections. it is unnecessary, however, for her to go into these details, as it is against the principle of england volunteering at this moment the intrusion of a scheme of her own for the redistribution of the territories and governments of northern italy, that she must above all protest. moreover, a step of such importance, reversing the principle of non-intervention, which the queen's government has hitherto publicly declared and upheld, should, in the queen's opinion, not be brought before her without having received the fullest deliberation and concurrence of the assembled cabinet. [footnote : a month earlier, on his return from the war, the emperor had tried to enlist british support in his scheme for a european congress. but the cabinet decided ( th july), with the queen's full concurrence, that no answer should be returned to this proposal, till a treaty, embodying the preliminaries of villafranca, should have been signed.] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ rd august _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he begs to explain that with respect to reversing the principle of non-intervention, he has never proposed any such course. if intervention were to mean giving friendly advice, or even offering mediation, your majesty's government from january to may would have pursued a course of intervention, for they were all that time advising austria, france, sardinia, and germany. if by friendly and judicious advice we can prevent a bloody and causeless war in italy we are bound to give such advice. if we refrain from doing so, we may ultimately be obliged to have recourse to intervention; that is to say, we may have to interfere against the ruthless tyranny of austria, or the unchained ambition of france. it is with a view to prevent the necessity of intervention that lord john russell advises friendly representations. [pageheading: non-intervention] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ aldershot, _ rd august _. ... with regard to lord john's letter of to-day, the queen wishes merely to say that from the outbreak of the war our negotiations have ceased, and that the war is not over till the peace is concluded. our interference before that period may be prompted by a desire to prevent a future war; but our first duty is not to interfere with the closing of the present. the desire to guard italy against "the ruthless tyranny of austria, and the unchained ambition of france" may produce a state of things in italy, forcing both to make common cause against her, and backed by the rest of europe to isolate england, and making her responsible for the issue. it will be little satisfaction then to reflect upon the fact that our interference has been merely _advice_. [pageheading: foreign policy] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ rd august _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that lord john russell has shown him your majesty's communication, in which your majesty objects to a proposed despatch to lord cowley, on the ground that it would be a departure from the principle of non-intervention which has been publicly proclaimed as the rule for great britain in the late events between france and austria. but viscount palmerston would beg humbly to submit to your majesty that the intervention which all parties agreed that this country ought to abstain from, was active interference by force of arms in the war then going on, but that neither of the great political parties meant or asserted that this country should not interfere by its advice and opinions in regard to the matters to which the war related. viscount palmerston can assert that neither he nor any of those who were acting with him out of office ever contemplated giving such a meaning to the doctrine of non-intervention; and that such a meaning never was attached to it by the conservative leaders while they were in office, is proved from one end of their blue book to the other.[ ] the whole course of the derby government, in regard to the matters on which the war turned, was one uninterrupted series of interventions by advice, by opinions, and by censure now addressed to one party and now to another. whatever may be thought of the judgment which was shown by them, or of the bias by which they were guided, the principle on which they acted was undoubtedly right and proper. england is one of the greatest powers of the world, no event or series of events bearing on the balance of power, or on probabilities of peace or war can be matters of indifference to her, and her right to have and to express opinions on matters thus bearing on her interests is unquestionable; and she is equally entitled to give upon such matters any advice which she may think useful, or to suggest any arrangements which she may deem conducive to the general good. it is no doubt true that the conservative party, since they have ceased to be responsible for the conduct of affairs, have held a different doctrine, and in their anxiety lest the influence of england should be exerted for the benefit of italy, and to the disadvantage of austria, have contended that any participation by great britain in the negotiations for the settlement of italy would be a departure from the principle of non-intervention; but their own practice while in office refutes their newly adopted doctrine in opposition; and if that doctrine were to be admitted, great britain would, by her own act, reduce herself to the rank of a third-class european state. [footnote : this was the blue book, the production of which would, according to lord malmesbury, have saved the derby ministry.] [pageheading: italian policy] [pageheading: the queen and lord john russell] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th august _. the queen is really placed in a position of much difficulty, giving her deep pain. she has been obliged to object to so many drafts sent to her from the foreign office on the italian question, and yet, no sooner is one withdrawn or altered, than others are submitted exactly of the same purport or tendency, if even couched in new words. the queen has so often expressed her views that she is almost reluctant to reiterate them. she wishes, however, lord john to re-peruse the two drafts enclosed, which just came to her. if they have any meaning or object, it must be to show to france that it would be to her interest to break in the treaty of zurich the leading conditions to which she pledged herself to austria at villafranca. those preliminaries contained but three provisions affecting austria: ( ) that austria was to cede lombardy; ( ) that an italian confederation should be encouraged, of which venetia was to form part; ( ) that the dukes of tuscany and modena were to return to their duchies. the two latter clauses must be considered as compensations for the losses inflicted in the first. both the latter are now to be recommended by england, a neutral in the war, to be broken. now, either it is expected that our advice will not be listened to, in which case it would not be useful and hardly dignified to give it, or it is expected that france will follow it. if, on finding herself cheated, austria were to feel herself obliged to take up arms again, we should be directly answerable for this fresh war. what would then be our alternative? either to leave france in the lurch, to re-fight her own battle, which would entail lasting danger and disgrace on this country, or to join her in the fresh war against austria--a misfortune from which the queen feels herself equally bound to protect her country. as this is a question of principle on which she clearly understood her cabinet to have been unanimous, she must ask her correspondence to be circulated amongst its members, with a view to ascertain whether they also would be parties to its reversal, and in order to prevent the necessity of these frequent discussions, which, as the queen has already said, are very painful to her. [pageheading: mediation of lord granville] _earl granville to the prince albert._ london, _ th august _. sir,--in the middle of last week i received at aldenham a letter from mr sidney herbert,[ ] in which he told me that he had just received a visit from lord palmerston, much perturbed and annoyed, saying that the queen had objected to all lord john's despatches, and appeared to think that it was objectionable for england to give any advice on the subject of italian affairs. mr herbert gave some good advice to lord palmerston, but, from the tone of his letter, i gather that he thought the objections made at osborne unreasonable. i answered that i entirely concurred with him in the interest of everybody, that no feelings of irritation should exist between the sovereign and her leading ministers; that it was possible that the queen, forgetting how very sensitive lord john was to criticism, had pulled him up more sharply than he liked, but that i was convinced the objections made were not exactly those mentioned by lord palmerston. i heard nothing more till i received on saturday evening a telegram, summoning me to a cabinet this day. i came to town immediately, and saw lord palmerston yesterday. i enquired the reason of the sudden summons for a cabinet. he told me that there had been a discussion between the queen and lord john; that the queen had objected to his (lord john's) proposal that the despatch of th july should be now communicated to the french government. lord john had informed him of the fact, and had requested him to communicate with the queen on the subject. lord palmerston then read to me a well-written memorandum on the abstract question of giving advice, which he had sent to her majesty. he told me that he had been to osborne; that the queen had expressed a wish through sir charles wood that he should not discuss the whole matter with her; that he had had a satisfactory conversation with your royal highness, of which he gave me an abstract, which, however, contained his own arguments at greater length than your royal highness's. he said that lord john had made a mistake with respect to the end of the despatch, in which lord cowley is desired to withhold it till after the peace of zurich was concluded. lord john gave a different interpretation to it from what appeared to be the case, as described by a previous letter of lord john, in which he had said that the sentence was added at the suggestion of the cabinet, and with his entire approval. lord palmerston states that the queen did not feel herself authorised to sanction a departure from what had been decided by the cabinet, without the concurrence of the cabinet, and that she thought it desirable, if the cabinet met, that they should agree on the future policy as regards italy. lord john also wished for a cabinet. i replied that there seemed to be a double question: first, a difference between the queen and lord john russell and himself; and second, the whole question of our italian policy. on the first point i could not but remember the apprehension generally felt at the formation of his first government; that the feeling between the sovereign and himself might not be such as to give strength to the government; that the result, however, was most satisfactory. i was not aware of either the queen or himself having given way on any one point of principle, but the best understanding was kept up in the most honourable way to both, and that, at the end of his ministry, i knew that the queen had expressed to several persons how much she regretted to lose his services. that i most sincerely hoped that there was no chance of misunderstanding now arising; that would be most disadvantageous to the sovereign, to the public service, to the government, and, above all, to himself. he interrupted me by assuring me that there was not the slightest chance of this. he repeated to me flattering things said by the queen at the close of his last administration, and told me that it was impossible for the queen to have been more kind and civil than at his visit last week at osborne. i continued that in italian matters i believed the cabinet was agreed. our language to italian governments ought to show sympathy with italy, and let them know that we were anxious that they should be left free to act and decide for themselves; that it should inform them in the clearest manner that in no case were they to obtain active assistance from us, and it ought to avoid giving any advice as to their conduct, which might make us responsible for the evil or danger which might accrue from following such advice. that our language to france and austria ought to press upon them in every _judicious_ manner the expediency of doing that which was likely to secure the permanent happiness of italy, and to persuade them to abstain from forcing upon the italians, persons and forms of government to which they objected; nothing like a menace or a promise to be used.... i then saw sidney herbert, who told me that charles wood's report had entirely changed the aspect of things; that it was clear that the queen had come to the assistance of the cabinet, instead of opposing them; that reason had been entirely on her side, and that johnny had reduced the question now to the single point, which was not of much importance, whether the th july despatch should now be communicated or not. he told me that lord john was in a state of great irritation, and ready to kick over the traces. i dined at lord palmerston's, and met sir charles wood and mr gladstone. i had some guarded conversation with the latter, who seemed very reasonable. sir charles wood gave me all the information which i required. it appears to me that the really important point is that the whole cabinet should know the real question between the queen and her ministers, and that, if lord john can find plausible reasons for changing the date of the communication of the despatch, it may be better for the queen to consent to this. some of us will take care to have a decided opinion about the future course of our policy. i presume sir george grey will be at the cabinet, and will be able to report to your royal highness what has passed. if he is not there, i will write again. i have the honour to be, sir, with great respect, your royal highness's obedient, humble, and faithful servant, granville. [footnote : see lord fitzmaurice's _life of lord granville_, vol. i. chap. xiii.] [pageheading: the queen's position] _earl granville to the prince albert._ privy council office, _ th august _. sir,--the cabinet was very satisfactory. lord john looked ill, and evidently ashamed of much of his case. many of the cabinet thought that the despatch of th july had not only been sent but communicated. others attached a different meaning to the closing paragraph than what it appears to bear. lord john produced a most objectionable draft of despatch in lieu of that of the th. it was universally condemned, and lord palmerston was empowered to tell the queen that the cabinet now thought that the despatch of the th might be communicated. lords palmerston and john russell asked for further powers during the recess, and recommended that we should give an opinion in favour of annexation of duchies to sardinia. this was decidedly objected to, and we all professed our readiness to meet again if necessary.[ ] the cabinet thoroughly understood what had passed between the queen and her two ministers, although we could not get lord john to show us all we required. gladstone took me aside after it was over to say that i must have thought him stupid yesterday evening, that now he knew the facts he thought her majesty had been put to most unnecessary annoyance. the chancellor said something of the same sort. i never saw the cabinet more united. the duke of argyll, lord elgin, and mr cardwell were absent. i am, sir, with great respect, your obedient, humble, and faithful servant, granville. [footnote : "pam. asked for fuller powers to act during the recess, which was met by a general assurance of readiness to come up by night trains." lord granville to the duke of argyll. see the _life of lord granville_, vol. i. p. .] [pageheading: sardinia and central italy] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ balmoral, _ th september _. lord john russell will not be surprised if the despatches of lord cowley and drafts by lord john in answer to them, which the queen returns to him, have given her much pain. here we have the very interference with advice to which the queen had objected when officially brought before her for her sanction, to which the cabinet objected, and which lord john russell agreed to withdraw, carried on by direct communication of the prime minister through the french ambassador with the emperor; and we have the very effect produced which the queen dreaded, viz. the french minister insinuating that we called upon his master to do that which he would consider so dishonourable that he would rather resign than be a party to it! what is the use of the queen's open and, she fears, sometimes wearisome correspondence, with her ministers, what the use of long deliberations of the cabinet, if the very policy can be carried out by indirect means which is set aside officially, and what protection has the queen against this practice? lord john russell's distinction also between his own official and private opinion or advice given to a foreign minister is a most dangerous, and, the queen thinks, untenable theory, open to the same objections, for what he states will have the weight of the official character of the foreign secretary, whether stated as his private or his public opinion. his advice to the marquis d'azeglio[ ] is moreover quite open to the inference drawn by count walewski, that it is an encouragement to _sardinia_, to military intervention in and occupation of the duchies, and lord john russell's answer hardly meets this point if left as it stands at present; for "the _name_ of the king of sardinia,... _the chief of a well-disciplined army_," will have little influence unless he is prepared to use that army. the queen must ask lord john to instruct lord cowley to state to count walewski that no opinions expressed on foreign policy are those of "her majesty's government" but those which are given in the official and regular way, and that her majesty's government never thought of advising the french government to break the solemn engagements into which the emperor napoleon entered towards the emperor of austria at villafranca. the queen asks lord john to communicate this letter to lord palmerston. [footnote : massimo d'azeglio, sardinian commissioner in the romagna. he had been prime minister of sardinia from till , when cavour, who had been in his ministry, succeeded him.] [pageheading: england involved] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen returns lord palmerston's letter, together with the other papers sent to her, to lord john. she is glad to find that he thinks that no answer ought to be given to count persigny, but she thinks it important that it should be _stated to him that no answer can be given_. unfortunately, here has been again the prime minister declaring that he _quite agrees_ with the french ambassador, but that the proposal should come officially from france to be placed before the cabinet. the inference must be that the cabinet and the queen will, as a matter of course, agree also, when it is so submitted. now what is it that lord palmerston has approved? a plan for an alliance of england with france for the purpose of _overruling_ austria, if the duchies in which she is the heir, and to which the archdukes were to return in accordance with the stipulations of villafranca, were given to sardinia and austria should object. it is hoped indeed that this will not immediately lead to war with her, but france is to expect that she will not be left to fight single-handed for an object declared to be more english than french! thus we are dragged step by step into the position of a party in the italian strife. the queen thinks it incumbent upon her not to leave lord john russell in ignorance of the fact that _she_ could not approve such a policy reversing our whole position since the commencement of the war. the queen must leave it to lord john to consider how far it would be fair to his colleagues in the cabinet to leave them unacquainted with the various private steps lately taken, which must seriously affect their free consideration of the important question upon which they have hitherto pledged themselves to a distinct principle. _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen returns to lord palmerston his correspondence with m. de persigny. lord john russell will have sent him her letter to him on this subject. she has nothing to add, but to repeat her conviction of the great danger and inconvenience arising out of such private communications, and the apprehension she must naturally feel that the attempt to convince the emperor napoleon that it would be for his interest to break his word to the emperor of austria should reflect upon the honour of the queen's government. she must insist upon this being distinctly guarded against. [pageheading: lord john russell's criticisms] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ abergeldie, _ th september _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he cannot refrain from making some remarks on your majesty's letter of yesterday. lord palmerston appears to have answered m. de persigny by saying that he personally agreed with him, but that the proposition he had sketched must come from the french government; that it must come from them officially, and it would then have to be maturely considered by the cabinet. lord john russell sees nothing to object to in this language. it might be embarrassing to lord palmerston if such a proposition were to come from france, and were to be rejected by the cabinet. but lord palmerston could easily explain the matter to m. de persigny. lord palmerston does not appear to have committed your majesty, or lord john russell, or the cabinet in any way. on the other hand, your majesty cannot mean that the cabinet is to be precluded from maturely considering any proposition which may come officially from france. lord john russell feels, on his own part, that he must offer to your majesty such advice as he thinks best adapted to secure the interests and dignity of your majesty and the country. he will be held by parliament responsible for that advice. it will be always in your majesty's power to reject it altogether. lord john russell is of opinion that there never was a time when it was less expedient to fetter this country by prospective engagements. but it does not follow that the policy pursued last autumn and winter, and which ended in a war in italy, would be the best course in any future contingency. should another war arise it will be very difficult for great britain to remain neutral. for this reason it is desirable to prevent such a war, if possible. it was difficult last winter, and may be still more difficult this winter. for the present there is no better course than to keep this country free from engagements. after the peace of zurich is made, or not made, we shall see our way better. lord john russell has never concealed his opinions from his colleagues. he even warned them that france might make such a proposition as m. de persigny now contemplates. the enclosed letter from lord palmerston and mr fane's[ ] despatch will show the feelings which exist between austria and prussia. the emperor napoleon does not appear to have satisfied prince metternich. his object evidently is to gain time. [footnote : julian henry fane, son of the eleventh earl of westmorland, and secretary of embassy at vienna.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter. she can ask for nothing better than "that we should be kept from any engagements," and she never could have intended to convey the impression that she wished to "see the cabinet precluded from taking into consideration any proposal france might make." what she objects to is binding beforehand the government by expressions of opinion of its leading members to the french government, and thus _bringing about_ those french proposals which it will be most embarrassing to the cabinet either to reject or adopt. it is absolutely necessary, therefore, that the french government should be told that the opinions given were private opinions not binding the government. lord john has not yet sent to the queen drafts in conformity with her wishes expressed in her letter of the day before yesterday. [pageheading: letters to foreign sovereigns] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th september _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour to receive your majesty's communication of the th of this month; and although he had the honour of addressing your majesty yesterday afternoon, he deems it his duty to submit some observations upon this communication. your majesty states that viscount palmerston in his letter to count persigny endeavoured to persuade the emperor of the french to break his word to the emperor of austria, but viscount palmerston must beg very respectfully but entirely to deny that accusation....[ ] your majesty is pleased to observe upon the danger and inconvenience of private communications with foreign ministers, and to add that your majesty must insist upon this being distinctly guarded against. viscount [palmerston] would be very desirous of knowing the precise meaning of those last words. if your majesty means that what is to be guarded against is any attempt to induce a foreign sovereign to break his word, viscount palmerston cordially subscribes to that opinion, and maintains that he has not done so in the past, and declares that he has no intention of doing so in the future. but if your majesty's meaning is that viscount palmerston is to be debarred from communicating with foreign ministers except for the purpose of informing them officially of formal decisions of the british government, viscount palmerston would beg humbly and respectfully to represent to your majesty that such a curtailment of the proper and constitutional functions of the office which he holds would render it impossible for him to serve your majesty consistently with his own honour or with advantage to the public interest. [footnote : lord palmerston then gives a very long and detailed account of his position.] [pageheading: the queen's opinion] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ balmoral, _ th september _. lord palmerston has written (on the th) a long letter to the queen, which, besides giving his private opinion on the politics of italy, which were not disputed, purports to show that when a principle of policy had been adopted by the cabinet and sanctioned by the sovereign, the foreign secretary ought not to be impeded in carrying out the details, either by objections raised to them by the sovereign, or by making them dependent on the meetings of cabinets, difficult to obtain at this time of year. now the question raised by the queen was _just the reverse_. the principle adopted by the cabinet and sanctioned by the queen was: not to interfere by active advice with the peace to be made at zurich; the foreign secretary had submitted a draft which had appeared to the queen to be in contradiction to this principle, which, upon the sovereign's objection, he withdrew; the cabinet was summoned and rejected a similar draft submitted to them, and the queen then complained that the very same advice should have been given by the prime minister in an indirect way to which the sovereign and cabinet could not agree openly. lord palmerston's letter was not communicated to the queen until it had been alluded to in a public despatch, and count walewski had insinuated to our ambassador that, rather than be a party to a line of conduct, which he would look upon as dishonourable for his master, he would resign office. what the queen has asked for is: an intimation to the french government that private communications like that of lord palmerston to m. de persigny must not be looked upon as the official expression of the opinion of her majesty's government, and that we disclaim ever having intended to induce the emperor to break his engagements made at villafranca, whatever they may have been. the queen does not conceive that lord palmerston can object to this course, nor does he attempt to do so in his letter. _p.s._--since writing the above the queen has received lord palmerston's letter of the th. as she has just written at length, she does not conceive that it would be necessary to make any further observations in reply, except to a distinct question put by him in the latter part of his letter, viz. what the queen wishes to have "distinctly guarded against." it is the danger and inconvenience of private communications with foreign ministers, without a distinct understanding that they are strictly private, and not to be treated as conveying the opinions of her majesty's government, where the sanction of the crown and adhesion of the cabinet have not been obtained. lord john russell has now expressed this in a paragraph in one of his drafts to lord cowley, which he will send to lord palmerston. as a proof of the necessity of such caution, the queen, has only to refer to the public use made of lord palmerston's private letter to count persigny, and the use made to our prejudice by the emperor napoleon at the time of the armistice at villafranca of a private communication with count persigny, which was represented to imply assent to certain conditions of peace by england, with a desire of pressing them on austria, when no opinion had been expressed by the government to justify such an inference. [pageheading: st juan] _the duke of newcastle to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th september _. the duke of newcastle presents his humble duty to your majesty. your majesty will receive from sir george lewis full information of the serious intelligence which has been received to-day from washington and vancouver island respecting the military occupation by united states troops of the island of st juan,[ ] and of the view taken of it by your majesty's government. the duke of newcastle begs leave to receive your majesty's instructions upon the acceptance of an offer made by lord clarendon whilst on a visit at clumber last week. lord clarendon received not long ago a private letter from the president of the united states. he proposes that in answering this letter he should express his concern at these untoward events, and particularly at their occurrence at a time when, if not speedily settled, they would prevent the fulfilment of a project which he had reason to think had been in contemplation--a visit to washington by the prince of wales on his return from canada. lord clarendon expresses his belief that nothing would so much gratify mr buchanan as a visit from his royal highness to the united states during his presidency.... lord palmerston and lord john russell see no objection to such a letter from lord clarendon, which, whilst it would carry weight as coming from one occupying so high a position in this country, would bear no official character; but as the name of the prince of wales would be used, however hypothetically, such a letter would not be written by lord clarendon or accepted by the government without your majesty's sanction. the duke of newcastle therefore requests to be favoured with your majesty's commands that he may communicate them to lord clarendon. [footnote : a dispute had arisen out of the oregon affair (see _ante_, vol. ii., introductory notes to chapters xiv, and xv), concerning the rival claims of this country and the united states to the small island of st juan, situated between vancouver island and the state of washington, which is adjacent to the canadian frontier.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._[ ] windsor castle, _ st december _. the queen returns lord cowley's interesting letter. she trusts that it will be made quite clear to the emperor that he has no chance of getting us to join him in the war with austria, which he may be tempted or driven to renew. this alternative constantly recurs to his mind.... [footnote : on the th of november the treaty of zurich, embodying the terms arranged at villafranca, had been signed, and a congress was determined upon, to settle italian affairs.] [pageheading: england and france] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ st december _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he has written to lord cowley, according to your majesty's gracious permission. the question of supporting the emperor of the french, if austria should attempt force to impose a government in italy against the popular will, must be judged of according to the circumstances, should they arise. lord john russell is certainly not prepared to say that a case may not arise when the interests of great britain might require that she should give material support to the emperor of the french. but he considers such a case as very improbable, and that the fear of such an alliance will prevent austria from disturbing the peace of europe. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ nd december _. the queen was extremely sorry to find from lord john russell's letter of yesterday that he contemplates the possibility of our joining france in a fresh italian war or demonstration of war against austria, which the queen had put entirely out of the question. if the emperor of the french were allowed to believe in such a possibility, he would have it in his power to bring it about, or obtain a just cause of complaint against us, if we abandoned him. it would be just as dangerous and unfair towards the emperor to mislead him in this respect as it would be for the queen to conceal from lord john that under no pretence will she depart from her position of neutrality in the italian quarrel, and inflict upon her country and europe the calamity of war on that account. [pageheading: sir james hudson] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ th december _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter recommending sir james hudson[ ] as the second representative at the congress of paris. the queen must decline sanctioning this selection. lord john russell has in his last letters avowed his conviction that england cannot again remain neutral in an italian war, and his opinion that she ought to support france and sardinia by arms if austria were to attempt to recover her supremacy by force. lord cowley wrote on the th ult. that prince metternich declared that austria kept her army ready because she could not permit either the military occupation of the duchies by sardinia or their annexation to that kingdom. lord palmerston sent to the queen yesterday evening the copy of a letter he wrote to count persigny urging the emperor napoleon by every argument he can find to consent to this annexation, even to the length of assuring him that such a state would always be obliged to lean on france. the queen cannot help drawing her conclusions from these facts, and feels more than ever the great responsibility resting on her, to preserve to her people the blessings of peace. she wishes this letter to be communicated to lord palmerston and to the cabinet. the queen approves of lord cowley as her first representative at the congress. [footnote : sir james hudson, minister at turin, had been a sympathiser in the policy of cavour, to an extent almost incompatible with his position as a british representative.] [pageheading: central italy] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th december _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter of yesterday. although to avoid a long written discussion, she has not in her last letter stated any reason for her objecting to sir james hudson as plenipotentiary at the congress, she has no objection to state to lord john that it is simply her want of confidence in him, being the result of her having watched his conduct at his post at turin during these last years. the queen's representative at paris ought to be a person in whom she can have entire confidence, that _english_ interests alone will sway his conduct. from lord john russell's letter it appears that many of his colleagues in cabinet saw equal objections to the appointment. the queen repeats her wish that her letter of yesterday may be communicated to the cabinet. lord cowley's letter, which she returns, is not calculated to diminish the queen's alarm as to the direction in which we are being systematically driven, viz. _war_ to support the emperor napoleon, who almost claims such support already as his right! he has already shifted his ground further, and asks for it in case austria should oppose "the armed interference of sardinia in the affairs of central italy." now sardinia can have no more right to such interference than austria; yet the emperor says "he is quite determined to renew the war in case austria resists." it is under these circumstances that the advice of the prime minister of england to the emperor, to withdraw the only impediment which restrains the action of sardinia, becomes a matter of such grave moment. the queen is determined to hold to her neutrality in the italian intrigues, revolutions, and wars. it is true, lord john says, "it becomes a great power like great britain to preserve the peace of europe, by throwing her great weight into the scale which has justice on its side." but where justice lies, admits of every variety of opinion. the party placed in absolute power by a revolution and a foreign invasion is not necessarily the exponent of the real wishes of a people, and lord cowley reports mr layard "hot from italy to confirm him in the opinion he has always held, that the annexation of tuscany to sardinia is not practicable." this, however, lord palmerston urges, and if it be agreed to by the emperor and attempted by sardinia, lord john would probably wish england to fight for it as the cause of justice. has lord john ever contemplated the probability of austria not being abandoned a second time by germany, when attacked by france? the emperor is sure to have calculated upon this, and has not played his game badly, if he can get the alliance of england to sanction and foster his attack upon the rhine, which would inevitably follow. the queen believes this to be a cherished object of france, and the success certain if we become her dupes. the queen can hardly for a moment bring herself to think of the consequences. she would wish this letter also to be shown to the cabinet. [pageheading: meeting of the cabinet] _earl granville to the prince albert._ london, _ th december _. sir,--lord john stated in what appeared to me a very fair way what had taken place between himself and lord palmerston in their communications with her majesty, and read her majesty's letters. at the end of his statement the chancellor asked what was the question to be decided by the cabinet. lord john answered that he wished to know whether he was to inform her majesty that the cabinet were of opinion that they were still respectfully of opinion that sir james hudson was the fittest person to be named second plenipotentiary, or whether he should acquiesce in her majesty's commands, reserving his own opinion as to the fitness of sir james. the chancellor answered: "undoubtedly the second course will be the best." i then stated my reasons, or rather repeated them, for objecting to sir james hudson. mr gladstone made a hesitating remark. sir g. lewis and the duke of argyll, sir charles wood, and sir george grey--the latter very strongly--supported the second course proposed by lord john. lord palmerston spoke with some temper and dogmatically as to who were right and who were wrong, but advised lord john to take the second course. the appointment of lord wodehouse[ ] was proposed. some of us do not think it a very good one, but there are no sufficient grounds for our opposing it. i am not sure that gladstone would not go any lengths in supporting lords palmerston and john russell on the italian question, although he is more cautious than they are. the feeling of the rest of the cabinet, as far as i can judge, is perfectly sound about war, and on our taking an english and not a purely sardinian attitude; but they are all inclined to sympathise with the national feeling in italy, and averse to the restoration of the dukes by force or by intrigue. lord john was sore and nervous, but talked of his letter to the queen, and lord palmerston's to persigny, as "unlucky." lord palmerston seems convinced that he is perfectly in the right, and everybody else in the wrong, and would, i am sure, take advantage of any step, taken without sufficient consideration by the queen, to make a stand for his own policy.... i have the honour to be, sir, with great respect, your royal highness's obedient and faithful servant, granville. [footnote : under secretary of state for foreign affairs, and afterwards, as earl of kimberley, a member of successive liberal cabinets.] [pageheading: divorce cases] _queen victoria to the lord chancellor_ (_lord campbell_). windsor castle, _ th december _. the queen wishes to ask the lord chancellor whether no steps can be taken to prevent the present publicity of the proceedings before the new divorce court. these cases, which must necessarily increase when the new law becomes more and more known, fill now almost daily a large portion of the newspapers, and are of so scandalous a character that it makes it almost impossible for a paper to be trusted in the hands of a young lady or boy. none of the worst french novels from which careful parents would try to protect their children can be as bad as what is daily brought and laid upon the breakfast-table of every educated family in england, and its effect must be most pernicious to the public morals of the country.[ ] [footnote : lord campbell replied that having attempted in the last session to introduce a measure to give effect to the queen's wish, and having been defeated, he was helpless to prevent the evil.] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ windsor castle, _le décembre _. sire et mon cher frÈre,--je viens comme de coutume offrir à votre majesté nos félicitations bien sincères à l'occasion de la nouvelle année. puisse-t-elle ne vous apporter que du bonheur et du contentement! l'année qui vient de s'écouler a été orageuse et pénible et a fait souffrir bien des c[oe]rs. je prie dieu que celle dans laquelle nous entrons nous permette de voir s'accomplir l'[oe]uvre de la pacification, avec tous ses bienfaits pour le repos et le progrès du monde. il y aura encore à réconcilier bien des opinions divergentes et des intérêts apparemment opposés; mais avec l'aide du ciel et une ferme résolution de ne vouloir que le bien de ceux dont nous avons à régler le sort, il ne faut pas en désespérer. nous avons eu le plaisir de posséder pendant quelques semaines notre chère fille et son mari, qu'il nous a été bien doux de revoir au sein de notre famille. notre fils aîné passe ses vacances avec nous, mais retournera prochainement à oxford pour reprendre ses études. lady ely vient de nous dire qu'elle a trouvé votre majesté ainsi que l'impératrice et le petit prince dans la meilleure santé ce qui nous a fait bien du plaisir d'entendre. le prince me charge d'offrir ses hommages les plus affectueux à votre majesté, et, en vous renouvelant les expressions de ma sincère amitié, je me dis, sire et cher frère, de v.m.i, la bonne et affectionnée s[oe]ur et amie, victoria r. introductory note to chapter xxix at the end of , mr cobden had offered his services to the government to negotiate a commercial treaty with france, and had been warmly encouraged in the scheme by mr gladstone. in january , he was officially appointed a plenipotentiary, with lord cowley, for this purpose, and on the rd of that month the treaty was signed. it included mutual remissions and reductions of import duties, and was contingent on obtaining the assent of the british parliament, but neither party was fettered by any engagement not to extend similar concessions to other countries. in february, on the introduction of the budget, the treaty was brought before the house of commons, and ratified by a great majority; at the same time mr gladstone abolished a large number of import duties, but increased the income-tax for incomes over £ , from ninepence to tenpence in the pound. his proposal to repeal the paper duties was rejected by the peers, the majority in its favour in the commons having sunk to nine. a commons committee was appointed to deal with this conflict between the houses, and resolutions defining the powers of the peers in money bills were passed by the lower house, lord palmerston clearly showing himself in sympathy with the lords. mr gladstone expressed a desire to resign, in consequence of his difference with his colleagues, while lord derby and lord malmesbury intimated privately that they would support lord palmerston in office against any radical secession. a reform bill of lord john russell, reducing the borough franchise to £ , and making a moderate redistribution of seats, was received with indifference, and eventually dropped. italian affairs mainly absorbed the attention of the country. the intended international congress was abandoned, owing to the attitude adopted by the french emperor towards the pope, but the former now obtained the annexation of savoy and nice, not, as had been arranged in as a reward for assisting to set italy free "from the alps to the adriatic"--an ideal which had not been realised--but as a price for assisting piedmont to incorporate the central italian provinces. the annexation was strongly resented, and suspicions of french designs were aroused to such an extent as to give a substantial impetus to the volunteer movement in this country. by the summer, , volunteers had been enrolled, and, at a review in hyde park, , men marched past the queen, while in august, in consequence of the same apprehensions, it was decided by a large vote to carry out the recommendations of the national defence commission. the swiss made an ineffectual protest against the annexation of that part of savoy which had been neutralised by the treaty of vienna, while, on the other hand, the emperor napoleon maintained that the people of savoy and nice had the same right to transfer their country to france, as tuscany and the Æmilia (under which name the duchies of parma and modena and the romagna were now united) had to place themselves under the king of sardinia. this they decided in march, by universal suffrage, to do; a few days later the treaty for the annexation of savoy and nice was signed, and in april it was ratified in the piedmontese parliament, garibaldi, the deputy for nice, his native town, voting against it. in the same month, a _plébiscite_, taken in the provinces affected, showed an immense majority in favour of annexation. garibaldi himself was soon afterwards engaged in rendering assistance to the sicilians in their insurrection against the despotic king francis ii. assuming the title of "dictator of sicily, in the name of victor emmanuel," garibaldi attacked and occupied palermo, and having established his ascendency in the island, invaded the neapolitan territory on the mainland. the sardinian government, for diplomatic reasons, disavowed the expedition, but gave a retrospective assent to it later in the year. the french emperor's policy in syria added to the distrust with which he was regarded. the maronites, a christian tribe, had been attacked and massacred by the druses, and the emperor had proposed to send troops to restore order. this step was eventually taken, after a european conference had been held; but the emperor's proposal was so severely criticised that he wrote a long letter to the french ambassador in london, reviewing and justifying his policy in italy and elsewhere, since the peace of villafranca. garibaldi had ignored the instructions of victor emmanuel to abstain from further operations against naples, until the two sicilies had voted for absorption into united italy; king francis fled to gaëta, and garibaldi entered the capital. at the same time, cavour, in spite of a french protest, determined upon the invasion of the papal states, and acted so promptly that in three weeks all effective opposition to the italian cause in that territory was put down, and umbria and the marches were conquered. in october, the piedmontese parliament voted for the annexation of such of the southern italian provinces as should declare themselves in favour of it; the two sicilies having accepted the offer by overwhelming majorities, the king and garibaldi joined hands at teano, and finally defeated the bourbon army, afterwards entering naples. the marches and umbria also declared for incorporation in the new kingdom. in july, the prince of wales, accompanied by the duke of newcastle, left england for a tour in canada, where he was welcomed with unbounded enthusiasm; he afterwards proceeded to the united states, visiting new york, chicago, and other great cities, being received by president buchanan at washington. the prince returned home in the course of november. the abolitionist troubles, which for some time had been acute in the states, came to a crisis in the last days of the year, south carolina adopting autonomous ordinances, declaring her own independence and sovereignty as a state, and her secession from the union. the refusal of the chinese government to ratify the treaty of tien-tsin, and an unwarranted attack on certain british ships, led to a revival of hostilities. a desire being expressed by the chinese to resume negotiations, some of the british representatives despatched for that purpose were treacherously captured, and treated with great cruelty. the allied troops of england and france thereupon, marched to pekin, when reparation was made, and retribution, exacted for the outrages. a convention was eventually signed on the th of october. chapter xxix _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th january _. my dearest victoria,--i have to thank you for a _most affectionate_ and gracious letter of the rd.... i will speak to my pianist about wagner's _lohengrin_; he plays with great taste and feeling, and i purchased a fine parisian piano to enable him to go on satisfactorily. now i must speak a little of passing events. louis napoleon wished for a congress because it would have placed a new authority between himself and the italians, whom he fears evidently concerning their fondness of assassinating people. the pamphlet, "the pope and the congress," remains _incomprehensible_[ ]; it will do him much harm, and will deprive him of the confidence of the catholics who have been in france his most devoted supporters. now the congress is then postponed, but what is to be done with italy? one notion is, that there would be some arrangement by which piedmont would receive more, savoy would go to france, and england would receive sardinia. i am sure that england would by no means wish to have sardinia. it will give me great pleasure to hear what lord cowley has reported on these subjects. i understand that louis napoleon is now much occupied with germany, and studies its resources. this is somewhat alarming, as he had followed, it seems, the same course about italy. _gare la bombe_, the prussians may say. one cannot understand why louis napoleon is using so many odd subterfuges when plain acting would from the month of september have settled everything. i must say that i found walewski at that time very sensible and conservative. his retiring will give the impression that things are now to be carried on in a less conservative way, and people will be much alarmed. i know thouvenel, and liked him, but that was in the poor king's time. in england his nomination will not give much pleasure, i should imagine, as he was in the situation to oppose english notions in the orient.... your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : this famous pamphlet, issued (like that of february , _ante_, th january, , note ) under the nominal authorship of m. de la guéronnière, expounded the emperor'sview that the pope should be deprived of his temporal dominions, rome excepted. its publication brought about the resignation of count walewski (who was succeeded by m. de thouvenel) and the abandonment of the proposed congress.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter, written after the cabinet yesterday evening. she was much relieved by finding a proposal to call upon france and austria not to interfere in italy substituted for the former one implying war on our part for the defence of the provisional governments of central italy. the queen must consider this new proposal, however, as partial and incomplete as long as sardinia is not asked as well to abstain from interference. austria has reversionary rights in tuscany and modena, sardinia has no rights at all, if a desire for acquisition is not to be considered as one. austria will probably say she has no intention of interfering as long as sardinia does not, but she cannot allow sardinia to possess herself of her inheritance under her very eyes. it is also incorrect to place france and austria entirely in the same line; austria being an italian power in virtue of venetia, and france having nothing whatever to do in italy. [pageheading: whig traditions] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ th january _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he has just had the honour to receive your majesty's letter of this date. lord john russell has sent to lord palmerston the proposal he humbly submits to your majesty. he will therefore only venture to say that the doctrines of the revolution of , doctrines which were supported by mr fox, mr pitt, the duke of wellington, lord castlereagh, mr canning, and lord grey, can hardly be abandoned in these days by your majesty's present advisers. according to those doctrines, all power held by sovereigns may be forfeited by misconduct, and each nation is the judge of its own internal government.[ ] lord john russell can hardly be expected to abjure those opinions, or to act in opposition to them. [footnote : in a despatch of the th of october, lord john took the same ground in the case of naples. after quoting with approval the view taken by vattel of the lawfulness of the assistance given by the united provinces to the prince of orange, and his conclusion that it is justifiable to assist patriots revolting against an oppressor for "good reasons," he stated that the question was whether the people of naples and of the roman states took up arms against their government for good reasons; and of this matter, he added, the people themselves were the best judges.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen has received lord john russell's note of this day, in which she is not able to find any answer to her letter, or even an allusion to what she had written, viz. that austria and france being asked to abstain from interference, such an arrangement would be partial and incomplete unless sardinia was pledged also to non-interference. the queen cannot make out what the doctrines of the revolution of can have to do with this, or how it would necessitate lord john to abjure them. [pageheading: affairs of italy] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january _. my beloved uncle,--your dear letter of the th reached me on saturday, and i at once forwarded your letter to good and faithful clark, who was for _two_ months unable to attend us from a severe attack of illness, but who is, i am happy to say, much better, indeed his own good self again, and who is now _here_.[ ] this good account you give us of your precious health makes us truly happy. it is such a blessing. affairs are in a sad and complicated state, and though we modify matters as much as we _can_, we can't entirely keep our ministers (_the two_) from doing _something_. you will hear no doubt of the last proposal soon, viz. that france and austria should _both_ agree _not_ to interfere in italy--france withdrawing her troops from rome, and sardinia to be asked not to send any troops into the duchies until there has been a _final vote_ expressive of their wishes. we could _not prevent_ this _proposal_, which i doubt being accepted--as the rest of the cabinet thought it could _not_ be opposed, and entailed _no_ material _support_. this country _never_ would consent to be entangled in a _war_ for this italian quarrel.... we have a large party again to-day for the _play_ which we have to-morrow. we had a very successful one last week. the persignys come to-day. now i must end. with albert's love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the queen, later in the year, lent bagshot park temporarily to sir james clark.] [pageheading: annexation of savoy] [pageheading: victor emmanuel] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ st january _. the queen returns the enclosed important letter from lord cowley, and lord john russell's answers--documents which she trusts will be communicated to the cabinet. the emperor shows unwillingness to evacuate rome and lombardy, disinclination to admit of the annexation of the duchies to sardinia, a feeling that he could not do so without appearing dishonourable in the eyes of austria, and a determination to rob sardinia of savoy in order to repay the french nation for the rupture with the pope, and the abandonment of a protective tariff by the reconquest of at least a portion of the "_frontières naturelles de la france_."[ ] lord cowley's letter proves clearly that it is (as the queen all along felt and often said) most dangerous for us to offer to bind ourselves to a common action with the emperor with regard to italy, whilst he has entered into a variety of engagements with the different parties engaged in the dispute, of which we know nothing, and has objects in view which we can only guess at, and which have not the good of italy in view, but his own aggrandisement to the serious detriment of europe. with regard to lord john russell's answer, the queen will only say that our proposal having been made by us after serious reflection and the anxious discussion of the cabinet and the queen, no deviation from it ought to take place without affording them ample opportunity to consider the bearings and probable results of such alteration. [footnote : the cession by king victor emmanuel of savoy (the cradle of his race) and of nice to france was the consideration offered at plombières for obtaining french support to the movement for freeing italy "from the alps to the adriatic"; that result not having been achieved, a like price was now offered for french assistance in effecting the annexation of the central italian provinces.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ nd january _. the queen has received lord palmerston's note and enclosures. she rather expects to be advised by her ministers as to the course to be adopted in matters which may lead to angry debate in the house of lords, than to give personal directions on a case so incompletely placed before her; lord willoughby's letter does not even name the persons in question nor the grounds upon which he assumes "they would not be received at court."[ ] the queen does not know how far admission or non-admission trenches upon the privileges of the house; from the submitted printed regulation, however, she would gather that the lord high chamberlain has full power to admit or exclude. if lord palmerston were to see lord granville as leader, and the lord chancellor as speaker, of the house of lords together with lord willoughby, they might so far discuss the question as to enable lord palmerston to submit a decision for the queen's consideration to-morrow. [footnote : lord willoughby's question had reference to a peeress, who, he thought, would not be received at court. the difference between a state opening of parliament and a drawing-room was pointed out in lord palmerston's reply. though it would be "unpleasant to the peeresses to find themselves sitting next to a person with whom they do not associate," the premier advised no interference with the lady in question, if she persisted in attending.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st january _. my dearest uncle,--accept my warmest thanks for your kind letter of the th, received on saturday--by which i am delighted to see what sport you have had. i have _such_ an aversion for hunting that i am _quite_ pleased to hear of the destruction of the _fifty-one_ foxes. i suppose it was not cold enough for _wolves_. i think parliament has had a wholesome effect upon certain people; and that they are _altogether frightened_. there has been a strong despatch written relative to savoy--and altogether i think matters are taking a better turn. the feeling of _all_ parties and this _whole_ country is--to _let italy settle its own affairs_--and _england to keep quite out of it_.... we shall see the good aumales to-night, who are staying with the van de weyers at _new lodge_,[ ] which is _un vrai bijou_: you _must_ see it when you come here again, for it is one of the nicest and most charming houses i know. i must now end. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : on the borders of windsor forest.] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ rd february _. my dearest victoria,--... new lodge must be exceedingly pretty, and, god willing, i ought once to get sight of it. by all one can hear, the italians certainly will attack the austrians, if they are not told to leave it alone; victor emmanuel speaks openly of it, just as he did last year, when one also thought it was a mere bravado. things look in most directions very gloomy; my neighbour is creating dangers for himself by the constitutional government he gives to italy. the french say, "sommes-nous moins que les italiens pour avoir un peu de liberté?" this may become more dangerous as things move on, not that i should regret it; we can never have any security as long as france remains without a constitutional government. we have had slight beginnings of cold, but not much of it, but the glass was fearfully low. my ball of the st was rather pretty, and people were in great dancing mood. princess orloff, a troubetzkoï, is a very pleasing young woman. there is also a pretty princess metchersky. we had some new english families _inconceivably ugly_; it is quite a calamity, they look as if they had been selected on purpose. having still the happiness of being one of your privy council, i mean to propose some measure to obviate such a sad state of affairs. we have all of a sudden snow.... your truly devoted uncle, leopold r. [pageheading: indian honours] _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen has attentively read lord canning's letter and enclosure. she quite agrees in his proposal as to the nature of the order of chivalry to be instituted, and the details which he recommends with regard to it. she also thinks that titles should be confined to those now known and borne in india, and to be given sparingly; but would object to the illimited power of the governor-general and viceroy in this respect. the highest dignities and titles ought to proceed directly from the crown at the viceroy's recommendation. the queen concurs in the view that honours cannot well be made hereditary amongst hindoos and mussulmans, but where princes (as we may hope will be the case sometimes hereafter) have become christians, the hereditary nature of honours should not be withheld.[ ] ... [footnote : lord canning had written that he thought it would be best to adhere to the precise titles already in use in india, and that they should be at the direct disposal of the queen's representative, without reference to the crown. he did not recommend that titles should be hereditary (except in very special cases), in a country where primogeniture was not established. as to the proposed order of knighthood, lord canning thought that the institution of such an order would be both expedient and opportune. he recommended that it should include both british-born and native subjects.] [pageheading: the queen and her ministers] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen sends a letter to lord palmerston which she has received yesterday evening from lord john russell.[ ] she is induced to do so from a feeling that it is to lord palmerston, as head of the government, that she has to look, when she may have reason to take exception to the tone of communications she may receive from members of his cabinet. lord palmerston will not fail to perceive that the enclosed is not the kind of communication which the foreign secretary ought to make, when asked by his sovereign to explain the views of the cabinet upon a question so important and momentous as the annexation of savoy to france, and the steps which they propose to take with regard to it. she need not remind lord palmerston that in her letter communicated to the cabinet she had given no opinion whatever upon italian liberation from a foreign yoke, nor need she protest against a covert insinuation, such as is contained in lord john's letter, that she is no well-wisher of mankind and indifferent to its freedom and happiness. but she must refer to the constitutional position of her ministers towards herself. they are responsible for the advice they gave her, but they are bound fully, respectfully, and openly to place before her the grounds and reasons upon which their advice may be founded, to enable her to judge whether she can give her assent to that advice or not. the government must come to a standstill if the minister meets a demand for explanation with an answer like the following: "i was asked by the cabinet to give an answer, but as i do not agree with you, i think it useless to explain my views." the queen must demand that respect which is due from a minister to his sovereign. as the queen must consider the enclosed letter as deficient in it, she thinks lord john russell might probably wish to reconsider it, and asks lord palmerston to return it to him with that view. that lord palmerston may be acquainted with the course the correspondence has taken, the queen encloses the two preceding letters. [footnote : the letter ran:--"lord john russell unfortunately does not partake your majesty's opinions in regard to italy, and he is unwilling to obtrude on your majesty unnecessary statements of his views.... whatever may be the consequence, the liberation of the italian people from a foreign yoke is, in the eyes of lord palmerston and lord john russell, an increase of freedom and happiness at which as well-wishers to mankind they cannot but rejoice."] [pageheading: mr gladstone's budget] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that mr gladstone made this afternoon his financial statement.[ ] his speech lasted three hours, from five to eight, and was admirable, detailed, clear, comprehensive and eloquent; and he did not appear to be fatigued by the effort.[ ] the statement was well received by the house, and though parts of the arrangement may, and no doubt will, be disputed and attacked as the various measures of which the arrangement is composed, pass through the house, there seems to be a fair probability that the government will not sustain any serious defeat upon any part of the arrangement. the scheme is too extensive and complicated to admit of an abstract of it being given to your majesty in this report; but no doubt a condensed summary of it will be given in the newspapers of to-morrow. [footnote : the budget of was contemporaneous with the commercial treaty with france negotiated by mr cobden, reducing _inter alia_ the import duties on french wine and brandy, and english coal, flax, and pig-iron. mr gladstone abolished the duties on a large number of imports, and proposed to repeal that on paper (regarded not only as a means for the diffusion of knowledge, but a commodity in various industries).] [footnote : this was all the more remarkable, as the budget had been postponed owing to his illness.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th february _. the queen acknowledges the receipt of lord palmerston's two letters of yesterday evening. she willingly accepts lord john russell's expressions of regret, and certainly was led to read that one passage which lord palmerston explains in the sense which he supposed. the queen has received the draft to lord cowley, and has written her observations upon it to lord john, who will communicate them to him. she thinks that the omissions which she has pointed out can be very well supplied consistently with that international courtesy which lord palmerston truly says ought to be observed.[ ] [footnote : in this despatch, lord john wrote that the government could not believe that a country in the circumstances of france could be endangered by the existence, "on the other side of the alps, of a state of , , of people lately joined by a cement not yet dry, threatened, on the side of lombardy, by austria, and not very certain of its own independence."] _earl granville to the prince albert._ brighton, _ th february _. sir,--lord john produced before the cabinet his draft of despatch in answer to m. thouvenel. he read, without allusion to the previous correspondence, the queen's memorandum on his draft. lord palmerston supported lord john, who was fidgety and nervous. we all criticised the draft. we thought it too much or too little. we recommended that he should either write shortly, saying that he did not acquiesce in m. thouvenel's arguments, but as the french government did not consider the question as now in existence, and promised that it should not be revised without the consent of savoy, and consultation with the great powers, if the government would reserve what they had to say on a question of such immense european importance--or going into the subject he should state the whole argument and objections of the government to the scheme. we thought the historical reminiscences offensive to france, while the language of the despatch was not sufficiently firm to satisfy what was expected from the government. we warned him that in this case public opinion would be at least as critical as the queen. lord john gave us to understand that he would alter his draft, but i do not feel any security that it will be done in a satisfactory manner. i am, sir, with the greatest respect, your royal highness's obedient, humble, and faithful servant, granville. [pageheading: lord cowley and the emperor] _earl cowley to lord john russell._ (_submitted to the queen._) paris, _ th march _. my dear lord john,--i send a messenger this evening, in order that you may not hear from any one else of the passage of arms which took place between the emperor and myself yesterday evening. you will find the account of it in the enclosed despatch. the more i reflect on it, the less i think that i could pass over the emperor's conduct and language without notice. his tone and manner were really offensive, and if i had let them pass unheeded might have been repeated on another occasion. i must say that nothing could have been more friendly than his majesty's bearing after i had spoken to him. he was profuse in his excuses, and the empress told me later in the evening that he was _désolé_--"qu'il s'était laissé entraîner par un mouvement d'humeur," etc. i, of course, said that i should think no more about it. one good thing has been gained by it, that the emperor has declared that he does not mean to act in defiance of the opinion of the great powers.... i wish that i had not this disagreeable history to trouble you with, but do not attach greater importance to it than it merits. i look upon it as at an end. cowley. [pageheading: lord cowley and the emperor] [pageheading: lord cowley's remonstrance] [pageheading: the emperor's _amende_] [_enclosure._] _earl cowley to lord john russell._ (_submitted to the queen._) paris, _ th march _. my lord,--it is with extreme regret that i call your lordship's attention to the following occurrence. there was a concert last night at the tuileries, to which the chiefs of the diplomatic body were invited. on these occasions seats are assigned to the ambassadors according to their accidental rank, and i was placed between the nuntio and the russian ambassador. it is customary for the emperor, during the interval between the two parts of the concert, to say a few words to each of the ambassadors individually, and it is obvious that what his majesty says to one may easily be overheard by that one's immediate neighbours. yesterday evening the emperor, after saying a few words of no importance to the nuntio, addressed himself to me in a manner and tone very unusual with him, animadverting upon the hostile sentiments evinced towards him in the english parliament and press.[ ] "wishing to avoid a discussion, i merely observed that i regretted that matters should be in such a state, but that his majesty must be aware that there was quite as great irritation on this side the water. the emperor enquired sharply whether this was to be wondered at, considering the terms and imputations applied to himself, and to the french nation, in england? they were only defending themselves against unfair attacks, his majesty said. it was really too bad, he continued; he had done all in his power to maintain a good understanding with england, but the conduct of england rendered it impossible. what had england to do with savoy? and why was she not to be satisfied with the declaration that his majesty had made to me, that he had no intention to annex savoy to france without having previously obtained the consent of the great powers. "pardon me, sire," i said, "for interrupting your majesty, but it is just what you did not say. had you permitted me to convey that assurance to her majesty's government, i will answer for it that all those interpellations in parliament would long since have ceased, and that her majesty's government and the country would at all events have awaited the decision at which the great powers might have arrived." "but i told you," continued the emperor, "that i would consult the great powers." "yes, sire," i replied, "but your majesty did not add that you would abide by their decision." this conversation had taken place, not only within the hearing of the russian ambassador, but the emperor's remarks were addressed almost as much to my colleague as to myself. turning then entirely towards general kisseleff, the emperor continued: "the conduct of england is inexplicable. i have done all in my power to keep on the best terms with her; but i am at my wits' end _(je n'en puis plus)._ what," his majesty exclaimed again, "has england to do with savoy? what would have been the consequence if, when she took possession of the island of perim[ ] for the safety of her eastern dominions, i had raised the same objections that she has now raised to the annexation of savoy, which i want as much for the safety of france?" his majesty continued to speak for a few seconds in the same strain, and i felt my position to be most awkward. with the remembrance of his majesty's intemperate words to m. de hübner on new year's day, ,[ ] in my mind, i did not like to leave unnoticed observations of the tendency i have mentioned. at the same time i had to bear in mind that i was not present on an official occasion, but that i was the emperor's guest, and that it would not be right to continue a discussion in the presence of others. these thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and i determined to be guided by a night's reflection in taking any further step in this matter. what that reflection might have produced i cannot say, but circumstances led to more immediate explanations. as the emperor moved on, the circle in which we were standing was not strictly kept, and after a few minutes i found myself standing a little in front, in the open space round which the circle was formed. the emperor again accosted me, and was beginning in the same strain, when i ventured to interrupt his majesty and to tell him that i considered myself justified in calling his attention to the unusual course he had adopted, in indulging, in presence of the russian ambassador, in his animadversions on the conduct of england. that his majesty, if he had, or thought he had, any cause for remonstrance or blame with regard to england, should address himself to me, was not only natural, but would be a course which i should always beg him to take, because free discussion was the best remedy for pent-up feeling. i should answer as best i could, and endeavour to convince his majesty when i thought him wrong. or if his majesty considered it right to complain of the conduct of england to the russian ambassador, i had no desire to interfere, provided it was not done in my presence; but what i could not approve, or consider compatible with my own dignity, or that of the government which i represented, was that complaints respecting england should be addressed to me in the hearing of the russian ambassador, and to the russian ambassador in my hearing. leaving then this official tone, i added that, considering the long and intimate relations which his majesty had been graciously pleased to permit should exist between himself and me, and knowing, as he did, the personal attachment which i bore him, and the anxiety which i had ever manifested to smooth difficulties and prevent misunderstandings between the two governments, in doing which i had perhaps exposed myself to the suspicion of being more french than i ought to be, i had not expected to have been addressed, as i had been, in the presence of the russian ambassador, or to have heard words addressed to that ambassador complaining of the sentiments of the english nation. the emperor frequently interrupted me, expressing his great regret at what had occurred. he could assure me, his majesty said, that he had spoken without any bad intention--that he had just read what had occurred in parliament the night before, and that he had been greatly hurt at the strictures passed upon his conduct; i must recollect further that he had not spoken of the government, but of those who attacked him. again, his majesty begged me to think no more of the matter, repeating the assurance that he had spoken without intention. in the course of this second conversation the emperor again asked, but in a very different tone, why england had taken up the question of savoy which so little regarded her. had it been prussia or one of the continental powers, his majesty could have understood it, but not a word of remonstrance had proceeded from any one of them. i replied that i did not think the emperor could rely on that silence as indicating approbation, but at all events, i said, the position of her majesty's government was very different from that of the other powers. how was it possible, i asked, for her majesty's government to remain silent in presence of the interpellations respecting savoy which were, night after night, put to them? and if his majesty enquired why these interpellations were put, i would answer him that, if my judgment was correct, it was not so much on account of the actual plan of annexing savoy, as on account of the circumstances connected with the whole transaction. they were, in fact, interpellations of mistrust. and how, i asked, could it be otherwise? what could the english people think on its transpiring that in spite of his majesty's declarations, both before and during the war, that in going to war he meditated no special advantages for france, overtures had positively been made months before, to sardinia, for the eventual cession of savoy; why had not his majesty told us fairly, in commencing this war, that if, by the results of the war, the territory of sardinia should be greatly augmented, he might be obliged, in deference to public opinion in france, to ask for some territorial advantage? such a declaration, although it might have rendered the british government still more anxious to prevent the war, would have hindered all the manifestation of public opinion which is now taking place. the emperor seemed to feel the weight of these observations, and he ended the conversation by saying, that if this question of savoy should go further, he had pledged himself to consult the great powers, and that he need hardly add that if their opinion should be unfavourable to his wishes, it would have great weight with him. "it is not likely," said his majesty, "that i should act against the advice of europe." i end, my lord, as i commenced, in regretting this occurrence. i could have wished that the emperor had not spoken to me a second time yesterday, and that i had had a little time for reflection. i feel that i spoke to his majesty under considerable emotion, caused by the tone and manner which he had adopted; but i am certain that not a word escaped me which was not respectful to himself. to have passed the matter over, would, in my judgment, have been a fault, but on the whole i should have preferred conveying impressions to his majesty through m. thouvenel. i earnestly trust, however, that her majesty's government will view my conduct in a favourable light. it is but justice to my russian colleague to state that nothing could have been in better taste than his remarks in answer to the emperor's observations to him. i have told general kisseleff this morning that having had an opportunity to do so, i had expressed to the emperor the opinion that it would have been better had his majesty avoided irritating topics concerning england in the presence of another foreign representative. it is not my intention to open my lips on the subject to any one else. cowley. [footnote : the annexation of savoy had been debated in the house of commons, and mr bright had expressed his readiness that savoy should rather perish than that england should interfere in a matter in which she had no concern. he was sharply censured by lord john manners.] [footnote : perim had been permanently taken possession of by great britain, in .] [footnote : see _ante_, p. , note .] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th march _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to submit a despatch which he received in a private letter from lord cowley. the strange scene related in it will remind your majesty of some scenes already famous in the history of napoleon i. and napoleon iii. lord john russell requests your majesty's permission to write a secret despatch in answer, entirely approving the conduct and language of lord cowley. [pageheading: the queen's approval] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th march _. the queen, in returning lord cowley's private letter and secret despatch, agrees with lord john russell, that he has deserved praise for his mode of answering the emperor's napoleonic address.[ ] ... [footnote : the ratification by the house of commons of the commercial treaty, and mr gladstone's message to the emperor, enclosing a copy of his budget speech, gave the emperor an opportunity of making amends to lord cowley for his hasty language.] _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ osborne, _ th march _. the queen is sorry to find that lord canning does not approve of any of the modes suggested by sir charles wood, for giving the chiefs security of title and possession. the object appears to the queen so important as a means of protection against the temptation of our own representatives to seize upon the possessions of these chiefs at any convenient opportunity--and as a means of giving confidence to those chiefs that the queen's government is not actuated by rapacity--that she must hope lord canning will indicate some mode, appearing less objectionable to him, for attaining the same object. the queen would be glad to have a copy of lord canning's letter. [pageheading: swiss claims] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. the queen has just seen the swiss note, and has returned it to the foreign office.[ ] with reference to lord john russell's letter of this morning, she has only to express her anxiety that her government should not look upon this question as one of an _optional_ character to take up or not. we have no choice, and the consideration whether what we are doing may be pleasing or displeasing to france cannot be entertained for a moment, although the queen is grieved to find from lord cowley's last letter that he considers the question from that point of view. we are parties to a treaty of guarantee together with other powers, and have as such a clear and solemn _duty_ to perform. we should therefore openly and avowedly call upon our partners in this treaty and guarantee to consider the note addressed by the swiss confederation to us. the proper course would be to summon the ministers of the contracting powers to the foreign office (not excluding the french ambassador), and to go with them into the matter. this would take it out of the hands of the emperor and m. de thouvenel, and make (the queen is certain of it) a deep impression upon them. the queen wishes this letter to be shown to lord palmerston and lord john's other colleagues. [footnote : the swiss government claimed that the districts of chablais and faucigny (being parts of savoy which had been handed over to sardinia by the treaty of vienna under a guarantee for their neutrality) should be given to switzerland for the protection of their frontier. the french emperor maintained that it was sufficient for him to guarantee the neutrality of those districts. speaking on the night of the th, lord john russell said: "the powers of europe, if they wish to maintain peace, must respect each other's limits, and, above all, restore and not disturb that commercial confidence which is the result of peace, which tends to peace, and which ultimately forms the happiness of nations."] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ nd april _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter and memorandum.[ ] in whatever lord john might say in the house of commons, care should be taken not to give the french a handle to make the other powers believe that there exists an understanding between them and us. it is by making each of them believe in their turn that the others have agreed with france that the emperor paralyses their action. if he will promise distinctly to give up the neutral territory to switzerland, that would be an understanding which we might well avow, but the queen fears count persigny with all his anxiety to smooth matters (as he says) will not be able to give this assurance, and consequently if lord john sent the commons home with a declaration that matters would be _satisfactorily_ settled, and the emperor intends to keep the neutral territory after all, it would unnecessarily make them dupes once more, as the government have from time to time given assurances based on french promises, which were belied by subsequent acts. is the memorandum for the queen to keep? the conference should be here, and on _no_ account at paris. [footnote : describing a conversation between lord palmerston and persigny, the former suggesting that a statement should be made by lord john in the house, in reference to the securities to be given for the neutrality and independence of switzerland, such as would pacify the emperor.] [pageheading: death of prince hohenlohe] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. my dearest uncle,--i write to you on this paper to-day, as it is our good alice's birthday--her seventeenth! she is a good, dear, amiable child, and in very good looks just now. her future is still undecided, she is quite free, and _all_ we wish is a good, kind husband--_no_ brilliant position (which there is not to be got), but a quiet, comfortable position. bertie returned last night delighted with his tour,[ ] and with our beloved old coburg, in _spite of snow_. i will tell him to give you an account of it. he made a very favourable impression there. he gives a good account of dear stockmar too. many, many thanks for your dear kind letter of the th, with the enclosure from dear charlotte, whose happy, contented disposition is a great blessing. i was sure you would grieve for poor, dear, honest ernest hohenlohe[ ]; feodore feels it dreadfully, and writes beautifully about it. thank god! she has every comfort in her second son, hermann, who--by an arrangement made last year with the eldest and poor ernest--has the entire management of everything; charles has a certain income and weikersheim[ ]; while hermann has langenburg and the management of everything else; he naturally leaves the austrian service. we are too delighted to hear that you are, d.v., ready to come by the nd of june; it will be so great a pleasure, and to dear mamma too, who is _unberufen_ wonderfully well. she is here again since yesterday, and will stay till the nd. clém was quite astonished at her looks. the poor queen will be seventy-eight to-morrow. she is very tolerably well. how well do i remember that speech of oscar's in the carriage. it certainly took us _all_ in.... i fear i must end for to-day. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. bertie was much pleased with little louise.[ ] [footnote : the prince of wales had been spending a week at coburg and gotha, which he had not previously seen.] [footnote : prince ernest died on the th of april, and was succeeded by his second son hermann.] [footnote : a small town in würtemberg, and part of the estate of the princes of hohenlohe-langenburg.] [footnote : elder child of the duke of brabant (now king leopold ii.).] [pageheading: england and naples] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ [_undated._ ? _ th april ._] the queen has just received lord john russell's letter. she must say that she would consider it the _deepest_ degradation to this country if she was compelled to appear at the emperor's congress summoned to paris, in order to register and put her seal to the acts of spoliation of the emperor! lord cowley was very strong on the effect which our yielding that point would have on his position at the french court. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen thinks that the main argument is omitted in the draft, viz. that the attempts, such as sardinia is suspected to contemplate, are morally bad and reprehensible in themselves, besides being politically inexpedient. the queen would be sorry to see a despatch go forth on this subject, arguing on the ground of expediency alone. she trusts lord john russell will find it easy to introduce a passage which would place it on record, that we do attach importance to public justice and morality. when amended, the queen would like to have a copy of the draft. [pageheading: the doctrines of ] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th april _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty. he is sorry he cannot agree that there would be any moral wrong in assisting to overthrow the government of the king of the two sicilies. the best writers on international law consider it a merit to overthrow a tyrannical government, and there have been few governments so tyrannical as that of naples. of course the king of sardinia has no right to assist the people of the two sicilies unless he was asked by them to do so, as the prince of orange was asked by the best men in england to overthrow the tyranny of james ii.--an attempt which has received the applause of all our great public writers, and is the origin of our present form of government.[ ] [footnote : see _ante_, th january, .] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th april _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter, and trusts he will see, upon further reflection, that the case before us is not one in which the revolution of , and the advent of william iii. called to the throne, can be appealed to as a parallel. the draft warns the government of sardinia "_not to seek for new acquisitions_," as the new "_provinces_ annexed have hardly as yet been thoroughly amalgamated." now, no public writer nor the international law will call it morally right, that one state should abet revolution in another, not with the disinterested object of defending a suffering people against tyranny, but in order to extinguish that state and make it "an acquisition" of its own. if william iii. had made england a province of holland, he would not have received the applause lord john quotes. the queen trusts that in appreciation of this distinction, he will introduce some amendment in the sense indicated in her former letter. _lord john russell to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ th april _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he confesses he cannot see anything morally wrong in giving aid to an insurrection in the kingdoms of naples and sicily. but he admits that to do so for the sake of making new acquisitions would be criminal, and that he is not justified in imputing this motive to the king of sardinia. count cavour would probably at once disclaim it. he therefore proposes to alter these words. the despatch went this evening by the usual messenger; but, if your majesty approves of the alteration, it can be made to-morrow morning by telegraph to turin. [pageheading: indian honours] _sir charles wood to queen victoria._ india office, _ rd may _. sir charles wood, with his humble duty, begs to submit for your majesty's consideration, whether the letters of thanks to those civil servants who have not been thought deserving of the honour of c.b. should run in your majesty's name, or in that of the government. your majesty desired that thanks for service should be in your majesty's name, but there will be nearly two hundred of these letters to different officers, and sir charles wood doubted whether it would be right to use your majesty's name so profusely. he is inclined to think that it would be better to use your majesty's name only when addressing higher officers. sir charles wood encloses drafts of letters in both ways. sir charles wood also encloses an address on the occasion of the thanksgiving in india, delivered by a hindoo. _queen victoria to sir charles wood._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. the queen returns these papers. she wishes the thanks to civil servants to be given in all cases, where to be given by the home government, in her own name. the bath or knighthood comes directly from the sovereign, and so should the thanks; the civil servants are the queen's servants, and not the servants of the government. the hindoo address is very striking and gratifying as a symptom.[ ] presuming that sir charles does not want the copy back again, the queen has kept it. [footnote : the copy of this address does not seem to have been preserved.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. my dearest uncle,--... really it is too bad! _no_ country, no human being would ever dream of _disturbing_ or _attacking_ france; every one would be glad to see her prosperous; but _she_ must needs disturb every quarter of the globe and try to make mischief and set every one by the ears; and, of course, it will end some day in a _regular crusade_ against _the universal disturber_ of _the world!_ it is really monstrous! dear mamma returned to frogmore on friday, and alfred left us on thursday, sailed from portsmouth on saturday, but had to stop at plymouth for some derangement in the machinery till to-day. he was very low at going, though very happy to return to his ship. now, with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: visit to aldershot] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th may _. my dearest uncle,--many, many thanks for your very kind letter received on saturday. we returned yesterday evening from aldershot, where we spent two very pleasant days with very warm weather. sunday was a beautiful day and we rode over to farnham, the bishop of winchester's palace, and it was quite beautiful, the country is so green and sweet--and enjoyable. the warm rain of last week has produced a burst of spring which is quite beautiful. yesterday morning it rained when we first went out, but it cleared and became a beautiful day, and we had a pretty field day. your old regiment looked extremely well. in the afternoon we saw some very interesting rifle-shooting. the whole army practises this now most unremittingly, and we saw three different companies of the guards fire at yards, and so on to yards, and _hit_ the target! they fired in _volleys_. it is very satisfactory, as this precision would be very _telling_ in action. i think you would be interested by it. i _hope_ you have forgiven my hurried note of saturday--but i was _so_ anxious at the time. we go to osborne on the th, i am happy to say, till the st. affairs continue to be very threatening, and keep everybody in suspense.... ever, dearest uncle, your devoted niece, victoria r. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ nd may _. my dearest uncle,--i write to you from here, where it is wonderfully beautiful and unusually _hot_ for may--it is _quite_ like july, but the _late_ spring has brought out everything together in the most wonderful manner. the foliage of many trees is hardly out yet, but there are all the fruit-trees in fullest blossom--the lilacs and peonies out--the thorns only beginning and every wild flower in profusion--the grass splendidly green, and a fragrance about everything which is too delicious; and the birds singing _most_ beautifully. the nightingales were last night singing all round the house.... affairs are in a most bewildered state. lord palmerston is _very stout and right_ about our neighbour. i am glad to be able to _refute most positively_ the report of our _ships_ having _prevented_ the neapolitans from firing; the _case_ is _quite_ clear, and the french and neapolitan governments themselves have spread this falsehood. the house of lords have thrown the bill for the abolition of the paper duties[ ] _out_ by a very large majority, which is a _very good thing_. it will save us a large amount of revenue. i must end for to-day. hoping that these lines will find you quite well, ever your devoted _daughter_ (i _wrote_ by mistake _but_ will leave, as it _only_ expresses what _my feelings_ are) and niece, victoria r. we have quite a small party on the st, with some choral singing. [footnote : this part of mr gladstone's financial scheme had lost a good deal of its early popularity: it had only passed the third reading in the commons by the small majority of nine, and the premier had already told the queen that the peers would perform a public service by rejecting it. the majority against it in the house of lords was .] [pageheading: the house of lords and money bills] [pageheading: committee of the commons] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ nd may _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the cabinet met to-day at half-past twelve to consider what (if anything) should be done in consequence of the vote of the house of lords last night. lord john russell, mr gladstone, and mr milner gibson were desirous of finding some means of visiting their displeasure upon the house of lords, but it was shown to them that the only measures which could be adopted were far too violent for the occasion, and that the house of commons itself is powerless in the matter. when the lords do anything inconsistent with the asserted privileges of the house of commons, as, for instance, inserting a taxing clause in a bill sent up to them, or making an alteration in a money bill sent up to them, the house of commons is necessarily invited to do something afterwards in the matter, by assenting to what has been done by the lords; and the commons then assert their claimed rights by throwing out the bill thus, improperly, as the commons say, meddled with by the lords; but when the lords throw out a bill there is nothing for the commons to do, as the bill has vanished, and the commons are therefore furnished with no opportunity of asserting the right which they may claim. but, moreover, the commons have always contended that the lords cannot originate or alter a money bill, but it has never been contended that the lords may not reject a money bill, though there are few instances of their having done so. these arguments at length prevailed, and by four o'clock it was agreed that viscount palmerston should give notice that he would on thursday move that a committee be appointed to examine the journals of the house of lords to ascertain the fate of the bill thus lost like sir john franklin, and that on friday he should move the appointment of a committee to search for precedent applicable to the case. this course it was thought, while binding the government to no particular course, would in some degree satisfy those who think some step necessary. the measures mentioned, though it is fair to say not actually proposed, were that parliament should be prorogued, and reassembled either in the autumn or winter, that then the same bill should be brought in, and be sent up to the lords, and that if that bill were again rejected, parliament should be dissolved. it was objected to all this, that the case did not warrant such a course; that whether the lords have or have not overstepped their proper functions, the opinion of the great majority of the public is that the lords have done a right and useful thing (in confirmation of which it may be stated that the people in the gallery of the house of lords are said to have joined in the cheers which broke out when the numbers of the division were announced). viscount palmerston, at the meeting of the house, gave notice accordingly that he should on thursday move for a committee to search the lords' journals--a usual form of motion; and that he should on friday move to appoint a committee to search for precedents in order to ascertain facts; but he added that he did not take this course with any view of hostility towards the house of lords. an attempt was made by mr whalley and mr digby seymour to set up a complaint that this was not the sort of proceeding which the gravity of the occasion required, but this endeavour was put down by an unmistakable manifestation of a contrary opinion by the rest of the house.... _queen victoria to the duke of somerset._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. before sanctioning the proposed change in the naval uniform,[ ] the queen wishes to know what the state occasions are on which the full dress is to be worn. the officers generally wear an undress without epaulettes, which in consequence are of little inconvenience to them. she has always understood the service to cling very much to its present uniform, and she would be sorry to shock their feelings. [footnote : the principal change proposed was that full dress should cease to be obligatory at courts-martial.] [pageheading: mr gladstone suggests resignation] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ house of commons, _ nd july _. ( . p.m.) viscount palmerston has had the honour of receiving your majesty's letter of this afternoon. nothing of much importance as to foreign affairs was done at the cabinet to-day.... the material question for discussion was the course to be pursued about the tax bill report. lord john russell had altered his opinion since saturday, and had yesterday sent viscount palmerston a draft of resolution which he wished to be circulated to the members of the cabinet before their meeting at twelve to-day.... after a long discussion, the draft, of which the enclosed is a copy, was agreed to by all except mr gladstone. this draft is a combination of parts of lord john's, parts of sir james graham's, and parts of viscount palmerston's. no mention of course was made in cabinet of sir james graham having made any suggestion. when all the other members had left the room mr gladstone requested viscount palmerston to submit to your majesty that he could no longer continue to carry on the business of his department.[ ] his opinion strongly was that action and not a resolution was required, that one of three courses ought to be pursued: either that the paper duty repeal bill should again be sent up to the lords; or that a bill should be sent up for suspending the paper duties for a year; or that a bill should be sent up reducing those duties gradually year by year; or fourthly that with the repeal of the paper duties should be coupled the imposition of spirit duties. viscount palmerston said he really could not undertake the communication which mr gladstone wished to be submitted to your majesty, and earnestly entreated mr gladstone to reconsider the matter; he urged in detail all the reasons which ought to dissuade such a step, and he thought that he had produced some impression on mr gladstone. it was agreed between them that viscount palmerston, instead of giving notice this afternoon of a motion to-morrow, and laying the resolution on the table this evening, should give notice this afternoon of a motion for thursday, and promise to lay the resolution on the table to-morrow. this gives mr gladstone more time to think, and more room to turn round in. mr milner gibson has no intention of going out, and has so told mr gladstone, strongly advising him to stay in; and viscount palmerston's impression is that mr gladstone, having failed to become master of the cabinet by a threat of resignation, will in the end yield to the almost unanimous decision of his colleagues. the only person who supported mr gladstone's views, except mr milner gibson, was the duke of argyll, who, however, like mr gibson, had no intention whatever of accompanying mr gladstone in resignation.[ ]... [footnote : this is said to have been an incident of frequent occurrence during the second administration of lord palmerston.] [footnote : the queen wrote to king leopold: "as i told you in my little note of sunday, lord john became _quite_ reasonable, and is very moderate about this affair; on the other hand mr gladstone has threatened to resign--and it is still uncertain if he will not persist in his intention. he is terribly excited."] [pageheading: privilege resolutions] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the house of commons this night passed the three privilege resolutions after two divisions.[ ]... the debate which did not begin till half-past eight, after questions on the adjournment to monday, was commenced by mr digby seymour, member for southampton, who went into an elaborate discussion of the precedents mentioned in the appendix to the report of the committee, arguing against the right of the lords. he attacked viscount palmerston's speech, and highly praised that of mr gladstone, who, he said, if he lost his place in the cabinet in consequence of that speech would be rewarded by a throne in the affections of the nation. mr horsman then made a very able, eloquent, and remarkable speech, well worth reading.... mr bright made an indignation speech in reply. he went over the same ground as the former speaker about the precedents, was astonished and shocked at mr horsman's speech, was displeased with the resolutions, and with viscount palmerston's speech, was in admiration unbounded of mr gladstone, but all the time was so hoarse that his efforts to make himself heard gave to his utterance an appearance of passion even greater than that which he actually felt. after his speech the house began skirmishing as to the question of finishing the debate or adjourning it, but the resolutions were at last agreed to. [footnote : the resolutions, which the committee recommended, and the house of commons adopted, declared _inter alia_ that the commons had in their own hands the power "so to impose and remit taxes, and frame bills of supply, that their rights as to the matter, manner, measure, and time might be maintained inviolate."] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th july _. my beloved victoria,--... bertie has then set out on his interesting journey,[ ] which though not without fatigue will be full of information and satisfaction for his young mind. i am glad to hear that dear albert went with him,[ ] he can have no equal to his good and distinguished father for kindness, and a wise guidance of his young life.... [footnote : in consequence of the loyal and patriotic assistance rendered by canada during the crimean war, and the expressed desire of the canadians to be visited by the queen in person and to welcome one of her sons as governor-general, it was decided that the prince of wales should make a tour there. during the course of the visit, which was made in company with the duke of newcastle, the prince opened the magnificent bridge over the st lawrence; he subsequently availed himself of president buchanan's invitation already referred to (_ante_, p. ), and was received with the greatest enthusiasm at washington. the prince returned to england in november.] [footnote : referring to a previous letter, in which the queen had informed the king of the belgians that prince albert had accompanied the prince of wales as far as plymouth.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ st july _. my dearest uncle,--... i venture now to confide a _secret_ to you--the details of which you shall hear verbally from us when we have the happiness of seeing you in october. it is that _our_ surmises respecting louis of hesse[ ] have turned out to be true, and that we have _reason_ to _hope_ that this _affair_ will be in due time realised. the feelings are very reciprocal on both sides, though nothing definitive will be settled till the young people meet again, probably later this autumn (_but not in germany_). please do not say anything about it to any one. your very great kindness and affection for our children has induced me to mention this to _you_, who moreover _saw the first dawning of these prospects_. dear mamma starts to-day for edinburgh--sleeping to-night at york. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : prince louis of hesse, afterwards grand duke louis iv.] [pageheading: tranquillity of india] _queen victoria to earl canning._ osborne, _ nd august _. the queen thanks lord canning very much for a most interesting letter of the th of may, giving a most comprehensive and gratifying account of his progress through her indian dominions, and of his reception of the different princes and chiefs. such reception and such kind considerate treatment of them is, as lord canning knows, entirely in unison with the queen's _own_ feelings, and both the prince and herself have been peculiarly gratified at reading this account, and feel sure of the good effect it must have on these princes, and on india in general. we have just seen lord clyde looking wonderfully well; he speaks in high terms of lord canning, and enthusiastically of dear lady canning. alas! another most valuable public servant and friend of ours, lord elphinstone,[ ] only returned to die! lord canning will grieve much no doubt to hear this. both he and lady canning will have heard with interest of the birth of our second grandchild and first grand-daughter.[ ] nothing can go better than the princess royal does. of the prince of wales's arrival in canada we could not yet hear, but shall do so in a few days. this country and europe continue to be in a state of alarms, or rather more profound distrust in, the conduct and purposes of our neighbour. fortunately the feeling of germany is so unanimous upon this subject, and the emperor's attempt to produce disaffection or division there has so signally failed and produced so diametrically a contrary effect, and belgium has shown such an enthusiastic spirit of loyalty only equal to the public spirit which this country has shown in the volunteer movement, that it is to be hoped these sinister designs are checked for a time at least. with the prince's kind remembrance to lord canning, the queen concludes, hoping this letter will find him in good health, and lady canning safely returned from her expedition. [footnote : see _ante_, th january, , note .] [footnote : the princess charlotte of prussia, now hereditary princess of saxe-meiningen, was born on the th of july.] [pageheading: visit to scotland] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ holyrood, _ th august _. my dearest uncle,--i have _many_ excuses for sending a few hurried lines from here, instead of my usual letter, but i was much hurried yesterday; the separation from baby quite upset me, as she too cried very much--but she is consoled again. many thanks for your dear letter of the rd, which i shall duly answer on friday. we came down here by _night_ train, arriving at eight. we paid dear mamma a visit at her really charming residence at cramond,[ ] quite near the sea, with beautiful trees, and very cheerful. and this afternoon she was present the whole time at the splendid volunteer review, which lasted from half-past three till near six, in the open carriage with me, and enjoyed it so much; and i was so _happy_ to have _her_ with me on this memorable occasion, having had _you_ with me on the previous occasion.[ ] and it was magnificent--finer decidedly than in london--there were more ( , more), and then the scenery here is so splendid! that fine mountain of arthur's seat, crowded with thousands and thousands to the very top--and the scotch are very noisy and demonstrative in their loyalty. lord breadalbane, at the head of his highlanders, was the picture of a highland chieftain. the dust was quite fearful! at nine we leave for balmoral. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the duchess of kent was spending the summer at cramond house, near edinburgh.] [footnote : the review in hyde park, which took place on the rd of june.] [pageheading: the highlands] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral, _ th september ._ my beloved uncle,--i have no letter from you, but trust you are quite well. here we have had a week of very fine weather, but since saturday it has been extremely cold. we made a most delightful incognito expedition on tuesday last, th, returning on wednesday, th. we drove off from here quite early at eight, for twenty-one miles up to the _geldie_, a small river--_rode_ from here on ponies across the hills to glen fishie, a beautiful spot, where the old duchess of bedford used to live in a sort of encampment of wooden huts--on to loch inch, a beautiful but not wild lake (another twenty miles), crossed the spey in a ferry, and posted in very rough vehicles to grantown, again twenty miles, coming in there at nine. we passed close by kinrara where you used to be, but, unfortunately, not by the house. _no_ one knew us--anywhere or at the little inn. we went under the names of lord and lady churchill, and lady churchill and general grey who went with us, under the names of miss spencer and dr grey! two maids _only_ went with us (whom we had sent round with our things), and _no_ servants but our two excellent highlanders, viz. albert's first stalker or head keeper, and _my own highland servant_ and factotum--_both_ excellent, intelligent, devoted people. _only_ when we had _left_ was it found out. we posted to tomantoul, a wretched village--fourteen miles, _in four hours!!_ with a pair of wretched tired horses--over a big hilly road. at tomantoul we again took our ponies and rode by avon side and glen avon, also very fine; back to loch bulig--eight miles from here--whence we returned home in our carriage. it was a _most delightful_ and enjoyable, as well as _beautiful_, expedition. i have been besides on many other ones for the day. in italy i fear the state of affairs is very distressing--but really the miserable, weak, and foolish conduct of the king of naples[ ] and the squabbles of the whole family takes away all one's sympathy! we leave here alas! on saturday, stop till monday evening at edinburgh to see mamma, and go on that night straight to osborne, where we expect to arrive on tuesday for breakfast. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : king francis had just fled from naples to gaëta, and garibaldi shortly afterwards arrived in naples.] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th september ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and will have the honour of waiting upon your majesty at osborne to-morrow. your majesty must naturally feel regret at shortening so much your majesty's agreeable holiday in the highlands, though the happiness of meeting the princess royal must amply make amends for it; but the fact is that of all the gifts which good fairies were in the habit of bestowing on their favourites, that which would have been the most desirable would have been the power which the irishman ascribed to a bird, of being in two places at one and the same time. [pageheading: austrian proposal] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ osborne, _ th september ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and submits the accompanying letters which he has received from lord john russell, together with lord john's letter to him; and he certainly agrees with lord john in thinking that a meeting at present between your majesty and the emperor of austria, though in many respects likely to be useful, would on the whole be so liable to misconstruction, and would prove such a fertile source of misrepresentation, that it would be better to avoid it. such a meeting would undoubtedly be useful to the emperor of austria, by reason of the good advice which he would receive from your majesty, and from his royal highness the prince consort; but your majesty will probably be able to find some other way of conveying to the emperor counsel calculated to save him from some of the dangers by which he appears to be beset. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ _ st september ._ the queen received these letters from lord palmerston, who likewise communicated to her lord john russell's letter, respecting the hint thrown out by count rechberg[ ] of a meeting with the emperor of austria. the queen agrees with lord palmerston, that while such an interview might for many reasons have been desirable, under present circumstances it might lead to much talk and to many rumours which might do harm, or at any rate give rise to useless conjectures. it would therefore be better to "nip this project in the bud" as lord john suggests, but care should be taken to do this in such a manner as not to let it appear that there was any disinclination on the queen's part to meet the emperor of austria. [footnote : in a letter to mr julian fane, count rechberg, the austrian foreign minister, had said that he had desired to bring about an interview between the queen and the emperor of austria, but that there would have been difficulties in the way. lord john russell was of opinion that the idea should be nipped in the bud, and in this lord palmerston fully concurred.] [pageheading: appeal from king of naples] _the king of naples to queen victoria._ gaËta, _le octobre ._ madame ma s[oe]ur,--le mémorandum qu'à la date d'aujourd'hui mon gouvernement adresse à celui de votre majesté, les protestations que dans ces derniers temps je lui ai fait parvenir donneront à votre majesté une idée claire des conflits par lesquels j'ai passé, et de la situation où je me trouve. a la sagacité de votre majesté ne peut échapper la transcendance des événements qui se passent dans le royaume des deux siciles, et dans les États pontificaux. j'étais, et je suis seul à lutter contre toutes les forces de la révolution européenne. cette révolution s'est présentée avec un pouvoir que jamais on ne lui avait connu, armes, parcs d'artillerie, munitions, vaisseaux, rien ne lui a manqué, pas même les ports d'une puissance pour se recruter, et son drapeau pour la couvrir. ces événements établissent un nouveau droit public, fondé sur la destruction des anciens traités et des principes reconnus du droit des gens. la cause que je défends seul à naples n'est pas seulement ma propre cause; elle est la cause de tous les souverains et de tous les États indépendants. la question qui se débat dans le royaume des deux siciles, est une question de vie ou de mort pour d'autres États d'europe. c'est à ce titre, et non par un intérêt personnel que j'ose m'adresser à la haute raison de votre majesté, à sa prévoyance et à sa justice. la grande position qu'occupe votre majesté dans le monde, sa sagesse, les relations amicales qui ont toujours existé entre nos deux familles, et la bienveillance particulière dont votre majesté a daigné toujours m'honorer, me font espérer, que votre majesté verra dans cet appel que je fais avec confiance à sa politique et à sa justice, une nouvelle preuve du respect que j'ai eu toujours pour elle, de l'affection sincère, et des sentiments de haute considération avec lesquels j'ai l'honneur d'être, madame ma s[oe]ur, de votre majesté, le bon frère, francois. [pageheading: tour of prince alfred] [pageheading: sardinia and naples] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ nd november ._ my beloved victoria,--... bertie's visit seems to have gone off most splendidly; its effects will be useful. the enemies of england always flatter themselves that mischief may come from that part of the world. to see, therefore, friendly feelings arise, instead of war, will disappoint them much. alfred's appearance at the cape[ ] has also been a most wise measure. south africa has a great future to expect, it is a pity it is so far and i too old to go there; the plants alone are already a great temptation. i should like very much to hear what came to your knowledge of the warsaw meeting.[ ] prince gortschakoff tried hard to make it believe that it would bring _russia nearer to france_. if this was to be the result of the meeting it would be a very sad one indeed.... the way in which the english press misunderstands all these things is quite lamentable. the meeting of the sovereigns had this time a better object than the oppression of the liberties of nations; that this should not be seen by people who would be the first sufferers of the supremacy of a certain power is very lamentable, but they see everything only according to the colour of _their_ spectacles. _le flibustive_ movement at naples is very shameful, but that poor king has been so calumniated that garibaldi is the rage of the present moment; colonel walker[ ] has been shot, and garibaldi, who comes out of that self-same school, is divinised. but it is time i should end. with my best love to dear albert, i remain ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted old uncle, leopold r. [footnote : prince alfred, who, some time before, had been appointed to the _euryalus_, in the course of the summer visited south africa. after making a tour through kaffraria, natal, and the orange free state, he returned to cape town, where, in september, he laid the foundation stone of the breakwater in table bay. in a letter written by the prince consort a few weeks earlier to baron stockmar, he remarks upon the noteworthy coincidence that almost in the same week in which the elder brother would open the great bridge across the st lawrence, the younger would lay the foundation stone of the breakwater for the cape town harbour. "what a cheering picture is here," he wrote, "of the progress and expansion of the british race, and of the useful co-operation of the royal family in the civilisation which england has developed and advanced" (_life of the prince consort_, vol. v. p. ).] [footnote : the emperors of russia and austria, and the prince regent of prussia met at warsaw on th october, and held a conference which extended over several days.] [footnote : walker, in the course of one of the nicaraguan revolutions, had seized the supreme power, and had been recognised as president by the u.s. government; he was afterwards expelled, and, on venturing to return, was arrested, and shot on the th of september .] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ rd november ._ the queen returns the enclosed draft,[ ] which she is afraid is not likely to produce the beneficial results which lord john seems to anticipate. the expression of our hope, that rome and venetia, from their italian nationality, will soon share in the freedom and good government of the rest of italy, can only be understood as a declaration on our part that we wish to see them share the annexation to sardinia, after that of the two sicilies shall have been completed. the declaration at the end after the quotations of the former protests, vague as it is, viz. "that if other powers interfere england would do as she pleases," means either nothing at all (for england is free to do as she pleases) or it means a threat of war, either an empty threat, or one intended to be followed up when the occasion arises. the first would hardly be dignified for a great power like england, and as to the second, the queen for one is not prepared to decide to go to war to ensure the success of the italian revolution. but is such a declaration at the present moment called for by anything that has happened? another despatch has accepted as satisfactory the french explanation about the order given to the fleet before gaëta, and austria has renewed her assurances that she will not interfere; the only power likely to continue to interfere and to produce war--sardinia--is held to have an exceptional right to it, as an "italian" power. the queen thinks this important despatch should not be laid before her again without its having received the deliberate consideration and assent of the whole cabinet, and in case lord john should bring it before them the queen would wish him to communicate this letter also to them, as embodying her views on the subject. [footnote : this draft despatch, prepared in order to be sent to all the powers, expressed approval of the italian revolution. it concluded: "her majesty's government deem it right to declare that if any other power should attempt forcible interference, her majesty's government will hold themselves free to act in such a manner as the rights of nations, the independence of italy, and the interests of europe may seem to them to require."] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ rd november ._ lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty.... with regard to the position of great britain, lord john russell is bound to advise that it shall not suffer by the change of circumstances. from to austria ruled italy. if italians had reason to complain, england had nothing to fear from the use of austrian influence against british interests. but if france were to sway the united navies of genoa and naples, and great britain to look on from fear or apathy, or excessive love of peace, she might soon have to defend her possessions of malta, corfu, and gibraltar. austria would hardly attempt any new aggression on italy, unless she were assisted by france. italy as one power would derive strength from the declaration of great britain, as a disinterested friend. a letter of lord cowley will show your majesty the suspicions and doubts which exist as to french policy in italy.[ ] all these projects will be scattered to the winds by the word of the british government. [footnote : lord cowley wrote that he had heard through count metternich that the emperor of the french would never consent to the annexation of naples to piedmont, that he wished the pope to retain umbria and the marches, and that the romagna should be an independent state.] [pageheading: reply to king of naples] _queen victoria to the king of naples._ windsor castle, _ rd november ._ sir, my brother,--the letter i have received from your majesty, dated from gaëta on the th of october, is altogether devoted to political considerations. these considerations have for a long time occupied the thoughts of my confidential advisers, and i have directed them to convey to my ministers abroad such instructions as occasion appeared to me to require. i will therefore confine this letter to those topics which are not the immediate subjects of political controversy. upon your majesty's accession to the throne i lost no time in assuring your majesty of my sincere wishes for the prosperity of your reign, and the permanence of your dynasty. at the same time i was fully aware of the difficulties of the period at which your majesty succeeded to the crown. that these difficulties should not have been surmounted, and that they should now threaten to overwhelm the monarchy, of which your majesty is the heir, is to me a source of deep concern. it only remains that i should ask your majesty to express to the queen my sincere sympathy in her misfortunes. i avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your majesty the assurance of the invariable friendship and high consideration with which i am, sir, my brother, your majesty's good sister, victoria r. [pageheading: return of prince alfred] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my beloved uncle,--... here we have the happiness of having our dear alfred back since the th, who gives _very_ interesting accounts of his expedition, and has brought back _many_ most interesting trophies, splendid horns of _all_ those wonderful animals, photographs, etc. he _is_ grown, though very _short_ for his age, but i think less so than his brother at the same age. major cowell[ ] gives an _excellent_ report of him in _every way_, which, as you will readily believe, makes us _very_ happy. he is really such a dear, gifted, handsome child, that it makes one doubly anxious he should have as few failings as mortal men can have. our poor bertie is still on the atlantic, detained by very contrary winds, which those large vessels with only an auxiliary screw and only eight days' coal cannot make any way against. two powerful steamers have now gone out to look for him and bring him in.... with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : major (afterwards sir john) cowell was appointed as tutor to prince alfred in . he was then a lieutenant of engineers, and had been adjutant to sir harry jones at bomarsund and before sebastopol.] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ nd november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to submit that, as it appears from a despatch from lord cowley that the commercial negotiations at paris have been brought to a conclusion, and that mr cobden has left paris, the time has come for your majesty to consider what substantial mark of your majesty's approval your majesty would be pleased to confer upon mr cobden. mr cobden has now for about twelve months been laboriously employed without salary or emolument in negotiating the complicated details of commercial arrangements between england and france, which cannot fail to tend to the material advantage of both countries, but more especially to the increased development of the industry and commerce of your majesty's subjects. it would be an ungracious proceeding to leave the services of mr cobden with no other acknowledgment than the praises contained in a foreign office despatch, and viscount palmerston therefore with the concurrence of lord john russell would beg to submit for the gracious approval of your majesty that mr cobden might be offered his choice of being created a knight grand cross of the civil order of the bath, or of being made a member of your majesty's privy council. (_note, in queen's hand._--was agreed to offer him either to be made a p.c., or a baronet.)[ ] [footnote : mr cobden declined both the honours.] [pageheading: the empress of austria] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ nd november _. my beloved victoria,--i have to thank you for a most kind letter of the th. i hope you will see the young and very nice empress of austria,[ ] perhaps you made a little excursion to plymouth. i had, and have still, some cold, and therefore i was apprehensive of waiting at the station on the th in the evening; i sent marie and philip to receive the empress. yesterday before daybreak i went myself to antwerp. i first paid the empress a visit, and then i took her to your beautiful ship. she was much struck with it, and it was _very kind_ of you, and indeed, for an invalid, invaluable. it will show, besides, that even beyond garibaldi, and that amiable, disinterested _annex_ander, you can feel some interest. i saw the empress already dressed for her departure, but i think there is something very peculiar about her, which is very pleasing. poor soul, to see her go away under, i fear, not very safe circumstances, as she coughs a great deal, quite grieves one; though it certainly increased my stupid cold, still i should have been sorry not to have assisted at her going to sea. it was a beautiful day, but this night it has begun to blow from the west-south-west, which i fear will create a sea to the westward. that you had your sons about you must have been a great satisfaction to you. bertie got well through his truly tremendous tour. i think that the effect on the americans will last for some time. that the poor duke of newcastle got home without accident is surprising. affy has something most winning, and is a dear little rogue. eugénie's expedition[ ] is most astonishing. she also coughs much, and i never heard scotland recommended for winter excursions. i believe that the death of her sister affected her a good deal. she seems to have been a good deal _choquée_ that she had been dancing in africa when that poor sister was dying. next to this, there seems a difference of opinion with her master on the subject of the pope. you will recollect that at the time of his elections the clergy rendered him undoubted good service; i even doubt that he would have been elected without their aid. now he puts the axe to the root of the whole catholic church by destroying the pope, and he does this _without the slightest provocation_, and for the benefit of the revolution _et des révolutionnaires_.... i remain ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the empress elizabeth was on her way to madeira, in a ship placed at her disposal by the queen.] [footnote : the empress of the french was making a tour in england and scotland for the benefit of her health; she had sustained a bereavement by the death of her sister, the duchess of alba.] [pageheading: betrothal of princess alice] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ st december _. dearest uncle,--i hasten to announce to you that yesterday our dear young couple here were engaged, and that we _are all_ very happy.[ ] louis was spoken to yesterday on our return from aldershot by albert,--who told him he would have an opportunity of speaking to alice--and this opportunity he took last night after dinner when he was standing alone with her at the fire, and every one else was occupied in talking. they whispered it to me, and then, after we left the drawing-room, we sent for good louis--and the young people met and confirmed in a very touching manner _what_ they had merely been able to whisper to one another before. he was very much overcome. he is a dear, good, amiable, high-principled young man--who i am sure will make our dearest alice _very_ happy, and she will, i am sure, be a most devoted loving wife to him. she is _very, very_ happy, and it is a pleasure to see their young, happy faces beaming with love for one another. alice is so extremely reasonable and quiet. she wishes everything kind and affectionate to be said to you, and _hopes_ for your _blessing!_ i am very, very happy, so are we both, but i am still a good deal agitated and flurried by the whole event. on tuesday the empress arrives, but only to luncheon. i must end now in haste. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. pray tell it to good philip, and also to leopold and marie. [footnote : see _ante_, st july, , and note .] [pageheading: the see of worcester] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ st december _. the queen has received lord palmerston's second letter respecting the bishopric of worcester,[ ] just as she was going to answer the first. while not objecting to the nomination of mr bayley,[ ] she wanted to point out the importance of, at a future vacancy, not to confine the selection to respectable parish priests, but to bear in mind that the bench of bishops should not be left devoid of some university men of acknowledged standing and theological learning; it would be seriously weakened if, in controversies on points of doctrine agitating the church, no value were attached to the opinions at least of some of those who are to govern her. lord palmerston may now have an opportunity of selecting a stronger man of liberal views from cambridge. [footnote : bishop henry pepys had died in november, and was succeeded in the following january by canon henry philpott of norwich, master of st catharine's college, cambridge.] [footnote : probably the rev. emilius bayley, rector of st george's, bloomsbury; now the rev. sir emilius laurie.] [pageheading: episcopal appointments] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ nd december _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and very sincerely congratulates your majesty upon the arrangement of a marriage which bids so fair to secure for her royal highness the princess alice that happiness to which her amiable and estimable qualities so justly entitle her. with respect to bishops, viscount palmerston would beg to submit that the bishops are in the church what generals of districts are in the army: their chief duties consist in watching over the clergy of their diocese, seeing that they perform properly their parochial duties, and preserving harmony between the clergy and the laity, and softening the asperities between the established church and the dissenters. for these purposes it is desirable that a bishop should have practical knowledge of parochial functions, and should not be of an overbearing and intolerant temperament. his diocesan duties are enough to occupy all his time, and the less he engages in theological disputes the better. much mischief has been done by theological bishops, and if the bench were filled with men like the bishops of oxford and exeter there would be no religious peace in the land. nor have men chosen merely for their learning succeeded better; thirlwall, bishop of st david's, and blomfield, the late bishop of london, were chosen on account of their learning; the former is acknowledged to be inefficient, the latter greatly mismanaged his diocese. the theological learning of the bishop of exeter[ ] has caused much mischief to the established church. viscount palmerston would also beg to submit that the intolerant maxims of the high church bishops have exasperated the dissenters who form a large portion of the nation, and have given offence to many good churchmen. the bishop of exeter, the late bishop of carlisle,[ ] and the late bishop of rochester,[ ] the two latter individuals kind-hearted and good-natured men, refused to consecrate burial grounds unless a wall of separation divided the portion allotted to churchmen from the portion allotted to dissenters--a demand which gave offence to both communities. viscount palmerston would beg to submit that several of the bishops whom he has had the honour of recommending to your majesty had distinguished themselves by their classical and academical attainments, and he may mention in this respect the names of baring, longley, tait, wigram, and waldegrave. viscount palmerston can assure your majesty that although his selection of bishops has been much found fault with by the high church, puseyite, and semi-catholic party, they have given great satisfaction to the nation at large, and viscount palmerston has received communications to that effect, verbal and written, from persons of all classes, and political parties in all parts of the country. the people of this country are essentially protestant, they feel the deepest aversion to catholicism, and they see that the high church, tractarian, and puseyite doctrines lead men to the church of rome. the disgraceful scenes last year at st george's in the east[ ] were only an exaggerated outburst of a very general and deeply-rooted feeling. viscount palmerston believes that the clergy of the established church were never more exemplary in the performance of their duties, more respected by the laity and, generally speaking, on better terms with the nonconformist body than at the present time. [footnote : henry phillpotts, who was bishop from to .] [footnote : the hon. henry montagu villiers, who was transferred to durham.] [footnote : george murray, who had died in the previous february.] [footnote : for a considerable period, during , discreditable scenes of brawling took place at this church as a protest against the high church practices of the rector, the rev. bryan king.] [pageheading: affairs of naples] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my beloved uncle,--i have to thank you for another dear letter of the th. i trust that you have received both mine now. we expect the empress at half-past one, and i will certainly give her your message. she is very amiable, and one must like her. there seems to be no doubt that there were many scenes, partly about the pope, and also on account of her sister's funeral; she was so angry with fould about it that she insisted on his dismissal.[ ] then the priests are said to try and work upon her, and say that her son will die if the emperor continues _dans cette voie_ against the pope. we saw mr elliot[ ] from naples yesterday, who has always been very fair. he says that _if_, when the king came to the throne, he had _only_ insisted on the laws of the country being properly carried out, _no_ reforms or change in the constitution would have been necessary--but from the want of energy, and also no strength of intellect and great indecision of character of the poor king, as well as an unfortunate _pietät_ for the memory of his father, nothing right was done; bad counsellors surrounded him, the queen mother had a bad influence, and finally everything was given up as lost--when it might yet have been prevented. they dislike extremely being annexed, but prefer it to having back the former state of things. we have since ten or twelve days almost incessant rain, so that we shall soon be on an island. this is the more distressing as we can't go to osborne at present--there being a sort of epidemic fever which the doctors declare is in the air and that it would be running too great a risk if we went. but we have perpetual sunshine in the house when we look at our dear young lovers, who are _so_ happy, so devoted to each other, that it does one good to see it; he is so modest and unassuming that we feel as if he was one of our own children; and he is _so_ good and amiable, has such an open honest character, such a warm heart, such high principles, and is withal so merry and _aufgeweckt_ that i feel we have _gained_ a son and shall _not_ lose a daughter--for we shall be able to have them a good deal with us, louis not having any duties to detain him much at home at present. i can't say what happiness and comfort it is to me. i feel my dear child will first of all have a peaceful, quiet, happy home, without difficulties--and secondly, that she will not be entirely cut off from us and monopolised as our poor vicky is. i add a few lines since we have seen the empress. she came at half-past one, and stayed till a little after three. she looked very pretty, but very sad--and in speaking of her health and of her return from algiers began to cry. she seems to be much better, however, for her journey; before she could neither eat nor sleep, nor would she take notice of anything. she never mentioned the emperor but once when she offered his compliments, and there was not the slightest allusion to politics. it is altogether very strange. she remains another week in england, and then goes back as she came. i gave her your message, and she enquired after you. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : see _ante_, th may, , note .] [footnote : see _ante_, th july, , note .] [pageheading: visit of the empress eugenie] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ _windsor castle, th december _. my beloved uncle,--i have to thank you for two _most_ kind letters of the th and th. your kind interest in our dear child's happiness--your approval of this marriage of our dear alice, which, i cannot deny, has been for _long_ an ardent wish of mine, and just therefore i feared _so_ much it _never_ would come to pass, gives us the greatest pleasure. _now_--that _all_ has been so _happily_ settled, and that i find the young man so very charming--my joy, and my _deep_ gratitude to god are very great! he is so loveable, so very _young_, and like one of our own children--not the _least in the way_--but a dear, pleasant, _bright_ companion, full of fun and spirits, and i am _sure_ will be a _great_ comfort to us, besides being an excellent husband to our dear, good alice, who, though radiant with joy and much in love (which well she may be), is as quiet and sensible as possible. the empress is still here, and enjoys her liberty of _all_ things. we went to town for the smithfield cattle show yesterday, and visited her at claridge's hotel. she very civilly wanted us to avoid the trouble, but we felt that it would not be civil if we did not, and that hereafter even the french might say that she had not been treated with due respect. she looked very pretty, and was in very good spirits, but again carefully avoided any allusion to her husband and to politics, though she talked a great deal about all she was seeing!... i must now wish you good-bye. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. introductory note to chapter xxx early in --a year destined to close in sorrow and desolation--queen victoria experienced a heavy grief in the death of her mother, the duchess of kent, at the age of seventy-four. in january, fresh overtures were made to lord palmerston by the conservative leaders, with a view of supporting him in office against the dissentients in his ministry, especially lord john russell and mr gladstone, whose views on the questions of reform and national defence respectively were opposed to those of the premier. lord palmerston was indifferent to the support of mr gladstone; but a unity of view on the italian policy of the government held the three liberal statesmen together. the attack on the paper duties was repeated by mr gladstone, who, on this occasion, combined all his fiscal proposals in a single bill. the measure, after strong opposition, passed the commons by a majority of fifteen, and the peers subsequently accepted the budget, which took a penny off the income tax, while maintaining the existing tea and sugar duties. in july, lord john russell, who had entered parliament in , before he came of age and had been leader of the house of commons at the time of the queen's accession, was transferred to the house of lords. in august, the queen and the prince consort, with the prince of wales and prince alfred, paid a third visit to ireland. the affairs of italy still continued to attract public attention. at the end of , the french fleet had been despatched to gaëta to protect the interests of king francis; this protection, given in violation of the principle of non-intervention, was withdrawn in january, and the garrison surrendered to the piedmontese admiral. on the th of february, the new parliament of italy met at turin, the debates emphasising the vital necessity of including both rome and venetia in a united nation; victor emmanuel was declared king of italy, a title promptly recognised by great britain; but in june, to the profound grief of the italian nation, cavour, its prime minister, and the mainspring of the piedmontese policy, died while still in the prime of life. king frederick william of prussia had died in january, and was succeeded by his brother, william i., prince of prussia, who was crowned with queen augusta, at königsberg, on the th of october, lord clarendon attending as british representative. in the following month, king pedro of portugal, son and successor of donna maria, and his brother ferdinand, died of typhoid fever; another brother, prince john, succumbed to the same malady before the close of the year. events of great importance took place in north america, where the secession of south carolina was followed by that of other southern states. the delegates of the latter assembled in february at montgomery, alabama, and nominated jefferson davis as their president, abraham lincoln having been previously elected as the new president of the united states. the first shot had been fired, on the th of january, in charleston harbour, where a secessionist battery opened its guns on a vessel sent by the federal government to reinforce fort sumter. in april, the confederate troops attacked the fort, which was compelled to surrender, whereupon president lincoln issued a proclamation calling for , volunteers; president davis replied by issuing (in default of an official fleet) letters of marque to privately owned vessels, and lincoln declared the southern ports in a state of blockade. in may, lord john russell announced that the british government would recognise the south as a belligerent power, and a proclamation of neutrality was issued. at bull run, on the st of july, the federals were defeated, and fled in confusion to washington. hostilities continued during the year, and great britain was nearly involved in war, by the seizure, on the th of november, by the captain of a federal vessel, the _san jacinto_, of messrs slidell and mason, the envoys accredited by the confederate states to great britain and france. this high-handed action was taken while the envoys in question were passengers to europe, by the british mail steamer _trent_, between havana and st thomas, and the public mind of great britain was greatly excited in consequence; but eventually the envoys were transferred to a british ship-of-war, and arrived in great britain, not, however, until in view of a threatened aggression on british north america, troops had been despatched from england to strengthen the canadian garrisons on the frontier. the despatch of lord russell to the american government, which led to a pacific result, had been revised by prince albert, in the direction of leaving open to that government an honourable retreat from the aggressive attitude they had taken up; the prince's action in this respect, the beneficial effect of which it would be difficult to exaggerate, was destined to be the last of a long series of political services rendered to this country. it had become apparent in the autumn that prince albert's normal health was impaired, and in november he began to suffer from persistent insomnia; towards the end of the month the fever originated which was to prove fatal to him. he suffered at first from rheumatic pains and constant weakness, until, early in december, what was thought to be influenza developed, and the prince was confined to his room. by the th his condition, though not hopeless, had become grave, and the serious nature of the illness was made public; and, although on the th the queen could write hopefully to king leopold, the malady continued to increase. on the evening of the th, a rally took place, and encouraging reports were brought hourly to the queen through the night; but congestion of the lungs supervened on the following day, in the closing hours of which, to the inexpressible grief both of the queen and her subjects, the prince passed peacefully away. the letters of the queen to king leopold and lord canning express, in language to which nothing can be added, the intensity of her grief, and, no less, the noble and unselfish courage with which she resolved to devote her life to her children and country. chapter xxx [pageheading: conservative overtures] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ st january _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to be allowed to wish your majesty and his royal highness the prince consort many prosperous returns of new year's day, with increasing happiness to your majesty and the royal family, and progressive advantage to the nation who have the good fortune to have your majesty for their sovereign; and to adopt the language of pope, he would say, "may day improve on day, and year on year, without a pain, a trouble, or a fear." this autumn and winter, however, have been productive of events in three of the four quarters of the globe, which future years are not likely to repeat. the capture of pekin in asia by british and french troops; the union in europe of nearly the whole of italy into one monarchy; and the approaching and virtually accomplished dissolution in america of the great northern confederation, are events full of importance for the future, as well as being remarkable in time present. viscount palmerston submits two letters which your majesty may feel an interest in seeing. with regard to that from lord john russell stating a half-formed wish to go to the house of lords, viscount palmerston does not expect that the desire will be repeated when the session begins, although lord john said last year that he felt attendance in the house of commons in addition to the labour of his office, more than he could well get through. he would be a loss to viscount palmerston in the house of commons, especially after the removal of mr sidney herbert to the house of lords;[ ] and speaking confidentially to your majesty with regard to the future, viscount palmerston would think himself doing better service by recommending the house of lords for mr gladstone, than for lord john russell. mr herbert will take the title of lord herbert of lea, the title of herbert being that borne by his elder brother during the life of the late lord pembroke. the other letter from lord malmesbury relates to a communication which he made to viscount palmerston last year from lord derby and mr disraeli at the beginning of the session, to the effect that, if the government were then to break up from internal dissensions, the conservative party would support during the then ensuing session any administration which viscount palmerston might be able provisionally to make, to carry through the business of the session.[ ] viscount palmerston is not aware of any circumstances which can have led to the expectation that the present administration is likely to be broken up by internal divisions in the course of this next session. there are no questions ahead so likely to produce discord as the reform bill of last year, and the differences between the two houses about the paper duties, about which it was very difficult to prevent lord john and mr gladstone from flying off, or the fortification question, upon which mr gladstone announced to his colleagues, nearly a dozen times, that he was firmly resolved to resign. viscount palmerston has asked lord malmesbury to come over to him to broadlands at any time before the st or nd of this month, which is the probable time at which the cabinet will have to meet in london. viscount palmerston finds he has not got lord john russell's letter at hand, but the only thing of any interest in it was the intimation which viscount palmerston quoted. [footnote : mr herbert had been latterly in bad health, and resigned office in the summer. he died on the nd of august.] [footnote : in his memoirs, lord malmesbury describes an interview with lord and lady palmerston on the st of june , apparently the one at which this communication was made. "it is evident," he writes, "he [lord palmerston] does not wish to lose lord john, though he would be very glad if gladstone resigned."] _the emperor of the french to queen victoria._ paris, _le décembre _. madame et trÈs chÈre s[oe]ur,--je ne veux pas laisser cette année s'écouler sans venir porter à votre majesté l'expression de mes souhaits pour son bonheur et celui du prince et de sa famille. j'espère que l'année qui va commencer sera heureuse pour nos deux nations, et qu'elle verra encore nos liens se resserrer. l'europe est bien agitée, mais tant que l'angleterre et la france s'entendent, le mal pourra se localiser. je félicite votre majesté du succès que nos deux armées ont obtenu en chine; laissons toujours nos étendards unis; car dieu semble les protéger. j'ai bien envié l'impératrice qui a pu vous faire une visite et revoir votre charmante famille: elle en a été bien heureuse. je saisis avec empressement cette occasion de renouveler à votre majesté les sentiments de haute estime et de sincère amitié avec lesquels je suis, de votre majesté le bon frère, napolÉon. [pageheading: death of king of prussia] _the princess royal to queen victoria and the prince albert._ potsdam, _ nd january _. beloved parents,--at last i can find a moment for myself to sit down and collect my thoughts and to write to you an account of these two last dreadful days! my head is in such a state, i do not know where i am hardly--whether i am in a dream or awake, what is yesterday and what to-day! what we have so long expected is come at last! all the confusion, bustle, excitement, noise, etc., is all swallowed up in that one thought for me--i have seen death for the first time! it has made an impression upon me that i shall never, never forget as long as i live--and i feel so ill, so confused and upset by all that i have gone through in the last forty-eight hours, that you must forgive me if i write incoherently and unclearly. but to go back to monday evening (it seems to me a year now). at a quarter to eight in the evening of monday the st, i took dear darling affie to the railway station, and took leave of him with a heavy heart. you know i love that dear boy distractedly, and that nothing could have given me more pleasure than his dear, long-wished-for visit. at nine o'clock fritz and i went to tea at the prince regent's; we four were alone together. the princess was rather low and unwell, the prince low-spirited, and i thinking of nothing but affie and of how dear he is. while we were sitting at tea we received bad news from sans souci,[ ] but nothing to make us particularly uneasy. fritz and i went home and to bed, not being in a humour to sit up till twelve. about half-past one we heard a knock at the door and my wardrobe maid brought in a telegram saying the king was given up, and a note from the prince regent saying he was going up immediately. we got up in the greatest hurry and dressed--i hardly know how; i put on just what i found, and had not time to do my hair or anything. after we had hurried on our clothes we went downstairs and out--for there was no time to get a carriage or a footman or anything--it was a splendid night, but twelve degrees of cold (réaumur). i thought i was in a dream finding myself alone in the street with fritz at two o'clock at night. we went to the prince regent's, and then with them in their carriages to the railway station--we four all alone in the train. we arrived at sans souci and went directly into the room where the king lay--the stillness of death was in the room--only the light of the fire and of a dim lamp. we approached the bed and stood there at the foot of it, not daring to look at one another or to say a word. the queen was sitting in an armchair at the head of the bed, her arm underneath the king's head, and her head on the same pillow on which he lay; with her other hand she continually wiped the perspiration from his forehead. you might have heard a pin drop; no sound was heard but the crackling of the fire and the _death-rattle_, that dreadful sound which goes to one's heart, and which tells plainly that life is ebbing. this rattling in the throat lasted about an hour longer, and then the king lay motionless. the doctors bent their heads low to hear whether he still breathed--and we stood, not even daring to sit down, watching the death-struggle; every now and then the king breathed very fast and loud, but never unclosed his eyes; he was very red in the face, and the cold perspiration pouring from his forehead. i never spent such an awful time! and to see the poor queen sitting there quite rent my heart--three, four, five, six, seven struck, and we were still standing there--one member of the family came in after the other and remained motionless in the room, sobs only breaking the silence. oh! it is dreadful to see a person die! all the thoughts and feelings that crowded on my mind in those hours i cannot describe, more than in my whole past lifetime. the light of the morning dawned, and the lamps were taken away--oh, how sad for the first morning in the year! we all went into the next room, for i assure you, anxiety, watching, standing, and crying had worn us out. the princess fell asleep on a chair, i on a sofa, and the rest walked up and down the room asking one another, how long will it last? towards the middle of the day, marianne and i went into the room alone, as we wished to stay there; we came up and kissed the queen's hand and knelt down and kissed the king's; it was quite warm still. we stood about and waited till five o'clock and then had some dinner, and i felt so sick and faint and unwell, that fritz sent me here to bed. at one o'clock this morning i got up and dressed, and heard that the king had not many minutes more to live, but by the time i had got the carriage i heard all was over. i drove to sans souci and saw the king and queen. may god bless and preserve them, and may theirs be a long and happy and blessed reign. then i went into the room where the king lay, and i could hardly bring myself to go away again. there was so much of comfort in looking at that quiet, peaceful form, at rest at last after all he had suffered--gone home at last from this world of suffering--so peaceful and quiet he looked, like a sleeping child. every moment i expected to see him move or breathe--his mouth and eyes closed, and such a sweet and happy expression--both his hands were on the coverlid. i kissed them both for the last time; they were quite cold then. fritz and i stood looking at him for some time. i could hardly bring myself to believe that this was really death, that which i had so often shuddered at and felt afraid of; there was nothing there dreadful or appalling, only a heavenly calm and peace. i felt it did me so much good, and was such a comfort. "death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory?" he was a just and good man, and had a heart overflowing with love and kindness, and he has gone to his rest after a long trial which he bore with so much patience. i am not afraid of death now, and when i feel inclined to be so, i shall think of that solemn and comforting sight, and that death is only a change for the better. we went home and to bed and this morning went there at ten. i sat some time with the poor queen, who is so calm and resigned and touching in her grief. she does not cry, but she looks heartbroken. she said to me: "i am not longer of any use in this world. i have no longer any vocation, any duties to perform. i only lived for him." then she was so kind to me, kinder than she has ever been yet, and said i was like her own child and a comfort to her. i saw the corpse again this morning; he is unaltered, only changed in colour, and the hands are stiffened. the funeral will be on saturday; the king will lie in state till then. his wish was to be buried in friedenskirche before the altar--and his heart at charlottenburg in the mausoleum. of course all will be done that he wishes. his servants are in a dreadful state. they adored him, and nursed him day and night for three years with the most devoted attachment. the king and queen stay at sans souci till after the funeral, and fritz and i here at potsdam.... ever your most dutiful and devoted daughter, victoria. _p.s._--the funeral will only take place on monday, and the body will be embalmed to-morrow. to-morrow evening there will be prayers at the bedside, and the day after the lying in state. [footnote : the palace at potsdam, built by frederick the great, the usual residence of the king of prussia.] [pageheading: letter to the emperor napoleon] _queen victoria to the emperor of the french._ osborne, _le janvier _. sire et cher frÈre,--les bons v[oe]ux que votre majesté veut bien m'exprimer à l'occasion de la nouvelle année me sont bien chers, et je vous prie d'en accepter mes remercîments sincères, ainsi que l'expression des v[oe]ux que je forme pour le bonheur de votre majesté, de l'impératrice et de votre cher enfant; le prince se joint à moi dans ces sentiments. votre majesté a bien raison si elle regarde avec quelque inquiétude l'état agité de l'europe, mais je partage aussi avec elle le ferme espoir, que le mal peut être beaucoup amoindri, tant que la france et l'angleterre s'entendent, et j'y ajouterai, tant que cette entente a pour but désintéressé de préserver au monde la paix et à chaque nation ses droits et ses possessions, et d'adoucir des animosités, qui menacent de produire les plus graves calamités, des guerres civiles et des luttes de races. la bénédiction de dieu ne manquera pas à l'accomplissement d'une tâche aussi grande et sacrée. je me réjouis avec votre majesté des glorieux succès que nos armées alliées viennent d'obtenir en chine, et de la belle paix que ces succès ont amenée. elle sera féconde, je l'espère, en bienfaits pour nos deux pays aussi bien que pour ce peuple bizarre que nous avons forcé à entrer en relations avec le reste du monde. il nous a fait bien du plaisir de voir l'impératrice et d'entendre depuis que son voyage en angleterre lui a fait tant de bien. agréez l'assurance de la parfaite amitié avec laquelle je suis, sire et mon frère, de votre majesté impériale, la bonne s[oe]ur, victoria r. [pageheading: italian affairs] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ broadlands, _ th january _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has many apologies to make for not having sooner answered your majesty's previous communications. he is glad to be able to say that lady jocelyn's youngest boy, whose illness has been the cause of very great anxiety, is now in the course of gradual, but favourable recovery. viscount palmerston returns to your majesty the letter of the emperor of the french, and your majesty's excellent answer; it is to be hoped that he will profit by the sound advice which that answer contains. upon the subject of italy your majesty reminds viscount palmerston that he stated last summer that it would be better for the interests of england that southern italy should be a separate monarchy, rather than that it should form part of an united italy. viscount palmerston still retains that opinion; because a separate kingdom of the two sicilies would be more likely, in the event of war between england and france, to side, at least by its neutrality, with the strongest naval power, and it is to be hoped that such power would be england. but then it would be necessary that the two sicilies as an independent and separate state should be well governed, and should have an enlightened sovereign. this unfortunately has become hopeless and impossible under the bourbon dynasty, and no englishman could wish to see a murat or a prince napoleon on the throne of naples.[ ] the course of events since last summer seems to have finally decided the fate of sicily and naples, and there can be no doubt that for the interest of the people of italy, and with a view to the general balance of power in europe, a united italy is the best arrangement. the italian kingdom will never side with france from partiality to france, and the stronger that kingdom becomes the better able it will be to resist political coercion from france. the chief hold that france will have upon the policy of the kingdom of italy consists in the retention of venetia by austria. viscount palmerston has heard no more from lord john russell about his wish eventually to go to the house of lords, and it is probable that this wish often before expressed will, as upon former occasions, be allowed to sleep undisturbed.... [footnote : prince napoleon murat, a son of joachim murat, king of naples, - , had returned to france from the united states in ; an attempt was now being made to form a murat party in southern italy.] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ windsor castle, _ th january _. the queen has received lord john russell's letter enclosing his correspondence with lord clarendon.[ ] she has kept the latter in order to show it to lord palmerston this evening, not knowing whether he has seen it already. she must say that lord clarendon's arguments are very conclusive. has it ever occurred to lord john russell that, if lord clarendon were to go to berlin carrying the highest compliment the queen has to bestow, viz. the order of the garter to the new king of prussia, and from thence to vienna empty-handed to the emperor of austria for the purpose of giving good advice, the emperor might look upon it as an offensive public proceeding towards him? [footnote : lord clarendon was appointed to represent the queen at the coronation of the king of prussia.] [pageheading: conservative overtures] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th january _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... viscount palmerston saw lord malmesbury on friday before the cabinet. they both came up in the same train though not in the same carriage, and lord malmesbury came to viscount palmerston's in piccadilly at three o'clock. he said that he was charged by lord derby and mr disraeli with a message similar to that which he had conveyed last year, namely, that if mr gladstone were to propose a democratic budget making a great transfer of burthens from indirect to direct taxation, and if, the cabinet refusing its concurrence, mr gladstone were to retire, the conservative party would give the government substantial support except in the case of the government wishing to take an active part in war against austria. that this did not of course mean an abstinence from usual attacks and criticisms in debate, but that no step would in such case be taken to produce a change of government. in fact, said lord malmesbury, neither the conservative leaders nor the party wish at present to come into office, and have no intention of taking any step to turn the present government out. mr bright had indeed proposed to mr disraeli to join together with the radical party, the conservatives, for the purpose of turning out the present government; and especially to get rid of viscount palmerston and lord john russell. mr bright said he would in that case give the conservative government a two years' existence, and by the end of that time the country, it might be hoped, would be prepared for a good and real reform bill, and then a proper government might be formed. this proposal, which it must be owned was not very tempting, lord malmesbury said had been declined. he also said that count persigny, on returning from one of his trips to paris, had brought a similar proposal from mr cobden for a co-operation of radicals and conservatives to overthrow the present government; but that also had been declined. viscount palmerston requested lord malmesbury to convey his thanks to lord derby and mr disraeli for the handsome communication which they had thus made to him, and to assure them that he fully appreciated the honourable and patriotic motives by which it had been prompted.... _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th january _. my beloved uncle,--i write to you on a sad anniversary--already _seventeen_ years ago, that it pleased god to take dearest papa away from us all! he, who _ought_ to have lived for twenty years longer at least!... we hear from berlin that the poor king is much _angegriffen_, and very irritable, but that my letter announcing to him that i would give him the garter had given him _so_ much pleasure that he had been seen to smile for the _first_ time since the nd of january. i think you will be gratified by the little extract from a letter from our dear friend the queen, about vicky, which i venture to send you--as well as by the following extract from vicky's own letter to me, written on her wedding day, in which she says:--"every time our dear wedding day returns i feel so happy and thankful--and live every moment of that blessed and never-to-be-forgotten day over again in thought. i love to dwell on every minute of that day; not a hope has been disappointed, not an expectation that has not been realised, and much more--that few can say--and i _am_ thankful as i ought to be." these two extracts are very gratifying to our hearts. i must now wish you good-bye. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the provostship of eton] [pageheading: dr goodford] _viscount palmerston to sir charles phipps._ piccadilly, _ th february _. my dear phipps,--in the box which i sent to the queen on friday morning, giving a short account of the debate on thursday, i placed a separate paper submitting for her approval that dr goodford, headmaster of eton, might be recommended to the fellows to be elected to the office of provost now vacant; and i mentioned that the matter was rather pressing. i have had no answer as yet, and the election is fixed for to-morrow. the election is on the same footing as that of a bishop who is nominally elected by the chapter of the diocese, but who is named for being so elected by the crown. the crown recommends the person to be named provost, and the fellows as a matter of course elect him. but the election must be made within a stated period--i believe fifteen days after the vacancy has happened; and if the crown does not within that period recommend, the fellows proceed to make their own choice. the election is fixed for to-morrow, and it would not, i think, be desirable to let the royal prerogative drop on this occasion. the persons who have been named as candidates are dr goodford, headmaster, and with regard to him it is to be said that the office has generally been given to the headmaster, and that, as far as the provost has any function connected with improvements in the arrangement of the school, there is an advantage in his having been conversant with the details of the existing system. dr goodford is qualified for the office by his degree. the next candidate is mr coleridge, once a master in the school, but he is not qualified by a sufficient degree, and there was a prejudice against him on account of his puseyite tendencies. the third is dr chapman, late bishop of colombo, qualified by his degree, but having no peculiar claims or other recommendations for the office. the fourth is mr birch, formerly tutor to the prince of wales, scarcely of sufficient calibre for the office, and not qualified by a sufficient degree. between dr goodford and dr chapman i think the preference should be given to dr goodford, and the more especially because dr chapman is supposed to entertain theological opinions similar to those of mr coleridge, his brother-in-law. if the queen should approve of dr goodford being recommended, perhaps she would have the goodness to sign the document sent in the accompanying box, and if it is returned by the earliest opportunity it is just possible that i may be able to send it to windsor in time for the election to-morrow.[ ] yours sincerely, palmerston. [footnote : dr goodford was elected, and remained provost till his death in .] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ _ th february ._ the queen has received lord john russell's letter enclosing the draft of one to general garibaldi, which she now returns. she had much doubt about its being altogether safe for the government to get into correspondence, however unofficial, with the general, and thinks that it would be better for lord john _not_ to write to him. lord palmerston, who was here this afternoon on other business, has undertaken to explain the reasons in detail to lord john--in which he fully concurs. [pageheading: garibaldi] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ chesham place, _ th february _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he earnestly entreats your majesty to consider whether any step ought to be omitted by which the peace of europe may be preserved. general garibaldi is generally esteemed by italians; even count ludolf speaks of him in the highest terms of praise. general garibaldi has lost his country, and is full of resentment at count cavour for selling it. he respects and admires england for her disinterested conduct. but it is evident the french emperor is again exciting the hungarian party. the garibaldian legion is told to hold itself in readiness, and the _pays_ and _patrie_ are instructed to praise the legion. they are being assembled in genoa and piedmont. there is little chance of garibaldi's refusing to take part in this expedition, and if he does proceed to the dalmatian or istrian coast, his name will have an immense effect. it does not seem reasonable to throw away any chance of saving the austrian empire and the peace of europe. lord john russell will wait till monday next to learn definitively your majesty's pleasure. the proposed letter appears to him to give some hope of preventing great misfortunes. in this belief it is lord john russell's duty to endeavour to prevent the frightful war which is impending. kossuth is fabricating paper to the extent of from to , , of florins to furnish the sinews of insurrection. in the month of march hungary will be in a blaze. but if italy, germany, and france keep away, the fire may burn out of itself. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ _ th february ._ viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and in returning lord john's letter begs to submit, that as lord john is so anxious to send it, and seems so strongly of opinion that it is an effort which might be successful in dissuading garibaldi from attempting to create disturbances in the austrian territory by going thither with a band of adventurers, it may be best to let the letter go, though it might perhaps be improved by pointing more directly to the nature of the expedition which it advises garibaldi not to undertake. there may be inconveniences which may arise from the letter, but they might be dealt with; on the other hand, if garibaldi undertakes his expedition, it would be a matter of regret if it could be thought or said that a step which might have prevented the mischief had been omitted. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. the queen has received lord john russell's reiterated request for her sanction to his writing to general garibaldi. she still entertains the same objections to the step, as implying a recognition of the general's position as a european power as enabling him to allow the impression to prevail, that he is in communication with the british government and acts under its inspiration, as possibly leading to a prolonged and embarrassing correspondence, and as implying for the future that when the disapprobation of the government is not expressed (as in the present instance), it gives its consent to his aggressive schemes. the queen will not prevent, however, lord john from taking a step which he considers gives a chance of averting a great european calamity. should lord john therefore adhere to his opinion, she asks him to let her see the letter again, upon the precise wording of which so much depends. [pageheading: a happy anniversary] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th february _. my dearest uncle,--many, many thanks for your dear letter of the th. here we have cold again since the day before yesterday, and last night seven degrees of frost. on sunday we celebrated, with feelings of _deep gratitude_ and love, the _twenty-first_ anniversary of our blessed marriage, a day which had brought us, and i may say the _world_ at _large_, such incalculable blessings! _very_ few can say with me that their husband at the end of twenty-one years is _not_ only full of the friendship, kindness, and affection which a truly happy marriage brings with it, but the same tender love of the _very first days of our marriage!_ we missed dear mamma and _three_ of our children,[ ] but had _six_ dear ones round us--and assembled in the evening those of our household _still_ remaining who were _with us then!_... in parliament things go on quietly enough, and every one _hopes_ for a short session.... hoping that these lines will find you well, believe me ever, your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the duchess of kent was at frogmore; the princess royal, now crown princess of prussia, was at potsdam; the prince of wales had just entered upon his first term at cambridge; and prince alfred had joined his ship, the _euryalus_, at plymouth.] [pageheading: lord john russell and garibaldi] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th february _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the cabinet at its meeting this afternoon were of opinion that lord john russell's proposed letter to garibaldi, as altered by lord john, might do good, and could scarcely be attended with any material inconvenience, and that therefore it might go.[ ] [footnote : it accordingly was sent in the following form:-- general,--you did me the honour, some time ago, to write me a letter, thanking me for a speech i made in parliament. i was not insensible to the value of that compliment. my present purpose however is not compliment. i wish you seriously to reconsider your declaration that you propose to begin a war in the spring. it seems to me that no individual, however distinguished, has a right to determine for his country the momentous question of peace or war with a foreign state. italy, represented by a free parliament, is about to assemble and declare her own sentiments and wishes. it is surely for the king and the parliament together to decide on questions which may involve all europe in bloodshed. i cannot believe that you will be the man to give the signal of dissension in italy. i remain, general, your obedient servant, john russell. the reply received was as follows:-- caprera, _ th march _. noble lord,--italy owes you much gratitude. you, however, judge me somewhat harshly; giving credence to rumours which attribute to me projects that are not known to any one. i hope to make war again for my country. but i desire that you, deserving as you are of my esteem and attachment, should believe that i will not undertake anything which may injure or be in contradiction with the rights of the king and parliament of italy. i do not love war, minister, but, in the present condition of my country, it appears most difficult to constitute her in a normal manner, without war. i am sure that italy is able to make her war of liberation even this year. the person who directs does not feel the same certainty, and i leave it to you to weigh his motives. i, if i am not called upon by events, shall continue in my retreat, and i will, in every way, endeavour to gain your good-will, and that of the generous nation to whom my country owes so much, etc., etc., etc. i am your devoted servant, g. garibaldi.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ buckingham palace, _ nd february _. the queen is very glad to see that the government is seriously taking up the question of iron-sided ships, and looks forward to the result of lord palmerston's conference with the duke of somerset. the number wanted appears large, but the queen must add that she does not consider one ship a sufficient preponderance over the french navy for this country. twenty-seven to twenty-six would give that number. [pageheading: death of duchess of kent] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ frogmore, _ th march _. my dearly beloved uncle,--on this, the most dreadful day of my life, does your poor broken-hearted child write one line of love and devotion. _she_ is gone![ ] that _precious, dearly beloved tender_ mother--whom i never was parted from but for a few months--without whom _i_ can't _imagine life_--has been taken from us! it is _too_ dreadful! but she is at peace--at rest--her fearful sufferings at an end! it was quite painless--though there was very _distressing_, heartrending breathing to witness. i held her dear, dear hand in mine to the very last, which i am truly thankful for! but the watching that precious life going out was fearful! alas! she never knew me! but she was spared the pang of parting! how this will _grieve_ and _distress you!_ _you_ who are now doubly precious to us. good alice was with us all through, and _deeply_ afflicted, and wishes to say everything kind to you. bertie and lenchen are now here--all much grieved, and have seen her _sleeping_ peacefully and eternally! dearest albert is dreadfully overcome--and well he may, for _she_ adored him! i feel so truly _verwaist_. god bless and protect you. ever your devoted and truly unhappy niece and child, victoria r. _p.s._--the devotion of dearest mamma's ladies and maids is not to be described. their love and their devotion were _too touching_. there we all were round her--the poor, good, old clark, who is so devoted to us all. ever again, your devoted child, victoria r. [footnote : the duchess of kent died on the th of march. she had had a surgical operation in the arm, on account of an abscess, a short time before, but till the th the medical reports had been encouraging. on that day the queen went to frogmore, and was with her mother at the time of her death.] [pageheading: bereavement] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th march _. my dearest uncle,--your sad little letter of the st reached me on saturday. on sunday i took leave of those dearly beloved remains--a dreadful moment; i had never been near a coffin before, but dreadful and heartrending as it was, it was so beautifully arranged that it would have pleased _her_, and most probably _she_ looked down and blessed _us_--as we poor sorrowing mortals knelt around, overwhelmed with grief! it was covered with wreaths, and the carpet strewed with sweet, white flowers. _i_ and our daughters did _not_ go _yesterday_--it would have been _far_ too much for _me_--and albert when he returned, with tearful eyes told me it was well i did not go--so affecting had been the sight--so _universal_ the sympathy. poor little arthur went too. i and my girls prayed at home together, and dwelt on her happiness and peace. but oh! dearest uncle--the loss--the truth of it--which _i cannot, do not_ realise even when i go (as i do _daily_) to frogmore--the _blank_ becomes _daily_ worse! the constant intercourse of _forty-one_, years cannot cease without the _total want_ of _power_ of _real enjoyment_ of _anything_. a sort of cloud which hangs over you, and seems to _oppress_ everything--and a positive _weakness_ in the powers of reflection and mental exertion. the doctors _tell_ me i _must not_ attempt to _force_ this. long conversation, loud talking, the talking of many people together, i _can't_ bear yet. it must come _very_ gradually.... i try to be, and very often am, quite _resigned_--but dearest uncle, this is a life sorrow. on _all_ festive or mournful occasions, on _all_ family events, _her love_ and _sympathy_ will be so _fearfully wanting_. then again, except albert (who i very often don't see but very little in the day), i have _no human_ being except our children, and that is not the same _verhältniss_, to _open_ myself to; and besides, a _woman_ requires _woman's_ society and sympathy sometimes, as men do _men's_. all this, beloved uncle, will show you that, without _dwelling_ constantly upon it, or _moping_ or becoming _morbid_, though the _blank_ and the _loss to me_, in my isolated position especially, is _such_ a _dreadful_, and such an _irreparable one_, the worst _trials_ are _yet_ to come. my poor birthday, i can hardly think of it! strange it is how often _little trifles_, insignificant in themselves, upset one more even than greater things.... but the general sympathy for _me_, and approval of the manner in which i have shown my grief, as well as the affection and respect for dearest mamma's memory in the country, is _quite wonderful and most touching_. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: renewed grief] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ buckingham palace, _ th march _. my dearly beloved uncle,--it is a comfort for me to write to you, and i think you may like to hear from your poor motherless child. it is _to-day_ a _fortnight_ already, and it seems but yesterday--_all_ is before me, and at the same time _all, all_ seems _quite impossible_. the blank--the desolation--the fearful and awful _sehnsucht und wehmuth_ come back with redoubled force, and the _weeping_, which day after day is my welcome friend, is my greatest relief. we have an immense deal to do--and everything is in the greatest _order_; but to _open her_ drawers and presses, and to look at all her dear jewels and trinkets in order to identify everything, and relieve her really excellent servants from all responsibility and anxiety, is like a sacrilege, and i feel as if my heart was being torn asunder! so many recollections of my childhood are brought back to me, and these dumb souvenirs which she wore and used, and which so painfully survive _what_ we so _dearly_ and _passionately_ loved, touch chords in one's heart and soul, which are _most_ painful and yet pleasing too. we have found many most interesting and valuable letters--the existence of which i was not aware of--and which, i _think_, must have come back with poor papa's letters, viz. letters from _my_ poor father asking for dearest mamma's hand--and sending a letter from you, encouraging him to ask her. and many others--very precious letters--from dear grandmamma; albert has also found at clarence house, where he went to-day, many of dear grandpapa's.[ ] ... frogmore we mean to keep just as dear mamma left it--and keep it cheerful and pretty as it still is. i go there constantly; i feel so accustomed to go down the hill, and _so_ attracted to it, for i fancy _she_ must be there. was poor dear grandpapa's death-bed such a sad one? you speak of its distressing impressions.[ ] ... she watches _over us now_, you may be sure! ever your devoted, sorrowing child and niece, victoria r. albert is so kind, and does all with such tenderness and feeling. vicky goes on tuesday, and we on wednesday, to osborne, where i think the air and quiet will do me good. [footnote : duke francis frederick of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and duchess augusta caroline sophia, the parents of the duchess of kent and king leopold.] [footnote : in a recent letter king leopold had said that he was not quite sixteen years old when his father died ( ), and the elder son, ernest, being alarmingly ill at königsberg, he was himself called upon to be the support of his mother. "the recollections of that death-bed," he adds, "are fresh in my memory, as if it had been yesterday. i thank god that your recollections of that terrible moment are so peaceful, and that you may preserve an impression ... without any distressing addition."] [pageheading: fatherly advice] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ st april _. my beloved victoria,--your dear letter of the th _moved me very much_. i can see everything, and it makes me shed tears of the sincerest sorrow. the bereavement, the impossibility, they are what one feels most deeply and painfully, that nothing will bring back the beloved object, that there is a rupture with everything earthly that nothing can remedy. your good, dear mamma was without ostentation, sincerely religious, a great blessing, and the only solid support we can find. happy those whose faith cannot be shaken; they can bear the hardships of earthly life with fortitude. true it is that if we compare the sorrows of our earthly life with the hope of an eternal existence, though painfully felt, still they shrink as it were in appreciation. you feel so _truly_, so _affectionately_, that even in that you must gratify the dear being we lost. when i think of poor aunt julia,[ ] she was so alone that i cannot help to pity her even in all the objects she valued and left behind; the affectionate care which is shown to everything connected with your dear mamma could not have existed, and still she was a noble character, and with a warm, generous heart. in all your dear mamma's letters there will everywhere be found traces of the affection which united us. from early childhood we were close allies; she recollected everything so well of that period which now, since the departure of the two sisters, is totally unknown to every one but me, which, you can imagine, is a most melancholy sensation. time flies so fast that all dear recollections soon get isolated. your stay at osborne will do you good, though spring, when fine, affects one very much, to think that the one that was beloved does not share in these pleasant sensations. you must try, however, not to shake your precious health too much. your dear mamma, who watched your looks so affectionately, would not approve of it.... your devoted old uncle, leopold r. [footnote : sister of king leopold, and widow of the grand duke constantine, who had lived in retirement at geneva for many years, and died at elfenau on the th of august .] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th april _. my dearly beloved uncle,--your dear, _sad_ letter of the th found a warm response in my poor heart, and i thank you with all my heart for it. i am _now most_ anxiously waiting for an answer to my letter asking you to come to us _now_. you would, i think, find it soothing, and it would painfully interest you to look over her letters and papers, which make me _live_ in times i heard her talk of when i was a child. it is touching to find how she treasured up every little flower, every bit of hair. i found some of dear princess charlotte's, and touching relics of my poor father, in a little writing-desk of his i had never seen, with his last letters to her, and her notes _after_ his death written in a little book, expressing such longing to be reunited to him! _now_ she _is!_ and what a comfort it is to think _how many very dear ones_ are gone on before her whom she will find! all these notes show how very, very much she and my beloved father _loved_ each other. _such_ love and affection! i hardly knew it was _to that extent_. then her love for _me_--it is _too_ touching! i have found little books with the accounts of my babyhood, and they show _such_ unbounded tenderness! oh! i am so wretched to think _how_, _for a time_, _two people most_ wickedly estranged us!... to miss a mother's friendship--not to be able to have her to confide in--when a girl _most_ needs it, was fearful! i _dare not_ think of it--it drives me _wild_ now! but thank god! that is all passed _long, long_ ago, and she had forgotten it, and only thought of the last very happy years. and all that was brought by my good angel, dearest albert, whom _she_ adored, and in whom she had such unbounded confidence.... on sunday our dear little beatrice was four years old. it upset me much, for she was the idol of that beloved grandmamma, and the child so fond of her. she continually speaks of her--how she "is in heaven," but hopes she will return! she is a most darling, engaging child.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the danish question] _queen victoria to lord john russell._ osborne, _ th may _. the queen returns the proposed draft of answer to the observations of the russian government on lord john russell's proposals with regard to the danish question. she has to observe that this reverses the whole position taken by us hitherto. prince gortschakoff is quite right in reminding us that the engagements taken in [ ] did not contain a formal guarantee (_obliging_ to take up arms for the defence of the object guaranteed) in deference to the opinion of the british government which, on general principles, has always objected to such engagements. these principles are as important now as ever, and yet lord john proposes "to renew the _guarantee_ of the integrity of the danish monarchy contained in the treaty of th may ," thereby giving those engagements the force of a guarantee, which was on principle objected to by us at the time. both russia and france in their answers object to such a guarantee now, even with regard to schleswig alone, as involving the guaranteeing powers in future grave difficulties, and lord john proposes to extend it to holstein, a part of germany and not of denmark, by way of obviating the difficulty. the queen cannot give her sanction to this proposal. [footnote : a treaty was signed by the european powers on the th of may , by which the succession of the line of sonderburg-glücksburg to the danish throne was settled, and the integrity of the kingdom guaranteed. see _ante_, vol. ii., th january, .] [pageheading: war in america] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th may _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; he has the honour to submit letters from the emperor and empress of austria of a private nature. the cabinet decided yesterday that the ports of your majesty's dominions ought to be closed to the ships of war and privateers of the belligerents in america.[ ] a letter for that object has been sent to the law officers of the crown, and will be, when put into proper form, submitted for your majesty's approbation. [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxx.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th may _. the queen returns these papers. she thinks it of great importance that we should be strong in canada, and thinks an increase in artillery as important as the sending of two more battalions, as that arm cannot be supplied at all by the colony. the naval forces would, however, require strengthening even more. it is less likely that the remnant of the united states could send expeditions by land to the north while quarrelling with the south, than that they should commit acts of violence at sea. _queen victoria to lord john russell._ buckingham palace, _ th june _. the queen has perused the accompanying draft to sir james hudson. she is of opinion that so important a step as proposals on our part for the solution of the roman question, with which we are not directly concerned, and for the solution of which we are for many obvious reasons perhaps the power possessing the least favourable position, is a subject of such great importance, that it should not be undertaken without the most mature consideration. has this draft been brought before the cabinet? the queen wishes to have their united advice before giving her decision. her opinion at present is against our volunteering a scheme which will render us responsible for the result of grave complications, from which we have hitherto stood happily quite clear. the queen wishes these lines to be communicated to the cabinet.[ ] [footnote : lord john russell had written that the withdrawal of the french troops from rome would probably be followed by tumults and bloodshed; and as both the roman party and garibaldi hated the government of the pope, and wished to put an end to his temporal power, he suggested that the pope should be allowed to retain his sovereignty during his lifetime, in a restricted territory and with restricted powers; that italian troops should occupy the towns and villages outside a limit of five miles from rome; and that the king of italy and the emperor of the french should agree not to recognise the temporal power of any future pope.] [pageheading: death of cavour] _lord john russell to queen victoria._ pembroke lodge, _ th june _. lord john russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; the despatch relating to rome had been sent, seeming to lord john russell quite unobjectionable. but your majesty will see that it was instantly suspended, and that count cavour is dying.[ ] the despatch was solely intended to save the poor old pope from insult, and rome from tumult, but beyond this it is of no consequence, and the death of cavour may give a new complexion to the affairs of italy. nothing will be done on the despatch at present. [footnote : count cavour died at turin on the th of june. it is curious to note that the words of the emperor napoleon, on hearing of the death of cavour, appear to have been "le cocher est tombé du siège; il faut voir maintenant si les chevaux iront s'emporter, ou rentrer à l'écurie."] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th june _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty.... viscount palmerston submits a note from garter king at arms, by which your majesty will see that there are now three garters vacant; and viscount palmerston would beg to suggest for your majesty's consideration that those garters might appropriately be conferred upon lord canning for his great services in india, upon lord john russell for his long political services under your majesty, and upon the duke of somerset, senior duke after the duke of norfolk, and the able administrator of an important branch of your majesty's service.[ ] viscount palmerston is not aware whether by the regulations of the order the garter could be sent out to lord canning in india. if that were possible, it might have the double advantage of strengthening his hands during the remainder of his stay, by affording so public a mark of your majesty's approval; and moreover of making sure that lord canning should receive this mark of your majesty's royal favour, while the government is in the hands of an administration similar to that at whose recommendation he was sent out, which perhaps might be more agreeable to his feelings than running the chance, always possible, though viscount palmerston hopes it may not be probable, that political combinations might, before his return in may or june , have produced administrative changes. [footnote : the duke was first lord of the admiralty. all the three peers mentioned received the garter early in .] [pageheading: death of lord campbell] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ _ th june ._ the queen approves of sir r. bethell[ ] as lord campbell's successor. lord palmerston is aware of the queen's objections to the appointment; they will have weighed with him as much as with her. if therefore he finally makes this recommendation, the queen must assume that under all the circumstances he considers it the best solution of the difficulty, and that his colleagues take the same view. [footnote : lord campbell died at the age of eighty-two; his successor was created lord westbury.] [pageheading: the duchess of sutherland] _the duchess of sutherland to queen victoria._ stafford house, _ th june _. madam,--i shall never forget your majesty and the prince's kindness.[ ] i am anxious to tell your majesty as strongly as _it was_, what _his_ feeling was of my service to your majesty; he approved and delighted in it; dear as it was to me--it could not have been if this had not been so, nor those occasional absences, if he had not had devoted children when i was away; still, when the great parting comes one grudges every hour, and the yearning is terrible. even in his last illness he showed an anxious feeling, as if he feared i might resign, saying that i knew what an interest it had been to him, how he had liked hearing of the queen and her family. he spoke very late in life of your majesty's constant kindness. this feeling and early associations made him take a great interest in the princess royal's marriage, which did not leave him. if it ever crossed your majesty--if your majesty should ever feel that i might have been devoted, if i had had but one service, pray believe that he took the greatest pleasure and pride in that other great service; and that therefore he really felt it best it should be so. since i have written this i have received your majesty's most kind letter--and the precious gift of the photograph so wonderfully like, and rendering exactly that most kind and loving countenance. i shall like much sending one to your majesty of my dearest husband. i repeat to myself the precious word that i am dear to your majesty again and again; and that my love to your majesty was returned. how often i shall think of this in my altered life, in my solitude of heart! the admiration i have ever felt for the prince has been one of the great pleasures of my life; that he should be your majesty's husband, a constant thankfulness. i feel i owe him much, and that great approbation and admiration are not barren feelings. i have the honour to remain, madam, your majesty's devoted subject, harriet sutherland. i fear i have written worse than usual--i can hardly see to do so--weak eyes and tears. [footnote : the duke of sutherland had died in the preceding february.] [pageheading: mr layard] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that lord elcho[ ] this afternoon moved a resolution that the new foreign office should not be built in the palladian style. mr charles buxton seconded the motion. mr cowper[ ] opposed it, stating reasons for preferring the italian style to the gothic. mr layard was for neither, but seemed to wish that somebody would invent a new style of architecture. mr tite,[ ] the architect, was strongly for the italian style; lord john manners, swayed by erroneous views in religion and taste, was enthusiastic for gothic;[ ] mr dudley fortescue confided in a low voice to a limited range of hearers some weak arguments in favour of gothic; mr osborne seemed to be against everything that anybody had ever proposed, and wanted to put off the building till some plan better suited to his own taste should have been invented. viscount palmerston answered the objections made to the italian plan, and lord elcho's motion was negatived by to . the house then went into committee of supply, and the first estimate being that for the foreign office, some of the gothic party who had not been able to deliver their speeches on lord elcho's motion, let them off on this estimate.... [footnote : now earl of wemyss.] [footnote : mr william cowper, at this time first commissioner of works.] [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) william tite, was now member for bath; he had been the architect entrusted with the task of rebuilding the royal exchange.] [footnote : mr gilbert scott had made his first designs for the new foreign office in the gothic style; his appointment as architect for the building was made by the derby government, but the scheme which they favoured, for a gothic building, was opposed by lord palmerston, and scott adopted the italian style in deference to his views.] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th july _. the queen is sorry that she cannot alter her determination about mr layard.[ ] she fully recognises the importance of the parliamentary exigencies; but the queen cannot sacrifice to them the higher interests of the country. neither mr layard nor mr osborne ought to be proposed as representatives of the foreign office in the house of commons, and therefore of the crown to foreign countries. if lord palmerston can bring mr layard into office in some other place, to get his assistance in the house of commons, she will not object. [footnote : in the course of july, lord john russell, who had entered parliament for the first time in , was raised to the peerage as earl russell and viscount amberley. to supply the loss to the government of two such powerful debaters as lord russell and lord herbert, lord palmerston had suggested mr layard as under-secretary for foreign affairs, mentioning also the claims of mr bernal osborne.] [pageheading: mr layard] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and regrets very much to find that he has not succeeded in removing your majesty's objections to mr layard as under-secretary of state for the foreign department; but he still hopes that he may be able to do so. if he rightly understands your majesty's last communication on this subject, he is led to infer that your majesty's main objection is founded on a dislike that mr layard should be the representative and organ of the foreign policy of the crown in the house of commons. with regard to his being a subordinate officer in the foreign office, your majesty's sanction to that was obtained in - , when mr layard was under-secretary to lord granville. his tenure of office at that time was short; not from any fault of his, but because the government of that day was overthrown by viscount palmerston's motion in the house of commons in february about the militia; and lord granville speaks highly of mr layard's performance of his official duties at that time. there is no reason, but the reverse, for thinking him less competent now than then; and an under-secretary of state is only the instrument and mouthpiece of his principal to say what he is told, and to write what he is bid. with regard to mr layard's position in the house of commons, he would in no respect be the representative of the foreign policy of the country; that function will belong to viscount palmerston, now that the secretary of state for foreign affairs will be removed to the house of lords, and it will be viscount palmerston's duty and care to see that nobody infringes upon that function. mr layard would be useful to answer unimportant questions as to matters of fact, but all questions involving the foreign policy of the country will be answered by viscount palmerston as head of the government, as was done when lord clarendon was foreign secretary and in the house of lords. but there are not unfrequently great debates on foreign affairs in the house of commons, and there are many members, some of them not perhaps of great weight, who join in attacks on such matters. it is of great importance to your majesty's government to have a sufficient number of speakers on such occasions. lord john russell and lord herbert were ready and powerful. mr gladstone is almost the only one on the treasury bench who follows up foreign questions close enough to take an active part; it would be of great advantage to viscount palmerston to have as assistant on such occasions a man like mr layard, knowing the details of matters discussed, able to make a good speech in reply to mr fitzgerald, or mr baillie cochrane,[ ] or mr hennessy,[ ] or sir g. bowyer,[ ] and who would shape his course in strict conformity with the line which might be chalked out for him by viscount palmerston. your majesty need therefore be under no apprehension that mr layard or anybody else, who might in the house of commons hold the office of under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, would appear to the world as the organ or representative of the foreign policy of your majesty's government. with respect to giving mr layard any other office of the same kind, there is none other in which he could be placed without putting into the foreign office somebody far less fit for it, and putting mr layard into some office for which he is far less fit. his fitness is for the foreign department, and to use the illustration, which was a favourite one of the late mr drummond, it would be putting the wrong man into the wrong hole. viscount palmerston has, as charged with the conduct of the business of the government in the house of commons, sustained a severe loss by the removal of two most able and useful colleagues, lord herbert and lord john russell, and he earnestly hopes that your majesty will be graciously pleased to assist him in his endeavours, not indeed to supply their place, but in some degree to lessen the detriment which their removal has occasioned. [footnote : afterwards lord lamington.] [footnote : mr (afterwards sir) john pope hennessy, m.p. for king's county.] [footnote : m.p. for dundalk.] [pageheading: mr layard] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th july _. the prince has reported to the queen all that lord palmerston said to him on the subject of mr layard; this has not had the effect of altering her opinion as to the disqualifications of that gentleman for the particular office for which lord palmerston proposes him. this appointment would, in the queen's opinion, be a serious evil. if lord palmerston on sincere self-examination should consider that without it the difficulty of carrying on his government was such as to endanger the continuance of its success, the queen will, of course, have to admit an evil for the country in order to avert a greater. she still trusts, however, that knowing the nature of the queen's objections, he will not place her in this dilemma. _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th july _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to be allowed to make his grateful and respectful acknowledgments for your majesty's gracious and condescending acquiescence in his recommendation of mr layard for the appointment of under-secretary of state for the foreign department. it is always a source of most sincere pain to viscount palmerston to find himself differing, on any point, in opinion with your majesty, a respect for whose soundness of judgment, and clearness of understanding, must always lead him to distrust the value of his own conclusions when they differ from those to which your majesty has arrived. but the question about mr layard turned mainly upon considerations connected with the conduct of public business of your majesty's government in the house of commons. viscount palmerston sits in that house four days in every week during the session of parliament, from half-past four in the afternoon to any hour however late after midnight at which the house may adjourn. it is his duty carefully to watch the proceedings of the house, and to observe and measure the fluctuating bearings of party and of sectional associations on the present position of the government, and on its chances for the future; and he is thus led to form conclusions as to persons and parties which may not equally strike, or with equal force, those who from without and from higher regions may see general results without being eye- and ear-witnesses of the many small and successive details out of which those results are built up. it was thus that viscount palmerston was led to a strong conviction that the proposed appointment of mr layard would be a great advantage to your majesty's government as regards the conduct of business in the house of commons, and the position of your majesty's government in that house; and he is satisfied that he will be able to prevent mr layard in any subsidiary part which he may have to take in any discussion on foreign questions, from departing from the line which may be traced out for him by lord john russell and viscount palmerston.... [pageheading: the king of sweden] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th august _. my beloved uncle,--since saturday we have great heat. _our_ king of sweden[ ] arrived yesterday evening. we went out in the yacht to meet him, and did so; but his ship going slow, the _dress_ of the _hohen herrn only_ arrived at a quarter to nine, and we only sat down to dinner at a quarter past nine! the king and prince oscar[ ] are very french, and very italian! i think that there is a dream of a scandinavian kingdom floating before them. the king is a fine-looking man.... he is not at all difficult to get on with, and is very civil. oscar is very amiable and mild, and very proud of his three little boys. they leave again quite early to-morrow. our _dear_ children leave us, alas! on friday quite early, for antwerp.[ ] it will again be a painful trial! their stay has been very pleasant and _gemüthlich_, and we have seen more of and known dear fritz more thoroughly than we ever did before, and really he is _very_ excellent, and would, i am convinced, make an excellent king. the little children are _very great_ darlings, and we shall miss them sadly. on the th we go to poor, dear frogmore, and on the th we shall visit that dear grave! last year she was still so well, and so full of life; but it was a _very_ sad birthday, two days after the loss of that dear beloved sister, whom she has joined so soon! oh! the agony of _wehmuth_, the bitterness of the blank, do _not_ get better with time! beloved mamma, how hourly she is in my mind! the king of prussia will have great pleasure in visiting you at wiesbaden; he will arrive at ostend on the th.... good-bye, and god bless you, dearest uncle. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : charles xv., who succeeded to the throne in .] [footnote : brother and heir to charles xv., whom he succeeded, as oscar ii., in ; died .] [footnote : the crown prince and princess of prussia, accompanied by their two children, were on a visit to the queen.] [pageheading: swedish politics] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th august _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and hastens to answer the enquiry contained in your majesty's note, which was delivered to him at southampton. he must, in the first place, explain that much of what was said to him by the king of sweden and by prince oscar was not clearly understood by him. they would both speak english--which they spoke with difficulty and in an indistinct utterance of voice--and he did not like to break the conversation into french, because to have done so would have looked like a condemnation of their english, of any imperfection of which they did not seem to be at all conscious. the king was very guarded in all he said about france; the prince spoke with more freedom and with less caution. the result of what viscount palmerston gathered from their conversation, and perhaps for this purpose they may be put together, because they probably both feel and think nearly alike, though the prince lets his thoughts out more than the king, may be summed up as follows. they were much pleased and flattered by the kind and friendly reception given them by the french emperor, and both he and they seem to have had present to their minds that the existing royal family of sweden is descended from general bernadotte--a general in the army of the first napoleon. they think the french emperor sincerely desirous of maintaining his alliance with england, believing it to be for his interest to do so. but they consider the french nation essentially aggressive, and they think that the emperor is obliged to humour that national feeling, and to follow, as far as the difference of circumstances will allow, the policy of his uncle. they consider the principle of nationalities to be the deciding principle of the day, and accordingly venetia ought to belong to italy, poland ought to be severed from russia, and finland ought to be restored to sweden. holstein should be purely german with its own duke, schleswig should be united to denmark, and when the proper time comes, denmark, so constituted, ought to form one monarchy with sweden and norway. but they see that there are great if not insuperable obstacles to all these arrangements, and they do not admit that the emperor of the french talked to them about these things, or about the map of europe revised for . they lamented the dangerous state of the austrian empire by reason of its financial embarrassments, and its differences between vienna and hungary. they admitted the difficulty of re-establishing a polish state, seeing that russia, prussia, and austria are all interested in preventing it; but they thought that russia might make herself amends to the eastward for giving up part of her polish possessions. they said the swedes would be more adverse than the danes to a union of denmark with sweden. they said the finns are writhing under the russian yoke, and emigrate in considerable numbers to sweden. they think russia paralysed for ten years to come by her war against england and france, by her internal changes, and her money embarrassments. when the prince asked viscount palmerston to sit down, it was for the purpose of urging in the strongest and most earnest manner that some british ships of war, or even one single gunboat, if more could not be spared, should every year visit the baltic, and make a cruise in that sea. he said that the british flag was never seen there, although great britain has great interests, commercial and political, in that sea. that especially for sweden it would be a great support if a british man-of-war were every year to show itself in swedish waters. he said that our navy know little or nothing of the baltic, and when a war comes, as happened in the late war with russia, our ships are obliged, as it were, to feel their way about in the dark; that the russians send ships of war into british ports--why should not england send ships of war into russian ports? that we survey seas at the other side of the globe, why should we not survey a sea so near to us as the baltic; that as far as sweden is concerned, british ships would be most cordially received. i said that this should receive due consideration; and in answer to a question he said the best time for a baltic cruise would be from the middle of june to the latter end of august. they both thought the emperor of the french extremely popular in france--but, of course, they only saw outward demonstrations. they are very anxious for the maintenance of the anglo-french alliance; and they think the emperor obliged to keep a large army and to build a strong navy in order to please and satisfy the french nation. such is the summary of the impression made upon viscount palmerston by the answers and observations drawn out by him in his conversations with the king and the prince; most of these things were said as above reported, some few of the above statements are perhaps inferences and conclusions drawn from indirect answers and remarks. [pageheading: sweden and denmark] [pageheading: france and sweden] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ osborne, _ th august _. the queen is very much obliged to lord palmerston for his detailed account of his conversation with the king of sweden, and sends both memorandums back to him in accordance with his wishes, in the expectation of having them returned to her after they shall have been copied. the king may have been embarrassed by the presence of the crown prince of prussia here at osborne, and have on that account postponed speaking openly to lord palmerston. his desire to acquire denmark and finland is not unnatural, and would not be very dangerous; but the important part of the matter is, that the emperor napoleon has evidently tried to bribe him for his schemes by such expectations. after having established a large kingdom, dependent upon him and possessing a fleet, in the south of europe on his right flank, he evidently tries to establish by the same means a similar power on his left flank in the north. if then the revolution of poland and hungary takes germany also in the rear, he will be exactly in the all-powerful position which his uncle held, and at which he himself aims, with that one difference: that, unlike his uncle, who had to fight england all the time (who defended desperately her interests in europe), he tries to effect his purposes in alliance with england, and uses for this end our own _free_ press and in our own free country! the polish and hungarian revolutions (perhaps the russian) and the assistance which may be (nobly?) given to them by sweden, can easily be made as popular in this country as the italian has, and efforts to produce this result are fully visible already. the position and prospects of the ally, when the emperor shall have the whole continent at his feet, and the command of the mediterranean and the baltic, will not be a very pleasant one. moreover, the ally will probably have irritated him and the french nation all the time by abusing them, and by showing that, although we may have approved of her policy, we did not intend that france should reap any benefits from it. all this is probably not thought of by our journalists, but requires the serious attention of our statesmen. lord palmerston will perhaps show this letter to lord russell when he sends him the copies of the memoranda, which he will probably do. [pageheading: frogmore] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th august _. my beloved uncle,--before i thank you for your dear letter of the th, or at least before i answer it, i wish to tell you _how soothed_ i was by that visit to that _lovely_ peaceful _mausoleum at frogmore_. we parted from our dear children and grandchildren with heavy hearts at seven on the morning of the th, for their visit, excepting the _blank_ which clouds over everything, has been most peaceful and satisfactory, and we have learnt to know and most highly appreciate the great _excellence_ of dear fritz's character; noble, high-principled, so anxious to do what is right, and to improve in every way, and so sweet-tempered and affectionate--so, beyond everything, devoted to vicky. i thought much of poor, dear aunt julia on the th; _that loss_ was the _signal_ for my irreparable one! we went that afternoon ( th) to frogmore, where we slept. the first evening was terribly trying, and i must say quite overpowered me for a short time; _all_ looked _like life_, and yet _she_ was not there! but i got calmer; the very fact of being surrounded by all she liked, and of seeing the dear pretty house inhabited again, was a satisfaction, and the next morning was beautiful, and we went after breakfast with wreaths up to the mausoleum, and into the vault which is _à plain-pied_, and so pretty--so airy--_so_ grand and simple, that, affecting as it is, there was no anguish or bitterness of grief, but calm repose! we placed the wreaths upon the splendid granite sarcophagus, and at its feet, and _felt_ that _only_ the _earthly robe_ we loved so much was there. the pure, tender, loving spirit _which loved us_ so tenderly, is above us--loving us, praying for us, and _free_ from _all_ suffering and woe--_yes_, that _is_ a _comfort_, and that _first birthday_ in _another_ world must have been a _far_ brighter one than _any_ in this poor world below! i only grieve _now_ that we should be going so far away from frogmore, as i long to go there; only alice and dear augusta bruce[ ](who feels as a daughter of hers) went with us. the morning was so beautiful, and the garden _so_ lovely!... the news from austria are very sad, and make one very anxious. the king of sweden is full of wild notions put into his head by the emperor napoleon, for whom he has the greatest admiration!... it is high time i should end my long letter. with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : lady augusta bruce, who bad been living with the duchess of kent at the time of her death, was appointed by the queen to be her resident bedchamber woman.] [pageheading: visit to ireland] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ vice-regal lodge, phoenix park, _ th august _. my beloved uncle,--_not_ to miss your messenger i write a few hurried lines to thank you for your two dear letters of the th and the nd, the last of which i received yesterday morning here.... would to god that affairs in hungary took a favourable turn--_mais j'en ai bien peur_. we had a very good passage on wednesday night, since which it has blown very hard. we left osborne on wednesday morning ( st) at quarter to nine, and anchored in kingstown bay at half-past eleven that night. the next day ( nd) we landed at eleven and came here, and it rained the whole day. on saturday we all went over to the camp, where there was a field-day. it is a fine _emplacement_ with beautiful turf. we had two cooling showers. bertie marched past with his company, and did not look at all so very small. yesterday was again a very bad day. i have felt weak and very nervous, and so low at times; i think _so_ much of dearest mamma, and miss her love and interest and solicitude _dreadfully_; i feel as if we were no longer cared for, and miss writing to her and telling her everything, dreadfully. at the review they played one of her marches, which entirely upset me. good lord carlisle[ ] is most kind and amiable, and so much beloved. we start for killarney at half-past twelve. this is the _dearest of days_, and one which fills my heart with love, gratitude, and emotion. god bless and protect for ever my beloved albert--the purest and best of human beings! we miss our four little ones and baby sadly, but have our four eldest (except poor vicky) with us. now good-bye, dearest uncle. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : lord carlisle was viceroy in both the administrations of lord palmerston; as lord morpeth he had been chief secretary in the melbourne government.] _queen victoria to earl canning._ balmoral, _ th september _. the queen has not heard of lord canning for some time, but is happy to hear indirectly that he is well, and that everything is going on well under his admirable administration. it is most gratifying to the queen to see how peaceful her indian dominions are, and considering the very alarming state of affairs during the years , ' , and even ' , it must be a source of unbounded satisfaction and pride to lord canning to witness this state of prosperity at the end of his government. as lord canning will now soon return to england, the queen is anxious to offer him the rangership of the park at blackheath, with the house which dear lord aberdeen had for some years, hoping that he might find it acceptable and agreeable from its vicinity to london.[ ] [footnote : lord aberdeen had died on the th of december .] [pageheading: the orleans princes] _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th october _. my beloved victoria,--receive my sincerest thanks for your dear letter of the th, which arrived very exactly. i am so happy to see all the good which your stay in the highlands has done you, and i am sure it will be _lasting_, though windsor must have the effect of reviving strongly some feelings.... when one looks back on those times, one must say that they were full of difficulties, and one ought to feel very grateful that such a happy present has grown out of them. i regret much paris and robert[ ] having joined the federal army, mixing in a civil war!! the object is to show courage, to be able to say: "_ils se sont beaucoup distingués_." they have a chance of being shot for abraham lincoln and the most rank radicalism. i don't think that step will please in france, where radicalism is at discount fortunately. the poor queen is very unhappy about it, but now nothing can be done, only one may wish to see them well out of it. poor queen! constantly new events painful to her assail her. i had rather a kind letter from the emperor napoleon about the state of mexico. i fear he will find his wishes to see there a stable government not much liked in england, though his plans are _not_ for any advantage france is to derive from it. to-morrow we go to liège to be in readiness for the following day. the king william iii.[ ] will arrive for dinner, stay the night, and go very early on sunday. he will be extremely well received here, his _procédé_ being duly appreciated. to be very civilly received in a country which one was heir to, is rather _un peu pénible_, and one feels a little awkward.... your devoted and only uncle, leopold r. [footnote : the comte de paris and the duc de chartres, sons of the duc d'orléans, eldest son of king louis philippe.] [footnote : the king of holland.] [pageheading: the court of hanover] _the duchess of manchester[ ] to queen victoria._ hanover [_undated. october _]. madam,--though your majesty has only very lately seen the princess royal, i cannot refrain from addressing your majesty, as i am sure your majesty will be pleased to hear how well her royal highness was looking during the man[oe]uvres on the rhine, and how much she seems to be beloved, not only by all those who know her, but also by those who have only seen and heard of her. the english could not help feeling proud of the way the princess royal was spoken of, and the high esteem she is held in. for one so young it is a most flattering position, and certainly as the princess's charm of manner and her kind unaffected words had in that short time won her the hearts of all the officers and strangers present, one was not astonished at the praise the prussians themselves bestow on her royal highness. the royal family is so large, and their opinions politically and socially sometimes so different, that it must have been very difficult indeed at first for the princess royal, and people therefore cannot praise enough the high principles, great discretion, sound judgment, and cleverness her royal highness has invariably displayed. your majesty would have been amused to hear general wrangel[ ] tell at the top of his voice how delighted the soldiers were to see the princess on horseback, and the interest she showed for them. what pleased them specially was to see her royal highness ride without a veil--such an odd thing in soldiers to remark. the king of prussia is looking very well, but the queen i thought very much altered. her majesty looks very pale and tired, and has such a painful drawn look about the mouth. how the queen will be able to go through all the fatigues of the coronation i do not know, as her majesty already complained of being tired, and knocked up by the man[oe]vres and dinners, and had to go to mentz for a few days to rest herself. their majesties' kindness was very great, and the duke told me of the extreme hospitality with which they were entertained. every one, high and low, were rivalling each other in civility and friendliness towards the strangers, especially the english, and one really felt quite ashamed of those wanton attacks the _times_ always makes on prussia, and which are read and copied into all the prussian papers. the last night all the officers dined together. general forey put himself into the president's place and insisted, to the exclusion of lord clyde, who was by far the senior officer, and who was expected to do it, on proposing the health of the king, the royal family, the army, and nation. not content with doing it in french, he drew out of his pocket a document written for him in german, for he did not know the language, and read it with the most extraordinary pronunciation. the english officers all admired the way the germans kept their countenance notwithstanding the absurdity of the exhibition. on the st they have had great doings here at hanover. i hear that to the astonishment of everybody the queen appeared at the _enthüllung_, where all other people were _en grande tenue_, in a little small round hat with a lilac feather. her maids of honour--she has only one now besides that english miss stewart--were ordered to wear hats to keep her majesty in countenance. i wonder if your majesty has read the speech the king has addressed to his people on the occasion of the _enthüllung_ and the crown prince's birthday. it cannot fail to excite the greatest pity that such things, however well meant, should be written. has your majesty also heard of the pamphlet that has been published here called _das welfe_--that name welfe is quite an _idée fixe_ of the king now, and he brings it in on every occasion, and this pamphlet is written throwing the whole idea into ridicule, and beginning with the last years of the late king's reign. the crown prince[ ] is very much liked, but, unfortunately, his new tutor will probably also leave very shortly--he has no authority over him, the prince still regretting m. de issendorf. besides, he is not allowed to exercise his judgment in the smallest way--the king going on the principle that a king only can educate a king. the reason the other tutor left, or was dismissed, was partly on account of his remonstrating against the religious instructions, which were carried so far that the prince had hardly any time left to learn other things. besides the prince, who dislikes the clergyman, had drawn a caricature, to which the man very much gives himself, and the king thought m. de issendorf had known of it, which turned out not to be the case.... i have the honour to remain, your majesty's most obedient and devoted servant and subject, louise manchester. [footnote : louise frederica augusta, wife of the seventh duke of manchester, and mistress of the robes. she was daughter of the count von alten of hanover, and is now dowager duchess of devonshire.] [footnote : the queen had met general von wrangel at babelsberg in august . "he is seventy-six," she wrote, "and a great character." he had commanded a division in the danish war of , and it had fallen to him in the same year, as commandant of the troops, to dissolve the berlin assembly by force.] [footnote : prince ernest augustus, born ; the present duke of cumberland.] [pageheading: coronation of king of prussia] [pageheading: a brilliant ceremony] [pageheading: distinguished guests] _the crown princess of prussia to queen victoria._ kÖnisberg, _ th october _. my beloved mamma,--last night i could not write to you as i would have wished, because i felt so knocked up that i went to bed. i have got such a very bad cold on my chest, with a cough that leaves me no rest, and of course cannot take care of myself, and am obliged to stand and sit in every sort of draught with a low gown and without a cloak, so it is no wonder to have caught cold. i have not had a cough since i don't know when. i should like to be able to describe yesterday's ceremony to you, but i cannot find words to tell you how fine and how touching it was; it really was a magnificent sight! the king looked so very handsome and so noble with the crown on; it seemed to suit him so exactly. the queen, too, looked beautiful, and did all she had to do with perfect grace, and looked so _vornehm_; i assure you the whole must have made a great impression on everybody present, and all those to whom i have talked on the subject quite share my feeling. the moment when the king put the crown on the queen's head was very touching, i think there was hardly a dry eye in the church. the _schlosshof_ was the finest, i thought--five bands playing "god save the queen," banners waving in all directions, cheers so loud that they quite drowned the sound of the music, and the procession moving slowly on, the sky without a cloud; and all the uniforms, and the ladies' diamonds glittering in the bright sunlight. i shall never forget it all, it was so very fine! dearest fritz's birthday being chosen for the day made me very happy; he was in a great state of emotion and excitement, as you can imagine, as we all were. mr thomas[ ] was in the chapel. i hope he will have been able to take down some useful memoranda. the grand duke of weimar,[ ] the king and ourselves, have ordered drawings of him. the _coup d'[oe]il_ was really beautiful; the chapel is in itself lovely, with a great deal of gold about it, and all hung with red velvet and gold--the carpet, altar, thrones and canopies the same. the knights of the black eagle with red velvet cloaks, the queen's four young ladies all alike in white and gold, the two palastdamen in crimson velvet and gold, and the oberhofmeisterin in gold and white brocade with green velvet, marianne and addy in red and gold and red and silver; i, in gold with ermine and white satin, my ladies, one in blue velvet, the other in red velvet, and countess schulenberg, together with the two other oberhofmeisterin of the other princesses, in violet velvet and gold. all these colours together looked very beautiful, and the sun shone, or rather poured in at the high windows, and gave quite magic tinges. the music was very fine, the chorales were sung so loud and strong that it really quite moved one. the king was immensely cheered, wherever he appeared--also the queen, and even i. there were illuminations last night, but i did not go to see them, as i was too tired and felt so unwell. there are five degrees of cold (réaumur), and one is exposed to draughts every minute. sixteen hundred people dined in the schloss last night! the king and queen were most kind to me yesterday; the king gave me a charming little locket for his hair, and only think--what will sound most extraordinary, absurd, and incredible to your ears--made me second _chef_ of the nd regiment of hussars! i laughed so much, because really i thought it was a joke--it seemed so strange for ladies; but the regiments like particularly having ladies for their _chefs!_ the queen and the queen dowager have regiments, but i believe i am the first princess on whom such an honour is conferred. the archduke addressed the king yesterday, in the name of all the foreign princes present, in a very pretty speech. it is such a pleasure to see good philip here, and the two portuguese cousins. juan[ ] is very nice, but he does not talk much; he has a very fine, tall figure, and is nice-looking. i should think he must be like his father. prince hohenzollern [ ] is become royal highness, and the title is to descend to his eldest son. half europe is here, and one sees the funniest combinations in the world. it is like a happy family shut up in a cage! the italian ambassador sat near cardinal geisel, and the french one opposite the archduke. the grand duke nicolas is here--he is so nice--also the crown prince of würtemberg,[ ] crown prince of saxony,[ ] prince luitpold of bavaria,[ ] prince charles of hesse[ ] (who nearly dies of fright and shyness amongst so many people), and heinrich; prince elimar of oldenburg,[ ] prince frederic of the netherlands,[ ] and the grand duke and duchess of weimar, who wish to be most particularly remembered to you and papa. the king and queen are most kind to lord clarendon, and make a marked difference between their marked cordiality to him and the stiff etiquette with which the other ambassadors are received. i think he is pleased with what he sees. the king has given the queen the order of the black eagle in diamonds. i write all these details, as you wish them, at the risk of their not interesting you, besides my being, as you know, a very bad hand at descriptions. i shall make a point of your having newspapers. i am unable to appear at the _cour_ this morning, as my cough is too violent: i hope to be able to be at the concert this evening, but i own it seems very doubtful. the state dinner looked very well; we were waited on by our _kammerherren_ and pages--the king being waited on by the _oberhofchargen_--and our ladies stood behind our chairs. after the first two dishes are round, the king asks to drink, and that is the signal for the ladies and gentlemen to leave the room and go to dinner, while the pages of honour continue to serve the whole dinner really wonderfully well, poor boys, considering it is no easy task. to-morrow we leave königsberg for dantzic--we have not had one day's bad weather here, nothing but sunshine and a bright blue sky. i was so glad that heaven smiled upon us yesterday, it would have been so sad if it had poured; it looked a little threatening early in the morning and a few drops fell, but it cleared completely before nine o'clock. fritz would thank you for your dear letters himself, but he is at the university, where they have elected him _rector magnificus_, and where he has to make a speech. we have all got our servants and carriages and horses here _every_ day-- footmen in livery, together with other servants in livery, make . all the standards and colours of the whole army are here, and all the colonels. altogether, you cannot imagine what a crush and what a scramble there is on every occasion; there was a man crushed to death in the crowd the other day, which is quite dreadful. i must say good-bye now, and send this scrawl by a messenger, whom lord clarendon means to expedite. ever your most dutiful and affectionate daughter, victoria. [footnote : george housman thomas, artist ( - ). the picture he produced on this occasion was entitled, _homage of the princess royal at the coronation of the king of prussia_.] [footnote : charles alexander, - , grandfather of the present grand duke.] [footnote : prince john, brother of king pedro, was making a tour with his elder brother, louis, the duc d'oporto.] [footnote : prince charles anthony of hohenzollern was the father of the young queen stéphanie of portugal, who had died in .] [footnote : prince charles frederick, - .] [footnote : prince albert, who became king in .] [footnote : brother of king maximilian ii.] [footnote : son of the elector frederick william i.] [footnote : brother of the reigning grand duke.] [footnote : uncle of the king of holland.] [pageheading: the princess royal] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ kÖnigsberg, _ th october _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly hopes that your majesty will not be displeased at his not having written sooner, but every moment has been occupied by _fêtes_ and ceremonies here, and the visits to royal personages, who are in great numbers, and lord clarendon also wished to delay sending off the messenger until the coronation was over. that most interesting and imposing ceremony took place yesterday, and with the most complete and unalloyed success; everything was conducted with the most perfect order; the service not too long, the vocal music enchanting, but _the_ great feature of the ceremony was the manner in which the princess royal did homage to the king. lord clarendon is at a loss for words to describe to your majesty the exquisite grace and the intense emotion with which her royal highness gave effect to her feelings on the occasion. many an older as well as younger man than lord clarendon, who had not his interest in the princess royal, were quite as unable as himself to repress their emotion at that which was so touching, because so unaffected and sincere.... if his majesty had the mind, the judgment, and the foresight of the princess royal, there would be nothing to fear, and the example and influence of prussia would soon be marvellously developed. lord clarendon has had the honour to hold a very long conversation with her royal highness, and has been more than ever astonished at the _statesmanlike_ and comprehensive views which she takes of the policy of prussia, both internal and foreign, and of the _duties_ of a constitutional king. lord clarendon is not at all astonished, but very much pleased, to find how appreciated and beloved her royal highness is by all classes. every member of the royal family has spoken of her to lord clarendon in terms of admiration, and through various channels he has had opportunities of learning how strong the feeling of educated and enlightened people is towards her royal highness. all persons say most truly that any one who saw her royal highness yesterday can never forget her. lord clarendon is sorry to say that the princess royal has a feverish cold to-day--nothing at all serious--and as her royal highness stayed in bed this afternoon, did not attend the great concert at the palace this evening, and, as lord clarendon hopes, will not go to dantzic to-morrow, her royal highness will probably be quite fit for the many fatiguing duties she will have to perform next week.... [pageheading: the emperor napoleon's aims] [pageheading: austria and prussia] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ berlin, _ th october _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that yesterday he had the honour of being sent for by the queen, with whom he had a long and interesting conversation.... the queen expressed her deep regret at the tone of the english newspapers, but admitted that the german press repaid the english insults with large interest. her majesty said, however, that she and the king, and all sensible men with whom their majesties hold communication, were determined to disregard the attacks, and by every possible means to draw nearer to england. lord clarendon took the opportunity of warning the queen respecting the emperor and his _idée fixe_, that his dynasty could only be secured by the territorial aggrandisement of france. lord clarendon expressed his conviction that if the king had resembled m. de cavour, some strong proposals would already have been made to them, but that the emperor's plans had been foiled by the honourable character of the king. there ought, nevertheless, to be no delusion here, but on the contrary, a careful avoidance of the traps which cajolery and flattery were setting for prussia, because at any moment the emperor might think it necessary for his own purposes in france to seize upon the left bank of the rhine, and that all classes in france, no matter to what party belonging, would be delighted at his so doing, and his popularity and power in france would be enormously increased by it. the queen agreed, but was under the notion, which lord clarendon was able effectually to dispel, that the dilapidated state of french finances would prevent the emperor from undertaking a war upon a large scale. lord clarendon thinks that he strengthened the queen's opinion respecting "eventualities" and the necessity of making preparations and evoking a national spirit against foreign aggression, such as that recently manifested in england, and which had done so much in favour of peace as far as we ourselves were concerned. her majesty, however, said that prussian policy towards germany opened so large a chapter that she wished to reserve the discussion of it for our next conversation. lord clarendon fears that count bernstorff is disposed to think that austria's difficulty is prussia's opportunity, and to be exigent as to the concessions upon which a better understanding between the two countries must be based. lord clarendon was confidentially informed yesterday that a cabinet had just been held for the first time since count bernstorff became a member of it, and that with respect to internal affairs he had greatly alarmed and annoyed some of his colleagues by his retrograde opinions. lord clarendon had the honour of dining with the crown prince and princess last night. the dinner was perfect, and everything conducted in the most admirable manner; there was afterwards a ball at "the queen's" which was really a splendid fête. the festivities and the visitings are so uninterrupted that everybody is unwell and tired. the duc de magenta's grand fête takes place on the th. the austrian minister gives a ball to-morrow (_sunday_), which day has unfortunately been fixed by the king, to the annoyance of all the english; but lord clarendon has determined that the embassy shall attend, otherwise the king might consider that we wished to give him a public lesson upon the observance of the sabbath. lord clarendon trusts that your majesty will approve the decision. lord granville's visit appears to be highly appreciated by the court. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ balmoral, _ st october _. my dearest uncle,--you will excuse a long letter as this is our last day, alas! many, many thanks for your dear letters of the th and th, which i received yesterday. i am glad to see that my account of our mountain expedition amused you, and that you remember all so well. if it could amuse you later, i would send you my _reisebeschreibung_ to read. i will have it copied and send it you later. we have had a most beautiful week, which we have thoroughly enjoyed--i going out every day about twelve or half-past, taking luncheon with us, carried in a basket on the back of a highlander, and served by an _invaluable_ highland servant i have, who is _my factotum here_, and takes the most wonderful care of me, combining the offices of groom, footman, page, and _maid_, i might almost say, as he is so handy about cloaks and shawls, etc. he always leads my pony, and always attends me out of doors, and _such_ a good, handy, _faithful_, attached servant i have nowhere; it is quite a sorrow for me to leave him behind. now, with albert's affectionate love, ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: the _times_ and prussia] _queen victoria to viscount palmerston._ windsor castle, _ th october _. the queen has long seen with deep regret the persevering efforts made by the _times_, which leads the rest of our press, in attacking, vilifying, and abusing everything german, and particularly everything prussian. that journal had since years shown the same bias, but it is since the macdonald affair of last year,[ ] that it has assumed that tone of virulence, which could not fail to produce the deepest indignation amongst the people of germany, and by degrees estrange the feelings of the people of this country from germany. lord palmerston, probably not reading any german newspaper, nor having any personal intercourse with that country, can hardly be aware to what extent the mischief has already gone, though he will agree with the queen that national hatred between these two peoples is a real political calamity for both. the queen had often intended to write to lord palmerston on the subject, and to ask him whether he would not be acting in the spirit of public duty if he endeavoured, as far at least as might be in his power, to point out to the managers of the _times_ (which derives some of its power from the belief abroad that it represents more or less the feelings of the government) how great the injury is which it inflicts upon the best interests of this country. she has, however, refrained from doing so, trusting in the chance of a change in tone, and feeling that lord palmerston might not like to enter into discussion with the editors of the _times_.... the queen believes that lord palmerston is the only person who could exercise any influence over mr delane, and even if this should not be much, it will be important that that gentleman should know the mischief his writings are doing, and that the government sincerely deplore it. [footnote : at bonn, in september , captain macdonald, a railway passenger, had been ejected from his seat in the train by the railway authorities, and committed to prison. the incident became the subject of considerable diplomatic correspondence, as well as of some fierce attacks on prussia in the _times_.] [pageheading: the english press] _mr delane to viscount palmerston._[ ] serjeant's inn, _ th october _. my dear lord,--i shall be very glad to give the prussians a respite from that most cruel of all inflictions--good advice. indeed, i would not have intruded anything so unwelcome during the splendid solemnities of the coronation had not the king uttered those surprising anachronisms upon divine right. pray observe, too, in extenuation of my offence that i sent a faithful chronicler to königsberg, who has described all the splendours in a proper and reverent spirit, and done what man can do to render such ceremonies intelligible, and the recital of them not too wearisome to those who believe in divine right as little as your lordship's very faithful servant, john t. delane. [footnote : enclosed in the following letter.] [pageheading: the _times_] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ windsor castle, _ th october _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that when he received a few days ago from lord russell the memorandum which your majesty intended for him, and which he returned to lord russell, he wrote to mr delane in accordance with your majesty's wishes, and he has this morning received the accompanying answer. viscount palmerston would, however, beg to submit that an erroneous notion prevails on the continent as to english newspapers. the newspapers on the continent are all more or less under a certain degree of control, and the most prominent among them are the organs of political parties, or of leading public men; and it is not unnatural that governments and parties on the continent should think that english newspapers are published under similar conditions. but in this country all thriving newspapers are commercial undertakings, and are conducted on commercial principles, and none others are able long to maintain an existence. attempts have often been made to establish newspapers to be directed by political men, and to be guided by the same considerations by which those men would govern their own conduct, but such papers have seldom succeeded. the peelite party tried some years ago such an experiment with the _morning chronicle_, but after spending a very large sum of money on the undertaking they were obliged to give it up. the _times_ is carried on as a large commercial enterprise, though, of course, with certain political tendencies and bias, but mainly with a view to profit upon the large capital employed. the actual price at which each copy of the newspaper is sold barely pays the expense of paper, printing, and establishment; it is indeed said that the price does not repay those expenses. the profit of the newspaper arises from the price paid for advertisements, and the greater the number of advertisements the greater the profit. but advertisements are sent by preference to the newspaper which has the greatest circulation; and that paper gets the widest circulation which is the most amusing, the most interesting, and the most instructive. a dull paper is soon left off. the proprietors and managers of the _times_ therefore go to great expense in sending correspondents to all parts of the world where interesting events are taking place, and they employ a great many able and clever men to write articles upon all subjects which from time to time engage public attention; and as mankind take more pleasure in reading criticism and fault-finding than praise, because it is soothing to individual vanity and conceit to fancy that the reader has become wiser than those about whom he reads, so the _times_, in order to maintain its circulation, criticises freely everybody and everything; and especially events and persons, and governments abroad, because such strictures are less likely to make enemies at home than violent attacks upon parties and persons in this country. foreign governments and parties ought therefore to look upon english newspapers in the true point of view, and not to be too sensitive as to attacks which those papers may contain. [pageheading: democracy in prussia] _the earl of clarendon to queen victoria._ berlin, _ th november _. lord clarendon presents his humble duty to your majesty, and humbly begs to say that as he leaves berlin to-morrow, the princess royal has most kindly just given him an audience of leave, although her royal highness was still suffering considerable pain in her ear, and was quite unfit for any exertion. her royal highness's countenance bears traces of the severe illness of the last few days, but lord clarendon trusts that the worst is now over, and that care alone is necessary for her complete recovery. her royal highness is still so weak that she was obliged to desist from writing, which she attempted this morning, and lord clarendon took the liberty of earnestly recommending that the journey to breslau, upon which her royal highness appeared to be bent, should be given up. lord clarendon intends to repeat the same advice to the queen, whom he is to see this evening, as there are to be four days of rejoicings at breslau, for the fatigue of which the crown princess must be utterly unfit. her royal highness is much alarmed at the state of things here, and lord clarendon thinks with great reason, for the king has quite made up his mind as to the course that he will pursue. he sees democracy and revolution in every symptom of opposition to his will. his ministers are mere clerks, who are quite content to register the king's decrees, and there is no person from whom his majesty seeks advice, or indeed who is capable or would have the moral courage to give it. the king will always religiously keep his word, and will never overturn the institutions he has sworn to maintain, but they are so distasteful to him, and so much at variance with his habit of thought and settled opinions as to the rights of the crown, that his majesty will never, if he can avoid it, accept the consequences of representative government, or allow it to be a reality. this is generally known, and among the middle classes is producing an uneasy and resentful feeling, but as far as lord clarendon is able to judge, there is no fear of revolution--the army is too strong, and the recollection of is too fresh to allow of acts of violence. lord clarendon had the honour of an audience of the king on sunday. his majesty was most friendly and kind, but evidently unwell and irritable. lord clarendon therefore thought that it would be neither prudent nor useful to say the many things that the queen had wished that the king should hear from lord clarendon. he touched upon the subject of constitutional government, and his majesty said: "i have sworn to maintain our institutions, and i declare to you, and i wish you to inform your government, that i will maintain them." lord clarendon proposes to remain friday at brussels, and hopes to have the honour of seeing the king. [pageheading: death of king of portugal] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my beloved uncle,--i hardly know _how_ to _write_, for my head reels and swims, and my heart is very sore![ ] _what_ an awful misfortune this is! how the hand of death seems bent on pursuing that poor, dear family! once so prosperous. poor ferdinand so proud of his children--of his five sons--now the eldest and _most_ distinguished, the head of the family, _gone_, and also another of fifteen, and the youngest _still_ ill! the two others at sea, and will land to-morrow in utter ignorance of everything, and poor, dear, good louis (whom i thought dreadfully low when we saw him and jean for an hour on friday) king! it is an almost incredible event! a terrible calamity for portugal, and a _real_ european loss! dear pedro was so good, so clever, so distinguished! he was so attached to my beloved albert, and the characters and tastes suited so well, and he had such confidence in albert! _all, all gone!_ _he_ is happy now, united again to dear stéphanie,[ ] whose loss he never recovered.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : king pedro of portugal died of typhoid fever on the th of november; his brother ferdinand had died on the th; and prince john, duke of beja, succumbed in the following december.] [footnote : the young queen stéphanie of portugal had died in .] [pageheading: the affair of the _trent_] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th november _. ... viscount palmerston met yesterday at dinner at baron brunnow's the grand duke constantine and the grand duchess, and they were overflowing with thankfulness for the kind and gracious reception they had met with at windsor castle. there was reason to suspect that an american federal steamer of war of eight guns, which had lately arrived at falmouth, and from thence at southampton, was intended to intercept the mail packet coming home with the west indian mail, in order to take out of her messrs mason and slidell, the two envoys from the southern confederacy, supposed to be coming in her.[ ] viscount palmerston had on monday a meeting at the treasury of the chancellor, doctor lushington, the three law officers,[ ] the duke of somerset, sir george grey, and mr hammond.[ ] the result of their deliberation was that, according to the law of nations, as laid down by lord stowell, and practised and enforced by england in the war with france, the northern union being a belligerent is entitled by its ships of war to stop and search any neutral merchantmen, and the west india packet is such; to search her if there is reasonable suspicion that she is carrying enemy's despatches, and if such are found on board to take her to a port of the belligerent, and there to proceed against her for condemnation. such being ruled to be the law, the only thing that could be done was to order the _phaeton_ frigate to drop down to yarmouth roads from portsmouth, and to watch the american steamer, and to see that she did not exercise this belligerent right within the three-mile limit of british jurisdiction, and this was done. but viscount palmerston sent yesterday for mr adams to ask him about this matter, and to represent to him how unwise it would be to create irritation in this country merely for the sake of preventing the landing of mr slidell, whose presence here would have no more effect on the policy of your majesty with regard to america than the presence of the three other southern deputies who have been here for many months. mr adams assured viscount palmerston that the american steamer had orders not to meddle with any vessel under any foreign flag; that it came to intercept the _nashville_, the confederate ship in which it was thought the southern envoys might be coming; and not having met with her was going back to the american coast to watch some merchantmen supposed to be taking arms to the southern ports. viscount palmerston heard from a source likely to be well informed that at the interview between the emperor and the king of prussia at compiègne, the emperor, among other things, said to the king that there were three systems of alliance between which france and prussia might choose: an alliance of france with england, an alliance of prussia with england, an alliance of france with prussia. the first the emperor said now to a certain degree exists, but is precarious and not likely to last long, because england is too exacting; the second would not be useful to prussia, but might be dangerous, inasmuch as it would look like hostility to france, and england would not be likely to back prussia effectually if a rupture took place between prussia and france. the last was the system best for prussia, and was calculated to promote her interests; at all events, the emperor hoped that if at any time there should be a rupture between france and england, prussia would remain neutral. the king of prussia said he was not come to discuss matters of that kind with the emperor, but only to pay him a visit of compliment. your majesty will be able to compare this statement with the accounts your majesty may have received of what passed at that visit.... the chancellor[ ] told the cabinet as he was going away that he would soon have to shut up the court of chancery in consequence of having disposed of all the suits before it; and that in future the progress of a chancery suit will be the emblem of rapidity, and not as formerly synonymous with endless delay. [footnote : see _ante_, introductory note to chapter xxx.] [footnote : sir william atherton, attorney-general, sir roundell palmer, solicitor-general, and dr phillimore, counsel to the admiralty.] [footnote : permanent under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, afterwards lord hammond.] [footnote : lord westbury.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th november _. my beloved uncle,--... albert is a little rheumatic, which is a plague--but it is very difficult not to have something or other of this kind in this season, with these rapid changes of temperature; _unberufen, unberufen_, he is much better this winter than he was the preceding years.[ ] ... [footnote : the prince had been unwell, even before the receipt of the distressing news from portugal, and began to suffer from a somewhat continuous insomnia. on the nd of november, he drove to sandhurst to inspect the new buildings in progress there. the day was very wet, and, though he returned in the middle of the day to windsor, the exertion proved too severe for him; on the th he complained of rheumatic pains, and of prolonged sleeplessness.] [pageheading: redress demanded] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ downing street, _ th november _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and begs to state that the cabinet at its meeting this afternoon resumed the consideration of the forcible capture of the southern envoys from on board the _trent_ steamer upon which the law officers had yesterday given the opinion contained in the accompanying report. the law officers and doctor phillimore, counsel to the admiralty, were in attendance. the result was that it appeared to the cabinet that a gross outrage and violation of international law has been committed, and that your majesty should be advised to demand reparation and redress. the cabinet is to meet again to-morrow at two, by which time lord russell will have prepared an instruction to lord lyons for the consideration of the cabinet, and for submission afterwards to your majesty. the general outline and tenor which appeared to meet the opinions of the cabinet would be, that the washington government should be told that what has been done is a violation of international law, and of the rights of great britain, and that your majesty's government trust that the act will be disavowed and the prisoners set free and restored to british protection; and that lord lyons should be instructed that if this demand is refused he should retire from the united states. it is stated by mrs and miss slidell, who are now in london, that the northern officer who came on board the _trent_ said that they were acting on their own responsibility without instructions from washington; that very possibly their act might be disavowed and the prisoners set free on their arrival at washington. but it was known that the _san jacinto_, though come from the african station, had arrived from thence several weeks before, and had been at st thomas, and had there received communications from new york; and it is also said that general scott, who has recently arrived in france, has said to americans in paris that he has come not on an excursion of pleasure, but on diplomatic business; that the seizure of these envoys was discussed in cabinet at washington, he being present, and was deliberately determined upon and ordered; that the washington cabinet fully foresaw it might lead to war with england; and that he was commissioned to propose to france in that case to join the northern states in war against england, and to offer france in that case the restoration of the french province of canada. general scott will probably find himself much mistaken as to the success of his overtures; for the french government is more disposed towards the south than the north, and is probably thinking more about cotton than about canada.... [pageheading: an ultimatum] _earl russell to queen victoria._ foreign office, _ th november _. lord russell presents his humble duty to your majesty; mr gladstone has undertaken to explain to your majesty what has taken place at the cabinet to-day. lord russell proposes to frame a draft for to-morrow's cabinet of a despatch to lord lyons, directing him to ask for the release of messrs mason and slidell and their two companions, and an apology. in case these requirements should be refused, lord lyons should ask for his passports. the lord chancellor and the law officers of the crown are clear upon the law of the case. lord russell will be glad to have your majesty's opinion on the draft which will go to your majesty about four o'clock to-morrow, without loss of time, as the packet goes to-morrow evening.[ ] [footnote : the draft of the despatch to lord lyons reached windsor on the evening of the th, and, in spite of his weak and suffering state, the prince prepared the draft of the queen's letter early the following morning. the letter has been printed in _facsimile_ by sir theodore martin, who adds that it has a special value as "representing the last political memorandum written by the prince, while it was at the same time inferior to none of them, as will presently be seen, in the importance of its results. it shows, like most of his memorandums, by the corrections in the queen's hand, how the minds of both were continually brought to bear upon the subjects with which they dealt."] [pageheading: the prince's last letter] _queen victoria to earl russell._ windsor castle, _ st december _. _note in the queen's handwriting._ [this draft was the last the beloved prince ever wrote; he was very unwell at the time, and when he brought it in to the queen, he said: "i could hardly hold my pen." victoria r.] the queen returns these important drafts, which upon the whole she approves, but she cannot help feeling that the main draft, that for communication to the american government, is somewhat meagre. she should have liked to have seen the expression of a hope that the american captain did not act under instructions, or, if he did, that he misapprehended them--that the united states government must be fully aware that the british government could not allow its flag to be insulted, and the security of her mail communications to be placed to jeopardy, and her majesty's government are unwilling to believe that the united states government intended wantonly to put an insult upon this country, and to add to their many distressing complications by forcing a question of dispute upon us, and that we are therefore glad to believe that upon a full consideration of the circumstances, and of the undoubted breach of international law committed, they would spontaneously offer such redress as alone could satisfy this country, viz. the restoration of the unfortunate passengers and a suitable apology. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my dearest uncle,--i have many excuses to make for not writing yesterday, but i had a good deal to do, as my poor dear albert's rheumatism has turned out to be a regular influenza, which has pulled and lowered him very much. since monday he has been confined to his room. it affects his appetite and sleep, which is very disagreeable, and you know he is always _so_ depressed when anything is the matter with him. however, he is decidedly better to-day, and i hope in two or three days he will be quite himself again. it is extremely vexatious, as he was so particularly well till he caught these colds, which came upon worries of various kinds.... ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: illness of the prince] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my beloved uncle,--i am thankful to report decidedly better of my beloved albert. he has had much more sleep, and has taken much more nourishment since yesterday evening. altogether, this nasty, feverish sort of influenza and deranged stomach is _on_ the mend, but it will be slow and tedious, and though there has _not_ been one alarming symptom, there has been such restlessness, such sleeplessness, and such (till to-day) _total_ refusal of all food, that it made one _very, very_ anxious, and i can't describe the _anxiety_ i have gone through! i feel to-day a good deal shaken, for for four nights i got only two or three hours' sleep. we have, however, every reason to hope the recovery, though it may be _somewhat_ tedious, will not be _very_ slow. you shall hear again to-morrow. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [pageheading: hope not abandoned] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my beloved uncle,--i enclose you clark's report, which i think you may like to hear. our beloved invalid goes on well--but it _must_ be tedious, and i need not tell you _what_ a trial it is to me. every day, however, is bringing us nearer the end of this tiresome illness, which is much what i had at ramsgate, only that i was much worse, and not at first well attended to. you shall hear daily. you will, i know, feel for me! the night was excellent; the first good one he had. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. the americans _may_ possibly get out of it. _the king of the belgians to queen victoria._ laeken, _ th december _. my beloved victoria,--_how i do feel for you from the bottom of my heart_; that you should have this totally unexpected tribulation of having dear albert unwell, when not long ago we rejoiced that he was bearing this time of the year so well. now we must be very patient, as an indisposition of this description at this time of the year is generally mending slowly. the great object must be to arrange all the little details exactly as the patient may wish them; that everything of that description may move very smoothly is highly beneficial. patients are very different in their likings; to the great horror of angelic louise, the moment i am ill i become almost invisible, disliking to see anybody. other people are fond of company, and wish to be surrounded. the medical advisors are, thank god! excellent, and clark knows albert so well. albert will wish you not to interrupt your usual airings; you want air, and to be deprived of it would do you harm. the temperature here at least has been extremely mild--this ought to be favourable. i trust that every day will now show some small improvement, and it will be very kind of you to let me frequently know how dear albert is going on. believe me ever, my beloved victoria, your devoted uncle, leopold r. _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. dearest uncle,--i can report another good night, and _no_ loss of strength, and continued satisfactory symptoms. but more we dare _not_ expect for some days; _not_ losing ground is a _gain, now_, of _every_ day. it is very sad and trying for me, but i am well, and i think really _very_ courageous; for it is the first time that _i_ ever witnessed anything of this kind though _i_ suffered from the same at ramsgate, and was much worse. the trial in every way is so very trying, for i have lost my guide, my support, my all, _for a time_--as we can't ask or tell him anything. many thanks for your kind letter received yesterday. we have been and are reading von ense's book[ ] to albert; but it is _not_ worth much. he likes very much being read to as it soothes him. w. scott is also read to him. you shall hear again to-morrow, dearest uncle, and, please god! each day will be more cheering. ever your devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : the _memoirs_ of varnhagen von ense ( - ), who served for some years in the austrian and the russian armies, and was later in the prussian diplomatic service.] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my beloved uncle,--i can again report favourably of our _most_ precious invalid. he maintains his ground well--had another very good night--takes plenty of nourishment, and shows surprising strength. i am constantly in and out of his room, but since the _first four dreadful_ nights, _last_ week, _before_ they had declared it to be _gastric fever_--i do not sit up with him at night as i could be of no use; and there is nothing to cause alarm. i go out twice a day for about an hour. it is a very trying time, for a fever with its despondency, weakness, and occasional and _invariable_ wandering, is most painful to witness--but we have _never_ had _one unfavourable_ symptom; to-morrow, reckoning from the nd, when dear albert first fell ill--after going on a wet day to look at some buildings--having likewise been unusually depressed with worries of different kinds--is the _end_ of the _third week_; we _may_ hope for improvement _after_ that, but the doctors say they should _not_ be _at all disappointed if_ this did _not_ take place till the _end_ of the _fourth week_. i cannot sufficiently praise the skill, attention, and devotion of dr jenner,[ ] who is the _first fever_ doctor in europe, one may say--and good old clark is here every day; good brown is also _most_ useful.... we have got dr watson[ ] (who succeeded dr chambers[ ]) and sir h. holland[ ] has also been here. but i have kept clear of these two. albert sleeps a good deal in the day. he is moved every day into the next room on a sofa which is made up as a bed. he has only _kept_ his bed entirely since monday. many, many thanks for your dear, kind letter of the th. i knew how _you_ would _feel_ for and think of me. i am very wonderfully supported, and, excepting on three occasions, have borne up very well. i am sure clark will tell you so. ever your most devoted niece, victoria r. [footnote : dr (afterwards sir) william jenner, k.c.b. ( - ), was at this time physician-extraordinary to the queen.] [footnote : afterwards sir thomas watson ( - ), f.r.s.] [footnote : dr. william frederick chambers ( - ) was well known as a consulting physician.] [footnote : sir henry holland ( - ) was physician-in-ordinary to the queen and the prince consort.] _general grey to sir charles wood._ windsor castle, _ th december _. my dear wood,--the queen desires me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and to say that she quite approves of the purport of your despatch to the governor-general, understanding it to be, not that there is to be any reduction of the artillery force which it had been determined to leave permanent in india as the proper establishment for that country, but simply that some batteries which it had been resolved to bring home, at all events, are to return somewhat sooner than had been intended, etc., etc., etc., grey. [pageheading: death of the prince] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th december _. my _own_ dearest, kindest _father_,--for as such have i _ever_ loved you! the poor fatherless baby of eight months is now the utterly broken-hearted and crushed widow of forty-two! my _life_ as a _happy_ one is _ended!_ the world is gone for _me!_ if i _must live_ on (and i will do nothing to make me worse than i am), it is henceforth for our poor fatherless children--for my unhappy country, which has lost _all_ in losing him--and in _only_ doing what i know and _feel_ he would wish, for he _is_ near me--his spirit will guide and inspire me! but oh! to be cut off in the prime of life--to see our pure, happy, quiet, domestic life, which _alone_ enabled me to bear my _much_ disliked position, cut off at forty-two--when i _had_ hoped with such instinctive certainty that god never _would_ part us, and would let us grow old together (though _he_ always talked of the shortness of life)--is _too awful_, too cruel! and yet it _must_ be for _his_ good, his happiness! his purity was too great, his aspiration _too high_ for this poor, _miserable_ world! his great soul is _now only_ enjoying _that_ for which it _was_ worthy! and i will _not_ envy him--only pray that _mine_ may be perfected by it and fit to be with him eternally, for which blessed moment i earnestly long. dearest, dearest uncle, _how_ kind of you to come! it will be an unspeakable _comfort_, and you _can do_ much to tell people to do what they ought to do. as for my _own good, personal_ servants--poor phipps in particular--nothing can be more devoted, heartbroken as they are, and anxious only to live as _he_ wished! good alice has been and is wonderful.[ ] the th will suit me perfectly. ever your devoted, wretched child, victoria r. [footnote : by a singular coincidence, the princess was to pass away on the anniversary of the prince's death. she died on the th of december .] [pageheading: death of lady canning] _sir charles wood to queen victoria._ _ nd december ._ sir charles wood, with his humble duty, begs to enclose to your majesty two letters from india, one giving an account of lord canning's investing the indian chiefs with the star of india; and the other an account of poor lady canning's illness and death, which, even at this sad moment, may not be without interest for your majesty. sir charles wood hopes that he may be forgiven if, when having to address your majesty, he ventures to lay before your majesty the expression of his heartfelt sympathy in the sorrow under which your majesty is now suffering, and his deep sense of the irreparable calamity which has befallen your majesty and the country. though it cannot be any consolation, it must be gratifying to your majesty to learn the deep and universal feeling of regret and sorrow which prevails amongst all classes of your majesty's subjects, and in none so strongly as in those who have had the most opportunity of appreciating the inestimable value of those services, of which by this awful dispensation of providence the country has been deprived. [pageheading: death of lady canning] _earl canning to queen victoria._ barrackpore, _ nd november _.[ ] lord canning presents his humble duty to your majesty. your majesty will have heard by the last mail of the heavy blow which has fallen upon lord canning. the kindness of your majesty to lady canning has been so invariable and so great that he feels it to be right that your majesty should receive a sure account of her last illness with as little delay as possible. the funeral is over. it took place quite privately at sunrise on the th. there is no burial-place for the governor-general or his family, and the cemeteries at calcutta are odious in many ways: lord canning has therefore set a portion of the garden at barrackpore (fifteen miles from calcutta) apart for the purpose. it is a beautiful spot--looking upon that reach of the grand river which she was so fond of drawing--shaded from the glare of the sun by high trees--and amongst the bright shrubs and flowers in which she had so much pleasure. your majesty will be glad, but not surprised, to know of the deep respect which has been paid to her memory, not only by the familiar members of the household and intimate friends, who refused to let any hired hands perform the last offices, but by the civil and military bodies, and by the community at large. the coffin was conveyed to barrackpore by the artillery, and was borne through the garden by english soldiers. lord canning feels sure that your majesty will not consider these details as an intrusion. he feels sure of your majesty's kind sympathy. she loved your majesty dearly, and lord canning is certain that he is doing what would have been her wish in thus venturing to write to your majesty. in the last connected conversation which he had with her, just before the illness became really threatening, she said that she must write again to the queen, "for i don't want her to think that it was out of laziness that i was not at allahabad." the fact is, that she had always intended to be present at the investiture, and had made all her arrangements to go from darjeeling to allahabad for the purpose; but lord canning, hearing of the bad state of the roads, owing to the heavy and unseasonable rains, and knowing how fatiguing an additional journey of nearly miles would be, had entreated her to abandon the intention, and to stay longer in the hills, and then go straight to calcutta. whether all might have gone differently if the first plan had been held to, god alone knows. his will has been done. [footnote : received on the nd of december, or thereabouts.] [pageheading: a noble resolve] _queen victoria to the king of the belgians._ osborne, _ th december _. my beloved uncle,--though, please god! i am to see you so soon, i must write these few lines to prepare you for the trying, sad existence you will find it with your poor forlorn, desolate child--who drags on a weary, pleasureless existence! i am also anxious to repeat _one_ thing, and _that one_ is _my firm_ resolve, my _irrevocable decision_, viz. that _his_ wishes--_his_ plans--about everything, _his_ views about _every_ thing are to be _my law!_ and _no human power_ will make me swerve from _what he_ decided and wished--and i look to _you_ to _support_ and _help_ me in this. i apply this particularly as regards our children--bertie, etc.--for whose future he had traced everything _so_ carefully. i am _also determined_ that _no one_ person, may _he_ be ever so good, ever so devoted among my servants--is to lead or guide or dictate _to me_. i know _how he_ would disapprove it. and i live _on_ with him, for him; in fact _i_ am only _outwardly_ separated from him, and _only_ for _a time_. _no one_ can tell you more of my feelings, and can put you more in possession of many touching facts than our excellent dr jenner, who has been and is my great comfort, and whom i would _entreat_ you to _see and hear_ before you see _any one else_. pray do this, for _i fear much_ others trying to see you first and say things and wish for things which i _should not_ consent to. though miserably weak and utterly shattered, my spirit rises when i think _any_ wish or plan of his is to be touched or changed, or i am to be _made to do_ anything. i know you will help me in my utter darkness. it is but for a short time, and _then_ i go--_never, never_ to part! oh! that blessed, blessed thought! he seems so _near_ to _me_, so _quite my own_ now, my precious darling! god bless and preserve you. ever your wretched but devoted child, victoria r. what a xmas! i won't think of it. [pageheading: business still transacted] _viscount palmerston to queen victoria._ piccadilly, _ th december _. viscount palmerston presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has read with deep emotion your majesty's letter of the th, every word of which went straight to the heart. viscount palmerston would, however, humbly express a hope that the intensity of your majesty's grief may not lead your majesty to neglect your health, the preservation of which is so important for the welfare of your majesty's children, and for that of your majesty's devotedly attached and affectionate subjects; and which is so essentially necessary to enable your majesty to perform those duties which it will be the object of your majesty's life to fulfil. lord granville has communicated to viscount palmerston your majesty's wish that mr dilke[ ] should be made a baronet, and that mr bowring[ ] should be made a companion of the bath, and both of these things will be done accordingly. but there are three other persons whose names viscount palmerston has for some time wished to submit to your majesty for the dignity of baronet, and if your majesty should be graciously pleased to approve of them, the list would stand as follows: mr dilke. mr william brown,[ ] of liverpool, a very wealthy and distinguished merchant, who lately made a magnificent present of a public library to his fellow-citizens. mr thomas davies lloyd, a rich and highly respectable gentleman of the county of carnarvon. mr rich, to whom the government is under great obligation, for having of his own accord and without any condition vacated last year his seat for richmond in yorkshire, and having thus enabled the government to obtain the valuable services of mr roundell palmer as your majesty's solicitor-general. viscount palmerston has put into this box some private letters which lord russell thinks your majesty might perhaps like to look at. [footnote : sir charles wentworth dilke was on the executive committee of the exhibition of , and on the royal commission for the exhibition of . he died in .] [footnote : mr edgar bowring's companionship was conferred on him for services in connection with the earlier exhibition. he was afterwards m.p. for exeter, - .] [footnote : mr brown became a baronet in .] [pageheading: comfort and hope] _queen victoria to earl canning._ osborne, _ th january _. lord canning little thought when he wrote his kind and touching letter of the nd november, that it would only reach the queen when _she_ was _smitten_ and _bowed_ down to the earth by an event similar to the one which he describes--and, strange to say, by a disease greatly analogous to the one which took from him _all_ that he loved best. in the case of her adored, precious, perfect, and great husband, her dear lord and master, to whom this nation owed more than it ever can truly know, however, the fever went on most favourably till the day previous to the awful calamity, and then it was congestion of the lungs and want of strength of circulation (the beloved prince had always a weak and feeble pulse), which at the critical moment, indeed only two hours before god took him, caused this awful result. to lose one's partner in life is, as lord canning knows, like losing _half_ of one's _body_ and _soul_, torn forcibly away--and dear lady canning was such a dear, worthy, devoted wife! but to the queen--to a poor helpless woman--it is not that only--it is the stay, support and comfort which is lost! to the queen it is like _death_ in life! great and small--_nothing_ was done without his loving advice and help--and she feels _alone_ in the wide world, with many helpless children (except the princess royal) to look to her--and the whole nation to look to her--_now_ when she can barely struggle with her wretched existence! her misery--her utter despair--she _cannot_ describe! her _only_ support--the _only_ ray of comfort she gets for _a moment_, is in the _firm conviction_ and certainty of his nearness, his undying love, and of their eternal reunion! only she prays always, and pines for the latter with an anxiety she cannot describe. like dear lady canning, the queen's darling is to rest in a garden--at frogmore, in a mausoleum the queen is going to build for him and herself. though ill, the queen was able to tell her precious angel of lord canning's bereavement, and he was deeply grieved, recurring to it several times, and saying, "what a loss! she was such a distinguished person!" may god comfort and support lord canning, and may he think in his sorrow of his widowed and broken-hearted sovereign--bowed to the earth with the greatest of human sufferings and misfortunes! she lived but _for_ her husband! the sympathy of the many thousands of her subjects, but above all their sorrow and their admiration for him, are soothing to her bleeding, pierced heart! the queen's precious husband, though wandering occasionally, was conscious till nearly the last, and knew her and kissed her an hour before his pure spirit fled to its worthy and fit eternal home! index _(the page references in italics refer to introductory notes or footnotes.)_ abd-el-kader, i, _ _, _ _; ii. _ _, abercorn, marchioness of, i. abercrombie, dr, physician, i. abercromby, james, _see_ dunfermline, lord abercromby, sir ralph, iii. aberdeen, earl of, foreign secretary, i. , ; political power and views, i. _ _, _ _; palmerston's opinion of, i. ; emperor nicholas, ii. _ _; queen's appreciation of, ii. , , ; iii. , , ; corn laws, ii. ; takes leave of the queen, ii. ; ii. , , , , , ; failure to form a government, ii. , , ; ii. _ ,_ ; forms a government, ii. - ; lord derby's attack on, ii. _ _; queen victoria's approval of, ii. ; eastern question, ii. _ _, - , - , , _ _- ; india bill, ii. ; as to giving up office, ii. ; on lord palmerston's resignation, ii. , ; crimea, iii. _ _, ; anomalous position of prince consort, iii. , ; orleans family, iii. ; declaration of war with russia, iii. , _ _, _ _; unsatisfactory speech, iii, ; lord john russell's possible resignation, iii. - ; queen's confidence in, iii. ; knight of the garter, iii. , ; lord john russell's resignation, iii. , ; government's resignation on result of roebuck's motion, iii. - ; lord john russell, iii. _ _; government of , iii. - ; iii. ; on oudh proclamation, iii. ; and w. e. gladstone, iii. _ _; death, iii. _ _ about, edmond, french writer, iii. accession, queen victoria's reminiscences of, i. achmet bey, i. adams, mr, iii. adélaïde, madame, king louis philippe's sister, death, ii. - ; will, ii. adelaide, queen (wife of william iv.), parentage and marriage, i. , ; character, i. ; interests in life, i. ; letter on queen's accession, i. ; on queen's coronation, i. ; protestant church at valetta, i. ; letters, i. , , ; visits a convent, i. ; letter, i. ; death, ii. adelaide, princess, of hohenlohe, question of marriage, ii. _ _, , adélaïde, queen marie, of sardinia, death, iii. _ _ adolphus, john, _history of england_, i. adrianople, treaty of, i. adriatic, reported demonstration in, ii. Æmilia, the, iii. _ _ afghanistan, dost mahommed dethroned, i. _ _; surrender, i. _ _; insurrection, i. _ _; disasters retrieved, proclamation, i. _ _; troubles, i. , ; fall of cabul, i. ; successful issue, i. ; medals, i. ; operations against afghans, ii. africa, south, the transvaal and orange free states, ii. _ _; iii. agriculture, motion on distress of, ii. -_ _; protection, ii. ; _see_ corn laws airey, sir richard, quartermaster-general, iii. _ _ ak mussid, iii. akbar khan (son of dost mahommed), i. _ _, _ _, aland islands, iii. alava, miguel ricardo di, spanish general, i. alba, duke of, ii. _ _ ---- duchess of, death, iii. _ _ albemarle, sixth earl of, master of the horse, i. , , , albert, archduke, ii. ---- edward, _see_ wales, prince of ---- prince, _see_ consort, prince albertine branch of house of saxe-coburg, history of, i. aldershot, review of crimean troops, iii. _ _ alexander, grand duke (afterwards czar alexander ii.), iii. _ _, ; crowned at moscow, iii. _ _; his character, iii. alexandria, i. alford, dean of canterbury, iii. alfred, prince, birth, ii. _ _; iii. ; visit to the cape, iii. , ; visit to ireland, iii. _ _; joins the _euryalus_, iii. _ _ algiers, i. _ _ ali, mehemet, pasha of egypt, i. _ _, , _ _, ; ultimatum, i. _ _, - ; resigns claim to syria, i. _ _ alibaud, i. alice, princess, birth and christening, i. , ; iii. ; birthday, iii. ; engagement to prince louis of hesse, iii. , , - ; prince consort's death, iii. allahabad, mutiny, iii. _ _ allen, mr, librarian, holland house, i. allt-na-giuthasach, shiel of, queen's visits to, ii. , alma, victory of, iii. _ _, _ ,_ , _ _ amritsar, ii. anarchists, ii. anglesey, marquess of, i. ; ii. annual summary of events, - , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , i. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , ii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _; , iii. _ _ anson, george, i. ; private secretary to prince albert, i. _ _, ; interviews with baron stockmar, i. , , ; interviews with lord melbourne, i. , , , , , , , , ; interviews with sir robert peel, i. , , , ; memoranda by, i. , , , , , ; illness, i. ; ii. , , ---- sir george, i. antonelli, cardinal, iii. antwerp, queen's visit to, ii. _ _; ii. apponyi, count, austrian ambassador, i. apprenticeship in jamaica, i. _ _ aquila, comte d', ii. _ _ arbuthnot, colonel, i. , ardenne, ii. argyll, eighth duke of, lord privy seal, ii. ; government of , iii. ; privy seal, iii. ; divorce bill, iii. ; lord privy seal, iii. ; abolition of paper duty, iii. argyll, duchess of, ii. "aristocratic," meaning of, i. army (_see_ militia), estimates i. ; civil government of, i. ; bravery of troops, ii. ; victory, ii. ; peninsular medals, ii. - ; officers' commissions, ii. ; in india, ii. ; prince consort, ii. ; military appointments, ii. ; national defences, ii. - ; queen on augmentation of, iii. ; embarkation for the crimea, iii. ; reserve to be sent out, iii. ; bomarsund, iii. _ _; battle of the alma, iii. ; indian contingents, iii. ; balaklava, iii. ; sebastopol, iii. , _ _; inkerman, iii. _ _; foreign enlistment bill, iii. _ _; fall of sebastopol, iii. _ _; privations of the army, iii. - ; new board, iii. ; laxity of discipline, iii. ; land transport, iii. ; retrenchments, iii. ; peace establishment, iii. ; review of crimean troops at aldershot, iii. _ _, , ; military education, iii. , ; indian mutiny, iii. _ _, , ; militia embodied, iii. ; queen's view on need of increasing, iii. , ; vote of thanks to, iii. _ _; question of control, iii. ; indivisibility of, iii. ; committee on military departments, iii. arnold, dr, ii. _arrow_, chinese dispute, iii. _ _, _ _ arthur, prince (afterwards duke of connaught), christening, ii. ; iii. ; birthday, iii. ; iii. ascot, queen's visit to the races, ii. ashburton, baron, i. , ashley, lord, afterwards earl of shaftesbury, i. ; labour bill, i. _ _; factory labour bill, ii. ; duchy of lancaster, iii. ; oudh proclamation, iii. _ _, _ _ asis, don francisco de, ii. _ _, aston, mr (diplomatic service), i. , , athens, revolution at, i. ; ii. _ _ atherton, sir william, attorney-general, iii. _ _ athole, duchess of, ii. attock, fort of, captured, ii. attwood, thomas, birmingham political union, i. , auchterarder, church case, i. _ _ auckland, baron (afterwards earl of), governor-general of india, i. _ _; policy in afghanistan, i. _ _, , , ; ii. , audley, baron, i. augusta, of cambridge, princess, afterwards grand duchess-dowager of mecklenburg-strelitz, i. , , ; ii. ; iii. ---- princess, of saxony, i. ---- princess, daughter of george iii., i. ; death, i. augustus, prince, of saxe-coburg, _see_ saxe-coburg augustus, prince ernest, afterwards duke of cumberland, iii. _ _ aulaire, ste., ambassador, i. , , aumale, duc d', i. , , ; ii. , ; gallantry, ii. -_ _, , ; visit to new lodge, iii. australasian colonies, self-government of, iii. _ _ australia, emigration to, i. _ _; wine from, ii. austria, empress elizabeth of, iii. ---- emperor of (francis joseph), ii. ; attempted assassination of, ii. _ _; king leopold's opinion of, ii. , ; queen's letter to, iii. , ; reply, iii. , ; proposed meeting with the queen, iii. , ---- and the porte, i. ; abdication of emperor, ii. _ _; pope declares war against, ii. _ _; ascendency in lombardy, ii. ; and italy, ii. ; war with the piedmontese, ii. _ _, _ _, , , ; and england, ii. , , , , , ; declines mediation, ii. ; ascendency in n. italy, ii. _ _; ii. , ; and prussia, ii. ; ii. , ; and eastern question, ii. - , , _ _; alliance with prussia, iii. _ _; and russia, iii. , ; proposed alliance with england, iii. _ _, , , ; men required, iii. ; negotiations broken off, iii. ; and the four points, iii. , , ; and france, iii. , ; and italy, iii. _ _; war with sardinia and defeat, iii. _ _; and the papal states, iii. ; proposed congress, iii. _ _- ; troops cross the ticino, iii. _ _; french victories, iii. _ _; conclusion and terms of peace, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _; italy, iii. ayrton, mr, iii. azeglio, count, premier of sardinia, ii. ; iii. baden, crisis at, ii. ---- princess mary of, i. bagot, sir charles, governor-general of canada, i. , baines, matthew talbot, chancellor of duchy of lancaster, iii. _ _, ; conspiracy bill, iii. , bala rao, indian mutiny, iii. _ _ balaklava, successes at, iii. _ _, ; hurricane and loss of life at, iii. ; iii. ballard, lieutenant, siege of silistria, iii. _ _ ballot, the, i. _ _; ii. balmoral castle, queen's description of, ii. , ; queen's first occupation of, iii. _ _ baltic, english, expedition to the, iii. , bandeira, sà da, i. _ _ bands, on sundays, iii. bank charter act, ii. _ _; infringement of, ii. _ _; suspension of, iii. _ _ barbès, armand, i. _ _ barclay & perkins' brewery, attack on general haynau, ii. _ _ barham, lady (afterwards countess of gainsborough), i. , ; ii. baring, f. (afterwards lord northbrook), chancellor of the exchequer, i. , , , ; ii. , , , , ; capture of lagos, ii. , ; board of works, ii. ; iii. ; government of , iii. ---- thomas, ii. ; indian mutiny debate, iii. ; india bill, iii. barkly, sir h., governor of victoria, iii. barnard, general, death at delhi, iii. barrackpore, funeral of lady canning, iii. barrot, odilon, i. ; ii. barrow, sir john, i. barry, sir charles, knighted, ii. bastide, m., ii. baudrand, general comte, i. bayley, rev. emilius, iii. bean, attempt on the queen's life, i. _ _, beas, river, ii. beatrice, princess (afterwards princess henry of battenberg), birth and christening, iii. beauclerk, lord amelius, i. beaufort, duke of, i. beauharnais, eugène de, duke of leuchtenberg, iii. beauvale, lord (afterwards second viscount melbourne), i. ; i. , , , ; ii. , beche, sir henry t. de la, geologist, i. bedford, seventh duke of, i. , ; ii. , , , ; opinion of lord palmerston, ii. , ; ii. ; iii. ; queen's appreciation of endsleigh, iii. begum, the ex-queen of oudh, iii. belgians, king of, _see_ leopold ---- queen of, _see_ louise belgium, dispute with holland, i. _ _, _ _, , _ _, , ; independence of, i. ; king leopold's views on, i. , ; and england, i. , ; ii. ; and germany, i. ; and emperor of russia, ii. ; abortive insurrection, ii. _ _; neutrality of, iii. belsham, william, _history of great britain_, i. bengal mutiny, iii. _ _ bentinck, lord george, attack on sir r. peel, ii. , ; ii. ; sudden death, ii. _ _ ---- major-general sir henry, k.c.b., wounded at inkerman, iii. _ _; interview with the queen, iii. , beresford, lord john george de la poer, archbishop of armagh, ii. _ _ ---- major, iii. ---- viscount, i. ; ii. berkeley, admiral, m.p., gloucester, iii. bernadotte, marshal, iii. bernard, dr, trial of, iii. _ _, _ _ bessarabia, cession of, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _ bessborough, earl of, _see_ duncannon bethell, sir richard (afterwards lord westbury), attorney-general, divorce bill, iii. _ _; india bill, iii. _ _; lord chancellor, iii. beust, baron, minister in saxony, iii. , _ _, beverloo camp, i. beyens, baron, secretary of legation at madrid, ii. beyrout, bombardment of, i. ; iii. _ _ bickersteth, robert, afterwards bishop of ripon, iii. _ _, bilbao, battle at, i. birch, mr, formerly tutor to prince of wales, iii. birmingham, chartist riots, i. ; political condition, i. births, registration of, i. _ _ bishops, seats in house of lords, i. _ _; and dr hampden, ii. ; appointments of, iii. , black sea, russia's fleet, iii. ; neutralisation of, iii. _ _, _ _; england sends fleet to, iii. _ _ blagden, mr, i. blanc, louis, _organisation du travail_, ii. bloemfontein, ii. _ _ blomfield, c. j., _see_ london, bishop of bloomfield, baron, ii. ; minister at berlin, ii. ; iii. , boers, defeat of, ii. _ _, _ _ bois-le-comte, mons., french minister at madrid, i. bolgrad, iii. _ _ bomarsund, capture of, iii. _ _ bonaparte, _see_ napoleon bordeaux, duc de (afterwards comte de chambord), i. , , , , ; visit to london, i. , ; ii. , ; rumoured visit to england, iii. ; and the king of the belgians, iii. borthwick, peter, ii. _ _ bourquency, mons. de, iii. bouverie, mr, iii. bowring, edgar, c.b., iii. ---- sir john, british plenipotentiary, hong-kong, iii. _ _, _ _ bowyer, sir george, m.p., iii. brabant, duchess marie henriette de (afterwards queen of the belgians), iii. ---- dukes of, _see_ leopold bracebridge, mr and mrs, iii. braganza, duchess of, i. , breadalbane, marquess of, i ; lord chamberlain, ii. ; review at edinburgh, iii. ---- marchioness of, lady of the bedchamber, i. brescia, ii. bresson, count, ii. , , [ correct] ---- m., aids king louis philippe's escape, ii. bribery at elections, i. bridgewater, eighth earl of, treatises, i. _ _ bright, john, on war with russia, iii. _ _; appeal for ending the war, iii. _ _; loses his seat, iii. _ _; india bill, iii. _ _; oudh proclamation, iii. , _ _; reform bill, iii. ; proposed honour, iii. ; england and savoy, iii. _ _; privilege resolutions, iii. ; and palmerston, iii. brighton, i. british columbia, name given, iii. broadfoot, major, political agent, india, death, ii. broadstairs, queen's visit to, i. brock, mrs, queen's nurse, i. brocket hall, lord melbourne's house, i. ; queen's visit to, i. broglie, duc de, ex-minister of foreign affairs, i. ; ii. _ _ brougham, lord, i. _ _; on canadian difficulties, i. _ _, ; advice against dissolution, i. ; right of audience, i. ; as a protectionist, ii. brown, sir george, wounded at inkerman, iii. _ _, ---- sir william, baronet, iii. _ _ bruce, commodore, ii. ---- colonel, iii. ---- lady augusta, ii. ; iii. brunnow, m. de, russian minister, i. , ; ii. , , , , ; iii. , , brunswick, house of, history of, i. , brussels, russian minister to, ii. brydon, dr, i. _ _ buccleuch, duke of, i. ; ii. , - ---- duchess of, mistress of the robes, i. buchanan, mr, afterwards sir andrew, secretary of legation at st petersburg, ii. ---- mr (afterwards president), american minister to great britain, iii. , ; receives the prince of wales, iii. _ _, _ _ buckingham, second duke of, i. ; lord privy seal, i. ; i. ; ii. ---- palace, proposed alterations, ii. buckland, dr, irish commissioner, ii. buenos ayres, blockade by british fleet, ii. _ _ bull run, battle of, iii. _ _ buller, charles, i. _ _, bulwer, sir henry (afterwards lord dalling), minister at madrid, i. , , ; ii. , ; , ; recall, and queen's opinion of, ii. , ; at rome, ii. _ _; declines governorship of victoria, iii. , _ _ ---- lytton, sir edward (afterwards lord lytton), i. ; iii. ; motion of censure on lord john russell, iii. , , , , bunsen, chevalier, ii. , ; recall of, iii. buol, count, austrian prime minister, ii. , ; iii. , , _ _, _ , _ , , _ _, "bureaucratic," palmerston's definition of, i. burghersh, francis lord (afterwards earl of westmorland), a.d.c. to lord raglan, iii. burgoyne, sir john, ii. _ _ burnes, captain (afterwards sir alexander), mission to cabul, i. _ _; murdered, i. _ _ burnet, bishop, history of his own time, i. burney, miss (madame d'arblay), diary, i. , bury, lord, straits settlements, iii. bushey park, residence of the duke and duchess of clarence, i. bushire, capture of, iii. _ _ bussahir, iii. butler, captain, siege of silistria, iii. _ _ buxted, residence of lord liverpool, queen visits, i. buxton, charles, iii. bygrave, captain, i. byng, sir john, _see_ strafford, earl of ---- george, i. , byron, lady, i. ---- seventh lord, i. cabrals, the, ii. , cabul, i. _ _, _ _, ; fall of, i. , ; ii. cadiz, duke of, ii. cadogan, honoria, countess, died september , , i. _cagliari_, seizure of the, iii. _ _, _ _ cairns, sir hugh, solicitor-general, oudh proclamation debate, iii. _ _ camarilla, i. cambridge, first duke of, i. ; political views, i. , ; regent of hanover, i. ; marriage, i. , , , ; daughter's marriage, i. , , , , ; death, ii. _ _, cambridge, prince george of (afterwards second duke of cambridge), i. ; ireland, ii. ; earldom of tipperary, ii. - ; ireland, ii. ; ranger of the parks, ii. ; in paris, iii. ; interview with napoleon, iii. - ; writes from constantinople, iii. , ; illness and return from the crimea, iii. ; iii. ; council of war, iii. _ _, ; commander-in-chief, iii. , ; proposed marriage of princess mary, iii. , ; army control, iii. cambridge, duchess of, i. , , , ---- queen's visit to, i. , , campbell, mr, m.p. for weymouth, iii. ---- sir colin (afterwards lord clyde), queen's high opinion of, iii. , ; commander-in-chief, indian mutiny, relief of lucknow, iii. _ _, , , ; peerage, iii. _ _; iii. , ---- lord, bernard trial, iii. _ _; lord chancellor, iii. ; reports of divorce cases, iii. canada, friction in, i. _ _, , , _ _, ; lord durham, governor-general, i. , , , - ; resignation, i. ; union of, i. _ _; dispute with united states, i. _ _; ii. _ _; resignation of lord metcalfe, ii. ; government of, ii. ; clergy revenues bill, ii. _ _; nova scotia, iii. ; colonial governorships, iii. ; ottawa selected as capital, iii. _ _; british columbia, iii. ; united states claim to st juan, iii. ; prince of wales's visit to, iii. _ _, ; proposed increase in army and navy for, iii. candahar, i. canning, right hon. g., speech on queen's education, i. , ---- viscount (afterwards earl), ii. ; post office, ii. ; not in the cabinet, ii. ; government of , iii. ; post office, iii. ; governor-general of india, iii. , _ _, ; arrival in india, iii. ; indian mutiny, iii. _ _, - ; his clemency, iii. - ; oudh proclamation, iii. _ _, - , , ; viceroy, iii. _ _; earldom, iii. _ _; indian army question, iii. ; termination of mutiny, iii. ; indian titles, iii. ; queen's pleasure at progress in india, iii. ; k.g., iii. ; queen's high opinion of, iii. ; death of his wife, iii. ; touching letter from the queen, iii. , ---- viscountess, i. , ; iii. ; death, iii. ; queen's appreciation of, iii. , ---- sir stratford, _see_ stratford de redcliffe canrobert, marshal, commander of french army, iii. _ _, _ _; resignation, iii. _ _ canterbury, archbishop of (william howley), report as to queen's education, i. , ; announces to the queen william iv.'s death, i. , ; attends queen's first council, i. ; convocation address, i. ; (john bird sumner), bishopric of capetown, ii. ; on sunday bands, iii. _ _; (c. t. longley), iii. _ _; national prayer and humiliation iii. ---- viscount, iii. canton, england's occupation of, iii. _ _, capetown, bishopric of, ii. caradoc, sir john hobart, _see_ howden, lord carbonari society, iii. _ _ cardigan, earl of, i. , , , ; iii. ; censure on, iii. _ _ cardwell, mr (afterwards viscount), ii. ; secretary at war, ii. ; president of board of trade, ii. ; oudh proclamation, iii. ; vote of censure withdrawn, iii. ; chief secretary for ireland, iii. carlisle, sixth earl of, i. ---- seventh earl (sometime lord morpeth), chief secretary for ireland, i. , , ; ii. , ; chief commissioner of woods and forests, ii. , , , ; iii. carlists, i. , ; ii. carlos, don, i. _ _, _ _, ; abdication, ii. _ _ carlton house, residence of george iv., queen's visit to, i. carmarthen riots, i. carolina, south, iii. _ _ cartwright, sir t., i. cashmere, ii. castlerosse, lord, iii. cathcart, earl, governor-general of canada, ii. _ _ cathcart, general sir george, kaffir war, ii. _ _; death at inkerman, iii. ; iii. cavaignac, general, french minister for war, ii. _ _, , _ _, , cavour, count, sardinian premier, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _, , , _ _, ; resignation, iii. _ _; papal states, iii. ; death, iii. _ _, cawdor, earl, i. cawnpore, mutiny, iii. _ _, ; massacre of the garrison, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _ cécile, admiral, ii. chalmers, dr, i. _ _, _ _ chambers, dr william frederick, consulting physician, iii. chambord, comte de, _see_ bordeaux, duc de chandos, lord (afterwards duke), secretary to the treasury, ii. chantrey, sir francis, sculptor, i. , , chapman, dr, iii. chapoo, captured by sir hugh gough, i. charier, mdlle., ii. charlemont, viscount, i. charles of hesse, prince, iii. ---- x., of france, character and death, i. ---- archduke, i. ---- albert, king of sardinia, ii. _ _, ; piedmontese war, ii. _ _, _ _, , , , , _ _, , ; defeat at custozza, ii. _ _; at novara, ii. _ _; abdication in favour of his son, ii. _ _ charleston, surrender of, iii. _ _ charlotte, princess (daughter of george iv.), i. ; character, ii. , ; bust, i. ---- princess of prussia (afterwards hereditary princess of saxe-meiningen), birth of, iii. _ _ charlotte, princess of belgium, ii. ; illness, ii. _ _, ; beauty of, ii. ; proposed marriage of, iii. , ; marriage of, iii. , _ _ chartists, i. ; riots, i. ; ii. ; demonstration, ii. ; fiasco, ii. chartres, duc de, i. , ; iii. chateaubriand, vicomte de, i. _ _ chatsworth, queen's visit to, i. chelmsford, lord, lord chancellor, iii. chelsea pensioners, arming of, i. cherbourg, queen's visit to napoleon, iii. chester, dean of, _see_ davys childers, col., _life of right hon. h.c.e. childers_, ii. _ _ chillianwalla, ii. _ _ chimay, prince de, iii. _ _ china, opium trade dispute, i. _ _, _ _, , _ _, , ; operations in, i. , , _ _, ; war of , iii. _ _, , _ _; treaty of tien-tsin, iii. _ _, ; refusal to ratify treaty, march to pekin, iii. _ _ chiswick, ii. chobham camp, review at, ii. , cholera, epidemic of, ii. _ _ christian, prince, of glücksburg, afterwards king christian ix. of denmark, ii. _ _ ---- princess, _see_ helena, princess christina, queen, regent of spain, i. , , ; abdication, i. , , , ; marriage question, ii. , _ _, , , , , christino cause, i. _ _, church of england, queen's early knowledge of, i. ; her relations to, i. , , ; parker society, i. ; reform, i. ; difficulties at oxford, i. , ; low church bigotry, ii. ; ii. _ _; preferments, ii. ; ritualists and romanists, ii. _ _, , ; riots at stockport, ii. ; in the colonies, ii. ---- of scotland crisis, i. , , _ _ ---- rates, i. _ _, ; iii. churchill, lady, iii. chusan, i. _ _, chuttur singh, surrender of, ii. cintra, convention of, iii. _ _ cistercian _trappists_, queen adelaide's visit to, i. civil service, competitive examinations for, iii. , clanricarde, marquess of, i. ; ii. ; privy seal, iii. ---- marchioness of, i. clanwilliam, earl of, ii. claremont, residence of king leopold, queen's reminiscences of, i. , , ; regret at leaving, ii. , _ _; residence of king louis philippe, ii. - ---- col., orsini trial, iii. clarence, duke of, _see_ william iv. clarendon, third earl of, chief justice-in-eyre, death, i. ---- fourth earl of, i. ; ambassador at madrid, i. ; lord privy seal, i. ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , ; opinion on lord palmerston's removal, ii. , ; refusal of foreign office, ii. , _ _; ii. , ; foreign secretary, ii. _ _; eastern question, ii. - , _ _- ; duke of cambridge in paris, iii. ; russian loan, iii. _ _; crimea, iii. _ _; austrian alliance, iii. , _ _; the "four points," iii. ; government of , iii. , , , , , , , , , _ _, , , _ _; foreign affairs, iii. ; emperor's proposal to take command at the crimea, iii. _ _, ; naples despatch, iii. - ; austrian ultimatum, iii. , , ; arranging terms of settlement, iii. - ; conversation with french emperor, iii. ; treaty of peace signed, iii. ; queen's appreciation of his services, iii. , ; honours, iii. ; iii. ; interview with persigny, iii. ; and italy, iii. ; declines joining the new cabinet, iii. ; st juan dispute, iii. ; coronation of king of prussia, iii. , _ _; reception at the coronation of king and queen of prussia, iii. - ; interview with the french empress, iii. ; king of prussia's views, iii. clarendon's _history of the rebellion_, i. , ; _private memoirs_, i. claridge's hotel, empress of the french stays at, iii. clark, dr (afterwards sir james), physician to the queen, i. , , ; bagshot park, iii. ; prince consort's illness, iii. , clémentine, princess, of orleans, i. cleveland, duke of, i. clive, lord, life by sir j. malcolm, i. close, francis, dean of carlisle, iii. _ _ clyde, lord, _see_ campbell, sir colin cobden, richard, i. ; corn laws, i. , ; ii. ; peel's tribute to, ii. ; the whigs, ii. , , ; poor law commission, ii. , , ; ii. , ; question of marriage between prince frederick william of prussia and the princess royal, iii. ; on china war, iii. _ _; loss of seat, iii. ; iii. ; refuses to join government, iii. _ _, , _ _; and the pope, iii. ; plenipotentiary for commercial treaty, iii. _ _; declines honours, iii. , _ _ coblentz, iii. coburg (_see_ saxe-coburg), house of, history of, i. ; influence on the queen's politics, i. ; abuse of, i. ---- queen's visit to, ii. _ _ cochrane, mr baillie (afterwards lord lamington), iii. cockburn, sir george, admiral of the fleet, i. ---- mr (afterwards sir alexander), don pacifico debate, ii. _ _; chief justice of common pleas, iii. codrington, major-general sir william, wounded at inkerman, iii. _ _; commands the english army in the crimea, iii. _ _, , , _ _ colborne, sir john (afterwards lord seaton), i. _ _; high commissioner, canada, i. _ _; field-marshal, i. , _ _ colchester, lord, iii. coldstream guards wounded from crimea, iii. colenso, rev. j. w., ii. coleridge, mr, and provostship of eton, iii. colloredo, count, austrian ambassador, ii. , colquhoun, mr, iii. colvin, john russell, lieut.-gov. of north-west provinces, death of, iii. combermere, viscount, i. ; constable of the tower, ii. ; field-marshal, iii. _ _ companies, limited liability, statute passed, iii. _ _ conroy, sir j., comptroller to duchess of kent, i. conservatives in opposition, i. _ _; dissensions, ii. _ _; corn laws, ii. ; ii. , , , ; form a government, ii. - ; roebuck motion, iii. , ; government of , iii. _ _, ; possible dissolution, iii. - ; new reform bill, iii. _ _; defeat, iii. ; iii. ; overtures to lord palmerston, iii. _ _, consort, prince (_see_ victoria, queen), parentage, i. ; influence of baron stockmar, i. ; his character, i. _ _; princess of hohenlohe's opinion of, i. ; queen's first impression of, i. ; education of, i. , , ; engagement to queen victoria, i. _ _, ; visits italy, i. ; queen's views, i. ; description of, i. ; arrival at windsor, i. ; religion, i. ; question of a peerage, i. ; the declaration, i. , ; his household, i. , , ; marriage with the queen, i. _ _, ; his grant, i. _ _, ; appointed regent, i. _ _; the queen's confidential secretary, i. ; name in prayer book, i. ; on changes at court, i. ; visits oxford, i. ; his position on change of government, i. ; lord melbourne's opinion of, i. ; fine arts commission, i. ; lays foundation stone of royal exchange, i. ; on duelling, i. _ _; domestic life, i. ; to hold levées, i. , ; reception at birmingham, i. ; his father's death, ii. ; grand cross of st andrew, ii. ; birthday, ii. _ _; french king's appreciation of, ii. ; title rumours, ii. ; interest in osborne, ii. ; attacks on, ii. ; memo. on change of government, ii. ; council meeting, ii. ; sir r. peel and memo. of their conversation, ii. ; memo. on resignation of sir r. peel, ii. , ; on new government, ii. ; sir r. peel, ii. ; his self-denial, ii. ; visits king louis philippe at claremont, ii. ; and the unemployed, ii. ; visit to york, ii. ; visit with the queen to ireland, ii. ; opening of new coal exchange, ii. ; exhibition of , ii. _ _, - ; memo. on lord palmerston's foreign policy, ii. , , , ; mansion house speech, ii. ; memos. on formation of a new government, ii. , , , , , , , , ; presides at propagation of gospel meeting, ii. _ _; on lord palmerston's successor, ii. - ; his fondness for politics and business, ii. ; and the army, ii. ; on resignation of lord john russell, ii. , , ; on change of government, ii. ; command of grenadier guards and rifle brigade, ii. ; on new appointments on death of duke of wellington, ii. ; on national defences, ii. - ; on free trade debate, ii. ; on resignation of lord derby, ii. - ; on new government, ii. , , ; lord derby's opinion of, ii. ; on change of ministry, ii. ; birth of prince leopold (afterwards duke of albany), ii. ; congratulates mr gladstone on his budget speech, ii. ; memo. on eastern question, ii. , ; memo. on lord palmerston's resignation, ii. ; press attacks on, iii. _ _, , _ _, , ; interview with emperor napoleon, iii. _ _; president of patriotic fund, iii. _ _; memos. on reform bill, iii. _ _, , , ; memo. of government changes, iii. , ; visits french emperor, iii. _ _- ; memo. on lord john russell's possible resignation, iii. ; visits the french emperor, iii. _ _; memo. on lord john russell's resignation, iii. ; memos. on inability of lord derby and lord john russell to form a government, iii. - ; memo. on lord palmerston's government of , iii. , ; asks lord aberdeen to join new government, iii. ; memo. of interview with mr gladstone, iii. - ; on austria's proposal of crimean settlement, iii. , _ _; visits france, iii. ; appointment of sir w. codrington, iii. ; queen's memo. on his status, iii. - ; title of prince consort conferred, iii. , , _ _; french emperor's feeling towards england, iii. , ; marriage of princess royal, iii. _ _, , ; memo. on resignation of the government, iii. - ; danish question, iii. _ _; memo. on oudh proclamation, iii. ; memo. on lord derby and dissolution, iii. ; visit to french emperor at cherbourg, iii. ; memo. on lord palmerston, iii. ; lord stanley's position with the queen, iii. - ; tours of prince of wales and prince alfred, iii. _ _; princess alice's engagement, iii. ; state visit to ireland, iii. _ _; lord john russell's despatch to america, iii. _ _; failure of health, iii. _ _; death of the duchess of kent, iii. - ; illness, iii. , ; draft despatch to united states, last written by, iii. ; slight rally, , ; death, iii. _ _, conspiracy and assassination bill, iii. _ _ constantin, expedition against, i. _ _; taken by france, i. constantine of russia, grand duchess, ii. ; iii. constantinople, i. ; russian fleet ordered to, ii. , _constitution de la belgique_, newspaper, i. constitution, the english, i. _constitutional_ newspaper, i. conyngham, lady maria, i. ---- marchioness, i. ---- marquess, lord chamberlain, i. , , , , , cooper, the leicester chartist, i. coorg, princess of, iii. corbett, mr, secretary of legation at florence, iii. corigan, dominic, physician-in-ordinary, ii. _ _ cork, queen victoria's visit to, ii. ; question of dockyard, iii. corn laws, petition against, i. ; debates on, i. , , , , _ _, , , _ _, ; anti-corn-law league, i. _ _, , ; ii. _ _, , _ _; paragraph in the _times_, ii. , ; lord john russell's policy, ii. ; sir r. peel's views, ii. , , ; settlement, ii. ; earl grey on, ii. ; mr disraeli on, ii. coronation, i. , corry, h., ii. , cottenham, earl of, chancellor, i. , , ; ii. county and borough franchise, ii. couper, sir george, iii. courvoisier murders lord william russell, i. _ _ covent garden theatre, free trade meetings at, ii. coventry, earl of, i. cowell, major (afterwards sir john), tutor to prince alfred, iii. _ _ cowley, first baron, minister at frankfort, i. ---- second baron (created earl ), ii. , , ; queen's high opinion of, ii. , ; ambassador at napoleon's court, ii. , ; napoleon's marriage, ii. ; eastern question, iii. , , , , ; council of war at paris, iii. ; honours, iii. ; iii. ; mission to vienna, iii. _ _, , - ; rumoured treaty between france and russia, iii. ; terms of peace at villafranca, iii. _ _, _ _; england's congress representative, iii. ; italian question, iii. , ; stormy interview with napoleon, - ; french policy in italy, iii. _ _ cowper, countess, i. ---- lady fanny, i. ; her beauty, i. , ; i. . _see_ also jocelyn, lady ---- hon. william, priv. sec. to lord melbourne, i. ; first commissioner of works, iii. cracow, ii. , crampton, mr (afterwards sir john), british minister at washington, dismissal of, iii. _ _; english ambassador at st petersburg, iii. cranworth, lord, lord chancellor, ii. ; iii. ; divorce bill, iii. creptowitch, count, russian ambassador, iii. _ _ crimea, _see_ eastern question croker, right hon. j. w., queen's declaration, i. crown, influence of the, i. ; prerogatives of, iii. , ---- jewels, claim to, i. , crowther, rev. samuel, ii. crystal palace, the queen opens the, iii. _ _; visit of the emperor and empress of the french, iii. _ _; peace fête, iii. cullen, dr, archbishop of armagh, ii. cumberland, second duke of, i. ; his character, i. , , . _see_ also hanover, king ernest of ---- third duke of, _see_ hanover, king george v. cureton, general, death of, ii. ---- rev. wm., recommended for canonry, ii. custine, marquis astolphe de, _la russie en _, i. daily news, iii. dalhousie, countess of, i. ; death, ii. ---- tenth earl and first marquess of, ii. , ; viceroy of india, ii. _ _; views as to the punjab, ii. ; marquess, ii. _ _, ; queen's opinion of, ii. ; koh-i-noor diamond, ii. ; rangoon, ii. ; cinque ports, ii. ; india, ii. , ; on his wife's death, ii. ; correspondence with the queen, iii. , , - , ; desires to retire, iii. ; retirement of, iii. _ _, ; reported failure to suppress insubordination in india, iii. _ _; lord canning succeeds him, iii. ; iii. dalkeith, queen's visit to, i. dalmeny, lord, i. danish law of succession, ii. _ _; iii. darmes, attempts king louis philippe's life, i. _ _ d'aubigny, mons., ii. davis, jefferson, president of the southern states, iii. _ _ davys, rev. george, dean of chester, afterwards bishop of peterborough, instructor of queen, i. , , dawes, richd., dean of ripon, iii. dawson, hon. thomas vesey, death at inkerman, iii. deceased wife's sister bill, iii. defences, national, ii. , - ; iii. de grey, earl, lord-lieut, of ireland, i. delane, john t., editor of the _times_, ii. ; and germany, iii. de la warr, elizabeth, countess, i. delhi, revolt at, iii. _ _, ; capture of, iii. democracy, progress of, ii. "democratic," definition of the term, i. denison, j. e., ii. ; speaker, iii. _ _ denman, lord, i. denmark, and morocco, ii. ; and holstein, ii. , , , , , ; peace concluded with prussia, ii. , ; danish succession, ii. , ---- king of, letter to queen victoria, ii. derby, earl of, _see_ stanley despatches, method of dealing with, ii. , devonshire, duke of, ii. _ _; iii. dhuleep singh, maharajah, queen's impression of, iii. , , ; iii. ; indian mutiny, iii. , dietz, mons., governor of prince ferdinand, i. , dilke, sir c. w., baronet, iii. disbrowe, sir ed., british minister at the hague, i. , , disfranchisement bill, ii. disraeli, benjamin, "young england," ii. ; "poisoned chalice," ii. _ _; protectionist, ii. _ _; attack on sir r. peel, ii. , ; leader of opposition, ii. _ _, , ; motion on agricultural distress, ii. ; protection, ii. ; ii. , , , ; on palmerston's defence, ii. ; _endymion_, ii. _ _; chancellor of the exchequer, ii. ; debate on dissolution, ii. , ; militia bill, ii. , , ; speech on duke of wellington, ii. ; free trade, ii. , ; and gladstone, ii. ; budget speech, ii. ; loss of office, ii. , ; apology for his speech, ii. _ _; attack on the government, iii. _ _; roebuck motion, iii. , , ; formation of government of , iii. , ; attack on lord john russell, iii. _ _; preparation for war, iii. ; attack on the budget, iii. _ _, ; china war debate, iii. , ; speech on indian mutiny, iii. ; return to office, iii. _ _; conspiracy bill debate, iii. ; chancellor of the exchequer, iii. ; reports of the debates, iii. , , , ; india bill, iii. ; oudh proclamation debate, iii. _ _, _ _; and lord stanley, iii. ; debate on the address, iii. ; defeat of government, iii. ; and the pope, iii. ; and lord palmerston's government, iii. dissenters and church rates, iii. dissolution, prerogative of, ii. divorce bill, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- court, queen's objection to publication of proceedings in newspapers, iii. doabs, eastern, disarmament of sikhs, ii. dorset, duke of, master of the horse, i. dost mahommed, _see_ afghanistan, ameer of douglas, general sir howard, iii. _ _ ---- lord (afterwards duke of hamilton), marriage, i. douglas, rev. hon. a. (afterwards bp. of aberdeen and orkney), iii. douro, marchioness of, i. ; ii. , doyle, richard, i. _ _ drayton manor, queen's visit to, i. dresden, ii. _ _ dreux, ii. drummond, edward, assassination of, i. , ---- castle, queen's visit to, i. ---- henry, member for west surrey, iii. , druses, iii. _ _ dublin, archbishop of (richard whateley), queen's opinion of, i. ---- fear of outbreak at, ii. ; queen's visit to, ii. duels, military, i. _ _, _ _ dufferin, marquess of, and story of mrs norton and the _times_, ii. _ _ duffield, walter, ii. dumas, general, ii. duncannon, viscount (afterwards earl of bessborough), lord privy seal, afterwards lord lieutenant of ireland, i. , , , , ; ii. ; death, ii. duncombe, thomas, m.p., finsbury, iii. ; roebuck committee, ii. dundas, vice-admral sir james, commander of mediterranean fleet, ii. _ _; iii. _ _, _ _ ---- rear-admiral richard, commands expedition to the baltic, iii. _ _ ---- mr (afterwards lord melville), i. ---- sir david, convention of cintra, iii. _ _ dundonald, earl of (formerly lord cochrane), iii. _ _ dunfermline, lord (formerly james abercromby), speaker, i. ; iii. dungannon, viscount, i. _ _ dunkeld, queen's visit to, i. dunmore, countess of, lady-in-waiting, i. ---- earl of, death, ii. durham, first earl of, high commissioner in canada, i. _ _, , ; rash conduct, i. , , ; resignation, i. ; i. _ _, , , eastern question, ii. _ _, , - , _ _, _ _- ; declaration of war with russia, iii. _ _, , , _ _; turkish success, iii. _ _; battle of the alma, iii. _ _, ; inkerman, iii. _ _; four points negotiations, iii. _ _, ; terms of settlement and final evacuation of the crimea, iii. _ _, east india company, recall of lord ellenborough, ii. _ _, , ; giving medals, ii. ; sir charles napier, ii. ; position of indian princes, iii. , ; mutiny, iii. _ _, , - , ; future government of india, iii. eastlake, sir charles, keeper of national gallery, i. ecclesiastical titles bill, ii. _ _, , , _ _, , eckerforde, ii. eden, lt.-gen. john, c.b., iii. edinburgh, queen's visit, i. education, bullock's work on, ii. ; committee on, ii. edwardes, major, ii. egypt (_see_ also ali, mehemet) and the four powers, i. , , , _ _ elchingen, duc de, i. elcho, lord (afterwards earl of wemyss), government of , iii. ; new foreign office, iii. election, general , i. _ _; on death of william iv., i. , ; ii. ; corrupt practices bill, iii. elgin, earl of, governor in jamaica, ii. , ; treaty with japan, iii. _ _; postmaster-general, iii. elimar, prince, of oldenburg, iii. eliot, lord, afterwards earl of st germans, i. elizabeth, princess, daughter of queen adelaide, death, i. ellenborough, lord (afterwards earl of), president of board of control, i. , , ; governor-general of india, i, ; indian warfare, i. , _ _; somnauth proclamation, i. , , ; scinde controversy, i. ; recall of, ii. _ _, , ; earldom, ii. ; in office, ii. , ; protectionist, ii. ; and lord cochrane, iii. _ _; iii. , ; president of board of control, iii. _ _, ; oudh despatch, iii. _ _, - ; resignation, iii. - ellesmere, earl of, death, iii. ellice, mr, i. ; ii. elliot, captain, chinese opium trade, i. _ _, , _ _; recalled, i. ---- lady fanny, i. ---- lady harriet, illness of, iii. _ _ ---- mr (afterwards sir henry), p.c., g.c.b., plenipotentiary to naples, iii. , elphinstone, general, capture of, i. _ _ ---- sir j. d. h., m.p. for portsmouth, iii. ---- baron, governor of bombay, iii. , ely, bishopric of, ii. ---- marchioness of, iii. emlyn, lord, marriage, i. enfield, iii. england, troubles in afghanistan, _ _, _ _, , , ---- and austria, ii. _ _, , , , ; eastern question, ii. _ _, , , ; iii. _ _, , ; proposed alliance, iii. _ _, , , , ; four points, iii. , ; ultimatum, iii. , , ---- and china, i. - ; successes in, i. ; dispute with and ultimatum, iii. _ _, , _ _; treaty of tien-tsin, iii. _ _, _ _; march to pekin, iii. _ _ ---- and denmark, ii. ---- and france, i. , _ _, ; ii. _ _, , , _ _; hospitality to king of, ii. ; relations with as a republic, ii. ; on the eastern question, ii. _ _, , _ _, , , ; alliance with, iii. _ _, ; feeling against, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- and germany, ii. , , ---- and india (_see_ india) ---- and italy, ii. , ; rome, ii. , , ; naples, iii. , ---- and japan, treaty, iii. _ _ ---- and persia, war, iii. _ _ ---- and portugal, unpopularity, i. _ _; english fleet in the tagus, ii. _ _; constitutional trouble, ii. , ; conference, ii. _ _; policy in, ii. ---- punjab, annexation of, ii. _ _ ---- and russia, i. ; ii. ; on the eastern question, ii. _ _, - , _ _; iii. _ _, , , , , ; declaration of war, iii. _ _; crimea, iii. - , , , ; defeat at the alma, iii. _ _, , ; battle of balaklava, iii. ; four points, iii. _ _, ; sebastopol taken, iii. ; austrian ultimatum, iii. _ _; peace and terms of settlement, iii. _ _; difficulty of enforcing settlement, iii. _ _- , ; danish question, iii. ---- and spain, i. , , , ; ii. _ _, , ; marriage question, ii. , - ---- sweden and norway, iii. _ _ ---- and turkey, eastern question, ii. _ _, , - , _ _; iii. _ _, , _ ,_ england and united states of america, boundary dispute, i. _ _, , , ; ii. _ _, _ _; rupture with, iii. _ _, _ _; _trent_ affair, iii. _ _ england, general (afterwards sir richard), i. , enrique, don, ii. , , , , , ense, varnhagen, von, memoirs of, iii. erfurt, diet of, ii. ernest, prince, of hohenlohe, death of, iii. ernest, king, of hanover, i. _ _, . _see_ cumberland, duke of ---- prince, of saxe-coburg, i. ; arrival at windsor, i. ; i. ; marriage, i. ; bravery, ii. ernestine branch of saxe-coburg family, history of, i. erroll, earl of, i. , espartero, joaquin, regent of spain, i. _ _, este, sir augustus de, i. _ _ esterhazy, prince paul, i. , eton college, ii. _ _; montem, ii. ; resignation of dr hawtrey, ii. ; extra week's holiday, iii. ; election of provost, iii. eu, château de, i. , ; queen's visit to, i. ; ii. , eugénie, empress of the french, _see_ montijo eupatoria, disaster at, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _ evans, col. (afterwards sir g. de lacy), i. _ _, _ _; iii. _ _, examinations, competitive, iii. , _ _ executions, public, ii. exeter, bishop of, gorham case, ii. _ _ exeter, marquess of, i. exhibition of , in hyde park, ii. _ _, ; success of, ii. _ _, , ; ball at guildhall, ii. factory labour, bill, ii. _ _, _ _ fane, hon. julian, secretary of embassy, vienna, iii. , _ _ farnham, queen's visit to, iii. fawcett, col., shot in a duel, i. _ _ featherstonhaugh, mr., h.b.m. consul, havre, arranges escape of king louis philippe, ii. - , feodore, princess, of leiningen, the queen's half-sister, marriage to prince of hohenlohe-langenburg, i. , _ _; childhood, i. ; i. , , , , , ferdinand, maximilian joseph, of austria, archduke, proposed marriage, iii. ; marriage and death of, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- duke of orleans, i. ---- _see_ portugal, king of ---- ii., king of naples, i. ; rising against, ii. _ _; illness and death, iii. ---- of bulgaria, prince, i. _ _ feroz shah, prince, iii. ferozepore, ii. , _ _ ferozeshah, ii. _ _, _ _ fieschi attempts king louis philippe's life, i. fife, earl of, peerage, iii. fine arts commission, i. finlay, mr, claim against greek government, ii. _ _, _ _ finmark, guarantee of, iii. _ _ fiscal policy, ii. _ _ fisher, dr, _see_ salisbury, bishop of fitzclarence, lord adolphus, i. fitzgerald, william robert seymour vesey, under secretary for foreign affairs, iii. , ---- sir john, iii. ---- and vesci, lord, president of board of control, i. , fitzmayer, col., iii. fitzwilliam, earl, ii. - ---- lady anne, i. flahaut, madame de, ii. florence, visited by prince albert, i. ; revolution in, iii. _ _ follett, sir william, i. ; solicitor-general, i. fonblanque, albany, i. foreign enlistment bill, iii. _ _, _ _ foreign office, new, iii. foreign secretary, duties of, ii. forey, general, iii. fortescue, second earl, receives the garter, iii. ---- dudley, iii. fould, achille, french minister, iii. _ _, four points, crimean negotiations, iii. _ _, , , , _ _, - fox, charles james, i. , ---- mr, british minister at washington, i. france, attempts on life of king, i. _ _, , _ _; expedition to constantin, i. _ _, _ _; heated debates in chamber, i. , ; duke and duchess of orleans, i. ; and england, i. , , _ _, ; and the peninsula, i. ; in africa, i. ; sympathy with belgium, i. _ _, ; resignation of ministry, i. , ; louis bonaparte, i. _ _; turco-egyptian convention, i. ; eastern crisis, i. , - ; friendliness with england, i. , ; thiers ministry dismissed, i. ; possibility of revolution, i. - ; and spain, i. , , ; spanish marriage, i. _ _; ii. , , _ _, - ; queen victoria's visit to, i. ; friction with england, ii. _ _, , ; england and russia, ii. ; hostilities with morocco, ii. ; fortification of paris and algerian trouble, ii. _ _; syrian war, ii. ; murder of duchesse de praslin, ii. _ _, ; revolution, ii. _ _; abdication of king, ii. _ _; republic, ii. , ; new government, ii. , ; national assembly, ii. _ _; the royal family, ii. ; _entente cordiale_, ii. , ; english ambassador to, ii. , ; louis bonaparte, president of republic, ii. , , ; relations with england, ii. ; state of, ii. ; _coup d'état_ in paris, ii. - , ; dispute with russia, ii. _ _; and the swiss government, ii. ; champion of italian liberty, ii. ; bourbons, ii. ; position of louis napoleon, ii. ; assumes imperial title, ii. _ _; eastern question, ii. _ _, - , _ _, - ; iii. _ _; fleet sent to salamis, ii. _ _; and england, ii. _ _; alliance with england against russia, iii. _ _, _ _, ; and sebastopol, iii. , ; inkerman, iii. ; and the four points, iii. ; success against russia, iii. _ _; queen's visit to, iii. , ; fall of sebastopol, iii. , , ; desire for peace, iii. ; peace and terms of settlement, iii. _ _- , , ; rupture with king ferdinand, iii. _ _, _ _; and austria, iii. ; bad state of army, iii. ; feeling against england, iii. _ _, _ _; italy and sardinia, iii. _ _; war with austria, iii. _ _, ; reported treaty with russia, iii. _ _; victories, iii. _ _; conclusion of peace, iii. _ _; treaty of zurich, iii. _ _; annexation of savoy and nice, iii. _ _; expedition to pekin, iii. _ _; policy in italy, iii. franchise, county and borough, ii. , ; extension committee, ii. ; disfranchisement bill, ii. , ; based on personal property, iii. _ _; borough, iii. _ _ francis, attempts the queen's life, i. _ _, , ---- ii., king of naples, flight to gaëta, iii. _ _, frankfort, national assembly at, ii. , _ _, _ _ frederic of the netherlands, prince, iii. ---- archduke, i. frederick, william victor albert (afterwards german emperor), birth of, iii. ; christening, iii. frederick i., _see_ würtemberg, king of ---- augustus ii., _see_ saxony, king of ---- crown prince of prussia, _see_ prussia, prince frederick free church of scotland, founded, i. freemasons, i. free trade, i. ; ii. _ _, , , , , , , , _ _, , fremantle, sir thomas, afterwards lord cottesloe, i. french, emperor of the, _see_ napoleon ---- empress of the, _see_ montijo, mademoiselle de french, king of the, _see_ louis philippe ---- queen of the (marie amélie) (_see_ louis philippe), death, ii. frogmore, iii. ; death of duchess of kent at, iii. - , fueros, i. gaelic, in highland schools, ii. gaëta, ii. gaillard, gabriel henri, _la rivalité de la france et de l'espagne_, i. gainsborough, countess of, _see_ barham, lady gaisford, very rev. thomas (dean of christchurch), iii. garbett, mr, i. gardner, lord, i. garibaldi, guerilla leader, iii. _ _; deputy for nice, iii. _ _; and sicilian insurrection, iii. _ _, ; lord j. russell's letter to and reply, iii. , , geisel, cardinal, iii. george iii., his politics, i. ; family, i. ---- iv., marriage, i. ; politics, i. ; queen's visit to, i. - , ; death, i. ---- v., of hanover, _see_ hanover ---- prince, of denmark, i. germany, king of prussia on, ii. ; effect of french revolution, ii. _ _; anxiety in, ii. , , ; minor states, ii. , ; interest in lombardy, ii. ; disorder in, ii. , ; imperial crown declined by king of prussia, ii. ; union of schleswig and holstein, ii. , , ; critical position of, ii. , , , ; and england, ii. ; constitutionalism, ii. ; anxiety in, ii. ; diet, ii. ; coronation, iii. - ; the emperor's views, iii. ghent, disturbances at, i. gholab singh, ii. gholam mohammed, prince, iii. ghuznee, surrender of, i. , _ _; mahmood of, iii. gibraltar, governorship of, ii. gilbert, major-general, ii. girardin, emile, ii. giurgevo, turkish success at, iii. _ _, _ _ gladstone, right hon. w. e., member for newark, i. ; president of board of trade, i. _ _; corn laws, i. ; retirement, ii. _ _; colonial secretary, ii. , ; ii. _ _, , , , , , ; disfranchisement bill, ii. ; education minute, ii. ; free trade, ii. , ; and disraeli, ii. ; chancellor of the exchequer, ii. ; first budget, ii. _ _, _ _; prince albert's congratulations, ii. ; eastern question, ii. _ _; possible leader, ii. ; iii. ; letter in the _morning chronicle_, iii. ; civil service examinations, iii. , ; roebuck motion, iii. , , ; formation of government of , iii. , , , , , , ; chancellor of exchequer, iii. ; interview with prince albert, iii. ; resignation, iii. ; iii. ; preparation for war, iii. ; attack on budget, iii. _ _, ; chinese dispute, iii. _ _; divorce bill, iii. _ _; high commissioner to ionian islands, iii. _ _, , ; conspiracy bill debate, iii. ; refusal to join government of , iii. , ; oudh proclamation debate, iii. ; crown prerogatives (india), iii. _ _; new reform bill, iii. _ _; chancellor of the exchequer, iii. _ _; on the fate of the government, iii. ; chancellor of the exchequer, iii. ; and the pope, iii. ; italian policy, iii. ; rise in income tax, iii. _ _; desire to resign, iii. _ _; budget import duties, iii. _ _; bill for abolition of paper duties thrown out, iii. , , _ _; threatens resignation, iii. ; disagreement with palmerston, iii. _ _, , glasgow, serious riot, ii. _ _; queen opens waterworks, iii. _ _ glenelg, lord, colonial secretary, i. _ _, glenlyon, lord (afterwards duke of athole), i. ; ii. gloucester, duchess of (princess mary), i. , , , , ; ii. ---- duke of, character and politics, i. ---- princess sophia matilda of, i. glücksburg, prince christian of, _see_ christian goblet, albert joseph, count d'alviella, i. goldie, brig.-gen., death at inkerman, iii. _ _ goodford, dr, headmaster of eton college, elected provost, iii. gordon, col., deputy quartermaster-general, censure on, iii. _ _ ---- sir robert, ambassador to vienna, i. , , , gorham, mr, and the bishop of exeter, ii. _ _ gortschakoff, prince, iii. _ _; character, iii. , , gosford, earl of, governor of lower canada, i. _ _ gotha, line extinguished, i. gough, sir hugh (afterwards viscount), successes in china, i. ; baronet, i. ; successes in india, ii. _ _, _ _, _ _, ; commander-in-chief in india, ii. _ _, _ _; superseded, ii. ; viscount, ii. goulburn, h., chancellor of the exchequer, i. ; ii. , , ; disraeli's attack on, ii. _ _ gower, lady elizabeth (afterwards duchess of argyll), i. ---- lady evelyn leveson, marriage, i. graham, sir james, home secretary, i. , , _ _, , ; public executions, ii. , ; corn laws, ii. ; takes leave of the queen, ii. , ; as to joining the whig cabinet, ii. , , , , , , ; speech on corn duty, ii. ; ii. ; colonial office, ii. ; and disraeli, ii. _ _; india bill, ii. ; eastern question, ii. _ _, ; position in the government, ii. ; speech at reform club, iii. _ _; government of , iii. , , , , ; admiralty, iii. ; resignation, iii. ; iii. , ; conspiracy bill, iii. _ _; defeat of the government, iii. - ; oudh proclamation debate, iii. _ _; competitive exams., iii, ; assailed by disraeli, iii. _ _ grahamstown, new see, ii. granby, marquess of, iii. grantown, queen's visit to, iii. granville, first earl, ambassador at paris, i. , , ---- second earl, ii. ; foreign secretary, ii. _ _, , , , ; audience with the queen, ii. ; queen's view of foreign policy, ii. , , ; resignation , ii. ; board of trade, ii. ; iii. ; government of , iii. ; president of the council, iii. ; iii. ; coronation of czar, iii. _ _; iii. ; his opinion of the czar, iii. ; garter, iii. ; china war debate, iii. ; fails to form a government, iii. _ _, ; and the _times_ disclosures, iii. ; president of the council, iii. ; and the pope, iii. ; sir james hudson, iii. ; lord j. russell's despatch to france, iii. graves, lord, i. greece, throne of, i. ; ii. , ; case of don pacifico and mr finlay, ii. _ _, ; appeal to russia, and france, ii. _ _ gregory xvi., pope, interview with prince albert, i. ; death, ii. _ _ grenadiers, wounded from crimea iii. grenville, lord, i. greville, charles, journal of, i. ; and lord palmerston, ii. ; iii. _ _ grey, sir george, governor of cape of good hope (afterwards governor of new zealand), iii. _ _; difficulties with hottentots, kaffirs, and boers, iii. ; action at cape town, iii. _ _ ---- general, iii. , ---- second earl, prime minister, i. ; reform bill, i. ; i. ; illness, i. ; death, ii. ---- third earl, _see_ howick, lord ---- sir george, under-secretary for the colonies, i. ; chancellor of duchy of lancaster, i. ; home secretary, ii. , ; chartist meeting, ii. ; officers' commissions, ii. ; ii. , , ; on palmerston's successor, ii. ; seals of office given up, ii. ; home office, ii. ; colonies, iii. _ _, ; resignation of lord john russell, iii. , - ; government of , iii. , , , ; cabinet of , iii. , , , ; conspiracy bill debate, iii. ; iii. ; chancellor of duchy of lancaster, iii. ; on sir james hudson's appointment, iii. ; _trent_ affair, iii. ---- george henry (son of the above), iii. grimston, lady mary, trainbearer to the queen, i. ; her beauty, i. gröben, general count von der, iii. gros, baron, ii. grosvenor, lord, i. , , ---- lord robert (afterwards lord ebury), peerage, iii. guards, the, embarkation for the crimea, iii. guelphic order, ii. guéronnière, m. de la, _the pope and the congress_ pamphlet, iii. _ _, guilford, earl of, _see_ north, lord guizot, m., i. , , , , ; ii, , , , , ; a fugitive, ii. _ _; ii. , , , , , gujerat, ii. _ _, haddington, earl of, first lord of the admiralty, i. , ; ii. hadfield, mr, iii. halford, sir henry, court physician, i. , hall, sir benjamin (afterwards baron llanover), first commissioner of public works, ii. _ _; iii. , hallam's _constitutional history_, i. , hamilton, william, attempt on queen's life, ii. hammond, mr (afterwards lord), permanent under-secretary at foreign office, iii. hampden, dr, bishop of hereford, ii. _ _, , , hanover, house of, history of, i. ---- constitution abrogated, i. _ _; princess royal's reception, iii. ---- king of (ernest augustus), the queen's uncle, i. , , , , ; claim to crown jewels, i. ; visit to the queen, i. , - ; power to confer orders, ii. ; death, ii. ; treatment of prince consort, iii. ---- king george v. of, marriage, i. ; succeeds to the throne, ii. ; ii. hanoverian orders, ii. harcourt, edward vernon, archbishop of york, i. _ _, hardinge, sir henry (afterwards viscount), i. ; secretary at war, i. , , ; governor-general of india, ii. , ; settlement of sikh boundaries, ii. ; queen's appreciation of, ii. , , ; state of india, ii. ; ireland, ii. ; audience with the queen, ii. ; commander-in-chief, ii. , , ; army promotions, iii. ; field-marshal, iii. ; army discipline, iii. , ; illness and resignation, iii. , ; death and queen's opinion of, iii. , hardwicke, first earl, lord chancellor, i. _ _, ---- fourth earl, i. , ; ii. ; lord privy seal, iii. _ _ harley, lord (afterwards earl of oxford), i. harrow, extra week's holiday, iii. harrowby, lord, iii. hartington, lord (afterwards duke of devonshire), iii. hatzfeldt, count, iii. _ _ havelock, colonel, death of, ii. _ _ ---- general, lucknow relief, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _, ; death of, iii. havre, flight of king louis philippe, ii. - hawes, mr, i. ; ii. hawtrey, dr, headmaster of eton college, i. ; montem, ii. ; resignation, ii. hay, lord john, i. _ _, _ _ haynau, general, attack on, ii. _ _, , , hayter, mr, artist, i. ---- mr (afterwards sir william), liberal whip, iii. head, sir francis, i. _ _ heath, captain, h.m.s. _sanspareil_, iii. heathcote, sir william, iii. helena, princess (afterwards princess christian), ii. henley, j. w., iii. ; president of board of trade, iii. ; withdrawal from ministry, iii. _ _ hennessy, john pope (afterwards sir), m.p., iii. _henri iv._, french warship, loss of, at balaklava, iii. herat, i. ; iii. _ _; siege of, iii. _ _ herbert, sidney (afterwards lord herbert of lea), ii. _ _, , , ; militia bill, ii. ; free trade debate, ii. , ; admiralty, ii. ; sends out florence nightingale, iii. _ _; roebuck motion, iii. ; formation of government of , iii. , , , , ; cabinet, iii. , ; resignation, iii. ; lord palmerston, opinion of, iii. , ; declines to join the government, iii. ; secretary for war, iii. ; england's interference with italy, iii. ; illness and death, iii. herries, rt. hon. j. c., ii. , hesse-cassel, ii. _ _ hesse, prince charles of, iii. hever castle, queen's visit to, i. heytesbury, lord, governor of isle of wight, i. , highland volunteers, i. highlanders, nd, i. hill, viscount, commander-in-chief, i. , ; resignation and death, i. , , _ _, ---- lord marcus, i. hilliers, gen. baraguay de, at capture of bomarsund, iii. _ _ hindoos, public offices opened to, ii. ; remarriage of widows, iii. _ _, ; indian mutiny, iii. _ _, ; address to the queen, iii. hobhouse, sir john cam (afterwards lord broughton), president of board of control, i. , ; ii. , hohenlohe, house of, history of, i. ---- langenburg, ernest, prince of, i. ; marriage, i. ; ii. ; question of his daughter's marriage, ii. ---- hermann, prince, of, iii. ---- princess of, _see_ adelaide, princess; feodore, princess hohenzollern, prince of, iii. holland, dr (afterwards sir henry), court physician, i. , ; ii. ; prince consort's last illness, iii. ---- and belgian dispute settled, i. _ _, _ _, _ _, , ; king leopold's views on, i. ; and england, i. - ; queens visit to, ii. _ _ ---- king william i. of, i. _ _; abdication, i. _ _, ---- king william ii. of, as prince of orange, suitor to the queen, i. ; becomes king, i. _ _; i. , , ; visit to the queen sophia frederica, ii. ---- king william iii. of, visit to king leopold, iii. ---- queen of, visit to england, iii. holland, lord, chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, i. holstein, union with schleswig, ii. _ _, , , , , holy alliance, i. _ _ holyrood palace, ii. ; iii. honfleur, ii. , hong-kong, i. , ; cession of, to england, i. _ _; ii. hooghly river, iii. hope, a. j. (afterwards beresford-hope), iii. horsman, mr, m.p., iii. , hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, iii. hotham, admiral sir william, i. _ _ house tax, ii. _ _, household appointments, ii. , howard, charles, i. ---- de walden, lord, british minister at lisbon and brussels, i. , , , , ; ii. howden, lord (formerly sir john h. caradoc), british minister at rio janeiro and madrid, ii. , , , howick, lord (afterwards third earl grey), views on canadian affairs, i. , ; on civil government of the army, i. ; corn laws, i. ; and lord palmerston, ii. ; possible colonial secretary, ii. ; ireland, ii. ; his party, ii. ; views on resignation of government, ii. ; iii. , , , , ; iii. ; south africa, iii. ; refusal to join the government of , iii. howley, dr, _see_ canterbury, archbishop of hübner, baron, austrian ambassador at paris, ii. ; iii. _ _, , hudson, sir j., british envoy at turin, ii. ; iii. , _ _; peace at villafranca, iii. _ _; iii. , hugo, victor ( - ), _napoléon le petit_, ii. _ _ hull, queen's visit to, iii. hume, joseph, i. , , ; ii. , _ _ humiliation, days of, queen's views on, iii. , ; national prayer and humiliation, iii. , hummelauer, baron, ii. hungary, submission of, ii. _ _, hunt, mr leigh, i. huskisson, mr, i. hutchinson, mrs, biographer of her husband, i. ibrahim pasha, (son of mehemet ali), i. _ _, _idées napoléoniennes_, ii. income tax, queen's decision to pay, i. ; iii. ; bill, i. , ; raised, ii. _ _, , , , ; reduction for farmers, ii. ; ii. _ _; iii. ; increase, iii. _ _; reduction, iii. _ _ indemnity act, iii. _ _, _ _ india (_see_ afghanistan and east india co.), policy as to herat, i. - ; reinforcements for china, i. ; success in, i. ; retention of the scinde, i. ; recall of lord ellenborough, ii. _ _, , , ; education, ii. ; public offices opened to hindoos, ii. ; sikhs aggressive, ii. _ _; sikhs defeated, ii. _ _; extension of boundaries, ii. ; prosperity under british rule, ii. ; origin of sikh war, ii. _ _; necessity of making punjab a british province, ii. ; successful operations against sikhs, ii, _ _, ; safety of english prisoners, ii. ; disarmament of sikhs, ii. ; annexation of the punjab, ii. ; state of, ii. ; honours to duke of wellington, ii. ; india bill, ii. _ _, ; satisfactory state of, iii. - , ; troops for the crimea, iii. ; oudh placed under british control, iii. _ _; mutiny in, iii. _ _, _ _, - ; lucknow, iii. _ _, _ _, ; cawnpore, massacre of garrison, iii. _ _, _ _, ; future government of india, iii. , _ _, _ _; oudh proclamation, iii. _ _, _ _, ; indian army organisation, iii. , _ _, ; proclamation, iii. ; title of viceroy, iii. ; religious question, iii. ; army question, iii. - ; termination of the mutiny, iii. ; status of bussahir, iii. ; titles and honours, iii. ; letters of thanks to civil servants, iii. indus, ii. inkerman, battle of, iii. _ _; account of the battle, iii. - insanity, plea of, i. inverness, duchess of (wife of duke of sussex), i. , ionian islands, constitution of, iii. ireland, secret societies, i. _ _; municipal corporations bill, i. _ _, ; tithe bill, i. ; and o'connell, i. ; committee for, i. ; registration, i. ; repeal agitation, i. _ _; arms bill, i. ; indictment of o'connell, ii. _ _; report of potato commission, ii. ; failure of potato crop, ii. ; coercion bill, ii. _ _, , ; queen's proposed visit to, ii. , , ; alarming state of, ii. _ _, , ; queen's visit to, ii. _ _, , ; enthusiasm of people, ii. ; brevet promotions, ii. ; another visit to, iii. _ _ irun, capture of, i. _ _ isabella, queen, of spain, i. , ; guardianship of, i. ; proposed marriage of, i. , , , , , ; ii. , _ _, , , _ _, , , , ; iii. , _ _ ismail, surrender of, iii. _ _ issendorf, m. de, iii, isturitz, señor, spanish statesman, flight, i. _ _; ii. , italy, special mission to the vatican, ii. ; revolution, ii. _ _; and austria, ii. ; and england, ii. _ _, , , , ; piedmontese successes in northern, ii. _ _, , _ _, ; and austria, iii. , ; proposed congress and war, iii. - ; pope's opinion of italians, iii. ; insurrection at perugia, iii. ; treaty of zurich and congress to settle italian affairs, iii. _ _, _ _; french policy in, iii. ; summary of events in , iii. _ _; palmerston's views on, iii. , jackson, serjeant j. d., irish solicitor-general, i. , jamaica, troubles in, and constitution of, i. _ _, _ _, ; bill, i. james, edwin, successful defence of dr bernard, iii. _ _ japan, treaty with, iii. _ _ jarnac, count, french ambassador, ii. , jaux, m. de, ii. jenkinson, lady louisa, i. jenner, dr (afterwards sir william), physician-extraordinary to the queen, in attendance on prince consort, iii. , jersey, earl of, master of the horse, i. jewish disabilities bill, iii. _ _ jocelyn, lord, on free trade, ii. ---- lady, i. ; iii. ; _see_ also cowper, lady fanny john, archduke, younger son of the emperor leopold ii, i. ; ii. , , , ---- prince of portugal, brother of king pedro, iii. joinville, prince de, i. , , ; imprudent _brochure_, ii. _ _, , , ; ii. , , , , , , ; gallant deed, ii. ; accident to, iii. ---- princess de, i. , jones, sir john thomas, _wars in spain_, i. ---- mr, vice-consul at havre, ii. jowett, rev. b., fellow of balliol college, professor of greek, iii. kaffir war, iii. kainardji, treaty of, ii. _ _, _ _, kalampaka, engagement at, iii. _ _ karak, island of, iii. _ _ kars, fortress of, iii. _ _, _ _, , , _ _ keane, sir john (afterwards lord), cabul, i. _ _ kellerman, general, and convention of cintra, iii. _ _ kellersberg, baron, iii. _ _ kennedy, mr, removed from crown office, iii. kennington common, chartist meeting, ii. kensington palace, queen's birth-place, i. ; queen's early recollections of, i. ; proposal to build national gallery on site of, ii. kent, duchess of (queen's mother), biography of, i. , , , ; character and disposition, i. ; parliamentary grant, i. ; education of princess victoria, i. - ; parliamentary grant increased, i. ; estrangement with william iv., i. ; visit to belgium, i. ; ii. ; illness of, iii. ; frogmore, iii. ; edinburgh, iii. ; present at volunteer review, iii. ; death, iii. _ _, - ---- duke of (queen's father), politics and philanthropic views, i. ; biography, i. ; sudden death, i. kertsch, successful attack on, iii. _ _, _ _ khalsad army, surrender of, ii. khyber pass, i. _ _, kinburn, citadel of, iii. _ _ king, mr locke, ii. , ---- rev. bryan, iii. _ _ kinglake, mr, _invasion of the crimea_, iii. _ _, , _ _ kingstown (ireland), queen victoria's visit to, ii. kinsky regiment, loss of twenty-four officers, ii. kirkpatrick, william, ii. _ _ kisseleff, general, russian ambassador, iii. klebelsberg, countess, marriage, i. knatchbull, sir edward, paymaster-general, i. , knightley, rainald (afterwards sir), m.p., iii. knollys, sir william, k.c.b., iii. _ _ koh-i-noor diamond, ii. _ _; history of, ii. kokan, khan of, iii. koller, baron, austrian ambassador, ii. - königsberg, crowning of king and queen of prussia, iii. _ _ kossuth, louis, champion of hungarian freedom, flight of, ii. _ _; visit to england, ii. _ _; reception by lord palmerston, ii. - , , ; iii. lablache, luigi (queen's singing master), i. , , labouchere, mr (afterwards lord taunton), president of the board of trade, i. , , ; government of , iii. , _ _, , labour bill, mines, i. _ _; factories, ii. _ _ laeken, royal palace in belgium, i. lagos, capture of, ii. lahore, ii. lamartine, m., ii. _ _, _ _ lambeth palace, i. landgravine, princess elisabeth, i. landseer, sir edwin henry ( - ), artist, i. , langdale, lord, master of the rolls, i. lansdowne, marquess of, lord president of the council, i. , ; ii. , , , ; government crisis, ii. , , , - ; in the cabinet, ii. ; reform bill, ii. ; and lord john russell, iii. ; formation of the government of , iii. - , , , , , , ; cabinet, iii. , ; his ministerial life, iii. _ _; iii. ; declines a dukedom, iii. _ _ laporte, i. la susse, french admiral, ii. lavradio, m., portuguese statesman, i. law, administration of, ii. ---- lords, want of, iii. lawrence, sir henry, military administrator at oudh, death at lucknow, iii. _ _, lawrence, mrs george, courage of, ii. ---- sir j., oudh proclamation, iii. layard, mr, under secretary for foreign affairs, iii. , , , - lee, dr james prince (afterwards bishop of manchester), ii. leeke, admiral sir henry, capture of bushire, iii. _ _ lefevre, mr shaw (afterwards viscount eversley), speaker, i. , ; iii. _ _, lefroy, john henry, inspector-general of army schools, iii. lehzen, baroness (queen's governess), i. , , , , leicester, earl of, i. leigh, mr pemberton (afterwards lord kingsdown), ii. ; iii. ; declines lord chancellorship, iii. leiningen, house of, history of, i. _ _ ---- prince of, marriage, i. ; death, i. ---- prince charles of (son of above), i. , , , ; ii. ; death, iii. _ _, ---- princess feodore, _see_ feodore leith, proposed dockyard at, iii. le marchant, sir john gaspard, lieut. gov. of nova scotia, iii. lennox, lady caroline, i. leopold, prince (afterwards duke of albany), birth, ii. ---- duke of brabant (afterwards nd king of the belgians), i. ; ii. ---- st king of the belgians, birth and parentage, i. , ; queen's reminiscences of, i. , , , ; kindness to duchess of kent, i. ; influence on, and kindness to the queen, i. , , ; in the russian army, refusal of throne of greece, i. ; accepts belgian throne, gallantry in war, a model ruler, i. ; nature of correspondence with the queen, i. _ _; queen victoria's first letter to, i. ; valuable advice to queen victoria, i. ; newspaper abuse of, i. ; birth of second son, i. ; visit to the queen, i. ; belgian interests, i. , , , ; england and france, i. - ; views on dissolution, i. - ; queen's visit to, i. , ; friendship with queen victoria, ii. ; views on czar's visit to england, ii. ; letters on king louis philippe's visit to england, ii. , ; birthday letter to the queen, ii. ; on state of germany, ii. ; failure of insurrection, ii. _ _; louis bonaparte, ii. ; state of france, ii. , ; on death of sir robert peel, ii. ; illness of queen louise, ii. ; the sovereign "people," ii. ; on victor hugo, ii. ; on death of duke of wellington, ii. ; the empress of the french, ii. ; eastern question, ii. , ; press attacks on prince consort, iii. ; visits the queen, iii. ; on the conclusion of the war, iii. , ; iii. ; review of crimean troops at aldershot, iii. _ _; as to decorating duke of westmorland, iii. ; princess charlotte's proposed marriage, iii. ; on death of prince charles of leiningen, iii. ; marriage of princess charlotte, iii. , ; on the queen's visit to napoleon, iii. ; napoleon's desire for war, iii. ; napoleon and the pope, iii. ; italian question, iii. ; prince of wales's visit to canada, iii. ; volunteer review in hyde park, iii. _ _; letter to the queen, iii. ; death of duchess of kent, iii. - , ; sympathy for prince consort's illness, iii. , leopold, prince of saxe-coburg, ii. , , letters, sunday delivery, ii. lévis, duc de, i. lewis, sir george cornewall, chancellor of exchequer, iii. _ _; stamp duties bill, iii. ; budget, iii. _ _; income tax, iii. ; financial crisis, iii. ; home secretary, iii. ; st juan dispute, iii. lhuys, m. drouyn de, french foreign minister, ii. ; and russian loan, iii. ; austria's proposed terms of crimean settlement and resignation, iii. liberals (_see_ whigs), small majority, i. ; gains at election, , ii. , ; lord palmerston's followers, the liberal party, iii. _ _; oudh proclamation debate, iii. _ _, _ _; new reform bill, iii. _ _; lord palmerston forms a government, iii. _ _, - liddell, mr, iii. liechtenstein, prince and princess of, i. liège, iii. lieven, princess de, i. , ligne, prince de, i. lincoln, abraham, president, united states, iii. _ _ ---- bishop of (john kaye), report as to queen's education, i. - ---- earl of (afterwards (t.n.: ) fifth duke of newcastle), chief commissioner of woods and forests, i. ; ii. ; ii. , , , , , _ _, , - , _ _, , ; secretary of state for war, iii. _ _; marshal st arnaud, iii. _ _; hospital at scutari, iii. ; lord j. russell's resignation, iii. , , , , ; knight of the garter, iii. , , ; refuses to join government of , iii. ; colonial secretary, iii. ; tour with prince of wales, iii. _ _, _ _, lind, jenny, ii. lindley, dr, irish commissioner on potato disease, ii. lindsay, lady charlotte, i. lisbon, revolution, i. ; run on the bank of, ii. _ _ liverpool, bank failures, ii. _ _ ---- third earl of, biography of, i. _ _, ; lord steward, i. , ; ii. , ; death of, ii. llanover, baron, _see_ hall, sir b. lloyd, thomas davies, baronetage, iii. lochnager, queen's visit to, ii. loftus, lord a., iii. login, sir john, iii. ; oudh proclamation, iii. lombardy, ii. _ _, _ _, _ _, _ _, , , ; ceded to sardinia, iii. _ _ london, bishop of (c. j. blomfield), report on queen's education, i. - , ; papal aggression, ii. ; iii. ; (a. c. tait), divorce bill, iii. londonderry, marquis of, ambassador at vienna, i. ; ii. ; garter, ii. , longley, charles thomas, bishop of durham (afterwards archbishop of canterbury), iii. _ _ lonsdale, john (bishop of lichfield), ii. _ _ ---- earl of, ii. loodiana, ii. lords, house of, increase of appellate jurisdiction, iii. _ _; powers in money bills, iii. _ _, ; throw out abolition of paper duties bill, iii. , ; privilege resolutions, iii. ---- justices, question of, ii. louis xviii., character of, i. louis napoleon, _see_ napoleon ---- philippe, king of the french, biography of, i. ; belgian throne, i. ; attempted assassination of, i. _ _, , ; letters to the queen, i. ; ii. , , , , ; proposed visit to the queen, i. , ; ii. - ; and english government, ii. _ _, , , ; letter from the queen on resignation of sir r. peel and reply, ii. , ; ii. ; the spanish marriages, ii. _ _, , , , ; ii. ; abdication, ii. _ _, _ _; death of his sister, ii. - ; flight of, ii. , , - ; gratitude to the queen, ii. ; ii. ; queen victoria's view of his policy, ii. , ; position of, ii. , , ; illness and death, ii. _ _, , ; compared with napoleon iii. in knowledge, iii. louis, prince, of hesse (afterwards grand duke louis iv.), engagement to princess alice, iii. , , , ---- mrs (queen's dresser), i. , , ; death, i. louisa, princess, of hesse, ii. louise (queen of the belgians), marriage and correspondence with the queen, i. _ _; her character, i. ; letter on the queen's engagement, i. ; on death of the duke of orleans, i. , ; ii. ; on her father's visit to england, ii. , , ; sorrow at madame adélaïde's death, ii. - ; french revolution and her father's flight, ii. ; illness, ii. ; death, ii. , _ _; ii. ---- princess, of belgium, birth, iii. , löwenstein, prince william of, i. loyd, mr jones (afterwards lord overstone), ii. lucan, lord, censure on, iii. _ _ lucca, duke of, i. lucknow, iii. ; mutiny and siege of, iii. _ _, ; relief of, iii. _ _, , , _ _, luitpold of bavaria, prince, iii. lushington, dr stephen, admiralty judge, i. , ; refuses a life peerage, ii. ; iii. ; on right to search ships, iii. luxemburg, i. _ _, _ _ lyndhurst, lord, lord chancellor, i. , _ _, ; ii. ; on russia's aggressiveness, iii. _ _; title of prince consort, iii. , _ _; divorce bill, iii. , lynedoch, lord, death, i. lyons, richard bickerton pemell, k.c.b. (afterwards earl lyons), the pope's appreciation of, iii. ; united states dispute, iii. ---- sir edmund, commands mediterranean fleet, iii. _ _ lyttelton, lady (governess to the royal children), i. _ _, ; ii. ---- lord, iii. lytton, _see_ bulwer lytton m'caskill, sir john, death, ii. m'culloch, mr, ii. macaulay, t. b. (afterwards lord macaulay), secretary at war, i. _ _; china debate, i. ; in favour of dissolution, i. , ; on somnauth proclamation, i. ; maynooth grant, ii. _ _; defeat at edinburgh, ii. ; peerage, iii. macdonald, captain, iii. _ _ ---- lt.-col. hon. bosville, iii. ---- miss, ii. macmahon, mr, conspiracy bill debate, iii. macnaghten, sir william, envoy at cabul, i. _ _, ; death, i. macnaghten, daniel, assassin, i. - ; pronounced insane, i. , macneill, sir john, iii. _ _ madiai, release of the, ii. magenis, arthur charles (afterwards sir), minister at stockholm, iii. _ _ magenta, duc de, iii. magnan, marshal, iii. mahmoud, sultan, war with pasha of egypt, i. _ _; successor, i. mahon, lord (afterwards fifth earl stanhope), _history of england_, i. , malakhoff batteries, attack on, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- duc de, _see_ pélissier malcolm, major, i. malegnano, austrians defeated at, iii. _ _ malmesbury, earl of, memoirs, ii. _ _; foreign secretary, ii. - , ; napoleon's title, ii. _ _; secret protocol, ii. ; question of princess adelaide of hohenlohe's marriage, ii. - , ; iii. ; foreign secretary, iii. _ _; orsini incident, iii. , ; danish question, iii. ; and italy, iii. ; proposed congress to settle italian difficulties, iii. - , _ _, _ _; peers and money bills, iii. _ _; and lord palmerston's government, iii. , malta, english church for, i. maltby, dr edward, bishop of durham, i. _ _; ii. _ _ mamelon, capture of, iii. _ _, _ _ manchester, riot, i. - ; chartist fiasco, ii. ---- duchess of (afterwards duchess of devonshire), mistress of the robes, iii. mangles, mr, of east india company, iii. mann, sir horace, i. manners, lord john (afterwards seventh duke of rutland), ii. _ _; commissioner of works, iii. ; on john bright, iii. _ _; on new foreign office, iii. manning, marie, her execution, ii. _ _ mansfield, colonel, military adviser at constantinople, iii. ---- earl of, i. manteuffel, baron, president of prussian ministry, iii. _ _, , _ _ maria, donna, _see_ portugal, queen of mario, opera singer, ii. maritime law, international, iii. _ _ markham, general, death, of, iii. marmora, general la, sardinian general, iii. _ _, , _ _, maronites, iii. _ _ marriage act, i. _ _ marston, north, repair of church, ii. _ _ martin, rev. francis, bursar, trinity coll., cambridge, i. ---- sir theodore, _life of prince consort_, iii. _ _, _ _; last draft prepared by prince consort, iii. mary, princess, _see_ gloucester, duchess of ---- of cambridge, princess (afterwards duchess of teck), proposed marriage of, iii. _ _, maryborough, lady, i. mason, mr, confederate envoy, iii. mathew, father, ii. maule, mr fox, _see_ panmure, lord maundy money, ii. maurice, rev. f. d., ii. maximilian, archduke, _see_ ferdinand mayne, richard, commissioner of police, ii. maynooth roman catholic college, grant, ii. _ _, , , mazzini, ii. ; iii. _ _ mecklenburg, prince charles of, i. mecklenburg-strelitz, frederic william, grand duke of, i. , _ _ medals, peninsular, ii. - ; east india company, ii. ; crimea, iii. , ; distribution of, iii. medjid, abdul, sultan, i. ; interview with duke of cambridge, iii. meer shere mahommed, i. meerut, revolt at, iii. _ _ melbourne, viscount, prime minister and first lord of the treasury, i. ; ministry, i. ; i. ; queen's confidence in and appreciation of, i. , , , , , , ; letter to queen on accession, i. ; interview with queen, i. ; arrangements for king william iv.'s funeral, i. , ; king leopold's appreciation of, i. , , , , , , , ; duke of wellington's opinion of, i. ; indisposition, i. ; politics, i. ; visit to the queen, i. ; canadian troubles, i. , , , , - , , - ; i. _ _; coronation arrangements, i. , ; belgium and holland, i. , ; ceremony, i. - ; cabinet crisis, i. , , ; resignation, i. , ; advises the queen, i. , , , , , ; queen's distress at parting, i. , ; queen's refusal of peel's terms, i. ; prince albert's declaration, i. ; turco-egyptian convention, i. - ; overtures to france, i. ; eastern difficulties, i. - ; criticism on his future correspondence with the queen, i. _ _, , , , , , ; ministry in jeopardy, i. - ; dissolution, i. ; takes leave of the queen, i. ; portrait of, i. , ; on division of high offices of state, i. ; address from derby, i. ; visit to the queen, i. , , , ; serious illness, i. , ; on his health, i. , , , , , , ; queen's visit to, i. ; on old age, ii. ; opinion of emperor of russia, ii. ; crisis in parliament, ii. ; on scotland, ii. ; queen's letters to, ii. , ; sir r. peel's resignation, ii. , , ; political views of, ii. ; queen's advance of money to, ii. _ _; queen's birthday congratulations to, ii. ; death, ii. melvill, sir james, chief secretary, east india company, iii. mendizabal, don juan alvarez y, spanish statesman, i. _ _; queen's opinion of, i. menschikoff, prince, the eastern question, ii. _ _, , _ _ mensdorff-pouilly, comte emmanuel de, marriage, i. , , ; ii. meredith, mr, ii. _ _ metcalfe, sir charles (afterwards lord), governor-general of canada, i. , ; retirement, ii. , metchersky, princess, iii. metternich, prince, i. , , , , , , , ; ii. , ; a fugitive, ii. _ _, , ; italian question, iii. , , _ _ meyendorff, baron, austrian foreign minister, ii. _ _ meyer, miss eugénie, i. michael, grand duke, visit to the queen, i. , miguel, dom, i. _ _; ii. ; iii. _ _ milan, surrender of, ii. _ _; insurrection, ii. _ _; french emperor and king emmanuel enter, iii. _ _ milanese rising against austria, ii. _ _ miles, mr, m.p. for bristol, on sugar duties, ii. _ _; iii. militia, reconstruction, ii. _ _; bill, ii. , , , , ; carried, ii. , ; iii. milner gibson, mr, iii. _ _; conspiracy bill debate, iii. _ _, , _ _, ; president of the board of trade, iii. ; abolition of paper duties bill, iii. , milnes, r. monckton (afterwards lord houghton), iii. ministers of state, duties of, i. ; iii. , minto, earl of, first lord of the admiralty, i. , ; ii. , , _ _; special mission to the vatican, ii. , _ _; ii. , ; pope's opinion of, iii. modena, duke of, ii. mohammedan schools, ii. ; indian mutiny, iii. moldavia, iii. _ _ molé, count, french premier and foreign secretary, i. molesworth, sir william, at the office of works, ii. ; government of , iii. ; board of works, iii. ; death, iii. _ _ monro, major, i. montebello, battle of, iii. _ _ montemolin, count of, ii. , montijo, mdlle. eugènie de (empress of the french), parentage, marriage to napoleon, ii. _ _, , ; ii. ; visit to england, iii. ; queen's opinion of, iii. , ; queen's letter to, _re_ treaty of paris, iii. , ; attempted assassination of, iii. _ _, _ _; tour in scotland and england, iii. _ _; visit to the queen, iii. , montjoye, madame de, ii. montpensier, duc de, i. , ; ii. , , , ; engagement to the infanta, ii. _ _, , , , , , _ _, , , montreal, i. moodkee, ii. _ _, _ _ mooltan, insurrection, ii. , _ _ _morning chronicle_, i. ; ii. _ _, , ; iii. , , _morning post_, iii. morocco, ii. morpeth, viscount (afterwards earl of carlisle), _see_ carlisle morris, mr, governor of the bank, ii. morton, earl of, i. mouravieff, general, takes kars fortress, iii. _ _ muich, loch, queen's visit to, ii. , municipal corporations, i. munro, lieutenant, duel, i. _ _ munster, earl of, governor of windsor castle, tragic death, i. , muntz, george frederick, m.p., birmingham, iii. murat, madame de, ii. ---- joachim, formerly king of naples, iii. _ _ murray, sir george, commander-in-chief for ireland, i. ---- george, bishop of rochester, iii. muscat, imam of, list of presents for the queen, i. musgrave, dr, bishop of hereford (afterwards archbp. of york), ii. mutiny act, ii. naas, lord (afterwards earl of mayo), chief secretary for ireland, iii. nagpur, annexation of, iii. _ _ nana sahib, perfidy of, iii. _ _, _ _ nanking, i. _ _, _ _ napier, sir charles (general), scinde victory, i. ; g.c.b., i. ; governor of scinde, i. _ _; receives the thanks of both houses, ii. _ _; succeeds lord gough, ii. _ _, ; resignation, ii. ---- sir charles (admiral), i. _ _; commands the baltic fleet, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _; capture of bomarsund, iii. _ _ ---- sir george, governor of cape colony, i. naples, cholera panic, i. ; slight on english government, iii. , ; seizure of the _cagliari_, iii. _ _, _ _; triumphal entry by king of sardinia and garibaldi, iii. _ _; flight of francis ii., iii. , ; revolution doctrines, iii. _ _, ; absorption of, iii. ---- francis ii., king of, amnesty granted, iii. ; letter to the queen, iii. ; reply, iii. ; character, iii. napoleon i., emperor, iii. , _ _, _ _ ---- louis (afterwards napoleon iii., emperor of the french), lands at boulogne, i. _ _, ; president of the french republic, ii. _ _, ; elections, ii. , ; writes to queen victoria, ii. ; ii. , ; universal suffrage, ii. _ _; _coup d'état_ in paris, ii. - ; assumes imperial title, projected marriage, ii. _ _, _ _, , ; queen victoria's opinion of, ii. , , , , ; title of emperor, ii. ; his position, ii. ; anecdote of, ii. ; and england, ii. , ; queen victoria's letter to, ii. ; annoyance with the powers, ii. ; his title, ii. ; eastern question, ii. _ _, ; marriage, ii. , _ _; interview with prince albert, iii. _ _; and russia, iii. ; interview with duke of cambridge, iii. - ; visit from prince albert, iii. _ _; visit to england with the empress, iii. _ _; palmerston's letter to, iii. _ _; proposes to take command at the crimea, iii. , _ _, ; visit to england, iii. _ _; festivities and investiture, iii. _ _; letter to the queen, iii. ; and reply, ; and austria's proposed crimean settlement, iii. _ _; attempts on his life, iii. ; queen's opinion of, iii. , - , ; queen's visit to france, iii. - ; attempt on his life, iii. ; desire to terminate hostilities, iii. _ _; correspondence with the queen on the ultimatum, iii. , , , , ; council of war at paris, iii, , ; interview with lord clarendon, iii. ; birth of prince imperial, iii. ; treaty of peace, iii. ; on proposed marriage of prince frederick william of prussia, iii. ; egypt and morocco, iii. ; his feelings towards england, iii. ; visit to england, iii. ; attempted assassination of, iii. _ _, _ _; and the carbonari club, iii. ; and italy, iii. ; confederacy with sardinia, iii. _ _, _ _; entry into milan, and conclusion of peace, iii. _ _; _napoléon et l'italie_, iii. _ _; war with austria, iii. _ _- , , , _ _; proposed congress, iii. ; rumoured treaty with russia, iii. ; french victories, iii. _ _; conclusion and terms of peace, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _; annexation of savoy and nice, iii. _ _, , - , ; policy in syria, iii. _ _; _the pope and the congress_ pamphlet, iii. ; italian policy, iii. ; stormy interview with lord cowley, iii. - ; new year's letter to the queen, iii. ; reply, iii. ; italian question, iii. ; on death of cavour, iii. _ _; king of sweden, iii. ; mexico, iii. ; interview with king of prussia, iii. ---- bonaparte, prince jerome, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- eugène louis jean joseph, prince imperial, birth, iii. , narvaez, general, ii. nasmyth, lieutenant, siege of silistria, iii. _ _ nassau, prince of, iii. national gallery, ii. ; iii. navigation laws, i. _ _; ii. ; repeal of, ii. _ _, ; iii. _ _ navy, african squadron, ii. ; admiralty appointments, ii. ; national defences, ii. , ; bombardment of odessa, iii. ; bomarsund, iii. ; battle of the alma, iii. ; balaklava and sebastopol, iii. ; hurricane at balaklava, iii. _ _; second baltic expedition, iii. ; want of a dockyard in scotland, iii. ; retrenchments, iii. ; position of, iii. ; peace establishment, iii. ; fleet sent to black sea, iii. _ _; want of ships and state of, iii. , , ; use for indian mutiny, iii. ; proposed increase, iii. , ; change in naval uniform, iii. neild, j. c., leaves fortune to queen victoria, ii. neill, general, death of, iii. , neipperg, count, marriage i. nelson, lord, proposed pension for children of his adopted daughter, iii. , nemours, duchesse de, _see_ victoire, princess ---- duc de, i. , ; at constantin, i. ; marriage, i. _ _; i. , , , , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , ; iii. ; death of his wife, iii. _ _ nesselrode, count, russian minister, ii. _ _, ; iii. netherlands, king of the, _see_ holland, king william second of neuchâtel, ii. ; rising in canton of, iii. _ _ neuilly, queen's visit to, iii. neumann, m. de, austrian minister, i. , , newcastle, duke of, _see_ lincoln, earl of new forest, ii. newhaven, king louis philippe's flight to, ii. newman, mr, ii. newport, riot at, i. _ _, new zealand, native troubles, ii. _ _; constitution granted, ii. _ _ ney, edgar, ii. ---- general, iii. nice, annexation to france, iii. _ _, _ _, - , nicholas, _see_ russia, emperor of ---- prince, of nassau, visit to the queen, ii. nicholson, general, death of, iii. nicolas, grand duke, iii. nicols, lieut.-gen. sir jasper, commander-in-chief, india, i. nightingale, miss florence, iii. _ _; arrival at scutari, iii. _ _; queen's letter of thanks to, iii. ; presentation to, iii. _ _ nine elms station, ii. ningpo, i. norbury, lord, assassination of, i. norfolk, duchess of (governess to royal children), i. , , ; papal brief, ii. _ _, ---- duke of, coronation, i. ; refusal of garter, iii. normanby, marquess of, canada, i. ; home secretary, i. _ _, ; lord-lieut. of ireland, i. , ; i. ; ii. , ; ambassador-extraordinary at paris, ii. , , ; _coup d'état_, paris, ii, - ; palmerston's conduct to, ii. , , , , , , normanby, marchioness of, _coup d'état_ in paris, ii. - normandy, ii. north, colonel, iii. ---- lord (afterwards earl of guilford), i. northumberland, duke of, ii. , , , ---- duchess of, first lady-in-waiting to the queen, i. ; ill-health, ii. norton, mrs. ii. _ _ norway and sweden, iii. _ _. _see_ also sweden nott, general (afterwards sir william), afghanistan, i. _ _, _ _, _ _, nottingham election, i. novara, battle of, ii. nuneham, queen's visit to, i. oaths bill, iii. _ _ o'brien, smith, young ireland agitation, ii. _ _ _ocean monarch_, emigrant ship, burnt, ii. _ _ o'connell, daniel, agitator, i. , , , _ _; arrest, i. ; release, ii. _ _; ii. , _ _ o'connor, feargus, people's charter, ii. _ _; kennington common meeting, ii. , odessa, bombardment of, iii. _ _ olozaga, mons., iii. oltenitza, ii. _ _ omar pasha, turkish commander, iii. _ _ opera, queen at the, ii. oporto, louis, duc de, brother to king pedro v of portugal, iii. , _ _, orange, prince of, _see_ holland ---- prince william nicholas of (son of king william), iii. -----river free state, ii. _ _; iii. orders, right of british subjects to accept foreign, ii. oregon, end of boundary dispute, ii. orleanists, and french revolution, ii. - ; blunders of, ii. orleans, duke of, i. , ; death, i. , , , ---- duchess of, ii. _ _ ---- princess louise of, _see_ belgians, queen of ---- princess marie of, i. ; marriage and death, i. ---- family, ii. , , ; iii. , orloff, princess, iii. ---- count, russian ambassador, i. ; iii. orsini, of the carbonari society, execution of, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _ osborne, ralph bernal, secretary of the admiralty, ii. ; iii. , , , ---- queen's purchase of, ii, , ; queen's occupation of, ii. oscar, prince, of sweden, iii. , ; visit to the queen, iii. , , otho, king of greece, ii. oudh, placed under british control, iii. _ _, ; mutiny, iii. _ _, ; proclamation, iii. _ _, _ _, , oudinot, gen., ii. _ _, _ _ oultremont, countess de, i. _ _ outram, general (afterwards sir james), war with persia, iii. ; annexation of oudh, iii. _ _; indian mutiny, iii. , ; oudh, proclamation, iii. _ _, overstone, lord, _see_ loyd oxford, bishop of, _see_ wilberforce ---- tracts, i. owen, sir edward, i. pacifico, don, claim against greek government, ii. _ _, , , _ _, _ _, , , _ _, _ _ paget, general sir edward, g.c.b., i. ---- lady adelaide, i. ---- lord, lord melbourne's page, i. pakenham, sir r., minister at lisbon, ii. pakington, sir john (afterwards lord hampton), first lord of the admiralty, iii. , , ; french naval preparations, iii. , palermo, occupation of, by garibaldi, iii. _ _ palmella, duc de, ii. _ _, palmer, colonel, i. _ _ ---- mr, ii. ---- sir roundell, solicitor-general, iii. , palmerston, viscount, his political power and views, i. _ _; i. , ; speech on spanish affairs, i. ; i. , ; visits queen victoria, i. ; power of officials in public offices, i. ; i. , ; illness, i. ; belgium and holland, i. ; marriage, i. ; eastern crisis, i. _ _- ; views on france, i. , ; china and opium trade, i. , ; votes for dissolution, i. ; foreign secretary, i. ; _morning chronicle_, i. ; and lord grey, ii. ; possible foreign secretary, ii. ; desire for peace, ii. ; and lord aberdeen, ii. , ; spanish marriage question, ii. _ _, , - , ; incurs queen's displeasure, ii. , , , , , , , - , , , , ; attack on portuguese government, ii. _ _, ; anti-austrian sympathy, ii. ; france and austria, ii. , , _ _; lord normanby's appointment to paris, ii. , ; italian policy, ii. ; despatch about greece, ii. ; supplies arms to insurgents, ii. _ _; proposed removal of, ii. , ; methods for redress of wrongs, ii. ; hostility against greece, ii. _ _; haynau trouble, ii. _ _; case of don pacifico and mr finlay, ii. _ _, - , _ _, _ _, , _ _; draft to greece, ii. , ; prince consort's memoranda on his foreign policy, ii. , , , ; and spain, ii. ; lord j. russell's offer to resign, ii. , ; speech on foreign policy, ii. ; schleswig draft, ii. ; removal of, considered, ii. - ; press attacks on, ii. ; duties of a foreign secretary, ii. ; haynau despatch, ii. - ; austria and prussia, ii. ; reception of kossuth, ii. _ _, - ; louis napoleon, ii. _ _; diplomatic changes, ii. , ; _coup d'état_, approval of, ii. - ; difference with lord normanby, ii. - ; dismissal from office, ii. - ; inconsistency of, ii. ; absence from council explained, ii. ; explanation in the house, ii. - ; militia bill, ii. _ _, , , ; refusal to serve under lord derby, ii. , ; and lord john russell, ii. , , ; iii. ; power to appoint commander-in-chief, ii. ; his aims, ii. , ; home office, ii. ; illness, ii. , ; eastern question, ii. _ _; peculiar position of, ii. , ; objection to reform proposals, ii. , ; iii. _ _, , , ; resignation, ii. ; withdraws his resignation, ii. _ _; speech at reform club, iii. _ _; austrian alliance, iii. _ _, and the war office, iii. _ _; iii. ; forms a government, iii. _ _; on lord john russell's resignation, iii. ; premier, iii. - ; position on lord derby's and lord john russell's failure to form a government, iii. , , - ; forms a government, iii. - ; letter to napoleon, iii. _ _; roebuck committee, iii. ; lord john russell's resignation, iii. ; neapolitan affront, iii. _ _; queen's congratulations on treaty of peace, , iii. ; made k.g., iii. ; condition of defence, iii. _ _; obtains majority in house of commons, iii. _ _; _résumé_ of events, iii. , ; dissolution on china war debate, iii. , _ _; indian mutiny, iii. , , - ; financial crisis, iii. - ; ministry defeated over right of asylum, iii. _ _; resignation, iii. - ; iii. , ; india bill, iii. ; iii. , ; his unpopularity, iii. ; new reform bill, iii. _ _; reconciliation with lord j. russell, iii. _ _; forms a government, iii. _ _, - ; foreign affairs, iii. _ _; and john bright, iii. _ _; committee on military departments, iii. ; differences with the queen on italian policy, iii. - ; - ; peers and money bills, iii. _ _, ; w. e. gladstone's resignation, iii. , ; privilege resolution, iii. ; proposed visit of emperor of austria, iii. ; appointments of bishops, iii. ; overtures from conservative leaders, iii. _ _; _résumé_ of political situation, iii. , , ; italian question, iii. , ; garibaldi letter, iii. , ; presses for mr layard's appointment, iii. - ; _times_ newspaper, iii. - panmure, lord (mr fox maule), afterwards earl of dalhousie, under secretary for home office, and secretary for war, i. ; ii. ; iii. ; war minister, iii. _ _, , , ; crimean medals, iii. ; fall of sebastopol, iii. , ; g.c.b., iii. ; land transport, iii. ; no troops at the camp, iii. ; indian mutiny, iii. , ; increase of army, iii. , ; new cabinet, iii. panshanger, earl cowper's residence, i. ; queen's visit to, i. papal aggression, ii. , , - , , , paper duties, bill for abolition of, thrown out, iii. ; passed, iii. _ _ paris, comte de, birth, i. _ _; christening, i. , ; federal army, iii. ---- question of an ambassador, ii. ; _coup d'état_, ii. - ; queen's visit to, iii. , ; treaty of, iii. _ _, , , , _ _ parke, baron (afterwards lord wensleydale), i. ; iii. _ _ parker, admiral sir wm., successes in china, i. _ _, _ _, ; g.c.b., i. ; italy, ii. ; commands mediterranean fleet, ii. , _ _ ---- society, i. parks, the royal, ii. parliament, new houses of, ii. parliamentary reform, ii. parma, duke of, ii. parma, duchess of, iii. pasha, the capitan, treachery of, i. ---- of egypt, _see_ mehemet ali ----omar, _see_ omar passport question, iii. pate, robert, assault on the queen, ii. _ _ patriotic fund, established, iii. _ _ paul, captain, ii. , paxton, mr, ii. _ _ pedro, dom, emperor of brazil, i. _ _ ---- prince (afterwards king of portugal, king pedro v.); proposed marriage of, iii. _ _, _ _, ; marriage of, iii. _ _; death, iii. _ _, peel, captain, of the _shannon_, gallantry at relief of lucknow, iii. _ _ ---- lady (wife of sir robert peel), ii. ---- rev. john, dean of worcester, ii. , ---- general jonathan, war secretary, iii. , ---- sir robert, in opposition, i. _ _, _ _ glasgow speech, i. , ; hume's attack on, i. ; sent for by the queen, i. _ _; corn laws, i. , , , ; ii. ; jamaica government, i. ; i. , ; request to form a ministry, i. ; queen victoria's impression of, i. ; difficulties as to appointment of queen's household, i. - , - ; and the united states, i. ; lord melbourne's opinion of, i. ; free trade, i. ; ii. ; vote of censure, i. ; i. , ; prime minister and first lord of the treasury, i. ; interview with the queen, i. ; roman catholics, i. ; ii. _ _; king leopold's opinion of, i. ; queen's visit to, i. ; queen's appreciation of, ii. , , ; prince albert's title, ii. ; resignation and interview with prince albert, ii. , ; his attitude, ii. , ; returned to office, ii. - ; comprehensive scheme, ii. ; speech on opening of parliament, ii. ; objection to prince albert's memo, of their conversation, ii. ; explanation, ii. _ _, ; personal defence, ii. , ; resignation, ii. , ; account of his speech, ii. , ; takes leave of the queen, ii. , ; and prince albert, ii. ; ii. _ _; supports the ministry, ii. _ _; accident and death, ii. _ _, _ _- ---- frederick (afterwards right hon. sir frederick), maiden speech, ii. peelites, ii. , , , , _ _; position in government of , ii. , , ; iii. _ _; lord john russell's resignation, iii. ; government of , iii. , , , , , , , , , ; retirement of, iii. _ _; chinese debate, iii. _ _, _ _; conspiracy debate, iii. ; return to power, iii. _ _ peers, right of audience, i. , ; powers in money bills, iii. _ _ pélissier, general (afterwards duc de malakhoff), commander of the french army, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _; queen's congratulations to, iii. ; becomes duc de malakhoff, iii. _ _; iii. , , , _ _ pennefather, chief justice of the irish queen's bench, i. penny postage introduced, i. _ _, people's charter riots, i. _ _; ii. _ _ pepys, henry, bishop of worcester, death, iii. percy, lord henry hugh manvers, k.c.b., v.c., gallantry at inkerman, iii. perekop, isthmus of, iii. perim, island of, iii. perry, sir erskine, ex-chief justice of bombay, indian mutiny debate, iii. persia, turkey, and england, iii. _ _; war with england, iii. _ _; siege of herat, iii. _ _; hostilities terminated, and terms of peace, iii. _ _ persigny, m. de, french ambassador in london, iii. _ _, , _ _, ; interview with earl of clarendon, iii. ; orsini incident, iii. : resignation, iii. ; iii. ; war with austria, iii. _ _, , ; visit to the queen, iii. , peshawur, ii. peterborough, bishop of, _see_ davys pfordten, m. von der, iii. philippe (second son of king leopold i., afterwards count of flanders), i. , phillimore, dr, counsel to the admiralty, iii. _ _ phillips, mr t. (mayor of newport), knighted, i. philipotts, henry, bishop of exeter, ii. _ _; iii. philpott, canon henry, bishop of worcester, iii. _ _ phipps, maria henrietta sophia, marriage of, iii. ---- hon. sir charles, ii. , ; iii. _ _, , pianori, giacomo, iii. _ _ piccolomini, max, i. piedmont, war with austria, ii. , , , , ; invasion of, iii. _ _ piedmontese, ii. _ _, _ _ pierri, execution of, iii. _ _ piræus, fleet sent to, ii. _ _ pitt, william, i. pius ix., pope, ii. _ _; flight to gaëta, ii. , _ _; letter to the queen, ii. ; reply, ii. ; papal brief, titles for english bishops, ii. _ _, _ _; papal aggression, ii. - ; and england, iii. ; invasion of the papal states, iii. _ _; iii. playfair, dr, irish commissioner, potato disease, ii. plombières, compact of, iii. _ _, _ _ poerio, iii. poles and russia, ii. , polk, president (u.s.a.), ii. _ _ pollock, general (afterwards sir george), successes in afghanistan, i. _ _, , ; g.c.b., i. pollon, count, sardinian minister, i. ponsonby, lord (ambassador at constantinople), i. , ; ii. poor law act, i. , _ _, , ; state maintenance of the poor, ii. ; commission, ii. pope, _see_ pius ix. and gregory xvi. _the pope and the congress_, famous pamphlet, iii. _ _ porte, the, i. ; and austria, i. ; convention of , i. , ; and mehemet ali, i. ; eastern question, ii. _ _, - , _ _, - , ; iii. _ _, , , _ _; turkish success, iii. _ _; alma, iii. _ _, ; inkerman, iii. _ ;_ four points negotiation, iii. _ _, ; protection of christian subjects, iii. _ _ portland, third duke of, i. ---- fifth duke of, iii. portugal, revolution, i. _ _, , ; and england, i. _ _, , ; ii. , , ; and spain, i. , ; ii. ; new ministry, i. _ _; slave trade, i. ; insurrection, ii. _ _, ; civil war and constitutional troubles, ii. _ _, , , , , ; lord palmerston's attack on, ii. _ _; case of don pacifico, ii. _ _, _ _, , , _ _, _ _ ---- king of (prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg), i. ; queen's opinion of, i. ; commander-in-chief, i. , _ _; queen's letter to, on slave trade, i. ; and lord howard de walden, i. ---- maria da gloria, queen of, i. , _ _, _ _, ; letter on queen's engagement, i. ; dismissal of ministry, ii. _ _, ; iii. ---- stephanie, queen of, iii. , ---- prince of, the pope sponsor to, i. post office, inauguration of penny post, i. , ; sunday delivery, ii. pottinger, sir henry, successes in china, i. _ _, ; g.c.b., i. ; i. , , powys, captain, i. pozzo di borgo, count, russian ambassador, i. praet, van, i. , prætorius, dr, i. praslin, duchesse de, murdered by her husband, ii. _ _, prescott (canada), i. _ _ ---- mr, deputy governor of the bank, ii. presentations, fatigue of receiving, i. , preston, riot, i. pretorius, boer leader, ii. _ _ prime minister, lord melbourne on origin of term, i. primogeniture, i. _ _ _prince_, loss of the steamer, at balaklava, iii. _ _ principalities, the danubian, russia's invasion of, iii. _ _, , _ _, , ; relinquishment of russia's protectorate, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _, _ _ prior, matthew, i. privilege question, i. _ _ property, qualification, i. _ _ protection, i. _ _; ii. , , ; lord derby, ii. ; abandoned by disraeli, ii. _ _ protectionists, ii. , _ _, , , , , , _ _; check to, ii. , , _ _, , , , , ; iii. protestant, prince consort's declaration, i. - ; low church bigotry, ii. ; church in ireland, ii. proxy, voting, i. _ _ prussia (_see_ prussia, king of), and holland, i. ; ii. , ; eastern question, ii. _ _; alliance with austria, iii. _ _; position in impending war, iii. , ; and england, iii. ; admission to war conference, iii. , ---- king of (frederick william iv.), i. ; visit to queen victoria, i. , - ; on swiss quarrels, ii. ; on french revolution, ii. ; declines imperial crown of germany, ii. _ _; diet of erfurt, ii. ; peace with denmark, ii. ; and austria, ii. , ; queen victoria's letter to, on his position, iii. ; reply, iii. ; russia's influence over, iii. ; letter from the queen, iii. ; iii. ; account of his death, iii. , - prussia, queen of, iii. , prussia, prince of (afterwards king william i.), visit to queen victoria, ii. , , ; a refugee, ii. _ _; queen's appreciation of, ii. ; coronation, iii. _ _, - ; interview with napoleon, iii. ---- prince frederick william of (afterwards emperor frederick), question of marriage, iii. , , , , , , ; marriage to the princess royal, iii. , _ _, ; birth of a son (present emperor), iii. ; death of the king of prussia, iii. - ; coronation of the king and queen of prussia, iii. - ---- marie louise augusta, princess of (grandmother of present german emperor), ii. , , ; queen writes to, on death of czar, iii. pulteney, mr (afterwards earl of bath), i. punjab (_see_ india), ii. _ _, ; annexation of, ii. _ _, ; iii. _ _ puseyites, ii. , , , , quadruple alliance, i. _ _; ii. rachel, madame, i. racine, jean baptiste ( - ), tragedian and poet, i. radetzky, marshal, austrian general, ii. _ _, _ _, _ _; defeats piedmontese at custozza, ii. _ _, _ _ radicals, i. _ _, , _ _; ii. , , , _ _, ; defeat government on house tax, ii. - ; inclusion in lord aberdeen's government, ii. - ; iii. radnor, third earl of, i. radowitz, general, prussian minister for foreign affairs, ii. , raglan, lady, iii. ---- lord, _see_ somerset, lord fitzroy railways; accident near reading, i. ; queen's first journey on g.w.r., i. rajpoot hill states, ii. ramnuggur, english reverse at, ii. _ _ ramsgate, queen's visit to, i. , rangoon, ii. raphael, painter, i. rawul pindee, ii. rechberg, count, austrian foreign minister, iii. redan batteries, attack on, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _, , redschid pasha, turkish minister, ii. _ _; iii. reeve, henry, ii. reform bill, i. _ _, _ _; ii. , , _ _, , _ _; withdrawn, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _, _ _, _ _, ; introduced by disraeli, iii. _ _, reform, parliamentary and municipal, i. _ _ refugee question, ii. _ _ regency bill, i. _ _ reinhardtsbrun, i. ; ii. _ _ rellstab, louis, novelist, i. , review in windsor park, ii. ; crimean troops at aldershot, iii. _ _, , ; field day, , iii. ; at edinburgh, iii. _revue des deux mondes_, ii. _revue retrospective_, ii. rianzares, duke of, marriage, ii. _ _, rice, mr, m.p. for dover, iii. rich, mr, iii. ; baronet, iii. richmond, duchess of, i. ---- duke of, i. , _ _ rio janeiro, ii. _ _ riots, manchester, i. ; tollbar, i. _ _, , , ; chartist demonstration, ii. , ; birmingham, i. ; stockport, ii. ripon, first earl of (mr robinson), chancellor of the exchequer, speech on queen's education, i. , , ; president of board of trade, i. ; political history, i. _ _; ii. river plate, ii. robinson, mr, _see_ ripon earl of, rocky mountains, canada, dispute as to territory, ii. _ _ roden, third earl of, iii. roebuck, mr, ii. , ; motion on conduct of crimean war, iii. _ _, , - ; result, iii. , ; committee, iii. , , , , ; chinese dispute, iii. _ _; ireland, iii. ; reform bill, iii. rokeby, lord, iii. rolle, lord, queen's coronation, i. rollin, charles, _histoire ancienne_, i. ---- ledru, french president, ii. _ _, romagna, the, assembly of, and victor emmanuel, iii. _ _; iii. _ _ roman catholics, maynooth college grant, ii. _ _, ; bill, ii. , ; papal aggression, ii. _ _, - , , romano, giulio, painter, i. rome, prince albert's visit to, i. ; pope's flight from, ii. ; and england, ii. ; lord russell's draft on the roman question, iii. romilly, sir john, master of the rolls, iii. _ _ rosebery, fourth earl of, i. rosenau, the, ii. _ _ rosslyn, lady, i. rothesay, lord stuart de, ambassador at st petersburg, i. rothschild, baron, iii. _ _ rowan, colonel, commissioner of police, ii. roxburgh, duke of, i. _royal charter_, wreck of, iii. _ _ royal exchange opened by the queen, ii. _ _, ---- princess, _see_ victoria royston, lord, i. _ _ runjeet singh, i. ; ii. ; koh-i-noor diamond, ii. russell, lord john (afterwards earl), irish municipal bill, i. _ _; leader of the house, i. ; result of the elections, i. ; i. ; death of his wife, i. , , ; home secretary, i. _ _; civil government of the army, i. ; corn laws, i. , ; politics, i. , , , ; sugar duties, i. ; colonial secretary, i. ; political career of, i. _ _; reply to plymouth address, i. ; opposition to income tax bill, i. ; conversion to repeal of corn laws, ii. _ _, ; views on queen's absence from england, ii. ; unable to form a government, ii. - , ; resignation of sir r. peel, ii. , ; undertakes to form a government, ii. , ; pensions, ii. ; queen's views on a dissolution, ii. ; spanish marriage difficulties, ii. - , ; portuguese and spanish affairs, ii. , , , ; possible dissolution, ii. ; crisis in the city, ii. ; birth of second son, ii. _ _; difficulty as to despatches, ii. _ _, , , ; germany, ii. ; case of don pacifico and mr finlay, ii. - , ; report, ii. ; prince albert's memos. on lord palmerston's foreign policy, ii. , , , ; offer to resign, ii. ; on lord palmerston's removal, ii. ; haynau despatch, ii. - ; on ritualism, "no popery," ii. _ _; and sir james graham, ii. ; defeat of government, ii. , , resignation of, ii. ; failures to form a new government, ii. - ; memo. as to uniting with peelites, ii. ; old government to continue, ii. ; memo. on state of government, ii. ; palmerston's reception of kossuth, ii. - ; parliamentary reform, ii. , ; lord palmerston's approval of _coup d'état_, paris, ii. - ; dismissal of lord palmerston, ii. ; and lord palmerston's successor, ii. - ; discomfiture of lord palmerston in the house, ii. - ; resignation, ii. ; lord grey's opinion of, ii. , ; and lord palmerston, ii. ; ii. ; on dissolution, ii. ; militia bill blunder, ii. ; education, ii. ; ii. ; refusal of foreign office, ii. - ; accepts foreign office, ii. - ; resigns foreign secretaryship, ii. _ _; leadership without office, ii. ; pledged to introduction of reform bill, ii. _ _ possible retirement, ii. , ; war measures, ii. ; president of the council, iii. _ _, ; withdraws reform bill, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _, _ _; incomprehensible actions, iii. _ _, ; disraeli's attack on, iii. _ _; austrian alliance, iii. , ; urges more vigorous measures, iii. _ _; proposed resignation, iii. - ; and mr kennedy's loss of office, iii. ; ministry defeated, resignation, iii. _ _, , , ; visit to paris, iii. _ _; failure to form a government, iii. - ; government of , iii. ; vienna conference, iii. _ _, _ _; colonial office, iii. _ _, ; austria's proposed terms of crimean settlement, iii. _ _; attacks on, and resignation, iii. _ _, _ _, , _ _; iii. ; chinese dispute, iii. _ _, _ _; and the house of lords, iii. ; retains his seat, iii. _ _; financial crisis, iii. ; conspiracy bill, iii. _ _; reform bill, iii. ; india bill, iii. ; competitive examinations, iii. ; new reform bill, iii. _ _, ; reconciliation with palmerston, iii. _ _; foreign secretary, iii - ; france and austria, iii. ; differences with the queen on italian policy, iii. - , - , - , - ; reform bill, iii. _ _; revolution doctrines, iii. ; despatch to french government, iii. ; abolition of paper duties bill, iii. - ; proposed visit of emperor of austria, iii. ; disagreement with palmerston, iii. _ _, ; goes to the house of lords, iii. _ _, ; despatch to america, iii. _ _; iii. ; and gen. garibaldi, iii. , , , ; danish question, iii. ; draft to rome, iii. ; the garter, iii. ; peerage, iii. _ _ ---- lord william, i. ; murder of, i. ---- odo (afterwards lord ampthill), secretary of legation at florence, iii. ; interviews with the pope; iii. , russell's _modern europe_, i. russia, hereditary grand duke of (afterwards alexander ii), i. , ---- nicholas, emperor of, i. ; visit to england, ii. ; queen's opinion of, ii. , , , ; effect on foreign countries, ii. ; on the french revolution, ii. ; dispute with france, ii. _ _; letters to and from the queen on the eastern question, ii. - ; and turkey, iii. , ; and napoleon, iii. ; interview with sir h. seymour, iii. ; death, iii. _ _, ---- empress-dowager of, widow of emperor nicholas, iii. ---- alexander, emperor of, _see_ alexander ---- empress marie alexandrovna (wife of alexander), iii. _ _ ---- and england, i. ; protector of the porte, i. ; and central asia, i. ; france and england, ii. ; poland, ii. _ _; dispute with france, ii. _ _; war with turkey, ii. _ _; eastern question, ii. - , - , - ; iii. _ _, , , , ; ambassador leaves london, iii. _ _; england declares war with, iii. _ _; napoleon's views on the crisis, iii. , ; prussia, iii. ; repulse by turkey, iii. _ _; defeat on the alma, iii. _ _, ; opinion of, in india, iii. , ; balaklava, iii. ; inkerman, iii. _ _, - ; death of czar nicholas, iii. _ _; fall of sebastopol, iii. _ _; "four points" negotiation, iii. _ _, ; kertsch and the gravel pits (redan) taken, iii. _ _; defeat on the river tchernaya, iii. _ _; austrian ultimatum, iii. ; peace and terms of settlement, iii. _ _, - ; procrastination in carrying out terms, iii. _ _, , _ _ _ _; lord granville's opinion of, iii. ; reported treaty with france, iii. , _ _; danish question, iii. sailors' homes, iii. st albans, disfranchisement, ii. _ _ st arnaud, marshal, commands french army in crimea, death, iii. _ _, , _ _ st cloud, queen's visit to, iii. st edward's chair, i. ---- chapel, i. , st germans, earl of, postmaster-general, ii. st juan, island of, united states claim to, iii. st leonards, queen's visit to, i. , st leonards, lord (lord chancellor), refusal to join government of , iii. saint-simon, duc de, _mémoires_, i. sak, proposed occupation of, iii. saldanha, marshal, ii. sale, lady, her journal, i. ---- sir robert, success in afghanistan, i. _ _, , ; pension, i. ; death, ii. salisbury, bishop of (dr fisher), queen's reminiscences of, i. ---- marquess of, president of the council, iii. sand, george, _comtesse de rudolstadt_, novel by, ii. sandon, viscount, sugar duties, i. _ _ sandwich, countess of, i. sans souci, death of king of prussia at, iii. sardinia, princess clothilde of, marriage of, iii. _ _, _ _ ---- kings of, _see_ charles albert and victor emmanuel sardinia, ii. _ _, _ _; war with austria, ii. _ _, _ _, , , ; western alliance against russia, iii. _ _; success against russia, iii. _ _, , ; treaty of peace, iii. ; alliance with england and france against russia, iii. _ _; war with austria, and cession of lombardy to, iii. _ _; refusal to disarm, iii. _ _; sympathy with, iii. ; government of tuscany, iii. ; napoleon's promise of help, iii. _ _; duchies of parma, modena and romagna, transferred to, iii. _ _; disavowal of garibaldi, iii. _ _ savoy, annexation to france, iii. _ _, , saxe-coburg-gotha, house of, history of, i. , , saxe-coburg, ernest, duke of, (prince consort's father), i. , , _ _; death, ii. ---- ernest, prince of (prince consort's brother), i. , ; illness, i. ---- prince augustus of, parentage and marriage, i. , , , saxe-saalfeld-coburg, duchess of, i. , ---- francis, duke of, i. , ; iii. _ _ saxe-weimar, prince edward of, letter to the queen, iii. ---- prince william and princess louise of, i. saxony, crown prince of, iii. ---- frederick augustus ii., king of, ii. , schleinitz, m., ii. schleswig, ii. _ _, , , _ _; union with holstein, ii. , , _ _, ; iii. _ _ _school for scandal_, i. schulenberg, countess, iii. schwartzenberg, prince, prime minister of austria, ii. , scone palace, queen's visit to, i. , scotch fusiliers, wounded from the crimea, iii. scotland, church crisis, i. , , _ _; admission of ministers bill, i. , _ _; the queen's visit to balmoral, ii. - , , - ; to edinburgh, iii. scott, general, iii. ---- gilbert, architect, iii. _ _ scutari, iii. _ _; hospital at, iii. , , search, right of, on the high seas, ii. ; iii. , , seaton, lord, _see_ colborne sebastopol, iii. _ _, , ; bombardment, iii. ; fall, iii. _ _, secretary of state, _see_ state, secretary of ---- at war, _see_ war, secretary at sepoys, mutiny of, iii. _ _, , septennial act, i. _ _; ii. serpent's island, russia's claim to, iii. _ _, _ _ settembrini, iii. sévigné, mme. de, i. ; iii. seville, duke of (don enrique), ii. seymour, lord (afterwards duke of somerset), roebuck committee reports, iii. . _see_ somerset, duke of ---- admiral, occupies chinese fort, iii. _ _ ---- mr digby, m.p., iii. , ---- sir hamilton, minister at brussels, i. , ; envoy-extraordinary at lisbon, ii. , , , , _ _; petersburg, ii. ; eastern question, ii. _ _; recall from st petersburg, iii. _ _; interview with the czar, iii. ; "neutralisation," iii. shaftesbury, earl of, _see_ ashley, lord sheil, mr, minister at the court of tuscany, ii. ; death, ii. shere singh, surrender of, ii. short, dr thomas vowler (afterwards bishop of sodor and man), i. ; _sketch of history of church of england_, i. sibthorp, colonel, iii. sicily, rising in, ii. _ _, _ _. _see_ garibaldi sikhs (_see_ india), aggressive, ii. _ _; defeat of, ii. _ _, ; boundaries, ii. ; murder of two englishmen, ii. _ _; hostility of, ii. , ; successful operations against, ii. _ _, silesia, insurrection in, ii. _ _ silistria, turkish success at, iii. _ _, _ _ simpson, general, retirement from the command in the crimea, iii. _ _; death of lord raglan, iii. ; commander-in-chief, iii. ; position, iii. ; queen's congratulations on fall of sebastopol, iii. , sinclair, sir george, m.p., i. singapore, convict population of, iii. singh, maharajah dhuleep, _see_ dhuleep sinope harbour, affair of, ii. _ _, ; iii. slavery, abolition of, i. , , , slidell, mr, southern confederacy envoy, iii. , , smith, mr robert vernon (afterwards lord lyveden), under-secretary for war and the colonies, i. _ _, ; iii. ; board of control, iii. _ _, , ; annexation of oudh, iii. _ _, _ _; on indian mutiny, iii. ; iii. ; oudh proclamation, iii. _ _ ---- sir harry, ii. _ _; governor of cape of good hope, boer war, ii. _ _; wounded, ii. _ _; kaffir war, ii. _ _; orange river free state, iii. ---- sir lionel, governor of jamaica, i. _ _ smithfield, cattle show, queen's visit to, iii. smyth, william, professor of modern history, i. smythe, george, member of "young england" party, ii. _ _ sobraon, defeat of the sikhs at, ii. _ _, socialism, possibilities in russia, iii. society for the propagation of the gospel, prince consort presides at meeting, ii. _ _ solferino, battle of, iii. _ _, _ _ solyman pasha, i. somerset, th duke of, death, iii. ---- th duke of, first lord of the admiralty, iii. ; garter, iii. ; iii. . _see_ seymour, lord ---- lord fitzroy, afterwards lord raglan ii. , ; commander of forces for the east, iii. _ _; victory at the alma, iii. ; field-marshal, iii. , ; inkerman, iii. , - ; death of, iii. _ _, ; welfare of the army, iii. , , somnauth, gates of temple of, i. - , , sonderbund, the, ii. sooja, shah, ameer of afghanistan, . _ _, _ _, , , ; koh-i-noor diamond, ii. sophia, princess, daughter of george iii., i. ; death, ii. soult, marshal, duke of dalmatia, i. ; ii. south africa, natal insurrection, i. ; sir h. smith's proclamation in , ii. _ _; dutch war, ii. southern, mr, secretary of legation at lisbon, ii. , , , spain, disputed succession, i. _ _, , _ _; and portugal, i. , ; ii. , ; lord palmerston on, i. ; battle at bilbao, i. ; constitution, i. , ; condition of, i. , _ _; the fueros, i. ; mission, i. ; guardianship of young queen, i. _ _; and france, i. , , , ; proposed marriage of the young queen, i. , , , ; ii. _ _, , , _ _, , - ; don carlos' abdication of claim to throne, ii. _ _; changes in ministry, ii. _ _; and england, ii. _ _; and sir h. bulwer, ii. ; and lord palmerston, ii. ; queen of spain's desire for the garter, ii. ---- infanta of, i. _ _; ii. , , _ _, , , , ; iii. _ _ ---- queen of, _see_ christina späth, baroness, i. , , spithead, accident, ii. spooner, mr, conspiracy bill debate, iii. spring rice, mr, chancellor of exchequer, i. stafford, augustus, secretary of the admiralty, iii. stamp duties bill, iii. ; stamp on cheques, iii. _standard_, newspaper, iii. stanhope, philip henry, fourth earl, i. ---- lady wilhelmina, i. , , stanley, lord (afterwards fourteenth earl of derby), thrice prime minister, i. _ _, ; colonial secretary, i. , , ; corn laws, ii. ; resignation, ii. , ; protection dinner, ii. , _ _; vote of censure, ii. _ _, _ _, , , ; failure to form a government, ii. , , , , , , ; prime minister, ii. - ; and the church, ii. ; adherence to treaties, ii. ; the queen's views on militia bill, ii. ; disfranchisement bill, ii. ; question of dissolution, ii. ; progress of democracy, ii. , ; protection, ii. ; militia bill, ii. , , ; italy, ii. , ; military appointments, ii. ; national defences, ii. , - ; confusion of parties, ii. - ; budget, ii. ; princess hohenlohe's marriage, ii. - ; resignation, ii. - ; attack on lord aberdeen, ii. , _ _, , ; takes leave of the queen, ii. ; roebuck motion, iii. ; failure to form a government, iii. , - , ; on title of prince consort, iii. _ _, ; china war debate, attack on lord palmerston, iii. ; conspiracy bill, iii. _ _, , ; forms a government, iii. - ; oudh proclamation and resignation of lord ellenborough, iii. -_ _; possible dissolution, iii. , - ; vote of censure withdrawn, iii. - ; competitive examinations, iii. , ; new reform bill, iii. _ _; queen's letter to french emperor, iii. ; indian army question, iii. - ; queen's letter to emperor of austria, iii. ; proposed congress to settle italian question, iii. - ; queen's speech, iii. - ; resignation on defeat of government, iii. _ _, , ---- lord (afterwards fifteenth earl of derby), colonial secretary, iii. , , ; his position with regard to the queen, iii. - ; indian army question, iii. , , ; peers and money bills, iii. _ _ stanley of alderley, lord, secretary to treasury, i. , ; iii. state, secretary of, duties of, i. ; iii. stéphanie, grand duchess, ii. stephen, james, under-secretary for colonies, retirement, ii. ; privy council, ii. stockmar, baron, private physician and secretary to king leopold, unofficial adviser to the queen, i. ; accompanies prince albert on tour, i. , ; his character, i. , , ; i. , , , , , , , , ; memos. on lord melbourne's correspondence with the queen, i. , , , ; illness, i. ; i. , ; spanish marriage, ii. , ; on a minister's duty, ii. ; ii. , , ; legion of honour, ii. ; iii. , ; illness of, iii. stockport, riot at, ii. stopford, admiral sir robert, i. _ _, stowell, lord, law of nations, iii. strafford, earl of, ii. , _ _, ; field-marshal, iii. _ _ straits settlements, iii. strangford, viscount, i. , strangways, brigadier-general, died at inkerman, iii. _ _ stratford de redcliffe, viscount (formerly sir stratford canning), ii. , ; eastern question, ii. _ _, _ _, _ _, , , - , , ; illness of, iii. ; victory of the alma, iii. ; and the pope, iii. strawberry hill, sale of, i. strelitz, ii. strickland, miss agnes, i. stroekens, major, i. strutt, mr, chancellor of the duchy, iii. _ _ stuart, miss, marriage, i. ---- wortley j. (afterwards second baron wharncliffe), president of the council, i. , sudbury, disfranchisement of, ii. suffrage, queen's view of, ii. ; extension of, ii. , , sugar duty, i. ; colonial preference, ii. _ _, sully, maximilien, duc de, memoirs of, i. , sunday bands, iii. surrey, earl of (afterwards thirteenth duke of norfolk), i. ; treasurer of the household, i. _ _ sussex, duke of, politics, i. , , , , , ; ireland, i. , ; precedence, i. ; regency bill, i. _ _, , ; will of, i. , sutherland, second duke of, death, iii. _ _ ---- duchess of, i. , ; queen victoria's valued friend, ii. ; letter to queen on her husband's death, iii. sweaborg, bombardment of, iii. _ _ sweden, and morocco, ii. ; schleswig question, ii. _ _; and norway, iii. _ _ ---- and norway, charles xv., king of, visit to the queen, iii. ; his views on foreign affairs, iii. - switzerland, internecine strife, ii. _ _, - ; and france, ii. ; rising in, iii. _ _; protest against annexation of savoy, iii. _ _; claim to parts of savoy, iii. _ _ syria, i. _ _, _ _, ; successes in, i. , _ _; war, ii. ; napoleon's policy, iii. _ _ tahiti, dispute with france, ii. _ _, _ _, tait, dr a. c., bishop of london, iii. talbot, lady mary, i. , ---- monsignore, iii. tallenay, m. de, ii. _ _, talleyrand, prince, death of, i. tamburini, sr, opera singer, i. _ _ tangiers, bombardment of, ii. tankerville, earl of, i. tawell, salt hill murderer, ii. taylor, sir herbert, i. taymouth, lord breadalbane's house, queen's visit to, i. tchernaya, river, success of the allies at, iii. _ _, _ _ téba, count de (afterwards count de montijo), ii. _ _ temple, the hon. sir william, k.c.b., minister plenipotentiary, naples, iii. _ _ templetown, viscount, i. tennent, sir james emerson, i. tennyson, alfred, poet, ii. ; poet laureate, ii. terceira, duc de, i. _ _; ii. terni, cataract at, prince albert's visit to, i. thames, pollution of the, iii. _ _ theresa, archduchess, i. thérèse, princess, i. thiers, louis a., french premier, i. , ; ii. , thirlwall, bishop of st david's, iii. thouvenel, m. de, french foreign minister, iii. ; and lord john russell's despatch, iii. ; iii. threepenny pieces, circulation of, ii. ticino, austrian troops on the, iii. _ _, timber duty, i. _times_, newspaper, i. ; ii. , , _ _, _ _, , , , , , , , , , , _ _; iii. _ _, , ; crimea, iii. ; queen's visit to france, iii. ; enquiry on crimean officers, iii. ; iii. , ; attacks on prussia, iii. ; report of a private interview, iii. ; abuse of germany, iii. , tindal, chief justice, i. tippoo sahib, iii. tite, mr (afterwards sir william), architect, iii. tithes, i. _ _ tollbar riots, i. _ _, , tomantoul, queen's visit to, iii. tory party and the royal family, i. , ; consolidation of, i. ; queen's opinion of, i. _ _, , , , , , ; failure of, i. ; organisation of, i. ; unsuccessful attempt to form a ministry, i. - ; vote of censure on government and success at the polls, i. _ _, ; nottingham election, i. ; amendment to address, , i. ; cabinet, i. , ; finance, income-tax, import duties, i. _ _; corn law debate, i. , ; irish arms bill, i. ; dissensions (young england party), ii. _ _, ; resignation, ii. _ _, ; return to office, ii. _ _, ; repeal of corn laws, ii. _ _; defeat on irish coercion bill. ii. _ _; resignation, ii. , _ _; on intervention in portugal, ii. _ _, ii. ; peril of the ministry, ii. ; defeat of the government, ii. ; inability to form a government, ii. - ; parliamentary reform, ii. , ; resignation of whig government, ii. ; lord derby becomes prime minister, ii. - ; first debate, ii. - ; question of dissolution, ii. ; free trade debate, ii. _ _; budget, ii. ; defeat on house tax and resignation, ii. - ; china war debate, iii. tractarian movement, ii. , transport land corps, iii. transvaal, independence of, ii. _ _; iii. trapani, count, spanish marriage, ii. _ _, , , , treaty of , settlement of eastern question, iii. _ _, , _ _, ; nanking, i. _ _ trelawney, sir john, and church rates, iii. _ _ trench, richard chenevix, dean of westminster, iii. _trent_, steamship, seizure of envoys, iii. , tréport, queen's visit to, ii. ; ii. trianon, iii. troubridge, sir thomas, c.b., great gallantry at inkerman, iii. trouville, ii. truelove, trial of, iii. _ _ tuckett, captain harvey, i. _ _ tulloch, colonel, iii. _ _ tunbridge wells, queen's visits to, i. , , , turgot, m., ii. _ _, , turkey, convention about egypt, i. - , ; war with russia, ii. _ _; eastern question, ii. , - , _ _, _ _, - , - ; and persia, iii. ; russian occupation of the principalities, iii. , _ _, ; protocol signed for integrity of, iii. _ _; success of, iii. _ _; inkerman, iii. - ; peace and terms of settlement, iii. _ _, - , _ _ turton, dr thomas, dean of ely, ii. _ _ tuscans, deputation to king victor emmanuel, iii. _ _ tuscany, duke of, pope's opinion of, iii. ---- government of, iii. _ _, umbria, conquered, iii. _ _ unemployed, the, ii. , united states, dispute with canada, i. _ _, , _ _, ; treaty, i. , ; boundary dispute with england, ii. _ _; oregon boundary, ii. ; foreign enlistment act, iii. _ _, _ _; financial crisis, iii. _ _; military occupation of st juan, iii. ; prince of wales's visit to, iii. _ _; abolitionist troubles, iii. _ _; conflict between federal government and southern states, iii. _ _; right to search neutral ships, iii. , , ; draft despatch for release of mason and slidell, iii. unkiar skelessi, treaty of, i. uruguay, ii. _ _ utrecht, treaty of, ii. uxbridge, earl of, i. , , ---- countess of, i. ; death, ii. valliant, marshal, minister of war, iii. ; g.c.b., iii. ; opinion of morocco, iii. ; goes to italy in , iii. vane, lord harry, conspiracy bill debate, iii. varna, allied forces sailing from, iii. _ _, venice, republic proclaimed, ii. _ _; ii. ; venetia in , iii. _ _ verney, sir harry, ii. versailles, queen's visit to, iii. vico, colonel, death of, iii. _ _ victoire, princess, of saxe-coburg, i. ; marriage to duc de nemours, i. ; flight from france, ii. , , , ; visits queen victoria, ii. , victor emmanuel, king of sardinia, ii. _ _, ; visit to england, iii. _ _, _ _; joins the western alliance, iii. _ _; rumoured conversation with louis napoleon, iii. ; proposed marriage, iii. _ _; war with austria, entry into milan, and conclusion of peace, iii. _ _; and the pope, iii. ; cession of savoy and nice, iii. _ _; war with austria, iii. ; as king of italy, iii. _ _ victoria, queen, ancestry of, i. - ; political position of, i. ; memoir of her early years, i. - ; relations and friends, i. - ; close correspondence and relationship with king leopold, i. ; formation of her character, i. - ; interesting points in her correspondence, i. - born th may at kensington palace, i. - reminiscences of early childhood, written by herself, i. - miss lehzen becomes her governess, i. visits george iv. at windsor, i. - ; serious illness, i. , visits george iv. at windsor, i. first letter to prince leopold, i. duchess of kent's memo, on education, i. - ; june, george iv. died and william iv. succeeded, i. ; duchess of northumberland appointed official governess, i. king leopold on the necessity of forming her character, i. visits hever castle, i. ; reading and studies, i. - confirmation, i. painful scene between the duchess of kent and william iv., i. ; possible suitors, i. , ; admiration for prince albert, i. , , ; visits lord liverpool at buxted park, i. ; church matters, i. ; ; change of name discussed, i. music with prince albert, i. ; her establishment, i. , ; william iv. offers her an independent income, i. ; th may--attains her majority, i. ; accession imminent, i. ; reliance on lord melbourne, i. ; th june--death of william iv.: queen victoria's accession, i. ; reminiscences of events on the king's death, i. ; address of condolence and congratulation, i. ; her nationality, i. ; her ministers, i. ; th july--goes to buckingham palace, i. ; th july--prorogues parliament, i. ; singing lessons, i. ; the elections, i. ; king leopold's visit to windsor castle, i. ; visit to brighton, i. ; goes to the house of lords and gives her assent to the civil list bill, i. prince albert's education, i. ; distress at death of louisa louis, i. , ; deaths of old servants, i. ; arrangements for the coronation, i. , ; draft letter to the king of portugal on slave trade, i. ; brilliant ball, i. ; th june--coronation day, queen's reminiscences of, i. - ; th july--coronation review in hyde park, i. ; at windsor castle, i. at brighton, i. ; death of princess marie of orleans, i. ; opens parliament, i. ; disagreement with king leopold, i. - ; prince albert's tour in italy, i. ; resignation of lord melbourne, i. ; audience with duke of wellington and sir r. peel, i. - ; refusal to allow sir r. peel to appoint ladies of her household, i. - ; lord melbourne's return to office, i. ; ball at buckingham palace, i. ; views on cabinet crisis, i. ; feelings for prince albert, i. , ; at the opera, i. ; arrival of princes albert and ernest at windsor castle, i, ; announcement of her engagement to prince albert, i. , ; her happiness, i. ; her letters to the royal family, i. , ; letters to prince albert, i. , , , , , , , - , ; reads declaration before the privy council, i. ; suggested peerage for prince albert, i. - ; prince albert's household, i. - queen opens parliament and announces intended marriage, i. ; prince albert's grant, i. ; marriage of the queen to prince albert, i. _ _, _ _; disturbance at the opera, i. ; prince albert and politics, i. ; attempted assassination by oxford, i. ; views on foreign affairs, i. , ; birth of princess royal, i. christening of princess royal, i. ; speech from the throne, i. , ; operations in china, i. , ; the budget, i. ; household appointment difficulties, i. - ; impartiality, i. ; visit to ascot and nuneham, i. ; visit to woburn abbey, i. , ; carriage accident, i. ; resignation of whig ministry, i. ; prince albert as adviser, i. , ; interview with sir r. peel and sorrow at parting with lord melbourne, i. ; seals of office exchanged, i. ; question of future correspondence with lord melbourne, i. , , , , , ; indisposition, i. ; birth of first son, now king edward vii., i. ; he is created prince of wales, i. ; domestic happiness, i. christening of the prince of wales, i. , ; visit to brighton, i. ; excursion to portsmouth, i. ; decision to pay income tax, i. ; selection of a governess, i. , ; ball at buckingham palace, i. , ; attempt by francis on the queen's life, i. ; ascot and review of cavalry, i. ; first railway journey, i. ; list of presents sent by the imam of muscat, i. ; attempt by bean on the queen's life, i. ; death of the duke of orleans, i. , , , ; strike riots, i, - ; prorogues parliament, i. ; visit to scotland, i. , ; return to windsor, i. ; steam yacht, i. ; domestic happiness, i. ; visit to walmer castle, i. , , ; king of hanover's claim to crown jewels, i. , ; and france, i. , gaieties at windsor, i. ; visit and recollections of claremont, i. ; education of prince of wales, i. ; domestic happiness, i. ; new chapel at buckingham palace, i. ; views on the verdict, not guilty but insane, in macnaghten trial, i. ; prince consort to hold levées for the queen, i. , , , ; the toast of the prince, i. ; birth and christening of princess alice, i. , ; turnpike riots in south wales, i. , ; resignation of the duchess of norfolk as bedchamber woman and successor, i. , , ; suppression of duelling, i. ; the crown jewels, i. ; visit to the king and queen of france at château d'eu, i. ; visit to belgium, i. ; visit to cambridge, wimpole, and bourne, i. , , , ; visit to sir r. peel at drayton manor, i. , ; visit of prince consort to birmingham, i. , , ; visit to belvoir castle and chatsworth, i. , opens the new royal exchange, ii. _ _, ; visit to claremont, ii. , ; carriage accident, ii. ; death of the duke of saxe-coburg gotha, ii. ; _brochure_ of prince de joinville, ii. ; visit of the emperor nicholas of russia, ii. _ _, - , , ; domestic happiness, ii. , ; uncle and niece, ii. ; review in windsor great park, and ascot races, ii. ; visit of king louis philippe, ii. , spanish marriage question, ii. , ; state of buckingham palace, ii. ; question as to prince albert's title, ii. ; sponsor to sir r. peel's grandson, ii. ; queen's purchase of osborne, ii. , ; low church bigotry, ii. ; king leopold's birthday letter, ii. ; visit of the king of holland, ii. _ _; on the queen's absences from england, ii. ; visit to holland and coburg, and to tréport to king louis philippe, ii. ; sir r. peel's resignation and return to office, ii. - ; letter from king louis philippe, ii. ; reply, ii. - opening of parliament in person, ii. _ _; defeat of the sikhs, ii. - ; coercion bill, ireland, ii. ; resignation of sir r. peel, ii. - ; lord john russell forms a government, ii. - ; parting with ministers, ii. ; spanish marriage question, ii. , , - ; views as to dissolution, ii. ; the government of canada, ii. ; duke of wellington's statue, ii. ; indignation at the engagement of the queen of spain, ii. - ; visit to jersey, ii. ; visit to osborne, ii. ; peninsular war medals, ii. , , views as to governing portugal, ii. - ; church patronage, ii. ; difference with lord palmerston, ii. , ; at the opera to hear jenny lind, ii. ; duke of wellington's statue, ii. ; visit to ardverikie, ii. ; and mr. cobden, ii. ; foreign policy, ii. - ; on the swiss dispute, ii. ; the bishops and dr hampden, ii. ; advance of money to lord melbourne, ii. madame adélaïde's death, ii. - ; abdication and flight of king louis philippe to claremont, ii. _ _- ; princess louise born th march, ii. _ _; chartist demonstration, ii. - ; displeased with lord palmerston, ii. , , , , , , , , ; position of the french royal family, ii. , ; views on foreign policy, ii. ; eulogy on prince albert, ii. ; describes balmoral, ii. ; views of the austrian and italian questions, ii. ; stays at osborne, ii. , ; letter from pope pius ix., ii. ; relations with france, ii. receives the koh-i-noor diamond, ii. _ _; correspondence with pope pius ix., ii. , ; letter from napoleon, ii. ; memo. on french republic, ii. , ; hamilton's attempt on her life, ii. ; method of dealing with despatches, ii. , ; on schleswig-holstein question, ii. , , , , ; visits ireland (cork, dublin, waterford, kingston, belfast), ii. - ; coal exchange opened, ii. _ _; thanksgiving after cholera epidemic, ii. ; death of queen adelaide, ii. pate's attack, ii. _ _, ; the draft to greece, ii. , , ; prince albert's speech, ii. ; koh-i-noor diamond, ii. ; birth and christening of prince arthur, ii. ; stays at osborne, ii. ; death of first duke of cambridge, ii. ; duties of the foreign secretary, ii. ; death of king louis philippe, ii. ; visits scotland, ii. ; death of the queen of the belgians, ii. , , ; lord palmerston and the haynau despatch, ii. , ; on germany, ii. , ; on religious strife, ii. , ; papal aggression, ii. - principle of diplomatic appointments, ii. , ; memo. on sir j. graham joining the cabinet, ii. , ; resignation of government, ii. , ; difficulties in forming a government, ii. - ; success of the exhibition in hyde park, ii. , , ; guildhall ball, ii. ; visit to balmoral, allt-na-giuthasach and lochnagar, ii. - ; lord palmerston and louis kossuth, ii. - ; death of king of hanover, ii. ; views on franchise and suffrage proposals, ii. ; louis napoleon's _coup d'état_, ii. ; dismissal of lord palmerston, ii. - ; review of foreign affairs, ii. crown of denmark, ii. ; women and politics, ii. ; new houses of parliament, ii. ; pressure of business, ii. ; change of government, ii. - ; household appointments, ii. , ; on foreign affairs, ii. , ; visits osborne, ii. , , ; on italy, ii. , ; louis napoleon's position, ii. ; visits osborne, ii. ; inherits mr neild's fortune, ii. ; visits balmoral, ii. ; views on national defence, ii. , - ; death of the duke of wellington, ii. - , , ; her admiration of his character, ii. ; louis napoleon becomes emperor, ii. , , _ _; letter to him, ii. ; secret protocol, ii. ; views on princess of hohenlohe's marriage, ii. - , , ; lord aberdeen's new government, ii. - ; lord derby's tribute to, ii. french emperor's marriage, ii. - ; eastern question, ii. _ _, - , , - ; views on lord john russell's position, ii. ; birth of prince leopold (afterwards duke of albany), ii. _ _; congratulations from the emperor of russia, ii. ; views on india bill, ii. ; correspondence with emperor of russia on eastern question, ii. - ; lord stratford's despatch, ii. opens crystal palace, iii. _ _; press attacks on prince albert, iii. _ _, , , ; on reception of orleans family, iii. , ; reform bill, iii. , ; on competitive examinations, iii. , ; desires augmentation of army, iii. ; baltic fleet sails, iii. ; correspondence with king of prussia on eastern question, iii. - , - , - ; declaration of war with russia, iii. _ _; on the defenceless state of england, iii. ; on the state of india, iii. , ; views on army promotions, iii. ; disapproves of special prayers for illness, iii. ; french emperor's letter after prince albert's visit, iii. , ; battle of the alma, iii. , ; treatment of indian princes, iii. ; views on austrian alliance, iii. , ; balaklava, iii. , _ _; inkerman, iii. , - ; crimean medal, iii. ; condition of hospital at scutari, iii. _ _ visits the french emperor, iii. _ _; king of sardinia visits england, iii. _ _; opinion on the "four points" negotiations, iii. ; confidence in lord aberdeen, iii. - ; on the duties of ambassadors and foreign secretaries, iii. , ; on lord john russell's resignation, iii. - ; memo. on the crisis, iii. , ; on government's resignation, iii. ; inability of lord derby and lord john russell to form a government, iii. - ; lord palmerston forms a government, iii. - ; letter to king of prussia, iii. ; visit to the wounded from crimea, iii. ; letter to princess of prussia on sudden death of the czar, iii. ; hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, iii. ; crimean medals, iii. ; visit of the emperor and empress of the french, iii. ; review in windsor park, iii. _ _; investiture of the french emperor, iii. _ _; letter from the emperor, and reply, iii. , ; queen's opinion of french emperor, iii. - ; distribution of medals, iii. ; power of appointing governor-general of india, iii. , ; death of lord raglan, iii. ; letter to lady raglan, iii. ; message to the army, iii. ; lord john russell resigns, iii. , ; gen. simpson's difficulties in the crimea, iii. ; sunday bands, iii. ; account of her visit to france, iii. - ; letter to french emperor, iii. ; first occupation of balmoral, iii. _ _; sebastopol taken, iii. ; queen's message, iii. , ; princess royal's proposed marriage with crown prince of prussia, iii. , ; queen's desire for a dockyard on the forth, iii. ; discusses proposals of peace, iii. - victoria cross, iii. ; correspondence with french emperor on the ultimatum, iii. - , , ; views on the council of war at paris, iii. , ; views of king of sardinia, iii. ; england's policy, iii. ; letter to florence nightingale, iii. ; distribution of honours, iii. ; commission on the conduct of crimean officers, iii. ; question of marriage of princess royal, iii. , , ; queen's views on treaty of peace, iii. - ; peace fête at crystal palace, iii. ; enquiries before appointments offered, iii. ; memorandum on her husband's status, iii. - , ; sunday bands, iii. ; title of prince consort conferred, iii. _ _; review of crimean troops, iii. _ _, , ; proposed marriage of princess mary, iii. , ; letter to empress of the french as to treaty of paris, and reply, iii. , ; balmoral, iii. ; defence of england, iii. ; death of prince charles of leiningen, iii. , ; letter to louis napoleon, iii. indian mutiny, iii. _ _, , ; china war debate, iii. _ _, _ _; french emperor's feelings towards england, iii. ; princess beatrice born, iii. ; marriage of princess charlotte of belgium, iii. _ _, _ _; victoria cross decoration, iii. ; visit of the emperor and empress of the french, iii. , ; views on defenceless state of england, iii. - ; urges reinforcements for india, iii. - ; on necessity of increasing the army, iii. , , ; anxiety for india, iii. ; marriage of princess royal, iii. ; death of duchesse de nemours, iii. ; financial crisis, iii. ; opens parliament in person, iii. _ _ prince frederick william of prussia (afterwards emperor frederick), married to the princess royal, iii. _ _; death of duchess of orleans, iii. _ _; parting with the princess royal, iii. , ; defeat of the government on conspiracy bill, iii. ; formation of new government, iii. - ; prince of wales's confirmation, iii. ; enquiries into the state of the navy, iii. , ; crown prerogatives, iii. , , ; visit to the emperor of the french, iii. _ _; proclamation to people of india, iii. , ; duties of secretary of state, iii. ; princess royal's reception by the prussians, iii. - dissolution on new reform bill, iii. _ _; necessity for a strong army and navy, iii. ; queen's speech, iii. , ; birth of first grandchild (present german emperor), iii. , ; letter to french emperor advising peace, iii. _ _; indian army question, iii. - ; opens parliament, iii. _ _; letter to emperor of austria, and reply, iii. , , , ; proposed congress to settle the italian question, iii. - ; queen's speech, iii. - ; defeat of the government, iii. ; lord palmerston forms a new government, iii. - ; committee on military departments, iii. ; views on the war between france and austria, iii. , ; conclusion of peace arranged between the two emperors, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _; the pope's opinion of england's policy, iii. - ; differences with lord palmerston and lord j. russell on england's italian policy, iii. - , - ; objection to publication of divorce cases in daily papers, iii. ; congratulates french emperor on peace, iii. volunteer review in hyde park, iii. _ _; prince of wales visited canada and united states, iii. _ _, _ _; difficulties with lord john russell over the italian policy, iii. ; gladstone's budget statement, iii. ; earl cowley's stormy interview with french emperor, iii. - ; prince of wales visits coburg and gotha, iii. _ _; letters of thanks to indian civil servants, iii. ; visit to aldershot, iii. ; abolition of paper duties bill thrown out by the house of lords, iii. - ; engagement of princess alice to prince louis of hesse, iii. , , , ; visits holyrood, iii. ; balmoral, iii. ; proposed meeting with the emperor of austria, iii. , ; appeal from the king of naples, iii. ; reply, iii. ; appointment of bishops, iii. , death of duchess of kent, iii. _ _; third visit to ireland, iii. _ _, ; new year's letter from french emperor, and reply, iii. , ; detailed account of death of the king of prussia, iii. - ; happiness of the princess royal, iii. ; wedding day anniversary, iii. ; garibaldi letter, iii. ; death of the duchess of kent, iii. _ _, - , , ; mr layard as under-secretary for foreign affairs, iii. - ; king of sweden's visit to osborne, iii. ; his views on the foreign affairs, iii. - ; the queen's views, iii. ; visits frogmore, iii. ; visits ireland, iii. ; coronation of the king and queen of prussia, iii. - ; queen of prussia on foreign policy, iii. ; appreciation of her highland servant, iii. ; _times_ newspaper's attacks on prussia, iii. - ; america's right to search neutral ships, iii. , ; prince consort's illness, iii. , ; slight improvement, iii. ; the crisis, iii. , ; pathetic letter to king leopold on death of prince consort, iii. , ; death of lady canning, iii. ; sympathetic letter to viscount canning, iii. victoria, princess royal, birth, i. ; i. , , , , , , ; ii. , ; at opening of new coal exchange, ii. _ _; ii. , ; riding accident, ii. ; her character, iii. ; question of marriage, iii. , , , , , , ; confirmation of, iii. ; birthday, iii. ; iii. ; marriage, iii. , _ _; parting from the queen, iii. , ; reception by the prussians, iii. - ; birth of the present german emperor, iii. , ; iii. ; visit to the queen, iii. ; birth of princess charlotte, iii. ; detailed account of death of king of prussia, iii. - ; domestic happiness of, iii. ; death of duchess of kent, iii. , _victoria and albert_, queen's yacht, ii. ---- cross, iii. , ---- (australia), governorship of, iii. vienna, congress of, i. ; treaty of, ii. _ _, , , ; crimean conference, its failure, iii. _ _, _ _; conference of the powers, iii. villafranca, peace concluded at, iii. _ _, _ _, _ _, _ _ villiers, george william frederick, afterwards fourth earl of clarendon. _see_ clarendon ---- hon. henry montagu, bishop of carlisle, iii. ---- mr charles, "father of the house," i. ; free trade motion, ii. , , ; proposed for office, ii. viscount, meaning of term, i. vivian, sir hussey, master-general of the ordnance, i. volunteer review, iii. _vor-parlament_, ii. _ _ waddington, dr, dean of durham, i. walcheren expedition, iii. wales, albert edward, prince of, afterwards king edward vii., birth, i. ; order of black eagle conferred, i. ; christening, i. , ; education, i. , ; grand cross of st andrew, ii. ; present from the king of the french, ii. ; duke of cornwall, ii. ; irish title, ii. ; opening of new coal exchange, ii. _ _; foreign orders, ii. ; confirmation, iii. ; visit to napoleon at cherbourg, iii. _ _; visit to rome, iii. , , ; tour in canada and united states, iii. _ _, _ _, , ; visit to coburg and gotha, iii. _ _; visit to ireland, iii. _ _, ; goes to cambridge, iii. _ _; death of prince consort, iii. ---- tollbar disturbances, i. _ _, , walewski, madame, iii. ---- count, ii. _ ; coup d'état_, paris, ii. _ _, , , , ; proposed marriage of louis napoleon, ii. _ _, , ; eastern question, ii. ; prince albert's visit to louis napoleon, iii. ; want of transports, iii. ; curious letter, iii. _ _, _ _; treaty of peace, iii. _ _, _ _, ; right of asylum despatch, iii. _ _, _ _, ; and war with austria, iii. , _ _; resignation, iii. _ _ walker, colonel, iii. wallachia, iii. _ _ walmer castle, i. ; queen's visit to, i. , walpole, spencer, ii. ; militia bill, ii. , ; on education, ii. , _ _, ; iii. ; home secretary, iii. , ; withdraws from ministry, iii. _ _ ---- sir robert, i. war, secretary at, duties of, i. ; power to appoint commander-in-chief, ii. _ _ warburton, mr, corn law debate, i. ward, mrs horatia, daughter of lord nelson, iii. ; pension for her children, iii. , ---- rev., dean of lincoln, ii. warre, lieut.-gen., sir wm., i. wasa, princess caroline stéphanie of, ii. washington, prince of wales's reception at, iii. _ _ waterford, queen's visit to, ii. ---- marquess of, i. watson, dr (afterwards sir thomas), prince consort's last illness, iii. ---- admiral, iii. weikersheim, iii. weimar, grand duke of, i. ; iii. , wellesley, lord charles, ii. ---- sir arthur (afterwards duke of wellington), and convention of cintra, iii. _ _ wellington, duke of, foreign secretary, i. _ _; reform bill, i. , ; on canadian difficulty, i. ; i. , ; interview with the queen, i. ; convention of , i. ; i. _ _; illness, i. ; i. ; in the cabinet, i. ; roman catholic question, i. ; christening of the prince of wales, i. ; commander-in-chief, i. ; on duelling, i. _ _, ; i. ; corn laws, ii. , ; ii. , , ; on dissolution, ii. ; statue, ii. , , _ _; peninsular war medals, ii. , ; on intervention in portugal, ii. ; on defence of england, ii. _ _; queen's tribute to, ii. ; brevet promotions, ii. ; sir charles napier's resignation, ii. ; views on formation of new government, ii. ; appeal to, ii. , ; death, ii. _ _, ; queen's appreciation of, ii. ; funeral arrangements, ii. ; india's homage to, ii. ; funeral, ii. ---- college, foundation stone, iii. welsh language, in schools, ii. wemyss, earl of, _see_ elcho wessenberg, baron, ii. westbury, lord, _see_ bethell, sir richard westminster abbey, the enthronisation, i. , westminster, marquess of, k.g., iii. _ _ westmorland, eleventh earl of, minister at berlin, ii. , , ; question of decorations, iii. weyer, sylvain van de, belgian foreign minister, i. , , , ; visit to the queen, i. ; ii. , , ; iii. , , whalley, mr, m.p., iii. wharncliffe, first baron, lord president of the council, i. , whateley, richard, archbishop of dublin, i. wheeler, general sir hugh, mutiny at cawnpore, iii. _ _ whewell, professor, i. whig party, and the royal family, i. ; power of, i. ; weakness of, i. _ _, _ _; ministry of, i. _ _, , _ _, ; resignation of, i. ; resume office, i. ; queen's opinion of, i. ; verge of dissolution, i. ; defeat, i. _ _; in jeopardy, i. ; vote of censure, i. ; dissolution, i. ; cabinet, i. ; corn law debate, i. ; unable to take office, ii. _ _, - ; and protectionists, ii. _ _; take office, ii, _ _; irish coercion bill, ii. , , ; and cobden, ii. ; jealousies, ii. ; factory act, ii. _ _; intervention in portugal, ii. _ _; poor law commission, ii. ; repeal of navigation laws, ii. _ _, ; case of don pacifico and mr. finlay, ii. _ _, - , _ _, _ _, _ _; suggested rearrangement of offices, ii. ; foreign policy defended, ii. ; in difficulties, ii. _ _; government defeat and resignation, ii. , ; return to office, ii. ; attempted fusion with peelites, ii. ; militia bill, ii. ; resignation, ii. , ; confusion of parties, ii. ; defeat government on house tax, ii. , , , , ; lord aberdeen forms a new government, ii. - ; withdrawal of reform bill, iii. _ _, _ _; resignation of lord john russell, iii. , , _ _, - ; lord palmerston becomes premier, iii. ; roebuck motion, iii. , ; and lord john russell, iii. ; government of , iii. , ; cabinet, iii. , , _ _; lord john russell accepts the colonial office, iii. _ _; dissolution on chinese debate, iii. _ _; return to power, iii. _ _ whiteside, mr, iii. whiting, page to queen victoria, i. wilberforce, archdeacon (afterwards bishop of oxford), i. ; ii. , , ; divorce bill, iii. , wilkie, sir david, i. william i., king of prussia, _see_ prussia ---- king of the netherlands, _see_ holland ---- iv. of england (formerly duke of clarence), politics, i. ; marriage, i. , , ; succession to the throne, i. ; estrangement with duchess of kent, i. , _ _, ; death and review of his reign, i. , , _ _; illness, i. , , ; death, i. ; his children, i. _ _ williams, general fenwick, gallant defence of kars, iii. _ _ ---- mr, i. willis's rooms, iii. _ _ willoughby, lord, receptions at court, iii. wilson, james, financial secretary to treasury, afterwards privy councillor, ii. wimpole, i. winchester, marquess of, ii. windsor, queen's opinion of, i. ; beauty of, i. wiseman, cardinal, made archbishop of westminster, ii. _ _, _ _, woburn abbey, queen's visit to, i. wodehouse, lady, iii. ---- lord (afterwards earl of kimberley), iii. women and politics, queen victoria's view of, ii. wood, sir charles (afterwards viscount halifax), chancellor of the exchequer, ii. , , , , _ _, , , , ; seals of office given up, ii. ; board of control, ii. ; and disraeli, ii, _ _; india bill, ii. ; and lord john russell, iii. ; government of, , iii. , , ; india board, iii. ; first lord of admiralty, , iii. _ _, , ; position of naval force, iii. ; financial crisis, iii. ; secretary for india, iii. ; italian policy, iii. ; indian titles, iii. ; indian civil service, iii. ; artillery in india, iii. ; letter on death of prince consort, iii. woods, sir william, i. woolwich arsenal, ii. _ _ worcester, deanery of, ii. ; see of, iii. wordsworth, rev. dr christopher, headmaster of harrow, i. woronzow, prince michael, i. worsley, lord, i. woulfe, stephen, afterwards chief baron for ireland, i. wrangel, general von, iii. würtemberg, alexander, duke of, marriage, i. ---- crown prince of, iii. ---- king of, marriage, i. ; visit to the queen, i. ---- prince alexander, of, i. , , , würtemberg, princess alexander of, death, i. , ---- queen of, i. ; visit to frogmore, i. wyse, mr, british envoy at athens, ii. , , , _ _ yang-tze river, i. _ _ yeh, chinese governor, and sir john bowring, iii. _ _; ultimatum, iii. _ _ york, duke of, character, i. , ---- prince consort's visit to, ii. yorke, sir joseph, death, i. _ _ young, sir john, high commissioner, iii. _ _ "young england" party, ii. _ _, zichy, count eugène, i. zollverein, i. zouaves, iii. zurich, treaty of peace at, iii. _ _, _ _ * * * * * _printed by hazell, watson & viney, ld., london and aylesbury. paper supplied by john dickinson & co., ld., london._ * * * * * transcriber's note: errata page : extraneous "the" removed. (...what they are--the the queen...) page : _so-fond_: hyphen removed page : 'as replaced with 'at'. (the great event has at length taken place...) page : 'fiday' corrected to 'friday' (lord clarendon starts for paris on friday.) page : (indistinct) 'a s' corrected to 'pas', to conform with wording of earlier draft (...ces dangers seront écartés à l'instant que la france s'unira à nous pour tenir un langage ferme à la russie qui tâche de nous désunir et il ne faut pas qu'elle y réussisse.) page : 'eighy' corrected to 'eighty' (...joined with eighty-four liberals and four peelites...) page , footnote : 'wote' corrected to 'wrote'. page : 'sentimens' [sic; instead of 'sentiments'] (lord cowley a été auprès de moi le digne interprète des sentiments de votre majesté, ....) page : 'indépendans' [sic; instead of 'indépendants'] États indépendans. page : 'sentimens' [sic; instead of 'sentiments'] c'est dans ces sentimens que je renouvelle à votre majesté.... [the omission of 't' in the above words may have been a personal idiom. they have been left as such.] page : date corrected from th march to th march . page : 'preseved' corrected to 'preserved' (...by which the peace of europe may be preserved.) page : ' ' corrected to ' ' (...your majesty's sanction to that was obtained in - ,...) page : 'annxation' corrected to 'annexation' life of her most gracious majesty the queen by sarah tytler edited, with an introduction, by lord ronald gower, f.s.a. in two volumes. vol. i. entered according to act of parliament of canada, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-five, by george virtue, in the office of the minister of agriculture. preface. i have been asked to write a few words of preface to this work. if the life-long friendship of my mother with her majesty, which gained for me the honour of often seeing the queen, or a deep feeling of loyalty and affection for our sovereign, which is shared by all her subjects, be accepted as a qualification, i gratefully respond to the call, but i feel that no written words of mine can add value to the following pages. looking over some papers lately, i found the following note on a sketch which i had accidentally met with in windsor castle--a coloured chalk drawing, a mere study of one of the queen's hands, by sir david wilkie, probably made for his picture now in the corridor of the castle, representing the first council of victoria. of this sketch i wrote as follows:-- "i was looking in one of the private rooms at windsor castle at a chalk sketch, by sir david wilkie, of a fair, soft, long-fingered, dimpled hand, with a graceful wrist attached to a rounded arm. 'only a woman's hand,' might swift, had he seen that sketch, have written below. only a sketch of a woman's hand; but what memories that sketch recalls! how many years ago wilkie drew it i know not: that great artist died in the month of june, , so that more than forty years have passed, at least, since he made that drawing. the hand that limned this work has long ago suffered 'a sea change.' and the hand which he portrayed? that is still among the living--still occupied with dispensing aid and comfort to the suffering and the afflicted, for the original is that of a queen, beloved as widely as her realms extend--the best of sovereigns, the kindest-hearted of women." to write the life of queen victoria is a task which many authors might well have felt incompetent to undertake. to succeed in writing it is an honour of which any author may well be proud. this honour i humbly think has been realised in the work of which these poor lines may form the preface. ronald gower. contents vol. i. chap. i. sixty-three years since. ii. childhood. iii. youth. iv. the accession. v. the proroguing of parliament, the visit to guildhall; and the coronation. vi. the maiden queen. vii. the betrothal. viii. the marriage. ix. a royal pair. x. royal occupations.--an attempt on the queen's life. xi. the first christening.--the season of . xii. birth of the prince of wales.--the afghan disasters.--visit of the king of prussia.--the queen's plantagenet ball. xiii. fresh attempts against the queen's life.--mendelssohn.--death of the duc d'orleans. xiv. the queen's first visit to scotland. xv. a marriage, a death, and a birth in the royal family.--a palace home. xvi. the condemnation of the english duel.--another marriage.--the queen's visit to chateau d'eu. xvii. the queen's trip to ostend.--visits to drayton, chatsworth, and belvoir. xviii. allies from afar.--death and absence.--birthday greetings. xix. royal visitors.--the birth of prince alfred.--a northern retreat. xx. louis philippe's visit.--the opening of the royal exchange. chapter i. sixty-three years since. the th of may, , was a memorable and happy day for england, though like many such days, it was little noticed at the time. sixty-three years since! do many of us quite realise what england was like then; how much it differed from the england of to-day, even though some of us have lived as many years? it is worth while devoting a chapter to an attempt to recall that england. a famous novel had for its second heading, "'tis sixty years since." that novel--"waverley"--was published anonymously just five years before , and, we need not say, proved an era in literature. the sixty years behind him to which walter scott--a man of forty-three--looked over his shoulder, carried him as far back as the landing of prince charlie in moidart, and the brief romantic campaign of the ' , with the jacobite songs which embalmed it and kept it fresh in scotch memories. the wounds dealt at waterloo still throbbed and burnt on occasions in . many a scarred veteran and limping subaltern continued the heroes of remote towns and villages, or starred it at bath or tunbridge. the warlike fever, which had so long raged in the country, even when ruined manufacturers and starving mechanics were praying for peace or leading bread-riots, had but partially abated; because whatever wrong to trade, and misery to the poor, closed ports and war prices might have meant, the people still depended upon their armed defenders, and in the hardest adversity found the heart to share their triumphs, to illuminate cities, light bonfires, cheer lustily, and not grudge parliamentary grants to the country's protectors. the "eagle" was caged on his rock in the ocean, to eat his heart out in less than half-a-dozen years. still there was no saying what might happen, and the sight of a red coat and a sword remained cheering--especially to soft hearts. the commercial world was slowly recovering from its dire distress, but its weavers and mechanics were blazing up into fierce, futile struggle with the powers by which masses of the people believed themselves oppressed. if the men of war had no longer anything to do abroad, there was great fear that work might be found for them at home. all europe was looking on in the expectation that england was about to follow the example of france, and indulge in a revolution on its own account--not bloodless this time. rarely since the wars of the commonwealth had high treason been so much in men's mouths as it was in great britain during this and the following year. sedition smouldered and burst into flame--not in one place alone, but at every point of the compass. the mischief was not confined to a single class; it prevailed mostly among the starving operatives, but it also fired minds of quite another calibre. rash, generous spirits in every rank became affected, especially after an encounter between the blinded, maddened mobs and the military, when dragoons and yeomanry charged with drawn swords, and women and children went down under the horses' hoofs. great riotous meetings were dispersed by force at manchester, birmingham, paisley. political trials went on at every assize. bands of men lay in york, lancaster, and warwick gaols. at stockport sir charles wolseley told a crowd armed with bludgeons that he had been in paris at the beginning of the french revolution, that he was the first man who made a kick at the bastille, and that he hoped he should be present at the demolition of another bastille. on the nd of august, , sir francis burdett wrote to his electors at westminster: "....it seems our fathers were not such fools as some would make us believe in opposing the establishment of a standing army and sending king william's dutch guards out of the country. yet would to heaven they had been dutchmen, or switzers, or russians, or hanoverians, or anything rather than englishmen who have done such deeds. what! kill men unarmed, unresisting; and, gracious god! women too, disfigured, maimed, cut down, and trampled on by dragoons! is this england? this a christian land--a land of freedom?" for this, and a great deal more, sir francis, after a protracted trial, was sentenced to pay a fine of two thousand pounds and to be imprisoned for three months in the marshalsea of the court. in the cato street conspiracy the notorious arthur thistlewood and his fellow-conspirators planned to assassinate the whole of the cabinet ministers when they were dining at lord harrowby's house, in grosvenor square. forgery and sheep-stealing were still punishable by death. truly these were times of trouble in england. in london a serious difficulty presented itself when queen charlotte grew old and ailing, and there was no royal lady, not merely to hold a drawing-room, but to lend the necessary touch of dignity and decorum to the gaieties of the season. the exigency lent a new impetus to the famous balls at almack's. an anonymous novel of the day, full of society scandal and satire, described the despotic sway of the lady patronesses, the struggles and intrigues for vouchers, and the distinguished crowd when the object was obtained. the earlier hours, alas! only gave longer time for the drinking habits of the regency. it is a little difficult to understand what young people did with themselves in the country when lawn-tennis and croquet were not. there was archery for the few, and a good deal more amateur gardening and walking, with field-sports, of course, for the lads. the theatre in was more popular than it showed itself twenty years later. every country town of any pretensions, in addition to its assembly rooms had its theatre, which reared good actors, to which provincial tours brought london stars. genteel comedy was not past its perfection. adaptations of the waverley novels, with musical dramas and melodramas, drew great houses. miss o'neill had just retired, but ellen tree was making a success, and macready was already distinguished in his profession. still the excellence and prestige of the stage had declined incontestably since the days of mrs. siddons and john kemble. edmund kean, though he did much for tragedy, had a short time to do it in, and was not equal in his passion of genius to the sustained majesty of the sister and brother. in the same way, the painters' art hovered on the borders of a brilliant epoch. for lawrence, with his courtly brush, which preferred flattery to truth and cloying suavity to noble simplicity, was not worthy to be named in the same breath with reynolds. raeburn came nearer, but his reputation was scotch. blake in his inspiration was regarded, not without reason, as a madman. flaxman called for classic taste to appreciate him; and the fame of english art would have suffered both at home and abroad if a simple, manly lad had not quitted a scotch manse and sailed from leith to london, bringing with him indelible memories of the humour and the pathos of peasant life, and reproducing them with such graphic fidelity, power, and tenderness that the whole world has heard of david wilkie. the pause between sunset and sunrise, the interregnum which signifies that a phase in some department of the world's history has passed away as a day is done, and a new development of human experience is about to present itself, was over in literature. the romantic period had succeeded the classic. scott, coleridge, southey (wordsworth stands alone), byron, shelley, keats, campbell, moore, were all in the field as poets, carrying the young world with them, and replacing their immediate predecessors, cowper, thompson, young, beattie, and others of less note. sir walter scott had also risen high above the horizon as a poet, and still higher as a novelist. a great start in periodical literature was made in by the establishment of _the edinburgh review_, under jeffrey and sydney smith, and again in by the publication of _blackmoods magazine_, with christopher north for its editor, and lockhart, de quincey, hogg, and delta among its earlier contributors. the people's friend, charles knight, was still editing _the windsor and eton express_. in sir humphry davy was the most popular exponent of science, sir james mackintosh of philosophy. in politics, above the thunderstorm of discontent, there was again the pause which anticipates a fresh advance. the great whig and tory statesmen, charles james fox and william pitt, were dead in , and their mantles did not fall immediately on fit successors. the abolition of the slave-trade, for which wilberforce, zachary macaulay, and clarkson had fought gallantly and devotedly, was accomplished. but the catholic emancipation bill was still to work its way in the teeth of bitter "no popery" traditions, and earl grey's reform bill had not yet seen the light. george iii.'s long reign was drawing to a close. what changes it had seen from the war of american independence to waterloo! what woeful personal contrasts since the honest, kindly, comely lad, in his simple kingliness, rode out in the summer sunshine past holland house, where lady sarah lennox was making hay on the lawn, to the days when the blind, mad old king sat in bodily and mental darkness, isolated from the wife and children he had loved so well, immured in his distant palace-rooms in royal windsor. his silver beard o'er a bosom spread unvexed by life's commotion, like a yearly lengthening snow-drift shed on the calm of a frozen ocean: still o'er him oblivion's waters lay, though the stream of time kept flowing when they spoke of our king, 'twas but to say that the old man's strength was going. at intervals thus the waves disgorge, by weakness rent asunder, a piece of the wreck of the _royal george_ for the people's pity and wonder. lady sarah, too, became blind in her age, and, alas! she had trodden darker paths than any prepared for her feet by the visitation of god. queen charlotte had come with her sense and spirit, and ruled for more than fifty years over a pure court in england. the german princess of sixteen, with her spare little person and large mouth which prevented her from being comely, and her solitary accomplishment of playing on the harpsichord with as much correctness and taste as if she had been taught by mr. handel himself, had identified herself with the nation, so that no suspicion of foreign proclivities ever attached to her. queen charlotte bore her trials gravely; while those who came nearest to her could tell that she was not only a fierce little dragon of virtue, as she has been described, but a loving woman, full of love's wounds and scars. the family of george iii. and queen charlotte consisted of seven sons and his daughters, besides two sons who died in infancy. george, prince of wales, married, , his cousin, princess caroline of brunswick, daughter of the reigning duke and of princess augusta, sister of george iii. the prince and princess of wales separated soon after their marriage. their only child was princess charlotte of wales. frederick, duke of york, married, , princess frederica, daughter of the reigning king of prussia. the couple were childless. william, duke of clarence, married, , princess adelaide, of saxe-meiningen. two daughters were born to them, but both died in infancy. edward, duke of kent, married, , princess victoria of saxe-coburg, widow of the prince of leiningen. their only child is queen victoria. ernest, duke of cumberland, married, , princess frederica of mecklenburg-strelitz, widow, first of prince frederick louis of prussia, and second, of the prince of saliris-braunfels. their only child was george v., king of hanover. augustus, duke of sussex, married morganatically. adolphus, duke of cambridge, married, , princess augusta of hesse-cassel, daughter of the landgrave of hesse-cassel. they had three children--george, duke of cambridge; princess augusta, duchess of mecklenburg-strelitz; and princess mary, duchess of teck. the daughters of king george and queen charlotte were:-- the princess royal, married, , the prince, afterwards king, of wurtemberg. childless. princess augusta, unmarried. princess elizabeth, married, , the landgrave of hesse-homburg. childless. princess mary, married, , her cousin, william, duke of gloucester. childless. princess sophia, unmarried. princess amelia, unmarried. in the pathetic idyl, wrought out amidst harsh discord, had found its earthly close in the family vault at windsor, amidst the lamentations of the whole nation. princess charlotte, the candid, fearless, affectionate girl, whose youth had been clouded by the sins and follies of others, but to whom the country had turned as to a stay for the future--fragile, indeed, yet still full of hope--had wedded well, known a year of blissful companionship, and then died in giving birth to a dead heir. it is sixty-five years since that november day, when the bonfires, ready to be lit at every town "cross," on every hill-side, remained dark and cold. men looked at each other in blank dismay; women wept for the blushing, smiling bride, who had driven with her grandmother through the park on her way to be married not so many months before. there are comparatively few people alive who had come to man's or woman's estate when the shock was experienced; but we have all heard from our predecessors the story which has lent to claremont a tender, pensive grace, especially for royal young pairs. old queen charlotte nerved herself to make a last public appearance on the th of july, , four months before her death. it was in her presence, at kew, that a royal marriage and re-marriage were celebrated that day. the duke of clarence was married to princess adelaide of saxe-meiningen, and the duke of kent was re-married, in strict accordance with the english royal marriage act, to princess victoria of saxe-coburg, the widowed princess of leiningen. the last couple had been already united at coburg in the month of may. the archbishop of canterbury and the bishop of london officiated at the double ceremony. the brides were given away by the prince regent. the queen retired immediately afterwards. but a grand banquet, at which the prince regent presided, was given at six o'clock in the evening. an hour later the duke and duchess of kent drove off in her brother, prince leopold's, carriage to claremont. of the two bridegrooms we have glimpses from baron stockmar, a shrewd observer, who was no flatterer. the duke of clarence, at fifty-three years of age, was the "smallest and least good-looking of the brothers, decidedly like his mother, as talkative as the rest;" and we may add that he was also endowed with a sailor-like frankness, cordiality, and good humour, which did not, however, prevent stormy ebullitions of temper, that recommended him to the nation of that day as a specimen of a princely blue-jacket. since the navy was not considered a school of manners, he was excused for the absence of much culture or refinement. "the duke of kent, at fifty-one, was a tall, stately man, of soldierlike bearing, already inclined to great corpulence.... he had seen much of the world, and of men. his manner in society was pleasant and easy. he was not without ability and culture, and he possessed great activity. his dependents complained of his strictness and pedantic love of order.... the duke was well aware that his influence was but small, but this did not prevent him from forwarding the petitions he received whenever it was possible, with his own recommendation, to the public departments.... liberal political principles were at that time in the minority in england, and as the duke professed them, it can be imagined how he was hated by the powerful party then dominant. he was on most unfriendly terms with his brothers.... the duke proved an amiable and courteous, even chivalrous, husband." judiciously, in the circumstances, neither of the brides was in her first youth, the future queen adelaide having been, at twenty-six, the younger of the two. the duchess of kent, a little over thirty, had been already married, in , when she was seventeen, to prince emich charles of leiningen. eleven years afterwards, in , she was left a widow with a son and daughter. four years later she married the duke of kent. the brides were very different in looks and outward attractions. the duchess of clarence, with hair of a peculiar colour approaching to a lemon tint, weak eyes, and a bad complexion, was plain. she was also quiet, reserved, and a little stiff, while she appears to have had no special accomplishments, beyond a great capacity for carpet-work. the duchess of kent, with a fine figure, good features, brown hair and eyes, a pretty pink colour, winning manners, and graceful accomplishments--particularly music, formed a handsome, agreeable woman, "altogether most charming and attractive." but both duchesses were possessed of qualities in comparison with which beauty is deceitful and favour is vain--qualities which are calculated to wear well. queen adelaide's goodness and kindness, her unselfish, unassuming womanliness and devout resignation to sorrow and suffering, did more than gain and keep the heart of her bluff, eccentric sailor-prince. they secured for her the respectful regard of the nation among whom she dwelt, whether as queen or queen-dowager. the archbishop of canterbury could say of her, after her husband's death, "for three weeks prior to his (king william's) dissolution, the queen sat by his bedside, performing for him every office which a sick man could require, and depriving herself of all manner of rest and refection. she underwent labours which i thought no ordinary woman could endure. no language can do justice to the meekness and to the calmness of mind which she sought to keep up before the king, while sorrow was pressing on her heart. such constancy of affection, i think, was one of the most interesting spectacles that could be presented to a mind desirous of being gratified with the sight of human excellence." [footnote: dr. doran] such graces, great enough to resist the temptations of the highest rank, might well be singled out as worthy of all imitation. the duchess of kent proved herself the best of mothers--as she was the best of wives, during her short time of wedlock--in the self-renunciation and self-devotion with which, through all difficulties, and in spite of every opposition and misconception, she pursued the even tenor of her way. not for two or ten, but for well-nigh twenty years, she gave herself up unreservedly, turning her back on her country with all its strong early ties, to rearing a good queen, worthy of her high destiny. england owes much to the memories of queen adelaide and the duchess of kent, who succeeded queen charlotte, the one as queen consort, the other as mother of the future sovereign, and not only served as the salt to savour their royal circles, but kept up nobly the tradition of honourable women among the queens and princesses of england, handing down the high obligation to younger generations. the duke and duchess of kent withdrew to germany after their re-marriage, and resided at the castle of amorbach, in bavaria, part of the inheritance of her young son. the couple returned to england that their child might be born there. the duke had a strong impression that, notwithstanding his three elder brothers, the crown would come to him and his children. the persuasion, if they knew it, was not likely to be acceptable to the other princes. certainly, in the face of the duke's money embarrassments, his kinsmen granted no assistance to enable the future queen of england to be born in her own dominions. it was by the help of private friends that the duke gratified his natural and wise wish. apartments in kensington palace were assigned to the couple. the old queen had died at kew, surrounded by such of her daughters as were in the country, and by several of her sons, in the month of november, . george iii. was dragging out his days at windsor. the prince regent occupied carlton house. the kensington of was not the kensington of today. in spite of the palace and gardens, which are comparatively little altered, the great crowded quarter, with its museum and albert hall, is as unlike as possible to the courtly village to which the duke and duchess of kent came, and where the queen spent her youth. that kensington consisted mainly of a fine old square, built in the time of james ii., in which the foreign ambassadors and the bishops in attendance at court congregated in the days of william and mary, and anne, and of a few terraces and blocks of buildings scattered along the great western road, where coaches passed several times a day. other centres round which smaller buildings clustered were kensington house--which had lately been a school for the sons of french _emigres_ of rank--the old church, and holland house, the fine seat of the riches and the foxes. the high street extended a very little way on each side of the church and was best known by its charity school, and its pastrycook's shop, at the sign of the "pineapple," to which queen caroline had graciously given her own recipe for royal dutch gingerbread. david wilkie's apartments represented the solitary studio. nightingales sang in holland lane; blackbirds and thrushes haunted the nurseries and orchards. great vegetable-gardens met the fields. here and there stood an old country house in its own grounds. green lanes led but to more rural villages, farms and manor-houses. notting barns was a farmhouse on the site of notting hill. in the tea-gardens at bayswater sir john hill cultivated medicinal plants, and prepared his "water-dock essence" and "balm of honey." invalids frequented kensington gravel pits for the benefit of "the sweet country air." kensington palace had been bought by william iii. from daniel finch, second earl of nottingham. his father, the first earl, had built and named the pile of brick-building nottingham house. it was comparatively a new, trim house, though evelyn called it "patched up" when it passed into the hands of king william, and as such might please his dutch taste better than the beautiful elizabethan holland house--in spite of the name, at which he is said to have looked, with the intention of making it his residence. the duke of sussex, as well as the duke and duchess of kent, had apartments in the palace. he dwelt in the portion of the southern front understood to belong to the original building. his brother and sister-in-law were lodged not far off, but their apartments formed part of an addition made by king william, who employed sir christopher wren as his architect. the clumsy, homely structure, with its three courts--the clock court, the princes' court, and the princesses' court--had many interesting associations in addition to its air of venerable respectability. william and mary resided frequently in the palace which they had chosen; and both died under its roof. mary sat up in one of these rooms, on a dreary december night in , after she felt herself stricken with small-pox, seeking out and burning all the papers in her possession which might compromise others. the silent, asthmatic, indomitable little man was carried back here after his fall from his horse eight years later, to draw his last breath where mary had laid down her crown. here anne sat, with her fan in her mouth, speaking in monosyllables to her circle. george i.'s chief connection with kensington palace was building the cupola and the great staircase. but his successors, george ii. and queen caroline, atoned for the deficiency. they gave much of their time to the palace so identified with the protestant and hanoverian line of succession. queen caroline especially showed her regard for the spot by exercising her taste in beautifying it according to the notions of the period. it was she who caused the string of ponds to be united so as to form the serpentine; and he modified the dutch style of the gardens, abolishing the clipped monsters in yew and box, and introducing wildernesses and groves to relieve the stiffness and monotony of straight walks and hedges. the shades of her beautiful maids of honour, "sweet molly lepell," mary bellenden, and sophy howe, still haunt the broad walk. molly lepell's husband, lord hervey (the "lord fanny" of lampoons and songs), composed and read in these rooms, for the diversion of his royal mistress and the princesses, with their ladies and gentlemen, the false account of his own death, caused by an encounter with footpads on the dangerous road between london and the country palace. he added an audacious description of the manner in which the news was received at court, and of the behaviour of the principal persons in the circle. with george ii. and queen caroline the first glory of the palace departed, for the early court of george iii. and queen charlotte took its country pleasures at kew. then followed the selection of windsor for the chief residence of the sovereigns. the promenades in the gardens, to which the great world of london flocked, remained for a season as a vestige of former grandeur. in george ii.'s time the gardens were only thrown open on saturdays, when the court went to richmond. afterwards the public were admitted every day, under certain restrictions. so late as these promenades were still a feature on sunday mornings. kensington palace has not yet changed its outward aspect. it still stands, with its forcing-houses, and queen anne's banqueting-room-- converted into an orangery--in its small private grounds, fenced off by a slight railing and an occasional hedge from the public gardens. the principal entrance, under the clock-tower, leads to a plain, square, red courtyard, which has a curious foreign aspect in its quiet simplicity, as if the brunswick princes had brought a bit of germany along with them when they came to reign here; and there are other red courtyards, equally unpretentious, with more or less old-fashioned doors and windows. within, the building has sustained many alterations. since it ceased to be a seat of the court, the palace has furnished residences for various members of the royal family, and for different officials. accordingly, the interior has been divided and partitioned off to suit the requirements of separate households. but the great staircase, imposing in its broad, shallow steps of black marble and its faded frescoes, still conducts to a succession of dismantled presence-chambers and state-rooms. the pictures and tapestry have been taken from the walls, the old panelling is bare. the distinctions which remain are the fine proportions of the apartments-- the marble pillars and niches of one; the remains of a richly-carved chimneypiece in another; the highly-wrought ceilings, to which ancient history and allegory have supplied grandiose figures--their deep colours unfaded, the ruddy burnish of their gilding as splendid as ever. here and there great black-and-gold court-stools, raised at the sides, and finished off with bullet heads of dogs, arouse a recollection of versailles or fontainebleau, and look as if they had offered seats to court ladies in hoops and brocades, and gentlemen-in-waiting in velvet coats and breeches and lace cravats. one seat is more capacious than the others, with a round back, and in its heavy black-and-gold has the look of an informal throne. it might easily have borne the gallant william, or even the extensive proportions of anne. there is a word dropped of "old kings" having died in the closed rooms behind these doors. george ii., in his old age? or william, worn out in his prime? or it may be heavy, pacific george of denmark, raised to the kingly rank by the courtesy of vague tradition? the old chapel was in this part of the house. leigh hunt tells us it was in this chapel george i. asked the bishops to have good short sermons, because he was an old man, and when he was kept long, he fell asleep and caught cold. it must have been a curious old chapel, with a round window admitting scanty light. the household and servants sat below, while a winding staircase led round and up to a closed gallery in near proximity to the pulpit. it was only a man's conscience, or a sense of what was due to his physical well-being, which could convict him of slumbering in such a peaceful retreat. it is said that her late royal highness the duchess of kent objected to the obscurity of this place of worship, and, to meet her objections, the present little chapel was fitted up. the duchess of kent's rooms were in an adjacent wing; spacious rooms enough, and only looking the more habitable and comfortable for the moderate height of the ceilings. in a room with three windows on one side, looking out on the private grounds, the queen was born. it was thinking of it and its occupants that the warm-hearted, quick-witted duchess-mother, in coburg, wrote: "i cannot express how happy i am to know you, dearest, dearest vickel, safe in your bed, with a little one.... again a charlotte--destined, perhaps, to play a great part one day, if a brother is not born to take it out of her hands. the english like queens; and the niece (by marriage) of the ever-lamented, beloved charlotte, will be most dear to them." in another wide, low room, with white pillars, some eighteen years later, the baby princess, become a maiden queen, held her first council, surrounded by kindred who had stood at her font--hoary heads wise in statecraft, great prelates, great lawyers, a great soldier, and she an innocent girl at their head. no relic could leave such an impression as this room, with its wonderfully pathetic scene. but, indeed, there are few other traces of the life that budded into dawning womanhood here, which will be always linked with the memories of kensington palace. an upper room, sunny and cheerful, even on a winter's day, having a pleasant view out on the open gardens, with their straight walks and great pond, where a child might forget sometimes that she had lessons to learn, was a princess's school-room. here the good baroness who played the part of governess so sagaciously and faithfully may have slipped into the book of history the genealogical table which was to tell so startling a tale. in another room is a quaint little doll's-house, with the different rooms, which an active-minded child loved to arrange. the small frying-pans and plates still hang above the kitchen dresser; the cook stands unwearied by the range; the chairs are placed round the tables; the tiny tea-service, which tiny fingers delighted to handle, is set out ready for company. but the owner has long done with make-believes, has worked in earnest, discharged great tasks, and borne the burden and heat of the day, in reigning over a great empire. chapter ii childhood. in the months of march and may, , the following announcements of royal births appeared in succession in the newspapers of the day, no doubt to the satisfaction alike of anxious statesmen and village politicians beginning to grow anxious over the chances of the succession:-- "at hanover, march , her royal highness the duchess of cambridge, of a son; and on march , her royal highness the duchess of clarence, of a daughter, the latter only surviving a few hours." " th may, at kensington palace, her royal highness the duchess of kent, of a daughter." " th may, at her hotel in berlin, her royal highness the duchess of cumberland, of a son." thus her gracious majesty queen victoria first saw the light in kensington palace on the th of may, , one in a group of cousins, all, save herself, born out of england. the duke of sussex, the duke of wellington, and other officers of state were in attendance on the occasion, though the probability of her succession to the throne was then very doubtful. the prince regent had already made overtures towards procuring a divorce from the princess of wales. if he were to revive them, and prove successful, he might marry again and have heirs. the duchess of clarence, who had just given birth to an infant that had only survived a few hours, might yet be the joyful mother of living children. the little princess herself might be the predecessor of a troop of princes of the kent branch. still, both at kensington and in the depths of rural coburg, there was a little flutter, not only of gladness, but of subdued expectation. the duke of kent, on showing his baby to his friends, was wont to say, "look at her well, for she will be queen of england." her christening was therefore an event of more than ordinary importance in the household. the ceremony took place a month afterwards, on the th of june, and doubtless the good german nurse, madame siebold, who was about to return to the duchess of kent's old home to officiate on an equally interesting occasion in the family of the duchess's brother, the reigning duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, carried with her flaming accounts of the splendour of the ceremonial, as well as pretty tales of the "dear little love" destined to mate with the coming baby, whose big blue eyes were soon looking about in the lovely little hunting-seat of rosenau. the gold font was brought down from the tower, where for some time it had been out of request. the archbishop of canterbury and the bishop of london officiated, as they had done the year before at the re-marriage of the duke and duchess. the godfathers were the prince regent, present in person, and alexander, emperor of russia, then at the height of his popularity in england, represented by the duke of york. the godmothers were the queen-dowager of wurtemberg (the princess royal), represented by princess augusta, and the duchess-dowager of coburg (mother of the duchess of kent, and grandmother of both the queen and the prince consort), represented by the duchess of gloucester (princess mary). it is said there had been a proposal to name the little princess georgiana also, after her grandfather and uncle, george iii. and george, prince regent; but the idea was dropped because the latter would not permit his name to stand second on the list. among the other privileged guests at the christening was prince leopold, destined to be the child's second father, one of her kindest and wisest friends. it is not difficult to comprehend what the scene must have been to the young man whose cup had been so full two years before, who was how a widower and childless. we have his own reference to his feelings in a letter to one of the late princess charlotte's friends. it had been hard for him to be present, but he had felt it to be his duty, and he had made the effort. this was a man who was always facing what was hard, always struggling and overcoming in the name of right. the consequence was that, even in his youth, all connected with him turned to him as to a natural stay. we have a still better idea of what the victory cost him when we read, in the "life of the prince consort," it was not till a great misfortune happened to her that prince leopold "had the courage to look into the blooming face of his infant niece." with what manly pity and tenderness he overcame his reluctance, and how he was rewarded, we all know. in december, , the duke and duchess of kent went for sea-air to woolbrook cottage, sidmouth, devonshire. the first baby is always of consequence in a household, but of how much consequence this baby was may be gleaned by the circumstance that a startling little incident concerning the child made sufficient mark to survive and be registered by a future chronicler. a boy shooting sparrows fired unwittingly so near the house that the shot shattered one of the windows of the nursery, and passed close to the head of the child in the nurse's arms. precious baby-head, that was one day to wear, with honour, a venerable crown, to be thus lightly threatened at the very outset! one can fancy the terror of the nurse, the distress of the duchess, the fright and ire of the duke, the horror and humiliation of the unhappy offender, with the gradual cooling down into magnanimous amnesty--or at most dignified rebuke, mollified by penitent tears into reassuring kindness, and just a little quiver of half-affronted, half-nervous laughter. but there was no more room for laughter at false alarms at woolbrook cottage. within a month the duke was seized with the illness which ended his life in a few days. the particulars are simple and touching. he had taken a long walk with his equerry and great friend, captain conroy, and came in heated, tired, and with his feet so wet that his companion suggested the propriety of immediately changing his boots. but the baby of whom he was so fond and proud came in his way. she was eight months old, able to stretch out her little arms and laugh back to him. he stayed to play with her. in the evening it was evident he had caught a chill; he was hoarse, and showed symptoms of fever. the complaint settled at once on his lungs, and ran its course with great rapidity. we hardly need to be told that the duchess was his devoted nurse, concealing her anxiety and grief to minister to him in everything. there is a pathetic little reference to the last illness of the duke of kent in one of the princess hohenlohe's letters to the queen. this elder sister (princess feodora of leiningen) was then a little girl of nine or ten years of age, residing with her mother and stepfather. "indeed, i well remember that dreadful time at sidmouth. i recollect praying on my knees that god would not let your dear father die. i loved him dearly; he always was so kind to me." on the afternoon of the nd his case was hopeless, and it became a question whether he had sufficient consciousness to sign his will. his old friend, general wetherall, was brought up to the bed. at the sound of the familiar voice which had always been welcome to him, the sick man, drifting away from all familiar sounds, raised himself, collected his thoughts for the last time, and mentioned several places and people intelligently. the poor duke had never been negligent in doing what he saw to be his duty. he had been forward in helping others, even when they were not of his flesh and blood. he heard the will read over, and with a great effort wrote the word "edward," looking at every letter after he wrote it, and asking anxiously if the signature was legible. in this will, which left the duchess guardian to the child, and appointed general wetherall and captain conroy trustees of his estate for the benefit of his widow and daughter, it is noticeable that the name in each case is given in the french version, "victoire." indeed so rare was the term in england at this date, that it is probable the english equivalent had scarcely been used before the christening of the queen. the duke died on the following day, the rd of january, . only six days later, on the th, good old king george expired at windsor. the son was cut down by violent disease while yet a man in middle life, just after he had become the head of a little household full of domestic promise, and with what might still have been a great public career opening out before him. the father sank in what was, in his case, the merciful decay of age, after he had been unable for ten years to fulfil the duties and charities of life, and after surviving his faithful queen a year. the language of the official announcement of the physicians was unusually appropriate: "it has pleased the almighty to release his majesty from all further suffering." to complete the disasters of the royal family this month, the new king, george iv., who had been labouring under a cold when his father died, was seized immediately after his proclamation with dangerous inflammation of the lungs, the illness that had proved fatal to the duke of kent, and could not be present at his brother's or father's funerals; in fact, he was in a precarious state for some days. the duke of kent was buried, according to the custom of the time, by torchlight, on the night of the th of february, at windsor. as an example of the difference which distance made then, it took nearly a week's dreary travelling to convey the duke's body from woolbrook cottage, where it lay in state for some days, to cumberland lodge, from which the funeral train walked to windsor. the procession of mourning-coaches, hearse, and carriages set out from sidmouth on monday morning, halting on successive nights at bridport, blandford, salisbury, and basingstoke, the coffin being deposited in the principal church of each town, under a military guard, till on friday night cumberland lodge was reached. the same night a detachment of the royal horse guards, every third man bearing a flambeau, escorted a carriage containing the urn with the heart to st. george's chapel, where in the presence of the dean, the officers of the chapel, and several gentlemen appointed for the duty, urn and heart were deposited in the niche in which the coffin was afterwards to be placed. the body lay in state on the following day, that it might be seen by the inhabitants of windsor, his old military friends, and the multitude who came down from london for the two mournful ceremonies. at eight o'clock at night the final procession was formed, consisting of poor knights, pages, pursuivants, heralds, the coronet on a black velvet cushion, the body under pall and canopy, the supporters of the pall and canopy field-marshals and generals, the chief mourner the duke of york, the dukes of clarence, sussex, gloucester, and prince leopold in long black cloaks, their trains borne by gentlemen in attendance. these torchlight funeral processions formed a singular remnant of mediaeval pageantry. how the natural solemnity of night in itself increased the awe and sadness of the scene to all simple minds, we can well understand. children far away from windsor remembered after they were grown men and women the vague terror with which they had listened in the dim lamplight of their nurseries to the dismal tolling of the bell out in the invisible church tower, which proclaimed that a royal duke was being carried to his last resting-place. we can easily believe that thousands would flock to look and listen, and be thrilled by the imposing spectacle. the show must have been weirdly picturesque when wild wintry weather, as in this case, added to the effect, "viewed for the distance of three miles, through the spacious long walk, amidst a double row of lofty trees, whilst at intervals the glittering of the flambeaux and the sound of martial music were distinctly seen and heard." the duke's funeral only anticipated by a few days the still more magnificent ceremonial with which a king was laid in the tomb. but the real mourning was down in devonshire, in the sidmouth cottage. it would be difficult to conceive more trying circumstances for a woman in her station than those in which the young duchess--she was but little over thirty--found herself left. she had lost a kind husband, her child would miss a doting father. she was a foreigner in a strange country. she had entered into a divided family, with which her connection was in a measure broken by the death of the duke, while the bond that remained, however precious to all, was too likely to prove a bone of contention. the duke had died poor. the duchess had previously relinquished her german jointure, and the english settlement on her was inadequate, especially if it were to be cumbered with the discharge of any of her husband's personal debts. it was not realised then that the duchess of kent, in marrying the duke and becoming his widow and the guardian of their child, had given up not only independence, but what was affluence in her own country, with its modest ways of living--even where princes were concerned--for the mortification and worry of narrow means, the strain of a heavy responsibility, the pain of much unjustifiable and undeserved interference, misconception, and censure, until she lived to vindicate the good sense, good feeling, and good taste with which she had always acted. but the duchess was not altogether desolate. prince leopold hurried to her and supported her then, and on many another hard day, by brotherly kindness, sympathy, and generous help. it was in his company that she came back with her child to kensington. one element of the coburg character has been described as the sound judgment and quiet reasonableness associated with the temperate blood of the race. accordingly, we find the duchess not only submitting with gentle resignation to misfortune, but rousing herself, as her brother might have done in her circumstances--as doubtless he urged her to do--to the active discharge of the duties of her position. on the rd of february, before the first month of her widowhood was well by, she received viscount morpeth and viscount clive, the deputation bearing to her the address of condolence from the house of commons. she met them with the infant princess in her arms. the child was not only the sign that she fully appreciated and acknowledged the nature of the tie which united her to the country, it was the intimation of the close inseparable union with her daughter which continued through all the years of the queen's childhood and youth, till the office of sovereign forced its holder into a separate existence; till she found another fitting protector, when the generous, ungrudging mother gave way to the worthy husband, who became the dutiful, affectionate son of the duchess's declining years. five months after these events the duchess, at her own request, had an interview with william wilberforce, then living in the house at kensington gore which was occupied later by the countess of blessington and count d'orsay. "she received me," the good man wrote to hannah more, "with her fine, animated child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which i soon became one. she was very civil, but, as she did not sit down, i did not think it right to stop above a quarter of an hour; and there being but a female attendant and a footman present, i could not well get up any topic so as to carry on a continual discourse. _she apologised for not speaking english well enough to talk it_; intimated a hope that she might talk it better and longer with me at some future time. she spoke of her situation, and her manner was quite delightful." the sentence in italics opens our eyes to one of the difficulties of the duchess to which we might not otherwise have given much consideration. we are apt to take it for granted that, though there is no royal road to mathematics, the power of speaking foreign languages comes to royal personages, if not by nature, at least by inheritance and by force of circumstances. there is some truth in this when there is a foreign father or mother; when royal babies are brought up, like queen victoria, to speak several languages from infancy, and when constant contact with foreigners confirms and maintains the useful faculty. even when a prince or a princess is destined from his or her early youth to share a foreign throne, and is brought up with that end, a provision may be made for an adopted tongue to become second nature. but the duchess of kent was not brought up with any such prospect, and during her eleven years of married life in germany she must have had comparatively little occasion to practise what english she knew; while, at the date of her coming to england, she was beyond the age when one learns a new language with facility. any one of us who has experienced the fettered, perturbed, bewildered condition which results from being reduced to express ourselves at an important crisis in our history through a medium of speech with which we are but imperfectly acquainted, will know how to estimate this unthought-of obstacle in the duchess of kent's path, at the beginning of her widowhood. this was the year ( ) of the greatest eclipse of the sun which had been seen for more than a century, when venus and mars were both visible, with the naked eye, for a few minutes in the middle of the day. whatever the portents in the sky might mean, the signs on the earth were not reassuring. when the bourbon monarchy had seemed fairly restored in france, all the world was shocked by the assassination of the duc de berri at the door of the opera-house in paris. three kingdoms which had but recently been delivered from the clutch of the usurper were in revolt against the constituted authorities--portugal, spain, and naples. of these, the two former were on the brink of wars of succession, when the royal uncles, don miguel and don carlos, fought against their royal nieces, donna maria and donna isabella. at home the summer had been a sad one to the royal family and the country. the ferment of discontent was kept up by the very measures--executions and imprisonments--taken to repress anarchy, and by the continuance of crushed trade, want of work, and high prices. the duchess of york died, making the third member of the royal family dead since the new year; yet she, poor lady, was but a unit in the sum, a single foreign princess who, however, kind she might have been to the few who came near her, was nothing to the mass of the people. the name of another foreign princess was in every man's mind and on every man's tongue. however, there were many reasons for the anomaly. caroline of brunswick was the queen until she should be proved unworthy to bear the title. her quarrel with the king had long made her notorious. though the story reflected little credit on her, it was so utterly discreditable to him that it raised up friends for her where they might have been least expected. his unpopularity rendered her popular. her name became the rallying-cry for a great political faction. the mob, with its usual headlong, unreasoning appropriation of a cause and a person, elevated her into a heroine, cheered frantically, and was ready to commit any outbreak in her honour. after six years' absence from england queen caroline had come back on the death of george iii. to demand her rights. she had landed at dover and been welcomed by applauding crowds. she had been escorted through kent by uproarious partisans, who removed the horses from her carriage and dragged her in triumph through the towns. london, in its middle and lower classes, had poured out to meet her and come back in her train, till she was safely lodged in south audley street, in the house of her champion, alderman wood. the king had instructed his ministers to lay before the house of lords a bill of pains and penalties against the queen which, if sustained, would deprive her of every claim to share his rank and would annul the marriage. the queen was prepared with her defence, and furnished with two of the ablest advocates in the kingdom, mr. brougham and mr. denman. in the earlier stages of the proceedings she was present almost every day in the house of lords. she entered in her puce or black sarcenet pelisse and black velvet hat, a large, not uncomely woman, a little over fifty, and took the chair of state provided for her, the house rising to receive the queen whom it was trying. the trial, in its miserable details of gross folly well-nigh incredible, lasted from july to november--four months of burning excitement--when it collapsed from the smallness of the majority (nine) that voted for the second reading of the bill. the animus of the prosecution and the unworthy means taken to accomplish its purpose, defeated the end in view. it is said that had it been otherwise the country would have broken out into widespread insurrection. the queen's supporters, of all classes, sects, and shades, indulged in a perfect frenzy of rejoicing. festivals, illuminations, every token of triumph for her and condemnation for him accompanied what was equivalent to her acquittal. she went in something like state, with her queer, motley household--bohemian, english and italians--and her great ally, alderman wood, to offer up thanksgiving in st. paul's, where, at the same time, she found her name omitted from the church service. she wore white velvet and ermine, and was surrounded by thousands of shouting followers, as if she had been the most discreet of queens and best of women. the poor passionate, wayward nature, which after all had been cruelly dealt with, was touched as well as elated. on the very day after queen caroline's arrival in london in june, she had dispatched alderman wood to kensington, to condole with the duchess of kent on her recent widowhood, and inquire after the health of the infant princess. the message was innocent in itself, but alarming by implication; for queen caroline was not a woman to be kept at a distance, or to hesitate in expressing her sentiments if she fancied her overtures slighted by the embarrassed duchess. in the month of august queen caroline had established herself at brandenburg house--the margravine of anspach's house, by the river at hammersmith--near enough to kensington palace, to judge from human nature, to disconcert and provoke a smile against the smiler's will--for caroline's extravagances would have disturbed the gravity of a judge--in the womanly princess at the head of the little household soberly settled there. never were princesses and women more unlike than caroline of brunswick and victoria of coburg; but poor queen caroline was not destined to remain long an awkward enigma--a queen and yet no queen, an aunt and yet no aunt, a scandal and a torment in everybody's path. in the summer of the following year, when the country was drawn away and dazzled by the magnificent ceremonial of the coronation of george iv., she exercised her last disturbing influence. she demanded to be crowned along with her husband; but her demand was refused by the privy council. she appeared at the door of westminster abbey, but the way was barred to her. a fortnight afterwards, when king george had gone to ireland to arouse the nation's loyalty, his wife had passed where privy council ushers and yeomen of the guard were powerless, where the enmity of man had no voice in the judgment of god. she had been attacked by severe illness, and in the course of five days she died, in the middle of a wild storm of thunder, wind, and rain. the night before, a boatful of methodists had rowed up the thames, within sound of the open windows of her sick-room, and sung hymns to comfort her in her extremity. the heart of a large part of the nation still clung to her because of her misfortunes and the insults heaped upon her. the late queen's body was conveyed back to brunswick. the funeral passed through kensington, escorted by a mighty mob, in addition to companies of soldiers. the last were instructed to conduct the _cortege_ by the outskirts of london to harwich, where a frigate and two sloops of war were waiting for the coffin. the mob were resolute that their queen's funeral should pass through the city. the first struggle between the crowd and the military took place at the corner of church street, kensington. the strange, unseemly, contention was renewed farther on more than once; but as bloodshed had been forbidden, the people had their way, and the swaying mass surged in grim determination straight towards the strand and temple bar. the captain of the frigate into whose keeping the coffin was committed in order to be conveyed back to brunswick had been, by a curious, sorrowful coincidence, the midshipman who, "more than a quarter of a century before, handed the rope to the royal bride whereby to help her on board the _jupiter_," which was to bring her to england. one can fancy that, when that sorry tragedy was ended, and its perpetual noisy ebullitions had sunk into silence, a sense of relief stole over the palace-home at kensington. round the childhood and youth of sovereigns, especially popular sovereigns, a growth of stories will gather like the myths which attend on the infancy of a nation. such stories or myths are chiefly valuable as showing the later tendency of the individual or people, the character and history of the monarch or of the subjects, in accordance with which, in reversal of the adage that makes the child father to the man, the man is, in a new sense, father to the child, by stamping on his infancy and nonage traits borrowed from his mature years. mingled with the species of legendary lore attaching to every generation, there is a foundation more or less of authentic annals. it is as affording an example of this human patchwork of fancy and fact, and as illustrating the impression deeply engraved on the popular mind, that the following incidents of the queen's childhood and youth are given. first, the people have loved to dwell on the close union between mother and child. the duchess nursed her baby--would see it washed and dressed. as soon as the little creature could sit alone, her small table was placed by her mother's at meals, though the child was only allowed the food fit for her years. the princess slept in her mother's room all through her childhood and girlhood. in the entries in the queen's diary at the time of the duchess of kent's death, her majesty refers to an old repeater striking every quarter of an hour in the sick-room on the last night of the duchess's life--"a large watch in a tortoiseshell case, which had belonged to my poor father, the sound of which brought back to me all the recollections of my childhood, for i had always used to hear it at night, but had not heard it for now twenty-three years." when the princess was a little older, and lessons and play alternated with each other, she was taught to attend to the thing in hand, and finish what she had begun, both in her studies and games. one day she was amusing herself making a little haycock when some other mimic occupation caught her volatile fancy, and she flung down her small rake ready to rush off to the fresh attraction. "no, no, princess; you must always complete what you have commenced," said her governess, and the small haymaker had to conclude her haymaking before she was at liberty to follow another pursuit. from the princess's fifth year dr. davys, afterwards bishop of peterborough, was her tutor. when it became clear that the little girl would, if she lived, be queen of england, a prelate high in the church was proposed to the duchess of kent as the successor of dr. davys in his office. but the duchess, with the mild firmness and conscientious fidelity which ruled her conduct, declared that as she was perfectly satisfied with the tutor who had originally been appointed (when the appointment was less calculated to offer temptations to personal ambition and political intrigue), she did not see that any change was advisable. if a clergyman of higher rank was necessary, there was room for the promotion of dr. davys. accordingly he was named dean of chester. the baroness lehzen was another of the queen's earliest guardians who remained at her post throughout her majesty's youth. louise lehzen, daughter of a hanoverian clergyman, came to england as governess to princess feodora leiningen and remained as governess to princess victoria, entering on her duties in . in she was raised to the rank of a hanoverian baroness, by george iv., at the request of princess sophia. from that time baroness lehzen acted also as lady in attendance. on her death, so late as , her old pupil recorded of her, in a passage in the queen's journal, which is given in the "life of the prince consort," "my dearest, kindest friend, old lehzen, expired on the th quite gently and peaceably.... she knew me from six months old, and from my fifth to my eighteenth year devoted all her care and energies to me with the most wonderful abnegation of self, never even taking one day's holiday. i adored, though i was greatly in awe of her. she really seemed to have no thought but for me.... she was in her eighty-seventh year." this constancy and permanency in the family relations were in themselves inestimable boons to the child, who thus grew up in an atmosphere of familiar affection and unshaken trust, for the absence of which nothing in the world could have compensated. another lady of higher rank was of necessity appointed governess to the queen in , when she became next heir to the throne. this lady, the dowager duchess of northumberland, appears also as the queen's friend in after life. the late bishop wilberforce was told by dr. davys an interesting anecdote of his former pupil. "the queen always had from my first knowing her a most striking regard to truth. i remember when i had been teaching her one day, she was very impatient for the lesson to be over--once or twice rather refractory. the duchess of kent came in, and asked how she had behaved. lehzen said, 'oh, once she was rather troublesome.' the princess touched her and said, 'no, lehzen, twice, don't you remember?' the duchess of kent, too, was a woman of great truth." it had been judged meet that the future queen should not be made aware of her coming greatness, which, for that matter, continued doubtful in her earlier years. she was to grow up free from the impending care and responsibility, happy and healthful in her unconscious girlhood--above all, unassailed by the pernicious attempts to bespeak her favour, the crafty flattery, the undermining insinuations which have proved the bane of the youth of so many sovereigns. in order to preserve this reticence, unslumbering care and many precautions were absolutely necessary. it is said the princess was constantly under the eye either of the duchess of kent or the baroness lehzen. the guard proved sufficient; yet it was difficult to evade the lively intelligence of an observant sensible child. "why do all the gentlemen take off their hats to me and not to my sister feodora?" the little girl is said to have asked wonderingly on her return from a drive in the park, referring to her elder half-sister, who became princess of hohenlohe, between whom and the questioner there always existed the strong sweet affection of true sisters. perhaps the little lady felt indignant as well as mystified at the strange preference thus given to her, in spite of her sister's superiority in age and wisdom. we do not know what reply was made to this puzzling inquiry, though it would have been easy enough to say that the little princess was the daughter of an english royal duke, therefore an english princess, and the big princess was german on both sides of the house, while these were english gentlemen who had saluted their young countrywoman. we all know from the best authority that sir walter scott was wrong when he fancied some bird of the air must have conveyed the important secret to the little fair-haired maiden to whom he was presented in . the mystery was not disclosed for years to come. the child, though brought up in retirement, was by no means secluded from observation, or deprived of the change and variety so advantageous to human growth and development. from her babyhood in the sad visit to sidmouth in , and from , when she was at that pretentious combination of fantasticalness and gorgeousness, the pavilion, brighton, she was carried every year, like any other well-cared-for child, either to the seaside or to some other invigorating region, so that she became betimes acquainted with different aspects of sea and shore in her island. ramsgate was a favourite resort of the duchess's. the little thanet watering-place, with its white chalk cliffs, its inland basin of a harbour, its upper and lower town, connected by "jacob's ladder," its pure air and sparkling water, with only a tiny fringe of bathing-machines, was in its blooming time of fresh rural peace and beauty when it was the cradle by the sea of the little princess. when she was five she was at claremont, making music and motion in the quiet house with her gleeful laughter and pattering feet, so happy in being with her uncle that she could look back on this visit as the brightest of her early holidays. "this place," the queen wrote to the king of the belgians long afterwards, "has a peculiar charm for us both, and to me it brings back recollections of the happiest days of my otherwise dull childhood,--when i experienced such kindness from you, dearest uncle, kindness which has ever since continued.... victoria plays with my old bricks, and i see her running and jumping in the flower-garden, as _old_, though i feel still _little_, victoria of former days used to do." in the autumn of the queen's grandmother, the dowager duchess of coburg, visited england, and the whole family were together at claremont. in , "the warm summer," when the princess was seven years of age, she was invited to windsor to see another uncle, george iv. that was a more formidable ordeal, but her innocent frank brightness carried her through it successfully. it is not easy for many men to contemplate with satisfaction their heirs, when those heirs are no offspring of theirs. it must have been doubly difficult for the king to welcome the little girl who had replaced his daughter, the child of his wronged brother and of a princess whom king george persistently slighted and deprived of her due. but we are told his majesty was delighted with his little niece's liveliness and intelligence. in the following year, , the duke of york died, and the princess, was a step nearer to the throne, but she did not know it. so far from being reared in an atmosphere of self-indulgence, the invaluable lesson was early taught to her that if she were to be honourable and independent in any rank, she must not buy what she could not pay for; if she were to be a good woman she must learn to deny herself. an incident in illustration, which made a small stir in its locality at the time, is often quoted. the duchess and her daughter were at tunbridge wells, dwelling in the neighbourhood of sir philip sidney's penshurst, retracing the vanished glories of the pantiles, and conferring on the old pump-woman the never-to-be-forgotten honour of being permitted to present a glass of water from the marble basin to the princess. the little girl made purchases at the bazaar, buying presents, like any other young visitor, for her absent friends, when she found her money all spent, and at the same time saw a box which would suit an absent cousin. "the shop-people of course placed the box with the other purchases, but the little lady's governess admonished them by saying, 'no. you see the princess has not got the money; therefore, of course, she cannot buy the box.'" this being perceived, the next offer was to lay by the box till it could be purchased, and the answer was, "oh, well, if you will be so good as to do that." on quarter-day, before seven in the morning, the princess appeared on her donkey to claim her purchase. in the reverence, peace, and love of her pure, refined, if saddened home, everything went well with princess victoria, of whom we can only tell that we know the old brick palace where she dwelt, the playground that was hers, the walks she must have taken. we have sat in the later chapel where she said her prayers, a little consecrated room with high pews shutting in the worshippers, a royal gallery, open this time, and an elderly gentleman speaking with a measured, melodious voice. we can guess with tolerable certainty what was the princess's child-world of books, though from the circumstance that in the light of the future she was made to learn more than was usual then for english girls of the highest rank, she had less time than her companions for reading books which were not study, but the most charming blending of instruction and amusement. that was still the age of mrs. barbauld and miss edgeworth. "evenings at home," "harry and lucy," and "frank and rosamond," were in every well-conducted school-room. all little girls read with prickings of tender consciences about the lady with the bent bonnet and the scar on her hand, and came under the fascination of the "purple jar." a few years later, harriet martineau's bristling independence did not prevent her from feeling gratified by the persuasion that the young princess was reading through her tales on political economy, and that princess victoria's favourite character was ella of the far north. in the princess's roman history one day she came to the passage where the noble matron, cornelia, in answer to a question as to her precious things, pointed to her sons, and declared, "these are my jewels." "why," cried the ready-witted little pupil, with a twinkle in her blue eyes, "they must have been cornelians." when the princess's lessons took the form of later english history, she was on the very spot for the study. did her teacher tell her, we wonder, the pretty story of "bucky," who interrupted grave, saturnine king william at his statescraft in one of yonder rooms? how the small dauntless applicant wiled his father's master, great louis's rival, into playing at horses in the corridor? or that sadder story of another less fortunate boy, poor heavy-headed william of gloucester? tutors crammed and doctors shook him up, with the best intentions, in vain. in his happier moments he drilled his regiment of little soldiers on that palace green before his uncle, king william. was the childish passion for exploring old garrets and lumber-rooms excited in this royal little woman by the narrative of the wonderful discovery which queen caroline had made in a forgotten bureau in this very palace? did the little princess roam about too, in her privileged moments, with a grand vision of finding more and greater art-treasures, other drawings by holbein or vandyke, fresh cartoons by raphael? all the more valuable paintings had been removed long ago to windsor, but many curious pictures still remained on the walls of presence chambers and galleries, kings' and queens' great dining-rooms and drawing-rooms, staircases and closets. did the pictures serve as illustrations to the history lessons? was the inspection made the recreation of rainy days, when the great suites of state-rooms in which courts were no longer held or banquets celebrated, but which still echoed with the remembered tread of kings' and courtiers' feet, must have appeared doubly deserted and forlorn? what was known as the king's great drawing-room was not far from the duchess of kent's rooms, and was, in fact, put at her disposal in its dismantled, ghostly condition. among its pictures--freely attributed to many schools and masters--including several battle-pieces and many portraits, there were three representations of english palaces: old greenwich, where elizabeth was born; old hampton, dear to william and mary; and windsor, the windsor of george iii. and queen charlotte, the princess's grandfather and grandmother. in the next room, amidst classic and scriptural subjects, and endless examples of "ladies with ruffs," "heads in turbans," &c., there were occasionally family portraits--the old king and queen more than once; william, duke of gloucester; the queen of wurtemberg as the girl-princess royal, with a dog. (she died in wurtemberg about this time, . she had quitted england on her marriage in , and in the thirty-one years of her married life only once came back, as an aging and ailing woman. she proved a good wife and stepmother.) a youthful family group of an earlier generation was sure to attract a child--george iii. and his brother, edward, duke of york, when young, shooting at a target, the duke of gloucester in petticoats, princess augusta (duchess of brunswick, and mother of caroline, princess of wales) nursing the duke of cumberland, and princess louisa sitting in a chaise drawn by a favourite dog, the scene in kew gardens, painted in . queen elizabeth was there as a child aged seven, a.d. --three-quarters, with a feather-fan in her hand. did the guide of the little unconscious princess pause inadvertently, with a little catch of the breath, by words arrested on the tip of the tongue, before that picture? and was he or she inevitably arrested again before another picture of queen elizabeth in her prime, returning from her palace, wearing her crown and holding the sceptre and the globe; juno, pallas, and venus flying before her, juno dropping her sceptre, venus her roses, and the little boy cupid flinging away his bow and arrows, and clinging in discomfiture to his mother because good queen bess had conquered all the three in power, wisdom, and beauty? we know the princess must have loved to look at the pictures. more curious than beautiful as they were, they may have been sufficient to foster in her that love of art which has been the delight of the queen's maturer years. english princesses, even though they were not queens in perspective, were not so plentiful in queen victoria's young days as to leave any doubt of their hands and hearts proving in great request when the proper time came. therefore there was no necessity to hold before the little girl, as an incentive to good penmanship, the example of her excellent grandmother, queen charlotte, who wrote so fair a letter, expressed with such correctness and judiciousness, at the early age of fifteen, that when the said letter fell, by an extraordinary train of circumstances, into the hands of young king george, he determined there and then to make that painstaking and sensible princess, and no other, a happy wife and great queen. there was no strict need for the story, and yet as a gentle stimulant it may have been administered. queen victoria was educated, as far as possible, in the simple habits and familiarity with nature which belongs to the best and happiest training of any child, whatever her rank. there is a pleasant picture in knight's "passages of a working life": "i delighted to walk in kensington gardens in the early summer, on my way to town.... in such a season, when the sun was scarcely high enough to have dried up the dews of kensington's green alleys, as i passed along the broad central walk i saw a group on the lawn before the palace, which, to my mind, was a vision of exquisite loveliness. the duchess of kent and her daughter, whose years then numbered nine, are breakfasting in the open air, a single page attending on them at a respectful distance, the mother looking on with eyes of love, while the fair, soft, english face is bright with smiles. the world of fashion is not yet astir. clerks and mechanics passing onwards to their occupations are few, and they exhibit nothing of vulgar curiosity." we have another charming description, by leigh hunt, of a glimpse which he had of princess victoria in these gardens: "we remember well the peculiar kind of personal pleasure which it gave us to see the future queen, the first time we ever did see her, coming up a cross-path from the bayswater gate, with a girl of her own age by her side, whose hand she was holding as if she loved her. it brought to our minds the warmth of our own juvenile friendships, and made us fancy that she loved everything else that we had loved in like measure--books, trees, verses, arabian tales, and the good mother who had helped to make her so affectionate. a magnificent footman in scarlet came behind her, with the splendidest pair of calves, in white stockings, that we ever beheld. he looked somehow like a gigantic fairy, personating for his little lady's sake the grandest kind of footman he could think of; and his calves he seemed to have made out of a couple of the biggest chaise-lamps in the possession of the godmother of cinderella. with or without her big footman, the little princess could have rambled safely in the grounds which her predecessors had made for her, could have fed the ducks which swam in the round pond before her palace windows, could have drunk from the curious little mineral well, where, in miss thackeray's 'old kensington,' frank raban met dolly vanburgh, or peeped out of the little side gate where the same dolly came face to face with the culprits george and rhoda. the future owner of all could have easily strayed down the alleys among the dutch elms which king william brought, perhaps saplings, from the boomjees, as far as the oak that tradition says king charles set in the form of an acorn taken from his leafy refuge at boscobel." the duke of kent had brought an old soldier-servant, called stillman, and established him, with his wife and family, in a cottage in one of the kensington lanes. it is said the duke had recommended this former retainer to the care of the duchess, and that she and her daughter were in the habit of visiting and caring for the family, in which there were a sickly little boy and girl. an event happened in to the household in kensington palace which was of importance to all. it was a joyful event, and the preparations for the royal wedding, with the gala in which the preliminaries culminated, must have formed an era in the quiet young life into which a startling announcement and its fulfilment had broken, filling the hours of the short winter days with wonder, admiration, and interest. yet all the pleasant stir and excitement; the new member of the family prominent for a brief space; the gifts, the trousseau, the wedding-cake, the wedding guests, were but the deceptive herald of change and loss to the family, whose members were so few that each became deeply precious. the closely united circle was to be broken, and a dear face permanently withdrawn from the group. the duchess of kent's elder daughter, princess victoria's only sister, was about to marry. it was the most natural and the happiest course, above all when the princess feodora wedded worthily--how worthily let the subsequent testimony of the queen and the prince consort prove. it was given at the time of the prince of hohenlohe's death, thirty-two years afterwards, in . the queen wrote to her own and her sister's uncle, the king of the belgians, in reference to the prince of hohenlohe: "a better, more thoroughly straightforward, upright, and excellent man, with a more unblemished character, or a more really devoted and faithful husband, never existed." the prince consort's opinion of his brother-in-law is to be found in a letter to the princess william of prussia: "poor ernest hohenlohe is a great loss. though he was not a man of great powers of mind, capable of taking comprehensive views of the world, still he was a great character --that is to say, a thoroughly good, noble, spotless, and honourable man, which in these days forms a better title to be recognised as great than do craftiness, machiavellism, and grasping ambition." at the time of his marriage the prince of hohenlohe was in the prime of manhood, thirty-two years of age. but the marriage meant the princess feodora's return to germany and her separation from the other members of her family, with the exception of her brother, brought up in his own country. the bride, whom we hear of afterwards as a true and tender woman, was then a sweet maiden of twenty, whose absence must have made a great blank to her mother and sister. happily for the latter, she was too young to realise in the agreeable excitement of the moment what a deprivation remained in store for her. there were eleven years between the sisters. this was enough difference to mingle a motherly, protecting element with the elder sister's pride and fondness, and to lead the younger, whose fortunes were so much higher, but who was unaware of the fact, to look up with affectionate faith and trust to the grown-up companion, in one sense on a level with the child, in another with so much more knowledge and independence. it was a german marriage, both bride and bridegroom being german, though the bride had been nine years--the difference between a child and a woman--in england, and though the event occurred in an english household. whether the myrtle was worn for the orange-blossoms, or any of the other pretty german wedding customs imported, we cannot tell. anyhow, the ordinary peaceful simplicity of the palace was replaced by much bustle and grandeur on that february morning, the modest forerunner of another february morning in another palace, when a young queen plighted her troth. the royal family in england, with two exceptions, were at kensington palace to do honour to the marriage. the absent members were the king and princess augusta--the latter of whom was at brighton. the company arrived soon after two o'clock, and consisted of the duke and duchess of clarence, the duke of sussex, the duke and duchess of gloucester, the princess sophia, the princess sophia matilda of gloucester, and prince leopold. at three o'clock the party walked in procession to the great saloon adjoining the vestibule, in which a temporary altar had been fitted up. the bride was given away by the duke of clarence. the ceremony was performed in the simple lutheran fashion by a simple lutheran pastor, dr. kuper, "the chaplain of the royal german chapel." then came the parting, and the quiet palace-home was stiller and shadier than ever, when the gracious maidenly presence had gone, when the opening rose was plucked from the parent stem, and only the bud left. in george iv. died, and william, duke of clarence, succeeded to the throne as king william iv. that summer was the last of the princess's ignorance of her prospects; until then not even the shadow of a throne had been projected across the sunshiny path of the happy girl of eleven. she was with her mother in one of the fairest scenes in england--malvern. the little town with its old priory among the worcester hills, looks down on the plain of worcester, the field of a great english battle. a dim recollection of the duchess and the princess is still preserved at malvern--how pleasant and kind they were to all, how good to the poor; how the future queen rode on a donkey like any other young girl at malvern--like poor marie antoinette in the forest glades of compiegne and fontainebleau half a century earlier, when she was only four years older, although already dauphiness of france. the shadowy records do not tell us much more; we are left to form our own conclusions whether the queen anticipated her later ascents of scotch and swiss mountains by juvenile scrambles amongst the worcester hills; whether she stood on the top of the worcester or hereford beacon; or whether these were considered too dangerous and masculine exploits for a princess of tender years, growing up to inherit a throne? she could hardly fail to enter the wytche, the strange natural gap between worcestershire and herefordshire, by which, at one step, the wayfarer leaves wooded england behind, and stands face to face with a pastoral corner of wales; or to drive along the mile-long common of barnard's green, with the geese, and the hay-stacks, and the little cottages on either side, and always in front the steep ridge of hills with the grey priory where piers plowman saw his vision, nestling at their feet; or to pull the heather and the wild strawberries in cowleigh park, from which every vestige of its great house has departed. she might have been a privileged visitor at madresfield, where some say charles ii. slept the night before the battle of worcester, and where there is a relic that would better become kensington, in a quilt which queen anne and duchess sarah embroidered together in silks in the days of their fast friendship. as it was part of the princess's good education to be enlightened, as far as possible, with regard to the how and why of arts and manufactures, we make no question she was carried to worcester, not only to see the cathedral, but to have the potteries exhibited to her. there was a great deal for the ingenuous mind of a royal pupil to see, learn, and enjoy in worcester and warwickshire--for she was also at guy's cliff and kenilworth. it had become clear to the world without that the succession rested with the duke of kent's daughter. long before, the duchess of clarence had written to her sister-in-law in a tender, generous struggle with her sorrow: "my children are dead, but yours lives, and she is mine too." as the direct heir to the crown, the princess victoria became a person of great importance, a source of serious consideration alike to the government and to her future subjects. the result, in , was a well-deserved if somewhat long-delayed testimony to the merits of the duchess of kent, which must have given honest satisfaction not only at kensington, but at claremont--to whose master the belgian revolution was opening up the prospect of a kingdom more stable than that of greece, for which prince leopold had been mentioned. away in the duchess's native coburg, too, the congratulations were sincere and hearty. the english parliament had not only formally recognised the princess as the next heir and increased the duchess's income to ten thousand a year, so relieving her from some of her difficulties; it had, with express and flattering reference to the admirable manner in which she had until then discharged the trust that her husband had confided to her, appointed her regent in the event of king william's death while the princess was still a minor. in this appointment the duchess was preferred to the duke of cumberland. he had become the next royal duke in the order of descent, but had failed to inspire confidence in his countrymen. in fact he was in england the most uniformly and universally unpopular of all george iii.'s sons. there was even a wild rumour that he was seeking, against right and reason, to form a party which should attempt to revive the salic law and aim at setting aside the princess and placing prince george of cumberland on the throne of england as well as on that of hanover. the princess had reached the age of twelve, and it was judged advisable, after her position had been thus acknowledged, that she herself should be made acquainted with it. the story--the authenticity of which is established beyond question--is preserved in a letter from the queen's former governess, baroness lehzen, which her majesty has, given to the world. "i ask your majesty's leave to cite some remarkable words of your majesty when only twelve years old, while the regency bill was in progress. i then said to the duchess of kent, that now, for the first time, your majesty ought to know your place in the succession. her royal highness agreed with me, and i put the genealogical table into the historical book. when mr. davys (the queen's instructor, afterwards bishop of peterborough) was gone, the princess victoria opened the book again, as usual, and seeing the additional paper, said, 'i never saw that before.' 'it was not thought necessary you should, princess,' i answered. 'i see i am nearer the throne than i thought.' 'so it is, madam,' i said. after some moments the princess answered, 'now, many a child would boast, but they don't know the difficulty. there is much splendour, but there is more responsibility.' the princess having lifted up the forefinger of her right hand while she spoke, gave me that little hand, saying, 'i will be good. i understand now why you urged me so much to learn even latin. my aunts augusta and mary never did; but you told me latin is the foundation of english grammar and of all the elegant expressions, and i learned it as you wished it, but i understand all better now;' and the princess gave me her hand, repeating, 'i will be good.' i then said, 'but your aunt adelaide is still young, and may have children, and of course they would ascend the throne after their father, william iv., and not you, princess.' the princess answered, 'and if it was so, i should never feel disappointed, for i know by the love aunt adelaide bears me how fond she is of children.'" no words can illustrate better what is striking and touching in this episode than those with which mrs. oliphant refers to it in her sketch of the queen. "it is seldom that an early scene like this stands out so distinctly in the early story even of a life destined to greatness. the hush of awe upon the child; the childish application of this great secret to the abstruse study of latin, which was not required from the others; the immediate resolution, so simple, yet containing all the wisest sage could have counselled, or the greatest hero vowed,' i will be good,' makes a perfect little picture. it is the clearest appearance of the future queen in her own person that we get through the soft obscurity of those childish years." the duchess of kent remained far from a rich woman for her station, and the young princess had been sooner told of her mother's straitened income than of the great inheritance in store for herself. she continued to be brought up in unassuming, inexpensive habits. in february, , when princess victoria was twelve, she made her first appearance in state at "the most magnificent drawing-room which, had been seen since that which had taken place on the presentation of princess charlotte of wales upon the occasion of her marriage." the drawing-room was held by queen adelaide, and it was to do honour to the new queen no less than to commemorate the approaching completion of the princess's twelfth year that the heiress to the throne was present in a prominent position, an object of the greatest interest to the splendid company. she came along with the duchess her mother, attended by an appropriate suite, including the duchess of northumberland, lady charlotte st. maur, lady catherine parkinson, the hon. mrs. cust, the baroness lehzen, and the princess's father's old friends, general wetherall and captain (now sir john) conroy, with his wife, lady conroy. the princess's dress was made, as the queen's often was afterwards, entirely of articles manufactured in the united kingdom. she wore a frock of english blonde, "simple, modest, and becoming." she stood on the left of her majesty on the throne, and "contemplated all that passed with much dignity, but with evident interest." we are further told, what we can well believe, that she excited general admiration as well as interest. we can without difficulty call up before us the girlish figure in its pure, white dress, the soft, open face, the fair hair, the candid blue eyes, the frank lips slightly apart, showing the white pearly teeth. the intelligent observation, the remarkable absence of self-consciousness and consequent power of self-control and of thought for others, which struck all who approached her in the great crisis of her history six years afterwards, were already conspicuous in the young girl. no doubt it was for her advantage, in consideration of what lay before her, that while brought up in wholesome privacy, she was at the same time inured, so far, to appear in public, to bear the brunt of many eyes--some critical, though for the most part kind--touched by her youth and innocence, by the circumstance that she was fatherless, and by the crown she must one day wear. she had to learn to conduct herself with the mingled self-respect and ease which became her station. impulsiveness, shyness, nervousness, are more serious defects in kings and queens than in ordinary mortals. to use a homely phrase, "to have all their wits about them" is very necessary in their case. if in addition they can have all their hearts--hearts warm and considerate, nobly mindful of their own obligations and of the claims of others--so much the better for the sovereigns and for all who come under their influence. a certain amount of familiarity with being the observed of all observers, with treading alone a conspicuous path demanding great circumspection, was wanted beforehand, in order that the young head might remain steady in the time of sudden, tremendous elevation. nevertheless, the princess was not present at the coronation of king william and queen adelaide, and her absence, as the heir-presumptive to the throne, caused much remark and speculation, and gave rise to not a few newspaper paragraphs. various causes were assigned for the singular omission. _the times_ openly accused the duchess of kent of proving the obstacle. other newspapers followed suit, asserting that the grounds for the duchess's refusal were to be found in the circumstance that in the coronation procession, marshalled by lord a. fitzclarence, the place appointed for the princess victoria, instead of being next to the king and queen, according to her right, was after the remaining members of the royal family. conflicting authorities declared that the prime minister, earl grey, for some occult reason, opposed the princess's receiving an invitation to be present at a ceremony which had so much interest for her; or that the duchess of northumberland, the governess of the princess, took the same extraordinary course from political motives. finally, _the globe_ gave, on authority, an explanation that had been offered all along in the midst of more sensational rumours. the princess's health was rather delicate, and the duchess of kent had, on that account, got the king's sanction to her daughter's not being exposed to unusual excitement and fatigue. the statement on authority was unanswerable, but while it stilled one cause of apprehension it awakened another. after the untimely death of princess charlotte, the nation was particularly sensitive with regard to the health of the heir to the crown. whispers began to spread abroad, happily without much foundation, of pale cheeks, and a constitution unfit for the burden which was to be laid upon it. chapter iii. youth. in the month of august, , the princess went with her mother to profit by the soft, sweet breezes of the isle of wight. the duchess and her daughter occupied norris castle for three months, and the ladies of the family were often on the shore watching the white sails and chatting with the sailors. carisbrooke and king charles the martyr were brought more vividly home to his descendant, with the pathetic little tale of the girl-princess elizabeth. we do not know whether the queen then learnt to feel a special love for the fair little island with which she has long been familiar, but of this we are certain, that she could then have had little idea that her chief home would be within its bounds. even in transport and communication by land and water continued a tedious and troublesome business. however, the visit to the isle of wight was repeated in . perhaps to dissipate the gossip and calm the little irritation which had been created by the princess's absence from the coronation, she made her appearance twice in public, on the completion of her thirteenth year, in . that was a year in which there was much call for oil to be cast on the troubled waters: never since , the date of the queen's birth had there been greater restlessness and turmoil throughout the country. for some time public feeling had been kept at the boiling-point by the question of the reform bill--groaned over by some as the first step to democracy and destruction; eagerly hailed by others as a new dawn of freedom, peace, and prosperity. the delay in passing the bill had rendered the king unpopular, and brought unmerited blame on queen adelaide, for having gone beyond her prerogative in lending herself to overthrow the king's whig principles. the ferment had converted the old enthusiastic homage to the iron duke as a soldier into fierce detestation of him as a statesman. the carrying of the measure on which the people had set their hearts did not immediately allay the tempest--a disappointing result, which was inevitable when the universal panacea failed to work at once like a charm in relieving all the woes in the kingdom. men were not only rude, and spoke their minds, the ringleaders broke out again into riots, the most formidable and alarming of which were those in bristol, that left a deep impression on more than one chance spectator who witnessed them. but the girl princess--praised for her proficiency in horace and virgil, and her progress in mathematics--could only hear far off the mutterings of the storm that was passing; and king william and queen adelaide sought to put aside what was perplexing and harassing them; and tried to forget that when they had shown themselves to their people lately they had been met--here with indifference--and there with hootings. the times were waxing more and more evil, as it seemed, to uneasy, vexed wearers of crowns, unlike those in which old king george and queen charlotte had been received with fervent acclamation wherever they went, whatever wars were being waged or taxes imposed. the manners of the commons were not improving with the extension of their rights. but the king and queen would do their duty, which was far from disagreeable to them, in paying proper respect to their niece and successor. accordingly their majesties gave a ball on the princess's thirteenth birthday, th may, , at which the heroine of the day figured; and four days later, on the th of may, she was present for the second time at a drawing-room. all the same, it is an open secret that william, living, for the most part, in that noblest palace of windsor, considered the princess led too retired a life, so far as not appearing often enough at his court was concerned, and that he complained of her absence and resented it as a slight to himself. it is an equally well-established fact that, in spite of the king's kindness of heart and queen adelaide's goodness, king william's court was not in all respects a desirable place for a princess to grow up in, in addition to the objection that any court in itself formed an unsuitable schoolroom for a young girl. it is doubtful, since even the most magnanimous men have jealous instincts, whether the king's displeasure on one point would be appeased by what was otherwise a very natural and judicious step taken by the duchess of kent this year. she made an autumn tour with her daughter through several counties of england and wales, in the course of which the royal mother and daughter paid a succession of visits to seats of different noblemen, taking oxford on the way. if there was a place in england which deserved the notice of its future queen, it was one of the two great universities--the cradles of learning, and, in the case of "the most loyal city of oxford," the bulwark of the throne. the party proceeded early in october through the beautiful scenery of north wales--the princess's first experience of mountains--to eaton hall, the home of the grosvenor family. from eaton the travellers drove to the ancient city of chester, with its quaint arcades and double streets, its god's providence house and its cathedral. at chester the princess named the new bridge which was opened on the occasion. by the wise moderation and self-repression of those around her, the name bestowed was not the "victoria," but simply the "grosvenor bridge." from eaton the princess was taken to chatsworth, the magnificent seat of the cavendishes. she stayed long enough to see and hear something of romantic derbyshire. she visited hardwick, associated with building bess, whose granddaughter, the unfortunate "lady arbell," had been a remote cousin of this happy young princess, and she went, like everybody else, to matlock. at belper the party, in diligent search after all legitimate knowledge, examined the great cotton-mills of the messrs. strutt, and the senior partner had the honour of showing to her royal highness, by means of a model, how cotton was spun. from chatsworth the duchess and her daughter repaired to alton abbey, where the "talbot tykes" still kept watch and ward; thence to shugborough, the seat of the earl of lichfield, which enabled the visitors to see another fine cathedral and to breathe the air which is full of "the great dr. johnson." at each of the towns the strangers were met by addresses--of course made to the duchess and replied to by her. how original these formal compliments must have sounded to princess victoria! on the th of october their royal highnesses were at pitchford hall, the residence of the earl of liverpool, from which they visited shrewsbury--another chester--with a word of its own for the old fateful battle in which "percy was slain and douglas taken prisoner," and the welsh power broken in owen glendower. after getting a glimpse of the most picturesque portion of shropshire, halting at more noble seats, and passing through a succession of worcester towns, the royal party reached woodstock on the th of november, and the same evening rested at wytham house, belonging to the earl of abingdon. there was hardly time to realise that the memories of alice lee, the old knight sir henry, and the faithful dog bevis, rivalled successfully the grisly story of queen eleanor and fair rosamond. nay, the magician was still dogging the travellers' steps; for had he not made the little town of abingdon his own by choosing it for the meeting-place of mike lambourne and tressillian, and rebuilding in its neighbourhood the ruins of cumnor hall, on which the dews fell softly? alas! the wizard would weave no more spells. a month before that princely "progress" sir walter scott, after herculean labours to pay his debts like an honest man had wrecked even his robust frame and healthful genius, lay dead at abbotsford. on the th of november the future queen entered oxford with something like state, in proper form escorted by a detachment of yeomanry. there is no need to tell that she was received by the vice-chancellor of the university, and the dons and doctors of the various colleges, in full array. and she was told of former royal visitors: of charles in his tribulation; of her grandfather and grandmother, king george and queen charlotte, when little miss barney was there to describe the festivities. the princess went the usual round: to superb christ church, at which her sons were to graduate; to the bodleian and radclyffe libraries; to all souls, new college, &c. she proceeded to view other buildings, which, unless in a local guide-book, are not usually included among the lions of oxford. but this young lady of the land was bound to encourage town as well as gown; therefore she visited duly the town hall and council chamber. from oxford the tourists returned to kensington. there are no greater contrasts than those which are to be found in royal lives. when the princess victoria was about to set out on her pleasant journey in peace and prosperity, the news came of the arrest of the duchesse de berri, at nantes. it was the sequel to her gallant but unsuccessful attempt to raise la vendee in the name of her young son, henri de bordeaux, and the end to the months in which she had lain in hiding. she was discovered in the chimney of a house in the rue haute-du-chateau, where she was concealed with three other conspirators against the government of her cousin, louis philippe. the search had lasted for several hours, during which these unfortunate persons were penned in a small space and exposed to almost intolerable heat. a mantelpiece had been contrived so as to turn on a swivel and form an opening into a suffocating recess. when the duchesse and her companions were found their hands were scorched and part of their clothes burnt. she was taken to the fortress of nantes, and thence transferred to the castle of blaze, where she suffered a term of imprisonment. she had acted entirely on her own responsibility, her wild enterprise having being disapproved alike by her father-in-law, charles x., and her brother and sister-in-law, the duc and duchesse d'angouleme. in , we are told, the duchess of kent and the fourteen years old princess stopped on their way to weymouth--the old favourite watering-place of king george and queen charlotte--and visited the young queen of portugal, at portsmouth. donna maria da gloria had been sent from brazil to england by her father, don pedro, partly for her safety, partly under the impression, which proved false, that the english government would take an active part in her cause against the usurpation of her uncle, don miguel. the government did nothing. the royal family paid the stranger some courtly and kindly attentions. one of the least exceptional passages in the late charles greville's memoirs is the description of the ball given by the king, at which the two young queens--to be--were present. the chronicle describes the girls, who were of an age--having been born in the same year: the sensible face of the fair-haired english princess, and the extreme dignity--especially after she had sustained an accidental fall--of the portuguese royal maiden, inured to the hot sun of the tropics. don miguel was routed in the course of the following year ( ), and his niece was established in her kingdom. within the same twelve months she lost a father and gained and lost a husband; for among the first news that reached her english acquaintances was her marriage, before she was sixteen, and her widowhood within three months. she had married, in january, the duc de leuchtenberg, a brother of her stepmother and a son of eugene beauharnais. he died, after a short illness, in the following march. she married again in the next year, her re-marriage having been earnestly desired by her subjects. the second husband was prince ferdinand of coburg, belonging to the roman catholic branch of the coburgs, and cousin both to the queen and the prince consort. he was a worthy and, ultimately, a popular prince. donna maria was grand-niece to queen amelie of france, and showed much attachment to the house of orleans. there is said to have been a project formed by louis philippe, which was frustrated by the english government, that she should marry one of his sons, the duc de nemours. in addition to the english tours which the princess victoria made with her mother, the duchess of kent was careful that as soon as her daughter had grown old enough to profit by the association, she should meet the most distinguished men of the day--whether statesmen, travellers, men of science, letters, or art. kensington had one well-known intellectual centre in holland house, presided over by the famous lady holland, and was soon to have another in gore house, occupied by lady blessington and count d'orsay; but even if the fourteen years old princess had been of sufficient age and had gone into society, such _salons_ were not for her. the duchess must "entertain" for her daughter. in lord campbell mentions dining at kensington palace. the company found the princess in the drawing-room on their arrival, and again on their return from the dining-room. he records her bright, pleasant intelligence, perfect manners, and happy liveliness. in july, , when the princess was fifteen, she was confirmed in the chapel royal, st. james's, by the archbishop of canterbury, in the presence of the king and queen and the duchess of kent. she was advancing with rapid steps to the point at which the girl leaves the child for ever behind her, and stretches forward to her crown of young womanhood. she had in her own name confirmed the baptismal vow which consecrated her as a responsible being to the service of the king of kings. still she was a young creature, suffered to grow up according to a gracious natural growth, not forced into premature expansion, permitted to preserve to the last the sweet girlish trust and confidence, the mingled coyness and fearlessness, pensive dreams and merry laughter, which constitute the ineffable freshness and tender grace of youth. if the earlier story of the purchase, or non-purchase, of the box at tunbridge wells reads "like an incident out of 'sandford and merton,'" there is another anecdote fitting into this time which has still more of the good-fairy ring in it, while it sounds like a general endorsement of youthful wisdom. yet it may have had its origin in some eager, youthful fancy of astonishing another girl, and giving her "the very thing she wanted" as a reward for her exemplary behaviour. the princess was visiting a jeweller's shop incognito (a little in the fashion of haroun-al-raschid) when she saw another young lady hang long over some gold chains, lay down reluctantly the one which she evidently preferred, and at last content herself with buying a cheaper chain. the interested on-looker waited till the purchaser was gone, made some inquiries, directed that both chains should be tied up and sent together, along with the princess victoria's card, on which a few words were pencilled to the effect that the princess had been pleased to see prudence prevail, while she desired the young lady to accept her original choice, in the hope that she would always persevere in her laudable self-denial. in the autumn of the duchess of kent and the princess went as far north as york, visiting the archbishop at bishopsthorpe, studying the minster--second only to westminster among english abbeys--and gracing with the presence of royalty the great york musical festival. on the travellers' homeward route they were the guests of the earl of harewood, at harewood house, earl fitzwilliam at wentworth, and the duke of rutland at belvoir. at burghley house the duchess and the princess visited the marquis of exeter. the late charles greville met them there, and gives a few particulars of their visit. "they arrived from belvoir at three o'clock, in a heavy rain, the civic authorities having turned out at stamford to escort them and a procession of different people, all very loyal. when they had lunched, and the mayor and his brethren had got dry, the duchess received the address, which was read by lord exeter, as recorder. it talked of the princess as 'destined to mount the throne of these realms.' conroy handed the answer just as the prime minister does to the king. they are splendidly lodged, and great preparations have been made for their reception. the dinner at burghley was very handsome; hall well lit, and all went off well, except that a pail of ice was landed in the duchess's lap, which made a great bustle. three hundred people at the ball, which was opened by lord exeter and the princess, who, after dancing one dance, went to bed. they appeared at breakfast next morning at nine o'clock, and at ten set off to holkham." romance was not much in mr. greville's way, but burghley, apart from the statesman cecil and his weighty nod, had been the scene of such a romance as might well have captivated the imagination of a young princess, though its heroine was but a village maiden--she who married the landscape-painter, and was brought by him to burghley, bidden look around at its splendour, and told "all of this is thine and mine." tennyson has sung it--how she grew a noble lady, and yet died of the honour to which she was not born, and how the lord of burghley, deeply mourning, bid her attendants "bring the dress and put it on her which she wore when we were wed." in one of those autumns which the duchess of kent and her daughter spent at ramsgate--not so rural as it had been a dozen years before, but still a quiet enough retreat--they received a visit from the king and queen of the belgians. prince leopold was securely established on the throne which he filled so well and so long, keeping it when many other european sovereigns were unseated. he was accompanied by his second wife, princess louise of france, daughter of louis philippe. she was a good woman, like all the daughters of queen amelie, while princess marie, in addition to goodness, had the perilous gift of genius. the following is baron stockmar's opinion of the queen of the belgians. "from the moment that the (queen louise) entered that circle in which i for so many years have had a place, i have revered her as a pattern of her sex. we say and believe that men can be noble and good; of her we know with certainty that she was so. we saw in her daily a truthfulness, a faithful fulfilment of duty, which makes us believe in the possible though but seldom evident nobleness of the human heart. in characters such as the queen's, i see a guarantee of the perfection of the being who has created human nature." we ought to add that stockmar had not only the highest opinion of the character of queen louise, but also of her insight and judgment, and he often expressed his opinion that if anything were to happen to king leopold the regency might be entrusted to the queen with perfect confidence. how much the queen valued queen louise, how she became queen victoria's dearest friend, is fully shown at a later date by the extracts from the queen's journal, and letters in the "life of the prince consort" about this time the duchess of kent and princess victoria paid a visit to the duke of wellington at walmer castle--the old tower with fruit-trees growing in the dry moat, and a slip from the weeping-willow which hung over the grave in st. helena flourishing in its garden, where the warden of the cinque ports could look across the roadstead of the downs and count the ships' masts like trees in a forest, and watch the waves breaking twenty feet high on the goodwin sands. "the cut-throat town of deal" which poor lucy hutchinson so abhorred, pranked its quaint red houses for so illustrious and dainty a visitor. the duke had stood by her font, and if he had "no small talk," he was a courteous gentleman and gentle warrior when he fought his battles over again for the benefit of the young princess. a winter was spent by the duchess and the princess at st. leonard's, not far from battle abbey, where the last saxon king of england bit the dust, and william of normandy fought and won the great battle which rendered his invasion a conquest. was an eventful year in the queen's life. we read that the duchess of kent and her daughter remained at kensington till the month of september. there was a good reason for staying at home in the early summer. the family entertained friends: not merely valued, kinsfolk, but visitors who might change the whole current of a life's history and deeply influence a destiny on which the hopes of many hearts were fixed, that concerned the well-being of millions of the human race. princess victoria had not grown up solitary in her high estate. it has been already pointed out that she was one in a group of cousins with whom she had cordial relations. but the time was drawing near when nature and policy alike pointed to the advisability of forming a closer tie, which would provide the princess with companionship and support stretching beyond those of her mother, and, if it were well and wisely chosen, afford the people further assurance that the first household in the kingdom should be such as they could revere. the royal maiden who had been educated so wisely and grown up so simply and healthfully, was approaching her seventeenth birthday. already there were suitors in store for her hand; as many as six had been seriously thought of--among them, prince alexander of the netherlands, whose suit was greatly favoured by king william; duke ernest of wurtemberg; prince adalbert of prussia; and prince george of cambridge. prince george of cumberland was _hors de combat_, apart from the duke of cumberland's pretensions and the alienation caused by them. prince george, when a baby, had lost the sight of one eye, a misfortune which his father shared. a few years later in the son's boyhood, as he was at play in the gardens of windsor castle, he began to amuse himself with flinging into the air and catching a long silk purse with heavy gold tassels, when the purse fell on the seeing eye, inflicting such an injury as to threaten him with total blindness. the last catastrophe was brought about by the blunder of a famous german oculist after prince george had become crown prince of hanover. how much the princess knew or guessed of those matrimonial prospects, how far they fluttered her innocent heart, we cannot tell; but as of all the candidates mentioned there was only one with whom she had any acquaintance to speak of, it may be supposed that the generality of the proposed wooers passed like vague shadows before her imagination. in the meantime the devoted friends of her whole life had naturally not left this question--the most important of all--entirely unapproached. her english cousins stood to her somewhat in the room of contemporary brothers and sisters; for her own brother and sister, however united to her in affection, were removed from her by age, by other ties, and by residence in a foreign country, to which in there was still no highway well trodden by the feet of kings and queens and their heirs-presumptive, as well as by meaner people, such as we find to-day. but there were other cousins of whom much had been said and heard, though they had remained unseen and personally unknown. for that very reason they were more capable of being idealised and surrounded by a halo of romance. at the little ducal court of coburg there was the perfect young prince of all knightly legends and lays, whom fate seemed to have mated with his english cousin from their births within a few months of each other. when he was a charming baby of three years the common nurse of the pair would talk to him of his little far-away royal bride. the common grandmother of the two, a wise and witty old lady, dwelt fondly on the future union of her youngest charge with the "mayflower" across the seas. in all human probability these grandmotherly predictions would have come to nothing had it not been for a more potent arbiter of the fortunes of his family. king leopold had once filled the very post which was now vacant, for which there were so many eager aspirants. none could know as he knew the manifold and difficult requirements for the office; none could care as he cared that it should be worthily filled. his interest in england had never wavered, though he had renounced his english annuity of fifty thousand a year on his accession to the throne of belgium. he was deeply attached to the niece who stood nearly in the same position which princess charlotte had occupied twenty years before. away in coburg there was a princely lad whom he loved as a son, and who held the precise relation to the ducal house which he himself had once filled. what was there to hinder king leopold from following out the comparison? who could blame him for seeking to rebuild, in the interest of all, the fair edifice of love and happiness and loyal service which had been shattered before the dawn of those lives--that were like the lives of his children--had arisen? besides, look where he might, and study character and chances with whatever forethought, he could not find such another promising bridegroom for the future queen of england. young, handsome, clever, good, endowed with all winning attributes; with wise, well-balanced judgment in advance of his years; with earnest, steadfast purpose, gentle, sympathetic temper, and merry humour. king leopold's instinct was not at fault, as the result proved; but it was not without the most careful consideration and many anxious consultations, especially with his trusty old friend, baron stockmar, that the king allowed himself to take the initiatory step in the matter. if the young couple were to love and wed it was certainly necessary that they should meet, that "the favourable impression" might be made, as the two honourable conspirators put it delicately. for this there was no more time to be lost, when so many suitors had already entered the lists, and the maiden only wanted a year of the time fixed for her majority. but with conscientious heedfulness for the feelings of the youthful pair, and for their power of forming separately an unbiassed opinion, it was settled that when an opportunity of becoming acquainted should be given them, the underlying motive must be kept secret from the princess as well as the prince, that they might be "perfectly at their ease with each other." this secrecy could not, however, extinguish the previous knowledge which the prince at least possessed, that a marriage between the cousins had been mooted by some of those most interested in their welfare. in spite of the obstacles which king william raised, an invitation was sent by the duchess of kent to her brother, the reigning duke of saxe-coburg, to pay her a visit, accompanied by his two sons, in the spring of . accordingly, in the month which is the sweetest of the year, in spite of inconstant skies and chill east winds, when kensington gardens were bowery and fair with the tender green foliage--the chestnut and hawthorn blossoms--the lilac and laburnum plumes of early summer, the goodly company arrived, and made the old brick palace gay with the fresh and fitting gaiety of youth. we may never know how the royal cousins met--whether the frank, kind, unconscious princess came down under the wing of the duchess as far as their entrance into the clock court; whether there was a little dimness of agitation and laughing confusion, in spite of the partial secrecy, in two pairs of blue eyes which then encountered each other for the first time; whether the courtly company ascended in well-arranged file, or in a little friendly disorder. it was fortunate that there were more doors and halls and staircases than one, for it goes without saying that nobody could have had time and attention to spare for the wonderfully elaborate staircase, the representation in _chiaroscuro_ of horses and warlike weapons, the frieze with heads of unicorns and masks of lions. it must have been on another day that young heads looked up in jest or earnest at hercules, diana, apollo, and minerva, and stopped to pick out the heterogeneous figures in the colonnade--"ladies, yeomen of the guard, pages, a quaker, two turks, a highlander, and peter the wild boy," which testified to the liberal imagination of kent, who executed not only the architecture, but the painting, in the reign of george i. the guests remained at kensington for a month, the only drawback to their pleasure being a little attack of bilious fever, from which prince albert suffered for a few days. there is a published letter to his stepmother in which the prince tells his doings in the most unaffected, kindly fashion. there were the king's levee, "long and fatiguing, but very interesting;" the dinner at court, and the "beautiful concert" which followed, at which the guests had to stand till two o'clock; the king's birthday, with the drawing-room at st. james's palace, where three thousand eight hundred people passed before the king and queen, and another great dinner and concert in the evening. there was also the "brilliant ball" at kensington palace, at which the gentlemen were in uniform and the ladies in fancy dresses. duke william of brunswick, the prince of orange and his sons, and the duke of wellington, were among the guests, and the princes of coburg helped to keep up the ball till four o'clock. they spent a day with the duke of northumberland at sion house, they went to claremont, and they were so constantly engaged that they had to make the most of their time in order to see at least some of the sights of london. to one of the sights the queen referred afterwards. the duke of coburg and the two princes accompanied the duchess of kent and the princess to the wonderful gathering of the children of the different charity schools in st. paul's cathedral, where prince albert listened intently to the sermon. we hardly need to be told that he was full of interest in everything, paid the greatest attention to all he saw, and was constantly occupied. among his pleasant occupations were the two favourite pursuits--which the cousins shared--music and drawing. he accompanied the princess on the piano, and he drew with and for her. it was a happy, busy time, though some of the late dinners, at which, the prince drank only water, were doubtless dull enough of the young people, and prince albert, accustomed to the early hours and simple habits of germany, felt the change trying. he confessed that it was sometimes with the greatest difficulty he could keep awake. the princess's birthday came round during her kinsman's visit. the prince alluded to the event and to his stay at kensington in writing to the duchess of kent three years later, when he was the proud and happy bridegroom of his cousin. he made no note of the date as having had an effect on their relations to each other, neither did he dwell on any good wish or gift [footnote: lady bloomfield mentions among the queen's rings "a small enamel with a tiny diamond in the centre, the prince's gift when he first came to england, a lad of seventeen."] on his part; but in compliance with a motherly request from his aunt, the duchess, that he would send her something he had worn, he returned to her a ring that she had given him on that may morning. the ring had never left his finger since then. the very shape proclaimed that it had been squeezed in the grasp of many a manly hand. the ring had her name upon it, but the name was "victoria" too, and he begged her to wear it in remembrance of his bride and himself. the favourable impression had been made in spite of the perversity of fortune and the vagaries of human hearts, which, amidst other casualties, might have led the princess to accord her preference to the elder brother, prince ernest, who was also "a fine young fellow," though not so well suited to become prince-consort to the queen of england. but for once destiny was propitious, and neither that nor any other mischance befell the bright prospects of the principal actors in the scene. when the king of the belgians could no longer refrain from expressing his hopes, he had the most satisfactory answer from his royal niece. "i have only now to beg you, my dearest uncle," she wrote, "to take care of the health of one now so dear to me, and to take him under your special protection. i hope and trust that all will now go on prosperously and well on this subject, now of so much importance to me." at the same time, though an affectionate correspondence was started and maintained for a year, no further communication passed which could tend to enlighten the prince as to the feelings he had excited. he went away to complete his education, to study diligently, along with his brother, at brussels and bonn; to feel in full the gladness of opening life and opening powers of no ordinary description; to rejoice, as few young men have the same warrant to rejoice, in the days of his unstained, noble youth. on the king's birthday, the st august, the duchess of kent and princess victoria were at windsor castle on a visit. in spite of some soreness over the old grievance, the king proposed the princess victoria's health very kindly at the dinner. after he had drunk the princess augusta's health he said, "and now, having given the health of the oldest i will give that of the youngest member of the royal family. i know the interest which the public feel about her, and although i have not seen so much of her as i could have wished, i take no less interest in her, and the more i do see of her, both in public and private, the greater pleasure it will give me." the whole thing was so civil and gracious that it could hardly be taken ill, but, says greville, "the young princess sat opposite and hung her head with not unnatural modesty at being thus talked of in so large a company." in the september of that year the duchess and the princess went again to ramsgate, and stayed there till december. it was their last visit to the quiet little resort within a short pilgrimage of canterbury--the great english shrine, not so much of thomas a becket, slain before the altar, as of edward the black prince, with his sword and gauntlets hung up for ever, and the inscription round the effigy which does not speak of cressy and poictiers, but of the vanity of human pride and ambition. it was the last seaside holiday which the mother and daughter spent together untrammelled by state obligations and momentous duties, with none to come between the two who had been all in all with each other. in their absence a storm of wind passed over london, and wrought great damage in kensington gardens. about a hundred and thirty of the larger trees were destroyed. in the forenoon of the th of november "a tremendous crash was heard in one of the plantations near the black pond, between kensington palace and the mount gate, and on several persons running to the spot twenty-five limes were found tumbled to the earth by a single blast, their roots reaching high into the air, with a great quantity of earth and turf adhering, while deep chasms of several yards in diameter showed the force with which they had been torn up.... on the palace green, kensington, near the forcing-garden, two large elms and a very fine sycamore were also laid prostrate." in the following summer ( ) the princess came of age, as princesses do, at eighteen, and it was meet that the day should be celebrated with, all honour and gladness. but the rejoicings were damped by the manifestly failing health of the aged king, then seventy-one years of age. he had been attacked by hay fever--to which he had been liable every spring at an earlier period of his life, but the complaint was more formidable in the case of an old and infirm man, while he still struggled manfully to transact business and discharge the duties of his position. at the levee and drawing-room of the st may he sat while receiving the company. by the th he was confined to his rooms, and the queen did not leave him. at six o'clock in the morning the union jack was hoisted on the summit of the old church, kensington, and on the flagstaff at palace green. in the last instance the national ensign was surmounted by a white silk flag on which was inscribed in sky-blue letters "victoria." the little town adorned itself to the best of its ability. "from the houses of the principal inhabitants of the high street were also displayed the royal standard, union jack, and other flags and colours, some of them of extraordinary dimensions." soon after six o'clock the gates of kensington gardens were thrown open for the admission of the public to be present at the serenade which was to be performed at seven o'clock under the palace windows, with the double purpose of awaking the princess in the most agreeable manner, and of reminding her that at the same place and hour, eighteen years ago, she had opened her eyes on the may world. the sleep of youth is light as well as sound, and it may well be that the princess, knowing all that was in store for her on the happy day that could not be too long, the many goodly tokens of her friends' love and gladness--not the least precious those from germany awaiting her acceptance--the innumerable congratulations to be offered to her, was wide awake before the first violin or voice led the choir. the bells rang out merry peals, carriages dashed by full of fine company. kensington square must have thought it was the old days of william and mary, and anne, or of george ii and queen caroline at the latest, come back again. the last french dwellers in edwardes square must have talked volubly of what their predecessors had told them of paris before the flood, paris before the orleanists, and the bonapartists, and the republic--paris when the high-walled, green-gardened hotels of the faubourg st. germain were full of their ancient occupants; when marie antoinette was the daughter of the caesars at the tuileries, and the _bergere_ queen at le petit trianon. before the sun went down many a bumper was drunk in honour of kensington's own princess, who should that day leave her girlhood all too soon behind her. but london as well as kensington rejoiced, and the festivities were wound up with a ball given at st. james's palace by order of the poor king and queen, over whose heads the cloud of sorrow and parting was hanging heavily. we are told that the ball opened with a quadrille, the princess being "led off" by lord fitzalan, eldest son of the earl of surrey and grandson of the duke of norfolk, premier duke and earl, hereditary earl marshal and chief butler of england. her royal highness danced afterwards with prince nicholas esterhazy, son of the austrian ambassador. prince nicholas made a brilliant figure in contemporary annals--not because of his own merits, not because he married one of the fairest of england's noble daughters, whose gracious english hospitalities were long remembered in vienna, but because of the lustre of the diamonds in his court suit. he was said to sparkle from head to heel. there was a legend that he could not wear this splendid costume without a hundred pounds' worth of diamonds dropping from him, whether he would or not, in minor gems, just as jewels fell at every word from the mouth of the enchanted princess. we have heard of men and women behind whose steps flowers sprang into birth, but prince nicholas left a more glittering, if a colder, harder track. chapter iv. the accession. on the day after that on which princess victoria celebrated her majority. baron stockmar arrived at kensington. he came from the king of the belgians to assist king leopold's niece in what was likely to be the great crisis of her life. during baron stockmar's former stay in england he had been in the character first of physician in ordinary to prince leopold, and afterwards of private secretary and comptroller of his household. in those offices he had spent the greater part of his time in this country from to . he had accompanied his master on his ascending the belgian throne, but had returned to england in a few years in order to serve him better there. baron stockmar was thus an old and early friend of the princess's. in addition he had a large acquaintance with the english political world, and was therefore well qualified to advise her with the force of a disinterested adviser in her difficult position. in the view of her becoming queen, although her three predecessors, including george iii after he became blind, had appointed and retained private secretaries, the office was not popular in the eyes of the government and country, and it was not considered advisable that the future queen should possess such a servant, notwithstanding the weight of business--enormous in the matter of signatures alone--which would fall on the sovereign. without any recognised position, stockmar was destined to share with the prime minister one portion of the duties which ought to have devolved on a private secretary. he was also to act as confidential adviser. baron stockmar, [footnote: "an active, decided, slender, rather little man, with a compact head, brown hair streaked with grey, a bold, short nose, firm yet full mouth, and what gave a peculiar air of animation to his face, with two youthful, flashing brown eyes, full of roguish intelligence and fiery provocation. with this exterior, the style of his demeanour and conversation corresponded; bold, bright, pungent, eager, full of thought, so that amid all the bubbling copiousness and easy vivacity of his talk, a certain purpose was never lost sight of in his remarks and illustrations."--_friedrich carl meyer_.] who was at this time a man of fifty, was no ordinary character. he was sagacious, warm-hearted, honest, straightforward to bluntness, painstaking, just, benevolent to a remarkable degree; the friend of princes, without forfeiting his independence, he won and kept their perfect confidence to the end. he loved them heartily in return, without seeking anything from them; on the contrary, he showed himself reluctant to accept tokens of their favour. while lavishing his services on others, and readily lending his help to those who needed it, he would seem to have wanted comfort himself. an affectionate family man, he consented to constantly recurring separation from his wife and children in order to discharge the peculiar functions which were entrusted to him. for he played in the background--contented, nay, resolute to remain there--by the lawful exercise of influence alone, no small part in the destinies of several of the reigning houses in europe, and through them, of their kingdoms. like carlyle, he suffered during his whole life from dyspepsia; like carlyle, too, he was a victim to hypochondria, the result of his physical state. to these two last causes may be attributed some whimsicalities and eccentricities which were readily forgiven in the excellent baron. baron stockmar did not come too soon; in less than a month, on the th of june, , after an illness which he had borne, patiently and reverently, king william died peacefully, his hand resting where it had lain for hours, on the shoulder of his faithful queen. the death took place at windsor, at a little after two o'clock in the morning. immediately afterwards the archbishop of canterbury, dr. howley, and the lord chamberlain, the marquis of conyngham, together with the earl of albemarle, the master of the horse, and sir henry halford, the late king's physician, started from windsor for kensington. all through the rest of the summer night these solemn and stately gentlemen drove, nodding with fatigue, hailing the early dawn, speaking at intervals to pronounce sentence on the past reign and utter prognostications, of the reign which was to come. shortly before five, when the birds were already in full chorus in kensington gardens, the party stood at the main door, demanding admission. this was another and ruder summons than the musical serenade which had been planned to wile the gentle sleeper sweetly from her slumbers and to hail her natal day not a month before. that had been a graceful, sentimental recognition of a glad event; this was an unvarnished, well-nigh stern arousal to the world of grave business and anxious care, following the mournful announcement of a death--not a birth. from this day the queen's heavy responsibilities and stringent obligations were to begin. that untimely, peremptory challenge sounded the first knell to the light heart and careless freedom of youth. though it had been well known that the king lay on his death-bed, and kensington without, as well as kensington within, must have been in a high state of expectation, it does not appear that there were any watchers on the alert to rush together at the roll of the three royal carriages. instead of the eager, respectful crowd, hurrying into the early-opened gates of the park to secure good places for all that was to be seen and heard on the day of the princess's coming of age, palace green seems to have been a solitude on this momentous june morning, and the individual the most interested in the event, after the new-made queen, instead of being there to pay his homage first, as he had offered his congratulations on the birthday a year before, was far away, quietly studying at the little university town on the rhine. "they knocked, they rang, they thumped for a considerable time before they could rouse the porter at the gate," says miss wynn, in the "diary of a lady of quality," of these importunate new-comers. "they were again kept waiting in the courtyard, then turned into one of the lower rooms, where they seemed forgotten by everybody. they rang the bell and desired that the attendant of the princess victoria might be sent to inform her royal highness that they requested an audience on business of importance. after another delay and another ringing to inquire the cause, the attendant was summoned, who stated that the princess was in such a sweet sleep that she could not venture to disturb her. then they said, 'we are come on business of state to the queen, and even her sleep must give way to that.' it did; and, to prove that she did not keep them waiting, in a few minutes she came into the room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap thrown off, and her hair falling upon her shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified." in those days, when news did not travel very fast, and was not always delivered with strict accuracy, a rumour got abroad that the queen was walking in the palace garden when the messengers came to tell her she had succeeded to the crown. a great deal was made of the poetic simplicity of the surroundings of the interesting central figure--the girl in her tender bloom among the lilies and roses, which she resembled. we can remember a brilliant novel of the time which had a famous chapter beginning with an impassioned apostrophe to the maiden who met her high destiny "in a palace, in a garden." another account asserted that the queen saw the archbishop of canterbury alone in her ante-room, and that her first request was for his prayers. the marquis of conyngham was the bearer to the queen of a request from the queen-dowager that she might be permitted to remain at windsor till after the funeral. in reply, her majesty wrote an affectionate letter of condolence to her aunt, begging her to consult nothing but her own health and convenience, and to stay at windsor just as long as she pleased. the writer was observed to address this as usual "to the queen of england." a bystander interposed, "your majesty, you are queen of england." "yes," answered the unelated, considerate girl-queen, "but the widowed queen is not to be reminded of the fact first by me." their message delivered, the messengers returned to london, and the next arrival was that of the prime minister, lord melbourne, who appeared at nine o'clock, had an interview with the queen, which lasted for half an hour, when he also took his leave to issue summonses for a privy council, to he held in the course of the next two hours at kensington palace, and not at st. james's, as had been anticipated. the little town of kensington must now have been up and about, for, perhaps, never had there been such a day in its annals, as far transcending the birthday celebration as a great reality surpasses the brightest promise; and kensington might hug the day with all its might, for it was to be nearly the last of its kingly, queenly experience. the temporary court was to pass away presently, never to come back. no more kings and queens were likely to be born or to die at the quiet spot, soon to become a great noisy suburb of great london. no later sovereign would quit the red-brick palace of mary and anne, and the first george, to reign at buckingham or windsor; no other council be held in the low-browed, white-pillared room to dispute the interests of the unique council which was to be held there this day. the first council of any sovereign must awaken many speculations, while the bearing of the principal figure in the assumption of new powers and duties is sure to be watched with critical curiosity; but in the case of queen victoria the natural interest reached its utmost bounds. the public imagination was impressed in the most lively manner by the strong contrast between the tender youth and utter inexperience of the maiden queen and the weighty and serious functions she was about to assume--an anomaly best indicated by the characteristic speech of carlyle, that a girl at an age when, in ordinary circumstances, she would hardly be trusted to choose a bonnet for herself, was called upon to undertake responsibilities from which an archangel might have shrunk. more than this, the retirement in which the young queen had grown up left her nature a hidden secret to those well-trained, grey-bearded men in authority, who now came to bid her rule over them. thus, in addition to every other doubt to be solved, there was the pressing question as to how a girl would behave under such a tremendous test; for, although there had been queens-regnant, popular and unpopular before, mary and elizabeth had been full-grown women, and anne had attained still more mature years, before the crown and sceptre were committed to the safe keeping of each in turn. above all, how would this royal girl, on whose conduct so much depended, demean herself on this crucial occasion? surely if she were overcome by timidity and apprehension, if she were goaded into some foolish demonstration of pride or levity, allowance must be made, and a good deal forgiven, because of the cruel strain to which she was subjected. shortly after eleven o'clock, the royal dukes and a great number of privy councillors, amongst whom were all the cabinet ministers and the great officers of state and the household, arrived at kensington palace, and were ushered into the state apartments. a later arrival consisted of the lord mayor, attended by the city marshals in full uniform, on horseback, with crape on their left arms; the chamberlain, sword-bearer, comptroller, town clerk, and deputy town clerk, &c., accompanied by six aldermen. these city magnates appeared at the palace to pay their homage to her majesty. the lord mayor attended the council. we have various accounts--one from an eye-witness wont to be cool and critical enough--of what passed. "the first thing to be done," writes greville, "was to teach her her lesson, which, for this purpose, melbourne had himself to learn. i gave him the council papers and explained all that was to be done, and he went and explained all this to her. he asked her if she would enter the room accompanied by the great officers of state, but she said she would come in alone. when the lords were assembled, the lord president (lord lansdowne) informed them of the king's death, and suggested, as they were so numerous, that a few of them should repair to the presence of the queen, and inform her of the event, and that their lordships were assembled in consequence; and accordingly the two royal dukes (the duke of cumberland, by the death of william, king of hanover, and the duke of sussex--the duke of cambridge was absent in hanover), the two archbishops, the chancellor, and melbourne went with him. the queen received them in the adjoining room alone." it was the first time she had to act for herself. until then she had been well supported by her mother, and by the precedence which the duchess of kent took as her majesty's guardian. but the guardianship was over and the reign begun. there could be no more sheltering from responsibility, or becoming deference to, and reliance on, the wisdom of another and a much older person. in one sense the stay was of necessity removed. the duchess of kent, from this day "treated her daughter with respectful observance as well as affection." the time was past for advice, instruction, or suggestion, unless in private, and even then it would be charily and warily given by the sensible, modest mother of a queen. well for her majesty that there was no more than truth in what one of the historians of the reign has said, in just and temperate language, of her character: "she was well brought up. both as regards her intellect and her character her training was excellent. she was taught to be self-reliant, brave, and systematical." as soon as the deputation had returned, the proclamation was read; "whereas it has pleased almighty god to call to his mercy our late sovereign lord, king william the fourth, of blessed and glorious memory, by whose decease the imperial crown of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland is solely and rightfully come to the high and mighty princess alexandrina victoria, saving the rights of any issue of his late majesty, king william the fourth, which may be born of his late majesty's consort; we, therefore, the lords spiritual and temporal of this realm, being here assisted with these of his late majesty's privy council, with numbers of others, principal gentlemen of quality, with the lord mayor, aldermen and citizens of london, do now hereby, with one voice and consent of tongue and heart, publish and proclaim that the high and mighty princess alexandrina victoria is now, by the death of our late sovereign, of happy memory, become our only lawful and rightful liege lady, victoria, by the grace of god queen of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, defender of the faith, saving, as aforesaid: to whom, saving as aforesaid, we do acknowledge all faith and constant obedience, with all hearty and humble affection, beseeching god, by whom kings and queens do reign, to bless the royal princess victoria with long and happy years to reign over us. "given at the court of kensington this th day of june, . (signed by all the lords of the privy council present). god save the queen." "then," resuming mr. greville's narrative, "the doors were thrown open, and the queen entered, accompanied by her two uncles, who advanced to meet her. she bowed to the lords, took her seat (an arm-chair improvised into a throne, with a footstool), and then read her speech in a clear, distinct, and audible voice, and without any appearance of fear or embarrassment:-- "'the severe and afflicting loss which the nation has sustained by the death of his majesty, my beloved uncle, has devolved upon me the duty of administering the government of this empire. this awful responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a period of my life, that i should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden were i not sustained by the hope that divine providence, which has called me to this work, will give me strength for the performance of it, and that i shall find in the purity of my intentions, and in my zeal for the public welfare, that support and those resources which usually belong to a more mature age and to longer experience. "'i place my firm reliance upon the wisdom of parliament and upon the loyalty and affection of my people. i esteem it also a peculiar advantage that i succeed to a sovereign whose constant regard for the rights and liberties of his subjects, and whose desire to promote the amelioration of the laws and institutions of the country, have rendered his name the object of general attachment and veneration. "'educated in england, under the tender and enlightened care of a most affectionate mother, i have learned from my infancy to respect and love the constitution of my native country. "'it will be my unceasing study to maintain the reformed religion as by law established, securing at the same time to all the full enjoyment of religious liberty; and i shall steadily protect the rights and promote, to the utmost of my power, the happiness and welfare of all classes of my subjects.'" her majesty's speech was after the model of english royal speeches; but one can feel at this day it was spoken in all ingenuousness and sincerity, and that the utterance--remarkable already for clearness and distinctness--for the first time, of the set words, ending in the solemn promise to do a sovereign's duty, must have thrilled the hearts both of speaker and hearers. a critical listener was not wanting, according to the testimony of the witness who, on his own account, certainly did not object to chronicle detraction of every kind. "the speech was admired, except by brougham, who appeared in a considerable state of excitement. he said to peel (whom he was standing near, and with whom he was not in the habit of communicating), '"amelioration;" that is not english. you might perhaps say "melioration," but "improvement" is the proper word.' "'oh!' said peel, 'i see no harm in the word; it is generally used.' "'you object,' said brougham, 'to the sentiment; i object to the grammar.' "'no,' said peel, 'i don't object to the sentiment.' "'well, then, she pledges herself to the policy of _our_ government,' said brougham. "she was quite plainly dressed, and in mourning. after she had read her speech, and taken and signed the oath (administered by the archbishop of canterbury) for the security of the church of scotland, the privy councillors were sworn, the two royal dukes first by themselves." the days of violence were ended, and whatever private, hopes he might once have entertained, ernest, duke of cumberland, was the first to hail his niece as the high and mighty princess alexandrina victoria, to whom the imperial crown of great britain and ireland had solely and rightfully come--the first to proclaim her, with one voice and consent of tongue and heart, on the part of himself and his peers, his only lawful and rightful liege lady victoria, to whom he acknowledged all faith and rightful obedience, with all hearty and humble affection. it may be, the fact that he had succeeded to the throne of hanover rendered the step less difficult. his name was also the first in the signatures of princes, privy councillors, peers, and gentlemen affixed in the next room to the proclamation. his brother, the duke of sussex, followed. they were both elderly men, with the younger older in infirmities than in years. the king of hanover was sixty-six, the duke of sussex sixty-four years of age. "and as these two old men, her uncles, knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand," greville went on, with a sense of pathos, curious for him, in the scene, "i saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil and their natural relations, and this was the only sign of emotion which she evinced. her manner to them was very graceful and engaging; she kissed them both, and rose from her chair and moved towards the duke of sussex, who was farthest from her, and too infirm to reach her. she seemed rather bewildered at the multitude of men who were sworn, and who came one after another to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to anybody, nor did she make the slightest difference in her manner, or show any in her countenance, to any individual of any rank, station, or party. i particularly watched her when melbourne and the ministers, and the duke of wellington and peel approached her. she went through the whole ceremony, occasionally looking at melbourne for instruction when she had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred, and with perfect coolness and self-possession, but at the same time with a graceful modesty and propriety particularly interesting and ingratiating. when the business was done she retired as she had entered, and i could see that nobody was in the adjoining room." mr. greville's comment on the scene was singularly enthusiastic from such a man. "never was anything like the first impression she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration which is raised about her manner and behaviour, and certainly not without justice. it was something very extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for." he quoted sir robert peel's and the duke of wellington's opinions in accordance with his own. "he (sir robert) likewise said how amazed he was at the manner and behaviour, at her apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, and at the same time her firmness. she appeared, in fact, to be awed, but not daunted; and afterwards, the duke of wellington told me the same thing, and added, that if she had been his own daughter he could not have desired to see her perform her part better." we can understand the fatherly reference of the duke, and the sort of personal pride he took in his young queen. he had been present at her birth in this very palace of kensington; he had known her at every stage of her life hitherto. she was doing credit not only to herself and her mother, but to every friend she had, by her perfect fulfilment of what was required of her. lord campbell was equally eulogistic. "as soon as i heard that king william had expired i hurried to kensington, to be present at the first council of the new sovereign. this, i think, was the most interesting scene i have ever witnessed.... i am quite in raptures with the deportment of the young queen. nothing could be more exquisitely proper. she looked modest, sorrowful, dejected, diffident, but at the same time she was quite cool and collected, and composed and firm. her childish appearance was gone. she was an intelligent and graceful young woman, capable of acting and thinking for herself. considering that she was the only female in the room, and that she had no one about her with whom she was familiar, no human being was ever placed in a more trying situation." what was most conspicuous in the queen had been already remarked upon and admired in the young girl at queen adelaide's drawing-room. here were the same entire simplicity, with its innate dignity only further developed; the power of being herself and no other, which left her thoughtful of what she ought to do--not of how she should look and strike others--and rendered her free to consider her neighbours; the docility to fit guidance, and yet the ability to judge for herself; the quick sense all the time of her high calling. that first council at kensington has become an episode in history--a very significant one. it has been painted, engraved, written about many a time, without losing its fascination. sir david wilkie made a famous picture of it, which hangs in a corridor at windsor in this picture the artist used certain artistic liberties, such as representing the queen in a white muslin robe instead of a black gown, and the privy councillors in the various costumes of their different callings--uniforms with stars and ribands, lawyers' gowns and full-bottomed wigs, bishops' lawn, instead of the ordinary morning dress of the gentlemen of their generation. it must have tickled wilkie as he worked to come to an old acquaintance of his boyhood and youth in john, lord campbell, and to recognise how bewilderingly far removed from the bleak little parish of cults and the quiet little town of cupar was the coincidence which summoned him, the distinguished painter, in the execution of a royal commission, to draw the familiar features of his early playmate in those of the attorney-general, who appeared as a privileged member of the illustrious throng. we still turn back wistfully to that bright dawn of a beneficent reign. we see the slight girlish figure in her simple mourning filling her place sedately at the head of the council table. at the foot, facing her majesty, sits the duke of sussex, almost venerable in his stiffness and lameness, wearing the black velvet skull-cap by which he was distinguished in those days. we look at the well-known faces, and think of the famous names among the crowd of mature men, each of whom was hanging on the words and looks of his mistress. there is copley the painter's son, sagacious lyndhurst, who lived to be the nestor of the bench and the peerage; there is his great opponent, robertson the historian's grand-nephew, brougham, a tyrant of freedom, an illustrious jack-of-all-trades, the most impassioned, most public-spirited, most egotistical of men. he was a contradiction to himself as well as to his neighbours. his strongly-marked face, with its shaggy brows, high cheek-bones, aggressive nose, mouth drooping at the corners, had not lost its mobility. he was restless and fault-finding in this presence as in any other. the duke of wellington's roman nose lent something of the eagle to his aspect. it was a more patrician attribute than sir robert peel's long upper lip, with its shy, nervous compression, which men mistook for impassive coldness, just as the wits blundered in calling his strong, serviceable capacity, noble uprightness, and patient labour "sublime mediocrity." william lamb, viscount melbourne, was the type of an aristocrat, with brains and heart. he was still a very handsome man at fifty-eight, as he was also "perhaps the most graceful and agreeable gentleman of the generation." his colleague--destined to marry lord melbourne's sister, the most charming woman who ever presided in turn over two ministerial _salons_, lord palmerston, in spite of his early achievements in waltzing at almack's, was less personally and mentally gifted. he had rather an indiarubber-like elasticity and jauntiness than stateliness, or dignity, or grace. his irregular-featured face was comical, but he bore the bell in exhaustless spirits, which won him, late in life, the reputation of perennial juvenility, and the enviable if not altogether respectful sobriquet of "the evergreen palm." lord john russell, with his large head and little body, of which _punch_ made stock, with his friendship for moore and his literary turn, as well as his ambition to serve his country like a true russell, was at this date wooing and wedding the fair young widow, lady ribblesdale, his devotion to whom had drawn from the wags a profane pun. they called the gifted little lord "the widow's mite." when the marriage ceremony was being performed between him and lady ribblesdale the wedding-ring fell from the bride's finger--an evil omen soon fulfilled for the marriage tie was speedily broken by her early death. "plain john campbell" was a very different man. the son of a minister of the church of scotland, in a presbytery which included among its members the father of sir david wilkie, his scotch tongue, scotch shrewdness, healthy appetite for work, and invulnerable satisfaction with himself and his surroundings, caused themselves to be felt in another sphere than that to which he was born. "the cabinet ministers tendered to the queen the seals of their respective offices, which her majesty was most graciously pleased to return, and they severally kissed hands on their reappointment." the last business done was to arrange for the public proclamation of the queen, and to take her pleasure with regard to the time, which she fixed for the day following, wednesday, the st of june, at ten o'clock. when lord albemarle, for whom she had sent, went to her and told her he was come to take her orders, she said, "i have no orders to give. you must know this so much better than i do, that i leave it all to you. i am to be at st. james's at ten to-morrow, and must beg you to find me a conveyance proper for the occasion." we are further informed that the queen, in the course of the morning, received a great many noble and distinguished personages. so finished a busy and exciting day; the herald of many other days crowded with engagements and excitement. the palace of st. james's, where the proclamation was to take place, had been for a long time the theatre of all the principal events in the lives of the kings and queens of england. even the young queen already viewed it in this light, for though she had been baptized at kensington, she had been confirmed at st. james's. she had attended her first drawing-rooms, and celebrated her coming-of-age ball there. st. james's is a brick building, like kensington palace, but is far older, and full of more stirring and tragic associations. it has an air of antiquity about it, if it has few architectural claims on the world's interest; but at least one front, that which includes the turreted gateway into st. james's street, is not without picturesque beauty. the situation of the palace, considering that it is in the middle of a great city, is agreeable. it has its park, with a stretch of pleasant water on one side, and commands the leafy avenue of the mall and the sweep of constitution hill. as a royal residence it dates as far back as henry viii., whose daughter mary ended her sad life here. both of the sons of james i. received it as a dwelling, and were connected with it in troubled days. prince henry fell into his pining sickness and died here. charles, after bringing henrietta maria under its roof, and owning its shelter till three of his children were born, was carried to st. james's as a prisoner. he was taken from it in a sedan-chair to undergo his trial at his new palace of whitehall. he was conveyed back under sentence of death. here bishop juxon preached the last sermon to which the king listened, and administered to him the sacrament; and here charles took leave of his children--the little duke of gloucester and the girl-princess elizabeth. from st. james's the king went to the scaffold on the bitter january morning, followed by the snowy night in which "the white king" was borne to his dishonoured burial. other and less tragic scenes were enacted within its bounds. a familiar figure in connection with kensington palace--caroline of anspach, wife of george ii.--died like herself here. her king had fallen into a stupor of sorrow across the bed where she lay in her last agony, and she forbade his being disturbed. she told those who were praying to pray aloud, that she might hear them; then raising herself up and uttering the single german word of acquiescence, "_so_," her brave spirit passed away. when the queen arrived, accompanied by her mother and her ladies, and attended by an escort, on the june morning of her proclamation, she was received by the other members of the royal family, the household, and the cabinet ministers. already every avenue to the palace and every balcony and window within sight were crowded to excess. in the quadrangle opposite the window where her majesty was to appear a mass of loyal ladies and gentlemen was tightly wedged. the parapets above were filled with people, conspicuous among them the big figure of daniel o'connell, the agitator, waving his hat and cheering with irish effusion. "at ten o'clock," says the _annual register_, "the guns in the park fired a salute, and immediately afterwards the queen made her appearance at the window of the tapestried ante-room adjoining the ante-chamber, and was received with deafening cheers. she stood between lords melbourne and lansdowne, in their state dresses and their ribands, who were also cheered, as was likewise her royal highness the duchess of kent. at this and the two other windows we recognised the king of hanover, the dukes of sussex, wellington, and argyle; lords hill, combermere, denbigh, duncannon, albemarle, and winchester; sir e. codrington, sir william houston, and a number of other lords and gentlemen, with several ladies. "her majesty looked extremely fatigued and pale, but returned the repeated cheers with which she was greeted with remarkable ease and dignity. she was dressed in deep mourning, with a white tippet, white cuffs, and a border of white lace under a small black bonnet, which was placed far back on her head, exhibiting her light hair in front simply parted over the forehead. her majesty seemed to view the proceedings with considerable interest. her royal highness the duchess of kent was similarly dressed to the queen." "in the courtyard were garter-king-at-arms with heralds and pursuivants in their robes of office, and eight officers of arms on horseback bearing massive silver maces; sergeants-at-arms with their maces and collars; the sergeant-trumpeter with his mace and collar; the trumpets, drum-major and drums, and knights'-marshal and men." "on her majesty showing herself at the presence chamber window, garter-principal-king-at-arms having taken his station in the courtyard under the window, accompanied by the duke of norfolk as earl-marshal of england, read the proclamation containing the formal and official announcement of the demise of king william iv., and of the consequent accession of queen alexandrina victoria to the throne of these realms ... 'to whom we acknowledge all faith and constant obedience, with all humble and hearty affection, beseeching god, by whom kings and queens do reign, to bless the royal princess alexandrina victoria with long and happy years to reign. god save the queen.' at the termination of this proclamation the band struck up the national anthem, and a signal was given for the park and tower guns to fire in order to announce the fact of the proclamation being made. during the reading of the proclamation her majesty stood at the presence chamber window, and immediately upon its conclusion the air was rent with the loudest acclamations by those within the area, which were responded to by the thousands without." the scene drew from elizabeth barrett browning the following popular verses:-- o, maiden, heir of kings, a king has left his place; the majesty of death has swept all other from his face; and thou upon thy mother's breast no longer lean adown, but take the glory for the rest, and rule the land that loves thee best. the maiden wept, she wept to wear a crown. * * * * * god bless thee, weeping queen, with blessings more divine, and fill with better love than earth that tender heart of thine; that when the thrones of earth shall be as low as graves brought down, a pierced hand may give to thee the crown which angels shout to see. thou wilt not weep to wear that heavenly crown. a maiden queen in her first youth, wearing the crown and wielding the sceptre, had become _un fait accompli_ and the news spread over the length and breadth of the land. we have seen how it touched the oldest statesmen, to whom state ceremonials had become hackneyed--who were perhaps a little sceptical of virtue in high places. it may be imagined, then, how the knowledge, with each striking and picturesque detail, thrilled and engrossed all the sensitive, romantic young hearts in the queen's dominions. it seemed as if womanhood and girlhood were exalted in one woman and girl's person--as if a new era must be inaugurated with such a reign, and every man worthy of the name would rally round this una on the throne. the prosaic side of the question was that the country was torn by the factions of whig and tory, which were then in the full bloom of party spirit and narrow rancorous animosity. the close of the life of william iv. had presented the singular and disastrous contradiction of a king in something like open opposition to his ministers. william had begun by being a liberal in politics, but alarmed by the progress of reform, he had hung back resisted, and ended by being dragged along an unwilling tolerator of a whig _regime_. the duke of kent had been liberal in his opinions when liberality was not the fashion. the duchess was understood to be on the same side; her brother and counsellor, the king of the belgians, was decidedly so. accordingly, the whigs hailed the accession of queen victoria as their triumph, likely to secure and prolong their tenure of office. they claimed her as their queen, with a boasting exultation calculated to wound and exasperate every tory in the kingdom. lord campbell, who, though a zealous whig, was comparatively cool and cautious, wrote in his journal, after the queen's first council, "we basked in the full glare of royal sunshine;" and this tone was generally adopted by his party. they met with some amount of success in their loud assertion, and the consequence was a strain of indignant bitterness in the tory rejoinder. a clever partisan inscribed on the window-pane of an inn at huddersfield: "the queen is with us," whigs insulting say, "for when she found us in, she let us stay." it may be so; but give me leave to doubt how long she'll keep you _when she finds you out._ there was even some cooling of tory loyalty to the new queen. chroniclers tell us of the ostentatious difference in enthusiasm with which, at tory dinners, the toasts of the queen, and the queen-dowager were received. as a matter of course, lord melbourne became the queen's instructor in the duties of her position, and as she had no private secretary, he had to be in constant attendance upon her--to see her, not only daily, but sometimes three or four times a day. the queen has given her testimony to the unwearied kindness and pleasantness, the disinterested regard for her welfare, even the generous fairness to political opponents, with which her prime minister discharged his task. it seems as if the great trust imposed on him drew out all that was most manly and chivalrous in a character which, along with much that was fine and attractive, that won to him all who came in close contact with him, was not without the faults of the typical aristocrat, correctly or incorrectly defined by the popular imagination. lord melbourne, with his sense and spirit, honesty and good-nature, could be haughtily, indifferent, lazily self-indulgent, scornfully careless even to affectation, of the opinions of his social inferiors, as when he appeared to amuse himself with "idly blowing a feather or nursing a sofa-cushion while receiving an important and perhaps highly sensitive deputation from this or that commercial interest." the time has come when it is fully recognised that whatever might have been lord melbourne's defects, he never brought them into his relations with the queen. to her he was the frank, sincere, devoted adviser of all that it was wisest and best for her to do. "he does not appear to have been greedy of power, or to have used any unfair means of getting or keeping it. the character of the young sovereign seems to have impressed him deeply. his real or affected levity gave way to a genuine and lasting desire to make her life as happy and her reign as successful as he could. the queen always felt the warmest affection and gratitude for him, and showed it long after the public had given up the suspicion that she could be a puppet in the hands of a minister. "but men--especially lord melbourne's political adversaries--were not sufficiently large-minded and large-hearted to put this confidence in him beforehand. they remembered with wrath and disgust that, even in the language of men of the world, "his morals were not supposed to be very strict." he had been unhappy in his family life. the eccentricities and follies of lady caroline lamb had formed the gossip of several london seasons long years before. other scandals had gathered round his name, and though they had been to some extent disproven, it was indignantly asked, could there be a more unsuitable and undesirable guide for an innocent royal girl of eighteen than this accomplished, bland _roue_ of threescore? should he be permitted to soil--were it but in thought--the lily of whose stainlessness the nation was so proud? the result proved that lord melbourne could be a blameless, worthy servant to his sovereign. in the meantime the great news of queen victoria's accession had travelled to the princely student at bonn, who responded to it in a manly, modest letter, in which he made no claim to share the greatness, while he referred to its noble, solemn side. prince albert wrote on the th of june: "now you are queen of the mightiest land of europe; in your hand lies the happiness of millions. may heaven assist you and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task. i hope that your reign may be long, happy, and glorious, and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects." to others he expressed his satisfaction at what he heard of his cousin's astonishing self-possession, and of the high praise bestowed on her by all parties, "which seemed to promise so auspiciously for her reign." but so far from putting himself forward or being thrust forward by their common friends as an aspirant for her hand, while she was yet only on the edge of that strong tide and giddy whirl of imposing power and dazzling adulation which was too likely to sweep her beyond his grasp, it was resolved by king leopold and the kindred who were most concerned in the relations of the couple, that, to give time for matters to settle down, for the young queen to know her own mind--above all, to dissipate the premature rumour of a formal engagement between the cousins which had taken persistent hold of the public mind ever since the visit of the saxe-coburg princes to kensington palace in the previous year, prince albert should travel for several months. accordingly, he set out, in company with his brother, to make an enjoyable tour, on foot, through switzerland and the north of italy. to a nature like his, such an experience was full of keen delight; but in the midst of his intoxication he never forgot his cousin. the correspondence between them had been suffered to drop, but that she continued present to his thoughts was sufficiently indicated by the souvenirs he collected specially for her: the views of the scenes he visited, the _alpenrosen_ he gathered for her in its native home, voltaire's autograph. the queen left kensington, within a month of her uncle's death, we do not need to be told "greatly to the regret of the inhabitants." she went on the th of july to take up her residence at buckingham palace. "shortly after one o'clock an escort of lancers took up a position on the palace green, long previous to which an immense concourse of respectable persons had thronged the avenue and every open space near the palace." about half-past one an open carriage drawn by four greys, preceded by two outriders, and followed by an open barouche, drawn by four bays, drove up from her majesty's mews, pimlico, and stopped before the grand entrance to the duchess of kent's apartments. the queen, accompanied by the duchess of kent and baroness lehzen, almost immediately got into the first carriage. there was a tumult of cheering, frankly acknowledged. it is said the young queen looked "pale and a little sad" at the parting moment. then with a dash the carriages vanished in a cloud of july dust, and the familiar palace green, with its spreading trees and the red chimneys beyond--the high street--kensington gore, were left behind. kensington's last brief dream of a court was brought to an abrupt conclusion. what was worse, kensington's princess was gone, never to return to the changed scene save for the most fleeting of visits. we should like to give here one more story of her majesty's stay at kensington--a story that refers to these last days. we have already spoken of an old soldier-servant of the duke of kent's, said to have been named stillman, who was quartered with his family--two of them sickly--in a kensington cottage of the period, visited by the duchess of kent and the princess victoria. the little boy had died; the ailing girl still lived. the girl's clergyman, a gentleman named vaughan, went to see her some days after the queen had quitted the palace, and found the invalid looking unusually bright. he inquired the reason. "look there!". said the girl, and drew a book of psalms from under her pillow, "look what the new queen has sent me to-day by one of her ladies, with the message that, though now, as queen of england, she had to leave kensington, she did not forget me." the lady who had brought the book had said the lines and figures in the margin were the dates of the days on which the queen herself had been accustomed to read the psalms, and that the marker, with the little peacock on it, was worked by the princess's own hand. the sick girl cried, and asked if this act was not beautiful? chapter v. the proroguing of parliament, the visit to guildhall, and the coronation. buckingham palace had been a seat of the duke of buckingham's, which was bought by george ii., and in the next reign was settled on queen charlotte instead of somerset house, and called the "queen's house." it was rebuilt by george iv. but not occupied by him, and had been rarely used by king william. besides its gardens, which are of some extent, it shares with st. james's, which it is near, the advantage of st. james's park, one of the most agreeable in london, and full of historic memories. though it, too, was modernised by george iv., its features have still much interest. it was by its canal, which has been twisted into the serpentine, that the merry monarch strolled alone, lazily playing with his dogs, feeding his ducks, and by his easy confidence flattering and touching his good citizens of london. on the same water his gay courtiers practised their foreign accomplishment of skating, which they had brought back with them from the low countries. in the mall both charles and his brother, the duke of york, joined in the court game of palle malle, when a ball was struck with a mallet through an iron ring down a walk strewn with powdered cockle-shells. at a later period the mall was the most fashionable promenade in london. while dinners were still early on sunday afternoons, the fashionable world walked for an hour or two after dinner in the mall. an eyewitness declared that he had seen "in one moving mass, extending the whole length of the mall, five thousand of the most lovely women in this country of female beauty, all splendidly attired, and accompanied by as many well-dressed men." for, as mr. hare, in his "walks in london," points out, the frequenters of the mall were very different in one respect from the company in the row: "the ladies were in full dress and gentlemen carried their hats under their arms." one relic of the past survives intact in the park--that is, the cow-stalls, which formerly helped to constitute "milk fair." mr. hare tells us "the vendors are proud of the number of generations through which the stalls have been held in their families." from buckingham palace the queen went in state on the th of july to close parliament. the carriage, with the eight cream-coloured horses, was used. as far as we can judge, this was the first appearance in her majesty's reign of "the creams," so dear to the london populace. the carriage was preceded by the marshalmen, a party of the yeomen of the guard in state costumes, and runners. the fourth carriage, drawn by six black horses, contained the marchioness of lansdowne, the duchess of sutherland, the duke of argyle, lord steward and gold stick in waiting. the queen was accompanied by the earl of albemarle, master of the horse, and the countess of mulgrave, the lady-in-waiting. the procession, escorted by a squadron of the horse guards, moved into whitehall, and was cheered in parliament street by deafening shouts from a mass of spectators lining the streets and covering the house-tops. on arriving opposite the entrance of the house of lords her majesty was received by a battalion of the grenadier guards, whose splendid band, when she alighted, played the national anthem. thus heralded, the young queen entered the old houses of parliament, seated herself on the throne of her ancestors, and accorded her maiden reception to her loyal lords and faithful commons. this was the first occasion in a great assembly that people remarked the natural gift which has proved a valuable possession to her majesty, and has never failed to awaken the admiration of the hearers. we allude to the peculiar silvery clearness, as well as sweetness, of a voice which can be heard in its most delicate modulations through the whole house. in reply to the speaker of the house of commons' assurance of the commons' cordial participation in that strong and universal feeling of dutiful and affectionate attachment which prevailed among the free and loyal people of which they were the representatives, the queen read her speech in an unfaltering voice, thanking the parliament for its condolence upon the death of his late majesty, and for its expressions of attachment and affection to herself, announcing her determination to preserve all the rights, spiritual and civil, of her subjects, touching on the usual topics in a royal speech in its relation to home and foreign affairs, and making the solemn assertion: "i ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me, but i am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions and by my dependence on the protection of almighty god." fanny kemble was present at this memorable scene, and has given her impression of it. her testimony, as a public speaker, is valuable. "the queen was not handsome, but very pretty, and the singularity of her great position lent a sentimental and poetical charm to her youthful face and figure. the serene, serious sweetness of her candid brow and clear soft eyes gave dignity to the girlish countenance, while the want of height only added to the effect of extreme youth of the round but slender person, and gracefully moulded hands and arms. the queen's voice was exquisite, nor have i ever heard any spoken words more musical in their gentle distinctness than "my lords and gentlemen," which broke the breathless silence of the illustrious assembly whose gaze was riveted on that fair flower of royalty. the enunciation was as perfect as the intonation was melodious, and i think it is impossible to hear a more excellent utterance than that of the queen's english by the english queen." the accession of queen victoria almost coincided with a new era in english history, art and letters, new relations in politics at home and abroad, new social movements undreamt of when she was born. in spite of the strong party spirit, the country was at peace within and without. france, the foreign neighbour of most importance to england, was also at peace under a so-called "citizen-king." the "tractarian" movement at oxford was startling the world with a proposed return to the practices of the primitive church, while it laid the foundation of the high church and ritualistic parties in the modern church of england. the names of newman and pusey especially were in many mouths, spoken in various terms of reprobation and alarm, or approval and exultation. next to tractarianism, chartism--the people's demand for a charter which should meet their wants--was a rising force, though it had not reached its full development. arnold was doing his noble work, accomplishing a moral revolution in the public schools of england. milman and grote had arisen as historians. faraday was one of the chief lights of science. sir john herschel occupied his father's post among the stars. beautiful modest mary somerville showed what a woman might do with the differential calculus; brewster had taken the place of sir humphry davy. murchison was anticipating robert dick and hugh miller in geology. alfred tennyson had already published two volumes of poems; browning had given to the world his "paracelsus," and this very year ( ) his _strafford_ had been performed at covent garden, while it was still on the cards that his calling might be that of a great dramatist. dickens, the scott of the english lower-middle classes, was bringing out his "pickwick papers." disraeli had got into the house of commons at last, and his "vivian grey" was fully ten years old. so was bulwer's "pelbam"--the author of which also aided in forming the literary element of the house of commons in the queen's first parliament. mrs. gore, mrs. trollope, miss mitford, mrs. s. c. hail, and harriet martinean represented under very different aspects the feminine side of fiction. macready remained the stage king, but he shared his royalty with the younger kean. a younger kemble had also played juliet well, but the stage queen was helen faucit. in painting, turner was working in his last style; stanfield's sea-pieces were famous. mulready and leslie were in the front as _genre_ painters. maclise was making his reputation; etty had struggled into renown, while poor haydon was sinking into despair. landseer was already the great animal painter. sir c. eastlake had court commissions. wilkie, too, still had royal commissions, but his best work was done, and he was soon to set out on his last travels in a vain search after health and strength. withal the world was a light-hearted world enough--not so hurried as it is to-day, though railways were well established, and the electric telegraph had been hit upon in this same . young blood continued hot, and play was apt to be riotous. witness the fantastic frolics of the marquis of waterford--public property in those years. he had inherited the eccentricities of the whole delaval race, and not content with tickling his peers in england, carried his whims and pranks into scotland and ireland and across the channel. various versions of his grotesque feats circulated and scintillated through all classes, provoking laughter, and tempting to clumsy imitation, till the gentleman may be said to have had a species of world-wide reputation in a madly merry way. the queen held a review at windsor on the th of september, . she had dwelt at windsor before as a cherished guest; but what must it not have been to her to enter these gates as the queen? the rough hunting-seat of william rufus had long been the proudest and fairest palace in england. st george's tower and battlements are the most royal in these realms. st. george's hall and st. george's chapel are the best examples of ancient and modern chivalry. the stately terrace commanding the red turrets of eton and the silvery reaches of the thames, where george iii. and queen charlotte, with their large family and household, were wont to promenade on sunday afternoons for the benefit of their majesties' loyal subjects, where the blind old king used to totter along supported by two of his faithful princesses; the green alleys and glades of the ancient forest, with the great boles of the venerable oaks--queen elizabeth's among them; virginia water sparkling in the sunshine or glimmering in the moonlight, all make up such a kingly residence, as in many respects cannot be surpassed. what must it not have been to enter the little court town, another versailles or fontainebleau, as its liege lady, to be hailed and welcomed by the goodly throng of eton lads--those gay and gallant attendants on royal windsor pageants--to pass through these halls as their mistress, and fairly recognise that all the noble surroundings were hers, with all england, all britain and many a great dependency and colony on which the sun never sets--hers to rule over, hers to bless if she would? at the review, in compliment to her soldiers whom she saw marshalled in their disciplined masses, and saluting her as the captain of their captains--even of wellington himself--the queen wore a half-military dress--a tight jacket with deep lappels, the blue riband of the garter across one shoulder, and its jewelled star upon her breast, a stocklike black neckerchief in stiff folds holding up the round throat, and on the head--hiding nearly all the fair hair--a round, high, flatcap with a broad black "snout"; beneath it the soft, open, girlish face, with its single-hearted dignity. in this month of september the queen heard that her sister-queen and girl friend, donna maria da gloria, had received consolation for the troubles of her kingdom in becoming the youthful mother of a son and heir, prince ferdinand of portugal. by november the court was back at buckingham palace, and on the th the queen paid her first visit to the city of london, which received her with magnificent hospitality. long before the hour appointed for her majesty's departure for guildhall, all the approaches to the palace and the park itself presented dense crowds of holiday folks. at two o'clock the first carriage of the procession emerged from the triumphal arch, and in due time came the royal state carriage, in which sat the queen, attended by the mistress of the robes and the master of the horse. her majesty's full-dress was a "splendid pink satin shot with silver." she wore a queenly diamond tiara, and, as we are told, looked remarkably well. her approach was the signal for enthusiastic cheering, which increased as she advanced, while the bells of the city churches rang out merry peals. the fronts of the houses were decorated with bright-coloured cloth, green boughs, and such flowers as november had spared. devices in coloured lamps waited for the evening illumination to bring them out in perfection. venetian masts had not been hoisted then in england, but "rows of national flags and heraldic banners were stretched across the strand at several points, and busts and portraits of her majesty were placed in conspicuous positions." the only person in the queen's train who excited much interest was the duke of wellington, and he heard himself loudly cheered. the mob was rapidly condoning what they had considered his errors as a statesman, and restoring him to his old eminence, in their estimation, as the hero of the long wars, the conqueror of bonaparte. applause or reprobation the veteran met with almost equal coolness. when he had been besieged by raging, threatening crowds, calling upon him to do justice to queen caroline, as he rode to westminster during the wild days of her trial, he had answered "yes, yes," without a muscle of his face moving, and pushed on straight to his destination. for many a year he was to receive every contrite huzza, as he had received every fierce hiss, with no more than the twinkling of an eyelid or the raising of two fingers. the gathering at temple bar--real, grim old temple bar, which had borne traitors' heads in former days--was so great that a detachment of life guards, as well as a strong body of police, had work to do in clearing a way for the carriages. the aldermen had to be accommodated with a room in child's old banking-house, founded by the typical industrious apprentice who married his master's daughter. it sported the quaint old sign of the "marigold," and was supposed to hold sheaves of papers containing noble, nay, royal secrets, as well as bushels of family jewels, in its strong boxes. it had even a family romance of its own, for did not the great child of his day pursue his heiress in her flight to gretna with the heir of the villiers, who, leaning, pistol in hand, from his postchaise in front, sent a bullet into the near horse of the chaise behind, and escaped with his prize? undisturbed by these exciting stories, the aldermen waited in the dim interior--charged with other than money-lending mysteries, till the worthy gentlemen were joined by the lord mayor and sheriffs, when they proceeded to mount their chargers in temple yard--perhaps the most disturbing proceeding of any, with the riders' minds a little soothed by the circumstance that the horses had been brought from the artillery barracks at woolwich, and each was led by the soldier to which it belonged, in the capacity of groom. "a few minutes before three the approach of the queen was announced. the lord mayor dismounted, and, taking the city sword in his hand, stood on the south side of temple bar. as soon as the queen's carriage arrived within the gateway it stopped, and then, unfortunately, it began to rain." the queen's weather, which has become proverbial, of which we are given to boast, did not attend her on this occasion. perhaps it would have been too much to expect of the clouds when the date was the th of november. regardless of the weather, "the lord mayor delivered the keys of the city to the queen, which her majesty restored in the most gracious manner." at this time the multitude above, around, and below, from windows, scaffolding, roofs, and parapets, cheered long and loud. the lord mayor remounted, and, holding the city sword aloft, took his place immediately before the royal carriage, after which the aldermen, members of the common council, and civic authorities formed in procession. rather a curious ceremony was celebrated in front of st. paul's. booths and hustings had been erected in the enclosure for the accommodation of members of the different city companies and the boys of christ's hospital. "the royal carriage having stopped in the middle of the road, opposite the cathedral gate, a platform was wheeled out, on which were mr. frederick gifford nash, senior scholar of christ's hospital, and the head master and treasurer. the scholar, in conformity with an old usage, delivered an address of congratulation to her majesty, concluding with an earnest prayer for her welfare. 'god save the queen' was then sung by the scholars and a great part of the multitude." but already the dreariness and discomfort of a dark and wet november afternoon had been too much even for the staunchest loyalty, and had dispersed the feebler spirits among the onlookers. the lord mayor assisted her majesty to alight at the door of the guildhall, where the lady mayoress was waiting to be presented by her husband. we have a full description of the council-room and retiring-room, with their draperies of crimson and gold, including the toilet-table, covered with white satin, and embroidered with the initials v. r., a crown and wreath in gold, at which the maiden queen was understood to receive the last touches to her toilet, while she was attended by such distinguished matrons as the duchess of kent, the duchess of gloucester, and the duchess of cambridge. in the drawing-room the address of the city of london was read by the recorder, and replied to by the queen. at twenty minutes past five dinner was announced, and the queen, preceded by the lord mayor and the lady mayoress, and conducted by the lord chamberlain, in "respectful silence," descended into the hall where the banquet was prepared. the great old hall, with its "glorious timber roof," could hardly have known itself. gog and magog--compared by nathaniel hawthorne to "playthings for the children of giants"--must have looked down with goggle eyes at the transformation. these were different days from the time when anne ascue, of kelsey, was tried there for heresy, and the brave, keen-witted lady told her judges, when examined on the doctrine of transubstantiation, she had heard that god made man, but that man made god she had never heard; or when gallant surrey encountered his enemies; or melodious waller was called to account. it was on the raised platform at the east end of the hall that the common council had expended its strength of ornament and lavished its wealth. here london outdid itself. the throne was placed there. "it was surmounted by an entablature, with the letters v. r. supporting the royal crown and cushion. in the front was an external valance of crimson velvet, richly laced and trimmed with tassels. the back-fluting was composed of white satin, relieved with the royal arms in gold. the curtains were of crimson velvet, trimmed with lace and lined with crimson silk. the canopy was composed of crimson velvet, with radiated centre of white satin enamelled with gold, forming a gold ray from which the centre of velvet diverged; a valance of crimson velvet, laced with gold, depended from the canopy, which was intersected with cornucopia, introducing the rose, thistle, and shamrock, in white velvet. beneath this splendid canopy was placed the state-chair, which was richly carved and gilt, and ornamented with the royal arms and crown, including the rose, thistle, and shamrock, in crimson velvet. its proportions were tastefully and judiciously diminished to a size that should in some sort correspond with the slight and elegant figure of the young sovereign for whom it was provided. the platform on which the throne stood was covered with ermine and gold carpeting of the richest description." ... in front of the throne was placed the royal table, extending the whole width of the platform. it was thirty-four feet long and eight wide, and was covered with a cloth of the most exquisite damask, trimmed with gold lace and fringe. the sides and front of the platform were decked with a profusion of the rarest plants and shrubs. the royal table was on a dais above the level of the hall. a large mirror at each side of the throne reflected the gorgeous scene. from the impromptu dais four long tables extended nearly half-way down the hall, where the lord and lady mayoress presided over the company of foreign ambassadors, cabinet ministers, nobility, aldermen, and members of the common council. the "royal avenue" led up the middle of the hall to the throne, with the tables on each side. the queen took her seat on the throne; the lord and lady mayoress stood on either side of her majesty, but were almost immediately bidden be seated at their table. the company had now time to study the central figure, the cause and culmination of the assembly. over her pink and silver she wore the riband and order of the garter, with the george appended. besides her diamond tiara she had a stomacher of brilliants, and diamond ear-rings. she sat in the middle of a regal company, only two of the others young like herself. to the rest she must have been the child of yesterday; while to each and all she preserved in full the natural relations, and was as much the daughter, niece, and cousin as of old; yet, at the same time, she was every inch the queen. what a marvel it must have seemed--still more to those who sat near than to those who stood afar. the queen was supported by the dukes of sussex and cambridge, the duchesses of kent, gloucester, cambridge, and sutherland; and there were present her two cousins, prince george and princess augusta of cambridge. after dinner, _non nobus domine_ was sung; and then, preceded by a flourish of trumpets, the common crier advanced to the middle of the hall and said, "the right honourable the lord mayor gives the health of our most gracious sovereign, queen victoria." the company simultaneously rose and drank the toast with enthusiasm. "god save the queen" was sung, after which her majesty rose and bowed repeatedly with marked goodwill.... the common crier then shouted, "her majesty gives the lord mayor and prosperity to the city of london." bishop's "when the wind blows" was sung. the only other toast was, "the royal family," given by the lord mayor. at half-past eight her majesty's carriage was announced. the weather was unpleasant, the streets were unusually dirty, but a vast crowd once more greeted her. on arriving at the end of cheapside, she was hailed out of the glimmering illumination and foggy lamplight by "god save the queen," again sung by many hundred voices, accompanied by a band of wind instruments, the performance of the harmonic society, and the music was followed all the way by enthusiastic cheering. the baroness bunsen remarked of such a scene long afterwards, "i was at a loss to conceive how any woman's sides can 'bear the beating of so strong a throb' as must attend the consciousness of being the object of all that excitement, and the centre of attraction for all those eyes. but the queen has royal strength of nerve." not so much strength of nerve, we should say, as strength of single-heartedness and simple sense of duty which are their own reward, together with the comparative immunity produced by long habit. still it is a little relief to turn from so much state and strain to a brief glimpse of the girl-queen in something like the privacy of domestic life. in the month of november, , the attorney-general, lord campbell, with his wife, lady stratheden, received an invitation to buckingham palace, to dine with her majesty at seven, and one of the guests wrote thus of the entertainment: "i went, and found it exceedingly agreeable, although by no means so grand as dining at tarvit with mrs. rigg. the little queen was exceedingly kind to me, and said she had heard from the duchess of gloucester that i had the most beautiful children in the world. she asked me how many we had, and when she heard _seven_, seemed rather appalled, considering this a number which she would never be able to reach. she seems in perfect health, and is as merry and playful as a kitten." amongst the other innumerable engagements which engrossed every moment of the queen from the time of her accession, she had been called on to sit for her portrait to many eager artists--among them hayter and sir david wilkie. the last has recorded his impression of her in his manly, unaffected, half-homely words. "having been accustomed to see the queen from a child, my reception had a little the air of that of an early acquaintance. she is eminently beautiful, her features nicely formed, her skin smooth, her hair worn close to her face in a most simple way, glossy and clean-looking. her manner, though trained to act the sovereign, is yet simple and natural. she has all the decision, thought, and self-possession of a queen of older years, has all the buoyancy of youth, and from the smile to the unrestrained laugh, is a perfect child. while i was there she was sitting to pistrucci for her coin, and to hayter for a picture for king leopold." the mention of the coin recalls the "image and superscription" on the gold, silver, and copper that passes through our hands daily, which we almost forget to identify with the likeness of the young queen. about this time also commenced the royal patronage of landseer, which resulted later in many a family group, in which numerous four-footed favourites had their place. at the exhibition of landseer's works after his death, the sight of these groups recalled to elderly men and women who had been his early neighbours, the days when a goodly cavalcade of ladies and gentlemen, with their grooms, on horseback, used to sweep past the windows, and the word went that the young queen was honouring the painter by a visit to his studio. on the th of november the queen went in state to the house of lords to open parliament for the first time, with as great a crowd of members and strangers present as had flocked to witness the prorogation in july. in the course of the month of december the bills were passed which fixed the queen's income at three hundred and eighty-five thousand pounds a year, and further raised the duchess of kent's annuity from twenty-two thousand, which it had been latterly, to thirty thousand a year. on the rd of december the queen went to give her assent to the bills, and thank her parliament personally, according to old custom on such an occasion. on presenting the bill the speaker observed that it had been framed in "a liberal and confiding spirit." the queen simply bowed her acknowledgement. lord melbourne, "with the tears in his eyes," told lord campbell that in one of his first interviews with the queen she had said to him, "my father's debts must be paid." accordingly the late duke of kent's debts were paid by his daughter, in the name of herself and her mother, in the first year of queen victoria's reign. in the second year she discharged the debts which the duchess of kent had incurred in meeting the innumerable heavy calls made upon her, not only as the widow of one of the royal dukes, but as the mother of the future sovereign. the summer of was gay with the preparations for the queen's coronation. all classes took the greatest interest in it, so that splenetic people pronounced the nation "coronation mad." long before the event coronation medals were being struck, coronation songs and hymns written, coronation ribands woven. every ingenious method by which the world could commemorate the joyful season was put in practice. the sentiment was not confined to the inhabitants of the united kingdom. "foreigners of various conditions, and from all quarters of europe, flocked in to behold the inauguration of the maiden monarch of the british empire. in the metropolis for some weeks anterior to the event the excitement was extreme. the thousand equipages which thronged the streets, the plumed retainers of the ambassadors, the streams of swarthy strangers, and the incessant din of preparation, which resounded by night as well as by day, along the intended line of the procession, constituted by themselves a scene of no ordinary animation and interest, and sustained the public mind in an unceasing stretch of expectation." some disappointment was experienced on the knowledge that the ancient custom of a royal banquet in westminster hall on the coronation day was to be dispensed with. but the loss was compensated by a procession--a modification of the old street pageant--on the occasion. on the morning of the th of june the weather was not promising. it was cold for the season, and some rain fell; but the shower ceased, and the day proved fresh and bright, with sunshine gilding the darkest cloud. the tower artillery awoke the heaviest city sleepers. it is needless to say a great concourse, in every variety of vehicle and on foot, streamed from east to west through the "gravelled" streets, lined with soldiers and policemen, before the barriers were put up. "the earth was alive with men," wrote an enthusiastic spectator; "the habitations in the line of march cast forth their occupants to the balconies or the house-tops; the windows were lifted out of their frames, and the asylum of private life, that sanctuary which our countrymen guard with such traditional jealousy, was on this occasion made accessible to the gaze of the entire world." at ten o'clock the queen left buckingham palace in the state coach, to the music of the national anthem and a salute of guns, and passed beneath the royal standard hoisted on the marble arch. a marked feature of the procession was the magnificent carriages and escorts of the foreign ambassadors: the splendid uniform of the german jagers delighted the populace. a deeper and subtler feeling was produced by the sight of one of napoleon's marshals, soult, wellington's great adversary, rearing his white head in a coach the framework of which had belonged to the state carriage of the prince de conde, and figured in the _beaux jours_ of louis xvi. the consciousness that this worthy foe had come to do honour to the young queen awoke a generous response from the crowd. soult was cheered lustily along the whole route, and in the abbey itself, so that he returned to france not only full of personal gratification at the welcome he had received, but strongly convinced of the goodwill of john bull to frenchmen in general. how the balls of destiny roll! soult feted in london, ney dead by a traitor's death, filling his nameless grave in pere la chaise. the procession, beginning with trumpeters and life guards, wound its way in relays of foreign ambassadors, members of the royal family and their suites--the duchess of kent first--the band of the household brigade, the queen's bargemaster and her forty-eight watermen--honorary servants for many a day--twelve carriages with her majesty's suite, a squadron of life guards, equerries, gentlemen riders and military officials, the royal huntsmen, yeomen-prickers, and foresters, six of her majesty's horses, with rich trappings, each horse led by two grooms; the knight-marshal, marshalmen, yeomen of the guard, the state coach--drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, attended by a yeoman of the guard at each wheel, and two footmen at each door--the gold stick, viscount combermere, and the captain of the yeomen of the guard, the earl of ilchester, riding on either side. in the coach sat the queen, the mistress of the robes (the duchess of sutherland), the master of the horse (the earl of albemarle), and the captain-general of the royal archers (the duke of buccleugh). the whole was wound up by a squadron of life guards. in this order of stately march, under the june sky, emerging from the green avenues of the park, the procession turned up constitution hill, traversed piccadilly, st. james's street, pall mall, cockspur street, and by charing cross, whitehall, and parliament street, reached the west door of westminster abbey-- where royal heads receive the sacred gold. at the abbey door, at half-past eleven, the queen was received by the great officers of state, the noblemen bearing the regalia, the bishops carrying the patina, the chalice, and the bible. her majesty proceeded to the robing-room, and there was a hush of expectation in the thronged interior, where the great persons who were to play a part in the ceremony and the privileged ticket-holders had been waiting patiently for long hours. underneath the galleries and below the platform were ranged lines of foot guards. the platform (under the central tower) was the most conspicuous object. it was covered with cloth of gold, and bore the chair of homage, or throne, facing the altar. farther on, within the altar-rails, was "st. edward's chair," or the chair decorated by "william the painter" for edward. enclosed within it is the "stone of destiny," or fatal stone of scone--a sandy stone, supposed to have formed the pillow on which jacob slept at bethel, and long used in the coronation of the scotch kings. in this chair all the kings of england, since the time of edward i., have been crowned. the altar was covered with massive gold plate. the galleries of the abbey were arranged for the members of the house of commons, the foreign ambassadors, the judges, knights of the bath, members of the corporation, &c. &c. the floor of the transepts was occupied by benches for the peers and peeresses, who may be said to be in their glory at a coronation; the space behind them was for the ticket-holders. harriet martineau has preserved some of the splendours and "humours" of the coronation with her usual clever power of observation and occasional caustic commentary. "the maids called me at half-past two that june morning, mistaking the clock. i slept no more, and rose at half-past three. as i began to dress the twenty-one guns were fired, which must have awakened all the sleepers in london. when the maid came to dress me she said numbers of ladies were already hurrying to the abbey. i saw the grey old abbey from the window as i dressed, and thought what would have gone forward within it before the sun set upon it. my mother had laid out her pearl ornaments for me. the feeling was very strange of dressing in crape, blonde, and pearls at five in the morning.... the sight of the rapidly filling abbey was enough to go for. the stone architecture contrasted finely with the gay colours of the multitude. from my high seat i commanded the whole north transept, the area with the throne, and many portions of galleries, and the balconies which were called the vaultings. except a mere sprinkling of oddities, everybody was in full dress. in the whole assemblage i counted six bonnets. the scarlet of the military officers mixed in well, and the groups of the clergy were dignified; but to an unaccustomed eye the prevalence of court dresses had a curious effect. i was perpetually taking whole groups of gentlemen for quakers till i recollected myself. the earl-marshal's assistants, called gold sticks, looked well from above, lightly fluttering about in white breeches, silk stockings, blue laced frocks, and white sashes. the throne--an arm-chair with a round back, covered, as was its footstool, with cloth of gold--stood on an elevation of four steps in the centre of the area. the first peeress took her seat in the north transept opposite, at a quarter before seven, and three of the bishops came next. from that time the peers and their ladies arrived faster and faster. each peeress was conducted by two gold sticks, one of whom handed her to her seat, and the other bore and arranged her train on her lap, and saw that her coronet, footstool, and book were comfortably placed. i never saw anywhere so remarkable a contrast between youth and age as in these noble ladies." miss martineau proceeds to remark in the strongest and plainest terms on the unbecoming effect of full dress, with "hair drawn to the top of the head, to allow the putting on of the coronet" on these venerable matrons. she goes on to express her admiration of a later generation of peeresses. "the younger were as lovely as the aged were haggard.... about nine the first gleams of the sun slanted into the abbey and presently travelled down to the peeresses. i had never before seen the full effect of diamonds. as the light travelled each peeress shone like a rainbow. the brightness, vastness, and dreamy magnificence of the scene produced a strange effect of exhaustion and sleepiness.... the great guns told when the queen had set forth, and there was renewed animation. the gold sticks flitted about, there was tuning in the orchestra, and the foreign ambassadors and their suites arrived in quick succession. prince esterhazy crossing a bar of sunshine was the most prodigious rainbow of all. he was covered with diamonds and pearls, and as he dangled his hat it cast a dancing radiance all round. "at half-past eleven the guns told that the queen had arrived, but as there was much to be done in the robing-room, there was a long pause before she appeared." a little after twelve the grand procession of the day entered the choir. the prebendaries and dean of westminster and officers-at-arms, the comptroller, treasurer, vice-chamberlain, and lord steward of her majesty's household, the lord privy seal, the lord president, the lord chancellor of ireland, came first. when these gentlemen were peers their coronets were carried by pages. the treasurer bore the crimson bag with the medals; the vice-chancellor was attended by an officer from the jewel office, conveying, on a cushion, the ruby ring and the sword for the offering. then followed the archbishops of canterbury, york, and armagh, with the lord chancellor, each archbishop in his rochet, with his cap in his hand; the princesses of the blood royal, all in "robes of estate" of purple velvet and wearing circlets of gold; the duchess of cambridge, her train borne by lady caroline campbell and a gentleman of her household, her coronet by viscount villiers; the duchess of kent, her train borne by lady flora hastings, and her coronet by viscount morpeth; the duchess of gloucester, her train borne by lady caroline legge, and her coronet by viscount evelyn. (the royal generation next that of george iii. was fast dwindling away when these three ladies represented the six daughters and the wives of six of the sons of the old king and queen. but there were other survivors, though they were not present to-day. the queen-dowager; princess augusta, an aged woman of seventy; princess elizabeth, landgravine of hesse-homburg, nearly as old, and absent in germany; the queen as well as the king of hanover, who had figured formerly as duke and duchess of cumberland; and princess sophia, who was ten years younger than princess augusta, and resident in england, but who was an invalid.) the regalia came next, st. edward's staff, borne by the duke of roxburgh, the golden spurs borne by lord byron, the sceptre with the cross borne by the duke of cleveland, the third sword borne by the marquis of westminster, curtana borne by the duke of devonshire, the second sword borne by the duke of sutherland, each nobleman's coronet carried by a page, black rod and deputy-garter walking before lord willoughby d'eresby, lord great chamberlain of england, with page and coronet. the princes of the blood royal were reduced to two. the duke of cambridge, in his robe of estate, carrying his baton as field-marshal, his coronet borne by the marquis of granby, his train by sir william gomm; the duke of sussex, his coronet carried by viscount anson, his train by the honourable edward gore. the high constable of ireland, the duke of leinster; the high constable of scotland, the earl of errol, with their pages and coronets. the earl-marshal of england, the duke of norfolk, with his staff, attended by two pages; the sword of state, borne by viscount melbourne, with his page and coronet; the lord high constable of england, the duke of wellington, with his staff and baton as field-marshal, attended by two pages. the sceptre with the dove, borne by the duke of richmond, page and coronet; st. edward's crown, borne by the lord high steward, the duke of hamilton, attended by two pages; the orb, borne by the duke of somerset, page and coronet. the patina, borne by the bishop of bangor; the bible, borne by the bishop of winchester; the chalice, borne by the bishop of london. at last the queen entered, walking between the bishops of bath and wells and durham, with gentlemen-at-arms on each side. she was now a royal maiden of nineteen, with a fair, pleasant face, a slight figure, rather small in stature, but showing a queenly carriage, especially in the pose of the throat and head. she wore a royal robe of crimson velvet furred with ermine and bordered with gold lace. she had on the collars of her orders. like the other princesses, she wore a gold circlet on her head. her train was borne by eight "beautiful young ladies," as sir david wilkie called them, all dressed alike, some of them destined to officiate again as the queen's bridesmaids, when the loveliness of the group attracted general attention and admiration. these noble damsels were lady adelaide paget, lady fanny cowper, lady anne wentworth fitzwilliam, lady mary grimston, lady caroline gordon lennox, lady mary talbot, lady catherine stanhope, lady louisa jenkinson. the ladies of her majesty's household came next in order, the duchess of sutherland, the mistress of the robes, walking first, followed by lady lansdowne as first lady of the bed-chamber. other ladies of the bed-chamber, whose names were long familiar in association with that of the queen, included ladies charlemont, lyttelton, portman, tavistock, mulgrave, and barham. the maids of honour bore names once equally well known in the _court circular_, while the office brought with it visions of old historic maids prominent in court gossip, and revealed to this day possibilities of sprightliness reined in by court etiquette, and innocent little scrapes condoned by royal graciousness and kindness. the maids of honour at the queen's coronation were the honourable misses margaret dillon, cavendish, lister, spring rice, harriet pitt, caroline cocks, matilda paget, and murray. one has heard and read less of the women of the bed-chamber, noble ladies also, no doubt, but by the time the superb procession reached them, with the gathering up of the whole in goldsticks, captains of the royal archers, of the yeomen of the guard, of the gentlemen-at-arms, though pages and coronets still abounded, the strained attention could take in no more accessories, but was fain to return to the principal figure in the pageant, and dwell with all eyes on her. "the queen looked extremely well, and had an animated countenance." the scene within the choir on her entrance was so gorgeous, that, it is said, even the turkish ambassador, accustomed we should say to gorgeousness, stopped short in astonishment. as the queen advanced slowly toward the centre of the choir, she was received with hearty plaudits, everybody rising, the anthem, "i was glad," sung by the musicians, ringing through the abbey. "at the close of the anthem, the westminster boys (who occupied seats at the extremity of the lower galleries on the northern and southern sides of the choir) chanted _vivat victoria regina._ the queen moved towards a chair placed midway between the chair of homage and the altar, on the carpeted space before described, which is called the theatre." here she knelt down on a faldstool set for her before her chair, and used some private prayers. she then took her seat in the chair and the ceremonial proceeded. first came "the recognition" by the archbishop of canterbury, who advanced to the queen, accompanied by the lord chancellor, the lord chamberlain, the lord high constable, and the earl-marshal, preceded by the deputy-garter, and repeated these words: "sirs, i here present unto you queen victoria, the undoubted queen of this realm, wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?" then burst forth the universal cry from the portion of her majesty's subjects present, "god save queen victoria." the archbishop, turning to the north, south, and west sides of the abbey, repeated, "god save queen victoria," the queen turning at the same time in the same direction. "the bishops who bore the patina, bible, and chalice in the procession, placed the same on the altar. the archbishop of canterbury and the bishops who were to read the litany put on their copes. the queen, attended by the bishops of durham and bath and wells, and the dean of westminster, with the great officers of state and noblemen bearing the regalia, advanced to the altar, and, kneeling upon the crimson velvet cushion, made her first offering, being a pall or altar-cloth of gold, which was delivered by an officer of the wardrobe to the lord chamberlain, by his lordship to the lord great chamberlain, and by him to the queen, who delivered it to the archbishop of canterbury, by whom it was placed on the altar. the treasurer of the household then delivered an ingot of gold, of one pound weight, to the lord great chamberlain, who having presented the same to the queen, her majesty delivered it to the archbishop, by whom it was put into the oblation basin. "the archbishop delivered a prayer in the prescribed form. the regalia were laid on the altar by the archbishop. the great officers of state, except the lord chamberlain, retired to their respective places, and the bishops of worcester and st. david's read the litany. then followed the communion service, read by the archbishop of canterbury and the bishops of rochester and carlisle. the bishop of london preached the sermon from the following text, in the second book of chronicles, chapter xxxiv. verse : 'and the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the lord, to walk after the lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.' "in the course of his sermon from this text, the bishop praised the late king for his unfeigned religion, and exhorted his youthful successor to follow in his footsteps. at the conclusion of the sermon 'the oath' was administered to the queen by the archbishop of canterbury. the form of swearing was as follows: the archbishop put certain questions, which the queen answered in the affirmative, relative to the maintenance of the law and the established religion; and then her majesty, with the lord chamberlain and other officers, the sword of state being carried before her, went to the altar, and laying her right hand upon the gospels in the bible carried in the procession, and now brought to her by the archbishop of canterbury, said, kneeling: "'the things which i have here before promised i will perform and keep. so help me god.' "the queen kissed the book and signed a transcript of the oath presented to her by the archbishop. she then kneeled upon her faldstool, and the choir sang '_veni, creator, spiritus._' "'the anointing' was the next part of the ceremony. the queen sat in king edward's chair; four knights of the garter--the dukes of buccleugh and rutland, and the marquesses of anglesea and exeter--held a rich cloth of gold over her head; the dean of westminster took the ampulla from the altar, and poured some of the oil it contained into the anointing spoon, then the archbishop anointed the head and hands of the queen, marking them in the form of a cross, and pronouncing the words, 'be thou anointed with holy oil, as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed; and as solomon was anointed king by zadok the priest, and nathan the prophet, so be you anointed, blessed, and consecrated queen over this people, whom the lord your god hath given you to rule and govern, in the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen.' "the archbishop then said the blessing over her. "the spurs were presented by the lord chamberlain, and the sword of state by viscount melbourne, who, however, according to custom, redeemed it with a hundred shillings, and carried it during the rest of the ceremony. then followed the investing with the 'royal robes and the delivery of the orb,' and the 'investiture _per annulum et baculum,_' by the ring and sceptre. "the coronation followed. the archbishop of canterbury offered a prayer to god to bless her majesty and crown her with all princely virtues. the dean of westminster took the crown from the altar, and the archbishop of canterbury, with the archbishops of york and armagh, the bishops of london, durham, and other prelates, advanced towards the queen, and the archbishop taking the crown from the dean reverently placed it on the queen's head. this was no sooner done than from every part of the crowded edifice arose a loud and enthusiastic cry of 'god save the queen,' mingled with lusty cheers, and accompanied by the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. at this moment, too, the peers and peeresses present put on their coronets, the bishops their caps, and the kings-of-arms their crowns; the trumpets sounding, the drums beating, and the tower and park guns firing by signal." harriet martineau, who, like most of the mere spectators, failed to see and hear a good deal of the ceremony, was decidedly impressed at this point. "the acclamation when the crown was put on her head was very animating; and in the midst of it, in an instant of time, the peeresses were all coroneted--all but the fair creature already described." the writer refers to an earlier paragraph in which she had detailed a small catastrophe that broke in upon the harmonious perfection of the scene. "one beautiful creature, with transcendent complexion and form, and coils upon coils of light hair, was terribly embarrassed about her coronet; she had apparently forgotten that her hair must be disposed with a view to it, and the large braids at the back would in no way permit the coronet to keep on. she and her neighbours tugged vehemently at her braids, and at last the thing was done after a manner, but so as to spoil the wonderful effect of the self-coroneting of the peeresses." to see "the enthronement," the energetic norwich woman stood on the rail behind her seat, holding on by another rail. but first "the bible was presented by the archbishop of canterbury to the queen, who delivered it again to the archbishop, and it was replaced on the altar by the dean of westminster. "the benediction was delivered by the archbishop, and the _te deum_ sung by the choir. at the commencement of the _te deum_ the queen went to the chair which she first occupied, supported by two bishops; she was then 'enthroned,' or 'lifted,' as the formulary states, into the chair of homage by the archbishops, bishops, and peers surrounding her majesty. the queen delivered the sceptre with the cross to the lord of the manor of worksop (the duke of norfolk), and the sceptre with the stone to the duke of richmond, to hold during the performance of the ceremony of homage. the archbishop of canterbury knelt and did homage for himself and other lords spiritual, who all kissed the queen's hand. the dukes of sussex and cambridge, removing their coronets, did homage in these words:-- "'i do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth i will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks, so help me god.' "they touched the crown on the queen's head, kissed her left cheek, and then retired. it was observed that her majesty's bearing towards her uncles was very kind and affectionate. the dukes and other peers then performed their homage, the senior of each rank pronouncing the words; as they retired each peer kissed her majesty's hand. the duke of wellington, earl grey, and lord melbourne were loudly cheered as they ascended the steps to the throne. lord rolle, "who was upwards of eighty, stumbled and fell on going up the steps. the queen immediately stepped forward and held out her hand to assist him, amidst the loudly expressed admiration of the entire assembly." "while the lords were doing homage, the earl of surrey, treasurer of the household, threw coronation medals, in silver, about the choir and lower galleries, which were scrambled for with great eagerness. "at the conclusion of the homage the choir sang the anthem, 'this is the day which the lord hath made.' the queen received the two sceptres from the dukes of norfolk and richmond; the drums beat, the trumpets sounded, and the assembly cried out--'god save queen victoria!'" [footnote: annual register.] harriet martineau, from her elevated perch, says, "her small dark crown looked pretty, and her mantle of cloth of gold very regal; she, herself, looked so small as to appear puny." (at a later stage of the proceedings the same keen critic notes that the enormous train borne by her ladies made the figure of the queen look still less than it really was.) "the homage was as pretty a sight as any: trains of peers touching her crown, and then kissing her hand. it was in the midst of that process that poor lord rolle's disaster sent a shock through the whole assemblage. it turned me very sick. the large infirm old man was held up by two peers, and had nearly reached the royal footstool when he slipped through the hands of his supporters, and rolled over and over down the steps, lying at the bottom coiled up in his robes. he was instantly lifted up, and he tried again and again, amidst shouts of admiration of his valour. the queen at length spoke to lord melbourne, who stood at her shoulder, and he bowed approval; on which she rose, leaned forward, and held out her hand to the old man, dispensing with his touching the crown. he was not hurt, and his self-quizzing on his misadventure was as brave as his behaviour at the time. a foreigner in london gravely reported to his own countrymen, what he entirely believed on the word of a wag, that the lords rolle held their title on the condition of performing the feat at every coronation." sir david wilkie, who was present at the coronation, wrote simply, "the queen looked most interesting, calm, and unexcited; and as she sat upon the chair with the crown on, the sun shone from one of the windows bright upon her." leslie, another painter who witnessed the scene, remarked, "i was very near the altar, and the chair on which the queen was crowned, when she signed the coronation oath. i could see that she wrote a large, bold hand.... i don't know why, but the first sight of her in her robes brought tears into my eyes, and it had this effect on many people; she looked almost like a child." "the archbishop of canterbury then went to the altar. the queen followed him, and giving the lord chamberlain her crown to hold, knelt down at the altar. the gospel and epistle of the communion service having been read by the bishops, the queen made her offering of the chalice and patina, and a purse of gold, which were laid on the altar. her majesty received the sacrament kneeling on her faldstool by the chair." leslie afterwards painted this part of the ceremony for her majesty. in his picture are several details which are not given elsewhere. the peers and peeresses who had crowned themselves simultaneously with the coronation of the queen, removed their crowns when she laid aside hers. among the gentlemen of the royal family was the duc de nemours. after receiving the communion, the queen put on her crown, "and with her sceptres in her hands, took her seat again upon the throne. the archbishop of canterbury proceeded with the communion service and pronounced the final blessing. the choir sang the anthem, 'hallelujah! for the lord god omnipotent reigneth.' the queen then left the throne, and attended by two bishops and noblemen bearing the regalia and swords of state, passed into king edward's chapel, the organ playing. the queen delivered the sceptre with the dove to the archbishop of canterbury, who laid it on the altar. she was then disrobed of her imperial robe of state and arrayed in her royal robe of purple velvet by the lord chamberlain. the archbishop placed the orb in her left hand. the gold spurs and st. edward's staff were delivered by the noblemen who bore them to the dean of westminster, who placed them on the altar. the queen then went to the west door of the abbey wearing her crown, the sceptre with the cross being in the right and the orb in the left hand.... it was about a quarter to four o'clock when the royal procession passed through the nave, in the same order as before, at the conclusion of the ceremony in the abbey." the coronation lasted three hours, and must have been attended with great fatigue of mind and body to the young girl who bore the burden of the honours. even the mere spectators, who, to be sure, had been in their places from dawn of day, the moment the stimulus of excitement was removed, awoke to their desperate weariness. "i watched her (the queen) out at the doors," said harriet martineau, "and then became aware how fearfully fatigued i was. i never remember anything like it. while waiting in the passages and between the barriers, several ladies sat or lay down on the ground. i did not like to sink down in dust half a foot deep, to the spoiling of my dress and the loss of my self-respect, but it was really a terrible waiting till my brothers appeared at the end of the barrier." but the day's business was not ended for the great world, high and low. the return of the procession, though the line was broken, had the special attraction that the queen wore her crown, and the peers and peeresses their coronets. the queen's crown was a mass of brilliants, relieved here and there by a large ruby or emerald, encircling a purple velvet cap. among the stories told of the coronation, foremost and favourite of which was the misadventure of poor lord rolle, and the pretty gentle way in which the young queen did her best to help the sufferer; an incident was reported which might have had its foundation in the difficulties described by miss martineau as besetting the fair peeress in the abbey. it was said that the queen's crown was too cumbrous, and disturbed the arrangement of those soft braids of hair, the simple, modest fashion of which called forth sir david wilkie's praise, and that as her majesty drove along in her state carriage, she was seen laughingly submitting to the good offices of her beautiful companion seeking with soft hands to loop up afresh the rebellious locks which had broken loose. leslie, from whom we have already quoted, gives an anecdote of the queen on her coronation-day, which serves at least to show how deeply the youthfulness of their sovereign was impressed on the public mind. he had been informed that she was very fond of dogs, and that she possessed a favourite little spaniel which was always on the look-out for her. she had been away from him longer than usual on this particular day. when the state coach drove up to the palace on her return, she heard his bark of joy in the hall. she cried, "there's dash!" and seemed to forget crown and sceptre in her girlish eagerness to greet her small friend. [footnote: in the list of sir edwin landseer's pictures there is one, the property of the queen, which was painted in . it includes "hector," "nero," "dash," and "lorey" (dogs and parrot).] in spite of the ordeal her majesty had undergone, she entertained a party of a hundred to dinner, and witnessed from the roof of buckingham palace the grand display of fireworks in the green park and the general illumination of london. the duke of wellington gave a ball at apsley house, followed next day by official dinners on the part of the cabinet ministers. the festivities lasted for more than a week in the metropolis. prominent among them was a fancy fair held for the space of four days in hyde park, and visited by the queen in person. on the th of july, a fine, hot day there was a review in hyde park. the queen appeared soon after eleven in an open barouche, with her aides-de-camp in full uniform. the dukes of cambridge and wellington, the duc de nemours, marshal soult, prince esterhazy, prince schwartzenburg, count stragonoff, were present amidst a great crowd. the queen was much cheered. the country's old gallant foe, soult, was again hailed with enthusiasm, though there was just a shade of being exultingly equal to the situation, in the readiness with which, on his having the misfortune to break a stirrup, a worthy firm of saddlers came forward with a supply of the stirrups which napoleon had used in one of his campaigns. and there might have been something significant to the visitor, in the rapturous greeting which was bestowed on the iron duke, round whose erect, impassive figure the multitude pressed, the nearest men and women defying his horse's hoofs and stretching up to shake hands with "the conquering hero" amidst a thunder of applause. the rejoicings pervaded every part of the country from john o' groat's to land's end, from the scilly isles to sark. there was merry-making among the english residents in every foreign place, as far as the great colonies in the still remote continents. to many simple people the queen did not seem to reign, hardly to exist, till she had put on her crown and taken up her sceptre. it was to do the first honour to their youthful liege lady that june garlands were swung over every village street, bonfires gleamed like carbuncles on mountain cairns, frightening the hill foxes, or lit up the coast-line and were flung back in broken reflections from the tossing waves, scaring the very fish in the depths of the sea, where hardy islanders had kindled the token on some rock of the ocean. pen and pencil were soon busy with the great event of the season. elizabeth barrett browning wrote later:-- the minster was alight that day, but not with fire, i ween, and long-drawn glitterings swept adown that mighty aisled scene; the priests stood stoled in their pomp, the sworded chiefs in theirs, and so the collared knights--and so the civil ministers; and so the waiting lords and dames--and little pages best at holding trains--and legates so, from countries east and west; so alien princes, native peers, and high-born ladies bright along whose brows the queen's new crown'd, flashed coronets to light. and so, the people at the gates, with priestly hands on high, which bring the first anointing to all legal majesty; and so, the dead--who lay in rows beneath the minster floor, there verily an awful state maintaining evermore-- the statesman, with no burleigh nod, whate'er court tricks may be; the courtier, who, for no fair queen, will rise up to his knee; the court-dame, who for no court tire will leave her shroud behind; the laureate, who no courtlier rhymes than "dust to dust" can find; the kings and queens who having ta'en that vow and worn that crown, descended unto lower thrones and darker, deeper adown; "dieu et mon droit," what is't to them? what meaning can it have? the king of kings, the dust of dust--god's judgment and the grave. and when betwixt the quick and dead the young fair queen had vowed, the living shouted, "may she live! victoria, live!" aloud, and as these loyal shouts went up, true spirits prayed between, the blessings happy monarchs have, be thine, o crowned queen! in the autumn and winter of leslie went down to windsor to get sittings for his picture of the coronation. he had been presented to the queen on her first visit to the academy after her accession, as he mentions in one of his pleasant letters to his kindred in america. he was now to come into nearer contact with royalty. he slept at the castle inn, windsor, and went up daily to the castle. if he found her majesty and any other sitter engaged, he improved the occasion by copying two of the queen's fine dutch pictures, a de hooghe and a nicholas maas. he wrote his experience to his wife in london, and his sister in america. to the latter he said, "i came here on the th of last month by appointment to have a sitting of the queen, and with little expectation of having more than one.... i have been here ever since, with the exception of a day or two in town (i perform the journey in an hour by the railroad), and the queen has sat five times. she is now so far satisfied with the likeness, that she does not wish me to touch it again. she sat not only for the face, but for as much as is seen of the figure, and for the hands with the coronation-ring on her finger. her hands, by-the-bye, are very pretty, the backs dimpled, and the fingers delicately shaped. she was particular also in having her hair dressed exactly as she wore it at the ceremony, every time she sat. she has suggested an alteration in the composition of the picture, and i suppose she thinks it like the scene, for she asked me where i sat, and said, 'i suppose you made a sketch on the spot.' "the duchess of kent and lord melbourne are now sitting to me, and last week i had sittings of lord conyngham and lady fanny cowper [footnote: daughter of a beautiful and popular mother, lady palmerston, by her first husband, earl cowper.] (a very beautiful girl, and one of the queen's train-bearers), who was here for a few days on a visit to her majesty. every day lunch is sent to me, which, as it is always very plentiful and good, i generally make my dinner. the best of wine is sent in a beautiful little decanter, with a v.r. and the crown engraved on it, and the table-cloth and napkins have the royal arms and other insignia on them as a pattern. "i have two very good friends at the castle--one of the pages, and a little man who lights the fires. the queen's pages are not little boys in green, but tall and _stout gentlemen_ from forty to fifty years of age. my friend (mr. batchelor) was a page in the time of george iii, and was then twenty years old; george iv died in his arms, he says, in a room adjoining the one i am painting in. mr. batchelor comes into the room whenever there is nobody there, and admires the picture to my heart's content. my other friend, the fire-lighter, is extremely like peter powell, only a size larger. he also greatly admires the picture; he confesses he knows nothing about the robes, and can't say whether they are like or not, but he pronounces the queen's likeness excellent." [footnote: leslie's autobiography.] chapter vi. the maiden queen. when the great event of the coronation was over the queen was left to fulfil the heavy demands of business and the concluding gaieties of the season. it comes upon us with a little pathetic shock, to think of one whom we have long known chiefly in the chastened light of the devoted unflagging worker at her high calling, of our lady of sorrows, as a merry girl--girl-like in her fondness, in spite of her noble nature and the serious claims she did not neglect, of a racket of perpetual excitement. we read of her as going everywhere, as the blithest and most indefatigable dancer in her ball-room, dancing out a pair of slippers before the night was over; we hear how reluctant she was to leave town, how eager to return to it. inevitably the old and dear friends most interested in her welfare were now regarding this critical period in the queen's career with anxious eyes. in looking back upon it in after life, she has frankly and gravely acknowledged its pitfalls; "a worse school for a young girl, or one more detrimental to all natural feeling and affection, cannot well be imagined, than the position of a queen at eighteen, without experience, and without a husband to guide and support her. this the queen can state from painful experience, and she thanks god that none of her dear daughters are exposed to such danger." the king of the belgians sought to abridge the period of probation by renewing the project of the worthy marriage to which his niece had been well inclined two years before. but either from the natural coyness and the strain of perversity which are the privilege and the danger of girlhood, or simply because, as she has, stated, "the sudden change from the secluded life at kensington to the independence of her position as queen regnant, at the age of eighteen, put all ideas of marriage out of her head," the bride in prospect demurred. she declared, with the unhesitating decision of her age, that she had no thought of marriage for years to come. she objected, with some show of reason, that both she and prince albert were too young, and that it would be better for him to have a little more time to perfect his english education. the princely cousin who had won her first girlish affections, and the tender sweetness of love in the bud, were by no means forgotten. the idea of marriage never crossed the queen's mind without his image presenting itself, she has said, and she never thought of herself as wedded to any other man. but every woman, be she queen or beggar-maid, craves to exercise one species of power at one era of her life. it is her prerogative, and though the ruth of love may live to regret it, and to grudge every passing pang inflicted, half wilfully half unwittingly, on the true heart, it may be questioned whether love would flourish better, whether it would attain its perfect stature, without the test of the brief check and combat for mastery. but if a woman desires to prove her power, a man cannot be expected to welcome the soft tyranny; the more manly, the more sensitive he is, the more it vexes and wounds him. here the circumstances were specially trying, and while we have ample sympathy with the young queen--standing out as much in archness as in imperiousness for a prolonged wooing--we have also sympathy to spare for the young prince, with manly dignity and a little indignant pain, resisting alike girlish volatility and womanly despotism, asserting what was only right and reasonable, that he could not wait much longer for her to make up her mind--great queen and dear cousin though she might be. it was neither just nor generous that he should be kept hanging on in a condition of mortifying uncertainty, with the risk of his whole life being spoilt, after it was too late to guard against it, by a final refusal on her part. that the queen had in substance made up her mind is proved by the circumstance that it was by her wish, and in accordance with her written instructions--of which, however, prince albert seems to have been ignorant--that baron stockmar, on quitting england in , joined the prince, who had just endured the trial of being separated from his elder brother, with whom he had been brought up in the closest and most brotherly relations, so that the two had never been a day apart during the whole of their previous lives. prince albert was to travel in italy, and baron stockmar and sir francis (then lieutenant) seymour were appointed his travelling companions, visiting with him, during what proved a happy tour, rome and naples. at home, where baroness lehzen retained the care of purely personal matters and played her part in non-political affairs and non-political correspondence, lord melbourne, with his tact and kindness, discharged the remaining offices of a private secretary. but things did not go altogether well. party feeling was stronger than ever. the queen's household was mainly of whig materials, but there were exceptions, and the lady who had borne the train of the duchess of kent at the coronation belonged to a family which had become tory in politics. lady flora hastings was a daughter of the marquis of hastings and of flora, countess of loudoun, in her own right. the countess of loudoun in her youth chose for her husband earl moira, one of the plainest-looking and most gallant officers in the british army. the parting shortly after their marriage, in order that he might rejoin his regiment on active service, was the occasion of the popular scotch song, by tannahill, "bonnie loudoun's woods and braes." earl moira, created marquis of hastings, had a distinguished career as a soldier and statesman, especially as governor-general of india. when he was governor-general of malta he died far from loudoun's woods and braes, and was buried in the little island; but in compliance with an old promise to his wife, who long survived him, that their dust should rest together, he directed that after death his right hand should be cut off, enclosed in a casket, and conveyed to the family vault beneath the church of loudoun, where the mortal remains of his widow would lie. lady flora hastings was good, clever and accomplished, dearly loved by her family and friends. but whether she, nevertheless, possessed capabilities of offending her companions in office at court; whether her conduct in any respect rebuked theirs, and provoked dislike, suspicion, and a desire to find her in the wrong; whether the calamity was sheerly due to that mortal meanness in human nature, which tempts people not otherwise unworthy to receive the most unlikely and injurious evil report of their neighbour, on the merest presumptive evidence, the unhappy sequel remains the same. lady flora had been attacked by an illness which caused so great a change in her personal appearance, as to lend colour to a whispered charge that she had been secretly guilty of worse than levity of conduct. the cruel whisper once breathed, it certainly became the duty of every person in authority round a young and maiden queen to guard her court jealously from the faintest suspicion of such a reproach. the fault lay with those who uttered the shameful charge on slight and, as it proved, totally mistaken inferences. when the accusation reached the ears of lady flora--last of all, no doubt--the brave daughter of a brave man welcomed such a medical examination as must prove her innocence beyond dispute. her name and fame were triumphantly cleared, but the distress and humiliation she had suffered accelerated the progress of her malady, and she died shortly afterwards, passionately lamented by her friends. they sought fruitlessly to bring punishment on the accusers, which could not be done since there was no evidence of deliberate insincerity and malice on the part of the circulators of the scandal. the blame of the disastrous gossip fell on two of the whig ladies of the bed-chamber; and just before the sad climax, the other event, which angry tory eyes magnified to the dignity of a conspiracy, drew double attention to both catastrophes. in may, , the whig government had been defeated in a crucial measure, and the ministry under the leadership of lord melbourne resigned office. the queen sent for the duke of wellington, and he recommended that sir robert peel should be called upon to form a new cabinet. it was the first time that the queen had experienced a change of ministers, and she was naturally dismayed at the necessity, and reluctant to part with the friend who had lent her such aid on her accession, whom she trusted implicitly, who in the requirements of his office had been in daily communication with her for the last two years. in her interview with sir robert peel, who in his shyness and constraint appeared to have far fewer personal recommendations for a young queen's counsellor, she told him with a simple and girlish frankness that she was sorry to have to part with her late minister, of whose conduct she entirely approved, but that she bowed to constitutional usage. [footnote: justin macarthy.] sir robert took the impulsive speech in the straightforward spirit in which it was spoken, while time was to show such a good understanding and cordial regard established between the queen and her future servant, as has rarely been surpassed in the relations of sovereigns and their advisers. but in the meanwhile a _contretemps_, which was more than half a blunder, occurred. "the negotiations went on very smoothly as to the colleagues peel meant to recommend to her majesty, until he happened to notice the composition of the royal household, as regarded the ladies most closely in attendance on the queen. for example, he found that the wife of lord normanby and the sister of lord morpeth were the two ladies in closest attendance on her majesty. now it has to be borne in mind--it was proclaimed again and again during the negotiations--that the chief difficulty of the conservatives would necessarily be in ireland, where their policy would be altogether opposed to that of the whigs. lord normanby had been lord lieutenant of ireland under the whigs, and lord morpeth, whom we can all remember as the amiable and accomplished lord carlisle of later time, irish secretary. it certainly would not be satisfactory for peel to try to work a new irish policy, whilst the closest household companions of the queen were the wife and sister of the displaced statesmen, who directly represented the policy he had to supersede. had this point of view been made clear to the sovereign at first, it is hardly possible that any serious difficulty could have arisen. the queen must have seen the obvious reasonableness of peel's request, nor is it to be supposed that the two ladies in question could have desired to hold their places under such circumstances. but unluckily some misunderstanding took place at the very beginning of the conversations on this point. peel only desired to press for the retirement of the ladies holding the higher offices, [footnote: this has been the rule in subsequent changes of ministry.] he did not intend to ask for any change affecting a place lower in official rank than that of lady of the bed-chamber. but somehow or other he conveyed to the mind of the queen a different idea. she thought he meant to insist as a matter of principle upon the removal of all her familiar attendants and household associates. under this impression she consulted lord john russell, who advised her on what he understood to be the facts. on his advice the queen stated in reply, that she could not "consent to a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and is repugnant to her feelings." sir robert peel held firm to his stipulation, and the chance of his then forming a ministry was at an end. lord melbourne and his colleagues had to be recalled, and at a cabinet meeting they adopted a minute declaring it "reasonable, that the great offices of the court, and situations in the household held by members of parliament, should be included in the political arrangements made on a change in the administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by ladies in her majesty's household." as an instance of the garbled impression received, and the unhesitating exultation manifested by some of the whig leaders, we quote from lord campbell: "house of commons, friday, may , . what do you think? peel has quarrelled with the queen, and for the present we are all in again. he insisted on her removing all her ladies, which she peremptorily refused. peel sent his final answer yesterday evening, which she received at dinner, saying that on consulting his colleagues they could not yield, and that his commission was at an end. she then sent for melbourne, who had not seen her since his resignation. at eleven a meeting of the old cabinet was called. to-day melbourne has been with her, and, bear ellis says, agreed to go on with the government. reports differ as to the exact conditions. our people say that she was willing to give up the wives of peers; sir george clerk asserts she insisted on keeping all, _inter alias_ the marchioness of normanby. there never was such excitement in london. i came with hundreds of others to the house of lords, which met to-day, in the expectation that something would be said, but all passing off in silence." [footnote: the explanation was made later.] "brooks's, saturday, may , . the cabinet is still sitting, and we know nothing more to-day.... i was several hours at the queen's ball last night, a scene never to be forgotten. the queen was in great spirits, and danced with more than usual gaiety. she received peel with great civility; but after dancing with the russian bear, took for her partner lady normanby's son. the tories looked inconceivably foolish--such whimsical groups." calm onlookers, including stockmar, condemned lord melbourne for the position, in which he had allowed the young queen to be placed, and considered that he had brought discredit on his government by the circumstances in which he and his colleagues had resumed office. the melancholy death of lady flora hastings following on this overthrow of the ordinary arrangements, intensified the wrath of the tories, and helped to arouse a sense of general dissatisfaction and doubt. in the month of july, , an act of parliament was passed which was of great consequence to the mass of the people. in sir rowland hill published his post-office reform pamphlet, and in the penny-post scheme was embodied in an act of parliament. what stories clustered round the early miniature "heads" of her majesty in the little dull red stamp! these myths ranged from the panic that the adhesive gum caused cancer in the tongue, to the romance that a desperate young lady was collecting a huge supply of used stamps for the purpose of papering a room of untold dimensions. this feat was the single stipulation on the part of a tyrannical parent, on compliance with which the hapless maiden would be allowed to marry her faithful lover. chapter vii. the betrothal. the queen's remaining unmarried was becoming the source of innumerable disturbing rumours and private intrigues for the bestowal of her hand. to show the extent to which the public discussed the question in every light, a serious publication like the _annual register_ found space in its pages for a ponderous joke on the subject which was employing all tongues. its chronicle professes to report an interview between her majesty the queen and lord melbourne, in which the premier gravely represents to his sovereign the advisability of her marriage, and ventures to press her to say whether there is any man for whom she might entertain a preference. her majesty condescends to acknowledge there is one man for whom she could conceive a regard. his name is "arthur, duke of wellington." altogether, king leopold was warranted in renewing his efforts to accomplish the union which would best secure the happiness of his niece and the welfare of a kingdom. he adopted a simple, and at the same time, a masterly line of policy. he sent the prince, whose majority had been celebrated along with his brother's a few months before, over again to england in the autumn of ; prince ernest of saxe-coburg went once more with prince albert, in order to show that this was not a bridegroom come to plead his suit in person; this was a mere cousinly visit of which nothing need come. indeed, the good king rather overdid his caution, for it seems he led the prince to believe that the earlier tacit understanding between him and his cousin had come to an end, so that prince albert arrived more resolved to relinquish his claims than to urge his rights. in his honest pride there was hardly room for the thought of binding more closely and indissolubly the silken cord of love, which had got loosened and warped in the course of the three years since the pair had parted--a long interval at the age of twenty. all the same, one of the most notably and deservedly attractive young men of his generation was to be brought for the second time, without the compulsory strain of an ulterior motive--declared or unjustifiably implied--into new contact with a royal maiden, whom a qualified judge described as possessing "a keen and quick apprehension, being straightforward, singularly pure-hearted, and free from all vanity and pretension." in the estimation of this sagacious well-wisher, she was fitted beforehand "to do ample justice both to the head and heart of the prince." it was at half-past seven on the evening of thursday, the th of october, that the princely brothers entered again on the scene, no longer young lads under the guidance of their father, come to make the acquaintance of a girl-princess, their cousin, who though she might be the heir to a mighty kingdom, was still entirely under the wing of the duchess, their aunt and her mother, in the homely old palace of kensington. these were two young men in the flower of their early manhood, who alighted in due form under the gateway of one of the stateliest of castles that could ever have visited their dreams, and found a young queen as well as a kinswoman standing first among her ladies, awaiting them at the top of the grand staircase. however cordial and affectionate, and like herself, she might be, it had become her part, and she played it well, to take the initiative, to give directions instead of receiving them, to command where she had obeyed. it was she, and not the mother she loved and honoured, who was the mistress of this castle; and it was for her to come forward, welcome her guests, and graciously conduct them to the duchess. king leopold had furnished the brothers with credentials in the shape of a letter, recommending them, in studiously moderate terms, as "good, honest creatures," deserving her kindness, "not pedantic, but really sensible and trustworthy," whom he had told that her great wish was they should be at ease with her. both of these simply summed-up guests were fine young men, tall, manly, intelligent, and accomplished. prince albert was very handsome and winning, as all his contemporaries must remember him, with a mixture of thought and gentleness in his broad forehead, deep-blue eyes, and sweet smile. the first incident of the visit was a trifle disconcerting, but not more so than happy, privileged people may be permitted to surmount with a laughing apology; even to draw additional light-hearted jests from the misadventure. the baggage of the princes by some chance was not forthcoming; they could not appear at a court dinner in their morning dress, but etiquette was relaxed for the strangers to the extent that later in the evening they joined the circle, which included lord melbourne, lord clanricarde, lord and lady granville, baron brunnow and lord normanby, as visitors at windsor at the time. the pleasant old courtier, lord melbourne, immediately told the queen that he was struck with the resemblance between prince albert and herself. "the way of life at windsor during the stay of the princes was much as follows:--the queen breakfasting at this time in her own room, they afterwards paid her a visit there; and at two o'clock had luncheon with her and the duchess of kent. in the afternoon they all rode--the queen and duchess and the two princes, with lord melbourne and most of the ladies and gentlemen in attendance, forming a large cavalcade. there was a great dinner every evening, with a dance after it, three times a week." [footnote: "early years of the prince consort."] surely an ideal palace life for the young--born to the stately conditions, bright with all the freshness of body and sparkle of spirit, unexhausted, undimmed by years and care. surely a fair field for true love to cast off its wilful shackles, and be rid of its half-cherished misunderstandings, to assert itself master of the situation. and so in five days, while king leopold was still writing wary recommendations and temperate praise, the prize which had been deemed lost was won, and the queen who had foredoomed herself to years of maidenly toying with happiness and fruitless waiting, was ready to announce her speedy marriage, with loyal satisfaction and innocent fearlessness, to her servants in council. at the time, and for long afterwards, there were many wonderful little stories, doubtless fanciful enough, but all taking colour from the one charming fact of the royal lovers. how the queen, whose place it was to choose, had with maidenly grace made known her worthy choice at one of these palace "dances," in which she had waltzed with her prince, and subsided from the liege lady into the loving woman. she had presented him with her bouquet in a most marked and significant manner. he had accepted it with the fullest and most becoming sense of the distinction conferred upon him, and had sought to bestow her token in a manner which should prove his devotion and gratitude. but his tight-fitting foreign uniform had threatened to baffle his desire, till, in the exigency of the moment, he took out a pocket-knife (or was it his sword from its sheath?) and cut a slit in the breast of his coat on the left side, over the heart, where he put the flowers. was this at the end of that second day after the brothers' arrival, on which, as the prince mentions, in detailing to a friend the turn of the tide, "the most friendly demonstrations were directed towards me?" on the th of october, the queen told her fatherly adviser, lord melbourne, that she had made her choice; at which he expressed great satisfaction, and said to her (as her majesty has stated in one of the published portions of her journal), "i think it will be very well received, for i hear that there is an anxiety now that it should be, and i am very glad of it;" adding, in quite a paternal tone, "you will be much more comfortable, for a woman cannot stand alone for any time in whatever position she may be." in the circumstances, the ordinary role was of necessity strangely reversed, and the ordeal of the declaration fell to the maiden and not to the young man. but the trial could not have come to a better pair. innate good sense and dignity, and single-hearted affection on the one hand, and manly, delicate-minded tenderness on the other, made all things possible, nay, easy. an intimation was conveyed to the prince through an old friend, who was in the suite of the brothers on this visit to england, baron alvensleben, master of the horse to the duke of coburg, that the queen wished to speak to prince albert next day. doubtless, the formality and comparative length of the invitation had its significant importance to the receiver of the message, and brought with it a tumult and thrill of anticipation. but he was called on to show that he had outgrown youthful impetuosity and impatience, and to prove himself worthy of trust and honour by perfect self-restraint and composure. so far as the world knows, he awaited his lady's will without a sign of restlessness or disturbance. if blissful dreams drove away sleep from the pillows on which two young heads rested in royal windsor that night, none save the couple needed to know of it. it was not by any means the first time that queenly and princely heads had courted oblivion in vain beneath the tower of st. george, and under the banner of england, but never in more natural, lawful, happy wakefulness. on the morning of the th, behaving himself as if nothing had happened, or was going to happen, according to the code of saxon englishmen, prince albert went out early, hunting with his brother, but came back by noon, and "half an hour afterwards obeyed the queen's summons to her room, where he found her alone. after a few minutes' conversation on other subjects, the queen told him why she had sent for him." the prince wrote afterwards to the oldest of his relations: "the queen sent for me alone to her room a few days ago, and declared to me, in a genuine outburst of love and affection, that i had gained her whole heart, and would make her intensely happy if i would make her the sacrifice of sharing her life with her, for she said she looked on it as a sacrifice; the only thing that troubled her was, that she did not think she was worthy of me. the joyous openness of manner with which she told me this quite enchanted me, and i was quite carried away by it." "the prince answered by the warmest demonstration of kindness and affection." the affair had been settled by love itself in less time than it has taken to tell it. there is an entry in her majesty's journal of this date, which she has, with noble and tender confidence, in the best feelings of humanity, permitted her people to read. "how i will strive to make him feel, as little as possible, the great sacrifices he has made! i told him it _was_ a great sacrifice on his part, but he would not allow it." this record has been enthusiastically dwelt upon for its thorough womanliness; and so it is truly womanly, royally womanly. but it seems to us that less weight has been put on the fine sympathetic intuition of the queen which enabled her to look beyond herself, beyond mere outward appearance and worldly advantages, and see the fact of the sacrifice on the part of such a man as prince albert, which he made with all his heart, cheerfully, refusing so much as to acknowledge it, for her dear sake. for the queen was wisely right, and the prince lovingly wrong. he not only gave back in full measure what he got, but, looking at the contract in the light of the knowledge which the queen has granted to us of a rare nature, we recognise that for such a man--so simple, noble, purely scholarly and artistic; so capable of undying attachment; so fond of peaceful household charities and the quiet of domestic life; so indifferent to pomp and show; so wearied and worried in his patience by formality, parade, and the vulgar strife and noise, glare and blare of the lower, commoner ambitions--it _was_ a sacrifice to forsake his fatherland, his father's house, the brother whom he loved as his own soul, the plain living and high thinking, healthful early hours and refined leisure--busy enough in good thoughts and deeds--of germany, for the great shackled responsibility which should rest on the queen's husband, for the artificial, crowded, high-pressure life of an england which did not know him, did not understand him, for many a day. if baron stockmar was right, that the physical constitution of the prince in his youth rendered strain and effort unwelcome, and that he was rather deficient in interest in the ordinary work of the world, and in the broad questions which concern the welfare of men and nations, than overendowed with a passion for mastering and controlling them, then the sacrifice was all the greater. but he made it, led by what was, in him, an overruling sense of right, and by the sweetest compelling motive, for highest duty and for her his queen. having put his hand to the plough he never looked back. what his hand found to do, that he did with all his might, and he became one of the hardest workers of his age. in seeing what he resigned, we also see that the fullness of his life was rendered complete by the resignation. he was called to do a grand, costly service, and he did well, at whatever price, to obey the call. without the sacrifice his life would have been less honourable as an example, less full, less perfect, and so, in the end, less satisfying. when the troth was plighted, the queen adds, "i then told him to fetch ernest, who congratulated us both and seemed very happy. he told me how perfect his brother was." there were other kind friends to rejoice in the best solution of the problem and settlement of the vexed question. the good mother and aunt, the duchess of kent, rendered as secure as mortal mother could be of the future contentment and prosperity of her child; the attached kinsman beyond the channel; the father of the bridegroom; his female relations; trusty baron stockmar; an early comrade, were all to be told and made happy, and in some cases sorry also, for the promotion of prince albert to be the queen's husband meant exile from germany. the passages given from the queen's and prince's letters to king leopold and baron stockmar are not only very characteristic, the words express what those who loved the writers best would have most wished them to say. the respective utterances are radiant with delight softened by the modest, firm resolves, the humble hearty conscientiousness which made the proposed marriage so auspicious of all it was destined to prove. the king of the belgians was still in a state of doubt, writing his earnest but studiously measured praise of his nephews to the queen. "i am sure you will like them the more, the longer you see them. they are young men of merit, and without that puppy-like affectation which is so often found with young gentlemen of rank; and though remarkably well informed, they are very free from pedantry. "albert is a very agreeable companion. his manners are so quiet and harmonious that one likes to have him near one's self. i always found him so when i had him with me, and i think his travels have still improved him. he is full of talent and fun, and draws cleverly." at last there is a plainer insinuation. "i trust they will enliven your _sejour_ in the old castle, and may albert be able to strew roses without thorns on the pathway of life of our good victoria. he is well qualified to do so...." on the very day this letter was written, the queen was addressing her uncle. "my dearest uncle, this letter will i am sure give you pleasure, for you have always shown and taken so warm an interest in all that concerns me. my mind is quite made up, and i told albert this morning of it. the warm affection he showed me on learning this, gave me great pleasure. he seems perfection, and i think i have the prospect of very great happiness before me. i love him more than i can say, and shall do everything in my power to render this sacrifice (for such is my opinion it is) as small as i can.... it is absolutely necessary that this determination of mine should be known to no one but yourself and to uncle ernest, until after the meeting of parliament, as it would be considered, otherwise, neglectful on my part not to have assembled parliament at once to inform them of it.... lord melbourne has acted in this business as he has always done towards me, with the greatest kindness and affection. we also think it better, and albert quite approves of it, that we should be married very soon after parliament meets, about the beginning of february." the king's reply from wiesbaden is like the man, and is pathetic in the depth of its gratification. "my dearest victoria, nothing could have given me greater pleasure than your dear letter. i had, when i learnt your decision, almost the feeling of old simeon: 'now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' your choice has been for these last years my conviction of what might and would be best for your happiness; and just because i was convinced of it, and knew how strangely fate often changes what one tries to bring about as being the best plan one could fix upon--the maximum of a good arrangement--i feared that it would not happen." in prince albert's letter to baron stockmar, written without delay, as he says, "on one of the happiest days of my life to give you the most welcome news possible," he goes on to declare that he is often at a loss to believe that such affection should be shown to him. he quotes as applicable to himself from schiller's "song of the bell," of which the prince was very fond-- das auge sieht den himmel offen, es schwimmt das herz in seligkeit. the passage from which these lines are taken is the very beautiful one thus rendered in english by the late lord lytton:-- and, lo! as some sweet vision breaks out from its native morning skies, with rosy shame on downcast cheeks, the virgin stands before his eyes: a nameless longing seizes him! from all his wild companions flown; tears, strange till then, his eyes bedim, he wanders all alone. blushing he glides where'er she moves, her greeting can transport him; to every mead to deck his love, the happy wild-flowers court him. sweet hope--and tender longing--ye the growth of life's first age of gold, when the heart, swelling, seems to see the gates of heaven unfold. oh, were it ever green! oh, stay! linger, young love, life's blooming may. in a later letter to stockmar the prince writes: "an individuality, a character which shall win the respect, the love, and the confidence of the queen and of the nation, must be the groundwork of my position.... if therefore i prove a 'noble' prince in the true sense of the word, as you call upon me to be, wise and prudent conduct will become easier to me, and its results more rich in blessings;" and to his stepmother he makes the thoughtful comment, "with the exception of my relation to her (the queen), my future position will have its dark sides, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded. but life has its thorns in every position, and the consciousness of having used one's powers and endeavours for an object so great as that of promoting the good of so many will surely be sufficient to support me." the brothers remained at windsor for a happy month, [footnote: lady bloomfield describes a beautiful emerald serpent ring which the prince gave the queen when they were engaged.] when the royal lovers saw much of each other, and as a matter of course often discussed the future, particularly with reference to the prince's position in his new country, and what his title was to be. one can easily fancy how interesting and engrossing such talks would become, especially when they were enlivened by the bright humour, and controlled by the singular unselfishness, of the object of so many hopes and plans. it was already blustering wintry weather, but there was little room to feel the depressing influence of the grey cloudy sky or the chill of the shrilly whistling wind and driving rain. prince ernest had the misfortune to suffer from an attack of jaundice, but it was a passing evil, sure to be lightened by ample sympathy, and it did not prevent the friend of the bridegroom from rejoicing greatly at the sound of the bridegroom's voice. perhaps the fact that a form of secrecy had to be kept up till her majesty should announce her marriage to the council only added an additional piquant flavour to the general satisfaction. but this did not cause the queen to fail in confidence towards the members of her family, for she wrote herself to the queen-dowager and to the rest of her kindred announcing her intended marriage, and receiving their congratulations. on the nd of november there was a review of the battalion of the rifle brigade quartered at windsor under colonel, afterwards sir george brown, of crimean fame, in the home park. the queen was present, accompanied by prince albert, in the green uniform of the coburg troops. what a picture, full of joyful content, independent of all accidents of weather, survives of the scene! "at ten minutes to twelve i set off in my windsor uniform and cap (already described) on my old charger 'leopold,' with my beloved albert looking so handsome in his uniform on my right, and sir john macdonald, the adjutant-general, on my left, colonel grey and colonel wemyss preceding me, a guard of honour, my other gentlemen, my cousin's gentlemen, lady caroline barrington, &c., for the ground. "a horrid day. cold, dreadfully blowing, and, in addition, raining hard when we had been out a few minutes. it, however, ceased when we: came to the ground. i rode alone down the ranks, and then took my place as usual, with dearest albert on my right and sir john macdonald on my left, and saw the troops march past. they afterwards manoeuvred. the rifles looked beautiful. it was piercingly cold, and i had my cape on, which dearest albert settled comfortably for me. he was so cold, being 'en grande tenue,' with high boots. we cantered home again, and went in to show ourselves to. poor ernest, who had seen all from a window." the princes left windsor on the th of november, visiting the king of the belgians on their way home, so that king leopold could write to his niece, "i find them looking well, particularly albert. it proves that happiness is an excellent remedy to keep people in better health than any other. he is much attached to you, and modest when speaking of you. he is besides in great spirits, full of gaiety and fun." the bridegroom also sent kind words to his aunt and future mother-in-law, as well as tender words to his cousin and bride. "dearest aunt, a thousand thanks for your two kind letters just received. i see from them that you are in close sympathy with your nephew--your son-in-law soon to be--which gratifies me very, very much.... what you say about my poor little bride sitting all alone in her room, silent and sad, has touched me to the heart. oh, that i might fly to her side to cheer her!" "for 'the poor little bride' there was no lack of those sweet words, touched with the grateful humility of a manly love, to receive which was a precious foretaste to her of the happiness of the years to come." "that i am the object of so much love and devotion often comes over me as something i can hardly realise," wrote the prince. "my prevailing feeling is, what am i that such happiness should be mine? for excess of happiness it is to me to know that i am so dear to you." again, in referring to his grandmother's regret at his departure he added, "still she hopes, what i am convinced will be the case, that i may find in you, my dear victoria, all the happiness i could possibly desire. and so i shall, i can truly tell her for her comfort." and once more he wrote from "dear old coburg," brimming over with loyal joy, "how often are my thoughts with you! the hours i was privileged to pass with you in your dear little room are the radiant points of my life, and i cannot even yet clearly picture to myself that i am to be indeed so happy as to be always near you, always your protector." last and most touching assurance of all, touching as it was solemn, when he mentioned to the queen that in an hour he was to take the sacrament in church at coburg, and went on, "god will not take it amiss, if in that serious act, even at the altar, i think of you, for i will pray to him for you and for your soul's health, and he will not refuse us his blessing." in the meantime there was much to do in england. on the th of november the queen, with the duchess of kent, left windsor for buckingham palace. on the rd, the council assembled there in the bow-room on the ground floor. the ceremony of declaring her proposed marriage was a mere form, but a very trying form to a young and modest woman called to face alone a gathering of eighty-three elderly gentlemen, and to make to them the announcement which concerned herself so nearly. of the privy councillors some, like the duke of wellington, had known the queen all her life, some had only served her since she came to the throne, but all were accustomed to discuss very different matters with her. how difficult the task was to the queen we may judge from the significant note. the queen always wore a bracelet with the prince's picture, "and it seemed," she wrote in her journal, "to give me courage at the council." her own further account of the scene is as follows: "precisely at two i went in. the room was full, but i hardly knew who was there. lord melbourne i saw looking kindly at me with tears in his eyes, but he was not near me. i then read my short declaration. i felt my hands shook, but i did not make one mistake. i felt most happy and thankful when it was over. lord lansdowne then rose, and in the name of the privy council asked that this most gracious and most welcome communication might be printed. i then left the room, the whole thing not lasting above two or three minutes. the duke of cambridge came into the small library where i was standing and wished me joy." the queen's declaration was to this effect: "i have caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that i may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns the welfare of my people and the happiness of my future life. "it is my intention to ally myself in marriage with the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. deeply impressed with the solemnity of the engagement which i am about to contract, i have not come to this decision without mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong assurance that, with the blessing of almighty god, it will at once secure my domestic felicity and serve the interests of my country. "i have thought fit to make this resolution known to you at the earliest period, in order that you may be apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to my kingdom, and which, i persuade myself, will be most acceptable to all my loving subjects." the queen returned to windsor with the duchess of kent the same evening. on the th of january, , the queen opened parliament in person, and made a similar statement. "since you were last assembled i have declared my intention of allying myself in marriage with the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. i humbly implore that the divine blessing may prosper this union, and render it conducive to the interests of my people as well as to my own domestic happiness, and it will be to me a source of the most lively satisfaction to find the resolution i have taken approved by my parliament. the constant proofs which i have received of your attachment to my person and family persuade me that you will enable me to provide for such an establishment as may appear suitable to the rank of the prince and the dignity of the crown." to see and hear the young queen, still only in her twenty-first year, when she went to tell her people of her purpose, multitudes lined the streets and cheered her on her way that wintry day, and every seat in the house "was filled with the noblest and fairest of the land" ready to give her quieter but not less heartfelt support. it is no mere courtly compliment to say that queen victoria's marriage afforded the greatest satisfaction to the nation at large. not only was it a very desirable measure on political grounds, but it appealed to the far deeper and wider feelings of humanity. it had that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. sir robert peel's words, when he claimed the right of the opposition to join with the government in its felicitations to both sovereign and country, were not required to convince the people that their queen was not only making a suitable alliance, but was marrying "for love," according to the oldest, wisest, best plan. they knew the glad truth as if by instinct, and how heartily high and low entered into her happiness and wished her joy! it is said there is one spectacle which, whether the spectators own it or not, hardly ever palls entirely even on the most hardened and worldly, the most weary and wayworn, the poorest and most wretched--perhaps, least of all on the last. it is a bridegroom rejoicing to leave his chamber, and a bride blushing in her sweet bliss. there are after all only three great events in human history which, projected forward or reflected backward, colour all the rest--birth, marriage, and death. the most sordid or sullen population will collect in knots, brighten a little, forget hard fate or mortal wrongs for a moment, in the interest of seeing a wedding company go by. the surliest, the most whining of the onlookers will spare a little relenting, a happier thought, for "two lunatics," "a couple of young fools whose eyes will soon be opened," "a pore delooded lad," "a soft silly of a gal;" who are still so enviable in their brief bright day. what was it then to know of a pair of royal lovers--a great queen and her chosen prince--well mated! it softened all hearts, it made the old young again, with a renewing breath of late romance and tenderness. and, oh! how the young, who are old now, gloried in that ideal marriage! what tales they told of it, what wonderful fancies they had about it! how it knit the hearts of the queen and her subjects together more strongly than anything else save common sorrow could do! for when it comes to that, sorrow is more universal than joy, sinks deeper, and in this world lasts longer. indeed, at this stage, as at every other, it was soon necessary to descend from heaven to earth; and for the royal couple, as for the meanest of the people, there were difficulties in connection with the arrangements, troubles that proved both perplexing and vexatious. it may be said here that the times were not very propitious for asking even the most just and reasonable parliamentary grants. the usual recurring sufferings from insufficient harvests and from stagnation of trade were depressing the mind of the country. parliament was called on to act on the occasion of the queen's marriage, and the house was not only divided into two hostile parties, the hostility had been envenomed by recent _contretemps_, notably that which prevented sir robert peel and the tories from taking office and kept in the whig government. the unpalatable fruits of the embroilment had to be eaten and digested at the present crisis. accordingly there were carping faultfinding, and resistance--even defeat--on every measure concerning the prince brought before the lords and commons. the accusation of disloyal retaliation was made against the tories. on the other hand the whigs in power showed such a defiant attitude, in the absence of any attempt to conciliate their antagonists, even when the welfare of the government's motions, and the interests and feelings of the queen and the prince demanded the first consideration, that lord melbourne's party were suspected of a crafty determination to let matters take their course for the express purpose of prejudicing prince albert against the tories, and alienating him from them in the very beginning. lord melbourne at least did not deserve this accusation. whatever share he had in the injudicious attitude of the government, or in the blunders it committed, must be attributed to the sort of high-handed carelessness which distinguished the man. his singular fairness in the business is thus recorded by baron stockmar. "as i was leaving the palace, i met melbourne on the staircase. he took me aside and used the following remarkable and true words, strongly characteristic of his great impartiality: 'the prince will doubtless be very much irritated against the tories. but it is not the tories alone whom the prince has to thank for the curtailment of his appanage. it is the tories, the radicals, and _a good many of our own people_.' i pressed his hand in approbation of his remarkable frankness. i said, 'there's an honest man! i hope you will yourself say that to the prince.'" [footnote: lord melbourne and baron stockmar were always on excellent terms. at the same time the english prime minister was not without a little jealousy of any suspicion of his government being dictated to by king leopold.] umbrage was taken by the duke of wellington at no mention being made of prince albert's protestantism on the notification of the marriage. with regard to the income and position to be secured to the prince, the nearest precedent which could be found to guide the discussion was that of prince george of denmark, husband to queen anne. it was halting in many respects, such as the fact that he had married the princess long before she was queen, nay, while her succession to the throne was problematical. besides, his character and position in the country were only respectable for their harmlessness, and did not recommend him by way of example of any kind, either to queen or people. statesmen turned rather to the settlement and dignity accorded to prince leopold, when he married princess charlotte; but neither was that quite a case in point. the fittest reference, so far as income was concerned, seemed to be to the private purses allowed to the queen consorts of the reigning sovereigns of england. to the three last queens--caroline, charlotte, and adelaide, the sum of fifty thousand pounds a year had been granted. this also was the annuity settled on prince leopold. therefore fifty thousand was the amount confidently asked by the government. after a good deal of wrangling and angry debate, in which, however, the queen's name was studiously respected, she and the prince had the mortification to learn that the country, by its representatives, had refused the usual allowance, and voted only thirty thousand a year to the queen's husband. the same ill-fortune attended an attempt to introduce into the bill for the naturalisation of the prince, before the house of lords, a clause which should secure his taking precedence of all save the queen. the duke of sussex opposed the clause, in the interest of the king of hanover, and so many jealous objections were urged that it was judged better to let the provision drop than risk a defeat in the house of lords similar to that in the house of commons. the awkward alternative remained that prince albert's position, so far as it had to do with the lord chamberlain and the heralds' office, was left undecided and ambiguous. it was only by the issue of letters patent on the queen's part, at a later date, that any certainty on this point could be attained even in england. the formation of the prince's household, which one would think might have been left to his own good feeling and discretion, or at least to the queen's judgment in acting for him, proved another bone of contention calling forth many applications and implied claims. baron stockmar came to england in january, to see to this important element in the prince's independence and comfort, as well as to the signing of the marriage contract. but in spite of the able representative, the prince's written wishes, judicious and liberal-minded as might have been expected, and the queen's desire to carry them out, at least one of the offices was filled up in a manner which caused prince albert anxiety and pain. the gentleman who had been private secretary to lord melbourne was appointed private secretary to the prince, without regard to the circumstance that the step would appear compromising in tory eyes--the very result which prince albert had striven to avoid, and that the official would be forced, as it were, on the prince's intimacy without such previous acquaintance as might have justified confidence. it was only the sterling qualities of both prince and secretary which obviated the natural consequences of such an ill-judged proceeding, and ended by producing the genuine liking and honest friendship which ought to have preceded the connection. the grudging, suspicions, selfish spirit thus manifested on all hands, was liable to wound the queen in the tenderest point, and the disappointment came upon her with a shock, since she had been rashly assured by lord melbourne that there would be no difficulty either as regarded income or precedence. the indications were not encouraging to the stranger thus met on the threshold. but his mission was to disarm adverse criticism, to shame want of confidence and pettiness of jealousy, to confer benefits totally irrespective of the spirit in which they might be taken. and even by the irritated party-men as well as by the body of the people, the prince was to be well received for the queen's sake, with his merits taken for granted, so far as that went, since the heart of the country was all right, though its whig and tory temper might be at fault. on the th of january, , a death instead of a marriage took place in the royal family, but it was that of an aged member long expatriated. princess elizabeth, landgravine of hesse homburg, died at frankfort. it was twenty-two years since she had married and quitted england, shortly before the old queen's death, a year before the birth of queen victoria. the landgravine had returned once, a widow of sixty-four, and then had gone back to her adopted country. she had survived her husband eleven years, and her sister, resident like herself in germany, the princess royal, queen of wurtemberg, twelve years. the landgravine as princess elizabeth showed artistic talent. she was famous in her middle age for her great _embonpoint_; as she was also tall she waxed enormous. baroness bunsen, when miss waddington, saw princess elizabeth, while she was still unmarried, dressed for a drawing-room, with five or six yellow feathers towering above her head, and refers to her huge dimensions then. it was alleged afterwards that it required a chain of her husband's faithful subjects in homburg to encompass his consort. she accommodated herself wonderfully, though she was an elderly woman before she had ever been out of england, to the curious quaint mixture of state and homeliness in the little german town in which she was held in much respect and regard. the landgravine was seventy years of age at the time of her death. after her widowhood she resided in hanover, where her brother, king william, gave her a palace, and then at frankfort, where she died. out of her english income of ten thousand a year, it was said she spared six thousand for the needs of hesse homburg. its castle and english garden still retain memories of the english princess who made her quiet home there and loved the place. the marriage of the queen was fixed for the th of february, and many eager, aspiring young couples throughout the country elected that it should be their wedding-day, also. they wished that the gala of their lives should fit in with hers, and that all future "happy returns of the day" might have a well-known date to go by, and a state celebration to do them honour. lord torrington and colonel--afterwards general--grey set out for gotha to escort the bridegroom to england. they carried with them the order of the garter, with which prince albert was invested by his father, himself a knight of the order, amidst much ceremony. all the world knows that the order of the garter is the highest knightly order of england, dating back to the time of edward iii., and associated by a gay and gallant tradition with the beautiful countess of salisbury. the first chapter of the order was held in , when twenty-five knights, headed by the king, walked in solemn procession to st. george's chapel, founded for their use, and for the maintenance of poor knightly brethren to pray for the souls of the knights-companions--hence "the poor knights of windsor." the first knights-companions dedicated their arms to god and st. george, and held a high festival and tournament in commemoration of the act in presence of queen philippa and her ladies. the habit of the knights was always distinguished by its colour, blue. various details were added at different times by different kings. henry viii. gave the collar and the greater and lesser medallions of st. george slaying the dragon. charles ii. introduced the blue riband. it is scarcely necessary to say that the full dress of the knights is very magnificent. "there are the blue velvet mantle, with its dignified sweep, the hood of crimson velvet, the heron and ostrich-plumed cap, the gold medallion, the blazing star, the gold-lettered garter, to all which may be added the accessories that rank and wealth have it in their power to display; as, for example, the diamonds worn by the marquis of westminster, at a recent installation, on his sword and badge alone were worth the price of a small kingdom; or richer still her present majesty's jewels, that seem to have been showered by some eastern fairy over her habit of the order, among, which the most beautiful and striking feature is, perhaps, the ruby cross in the centre of the dazzling star of st. george." [footnote: knight's "old england."] the whole court of gotha was assembled to see prince albert get the garter; a hundred and one guns were fired to commemorate the auspicious occasion. the younger perthes, under whom the prince had studied at bonn, wrote of the event, "the grand-ducal papa bound the garter round his boy's knee amidst the roar of a hundred and one cannon" (the attaching of the garter, however, was done, not by prince albert's father, but by the queen's brother, the prince of leiningen, another knight of the order). "the earnestness and gravity with which the prince has obeyed this early call to take a european position, give him dignity and standing in spite of his youth, and increase the charm of his whole aspect." the investiture was followed by a grand dinner, when the duke proposed the queen's health, which was drunk by all the company standing, accompanied by several distinct flourishes of trumpets, the band playing "god save the queen," and the artillery outside firing a royal salute. already the prince had written to the queen, when the marriage was officially declared at coburg, that the day had affected him very much, so many emotions had filled his heart. her health had been drunk at dinner "with a tempest of huzzas." the joy of the people had been so great that they had gone on firing in the streets, with guns and pistols, during the whole night, so that one might have imagined a battle was going on. this was a repetition of that earlier festival, only rendered more emphatic and with a touch of pathos added to it by the impending departure of prince albert, to lay hold of his high destiny. the leave-takings were earnest and prolonged, with many pretty slightly fantastic german ceremonies, and must have been hard upon a man whose affections were so tender and tenacious. especially painful was the farewell to his mother's mother, the dowager duchess of gotha, who had partly reared the princely lad. she was much attached to him, and naturally saw him go with little hope of their meeting again in this world. the prince was accompanied by his father and brother, with various friends in their train, who, after the celebration of the marriage, were to return to germany. but prince albert carried with him--to remain in his near neighbourhood--two old allies, whose familiar faces would be doubly welcome in a foreign country. the one was his swiss valet, cart, a faithful, devoted servant, "the best of nurses," who, had waited on his master since the latter was a boy of seven years of age. the other was the beautiful greyhound, eos, jet black with the exception of a narrow white streak on the nose and a white foot. her master had got her as a puppy of six weeks old, when he was a boy in his fourteenth year, and had trained the loving, graceful creature in all imaginable canine, sagacity and cleverness. she had been the constant companion of his youth. she had already come to england with him, on the decisive visit of the previous autumn, and was known and dear to his royal mistress. it was severe wintry weather when the great cavalcade, in eight travelling carriages, set out for england, and took its way across germany, belgium, and the north of france, to the coast the whole journey assumed much of the character of a festive procession. at each halting-place crowds turned out to do the princes honour. every court and governing body welcomed them with demonstrations of respect and rejoicing. but at aix-la-chapelle, in a newspaper which he came across, prince albert read the debates and votes in the houses of parliament that cut down the ordinary annuity of the english sovereign's consort, and left unsettled the question of his position in the country. the first disappointment told in two ways. young and sensitive--though he was also resolute and cheerful-minded--he had been a little nervous beforehand about the reception which might be accorded to him in england; he now received a painful impression that the marriage was not popular with the people. he had indulged in generous dreams of the assistance and encouragement which he would be able to bestow on men of letters and artists, when he suddenly found his resources curtailed to nearly half the amount he had been warranted in counting upon. however, at brussels, the next halting-place, in writing to the queen, and frankly admitting his mortification at the words and acts of the majority of the members of both english houses of parliament, he could add with perfect sincerity, "all i have time to say is, that while i possess your love they cannot make me unhappy." and king leopold was there with his sensible, calming counsel, while baron stockmar had been careful to have a letter awaiting the prince, which explained the undercurrent of political, not personal, motives that had influenced the debates. in fact, so far from being unpopular, the prince, who was the queen's choice, was really the most acceptable of all her suitors in the eyes of her people. the sole serious objection urged against him in those days was that of his youth, a fault which was not only daily lessening, but was speedily forgotten in the conviction of the manly and serious attention to duty on his part which he quickly inspired. on the th of february the party arrived at calais. lord clarence paget had been sent over with the _firebrand_ to await their arrival, but the usual difficulties of an adverse tide and an insufficient french harbour presented themselves, and the company had to sail on the morning of the th in one of the ordinary dover packet-boats, under a strong gale from the south-east, with a heavy sea, which rendered the horrors of the channel crossing, at the worst, what only those who have experienced them can realise. the prince, like most natives of inland germany, had been little inured to sailing, and his constitution rendered him specially liable to sea-sickness. as a lad of seventeen, facing the insidious and repulsive foe for the first time, he had expressed his own and his brother's dread of the unequal encounter. now he was doomed to feel its ignoble clutch to the last moment. "the duke had gone below, and on either side of the cabin staircase lay the two princes in an almost helpless state." it was in such unpropitious circumstances that prince albert had to rise, pull himself together, and bow his acknowledgements to the crowds on the pier ready to greet him. who that has rebelled against the calm superiority of the comfortable; amused onlookers at the haggard, giddy sufferers reeling on shore from the disastrous crossing of a stormy ferry, cannot comprehend the ordeal! the prince surmounted it gallantly, anticipating the time when, at the call of work or duty, he was known to rise to any effort, to shake off fatigue and indisposition as if he had been the most muscular of giants, and to make a brave fight to the last against deadly illness. he had his reward. the raw inclement day, the disabling, discomfiting malady--which had appeared in themselves a bad beginning, an inhospitable introduction to his future life--the recent misgivings he had entertained, were all forgotten in the enthusiastic reception he received before he put foot on land. a kind heart responds readily to kindness, and the prince felt, in spite of parliamentary votes, the people were glad to see him, with an overflowing gladness. it had been fixed that the prince should not arrive at buckingham palace till the th. accordingly there was time for the much-needed rest and refreshment, and for a leisurely conclusion of the long journey. the travellers stayed that night at dover, the next at canterbury, the prince beginning the long list of fatiguing ceremonials which he was to undergo in the days to come, by receiving addresses, holding a reception, and showing himself on the balcony, as well as by the quieter, more congenial interlude of attending afternoon service in canterbury cathedral with his brother. the weather was still bad; pouring rain had set in, but it could not damp the spirit of the holiday-makers. as for the hero of the holiday, he was chafing, lover-like, at the formal delay which was all that interposed between him and a blissful reunion. he wrote to the queen before starting for canterbury, "now i am once more in the same country with you. what a delightful thought for me. it will be hard for me to have to wait till to-morrow evening. still, our long parting has flown by so quickly, and to-morrow's dawn will soon be here.... our reception has been most satisfactory. there were thousands of people on the quays, and they saluted pus with loud and uninterrupted cheers.". from canterbury prince albert sent on his valet, cart, with the greyhound eos. "little dash," if dash still lived, was to have a formidable rival, and the queen speaks in her journal of the pleasure which the sight of "dear eos," the evening before the arrival of the prince, gave her." [footnote: early years of the prince consort.] words are not wanted to picture the bright little scene, the light interruption to "affairs of the state," always weighty, often harassing, the gay reaction, the hearty unceremonious recognition on both sides, the warm welcome to the gentle _avant courier._ this was not a great queen, but a gleeful girl at the height of her happiness, who stroked with white taper hand the sleek black head, looked eagerly into the fond eyes, perhaps went so far as to hug the humble friend, stretching up fleet shapely paws, wildly wagging a slender tail, uttering sharp little yelps of delight to greet her. what wealth of cherished associations, of thrice happy realisation, the mere presence there, once more of "only a dog," brought to the mistress of the palace, the lady of the land! on saturday, the th of the month, prince albert proceeded to london, being cordially greeted along the whole road by multitudes flocking from every town and village to see him and shout their approval. at half-past four, in the pale light of a february afternoon, the travellers arrived at buckingham palace, "and were received at the hall door by the queen and the duchess of kent, attended by the whole household," to whom a worthy master had come. the fullness of satisfaction and perfect joy of the meeting to two in the company are sacred. an hour after his arrival the oath of naturalisation was administered to the prince, "and the day ended with a great state dinner. sunday was a rest day. divine service was performed by the bishop of london in the bow-room on the ground floor--the same room in which the queen had met her assembled council in the course of the previous november, and announced to them her intended marriage. afterwards the prince drove out and paid the visits required of him to the different members of the royal family. in spite of the season and weather, throngs of londoners surrounded the palace, and watched and cheered him as he went and came. that day the queen and prince exchanged their wedding gifts. she gave him the star and badge of the garter and the garter set in diamonds, and he gave her a sapphire and diamond brooch. chapter viii. the marriage. the th of february rose dark and foggy, with a lowering sky discharging at frequent intervals heavy showers. but to many a loyal heart far beyond the sound of bow bells the date brought a thrill of glad consciousness which was quite independent of the weather. what mattered dreary skies or stinging sleet! this was the day on which the young queen was to wed the lover of her youth, the man of her choice. the marriage was to take place at noon, not in the evening, like former royal weddings, and the change was a great boon to the london public. during the busy morning, prince albert found time for a small act, which was nevertheless full of manly reverence for age and weakness, of mindful, affectionate gratitude for old and tender cares which had often made his childhood and youth happy. he wrote a few lines to the loving, venerable kinswoman who had performed the part of second mother to him, who had grieved so sorely over their parting. "in less than three hours i shall stand before the altar with my dear bride. in these solemn moments i must once more ask your blessing, which i am well assured i shall receive, and which will be my safeguard and my future joy. i must end. god help me (or, rather, god be my stay!), your faithful grandson." the prince wrote a similar letter, showing how faithfully he recollected her on the crowning day of his life, to his good stepmother, the duchess of coburg. among the innumerable discussions on the merits or demerits of the prince when he was first proposed as the husband for the queen of england, there had not been wanting in a country where religion is generally granted to be a vital question, and where religious feuds, like other feuds, rage high, sundry probings as to the prince's christianity--what form he held, whether he might not be a roman catholic, whether he were a christian at all, and might not rather be an infidel? seeing that the prince belonged to a christian and to one of the most protestant royal families in europe, that he had been regularly trained in christian and lutheran doctrines, and had made a public profession of his belief in the same--a profession which his practice had in no way contradicted--these suppositions were, to say the least, uncalled for, and not remarkable for liberality or charity. it is easy to answer them substantially. the prince, reserving his protestant right of private judgment on all points of his belief, was a deeply religious man, as indicated throughout his career, at every stage, in every event of his life. it is hardly possible even for an irreligious man to conceive that prince albert could have been what he was without faith and discipline. his biographer has with reason quoted the "god be my stay!" in the light of the sincerity of the man, in a letter written in the flush of his joy and the very fruition of his desires, as one of the innumerable proofs that the prince lived consciously and constantly under the all-seeing eye of an almighty father. there were two main points from which out-of-door london could gaze its fill on the gala. the one was st. james's park, from which the people could see the bride and bridegroom drive from buckingham palace to st. james's, where the marriage was to take place, according to old usage, and back again to buckingham palace for the wedding breakfast; the other was the green park, constitution hill, hyde park, and piccadilly, by which most of the guests were to arrive to the wedding. the last point also commanded the route which the young couple would take to windsor. it was said that, never since the allied sovereigns visited london in had such a concourse of human beings made the parks alive, as on this wet february morning, when a dismal solitude was changed to an animated scene, full of life and motion. _the times_ described the mass of spectators wedged in at the back of carlton terrace and the foot of constitution hill, and the multitude of chairs, tables, benches, even casks, pressed info. the service, and affording vantage-ground to those who could pay for the accommodation. the dripping trees were also rendered available, and had their branches so laden with human fruit, that brittle boughs gave way, while single specimens and small clusters of men and boys came rattling down on the heads and shoulders of confiding fellow-creatures; but such misadventures were without serious accident, and simply afforded additional entertainment to the self-invited, light-hearted wedding guests. parties of cavalry and infantry taking their places, with "orderlies dashing to and fro," lent colour and livelier action to the panorama. at the same time the military were not a very prominent feature in the picture, and the state element was also to some extent wanting. some state was inevitable, but after all the marriage of the sovereign was not so much a public ceremonial as a private event in her life. as early as eight o'clock in the morning the comparatively limited number of invited guests began to contribute to the satisfaction of the great uninvited by driving up beneath the triumphal arch, and presenting their pink or white cards for inspection. a body of foot guards marched forwards, followed by a detachment of the horse guards blue, with their band discoursing wedding music appropriate to the occasion, cheering the hearts of the cold, soaked crowd, and awaking an enthusiastic response from it. then appeared various members of the nobility, including the duke of norfolk, coming always to the front as grand marshal, wearing his robe and carrying his staff of office, when the rest of the world were in comparative undress, as more or less private individuals. but this gentleman summed up in his own person "all the blood of all the howards," and recalled his ancestors great and small--the poet earl of surrey, those norfolks to whom mary tudor and mary stuart were alike fatal, and that dicky or dickon of norfolk who lent a humorous strain to the tragic tendency of the race. the ministers and foreign ambassadors came singly or in groups. the ministers, with one or two exceptions, wore the windsor uniform, blue turned up with an oak-leaf edging in gold. viscount morpeth, lord john russell, the marquis of normanby, lord palmerston, lord holland, lord melbourne, were well-known figures. the good-natured duke of cambridge arrived with his family and suite in three royal carriages. he wore the orders of the garter, and the bath, and carried his baton as field-marshal. the duke of sussex was in the uniform of captain-general of the artillery company, and wore the orders of the garter, the bath, and st. andrew. he had on his black skull-cap as usual, and drove up in a single carriage. he had opposed the clause relating to prince albert's taking precedence of all, save the queen, in the naturalisation bill. he was to make further objection to the husband's occupying his natural place by the side of his wife when the queen opened and prorogued parliament, and to the prince's rights in the regency bill. all the same, by right of birth and years, the duke of sussex was to give away his royal niece. before eleven o'clock, the gentlemen and ladies of the household were in readiness at buckingham palace. the ladies started first for st. james's. the gentlemen of the foreign suites--prince albert's, and his father's, and brother's--in their dark-blue and dark-green uniforms, mustered in the hall, and dispatched a detachment to receive the prince on his arrival at the other palace. at a quarter to twelve notice was sent to prince albert in his private apartments, and he came forth "like a bridegroom," between his royal supporters, traversed the state-rooms, and descended the grand staircase, preceded by the chamberlain and vice-chamberlain, comptroller of the household, equerries and ushers. he was received with eager clappings of hands and wavings of handkerchiefs. the prince was dressed in the uniform of a british field-marshal, and wore only one decoration, that of the garter, with the collar surmounted by two white rosettes, and his bride's gifts of the previous day, the george and star set in diamonds, on his breast, and the diamond-embroidered garter round his knee. his pale, handsome face, with its slight brown moustache, his slender yet manly figure would have become any dress. indeed, his general appearance, full of "thoughtful grace and quiet dignity," impressed every honest observer most favourably. we can imagine baron stockmar watching keenly in the background to catch every furtive glance and remark, permitting himself to rub his hands and exclaim, with sober exultation, "he is liked!" prince albert's father and brother, his dearest friends hitherto, walked beside him. the duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, with his fatherly heart swelling high, must have looked like one of the quaint stately figures out of old german prints in his long, military boots, the same as those of the life guards, and his dark-green uniform turned up with red. he, too, wore the collar and star of the garter, and the star of his own order of coburg gotha. on the other side of the bridegroom walked prince ernest. the wedding was next in importance to him to what it was to his brother, while to the elder playing the secondary part of the couple so long united in every act of their young lives, the marriage ceremony of his other self, which was to deal the decisive blow in the cleaving asunder of the old double existence, must have been full of very mingled feelings of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. prince ernest was a fine young man, in whose face, possibly a little stern in its repressed emotion, _the times_ reporter imagined he saw more determination than could be found in the milder aspect of prince albert, not guessing how much strength of will and patient steadfastness might be bound up with gentle courtesy. prince ernest was in a gay light-blue and silver uniform, and carried his helmet in his hand. when the group came down the stairs, some privileged company, including a few ladies, stationed behind the yeoman guard and about the entrance, clapped their hands and waved their congratulations, and as prince albert entered the carriage which was to take him and his father and brother to st. james's, he received for the first time all the honours paid to the queen. trumpets sounded, colours were lowered, and arms presented. a squadron of life guards attended the party, but as the carriage was closed its occupants were not generally recognised. as soon as the lord chamberlain had returned from escorting the prince, six royal carriages, each with two horses, were drawn up before the entrance to buckingham palace, and his lordship informed the queen that all was ready for her. accordingly, her majesty left her room leaning on the arm of lord uxbridge, the lord chamberlain. she was supported by her mother, the duchess of kent, and followed by a page of honour. the various officers of the household--the earl of belfast, vice-chamberlain; the earl of albemarle, master of the horse; lord torrington, comptroller and treasurer, &c., walked in advance. the queen wore a bride's white satin and orange blossoms, a simple wreath of orange blossoms on her fair hair. her magnificent veil of honiton lace did not cover the pale face, but fell on each side of the bent head. her ornaments were the diamond brooch which had been the gift of the bridegroom, diamond earrings and necklace, and the collar and insignia of the garter. she looked well in her natural agitation, for, indeed, she was a true woman at such a moment. she was shy and a little shrinking as became a bride, and her eyes were swollen with recent tears--an illustration of the wise old scotch proverb, "a greetin' (weeping) bride's a happy bride." here were no haughty indifference, no bold assurance, no thoughtless, heartless gaiety, a creature breathing thoughtful breath, a traveller 'twixt life and death. a maiden leaving one stage of her life, with all its past treasures of affection and happiness, for ever behind her, and going forward, in loving hope and trust, no doubt, yet still in uncertainty of what the hidden future held in store for her of weal and woe, to meet her wifely destiny. as she came down into her great hall she was welcomed with fervent acclamations, but for once she was absorbed in herself, and the usual frank, gracious response was not accorded to the tribute. her eyes were fixed on the ground; "a hurried glance round, and a slight inclination of the head," were all the signs she gave. the duchess of kent, the good mother who had opened her heart to her nephew as to a son, from the may-day when he came to kensington, who had every reason to rejoice in the marriage, still shared faithfully in her daughter's perturbation. however glad the duchess might be, it was still a troubled gladness, for she had long experience. she knew that this day closed the morning glory of a life, brought change, a greater fullness of being, but with the fullness increased duties and obligations, more to dread, as well as more to hope, a heavier burden, though there was a true friend to share it. illusions would vanish, and though reality is better than illusion to all honest hearts, who would not spare a sigh to the bright dreams of youth--too bright with a rainbow-hued radiance and a golden mist of grand expectations, dim in their grandeur, ever to be fulfilled in this work-a-day world? and the duchess was conscious that the mother who gives a daughter away, even to the best of sons, resigns the first place in that daughter's heart, the first right to her time, thoughts, and confidence. queen victoria belonged to her people, but after that great solemn claim she had till now belonged chiefly to her mother. little wonder that the kind duchess looked "disconsolate" in the middle of her content! the duchess of kent and the duchess of sutherland drove in the carriage with her majesty "at a slow pace," for the royal bride, even on her bridal-day, owed herself to her subjects, while a strong escort of household cavalry prevented the pressure of the shouting throng from becoming overpowering. on the arrival of the queen at st. james's palace she proceeded to her closet behind the throne-room, where she remained, attended by her maids of honour and train-bearers, until the lord chamberlain announced that all was ready for the procession to the chapel. old st. james's had been the scene of many a royal wedding. besides that of queen mary, daughter of james ii. and anne hyde, who was married to william of orange at eleven o'clock at night in her bedchamber, anne and george of denmark were married, in more ordinary fashion, in the chapel. following their example, the daughters of george ii. and queen caroline--another anne, the third english princess who was given to a prince of orange, and who was so ready to consent to the contract that she declared she would have him though he were a baboon, and her sister mary, who was united to the landgrave of hesse-cassel, were both married here; so was their brother, frederick, prince of wales, to princess augusta of saxe-coburg. prince albert was the third of the coburg line who wedded with the royal house of england. already there were two strains of saxe-coburg blood in the veins of the sovereign of these realms. the last, and probably the most disastrous, marriage which had been celebrated in st. james's was that of george frederick, prince of wales, and caroline of brunswick. the portions of the palace in use for the marriage included the presence chamber, queen anne's drawing-room, the guard-room, the grand staircase, with the colonnade, the chapel royal, and the throne-room. on the queen's marriage-day, rooms, staircase, and colonnade were lined with larger and smaller galleries for the accommodation of privileged spectators. the seats had crimson cushions with gold-coloured fringe, warming up the cold light and shade of a february day, while the white and gay-coloured dresses of the ladies and the number of wedding favours contributed to the gaiety of the scene. a queen's wedding favours were not greatly different from those of humbler persons, and consisted of the stereotyped white riband, silver lace, and orange blossoms, except where loyalty indulged in immense bouquets of riband, and "massive silver bullion, having in the centre what might almost be termed branches of orange blossoms." the most eccentrically disposed favours seem to have been those of the mace-bearers, whose white "knots" were employed to tie up on the wearers' shoulders the large gold chains worn with the black dress of the officials. the uniformity of the gathering was broken by "burly yeomen of the guard, with their massive halberts, slim gentlemen-at-arms with their lighter 'partisans,'.... elderly pages of state, almost infantile pages of honour, officers of the lord chamberlain's office, officers of the woods and forests, embroidered heralds and shielded cuirassiers, robed prelates, stoled priests, and surpliced singing-boys." among the guests, though not in the procession, loudly cheered as on other occasions, was the duke of wellington, who had seen the bride christened. people thought they noticed him bending under his load of years, tottering to the last step of all, but the old soldier was still to grace many a peaceful ceremony. in his company, far removed this day from the smoke of cannon and the din of battle, walked more than one gallant brother-in-arms, the marquis of anglesey, lord hill, &c. the chapel was also made sumptuous for the occasion. its carved and painted roof was picked out anew. the space within the chancel was lined and hung with crimson velvet, the communion-table covered with magnificent gold plate. the queen's procession began with drums and trumpets, and continued with pursuivants, heralds, pages, equeries, and the different officers of the household till it reached the members of the royal family. these ranged from the farthest removed in relationship, princess sophia of gloucester, through the queen's young cousins in the cambridge family, with much admiration bestowed on the beautiful child, princess mary, and the exceedingly attractive young girl, princess augusta, to another and a venerable princess augusta--one of the elder daughters of george iii., an aged lady upwards of seventy, who then made her final appearance in public. doubtless she had been among the company who were present at the last royal marriage in st. james's, on the night of the th of april, , forty-five years before, a marriage so widely removed in every particular from this happy wedding. the two royal dukes of cambridge and sussex walked next, the lord chamberlain and vice-chamberlain, with lord melbourne between, bearing the sword of state before the queen. her majesty's train was carried by twelve unmarried ladies, her bridesmaids. five of these, lady fanny cowper, lady mary grimston, lady adelaide paget, lady caroline gordon lennox, and lady catherine stanhope, had been among her majesty's train-bearers at the coronation. of the three other fair train-bearers on that occasion, one at least, lady anne wentworth fitzwilliam, was already a wedded wife. the remaining seven bridesmaids were lady elizabeth west, lady eleanor paget, lady elizabeth howard, lady ida hay, lady jane bouverie, lady mary howard, and lady sarah villiers. these noble maidens were in white satin like their royal mistress, but for her orange blossoms they wore white roses. still more than on their former appearance together, the high-bred english loveliness of the party attracted universal admiration. the master of the horse and the mistress of the robes, the ladies of the bedchamber, maids of honour, and women of the bedchamber followed, closed in by yeomen of the guard and gentlemen-at-arms. in the chapel there had been a crowd of english nobility and foreign ambassadors awaiting the arrival of prince albert, when at twenty minutes past twelve he walked up the aisle, carrying a prayer-book covered with green velvet. he advanced, bowing to each side, followed by his supporters to the altar-rail, before which stood four chairs of state, provided for the queen, the prince, and, to right and left of them, queen adelaide and the duchess of kent. the queen-dowager was in her place, wearing a dress of purple velvet and ermine; the bridegroom kissed her hand and entered into conversation with her, while his father and brother took their seats near him. the queen entered the chapel at twenty-five minutes to one, and immediately proceeded to her chair in front of the altar-rails. she knelt down and prayed, and then seated herself. her mother was on her left side. behind her stood her bridesmaids and train-bearers. on stools to right and left sat the members of the royal family. the archbishop of canterbury and the bishop of london were already at the altar. in a few minutes the queen and the prince advanced to the communion-table. the service was the beautiful, simple service of the church of england, unchanged in any respect. in reply to the question, "who giveth this woman to be married to this man?" the duke of sussex presented himself. the christian-names "albert" and "victoria" were all the names used. both queen and prince answered distinctly and audibly. the prince undertook to love, comfort, and honour his wife, to have and to hold her for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer; the queen promised to obey as well as to love and cherish her husband till death them did part, like any other pair plighting their troth. when the ring was put on the finger, at a concerted signal the park and tower guns fired a royal salute and all london knew that her majesty was a married woman. the usual congratulations were exchanged amongst the family party before they re-formed themselves into the order of procession. the duke of sussex in his character of father kissed his niece heartily on the cheek besides shaking her by the hand. the queen stepped quickly across and kissed her aunt, queen adelaide, whose hand prince albert saluted again. the procession returned in the same order, except that the bride and bridegroom walked side by side and hand in hand, the wedding-ring being seen on the ungloved hand. her majesty spoke once or twice to lord uxbridge, the lord chamberlain, as if expressing her wishes with regard to the procession. her paleness had been succeeded by a little flush, and she was smiling brightly. on the appearance of the couple they were received with clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs. in the throne-room the marriage was attested and the register signed "on a splendid table prepared for the purpose." the whole company then repaired to buckingham palace, prince albert driving in the carriage with the queen. the sight of the pair was hailed everywhere along the short route with loud cheering, to the joyous sound of which "the queen walked up the grand staircase, in the presence of her court, leaning on her husband's arm." an eye-witness--the dowager lady lyttelton, who, both as a lady of the bedchamber and governess to the royal children, knew the queen and prince well--has recorded her impression of the chief actor in the scene. "the queen's look and manner were very pleasing, her eyes much swollen with tears, but great happiness in her countenance, and her look of confidence and comfort at the prince when they walked away as man and wife was very pleasing to see. i understand she is in extremely high spirits since; such a new thing to her to _dare_ to be unguarded in conversation with anybody, and, with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she has hitherto been under from one reason or another with everybody must have been most painful." the wedding-breakfast with the toast of the day followed, then the departure for windsor, on which the skies smiled, for the clouds suddenly cleared away and the sun shone out on the journey and the many thousand spectators on the way. the queen and prince drove in one of the five carriages--four of which contained the suite inseparable from a couple of such rank. the first carriage conveyed the ladies in waiting, succeeded by a party of cavalry. the travelling chariot came next in order, and was enthusiastically hailed, bride and bridegroom responding graciously to the acclamations. her majesty's travelling dress was bridal-like: a pelisse of white satin trimmed with swans' down, a white satin bonnet and feather. the prince was in dark clothes. the party left before four, but did not arrive at windsor till nearly seven--long after darkness had descended on the landscape. eton and windsor were in the height of excitement, in a very frenzy of rejoicing. the travellers wended their way through a living mass in brilliantly illuminated streets, amidst the sending up of showers of rockets, the ringing of bells, the huzzaing of the people, the glad shouting of the eton boys. her majesty was handed from the carriage by the prince, she took his arm and the two entered the castle after a right royal welcome home. elizabeth barrett browning celebrated this event also in her eloquent fashion. "she vows to love who vowed to rule, the chosen at her side, let none say 'god preserve the queen,' but rather 'bless the bride.' none blow the trump, none bend the knee, none violate the dream wherein no monarch but a wife, she to herself may seem; or if you say, 'preserve the queen,' oh, breathe it inward, low-- she is a _woman_ and _beloved_, and 'tis enough but so. count it enough, thou noble prince, who tak'st her by the hand, and claimest for thy lady-love our lady of the land. and since, prince albert, men have called thy spirit high and rare, and true to truth and brave for truth as some at augsburg were, we charge thee by thy lofty thoughts and by thy poet-mind, which not by glory and degree takes measure of mankind, esteem that wedded hand less dear for sceptre than for ring, and hold her uncrowned womanhood to be the royal thing." up in london and all over the country there were feasts and galas for rich and poor. there was a state banquet, attended by very high and mighty company, in the banqueting-room at st. james's. grand dinners were given by the members of the cabinet; the theatres were free for the night to great and small; at each the national anthem was sung amidst deafening applause; at drury lane there was a curious emblematical ballet--like a revival of the old masques, ending with a representation of the queen and prince surrounded by fireworks, which no doubt afforded immense satisfaction to the audience. the queen's wedding-cake was three hundred pounds in weight, three yards in circumference, and fourteen inches in depth. in recognition of the national interest of the wedding, the figure of hymen, on the top, was replaced by britannia in the act of blessing the royal pair, who, as a critic observed, were represented somewhat incongruously in the costume of ancient rome. at the feet of the image of prince albert, several inches high, lay a dog, the emblem of fidelity. at the feet of the image of her majesty nestled a pair of turtle-doves, the token of love and felicity. a cupid wrote in a volume, spread open on his knees, for the edification of the capering cupids around, the auspicious " th of february, ," the date of the marriage; and there were the usual bouquets of white flowers, tied with true lovers' knots of white riband, to be distributed to the guests at the wedding breakfast and kept as mementoes of the event. there were other trophies certain to be cherished and preserved among family treasures, and perhaps shown to future generations, as we sometimes see, turning up in museums and art collections, relics of the marriages of mary tudor and catharine of aragon. these were the bridesmaids' brooches. they were the royal gift to the noble maidens, several of whom had, two years before, received rings from the same source to commemorate the services of the train-bearers at the coronation. these brooches were in the shape of a bird, the body being formed entirely of turquoises, the eyes were rubies, and the beak a diamond, the claws were of pure gold, and rested on pearls of great size and value. the design and workmanship were according to the queen's directions. the twelve beautiful girls who received the gifts have since fulfilled their various destinies--each has "dreed her weird," according to the solemn, sad old scotch phrase. some, perhaps the happiest, have passed betimes into the silent land; the survivors are elderly women, with granddaughters as lovely as they themselves were in their opening day. one became a princess--lady sarah villiers married prince nicholas esterhazy. two are duchesses--lady elizabeth sackville-west, duchess of bedford; and lady catherine stanhope, married first to lord dalmeny, eldest son of the earl of rosebery, and secondly to the duke of cleveland. three are countesses--lady caroline gordon lennox, countess of bessborough; lady mary grimston, countess of radnor; and lady ida hay, countess of gainsborough. lady fanny cowper, whose beauty was much admired by leslie, the painter, married lord jocelyn, eldest son of the earl of roden. lord jocelyn was one of the victims to cholera in . he was seized while on duty at buckingham palace, and died after two hours' illness in lady palmerston's drawing-room. lady mary howard became the wife of baron foley. one bridesmaid, lady jane bouverie, married a simple country gentleman, mr. ellis, of glenaquoich. chapter ix. a royal pair. the queen and the prince were only one whole day holding state by themselves at windsor. it is not given to a royal couple to flee away into the wilds or to shut themselves up from their friends and the world like meaner people; whether a prolonged interval of retirement be spent in smiling or in sulking, according to cynical bachelors and spinsters, it is not granted to kings and queens. on the single day of grace which her majesty claimed she wrote to baron stockmar the emphatic estimate of the man of her choice. "there cannot exist a dearer, purer, nobler being in the world than the prince." a young bride's fond judgment; but to her was given the deep joy of finding that time only confirmed the proud and glad conviction of that first day of wedlock. on wednesday, the th, the royal couple at windsor were rejoined by the duchess of kent, the duke of coburg, the hereditary prince, and the whole court. then two more days of holiday were spent with something of the heartiness of old times, when brides and bridegrooms did not seem either as if they were ashamed of their happiness or too selfish to share it with their friends. no doubt there were feasting and toasting, and there was merry dancing each night. on friday, the th, the court returned to london, that the principal person might gratify the people by appearing in public and that she might take up once more the burden of a sovereign's duties. addresses were received from the houses of parliament. the theatres were visited in state. on the th of the month the queen held her first levee after her marriage, when the prince took his place at her left hand. on sunday, the th, the newly-married couple attended divine service together in the chapel royal, st. james's, and were loudly cheered on their way through the park. buckingham palace was to continue the queen's town residence, but st. james's, by virtue of its seniority in age and priority in historical associations, remained for a considerable time the theatre of all the state ceremonials which were celebrated in town until gradually modifications of the rule were established. a chapel was fitted up in buckingham palace, which accommodated the household in comparative privacy, and prevented the inconvenience of driving in all states of the health and the weather for public worship at the neighbouring palace chapel. it was found that there was better accommodation for holding drawing-rooms, and less crowding and inconvenience to the ladies attending them, when the drawing-rooms were held at buckingham palace instead of st. james's. the levees are nearly all that is left to st. james's, in addition to the fact that it contains the offices of the lord chamberlain, &c. but the place where her majesty was proclaimed queen and wedded deserves a parting word. the visitor to st. james's passes up the great staircase, which has been trodden by the feet of so many generations, bound on such different errands. here and there, from a picture-frame high up on the wall, a painted face looks down immovably on the comings and goings below. the guard-room has a few stands of glittering arms and one or two women's portraits; altogether a different guard-room from what it must have been when it received its name. beyond is the armoury, where arms bristle in sheaves and piles, surmounted by hauberks and casques, smooth and polished as if they had never been dinted in battle or rusted with blood. queen anne's drawing-room, spacious and stately, is resplendent in yellow satin. old st. james's has sustained a recent renovation, its faded gorgeousness has been renewed, not without a difficult compromise between the unhesitating magnificence of the past and the subdued taste of the present day. the compromise is honourable to the taste of the decorator, for there is no stinting of rich effect, stinting which would have been out of place, in the great doors, picked out and embossed, the elaborately devised and wrought walls and ceilings, the huge chandeliers, &c. but warm, deep crimson is relieved by cool pale green, and sage wainscot meets the dull red of feathery leaves on other walls. the queen's closet, which misses its meaning when it is called a boudoir, with the steel-like embroidery on its walls, matching the grey blue of its cut velvet hangings, recalls the natural pauses in a busy life, when the queen awaits the call of public duty, or withdraws for a breathing space from the pressure of fatiguing obligations. in more than one of the principal rooms there are low brass screens or railings drawn across the room, to be used as barricades; and the uninitiated hears with due respect that behind those the ambassadors are supposed to congregate, while these fence the approach to the throne. in spite of such precautions, large drawing-rooms became latterly hard-pressed crowds struggling to make their way, and the state-rooms of buckingham palace were put in request as affording better facilities for these ceremonies. there is a picture gallery where a long row of kings and queens, in their full-length portraits, stand like banquo's descendants. the portraits begin with that of bluff king hal, very bluff and strident. according to mr. hare's account, which he has taken from holinshed, henry viii. got st. james's when it was an hospital for "fourteen maidens that were leprous," and having pensioned off the sisters, "reared a fine mansion and park" in the room of the hospital. the picture of his young son is a quaint, slim edition of his father. there is a sad and stiff mary tudor, who laid down her embittered and brokenhearted life in this palace, and by her side, as she seldom was in the flesh, a high-ruffed, yellow-haired, peaked-chinned elizabeth--a noble shrew. the british solomon has the sword-proof padding of his doublet and trunk hose very conspicuous. a wide contrast is a romantic, tragic king charles, with a melancholy remembrance in his long face and drooping eyes of the day when he bade farewell to the world at st. james's and left it for the scaffold at whitehall. his swarthy periwigged sons balance the sister queens, mary and anne. st. james's, like kensington and hampton court, seems somehow peculiarly associated with them. though other and more striking royal figures dwelt there both before and after the two last of the reigning stuarts, they have left a distinct impression of themselves, together with a sir peter lely and a sir godfrey kneller flavour about all the more prominent quarters of the palace. the likenesses of mary and anne occur as they must have appeared before they lost the comeliness of youth, when st. james's was their home, the house of their father, the duke of york and anne his duchess, where the two sisters wedded in turn a princely hero and a princely nobody. in the throne-room, amidst the portraits of later sovereigns to which royal robes and the painter's art have supplied an adventitious dignity, there are fine likenesses of the queen and prince albert, which must have been taken soon after their marriage, when they were in the first bloom of their youth and happiness. her majesty wears a royal mantle and the riband of the garter, like her compeers; behind her rise the towers of windsor. in the double corridor, along which two streams of company flow different ways to and from the presence-chamber, as the blood flows in the veins and arteries, are more pictures--those of some charming children. a stout little prince rupert before he ever smelt the smoke of battle or put pencil to paper. representations of almost equally old-world-looking children of the georgian era by their royal mother's knee, one child bearing such a bow as figures often in the hands of children in the portraits of the period; a princely boy in miniature robes of state, with a queen's hand on his shoulder; a little solitary flaxen-haired child with a tambourine. the bow has long been unbent, the royal mother and child are together again, the music of the tambourine is mute. in the banqueting-room there are great battle-pieces by land and sea from tournay to trafalgar, like a memory of the hall of battles at versailles. the chapel royal, where the queen was made a wife, has ceased in a measure to be a royal place of worship. still within its narrow bounds and plain walls a highly aristocratic congregation have, if they choose, a right to the services of the dean and sub-dean and the five-and-thirty chaplains--not to say of the bishops duly appointed to officiate on special occasions. not only is the royal closet still in readiness furnished with its chairs of state, there are other closets or small galleries for the household, peeresses and their daughters, &c. the simplest pew below belongs to the lord chamberlain, the lord steward, peers and their sons, or members of parliament, &c. the chapel royal, like the state-rooms, is fresh and spruce from renewal. it has, however, wisely avoided all departure from the original character of the building, which has nothing but the carved roof and the great square window to distinguish it from any other chapel of the same size and style. it is difficult to realise that it was here queen mary listened attentively to bishop burnet, and queen caroline was guilty of talking, while princess emily brought her little dog under her arm. nor is it easy to fancy the brilliance of the scene in the quiet place when it was lined from floor to ceiling with tier upon tier of seats for the noblest in the land, when every inch of standing-room had its fit occupant, and a princely gathering was grouped before the glittering altar to hear a queen plight her troth. st. james's has still a royal resident in the sole surviving member of the great family of george iii., the venerable duchess of cambridge, who lives in the north wing of the palace. marlborough house and clarence house are in the immediate vicinity, indeed the last is so near that it is reached by a covered way. and as if to make the sense of the neighbourhood of a cluster of royal establishments more vivid, and the thought of the younger generation of the royal family more present in the old place, as the visitor passes through its corridors the cannon in the park peals forth the announcement of the birth of the last of her majesty's grandchildren. on the th of february, a little more than a fortnight after the marriage, came the prince's first practical experience of its cost to him. his father left on his return to coburg. "he said to me," the queen wrote in her journal, "that i had never known a father, and could not therefore feel what he did. his childhood had been very happy. ernest, he said, was now the only one remaining here of all his earliest ties and recollections; but if i continued to love him as i did now, i could make up for all.... oh! how i did feel for my dearest, precious husband at this moment! father, brother, friends, country, all has he left, and all for me. god grant that i may be the happy person, the _most_ happy person to make this dearest, blessed being happy and contented. what is in my power to make him happy i will do." prince ernest remained in england nearly three months after his father had left. early in march a step was taken to render the prince's position clearer and more secure. letters patent were issued conferring on him precedence next to the queen. how necessary the step was, even in this country, towards a conclusion which appears to us to-day so natural as to be beyond dispute, may be gathered from the circumstance that, even after the marriage, objections were made to the prince's sitting by the queen's side in the state carriage on state occasions, and to his occupying a chair of state next the throne when she opened and prorogued parliament. prince albert proposed for himself a wise and generous course, which he afterwards embodied in fitting words--"to sink his own individual existence in that of his wife, to aim at no power by himself or for himself, to shun all ostentation, to assume no separate responsibility before the public; continually and anxiously to watch every part of the public business in order to be able to advise and assist her at any moment, in any of the multifarious and difficult questions brought before her--sometimes political, or social, or personal--as the natural head of the family, superintendent of her household, manager of her private affairs, her sole confidential adviser in politics and only assistant in her communications with the affairs of the government." in fact, the prince was the queen's private secretary in all save the name, uniting the two departments, political and social, of such an office which had hitherto been held separately by lord melbourne and baroness lehzen. prince albert discharged the double duty with the authority of his rank and character, and especially of his relations to the queen. he expressed his object very modestly in writing to his father: "i endeavour quietly to be of as much use to victoria in her position as i can." the post was a most delicate and difficult one, and would have been absolutely untenable, had it not been for the perfect confidence and good understanding always existing between the queen and the prince, and for his remarkable command of temper, and manly forbearance and courtesy, under every provocation, to all who approached him. perhaps a still more potent agent was a quality which was dimly felt from the beginning, and is fully recognised to-day--his sincerity of nature and honesty of purpose. in the painful revelations which, alas! time is apt to bring of double-dealing and self-seeking on the part of men in power, no public character of his day stands out more honourably in the strong light which posterity is already concentrating on the words and actions of the past, than does prince albert for undeniable truthfulness and disinterestedness. men may still cavil at his conclusions, and maintain that he theorised and systematised and was tempted to interfere too much, but they have long ceased to question his perfect integrity and single-heartedness, his rooted aversion to all trickery and to deceit in every form. "he was an honest man and a noble prince who did good work," is now said universally of the queen's husband; and honesty is not only the highest praise, it is a great power in dealing with one's fellows. but it was not in a day or without many struggles that anything approaching to his aim was achieved. the inevitable irritation caused by the transfer of power and the disturbance of existing arrangements on the part of a new comer, the sensitive jealousy which even the prince's foreign birth occasioned, had to be overcome before the first approach to success could be attained. we can remember that some of the old scotch jacobite songs--very sarcastic where german royal houses were concerned--experienced a temporary revival, certainly more in jest than in earnest, and with a far higher appreciation of the fun than of the malice of the sentiment. the favourite was "the wee, wee german lairdie," and began in this fashion:-- wha the diel hae we gotten for a king, but a wee, wee german lairdie? and when they gaed to bring him hame he was delvin' in his little kail-yardie. the last verse declared:-- he'a pu'ed the rose o'english blooms, he's broken the harp o'irish, clowns, but scotia's thistle will jag his thoomba, the wee, wee german lairdie. a prophecy honoured in its entire breach. even tried and trusty friends grown old in court service could not make up their minds at once to the changed order of affairs, or resign, without an effort to retain it, their rule when it came into collision with the wishes of the new head of the household; prince albert, in writing frankly to his old comrade prince lowenstein, said he was very happy and contented, but the difficulty in filling his place with proper dignity was that he was only the husband and not the master of the house. the queen had to assert, like a true woman, when appealed to on the subject, that she had solemnly engaged at the altar to obey as well as to love and honour her husband, and "this sacred obligation she could consent neither to limit nor define." it may be stated that, in spite of the fidelity and devotion of those who surrounded the queen, the old system under which the arrangements of the palaces were conducted stood in great need of reform. anything more cumbrous, complicated, and inconvenient than the plan adopted cannot easily be conceived. the great establishments were not subject to one independent, responsible rule, they were divided into various departments under as many different controlling bodies. rights and privileges, sinecures and perquisites, bristled on all sides, and he who would reform them must face the unpopularity which is almost always the first experience of every reformer. there is a graphic account of the situation in the "life of the prince consort," and "baron stockmar's memoirs." "the three great officers of state, the lord steward, the lord chamberlain, and the master of the horse, all of them officials who varied with each change of the ministry, and were appointed without regard to any special qualifications for their office, had each a governing voice in the regulation of the household.... thus one section of the palace was supposed to be under the lord chamberlain's charge, another under that of the lord steward, while as to a third it was uncertain whose business it was to look after it. these officials were responsible for all that concerned the interior of the building, but the outside had to be taken care of by the office of woods and forests. the consequence was, that as the inside cleaning of the windows belonged to the lord chamberlain's department, the degree of light to be admitted into the palace depended proportionably on the well-timed and good understanding between the lord chamberlain's office and that of woods and forests. one portion of the _personnel_ of the establishment again was under the authority of the lord chamberlain, another under that of the master of the horse, and a third under the jurisdiction of the lord steward." "the lord steward," writes baron stockmar, "finds the fuel and lays the fire, and the lord chamberlain lights it.... in the same manner the lord chamberlain provides all the lamps, and the lord steward must clean, trim, and light them. before a pane of glass or a cupboard door could be mended, the sanction of so many officials had to be obtained, that often months elapsed before the repairs were made." one is irresistibly reminded of the dilemma of the unfortunate king of spain, who died from a feverish attack brought on by a prolonged exposure to a great fire, because it was not etiquette for the monarch to rise, and the grandee whose prerogative it was to move the royal chair happened to be out of the way. "as neither the lord chamberlain nor the master of the horse has a regular deputy residing in the palace, more than two-thirds of all the male and female servants are left without a master in the house. they can come on and go off duty as they choose, they can remain absent hours and hours on their days of waiting, or they may commit any excess or irregularity; there is nobody to observe, to correct, or to reprimand them. the various details of internal arrangement whereon depend the well-being and comfort of the whole establishment, no one is cognisant of, or responsible for. there is no officer responsible for the cleanliness, order, and security of the rooms and offices throughout the palace." doubtless, it was under this remarkable condition of the royal household that a considerable robbery of silver plate from an _attic_ in which it was stored took place at windsor castle in . massive silver encasings of tables, borders of mirrors, fire-dogs and candelabra, together with the silver ornaments of tippoo saib's tent, disappeared in this way. it took years to remedy such a state of matters, and it was only by the exercise of the greatest tact, which, to be sure, was comparatively easy to the prince, that the improvement was effected. the necessary reforms were made to proceed from the officers of state themselves, and the enforcement of the new regulations was carried out by a master of the household, who resided permanently in the palace which the queen occupied. eventually each royal establishment was brought to a high average of order and efficiency. if possible, still greater caution had to be practised in the prince's dealing with political affairs, for here the jealousy of foreign influence was national, and among the most deeply rooted of insular prejudices. in the beginning of their married life the prince was rarely with the queen at her cabinet councils, though no objection had been made to his presence, and he did not take much share in business, though lord melbourne, especially, urged his being made acquainted with it in all its details. both in its public and private relations, the path at starting was not an easy one, while the prince and the queen shared its anxieties and worries. happily for all, the two, who were alike in sense, good feeling, and trusting affection, stood firm, and gradually surmounted the contradictions in their brilliant lot. but it was probably under these influences that baron stockmar, always exacting in the best interests of those he loved, fancied--even while he had no hesitation in recording the prince behaved in his difficult position very well--that a friend had reason to dread in the young man not yet twenty-one, the old defects of dislike to intellectual exertion and indifference to politics. no efforts were wanting on the part of the good old mentor, who in his absence kept up a constant correspondence with the prince, to preserve the latter's "ideal aspirations." sometimes, the keen observer feared that the object of his dreams and cares was losing courage for his self-imposed herculean labours, but the brave will and loyal heart proved triumphant. that spring and the next two springs and summers were gay seasons in london--and london life meant then to the queen and the prince an overwhelming amount of engagements, besides the actual part in the government of the country. "levees, drawing-rooms, presentations of addresses, great dinners, state visits to the theatre" swelled the long list. the prince, like most germans, was fond of the play, and had a great admiration of shakespeare, whose plays were revived at covent garden in , charles kemble giving a last glimpse of the glory of the early kemble performances. the couple presided over many little balls and dances which became a court where the sovereigns were in the heyday of their youth and happiness. lady bloomfield, who as the hon. miss liddell was one of the queen's maids of honour a little later, gives a pleasant account of an episode at one of these dances. "one lovely summer's morning we had danced till dawn, and the quadrangle being then open to the east, her majesty went out on the roof of the portico to see the sun rise, which was one of the most beautiful sights i ever remember. it rose behind st. paul's, which we saw quite distinctly; westminster abbey and the trees in the green park stood out against a golden sky." all this innocent gaiety was consecrated by the faithful discharge of duty and the reverent observance of sacred obligations. at easter, which was spent at windsor, the queen and the prince took the sacrament together for the first time. "the prince," the queen has said, "had a very strong feeling about the solemnity of the act, and did not like to appear in company either the evening before or on the day on which, he took it, and he and the queen almost always dined alone on these occasions." her majesty has supplied a brief record, in the "early years of the prince consort," of one such peaceful evening. "we two dined together. albert likes being quite alone before he takes the sacrament; we played part of mozart's requiem, and then he read to me out of _stunden den andacht_ (hours of devotion) the article on _selbster kentniss_ (self-knowledge.)" the whole sounds like a sweet, solemn, blessed pause in the crowded busy life. a sudden shock, which was only that of a great danger happily averted, broke in on the flush of all that was best worth having and doing in existence, and seemed to utter a warning against the instability of life at its brightest and fairest. there was stag-hunting on ascot heath, at which the queen and the prince were to be present. he was to join in the hunt and she was to follow with prince ernest in a pony phaeton. as she stood by a window in windsor castle, she saw prince albert canter past on a restless and excited horse. in vain the rider turned the animal round several times, he got the bit between his teeth and started at the top of his speed among the trees of the park; very soon he brushed against a branch and unseated the prince, who fell, without, however, sustaining any serious injury. the queen saw the beginning but not the end of the misadventure, and her alarm was only relieved by the return of one of the grooms in waiting, who told the extent of the accident. _noblesse oblige._ the prince mounted a fresh horse and proceeded to the hunt, and the queen joined him. "albert received me on the terrace of the large stand and led me up," the queen wrote in her journal. "he looked very pale, and said he had been much alarmed lest i should have been frightened by his accident.... he told me he had scraped the skin off his poor arm, had bruised his hip and knee, and his coat was torn and dirty. it was a frightful fall." on the th of april, an event took place in france which at this time naturally was particularly interesting both to the queen and the prince. the duc de nemours, second son of louis philippe and brother to the queen of the belgians, married princess victoire of saxe-coburg, only daughter of the head of the catholic branch of the family, sister of the king consort of portugal, and first cousin both to the queen and prince albert. this marriage drew many intertwined family ties still more closely together. princess victoire was a pretty golden-haired girl, and is described afterwards as a singularly sweet, affectionate, reasonable woman. she had spent much of her youth at coburg, and been a favourite playmate of prince albert, whose junior she was by three years. she was the friend of the queen from girlhood. "we were like sisters," wrote her majesty, "bore the same name, married the same year.... there was in short a similarity between us, which, since , united us closely and tenderly." the duc de nemours, without the intellectual gifts of some of his brothers, resembled his good mother, queen amelie, in many respects. he had quiet, domestic tastes, and was affectionately attached to his wife. chapter x. royal occupations.--an attempt on the queen's life. the family arrangements in the marriage of the queen and prince albert appear to have been made with the kindest, most judicious consideration for what was due to former ties, that all the relations of life might be settled gradually and naturally, on the footing which it was desirable they should assume. the connection between the queen and the duchess of kent was very close. it was that of a mother and child who had been nearly all in all to each other, who, till queen victoria's marriage, had not been separated for a day. since the duchess of kent's arrival in england, she had never dwelt alone. it was now deemed advisable that she should have a separate house, which was, however, to be in constant communication with the queen's, the intercourse between the two continuing to be of the most intimate character, mother and daughter meeting daily and sharing the most of their pleasures. in april, two months after the marriage, the duchess removed to ingestrie house, belgrave square. in another month, on the th of may, prince ernest left england. the parting between the brothers was a severe trial to both. they bade farewell, german student fashion, singing together beforehand the parting song _abschied_. the young couple were now left in a greater measure to themselves to form their life, and lead it to noble conclusions. they spent the queen's birthday in private at claremont--a place endeared to her by the happiest associations of her childhood, and very pleasant to him because of its country attractions. there the pair could wander about the beautiful grounds and neighbourhood, as another royal pair had wandered before them, and do much as they pleased, like simple citizens or great folks living _in villeggiatura_. the custom was then established of thus keeping the real birthday together in retirement, while another day was set apart for public rejoicing. there is a story told of the queen and prince albert's early visits to claremont--a story certainly not without its parallel in the lives of other popular young sovereigns in their honeymoons, but probable enough in this case. the couple were caught in a shower, during one of their longer rambles, and took refuge in a cottage--the old mistress of which was totally unacquainted with the high rank of her guests. she entertained them with many extraordinary anecdotes of princess charlotte and prince leopold, the original heroine and hero of claremont. at last the dame volunteered to give her visitors the loan of her umbrella, with many charges to prince albert that it should be taken care of and returned to its owner. the queen and the prince started on their homeward way under the borrowed shelter, and it was not for some time that the donor knew with whom she had gossipped, and to whom she had dealt her favours. the prince's first appearance as an art patron took place in connection with the ancient music concerts. he had already been named one of the directors who arrange in turn each concert. he made the selections for his concert on the th of april, and both he and the queen appeared at the rehearsal on the th. perhaps the gentle science was what he loved above every other, being a true german in that as in all else. at this time he played and sang much with the queen; the two played together often on the organ in one of his rooms. lady lyttelton has described the effect of his music. "yesterday evening, as i was sitting here comfortably after the drive by candlelight, reading m. guizot, suddenly there arose from the room beneath, oh, such sounds! it was prince albert, dear prince albert, playing on the organ; and with such master skill, as it appeared to me, modulating so learnedly, winding through every kind of bass and chord, till he wound up with the most perfect cadence, and then off again, louder and then softer. no tune, as i was too distant to perceive the execution or small touches so i only heard the harmony, but i never listened with much more pleasure to any music. i ventured at dinner to ask him what i had heard. 'oh! my organ, a new possession of mine. i am so fond of the organ! it is the first of instruments; the only instrument for expressing one's feelings' (i thought, are they not good feelings that the organ expresses?), 'and it teaches to play; for on the organ a mistake, oh! such misery;' and he quite shuddered at the thought of the _sostenuto_ discord." but while the prince was an enthusiastic musician, he was likewise fond of painting; his taste and talent in this respect also having been carefully cultivated. in these sunshiny early days, sunshiny in spite of their occasional clouds, he still possessed a moderate amount of leisure, notwithstanding the late hours night and morning, of which the queen took the blame, declaring it was her fault that they breakfasted at ten, getting out very little--a practice quite different from their later habits. he seized the opportunity of starting various pursuits which formed afterwards the chief recreation of his and the queen's laborious days. he tried etching, which afforded the two much entertainment, and he began his essays in landscape gardening, developing a delightful faculty with which she had the utmost sympathy. on the st of june the prince took the initiatory step in identifying himself with moral and social progress, and in placing himself, as the queen's representative, at the head of those humane and civilising movements which recommended themselves to his good judgment and philanthropic spirit. he complied with the request that he should be chairman at a meeting to promote the abolition of the slave trade, and made his first public speech in advocacy of justice between man and man. this speech was no small effort to a young foreigner, who, however accomplished, was certainly not accustomed to public speaking in a foreign tongue. it was like delivering a maiden speech under great difficulties, and as it was of importance that he should produce a good impression, he spared no preparation for the task. he composed the speech himself, learnt it by heart, and repeated it to the queen in the first instance. among the crowd present was the young quaker lady, caroline fox, whose "memories" have been given to the world. she wrote at the time: "the acclamations attending his (the prince's) entrance were perfectly deafening, and he bore them all with calm, modest dignity, repeatedly bowing with considerable grace. he certainly is a very beautiful young man, a thorough german, and a fine poetic specimen of the race. he uttered his speech in a rather low tone and with the prettiest foreign accent." on the th of the same month great horror and indignation were excited by the report of an attempt to assassinate the queen. about six o'clock on the june evening, her majesty was driving, according to her usual custom, with prince albert. the low open phaeton, attended by two equeries, was proceeding up constitution hill, on its way first to the house of the duchess of kent in belgrave square and afterwards to hyde park. suddenly a little man leaning against the park railing drew a pistol from under his coat and fired at her majesty, who was sitting at the farther side from him. he was within six yards of the phaeton--so near, in fact, that the queen, who was looking another way, neither saw him nor comprehended for a moment the cause of the loud noise ringing in her ears. but prince albert had seen the man hold something towards them, and was aware of what had occurred. the horses started and the carriage stopped. the prince called to the postillions to drive on, while he caught the queen's hands and asked if the fright had not shaken her, but the brave royal heart only made light of his alarm. he looked again, and saw the same man still standing in a theatrical attitude, a pistol in each hand. the next instant the fellow pointed the second pistol and fired once more. both the queen and the prince saw the aim, as well as heard the shot, on this occasion, and she stooped, he pulling her down that the ball might pass over her head. in another moment the man, who still leant against the railing, pistols in hand, with much bravado and without any attempt to escape, was seized by a bystander. in the middle of the consternation and wrath of the gathering crowd, the queen and the prince went on to the duchess of kent that they might be the first to tell her what had happened and assure her of the safety of her daughter. a little later, in order to show the people that the queen had not lost her confidence in them, the couple carried out their original intention of taking a drive in hyde park. there they were received with a perfect ovation, a crowd of nobility and gentry in carriages and on horseback forming a volunteer escort on the way back to buckingham palace, where another multitude awaited them, vehemently cheering, as the queen, pale but smiling and bowing, re-entered her palace. the wretched lad who was the author of the attack did not deny it, but seemed rather sorry that it had failed to inflict any injury, though he had no motive to allege for such a crime. in spite of the strictest search no ball could be found, which left the question doubtful whether or not the pistols had been loaded. on further examination it proved that the lad, edward oxford--not above eighteen years of age, was a discharged barman from a public-house in oxford street. his father, who was dead, had been a working jeweller in birmingham. "it would be difficult to describe the state of loyal excitement into which the metropolis has been thrown by this event," says the _annual register_. "it seems as if only the dastardly deed had been wanted to bring out the full love and devotion of the people to their young queen," the happy wife and expectant mother, whose precious life might have been cut short by the unlooked-for shot of an assassin. at the different theatres and concerts that evening "god save the queen" was sung with passionate fervour. when the queen and prince albert drove out the next afternoon in the same phaeton, at the same hour, in hyde park, the demonstration of the previous day was repeated with effusion. the crowd was immense, the cheering was again vociferous. an improvised body-guard of hundreds of gentlemen on horseback surrounded the couple. "the line of carriages (calling at buckingham palace to make inquiries) extended a considerable way down the mall." the calls were incessant till the procession from the houses of parliament arrived. thousands of people assembled to witness it. the sheriffs of london came first in four carriages. then the grenadier guards with their band marched through the gateway, on which the royal standard was hoisted, and took up their position in the entrance court. the cabinet ministers and chief officers of the household followed. the state carriage of the speaker led the hundred and nine carriages filled with members of the house of commons. the peers' carriages were upwards of eighty in number. the occupants, beginning with the barons, rose in rank till they reached the royal dukes, and wound up with the lord chancellor. "many of the lords wore splendid uniforms and decorations and various orders; the duke of wellington especially was attired with much magnificence.... the terrace in front of the house was crowded with distinguished persons in grand costume," as on a gala-day. the queen received the address of congratulation on her escape seated on the throne. what a strange contrast between the scene and its origin--the emphatically stately and dignified display, and the miserable act which gave rise to it! what blended feelings cause and effect must have produced in the principal performers--the inevitable pain and shame for the base reason, the well-warranted pride and pleasure in the honourable result! the first time the queen went to the opera afterwards she wrote in her journal that the moment she and the prince entered the box "the whole house rose and cheered and waved hats and handkerchiefs, and went on so for some time. 'god save the queen' was sung.... albert was called for separately and much cheered." the trial of oxford came on during the following month. the question of bullets or no bullets in the pistols was transferred to the jury. evidence of symptoms of insanity and of confirmed insanity in the prisoner, his father, and grandfather, was shown, and after some difficulty in dealing with the first question the jury found the prisoner guilty, while he was at the same time declared insane. therefore oxford, like every other prisoner shielded by the irresponsibility of madness, was delivered up to be dealt with according to her majesty's pleasure, which signified his imprisonment so long as the crown should see fit. the sole reason for the outrage on the queen proved to be the morbid egotism of an ill-conditioned, ignorant, half-crazy lad; showing that one more danger exists for sovereigns--a peril born entirely of their high and solitary rank with its fascination for envious, irritable, distempered minds. the following routine of the queen's life at this time is given in the "early years of the prince consort": "they breakfasted at nine, and took a walk every morning soon afterwards." in london, their walks were in buckingham palace gardens, fifty acres in extent, part of which was once the pleasant "mulberry gardens" of james i. the lake, not far from the palace, covers five acres. looking across the velvet sward away to the masses of shady trees, it is hard to realise that one is still in london. the prince had already enlivened these gardens with different kinds of animals and aquatic birds, a modified version of the _thier-garten_ so often found in connection with royal residences in germany. the queen mentions that, "in their morning walks in the gardens, it was a great amusement to the prince to watch and feed these birds. he taught them to come when he whistled to them from a bridge connecting a small island with the rest of the gardens. "then came the usual amount of business (far less heavy, however, then than now), besides which they drew and etched a great deal together, which was a source of great amusement, having the plates bit in the house. luncheon followed at the usual hour of two o'clock. lord melbourne, who was generally staying in the house, came to the queen in the afternoon, and between five and six the prince usually drove her out in a pony phaeton. if the prince did not drive the queen he rode, in which case she drove with the duchess of kent or the ladies. the prince also read aloud most days to the queen. the dinner was at eight o'clock, and always with the company. in the evening the prince frequently played at double chess, a game of which he was very fond, and which he played extremely well." the prince would return "at a great pace" from his morning rides, which took him into all the districts of london where improvements were going on, and "would always come through the queen's dressing-room, where she generally was at that time, with that bright loving smile with which he ever greeted her, telling her where he had been, what new buildings he had seen, what studios he had visited." her majesty objected to the english custom of gentlemen remaining in the dining-room after the ladies had left the table. but, by the advice of lord melbourne, in which the prince concurred, no direct change was made in what was almost a national institution. the hour when the whole party broke up, however, was seldom later than eleven. the story got into circulation that the queen's habit was to stand conversing with the ladies till the gentlemen joined them, and that knowing her practice, the dining-room was soon left empty. lord campbell gives his experience of this portion of a royal dinner some years after the queen's marriage. "the queen and the ladies withdrawing, prince albert came over to her side of the table, and we remained behind about a quarter of an hour, but we rose within the hour from the time of our sitting down. a snuff-box was twice carried round and offered to all the gentlemen. prince albert, to my surprise, took a pinch." the prince, who was an exceedingly temperate man at table, rather grudged the time spent in eating and drinking, just as he disliked riding for mere exercise, without any other object. yet he was a bold and skilled rider, and could, without any privilege of rank, come in first in the hunting-field. it amused the queen and her husband to find that this accomplishment, more than any other, was likely to make him popular among english gentlemen. but though he liked hunting as a recreation, he did not understand how it or any other sport could be made the business of a man's life. by the month of july, the prospect of an heir to the throne rendered it advisable that provision should be made for the queen's possible death, or lengthened disqualification for reigning. the regency bill was brought forward with more caution and better success than had attended on the prince's annuity bill. in accordance with the prudent counsels of baron stockmar, the opposition as well as the ministry were taken into account and consulted. the consequence was that the duke of wellington, the mouthpiece of the tories on the former occasion, was altogether propitious in the name of himself and his party, and it was agreed that the prince was the proper person to appoint as regent in case of any unhappy contingency. the bill was passed unanimously and without objection in both houses, except for a speech made by the duke of sussex in the house of lords. this conclusion was gratifying in all respects, not the least so in its testimony to the respect which the prince's conduct had already called forth. "three months ago they would not have done it for him," lord melbourne told the queen. "it is entirely his own character." it was also a pleasant proof of the goodwill of the tories, whom the prince had done everything in his power to conciliate, employing his influence to impress upon the young queen the constitutional attitude of impartiality and neutrality towards all political parties. there was a corresponding withdrawal of the absurd opposition to prince albert's taking his place by the queen's side on all state occasions. "let the queen put the prince where she likes and settle it herself, that is the best way," said the duke of wellington cordially. a lively example of the great duke's want of toleration for the traditions of court etiquette is given in a note to the "life of the prince consort." the late lord albemarle, when master of the horse, was very sensitive about his right in that capacity to sit in the sovereign's coach on state occasions. "the queen," said the duke, when appealed to for his opinion, "can make lord albemarle sit at the top of the coach, under the coach, behind the coach, or wherever else her majesty pleases." on the th of august the queen prorogued parliament, accompanied by her husband for the first time. the following day the court left for windsor. the prince was very fond of the country, and gladly went to it. the queen, in her early womanhood, had been, as she said, "too happy to go to london, and wretched to leave it." but from the time of her marriage she shared her husband's tastes, and could have been "content and happy never to go to town." how her majesty has retained the love of nature, which is a refuge of sorrow as well as a crown of happiness, we all know. in the mornings at windsor there were shooting in the season, and a wider field for landscape gardening for the prince before he took to farming. in the evening there were occasional great dinners and little dances as in london. the young couple dispensed royal hospitality to a succession of friendly visitors, who came to see with their own eyes the bright palace home. the king and the queen of the belgians rejoiced in the fruits of his work. the princess of hohenlohe, herself a happy wife and mother, arrived with her children to witness her sister's felicity. queen adelaide did not shrink from revisiting windsor, and seeing a beloved niece fill well king william and his consort's place. prince albert's birthday was celebrated in england for the first time; there were illuminations in london; down at windsor the day was kept, for the most part, in the simple family fashion, which is the best. the prince was awakened by a musical reveille; a german chorale, chosen with loving, ungrudging care, as the first thing which was to greet him, was most certain, on that day of all others, to carry him back in spirit to his native country. the family circle breakfasted by themselves in a favourite cottage in the park. princess feodora's children were in masquerade as coburg peasants, doubtless hailing the coburg prince with an appropriate greeting. in the afternoon, in the fine weather, the prince drove out the queen; in the evening, "there was rather a larger dinner than usual." on the th of september the prince was formally sworn a member of her majesty's privy council. and so conscientiously anxious was he to discharge worthily every duty which could be required of him, that, in the greater leisure of windsor, he not only read "hallam's constitutional history" with the queen, he began to read english law with a barrister. in the meantime, an old historical figure, princess augusta of england, who had appeared at the queen's marriage, lay terribly ill at clarence house. she died on the nd of september, having survived her sister, princess elizabeth, the landgravine of hesse homburg, only eight months. princess augusta carried away with her many memories of the court of george iii. by a coincidence, the lady who may almost be called the princess's biographer, at least whose animated sketches and affectionate praises of her "dear princess augusta" were destined to give the world of england its principal knowledge of an amiable princess, died at a great age the same year. madame d'arblay, as miss burney, the distinguished novelist, had been appointed in , in a somewhat whimsical acknowledgement of her talents and services to the reading world, one of the keepers of queen charlotte's wardrobe. in this office she resided at court for five years, and she has left in her diary the most graphic account which we have of the english royal life of the day. "evelina" and "cecilia" were old stories even in ; it was more than fifty years since madame d'arblay had taken royal service, and now her best-beloved young patroness had passed away an aged woman, only a few months later than the gifted and vivacious little keeper of the robes, whose duties, to be sure, had included reading habitually to the queen when she was dressing, and sometimes to the court circle. princess augusta's funeral went from her house of frogmore at seven o'clock in the evening of the nd of october, one of the last of the night funerals of a past generation, and she was buried with the customary honours in st. george's chapel, windsor. frogmore became from that time the country residence of the duchess of kent. in november the court returned to buckingham palace for the queen's accouchement. baron stockmar, at the prince's earnest entreaty, came to england for the event, though he remained then as always in the background. on the st of november the princess royal was born, the good news being announced to london by the firing of the tower guns. the cabinet ministers and officers of state were in attendance in an adjoining room, and the new-born child, wrapped in flannel, was carried by the nurse, escorted by sir james clark, into the presence of those who were to attest her birth, and laid for a moment on a table before them. both mother and child were well, and although a momentary disappointment was felt at the sex of the infant, it did not detract from the general rejoicing at the queen's safety with a living successor to the throne. it was said at the time, kindly gossips dwelling on the utterance with the utmost pleasure, that on the prince expressing a fear that the people might be disappointed, the queen reassured him in the most cheerful spirit, "never mind, the next shall be a boy," and that she hoped she might have as many children as her grandmother, queen charlotte. a fresh instance of a diseased appetite for notoriety, grafted on vagrant youthful curiosity and restless love of mischief, astonished and scandalised the english world. on the day after the birth of the princess royal a rascally boy named jones was discovered concealed under a sofa in a room next to the queen's. the offender was leniently dealt with in consideration of his immature years, but again and again, at intervals of a few months, the flibbertigibbet turned up in the most unlooked-for quarters, impudently asserting, on being questioned, that he had entered "the same way as before," and that he could, any time he pleased, find his way into the palace. it was supposed that he climbed over the wall on constitution hill and crept through one of the windows. but he could hardly have done so if it had not been for the confused palace management, for which nobody was responsible, with its inevitable disorder, that had not yet been overcome. the boy had to be committed to the house of correction as a rogue and vagabond for three months. afterwards he served on board one of her majesty's ships, where his taste for creating a sensation seems to have died a natural death. in the queen's weakness the young husband and father was continually developing new traits of manly tenderness. "his care and devotion were quite beyond expression." he declined to go anywhere, that he might be always at hand to do anything in his power for her comfort "he was content to sit by her in a darkened room, to read to her and write for her." "no one but himself ever lifted her from her bed to her sofa, and he always helped to wheel her on her bed or sofa into the next room. for this purpose he would come instantly when sent for from any part of the house." "his care for her was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder, wiser, more judicious nurse." happy queen! the queen made an excellent recovery, and the court was back at windsor holding christmas and new year relieved from all care and full of thankfulness. the peace and goodwill of the season, with the interchange of kindly gifts, were celebrated with pleasant picturesque german, in addition to old english customs. we have all heard wonderful tales of the baron of beef, the boar's head, the peacock with spread tail, the plum soup for which there is only one recipe, and that a royal one. there were fir-trees in the queen's and the prince's rooms and in humbler chambers. there was a great gathering of the household in a special corridor, where the queen's presents were bestowed. a new year dawned with bright promise on an expectant world. this last year had been so good in one sense that it could hardly be surpassed. what had it not done for the family life! it had given a good and loving wife to a good and loving husband, and a little child, with undreamt-of possibilities in its slumbering eyes and helpless hands. the public horizon was tolerably clear. the welsh riots had been quelled and other acts of insubordination in the manufacturing districts put down--not without the use of force--but there was room for trust that such mad tumults would not be repeated. father matthews was reforming ireland. there were far-away wars both with china and afghanistan, certainly, but the wars were far away in more respects than one, distant enough to have their origin in the english protection of the opium trade, and interference--now with a peaceful, timidly conservative race--and again with fiercely jealous and warlike tribes, slurred over and forgotten, and only the successes of the national arms dwelt upon with pride and exultation. across "the silver streak" of the channel there were more remarkable events, marked by a curious inconsistency, than the suitable marriage of the duc de nemours. prince louis napoleon buonaparte landed on the french coast with a handful of men prepared to invade the country, and was immediately overpowered and arrested. he was tried and condemned to imprisonment in the fortress of ham, from which he escaped in due time, having earned for himself during long years the sobriquet of "the madman of boulogne." the very same year prince de joinville, louis philippe's sailor son, was commissioned to bring the ashes of napoleon from st. helena to france. the coffin was conveyed in the prince's frigate, _la belle poule_, to cherbourg, whence a steamboat sailed with the solemn freight up the seine to paris. the funeral formed a splendid pageant, attended by the royal family, the ministers, and a great concourse of spectators. the dust of _le petit caporal_ was deposited in a magnificent tomb in the hotel des invalides, before the eyes of a few survivors of his old guard. spain and portugal were still the theatres of civil wars--now smouldering, now leaping up with brief fury. in spain the queen regent, christina, was driven from the kingdom, and had to take refuge in france for a time. in portugal, in the middle of a political crisis, maria da gloria gave birth to a daughter, which died soon after its birth, while for days her own life was despaired of. chapter xi the first christening.--the season of . the queen was able to open parliament in person at the end of january. the first christening in the royal household had been fixed to take place on the th of february, the first anniversary of the queen's wedding-day, which was thus a double gala in . the day before the prince again had a dangerous accident. he was skating in the presence of the queen and one of her ladies on the lake in the gardens of buckingham palace when the ice gave way a few yards from the bank, where the water was so deep that the skater had to swim for two or three minutes before he could extricate himself. the queen had the presence of mind to lend him instant assistance, while her lady was "more occupied in screaming for help," so that the worst consequences of the plunge were a bad cold. the christening took place at six in the evening in buckingham palace. the ceremony was performed by the archbishop of canterbury, assisted by the archbishop of york, the bishop of london, the bishop of norwich, and the dean of carlisle. the sponsors were the duke of saxe-coburg gotha, represented by the duke of wellington, king leopold, the queen-dowager, the duchess of gloucester, the duchess of kent, and the duke of sussex, the most of whom had been present at the baptism of her majesty, and were able to compare royal child and royal mother in similar circumstances. the duke of cambridge and his son, prince george, with prince edward of saxe-weimar, were among the company. the infant was named "victoria adelaide mary louisa." the _annual register_ for the year has an elaborate description of the new silver-gilt font used on the occasion. it was in the shape of a water-lily supporting a shell, the rim of which was decorated with smaller water-lilies. the base bore, between the arms of the queen and prince albert, the arms of the princess royal, surmounted by her royal highness's coronet. the water had been brought from the river jordan. a simple description of the event was given by prince albert in a letter to his grandmother, the dowager-duchess of gotha. "the christening went off very well; your little great-granddaughter behaved with great propriety and like a christian. she was awake, but did not cry at all, and seemed to crow with immense satisfaction at the lights and brilliant uniforms, for she is very intelligent and observing. the ceremony took place at half-past six p.m. after it there was a dinner, and then we had some instrumental music. the health of the little one was drunk with great enthusiasm." the lively noticing powers of the princess royal when she was between two and three months of age is in amusing contradiction to a report which we remember as current at the time. it was mentioned in order to be denied by leslie, who was commissioned to paint the royal christening, and worked at the picture so diligently in the long days of the following summer that he was often occupied with the work from nine in the morning till seven or eight in the evening. he wrote in his "recollections": "in i painted a second picture for the queen, the christening of the princess royal. i was admitted to see the ceremony, and made a slight sketch of the royal personages as they stood round the font in the room. i made a study from the little princess a few days afterwards. she was then three months old, and a finer child of that age i never saw. it is a curious proof of the readiness with which people believe whatever they hear to the disadvantage of those placed high in rank above them, that at the time at which i made the sketch it was said everywhere but in the palace and by those who belonged to the royal household, that the princess was born blind, and by many it was even believed that she was born without feet. the sketch was shown at a party at mr. moon's, the evening after i made it, and the ladies all said, 'what a pity so fine a child should be entirely blind!' it was in vain i told them that her eyes were beautifully clear and bright, and that she took notice of everything about her. i was told that, though her eyes looked bright, and though she might appear to turn them to every object, it was _certain_ she was blind." what leslie attributes to a species of envy, we think may be more justly regarded as having its foundation in the love of sensationalism to which human nature is prone--sensationalism which appears to become all the racier when it finds its food in high quarters. the particular direction the tendency took was influenced by the blindness of george iii. and of his grandson, the crown prince of hanover, which seemed to lend a plausibility to the absurd rumour. baron stockmar states that the princess royal was a delicate child, causing considerable apprehension for her successful rearing during the first year of her life. it was only by judicious care that she developed a splendid constitution. charles leslie goes on to say: "the most agreeable part of my task in painting the christening of the princess royal was in studying the fine head of the wisest and best of living kings, leopold, a man whom the people he reigns over scarcely seem to deserve. nothing could be more agreeable than his manner, and that of his amiable queen, who was in the room all the time he sat. he speaks english very well, and she also spoke it. after i had painted for some time, she said, "may i look?" and suggesting some alterations, she said, "you must excuse me, i speak honest; but if i am wrong, don't mind me." in those years the king and queen of the belgians were such frequent visitors of her majesty, who may be said to have been his adopted child, that a whole floor of buckingham palace which was set apart for their use is still known as "the belgian floor." the portraits of both are in the palace, and so is his likeness when he was many years younger, and one of the handsomest men in europe. the last is hanging beside a full-length portrait of his first wife, princess charlotte, with her fair face and striking figure. in the summer of the queen was farther and longer separated from her mother than she had ever been previously. the duchess of kent, secure in her daughter's prosperity and happiness, went to her native germany, for the first time since she had come to england twenty-two years before. she was warmly received wherever she went. she visited, among other places, amorbach, the seat of her son, the prince of leiningen, in bavaria, where the duchess had resided with the duke of kent in the first years of their married life. "it is like a dream that i am writing to you from this place," she addressed her daughter. "he (the prince of leiningen) has made many alterations in the house. your father began them just before we left in march, ." a threatened change of ministry and a general election were pending; but amidst the political anxieties which already occupied much of the queen and prince albert's thoughts, it was a bright summer, full of many interests and special sources of pleasure. mademoiselle rachel, the great french actress, arrived in england. she had already established her empire in paris by her marvellous revival of racine's and corneille's masterpieces. she was now to exercise the same fascination over an alien people, to whom her speech was a foreign tongue. she made her first appearance in the part of hermione in racine's _andromaque_ at the italian opera-house. few who witnessed the spectacle ever forgot the slight figure, the pale, dark, jewish face, the deep melody of the voice, the restrained passion, the concentrated rage, especially the pitiless irony, with which she gave the poet's meaning. the queen and the prince shared the general enthusiasm. for that matter there was a little jealousy awakened lest there might be too much generous _abandon_ in the royal approval of the great player. perhaps this feeling arose in the minds of those who, dating from puritan days, had a conscientious objection to all plays and players, and waxed hotter as time, alas! proved how, in contrast to the honourable reputation of the english queen of tragedy, sarah siddons, the character and life of the gifted french actress were miserably beneath her genius. there was a little vexed talk, which probably had small enough foundation, of the admission of rachel into the highest society; of the duchess of kent's condescending to give her shawl to the shivering foreigner; of a bracelet with the simple inscription, "from victoria to rachel," as if there could be a common meeting-ground between the two, though the one was a queen in art and the other a queen in history. but if there was any imprudence, it might well have been excused as a fault of noble sympathy with art and cordial acknowledgement of it, which leant to virtue's side, a fault which had hitherto been not too common in england. the same year a kemble, the last of the family who redeemed for a time the fallen fortunes of covent garden theatre, adelaide, the beautiful and accomplished younger daughter of charles kemble, brother to john kemble and sarah siddons, came out as an operatic-singer in the part of "norma." she was welcomed as her sweet voice, fine acting, and the traditions of her family deserved. she was invited to sing at the palace. from girlhood the queen had been familiar with the kembles in their connection with the english stage. the last time she visited the academy as princess victoria, just before the death of king william, leslie mentions, she asked that charles kemble might be presented to her, when the gentleman had the opportunity of making his "best genteel-comedy bow." now it was on the younger generation of the kembles that the queen bestowed her gracious countenance. these were halcyon days for society as well as for the stage, when, in mrs. oliphant's words, "the queen was in the foreground of the national life, affecting it always for good, and setting an example of purity and virtue. the theatres to which she went, and which both she and her husband enjoyed, were purified by her presence, evils which had been the growth of years disappearing before the face of the young queen...." on the th of june the queen revisited oxford in company with her husband, in time for commemoration. her majesty and the prince stayed at nuneham, the seat of the archbishop of york, and drove in to the university city. the prince was present at a banquet in st. john's and attended divine service at new inn hall. on the st of june the queen and prince albert were at woolwich, for the launch of the good ship _trafalgar_. nothing so gay had been seen at the mouth of the river since king william and queen adelaide came down to greenwich to keep the anniversary of the battle of trafalgar. the water was covered with vessels, including every sort of craft that had been seen "since the building of noah's ark." the shore was equally crowded with an immense multitude of human beings finding standing-ground in the most unlikely places. the queen drove down to the dockyard in a travelling-carriage and four. she was received with a royal salute and glad bursts of cheering. it is hardly necessary to say that the young queen was exceedingly popular with the blue-jackets. in the course of a visit to portsmouth she had gone over one of her ships. she was shown through the men's quarters, the sailors being under orders to remain perfectly quiet and abstain from cheering. her majesty tasted the men's coffee and pronounced it good. she asked if they got nothing stronger. a glass of grog was brought to her. she put it to her lips, and jack could contain himself no longer; a burst of enthusiastic huzzas made the ribs of the ship ring. at woolwich a discharge of artillery announced the moment when the great vessel slipped from her stays, and "floated gallantly down the river" till she was brought up and swung round with her stern to london. the king and queen of the belgians paid their second visit this year, the queen remaining six weeks, detained latterly by the illness of her son in england. the long visit confirmed the tender friendship between the two queens. "during this stay, which had been such a happiness for me, we became most intimate," queen victoria wrote in her journal, and she grudged the necessity of having to set out with prince albert on a royal progress before the departure of her cherished guest. "to lose four days of her stay, of which, i repeat, every hour is precious, is dreadful," her majesty told king leopold. the short summer progress was otherwise very enjoyable. the queen and prince albert visited the duke of bedford at the russells' stately seat of woburn abbey, with its park twelve miles in extent. from woburn the royal couple went to panshanger, earl cowper's, and brocket hall, lord melbourne's, returning by hatfield, the marquis of salisbury's. at brocket the queen was entertained by her prime minister. at hatfield there were many memories of another queen and her minister, since the ancient country-house had been a palace of queen elizabeth's, passing, in her successor's reign, by an exchange of mansions, from the hands of james i into those of the son and representative of lord burleigh, little crooked, long-headed robert cecil, first earl of salisbury. in hatfield park there is an oak still standing which bears the name of "queen elizabeth's oak." it is said princess elizabeth was sitting in its shade when the news was brought to her of the death of her sister, queen mary, and her own accession to the throne of england. the only difficulty--a pleasant one after all--which was experienced in these progresses, proceeded from the exuberant loyalty of the people. at straw-plaiting dunstable a volunteer company of farmers joined the regular escort and nearly choked the travellers with the dust the worthy yeomen raised. on leaving woburn abbey the same dubious compliment was paid. in the queen's merry words, "a crowd of good, loyal people rode with us part of the way. they so pressed and pushed that it was as if we were hunting." the recent election had returned a majority of conservative members, and soon after the reassembling of parliament in august a vote of non-confidence in lord melbourne's ministry was carried. the same evening the prime minister went to windsor to announce his resignation. he acted with his natural fairness and generosity, giving due honour to his adversaries, and congratulating the queen on the great advantage she possessed in the presence and counsel of the prince, thus softening to her the trial of the first change of ministers in her reign. he only regretted the pain to himself of leaving her. "for four years i have seen you every day; but it is so different from what it would have been in . the prince understands everything so well, and has a clever, able head." the queen was much affected in taking leave of a "faithful and attached friend," as well as minister, while her words were, that his praise of the prince gave her "great pleasure" and made her "very proud." in anticipation of the change of ministry it had been arranged, with sir robert peel's concurrence, that the principal whig ladies in the queen's household--the duchess of sutherland, the duchess of bedford, and lady normanby--should voluntarily retire from office, and that this should be the practice in any future change of ministry, so that the question of ministerial interference in the withdrawal or the appointment of the ladies of the queen's household might be set at rest. [footnote: the retirement from office is now limited to the mistress of the robes.] on the rd of september the new ministers kissed hands on their appointment at a cabinet council held at claremont. lord campbell gives some particulars. "i have just seen here several of our friends returned from claremont. both parties met there at once. they were shown into separate rooms. the queen sat in her closet, no one being present but prince albert. the _exaunters_ were called in one by one and gave up the seals or wands of their offices and retired. the new men by mistake went to claremont all in their court costume, whereas the queen at windsor and claremont receives her ministers in their usual morning dress. nonnanby says taking leave of the queen was very affecting." whatever momentary awkwardness may have attended the substitution of sir robert peel as prime minister, it did not at all interfere--thanks to the candid, liberal nature of all concerned--with the friendly goodwill which it is so desirable should exist between sovereign and minister. we read in the "life of the prince consort," "lord melbourne told baron stockmar, who had just returned from coburg, that sir robert peel had behaved most handsomely, and that the conduct of the prince had throughout been most moderate and judicious." sir robert had experienced considerable embarrassment at the recollection of his share in the debates on the royal annuity bill, but the prince did not show an equally retentive memory. his seeming forgetfulness of the past and cordiality in the present did more than reassure, it deeply touched and completely won a man who was himself capable of magnanimous self-renunciation. sir robert peel had the pleasure, in his early days in office, of suggesting to the prince the royal commission to promote and encourage the fine arts in the united kingdom, with reference to the rebuilding of the two houses of parliament. sir robert proposed that prince albert should be placed at the head of the commission. this was not only a movement after the prince's own heart, on which he spared no thought and labour for years to come, it was an act in which prince and minister--both of them lovers of art--could co-operate with the greatest satisfaction. chapter xii. birth of the prince of wales.--the afghan disasters.--visit of the king of prussia.--"the queen's plantagenet ball." on the th of november, , the happiness of the queen and prince was increased by the birth of the prince of wales. the event took place on the morning of the lord mayor's day, as the citizens of london rejoiced to learn by the booming of the tower guns. in addition to the usual calls of the nobility and gentry, the lord mayor and his train went in great state to offer their congratulations and make their inquiries for the queen-mother and child. the sole shadow on the rejoicing was the dangerous illness of the queen-dowager. she had an affection of the chest which rendered her a confirmed invalid for years. at this time the complaint took an aggravated form, and her weakness became so great that it was feared death was approaching. but she rallied--a recovery due in a great measure, it was believed, to her serene nature and patient resignation. she regained her strength in a degree and survived for years. the public took a keen interest in all that concerned the heir to the crown, though times were less free and easy than they had been--all the world no longer trooped to the queen's house as they had done to taste the caudle compounded when royal charlotte's babies were born. there was at least the cradle with the nodding prince of wales feathers to gossip about. the patent creating the duke of cornwall prince of wales and earl of chester was issued on the th of december, when the child was a month old. it was a quaint enough document, inasmuch as the queen declared in it that she ennobled and invested her son with the principality and earldom by girting him with a sword, by putting a coronet on his head and a gold ring on his finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into his hand, that he might preside there, and direct and defend these parts. the royal nursery had now two small occupants, and their wise management, still more than that of the household, engaged the serious consideration of the queen and the prince's old friend, baron stockmar, and engrossed much of the attention of the youthful parents. they took great delight in the bright little girl, whom her mother named "pussy," and the charming baby who was so near her in age. "to think," wrote the queen in her journal this christmas, "that we have two children now, and one who enjoys the sight already" (referring to the christmas-tree); "it is like a dream." "this is the dear christmas eve on which i have so often listened with impatience to your step which was to usher us into the gift-room," the prince reminded his father. "to-day i have two children of my own to make gifts to, who, they know not why, are full of happy wonder at the german christmas-tree and its radiant candles." on this occasion the new year was danced into "in good old english fashion. in the middle of the dance, as the clock finished striking twelve, a flourish of trumpets was blown, in accordance with a german custom." the past year had been good also, and fertile in blessings on that roof-tree, though in the world without there were the chafings and mutterings of more than one impending crisis. the corn-laws, with the embargo they laid on free trade, weighed heavily on the minds both of statesmen and people. in scotland church and state were struggling keenly once more, though, bloodlessly this time, as they had struggled to the death in past centuries, for mastery where what each considered its rights were in question. among the blows dealt by death in , there had been heavy losses to art in the passing away of chantrey and wilkie. in january, , events happened in afghanistan which brought bitter grief to many an english home, and threw their shadow over the palace itself in the next few months. the fatal policy of english interference with the fiery tribes of northern india in support of an unpopular ruler had ended in the murder of sir alexander burns and sir william macnaghten, and the evacuation of cabul by the english. this was not all. the march through the terrible mountain defiles in the depth of winter, under the continual assaults of an unscrupulous and cruel enemy, meant simply destruction. the ladies of the party, with lady sale, a heroic woman, at their head, the husbands of the ladies who were with the camp, and finally general elphinstone, who had been the first in command at cabul, but who was an old and infirm man, had to be surrendered as hostages. they were committed to the tender mercies of akbar khan, the son of the exiled dost mahomed, the moving spirit of the insurrection against the native puppet maintained by english authority, and the murderer, with his own hand, of sir william macnaghten, whose widow was among the prisoners. the surrender of hostages was partly a matter of necessity, in order to secure for the most helpless of the party the dubious protection of akbar khan, partly a desperate measure to prevent what would otherwise have been inevitable--the perishing of the women and children in the dreadful hardships of the retreat. the captives were carried first to peshawur and afterwards to a succession of hill-forts in the direction of the caucasus, while their countrymen at home, long before they had become familiar with the tragedy of the indian rebellion, burned with indignation and thrilled with horror at the possible fate of those victims of a treacherous, vindictive afghan chief. in the meantime the awful march went on, amidst the rigours of winter, in wild snowy passes, by savage precipices, while the most unsparing guerilla warfare was kept up by the furious natives at every point of vantage. alas! for the miserable end which we all know, some of us recalling it, through the mists of years, still fresh with the wonder, wrath, and sorrow which the news aroused here. out of a company of sixteen thousand that left cabul, hundreds were slain or died of exhaustion every day, three thousand fell in an ambush, and after a night's exposure to such frost as was never experienced in england. at last, on the th of january, , one haggard man, dr. brydon, rode up, reeling in his saddle, to the gates of jellalabad. the fortress was still in the keeping of sir robert sale, who had steadfastly refused to retire. it is said his wife wrote to him from her prison, urging him to hold out, because she preferred her own and her daughter's death to his dishonour. but the afghan disasters were not fully known in england for months to come. in the interval, the christening of the prince of wales was celebrated with much splendour in st. george's chapel, windsor, on the th of january. the king of prussia came over to england to officiate in person as one of the prince's godfathers. the others were the child's two grand-uncles, the duke of cambridge and prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, uncle of the queen and of prince albert, and father of the king consort of portugal and the duchesse de nemours. the godmothers were the duchess of kent, proxy for the duchess of saxe-coburg, prince albert's stepmother; the duchess of cambridge, proxy for the child's great-grandmother, the duchess of saxe-gotha; and the princess augusta of cambridge, proxy for the princess sophia of england. the ambassadors and foreign ministers, the cabinet ministers with their wives in full dress, the knights of the garter in their mantles and collars, the archbishops of canterbury and york, the bishops of london, winchester, oxford, and norwich assembled in the waterloo gallery; the officers and the ladies of the household awaited the queen in the corridor. at noon, certain officers of the household attended the king of prussia, who was joined by the other sponsors at the head of the grand staircase, to the chapel. the queen's procession included the duke of wellington, bearing the sword of state between the lord chamberlain, the earl de la warr, and the lord steward, the earl of liverpool, the three walking before her majesty and prince albert, who were supported by their lords-in-waiting, and followed by the duke of sussex, prince george of cambridge, prince edward of saxe-weimar, prince augustus and prince leopold of saxe-coburg, sons of prince ferdinand and cousins of the queen and prince albert. when the sponsors had taken their places, and the other company were seated near the altar, the lord chamberlain, accompanied by the groom of the stall to prince albert, proceeded to the chapter-house, and conducted in the infant prince of wales, attended by the lord and groom in waiting. the duchess of buccleugh, the mistress of the robes, took the infant from the nurse, and put him in the archbishop's arms. the child was named "albert" for his father, and "edward" for his maternal grandfather, the duke of kent. the baby, on the authority of _the times_, "behaved with princely decorum." after the ceremony, he was reconducted to the chapter-house by the lord chamberlain. by prince albert's desire "the hallelujah chorus," which has never been given in england without the audience rising simultaneously, was played at the close of the service. the queen afterwards held a chapter of the order of the garter, at which the king of prussia, "as a lineal descendant of george i.," was elected a knight companion, the queen buckling the garter round his knee. there was luncheon in the white breakfast-room, and in the evening there was a banquet in st. george's hall. the table reached from one end of the hall to the other, and was covered with gold plate. lady bloomfield, who was present, describes an immense gold vessel--more like a bath than anything else, capable of containing thirty dozens of wine. it was filled with mulled claret, to the amazement of the prussians. four toasts were drunk--that to his royal highness the prince of wales taking precedence; toasts to his majesty the king of prussia, the queen and prince albert followed. a grand musical performance in the waterloo gallery wound up the festivities of the day. the presence of the king of prussia added additional dignity to the proceedings. he was a great ally whose visit on the occasion was a becoming compliment. besides, his personal character was then regarded as full of promise, and excited much interest. his attainments and accomplishments, which were really remarkable, won lively admiration. his warm regard for a man like baron bunsen seemed to afford the best augury for the liberality of his sentiments. as yet the danger of impracticability, discouragement, confusion, and paralysis of all that had been hoped for, was but faintly indicated in the dreaminess and fancifulness of his nature. lady bloomfield describes the king as of middle size, rather fat, with an excellent countenance and little hair. the queen met him on the grand staircase, kissed him twice, and made him two low curtseys. her majesty says in her journal: "he was in common morning costume, and complained much of appearing so before me.... he is entertaining, agreeable, and witty, tells a thing so pleasantly, and is full of amusing anecdotes." madame bunsen, who was privileged to see a good deal of the gay doings during the king of prussia's visit, has handed down her experience. " th january, , came by railway to windsor, and found that in the york tower a comfortable set of rooms were awaiting us. the upper housemaid gave us tea, and bread and butter--very refreshing; when dressed we went together to the corridor, soon met lord de la warr, the duchess of buccleugh, and lord and lady westmoreland--the former showed us where to go--that is, to walk through the corridor (a fairy scene--lights, pictures, moving figures of courtiers unknown), the apartments which we passed through one after another till we reached the magnificent ball-room where the guests were assembled to await the queen's appearance. among these guests stood our king himself, punctual to quarter-past seven o'clock; soon came prince albert, to whom lord de la warr named me, when he spoke to me of rome. we had not been there long before two gentlemen walking in by the same door by which we had entered, and then turning and making profound bows towards the open door, showed that the queen was coming. she approached me directly and said, with a gracious smile, 'i am very much pleased to see you,' then passed on, and after speaking a few moments to the king took his arm and moved on, 'god save the queen' having begun to sound from the waterloo gallery, where the queen has always dined since the king has been with her. lord haddington led me to dinner, and one of the king's suite sat on the other side. the scene was one of fairy tales, of undescribed magnificence, the proportions of the hall, the mass of light in suspension, the gold plate, and the table glittering with a thousand lights in branches of a proper height not to meet the eye. the king's health was drunk, then the queen's, and then the queen went out, followed by all her ladies. during the half-hour or less that elapsed before prince albert and the king followed the queen, she did not sit, but went round to speak to the different ladies. she asked after my children, and gave me an opportunity of thanking her for the gracious permission to behold her majesty so soon after my arrival. the duchess of kent also spoke to me, and i was very glad of the notice of lady lyttelton, who is very charming. as soon as the king came the queen went into the ball-room and made the king dance a quadrille with her, which he did with all suitable grace and dignity, though he has long ceased to dance. at half-past eleven, after the queen had retired, i set out on my travels to my bed-chamber. i might have looked and wandered about some miles before i had found my door of exit, but was helped by an old gentleman, i believe lord albemarle." the same thoughtful observer was present when the king of prussia saw the queen open parliament. "february, , thursday. the opening of the parliament was the thing from which i expected most, and i was not disappointed; the throngs in the streets, in the windows, in every place people could stand upon, all looking so pleased; the splendid horse guards, the grenadiers of the guard--of whom might be said as the king said on another occasion--'an appearance so fine, you know not how to believe it true;' the yeomen of the body guard; then in the house of lords, the peers in their robes, the beautifully-dressed ladies with very many beautiful faces; lastly, the procession of the queen's entry and herself, looking worthy and fit to be the converging-point of so many rays of grandeur. it is self-evident that she is not tall, but were she ever so tall, she could not have more grace and dignity, a head better set, a throat better arching; and one advantage there is in her looks when she casts a glance, being of necessity cast up and not down, that the effect of the eyes is not lost, and they have an effect both bright and pleasing. the composure with which she filled the throne while awaiting the commons, i much admired--it was a test, no fidget, no apathy. then her voice and enunciation cannot be more perfect. in short it could not be said that she _did well,_ but that she was _the queen_--she was, and felt herself to be, the descendant of her ancestors. stuffed in by her majesty's mace-bearers, and peeping over their shoulders, i was enabled to struggle down the emotions i felt, at thinking what mighty pages in the world's history were condensed in the words so impressively uttered by that soft and feminine voice. peace and war--the fate of millions--relations and exertions of power felt to the extremities of the globe! alterations of corn-laws, birth of a future sovereign, with what should it close, but the heartfelt aspiration, god bless her and guide her for her sake, and the sake of all." lady bloomfield, who was also present, mentions that when the queen had finished speaking and descended from the throne, she turned to the king of prussia and made him a low curtsey. the same eye-witness refers to one of the "beautiful faces" which madame bunsen remarked; it was that of one of the loveliest and most accomplished women of her time: "miss stewart (afterwards marchioness of waterford) was there, looking strikingly handsome. she wore a turquoise, blue velvet which was very becoming, and she was like one of the madonnas she is so fond of painting." the queen and the prince's hearts were gladdened this spring by the news of the approaching marriage of his brother, prince ernest, to princess alexandrine of baden. in a family so united such intelligence awoke the liveliest sympathy. the queen wrote eagerly on the subject to her uncle, and the uncle of the bridegroom, king leopold. "my heart is full, very full of this marriage; it brings back so many recollections of our dear betrothal--as ernest was with us all the time and longed for similar happiness... i have entreated ernest to pass his honeymoon with us, and i beg you to urge him to do it, for he witnessed _our_ happiness and _we must therefore witness his_." there were warm wishes for prince albert's presence at the ceremony at carlsruhe on the rd of may; but though his inclination coincided with these wishes, he believed there were grave reasons for his remaining in england, and, as was usual with him, inclination yielded to duty. the times were full of change and excitement. the people were suffering. rioting had occurred in the mining districts, both in england and scotland. lord shaftesbury, then lord ashley, a champion of hard-pressed humanity, was able to obtain an act of parliament which redeemed women from the degradation and slavery of their work as beasts of burden in the mines, and he was pushing forward his "factories bill," to release little children from the unchildlike length of small labour, which was required from them in mills. the anti-corn law league was stirring up the country through its length and breadth. the twin names of cobden and bright, men of the people, were becoming associated everywhere with eloquent persistent appeals for "free trade"--cheap bread to starving multitudes. fears were entertained of the attitude of the chartists. the true state of matters in afghanistan began to break on the public. america was sore on what she considered the tampering with her flag in the interests of the abolition of the slave trade. sir robert peel's income-tax, in order to replenish an ill-filled exchequer, was pending. notwithstanding, the season was a gay one, though the gaiety might be a little forced in some quarters. certainly an underlying motive was an anxious effort to promote trade by a succession of "dinners, concerts, and balls." one famous ball is almost historical. it is still remembered as "the queen's plantagenet ball." it was a very artistic and wonderfully perfect revival, for one night at buckingham palace, of the age of chaucer and the court of edward iii. and queen philippa. nothing could exceed the enthusiasm with which the idea was taken up in the great world. all aristocratic london set themselves to study the pages of chaucer and froissart. at the same time, though the court was to be that of edward iii and his queen, no limit was put to the periods and nationalities to be selected by the guests. the ball was to be a masque, and perhaps it would have lost a little of its motley charm had it been confined entirely to one age in history, and to one country of the world. a comical petition had to be presented, that the masquers might remain covered before the queen, lest the doffing of hats should cause the displacement of wigs. the great attraction lay in the fact that not only did her majesty represent one of her predecessors, an ancestress however remote, but that many of the guests were enabled to follow her example. they appeared--some in the very armour of their forefathers, others in costumes copied from family pictures, or in the dress of hereditary offices still held by the representatives of the ancient houses. for it was the sons and daughters of the great nobles of england that held high revelry in buckingham palace that night. there was an additional picturesqueness, as well as a curious vividness, lent to the pageant by the circumstance that in many cases the blood of the men and the women represented ran in the veins of the performers in the play. the wildest rumours of the extent and cost of the ball circulated beforehand. it was said that eighteen thousand persons were engaged in it. the earl of pembroke was to wear thirty-thousand pounds' worth of diamonds--the few diamonds in his hat alone would be of the value of eighteen thousand pounds. he was to borrow ten thousand pounds' worth of diamonds from storr and mortimer at one per cent, for the night. these great jewellers' stores were reported to be exhausted. every other jeweller and diamond merchant was in the same condition. it almost seemed as if the prince of esterhazy must be outdone, even though the report of his losses from falling stones on the coronation-day had risen to two thousand pounds. one lady boasted that she would not give less than a thousand pounds for her dress alone. lord chesterfield's costume was to cost eight hundred pounds. plain dresses could not be got under two hundred; the very commonest could not be bought under fifty pounds. a new material had been invented for the occasion--gold and silver blonde to replace the heavy stuffs of gold and silver, since the nineteenth century did not always furnish strength or endurance to bear such a burden in a crowded ball-room on a may night. truly one description of trade must have received a lively impetus. both _the times_ and the _morning post_ give full accounts of the ball. "the leading feature.... was the assemblage and meeting of the courts of anne of brittany (the duchess of cambridge) and edward iii. and philippa (her majesty and prince albert). a separate entrance to the palace was set apart for the court of brittany, the duchess of cambridge assembling her court in one of the lower rooms of the palace, while the queen and prince albert, surrounded by a numerous and brilliant circle, prepared to receive her royal highness in the throne-room, which was altered so as to be made as much as possible to harmonize with the period. the throne was removed and another erected, copied from an authentic source of the time of edward iii. it was lined (as well as the whole alcove on which the throne was placed) with purple velvet, having worked upon it in gold the crown of england, the cross of st. george, and emblazoned shields with the arms of england and france. the state chairs were what might be called of gothic design, and the throne was surmounted with gothic tracery. at the back of the throne were emblazoned the royal arms of england in silver. seated on this throne, her majesty and prince albert awaited the arrival of the court of anne of brittany." her majesty's dress was entirely composed of the manufactures of spitalfields. over a skirt with a demi-train of _ponceau_ velvet edged with fur there was a surcoat of brocade in blue and gold lined with miniver (only her majesty wore this royal fur). from the stomacher a band of jewels on gold tissue descended. a mantle of gold and silver brocade lined with miniver was so fastened that the jewelled fastening traversed the jewelled band of the stomacher, and looked like a great jewelled cross on the breast. her majesty's hair, folded _a la clovis_, was surmounted by a light crown of gold; she had but one diamond in her crown, so large that it shone like a star. it was valued at ten thousand pounds. prince albert, as edward iii., wore a cloak of scarlet velvet, lined with ermine and trimmed with gold lace--showing oak-leaves and acorns, edged with two rows of large pearls. the band connecting the cloak was studded with jewels; so was the collar of the full robe, or under-cloak, of blue and gold brocade slashed with blue velvet. the hose were of scarlet silk, and the shoes were richly jewelled. the prince had on a gold coronet set with precious stones. the suite were in the costume of the time. the hon. mrs. anson and mrs. brand, women of the bedchamber, had dresses bearing the quarterings of the old arms of england, with lions and _fleurs-de-lys_. the maids of honour had dresses and surcoats trimmed with gold and silver. the duke of buccleugh figured as one of the original knights of the garter. the countess of rosslyn appeared as the beautiful countess of salisbury. about half-past ten, the heralds marshalled the procession from the lower suite of rooms up the grand white marble staircase, and by the green drawing-room to the throne-room, all the state-rooms having been thrown open and brilliantly illuminated. the duchess of cambridge entered magnificently dressed as anne of brittany, led by the duke of beaufort, richly clad as louis xii., and followed by her court. it included the earl of pembroke as the comte d'angouleme, with princess augusta of cambridge as princess claude; prince george of cambridge as gaston de foix, with the marchioness of ailesbury as the duchesse de ferrare; lord cardigan as bayard, with lady exeter as jeanne de conflans; lord claud hamilton as the comte de chateaubriand, with lady lincoln as ann de villeroi.... the duchess of gloucester and the duchess of saxe-weimar represented two french chatelaines of the period. each gentleman, leading a lady, passed before the queen and prince albert, and did obeisance. among the most famous quadrilles which followed that of france were the german quadrille, led by the duchess of sutherland, and the spanish quadrille, led by the duchess of buccleugh. there were also italian, scotch, greek and russian quadrilles, a crusaders' quadrille led by the marchioness of londonderry, and a waverley quadrille led by the countess de la warr. one of the two finest effects of the evening was the passing of the quadrilles before the queen, a ceremony which lasted for an hour. on leaving the throne-room, the quadrille company went by the picture gallery to join the general company in the ballroom. the queen and the prince then headed their procession, and walked to the ballroom, taking their places on the _haut pas_ under a canopy of amber satin, when each quadrille set was called in order, and danced in turn before the queen, the scotch set dancing reels. the court returned to the throne-room for the russian mazurkas. the russian or cossack masquers were led by baroness brunnow in a dress of the time of catherine ii., a scarlet velvet tunic, full white silk drawers, and white satin boots embroidered with gold, a cossack cap of scarlet velvet with heron's feathers. the appearance of the throne-room with its royal company and brilliant picturesque groups, when the mazurkas were danced, is said to have been striking and beautiful. the diamonds of the queen, the duchess of cambridge, and the marchioness of londonderry outshone all others. lady londonderry's very gloves and shoes were resplendent with brilliants. the duke and duchess of beaufort--the one as louis xii. of france, the other as isabelle of valois, queen of spain, in the french and spanish quadrilles, were magnificent figures. among the beauties of the evening, and of queen victoria's earlier reign, were lady clementina villiers as vittoria colonna; lady wilhelmina stanhope as her ancestress, anne stanhope, duchess of somerset; lady frances and lady alexandrina vane as rowena and queen berengaria; and the ladies paget in the greek quadrille led by the duchess of leinster. another group of lovely sisters who took part in three different quadrilles, were the countess of chesterfield, donna florinda in the spanish quadrille; the honourable mrs. anson, duchess of lauenburg in the german quadrille; and miss forrester, blanche de st. pol in the french quadrille. of the ladies and gentlemen who came in the guise of ancient members of their families, or in the costumes of old hereditary offices, lady de la warr appeared as isabella lady de la warr, daughter of the lord high treasurer of charles i.; lady colville as the wife of sir robert colville, master of the horse to james iv. of scotland; viscountess pollington, daughter of the earl of orford, as margaret rolle, baroness clinton, in her own right, and countess of orford; and the countess of westmorland as joan beaufort, daughter of john of gaunt and wife of ralph neville, first earl of westmoreland. earl de la warr wore the armour used by his ancestor in the battle of cressy, and the marquis of exeter the armour of sir john cecil at the siege of calais. the earl of warwick went as thomas beauchamp, earl of warwick, marshal-general of the army at the battle of poietiers; the duke of norfolk as thomas howard, earl-marshal in the reign of elizabeth; the earl of rosslyn as the master of the buckhounds; the duke of st. albans as grand falconer-hereditary offices. mr. monckton milnes, the poet, presented himself as chaucer. the historical novelist of the day, sir edward lytton bulwer, contented himself with a comparatively humble anonymous dress, a doublet of dark velvet slashed with white satin. the duke of roxburgh as david bruce, the captive king of scotland, encountered no rival royal prisoner, though a ridiculous report had sprung up that a gentleman representing john of france was to form a prominent feature of the pageant, to walk in chains past the queen. this stupid story not only wounded the sensitive vanity of the french, to whom the news travelled, it gave rise to a witty _canard_ in the _morning chronicle_ professing to give a debate on the affront, in the chamber of deputies. the tent of tippoo saib was erected in the upper or corinthian portico communicating with the green drawing-room, and used as a refreshment-room. at one o'clock, the earl of liverpool, the lord high steward, as an ancient seneschal, conducted the queen to supper, which was served in the dining-room. the long double table was covered with shields, vases, and tankards of massive gold plate. opposite the queen, where she sat at the centre of the horseshoe or cross table, a superb buffet reached almost to the roof, covered with plate, interspersed with blossoming flowers. after supper her majesty danced in a quadrille with prince george of cambridge, opposite the duke of beaufort and the duchess of buccleugh. the queen left the ball-room at about a quarter to three o'clock, and dancing was continued for an hour afterwards. thus ended the most unique and splendid fete of the reign. about a fortnight afterwards, the queen and the prince went in state to a ball given at covent garden theatre, for the relief of the spitalfields weavers. society followed the queen's example. there was another fancy ball at stafford house, and a magnificent rout at apsley house. fanny kemble was present at both, and retained a vivid remembrance of "the memorable appearance" of two of the belles of the evening at the last fete, "lady douro and mdlle. d'este, [footnote: daughter of the duke of sussex, by his morganatic marriage with lady augusta murray. mdlle. d'este became the wife of lord chancellor truro.] who, coming into the room together, produced a most striking effect by their great beauty and their exquisite dress. they both wore magnificent dresses of white lace over white satin, ornamented with large cactus flowers, those of the blonde marchioness being of the sea-shell rose colour, and the dark mademoiselle d'este's of deep scarlet, and in the bottom of each of those large veined blossoms lay, like a great drop of dew, a single splendid diamond. the women were noble samples of fair and dark beauty, and their whole appearance, coming in together attired with such elegance and becoming magnificent simplicity, produced an effect of surprise and admiration on the whole brilliant assembly." of this year's drawing-rooms we happen to have two characteristic reports. baroness bunsen attended one on april th, and wrote: "i was extremely struck with the splendour of the scene at the drawing-room, and had an excellent place near enough to see everybody come up to the queen [footnote: "at a levee or drawing-room it is his (the lord chamberlain's) duty to stand next to the queen and read out the names of each one approaching the royal presence.... any peeress on presentation, as also daughters of dukes, marquises, and earls, have the privilege of being kissed by her majesty; all other ladies make the lowest court curtsey they can, and lifting the queen's hand, which she offers, on the palm of their hand, it is gently kissed.... it seems unnecessary to say that of course the right-hand glove is removed before reaching the presence chamber."--"_old court customs and modern court rule," by the hon. mrs. armytage_.] and pass off again. i was very much entertained, and admired a number of beautiful persons. but nobody did i admire more than mrs. norton, whom i had never seen before, and lady canning's face always grows upon me." fanny kemble also attended a drawing-room and described it after her fashion. "you ask about my going to the drawing-room, which happened thus. the duke of rutland dined some little time ago at the palace, and speaking of the late party at belvoir, mentioned me, when the queen asked why i didn't have myself presented? the duke called next day, at my house, but we did not see him, and he being obliged to go out of town, left a message for me with lady londonderry to the effect that her majesty's interest about me (curiosity would have been the more exact word i suspect) rendered it imperative that i should go to the drawing-room; and indeed lady londonderry's authoritative 'of course you'll go,' given in her most gracious manner, left me no doubt whatever as to my duty in that respect...." "you ask me how i managed about diamonds to go to court in?" she wrote afterwards in reply to a friend's question. "i used a set of the value of seven hundred pounds, which i also wore at the fete at apsley house; they were only a necklace and earrings, which i wore ... stitched on scarlet velvet and as drops in the middle of scarlet velvet bows in my hair, and my dress being white satin and point lace, trimmed with white roman pearls, it all looked nice enough. "i suffered agonies of nervousness, and i rather think did all sorts of awkward things; but so i dare say do other people in the same predicament, and i did not trouble my head much about my various mis-performances. one thing, however, i can tell you, if her majesty has seen me, i have not seen her, and should be quite excusable in cutting her wherever i met her. 'a cat may look at a king,' it is said; but how about looking at the queen? in great uncertainty of mind on this point i did not look at my sovereign lady. i kissed a soft white hand which i believe was hers; i saw a pair of very handsome legs in very fine silk stockings, which i am convinced were not hers, but am inclined to attribute to prince albert; and this is all i perceived of the whole royal family of england, for i made a sweeping curtsey to the 'good remainders of the court' and came away, with no impression but that of a crowded mass of full-dressed confusion, and neither know how i got in or out of it." we might furnish a third sketch of a drawing-room from one of the letters of bishop, then archdeacon, wilberforce, who was often at court about this time. in the early part of he paid a visit to windsor, of which he has left a graphic account. "all went on most pleasantly at the castle. my reception and treatment throughout was exceedingly kind. the queen and the prince were both at church, as was also lord melbourne, who paid his first visit at the same time. the queen's meeting with him was very interesting. the exceeding pleasure which lighted up her countenance was quite touching. his behaviour to her was perfect--the fullest attentive deference of the subject with a subdued air of 'your father's friend' that was quite fascinating. it was curious to see (for i contemplated myself at the moment objectively--and free from the consciousness of subjectivity), sitting round the queen's table, ( ) the queen, ( ) the prince, ( ) lord melbourne, ( ) archdeacon, ( ) lady f. howard, ( ) baron stockmar, ( ) duchess of kent, ( ) lady sandwich, in the evening, discussing coleridge, german literature, &c., with and , and a little with and , who is a very superior man evidently. the remarks of were highly characteristic, his complaints of 'hard words,' &c., and showed a great deal of interest and taste in german and english literature, and a good deal of acquaintance with both. i had orders to sit by the duchess of kent at dinner, just opposite to and , sitting at l's right, and the conversation, especially after dinner, was much more general across the table on etymology," &c. &c. chapter xiii. fresh attempts against the queen's life.--mendelssohn.--death of the duc d'orleans. on the th of may a renewed attempt to assassinate the queen, almost identical in the circumstances and the motive--or no motive, save morbid vanity--with the affair of oxford, awoke the same disgust and condemnation. this was a double attack, for on the previous day, sunday, at two o'clock, as the queen and the prince were driving home from the chapel royal, st. james's, in passing along the mall, near stafford house, amidst a crowd of bowing, cheering spectators, the prince saw a man step out and present a pistol at him. he heard the trigger snap, but the pistol missed fire. the queen, who had been bowing to the people on the opposite side, neither saw nor heard anything. on reaching the palace the prince questioned the footmen in attendance, but neither had they noticed anything, and he could judge for himself that no commotion, such as would have followed an arrest, had taken place. he was tempted to doubt the evidence of his senses, though he thought it necessary to make a private statement before the inspector of police. confirmation came in the story of a stuttering boy named pearse. he had witnessed the scene, and after a little delay arrived of his own accord at the palace, to report what had happened. everybody concerned was now convinced of the threatened danger, but it was judged best to keep it secret. the prince, writing afterwards to his father, mentions in his simple straightforward fashion that they were both naturally much agitated, and that the queen was very nervous and unwell; as who would not be with the sword of damocles quivering ready to fall on the doomed head? her majesty's doctor wished that she should go out, and the wish coincided with the quiet courage and good sense of the royal couple. to have kept within doors might have been to shut themselves up for months, and the queen said later, "she never could have existed under the uncertainty of a concealed attack. she would much rather run the immediate risk at any time than have the presentiment of danger constantly hovering over her." but the brave, generous woman, a true queen in facing the dastardly foe, was careful to save others from unnecessary exposure. the _annual register_ of the year mentions that she did not permit her female attendants to accompany her according to her usual practice, on that dangerous drive. lady bloomfield, who as miss liddell was one of the maids of honour in waiting, amply confirms the statement. no whisper of what was expected to occur had reached the ladies of the household. they waited at home all the afternoon counting on being summoned to drive with the queen. contrary to her ordinary habit and to her wonted consideration for them, they were neither sent for to accompany her, nor apprised in time that they were not wanted, so that they might have disposed of their leisure elsewhere. the queen went out alone with prince albert. when she returned and everybody knew what she had encountered, she said to miss liddell: "i dare say, georgy, you were surprised at not driving with me this afternoon, but the fact was that as we returned from church yesterday, a man presented a pistol at the carriage window, which flashed in the pan; we were so taken by surprise that we had not time to escape, so i knew what was hanging over me, and was determined to expose no life but my own." the young maid of honour, in speaking warmly of the queen's courage and unselfishness, shrewdly reminds her readers that had three ladies driven rapidly by instead of one, the would-be assassin might have been bewildered and uncertain in his aim. the queen and the prince had driven in the direction of hampstead in "superb weather," with "hosts of people on foot" around them--a strange contrast in their ease and tranquillity to the beating hearts and watchful eyes in the royal carriage. there had been no misadventure and nothing suspicious observed, though every turn, almost every face was scanned, till on the way home, between the green park and the garden wall, at the same spot, though on the opposite side from where oxford had stood two years before, a shot was fired about five paces off. the prince immediately recognised the man who had aimed at him the day before, "a little swarthy ill-looking rascal," who had been already seized, though too late to stop the shot, by a policeman close at hand. when the worst was over without harm done, "we felt as if a load had been taken off our hearts," wrote the prince, "and we thanked the almighty for having preserved us a second time from so great a danger." the prince added, "uncle mensdorff [footnote: the duchess of kent's eldest sister married a private gentleman, originally a french _emigre_, afterwards a distinguished officer in the austrian service. his sons were prince albert's early companions and intimate friends.] and mamma were driving close behind us. the duchess bernhard of weimar was on horseback--not sixty paces from us." it was said that when the queen arrived at the palace and met the duchess of kent, whom count mensdorff had conducted thither, the poor mother was deeply affected and fell upon her daughter's neck with a flood of tears, "while the queen endeavoured to reassure her with cheerful words and affectionate caresses." indeed the queen was greatly relieved, and in the reaction she recovered her spirits. she wrote to the king of the belgians the day afterwards, "i was really not at all frightened, and feel very proud at dear uncle mensdorff calling me 'very courageous,' which i shall ever remember with peculiar pride, coming from so distinguished an officer as he is." we may mention that the general impression made on the public by the queen's bearing under these treacherous attacks was that of her utter fearlessness and strength of nerve; a corresponding idea, which we think quite mistaken, was that the prince showed himself the more nervous of the two. a great crowd assembled to cheer the queen when she drove out on the following day. "one long shout of hurrahs," with waving of hats and handkerchiefs, greeted her. she bowed and smiled and appeared calm and collected, though somewhat flushed; but when she came back from what is described as like a triumphal progress, it was observed that, in spite of her gratification, she looked pale and not so well as she had done on the day preceding the attack. the bravest heart in a woman's breast could not surmount unmoved such an ordeal; she was at the italian opera the same evening, however, and heard the national anthem interrupted at every line by bursts of cheering. in this case, as in the other, the offender was a mere lad, little over twenty, named john francis. he was the son of a stage-carpenter, and had himself been a young carpenter who had led an irregular life, and been guilty of dishonesty. he behaved at first with much coolness and indifference, jeering at the magistrates. francis was tried in the month of june for high treason, and sentenced to death, when his bluster ceased, and he fell back in a fainting fit in the arms of the turnkey. the queen was exceedingly anxious that the sentence should not be executed, though "fully conscious of the encouragement to similar attempts--which might follow from such leniency," and the sentence of death was commuted to banishment for life. on the very day after the commutation of the sentence had been announced, sunday, the rd of july, the queen was again fired at as she sat by the side of her uncle, king leopold, on her way to the chapel royal, st. james's. the pistol missed fire, and the man who presented it, a hunchback, was seized by a boy of sixteen called dasset. so ridiculous did the group seem, that the very policemen pushed away both captor and captive as actors in a bad practical joke. then the boy dasset, who retained the pistol, was in danger of being taken up as the real culprit, trying to throw the blame upon another. at last several witnesses proved the true state of the case. the pistol was discovered to contain only powder, paper, and some bits of a tobacco-pipe rammed together. on examination it was found that the hunchback, another miserable lad named bean, was a chemist's assistant, who had written a letter to his father declaring that he "would never see him again, as he intended doing something which was not dishonest, but desperate." the queen was not aware of bean's attempt till she came back from st. james's, "when she betrayed no alarm, but said she had expected a repetition of the attempts on her life, so long as the law remained unaltered by which they could be dealt with only as acts of high treason." "sir robert peel hurried up from cambridge on hearing what had occurred, to consult with the prince as to the steps to be taken. during this interview her majesty entered the room, when the minister, in public so cold and self-controlled, in reality so full of genuine feeling, out of his very manliness, was unable to control his emotion, and burst into tears;" [footnote: "life of the prince consort"] an honourable sequel to the difficulties and misunderstanding which had heralded the premier's entrance on office. it was, indeed, high time that a suitable provision should be made to meet what seemed likely to be a new and base abuse of royal clemency. in the meantime, prince albert's fair and fearless treatment of the whole matter was very remarkable. he wrote that he could imagine the circumstance of bean's attempt being made the day after francis received his pardon would excite much surprise in germany. but the prince was satisfied that bean's letter making known his intention had been written days before. prince albert was convinced that, as the law then stood, francis's execution, notwithstanding the verdict of the jury, would have been nothing less than a judicial murder, as it was essential that the act should be committed with intent to kill or wound, and in francis's case this, to all appearance, was not the fact; at least it was open to grave doubt. there was no proof that francis's pistol was loaded. "in this calm and wise way," observes mr. justin m'carthy, "did the husband of the queen, who had always shared with her whatever of danger there might be in the attempts, argue as to the manner in which they ought to be dealt with." the historian adds, "the ambition which moved most or all the miscreants who thus disturbed the queen and the country, was that of the mountebank rather than the assassin." it merited contempt no less than severity. a bill was brought forward on the th of july, and passed on the th, making such attacks punishable, as high misdemeanours, by transportation for seven years, or imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three years; the culprit to be publicly or privately whipped as often and in such manner and form as the court shall direct, not exceeding thrice. bean was tried by this law on the th of august, and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. one of the attractions of the season was the reappearance of rachel, ravishing all hearts by her acting of camille in _les horaces_, and winning ovations of every kind up to roses dropped from the queen's bouquet. mendelssohn was also in london, and went to buckingham palace. he has left a charming account of one of his visits in a letter to his mother. "i must tell you," he writes, "all the details of my last visit to buckingham palace.... it is, as g. says, the one really pleasant and thoroughly comfortable english house where one feels _a son aise_. of course i do know a few others, but yet on the whole i agree with him. joking apart, prince albert had asked me to go to him on saturday at two o'clock, so that i might try his organ before i left england; i found him alone, and as we were talking away, the queen came in, also alone, in a simple morning-dress. she said she was obliged to leave for claremont in an hour, and then, suddenly interrupting herself, exclaimed, 'but, goodness, what a confusion!' for the wind had littered the whole room, and even the pedals of the organ (which, by the way, made a very pretty picture in the room), with leaves of music from a large portfolio that lay open. as she spoke she knelt down, and began picking up the music; prince albert helped, and i too was not idle. then prince albert proceeded to explain the stops to me, and she said that she would meanwhile put things straight. "i begged that the prince would first play me something, so that, as i said, i might boast about it in germany. he played a chorale by heart, with the pedals, so charmingly, and clearly, and correctly, that it would have done credit to any professional; and the queen, having finished her work, came and sat by him and listened, and looked pleased. then it was my turn, and i began my chorus from _st. paul_, "how lovely are the messengers." before i got to the end of the first verse they both joined in the chorus, and all the time prince albert managed the stops for me so cleverly--first a flute, at the _forte_ the great organ, at the d major part the whole register, then he made a lovely _diminuendo_ with the stops, and so on to the end of the piece, and all by heart--that i was really quite enchanted. then the young prince of gotha came in, and there was more chatting; and the queen asked if i had written any new songs, and said she was very fond of singing my published ones. 'you should sing one to him,' said prince albert, and after a little begging she said she would try the 'fruhlingslied' in b flat. 'if it is still here,' she added, 'for all my music is packed up for claremont.' prince albert went to look for it, but came back saying it was already packed. 'but one might, perhaps, unpack it,' said i. 'we must send for lady ----,' she said (i did not catch the name). so the bell was rung, and the servants were sent after it, but without success; and at last the queen went herself, and while she was gone, prince albert said to me, 'she begs you will accept this present as a remembrance,' and gave me a little case with a beautiful ring, on which is engraved 'v. r., .' "then the queen came back and said, ' lady ---- is gone, and has taken all my things with her. it really is most annoying.' you can't think how that amused me. i then begged that i might not be made to suffer for the accident, and hoped she would sing another song. after some consultation with her husband, he said, 'she will sing you something of gluck's.' meantime, the princess of gotha had come in, and we five proceeded through various corridors and rooms to the queen's sitting-room. the duchess of kent came in too, and while they were all talking, i rummaged about amongst the music, and soon discovered my first set of songs; so, of course, i begged her rather to sing one of those than the gluck, to which she very kindly consented; and which did she choose? '_schoner und schoner schmuck sich_,' sang it quite charmingly, in strict time and tune, and with very good execution. only in the line '_der prosa lasten und muh_,' where it goes down to d, and then comes up again by semi-tones, she sang d sharp each time, and as i gave her the note the two first times, the last time she sang d, where it ought to have been d sharp. but with the exception of this little mistake it was really charming, and the last long g i have never heard better, or purer, or more natural, from any amateur. then i was obliged to confess that fanny had written the song (which i found very hard; but pride must have a fall), and to beg her to sing one of my own also. 'if i would give her plenty of help she would gladly try,' she said, and then she sang '_pilgerspruch_,' '_lass dich nur_,' really quite faultlessly, and with charming feeling and expression. i thought to myself, one must not pay too many compliments on such an occasion, so i merely thanked her a great many times, upon which she said. 'oh, if only i had not been so frightened! generally i have such long breath.' then i praised her heartily, and with the best conscience in the world; for just that part with the long c at the close, she had done so well, taking it and the three notes next to it all in the same breath, as one seldom hears it done, and therefore it amused me doubly that she herself should have begun about it.' "after this prince albert sang the '_arndle-lied_,' '_es ist ein schnitter_,' and then he said i must play him something before i went, and gave me as themes the chorale which he had played on the organ, and the song he had just sung. if everything had gone as usual i ought to have improvised dreadfully badly, for it is almost always so with me when i want it to go well, and then i should have gone away vexed with the whole morning. but just as if i were to keep nothing but the pleasantest, most charming recollection of it, i never improvised better; i was in the best mood for it, and played a long time, and enjoyed it myself so much that, besides the two themes, i brought in the songs that the queen had sung quite naturally; and it all went off so easily, that i would gladly not have stopped; and they followed me with so much intelligence and attention, that i felt more at my ease than i ever did in improvising to an audience. the queen said several times she hoped i would soon come to england again, and pay them a visit, and then i took leave; and down below i saw the beautiful carriages waiting, with their scarlet outriders, and in a quarter of an hour the flag was lowered, and the _court circular_ announced, 'her majesty left the palace at twenty minutes past three.'" the queen and the prince were enjoying the company of prince albert's brother, prince ernest, the hereditary prince of saxe-coburg gotha, and his newly-wedded wife, who were both with the court during its short stay at _claremont_. there the news reached her majesty of the sad and sudden death of the duc d'orleans, the eldest son of louis philippe, and the favourite brother of the queen of the belgians. the duc d'orleans had been with the king and queen of france at neuilly, from which he was returning in order to join the duchesse d'orleans at plombieres, when the horses in his carriage started off near the porte maillot. fearing that he should be overturned the prince rashly leaped out, when his spurs and his sword caught in his cloak and helped to throw him to the ground with great violence. the result was concussion of the brain, from which he died within three hours, never recovering consciousness. the duc d'orleans was a young man of great promise, and his death was not only a source of deep distress to all connected with him, it was in the end, so far as men can judge, fatal to the political interests of his family. many of us can recollect still something of the agonised prayer of the poor mother by the dying prince, "my god, take me, but save my child!" and the cry of the bereaved father, the first time he addressed the chamber afterwards, when he broke down and could utter nothing save the passionate lamentation of david of old, "my son, my son!" the queen and prince albert were doubly and trebly allied to the orleans family by the marriages of the queen of the belgians, the duc de nemours, and later of princess clementine, to three members of the coburg family--the uncle and two of the cousins of queen victoria and prince albert. they felt much for the unhappy family in their terrible bereavement. the queen grieved especially for her particular friend, queen louise, and for the young widow, a cultured, intellectual german princess, with her health already broken. "my poor dearest louise, how my heart bleeds for her. i know how she loved poor chartres, [footnote: the duc de chartres was the earlier title of the duc d'orleans, which he bore when his father was still duc d'orleans, before he became king of france as "louis philippe." apparently the son continued "chartres" to his intimate friends.] and deservedly, for he was so noble and good. all our anxiety now is to hear how poor dear frail helene (the duchesse d'orleans) has borne this too dreadful loss. she loved him so, and he was so devoted to her." during the night of the th of july this year, london was visited by the most violent thunderstorm which had been experienced for many summers. it lasted for several hours. the fine spire of the church of st. martin-in-the-fields was struck by the lightning and practically destroyed. on the th of august the queen prorogued parliament, when the prince and princess of saxe-coburg gotha witnessed the interesting ceremony, occupying chairs near the chair of state, kept vacant for the prince of wales to the right of the queen, while prince albert sat in the chair to her left. the prince of wales was still at a considerable distance from the occupancy of that chair. even as we see him here, in a copy of mrs. thornycroft's graceful statue, he is in the character of a shepherd lad, like david of old, and not in that of the heir-apparent to the throne. at the close of this season, the queen's old friend and servant baroness lehzen withdrew from court service and retired to germany to end her days in her native country, in the company of a sister. lady bloomfield saw the baroness lehzen in her home at buckeburg, within a day's journey of hanover, a few years subsequently. "she resided with her sister in a comfortable small house, where she seemed perfectly contented and happy. she was as much devoted to the queen as ever, and her rooms were filled with pictures and prints of her majesty." the prince and princess of buckeburg were very kind to her, and she had as much society as she liked or desired. what a change from the great monarchy of england to the tiny princedom of buckeburg! but the baroness was a german, and could reconcile the two ideas in her mind. she was also an ageing woman, to whom the rest and freedom of domestic life were sweet and the return to the customs of her youth not unacceptable.. chapter xiv. the queen's first visit to scotland. the queen had never been abroad. it was still well-nigh an unconstitutional step for a sovereign of england to claim the privilege, enjoyed by so many english subjects, of a foreign tour, let it be ever so short. however, this year the proposal of a visit to her uncle king leopold at brussels, where several members of louis philippe's family were to have met her, was made. but the lamentable death of the duc d'orleans put an end for the present to the project. neither were affairs at home in so flourishing a condition as to encourage any great departure from ordinary rule and precedent. the manufacturing districts were in a most unsettled state. the perpetually recurring riots--so long as the corn laws stood in the way of a sure and abundant supply of grain, which meant cheap bread, and as the people believed prosperous trade--had broken out afresh in lancashire, yorkshire, and the midland counties. the aspect of manchester alone became so threatening, that all the soldiers who could be spared from london, including a regiment of the guards, were dispatched to the north of england. happily, the disturbances were quelled, though not without bloodshed; and it was resolved, notwithstanding the fact that similar rioting had taken place in lanarkshire, the queen and the prince should pay their first visit to scotland, a country within her dominions, but different in physical features and history from the land in which she had been born and bred. how much the royal visitors were gratified, has been amply shown; but to realise what the queen's visit was to the scotch people, it is necessary to go back to the nation's loyalty and to the circumstance that since the exile of the stewarts, nay, since the days when james vi. left his ancient capital to assume the crown of england, the monarchs had shown their faces rarely in the north; while in the cases of charles i. and charles ii. there had been so much of self-interest and compulsion in their presence as to rob it of its grace. george iv. had come and gone certainly, but though he was duly welcomed, it was difficult even for his most zealous supporters to be enthusiastic about him. at the proposed arrival of the young queen, who was well worthy of the most ardent devotion, the "leal" heart of scotland swelled with glad anticipation. the country had its troubles like the rest of the world. in addition to vexed questions between perplexed mill-masters, shipbuilders, and mine-owners on the one side, and on the other, penniless mechanics and pitmen, the crisis which more than all others rent the covenanting church, so dear to the descendants of the old whigs, was close at hand. all was forgotten for the hour in the strange resemblance which exists between one strain of the character of the staid scotch, and a vein in the nature of the impulsive french, two nations that used to be trusty allies. there is, indeed, a bond to unite "caledonia stern and wild" and "the sunny land of france;" a weft of passionate poetry crosses alike the woof of the simple cunning of the highlander and the slow canniness of the lowlander. scotland as well as france has been the chosen home of chivalry, the garden of romance. the news that the queen and the prince were coming, travelled with the rapidity of the ancient clansmen's fiery cross from the wan waters of the south to the stormy friths of the north, and kindled into a blaze the latent fire in every soul. the fields, the pastures, the quarries, the shootings, were all very well, and the kirk was still better; but the queen was at the door--the queen who represented alike queen mary, king jamie--all the king jamies,--king william, the good friend of religious liberty, and of "cardinal carstairs," "bonnie prince charlie," at once pitied and condemned, and king george, "honest man!" not unfair or unmerciful, whatever his minister walpole might advise. the queen was, above all, herself the flower of her race. who would not hurry to meet and greet her, to give her the warmest reception? all the traditions, all the instincts of the people thrilled and impelled them. multitudes formed of broadly and picturesquely contrasting elements flocked to edinburgh to hail her majesty's landing. manifold preparations were made for her entrance into the capital, the one regret being that she was not to dwell in her own beautiful palace of holyrood--unoccupied by royal tenants since the last french exiles, charles x., the dauphin and the dauphiness (the daughter of the temple), and the duchesse de berri, with her two children, the young duc de bourdeaux and his sister, found a brief refuge within its walls. the queen, like her uncle george iv., was to be in the first place the guest of the duke of buccleugh at dalkeith palace. her majesty and the prince left windsor at five o'clock on the morning of the th august, , and after journeying to london and woolwich, embarked on board the _royal george_ yacht under a heavy shower of rain. the yacht was attended by a squadron of nine vessels, the trinity house steamer, and a packet, besides being followed for some distance, in spite of the unpropitious weather, by innumerable little pleasure-boats. the squadron was both for safety and convenience; certain vessels conveyed the ladies and gentlemen of the suite, and one took the two dogs, the chosen companions of their master and mistress, "eos," and another four-footed favourite, "cairnach." [footnote: sir edwin landseer painted these two dogs for the queen, "eos" with the princess royal in , "eos" alone, a sketch for a large picture in , "cairnach" in . in , the great animal painter had painted for her majesty "little dash" along with two other dogs, and "lorey," a pet parrot belonging to the duchess of kent.] the voyage was both tedious and trying, the sea was rough, and the royal voyagers were ill. on the morning of the st they were only coasting northumberland, when the queen saw the fern islands, where grace darling's lighthouse and her heroic story were still things of yesterday. before her majesty's return to england, she heard what she had not known at the time, that the brave girl had died within twenty-four hours of the royal yacht's passing the lighthouse station. the queens first remark on the scotch coast, though it happened to be the comparatively tame east coast, was "very beautiful--so dark, rocky, bold, and wild--totally unlike our coast." all her observations had the naive freshness and sympathetic willingness to be pleased, of an unexhausted, unvitiated mind. she noticed everything, and was gratified by details which would have signified nothing to a sated, jaded nature, or, if they had made an impression, would only have called forth more weariness, varied by contemptuous criticism. the longer light in the north, that dear summer gloaming which is neither night nor day, but borrows something from both--from the silence and solemn mystery of the latter, and from the clear serenity of the former--a leisure time which is associated from youth to age with a host of happy, tender associations; the pipes playing in one of the fishing-boats; the reel danced on board an attendant steamer; the bonfires on the coast--nothing was too trivial to escape the interested watcher, or was lost upon her, queen though she was. the anchor of the royal yacht was let down in leith roads at midnight. at seven o'clock on the morning of the st of september the queen saw before her the good town of leith, where queen mary had landed from france; and in the background, edinburgh half veiled in an autumn fog, lying at the foot of its semicircle of hills--the grim couchant lion of arthur's seat; salisbury crags, grey and beetling; the heatherly slopes of the pentlands in the distance. a little after eight her majesty landed at granton pier, amidst the cheers of her scotch subjects. the duke of buccleugh, whose public-spirited work the pier was, stood there to receive his sovereign, when she put her foot on shore, as he had already been on board the yacht to greet her arrival in what was once called scotland water. when queen mary landed at leith, it took her more than one day, if we remember rightly, to make a slow progress to her capital. things are done faster in the nineteenth century; a few minutes by railway now separate granton from edinburgh. but the edinburgh and granton railway did not exist in . her majesty and the prince drove in a barouche, followed by the ladies and gentlemen of her suite in other carriages, and escorted by the duke of buccleugh and several gentlemen on horseback, to the ancient city of her stewart ancestry. an unfortunate misconception robbed the occasion of the dignified ceremony and the exhibition of fervent personal attachment which had awaited it. all the previous day the authorities and the crowd had been on the look-out for the great event, and in the delay had passed the time quite happily in watching the preparations, and the decorations and devices for the coming illumination. the lord provost, sir james forrest, had taken the precaution to send a carriageful of bailies over night, or by dawn of day, to catch the first sign of the queen's landing, and drive with it, post-haste, to the chief magistrate, who with his fellows was to be stationed at the barrier erected in the high street, to present the keys of the city to the sovereign claiming admittance. but whether the bailies blundered over their instructions or slept at their post, or lost their way, no warning of the queen's approach reached the provost and his satellites in time. they were calm in the confident persuasion that the queen would not arrive till noon--at the soonest--a persuasion which was based on the conviction that the event was too great to be hurried over, and which left out of sight the consideration of the disagreeable sea-voyage, and the natural desire to be on solid ground, and at rest, on the part of the travel-tossed voyagers. "we both felt dreadfully tired and giddy," her majesty wrote of herself and the prince when they reached dalkeith. the result was that these gentlemen in office were seated at breakfast as usual, or were engaged in getting rid betimes of some of the numerous engagements which beset busy men on a busy day, when the cry arose that the queen was there, in the midst of them, with nobody to meet her, no silver keys on a velvet cushion to be respectfully offered and graciously returned. the ancient institution of the royal archer guard, one of the chief glories of the situation, was only straggling by twos and threes to its muster-ground. the celtic society was in a similar plight, headed in default of the duke of argyle by the marquis of lorn, a golden-haired stripling in a satin kilt of the campbell set, who looked all the slighter and more youthful, with more dainty calves in his silken hose, because of the big burly chieftains--islay conspicuous among them--whom he led. the stands, the windows, the very grand old streets were half empty as yet, in the raw september morning. no king or queen had visited edinburgh for a score of years, and when at last the queen of hearts did come, the citizens were found napping--a sore mortification with which her majesty deals very gently in her journal, scarcely alluding to the inopportune accident. in truth only a moiety of early risers--those mostly country folks who had trooped into the town--restless youthful spirits, ardent holiday-makers, who could not find any holiday too long--or gallant devoted innocent queen-worshippers, sleepless with the thought that the queen was so near and might already be stirring--were abroad and intent on what was passing, looking at the vacant places, speculating on how they would be choke full in a couple of hours, amusing themselves easily with the idlest trifles, by way of whetting the appetite for the great sight, which they were to remember all their lives. these spectators were startled by seeing a gentleman, said afterwards to have been lord john scott, the popular but somewhat madcap brother of the duke of. buccleugh, gallop up the street bareheaded, waving his hat above his head and shouting "the queen, the queen!" the listeners looked at each other and laughed. how well the hoax was gone about; but who would presume to play such a trick, it was too much even from lord john--did not somebody say it was lord john? on the line of route too! what were the police thinking of? then swift corroboration followed, in the train of carriages rolling up, the first attended by a few of the royal archers, in their picturesque costumes of green and gold, each with his bow in one hand and his arrows in his belt. but the calmest had his equanimity disturbed by the consciousness that the main body of his comrades, all noblemen and gentlemen of scotland, were running pell-mell behind, in a desperate effort to form into rank and march in due order. one eager confused glance, one long-drawn breath, one vehement heart-throb for her who was the centre of all, and the disordered pageant had swept past. the queen wrote in her journal that the duke of roxburgh and lord elcho were the members of the body guard on her side of the carriage, and that lord elcho, whom she did not know at the time, pointed out the various monuments and places of interest. both the queen and prince albert were much struck by the beautiful town, the massive stone houses, the steep high street, the tall buildings, "and the castle on the grand rock in the middle of the town, and arthur's seat in the background, a splendid spectacle." on the country road to dalkeith, the cottages built of stone, the walls ("dry stane dykes") instead of fences, the old women in their close caps ("sou-backed mutches"), the girls and children of the working classes, with flowing hair, often red, and bare feet, all the little individual traits, which impress us on our first visit to a foreign country, were carefully noted down. the duke and duchess of buccleugh proved a noble host and hostess, but they could provide no such cicerone for the queen as was furnished for george iv., when sir walter scott showed him edinburgh, and for the governor of the netherlands, when rubens introduced him to antwerp. neither did any peer or chief appear on the occasion of the queen's visit, with such a telling accompaniment as that ruinous "tail" of wild highlanders, attached to glengarry, when he waited on the king. on the "rest day," which succeeded that of her majesty's arrival at dalkeith, she had three fresh experiences, chronicled in her journal. she tasted oatmeal porridge, which she thought "very good," and "finnan haddies," of which she gave no opinion, and she was stopped and turned back in her drive by "a scotch mist." indeed, not all the queen's proverbial good luck in the matter could now or at any future time greatly modify the bane of open-air enjoyment amidst the beautiful scenery of scotland--the exceedingly variable, even inclement, weather which may be met with at all seasons. saturday, the rd of september, afforded abundant compensation for all that had been missed on the queen's entrance into edinburgh. she paid an announced and formal visit from dalkeith palace to the town, in order to accomplish the balked ceremony of the presentation of the keys and to see the castle on its historic rock. by holyrood chapel and holyrood palace, which the queen called "a royal-looking old place," but where she did not tarry now, because there was fever in the neighbourhood; up the old world cannon-gate, and the high street, where the setouns and the leslies had their brawl, and the jacobites went with white cockades in their cocked hats and white roses at their breasts, braving the fire of the castle, to pay homage to prince charlie; on to the barrier. edinburgh was wide awake this time. the streets were densely crowded, every window, high and low, in the tall grey houses framed a galaxy of faces, stands had been erected, and platforms thrown out wherever stand and platform could find space. the very "leads" of the public buildings bore their burden of sightseers. the lord provost and his bailies stood ready, and the queen came wearing the royal stewart tartan, "a' fine colours but nane o' them blue," to show that she was akin to the surroundings. she heard and replied to the speech made to her by the representative of the old burghers, and gave him back the token of his rule. she reached the castle, after having passed the houses of knox and the earl of moray. she saw the scotch regalia, and heard anew how it had once been saved by a minister's brave wife, who carried it hidden in a bundle of yarn in her lap, out of the northern castle, which was in the hands of the enemy; and how it had been concealed again--only too well, forgotten in the course of a generation or two, and actually lost sight of for a hundred years. she entered the room, "such a very, very small room," she wrote, in her wonder at the rude and scanty accommodation of those days, in which james vi. was born. no doubt "mons meg," the old flemish cannon and grim darling of the fortress, was presented to her. but what seems to have moved her most was the magnificent view, which included the rich lothians and the silver shield of the frith, and stretched, but only, when the weather was fine enough, in the direction of stirlingshire, to the round-backed ochils and the blue giants, the grampians, while at her feet lay the green gardens of princes street and the handsome street itself--once the nor' loch and the burgh muir--allan ramsay's house and heriot's hospital, or "wark," the princely gift of the worthy jeweller to his native town. a little incident, the motive of which was unknown to her majesty, occurred on her drive back to dalkeith. an enthusiastic active young fellow, who had seen the presentation of the keys, hurried out the length of a mile on the country road to dalkeith, and choosing a solitary point, stationed himself on the summit of a wall, where he was the only watcher, and awaited the return of the carriages. the special phaeton drove up with the young couple, talking and laughing together in the freedom of their privacy. the single spectator took off his hat at the risk of losing his precarious footing, and in respectful silence, bowed, or "louted low"--another difficult proceeding under the circumstances. prince albert, who was sitting with his arms crossed on his breast, treated the demonstration as not meant for him. the smiling queen inclined her head, and the eager lad had what he sought, a mark of her recognition given to him alone. to the day of his death no more loyal heart beat for his queen throughout her wide dominions. the queen drove to leith on another day, and she and the prince were still more charmed with the view, which he called "fairylike." after the fashion of most strangers, the travellers had their attention attracted by the newhaven fish-wives, who offered a curious contrast to the rest of the population. their flemish origin announced itself, for her majesty pronounced them "very clean and very _dutch_-looking with their white caps and bright-coloured petticoats." it was about this time that a great author made them all his own, by "choosing a fit representative for his heroine, and describing a fisherman's marriage on the island of inchcolm. on sunday, dean kamsay, whose memory is so linked with scotch stories, read prayers. on monday, the queen held a drawing-room at dalkeith palace. it was an antiquarian question whether there had been another drawing-room since the union. well might the stay-at-home ladies of scotland plume themselves. afterwards, her majesty received addresses from the magistrates of edinburgh, the scotch church, and universities. the queen's stay at dalkeith was varied by drives about the beautiful grounds on the two esks, and short visits to neighbouring country seats, characteristic and interesting, dalmeny, dalhousie, &c. &c. in the evening, it is said, scotch music was frequently given for her majesty's delectation, and that among the songs were some of the satires and parodies poured forth on the unfortunate lord provost and bailies, who had robbed the town of the full glory of the queen's arrival. the cleverest of these was an adaptation of an old jacobite ditty, itself a cutting satire which a hundred years before had taunted the georgian general, sir john cope, with the excess of caution that led him to shun an engagement, withdraw his forces over night, and leave the country open to the pretender to march southward. the mocking verses thus challenged the defaulter-- hey! johnnie cope, are ye waukin' yet? or are your drums a-beatin' yet? now, with a slight variation on the words the measure ran-- hey! jamie forrest, are ye waukin' yet? or are your bailies snorin' yet? then, after proceeding to run over the temptations which might he supposed to have overmastered the party, the writer dwelt with emphasis on a favourite breakfast dish in scotland-- for kipper it is savoury food, sae early in the mornin'. common rumour would have it that lord john scott, whose good qualities included a fine voice and a love for scotch songs, to which his wife contributed at least one exquisite ballad, sang this squib to her majesty. an improvement on the story, which is at least strictly in keeping with the prince's character, added, that when another song was suggested, and the "flowers of the forest" mentioned, prince albert, unacquainted with the song in question, and misled by a word in the title, exclaimed kindly, "no, no; let the poor man alone, he has had enough of this sort of thing." from dalkeith the queen and the prince started for the highlands, on a bright, clear, cold, frosty morning. they crossed the forth and landed at queen's ferry, which bore its name from another queen when she was going on a very different errand; for there it is said the fugitive margaret, the sister of the atheling, after she had been wrecked in scotland water, landed and took her way on foot to dunfermline to ask grace of malcolm cean mohr, who made her his wife. queen victoria only saw dunfermline and the abbey which holds the dust of king robert the bruce from a distance, as she journeyed by kinross and loch leven, getting a nearer glimpse of queen mary's island prison, to perthshire. at dupplin the nd highlanders, in their kilts, were stationed appropriately. perth, with its fair "inches" lying on the brimming tay, in the shadow of the wooded hills of kinnoul and moncrieff, delighted the royal strangers, and reminded prince albert of basle. the old palace of scone, under the guardianship of lord mansfield, was the restingplace for the night. next day the queen saw the mound where the early kings of scotland were crowned. a sort of ancient royal visitors' book was brought out from perth to her majesty, and the queen and the prince were requested to write their names in it. the last names written were those of james vi. and charles i. her majesty and prince albert gave their mottoes as well as their names. beneath her signature she wrote, "_dieu et mon droit_;" beneath his he wrote, "_treu und fest._" from scone the party proceeded to dunkeld, passing through birnam pass, the first of the three "gates," into the highlands, where the prophecy against macbeth was fulfilled, and entered what is emphatically "the country" by the lowest spur of the mighty grampians. the romantic, richly-wooded beauty of dunkeld was increased by a picturesque camp of athole highlanders, to the number of a thousand men, with their piper in attendance. they had been called out for her majesty's benefit by the late duke of athole, then lord glenlyon, who was suffering from temporary blindness, so that he had to be led about by lady glenlyon, his wife. at dunkeld the queen lunched, and walked down the ranks of highland soldiers. the piper played, and a reel and the ancient sword-dance, over crossed swords--the nimble dancer avoiding all contact with the naked blades--were danced. the whole scene--royal guests, noble men and women, stalwart clansmen in their waving dusky tartans--must have been very animated and striking in the lovely autumn setting of the mountains when the ling was red, the rowan berries hung like clusters of coral over the brown burns, and a field of oats here and there came out like a patch of gold among the heather. to put the finishing-touch to the picture, the grey tower of gawin douglas's cathedral, still and solemn, kept watch over the tomb of the wolf of badenoch. but dunkeld was not the queen's destination. she was going still farther into the highlands. she left the mountains of craig-y-barns and craig-vinean behind her, and travelled on by aberfeldy to taymouth, the noble seat of the marquis of breadalbane. lord glenlyon's highlanders gave place to lord breadalbane's, the murrays, in their particular set of tartan with their juniper badge, to the campbells and the menzies, in their dark green and red and white kilts, with the tufts of bog myrtle and ash in their bonnets. the pipers were multiplied, and a company of the nd highlanders replaced the nd, in kilts like their neighbours. "the firing of the guns," wrote the queen, "the cheering of the great crowd, the picturesqueness of the dresses, the beauty of the surrounding country with its rich background of wooded hills, altogether formed one of the finest scenes imaginable. it seemed as if a great chieftain in olden feudal times was receiving his sovereign. it was princely and romantic." such a "sovereign" of such a "chief" is the crowned lady, every inch a queen, represented in durham's bust reproduced in the illustration. lord breadalbane was giving his queen a royal welcome. lady breadalbane, a childless wife, had been one of the beautiful haddington baillies, descendants of grizel baillie; she was suffering from wasting sickness, and her beauty, still remarkable, was "as that of the dead." some of the flower of the scotch nobility were assembled in the house to meet the queen and the prince--members of the families of buccleugh, sutherland, abercorn, roxburgh, kinnoul, lauderdale &c. &c. the gothic dining-room was dined in for the first time; the queen was the earliest occupant of her suite of rooms. after dinner, the gardens were illuminated, the hills were crowned with bonfires, and highlanders danced reels to the sound of the pipes by torchlight in front of the house. "it had a wild and very gay effect." the whole life, with its environment, was like a revelation of new possibilities to the young english queen who had never been out of england before. it was at the most propitious moment that she made her first acquaintance with the scotch highlands which she has learned to love so well; she enjoyed everything with the keen sense of novelty and the buoyance of unquenched spirits. looking back upon it all, long afterwards, she wrote with simple pathos, "albert and i were then only twenty-three, young and happy." at taymouth there was shooting for the prince; and there was much pleasant driving, walking, and sketching for the queen--with the drives walks, and sketches unlike anything that she had been accustomed to previously. the weather was not always favourable; the sport was not always so fortunate as on the first day, when the prince shot nineteen roe-deer, several hares and pheasants, three brace of grouse, and wounded a capereailzie, which was afterwards brought in; but the travellers made the best of everything and became "quite fond of the bagpipes," which were played in perfection at breakfast, at luncheon, whenever the royal pair went out and in, and before and during dinner. one evening there was a ball for the benefit of the county people, at which the queen danced a quadrille with lord breadalbane; prince albert and the duchess of buccleugh being the _vis-a-vis_. on september th, a fine morning, the queen left taymouth. she was rowed up loch tay, past ben lawers with benmore in the distance. the pipers played at intervals, the boatmen sang gaelic songs, and the representative of macdougal of lorn steered. at auchmore, where the party lunched, they were rejoined by the highland guard. as her majesty drove round by glen dochart and glen ogle, the latter reminded her of the fatal kyber pass with which her thoughts had been busy in the beginning of the year. by the time loch earn was reached, the fine weather had changed to rain. by glenartney and duneira, earthquake-haunted comrie, ochtertyre, where grows "the aik," and crieff with the "knock," on which the last scotch witch was burnt, the travellers journeyed to drummond castle, belonging to lady willoughby d'eresby, where her majesty was to make her next stay. lady willoughby was a chieftainess in her own right, the heiress of the old drummonds, earls of perth. lord willoughby was the representative of the lucky english burrells and the welsh gwydyrs, one of whom had married a maid of honour to catharine of aragon, and come to grief, because, unlike her royal mistress, she and her husband adopted the protestant religion, and fell into dire disgrace in the reign of bloody mary. the drummonds. like the murrays and unlike the campbells, had been staunch jacobites. the mother of the first and last duke of perth caused the old castle to be blown up after her two sons had joined the rebellion in the ' , lest the keep should fall into the hands of king george's soldiers. [footnote: she is said to have been the heroine of the popular jacobite song, "when the king comes over the water."] the queen alludes in her journal to the steep ascent to the castle. the long narrow avenue leads up by the side of the fine castle rock, tufted with wild strawberries, ferns, and heather, to the courtyard. her majesty also mentions the old terraced garden; "like an old french garden," or like such an italian garden as was a favourite model for the gardens of its day. the willoughby highlanders, wearing the drummond tartan and the holly badge, were now the queen's guard. the lady of the castle and her daughters wore the drummond tartan and the holly when they met the queen. it was at drummond castle that prince albert made his first attempt at deer-stalking, under the able guidance of campbell of moonzie. the prince's description of the sport was that it was "one of the most interesting of pursuits," in which the sportsman, clad in grey, in order to remain unseen, had to keep under the hill, beyond the possibility of scent, and crawl on hands and knees to approach his prey. there was a story told at the time of the prince and campbell of moonzie. prince albert had arranged to return at a particular hour to drive with the queen. moonzie, who was the most ardent and agile deer-stalker in the neighbourhood, had got into the swing of the sport, till then unsuccessful, when, as the men lay crouching among the heather, waiting intently for the herd expected to come that way, the prince said it was, time to return. "but the deer, your royal highness," faltered the highlander, looking aghast, and speaking in the whisper which the exigencies of the case required. the prince explained that the queen expected him. it is to be feared the highlander, in the excitement of the moment, and the marvel that any man--not to say any prince--could give up the sport at such a crisis, suggested that the queen might wait, while the deer certainly would not. "the queen commands," said her true knight, with a quiet smile and a gentle rebuke. in the evening there was company, as at taymouth, some in kilts. campbell of moonzie showed himself as great in reels as in deer-stalking. (ah! the wild glee and nimble grace of a highland reel well danced.) the queen danced one country dance with lord willoughby, while prince albert had the eldest daughter of the house, lady carington, for his partner. the next day the royal party, starting as early as nine on a hazy morning, reached stirling and visited the castle, which figures so largely in the lives of the old stewart kings. the queen saw the room in which james ii. slew douglas, john knox's pulpit, the field of bannockburn, which saved scotland from a conquest, and the knoll or "knowe" where the scotch queens and the court ladies sat to look down on their knights "riding the ring" or playing at the boisterously boyish game of "hurleyhacket." but the autumn mists shut out the "highland hills," already receding in the background, and the links of forth, where the river winds like the meshes of a chain through the fertile lowlands to the sea. soon drummond castle and taymouth, with their lochs and mountains and "plaided array," would be like a wonderful dream, to be often recalled and recounted at windsor and buckingham palace. from stirling the queen travelled back to dalkeith, where she arrived the same night. during her majesty's last day in scotland, which she expressed herself as "very sorry to leave," she drove to roslin chapel, where twenty "barons bold" of the house of st. clair wear shirts of mail for shrouds, then went on to storied hawthornden--a wooded nest hung high over the water, where the poet drummond entertained his english brother-of-the-pen, ben jonson. on thursday, the th of september, the queen embarked in the _trident_, a large steamboat, likely to be swifter than the _royal george_, and surrounded by the flotilla, which, with the exception of one, fell behind, and out of sight in the course of the voyage, sailed for england, past berwick law, tantallon, the ruined keep of the douglases, and the bass, where a gloomy state prison once frowned on a rock, now given up to seagulls and solan geese. the weather was favourable and the moonlight fine. the voyage became enjoyable as the young couple ate a "pleasant little dinner on deck in a tent, made of flags," or paced the deck in the moonlight, or read the "lay of the last minstrel," and played on the piano in the cabin. notwithstanding the good time, winds and waves are not to be trusted, and the roar of the guns which announced that the vessel was at the nore was a welcome awakening at three o'clock on the morning of saturday, the th. the sun smiled through a slight haze on the sail up the river, among the familiar english sights and sounds. the tour, which had delighted the pair, was over; but home, where a loving mother and little children awaited them, was sweet. chapter xv. a marriage, a death, and a birth in the royal family.--a palace home. the rest of the autumn and early winter passed in busy quiet and domestic happiness. in november, the queen honoured the duke of wellington by a second visit to walmer. she was no longer the girl-princess--a solitary figure, but for her devoted mother, she was the queen-wife, taking with her not only her good and noble husband, but her two fine children, to show her old servant, the great soldier of a former generation, who had known her from her childhood, how rich she had become in all womanly blessings. during her stay her majesty went to dover, and included the guardian castle of england, on the chalk cliffs which overlook the coast of france, among the venerable fortresses she had inspected this year. in the meantime, the agitation for free trade was exciting the country in one direction, and o'connell was thundering for a repeal of the union between england and ireland in another. on the th of january, , a public crime was committed which shocked the whole nation and aroused the utmost sympathy of the queen and prince albert. a half-crazy man named macnaughten, who conceived he had received a political injury from sir robert peel, planned to waylay and shoot the premier in downing street. the man mistook his victim, and fatally wounded sir robert's private secretary, mr. drummond, who perished in the room of his chief. the plea of insanity accepted by the jury on the trial was so far set aside by the judges. the descendants of the numerous family of george iii. and queen charlotte, in the third generation, only numbered five princes and princesses. apart from her german kindred, the queen had only four cousins--her nearest english relations after her uncles and aunts. of these the crown prince of hanover, german born but english bred as prince george of cumberland, and long regarded as, in default of princess victoria, the heir to the crown, married at hanover, on the th of february, princess mary of saxe-altenburg. the crown prince was then twenty-four years of age. though he had no longer any prospect of succeeding to the throne of england, he was the heir to a considerable german kingdom. but the terrible misfortune which had cost him his eyesight did not terminate his hard struggle with fate. his father, whose ambition had been built upon his son from his birth, appeared to have more difficulty in submitting to the sore conditions of the prince's loss than the prince himself showed. by a curious self-deception, the king of hanover never acknowledged his son's blindness, but persisted in treating him, and causing others to treat him, as if he saw. the queen of hanover, once a bone of contention at the english court, and queen charlotte's _bete noire_, as the divorced wife of one of her two husbands prior to her third marriage with the duke of cumberland, had died two years before. it was desirable in every light that she should find a successor--a princess--to preside over the widowed court, and be the mother to the future kings of hanover, supposing hanover had remained on the roll of the nations. a fitting choice was made, and the old king took care that the marriage should be celebrated with a splendour worthy of the grandson of a king of england. twenty-four sovereigns and princes, among them the king of prussia, graced the ceremony. the bride wore cloth of silver and a profusion of jewels, and whatever further troubles were in store for the blind bridegroom, whose manly fortitude and uprightness of character--albeit these qualities were not without their alloy of pride and obstinacy--won him the respect of his contemporaries, providence blessed him on that february day with a good, bright, devoted wife. on the th of march, the thames tunnel, which at the time was fondly regarded as the very triumph of modern engineering, and a source of the greatest convenience to london, was opened for foot-passengers by a procession of dignitaries and eminent men, including in their ranks the lord mayor, sir robert inglis, lord lincoln, joseph hume, messrs. babbage and faraday, &c. &c. the party descended by one staircase, shaft, and archway which carried them to wapping, and, ascending again, returned by the other archway to rotherhithe. some of the thames watermen hoisted black flags as a sign that they considered their craft doomed. for the first time since her accession, the queen had been unable, from the state of her health, to open parliament or to hold the usual spring levees. prince albert relieved her of this, as of so many of her burdens, and baron stockmar paid a visit to england, at the prince's urgent request, that the baron's sagacity and experience might be brought to bear on what remained of the arduous task of getting a queen's household into order and directing a royal nursery. the care of the queen's privy purse had been transferred to the prince on the departure of baroness lehzen. these various obligations, together with his rapidly increasing interest in public affairs, and the number of persons who claimed his attention, especially when he was in london, become a serious tax on his strength, a tax which the queen even at this early date feared and sought to guard against. baron stockmar was greatly pleased with the aspect of the family. he proudly proclaimed that the prince was quickly showing what was in him, among other things that he was rich in that very practical talent in which the baron had feared the young man might be deficient; at the same time the old family friend remarked that the prince, in the midst of his industry and happiness, frequently looked "pale, worried, and weary." an instance of prince albert's cordial interest in the welfare of the humbler ranks is to be found in one of bishop wilberforce's letters, dated march, : "after breakfast with the prince, for three-quarters of an hour talked about sunday. told him that i thought 'book of sports' did more than anything to shock the english mind. he urged want of amusements for common people of an innocent class--no gardens. in coburg, with ten thousand inhabitants, thirty-two gardens, frequented by different sorts of people, who meet and associate in them. 'i never heard a real _shout_ in england. all my servants marry because they say it is so dull here, nothing to interest-good living, good wine, but there is nothing to do but turn rogue or marry.'" on the th of april, prince augustus of saxe-coburg was married to princess clementine of france, the youngest daughter of louis philippe. on the following day, the st, the queen's uncle, the duke of sussex, who had long been infirm, and for a little time seriously ailing, died at kensington palace, at the age of seventy years. the body lay in state there on the rd of may, all persons in decent mourning being admitted to witness the sight. twenty-five thousand persons availed themselves of the permission. on the following morning, the funeral of the first of the royal dukes, who was buried by daylight and not in the royal vault at windsor, took place. there was a great procession, a mile in length, beginning and ending with detachments of horse and foot guards, their bands playing at intervals the "dead march in saul," in acknowledgement of the military rank of the deceased. the hearse, drawn by eight black horses, was preceded and followed by twenty-two mourning-coaches and carriages, each with six horses, and upwards of fifty private carriages, one of these containing sir augustus d'este, the son of the dead duke and of lady d'ameland (lady augusta murray). [footnote: the duke of sussex made a second morganatic marriage, after lady d'ameland's death, with lady cecilia buggin, daughter of the second earl of arran, and widow of sir george buggin. she was created duchess of inverness. she survived the duke of sussex thirty years.] the duke of cambridge acted as chief mourner. the cortege passed along the high street to kensal green cemetery, where prince albert, prince george of cambridge, and the grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz, whose son was about to become the husband of princess augusta of cambridge, awaited its arrival. the service was read by the bishop of norwich in the cemetery chapel, and the coffin was deposited in the vault prepared for it. it was observed of prince albert that "he seemed to be more affected than any person at the funeral." an old face, once very familiar, had passed away: a young life had dawned. in the interval between the duke of sussex's death and funeral, five days after the death, on the th of april, , a second princess was born. the queen was soon able to write to king leopold that the baby was to be called "alice," an old english name, "maud," another old english name, and "mary," because she had been born on the birthday of the duchess of gloucester. the godfathers were the queen's uncle, the king of hanover, and prince albert's brother, by their father's retirement, already duke of coburg. the king of hanover came to england, though, unfortunately, too late to be present at the christening, so that one likes to think of the princess, whose name is associated with all that is good and kind, as having served from the first in the light of a messenger of peace to heal old feuds. the godmothers were the princess of hohenlohe and princess sophia matilda of gloucester. in the illustration princess alice is given as she represented "spring" in the family mask in . on the th of may, , the prolonged contest between the civil and ecclesiastical courts in scotland reached its climax--in many respects striking and noble, though it may be also one-sided, high-handed, and erring. the chief civil law-court in scotland--the court of session--had overruled the decisions of the chief spiritual court--the general assembly of the church of scotland--and installed, by the help of soldiers, in the parishes, which patronage had presented to them, two ministers, disliked by their respective congregations, and resolutely rejected by them, though neither for moral delinquencies nor heretical opinions. the government, after a vain attempt to heal the breach and reconcile the contending parties, not only declined to interfere, but asserted the authority of the law of the land over a state church. once more the representatives of the scotch clergy and laity, of all shades of opinion, met, as their forefathers had done for centuries, in the assembly hall, in edinburgh, in the month of may. then, after the usual introductory ceremonies, the moderator, or chairman, delivered a solemn protest against the state's interference with the spiritual rights of the church, declared that the sovereignty of its divine head was invaded, and, in the name of himself and his brethren, rejected, a union which compelled submission to the civil law on what a considerable proportion of the population persisted in regarding as purely spiritual questions. four hundred and seventy ministers of one of the poorest churches in christendom had appended their names to the protest. churches, manses, livings were laid down, the mass following their leaders. among them, though many a good and gifted man remained with equal conscientiousness behind, there were men of remarkable ability as well as christian worth; and there was one, dr. chalmers, with a world-wide reputation for genius, eloquence, and splendid benevolence. the band formed themselves into a procession of black-coated soldiers of a king--not of this world--marched along the crowded streets of edinburgh, hailed and cheered by an enthusiastic multitude, and entering a building temporarily engaged for the purpose, constituted themselves a separate church, and flung themselves on the liberality of their portion of the people, on whom they were thenceforth entirely dependent for maintenance. and their people, who, with their compatriots, are regarded among the nations as notably close-fisted and hard-headed, responded generously, lavishly, to the impassioned appeal. all scotland was rent and convulsed then, and for years before and after, by the great split in what lay very near its heart--its church principles and government. these things were not done in a corner, and could not fail to arouse the interest of the queen and prince, whatever verdict their judgment might pronounce on the dispute, or however they might range themselves on the constitutional side of the question, as it was interpreted by their political advisers--indeed, by the first statesmen, whig or tory, of the day. six years later, sir edwin landseer painted the picture called "the free kirk," which became the property of her majesty. the royal commission on the fine arts, at the head of which was prince albert, in view of the decoration of the new houses of parliament, had an exhibition of prize cartoons in westminster hall during the summer of . great expectations were entertained of the effect of such patronage on painting in its higher branches. many careful investigations were made into the best processes of fresco painting, of which the prince had a high opinion, and this mode of decoration was ultimately adopted, unfortunately, as it proved, for in spite of every precaution, and the greatest care on the part of the painters--some of whom, like dyce, were learned in this direction, while others went to italy to acquire the necessary knowledge--the result has been to show the perishable nature of the means used, in this climate at least, since the pictures on the walls of the houses of parliament have become but dim, fast-fading shadows of the original representations. in the early days of the movement the prince, in order the better to test and encourage a new development of art in this country, gave orders for a series of fresco paintings from milton's "comus," in eight lunettes, to decorate a pavilion in the grounds of buckingham palace. among the painters employed were landseer, maclise, leslie, uwins, dyce, stanfield, &c. &c. two of them--leslie and uwins--record the lively interest which the queen and the prince took in the painting of the pavilion, how they would come unannounced and without attendants twice a day, when the court was at buckingham palace, and watch the painters at work. uwins wrote, that in many things the queen and her husband were an example to the age. "they have breakfasted, heard morning prayers with the household in the private chapel, and are out some distance from the palace, talking to us in the summer-house, before half-past nine o'clock--sometimes earlier. after the public duties of the day, and before the dinner, they come out again, evidently delighted to get away from the bustle of the world to enjoy each other's society in the solitude of the garden.... here, too, the royal children are brought out by the nurses, and the whole arrangement seems like real domestic pleasure." the square of the palace, with a park on either hand, and its main entrance fronting the mall, has green gardens of its own, velvet turf, shady trees, shining water--now expanding into a great round pond, like that in kensington gardens, only larger--now narrowing till it is crossed by a rustic bridge. these cheat the eye and the fancy into the belief that the dwellers in the palace have got rid of the town, and furnish pleasant paths and pretty effects of landscape gardening within a limited space. but the palace has a public as well as a private side. the former looks out on the parks and drives, which belong to all the world, and in the season are crowded with company. the great white marble staircase leads to many a stately corridor, with kings and queens looking down from the walls, to many a magnificent room with domed and richly fretted roofs, ball-room with a raised dais for court company, and a spot where royal quadrilles are danced, banqueting-room, music-room, white, crimson, blue, and green drawing-rooms, crimson and gold throne-room. there are finely-wrought white marble chimney-pieces with boldly-carved heads, angelic figures, and dragons in full relief. there are polished pillars of purple-blue, and red scagliola, hugs china vases--oriental, dresden, unpolished sevres--and glittering timepieces of every shape and device. king george and queen charlotte in shadowy form preside once and again, as well they may, seeing this was her house when it was named the queen's house. their family, too, still linger in their portraits. george iv. in very full-blown kingly state, the duke of york and his duchess, the duke of kent and his duchess, the king of hanover, king william and queen adelaide, the duke of sussex. but not one of their lives is so linked with the place as the life of queen victoria has been, especially the double life of the queen and the prince consort in their "blooming time." buckingham palace was their london home, to which they came every season as regularly as park lane and piccadilly, with the squares and streets of belgravia, find their fitting occupants. from this palace the girl-queen drove to westminster, to be crowned, and returned to watch in the soft dusk of the summer evening all london illuminated in her honour. here she announced her intended marriage to her lords in council; here she met her princely bridegroom come across the seas to wed her. from that gateway she drove in her bridal white and orange blossoms, and it was up these steps she walked an hour-old wife, leaning on the arm of her husband. most of their children were born here. the princess royal was baptized here, and she went from buckingham palace to st. james's, like her mother before her, to be married. in the immediate neighbourhood occurred some of the miserable attempts on the queen's life, and it was round buckingham palace that nobility and people thronged to convince themselves of her majesty's safety, and assure her of their hot indignation and deep sympathy. on that balcony she has shown herself, to the thousands craving for the sight, on the opening-day of the first exhibition and on the morning when the guards left for the crimea. through these corridors and drawing-rooms streamed the princely pageant of the queen's plantagenet ball. kingly and courtly company, the renowned men and the fair women of her reign, have often held festival here. along these quiet garden walks the queen was wont to stroll with her husband-lover; from that rustic bridge he would summon his feathered favourites around him; in yon sheet of water he swam for his life among the broken ice, the day before the christening of the princess royal. in the little chalet close to the house the queen loved to carry on her correspondence on summer-days, rather than to write within palace walls, because she, whose life has been pure and candid as the day, has always loved dearly the open air of heaven. in the pavilion where the first english artists of the time strove to do their prince's behest, working sometimes from eight in the morning to six or seven in the evening, her majesty and the prince delighted to watch maclise put in sabrina releasing the lady from the enchanted chair, and leslie make comus offering the cup of witchery. as in the case of king george and queen charlotte, it is well that portraits and marble statues of the queen and the prince, in the flower of their age, should remain here as unfailing links with the past which was spent within these walls. in later years the widowed queen has dwelt little at buckingham palace, coming rarely except for the drawing-rooms, which inaugurate the season and lend the proper stamp to the gilded youth of the kingdom. what tales that throne-room could tell of the beating hearts of _debutantes_ and the ambitious dreams of care-laden chaperons! the last tale is of the kind consideration of the liege lady. from the room where the members of the royal family assemble apart, she walks, not to take her seat on the throne, but to stand in front of the steps which lead to it, that the ladies who advance towards her in single file may not have to climb the steps with stumbling feet, often caught in their trailing skirts, till the wearers were in danger of being precipitated against the royal knees as the ladies bent to kiss the queen's hand. in the same manner, the slow and painful process of walking backwards with long trains, of which such stories were told in queen charlotte's day, is graciously dispensed with. a step or two, and the trains are thrown over their owners' arms by the pages in waiting, while the ladies are permitted to retire, like ordinary mortals, in a natural, easy, and what is really a more seemly fashion. a royal chapel has for a considerable time taken the place of a great conservatory, so that the queen and the prince could worship with their household, without the necessity of repairing to the neighbouring chapel royal of st. james's. there are other suites of rooms besides the private apartments, notably the belgian floor, full of memories of king leopold and queen louise. among the portraits of foreign sovereigns, the correctly beautiful face of the emperor alexander of russia, and the likeness of his successor, nicholas, occur repeatedly. the portraits of the emperor and empress of germany, when as prince and princess of prussia they won the cordial friendship of the queen, are here. there is a pleasant picture of queen victoria's girl friend, maria da gloria, and a companion picture of her husband, the queen and the prince's cousin. the burly figure of louis philippe appears in the company of two of his sons. another ruler of france, the emperor napoleon iii., looks sallow and solemn beside his empress at the height of her loveliness. other royal portraits are those of the king of saxony, the present king and queen of the belgians, as duke and duchess of brabant; the late blind king of hanover and his devoted queen; the duke of mecklenburg-strelitz, now blind also, and his duchess, who was the handsome and winning princess augusta of cambridge; her not less charming sister, princess mary, duchess of teck; the familiar face of their soldierlike brother, the duke of cambridge; the maharajah dhuleep singh, in his slender youth and eastern dress, &c. &c. in the sister country of france, one has a feeling that there are blood stains on all the palaces. let us be thankful that, as a rule, it is not so in england. but there are tragic faces and histories here too, mocking the glories of rank and state. there is a fine picture of matilda of denmark, to whom--but for the victim's fairer hair--her collateral descendant, queen victoria, is said to bear a great resemblance. the queen's ancestress was herself a princess and a queen, yet she was fated to fall under an infamous, unproven charge, and to pine to an early death in a prison fortress. here, with a pathos all her own, in her pale dark girlish face and slight figure, is the queen's indian god-daughter, princess gouromma, the child of the rajah of coorg. she was educated in england, and married a scotch gentleman named campbell. but the grey northern skies and the bleak easterly winds were cruel to her, as they would have been to one of her native palm-trees, and she found an early grave. a graceful remembrance of a peculiarly graceful tribute to the faithful service and devotion of a lifetime appears in a picture of the old duke of wellington--after whom the queen named her third son--presenting his godfather's token of a costly casket to the infant prince arthur, seated on the royal mother's knee. another laughing child, in the arms of another happy mother, is the queen herself, held by the duchess of kent. the long picture gallery contains valuable specimens of dutch and flemish art, a remnant of george iv.'s collection, and a portion, of the queen's many fine examples of these schools. here are tenierses, full of riotous life; exquisite metzus, terburgs, and gerard dows; cattle by paul potter; ships by van de velde; skies by cuyp; landscapes, with white horses, by wouvermanns; driving clouds and shadow-darkened plains by ruysdael, who, though he died in a workhouse, yet lives in his pictures in kings' palaces. lady bloomfield has given the world a delightful glimpse of what the life at windsor and buckingham palace was from to ; how much real friendliness existed in it; what simplicity and naturalness lay behind its pomp and magnificence. dissipation and extravagance found no place there. that palace home--whether in town or country, where all sacred obligations and sweet domestic affections reigned supreme, where noble work had due prominence and high-minded study paved the way for innocent pleasure--was, indeed, a pattern to every home in the kingdom. the great household was like a large family, with a queenly elder sister and a royal brother at its head; for the queen and the prince were still in their first prime, and very kindly, as well as very wise, were their relations with old and young. it is good to read of the tenderly-united pair; of their well-regulated engagements--punctually performed as clockwork, and rarely jostling each other; of their generous consideration for others, their faithful regard for old friends, so that to this day the ranks of the queen's household are replenished from the households of her youth. it has been pointed out how rarely the duchess of kent allowed any change in the little princess's guardians and teachers. in like manner, as whoever will examine court calendars may learn for themselves, this middle-aged mistress of the robes, or that elderly lady in waiting, was in former times a young maid of honour, and the youngest page of to-day is very likely the grandson of a veteran courtier, and has a hereditary interest in his surroundings. when her majesty was still young, there was the frankest sympathy with the young girls who were so proud to be in their queen's service--a sympathy showing itself in a thousand unmistakable ways; in concern for each noble maiden's comfort and happiness; in interest in her friends pursuits, and prospects; by the kindly informal manner in which each member of the girlish suite was addressed by her familiar christian-name, sometimes with its home abbreviation; by the kiss with which she was greeted on her return from her six months' absence. we do not always connect such lovable attributes with kings' and queens' courts, and it is an excellent thing for us to know that the greatest, towards whom none may presume, can also he the most ready to oblige, the least apt to exact, the most cordial and trustful. we hear from lady bloomfield that the sum total of a maid of honour's obligations, when she is in residence, like a canon, is to give the queen her bouquet before dinner every other day. in reality, the young lady and her companions, as well as the older and more experienced ladies and women of the bedchamber, are in waiting to drive, ride, or walk with the queen when she desires their society, to sit near her at dinner, to share her occupations--such as reading, music, drawing, needlework--when she wishes it, to help to make up any games, dances, &c. &c. these favoured damsels enjoy a modest income of three hundred a year, and wear a badge--the queen's picture, surrounded with brilliants on a red bow--such as the public may have seen in the portraits of several of the maids of honour belonging to the queen which were exhibited on the walls of the academy within recent years. the hours of "the maids" never were so early as those of their royal mistress, while their labours, like their responsibilities, have been light as thistledown in comparison with hers. the greatest restriction imposed on these youthful members of the household, when lady bloomfield as miss liddell figured among them, seems to have been that they were expected to be at their posts, and they were not at liberty to entertain all visitors in their private sitting-rooms, but had to receive some of their friends in a drawing-room which belonged to the ladies in common. the routine of the palace passes before us, unpretentious in its dignity as the actual life was led: the waiting of the ladies in the corridor to meet the queen when she left her apartments and accompany her to dinner; the talk at the dinner-table; the round game of cards--_vingt-et-un_, or some other in the evening, for which the stakes were so low, that the players were accustomed to provide themselves with a stock of new shillings, sixpences, and fourpenny pieces, and the winnings were now threepence, now eightpence; the workers and talkers in the background. in spite of different times and different manners, there is a slight flavour of queen charlotte's drawing-room, in miss burney's day, about the whole scene. the ordinary current was broken by varying eddies of royal visits and visitors, with their accompanying whirl and bubble of excitement, and by ceremonies, like the opening and proroguing of parliament, state visits to the city, royal baptisms. in addition there were the more tranquil and homely diversions of the festivals of the seasons and family festivals. there was christmas, when everybody gave and received christmas-boxes; and this happy individual had a brooch, "of dark and light blue enamel, with two rubies and a diamond in the shape of a bow;" and another had a bracelet, with the queen's portrait; while to all there were pins, rings, studs, shawls, &c. &c. or it was the duchess of kent's birthday, when the court went to dine and dance, and wish the kind duchess many happy returns of the day, at frogmore. on one occasion the little ball ended in a curious dance, called "grand-pere," a sort of "follow my leader." "the prince and the duchess of kent led the way, and it was great fun, but rather a romp." solemn statesmen, hoary soldiers, reverent churchmen, foreign diplomatists, were frequently consigned for companionship and entertainment to the "ladies of the household," and relaxed and grew jocular in such company, under the spring sunshine of girlish smiles and laughter. more mature and distinguished figures stood out among the women, to match the men--whose names will be household words so long as england keeps her place among the nations. sagacious baroness lehzen, the incomparable early instructress and guide of the queen, so good to all the young people who came under her influence, before she retired to her quiet home at buckeburg; lady lyttelton, who had been with the queen as one of the ladies-in-waiting ever since her majesty came to the throne, who, after the most careful selection, was appointed governess to the royal children, and was well qualified to discharge an office of such consequence to the queen and the nation. it is impossible to read such portions of her letters as have been published without being struck by their wise womanliness and gentle motherliness. beautiful lady canning, with her artist soul, was another star in an exalted firmament. little feet pattered amongst the brilliant groups. the princess royal was a remarkably bright, lively child; the prince of wales a beautiful good-tempered baby, in such a nautilus-shell cradle as mrs. thorneycroft copied in modelling the likeness of princess beatrice. we have the pretty fancy before us: the exquisite curves of the shell, its fair round-limbed occupant, one foot and one arm thrown out with the careless grace of childhood, as if to balance and steer the fairy bark, the other soft hand lightly resting on the breast, over which the head and face, full of infant innocence and peace, are inclined. both children were fond of music, as the daughter and son of parents so musical might well be. when the youthful pair were a little older they would stand still and quiet in the music-room to hear the prince-father discourse sweet sounds on his organ, and the queen-mother sing with one of her ladies, "in perfect time and tune," with a fine feeling for her songs, as mendelssohn has described her. the small people furnished a never-ending series of merry anecdotes and witticisms all their own, and would have gone far to break down the highest dead wall of stiffness and reserve, had such a barrier ever existed. now it was the little princess, a quaint tiny figure "in dark-blue velvet and white shoes, and, yellow kid gloves," keeping the nurseries alive with her sports, showing off the new frocks she had got as a christmas-box from her grandmamma, the duchess of kent, and bidding miss liddell put on one. now it was the queen offending the dignity of her little daughter by calling her "missy," and being told in indignant remonstrance, "i'm not missy--i'm the princess royal." or it was lady lyttelton who was warned off with the dismissal in french, from the morsel of royalty, not quite three, "_n'approchez pas moi, moi ne veut pas vous_;" or it was the duke of wellington, with a dash of old chivalry, kissing the baby-hand and bidding its owner remember, him. or the child was driving in windsor park with the queen and three of her ladies, when first the princess imagined she saw a cat beneath the trees, and announced, "cat come to look at the queen, i suppose." then she longed for the heather on the bank, and asked lady dunmore to get her some; when lady dunmore said she could not do that, as they were driving so fast, the little lady observed composedly, "no, _you_ can't, but _those_ girls," meaning the two maids of honour, in the full dignity of their nineteen or twenty summers and their office, "might get me some." windsor castle in the height of summer, windsor in the park among the old oaks and ferns, windsor on the grand terrace with its glorious english view, might well leave bright lingering memories in a susceptible young mind. so we hear of a delightful ride, when the kind queen mounted her maid of honour on a horse which had once belonged to miss liddell's sister, and in default of miss liddell's habit, which was not forthcoming, lent her one of the queen's, with hat, cellar and cuffs to suit, and the two cantered and walked over the greensward and down many a leafy glade for two hours and a half. once, we are told, the queen, the prince, and the whole company went out after dinner in the warm summer weather, and promenaded in the brilliant moonlight, a sight to see, with the lit-up castle in the background, the men in the windsor uniform, the women in full dress, like poor marie antoinette's night promenades at versailles, or a page from boccaccio. running through all the young maid of honour's diary is the love which makes all service light; the loyal innocent sense of hardship at being in waiting and not seeing the queen "at least once a day;" the affectionate regret to lose any of her majesty's company; the pride and pleasure at being selected by the queen for special duties. chapter xvi. the condemnation of the english duel.--another marriage.--the queen's visit to chateau d'eu. on the st of july, , duelling received its death-blow in england by a fatal duel--so unnatural and so painful in its consequences that it served the purpose of calling public attention to the offence--long tolerated, even advocated in some quarters, and to the theory of military honour on which this particular duel took place. two officers, colonel fawcett and lieutenant munro, who were also brothers-in-law, had a quarrel. colonel fawcett was elderly, had been in india, was out of health and exceedingly irritable in temper. it came out afterwards that he had given his relation the greatest provocation. still lieutenant munro hung back from what up to that time had been regarded as the sole resource of a gentleman, especially a military man, in the circumstances. he showed great reluctance to challenge colonel fawcett, and it was only after the impression--mistaken or otherwise--was given to the insulted man that his regiment expected him to take the old course, and if he did not do so he must be disgraced throughout the service, that he called out his brother-in-law. the challenge was accepted, the meeting took place, colonel fawcett was shot dead, and the horrible anomaly presented itself of two sisters--the one rendered a widow by the hand of her brother-in-law, and a family of children clad in mourning for their uncle, whom their father had slain. apart from the bloodshed, lieutenant munro was ruined by the miserable step on which he had been thrust. public feeling was roused to protest against the barbarous practice by which a bully had it in his power to risk the life of a man immeasurably his superior, against whom he happened to have conceived a dislike. prince albert interested himself deeply in the question, especially as it concerned the army. various expedients were suggested; eventually an amendment was inserted into the articles of war which was founded on the more reasonable, humane, and christian conclusion, that to offer an apology, or even to make reparation where wrong had been committed, was more becoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, than to furnish the alternative of standing up to kill or to be killed for a hasty word or a rash act. on the th of july, princess augusta of cambridge was married in the chapel at buckingham palace to the hereditary grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz. princess augusta was the elder of the two daughters of the duke of cambridge, was three years younger than the queen, and at the time of her marriage was twenty-one years of age. in the cousins' childhood and early youth, during the reign of king william, the duke of cambridge had acted as the king's representative in hanover, so that his family were much in germany. at the date of the queen's accession, princess augusta, a girl of fifteen, was considered old enough to appear with the rest of the royal family at the banquet at guildhall, and in the other festivities which commemorated the beginning of the new reign. she figures in the various pictures of the coronation, the queen's marriage, &c. &c., and won the enthusiastic admiration of leslie when he went to cambridge house to take the portraits of the different members of the family for one of his pictures. only a year before she had, in the character of princess claude of france, been one of the most graceful masquers at the queen's plantagenet ball, and among the bridesmaids on the present occasion were two of the beauties at the ball, lady alexandrina vane and lady clementina villiers. princess augusta was marrying a young german prince, three years her senior, a kinsman of her father's through his mother, queen charlotte. she was going to the small northern duchy which had sent so brave a little queen to england. queen victoria, prince albert, and all the royal family in the country, including the king of hanover, who had remained to grace the ceremony, were present at the wedding, which, in old fashion, took place in the evening. among the foreign guests were the king and queen of the belgians, the prince and princess of oldenburg, the crown prince of wurtemburg, &c. &c. the ambassadors, cabinet ministers, and officers of state were in attendance. the archbishops of canterbury and york, and the bishops of london and norwich, officiated. the marriage was registered and attested in the great dining room at buckingham palace. then there passed away from the scene the princess who had been for some years the solitary representative of the royal young ladyhood of england, as her sister, princess mary, was eleven years princess augusta's junior, and still only a little girl of ten. princess augusta had an annuity of three thousand a year voted to her by parliament on her marriage. a month later, on the th of august, the queen went by railway to southampton, in order to go on board the royal yacht for a trip to the isle of wight and the devonshire coast. at southampton pier, the rain was falling heavily. her majesty had been received by the mayor and corporation, the duke of wellington, and other official personages, when it was discovered that there was not sufficient covering for the stage or gangway, which was to be run out between the pier and the yacht. then the members of the southampton corporation were moved to follow the example of sir walter raleigh in the service which introduced him to the notice of queen elizabeth. they pulled off their red gowns, spread them on the gangway, and so procured a dry footing for her majesty. lady bloomfield, as miss liddell, in the capacity of maid of honour in waiting, was with the queen, and has furnished a few particulars of the pleasant voyage. the queen landed frequently, returning to the yacht at night and sleeping on board. at the isle of wight she visited norris castle, where she had stayed in her youth, asking to see some of the rooms, and walking on the terrace. she told her companions that she would willingly have bought the place but could not afford it. at one point all the party except lady canning were overcome by sea sickness, which is no respecter of persons. at dartmouth the queen entered her barge and was rowed round the harbour, for the better inspection of the place, and the gratification of the multitude on the quays and in every description of sailing craft. at plymouth the visitors landed and proceeded to mount edgcumbe, the beautiful seat of the edgcumbe family. wherever her majesty went she made collections of flowers, which she had dried and kept as mementoes of the scenes in which they had been gathered. in driving through plymouth, the crowd was so great, and pressed so much on the escort, that the infantry bayonets crossed in the carriages. at falmouth, the queen was again rowed in her barge round the harbour, but the concourse of small boats became dangerous, as their occupants deserted the helms and rushed to one side to see the queen, and the royal barge could only be extricated by the rowers exerting their utmost strength and skill, and forcing a passage through the swarming flotilla. the mayor of falmouth was a quaker, and asked permission to keep on his hat while reading his address to the queen. the mayor of truro, who with the mayor of penryn had accompanied their official brother when he put off in a small boat to intercept her majesty in her circuit round the harbour, was doomed to play a more undignified part. he unluckily overleaped himself and fell into the water, so that he and his address, being too wet for presentation, were obliged to be put on shore again. on board the queen used to amuse herself with a favourite occupation of the ladies of the day, plaiting paper so as to resemble straw plait for bonnets. she was sufficiently skilled in the art to instruct her maid of honour in it. on one occasion the queen chanced to have her camp-stool set where it shut up the door of the place that held the sailors' grog-tubs. after much hanging about and consulting with the authorities, she was made acquainted with the fact, when she rose on condition that a glass of grog should be brought to her. she tasted it and said, "i am afraid i can only make the same remark i did once before, that i think it would be very good if it were stronger," an observation that called forth the unqualified delight of the men. sometimes in the evening the sailors, at her majesty's request, danced hornpipes on deck. but the queen's cruises this year were not to end on english or even scotch ground. she was to make the first visit to france which had been paid by an english sovereign since henry viii. met francis i. on the field of the cloth of gold. earlier in the year two of louis philippe's sons, the sailor prince joinville, "tall, dark, and good looking, with a large beard, but, unfortunately for him, terribly deaf," and his brother, the man of intellect and culture if not of genius, the duc d'aumale, "much shorter and very fair," had been together at windsor; and had doubtless arranged the preliminaries of the informal visit which the queen was to pay to louis philippe. the king of france and his large family were in the habit of spending some time in summer or autumn at chateau d'eu, near the seaport of treport, in normandy; and to this point the queen could easily run across in her yacht and exchange friendly greetings, without the elaborate preparations and manifold trouble which must be the accompaniment of a state visit to the tuileries. accordingly the queen and prince albert, on the st of september, sailed past the eddystone lighthouse, where they were joined by a little fleet of war-ships, and struck off for the coast of france. besides her suite, the queen was accompanied by two of her ministers, lords aberdeen and liverpool. with the first, a shrewd worthy scot, distinguished as a statesman by his experience, calm sagacity, and unblemished integrity, her majesty and prince albert were destined to have cordial relations in the years to come. in the meantime, french country people were pouring into treport, where the king's barge lay ready. it was provided with a crimson silk awning, having white muslin curtains over a horseshoe-shaped seat covered with crimson velvet, capable of containing eleven or twelve persons. the rowers were clad in white, with red sashes and, red ribands round their hats. the queen was to land by crossing the deck of a vessel moored along the quay and mounting a ladder, the steps of which were covered with crimson velvet. at five o'clock in the afternoon the king and his whole family, a great cortege, arrived on horseback and in open chars-a-bancs. prince joinville had met the yacht at cherbourg and gone on board. as soon as it lay-to the king came alongside in his barge. the citizen king was stout, florid, and bluff-looking, with thick grizzled hair brushed up into a point. as the exiled duke of orleans, in the days of the great revolution, he had been a friend of the queen's father, the duke of kent. the king did not fail to remind his guest of this, after he had kissed her on each check, kissed her hand, and told her again and again how delighted he was to see her. when the two sovereigns entered the barge the standards of england and france were hoisted together, and amidst royal salutes from the vessels in the roads and from the batteries on shore, to the music of regimental bands, in the sunset of a fine autumn evening the party landed. at the end of the jetty the ladies of the royal family of france with their suites stood in a curved line. queen amelie, with her snowy curls and benevolent face, was two paces in advance of the others. behind her were her daughter and daughter-in-law, the queen of the belgians and the widowed duchesse d'orleans, who appeared in public for the first time since her husband's death a year before. a little farther back stood madame adelaide, the king's sister, and the other princesses, the younger daughter and the daughters-in-law of the house. louis philippe presented queen victoria to his queen, who "took her by both hands and saluted her several times on both cheeks with evident warmth of manner." queen louise, and at least one of the other ladies, were well known to the visitor, whom they greeted gladly, while the air was filled with shouts of "vive la reine victoria!" "vive la reine d'angleterre!" the queen, who was dressed simply, as usual, in a purple satin gown, a black mantilla trimmed with lace, and a straw bonnet with straw-coloured ribands and one ostrich feather, immediately entered the king's char-a-bancs, which had a canopy and curtains that were left open. lady bloomfield describes it as drawn by twelve large clumsy horses. there was a coachman on the box, with three footmen behind, and there was "a motley crowd of outriders on wretched horses and dressed in different liveries." the other chars-a-bancs with six horses followed, and the whole took their, way to the chateau, a quaint and pleasant dwelling, some of it as old as the time of the great mademoiselle. a stately banquet was held in the evening in the banqueting-room, hung round with royal portraits and historical pictures, the table heavy with gold and silver plate, including the gold plateau and the great gold vases filled with flowers. the king, in uniform, sat at the centre of the table. he had on his right hand queen victoria, wearing a gown of crimson velvet, the order of the garter and a _parure_ of diamonds and emeralds, but having her hair simply braided. on her other side sat prince joinville. on the king's left hand was queen louise. the duchesse d'orleans, in accordance with french etiquette for widows in their weeds, did not come to the dinner-table. opposite the king sat his queen, with prince albert on her right hand and the duc d'aumale on her left. the royal host and hostess carved like any other old-fashioned couple. the queen received the same lively impressions from her first visit to france that she had experienced on her first visit to scotland. apart from the scenery there was yet more to strike her. the decidedly foreign dresses of the people, the strange tongue, the mill going on sunday, the different sound of the church bells--nothing escaped her. there was also, in the large family of her brother king and ally--connected with her by so many ties, every member familiar to her by hearsay, if not known to her personally--much to interest her. the queen had been, to all intents and purposes, brought up like an only child, and her genial disposition had craved for entire sympathy and equal companionship. she seems to have regarded wistfully, as an only child often regards, what she had never known, the full, varied, yet united life of a large, happy, warmly attached family circle. when she saw her children possessed of the blessing which had been denied to her in her early days, she was tempted to look back on the widowed restricted household in kensington palace as on a somewhat chill and grey environment. she has more than once referred to her childhood as dull and sad by comparison with what she lived to know of the young life of other children. but the great royal household of france at this date, in addition to its wealth of interests and occupations, and its kindness to the stranger who was so quick to respond to kindness, was singularly endowed with elements of attractiveness for queen victoria. it appeared, indeed, as if all life at its different stages, in its different aspects, even in its different nationalities, met and mingled with a wonderful charm under the one roof-tree. besides the old parent couple and the maiden aunt, who had seen such changes of fortune, there were three young couples, each with their several careers before them. there was the bride of yesterday, the youngest daughter of the house, princess clementine, with her young german husband, the queen and prince albert's kinsman; there was nemours, wedded to another german cousin, the sweet-tempered golden-haired princess victoire; there was joinville, with his dark-haired brazilian princess. [footnote: a kinswoman of maria da gloria's] it had been said that he had gone farther, as became a sailor, in search of a wife than any other prince in europe. she was very pretty in a tropical fashion, very piquante, and, perhaps, just a little _sauvage_. she had never seen snow, and the rules and ceremonies of a great european court were almost as strange to her. lady bloomfield mentions her as if she were something of a spoilt child who could hardly keep from showing that the rigid laws of her new position fretted and bored her. she wore glowing pomegranate blossoms in her hair, and looked pensive, as if she were pining for the gorgeous little hummingbirds and great white magnolias--the mixture of natural splendour and ease, passion and languor, of a typical south american home. d'aumale and montpensier were still gay young bachelors, and well would it have been for the welfare of the orleans family and the credit of louis philippe if one of them had remained so. there was a widow as well as a bride in the house. there were the cherished memories of a dearly-prized lost son and daughter to touch with tender sorrow its blithest moments and lightest words. the queen had to make the acquaintance of helene, duchesse d'orleans; [footnote: princess helena of mecklenburg-schwerin.] tall, thin and pale, not handsome, but better than handsome, full of character and feeling, shrinking from observation in her black dress, with the shadow of a life-long grief over her heart and life. and the visitor had to hear again of the gifted princess marie, the friend of ary scheffer, whose statue of jeanne d'arc is the best monument of a life cut down in its brilliant promise. princess marie's devoted sister louise, queen of the belgians, in her place as the eldest surviving daughter of france, had long been queen victoria's great friend. finally, there was the third generation, headed by the fatherless boy, "little paris," with regard to whom few then doubted that he would one day sit on the throne of france. it was not principally because the chateau d'eu was in france that the queen wrote, the first morning she awoke there, the fulfilment of her favourite air-castle of so many years was like a dream, or that she grieved when her visit was over. she sought to find, and believed she had found, a whole host of new friends and kindred--another father and mother, more brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, to make her life still richer and more full of kindly ties. the speciality in the form of entertainment at chateau d'eu was drives in the sociable chars-a-bancs in the neighbouring forest, ending in _dejeuners_ and _fetes-champetres_, which the queen enjoyed heartily, both because they were novel to her and because they were spontaneous and untrammelled. "so pretty, so merry, so rural," she declared. "like the fetes in germany," prince albert said. the long, frequently rough drives under the yellowing trees in the golden september light, the camp-chairs, the wine in plain bottles, the improvised kitchen hidden among the bushes, the many young people of high rank all so gay, the king full of liveliness and brusqueness, his queen full of motherliness and consideration for all--everything was delightful. one pathetic little incident occurred when the guests were being shown over the parish church of notre dame. as they came to the crypt, with its ancient monuments of the comtes d'eu, the duchesse d'orleans was overcome with emotion, and the queen of the belgians drew her aside. when the rest of the party passed again through the church, on their way back, they came upon the two mourning women prostrate before one of the altars, the duchesse weeping bitterly. the king presented queen victoria with fine specimens of gobelin tapestry and of sevres china. he went farther in professions and compliments. he was not content to leave the discussion of politics to m. guizot and lord aberdeen. louis philippe volunteered to the queen's minister the statement that he would not give his son to spain (referring to a proposed marriage between the duc de montpensier and the infanta luisa, the sister of the young queen isabella, who had been lately declared of age), even if he were asked. to which the stout scot replied, without beating about the bush, "that except one of the sons of france, any aspirant whom spain might choose would be acceptable to england." louis philippe, queen amelie, and the whole family escorted the queen and the prince on board the yacht, parting with them affectionately. prince joinville accompanied the couple to the pavilion, brighton. in the course of the sail there was a race between his ship and the _black eagle_, in which the english vessel won, to the french sailors' disgust. louis philippe felt great satisfaction at a visit which proved his cordial relations with england, and served to remove the reproach which he seemed to think clung to him and prevented the other european royal families from fraternising with him and his children as they would otherwise have done--namely, that he was not the representative of the elder, and what many were pleased to consider the legitimate, branch of the bourbons. he was but a king set up by the people, whom the people might pull down again. there was not much apparent prospect of this overthrow then, though the forces were at work which brought it about. in token of his gratification, and as a memorial of what had given him so much pleasure, the king caused a series of pictures to be taken of queen victoria's landing, and of the various events of her stay. these pictures remain, among several series, transferred to the upper rooms of one of the french palaces, and furnish glimpses of other things that have vanished besides the fashion of the day. there the various groups reappear. queen amelie with her piled-up curls, the citizen king and their numerous young people doing honour to the young queen of england and her husband, both looking juvenile in their turn--all the more so for a certain antiquated cut in their garments at this date, a formality in his hat and neckerchief, a demureness in her close bonnet, and a pretty show of youthful matronliness in the little lace cap which, if we mistake not, she wears on one occasion. chapter xvii. the queen's trip to ostend:--visits to drayton, chatsworth, and belvoir. _"ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute."_ in the course of another week the queen took a second trip to the continent, sailing to ostend to pay the most natural visit in the world--the only thing singular about it was that it had been so long delayed--to her uncle, king leopold. the yacht, which had been lying off brighton, was accompanied by eight other steamers, and joined at walmer by two ships of the line. at dover a salute was fired from the castle. at deal the duke of wellington came on board and dined with the royal party, the queen watching with some anxiety the return of the old man in his boat, through a considerable surf which wetted him thoroughly, before he mounted his horse and rode off to walmer, to superintend the illumination of the castle in lines of light. in like manner every ship lying in the downs glittered through the darkness. at two o'clock on the following afternoon the queen and the prince reached ostend, where they were received by king leopold and queen louise. there had been some uncertainty whether the travellers, after not too smooth a passage, would be equal to the fatigue of a banquet at the hotel de ville that evening. but repose is the good thing to which royalty can rarely attain, so it was settled that the banquet should go on. the display was less, and there was more of undress among the chief personages than there had been at the opening banquet at chateau d'eu. the queen must have looked to her host not far removed from the docile young niece he had so carefully trained and tutored, as she sat by him in white lace and muslin, with flowers in her hair--only bound by a _ferroniere_ of diamonds. the king and prince albert were in plain clothes, save that they showed the ribands and insignia of the orders of the garter and the bath; the queen of the belgians wore a white lace bonnet. it was in the main a simple family party made for the travellers. the next day the prince and princess of hohenlohe arrived, when the elder sister would have knelt and paid her homage to the younger, had not her majesty prevented her with a sisterly embrace. ostend was the head-quarters of the royal party, from which in the mellow autumn time they visited bruges and ghent. "the old cities of flanders had put on their fairest array and were very tastefully decorated with tapestries, flowers, trees, pictures, &c. &c." the crowds of staid flemings wore stirred up to joyous enthusiasm. the queen's artistic tastes, in addition to her fresh sympathies and her affection for her uncle and his wife, rendered the whole scene delightful to her. she was fitted to relish each detail, from the carillons to the carvings. she inspected all that was to be seen at bruges, from the palace of justice to the chapel of the holy blood. at ghent, she went to the church of st. bavon, where the van eycks have left the best part of their wonderful picture before the altar while the dust of hubert and margaret, rests in the crypt below. she saw the fragment of the palace in which john of gaunt was born, when an english queen-consort, philippa, resided there five hundred years before. she visited the old beguinage, with the shadowlike figures of the nuns in black and white flitting to and fro. from ostend the queen and prince albert proceeded to the cheerful, prosperous, and, by comparison, modern town of brussels, king leopold's capital, and stayed a night at his palace of lacken, which had been built by prince albert's ancestor and namesake, duke albert of sechsen, when he governed the netherlands along with his wife the archduchess christina, the favourite daughter of maria theresa and the sister of marie antoinette. from brussels the travellers journeyed to antwerp, where they saw another grand cathedral and witnessed the antique spectacle of "the giant" before the palace in the _place de mer._ on leaving antwerp, the queen and the prince sailed for england, escorted so far on their way by king leopold and queen louise. "it was such a joy to me," her majesty wrote to her uncle, soon after their parting, "to be once again under the roof of one who has ever been a father to me." the vessel lay all night in margate roads, and the next morning arrived at woolwich. in the month of october her majesty and the prince visited cambridge, where he received his degree of ll.d. a witty letter, written by professor sedgwick, describing the royal visit to the woodwardian museum, is quoted by sir theodore martin "....i received a formidable note from our master telling me of an intended royal visit to the woodwardian den of wild beasts, immediately after prince albert's degree; and enjoining me to clear a passage by the side entrance through the old divinity schools. this threw me off my balance, for since the building of the new library this place of ancient theological disputation has been converted into a kind of lumber-room, and was filled from end to end with every kind of unclean things--mops, slop-pails, chimney-pots, ladders, broken benches, rejected broken cabinets, two long ladders, and an old rusty scythe were the things that met the eye, and all covered with half an inch of venerable dust. there is at the end of the room a kind of gallery or gangway, by which the undergraduates used to find their way to my lecture-room, but this was also full of every kind of rubbish and abomination. we did our best; soon tumbled all impediments into the area below, spread huge mats over the slop-pails, and, in a time incredibly short, a goodly red carpet was spread along the gangway, and thence down my lecture-room to the door of the museum. but still there was a dreadful evil to encounter. what we had done brought out such a rank compound of villanous smells that even my plebeian nose was sorely put to it; so i went to a chemist's, procured certain bottles of sweet odours, and sprinkled them cunningly where most wanted. "inside the museum all was previously in order, and inside the entrance door from the gangway was a huge picture of the megatherium, under which the queen must pass to the museum, and at that place i was to receive her majesty. so i dusted my outer garments and ran to the senate house, and i was just in time to see the prince take his degree and join in the acclamations. this ended, i ran back to the feet of the megatherium, and in a few minutes the royal party entered the mysterious gangway above described. they halted, i half thought in a spirit of mischief, to contemplate the furniture of the schools, and the vice-chancellor (whewell) pointed out the beauties of the dirty spot where queen bess had sat two hundred and fifty years before, when she presided at the divinity act. a few steps more brought them under the feet of the, megatherium. i bowed as low as my anatomy would let me, and the queen and prince bowed again most graciously, and so began act first. the queen seemed happy and well pleased, and was mightily taken with one or two of my monsters, especially with the 'plesiosaurus,' and a gigantic stag. the subject was new to her; but the prince evidently had a good general knowledge of the old world, and not only asked good questions and listened with great courtesy to all i had to say, but in one or two instances helped me on by pointing to the rare things in my collection, especially in that part of it which contains the german fossils. i thought myself very fortunate in being able to exhibit the finest collection of german fossils to be seen in england. they fairly went the round of the museum, neither of them seemed in a hurry, and the queen was quite happy to hear her husband talk about a novel subject with so much knowledge and spirit. he called her back once or twice to look at a fine impression of a dragon-fly which i have in the solenhope slate. having glanced at the long succession of our fossils, from the youngest to the oldest, the party again moved into the lecture-room. the queen was again mightily taken with the long neck of the plesiosaurus; under it was a fine head of an ichthyosaurus which i had just been unpacking. i did not know anything about it, as i had myself never seen its face before, for it arrived in my absence. the queen asked what it was. i told her as plainly as i could. she then asked whence it came; and what do you think i said? that i did not know the exact place, but i believed it came as a delegate from the monsters of the lower world to greet her majesty on her arrival at the university. i did not repeat this till i found that i had been overheard, and that my impertinence had been talked of among my cambridge friends. all was, however, taken in good part, and soon afterwards the royal party again approached the mysterious gangway. the queen and prince bowed, the megatherium packed up his legs close under the abdominal region of his august body, the royal pageant passed under, and was soon out of my sight and welcomed by the cheers of the multitude before the library. "i will only add that i went through every kind of backward movement to admiration of all beholders, only having once trodden on the hinder part of my cassock, and never once having fallen during my retrogradations before the face of the queen. in short, had i been a king crab, i could not have walked backwards better." when in cambridgeshire the queen and the prince visited lord hardwicke at wimpole, where the whole county was assembled at a ball, and earl de la warr at bourne. in this month of october the great agitator for the repeal of the irish union, daniel o'connell, was arrested, in company with other irish agitators, on a charge of sedition and conspiracy. after a prolonged trial, which lasted to the early summer of the following year, he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment and the payment of a fine of two thousand pounds, with recognisances to keep the peace for seven years. the sentence lapsed on technical grounds, but its moral effect was considerable. in the month of september the queen and prince albert visited sir robert peel at drayton, travelling by railroad, with every station they passed thronged by spectators. at rugby the pupils of the great school, headed by dr. tait, were drawn up on the platform. sir robert peel received his guests in a pavilion erected for the occasion, and conducted her majesty to her carriage, round which was an escort of staffordshire yeomanry. at the entrance to the town of tamworth, the mayor, kneeling, presented his mace, with the words, "i deliver to your majesty the mace;" to which the queen replied, "take it, it cannot be in better hands." at eight o'clock in the evening sir robert peel conducted the queen, who wore pink silk and a profusion of emeralds and diamonds, to the dining-room, prince albert giving his arm to lady peel. among the guests were the duke of wellington and the duke and duchess of buccleugh. the duchess on one occasion during the visit wore an old brocade which had belonged to a great grand-aunt of the duke's, and was pronounced very beautiful. after dinner the party withdrew to the library. either on this evening or the next the queen played at the quaint old game of "patience," with some of her ladies, while the gentlemen "stood about." on the following day her majesty walked in the grounds, while prince albert gratified an earnest wish by visiting birmingham and inspecting its manufactures, undeterred, perhaps rather allured, by the fact that the great town of steel and iron was regarded as one of the centres of chartism. this did not prevent its mighty population from displaying the most exultant loyalty as they pressed round the carriage in which the prince and the mayor, reported to be a rank chartist, drove to glass and silver-plate manufactories and papier-mache works, the town hall, and the schools. at the railway station the prince was joined by the queen-dowager and prince edward of saxe-weimar, who came from whitley court to accompany him back to drayton. the next morning was devoted to shooting, when prince albert confirmed his good character as a sportsman by bringing down sixty pheasants, twenty-five hares, eight rabbits, one woodcock, and two wild ducks. in the afternoon the queen visited lichfield, to which she had gone as "the young princess." indeed, the next part of the tour was over old ground in derbyshire, for from drayton the royal couple proceeded to chatsworth, and spent several days amidst the beauties of the peak. twenty thousand persons were assembled in the magnificent grounds at chatsworth, and artillery had been brought from woolwich to fire a salute. many old friends, notably members of the great whig houses--lord melbourne, lord and lady palmerston, the marquis and marchioness of normanby--met to grace the occasion. there was a grand ball, at which the aristocracy of invention and industry, trade and wealth, represented by the arkwrights and the strutts, mingled with the autocracy of ancient birth and landed property. mrs. arkwright was presented to the queen. her majesty opened the ball with the duke of devonshire, dancing afterwards with lord morpeth and lord leveson--in the last instance, "a country dance, with much vigour"--and waltzing with prince albert. on the nd of december the party visited haddon hall, the ancient seat of the vernons, where dorothy vernon lived and loved. on their return in the evening, the great conservatory was brilliantly illuminated, and there was a display of fireworks. on the rd, sunday, the queen walked through the kitchen gardens and botanical gardens, and drove to edensor. on the return of the party by the home farm, they went to see a prize-pig, weighing seventy pounds. the day ended with a concert of sacred music. on monday, the th, the queen and the prince parted from the duke of devonshire at derby, and proceeded to nottingham--not to visit what remained of the castle so long associated with john and lucy hutchinson, or to penetrate to the cradle of hosiery, daring an encounter with the "nottingham lambs," the roughest of roughs, who at election times were wont to add to their natural beauties by painting their faces red, white, and blue, as savages tattoo themselves--but as a step on the way to belvoir, the seat of the duke of rutland. there her majesty entered that most aristocratic portion of england known as "the dukeries." the duke of rutland, attended by two hundred of his tenantry on horseback, awaited his guests at red mile, and rode with them the three miles to belvoir. soon after the queen's arrival, dr. stanton presented her majesty with the key of stanton town, according to the tenure on which that estate is held. belvoir was a sight in itself, even after the stately lawns of chatsworth. "i do not know whether you ever saw belvoir," writes fanny kemble; "it is a beautiful place; the situation is noble, and the views, from the windows of the castle, and the terraces and gardens hanging over the steep hill crowned by it, is charming. the whole vale of belvoir, and miles of meadow and woodland, lie stretched below it, like a map unrolled to the distant horizon, presenting extensive and varied prospects in every direction; while from the glen which surrounds the castle-hill, like a deep moat filled with a forest, the spring winds swell up as from a sea of woodland, and the snatches of birds' carolling, and cawing rooks' discourse, float up to one from the topmost branches of tall trees, far below one's feet, as one stands on the battlemented terraces." december was not the best time for seeing some of the attractions of belvoir; but lady bloomfield has written of her majesty's proverbial good fortune in these excursions: "the queen yachts during the equinox, and has the sea a dead calm; visits about in the dead of winter, and has summer weather." there were other respects in which belvoir was in its glory in midwinter--it belonged to a hunting neighbourhood and a hunting society. whereas at drayton and chatsworth the royal pair had been principally surrounded by tory and whig statesmen, at belvoir, while the queen-dowager and some of the most distinguished members of the company at chatsworth were again of the party, the queen and the prince found themselves in the centre of the fox-hunters of melton mowbray. happily, the prince could hunt with the best, and the queen liked to look on at her husband's sport, so that the order of the day was the throwing off of the hounds at croxton. in the evening the queen played whist. the next day there was a second splendid meet royally attended, with cards again at night. the prince wrote of one of these "runs," to baron stockmar, that he had distinguished himself by keeping up with the hounds all through. "anson" and "bouverie" had both fallen on his left and right, but he had come off "with a whole skin." we are also told that the prince's horsemanship excited the amazed admiration of the spectators, to the queen's half-impatient amusement. "one can scarcely credit the absurdity of the people," she wrote to her uncle, king leopold; "but albert's riding so boldly has made such a sensation that it has been written all over the country, and they make much more of it than if he had done some great act." apparently the melton mowbray fox-hunters had, till now, hardly appreciated that fine combination of physical and mental qualities, which is best expressed in two lines of an old song:-- his step is foremost in the ha', his sword in battle keen. on the th of december the visitors left for windsor, passing through endless triumphal arches on the road, greeted at leicester by seven thousand school children. shortly after the queen's return home, she and the prince heard, with regret, of the death of thomas graham, lord lynedoch. the veteran fell, indeed, like a shock of corn ripe for the garner, until it had been difficult to recognise in the feeble, nearly blind old man, upwards of ninety, the stout soldier of barossa and vittoria. but he carried with him many a memory which could never be recalled. gallant captain though he was, his whole life was touched with tender romance. born only four years after the jacobite rebellion of ' , married in , when he was twenty-five years of age, to his beautiful wife, the hon. mary cathcart--whose sister jane was married on the same day to john, duke of athole--for eighteen years mr. graham lived the quiet life of a country gentleman in lynedoch cottage, the most charming of cottages _ornes_, thatch-roofed, with a conservatory as big as itself, set down in a fine park. the river almond flowed by, serving as a kind of boundary, and marking the curious limit which the plague kept in its last visit to scotland. on a green "haugh" beneath what is known as the burnbraes, within a short distance of lynedoch cottage, may be seen the carefully-kept double grave of two girls heroines of scotch song, who died there of the "pest," from which they were fleeing. mr. graham was happy in his marriage, though it is said mrs. graham did not relish that element in her lot which had made her the wife of a simple commoner, while her sister, not more fair, was a duchess. death entered on the scene, and caused the distinctions of rank to be forgotten. the cherished wife was laid in a quiet grave in methven kirk-yard, and the childless widower mourned for the desire of his heart with a grief that refused to be comforted. by the advice of his friends, who feared for his reason or his life, he went abroad, where he joined lord hood as a volunteer. it is said he fought his first battle in a black coat, with the hope that, being thus rendered conspicuous in any act of daring which he might perform, he would be stricken down before the day was done. honours, not death, were to be his portion in his new career. a commission, rapid promotion, the praise of his countrymen followed. he received the thanks of both houses of parliament. it was on this occasion that sheridan said eloquently, in allusion to the soldier's services in the retreat to corunna, "in the hour of peril graham was their best adviser, in the hour of disaster graham was their surest consolation." a peerage, which there was none to share or inherit, a pension, the orders of the bath, of st. michael and st. george, &c. &c., were conferred upon him. it seemed only the other day since lord lynedoch, hearing of her majesty's first visit to scotland, hurried home from switzerland to receive his queen. a place in westminster abbey was ready for all that was mortal of him, but he had left express injunctions that he was to be buried in methven kirk-yard, beside the wife of his youth, dead more than half a century before. most people know the history of gainsborough's lovely picture of mrs. graham, the glory of the scotch national gallery--that it was not brought home till after the death of the lady, whose husband could not bear to look on her painted likeness, and sent it, in its case, to the care of a london merchant, in whose keeping it remained unopened, and well-nigh forgotten, for upwards of fifty years. on lord lynedoch's death, the picture came into the possession of his heir, mr. graham, of redgorton, who presented it--a noble gift--to the scotch national academy. chapter xviii. allies from afar.--death and absence.--birthday greetings. lady bloomfield describes a set of visitors at windsor this year such as have not infrequently come a long way to pay their homage to the queen, and to see for themselves the wonders of civilisation. the party consisted of five indian chiefs, two squaws, a little girl, and a half-breed, accompanied by mr. catlin as interpreter. the queen received the strangers in the waterloo gallery. the elder chief made a speech with all the dignity and self-confidence of his race. it was to the effect that he was much pleased the great spirit had permitted him to cross the large lake (the atlantic) in safety. they had wished to see their great mother, the queen. england was the light of the world; its rays illuminated all nations, and reached even to their country. they found it much larger than they expected, and the buildings were finer than theirs, and the wigwam (windsor castle) was very grand, and they were pleased to see it. nevertheless, they should return to their own country and be quite happy and contented. they thanked the great spirit they had enough to eat and drink. they thought the people in england must be very rich, and they looked pleased and happy. they (the chippewas) had served under the english sovereigns and had fought their battles. he--the chief--had served under ----, the greatest chief that had ever existed or had ever been known. he had been on the field of battle when his general was killed and had helped to bury him. he had received kindness from the english nation, for which he thanked them; their wigwams at home had been made comfortable with english goods. he had nothing more to say. he had finished. these indians had their faces tattooed and were clad in skins, with large bunches of feathers on their heads. the men were armed with tomahawks, clubs, wooden swords, bows, and spears. the women were in the height of squaw-fashion, with long black hair, dresses reaching to their feet, and quantities of coloured beads. two war-dances were danced before the queen, one of the chiefs playing a sort of drum, the music being assisted by shrieks and cries and the shaking of a rattle. the dance began by the dancers quivering in every joint, then passed into a slow movement, which ended in violent action. such an interlude was welcome in the necessary monotony of court life to those who do not penetrate into its inmost circle. lady bloomfield writes, "everything else changes; the life at court never does; it is exactly the same from day to day and year to year." and she records, as an agreeable diversion from the set routine, the mistake of one of the pages, by which an equerry-in-waiting, in the absence of another official, received a wrong order about dinner. when the queen dines in private there is a purely household dinner in the room appointed for the purpose. in those days the queen rarely dined two days consecutively in private, so that her suite were surprised by the announcement that there were to be two household dinners--the one after the other. the ladies and gentlemen sat down together in the oak room at eight o'clock, and had finished their soup and fish, when a message came from the queen to know who had given the order that they were to dine without her. the company stared blankly at each other, finished their dinner with what appetite they might, and adjourned to the drawing-room, when they were told that her majesty was coming. one can fancy the consternation of the courtiers, who were "only in plain evening coats," instead of windsor uniform. happily it occurred to the defaulters that it would be but right to anticipate her majesty, so that all rushed off to the corridor to meet the queen and the prince, who were much amused by the blunder. there is a pleasant little picture of the young family at windsor in one of the prince's letters this winter: "the children, in whose welfare you take so kindly an interest, are making most favourable progress. the eldest, "pussy" (the princess royal at three years of age), is now quite a little personage. she speaks english and french with great fluency and choice of phrase.... the little gentleman (the prince of wales) is grown much stronger than he was.... the youngest (princess alice) is the beauty of the family, and is an extraordinarily good and merry child." january, , brought a severe trial to prince albert, and through him to the queen, in the sudden though not quite unexpected death of his father at gotha, at the comparatively early age of sixty years. father and son were much attached to each other, they had been parted for nearly four years since the prince's marriage, and the early meeting to which they had been looking forward was denied to them. the queen wrote to baron stockmar, in the beginning of february, "oh, if you could be here now with us: my darling stands so alone, and his grief is so great and touching.... he says (forgive my bad writing, but my tears blind me) _i_ am now _all_ to him. oh, if i can be, i shall be only too happy; but i am so disturbed and affected myself, i fear i can be but of little use." "i have been with the queen a good deal, altogether,"--lady lyttelton refers to this time; "she is very affecting in her grief, which is in truth all on the prince's account; and every time she looks at him her eyes fill afresh. he has suffered dreadfully, being very fond of his father, and his separation from him and the suddenness of the event, and his having expected to see him soon, all contribute to make him worse." the prince himself wrote to his trusty friend, "god will give us all strength to bear the blow becomingly. that we were separated gives it a peculiar poignancy; not to see him, not to be present to close his eyes, not to help to comfort those he leaves behind, and to be comforted by them is very hard. here we sit together, poor mama (the duchess of kent, the late duke of coburg's sister), victoria and myself, and weep, with a great cold public around us, insensible as stone." the prince had one source of consolation, that of a good son who had never caused his father pain. he had another strong solace in the reality and worth of the new ties which were replacing the old, both in his own case and in that of his brother. "the good alexandrine," prince albert remarked, referring to his sister-in-law, "seems to me in the whole picture like the consoling angel." then he goes on, "just so is victoria to me, who feels and shares my grief and is the treasure on which my whole existence rests. the relation in which we stand to each other leaves nothing to desire. it is a union of heart and soul, and is therefore noble; and in it the poor children shall find their cradle, so as to be able one day to ensure a like happiness for themselves." lady lyttelton describes a sermon which archdeacon wilberforce preached at windsor at this season, february, . "just before church time the queen told me that archdeacon wilberforce was going to preach, so i had my treat most unexpectedly, mercifully i could call it, for the sermon, expressed in his usual golden sweetness of language, was peculiarly practical and useful to myself--i mean, ought to be. 'hold thee still in the lord and abide patiently upon him,' was the text, and the peace, trust and rest which breathed in every sentence, ought to do something to assuage any and every _worret_, temporal and spiritual. there were some beautiful passages on looking forward into 'the misty future,' and its misery to a worldly view, and the contrary. the whole was rather the more striking from its seeming to come down so gently upon the emblems of earthly sorrow (referring to the mourning for prince albert's father), we are in such 'a boundless contiguity of shade.' there was a beautiful passage--i wish you could have heard it, because you could write it out--about growth in grace being greatest when mind and heart are at rest, and in stillness like the first shoot of spring which is not forwarded by the storm or hurricane, but by the silent dews of early dawn; another upon the melancholy of human life, 'most beautiful because most true.'" it was judged desirable that the prince should go to germany for a fortnight at easter. it was his first separation from the queen since their marriage, and both felt it keenly. lady lyttelton wrote of her majesty on the occasion: "the queen has been behaving like a pattern wife as she is, about the prince's tour; so feeling and so wretched and yet so unselfish; encouraging him to go, and putting the best face on it to the last moment.... we all feel sadly wicked and unnatural in his absence, and i am actually counting the days on my part as her majesty is on hers," adds the kindly, sympathetic woman. the queen of the belgians,--and later, king leopold, came over to console their niece by their company during part of her solitude. but her best refreshment must have been the letters with which couriers were constantly riding to and fro, full of a lover's tenderness and a brother's care, from the first to the last; these dispatches came unfailingly. they breathed "the tender green of hope," like the spring which was on the land at the time. from dover the husband wrote: "my own darling.... i have been here about an hour and regret the lost time which i might have spent with you. poor child, you will, while i write, be getting ready for luncheon, and you will find a place vacant where i sat yesterday; in your heart, however, i hope my place will not be vacant. i, at least, have you on board with me in spirit. i reiterate my entreaty, 'bear up,' and do not give way to low spirits, but try to occupy yourself as much as possible; you are even now half a day nearer to seeing me again; by the time you get this letter you will be a whole one--thirteen more and i am again within your arms." from ostend he wrote, "i occupy your old room." from cologne, "your picture has been hung up everywhere, and been very prettily wreathed with laurel, so that you will look down from the walls on my _tete-a-tete_ with bouverie" (the prince's equerry).... "every step takes me farther from you--not a cheerful thought." from gotha, in the centre of his kinsfolk, he told her what delight her gifts had given, and added, "could you have witnessed the happiness my return gave my family, you would have been amply repaid for the sacrifice of our separation. we spoke much of you." from reinhardtsbrunn and rosenau he sent the flowers he had gathered for her. he wrote of the toys he had got for the children, the presents he was bringing for her. at kalenberg--one of his late father's country seats--he broke out warmly, "oh, how lovely and friendly is this dear old country; how glad i should be to have my little wife beside me, that i might share my pleasure with her." coburg had grown marvellously in beauty. in company with his stepmother, brother, and sister-in-law, he went to the town church and was deeply moved by the devotional singing, and "an admirable sermon" from the pastor, who had confirmed the two brothers. afterwards they rode together to their father's last resting-place. the prince's biographer closes the account of this tour with a few significant words from prince albert's diary, in which he noted down in the briefest form the events of each day: "crossed on the th. i arrived at six o'clock in the evening at windsor. great joy." as a surprise for the queen's birthday this year, the prince had privately ordered a little picture of angels from sir c. eastlake, who had received a similar commission from the queen for a picture with which she intended to greet the prince. a still more welcome surprise to her majesty was a miniature of prince albert in armour, according to a fancy of the queen's, by thorburn, a likeness which proved the best of all the portraits taken of the prince, the most successful in catching the outward look when it expressed most characteristically the man within. this picture, together with that of the angels holding a medallion bearing the inscription "_heil und segen_" (health and blessing), and all the other presents were placed in a room "turned into a bower by dint of enormous garlands." the queen and the prince's relations with artists were naturally, from the royal couple's artistic tastes, intimate and happy. accordingly, many pictures not only of great personages in state ceremonies, but of family groups in the simplicity of domestic life, survive as a proof of the connection. vandyck did not paint charles i. and henrietta maria more frequently than landseer and some of his contemporaries painted her majesty, with her husband and children, in the bright and unclouded summer of her life; and vandyck, never painted his royal patrons in such easy unaffected guise and everyday circumstances. there is such a picture of landseer's, well known from engravings, in which the prince is represented in a highland dress returned late from shooting, seated, surrounded by the trophies of his sport in deer, blackcock, &c. &c., and by a whole colony of delighted dogs,--beautiful eos conspicuous by her sobriety and reserve, while an enraptured terrier presses forward to lick his master's hand. the queen, dressed for dinner and still girlish-looking in her white satin, stands talking to the prince. the princess royal, a chubby child of two or three, is prowling childlike among the dead game, curiously making her investigations. of many stories told of royal visits to studios, there are two which refer to an _enfant terrible_, the baby son of one of the painters. this small man having undertaken to be cicerone to his father's work, sought specially to point out to her majesty that two elves were likenesses of himself and a little brother, "only, you know, we don't go about without clothes at home," he volunteered the confidential explanation. the same child horrified an attentive audience by declining to receive a gracious advance made to him by the queen, asserting with the utmost candour, "i don't like you." "but why don't you like me, my boy?" inquired the loving mother of other little children, in some bewilderment. "because you are the queen of england and you killed queen mary," the ardent champion of the slain queen answered boldly. the story goes on, that after a little laughter at the anachronism, her majesty took some trouble to explain to the malcontent that he was wrong, she did not kill queen mary, she had been very sorry for her fate. so far from killing her, she, queen victoria, was one of queen mary's descendants, and it was because she came of the old stewart line that she reigned over both england and scotland. chapter xix. royal visitors.--the birth op prince alfred.--a northern retreat. the year may be instanced as rich in royal visitors to england. on the st of june the king of saxony arrived and shortly after him a greater lion, the emperor of russia. the king of saxony came as an honest friend and sightseer, entering heartily into the obligations of the latter. there was more doubt as to the motives of the czar of all the russias, and considerable wariness was needed in dealing with the northern eagle, whose real object might be, if not to use his beak and claws on the english nation, to employ them on some other nation after he had got an assurance that england would not interfere with his game. indeed, jealousy of the french, and of the friendship between the queen and louis philippe, was at the bottom of the emperor's sudden appearance on the scene. the emperor had paid england a previous visit so far back as , in the days of george, prince regent, when prince leopold and princess charlotte were the young couple at claremont. he had then won much admiration and popularity by his strikingly handsome person, stately politeness, and gallant devotion to the english ladies who caught his fancy. he was still a handsome man--over six feet, with regular features, remarkable eyes, and bushy moustaches. he wore on his arrival a cloth cloak lined with costly fur, and a kind of cap which looked like a turban--rather a telling costume. but time and the man's life and character had stamped themselves on what had once been a goodly mould. there was something oppressive in his elaborate politeness. there was a glare, not far removed from ferocity, in the great grey eyes, so little shaded by their lids and light eyelashes that occasionally a portion of the white eyeball above the iris was revealed, and there was an intangible brooding melancholy about the autocrat whose will was still law to millions of his fellow-creatures. the queen received her distinguished guest in the great hall at buckingham palace shortly afterwards there was a _dejeuner_, at which some of the emperor's old acquaintances in the royal family and out of it, met him--the duchess of gloucester, the princess sophia, the duke of cambridge, the duke of wellington, &c. &c. in the evening there was a banquet. the emperor followed the queen to windsor, where, amidst the gaieties of the ascot week, he was royally entertained. two visits were paid to the racecourse, with which the new-comer associated his name by founding the five hundred pounds prize. there was a grand review in windsor park, at which both the emperor of russia and the king of saxony were present, as well as her majesty and prince albert and the royal children. the emperor in a uniform of green and red, the king of saxony in a uniform of blue and gold, and prince albert in a field-marshal's uniform--all the three wearing the insignia of the garter--were the observed of all observers in the martial crowd. the only incidents of the day which struck lady lyttelton were "the very fine cheer on the old duke of wellington passing the queen's carriage, and the really beautiful salute of prince albert, who rode by at the head of his regiment, and of course lowered his sword in full military form to the queen, with _such_ a look and smile as he did it! i never saw so many pretty feelings expressed in a minute." on the return of the court with its guests to buckingham palace, the emperor went with prince albert to a fete at chiswick, given by the duke of devonshire, and attended by seven or eight hundred noble guests. the czar returned from it loud in the praise of the beauty of english women, while staunchly faithful to the belles he had admired twenty-eight years before. the same evening he accompanied the queen to the opera, when she took his hand and made him stand with her in the front of the box, that the brilliant assemblage might see and welcome him. the emperor was an adept at saying courteous things. he remarked to the queen, of windsor, which he greatly admired, "it is worthy of you, madame." he wished prince albert were his son. when the hour of leave-taking came he found the queen in the small drawing-room with her children. he declared with emotion that he might at all times be relied upon as her most devoted servant, and prayed god to bless her. he kissed her hand and she kissed him; he embraced and blessed the children. he besought her to go no farther with him. "i will throw myself at your knees; pray let me lead you to your room." "but," wrote the queen, "of course i would not consent, and took his arm to go to the hall.... at the top of the few steps leading to the lower hall he again took most kindly leave, and his voice betrayed his emotion. he kissed my hand and we embraced. when i saw him at the door i went down the steps, and from the carriage he begged i would not stand there; but i did, and saw him drive off with albert to woolwich." the emperor was rather suspiciously fond of declaring, "i mean what i say, and what i promise i will perform." some of his speeches were emphatic enough. "i esteem england highly, but as for what the french say of me i care not; i spit upon it." he felt awkward in evening dress; he was so accustomed to wear military uniform that without it he said he felt as if they had taken off his skin. to humour him, uniform was worn every evening at windsor during his stay. among his camp habits was one which he had formed in his youth and kept up to the last: it was that of sleeping every night on clean straw stuffed into a leathern case. the first thing his valets did on being shown their master's bedroom in windsor castle was to send out for a truss of straw for the emperor's bed. the last thing got for him at woolwich was the same simple stuffing for his rude mattress. on the th of june, , thomas campbell, author of the "pleasures of hope," "ye mariners of england," &c., died at boulogne at the age of sixty-seven. although he had not quite reached the threescore and ten, the span of man's life on earth, he had long survived the authors, scott, byron, &c., with whom his name is linked. he was one of many well-known men in very different spheres who passed away in . sir augustus callcott, the painter; crockford with his house of turf celebrity; beckford, the eccentric author of "vathek," and the owner of the art-treasures of fonthill; lord sidmouth, the well-known statesman of the "addington administration;" sir francis burdett, who in recent times was lodged in the tower under a charge of high treason. in the same year an attempt was made to honour the memory of a greater poet than thomas campbell, one whose worldly reward had not been great, whose history ended in a grievous tragedy. the scotchmen of the day seized the opportunity of the return of two of robert burns's sons from military service in india to give them a welcome home which should do something to atone for any neglect and injustice that had befallen their father. the festival was not altogether successful, as such festivals rarely are, but it excited considerable enthusiasm in the poet's native country, especially in his county of ayrshire. and when the lord of the castle of montgomery presided over the tribute to the sons of the ploughman who had "shorn the harvest" with his highland mary on the eglinton "lea-riggs," and christopher north made the speech of the day, the demonstration could not be considered an entire failure. scotch hearts warmed to the belief that the queen understood and admired burns's poetry, and proud reference was made to the circumstance that during one of her highland excursions she applied the famous descriptive passage in the "birks of aberfeldy" to the scene before her: the braes ascend like lofty wa'e, the foamy stream deep roaring fa's, o'erhung with fragrant spreading shaws, the birks of aberfeldy. the hoary cliffs are crown'd wi' flowers, white o'er the linn the burnie pours, and rising, weets wi' misty showers the birks of aberfeldy. this summer, brown queen pomare, and the affairs of far-off tahiti, had a strange, inordinate amount of attention from the english public. french interference in the island, the imprisonment of an english consul and protestant missionary, roused the british lion. the dusky island-queen claimed the help of her english allies, and till louis philippe and m. guizot disowned the policy which had been practised by their representatives in the south seas, there was actually fear of war between england and france, in spite of the friendly visit to chateau d'eu. happily the king and his minister made, or appeared to make, reparation as well as explanation, and the danger blew over. on the st of july, down at windsor a humble but affectionately loved friend died. prince albert's greyhound eos--his companion from his fourteenth to his twenty-fifth year, his _avant courier_ when he came as a bridegroom to claim his bride--was found dead, without previous symptom of illness. she lies buried on the top of the bank above the slopes, and a bronze model of her marks the spot. on the th of august the queen's second son was born at windsor castle. the prince of prussia (the present emperor of germany), the third royal visitor this year, came over in time for the christening, when the little prince received the name of the great saxon king of england, alfred, together with the names of his uncle, ernest, and his father, albert. the godfathers were prince george of cambridge, the queen's cousin, represented by his father; and the prince of leiningen, the queen's brother, represented by the duke of wellington; while the godmother was the queen and prince albert's sister-in-law, the duchess of coburg-gotha, represented by the duchess of kent. "to see these two children there too," the queen wrote of the princess royal and the prince of wales, "seems such a dream to me ... may god bless them all, poor little things." the engraving represents the sailor-prince in his childhood. a tour in ireland had been projected for the queen's holiday, but the excitement in the country consequent on the liberation of o'connell and his companions rendered the time and place unpropitious for a royal visit, so it was decided that her majesty should go again to scotland. on this occasion the queen and the prince took their little four-year-old daughter with them. the route was not quite the same as formerly. the party went by a shorter way to the highlands, the yacht sailing to dundee, the great manufacturing city so fortunate in its situation, where the rushing tay calms and broadens into a wide frith, with a background of green hills and a foreground of the pleasantly broken shores of forfar and fife. the trades held high holiday, and gave the queen a jubilant welcome, the air ringing with shouts of gladness as she landed from the yacht, leaning on prince albert's arm, while he led by the hand the small daughter who reminded the queen so vividly of herself--as the little princess of past years. the queen, escorted by the scots greys, proceeded by cupar angus to dunkeld, stopping at one of the hotels to get "some broth for the child," who proved an excellent traveller, sleeping in her carriage at her usual hours, not put out or frightened at noise or crowds--an excellent thing in a future empress--standing bowing to the people from the windows like a great lady. at moulinearn her majesty tasted that luscious compound of whisky, honey, and milk known as "athol brose." the queen's destination was blair castle, the seat of lord glenlyon--a white, barrack-like building in the centre of some of the grandest scenery of the perthshire highlands. there a strong body of murrays met her majesty at the gate and ran by the side of the carriages to the portico of the castle, where the clansmen, pipers and all, were drawn up in four companies of forty each, to receive the guests. the queen occupied the castle during her stay, lord and lady glenlyon, with their son and the other members of their family, being quartered in the lodge for the time. the queen and the prince led the perfectly retired and simple life which was so agreeable to them. spent among romantic and interesting scenery, it was doubly delightful to the young couple. they dispensed as much as possible with state and ceremony. the highland guard were ordered not to present arms more than twice a day to the queen, and once a day to the prince and the princess royal; but in other respects the guard were so much impressed by their responsibility that not only would they permit no stranger to pass their _cordon_ without giving the password, which was changed every day, they stopped lord glenlyon's brother for want of the necessary "open sesame," telling him that, lord's brother or not, he could not pass without the word. her majesty's piper, mackay, had orders to play a pibroch under her windows every morning at seven o'clock. at the same early hour a bunch of fresh heather, with a draught of icy-cold water from glen tilt, was brought to the queen. the princess royal, on her shetland pony, accompanied the queen and the prince in their morning rambles. sometimes the little one was carried in her father's arms, while he pointed out to her any object that would amuse her and call forth her prattle. "pussy's cheeks are on the point of bursting, they have grown so red and plump," wrote the prince to his stepmother. "she is learning gaelic, but makes wild work with the names of the mountains." so free was the life that one morning when a lady, plainly dressed and unaccompanied, left the castle about seven o'clock no notice was taken of her, and it was only after she had gone some distance that the rank of the pedestrian was discovered. with a little hesitation, a body-guard was told off and followed her majesty, but she intimated that she would dispense with their attendance, and went on alone as far as the lodge, where she inquired for lord glenlyon. it was understood afterwards that she had chosen to be her own messenger with regard to some arrangements to be made respecting a visit to the falls of the bruar. lord glenlyon was not out of bed, and the deputy-porter was electrified by being told that the queen had called on his master. on her majesty's return to the house she took a different road and lost her way, so that she had to apply to some highland reapers whom she met, trudging to one of the isolated oatfields, to direct her to the castle. they told her civilly, but without ceremony, to cross one of the "parks" (fields or meadows) and climb over a paling--instructions which she obeyed literally, and found herself at home again. on a fine september morning the two who were so happy in each other's company rode on a dun and a grey pony, attended only by sandy mcara, who led the queen's pony through the ford, up the grassy hill of tulloch, "to the very top." there they saw a whole circle of stupendous bens--ben vrackie, ben-y-ghlo, ben-y-chat, as well as the falls of the bruar and the pass of killiecrankie, which the hanoverian troopers likened to "the mouth of hell" on the day that dundee fell on the field at urrard. "it was quite romantic," declared the queen joyfully. "here we were with only this highlander behind us holding the ponies--for we got off twice and walked about; not a house, not a creature near us, but the pretty highland sheep, with their horns and black faces, up at the top of tulloch, surrounded by beautiful mountains ... the most delightful, the most romantic ride i ever had." there was much more riding and driving in glen tilt, with its disputed "right of way" ease, but there was none to bar the queen's progress. her majesty showed herself a fearless rider, abandoning the cart-roads and following the foot-tracks among the mountains. she grew as fond of her homely highland pony, _arghait bhean_, with which lord glenlyon supplied her, as she was of her windsor stud, with every trace of high breeding in their small heads, arching necks, slender legs, and dainty hoofs. one day the foresters succeeded in driving a great herd of red-deer, with their magnificent antlers, across the heights, so that the queen had a passing view of them. on another day she was able to join in the deer-stalking, scrambling for hours in the wake of the hunters, among the rocks and heather, when she was not "allowed," as she described it, to speak above a whisper, in case she should spoil the sport. it was a brief taste of an ideal, open-air, unsophisticated life, upon which there was no intrusion, except when stolid sightseers flocked to the little parish church of blair athol for the chance of "seeing royalty at its prayers, and hardly a regret beyond the lack of time to sketch the groups of keepers and dogs, the deer, the mountains. the queen, as usual, enjoyed and admired everything there was to admire--the pretty jackets or "short gowns" of the rustic maidens; the "burns," clear as glass; the mossy stones; the peeps between the trees; the depth of the shadows; the corn-cutting or "shearing," when a patch of yellow oats broke the purple shadow of the moor; ben-y-ghlo standing like a mighty sentinel commanding the course of the garry, as when many a lad "with his bonnet and white cockade," sped with fleet foot by the flashing waters, "leaving his mountains to follow prince charlie;" chrianean, where the eagles sometimes sat; the sunsets when the sky was "crimson, golden red, and blue," and the hills "looked purple and lilac," till the hues grew softer and the outlines dimmer. prince albert, an ardent admirer of natural scenery, was in ecstasy with the mountain landscape. but her majesty has already permitted her people to share in the halcyon days of those highland tours. on the homeward journey to dundee, lord glenlyon and his brother, captain murray, performed the loyal feat of riding fifty miles, the whole distance from blair, by the queen's carriage. chapter xx. louis philippe's visit.--the opening of the royal exchange. the queen and the prince returned to windsor to receive a visit from louis philippe. the king, who had spent part of his exiled youth in england, had not been back since , when he took refuge there again during "the hundred days," after napoleon's return from elba and louis xviii.'s withdrawal to ghent, till the battle of waterloo restored the heads of the bourbon and orleans families to the tuileries and the palais royal. the king arrived on the th of october, accompanied by his son, the duc de montpensier, m. guizot, and a numerous suite. they had sailed from treport in the steamer _gomer_, attended by three other, steamers, and arrived at portsmouth, where the corporation came on board to present an address. the king answered in english, with much effusion and affability, shaking hands with the whole batch of magistrates, telling those who were too slow in removing their white gloves, "oh! never mind your gloves, gentlemen," and recalling a former visit to portsmouth when he was an exile. prince albert and the duke of wellington went on board the steamer, when the enthusiastic elderly gentleman saluted the prince on both cheeks, to which he submitted, though he did not reply in kind, contenting himself with shaking his guest by the hand. it would seem as if the prince had some perception of the wiliness which was one quality of the big, bluff citizen king, and of the discretion which must be practised in dealing with him, no less than with the russian bear. for in writing from blair to a kinswoman, in anticipation of the visit, the writer states, with a dash of humour, that after a preliminary training on the sea, the bold deerstalker and mountaineer would have to transform himself into a courtier to receive and entertain a king of the french, and play the part of a staid and astute diplomatist. the king wore the french uniform of a lieutenant-general--blue with red facings. the moment he ascended the stairs of the jetty, he turned with his hand on his heart and bowed to the multitude of spectators. the queen met her visitor in the grand vestibule fronting george the fourth's gate at windsor castle; the duchess of kent and the ladies of the household, sir robert peel and lord liverpool, and the officers of the household, were with her majesty. the moment the carriage drew up, the queen advanced and extended her arms to her father's old friend. the two sovereigns embraced, and she led the way to the suite of rooms which had been previously occupied by the emperor of russia. lady lyttelton has supplied her version of the arrival. "at two o'clock he arrived, this curious king, worth seeing if ever a body was. the queen having graciously permitted me to be present, i joined the court in the corridor, and we waited an hour, and then the queen of england came out of her room to go and receive the king of france--the first time in history! her majesty had not long to wait (in the armoury, as she received him in the state apartments, his own private rooms; very civil); and from the armoury, amidst all the old trophies and knights' armour, and nelson's bust, and marlborough's flag, and wellington's, we saw the first of the escort enter, the quadrangle, and down flew the queen, and we after her, to the outside of the door on the pavement of the quadrangle, just in time to see the escort clattering up and the carriage close behind. the old man was much moved, i think, and his hand rather shook as he alighted, his hat quite off, and grey hair seen. his countenance is striking--much better than the portraits--and his embrace of the queen was very parental, and nice. montpensier is a handsome youth, and the courtiers and ministers very well-looking, grave, gentlemenlike people. it was a striking piece of real history--made one feel and think much." "he is the first king of france who comes on a visit to the sovereign of this country," wrote the queen in her journal.... "the king said, as he went up the grand staircase to his apartments, 'heavens! how beautiful!'.... i never saw anybody more pleased or more amused in looking at every picture, every bust. he knew every bust, and knew everything about everybody here in a most wonderful way. such a memory! such activity! it is a pleasure to show him anything, as he is so pleased and interested. he is enchanted with the castle, and repeated to me again and again (as did also his people) how delighted he was to be here; how he had feared that what he had so earnestly wished since i came to the throne would not take place, and 'heavens! what a pleasure it is to me to give you my arm!'" the dinner was comparatively private, in the queen's dining-room. on the th of the month the whole royal party went on a little pilgrimage to claremont and twickenham, to the house in which louis philippe, as duc d'orleans, had resided, and wound up the day by a great banquet in st. george's hall. the queen records of this excursion, "we proceeded by staines, where the king recognised the inn and everything, to twickenham, where we drove up to the house where he used to live, and where lord and lady mornington, who received us, are now living. it is a very pretty house, much embellished since the king lived there, but otherwise much the same, and he seemed greatly pleased to see it again. he walked round the garden, in spite of the heavy shower which had just fallen.... the king himself directed the postillion which way to go to pass by the house where he lived for five years with his poor brothers, before his marriage. from here we drove to hampton court, where we walked over wolsey's hall and all the rooms. the king remained a long time in them, looking at the pictures, and marking on the catalogue numbers of those which he intended to have copied for versailles. we then drove to claremont. here we got out and lunched, and after luncheon took a hurried walk in the grounds.... we left claremont after four, and reached windsor at a little before six." of the conversation during the banquet her majesty wrote, "he talked to me of the time when he was 'in a school in the grisons, a teacher merely,' receiving twenty pence a day, having to brush his own boots, and under the name of chabot. what an eventful life his has been!" on the th there was an installation of a knight of the garter. sir theodore martin reminds his readers, 'with regard to the ceremony, that it "must have been pregnant with suggestions to all present who remembered that the order had been instituted by edward iii. after the battle of cressy, and that its earliest knights were the black prince and his companions, whose prowess had been so fatal to france. "in the throne-room, in a state chair, sat queen victoria, in the (blue velvet) mantle of the order, its motto inscribed on a bracelet that encircled her arm; a diamond tiara on her head. the chair of state by her side was vacant. round the table before her sat the knights-companions of the highest rank; on the steps of the throne behind the queen's chair were seated the high civil ministers of the two sovereigns, and some officers of the french suite. at the opposite end of the room were the royal ladies (members of the royal family) and the two young princes (the duc de montpensier and prince edward of saxe-weimar) visiting at the castle.... the king, dressed in a uniform of dark blue and gold, was introduced by prince albert and the duke of cambridge, preceded by garter king-at-arms, the queen and the knights all standing. the sovereign (queen victoria) in french announced the election. the declaration having been pronounced by the chancellor of the order, the new knight was invested by the queen and prince albert with the garter and the george, and received the accolade." "albert then placed the garter round the king's leg," wrote the queen. "i pulled it through while the admonition was being read, and the king said to me, 'i wish to kiss this hand,' which he did afterwards, and i embraced him." "taking the king's arm, her majesty conducted him in state to his own apartments," the _annual register_ ends its account of an interesting episode. "at four o'clock we again went over to the king's room," wrote the queen, "and i placed at his feet a large cup representing st. george and the dragon, with which he was very much pleased." that night there was a splendid banquet in st. george's hall to commemorate the installment. on the th the king was to have left, but first the corporation of london went down to windsor in civic state to present louis philippe with an address. this unusual compliment from the city was due partly to the general satisfaction which the visit, with, its promise of continued friendly relations between england and france, gave to the whole country, partly to the circumstance that it was judged inadmissible, in view of the susceptibility of the french nation, for the king of france to pay a formal visit to london, since the queen of england, in her recent trip to treport, had not gone to paris. a somewhat comical _contretemps_ occurred in the preparation of the reply to this address. it was written by the person who usually acted for the king in such matters, and brought to him shortly before the arrival of the corporation, when louis philippe found to his disgust that the speech was so french in spirit, and expressed in such bad english, he could not hope to make it understood. "it is deplorable.... it is cruel," cried the mortified king. "and to send it to me at one o'clock! they will be here immediately!" no time was to be lost; the king had to sit down and, with the help of his host and hostess, who had come to his rooms opportunely, to write out a more suitable answer. in m. guizot's "memoirs" he tells a curious incident of this visit. on retiring to his room at night he lost his way, and appeared to wander, as baroness bunsen feared she might do on a similar occasion, along miles of corridors and stairs. at last, believing he recognised his room-door, he turned the handle, but immediately withdrew, on getting a glimpse of a lady seated at a toilet-table, with a maid busy about her mistress's hair. it was not till next day that from some smiling words addressed to him by the queen the horrified statesman discovered he had been guilty of an invasion of the royal apartments. louis philippe started on his homeward journey accompanied by her majesty and prince albert, who were to go on board the _gomer_ and there take leave of their guest. afterwards they were to embark in the royal yacht and cross to the isle of wight. but the stormy weather overturned all these plans. the swell in the sea was so great that it was feared the king could not land at treport. eventually he parted from the queen and the prince on shore, returned in the evening to london, went to new cross--where he found the station on fire--proceeded by train to dover, and sailed next day, amidst wind and rain, in french steamer to calais. in order to soften the disappointment to the officers and crew of the _gomer_, the queen and prince albert breakfasted on board that vessel before they proceeded to the isle of wight. the cause of the cruise of the queen and the prince at this season was the wish to see for themselves the house and grounds of osborne, belonging to lady isabella blatchford. they were to be sold, and had been, suggested by sir robert peel to her majesty and the prince as exactly constituted to form the retired yet not too remote country and seaside home--not palace, for which the royal couple were looking out. it is unnecessary to say that the personal visit was quite satisfactory, though the purchase was not made till some months later. the engraving gives a pleasant idea of the osborne of to-day, with its double towers--seen out at sea--its terraces, and its fountains. on the st of october the queen and the prince happened to be yachting off portsmouth. it was the anniversary of the battle of trafalgar, and the _victory_ lay in the roads, adorned with wreaths and garlands from stem to stern. the queen expressed her desire to visit the ship. she went at once to the quarter-deck to see the spot where nelson fell. it is marked by a brass plate with an inscription, on this day surrounded by a wreath of laurel. the queen gazed in silence, the tears rising to her eyes. then she plucked a couple of leaves from the laurel wreath, and asked to be shown the cabin in which nelson died. the cockpit was lit up while the party were inspecting the poop of the _victory_, which bears the words of the great admiral's last signal, "england expects every man to do his duty." in the cockpit, long associated with merry, mischievous sprites of "middies," there had been for many a year the representation of a funeral urn, with the sentence, "here nelson died." the visitors looked at the spot without speaking. there, on this very day in the fast-receding past, amidst the hardly subdued din of a great naval battle, the dying hero with his failing breath made the brief, tender appeal to his faithful captain, "kiss me, hardy." the queen requested that there might be no firing when she left the ship, and was sped on her way only by "the three tremendous british cheers of the sailors manning the yards." on the th of october the great civic ceremonies of the opening of the new royal exchange by the queen took place. the morning had been foggy, but cleared up into brilliant autumn sunshine, a happy instance of the queen's weather, when a considerable part of the programme, as a matter of necessity, was enacted under the open sky. crowds almost as great as on the day of the coronation six years before occupied the line of route, swarming in st. james's park and st. paul's churchyard and at charing cross, while the poultry--deriving its name from the circumstance that it was once filled with poulterers' shops--was reserved for the livery of the city companies. every window which could command the passing of the pageant was filled with spectators. the queen, in her state coach, drawn by her cream-coloured horses, drove through the marble arch at buckingham palace about eleven o'clock. she was accompanied by prince albert, and attended by lady canning in the absence of the duchess of buccleugh, mistress of the robes, and by the earl of jersey, master of the horse. the great officers of her household in long procession preceded her, and she was followed by an escort of life guards. at this time the queen's popularity was a very active principle, though not more heartfelt and abiding than it is to-day. as she appeared, it is said the words "god bless you," uttered by some loyal subject, were caught up and passed from lip to lip, running through the vast concourse. the simply-clad lady of the highlands was magnificently dressed to-day, to do honour to her city of london, in white satin and silver tissue, sparkling with jewels. on her left side she wore the star of the order of the garter, and round her left arm the garter itself, with the motto set in diamonds. she had at the back of her head a miniature crown entirely composed of brilliants, while above her forehead she wore a diamond tiara. prince albert was in the uniform of a colonel of artillery. the city magnates as usual had gathered at child's bank, from which they went to temple bar. the common councilmen were in their mazarine-blue cloaks and cocked hats, the aldermen in their scarlet robes, the lord mayor in a robe of crimson velvet, with a collar of ss, and, strange to say, a spanish hat and feather. in truth a goodly show. the gates of temple bar, which had been previously closed, were thrown open to admit the royal procession. the queen's carriage drew up. the lord mayor advanced on foot before the spikes on which many a traitor's head had been stuck, and with a profound reverence offered to her majesty the city sword, which, the queen touched as a sign of acceptance, and then waved it back to the lord mayor. nothing can read better, but accidents will happen. from lady bloomfield, on the authority of the late sir robert peel, who told the story in the maid-of-honour's hearing, we have additional particulars. the lord mayor, in his spanish hat and feather, was at this very moment in as awkward a predicament as ever befell an unlucky chief magistrate. he had drawn on a pair of jack-boots over his shoes and stockings, to keep the mud off till the moment of action. unfortunately the boots proved too tight, and could not be got off when the sign was given that the queen was coming. one of the victim's spurs caught in the fur trimming of an alderman's robe, and rendered the confusion worse. the lord mayor stood with a leg out, and several men tugging at his boot. in the meantime the queen was coming nearer and nearer; she was only a few paces off, while the representative of her good city of london struggled in an agony with one boot on and one off. at last he became beside himself, and cried wildly, "for god's sake put that boot on again." he only got it on in time to make his obeisance to her majesty. he had to wear the detestable boots till the banquet; just before it, he was successfully stripped of his encumbrances. as the procession went on, the civic body fell into its place, the lord mayor on horseback, where his jack-boots would not look amiss, with three footmen in livery on each side of him, carrying the city sword before the queen's coach. the royal exchange, at the end of the poultry, with the mansion house on the right and the bank of england on the left, has been twice burnt. sir thomas gresham's exchange, which was built after an antwerp model, while it bore the greshams' grasshopper crest conspicuous on the front, was opened by good queen bess, and perished in the great fire of london. this building's successor was burnt down in , one of the bells which rang tunes pealing forth, in the middle of the fire, the only too appropriate melody, "there's nae luck about the house." in the large cloistered court of the present royal exchange, the stage of this day's festivities, stands a statue of queen victoria. there is an allegorical figure of commerce on the front of the building. the inscription on the pedestal, selected by dean milman, is due to a suggestion of prince albert's to the sculptor, westmacott, that there should be the recognition of a superior power. the well-chosen words declare "the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof." at the royal exchange the body of the procession went in by the northern entrance, only to hurry to the western door to receive the queen. she entered the building leaning on the arm of prince albert, and the royal standard was immediately hoisted. the procession was again formed. she set forth "in slow state" to make her circuit of the roofless quadrangle, round the corridor and through the inner court, all in the open air. at the foot of the campanile the bells chimed for the first time "god save the queen." her majesty went upstairs and passed through the second banqueting-room to show herself, then walked on to the throne-room, hung with crimson velvet and cloth, and furnished with a throne of crimson velvet. the queen took her seat, prince albert standing on her right and the duchess of kent and the duke of cambridge on her left, sir robert peel and sir james graham being near. the lord mayor and the rest of the corporation formed a semicircle facing the queen. the recorder read the loyal and congratulatory address welcoming his sovereign, and recalling queen elizabeth's visit to open the first exchange. did anybody remember the picture of the virgin queen with the outshone goddesses fleeing abashed before her virtues, with which the child-princess reared at kensington must have been familiar? the speaker concluded by asking her majesty's "favourable regard and sanction for the work which her loyal citizens of london had now completed." the queen returned a gracious reply, gave the lord mayor her hand to kiss, and doubtless consoled him for any misadventure by announcing her intention to create him a baronet in remembrance of the day. in the great room of the underwriters, ninety-eight feet long by forty wide, a _dejeuner_ was served, at which the queen, the prince, the duchess of kent, and the duke and duchess of cambridge, with other persons of rank, including the foreign ambassadors and their wives, sat on the dais at the cross-table. at the long table beneath the dais, among the cabinet ministers and their wives, members of parliament, judges, the court of aldermen, and many other distinguished and privileged persons, sat sir robert and lady sale, in another scene than any they had known among the defiles and forts of afghanistan. the bishop of london said grace. the usual toasts, "her gracious majesty, queen victoria"--no longer the young girl who bore her part so well at the guildhall dinner, but the woman in her flower, endowed with all which makes life precious--"prince albert, the prince of wales, and the rest of the royal family," were drunk, and replied to by the comprehensive wish, "prosperity to the city of london." at twenty minutes after two the queen and the prince went downstairs again to the quadrangle, in the centre of which her majesty stopped, while the ministers and the corporation formed a circle round her. the heralds made proclamation and commanded silence; the queen, after receiving a slip of paper from sir james graham, announced in clear, distinct tones, "it is my royal will and pleasure that this building be hereafter called "the royal exchange." this ceremony concluded the day's programme, and her majesty left shortly afterwards. great festivities in the city wound up the gala. the lord mayor entertained at the mansion house, the lady mayoress gave a ball, the livery companies dined in their respective halls. a little adventure occurred at the opera in november, . the queen went, not in state, or even semi-state, but privately, to hear auber's opera of "the siren," when mr. bunn, the lessee, was found to have made known without authority her majesty's intention. the result was a great house, but some inconvenience to the first lady in the land. the queen was called for, but declined to come forward, and for ten minutes there was a commotion, the audience refusing to let the opera go on. at last the national anthem was played, the queen showed herself, and this section of her subjects was appeased and passed from clamorous discontent to equally clamorous satisfaction. during the winter sir robert and lady sale paid the queen a visit at windsor, while miss liddell was maid-of-honour in waiting. the lively narrator of the events of these days describes lady sale, as tall, thin, and rather plain, but with a good countenance, while sir robert was stout. lady sale told these wondering listeners, in a palace that she started from cabul in a cloth habit, which got wet the first day, and became like a sheet of ice, while it was nine days before she could take it off. she was wounded in the arm on the second day's march, the ball passing first below the elbow and coming out at the wrist, while there were other balls which passed through her habit; mrs. sturt's fatherless child, lady sales's grand-daughter, was born in a small room without light and almost without air. the captive ladies often slept in the open air on the snow, with the help of sheepskins, half of which were under and half over the sleepers. they washed their clothes by dipping them in the rivers and patting the garments till they became dry. sometimes the prisoners were twenty-four hours without food, and when served it consisted of dishes of rice with sheeps' tails in the middle, and melted fat like tallow poured over them. the captivity lasted ten weary months, while the captives were dragged from place to place, over fearful roads, amidst the snows of the caucasus. lady sale was told she was kept by akbar khan as a hold on her "devil of a husband." end of vol. i. the afterglow of a great reign four addresses delivered in st. paul's cathedral by the right rev. a. f. winnington ingram, d.d. bishop suffragan of stepney, and canon of st. paul's cathedral london wells gardner, darton & co. , paternoster buildings, e c . contents. page i. her truthfulness ii. her moral courage iii. the rainbow round about the throne iv. the law of kindness the after-glow of a great reign. i. her truthfulness. "behold, thou requirest truth in the inward parts."--_psalm li. ._ we stand to-day like men who have just watched a great sunset. on some beautiful summer evening we must all of us have watched a sunset, and we know how, first of all, we see the great orb slowly decline towards the horizon; then comes the sense of coming loss; then it sets amid a blaze of glory, and then it is buried, buried for ever so far as that day is concerned, to reappear as the leader of a new dawn. in exactly the same way have we for years been watching with loving interest the declining years of our queen, years that declined so slowly towards the horizon that we almost persuaded ourselves we should have her with us for ever. then came, but a few weeks ago, a sudden sense of coming loss, then her sun set in a blaze of glory, and yesterday she was buried, buried from our sight, to reappear, as we believe, as a bright particular star in another world. we do not grudge her her rest. few words can express more beautifully the thoughts of thousands than these words just put into my hand-- "leave her in peace, her time is fully come, her empire's crown all day she bore, nor asked to lay it down, now god has called her home. let sights and sounds of earth be all forgot, her cares and tears she hath endured thro' her allotted years, now they can touch her not. from that fierce light which beats upon a throne now has she passed into god's stillness, cool and deep and vast, let heaven for earth atone. all gifts but one he gave, but kept the best till now in store; now he doth add to all he gave before his perfect gift of rest." [ ] but, just as in the sunset a beautiful and tender after-glow remains long after the sun has set, so we are gathered to-day in the tender after-glow. and i propose that we should try and gather up one by one--to learn ourselves and to tell our children, and the generations yet unborn, as some explanation of the marvellous influence which she exercised--some of the qualities of the queen whom we have lost. and let us first fix our minds upon something which at first sight seems so simple, but yet seems to have struck every generation of statesmen as a thing almost supernatural--and that is _her marvellous truthfulness_. said a great statesman, "she is the most perfectly truthful being i have ever met." "perfect sincerity" is the description of another. now what that must have meant to england, for generation after generation of statesmen to have had at the centre of the empire a truthful person, a person who never used intrigue, who never was plotting or planning, or working behind the backs of those who were responsible to advise her--to have had someone perfectly sincere to deal with in the great things of state--that is something which must be left for the historian who chronicles the victorian era thoroughly to paint. no, my friends, our task now is far simpler: it is to ask what is the secret of this marvellous truthfulness, can we obtain it ourselves, and does god demand it? let us take the last question first, and we take it first because it is the question directly answered in our text. the answer is given by someone who understood human nature, by someone who had sinned, had been forgiven, had been roused out of the conventionalities of life by a great experience, who had looked out of the door of his being and had seen god. and he tells us, as the result of his experience, and as the basis of his repentance, these words "behold, thou requirest truth in the inward parts." it is one thing to say words which, understood in a certain sense, are true, it is one thing to avoid direct breaches in our action of the law of honour, but it is another thing to be in ourselves absolutely sincere, to look up into the eyes of god, as a truthful child looks up into the eyes of its mother, to possess our own hearts like a flawless gem, with nothing to hide, nothing to keep back, and nothing to be ashamed of--that is to have truth in the inward parts, and that is what god demands. it is what he found in christ, one of the things which made him say time after time, "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased"; he found ever reflecting back his face as he looked down upon him a perfectly sincere person, true through and through. that was the secret of his marvellous influence, that was why little children came and crept under the ample folds of his love, that was why young men came and told him their secrets, that was why everybody, except the bad, felt at home with him, that was why women were at their best with him, that was why herod the worldly found he could not flatter him, and pilate the coward found him devoid of fear; it was because right through, not only in his words and actions, but in his being he not only had, but he was, truth in the inward parts. and it is because our queen, with her simple and beautiful faith in her saviour, caught from childhood this attribute of her lord, because she worked it out into her character, made it the foundation of everything she did--it is for that reason she was able to keep the court pure, and the heart of the country true, to get rid of flattery, meanness and intrigue, and to chase away the sycophant and the traitor. is it not a lesson which the country needs, is there any nobler monument that we could build to her than this--to incorporate into the character of the nation the first and great characteristic of her own character, and to try and plant in society, in trade, and in christian work, truth in the inward parts? take, first, _society_. it is a cheap sneer, which speaks perpetually of the hollowness of so-called society, as if rich people could not make and did not make as honest friendships as the poor and middle class; but, at the same time, few would deny how much of what would be such a good thing is disfigured by display and insincerity, that miserable attempting to be thought richer than we are, that pitiable struggle to get into a smarter set than happens to be ours, the unreal compliments, the insincere expressions, the sometimes hideous treachery. if society were purged from these, it would not be the dull thing which some people imagine, just as if this insincerity and frivolity and unreality constituted the brightness of it. no, it is these things which constitute the dulness and the stupidity. if they were done away with, then society would be a gathering of true men and women, true to themselves, true to one another, and true to god, and would be a society which god could bless. secondly, take _trade_ and _commerce_. speaking in the very centre of a city reared upon a basis of honourable commerce, it would be more than wicked to refuse to acknowledge the splendid honour and trust on which such commerce is based; but when we clergy, not once or twice, but constantly, get letters from those employed in firms and in business up and down the country, saying, "how can i live a christian life, when i am obliged by my employer to do dishonest things in business, when i am told to tell lies, or i shall lose my place?" when we have, even within the last few months, terrible instances of breach of trust among those who have been entrusted with the most sacred interests by the widow and the orphan, must we not acknowledge that a second great monument which we might build to our queen would be to restore to the trade and commerce of the country those principles of honour and integrity on which the great firms were built up, and to make it true again from end to end of the world that an englishman's word is as good as his bond. and so, again--would to god we had not to add it!--what a revolution would be worked in _christian work_ itself--christian work that is supposed to demand from everyone who undertakes it perfect forgetfulness of self, and entire self-abnegation, to have as its workers men and women conspicuous for humility, for thinking of others before themselves, for being ready to bear the cross on the way to the crown. and yet can we deny--would god we could!--that in christian work there is an amount of self-advertisement, of jealousy among workers, and of insincerity which lowers our cause, and damages the progress of christianity? think for a moment what it would be if all christians were really united as christ meant them to be, if they worked with one another, showing a common front to the world, one great society, as christ conceived it, without jealousy, without conceit, without pride, but throwing themselves into one magnificent common cause. why, nothing could stand before the christian church if it were like that. can we not in this coming reign, and the century just begun, try and plant in the heart of every christian worker truth in the inward parts? how are we, then--that comes to be the last question--how are we to attain this wonderful gift, the secret of a strong character? and, first of all, let us be perfectly clear as to the first essential. the first essential is _detachment of mind_. oh! what cowards we are with regard to the opinion of others! you will find time after time men and women, who think themselves free, living under the most degrading tyranny of fear as to what will be thought of them by others. not to care at all what anybody thinks is inhuman, but to be bound by a kind of trembling terror as to what people will say or think, is a degrading slavery. bit by bit it creates in the character a habit of insincerity; little by little the question is in the heart and in the mind, "will this be popular or not? shall i be liked for this?" we speak or do something according to the reflection it will make in the thoughts of others. there may be some here who know that that is their temptation, who know that they are not true, that they are never themselves, they are always somebody else, or the reflection of the mind of somebody else. let the example of our truthful queen speak like a trumpet note the old words of the new testament, "stand upright on thy feet," and be a man. and, if the first secret is detachment of mind, putting aside self-consciousness, which is very often other-people-consciousness, the second secret is _an increasing consciousness of god_. is it not an extraordinary thing that when we are only here for a few fleeting years, and everybody around us is hurrying to his grave as fast as he can, and when the only person whose opinion matters the least is the eternal god, who goes on generation after generation, and before whom everyone must appear at the last--is it not an extraordinary thing how little we think of him at all? how often during the past week have you thought of god? to actually acquire a continual sense of his presence, to be conscious that his eyes, the eyes of him who is from everlasting to everlasting, are always fixed upon us, to rise in the morning with the feeling, "one more day's work for god," and to go to bed in the evening with only one care, "how have we done it?"--that is to gradually foster in the character the second great thing which will produce truth in the inward parts--a consciousness and love of god. and then, thirdly, _learn truth like a lesson_. if we did not learn it as the queen did as a child, let us begin now. watch every word. are we in the habit of boasting, are we in the habit of lying, are we in the habit of being insincere? not "what did we do?" but "why did we do it?" is the real question. why did we give that donation to something? for the good of the cause or to see our name in the paper? why did we do this thing? was it done from a true and pure motive? and if, as we try and learn truth like a lesson, step by step, in word and deed, we also pray continually, "give me a clean heart, o god, and renew a right spirit within me," then there shall emerge gradually something that will last beyond the grave--an image, which is also the pattern, the character of the child, slowly won, but which was the prototype to start with; and thus we may hope to be sincere, and without offence until the day of christ. [ ] lines by the rev. w. h. draper, rector of adel, leeds. ii. her moral courage. "why are ye fearful? o! ye of little faith."--_st. matthew viii. ._ we saw last sunday that we were like men who had just watched a great sunset, that we were standing, as it were, in the beautiful and tender after-glow, which so often follows a beautiful sunset, and we set ourselves to try and gather up and meditate upon some of the great qualities in the character of her whom we have lost, as some explanation, of the influence which made her reign so great. and we have already contemplated together what it was to have _truth in the inward parts_. we thought over the truthfulness of one, of whom it was said by a great statesman, that she was the most truthful being he had ever met. and we saw what a revolution it would work in society, in commerce, and in christian work, if every one of us had that downright sincerity and straightforwardness which characterized her. we now take another quality, and i suppose i shall carry most of you with me when i mention, as a second great quality for us to try and incorporate into our own characters, and so into the life of the nation for the new reign--her moral courage. she had plenty of physical courage. she was a fearless horsewoman in her youth, she was proud of being the daughter of a soldier, she loved her own soldiers and sailors, and marked to the very last day of her life their gallant deeds with delight. but there was throughout her life something more than physical courage, and that was her moral courage. take, first of all, the way in which she bore her own personal troubles. if there was anyone who could say with the psalmist, "all thy waves and storms have gone over me," it was our late queen. what the loss of her husband was to her, you may gather from this beautiful letter published in lord selborne's life, which she addressed to him years afterwards on the loss of his own wife: "to lose the loved companion of one's life is losing half one's own existence. from that time everything is different, every event seems to lose its effect; for joy, which cannot be shared by those who feel everything with you, is no joy, and sorrow is redoubled when it cannot be shared and soothed by the one who alone could do so. no children can replace a wife or a husband, may they be ever so good and devoted. one must bear one's burden alone. that our heavenly father may give you strength in this heavy affliction, and that your health may not suffer, is the sincere prayer of yours most truly, victoria, r.i." [ ] there could hardly have been penned, one would have thought, a more touching or more beautiful letter, and penned years after the loss of her husband. it revealed to the heart of the nation what that loss was to her. it was followed in the years afterwards by the loss of children and grandchildren. and the first thing, therefore, that strikes us is that, in the midst of this personal sorrow, one stroke following after another, with a moral courage which is an example to us all, she never gave up her work; without fainting or failing, that huge pile of documents, which, in a few days of cessation from her work, mounted up--a great statesman tells us--so high, was dealt with, those ceaseless interviews, that constant correspondence--were carried through up to the last by one who proved herself faithful unto death. and, as with personal sorrow, so with public anxiety. it has become now common property that, in the dark days of december, , the queen was the one who refused to be depressed in her court; when disaster followed disaster it was the queen who, by her moral courage, kept up the spirits of those around her, and who, with a perfect trust in her soldiers and sailors, and with an absolute confidence in the justice of her cause, went steadily, brightly, and cheerfully on with her work, upheld by the moral courage which i put before you and before myself as our example for to-day. and so, once again, her moral courage took the form--a rare form, too, in these days--of the courage of her own opinions. one statesman has told us that he never differed from a matured opinion of his sovereign without a great sense of responsibility; another, that when he once acted directly against it he found that he was wrong and she was right. another has pointed out how we have lost among the crowned heads of europe, in her personal influence among them, one of the strongest influences in europe for peace and righteousness. and, therefore, when we think to ourselves of the difficulty of acting always constitutionally and yet strongly, and to know that our queen, on all hands, is admitted to have done this through a long lifetime, we see a third aspect of the moral courage which we have to seek to emulate. now, the question is--for these sermons are meant in no sense to be mere panegyrics--in what way can we, gathered here on a sunday afternoon, incorporate into our characters something of the moral courage which characterized the queen? and the first thing which strikes us is this: what a vast field it is on which we have to exercise it. to those who have to see a great deal of the sorrows of others, sometimes life simply seems one series of undeserved calamities. take, for instance, that unhappy man who, recently, in this cathedral, shot himself, and by his own act passed into the other world. look into his history, and you will find nothing specially wrong that he had done up to then. he had just been one of the unfortunates amongst us. he had been for years a steady workman, able to keep himself; then his joints got stiff, too stiff for work. "i cannot go on living on your husband's earnings, rose," he said, on the morning that he died, and without, no doubt, a proper understanding of the guilt of self-murder, by his own act he passed--so he thought--out of trouble into rest. we do well to pray that we comfortable people in the world may be pardoned for any carelessness and selfishness on our part which makes the world so intolerable to many of our fellow creatures. but still, though we may soften by our pity the act which he did, and even for such an one we can only speak softly about the dead; though we know full well that some of the best men that ever lived, in a fit of insanity, or under depression quite impossible for them to control, have passed, by their own hand, out of this world, yet we cannot hide from ourselves that self-destruction is an act of cowardice, that where men and women break down is not in physical courage, but in moral courage, and that those lines penned long ago are true to-day: "when all the blandishments of life are gone, the coward slinks to death, the brave live on!" but we need not go to such an exceptional occurrence as that to find a field for this exercise of moral courage. take all those incidents of life which happen day after day--the little child snatched from us in all its beauty and its innocence: the bright lad shot upon the field of battle in a moment, taken away with all his brightness, and his laughter, and his merriment; the man who loses in middle life his money and has to begin the hard struggle of saving all over again--how are we to explain it? what can we say to light up in any degree so vast a problem? there is, my dear brothers and sisters, i believe, no full explanation here, but there is a belief which comforts us, and that is, that these calamities of life are all being used for a great purpose; that when the scripture says of god that "he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver," it does give us some sort of clue which nerves us to bear what we have to bear. those who pass from us, pass, we believe, into what has been called, "god's great convalescent home" in another world, but to us who have to suffer, who receive these strokes, the suffering is not useless; it is a furnace which has to fashion that heavenly tempered thing which we call "moral courage," and to produce it any suffering is worth bearing. do think over that, you who may be going through the furnace now, do remember that you have not lost that lad, that child, for ever, that it is only a few years until you see him again; but, meanwhile, while he is prepared there, you are being prepared here. the character is everything, and if there can be produced in you and in me that moral courage which makes us like our saviour, we shall not be sorry for it in the days to come. and so, again, take that awful trial which comes at times of having to suffer under a false accusation. i saw someone this week whom i believe to be lying under a most terrible accusation which is absolutely false. and, if anyone of you has ever been through that terrible trial of suffering under an imputation on your honour, which you know to be false, but cannot prove to be false, you realize what a field such a state as that presents for moral courage. what are we to say to anyone we see who is under that most terrible trial? what are we to say to ourselves if such a misfortune and trial comes to us? why, we can only say this, and it is enough--that if it is true that a general places his bravest soldiers in the hottest part of the battle, if it is true that it is only certain strokes which can reach the most sensitive parts of our character, if it is true that this very trial came to jesus christ himself, and he had it said of him--"he works through beelzebub, the prince of the devils," "he saved others, himself he cannot save"--then, my brother, the secret of your strange punishment is out, it means that it is a special mark of favour, it is a victoria cross for service, it is christ coming to you and bringing the very cup out of which he drank himself, and saying, "are ye able to drink of the cup that i drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that i am baptized with?" pray hard, pray with all your strength, for the moral courage to answer back, "i am able." "therefore," as the poet so beautifully says:-- "therefore gird up thyself, and come to stand unflinching under the unfaltering hand that waits to prove thee to the uttermost. it were not hard to suffer by his hand if thou could see his face; but in the dark! that is the one last trial--be it so; christ was forsaken, so must thou be too: how couldst thou suffer but in seeming else? thou wilt not see the face, nor feel the hand, only the cruel crushing of the feet, when, thro' the bitter night, the lord comes down to tread the wine-press. not by sight but faith, endure, endure; be faithful to the end." and so, once again, looking out upon our ordinary life, what shall we need to put backbone into life? what do we need to give a little more strength to it, to enable us to be braver and firmer and stronger? it is just that power of being able to take our own line against others; it is just that courage of our opinions; it is consistent with being perfectly humble, and ever ready to learn; it implies no conceit, and no contempt of others, but it enables this one in the workshop to stand up for the faith in which he believes, that one in the drawing-room to take a strong moral line when people are sneering at virtue; it nerves us to stand by our colours and to cry to the last, "faith of our fathers, living still, we will be true to thee till death." how then are we to gain the secret? what is the secret of moral courage? and, in answering that question, let us be perfectly fair to those who, like the stoics of old, showed a wonderful endurance with no knowledge whatever of christ, and very little belief in another world; let us be perfectly honest and frank with regard to the virtue of those in our day who, having lost, to their infinite misfortune, their childish faith, still say to themselves: "i will cling to my morality, i will try and keep a clean hand and a pure heart"; let us give full allowance to what we have heard of this morning in this cathedral--the power and the influence of secondary motives, secondary motives allowed sometimes to save us for the time before the primary motive comes in--but still, making all allowance for that, what is the secret of the best moral courage? it is not the highest moral courage merely to endure, it is not the highest moral courage, like the old roman, just to fold our toga round us and die. there has come a new thing into the world, a new kind of moral courage, and that moral courage is full of inspiration and full of cheerfulness: it does not merely bear the cross, it takes up the cross. it has in the midst of its own sorrow a force and a power which shake the world; it has in the midst of personal trouble, "a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize." and what is the secret of that? and i would dare anyone here, whatever may be their private belief, to doubt or to dispute this, that it is produced and shown by no one else but those who believe that jesus is with them in the ship; and that when you see some woman going through the most terrible trouble, perfectly calm, quiet, brave and cheerful; when some man, over whom all the waves and storms are bursting, stands there brave, and cheerful, and happy in the hour of trial, it is because, unheard by the world, he hears a voice in his ear saying, "why are ye fearful? o ye of little faith," because, unseen by the world, he sees someone standing with his hand upon the tiller, someone whom he believes to have supreme power in the last resort over the waves, and who he knows, at exactly the right moment when it is best for him, will say the word before which every billow and every storm sinks to rest, "peace be still." the trial is that jesus often seems asleep; the trial is that when the ship of state labours on in the trough of the waves there seems no steersman in view; the trial is that when the church seems overwhelmed by controversy, and about to be buried under its waves, jesus makes no sign; the trial is that lazarus actually dies and lies dead, and jesus still stays two days in the same place where he was; but the magnificent truth which we christians believe is this--that, though apparently asleep, he never is asleep; that he rises from time to time and shows his strength; that he rose once and burst into fragments the power of death. they thought he was quite asleep in the grave, but he rose with all his power, and broke for every mourner throughout the ages that were to come, the power of death for ever. he rises in the midst of the church, he brings the church in his own time into a peace and calm which seemed at one time impossible; he rises in our own personal life, and while the world thinks how that poor man or poor woman is overwhelmed with trouble, we know that we are in a wonderful and supernatural calm. and, therefore, the whole question is this: have we got, or do we believe we have got, jesus in the ship with us? do we hear his voice saying, "be of good cheer; it is i, be not afraid?" as we watch, then, the moral courage produced in our queen by her simple, but strong faith, i beg you with me to pray god to grant us a living faith in jesus christ, which is the secret of strength, and we shall find that it will give us moral courage, not of earth, which the world can neither give nor take away. [ ] "memorials: personal and political of the earl of selborne." vol. iv., . iii. the rainbow round about the throne. "and there was a rainbow round about the throne."--_rev. iv. ._ we are taking, you will remember, one by one--picturing ourselves in the after-glow which succeeds a great sunset--the qualities which made the influence of the queen that we have lost so great, and we have taken them, not as constituting a prolonged panegyric, but as practical lessons, and much-needed lessons, for ourselves. and we first contemplated the truthfulness of one of whom it has been said, that she was the most truthful being that the speaker--a great statesman--had ever met. then we traced in trouble, in public anxiety, amid a multitude of advisers, the effect and the power of moral courage. we saw that moral courage is only strong enough to stand up against overwhelming trouble, when anxieties and difficulties are thick around us, if we really believe that our lord jesus christ is with us in the ship, and that we hear his voice say to us, "why are ye so fearful, o ye of little faith?" and yet, as we go on, we become more and more aware that we have not yet penetrated to the central secret of her power; nor shall we. can any man name the real secret of influence, or analyse the strength of personality? but, if we cannot hope to penetrate to the central secret, we can, with firm and reverent gaze, gather more than we have yet done of how it was that the court of queen victoria was the purest court in the world, and why her influence was so unique among all civilized nations. and, as we take our third glance, we find that round her throne, so far as it is possible for human things to copy the divine, there was a reflection of what the inspired seer, with open eyes, saw round the throne of god--a rainbow round about the throne. what do we understand by a rainbow? four things, at least. first, the colours of the rainbow, beautiful and various as they are, blend into the purest white; secondly, a rainbow, even for the most careless, and those most untouched by natural beauty, is one of the most inherently attractive things in the world; thirdly--a rainbow is god's appointed sign of hope, hope founded on the faithfulness of god: "while the earth remaineth, winter and summer, seed time and harvest shall not cease"; and, fourthly--strange paradox at first, but true--a rainbow is one of the most awful things in the world, because it reminds us that what has created it is the terrible light which, without the atmosphere, would scorch to nothingness; for, while the sun, through the medium of the atmosphere, blesses, let its flames, mountains high, touch a planet that has drifted from its course, and it scorches to death. with those four thoughts in our minds, let us first contemplate the rainbow round the throne of god. and we shall now understand that the first thing which we can learn is, that there is around the throne of god a circle of unblemished purity. we might have known it; we have been told it over and over again. "god is light, and in him is no darkness at all." "with the clean thou must be clean, and with the holy thou must learn holiness." we know it, yet where we fail is in not realizing the awful bearing which it has upon our lives. a rainbow of perfect purity bars the way of entrance to the throne of god, except for the pure. and then, secondly, to temper, as it were, the awfulness of the first revelation, we find that the light of god is brought us through a medium; the glory, grace, and truth of god are shown us in the face of jesus christ. and, as we follow him during these coming six weeks, let us remember that we are watching the rainbow, that we are watching the medium through which the light of god reaches us in all its inherent attractiveness. if the heavenly rainbow is not produced by the light shining upon the tears of human penitence, where is hope for the world? but because it is so produced, the rainbow round the throne of god wins us to god. "come unto me," it seems to signify, "all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and i will give you rest." thirdly, the rainbow round the throne of god speaks of hope. just as the husbandman, getting anxious about his harvest, troubled by the variableness of the season, looks up on some showery day and sees the rainbow in the sky, and it reminds him of the faithfulness of god, and his promise that seed time and harvest shall not cease, so the father with his son snatched suddenly from him in the battle, so the soul waiting so long year after year, for something to come which does not come, so the tempted one at home or at work, looks upon the rainbow round the throne of god, and that rainbow speaks of god's faithfulness. "his righteousness standeth," that is what the rainbow says, "like the strong mountains, and his judgments are like the great deep." and, founded on the faithfulness of god, we can hope. and yet, in spite of the attractiveness and in spite of the hope, the rainbow round the throne of god is still awful, for it reminds us of what, in our soft age, we are apt to forget--that "our god is a consuming fire," that never, from generation to generation, does he lower his standard for a moment, that not because in one age or another sins are condoned or thought lightly of does he vary for an instant the standard of holiness he demands, because he has appointed a day when he will judge the world by the standard of that man whom he has ordained. and when, therefore, we turn from the prototype in heaven to the copy of it which we have been lately seeing on earth, we are not surprised to find the same mingled elements of attractiveness and awfulness in the rainbow which encircled the throne of the empire for three and sixty years. in the first place, we find it a rainbow of unsullied purity. no one could go down, even for a few hours, to preach at the court, without being struck by the goodness of the men, as well as the goodness of the women, who surrounded the queen. there was an atmosphere of goodness, of innocence, of pure home life, which constituted a beautiful rainbow round the throne. it had what we should expect--an attractive power throughout the world. everyone felt, for that reason, at home with their queen, because they were conscious that, at her home, there were just the very qualities, and the very characteristics, of a pure, and true, and good home. it gave an impulse of hope to the whole empire. young mothers in canada, australia, and the islands of the sea, mothers of grown-up sons and daughters who found it difficult to keep the standard high in their own homes, thousands of them, without knowing it, were helped and inspired and enlightened by the sight of the far-away rainbow round about the throne at the centre of the empire. "she did it, she has managed it; in the midst of court life, in the midst of all difficulties and duties, her home is pure: mine shall be pure; the queen, god bless her!" that was the thought of thousands of hearts, and the inspiration of thousands of homes throughout the empire. and yet, who shall deny that there was an awe about it all? the man or woman was not born who dared to take a liberty in the presence of queen victoria. and can we wonder that the awful purity which shone round the throne chased away, as evil birds are chased away by the light, all things bad, all things loathsome, and all things even questionable! our lesson, then, is this: how can we keep in the nation, in the home, in the individual soul, a rainbow round the throne; how can we incorporate into the national life, and home life, and the individual life, the spotless purity that we saw in the queen whom we have lost? and, first of all, believe in the possibility of it. those men who, in their clubs, or before younger men, talk as if virtue and purity were impossible; those women who allow into their drawing-rooms, or into the society of those they love, men known to be bad, are doing all that lies in their power to make the rainbow impossible; they are doing all in their power to make it impossible for us to have in the nation, in the home, or in the individual life, purity at all. those who look out upon scenes which disgrace our social system, and our city, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, lead people to believe they constitute a necessary evil which cannot be faced, are not only unconsciously believing in the blasphemy that god made his physical laws so that they could not obey his moral laws; they are not only condoning the most unblushing cruelty which is going on in our midst to-day, but, also, they are not realizing that jesus christ came with the very purpose among others of proving that the pure life was a possible one. what is the incarnation but the taking of a human body, with all its passions, with all its impulses, a real human body, and wearing it perfectly untarnished to the end? we must take hold, by meditation and by prayer, of the teaching of the incarnation, that we may live as children of the incarnation. we were sent into the world with a rainbow round our souls. "not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory, do we come, from god, who is our home." and we may be perfectly certain that god does not send us into this world with a rainbow round our souls if it is impossible to preserve the brightness and the purity of that rainbow in the world to which he sent us. having realized the possibility of it, the next thing to realize is that it is absolutely essential. no one without that rainbow can pass to the throne of god. there are many here, perhaps, who say, "ah! it is too late to teach me that now; my rainbow, if i ever had one, faded from round my brow long ago." my brother or sister, did we not see that a rainbow was made by the light shining upon rain, and do we not believe that, if any single one here brings the tears of real penitence, that there shall be round him again, or round her, the most beautiful rainbow, the rainbow of the light of forgiveness shining upon penitence? during these six weeks, let us then look into our own souls, and ask ourselves in the light of god, "where are we! how about our thoughts? how about our words? how about our characters? where is the pristine purity of youth? what about our lives today?" if such questions draw us on to our knees, with tears of penitence, to beg god again of his mercy to make a rainbow shine around us, there shall still be a rainbow round the throne in our hearts. and, while we look into our own hearts, and remember the rigorous demand of god for the pure heart, lastly, let us safeguard our children. "whoso shall cast a stumbling block in the way of one of these little ones, it were better that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea." why? because it robs them of the joy of the rainbow, because that subtle suggestion, that careless talk, that stumbling block placed in the way, dims the children's view of heaven, "where their angels do always behold the face of our father which is in heaven." i pray you, then, my friends, safeguard the rainbow for your children, as well as for yourselves. many careful writers, among others the head master of haileybury, recommend, as a great safeguard, the teaching to children, before knowledge is conveyed to them from impure sources, the simple facts of life. "they are innocent," says the latter writer, "of impurity, indescribably eager for wholesome knowledge, perfectly trustful of their parents, and, though self-absorbed, are capable of being easily trained to a tone of mind to which sympathy is congenial and cruelty abhorrent. such a description is literally true of the great majority of quite young children, and we believe that qualities such as these elicited the great saying, 'of such is the kingdom of heaven.'" he goes on to say that "such a trustful, innocent frame of mind is the very frame of mind to receive from the father and mother this simple instruction in the facts of life which would save many a fall and many a misery in the days to come; and is far," he says, "from sullying the purity of the child's mind." "people sometimes speak of the indescribable beauty of the children's innocence, and insist that there is nothing which calls for more constant thanksgiving than their influence on mankind, but i will venture to say that no one quite knows what it is who has foregone the privilege of being the first to set before them the true meaning of life and birth, and the mystery of their own being. not only do we fail to build up sound knowledge in them, but we put away from ourselves the chance of learning something that must be divine." [ ] god help us, then, for ourselves, in our home, in the nation, and, above all, among the children, to secure that in the coming reign, and through the coming century, there may be a rainbow round about the throne. [ ] rev. e. lyttelton, "training of the young in laws of sex," pp. , , . iv. the law of kindness. "in her tongue is the law of kindness."--_prov. xxxi. ._ we have reached our last lesson from the life and character of queen victoria. some will be surprised that this lesson should have been kept for the last one, as the kindness and sympathy of the late queen was a proverb among her people. but, if we come to think of it, it is far best to have kept it to the last. mere kindness, apart from sincerity, apart from moral courage, without the rainbow of purity, counts low among the virtues. we have known kind people, have we not, who were weak, who were fickle, who were even treacherous, and there is a sad truth in that half-cynical statement that it is the province of the wise to remedy the mistakes of the good. but what captivated the whole empire in the sympathy of queen victoria was its strength; that one so strong should be so kind; that one so fearless should have so much sympathy; that one whose moral standard was so high should be full of mercy and gentleness. it was that which gave a force to those many stories which came to us about the visits to the little lonely cottages in the highlands; the telegrams to the women huddled by the pit-mouth in their misery; the letter to the mother of the young officer who had died for his country--what gave force to it all was its strength, the fact that it was no passing impulse, but the deep beating of a true mother's heart, that it was the outcome of character; and that, as is so beautifully said in this description of the virtuous woman in the book of proverbs: "in her tongue was the law of kindness." and when we turn from the pattern to the prototype--and never, for a moment, during lent, can we afford to take our eyes off jesus christ himself--when we turn from the queen to the saviour, in whom she had so simple and so touching a faith, the first thing we find to our comfort is that he, too, felt the need of sympathy. is there any picture in the whole of the new testament more touching than that which shows us how he goes just before his greatest trial to seek sympathy from his followers, how he, the head, the leader, does not disdain to turn to the very followers who trusted in him for sympathy? "couldst thou not watch with me one hour?" and the picture is so comforting, because it tells us that that craving for sympathy, which all of us feel at times, is a true human instinct, that there is nothing wrong in it, that one of the things that we can do for one another is to be like comrades on a night march, when one or another is stricken down, to stand over him, and be ready, at any moment, with the cup of sympathy to give him. and when jesus goes to his own disciples to ask them for sympathy, it is a lesson that the need for sympathy is a true need, and the desire for it a true instinct of the human heart. but, then, remember, the sympathy he looks for is the sympathy which he always gave, something as tender and gentle as the touch of a good surgeon's hand upon a wounded limb, but also something as strong, and as firm, and as helpful. why sympathy gets discredited, why people speak of "a morbid craving for sympathy," is because so much sympathy is sympathy of the wrong sort. there is some sympathy which enervates instead of strengthening. it thinks of itself, it thinks of the happiness of having to itself the object of its sympathy, it seeks merely to soothe. but the true sympathy goes far beyond that; the true sympathy never thinks of itself at all. it is simply concentrated upon one thought--how can i, in this trial-time, when my brother or my sister is stricken down by my side, how can i nerve and strengthen him or her to rise to the glorious vocation to which god has called him or called her, to strengthen them to be what god would have them be? and that was the sympathy, was it not, that christ gave perpetually. it was within him like a spring working by law, a spring which had all the regularity, as well as the spontaneity, of some beautiful spring among the hills, and it was at the service of every sufferer that came to him; but he never hurt people when he tried to comfort them, because he gave them the nerving and strengthening sympathy of love. and then, again, notice how constant it was with him. he was never too tired to be kind. he might be disappointed forty-nine times, but the fiftieth time found him perfectly ready still. wake him up from his sleep, and he is ready to do an act of mercy. place him, tired, by the well, and he is ready there to try and help a sinful soul. let him have a little quiet time far away but the multitude find him out, and then sympathy for them is ready to spring to his lips, for "he had compassion on the multitude," we are told, and in his tongue was the law of kindness. therefore, among the virtues which we set ourselves to acquire during lent, let us set ourselves, with the help of god, and by the grace of our lord jesus christ, to see if we cannot acquire in our characters, as part of them, this power of sympathy; and, as we test ourselves, one by one, by the laws which ought to govern our lives during these six weeks, let us test ourselves by that law which more than any other goes to the root of our characters--the law of kindness. we ought to obey this law, first, in our own home lives; secondly, in our private charities; and, thirdly, in our public responsibilities. and, first of all, have we got such a perpetual spring of sympathy in our hearts ready for emergencies, ready for every sufferer, ready for every sinner who comes to us? have we such a perpetual spring within us, ready and accessible for use in our home lives? it seems that the one thing a christian should never be without is this spring of sympathy. "the water that i shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life." it is hard to see what good a christian is doing in the world at all if this primary function of his christianity is undischarged. if he fails in that, he is failing in his primary duty. this, then, is the first question i would press upon everyone, as i would press it upon myself: have i at the disposal of the brother who needs me the sympathy he wants, and if not, of what use am i in the world? think what some lives are in the home circle; all the other members of the family have to devote themselves to keeping some one in a good humour. the children are anxious lest the father or perhaps the mother should be ill-tempered to-day. this so-called christian, with the primary duty of being loving, sympathetic, considerate, is a creature of moods; father is ill-tempered to-day, and the whole house is miserable; or mother, for some reason unexplained to the children of the family, for days together allows herself to be under a cloud of gloom. and you see in a family--who has not seen it?--an amount of restless, anxious, watching, to try and prevent the ill-temper creeping over this one whose temper is of such importance to the whole family circle. and do we not constantly see that most unjust tyranny which the ill-tempered or ill-controlled member of the family has over the rest? is such a one seated among us in this church to-day? let him go down on his knees, and pray to be forgiven for failing in the primary duty of life, the duty of being loving and sympathetic at home. there are many courteous enough and popular enough outside, who yet at home utterly break every day of their lives the law of kindness. let us face it on our knees, if it is so, and pray to be forgiven. it is self that does it, that miserable self which stops and chokes, as it were, the spring from working. we are so anxious to have a little more credit or a little more comfort. and it is because our eyes are fixed upon ourselves that we do not see that wounded man in front of us, and do not hear his cry for aid. it is a first condition of having sympathy to have a heart "at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize." there are some whose lives are confined to their home circle; some girl, perhaps, who longs to go outside, but is thought too young to work for others, and thus she can do nothing in her home that seems worthy of being done for her saviour. i would say to such, what an aim to be in the home circle, the most unselfish girl there! what an inspiration to have brothers and sisters say what a brother that one is! what a sister that one is! he or she never fails us in our hour of need. and then in our private charity, is not this the secret of the worthlessness of so much so-called charity that constantly we give not really to help the sufferer, but to save ourselves? that careless gift to the beggar in the street, or to someone who asks us for a gift--is it not constantly, not really to help that person, but to ease our own minds and consciences? it is really given to ourselves. no; what we must practise--and god knows it is hard enough in this crowded city and in this crowded life we live--what we must practise is getting down by our brother's side. we must save him from the temptation which is a curse to him; from the temptation to drink, it may be, that is ruining him. get down by his character, look at him as christ would look at him. what does he need? how can we help him, that poor wounded man brought across our path? we must try and give him, in the name of christ, the very thing he needs, the character which he lacks. and so, again, with our public responsibilities. there are three figures very prominently before our eyes just now. there is, first, the overcrowded dweller in our slums--poor men and women and boys and girls, dwelling as they do nine and ten and even more in a room--that room the only place for them to eat and sleep in. it is astonishing how good and pure the boys and girls come out of such homes; but there the evil is, and it is not getting better, it is getting worse; every year makes it worse. and as we face it what are we to do? i do sometimes think, my friends, you who come from comfortable homes, you who belong to the better class, and are going from this church to beautiful homes of your own, do not realize what it is to those brothers and sisters of yours to have only one little room to live in, what immorality it must lead to, and does lead to, what terribly stunted frames among the children, and what stunted characters. we have been, some of us, for weeks past, considering, in conference, the great problem. one of the best experts, who has studied the question for years, has made up his mind that the most hopeful remedy is to have from the centre of our great city, to every part of the great circumference of london, underground and overground means of transit to whirl away from the centre to something which may be called home the poor people who work for us. others are still in favour of building in the slums better buildings at a cheap rate, which, as a conservative paper this week advocated, should be helped by the state. but the point is this: whatever plan is fixed upon by the experts and those responsible, are we ready to rise to it? does the law of kindness touch us in our municipal work? are we prepared, as a great christian city, to rise to the self-sacrifice which it involves? we believe that all these schemes eventually will pay, but undoubtedly at the first there may be a call upon the self-sacrifice of londoners to carry them out. and i would ask you to put it to your consciences whether we should gauge the rates only according to their amount. we have to watch carefully whether our public money is wasted, we have to take our share in deciding what shall be done, but we have also to consider when we are called upon as christian citizens, to pay a little more towards a well-considered scheme to cure one of the most terrible evils in our midst, whether the law of kindness does not bid us do so. let us send this week on to our central council--by whatever party name they call themselves--men who have the time and the brains, and, above all, the heart, to deal with these great problems. then we have before us prominently one we miscall the hooligan. and we must freely admit when street ruffianism has reached a certain point, there is but one thing to do, and that is to bring in firmly and strongly the arm of the law. but can we as christian citizens be content with the arm of the law? is there no other arm, no other law that we are bound to try before these young lads grow up indeed ruffians who must be dealt with by the law? are we so hopeless and helpless as to have no other power to bring in upon them? can we not transform them as boys? must we be content to transport them as men? and so on friday there was inaugurated at the mansion house a scheme for dealing with the roughest lads of our town in such a way as experience has shown does transform them from the possibility of becoming young ruffians into respectable and honest men; in other words, to apply to them in their youth the law of kindness, and so make it unnecessary to apply to them for their discipline the penalty for the breach of any other law throughout their lives. i ask you whether you as christian citizens cannot rise to a great scheme like this to plant down in every little slum some place beside the public-house into which the lads so lovable and so full of good and so open to influence, if you will only take them in time, may come to in the evening to be trained and disciplined and taught, and so be changed that their lives may be more worthy of children of god. you cannot all personally help, but we shall be asking some of you young men to give up one evening a week and go and work these clubs. the older ones can give money; we want from you your personal help. will you give it? and lastly, we have to-day before us the untaught child. after all is said and done, these schemes for dealing with hooligans would be unnecessary if we really had from the very beginning an efficient scheme for teaching the young christian principles. you are asked today to give your alms to the national society. it is a grand thing for us of the church of england to think that we have given for the education of the people for the last eighty years more than , pounds a week. and yet the work is failing. in god's name, because we are interested in a new scheme, let us not forsake or starve the old. and a liberal contribution to the national society is a true response to the law of kindness. let us take home, then, these four great lessons from the character of our late queen--truth in the inward parts, moral courage throughout life, the rainbow of purity round the throne of the heart, and in the tongue the law of kindness. may god send them home to us and incorporate them into the national character, and then we shall have with us for years to come the after-glow of a great reign. queen victoria story of her life and reign - [illustration: queen victoria. (from a photograph by russell & son.)] 'her court was pure, her life serene; god gave her peace; her land reposed; a thousand claims to reverence closed in her as mother, wife, and queen.' tennyson. 'god bless the queen for all her unwearied goodness! i admire her as a woman, love her as a friend, and reverence her as a queen. her courage, patience, and endurance are marvellous to me.' norman macleod. 'a prince indeed, beyond all titles, and a household name, hereafter, through all time, albert the good.' tennyson. preface. this brief life of queen victoria gives the salient features of her reign, including the domestic and public life, with a glance at the wonderful history and progress of our country during the past half-century. in the space at command it has been impossible to give extended treatment. the history is necessarily very brief, as also the account of the public and private life, yet it is believed no really important feature of her life and reign has been omitted. it is a duty, incumbent on old and young alike, as well as a pleasing privilege, to mark how freedom has slowly 'broadened down, from precedent to precedent,' and how knowledge, wealth, and well-being are more widely distributed to-day than at any former period of our history. and this knowledge can only increase the gratitude of the reader for the golden reign of queen victoria, of whom it has been truly written: a thousand claims to reverence closed in her as mother, wife, and queen. contents. chapter i.--reign of queen victoria--outlook of royalty in --duke and duchess of kent--birth of victoria--anecdotes. chapter ii.--first meeting with prince albert--death of william iv.--accession of queen victoria--first speech from the throne--coronation--life at windsor--personal appearance--betrothal to prince albert--income from the country. chapter iii.--marriage--family habits--birth of princess royal--queen's views of religious training--osborne and balmoral--death of the duke of wellington. chapter iv.--chief public events, - --rebellion in canada--opium war with china--wars in north-west india--penny postage--repeal of the corn-laws--potato famine--free trade-chartism. chapter v.--the crimean war, - --interest of the queen and prince consort in the suffering soldiers--florence nightingale--distribution of victoria crosses by the queen. chapter vi.--the indian mutiny, - --the queen's letter to lord canning. chapter vii.--marriage of the princess royal--twenty-first anniversary of wedding-day--death of the prince-consort. chapter viii.--death of princess alice--illness of prince of wales--the family of the queen--opening of indian exhibition and imperial institute--jubilee--death of duke of clarence--marriage of princess may. chapter ix.--the queen as an artist and author--in her holiday haunts--norman macleod--letter to mr peabody--the queen's drawing-room--her pet animals--a model mistress--diamond jubilee--death of the queen. chapter x.--summary of public events and progress of the nation. chapter i. reign of queen victoria--outlook of royalty in --duke and duchess of kent--birth of victoria--wisely trained by duchess of kent--taught by fräulein lehzen--anecdotes of this period--discovers that she is next to the throne. the reign of queen victoria may be aptly described as a period of progress in all that related to the well-being of the subjects of her vast empire. in every department of science, literature, politics, and the practical life of the nation, there has been steady improvement and progress. our ships circumnavigate the globe and do the chief carrying trade of the world. the locomotive binds industrial centres, and abridges time and space as it speeds along its iron pathway; whilst steam-power does the work of thousands of hands in our large factories. the telegraph links us to our colonies, and to the various nationalities of the world, in commerce and in closer sympathy; and never was the hand and heart of benevolence busier than in this later period of the nineteenth century. our colonial empire has shared also in the welfare and progress of the mother-country. when we come to look into the lives of the queen and prince-consort, we are thankful for all they have been and done. the wider our survey of history, and the more we know of other rulers and courts, the more thankful we shall be that they have been a guiding and balancing power, allied to all that was progressive, noble, and true, and for the benefit of the vast empire over which her majesty reigns. and the personal example has been no less valuable in wearing the white flower of a blameless life, before a thousand peering littlenesses, in that fierce light which heats upon a throne, and blackens every blot. in the year the family outlook of the british royal house was not a very bright one. the old king, george iii., was lingering on in deep seclusion, a very pathetic figure, blind and imbecile. his son the prince regent, afterwards george iv., had not done honour to his position, nor brought happiness to any connected with him. most of the other princes were elderly men and childless; and the prince-regent's only daughter, the princess charlotte, on whom the hopes of the nation had rested, and whose marriage had raised those hopes to enthusiasm, was newly laid in her premature grave. but almost immediately after princess charlotte's death, the king's third and fourth sons, the dukes of clarence and kent, had married. of the duke of clarence we need say little more. he and his consort eventually reigned as william iv. and queen adelaide, and they had two children who died in earliest infancy, and did not further complicate the succession to the crown. the duke of kent, born in , fourth son of george iii.--a tall, stately man, of soldierly hearing, inclined to corpulency and entirely bald--married the widowed princess of leiningen, already the mother of a son and a daughter by her first husband. the duke was of active, busy habits; and he was patron of many charitable institutions--he presided over no less than seventy-two charity meetings in . baron stockmar describes the princess of leiningen after her marriage in , as 'of middle height, rather large, but with a good figure, with fine brown eyes and hair, fresh and youthful, naturally cheerful and friendly; altogether most charming and attractive. she was fond of dress, and dressed well and in good taste. nature had endowed her with warm feelings, and she was naturally truthful, affectionate, and unselfish, full of sympathy, and generous.' the princely pair lived in germany until the birth of a child was expected, when the duke at first thought of taking a house in lanarkshire--which would have made queen victoria by birth a scotchwoman. eventually, the duke and duchess of kent took up their abode in kensington palace. on the th may , their daughter was born, and she was named alexandrina victoria, after the reigning emperor of russia and her mother. the prince regent had wished the name of georgiana; her own father wished to call her elizabeth. the little one was the first of the british royal house to receive the benefits of jenner's discovery of vaccination. the duke of kent was so careful of his little girl that he took a cottage at sidmouth to escape the london winter. to a friend he wrote: 'my little girl thrives under the influence of a devonshire climate, and is, i am delighted to say, strong and healthy; too healthy, i fear, in the opinion of some members of my family, by whom she is regarded as an intruder.' next winter the duke came in one day, after tramping through rain and snow, and played with his little child while in his damp clothes; he thus contracted a chill from which he never rallied, and died january , . this child was destined to be the empress-queen, on whose dominion the sun never sets. yet so remote did such a destiny then seem, owing to the possibilities of the regent's life, and of children being born to the duke of clarence, that in some courtly biographies of george iii. there is no mention made of the birth of the little princess. even in their accounts of the death of her father the duke of kent, seven months afterwards, they do not deem it necessary to state that he left a daughter behind him; though he, poor man, had never had any doubts of her future importance, and had been in the habit of saying to her attendants, 'take care of her, for she may be queen of england.' the duke of kent was a capable and energetic soldier, of pure tastes and simple pleasures. in presenting new colours to the royal scots in , the queen said: 'i have been associated with your regiment from my earliest infancy, as my dear father was your colonel. he was proud of his profession, and i was always told to consider myself a soldier's child.' the position of the widowed duchess of kent, a stranger in a foreign country, was rather sad and lonely. it was further complicated by narrowness of means. the old king, her father-in-law, died soon after her husband. the duchess was a woman of sense and spirit. instead of yielding to any natural impulse to retire to germany, she resolved that her little english princess should have an english rearing. she found a firm friend and upholder in her brother leopold, husband of the late princess charlotte, and afterwards king of the belgians. on discovering her straitened means he gave her an allowance of £ a year, which was continued until it was no longer necessary in . as the duke came into a separate income only at a late period of his life, he had died much in debt. long afterwards the queen said to lord melbourne: 'i want to pay all that remains of my father's debts. i must do it. i consider it a sacred duty.' and she did not rest till she did it. in reply to an address of congratulation on the coming of age of the queen, the duchess of kent said: 'my late regretted consort's circumstances, and my duties, obliged us to reside in germany; but the duke of kent at much inconvenience, and i at great personal risk, returned to england, that our child should be "born and bred a briton." in a few months afterwards my infant and myself were awfully deprived of father and husband. we stood alone--almost friendless and alone in this country; i could not even speak the language of it. i did not hesitate how to act, i gave up my home, my kindred, my duties [the regency of leiningen], to devote myself to that duty which was to be the whole object of my future life. i was supported in the execution of my duties by the country. it placed its trust in me, and the regency bill gave me its last act of confidence. i have in times of great difficulty avoided all connection with any party in the state; but if i have done so, i have never ceased to press on my daughter her duties, so as to gain by her conduct the respect and affection of the people. this i have taught her should be her first earthly duty as a constitutional sovereign.' the little princess was brought up quietly and wisely at kensington and claremont. in a letter from the queen to her uncle leopold, written in , we find the following: 'this place [claremont] has a particular charm for us both, and to me it brings back recollections of the happiest days of my otherwise dull childhood, when i experienced such kindness from you, dearest uncle, kindness which has ever since continued.... victoria [the princess royal] plays with my old bricks, &c., and i see her running and jumping in the flower-garden, as old, though i fear still _little_, victoria of former days used to do.' bishop fulford of montreal remembered seeing her when four months old in the arms of her nurse. in the following year she might be seen in a hand-carriage with her half-sister, the princess feodora of leiningen. wilberforce in a letter to hannah more, july , , wrote: 'in consequence of a very civil message from the duchess of kent, i waited on her this morning. she received me with her fine, animated child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which i soon became one.' she became familiar to many as a pretty infant, riding on her sleek donkey (a gift from her uncle the duke of york) in kensington gardens. she used to be seen in a large straw hat and a white cotton frock, watering the plants under the palace windows, dividing the contents of the watering-pot between the flowers and her feet, and often took breakfast with her mother on the lawn there. there are playful stories told of those happy early days. the little princess was very fond of music, listening as one spell-bound when first she heard some of beethoven's glorious compositions. but like most children, she rebelled against the drudgery of scales and finger exercises, and on being told that there is 'no royal road to music,' she sportively locked the piano and announced that 'the royal road is never to take a lesson till you feel disposed.' sir walter scott records in his diary that he dined with the duchess of kent on th may . 'i was very kindly received by prince leopold, and presented to the little victoria--the heir-apparent to the crown as things now stand. the little lady is educated with much care, and watched so closely that no busy maid has a moment to whisper "you are heir of england." i suspect if we could dissect the little heart, we should find that some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter, however.' this, it seems, was not the case. charles knight has told us how he one morning saw the household breakfasting in the open air, at a table on the lawn. it is also related that victoria took her airings in kensington gardens in a little phaeton drawn by a tiny pony, led by a page. a dog ran between the legs of the pony one day, frightening it, so that the little carriage was upset, and the princess would have fallen on her head, but for the presence of mind of an irishman who rescued her. leigh hunt saw her once 'coming up a cross-path from the bayswater gate, with a girl of her own age by her side, whose hand she was holding as if she loved her;' and he adds that the footman who followed seemed to him like a gigantic fairy. when the princess was in her fifth year, george iv., who acted as one of her godfathers, sent a message to parliament which resulted in a grant for the cost of the education of his niece. in , when the princess was five years old, fräulein lehzen, a german lady, became her governess; afterwards she held the post of the queen's private secretary, until relieved by the prince-consort. she was the daughter of a hanoverian pastor, and came to england in as governess to the princess feodora of leiningen. in her home letters she records that 'the princess received her in a pretty, childlike way,' and describes her as 'not tall, but very pretty;' adding that she 'has dark brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a mouth which, though not tiny, is very good-tempered and pleasant; very fine teeth, a small but graceful figure, and a very small foot. she was dressed in white muslin with a coral necklet.' the domestic life was that of any other well-regulated and happy family. the princess shared her governess's bedroom. they all took their meals together at a round table. when they did not go to church, the duchess read a sermon aloud and commented pleasantly on it. as early as thomas moore heard the princess victoria sing duets with her mother, who also sang some pretty german songs herself. nor are there lacking traces of strict and chastening discipline. the princess had been early taught that there are good habits and duties in the management of money. when she was buying toys at tunbridge wells, her wishes outran her little purse, and the box for which she could not pay was not carried away on credit, but set aside for her to fetch away when the next quarter-day would renew her allowance. fräulein lehzen says, 'the duchess wished that when she and the princess drove out, i should sit by her side, and the princess at the back. several times i could not prevent it, but at last she has given in, and says on such occasions with a laugh to her daughter: "sit by me, since fräulein lehzen wishes it to be so." but,' says the governess, 'i do not hesitate to remark to the little one, whom i am most anxious not to spoil, that this consideration is not on her account, because she is still a child, but that my respect for her mother disposes me to decline the seat.' once when the princess was reading how cornelia, the mother of the gracchi, introduced her sons to the first of roman ladies with the words, 'these are my jewels,' she looked up from her book, and remarked: 'she should have said my _cornelians_.' [illustration: princess victoria--early portrait.] mrs oliphant remembers of having in her own youth seen the princess victoria, and says: 'the calm full look of her eyes affected me. those eyes were very blue, serene, still, looking at you with a tranquil breadth of expression which, somehow, conveyed to your mind a feeling of unquestioned power and greatness, quite poetical in its serious simplicity.' while on a visit to malvern she climbed walls and trees, and rode on a donkey. one day she had climbed an apple tree, and could not get down till relieved by the gardener, who got a guinea for his pains, which was preserved and neatly framed. on another occasion, at wentworth house, the gardener cautioned her: 'be careful, miss, it's slape' (using a provincial form for 'slippery'), while she was descending a sloping piece of turf, where the ground was wet. while she was asking, 'what is _slape?_'her feet slid from beneath her, and the old gardener was able to explain as he lifted her up, 'that's slape, miss.' miss jane porter, then resident at claremont, describes the princess as a beautiful child, with a cherubic form of features, clustered round by glossy, fair ringlets. her complexion was remarkably transparent, with a soft, but often heightening tinge of the sweet blush-rose upon her cheeks, that imparted a peculiar brilliancy to her clear blue eyes. whenever she met any strangers in her usual paths, she always seemed, by the quickness of her glance, to inquire who and what they were? the intelligence of her countenance was extraordinary at her very early age, but might easily be accounted for on perceiving the extraordinary intelligence of her mind. at esher church, even in her sixth year, the youthful princess was accustomed to devote earnest attention to the sermons preached there, as the duchess of kent was in the habit of inquiring not only for the text, but the heads of the discourse. 'the sweet spring of the princess's life,' continues miss porter, 'was thus dedicated to the sowing of all precious seeds of knowledge, and the cultivation of all elegant acquirements.... young as she was, she sang with sweetness and taste; and my brother, sir robert (who, when in england, frequently had the honour of dining at claremont), often had the pleasure of listening to the infant chorister, mingling her cherub-like melody with the mature and delightful harmonies of the duchess of kent and prince leopold.' when fräulein lehzen died in , her old pupil wrote of her as 'my dearest, kindest friend, old lehzen; she knew me from six months old, and from my fifth to my eighteenth year devoted all her care and energies to me, with the most wonderful abnegation of self, never even taking one day's holiday. i adored, although i was greatly in awe of her. she really seemed to have no thought but for me.' and the future queen profited by it all, for it has been truly said that, 'had she not been the queen of england, her acquirements and accomplishments would have given her a high standing in society.' dr davys, the future bishop of peterborough, was her instructor in latin, history, mathematics, and theology, and the dowager duchess of northumberland had also, after her own mother, a considerable share in her training. the duchess of kent took her daughter to visit many of the chief cities, cathedrals, and other places of interest in the british isles. her first public act was to present the colours to a regiment of foot at plymouth. an american writer has recorded that he saw the widowed lady and her little girl in the churchyard of brading, in the isle of wight. they were seated near the grave of the heroine of a 'short and simple annal of the poor'--the _dairyman's daughter_, whose story, as told by the rev. legh richmond, had a great popularity at the time. the duchess was reading from a volume she carried (probably that one), and the little princess's soft eyes were tearful. the princess, it appears, was much devoted to dolls, and played with them until she was nearly fourteen years old. her favourites were small wooden dolls which she would occupy herself in dressing; and she had a house in which they could be placed. as she had no girl companions, many an hour was solaced in this manner. she dressed these dolls from some costumes she saw in the theatre or in private life. a list of her dolls was kept in a copy-book, the name of each, and by whom it was dressed, and the character it represented, being given. the dolls seem to have been packed away about . of the dolls preserved, thirty-two were dressed by the princess. they range from three to nine inches in height. the sewing and adornment of the rich coloured silks and satins show great deftness of finger. her wise mother withheld her from the pomp and circumstance of the court. she was not even allowed to be present at the coronation of her uncle, the duke of clarence, when he ascended the throne as william iv. he could not understand such reticence, was annoyed by it, and expressed his annoyance angrily. but his consort, good queen adelaide, was always kind and considerate: even when she lost all her own little ones, she could be generous enough to say to the duchess of kent, 'my children are dead, but yours lives, and she is mine too.' all doubts as to the princess's relation to the succession were gradually removed. george iv. had died childless. both the children of william iv. were dead. the princess victoria therefore was the heiress of england. a paper had been placed in the volume of history she had been reading, after perusing which she remarked, 'i never saw this before.' 'it was not thought necessary you should, princess,' the governess replied. 'i see,' she said timidly, 'that i am nearer the throne than i thought.' 'so it is, madam,' said the governess. 'now many a child,' observed the princess thoughtfully, 'would boast, but they don't know the difficulty. there is much splendour, but there is more responsibility.' and putting her hand on her governess's, she said solemnly, '_i will be good_.' let that be recorded as among royal vows that have been faithfully fulfilled. in august , the princess victoria was confirmed in the chapel royal, st james's, by the archbishop of canterbury; and she was so much moved by the solemn service, that at the close of it she laid her head on her mother's breast, and sobbed with emotion. chapter ii. first meeting with prince albert--death of william iv.--accession of queen victoria--first speech from the throne--coronation--life at windsor--personal appearance--betrothal to prince albert--income from the country--her majesty a genuine ruler. the first great event in the young princess's life, and that which was destined to colour it all for her good and happiness, was her first meeting in with her cousins, her mother's nephews, the young princes ernest and albert of saxe-coburg. that visit was of about a month's duration, and from the beginning the attraction was mutual. we can see how matters went in a letter from princess victoria to king leopold, th june . 'i have only now to beg you, my dearest uncle, to take care of the health of one now so dear to me, and to take him under your special protection. i hope and trust that all will go on prosperously and well on this subject, now of so much importance to me.' although in her heart preferring albert, she had been equally kind to both, and her preference was as yet unknown. and as a mere preference it had for a while to remain, as the princess was only seventeen, and the education of the prince was yet incomplete. he was still on his student travels, collecting flowers and views and autographs for the sweet maiden in england, when in , news reached him that by the death of william iv. she had attained her great dignity, and was proclaimed queen. [illustration: the archbishop of canterbury and lord conyngham announcing to the queen the death of william iv.] the death of william iv. took place at . a.m. on june , . according to a contemporary account, the archbishop of canterbury and lord conyngham reached kensington palace about five as bearers of the news. they desired to see _the queen_. they were ushered into an apartment, and in a few minutes the door opened, and she came in, wrapped in a dressing-gown, with slippers on her naked feet, and with tearful eyes and trembling lips. conyngham told his errand in few words, and as soon as he uttered the words 'your majesty,' she put out her hand to him to be kissed. he dropped on one knee, and kissed her hand. the archbishop likewise kissed her hand, and when he had spoken of the king's death, she asked him for his prayers on her behalf. the first result of the accession of victoria was the separation of hanover from the british crown. by the salic law of that realm, a woman was not permitted to reign; and thus the german principality, which had come to us with the first george, and which had led us into so many wars on the continent, ceased to have any concern with the fortunes of this country. the crown of hanover now went to the duke of cumberland, the queen's uncle. on th june , her cousin albert wrote: 'now you are queen of the mightiest land of europe, in your hand lies the happiness of millions. may heaven assist you, and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task! i hope that your reign may be long, happy, and glorious; and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects.' the queen closed her first speech from the throne as follows: 'i ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me; but i am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence upon the protection of almighty god. it will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord. acting upon these principles, i shall upon all occasions look with confidence to the wisdom of parliament and the affections of my people, which form the true support of the dignity of the crown, and ensure the stability of the constitution.' 'when called upon by the duke of wellington to sign her first death-warrant, the queen asked, with tears in her eyes, 'have you nothing to say in behalf of this man?' 'nothing; he has deserted three times,' was the reply. 'oh, your grace, think again.' 'well, your majesty,' said the duke, 'though he is certainly a very bad _soldier_, some witnesses spoke for his character, and, for aught i know to the contrary, he may be a good _man_.' 'oh, thank you for that a thousand times!' the queen exclaimed; and she wrote 'pardoned' across the paper. the great duke of wellington declared that he could not have desired a daughter of his own to play her part better than did the young queen. she seemed 'awed, but not daunted.' nor was the gentler womanly side of life neglected. she wrote at once to the widowed queen adelaide, begging her, in all her arrangements, to consult nothing but her own health and convenience, and to remain at windsor just as long as she pleased. and on the superscription of that letter she refused to give her widowed aunt her new style of 'queen dowager.' 'i am quite aware of her majesty's altered position,' she said, 'but i will not be the first person to remind her of it.' and on the evening of the king's funeral, a sick girl, daughter of an old servant of the duke of kent, to whom the duchess and the princess had been accustomed to show kindness, received from 'queen victoria,' a gift of the psalms of david, with a marker worked by the royal hands, and placed in the forty-first psalm. the first three weeks of her reign were spent at kensington, and the queen took possession of buckingham palace on th july . mr jeaffreson, in describing her personal appearance, says: 'studied at full face, she was seen to have an ample brow, something higher, and receding less abruptly, than the average brow of her princely kindred; a pair of noble blue eyes, and a delicately curved upper lip, that was more attractive for being at times slightly disdainful, and even petulant in its expression. no woman was ever more fortunate than our young queen in the purity and delicate pinkiness of her glowing complexion.... her majesty's countenance was strangely eloquent of tenderness, refinement, and unobtrusive force.... among the high-born beauties of her day, the young queen victoria was remarkable for the number of her ways of smiling.' other observers say that the smallness of her stature was quite forgotten in the gracefulness of her demeanour. fanny kemble thought the queen's voice exquisite, when dissolving parliament in july : her enunciation was as perfect as the intonation was melodious. charles sumner was also delighted, and thought he never heard anything better delivered. she was proclaimed queen, june , : the coronation took place in westminster abbey on june , , and has been vividly described by many pens. at least , visitors came to london on this occasion. we are told of the glow of purple, of the acclamations of the crowd, and the chorus of westminster scholars, of the flash of diamonds as the assembled peeresses assumed their coronets when the crown was placed on the head of the young queen. but we best like the touch of womanly solicitude and helpfulness with which her majesty made a hasty movement forward as an aged peer, lord rolle, tripped over his robes, and stumbled on the steps of the throne. as she left the abbey, 'the tender paleness that had overspread her fair face on her entrance had yielded to a glow of rosy celestial red.' miss harriet martineau thus describes the scene before the entrance of the queen: 'the stone architecture contrasted finely with the gay colours of the multitude. from my high seat i commanded the whole north transept, the area with the throne, and many portions of galleries, and the balconies, which were called the vaultings. except the mere sprinkling of oddities, everybody was in full dress. the scarlet of the military officers mixed in well, and the groups of clergy were dignified; but to an unaccustomed eye the prevalence of court dress had a curious effect. i was perpetually taking whole groups of gentlemen for quakers till i recollected myself. the earl marshal's assistants, called gold sticks, looked well from above, lightly flitting about in white breeches, silk stockings, blue laced frocks, and white sashes. 'the throne, covered as was its footstool with cloth of gold, stood on an elevation of four steps in front of the area. the first peeress took her seat in the north transept opposite at a quarter to seven, and three of the bishops came next. from that time the peers and their ladies arrived faster and faster. each peeress was conducted by two gold sticks, one of whom handed her to her seat, and the other bore and arranged her train on her lap, and saw that her coronet, footstool, and book were comfortably placed.... about nine o'clock the first gleams of the sun started into the abbey, and presently travelled down to the peeresses. i had never before seen the full effect of diamonds. as the light travelled, each lady shone out like a rainbow. the brightness, vastness, and dreamy magnificence of the scene produced a strange effect of exhaustion and sleepiness.... the guns told when the queen set forth, and there was unusual animation. the gold sticks flitted about; there was tuning in the orchestra; and the foreign ambassadors and their suites arrived in quick succession. prince esterhazy, crossing a bar of sunshine, was the most prodigious rainbow of all. he was covered with diamonds and pearls, and as he dangled his hat, it cast a dazzling radiance all around.... at half-past eleven the guns told that the queen had arrived.' an eye-witness says: 'the queen came in as gay as a lark, and looking like a girl on her birthday. however, this only lasted till she reached the middle of the cross of the abbey, at the foot of the throne. on her rising from her knees before the "footstool," after her private devotions, the archbishop of canterbury turned her round to each of the four corners of the abbey, saying, in a voice so clear that it was heard in the inmost recesses, "sirs, i here present unto you the undoubted queen of this realm. will ye all swear to do her homage?" each time he said it there were shouts of "long live queen victoria!" and the sounding of trumpets and the waving of banners, which made the poor little queen turn first very red and then very pale. most of the ladies cried, and i felt i should not forget it as long as i lived. the queen recovered herself after this, and went through all the rest as if she had been crowned before, but seemed much impressed by the service, and a most beautiful one it is.' the service was that which was drawn up by st dunstan, and with a very few alterations has been used ever since. then the anointing followed--a canopy of cloth of gold was held over the queen's head, a cross was traced with oil upon her head and hands, and the dean of westminster and the archbishop pronounced the words, 'be thou anointed with holy oil, as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed.' meanwhile, the choir chanted the 'anointing of solomon,' after which the archbishop gave her his benediction, all the bishops joining in the amen. she was next seated in st edward's chair, underneath which is the rough stone on which the scottish kings had been crowned, brought away from scotland by edward i. while seated here she received the ring which was a token that she was betrothed to her people, a globe surmounted by a cross, and a sceptre. the crown was then placed upon her head; the trumpets sounded, the drums beat, the cannons were fired, and cheers rose from the multitude both without and within the building. the archbishop presented a bible to her majesty, led her to the throne, and bowed before her; the bishops and lords present in their order of rank did the same, saying, 'i do become your liegeman of life and limb and of earthly worship, and faith and love i will bear unto you, to live and die against all manner of folks; so help me god.' when the ceremony of allegiance was over, the queen received the holy communion, and, after the last blessing was pronounced, in splendid array left the abbey. mr greville, one of the brilliant gossip-mongers of the court, related that lord john thynne, who officiated for the dean of westminster, told him that no one knew but the archbishop and himself what ceremony was to be gone through, and that the queen never knew what she was to do next. she said to thynne, 'pray tell me what i am to do, for they don't know.' at the end, when the orb was put into her hand, she said, 'what am i to do with it?' 'your majesty is to carry it, if you please, in your hand.' 'am i?' she said; 'it is very heavy.' the ruby ring was made for her little finger instead of her fourth; when the archbishop was to put it on she extended the former, but he said it was to be put on the latter. she said it was too small, and she could not get it on. he said it was right to put it there, and, as he insisted, she yielded, but had first to take off her other rings, and then it was forced on; but it hurt her very much, and as soon as the ceremony was over, she was obliged to bathe her finger in iced water in order to get it off. it is said that she was very considerate to the royal dukes, her uncles, when they presented themselves to do homage. when the duke of sussex, who was old and infirm, came forward to take the oath of allegiance, she anticipated him, kissed his cheek, and said tenderly, 'do not kneel, my uncle, for i am still victoria, your niece.' lord shaftesbury wrote of the service, as 'so solemn, so deeply religious, so humbling, and yet so sublime. every word of it is invaluable; throughout, the church is everything, secular greatness nothing. she declares, in the name and by the authority of god, and almost enforces, as a condition preliminary to her benediction, all that can make princes rise to temporal and eternal glory. many, very many, were deeply impressed.' [illustration: queen victoria at the period of her accession.] the old crown weighed more than seven pounds; the new one, made for this coronation, but three pounds. the value of the jewels in the crown was estimated at £ , . these precious stones included large ruby and sapphire; sapphires, emeralds, rubies, brilliant diamonds; rose diamonds, table diamonds; drop-shaped pearls; other pearls. the entire coronation expenses amounted to less than £ , : those of george iv. amounted to £ , (banquet, £ , ). as the ceremony lasted four and a half hours, it was well queen victoria was spared the fatigue of a banquet. reasons of state and court etiquette required the duchess of kent to retire from the constant companionship of her daughter, lest she should be suspected of undue influence over her. the young queen of england had entered upon a time of moral trial. many of those who had been ready to applaud her were found equally ready to criticise her. her mother's natural pangs at settling down into their new relationship were maliciously interpreted as consequences of the queen's coldness and self-will. it was said that she 'began to exhibit slight signs of a peremptory disposition.' it is good to know from such a well-informed authority as mrs oliphant that the immediate circle of friends around her fed her with no flatteries. the life of the queen at windsor has been thus described: 'she rose at a little after eight; breakfasted in her private rooms; then her ministers were admitted; despatches were read, and there would be a consultation with lord melbourne. after luncheon she rode out, and on her return amused herself with music and singing and such like recreations till dinner, which was about p.m. on the appearance of the ladies in the drawing-room she stood, moving about from one to the other, talking for a short time to each, and also speaking to the gentlemen as they came from the dining-room. a whist table would be made up for the duchess of kent. the queen and the others seated themselves about a large round table and engaged in conversation.' 'poor little queen!' said carlyle, with a shake of his head at the time, 'she is at an age when a girl can hardly be trusted to choose a bonnet for herself, yet a task is laid upon her from which an archangel might shrink.' her majesty was not overawed, however, and expressly declared to her mother that she ascended the throne without alarm. 'she is as merry and playful as a kitten,' wrote sir john campbell.... 'she was in great spirits, and danced with more than usual gaiety a romping, country-dance called the tempest.' an observant writer of this date says: 'she had a fine vein of humour, a keen sense of the ludicrous; enjoyed equestrian exercise, and rode remarkably well.' n. p. willis, the american poet, who saw her on horseback in hyde park, said: 'her majesty rides quite fearlessly and securely; i met her party full gallop near the centre of the rotten row. on came the queen on a dun-coloured, highly groomed horse, with her prime-minister on one side of her, and lord byron on the other; her _cortége_ of maids of honour, and lords and ladies of the court checking their spirited horses, and preserving always a slight distance between themselves and her majesty. ... victoria's round, plump figure looks exceedingly well in her dark-green riding dress.... she rode with her mouth open, and seemed exhilarated with pleasure.' james gordon bennett, who saw her at the opera, describes her as 'a fair-haired little girl, dressed with great simplicity in white muslin, with hair plain, a blue ribbon at the back.... her bust is extremely well proportioned, and her complexion very fair. there is a slight parting of her rosy lips, between which you can see little nicks of something like very white teeth. the expression of her face is amiable and good-tempered. i could see nothing like that awful majesty, that mysterious something which doth hedge a queen.' mr greville, who dined at the queen's table in buckingham palace in , pronounced the whole thing dull, so dull that he marvelled how any one could like such a life: but both here and at a ball he declared the bearing of the queen to be perfect, noting also that her complexion was clear, and that the expression of her eyes was agreeable. despite her strong attraction to her cousin albert, she expressed a determination not to think of marriage for a time. the sudden change from her quiet, girlish life in kensington to the prominence and the powers of a great queen, standing 'in that fierce light which beats upon a throne,' might well have excused a good deal of wilfulness had the excuse been needed. her majesty decides that 'a worse school for a young girl, or one more detrimental to all natural feelings and affections, cannot well be imagined.' perhaps it was an experience which she needed to convince her fully of the value and blessedness of the true domesticity which was soon to be hers. after she had in placed her life-interest in the hereditary revenues of the crown at the disposal of the house of commons, her yearly income was fixed at £ , . this income is allocated as follows: for her majesty's privy purse, £ , ; salaries of her majesty's household and retired allowances, £ , ; expenses of household, £ , ; royal bounty, alms, &c., £ , ; unappropriated moneys, £ . the first change from a whig to a conservative government ruffled the waters a little. her majesty was advised by the duke of wellington to invite sir robert peel to form a new ministry. she did so, but frankly told peel that she was very sorry to lose lord melbourne. when arranging his cabinet, sir robert found that objections were raised to the retention of certain whig ladies in personal attendance upon the queen, as being very likely to influence her. the duchess of sutherland and lady normanby, it is believed, were particularly meant. the queen at first flatly refused to dismiss her ladies of the bedchamber, to whom she had got so accustomed. as sir robert peel would not yield the point, she recalled lord melbourne, who now retained office till . the affair caused a great deal of talk in political and non-political circles. the queen wrote: 'they wanted to deprive me of my ladies, and i suppose they would deprive me next of my dresses and my housemaids; but i will show them that i am queen of england.' this little episode has since gone by the name of the 'bedchamber plot.' of her majesty it may safely be said that she has always been a genuine ruler, in the sense that from the first she trained herself to comprehend the mysteries of statecraft. she had lord melbourne as her first prime-minister, and from the beginning every despatch of the foreign office was offered to her attention. in , a year of exceptional activity, these numbered , . if for a while the queen thus drew back from actually deciding to marry the cousin whom, nevertheless, she owned to be 'fascinating,' that cousin on his side was not one of those of whom it may be said: he either fears his fate too much, or his deserts are small, that dares not put it to the touch, to gain or lose it all. 'i am ready,' he said, 'to submit to delay, if i have only some certain assurance to go upon. but if, after waiting perhaps for three years, i should find that the queen no longer desired the marriage, it would place me in a ridiculous position, and would, to a certain extent, ruin all my prospects for the future.' love proved stronger than girlish pride and independence--the woman was greater than the queen. the young pair met again on the th october , and on the th of the same month the queen communicated the welcome news of her approaching marriage to her prime-minister. her best friends were all delighted with the news. 'you will be very nervous on declaring your engagement to the council,' said the duchess of gloucester. 'yes,' replied the queen, 'but i did something far more trying to my nerves a short time since.' 'what was that?' the duchess asked. 'i proposed to albert,' was the reply. etiquette of course forbade the gentleman in this case to speak first; and we can well believe that the queen was more nervous over this matter than over many a state occasion. how the thing took place we may gather in part from a letter of prince albert to his grandmother: 'the queen sent for me to her room, and disclosed to me, in a genuine outburst of love and affection, that i had gained her whole heart.' after the glad announcement was made, warm congratulations were showered on the young people. lord melbourne expressed great satisfaction on behalf of himself and his country. 'you will be much more comfortable,' he said, 'for a woman cannot stand alone for any time in whatever position she may be.' to king leopold, who had much to do with the matter, the news was particularly welcome. in his joyous response to the queen occur these words: 'i had, when i learned your decision, almost the feeling of old simeon, "now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." your choice has been, for these last years, my conviction of what might and would be the best for your happiness.... in your position, which may, and will perhaps, become in future even more difficult in a political point of view, you could not exist without having a happy and agreeable _intérieur_. and i am much deceived (which i think i am not) or you will find in albert just the very qualities and disposition which are indispensable for your happiness, and will suit your own character, temper, and mode of life.' [illustration: the houses of parliament. (from a photograph by frith.)] to baron stockmar, the prince wrote: 'victoria is so good and kind to me, that i am often puzzled to believe that i should be the object of so much affection.' prince albert knew he was choosing a position of no ordinary difficulty and responsibility. 'with the exception of my relation to the queen, my future position will have its dark sides, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded. but life has its thorns in every position, and the consciousness of having used one's powers and endeavours for an object so great as that of promoting the welfare of so many, will surely be sufficient to support me.' true love is always humble. among the entries in the queen's journals are many like this: 'how i will strive to make albert feel as little as possible the great sacrifice he has made! i told him it _was_ a great sacrifice on his part, but he would not allow it.' after they had spent a month together, the prince returned to germany. the following extract occurs in a letter from prince albert to the duchess of kent: 'what you say about my poor little bride, sitting all alone in her room, silent and sad, has touched me to the heart. oh that i might fly to her side to cheer her!' on the d november, she made the important declaration regarding her approaching marriage to the privy-councillors, eighty-three of whom assembled in buckingham palace to hear it. she wore upon her slender wrist a bracelet with the prince's portrait, 'which seemed,' she says, 'to give her courage.' the queen afterwards described the scene: 'precisely at two i went in. lord melbourne i saw kindly looking at me, with tears in his eyes, but he was not near me. i then read my short declaration. i felt that my hands shook, but i did not make one mistake. i felt most happy and thankful when it was over. lord lansdowne then rose, and in the name of the privy-council asked that this most gracious, most welcome communication might be printed. i then left the room, the whole thing not taking above three minutes.' the queen had to make the same statement before parliament, when sir robert peel replied. 'her majesty,' he said, 'has the singular good fortune to be able to gratify her private feelings while she performs her public duty, and to obtain the best guarantee for happiness by contracting an alliance founded on affection.' hereupon arose a discussion both in and out of parliament as to the amount of the grant to prince albert, which was settled at £ , a year. but prince albert assured the queen that this squabbling did not trouble him: 'all i have to say is, while i possess your love, they cannot make me unhappy.' another source of trouble arose from the fact that several members of the royal family thought it an indignity that they should give precedence to a german prince. prince albert was born at schloss rosenau, near coburg, august , , the younger son of the duke of saxe-coburg-gotha, by his first marriage with louisa, daughter of the duke of saxe-gotha-altenburg. after a careful domestic education, the prince, along with his elder brother, studied at brussels and bonn ( - ), where, in addition to the sciences connected with state-craft, he devoted himself with ardour to natural history and chemistry, and displayed great taste for the fine arts, especially painting and music. gifted with a handsome figure, he attained expertness in all knightly exercises; whilst by baron stockmar, his mentor, he was imbued with a real interest in european politics. king leopold wrote truly of him: 'if i am not very much mistaken, he possesses all the qualities required to fit him for the position which he will occupy in england. his understanding is sound, his apprehension is clear and rapid, and his heart in the right place. he has great powers of observation, and possesses singular prudence, without anything about him that can be called cold or morose.' the two met first in , and fell in love, as we have seen, like ordinary mortals, though the marriage had long been projected by king leopold and baron stockmar. chapter iii. marriage--delicacy of the prince's position--family habits--birth of princess royal--queen's views of religious training--osborne and balmoral--bloomfield's _reminicences_--death of the duke of wellington. nowhere does the genuine unselfishness and sweet womanliness of the queen show more than in her record of those days. she did not, like too many brides, think of herself as the only or even the principal person to be considered. she did not grudge that her bridegroom's heart should feel the strength of former ties. 'the sacrifice,' in her eyes, was all on his side, though he would not admit that. he had to leave his brother, his home, his dear native land. he on his side could ask, 'what am i, that such happiness should he mine? for excess of happiness it is for me to know that i am so dear to you.' but her one thought was, 'god grant that i may be the happy person--the _most_ happy person, to make this dearest, blessed being happy and contented.' 'albert has completely won my heart,' she had written to baron stockmar.... 'i feel certain he will make me very happy. i wish i could say i felt as certain of my making him happy, but i shall do my best.' the marriage itself took place on th february in the chapel royal, st james's palace. it was a cold cheerless morning, but the sun burst forth just as the queen entered the chapel. as a grand and beautiful pageant, it was second only to the coronation. the queen was enthusiastically cheered as she drove between buckingham palace and st james's. she is described as looking pale and anxious, but lovely. her dress was of rich white satin, trimmed with orange blossoms; a wreath of orange blossoms encircled her head, and over it a veil of rich honiton lace, which fell over her face. her jewels were the collar of the order of the garter, and a diamond necklace and ear-rings. she had twelve bridesmaids, and the ceremony was performed by the archbishops of canterbury and york and the bishop of london. her majesty bore herself from first to last with quietness and confidence, and went through the service with due earnestness and solemnity. the wedding breakfast was at buckingham palace. the wedding-cake was no less than three hundred pounds in weight, fourteen inches in depth, and three yards in circumference. the young couple proceeded to windsor, where they were received by an enthusiastic throng of eton boys, in white gloves and white favours. one of the ladies-in-waiting wrote to her family that 'the queen's look and manner were very pleasing: her eyes much swollen with tears, but great happiness in her countenance: and her look of confidence and comfort at the prince when they walked away as man and wife, was very pleasing to see.' and this sympathetic observer adds: 'such a new thing for her to _dare_ to be _unguarded_ with anybody; and with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she has hitherto been under, from one reason or another, with everybody, must have been most painful.' the day after the marriage the queen wrote to baron stockmar: 'there cannot exist a purer, dearer, nobler being in the world than the prince;' and she never had cause to take these words back. the blessing of loving and being loved was certainly given to queen victoria. the royal pair spent three days of honeymoon at windsor, and then her majesty had to return to london, to hold court, and to receive addresses of congratulation on her marriage; indeed, she was nearly 'addressed to death.' the queen and prince albert went everywhere together; to church, to reviews, to races, theatres, and drawing-rooms; and everywhere the people were charmed with their beauty and happiness. one of the trials of royalty is that they are the observed of all observers, and from the first prince albert understood the extreme delicacy of his position. how well he met the difficulty is told by general gray (_early years_): 'from the moment of his establishment in the english palace as the husband of the queen, his first object was to maintain, and, if possible, even raise the character of the court. with this view he knew that it was not enough that his own conduct should be in truth free from reproach; no shadow of a shade of suspicion should by possibility attach to it. he knew that, in his position, every action would be scanned--not always, possibly, in a friendly spirit; that his goings out and his comings in would be watched; and that in every society, however little disposed to be censorious, there would always be found some prone, where an opening afforded, to exaggerate and even invent stories against him, and to put an uncharitable construction on the most innocent acts. he therefore, from the first, laid down strict, not to say severe rules for his guidance. he imposed a degree of restraint and self-denial upon his own movements which could not but have been irksome, had he not been sustained by a sense of the advantage which the throne would derive from it. 'he denied himself the pleasure--which, to one so fond as he was of personally watching and inspecting every improvement that was in progress, would have been very great--of walking at will about the town. wherever he went, whether in a carriage or on horseback, he was accompanied by his equerry. he paid no visits in general society. his visits were to the studio of the artist, to museums of art or science, to institutions for good and benevolent purposes. wherever a visit from him, or his presence, could tend to advance the real good of the people, there his horses might be seen waiting; never at the door of mere fashion. scandal itself could take no liberty with his name. he loved to ride through all the districts of london where building and improvements were in progress, more especially when they were such as would conduce to the health or recreation of the working classes; and few, if any, took such interest as he did in all that was being done, at any distance east, west, north, or south of the great city--from victoria park to battersea--from the regent's park to the crystal palace, and far beyond. "he would frequently return," the queen says, "to luncheon at a great pace, and would always come through the queen's dressing-room, telling where he had been--what new buildings he had seen--what studios he had visited." riding, for riding's sake, he disliked. "it bores me so," he said. it was for real service that prince albert devoted his life; and for this end he gave himself to the very diligent study of the english constitution. never obtrusive, he yet did the work, kept the wheels moving; but in the background, sinking his individuality in that of the queen, and leaving her all the honour.' [illustration: marriage of queen victoria.] a hard-working man himself, the prince and also the queen were in sympathy with the working-classes, and erected improved dwellings upon the estates of osborne and balmoral. the prince was also in favour of working-men's clubs and coffee palaces. it was remarked that whether he spoke to a painter, sculptor, architect, man of science, or ordinary tradesman, each of them was apt to think that his speciality was their own calling, owing to his understanding and knowledge of it. he rose at seven a.m., summer and winter, dressed, and went to his sitting-room, where in winter a fire was burning, and a green lamp was lit. he read and answered letters here, and prepared for her majesty drafts of replies to ministers and other matters. after breakfast, he would read such articles in the papers or reviews as seemed to his thoughtful mind to be good or important. at ten he went out with the queen. so began the happy years of peaceful married life. the prince liked early hours and country pleasures, and the queen, like a loyal wife, not merely consented to his tastes, but made them absolutely her own. before she had been married a year, she made the naive pretty confession that 'formerly i was too happy to go to london and wretched to leave it, and now, since the blessed hour of my marriage, and still more since the summer, i dislike and am unhappy to leave the country, and would be content and happy never to go to town;' adding ingenuously, 'the solid pleasures of a peaceful, quiet, yet merry life in the country, with my inestimable husband and friend, my all in all, are far more durable than the amusements of london, though we don't despise or dislike them sometimes.' they took breakfast at nine; then they went through details of routine business, and sketched or played till luncheon, after which the queen had a daily interview with lord melbourne (prime-minister till the next year). then they drove, walked, or rode, dined at eight o'clock, and had pleasant social circles afterwards, which were broken up before midnight. both were fond of art and music. indeed the prince-consort gave a powerful impulse to that study of classical music which has since become so universal. mendelssohn himself praised the queen's singing, though without flattering blindness to its faults and shortcomings. and the brightness of life was all the brighter because it flowed over a substratum of seriousness and solemnity. the first time that the queen and her husband partook of holy communion together, they spent the preceding evening--the vigil of easter--in retirement, occupied with good german books, and soothed and elevated by mozart's music, for the prince was master of the organ, and the queen of the piano. the prince made his maiden speech at a meeting for the abolition of the slave-trade, speaking in a low tone, and with 'the prettiest foreign accent.' while she was driving up constitution hill, an attempt was made upon the queen's life by a weak-minded youth, but luckily neither of the pistol shots took effect. there have been at least seven other happily futile attempts on the life of the queen. the princess royal was born on the st november ; and the royal mother, fondly tended by her husband, made a speedy and happy recovery. prince albert's care for the queen in these circumstances was like that of a mother. the prince of wales was born on november , , and after that the little family circle rapidly increased, and with it the parents' sense of responsibility. 'a man's education begins the first day of his life,' said the prince's tried friend, the wise baron stockmar, and the queen felt it 'a hard case' that the pressure of public business prevented her from being always with her little ones when they said their prayers. she has given us her views on religious training: 'i am quite clear that children should be taught to have great reverence for god and for religion, but that they should have the feeling of devotion and love which our heavenly father encourages his earthly children to have for him, and not one of fear and trembling; and that the thoughts of death and an after-life should not be presented in an alarming and forbidding view; and that they should be made to know, _as yet_, no difference of creeds.' court gossips considered the queen 'to be very fond of her children, but severe in her manner, and a strict disciplinarian in her family.' a nurse in the royal household informed baron bunsen that 'the children were kept very plain indeed: it was quite poor living--only a bit of roast meat, and perhaps a plain pudding.' other servants have reported that the queen would have made 'an admirable poor man's wife.' we used to hear how the young princesses had to smooth out and roll up their bonnet strings. by these trifling side-lights we discern a vigorous, wholesome discipline, striving to counteract the enervating influences of rank and power, and their attendant flattery and self-indulgence. 'one of the main principles observed in the education of the royal children was this--that though they received the best training of body and mind to fit them for the high position they would eventually have to fill, they should in no wise come in contact with the actual court life. the children were scarcely known to the queen's ladies-in-waiting, as they only now and then made their appearance for a moment after dinner at dessert, or accompanied their parents out driving. the care of them was exclusively intrusted to persons who possessed the queen and prince-consort's entire confidence, and with whom they could at all times communicate direct.' an artist employed to decorate the pavilion in the garden of buckingham palace, wrote of her majesty and the prince: 'in many things they are an example to the age. they have breakfasted, heard morning prayers with the household in the private chapel, and are out some distance from the palace talking to us in the summer-house before half-past nine o'clock--sometimes earlier. after the public duties of the day and before their dinner, they come out again evidently delighted to get away from the bustle of the world to enjoy each other's society in the solitude of the garden.' [illustration: osborne house.(from a photograph by frith.)] the seaside villa of osborne, built at the queen's own charges at a cost of £ , , and the remote castle of balmoral, the creation of the prince-consort, were the favourite homes of the royal household: the creations as it were, of their domestic love, and inwrought with their own personalities, as statelier windsor could never be. in the swiss cottage at osborne, with its museum, kitchen, storeroom, and little gardens, the young people learned to do household work and understand the management of a small establishment. the parents were invited as guests, to enjoy the dishes which the princesses had prepared with their own hands, and there each child was free to follow the bent of its own industrial inclination. in the highlands, again, among the reserved and dignified scottish peasantry, the children were encouraged to visit freely, to make themselves acquainted with the wants and feelings of the poor, and to regard them with an understanding sympathy and affection. sir robert peel, who succeeded lord melbourne in as prime-minister, had the following advice from his predecessor as to his conduct in office, which shows the queen's good sense: 'whenever he does anything, or has anything to propose, let him explain to her clearly his reasons. the queen is not conceited; she is aware there are many things she cannot understand, and she likes to have them explained to her elementarily, not at length and in detail, but shortly and clearly. one of the minor posts in the new ministry was filled by a young member of parliament, who was destined in after-years to become as celebrated as peel himself. this was the distinguished scholar and orator, william ewart gladstone, the son of sir john gladstone, a scotch merchant who had settled in liverpool. he was already a power in parliament, and every year after this saw him rising into greater prominence. in the new parliament, too, though not in the ministry, was another member, who afterwards rose to high office, and became very famous. this was benjamin disraeli, son of disraeli the elder, a distinguished literary man. although very clever, benjamin disraeli had not as yet obtained any influence in the house. his first speech, indeed, had been received with much laughter; but, as he himself had then predicted, a time came at last when the house _did_ listen to him. lady bloomfield, while maid-of-honour to the queen, was much in the society of royalty. the following are extracts from her _reminiscences_, giving a sketch of the life at windsor in : 'i went to the queen's rooms yesterday, and saw her before we began to sing. she was so thoroughly kind and gracious. the music went off very well. costa [sir michael] accompanied, and i was pleased by the queen's telling me, when i asked her whether i had not better practise the things a little more, "that was not necessary, as i knew them perfectly." she also said, "if it was _convenient_ to me, i was to go down to her room any evening to try the _masses_." just as if anything she desired could be inconvenient. we had a pleasant interview with the royal children in lady lyttelton's room yesterday, and _almost_ a romp with the little princess royal and the prince of wales. they had got a round ivory counter, which i spun for them, and they went into such fits of laughter, it did my heart good to hear them. the princess royal is wonderfully quick and clever. she is always in the queen's rooms when we play or sing, and she seems especially fond of music, and stands listening most attentively, without moving. '_dec_. .--we walked with the queen and prince yesterday to the home farm, saw the turkeys crammed, looked at the pigs, and then went to see the new aviary, where there is a beautiful collection of pigeons, fowls, &c., of rare kinds. the pigeons are so tame that they will perch upon prince albert's hat and the queen's shoulders. it was funny seeing the royal pair amusing themselves with farming. '_dec_. l .--my waiting is nearly over, and though i shall be delighted to get home, i always regret leaving my dear kind mistress, particularly when i have been a good deal with her majesty, as i have been this waiting. we sang again last night, and after costa went away, i sorted a quantity of music for the queen; and then prince albert said he had composed a german ballad, which he thought would suit my voice, and he wished me to sing it. so his royal highness accompanied me, and i sang it at sight, which rather alarmed me; but i got through it, and it is very pretty. the duchess of kent has promised to have it copied for me.' in baron stockmar wrote: 'the queen improves greatly. she makes daily advances in discernment and experience; the candour, the love of truth, the fairness, the considerateness with which she judges men and things are truly delightful, and the ingenuous self-knowledge with which she speaks about herself is simply charming.' it was not perhaps surprising that the queen's views and the prince's views on public questions coincided. when lord shaftesbury, then lord ashley, delivered a very able speech on the mine and colliery bill, the prince-consort wrote, 'i have carefully perused your speech, which you were so good as to send me, and i have been highly gratified by your efforts, as well as horror-stricken by the statements which you have brought before the country. i know you do not wish for praise, and i therefore withhold it; but god's best blessing will rest with you and support you in your arduous but glorious task.' in , a year of revolution, the prince-consort consulted lord shaftesbury as to his attitude towards the working-classes. the interview took place at osborne, and the queen and prince-consort were greatly alarmed by the revolution in france and the exile of louis-philippe. 'they feared the continuance of commotions in england, and were desirous to know how they could exercise their influence to soothe the people. the queen, on my arrival, expressed this sentiment very warmly, and added at dinner, "the prince will talk to you to-morrow. we have sent for you to have your opinion on what we should do in view of the state of affairs to show our interest in the working-classes, and you are the only man who can advise us in the matter."' on the following morning, during a long walk of an hour and a half in the garden, lord shaftesbury counselled the prince to put himself at the head of all social movements in art and science, and especially of those movements as they bore upon the poor, and thus would he show the interest felt by royalty in the happiness of the kingdom. the prince did so with marked success; and after he had presided at a labourers' friend society, a noted socialist remarked, 'if the prince goes on like this, why, he'll upset our apple-cart.' the poet-laureate is an official attached to the household of royalty, and it was long his duty to write an ode on the king's birthday. towards the end of the reign of george iii. this was dropped. on the death of the poet wordsworth on d april , the next poet-laureate was alfred tennyson. the queen, it is said, had picked up one of his earlier volumes, and had been charmed with his 'miller's daughter;' her procuring a copy of the volume for the princess alice gave a great impetus to his popularity. no poet has ever written more truly and finely about royalty, as witness the dedication to the _idylls of the king_, which enshrines the memory of the prince-consort; or the beautiful dedication to the queen, dated march , which closes thus: her court was pure, her life serene; god gave her peace; her land reposed; a thousand claims to reverence closed in her as mother, wife, and queen. and statesmen at her council met who knew the seasons, when to take occasion by the hand, and make the bounds of freedom wider yet. 'it is perhaps natural,' says a contemporary writer, 'for the laureates to be loyal, but there is no doubt that the sincere tributes which he paid to the queen and to her consort contributed materially to the steadying of the foundation of the british throne. he almost alone among the poets gave expression to the inarticulate loyalty of the ordinary englishman, and he did it without being either servile or sycophantic. if it were only for his dedication to the queen and prince-consort, he would have repaid a thousand times over the value of all the bottles of sherry and the annual stipends the poet-laureates have received since the days of ben jonson.' mrs gilchrist writes: 'tennyson likes and admires the queen personally much, enjoys conversation with her. mrs tennyson generally goes too, and says the queen's manner towards him is childlike and charming, and they both give their opinions freely, even when these differ from the queen's, which she takes with perfect humour, and is very animated herself.' the prince-consort, to whom tennyson dedicated his _idylls of the king_, since he held them dear, perchance as finding there unconsciously some image of himself, had his copy inscribed with the poet's autograph. one most characteristic feature of the queen's reign was the inauguration, in , of that system of international exhibitions which has infused a new and larger spirit into commerce, and whose influence as yet only begins to work. the idea came from the prince-consort, and was carried out by his unfailing industry, energy, and perseverance. sir joseph paxton's genius raised a palace of crystal in hyde park, inclosing within it some of the magnificent trees, few, if any, of which were destroyed by the undertaking. as thackeray wrote: a blazing arch of lucid glass leaps like a fountain from the grass to meet the sun. the queen took the greatest interest in the work, which she felt was her husband's. she visited it almost daily, entering into interested conversation with the manufacturers who had brought their wares for display. the building was opened on the st of may, which the queen names in her diary as 'a day which makes my heart swell with pride and glory and thankfulness.' she dwells lovingly on 'the tremendous cheers, the joy expressed in every face,' adding, 'we feel happy--so full of thankfulness. god is indeed our kind and merciful father.' after the building had served its purpose, the exhibition building was removed to sydenham, a london suburb then almost in the country, and opened by the queen, th june . under its new name of the 'crystal palace' it has since been the resort of millions of pleasure-seekers. it was fondly hoped by its promoters that the great exhibition would knit the nations together in friendship, and 'inaugurate a long reign of peace.' yet the year was not out before louis napoleon overthrew the new french republic, of which he had been elected president, by a _coup d'état_, or 'stroke of policy,' as cruel as it was cowardly. lord palmerston's approval of this outrage, without the knowledge of either the queen or lord john russell, procured him his dismissal from the cabinet. two months later, however, palmerston 'gave russell his tit-for-tat,' defeating him over a militia bill. in the year , amid the anxieties consequent on the sudden assumption of imperial power by louis napoleon, the queen writes thus to her uncle, king leopold: 'i grow daily to dislike politics and business more and more. we women are not made for governing, and if we are good women, we must dislike these masculine occupations.' it was about this time that unjust reports were circulated concerning the political influence of prince albert, who was represented as 'inimical to the progress of liberty throughout the world, and the friend of reactionary movements and absolute government.' when parliament was opened, the prince was completely vindicated, and his past services to the country, as the bosom counsellor of the sovereign, were made clear. the queen naturally felt the pain of these calumnies more deeply than did the prince himself, but on the anniversary of her wedding day she could write: 'trials we must have; but what are they if we are together?' [illustration: duke of wellington.] in the great duke of wellington died, full of years and honours. he passed quietly away in his sleep, in his simple camp-bed in the castle of walmer. though he had been opposed to the reform bill and many other popular measures, he was still loved and respected by the nation for his high sense of duty and his many sterling qualities. the hero of waterloo was laid beside the hero of trafalgar in st paul's cathedral. he was lowered into his grave by some of his old comrades-in-arms, who had fought and conquered under him; and from the queen to the humblest of her subjects, it was felt on that day 'that a great man was dead.' of his death the queen wrote: 'what a _loss!_ we cannot think of this country without "the duke," our immortal hero! in him centred almost every earthly honour a subject could possess.... with what singleness of purpose, what straightforwardness, what courage, were all the motives of his actions guided! the crown never possessed--and i fear never _will_--so devoted, loyal, and faithful a subject, so staunch a supporter.' an eccentric miser, j. c. neild, who died th august , left £ , to her majesty. this man had pinched and starved himself for thirty years in order to accumulate this sum. the queen satisfied herself that he had no relations living, before accepting the money. [illustration: great exhibition of .] chapter iv. chief public events, - --rebellion in canada--opium war with china--wars in north-west india--penny postage--repeal of the corn-laws--potato famine--free trade--chartism. the queen had been only a few months on the throne when tidings arrived of a rebellion in canada. the colonists had long been dissatisfied with the way in which the government was conducted by the mother-country. in the year upper and lower canada were united into one province, and though the union was not at first a success, the colonists were granted the power of managing their own affairs; and soon came to devote their efforts to developing the resources of the country, and ceased to agitate for complete independence. the principle of union then adopted has since been extended to most of the other north american colonies; and at the present time the dominion of canada stretches across the whole breadth of the continent from the atlantic to the pacific. another contest which marked the early years of the new reign was the inglorious war with china ( - ). the chinese are great consumers of opium, a hurtful drug, which produces a sort of dreamy stupor or intoxication. the opium poppy is extensively grown in india, and every year large quantities were exported to china. the government of the latter country, professedly anxious to preserve its subjects from the baneful influence of this drug, entirely prohibited the trade in it. several cargoes of opium belonging to british merchants were seized and destroyed, and the trading ports closed against our vessels. our government resented this conduct as an interference with the freedom of commerce, and demanded compensation and the keeping open of the ports. as the chinese refused to submit to the demands of those whom they considered barbarous foreigners, a british armament was sent to enforce our terms. the celestials fought bravely enough, but british discipline had all its own way. neither the antiquated junks nor the flimsily constructed forts of the enemy were any match for our men-of-war. several ports had been bombarded and nankin threatened, when the chinese yielded. they were compelled to pay nearly six millions sterling towards the expenses of the war; to give up to us the island of hong-kong; and to throw open canton, shanghai, and three other ports to our commerce. during this period also the british took a prominent part in upholding the sultan of turkey against his revolted vassal, mehemet ali, the pasha of egypt. the latter, a very able prince, had overrun syria; and there seemed every likelihood that he would shortly establish his independence, and add besides a considerable portion of turkish territory to his dominions. lord palmerston, the british foreign minister, however, brought about an alliance with austria and the eastern powers of europe to maintain the integrity of the turkish empire. the egyptians were driven out of syria, and the supremacy of the turks restored. the energetic action of lord palmerston at this crisis brought him much popularity; and from this time until his death, twenty-five years later, the nation almost absolutely trusted him in all foreign affairs. [illustration: sir robert peel.] so necessary at the present day has the penny post become to all classes of the people, that we can scarcely realise how our forefathers managed to live without it. yet even so recently as the accession of victoria, the nation was not in the enjoyment of this great blessing. so seldom in those days did a letter reach the abode of a working-man, that when the postman did make his approach, he was thought to be the bearer of news of great importance. the adoption of the penny postage scheme was the only great measure of lord melbourne's ministry during the early years of the new reign. the credit of it, however, did not in reality belong to the ministers. the measure was forced upon them by the pressure of public opinion, which had been enlightened by rowland hill's pamphlet upon the question. hill was the son of a birmingham schoolmaster; and thus, like so many other benefactors of the human race, was of comparatively humble origin. he had thoroughly studied the question of postal reform, and his pamphlet, which was first published in , had a great effect upon the public mind. previous to this, indeed, several other persons had advocated the reform of the post-office system, and notably mr wallace, member of parliament for greenock. before , the rates of postage had been very heavy, and varied according to the distance. from one part of london, or any other large town, to another, the rate was d.; from london to brighton, d.; to edinburgh, s. d.; and to belfast, s. d. some of these charges were almost equal to the daily wages of a labouring-man. there was considerable opposition to the new measure, especially among the officials of the postal department. many prominent men, too, both in and out of parliament, were afraid it would never pay. the clever and witty sydney smith spoke slightingly of it as the 'nonsensical penny postage scheme.' in spite of the objections urged against it, however, it was adopted by parliament in the later part of , and brought into actual operation in january ; and the example set by this country has since been followed by all civilised states. every letter was now to be _prepaid_ by affixing the penny stamp. in this way a letter not exceeding half-an-ounce in weight could be carried to any part of the united kingdom. in the rate was reduced to a penny for one ounce. the success of this great measure is best shown by the increase of letters delivered in great britain and ireland: from millions in , the number had more than doubled by . thus, at the present time, the income from stamps forms no inconsiderable item of the revenue; while it need scarcely be said that the advantages of the penny post, both to business men and the public generally, cannot be over-estimated. between the years and the british were engaged in a series of military enterprises in the north-west of india, which greatly tried the bravery of our soldiers, and were attended even with serious disaster. they resulted, however, in the conquest of the territories in the basin of the indus, and in establishing the british sway in india more firmly than ever. with the view of averting certain dangers which seemed to threaten our indian empire in that quarter, the english invaded afghanistan. the expedition was, in the first instance, completely successful. candahar and cabul were both occupied by british troops, and a prince friendly to england was placed upon the throne ( ). the main force then returned to india, leaving garrisons at candahar and cabul to keep the hostile tribes in order. the troops left behind at cabul were destined to terrible disaster. general elphinstone, who commanded, relying too much on the good faith of the afghans, omitted to take wise measures of defence. the afghans secretly planned a revolt against the english, and the general, finding himself cut off from help from india, weakly sought to make terms with the enemy. the afghans proved treacherous, and general elphinstone was reduced to begin a retreat through the wild passes towards india. it was a fearful march. the fierce tribes who inhabited the hilly country along the route attacked our forces in front, flank, and rear. it was the depth of winter, and the sepoy troops, benumbed with cold, and unable to make any defence, were cut down without mercy. of the whole army, to the number of fighting men and , camp followers, which had left cabul, only one man (dr brydon) reached jellalabad in safety. all the rest had perished or been taken captive. as soon as the news of this disaster reached india, prompt steps were taken to punish the afghans and rescue the prisoners who had been left in their hands. general pollock fought his way through the khyber pass, and reached jellalabad. he then pushed forward to cabul, and on the way the soldiers were maddened by the sight of the skeletons of their late comrades, which lay bleaching on the hill-sides along the route. they exacted a terrible vengeance wherever they met the foe, and the afghans fled into their almost inaccessible mountains. general nott, with the force from candahar, united with pollock at cabul. the english prisoners were safely restored to their anxious friends. after levelling the fortifications of cabul, the entire force left the country. shortly afterwards, war broke out with the ameers of scinde, a large province occupying the basin of the lower indus. the british commander, sir charles napier, speedily proved to the enemy that the spirit of the british army had not failed since the days of plassey. with a force of only men, he attacked and completely defeated two armies much superior in numbers ( ). the result of these two victories--meanee and dubba--was the annexation of scinde to the british dominions. the main stream of the indus is formed by the junction of five smaller branches. the large and fertile tract of country watered by these tributary streams is named the punjab, or the land of the 'five waters.' it was inhabited by a people called the sikhs, who, at first a religious sect, have gradually become the bravest and fiercest warriors in india. they had a numerous army, which was rendered more formidable by a large train of artillery and numerous squadrons of daring cavalry. after being long friendly to us, disturbances had arisen among them; the army became mutinous and demanded to be led against the british. much severe fighting took place; at length, after a series of victories, gained mainly by the use of the bayonet, the british army pushed on to lahore, the capital, and the sikhs surrendered ( ). three years later they again rose; but after some further engagements, their main army was routed with great slaughter by lord gough, in the battle of gujerat. the territory of the punjab was thereupon added to our indian empire. the terrible famine which was passing over ireland ( - ), owing to the failure of the potato crop, had to be dealt with by the ministry. the sufferings of the irish peasantry during this trying time were most fearful; and sympathy was keenly aroused in this country. parliament voted large sums of money to relieve the distress as much as possible, the government started public works to find employment for the poor, and their efforts were nobly seconded by the generosity of private individuals. but so great had been the suffering that the population of ireland was reduced from eight to six millions during this period. the measure for which peel's ministry will always be famous was the repeal of the corn-laws. the population of the country was rapidly increasing; and as there were now more mouths to fill, it became more than ever necessary to provide a cheap and plentiful supply of bread to fill them. for several years the nation had been divided into two parties on this question. those who were in favour of protection for the british wheat-grower were called protectionists, while those who wished to abolish the corn-duties styled themselves free-traders. in the year an anti-corn-law league had been formed for the purpose of spreading free-trade doctrines among the people. it had its headquarters at manchester, and hence the statesmen who took the leading part in it were frequently called the 'manchester party.' there being no building at that time large enough to hold the meetings in, a temporary wooden structure was erected, the site of which is marked by the present free-trade hall. the guiding spirit of the league was richard cobden, a cotton manufacturer, who threw himself heart and soul into the cause. he was assisted by many other able men, the chief of whom was the great orator, john bright. branches of the league were soon established in all the towns of the kingdom, and a paid body of lecturers was employed to carry on the agitation and draw recruits into its ranks. at the beginning of the year , owing to the success of peel's financial measures, the nation was in a state of great prosperity and contentment; and there seemed little hope that the repealers would be able to carry their scheme for some time to come. before the year was out, however, the aspect of affairs was completely changed. as john bright said years afterwards, 'famine itself, against which we had warred, joined us.' there was a failure in the harvest, both the corn and potato crops being blighted. things in this country were bad enough; but they were far worse in ireland, where famine and starvation stared the people in the face. under these circumstances the demand for free-trade grew stronger and stronger; and the league had the satisfaction of gaining over to its ranks no less a person than sir robert peel himself. when peel announced his change of opinion in the house of commons, the anger of the protectionists, who were chiefly conservatives, knew no bounds. they considered they had been betrayed by the leader whom they had trusted and supported. mr disraeli, in a speech of great bitterness, taunted the prime-minister with his change of views. his speech was cheered to the echo by the angry protectionists; and from this moment disraeli became the spokesman and leader of that section of the conservative party which was opposed to repeal. the next year a measure for the repeal of the corn-laws was introduced into parliament by the prime-minister. in spite of the fierce opposition of mr disraeli and his friends, it passed both houses by large majorities. at the close of the debates, peel frankly acknowledged that the honour of passing this great measure was due, not to himself, but to richard cobden. on the very day on which the corn bill passed the lords, the peel ministry was defeated in the commons on a question of irish coercion, and had to resign. [illustration: the charge of the light brigade at balaklava.] the fall of the government was brought about by the protectionists, who on this occasion united with their whig opponents for the purpose of being avenged upon their old leader. peel bore his retirement with great dignity, and firmly refused to accept any honours either for himself or his family. four years afterwards, he was thrown from his horse while riding up constitution hill, and the injuries he received caused his death in a few days. a monument was erected to him in westminster abbey. on its base are inscribed the closing words of the speech in which he announced his resignation: 'it may be that i shall leave a name sometimes remembered with expressions of good-will in the abodes of those whose lot it is to labour, and to earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow, when they shall recruit their exhausted strength with abundant and untaxed food, the sweeter because it is no longer leavened with a sense of injustice.' on the retirement of sir robert peel from office in , lord john russell became prime-minister, with lord palmerston as foreign secretary. no very great measures were passed by the new ministry, but the policy of free trade recently adopted by the country was steadily carried out. but, although parliament did not occupy itself with any very important reforms during his tenure of office, lord russell had his hands quite full in other respects. chartism came to a head during this period; and besides this, there were fresh difficulties in ireland in store for the new premier. for ten years during the early part of the reign of victoria, chartism was like a dark shadow over the land, causing much uneasiness among peaceable and well-disposed persons. the reform bill of had disappointed the expectations of the working-classes. they themselves had not been enfranchised by it; and to this fact they were ready to ascribe the poverty and wretchedness which still undoubtedly existed among them. it was not long, therefore, before an agitation was set on foot for the purpose of bringing about a further reform of parliament. at a meeting held in birmingham ( ), the people's charter was drawn up. it contained six 'points' which henceforward were to be the watchwords of the party, until they succeeded in carrying them into law. these points were ( ) universal suffrage; ( ) annual parliaments; ( ) vote by ballot; ( ) the right of any one to sit in parliament, irrespective of property; ( ) the payment of members; and ( ) the redistribution of the country into equal electoral districts. the agitation came to a head in . britain had thus her own 'little flutter' of revolution, like so many other european countries during that memorable year. on the th of april, the chartists were to muster on kennington common half a million strong. headed by o'connor, they were then to enter london in procession bearing a monster petition to parliament insisting on their six 'points.' the demonstration, however, which had called forth all these preparations, proved a miserable failure. instead of half a million people, only some twenty or thirty thousand appeared at the place of meeting, and the peace of the capital was not in the least disturbed. from this time chartism fell into contempt, and speedily died out. of the six 'points,' all but the second and fifth have since that time become the law of the land, as the growing requirements of the nation have seemed to render them necessary. chapter v. the crimean war, - --siege of sebastopol--balaklava--inkermann--interest of the queen and prince-consort in the suffering soldiers--florence nightingale--distribution of victoria crosses by the queen. for a long time the turkish empire had been gradually falling into decay, and the possessions of the turk--the 'sick man,' as he has been aptly termed--had excited the greed of neighbouring countries. russia especially had made several attempts to put an end to the 'sick man' by violent means, and seize upon his rich inheritance. the year seemed to the czar nicholas to be a favourable time for accomplishing his designs against turkey. great britain and france both vigorously remonstrated against the proceedings of the czar; but believing that neither of them would fight, he commanded his armies to cross the pruth into turkish territory. by this step the 'dogs of war' were once more slipped in europe, after a peace of forty years' duration. the russian forces pushed on for the danube, doubtless expecting to cross that river and take possession of the long-wished-for prize of constantinople before the western powers had made up their minds whether to fight or not. to their disappointment, however, the russians met with a most stubborn resistance from the turks, and utterly failed to take the fortress of silistria, where the besieged were encouraged and directed by some british officers. meanwhile, the queen of great britain and the emperor of france had both declared war against russia, march , . before long, our fleets were scouring the baltic and the black seas, chasing and capturing every russian vessel which dared to venture out, bombarding the fortresses, and blockading the seaports. two armies also were sent out to the assistance of turkey; the british force being commanded by lord raglan, and the french by marshal st arnaud. the turks having repulsed the russian armies on the danube, the allies resolved to invade the peninsula of the crimea, and make an assault upon the russian fortress of sebastopol. the great fortress was a standing menace to turkey; and to effect its destruction seemed the likeliest means of humbling russia and bringing the war to a close. accordingly a landing of the allied forces--british, french, and turkish--to the number of , men, was made on the crimea, at eupatoria, no opposition being offered by the enemy. the army then set forward along the coast toward the russian stronghold, the fleet accompanying it by sea. in order to bar the progress of the allied forces, the russian army of the crimea was strongly posted on a ridge of heights, with the small stream of the alma in front, september , . after a severe struggle the heights were gallantly stormed, and the russians retreated towards sebastopol. the allied armies now laid siege to sebastopol. it went on for a year, during which the invaders were exposed to many hardships from the assaults of the foe, and the severity of the climate during the winter months. before the year was out, also, both lord raglan and the french general died, and their places were taken by others. nor did the czar nicholas live to witness the result of the war which he had commenced. his son, alexander, made no change, however, but trod in the footsteps of his sire. in the early days of the siege, and before the allies had got reinforcements from home, the russians made several formidable attacks upon the camp. their first attempt was directed against the british lines, with the design of capturing the port of balaklava, october , . they were gallantly repulsed, however, chiefly by sir colin campbell and his highlanders, who firmly stood their ground against the charge of the russian horse. the british cavalry, advancing to the assistance of the infantry, cut through the masses of their opponents as if they had been men of straw. it was in this battle that the famous charge of the light brigade took place, when, owing to some misunderstanding on the part of the commanders, six hundred of our light horsemen, entirely unsupported, rode at full gallop upon the russian batteries. it was a brilliant but disastrous feat; in the space of a few minutes, four hundred of the gallant men were uselessly sacrificed. 'it is magnificent, but it is not war,' was the remark of a french general. shortly afterwards occurred the desperate fight of inkermann, november , , where about british troops bravely stood their ground for hours against , russians. upon their ammunition running short, some of our brave men, rather than retreat, hurled volleys of stones at the foe. ultimately, a strong body of the french came to their aid, and the russians were driven from the field. not long after this encounter, the besiegers met with a disaster which did them more harm than all the assaults of the russian hordes. a terrific storm swept across the black sea and the crimea, november , . a great number of the vessels in balaklava harbour were wrecked, and there was an immense loss of stores of all kinds intended for the troops. the hurricane also produced the most dreadful consequences on land. tents were blown down, fires extinguished, and food and cooking utensils destroyed. the poor soldiers, drenched to the skin, and without so much as a dry blanket to wrap round them, had to pass the dreary night as best they could upon the soft wet ground. for some time afterwards there was a great scarcity of food and clothing and other necessaries, and much suffering was endured during the long dreary winter. when tidings of these misfortunes reached england there was much indignation against the government, and especially against the officials whose duty it was to keep the army properly supplied with stores. the prime-minister, the earl of aberdeen, resigned, and was succeeded by lord palmerston. vigorous steps were now taken to provide for the comfort of the troops, and in a short time the camp was abundantly supplied with everything necessary. all through the following summer the siege operations went on. nearer and nearer approached the trenches towards the doomed city, which at intervals was subjected to a terrific bombardment from hundreds of guns. the allied armies had been strongly reinforced from home, and had also been joined by a sardinian force, so that the russians no longer ventured to attack them so frequently. at length the advances of the allies were completed, and the final cannonade took place, and lasted for three days. the storming columns then carried the main forts; and the russians, finding that further resistance was useless, evacuated the town during the night, and the following day it was taken possession of by the combined armies. with the capture of sebastopol, th sept., , the war was virtually at an end, though peace was not formally declared till six months afterwards by the treaty of paris. the queen and prince watched intently every movement of the tremendous drama. in the terrible winter of , the queen's thoughts were with her troops, suffering in the inclement weather, amid arrangements that proved miserably inadequate to their needs. on th december , the queen wrote the following letter to mr sidney herbert, secretary of war. 'would you tell mrs herbert that i begged she would let me see frequently the accounts she receives from miss nightingale or mrs bracebridge, as i hear no details of the wounded, though i see so many from officers, &c., about the battlefield; and naturally the former must interest me more than any one. let mrs herbert also know that i wish miss nightingale and the ladies would tell these poor, noble, wounded and sick men that no one takes a warmer interest, or feels more for their sufferings, or admires their courage and heroism more than their queen. day and night she thinks of her beloved troops; so does the prince.' with her own hands she made comforters, mittens, and other articles of clothing, for distribution among the soldiers, and she wrote to lord raglan that she 'had heard that their coffee was given to them green, instead of roasted, and some other things of this kind, which had distressed her, and she besought that they should be made as comfortable as circumstances can admit.' the little princes and princesses contributed their childish but very pretty drawings to an exhibition which was opened for the benefit of the soldiers' widows and children. as the disabled soldiers returned to this country, the queen and the prince took the earliest opportunity of ascertaining by personal observation in what condition they were, and how they were cared for. and when the war was over, miss florence nightingale, the soldier's nurse and friend, was an honoured guest in the royal family, 'putting before us,' writes the prince, 'all the defects of our present military hospital system, and the reforms that are needed.' on th march , the queen wrote to lord panmure suggesting the necessity of hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, which eventually took shape in the great military hospital at netley. [illustration: victoria cross.] victoria crosses were distributed by the queen in hyde park, th june , to those soldiers who had performed special acts of bravery in presence of the enemy. this decoration was instituted at the close of the crimean war, and has since been conferred from time to time. it is in the form of a maltese cross, and is made of bronze. in the centre are the royal arms, surmounted by the lion, and below, in a scroll, the words 'for valour.' the ribbon is blue for the navy, and red for the army. on the clasp are two branches of laurel, and from it the cross hangs, supported by the initial 'v.' [illustration: massacre at cawnpore.] chapter vi. the indian mutiny, - --cause of the mutiny--massacre of cawnpore--relief of lucknow--the queen's letter to lord canning. exactly one hundred years after clive had laid the foundation of our empire in india by the victory of plassey, events occurred in that country which completely cast into the shade the tragic incident of the 'black hole' of calcutta. during the century which had elapsed since the days of clive, the british power had been extended, till nearly the whole of the great peninsula from the himalaya mountains to cape comorin was subject to our sway. a native army had been formed, which far outnumbered the british force maintained there. the loyalty of these sepoy troops had not hitherto been suspected; and in fact they had frequently given proofs of their fidelity in the frontier wars. unsuspected by the officers, a spirit of discontent had been gradually spreading among the sepoy regiments. an impression had become prevalent among them that the british government intended forcing them to give up their ancient faith and become christians. just about this time, the new enfield rifle was distributed among them in place of the old 'brown bess.' the cartridges intended for this weapon were greased; and as the ends of them had to be bitten off before use, the sepoys fancied that the fat of the cow--an animal they had been taught to consider sacred--had been purposely used in order to degrade them, and make them lose caste. the fierce temper of the sepoys was now thoroughly roused, and a general mutiny took place. it commenced at meerut, where the native troops rose against their officers, and put them to death, and then took possession of the ancient city of delhi, which remained in their hands for some months. the rebellion quickly spread to other towns, and for a short time a great portion of the north and centre of india was in the power of the rebels. wherever they got the upper hand, they were guilty of shocking deeds of cruelty upon the europeans. the british troops which were stationed in different places offered the most heroic resistance to the rebels, and the mutiny was at length suppressed. of all the incidents of that terrible year, two stand out in bold relief, on account of the thrilling interest attaching to them. these are the massacre of cawnpore and the relief of lucknow. cawnpore, which was in the heart of the disaffected area, contained about a thousand europeans, of whom two-thirds were women and children. the defensive post into which they had thrown themselves at the beginning of the outbreak was speedily surrounded by an overwhelming number of the mutineers, led on by the infamous nana sahib. the few defenders held out bravely for a time, but at last surrendered on a promise of being allowed to depart in safety. the sepoys accompanied them to the river-side, but as soon as the men were on board the boats, a murderous fire was opened upon them, and only one man escaped. the women and children, being reserved for a still more cruel fate, were carried back to cawnpore. hearing that general havelock was approaching with a body of troops for the relief of the place, nana sahib marched out to intercept him, but was driven back. smarting under this defeat, he returned to cawnpore, and gave directions for the instant massacre of his helpless prisoners. his orders were promptly carried out by his troops, under circumstances of the most shocking cruelty. shortly afterwards, havelock and his little army arrived, but only to find, to their unutterable grief, that they were too late to rescue their unfortunate countrywomen and their children. [illustration: relief of lucknow.] havelock now marched to the relief of lucknow, where the british garrison, under sir henry lawrence, was surrounded by thousands of the rebels. havelock encountered the enemy over and over again on his march, and inflicted defeat upon them. step by step, our men fought their way into the fort at lucknow, where, if they could not relieve their friends, they could remain and die with them. but this was not to be. another deliverer with a stronger force was coming swiftly up; and very soon the ears of the anxious defenders were gladdened by the martial sound of the bagpipes, playing 'the campbells are coming;' and shortly afterwards, sir colin campbell and his gallant highlanders--the victors of balaklava--were grasping the hands of their brother veterans, who were thus at length relieved. the brave lawrence had died from his wounds before sir colin arrived, and havelock only survived a few weeks. he lived long enough, however, to see that by his heroic efforts he had upheld britain's power in her darkest moment; and that her forces were now coming on with irresistible might, to complete the work which he had so gallantly begun. the power of the rebels in that quarter was now broken. in central india sir hugh rose had been equally successful; and the heroic deeds of the british troops in suppressing the revolt cannot be better described than in the words of this general, in addressing his soldiers after the triumph was achieved: 'soldiers, you have marched more than a thousand miles and taken more than a hundred guns; you have forced your way through mountain-passes and intricate jungles, and over rivers; you have captured the strongest forts, and beat the enemy, no matter what the odds, wherever you met them; you have restored extensive districts to the government; and peace and order now reign where before for twelve months were tyranny and rebellion.' this rising led to an alteration in the government of india. the old east india company was abolished, and its power transferred to the crown, which is represented in parliament by a secretary of state, and in india by a viceroy. more recently the queen received the title of empress of india. when the mutiny was quelled, nobody deprecated more than the queen did the vindictiveness with which a certain section of the english people desired to treat all the countrymen of the military mutineers whose reported atrocities had roused their indignation. the queen wrote to lord canning that she shared 'his feelings of sorrow and indignation at the unchristian spirit shown towards indians in general and towards sepoys without discrimination.... to the nation at large--to the peaceable inhabitants--to the many kind and friendly natives who have assisted us, sheltered the fugitives, and been faithful and true--there should be shown the greatest kindness.... the greatest wish on their queen's part is to see them happy, contented, and flourishing.' chapter vii. marriage of the princess royal--carriage accident--twenty-first anniversary of wedding-day--death of the prince-consort. meanwhile a domestic incident had made a great change in the royal family. the princess royal had become engaged to prince frederick-william of prussia (for three months emperor of germany), and the marriage came off on the th of january . it was the first break in the home circle. the queen recorded it in her diary as 'the second most eventful day in my life as regards feelings.' before the wedding, the queen and her daughter were photographed together, but the queen 'trembled so, that her likeness came out indistinct.' the correspondence between the mother and her daughter began and continued, close and confidential, full of trusting affection and solicitous wisdom. [illustration: prince-consort.] on november , , the prince of wales celebrated his eighteenth birthday. mr greville in his journal tells us that on that occasion the queen wrote her son 'one of the most admirable letters that ever were penned.' she told him that he may have thought the rule they adopted for his education a severe one, but that his welfare was their only object, and well knowing to what seductions of flattery he would eventually be exposed, they wished to prepare and strengthen his mind against them; that he must now consider himself his own master, and that they should never intrude any advice upon him, although always ready to counsel him whenever he thought fit to attend. this was a very long letter, which the prince received with a feeling that proved the wisdom which dictated it. in , while travelling with the queen in germany, the prince-consort met with a severe carriage accident, his comparative escape from which left the queen full of happy thanksgiving, though, as she herself says, 'when she feels most deeply, she always appears calmest.' but, she added, she 'could not rest without doing something to mark permanently her feelings. in times of old,' she considered, 'a church or a monument would probably have been erected on the spot.' but her desire was to do something which might benefit her fellow-creatures. the outgrowth of this true impulse of the queen's was the establishment of the 'victoria stift' at coburg, whereby sums of money are applied in apprenticing worthy young men or in purchasing tools for them, and in giving dowries to deserving young women or otherwise settling them in life. in the course of the same year the queen's second daughter, princess alice, afterwards the friend and companion of her mother's first days of widowhood, was betrothed to prince louis of hesse. in february , the queen and the prince-consort kept the twenty-first anniversary of their wedding-day--'a day which has brought us,' says the queen, 'and i may say, to the world at large, such incalculable blessings. very few can say with me,' she adds, 'that their husband at the end of twenty-one years is not only full of the friendship, kindness, and affection which a truly happy marriage brings with it, but of the same tender love as in the very first days of our marriage.' the prince-consort wrote to the aged duchess of kent, 'you have, i trust, found good and loving children in us, and we have experienced nothing but love and kindness from you.' alas! it was the death of that beloved mother which was to cast the first of the many shadows which have since fallen upon the royal home. the duchess died, after a slight illness, rather suddenly at last, the queen and the prince reaching her side too late for any recognition. it was a terrible blow to the queen: she wrote to her uncle leopold that she felt 'truly orphaned.' her sister, the princess hohenlohe, daughter of the duchess of kent by her first marriage, could not come to england at the time, but wrote letters full of sympathy and inspiration; yet her majesty became very nervous, and was inclined to shrink into solitude, even from her children, and to find comfort nowhere but with the beloved consort who was himself so soon to be taken from her. the great blow which made the royal lady a widow, and deprived the whole country of the throne's wisest and most disinterested counsellor, came on the th of december . in the year , what with public and private anxieties, the prince felt ill and feverish, and miserable. he passed his last birthday on a visit to ireland, where the prince of wales was serving in the camp at the curragh of kildare. from ireland, the queen, the prince, prince alfred, and the princesses alice and helena went to balmoral; and there the prince enjoyed his favourite pastime of deer-stalking. on the return to windsor in october, the queen began to be anxious about her husband. one of the last letters of the prince was to his daughter the crown princess of prussia, on her twenty-first birthday, and it shows the noble spirit which animated his whole career. 'may your life, which has begun beautifully, expand still further to the good of others and the contentment of your own mind! true inward happiness is to be sought only in the internal consciousness of effort systematically devoted to good and useful ends. success, indeed, depends upon the blessing which the most high sees meet to vouchsafe to our endeavours. may this success not fail you, and may your outward life leave you unhurt by the storms to which the sad heart so often looks forward with a shrinking dread.' in conversation with the queen, he seemed to have a presentiment that he had not long to live. 'i do not cling to life; you do, but i set no store by it. if i knew that those i love were well cared for, i should be quite ready to die to-morrow.... i am sure, if i had a severe illness, i should give up at once. i should not struggle for life.' the fatigue and exposure which he underwent on a visit to sandhurst to inspect the buildings for the staff college and royal military hospital, there is no doubt, injured his delicate health. next sunday he was full of rheumatic pains; he had already suffered greatly from rheumatism during the previous fortnight. one of his last services to his country was to write a memorandum in connection with the _trent_ complications; which suggestions were adopted by british ministers and forwarded to the united states. he attended church on sunday, st december, but looked very ill. dr jenner was sent for, and for the next few days he grew worse, with symptoms of gastric or low fever. another account says: 'the anxious queen, still bowed down by the remembrance of the recent death of her mother, the duchess of kent, went through her state duties as one "in a dreadful dream." sunday, the th, saw the prince in a more dangerous condition. of this day one of the queen's household, in a letter written shortly afterwards, says: "the last sunday prince albert passed on earth was a very blessed one for princess alice to look back upon. he was very weak and very ill, and she spent the afternoon alone with him while the others were at church. he begged to have the sofa drawn to the window that he might see the sky and the clouds sailing past. he then asked her to play to him, and she went through several of his favourite hymns and chorales. after she had played some time she looked round and saw him lying back, his hands folded as if in prayer, and his eyes shut. he lay so long without moving that she thought he had fallen asleep. presently he looked up and smiled. she said, 'were you asleep, dear papa?' 'oh no!' he answered; 'only i have such sweet thoughts.' during his illness his hands were often folded in prayer; and when he did not speak, his serene face showed that the 'sweet thoughts' were with him to the end." 'on the afternoon of saturday, the th of december, it was evident that the end was near. "_gutes frauchen_" ("good little wife") were his last loving words to the queen as he kissed her and then rested his head upon her shoulder. a little while afterwards the queen bent over him and said, "_es ist kleins frauchen_" ("it is little wife"); the prince evidently knew her, although he could not speak, and bowed his head in response. without apparent suffering he quietly sank to rest, and towards eleven o'clock it was seen that the soul had left its earthly tabernacle. the well-known hymn beginning-- rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee, had been the favourite of prince albert in his last illness. his physician expressed one day the hope that he would be better in a few days; but the prince replied, "no, i shall not recover, but i am not taken by surprise; _ i am not afraid, i trust i am prepared _." 'when the end came' (we quote the beautiful words of the biographer) 'in the solemn hush of that mournful chamber there was such grief as has rarely hallowed any death-bed. a great light, which had blessed the world, and which the mourners had but yesterday hoped might long bless it, was waning fast away. a husband, a father, a friend, a master, endeared by every quality by which man in such relations can win the love of his fellow-men, was passing into the silent land, and his loving glance, his wise counsels, his firm, manly thought should be known among them no more. the castle clock chimed the third quarter after ten. calm and peaceful grew the beloved form; the features settled into the beauty of a perfectly serene repose; two or three long but gentle breaths were drawn; and that great soul had fled to seek a nobler scope for its aspirations in the world within the veil, for which it had often yearned, where there is rest for the weary, and where the "spirits of the just are made perfect."' the funeral took place on the d december, at frogmore, and the prince of wales was the chief mourner. the words on the coffin were as follow: 'here lies the most illustrious and exalted albert, prince-consort, duke of saxony, prince of saxe-coburg and gotha, knight of the most noble order of the garter, the most beloved husband of the most august and potent queen victoria. he died on the th day of december , in the forty-third year of his age.' a prince indeed, beyond all titles, and a household name, hereafter, through all time, albert the good. on that sad christmas which followed the prince's death the usual festivities were omitted in the royal household, and the nation mourned in unison with the queen for the great and good departed. it has been well said by a distinguished writer that it was only 'since his death, and chiefly since the queen's own generous and tender impulse prompted her to make the nation the confidant of her own great love and happiness, that the prince-consort has had full justice.... perhaps, if truth were told, he was too uniformly noble, too high above all soil and fault, to win the fickle popular admiration, which is more caught by picturesque irregularity than by the higher perfections of a wholly worthy life.' chapter viii. the queen in mourning--death of princess alice--illness of prince of wales--the family of the queen--opening of indian exhibition and imperial institute--jubilee--jubilee statue--death of duke of clarence--address to the nation on the marriage of princess may. henceforth the great queen was 'written widow,' and while striving nobly in her loneliness to fulfil those public functions, in which she had hitherto been so faithfully companioned, she shrank at first from courtly pageantry and from the gay whirl of london life, and lived chiefly in the quiet homes which she had always loved best, at osborne and balmoral. when she has come out among her people, it has chiefly been for the sake of some public benefit for the poor and the suffering. at times there have been murmurs against the queen for failing in her widowhood to maintain the gaieties and extravagances of an open court in the capital of her dominions. it was said that 'trade was bad therefore,' and times of depression and want of employment were attributed to this cause. the nation is growing wiser. it is seen that true prosperity does not consist merely in the quick circulation of money--above all, certainly not in the transference of wealth gained from the tillers of the soil to the classes which minister solely to vanity and luxury. a few months after her father's death, the princess alice married her betrothed, prince louis, and since her own death (on the same day of the year as her father's) in the year , we have had an opportunity of looking into the royal household from the point of view of a daughter and a sister. the prince-consort's death-bed made a very close tie between the queen and the princess alice, who herself had a full share of womanly sorrow in her comparatively short life, and the tone of perfect self-abnegation which pervades her letters is very touching. on that fatal th december , the first of the queen's children was taken from her. the princess alice fell a victim to her kind-hearted care while nursing those of her family ill with diphtheria. her last inquiries were about poor and sick people in her little capital. and the day before she died, she expressed to sir william jenner her regret that she should cause her mother so much anxiety. the queen in a letter thanked her subjects for their sympathy with her loss of a dear child, who was 'a bright example of loving tenderness, courageous devotion, and self-sacrifice to duty.' in , on the th of march, the prince of wales married the princess alexandra of denmark, and in , when the fatal date, the th of december came round, he lay at the point of death, suffering precisely as his father had done. but his life was spared, and in the following spring, accompanied by the queen and by his young wife, and in the presence of all the power, the genius, and the rank of the realm, he made solemn thanksgiving in st paul's cathedral. on the rd november , mr h. m. stanley, a young newspaper correspondent, succeeded in finding dr livingstone. this was but the beginning of greater enterprises, for, catching the noble enthusiasm which characterised livingstone, stanley afterwards crossed the dark continent, and revealed the head-waters of the congo. again he plunged into africa and succoured emin pasha, whose death was announced in the autumn of . to mr stanley, lord granville, then foreign secretary, sent the present of a gold snuff-box set with diamonds, and the following letter: 'sir--i have great satisfaction in conveying to you, by command of the queen, her majesty's high appreciation of the prudence and zeal which you have displayed in opening a communication with dr livingstone, relieving her majesty from the anxiety which, in common with her subjects, she had felt in regard to the fate of that distinguished traveller. the queen desires me to express her thanks for the service you have thus rendered, together with her majesty's congratulations on your having so successfully carried out the mission which you so fearlessly undertook.' the most notable events of the year were the death of the emperor napoleon iii. in his exile at chiselhurst, and the visit of the shah of persia, who was received by her majesty in state at windsor. the prince of wales made almost a royal tour through india in - , and early in the following year witnessed the proclamation of the queen as empress of india. in the queen opened the colonial and indian exhibition at kensington, the results of which, financially and otherwise, were highly satisfactory. on st june , her majesty completed the fiftieth year of her reign, and the occasion was made one of rejoicing not only in britain, but in all parts of our world-wide empire. in every town and village of the kingdom, by high and low, rich and poor, tribute was paid, in one way or other, to a reign which, above all others, has been distinguished for the splendour of its achievements in arts, science, and literature, as well as for its great commercial progress. one notable feature was the release of , prisoners in india. the jubilee presents were exhibited in st james's palace, and afterwards in bethnal green museum, and attracted large crowds of sight-seers. the jubilee celebrations were brought to a close by a naval review in the presence of the queen at spithead. the fleet assembled numbered war-vessels, with , officers and men, and guns. early in a movement was set afoot in order to found in london an imperial institute as a permanent memorial of the queen's jubilee. her majesty laid the foundation stone on july , , and it was formally opened in . a movement was also commenced having for its object the receiving of contributions towards a personal jubilee offering to the queen, from the women and girls of all classes, grades, and ages throughout the united kingdom. a leaflet was written for general distribution, which ran as follows: 'the women and girls of the united kingdom, of all ages, ranks, classes, beliefs, and opinions, are asked to join in one common offering to their queen, in token of loyalty, affection, and reverence, towards the only female sovereign in history who, for fifty years, has borne the toils and troubles of public life, known the sorrows that fall to all women, and as wife, mother, widow, and ruler held up a bright and spotless example to her own and all other nations. contributions to range from one penny to one pound. the nature of the offering will be decided by the queen herself, and the names of all contributors will be presented to her majesty.' the queen selected as this women's jubilee gift a replica of baron marochetti's glasgow statue of prince albert, to be placed in windsor great park, opposite the statue of herself in windsor. the amount reached £ , ; nearly , , had subscribed, and the statue was unveiled by the queen, may , . the surplus was devoted to founding an institution for promoting the education and maintenance of nurses for the sick poor in their own homes. in connection with the jubilee the queen addressed the following letter to her people: windsor castle, _june_ , . i am anxious to express to my people my warm thanks for the kind, and more than kind, reception i met with on going to and returning from westminster abbey, with all my children and grandchildren. the enthusiastic reception i met with then, as well as on all these eventful days, in london, as well as in windsor, on the occasion of my jubilee, has touched me most deeply. it has shown that the labour and anxiety of fifty long years, twenty-two of which i spent in unclouded happiness shared and cheered by my beloved husband, while an equal number were full of sorrows and trials, borne without his sheltering arm and wise help, have been appreciated by my people. this feeling and the sense of duty towards my dear country and subjects, who are so inseparably bound up with my life, will encourage me in my task, often a very difficult and arduous one, during the remainder of my life. the wonderful order preserved on this occasion, and the good behaviour of the enormous multitudes assembled, merits my highest admiration. that god may protect and abundantly bless my country is my fervent prayer. victoria, r. & i. [illustration: windsor castle.] when a jubilee memorial statue of the queen, presented by the tenantry and servants on her majesty's estates, was unveiled by the prince of wales at balmoral, the queen in her reply said, she was 'deeply touched at the grateful terms in which you have alluded to my long residence among you. the great devotion shown to me and mine, and the sympathy i have met with while here, have ever added to the joys and lightened the sorrows of my life.' in the jubilee year the queen did not grudge to traverse the great east end of london, that she might grace with her presence the opening of 'the people's palace.' but we have not space to notice one half of the public functions performed by the queen. on june , , a jubilee statue of the queen, executed by princess louise, was unveiled at broad walk, kensington. the statue, of white marble, represents the queen in a sitting position, wearing her crown and coronation robes, whilst the right hand holds the sceptre. the windows of kensington palace--indeed the room in which her majesty received the news of her accession to the throne--command a view of the memorial, which faces the round pond. the likeness is a good one of her majesty in her youth. the pedestal bears the following inscription: 'victoria r., . 'in front of the palace where she was born, and where she lived till her accession, her loyal subjects of kensington placed this statue, the work of her daughter, to commemorate fifty years of her reign.' sir a. borthwick read an address to the queen on behalf of the inhabitants of kensington, in which they heartily welcomed her to the scene of her birth and early years, and of the accession to the throne, 'whence by god's blessing she had so gloriously directed the destinies of her people and of that world-wide empire which, under the imperial sway, had made such vast progress in extent and wealth as well as in development of science, art, and culture.' the statue representing her majesty at the date of accession would, they trusted, ever be cherished, not for its artistic merit only, and as being the handiwork of her majesty's beloved daughter, princess louise, who had so skilfully traced the lineaments of a sovereign most illustrious of her line, but also as the only statue representing the queen at that early date. the queen, in reply, said: 'i thank you sincerely for your loyal address, and for the kind wish to commemorate my jubilee by the erection of a statue of myself on the spot where i was born and lived till my accession. it gives me great pleasure to be here on this occasion in my dear old home, and to witness the unveiling of this fine statue so admirably designed and executed by my daughter.' all the queen's children are now married. the princess helena became princess christian of schleswig-holstein. the princess louise has gone somewhat out of the usual course of british princesses and in married the marquis of lorne, duke of argyll since . him the queen described on her visit to inveraray in as 'a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow, with reddish hair but very delicate features.' the princess beatrice, of whom we all think as the daughter who stayed at home with her mother, became the wife of prince henry of battenberg, without altogether surrendering her filial position and duties. a daughter born october , , was baptised at balmoral, the first royal christening which had taken place in scotland for three hundred years. alfred, duke of edinburgh, married the favourite child and only daughter of the late emperor of russia, and sister of the czar. on the death of duke ernst of coburg-gotha, brother of the prince-consort, he succeeded to the ducal throne on august , , as duke alfred of saxe-coburg-gotha. he died in . prince arthur, duke of connaught, wedded the daughter of prince charles, 'the red prince' of prussia; and leopold, duke of albany, took for his wife princess helena of waldeck. prince leopold had had a somewhat suffering life from his childhood, and he died suddenly while abroad, on march , , leaving behind his young wife and two little children, one of whom was born after his death. on july , , princess louise, eldest daughter of the prince of wales, was married to the duke of fife. preparations were being made to celebrate another marriage, that of the duke of clarence and avondale, eldest son of the prince of wales, to princess victoria mary (may) of teck, in january ; but to the sorrow of all, he was stricken down with influenza accompanied by pneumonia on january th, and died on the th. the queen addressed a pathetic letter to the nation in return for public sympathy, which was much more than a mere note of thanks and acknowledgement. osborne, _january_ , . i must once again give expression to my deep sense of the loyalty and affectionate sympathy evinced by my subjects in every part of my empire on an occasion more sad and tragical than any but one which has befallen me and mine, as well as the nation. the overwhelming misfortune of my clearly loved grandson having been thus suddenly cut off in the flower of his age, full of promise for the future, amiable and gentle, and endearing himself to all, renders it hard for his sorely stricken parents, his dear young bride, and his fond grandmother to bow in submission to the inscrutable decrees of providence. the sympathy of millions, which has been so touchingly and visibly expressed, is deeply gratifying at such a time, and i wish, both in my own name and that of my children, to express, from my heart, my warm gratitude to _all_. these testimonies of sympathy with us, and appreciation of my dear grandson, whom i loved as a son, and whose devotion to me was as great as that of a son, will be a help and consolation to me and mine in our affliction. my bereavements during the last thirty years of my reign have indeed been heavy. though the labours, anxieties, and responsibilities inseparable from my position have been great, yet it is my earnest prayer that god may continue to give me health and strength to work for the good and happiness of my dear country and empire while life lasts. victoria, r.i. on july , , the duke of york was united in marriage to the princess may, amidst great national rejoicing. three years later occurred the death of prince henry of battenberg, husband of princess beatrice, when returning from the ashanti expedition. on d july princess maud, daughter of the prince of wales, married prince charles, son of frederick, crown prince of denmark. the queen was present on the occasion of the marriage, which took place in the chapel royal, buckingham palace. the visit of the emperor and empress of russia to balmoral in the autumn was a memorable occasion, marked by great festivity and rejoicing. during the queen received an immense number of congratulatory messages on entering upon the sixtieth year of her reign; and on d september she exceeded the limit attained by any previous english sovereign. many proposals were made to publicly mark this happy event. one scheme, supported by the prince of wales, had for its object the freeing of certain london hospitals of debt; but at the queen's personal request the celebration of the diamond jubilee was reserved until the completion of the sixtieth year of her reign in june . chapter ix. the queen as an artist and author--in her holiday haunts--side-lights on the queen--norman macleod--the queen's appreciation of tennyson, dickens, and livingstone--letter to mr peabody--the queen's drawing-room--her pet animals--a model mistress--mr jeaffreson's tribute--baron stockmar--a golden reign. the prince-consort, as we have seen, was accomplished in music and painting, and knew much about many subjects. the queen is not only an author, but an artist, and takes a great interest in art. to an exhibition under the auspices of the royal anglo-australian society of artists, the queen contributed five water-colour drawings, and a set of proof-etchings by the prince-consort. the subjects were the duke of connaught at the age of three; the princesses alice and victoria of hesse ( ); portraits of the princess royal, now dowager empress of germany, and prince alfred. in advanced life, too, the queen began to study hindustani. in her _leaves from her journal_ ( ) and _more leaves_ ( ), and letters printed in the life of the prince-consort, the queen took the public into her confidence, and afforded a glimpse of the simplicity and purity of the court in our era. in the extracts from her journals ( - ), we have homely records of visits and holiday excursions, with descriptions of picturesque scenery, simply and faithfully set down, the writer expressing with directness the feelings of the moment. deprived by her high rank of friends--as we understand them in ordinary life--her majesty seems to have borne an affection for her husband and her offspring even above the common. with her devotion to the late prince-consort we are all acquainted; but her books show us that it was an attachment by no means owing any of its intensity to regret. while he yet lived and gladdened her with the sunshine of his presence, there are no words she can use too strong to express her love and admiration for him; and it is easy to see, before it happened, how desolate his loss would leave her. then the prince of wales was always 'bertie,' and the princess royal 'vicky,' and the family circle generally a group as loving and united--without a trace of courtly stiffness--as was to be found round any hearth in britain. what the prince-consort wrote of domestic servants, seems to have also been the feeling of the queen: 'whose heart would fail to sympathise with those who minister to us in sickness, receive us upon our first appearance in the world, and even extend their cares to our mortal remains--who lie under our roof, form our household, and are part of our family?' there is no one, in ever so menial position, about her person, who is not mentioned with kindness and particularity. a footnote annexed to the humble name almost always contains a short biography of the individual, whether wardrobe-maid, groom, or gillie. thus of her trusty attendant john brown ( - ) she writes: 'the same who, in , became my regular attendant out of doors everywhere in the highlands; who commenced as gillie in , and was selected by albert and me to go with my carriage. in he entered our service permanently, and began in that year leading my pony, and advanced step by step by his good conduct and intelligence. his attention, care, and faithfulness cannot be exceeded; and the state of my health, which of late years has been sorely tried and weakened, renders such qualifications most valuable, and indeed most needful in a constant attendant upon all occasions. he has since, most deservedly, been promoted to be an upper servant, and my permanent personal attendant (december ). he has all the independence and elevated feelings peculiar to the highland race, and is singularly straightforward, simple-minded, kind-hearted, and disinterested; always ready to oblige, and of a discretion rarely to be met with. he is now in his fortieth year. his father was a small farmer, who lived at the bush on the opposite side to balmoral. he is the second of nine brothers--three of whom have died--two are in australia and new zealand, two are living in the neighbourhood of balmoral; and the youngest, archie (archibald), is valet to our son leopold, and is an excellent, trustworthy young man.' the queen had that memory for old faces almost peculiar to her royal house, and no sooner did she set foot in the new garden which was being made at dalkeith, than she recognised mackintosh there, 'who was formerly gardener at claremont.' one very pleasing trait about her majesty was that, although, as a matter of course, all persons vied in doing her pleasure, she never took any act of respect or kindliness towards her for granted. she made frequent mention of the courteous civilities shown her, just as though she had been in the habit of meeting with the reverse of such conduct. at dalkeith (the duke of buccleuch's, who was her host on more than one occasion), 'everybody was very kind and civil, and full of inquiries as to our voyage;' and 'the roseberies' (at dalmeny, where she lunched) 'were all civility and attention.' in her books a healthy interest is shown in all that concerns the welfare of the people. the queen and the prince-consort came to scotland in in the _royal george_ yacht, and, tired and giddy, drove to dalkeith palace, where they were guests of the duke of buccleuch. the queen tasted real scotch fare at breakfast, oatmeal porridge and 'finnan haddies.' she saw the sights of edinburgh, and in driving through the highlands afterwards, had a reception from lord breadalbane at taymouth castle. the descriptions of her stay at lord breadalbane's, and at lord glenlyon's in blair-athole, are very graphic. 'at a quarter to six, we reached taymouth. at the gate a guard of highlanders, lord breadalbane's men, met us. taymouth lies in a valley surrounded by very high, wooded hills; it is most beautiful. the house is a kind of castle, built of granite. the _coup-d'oeil_ was indescribable. there were a number of lord breadalbane's highlanders, all in the campbell tartan, drawn up in front of the house, with lord breadalbane himself, in a highland dress, at their head, a few of sir neil menzies's men (in the menzies red and white tartan), a number of pipers playing, and a company of the d highlanders, also in kilts. the firing of the guns, the cheering of the great crowd, the picturesqueness of the dresses, the beauty of the surrounding country, with its rich background of wooded hills, altogether formed one of the finest scenes imaginable. it seemed as if a great chieftain in olden feudal times was receiving his sovereign. it was princely and romantic. lord and lady breadalbane took us up-stairs, the hall and stairs being lined with highlanders. the gothic staircase is of stone, and very fine; the whole of the house is newly and exquisitely furnished. the drawing-room, especially, is splendid. thence you go into a passage and a library, which adjoins our private apartments. they showed us two sets of apartments, and we chose those which are on the right hand of the corridor or anteroom to the library. at eight we dined. staying in the house, besides ourselves, are the buccleuchs and the two ministers, the duchess of sutherland and lady elizabeth leveson gower, the abercorns, roxburghes, kinnoulls, lord lauderdale, sir anthony maitland, lord lorne, the fox maules, belhavens, mr and mrs william russell, sir j. and lady elizabeth and the misses pringle, and two messrs baillie, brothers of lady breadalbane. the dining-room is a fine room in gothic style, and has never been dined in till this day. our apartments also are inhabited for the first time. after dinner, the grounds were most splendidly illuminated--a whole chain of lamps along the railings, and on the ground was written in lamps: "welcome victoria--albert." a small fort, which is up in the woods, was illuminated, and bonfires were burning on the tops of the hills. i never saw anything so fairy-like. there were some pretty fireworks, and the whole ended by the highlanders dancing reels, which they do to perfection, to the sound of the pipes, by torchlight in front of the house. it had a wild and very gay effect.' [illustration: pass of killiecrankie--'the queen's view'] her majesty drove about daily, enjoying the magnificent scenery, or by the banks of tay, to see lord breadalbane's american buffaloes; while prince albert had sport--nineteen roe-deer on the first day, besides hares, pheasants, grouse, and a capercailzie, all which trophies were spread out before the house. three hundred highlanders 'beat' for him, while, whenever the queen (accompanied by the duchess of norfolk) walked in the grounds, two of the highland guard followed with drawn swords. they arrived at a lodge, where 'a fat, good-humoured little woman, about forty, cut some flowers for each of us, and the duchess gave her some money, saying: "from her majesty." i never saw any one more surprised than she was; she, however, came up to me, and said very warmly that my people were delighted to see me in scotland.' at a later date the queen revisited taymouth, where once--'albert and i were then only twenty-three!'--she passed such happy days. 'i was very thankful to have seen it again,' says she, with quiet pathos. 'it seemed unaltered.' this visit to scotland was attended with happy results, and made a favourable impression upon both. 'the country,' wrote prince albert,' is full of beauty, of a severe and grand character; perfect for sport of all kinds, and the air remarkably pure and light in comparison with what we have here. the people are more natural, and marked by that honesty and sympathy which always distinguish the inhabitants of mountainous countries who live far away from towns.' on the occasion of a visit to blair-athole, the queen wrote of the pass of killiecrankie, that it was 'quite magnificent; the road winds along it, and you look down a great height, all wooded on both sides; the garry rolling below.' on another occasion she wrote: 'we took a delightful walk of two hours. immediately near the house, the scenery is very wild, which is most enjoyable. the moment you step out of the house, you see those splendid hills all round. we went to the left through some neglected pleasure-grounds, and then through the wood, along a steep winding path overhanging the rapid stream. these scotch streams, full of stones, and clear as glass, are most beautiful; the peeps between the trees, the depth of the shadows, the mossy stones, mixed with slate, &c., which cover the banks, are lovely; at every turn you have a picture. we were up high, but could not get to the top; albert in such delight; it is a happiness to see him, he is in such spirits. we came back by a higher drive, and then went to the factor's house, still higher up, where lord and lady glenlyon are living, having given blair up to us. we walked on to a cornfield, where a number of women were cutting and reaping the oats ("shearing," as they call it in scotland), with a splendid view of the hills before us, so rural and romantic, so unlike our daily windsor walk (delightful as that is); and this change does such good: as albert observes, it refreshes one for a long time. we then went into the kitchen-garden, and to a walk from which there is a magnificent view. this mixture of great wildness and art is perfection. 'at a little before four o'clock, albert drove me out in the pony-phaeton till nearly six--such a drive! really to be able to sit in one's pony-carriage, and to see such wild, beautiful scenery as we did, the furthest point being only five miles from the house, is an immense delight. we drove along glen tilt, through a wood overhanging the river tilt, which joins the garry, and as we left the wood we came upon such a lovely view--ben-y-gloe straight before us--and under these high hills the river tilt gushing and winding over stones and slates, and the hills and mountains skirted at the bottom with beautiful trees; the whole lit up by the sun; and the air so pure and fine; but no description can at all do it justice, or give an idea of what this drive was.' the royal pair mount their ponies, and with only one attendant, a gillie, delight in getting above the world and out of it: 'not a house, not a creature near us, but the pretty highland sheep, with their horns and black faces, up at the top of tulloch, surrounded by beautiful mountains.' the charms of natural scenery, greatly as they were appreciated, required now and then to be relieved by a little excitement, and the queen and prince hit upon an ingenious plan of procuring this. they would issue forth from balmoral in hired carriages, with horses to match, and would drive to some highland town, and dine and dress at its inn, under assumed names. it was no doubt great fun to her majesty to put up with the accommodation of a third-rate provincial inn, where 'a ringleted woman did everything' in the way of waiting at table, and where in place of soup there was mutton-broth with vegetables, 'which i did not much relish.' on one of these expeditions, her majesty was so unfortunate as to hit upon the inn at dalwhinnie as a place of sojourn. 'we went up-stairs: the inn was much larger than at fettercairn, but not nearly so nice and cheerful; there was a drawing-room and a dining-room; and we had a very good-sized bedroom. albert had a dressing-room of equal size. mary andrews (who was very useful and efficient) and lady churchill's maid had a room together, every one being in the house; but unfortunately there was hardly anything to eat, and there was only tea, and two miserable starved highland chickens, without any potatoes! no pudding, and no _fun_; no little maid (the two there not wishing to come in), nor our two people--who were wet and drying our and their things--to wait on us! it was not a nice supper; and the evening was wet. as it was late, we soon retired to rest. mary and maxted (lady churchill's maid) had been dining below with grant, brown, and stewart (who came the same as last time, with the maids) in the "commercial room" at the foot of the stairs. they had only the remnants of our two starved chickens!' the ascent of the hill of tulloch on a pony, the queen wrote, was 'the most delightful, the most romantic ride and walk i ever had.' the quiet, the liberty, the highlanders, and the hills were all thoroughly enjoyed by the queen, and when she returned to the lowlands it made her sad to see the country becoming 'flatter and flatter,' while the english coast appeared 'terribly flat.' again the queen and prince-consort were in the west highlands in , but had dreadful weather at ardverikie, on loch laggan. not even osborne, windsor, or buckingham palace proved happier residences than their holiday home at balmoral. the fine air of the north of scotland had been so beneficial to the royal family, that they were advised to purchase a house in aberdeenshire. the queen and prince took up their autumn residence at balmoral in september . a few years later, the house was much improved and enlarged from designs by the prince-consort. it was soothing to retire thither after a year of the bustle of london. 'it was so calm and so solitary, it did one good as one gazed around; and the pure mountain air was most refreshing. all seemed to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.' mr greville, as clerk of the council, saw the circle there in , and thought the queen and prince appeared to great advantage, living in simplicity and ease. 'the queen is running in and out of the house all day long, and often goes about alone, walks into the cottages, and sits down and chats with the old women.... i was greatly struck with the prince. i saw at once that he is very intelligent and highly cultivated; and, moreover, that he has a thoughtful mind, and thinks of subjects worth thinking about. he seems very much at his ease, very gay, pleasant, and without the least stiffness or air of dignity.' the queen was in ireland in , and had a splendid reception. the queen took possession of the new castle at balmoral in the autumn of , and a year later she wrote that 'every year my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise, and so much more so now, that all has become my dear albert's own creation, own work, own building, own laying out, as at osborne; and his great taste, and the impress of his dear hand, have been stamped everywhere.' after building the cairn on the top of craig gowan, to commemorate their taking possession of balmoral, the queen wrote: 'may god bless this place, and allow us yet to see it and enjoy it many a long year.' in the north country, too, she met with little adventures, which doubtless helped to rally her courage and spirits--a carriage accident, when there was 'a moment during which i had time to reflect whether i should be killed or not, and to think there were, still things i had not settled and wanted to do;' subsequently sitting in the cold on the road-side, recalling 'what my beloved one had always said to me, namely, to make the best of what could not be altered.' what a thoroughly loving, clinging woman's heart the 'queen-empress' shows when' she feels tired, sad, and bewildered' because 'for the first time in her life she was alone in a strange house, without either mother or husband.' some interesting glimpses of the queen are given in the biography of the late dr norman macleod. this popular divine was asked to preach before the queen in crathie church in --the church that stood till , when the queen laid the foundation stone of a new one. he preached an old sermon without a note, never looking once at the royal seat, but solely at the congregation. the sunday at balmoral was perfect in its peace and beauty. in his sermon he tried to show what true life is, a finding rest through the yoke of god's service instead of the service of self, and by the cross of self-denial instead of self-gratification. 'in the evening,' writes dr macleod in his journal, 'after daundering in a green field with a path through it which led to the high-road, and while sitting on a block of granite, full of quiet thoughts, mentally reposing in the midst of the beautiful scenery, i was aroused from my reverie by some one asking me if i was the clergyman who had preached that day. i was soon in the presence of the queen and prince; when her majesty came forward and said, with a sweet, kind, and smiling face: "we wish to thank you for your sermon." she then asked me how my father was--what was the name of my parish, &c.; and so, after bowing and smiling, they both continued their quiet evening walk alone. and thus god blessed me, and i thanked his name.' the queen in her journal remarked that she had never heard a finer sermon, and that the allusions in the prayer to herself and the children gave her a 'lump in the throat.' dr macleod was again at balmoral in and . of this visit in may , made after the queen's bereavement, he reported to his wife that 'all has passed well--that is to say, god enabled me to speak in private and in public to the queen, in such a way as seemed to me to be truth, the truth in god's sight--that which i believed she needed, though i felt it would be very trying to her spirit to receive it. and what fills me with deepest thanksgiving is, that she has received it, and written to me such a kind, tender letter of thanks for it, which shall be treasured in my heart while i live. [illustration: balmoral castle.] 'prince alfred sent for me last night to see him before going away. thank god, i spoke fully and frankly to him--we were alone--of his difficulties, temptations, and of his father's example; what the nation expected of him; how, if he did god's will, good and able men would rally round him; how, if he became selfish, a selfish set of flatterers would truckle to him and ruin him, while caring only for themselves. he thanked me for all i said, and wished me to travel with him to-day to aberdeen, but the queen wishes to see me again.' in his journal of may , he wrote: 'after dinner i was summoned unexpectedly to the queen's room. she was alone. she met me, and with an unutterably sad expression which filled my eyes with tears, at once began to speak about the prince. it is impossible for me to recall distinctly the sequence or substance of that long conversation. she spoke of his excellences--his love, his cheerfulness, how he was everything to her; how all now on earth seemed dead to her. she said she never shut her eyes to trials, but liked to look them in the face; how she would never shrink from duty, but that all was at present done mechanically; that her highest ideas of purity and love were obtained from him, and that god could not be displeased with her love. but there was nothing morbid in her grief. i spoke freely to her about all i felt regarding him--the love of the nation and their sympathy; and took every opportunity of bringing before her the reality of god's love and sympathy, her noble calling as a queen, the value of her life to the nation, the blessedness of prayer.' on the monday following the sabbath services, dr macleod had a long interview with the queen. 'she was very much more like her old self,' he writes, 'cheerful, and full of talk about persons and things. she, of course, spoke of the prince. she said that he always believed he was to die soon, and that he often told her that he had never any fear of death.... the more i learned about the prince-consort, the more i agree with what the queen said to me about him, "that he really did not seem to comprehend a selfish character, or what selfishness was."' it was dr macleod's feeling that the queen had a reasoning, searching mind, anxious to get at the root and the reality of things, and abhorring all shams, whether in word or deed. in october , he records: 'after dinner, the queen invited me to her room, where i found the princess helena and marchioness of ely. the queen sat down to spin at a nice scotch wheel, while i read robert burns to her: "tam o' shanter," and "a man's a man for a' that," her favourite. the prince and princess of hesse sent for me to see their children. the eldest, victoria, whom i saw at darmstadt, is a most sweet child; the youngest, elizabeth, a round, fat ball of loving good-nature. i gave her a real hobble, such as i give polly. i suppose the little thing never got anything like it, for she screamed and kicked with a perfect _furore_ of delight, would go from me to neither father nor mother nor nurse, to their great merriment, but buried her chubby face in my cheek, until i gave her another right good hobble. they are such dear children. the prince of wales sent a message asking me to go and see him.... all seem to be very happy. we had a great deal of pleasant talk in the garden. dear, good general grey drove me home.' in a letter written in , he expresses himself thus: 'i had a long interview with the queen. with my last breath i will uphold the excellence and nobleness of her character. it was really grand to hear her talk on moral courage, and on living for duty.' the queen, on hearing of dr macleod's death, wrote: 'how i loved to talk to him, to ask his advice, to speak to him of my sorrows, my anxieties! ... how dreadful to lose that dear, kind, loving, large-hearted friend! i cried very bitterly, for this is a terrible loss to me.' both the queen and prince-consort have had a hearty appreciation of literary men of eminence and all public benefactors. we have already noted their appreciation of tennyson. the queen, after a long interview with charles dickens, presented him with a copy of her _leaves_, and wrote on it that it was a gift 'from one of the humblest of writers to one of the greatest.' in december , dr livingstone wrote to his parents: 'the royal geographical society have awarded twenty-five guineas for the discovery of the lake ('ngami). it is from the queen.' before this he had written: 'i wonder you do not go to see the queen. i was as disloyal as others when in england, for though i might have seen her in london i never went. do you ever pray for her?' in livingstone was honoured by the queen with a private interview. an account says, 'she sent for livingstone, who attended her majesty at the palace, without ceremony, in his black coat and blue trousers, and his cap surrounded with a stripe of gold lace.... the queen conversed with him affably for half-an-hour on the subject of his travels. dr livingstone told her majesty that he would now be able to say to the natives that he had seen his chief, his not having done so before having been a constant subject of surprise to the children of the african wilderness. he mentioned to her majesty also that the people were in the habit of inquiring whether his chief was wealthy; and that when he assured them she was very wealthy, they would ask how many cows she had got, a question at which the queen laughed heartily.' but the queen had plenty of live-stock too. from an account in the _idler_ of the queen's pet animals, we learn that they consist almost entirely of dogs, horses, and donkeys. the following is a list of some of the royal pets: flora and alma, two horses fourteen hands high, presented to the queen by victor emmanuel. jenny, a white donkey, twenty-five years of age, which has been with the queen since it was a foal. tewfik, a white egyptian ass, bought in cairo by lord wolseley. two shetland ponies--one, the skewbald, three feet six inches high; another, a dark brown mare like a miniature cart-horse. the royal herd of fifty cows in milk, chiefly shorthorns and jerseys. an enormous bison named jack, obtained in exchange for a canadian bison from the zoological gardens. a cream-coloured pony called sanger, presented to the queen by the circus proprietor. a zulu cow bred from the herd of cetewayo's brother. a strong handsome donkey called jacquot, with a white nose and knotted tail. this donkey draws the queen's chair (a little four-wheeled carriage with rubber tyres and a low step), and has accompanied her to florence. a gray donkey, the son of the egyptian tewfik, carries the queen's grandchildren. jessie, the queen's favourite riding mare, which is twenty-seven years old. a gray arab, presented to her majesty by the thakore of morvi. the stables contain eighteen harness horses, most of them gray, and twelve brougham horses ranging from dark brown to light chestnut. four brown ponies, fourteen hands high, bred from a pony called beatrice, which princess beatrice used to ride. the royal mews cover an extent of four acres, and accommodate as many as one hundred horses. the carriage-house contains the post-chaise in which the queen and the prince-consort travelled through germany seven years after their marriage. the carriages of the household weigh about cwt. each. the royal kennels contain fifty-five dogs. george peabody, who had given in all about half a million of money towards building industrial homes in london, having declined many honours, was asked what gift, if any, he would accept. his reply was: 'a letter from the queen of england, which i may carry across the atlantic and deposit as a memorial of one of her most faithful sons.' the following letter was accordingly received from her majesty: windsor castle, _march_ , . the queen hears that mr peabody intends shortly to return to america; and she would be sorry that he should leave england without being assured by herself how deeply she appreciates the noble act, of more than princely munificence, by which he has sought to relieve the wants of her poorer subjects residing in london. it is an act, as the queen believes, wholly without parallel; and which will carry its best reward in the consciousness of having contributed so largely to the assistance of those who can little help themselves. the queen would not, however, have been satisfied without giving mr peabody some public mark of her sense of his munificence; and she would gladly have conferred upon him either a baronetcy or the grand cross of the order of the bath, but that she understands mr peabody to feel himself debarred from accepting such distinctions. it only remains, therefore, for the queen to give mr peabody this assurance of her personal feelings; which she would further wish to mark by asking him to accept a miniature portrait of herself, which she will desire to have painted for him, and which, when finished, can either be sent to him in america, or given to him on the return which she rejoices to hear he meditates to the country that owes him so much. to this letter mr peabody replied: the palace hotel, buckingham gate, london, _april_ , . madam--i feel sensibly my inability to express in adequate terms the gratification with which i have read the letter which your majesty has done me the high honour of transmitting by the hands of earl russell. on the occasion which has attracted your majesty's attention, of setting apart a portion of my property to ameliorate the condition and augment the comforts of the poor of london, i have been actuated by a deep sense of gratitude to god, who has blessed me with prosperity, and of attachment to this great country, where, under your majesty's benign rule, i have received so much personal kindness, and enjoyed so many years of happiness. next to the approval of my own conscience, i shall always prize the assurance which your majesty's letter conveys to me of the approbation of the queen of england, whose whole life has attested that her exalted station has in no degree diminished her sympathy with the humblest of her subjects. the portrait which your majesty is graciously pleased to bestow on me i shall value as the most gracious heirloom that i can leave in the land of my birth; where, together with the letter which your majesty has addressed to me, it will ever be regarded as an evidence of the kindly feeling of the queen of the united kingdom toward a citizen of the united states. i have the honour to be your majesty's most obedient servant, george peabody. this miniature of the queen is mounted in an elaborate and massive chased gold frame, surmounted by the royal crown; is a half-length, fourteen inches long and ten wide, done in enamel, by tilb, a london artist, and is the largest miniature of the kind ever attempted in england. it has been deposited, along with the gold box containing the freedom of the city of london, in a vault in the institute at peabody; also the gold box from the fishmongers' association, london; a book of autographs; a presentation copy of the queen's first published book, with her autograph; and a cane which belonged to benjamin franklin. we have only tried to draw within a small canvas a portrait of her as 'mother, wife, and queen.' she has herself told the story of her happy days in her highland home, to which we have already alluded; nor has she shrunk from letting her people see her when she went there after all was changed, when the view was so fine, the day so bright--and the heather so beautifully pink--but no pleasure, no joy! all dead!' but she found help and sympathy among her beloved scottish peasantry, with whom she could form human friendships, unchilled by politics and unchecked by court jealousies. they could win her into the sunshine even on the sacred anniversaries. one of them said to her, 'i thought you would like to be here (a bright and favoured spot) on his birthday.' the good christian man 'being of opinion,' writes the queen, 'that this beloved day, and even the th of december, must not be looked upon as a day of mourning.' 'that's not the light to look at it,' said he. the queen found 'true and strong faith in these good simple people.' it is pleasant, to note that by-and-by she kept the prince's birthday by giving souvenirs to her children, servants, and friends. she who years before, during a short separation from her dear husband, had written, 'all the numerous children are as nothing to me when he is away--it seems as if the whole life of the house and home were gone,' could enter into the spirit of dr norman macleod's pathetic story of the old woman who, having lost husband and children, was asked how she had been able to bear her sorrows, and replied, 'ah, when _he_ went awa', it made a great hole, and all the others went through it.' as we have already said, the queen was a genuine ruler, and while at windsor she had not only a regular array of papers and despatches to go through, but many court ceremonies. in the morning there was a drive before breakfast, and after that meal she read her private letters and newspapers. one of the ladies-in-waiting had previously gone over the newspapers and marked the paragraphs which seemed of most interest to the queen. afterwards came the examination of the boxes of papers and despatches, of which there might be twenty or thirty, which sometimes occupied about three hours. the contents were then sorted, and sent to be dealt with by her secretary, sir henry ponsonby. when the queen was robed for a state occasion, such as a drawing-room, she was sometimes adorned with jewellery worth. £ , . at other times she wore scarcely any. drawing-rooms, when ladies were presented and had the honour of kissing the queen's hand, were held about two o'clock. at a royal dinner-party the queen arrived last. having walked round and spoken to her guests, she then preceded them into the royal dining-room, and seated herself with one of her children on either side. she was always punctual. it was polite to allow her to start the conversation; after that, she liked to hear her guests talking. her own talk was always agreeable, and she was fond of humour and a hearty laugh. the queen showed herself a model mistress, and also showed an example of industry. at the chicago exhibition in were napkins made from flax spun by her majesty, and a straw hat plaited by her. there was, too, a noble human grace about her acts of beneficence. for instance, in erecting an almshouse for poor old women in the isle of wight, she retained one tiny room, exactly like the rest, for her own use. it is, we believe, untrue that she ever read in cottages. her diary is full of references to those who served her, even in the humblest capacities. she attended the funeral service for the father of her faithful servant, john brown; and when the latter died, she wrote that her loss was irreparable, as he deservedly possessed her entire confidence. interested in the country people around balmoral, her majesty paid visits to old women, and gave them petticoats. on august , , she called on old mrs grant, gave her a shawl and pair of socks, 'and found the poor old soul in bed, looking very weak and very ill, but bowing her head and thanking me in her usual way. i took her hand and held it.' she abounded in practical sympathy with all their joys and sorrows. one of the lodge-keepers in windsor forest remarked that 'a wonderful good woman to her servants is the queen.' her majesty had come several times to see her husband when down with rheumatic fever, and the princesses often brought her oranges and jellies with their own hands. she trained her children to live in the same spirit: nearly all of the princess alice's letters home contained references to domestic friends and messages to be conveyed to them. she wrote in to the queen: 'from you i have inherited an ardent and sympathising spirit, and feel the pain of those i love, as though it were my own.' she was always full of kindly consideration for others. many stories are told of the gracious methods taken by her to efface the pain caused by blunders or awkwardness at review, levee, or drawing-room. mr jeaffreson has written: 'living in history as the most sagacious and enlightened sovereign of her epoch, her majesty will also stand before posterity as the finest type of feminine excellence given to human nature in the nineteenth century; even as her husband will stand before posterity as the brightest example of princely worth given to the age that is drawing to a close. regarded with admiration throughout all time as a beneficent queen and splendid empress, she will also be honoured reverentially by the coming centuries as a supremely good and noble woman.' nor did the queen lack for friends upon another level. the old duke of wellington, the iron duke, the victor of waterloo, is said to have loved her fondly. if any stranger had seen them together, 'he would have imagined he beheld a fond father and an affectionate daughter laughingly chatting.' she herself recorded her great regard for dr norman macleod, as we have noted, lady jane churchill, and several others. but the devotion which she and the prince-consort ever showed to the baron stockmar rises to the height of ideal friendship. stockmar had been the private physician of leopold, king of the belgians, in his earlier days, and in the course of events became the trusted adviser of the young prince albert. to him the queen and the prince wrote as only dutiful children might write to the most affectionate and wisest of parents. they sought his advice and followed it. they reared their children to do him honour. what this friend was, may be gathered from what shrewd people thought of him. lord palmerston, no partial critic, declared, 'i have come in my life across only one absolutely disinterested man, and that is--stockmar.' subtle aphorisms on the conduct of life may be culled, almost at random, from his letters to the royal pair. we can take but one, which, read in conjunction with the lives he influenced, is deeply significant: 'were i now to be asked,' he wrote as he drew near his seventieth year, 'by any young man just entering into life, "what is the chief good for which it behoves a man to strive?" my only answer would be "love and friendship." were he to ask me, "what is a man's most priceless possession?" i must answer, "the consciousness of having loved and sought the truth--of having yearned for the truth for its own sake! all else is either mere vanity or a sick man's dream."' john bright once said of the queen, that she was 'the most perfectly truthful person i ever met.' no former monarch has so thoroughly comprehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means and not the end of government. this enlightened policy has entitled her to the glorious distinction of having been the most constitutional monarch britain has ever seen. in the diamond jubilee of queen victoria was celebrated, representatives from all parts of the empire and from many foreign countries taking part in a magnificent procession to and from st paul's cathedral. the already aged queen continued to reign for only a few years longer. the new century had hardly dawned when she was stricken down by the hand of death. after a brief illness she passed away at osborne on d january , amidst an outburst of sorrow from the whole civilised world. next day the prince of wales was proclaimed as king edward vii. on saturday, d february, amid a splendid naval and military pageant, the body of the queen was borne to st george's chapel, windsor, and on monday buried in the frogmore mausoleum beside prince albert. chapter x. summary of public events, - --civil war in america--extension of the franchise--disestablishment of irish church-education act of --wars in china and abyssinia--purchase of suez canal shares--wars in afghanistan, zululand, and egypt--home rule bill--growth of the empire and national progress. we now continue our summary of public affairs. the crimean war had been finished, and the mutiny had broken out, whilst lord palmerston was prime-minister. in he was obliged to resign his post; but he returned to office next year, and this he held till his death in . under him there was quiet both in home and in foreign affairs, and we managed to keep from being mixed up with the great wars which raged abroad. seldom has a premier been better liked than lord palmerston. nominally a whig, but at heart an old-fashioned tory, he was first and foremost an englishman, ever jealous for britain's credit and security. he was not gifted with burning eloquence or biting sarcasm; but his vigour, straightforwardness, good sense, and kindliness endeared him even to his adversaries. honestly indifferent to domestic reform, but a finished master of foreign politics, he was of all men the man to guide the nation through the ten coming years, which at home were a season of calm and reaction, but troubled and threatening abroad. besides the crimean war and the indian mutiny, we had another war with china, as unjust as the opium war of sixteen years before, and quite as successful. in , the canton authorities seized the crew of a chinese pirate which carried a british flag. under strong pressure from british officials, commissioner yeh surrendered the crew, but refused all apology, whereupon canton was bombarded. a twelvemonth later, it was stormed by the british and french allied forces; yeh was captured, and sent off to die at calcutta; and in june a treaty was signed, throwing open all china to british subjects. in a third war ( - ), to enforce the terms of that treaty, pekin surrendered, and its vast summer palace was sacked and destroyed. in january , an attempt on the life of the emperor napoleon was made by orsini, an italian refugee, who had hatched his plot and procured his bomb-shells in england. lord palmerston therefore introduced a bill, removing conspiracy to murder from the class of misdemeanour to that of felony. the defeat of that bill, as a truckling to france, brought in the second derby administration, which lasted sixteen months, and in which a professed jew was first admitted to parliament, in the person of baron rothschild. another jew, by race but not by creed, mr disraeli, was at the time the leader of the house of commons. his new reform bill satisfied nobody; its rejection was followed by a dissolution; and lord palmerston returned to office, june . sardinia had aided france against russia, and france was now aiding sardinia to expel the austrians from italy. the campaign was short and successful; but rejoice as we might for the cause of italian unity, the french emperor's activity suggested his future invasion of britain; and to this period belongs the development, if not the beginning, of our volunteer army, which, from , in , increased to upwards of , in twenty-five years. still, a commercial treaty with france, on free-trade lines, was negotiated between louis napoleon and mr cobden; and mr gladstone carried it through parliament in the face of strong opposition. lord john russell again introduced a reform bill, but the apathy of lord palmerston, and the pressure of other business, led to its quiet withdrawal. the rejection by the lords of a bill to abolish the duty on paper seemed likely at one time to lead to a collision between the two houses. ultimately the commons contented themselves with a protest against this unwonted stretch of authority, and the paper-duty was removed in . from to , a civil war raged in america, between the slave-holding southern states (the confederates) and the abolitionist northern states (the federals). at first, british feeling was strongly in favour of the northerners; but it changed before long, partly in consequence of their seizure of two confederate envoys on a british mail-steamer, the _trent_, and of the interruption of our cotton trade, which caused a cotton famine and great distress in lancashire. with the war itself, and the final hard-won triumph of the north, we had no immediate connection; but the southern cause was promoted by five privateers being built in england. these armed cruisers were not professedly built for the southerners, but under false pretences were actually equipped for war against northern commerce. one of them, the _alabama_, was not merely built in a british dockyard, but manned for the most part by a british crew. in her two years' cruise she burned sixty-five federal merchantmen. the federal government protested at the time; but it was not till that the alabama question was peacefully settled by arbitration in a conference at geneva, and we had to pay three millions sterling in satisfaction of the american claims. other events during the palmerston administration were a tedious native rebellion in new zealand ( - ); the marriage of the prince of wales to the princess alexandra of denmark ( ); the cession of the ionian isles to greece ( ); and on the continent there was the schleswig-holstein war ( ), in which, beset by both prussia and austria, denmark looked, but looked vainly, for succour from britain. as the reform bill of excluded the great bulk of the working classes from the franchise, it was felt by many that it could not be a final measure; and no long time had passed before agitation for further reform had commenced. in the year the veteran lord john russell once more brought the subject before the house of commons; but the attention of the country was fixed on the war with russia, and it was not thought a good time to deal with the question of reform. again, in , the cabinet of earl derby brought forward a scheme; but it also failed. in the year , earl russell was once more at the head of affairs; and it seemed at one time that the aged statesman would succeed in giving the country a second reform bill. after many debates, however, lord russell's scheme was rejected, and he resigned. the earl of derby next became premier, with mr disraeli as leader of the house of commons. these statesmen succeeded at length in finding a way for settling the vexed question; and the result was a measure which greatly extended the franchise. the new bill gave the privilege of voting to all householders in boroughs who paid poor-rates, without regard to the amount of rent. a lodger qualification of £ a year was also introduced. in the counties all who paid a rent of not less than £ were entitled to a vote. generally speaking, it may be said that previous to the upper classes controlled the representation; the first reform bill gave the franchise to the middle classes; while the second conferred it on a large section of the working classes. such was the reform bill of , which made important changes in our system of election. one of the most pleasing features of this and other reforms which we have effected, is the fact that they have been brought about in a peaceful way. while in france and most other european countries, changes in government have frequently been accompanied by revolution and civil war, we have been able to improve our laws without disturbance and without bloodshed. after the passing of this important act, mr gladstone came into power with a large liberal majority. he had long been one of the foremost orators and debaters of the party. originally a conservative, he had become a freetrader with sir robert peel, and for the next few years was a prominent member of the peelite party. during lord palmerston's second administration, he made a most successful chancellor of the exchequer. for some years he had represented oxford university as a conservative; but at the general election of , he lost his seat owing to the liberal tendencies he had lately shown. henceforward he became one of the most decided liberals; and after the retirement of earl russell in , he became the leader of that party. [illustration: william ewart gladstone. (from a photograph by r. w. thomas.)] under him many reforms were carried. the protestant episcopal church of ireland, whose adherents formed only a small minority of the population, was disestablished. thus at one blow a very important element of the religious difficulty, which had caused so much trouble in ireland, was removed. a measure was also passed, giving the irish tenant a greater interest in the soil which he cultivated. of all the great measures for the benefit of the working classes which have been passed during the present century, none deserves a higher place than the education bill of . a great change for the better had been made in the condition of the people. their food had been cheapened; the conditions under which they performed their daily toil in the factory or the mine had been improved; and their comforts greatly increased. in all these respects their lot compared favourably with that of other nations. but in education the english were still far behind some of their neighbours, and especially the germans. for thirty or forty years before the passing of the education act, a great deal had been done by voluntary effort towards supplying the educational needs of the people in england. the national society, and the british and foreign society, by building schools and training teachers, had done much for the children of our native land. parliament also had lent its aid, by voting an annual grant towards the expenses of the existing schools. but the population was increasing so rapidly that, in spite of these efforts, there was still a great lack of schools. after all that had been done, it was calculated that there yet remained two-thirds of the juvenile population of the country for whom no provision had been made. an inquiry into the condition of education in some of the large towns showed sad results. in birmingham, out of a population of , children of school age, only , were under instruction; leeds showed a proportion of , to , ; and so on with other towns. these figures startled men of all parties; and it was felt that not a moment more ought to be lost in providing for the educational needs which had been shown to exist. accordingly, mr forster, the vice-president of the council, a statesman whose name will be honourably handed down in connection with this great question, brought in his famous scheme for grappling with the difficulty. like all great measures, it was noted for its simplicity. it laid down, in the first place, the great principle that 'there should be efficient school provision in every district of england where it was wanted; and that every child in the country should have the means of education placed within its reach.' to carry this principle into effect, it appointed boards of management, or school boards, to be elected at intervals of three years by the ratepayers themselves. the chief duties of these boards were defined to be, the erection of schools in all places where sufficient provision did not already exist; and the framing of bylaws, by which they might compel attendance at school in cases where the parents showed themselves indifferent to the welfare of their children. these were the main features of the bill, which passed through parliament, and speedily became the law of the land. since the passing of the education act, the results achieved by it in england have been most gratifying. the number of children attending school has largely increased; the quality of the instruction has been greatly improved; and in districts which were formerly neglected, excellent school buildings have been erected and fitted up. by means of the excellent education provided in her parish schools scotland had long held a foremost place among the nations of the world. yet it was felt that even there the system of education needed improvement. accordingly, in , school boards were established and other changes in education were made in scotland. there were other minor but still important changes in other departments. it was provided that the right to hold the position of commissioned or higher officers in the army should be given by open examination, and not be bought as hitherto. all students, without distinction as to religious creed, were admitted to the privileges of the universities of oxford and cambridge. voters were protected in the exercise of their rights by the introduction of the _ballot_, or system of secret voting. the country now seemed to be tired of reform for a time, and the gladstone ministry was overthrown. during the period of which we treat, though we had no great war, we had a number of small conflicts. the series of quarrels with china may be said to have terminated with our conquest of pekin in . in the conduct of king john of abyssinia, in unlawfully imprisoning english subjects, compelled us to send an expedition to rescue them, which it successfully accomplished; and in we were obliged to send another expedition against king koffee of ashanti, on the west african coast, who attacked our allies. this expedition was also a complete success, as we forced our foes to agree to a peace advantageous for us. in addition may be recorded the successful laying of the atlantic cable ( ), after nine years of vain endeavour; the passing of an act ( ), under which british north america is all, except newfoundland, now federally united in the vast dominion of canada, with a constitution like that of the mother-country; and the purchase by government of the telegraph system ( ). on the fall of the gladstone ministry in , a conservative one, under mr disraeli (afterwards lord beaconsfield), came into power, and for some years managed the national affairs. during these years, several important measures affecting the foreign affairs of our empire were carried out. we purchased a large number of shares in the french company which owns the suez canal. british ships going to india pass through that canal, and therefore it was considered by our rulers that it would be for our advantage to have a good deal to do with the management of the company. in india, since the suppression of the mutiny, and abolition of the east india company, the queen had the direct rule. she was in declared empress of that country. in , russia went to war with turkey on questions connected with the treatment of the christian subjects of the sultan. our government was opposed to many things in the conduct of the russians in the matter, and at one time it seemed very likely that a war between us and them would take place. all matters in dispute, however, were arranged in a satisfactory manner at a congress held at berlin in . then came another afghan war, its object being the exclusion of russian influence from cabul, and such an extension of our indian frontier as should henceforth render impossible the exclusion of british influence. in september the ameer, shere ali, dost mohammed's son and successor, refused admission to a british envoy: his refusal was treated as an insolent challenge, and our peaceful mission became a hostile invasion. there was some sharp fighting in the passes; but jellalabad was ours by the end of december, and candahar very soon afterwards. shere ali died early in ; and his son, yakoob khan, the new ameer, in may signed the treaty of gandamak, conceding the 'scientific frontier' and all our other demands. every one was saying how well and easily the affair had been managed, when tidings reached us of a great calamity--the murder, on d september, at cabul, of our envoy, sir louis cavagnari, with almost all his small escort. the treaty, of course, became so much wastepaper; but no time was lost in avenging the outrage, for after more fighting, cabul was occupied by general roberts in the second week of october. the war went on in a desultory fashion, till in july we recognised a new ameer in abdurrahman, heretofore a russian pensioner, and a grandson of dost mohammed. that same month a british brigade was cut to pieces near candahar; but, starting from cabul at the head of , picked troops, general roberts in twenty-three days marched miles, relieved candahar's garrison, and won the battle of mazra. already our forces had begun to withdraw from the country, and candahar was evacuated in . a peaceful british mission was undertaken in the autumn of , when various matters regarding the frontier of afghanistan were dealt with. [illustration: earl roberts. (from a photograph by poole, waterford.)] in we annexed the dutch transvaal republic; the republic was restored under british suzerainty. in we invaded the zulus' territory. on th january lord chelmsford crossed the natal frontier; on the d the zulus surrounded his camp, and all but annihilated its garrison. the heroic defence of rorke's drift, by against , saved natal from a zulu invasion; but it was not till july that the campaign was ended by the victory of ulundi. the saddest event in all the war was the death of the french prince imperial, who was serving with the british forces. he was out with a small reconnoitring party, which was surprised by a band of zulus; his escort mounted and fled; and he was found next morning dead, his body gashed with eighteen assegai wounds. the zulu king, cetewayo, was captured in august, and sent a prisoner to cape town. zululand was divided amongst twelve chieftains; but in , after a visit to england, cetewayo was reinstated in the central part of his kingdom. it was not so easy to set him up again; in he died a fugitive, overthrown by one of his rivals. two very notable men passed away in --thomas carlyle, author of _the french revolution_, and benjamin disraeli, earl of beaconsfield. born in , disraeli entered parliament in , the year of the queen's accession. his first speech, though clever enough, was greeted with shouts of laughter, till, losing patience, he cried, almost shouted: 'i have begun several things many times, and have often succeeded at last; ay, and though i sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me.' in nine years that time did come. from the hour of his onslaught on sir robert peel in the corn-law debate of d january , be became the leader of the tory party. since the making of the suez canal opened a new route to india, we have had a fresh interest in egypt. in , egypt was disturbed by troubles which attracted great attention in this country. through a rising under arabi pasha the government was upset, and at alexandria riots took place, in which europeans were murdered. then followed the bombardment of alexandria by the british fleet. our forces under sir garnet wolseley defeated the egyptian army at tel-el-kebir, and occupied cairo, the capital of the country. arabi pasha was banished for life, and the authority of the khedive was restored under british control. we thus maintained peace and order in egypt; but a great revolt took place in the provinces of the soudan, which had been conquered by egypt. an egyptian army commanded by general hicks was almost entirely destroyed by the natives under a religious leader called the mahdi. in these circumstances it was decided to send general gordon to withdraw the egyptian garrisons from the soudan, and to give up that vast country to its native rulers. gordon made his way to khartoum, but he found the native revolt more formidable than he expected. he was besieged in that city, and refusing to leave the people to their fate, heroically defended it against great odds for nearly a year. an expedition sent under wolseley to release him did not arrive till khartoum had fallen and gordon was slain ( ). after being defeated in several battles, the forces of the mahdi were taught that, however brave, they were no match for our troops. when it was determined to reconquer the soudan the duty was entrusted to sir herbert kitchener, who routed the khalifa at omdurman in . during recent years there have also been troubles on our indian frontier. in we annexed burma, which had suffered much misery under a cruel tyrant. but the greatest danger to india lies on the north-western border, where russia has been making rapid progress. the conquest of merv by the russians brought their dominion close to that of our allies, the afghans, and it became necessary to establish a fixed boundary between them. while this was being done, the russians came into collision with the afghans at penjdeh, and in inflicted a defeat upon them. as a result of this quarrel, it seemed possible at one time that we might go to war with russia. we came, however, to an agreement with that power, and as we now have a more settled boundary, we may hope to avoid further conflict on the question. but for many years we have been busy in fortifying our north-western frontier, that we may be ready to defend india against invasion. we have lately seen a vast extension of our empire in africa. and though the love of gold has been the great motive in our advance into the dark continent, our rule is sure to prove a benefit to the native peoples. vast tracts of land rich in mineral wealth, and well adapted both for pasture and cultivation, have been brought under the sway of britain. commerce has been stimulated, and mission stations have been established on almost every lake and river. from dr livingstone's advent in africa in dates the modern interest in south africa. he passed away in . but the explorations of stanley, baker, burton, and the operations of the chartered companies in uganda and mashonaland have all helped to make the dark continent more familiar to the public. at the general election in the spring of , the liberals had a large majority, and mr gladstone again became prime-minister. in accordance with the expectation of the country, he proceeded to make some important changes. it was complained by many that the agricultural labourers had no share in electing members of parliament. a bill was therefore introduced in to extend to the counties the privilege of voting, which, in , had been granted to householders and lodgers in towns. this bill passed the house of commons, but the house of lords refused to pass it, because it was not accompanied by a measure for the better distribution of seats. [illustration: the funeral procession of queen victoria. (from a photograph by dorrett & martin.)] parliament again met in the autumn; and as the bill was a second time carried through the house of commons, there was for a time the prospect of a contest between the two houses. to prevent such a result, the leaders of both parties met in consultation, and it was agreed that the bill should be allowed to pass on condition that there should be a better distribution of seats. the main provision of the redistribution act, as it was called, was to take the right of electing members from all towns with a population under , , and to merge them in the country districts in which they were situated. in home affairs the irish question has, during many years, claimed more attention than any other. for some time there had been a great fall in the prices of agricultural produce, and consequently the farmers in ireland had a difficulty in finding the money to pay their rents. then followed evictions, which the peasantry resisted by violence. parliament passed several measures, partly to give relief to the peasantry under the hard times which had fallen upon them, partly with a view to making the law stronger for the suppression of outrages. as these laws did not always meet the approval of the irish and their leaders in parliament, scenes of violence frequently occurred. the worst act in the unhappy struggle--the murder of lord frederick cavendish and of mr burke, in the phoenix park, dublin, in --was the work of a secret society, and received the condemnation of the irish leaders. for many years there had been growing in ireland a party which demanded home rule--that is, that ireland should manage her domestic affairs by a parliament of her own at dublin. at the general election in , members out of returned for ireland were in favour of home rule. in mr gladstone introduced a bill to grant home rule to ireland; but, as many of the liberals refused to follow him in this change of policy, he was defeated in the house of commons. in an appeal to the country, he was likewise defeated, and the marquis of salisbury became prime-minister, with the support of a combination of conservatives and liberal unionists. the government of lord salisbury lasted for six years. it carried several useful measures, among which may be mentioned free education, and the act for establishing county councils both in england and scotland. at the general election of , mr gladstone had a majority; for the fourth time he undertook the duties of premiership, and in for the second time brought a home rule bill into parliament, which was rejected by the house of lords on september th. owing to increasing infirmities of age, mr gladstone resigned early in , and was succeeded by lord rosebery, who carried on the government of the country until defeated in july . lord salisbury now formed his third administration, and had to deal with embarrassing situations in connection with the armenian massacres; the jameson raid on the transvaal ( ), which led to a prolonged inquiry in london; a boundary line dispute with venezuela, which led up to a proposed arbitration treaty with the united states; the cretan insurrection, and the greco-turkish war. there were native wars in west africa and rhodesia, while a railway was commenced from mombasa on the coast, inland to the british protectorate of uganda. at the general election in lord salisbury was again returned to power by a large majority. meanwhile, britain had lost one of its greatest men. early in the year it became known that mr gladstone was stricken by a mortal disease. party feeling was at once laid aside, and the whole nation, as it were, watched with deepest sympathy by the bedside of the dying statesman. after a lingering and painful illness, borne with heroic fortitude and gentle patience, he passed away on the th of may. nine days later he was buried in westminster abbey, the last resting-place of so many of england's illustrious dead. the government had to deal with the long and troublesome boer war in south africa, - . to save it from trouble at the hands of the natives, the transvaal had been annexed by britain in . in , however, the boers rose in revolt, and defeated a number of british troops at majuba hill. after this the country was granted independence in internal affairs. owing to the discovery of gold, thousands of settlers were attracted to the transvaal, and the injustice done to these uitlanders, as the new-comers were called, led in time to serious trouble. the uitlanders complained that though they were the majority in the country, and were made to pay by far the greater part of the taxes, they were denied nearly all political rights. at the close of the year dr jameson made a most unwise raid into the transvaal, in support of a proposed rising of the uitlanders to obtain political rights. he was surrounded by the boers and obliged to surrender. british settlers in the transvaal were now treated worse than before. negotiations were carried on between the british government and the boers, but were suddenly broken off by the latter, who demanded that no more british soldiers should be sent to south africa. this demand being refused, the boers, supported by their brethren of the orange free state, declared war against britain, and invaded natal and cape colony in october . ladysmith, in the north of natal, was invested by the boers, the british army there being under the command of general sir george white. the boers also besieged kimberley, an important town, containing valuable diamond-mines, in the north-west of cape colony. farther north a small british garrison was hemmed in at mafeking, a little town near the transvaal border. lord methuen, with a british column, was sent to the relief of kimberley, and sir redvers buller, with a strong army, set out to relieve ladysmith; but both these generals sustained reverses, the former at magersfontein, and the latter at the tugela river. towards the end of december, lord roberts, with lord kitchener as chief of his staff, was sent out to the cape as commander-in-chief. on the th of february, kimberley was relieved; and shortly afterwards the boer general cronje, with his entire army of upwards of four thousand men, surrendered to lord roberts at paardeberg. after several gallant attempts, general buller finally succeeded in relieving ladysmith, which had been besieged by the boers for four mouths. bloemfontein, the capital of the free state, was next captured by lord roberts; and on the th of may, mafeking was relieved. the brave little garrison of this town, under their able and dauntless leader, baden-powell, had endured the greatest privations, and during a siege of seven months had maintained the most marvellously gallant defence of modern times. before the end of may, johannesburg surrendered to lord roberts; and on the th of june he hoisted the british flag in pretoria, the capital of the transvaal. about the same time the orange free state was annexed to great britain under the name of the orange river colony; and on the st of september the transvaal was declared british territory. the most striking feature of this war was the loyalty and enthusiasm displayed by the colonies in the cause of the mother-country. canada, australia, and new zealand vied with each other in sending volunteers to fight for and uphold the rights of their fellow-colonists in south africa, thus giving to the world such an evidence of the unity of the british empire as it had never before seen. volunteers from the mother-country, too, rallied round their nation's flag in great numbers, and nobly went forth to maintain her cause on the field of battle. the progress of the nation during the reign of queen victoria was marvellous. at the commencement of that period the railway system was only in its infancy. at the beginning of the twentieth century, the country is covered from end to end with a complete network of railways; a journey which, in the old times of stagecoaches, took two or three weeks, being now accomplished in a few hours. the perfection of the railway system has afforded facilities for a wonderfully complete system of postage--the mails being carried to all parts of the kingdom in one night. the rapidity of conveyance is only rivalled by the cheapness to the public. the penny postage scheme adopted in , and since further improved, has conferred untold benefits upon the people. even more wonderful than the railway is the electric telegraph system, which has, so to speak, annihilated distance. by its means a short message can be sent from one end of the kingdom to the other in a few minutes, at the cost of sixpence. even the ocean forms no barrier to the operations of this marvellous agency. by means of submarine cables britain is linked with far-distant lands, and is at once made acquainted with everything that happens there. owing to the wonderful progress of invention, and the general use of steam-power, enormous strides have been made in all branches of industry. by means of the improvements introduced into our agricultural operations, the farmer is enabled to get through his sowing and reaping more quickly; by the employment of machinery, all branches of our manufactures have been brought to a wonderful state of perfection, and much of the labour formerly done by hand is now executed by steam-power. in commerce, the old system of navigation by means of sailing-vessels is rapidly giving place to the marine engine, and magnificent steamers now traverse the ocean in all directions with the greatest regularity. amongst great engineering triumphs have been the erection of the forth bridge, which was formally declared open for passenger traffic, on th march , by the prince of wales; the cutting of the manchester ship canal, and the building of such greyhounds of the atlantic as the _majestic_ and _teutonic_, the _campania_ and _lucania_, which have crossed the atlantic in about five and a half days. it is to be deeply lamented that the art of war has, with the aid of invention, flourished not less than the arts of peace. modern invention has made a total change in military and naval warfare. the artillery and small-arms of to-day are as superior, both in range and precision, to those used on the field of waterloo, as the 'brown bess' of that time was superior to the 'bows and bills' of the middle ages. the old line-of-battle ships 'which nelson led to victory' have given place to huge iron-plated monsters, moved by steam, and carrying such heavy guns, that one such ship would have proved a match for the united fleets of britain and france at trafalgar. in matters which are more directly concerned with the welfare of the people, the country made remarkable advances during the reign of queen victoria. political freedom was given to the masses, and many wise laws were passed for improving their social condition. education became more widely diffused, and a cheap press brought information on all subjects within the reach of the humblest. our literature was enriched by the contributions of a host of brilliant writers--macaulay and carlyle, the historians; dickens, thackeray, lytton, and george eliot, the novelists, and the poets tennyson and browning. but if we have no names of quite equal eminence now living amongst us, we have still a splendid array of talent in all departments of literature, and the production of books, periodicals, and newspapers never was more abundant. the blessings of progress were not confined to britain alone. the magnificent colonies of canada, australia, new zealand, and south africa abundantly shared in them. the population of the country had more than doubled during that period. the chief increase took place in the metropolis, the manufacturing towns of the north, the great mining districts, the chief seaports, and fashionable watering-places. london had increased enormously in size, and at the close of the reign contained as many inhabitants, perhaps, as the whole of england in the time of elizabeth. angels and ministers and other victorian plays by laurence housman _angels and ministers_ and _possession_ were first introduction the victorian era has ceased to be a thing of yesterday; it has become history; and the fixed look of age, no longer contemporary in character, which now grades the period, grades also the once living material which went to its making. with this period of history those who were once participants in its life can deal more intimately and with more verisimilitude than can those whose literary outlook comes later. we can write of it as no sequent generation will find possible; for we are bone of its bone and flesh of its flesh; and when we go, something goes with us which will require for its reconstruction, not the natural piety of a returned native, such as i claim to be, but the cold, calculating art of literary excursionists whose domicile is elsewhere. some while ago, before mr. strachey had made the name of victoria to resound as triumphantly as it does now, a friend asked why i should trouble to resuscitate these victorian remains. my answer is because i myself am victorian, and because the victorianism to which i belong is now passing so rapidly into history, henceforth to present to the world a colder aspect than that which endears it to my own mind. the bloom upon the grape only fully appears when it is ripe for death. then, at a touch, it passes, delicate and evanescent as the frailest blossoms of spring. just at this moment the victorian age has that bloom upon it--autumnal, not spring-like--which, in the nature of things, cannot last. that bloom i have tried to illumine before time wipes it away. under this rose-shaded lamp of history, domestically designed, i would have these old characters look young again, or not at least as though they belonged to another age. this wick which i have kindled is short, and will not last; but, so long as it does, it throws on them the commentary of a contemporary light. in another generation the bloom which it seeks to irradiate will be gone; nor will anyone then be able to present them to us as they really were. contents part one: angels and ministers i. the queen: god bless her! (a scene from home-life in the highlands) ii. his favourite flower (a political myth explained) iii. the comforter (a political finale) part two iv. possession (a peep-show in paradise) part three: dethronements v. the king-maker (brighton--october, ) vi. the man of business (highbury--august, ) vii. the instrument (washington--march, ) part one: angels and ministers the queen: god bless her! dramatis personae queen victoria lord beaconsfield mr. john brown a footman the queen: god bless her! a scene from home-life in the highlands _the august lady is sitting in a garden-tent on the lawn of balmoral castle. her parasol leans beside her. writing-materials are on the table before her, and a small fan, for it is hot weather; also a dish of peaches. sunlight suffuses the tent interior, softening the round contours of the face, and caressing pleasantly the small plump hand busy at letter-writing. the even flow of her penmanship is suddenly disturbed; picking up her parasol, she indulgently beats some unseen object, lying concealed against her skirts_. queen. no: don't scratch! naughty! naughty! (_she then picks up a hand-bell, rings it, and continues her writing. presently a fine figure of a man in highland costume appears in the tent-door. he waits awhile, then speaks in the strong doric of his native wilds_.) mr. j. brown. was your majesty wanting anything, or were you ringing only for the fun? (_to this brusque delivery her majesty responds with a cosy smile, for the special function of mr. john brown is not to be a courtier; and, knowing what is expected of him, he lives up to it_.) queen. bring another chair, brown. and take mop with you: he wants his walk. mr. j.b. what kind of a chair are you wanting, ma'am? is it to put your feet on? queen. no, no. it is to put a visitor on. choose a nice one with a lean-back. mr. j.b. with a lean back? ho! ye mean one that you can lean back in. what talk folk will bring with them from up south, to be sure! yes, i'll get it for ye, ma'am. come, mop, be a braw little wee mon, and tak' your walk! (_and while his royal mistress resumes her writing, taking mop by his "lead" he prepares for departure._) have ye seen the paper this morning yet? ma'am. (_the address of respect is thrown in by way of afterthought, or, as it were, reluctantly. having to be in character, his way is to tread heavily on the border-line which divides familiarity from respect._) queen. not yet. mr. j.b. (_departing_). i'll bring it for ye, now. queen. you had better send it. j.b. (_turning about_). what did ye say? ... ma'am. queen. "send it," brown, i said. mop mustn't be hurried. take him round by the stables. (_he goes: and the queen, with a soft, indulgent smile, that slowly flickers out as the labour of composition proceeds, resumes her writing_.) (_presently_ enters _a liveried footman, who stands at attention with the paper upon a salver. touching the table at her side as an indication, the queen continues to write. with gingerly reverence the man lays down the paper and goes. twice she looks at it before taking it up; then she unfolds it; then lays it down, and takes out her glasses; then begins reading. evidently she comes on something she does not like; she pats the table impatiently, then exclaims_:) most extraordinary! (_a wasp settles on the peaches._) and i wish one could kill all wicked pests as easily as you. (_she makes a dab with the paper-knife, the wasp escapes._) most extraordinary! (_relinquishing the pursuit of wasps, she resumes her reading_.) (_in a little while mr. john brown returns, both hands occupied. the chair he deposits by the tent door, and hitches mop's "lead" to the back of that on which the queen is sitting. with the small beginnings of a smile she lowers the paper, and looks at him and his accompaniments_.) queen. well, brown? oh, yes; that's quite a nice one.... i'm sure there's a wasps' nest somewhere; there are so many of them about. j.b. eh, don't fash yourself! wasps have a way of being aboot this time of year. it's the fruit they're after. queen. yes: like adam and eve. j.b. that's just it, ma'am. queen. you'd better take it away, brown, or cover it; it's too tempting. j.b. (_removing the fruit_). ah! now if god had only done that, maybe we'd still all be running aboot naked. queen. i'm glad he didn't, then. j.b. ye're right, ma'am. queen. the fall made the human race decent, even if it did no good otherwise. brown, i've dropped my glasses. (_he picks them up and returns them_.) queen. thank you, brown, j.b. so you're expecting a visitor, ye say? queen. yes. you haven't seen lord beaconsfield yet, i suppose? j.b. since he was to arrive off the train, you mean, ma'am? no: he came early. he's in his room. queen. i hope they have given him a comfortable one. j.b. it's the one i used to have. there's a good spring-bed in it, and a kettle-ring for the whisky. queen. oh, that's all right, then. j.b. will he be staying for long? ma'am. queen. only for a week, i'm afraid. why? j.b. it's about the shooting i was thinking: whether it was the deer or the grouse he'd want to be after. queen. i don't think lord beaconsfield is a sportsman. j.b. i know that, ma'am, well enough. but there's many who are not sportsmen that think they've got to do it--when they come north of the tweed. queen. lord beaconsfield will not shoot, i'm sure. you remember him, brown, being here before? j.b. eh! many years ago, that was; he was no but mr. disraeli then. but he was the real thing, ma'am: oh, a nice gentleman. queen. he is always very nice to me. j.b. i remember now, when he first came, he put a tip into me hand. and when i let him know the liberty he had taken, "well, mr. brown," he said, "i've made a mistake, but i don't take it back again!" queen. very nice and sensible. j.b. and indeed it was, ma'am. many a man would never have had the wit to leave well alone by just apologising for it. but there was an understandingness about him, that often you don't find. after that he always talked to me like an equal-just like yourself might do. but lord, ma'am, his ignorance, it was surprising! queen. most extraordinary you should think that, brown! j.b. ah! you haven't talked to him as i have, ma'am: only about politics, and poetry, and things like that, where, maybe, he knows a bit more than i do (though he didn't know his burns so well as a man ought that thinks to make laws for scotland!). but to hear him talking about natural facts, you'd think he was just inventing for to amuse himself! do you know, ma'am, he thought stags had white tails like rabbits, and that 'twas only when they wagged them so as to show, that you could shoot them. and he thought that you pulled a salmon out o' the water as soon as you'd hooked him. and he thought that a haggis was made of a sheep's head boiled in whisky. oh, he's very innocent, ma'am, if you get him where he's not expecting you. queen. well, brown, there are some things you can teach him, i don't doubt; and there are some things he can teach you. i'm sure he has taught me a great deal. j.b. ay? it's a credit to ye both, then. queen. he lets me think for myself, brown; and that's what so many of my ministers would rather i didn't. they want me to be merely the receptacle of their own opinions. no, brown, that's what we stewarts are never going to do! j.b. nor would i, ma'am, if i were in your shoes. but believe me, you can do more, being a mere woman, so to speak, than many a king can do. queen. yes; being a woman has its advantages, i know. j.b. for you can get round 'em, ma'am; and you can put 'em off; and you can make it very awkward for them--very awkward--to have a difference of opinion with you. queen (_good-humouredly_). you and i have had differences of opinion sometimes, brown. j.b. true, ma'am; that _has_ happened; i've known it happen. and i've never regretted it, never! but the difference there is, ma'am, that i'm not your prime minister. had i been--you'd 'a been more stiff about giving in--naturally! now there's mr. gladstone, ma'am; i'm not denying he's a great man; but he's got too many ideas for my liking, far too many! i'm not against temperance any more than he is--put in its right place. but he's got that crazy notion of "local option" in his mind; he's coming to it, gradually. and he doesn't think how giving "local option," to them that don't take the wide view of things, may do harm to a locality. you must be wide in your views, else you do somebody an injustice. queen. yes, brown; and that is why i like being up in the hills, where the views _are_ wide. j.b. i put it this way, ma'am. you come to a locality, and you find you can't get served as you are accustomed to be served. well! you don't go there again, and you tell others not to go; and so the place gets a bad name. i've a brother who keeps an inn down at aberlochy on the coach route, and he tells me that more than half his customers come from outside the locality. queen. of course; naturally! j.b. well now, ma'am, it'll be for the bad locality to have half the custom that comes to it turned away, because of local option! and believe me, ma'am, that's what it will come to. people living in it won't see till the shoe pinches them; and by that time my brother, and others like him, will have been ruined in their business. queen. local option is not going to come yet, brown. j.b. (_firmly_). no, ma'am, not while i vote conservative, it won't. but i was looking ahead; i was talking about mr. gladstone. queen. mr. gladstone has retired from politics. at least he is not going to take office again. j.b. don't you believe him, ma'am. mr. gladstone is not a retiring character. he's in to-day's paper again--columns of him; have ye seen? queen. yes; quite as much as i wish to see. j.b. and there's something in what he says, i don't deny. queen. there's a great deal in what he says, i don't understand, and that i don't wish to. j.b. now you never said a truer thing than that in your life, ma'am! that's just how i find him. oh, but he's a great man; and it's wonderful how he appreciates the scot, and looks up to his opinion. (_but this is a line of conversation in which his royal mistress declines to be interested. and she is helped, at that moment, by something which really does interest her_.) queen. brown, how did you come to scratch your leg? j.b. 'twas not me, ma'am; 'twas the stable cat did that--just now while mop was having his walk. queen. poor dear brown! did she fly at you? j.b. well, 'twas like this, ma'am; first mop went for her, then she went for him. and i tell ye she'd have scraped his eyes out if i'd left it to a finish. queen. ferocious creature! she must be mad. j.b. well, ma'am, i don't know whether a cat-and-dog fight is a case of what god hath joined together; but it's the hard thing for man to put asunder! and that's the scraping i got for it, when i tried. queen. you must have it cauterised, brown. i won't have you getting hydrophobia. j.b. you generally get that from dogs. queen. oh, from cats too; any cat that a mad dog has bitten. j.b. they do say, ma'am, that if a mad dog bites you--you have to die barking. so if it's a cat-bite i'm going to die of, you'll hear me mewing the day, maybe. queen. i don't like cats: i never did. treacherous, deceitful creatures! now a dog always looks up to you. j.b. yes, ma'am; they are tasteful, attractive animals; and that, maybe, is the reason. they give you a good conceit of yourself, dogs do. you never have to apologise to a dog. do him an injury--you've only to say you forgive him, and he's friends again. (_accepting his views with a nodding smile, she resumes her pen, and spreads paper_.) queen. now, brown, i must get to work again. i have writing to do. see that i'm not disturbed. j.b. then when were you wanting to see your visitor, ma'am? there's his chair waiting. queen. ah, yes, to be sure. but i didn't want to worry him too soon. what is the time? j.b. nearly twelve, ma'am. queen. oh! then i think i may. will you go and tell him: the queen's compliments, and she would like to see him, now? j.b. i will go and tell him, ma'am. queen. and then i shan't want you any more--till this afternoon. j.b. then i'll just go across and take lunch at home, ma'am. queen. yes, do! that will be nice for you. and brown, mind you have that leg seen to! (_mr. john brown has started to go, when his step is arrested_.) j.b. his lordship is there in the garden, ma'am, talking to the princess. queen. what, before he has seen _me_? go, and take him away from the princess, and tell him to come here! j.b. i will, ma'am. queen. and you had better take mop with you. now, dear brown, do have your poor leg seen to, at once! j.b. indeed, and i will, ma'am. come, mop, man! come and tell his lordship he's wanted. (exit _mr. john brown, nicely accompanied by mop_.) (_left to herself the queen administers a feminine touch or two to dress and cap and hair; then with dignified composure she resumes her writing, and continues to write even when the shadow of her favourite minister crosses the entrance, and he stands hat in hand before her, flawlessly arrayed in a gay frock suit suggestive of the period when male attire was still not only a fashion but an art. despite, however, the studied correctness of his costume, face and deportment give signs of haggard fatigue; and when he bows it is the droop of a weary man, slow in the recovery. just at the fitting moment for full acceptance of his silent salutation, the royal lady lays down her pen_.) queen. oh, how do you do, my dear lord beaconsfield! good morning; and welcome to, balmoral. lord b. (_as he kisses the hand extended to him_). that word from your majesty brings all its charms to life! what a prospect of beauty i see around me! queen. you arrived early? i hope you are sufficiently rested. lord b. refreshed, madam; rest will come later. queen. you have had a long, tiring journey, i fear. lord b. it was long, madam. queen. i hope that you slept upon the train? lord b. i lay upon it, ma'am. that is all i can say truly. queen. oh, i'm sorry! lord b. there were compensations, ma'am. in my vigil i was able to look forward--to that which is now before me. the morning is beautiful! may i be permitted to enquire if your majesty's health has benefited? queen. i'm feeling "bonnie," as we say in scotland. life out of doors suits me. lord b. ah! this tent light is charming! then my eyes had not deceived me; your majesty is already more than better. the tempered sunlight, so tender in its reflections, gives--an interior, one may say--of almost floral delicacy; making these canvas walls like the white petals of an enfolding flower. queen. are you writing another of your novels, lord beaconsfield? that sounds like composition. lord b. believe me, madam, only an impromptu. queen. now, my dear lord, pray sit down! i had that chair specially brought for you. generally i sit here quite alone. lord b. such kind forethought, madam, overwhelms me! words are inadequate. i accept, gratefully, the repose you offer me. (_he sinks into the chair, and sits motionless and mute, in a weariness that is not the less genuine because it provides an effect. but from one seated in the royal presence much is expected; and so it is in a tone of sprightly expectancy that his royal mistress now prompts him to his task of entertaining her_.) queen. well? and how is everything? lord b. (_rousing himself with an effort_). oh! pardon! your majesty would have me speak on politics, and affairs of state? i was rapt away for the moment. queen. do not be in any hurry, dear prime minister. lord b. ah! that word from an indulgent mistress spurs me freshly to my task. but, madam, there is almost nothing to tell: politics, like the rest of us, have been taking holiday. queen. i thought that mr. gladstone had been speaking. lord b. (_with an airy flourish of courtly disdain_). oh, yes! he has been--speaking. queen. in edinburgh, quite lately. lord b. and in more other places than i can count. speaking--speaking-- speaking. but i have to confess, madam, that i have not read his speeches. they are composed for brains which can find more leisure than yours, madam--or mine. queen. i have read some of them. lord b. your majesty does him great honour--and yourself some inconvenience, i fear. those speeches, so great a strain to understand, or even to listen to--my hard duty for now some forty years--are a far greater strain to read. queen. they annoy me intensely. i have no patience with him! lord b. pardon me, madam; if you have read _one_ of his speeches, your patience has been extraordinary. queen. can't you stop it? lord b. stop?--stop what, madam? niagara, the flood? that which has no beginning, no limit, has also no end: till, by the operation of nature, it runs dry. queen. but, surely, he should be stopped when he speaks on matters which may, any day, bring us into war! lord b. then he would be stopped. when the british nation goes to war, madam, it ceases to listen to reason. then it is only the beating of its own great heart that it hears: to that goes the marching of its armies, with victory as the one goal. then, madam, above reason rises instinct. against that he will be powerless. queen. you think so? lord b. i am sure, madam. if we are drawn into war, his opposition becomes futile. if we are not: well, if we are not, it will not be his doing that we escape that--dire necessity. queen, but you _do_ think it necessary, don't you? (_to the sovereign's impetuous eagerness, so creditable to her heart, he replies with the oracular solemnity by which caution can be sublimated_) lord b. i hope it may not be, madam. we must all say that--up till the last moment. it is the only thing we _can_ say, to testify the pacifity of our intention when challenged by other powers. queen (_touching the newspaper_). this morning's news isn't good, i'm afraid. the russians are getting nearer to constantinople. lord b. they will never enter it, madam. queen. no, they mustn't! we will not allow it. lord b. that, precisely, is the policy of your majesty's government. russia knows that we shall not allow it; she knows that it will never be. nevertheless, we may have to make a demonstration. queen. do you propose to summon parliament? lord b. not parliament; no, madam. your majesty's fleet will be sufficient. (_this lights a spark; and the royal mind darts into strategy_) queen. if i had my way, lord beaconsfield, my fleet would be in the baltic to-morrow; and before another week was over, petersburg would be under bombardment. lord b. (_considerately providing this castle in the air with its necessary foundations_). and cronstadt would have fallen. queen (_puzzled for a moment at this naming of a place which had not entered her calculations_). cronstadt? why cronstadt? lord b. merely preliminary, madam. when that fortified suburb has crumbled--the rest will be easy. queen. yes! and what a good lesson it will teach them! the crimea wasn't enough for them, i suppose. lord b. the crimea! ah, what memories-of heroism--that word evokes! "magnificent, but not war!" queen. oh! there is one thing, lord beaconsfield, on which i want your advice. lord b. always at your majesty's disposal. queen. i wish to confer upon the sultan of turkey my order of the garter. lord b. ah! how generous, how generous an instinct! how like you, madam, to wish it! queen. what i want to know is, whether, as prime minister, you have any objection? lord b. "as prime minister." how hard that makes it for me to answer! how willingly would i say "none"! how reluctantly, on the contrary, i have to say, "it had better wait." queen. wait? wait till when? i want to do it _now_. lord b. yes, so do i. but can you risk, madam, conferring that most illustrious symbol of honour, and chivalry, and power, on a defeated monarch? your royal prestige, ma'am, must be considered great and generous hearts need, more than most, to take prudence into their counsels. queen. but do you think, lord beaconsfield, that the turks are going to be beaten? lord b. the turks _are_ beaten, madam.... but england will never be beaten. we shall dictate terms--moderating the demands of russia; and under your majesty's protection the throne of the kaliphat will be safe-- once more. that, madam, is the key to our eastern policy: a grateful kaliphat, claiming allegiance from the whole mahometan world, bound to us by instincts of self-preservation--and we hold henceforth the gorgeous east in fee with redoubled security. his power may be a declining power; but ours remains. some day, who knows? egypt, possibly even syria, arabia, may be our destined reward. (_like a cat over a bowl of cream, england's majesty sits lapping all this up. but, when he has done, her commentary is shrewd and to the point_.) queen. the french won't like that! lord b. they won't, madam, they won't. but has it ever been england's policy, madam, to mind what the french don't like? queen (_with relish_). no, it never has been, has it? ah! you are the true statesman, lord beaconsfield. mr. gladstone never talked to me like that. lord b.(_courteously surprised at what does not at all surprise him_). no?... you must have had interesting conversations with him, madam, in the past. queen (_very emphatically_). i have never once had a conversation with mr. gladstone, in all my life, lord beaconsfield. he used to talk to me as if i were a public meeting--and one that agreed with him, too! lord b. was there, then, any applause, madam? queen. no, indeed! i was too shy to say what i thought. i used to cough sometimes. lord b. rather like coughing at a balloon, i fear. i have always admired his flights-regarded as a mere _tour de force_--so buoyant, so sustained, so incalculable! but, as they never touch earth to any serviceable end, that i could discover--of what use are they? yet if there is one man who has helped me in my career--to whom, therefore, i should owe gratitude--it is he. queen. indeed? now that does surprise me! tell me, lord beaconsfield, how has he ever helped you? lord b. in our party system, madam, we live by the mistakes of our opponents. the balance of the popular verdict swings ever this way and that, relegating us either to victory or defeat, to office or to opposition. many times have i trodden the road to power, or passed from it again, over ruins the origin of which i could recognise either as my own work or that of another; and most of all has it been over the disappointments, the disaffections, the disgusts, the disillusionments-- chiefly among his own party--which my great opponent has left me to profit by. i have gained experience from what he has been morally blind to; what he has lacked in understanding of human nature he has left for me to discover. only to-day i learn that he has been in the habit of addressing--as you, madam, so wittily phrased it--of addressing, "as though she were a public meeting," that royal mistress, whom it has ever been my most difficult task not to address sometimes as the most charming, the most accomplished, and the most fascinating woman of the epoch which bears her name. (_he pauses, then resumes_.) how strange a fatality directs the fate of each one of us! how fortunate is he who knows the limits that destiny assigns to him: limits beyond which no word must be uttered. (_his oratorical flight, so buoyant and sustained, having come to its calculated end, he drops deftly to earth, encountering directly for the first time the flattered smile with which the queen has listened to him_.) madam, your kind silence reminds me, in the gentlest, the most considerate way possible, that i am not here to relieve the tedium of a life made lonely by a bereavement equal to your own, in conversation however beguiling, or in quest of a sympathy of which, i dare to say, i feel assured. for, in a sense, it is as to a public assembly, or rather as to a great institution, immemorially venerable and august that i have to address myself when, obedient to your summons, i come to be consulted as your majesty's first minister of state. if, therefore, your royal mind have any inquiries, any further commands to lay upon me, i am here, madam, to give effect to them in so far as i can. (_this time he has really finished, but with so artful an abbreviation at the point where her interest has been most roused that the queen would fain have him go on. and so the conversation continues to flow along intimate channels_.) queen. no, dear lord beaconsfield, not to-day! those official matters can wait. after you have said so much, and said it so beautifully, i would rather still talk with you as a friend. of friends you and i have not many; those who make up our world, for the most part, we have to keep at a distance. but while i have many near relatives, children and descendants, i remember that you have none. so your case is the harder. lord b. ah, no, madam, indeed! i have my children--descendants who will live after me, i trust--in those policies which, for the welfare of my beloved country, i confide to the care of a sovereign whom i revere and love....i am not unhappy in my life, madam; far less in my fortune; only, as age creeps on, i find myself so lonely, so solitary, that sometimes i have doubt whether i am really alive, or whether the voice, with which now and then i seek to reassure myself, be not the voice of a dead man. queen (_almost tearfully_). no, no, my dear lord beaconsfield, you mustn't say that! lord b.(_gallantly_). i won't say anything, madam, that you forbid, or that you dislike. you invited me to speak to you as a friend; so i have done, so i do. i apologise that i have allowed sadness, even for a moment, to trouble the harmony-the sweetness--of our conversation. queen. pray, do not apologise! it has been a very great privilege; i beg that you will go on! tell me--you spoke of bereavement--i wish you would tell me more--about your wife. (_the sudden request touches some latent chord; and it is with genuine emotion that he answers_.) lord b. ah! my wife! to her i owed everything. queen. she was devoted to you, wasn't she? lord b. i never read the depth of her devotion-till after her death. then, madam--this i have told to nobody but yourself--then i found among her papers--addressed "to my dear husband"--a message, written only a few days before her death, with a hand shaken by that nerve-racking and fatal malady which she endured so patiently--begging me to marry again. (_the queen is now really crying, and finds speech difficult._) queen. and you, you--? dear lord beaconsfield; did you mean--had you ever meant----? lord b. i did not then, madam; nor have i ever done so since. it is enough if i allow myself--to love. queen. oh, yes, yes; i understand--better than others would. for that has always been my own feeling. lord b. in the history of my race, madam, there has been a great tradition of faithfulness between husbands and wives. for the hardness of our hearts, we are told, moses permitted us to give a writing of divorcement. but we have seldom acted on it. in my youth i became a christian; i married a christian. but that was no reason for me to desert the nobler traditions of my race--for they are in the blood and in the heart. when my wife died i had no thought to marry again; and when i came upon that tender wish, still i had no thought for it; my mind would not change. circumstances that have happened since have sealed irrevocably my resolution-never to marry again. queen. oh, i think that is so wise, so right, so noble of you! (_the old statesman rises, pauses, appears to hesitate, then in a voice charged with emotion says_) lord b. madam, will you permit me to kiss your hand? (_the hand graciously given, and the kiss fervently implanted, he falls back once more to a respectful distance. but the emotional excitement of the interview has told upon him, and it is in a wavering voice of weariness that he now speaks_.) lord b. you have been very forbearing with me, madam, not to indicate that i have outstayed either my welcome or your powers of endurance. yet so much conversation must necessarily have tired you. may i then crave permission, madam, to withdraw. for, to speak truly, i do need some rest. queen. yes, my dear friend, go and rest yourself! but before you go, will you not wait, and take a glass of wine with me? (_he bows, and she rings_.) and there is just one other thing i wish to say before we part. lord b. speak, madam, for thy servant heareth. (_the other servant is now also standing to attention, awaiting orders_.) queen. bring some wine. (_the attendant_ goes.) that order of the garter which i had intended to onfer upon the sultan-- have you, as prime minister, any objection if i bestow it nearer home, on one to whom personally--i cannot say more--on yourself, i mean. (_at that pronouncement of the royal favour, the minister stands, exhausted of energy, in an attitude of drooping humility. the eloquent silence is broken presently by the queen_.) queen. dear lord beaconsfield, i want your answer. lord b. oh, madam! what adequate answer can these poor lips make to so magnificent an offer? yet answer i must. we have spoken together briefly to-day of our policies in the near east. madam, let me come to you again when i have saved constantinople, and secured once more upon a firm basis the peace of europe. then ask me again whether i have any objection, and i will own--"i have none!" (re-enters _attendant. he deposits a tray with decanter and glasses, and retires again_.) queen. very well, lord beaconsfield. and if you do not remind me, i shall remind you. (_she points to the tray_.) pray, help yourself! (_he takes up the decanter_.) lord b. i serve you, madam? queen. thank you. (_he fills the two glasses; presents hers to the queen, and takes up his own_.) lord b. may i propose for myself--a toast, madam? (_the queen sees what is coming, and bows graciously_.) lord b. the queen! god bless her! (_he drains the glass, then breaks it against the pole of the tent, and throws away the stem_.) an old custom, madam, observed by loyal defenders of the house of stewart, so that no lesser health might ever be drunk from the same glass. to my old hand came a sudden access of youthful enthusiasm--an ardour which i could not restrain. your pardon, madam! queen (_very gently_). go and lie down, lord beaconsfield; you need rest. lord b. adieu, madam. queen. draw your curtains, and sleep well! (_for a moment he stands gazing at her with a look of deep emotion; he tries to speak. ordinary words seem to fail; he falters into poetry_.) "when pain and anguish wring the brow, a ministering angel, thou!" (_it has been beautifully said, they both feel. silent and slow, with head reverentially bowed, he backs from the presence_.) (_the queen sits and looks after the retreating figure, then at the broken fragments of glass. she takes up the hand-bell and rings. the attendant_ enters.) queen. pick up that broken glass. (_the attendant collects it on the hand-tray which he carries_) bring it to me! ... leave it! (_the attendant deposits the tray before her, and_ goes. _gently the queen handles the broken pieces. then in a voice of tearful emotion she speaks_.) such devotion! most extraordinary! oh! albert! albert! (_and in the sixteenth year of her widowhood and the fortieth of her reign the royal lady bends her head over the fragments of broken glass, and weeps happy tears_.) curtain his favourite flower dramatis personae the statesman the housekeeper the doctor the primroses his favourite flower a political myth explained _the eminent old statesman has not been at all well. he is sitting up in his room, and his doctor has come to see him for the third time in three days. this means that the malady is not yet seriously regarded: once a day is still sufficient. nevertheless, he is a woeful wreck to look at; and the doctor looks at him with the greatest respect, and listens to his querulous plaint patiently. for that great dome of silence, his brain, repository of so many state-secrets, is still a redoubtable instrument: its wit and its magician's cunning have not yet lapsed into the dull inane of senile decay. though fallen from power, after a bad beating at the polls, there is no knowing but that he may rise again, and hold once more in those tired old hands, shiny with rheumatic gout, and now twitching feebly under the discomfort of a superimposed malady, the reins of democratic and imperial power. the dark, cavernous eyes still wear their look of accumulated wisdom, a touch also of visionary fire. the sparse locks, dyed to a raven black, set off with their uncanny sheen the clay-like pallor of the face. he sits in a high-backed chair, wrapped in an oriental dressing-gown, his muffled feet resting on a large hot-water bottle; and the eminent physician, preparatory to taking a seat at his side, bends solicitously over him_. doctor. well, my dear lord, how are you to-day? better? you look better. statesman. yes, i suppose i am better. but my sleep isn't what it ought to be. i have had a dream, doctor; and it has upset me. doctor. a dream? statesman. you wonder that i should mention it? of course, i--i don't believe in dreams. yet they indicate, sometimes--do they not?-certain disorders of the mind. doctor. generally of the stomach. statesman. ah! the same thing, doctor. there's no getting away from that in one's old age; when one has lived as well as i have. doctor. that is why i dieted you. statesman. oh, i have nothing on my conscience as to that. my housekeeper is a dragon. her fidelity is of the kind that will even risk dismissal. doctor. an invaluable person, under the circumstances. statesman. yes; a nuisance, but indispensable. no, doctor. this dream didn't come from the stomach. it seemed rather to emanate from that outer darkness which surrounds man's destiny. so real, so horribly real! doctor. better, then, not to brood on it. statesman. ah! could i explain it, then i might get rid of it. in the ancient religion of my race dreams found their interpretation. but have they any? doctor. medical science is beginning to say "yes"; that in sleep the subconscious mind has its reactions. statesman. well, i wonder how my "subconscious mind" got hold of primroses. doctor. primroses? did they form a feature in your dream? statesman. a feature? no. the whole place was alive with them! as the victim of inebriety sees snakes, i saw primroses. they were everywhere: they fawned on me in wreaths and festoons; swarmed over me like parasites; flew at me like flies; till it seemed that the whole world had conspired to suffocate me under a sulphurous canopy of those detestable little atoms. can you imagine the horror of it, doctor, to a sane--a hitherto sane mind like mine? doctor. oh! in a dream any figment may excite aversion. statesman. this wasn't like a dream. it was rather the threat of some new disease, some brain malady about to descend on me: possibly delirium tremens. i have not been of abstemious habits, doctor. suppose--? doctor. impossible! dismiss altogether that supposition from your mind! statesman. well, doctor, i hope--i hope you may be right. for i assure you that the horror i then conceived for those pale botanical specimens in their pestiferous and increscent abundance, exceeded what words can describe. i have felt spiritually devastated ever since, as though some vast calamity were about to fall not only on my own intellect, but on that of my country. well, you shall hear. (_he draws his trembling bands wearily over his face, and sits thinking awhile_.) with all the harsh abruptness of a soul launched into eternity by the jerk of the hangman's rope, so i found myself precipitated into the midst of this dream. i was standing on a pillory, set up in parliament square, facing the abbey. i could see the hands of st. margaret's clock pointing to half-past eleven; and away to the left the roof of westminster hall undergoing restoration. details, doctor, which gave a curious reality to a scene otherwise fantastic, unbelievable. there i stood in a pillory, raised up from earth; and a great crowd had gathered to look at me. i can only describe it as a primrose crowd. the disease infected all, but not so badly as it did me. the yellow contagion spread everywhere; from all the streets around, the botanical deluge continued to flow in upon me. i felt a pressure at my back; a man had placed a ladder against it; he mounted and hung a large wreath of primroses about my neck. the sniggering crowd applauded the indignity. having placed a smaller wreath upon my head, he descended.... a mockery of a may queen, there i stood! doctor (_laying a soothing hand on him_). a dream, my dear lord, only a dream. statesman. doctor, imagine my feelings! my sense of ridicule was keen; but keener my sense of the injustice--not to be allowed to know _why_ the whole world was thus making mock of me. for this was in the nature of a public celebration, its malignity was organised and national; a new fifth of november had been sprung upon the calendar. around me i saw the emblematic watchwords of the great party i had once led to triumph: "imperium et libertas," "peace with honour," "england shall reign where'er the sun," and other mottoes of a like kind; and on them also the floral disease had spread itself. the air grew thick and heavy with its sick-room odour. doctor, i could have vomited. doctor. yes, yes; a touch of biliousness, i don't doubt. statesman. with a sudden flash of insight--"this," i said to myself, "is my day of judgment. here i stand, judged by my fellow-countrymen, for the failures and shortcomings of my political career. the good intentions with which my path was strewn are now turned to my reproach. but why do they take this particular form? why--why primroses?" doctor. "the primrose way" possibly? statesman. ah! that occurred to me. but has it, indeed, been a primrose way that i have trodden so long and so painfully? i think not. i cannot so accuse myself. but suppose the day of judgment which fate reserves for us were fundamentally this: the appraisement of one's life and character--not by the all-seeing eye of heaven (before which i would bow), but by the vindictively unjust verdict of the people one has tried to serve--the judgment not of god, but of public opinion. that is a judgment of which all who strive for power must admit the relevancy! doctor. you distress yourself unnecessarily, dear lord. your reputation is safe from detraction now. statesman. with urgency i set my mind to meet the charge. if i could understand the meaning of that yellow visitation, then i should no longer have to fear that i was going mad! (_at this point the door is discreetly opened, and the housekeeper, mild, benign, but inflexible,_ enters, _carrying a cup and toast-rack upon a tray_.) housekeeper. i beg pardon, my lord; but i think your lordship ought to have your beef-tea now. statesman. yes, yes, mrs. manson; come in. doctor. you are right, mrs. manson; he ought. housekeeper (_placing the tray on a small stand_). where will you have it, my lord? statesman. in my inside, mrs. manson--presently--he, he! doctor. now, let me take your pulse...yes, yes. pretty good, you know. (_mrs. manson stands respectfully at attention with interrogation in her eye_.) statesman. yes, you may bring me my cap now. (_then to the doctor_). i generally sleep after this. (_mrs. manson brings a large tasselled fez of brilliant colour, and adjusts it to his head while he drinks. she then, goes to the door, takes a hot-water bottle from the bands of an unseen servant and effects the necessary changes. all this is done so unobtrusively that the statesman resumes his theme without regarding her. when she has done she goes_.) ah! where was i? doctor. if you "could understand," you said. statesman. ah, yes; understand. again a strange faculty of divination came upon me. i stood upon the international plane, amid a congress of powers, and let my eye travel once more over the alliances of europe. i looked, doctor, and truly i saw, then, surprising shifts and changes in the political and diplomatic fabric which i had helped to frame. time, and kingdoms had passed. i saw, at home and abroad, the rise of new parties into power, strange coalitions, defections, alliances; old balances destroyed, new balances set up in their place. i saw frontiers annulled, treaties violated, world-problems tumbling like clowns, standing on their heads and crying, "here we are again!" power--after all, had solved nothing! my eye travelled over that problem of the near east, which, for some generations at least, we thought to have settled, to vienna, petersburg, constantinople--and away farther east to teheran and--that other place whose name i have forgotten. and, as i looked, a recording angel came, and cried to me in a voice strangely familiar, the voice of one of my most detested colleagues--trusted, i mean--"you have put your money on the wrong horse!" and i had, doctor; if what i saw then was true--i had! yes, if ever man blundered and fooled his countrymen into a false and fatal position--i was that man! it wasn't a question of right or wrong. in politics that doesn't really matter; you decide on a course, and you invent moral reasons for it afterwards. no, what i had done was much worse than any mere wrongdoing. all my political foresight and achievements were a gamble that had gone wrong; and for that my day of judgment had come, and i stood in the pillory, a peepshow for mockery. but why for their instrument of torture did they choose primroses? oh, i can invent a reason! it was moses primrose, cheated of his horse with a gross of green spectacles cased in shagreen. but that was not the reason. for then came new insight, and a fresh humiliation. as i looked more intently i saw that i was _not_ being mocked; i was being worshipped, adulated, flattered; i had become a god--for party purposes perhaps--and this was my day, given in my honour, for national celebration. and i saw, by the insight given me, that they were praising me _for having put their money on the wrong horse!_ year by year the celebration had gone on, until they had so got into the habit that they could not leave off! all my achievements, all my policies, all my statecraft were in the dust; but the worship of me had become a national habit--so foolish and meaningless, that nothing, nothing but some vast calamity--some great social upheaval, was ever going to stop it. doctor. my dear lord, it is i who must stop it now. you mustn't go on. statesman. i have done, doctor. there i have given you the essentials of my dream; material depressing enough for the mind of an old man, enfeebled by indisposition, at the end of a long day's work. but i tell you, doctor, that nothing therein which stands explainable fills me with such repulsion and aversion as that one thing which i cannot explain--why, why primroses? doctor. a remarkable dream, my lord; rendered more vivid--or, as you say, "real"--by your present disturbed state of health. as to that part of it which you find so inexplicable, i can at least point toward where the explanation lies. it reduces itself to this: primroses had become associated for you--in a way which you have forgotten--with something you wished to avoid. and so they became the image, or symbol, of your aversion; and as such found a place in your dream. (_so saying the doctor rises and moves toward the window, where his attention suddenly becomes riveted_.) statesman. perhaps, doctor, perhaps, as you say, there is some such explanation. but i don't feel like that. doctor. why, here are primroses! this may be the clue? where do they come from? statesman. ah, those! indeed, i had forgotten them. at least; no, i could not have done that. doctor. there is a written card with them, i see. statesman. her gracious majesty did me the great honour, hearing that i was ill, to send and inquire. of course, since my removal from office, the opportunity of presenting my personal homage has not been what it used to be. that, i suppose, is as well. doctor. and these are from her majesty? statesman. they came yesterday, brought by a special messenger, with a note written by her own hand, saying that she had picked them herself. to so great a condescension i made with all endeavour what return i could. i wrote--a difficult thing for me to do, doctor, just now--presented my humble duty, my thanks; and said they were my favourite flower. doctor. and were they? statesman. of course, doctor, under those circumstances any flower would have been. it just happened to be that. doctor. well, my lord, there, then, the matter is explained. you _had_ primroses upon your mind. the difficulty, the pain even, of writing with your crippled hand, became associated with them. you would have much rather not had to write; and the disinclination, in an exaggerated form, got into your dream. now that, i hope, mitigates for you the annoyance--the distress of mind. statesman. yes, yes. it does, as you say, make it more understandable. bring them to me, doctor; let me look my enemy in the face. (_the doctor carries the bowl across and sets it beside him. very feebly he reaches out a hand and takes some_.) my favourite flower. he--he! my favourite flower. (_lassitude overtakes him--his head nods and droops as he speaks_.) a primrose by the river's brim a yellow primrose was to him, and it was nothing more. who was it wrote that?--byron or dr. watts? my memory isn't what it used to be. no matter. it all goes into the account. my favourite flower! "for i'm to be queen of the may, mother, i'm to be queen of the may!" (_the doctor takes up his hat, and tiptoes to the door_.) tell me, where is fancy bred, or in the heart or in the head? how begot, how nourished? (_he breaks, and lets the petals fall one by one_.) (_the doctor goes out_.) let us all ring fancy's knell; i'll begin it--ding-dong bell, ding-dong, bell. (_he goes to sleep_.) curtain the comforter dramatis personae w.e. gladstone mrs. gladstone mr. armitstead mr. john morley a footman the comforter a political finale _the scene is a sitting-room in downing street. the date march, . the time . p.m._ _mrs. gladstone sits before the fire, on a sofa comfortable for two, finishing off a piece of knitting. apparently she has just rung the bell, on the arrival from the dining-room of her husband and his two guests, for presently the door opens and the footman presents himself for orders. mr. gladstone takes down from the bookshelf a backgammon board, which he opens upon a small table somewhat distant from the fireplace_. gladstone. well, armitstead, draughts, or backgammon? armitstead. it was backgammon you promised me. gladstone. a rubber? armitstead. i shall be delighted. (_they seat themselves, and begin to set the board. mr. morley stands detached looking on, grave, not quite at ease_.) mrs. g. (_to the footman_). james, bring up the wine and some biscuits. james. whisky, madam? mrs. g. no, no; biscuits. soft biscuits for the other gentlemen, and some hard ones for the master. james. yes, madam. (_he goes, and in a few minutes returns, sets wine and biscuits on the side-table, and retires_?) morley (_to_ gladstone). now? gladstone. if you will be so good, my dear morley, i shall be much obliged. (_slowly and thoughtfully mr. morley goes over to fireplace, where he stands looking at mrs. gladstone, who is now beginning to "cast-off" a completed piece of knitting. the rattle of the dice is heard_.) gladstone. you play. (_thereafter, as the game proceeds, the dice are heard constantly_.) morley. well, dear lady? mrs. g. well, mr. morley? so mr. gladstone is at his game, and has sent you to talk to me. morley. precisely. you have guessed right. mrs. g. he always thinks of me. morley. yes. mrs. g. won't you sit down, mr. morley? morley. by you? with pleasure. mrs. g. and how is the world using you? morley. like balaam's ass. the angel of the lord stands before me with a drawn sword, and my knees quail under me. mrs. g. i thought you didn't believe in angels, mr. morley. morley. in the scriptural sense, no. in the political, they are rare; but one meets them--sometimes. mrs. g. and then they frighten you? morley. they make a coward of me. i want to temporise--put off the inevitable. but it's no good. angels have to be faced. that's the demand they make on us. mrs. g. you have something on your mind. morley. yes. but we'll not talk about it--yet. mrs. g. i have something on mine. morley. anything serious? mrs. g. it concerns you, mr. morley. would you very much mind accepting a gift not originally intended for you? morley. i have accepted office on those terms before now. mrs. g. ah! mr. gladstone has always so trusted you. morley. yes. mrs. g. more than he has most people. morley. i have been finding that out. it has become a habit, i'm afraid. i can't cure him. mrs. g. what i had on my mind, mr. morley, was this: i have knitted this comforter for you; at least, it's for you if you would like it. morley. angel! mrs. g. does that mean that you don't want it? morley. oh, no! it will be very good discipline for me; made by you, i shall have to wear it. mrs. g. but you know, it's a very remarkable thing that i _can_ offer it you. ever since we married i have been knitting comforters for mr. gladstone, which he has always either been losing or giving away. this is the first time i have been able to get ahead of him. he still has two. isn't that a triumph? morley. it is, indeed. mrs. g. he's more careful now, and doesn't lose them. he begins to feel, i suppose, that he's getting old--and needs them. morley. you surprise me! why, he is not yet ninety! mrs. g. do you know, he still sleeps like a child! sometimes i lie awake to watch him. it's wonderful. morley. it's habit, madam; that, and force of will. mrs. g. and really it is only then i can feel that he quite belongs to me. all the rest of the time it's a struggle. morley. in which you have won. mrs. g. have i? morley. every time. mrs. g. (_wistfully_). do i, mr. morley? morley. it is you, more than anything, who have kept him young. mrs. g. oh, no! i'm the ageing influence. morley. i don't believe it. mrs. g. yes; i stand for caution, prudence. he's like a great boy.... you don't think so; you see the other side of his character. but here have i been, sixty years, trying to make him take advice! morley. and sometimes succeeding. gods, and their makers! what a strange world! mrs. g. spending one's life feeding a god on beef-tea, that's been my work. (_the dear lady sighs_.) morley. and making comforters for him. mrs. g. it's terrible when he won't take it! morley. the beef-tea? mrs. g. no, the advice. for i'm generally right, you know. morley. i can well believe it. strange to think how the welfare and destiny of the nation have sometimes lain here--in this gentle hand. mrs. g. we do jump in the dark so, don't we? who can say what is really best for anyone? morley. and prescribing for a god is more difficult. mrs. g. much more. morley. so when he comes to ask a mere mortal for advice--well, now you must judge how difficult it has been for _me._ mrs. g. have you been giving him advice? morley. in a way; yes. mrs. g. and has he taken it? morley. a few days ago he told me of a resolution he had come to. i could not disapprove. but now i wonder how it is going to strike _you_? mrs. g. has anything special happened? he has not told me. morley (_gravely_). to-morrow, or the day after, he will be going down to windsor. mrs. g. oh, i'm sorry! that always depresses him. he and the queen don't get on very well together. morley. they will get on well enough this time, i imagine. mrs. g. (_a little bit alarmect_). does that mean--any change of policy? morley. of policy--i hope not. of person--yes. mrs. g. is anyone leaving the cabinet? morley. we may all be leaving it, very soon. he asked me to tell you; he had promised armitstead a game. look how he is enjoying it! mrs. g. (_shrewdly_). ah! then i expect he is winning. morley. oh? i should not have called him a bad loser. mrs. g. no; but he likes winning better--the excitement of it. morley. that is only human. yes, he has been a great winner--sometimes. mrs. g. when has he ever lost--except just for the time? he always knows that. morley. ah, yes! to quote your own sprightly phrase, we--he and the party with him--are always "popping up again." mrs. g. when did i say that? morley. seven years ago, when we began to win bye-elections on the irish question. the bye-elections are not going so well for us just now. mrs. g. but the general election will. morley. perhaps one will--in another seven years or so. mrs. g. but isn't there to be one this year? morley (_gravely_). the cabinet has decided against it. mrs. g. but mr. morley! now the lords have thrown out the irish bill there must be an election. morley. that was mr. gladstone's view. mrs. g. wasn't it yours, too? morley. yes; but we couldn't--we couldn't carry the others. mrs. g. then you mean mr. gladstone is going to form a new cabinet? morley. no. a new cabinet is going to be formed, but he will not be in it. that is his resolution. i was to tell you. (_at this news of the downfall of her hopes the gentle face becomes piteously woeful; full of wonder also_.) mrs. g. he asked you--to tell me that! morley. yes. mrs. g. oh! then he really means it! had he been in any doubt he would have consulted me. (_tears have now come to sustain the dear lady in her sense of desolation. mr. morley, with quiet philosophy, does his best to give comfort_.) morley. it was the only thing to do. ireland kept him in politics; if that goes, he goes with it. mrs. g. but ireland--doesn't go. morley. as the cause for a general election it goes, i'm afraid. mrs. g. but that isn't honest, mr. morley! morley. i agree. mrs. g. and it won't do any good--not in the end. morley. to that also, i agree. ireland remains; and the problem will get worse. mrs. g. but, indeed, you are wrong, mr. morley! it was not ireland that kept my husband in politics; it was mr. chamberlain. morley. that is a view which, i confess, had not occurred to me. chamberlain? mrs. g. no one could have kept mr. chamberlain from leading the liberal party, except mr. gladstone. and now he never will! morley. that, certainly, is a triumph, of a kind. you think that influenced him? chamberlain was a friend of mine once--is still, in a way. (_he pauses, then adds ruefully_) politics are a cruel game! (_he sighs and sits depressed. but mention of her husband's great antagonist has made the old lady brisk again_.) mrs. g. do you know, mr. morley, that if mr. gladstone had not made me pray for that man every night of my life, i should positively have hated him. morley (_with a touch of mischief_). you do that?--still? tell me--(i am curious)--do you pray for him as plain "joe chamberlain," or do you put in the "mister"? mrs. g. i never mention his name at all; i leave that to providence--to be understood. morley. well, it _has_ been understood, and answered--abundantly; chamberlain's star is in the ascendant again. it's strange; he and mr. gladstone never really got on together. mrs. g. i don't think he ever really tried--much. morley. didn't he? oh, you don't mean mr. gladstone? mrs. g. and then, you see, the queen never liked him. that has counted for a good deal. morley. it has--curiously. mrs. g. now why should it, mr. morley? she ought not to have such power--any more than i. morley. how can it be kept from either of you? during the last decade this country has been living on two rival catchwords, which in the field of politics have meant much--the "widow at windsor," and the "grand old man." and these two makers of history are mentally and temperamentally incompatible. that has been the tragedy. this is _her_ day, dear lady; but it won't always be so. mrs. g. mr. morley, who is going to be--who will take mr. gladstone's place? morley. difficult to say: the queen may make her own choice. spencer, perhaps; though i rather doubt it; probably harcourt. mrs. g. shall you serve under him? morley. i haven't decided. mrs. g. you won't. morley. possibly not. we are at the end of a dispensation. whether i belong to the new one, i don't yet know. mrs. g. the queen will be pleased, at any rate. morley. delighted. mrs. g. will she offer him a peerage, do you think? morley. oh, of course. mrs. g. yes. and she knows he won't accept it. so that gives her the advantage of seeming--magnanimous! morley. dear lady, you say rather terrible things--sometimes! you pray for the queen, too, i suppose; or don't you? mrs. g. oh yes; but that's different. i don't feel with her that it's personal. she was always against him. it was her bringing up; she couldn't help being. morley. so was chamberlain; so was harcourt; so was everybody. he is the loneliest man, in a great position, that i have ever known. mrs. g. till he met you, mr. morley. morley. i was only speaking of politics. sixty years ago he met _you_. mrs. g. nearly sixty-three. morley. three to the good; all the better! mrs. g. (_having finished off the comforter_). there! that is finished now! morley. a thousand thanks; so it is to be mine, is it? mrs. g. i wanted to say, mr. morley, how good i think you have always been to me. morley. i, dear lady? i? mrs. g. i must so often have been in the way without knowing it. you see, you and i think differently. we belong to different schools. morley. if you go on, i shall have to say "angel," again. that is all i _can_ say. mrs. g. (_tremulously_). oh, mr. morley, you will tell me! is this the end? has he--has he, after all, been a failure? morley. my dear lady, he has been an epoch. mrs. g. aren't epochs failures, sometimes? morley. even so, they count; we have to reckon with them. no, he is no failure; though it may seem like it just now. don't pay too much attention to what the papers will say. he doesn't, though he reads them. look at him now!--does that look like failure? (_he points to the exuberantly energetic figure intensely absorbed in its game_.) mrs. g. he is putting it on to-night a little, for _me_, mr. morley. he knows i am watching him. tell me how he seemed when he first spoke to you. was he feeling it--much? morley. oh, deeply, of course! he believes that on a direct appeal we could win the election. mrs. g. and you? morley. i don't. but all the same i hold it the right thing to do. great causes must face and number their defeats. that is how they come to victory. mrs. g. and now that will be in other hands, not his. suppose he should not live to see it. oh, mr. morley, mr. morley, how am i going to bear it! morley. dear lady, i don't usually praise the great altitudes. may i speak in his praise, just for once, to-night? as a rather faithless man myself-- not believing or expecting too much of human nature--i see him now, looking back, more than anything else as a man of faith. mrs. g. ah, yes. to him religion has always meant everything. morley. faith in himself, i meant. mrs. g. of course; he had to have that, too. morley. and i believe in him still, more now than ever. they can remove him; they cannot remove ireland. he may have made mistakes and misjudged characters; he may not have solved the immediate problem either wisely or well. but this he has done, to our honour and to his own: he has given us the cause of liberty as a sacred trust. if we break faith with that, we ourselves shall be broken--and we shall deserve it. mrs. g. you think that--possible? morley. i would rather not think anything just now. the game is over; i must be going. good night, dear friend; and if you sleep only as well as you deserve, i could wish you no better repose. good-bye. (_he moves toward the table from which the players are now rising_.) gladstone. that is a game, my dear armitstead, which came to this country nearly eight hundred years ago from the crusades. previously it had been in vogue among the nomadic tribes of the arabian desert for more than a thousand years. its very name, "backgammon," so english in sound, is but a corruption from the two arabic words _bacca_, and _gamma_ (my pronunciation of which stands subject to correction), meaning--if i remember rightly--"the board game." there, away east, lies its origin; its first recorded appearance in europe was at the sicilian court of the emperor frederick ii; and when the excommunication of rome fell on him in the year , the game was placed under an interdict, which, during the next four hundred years, was secretly but sedulously disregarded within those impregnably fortified places of learning and piety, to which so much of our western civilisation is due, the abbeys and other scholastic foundations of the benedictine order. the book-form, in which the board still conceals itself, stands as a memorial of its secretive preservation upon the shelves of the monastic libraries. i keep my own, with a certain touch of ritualistic observance, between this seventeenth century edition of the works of roger bacon and this more modern one, in latin, of the writings of thomas aquinas; both of whom may not improbably have been practitioners of the game. armitstead. very interesting, very interesting. (_during this recitation mr. gladstone has neatly packed away the draughts and the dice, shutting them into their case finally and restoring it to its place upon the bookshelf_.) gladstone. my dear, i have won the rubber. mrs. g. have you, my dear? i'm very glad, if mr. armitstead does not mind. armitstead. to be beaten by mr. gladstone, ma'am, is a liberal education in itself. morley (_to his host_). i must say good-night, now, sir. gladstone. what, my dear morley, must you be going? morley. for one of my habits it is almost late--eleven. armitstead. in that case i must be going, too. can i drop you anywhere, morley? morley. any point, not out of your way, in the direction of my own door, i shall be obliged. armitstead. with pleasure. i will come at once. and so--good-night, mrs. gladstone. mr. prime minister, good-night. gladstone. good-night, armitstead. morley (_aside to mr. gladstone_). i have done what you asked of me, sir. gladstone. i thank you. good-night. (_the two guests have gone; and husband and wife are left alone. he approaches, and stands near_.) so morley has told you, my dear? mrs. g. that you are going down to windsor to-morrow? yes, william. you will want your best frock-suit, i suppose? gladstone. my best and my blackest would be seemly under the circumstances, my love. this treble-dated crow will keep the obsequies as strict as court etiquette requires, or as his wardrobe may allow. i have a best suit, i suppose? mrs. g. yes, william. i keep it put away for you. gladstone (_after a meditative pause begins to recite_). "come, thou who art the wine and wit of all i've writ: the grace, the glory, and the best piece of the rest, thou art, of what i did intend, the all and end; and what was made, was made to meet thee, thee, my sheet!" herrick, to his shroud, my dear! a poet who has the rare gift of being both light and spiritual in the same breath. read herrick at his gravest, when you need cheering; you will always find him helpful. mrs. g. then--will you read him to me to-night, william? gladstone. why, certainly, my love, if you wish. (_he stoops and kisses her_.) mrs. g. (_speaking very gently_). i was waiting for that. gladstone. and i was waiting--for what you have to say. mrs. g. i can say nothing. gladstone. why, nothing? mrs. g. because i can't be sure of you, my dear. you've done this before. gladstone. this time it has been done for me. my own say in the matter has been merely to acquiesce. mrs. g. ah! so you say! and others--others may say it for you; but-- gladstone. anno domini says it, my dear. mrs. g. anno domini has been saying it for the last twenty years. much heed you paid to anno domini. gladstone. you never lent it the weight of your counsels, my own love-- till now. mrs. g. i know, william, when talking is useless. gladstone. ah! i wonder--if i do. mrs. g. no; that's why i complain. twenty years ago you said you were going to retire from politics and take up theology again--that you were old, and had come to an end. why, you were only just beginning! and it will always be the same; any day something may happen--more bulgarian atrocities, or a proposal for welsh disestablishment. then you'll break out again! gladstone. but i am in favour of welsh disestablishment, my dear--when it comes. mrs. g. are you? oh, yes; i forgot. you are in favour of so many things you didn't used to be. well, then, it will be something else. you will always find an excuse; i shall never feel safe about you. gladstone (_in moved tone_). and if you could feel safe about me-- what then? mrs. g. oh, my dear, my dear, if i could! always i've seen you neglecting yourself--always putting aside your real interests--the things that you most inwardly cared about, the things which you always meant to do when you "had time." and here i have had to sit and wait for the time that never came. isn't that true? gladstone. there is an element of truth in it, my dear. mrs. g. well, twenty years have gone like that, and you've "had no time." oh, if you could only go back to the things you meant to do, twenty years ago--and take them up, just where you left off--why, i should see you looking--almost young again. for you've been looking tired lately, my dear. gladstone. tired? yes: i hoped not to have shown it. but three weeks ago i had to own to myself that i was beginning to feel tired. i went to crichton browne (i didn't tell you, my love); he said there was nothing the matter with me--except old age. mrs. g. you should have come to me, my dear; i could have told you the only thing to do. gladstone. is it too late to tell me now? mrs. g. yes; because now you've done it, without my advice, william. think of that! for the first time! gladstone (_gravely surprised_). so you have been wishing it, have you? (_and the devoted wife, setting her face, and steadying her voice, struggles on to give him what comfort she may, in the denial of her most cherished hopes_.) mrs. g. i've been waiting, waiting, waiting for it to come. but it was the one thing i couldn't say, till you--till you thought of it yourself! gladstone. did i do so? or did others think of it for me? i'm not sure; i'm not sure. my judgment of the situation differed from theirs. i couldn't carry them with me. in my own cabinet i was a defeated man. only morley stood by me then. (_deep in the contemplation of his last political defeat, he is not looking at her face; and that is as well. her voice summons him almost cheerfully from his reverie._) mrs. g. william dear, can you come shopping with me to-morrow? oh, no, to-morrow you are going to windsor. the day after, then. gladstone. what is that for, my dear? mrs. g. we have to get something for dorothy's birthday, before we go home. you mustn't forget things like that, you know. dorothy is important. gladstone. not merely important, my love; she is a portent--of much that we shall never know. dorothy will live to see the coming of the new age. mrs. g. the new age? well, so long as you let it alone, my dear, it may be as new as it likes; i shan't mind. gladstone. we will leave dorothy to manage it her own way. mrs. g. then you will shop with me--not to-morrow--thursday? gladstone. piccadilly, or oxford street? mrs. g. i thought gamage's. gladstone. holborn? that sounds adventurous. yes, my love, i will shop with you on thursday--if all goes well at windsor to-morrow--with all the contentment in the world. (_they kiss_.) now go to bed; and presently i will come and read herrick to you. (_she gets up and goes toward the door, when her attention is suddenly arrested by the carpet._) mrs. g. william! do you see how this carpet is wearing out? we shall have to get a new one. gladstone. it won't be necessary now. those at hawarden, if i remember rightly, are sufficiently new to last out our time. mrs. g. i wish i could think so, my dear. they would if you didn't give them such hard wear, walking about on them. the way you wear things out has been my domestic tragedy all along! gladstone (_standing with folded hands before her_). my love, i have just remembered; i have a confession to make. mrs. g. what, another? oh, william! gladstone. i cannot find either of my comforters. i'm afraid i have lost them. i had both this morning, and now both are gone. mrs. g. why, you are worse than ever, my dear! both in one day! you have not done that for twenty years. gladstone. i am sorry. i won't do it again. mrs. g. ah! so you say! poor mr. morley will have to wait now. i had promised him this. there! (_making him sit down, she puts the comforter round his neck, and gives him a parting kiss_.) and now i'm going. gladstone. go, my love! i will come presently. (_but he has not quite got rid of her. her hands are now reaching down to the back of the sofa behind him_.) what are you looking for? mrs. g. my knitting-needles. you are sitting on them. now mind, you are not to sit up! gladstone. i won't sit up long. (_quietly and serenely she goes to the door, looks back for a moment, then glides through it, leaving behind a much-deceived husband, who will not hear the sound of her solitary weeping, or see any signs of it on her face when presently he comes to read herrick at her bedside_.) (_for a while he sits silent, peacefully encompassed in the thoughts with which she has provided him; then very slowly he speaks.)_ gladstone. well, if it pleases her--i suppose it must be right! curtain possession dramatis personae julia robinson _sisters_ laura james _sisters_ martha robinson _sisters_ susan robinson _their mother_ thomas robinson _their father_ william james _husband to laura james_ hannah _the family servant_ part two the everlasting habitations "all hope abandon ye who enter here." "_make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye jail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations_" possession a peep-show in paradise scene.--_the everlasting habitations_ _it is evening (or so it seems), and to the comfortably furnished victorian drawing-room a middle-aged maid-servant in cap and apron brings a lamp, and proceeds to draw blinds and close curtains. to do this she passes the fire-place, where before a pleasantly bright hearth sits, comfortably sedate, an elderly lady whose countenance and attitude suggest the very acme of genteel repose. she is a handsome woman, very conscious of herself, but carrying the burden of her importance with an ease which, in her own mind, leaves nothing to be desired. the once-striking outline of her features has been rounded by good feeding to a softness which is merely physical; and her voice, when she speaks, has a calculated gentleness very caressing to her own ear, and a little irritating to others who are not of an inferior class. menials like it, however. the room, though over-upholstered, and not furnished with any more individual taste than that which gave its generic stamp to the great victorian period, is the happy possessor of some good things. upon the mantel-shelf, backed by a large mirror, stands old china in alternation with alabaster jars, under domed shades, and tall vases encompassed by pendant ringlets of glass-lustre. rose-wood, walnut, and mahogany make a well-wooded interior; and in the dates thus indicated there is a touch of georgian. but, over and above these mellowing features of a respectable ancestry, the annunciating angel of the great exhibition of_ _has spread a brooding wing. and while the older articles are treasured on account of family association, the younger and newer stand erected in places of honour by reason of an intrinsic beauty never previously attained to. through this chamber the dashing crinoline has wheeled the too vast orb of its fate, and left fifty years after (if we may measure the times of heaven by the ticks of an earthly chronometer) a mark which nothing is likely to erase. upon the small table, where hannah the servant deposits the lamp, lies a piece of crochet-work. the fair hands that have been employed on it are folded on a lap of corded silk representing the fashions of the nineties, and the grey-haired beauty (that once was) sits contemplative, wearing a cap of creamish lace, tastefully arranged, not unaware that in the entering lamp-light, and under the fire's soft glow of approval, she presents to her domestic's eye an improving picture of gentility. it is to miss julia robinson's credit--and she herself places it there emphatically--that she always treats servants humanly, though at a distance. and when she now speaks she confers her slight remark just a little as though it were a favour_. julia. how the days are drawing out, hannah. hannah. yes, ma'am; nicely, aren't they? (_for hannah, being old-established, may say a thing or two not in the strict order. in fact, it may be said that, up to a well-understood point, character is encouraged in her, and is allowed to peep through in her remarks_.) julia. what time is it? hannah (_looking with better eyes than her mistress at the large ormolu clock which records eternally the time of the great exhibition_). almost a quarter to six, ma'am. julia. so late? she ought to have been here long ago. hannah. who, ma'am, did you say, ma'am? julia. my sister, mrs. james. you remember? hannah. what, miss martha, ma'am? well! julia. no, it's miss laura this time: you didn't know she had married, i suppose? hannah (_with a world of meaning, well under control_). no, ma'am. (_a pause_.) i made up the bed in the red room; was that right, ma'am? julia (_archly surprised_). what? then you knew someone was coming? why did you pretend, hannah? hannah. well, ma'am, you see, you hadn't _told_ me before. julia. i couldn't. one cannot always be sure. (_this mysteriously_.) but something tells me now that she is to be with us. i have been expecting her over four days. hannah (_picking her phrases a little, as though on doubtful ground_). it must be a long way, ma'am. did she make a comfortable start, ma'am? julia. very quietly, i'm told. no pain. hannah. i wonder what she'll be able to eat now, ma'am. she was always very particular. tulia. i daresay you will be told soon enough. (_thus in veiled words she conveys that hannah knows something of mrs. james's character_.) hannah (_resignedly_). yes, m'm. julia. i don't think i'll wait any longer. if you'll bring in tea now. make enough for two, in case: pour it off into another pot, and have it under the tea-cosy. hannah. yes, ma'am. (_left alone, the dear lady enjoys the sense of herself and the small world of her own thoughts in solitude. then she sighs indulgently_.) julia. yes, i suppose i would rather it had been martha. poor laura! (_she puts out her hand for her crochet, when it is arrested by the sound of a knock, rather rapacious in character_.) ah, that's laura all over! (_seated quite composedly and fondling her well-kept hands, she awaits the moment of arrival. very soon the door opens, and the over-expected mrs. james--a luxuriant garden of widow's weeds, enters. she is a lady more strongly and sharply featured than her sister, but there is nothing thin-lipped about her; with resolute eye and mouth a little grim, yet pleased at so finding herself, she steps into this chamber of old memories and cherished possessions, which translation to another and a better world has made hers again. for a moment she sees the desire of her eyes and is satisfied; but for a moment only. the apparition of another already in possession takes her aback_.) julia (_with soft effusiveness_). well, laura! laura (_startled_). julia! julia. _here_ you are! laura. whoever thought of finding you? julia (_sweetly_). didn't you? (_they have managed to embrace: but laura continues to have her grievance_.) laura. no! not for a moment. i really think they might have told me. what brought you? julia. our old home, laura. it was a natural choice, i think: as one was allowed to choose. i suppose you were? laura (_her character showing_.) i didn't ask anyone's leave to come. julia. and how are you? laura. i don't know; i want my tea. julia. hannah is just bringing it. laura. who's hannah? julia. _our_ hannah: our old servant. didn't _she_ open the door to you? laura. what? come back, has she? julia. i found her here when i came, seven years ago. i didn't ask questions. here she is. (enter _hannah with the tea-tray_.) laura (_with a sort of grim jocosity_). how d'ye do, hannah? hannah. nicely, thank you, ma'am. how are you, ma'am? (_hannah, as she puts down the tray, is prepared to have her hand shaken: for it is a long time (thirty years or so in earthly measure) since they met. but mrs. james is not so cordial as all that_.) laura. i'm very tired. julia. you've come a long way. (_but laura's sharp attention has gone elsewhere_.) laura. hannah, what have you got my best tray for? you know that is not to be used every day. julia. it's all right, laura. you don't understand. laura. what don't i understand? julia. here one always uses the best. nothing wears out or gets broken. laura. then where's the pleasure of it? if one always uses them and they never break--'best' means nothing! julia. it is a little puzzling at first. you must be patient. laura. i'm not a child, julia. julia (_beautifully ignoring_). a little more coal, please, hannah. (_then to her sister as she pours out the tea_.) and how did you leave everybody? laura. oh, pretty much as usual. most of them having colds. that's how i got mine. mrs. hilliard came to call and left it behind her. i went out with it in an east wind and that finished me. julia. oh, but how provoking! (_she wishes to be sympathetic; but this is a line of conversation she instinctively avoids_!) laura. _no_, julia! ... (_this, delivered with force, arrests the criminal intention_.) _no_ sugar. to think of your forgetting that! julia (_most sweetly_). milk? laura. yes, you know i take milk. (_crossing over, but sitting away from the tea-table, she lets her sister wait on her_.) julia. did martha send me any message? laura. how could she? she didn't know i was coming. julia. was it so sudden? laura. i sent for her and she didn't come. think of that! julia. oh! she would be sorry. tea-cake? laura (_taking the tea-cake that is offered her_). i'm not so sure. she was nursing edwin's boy through the measles, so of course _i_ didn't count. (_nosing suspiciously_.) is this china tea? julia. if you like to think it. you have as you choose. how is our brother, edwin? laura. his wife's more trying than ever. julia, what a fool that woman is! julia. well, let's hope he doesn't know it. laura. he must know. i've told him. she sent a wreath to my funeral, 'with love and fond affection, from emily.' fond fiddlesticks! humbug! she knows i can't abide her. julia. i suppose she thought it was the correct thing. laura. and i doubt if it cost more than ten shillings. now mrs. dobson--you remember her: she lives in tudor street with a daughter one never sees--something wrong in her head, and has fits--she sent me a cross of lilies, white lilac, and stephanotis, as handsome as you could wish; and a card--i forget what was on the card.... julia, when you died-- julia. oh, don't laura! laura. well, you did die, didn't you? julia. here one doesn't talk of it. that's over. there are things you will have to learn. laura. what i was going to say was--when i died i found my sight was much better. i could read all the cards without my glasses. do _you_ use glasses? julia. sometimes, for association. i have these of our dear mother's in her tortoise-shell case. laura. that reminds me. where is our mother? julia. she comes--sometimes. laura. why isn't she here always? julia (_with pained sweetness_). i don't know, laura. i never ask questions. laura. really, julia, i shall be afraid to open my mouth presently! julia (_long-suffering still_). when you see her you will understand. i told her you were coming, so i daresay she will look in. laura. 'look in'! julia. perhaps. that is her chair, you remember. she always sits there, still. (enter _hannah with the coal_.) just a little on, please, hannah--only a little. laura. this isn't china tea: it's indian, three and sixpenny. julia. mine is ten shilling china. laura. lor', julia! how are you able to afford it? julia. a little imagination goes a long way here, you'll find. once i tasted it. so now i can always taste it. laura. well! i wish i'd known. julia. now you _do_. laura. but i never tasted tea at more than three-and-six. had i known, i could have got two ounces of the very best, and had it when---- julia. a lost opportunity. life is full of them. laura. then you mean to tell me that if i had indulged more then, i could indulge more now? julia. undoubtedly. as i never knew what it was to wear sables, i have to be content with ermine. laura. lor', julia, how paltry! (_while this conversation has been going on, a gentle old lady has appeared upon the scene, unnoticed and unannounced. one perceives, that is to say, that the high-backed arm-chair beside the fire, sheltered by a screen from all possibility of draughts, has an occupant. dress and appearance show a doubly septuagenarian character: at the age of seventy, which in this place she retains as the hall-mark of her earthly pilgrimage, she belongs also to the 'seventies' of the last century, wears watered silk, and retains under her cap a shortened and stiffer version of the side-curls with which she and all 'the sex' captivated the hearts of charles dickens and other novelists in their early youth. she has soft and indeterminate features, and when she speaks her voice, a little shaken by the quaver of age, is soft and indeterminate also. gentle and lovable, you will be surprised to discover that she, also, has a will of her own; but for the present this does not show. from the dimly illumined corner behind the lamp her voice comes soothingly to break the discussion_.) old lady. my dear, would you move the light a little nearer? i've dropped a stitch. laura (_starting up_). why, mother dear, when did you come in? julia (_interposing with arresting hand_). don't! you mustn't try to touch her, or she goes. laura. goes? julia. i can't explain. she is not quite herself. she doesn't always hear what one says. laura (_assertively_). she can hear me. (_to prove it, she raises her voice defiantly._) can't you, mother? mrs. r. (_the voice perhaps reminding her_). jane, dear, i wonder what's become of laura, little laura: she was always so naughty and difficult to manage, so different from martha--and the rest. laura. lor', julia! is it as bad as that? mother, 'little laura' is here, sitting in front of you. don't you know me? mrs. r. do you remember, jane, one day when we'd all started for a walk, laura had forgotten to bring her gloves, and i sent her back for them? and on the way she met little dorothy jones, and she took her gloves off her, and came back with them just as if they were her own. laura. what a good memory you have, mother! i remember it too. she was an odious little thing, that dorothy--always so whiney-piney. julia. more tea, laura? (_laura pushes her cup at her without remark, for she has been kept waiting; then, in loud tones, to suit the one whom she presumes to be rather deaf_:) laura. mother! where are you living now? mrs. r. i'm living, my dear. laura. i said 'where?' julia. we live where it suits us, laura. laura. julia, i wasn't addressing myself to you. mother, where _are_ you living?... why, _where_ has she gone to? (_for now we perceive that this gentle old lady so devious in her conversation has a power of self-possession, of which, very retiringly, she avails herself._) julia (_improving the occasion, as she hands back the cup, with that touch of superiority so exasperating to a near relative_). now you see! if you press her too much, she goes.... you'll have to accommodate yourself, laura. laura (_imposing her own explanation_). i think you gave me _green_ tea, julia ... or have had it yourself. julia (_knowing better_). the dear mother seldom stays long, except when she finds me alone. (_having insinuated this barb into the flesh of her 'dear sister,' she takes up her crochet with an air of great contentment. mrs. james, meanwhile, to make herself more at home, now that tea is finished, undoes her bonnet-strings with a tug, and lets them hang. she is not in the best of tempers.)_ laura. i don't believe she recognised me. why did she keep on calling me 'jane'? julia. she took you for poor aunt jane, i fancy. laura (_infuriated at being taken for anyone 'poor'_). why should she do that, pray? julia. well, there always was a likeness, you know; and you are older than you were, laura. laura (_crushingly_). does 'poor aunt jane' wear widow's weeds? (_this reminds her not only of her own condition, but of other things as well. she sits up and takes a stiller bigger bite into her new world_.) julia!... where's william? julia. i haven't inquired. laura (_self-importance and a sense of duty consuming her_.) i wish to see him. julia. better not, as it didn't occur to you before. laura. am i not to see my own husband, pray? julia. he didn't ever live _here_, you know. laura. he can come, i suppose. he has got legs like the rest of us. julia. yes, but one can't force people: at least, not here. you should remember that--before he married you--he had other ties. (_mrs. james preserves her self-possession, but there is battle in her eye._) laura. he was married to me longer than he was to isabel. julia. they had children. laura. i could have had children if i chose. i didn't choose.... julia, how am i to see him? julia (_washing her hands of it_). you must manage for yourself, laura. laura. i'm puzzled! here are we in the next world just as we expected, and where are all the--? i mean, oughtn't we to be seeing a great many more things than we do? julia. what sort of things? laura. well,... have you seen moses and the prophets? julia. i haven't looked for them, laura. on sundays, i still go to hear mr. moore. laura. that's you all over! you never would go o the celebrated preachers. but i mean to. (_pious curiosity awakens._) what happens here, on sundays? julia (_smiling_). oh, just the same. laura. no _high_ church ways, i hope? if they go in for that here, i shall go out! julia (_patiently explanatory_). you will go out if you wish to go out. you can choose your church. as i tell you, i always go to hear mr. moore; you can go and hear canon farrar. laura. dean farrar, i _suppose_ you mean. julia. he was not dean in my day. laura. he ought to have been a bishop--_arch_bishop, _i_ think-- so learned, and such a magnificent preacher. but i still wonder why we don't see moses and the prophets. julia. well, laura, it's the world as we knew it-that for the present. no doubt other things will come in time, gradually. but i don't know: i don't ask questions. laura (_doubtfully_). i suppose it _is_ heaven, in a way, though? julia. dispensation has its own ways, laura; and we have ours. laura (_who is not going to be theologically dictated to by anyone lower than dean farrar_). julia, i shall start washing the old china again. julia. as you like; nothing ever gets soiled here. laura. it's all very puzzling. the world seems cut in half. things don't seem _real_. julia. _more_ real, i should say. we have them--as we wish them to be. laura. then why can't we have our mother, like other things? julia. ah, with persons it is different. we all belong to ourselves now. that one has to accept. laura (_stubbornly_). does william belong to _him_self? julia. i suppose. laura. it isn't scriptural! julia. it's better. laura. julia, don't be blasphemous! julia. to consult william's wishes, i meant. laura. but i want him. i've a right to him. if he didn't mean to belong to me, he ought not to have married me. julia. people make mistakes sometimes. laura. then they should stick to them. it's not honourable. julia, i mean to have william! julia (_resignedly_). you and he must arrange that between you. laura (_making a dash for it_). william! william, i say! william! julia. oh, laura, you'll wake the dead! (_she gasps, but it is too late: the hated word is out._) laura (_as one who will be obeyed_). william! (_the door does not open; but there appears through it the indistinct figure of an elderly gentleman with a weak chin and a shifting eye. he stands irresolute and apprehensive; clearly his presence there is perfunctory. wearing his hat and carrying a hand-bag, he seems merely to have looked in while passing._) julia. apparently you are to have your wish. (_she waves an introductory hand; mrs. james turns, and regards the unsatisfactory apparition with suspicion._) laura. william, is that you? william (_nervously_). yes, my dear; it's me. laura. can't you be more distinct than that? william. why do you want me? laura. have you forgotten i'm your wife? william. i thought you were my widow, my dear. laura. william, don't prevaricate. i am your wife, and you know it. william. does a wife wear widow's weeds? a widow is such a distant relation: no wonder i look indistinct. laura. how did i know whether i was going to find you here? william. where else? but you look very nice as you are, my dear. black suits you. (_but mrs. james is not to be turned off by compliments._) laura. william, who are you living with? william. with myself, my dear. laura. anyone else? william. off and on i have friends staying. laura. are you living with isabel? william. she comes in occasionally to see how i'm getting on. laura. and how are you 'getting on'--without me? william. oh, i manage--somehow. laura. are you living a proper life, william? william. well, i'm _here_, my dear; what more do you want to know? laura. there's a great deal i want to know. but i wish you'd come in and shut the door, instead of standing out there in the passage. julia. the door _is_ shut, laura. laura. then i don't call it a door. william (_trying to make things pleasant_). when is a door not a door? when it's a parent. laura. william, i want to talk seriously. do you know that when you died you left a lot of debts i didn't know about? william. i didn't know about them either, my dear. but if you had, it wouldn't have made any difference. laura. yes, it would! i gave you a very expensive funeral. william. that was to please yourself, my dear; it didn't concern me. laura. have you no self-respect? i've been at my own funeral to-day, let me tell you! william. have you, my dear? rather trying, wasn't that? laura. yes, it was. they've gone and put me beside you; and now i begin to wish they hadn't! william. go and haunt them for it! (_at this julia deigns a slight chuckle._) laura (_abruptly getting back to her own_). i had to go into a smaller house, william. and people knew it was because you'd left me badly off. william. that reflected on me, my dear, not on you. laura. it reflected on me for ever having married you. william. i've often heard you blame yourself. well, now you're free. laura. i'm _not_ free. william. you can be if you like. hadn't you better? laura (_sentimentally_). don't you see i'm still in mourning for you, william? william. i appreciate the compliment, my dear. don't spoil it, laura. don't be heartless! william. i'm not: far from it. (_he looks at his watch)_ i'm afraid i must go now. laura. why must you go? william. they are expecting me--to dinner. laura. who's 'they'? william. the children and their mother. they've invited me to stay the night. (_mrs. james does her best to conceal the shock this gives her. she delivers her ultimatum with judicial firmness_!) laura. william, i wish you to come and live here with me. (_william vanishes. mrs. james in a fervour of virtuous indignation hastens to the door, opens it, and calls 'william!' but there is no answer_!) (_julia, meanwhile, has rung the bell. mrs. james stills stands glowering in the doorway when she hears footsteps, and moves majestically aside for the returned penitent to enter; but alas! it is only hannah, obedient to the summons of the bell. mrs. james faces round and fires a shot at her_.) laura. hannah, you _are_ an ugly woman. julia (_faint with horror_). laura! hannah (_imperturbably)._ well, ma'am, i'm as god made me. julia. yes, please, take the tea-things. (_sotto voce, as hannah approaches_.) i'm sorry, hannah! hannah. it doesn't matter, ma'am. (_she picks up the tray expeditiously and carries it off_) (_mrs. james eyes the departing tray, and is again reminded of something_) laura. julia, where is the silver tea-pot? julia. which, laura? laura. why, that beautiful one of our mother's. julia. when we shared our dear mother's things between us, didn't martha have it? laura. yes, she did. but she tells me she doesn't know what's become of it. when i ask, what did she do with it in the first place? she loses her temper. but once she told me she left it here with _you_. (_the fierce eye and the accusing tone make no impression on that cushioned fortress of gentility. with suave dignity miss robinson makes chaste denial._) julia. no. laura (_insistent)._ yes; in a box. julia. in a box? oh, she may have left anything in a box. laura. it was that box she always travelled about with and never opened. well, i looked in it once (never mind how), and the tea-pot wasn't there. julia (_gently, making allowance_). well, i _didn't_ look in it, laura. (_like a water-lily folding its petals she adjusts a small shawl about her shoulders, and sinks composedly into her chair_.) laura. the more fool you!... but all the other things she had of our mother's _were_ there: a perfect magpie's nest! and she, living in her boxes, and never settling anywhere. what did she want with them? julia. i can't say, laura. laura. no--no more can i; no more can anyone! martha has got the miser spirit. she's as grasping as a caterpillar. _i_ ought to have had that tea-pot. julia. why? laura. because i had a house of my own, and people coming to tea. martha never had anyone to tea with her in her life--except in lodgings. julia. we all like to live in our own way. martha liked going about. laura. yes. she promised _me_, after william--i suppose i had better say 'evaporated' as you won't let me say 'died'--she promised always to stay with me for three months in the year. she never did. two, and some little bits, were the most. and i want to know where was that tea-pot all the time? julia (_a little jocosely_). not in the box, apparently. laura (_returning to her accusation_). i thought you had it. julia. you were mistaken. had i had it here, you would have found it. laura. did martha never tell _you_ what she did with it? julia. i never asked, laura. laura. julia, if you say that again i shall scream. julia. won't you take your things off? laura. presently. when i feel more at home. (_returning to the charge_) but most of our mother's things are here. julia. your share and mine. laura. how did you get mine here? julia. you brought them. at least, they _came_, a little before you did. then i knew you were on your way. laura (_impressed)._ lor'! so that's how things happen? (_she goes and begins to take a look round, and julia takes up her crochet again. as she does so her eye is arrested by a little old-fashioned hour-glass standing upon the table from which the tea-tray has been taken, the sands of which are still running_.) julia (_softly, almost to herself_). oh, but how strange! that was martha's. is martha coming too? (_she picks up the glass, looks at it, and sets it down again_) laura (_who is examining the china on a side-table)._ why, i declare, julia! here is your dresden that was broken--without a crack in it! julia. no, laura, it was yours that was broken. laura. it was _not_ mine; it was yours...don't you remember _i_ broke it? julia. when you broke it you said it was mine. until you broke it, you said it was yours. laura. very well, then: as you wish. it isn't broken now, and it's mine. julia. that's satisfactory. i get my own back again. it's the better one. (enter _hannah with a telegram on a salver._) hannah (_in a low voice of mystery_). a telegram, ma'am. (_julia opens it. the contents evidently startle her, but she retains her presence of mind_) julia. no answer. (exit _hannah_) julia. laura, martha is coming! laura. here? well, i wonder how she has managed that! (_her sister hands her the telegram, which she reads.)_ 'accident. quite safe. arriving by the . .' why, it's after that now! julia (_sentimentally)._ oh, laura, only think! so now we shall be all together again. laura. yes, i suppose we shall. julia. it will be quite like old days. laura (_warningly, as she sits down again and prepares for narrative_). not _quite_, julia. (_she leans forward, and speaks with measured emphasis_) martha's temper has got very queer! she never had a very good temper, as you know: and it's grown on her. (_a pause. julia remains silent_) i could tell you some things; but--(_seeing herself unencouraged)_ oh, you'll find out soon enough! (_then, to stand right with herself_) julia, _am_ i difficult to get on with? julia. oh well, we all have our little ways, laura. laura. but martha: she's so rude! i can't introduce her to people! if anyone comes, she just runs away. julia (_changing the subject_). d'you remember, laura, that charming young girl we met at mrs. somervale's, the summer uncle fletcher stayed with us? laura (_snubbingly_). i can't say i do. julia. i met her the other day: married, and with three children--and just as pretty and young-looking as ever. (_all this is said with the most ravishing air, but laura is not to be diverted_.) laura. ah! i daresay. when martha behaves like that, i hold my tongue and say nothing. but what people must think, i don't know. julia, when you first came here, did you find old friends and acquaintances? did anybody recognise you? julia. a few called on me: nobody i didn't wish to see. laura. is that odious man who used to be our next-door neighbour--the one who played on the 'cello--here still? julia. mr. harper? i see him occasionally. i don't find him odious. laura. _don't you_? julia. it was his wife who was the--she isn't here: and i don't think he wants her. laura. where is she? julia. i didn't ask, laura. (_mrs. james gives a jerk of exasperation, but at that moment the bell rings and a low knock is heard_.) julia (_ecstatically)._ here she is! laura. julia, i wonder how it is martha survived us. she's much the oldest. julia (_pleasantly palpitating_). does it matter? does it matter? (_the door opens and in comes martha. she has neither the distinction of look nor the force of character which belongs to her two sisters. age has given a depression to the plain kindliness of her face, and there is a harassed look about her eyes. she peeps into the room a little anxiously, then enters, carrying a large flat box covered in purple paper which, in her further progress across the room she lays upon the table. she talks in short jerks and has a quick, hurried way of doing things, as if she liked to get through and have done with them. it is the same when she submits herself to the embrace of her relations_) laura. oh, so you've come at last. quite time, too! martha. yes, here i am. julia. my dear martha, welcome to your old home! (_embracing her_) how are you? martha. i'm cold. well, laura. (_between these two the embrace is less cordial, but it takes place_) laura. how did you come? martha. i don't know. julia (_seeing harassment in her sister's eye_). arrived safely, at any rate. martha. i think i was in a railway accident, but i can't be sure. i only heard the crash and people shouting. i didn't wait to see. i just put my fingers in my ears, and ran away. laura. why do you think it was a railway accident? martha. because i was in a railway carriage. i was coming to your funeral. if you'd told me you were ill i'd have come before. i was bringing you a wreath. and then, as i tell you, there was a crash and a shout; and that's all i know about it. laura. lor', martha! i suppose they'll have an inquest on you. martha (_stung)._ i think they'd better mind their own business, and you mind yours! julia. laura! here we don't talk about such things. they don't concern us. would you like tea, martha, or will you wait for supper? martha (_who has shaken her head at the offer of tea, and nodded a preference for supper_). you know how i've always dreaded death. julia. oh, don't, my dear martha! it's past. martha. yes; but it's upset me. the relief, that's what i can't get over: the relief! julia. presently you will be more used to it. (_she helps her off with her cloak_.) martha. there were people sitting to right and to left of me and opposite; and suddenly a sort of crash of darkness seemed to come all over me, and i saw nothing more. i didn't feel anything: only a sort of a jar here. (_she indicates the back of her neck. julia finds these anatomical details painful, and holds her hands deprecatingly; but laura has no such qualms. she is now undoing the parcel which, she considers, is hers_.) laura. i daresay it was only somebody's box from the luggage-rack. i've known that happen. i don't suppose for a minute that it was a railway accident. (_she unfurls the tissue paper of the box and takes out the wreath_) julia. why talk about it? laura. anyway, nothing has happened to these. 'with fondest love from martha.' h'm. pretty! julia. martha, would you like to go upstairs with your things? and you, laura? martha. i will presently, when i've got warm. laura. not yet. martha, why was i put into that odious shaped coffin? more like a canoe than anything. i said it was to be straight, martha. i'd nothing to do with it, laura. i wasn't there. you know i wasn't. laura. if you'd come when i asked you, you could have seen to it. martha. you didn't tell me you were dying. laura. do people tell each other when they are dying? they don't _know_. i told you i wasn't well. martha. you always told me that, just when i'd settled down somewhere else.... of course i'd have come if i'd known! (_testily)._ julia. oh, surely we needn't go into these matters now! isn't it better to accept things? laura. i like to have my wishes attended to. what was going to be done about the furniture? (_this to martha_.) you know, i suppose, that i left it to the two of you--you and edwin? martha. we were going to give it to bella, to set up house with. laura. _that's_ not what i intended. i meant you to keep on the house and live there. why couldn't you? martha (_with growing annoyance_). well, _that's_ settled now! laura. it wasn't for arabella. arabella was never a favourite of mine. why should arabella have my furniture? martha. well, you'd better send word, and have it stored up for you till doomsday! edwin doesn't want it; he's got enough of his own. laura (_in a sleek, injured voice_). julia, i'm going upstairs to take my things off. julia. very well, laura. (_and laura makes her injured exit_.) so you've been with edwin, and his family? martha. yes. i'm never well there; but i wanted the change. julia. you mean, you had been staying with laura? martha. i always go and stay with her, as long as i can--three months, i'm supposed to. but this year--well, i couldn't manage with it. julia. is she so much more difficult than she used to be? martha. of course, i don't know what she's like here. julia. oh, she has been very much herself--_poor_ laura! martha. i know! julia, i know! and i try to make allowances. all her life she's had her own way with somebody. poor william! of course i know he had his faults. but he used to come and say to me: 'martha, i _can't_ please her.' well, poor man, he's at peace now, let's hope! oh, julia, i've just thought: whatever will poor william do? he's here, i suppose, somewhere? julia. oh yes, he's here, martha. martha. she'll rout him out, depend on it. julia. she has routed him out. martha (_awe-struck)._ has she? julia (_shaking her head wisely_). william won't live with her; he knows better. martha. who will live with her, then? she's bound to get hold of somebody. julia. apparently she means to live here. martha. then it's going to be me! i know it's going to be me! when we lived here before, it used to be poor mamma. julia. the dear mother is quite capable of looking after herself, you'll find. you needn't belong to laura if you don't like, martha. i never let her take possession of _me_. martha. she seems never to want to. i don't know how you manage it. julia. oh, we've had our little tussles. but here you will find it much easier. you can vanish. martha. what do you mean? julia. i mean--vanish. it takes the place of wings. one does it almost without knowing. martha. how do you do it? julia. you just wish yourself elsewhere; and you come back when you like. martha. have _you_ ever done it? julia (_with a world of meaning_). not yet. martha. she won't like it. one doesn't belong to one's self, when she's about--nor does anything. i've had to hide my own things from her sometimes. julia. i shouldn't wonder. martha. do you remember the silver tea-pot? julia. i've been reminded of it. martha. it was mine, wasn't it? julia. oh, of course. martha. laura never would admit it was mine. she wanted it; so i'd no right to it. julia. i had a little idea that was it. martha. for years she was determined to have it: and i was determined she shouldn't have it. and she didn't have it! julia. who did have it? martha. henrietta _was_ to. i sent it her as a wedding-present, and told her laura was never to know. and, as she was in australia, that seemed safe. well, the ship it went out in was wrecked--all because of that tea-pot, i believe! so now it's at the bottom of the sea! julia. destiny! martha. she searched my boxes to try and find it: stole my keys! i missed them, but i didn't dare say anything. i used to wrap it in my night-gown and hide it in the bed during the day, and sleep with it under my pillow at night. and i was so thankful when henrietta got married; so as to be rid of it! julia. hush! (re-enter _mrs. james, her bonnet still on, with the strings dangling, and her cloak on her arm_.) laura. julia i've been looking at your room in there. julia (_coldly)._ have you, laura? laura. it used to be our mother's room. julia. i don't need to be reminded of that: it is why i chose it. (_rising gracefully from her chair, she goes to attend to the fire_.) laura. don't you think it would be much better for you to give it up, and let our mother come back and live with us? julia. she has never expressed the wish. laura. of course not, with you in it. julia. she was not in it when i came. laura. how could you expect it, in a house all by herself? julia. i gave her the chance: i began by occupying my own room. laura (_self-caressingly). i_ wasn't here then. that didn't occur to you, i suppose? you seem to forget you weren't the only one. julia. kind of you to remind me. laura. saucy. julia. martha, will you excuse me? (_polite to the last, she vanishes gracefully away from the vicinity of the coal-box. the place where she has been stooping knows her no more_.) laura (_rushing round the intervening table to investigate_). julia! (_martha is quite as much surprised as mrs. james, but less indignant_.) martha. well! did you ever? laura (_facing about after vain search_). does she think that is the proper way to behave to _me?_ julia! martha. it's no good, laura. you know julia, as well as i do. if she makes up her mind to a thing-- laura. yes. she's been waiting here to exercise her patience on me, and now she's happy! well, she'll have to learn that this house doesn't belong to _her_ any longer. she has got to accommodate herself to living with others.... i wonder how she'd like me to go and sit in that pet chair of hers? julia (_softly reappearing in the chair which the 'dear mother' usually occupies_). you can go and sit in it if you wish, laura. laura (_ignoring her return_). martha, do you remember that odious man who used to live next door, who played the 'cello on sundays? martha. oh yes, i remember. they used to hang out washing in the garden, didn't they? laura (_very scandalously_). julia is friends with him! they call on each other. his wife doesn't live with him any longer. (_julia rises and goes slowly and majestically out of the room_.) laura (_after relishing what she conceives to be her rout of the enemy_). martha, what do you think of julia? martha. oh, she's--what do you want me to think? laura. high and mighty as ever, isn't she? she's been here by herself so long she thinks the whole place is hers. martha. i daresay we shall settle down well enough presently. which room are you sleeping in? laura. of course, i have my old one. where do you want to go? martha. the green room will suit me. laura. and julia means to keep our mother's room: i can see that. no wonder she won't come and stay, martha. have you seen her? laura. she just 'looked in,' as julia calls it. i could see she'd hoped to find me alone. julia always thought _she_ was the favourite. i knew better. martha. how was she? laura. just her old self; but as if she missed something. it wasn't a _happy_ face, until i spoke to her: then it all brightened up.... oh, thank you for the wreath, martha. where did you get it? martha. emily made it. laura. that fool! then she made her own too, i suppose? martha. yes. that went the day before, so you got it in time. laura. i thought it didn't look up to much. (_she is now contemplating emily's second effort with a critical eye_.) now a little maiden-hair fern would have made a world of difference. martha. i don't hold with flowers myself. i think it's wasteful. but, of course, one has to do it. laura (_with pained regret_). i'm sorry, martha; i return it--with many thanks. martha. what's the good of that? i can't give it back to emily, now! laura (_with quiet grief_). i don't wish to be a cause of waste. martha. well, take it to pieces, then; and put them in water--or wear it round your head! laura. ten beautiful wreaths my friends sent me. they are all lying on my grave now! a pity that love is so wasteful! well, i suppose i must go now and change into my cap. (_goes to the door, where she encounters julia_.) why, julia, you nearly knocked me down! julia (_ironically)._ i beg your pardon, laura; it comes of using the same door. hannah has lighted a fire in your room. laura. that's sensible at any rate. (exit _mrs. james_) julia. well? and how do you find laura? martha. julia, i don't know whether i can stand her. julia. she hasn't got quite--used to herself yet. martha (_explosively)._ put that away somewhere! (_she gives an angry shove to the wreath_) julia. put it away! why? martha (_furiously)._ emily made it: and it didn't cost anything; and it hasn't got any maiden-hair fern in it; and it's too big to wear with her cap. so it's good for nothing! put it on the fire! she doesn't want to see it again. julia (_comprehending the situation, restores the wreath to its box_). why did you bring it here, martha? martha (_miserably)._ i don't know. i just clung on to it. i suppose it was on my mind to look after it, and see it wasn't damaged. so i found i'd brought it with me.... i believe, now i think of it, i've brought some sandwiches, too. (_she routs in a small hand-bag.)_ yes, i have. well, i can have them for supper.... emily made those too. julia. then i think you'd better let hannah have them--for the sake of peace. martha (_woefully)._ i thought i _was_ going to have peace here. julia. it will be all right, martha--presently. martha. well, i don't want to be uncharitable; but i do wish--i must say it--i do wish laura had been cremated. (_this is the nearest she can do for wishing her sister in the place to which she thinks she belongs. but the uncremated mrs. james now re-enters in widow's cap_.) laura. julia, have you ever seen papa, since you came here? julia (_frigidly)._ no, i have not. laura. has our mother seen him? julia. i haven't--(_about to say the forbidden thing, she checks herself_.) mamma has _not_ seen him: nor does she know his whereabouts. laura. does nobody know? julia. nobody that i know of. laura. well, but he must be somewhere. is there no way of finding him? julia. perhaps you can devise one. i suppose, if we chose, we could go to him; but i'm not sure--as he doesn't come to us. laura. lor', julia! suppose he should be---- julia (_deprecatingly_). oh, laura! laura. but, julia, it's very awkward, not to know where one's own father is. don't people ever ask? julia. never, i'm thankful to say. laura. why not? julia. perhaps _they_ know better. laura (_after a pause_). i'm afraid he didn't lead a good life. martha. oh, why can't you let the thing be? if you don't remember him, i do. i was fond of him. he was always very kind to us as children; and if he did run away with the governess it was a good riddance--so far as she was concerned. we hated her. laura. i wonder whether they are together still. you haven't inquired after _her_, i suppose? julia (_luxuriating in her weariness_). i--have--_not_, laura! laura. don't you think it's our solemn duty to inquire? i shall ask our mother. julia. i hope you will do nothing of the sort. laura. but we ought to know: otherwise we don't know how to think of him, whether with mercy and pardon for his sins, or with reprobation. martha (_angrily_). why need you think? why can't you leave him alone? laura. an immortal soul, martha. it's no good leaving him alone: that won't alter facts. julia. i don't think this is quite a nice subject for discussion. laura. nice? was it ever intended to be nice? eternal punishment wasn't provided as a consolation prize for anybody, so far as i know. martha. i think it's very horrible--for us to be sitting here--by the fire, and--(_but theology is not martha's strong point_). oh! why can't you leave it? laura. because it's got to be faced; and i mean to face it. now, martha, don't try to get out of it. we have got to find our father. julia. i think, before doing anything, we ought to consult mamma. laura. very well; call her and consult her! you were against it just now. julia. i am against it still. it's all so unnecessary. martha. lor', there _is_ mamma! (_old mrs. robinson is once more in her place. martha makes a move toward her_.) julia. don't, martha. she doesn't like to be--- mrs. r. i've heard what you've been talking about. no, i haven't seen him. i've tried to get him to come to me, but he didn't seem to want. martha, my dear, how are you? martha. oh, i'm--much as usual. and you, mother? mrs. r. well, what about your father? who wants him? laura. i want him, mother. mrs. r. what for? laura. first we want to know what sort of a life he is leading. then we want to ask him about his will. julia. oh, laura! martha. _i_ don't. i don't care if he made a dozen. laura. so i thought if we all _called_ him. _you_ heard when i called, didn't you? oh no, that was william. mrs. r. who's william? laura. didn't you know i was married? mrs. r. no. did he die? laura. well, now, couldn't we call him? mrs. r. i daresay. he won't like it. laura. he must. he belongs to us. mrs. r. yes, i suppose--as i wouldn't divorce him, though he wanted me to. i said marriages were made in heaven. a voice. luckily, they don't last there. (_greatly startled, they look around, and perceive presently in the mirror over the mantelpiece the apparition of a figure which they seem dimly to recognise. a tall, florid gentleman of the dundreary type, with long side-whiskers, and dressed in the fashion of sixty years ago, has taken up his position to one side of the ormolu clock; standing, eye-glass in eye, with folded arms resting on the mantel-slab and a stylish hat in one hand, be gazes upon the assembled family with quizzical benevolence_.) mrs. r. (_placidly_). what, is that you, thomas? thomas (_with the fashionable lisp of the fifties, always substituting 'th' for 's'_). how do you do, susan? (_there follows a pause, broken courageously by mrs. james_.) laura. are _you_ my father? thomas. i don't know. who are _you_? who are all of you? laura. perhaps i had better explain. this is our dear mother: her you recognise. you are her husband; we are your daughters. this is martha, this is julia, and i'm laura. thomas. is this true, susan? are these our progeny? mrs. r. yes--that is--yes, thomas. thomas. i should not have known it. they all look so much older. laura. than when you left us? naturally! thomas. than _me_> i meant. but you all seem flourishing. laura. because we lived longer. papa, when did you die? julia. oh! laura! thomas. i don't know, child. laura. don't know? how don't you know? thomas. because in prisons, and other lunatic asylums, one isn't allowed to know anything. mrs. r. a lunatic asylum! oh, thomas, what brought you there? thomas. a damned life, susan--with you, and others. julia. oh, laura, why did you do this? martha. if this goes on, i shall leave the room. laura. where are those _others_ now? thomas. three of them i see before me. you, laura, used to scream horribly. when you were teething, i was sleepless. your mother insisted on having you in the room with us. no wonder i went elsewhere. martha. i'm going! thomas. don't, martha! you were the quietest of the lot. when you were two years old i even began to like you. you were the exception. laura. haven't you any affection for your old home? thomas. none. it was a prison. you were the gaolers and the turnkeys. to keep my feet in the domestic way you made me wool-work slippers, and i had to wear them. you gave me neckties, which i wouldn't wear. you gave me affection of a demanding kind, which i didn't want. you gave me a moral atmosphere which i detested. and at last i could bear it no more, and i escaped. laura (_deaf to instruction_). papa, we wish you and our dear mother to come back and live with us. thomas. live with my grandmother! how could i live with any of you? laura. where _are_ you living? thomas. ask no questions, and you will be told no lies. laura. where is _she_? thomas. which she? laura. the governess. thomas. which governess? laura. the one you went away with. thomas. d'you want her back again? you can have her. she'll teach you a thing or two. she did _me_. laura. then--you have repented, papa? thomas. god! why did i come here? mrs. r. yes; why did you come? it was weak of you. thomas. because i never could resist women. laura. were you really mad when you died, papa? thomas. yes, and am still: stark, staring, raving, mad, like all the rest of you. laura. i am not aware that _i_ am mad. thomas. then you are a bad case. not to know it, is the worst sign of all. it's in the family: you can't help being. everything you say and do proves it.... you were mad to come here. you are mad to remain here. you were mad to want to see me. i was mad to let you see me. i was mad at the mere sight of you; and i'm mad to be off again! goodbye, susan. if you send for me again, i shan't come! (_he puts on his hat with a flourish_!) laura. where are you going, father? thomas. to hell, child! your hell, my heaven! (_he spreads his arms and rises up through the looking-glass; you see his violet frock-coaty his check trousers, his white spats, and patent-leather boots ascending into and passing from view. he twiddles his feet at them and vanishes_.) julia. and now i hope you are satisfied, laura? martha. where's mamma gone? julia. so you've driven her away, too. well, that finishes it. (_apparently it does. robbed of her parental prey, mrs. james reverts to the next dearest possession she is concerned about_.) laura. martha, where is the silver tea-pot? martha. i don't know, laura. laura. you said julia had it. martha. i didn't say anything of the sort! you said--you supposed julia had it; and i said--suppose she had! and i left it at that. laura. julia says she hasn't got it, so you _must_ have it. martha. i haven't! laura. then where is it? martha. i don't know any more than julia knows. laura. then one of you is not telling the truth. ... (_very judicially she begins to examine the two culprits.)_ julia, when did you last see it? julia. on the day, laura, when we shared things between us. it became martha's: and i never saw it again. laura. martha, when did you last see it? martha. i have not seen it--for i don't know how long. laura. that is no answer to my question. martha (_vindictively)._ well, if you want to know, it's at the bottom of the sea. laura (_deliberately)._ don't talk--nonsense. martha. unless a shark has eaten it. laura. when i ask a reasonable question, martha, i expect a reasonable answer. martha. i've given you a reasonable answer! and i wish the judgment day would come, and the sea give up its dead, and then--(_at the end of her resources, the poor lady begins to gather herself up, so as once for all to have done with it_.) now, i am going downstairs to talk to hannah. laura. you will do nothing of the kind, martha. martha. i'm not going to be bullied--not by you or anyone. laura. i must request you to wait and hear what i've got to say. martha. i don't want to hear it. laura. julia, are we not to discuss this matter, pray? (_julia, who has her eye on martha, and is quite enjoying this tussle of the two, says nothing_) martha. you and julia can discuss it. i am going downstairs. (_mrs. james crosses the room, locks the door, and, standing mistress of all she surveys, inquires with grim humour_.) laura. and where are you going to be, julia? julia. i am where i am, laura. i'm not going out of the window, or up the chimney, if that's what you mean. (_she continues gracefully to do her crochet._) laura. now, martha, if you please. martha (_goaded into victory_). i'm sorry, julia. you'd better explain. i'm going downstairs. (_suiting the action to the word, she commits herself doggedly to the experiment, descending bluntly and without grace through the carpet into the room below. mrs. james stands stupent._) laura. martha!... am i to be defied in this way? julia. you brought it on yourself, laura. laura. you told her to do it! julia. she would have soon found out for herself. (_collectedly, she folds up her work and rises_.) and now, i think, i will go to my room and wash my hands for supper. (_as she makes her stately move, her ear is attracted by a curious metallic sound repeated at intervals. turning about, she perceives, indeed they both perceive, in the centre of the small table, a handsome silver tea-pot which opens and shuts its lid at them, as if trying to speak_.) julia. oh, look, laura! martha's tea-pot has arrived. laura. she told a lie, then. julia. no, it was the truth. she wished for it. the sea has given up its dead. laura. then now i _have_ got it at last! (_but, as she goes to seize the disputed possession, martha rises through the floor, grabs the tea-pot, and descends to the nether regions once more_.) laura (_glaring at her sister with haggard eye_). julia, where _are_ we? julia. i don't know what you mean, laura. (_she reaches out a polite hand_) the key? (_mrs. james delivers up the key as one glad to be rid of it_.) laura. what is this place we've come to? julia (_persuasively)._ our home. laura. i think we are in hell! julia (_going to the door, which she unlocks with soft triumph)._ we are all where we wish to be, laura. (_a gong sounds_.) that's supper. (_the gong continues its metallic bumbling_) (_julia departs, leaving mrs. james in undisputed possession of the situation she has made for herself_.) curtain part three dethronements imaginary portraits of political characters, done in dialogue preface the written dialogue, as interpretative of character, is but a form of portraiture, no more personally identified with its subject than drawing or painting; nor can it claim to have more verisimilitude until it finds embodiment on the stage. why then, in this country at any rate, is its application to living persons only considered legitimate when associated with caricature? so sponsored, in the pages of _punch_ and the composition of mr. max beerbohm, it has become an accepted convention too habitual for remark. yet caricature and verbal parody may be as critical both of personality and character as dialogue more seriously designed, and may have as important an influence not merely upon a public opinion, but upon its moral judgment as well. the defection of _punch_ was felt by gladstone to be a serious set-back to the fortunes of his home rule policy; and tenniel's cartoon of "the grand old janus," saying "quite right!" to the police who were bludgeoning an english mob, and "quite wrong!" to the police who were bludgeoning an irish one, was a personal jibe which hit him hard. the customary device, where contemporaries are concerned, of disembowelling the victim's name, and leaving it a skeleton of consonants, is a formal concession which in effect concedes nothing. nor is there any reason why it should; for the only valid objection to the medium of dialogue is in cases where its form might mislead the reader into mistaking fiction for fact, and the author's invention for the _ipsissima verba_ of the characters he portrays. i hope that this book will attract no readers so unintelligent. having chosen dialogue for these studies of historical events because i find in it a natural and direct means to the interpretation of character, my main scruple is satisfied when i have made it plain that they have no more authenticity because they happen to be written in dramatic form, than they would have were they written as political essays. these are imaginary conversations which never actually took place; and though i think they have a nearer relation to the minds of the supposed speakers than have king's speeches to the person who utters them, they must merely be taken as a personal reading of characters and events, tributes to men for all of whom i have, in one way or another, a very great respect and admiration; and not least for the one whom, with a reticence that is symbolical of the part he played in the downfall of "the man of business," i have here left nameless. the king-maker note readers of this dialogue may need to be reminded, for clearer understanding, of the following sequence of events. on november th, , a _decree nisi_ was pronounced in the undefended divorce suit o'shea _v_. o'shea and parnell. on november th, gladstone, in a letter to john morley, stated that parnell's retention of the irish leadership would be fatal to his own continued advocacy of the irish cause. in december, the majority of the irish party threw over parnell in order to placate the "nonconformist conscience," and retain the co-operation of the liberal party under gladstone's leadership. during the months following, parnell and his adherents suffered a series of defeats at by-elections in ireland. in june , immediately on the _decree nisi_ being made absolute, parnell married katharine o'shea. on october th he died. dramatis personae. charles stewart parnell (_dethroned "king" of ireland_) katharine parnell (_his wife: divorced wife of captain o'shea_) a man (_ex-valet to captain o'shea_) a servant the king-maker _brighton. october_ . _in a comfortably furnished sitting-room, with windows looking upon the sea-parade, a woman of distinguished beauty sits reading beside the fire, so intently occupied that she pays no heed to the entry of the servant, who unobtrusively lights the gas, draws down the blinds, and closes the curtains. then taking up a tea-tray, served for two, she retires, and the reader is left alone. but not for long. the slam of the street-door causes an attention which the coming and going of the servant has failed to arouse; and now, as the door opens, the brightened interest of her face tells that, without seeing, she knows who is there. quietly, almost furtively, she lets fall the paper she has been reading, and turns to her husband eyes of serene welcome, meeting confidently the sharp interrogation of his glance_. parnell. what are you doing? katharine. i was reading. parnell. yes? what? katharine. those papers you just brought in. parnell. and i told you not to. katharine (_smiling_). i was wilful and disobeyed. parnell (_picking up the paper, and looking at it with contemptuous disgust_). why did you? katharine. isn't "wilful" a sufficient answer, my dear? (_and with a covert look of amusement she watches him tear and throw the paper into the fire_.) why do you try to make me a coward? you aren't one yourself. parnell. that gutter-stuff! (_and the second paper joins its fellow in the flames_.) katharine. now wasn't that just a bit unnecessary? after all, they are helping to make history. that is public opinion--the voice of the people, you know. parnell. not _our_ people! katharine. oh? have you brought back any better news--from there? parnell. nothing special. the result of the election was out. katharine. you didn't wire it. how much were we to the bad? parnell. a few hundred. what does more or less matter? it's--it's the priests who are winning now. katharine. with divided congregations as the result. parnell. yes. but i'd rather they won than the politicians. they are honest, at any rate. poor fools! katharine. so it's the real country we are seeing now? parnell. yes. that's the material i've had to work with! katharine. wonderful--considering. parnell. and now--now one gets to the root! but i always knew it. katharine. so you are not disappointed? parnell. no; only defeated. yet i did think once that i was going to win. katharine. so you will. parnell. when i'm dead, no doubt ... some day. you can't fight for a winning cause, and not know that. katharine. but you are not going to die yet, dearest. parnell (_with a deep sigh of dejection_). oh! wifie, i'm so tired, so tired! katharine. well, who has a better right? be tired, my dear! give yourself up to it: let everything else go, and just rest! you _are_ tired out. that's what i've been telling you. parnell. too much to do yet. even dying would take more time than i can spare just now. katharine. but you must spare time to live, my dear--if you really wish to. parnell. wish? i never wished it more--for now i _am_ living. i'm awake. doubts are over. katharine. king ... look at me! don't take your eyes away, till i've done.... one of those papers said (what others have been saying) that it was i ... i ... need i go on? parnell (_with grim tenderness_). till you've done: you said ... katharine. i--that have ruined you. parnell. that's just what they would say, of course. it's so easy: and pleases--so many. katharine. all the same--by mere accident--mayn't it be true? it _has_ happened, you know, sometimes, that love and politics haven't quite gone together. parnell. love and politics never do. do you think i've loved any of my party-followers: that any of them have loved me? katharine. doesn't--o'kelly? parnell. he's gone now--with the rest. katharine. didn't mr. biggar? parnell. dead.... no. katharine. still, you love--ireland. parnell. not as she is to-day--so narrow and jealous, so stupid, so blind! has she anything alive in her now worth saving? that ireland has got to die; and, though it doesn't sound like it, this is the death-rattle beginning. ireland is going to fail, and deserves to fail. but another ireland won't fail. she's learning her lesson--or _will_ learn it, in the grave. something like this was bound to come; but if it were to come again twenty years on, it wouldn't count. she'd know better. katharine. twenty years! we shall be an old couple by then. parnell. in the life of a nation twenty years is nothing. no. ireland was shaped for failure: she has it in her. it had got to come out. subjection, oppression, starvation, haven't taught her enough: she must face betrayal too, of the most mischievous kind--the betrayal of well-meaning fools. after that, paralysis, loss of confidence, loss of will, loss of faith--in false leaders. then she'll begin to learn. katharine. do you mean that everything _has_ failed now? parnell. yes; if _i_ fail. i'm not thinking of myself as indispensable: it's the principle. that's what i've been trying to make them understand. but they won't, they won't! independence, defiance-they don't see it as a principle, only as an expedient. they may make it a cry, they may feel it as their right; but when to insist on it looks like losing a point in the game--then they give up the principle, to become parasites! that's what is happening now. it's the slave in the blood coming out--the crisis of the disease. that's why i'm fighting it: and will, to the death! and when--when we are dead--some day: she'll come to her senses again--and see! then--this will have helped. katharine. but will it? parnell. why? don't you believe that ireland will be free some day? katharine. i did when she chose you for her leader. parnell (_bitterly_). a dead leader, one whom she can't hurt, may do better for her. katharine. don't say "dead"! parnell. i shan't be alive in twenty years, my dear. and it may take all that. katharine. without you it will take more. parnell. it won't be "without me." that's what i mean. they may beat me to-day; but i shall still count. think of all ireland's failures! grattan's parliament counts; "ninety-eight" counts; fitzgerald counts; o'connell counts; her famines, her emigrations, her rebellions--all count. katharine. does butt count? parnell. he wasn't a failure: he didn't try to do anything. if ireland needs more failures, to make a case for her conviction, shall i grudge mine? yes, all her failures count: they get into the blood! why, even the silly statues in her streets mean more than statues can mean here. prosperity forgets; adversity remembers. even hatred has its use: it grips, and drives men on. katharine. did you need--hatred, to do that for you? parnell. yes: till i got love!... reason, conviction aren't enough. morley said a good thing the other day. the english, he said, meant well by ireland: but they didn't mean it much. katharine. i suppose that's true of some? parnell. quite true: and what is the most that it amounts to? compromise. morley's an authority on compromise. and yet i like him: i get on with him. but he's too thick with gladstone to be honest over this. curious _his_ having to back the conventions, eh? katharine. why does he? parnell. because the political salvation of his party and its leader comes before ireland. he means well by her: but he doesn't mean it so much as all that. still he's the only one of them who doesn't pretend to look on me as a black sheep. he too has to work with his material. that's politics. the nonconformist conscience means votes--so it decides him: just as the priests decide me.... they would decide him in any case, i mean. and so-so it goes on.... "look here upon this picture, and on this": ireland trying to please england; england trying, now and then, to please ireland! i don't know which is the more ludicrous; but i know that both equally must fail. and they've got to see it!--and some day they will. it won't be "home rule" then.... (_so for a while he sits and thinks, his hand in hers. then he resumes._) my ruin? what would my ruin matter anyway? put it, that the making public of our claim--our right to each other--is to be allowed by any possibility to affect the cause of a nation--the justice of that cause: doesn't that fact, if true, show that the whole basis of the political principles they have so boasted, and on which we have so blindly relied, was utterly and fantastically false and rotten? haven't we, providentially, given the world the proof that it needed of its own lie? katharine. we didn't give it, my dear. parnell. well, their proof has satisfied them, anyhow: as they are acting on it. oh! when i see what poor, weak things nations really are--so inadequately equipped for the shaping of their own destinies--i wonder whether in truth the history we read is not the wrong history--mere side history, to which a false significance has been given, because so much blood and treasure have been expended on it, which just a little expenditure of common sense might have spared.... think of all the silly accidents and blunders, in ireland's great chapter of accidents, which have counted for so much--even in these last few years!... the phoenix park business--an assassination, for which perhaps only a dozen men were responsible--and at once, for that one act, more suppression and hatred and coercion are directed against a whole nation: crimes acts, packed juries, judges without juries, arrests without charge, imprisonments without trial. so logical, isn't it? what a means for putting a foreign government right in the eyes of the people who deny its moral authority!... and then--pigott, that shallow fraud, driven to suicide by those who were at first so eager to believe him: and the exposure of his silly forgery turns elections, makes home rule popular! coming by such means, would it be worth it?... gladstone, honourably hoodwinking himself all those years, accepting you as our secret go-between--and you making no pretence, my dear! oh, i suppose it was the right and gentlemanly thing for him to pretend not to know. it was also, it seems, good politics. chamberlain knew too--must have known; for chamberlain's no fool; and yet to his friend, the deceived husband, said nothing! it wasn't politics; not then. now--now it's the great stroke, and home rule goes down under it.... is that history, or is it "alice in wonderland"?... if you are my ruin now, you were also my ruin then, when you were helping me to think that i could win justice for a nation from politicians like these: win it by any means except by beating them, bringing them to their knees, making them red with the blood of a people always in revolt, till their reputation stinks to the whole world! and when they do at last climb down and accept the inevitable, then their main thought will be only how to save their own face--and make it look a little less like the defeat they know it to be! katharine. my dear, you are so tired. do rest! parnell. i _am_ resting: for now--thanks to you--i have got at the truth! political history is a thing made up of accidents; but not so the fate of men or of nations whose will is set to be free. no accident there! that you were tied to a man you wouldn't live with, who wouldn't live with you--was an accident. but our love was no accident; it was waiting for us before we knew anything. you and i had each a star which shone at the other's birth. katharine. your star was mine, dearest. i hadn't one of my own. parnell. well, if nations wish to be fooled, let them go to the devil their own way, not laying the blame of their own folly on others! but having got _you_--would i ever have let you go for any power under heaven? why (as soon as you were free) did i marry you? i knew that, politically, it was a blunder: that over there it would go against us-- prove the case. half ireland cared nothing for the verdict of an english jury. but when we married, they had to believe it then.... well, i wanted them to believe it. i know my love would have waited, had i asked her. and it wasn't--it wasn't honour, my dear; it was much more pride: for i am a proud man, that i own: and not less since i have won you. katharine. if you hadn't been proud, dearest, you would never have got my love. parnell. oh, yes, i should. those who love, don't love for qualities good or bad. they love them in the person they love--that's all. you have qualities which i didn't care about till i found them in you. to love is to see life--new! katharine. and whole. some day--alone by ourselves--we will! parnell. don't we already? katharine. yes, if only--these other things didn't interfere. but i promised; so they must. parnell. my dear, when they have quite broken me--they will in time--then i'll come. katharine. you promise to go right away? parnell. i promise, sweetheart. (_moving toward each other they are about to embrace, when the door opens, and the servant enters carrying a card upon a tray_.) servant. if you please, sir. (_parnell takes the card; there is a pause while he looks at the name_) parnell. will you say i am engaged. (_the servant goes. parnell hands the card to his wife_.) i don't know the man. do you? katharine. no. and yet i seem to remember. yes; willie had a man-servant of that name. (_the servant returns, bearing a folded note upon her tray_) servant. if you please, sir, i was to give you this. parnell (_having read the note_). is the man still there? servant. yes, sir. (_there is a pause_.) parnell. show him in. (_as the servant goes he hands the note to katharine, and watches while she reads it_.) so--you remember him? katharine. only the name.... i may have seen him, now and then. (_and then enters a smooth-shaven man, sprucely dressed, with the irreproachable manners of a well-trained servant. first, with a murmured apology, he bows to the lady; then, having respectfully waited till the silence becomes marked, says_:) man. good evening, sir. parnell (_glancing again at the note_). you are a valet? man. yes, sir. parnell. are you wanting a place? man. no, sir. i have a place. parnell. well? man. that gentleman, sir--my last employer, dismissed me without a character. (_his reference is to the note which parnell still holds open in his hand_.) parnell. well? man. that's all, sir. parnell. then what have you come here for? man. to give you this, sir. (_he draws out and presents a letter, rather soiled by keeping, which has already been opened. there is a pause, while parnell looks first at the address, then runs his eye over the contents_) parnell. may i show it to--this lady? man. oh, yes, sir. parnell. whom, i take it, you recognise? man. yes, sir. (_and meeting her glance, he bows once more_) (_parnell hands over the letter, and while katharine reads there is a pause_.) parnell. did you bring me this expecting money for it? man. no, sir. parnell. i see it has a date. you could have let me have it before? man. yes, sir. parnell. more than--six months ago? man. more than a year ago, sir. parnell. quite so. and you did not? man (_eyeing him steadfastly_). no, sir. i was still comfortable in his service then, sir. parnell (_ironically, after a pause of scrutiny eye to eye_). i am singularly obliged to you.... how did you come by it, may i ask? man. well, sir, he'd been dining out, sir. left it in his pocket--hadn't posted it. parnell. i see.... had your dismissal anything to do with this? man. oh, no, sir. that only happened quite recently. parnell. and then--he dismissed you without a character, you say? do you think you deserved one? man. from him, sir?--yes, sir. parnell (_coldly amused_). that is a good answer. have you been put to any expense coming here? man. just my return fare, sir. parnell. and were you expecting me to--? man. no, sir; i could have sent it in the post, if i'd wished. parnell (_surprised_). do you mean, then, that i may keep this letter? man. yes, sir. parnell. i may do what i like with it? man. just what you like, sir. parnell. thank you. (_after a pause of meditation he very deliberately tears up the letter and puts it into the fire. then, with rather icy politeness:)_ i am much obliged to you; and i wish you a good evening. (_a little crestfallen, but with quiet self possession, the man accepts the termination of the interview_.) man. good evening, sir. (_he moves to the door_.) parnell. stop! (_the man turns as the other goes towards him, and they meet face to face_.) you haven't given yourself a very good character, coming here, my man; but you might have done worse. anyway, you've washed your hands of it now. don't do things like that again. man. no, sir. (_and as he stands hesitating, parnell opens the door_.) thank you, sir. (_the man goes. parnell closes the door after him, comes meditatively across, and sits down. there is a long pause_) katharine. what are you--thinking? parnell. a year ago! ... if he had come to me with that a year ago--what should i have done? katharine. you would have done just the same. parnell. torn it up? and put it in the fire?--i'm not so sure. katharine. but i am. hadn't he the same right as i had, to live his own life? parnell. my dear, i said "a year ago." that means before the case came on. that would have stopped it--for good.... if i had had it--i might have been tempted. (_watching him, she sees him smile_.) katharine (_rather tremulously_). are you glad--that you didn't have it? parnell. and use it? yes: i am--glad! katharine (_throwing herself into his arms_). oh, my dear! why, that means everything. you're glad! you're glad! parnell (_clasping her_). oh, my own love, my own dear sweet! katharine. you regret--nothing? parnell. nothing. haven't i made you sure of that--yet? katharine. oh, my king!--my king! (_and just then the paper in the grate kindling into flame, he points to it_.) parnell. look! there goes--our proof. katharine. it doesn't matter. parnell. it never did. katharine. that's what i mean. parnell. but, politically, it might have made a world of difference. katharine. yes--to the world; not to us. we wanted to be as we are, didn't we? parnell. as we are, and as we were--how long is it?--eleven years ago. there's been no change since. when i go back to my star, i shall have found what i came for. that's what matters most. souls either find or lose themselves--live or die. i lived: i shouldn't have done, on this earth, but for you--but for you. (_there is a pause. he sits meditating_.) katharine. and of what--now? parnell. the next generation--possibly the next but one: you and i gone, and ireland free. in this last year we may have done more for that--than we could ever have planned. we've given them a bone to bite on: and there's meat on it--real meat. and because of that, they call you my ruin, eh? i look rather like one, i suppose, just now. but as i came home to-night, all my mind was filled with you; and i knew that to me you were worth far more than all the rest. and then suddenly i thought--what am i worth to you? katharine. this--that if now you told me to go--because it was for your good--i'd go--glad--yes glad that you'd made me do for you, at last, something that was hard to do--for the first time, dearest, for the first time! parnell (_deeply moved_). that so? not an accident, then, eh? katharine (_embracing him_). oh, my dear, my dear, my dear! parnell. how true to life love makes everything!--so clear and straight-- looking back now. through you i've learned this truth at any rate--that there are two things about which a man must never compromise--first his own soul, the right to be himself--no matter what others may think or do. katharine. and the other? parnell. his instinct, of trust or distrust, in the character of others. i hadn't any real doubt, but i compromised with instinct to gain my end: did things i didn't believe were any good--accepted the word of men i didn't trust. home rule itself was a compromise that i made myself accept. but i never really believed in it. for you can't limit the liberty of a nation, if it's really alive. then came the smash--that woke me. and that i was awake at last our love came to be the proof...something different has got to be now. ireland will have to become more real--more herself, more of a rebel than ever she has been yet. if, thirty years hence, my failure shall have helped to bring that about--an ireland really free--then i've won.... (_the words come quietly, confidently; but it is the voice of an exhausted man, whose physical resources are nearly at an end. for a long time he sits quite still, holding his wife's hand, saying nothing, for he has nothing more to say. a high screen behind the couch on which they rest cuts off the gaslight; only the firelight plays fitfully upon the two faces. suddenly the brightness falls away, and over that foreshadowing of death, now only three days distant, the scene closes_.) the man of business dramatis personae joseph chamberlain (_ex-minister_) jesse collings (_his friend_) a distinguished visitor a nurse the man of business scene: _highbury. august_ . _between double-doors, opening from living-room to conservatory, sits the shadow of the once great and powerful minister, state secretary for the colonies. to the dark, sombre tones of the heavily furnished chamber the gorgeous colours of the orchids, hanging in trails and festoons under their luminous dome of glass, offer a vivid contrast. yet even greater is that which they present to the drawn and haggard features of the catastrophically aged man whose public career is now over. in wheeled chair, with lower limbs wrapped in a shawl and supported by a foot-rest, he sits bent and almost motionless; and when he moves head or hand, it is head or hand only, and the motion is slow, painful, and hesitating, as though mind functioned on body with difficulty, uncertain of its ground. nevertheless, when the door opens, and the small squat figure of a very old and dear friend advances towards him, his face lights instantly. with tender reverence and affection the newcomer takes hold of his hand, lifts, presses it, lays it back again. and when he has seated himself, the shadow speaks_. chamberlain. well, collings? well? jesse collings. well, my dear chamberlain, how are you? i'm a little late, i'm afraid. chamberlain. i hadn't noticed. time doesn't matter to me now. jesse collings. no; but i like to be punctual. it's my nature. chamberlain. habit...habit and nature are different things, collings. i've been finding that out. (_at this, for a diversion, collings, readjusting his pince-nez, tilts his head bird-like, and takes a genial look at his friend_) jesse collings. joe, you are looking better to-day. chamberlain. well, even looks are not to be despised, i suppose, when one has nothing else left. jesse collings. come, come! chamberlain. yes? jesse collings. nothing else left, indeed! don't--don't be so _down_, chamberlain. chamberlain. dear old friend!... just now you called me "joe." you don't often do that. why did you? jesse collings. a reversion to old habits, i suppose. one does as one gets older. chamberlain. yes. jesse collings (_genially making conversation, which he sees to be advisable_). i was reading only the other day that, as we get on in years and begin to forget other things, our childhood comes back to us. chamberlain. yes? jesse collings. now i wonder if that's true? chamberlain. i wonder. jesse collings. mine hasn't begun to come back to me. chamberlain. you aren't old yet. jesse collings. i'm over eighty. chamberlain. good for another twenty years. and once you were my senior. we weren't quite boys together, collings; but we've been good friends. jesse collings. thank god for that!--joe. chamberlain. yes, i do. more now than i used to. jesse collings. all the same, you haven't so much cause to thank him as we have. chamberlain. no? (_the listless monotone makes the little old man fear that he is not succeeding_.) jesse collings. is my talk tiring you? chamberlain. not at all.... please go on! jesse collings. i only want to say what i said just now: don't be down, dear friend. your record will stand the test better than that of others. your work is still going on; it hasn't finished just because you are--laid up. chamberlain. "laid up" is a kind way of putting it, collins. jesse collings. why, i needn't even have said that; when here--it's _sitting_ up i find you. chamberlain. sitting _out_. jesse collings. well, "sitting out," if you like, for the time being. but do you imagine that this phrase or that phrase (true for the moment) states the case, counts, is worth troubling about? chamberlain. do i imagine? no, i don't. i don't imagine anything. i was never a man of imagination. jesse collings. you are, when you say that! chamberlain. no, collings. when i've done anything, it has been because i've had it in my hands to do.... my hands are empty now. some men manage to think with their heads only; others do it--with their stomachs you might almost say. i've never been able to think properly unless i had hold of things--had them here in my hands.... look at them, now! (_with a slow, faint gesture he indicates their helplessness; then continues:_) i was the man of business,... and now, i'm out of business; so i can't think. jesse collings. but that business, as you call it, chamberlain, which you made so many of us understand for the first time--i was a "little englander" myself, once--that's still going on. chamberlain (_bitterly_). yes, it's a fine business! jesse collings (_startled)._ don't you still believe in it? chamberlain. as a business? yes. but it's going to fail all the same. there's nobody to run it now. jesse collings. we mean to run it, chamberlain! you'll see! chamberlain. i know you do, collings. you are loyalty itself. jesse collings. there are others too. i'm not the only one. chamberlain. you are the best of them. jesse collings. no, i won't admit that. chamberlain. name? jesse collings. the best? probably some one we don't yet even know. the best are still to come. time's with us. chamberlain. is it? jesse collings. don't you think so yourself? chamberlain. not now. i did once. jesse collings. you always said so. chamberlain. i said it as long as i believed it: till the stars in their courses turned against me. that broke me, collings. if i could have gone on having faith in myself, i shouldn't be--as i am now. jesse collings. but what--what made you lose it? chamberlain. can't you guess? (_collings shakes his head, remains valiantly incredulous; and there is a pause_.) i saw somebody else--whose cards weren't so good--playing with a better hand. it was the hand beat me. my head's all right still, though it sleeps. but i've lost my hand. look at it! (_again the gesture illustrative of defeat_.) threw it away. you know who i mean? jesse collings (_cautiously, _rather reluctantly_). i suppose i do. chamberlain (_watching to see the effect of his news_). he's coming to-day: to see me. collings (_surprised_). coming here? chamberlain. yes, it's all been nicely arranged--just a call in passing. to-morrow's papers will describe it as "a pathetic meeting." well, when a man has to meet his executioner on friendly terms, i suppose it is "pathetic" for one of them. (_all this is very disconcerting to poor collings. he helps himself to a half-sentence, and stops._) jesse collings. did he himself----? chamberlain. propose it? oh, yes--in the most charming way possible. isn't it amazing how a man with charm can do things that nobody else dare? i never managed to charm anybody. jesse collings. you made friends--and kept them. chamberlain. so does he. he has been successful all round: art, politics, letters, society--he has friends in all. i've only been successful in business. jesse collings. my dear friend, aren't you forgetting yourself? you came _out_ of business. chamberlain. no, i only changed to business on a larger scale--carried it on under a bigger name. that's how i found myself. i had to make things into a business in order to make a success of them. that was my method, collings: glorify it as much as you like. and up to a point it was good business, i don't deny. that's how we ran local politics, invented the caucus: corporation street is the result. that's how we managed to run unionism: made a hard and fast contract of it, and made them stick to it. that's how i ran the colonies--and the boer war. that's how i was going to run the empire on a preferential tariff. that came just too late. i'd made a mistake. jesse collings. what mistake? chamberlain. collings, the boer war wasn't good business. it might have been; but it lasted too long. any modern war that isn't over in six months now is a blunder, you'll find. they were able to hold out too long. that did for me. there have been bees in my bonnet ever since--all because of it. boers first; then bannerman; then--balfour. just once my business instinct betrayed me, and i was done! jesse collings. but--wasn't the war necessary? chamberlain. to put the "business" on a sound footing? yes, i thought so; it looked like it. no, it wasn't! but before i quite knew, there'd come a point where we couldn't go back; and so we just had to go on--and on. d'you know what was the cleverest thing said or done during that war?... you'd never guess ... but it's true. campbell-bannerman's "methods of barbarism" speech. we downed him for it at the time, but it caught on--it stuck. and it was on the strength of it (with c.-b. as their hope for the future) that the boers were persuaded to make peace: saved our face for us. they might have gone on, till we got sick of it, and the world too. jesse collings. i don't--i can't think you are right, chamberlain. you are forgetting things. chamberlain. no--i've had difficulty about thinking so myself; but, it has come to me. (_and so he sits and meditates over the point in his career where as a business man he first jailed. presently he resumes_:) when two men, whose qualifications i used rather to despise, beat me at business, collings--it was a facer! jesse collings. bannerman; and--the other? chamberlain. comes to see me to-day. but it won't be a business meeting. he'll not say anything about it--if he can help. jesse collings. and you? chamberlain. perhaps i shall succumb to his charm. i've done so before now. jesse collings. have you and he--had words ever? chamberlain. differences of opinion, of course. "words"? how should we? he was always so wonderfully accommodating, so polite, so apologetic even. nobody ever had a finer contempt for his party than he--not even old dizzy, or salisbury, or churchill. so he could always say the handsome thing to one--behind its back--even when he was making burnt-offerings to its prejudices. jesse collings. and when you left him? chamberlain. when i left him he did the thing beautifully. so genuinely sorry to lose me; so sure of having me with him again, before long. how could i have gone out and worked against him after that? but it's what--as a business politician--i ought to have done. jesse collings. if you had--should we have won, straight away? chamberlain. we should have won the party, and the party-machine too. for the rest it wouldn't have mattered waiting a year or two. yes, we should have won. but here's this, collings: we should have won then; we shan't win now. times are changing: the time for it is over. something else is coming along--what, i don't know. my old fox-scent has gone: wind's against me. the colonies are growing up too fast. they won't separate, but they mean to stand on their own feet all the same: in their own way--not mine. we ought to have got them when they were a bit younger: we could have done it then. once it flattered them to be called "dominions "; now they are going to be "sovereign states." and he--he doesn't mind. he is never for big constructive ideas--only for contrivances: takes things as they come, makes the best of them--philosophically--and gets round them; and sometimes does it brilliantly. jesse collings. what will he talk about? chamberlain. anything that comes into his head: the weather, the garden, the greenhouses, the theatres. he'll tell me, perhaps, of a book or two that i ought to read, that he hasn't had time for. he'll say, as you said, that i'm looking better than he expected. he'll say something handsome about austen--quite genuinely meaning it. then he'll say he's afraid of tiring me; then he'll go.... have you noticed how he shakes hands? he hasn't much of a hand--not a real hand--but he does it, like everything else, charmingly. jesse collings (_a little crestfallen_). i thought you really liked him. chamberlain. so i do. because he has beaten me, is that any reason for hating him? if it were--after a lifetime of polls and politics, one would have to be at hate with half the world. no, from his point of view he had to beat me, and he has done it. what i stick at is that he has proved the better business man! as i used head and hand--and heart (_and_ heart, collings!)-- jesse collings. yes, yes, i know you did. chamberlain. some people thought i hadn't a heart: "hard as nails" they called me.... well, as i used those, so he used his defeats, his doubts, his indecision, his charm--and left his heart out. that was the real business-stroke. that did for me.... i liked him: he knew it. whether he ever liked me, to this day, i don't know--for certain. if he did, it made no difference. that's what i call business. jesse collings (_warmly_). but you've always been honourable. chamberlain. so has he. don't be sentimental, collings! but some men manage in public life to give you a certain view of their character: so that you count on it. and then, on occasion, they play another--and get wonderful results. if i'd had that gift, i should have used it and done better. he has used it, and he has done better. i don't whine about it. but i'd rather, collings (i suppose i'm prejudiced), i'd rather he hadn't asked himself here--just now: not just now. (_there is a pause, and collings feels that he must say something; but finding nothing of any value to say, he merely commentates with a query_.) jesse collings. what has "just now" to do with it? chamberlain. "just now," dear collings, only means the next few months or so--possibly a year. that's all. i had rather he'd waited, and then just sent a wreath with the right sort of inscription on it. he could have done that charmingly too. and i haven't got wreaths here for _him_, for i don't think that even a posy of these would really interest him. (_and with a weary gesture he points to the orchids, as though they were things of which, not impossibly, "posies" might be made_.) jesse collings (_a little perplexed by this introduction of wreaths and flowers into political affairs_). what does really interest him? he's so interesting himself. chamberlain. you've hit it, collings. it's himself. not selfishly. he stands for so many things that he values--that he thinks good for the world--necessary for the stability of the social order. he is their embodiment: he is the most emblematic figure in the modern world that i know--in this country, at any rate--representing so much that is good in the great traditions which have got to go. and to stave off that day he will do almost anything. he would even--if he thought it would enable him the better to prick some of his bubbles--he would even take office under lloyd george. (_at this point, unobtrusively, a nurse enters and stands waiting_.) jesse collings. i don't think we shall live to see that! chamberlain. i shall not; you may. jesse collings (_impulsively_). chamberlain, i don't want to live after you! chamberlain (_cajolingly_). oh, yes, you do! anyway--i want you to. you will send me a wreath that will be worth having. (_whereat his quaint little companion leans forward, and, putting his two hands pleadingly on the swathed knees, wants to speak but cannot. slowly the sick man lets down his own and covers them. and so, hand resting on hand, he continues speaking:_) say what you like about the business man--the man who failed: he has known how to make friends--good ones. and you, jesse collings, have been one of the best: i couldn't have had a better. there's someone been waiting behind you to give you a hint that you are tiring me--staying too long. but you haven't: you never have. perhaps, in the future, i shan't see enough of you; perhaps, from now on, my doctor will have to measure even my friends for me: three a day before meals. but i shall get life in bits still--as long as you are allowed to come. yes, nurse, you make take him away now! (_jesse collings rises, and stands by his friend with moist eyes_.) jesse collings. good-bye, my dear joe, and--god bless you. chamberlain. yes ... good-bye! (_hands press and part, and jesse callings tip-toes meekly out, apologising for the length of his stay by the softness of his going. chamberlain's head drops, his face becomes more drawn, his hands more rigid and helpless. without a word, his nurse arranges his pillows, preparing him for the sleep to which his unresisting body gradually succumbs._) * * * * * (_two hours later he is awake again, and the nurse is removing a tray from which he has just taken some nourishment. he lifts his head and looks at her. at this sign that he is about to speak, she pauses. presently the words come._) chamberlain. is he in there, waiting to see me? nurse. yes, sir. chamberlain. ask him to come in. nurse. you want to see him alone, sir? (_there is a pause._) chamberlain. i think only one at a time is enough--better for me: don't you? nurse. it would be less tiring for you, sir. chamberlain. yes. ask him to come in. (_so that being settled, she goes, and he sits waiting. the afternoon sunlight is making the orchids look more resplendently themselves than ever. so still, so vivid, so alive, they hang their snake-like heads in long pendulous clusters; and among them all there is not a single one which shows the slightest sign of falling-off or decay. presently the door is softly opened, and the nurse, entering only to retire again, ushers in the distinguished visitor, whose brow, venerable with intellect, and grey with the approach of age, crowns a figure still almost youthful in its elasticity and grace, and perfect in the deliberate ease and deportment of its entry into a situation which many would find difficult. as he approaches the wheeled chair, the kindness, modesty, and distinction of his bearing prepare the way before him, and his silence has already said the nicest of nice things, in the nicest possible way, before he actually speaks. this he does not do till he has already taken and held the hand which the other has tried to offer_.) distinguished visitor. my dear chamberlain, how very good of you to let me come? chamberlain. not too much out of your way, i hope? dist. v. on the contrary, i could wish it were more, if that might help to express my pleasure in seeing you again. chamberlain. well, what there is of me, you see. you are looking well. dist. v. and you--much better than i expected. chamberlain. did you expect anything? dist. v. i was told that you had bad days occasionally, and were unable to see anybody. i hope i am fortunate, and that this is one of your good ones? chamberlain. well, as they've let you see me, i suppose so. i don't find much difference between my good and bad days. (won't you sit down?) i'm still in the possession of my faculties; i sleep well, and i don't have pain. dist. v. (_seating himself_). and my staying with you for a little is not going to tire you? chamberlain. it's far more likely to tire you, i'm afraid. dist. v. no, indeed not! apart from anything else it is a welcome respite on the journey. motoring bores me terribly. chamberlain. then you had really meant coming this way, in any case? dist. v. i had been long intending to; and when, last week, hewell proposed itself, all fitted together perfectly. chamberlain. are they having a house-party? dist. v. i think not: i trust not. no, i believe a hint was dropped to them that it wasn't to be--that i was feeling far too stale for any such mental relaxation. chamberlain. are you? you don't look like it. dist. v. in politics one tries not to look like anything; but how at the end of the session can one be otherwise? chamberlain. is all going on there--as usual? dist. v. yes...yes. i don't find being in opposition makes as much difference as i expected, as regards work. one misses the permanent official who always did it for one. wonderful creatures--who first invented them? pitt, or was it pepys? oh, no, he was one of them. a product, perhaps, of the seventeenth century. chamberlain. in tudor times prime ministers were permanent, weren't they? dist. v. their heads weren't. executions took the place of elections in those days. and there's something to be said for it. chamberlain. yes. there was more dignity about it; it gave a testimonial of character; the other doesn't. dist. v. still, electoral defeat is very refreshing. rejection by one's own constituents is sometimes a blessing in disguise: it saves one from undue familiarity.... that has never happened to you, has it? chamberlain. it depends what one means by--constituents. in the strict sense--no. (_and now there is a pause, for something has been said that is not merely conversation. very charmingly, and with a wonderful niceness of tone, the distinguished visitor accepts the opening that has been given him.)_ dist. v. chamberlain, i have been wanting to come and see you for a long time. chamberlain. thank you. so i--guessed. dist. v. i wrote to you--a letter which you did not answer. perhaps it did not seem to require an answer. but i hoped for one. so, after not hearing, i made up my mind to come and see you. chamberlain. that was very kind of you. dist. v. no, it wasn't; it was natural. we've worked together--so long. and i wanted to assure myself that there was, personally--that there is now--no cloud between us; no ill-feeling about anything. if i thought that remotely possible, i should regret it more than i can say. speaking for myself---- chamberlain. if you had not thought it possible--should you have come? dist. v. i cannot conceive how that would have made any difference. chamberlain. still, if you had not thought it possible, you would hardly have asked the question. dist. v. well, now i have asked it. speech is an overrated means of communication--especially between friends; but it has to serve sometimes. and you, at least, chamberlain, have never used it as--talleyrand, was it not?--recommended that it should be used--for concealment. chamberlain. so you think that--in words at any rate--i've been honest? dist. v. i should say pre-eminently. chamberlain. and--loyal? dist. v. i have never had differences--political divergences--with any man more loyal than you, chamberlain. chamberlain. thank you. i value that--from you. so the question's answered. on my side there is no cloud, as you tell me i have nothing with which to reproach myself. dist. v. thank you for the reassurance. in that case the heavens are clear. chamberlain. i hope they are properly grateful. such a testimonial--from two men looking in opposite directions--is an embracing one. dist. v. opposite? oh, i had hoped--though we may not see eye to eye in everything--that still, in the main, we were in general agreement. chamberlain. possibly. i daresay "a half-sheet of note-paper" might still cover our "general agreement," so long as we only talked about it. that served us for--two years, did it not? but i wasn't meaning--as to our political opinions. i meant that you are still looking to the future; i can only look back. dist. v. that, for you, must be a retrospect of deep satisfaction. it has made much history. chamberlain. catastrophes make history--sometimes. dist. v. you helped to avert them. chamberlain. yes, for a time. but another may be coming, and i shan't be here then. and if i were, i should be no use. dist. v. oh, don't say that! nor can i agree, either. no use? your good word is a power we still depend on. no, chamberlain, we cannot do without you. chamberlain. you did--when you accepted my resignation. dist. v. for a fixed and an agreed purpose. in a way that only bound us more closely. chamberlain. i thought so then. but it has turned out differently. dist. v. has it? i should not have said so. am i not to count on you still? chamberlain. as a diminishing force? yes; i shan't disappoint you. dist. v. oh! (_deprecatingly, as of something that need not have been said_.) but not that at all! chamberlain (_rubbing it in_). necessarily: one who, as i said, can only look backward. forward, i am nothing. believe me, i have measured myself at last. this is no miscalculation--like the other. dist. v. the other? chamberlain. my resignation. dist. v. was that one? chamberlain. it certainly had not the effect i intended. dist. v. surely you were not then intending to force me against my own judgment? chamberlain. no; but i thought you, and the rest, would follow. dist. v. i think we did: i think we still do. but sometimes, with followers, following takes time. chamberlain. it will take more than my time. that is where i miscalculated. dist. v. but, my dear chamberlain--if one may be personal--you are maintaining your strength, are you not? the doctors--are hopeful? chamberlain. the regulation paragraphs are supplied to the papers, if that's what you mean. dist. v. but i had this from members of your own family. chamberlain. quite so; it is they who supply them. dist. v. then, if the source is so authoritative, surely it must be true. chamberlain. are newspaper paragraphs in such cases--ever true? dist. v. perhaps i am no judge. as you know, i seldom read them. chamberlain. aren't the probabilities that they will always overstate the case--as far as possible? dist. v. that is a course which, as an old politician,--speaking generally--i must own has its advantages. so often, when things are uncertain, one has to act as if one were sure. chamberlain. yes, you've done that--sometimes. sometimes you haven't. i shouldn't call you an old politician, though. being old is the thing you've always managed to avoid. and yet, you've been in at a good many political deaths first and last. dist. v. that, in itself, is an ageing experience. chamberlain. yes? ... i wonder. dist. v. oh, but surely! chamberlain. _i_ wasn't sure; but i take your word for it. dist. v. in politics, somehow, the deaths seem always to exceed the births: those who go have become more intimate: one has got to know them. yes, the departures do certainly overshadow the arrivals. chamberlain. yet sometimes they must have come to you as a relief. dist. v. my dear chamberlain, don't say that! it isn't true. chamberlain. oh! i wasn't thinking of myself just then. dist. v. you were thinking, then, of somebody? chamberlain. yes, i was. i was thinking of george wyndham. what a beautiful fellow he was! so clever, so handsome, so charming: a man cut out for success, by the very look of him. and then, all at once, down and out: the old pack had got him! how they hunted him! "devolution!" wouldn't they be glad to get that now? dist. v. at the time it was impossible. chamberlain. yes, you accepted that, i know. ... it broke his heart. ... did you go and see him--when he was dying? dist. v. i used to go and see him when i could--yes, frequently; we had been great friends. not immediately--a month or two before, was the last time, i think. chamberlain. and so with him, too, you could say that you remained friends to the last! you have had a wonderful career: friends, enemies, they all loved you. gladstone (who hadn't as a rule much love for his political opponents) made an exception in your case. dist. v. yes, i owed a great deal to his generous friendship. it gave me confidence. chamberlain. harcourt, too, always spoke of you with affection. dist. v. oh, yes; we had a brotherly feeling about rosebery, you know. chamberlain (_ignoring his diversion_). randolph hadn't though. he was bitter. dist. v. randolph was a performer who just once exceeded his promise, and then could never get back to it. that was his tragedy. strange how, when he lost his following, his brilliancy all went with it. chamberlain. yes, it was strange, in one so independent of others. he had a great faculty, at one time, for not caring, for being (or seeming) ruthless. it's a gift that a politician must envy. it hasn't been my way to lose my heart in politics: it's not safe. but--you charmed me. (_there is an implication here that the quiet tone has not obscured. and so the direct question comes_:) dist. v. chamberlain, i must ask. what is there between us? chamberlain. nothing--nothing now at all--or very little. dist. v. no, no; you are too sincere to pretend to misunderstand me like that. chamberlain. in politics can one afford to be quite--sincere? openly, i mean? dist. v. you have been--far more than others i could name. chamberlain. that is a friendly judgment. others wouldn't say so. if a man stays in politics till he ceases to be important, while others remain important, there's bound to be a change of relations. dist. v. in our case i don't admit that it has happened. chamberlain. don't you? you were our partyleader. i broke away; so you had to break me. from your point of view you were right. i thought i knew the game better than you. i made a mistake. dist. v. do you mean, then, that you intended to break _me_? chamberlain. oh, no. but i meant to--persuade you. dist. v. my view is that you did--very thoroughly. surely i went a long way--conceded a great deal. chamberlain. "half a sheet of note-paper" was the measure of it. yes, that speech was a great success, and you remained our leader. but your halving of that sheet was the beginning of--my defeat, your victory. dist. v. i don't recognise either. at this moment we are both defeated, in a sense: out of office, that is to say. chamberlain. yes, but you will come back. i shan't. dist. v. but--in all its essentials--what you stand for will. chamberlain. as a hang-fire, perhaps, while parties temporise and readjust themselves to a new balance. but never the same thing again. the time for it has gone. i missed it. dist. v. you mustn't be depressed, chamberlain. great policies, new orientations, need careful nursing--testing too. conditions are changing very rapidly. chamberlain. mine are getting worse. i have two nurses now--night and day: and i obey orders. dist. v. you do well to remind me. you shouldn't have let me tire you. (_and so saying he rises_.) chamberlain. you don't. you used to, now and then, when we didn't agree. you had the deliberate mind, your own fixed rate of progression: one couldn't hurry you. and your semitones, and semicircles, and semi-quavers used sometimes to worry me, i own. they don't now: having become a monotone myself, i acquiesce. _i'm_ the slow one, now: you've set me my pace.... here i sit, stock still. dist. v. (_lightly diverting the conversation from its impending embarrassment_). with your old associates still round you, i see! (_and he touches a trail of blossom admiringly, as he continues_:) they, at least, in their reflected glory, look flourishing; for they, too, have had a share in your career, have they not? chamberlain. yes, they helped me to get into _punch_, i suppose, if not into parliament. yet, i never thought of it, till it happened--'twas a mere accident. would you like to take one with you? dist. v. i don't usually so efface myself, but i will with pleasure. this one is quite exquisite. may i? thanks (_and the glory of it goes to his buttonhole_). i notice, too, that it has a scent. chamberlain. yes, that is a new kind, hard to rear. there are very few of it in england yet, and nowhere growing so well as they do here. dist. v. that is so like you, chamberlain--you are the born expert; everything you touch--it's in your blood. whatever you have done, you have done successfully. chamberlain. so i have your word for it. i was saying to collins this morning that as a type of the really successful man you had beaten me. dist. v. i--a type of success? my dear chamberlain! in my wildest dreams, i aim only at safety; and if my hesitations have sometimes distressed you, they have been far more distressing to myself. you yourself, in a moment of friendly candour, once described me (so i was told) as the champion stick-in-the-mud. chamberlain. so i did, and it's true. but i said "champion." if you hadn't been such a champion at it, the mud would have swallowed you up alive. instead of that, you have made it a tower of defence against your enemies. that's why i regard you not only as so successful, but so british. dist. v. may i, at least, claim that even for self-defence i have not slung it at my opponents? chamberlain. no. why waste it? it's your use, not your misuse of it that i so admire. if you hadn't been such a wonderful politician, you might have been a great statesman. dist. v. doesn't that rather indicate failure? chamberlain. no. sometimes the political world has no use for statesmen-- except to down them. sometimes it prefers politicians, and perhaps rightly. every age makes its own peculiar requirements; and those who find out when the political line is the better one to follow, are the successful ones. you and i have been--politicians; let's be honest and own it. and now my particular politics are over. circumstances have emptied me out. that's different from mere failure. great statesmen have been failures; we've seen them go down, you and i--too big, too far-seeing for their day. but they went down _full_, with all the weight of their great convictions and principles still to their credit. i'm empty. time has played me out. that's the difference. dist. v. i am confident that history will give a different verdict. chamberlain. will it? when exactly does history begin to get written? is a man's reputation for statesmanship safe, even after a hundred years? what about pitt? can one be so sure of him now? his european policy may have been a blunder; his great work in ireland may yet have to be reversed. dist. v. in reversed circumstances, that may become logical. but what has held good for a hundred year, i should incline to regard as statesmanship. chamberlain. "held good"? fetters a man can't break "hold good "; but they make a prisoner of him all the same. policies have done that to nations before now. but would you, on that score, say of them that they have held good? dist. v. but let me understand, my dear chamberlain, what exactly in pitt's policy you now question? chamberlain. nothing: i can't see far enough ahead to question anything. i only say, when does history begin to get written? we don't know. dist. v. what more can one do than direct it for the generation in which one lives? that, it seems to me, is our main responsibility. chamberlain. well, that's what you and i have done. how? mainly by pulling down bigger men than ourselves. randolph, parnell, gladstone--we got the better of them, didn't we? have you never wondered why men of genius get sent into the world--only to be defeated? gladstone was a bigger man than the whole lot of us; but we pulled him down--and i enjoyed doing it. parnell, for all his limitations, was a great man. well, we got him down too. and i confess that gave me satisfaction. you helped to pull randolph down; but you didn't enjoy doing it. that's where you and i were different. dist. v. i helped? chamberlain. yes; it had to be done. and you were sorry for him while you did it--just as you were sorry for wyndham. dist. v. but i did nothing! chamberlain. quite so. he came down here to fight us in the central division, and the conservatives were keen for it. it was touch and go: unionists were not in such close alliance then; he might have succeeded. you did nothing; wouldn't back him. (quite right, from my point of view.) randolph went down: never the same man again. dist. v. but, my dear chamberlain, we had our agreed compact. chamberlain. an official understanding, certainly. but that didn't prevent me from going to the round-table conference. that also was touch and go; it might have succeeded. where would our compact have been, then? dist. v. the round-table was merely an interrogation covering a forlorn hope. it failed because you remained loyal to your convictions. chamberlain. it failed because one day two of us lost our tempers--one bragged, the other bullied. that was the real reason. if gladstone had given me a large enough hand over his first bill, d'you suppose i shouldn't have been a home ruler? i was to begin with, remember. dist. v. standing for a very different bill, i imagine. chamberlain. which you would still have opposed. but i should have won. dist. v. certainly, if we had lost you, it would have made a difference. chamberlain. i was younger then: i'd more push in me. but you would have let me go, all the same. yes, i've always admired your courage when the odds were against you...so, when the time for it came, you pulled me down too. it had to be done. ...and here i am. dist. v. my dear chamberlain, you distress me deeply! chamberlain. of course i do. d'you think i haven't distressed myself too? do i look like a man who hasn't been through anything? dist. v. then--there is a cloud between us, after all. chamberlain. no. i see you clearly; i see myself clearly. there's no cloud about it; it's all sharp, and clear, and hard--hard as nails. and i've been able to put it into words--that now you understand. poor randolph! do you remember how his tongue stumbled, and tripped him, the last time he spoke in the house? and i saw you looking on, pitying him. you'd got a kind side to you, for all your efficiency. men like you for that--that charm...it's been a great asset to you. parnell, how he tried all his life to make a speech and couldn't. but what he said didn't matter--there was the man! what a force he might have been--was! what a samson, when he pulled the whole irish party down--got them all on top of him to pull with him. what d'you think he was doing then? trying to give his irish nation a soul! it looked like pride, pique, mere wanton destruction; but it was a great idea. and if ever they rise to it--if ever the whole irish nation puts its back to the wall as parnell wanted it to do then--shakes off dependence, alliance, conciliation, compromise, it may beat us yet! they were afraid of defeat. that's why we won. a cause or a nation that fears no defeat--nor any number of them--that's what wins in the long run. but does any such nation--any such cause exist? i'm not sure...i'm not really sure of anything now, only this: that it's better not to live too long after one has failed. to go on living then--is the worst failure of all. (_as be thus talks himself out, his auditor's solicitous concern has continually increased; and now when, for the first time, the voice breaks with exhaustion and emotion, the other, half-rising from his seat, interposes with gentle but insistent urgency.)_ dist. v. my dear chamberlain, you are overtaxing your strength; you are doing yourself harm. you ought not to go on. stop, i do beg of you! chamberlain. stop? why stop? what does it matter now? (_but even as he speaks, mind and will cease to contest the point where physical energy fails. his manner changes, his voice becomes dull and listless of tone_) oh, yes...yes. you are quite right. it's time. i'm under orders now. would you mind--the bell? (_then, as the other is about to rise, he perceives that the nurse has already entered, and now stands, unobtrusive but firm, awaiting the moment to reassert her sway_.) oh, it's not necessary. there's the nurse come again, to remind me that i mustn't tire myself in tiring you. (_and so, under the presiding eye of professional attendance, the visitor rises and advances to take his leave._) thank you--for coming. thank you--for hearing me so patiently...you always did that, even though it made no difference...i wonder--shall i ever see you again? dist. v. you shall. i promise. chamberlain. i wonder. dist. v. i assure you, i shall make a point of it. believe me, i am very grateful for this opportunity you have given me; and even more am i grateful for all your long loyalty in the past. through all differences, through all difficulties, i have felt that you were indeed a friend. so, till we meet again, my dear chamberlain, good-bye! (_the two hands meet and part, while the nurse moves forward to resume her professional duties. the distinguished visitor begins to retire_.) chamberlain. good-bye...you can find your way? dist. v. (_turning gracefully as be goes_). perfectly! (_and treating the door with the same perfection of courtesy as be treats all with whom he comes in contact, be goes to take his leave of other members of the family. the door closes; the nurse is punching the pillows; chamberlain speaks_:) chamberlain. so that's the end, eh?... charming fellow! (_and so saying, be settles back to the inattention of life to which he has become accustomed_.) the instrument dramatis personae woodrow wilson (_ex-president of the united states of america_) mr. tumulty (_his secretary_) a gracious presence an attendant the instrument scene; _washington. march th,_ . _through, the large windows of this rather stiffly composed sitting-room washington conveys an ample and not unimpressive view of its official character. the distant architecture, rising out of trees, is almost beautiful, and would be quite, if only it could manage to look a little less self-satisfied and prosperous. outside is a jubilant spring day; inside something which much more resembles the wintering of autumn. for though this is an entry over which the door has just opened and closed, it is in fact an exit, final and complete, from the stage of world-politics, made by one who in his day occupied a commanding position of authority and power. that day is now over. in the distance an occasional blare of brass and the beat of drums tells that processions are still moving through the streets of the capital, celebrating the inauguration of the new president. it is the kind of noise which america knows how to make; a sound of triumph insistent and strained, having in it no beauty and no joy. the ex-president moves slowly across the room, bearing heavily to one side upon his stick, to the other upon the proudly protecting arm of his friend, mr. secretary tumulty. into the first comfortable chair that offers he lets himself down by slow and painful degrees, lay's his stick carefully aside, then begins very deliberately to pull off his gloves. when that is done, only then allowing himself complete relaxation, he sinks back in his chair, and in a voice of resigned weariness speaks_. ex-pres. so ... that's over! tumulty. it hasn't tired you too much, i hope? ex-pres. too much for what, my dear tumulty? i've time to be tired now. what else, except to be tired, is there left for me to do? tumulty. obey doctor's orders. ex-pres. he let me go. tumulty (_shrewdly_). you would have gone in any case. ex-pres. yes. (_tumulty adjusts the cushions at his back_.) thank you. tumulty (_seating himself_). well, governor, now you've seen him in place, what do you think of him? ex-pres. oh, i find him--quite--what i expected him to be. i think he means well. tumulty. a new president always does. ex-pres. (_slowly pondering his words_). yes ... that's true ... "means well." tumulty (_tactfully providing diversion_). the big crowd outside was very friendly, i thought. ex-pres. yes ... couldn't have been friendlier....it let me alone. tumulty. well, of course, they'd come mainly to see the new president. ex-pres. of course. so had i. yes, i believe harding's a good man. he was very kind, very considerate. i feel grateful. tumulty (_with rich emotion_). that's how a good many of us are feeling to you, governor: to-day very specially. it's what i've come back to say. ex-pres. that's very good of you. we've had--differences of opinion; but you've always been loyal. tumulty. i think, president--forgive me; the word slipped out. ex-pres. no matter. tumulty. i think there's been more loyalty--at heart--than you know. behind all our differences, in the party (as, with such big issues, couldn't be avoided)--well; they didn't cut so deep as they seemed to. they were all proud of you, even though we couldn't always agree. of course there've been exceptions. ex-pres. i don't want to judge the exceptions now (as perhaps i have done in the past) more hardly than i judge myself ... tumulty, i've failed. tumulty (_extenuatingly_.) in a way--yes: for a time, no doubt. ex-pres. absolutely. tumulty. i don't agree. ex-pres. because you don't know. tumulty. governor, i know a good deal. ex-pres. oh, yes; you've been a right hand to me--all through. others weren't. so i had to leave them alone, and--be alone. when i made that choice, it seemed not to matter: my case was so strong--and i had such faith in it! it was that did for me! tumulty. chief, i'm not out to argue with you--to make you more tired than you are already. but if i don't say anything, please don't think i'm agreeing with you. ex-pres. i'm accustomed to people not agreeing with me, tumulty.... yes: too much faith--not in what i stood for, but in myself: perhaps--though there i'm not so sure--perhaps too little in others. to some i gave too much: and the mischief was done before i knew. tumulty. you don't need to name him, president. ex-pres. i don't need to name anyone now. sometimes a man may know his own points of weakness too well--guard against them to excess, be overcautious because of them; and then, trying to correct himself, just for once he's not cautious enough. but where i failed was in getting the loyalty and cooperation of those who didn't agree with me so thoroughly as you did. and i ought to have done it; for that is a part of government. your good executive is the man who gets all fish into his net. i failed: i caught some good men, but i let others go. there was fine material to my hand which i didn't recognise, or didn't use so well as i should have done. i hadn't the faculty of letting others think for me: when i tried, it went badly; they didn't respond. so--i did all myself. tumulty (_airing himself a little_). you always listened to _me_, governor. ex-pres. yes, tumulty, yes. and you weren't offended when i--didn't pay any attention. tumulty. when you _had_ paid attention, you mean. ex-pres. perhaps i do. my way of paying attention has struck others differently. they think i'm one who doesn't listen--who doesn't want to listen. it's a terrible thing, tumulty, when one sees and knows the truth so absolutely, but cannot convince others. that's been my fate: to be so sure that i was right (i'm as sure of that now as ever) and yet to fail. here--there--it has been always the same. i went over to paris thinking to save the peace: there came a point when i thought it was saved; it would have been had the senate backed me--it could have been done then. but when i put the case to which already we stood pledged, i convinced nobody. they did not want justice to be done. tumulty. but you had a great following, governor. you had a wonderful reception when you got to paris. ex-pres. yes: in london too. it seemed then as if people were only waiting to be led. but i'm talking of the politicians now. there was no room for conviction there; each must stick to his brief. that's what wrecked us. not one--not one could i get to own that the right thing was the wise thing to do: that to be just and fear not was the real policy which would have saved europe--and the world.... look at it now! step by step, their failure is coming home to them; but still it is only as failure that they see it--mere human inability to surmount insuperable difficulties: the greed, the folly, the injustice, the blindness, the cruelty of it they don't see. and the people don't teach it them. they can't. no nation--no victorious nation--has gotten it at heart to say, "we, too, have sinned." lest such a thing should ever be said or thought, one of the terms of peace was to hand over all the blame; so, when the enemy signed the receipt of it, the rest were acquitted. and in that solemn farce the allies found satisfaction! what a picture for posterity! and when they point and laugh, i shall be there with the rest. it's our self-righteousness has undone us, tumulty; it's that which has made us blind and hard--and dishonest: for there has been dishonesty too. because we were exacting reparations for a great wrong, we didn't mind being unjust to the wrongdoer. and so, in paris, we spent months, arguing, prevaricating, manoeuvring, so as to pretend that none had had any share in bringing the evil about. when i spoke for considerate justice, there was no living force behind me in that council of the nations. they wanted their revenge, and now they've got it: and look what it is costing them! (_and then the door opens, and an attendant enters, carrying a, covered cup upon a tray. upon this intrusion the ex-president turns a little grimly; but before he can speak, tumulty interposes_.) tumulty. you'll forgive this little interruption, governor: i got domestic orders to see that you took it.... you will? (_the dictatorial expression softens: with a look of mild resignation the ex-president touches the table for the tray to be set down. and when the attendant has gone, he continues_:) ex-pres. no, they wouldn't believe me when i said that to be revengeful would cost more than to be forgiving. and still they won't believe that the trouble they are now in comes--not from the destructiveness of the war, but from their own destruction of the peace. i had the truth in me; but i failed. i was a voice crying into the void--a president without a people to back me: a dictator--of words! and they knew that my time was short, and that i had no power of appeal--because the heart of my people was not with me! if they had any doubt before, the vote of the senate told them. tumulty. you said "the people," governor? ex-pres. the people's choice, tumulty. the vote _for_ the senate, and the vote _of_ the senate: where's the difference? tumulty. still, i don't think you know how many were with you right through: and i'm not speaking only of our own people. over there it was your stand gave hope to the best of them, so long as hope was possible. but they were all so busy holding their breath, maybe they didn't make noise enough. anyway--seems you didn't hear 'em. ex-pres. you can't reproach me with it, tumulty---- tumulty (_expostulant_). i'm not doing that, governor! ex-pres. ----more than i reproach myself. if that were true, then it was my business to know it. but what i ought to have known i realised too late. when i heard those shouting crowds--yes, then, for a while, i thought it did mean--victory. but in the conference at versailles--paris-- i was in another world: the shouting died out, and i was alone.... i hadn't expected to be alone--in there, i mean. i had reckoned--was it wrong?--on honour counting among those in high places of authority for more than it did. we went in pledged up to the hilt: not in detail, not in legal terms, not as politicians, perhaps; but as men of honour--speaking each for the honour of our own nation. and that wasn't enough; for whom people stand pledged twice over--first in secret, then publicly--it's difficult to make them face where honour lies. tumulty. you mean the secret treaties, governor. that's been a puzzle to many of us: what you knew about them, i mean. ex-pres. tumulty, i willed not to know them. rumour of them reached me, of course. had i then given them a hearing, i might have been charged with complicity, the silence which gave consent. many were anxious that i should know of them--at a time when opposition would have been very difficult--premature, outside my province. and so--by not knowing--i was free: and when i stated the basis of the peace terms, i stated them (and i was secure then in my power to do so) in terms which should in honour have made those secret treaties no longer tenable. there was my first great error--i acknowledge it, tumulty: that i believed in honour. tumulty (_reluctantly)._ yes ... i see that. but it's the sort of thing one can only see after it has happened. you must have got a pretty deep-down insight into character, governor, when you came to the top of things over there, to the top people, i mean. ex pres. (_after a pause reflectively_). yes. it was very interesting, when one got accustomed to it: highly selected humanity, representative of things--it was afraid of. there daily sat four of us--if one counts heads only; but we were, in fact, six, or seven, or eight characters. and the characters sprang up and choked us. patriots, statesmen? oh yes! but also "careerists." men whose future depends on the popular vote can't always be themselves--at least, it seemed not; for we should then have ceased to be "representative," and it was as representatives that we had come. and so one would sit and listen, and watch--one person, and two characters. lloyd george, when his imagination was not swamped in self-satisfaction, was quite evangelical to listen to-- sometimes. but there he was representative--not of principles, nor of those visionary sparks which he struck so easily and threw off like matches, but of a successful election cry for "hanging the kaiser" and "making germany pay." and having got his majority, he and his majority had become one. but for that, he might--he just might ... yet who can tell? that tied him. i was alone. tumulty (_coming nobly to the rescue_). then take this from me, governor: for a man all alone you did wonders. ex-pres. i did my best; but i failed. my first mistake was when i believed in honour; my second, when i let them shut the doors. yes, to that he got me to agree. clever, clever; that was his first win. tumulty. who, governor? ex-pres. (_with a dry laugh_). the man who told me he was on my side. the reason?--a kindly means of saving faces for those whom he and i were going to "persuade"--of making the "climb-down" easier for them! that seemed a helpful, charitable sort of reason, didn't it? one it would have been hard to refuse. i didn't; so the doors were shut to cover defeat and disappointment over the secret treaties. then they had me: three against one! and their weight told--quite apart from mere argument; for each had behind him the popular voice (and when one lost it--you may remember-- another came, and took his place). but against me the popular voice had shut its mouth: i, too, was an electioneer--a defeated one. of my lease of power then, less than a year remained. after the senate elections i was nothing. in paris they knew it: and i could see in their eyes that they were glad. yes, _he_ was glad, too. (_as he speaks, his head sinks in depression. there is a pause._) tumulty (_in his best sick-bed manner_). governor, don't you think that you'd better rest now? ex-pres. (_ignoring the remark_). and so the old secret diplomacy, balancing for power, with war as the only sure end of it, came back to life; and i--pledged to its secrecies with the rest--i had to stay dumb. i was a drowning man, then, tumulty--clutching at straws, till i became an adept at it. there, perhaps, as you say, i did do "wonders"--of a kind: all i could, anyway. that was my plight, while there in paris we held high court, and banqueted, and drank healths from dead men's skulls. did nobody guess--outside--what was going on? i gave one signal that i thought was plain enough, when i sent for the _george washington_ to bring me home again. but, though i listened for it then, there seemed no response. people were so busy, you say, holding their breath; and _that_ i couldn't hear. tumulty (_zealous, in a pause, to show his interest_). well, governor, well? ex-pres. and then, rather than let me so go and spoil the general effect (the one power still left to me!), they began to make concessions-- concessions which, i see now, didn't amount to much; and so they persuaded me, and i stayed on, and signed my failure with the rest. tumulty (_for a diversion pointing to the covered cup_). pardon me, governor, you must obey orders, you know. they are not mine. ex-pres. (_taking up the cup with a dry smile_). executive authority has taught me that obeying orders is much simpler than giving them: you know when you've got them done. (_removing the cover, he drains the cup and sets it down again_.) there! now let your conscience be at rest. (_after a pause he resumes_:) tumulty, when i faced failure, when i knew that i had failed----yes; don't trouble to contradict me. i know, dear friend, i know that you don't agree; and, god bless you! i also know why.----when i knew _that_, after the whole thing was over, and i was out again and free, do you suppose i wasn't tempted to go out and cry the truth (as some were expecting and wishing for it to be cried) in the ears of the whole world?--let all know that i _had_ failed, and so--that way at least--separate myself from the evil thing which there sat smiling at itself in its hall of mirrors--seeing no frustrate ghosts, no death's heads at that feast, as i saw them?... i came out a haunted man--all the more because those i was amongst didn't believe in ghosts--not then. people who have been overwhelmingly victorious in a great war find that difficult. but they will--some day. tumulty. well, governor, and supposing you had yielded to this "temptation," as you call it, what's the proposition? ex-pres. this ... i had one power--one weapon, still left to me unimpaired: to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me god! and the proposition is just this: whether to be stark honest, even against the apparent interests of the very cause you are out to plead, is not in the long run the surest way--if it be of god-- to help it make good: whether defeat, with the whole truth told, isn't better than defeat hidden away and disowned, in the hope that something may yet come of it. you may get a truer judgment that way in the end; though at the time it may seem otherwise. yes, i _was_ tempted to cry it aloud--to make a clean breast of it--to say, "we, the governments of the people, the democracies, the free nations of the world, have failed-- have lost the peace which we could have won, because we would not give up the things which we loved so much better--profit, revenge, our own too good opinion of ourselves, our own self-righteous judgment of others."... i was tempted to it; and yet it has been charged against me that i would not admit failure because i wanted to save my face. tumulty. you have never been much scared by what people _said_, governor. that didn't count, i reckon. ex-pres. no, tumulty; but this did--that where all seemed dark, i still saw light. down there, among the wreckage, something was left--an instrument of which i thought i saw the full future possibility more clearly than others. i believe i do still. and my main thought then was--how best to secure that one thing to which, half blindly, they had agreed. to win that, i was willing to give up my soul. tumulty. it's the covenant, you mean, governor? ex-pres. yes, the covenant! that at least was won--seemed won--whatever else was lost. some of them were willing to let me have it only because they themselves believed it would prove useless--just to save my face for all i had to give up in exchange. and so i--let them "save my face" for me; let them think that it was so--just to give this one thing its chance. and so, for that, and for that alone, i bound myself to the treaty--stood pledged to do my utmost to see it through: a different thing, that, from telling the truth. was i wrong, tumulty--was i wrong? tumulty. no, no, governor! you did everything a man could--under the circumstances. ex-pres. i have said that often to myself: and i hope, sometimes, that it may be true. but a man who gives up anything of the truth, as he sees it, for reasons however good--can he ever be sure of himself again?... it's a new thing for me to ask another man if i have done wrong. but that's the way i feel: i don't myself know. and once, once, i was so sure--that i was right, and that i should win! (_the situation has now become one which the friendly tumulty would like to control, but cannot. as a "soul-stirring revelation of character" he finds it, no doubt, immensely interesting; but to be thus made father confessor of the man whom he has followed with humble and dog-like devotion, knocks the bottom out of his world altogether. moreover, he has received "domestic orders," and is not properly obeying them; and so, dominated by the stronger will, he glances apprehensively, now and again, toward the door, hoping that it may open and bring relief, but himself sits and does nothing. meanwhile, insistent and remorseless at self-examination, the ex-president continues to wear himself out_.) when a man comes really to himself, tumulty--sees clearly within--does it help him toward seeing also what lies outside, beyond, and ahead--make him more sure that, as regards others, he has done right? i don't know--i would give my life to know--if what i did, when all else had failed, was best. the political forces, prejudices, antagonisms, the powers of evil around me, have been so dubiously deceiving and dark, that i do not know now whether to have been uncompromisingly true to principle would have done any good. perhaps after to-day i shall know better; perhaps only now have i become qualified to judge--a free man at last. only in the secrecy of my own heart--now finally removed from all the interests, ambitions, fears, which gather about a man's public career--i do most earnestly and humbly pray that in this one thing i did right--not to discredit myself too utterly in the world's eyes, so that _that_, at least, might live. tumulty (_doing his best_). it _will_ live, governor! ex-pres. it _may_. but in what hands have i had to leave it? to men who have no faith in it, to men who dislike it, to men who will try persistently, sedulously, day in, day out, to turn it back to their own selfish ends. there, in those hands, its fate will lie--perhaps for a generation to come. and it is only by faith in the common people, not in their politicians, that i dare look forward and hope that the instrument-- blunt and one-sided though it be now--may yet become mighty and two-edged and sharp, a sword in the hand of a giant--of one whose balances are those of justice, not of power. but _i_ shan't see it, tumulty; it won't be in my day. if america had come in, i should! that was the keystone of my policy: that gone, my policy has failed. that was my faith--is still; for faith can live on when policies lie dead. think what it might have been! america, with that weapon to her hand, could have shaped the world's future, made it a democracy of free nations--image and superscription no longer caesar's--but man's. that--that was what i saw! tumulty. perhaps they saw it too, governor. if they did, it might help to explain matters. ex-pres. the covenant was the instrument--and would have sufficed. so organised, america's voice in all future contentions would have been too strong, and just, and decisive to be gainsayed. then life would have been in it, then it would have prospered and become mighty. it would have meant--within a generation from now--world-peace. of that i had a sure sense: it would have come. to make that possible, what i had to yield to present jealousies, discords, blindness, was of no account--only look far enough! for there, in the future, was the instrument for correcting them-- the people's vote for the first time internationally applied. and i had in me such faith that america, secure of her place in the world's councils, would have wrought to make justice international, and peace no longer a dream! was i wrong, tumulty, was i wrong? tumulty (_expanding himself_). no man who believes in america as much as i do will ever say you were wrong, governor. ex-pres. but when america stood out--when the senate refused to ratify-- then i _was_ wrong. for then, what i had backed--all that remained then--was a thing of shreds and patches. nobody can think worse of the treaty than i do with america out of it, with the covenant left the one-sided and precarious thing it now is. had we only been in it--the rest wouldn't have mattered. call it a dung-heap, if you like; yet out of it would have sprung life. it may still; but _i_ shan't see it, tumulty; and that vision, which was then so clear, has become a doubt. was i wrong--was i wrong to pretend that i had won anything worth winning? would it not have been better to say "i have failed"? tumulty. forgive me, governor: you are looking at things from a tired-out mind. that's not fair, you know. ex-pres. but if you knew, oh, if you knew against what odds i fought even to get that! they knew that they had got me down; and the only card left me at last was their own reluctance to let a discredited president go back to his own people and show them his empty hands, and tell them that he had failed. so a bargain was struck, and this one thing was given me, that peradventure it might have life--if i, for my part, would come back here and plead the ratification of the treaty which they--and i--had made. could i have done that with any effect, had i said that in almost everything i had failed? tumulty. chief, i think you did right. but i still feel i'm up a back street. how could things have come to fail as much as they did? after all, it was a just war. ex-pres. tumulty, i have been asking myself whether there can be such a thing as a "just war." there can be--please god!--there must be sometimes a just _cause_ for war. when one sees great injustice done, sees it backed by the power of a blindly militarised nation, marching confidently to victory, then, if justice has any place in the affairs of men, there is sometimes just cause for war. but can there be--a just war? i mean--when the will to war takes hold of a people--does it remain the same people? does war in its hands remain an instrument that can be justly used? can it be waged justly? can it be won justly? can it, having been won, make to a just peace? no! something happens: there comes a change; war in a people's mind drives justice out.... can soldiers fight without "seeing red"--can a nation? not when nations have to fight on the tremendous scale of modern war. then they are like those monstrous mechanisms of long-range destructiveness, which we so falsely call "weapons of precision," but which are in fact so horribly unprecise that, once let loose, we cannot know what lives of harmlessness, of innocence, of virtue, they are going to destroy. you find your range, you fix your elevation, you touch a button: you hear your gun go off. and over there, among the unarmed--the weak, the defenceless, the infirm--it has done--what? singled out for destruction what life or lives; ten, twenty, a hundred?--you do not know. so with nations, when once they have gone to war; their imprecision becomes--horrible; though the cause of your war may be just. (_tumulty gives a profound nod, paying his chief the compliment of letting it be seen that he is causing him to think deeply_.) that's what happened here. do you remember, did you realise, tumulty, what a power my voice was in the world--till we went in?--that, because i had the power to keep them back from war (for there my constitutional prerogative was absolute), even my opponents had to give weight to my words. they were angry, impatient, but they had to obey. and, because they could not help themselves, they accepted point by point my building up of the justice of our cause. they didn't care for justice; but i spoke for the nation then; and, with justice as my one end, i drove home my point. and then--we went in. after that, justice became vengeance. when our men went over the trenches, fighting with short arms, "_lusitania!_" was their cry: and they took few prisoners--you know that, tumulty. (_over that point the ex-president pauses, though tumulty sees no special reason why he should pause._) the _lusitania_ had been sunk, and still we had not gone to war, and no crowds came to cry it madly outside the white house as they might have done--if that was how they felt then. the _lusitania_ lies at the bottom of the sea. there are proposals for salving her; but i think that there she will remain. the salving might tell too much. tumulty. you mean that talk about fuse caps being on board might have been true? would it matter now? ex-pres. yes. it was a horrible thing in any case--disproportionate, like most other acts of war--and it did immeasurable harm to those who thought to benefit. but this--i still only guess--might do too much good--bring things a little nearer to proportion again, which the treaty did not try to do.... what i've been realising these last two years is a terrible thing. you go to war, you get up to it from your knees--god driving you to it--unable, yes, unable to do else. your will is to do right, your cause is just, you are a united nation, a people convinced, glad, selfless, with hearts heroic and clean. and then war takes hold of it, and it all changes under your eyes; you see the heart of your people becoming fouled, getting hard, self-righteous, revengeful. your cause remains, in theory, what it was at the beginning; but it all goes to the devil. and the devil makes on it a pile that he can make no otherwise--because of the virtue that is in it, the love, the beauty, the heroism, the giving-up of so much that man's heart desires. that's where he scores! look at all that valiance, that beauty of life gone out to perish for a cause it knows to be right; think of the generosity of that giving by the young men; think of the faithful courage of the women who steel themselves to let them go; think of the increase of spirit and selflessness which everywhere rises to meet the claim. all over the land which goes to war that is happening (and in the enemy's land it is the same), making war a sacred and a holy thing. and having got it so sanctified, then the devil can do with it almost what he likes. that's what he has done, tumulty. if angels led horses by the bridle at the marne (as a pious legend tells), at versailles the devil had his muzzled oxen treading out the corn. and of those--i was one! yes; war muzzles you. you cannot tell the truth; if you did, it wouldn't be believed. and so, finally, comes peace; and over that, too, the devil runs up his flag--cross-bones and a skull. tumulty (_struggling in the narrow path between wrong and right_). but what else, governor, is your remedy? we had to go to war; we were left with no choice in the matter. ex-pres. no, we _had_ no choice. and what others had any choice?-- what people, i mean? but that is what everyone--once we were at war-- refused to remember. and so we cried "_lusitania!_" against thousands of men who had no choice in the matter at all. remedy? there's only one. somehow we must get men to believe that christ wasn't a mad idealist when he preached his sermon on the mount; that what he showed for the world's salvation then was not a sign only, but the very instrument itself. we've got to make men see that there's something in human nature waiting to respond to a new law. there are two things breeding in the world--love and hatred; breeding the one against the other. and there's fear making hatred breed fast, and there's fear making love breed slow. even as things now are, it has managed--it has just managed to keep pace; but only just. if men were not afraid--love would win. that, i've come to see, is the simple remedy; but it's going to be the hardest thing to teach--because all the world is so much afraid. (_and then, the worn, haggard man, having thus talked himself out, there enters by the benign intervention of providence a gracious presence, more confident than he in her own ruling power. she moves quietly toward them, and her voice, when she speaks, is corrective of a situation she does not approve_!) the presence. mr. tumulty ... my dear. (_resting her hands on the back of the ex-president's chair, she surveys them benevolently but critically. then her attention is directed to the covered cup standing on its tray_!) have you taken your---- ex-pres. my medicine? yes. your orders came through, and have been obeyed. the presence. it wasn't medicine. i made it myself. ex-pres. then i beg its pardon--and yours. the presence. will you please to remember that your holiday began at twelve o'clock to-day? i'm not going to allow any overtime now. ex-pres. that settles it, then, tumulty. and that means you are to go. i had just been saying, my dear, how much simpler it was to obey orders than to give and to get them obeyed. the presence. getting them obeyed is quite simple. it is merely a matter of how you give them. ex-pres. you see, tumulty--it's all a matter of "how." the presence. there's someone waiting to speak to you on the 'phone: wants to know how you are. i thought i would come and see first. ex-pres. who is it? the presence (_indicating the receiver_). he's there. (_the ex-president reaches out his hand, and tumulty from an adjoining table gives him the instrument. as he listens, they stand watching him._) ex-pres. oh, yes.... that's very kind of him.... please will you tell the president, with my best thanks, that i am greatly enjoying my holiday.... thank you.... good-bye. (_he gives the instrument back to the waiting tumulty._) tumulty (_with swelling-bosom_). governor, that was a great answer! ex-pres. easily said, tumulty. but is it true? (_but tumulty's breast is such a platform for the generous emotions that he does not really care whether it is true or not. and therein, between himself and his hero, lies the difference. grasping his fallen leader forcefully by the hand and murmuring his adieux in a voice of nobly controlled emotion, he obeys the waiting eye of the gracious presence, and goes. and as she sees him serenely to the door, the ex-president looks ruefully at his painfully oversqueezed hand, and begins rubbing it softly. even the touch of a friend sometimes hurts._) (_the door closes: the two are alone. she who-must-be-obeyed stands looking at him with a benevolent eye_.) peter parley's visit to london. london: clarke, printers, silver street, falcon square. [illustration: _madeley lith. , wellington st. strand._ the coronation of her majesty queen victoria.] peter parley's visit to london, during the coronation of queen victoria. [illustration] london: charles tilt, fleet street. mdcccxxxix. to the good little boys and girls of great britain, peter parley dedicates these pages. contents. chapter i. parley arrives in london page chapter ii. parley goes to see the new crown chapter iii. parley visits westminster abbey and hyde-park.--preparations for the fair chapter iv. parley sees the queen, and relates some anecdotes of her majesty chapter v. parley continues his anecdotes of the queen chapter vi. parley describes westminster abbey on the morning of the coronation, and relates the legends connected with st. edward's chair chapter vii. parley describes the procession to westminster abbey chapter viii. parley describes the coronation in westminster abbey chapter ix. parley continues his description of the coronation in westminster abbey chapter x. parley gives an account of the illuminations, and of the grand display of fire-works chapter xi. parley attends a review in hyde park, and relates some passages in the life of marshal soult.--conclusion peter parley's visit to london. chapter i. parley arrives in london. "well, my little friends, here is your old acquaintance, peter parley, come to tell some more of his amusing tales. you wonder, i dare say, what could tempt such a frail old man as i am to leave home, and come so far. you shall hear. "a coronation, you must know, is a sight not to be seen every day in the united states, where we have neither king nor queen, so thinks i to myself, i hear a great deal about the grandeur of the spectacle which is to be exhibited at the crowning of queen victoria, and though i have seen many grand sights in my day, i have never seen a coronation, so i shall just get into one of these new steam ships which take one across the atlantic ocean so quickly, and have a look at the affair. i shall, besides, have an opportunity of seeing the kind london friends who treated me so handsomely when i was last in england, and then i shall have such lots of new stories for my young friends. i must--i shall go! "peter parley is not a man to spend much time in idling after having formed a resolution, so the very next day, having bid my old housekeeper good bye, i was on my way to new york. "as soon as i arrived at new york, i made enquiries about the steam ships, and, finding that the 'great western' was to sail very soon, i secured my passage in her, and then went to visit my friends in that city, for i always like to fulfil the old adage, and finish my work before i begin to play. "every body was surprised at my undertaking, and some kind folks wanted to persuade me to stay at home, thinking to frighten me by telling me about the length of the voyage, &c. they did not know peter parley. one wag, who wished to be very witty, asked me why i did not wait and take my passage in the new american ship, the 'horse-alligator,' which was to sail on the th of june, and arrive in london the day before! i could not help laughing at the idea, but i told him that steam was quick enough for me. "i have already told you about my voyages across the atlantic, so i need do no more now than make just one passing remark on the splendour of the fitting-up, and the admirable arrangements of the 'great western.' we passed a great many vessels as we came along, especially when we were not far distant from the american and english shores. they had no chance with us. sometimes we discovered them far a-head, like mere specks on the ocean. in an hour or two we came up with them, and, in as much more time, left them far behind. the steady and untiring whirl of the steamer's paddles carried every thing before it. "we reached bristol in thirteen days, and, as i had nothing to detain me there, i hurried on to london, and arrived in the middle of the grand preparations. "every body was as busy as a bee.--nothing was talked of but the coronation. 'oh! mr. parley, have you come to see the coronation too?' was my first salute from every lip. my kind old friend, major meadows, insisted on my taking up my quarters in his house, and promised that i should see every thing that was to be seen, and hear every thing that was to be heard. this was just what i wanted to be at, so i fixed myself with him at once." chapter ii. parley goes to see the new crown. "after paying a few visits, and renewing old friendships, i set myself, in good earnest, to see what was to be seen. "the most attractive object, connected with the coronation, exhibiting at the time, was the new crown made for the occasion. i accordingly made the best of my way into the city, to the shop of messrs. rundell and bridge, her majesty's goldsmiths, on ludgate hill, who, with the greatest liberality, had thrown open their rooms that the public might have an opportunity of inspecting the crown. "so great was the crowd, all anxious to have a peep, that it was some time before i could press forward to the door of the shop. carriages were so busy taking up and setting down company, that the street was quite blocked up. at length, however, by dint of perseverance, peter parley managed to squeeze in. "after traversing the shop, all round which are ranged articles of the most massive and costly description, we were ushered into an interior apartment, in which, in glass cases, were deposited the precious curiosities. "in the centre, the admired of all beholders, was the royal crown. it is beautifully designed, and formed in the most costly and elegant manner, and so covered with precious stones, as almost to dazzle the eyes of old peter parley. it is composed of hoops of silver, enclosing a cap of deep purple velvet. the hoops are completely covered and concealed by precious stones, the whole surmounted by a ball covered with small diamonds, and having a maltese cross of brilliants on the top of it. the body of the crown is wreathed with fleurs-de-lis and maltese crosses; the one in the front being ornamented with a very large heart-shaped ruby, once, i was informed, a principal ornament in the crown of edward the black prince, and which he is said to have worn at the battle of cressy. peter parley cannot remember all the details, for besides these, there are many other precious stones in the crown. the rim is surrounded with ermine, and it certainly struck me as being one of the finest things i had ever seen. "close beside the crown were the coronets of the royal dukes and duchesses, but though they also were made of costly materials, the attractions of the crown were so great as to throw the others quite into the back ground. i had hardly time to turn my eyes toward the case containing the orb and sword of state, before i was hurried away by the pressure of the crowd behind, which kept pouring in in undiminished numbers. "as i moved towards the door behind the shop, which was set apart for visitors retiring, i passed a table on which was displayed a service of massive gold utensils, to be used in the consecration service. "when i reached the street, i found it still densely crowded. i wanted to go to st. paul's, which stands close by, but was afraid to venture into such a crowd, so i directed my steps to westminster abbey, making my way with some difficulty down ludgate hill and along fleet street, and passing beneath temple bar, which marks the boundary of the city." chapter iii. parley visits westminster abbey and hyde-park. preparations for the fair. "as i approached the venerable pile i found all in bustle and confusion. every where carpenters were busily engaged fitting up galleries for the accommodation of spectators of the procession on the day of the coronation. ranges of such erections lined the whole course of the street through which the procession was to pass, up to the very door of the abbey; even the church-yard was lined with them. these i was told were the speculations of tradesmen, who let the sittings according to the value of the situation, at prices varying from half-a-sovereign up to a couple of guineas. for some very choice places even five guineas was asked. "peter parley could not help smiling at the fine names which had been given to some of these erections; such as the 'royal victoria gallery,' the 'royal kent gallery,' &c., &c. "by order of the earl marshal no visitors were permitted to enter the abbey; but as good luck would have it, just as i happened to be passing the western grand entrance i met a gentleman connected with the board of works, whom i had seen at major meadows's the day before, and who most obligingly offered to introduce me. "i gladly availed myself of his invitation, and was much struck with the grandeur and extent of the preparations. "at the western entrance to the abbey a suite of apartments for robing-rooms for her majesty and the members of the royal family had been erected. so completely did this structure harmonize externally with the rest of the antique building, that i should not have observed that it was a temporary erection had it not been pointed out to me. the chamber set apart for her majesty was fitted up in the most gorgeous manner--the walls beautifully ornamented, and the furniture, all of the richest and most magnificent description. though less costly the apartments for the royal family were equally chaste. "the interior of the abbey presented a scene at once animated and beautiful. workmen were busily engaged in various parts finishing the preparations. i will have occasion to tell you about the interior of the abbey by and by, so i may as well say nothing about it at present. "peter parley now proceeded to hyde-park to see the preparations for the grand fair which was to be held in that noble pleasure-ground on this joyous occasion. "already many booths displayed themselves on the plain, and many more were in the act of being erected. richardson, who peter parley understood is one of the most famous of the show-folks, had erected a large and handsome theatre, which even thus early seemed to have considerable attractions for the multitude who had gathered round it in great numbers. "peter parley having seen all that was worth seeing in the fair was beginning to feel tired, and was directing his steps homeward, when all of a sudden his attention was attracted to a particular part of the park to which people seemed to be hastening from all quarters. peter parley hurried to the spot and was most agreeably surprised to find that it was queen victoria, accompanied by her suite, taking her accustomed airing in her carriage." chapter iv. parley sees the queen, and relates some anecdotes of her majesty. "'what a dear sweet lady!' were the first words of peter parley when the royal cavalcade had passed. [illustration: _madeley lith. , wellington st. strand._ her majesty leaving buckingham palace on the morning of the coronation.] "'she is a dear sweet lady, mr. parley, and, what is more, she is as good as she is sweet,' said my friend, major meadows, who, afraid lest i should overwalk myself in my zeal for sight-seeing, had followed me from westminster abbey and luckily fallen in with me in the park, and he went on to relate many very interesting anecdotes of the young queen, which peter parley took good care to remember because he knew they would gratify his young friends." "'her majesty is doatingly fond of children, mr. parley,' said he, 'and that you know is always the sign of a good heart. nothing can be finer than the traits of character exhibited in a little anecdote which lady m---- told me a day or two ago. "'not long since, her majesty commanded lady barham, one of the ladies in waiting, to bring her family of lovely children to the new palace. they were greatly admired and fondly caressed by the queen; when a beautiful little boy about three years of age artlessly said-- "'i do not see the queen; i want to see the queen;' upon which her majesty, smiling, said-- "'i am the queen, love;' and taking her little guest into her arms repeatedly kissed the astonished child. "this little anecdote warmed old peter parley's heart towards the young queen; nor did any of the stories which major meadows told me tend to lessen my regard for her. peter parley was pleased to hear that she has a proper sense of the importance of the station to which she has been called by divine providence. "on the day on which she was proclaimed queen of great britain she arrived in company with her royal mother at st. james's palace for the purpose of taking part in the important ceremony. as they drove towards the palace the party received the most affectionate demonstrations of loyalty and attachment, the people following the carriages with a continuous cry of 'long live the queen'--'god bless our youthful queen, long may she live,' &c. yet, exciting and exhilirating as were these acclamations, her majesty's countenance exhibited marks only of anxiety and grief. "they arrived at st. james's palace a little before ten o'clock. when the old bell of the palace-clock announced that hour, the band struck up the national anthem, the park and tower guns fired a double royal salute, and the young and trembling queen, led by the marquis of lansdowne, president of the council, appeared at an open window looking into the great court of the palace. at the fervent and enthusiastic shout of the people who had come to witness the ceremony, her majesty burst into tears, and, in spite of all her efforts to restrain them, they continued to flow down her pale cheeks all the time she remained at the window. her emotions did not, however, prevent her from returning her acknowledgments for the devotedness of her people. "some of the most interesting anecdotes which peter parley heard, however, related to an earlier period of the queen's life, when she was princess victoria. "'here is an anecdote which i heard at a missionary meeting, mr. parley,' said major meadows, 'and i assure you it told with great effect.'" "a poor but truly pious widow, placed in charge of a lighthouse on the south coast of the mersey, had resolved to devote the receipts of one day in the year, during the visiting season, to the missionary cause. on one of these days, a lady in widow's weeds and a little girl in deep mourning came to see the lighthouse; sympathy in misfortune led to conversation, and before the unknown visitor took her departure they had most probably mingled their tears together. the lady left behind her a sovereign. the unusually large gratuity immediately caused a conflict in the breast of the poor woman, as to whether she was absolutely bound to appropriate the whole of it to the missionary-box or not. at length she compromised, by putting in half-a-crown. but conscience would not let her rest: she went to bed, but could not sleep; she arose, took back the half-crown, put in the sovereign, went to bed and slept comfortably. a few days afterwards, to her great surprise, she received a double letter, franked, and on opening it, was no less astonished than delighted to find twenty pounds from the widow lady, and five pounds from the little girl in deep mourning. and who were that lady and that little girl, do you think? no other than her royal highness the duchess of kent and our present rightful and youthful sovereign." "during one of the summer seasons of the princess's childhood the duchess of kent resided in the neighbourhood of malvern, and almost daily walked on the downs. one day the princess and her beautiful little dog pero, of which she was uncommonly fond, happening considerably to outstrip the duchess and governess, she overtook a little peasant girl about her own age. with the thoughtless hilarity of youth she made up to her, and without ceremony, said to her-- "'my dog is very tired, will you carry him for me if you please?' "the good-natured girl, quite unconscious of the rank of the applicant, immediately complied, and tripped along by the side of the princess for some time in unceremonious conversation. at length she said, "'i am tired now, and cannot carry your dog any farther.' "'tired!' cried her royal highness, 'impossible! think what a little way you have carried him!' "'quite far enough,' was the homely reply; 'besides, i am going to my aunt's, and if your dog must be carried, why cannot you carry him yourself?' "so saying, she placed pero on the grass, and he again joyfully frisked beside his royal mistress. "'going to your aunt's;' rejoined the princess, unheeding pero's gambols; 'pray who is your aunt?' "'mrs. johnson, the miller's wife.' "'and where does she live?' "'in that pretty little white house which you see just at the bottom of the hill, there;' said the unconscious girl, pointing it out among the trees; and the two companions stood still that the princess might make sure that she was right, thus giving the duchess and her companion time to come up. "'oh, i should like to see her!' exclaimed the light-hearted princess; 'i will go with you, come let us run down the hill together.' "'no, no, my princess,' cried the governess, coming up and taking her royal highness's hand, 'you have conversed long enough with that little girl, and now the duchess wishes you to walk with her. "the awful words 'princess' and 'duchess' quite confounded the little peasant girl; blushing and almost overcome, she earnestly begged pardon for the liberties she had taken, but her fears were instantly allayed by the duchess, who, after thanking her for her trouble in carrying pero, recompensed her by giving her half-a-crown. "delighted, the little girl curtsied her thanks, and running on briskly to her aunt's, she related all that had passed, dwelling particularly on the apprehension she had felt when she discovered that it was the princess whom she had desired to carry her dog herself. the half-crown was afterwards framed and hung up in the miller's homely parlour, as a memento of this pleasing little adventure." "this is but a childish story, but peter parley loves to hear stories of good children, and he knows that his little friends love to hear them too." chapter v. parley continues his anecdotes of the queen. "there was one anecdote of the queen from which peter parley derived much pleasure, because it showed that, notwithstanding her high station, she is not unmindful of him by whom 'kings reign, and princes decree justice.' "a noble lord, one of her majesty's ministers of state, not particularly remarkable for his observance of holy ordinances, recently arrived at windsor castle late one saturday night. "'i have brought down for your majesty's inspection,' he said, 'some papers of importance, but as they must be gone into at length i will not trouble your majesty with them to-night, but request your attention to them to-morrow morning.' "'to-morrow morning!' repeated the queen; 'to-morrow is sunday, my lord.' "'but business of state, please your majesty--' "'must be attended to, i know,' replied the queen, 'and as of course you could not come down earlier to-night, i will, if those papers are of such vital importance, attend to them _after we come from church to-morrow morning_.' "to church went the royal party; to church went the noble lord, and much to his surprise the sermon was on '_the duties of the sabbath_!' "'how did your lordship like the sermon?' enquired the young queen. "'very much, your majesty,' replied the nobleman, with the best grace he could. "'i will not conceal from you,' said the queen, 'that last night i sent the clergyman the text from which he preached. i hope we shall all be the better for it.' "the day passed without a single word on the subject of the 'papers of importance,' and at night, when her majesty was about to withdraw, 'to-morrow morning, my lord,' she said, 'at any hour you please, and as early as seven if you like, we will go into these papers.' "his lordship could not think of intruding at so early an hour on her majesty; 'nine would be quite time enough.' "'as they are of importance, my lord, i would have attended to them earlier, but at nine be it;' and at nine her majesty was seated ready to receive the nobleman, who had been taught a lesson on the duties of the sabbath, it is hoped, he will not quickly forget. "exemplary as the young queen is in her religious duties, however, peter parley was pleased to find that she does not allow her religion to consist in mere theory, but that in reality she clothes the poor and feeds the hungry. "on one occasion when her majesty, accompanied by her suite, was taking an airing on horseback, in the neighbourhood of windsor, she was overtaken by a heavy shower, which forced the royal party to seek shelter in an outhouse belonging to a farm yard, where a poor man was busily employed making hurdles. her majesty entered into conversation with the man (who was totally ignorant who he was addressing), and finding that he had a large family and no means of supporting them beyond what he gained by making these hurdles, her majesty enquired where he lived, and on taking her departure presented him with a sovereign. next day she went, accompanied by her royal mother, to the cottage of the poor man, and finding his statement to be correct, immediately provided some good warm clothing for his wife and children. her majesty seemed very much pleased with the neatness and regularity of the cottage, and on taking her departure presented the poor woman with a five-pound note. "there was no end to stories of this description, but i can only afford room for two or three more; one of which, in particular, shows how early the queen has been taught to look up to the only source of real comfort in affliction. "an old man who once served in the capacity of porter to the duke of kent, and who, in his old age and infirmity, has long since been pensioned by the duchess, is not a little gratified at receiving a nod of recognition from her majesty whenever her carriage chances to pass his cottage. the aged man has a daughter much afflicted, and who has been confined to bed for eight or ten years. on the evening of the late king's funeral this young woman was equally surprised and delighted at receiving from the queen a present of the psalms of david in which was a marker worked by herself with a dove, the emblem of peace, in the centre. it pointed to the forty-first psalm, which her majesty requested she would read, at the same time expressing a hope that its frequent perusal might bring an increase of peace to her mind. "another poor man named smith, who had for several years swept the crossing opposite the avenue leading to kensington palace, and whom her majesty always kindly noticed, rarely passing through the gates without throwing him some silver from the carriage window, received a message on the morning after the queen's accession informing him that her majesty had ordered that a weekly allowance of eight shillings should be regularly paid him. the poor man, however, did not long enjoy his pension, dying within six months from its commencement. "short and brilliant as has been her majesty's career however, and fondly and carefully as she has been watched over, her life affords a very striking instance of providential preservation. "during one of their summer excursions on the southern coast of england, the royal party sailed in the emerald yacht, and proceeding up the harbour at plymouth for the purpose of landing at the dock-yard, the yacht unfortunately, from the rapidity of the tide, ran foul of one of the hulks which lay off the yard. the shock was so great that the mainmast of the royal yacht was sprung in two places, and her sail and gaff (or yard by which the sail is supported) fell instantaneously upon the deck. "the princess happened unfortunately to be standing almost directly under the sail at the moment, and the most fatal consequences might have ensued, had not the master of the yacht, with admirable presence of mind, sprung forward and caught her in his arms and conveyed her to a place of safety. the alarm and confusion caused by the accident was for a time heightened by the uncertainty as to the fate of her royal highness, who had been preserved from injury by the blunt but well-timed rescue of the honest sailor. "'there is one thing which pleases me mightily, mr. parley,' said major meadows, 'and it is this, that with all this goodness our young queen has a truly british heart. often and often has she manifested this, and when quite a girl though perfectly acquainted with several european languages, and particularly with french and german, she never could be prevailed upon to converse in them as a habit, always observing that 'she was a little english girl and would speak nothing but english.' there is a healthiness of feeling in this, mr. parley, which is quite delightful.' "long before major meadows had finished his anecdotes about the queen we had reached home. as it is the custom to dine late in london, we dined after our return, and during the repast, the queen and the spectacle of to-morrow formed the chief subject of conversation, my friend continuing from time to time to give interest by some new anecdote, of which his store seemed to be inexhaustible. "peter parley is fond of early hours, so we retired to bed betimes, which was the more necessary, because by sun-rise to-morrow we must be up and away to westminster abbey." chapter vi. parley describes westminster abbey on the morning of the coronation, and relates the legends connected with st. edward's chair. "early in the morning, peter parley was up and dressed. he had hardly finished his devotions when, early though it was, major meadows knocked at the door of his room to enquire if he was stirring. "after partaking of a hurried breakfast we got into a carriage and drove to the abbey. as we passed along, we found people, even at such an early hour, already begun to congregate in the streets, and to take up stations from which they expected to obtain the best view of the day's proceedings. [illustration: _madeley lith. , wellington st. strand._ her majesty leaving her private apartments in westminster abbey.] "peter parley was pleased to find, on our arrival at the abbey, that the doors had been opened a short time before, and the crowd of eager expectants who had been waiting, some of them upwards of an hour, had been already admitted. we were thus saved the necessity of exposing ourselves to being crushed by stronger and more energetic claimants for admission. "on entering the venerable building i was struck mute with astonishment at the magnificence of the preparations which now burst upon the sight with all their breadth and effect; though i had seen it so recently, i was not at all aware of the greatness of the scale on which they had been undertaken. "the approach to the theatre was by six broad steps leading from the vestibule under the music gallery. at the termination of the choir, just where it is intersected by the north and south transepts, a similar number of steps led to a large platform, covered with a splendid carpet in rich puce and gold colours. upon this platform was raised a second of a smaller size, approached by four broad steps, each covered with carpeting of the most magnificent description. the fifth step, which formed the platform, was covered with cloth of gold, and in the centre was placed a splendid throne of a rich gilt ground, tastefully embellished with rose-coloured sprigs at short intervals, and the royal initials in the centre. "a little further in advance of this splendid throne, and nearer the altar, stood a chair of a more humble bearing, but far more interesting, from the legendary stories connected with it. this was st. edward's chair, of which peter parley must say a few words. "the chair is made of solid oak, and beneath the seat is deposited a large stone, on which the scottish kings used to be crowned. the legendary history of this stone is very curious. it commences as early as the time of jacob, who is said to have rested his head on it in the plain of luz, when, as you will recollect, he fled from the anger of his brother esau. it was afterwards carried to spain, by the scythians, whence it found its way into ireland in the time of romulus and remus, the founders of rome. here, it seems, from all accounts, first to have exhibited miraculous powers--making a 'prodigious noise, and being surprisingly disturbed,' whenever a prince of the scythian line was seated upon it. peter parley would not have you believe any of these marvellous legends, none of which are true, but which are interesting nevertheless, as they serve to show in what manner the people of former times were misled by the silly and ridiculous legends of the darker ages. "from ireland this singular stone was carried into scotland, and placed in the abbey of scone, where the coronation of the kings of scotland usually took place. one of the scottish kings caused an inscription to be cut upon it, an ancient prophecy, as it was said, but more probably an invention of some monkish chronicler of the time:-- "if fate speak sooth, where'er this stone is found, the scots shall monarch of that realm be crown'd." "when edward i. dethroned baliol, he sent this celebrated stone, on the possession of which the scots set great value, to london, along with the scottish regalia. in the following year, the monarch presented these trophies at the shrine of st. edward the confessor; and it appears soon afterwards to have been placed in the coronation chair, where it has remained ever since. "peter parley has heard that the ancient prophecy, to which even at so late a period the more superstitious amongst the scottish nation clung, was held to be fulfilled when james i. ascended the throne of england; and it is also said not to have been without a certain influence in reconciling many of the people to the union with england. "but we must not forget the coronation in westminster abbey, in our interest in the legend connected with st. edward's chair. "on each side of the platform on which the thrones stood, were the galleries appropriated for peers and peeresses and their friends, also those for the lord mayor, aldermen, and privy councillors. "there were two other galleries rising above these on each side, the highest quite among the vaultings of the roof, which were appropriated indiscriminately to the rest of the visitors. "the whole of these extensive galleries were covered with crimson cloth, and trimmed with gold fringe, which had a very rich effect when contrasted with the sombre colours and antique stone walls of the building. "the decorations of the chancel and altar were of the most gorgeous description; the draperies being of the richest purple silk, brocaded in the most sumptuous pattern with gold. behind the altar the decorations were of a still more delicate character than the rest, both the ground-work and the gold being of a lighter shade. against the compartment behind the altar stood six massive gold plateaux, two of them being of very large dimensions. the table itself was loaded with a gold communion service, as well as with other articles used in the ceremony. "peter parley had time to notice all these things from being in the abbey so early in the morning, before the visitors were so numerous, and the place so crowded as it afterwards became. the good sense and knowledge of major meadows led him to select a seat from which, while we could see as much of the ceremony as nine-tenths of those within the abbey, we could readily retire to the roof, from which we could obtain an admirable view of the procession outside. "by six o'clock in the morning the visitors began to arrive in the interior of the abbey, and bustle and confusion began to prevail, where, but an hour before, all had been stillness and silence; the rich and elegant dresses of the ladies giving an air of gaiety to the scene. an hour later the peers and peeresses began to make their appearance, and the attention was kept completely on the alert by some new arrival of a distinguished personage, or of a rich or picturesque costume." * * * * * "at length the sound of the park guns announced that the queen had entered her carriage and was on her way to the abbey. this joyful announcement seemed to inspire every one present with joy and animation. the peers, who had hitherto dispersed themselves over various parts of the building, giving, by their rich and picturesque costumes, additional brilliancy and variety to the already gorgeous scene, now retired to their appointed places, and a certain degree of order began to prevail within the abbey. "as the procession began to draw near, peter parley took advantage of major meadows' foresight, and, with some little difficulty, made his way to the roof, to view its approach." chapter vii. parley describes the procession to westminster abbey. "from this elevated and commanding position peter parley had a most admirable view of the procession, and of the immense multitude of spectators which lined the streets and crowded every window and roof from which even the most distant and casual view of it could be obtained. "far as the eye could reach was one dense mass of human beings. the deafening cheers of the populace, the waving of ten thousand handkerchiefs, the clang of martial music, and the novelty and singularity of the whole scene, well nigh turned the head of poor peter parley. "he had hardly time to satisfy his old eyes with gazing on the immense assemblage when the procession began to approach. "peter parley will not attempt to give you an exact list of the procession, for he knows very well that a simple catalogue of names would not at all interest you; he will therefore merely run hastily over the principal parts of it, and show you drawings of several of the most striking scenes, which he knows very well will give you by one glance a clearer idea of it than if he were to spend hours in mere description. "preceded by a squadron of horse-guards, whose gallant and warlike bearing excited general admiration, came the carriages of the foreign ministers resident in this country. even in the midst of so much bustle, peter parley could not help moralizing on the singularity of the scene. here were the representatives of every power on the face of the globe gathered together in one harmonious congregation; and the feelings to which their passing thus in review, in a living panorama as it were, gave rise were of the most peculiar description. here were all separate and rival interests for the moment buried in oblivion, and people from the east, from the west, and from the north, and from the south, came to assist in doing honour to england's queen. "immediately behind the resident ministers followed the ambassadors extraordinary, that is, those who had been sent by their respective governments for the express purpose of taking part in the solemnity. some of the carriages and trappings of these ambassadors excited the greatest attention and admiration. those in particular of marshal soult, the french ambassador, one of the ablest opponents of the duke of wellington during the peninsular war, were rich almost beyond description. in colour his carriage was of a rich cobalt relieved with gold, the panels most tastefully ornamented with his excellency's armorial bearings, at the back of which was a field-marshal's baton. it was furnished at each corner with a lamp surmounted by a massive silver coronet, and the raised cornices with which it was ornamented were of silver, deep and richly chased. these, with the beautiful harness (of white--the furniture was also of silver exquisitely chased), gave an air of richness and beauty to the whole equipage which was quite unequalled in the procession. peter parley thought he should never have done gazing at the rich and splendid equipage. "the carriages and attendants of the ambassador from the sultan, though far less richly caparisoned, were objects of equal curiosity, partly on account of the eastern dress in which ahmed fetij pasha appeared, and partly because of that undefined idea of romance which exists in the popular mind in connection with the crescent and the rising sun, the emblems of turkish power. "the carriage was of a rich lake colour, with the emblems which peter parley has just mentioned richly emblazoned on the panels. inside it was lined with crimson and yellow silk, in rich festoons; the hammercloth blue, with gold and scarlet hangings, the centre of scarlet velvet with the rising sun and crescent in diamonds. "the only other ambassador's carriage which peter parley shall notice is that of the prince de ligne, ambassador extraordinary from belgium. i mention it not that it was very much more striking than the others, for they were all beautiful, and each was distinguished by some peculiarity of elegant chasteness or rich display. the carriage, which was also of rich lake tastefully ornamented with gold, was drawn by six beautiful grey horses, and was preceded by a couple of outriders likewise mounted on greys. his excellency's armorial bearings were emblazoned on the panels, the roof ornamented by four gold coronets, one at each corner. the richness of the liveries and trappings made this equipage very much admired. after the foreign ambassadors followed a mounted band and a detachment of life-guards which preceded the carriages of the branches of the royal family. "peter parley cannot find a word to express his idea of the gorgeous magnificence of the carriage of the duchess of kent, the mother of the queen. the masses of gold lace by which the hammercloth and the attendants' liveries were ornamented had an extremely rich effect. her grace seemed highly delighted with the ceremony, and nothing could be more gratifying than her reception, unless indeed it was that of the queen herself. every where was the duchess cheered, and she returned the people's greetings by smiling and bowing in the blandest and most courtly manner. "the duchess of gloucester, and the dukes of cambridge and sussex, followed next in order, and each was received with the same warm and enthusiastic cheers. "after these came the queen's bargemaster and his assistants, forty-eight in number. the blunt sailor-like appearance of these men, some of whose weather-beaten countenances gave token of years of service, excited much interest. when peter parley saw them they recalled to his mind the anecdote of the saving of the life of the princess victoria, and he wondered which of the bluff sailors it was who had been so ready and so thoughtful. "the royal carriages now approached. these were twelve in number, each drawn by six splendid horses, and accompanied by two grooms walking on each side. as they passed in succession, the interest became more intense as her majesty drew nigh. the beauty of the maids of honour, the courtly bearing and gay dresses of the lords in waiting, which the carriages conveyed, the richness of the trappings, and the beauty and spirit of the horses, excited the intensest admiration. at length the twelfth carriage passed, and the most breathless interest prevailed. a squadron of life guards and a mounted band preceded the military staff and aides-de-camps, including some of the most distinguished military officers of the day. the royal huntsmen next appeared, followed by six of her majesty's horses, with rich trappings, each led by two grooms. though nothing could be finer than the appearance of these most beautiful animals the amount of attention which they received was but small, for close behind, preceded by one hundred yeomen of the guard, appeared the state coach, drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, attended by a yeoman of the guard at each wheel, and two footmen at each door, conveying "the queen. "the cheering by which other parts of the cavalcade had been received was loud and heartfelt, but no sooner did the young and amiable queen make her appearance, than the loudest and most enthusiastic plaudits rent the air. the ladies in the balconies waved their handkerchiefs, the people cheered, peal after peal of joyful applause came thundering upon the ear, shout followed shout, and acclamation burst after acclamation, until the music of the military bands and the discharges of the artillery were completely drowned in the roar of popular applause. the queen seemed to enjoy the exciting scene, and continued bowing on all sides in the most graceful and engaging manner. "the excitement which prevailed along the line of the procession, as her majesty approached, was, peter parley was assured, great beyond description. _then_ were the rich trappings of the foreign ambassadors, the magnificence of the royal carriages, the dazzling scarlet uniforms of the watermen, the magnificently caparisoned horses, the rich uniforms of the great officers of state, and even the beauty and attractions of the maids of honour, all forgotten. there was one and one only thought of--it was the queen. the struggle was to look upon her, and the object of each individual present seemed to be-- "'how and which way he might bestow himself, to be regarded in her sun-bright eye.' "never, peter parley will venture to say, did british monarch receive more heartfelt greeting, or pass under brighter auspices within the portals of westminster abbey." [illustration: _madeley lith. , wellington st. strand._ the procession approaching westminster abbey] chapter viii. parley describes the coronation in westminster abbey. "as soon as the queen, the great object of attraction, had passed, peter parley and his friend hurried into the abbey to resume their places. as they entered they encountered the most deafening and enthusiastic plaudits, to which the announcement of her majesty's arrival within the abbey gave rise. "while her majesty was undergoing the ceremony of robing, in the magnificent room which peter parley has already told you about, the procession, which forms part of the ceremony within the abbey, was arranged in order. "every thing having been prepared, her majesty made her appearance habited in a rich mantle and train of crimson velvet, over a dress of satin wrought with gold, and the assembled thousands of her loyal subjects rose with one accord, and welcomed their sovereign in a manner which must have thrilled the heart of the greatest potentate who ever swayed a sceptre. the band of instrumental music swelled forth their richest notes, and the choir gave magnificent effect to the anthem:-- "'i was glad when they said unto me we will go into the house of the lord. for there is the seat of judgment, even the seat of the house of david. o pray for the peace of jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee. peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces. glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. amen.' "as the procession moved slowly up the abbey, the effect was most magnificent; the splendour of the pageantry, the beauty of the young queen, whose mild blue eyes shone scarcely less brightly than the circlet of diamonds which encompassed her beauteous brow, and the rich effect of the music, as it reverberated among the aisles of the building, almost made peter parley think it was a scene in fairy-land, or one of those bright and unsubstantial visions which flit across the mind in our dreams. "the queen having advanced to a chair which had been provided for her, about midway between the throne and the south side of the altar, the noblemen and others who composed the procession took up the stations which had been appropriated for them; the choir in the mean time continuing to chaunt the anthem. "the cadences of the anthem had scarcely died away among the aisles of the abbey, when peter parley was startled at the sound of youthful voices, singing at their highest pitch. he directed his eyes towards the spot whence the sound proceeded, and found it was the westminster scholars, who, according to an ancient and established custom, greeted their sovereign with a kind of chaunt, 'vivat victoria regina!' "at the conclusion of this chaunt, which, though not the most harmonious, struck peter parley as certainly not the least interesting part of the greeting, the archbishop of canterbury, the lord chancellor, the lord great chamberlain, and the earl marshal, advanced and commenced the ceremony of the coronation by what is called the recognition; that is, advancing towards each side of the theatre in succession, they thus addressed the assembled spectators:-- "'sirs, we here present unto you queen victoria, the undoubted queen of this realm; wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?' "as the question was repeated on each side, the abbey rang with the joyful response 'god save queen victoria!' a flourish of trumpets added to the enthusiasm of the scene; and even peter parley, carried away by the feeling of the moment, shouted forth his acclamations, in as heartfelt a manner as the most devoted of her majesty's subjects. "during this part of the ceremony, the queen remained standing by the chair on which she had at first taken her seat, and turned her face successively toward that part of the abbey to which the question was addressed. "when the enthusiastic cheering subsided her majesty resumed her seat, and preparations were made for that part of the altar service called the oblation. the bible, the chalice, and patina, were placed upon the altar, before which, two officers of the wardrobe spread a rich cloth of gold, and laid upon it a cushion for her majesty to kneel upon. the bishops who were to be engaged in the service also advanced and put on their copes. "every thing being ready, her majesty, supported by two bishops and preceded by the great officers of state bearing the regalia, approached the altar, and kneeling upon the cushion, made the various offerings. "the first, which consisted of a pall or altar-cloth of gold, was delivered by an officer of the wardrobe to the lord chamberlain, and by him handed to the lord great chamberlain, who delivered it to the queen. her majesty then gave it to the archbishop of canterbury, by whom it was placed on the altar. "an ingot of gold, a pound in weight, was then handed by the treasurer of the household to the lord great chamberlain, by whom it was placed in the hands of the queen, who delivered it to the archbishop, by whom it was put into the oblation basin, and set upon the altar. "the archbishop then said the following prayer, the queen remaining kneeling before the altar:-- "'o god, who dwellest in the high and holy place, with them also who are of an humble spirit, look down mercifully upon this thy servant victoria our queen, here humbling herself before thee at thy footstool, and graciously receive these oblations, which, in humble acknowledgment of thy sovereignty over all, and of thy great bounty unto her in particular, she hath now offered up unto thee, through jesus christ, our only mediator and advocate. amen.' "at the conclusion of this prayer her majesty returned to the chair on the south side of the altar, and the whole of the regalia, except the swords, were delivered to the archbishop and placed on the altar. "the litany was then read by the bishops of worcester and st. david's, which was followed by the communion service, previous to which, the choir sang the _sanctus_:-- "'holy! holy! holy! lord god of hosts; heaven and earth are full of thy glory; glory be to thee, o lord, most high. amen.' "at the conclusion of the service the bishop of london ascended the pulpit, which had been placed opposite her majesty's chair of state, and preached the sermon. his lordship's text was chosen from chron. xxxiv. ,--'and the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the lord, to walk after the lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.' "at the conclusion of the sermon, to which the queen was deeply attentive, the archbishop of canterbury advanced toward her majesty, and standing before her, thus addressed her:-- "'madam, is your majesty willing to take the oath?' "the queen answered, 'i am willing.' "the archbishop then ministered these questions; and the queen answered each question severally, as follows:-- "_archbishop._--will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this united kingdom of great britain and ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the respective laws and customs of the same? "_queen._--i solemnly promise so to do. "_archbishop._--will you to the utmost of your power cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed in all your judgments? "_queen._--i will. "_archbishop._--will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of god, the true profession of the gospel, and the protestant reformed religion established by law? and will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the united church of england and ireland, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established within england and ireland, and the territories thereunto belonging? and will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of england and ireland, and to the churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them, or any of them? "_queen._--all this i promise to do. "the queen then proceeded to the altar, attended by the various functionaries, who had taken up their stations about her, and kneeling before it, laid her right hand on the great bible, and, in the sight of her people, took a solemn oath, to observe the promises which she had made, saying-- "'the things which i have here before promised, i will perform and keep--so help me, god.' "her majesty then kissed the book and set her royal sign manual to a copy of the oath. after this solemn ceremony she returned to the chair, and kneeling at her fald-stool, the choir sang, with the most touching effect, the magnificent hymn-- "'come, holy ghost, our souls inspire, and warm them with thy heav'nly fire; thou who th' anointing spirit art, to us thy sevenfold gifts impart; let thy bless'd unction from above be to us comfort, life, and love; enable with celestial light the weakness of our mortal sight: anoint our hearts, and cheer our face, with the abundance of thy grace. keep far our foes, give peace at home-- where thou dost dwell no ill can come. teach us to know the father, son, and spirit of both, to be but one, that so through ages all along, this may be our triumphant song; in thee, o lord, we make our boast, father, son, and holy ghost.'" chapter ix. parley continues his description of the coronation in westminster abbey. "the ceremony of anointing followed next in order--her majesty having been divested of her crimson robe by the mistress of the robes, took her seat in st. edward's chair, and the dean of westminster taking from the altar the ampulla, containing the consecrated oil, and pouring some of it into the anointing spoon, proceeded to anoint her majesty on the crown of the head and on the palm of both hands, in the form of a cross--four knights of the garter holding over her head a rich cloth of gold. "the dean of westminster then took the spurs from the altar and delivered them to the lord great chamberlain, who, kneeling before her majesty, presented them to her, after which she forthwith sent them back to the altar. the viscount melbourne, who carried the sword of state, then delivered it to the lord chamberlain, receiving in lieu thereof, another sword, in a scabbard of purple velvet, which his lordship delivered to the archbishop, who laid it on the altar. after a short prayer the archbishop took the sword from off the altar, and, accompanied by several other bishops, delivered it into the queen's right hand. then rising up her majesty proceeded to the altar and offered the sword in the scabbard, delivering it to the archbishop, who placed it on the altar. lord melbourne then redeemed it by payment of one hundred shillings, and having unsheathed it, bore it during the remainder of the ceremony. "the most important part of the ceremonial now approached: the dean of westminster having received the imperial mantle of cloth of gold, lined or furred with ermine, proceeded to invest her majesty, who stood up for the purpose. having resumed her seat, the orb with the cross was brought from the altar, and delivered into her majesty's hand by the archbishop; having in like manner been invested with the ring, the sceptre and the rod with the dove were placed in each hand. the archbishop, then, standing before the altar, took the crown into his hands, and again laying it on the altar said-- "'o god, who crownest thy faithful servants with mercy and loving kindness, look down upon this thy servant victoria, our queen, who now in lowly devotion boweth her head to thy divine majesty; and as thou dost this day set a crown of pure gold upon her head, so enrich her royal heart with thy heavenly grace, and crown her with all princely virtues, which may adorn the high station wherein thou hast placed her, through jesus christ, our lord, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. amen.' "the royal crown was then brought from the altar and placed on her majesty's head. "at this instant the most deafening and enthusiastic cries of 'god save the queen!' rose from every part of the abbey, the peers and peeresses put on their coronets, the bishops their caps, and the spectators cheered and waved their handkerchiefs. the guns in the park, and at the tower, fired a royal salute. "after a short prayer by the archbishop, the choir sang an anthem, and the dean of westminster taking the bible, which had been carried in the procession, from off the altar, presented it to her majesty, who, having received it, delivered it again to the archbishop, and it was returned to the altar. "having thus been solemnly anointed, and crowned, and invested with all the ensigns of royalty, the archbishop solemnly blessed the queen, the rest of the bishops and the peers following every part of the benediction with a loud and hearty 'amen.' "the _te deum_ was then sung by the choir, and her majesty passing to the recognition chair in which she first sat, received the homage of the peers. "the bishops first approached, and, kneeling before the queen, the archbishop pronounced the words of homage; the others repeating them after him, and, kissing her majesty's hand, retired. "the royal dukes, ascending the steps of the throne, took off their coronets, and kneeling, repeated the words of homage, and then, touching the crown on her majesty's head, kissed her on the left cheek and retired. "the other peers then performed their homage, each in succession touching the crown and kissing her majesty's hand. "the monotony of this ceremony was relieved by one little incident which evinced much kindness on the part of her majesty. as one of the peers (lord rolle), who is a very aged and infirm man, approached the throne, he stumbled and fell back from the second step upon the floor. he was immediately raised, and supported by two noble lords; when he again approached, her majesty, who beheld the occurrence with emotion, rose from her throne and advanced to meet him, extending her hand to him, and expressed much concern for the accident. this little trait of genuine goodness of heart was warmly cheered. [illustration: _madeley lith. , wellington st. strand._ her majesty's state carriage.] "peter parley was highly amused at the scene which was enacted behind the throne, where one of her majesty's household was busily engaged scattering the coronation medals. peers, peeresses, aldermen, and military officers engaging warmly in the scramble and eagerly clutching at the coveted memorials. "when the homage was concluded, her majesty descended from the throne and, proceeding to the altar, partook of the holy sacrament of the lord's supper. "the procession was then marshaled in the same order in which it had entered the abbey. the rich effect of the costumes was however much heightened by the coronets of the peers. "after a short stay in the robing rooms, the procession for the return to buckingham palace was formed, and the crowned sovereign left westminster abbey amid the enthusiastic greeting of her faithful and devoted subjects. "of course, there were many poems and songs made on this joyful occasion. the best which peter parley has seen is one by charles swain, which will form a very appropriate conclusion to this chapter. "'coronation song. i. "'thou music of a nation's voice, thou grace of old britannia's throne, thou light round which all hearts rejoice, god save and guard thee, england's own! while thousand, thousand hearts are thine, and britain's blessing rests on thee, pure may thy crown, victoria, shine, and all thy subjects _lovers_ be! ii. "'come, wives! from cottage--home, and field! come, daughters! oh, ye lovely, come! bid every tongue its homage yield, sound, trumpets, sound; and peal the drum! god save the queen! ring high, ye bells! swell forth a people's praise afar; she's crowned the acclaiming cannon tells! the queen!--god save the queen! hurrah! iii. "'long may she live to prove the best and noblest crown a queen can wear is that a people's love hath blessed, whose happiness is in her care! god bless the queen! ring sweet, ye bells! swell forth old england's joy afar, she's crowned the exulting cannon tells; the queen!--god bless the queen! hurrah!'" chapter x. parley gives an account of the illuminations, and of the grand display of fire-works. "after the splendid pageant, which had rivetted the attention of every one during its continuance, had passed away, the fair in hyde park seemed to be the great centre of popular attraction. "though pretty well tired out with the unusual exertion of the last day or two, peter parley proceeded to hyde park to see what was going on there. he had come across the atlantic to see the show, and he was determined to see all that was to be seen. "how different an aspect did the park now present to what it did when peter parley visited it but two days before! the fair was now begun in good earnest, and there was no end to the booths for the sale of fancy goods of every description. tents for the supply of articles of more substantial enjoyment were in equal abundance, and every one of them seemed to be completely crowded. when peter parley had wandered about the outskirts of the fair for some time, he saw a great many people standing looking at a large erection which seemed more like a house than a tent. he soon recognised the theatre of mr. richardson, which he had seen erecting when he first visited the park; as he drew near he saw that the people were laughing and enjoying the antics of a clown or merry-andrew, who was dressed in a parti-coloured dress, and was cutting the most ridiculous capers, to the no small delight of the spectators. "peter parley loves a little fun, and can laugh as loud as any one at innocent amusement, so he got close up to the booth to see how the clown acquitted himself. "'come along, old boy!--this way, this way, father adam!' cried the fellow to peter parley, when he saw him advancing--'make way there, ladies and gentlemen!' he continued, leaping right over the head of a countryman who was gazing at him with intense delight, at the same time knocking his hat over his eyes so as completely to blindfold him. in an instant the clown stood beside peter parley, and was hurrying him up the steps of the theatre before he knew what he was about. peter parley, however, did not relish such a summary mode of introduction, so he disengaged himself from the fellow's grasp and moved to another part of the fair, amid the rude laughter of the by-standers. "peter parley was amazed at the number of round-abouts and swings of every description, which beat the air and performed their evolutions with almost incessant rapidity. some of them in the form of boats, which in the course of their movements rose and sunk alternately so as to imitate the motion of a vessel on the water, seemed particularly ingenious and appeared to be in constant request. donkey races, too, lent their attractions, and altogether such a scene of gaiety peter parley never witnessed. "as long as daylight lasted these out-of-door amusements seemed to lose little or none of their attractions. when it became too dark for their performance people crowded into the theatres and tents, or waited patiently for the grand display of fireworks which was to take place at a late hour in the evening. "by way of making the most of his time peter parley got into a hackney coach and drove through the principal parts of the town to see the illuminations, which it was expected were to be on a grand scale. "all along the line of the procession the display was most splendid, and though many of the exhibitions of private individuals were beautiful and tasteful, the public offices certainly carried off the palm. peter parley thinks he never saw such a brilliant display as that at the ordnance office, in pall mall, the whole front of which was one blaze of light. peter parley was told that there were no fewer than sixty thousand lamps employed in the devices! "the admiralty, somerset house, and the horse guards, shared, with the ordnance office, the attention of the evening. the former displayed a magnificent imperial crown surmounting an anchor, with the union flag on each side in coloured lamps. it had also an inscription, 'god save the queen.' "somerset house, in which are several of the public offices, excited a good deal of attention from a novelty in the art of illumination. instead of being lighted up with oil, the coloured lamps were illuminated with gas, which added greatly to their brilliancy and effect. the horse guards was, also, lit up in the same manner, and was equally attractive. "there were, besides these, hundreds of others well worth looking at and remembering too; but so many attractions offered themselves to his notice on every side, that peter parley does not know which to tell you about. "after being satisfied with gazing at the illuminations, peter parley again proceeded to the park, as the time approached for the grand display of fireworks. "so dense was the crowd of eager spectators, that it was with difficulty that peter parley could gain access to the park. he succeeded at length, however, thanks to the virtue of perseverance, which has done much for him in the course of his life. "the display commenced by the discharge of what is called a maroon battery, which fired off successively a series of immense crackers, each giving a report like the loudest cannon. the commencement of the spectacle was hailed with loud cheers by the assemblage, many of whom had waited several hours, and were beginning to lose all patience at the delay. "this startling display was immediately followed by an exhibition of coloured fire, and four balloon mortars shooting forth serpents and squibs of every variety of colour. the beautiful variety of tints, blue, green, red, and purple, to which some of these gave rise when they exploded in the air, was most magnificent. "for two whole hours did the gentlemen who had the direction of this exhibition continue the display, each successive variety vieing in beauty and brilliancy with that by which it was preceded, to the delight of all beholders, many of whom, and peter parley among others, never witnessed such a grand sight. the young queen, it was said, enjoyed the splendour and beauty of the sight from the palace window, with as much interest and delight as any of her subjects. "it was almost one o'clock before the fireworks were concluded, and nearly an hour later before peter parley could make his way home; and the sun rose high in heaven before he awoke next morning. "peter parley must not omit to mention that all the theatres and places of public amusement were, by her majesty's command, open to the public free; of course they were all filled, but peter parley did not visit any of them. "it pleased peter parley to hear that the poor and the unfortunate were no less kindly attended to. in almost every parish committees were formed by the inhabitants for the purpose of collecting subscriptions and arranging matters for regaling the poor and the children attending the charity schools, so that to all the th of june should be a day of rejoicing. nor were the unfortunate inhabitants of the prisons forgotten. in all those belonging to the city, they were each allowed an ample repast, and in some of the others the great brewers supplied them with a good allowance of ale or porter." chapter xi. parley attends a review in hyde park, and relates some passages in the life of marshal soult.--conclusion. "peter parley had begun to recover from the fatigue which he had undergone, and was thinking of once more crossing the atlantic, and returning to the enjoyment of his quiet home, when one morning at breakfast, major meadows announced that there was to be a grand review in hyde park, on a scale of such splendour, that peter parley must see it before he left town. "the day fortunately turned out one of the most beautiful that could be conceived, and the crowds of persons who assembled to witness the grand military display, were very great. it was estimated by some of the military officers, who are accustomed to form pretty accurate notions of vast bodies of men, that at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, there were not less than two hundred thousand spectators present, in and around the park. [illustration: marshal soult's state carriage.] "early in the day the troops began to arrive, and by ten o'clock all the regiments to be reviewed were on the ground. shortly after, the duke of wellington, lord hill, and a great number of english military officers, as well as marshal soult, and all the foreign ambassadors, attended by their brilliant suites, arrived, and were every where received with great cheering. "at half-past eleven her majesty arrived accompanied by her suite in four carriages, each drawn by four horses, and escorted by a detachment of life guards. she was attended by her aides-de-camp in full military uniform. the arrival of the royal party was announced by a discharge of cannon, the band striking up the national anthem, and the soldiers presenting arms as her majesty approached. "the great attraction among the foreign visitants was marshal soult, who, as usual, excited much attention. as he rode close past the spot where peter parley and his friend major meadows had taken their stand, his stirrup broke, and we feared he would have fallen from his horse, but the marshal is a good rider, and quickly recovered. peter parley afterwards saw a curious anecdote in the newspapers connected with this accident. on learning what had happened, sir h. vivian immediately dispatched a messenger to the saddlers to the ordnance, to procure a pair of stirrups to replace the broken one. it happened, singularly enough, that the saddlers had in their possession the stirrups which napoleon used in many of his campaigns; so that marshal soult, during this review, actually did what was next to standing in his master's shoes! "seeing that peter parley was very much interested in the marshal, major meadows, who had been engaged in the peninsular war, and had fought against him in some of his most celebrated battles, continued, when our attention was not completely occupied by the evolutions of the troops, to relate many most interesting anecdotes of his distinguished career. "'marshal soult,' said major meadows, 'is a very singular man, mr. parley, and like many of napoleon's generals, rose from the very humblest rank. he entered the army as a private soldier, and, after serving some time in this capacity in a royal regiment of infantry, he became sub-lieutenant of grenadiers. "'he afterwards rose through the various ranks, till in he was appointed general of brigade, and sent to join the army of italy. here he soon won for himself new laurels, and his fame attracted the notice of napoleon, who henceforth honoured him with his personal esteem. "'on the eve of the memorable battle of austerlitz, in which he was entrusted with the command of the centre of the army, napoleon, as usual, called his marshals together to explain his plans to them, and to give them instructions for their guidance. to the others he was minute in his directions, in proportion to the importance of the posts assigned to them. when he came to soult, however, he merely said, 'as for you, soult, i have only to say, act as you always do.' "'in the midst of the battle, an aide-de-camp arrived with an order that the marshal should instantly push forward and gain certain heights. 'i will obey the emperor's commands as soon as i can,' replied soult, 'but this is not the proper time.' napoleon, enraged at the delay, sent a second messenger, with more peremptory orders. the second aide-de-camp arrived just as the marshal was putting his column in motion. the manoeuvre had been delayed because soult observed that his opponents were extending their lines, and, consequently, weakening their centre. complete success attended the attack. napoleon, who, from the elevated position which he occupied, saw the attack, instantly perceived the reason for the delay, and the brilliancy of the movement, and riding up to soult, complimented him in the presence of his staff, who, but a few minutes before, had seen him angry at the supposed disobedience, saying, 'marshal, i account you the ablest tactician in my empire!' "'after the battle of eylau, napoleon was very much discouraged at the loss he had sustained, and wished to fall back, so as to form a junction with the other corps of his army. against this resolution soult warmly protested, telling the emperor, that from what he had seen, he expected the enemy would retreat during the night, and thus leave the french army in possession of the field. napoleon complied with the marshal's advice, and every thing took place just as he had foretold. so that it was to the sagacity of soult that the french army owes the honour of the victory of eylau. "'in , soult, now duke of dalmatia, was entrusted with the command of the army in spain, and his first movement was to pursue the gallant sir john moore in his memorable retreat towards corunna. under the walls of that town he engaged the british army, but, after a sharp contest, was completely repulsed. the british general, however, was killed in the action, and was buried in the citadel, his corpse wrapped in a military cloak, and the guns of his enemy paying his funeral honours. marshal soult, with that noble feeling which can only exist in minds of true greatness erected a monument to his memory, near the spot where he so nobly fell. "'to the duke of dalmatia napoleon entrusted the command of the army, when the defeat of the french at vittoria had placed the peninsula at the mercy of the duke of wellington. after a series of conflicts, which covered the british army and its able general with glory, soult, finding the cause of his imperial master hopeless, gave up the contest and returned to paris. "'soult afterwards fought at waterloo, but without that distinction which might have been expected from his old renown. after this battle, which for ever stamped the fate of napoleon, and showed wellington the greatest general of the age, soult retired to the country, and lived for some years in seclusion. he was however recalled, and created a peer of france by charles x.' "such was major meadows' account of this celebrated man. to peter parley he was an object of great interest, because his presence recalled the remembrance of some of the spirit-stirring events in which he had been a participator; not that peter parley is an admirer of military genius or delights in military renown. he would rather do honour to the humblest benefactor of the human race than the greatest general that ever lived. with him the glory of james watt, the inventor of the steam-engine, far outshines the lustre of a soult, or a ney, or an alexander! and he would rather be the author of the waverley novels than be crowned with the blood-stained laurels of a napoleon or a wellington! "peter parley is one of those who hope the time is now come when the sound of war will be heard no more, and nations, instead of wasting their energies in deeds of blood, will strive to rival each other only in the peaceful pursuits of commerce and the arts." * * * * * "peter parley must now bid his young friends good bye! when he meets them again he hopes to find them all equally willing to be pleased and as patient and attentive to the tales which he tells them, as they have been to his 'visit to london during the coronation of queen victoria.'" [illustration] finis. clarke, printers, silver street, falcon square. juvenile works just published. stories about dogs, illustrative of their instinct, sagacity, and fidelity. by thomas bingley, _author of "stories about instinct."_ embellished with engravings from drawings by thomas landseer. _price s. neatly bound._ now ready, by the same author, stories illustrative of the instinct of animals, their characters and habits. with engravings by thomas landseer. _four shillings bound._ ii. tales of shipwrecks, and other disasters at sea. with engravings, _four shillings bound._ approved juvenile works. tales of enterprise, for the amusement of youth, by paul hopkins, with engravings, beautifully bound and gilt. _price half-a-crown._ _price s. bound in ornamented cloth._ bible quadrupeds; the natural history of the animals mentioned in scripture. with sixteen engravings. "this is an excellent little tome for young people; cherishing at the same time a love for the holy volume and a taste for natural history. it contains sixteen nice pictures of the most prominent subjects, by s. williams."--_literary gazette._ charles tilt, fleet street. list of plates. i.--the coronation of queen victoria. ii.--her majesty leaving buckingham palace. iii.--marshal soult's state carriage. iv.--her majesty's state carriage. v.--the procession approaching westminster abbey. vi.--her majesty leaving her private apartments in westminster abbey. * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. generously made available by the internet archive.) victorian ode for jubilee day, , by francis thompson. printed for private circulation at the westminster press, . victorian ode. night; and the street a corpse beneath the moon, upon the threshold of the jubilant day that was to follow soon; thickened with inundating dark 'gainst which the drowning lamps kept struggle; pole and plank cast rigid shadows; 'twas a stark thing waiting for its soul, the bones of the preluded pomp. i saw in the cloud-sullied moon a pale array, a lengthened apparition, slowly draw; and as it came, brake all the street in phantom flame of flag and flower and hanging, shadowy show of the to-morrow's glories, as might suit a pageant of the dead; and spectral bruit i heard, where stood the dead to watch the dead, the long victorian line that passed with printless tread. first went the holy poets, two on two, and music, sown along the hardened ground, budded like frequence of glad daisies, where those sacred feet did fare; arcadian pipe, and psaltery, around, and stringèd viol, sound to make for them melodious due. in the first twain of those great ranks of death went one, the impress recent on his hair where it was dinted by the laureate wreath: who sang those goddesses with splendours bare on ida hill, before the trojan boy; and many a lovely lay, where beauty did her beauties unarray in conscious song. i saw young love his plumes deploy, and shake their shivering lustres, till the night was sprinkled and bedropt with starry play of versicoloured light, to see that poet pass who sang him well; and i could hear his heart throb like the after-vibrance of a bell. a strength beside this beauty, browning went, with shrewd looks and intent, and meditating still some gnarlèd theme. then came, somewhat apart, in a fastidious dream, arnold, with a half-discontented calm, binding up wounds, but pouring in no balm. the fervid breathing of elizabeth broke on christina's gentle-taken breath. rossetti, whose heart stirred within his breast like lightning in a cloud, a spirit without rest, came on disranked; song's hand was in his hair, lest art should have withdrawn him from the band, save for her strong command; and in his eyes high sadness made its lair. last came a shadow tall, with drooping lid, which yet not hid the steel-like flashing of his armèd glance; alone he did advance, and all the throngs gave room for one that looked with such a captain's mien: a scornful smile lay keen on lips that, living, prophesied of doom. his one hand held a lightning-bolt, the other a cup of milk and honey blent with fire; it seemed as in that quire he had not, nor desired not, any brother. a space his alien eye surveyed the pride of meditated pomp, as one that much disdained the sight, methought; then at a touch, he turned the heel, and sought with shadowy stride his station in the dim, where the sole-thoughted dante waited him. what throngs illustrious next, of art and prose, too long to tell; but other music rose when came the sabre's children: they who led the iron-throated harmonies of war, the march resounding of the armèd line, and measured movement of battalia: accompanied their tread no harps, no pipes of soft arcadia, but--borne to me afar-- the tramp of squadrons, and the bursting mine, the shock of steel, the volleying rifle-crack, and echoes out of ancient battles dead. so cawnpore unto alma thundered back, and delhi's cannon roared to gujerat: carnage through all those iron vents gave out her thousand-mouthèd shout. as balefire answering balefire is unfurled, from mountain-peaks, to tell the foe's approaches, so ran that battle-clangour round the world, from famous field to field so that reverberated war was tossed; and--in the distance lost-- across the plains of france and hills of spain it swelled once more to birth, and broke on me again, the voice of england's glories girdling in the earth. it caught like fire the main, where rending planks were heard, and broadsides pealed, that shook were all the seas, which feared, and thought on nelson. for with them that struck the russ, that brake the mutineer, and smote the stiff sikh to his knee,--with these came they that kept our england's sea-swept hem, and held afar from her the foreign fear. after them came they who pushed back the ocean of the unknown, and fenced some strand of knowledge for our own against the outgoing sea of ebbing mystery; and on their banner "science" blazoned shone. the rear were they that wore the statesman's fame, from melbourne, to the arcane face of the much-wrinkled jew. lo, in this day we keep the yesterdays, and those great dead of the victorian line. they passed, they passed, but cannot pass away, for england feels them in her blood like wine. she was their mother, and she is their daughter, this lady of the water, and from their loins she draws the greatness which they were. and still their wisdom sways, their power lives in her. their thews it is, england, that lift thy sword, they are the splendour, england, in thy song, they sit unbidden at thy council-board, their fame doth compass all thy coasts from wrong, and in thy sinews they are strong. their absence is a presence and a guest in this day's feast; this living feast is also of the dead, and this, o england, is thine all souls' day. and when thy cities flake the night with flames, thy proudest torches yet shall be their names. o royal england! happy child of such a more than regal line; be it said fair right of jubilee is thine; and surely thou art unbeguiled if thou keep with mirth and play, with dance, and jollity, and praise, such a to-day which sums such yesterdays. pour to the joyless ones thy joy, thy oil and wine to such as faint and toil. and let thy vales make haste to be more green than any vales are seen in less auspicious lands, and let thy trees clap all their leafy hands, and let thy flowers be gladder far of hue than flowers of other regions may; let the rose, with her fragrance sweetened through, flush as young maidens do, with their own inward blissfulness at play. and let the sky twinkle an eagerer blue over our english isle than any otherwhere; till strangers shall behold, and own that she is fair. play up, play up, ye birds of minstrel june, play up your reel, play up your giddiest spring, and trouble every tree with lusty tune, whereto our hearts shall dance for overmuch pleasance, and children's running make the earth to sing. and ye soft winds, and ye white-fingered beams, aid ye her to invest, our queenly england, in all circumstance of fair and feat adorning to be drest; kirtled in jocund green, which does befit a queen, and like our spirits cast forth lively gleams: and let her robe be goodly garlanded with store of florets white and florets red, with store of florets white and florets gold, a fair thing to behold; intrailed with the white blossom and the blue, a seemly thing to view! and thereunto, set over all a woof of lawny air, from her head wavering to her sea-shod feet, which shall her lovely beauty well complete, and grace her much to wear. lo, she is dressed, and lo, she cometh forth, our stately lady of the north; lo, how she doth advance, in her most sovereign eye regard of puissance, and tiar'd with conquest her prevailing brow, while nations to her bow. come hither, proud and ancient east, gather ye to this lady of the north, and sit down with her at her solemn feast, upon this culminant day of all her days; for ye have heard the thunder of her goings-forth, and wonder of her large imperial ways. let india send her turbans, and japan her pictured vests from that remotest isle seated in the antechambers of the sun: and let her western sisters for a while remit long envy and disunion, and take in peace her hand behind the buckler of her seas, 'gainst which their wrath has splintered; come, for she her hand ungauntlets in mild amity. victoria! queen, whose name is victory, whose woman's nature sorteth best with peace, bid thou the cloud of war to cease which ever round thy wide-girt empery fumes, like to smoke about a burning brand, telling the energies which keep within the light unquenched, as england's light shall be; and let this day hear only peaceful din. for, queenly woman, thou art more than woman; thy name the often-struck barbarian shuns; thou art the fear of england to her foemen, the love of england to her sons. and this thy glorious day is england's; who can separate the two? she joys thy joys and weeps thy tears, and she is one with all thy moods; thy story is the tale of england's years, and big with all her ills, and all her stately goods. now unto thee the plenitude of the glories thou didst sow is garnered up in prosperous memory; and, for the perfect evening of thy day, an untumultuous bliss, serenely gay, sweetened with silence of the after-glow. nor does the joyous shout which all our lips give out jar on that quietude; more than may do a radiant childish crew, with well-accordant discord fretting the soft hour, whose hair is yellowed by the sinking blaze over a low-mouthed sea. exult, yet be not twirled, england, by gusts of mere blind and insensate lightness; neither fear the vastness of thy shadow on the world. if in the east still strains against its leash the unglutted beast of war; if yet the cannon's lip be warm; thou, whom these portents warn but not alarm, feastest, but with thy hand upon the sword, as fits a warrior race. not like the saxon fools of olden days, with the mead dripping from the hairy mouth, while all the south filled with the shaven faces of the norman horde. queen victoria queen victoria as i knew her by sir theodore martin k.c.b., k.c.v.o. for private circulation william blackwood and sons edinburgh and london mcmi _all rights reserved_ _stifle the throbbing of this haunting pain, and dash this tearful sorrow from the eyes! she is not dead! though summoned to the skies, still in our hearts she lives, and there will reign; still the dear memory will the power retain to teach us where our foremost duty lies, truth, justice, honour, simple worth to prize, and what our best have been to be again._ _she hath gone hence, to meet the great, the good, the loved ones, yearn'd for through long toilsome years, to share with them the blest beatitude, where care is not, nor strife, nor wasting fears, nor cureless ills, nor wrongs to be withstood; shall thought of this not dry our blinding tears?_ published in the 'nineteenth century,' february . queen victoria as i knew her. chapter i. my personal introduction to queen victoria was due to the circumstance of my being chosen by her majesty to be the biographer of the prince consort. the obvious difficulties of that task, to which i looked forward with grave apprehension, could not have been successfully overcome but for the personal confidence early reposed in me by the queen, which led not only to her placing unreservedly at my disposal the very complete collections made by the prince consort of confidential state and other papers connected with her majesty's reign, but also to the frank communication of such personal details as, while they illustrated the character of the prince, threw the strongest light upon that of the queen herself. after my book was completed, the same confidential relations continued. this gave me such unusual opportunity of observing her majesty's qualities of mind and heart, that i am tempted to place on record so much of what i saw as may without impropriety be told. what she was as a sovereign will be for historians to tell; it is only of the woman as she became revealed to me that i would speak, using, where i may, her own words, as i find them in looking back upon the very voluminous correspondence with which i was honoured through many years. the endearing qualities of the queen have been acknowledged by all who knew her. they secured for her what might be truly called the affectionate devotion of the men and women of her court. i belonged to the outer world, but by no one were these qualities more warmly felt than by myself; for to the end, when the work which first brought me into contact with her majesty had long been completed, her gracious kindness and trust were vouchsafed to me with a constancy that knew no shade of change. * * * * * "how came you to be chosen to write the life of the prince consort?" is a question i have often been asked. it is a question which, in the early days, i often asked myself, for the selection came upon me as a great surprise. i did not know the prince consort, but i had heard much of him through my friend mr (afterwards sir arthur) helps, clerk of her majesty's council, and had been consulted by him in his preparation of the collection of the prince's speeches and addresses, and of the admirable monograph with which he introduced them, in the volume published by murray in . he must have laid more stress on my assistance than it merited. the queen, to whom i was an entire stranger, presented me with an inscribed copy of the book dated th december . it came with a letter from lady augusta bruce (afterwards stanley), one of the queen's ladies, in which she says she had been commanded to forward it to me, "in remembrance of my co-operation in the work of giving these precious memorials to our country and to the world, and as a token of her majesty's true appreciation of the spirit in which that co-operation was afforded." lady augusta was an old and valued friend of my wife, and she, as well as sir arthur helps, may have spoken of me to the queen; but i was quite unprepared for such a recognition of suggestions which in no way merited, to my thinking, the name of co-operation. from this time onwards i heard much both of the queen and prince from my friend helps, and my opinion was often asked in connection with her majesty's _leaves from a journal_, which he was engaged in carrying through the press. it had been intended that general charles grey, the queen's private secretary, should write the prince's life, and a first volume was in course of being prepared, which dealt with the early years and marriage of the prince. the general soon found that he had neither the leisure nor the strength to carry out the work, and i was aware that the question how this was to be done had closely occupied her majesty's thoughts. i was, however, taken greatly by surprise when a letter from helps reached me in my holiday retreat in north wales, in which he told me that the queen had approved of a suggestion he had made, that i should be asked to undertake the task. with his letter he sent for my perusal, through miss alice helps, who was then staying with us, a memorandum giving an outline of his ideas how the work should be carried out. "it will be a very great thing to do," the memorandum said, "covering many of the most secret transactions of the reign. general grey's book is merely the life of the prince as a child, and up to his marriage. it now becomes part of the history of england, and also of foreign states. a special duty will be to judge what documents shall be published, taking it for granted that such a work cannot long be kept secret.... the more i see of the prince's doings and sayings, the more i am struck with their largeness and extent." the memorandum goes on to offer assistance (which, as it turned out, i never used) in looking up and selecting materials and in furnishing political information, ending with the assurance, that "after seeing me, her majesty would be most confidential, and would trust everything to me. h. m. would much like mr martin to undertake the work, and he would find no difficulty in getting her to assent to any of his wishes in regard to it." reflection satisfied me that, as the event proved, mr helps had not fully appreciated either the greatness of the scale on which a biography, that would in fact be a history, must be constructed, or the amount of time and labour which it would demand. much honoured as i felt by the proposal, i shrank from the task; and in the full sense of my own unfitness for it, and in the hope that it would not be further pressed upon me, i replied to mr helps as follows:-- _" th august ._ "my dear helps,--alice has read to me your memorandum as to the proposed life of the prince consort, and i have given the subject very anxious consideration. the work i conceive to be one which, while full of the greatest interest, is surrounded with the gravest responsibility. you do not very clearly indicate what precise shape the life is intended to take. it is natural and proper that a life of the prince should be prepared, and given to the world, probably at no distant date, in which the real greatness of his character, public and private, and the breadth of his views should be developed, and developed by letting himself speak through the memoranda and other documents under his own hand, which, i presume, exist in abundance, wherever these can with propriety be used. but it is, of course, obvious that the matters to be dealt with involve so much that is delicate in their bearing both upon individual and public affairs, that to decide what should and what should not be given will involve most anxious consideration at every step; while it is scarcely less certain that much must either be altogether withheld, or set apart for a volume of _pièces justificatives_, to be compiled for possible publication at some more remote period. "the selection and classification of these materials will occupy much time and thought before a line of the biography can be written. at least such is my present opinion, for i do not think that the life of any man of mark, much more a man so pre-eminent as the prince, can be written until the whole scope and purpose of his life, as seen in his actions and habits of thought down to its close, have been, as far as may be, ascertained--until, in shakespeare's words, the 'idea of his mind and life' has crept into the biographer's 'study of imagination.' then, and then only, can he hope to paint his portrait with the freedom and warmth of pencil which can alone be derived from a full mastery of his materials and thorough sympathy with his theme. add to this, that much will have to be read and considered of what has already been said and done in public matters during the prince's life. "holding these views of the task, i naturally pause very gravely before making up my mind whether or not to accept a duty so honourable, but, at the same time, so onerous. you know how fully my time is engaged in my profession. this will in itself make anything like frequent absence from london impossible, and indeed i would undertake nothing which took me frequently from home, where, as you know, all my happiness is centred. while, therefore, i might upon occasion be able to attend her majesty for instructions or the discussion of such points as required explanation, i could only do so upon occasion, and i could, for the meantime at least, only pledge myself to give such time to the work as my profession and my health (which, you know, is far from strong) would admit. now, it may not be compatible with the views of her majesty to accept my service under such conditions. but, in any case, it is indispensable that she should be fully aware of them. if, with the full knowledge of them, her majesty should still be pleased to consider that i can be useful in carrying out her majesty's views, i should then feel less difficulty in undertaking the task, always understanding that i am to be assisted, as you propose, in the selection and arrangement of documents, &c." mr helps received my letter at balmoral, where, as clerk of the council, he was in attendance upon the queen. "nothing," he wrote, "can be better than your letter, which i received yesterday evening, and have just sent in to the queen. she has named a time for seeing me to-day, and, if i have time afterwards, i will tell you what she says." his letter concludes with an account, that is not unamusing, of one of the household balls by which the routine of the life at balmoral was occasionally broken:-- "the ball went off admirably last night; even her majesty remained many hours watching it. in how many points one's education has been neglected! i could not dance any of these scotch dances. however, i enjoyed the fun as a spectator. all ranks danced together, and one of the best hits i saw made was when the prince's coachman, a dapper little fellow, cut out h.r.h. very neatly in what they call a 'perpetual jig.' "there was a little 'tiger' who greatly distinguished himself, and contrived, which is a matter of skill, to get the princess [of wales] for a partner for a short time. then, perhaps, the little imp was himself cut out by a duke. the people behaved, as they generally do in such cases, admirably--free, graceful, and comparatively at their ease--and yet never forward." as i heard no more on the subject of the life for several days, i had begun to hope that the subject would drop, so far as i was concerned, when, on the th of september, mr helps sent me a letter to himself from the queen, in which her majesty wrote: "she thinks it most important that the services of mr martin should be engaged in this all-important work, which she feels should be as _faithful_ a representation of the greatest and best of men, her dearly loved and honoured husband, as it possibly can be. the copying and _sifting_ of papers, and the responsibility for what should be put in or omitted, would rest with the queen, general grey, and mr helps, and this, she hopes, will remove mr martin's objection to the task. it will give the queen much satisfaction to make mr martin's acquaintance." on reading this letter, i waited on mr helps, when he gave me full details of what had passed in his interview with her majesty after she had read my letter. among other things, i remember, he informed me that she laid great stress upon the fact that through life i had never taken a side in party politics; that i was thoroughly versed in the german language, in which a large proportion of the documents which i should have to consider was written; that i had gone through a full legal training, and had in my profession come in contact with many men engaged in undertakings of great importance. after so gracious an expression of her majesty's confidence, i felt that only one course was open to me, and accordingly i wrote to mr helps: "her majesty having been graciously pleased to accept such aid as i can give towards the great object which her majesty has so deeply at heart, i feel that i can no longer hesitate to place my best services at her disposal. you will understand best how to make this known to her majesty, whose commands i shall hold myself in readiness to fulfil." the queen soon afterwards returned from balmoral to windsor castle, and it was arranged that i was to be introduced there by mr helps on the th of november . the night before was memorable for the marvellous transit of shooting-stars (the leonids) across the heavens, the recurrence of which in subsequent years has been looked for eagerly but in vain. i remember well wondering to myself, as after midnight i gazed upon that magnificent spectacle, how i, utter stranger as i was to the ways and etiquette of courts, should pass through the ordeal that awaited me. i had been rather disconcerted that evening by hearing that mr helps, whose presence would have somewhat lightened the embarrassment of a first interview with the queen, was so unwell that he could not accompany me to windsor. thither, therefore, i had to go alone, and at the appointed hour was ushered into a room the walls of which were enriched by part of her majesty's great collection of miniatures. here i found the princess helena awaiting me. i had met her more than once before, and her presence served to place me more at ease than i should otherwise have been before her majesty appeared. still, my heart beat quicker when, very soon, i found myself in the presence of the queen. in her face i read at a glance marked traces of the great sorrow she had undergone. serene and full of quiet dignity as it was, i seemed to perceive in the queen's bearing something of that nervousness, almost amounting to shyness, which, as i came to know afterwards, her majesty always seemed to feel in first meeting a stranger--a shyness so little to be expected in a sovereign who had gone through so many exciting scenes, and had known nearly all the most distinguished men in europe. to show no signs of embarrassment, but to be simple and self-possessed, i saw at once was my true policy. the consequence was that her majesty herself quickly became at ease, and by her frank, gracious manner made me feel as it were at home in the long conversation that ensued, and in which, for the first time, i felt the charm that never failed of her exquisite smile and of her silver-toned voice. the details of that conversation i cannot, after so long an interval of years, recall. an opportunity was given to me of explaining my views as to the lines upon which the life of the prince should be written, and the information with which i desired more immediately to be furnished. the queen promised to send me such extracts from her own and the prince's diaries, and copies of such documents in her possession, as she considered might be useful. before she withdrew, her majesty turned the conversation to general topics, and, to my surprise, i found that she somehow knew much of my home ties, and of my tastes and pursuits in literature and the arts, in regard to which she encouraged me to give the frank expression of my opinions. i left her presence deeply impressed by the simplicity of bearing under which the dignity of the queen was unostentatiously present but subtly felt, and by a singular charm of manner, which grew and grew upon me the more i came under its influence in the years of frequent intercourse that followed. the absence of mr helps upon this occasion was, in a sense, fortunate, as it gave me the opportunity of learning, in the queen's own words, the impression her majesty had formed of me in this first interview. on the same day she wrote to mr helps. he was a great purist in regard to style, which will explain the first paragraph of her letter:-- "windsor castle, _nov. , _. "the queen is _so_ grieved (perhaps mr helps will scold her for that _so_!) to hear of mr helps feeling so ill to-day, but she thinks he will be relieved to hear that the first interview with mr martin passed off extremely well, and that the queen is very much pleased with him, and _feels sure_ that she can be at her ease with him. he is clever, kind, and sympathetic, and it will be a great interest to her to work _with him_ and mr helps." words so kind naturally dispelled some of the misgivings with which i was haunted in looking forward to what would be expected from the biographer of the prince consort,--expected both by her, who knew what she herself and her kingdom had lost in him, and by the public, who only too late had surmised the extent of that loss. no time was lost in getting together materials for the story of the early part of the prince's life. these were supplied to me by the queen from her journals, from family correspondence, and, in short, from everything which could throw light upon the youth and character of the prince. much information was also furnished in interviews with her majesty at windsor castle, to which i was frequently summoned. i gathered much, also, from some of the gentlemen of the household who had known the prince, and with whom i became acquainted during my visits to the castle, where they were at pains to show me that i was not an unwelcome guest. most of all i learned from general charles grey, the queen's private secretary, a man of strong character and conspicuous ability, whose personal friendship and confidence in me i must ever remember with the warmest gratitude. on one of my early visits to the castle he put to me a question which i was glad to have an opportunity of answering, and to which, in the interests of the queen, he was entitled to a reply. "to what," he said, "do you look forward in return for executing the onerous task you are undertaking?" "my compensation," i replied, "will be ample, if i can make people understand the prince, how great he was, how devoted to the welfare of our country, how great the debt which the country owed him. it must," i added, "be understood that my work is to be without fee or reward of any kind. my private means are ample for all my wants, and i can therefore afford full time for doing the work thoroughly. all i stipulate is that i am to have a free hand both as to the time and manner in which it is to be done. i foresee that it will be the work of years, and that it can only be well done if i am allowed entire independence in forming and expressing my estimate of the prince, and of his influence in matters of public or political importance." general grey expressed his satisfaction with what i said, and, no doubt, lost no time in informing the queen of its import. however this might be, from that moment i was treated with unreserved confidence, and the conditions for which i had stipulated were fully and frankly kept throughout all my labours. in general grey i found a cordial friend. he paid me the compliment of asking my assistance in finally seeing through the press the work, _the early years of the prince consort_, on which he was then engaged, and which was soon afterwards published. it had been originally intended that my work should begin where his left off. but as i went on with my studies i found that, to make my biography coherent and complete, i must go over the ground general grey had already gone over, and treat its incidents in my own way, and with a view to my plan for the further narrative of the prince's life. as i look back on my correspondence with the queen, it gratifies me to see how early her majesty's letters had passed from formal reserve into a strain of confidential friendliness. thus in a letter of december , , she writes, "the queen thanks mr martin for his two kind letters," and invites him to osborne for two or three days, where he will meet m. silvain van de weyer, "a great and intimate friend of the dear prince, a man of great cultivation of mind and of the kindest heart, and who will give mr martin many useful hints about the prince's character." this meeting led to an unbroken friendship with the singularly gifted man so well described by her majesty. from him i learned much that was of service to my immediate purpose in depicting the early part of the prince's life. he had been so completely behind the scenes also in all the political movements of the time, that i hoped to have the benefit of his knowledge in dealing with the subsequent years as well. but this was not to be. to my infinite regret, he died before the first volume of the life was published;[ ] but he read the proof-sheets of the greater part of it, and i was greatly encouraged by the warmth of his approval. in the same letter the queen goes on to say: "the queen is reading mr martin's _correggio_,[ ] of which she used to hear her governess, the baroness lehzen, so often speak. would he let her have a copy to send to the baroness?" "this day," the letter adds, "has been splendid--a cloudless blue sky, and equally blue sea, with the purest air. but when the queen awoke this morning her heart felt _sick_, as she knew how her darling husband would have enjoyed such a day in his beloved osborne, and she yearned for one hour of former happiness." i was again summoned to osborne in the first week of january . a day or two after my arrival ( th of january) i had a bad accident on the skating-pond,--so bad that i had to be carried to the palace, where the limb was promptly placed in splints by dr hofmeister, the queen's resident surgeon. the injury was serious, and the pain extreme. on the queen's return from her afternoon drive she heard of the accident, and immediately sent the late duchess of roxburghe, her lady-in-waiting, to me. she had been commanded to express her majesty's regret that she could not come at once to see me, as she had so many despatches awaiting her which required immediate attention. she also added that i was to write to my wife to come to osborne: the royal yacht would be ordered to portsmouth to wait her arrival and to bring her over. before nine o'clock next morning i was surprised by the appearance of her majesty in my room, where she expressed her warm sympathy with my suffering, and gave orders for my having the constant attendance of one of her principal servants. the queen had scarcely left my room when two unusually large pillows were brought to me. the queen, i was told, thought the pillows i had were too small, and had ordered these larger ones to replace them. this thoughtful kindness was but the beginning of a care for my recovery on the part of her majesty which left nothing undone that could minister to my comfort. on the th my wife arrived, and was met by the duchess of roxburghe. soon after, the queen came to her room, and her diary records: "h. m. gave me her hand, and welcomed me most kindly. i am desired to ask for everything as if i were at home;" and everything _was_ done to make her feel at home, by her majesty, by the royal children,--the princesses helena, louise, and beatrice, and the duke of connaught and prince leopold,--and by all the ladies and gentlemen of the household. what the impression was which she produced upon the queen we subsequently learned by a letter from mr helps, in which he quoted her majesty's words from a letter he had received:-- "_ th january ._ "we are selfishly glad that mr martin is kept here, and think mrs martin _most_ pleasing, clever, and distinguished--really very charming." almost daily during the three following weeks we had the honour of lengthened visits in our rooms from her majesty, in which there was a frank interchange of views, not only in regard to the subject on which i was specially engaged, but also upon the events of the day and other topics of general interest. it so happened that just at this time the _leaves from a journal_ were published. her majesty's estimate of that little volume was most humble; and as, possibly from a feeling of shyness, she shrank from writing with this first literary effort to the poet laureate, she honoured me by requesting me to do so on her behalf. the queen reverenced genius; greatness in birth and station she regarded as but an accident. to the genius which makes its own position by commanding the love and admiration of the world she bowed with genuine humility. how well this was shown in her visit to abbotsford! "in the study," she writes, "we saw sir walter's journal, in which mr hope scott asked me to write my name, _which i felt it would be presumption to do_." surely a beautiful appreciation of genius, as distinguished from the accident of position. the _leaves_ book was inscribed by the queen's own hand, and this was the acknowledgment which reached me from mr tennyson:-- "farringford, freshwater, _ st january _. "dear mr martin,--we are very sorry to hear of your accident, and fear, from what you say, that it may have caused you much pain. we are sure that with the queen, if anywhere, you will have been made to forget it. "i need not say that i am very much honoured by her majesty's gift--you know that; and i know that i may trust to you to make my thanks acceptable for a book not only of so much interest in its own day, but trebly valuable to the historian of that future when we shall all of us have gone to join tullus and ancus. "will you remember us most kindly to mrs martin? and with a hope that you will soon be well, i am, yours very sincerely, "a. tennyson." i must have written to the queen in warm terms of satisfaction at the burst of enthusiastic and affectionate loyalty with which her little volume was hailed, knowing, as i did, how this feeling contrasted with much of a very different tenor to which her majesty's close retirement after the prince's death had given rise, and which had caused her extreme pain, for on the th of january the following note was sent to my room:-- "the queen was moved to tears on reading mr martin's beautiful and too kind letter. indeed it is not possible for her to say _how_ touched she is by the kindness of _every one_. people are far too kind. what has she done to be so loved and liked? she did suffer acutely last year, she will not deny, and it made her ill; but the sore feeling has vanished entirely, and the very thought of it has lost its sting.... mr martin must keep very quiet to-night, and be very good, and _do_ what mrs martin and the doctor tell him." three days later the queen wrote to me again on the same subject. her majesty had the special virtue of dating all her letters and notes, however slight--a grace her subjects too little cultivate. "osborne, _jan. , _. "the queen would have liked to go to mr martin, but ever since she came in, at a quarter past five, she has done nothing but read the reviews in the newspapers. she is very much moved--deeply so--but not uplifted or 'puffed up' by so much kindness, so much praise. she sends one [review] that is very gratifying, which mr martin has _probably_ not seen. pray, let the queen have it back after dinner. "two things there are in some of the reviews which the queen wishes mr martin could find means to get rectified and explained: . that the queen wrote _the early years_.[ ] pray, have that contradicted. . that it is the queen's _sorrow_ that keeps her secluded to a certain extent. now, it is her _overwhelming work_ and her health, which is greatly shaken by her sorrow, and the totally overwhelming amount of work and responsibility--work which she feels really wears her out. alice helps was wonder-struck at the queen's room; and if mrs martin will look at it, she can tell mr martin what surrounds her. from the hour she gets out of bed till she gets into it again there is work, work, work--letter-boxes, questions, &c., which are dreadfully exhausting--and if she had not comparative rest and quiet in the evening, she would most likely _not be alive_. her brain is constantly overtaxed. could this truth not be openly put before people? so much has been told them, they should know this very important fact, for _some_ day she may _quite_ break down." it was not till a subsequent visit that i had an opportunity of seeing, in her majesty's working-room, the huge piles of despatch-boxes arriving daily from every department of the government, by which she was surrounded. but mrs martin saw them during this visit, and this is what she wrote of them to a friend: "her majesty took me into her own room one morning to show me the piles of despatch-boxes, all of them full of work for her, and all requiring immediate attention; and this goes on from day to day. it is the queen's great aim to follow the prince's plan, which was to _sign nothing_ until he had read and made notes upon what he signed. you may imagine how such conscientiousness swallows up the royal leisure." we were still at osborne when a gloom was cast over the palace by the sudden and very alarming illness of prince leopold. only the day before he had been in our room full of life and spirit, and when we were told of his illness we were also told that the very worst was feared. the prevailing grief showed in a very touching way how much he was beloved. the queen was deeply moved; but she bore up with the courage and hopefulness which was a part of her character, and which, it is well known, upon occasion put courage and hope into the hearts of her ministers, when these were wanted, at times of crisis in either home or foreign affairs. she had seen crises as bad, or worse, and remembered their details, and she could remind them how these had been successfully grappled with and got over. just so, she had previously seen prince leopold in danger quite as great, and he had recovered. while, then, those around him were almost in despair, she never lost heart and hope. the first tidings of a decided change for the better came to us in a little note from the queen sent to my room on the evening of the st of january, saying, "our dear child is going on very satisfactorily, thank god!" when we left osborne three days afterwards, the prince was out of danger, and we started for london with a lighter heart than we should otherwise have done. we had been permitted to share in the anxiety of the royal family, and their joy at its removal was a joy to us also. the queen pressed us hard to delay our journey, but the quiet of home was absolutely necessary for my complete recovery. we had made our formal adieus to her majesty the previous evening. she had not returned from her morning drive when we left osborne. but the following letter overtook us by special messenger at southampton:-- "_feb. , ._ "the queen was much vexed to find, on coming home, that mr and mrs martin had already left, as she was anxious to wish them good-bye, and give mrs martin the accompanying souvenir of her stay here.[ ] the queen thought they would hardly venture across to-day with this high wind and in the public boat. she trusts, however, the journey will be performed with comparatively little suffering, and that mr martin will not be the worse. prince leopold is going on as well as possible." on reaching london we wrote to the queen, and our letters brought the following reply:-- "the queen thanks mr and mrs martin both very much for their kind letters. she rejoices so much to hear of mr martin not having suffered, and hopes he and mrs martin may frequently revisit osborne under more pleasant circumstances." the circumstances of our long visit to osborne on this occasion might have been in a sense more "pleasant," had they not been dashed, as they were, by the brief but alarming illness of prince leopold, and by the very painful accident to myself. but more auspicious they could not have been for my purpose as biographer of the prince consort, or my relations to her majesty and the royal family. their kind natures were drawn to me by sympathy, as, but for my accident, they might not have been, and one and all vied in making both my wife and myself feel thoroughly at home. with regard to the queen herself, frequent personal interviews did what no amount of correspondence could have done. they served to confirm the confidence with which i had been previously regarded, a confidence essential to the successful execution of my task. insincerity, selfishness, obsequiousness could not live before her, and when her trust was given, her own sincere, sensitive, womanly nature was stirred, and it revealed itself with a frankness, a considerateness, and a courtesy that were irresistibly fascinating, and raised loyalty to chivalrous devotion. chapter ii. the letters above quoted show how deeply the queen felt hurt by the severe remarks of many of the journals as to her seclusion and disappearance from the ceremonials of public life for some years after the death of the prince consort. her majesty must also have been aware that comments to the same effect were current in general society, where the accustomed gaieties of the court remained at a standstill. indeed one sometimes hears them still urged in reproach to her otherwise faultless life as a sovereign, as though her duty to the state had been sacrificed to a morbid indulgence in the sorrows of her personal bereavement. at one time there might have been some excuse for such an impression, but there is none now. people did not then know, as they know now, how heavy a weight of labour and anxiety had been thrown upon the queen by the death of the prince. during his life her labours as sovereign had been lightened by the constant presence at her side of a counsellor to whom the welfare of the empire was as dear as to herself, whose life was merged in hers, on whose strong brain and constant devotion she had, for over twenty years, been accustomed to lean for support and guidance. while he lived, the cares of royalty pressed comparatively lightly upon the queen. but when he died the full burden of them fell upon her; and from that moment she became the most lonely of women--for who is so lonely as the survivor of two beings whose mutual devotion has been so all-sufficing that they have never looked elsewhere for mental companionship or support? how much more so if the survivor be a woman! with no one to whom she could turn for the same sympathy and guidance, the queen had henceforth to look solely to her own resources for fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of the great position which, with the prince's assistance, she had built up for herself before the world. together it had been their rule to keep themselves advised from day to day of every detail of public affairs by the officials of every department, and to make themselves a living chronicle of everything that passed in the administration of the empire. this tradition the queen had now to carry on by herself. but for her great powers of work, her quick perception, and a memory of singular tenacity, this would have been impossible; and it requires no effort of imagination to understand how great to her must have been the resulting exhaustion of both body and mind, and how natural the occasional fear, to use her own words, that some day "she might quite break down." she was not singular in this fear, for it was shared by those who knew her best, and especially by her uncle, the king of the belgians--and no one knew her better than he, both in her strength and in her weakness. when spoken to about her seclusion and the prevailing desire that she could come more into public life, his advice was to leave her alone. "pauvre victoire," m. van de weyer told me were his words, "ne la tourmentez pas!" the outside world, of course, did not then know how great was the additional burden that had been thrown upon her majesty. only the queen herself could enlighten her subjects upon this point, unless some of her majesty's ministers had taken occasion to do so, which they might well have done, but none of them did. this i had to explain to the queen when she asked me, by her note, above cited, of the th of january , and again personally at osborne, to take means to let the public know the truth. at the same time, i ventured to offer my opinion, that it was neither necessary nor desirable to make any public declaration on the subject. whatever might be said by some, her people, i was sure, had entire trust in her doing what was best, and that she would appear in public whenever the necessity for doing so arose. my views prevailed, and the enthusiastic reception given within the next few days to the _leaves from a journal_, and the warm expressions of loyal devotion stimulated by the insight there given into the queen's character, came, happily, to confirm my opinion. it was still further confirmed by the reception given to the queen on her visiting the city to open the new blackfriars bridge and the holborn bridge and viaduct on the th of november , of which she wrote to me ( th november): "nothing could be more successful than the progress and ceremony of saturday. the greatest enthusiasm prevailed, and the reception by countless thousands of all classes, especially in the city, was most loyal and gratifying--not a word, not a cry, that could offend any one." the subject of a public statement was not again mooted. her majesty was content to wait until the story i should have to tell in the prince's life should fully open the eyes of her people to the truth. complaints ceased for a time, but during the year they were renewed in some of the leading journals, and again the queen felt deeply wounded--how deeply will presently appear. in the autumn of she had a serious illness, which occasioned general alarm, and the journals teemed with expressions of the devotion and the sympathetic interest which lay at the heart of all her majesty's subjects. to this change is due the following letter:-- "balmoral, _septr. , _. "long, long has the queen wished to write to mr martin, but her _very severe_ illness has prevented her from doing so. she is now, however, going on so satisfactorily, _though very slowly_, that she is glad to be able to thank him for his kind inquiries and letters. "the queen cannot help referring to the articles in thursday's _times_, and in friday's _daily news_, which are very gratifying, as these go the length of expressing _remorse_ at the heartless, cruel way in which they had attacked the queen. mr martin wrote rightly, that the words were not spoken which were needed to make the public understand that the queen could not do more than human strength could bear.[ ] mr martin will recollect the queen's distress for some years past, and how little she was _believed_. the unjust attacks this year, the great worry and anxiety and hard work for ten years, alone, unaided, with increasing age and never very strong health, broke the queen down, and almost drove her to despair. the result has been the very, very serious illness--the severest, except one (a typhoid fever in ), she ever had--and more suffering than she has ever endured in her life. now that people are frightened and kind, the queen will be kindly treated in future; but it is very hard that it was necessary she should have the severe illness and great suffering, which has left her very weak, to make people feel for and understand her.... the sympathy in dear scotland has been great, and their press was the first to raise their voice in defence of a cruelly misunderstood woman. she will never forget this." after this time her majesty had no reason, so far as i know, to complain that she was "cruelly misunderstood" by any section of her people. they learned to understand and to sympathise with her, for they saw day by day how close a watch she kept upon all public affairs, how full her thoughts were of them and their wellbeing, and how tender were her sympathies with all of them who were "in danger, necessity, or tribulation." no one could be much in communication with the queen without being struck by her power of saying concisely what she had to say in the plainest and clearest language. the swiftness of her thought was apparent in her beautiful, firm, rapid writing. its clearness was equally shown in her happy choice of the simplest words. she had so much ground to get over daily that she had no time to waste in elaborate expression. for her the one thing important was, that no room should be left for any misapprehension of her meaning--in short, that she should make what was plain to her own mind as plain to the minds of others as it was to herself. if a simple, everyday word or phrase would serve her purpose, she preferred it to anything more ornate. in the course of editing the _leaves from a journal_, mr helps had many struggles with her majesty about what he thought her too homely style, which she defended, because she could not bear it to be thought that what she wrote was written "for style and effect." "it was," she wrote to me ( th october ), "the simplicity of the style, and the absence of all appearance of writing for effect, which had given her book such immense and undeserved success. besides, how could mr helps expect pains to be taken when she wrote late at night, suffering from headache and exhaustion, and in dreadful haste, and not for publication?" this artless skill in rendering a fresh, unstudied transcript of her impressions--a power eagerly sought for, but very often unattained by men of letters--undoubtedly gave to these jottings in her majesty's journal their special charm. but its value was apparent in all she wrote. the habit of getting as near in words as possible to what was in her own mind gave great vividness and graphic force upon occasion to her style, especially where matters of importance had to be dealt with. when an authoritative life of her majesty is written, proofs of this will be abundant. but, to speak only of what is already before the world, what could be more happy or to the purpose than the addresses and messages which she issued upon occasion to her people, and which in point merely of style, apart from the governing thought and feeling, were always masterly? the same characteristic was conspicuous in her conversation. her words were few and well chosen. you were never puzzled to know what she meant, and she expected you, in what you said, to be equally concise and clear--exact in the expression of opinion, and rigidly accurate as to fact. her aim always was to get at the truth. herself the most truthful of women, she resented any shortcoming in truthfulness in others. "oh!" she once said to me, "nobody can tell of what value it is to me to hear the truth." the queen's intolerance of affectation, verbosity, or obscurity of language affected her judgment not only of men, but also of much of the contemporary literature which found favour with others. she loved and appreciated, and indeed delighted in poetry, but it must be poetry as the vehicle of genuine feeling or wholesome and instructive thought, clothed in the musical language which ingratiates it to the memory, without the inversions or obscurity of phrase or the exaggerations of metaphor or sentiment, which are so often mistaken for originality and strength. in my experience, her majesty was not prone to offer critical opinions upon books, but when she did so, her judgments were to the point. thus, in speaking to me about george eliot's _middlemarch_, she remarked, after saying much about the subtle delineation of the various characters, "after all, fine as it is, it is a disappointing book; all the people are failures"--meaning not in the way they were drawn, but in the issues of their lives, as in truth they are. the queen knew, i should say, quite as much of literature, music, and the arts as most of the people who think themselves entitled to speak with authority upon all these topics; but she knew the limitations of her own knowledge, and was much too sincere and too modest to affect authority to dilate upon them. this she left to those who had made them their special study, and was "contented if she might enjoy the things which others understand," or think they understand. she had no leisure for abstruse studies. she had one great book always before her, which commanded and absorbed her supreme attention--the book of human life, of human good and ill within her kingdom, and of all that was going on in europe and throughout her vast dominions. the study of that book left little leisure for great attainments in literature, science, or the arts. to music she had been devoted from her youth. she had grown up in the love of the chief italian composers, ancient and modern, of mozart, beethoven, schubert, mendelssohn, meyerbeer, and verdi in the modern school--in short, all the great masters of melody who wrote from and to the heart. it was not, then, surprising that she cared comparatively little for the writers of the latest school, wagner, brahms, grieg, and others, who write much less from the heart than from the head, building up elaborately scientific tonic structures, the symmetry of which it is difficult to trace, and weaving complicated harmonies that tax and exhaust the attention, and savour more of the science than of the soul of music. however indifferent the queen might be to productions of this class, she was keenly alive to every piece of pure melodic and harmonious inspiration. of her majesty's executive power as an artist i cannot speak, as what i know of her work is confined to a few slight sketches, and the etchings which she made, when prince albert and herself were for a time fascinated by that attractive but difficult process. of these i owe to the queen's kindness a complete series.[ ] of them it is enough to say that the drawing is not remarkable, and that, as etchings, the difficulties of the art have not been overcome. but i had frequent occasion to observe that her majesty's studies had resulted in a power of judging good artistic work beyond that of even the tolerably accomplished amateur. she was in the constant habit of having engravings made of the portraits of her family and friends, for private circulation, and for several years i acted, by her desire, as the medium of communication between her and the brothers francis and william holl, the eminent engravers, by whom the work was done. the engravers' proofs of these, always carefully scrutinised by the queen, were never returned to me without some pertinent comment, sometimes illustrated by a drawing by the queen upon the margin. "none but an artist could have made that suggestion" was a not uncommon remark of the engraver. it showed him how to correct something which he himself had not seen the way to amend. with so much to do and think of, her majesty was entitled to expect from her ministers that all important matters submitted for her consideration should be explained in language at once lucid and concise. this, no doubt, was generally done. but a very remarkable instance to the contrary came under my notice while i was lying ill at osborne. the irish church disestablishment question, which in had been much agitated, took the shape, in january , of a bill, the printed draft of which, together with a letter explanatory of the measure, was sent by mr gladstone to the queen. her private secretary, general grey, must have been absent from osborne at the time, otherwise the queen would have turned to him for aid in clearing up any difficulty she found in mastering these documents. i was therefore surprised to receive a note from her majesty, sending them to me, requesting me to read and return them with a _précis_ of their contents, as she had read and re-read mr gladstone's very long letter, and found herself more and more lost in the clouds of his explanations the more she toiled through them. my opinion of the measure, of course, was not asked for--it never was upon any subject where her ministers were properly her advisers--and her majesty knew she could rely on my secrecy in regard to its terms as implicitly as if i had been sworn of her privy council. my task was simply to analyse and state as clearly as i could the scope of the measure as i might gather it from the documents sent. that the queen should have been lost in the fog of the long and far from lucid sentences of her minister, running, as they did, through upwards of a dozen closely written quarto pages, seemed only natural. i therefore turned from them to the draft bill, and long professional experience in the study of similar documents made it easy for me to furnish her majesty with the information desired, for which i presently received a gracious acknowledgment, with the happy assurance that she now saw her way clearly to deal with the measure proposed. this incident, long forgotten, was recalled to my mind on reading the statement made with an air of assured knowledge,[ ] that the queen's "prejudice" against mr gladstone began from her "suspecting him of trying to overwork her." i have the best reason to know the groundlessness of this imputation. the queen's distrust of mr gladstone--not her "prejudice" against him--was of a much earlier date than his first premiership. it was deeply seated, and for reasons that grew more and more serious as the years rolled on. but this is a matter with which the future chronicler of the queen's life may be left to deal. instead of complaining that she was overtasked by mr gladstone, her majesty's complaint more probably was, that she was not kept fully and timeously informed by him of important matters to which she conceived her attention should have been called. however this may be, the queen was too fair-minded to allow "prejudice" to warp her judgment as to any of her ministers; but her intuitively searching glance, her unfailing memory and long experience, would instinctively lead her to make of their characters a penetrating and conscientiously careful study. it seems like egotism to quote the following letter, but it shows better than anything i could write the position in relation to her majesty which, i scarcely know how, i had very early come to occupy. "balmoral, _ th june _. "the queen has received mr martin's _most_ kind letter of the rd.... she really is at a loss to say how much she feels his constant and invariable kindness to her, and how deeply grateful she is for it. in the queen's position, though it might sound strange, as she has so many to serve her, she feels the assistance rendered her by others in private matters, in which her official servants, from one cause or another, seem to feel little interest and to be very helpless, is of immense value; and she considers it _most fortunate_, to say the least, to have found so kind a friend as mr martin. the queen likewise feels that in him she has found an impartial friend, who can tell her many important things which her own unbiassed servants cannot hear or tell her. this the queen mentioned to mr martin the other day when she saw him at windsor, when she alluded to the loss of baron stockmar." it puzzled me to think what the many little, by me "unremembered acts of kindness," could be which prompted such a recognition. it was always not merely an honour but a delight to be serviceable in any way to a lady so courteous, so unexacting, so full herself of thoughtful kindness. being in no way under the restraint which inevitably keeps official servants in a great measure aloof from a sovereign mistress, i could speak on all unofficial subjects on which my opinion was invited with a frank unreserve that was impossible to them. i had nothing to fear, nothing to gain, nothing to conceal. more deeply attached, more truly loyal to their royal mistress it was impossible to be than were the able and accomplished officials by whom she was surrounded, and to whom her wishes were a law which it was their pride to obey. still, she was their royal mistress, and could not have the same feeling of unreserve with them as with one like myself, who was wholly independent. in my observation of court life, i was often reminded of the words of the queen in browning's _in a balcony_, isolated as she was, although surrounded by a loyal court, and shut away from that frank communion with others, without which life must drag so heavily along:-- "oh, to live with a thousand beating hearts around you, swift eyes, serviceable hands, professing they've no care but for your care, thought but to help you, love but for yourself,-- and you the marble statue all the time they praise and point at!" and yet, no marble statue, but human to the core, and craving for the homely sympathies of simple, healthy, human life. such was our queen. early in my attendances upon her majesty, the name of baron stockmar was frequently on her lips, and it was always coupled with expressions of the deepest respect and affection. how well these were justified i soon learned from his letters and memoranda, addressed to the queen and prince, which were placed in my hands. it was obvious that they would be of the greatest value for my life of the prince, and i told her majesty that i intended to make copious use of them there. on this she wrote to me:-- "balmoral, _sept. , _. "the queen rejoices to think that the great character of her dear old baron will be known now as it ought to be. indeed, the greatest worth is often not known.[ ] no one feels this so strongly as the queen has done and does. what worth, what talent, what real greatness exist, unknown and unimagined, though not by the great judge of all men!" i had made my selection of stockmar's letters and memoranda for my purpose, when a volume by his son, the baron ernest von stockmar, was published in the autumn of , of _memorabilia_ from his father's papers, which threw not a little additional light upon the life and character of this remarkable man.[ ] as he was to form a prominent figure in my book, and, though little known to the general public, had been frequently misrepresented as a dangerous influence at the queen's court, i made his son's book the text for a careful monograph of the baron for the _quarterly review_.[ ] i was the more impelled to do so, as the queen, the princess royal (empress frederic), and others of the baron's friends thought the book had failed to do justice to the lovable and more attractive features of the baron's character. his wisdom and great political sagacity spoke for themselves in the extracts from the published documents, but the finer qualities were not brought out which endeared him to his friends. his son had not, perhaps, had so many opportunities as his english friends for judging the baron, for a large part of stockmar's life had been spent away from his home in coburg, first in attendance on prince leopold (king of the belgians), and afterwards in long visits at the english court. this might well have been, seeing that "stockmar," as m. van de weyer, who had known him long and intimately, wrote to me, "concealed the tenderness of his heart, his loving nature, his sweet temper, his devotion to his friends, under a stoical appearance which deceived none of those who knew him well; and to know him was to love him." his son had, somehow, failed to appreciate this side of his character, and his book, therefore, left an impression of hardness and austerity which did injustice to his father, and which it was my endeavour to remove. that his influence upon the queen and prince was all for good, they were the first and always most eager to acknowledge. no one knew england and its people--what they would bear and what they would not bear in their sovereigns--better than he. sir robert peel, lords aberdeen, derby, clarendon, john russell, and palmerston all deferred to his judgment as that of the wisest and most far-seeing politician of the day. having very fully expressed my opinion of him from this point of view elsewhere, it only concerns me to say here, that the queen considered that she owed much of the success of her reign to the sound constitutional principles which he had impressed upon her, and to the warnings, almost prophetic, as to how the changes of circumstance and of opinion were to be dealt with, which his statesmanlike sagacity foresaw were likely to arise in the epoch of transition into which england and europe were, in his view, rapidly advancing. stockmar, who had watched the queen from childhood, wrote of her in : "the queen improves greatly. she makes daily advances in discernment and experience; the candour, the love of truth, the fairness, the considerateness with which she judges men and things are truly delightful, and the ingenuous self-knowledge with which she speaks about herself is amiable to a degree." of that rare quality of ingenuousness i saw many illustrations. thus, for example, how few would be ready to make so frank a confession as to any portion of their past lives as this, in a letter to me (february , ), which her majesty gave as a reason why she could not send, for the purpose of the prince's biography, her letters during the first years after her accession:-- "osborne, _feb. , _. "the queen's own letters between and are not pleasing, and are, indeed, rather painful to herself. it was the least sensible and satisfactory time in her whole life, and she must therefore destroy a great many. that life of constant amusement, flattery, excitement, and mere politics had a bad effect (as it must have upon any one) on her naturally simple and serious nature. but all changed in [with her marriage]." the queen's candour and love of truth, too, made her impatient at being praised where praise was not due, especially where praise should have been given to the prince consort. thus she writes to lord john russell (november , ), on reading in a cape journal a speech of sir george grey's extolling the nature of the education given to her eldest sons: "she feels, she must say, _pained_ at such constant praise of _her_ education of our sons, when it is _all_ due to the prince, and when his untiring and indefatigable exertions for our children's good is the chief, indeed sole, cause of the success which till now has attended our efforts.... the praise so constantly given to the queen, and the popularity she enjoys, she knows and feels are due, in a great measure, to the guidance and assistance of the prince, to be whose wife she considers so great a privilege, and she feels it almost wrong when praise is given to _her_ for what she knows _he_ deserves." every inch a queen as she was, and careful that the royal authority which she inherited should suffer no detriment in her hands, there ran through her majesty's nature a vein of modest humility as to her own knowledge and powers in things of common life, a seeking for guidance and help, which was infinitely touching. she made no secret to herself of her own faults and shortcomings. one does not expect queens to make acknowledgments of these, but even these were made upon occasion. thus in her anxiety to throw light for me upon the prince's character, she sent me a copy of a letter (july , ) in which he rebuked her, tenderly but firmly, for writing to him when he had gone from home on a public occasion, in what she calls "a very discreditable fit of pettishness, which she was humiliated to have to own," to the effect that he could do without her, and did not take her miniature with him. in her letter to me she says, that she would not have written as she did had she not been spoilt by his never really leaving her. the prince's reply is too sacred to quote in full; but what wife's heart would not leap with joy to read the concluding words? "dein liebes bild trage ich in mir; und die miniaturen bleiben stets weit hinter diesen zurück; eine solche auf meinem tisch zu stellen um mich _deiner_ zu _erinnern_ bedarf es nicht."[ ] chapter iii. the dominant quality in the queen's character, it seemed to me, was her strong common-sense. it enabled her to see things in their just proportion, to avoid extremes, as a rule, in her estimate of persons, of opinions, and events; to accept the inevitable without futile murmur or resistance. very early this quality must have been developed, and it will account for that perfect self-possession on the announcement of her accession and at her first privy council, which created surprise and admiration in all who witnessed it. those who read of it were often incredulous, and stories of her agitation on these occasions have found a place from time to time in newspapers and elsewhere. one of these, which appeared in a respectable journal so late as november , drew from the queen the following very suggestive remark in a letter to me: "the queen was _not_ overwhelmed on her accession--rather full of courage, she may say. _she took things as they came, as she knew they must be._" it was so with her through life. she met trial, difficulty, or danger "with courage," and reconciled herself with a thoughtful constant spirit, and without passionate remonstrance, to what she "knew must be." what but this quality of mind, and her strong sense of the claims of duty upon her as sovereign, could have enabled her within a few days after the loss, which for a long time took all sunshine out of her life, to resume her active duties as queen, and to continue them unbrokenly through feeble health and the many domestic anxieties and bereavements which during her long life pressed frequently and heavily upon her? the queen's historian will have much to tell in illustration of her breadth of view, her prompt decision, and undaunted spirit in times of political difficulty. at these times, the truly royal spirit within her answered to the call. a judgment enlightened by a vast experience, and unwarped by prejudice, then came into play. her sole thought was for the good of her people, and to see that neither this, nor the position of her empire before the world, should be in anywise impaired. to this end she brought into play the well-balanced judgment, which begets and is alone entitled to the name of common-sense. the same quality was equally conspicuous in her judgment of the affairs of ordinary life. of this i might have been able to give many examples, had i not made it my rule never to make a memorandum of any remarks on men and things that fell from her majesty at any of my interviews with her. in her letters to me, acute and characteristic remarks like the following frequently occurred: "the wisest and best people are sadly weak and foolish about great marriages. the queen cannot comprehend it." with her experience of the private history of the many homes of both the noble and the rich, who so able as she to judge how little of the true happiness of life results from the gratification of such an ambition? "her sagacity in reading people and their ruling motives and weaknesses" was remarkable. this was noted by archbishop benson, and it often broke into remarks touched more with kindliness and humour than with sarcasm. the archbishop also remarks, truly, that the queen "was shrewder and fuller of knowledge than most men." "she had not much patience with their follies and the pettiness of their desires." one recognises as very characteristic a remark of hers which the archbishop quotes: "i cannot understand the world--cannot comprehend the frivolities and littlenesses. it seems to me as if they were all a little mad."[ ] here, too, may be noted the gentleness of her judgments, even in cases where not to condemn would have been impossible. one was often reminded that the axiom, _tout comprendre c'est tout pardonner_, was habitually present to her mind. if a kind construction could be put upon an action rather than a severe one, she was prompt to seize it. but at the same time her condemnation of falsehood, cant, party intrigue, egotistical ambition, or proved unworthiness was swift and stern. the time had been when mr disraeli's attacks on her friend sir robert peel had prepossessed her greatly against him. in one of my letters on the subject of the prince's _life_, i must have had occasion to refer to these attacks. this was her reply ( th of june ):-- "the queen quite agrees with what mr martin says about mr disraeli's conduct to sir r. peel. it was and is a great blot, and it is to her the more extraordinary, as he seems a very kindhearted and courteous man. but he was at that time very young, bitterly disappointed, not thought much of, and probably urged on by others." as the years went on mr disraeli won for himself a very high place in her majesty's regard. in him she recognised the patriotic statesman, free from all mean ambition, superior to the prejudices of party, looking with keen sagacity beyond "the ignorant present," his every thought directed to the weal, the safety, the expansion of the empire. she also found in him a man of generous instincts, on whom she could depend for consideration and sympathy. among the other qualities for which she admired him were the constancy of his devotion to lady beaconsfield, and the honour which he paid to her memory upon her death. "how touching," she writes to me (december , ), "is the account of lady beaconsfield's funeral! _he_ is a _very fine_ example to set before us in these days of _want_ of affection and devotion, and of belief in what is true, unselfish, and chivalrous." when in the land was deafened by the outcry about "woman's rights," which has not yet wholly subsided, the queen writes to me ( th may):-- "the queen is most anxious to enlist every one who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'woman's rights,' with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety. lady ---- ought to get a _good whipping_. "it is a subject which makes the queen so furious that she cannot contain herself. god created men and women different--then let them remain each in their own position. tennyson has some beautiful lines on the difference of men and women in _the princess_.[ ] woman would become the most hateful, heartless, and disgusting of human beings were she allowed to unsex herself; and where would be the protection which man was intended to give the weaker sex? the queen is sure that mrs martin agrees with her." in regard to the prevailing extravagance and want of individuality in dress, also, the queen held strong opinions. thus she writes to me (january , ):-- "the prince had the greatest possible dislike for extravagance in dress, and, above all, for always _following_ in fashion. he liked people to be _well_ and elegantly and neatly dressed, but abhorred in men as well as in women anything loud, or fast, or startling. he would not have allowed me or any of our daughters to appear in any dress or coiffure or bonnet not becoming or proper, and he would have made us take it off. i never bought a dress or bonnet without consulting him, and his taste was always good. i remember so well, when my french coiffeur came from paris every year, and brought over things which were tried on, the prince has come in and said, '_das trägst du nicht!_' [that you shall not wear!] the queen and princesses, he said, ought never to _follow_ foolish and ugly fashions, only because they were new. this was entirely out of place. "what would he say now, when every one dresses so overmuch, and thinks so much more about dress than they ever did before! he thought, and i think the same, that people ought to adopt what is really becoming, but not because it is the fashion, and especially what does not suit their face and figure." wise words, no doubt; but how few are they, in all ranks of life, who have the courage to be in what falstaff calls "the rereward of the fashion," however fantastic the fashion may be, and out of harmony with their face and figure? the queen's passionate love for scotland, with which her little books have made the world familiar, her delight in the prospect of going to balmoral, her dejection at the thought of leaving it, constantly broke out in her letters to me. thus ( th june ) she writes from balmoral:-- "the queen hopes mr martin will find a good place in the _life_ for the prince's love and admiration for our beloved scotland. mr martin remembers his memorable words spoken not three weeks before his fatal illness: 'england does not know what she owes to scotland.' beloved country! the queen's whole heart yearns to it more and more, and the th will be a sad day when she leaves it again." notwithstanding my love for my own native land, i found so much of graver matter to deal with in the prince's life that i fear i did not gratify this phase of the queen's feelings so fully as she desired. greatly as the prince enjoyed his scottish holidays, scotland was not to him what it was to the queen, especially after his death. she was never so well in health as there, and with health came fresh vigour of mind and cheerfulness of spirits. she rejoiced, too, in the contrast of her comparatively simple and genial life there with the life of state and courtly convention which awaited her at windsor, where, as she has told me, even the measured tread of the sentinels under her windows was irksome to her. the very splendour of windsor castle, that stateliest and most richly endowed of palaces, weighed upon a spirit that yearned for the freedom of life and movement, for which monarchs have ever yearned, but must, perforce, school themselves to forego. her majesty's feeling on this subject finds striking expression in the following passage of a letter to me from windsor castle (november , ):-- "the departure from scotland, that beloved and blessed land, 'the birthplace of valour, the country of worth,' is very painful, and the _sehnsucht_ [yearning] for it, and proportionate chagrin on returning to this gloomiest, saddest of places, very great.[ ] it is not alone the pure air, the quiet and beautiful scenery, which makes it so delightful--it is the atmosphere of loving affection, and the hearty attachment of the people around balmoral, which warms the heart, and does one good, and the absence of which, replaced by a cathedral church, with all its bells and clergy, a garrison town, and a very gossiping one, a court with all its chilling formality, and the impossibility of going among the poor here, who are in villages of a very bad description, makes the change a dreadful one." while, for the reason i have stated, scotland took no prominent place in my _life_ of the prince, i made the queen such amends as i might by my assistance in the preparation and passing through the press of the profusely illustrated edition of the _leaves from a journal_,[ ] in the details of which her majesty took great interest. with her accustomed courtesy the queen acknowledged a service which was a pleasure to me from the frequency with which it brought me into communication with her, by presentation of a fine copy of the book, inscribed (january , ) by her own hand, "to theodore martin, esq., with the expression of sincere gratitude for the pains he has taken with this illustrated volume." and here i may say that i have not met in life a nature more grateful than the queen's for service done, however slight, or more courteous in the acknowledgment of it. this perfect courtesy showed itself in many ways. thus, for example, if a letter remained without answer for a day or two, the reply was sure to open with an apology for the delay. if the delay extended to several days, then "the queen is shocked" at her own tardiness, although it was due to the urgent demand of business of state, or to some other important claim on her attention. again, when she has been sitting at work, surrounded by despatch-boxes, in the open air at osborne, and i have come to make my adieu, taking off my hat as i approached, she would desire me to replace it; and when i deprecated doing so, "put on your hat," she said with a peremptory playfulness--"put on your hat, or i will not speak to you! i know you suffer from neuralgia,"--though how she came to know it i could not imagine. the marriage of h.r.h. the princess louise, for whom my wife as well as myself had a warm regard, was sure, as the queen knew, to be a matter of deep interest to us. no sooner was it arranged than her majesty wrote to inform us. the announcement was followed by another letter ( th march ), in which she wrote, in anticipation of the official invitation to the ceremony at st george's chapel, windsor, on the st: "the queen is anxious that mr martin should know that he is specially invited to princess louise's marriage as _the queen's personal friend_." the signal honour thus done me was continued at all the subsequent marriages of the royal children. the period between the short administration of mr disraeli in and his return to office in was one of great political agitation and unrest, both at home and abroad. problems that had not hitherto got beyond academical discussion took a practical form under the impulse given to reform by mr gladstone on his accession to power. bills, among others, were launched for the abolition of the irish church, for compulsory education, for the establishment of the ballot, for the abolition of university tests, and for army reform. these were all measures novel and of a wide-reaching scope, upon which public opinion was greatly divided, and on which the queen, according to her method, had to form an independent judgment. the state of affairs abroad, also, demanded close attention. the plots and counterplots, not always favourable to england, which came to a climax in the outbreak of the franco-german war, the attitude of america in regard to the alabama claims, and of russia in denouncing the clauses of the treaty of paris which provided for the neutralisation of the black sea, all fell within the same period, and in the policy to be maintained in regard to them her majesty's ministers looked for her advice and assistance. early in an extra pressure of work was thrown upon the queen by the death of general grey, formerly secretary to prince albert, and afterwards her own private secretary, on whose vigorous judgment and political sagacity she had long been accustomed to rely. a passage in a letter to me ( th march), the day before he died, shows how deeply she felt his loss: "alas! poor general grey will hardly live through the day! this is very, very sad, for in many, many ways he was most valuable to the queen, and a very devoted, zealous, and very able adviser and friend.... it is too dreadful to think of his poor wife and children, whom he quite doted on, and who are remarkably fine children. the poor dear duchess of st albans, too, who was confined in the same house, and very near the father she adored, was struck down. it is too, too sad!" the double tragedy was indeed sad, and these words express what was felt by all who knew general grey and his beautiful daughter, and the great love by which they were united. apart from all considerations of personal feeling, the loss of a friend so long and intimately associated with the daily work of the queen as sovereign must have been serious indeed.[ ] the strain upon her mind, great enough before, became inevitably greater, and it is not surprising that in the course of her health, as she says in the letter of th september of that year, above cited (p. ), broke down. i saw much of her, in connection with my work, at this time, and on one occasion she said: "i wonder what my ladies think of my want of courtesy. sometimes i drive out with them for a couple of hours, and all the time do not exchange a word with them. i am so taken up with thinking what answers to make to the despatches and letters of the day." the position of a sovereign in regard to foreign policy must often be rendered embarrassing by the ties of relationship or personal friendship. the queen must have felt this on the outbreak of the franco-german war. with germany she had the closest family ties, and she saw with satisfaction that, with the progress of the war, german unity, which she knew had been the cherished dream of the prince consort, and which she herself felt would tend in the long-run to the peace of europe, became a fact. on the other hand, she had formed a warm personal regard for napoleon iii., and also for his empress, remembering how much they both loved our country, and how loyally he had, on several occasions, behaved to england when his support was of importance. while, therefore, maintaining politically an attitude of perfect neutrality, the queen's kind heart gave to the fallen sovereigns a sympathetic welcome when they came to england. on the rd of december she wrote to me from windsor castle:-- "the queen has seen the poor empress, who shows great dignity and great gentleness.... the queen is pleased to say she was cheered at the station on arriving. there is a great and kind feeling here for those who are in misfortune and sorrow, especially among the working people, and that is not the case in many other countries." again, when the emperor came to windsor castle in the following march, the queen wrote ( st march):-- "the visit of the emperor napoleon--his _first_ return to windsor since his triumphal visit here in --was very trying. he was very much moved, but he behaved beautifully and with all the peculiar charm of simple, unaffected graciousness which he possesses in a wonderful degree. he spoke readily of the present and the past...." the queen's interest in the emperor did not diminish during the brief span of life which was left to him. on the th of january she writes: "we are all so grieved for the poor emperor napoleon, whose state, the queen fears, is very critical. she is sure the country is full of sympathy." again, on the th, she writes: "the queen is much pleased with mr martin's observations on the poor emperor napoleon, whose sudden death she truly grieves at, and she is proud to see the sympathy and feeling shown by the nation.... did mr martin go to the lying-in-state at chiselhurst yesterday?" this i was unable to do, and i expressed my regret to the queen, and mentioned that i should go down for the funeral. this was her majesty's answer:-- "osborne, _ nd january _. "the queen sends mr martin the copies of two letters that will interest him.[ ] the empress augusta's especially is very generous and kind. the queen thanks mr martin for his last letters, and is very sorry he could not have the last look, which she so very deeply regrets not having had herself. as soon as she returns to windsor, she will go to the poor empress...." i had written to the queen a full account of the funeral. to this she refers: "the reception on thursday must have been most affecting. the dear boy is said to behave so well. the queen sends on the copy of a letter which gives a touching trait of him. the dean of westminster [stanley] the other day said it would be such a good thing, if the poor emperor's great charm of manner, great amiability and kindness, and wonderful power of attracting people--in short, _fascination_--which the queen herself felt very strongly, could be generally known; but he did not exactly know _how_. the queen said she thought it might be possible to do it in mr martin's _life of the prince_; for the visits to boulogne of the prince _alone_ in , of the emperor and empress to windsor in , and of ourselves to paris in the same year are full of the greatest interest, and the queen has a very full account of them in her journal, which she thinks of having extracted, and she feels mr martin would be pleased to pay a tribute to one whose reverse of fortune and great misfortunes were borne with such dignity and patience, and without any bitterness towards others." the queen placed in my hands a manuscript copy of her journal of these visits. the attractive qualities of the emperor were so fully illustrated by the copious extracts of which i made use in the prince's _life_, that it required no commentary or eulogium of mine to show them in relief. the complete journal of these visits was printed for the queen in . it is a historical document, which will be of permanent interest. in sending me a copy on the th of october of that year, the queen writes:-- "the little account of the two french visits in has delighted those of the queen's children and friends--only two of the latter, as yet--to whom she has given it. but she finds a great omission on her part, and that is, of _all_ the names of all those who accompanied us to paris. she here sends the list, and would ask how it could be added, and sends one of the copies for him to look at and see how it could best be done,--whether as a leaf at the end of the book, or as a note like the dinner-list at windsor, and include the emperor and empress's suite who came with them to windsor." the reply was to send a printed slip with the list of the names to be inserted at the end of the volume. with the exception of lady ponsonby, then miss bulteel (maid of honour), not one of the numerous persons named in the list is now alive. she is, therefore, the sole survivor of the queen's suite who was present on the occasion of the queen's reception at the opera house in paris, of which the very graphic description is given in the _quarterly review_ article of april last, already referred to.[ ] it is a very welcome addition to the queen's own very modest account of what must have been a remarkably brilliant and memorable scene, but of which the most she records is, that her "reception was very hearty," that _god save the queen_ was sung splendidly, and that "there could not have been more enthusiasm in england." in the midst of the public cares and perplexities of the time, the queen had to face, at the end of , a deeper anxiety than all other in the dangerous illness of the prince of wales. to place herself by his bedside, to cheer and to encourage, and never to surrender hope, however dread the symptoms, was characteristic of her strong, loving nature and brave spirit. her conduct at that trying time drew her people nearer to her, and their sympathy bound her to them by a very tender tie. through her kindness i was kept informed by telegram of the progress of the prince through the extremes of danger to convalescence. among the letters which the queen wrote to me from osborne after her return there with the prince from sandringham, the following passage occurs:-- "osborne, _feb. , _. "two new sad and shocking events have overclouded the joyful return of the dear prince of wales: the one which, contrasting as it did with the queen's own case, made her feel it most keenly--viz., the death of her dear niece[ ] from scarlet fever, a terrible blow to her dear sister, who is so delicate herself; the other, the horrible assassination of poor lord mayo, a noble and most loyal subject, and most admirable viceroy, which has shocked the queen dreadfully! it is awful, and _how_ could it happen? some dreadful neglect, surely. "the dear prince of wales, though quite himself, bears great traces of his fearful 'death-illness.' he seems like new-born, pleased at every tree and flower, ... and gazing on them with a sort of 'wehmuth' which is quite touching...." fortunately for the recovery of the prince of wales, the treatment of typhus was now better understood than it had been but a few years before. "ah!" the queen said to me soon after this time, "had _my_ prince had the same treatment as the prince of wales, he might not have died!"--one of those sad, vain imaginings of "what might have been," common to us all, but on which the queen was too wise to allow her mind to dwell. the queen had long ceased to have reason to complain of want of appreciation on the part of the people. on the contrary, it was enthusiastically shown whenever she was seen in public, and most impressively when she went in january to the thanksgiving service in st paul's for the recovery of the prince of wales. her letters are full of expressions of satisfaction at these demonstrations of public feeling. thus she writes, for example, to me on the th of april : "there never was a greater success or a greater exhibition of spontaneous loyalty than the queen's visit to the east end the other day;" and a few days later ( rd april) she calls my attention to a similar display "at two very pretty military events which took place at parkhurst last thursday, and here [osborne] yesterday, on the occasion of giving new colours to the th cameron highlanders," and of her acceptance from them of the old colours. "their former chaplain," she adds, with her usual love of detail, "who has been fourteen years with them, and in lucknow, came on purpose to bless the colours, which he did extremely well and touchingly. it is a splendid regiment." the great change in the public mind, which resulted in the fall of mr gladstone's ministry at the beginning of , took the queen somewhat by surprise. "the result of the elections," she writes to me ( th february ), "is astounding. what an important turn the elections have taken! it shows that the country is not _radical_. what a triumph, too, mr disraeli has obtained, and what a good sign this large conservative majority is of the state of the country, which really required (as formerly) a strong conservative party!" amid the turmoil of the elections which led to this important result a domestic incident took place--the confirmation of the princess beatrice, which was communicated to me in the following letter (january , ):-- "the queen cannot resist sending the lines which mlle. norèle wrote on her sweet beatrice at her confirmation. she did so look like a lily, so very young, so gentle and good. the queen can only pray god that this flower of the flock, which she really is (for the queen may truly say she has never given the queen one moment's cause of displeasure), may never leave her, but be the prop, comfort, and companion of her widowed mother to old age! she is the queen's benjamin." the prayer, we know, was granted. mlle. norèle's graceful lines form a worthy pendant to the charming picture presented in this letter. i give them with my own translation, as it pleased the queen at the time:-- "seule, au pied de l'autel, | "alone, at the altar's foot, nous l'avons contemplée, | thus was she seen, au bonheur immortel, | humbly adoring, mute, comme un ange, appelée. | with looks serene. | de son front la candeur | awe touch'd us, and we felt imprimait le respect, | how pure that sight, et toute sa blancheur | fair lily! as she knelt, du lis avait l'aspect. | robed all in white. | son âme calme et pure | within that holy spot, semblait en ce saint lieu | her soul did seem oublier la nature, | to soar, all earth forgot, et monter vers son dieu. | to the supreme. | seigneur, bénis sa foi, | bless, lord, the vow she pays, garde-lui ton amour, | make her thy care, que sa vie sous ta loi | so blest be all her days, ressemble à ce beau jour!" | like this, and fair!" in the spring of the queen suffered a great loss in the death of her devoted and most trusted friend, m. silvain van de weyer. on the th of april she writes:-- "the queen has felt much regret at poor livingstone's fate, and we are now very anxious, alas! again about dear m. van de weyer.[ ] she herself is very much overdone and overworked, and her nerves overstrained. never did so many things come together as this winter and spring. on the th of may she hopes, _d.v._, to get off to the north for a month, and then really to get rest." among the many deaths of relatives and friends which the queen had to mourn within the last few years, no one was more deeply felt than that of her half-sister on rd september . "divided in age by eleven years, and separated by long and unavoidable absences, yet the affection of the queen for the companion of her early childhood never failed, and the connection of the princess as sister and aunt of the royal family of england was maintained with a fidelity which was never interrupted, either on the part of the princess herself or of her illustrious relatives." a memorial volume of the princess's letters to the queen was printed in by her majesty, of which i had the honour to receive an early copy. a more beautiful picture of sisterly devotion it would be hard to find than is presented in this volume. from the brief introduction, in which the hand of dean stanley may be recognised, i have taken the words above cited. the letters themselves give the impression of a highly refined, intellectual, and sympathetic nature, which must have made the princess very dear to those who knew her. the opinion of the volume which i expressed in thanking her majesty for the gift was acknowledged in the following letter, the closing words of which are especially noteworthy:-- "balmoral, _nov. , _. "the queen is greatly gratified by mr martin's opinion of the letters of her darling sister. _she_ felt proud of them, but still she could not know what others might feel, but all who have seen them admire them much! no one who did not know her intimately _could_ know what she was, for she was so modest and unobtrusive--not outwardly expansive, and she did not easily take to people whom she did not find sympathetic. but she was a remarkable, noble-minded, kind, good, and single-minded person, whose loss to the queen, though we lived so much apart, is daily more keenly felt. the prince had the greatest respect and admiration for her, and said she would have been worthy of a crown. but, oh! _how unenviable is that!_" how the princess loved and was beloved by the queen may be seen from a passage, quoted at the end of the volume above referred to, in a letter found among the papers of the princess, and marked to be given to the queen after her death:-- "i can never thank you enough for all you have done for me, for your great love and tender affection. these feelings cannot die; they must and will live on with my soul--till we meet again, never more to be separated,--and now you will not forget "your only own loving sister, "feodora." chapter iv. it was the autumn of , nearly seven years after i had undertaken to write the _life_ of the prince consort, before i found myself able to prepare the first volume for the press. although i had from the first foreseen that the work would involve a greater amount of labour than was contemplated by the queen, it soon became obvious that i had myself under-estimated it. as i advanced in my preparations the materials that came into my hands grew greater and greater, and i saw that, to give a true picture of the prince, my book must be in effect a history of the queen's reign from the time of his marriage till his death, while it would at the same time be a biography not of him only, but in a great measure of her majesty also. i had made considerable progress in the collection of my materials when i became aware of a body of information, valuable beyond all others, which had been accumulated by the prince himself, and which had been shut away and seen by no one since his death. as if to assure himself that an authentic record of this period of the reign should not be wanting, every document, letter, despatch, private as well as public, which had passed under the eyes and hands of the queen and himself in reference to affairs of state, to communications with foreign courts, or to public events in which they had taken a part, had been classified and preserved in an immense mass of folio volumes, to which the queen afforded me free access. these in a measure enabled me to live through the crowded years of the prince's life. but the study of them, the bulk of the most important documents being in manuscript, and not a few of them in the cramped german _current schrift_, was a severe strain upon both patience and eyesight. months were spent in the perusal and selection of what might be used, especially as the contents of these volumes were often so confidential that they had to be read, transcribed, and translated solely by myself. i had stipulated that i should not be expected to write of the prince until i had followed his life to its close, and every step i made in my researches confirmed me in this resolution. it was a disappointment to the queen that i could not show the fruits of my labour so early as she wished, naturally eager as she was that full justice should be done, and done quickly, to the prince's memory. but when i was able to explain, in the numerous conferences which passed upon the subject, how elaborate were the preparations i was making, how important and voluminous the records to which i was trusting as the basis of what i had to write, her majesty became content to wait, and took a deep interest in the development of the narrative, which not infrequently recalled interesting incidents and discussions which had for a time, but for a time only, escaped her marvellous memory. every chapter, as i wrote it, was submitted to the queen, and most carefully read and noted by her. no slip in a date or name escaped her notice, and her fine tact never failed to call attention to any expression that could be modified with advantage. but from first to last i was left to the free development of narrative and the expression of my own opinions. the independence for which i had stipulated at the outset was most loyally respected; and i reflect with satisfaction on the fact, that at no point throughout the five volumes to which the _life_ extended did any conflict of opinion arise between her majesty and myself. an incident will serve to show how anxious the queen herself was that my entire independence should be maintained. when i came in to write the story of the crimean war i felt myself in a difficulty. the second son of her majesty had married the daughter of the reigning czar in . it was impossible to say what i had to say of russia without giving expression to views that could not be otherwise than unacceptable at the russian court. how was i to act, as my work of necessity must have the sanction of the queen? i therefore sought an interview with her majesty and explained my difficulty. what was her instant answer? "do not let the fact of my son's marriage into the russian family weigh with you for a moment! whatever conclusions you come to upon the facts and documents before you, express them as if no such marriage existed!" here, as always, truth i found was the paramount consideration with the queen. it may be conceived how my responsibility was lightened and my labour cheered by the perfect freedom allowed to me as well as by the warm encouragement i received from the queen, and her growing interest in the work as it advanced. her heart was set upon the completion of an adequate and true memorial of the prince, and, with all the information of every kind placed at my disposal, he became to me as if i had lived through the years with him. until they had seen the first volume of my book some of the queen's children were rather adverse to the idea of any _life_ of the prince being published so soon. they had a natural fear that it would not do justice to the father whose memory was so tenderly dear to them, and the incidents of whose life were in a measure sacred in their eyes. one of these was the princess alice, and in order to remove her impression the queen wrote to her ( th june ) as follows, and sent me a copy of the letter:-- "i do not think, that as so many memoirs of statesmen and people of the same time have been published, that it is too soon to publish a discreet life of beloved papa; indeed, much that has appeared without permission, or, i must think, reflection, in the dear old baron's _life_, rendered it necessary not to delay in putting things before the world, with all the sides to them, that did not appear in that _life_. it will be of much use to posterity and to princes to see what an unselfish, self-sacrificing, and in many ways hard and unenviable life beloved papa's was." after the first volume was published the doubts of the princess alice disappeared, and the queen, with her habitual consideration, sent me a letter to read, which she received from the princess, expressing her warm commendation of what i had done. the princess wrote to me herself in the same strain, and from every member of the family i received the most warm congratulations on my work. this seemed to give great satisfaction to the queen, for it was her desire that the biographical memorial should be as welcome to them as to herself. as each subsequent volume appeared, i received assurances from her majesty of her gratitude for the spirit in which i had carried out her wishes, and from all her children came the warmest acknowledgments of the success of my endeavour to do justice to their father's memory. when, in january , i wrote to the queen with the concluding chapter of the last volume of the _life_, and mentioned, in doing so, with what emotion it was written, this was the answer i received:-- "osborne, _january , _. "the queen thanks mr martin most warmly for his touching letter accompanying the _last_ chapter of her beloved husband's _life_. she thanks him from her heart for the pains and trouble he has taken in the execution of this difficult and arduous undertaking, in which he has so admirably succeeded, and at the same time congratulates him on having completed it. she can well understand the tears that must have been shed in doing so, though mr martin did not know the dear prince personally. "in the meantime, before she can in a more public manner express her high sense of his services, the queen asks mr martin to accept the accompanying bronze statuette reduced from marochetti's monument in the mausoleum.[ ] the queen would wish also to thank mr martin for the kind and feeling manner in which he has performed his difficult task." the queen's kindness did not stop here. i was ill, overtasked with very heavy professional work, at the same time that i was writing the last chapters of my book. for months i had been engaged along with the late mr edmund smith in negotiating, and successfully negotiating, for lord beaconsfield's government, the purchase of the undertakings of all the london water companies, and preparing the bill for vesting them in a public trust. the measure was defeated on mr gladstone's return to office in april , and for this defeat it may safely be said the community of london has ever since had to suffer severely. rest and change were essential for my recovery, and i at once determined to seek them in venice and the north of italy. two days before i started i was commanded to dine with her majesty at windsor, and on my arrival i was knighted and invested by her own hands with the collar and star of a knight commander of the bath, the act being accompanied by words of commendation far more precious to me than any title of honour. the queen had chosen for the ceremony the prince consort's working room, where all my conferences with her on the subject of the _life_ had taken place. her majesty, i subsequently found, had some difficulty in getting the star and collar of the bath ready in so short a time: i could not, therefore, but recognise in the promptitude of her action the kind thought, that the honour, which would come upon me by surprise, might help to cheer me in the search for health on which i was going abroad. some years before this time i had occasion to see how keenly the queen suffered on the death of a friend. on the th of march sir arthur helps, who held a very warm place in her regard, died, after a few days' illness, from a cold caught at the prince of wales' levee. i was summoned to buckingham palace and found the queen in tears, and moved to a degree that was distressing to witness. she had lost in him not only a valuable official, but a friend to whom she had for years trusted for counsel in times of personal distress or difficulty. her first thought was for his family, and what could be done to lighten the embarrassment of the position in which his sudden death had placed them, and arrangements with this view were at once resolved upon and carried into effect. but, seeing what on this occasion i saw her majesty suffer, i could not but think how much sorrows of this kind, coming as they did with unusual frequency, and leaving impressions which in her case were far from transitory, must have added to the exhausting effects of the queen's busy life. it must have been about this time that the queen one day, in speaking of her portraits, asked me which of them all i thought the best. "your majesty," i answered, "will smile at what i am going to say. none of them speak to me so strongly as well as pleasingly, or bring your majesty so vividly to my mind, as the bust by behnes, when you were between eight and nine years old." i then told her that i had studied it for years, being so fortunate as to possess the original cast in clay from which the marble bust in the windsor great corridor was modelled by the sculptor. "not only," i added, "is the bust beautiful as a work of art, but in it, if i might be so bold as say so, i saw not only the lineaments, but the latent character which years had developed." the queen, i could see, while somewhat surprised, was also pleased. my criticism must have produced a favourable impression, for the next time i was at windsor castle i found that the bust had been removed from a comparatively dark corner to a most conspicuous position near the main entrance to the corridor, where it was shown to the best advantage, and continued thenceforth to remain. passing along the corridor one evening i called lord beaconsfield's attention to it, and he quite concurred in my opinion as to its suggestiveness and peculiar charm.[ ] i recall another conversation about this period that led to the grant, which gave great public satisfaction at the time, of a pension of £ a-year to edward, the banff shoemaker and naturalist. i had thrown into my despatch-box a copy of dr smiles's _life of edward_, just published, which reached me as i was leaving home to wait upon her majesty at windsor. the box contained papers as to which i had to consult the queen. on opening it in her presence, her quick eye took notice of the volume, and she asked me what it was. it contained a fine etched portrait of edward by rajon, and this, i knew, would interest the queen. she admired it greatly, and asked, "who is this edward?" i told her briefly his story. "is this not a case," she said, "for a pension from the bounty fund?" some of the most eminent naturalists, i was able to answer, were anxious that he should have one, and a memorial to her majesty praying for it was being extensively signed. "go on with the memorial," her majesty said. "that is essential; but leave the book with me. i will write to-day to lord beaconsfield, and i have no doubt the pension will be at once granted." the next day ( th december ), in a letter from the queen, she wrote: "lord beaconsfield had already heard of the book, which with this letter the queen return, and is most ready to recommend edward for a pension of £ . he was most amiable about it." thus some days before the formal memorial was presented to the queen its prayer had been granted, and the remarkable old man was made comfortable for life.[ ] the following letter, while it shows on what friendly relations the queen stood with lord beaconsfield, also shows with how gracious a welcome her majesty received a gift from one of her subjects:-- "_dec. , , christmas day._ "the queen returns mr martin her sincerest thanks for his two kind letters, and for the splendid copy of his translation of _faust_.[ ] she had seen it, and sent it as a christmas offering to lord beaconsfield; but she did not possess one, and therefore is much pleased to receive it at _his hands_. the queen hopes mr martin will accept the book with photographs of the albert chapel, which will reach him to-morrow.[ ] most sincerely does she wish mr and mrs martin every possible blessing for the season, which is unusually gloomy and dark.... "she has just received a most kind and graceful acknowledgment from lord beaconsfield, which she will later send mr martin to read." and were years of great anxiety in regard to foreign affairs, and from her majesty's letters to myself it is apparent how constantly she had to struggle against the severe headaches and weaknesses brought on by overwork. thus on th february she writes: "the queen is quite incapable of writing, having so much to do and think of, and suffers from headaches and an over-tired head. but she sees no chance of rest." again, on the th of march: "the queen has to apologise very much for not having answered mr martin's letter of the st. could he come on monday , before , and stay till the next day?... her time is terribly taken up." the queen was now never long without some great sorrow, and in the late autumn of this year it came in the form of serious illness and death in the home of her beloved daughter the princess alice. on the th of november she writes:-- "mr martin will excuse her for not answering upon ----'s long letter yet. but her state of anxiety and anguish about all her dear ones at darmstadt has been such--and they are still great--that what with letters and telegrams, she has been quite incapable of attending to any other things. her poor child's grief and anxiety are only equalled by her resignation and marvellous courage. but the darling that was taken was one of the sweetest, cleverest, and most engaging little children possible-- - / --the only one of her grandchildren born to her who was born on the queen's birthday." five years before (june , ) the princess alice had lost another favourite child, who fell out of the window of the room from which she had gone out for a few seconds, and was killed before her eyes. the misery which this loss had caused the princess might be read in the settled sadness of expression which thenceforth marked her beautiful face, and seemed to foreshadow the early death which heaven so often gives its favourites. now, in nursing all her numerous children through a virulent attack of diphtheria, she showed the noble, unselfish courage for which she had always been distinguished. one of them, the princess may, died, as mentioned in the queen's letter, and very soon ( th december) the princess herself succumbed to the same dreadful epidemic. the other children recovered. it is well to recall what the then prince of wales wrote of his beloved sister to lord granville, in a letter read by his lordship to the house of lords: "so good, so kind, so clever! we had gone through so much together--my father's illness, then my own; and she has succumbed to the pernicious malady which laid low her husband and children, whom she watched and nursed with unceasing care and attention. the queen bears up bravely, but her grief is deep beyond words." overwhelmed by it though she was, her majesty's instant care was to settle how she might fill a mother's place in looking after the young children that were left behind. and that she did fill it is well known, and she was requited by seeing them all before she died settled in life suitably to their rank, and the youngest called to share the imperial throne of the czar of russia. in her natural anxiety to see a spot which had so many tender associations for her, the queen visited darmstadt in the spring of , and in a letter to me (may ) from windsor castle, after her return, she makes the following interesting allusion to her visit:-- "the queen has been living in the dear grand duchess's rooms at the neue palais at darmstadt, where everything remains precisely as it used to be. the queen's sitting-room was hers, and the queen only placed a small writing-table in the room for her own use, leaving everything else untouched. this opens into the dear grand duchess's bedroom, where she died, and out of one of the windows of which poor little 'frittie'[ ] fell, where there is now a fine painted glass window, with the following words, 'of such are the kingdom of heaven,' 'not lost, but gone before.' it is a charming house.... the light air of the continent is certainly very different from england, and more like scotland. the country was brilliant, and lovely in its spring attire of most vivid green; the birch woods are quite beautiful. "it seemed almost an irony of fate to see nature so bright and beautiful, when the heart was so sad, and could feel no pleasure." when my _life_ of the prince consort was completed i should not have been surprised if the queen, with all her manifold, fatiguing, and ever-increasing engagements, had no longer continued the intimate correspondence with which i had hitherto been honoured. but in this respect no change took place. the number of letters grew less as the necessity diminished for constant reference to her majesty on the subjects dealt with in the prince's _life_; but i was as frequent a guest as ever at windsor castle, and treated with the same frankness and confidence as before. when i could be of use to her majesty my services, she knew, were always cheerfully at her command, and they were invariably acknowledged with the exquisite courtesy and thankfulness of which i have already given some examples. i had thus constant opportunities of verifying the justice of the estimate of the personal qualities of her majesty which i very early formed, and to which i have in previous pages tried to give expression. in the queen had found distraction in preparing further extracts from her diary of her life in the highlands. when it was well advanced towards publication my assistance in revising the final proofs was asked. she had no longer her friend sir arthur helps to advise with, who had edited her first _leaves from a journal_. a great deal of correspondence in regard to the book, i find, took place, and i must, i suppose, have been somewhat severe in my criticisms, for in sending me her final sketch of the preface and epilogue to the volume, the queen writes that she stood "somewhat in awe of me"--a compliment to my independence which, while it amused me, could not be otherwise than gratifying. the warm reception given to the volume gave the queen great pleasure. thus on the th of february she writes: "the queen is really startled at the success of so humble a production," and again on the th, "the queen must say, she believes few sovereigns, and fewer people, have been so kindly spoken of as herself." in a paper written in , now before me, the queen speaks of the importance to herself of anything which "has a cheering and invigorating effect on one so depressed, and so often disheartened as i am." it was therefore very pleasant to see that she had found this temporary solace in the public feeling, which had been vivified by her little book. to add to the queen's depression, a lameness due to a sprain of the knee robbed her of the freedom of movement in which she had always delighted. of this she speaks in a letter (may , ):-- "many things unite in rendering the queen's remaining years terribly hard and desolate. her lameness does not improve much. she can walk very little indeed (and that is great labour) out of doors, and never without two sticks indoors, and is carried, which the newspaper reporters with singular ignorance consider a proof of her great 'delicacy of health,' complaining also of the public _not_ being admitted everywhere, as if it would be pleasant for any lady to be carried in and out of a carriage before crowds of people! but the people are very kind and anxious, though very unreasoning in thinking a sprain can be cured in a few days, especially when she is no longer young." in the autumn of the queen held a review in the queen's park, edinburgh, of the scottish volunteers, considerably over , of whom passed before her. the march past occupied more than three hours, during which the rain descended in torrents. the queen was in an open carriage, and however much they might have been disappointed, none of her volunteers would have murmured had her majesty withdrawn at an early stage of the review. but, true soldier's daughter as she was, she paid no heed to the weather, thinking only of her duty to let herself be seen by those who had come from all parts of the country in the hope of seeing and being seen by their queen. she did not leave the park until the last man had passed. by this time the carriage was full of water, and pools of it, i have been told, dropped from the dresses of herself and ladies when they returned to holyrood. in a like determination never, if she could, to cause disappointment to her people, when she visited liverpool about four years later, the queen drove slowly through more than three miles of streets under a drenching rain which lasted throughout the whole route. the open-air drives in the highlands had, no doubt, accustomed her majesty to bear exposure so trying without injury to her health. the stimulus, too, given by the heartiness of the greeting, which her courage and gracious courtesy evoked, may have helped to keep all evil consequences at bay. in writing to me, may , , the drenching rain was not mentioned. "the liverpool visit," she only said, "was a perfectly triumphal ovation, so warm and hearty ... from a million and a half of people. the feeling against home rule is on the increase." it was well that the queen, in all her sorrows, could find solace in the sympathetic and ever-increasing loyalty of her people. another heavy blow was soon to fall upon her in the death of prince leopold (march , ). only two years before, his marriage had been solemnised in st george's chapel at windsor under circumstances of unusual splendour, in which her majesty had taken a prominent part. who that witnessed it could ever forget the figure of the queen as she passed up the aisle to the altar. in the bridal train and the general assemblage many of the most beautiful women in england, arrayed in the costliest robes and adorned with an infinite wealth of jewels, preceded her majesty. whatever high blood and bearing, whatever wealth and beauty could give to delight the eye, was there. but all was eclipsed by the unpretending figure in black, moving onwards with the simple unstudied grace, unconscious of its own charm, but insensibly by its perfect composure filling you with the impression that in her the majesty of england was represented. _vera incessu patuit regina._ no doubt the memory of that moment came back to many as it did to me, when the body of prince leopold was borne by the seaforth highlanders up the same aisle for the funeral benediction only two short years after, and the queen was seen looking down from the royal pew upon the group of mourners gathered round the bier. i had known the prince well for years, and i believe was a favourite with him. my letter of condolence to her majesty after the funeral brought me the following reply:-- "windsor castle, _apl. , _. "the queen thanks sir theodore martin for his kind letter, as well as for the previous ones, and for all the kind sympathy, but that is indeed universal. it has always been thus for her, and each loss intensifies it.... the accounts of the sad and impressive ceremony of last friday and saturday are excellent, and all in such a reverent tone--and the _times_ articles ( ) so good. the _standard_[ ] is admirable, and the queen thanks sir theodore for it.... the queen is not ill, but greatly shaken, and this new shock has been overwhelming.... "the queen feels the loss of that dear clever child of so many cares and anxieties more and more, and knows that again a great help and support has been taken from her in her declining years. she never felt easy when he was away, and his foreign trips never did him any good. _now he is safe._ "the queen has been urged to have some complete rest and change of air, and is therefore going for a fortnight to darmstadt on the th."[ ] in the idea became general of a great celebration of the queen's jubilee in the following year. the subject gave rise to a great display of loyal feeling, and much eloquent writing in praise of her majesty in the journals. i seem to have sent her majesty some of these which i thought would give her pleasure, for on june she writes to me thus:-- "the queen hastens to thank sir t. martin for his kind letters and enclosures. she was touched and gratified by the articles, as it is rewarding to find _anerkennung_, as the germans say, of a long and hard life of anxiety, that is not flattery, which the queen hates.... "for the queen all the loyalty shown and the celebration to take place (if she lives, _d. v._) next year are very trying, and much mingled with deep sadness; for to be alone, bereft of her husband, to whom she and the country owe so much, of two dear children, and many, and especially _some_, dear friends, is very painful and trying." in the jubilee year it was understood that presents might be offered to her majesty upon her birthday. very many, no doubt, availed themselves of the privilege, lady martin and myself among the number. we had both so frequently received memorial gifts from the queen, that it was an especial pleasure to us to have an opportunity of offering our slight tribute of loyal respect, and we selected for the purpose an object of which it was not likely that a duplicate could be given. a telegram of warm acknowledgment from balmoral the day it was received was followed next day ( th may) by this letter:-- "the queen thanks sir theodore and lady martin for their lovely gift, which she will ever value as coming from them, and on her birthday in this year. the loyalty and affection so universally exhibited by all classes and from all parts are very gratifying to her, and are an encouragement for the few remaining years of her arduous life, as they show that her efforts for the good of her country and people are appreciated." no need to say how this loyalty and affection culminated within a month in the jubilee demonstration on the st of june. in westminster abbey i had a position from which i could observe the emotions as they passed over the face of the queen throughout the whole of the impressive ceremonial of that memorable day; and it seemed to me, familiar as i was with the feelings with which her majesty had looked forward to this event, that i could divine some of the thoughts which under that serenely dignified demeanour were passing through her majesty's heart and mind. deep and manifold i felt they must be, as she looked back to the day when she had last sat there in the coronation chair, through the vista of years of happiness and trial, of anxiety and bereavement, of national struggle and peril and triumph, all culminating in an unparalleled demonstration of her people's love. at such a time would not memory recur to the words written to her on her accession by prince albert fifty years before ( th june )?--"now you are queen of the mightiest land of europe. in your hand lies the happiness of millions. may heaven assist you and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task! i hope that your reign may be long, happy, and glorious, and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects!" full of the feeling i have expressed, on my return home it shaped itself without effort of mine into the words of the following sonnet. some weeks elapsed before i had the courage to send it to the queen; but it at once found such favour with her majesty that, in a letter to me next day ( th august), she wrote: "the queen thanks sir t. martin for his kind letter, and for the very beautiful lines which he has written.... the queen hopes he will print and even publish them." they were accordingly published next month in _blackwood's magazine_:-- in westminster abbey. _ st june ._ again within these walls, again alone! a long, long tract of fateful years between the day i knelt, to rise a crownèd queen, vowed thenceforth to be all my people's own, and this, when, with an empire wider grown, again i kneel, before high heaven to lay my thanks for all, which since that earlier day has blessed my goings, and upheld my throne. god! in this hour i think of him, who made my young life sweet, who lightened every care, in sorest straits my judgment rightly swayed, lived, thought for me, all times and everywhere; for him i thank thee chief, who by his aid nerved me the burden of a crown to bear! every christmas had for years brought with it a letter from the queen with her good wishes for lady martin and myself, accompanied by a beautifully painted card for lady martin, and some valuable book for my library enriched by a gracious inscription. in her letter of this year were the words, "_the queen is loth to part with the year in which she has met with so much affection and kindness_," and they suggested to me the following sonnet. it was my custom to send to the queen a christmas and new year greeting, generally in verse, and i made the sonnet my greeting for the year . the queen in her reply requested that it might be published, and this was done:-- osborne. _before midnight, st december ._ one hour, and 'twill be numbered with the past, my year of jubilee, that to my heart has tribute brought from cot and hall and mart of loyalty and love;--a treasure vast, there to be nursed and cherished to the last, and with that one dear memory held apart, still sweetening through the years its bitter smart with love in kingly story unsurpassed! go, then, bright year, go with a fond good-bye, for all thy days with loving-kindness fraught! and may all blessings from the god on high light on my people for their loving thought, keeping them worthy of the days gone by, and the great name by their forefathers wrought! chapter v. in the magnificent procession which attended the queen to and from westminster abbey, no figure attracted more attention, or excited greater admiration, than that of the crown prince of germany, in his white cuirassier's uniform, and rivetting all eyes by his noble head and majestic bearing. little was it then dreamed that within a year he was to succeed his father as emperor of the germans, when himself stricken by the cruel malady under which he sank within a few months after his accession. the tragic circumstances of his death awakened a very profound feeling throughout this country, and men's thoughts turned to the uncrowned empress whom he left behind, and also to the queen, who thus saw the fair hopes blighted, with which she and the prince consort had resigned their first and highly gifted child to the man of her heart, by whose side they might expect in time to see her throned as sovereign over a mighty kingdom. the emperor frederic died on the th of june . as soon as her health permitted, the widowed empress decided to come to england for a time; and the queen wrote to me suggesting that some special expression of public sympathy should meet her daughter on her arrival. that this sympathy would be generally and warmly expressed through the usual channels could not be doubted. but i ventured to think, that the expression of it might not unfitly be concentrated in the compacter form of verse. with this view i wrote the following sonnet, which appeared in the _standard_ two days before the empress reached england:-- to the empress frederic. _on her arriving in england, th november ._ when england sent thee forth, a joyous bride, a prayer went through the land, that on thy head might all best blessings bounteously be shed, and his, the lover-husband by thy side; and england marked with ever-growing pride, as onwards still the years full-freighted sped, how wrought in both the grace of worth inbred, to noblest acts and purposes allied. with eyes of longing, not undimmed by tears, england now greets thee, desolate and lone, heart-stricken, widowed of the twofold crown of love and empire; and the grief endears, remembering all the cherished hopes o'erthrown, when at their height thy heart's lord was struck down. i also wrote this other sonnet, which appeared in the _morning post_ on the day of the empress's arrival:-- to the empress frederic. _ th november ._ oh lady, how our hearts were pang'd,[ ] when he, whom late we saw, in england's festal hour, ride through our streets in manhood's stateliest power, hail'd by all eyes a star of chivalry, through long sad months of sorest agony, faced martyr-like the doom, that hour by hour he saw still near and ever nearer lour, to tear him from his country and from thee; thee of the childlike heart and manlike brain, fit in all ways to share a monarch's throne, who made his people's good his chiefest care! oh noble heart, all england shares thy pain, and in thy grief thou wilt feel less alone, 'midst all the love that waits to greet thee there! the th line of this sonnet was prompted by an incident on the last occasion that i met the crown prince and princess together at windsor castle. "do you know," he said to me, "what her father said of her?" "oh, fritz," the princess broke in, anticipating what he was going to tell me, "you should not speak of such a thing." "i will speak of it," he continued, looking at her with eyes of affectionate pride. "why should i not? it is only the truth. the prince consort said, 'she has the heart of a child, the brain of a man!'" that her father so thought of her i had seen many proofs in the private correspondence which was placed in my hands while i was writing his life. i sent these sonnets to the queen, and on november she wrote: "the queen thanks sir t. martin for his two kind letters, and the two exquisite little sonnets. they should certainly be published, and a special copy be prepared for her poor dear persecuted daughter." a few days afterwards (november ) the queen again wrote: "the queen encloses a letter from her dear daughter the empress, which she is sure he will be pleased to receive." this was a letter thanking me in very gratifying terms for my sonnets. "she thanks him again," the queen continued, "for her two kind letters and the lovely poems.... the dear empress is very sad. the arrival upset her terribly, but she struggles bravely with the dreadful misfortune, and takes an interest in other things. but it is a misfortune which one cannot understand, and which is a great trial to one's faith. one can but say, as one of her indian attendants (who are all mohammedans), an excellent, very refined, and gentle young man, said, 'god ordered it!'..." a few days afterwards i had a long and most interesting interview with the empress at windsor castle, and was told of things which explained what was meant by the queen in speaking of her as her "poor dear persecuted daughter." they have now happily sunk into oblivion. early in the 'seventies the queen intimated to me her great desire to visit north wales, if a house could be found there suitable for her stay. on looking round the counties of denbigh and merioneth, where the queen wished especially to go, so as to be within reach of some of the best welsh scenery and also to be seen by the large bodies of workers in coal and other mines and industries, to which the county chiefly owes its prosperity, the mansion of my friend the late henry robertson, c.e., at palè on the dee, between corwen and bala, seemed the most eligible in itself, besides having the advantage of being close to the llanderfel station on the railway from ruabon to dolgelly and festiniog. it was at once placed by mr robertson at her majesty's disposal; but the projected visit fell through, owing to the pressure of various engagements which compelled the queen to abandon it for the time. the project was again mentioned to me by her majesty in the following letter, november , ;-- "the queen thanks sir theodore for the newspaper, and his article on wales, which interests her _very_ much. this brings her to the subject of the visit, once contemplated, to wales. would that be possible? by the loan of a house like the one mentioned at that time by sir theodore? she believes a short visit of four or five days there would do good. she can no longer ride up hills, but she can drive, and go to some places where her presence might be useful." mr robertson was dead, but his son and successor in the palè estate, mr, now sir henry beyer robertson, was delighted to have the opportunity of fulfilling his father's intention. on being made aware of this, the queen decided to make the visit in the summer of the following year on her way to balmoral. when this decision became known, the people of the principality, who are as a rule most loyal, looked forward with enthusiasm to the prospect of seeing among them the queen, who had hitherto been to them only a revered name. everything was done which loyalty could devise to show how highly the royal presence among them was valued. the only cloud on the general satisfaction was the knowledge that the visit could only be for a very few days--from the rd to the th of august, one of which was a sunday. the queen arrived at palè on the rd at a.m., and had not been many hours there before she received a deputation of the farm tenants of the adjoining district, who had prepared a walking-stick of their native wood for her majesty's acceptance. they were surprised, and more than delighted, by the royal acceptance of it being made in welsh, the queen having immediately on her arrival taken pains to learn so much of that far from easy language as served her for this and other similar occasions. in no other way could her majesty have so thoroughly touched the hearts of her welsh subjects. the incident, of which the tidings spread over wales within a few hours, heightened the enthusiasm with which she was everywhere received. two days afterwards this was markedly shown in her public visit to wrexham, the centre of the mining and other industries of denbighshire, where a reception in aston park, the property of sir robert cunliffe, admirably arranged by the mayor and corporation of wrexham, awaited her majesty. all the leading people of the adjoining counties were present, and many hundred thousands of the working population assembled both there and on the five miles of road along which the queen drove from ruabon, to which the royal train had come from palè. a choir of singers gave the queen her first idea of the choral singing for which wales is famous. the demeanour of the working men, rough in exterior, and not always on ordinary occasions gentle in manners, produced a most favourable impression on her majesty. "they all behaved like gentlemen," she said to me when, two days afterwards, accompanied by the prince and princess henry of battenberg and the princess alix of hesse (now the czarina), she honoured lady martin and myself by a visit to our villa near llangollen. it had not occurred to us why the queen had chosen that day, the th of august, for the visit. but the reason flashed upon us, when, turning to lady martin as she inscribed her name with the date on a sheet of paper prepared for the purpose, she looked up and said, "the dear prince's birthday!" then we saw that as the prince's _life_ had been written in my study there, her majesty had chosen that day for her visit--surely a very delicately imagined tribute to the author. several welsh airs were sung for the queen on this visit by a selected number of the llangollen choir, chiefly young ladies. when they had finished, her majesty asked me to what class the singers belonged, as she had observed greater refinement in their execution than in any of the other choirs she had heard in wales. she was also struck by the admirable way they had sustained the pitch from beginning to end of all the choral pieces sung without the drop of half a tone. only an ear finely trained to a subtle appreciation of musical execution could have noticed these points. it had been greatly desired that the queen should visit festiniog, both for the beauty of the scenery and to satisfy the loyal feelings of the large and intelligent slate-making population of that district. this was found to be impracticable, but a hope was held out that the omission might be remedied by another visit to north wales. a few days after her arrival at balmoral the queen wrote: "the queen and her children have brought with them the pleasantest recollections of wales, its beauty, and the kindness and loyalty of its people. the queen was greatly pleased to have been able to see sir theodore and lady martin's charming home." again in the following year (september , ) her majesty wrote:-- "the queen thanks sir t. martin for his letter of the th, on which dear day last year we made that charming expedition to llangollen and visited sir theodore and lady martin at their delightful little welsh home at bryntysilio. the recollection of the queen's visit to wales is a most pleasing one, to which she often looks back, and hopes to repeat some day. she would wish to go again to palè, to which most pleasant and comfortable house sir h. robertson has again and again invited her to return. the queen could visit harlech castle and llanberis, &c., from palè, returning at night, could she not? the queen uses the welsh stick, so kindly given her by the farmers and people at palè, very often, and always when she travels and wants a good strong one." greatly to the disappointment of the good people of wales, her majesty never found it possible to fulfil this contemplated second visit. in the correspondence which continued at intervals during the ensuing years there is nothing that is available for the object of this monograph. but in november her majesty gave me an opportunity of expressing briefly my views of what an authentic life of herself should be, of which i was not sorry to avail myself. on the th of that month she wrote to me:-- "the queen is glad that sir theodore approves the idea of a short life of her husband being set in hand and published. "she so much wishes that something should be done about her own life, as so many people have published and are publishing her life, with the best intentions, full of extraordinary fabrications and untruths." some further communications on the subject took place, and on the nd of that month i wrote as follows:-- "sir theodore martin, with his humble duty, has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of her majesty's gracious letter of the th. "sir theodore is much impressed by what the queen says as to the desirableness of a life of her majesty, which might put a stop to the gossiping fabrications which have of late become so current. the subject has long been present to his mind. while the queen lives, he fears the inventors of these fictions must have their way. but that the story of her majesty's life should be truthfully and sympathetically told for posterity is a matter of the highest importance. in a great measure the work must be historical, and will demand the skill of some one capable of dealing with the events of her majesty's reign, and of the political history of the civilized world, from the date of the prince consort's death onwards. it would be most desirable to lay the foundation of such a work with her majesty's direct assistance, could a biographer with the necessary qualifications be found. there will be the difficulty; but, until he can be found, would it be possible for her majesty to suggest the lines on which the life should be written, and to furnish to some trusted person the facts and incidents of which her majesty would wish a record to be made? "the materials must be abundant in her majesty's diaries and correspondence, and they would form the basis of a work of infinite value and instruction to future times. so much that is false and misleading is sure to be written in these days of reckless and unscrupulous writing, that every loyal subject of her majesty must wish that it should in her majesty's case be crushed at the outset. nothing would do this so effectually as the knowledge that the true story would be told, based upon authentic information as to the private as well as public life of the queen. "sir theodore makes the above suggestion with all deference to her majesty's better judgment. his excuse must be his ardent desire that the story of a life, which he most deeply honours and reveres, should be fitly told for the days to come." the queen, i believe, in so far concurred with my suggestion, that she endeavoured to persuade at least one writer of distinction as a historian to agree to become her biographer. he came to the conclusion that the task of dealing with a subject so vast, and also with a character so complex as that of her majesty, was one with which he could not grapple consistently with the duties of a high position which he had already undertaken. whether any further attempt was made in the same direction i am not aware. and so the years went on, bringing us from time to time assurances of the queen's continued interest in lady martin and myself. in , when the new victorian order was established, i was among the first on whom the commandership of the order was conferred. the insignia of the order reached me with the following letter:-- "balmoral castle, _sept. , _. "the queen has heard that sir theodore martin will celebrate his th birthday on the th, which seems to her hardly possible from his appearance. she wishes him to accept her warmest and most heartfelt good wishes for his happiness and welfare for many a year. the queen wishes on this occasion to mark her sense of sir theodore's valuable services, and sends him the decoration of knight commander of her new personal 'victoria order.' "she hopes lady martin has recovered from her last indisposition, and that no anxiety on her account may mar the happiness of this day." on every christmas morning the queen sent greetings and good wishes to my wife with an inscribed christmas card, and to myself, with some framed work of art, or valuable book. in , when all the world was alive with congratulations on the memorable celebration of her majesty's diamond jubilee, the words which appeared in two of her perfect addresses to her people inspired me to express, as before, what i conceived was in her heart in writing these addresses. i give them here, because they were stamped with her majesty's approval. "the queen," she wrote, "thanks sir theodore martin very much for his most kind letter, and the sonnets enclosed, which it has touched her much that he should write. of course they may be published in the _times_;" and they were published there accordingly. the queen at st paul's. _june , ._ ["from my heart i thank my beloved people. may god bless them!"] not unto me, o lord, not unto me the praise be given, that my beloved land this day in all men's eyes from strand to strand shines first in honour and in majesty; that borne from every clime, o'er every sea, around me clustering close on every hand, liegemen from far i see, a noble band, type of a nobler empire yet to be! oh, my beloved people, yours the praise, yours, who have kept the faith, that made your sires free, fearless, faithful, through the nights and days, true to the zeal for right, that never tires; may god's best blessing rest on you always, and keep you blameless in your heart's desires! the queen at kensington. _june , ._ ["i gladly renew my association with a place which, as the scene of my birth and my summons to the throne, has had, and ever will have with me, tender and solemn recollections."] again the dear old home, the towering trees, the lawns, the garden-plots, the lake, that were my childhood's fairyland,--the dear ones there, who tended me so lovingly,--the ease of heart when, sporting at my mother's knees, i dreamed not of a crown, nor knew a care, the call at early morn that crown to wear! ah me, the host of tender memories, tender and solemn, that around me throng, of all that then i was, and since have been, the many loved and lost, the one so long missed from my side, and i, a lonely queen! yet in the love my people bear me, strong to front an empire's cares with brow serene. yet once again i had the honour of being permitted to express her majesty's sentiments in verse. it had long been my earnest hope that peace should reign in her majesty's realms while she lived. but this was not to be; and the south african war, with all the loss of life and waste of treasure which it involved, threw many a dark shadow over the last year of the queen's life. but the shadows were not without breaks of brilliant sunshine. she was proud of the way in which her subjects rose to the difficulties of the time; she was proud of the response of the army and navy, which she loved, to the call upon their valour and endurance. she was proud, too, of the common feeling that bound the colonies to the mother-country, as but for this war they might not for years have been bound, and that they had sent their sons to share its perils and glories--a first step to the consolidation of her empire. this was a suggestive theme, to glance at which i thought might please the queen. i had for years been in the habit of writing a letter of congratulation to her majesty upon her birthday. little weening that it was to be her last, i sent the following sonnet with my letter. it so pleased the queen, that she gave her sanction to its being published in the _times_, where accordingly it appeared. a birthday meditation. _balmoral, th may ._ am i not blest? i cry, as i retrace, through gathering mists of not unwelcome tears, all i have seen and known through the long years vouchsafed to me by heaven's abounding grace; how evermore i have found strength to face their cares, their griefs, their overshadowing fears, nerved by the loving loyalty that cheers my heart in all its lonely pride of place. oh, my dear land, whose sons, where'er they came, of freedom and of right have sown the seed, behold, _their_ sons in serried thousands claim a place beside thee, in thine hour of need, thy peril theirs, thy fortune theirs, thy fame! thinking of this, am i not blest indeed? as it happens, i write the concluding pages of this humble tribute to the memory of my beloved queen in my study at bryntysilio, on the anniversary of the day when the noble woman passed from earth, who was for more than fifty years the crown and comfort of my life. it is a day intimately associated with my thoughts of her majesty, for late in the evening of this day, after the constant inquiries of many weeks, a telegram asking for information came from the queen only a few hours before my wife fell asleep. its words were the last she read. she tried to reply to the queen with her own hand, but had to give up the attempt. to the queen the first news of my loss was sent, and it was answered by a message right from the heart in a few of those incisive words, for which the queen had a special gift, that speak directly home to the heart. nor did her sympathy end here. she so arranged that on the morning of the funeral in london a letter in her own hand from balmoral should reach me with words of encouragement such as those from which she had herself so often had to seek courage in her own hours of desolation and bereavement.[ ] nor was this all. next morning, between eight and nine, i received a telegram from her majesty, inquiring how i had borne the ordeal of the previous day. can more be said to show the tender, thoughtful, womanly nature, which won the gratitude and reverence of those who knew her best, and which also operated to create a feeling of affectionate regard in all her subjects, and indeed throughout the world? one more instance of her majesty's never-failing kindness to myself! the christmas morning of brought me its wonted offering from her in the shape of a beautifully framed copy of angeli's last portrait. as i looked at it my heart was full of sadness, for i read in the familiar face, as there depicted, the manifest indications of physical weakness, and of the probably early fulfilment of an apprehension, which had for some time possessed me, that the end of this "great woman" was near. what pathos to me in the thought, that in a time of so much weakness and preoccupation the queen had taken care that i should not be without the accustomed christmas memorial from her. there are memories that "lie too deep for tears." this is one of them. yet a few words more! i have lived too long not to have learned forbearance in my judgments of character in man or woman, even when its qualities seem to lie very much upon the surface. i have also learned to revere the memories of all who have earned honourable distinction by act or word. experience has taught me how little we can know of the true nature even of those with whom life has made us familiar, how infinitely less of those whom we have never known, or who have followed pursuits in which we have never shared, or lived in a sphere remote from our own. much, therefore, as i saw of the queen as a woman, much as i had occasion to know of the remarkable powers of mind which she brought to bear upon the performance of her functions as a sovereign, i should not venture to form, much less to publish, an appreciation of these powers, without those full materials for a judgment which are not at present before the world, but which may in due season be expected to see the light. enough, however, came under my observation to show me how great the queen could be, when occasion called for the exercise of her higher powers. i know how richly endowed she was with the "instincts of the heart, that teach the head,"--intuitions which prompted her to say the right word and do the right thing without fail, whenever a grave or great purpose was to be served. perched as she was, to use her own words now lying before me, "on a dreary, sad pinnacle of solitary grandeur," i know with what constancy and courage she bore the isolation. i know how simple, how humbly-minded she was, how truthful, how full of loving-kindness, how generous, how constant in her friendships. i know how she leant for consolation and support upon the love of her people, how earnestly she sought to gain it by sympathy with their interests and their sorrows, by constant watchfulness for the wellbeing of all throughout the world who owned her sway. i know, too, how resolute she was to uphold justice, and honour, and right, wherever her voice could be heard. others may find pleasure, when they write of queen victoria, in speaking slightingly of the qualities of mind and heart which went to form a truly noble character, of which personally they can know nothing. to such i answer, who in the history of monarchies has lived a life so exemplary, so pure, so absolutely devoted to the service of the state,--who of all we read of so won the affection of their people, the admiration of the world, as she has done? i think of the mighty task she was called upon to fulfil, and how admirably she fulfilled it, under trials and drawbacks of which the outside world can form no estimate. i think of her, borne to her tomb along the london streets, through threefold ranks of her people, all pale, silent, and with heads reverently bowed, as though in mourning for one they loved. i see her bier borne to the altar in st george's chapel, followed by men who represented all the rulers of all the nations--a gorgeous throng that crowded the central aisle of the great chapel from the western door up to the altar steps. was ever such tribute paid in the world throughout all the ages past? is such tribute ever likely to be paid again? it is of this marvellous tribute, and how it was won, that we should think,--not of this or that foible or shortcoming, for who is without them? above all, we should think of the heavy, unceasing burden that lay upon brain and heart through a long life, and with how brave and constant yet how meek a spirit it was borne. then, remembering all this, let us, while we live, cherish in our hearts the name of our departed queen, and pass it on to those who shall succeed us, as victoria the great and good. printed by william blackwood and sons. footnotes: [ ] he died in may . "dear m. v. de weyer's death," her majesty wrote to me on the th of that month, "is a terrible loss to the queen, and she has been deeply grieved by it." [ ] a translation of oehlenschläger's drama of that name. [ ] general grey's book. [ ] a ruby and diamond bracelet. [ ] i must have expressed in some letter at this time regret that none of her majesty's ministers had taken the opportunity of explaining the circumstances which had hurt her majesty's health, and compelled her to avoid the fatigues of the public appearances which were called for, and which were undoubtedly desirable, if the queen's health had admitted of their being made. [ ] they came with the following note:-- "osborne, _may , _. "the queen sends mr martin to-day a volume of the beloved prince's and her own etchings, which she has had purposely bound for him, and which she hopes he will place in his library, as a trifling recollection of his kindness in carrying out so many of her wishes." [ ] _quarterly review_ for april : article "queen victoria," p. . [ ] it is of such that sir henry taylor writes in his _philip van artevelde_, act i. sc. v.:-- "he was one of that small tally, of the singular few, who, gifted with predominating powers, bear yet a temperate will, and keep the peace. the world knows nothing of its greatest men." [ ] _denkwürdigkeiten aus den papieren des freiherr's christian friedrich v. stockmar._ braunschweig, . [ ] _quarterly review_ for april , p. _et seq._ [ ] "thy dear image i bear within me, and what miniature can come up to that? no need to place one on my table to _remind_ me of _you_." [ ] life of archbishop benson, vol. ii. pp. and . [ ] the allusion is to the lines in the fine passage in the seventh section of that poem, beginning, "blame not thyself too much":-- "let woman make herself her own to give or keep, to live and learn, and be all that not harms distinctive womanhood. for woman is not undevelopt man, but diverse; could we make her as the man, sweet love were slain; his dearest bond is this, not like to like, but like in difference." [ ] i had occasion to record in the prince's _life_ (vol. iii. p. ) a somewhat similar impression on napoleon iii. and his empress with regard to the tuileries, in the following extract from the queen's diary: "speaking of the want of liberty attaching to our position, he (the emperor) said the empress felt this greatly, and called the tuileries _une belle prison_." [ ] published, london, , by smith, elder, & co. [ ] general grey's duties were immediately taken up by colonel, afterwards general, sir henry ponsonby, who discharged them with conspicuous zeal and ability till he was struck down by fatal illness in january . [ ] these letters were from royal personages on the subject of the emperor's death. [ ] see p. , _ante_. [ ] féodore victoire, duchess of saxe-meiningen, who died on the th of february . her mother, the queen's half-sister, feodora, princess of hohenlohe-langenburg, survived her only a few months, dying on the rd of september . [ ] he died on the rd of may . the queen came from windsor to visit him at his house in london, when he was near his end. a few days before his death i took my leave of him. he was in great pain, but his bright sparkling spirit remained. he touched my heart by saying how sorry he was he had only known me within the last few years. on my expressing a hope that we might meet again in the hereafter, "ah! let us hope so!" he replied, adding, like the bibliophile of bibliophiles that he was, "and that you will find me in an _editio nova et emendatior_." [ ] in my library in london there happened to be a niche, as if made to receive this beautiful replica of the mausoleum monument, where it has ever since remained. [ ] i had given to the queen a fine proof before letters of her portrait, as a girl, by fowler, and she wrote to say that "the bust by behnes, from which fowler took his picture, was done in , when the queen was eight years and a half." [ ] the sovereign _nominally_ is the dispenser of these pensions, but the queen delegated this function to the first lord of the treasury. this was why the concurrence of lord beaconsfield was necessary. with him the queen's wish in such matters was paramount. [ ] a volume published in germany in imperial folio, with a series of very spirited illustrations, and remarkable for the beauty and originality of the binding. [ ] a magnificent volume, including, among other illustrations, photographs of all baron triqueti's designs in inlaid marble. [ ] the pet name substituted for friedrich. [ ] this refers to an obituary notice of the prince by myself. [ ] as to this visit, see _ante_, p. . [ ] it seems a pity that this word should have fallen into disuse. shakespeare employs it with great effect in the fine scene (_cymbeline_, act iii. sc. iv.) where imogen says-- "i grieve myself to think, when thou shalt be disedged by her that now thou tirest on, how thy memory wilt then be _panged_ by me." [ ] a representative of her majesty attended lady martin's funeral and placed on her bier a beautiful wreath, inscribed by the queen, and also a rich floral cross, inscribed by the princess beatrice. transcriber's notes: text in italics is surrounded with underscores: _italics_. obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows: footnote : braunscheig changed to braunschweig the original text appears to be missing words on page . the original is printed "... it was impossible to be than were the able and accomplished officials...". the public life of queen victoria. by john mcgilchrist. felt and dillingham, , broome street, new york. contents. page chapter i. ancestry. frederick the wise, elector of saxony, the protector of luther--staunch protestantism of the queen's saxon forefathers--house of saxe-coburg--a saxon desperado of the middle ages--a fighting hero of the eighteenth century--the queen's grandmother a woman of extraordinary excellence-- great alliances in the marriages of her uncles and aunts chapter ii. the greatest of the modern coburgs. romantic career of prince leopold of saxe-coburg, the queen's uncle--his continuous, kind, and fatherly care of his orphaned niece--the duchy of coburg held by napoleon-- sufferings of the ducal family--a temptation resisted--the tide turned--leopold's popularity in england--betrothal and marriage to the princess charlotte of wales chapter iii. parentage and birth of queen victoria. how the princess victoria came to be heiress presumptive to the throne--death of the princess charlotte--marriages of the royal dukes--of the duke of kent--birth of the princess alexandrina victoria--prediction of george iv.--death of the duke of kent--his character--his liberal opinions--public condolence with the widow and orphan--early life of the duchess of kent chapter iv. first years of childhood. old memories of kensington palace--enlargements of the structure by william iii., anne, queen caroline, and the duke of sussex--maids of honour--rank and beauty in the gardens-- wilberforce and the infant princess--victoria at ramsgate--a picture of victoria when five years old--her physical training--popularity as a child--her youthful charities--a narrow escape from death--early development of quick intelligence--anecdotes--love of nature--proneness to self-will--but counterbalanced by candour--waggishness--a portrait of the child-princess by leigh hunt chapter v. education of the princess victoria. additional grant by parliament for the maintenance and education of the princess--wise lessons learned at her mother's knee--a visit to george iv. at windsor--assiduous pursuit of knowledge--accession of william iv.--victoria becomes next in succession to the crown--regency bill-- satisfaction of the good grandmother at coburg--her death-- joy of victoria at the elevation of her uncle to the belgian throne--parliamentary inquiry into the progress of her education--satisfactory report in response--presented at court--great ball on her twelfth birthday at st. james's palace--court scandal and baseless rumours--the duchess of northumberland appointed governess--the princess and the poet southey chapter vi. the princess in her teens. visits paid to many parts of england--love of cathedrals and church music--trip to north wales and the midland counties-- visit to a cotton mill--to oxford--gala day at southampton-- interview with the young queen of portugal--confirmation of the princess--tour to the north--york musical festival--at ramsgate with the king of the belgians--a noble deed at tunbridge wells chapter vii. early days of prince albert. birth--melancholy story of his mother--brought up under the care of his two excellent grandmothers--his winning ways as a child--his tutor, florschütz--the brothers, ernest and albert--visit to brussels, and its beneficial effects--hard study--tour through germany, &c.--first visit to england, and meeting with victoria--studies at brussels--enters the university of bonn--tour to switzerland and italy--public announcement of betrothal--leaves coburg and gotha for his marriage chapter viii. the princess victoria becomes queen regnant. first meeting of the princess victoria and prince albert-- coming of age--festivities on the occasion--death of william iv., and accession of victoria--the queen holds her first privy council--her address--proclamation as queen at st. james's palace--beautiful traits of character displayed by the queen--stirring and gorgeous scene--delight of the people at the queen's accession chapter ix. the maiden queen. removal to buckingham palace--first levée--dissolves parliament--beauty of her elocution--splendid reception by the city of london--settlement of the queen's income--her daily life--her admirable knowledge of, and devotion to, the business of the state--reverence for the lord's day chapter x. the queen crowned. novel features in the coronation--its cost--large amount of money circulated--splendour of the procession--enormous crowds--the scene within the abbey--arrival of the queen-- the regalia and sacred vessels--costume of the queen-- astonishment of the turkish ambassador at the scene--the coronation ceremony--the queen's oath--the anointing--the crown placed on her head--the homage--an aged peer--the queen's crown--the illuminations and general festivities-- fair in hyde park--the duke of wellington and marshal soult at the guildhall chapter xi. the bedchamber plot. resignation of lord melbourne's cabinet--sir robert peel sent for--fails to form a cabinet--his explanation--the queen refuses to dismiss her ladies of the bedchamber-- supported by her late ministers--sir robert peel's objections--the queen will not give way--the whigs recalled to power--public opinion on the dispute--the whig ministers blamed, and the queen exculpated chapter xii. courtship and betrothal. desire of the coburg relatives for a marriage between victoria and albert--favourable impressions mutually made by victoria and albert--prince albert's letter on the queen's accession--opposition of king william iv. to the marriage-- correspondence between the cousins--king leopold urges on the marriage--the queen's reluctance to become betrothed-- her subsequent regret at this--the prince craves a definite determination--his second visit to england--betrothed at last--returns to germany to say farewell chapter xiii. the queen wedded. announcement of the intended marriage to the privy council and parliament--parliamentary settlement of the prince's rank, &c.--annoying circumstances--the prince's protestantism--his income--arrival of the bridegroom-- receives a national welcome--the wedding--honeymoon spent at windsor chapter xiv. early years of married life. difficulties and delicacy of prince albert's position--early married life--studies continued--attempts on the queen's life--courage of the queen--birth of the princess royal-- parting from the whig ladies of the bedchamber--dark days for england--birth of the prince of wales--the queen described by m. guizot--a dinner at buckingham palace--state dinner at windsor chapter xv. the queen in scotland. christening of the prince of wales--manufacturing distress-- the queen's efforts to alleviate it--assesses herself to the income tax--resolves to visit scotland--embarks at woolwich-- beacon fires in the firth of forth--landing on scottish soil--a disappointment--formal entry into edinburgh--richness of historical and ancestral associations--the queen on the castle rock--a highland welcome--departure from scotland chapter xvi. what england owes to prince albert. the prince's study of our laws and constitution--two misconceptions outlived--his versatility--his first speech an anti-slavery one--his appreciation and judicious criticism of art--scientific side of his mind--as an agriculturist chapter xvii. foreign travel and home visits. visit to king louis philippe at eu--a loyal corporation-- splendid reception of the queen in france--anecdote of the queen's regard for prince albert--visit of the czar nicholas--home life in scotland--visit to germany-- illuminations of the rhine--a rural fête at coburg chapter xviii. the queen in ireland. first visit to ireland--rapturous reception at cork-- queenstown so denominated--enthusiasm at dublin--its graceful recognition by the queen--visit to the dublin exhibition--encouragement of native industry--visit to the lakes of killarney--the whirligig of time chapter xix. the world's congress of industry. prince albert the inaugurator of international exhibitions-- proposes, unsuccessfully, his scheme to the government--to the society of arts, successfully--first steps towards realisation--objections to be met--perseverance of the prince--the royal commission--the prince's speech at york-- the opening ceremony--the royal procession chapter xx. the war cloud. bright hopes of peace dispelled--an era of war all over the world--the russian war--the queen's visits to the wounded soldiers--presentation of the war medals--crimean heroes--the volunteer movement chapter xxi. the queen in her highland home. the queen as an author--"the early years of the prince consort"--"leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands"--love for children of all ranks--mountain ascents on pony-back--in fingal's cave--"the queen's luck"-- salmon-spearing, and a catastrophe attending it--erection of a memorial cairn--freedom of intercourse with humble highlanders--visits to cottagers--"mrs. albert"--travelling incognito--highland dinners--"a wedding-party frae aberdeen"--a disguise detected chapter xxii. the widowed queen. unbroken happiness of the queen's life up to --death of the duchess of kent--the prince consort slightly ailing-- catches cold at cambridge and eton--the malady becomes serious--public alarm--rapid sinking, and death--sorrow of the people--the queen's fortitude--avoidance of court display--good deeds--sympathy with all benevolent actions-- letter of condolence to the widow of president lincoln--the "albert medal"--conclusion life of queen victoria. chapter i. ancestry. frederick the wise, elector of saxony, the protector of luther--staunch protestantism of the queen's saxon forefathers--house of saxe-coburg--a saxon desperado of the middle ages--a fighting hero of the eighteenth century--the queen's grandmother a woman of extraordinary excellence--great alliances in the marriages of her uncles and aunts. queen victoria is, through her mother, descended--and her children are descended by the double line of both their parents--from the great, good, and glorious frederick the wise, elector of saxony early in the sixteenth century, who was one of the first to embrace the principles of luther's reformation, and whose name still stands out so nobly and brightly as the staunch and courageous protector of the great reformer. the ernestine branch of this great saxon house, from which the queen and the prince consort both derived their descent, have ever, though at great cost and injury to themselves at many periods of their history, remained true to the principles thus early adopted by their common ancestor; and they have ever considered it as the brightest glory of their race, that they can proudly point to this unquestionable fact. when one of the most distinguished members--if, indeed, he was not the most illustrious scion--of this family, the queen's maternal uncle, leopold, king of the belgians, made a journey into scotland, to allay the pangs of the bereavement which he had suffered in the untimely death of his young wife, the princess charlotte, he paid a visit of a few days' duration to sir walter scott at abbotsford. while there, an aged and reverend scottish divine was presented to the prince. the clergyman, in the course of the interview, made complimentary reference to this fact in the descent of the prince. prince leopold, in reply, stated that this was the first notice which had been taken of the circumstance in his presence since the day of his first arrival in england, and that he felt more honoured by it than by any other tribute which had been paid to him and his family. [sidenote: "a glimpse of saxon history."] the curious in such matters, those for whom the minute particularity of authenticated genealogical detail possesses a charm, with which the compiler of these pages acknowledges that he is himself affected, but which it would be unfair to such of his readers as do not share this taste to minister to at excessive length--such we refer to the reverend edward tauerschmidt's "brief historical account of the dukedom and ducal house of saxe-coburg and gotha." there they will find the full pedigree, with no link wanting, which connects her majesty, and equally her first cousin and spouse, by the links of twenty-five generations, with the saxon earl theodoric, or dideric, of the house of bucizi, who is recorded to have died in the year of our lord . we content ourselves with proceeding at a leap to the reign of frederick the benignant, elector of saxony, who was thirteenth in descent from earl theodoric, and died in . in a most fascinating article which was contributed by mr. carlyle to the january number of the _westminster review_ for the year , entitled, "a glimpse of saxon history," a most romantic incident of this elector's reign is narrated with the writer's customary graphic power. this potentate had a "fighting captain" in his employ, by name kunz von kaufungen. fighting for his master, he was captured, and being a warrior of importance, was amerced in the heavy ransom of a sum equal to , english pounds. this he paid, but expected to be indemnified by frederick. this expectation, for some reason, was not fulfilled. kunz, exasperated, swore to be avenged. on the th of july, , kunz entered the town of altenburg, at the head of a party of thirty men. having bribed one of the servants to treachery, they obtained admission into the electoral castle, from which they carried off frederick's two sons, the princes ernest and albert. the electress soon discovered her loss, and the desperadoes had not proceeded far on their several ways (they had divided into two bands, each having one of the children), ere they were hotly pursued. kunz himself headed that moiety of his force who bore with them ernest, the elder boy and the more valuable hostage. the pursuers caused alarms to be rung from the village spires, and amongst others of the peasantry who were aroused, was a rough charcoal-burner, who, encountering the party of kunz, "belaboured him with the poking-pole" which he used in his vocation, and to such effect that he vanquished the abductor, rescued the boy, and had the happiness of restoring him to the arms of his agonised mother. when asked, wonderingly and admiringly, how he dared to attack so formidable a foe, he replied to his fair and grateful querist, "madam, i _drilled_ him soundly with my poking-pole." from that day he was known by no other name than the driller--_der triller_. kunz was consigned to the block, while the driller, and deliverer, was offered any reward he chose to name. this true man--a mediæval "miller of the dee"--asked no other recompense than "only liberty to cut, of scrags and waste wood, what will suffice for my charring purposes." this was at once granted, along with the freehold of a snug farm, and an annual and ample allowance of corn from the barns of the electors. all was secured to him and his posterity by formal deed, and his descendants to this day enjoy the privileges so valiantly earned by their ancestor four centuries ago. from the two princes so rescued, descended respectively the ernestine and the albertine branches of the saxon house. the queen is--as her husband was--twelfth in descent from the little prince ernest, who became the progenitor of the former line. [sidenote: the queen's saxon ancestors.] the parent stock had boasted among other meritorious or distinguished representatives the names of conrad the great, otho the rich, henry the illustrious, three fredericks, dubbed respectively the serious, the warlike, and the benignant; whilst, as disparaging sets-off, either demerit or misfortune was indicated, in the instance of other electors, by these sobriquets--the oppressed, the degenerate, the severe, and, strangest of all, frederick-with-the-wounded-cheek. this habit of designating the successive electors by their moral or other peculiarities, or by the incidents or accidents of their careers, was continued but for a few generations of the ernestine branch of the bifurcated line. it contained a magnanimous frederick, and a fiery ernest, after whose death, in , this pleasing plan of picturesque designation no longer meets the eye of the student. the chivalrous protection which frederick the magnanimous--or the wise, as he is sometimes also denominated--spread as a buckler over luther and the lutherans cost him his birthright. the bigoted charles v. diverted, in , the electoral dignity from the ernestine to the albertine branch, and the fortunes of the house cannot be said to have been fully restored until the treaty of tilsit, in , ratified as its main provisions were by that of vienna, seven years later. coming down to more recent times, and to the queen's more immediate ancestry, we find the old spirit which these brave saxon princes represented in the stirring mediæval and reforming days, abundantly maintained in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and notably so on the field of battle, in the great wars with which the names of frederick the great, maria theresa, suwarow, and napoleon are associated. francis josias was twenty-second of the line, and the queen's great-great-grandfather. his great-grandson, the late king leopold, says of him, that he was "much looked up to." he was a tall and powerful man, but disfigured by having lost an eye at tennis, a game then very popular on the continent. one of his grandsons, a prince frederick josias, served with distinction in the seven years' war, in one of the battles of which he was shot through the hand. he was subsequently employed in high positions by the empress maria theresa, and made a great name for himself against the turks. suwarow and he extricated the emperor joseph, the son of the empress, from utter failure, and conquered the principalities. he afterwards fought against dumouriez in the netherlands, and gained the battle of neerwinden, in , near tirlemont; "one of the greatest battles of modern history," says his nephew, king leopold, a most competent authority on the subject. he says that, but for the inaction of the dutch contingent, and the insane attempt of the duke of york to conquer dunkirk, the allies, after this victory, which cleared the netherlands of the french, might as easily have marched upon paris as the forces of wellington and blucher did after waterloo. the queen's grandfather, suffering early in life from exceedingly bad health, was cast in a much less energetic mould, but his character was eminently benevolent and loveable, and he had a knowledge and love of the fine arts, which prince albert, in the highest degree of all his descendants, inherited. the queen's grandmother, who was of the reuss-ebersdorff family, was equally warm-hearted, possessed a powerful mind, and "loved her grandchildren most tenderly." we shall have much to say of her in subsequent pages. [sidenote: the house of saxe-coburg.] of the queen's aunts, one, after declining many eligible offers in her own princely rank, married count mensdorff-pouilly, a french emigrant of the revolution, who entered the austrian service, and became the father of the well-known austrian statesman, count arthur mensdorff, who was the bosom friend of prince albert from his earliest infancy until his untimely death. a second married the reigning duke of wurtemburg, and occupied for many years a very influential position in russia, her husband being brother of the empress catherine (the second of that name), and maternal uncle of the emperors alexander and nicholas. the third daughter of the house herself became a russian grand duchess; she was wedded at the age of fifteen to the grand duke constantine. the marriage was an inharmonious one, and in the young pair agreed to separate. both husband and wife were acquitted of all blame; leopold, the brother of the latter, attributes the sad event to "the shocking hypocrisy of the empress-mother," in the absence of which "things might have gone on." the queen's mother, who was christened victoire (or victoria) marie louise, was the youngest of the four sisters. besides duke ernest, the father of prince albert, the queen had two other maternal uncles. one was frederick george, who married a great heiress, the hungarian princess of kohary. his son became the consort of donna maria ii. of portugal; his grandson, the present king of portugal, is the queen's first cousin once removed, and the second cousin of her children. her other uncle was the late king of the belgians, whose career is a portion of the history of our grandfathers', our fathers', and our own times, and is so intimately associated with the life and fortunes of her majesty as to merit separate treatment in a succeeding chapter, and elsewhere incidentally in the course of our narrative. chapter ii. the greatest of the modern coburgs. romantic career of prince leopold of saxe-coburg, the queen's uncle--his continuous, kind, and fatherly care of his orphaned niece--the duchy of coburg held by napoleon--sufferings of the ducal family--a temptation resisted--the tide turned--leopold's popularity in england--betrothal and marriage to the princess charlotte of wales. [sidenote: prince leopold of saxe-coburg.] born in the year , prince leopold was a soldier and in the saddle when he was fifteen years of age. in , that war broke out between napoleon and austria, in which the power of the kaiser was so near being destroyed. the health of the duke francis, leopold's father, was fast failing him, and the tremendous sorrows and sufferings inflicted by the victorious french upon germany, hastened the rapidity of his descent to the grave. ernest, the eldest son, and leopold hurriedly left coburg to join the russian army in moravia. their only other brother was already in an austrian regiment of hussars. ere leopold could flesh his sword, austerlitz had been fought and lost, and austria was thoroughly crippled. he returned to coburg to witness his father's death. the french were in possession of the town and duchy, and when they learned that the new duke was with their prussian foe, they appointed a military intendant, a m. vilain--in nature as well as in name, so leopold afterwards recorded. the ducal family were reduced to such straits, that they depended for their very sustenance upon the clandestine benefactions of the governmental subordinates, surlily winked at by their french masters. the duchess set off on a journey to warsaw to endeavour to propitiate napoleon; but she was permitted to proceed no farther than berlin, as napoleon hated such visits. she returned baffled to coburg, which remained "une possession française." the peace of tilsit, among its other provisions, "reintegrated" coburg; but, through the greed and treachery of prussia, the stipulated arrangements were never fulfilled. on the ratification of the peace, duke ernest came to coburg for the first time to assume his ducal power and dignity. as a matter of policy, leopold, with other german princes, now visited napoleon at paris, where he was courteously received. on his return from paris, early in , he nearly died of scarlet fever. after a very tardy and painful recovery, he went, at the end of the year, to the congress of erfurth, to which he had been summoned by the czar alexander. he tried there to secure to his brother his undiminished territorial possessions, and succeeded in making such a favourable impression upon napoleon that he would have done so, but for the impolitic excessiveness of his brother's claims, and the apathetic manner in which the czar supported them. the war with russia came on, in which he eagerly desired to serve against the french; but napoleon caused it to be known that if he did so his brother would be held responsible; so he had to abide in inglorious and detested ease. napoleon made him tempting offers to enter his service, and would have been more incensed at his persistent refusal than he was, but for the friendly intercession of josephine and queen hortense, her daughter, who were both very friendly to the young prince. meanwhile he turned his eminent talents for diplomacy to good account. he persuaded bavaria to return to his brother portions of coburg territory which that state unjustly held, and removed the galling pain of the bavarian flag floating over villages within four english miles of the town of coburg itself. [sidenote: the princess charlotte.] in napoleon's frightful war with russia broke out. napoleon summoned the subject and enfeebled german princes to dresden. duke ernest was compelled to go, and leopold also was cited to the gathering, but he went to vienna, and then to italy, to keep out of the way. it would have been now most dangerous to decline the french service, and he was determined at all costs not to enter it. "germany," said he, "was, at the beginning of , in the lowest and most humiliating position; austria and prussia sunk to be auxiliaries; everybody frightened and submissive, except spain, supported by england." but napoleon's reverses in russia soon followed, and they electrified all germany into new courage. the duke of coburg posted off to berlin to endeavour to stimulate the perplexed, vacillating, and timorous prussian king into manly and decided action. the other brother, ferdinand, went to vienna on a similar errand. leopold hied him to munich to stir up the crown prince of bavaria, afterwards king louis. they were all moderately successful, and leopold hastened to kalisch, in poland, being the first german prince to join the army of liberation. he was equally honoured and gratified by being appointed a major-general by the czar. he was present at the hard-fought but indecisive battles of lutzen and bautzen. there followed an armistice, and a conference at prague, with a view to a definite settlement. this the prince attended. he was the only person admitted to the presence of the emperor of austria, and spent much of his time with the plenipotentiaries metternich, humboldt, ansted, gentz, and others. the negotiations broke off, and hostilities were resumed. at the decided defeat which the french general vandamme sustained, shortly before the crowning victory of leipsic, leopold commanded all the allied cavalry, and distinguished himself the more that he was the only general in the field who knew the country. he was present, and in high command, at leipsic, where germany was finally freed. after the fight, the grand duke constantine accompanied him to coburg, visiting the relatives of the wife from whom he was now separated, and who lived and died in retirement in switzerland. amongst others they visited the future duchess of kent, then princess of leiningen, her first husband being still alive. shortly afterwards constantine and leopold rejoined the army in switzerland, where leopold tried hard, but ineffectually, to effect a reconciliation between his sister and her husband. leopold subsequently entered paris at the head of the cavalry; his eldest brother procured the evacuation of mayence by its french garrison. the three brothers all met in paris, from which leopold proceeded, in the suite of the czar, to the great triumphant gathering of the allied sovereigns in london. now for the first time he met his future bride, the princess charlotte, only child of the prince regent, and heir to the throne. his splendid continental career already propitiated her, as it did all the british people, in his favour. the project of a matrimonial union between the gallant young general and the still more youthful princess was warmly taken up by the leading men in power, including wellington, his brothers, and castlereagh. the prince regent alone was opposed to the project. he was irritated by his daughter's repugnance to the prince of orange, who was destined by him to be his son-in-law, and by her recent flight from carlton house to the residence of her mother. leopold, however, decidedly succeeded in winning the affections of the lady herself, and the nation was delighted at the project. the dukes of york and kent, too, warmly encouraged his suit. on his return home he found that his youngest sister had been unexpectedly left a widow, and he arranged the guardianship and pecuniary affairs of the future mother of england's queen. at the congress of vienna, whither he went to plead the cause of his brother, his amazing sagacity and tact induced the negotiators to make a very satisfactory arrangement of frontier. this he settled, to the great chagrin of humboldt, the prussian envoy, who, with the prussian court and people generally, seems to have been extremely spiteful towards the little principality, their near neighbour. [sidenote: a royal marriage.] leopold was not at waterloo--fought so near the capital of his future kingdom. he was posted in alsace in command of an army of observation, which, of course, was never needed for action. leopold went alone to paris, with the leave of the czar, still animated by the purpose of advancing his brother's pretensions; prussia having failed to carry out the rectifications of frontier enacted at vienna the year before. he succeeded in this object, and hopes of the highest nature were engendered about an affair still nearer to his heart. wellington and castlereagh treated him with marked and significant deference. and through the kind intervention of the good-hearted and simple-minded duke of kent, he received from his ladye-love some pleasant tokens of continued affection and renewed pledges of staunch fidelity. he was strongly recommended to repair to england and renew and prosecute his wooing in person; but he very astutely declined, thinking it unwise to "brave" the prince regent. he went, instead, to vienna, to act as groomsman at the wedding of his brother ferdinand with the great hungarian heiress whose love he had won; and from thence to berlin, persistently to enforce his brother's twice recognised and sanctioned rights. at berlin he received a welcome invitation to england from the regent, and a most satisfactory letter of "explanation" from lord castlereagh. he arrived in london in february, . castlereagh at once took him to brighton, where the regent was. he received his daughter's wooer most graciously. the old queen and her three daughters posted after leopold from london, and in a family council the marriage was definitely agreed on. the young couple were married in may, amid the joyful acclamations of the whole nation. chapter iii. parentage and birth of queen victoria. how the princess victoria came to be heiress presumptive to the throne--death of the princess charlotte--marriages of the royal dukes--of the duke of kent--birth of the princess alexandrina victoria--prediction of george iv.--death of the duke of kent--his character--his liberal opinions--public condolence with the widow and orphan--early life of the duchess of kent. [sidenote: marriage of the duke of kent.] on the th of november, , the hopes of the nation, which had so fondly rested upon the happy union between the princess charlotte and prince leopold, were fatally blasted by her royal highness's death, shortly after her delivery of a still-born child. never in our history was a blow felt more deeply and personally by all the nation, than this bereavement. the death of the princess charlotte severely and most painfully disappointed the nation in its general expectation with regard to the much desired succession to the throne in the person of herself and her heirs. the duke of cumberland, who was hated by all, was the only married younger son of the king, and there was a general desire that the other royal princes, especially the popular and estimable dukes of kent and sussex, should seek out suitable partners. the duke of kent rightly felt that the house of brunswick was dear to the english people, that the nation had a very strong desire that the question of succession should be placed beyond doubt, and that, considering the uncertainty of the chances of life, and of leaving offspring, it was clearly his duty to marry. indeed, he had already, ere the untimely death of his niece, offered his hand and heart to the widowed princess of leiningen. the princess charlotte tenderly loved her uncle kent, who had done so much to promote the attainment of the wishes of her own heart, and she did all she could to promote the marriage of her uncle with the sister of her husband. but the position of the princess of leiningen as guardian of her two children occasioned delays; and no unimportant matter was the fact that if she re-married, she would sacrifice a jointure of nearly £ , a year, while the duke of kent was punished by the court for his free and outspoken liberal opinions by being restricted to a very meagre pecuniary allowance from the tory parliament. at last, however, all minor difficulties were smoothed over. on the th of may, a message was brought down to parliament, announcing that "the prince regent had given his consent to a marriage between the duke of kent and her serene highness mary louisa victoria, daughter of the duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, widow of enrich charles, prince of leiningen, and sister of prince leopold." of all the royal marriages, this was the one which the heart of the country went most thoroughly along with. the duke of kent never disguised--indeed, he openly proclaimed--his attachment to the principles of the popular party; and the fact of the close relationship of his intended wife to prince leopold was another strong recommendation. the marriage was celebrated, first according to the lutheran rites in germany, on the th may, , and, on the th of july following, by the archbishop of canterbury; the prince regent, on the latter occasion, giving away the bride. in the same summer, the dukes of clarence and cambridge had married. the duke of sussex, whose affections and sympathies were otherwise engaged, declined to contract a foreign alliance; but he took the liveliest interest in the marriage of his favourite brother kent, as he also did in the future welfare and prosperity of his niece. [sidenote: christening of the princess victoria.] after the english marriage, the young couple sojourned for a brief period at claremont, the residence which had been selected by the princess charlotte, and which prince leopold continued to occupy. they then, guided chiefly by motives of economy, for their means were very small, travelled on the continent, from which they returned for the accouchement of the duchess. both prospective parents were desirous that their child should be "born a briton." they arrived at dover on the rd of april, , and on the th of may the princess alexandrina victoria was born at kensington palace. she was born in the presence of the dukes of sussex and wellington, the archbishop of canterbury, the marquis of lansdowne, earl bathurst, mr. canning, mr. vansittart, and the bishop of london. the duke of kent wept for joy, and the fact that his infant was a daughter did not in the least degree diminish his delight. the duchess rapidly recovered, and the beauty and symmetry of the infant princess were spoken of with admiration by all who had an opportunity of observing her. shortly after this happy event, the duke of kent attended a drawing-room, from which, and similar court ceremonies, the estrangement between himself and the regent had for some time kept him away. his brother was most affable, and invited him to dine the next day, when he predicted that his little niece would be queen some time. this certainly seemed improbable shortly afterwards, for clarence, who was nearer in succession than kent, became the father of two daughters by his wife, adelaide. but they both died young, thereby opening the succession to the child of the duke of kent, and verifying the regent's prophecy. the child was christened with great privacy, on the th of june, in the palace of kensington. the royal gold font was fetched from the tower, and fitted up in the grand saloon of the palace. under the direction of the lord chamberlain, the draperies were removed from the chapel royal, st. james's. the archbishop of canterbury, assisted by the bishop of london, administered the holy office; the prince regent, the members of the royal family, and other illustrious visitors were present. the sponsors were the prince regent, the czar alexander (represented by the duke of york as proxy), the queen dowager of wurtemberg (represented by the princess augusta), and the duchess dowager of coburg (represented by the duchess of gloucester). a brilliant evening party filled the saloons of the happy parents. the duke and duchess still made claremont their chief home. but the winter of - set in with unusual severity, and they went to sidmouth, in the hope of escaping its trying severity. from sidmouth the duke made an excursion to visit salisbury cathedral, where he caught a slight cold. on his return to sidmouth it became alarming, and the duchess sent off in haste to her brother, who was visiting at lord craven's. soon after his arrival, the duke breathed his last. while his cold still slightly affected him, he had gone for a long walk, on the th of january, with captain conroy, and had his boots soaked through with wet. he neglected to change his boots and stockings until he dressed for dinner, being attracted by the smiles of his infant princess, with whom he sat for some time playing. before night he had a sensation of cold and hoarseness, but the doctors were not alarmed, and merely prescribed mild medicaments and a good night's rest. but the symptoms of fever rapidly increased, and, in spite of much blood-letting, he died ten days from the date of the recurrence of his cold. he met his death with pious resignation. the duchess was most indefatigable in her attentions, and personally performed all the offices of the sick-bed. for five successive nights she never took off her clothes, and she struggled to prevent his seeing the agony of her apprehensions, never leaving the bed-side but to give vent to her bursting sorrow. the presence of her brother was a great comfort to her, both before and after the moment of death. it was fortunate, indeed, that leopold was in this country, "as the poor duke had left his family deprived of all means of existence." so did leopold himself testify many years afterwards. [sidenote: the duke of kent.] the duke of kent, although unpopular in his youth on account of his strictness as a military disciplinarian, became in later days much beloved. his stature was tall, and his appearance noble and manly. his manner was engaging, and his conversation animated. he possessed an exact memory, varied information, a quick and masculine intellect. in many of his tastes and habits he closely resembled his father. he was an early riser, and a close economist of time; temperate in eating; though fond of society, indifferent to wine; a kind master, punctual correspondent, and exact man of business; a steady friend, and an affectionate brother. he was peculiarly exempt in his youth from those extravagances and vices with which the names of some of his brothers were so painfully associated. he was in his early life, which he spent in active and laborious military service, a pattern of prudence, economy, and industrious habits. he incurred no unnecessary expenses, and made few debts, although his annual allowance was only £ , for some years after he had attained his majority. he delighted in books, education, charity, and the promotion of all useful arts, and was a model son, husband, and father. he was a staunch and uncompromising advocate of those liberal opinions which it is so well known that his daughter inherits, which she displayed so unreservedly early in her reign, but the prominent expression of which prudence and constitutional restraints convinced her that it was advisable to keep in the background, as her mind grew and ripened. the duke of kent's political views will be gathered from the following extract from a speech at a banquet, in which he replied to the toast of the junior members of the royal family:--"i am a friend of civil and religious liberty, all the world over. i am an enemy to all religious tests. i am a supporter of a general system of education. all men are my brethren; and i hold that power is only delegated for the benefit of the people. these are the principles of myself and of my beloved brother, the duke of sussex. they are not popular principles just now; that is, they do not conduct to place or office. _all_ the members of the royal family do not hold the same principles. for this i do not blame them; but we claim for ourselves the right of thinking and acting as we think best, and we proclaim ourselves, with our friend mr. tierney, 'members of his majesty's loyal opposition.'" these words give a precise and definite idea of the character of this clear-headed, good-hearted, shrewd, practical, and unpretending man. prince leopold accompanied his widowed sister and the little orphan from sidmouth to kensington palace. the weather was most severe, and the journey a trying one. the houses of parliament remembered, with respectful solicitude, the widowed and isolated state of the duchess. both houses voted addresses of condolence. that from the commons was presented by lords morpeth and clive. she appeared in person, though unable to suppress her grief, with the infant victoria in her arms, to receive the deputation. she presented the babe to the deputed members, and pointed to her as the treasure to whose preservation and improvement she was resolved to dedicate her best energies and fondest love. the interview was exceedingly touching. a true woman, the duchess could not conceal the intensity of her widowed grief; but that did not overshadow her maternal affection, and she recognised and spoke courageously of her duties, her responsibilities, and her high resolves. public feeling and national anxiety accompanied her into her domestic privacy, and all classes of society took the deepest interest in all her movements. [sidenote: the duchess of kent.] the queen, indeed, owes much to her mother, who lived long enough to see her daughter's grandchildren. the duchess of kent had been brought up under the immediate care and superintendence of her illustrious mother, whose character we have already described. she had shared the youthful lessons of her brother leopold--a source, doubtless of great intellectual profit. in , when she was but sixteen, much against her own wish, and only in compliance with the entreaties of her beloved father--who wished to see his only surviving daughter married, in such troublesome times, ere the end of his precarious and sickly life came--she became the wife of the prince of leiningen, a man eight-and-twenty years her senior. the union was most inappropriate and unwise. her husband was repugnant in person and manners. he failed either to secure her confidence or contribute to her happiness. yet she fulfilled her duties as a wife and mother in so exemplary a manner, from her marriage to her husband's death, in , that the breath of slander never sullied her fair fame. indeed, by the purity of her life, the manner in which she discharged her maternal duties, and the graceful suavity of her manners, she did much to ennoble the character of the house of leiningen, which her husband had done much to lower. her marriage with the duke of kent was one of unmistakable affection, and was a very happy one. their tastes were similar; but her meekness and tact had a beneficial influence in mitigating a certain stern and abrupt brusqueness which he partly inherited from his father, and partly derived from the camps and garrison towns in which his youth was spent. the simplicity and tender unaffectedness of her manners--a peculiarity distinctive of the highest class of well-bred german women--and her fascinating combination of gentleness with gaiety, not only won and bound, by daily increasing ties, the affections of her husband, but of all those who had the good fortune to become personally acquainted with her admirable life and disposition. chapter iv. first years of childhood. old memories of kensington palace--enlargements of the structure by william iii., anne, queen caroline, and the duke of sussex--maids of honour--rank and beauty in the gardens--wilberforce and the infant princess--victoria at ramsgate--a picture of victoria when five years old--her physical training--popularity as a child--her youthful charities--a narrow escape from death--early development of quick intelligence--anecdotes--love of nature--proneness to self-will--but counterbalanced by candour--waggishness--a portrait of the child-princess by leigh hunt. the infancy, girlhood, and budding womanhood of the princess victoria were chiefly spent at the royal palace of kensington. it was her mother's fixed residence, but the family were much at claremont, where the queen testifies that she spent the happiest days of her childhood. there were frequent trips made, too, to various watering-places; and, as the princess grew in years, visits were paid at the country houses of some of the nobility. leigh hunt, in his exquisite book of gossip entitled "the old court suburb," thus happily describes the more salient and prominent features of the somewhat sombre region of the queen's up-bringing:-- in vain we are told that wren is supposed to have built the south front, and kent (a man famous in his time) the east front. we can no more get up any enthusiasm about it as a building, than if it were a box or a piece of cheese. but it possesses a dutch solidity; it can be imagined full of english comfort; it is quiet; in a good air; and, though it is a palace, no tragical history is connected with it: all which considerations give it a sort of homely, fireside character, which seems to represent the domestic side of royalty itself, and thus renders an interesting service to what is not always so well recommended by cost and splendour. windsor castle is a place to receive monarchs in; buckingham palace to see fashion in; kensington palace seems a place to drink tea in: and this is by no means a state of things in which the idea of royalty comes least home to the good wishes of its subjects. the reigns that flourished here, appositely enough to this notion of the building, were all tea-drinking reigns--at least on the part of the ladies; and if the present queen does not reign there, she was born and bred there, growing up quietly under the care of a domestic mother; during which time, the pedestrian, as he now goes quietly along the gardens, fancies no harsher sound to have been heard from the palace windows than the "tuning of the tea-things," or the sound of a pianoforte. [sidenote: kensington palace.] the associations of kensington palace are almost entirely with the earlier hanoverian reigns; the later georges neglected it. rumour hath it that this royal domain originated in the establishment of a nursery for the children of henry viii. if it were so, elizabeth and victoria must have been brought up on the same spot; but the tradition is not well supported. its first ascertained proprietor was heneage finch, speaker of the house of commons at the accession of the first charles, who built and occupied only a small nucleus of the present structure, which was enlarged from time to time by most of its successive occupants, but with no pretension, and without much plan. from the second earl of nottingham, the grandson of finch, william iii. bought the house and grounds. the latter he enlarged to the extent of twenty-six acres. to these anne added thirty, and to these in turn queen caroline, wife of george ii., added three hundred. the house had been the while proportionately growing. its last expansion was contributed by the duke of sussex. the gardens were pedantically squared to dutch uniformity by william of orange, and the semblance of a court which he held in this palace was correspondingly gloomy and dismal. the most singular visitor ever received by william was the czar peter, who drove hither _incognito_ in a hackney coach, on his arrival in london, and was afterwards entertained here with some slight show of state. in anne's time, the palace and gardens were little livelier than in william's. the queen hedged herself in behind absurd _chevaux-de-frise_ of etiquette, and the court chroniclers of the period record little else than eating and drinking. swift and prior, bolingbroke and marlborough, addison and steele, nevertheless, lent occasional gleams of brightness and dignity to the otherwise sombre scene. the most fascinating and memorable association of kensington palace is in connection with the courts of the first two georges, and of the son of the latter, frederick prince of wales. these associations are specially connected with the bevies of frolicsome, and sometimes frail, maids of honour, who now live in the pages of pope and gay, of hervey and walpole. chief among them was the gay, sprightly, and irresistible molly leppell, who resisted, in a manner equally indignant and comical, the degrading overtures of the coarse-souled george ii. she married hervey, the most effeminate and egregious dandy of his time. chesterfield thus toasted her in a ballad on the beauties of the court;-- oh! if i had bremen and varden, and likewise the duchy of zell, i'd part with them all for a farden, to have my dear molly leppell. caroline of anspach, consort of frederick, prince of wales, introduced the habit of promenading in gorgeous costume in the gardens, first on saturday, then on sunday, afternoons. by degrees the quality were admitted as well as the royal family and their immediate attendants. the liberty was gradually extended to the general public. hence it was that kensington gardens became in time as open to all comers as are the royal parks. these gorgeous promenades ceased with the commencement of the last malady of george iii. it was in allusion to the stately train of attendant beauties who accompanied the princess caroline of wales, that tickell wrote-- each walk, with robes of various dyes bespread, seems from afar a moving tulip bed, where rich brocades and glossy damasks glow, and chintz, the rival of the showery bow. here england's daughter, darling of the land, sometimes, surrounded with her virgin band, gleams through the shades. she, towering o'er the rest, stands fairest of the fairer kind confess'd; form'd to gain hearts that brunswick's cause denied, and charm a people to her father's side. with the death of george ii., the glory departed from kensington. no future english king favoured or frequented it. george iii. never resided in the palace, and it was altogether too dull and homely for his eldest son. he was willing enough that his bookish brother sussex, and his steady brother kent, should abide in it; and, as one writer puts it, depicting the "first gentleman in europe" in a light far from pleasing, but for the use of which we fear there was too much foundation--"he was well content to think that the staid-looking house and formal gardens rendered the spot a good out-of-the-way sort of place enough, for obscuring the growth and breeding of his niece and probable heiress, the princess victoria, whose life, under the guidance of a wise mother, promised to furnish so estimable a contrast to his own." [sidenote: wilberforce and the princess.] it was in the rooms, rich with such varied associations as those, some few of which we have cited, and surrounded by the remarkable collection of pictures, chiefly by byzantine and early german painters--that england's future queen grew up from babyhood to womanhood. amongst the very earliest notices of the infant princess is the following, which we cite from a letter written by wilberforce to his friend, hannah more, on the st july, . he says:-- in consequence of a very civil message from the duchess of kent, i waited on her this morning. she received me with her fine animated child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which i soon became one. she was very civil; but, as she did not sit down, i did not think it right to stay above a quarter of an hour; and there being but a female attendant and footman present, i could not well get up any topic, so as to carry on a continued discourse. she apologised for not speaking english well enough to talk it; but intimated a hope that she might talk it better and longer with me at some future time. she spoke of her situation [this was, probably, in reference to the cold treatment of her and hers by george iv.], and her manner was quite delightful. four years later, the duchess and the little princess paid one of many visits to ramsgate: and it would appear that the duchess of kent had already succeeded in being able to talk english "better and longer" with wilberforce "at some future time;" for an eye-witness, who was familiar with all the group, witnessed the following scene. it was a fine summer day: too warm anywhere but on the shore of the sea, the breeze from which sufficiently moderated the temperature. a little girl, with a fair, light form, was sporting on the sands in all the redolence of youth and health. her dress was simple--plain straw bonnet, with a white riband round the crown, a coloured muslin frock, and "as pretty a pair of shoes, on as pretty a pair of feet, as i ever remember to have seen from china to kamschatka"--so testifies the authority from whom we quote. the child had two companions--her mother and william wilberforce. the latter looked as lovingly on the child as did her mother. his kindly eye followed with tender interest her every footstep, and he was evidently meditating on the great destiny which was in store for her, when her mother, less meditative, more concerned with the affairs of the present, suddenly observed that her daughter had got her shoe's wetted by a breaker. she waved her hand, and victoria, obedient to the signal, at once rejoined her mother and her friend. perhaps another motive might have been at work in the mother's breast; for immediately the child had joined the elders, wilberforce took her hand in both of his, and addressed to her some kindly words, doubtless of excellent counsel, for the blue eyes of the girl looked fixedly at her venerable instructor, and the devoted mother glanced from one to the other, evidently interested and affected by the contrast. wilberforce was no wearisome restrainer of the buoyancy of youth; a few minutes later, he and his young companion were standing at the margin of the tide, watching the encroachments of each new breaker, and the dexterity with which a pet newfoundland dog brought bits of stick out of the waves. [sidenote: moral training.] during the earliest years of her childhood, victoria does not seem to have been harassed with book-learning--a most wise and excellent omission. in , the dowager duchess of coburg wrote to her daughter--"do not yet tease your little puss with learning; she is so young still." the queen's mother followed the good advice; it was the cultivation of the heart of her child at which she first strove. above everything, any approach to pride or hauteur was discouraged. the convictions equally with the natural temperament of the duchess, led her to regard such a quality as specially to be avoided. she was trained to be courteous, affable, lively, and to put social inferiors perfectly at their ease. in her juvenile sea-side and other excursions, it was constantly observed by every one that the faces of the bathing-women, and others of the same class, whose services were needed, lighted up with genuine, unaffected gladness whenever the young princess appeared. the following little picture deserves to be reproduced, without tampering with the colours of its portrayer:--"as she proceeded up the high street from the sands, there sat on the low step of a closed shop an aged irishwoman, pale, wan, dejected, sorrowful, her head bent forward, and whilst all nature was gay, she looked sickly, sad, and famishing. whether she was too depressed to beg, or too exhausted at that moment to make the effort, i cannot tell, but she asked for no alms, and even looked not at the passers-by. the young princess was attracted by her appearance, and spoke to the duchess: 'i think not,' were the only words i heard from her mamma; and, 'oh, yes, indeed!' was all i could catch of the youthful reply. i have no doubt the duchess thought the old woman was not in need of relief, or would be offended by the offer of alms; but the princess had looked under her bonnet, and gained a better insight into her condition. there was a momentary pause; the princess ran back a few steps most nimbly, and with a smile of heartfelt delight placed some silver in the hands of the old irishwoman. tall and stately was the poor creature, and as she rose slowly with clasped hands and riveted features, she implored the blessing of heaven on the 'english lady.' she was so taken by surprise by this unexpected mark of beneficence on the part of she knew not whom, that she turned over her sixpences again and again, thanked the virgin, as well as the 'young lady,' a thousand times, and related to those who stopped to hear her exclamations, the 'good luck' that had come upon her." [sidenote: the queen's childhood.] while still not a year old, and ere her father's death, the intensity of interest which the people took in the safety and welfare of the princess had been strongly displayed in the universal satisfaction which was expressed at her providential escape from being wounded, if not killed, in consequence of some boys shooting at birds near the temporary residence of the duke at sidmouth. some of the shots penetrated the window of the nursery, and passed very near the child's head. this universal interest became yet deeper, when, after the lapse of two or three years, both of the daughters of the duke of clarence having died, and there being no probability of any issue in the line of either the dukes of york or clarence, she became the eventual successor to the throne, in the event of the deaths of these two elder brothers of her father. it was now learned with delight that she passed through the ordinary maladies of childhood favourably, and that her recovery from them was speedy. the public had ample opportunities afforded them of observing her growing and healthful strength; and all commented with pleasure upon the circumstance that she was not kept secluded from the view and observation of the people, that her rides and walks were generally in public, that she was growing up towards maturity in the sight of the nation, and as the child of the country. it was further a matter of great general rejoicing that those who were selected, even from the earliest period, to surround her person were of the most irreproachable character, and that moral worth was sought for in her preceptors even more than brilliant attainments. it is especially worthy of notice that the duke and duchess of clarence, their hearts not being made in the slightest degree callous or soured by their own melancholy bereavements and the disappointment of their fondest hopes, formed and displayed for their niece a sincere and warm attachment. they took from the very first the warmest interest in all her vicissitudes and illnesses; and when they became king and queen their elevated positions only seemed to increase the warmth of their regard, and the copious flow of their practical kindness. it was, therefore, no wonder that when, under providence, victoria became queen she treated the queen dowager with most unequivocal respect and esteem, regarding her suggestions with deference, and her wishes with loving compliance. spite of many sinister rumours, the princess grew up strong and vigorous. her mother was especially careful to fortify her constitution, and so to prepare it to encounter the hard work and manifold anxiety which are the inevitable lot of a british sovereign. many there were--some of them with ends of their own to gain--who kept prophesying that "the daughter of the duke of kent would never attain her legal majority;" or, that "she would never marry;" again, that "she could never become the mother of a family." much alarm was caused by these prognostications. for one thing was above all others ardently desired by the nation--that the duke of cumberland, who stood next in succession after the princess, should never become king of england. even if he had not been an object of something more than suspicion, it was universally desired that england should never again (after king william's death) be united with hanover under one monarch. but as facts became known by degrees about the princess, as her healthy face and agile frame became familiar in london, and in many parts of the land, the apprehensions died away, and the "frail, delicate, sickly child," whose fabricated ailments had been made the subject of so much sham sympathy, was looked upon as a fabulous invention. [sidenote: learning to read.] it soon became known that her physical and mental characteristics were of a nature directly the opposite of what had been so industriously reported. she was extremely active, and had a healthy love of sports and games. she had an inquiring mind, not only restless in the pursuit, but clear in the comprehension of knowledge. she soon developed, too, much decision of character. seemingly incapable of fatigue, she was the first to begin, and the last to leave off, a study, a romp, a game, a new duty, and equally eager to resume an old occupation. this peculiarity, it was gladly observed, was an inheritance from her father; but her mother also set her a congenial example of industry and perseverance. such stories as the following were gleefully passed throughout the land from lip to lip. while she was learning her alphabet, she, doubtful of the utility of being so tormented, ejaculated--"what good this?--what good this?" she was told that "mamma could know all that was contained in the great book on the table because she knew _her_ letters, whilst the little daughter could not." this was quite enough, and the young acolyte of the alphabet cried out, "i learn, too--i learn, too--very quick." and she did become rapidly mistress of her letters. her mother sought to teach her to be satisfied with simple pleasures, and here she was a most apt pupil. once, when she was so young that she could not express what she felt, she dragged her uncle clarence to the window to observe a beautiful sunset. to her uncle leopold, too, she was constantly pointing out objects of natural beauty, on which he invariably improved the opportunity by giving her prompt and clear explanations of the phenomena which evoked her admiration. her engrossing passion, indeed--as was that of her future husband--was for cabinets of natural history, menageries, museums, &c. for pictures she had an equal love, and one of the first acquirements in which she became proficient was sketching from nature. perhaps the greatest danger she incurred, and the one which her mother had to take the greatest pains to avert, was the likelihood that her independent decision of character, which she derived from the hanoverian half of her ancestry, might degenerate into stubbornness and self-will. but her natural sense of justice, and ready openness to clear conviction, proved an admirable counterpoise. with peculiar ingenuousness of character, she unreservedly admitted an error the very instant she perceived it. once, for example, when on a visit to earl fitzwilliam, a bosom friend of her father, the party were walking in the grounds, and she had run on in advance. an under-gardener cautioned her not to go down a certain walk, as, said he, in his provincial dialect, the rain had made the ground "slape." "slape! slape!" cried she, rapidly, and in the true george iii. style; "and pray, what is 'slape?'" "very slippery, miss--your royal highness--ma'am," replied he. "oh! that's all," she replied; "thank you," and at once proceeded. she had not advanced many yards, when she came down heavily to the ground. the earl had been observing all that had passed, from a few yards' distance, and he cried out, "there! now your royal highness has an explanation of the term 'slape,' both theoretically and practically." "yes, my lord," she somewhat meekly said, "i think i have. i shall never forget the word 'slape.'" on a similar occasion, when cautioned not to frolic with a dog whose temper was not very reliable, she persisted in doing so, and he made a snap at her hand. her cautioner ran solicitously, believing that she had been bitten. "oh, thank you! thank you!" said she. "you're right, and i am wrong; but he didn't bite me--he only warned me. i shall be careful in future." [sidenote: juvenile anecdotes.] the following incident shows that at least on some occasions a keen spirit of waggishness entered strongly into her self-will. when first she took lessons on the piano, she objected strongly to the monotonous fingering, as she had formerly done to a b c. she was, of course, informed that all success as a musician depended upon her first becoming "mistress of the piano." "oh, i am to be mistress of my piano, am i?" asked she. to that the reply was a repetition of the statement. "then what would you think of me if i became mistress at once?" "that would be impossible. there is no royal road to music. experience and great practice are essential." "oh, there is no royal road to music, eh? no royal road? and i am not mistress of my pianoforte? but i will be, i assure you; and the royal road is this"--at the same time closing the piano, locking it, and taking the key--"there! that's being mistress of the piano! and the royal road to learning is, never to take a lesson till you're in the humour to do it." after the laugh which her joke had provoked in herself and others had subsided, she at once volunteered to resume the lesson. we cannot more fitly conclude this chapter, ere we proceed to travel an important stage further in our attempt to trace the youthful days of the queen, than by presenting a picture of her, as she appeared at this period of her life to the genial eyes of leigh hunt, to whom we have been already indebted at the commencement of this chapter:-- we remember well the peculiar kind of personal pleasure which it gave us to see the future queen, the first time we ever did see her, coming up a cross path from the bayswater gate, with a girl of her own age by her side, whose hand she was holding, as if she loved her. it brought to our mind the warmth of our own juvenile friendships, and made us fancy that she loved everything else that we had loved in like measure--books, trees, verses, arabian tales, and the good mother who had helped to make her so affectionate. a magnificent footman, in scarlet, came behind her, with the splendidest pair of calves, in white stockings, that we had ever beheld. he looked somehow like a gigantic fairy, personating, for his little lady's sake, the grandest footman he could think of; and his calves he seemed to have made out of a couple of the biggest chaise-lamps in the possession of the godmother of cinderella. as the princess grew up, the world seemed never to hear of her except as it wished to hear--that is to say, in connection with her mother; and now it never hears of her but in connection with children of her own, and her husband, and her mother still [this was written in ], and all good household pleasures and hospitalities, and public virtues of a piece with them. may life ever continue to appear to her what, indeed, it really is to all who have eyes for seeing beyond the surface--namely, a wondrous fairy scene, strange, beautiful, mournful too, yet hopeful of being "happy ever after," when its story is over; and wise, meantime, in seeing much where others see nothing, in shedding its tears patiently, and in doing its best to diminish the tears around it. chapter v. education of the princess victoria. additional grant by parliament for the maintenance and education of the princess--wise lessons learned at her mother's knees--a visit to george iv. at windsor--assiduous pursuit of knowledge--accession of william iv.--victoria becomes next in succession to the crown--regency bill--satisfaction of the good grandmother at coburg--her death--joy of victoria at the elevation of her uncle to the belgian throne--parliamentary inquiry into the progress of her education--satisfactory report in response--presented at court--great ball on her twelfth birthday at st. james's palace--court scandal and baseless rumours--the duchess of northumberland appointed governess--the princess and the poet southey. the time had now arrived when, in the opinion, not only of the private friends of the duchess of kent, but of the ministers of the crown, it was held that a more liberal provision should be made for the increasing cost of the training of the princess, than the very moderate annual allowance which the duchess of kent had as yet received. this matter was formally brought before parliament on the occasion of the princess attaining her sixth birthday. up to this date, and for some little time subsequently to it, king george iv. seems to have hardly paid the slightest heed to his niece and ultimate successor. on her fifth birthday, prince leopold, who throughout filled a true father's place, gave a banquet in her honour, at which most of the members of the english royal family, and the prince leiningen, son of the duchess of kent and half-brother of victoria, were present. on this occasion, the child was much admired for her frankness, quickness, and talent, but especially for her deep attachment to her mother. her mother took occasion to impress upon her the consideration that such attentions as those which were then shown her were rendered in the hope that she would cultivate the qualities and graces which alone could make her a worthy and acceptable ruler of the british empire. "it is not you," said she, "but your future office and rank which are regarded by the country; and you must so act as never to bring that office and that rank into disgrace or disrespect." and when the duchess took her child to see for the first time the statue which had just been erected at the top of portland place to her father's memory, she was careful to make her know and feel that "dear papa's likeness was placed there, not merely because he was a prince, but because he was a good man, was kind to the poor, caused little boys and girls to be taught to read and write, helped to get money from good people to cure the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, and did all he could to make bad people good." in may, , the sixth birthday of the princess arrived. it became desirable, not merely to extend the sphere of her knowledge, but to introduce her to society at unavoidable expense; and, when she appeared in public and took trips in the country, to surround her with some of the splendour which properly belonged to her position. accordingly, lord liverpool, the premier, presented a message from the king, requesting that some provision should be made for the princess. his lordship spoke in the highest terms of the duchess of kent; eulogised her for having supported and educated her daughter without making any application to parliament; and demonstrated, that her education must, from that date, be much more wide and costly. he proposed an additional grant of £ , per annum to the duchess, to continue throughout the minority of her daughter. the house of lords cordially acquiesced in the proposal. in the lower house, mr. brougham, although uniting mother and daughter in one common eulogy, objected to the amount proposed. mr. hume supported him, suggesting an annuity increasing from year to year; but, on a division, the original proposal was carried by a majority of fifty. [sidenote: george iv. and the princess victoria.] only after this formal act of national recognition does it appear that the king deigned to turn his personal attention in the direction of his niece. the year after, we find the duchess of coburg writing to her daughter, and referring to the fact that she had seen by the english papers, that "his majesty, her royal highness the duchess of kent, and the princess victoria, went on virginia water." "the little monkey," she writes, "must have pleased him. she is such a pretty, clever child." it was reported at the time that the king, on the occasion of this visit to windsor, shared the general delight at the intelligence and sprightliness of his charming little niece. he caused her to dine in state with him, and when he asked her what tune she would like the band to play during dinner, she courteously and naïvely replied, "god save the king." the years intervening until were passed in almost complete quietude and seclusion by the princess; her education being now most assiduously pursued. the year made an important difference in the position of the princess. by the death of george iv., the duke of clarence became king, and--the duke of york having died in --she now stood next in direct succession to the throne. in the last month of the year a regency bill was passed, of which these were the chief provisions:--in the event of queen adelaide bearing a posthumous child, her majesty should be guardian and regent during the minority. if that event should not occur, the duchess of kent was to be guardian and regent during the minority of her daughter, the princess victoria, the heiress-presumptive. that princess should not marry while a minor, without the consent of the king; or, if he died, without the consent of both houses. when the report of the regency bill was brought up, lord lyndhurst moved and carried a clause to the effect that in case the duchess of kent should marry a foreigner in the lifetime of his majesty, but without his consent, she should, by that act, forfeit all pretensions to the regency. the duke of buckingham, in his "courts and cabinets of william iv. and victoria," thus remarked on this proviso:-- the position of the princess attracted towards her royal highness the solicitude and sympathy of all classes of the people. a proper consideration of her chance of succeeding to the throne showed that there was much at stake, and the bitter disappointment caused by the untimely fate of the last female heiress presumptive, gave deeper feeling to the interest with which she was regarded. it was desirable that her youth should be, as much as possible, watched over to protect it from all evil contingencies, and though there could not be a better guardian for the princess than the one nature had provided her with, the anxiety of a nation demanded precautions that, under other circumstances, would have been considered totally unnecessary. we can now ( ) afford to smile on the jealous affection with which her royal highness was fenced round thirty years ago. [sidenote: the queen's grandmother.] the satisfactory settlement of the regency question gave great satisfaction to the good grandmother at coburg. she wrote to her daughter, on receipt of the news-- i should have been sorry if the regency had been given into other hands than yours. it would not have been a just return for your constant devotion and care to your child, if this had not been done. may god give you wisdom and strength to do your duty, if called upon to undertake it. may god bless and protect my little darling!--if i could but once see her again! the print you have sent to me is not like the dear picture i have; the quantity of curls hide the well-shaped head, and make it look too large for the lovely little figure. it was not fated that the duchess of coburg should ever see her granddaughter again; she died within a twelvemonth of writing the above. her latest letters to her daughter were characterised by a peculiar warmth of affection for the princess. writing in the summer of , on the occasion of victoria's birthday, she said-- my blessings and good wishes for the day which gave you the sweet blossom of may! may god preserve and protect the valuable life of that lovely flower from all the dangers that will beset her mind and heart! and when the news of the death of george iv. reached her, she wrote-- god bless old england, where my beloved children live, and where the sweet blossom of may may one day reign! may god yet for many years keep the weight of a crown from her young head, and let the intelligent, clever child grow up to girlhood, before this dangerous grandeur devolves upon her! england owes a deep debt of gratitude to this excellent and intelligent woman, for to her we are indebted for that training of her daughter, which fitted that daughter to train in turn, for us and for our advantage, queen victoria. an event of considerable influence upon the well-being and happiness of the queen we must not omit to chronicle, ere we pass onwards in the course of our narrative. prince leopold had been designated by the great guaranteeing powers as the ruler of the newly emancipated state of greece. he was prepared to accept the position. this distressed his niece, who had been brought up under his kindly tutelage from her birth; but circumstances which it does not concern our purpose to dwell upon, induced leopold to break off the greek negotiation. shortly after, to the great delight of victoria, he was nominated by the powers, and accepted by his future subjects, as king of the belgians. this ensured his being constantly comparatively near to his niece. how frequent were his visits to england, as long as his life lasted, no resident in london needs to be informed; up till within the last few years, his face was almost as familiar in the parks as those of the members of the queen's own family. he often appeared in london suddenly, and without announcement, having been summoned, it was generally believed, on such occasions, to consult with the queen on some point of imminent moment. such summonses he always responded to with instant alacrity. [sidenote: absurd rumours.] in the year , the public became anxious to know how the education of the heiress-presumptive to the throne progressed; what was the nature of her studies, and which she preferred and most diligently pursued. prompt, responsive, and satisfactory statements were rendered. it appeared that since the accession of king william, her tuition had been almost entirely entrusted to english teachers. mr. amos instructed her in the principles of the english constitution, mr. westall in drawing; she had made considerable progress in latin, and could read horace with fluency. it was further stated that her love of music was enthusiastic, and that it was the orchestral rather than the dramatic attraction that caused her to frequent the theatres so much as she did. it was remarked that, on the occasion of the coronation of william iv., which took place on the th of september, neither the princess nor her mother were present. their absence was explained by the announcement, that the health of the princess rendered a sojourn in the isle of wight necessary. prudent persons held that, even had it been otherwise, her tender years and peculiar position rendered her absence preferable to her presence. she was but twelve years old, and it was commonly stated that only a year before had it been deemed wise _fully_ to make her aware of the regal destiny which was before her. gossip-mongers--a whole host of whom circulated the most absurd rumours about the princess from her most tender years until long after she had become queen--alleged that the real reason of her absence was the fact that her proper place in the ceremony was not assigned to her. the real truth we believe to have been as follows. since the accession of her uncle clarence, victoria had been plunged into a round of gaiety which did not at all comport either with her years or a certain fragility of health, which now for a short time succeeded the fine animal power and spirits of the years preceding. she had been presented at the first drawing-room held by queen adelaide, the most magnificent that had been held since the presentation of charlotte, princess of wales, on the occasion of her marriage. this was her first appearance in state. she arrived with her mother, attended by the duchess of northumberland, lady charlotte st. maur, lady catherine jenkinson, the honourable mrs. cust, lady conroy, the baroness lehzen, sir j. conroy, and general wetherall. her dress was made entirely of articles manufactured in great britain, and consisted of a simple, modest, and becoming blonde frock. she was the great object of interest present, stood on the left of the king, and contemplated the _élite_ of her future subjects with a dignified amiability which charmed every one. on her twelfth birthday, in the same year, she was overwhelmed with presents; amongst others, two beautiful ponies, presented by the duchess of gordon, which became especial pets. the queen gave a juvenile ball in her honour, which queen victoria has often talked of in later times, as the scene which of all others made the deepest impression on her childish imagination. spite of all this, and of the notorious and profuse kindness with which the king and queen adelaide had always treated her, many were found to believe that they were jealous of, and meant to slight her. the truth was, that the duchess of northumberland, who, at the suggestion of the king himself, had been appointed to the high and important office of governess to the princess, began to be alarmed at the consequences of so much festivity and excitement. she objected to her frequent attendance at drawing-rooms, and also recommended absence from the fatiguing coronation ceremony. [sidenote: the princess and southey.] the selection of this lady for the important office which she filled was a wise one, and the public judgment approved it. she possessed great personal attractions, mental powers of unusual range, and the highest rank. the appointment was by no means a nominal one, or one merely of state. her visits to kensington palace were constant, and she frequently remained there all day. on one occasion, while her grace was instructing her pupil, southey called, and was greeted by the princess and the _gouvernante_ very warmly. he conversed for some time with the ladies; first on poetry, then on history. he afterwards used to state with pride, that the princess told him that she read his prose and poetical compositions with equal delight. the "life of nelson" especially charmed her. "that," she said, "is a delightful book indeed; and i am sure i could read it half a dozen times over." the gossip-mongers also alleged that the duchess endeavoured to give a political bias to the education of the princess. some uneasiness was created at this. but when the matter was properly inquired into, it was ascertained that, neither in the selection of books to be studied, nor in the remarks made upon their text, was the slightest party colour given to the education of the royal pupil of the duchess. it was while under the care of this lady that the princess acquired her well-known admirable horsemanship. to fozard, the best riding-master of the day, was entrusted her tuition in riding. she soon became distinguished by the ease of her carriage, and her truly royal air and demeanour. this was a common subject of admiring remark by distinguished foreigners; amongst others, by count orloff, to whom, in , the duchess of kent gave a splendid banquet. the princess, after she was removed from the active care of the duchess of northumberland, gave the best proof of her gratitude and sense of the services she had rendered her, by keeping up with her grace a constant epistolary correspondence. wherever she went, in the many tours through england which she made while passing through her teens, she wrote letters to the duchess describing whatever interested and instructed her in what she saw. this correspondence was really a voluntary continuation of her education. chapter vi the princess in her teens. visits paid to many parts of england--love of cathedrals and church music--trip to north wales and the midland counties--visit to a cotton mill--to oxford--gala day at southampton--interview with the young queen of portugal--confirmation of the princess--tour to the north--york musical festival--at ramsgate with the king of the belgians--a noble deed at tunbridge wells. in the year subsequent to the coronation of king william, the duchess of kent and her daughter spent much time in making visits to various parts of england. we have already seen that they were in the isle of wight at the date of the coronation. the same year, they spent some time at worthing, and visited lord liverpool and his daughters at buxted park, whence they proceeded to malvern, where their liberal relief of distress caused them to be much beloved. while at malvern, they visited the cathedral at worcester. cathedrals were especial favourites with the princess, and church music gratified her as much as ecclesiastical architecture. to the public institutions of the cathedral cities which she visited she was an invariable benefactress, and willingly beggared herself of all her pocket-money that she might be the better able to meet the demands of art, science, literature, and poverty upon her benevolence. this year they also visited hereford and bath, and were magnificently entertained by the earls somers and beauchamp, at eastnor castle and maddresfield court. [sidenote: an autumnal tour.] in , they sojourned for a time at claremont, in the isle of wight, and at weymouth. the next year chronicled a more extensive autumnal tour than any hitherto undertaken. to north wales they repaired first. having seen its romantic beauties, they reached the ancient city of chester on the th of october and on entering the cathedral were respectfully received and courteously addressed by the bishop. the duchess of kent thus replied to the welcome of the prelate:--"i cannot better allude to your good feeling towards the princess than by joining fervently in the wish that she may set an example in her conduct of that piety towards god, and charity towards man, which is the only sure foundation either of individual happiness or national prosperity." from chester they proceeded to eaton hall, the palatial residence of the grosvenors and thence to chatsworth, the still more splendid abode of the cavendish family. from chatsworth they went to belper, where they examined the cotton mills of the messrs. strutt, and were most cordially received by the numerous factory hands. mr. james strutt, by means of a model, explained to the princess the several processes of cotton-spinning, which she listened to with keen attention and ready apprehension. the queen retained a lively and fragrant recollection of this visit; and, years after, she created the son of her _cicerone_ a peer, by the title of lord belper. the week following they visited hardwicke hall, chesterfield, and matlock. thence they proceeded to shugborough, the seat of the earl of lichfield. their next honoured entertainer was the earl of shrewsbury, at alton towers. while there, they visited lichfield cathedral and graciously received congratulatory addresses from the clergy and corporation. their next stage was the seat of lord liverpool, who was one of the staunchest friends of the duchess of kent, of whom his daughter, lady catherine jenkinson, was one of the ladies-in-waiting. proceeding homewards, they honoured with successive visits earl powis, the hon. r. h. clive, m.p., the earls of plymouth and abingdon. from the seat of the latter they went to oxford, which city they entered with an escort of yeomanry. the vice-chancellor presented an appropriate address in the theatre, which was crowded with the celebrities of the university. the duchess of kent made the following answer:-- we close a most interesting journey by a visit to this university, that the princess may see, as far as her years will allow, all that is interesting in it. the history of our country has taught her to know its importance by the many distinguished persons who, by their character and talents, have been raised to eminence by the education they have received in it. your loyalty to the king, and recollection of the favour you have enjoyed under the paternal sway of his house, could not fail, i was sure, to lead you to receive his niece with all the disposition you evince to make this visit agreeable and instructive to her. it is my object to insure, by all means in my power, her being so educated as to meet the just expectation of all classes in this great and free country. their royal highnesses returned to kensington on the th of november. in , the rambles of mother and daughter did not extend beyond the south coast; portsmouth, weymouth, and the isle of wight being the respective halting-places. while residing at norris, east cowes, they attended the ceremony of opening the new landing-pier at the fast rising port of southampton. a steamer towed the royal yacht from cowes into southampton water, where were waiting a deputation, representing the corporation of the town, in an eight-oared barge, with one of the town-sergeants standing with the silver oar in the leads. the deputation having stated the object of the day's ceremonial, the duchess of kent replied to the effect that she desired her daughter early to become attached to works of utility. they were then rowed ashore, amid the cheers of , spectators, and entertained at luncheon; subsequently, being requested to name the pier, the duchess designated it the "royal pier." countless festivities followed in the evening, and "the townspeople were almost as proud of the presence of the princess, as of the completion of their pier." [sidenote: the princess and a widowed actress.] the year was that in which the princess was confirmed. this holy rite was administered by the archbishop of canterbury, in the chapel royal, st. james's, in july. next month, mother and daughter visited tunbridge wells; the month following they went northwards, visited the archbishop of york at bishopsthorpe, and attended the grand musical festival in his cathedral. on their homeward route, they were entertained by the earls of harewood and fitzwilliam, and the duke of rutland; passed some time with the king and queen of the belgians, at ramsgate, and finally visited the duke of wellington at walmer castle. an incident which occurred during their stay at tunbridge, must not be omitted from our biography. the husband of one of the actresses in the small theatre of the place died, leaving an impoverished wife, who was just about to become a mother. the fact came to the knowledge of the princess, and she applied to her mother for aid. she at once gave £ to her daughter, who added an equal sum from her own purse; she became her own almoner, hastened to the afflicted woman, conversed with her, and continued to make inquiries about her condition. nor did this end her care. when she came to the throne, three years later, she at once sent to the poor woman a kindly intimation that an annuity of £ would be paid to her for life. another series of visits, and renewed intercourse with the much-loved uncle and his young orleanist wife at ramsgate, filled the autumnal months of . chapter vii. early days of prince albert. birth--melancholy story of his mother--brought up under the care of his two excellent grandmothers--his winning ways as a child--his tutor, florschütz--the brothers, ernest and albert--visit to brussels, and its beneficial effects--hard study--tour through germany, &c.--first visit to england, and meeting with victoria--studies at brussels--enters the university of bonn--tour to switzerland and italy--public announcement of betrothal--leaves coburg and gotha for his marriage. [sidenote: the infant cousins victoria and albert.] albert, the second son of duke ernest i. of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and his wife, the princess louise, daughter of the duke of saxe-gotha-altenburg, was born at the rosenau, a charming summer residence belonging to the duke, about four miles from coburg, on the th of august, . his mother is described as handsome, though of very diminutive proportions, fair, with blue eyes; and her son albert, whom she idolised, closely resembled her. she was clever and entertaining; yet her marriage was an unhappy one, and a separation took place by mutual consent in , after which date the duchess never saw her children. two years later the separation was turned into a divorce. the prince never forgot her, but spoke of her to his dying day with much tenderness, and the very first gift which he ever made to the princess victoria was a little pin which his mother had given him. not until the prince was almost a young man did his mother die. when she died her race became extinct, save in the persons of her two sons. many years later, her remains were brought to coburg, and laid in the family mausoleum beside the duke and his second wife. this mausoleum was not completed until , in which year queen victoria deposited a votive wreath on the tomb of the mother of her husband. prince albert's paternal grandmother, the duchess dowager of coburg, in writing to her daughter, the duchess of kent, announcing albert's birth, lauded his beauty, and--little thinking how the fortunes of the two infant cousins were to be intertwined hereafter--thus concluded her communication:--"how pretty the _may flower_ (the princess victoria, born the preceding may) will be when i see it in a year's time. siebold cannot sufficiently describe what a dear little love it is. une bonne fois, adieu! kiss your husband and children." siebold was an accoucheuse who had attended at the births of both the children. on the th of september the prince was christened, and thus named:--francis charles augustus albert emmanuel. the young prince seems to have been adored as a child by all, whether relatives or others, who came in contact with him. "he leads captive," said his fond mother, when he was two years old, "all hearts by his beauty and gentle grace." after the sad separation of his father from his mother, the prince was brought up largely under the care of his father's mother, whom the queen describes, from personal recollection, as "a most remarkable woman, with a most powerful, energetic, almost masculine mind, accompanied with great tenderness of heart, and extreme love for nature." of an evening she used to tell to her two grandchildren, ernest and albert, the stories of sir walter scott's novels, and, when they were old enough, employed them in writing letters to her dictation. she fondly described albert, when he was not yet two years old, by the pet, diminutive name, "alberinchen." and she says--"with his large blue eyes and dimpled cheeks, he is bewitching, forward, and quick as a weasel. he can already say everything." the step-maternal grandmother of the prince too, second wife of his maternal grandfather, was sensible, kindly, and good, and took an interest in the children by no means inferior to that displayed by their own grandmother. with the former lady they spent very much of their time in their early years, at gotha, and at her mansion in the vicinity of that town. when albert was not yet four years old he, with his brother, was removed to the care of a tutor, herr florschütz, who most admirably discharged his duties, which he continued to fulfil until his pupils had become young men. with the assistance of masters for special subjects, he conducted the whole of their early educational training, and continued to control their studies until they left the university of bonn. the two brothers, spite of the difference of about a twelvemonth in their ages, pursued all studies in common, and the closest brotherly love and amity united them from first to last. [sidenote: boyhood of prince albert] the younger prince was not nearly so robust as his brother, but his intellect was more vigorous, and his force of will decidedly greater; "he always held," said his uncle leopold, "accordingly, a certain sway over his elder brother, who rather kindly submitted to it." the princes were not much, in their early years, with their father, who was much from home, especially when settling the junction of the duchy of gotha with his own of coburg. the former he succeeded to partly in right of his wife, and partly by a mutual compact of exchange of territory, entered into with other reigning princes of the old saxon stock. this period was passed by the princes at rosenau, with their tutor, varied by visits to the mansions of the two grandmothers. in a memorandum drawn up by count arthur mensdorff, cousin of the prince, he describes the young albert when about ten years of age, at which period the cousins contracted a friendship which lasted unimpaired until the prince's death. his disposition was mild and benevolent; nothing could make him angry, except anything unjust or dishonest. he was never wild or noisy, and his favourite study was natural history. he was a good mimic, and had a keen sense of the ludicrous; but he never pushed a joke to the extent of hurting one's feelings. his moral purity was as conspicuous as the meekness of his disposition. in november of , the princes suffered a great bereavement in the death of their admirable grandmother, the duchess dowager of coburg; she died in the arms of her two eldest sons. she had, from an early period, formed the wish that a marriage should be contracted between her two grandchildren, albert and victoria. in , the young princes, in their turn, accompanied their father in a journey to visit their uncle, king leopold. this was a most important event in the prince's life; for, though the visit was of but short duration, the spectacle which he then saw, of a nation which had freed itself, and worked out its own destiny, had the strongest effect upon his mind and conscience, which thence grew in attachment to liberal principles. his deeply-rooted love of art, too, received a strong stimulus from the splendid architectural and artistic treasures of the old belgian city. on his return from brussels, being now about thirteen years old, he became remarkably studious, and vigorously set himself to the pursuit of an unusually comprehensive circle of subjects. the only recreation which he pursued with vigour was deer-stalking, and this most beneficially promoted the robustness of a frame as yet distinguished by delicacy. on palm sunday, , he was confirmed, and his heart seems, at and from this period, to have come under the influence of religious convictions of peculiar depth and sincerity, though of singular freedom from all traces of bigotry. the confirmation of the princes was immediately followed by a series of visits to various of their imperial, regal, princely, and noble relatives and friends throughout germany and the provinces on the danube. they visited in succession mecklenburg, berlin, dresden, prague, vienna, pesth, and ofen. in may, , the princes came to england, on a visit to their aunt kent. it was on this occasion that albert and victoria first met. on his return to the continent from this his first and most gratifying visit to england, the duke of coburg placed albert and his elder brother for a time under the care of their uncle at brussels. a private house was taken for them, in which they pursued their studies under dr. drury, an english clergyman, who had been appointed their tutor. this gentleman recorded this testimony of his pupil, when, shortly afterwards, he was removed from his tutelage, and before any idea was entertained about his distinguished future position:--"his attainments are various, and solid too; his abilities are superior; his disposition amiable; his conduct unexceptionable; and, above all, his belief in, and his attachment to, the protestant religion is sincere." [sidenote: prince albert at college.] in the summer following ( ) the two brothers were entered as students of law, or, more correctly, of jurisprudence (_juris studiosi_), at the university of bonn, the oxford of germany in respect to the high rank of some of its students, and standing in the very first place in point of intrinsic efficiency. the tutor florschütz still accompanied the young men; and they benefited by the prelections of such men as fichte, perthes, and augustus schlegel. prince albert studied classics, mathematics, mental philosophy, political economy, history, and statistical science. in the last subject he had been well grounded at brussels by the distinguished m. quetelet, who formed the highest opinion of his pupil's powers and assiduity. he had, besides, private tutors for music and drawing, in both of which arts he was already well advanced. in the second stage of his curriculum his studies were specially devoted to jurisprudence and civil history. while at bonn he displayed at once a talent for poetry and a benevolent heart, by the publication for the benefit of the poor of a collection of songs, which his brother set to meritorious musical accompaniments. he visited only among his princely fellow-students, and at the houses of the professors. his brother and he, though they occasionally gave courtly entertainments to their friends, lived in private a temperate and frugal life. he assiduously sought out the society of _savans_ and men of letters, especially loving to associate with professors welcker and schlegel. the latter, though he detested the ordinary run of "princelings," was quite charmed by albert, of whom he thought and spoke most highly. the prince kept only three academical terms, and finally left the university, in september, , leaving golden opinions everywhere behind him. not the least hearty of his eulogists in after years was peter stamm, an hotel-keeper, who acted as gamekeeper to him on his shooting excursions, and who for years after pointed to english visitors the portrait of prince albert in his sitting-room, his eyes the while brimming over with glad tears. the university, after his marriage, conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of laws, and in the diploma pointed reference was made to his "summæ fortunæ magnitudinem ac gravitatem, summâ comitate, amabilique morum suavitate et humanitate." the winter of - was passed by the prince in a tour through switzerland and italy. after pursuing his journey as far as naples, and omitting no locality of interest on the way, he came home by way of vienna, and returned to the castle of ehrenberg in the summer of . it has been stated that he found, on the wall of his room, a miniature of queen victoria, by chalon, which she had sent to him as a gift in his absence; but we have not discovered any very reliable authority for the anecdote. in august, having completed his twentieth year, he was formally declared of age. he inherited from his mother landed estates amounting to £ , yearly value. these lands, we have reason to believe, he transferred to his brother upon the formal announcement of his engagement to queen victoria, subject only to pensions and allowances to certain persons who had belonged to his modest household. [sidenote: prince albert's betrothal.] on the th of december, , his betrothal was formally and publicly announced at coburg. in the morning the ducal family, with the court officials, attended divine service in the chapel of the castle; in the afternoon, in the presence of the same dignitaries, with the deputies of the duchies of coburg and gotha, the chief minister formally read the announcement of the betrothal; the while the booming of cannon from the fortress announced the tidings to the people of the town and the neighbouring country. about three hundred persons in all were present at the ceremony within the castle, including bearers of congratulatory addresses, not only from the two duchies, but from austria, prussia, hesse, saxony, and other german states. from the report of an english gentleman of high social position, who was present on this important occasion, we extract, in conclusion, these fuller details:-- when the minister (baron de carlowitz) had read the proclamation, the duke embraced his son, and the duchess next imprinted a kiss upon his forehead, while in every eye might be read the heartfelt wish that all the parents' fondest, proudest hopes might be fully realised. more than one hundred and sixty persons partook of the hospitalities of the duke's table, in the "riesen saal," or "giant's hall," and a more sumptuous or splendid entertainment could not be imagined. the loud and cordial cheers which the health of england's queen called forth, and which burst out with an enthusiasm which all the forms of etiquette and courtly ceremony could not restrain, were almost too affecting; and when the band struck up "god save the queen," the tears of joy flowed freely. i must not omit to mention a circumstance characteristic of the prince. by his order, the people were admitted into the "riesen saal," to see the assembled company. peasants from the hills, old and young, walked about without the smallest restraint, to their evident enjoyment; and their hearty exclamations--the blessings they invoked on their beloved prince and his august parents--were a more eloquent and stirring panegyric than volumes could express. to describe the universal attachment of all classes to the prince were impossible. i have never heard other than the most enthusiastic praise--not one dissenting voice from one end of thuringia to the other. if i have remarked the personal beauty of the prince, the general reply has been, "ah! yes, he is certainly handsome, but so good; he is truly a most amiable prince, as good as he is handsome." persons attached to his suite, and the older members of the court, cannot speak of him without tears, and are quite distressed at the thought of his leaving his native land.... on the th of december the prince, accompanied by his father, quitted his paternal residence for a short sojourn at gotha; and as he bade a last adieu to the stately castle of ehrenberg, the abode of his fathers, and the happy scene of his infancy, the tenderest emotions of his nature for a moment almost overwhelmed him. a few days prior to his departure, a ball was given him by the nobles, at which he was received by twelve young ladies, attired in white, and wearing fresh-gathered roses; the philosophic society gave him a serenade, and all classes joined in affectionate expression of sympathy in their young prince's feelings on this momentous occasion. lord viscount torrington and colonel the honourable charles grey, who were charged with the two-fold mission of investing the prince with the insignia of the order of the garter, and escorting him and his suite to england, arrived at gotha early in january, , and the investiture took place on the th, with imposing ceremony. the jewels, which were of diamonds and of rare workmanship, were a present from the queen. after a series of hospitable festivities in honour of the english envoys, prince albert set out for england on the th of the month. chapter viii. the princess victoria becomes queen regnant. first meeting of the princess victoria and prince albert--coming of age--festivities on the occasion--death of william iv., and accession of victoria--the queen holds her first privy council--her address--proclamation as queen at st. james's palace--beautiful traits of character displayed by the queen--stirring and gorgeous scene--delight of the people at the queen's accession. the marriage of prince albert with the princess victoria was desired, if not planned, by certain of their common relatives, especially the duchess dowager of coburg and her son prince leopold, almost from the period when the cousins were in their cradles. after his betrothal, the prince himself told the queen that his mother, who died in , wished earnestly that he should marry her. he first saw his future wife in the month of may, , when he and his brother came to england on a visit to their aunt. he greatly enjoyed this visit to england, and the youthful guests were treated by the authorities and the inhabitants of the metropolis with the utmost courtesy and attention. they were sumptuously entertained at windsor by the king and queen adelaide, and were conducted to all the great sights of the town by their aunt and cousin. on the th of may, , the princess victoria having attained her eighteenth year, was declared legally of age, according to the provisions of a recent act of parliament. amongst the first to congratulate her on the happy event was prince albert. this happy day was kept as a general holiday, and the night made brilliant by an illumination. it was celebrated with demonstrations of excessive joy at kensington. at six o'clock in the morning the union-jack was hoisted on the steeple of the old church, as also on the green sward opposite the palace. that edifice was surmounted by a splendid flag of pure white silk, on which was inscribed, in letters of ethereal blue, the single word "victoria." from the houses of the principal inhabitants in the high street waved a profusion of other flags. the gates of the gardens were thrown open at six o'clock for the admission of the public; and it having got wind the previous evening that a serenade would be performed at seven o'clock, at which hour victoria first drew breath eighteen years before, the portion of the gardens next the palace was thronged by an assemblage of well-dressed persons, including several ladies. congratulatory addresses and innumerable presents--amongst the latter, a splendid piano from the king--poured in from all quarters. at night a magnificent ball in honour of the occasion was given at st. james's palace. during these festivities, although it was known that the king's health was seriously enfeebled, no one imagined that within a month from the attainment of her majority the young princess would become queen of england. the anniversary of waterloo was always a great day with king william. the duke of wellington, in consideration of the declining state of the king's health, proposed not to have the usual banquet at apsley house; but, the day before, william, sent a message desiring that the banquet should take place, and wishing the host and guests a pleasant day. by two o'clock on the morning of the th he was no more. [sidenote: accession to the throne.] shortly after the demise of the sovereign, three carriages, conveying the primate, the earl of albemarle and sir henry halford, the royal physician, started from windsor, and arrived at kensington palace shortly before five o'clock. the doors were thrown open before them, and in the early morning sunshine stood the queen of england and her mother, prepared for the news, and ready to receive them. at nine o'clock, lord melbourne, the premier, arrived at the palace, and had an interview of half an hour with his new mistress. before noon came the lord mayor and other members of the corporation. next to appear was the duke of cumberland. miss martineau thus describes the quick succession of incidents which now crowded one upon the other with rapid haste:-- on the meeting of the princes, peers, and other councillors, they signed the oath of allegiance; and the first name on the list was that of ernest, king of hanover. the queen caused them all to be sworn in members of the council, and then addressed them; after which they issued orders for the proclamation of her majesty. if the millions who longed to know how the young sovereign looked and felt could have heard her first address, it would have gone far to satisfy them. the address was, of course, prepared for her; but the manner and voice were her own, and they told much. her manner was composed, modest, and dignified; her voice firm and sweet; her reading, as usual, beautiful. she took the necessary oaths, and received the eager homage of the thronging nobility without agitation or any awkwardness. the declaration contained an affectionate reference to the deceased king; an assertion of her attachment to the constitution of the country, and of her intention to rule in accordance with it; a grateful allusion to her mother's educational care of her; an avowal that, under circumstances of such eminent responsibility as hers, she relied for support and guidance in divine providence, and a pledge that her life should be devoted to the happiness of her people. the ministers returned into her hands, and received again, the seals of their respective offices; the stamps in official use were ordered to be altered, as also the prayers of the church which related to the royal family; the proclamation was prepared and signed by the privy councillors, and the queen appointed the next day, wednesday, for the ceremony. the first use of the great seal, under the new reign, was to authenticate the official proclamation, which was gazetted the same evening. during the whole morning, carriages were driving up rapidly, bringing visitors eager to offer their homage. what a day of whirl and fatigue for one in a position so lonely, at such tender years. how welcome must have been the night, and the quiet of her pillow, whatever might be the thoughts that rested upon it. the next morning she appeared "extremely pale and fatigued," and no wonder, for she had passed through a day which could never be paralleled. the following is the text of her majesty's speech delivered on this occasion to the privy council:-- the severe and afflicting loss which the nation has sustained by the death of his majesty, my beloved uncle, has devolved upon me the duty of administering the government of this empire. this awful responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a period, that i should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden, were i not sustained by the hope that divine providence, which has called me to this work, will give me strength for the performance of it, and that i shall find, in the purity of my intentions, and in my zeal for the public welfare, that support and those resources which usually belong to a more mature age and longer experience. i place my firm reliance upon the wisdom of parliament, and upon the loyalty and affection of my people. i esteem it also a peculiar advantage that i succeed to a sovereign whose constant regard for the rights and liberties of his subjects, and whose desire to promote the amelioration of the laws and institutions of the country, have rendered his name the object of general attachment and veneration. educated in england, under the tender and affectionate care of a most affectionate mother, i have learned from my infancy to respect and love the constitution of my native country. it will be my unceasing study to maintain the reformed religion as by law established, securing, at the same time, to all the full enjoyment of religious liberty; and i shall steadily protect the rights, and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and welfare of all classes of my subjects. [sidenote: proclamation as queen.] the next day, the st of june, the queen was publicly proclaimed, under the title of alexandrina victoria i.; but since that day she has disused the russian name bestowed upon her by her muscovite godfather, preferring to retain simply "victoria." the queen arrived at the palace at ten o'clock, where she was received by most of the members of the royal family, the officers of the household, and ministers of state. long before ten all the avenues to the palace were crowded, every balcony, window, and housetop being crammed with the better class of spectators. the space in the quadrangle in front of the window where her majesty was to appear, was crowded with ladies and gentlemen, and even the parapets above were filled with people. at ten o'clock the guns in the park fired a salute, and immediately after the queen made her appearance at the window of the tapestried ante-room adjoining the audience chamber, and was received with deafening cheers--cheers all the more hearty that her appearance was a surprise, for few had known that she was to be there present. she was dressed in deep mourning, with a white tippet, white cuffs, and a border of white lace under a small black bonnet, which was placed far back on her head, exhibiting her light brown hair simply parted in front. she viewed the proceedings with intense interest, standing during the whole rehearsal of the proclamation; and although she looked pale and fatigued, she returned the repeated rounds of cheers with great grace and dignity. all were touched to very tenderness of soul by the pale face, wet with tears, calm and simply grave, the gravity being enhanced by the plain black dress and bands of brown hair, giving an aspect of quaker-like neatness. on either side stood lords melbourne and lansdowne, in their state dresses and blue ribbons, and close to her was her mother, who was dressed similarly to the queen. in the court-yard were garter king-at-arms, with heralds and pursuivants in their robes of office, and eight officers-of-arms on horseback, bearing massive silver maces; sergeants-at-arms, with their maces and collars; the sergeant-trumpeter, with his mace and collar; the trumpets, drum-major and drums, and knights marshal and men. on her majesty showing herself at the presence chamber window, garter principal king-at-arms, having taken his station in the court-yard under the window, accompanied by the duke of norfolk as earl marshal of england, read the proclamation, containing the formal and official announcement of the demise of king william iv., and of the consequent accession of queen alexandrina victoria to the rule of these realms. the proclamation was brief, and to the point:-- whereas it hath pleased almighty god to call to his mercy our late sovereign lord, king william iv., of blessed memory, by whose decease the imperial crown of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland is solely and rightfully come to the high and mighty princess alexandrina victoria, we therefore, the lords spiritual and temporal of this realm, being here assisted with these of his late majesty's privy council, with numbers of other principal gentlemen of quality, the lord mayor, aldermen, and citizens of london, do now hereby with one voice and consent of tongue, proclaim that the high and mighty princess alexandrina victoria is now, by the death of our late sovereign william iv., of happy memory, become our only lawful and rightful liege lady, alexandrina victoria i., queen of great britain and ireland, defender of the faith, ... to whom we acknowledge all faith and constant obedience, with all humble and hearty affection, beseeching god, by whom kings and queens do reign, to bless the royal princess alexandrina victoria with long and happy years to reign. god save the queen. [sidenote: the queen and the duke of sussex.] at the termination of this proclamation, the band struck up the national anthem, and a signal was given for the park and tower guns to fire, in order to announce the fact of the proclamation being made. amid the booming of the guns, the air was rent with cheers by those within the area, which were taken up by the tens of thousands outside. the enthusiasm of the comparative few who could see victoria rose to rapture when, the moment she was proclaimed queen, she turned round, threw her arms round her mother's neck, and wept without restraint. and when her loved uncle, the duke of sussex, presented himself, the day before, to take the oath of allegiance, and was about to kneel in her presence to kiss her hand, she gracefully prevented him, kissed his cheek affectionately, and said, "do not kneel, my uncle, for i am still victoria, your niece." the feelings of gratification with which the people welcomed the accession of victoria cannot be depicted in terms too strong. to most, the course of years seemed very short during which they had been eagerly watching the growth and training of the princess. it seemed--at least, to all but the young--but a matter of yesterday that the newspapers had informed them of the birth of the royal babe; of the duke of kent's illness: how he had come home from a walk with wet boots, and, "beguiled by the smiles of his infant princess," had played with her, instead of changing his clothes, and thus caught the cold of which he died. and here she was now, a woman, and the sovereign ruler of a hundred million of souls. all they had heard of her was favourable. sinister rumours and alarms there had been, but they had been dissipated and dispersed like the morning's mist before the rising god of day. her morals were pure, her conduct spotless, and in all arts and accomplishments she had been carefully trained. from her earliest days she had been abroad in all weathers; having been often seen, when it was stormy, on a windy common, with a warm cloak and thick boots. she kept early hours, and was so exactly and proverbially punctual, that it was mentioned as a marvel that she once had to apologise for being half a minute late in an appointment. she had never been known to exceed her pocket-money in her personal expenditure, or to be sixpence in debt--an extraordinary novelty in a descendant of george iii. in the first year of her reign the people were delighted to find that she had paid her father's debts, including considerable sums advanced by his warm friends, lords fitzwilliam and dundas. next she paid her mother's debts--debts unavoidably contracted, as she knew and acknowledged, on her account. she provided with royal munificence for the whole family of the late sovereign, and honoured them with courtesies and kindnesses, which almost obliterated the pain arising from their dubious position. yet she lived within her income, and paid as she purchased. chapter ix. the maiden queen. removal to buckingham palace--first levée--dissolves parliament--beauty of her elocution--splendid reception by the city of london--settlement of the queen's income--her daily life--her admirable knowledge of, and devotion to, the business of the state--reverence for the lord's day. greatly to the regret of the inhabitants of kensington, the queen, with her mother, took her final departure from the abode where she was born, and in which she had spent so many happy days, and proceeded to buckingham palace, on july th. the queen, on this occasion, looked pale, and her countenance had a very natural, and easily accounted for, aspect of deep regret. immediately afterwards she held a court levée. it was, of course, thronged by her loyal subjects who had the privilege of entrée; but there was no appearance of fatigue in her face, voice, or manner, and the day passed off with spirit and brilliancy. she seemed to have acquired (so say the court chroniclers of the period), if possible, increased grace and dignity. she wore a rich lama dress, her head glittered with diamonds, and her breast was covered with the insignia of the garter and other orders. a pair of embroidered velvet slippers covered feet which, resting on the cushion, were observed and admired by all as "exquisitely small." on the th of july she went in state to the house of lords to dissolve the parliament, in accordance with constitutional usage and enactment on the demise of the crown. after thanking both houses for their expressions of condolence on the death of her uncle, and for the zeal and assiduity with which they had discharged their duties, especially for their efforts to mitigate the severity of the penal code, she concluded by saying:-- i ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me; but i am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence upon the protection of almighty god. it will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord. acting upon these principles, i shall, upon all occasions, look with confidence to the wisdom of parliament and the affections of my people, which form the true support of the dignity of the crown, and ensure the stability of the constitution. the admirable manner in which the speech was read--her singularly musical voice being heard, without the slightest appearance of effort, in every corner of the house of lords--was the subject of the admiration of all who heard it. it was, indeed, known that she was a fine singer, and frequently entertained her mother's guests by singing to them, her mother accompanying her on the piano; nevertheless, the lucidity of her tones, and the entire absence of any discomposure to disturb them, surprised every one, and no one more so than her mother. [sidenote: state visit to the city.] the queen went in great state to the city on lord mayor's day, november . this royal entry was one of the greatest sights which had ever been beheld in the city. the queen, looking remarkably well, magnificently attired in pink satin shot with silver, was greeted with deafening cheers from a crowd far denser than any she had ever seen, along her whole route from marlborough house (her temporary residence until buckingham palace was completed for her occupation) to the guildhall. the houses along the thoroughfares by which the cavalcade passed were hung with bright-coloured cloths, with green boughs, and with what flowers the earth could afford at the late season of the year. flags and heraldic banners darkened the dim november light across the strand, fleet street, and cheapside; and every pedestal that could be improvised supported a bust of queen victoria. at temple bar the lord mayor and aldermen, mounted on artillery horses from woolwich, each of the steeds being held by the head by the soldier who was accustomed to bestride him, awaited their distinguished guest. the lord mayor, dismounting and taking the city sword in his hand, delivered the keys, which were graciously returned, while more vociferous cheers than ever rent the air. on which, the lord mayor, re-mounting and holding the city sword aloft, rode before her majesty through the city, the cortége of mounted aldermen following her carriage. the open space before st. paul's was occupied by hustings, crowded by the liverymen of the city companies and the christ's hospital boys. one of these, in conformity with an old usage, having presented an address to the queen, and the whole of the boys having sung "god save the queen," the procession went on its way. at the guildhall, which, with all its adjacent chambers, was sumptuously fitted up, a loyal address was read by the recorder, and suitably acknowledged. after this came a sumptuous banquet, from which her majesty retired, to see on her way back the whole line of the route brilliantly illuminated. the first message which the queen sent to parliament when it re-assembled, was a truly characteristic one: it asked for a suitable provision for her royal mother. this provision was loyally made, and in the same short winter session her own civil list was settled. william iv. had enjoyed a civil list amounting to £ , , while, from the accession of george iii. to the death of his eldest son, it had been fixed at £ , , . her majesty's civil list was fixed at £ , per annum, and her privy purse, being the only sum over which she had complete personal control, and from which her private charities had to be disbursed, was fixed at £ , . out of the £ , the calculation, based by order of parliament upon the accounts of the late reign, was that £ , would go for salaries of the household, from the master of the horse and mistress of the robes, down to the humblest scullion and stable-helper; and £ , in tradesmen's bills. during the early days of her maiden reign, the queen rose at eight, occupied a remarkably short time in dressing, and then discharged such routine business as signing despatches until the breakfast hour, which was invariably a quarter before ten. at that hour, she without fail sent one of her attendants to _invite_ the duchess of kent to breakfast. from the day of her ascending the throne, to remove the slightest ground for suspicion as to any undue influence, the strictest etiquette was preserved between mother and daughter; the former never approaching the latter unless specially summoned, and carefully abstaining from conversing about the business of the state. twelve o'clock was the time appointed for conferences with her ministers. after the usual complimentary salutation, she at once proceeded to the business of the day. if a document were handed to her, she read it without comment, and no remark passed her own lips or those of the ministers present, until its perusal was concluded. after retiring from the council-room, the interval was passed until dinner in riding or walking. at dinner, the first lord-in-waiting took the head of the table; opposite to him, the chief equerry-in-waiting. her majesty's chair was half way down on the right, the various guests being seated according to their ranks. next to her majesty, on the right hand, was the nobleman of highest degree; next to him, the duchess of kent, and so on. on her majesty's left, the same rule was observed, the baroness lehzen, who acted as secretary to the queen, being always near her. the queen left the table early for the drawing-room, where her musical tastes were regaled almost invariably, and her own proficiency very frequently displayed. [sidenote: reverence for sunday.] the following incident, which was made public during the first year of the queen's reign, made a very pleasing impression upon the well-conditioned portion of the public. a certain noble minister arrived at windsor at a late hour on saturday night. on being introduced, he said, "i have brought down for your majesty's inspection some documents of great importance; but, as i shall be obliged to trouble you to examine them in detail, i will not encroach on the time of your majesty to-night, but will request your attention to-morrow morning." "to-morrow morning?" repeated the queen; "to-morrow is sunday, my lord." "true, your majesty, but business of the state will not admit of delay." "i am aware of that," replied the queen, "and, as your lordship could not have arrived earlier at the palace to-night, i will, if those papers are of such pressing importance, attend to their contents after church to-morrow morning." so to church went the queen and the court, and to church went the noble lord; when, much to his surprise, the discourse was on the duties and obligations of the christian sabbath. "how did your lordship like the sermon?" asked the queen. "very much indeed, your majesty," replied the nobleman. "well, then," retorted her majesty, "i will not conceal from you that, last night, i sent the clergyman the text from which he preached. i hope we shall all be improved by the sermon." the sunday passed without a single word being said relative to the state papers, and at night, when her majesty was about to withdraw--"to-morrow morning, my lord, at any hour you please," said the queen, turning to the nobleman--"as early as seven, my lord, if you like, we will look into the papers." the nobleman said that he could not think of intruding on her majesty at so early an hour; he thought nine o'clock would be quite soon enough. "no, no, my lord," said the queen; "as the papers are of importance, i wish them to be attended to very early. however, if you wish it to be nine, be it so." and accordingly, the next morning at nine, her majesty was seated ready to receive the nobleman and his papers. chapter x. the queen crowned. novel features in the coronation--its cost--large amount of money circulated--splendour of the procession--enormous crowds--the scene within the abbey--arrival of the queen--the regalia and sacred vessels--costume of the queen--astonishment of the turkish ambassador at the scene--the coronation ceremony--the queen's oath--the anointing--the crown placed on her head--the homage--an aged peer--the queen's crown--the illuminations and general festivities--fair in hyde park--the duke of wellington and marshal soult at the guildhall. the great event of the year was the coronation, which took place on the th of june. it was conducted after the abridged model of that of the queen's immediate predecessor. the coronation of george iv. had cost £ , ; that of william iv., £ , . the charges on the occasion of the crowning of queen victoria amounted to about £ , . this slight excess over the cost of the last sovereign's solemn investiture with regal power was explained by the chancellor of the exchequer as having been in no sense occasioned by any part of the ceremonial peculiarly connected with the sovereign, but it had been incurred with a view of enabling the great mass of the people to participate in this national festivity. the great novelty on the occasion was the omission of the walking procession of all the estates of the realm, and the banquet in westminster hall, with the feudal services attendant thereon. many of the upper classes grumbled not a little at these omissions; but the general public were more than proportionately gratified. for in lieu of the disused ceremonies, a public procession through the streets was substituted. this enabled all to witness the splendid pageant, and induced a very large private expenditure and circulation of money. it was estimated that no less than £ , were paid for the use of windows and other positions of vantage in the line of the procession. the price of single seats ranged from five shillings to ten guineas; and the duke of buckingham, in his "courts and cabinets of william iv. and victoria," alleges that single windows in pall mall and st. james's street produced no less than £ . persons of distinction behaved with a becoming liberality and splendour. marshal soult, the old opponent of wellington, who specially represented on the occasion the court of the tuileries, and who was received by the crowds with great enthusiasm, appeared in a splendid state carriage that had been used by the prince of condé. the russian ambassador purchased for £ , a similar chariot, which had already done the same duty for the duke of devonshire, at st. petersburg, on a like occasion. another diplomat gave £ for the loan for the day of a vehicle befitting his rank; while many more had to content themselves with carriages whose normal function it was to minister to the state of the civic magnates, and which were hastily repainted and decorated for the auspicious occasion. the day was one of the brightest on which the queen, with her proverbial good fortune in this respect, has ever appeared amongst her subjects. at early morn, the first rays of the blazing midsummer sun slanted down through the windows of westminster abbey upon the jewels of whole rows of peeresses, and the illuminations which turned night into day remained in full magnificence until the dawn of the succeeding morning. at dawn, a salvo of artillery from the tower caused all the population to be astir, and the population was on this day increased by the importation of four hundred thousand visitors. the behaviour of the enormous multitude which first lined the streets and then spread itself over the town, was beyond all praise. courtesy and mutual forbearance were conspicuous, and no accident or offence occurred to mar the pleasing impressions of the ceremonial. [sidenote: order of the procession.] the route of the procession was as follows:--from buckingham palace, up constitution hill, along piccadilly, st. james's street, pall mall, cockspur street, charing cross, whitehall, and parliament street, to the great west door of westminster abbey. the most novel feature of the procession was the carriages of the foreign ambassadors, to which we have already alluded, with their jägers in gorgeous or grotesque uniforms. these came in the order in which they had arrived on their special missions to this country; the carriages of the regular resident ambassadors came in their ordinary order of precedence. next followed the members of the royal family, the duchess of kent preceding the carriages of the surviving sons of george iii. to the queen's barge master, with forty-eight watermen, succeeded twelve of the royal carriages, containing the ladies and gentlemen of the household. next came mounted, three and three, the high functionaries of the army. and after royal huntsmen, yeomen, prickers, marshalmen, foresters, and a host of other minor functionaries--the whole of the mounted household troops being here and there interspersed at intervals in the cavalcade--came the grand state coach, containing her majesty the queen, with the duchess of sutherland, mistress of the robes. on either side of the carriage rode lord combermere, gold stick in waiting, and the earl of ilchester, captain of the yeomen of the guard. the earl of albemarle, as master of the horse, and the duke of buccleuch, as captain-general of the royal scottish archers, rode behind. a squadron of life guards brought up the rear. meanwhile, within the abbey, a painful sleepiness had oppressed those who had sat so many hours in cramped positions; many of them in galleries perched up high under the roofs of the aisles. suddenly, a burst of music, rushing among the arches and ringing from the roof, aroused and entranced all, who peered eagerly down upon the procession of small figures; the central one looking the slightest and most fragile of all. at half-past eleven, the queen reached the door of the abbey, where she was received by the great officers of state, the noblemen bearing the regalia, and the bishops carrying patina, chalice, and bible. having retired to her robing-room, the procession formed and proceeded towards the altar, which was laden with magnificent gold plate, and beside which stood st. edward's chair. besides the elements which are common to all great english regal processions, and which it is, therefore, not requisite to recapitulate, the regalia, which only appear on such occasions, were thus distributed:--st. edward's staff, the golden spurs, the sceptre with the cross, the curtana, and two swords of investiture, were borne respectively by the duke of roxburgh, lord byron, duke of cleveland, duke of devonshire, marquis of westminster, and duke of sutherland. the coronets of the princes of the blood were borne by noblemen; their trains by knights or peers' sons. next came the earl marshal, duke of norfolk, with his staff, lord melbourne with the sword of state, and the duke of wellington, with his staff, as lord high constable; the dukes of richmond, hamilton, and somerset bore the sceptre and dove, st. edward's crown, and the orb; the bishops of bangor, winchester, and london carried the patina, chalice, and bible. the queen, who was supported on one side by the bishop of bath and wells, on the other by the bishop of durham, wore a royal robe of crimson velvet, furred with ermine and broidered with gold lace. she wore the collars of her orders, and on her head a circlet of gold. eight peers' daughters bore her train, most, if not all of them, old friends of her happy childish tours to the mansions of the aristocracy, and distinguished by their personal attractions. about fifty ladies of rank, occupying various positions in the household, succeeded, and the procession was concluded by officers of state and yeomen of the guard. [sidenote: the coronation.] the chief and most picturesque incidents in the coronation ceremony must be briefly narrated. the queen looked extremely well, and "had a very animated countenance;" but perhaps the splendid attire of some of the foreign ambassadors attracted more attention than even the sovereign to whose court they were accredited. the costume of the prince esterhazy was by far the most gorgeous; his dress, even to his boot-heels, sparkled with diamonds. the turkish ambassador seemed specially bewildered at the general splendour of the scene: for some moments he stopped in astonishment, and had to be courteously admonished to move to his allotted place. as the queen advanced slowly to the centre of the choir, she was received with hearty plaudits, and the musicians sang the anthem, "i was glad." at its close, the boys of westminster school, privileged of old to occupy a special gallery, chanted "vivat victoria regina." on this the queen moved to a chair, midway between the chair of homage and the altar; and there, after a few moments' private devotion, kneeling on a fald-stool, she sat down, and the ceremony proper began. first came the "recognition." the archbishop of canterbury, accompanied by some half-dozen of the greatest civil dignitaries, advanced and said, "sirs, i here present unto you queen victoria, the undoubted queen of this realm; wherefore, all you who have come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?" on this, all her majesty's subjects present shouted, "god save queen victoria!" the archbishop turning in succession to the north, south, and west sides of the abbey, and the queen doing the same. the bishops who bore them, then placed the patina, chalice, and bible on the altar; the queen, kneeling, made her first offering, a pall, or altar-cloth, of gold. the archbishop having offered a prayer, the regalia were laid on the altar; the litany and communion services were read, and a brief sermon preached, by various prelates. the preacher was the bishop of london, and his text was from the second book of chronicles, chapter xxxiv., verse --"and the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the lord, to walk after the lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book." after the sermon, the queen swore--the archbishop of canterbury putting the oath--that she would maintain the law and the established religion. then her majesty--the sword of state being carried before her--went to the altar, and laying her right hand upon the gospel, said, kneeling, "the things which i have here-before promised, i will perform and keep. so help me, god!" having kissed the book, and signed a transcript of the oath presented to her by the archbishop, she knelt upon her fald-stool, while the choir sang, "veni, creator, dominus." [sidenote: the homage of the peers.] now, sitting in king edward's chair, four knights of the garter holding the while over her head a canopy of cloth of gold, her head and hands were anointed by the archbishop of canterbury; after which he said his prayer, or blessing, over her. in quick succession followed the delivery of the spurs, sword of state, &c. the dean of westminster, having taken the crown from the altar, handed it to the archbishop, who reverently placed it on the queen's head. this was no sooner done, than there arose from every part of the edifice a tremendous shout--"god save the queen!" accompanied with lusty cheers and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. at the same moment, the peers and peeresses put on their coronets, the bishops their caps, and the kings of arms their crowns; the trumpets sounded, the drums were beat, and volleys fired from the tower and park guns. after the benediction and te deum, the queen was "enthroned," or "lifted," as the formulary has it, from the chair in which she had first sat into the chair of homage, where she delivered the sceptre, &c., to noblemen, while she received fealty of her more distinguished subjects. the archbishop first knelt and did homage for himself and all the spiritual peers; next came the princes of the blood, who merely touched the crown, kissed her left cheek, swore the oath of homage, and retired without kneeling; then the peers in succession came--seventeen dukes, twenty-two marquises, ninety-four earls, twenty viscounts, and ninety-two barons. each peer knelt bareheaded, and kissed her majesty's hand. lord rolle, who was upwards of eighty, stumbled and fell in going up the steps; the queen at once stepped forward, and held out her hand to assist him. while the peers were doing homage, the earl of surrey, treasurer of the household, threw silver coronation medals about the choir and lower galleries; and when the homage was completed the members of the house of commons, who occupied a special gallery, indicated their loyalty by giving nine lusty cheers. it was almost a quarter to four when the procession came back along the nave. the return cavalcade along the streets was even more attractive than that of the morning, for the royal and noble personages now wore their coronets, and the queen her crown. the crown was especially admired. that which had been made for george iv. weighed upwards of seven pounds, and as it was considered too heavy for the queen, a new one was constructed by messrs. rundell and bridge, of less than half the weight. it was formed of hoops of silver, covered with precious stones, over a cap of rich blue velvet, surmounted with a ball enriched by diamonds. amongst its other gems was a large heart-shaped ruby, which had been worn by the black prince; this was set in front. [sidenote: coronation festivities.] in the evening the queen entertained a hundred guests to dinner at buckingham palace, and at a late hour witnessed from the roof the fireworks in the green park. at apsley house, the duke of wellington gave a ball, to which two thousand guests were invited. all the cabinet ministers gave state dinners. a fair was held in hyde park on the day of the coronation--thursday--and until the end of the week. the area allotted comprised nearly one-third of the park. on friday, the queen visited the fair, which was studded with theatres, refreshment booths, and stalls for the sale of fancy articles. the illuminations and fireworks gave great satisfaction, as did the fact that the whole of the theatres were opened gratuitously at the queen's express desire. among other festivities, at home and abroad, which succeeded and were held in honour of the coronation of victoria, may be mentioned a grand review by her majesty in hyde park; a magnificent banquet at the guildhall, at which the old waterloo antagonists, wellington and soult, were toasted in combination; the feasting of , persons on one spot at cambridge; the laying of the first stone of the st. george's hall, at liverpool, and at leghorn of an english protestant church; and a great public dinner, in paris, presided over by sir sidney smith, the hero of st. jean d'acre. chapter xi. the bedchamber plot. resignation of lord melbourne's cabinet--sir robert peel sent for--fails to form a cabinet--his explanation--the queen refuses to dismiss her ladies of the bedchamber--supported by her late ministers--sir robert peel's objections--the queen will not give way--the whigs recalled to power--public opinion on the dispute--the whig ministers blamed, but the queen exculpated. in april, , lord melbourne's administration, which had been rapidly losing its once great popularity, obtained only the small and nominal majority of five, in a very important matter connected with the government of jamaica. the ministers accordingly tendered their resignations early in may, and her majesty was graciously pleased to accept them. as usual under such circumstances, the parliament was prorogued for a few days. after the lapse of a week, the houses re-assembled, and lord john russell, who had been the whig leader of the house, immediately rose and said that since he had last addressed them, sir robert peel had received authority from her majesty to form a new administration, and that the attempt of the right honourable baronet having failed, her majesty had been graciously pleased to permit that gentleman to state the circumstances which had led to that failure. on her accession, the queen had left the selection of the ladies of the household entirely to her uncle sussex, and lord melbourne--the one of whom had been a whig all his life, and the other, though but a comparatively recent convert, was the head of the whig party. they had somewhat indiscreetly selected at least all the important female members of the household, those to whom a young girl would be likely to look up confidingly for information and guidance, from the ranks of the whig aristocracy. on tuesday, the th of may, the resignations of the melbourne cabinet were announced to parliament. the next day, at two o'clock, in answer to her summons, sir robert peel waited upon the queen. she had first sent for the duke of wellington, but he recommended his former lieutenant and future leader as premier. the queen, with characteristic truthfulness, which was none the less admirable that it was too girlishly outspoken to be judicious, or at all in accordance with the spirit of the constitution, at once greeted sir robert with an avowal that she was much grieved to part with her late ministers, whose conduct she entirely approved. this was rather an awkward beginning. nevertheless, he proceeded with the formation of his cabinet, and the next day submitted a list of names to the queen, including the duke of wellington, lords lyndhurst, aberdeen, ellenborough, stanley, sir james graham, and mr. goulburn. as to the household, he had hardly thought about it, and indeed he said he did not know who constituted the female part of it. he took the red book to learn who they were, and was at once struck with the completeness of the arrangements for surrounding the queen with the nearest relations of the whig ministers. for example, he afterwards put this point most strongly to the house:-- sir, let me take that particular question on which my difficulty would arise. who can conceal from himself that my difficulties were not canada; that my difficulties were not jamaica; that my difficulties were ireland? (ironical cheers). i admit it freely, and thank you for the confirmation of my argument which these cheers afford. and what is the fact? i, undertaking to be a minister of the crown, and wishing to carry on public affairs through the intervention of the present house of commons, in order that i might exempt the country from the agitation, and, possibly, the peril of a dissolution--i, upon that very question in a minority of upwards of twenty members. a majority of twenty-two had decided in favour of the policy of the irish government [that is, of the irish policy of lord melbourne]. the chief members of the irish government, whose policy was so approved of, were the marquis of normanby, and the noble lord opposite, the member for yorkshire [lord morpeth, afterwards the earl of carlisle]. by whom are the chief offices in the household at this moment held? by the sister of lord morpeth [the duchess of sutherland], and the wife of the marquis of normanby. but the question is--would it be considered by the public that a minister had the confidence of the crown, when the relatives of his immediate political opponents held the highest offices about the person of the sovereign? my impression decidedly was that i should not appear to the country to be in possession of that confidence; and that impression i could not overcome; and upon that impression i resolved to act. who were my political opponents? why, of the two i have named, one, the marquis of normanby, was publicly stated to be a candidate for the very same office which it was proposed i should fill--namely, the office of prime minister. the other noble lord has been designated as the leader of this house; and i know not why his talents might not justify his appointment, in case of the retirement of his predecessor. is it possible--i ask you to go back to other times; take pitt, or fox, or any other minister of this proud country, and answer for yourselves this question--is it fitting that one man shall be the minister, responsible for the most arduous charge that can fall to the lot of man, and that the wife of the other--that other his most formidable political enemy--shall, with his express consent, hold office in immediate attendance on the sovereign? oh no! i felt it was impossible--i could not consent to this. yes, feelings more powerful than reasoning on those precedents told me that it was not for my own honour or the public interests that i should consent to be minister of england. the public interests may suffer nothing by my abandonment of that high trust; the public interests may suffer nothing by my eternal exclusion from power; but the public interests would suffer, and i should be abandoning my duty to myself, my country, and, above all, to the queen my sovereign, if i were to consent to hold power on conditions which i felt to be--which i had the strongest conviction were--incompatible with the authority and with the duty of a prime minister. [sidenote: the queen and sir robert peel.] sir robert had informed her majesty that he did not propose any change in the offices in question below the grade of ladies of the bedchamber. he took it for granted that the ladies who held higher offices would save him any appearance of want of courtesy by voluntarily resigning. ere this, however, had been stated, the queen having expressed a desire that her own and her mother's old friend, lord liverpool (who, it may be remarked, was of the tory party), should be appointed to some office, sir robert at once requested the queen's permission to offer him the office of lord steward, or any other which he might select. the only other names which he submitted to her were those of lords ashley (now shaftesbury), and sydney. so far all was well. but when he went on to say that he was most ready to apply a similar principle to, and consult her majesty's wishes in, the selection of her ladies, the queen remarked that she should reserve all these appointments, and indeed did not intend to make any present change. in a subsequent interview with the duke of wellington, the queen reiterated the same desire and intention. meanwhile, after her interviews with peel and wellington, her majesty sent for lord john russell, and put the direct question to him, was she right in her determination? he at once replied that she was right; on which she naïvely asked him to support her now, as she had supported the cabinet of which he had been a member. lord john having consulted lord melbourne, they called their ex-colleagues together, and advised the queen to send the following note to sir robert peel, which she did:-- buckingham palace, may , . the queen, having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by sir robert peel, to remove the ladies of her bedchamber, cannot consent to adopt a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage and repugnant to her feelings. on receipt of this, sir robert peel, acting in perfect concert with the duke of wellington, communicated with her majesty in a remarkably courteous letter, of which this was the concluding and decisive paragraph:-- having had the opportunity, through your majesty's gracious consideration, of reflecting upon this point, he humbly submits to your majesty that he is reluctantly compelled, by a sense of public duty and of the interest of your majesty's service, to adhere to the opinion which he ventured to express to your majesty. he trusts he may be permitted, at the same time, to express to your majesty his grateful acknowledgments for the distinction which your majesty conferred upon him, by requiring his advice and assistance in the attempt to form an administration, and his earnest prayers that whatever arrangements your majesty may be enabled to make for that purpose, may be most conducive to your majesty's personal comfort and happiness, and to the promotion of the public welfare. [sidenote: wellington and lord melbourne.] it was generally believed at the time, as sir archibald alison himself confesses, that peel did not regret this royal rebuff; for "he was by no means sanguine," says the tory historiographer, "as to the success of his mission, nor annoyed at the failure of the attempt to fulfil it." the _pro_ and _con_ were put with equal terseness and skill by lord melbourne and the duke of wellington. the words of the latter were:--"it is essential that the minister should possess the entire confidence of her majesty, and with that view should exercise the usual control permitted to the minister by the sovereign in the construction of the household. there is the greatest possible difference between the _household of the queen consort and the household of the queen regnant_--that of the former, who is not a political personage, being comparatively of little importance." lord melbourne, on the other hand, thus justified the advice which his royal mistress had received from him and adopted:--"i frankly declare that i resume office unequivocally and solely for this reason, that i will not abandon my sovereign in a situation of difficulty and distress, and especially when a demand is made upon her majesty with which, i think, she ought not to comply--a demand inconsistent with her personal honour, and which, if acquiesced in, would render her reign liable to all the changes and variations of political parties, and render her domestic life one constant scene of unhappiness and discomfort." the public at large, even those who thought her _action_ wrong, accorded to the queen sympathy rather than blame. it was well known that she had been dexterously surrounded by the wives and sisters and daughters of the great whigs, and that on these ladies all her ardent and girlish affections were bestowed. this made the people all the more angry that the male heads of the whig houses now gave her unconstitutional advice. not only her youth and inexperience, but the very warmth of the affection which she had displayed, and, above all, the fact that she was the chief sufferer on the occasion, all pleaded for her. indeed, it may be said that the quickly-forgotten "bedchamber plot" rather endeared the sovereign to her subjects than otherwise. both of her uncles who preceded her on the throne had been exceedingly capricious and disloyal to their ministers. under these reigns there was a constant sense, in the breasts of ministers and in the breasts of the people, of the precariousness of the existence of even the most popular cabinets. it certainly cannot be said that in the early summer of lord melbourne's cabinet was popular. nevertheless, though the ministers were blamed, the people were charmed by the queen's ingenuousness, bravery, and steadiness of attachment. it is but just to state that on every future occasion of the change of an administration, the queen has, without the slightest demur, conceded the point, the consideration of which we now dismiss. and with the transparent candour of her nature, her majesty has caused it to be made known that the prince consort had much to do with producing this result. chapter xii. courtship and betrothal. desire of the coburg relatives for a marriage between victoria and albert--favourable impressions mutually made by victoria and albert--prince albert's letter on the queen's accession--opposition of king william iv. to the marriage--correspondence between the cousins--king leopold urges on the marriage--the queen's reluctance to become betrothed--her subsequent regret at this--the prince craves a definite determination--his second visit to england--betrothed at last--returns to germany to say farewell. we have already seen that the marriage of prince albert with his cousin was strongly desired by their common relatives from a very early period of their lives. it was the "ardent wish" of their grandmother, and she freely communicated that wish to her son and daughter, prince leopold and the duchess of kent. there are strong indications that the astute king leopold never lost sight of this end from the date of his mother's death in . soon after the visit of the brothers to their "aunt kent" in , the rumour began to prevail in england that prince albert was the _fiancé_ of the future queen. the idea, however, was premature. so we know on the queen's authority, who has caused it to be stated that "nothing was then settled." in the letters which the prince sent to his father and others, during his stay at brussels and elsewhere, immediately after his first visit to england, he made frequent reference to the general impressions thence derived, and especially to his young cousin. of such allusions, this is a fair specimen:--"a few days ago i received a letter from aunt kent, enclosing one from our cousin. she told me i was to communicate its contents to you, so i send it on with a translation of the english. the day before yesterday i received a second and yet kinder letter from my cousin, in which she thanks me for my good wishes on her birth-day. you may easily imagine that both these letters gave me great pleasure." and when the news of the death of king william and the accession of victoria arrived, he informed his father, on the authority of his uncle leopold, that the new reign had commenced most successfully (this, perhaps, in allusion to the anticipated attempt at a _coup d'état_ by the duke of cumberland), that his cousin victoria had shown astonishing self-possession, although english parties were violently excited, and that the duchess of kent had found strenuous support against "violent attacks in the newspapers." this last statement we have, however, good reasons for saying had reached the young prince in a somewhat exaggerated form; we mean, so far as the "violence" of the attacks was concerned. to the queen herself the prince wrote a letter, consolatory in her bereavement, and congratulatory on her accession. this was the first letter which he sent her written in english. he prayed heaven to assist her now that she was "queen of the mightiest land in europe," with the happiness of millions in her hand, and asked her "to think sometimes of her cousins in bonn [where they were then pursuing their university studies], and to continue that kindness you favoured them with till now." [sidenote: rumours about marriage.] on the accession of the queen, the rumour of her marriage with prince albert became ten times more prevalent. the judicious king leopold thought it wise, for a time at least, to discourage this expectation, and to withdraw the attention of the english from the prince. hence it was that he counselled those journeys into austria, south germany, switzerland, and italy, in which we have already traced the steps of the prince. this was chiefly dictated by the distracted state of parties in england, which the king of the belgians thought it better to permit time to allay ere the matrimonial project was brought specifically forward. "united as all parties are," wrote prince albert to his father, from the inspiration of his uncle, "in high praise of the young queen, the more do they seem to manoeuvre and intrigue with and against each other. on every side there is nothing but a network of cabals and intrigues, and parties are arrayed against each other in a most inexplicable manner." whilst making his "grand tour," the prince kept up an occasional correspondence with his cousin. from switzerland he sent her an album of the places which he visited, from the top of the rigi a dried alpine rose, and from ferney an autographic scrap of voltaire, which he received from an old servant of the great philosopher. by the early part of , the tour was concluded, and we find the prince once more at brussels with his uncle. leopold now spoke to him more fully and definitely than he had hitherto done about his prospects in life and the state of his affections. it very clearly appears that the marriage with the queen had been gradually becoming more and more an understood thing. it appears equally clear that the queen was averse, as yet, to committing herself to a distinct and final engagement. she was willing to marry, but wished to defer the contraction of the union. she thought both herself and her cousin too young; and the interests of her people, rather than any personal backwardness, influenced her wish that both she and her husband should be older ere they became man and wife. she regretted afterwards this delay, and felt that the harassments of the bedchamber plot and other still more painful incidents which we have thought it preferable not to rake up and reproduce in these pages, would have been borne by her with more equanimity had she had the natural protection of a husband six months or a year ere the date of her marriage. it was probably this postponement of any definite settlement that occasioned prince albert's absence from england at the coronation, in june, . his father was invited, and received at the hands of his niece the honour of the order of the garter. the dowager duchess of gotha was very proud of this, and proud also to recollect that her son-in-law possessed the noblest knightly order of christendom, which her own father of hesse-cassel, and her father-in-law of gotha, had also worn and treasured. [sidenote: objections to the marriage.] in more than one quarter the marriage, which all members of the coburg family felt to be so eligible, and in which their feelings were so much involved, met with a considerable amount of opposition. by a curious coincidence, a prince of orange had been the suitor favoured by george iv. for the hand of his daughter; but she selected the man of her own choice--leopold, a coburg prince. and a prince of orange (nephew of the rejected aspirant to the hand of the princess charlotte) was the man thought by william iv., as long as he lived, to be the best future husband of his niece and successor; and his niece, too, selected, like her cousin charlotte, as the man of her choice, a prince of the house of coburg. king william did all in his power to discourage the attachment between victoria and albert. he was so strongly set against this match that he did all that he could even to prevent prince albert's visit to england in ; and although he never spoke to his young niece on the subject himself, she afterwards learned that he had devised no fewer than five matrimonial alternatives for her selection--that of the late prince alexander of the netherlands always having the preference and priority. in justice to the memory of king william it must, however, be stated that the dowager queen adelaide afterwards told her niece that her uncle would never have striven to control or restrain her affections if he had had any idea that they had been strongly bestowed in any particular quarter. it was in the early part of , that king leopold first wrote seriously to his niece on the subject--about the same time that we have seen that he made a similar verbal communication to his nephew. he received a favourable response from both, but with this difference, that the lady craved an indefinite delay. this idea of delay the prince dealt with in a very honest and manly manner. he had, he said, no objections to postponement; but, nevertheless, thought he had a fair right, if he were to keep himself free, and thereby be compelled to decline any other career or line of life which might open itself out to him, to have some definite assurance or understanding that the engagement would be without doubt contracted. this concession, however, the equally natural bashfulness of the queen would not suffer her to make. however, all came right in the end, and the queen has very candidly confessed in her riper years, that if she had known as a girl what she afterwards learned as a woman, that she even seemed to be _playing_ with her somewhat undemonstrative but not the less devoted lover, she would not have exacted the semi-sacrifice which the prince's self-respect caused him to feel uneasy at, but to which the true courtesy of his nature induced him to submit. he _did_ wait till , but the queen afterwards learned that he came to england in that year prepared to declare that, in the case of further postponement, he must decline to consider himself bound in any way for the future. [sidenote: first meeting with prince albert.] in october, , prince albert, with his brother, set out from brussels to england, to urge his final suit. ere leaving germany, he had spent a very pleasant time with his cousin, count albert mensdorff, who was doing military duty with the garrison of mayence. they then made a short journey together, in the course of which the one cousin confided the great secret to the other. "during our journey," writes the count, "albert confided to me, under the seal of the strictest confidence, that he was going to england to make your acquaintance, and that if you liked each other you were to be engaged. he spoke very seriously about the difficulties of the position he would have to occupy in england, but hoped that dear uncle leopold would assist him with his advice." the princes--albert bearing with him a shrewd and significant letter to the queen from king leopold--arrived at windsor on the th of october, where they were cordially received by their cousin and aunt. the queen was much struck with the greatly improved appearance of the prince, in the interval of three years since she had last seen him. gay and festive entertainments had been arranged in their honour immediately upon their arrival. the queen became more and more charmed with her cousin, and within a week after his arrival, she informed her premier, lord melbourne, that she had made up her mind to the marriage. in reply, he indicated his own perfect satisfaction, and added that the nation was getting anxious that its sovereign should be married; and then he said, in a kindly way, "you will be much more comfortable; for a woman cannot stand alone for any time, in whatever position she may be." the following we present, without professing either to confirm or question its accuracy, but simply as being the commonly-received report, at the time, of the manner in which the engagement was finally effected between the parties directly interested:-- the prince, in his turn, played the part of a royal lover with all the grace peculiar to his house. he never willingly absented himself from the queen's society and presence, and her every wish was anticipated with the alacrity of an unfeigned attachment. at length her majesty, having wholly made up her mind as to the issue of this visit, found herself in some measure embarrassed as to the fit and proper means of indicating her preference to the prince. this was a perplexing task, but the queen acquitted herself of it with equal delicacy and tact. at one of the palace balls she took occasion to present her bouquet to the prince at the conclusion of a dance, and the hint was not lost upon the polite and gallant german. his close uniform, buttoned up to the throat, did not admit of his placing the persian-like gift where it would be most honoured; so he immediately drew his penknife and cut a slit in his dress in the neighbourhood of his heart, where he gracefully deposited the happy omen. again, to announce to the privy council her intended union was an easy duty in comparison to that of intimating her wishes to the principal party concerned; and here, too, it is said that our sovereign lady displayed unusual presence of mind and female ingenuity. the prince was expressing the grateful sense which he entertained of his reception in england, and the delight which he experienced during his stay from the kind attentions of royalty, when the queen, very naturally and very pointedly, put to him the question upon which their future fates depended: "if, indeed, your highness is so much pleased with this country, perhaps you would not object to remaining in it, and making it your home?" no one can doubt the reply. [sidenote: the betrothal.] the day after the queen's communication to her premier, she caused an intimation to be conveyed to her lover that she desired to see him in private. the prince at once waited upon her, and after a few minutes' general conversation, the queen told him why she had sent for him, and modestly but plainly said that she was quite willing now to undertake the bond of betrothal. of course, there was only one possible response, and the prince joyously wrote the next day to his trusty friend and tried counsellor, baron stockmar, "on one of the happiest days of his life, to give him the most welcome news." the betrothal was at once communicated to prince ernest, to king leopold, and to the duke of coburg. from these and other relatives to whom the news, as yet to be kept a family secret, was sent, the warmest felicitations quickly poured in. leopold wrote, commending albert in the highest terms, and emphatically congratulating victoria on having secured an unmistakably good husband, concluding with the prayer, "may albert be able to strew roses without thorns on the pathway of life of our good victoria!" the queen had intended to make her first formal announcement of her intended marriage to her parliament; but on second thoughts, she altered her resolve, and selected her privy council as the first official recipients of the tidings. of course, the ministers had been already confidentially informed of the queen's purpose; and they strongly counselled an early union, and both queen and prince acquiesced in the proposal. after happy and rapturous days of undoubted and now freely-acknowledged attachment, the princes returned to germany, on the th of november, after a visit lasting just five weeks; ernest to return to his military duties, albert to say farewell to friends and fatherland, ere finally returning to the region of his new life and love. chapter xiii. the queen wedded. announcement of the intended marriage to the privy council and parliament--parliamentary settlement of the prince's rank, &c.--annoying circumstances--the prince's protestantism--his income--arrival of the bridegroom--receives a national welcome--the wedding--honeymoon spent at windsor. on the day after the departure of the princes, the queen wrote letters to the queen dowager, and the other members of the royal family, informing them of her intended marriage, and received kind letters in return from all. a few days later she and her mother came from windsor to buckingham palace, where lord melbourne submitted the draft of the proposed declaration to the privy council. his lordship told the queen that the cabinet had unanimously agreed that £ , would be an appropriate annual allowance for the prince, and that they anticipated no parliamentary opposition to that amount. he also stated that there had been a stupid attempt to make it out that he was a roman catholic, and that "he was afraid to say anything about his religion," and accordingly had not touched upon it in the declaration. this turned out, as we shall see, a very unwise omission; it actually gave colour and consistency to the absurd report. [sidenote: announcement of the betrothal.] on the rd of november, eighty-three members of the privy council met in buckingham palace. precisely at two the queen entered. she evinced much natural agitation, but was considerably reassured by a kindly and paternal look from her staunch friend, lord melbourne; whereupon she read the declaration, which ran thus:-- i have caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that i may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns the welfare of my people, and the happiness of my future life. it is my intention to ally myself in marriage with the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. deeply impressed with the solemnity of the engagement which i am about to contract, i have not come to this decision without mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong assurance that, with the blessing of almighty god, it will at once secure my domestic felicity and serve the interests of my country. i have thought fit to make this resolution known to you at the earliest period, in order that you may be apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to my kingdom, and which, i persuade myself, will be most acceptable to all my loving subjects. the moment the queen had read the declaration, lord lansdowne rose and asked, in the name of the council, that "this most gracious and most welcome communication might be printed." leave was granted, and her majesty left the room, the whole ceremony having occupied only two or three minutes. the duke of cambridge followed his niece into the ante-room, and warmly congratulated her. the declaration appeared in the next _gazette_, whence it was copied into all the newspapers, and was joyfully read and received over the whole land. there were now important questions to be settled, in parliament, in the council, and by the exercise of the royal prerogative, as to the future rank and station of the prince. such were--should he be made a peer? as had been the last consort of an english queen, prince george of denmark, the husband of queen anne, of whom the only good thing that can be said is, that he accidentally made arbuthnot, pope's great friend and fellow-labourer, his court physician. the idea of being made a peer was strenuously, sensibly, and successfully resisted by the prince. then there were the practical questions of his naturalisation, the selection of his household, his position in the scale of precedence, and his income. so far as the prince legitimately could and did meddle with the solution of these knotty points, he showed, when necessary, great sagacity, and a firmness very wondrous in one so young. from the very moment of his betrothal, he regarded himself as the custodian and guardian of his future wife's, rather than his own, independent position and unfettered dignity. it was not himself, but the husband of the queen on behalf of whom he took a firm line. the queen wished to give her husband precedence next after herself. some difficulty was experienced in procuring the consent of the royal dukes, but at last their scruples were removed. only the king of hanover stubbornly held out, and the duke of wellington, in the house of peers, declined on behalf of his party to consent. the proposal was, therefore, withdrawn from parliament, but shortly after the queen conferred a patent of precedence by the exercise of her own prerogative. on a similar matter of dispute, it was not until the prince himself had pointed out the unaccountably overlooked precedent of the privilege as enjoyed by prince leopold in the life-time of the princess charlotte, that garter king-at-arms could be induced to withdraw his opinion adverse to prince albert quartering the royal arms of england with his own. in the matter of his household, the prince's own admirable judgment solved the difficulty with the clear adroitness of honest simplicity. he stipulated that considerations of party should have nothing to do with these appointments; that they should be filled by men of undoubted probity and purity of character; and he indicated his decided wish that they should be men of some kind of eminence; either very rich, very clever, or men who had deserved well of their country in the field of science or of arms. these wishes, to the prince's considerable annoyance, were not all closely followed out. [sidenote: announcement to parliament.] the queen was tremendously cheered when, in january, , she went to open parliament, and no doubt was left in her mind as to the thorough popularity of the proposed union. the announcement of her intention contained in the speech was a virtual repetition of that already made to the council. from both sides of both houses she was personally congratulated, and her choice approved, but the duke of wellington strongly objected to the omission of the statement that the prince was a protestant, with some shrewdness attributing its absence to melbourne's reluctance to irritate his irish catholic supporters. the duke at the same time repeated again and again his own perfect personal conviction in the thorough fidelity of the prince to the historic and heroic protestantism of his race. lord brougham spoke on this point, and very pertinently: "i may remark," he said, "that my noble friend (lord melbourne) is mistaken as to the law. there is no prohibition as to marriage with a catholic. it is only attended with a penalty, and that penalty _is merely the forfeiture of the crown_." in spite of this, a sentence asserting the fact of the prince's protestantism was, at the duke of wellington's instance, inserted in the address agreed to in answer to the speech from the throne. there remained only the question of the prince's annuity. ministers proposed £ , . a very large majority negatived a proposal by mr. hume to reduce it to £ , . but the tory leaders supported a proposal of colonel sibthorpe's to reduce it to £ , , and by a considerable majority this was carried. the queen, and her uncle leopold, were extremely angry at the time at what they conceived to be the personal slight conveyed in this fact. but the queen, under the wise and placable guidance of the prince, afterwards learned to attribute it to the then heat of party rancour, still unallayed after the bedchamber dispute; and the prince at an early period of his residence in england contracted warm and abiding friendships with many of the men who had most strongly resisted ministers on each of the above contested points. on the th of january, prince albert, accompanied by lord torrington and colonel (now general) grey, who had been sent to invest him with the insignia of the garter and conduct him in due state to england, set out from gotha, as we have already seen at a previous page. he was also accompanied by his father and brother. after a passing visit to king leopold at brussels, they were met at calais by lord clarence paget, who commanded the _firebrand_, and escorted the distinguished visitors to the shores of england, at which they arrived on the th of february. after magnificent and most hearty receptions at dover and canterbury, they reached buckingham palace in the afternoon of saturday, the th of february, where the prince found his bride standing with her mother at the door, ready to be the first to meet and to greet him. half an hour later, the lord chancellor administered the oath of naturalisation, and the prince became a subject of queen victoria. a grand dinner to the prince, the ministers, and the great officers of state succeeded in the evening. the next day the prince drove out, amid the cheers of immense crowds, to pay formal visits to all the members of the royal family. [sidenote: the wedding.] monday, the th, was the day appointed for the wedding, which was magnificently celebrated in the chapel royal of st. james's palace. on the morning of that day a larger crowd assembled in st. james's park and its approaches than had been collected together in the metropolis since the rejoicings at the visit of the allied sovereigns in . not even the extreme inclemency of the weather abated either the patience or enthusiasm of the multitude. after the ladies and gentlemen of the households of the queen and the prince had been driven along the mall from the palace of residence to the palace of state, and the carriages which conveyed them had returned, the bridegroom was notified that all was in readiness for his departure. he set out, dressed as a british field-marshal, and with all the insignia of the garter, the jewels of which had been a personal present from the queen, having on one side his father and on the other his brother, both in military uniforms. he entered his carriage amid tremendous cheers, and the enthusiastic waving of handkerchiefs by a bevy of ladies privileged to stand in the grand lobbies of the palace, and was escorted to the chapel by a squadron of the life guards. on the return of the carriages which carried the prince and his company, her majesty was in turn apprised that all was in readiness for her departure. she, too, was enthusiastically received, "but her eye was bent principally upon the ground." in the same carriage with the queen rode the duchesses of kent and sutherland. it was noticed as she drove along that she was extremely pale, and looked very anxious, though two or three incidents in the crowd caused her to smile. on her arrival at her palace of st. james's, the queen was conducted to the presence chamber, where she remained with her maids-of-honour and trainbearers, awaiting the lord chamberlain's summons to the altar. meanwhile, the colonnade within the palace, along which the bridal procession had to pass and repass, had been filled since early morn by the élite of england's rank and beauty. each side of the way was a parterre of white robes, white relieved with blue, white and green, amber, crimson, purple, fawn, and stone colour. all wore wedding favours of lace, orange-flower blossoms, or silver bullion, some of great size, and many in most exquisite taste. most of the gentlemen were in court dress; and the scene during the patient hours of waiting was made picturesque by the passing to and fro in various garbs of burly yeomen of the guard, armed with their massive halberts, slight-built gentlemen-at-arms, with partisans of equal slightness; elderly pages of state, and pretty pages of honour; officers of the lord chamberlain, and officers of the woods and forests; heralds all embroidery, and cuirassiers in polished steel; prelates in their rochets, and priests in their stoles, and singing boys in their surplices of virgin white. within the chapel, in which the altar was magnificently decorated and laden with a profusion of gold plate, four state chairs were set, varying in splendour according to the rank of the destined occupants, respectively for her majesty, prince albert, the queen dowager, and the duchess of kent. the archbishops of canterbury and york, and the bishop of london, having taken their places within the altar-rails, a flourish of trumpets announced the procession of the bridegroom. as the prince passed along, the gentlemen greeted him with loud clapping of the hands, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs with at least equal enthusiasm. [sidenote: the bridesmaids.] in a few minutes the procession of the bride was announced by trumpets and drums. it was of six or seven times the numerical strength of the bridegroom's, and the beauty of the twelve bridesmaids, all daughters of peers of the three highest grades, was specially commended. the duchess of cambridge led by the hand her then child-daughter, the princess mary, "and the mother of so beautiful a child was certainly not to be seen without much interest." the duchess of kent appeared "disconsolate and distressed;" while the duke of sussex, who was to give away the bride, was "in excellent spirits." the queen herself looked "anxious and excited, and paler even than usual." she was dressed in a rich white satin, trimmed with orange-flower blossoms. she wore a wreath of the same, over which was a veil of rich honiton lace, worn so as not to conceal her face. she wore as jewels the collar of the order of the garter, with a diamond necklace and earrings. the bridesmaids were the ladies adelaide paget, sarah villiers, frances cowper, elizabeth west, mary grimston, eleanor paget, caroline lennox, elizabeth howard, ida hay, catherine stanhope, jane bouverie, and mary howard. after the conclusion of the marriage rite, the queen hastily crossed to the opposite side of the altar, and kissed the queen dowager, who was standing there. she then took prince albert's hand, and passed down the aisle. on the return to buckingham palace, it was observed that the prince, still retaining the queen's hand in his own, whether by accident or design, held it in such a way as to display the wedding-ring, which was more solid than is usual in ordinary weddings. when the queen had been led into the palace by her husband, it was observed that her morning paleness had entirely passed off, and that she entered her own halls with an open, joyous, and slightly flushed countenance. after the wedding breakfast the young couple departed, at a quarter before four, for windsor, amid the cheers of the undiminished multitude. her majesty's travelling dress was a white satin pelisse, trimmed with swansdown, with a white satin bonnet and feather. as the cortége passed rapidly up constitution hill, the queen bowed in return to the cheers of her applauding subjects with much earnestness of manner. when the queen and prince arrived at windsor, they found the whole town illuminated, and received a rapturous welcome from the citizens and the eton boys, all wearing favours. [sidenote: the wedding-cake.] we shall conclude this chapter, which we shall not desecrate by devoting to any other deity than hymen, by a brief description of the queen's wedding-cake, which, fortunately for our enterprise, we have succeeded in disinterring from the contemporary records. it was described by an eye-witness as consisting of all the most exquisite compounds of all the rich things with which the most expensive cakes can be composed, mingled and mixed together with delightful harmony by the most elaborate science of the confectioner. it weighed pounds, was three yards in circumference, and fourteen inches in depth. on the top was a device of britannia blessing the bride and bridegroom, who were dressed, somewhat incongruously, in the costume of ancient rome. at the foot of the bridegroom was the figure of a dog, intended to denote fidelity; at the feet of the queen a pair of turtle-doves. a host of gamboling cupids, one of them registering the marriage in a book, and bouquets of white flowers tied with true-lovers' knots, completed the decorations. chapter xiv. early years of married life. difficulties and delicacy of prince albert's position--early married life--studies continued--attempts on the queen's life--courage of the queen--birth of the princess royal--parting from the whig ladies of the bedchamber--dark days for england--birth of the prince of wales--the queen described by m. guizot--a dinner at buckingham palace--state dinner at windsor. the queen was now married to the husband of her choice. "it is that," said lord melbourne to her, "which makes your majesty's marriage so popular, as they know it is not for state reasons." a few months after the wedding-day, the prince wrote to an old college associate--"i am very happy and contented." after the wedding, the young couple stayed for four days at windsor, reading, riding, walking together, and giving small dinner parties in the evening. they then returned to buckingham palace, where a large crowd had collected to welcome them, and fairly commenced the common duties of their married life. at first it would appear that jealousies, in quarters which need not be specified, prevented the prince taking his proper position as the head of his home and household. he wrote to his friend, prince löwenstein, in may, --"i am only the husband, not the master in the house." but the common sense of the queen, and the dignity of the prince, soon set this matter to rights. when urged that she, as being sovereign, must be the head of the house, she quietly rejoined that she had sworn to obey, as well as love and honour, her husband, and that she was determined to keep all her bridal troth. she communicated all foreign despatches to him, and frequently he made annotations on them, which were communicated to the minister whose department they affected. he had often the satisfaction of discovering that the minister, though he might say nothing on the subject, nevertheless acted upon his suggestions. his correspondence to germany soon bore a very different tone and complexion. to use his own words, and slightly expand them, he "endeavoured to be of as much use to victoria as possible." the queen now, having received the approval of the duke of wellington, whom she consulted as a confidential friend, for the first time put her husband in his proper place, by giving him, by royal letters patent, to which parliamentary sanction is not required, rank and precedence next to herself, except in parliament and the privy council. [sidenote: early married days.] frequent levées, and "dinners followed by little dances," formed the chief amusements of the young couple in the earliest stage of their married life. they went much, too, to the play, both having an especial relish for and admiration of shakespeare. the queen, although now a married woman, by no means neglected useful or solacing and refining studies. she took singing lessons from lablache, and frequently sang and played with the prince, sometimes using the piano, sometimes the organ as accompaniment. they went to claremont, the queen's favourite youthful haunt, to celebrate her birthday, and continued to do so, even after the purchase of osborne, until , when claremont was given as a residence to the ex-queen of the french. both queen and prince were extremely glad to get away from the smoke and grime of london. in fact, these constituted a peculiar source of physical oppression to both; and they were always glad to retire to the rural quiet and seclusion of claremont. [sidenote: the queen shot at.] the first alarming incident of the queen's wedded life occurred on the th of june, . in her first early days of maiden queenhood, she had been annoyed by madmen wanting to marry her. on more than one occasion her saddle-horse was attempted to be stopped in the park by one of such maniacs, as she was attended by an equerry; and in two instances similar attempts were made by innocent lunatics to force their way into windsor castle, in each case armed with nothing more deadly than a proposal of marriage. but what we are about to narrate was a much more serious matter. there is no denying the fact, that, after the first two years of her reign, the queen was, for a time, by no means so popular as she had been. her ministers were eminently unpopular, and to no slight extent she shared their unpopularity. appalling distress prevailed, and chartism and other more dangerous forms of sedition were rife. the poor asked how so much money could be spent on the queen's hospitable entertainments, while they were starving; and inquired how it was that the name of lord melbourne, who should be supposed to have work enough to do looking after the affairs of the distressed nation, should appear in the newspapers almost every day as attending some of her majesty's banquets. occasionally during the summer she was received in public in silence, and once or twice, in theatres and elsewhere, disagreeable cries were heard. more than once during this and one or two succeeding years, pistol-shots were fired at her. we select one, and the first attack upon her, as a type of the others. a youth named oxford, some seventeen or eighteen years of age, either a fool or a madman, fired two pistol-shots at her, as she and her husband were driving in a phaeton up constitution hill. he was at once arrested, and it being impossible to assign any conceivable cause for the act, he was declared insane, and doomed to incarceration for life. neither the queen nor the prince were injured, and both showed the utmost self-possession. perhaps the best proof of her bravery on the occasion of this outrage, as it was an unquestionable proof of her tenderness of heart, was the fact that within a minute or two after the shot of oxford had been fired, she had the horses' heads turned towards her mother's house, that her mother should see her sound and uninjured, ere an exaggerated or indiscreetly communicated report of the occurrence could reach her. immediately after, she drove to hyde park, whither she had been proceeding before the outrage occurred, to take her usual drive before dinner. an immense concourse of persons of all ranks and both sexes had assembled, and the enthusiasm of her reception almost overpowered her. prince albert's face, alternately pale and flushed, betrayed the strength of his emotions. they returned to buckingham palace attended by a most magnificent escort of the rank and beauty of london, on horseback and in carriages. a great crowd of a humbler sort was at the palace gates to greet her, and it was said that she did not lose her composure until a flood of tears relieved her pent-up excitement in her own chamber. "god save the queen" was demanded at all the theatres in the evening, and in the immediately succeeding days the queen received, seated on her throne, loyal and congratulatory addresses from the peers in their robes, and wearing all their decorations; from the commons, from the city corporation, and many other public bodies. oxford was incarcerated in bethlehem hospital, one of the great metropolitan lunatic asylums, in which he remained many years, and of which he was made one of the chief "sights" by its visitors. perhaps it was this circumstance that induced the authorities to order his removal to broadmoor, the state prison in which persons charged with felonious crimes, whose lunacy has been established, have within recent years been confined. there he remained until the commencement of the winter months of . during all the weary period which intervened between the perpetration of his offence and that date his conduct was exemplary, and no evidence of mental aberration appeared. at various times appeals were made in his behalf by influential persons who had the opportunity of watching his demeanour and judging his character. his own representation from first to last ever was that the pistol which he fired was not loaded. he attributed the act which so nearly cost him his life and which wasted the best years of his existence, to inordinate vanity, fostered by a variety of trivial circumstances in his domestic life, on which it is not necessary to dwell, and which led to a senseless desire--similar to that which has perpetuated the name of erostratus, the incendiary who fired the temple of diana at ephesus--to gain notoriety by whatever means. to a certain extent he educated himself during his confinement, and became a tolerable linguist. he also taught himself that branch of the house-painter's trade termed "graining," sufficiently well to enable him to earn a decent livelihood. at last, late in , he received a free pardon and release, subject only to the very proper provision that he should expatriate himself and never return to british shores. the same mania, or silly senselessness, might break out again, and it is manifestly right that the person of the sovereign should be protected from the vanity of a man who, at however distant a period, could commit the cowardly outrage of which he was the author. when, a year or two later, the queen was again providentially saved from similar felonious attempts, their character being of the same nature as that of oxford's, a strong feeling animated the general public mind that some special deterrent should be devised to prevent or reduce the likelihood of such maniacal or quasi-maniacal deeds. an act of parliament was accordingly passed, ere the close of the session of , by which severe flogging was imposed as part punishment in all such cases. it had the desired effect. from the period of its enactment until now, attempts to take the queen's life, and minor assaults upon her person, have been almost entirely unknown. [sidenote: birth of the princess royal.] on the afternoon of the st of november, the country was gladdened by the birth of the queen's first-born, the princess royal, now crown princess of prussia. the event occurred considerably before the period anticipated by the queen's medical and other attendants, and preparations had to be made in a hurry. nevertheless, the queen soon regained her accustomed health, and so rapidly that we find it recorded that on the day before that appointed for the christening, she and a lady of the court, exercising their strength and preserving their presence of mind, rescued the prince from a most perilous if not fatal position. he had been skating, accompanied only by the queen and one lady-in-waiting, and had fallen through the ice in such a position that he could not possibly have extricated himself. two days after the princess was born, mr. selwyn, a gentleman with whom prince albert was reading english law and constitutional history, came to give his pupil his accustomed lesson. the prince said to him, "i fear i cannot read any law to-day, there are so many constantly coming to congratulate; but you will like to see the little princess." he took his tutor into the nursery, as he found that the child was asleep. taking her hand, he said, "the next time we read, it must be on the rights and duties of a princess royal." in lord melbourne was no longer prime minister. sir robert peel, who had gained the largest parliamentary majority which had been known for many years, reigned in his stead. the queen made no difficulty about the ladies of the household now. her tastes and feelings were consulted with great delicacy and consideration by the premier, and the selection of the duchess of buccleuch in the first instance as mistress of the robes, which post may be termed the female premiership of the household, was especially gratifying to her majesty. but her heart was, nevertheless, loth to part with the constant female companions of the first four years of her reign. thursday, september the nd, was the last evening she spent with them. at the dinner-table she could scarcely trust herself to speak, and she is reported to have shed bitter tears when she retired with her ladies. everybody pitied the young sovereign, and saw and felt the hardship involved. but it was an inevitable accompaniment of her high position. [sidenote: birth of the prince of wales.] the heir to the throne adorned by queen victoria was born in the midst of one of the very darkest periods of english history. in the condition of the people had been declining from the beginning of the year. operatives were on half time--at last they had no work at all--and the few who had had the means or the will to be provident, were living on their savings. public meetings were being held to consider what was to be done, and public subscriptions were opened. then the idle hands commenced to meet in large numbers, with a sullen look of despair, waiting for death or alms--a comparatively small number being employed at the expense of municipal and other recognised bodies, in road making or road mending. crime, which follows pauperism as surely and almost as rapidly as the obscene vulture pounces upon the carrion which is not yet cold, was rife; murders came in multitudes, poisonings by wholesale; murders by trades unionists, murders by thieves. it was when this dark cloud lowered over england--a cloud never completely dispelled until the rise of the great and glorious free trade sun, five years later--that the prince of wales first breathed. a _london gazette_ extraordinary, which appeared on tuesday evening, november the th, ran as follows:-- buckingham palace, nov. th. this morning, at twelve minutes before eleven o'clock, the queen was happily delivered of a prince, his royal highness prince albert, her royal highness the duchess of kent, several lords of her majesty's most honourable privy council, and the ladies of her majesty's bedchamber, being present. this great and important news was immediately made known to the town by the firing of the tower and park guns; and the privy council being assembled as soon as possible thereupon, at the council chamber, whitehall, it was ordered that a form of thanksgiving be prepared by his grace the archbishop of canterbury, to be used in all churches and chapels throughout england and wales and the town of berwick-upon-tweed, on sunday, the th of november, or the sunday after the respective ministers shall receive the same. her majesty and the infant prince are, god be praised, both doing well. the joy of the nation at the succession to the crown in the progeny of the queen and prince albert being thus secured, was excessive. upon the announcement of the happy accouchement, the nobility and gentry crowded to the palace to tender their dutiful inquiries as to the sovereign's convalescence. amongst others, came the lord mayor and civic dignitaries in great state. they felt peculiarly proud that the prince should have been born on lord mayor's day; in fact, just at the very moment when the time-honoured procession was starting from the city for westminster. in memory of the happy coincidence, the lord mayor of the year, mr. pirie, was created sir john pirie, baronet. on the th of december, the queen created her son by letters patent, prince of wales and earl of chester:--"and him, our said and most dear son, the prince of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, as has been accustomed, we do ennoble and invest with the said principality and earldom, by girding him with a sword, by putting a coronet on his head, and a gold ring on his finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into his hand, that he may preside there, and direct and defend those parts." by the fact of his birth as heir-apparent, the prince indefeasibly inherited, without the necessity of patent or creation, these dignities--the titles of duke of saxony, by right of his father; and, by right of his mother, duke of cornwall, duke of rothsay, earl of carrick, baron of renfrew, lord of the isles, and great steward of scotland. [sidenote: an embassy from france.] in the early spring of , the distinguished french statesman, m. guizot, came over to england, being sent hither by the french premier, marshal soult, on a special mission with reference to those complications in the east, which culminated the following year in that war between the sultan mahmoud and his vassal mehemet ali, in which british tars under stopford and "charley napier" played so conspicuous a part. his pacific mission was a failure, and from its failure dates, first the loosening, and then the severance, of the close relations which subsisted for eleven years after between the courts of st. james's and the tuileries. king louis philippe had conveyed to m. guizot his desire that he should take the first opportunity of recalling to the queen the intimacy which he had maintained with her father, the duke of kent; and guizot resolved to remind her majesty of the circumstance when he was received by her on presenting his letters of credence. he prudently, however, asked lord palmerston, on whom, as foreign secretary, devolved the duty of presenting him, whether such a communication would be agreeable. lord palmerston instantly replied in the negative. he stated that the reception would be a purely official formality, and gave him to understand that the queen would much prefer not having to reply to any speech. he therefore determined to abstain from making one. on the last day of february, he received a note at ten minutes past one from lord palmerston, stating that the queen would be glad to receive him that day at one o'clock. guizot immediately sent to palmerston "to explain the delay, and his own innocence." he then dressed with all speed, and reached buckingham palace a little before two. precisely at the moment of his arrival, lord palmerston's carriage also drove up. he told guizot that the queen's orders had been forwarded to him (palmerston) too late. luckily, the queen had other audiences to give, which occupied her fully until the appearance of the two astute and rival diplomats. but another difficulty arose. there was no master of ceremonies at hand to introduce him. sir robert chester, who held that post, had received his summons, as tardily as that which had been sent to lord palmerston. that gentleman had not hastened his movements so rapidly as the active frenchman. although a breach of form, lord palmerston, therefore, undertook and performed the office of sir robert. the queen received guizot "with a gracious manner at once youthful and serious." he remarked that the dignity of her manner caused one to forget the smallness of her stature. on entering, he said, "i trust, madam, that your majesty is aware of my excuse, for of myself [that is, if the blame of unpunctuality rested with me] i should be inexcusable." she smiled in return, as if little surprised at, and quite used to, the want of punctuality. after all, in spite of lord palmerston's instructions to him, the queen did grant him, in the strict and literal sense of the term, an audience. though short, it was long enough to enable the queen to chat with him, and inquire about his sovereign, his consort, and their family. the queen, of course, was warmly interested about the orleans family, for one of the daughters of its head was the second wife of her uncle, king leopold, and, therefore, her matrimonial aunt. so that guizot _did_ find and embrace the opportunity of reminding the queen of the intimacy between his royal master and her father. [sidenote: m. guizot at buckingham palace.] as he was retiring, lord palmerston, who remained a moment or two with the queen, after she had bid m. guizot adieu, said hastily to him, "there is something more; i am going to introduce you to prince albert and the duchess of kent; you could not otherwise be presented to them, except at the next levée, on the th of march, but it is necessary, on the contrary, that on that day you should be already old friends." these further presentations were, accordingly, made; guizot being struck with the political intelligence which the conversation of the prince, in spite of his constitutional reserve, displayed. guizot left the palace greatly pleased with his reception. as he passed through the hall, he saw the master of ceremonies in hot haste descending from his carriage, and "anxious to apologise to him, with temper somewhat ruffled, for his involuntary uselessness." an invitation to dinner at buckingham palace for five days after quickly reached him at his residence, hertford house. he remarked on the want of animation and interest in the conversation, whether at the dinner-table or in the drawing-room. politics of any kind, home or foreign, were, apparently to his surprise, strictly avoided. when the gentlemen joined the ladies, which, throughout the queen's reign, has been at a very short interval after the departure of the latter from the dining-room, they all sat on chairs round a circular table set before the queen, who occupied a sofa. two or three of her ladies engaged themselves in fancy work; prince albert challenged some one to a game at chess. lady palmerston and m. guizot, "with some effort," carried on a flagging dialogue. the conversation being thus flat, m. guizot took to looking at the pictures on the walls, of which there were but three, hung over the different doors of the apartment. he was very much astonished at the extraordinary contrasts in the subjects of these pictures. they certainly were most incongruous. one was fénélon, the second the czar peter, and the third anne hyde, the discarded wife of james ii. he asked one of his fellow-guests whether the combination was intentional or an accident? but he could get no satisfaction on the subject. no one had remarked the combination, and no one could tell the reason for it. at the levée which he attended the day following, he was still more astounded and perplexed. he thought its presentations and other paraphernalia "a long and monotonous ceremony." yet it inspired this keen and philosophic student of men and manners with "real interest." we shall allow m. guizot, ere we finally leave his companionship, to express his views on this peculiarly english institution in his own words:--"i regarded with excited esteem the profound respect of that vast assembly--courtiers, citizens, lawyers, churchmen, officers, military and naval, passing before the queen, the greater portion bending the knee to kiss her hand, all perfectly solemn, sincere, and awkward. the sincerity and seriousness were both needed to prevent those antiquated habits, wigs, and bags, those costumes which no one in england now wears except on such occasions, from appearing somewhat ridiculous. but i am little sensible to the outward appearance of absurdity when the substance partakes not of that character." [sidenote: fancy ball at court.] as a companion picture of the queen at home at this epoch of her reign, for the lineaments of which we have acknowledged our indebtedness to m. guizot, we present these recollections of the queen in her young married days, which we condense from a gossiping work by lord william lennox. the queen had a splendid new ballroom built in buckingham palace, and nothing could exceed the brilliancy of the entertainments which she gave there. to one of these, in , lord lennox received an invitation. it was a _bal costumé_, the first, he believed, which had ever been given in england by a prince of the house of brunswick. a second ball, in which, unlike the former, the dresses were confined to the reigns of george ii. and iii., was given in the same year. all had to appear in powder--a somewhat trying ordeal to such ladies and gentlemen as did not possess fine features. [sidenote: a state banquet at windsor.] somewhat about the same time, lord lennox dined at windsor castle, at the great banquet given on the ascot cup day. a magnificent déjeuner had been served for luncheon on the course in tippoo sahib's tent. at the dinner in the evening, the first thing which struck one who was a guest for the first time on such an occasion, was the exact punctuality of the queen and prince. although necessarily fatigued with the bustle and excitement of the day, they were in the drawing-room some minutes before the dinner was announced, and after a courteous greeting to all the guests, proceeded at once to dinner. another observable peculiarity was that the prince left the table twenty minutes after the ladies. the banqueting-room on this great occasion was st. george's hall, splendid with its ceiling emblazoned with the arms of the knights of the garter from the institution of the order, and the portraits of our kings from james i. to george iv. at each end of the hall, buffets, seventeen feet high and forty broad, were set. they were of rich fretted gothic framework, covered with crimson cloth, and brilliant with massive gold plate. immediately opposite the queen was set a pyramid of plate, its apex being the tiger's head captured at seringapatam, and comprising the "iluma" of precious stones which lord wellesley, the governor-general of india, presented to george iv. the table, which was laid for a hundred guests, extended the whole length of the hall. all down the centre, epergnes, vases, cups, and candelabra were ranged, the celebrated st. george's candelabrum being opposite her majesty. the hall was splendidly illuminated, and two bands of the guards discoursed sweet music from a balcony. the yeomen of the guard stood on duty at the entrance. the repast, which did ample justice to the merits of the queen's renowned _cuisiniér_, francatelli, was entirely served in gold plate, and the attendance was so faultless that there was less bustle and confusion than usually attend a repast shared by a party of ten or a dozen. at a quarter to nine grace was said; and after the dessert and wine had been placed on the table, the lord steward rose and proposed, without remark, "the queen." the queen simply, when the toast had been drunk, bowed her acknowledgments. after a brief pause, the health of prince albert was drunk standing, as the queen's had been, the band playing the "coburg march." at half-past nine the queen rose, and, accompanied by the duchess of kent, was followed by all the ladies to the drawing-room. in about twenty minutes all the gentlemen followed. the waterloo chamber was thrown open, and its rich historical and pictorial treasures were keenly inspected by groups of the guests. amongst others of its chief ornaments, attention was concentrated on the swords of the pretenders james and charles, prince rupert's coat of mail, and the magnificent shield, by cellini, presented by francis i. to king henry viii., at the field of the cloth of gold. but the great treat of the evening was the appearance of madame rachel, who, with two or three french actors, gave _morceaux_ from her principal impersonations. the success of her performance was the more conspicuous that it was entirely unaided by scenery, dress, or other histrionic accompaniment. a little before twelve the queen, after addressing with the utmost grace some words of courteous appreciation to the great _tragedienne_, and bowing to the assembled guests, retired, leaning on her husband's arm. chapter xv. the queen in scotland. christening of the prince of wales--manufacturing distress--queen's efforts to alleviate it--assesses herself to the income tax--resolves to visit scotland--embarks at woolwich--beacon fires in the firth of forth--landing on scottish soil--a disappointment--formal entry into edinburgh--richness of historical and ancestral associations--the queen on the castle rock--a highland welcome--departure from scotland. the session of was opened by the queen in person with unusual splendour, which was enhanced by the presence of the king of prussia, who had come over to stand sponsor to the prince of wales. the christening was performed on the th of january, and was attended with all due magnificence, and succeeded by a splendid banquet. mr. raikes, in his amusing, valuable journal, thus records the event:-- _tuesday, th._--the day of the royal christening at windsor. the prince of wales is named albert edward. all who have been there say that the scene was very magnificent, and the display of plate at the banquet superb. after the ceremony a silver-embossed vessel containing a whole hogshead of mulled claret was introduced, and served in bucketfuls to the company, who drank the young prince's health. very few ladies were invited. [sidenote: national distress and royal sympathy.] the queen's speech of this year noticed with deep regret the continued distress in the manufacturing districts of the country, and bore testimony to the exemplary patience and fortitude with which it had been borne. many people began once more to murmur at the continued flow of gaiety at windsor where the young parents still seemed to experience the first thrills of transport at the birth of a son and heir. some of the lowest class of seditious newspapers began the practice of printing in parallel columns the description of the fancy dresses at the queen's balls (the purchase and preparation of which must certainly have tended to alleviate the distress), &c., and reports from the pauperised districts, records of deaths from starvation, and the like. among the unthinking classes such disloyal practices produced a very deep feeling of dissatisfaction. in the course of the year two attempts were reported as having been made upon the queen's life: one, however, being merely the freak of an ill-natured boy, but the other was of a much more serious description, and cost its author transportation for life. sir robert peel felt it his duty to discharge the part of a faithful minister, and to counsel his royal mistress to lessen the gaieties of the court, even if it were only in deference to the prejudices of the starving and maddened poor. he neither roused nor augmented her fears, but gave her the counsel which the time required. the queen at once acted, and without taking offence, upon the minister's advice. at the christening of the prince of wales all the ladies of the court appeared in paisley shawls, english lace, and other articles of home manufacture. and when the christening was over a marked sobriety settled down over the court, and continued during all the summer of . even the most querulous speedily granted that they had no reason to complain. this change in the sentiments of the public, especially its lower and more distressed portions, was promoted and accelerated by an act, equally tasteful and touching, of her majesty during this year. in the spring of , sir robert peel, now thoroughly warm in his seat as premier, commanding a large working majority, and not yet having awakened the hostility of the decidedly protectionist section of his followers, inaugurated that splendid series of bravely devised measures in the direction of free trade, of which the great anti-corn law act of four years later was, so far as he was concerned, the culmination. in , peel proposed and carried a budget which considerably lessened the burden of customs imposts, but the chief merit and recommendation of which consisted in the fact that it relieved the nation of the incubus of a host of very galling excise duties on such articles of common use as glass, leather, bricks, and soap. these beneficial remissions of taxation could not have been effected by him--for they entailed a heavy cost upon the revenue, already inadequate to meet the annual expenditure--but for the re-imposition of an income tax, a means of raising revenue which had been long disused, to the extent of sevenpence in the pound on all incomes above £ of annual value. this, of course, did not affect the allowance made to the sovereign. nevertheless, her majesty evinced her sympathy at once with the prevailing distress and with the daring fiscal expedient of the premier, by coming forward unsolicited to offer to receive an abatement of her income, based upon the precise scale of that imposed by parliament upon her subjects. up to the queen's reign, the members of the house of brunswick had never been peripatetic in their tendencies. the first two georges had made frequent visits to their patrimonial german electorate, but they evinced no desire to visit england beyond the immediate environs of london. george iii. never passed out of england; george iv. visited ireland and scotland each on one occasion; but with these exceptions, hardly any british highways were traversed by his wheels during his reign, whether as sovereign regent or regnant, except the great roads connecting his capital with windsor, brighton, and newmarket. william iv. was too old when he came to the throne to make it at all probable that he would evince any taste to visit any of the outlying portions of his dominions; nor did he do so. queen victoria, as we have copiously seen in earlier chapters, was from her very infancy habituated to moving about from place to place, and all along she has proved herself as proud as queen elizabeth herself of mingling with and showing herself to her people. [sidenote: first visit to scotland.] for some time the queen was understood to have contemplated a journey to the land of those stuart ancestors by virtue of whose tudor blood they, and the brunswick line through them, and she through it, inherited the british crown. in the autumn of this year all seemed propitious for the journey, and it was undertaken accordingly by herself and her young husband. their first destination was the scottish capital, and as the railway system connecting the southern and northern extremities of the island was yet far from complete, the journey was made by water from the thames to the forth, the port of embarkation being woolwich, and of debarkation, granton, a minor harbour in the immediate neighbourhood of edinburgh. the expected visit was awaited and prepared for in the north with the utmost eagerness of expectancy. half scotland seemed to have emptied itself into the metropolis to do her honour. in their preparations, burgher vied with noble, tartan-clad highlanders with lowlanders in their more sombre blue bonnets and hodden grey. on the th of august, the queen left windsor, and proceeded to woolwich, where she embarked amid the acclamations of her metropolitan and kentish subjects at an early hour of the same day. in a royal yacht, towed by a steam ship of war, the voyage was safely effected in the fine weather and on the placid wave of early autumn. in due time the royal squadron arrived off dunbar, which, with the bass rock and tantallon castle, form together a fine _coup-d'oeil_ of romantic coast scenery and middle age antiquity, at the mouth of the firth of forth. here it was met by large steamers filled by welcomers from edinburgh and its neighbourhood, who greeted their illustrious visitors with loud huzzahs, and the strains of that national anthem, which, though of english birth, was chaunted right lustily by scottish lungs and lips. it was observed that her majesty, who came on board and acknowledged the vivas of her subjects, had paid the scots the compliment of enveloping herself in a paisley shawl; and when, a day or two later, she made her formal entry past the church sanctified by the preaching of john knox, to the castle, in a narrow chamber of which her unfortunate ancestor queen mary bore her son king james, she wore, with even more conspicuously appropriate taste, a shawl of stuart tartan. [sidenote: landing on scottish soil.] as she passed up the firth, under cover of the gathering night, every peak on either side of the estuary, from st. abb's head, which she had left behind, away westwards to the pentlands, the lomonds, and the ochils, was surmounted by a blazing beacon--a splendid sight, and stimulative by contrast to the imaginations of those who recollected to what different uses beacon-fires on scottish hills and scottish border keeps had been put in earlier days of the international relations of england and scotland. the fiery welcome was returned from the royal yacht, by the letting off of rockets, and the burning of blue lights. at last the squadron came in sight in the roads before leith, the anchor being let down--"a welcome sound," wrote the queen--at a quarter to one o'clock on the morning of thursday, september the st. every one of the heights on or under the domination of which edinburgh stands, had been crowded all the previous day with tens of thousands of spectators. all at once two guns from the castle, and a signal flag hoisted from the summit of nelson's column, some feet above the level of the sea, announced the arrival. the queen slept and rested herself after the fatigues of her voyage on board the royal yacht; and she took her good but inalert subjects by surprise, by effecting her landing at an hour so early on the succeeding morning, that many of them, wearied by their recent vigils, had not yet left their couches, and even the corporate dignitaries were subject to the mortification of not having the honour to receive and welcome their queen as her foot first touched scottish soil. in their absence, that pleasurable duty was discharged by sir robert peel, and the duke of buccleuch, whose guest she was about to be at his palace of dalkeith, and who had ridden immediately after her carriage, as captain-general of her body-guard of scottish archers, on the day on which she was crowned queen at westminster. sir robert peel told the queen that the people were all in the highest glee and good humour, though a little disappointed at the non-arrival of the squadron the day before, as had been expected. with the extraordinarily auspicious fatality which has made "queen's weather" so trite and proverbial an expression, the sun splendidly burst forth at the moment of her landing, and continued to shine throughout her progress through a portion of the new town of edinburgh; its bright freestone streets and terraces sparkling in the clear, sunlit air--past her ancient palace of holyrood, and so through fertile lothian to the mansion of the princely head of the old border house of the scotts. when the customary ensign was hauled down from the top of the rugged castle rock, and the royal standard was hoisted in its place, the streets at once filled, and the loyal shouts of the crowds, who hastily assembled in no small force, sufficiently atoned for the absence of those whom the somewhat unexpected arrival balked for this one day of the delight of expressing their devotion. [sidenote: first impressions of scotland.] the impression which her first view of edinburgh made upon the queen was very striking and most favourable. she thought it "beautiful, totally unlike anything else she had seen." even prince albert, a great traveller while yet in his teens, and who had visited very many great and renowned cities, also said it was unlike anything which he had witnessed. the massive stone buildings, with not a solitary brick used in their construction; the great dorsal fin of the high street; the magnificent situation of the castle; the calton hill, guarded by mediæval battlements and crowned by choragic temples, with the noble back-ground of arthur's seat overtopping the whole, together impressed the youthful tourists as "forming altogether a splendid spectacle." as the carriages drove through the city, the earl of wemyss, who marched by the queen's side in his green uniform of a scottish archer of the guard, pointed out to her majesty the varied objects of interest on the line of route through the eastern portions of the city to the duke of buccleuch's palace of dalkeith. when they got into the open country, she was further astonished to find that not only all the cottages, but even the fences dividing field from field, were also built of stone. the peasants by the wayside were equally objects of curiosity and interest, as they had "quite a different character from england and the english." the close caps--_scottice_, "mutches"--of the old women, and the long, flowing hair, frequently red, of the handsome girls and children, were equal novelties to the royal "southrons." the prince was struck with the resemblance of the country people to germans. other scottish specialties appeared at the breakfast-table at dalkeith, in the form of oatmeal porridge and "finnan haddies"--the first of which, at least, found immediate favour with her majesty. the grand ceremonial of entering the ancient city in state was reserved for the saturday after the arrival; the interval having been devoted by the royal party to quiet and repose in the magnificent domain of buccleuch, and drives to objects of interest in its neighbourhood. the line of the cavalcade, on this red-letter day, was up the steep ascent of the canongate, high street, and lawnmarket, from the palace of holyrood (which the queen rightly pronounced "a royal-looking old place") to the castle which the black douglas scaled, where george buchanan's pedantic stuart pupil was born, and from the parapets of which various and shifting prospects are to be descried, which may be equalled, but cannot be surpassed, in any portion of her majesty's dominions. [sidenote: the queen in edinburgh castle.] it was indeed historic ground along which the queen passed this day. every one of the stupendous houses of eight, ten, or even more stories, which formed a mighty avenue of stone on either side of the ancient causeway along which the steeds which drew her carriage slowly and deliberately proceeded, had some tale of long gone days to tell, many of them being most intimately associated with the fortunes of her stuart ancestors. on her way she passed the site of that tower in which darnley, her ancestor, was blown into eternity. ere she left her palace of holyrood and the adjacent ruins of the abbey which was erected by that scottish king who built and endowed so many abbeys that his subjects piteously exclaimed that he was a "saur saunt for the croon," she may have seen the blood-stains of rizzio, and the somewhat mythical portraits of the kings of the houses of kenneth, bruce, and the stuarts. on one side of her was the old mansion of the regent moray, on the other the spot where, for the first and only time, the boy francis jeffrey set eyes upon robert burns. here was the ancient oaken hall where the scottish parliament sate, there the office of that scottish journal of which daniel defoe, the staunch and loyal friend of william iii., was the first editor. here was the house in which john knox lived and died, there the church in which he preached with such fervour for that protestant faith, with the establishment of which in europe both lines of her ancestors were so intimately identified. and when she arrived on the esplanade of the castle itself, she could look across the forth on the one side to the minor mountain which casts its morning shadow into loch leven, from her captivity on an islet of which scottish catholic gentlemen so gallantly rescued her stuart ancestress; while immediately beneath her lay the grassmarket--at once the tower and the smithfield of scotland--where montrose and argyll expiated respectively their loyalty to the stuart race, and to freedom of soul and speech. as the cortège passed up the streets along which prince charlie had passed when he held court at holyrood just ninety-seven years before, as she received at the site of the old tolbooth the keys of the city from the lord provost, bending the knee beside his fellow-burghers, clad in the old costumes of the trades, and close beside a guard of honour of highlanders headed by the present duke of argyll; or as she stood surveying from the topmost battery of the citadel her fair ancestral domains of lothian and fife, and the distant mountains which tower o'er loch lomond and the trossachs, some such proud and pathetic recollections as these must have occupied and touched the heart of the youngest and the mightiest monarch in europe. their closer acquaintance with edinburgh increased the mingled amazement and delight of the queen and prince. prince albert pronounced the view of it from the margin of the firth of forth as "fairy-like," "what you would imagine as a thing to dream of, or to see in a picture." he said he felt sure the acropolis could not be finer, and the queen at once recognised the appropriateness of the idealised metamorphosis of "auld reekie" (_anglice_, "old smoky") into "the modern athens." the leith ticket-porters, mounted on flower-decked horses, with broad, ribbon-decorated kilmarnock bonnets, and the pretty newhaven fishwives, with their clear, peachy complexions and danish costumes, were objects of peculiar interest. [sidenote: the queen in the highlands.] space fails us to enter into details of the further incidents of this, the queen's first visit to her scottish dominion. enough to say that she received in the highlands, where she visited in succession not a few of her oldest nobles of gaelic and norman descent, receptions as rapturous as that which she experienced in the modern athens. the welcome, if it could not be more hearty, was at least attended with more picturesque accessories in the romantic region where the dialect and the "garb of old gael" still to a large extent prevail. at dupplin castle, at scone palace, where her ancestors were crowned, at blair athole, at taymouth, and at drummond castle, she was entertained with equal splendour, and with the true and special elements of "highland welcome." she may be almost said to have passed through a continuous succession of triumphal arches. every chieftain brought out all his available clansmen, all in kilts, claymores, and glengarry bonnets, to act as guards of honour. balls, in which the national dances, performed by the best born cadets of the noble houses of whom she was the guest, constituted the chief feature, alternated with deer-stalking, for the especial behoof of the prince; processions of boats on the lake through which rolls the tay, a river only less rapid than the spey; and visits to places of historic interest or romantic beauty. the queen was especially charmed with the beautiful situation of the ancient city of perth, and the enthusiastic reception which the multitudes there assembled gave to her. prince albert, too, was delighted, and likened the appearance of the place to basle. at scone palace, which is within two miles of perth, a very natural object of peculiar interest was the mound on which all the scottish kings had been crowned. at dunkeld the highlands were fairly entered; and here the royal party were met and escorted by a guard of athole highlanders, armed with halberts, and headed by a piper. one of them danced the sword dance, with which the travellers were greatly amused, and others of them figured in a reel. the longest sojourn made in the highlands was at taymouth, the seat of the marquis of breadalbane. the scenery here again revived recollections of switzerland in the memory of prince albert, who was particularly prone, in this and subsequent visits to the north, to trace resemblances between its scenery and localities which he had visited in the tours of his bachelor days. the reception at taymouth was magnificent, and quite captivated the illustrious guests. the queen wrote in her journal-- the _coup d'oeil_ was indescribable. there were a number of lord breadalbane's highlanders, all in the campbell tartan, drawn up in front of the house, with lord breadalbane himself in a highland dress at their head; a few of sir niel menzies' men (in the menzies red and white tartan), a number of pipers playing, and a company of the nd highlanders, also in kilts. the firing of the guns, the cheering of the great crowd, the picturesqueness of the dresses, the beauty of the surrounding country, with its rich back-ground of wooded hills, altogether formed one of the finest scenes imaginable. it seemed as if a great chieftain in olden feudal times was receiving his sovereign. it was princely and romantic. wherever the queen rambled during her stay by the shores of loch tay, she was guarded by two highlanders, and it recalled to her mind "olden times, to see them with their swords drawn." walking one day with the duchess of norfolk, the queen and her noble companion met "a fat, good-humoured little woman." she cut some flowers for the ladies, and the duchess handed to her some money, saying, "from her majesty." the poor woman was perfectly astounded, but, recovering her wits, came up to the queen, and said naïvely that "her people were delighted to see the queen in scotland." wherever the royal visitors were, or went, the inevitable strains of the bagpipes were heard. they played before the castle at frequent intervals throughout the day, from breakfast till dinner-time, and invariably when they went in or out of doors. when rowed in boats on the lake, two pipers sat in the bows and played; and the queen, who had grown "quite fond" of the bagpipes, was reminded of the lines of scott, with whose poems she had, from an early age, possessed the most intimate familiarity:-- "see the proud pipers in the bow, and mark the gaudy streamers flow from their loud chambers down, and sweep the furrow'd bosom of the deep, as, rushing through the lake amain, they plied the ancient highland strain." [sidenote: departure from scotland.] on the th of september the return journey from the highlands by stirling, the ancient castle of which was visited, to dalkeith palace, had been completed. two days later the queen and prince re-embarked at granton, _en route_ for woolwich and windsor. although a by no means excessive quantity of time--but a fortnight--was consumed in the tour, some idea of the rapidity with which distances were traversed, and the extent of ground covered, may be gathered from the fact that no fewer than post-horses were employed. the queen touched the hearts of the highlanders--among whom jacobitism remained, not as an element of personal devotion to a fallen house, but not the less as a deep chord of pathos and poetry--by commanding a scottish vocalist, at a concert given in her honour at blair athole, to sing two of the most beloved of jacobite songs--"cam' ye by athole," and "wae's me for prince charlie." when she once more embarked at granton on her homeward route, she left memories of pleasure and affection which far exceeded the intensely ardent excitement which had preceded and greeted her landing. on the last day which she spent in scotland, the queen wrote in her journal--"this is our last day in scotland; it is really a delightful country, and i am very sorry to leave it." and the day after, watching its vanishing coast--"as the fair shores of scotland receded more and more from our view, we felt quite sad that this very pleasant and interesting tour was over; but we shall never forget it." chapter xvi. what england owes to prince albert. the prince's study of our laws and constitution--two misconceptions outlived--his versatility--first speech an anti-slavery one--his appreciation and judicious criticism of art--scientific side of his mind--as an agriculturist. it will not be undesirable at this stage of our narrative to interpose a summary compendium of some indications of the manner in which prince albert, or the "prince consort," as he was designated by royal letters patent, after , discharged the high, onerous, and important duties to which his position called him. if the conduct and career of a husband be an integral and large part of a woman's life, it is tenfold more so in the case of a woman who is also a queen, and especially a queen-regnant in and by her own right. the large and enlarging breadth of mind which the prince soon began to display; the abundant tenderness of heart, which found at once indication and exercise in the admirable and diverse modes in which he advanced all agencies of public utility and associated benevolence; the excellent mode in which, equally as a father and a husband, he evinced the warm glow of domestic virtue which animated his bosom, and the absolute and much-wanted scientific and artistic lessons which he taught more than any other man, during his life in england, to the somewhat uncouth people of whom he became a part--all these, and other elements of character and conduct, indirectly increased the growing esteem in which the queen was held, on her own merits, by her people; for we might have had to look forward to a different national future, so far as a national future can be moulded in the sense of either making or marring, had the "father of our future kings" been other and lesser than what he was. such a man as the prince consort must necessarily have wielded a very large and weighty influence upon the character of the royal lady whom he married. the history of her life, therefore, even if it were traced within narrower limits than those within whose compression our task must be discharged, would be insufficiently delineated without the introduction of such episodical but most relevant matter as that to which this chapter is briefly dedicated. almost the first task which the prince consort undertook when he came amongst us was to set himself to an assiduous study of our laws and institutions. he secured the services of a most competent instructor in themes so important to one who stood so near the throne, in the person of the late mr. william selwyn, q.c. mr. selwyn was a sound jurist, and under his guidance the prince read such works as blackstone, de lolme, hallam, bentham, and mill. he proved himself an apt student, for he had the capacity for study eminently developed; and, besides, his position was one of singular difficulty and delicacy. he stood so near to the throne, amongst a people, too, traditionally jealous of aliens, and especially of aliens in high places, that any utterance he might be called upon to make would be considered as almost, if not quite, emanating from the throne itself. although a certain cabinet intrigue, and one rare expression of his own--not so much unguarded in itself, as wanting in explicitness, and capable of a certain misconstruction--did, on two several occasions, provoke in certain quarters something approaching to national disfavour, he soon outlived the misconception; and the universal sentiment of the people came round to the conviction that the prince was faithful and loyal to the constitution to which he had sworn fidelity; nay more, that he had fairly caught, apprehended, and absorbed into his being the very genius and spirit of the english race. [sidenote: prince albert s first speech.] the first speech the prince made in england was at an anti-slavery meeting; the last at the opening of an international statistical congress. the former was delivered during the first summer of his married life. it is so brief, and it gives, as it were, so thoroughly the key-note of his character, that our readers will thank us for giving it entire:-- i have been induced to preside at the meeting of this society from a conviction of its paramount importance to the great interests of humanity and justice. i deeply regret that the benevolent and persevering exertions of england to abolish that atrocious traffic in human beings (at once the desolation of africa and the blackest stain upon civilised europe) have not as yet led to any satisfactory conclusion. but i sincerely trust that this great country will not relax in its efforts until it has finally, and for ever, put an end to a state of things so repugnant to the spirit of christianity and the best feelings of our nature. let us, therefore, trust that providence will prosper our exertions in so holy a cause, and that (under the auspices of our queen and her government) we may, at no distant period, be rewarded by the accomplishment of the great and humane object for the promotion of which we have this day met. we have already remarked the wide range of prince albert's endeavours, study, devotion, and consequent usefulness. he presided at dinners of the literary fund, and of the royal academy; at the trinity house most frequently, and at many agricultural meetings. two of the best and most pregnant with good of his addresses, were delivered at the meetings of associations designed respectively for the better housing of labourers, and in behalf of the large and sorely tempted class of domestic servants. now he presided at the bicentenary of the corporation of the sons of the clergy; again at the two hundredth anniversary of one of our most illustrious regiments of foot guards. on art, as all were prepared to expect, he delivered ripe words of wisdom at the royal academy in trafalgar square, and in laying the foundation in the capital of his wife's stuart ancestors of a new national gallery for her scottish subjects. against the expectation, and to the loudly expressed surprise of all, save those who knew him thoroughly, he made a most admirable survey of the sciences and their uses, at one of the last meetings held ere his death, of the british association for the advancement of science. of art he was a judicious critic, as well as a munificent patron. it was at his special wish and option that the _savant_ lyon playfair was made one of his equerries; and that a residence in hampton court palace was put at the disposal of michael faraday. how much of mingled love for art and artists, and at the same time of criticism most kindly and sagacious, is to be found in these brief sentences, extracted from his great speech at the royal academy dinner:-- an unkind word of criticism passes like a cold blast over their tender shoots, and shrivels them up, checking the flow of the sap, which was rising to produce, perhaps, multitudes of flowers and fruits. but still criticism is absolutely necessary to the development of art, and the injudicious praise of an inferior work becomes an insult to superior genius. in this respect, our times are peculiarly favourable when compared with those when madonnas were painted in the seclusion of convents; for we have now on the one hand the eager competition of a vast array of artists of every degree of talent and skill, and on the other, as judge, a great public, for the greater part wholly uneducated in art, and thus led by professional writers who often strive to impress the public with a great idea of their own artistic knowledge, by the merciless manner in which they treat works which cost those who produced them the highest efforts of mind or feeling. and again, as a companion and worthy picture--which is none the less, but all the more, worthy of hanging along with that we have just presented, that the great truth it teaches is presented with such lucid simplicity--take these sentences explanatory of the scope and end of such institutions as the british association for the advancement of science, delivered by him as its president, at the congress at aberdeen:-- [sidenote: the prince's eulogy on humboldt.] if the activity of this association ever found, or could find its personification in one individual--its incarnation as it were--this had been found in that distinguished and revered philosopher who has been removed from amongst us in his ninetieth year, within the last few months. alexander von humboldt ever strove after dominion over that universality of human knowledge which stands in need of thoughtful government and direction to preserve its integrity. he strove to tie up the fasces of scientific knowledge, to give them strength in unity. he treated all scientific men as members of one family, enthusiastically directing, fostering, and encouraging inquiry, where he saw either the want of or the willingness for it. his protection of the young and ardent student led many to success in their pursuits. his personal influence with the courts and governments of most countries in europe, enabled him to plead the cause of science in a manner which made it more difficult to refuse than to grant what he requested. all lovers of science deeply mourn for the loss of such a man. gentlemen, it is a singular coincidence, that this very day on which we are here assembled, and are thus giving expression to our admiration of him, should be the anniversary of his birth. the queen, who was staying at balmoral, was very anxious about the manner in which her husband should pass the very severe ordeal of delivering an address to the assembled men of science. she recorded her high gratification at learning by telegram that "albert's reception was admirable, and that all was going off as well as possible. thank god!" she invited the _savans_, to a fête at her highland home; they accepted the invitation in great numbers; and "the philosophers," of whom her majesty was not a little, and rather comically, afraid, were not only entertained with creature comforts, but the somewhat novel combination was presented of owen, brewster, sabine, and murchison, with their brethren of lesser renown, standing as spectators of contests of strength between athletes of the grant, farquharson, duff, and other clans. some of the more distinguished guests remained over night, and at dinner they rejoiced the queen's heart by "speaking in very high terms of my beloved albert's speech, the good it had done, and the general satisfaction it had caused." [sidenote: the prince as an agriculturist.] probably the capacity of all others in which the prince became most generally familiar to the nation, was that of a practical, improving, scientific agriculturist; and we use this word in its twofold sense, as embracing the growing of crops and the rearing of live stock. almost from the outset of his career amongst us he commenced a series of scientific agricultural experiments on the farms in windsor park. he renovated the agriculture of the park, as much as he confessedly did its landscape gardening. he became a constant and most successful exhibitor of live domestic edible animals at the great agricultural shows; his example in this field having been followed since his death, to the great gratification of the agricultural interest, both by his widow and his eldest son; and, especially in the case of her majesty, with marked success. as a high and eminent authority on the subject has admirably put it-- his was no merely idle, passing patronage or casual aid, but it was rather a pursuit he delighted in, and one he followed out with equal energy and advantage. the most practical man could not go that pleasant round from the flemish farm to the norfolk, and so back again by the home and the dairy, without learning something wherever he went. we must deny ourselves the pleasure of aught but passing reference to the admirable manner in which he discharged his academic duties as chancellor of the university of cambridge, which post he held from till his death, and about which we say enough when we remind or inform the reader that it was such men as professor sedgwick, the vice-chancellor, who spoke of the exercise of his duties in this capacity in terms of the highest honour and estimation. similar were his services to such noble institutions as eton and wellington colleges, in both of which he offered prizes expressly calculated to encourage the pursuit of those studies which had been, or were most likely to be, ignored in their several cases. horticulture, art exhibitions, the national portrait gallery, the society of arts, societies for improving the general condition and the housing of the labouring classes, mechanics' institutions--each of these constitutes a theme most pregnant and suggestive in connection with the prince's name and memory. but we can do no more than recite and dismiss the bald catalogue of topics. reserving for the appropriate chronological occasion some brief remarks upon the character of the prince as a private man, as contrasted with his aspects of character as a citizen and public benefactor, to which we have at present confined ourselves, we feel that we cannot better conclude than by condensing his opinions delivered in an address to the annual meeting of the servants' provident benevolent society, in , in which the whole plan and doctrine by which he believed all really useful associated benevolence ought to be regulated was summed up. his view was that no such organisation was founded upon a right principle which did not require every man, by personal exertion, and by his own choice, to work out his own happiness. benevolence he held to be not really such unless it stimulated providence, self-denial, and perseverance. he used special words of warning against those so frequent lotteries of uncertain and precarious advantages--"really a species of gambling"--expensive convivial meetings, balloting for prizes, and electioneering contests on a small scale. "let them always bear in mind," he proceeded to say, "that their savings are capital, that capital will only return a certain interest, and that any advantage offered beyond that interest has to be purchased at a commensurate risk of the capital itself." such is a view, but all too summary and inadequate, of some of the obligations which the english, as his fellow-citizens, owed to that prince whose life was so intertwined with and influential on that of their sovereign. chapter xvii. foreign travel and home visits. visit to king louis philippe at eu--a loyal corporation--splendid reception of the queen in france--anecdote of the queen's regard for prince albert--visit of the czar nicholas--home life in scotland--visit to germany--illuminations of the rhine--a rural fête at coburg. in august, , the queen and prince albert made a yachting excursion round portions of the south coast and the isle of wight. thence they steamed over to treport, on the french coast, the nearest port to the chateau d'eu, a rural residence of louis philippe. on the arrival of the queen and prince from windsor at southampton, they were met at the end of the pier by the duke of wellington and other noble and official personages. it rained heavily, and as there was not sufficient covering for the stage intended to run on to the yacht _victoria and albert_, the members of the corporation, like so many raleighs, stripped off their red gowns in a moment, and the pathway was covered for her majesty's use, so that queen victoria, like queen elizabeth, walked dry-footed to her vessel. the undergraduates at cambridge acted precisely similarly on the occasion of a visit in wet weather by the queen and prince to that university in this year. [sidenote: visit to france.] the subsequent visit to france was wholly unexpected in england; and it was even said, and with some show of truth, that the ministers were unaware of the intention. of course we cannot speak with any certainty, but it seems but too likely that louis philippe intrigued to secure the aid, or at least the condonation, of the queen of england in those astute enterprises which his busy brain was even now concocting, with which the phrases "pritchard and tahiti," and the "spanish marriages" will ever remain associated, and which ultimately, and retributively, cost him his throne. mr. raikes, who, be it remembered, was the intimate and bosom friend of the duke of wellington, then a minister of england, has at this date the following entry in his journal, which was published in , and is an acknowledged, and if not absolutely an indisputable, yet a most weighty authority:-- _tuesday, th._--much conversation after dinner about the queen's visit to eu. i said, that the day before i left paris, kisseleff, the russian minister, scouted the idea of this visit, and betted that it would never take place. lord canning remarked, as a singular coincidence, that brunow, the russian minister in london, asserted positively, on the very morning that the queen embarked at southampton, that she had no intention of going to eu. they both spoke, i suppose, as they wished. this, it may be said, is mere club gossip. not so what we are about to quote, and which was written under the duke of wellington's roof:-- _saturday, rd._--i went down to walmer castle, and found the duke walking with mr. arbuthnot on the ramparts, or, as it is called, the platform, which overlooks the sea.... after the company had departed at ten o'clock, i sat up with the duke and arbuthnot till twelve o'clock, talking on various topics.... i see that the government was evidently opposed to the queen's visit to eu. it was a wily intrigue, managed by louis philippe, through the intervention of his daughter, the queen of the belgians, during her frequent visits to windsor with king leopold, and was hailed by him with extreme joy, as the first admission of the king of the barricades within the pale of legitimate sovereigns. the duke said, "i was never let into the secret, nor did i believe the report then in circulation, till at last they sent to consult my opinion as to forming a regency during the queen's absence. i immediately referred to precedents as the only proper guide. i told them that george i., george ii. (george iii. never went abroad), and george iv. had all been obliged to appoint councils of regency; that henry viii., when he met francis i. at ardres, was then master of calais, as also when he met charles v. at gravelines; so that, in these instances, calais being a part of his dominions, he hardly did more than pass his frontier--not much more than going from one county to the next. upon this i decided that the queen could not quit this country without an act of regency. but she consulted the crown lawyers, who decided that it was not necessary, as courtiers would do." i myself (resumes raikes) did not believe in her going till two days before she went. peel persisted afterwards that he had told me of it; but i knew i never heard it, and it was not a thing to have escaped me if i had. as for the reception at the château d'eu itself, it was of the most splendid character. one state ceremonial, however, is so very like another, that after those, the descriptions of which we have already furnished, a recital of the gay doings at eu would hardly be palatable. the purport of the whole may be summed up very briefly. the french monarch endeavoured to allure the queen into compliance with his wishes, by every seduction which nature and art, and the most refined and gallant courtesy, could supply. everything that wealth, luxury, and taste could furnish was to be found amid scenes of more than royal magnificence, o'ershadowed by elms that dated back to the times of henri quatre. but there was business to be done, and the queen was fortunate in having with her such trusty counsellors as lords aberdeen and liverpool. a compact about the spanish marriages was then and there made between france and england; a compact for the terms of which we are dependent, not alone upon english state papers, but upon the unimpeachable testimony of mm. guizot and regnault. as the starting-point of the one court was that the queen of spain should marry a prince of the house of coburg, and of the other that she should marry a prince of the reigning french house, of course no settlement could be come to except by an unequivocal compromise. thus did lord aberdeen and m. guizot arrange it:--the king of france renounced all pretensions, on the part of any of his sons, to the hand of the queen of spain. it was stipulated that the queen should choose her husband from the princely descendants of philip v.; this stipulation excluding the dreaded competition of a coburg. as to the projected marriage of the duc de montpensier, the son of louis philippe, with the infanta donna maria, sister of the queen of spain, louis philippe agreed that it should not take place "till the queen was married and had had children." on these conditions, the queen of england and her counsellors waived all objections to the marriage of the duc de montpensier. louis philippe kept his word by having his son married to the infanta on the very same day, and at the same altar, as that on which her elder sister the queen was married. in the summer of this year, the princess augusta of cambridge, the queen's first cousin, was married to the grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz. the following extract from the diary of mr. raikes will be admitted to be far from the least amusing and characteristic anecdote of the queen which we present in these pages:-- _tuesday, th september._--this morning at breakfast, the duke said to me, "did you hear what happened at the wedding?" [meaning that of the princess augusta of cambridge]. replying in the negative, he continued, "when we proceeded to the signatures, the king of hanover was very anxious to sign before prince albert, and when the queen approached the table, he placed himself by her side, watching his opportunity. she knew very well what he was about, and just as the archbishop was giving her the pen, she suddenly dodged around the table, placed herself next to the prince, then quickly took the pen from the archbishop, signed and gave it to prince albert, who also signed next, before it could be prevented. the queen was also very anxious to give the precedence at court to king leopold before the king of hanover, and she consulted me about it, and how it should be arranged. i told her majesty that i supposed it should be settled as we did at the congress of vienna. "how was that," said she, "by first arrival?" "no ma'am," said i, "alphabetically, and then, you know, b comes before h." this pleased her very much, and it was done. [sidenote: the czar nicholas.] in june, , the queen was visited by her handsome and colossal godfather, the czar nicholas of all the russias. the queen received him with great magnificence, and there was a splendid series of entertainments at windsor. the czar made himself immensely popular with the female sex, by his magnificent gifts of jewels to the ladies of the court; with the sterner sex, by the gift of a cup of uncommon splendour, to be annually run for at ascot. "every one who approached him," says sir archibald alison, "was struck by the manly dignity of his figure, his noble and serene countenance, and the polished courtesy of his manner, which threw a lustre even over the stately halls of windsor." in september of the same year the queen renewed her acquaintance with scotland and the scots; this time again enjoying the ducal hospitality of blair athole. this visit was entirely dissociated from all state paraphernalia. the queen was up before the sun. the mists were hardly cleared away ere she and the prince were to be seen walking in the grounds. they were generally accompanied by the princess royal, mounted on a shetland pony. the queen's piper played under her bed-room window at dawn, and every morning a bunch of heather, with some icy-cold water from the celebrated spring in glen tilt, was laid on her dressing-table. one morning a lady, plainly dressed, left the castle; who, though observed by the highland guard on duty, was allowed to pass unnoticed, until after she had proceeded a considerable distance. but somebody having discovered that it was the queen, a party of highlanders turned out as a royal body-guard. she, however, signified her wish to dispense with their services, and they all returned to their stations. the queen, meanwhile, moved onward through the castle grounds alone, until she reached the lodge, the temporary residence of lord and lady glenlyon, where, upon calling, with the intention, it was understood, of making some arrangements as to a preconcerted excursion to the falls of bruar, she was informed that his lordship had not yet arisen. the surprise of the servant may be conceived when her majesty announced who was to be intimated as having called upon his lordship. on her return, having taken a different route, and finding herself bewildered by the various roads which intersect the grounds in every direction, she asked some reapers to direct her to the castle by the nearest way. they, not being aware to whom they spoke, immediately did so, by directing her to go through one of the parks, and across a paling which lay before her, and which she at once passed, and reached the castle, a good deal amused, doubtless, with her morning's excursion. in the queen visited, for the first time, the western isles and hebrides. in she rented balmoral, which she shortly afterwards purchased, and from the date of its acquisition it has been her place of regular resort for at least one period of every year. on the th of august, , the queen and prince albert embarked at woolwich to visit the land of her maternity and his natal spot. in the belgian and prussian territories, and in the duchy of coburg itself, they were rapturously welcomed. at bonn, they were serenaded by a monster orchestra, consisting of no fewer than sixty military bands. at the same city they assisted at the inauguration of the statue of beethoven. the same evening they witnessed at cologne an illumination and pyrotechnic display which turned the rhine into a _feu-de-joie_. as darkness closed in, the dim and fetid city began to put forth buds of light; lines of twinkling brightness darted, like liquid gold and silver, from pile to pile, then along the famous bridge of boats, across the river, up the masts of the shipping, and all abroad on the opposite bank. rockets now shot from all parts of the horizon. the royal party embarked in a steamer at st. tremond, and glided down the river; as they passed, the banks blazed with fireworks and musketry. at their approach they glared with redoubled light; and, being suspended, let the vessel pass to cologne, whose cathedral burst forth a building of light, every detail of the architecture being made out in delicately coloured lamps--pinkish, with an underglow of orange. a few days afterwards the queen steamed up the rhine. at stoltzenfelz there was another magnificent illumination and display of fireworks. the whole river, both its banks, its crags, ravines, and ruins, were simultaneously lighted up; showers of rockets and other fireworks besprinkled the firmament, while repeated salvoes of artillery called the grandeur of resonant sound to the aid of visible beauty. [sidenote: visit to coburg.] at coburg the queen, as might be supposed, was still more cordially welcomed than at any of her previous stopping places. she and the prince stopped at the castle of rosenau, and they occupied the room in which he had been born. a magnificent stag-hunt was got up for their entertainment; but what pleased the queen most was being present at a festival entitled "the feast of gregorius." this was a species of carnival, in which the burghers and rustics, their wives and children, disguised in masks, indulged in innocent and exuberant gaiety. the queen and her relatives freely mixed with the revellers. she talked to the children, to their great astonishment, "in their own language." tired of dancing and processions, and freed from all awe by the ease of their illustrious visitors, the children took to romps, "thread-my-needle," and other pastimes, and finally were well pelted by the royal circle with bon-bons, flowers, and cakes. chapter xviii. the queen in ireland. first visit to ireland--rapturous reception at cork--queenstown so denominated--enthusiasm at dublin--its graceful recognition by the queen--visit to the dublin exhibition--encouragement of native industry--visit to the lakes of killarney--the whirligig of time. for twelve years after her accession to the throne, the queen was a personal stranger to the shores of erin. amongst the numerous fruits of the tranquillity restored to ireland, after the disturbances and sedition which had culminated in the "young ireland" rising of , was a visit paid by the queen to her subjects on the west of st. george's channel in the autumn of . immediately after the prorogation of parliament, the queen and prince albert proceeded to cowes, where a royal squadron was ready to receive them. under its escort, and being accompanied by their two eldest children, they steered for cork. the queen selected as the first spot of irish ground on which to land, the port which, up to the date of her disembarkation, had been known as the cove of cork. she gave a command that, in commemoration of the circumstance, the cove should thenceforth be designated queenstown. having re-embarked, the royal party steamed up the beautiful bay to the city of cork itself, where a magnificent reception awaited them. the squadron proceeded at a slow rate. in spite of its arrival at a much earlier date than had been anticipated, the news spread like wildfire, and the country people assembled in prodigious numbers on the shores of the cove, which were crowded with multitudes of excited celts, whose wild shouts, mingled with the firing of cannon and small arms, and the ringing of bells, made the whole scene animated beyond description. from cork, the queen proceeded to dublin. there her reception was described by an eye-witness as "a sight never to be forgotten." [sidenote: first visit to ireland.] the queen, turning from side to side, bowed low repeatedly. prince albert shared in and acknowledged the plaudits of the people; while the royal children were objects of universal attention and admiration. her majesty seemed to feel deeply the warmth of her reception. she paused at the end of the platform for a moment, and again making her acknowledgments, was hailed with a tremendous cheer as she entered the terminus of the short railway line which connects kingston with dublin. on her departure, a few days later, an incident still more gratifying to the irish people occurred. as the royal yacht approached the extremity of the pier near the lighthouse, where the people were most thickly congregated, and who were cheering enthusiastically, the queen suddenly left the two ladies-in-waiting with whom she was conversing, ran with agility along the deck, and climbed the paddle-box to join prince albert, who did not notice her till she was nearly at his side. reaching out to him, and taking his arm, she waved her hand to the people on the piers. she appeared to give some order to the captain: the paddles immediately ceased to move, and the vessel merely floated on. the royal standard was lowered in courtesy to the thousands cheering on shore, and this stately obeisance was repeated five times. this gracious and well-timed visit to ireland was a very significant proof of the royal confidence in the unshaken allegiance of the bulk of the irish people; and it likewise showed a just appreciation of the prudent energy and humane moderation with which her ministers had so fortunately composed the recent unhappy tumults. nearly thirty years had elapsed since a british sovereign had appeared in ireland; and between the visit of george iv. and that of queen victoria, there was in common only the circumstance that both were royal visits. george, as king of ireland, in , was not the king of a free nation; the victory of civil and religious liberty had yet to be achieved for and by the irish; a minority engrossed the national government and monopolised its emoluments of every degree; the very existence of the people as a people had not been recognised, and the king himself was peculiarly and bitterly identified with the faction which held the race and their creed in thraldom. thus, in , the crown of england possessed for ireland little lustre or utility, nor did it evoke any well-grounded loyalty and devotion from its people. queen victoria and her visit, on the contrary, represented those popular principles and sympathies which are the brightest jewels of the british crown, and are now set firmly in it for ever. her visit, at once august and affectionate, was a visit to a nation which was not only loyal but free. "and joy came well in such, a needful time." the joy was exuberant and universal. as the loyalty was rendered to a young queen, it partook of the romantic and strictly national nature of gallantry. to witness that joy must have been the fittest punishment for the disaffected. "we do not remember," says an authority not given to rhapsody or exaggeration, "in the chronicles of royal progresses, to have met with any description of a scene more splendid, more imposing, more joyous, or more memorable, than the entry of the queen into the irish capital." the houses were absolutely roofed and walled with spectators. they were piled throng above throng, till their occupants clustered like bees about the vanes and chimney tops. the noble streets of dublin seemed to have been removed, and built anew of her majesty's lieges. the squares resembled the interiors of crowded amphitheatres. facades of public buildings were formed for the day of radiant human faces. invention exhausted itself in preparing the language of greeting, and the symbols of welcome. for miles the chariot of the gay and gratified sovereign passed under parti-coloured (not _party_-coloured) streamers, waving banners, festal garlands, and triumphal arches. the latter seemed constructed of nothing else than solid flowers, as if the hands of flora herself had reared them. at every appropriate point jocund music sent forth strains of congratulation; but banners, flowers, arches, and music were all excelled by the jubilant shouts which tore the empyrean, loud, clear, and resonant, not only above drum and trumpet, but above even the saluting thunders of the fleet. [sidenote: visit to an irish national school.] perhaps, apart from the mere loyal enthusiasm of the occasion, the most important and significant incident of the visit was the following. it did not fail to be remarked that the first institution which her majesty visited in the capital was the central establishment of the irish national schools--the first-fruits of irish liberty, and the noblest possession of the irish people. the queen knew that in these excellent schools the youth of all persuasions were trained together, not in the love and pursuit of knowledge alone, but in the habit of tolerance and the spirit of charity. the queen, by this visit, passed her personal approval and sanction upon a system which is equally the antithesis of sectarian discord and the promoter of religious independence. here, also, she discovered (or already knew, as was much more likely) that there was imparted the most useful, solid, and practical instruction, one of a character most precisely adapted to the wants, pursuits, interests, and occupations of the classes in whose behalf it was devised. in her survey and inspection of the normal schools, the queen was attended by the protestant and the romanist archbishops, and the representatives of other christian denominations, friendly to the great scheme, stood beside and around her. that quite as much importance and significance as we have accorded to it was assigned to this visit of the queen to the normal national schools, sufficiently appears from these closing sentences of the report of the irish education commissioners for :-- we cannot conclude our report for without alluding with pride and gratitude to the visit with which our model schools were honoured on the th of august, by her majesty queen victoria, and by her royal consort, prince albert, accompanied by your excellency. we are convinced that this visit, so promptly and cordially made, has left an indelible impression upon the hearts of the poor of ireland, for whose benefit our system has been established; and that they will ever regard the compliment as the most appropriate and decisive that could have been paid by her majesty to themselves. all reflecting men, whether friends or opponents of our institution, have not failed to see the importance of the step. by the country at large it has been hailed as an eminent proof of her majesty's wisdom and goodness, and as peculiarly worthy of the daughter of that illustrious prince who was the ardent advocate of the education of the poor, when denounced by many as a dangerous novelty; and of their united education on just and comprehensive principles, when most men regarded it as impracticable. [sidenote: visit to the lakes of killarney.] four years later, when the first international exhibition was held at dublin, the queen renewed her acquaintance with her irish subjects. making a somewhat lengthened stay at the vice-regal residence, she charmed the people by the freedom with which she mingled amongst them, and by the special attention and the bounteous patronage which she bestowed upon the little-developed but beautiful specimens of their indigenous textile industries in the exhibition building. a third and a much more prolonged visit was made in the autumn of , the queen having honoured lord castlerosse and mr. herbert of muckross, two gentlemen whose seats and demesnes are situate on the shores of the beauteous lakes of killarney, by accepting their hospitable invitations. over the lakes, their islets, and their surrounding mountains and mountain passes, the queen roved as freely and unrestrainedly as was her wont in the retreats in which she had year after year sojourned, after the turmoil of the london season, in the scottish highlands. it was observed with pleasure that, amongst other indications of change which the whirligig of time had brought round, mr. james o'connell, the brother of the "liberator," dined more than once with her majesty at the tables of her noble and gentle hosts; and the hounds that forced a stag to take to the lake--one of the immemorial sports associated with killarney--formed a portion of the pack which belonged to his two sons. chapter xix. the world's congress of industry. prince albert the inaugurator of international exhibitions--proposes, unsuccessfully, his scheme to the government--to the society of arts, successfully--first steps towards realisation--objections to be met--perseverance of the prince--the royal commission--the prince's speech at york--the opening ceremony--the royal procession. as early as prince albert submitted to the government a proposal to establish an exhibition of works of industry in this country; but the members of the government could not be induced to afford to it any of that encouragement which it was sought to obtain. despairing of acquiring assistance in this quarter, but hopeful, courageous, and unbaffled, the prince, who was president of the society of arts, in the following year betook himself to that more likely and congenial quarter. not content, however, with following in the wake of previous expositions which had been held in paris and elsewhere, he suggested the happy idea of so extending its range as to include within it the works of industry and the art treasures of all lands. he convened on his own responsibility a meeting at buckingham palace, on the th of june, , where he proposed that the exhibition should be divided into four sections: the first being raw materials and produce illustrative of the natural productions in which human industry is employed; the second, machinery for agricultural, manufacturing, engineering, and other purposes, and mechanical inventions illustrative of the agents which human ingenuity brings to bear upon the products of nature; the third, manufactures illustrative of the results produced by the operation of human industry upon natural produce; the fourth, sculpture, models, and the plastic arts generally, illustrative of the skill displayed in such applications of human industry. when this proposal of a display so novel was first made, there existed no public enthusiasm to welcome the daring scheme, and all were in utter ignorance of those mechanical means of accomplishing it which to the present generation are so simple and obvious. it was met by countless cavils and objections without end. but the prince had insight enough to discriminate between the real body of public opinion, lethargic and slow to move, yet ductile and malleable, and the artificial clamour of the marplots. fortunately for the success of the great enterprise, the prince possessed within himself the happiest combination of the highest station with those indomitable qualities of hopeful perseverance which were necessary to overcome the innumerable impediments which threatened more than once to mar the success of the great work. he succeeded in getting associated with him an active body of commissioners, who, encouraged by the untiring industry which their illustrious president displayed, persevered in their work; and one by one the practical difficulties disappeared before the clear and vigorous intellect which the prince brought to bear upon their discussions. [sidenote: the great exhibition.] but he remained, indeed, the _facile princeps_ in maturing, as he had been in designing, the scheme. this is no mere language of eulogy, for the records of the commissioners of the exhibition have placed in print undoubted proofs that equally the completion with the progress, and the progress quite as much as the origin, of the exhibition of , were mainly due to the large conception and wise foresight of the prince consort. the public at the time knew but little, and many of its constituent atoms know but little to this day, of the amount of anxious thought and labour which he devoted to the success of the great undertaking that made the year memorable as a new starting-point in the industrial and social history of the world. one important point, apart altogether from his personal merits, must never be lost sight of. his own high name and his close relation to the sovereign, added a lustre to the royal commission which would otherwise have been totally lacking, and gave ground for that confidence to foreign powers which they displayed so signally and with so little stint. [sidenote: prince albert at york.] at a banquet held at york about six months before the exhibition opened, the prince in a long address, in which he replied to the toast of his health, indicated, though most modestly and unconsciously, at once the arduous nature of his preliminary labours and the zeal with which he pursued them. in the name of the commissioners, who had been invited to the banquet _en masse_, he thanked his hosts for the proof thereby made plain of their earnest and combined zeal in the cause of the approaching exhibition. he rejoiced that it was not a mere impulse of momentary enthusiasm which they evinced, but a spirit of steady perseverance and sustained effort, and he assured his auditors that the spirit of active preparation and hopeful faith was abroad in the country. of this, he said, he was confident, on the ground of information which reached him from all quarters. and he added, and the event proved him to be right, his own personal conviction that the works in preparation would be such as to dispel any apprehension about the position which british industry would maintain. of his brother commissioners he spoke with loyal and chivalrous fervour. he thanked, in their name, the public for their uninterrupted confidence in those who were responsible for the management of the scheme; and stated that there had been no difference of opinion between the central and the local committees, which had not, upon personal consultation and open discussion vanished, and given way to agreement and identity of purpose. so much for hope: the test of fruition had yet to come. at length the great event to which the whole civilised world had been looking forward for eighteen months with mingled interest and curiosity--the opening of the great congress of industry and art--was accomplished with a pomp and solemnity of ceremonial suitable to the dignity of the occasion, and the important social interests which it involved. spite of all predictions to the contrary--spite of the faint-hearted forebodings which the wild confusion of the interior of the building in the last days of april excused, if it did not justify--the building was ready and furnished with the world's wares at the appointed time. at two o'clock on the last day of april the building was cleared by police and guardsmen of all exhibitors and their assistants, and the preparations for the opening day, already partially made, were pursued with the utmost zeal and vigour. never dawned a brighter morning than that of the may day which succeeded. the sky was clear and blue, the air as cool, crisp, and genial as a poet or artist could wish, and the sun came forth in undimmed splendour. london, reinforced by a multitude of visitors, was early astir and afoot. at six the park gates were opened, and through them at once commenced to pour carriages from all parts of the metropolis and its neighbourhood, filled with gaily attired courtiers, cits, and provincials. the line of route was kept by mounted soldiers and police; but their task was rendered almost perfunctory, so fully did all appear animated with the one desire to signalise this truly popular ceremonial with generous and kindly feeling, and a respect for the rights and duties of one another. the only houses from which a sight could be got of the royal procession were those at grosvenor gate and at hyde park corner. these were crowded with well-dressed persons, of whom ladies formed the majority, up to the very roofs. the roofs of apsley house and the park-keeper's lodge were similarly tenanted. the windows of buckingham palace, which had recently been new fronted, were filled with eager spectators, chiefly members of the household, their relatives and friends. the centre balcony was occupied by the younger princes and princesses, attended by several ladies. precisely at eleven the life guards commenced to widen the path for the procession. at half-past eleven, the band of the regiment playing "god save the queen," the royal cortège set forth, amid the cheers of the vast assembled multitude. the procession was of anything but an ostentatious character. the eight carriages of which it was composed were drawn by but two horses each. there were no gentlemen-ushers, grooms, or yeomen of the guard. trumpeters there were, but their trumpets were silent. at a quarter to twelve the procession reached the northern entrance of the palace, and the queen alighted amid the strains of the national anthem, a salvo of artillery, and the lusty cheers of enormous multitudes on both sides of the serpentine. [sidenote: opening of the exhibition.] meanwhile, from nine o'clock, the appointed hour of opening, the building had been rapidly filling, all the visitors being remarkably well dressed, and a large majority of them ladies. "the first _coup d'oeil_ of the building, on entering the nave, was grand and gorgeous in the extreme; the vast dimensions of the structure, the breadth of light, partially subdued and agreeably mellowed in the nave by the calico coverings placed over the roof, whilst the arched transept soared boldly into the clear arch of heaven, courting, admitting, and distributing the full effulgence of the noon-day sun; the bright and striking colours and forms of the several articles in rich manufactured goods, works in sculpture, and other objects displayed by the exhibitors, dissimilar and almost incongruous in their variety, were blent into an harmonious picture of immense grandeur by the attendant circumstances of space and light to which we have just alluded; and the busy hum and eager and excited movements of the assembled thousands infused the breath of life into a picture, which, at the period of the crowning incident of the day, became truly sublime." by eleven o'clock, after which hour none of the general public could be admitted, the honourable corps of gentlemen-at-arms, in their gay uniforms, had taken up their places in the rear of the dais set for the queen. this dais was covered with a splendid carpet, which had been specially worked for the occasion by ladies, and on this was placed a magnificent chair of state, covered with a cloth of crimson and gold. high over head was suspended an octagon canopy, trimmed with blue satin, and draperies of blue and white. the trumpeters and heralds were in readiness to proclaim the arrival of the queen, and sir george smart stood, baton in hand, perched up in a small rostrum, "ready to beat time to 'god save the queen' for the five hundredth time in his life." the commissioners of the exhibition and the foreign ambassadors stood in the entrance hall, prepared to pay their respects to her majesty on her arrival. the queen entered, leaning on her husband's arm, and being also accompanied by the princess royal and prince of wales. the queen wore a dress of pink satin, brocaded with gold; prince albert a field-marshal's uniform; the prince of wales was in a highland dress, while the princess was clad in white satin, with a wreath of flowers round her head. a tremendous burst of cheering, renewed and prolonged from all parts of the building, greeted the announcement of the arrival of the queen. [sidenote: the address of the prince.] her majesty was conducted to her chair of state by the commissioners, cabinet, and foreign ministers. as they stood around her chair, in their bright court dresses and brilliant uniforms, a choir of nearly a thousand voices sang "god save the queen." at the conclusion of its last strain, prince albert descended from the dais, and taking his place with his brother commissioners, read a long address to her majesty, in which he recited the history, plan, and intent of the magnificent and magnanimous scheme which was so largely the product of his own heart and brain. these and other less important particulars having been enumerated, the prince thus concluded:-- it affords us much gratification that, notwithstanding the magnitude of this undertaking, and the great distances from which many of the articles now exhibited have had to be collected, the day on which your majesty has graciously pleased to be present at the inauguration of the exhibition is the same day that was originally named for its opening, thus affording a proof of what may, under god's blessing, be accomplished by good-will and cordial co-operation amongst nations, aided by the means which modern science has placed at our command. having thus briefly laid before your majesty the results of our labours, it now only remains for us to convey to your majesty our dutiful and loyal acknowledgments of the support and encouragement which we have derived throughout this extensive and laborious task from the gracious favour and countenance of your majesty. it is our heartfelt prayer that this undertaking, which has for its end the promotion of all branches of human industry, and the strengthening of the bonds of peace and friendship among all the nations of the earth, may, by the blessing of divine providence, conduce to the welfare of your majesty's people, and be long remembered among the brightest circumstances of your majesty's peaceful and happy reign. the queen read a short reply, the tenor of which was warmly to re-echo the hopes and sentiments contained in the address of the prince. the archbishop of canterbury then offered up a consecratory prayer, which was followed by the performance of the "hallelujah chorus," under the direction of sir henry bishop. a very long procession, in which the queen went hand in hand with her son, and prince albert with his daughter, was then marshalled, and having marched round the interior of the building, it was declared formally opened. chapter xx. the war cloud. bright hopes of peace dispelled--an era of war all over the world--the russian war--the queen's visits to the wounded soldiers--presentation of the war medals--crimean heroes--the volunteer movement. fair and peaceful to all seeming were the prospects of humanity and the world when the doors of the hyde park exhibition were closed for the last time, and while its materials were being removed to be erected in more than their pristine beauty on the summit of one of the finest heights which environ the sloping basin on which the british metropolis is built. but a cloud, it might be no bigger than a man's hand, but pregnant with ill, was on the horizon. the exhibition closed a long era of peace in europe and the world, an era which had been marred, so far as we were concerned, only by wars in our most distant oriental dependencies; and, so far as the continent was concerned, only by the aggressions of the potentates who constituted the holy alliance, by the revolutionary movements of , and their sanguinary repression in the year following. against the hopes of all, and the belief of most, good men and women, the exhibition inaugurated one of the most martial terms of time which have formed a part of purely modern history. a year had hardly gone by ere napoleon effected his _coup d'état_, that fertile source of future evils--evils which are by no means yet exhausted. then came the russian war, which cost us in england a hundred thousand lives and at least a hundred millions of pounds. we had hardly celebrated, and rejoiced over, and illuminated our dwellings and public buildings in celebration of, the peace of paris, ere in india we had to put forth the utmost might of our imperial power to vindicate our "raj" over moslem and hindoo, and to avenge the foul deeds done at cawnpore. when prince albert was, in the mystery of providential rule, stricken down in his prime, italy and austria were just beginning to recover from the effects of the contests waged between trained troops at the voltorno and by the garibaldian guerillas in the valteline. the first message which was conveyed by the new-laid atlantic cable was a message of good-will from the grand-daughter of george iii. to him who sat in the seat of the rebel washington. the first experimental cable had hardly been destroyed by the potency of old ocean, churlish and jealous of the invasion of his domain, ere that great contest broke out across the atlantic, which brought about the abolition of slavery throughout the united states. hardly had our young prince brought home his bonny bride ere the subjects who owed her father allegiance were called upon to hold their own against the mighty force wielded by a power, of which the queenly diadem must ere long be worn by england's dear and best-beloved daughter. the danish war was hardly concluded ere the aggressor, returning victorious from his northern confines, turned his face to the south, and inflicted a catastrophe quite as telling and decisive upon that ancient dynasty, which has been more frequently allied with england in the great martial embroglios of the past than any other power of europe. [sidenote: an era of war.] we have said that napoleon's _coup d'état_ of december, , sounded the tocsin of that period of war which has lasted without sensible intermission from then until now. with that _coup d'état_ victoria found herself by an accident somewhat closely allied. some time after the close of the parliamentary session of , all england was startled by the sudden announcement of the resignation by lord palmerston of the seals of the foreign office, which he held in the first administration of lord john russell. on the meeting of parliament in , questions were at once addressed to the treasury benches in both houses soliciting explanations of the circumstances. in the lower house the querist was sir benjamin hawes. lord john russell declared his perfect readiness to answer the question which had been put to him by sir benjamin hawes, though he said he could not do so without entering into some details. these "details" were in the main as follows:--he commenced with a full and frank acknowledgment of the energy, the ability, and the extensive knowledge of the interests of england in all parts of the world which preeminently distinguished lord palmerston, and said that he the more regretted, on that account, that circumstances had occurred which prevented his acting any longer with him as a colleague. he laid down at starting what he conceived to be the correct doctrine as to the position which a secretary of state holds as regards the crown in the administration of foreign affairs. he held that when the crown, in consequence of a vote of the house of commons, places its constitutional confidence in a minister, that minister is, on the other hand, bound to afford the crown its full liberty--a liberty which the crown must possess--of saying that the minister no longer possesses its confidence. this was the general doctrine; but it so happened that with regard to lord palmerston individually, the precise terms were laid down, in , in a communication on the part of her majesty with respect to the transaction of business between the crown and the foreign secretary. lord john said he had been the organ of that communication, and therefore assumed its responsibility. its chief passage thus ran:-- the queen requires, first, that lord palmerston will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the queen may know as distinctly to what she is giving her royal sanction. secondly, having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister. such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that minister. she expects to be kept informed of what passes between him and the foreign ministers, before important decisions are taken based upon that intercourse; to receive the foreign despatches in good time, and to have the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their contents before they must be sent off. the queen thinks it best that lord john russell should show this letter to lord palmerston. [sidenote: dismissal of lord palmerston.] lord john went on to say that, in his view, lord palmerston had violated this explicit understanding, at least in two instances--one of a comparatively trifling, but the other of a most important character--since the conclusion of the session of the year previous ( ). the former had reference to some incautious remarks which were said to have fallen from the lips of the foreign secretary on the occasion of receiving a deputation of sympathisers with hungary. the other related to napoleon's _coup d'état_ of the nd of december previous. the instructions given to our ambassador at paris by the queen's government were to abstain from all interference with the internal affairs of france. lord john had been informed of an alleged conversation between lord palmerston and the french minister in london, the tenor of which was repugnant to those instructions. he had therefore at once written to him, but his communication had been treated with disdainful silence. meanwhile lord palmerston, without the knowledge of his colleagues, wrote a despatch to lord normanby, our minister at paris, in which, however, he evaded the question whether he approved the act of the president. he considered altogether that lord palmerston had put himself in the place and assumed the prerogative of the crown; that he had "passed by" the crown, while he gave the moral approbation of england to the acts of louis napoleon, in direct opposition to the policy which the government had hitherto pursued. under these circumstances, he had no alternative but to declare that, while he was prime minister, lord palmerston could not hold the seals of office; for he had "forgotten and neglected what was due to the crown and his colleagues." [sidenote: the war in the crimea.] on the th of march, , the following message from the crown was read to the peers by the lord chancellor. it explains itself. nor is it necessary for us to re-write here a single line of one of the brightest and freshest pages of the recent history of england. we had long been "drifting into war," to use lord clarendon's memorable phrase, and at last the die was irrevocably, though reluctantly, cast. victoria r. her majesty thinks it proper to acquaint the house that the negotiations in which her majesty, in concert with her allies, has for some time past been engaged with his majesty the emperor of all the russias, have terminated, and that her majesty feels bound to afford active assistance to her ally the sultan against unprovoked aggression. her majesty has given directions for laying before the house copies of such papers, in addition to those already communicated to parliament, as will afford the fullest information with regard to the subject of these negotiations. it is a consolation to reflect that no endeavours have been wanting on her part to preserve to her subjects the blessings of peace. her majesty's just expectations have been disappointed, and her majesty relies with confidence on the zeal and devotion of the house of lords, and the exertions of her brave and loyal subjects to support her in her determination to employ the power and resources of the nation for protecting the dominions of the sultan against the encroachments of russia. alma, balaklava, and inkerman had been fought and won, and the horrid winter in the trenches had not yet passed away. these days and nights of constant fighting had left us many fell remembrances of their grievous coming and going. the eastern hospitals, at scutari and within the lines of our camp, were choke-full of the wounded. some few who could bear the pain of transit were brought home, and no one in england was more solicitous of their welfare and wise and kindly tending than england's queen. her visits to the hospitals were as welcome as they were frequent. on the th of march, , the queen, accompanied by prince albert, and by the duke of cambridge, the prince of wales, and prince alfred, visited the military hospitals at fort pitt and brompton, chatham. fort pitt was then the only general military hospital in england. as this hospital and that of brompton contained together only patients, it could not be considered that the royal visit was elicited by the peculiar calamities of the place. but the immense extent of the hospitals in the east, and the sufferings of the poor wounded soldiers lying within these vast lazar-houses, had raised in the breast of all england a feeling of pity and horror. in this feeling the queen most deeply participated. while her visit to the only hospital in this country in which the sufferers by the war were received, was a gratification to her own kindly sympathies, and most cheering and solacing to the inmates, it could not fail to convey to the thousands of sufferers in the east, and to the kinsmen and kinswomen whose hearts bled for them at home, that no heart was fuller of pity than that of her under whose flag they had fought and fallen. the whole of the wounded who were in a condition to leave their beds were drawn up in chairs on the lawn, each having written upon it a card containing the name and services of the occupant, the nature of his wounds, and where they were received. the queen passed along the line, saying a few kind words to those sufferers who particularly attracted her notice, or to those whose services were specially commended. she visited every ward, except that containing fever cases. a few days after, the queen reviewed some cavalry and artillery at woolwich. after the review, she visited the hospital, and saw the wounded artillery-men who had returned from the crimea. nor were these isolated exhibitions of sentiment or emotion. upon every occasion during the continuance of the war, the queen showed the most heartfelt sympathy with her brave soldiers; visited their hospitals and transport ships; received the wounded at her palace, and suggested and liberally assisted in the establishment of permanent means of relief for them and their families. a beautiful letter of the queen, which was accidentally made public about this time, showed that in the privacy of domestic life her majesty never forgot these sufferers. indeed, she complained that she was not kept sufficiently informed of the needs of those who had returned wounded to their country. [sidenote: distribution of war medals.] it was equally the queen's duty and pleasure to reward conspicuous merit, as it was to do all that lay within the limits of her human and regal power to soothe the pangs of woe. one scene in which she discharged this high queenly function will never be forgotten by those who were privileged to witness it. the queen determined to present with her own hand, to the officers of the crimean army, and to a portion of the non-commissioned officers and privates, who had returned to their country disabled by their wounds, the medals which they had so dearly won. this act of grace and kindness deeply touched a sentiment that rested deep in the bosom of the nation, that had, indeed, there rested ever since--nay, long before--elizabeth thrilled the heroic hearts of her people at tilbury by saying, "i myself will be your general and judge, and the rewarder of every one of your victories in the field." the presentation took place on the th of may, . a royal dais was erected in the centre of the parade of the horse guards, and the public offices which surround it were filled up with galleries for the royal family and nobility. within an area enclosed by barriers, were the intended recipients of the decorations. without was a dense mass of spectators. when the queen had reached the ground, the guards, who had hitherto been in line, were formed four deep, and through the intervals thus opened the crimean heroes passed, and in a few moments the queen stood face to face with them. each then passed singly, receiving his medal at the hands of her majesty, who presented them with a grace and kindness which brought tears to many an eye long unused to their effusion. the first to receive his medal was the duke of cambridge, who was enthusiastically received. then followed other general officers, then the staff, and then in order, without distinction of regimental rank, came cavalry, artillery, engineers, and the line. the sight was one of the most thrilling ever seen in our metropolis, or in our times. the gaunt and pallid forms, scarred features, and maimed and mutilated limbs, brought home to the heart of the least sympathetic the ravages of war, and the cost and guerdon of bravery. many of those who hobbled upon crutches, or walked painfully with the assistance of a stick, wore upon their arms the emblems of mourning for some brother or near relative, now reposing by the waters of the euxine or the bosphorus. to each one of the wounded, whether officer or private, the queen said some kind word or asked some kindly question of him. many of the poor fellows were quite overcome by the tenderness of her compassion. those officers whose wounds rendered them unable to walk, were wheeled past in bath chairs. sir thomas troubridge, who lost both feet at inkerman, and who has since died, was the first of these. the queen, leaning over his chair, handed him his medal with the most gracious gesture, and conferred upon him the post of aide-de-camp to herself. captains sayer and currie, who were also wheeled past, received similar sympathy. after the soldiers, came sailors and marines, under admiral dundas, who was the first to be decorated. the ceremony over, the non-commissioned officers and men of all services dined in the riding-school, where they were visited by the queen, her husband, and their children. [sidenote: the volunteer movement.] closely and intimately allied with the intense warlike feeling which prevailed throughout the period which we have been traversing, was the rise, or rather the revival from our grandfathers' times, of the volunteer movement, in the winter of - . this very notable phenomenon of modern days was entirely of spontaneous origin and popular outgrowth. at first the authorities looked but coldly upon it--wisely so, we think--until it evinced inherent elements of vitality and reality of purpose, and until it appeared that it was something more than a mere passing impulse. it was not until the th of may, , that a circular from the secretary for war gave to the movement official sanction, in the form of an authoritative permission by the queen for the formation of volunteer corps. ere a twelvemonth had elapsed, , men had enrolled themselves in england and scotland; and before the end of the summer of , that number had swollen into , . in many other and more emphatic modes the queen graciously accorded her own personal sanction and her warm and approving recognition to the movement. at a special levée, held in march, , all volunteer officers had the opportunity of being presented. at the first meeting at wimbledon of the national rifle association, in july, , her majesty founded an annual prize, in value £ . at the same meeting she fired the first shot, discharging a rifle, which had been carefully adjusted to a target yards distant. the cheers of the assembled thousands welcomed the impact of the bullet within a quarter of an inch of the bull's eye, and one of many swiss gentlemen, who were present as competitors, felicitously remarked that queen victoria was now _la première carabinière de l'angleterre_. [sidenote: the hyde park review.] the rd of june in this year was a still greater day for the volunteer army, and for the country, for it proved how earnestly the riflemen had devoted themselves to training and to discipline. her majesty having expressed her desire to review the young force on that day, arrangements were made by the war office, whereby every corps that had attained a certain excellence might be represented by its efficient members. the numbers and strength of the corps that presented themselves for inspection caused great surprise. not only london and westminster, and the densely populated metropolitan counties, sent ample contingents, but the energies of the railway companies were taxed to the utmost to bring up bodies of men from the west of england, the midlands, lancashire, yorkshire, and east anglia--even from distant northumbria. the authorities ultimately found that they would have to make arrangements for placing , men in review order. the review became a national spectacle, a general holiday was arranged, and an immense assemblage, provincial as well as metropolitan, was assembled in hyde park. the queen's stand was placed in the centre of a long line of galleries erected for the accommodation of about , privileged spectators, its situation being indicated by the royal standard planted before it. at different hours of the morning, the provincial corps, some of which must have travelled all night, were landed at the railway termini--the durham artillery, which had travelled farthest, being the first to reach king's cross. the river steam-boats landed their freights at convenient piers: the suburban bodies mustered at their appointed stations. the whole operation of marching the respective battalions and brigades, amalgamated as agreed on, was performed with unerring precision and perfect ease, thanks to the intelligent zeal of the men and the clear heads of their officers. by two o'clock, , , formed in one long line, extended completely across the park. the space of time which intervened between the successive arrivals of the corps and the commencement of the review, offered one of the most picturesque spectacles witnessed in our days. exactly at four o'clock the queen arrived on the ground in an open carriage. accompanying her were the king of the belgians, the princess alice, and prince arthur. the prince consort and the prince of wales were on horseback. the queen was attended by a magnificent following of general officers, aides-de-camp, staff officers, foreign military men of distinction, and the lords-lieutenant of the counties which furnished contingents to the force on the ground. there were also in attendance on the sovereign the duke of cambridge and mr. sidney herbert, the official heads of the army. remarkable amongst the group was field-marshal lord combermere, who had counted no fewer than seventy years of military duty. as the cortège swept on to the ground the volunteers stood to arms, their bands playing the national anthem. the scene now presented was in truth a magnificent one. on one side, from north to south, stood the thick lines of the volunteers, their somewhat sombre ranks varied by masses of dark uniforms, with here and there a mass of scarlet, the whole thrown into relief by the background of the trees of kensington gardens. from west to east, dense lines of people extended, many being raised head over head by the most precarious and illusory elevations. from north to south, at the eastern end of the park, and facing the line of volunteers, a glittering line of military uniforms of officers and the gay dresses of ladies who accompanied them gave a varied and rich fringe to the human masses of the _élite_ of the land who occupied the galleries above them. the green space so enclosed was dotted and animated by the bright scarlet, glittering cuirasses, snowy plumes, and jet-black steeds of the life guardsmen, who kept the ground. the queen, followed by the whole of her brilliant court, drove to the extreme left of the volunteer line, and thence slowly passed along the whole front to where the extreme right came close up to the lofty houses at albert gate. then turning, she drew up on the open ground, the royal standard proudly waving above her. the bands of the household brigade being placed opposite her, the volunteers now began to defile past, between her majesty and the bands. the march was commenced by the mounted corps, few in number, but admirably equipped and with remarkably fine horses. the infantry were headed by the artillery company, to whom, as the oldest volunteer body existing, not only in england but in europe, the priority has always been accorded. for an hour and a half corps after corps marched past, until the long succession was closed by a regiment from cheshire. when the whole had passed, and all had returned to their original positions, the whole line advanced in columns of battalions, and, by signal, cheered her majesty with vociferous earnestness. after expressing her high satisfaction with what she had seen, the queen left the ground about six o'clock. before eight o'clock all the volunteers had been marched out of the park, and there remained within its gates only meagre remnants of the enormous crowd of spectators. [sidenote: the review at edinburgh.] the opinions of competent authorities on the creditable manner in which this experimental review passed off were of the highest character. the commander-in-chief issued a general order, by command of the queen, in which his royal highness spoke in the highest terms of the efficiency displayed by the various corps, and of her majesty's appreciation of the loyalty and devotion exhibited by the volunteer movement. later in the season the queen, when on her customary autumnal route to balmoral, reviewed in the queen's park, at edinburgh, the volunteers of her northern kingdom, to the number of , . chapter xxi. the queen in her highland home. the queen as an author--"the early years of the prince consort"--"leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands"--love for children of all ranks--mountain ascents on pony-back--in fingal's cave--"the queen's luck"--salmon-spearing, and a catastrophe attending it--erection of a memorial cairn--freedom of intercourse with humble highlanders--visits to cottagers--"mrs. albert"--travelling incognito--highland dinners--"a wedding-party frae aberdeen"--a disguise detected. early in january of the year , queen victoria added her name to the distinguished roll of royal authors. in the year preceding, there had been published a work entitled, "the early years of the prince consort," in which the life of her revered and lamented husband is traced from its beginning, down to the first period of their common wedded life. on the title-page of this work appears the name, as author, of general the honourable charles grey, a gentleman who accompanied the prince in a tour to italy before his marriage, and who has ever since remained attached, in high capacities, to the royal household. this book, to which we have been indebted for important materials reproduced by us at certain of the earlier stages of our narrative, was published with the sanction of her majesty, and its compiler received from his royal mistress most, if not all, of the materials which he very tastefully combined. but the queen did not appear in it as author _in propriâ personâ_, save in the instance of certain occasional notes and addenda to which her imprint is attached. the work published in , on the other hand, "leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands," is entirely, save a brief editorial introduction, from the queen's pen. it is precisely, as its name imports, a series of extracts from a journal kept from day to day, and extended from her majesty's earliest married days far into those of her widowhood. special passages are, in addition, given from similar diaries, which recorded yacht trips to the beautiful estuary of the tamar, to the duchy of cornwall, and to the channel islands. there is also furnished a very sparkling and vivacious record of the queen's first visit to ireland, in , which will be found duly recorded by us in a previous chapter. nothing charms more in these pages than the love displayed for all young people--for the writer's own sons and daughters, who are described by their home pet names; "vicky," and "bertie," standing, for example, for victoria and albert--for the infant child of a ducal entertainer, depicted as "a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow," and "such a merry, independent little child"--or for the children of humble cottagers at balmoral, for "mary symons and lizzie stuart dancing so nicely; the latter with her hair all hanging down." when the queen and prince and the children land at dundee, what charms the fond young mother most is, that "vicky" behaves like a grown-up person, and is "not put out, nor frightened, nor nervous." and when a little grandchild of lord camperdown presented the youthful princess royal with a nosegay, the reflection that rose to the mother's mind was, that she could hardly believe that she was travelling as a wife and a mother; for it seemed but as yesterday that she, as a child, in the tours taken with _her_ mother through england, used to receive similar childish tokens. she was at once put in mind of the time when _she_ had been "the little princess." [sidenote: happy days in the highlands.] accounts of rides on shaggy highland ponies to the tops of mountains, and more lengthened _incognito_ excursions in whatever vehicles could be procured at third-rate country inns, are thickly scattered over the pages of the "journal." the western islands, as well as the highlands, were at least on one occasion visited. anchoring close by wondrous staffa, the queen disembarked, and was rowed in a barge into fingal's cave. this was the first time that the british standard, with a queen of great britain and her husband and children, had ever entered the portals of this wondrous freak of nature, and the gaelic oarsmen gave three cheers, the echoes of which from the inmost recesses of the cave were most impressive. on another mountain ramble, the queen seated herself calmly, the youthful prince of wales lying among the heather by her side, while prince albert went to stalk a deer. he brought down a "royal," that is, a stag which has over a certain number of "tines" to his horns; on which the somewhat superstitious highland keeper at once said that "it was her majesty's coming out that had brought the good luck." the highlanders all believed that the queen had "a lucky foot." [sidenote: salmon-spearing in scotland.] amongst other highland sports which curiosity and great love of adventure led her to witness, was salmon spearing, or "leistering." while the keepers were beating the waters, the highland gentlemen wading in the stream, and prince albert watching, spear in hand, on a boulder, the queen watched from the brink this, the most exciting of all river sports, save, perhaps, otter hunting. suddenly she was alarmed, and with most abundant cause. two of the men imprudently went into a very deep pool. one of them could not swim, and he sank to the bottom. there was a cry for help, and a general rush by the prince and others to the spot. the queen was much frightened, and grasped the arm of the minister in attendance, lord carlisle, in great agony. but dr. robertson, the queen's "factor," or agent over the balmoral estate, swam in and got the too venturesome gael out safely. the queen, after this "horrid moment," had the satisfaction of seeing eight salmon speared or netted; and was further amused by a curious piece of highland courtesy--her own "men" carrying all the "men" of colonel forbes, a neighbour, dry shod on their backs through the water. they had come to see the sport, and the queen's gillies at once insisted on their conveying them to the most favourable side of the stream. a great day was that on which a cairn was erected on one of the heights overlooking balmoral to celebrate the building of the new castle, which the queen raised in lieu of the mansion which had stood on the estate when she was its tenant, and ere by its purchase she entered into proprietary possession. the morning was a fine one, and at eleven o'clock the royal party started for the ascent of craig cowan, where already nearly all the dependants were assembled. the royal children, and all the ladies and gentlemen, accompanied the queen and prince. all the children of the queen's neighbouring tenants, and of her servants, were already on the top. the queen laid the first stone, and the prince the second, and then their children according to their ages. then all the ladies and gentlemen of the court placed a stone each. the pipers played the while, and whisky was served out to every one. it took an hour to build the cairn, and dancing and merry revels went on without intermission until its completion; the very oldest of the women danced, and the youngsters were wild with glee. an old favourite dog sat reflectively contemplating a scene to which his veteran gravity prevented his indulging in any responsive and sympathetic gambols. at last when the cairn, having attained to the respectable height of some eight feet, was pronounced all but complete, the prince climbed to its summit and placed the last stone, and three hearty cheers announced to the dwellers below the completion of the enterprise and edifice. the queen concludes her chronicle of its erection in these words:--"it was a gay, pretty, and touching sight, and i felt almost inclined to cry. the view was so beautiful over the dear hills, the day so fine, the whole so _gemüthlich_. may god bless this place, and allow us yet to see it and enjoy it many a long year!" the queen and her family have always made it a practice to enter into the freest and most unrestrained conversation with the dignified, independent, courteous, and truly well-bred highlanders. as she rode along a hill-side one day, "alice and bertie" accompanying her on foot, prince albert was conversing very gaily with one of the gillies, upon which the one who led the queen's pony observed, "it's very pleasant to walk with a person who is always content." and when the queen, following up her attendant's remark, said that he was never cross after bad sport, the gillie rejoined, "every one on the estate says there never was so kind a master; our only wish is to give satisfaction." the queen replied that that wish they certainly succeeded in fulfilling. and at a future date the queen thus annotated that passage in her journal from which we have been borrowing:--"we were always in the habit of conversing with the highlanders, with whom we came so much in contact in the highlands. the prince highly appreciated the good breeding, simplicity, and intelligence which makes it so pleasant, and even instructive, to talk to them." [sidenote: the queen and scottish cottagers.] the queen takes especial pleasure in visiting the old women's cottages, by some of whom, we have been told, she is not unfrequently addressed--or at least was so, when she was yet new to the north and the northerners new to her--as "mrs. albert." one old dame of eighty-six, erect and dignified as she sat at her spinning-wheel, received personally from her majesty the gift of a warm flannel petticoat. this was her pious and eloquent form of thanks: "may the lord ever attend you and yours, here and hereafter, and may the lord be a guide to ye, and keep ye from all harm!" another aged pensioner, who was quite friendly, and shook hands with all her party of visitors, chose this form of benediction: "may the lord attend you with mirth and with joy; may he ever be with you in this world, and when ye leave it!" [sidenote: the queen in disguise.] the queen's mode of travelling as an _incognita_ has never gone beyond a journey of three or four days' duration to some highland district, in which the very amplitude of her retinue, even when abridged of its usual proportions, prevented her passing otherwise than as a person of distinction, but in which it was possible to keep her _queenly_ rank undiscovered. sometimes the mask was successfully worn to the end of the trip, to the great enjoyment of the queen, her "gentle" attendants, and her servants. on one or two occasions, recognitions, unfortunate for the success of the very innocent plot, were made by persons to whom the queen's face was familiar. on one of these trips, two shabby vehicles contained the whole party, which consisted of the royal pair, sir george grey, lady churchill, and a small complement of servants. it had been arranged that the tourists should pass as lord and lady churchill (the queen and prince assuming these _rôles_), lady churchill becoming miss spencer, and sir george grey becoming "dr." grey. once or twice the servants, who were of necessity in the plot, forgot their instructions, and blurted out "your majesty," and "your royal highness;" but, luckily, no one heard the _faux pas_. after a very long and fatiguing drive through a district remarkably denuded of habitations, they arrived, at nightfall, at an inn of very small pretensions. they alighted, sir george grey and lady churchill, faithful to the necessities of the situation, giving no indication, by any deference of manner, of the quality of their fellow-travellers. being ushered into small but tidy sleeping and dressing apartments, they had their travel-stains removed, and sat down to such a dinner as the resources of the establishment afforded. the two gillies in attendance were to have waited at table, but their bashfulness prevented their undertaking duties so entirely out of their line; so a damsel in ringlets, attached to the inn, performed the necessary duties. the repast consisted of a very delicate and delicious scottish soup, known as "hodge-podge"--which, to be tasted to perfection, however, must be partaken of in early summer, when vegetables (of many kinds of which it is composed) are young and tender--mutton broth, fowls, "good" roast lamb, and "very good" potatoes. a bottle of wine the travellers had taken care to bring with them. they were less fortunate on the occasion of another similar trip, when all that could be procured was a couple of remarkably small and lean fowls, the remnants of which were sent down to the servants, with appetites rendered voracious by the keen mountain air. on this latter trip, a commercial traveller was much annoyed at his exclusion from the "commercial room," which was reserved for the servants. in answer to his remonstrance, the landlady pacified him by stating that the guests, who occupied her whole house, were "a wedding-party frae aberdeen." when the cavalcade of the two "shabby vehicles" drove away, on the next morning, it was evident that "the murder was out," and that the inmates of the inn had discovered the quality of their guests, and communicated it to the scanty population of the village; for "all the people were in the street, and the landlady waved a pocket-handkerchief, and the ringletted maid a flag, from the window." chapter xxii. the widowed queen. unbroken happiness of the queen's life up to --death of the duchess of kent--the prince consort slightly ailing--catches cold at cambridge and eton--the malady becomes serious--public alarm--rapid sinking, and death--sorrow of the people--the queen's fortitude--avoidance of court display--good deeds--sympathy with all benevolent actions--letter of condolence to the widow of president lincoln--the albert medal--conclusion. until the queen had never known bereavement in the circle of her own immediate family. nine children had been born to her, and, although it is understood that certain of her younger offspring do not possess that robustness of health which their elder brothers and sisters enjoy, yet not one had been snatched from their loving parents by the hand of the great destroyer. early in came the first pang of bereavement. the duchess of kent, ripe in years, one of the best of mothers and one of the best of grandmothers, a lady to whose memory all britons now and hereafter owe an incalculable debt of gratitude, passed peacefully away with her descendants gathered around her bedside. [sidenote: last days of prince albert.] when the royal family returned from balmoral in october, it was observed that the prince consort was not in his usual health and vigour, but he had no pronounced ailment, and nothing approaching to serious alarm was for many weeks apprehended. in the course of the succeeding month he went to cambridge, to visit the prince of wales, who was a student at that university, as he had previously been for a short time at oxford. he went out shooting while there, got wet, and, as the duke of kent had done, was so imprudent as to sit down without removing his wet clothes. nevertheless, on his return to windsor, he pursued his usual daily avocations. about the beginning of december he appeared in public with the queen, and reviewed the volunteer corps raised among the eton boys. the rain fell fast, and the prince was seized on the review ground with acute pains in the back. feverish symptoms supervened, and the doctors ordered confinement to his room. still no alarm was entertained, and it was believed that he suffered only from a passing malady. the general public knew nothing of the ailment until some solicitude was caused by a bulletin, which appeared in the _court circular_ of the th december:-- his royal highness the prince consort has been confined to his apartments for the past week, suffering from a feverish cold, with pains in his limbs. within the last few days the feverish symptoms have rather increased, and are likely to continue for some time longer, but there are no unfavourable symptoms. the party which had been invited by her majesty's command to assemble at windsor castle on monday has been countermanded. not until the th was any bulletin issued which caused real anxiety and alarm. on the day following, the morning papers contained the ominous announcement that he had "passed a restless night, and the symptoms had assumed an unfavourable character during the day." the _times_, in a leading article, while hoping for the best, startled all by its statement that "the fever which has attacked him is a weakening and wearying malady." on the morning of saturday there was a favourable turn, but which was soon followed by a most serious relapse. about four p.m. the fever assumed a malignant typhoid type, and he began to sink with such rapidity that all stimulants failed to check the quick access of weakness. at nine o'clock a telegram was received in the city that the prince was dying fast, and at a few minutes before eleven all was over. "on saturday night last," said one of the daily journals of the succeeding monday, "at an hour when the shops in the metropolis had hardly closed, when the theatres were delighting thousands of pleasure-seekers, when the markets were thronged with humble buyers seeking to provide for their sunday requirements, when the foot-passengers yet lingered in the half-emptied streets, allured by the soft air of a calm, clear evening, a family in which the whole interest of this great nation is centred were assembled, less than five-and-twenty miles away, in the royal residence at windsor, in the deepest affliction around the death-bed of a beloved husband and father. in the prime of life, without--so to speak--a longer warning than that of forty-eight hours, prince albert, the consort of our queen, the parent of our future monarchs, has been stricken down by a short but malignant disorder." shortly after midnight, the great bell of st. paul's, which is never tolled except upon the death of a member of the royal family, boomed the fatal tidings over a district extending, in the quietude of the early sabbath morn, for miles around the metropolis. [sidenote: death of prince albert.] the queen, the princess alice, and the prince of wales, who had been hastily summoned from cambridge, sat with the dying good man until the last. after the closing scene the queen supported herself nobly, and after a short burst of uncontrollable grief, she is said to have gathered her children around her, and addressed them in the most solemn and affectionate terms. "she declared to her family that, though she felt crushed by the loss of one who had been her companion through life, she knew how much was expected of her, and she accordingly called on her children to give her their assistance, in order that she might do her duty to them and the country." the duke of cambridge and many gentlemen connected with the court, with six of the royal children, were present at the prince's death. in answer to some one of those present who tenderly offered condolence, the queen is reported to have said: "i suppose i must not fret too much, for many poor women have to go through the same trial." the sad news became generally known in the metropolis and in the great cities of the empire early on sunday. unusually large congregations filled the churches and chapels at morning service. "there was a solemn eloquence in the subdued but distinctly perceptible sensation which crept over the congregations in the principal churches when, in the prayer for the royal family, the prince consort's name was omitted. it was well remarked, if ever the phrase was permissible, it might then be truly said that the name of the departed prince was truly conspicuous by its absence, for never was the gap that this event has made in our national life, as well as in the domestic happiness of the palace, more vividly realised than when the name that has mingled so familiarly in our prayers for the last twenty years was, for the first time, left out of our public devotions." many thousands of mute pious petitions were specially addressed to heaven for the bereaved widow and orphans when the prayer of the litany for "all who are desolate and oppressed" was uttered, and in the chapels of nonconformists the extemporaneous prayers of the ministers gave articulate expression to the heartfelt orisons of the silent worshippers. every one thought of and felt for the queen, and during the week intervening between the death and the funeral, the question on every one's lips in all places of resort, and where men and women congregated, was, "how will the queen bear it?" prince albert sleeps the long sleep at frogmore, to which his mortal remains were borne reverently, and without ostentation, as he himself would have wished. the inscription on his coffin ran thus:-- depositum illustrissimi et celsissimi alberti, principis consortis, ducis saxoniÆ, de saxe-coburg et gotha principis, nobilissimi ordinis periscelidis equitis, augustissimÆ et potentissimÆ victoriÆ reginÆ, conjugis percarissimi, obiit die decimo quarto decembris, mdccclxi. anno Ætatis suÆ xliii. [here lies the most illustrious and exalted albert, prince consort, duke of saxony, prince of saxe-coburg and gotha, knight of the most noble order of the garter, the most beloved husband of the most august and potent queen victoria. he died on the fourteenth day of december, , in the forty-third year of his age.] thus died and was buried a great and a good man, one of the most useful men of his age, one to whom england owes much. "for that he loved our queen, and, for her sake, the people of her love, few and far distant names shall rank above his own, where england's cherish'd names are seen." [sidenote: the queen in her widowhood.] the queen has ever since her great bereavement most constantly and piously revered the prince's memory. her reverence has taken the practical form of the deepest sympathy with the woes and sorrows of the poorest and humblest of her subjects. she has eschewed the pomp and ceremony of state, and deliberately set herself to discover and soothe sorrow, and to recognise all good deeds of the same character performed by others. when the noble peabody bestowed his princely act of munificence on the poor of london, no recognition was made of his generosity more signal than that made by the queen. she has been among the first to help by loving words and by practical aid the sufferers by any great national calamity--a lancashire famine, a shipwreck or railway accident, a colliery explosion, a catastrophe caused by mad and futile sedition. ready and sympathetic condolence has especially flowed from her to those bereaved like herself, and when president lincoln perished at his post, the queen sent to his widow a long letter which her son described as "the outgushing of a woman's heartfelt sympathy," and which, with rare and commendable good taste, has never been exposed to the public eye. most fitly has she specially commemorated her husband's memory by the institution of a fit companion and complement to the victoria cross, the "albert medal," which is bestowed on brave men who save lives from the "peril of the sea or shipwreck." many consolations have been vouchsafed by heaven to the widowed queen. since she lost her great stay and support her realm has for the most part been prosperous and contented. though environed by many troubles, and though the clang of battle has shaken the world, the dove of peace has benignantly hovered o'er britain. much advance has been made in those fields of social, moral, political, and educational improvement which were so dear to albert's heart, as they have always been to her own. and shortly before the period when these pages are first given to the public, the political progress of the nation has received a great stimulus, such as is given in a people's history only at rare and long intervals. her children grow up from youth to maturity, and from maturity to maternity and paternity, without a slur upon their fair names, and are, with those to whom the elder of them have united themselves in wedlock, all that a proud mother's heart could wish. god has stricken her; but he has proved also an infinite healer and solacer. ours be it to add to the ordinary motives of patriotism, those more tender and touching influences which arise from the recollection that our queen is now, as said that queen of england whose subjects were shakespeare and bacon, spenser and sidney--"married to her people." the end. cassell, petter, and galpin, belle sauvage works, london, e.c. cassell's representative biographies. vol. i. _life of john bright_ cents. vol. ii. _life of w. e. gladstone_ cents. vol. iii. _life of b. disraeli_ cents. vol. iv. _life of queen victoria_ cents. other volumes in preparation. felt & dillingham, , broome street, new york. list of juvenile books kept on sale by felt & dillingham, , broome street, new york. _little songs for me to sing._ illustrated by j. e. millais, r. a.; with music composed expressly for the work by henry leslie. square mo $ _the child's garland of little poems_; rhymes for little people. with exquisite illustrative borders by giacomelli. square vo, cloth gilt $ _bright thoughts for the little ones._ twenty-seven original drawings by procter. with prose and verse by grandmamma. square vo, cloth gilt $ _cassell's picture book for the nursery._ royal to size, full of illustrations, with appropriate text for young children. bound in embellished boards $ bound in cloth, with coloured centre-piece $ the same with coloured pictures $ _dame dingle's fairy tales for good children._ handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt edges $ _Æsop's fables, in words of one syllable._ with illustrations printed in colours. handsomely bound in cloth, gilt $ _sandford and merton, in words of one syllable._ with illustrations printed in colours. handsomely bound in cloth, gilt $ _peggy, and other tales_, including the _history of a threepenny bit, and the story of a sovereign_. with eight illustrations. handsomely bound in cloth, gilt $ _old burchell's pocket: a new book for the young folks._ by elihu burritt. illustrated with twelve engravings. bound in cloth, gilt $ _cloudland, shadowland, and windland_; 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(in demy to, stiff covers.) with full-page illustrations printed in colours by kronheim. how cock sparrow spent his christmas. the adventures of robinson crusoe. queer creatures, drawn by one of themselves. Æsop's fables. ( plates.) _old friends and new faces_, comprising robinson crusoe. cock sparrow. queer creatures. Æsop's fables. with full-page illustrations, beautifully printed in colours by kronheim. in demy to, on cloth, elegantly gilt $ _any book on this list sent postage or express paid, on receipt of price._ life of her most gracious majesty the queen by sarah tytler _edited with an introduction by_ lord ronald gower, fsa. in two volumes vol ii * * * * * contents. vol. ii. chap. i. royal progresses to burghley, stowe, and strathfieldsaye ii. the queen's powder ball iii. the queen's first visit to germany iv. railway speculation--failure of the potato crop--sir robert peel's resolutions--birth of princess helena--visit of ibrahim pasha v. autumn yachting excursions--the spanish marriages--winter visits vi. installation of prince albert as chancellor of cambridge vii. the queen's visit to the western islands of scotland and stay at ardverikie viii. the french fugitives--the people's charter ix. the queen's first stay at balmoral x. public and domestic interests--fresh attack upon the queen xi. the queen's first visit to ireland xii. scotland again--glasgow and dee-side xiii. the opening of the new coal exchange--the death of queen adelaide xiv. preparation for the exhibition--birth of the duke of connaught xv. the deaths of sir robert peel, the duke of cambridge, and louis philippe xvi. the queen's first stay at holyrood--the death of the queen of the belgians xvii. the papal bull--the great exhibition xvii. the queen's account of the opening of the exhibition xix. the queen's "restoration ball" and the "guildhall ball." xx. royal visits to liverpool and manchester--close of the exhibition xxi. disasters--yachting trips--the death of the duke of wellington xxii. the iron duke's funeral xxiii. the emperor napoleon iii. and the empress eugÉnie--fire at windsor xxiv. the eastern question--approaching war--gross injustice to prince albert xxv. the battle of inkermann--florence nightingale--the death of the emperor nicholas xxvi. inspection of the hospital at chatham--distribution of war medals xxvii. death of lord raglan--visit of the queen and prince albert to the emperor and empress of the french--fall of sebastopol xxviii. betrothal of the princess royal--queen's speech to the soldiers returned from the crimea--balmoral xxix. death of the prince of leiningen--birth of princess beatrice-- bestowal of the victoria cross--indian mutiny xxx. the marriage of the princess royal xxxi. death of the duchesse d'orleans--the prince consort's visit to germany--the queen and prince consort's visit to prince and princess frederick william at babelsberg xxxii. birth of prince william of prussia--death op prince hohenlohe xxxiii. death of the duchess of kent xxxiv. last visit to ireland--meeting of the prince of wales and the princess alexandra of denmark--death of the king of portugal and his brothers. xxxv. the death of the prince consort xxxvi. the withdrawal to osborne--the prince consort's funeral xxxvii. the first months of widowhood--marriage of the prince of wales, etc., etc. xxxviii. deaths of lord palmerston and the king of the belgians xxxix. stay at holyrood--deaths of princess hohenlohe and of prince frederick of darmstadt--marriage of the duke of edinburgh xl. birth of the first great-grandchild--marriage of the duke of albany--conclusion * * * * * list of steel plates. h.r.h. the prince of wales osborne house the pasture, osborne the amazon (portrait of h.r.h. the princess helena) the royal yacht off mount st. michael the princess louise the princess helena princesses helena and louise the hunter (h.r.h. prince arthur) hyde park in the fisher (h.r.h. prince leopold) h.r.h. the duke of cambridge, k.g., etc. the cradle (h.r.h. princess beatrice) h.r.h. the princess of wales (bust) h.r.h. the princess of wales the albert memorial monument to the princess alice of hesse * * * * * queen victoria. chapter i. royal progresses to burghley, stowe, and strathfieldsaye. on the th of november the queen went on one of her visits to her nobility. we are told, and we can easily believe, these visits were very popular and eagerly contested for. in her majesty's choice of localities it would seem as if she loved sometimes to retrace her early footsteps by going again with her husband to the places where she had been, as the young princess, with the duchess of kent. the queen went at this time to burghley, the seat of the marquis of exeter. the tenantry of the different noblemen whose lands she passed through lined the roads, the mayors of the various towns presented addresses, the school children sang the national anthem. at burghley, too, queen elizabeth had been before queen victoria. she also had visited a cecil. the maiden queen had travelled under difficulties. the country roads of her day had been so nearly impassable that her only means of transit had been to use a pillion behind her lord steward. her seat in the chapel was pointed out to the queen and prince albert when they went there for morning prayers. whether or not both queens whiled away a rainy day by going over the whole manor-house, down to the kitchen, we cannot say; but it is not likely that her majesty's predecessor underwent the ordeal to her gravity of passing through a gentleman's bedroom and finding his best wig and whiskers displayed upon a block on a chest of drawers. and we are not aware that queen elizabeth witnessed such an interesting family rite as that which her majesty graced by her presence. the youngest daughter of the marquis and marchioness of exeter was christened in the chapel, at six o'clock in the evening, before the queen, and was named for her "lady victoria cecil," while prince albert stood as godfather to the child. after the baptism the queen kissed her little namesake, and prince albert presented her with a gold cup bearing the inscription, "to lady victoria cecil, from her godfather albert." at dinner the newly-named child was duly toasted by the queen's command. the next day the royal party visited "stamford town," from which the mayor afterwards sent prince albert the gift of a pair of wellington boots, as a sample of the trade of the place. the drive extended to the ruins of another manor-house which, lady bloomfield heard, was built by the cecils for a temporary resort when their house of burghley was swept. the queen and the prince planted an oak and a lime, not far from queen elizabeth's lime. the festivities ended with a great dinner and ball, at which the queen did not dance. most of the company passed before her chair of state on the dais, as they do at a drawing-room. on the th of december an aged english kinswoman of the queen's died at the ranger's house, blackheath, where she held the somewhat anomalous office of ranger of greenwich park. this was princess sophia matilda, daughter of the duke of gloucester, george iii.'s brother, and sister of the late duke of gloucester, the husband of his cousin, princess mary. her mother's history was a romance. she was the beautiful niece of horace walpole, the illegitimate daughter of his brother, the earl of oxford. she married first the earl of waldegrave, and became the mother of the three lovely sisters whom sir joshua reynolds's brush immortalised. the widowed countess caught the fancy of the royal duke, just as it was said, in contemporary letters, that another fair young widow turned the head of another brother of the king's. george iii. refused at first to acknowledge the duke of gloucester's marriage, but finally withdrew his opposition. if, as was reported, the duke of york married lady mary coke, the marriage was never ratified. the risk of such marriages caused the passing of the royal marriage act, which rendered the marriage of any member of the royal family without the consent of the reigning sovereign illegal. the children of the duke of gloucester and his duchess were two--prince william and princess sophia matilda. they held the somewhat doubtful position, perhaps more marked in those days, of a family royal on one side of the house only. the brother, if not a very brilliant, an inoffensive and not an illiberal prince, though wicked wags called him "silly billy," improved the situation by his marriage with the amiable and popular princess mary, to whom a private gentleman, enamoured by hearsay with her virtues, left a considerable fortune. we get a passing glimpse of the sister, princess sophia matilda, in fanny burney's diary. she was then a pretty, sprightly girl, having apparently inherited some of her beautiful mother's and half-sisters' attractions. she was admitted to terms of considerable familiarity and intimacy with her royal cousins; and yet she was not of the circle of queen charlotte, neither could she descend gracefully to a lower rank. no husband, royal or noble, was found for her. one cannot think of her without attaching a sense of loneliness to her princely estate. she survived her brother, the duke of gloucester, ten years, and died at the age of seventy-two at the ranger's house, blackheath, from which she had dispensed many kindly charities. at her funeral the royal standard was hoisted half- mast high on greenwich hospital, the observatory, the churches of st. mary and st. alphege, and on blackheath. she was laid, with nearly all her royal race for the last two generations, in the burial-place of kings, st. george's chapel, windsor. prince albert occupied his stall as a knight of the garter, with a mourning scarf across his field- marshal's uniform. in the middle of january, , the queen and prince albert went on a visit to the duke of buckingham at stowe, which was still unstripped of its splendid possessions and interesting antiquarian relics. the huge gathering of neighbours and tenants included waggons full of labourers, admitted into the park to see the queen's arrival and the illumination of the great house at night. the amusements of the next two days, the ordinary length of a royal visit, began with _battues_ for the prince, when the accumulation of game was so enormous that, in place of the fact being remarkable that "he hit almost everything he fired at," it would have been singular if a good shot could have avoided doing so. fifty beaters, so near each other that their sticks almost touched, entered a thick cover and drove the game past the place where the sportsmen were stationed, into the open space of the park. out the hares rushed from every quarter, "so many of them, that it was often impossible to stop more than one out of half-a-dozen. the ground immediately in front of the shooters became strewn with dead and dying.... it was curious to behold the evident reluctance with which the hares left their retreat, and then their perplexity at finding themselves so beset without. many actually made for the canal, and swam like dogs across a piece of water nearly a hundred yards wide, shaking themselves upon landing, and making off without any apparent distress. the pheasants were still more averse 'to come and be killed.' for some time not one appeared above the trees. the cocks were heard crowing like domestic fowls, as the numerous tribe retreated before the sticks of the advancing army of beaters. upon arriving, however, at the edge of the wood, quite a cloud ascended, and the slaughter was proportionately great." "slaughter," not sport, is the appropriate word. one cannot help thinking that so it must have struck the prince; nor are we surprised that, on the next opportunity he had of exercising a sportsman's legitimate vocation, with the good qualities of patience, endurance, and skill, which it is calculated to call forth, emphatic mention is made of his keen enjoyment. besides shooting there was walking for both ladies and gentlemen, to the number of twenty guests, "in the mild, clear weather," in the beautiful park. there was the usual county gathering, in order to confer on the upper ten thousand, within a radius of many miles, the much-prized honour of "meeting" the queen at a dinner or a ball. lastly, her majesty and the prince planted the oak and the cedar which were to rank like heirlooms, and be handed down as trophies of a royal visit and princely favour, to future generations. the queen and prince albert returned to windsor on the evening of saturday, the th of january, and on the afternoon of monday, the th, they started again to pay a long-projected visit to her old friend the duke of wellington at strathfieldsaye. it was known that the duke had set his heart on entertaining his sovereign in his own house, and she not only granted him the boon, but in consideration of his age, his laurels, and the long and intimate connection between them, she let the visit have more of a private and friendly character than the visits of sovereigns to subjects were wont to have. however, the country did not lose its gala. arches of winter evergreens instead of summer flowers, festive banners, loyal inscriptions, yeoman corps, holiday faces, met her on all sides. at swallowfield--a name which mary russell mitford has made pleasant to english ears--"no less a person than the speaker of the house of commons," the representative of an old huguenot refugee, the right honourable john shaw lefevre, commanded the troop of yeomanry. the iron duke met his honoured guests in the hall and conducted them to the library. every day the same formula was gone through. "the duke takes the queen in to dinner, sits by her majesty, and after dinner gets up and says, 'with your majesty's permission i give the health of her majesty,' and then the same to the prince. they then adjourn to the library, and the duke sits on the sofa by the queen (almost as a father would sit by a daughter) for the rest of the evening until eleven o'clock, the prince and the gentlemen being scattered about in the library or the billiard-room, which opens into it. in a large conservatory beyond, the band of the duke's grenadier regiment plays through the evening." there was much that was unique and kindly in the relations between the queen and the greatest soldier of his day. he had stood by her baptismal font; she had been his guest, when she was the girl- princess, at walmer. he had sat in her first council; he had witnessed her marriage; she was to give his name to one of her sons; in fact, he had taken part in every event of her life. the present arrangements were a graceful, well-nigh filial, tribute of affectionate regard for the old man who had served his country both on the battle-field and in the senate, who had watched his queen's career with the keenest interest, and rejoiced in her success as something with which he had to do. the old soldier also gave the prince shooting, but it was the "fine wild sport" which might have been expected from the host, and which seemed more to the taste of the guest. and in the party of gentlemen who walked for miles over the ploughed land and through the brushwood, none kept up the pace better than the veteran. the weather was broken and partly wet during the queen's stay at strathfieldsaye, and in lieu of out-of-door exercise, the tennis-court came into request. lord charles wellesley, the duke's younger son, played against professional players, and prince albert engaged lord charles and one of the professional players, the queen looking on. when the visit was over, the duke punctiliously performed his part of riding on horseback by her majesty's carriage for the first stage of her journey. comical illustrations are given of the old nobleman and soldier's dry rebuffs, administered to the members of the press and the public generally, who haunted strathfieldsaye on this occasion. the first was in reply to a request for admission to the house on the plea that the writer was one of the staff of a popular journal commissioned to give the details of the visit. "field-marshal the duke of wellington presents his compliments to mr. ---, and begs to say he does not see what his house at strathfieldsaye has to do with the public press." the other was in the form of a still more ironical notice put up in the grounds, "desiring that people who wish to see the house may drive up to the hall-door and ring the bell, but that they are to abstain from walking on the flagstones and looking in at the windows." in february the queen opened parliament in person for what was destined to be a stormy session, particularly in relation to sir robert peel's measure proposing an increased annual grant of money to the irish roman catholic priests' college of maynooth. in the premier's speech, in introducing the budget, he was able to pay a well-merited compliment on the wise and judicious economy shown in the management of her majesty's income, so that it was equal to meet the heavy calls made upon it by the visits of foreign sovereigns, who were entertained in a manner becoming the dignity of the sovereign, "without adding one tittle to the burdens of the country. and i am not required, on the part of her majesty," went on sir robert peel, "to press for the extra expenditure of one single shilling on account of these unforeseen causes of increased expenditure. i think, to state this is only due to the personal credit of her majesty, who insists upon it that there shall be every magnificence required by her station, but without incurring a single debt." in order to show how the additional cost of such royal hospitality taxed the resources even of the queen of england, it may be well to give an idea of the ordinary scale of housekeeping at windsor castle. lady bloomfield likens the kitchen-fire to nebuchadnezzar's burning fiery furnace. even when there was no company, from fifteen to twenty joints hung roasting there. in one year the number of people fed at dinner in the castle amounted to a hundred and thirteen thousand! shall we be accused of small moralities and petty lessons in thrift if we say that this passage in sir robert peel's speech recalls the stories of the child-princess's training, in a wholesome horror of debt, and the exercise of such little acts of self-denial as can alone come in a child's way; that it brings to mind the tunbridge anecdote of the tiny purchaser on her donkey, bidden to look at her empty purse when a little box in the bazaar caught her eye, and prohibited from going further in obtaining the treasure, till the next quarter's allowance was due? well might the nation that had read the report of sir robert peel's speech listen complacently when it heard in the following month, of the queen's acquisition of a private property which should be all her own and her husband's, to do with, as they chose. another country bestowed, upon quite different grounds, on one of its sovereigns the honourable title of king honest man. here was queen honest woman, who would not buy what she could not afford, or ask her people to pay for fancies in which she indulged, regardless of her means. a different example had been presented by poor louis xvi. and marie antoinette, who, after a course of what their most faithful servants admitted to be grievous misrule and misappropriation of public dignities and funds--to satisfy the ambition and greed of favourites or their friends--in the face of national bankruptcy, private ruin, and widespread disaffection, in the very death-throes of the revolution, chose that time of all others to buy--under whatever specious pretext of exchange and indemnification--for him who had already so many hunting-seats, the fresh one of rambouillet; for her, who had little trianon in its perfection, the new suburban country house of st. cloud. osborne abounded in the advantages which the royal couple sought. it was in the isle of wight, which her majesty had loved in her girlhood, with the girdle of sea that gave such assurance of the much-courted, much-needed seclusion, as could hardly be procured elsewhere-- certainly not within a reasonable distance of london. it was a lovely place by nature, with no end of capabilities for the practice of the prince's pleasant faculty of landscape-gardening, with which he had already done wonders in the circumscribed grounds of buckingham palace and the larger field of windsor. there were not only woods and valleys and charming points of view--among them a fine look at spithead; the woods went down to the sea, and the beach belonged to the estate. such a quiet country home for a country and home-loving queen and prince, and for the little children, to whom tranquillity, freedom, the woods, the fields, and the sea-sands were of such vital and lasting consequence, was inestimable. in addition to other outlets for an active, beneficent nature, osborne, with its works of building, planting, and improving going on for years to come, had also its farms, like the home farm at windsor. and the prince was fond of farming no less than of landscape-gardening --proud of his practical success in making it pay, deeply interested in all questions of agriculture and their treatment, so as to secure permanent employment and ample provision for the labourers. prince albert's love of animals, too, found scope in these farming operations. when the queen and the prince visited the home farm the tame pigeons would settle on his hat and her shoulders. the accompanying engraving represents the pasture and part of the home farm at osborne. "the cow in the group was presented to her majesty by the corporation of guernsey, when the queen visited the channel islands; the animal is a beautiful specimen of the alderney breed, and is a great favourite ... on the forehead of the cow is a v distinctly marked; a peculiarity, it may be presumed, which led to the presentation; the other animals are her calves." in the course of this session of parliament, the queen sought more than once to mark her acknowledgment of the services of sir robert peel, round whose political career troubles were gathering. she acted as sponsor to his grandchild--the heir of the jersey family--and she offered sir robert, through lord aberdeen, the order of the garter, an offer which the prime minister respectfully declined in words that deserve to be remembered. he sprang from the people, he said, and was essentially of the people, and such an honour, in his case, would be misapplied. his heart was not set upon titles of honour or social distinction. his reward lay in her majesty's confidence, of which, by many indications, she had given him the fullest assurance; and when he left her service the only distinction he courted was that she should say to him, "you have been a faithful servant, and have done your duty to your country and to myself." chapter ii. the queen's powder ball. on the evening of the th of june, , her majesty, who was at buckingham palace for the season, gave another great costume ball, still remembered as her powder ball--a name bestowed on it because of the universally-worn powder on hair and periwigs. it was not such a novelty as the plantagenet ball had been, neither was it so splendidly fantastic nor apparently so costly a performance; not that the materials used in the dresses were less valuable, but several of them --notably the old lace which was so marked a feature in the spectacle that it might as well have been called "the lace ball"--existed in many of the great houses in store, like the family diamonds, and had only to be brought out with the other heirlooms, and properly disposed of, to constitute the wearer _en grande tenue_. no doubt trade was still to be encouraged, and spitalfields, in its chronic adversity, to be brought a little nearer to prosperity by the manufacture of sumptuous stuffs, in imitation of gorgeous old brocades, for a portion of the twelve hundred guests. but these motives were neither so urgent nor so ostensible, and perhaps the ball originated as much in a wish to keep up a good custom once begun, and to show some cherished guests a choice example of princely hospitality, as in an elaborate calculation of forced gain to an exotic trade. the period chosen for the representation was much nearer the present. it was only a hundred years back, from to . it may be that this comparative nearness fettered rather than emancipated the players in the game, and that, though civil wars and clan feuds had long died out, and the memory of the scotch rebellion was no more than a picturesque tragic romance, a trifle of awkwardness survived in the encounter, face to face once more, in the very guise of the past, of the descendants of the men and women who had won at prestonpans and lost at culloden. it was said that a grave and stately formality distinguished this ball--a tone attributed to dignified, troublesome fashions--stranger then, but which since these days have become more familiar to us. no two more attractive figures presented themselves that night than the sisters-in-law, the duchess of kent and the duchess of gloucester, the one in her sixtieth the other in her seventieth year. the third royal duchess in the worthy trio, who represented long and well the royal matronhood of england, the duchess of cambridge, was, along with her duke, prevented from being present at the queen's ball in consequence of a recent death in her family. the duchess of kent wore a striped and "flowered" brocade, with quantities of black lace relieving the white satin of her train. the duchess of gloucester, sweet pretty princess mary of more than fifty years before, came in the character of a much less happy woman, marie leczinska, the queen of louis xv. she must have looked charming in her rich black brocade, and some of the hoards of superb lace--which she is said to have inherited from her mother, queen charlotte--edged with strings of diamonds and agraffes of diamonds, while over her powdered hair was tied a fichu capuchin of chantilly. among the multitude of guests assembled at buckingham palace, the privileged few who danced in the queen's minuets, as well as the members of the royal family, arrived by the garden gate and were received in the yellow drawing-room. included in this select company was a german princess who had lately married an english subject-- princess marie of baden, wife of the marquis of douglas, not the first princess who had wedded into the noble scotch house of hamilton, though it was many a long century since earl walter received-- all arran's isle to dower his royal bride the queen had special guests with her on this occasion--her brother the prince of leiningen, the much-loved uncle of the royal children; and the favourite cousin of the circle, the young duchesse de nemours, with her husband. the queen and prince albert, accompanied by their visitors, the various members of the english royal family present at the ball, and the different suites, passed into the ball-room at half- past ten. the first dance, the graceful march of the german _polonaise_, was danced by all, young and old, the bands striking up simultaneously, and the dance extending through the whole of the state apartments, the queen leading the way, preceded by the vice- chamberlain, the comptroller and treasurer of the household, and two gentlemen ushers to clear a space for her. after the _polonaise_ the company passed slowly before the queen. a comical incident occurred in this part of the programme through the innocent mistake of an old infantry officer, who in his progress lifted his peaked hat and gave the queen a military salute, as he walked by. then her majesty left the ball-room and repaired to the throne-room, where the first minuet was formed. it is only necessary to recall that most courtly of slow and graceful dances to judge how well suited it was for this ball. the queen danced with her cousin, prince george of cambridge. her majesty wore a wonderful dress of cloth of gold and cloth of silver, with daisies and poppies worked in silks, and shaded the natural colours; trimmings and ruffles of exquisite old lace, stomacher covered with old lace and jewels, the sacque set off with scarlet ribands, the fair hair powdered under a tiara and crown of diamonds, dainty white satin shoes with scarlet rosettes--a diamond in each rosette, the order of the garter on the arm, the star and riband of the order. prince george was less fortunate in the regimentals of a cavalry officer a century back; for, as it happened, while the costume of - was favourable to women and to civilians, it was trying to military men. prince albert danced with the duchesse de nemours. these two had been early playmates who never, even in later and sadder days, got together without growing merry over the stories and jokes of their childhood in coburg. the prince must have been one of the most graceful figures there, in a crimson velvet coat edged with gold and lined with white satin, on the left breast the splendid star of the order of the garter, shoulder-strap and sword inlaid with diamonds, white satin waistcoat brocaded with gold, breeches of crimson velvet with gold buttons, shoes of black kid with red heels and diamond buckles, three- cornered hat trimmed with gold lace, edged with white ostrich feathers, a magnificent loop of diamonds, and the black cockade of the georges, not the white cockade of the jameses. his golden-haired partner was in a tastefully gay and fantastic as well as splendid costume of rose-coloured chinese damask, with gold blonde and pearls, over a petticoat of point d'alençon, with a deep border of silver and silver rosettes. the stomacher of brilliants and pearls, on the left shoulder a nosegay with diamond wheat-ears interspersed, shoes of purple satin with fleurs-de-lys embroidered in gold and diamonds, as became a daughter of france, and gloves embroidered with similar fleurs-de-lys. there were many gay and gallant figures and fair faces in that minuet of minuets. prince edward of saxe-weimar was meant to dance with the young marchioness of douro, but she by some strange chance came too late for the honour, and her place was supplied by another young matron and beauty, lady jocelyn, formerly lady fanny cowper. prince leiningen, who wore a white suit faced with blue and a buff waistcoat edged with silver lace, danced with lady mount-edgcumbe. the duke of beaufort once more disputed with the earl of wilton the distinction of being the finest gentleman present. the queen danced in four minuets, standing up in the second with prince albert. this minuet also included several of the most beautiful women of the time and of the court; notably lady seymour, one of the sheridan sisters, the queen of beauty at the eglinton tournament; and lady canning. after the second minuet the queen and all the company returned to the ball-room, where two other minuets, those of lady jersey and lady chesterfield, were danced, and between them was given lady breadalbane's strathspey. there was such crowding to see these dances that the lord chamberlain had difficulty in making room for them. while musard furnished special music for the minuets and quadrilles, adapting it in one case from airs of the ' , the queen's piper, mackay, gave forth, for the benefit of the strathspey and reel- dancers, the stirring strains of "miss drummond of perth," "tullochgorum," and "the marquis of huntly's highland fling," which must have rung with wild glee through the halls of kings. lady chesterfield's minuet was the last dance before supper, served with royal splendour in the dining-room, to which the queen passed at twelve o'clock. after supper the queen danced in a quadrille and in the two next minuets. her first partner was the duc de nemours, who wore an old french infantry general's uniform--a coat of white cloth, the front covered with gold embroidery, sleeves turned up with crimson velvet, waistcoat and breeches of crimson velvet, stockings of crimson silk, and red-heeled shoes with diamond buckles. in the second minuet her majesty had her brother, the prince of leiningen, for her partner. the ball was ended, according to a good old english fashion, by the quaint changing measure of "sir roger de coverley," known in scotland as "the haymakers," in which the queen had her husband for her partner. this country-dance was danced in the picture gallery. let who would be the beauty at the queen's ball, there was at least one poetess there in piquant black and cerise, with cerise roses and priceless point à l'aiguille, lady john scott, who had been the witty heiress, miss spottiswoode of spottiswoode. she wrote to an old refrain one of the most pathetic of modern scotch ballads-- douglas, douglas, tender and true the beauty of the ball was the marchioness of douro, who not so long ago had been the beauty of the season as lady elizabeth hay, daughter of the marquis of tweeddale, when she caught the fancy of the elder, son and heir of the duke of wellington. in this case beauty was not unadorned, for the lovely marchioness, [footnote: her likeness is familiar to many people in an engraving from a well-known picture of the duke of wellington showing his daughter-in-law the field of waterloo] the greek mould of whose head attracted the admiration of all judges, was said to wear jewels to the value of sixty thousand pounds, while the superb point-lace flounce to her white brocade must have been a source of pious horror to good roman catholics, since it was believed to have belonged to the sacred vestments of a pope. we have said that lace and jewels gave the distinguishing stamp to the ball--such lace!--point d'alençon, point de bayeux, point de venise, point a l'aiguille, mechlin, guipure, valenciennes, chantilly, enough to have turned green with envy the soul of a cultured _petit- maître_, an aesthetic fop of the present day. some of the jewels, no less than the lace, were historical. the marchioness of westminster, besides displaying _sabots_ of point- lace, which had belonged to caroline, queen of george ii., wore the nassuk and arcot diamonds. miss burdett-coutts wore a lustrous diadem and necklace that had once graced the brow and throat of poor marie antoinette, and had found their way at last into jewel-cases no longer royal, owing their glittering contents to the wealth of a great city banker. a word about the antiquated finery of the iron duke, with which the old soldier sought to please his young mistress. it provoked a smile or two from the more frivolous as the grey, gaunt, spindle-shanked old man stalked by, yet it was not without its pathetic side. the duke wore a scarlet coat, a tight fit, laced with gold, with splendid gold buttons and frogs, the brilliant star of the order of the garter, and the order of the golden fleece, a waistcoat of scarlet cashmere covered with gold lace, breeches of scarlet kerseymere trimmed with gold lace; gold buckles, white silk stockings, cocked hat laced with gold, sword studded with rose diamonds and emeralds. it is nearly forty years since these resplendent masquers trod the floors of buckingham palace, and if the changes which time has brought about had been foreseen, if the veil which shrouds the future had been lifted, what emotions would have been called forth! who could have borne to hear that the bright queen and giver of the fete would pass the years of her prime in the mournful shade of disconsolate widowhood? that the pale crown of a premature death was hovering over the head of him who was the life of her life, the active promoter and sustainer of all that was good and joyous in that great household, all that was great and happy in the kingdom over which she ruled? who would have ventured to prophesy that of the royal kindred and cherished guests, the prince of leiningen was to die a landless man, the duc de nemours to spend long years in exile, the duchesse to be cut down in the flower of her womanhood? who would have guessed that this great nobleman, the head of an ancient house, was to perish by a miserable accident in a foreign hotel; that his sister, the wife of an unfortunate statesman, was to be dragged through the mire of a divorce court; that the treasures of a princely home were to pass away from the race that had accumulated them, under the strokes of an auctioneer's hammer? who could have dreamt that this fine intellect and loving heart would follow the lord of their destiny to hades, and wander there for evermore distracted, in the land of shadows, where there is no light of the sun to show the way, no firm ground to stay the tottering feet and groping hands? as for these two fair sisters in watteau style of blue and pink, and green and pink taffetas, lace, and pearls, and roses--surely the daintiest, most aristocratic shepherdesses ever beheld--one of them would have lost her graceful equanimity, reddened with affront, and tingled to the finger-tips with angry unbelief if she had been warned beforehand that she would be amongst the last of the high-born, high-bred brides who would forfeit her birthright and her presence at a queen's court by agreeing to be married at the hands of a blacksmith instead of a bishop, before the rude hymeneal altar at gretna. but to-night there was no alarming interlude, like a herald of evil, to shake the nerves of the company--nothing more unpropitious than the _contretemps_ to an unlucky lady of being overcome by the heat and seized with a fainting-fit, which caused her over-zealous supporters to remove her luxuriant powdered wig in order to give her greater air and coolness, so that she was fain, the moment she recovered, to hide her diminished head by a rapid discomfited retreat from what remained of the revelry. on the st of june the queen and the prince, with the lords of the admiralty, inspected the fleet off spithead. the royal yacht was attended by a crowd of yachts belonging to the various squadrons, a throng of steamboats and countless small boats. the queen visited and went over the flagship--which was the _st. vincent_--the _trafalgar_, and the _albion_. on her return to the yacht she held a levee of all the captains of the fleet. a few days afterwards she reviewed her fleet in brilliant, breezy weather. the royal yacht took up its position at spithead, and successive signals were given to the squadron to "lower sail," "make sail," "shorten sail and reef," and "furl topgallant sails," all the manoeuvres--including the getting under way and sailing in line to st. helen's--being performed with the very perfection of nautical accuracy. the review ended with the order, "furl sails, put the life-lines on, and man yards," which was done as only english sailors can accomplish the feat, while the royal yacht on its return passed through the squadron amidst ringing cheers. during the earlier part of the summer sir john franklin sailed with his ships, the _erebus_ and _terror_, in search of that north pole which, since the days of sir hugh montgomery, "a captain tall," has been at once the goal and snare of many a gallant english sailor. the good ships disappeared under the horizon, never to reach their haven. by slow degrees oblivion, more or less profound, closed over the fate of officers and men, while, for lack of knowledge of their life or death, the light of many a hearth was darkened, and faithful hearts sickened with hope deferred and broke under the strain. as one instance, out of many, of the desolation which the silent loss of the gallant expedition occasioned, sorrow descended heavily on one of the happy highland homes among which the queen had dwelt the previous summer. captain, afterwards lord james, murray, brother of lord glenlyon, was married to miss fairholme, sister of one of the picked men of whom the explorers were composed. when no tidings of him came, year after year, from the land of mist and darkness, pining melancholy seized upon her and made her its prey. in the month of july the king of the netherlands, who, as prince of orange, had served on the duke of wellington's staff at the close of the peninsular war, came to england and took up his quarters at mivart's hotel, the queen being in the isle of wight, where he joined her. prince albert met the king at gosport and escorted him to osborne. on his return to london the king, who was already a general in the english army, received his appointment as field-marshal, and reviewed the household troops in hyde park. he paid a second visit to the queen at osborne before he left woolwich for holland. a curious accident happened when the queen prorogued parliament on the th of august. the duke of argyle, an elderly man, was carrying the crown on a velvet cushion, when, in walking backwards before the queen, he appeared to forget the two steps, leading from the platform on which the throne stands to the floor, and stumbled, the crown slipping from the cushion and falling to the ground, with the loss of some diamonds. the queen expressed her concern for the duke instead of for the crown; but on her departure the keeper of the house of lords appeared in front of the throne, and prevented too near an approach to it, with the chance of further damage to the dropped jewels. the misadventure was naturally the subject of a good deal of private conversation in the house. chapter iii. the queen's first visit to germany. on the evening of the day that she prorogued parliament, the queen and the prince with the earl of aberdeen as the minister in attendance, started from buckingham palace that she might pay her first visit to germany. surely none of all the new places she had visited within the last few years could have been of such surpassing interest to the traveller. it was her mother's country as well as her husband's, the home of her brother and sister, the place of which she must have heard, with which she must have had the kindliest associations from her earliest years. the first stage of the journey--in stormy weather, unfortunately--was to antwerp, where the party did not land till the following day, when they proceeded to malines, where they were met by king leopold and queen louise, who parted from their royal niece at verviers. on the prussian frontier lord westmoreland, the english ambassador, and baron bunsen met her majesty. "to hear the people speak german," she wrote in her journal, "to see the german soldiers, seemed to me so singular. i overheard people saying that i looked very english." at aix-la-chapelle the king and prince of prussia received the visitors and accompanied them to cologne. the ancient dirty town of the three kings gave the strangers an enthusiastic reception. the burghers even did their best to get rid of the unsavoury odours which distinguish the town of sweet essences, by pouring eau-de-cologne on the roadways. at bruhl the queen and the prince were taken to the palace, where they found the queen of prussia, whose hostility to english and devotion to russian interests when lord bloomfield represented the english government at berlin, are recorded by lady bloomfield. with the queen was her sister-in-law, the princess of prussia, and the court. the party went into one of the _salons_ to hear the famous tatoo played by four hundred musicians, in the middle of an illumination by means of torches and coloured lamps. the queen was reminded that she was in a land of music by hearing at a concert, in which sixty regimental bands assisted, "god save the queen" better played than she had ever heard it before. "we felt so strange to be in germany at last," repeats her majesty, dwelling on the pleasant sensation, "at bruhl, which albert said he used to go and visit from bonn." the next day the visitors went to bonn, accompanied by the king and queen of prussia. at the house of prince furstenberg many professors who had known prince albert were presented to the queen, "which interested me very much," the happy wife says simply. "they were greatly delighted to see albert and pleased to see me.... i felt as if i knew them all from albert having told me so much about them." the experience is known to many a bride whose husband takes her proudly to his old _alma mater_. the day was made yet more memorable by the unveiling of a statue to beethoven. but, by an unlucky _contretemps_, the royal party on the balcony found the back of the statue presented to their gaze. the _freischutzen_ fired a _feu-de-joie_. a chorale was sung. the people cheered and the band played a _dusch_--such a flourish of trumpets as is given in germany when a health is drunk. the travellers then went to the prince's "former little house." the queen writes, "it was such a pleasure for me to be able to see this house. we went all over it, and it is just as it was, in no way altered.... we went into the little bower in the garden, from which you have a beautiful view of the _kreuzberg_--a convent situated on the top of a hill. the _siebengebirge_ (seven mountains) you also see, but the view of them is a good deal built up." this visiting together the ground once so familiar to the prince formed an era in two lives. it was the fulfilment of a beautiful, brilliant expectation which had been half dim and vague when the ardent lad was a quiet, diligent student, living simply, almost frugally, like the other students at the university on the rhine, and his little cousin across the german ocean, from whom he had parted in the homely red-brick palace of kensington, had been proclaimed queen of a great country. the prospect of their union was still very uncertain in those days, and yet it must sometimes have crossed his mind as he built air-castles in the middle of his reading; or strolled with a comrade along those old-fashioned streets, among their population of "wild-looking students," with long fair hair, pipes between their lips, and the scars of many a sword-duel on forehead and cheek; or penetrated into the country, where the brown peasant women, "with curious caps and handkerchiefs," came bearing their burden of sticks from the forest, like figures in old fairy tales. he must have told himself that the time might come when something like the transformation of a fairy-tale would be effected on his account; the plain living and high-thinking and college discipline of bonn be exchanged for the dignity and influence of an english sovereign's consort. then, perhaps, he would bring his bride to the dear old "fatherland," and show her where he had dreamt about her among his books. at the banquet in the afternoon the accomplished king gave the queen's health in a speech fit for a poet. he referred to a word sweet alike to british and german hearts. thirty years before it had echoed on the heights of waterloo from british and german tongues, after days of hot and desperate fighting, to mark the glorious triumph of their brotherhood in arms. "now it resounds on the banks of our fair rhine, amidst the blessings of that peace which was the hallowed fruit of the great conflict. that word is 'victoria.' gentlemen, drink to the health of her majesty the queen of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, and to that of her august consort." "the queen," remarked bunsen, "bowed at the first word, but much lower at the second. her eyes brightened through tears, and as the king was taking his seat again, she rose and bent towards him and kissed his cheek, then took her seat again with a beaming countenance." after the four-o'clock dinner, the royal party returned to cologne, and from a steamer on the rhine saw, through a drizzle of rain which did not greatly mar the spectacle, a splendid display of fireworks and illumination of the town, in which the great cathedral "seemed to glow with fire." we quote a picturesque description of the striking scene. "the rhine was made one vast _feu-de-joie_. as darkness closed in, the dim city began to put forth buds of light. lines of twinkling brightness darted like liquid gold or silver from pile to pile, then by the bridge of boats across the river, up the masts of the shipping, and along the road on the opposite bank. rockets now shot from all parts of the horizon. the royal party embarked in a steamer at st. tremond and glided down by the river. as they passed the banks blazed with fireworks and musketry. at their approach the bridge glowed with redoubled light, and, opening, let the vessel pass to cologne, whose cathedral burst forth a building of light, every detail of the architecture being made out in delicately-coloured lamps--pinkish, with an underglow of orange. traversing in carriages the illuminated and vociferous city, the king and his companions returned by the railroad to bruhl." next morning there was a great concert at bonn--part of the beethoven festival, in which much fine music was given, but, oddly enough, not much of beethoven's, to her majesty's regret. the queen drove to the university--in the classrooms of which the prince had sat as a student--and saw more of the professors who had taught him, and of students similar to those who had been his class-fellows. then she went once more to cologne, and visited its glory, the cathedral, at that time unfinished, returning to bruhl to hail with delight the arrival of the king and queen of the belgians. "it seems like a dream to them and to me to see each other in germany," the queen wrote once more. the passages from her majesty's journal read as if she were pleased to congratulate herself on being at last with prince albert in his native country. the last day at cologne ended in another great concert, conducted by meyerbeer, for which he had composed a cantata in honour of the queen. jenny lind sang in the concert. it was her majesty's first opportunity of hearing the great singer, who, of all her sister singers, has most identified herself with england, and from her noble, womanly character and domestic virtues, endeared herself to english hearts. the tutelary genius of the river which is the germans' watchword was not able to procure the queen her weather for her sail on its green waters. rain fell or threatened for both of the days. not even the presence of three queens--of england, prussia, and belgium--two kings, a prince consort, an archduke, and a future emperor and empress, could propitiate the adverse barometer, or change the sulky face of the sky. between showers the queen had a glimpse of the romantic scenery, and perhaps ehrenbreitstein was most in character when the smoke from the firing of twenty thousand troops "brought home to the imagination the din and lurid splendours of a battle." the halt was made at schlossenfels, which included among its distinguished guests humboldt and prince metternich. next day the king and queen of prussia took leave of their visitors, still under heavy rain. the weather cleared afterwards for a time, however, and beautiful bingen, with the rest of the rhenish country, was seen in sunshine. the only inconvenience remaining was the thunder of cannons and rattle of muskets which every loyal village kept up. at mayence the queen was received by the governor, prince william of prussia, and the austrian commander, while the prussian and austrian troops, with their bands, gave a torchlight serenade before the hotel windows. on the rest-day which sunday secured, the queen saw the good nurse who had brought the royal pair into the world. her majesty had also her first introduction to one of her future sons-in-law--an unforeseen kinsman then--prince louis of hesse, whom she noticed as "a very fine boy of eight, nice, and full of intelligence." there were still long leagues to drive, posting, before coburg could be reached, and the party started from mayence in two travelling carriages as early as seven o'clock next morning. they went by frankfort to aschaffenburg, where they were met by bavarian troops and a representative of the king on their entrance into bavaria. through woodland scenery, and fields full of the stir of harvest, where a queenly woman did not relish the spectacle of her sister-women treated as beasts of burden, the travellers journeyed to wurzburg. there prince luitpold of bavaria met and welcomed them to a magnificent palace, where the luggage, which ought to have preceded the wearied travellers, was not forthcoming. another long day's driving, beginning at a little after six in the morning, would bring the party to coburg. by one o'clock they were at the old prince- bishop's stately town of bamberg. in the course of the afternoon the queen had changed horses for the last time in franconia. "i began," she wrote, "to feel greatly moved, agitated indeed, in coming near the coburg frontier. at length we saw flags and people drawn up in lines, and in a few minutes more were welcomed by ernest (the duke of coburg) in full uniform.... we got into an open carriage of ernest's with six horses, ernest sitting opposite to us." the rest of the scene was very german, quaintly picturesque and warm- hearted. "the good people were all dressed in their best, the women in pointed caps, with many petticoats, and the men in leather breeches. many girls were there with wreaths of flowers." a triumphal arch, a vice-land-director, to whose words of greeting the queen replied, his fellow-officials on either side, the people welcoming their prince and his queen in "a really hearty and friendly way." the couple drove to what had been the pretty little country house of their common grandmother, the late dowager-duchess of coburg, and found king leopold and queen louise awaiting them there. he also was an honoured son of coburg, pleased to be present on such a proud day for the little state. he and his queen took their places beside queen victoria and prince albert--ernest duke of coburg mounting on horseback and riding beside the carriage as its chief escort. in this order the procession, "which looked extremely pretty," was formed. at the entrance to the town there was another triumphal arch, beneath which the burgomaster addressed the royal couple. "on the other side stood a number of young girls dressed in white, with green wreaths and scarfs, who presented us with bouquets and verses." oh! what anxious, exciting, girlish rehearsals must have been gone through beforehand. "i cannot say how much i felt moved on entering this dear old place, and with difficulty i restrained my emotion. the beautifully- ornamented town, all bright with wreaths and flowers, the numbers of good affectionate people, the many recollections connected with the place--all was so affecting. in the platz, where the _rathhaus_ and _rigierungshaus_ are, which are fine and curious old houses, the clergy were assembled, and ober-superintendent genzler addressed us very kindly--a very young-looking man for his age, for he married mamma to my father, and christened and confirmed albert and ernest." neither was the motherly presence of her whose marriage vow the ober- superintendent had blessed, who had done so much to contribute to the triumph of this day, wanting to its complete realization of all that such a day should have been. the duchess of kent was already on a visit to her nephew, standing on the old threshold--once so well known to her--ready to help to welcome her daughter, prepared to show her the home and cherished haunts of her mother's youth. as the carriage drew up, young girls threw wreaths into it. beside the duchess of kent were the duchess and dowager-duchess of coburg, prince albert's sister-in-law and stepmother. the staircase was full of cousins. "it was an affecting but exquisite moment, which i shall never forget," declared the queen. but in the middle of the gratification of the son of the house who thus brought his true wife under its roof-tree, and of his satisfaction of being with her there, the faithful hearts did not forget the late sovereign and house-father who had hoped so eagerly to welcome them to the ancestral home. they were there, but his place was filled by another. at coburg and at rosenau, which had been one of the old duke's favourite resorts, his memory haunted his children. "every sound, every view, every step we take makes us think of him and feel an indescribable hopeless longing for him." by an affectionate, thoughtful provision for their perfect freedom and enjoyment, rosenau, prince albert's birthplace, was set apart for the queen and the prince's occupation on this very happy occasion when they visited coburg, and still it is the widowed queen's residence when she is dwelling in the neighbourhood. beautiful in itself among its woods and hills, it was doubly beautiful to both from its associations. the room in which the queen slept was that in which the prince had been born. "how happy, how joyful we were," the queen wrote, "on awaking to find ourselves here, at the dear rosenau, my albert's birthplace, the place he most loves.... he was so happy to be here with me. it is like a beautiful dream." fine chorales were sung below the window by some of the singers in the coburg theatre. before breakfast the prince carried off the queen to see the upper part of the house, which he and his brother had occupied when children. "it is quite in the roof, with a tiny little bedroom on each side, in one of which they both used to sleep with florschutz, their tutor. [footnote: the prince was then such a mere child that the tutor used to carry him in his arms up and down stairs. one is reminded of the old custom of appointing noble governors for royal children of the tenderest years, and of the gracious pathetic relations which sometimes existed between bearded knights and infant kings. such was the case where sir david lindsay of the mount and little king james v. were concerned, when the pupil would entreat the master for a song on the lute with childish peremptoriness, "p'ay, davie lindsay, p'ay!"] the view is beautiful, and the paper is still full of holes from their fencing; and the very same table is there on which they were dressed when little." the days were too short for all that was to be seen and done. the first day there was a visit to the fortress overhanging the town, which looks as far away as the sea of trees, the thuringerwald. it has luther's room, with his chair and part of his bed. in the evening the queen went to the perfect little german theatre, where meyerbeer's _huguenots_ was given, and the audience sang "god save the queen" to german words. the next day the visitors drove to kalenberg, another of the duke's seats. in the evening they held a reception at the palace, when not only those persons who had the magic prefix _von_ to their names were admitted, but deputations of citizens, merchants, and artisans were presented, the queen praising their good manners afterwards. the following day was the feast of st. gregorius, the children's festival, in which thirteen hundred children walked in procession through coburg, some in fancy dresses, most of the girls in white and green. three girls came up to the palace balcony and sang a song in honour of the queen. then great and small repaired to the meadow-- fortunately the fine weather had set in--where there were tents decorated with flowers, in which the royal party dined, while the band played and the children danced "so nicely and merrily, waltzes, polkas, and it was the prettiest thing i ever saw," declared the queen. "her majesty talked to the children, to their great astonishment, in their own language. tired of dancing and processions, and freed from all awe by the ease of the illustrious visitors, the children took to romps, 'thread my needle,' and other pastimes, and finally were well pelted by the royal circle with bon-bons, flowers and cakes" is the report of another observer. the day ended with a great ball at the palace. the next day was spent more quietly in going over old favourite haunts, among them the cabinet or collection of curiosities, stuffed birds, fossils, autographs, &c., which had been formed partly by the princes when boys. prince albert continued to take the greatest interest in it, and had made the queen a contributor to its treasures. at dinner the queen tasted _bratürste_ (roasted sausages), the national dish of coburg, and pronounced it excellent, with its accompaniment of native beer. a royal neighbour, queen adelaide's brother, the duke of saxe-meiningen, joined the party at dinner, and the company witnessed the performance of schiller's _bride of messina_ at the theatre. on sunday the august weather was so hot that the queen and the prince breakfasted for the second time out of doors. in the course of the morning they drove over with duke ernest and the duchess to st. moritz kirche--equivalent to the cathedral of the town. the clergy received the party at the door of the church, and the ober-superintendent genzler made a brief oration "expressive of his joy at receiving the great christian queen who was descended from their saxon dukes, who were the first reformers, and at the doors of the church where the reformation was first preached." the queen describes the service as like the scotch presbyterian form, only with more ceremony and more singing. the last impressed her deeply. the pastor preached a fine sermon. the afternoon's drive led through scenery which, especially in its pine woods, resembled the scotch highlands, and ended in the _thiergarten_, where the duke reared his wild boars. "i cannot think," the queen wrote longingly, "of going away from here. i count the hours, for i have a feeling here which i cannot describe-- a feeling as if my childhood also had been spent here." no wonder; coburg was home to her, like her native air or her mother tongue; she must have learnt to know it at her mother's knee. her husband's experience was added to the earlier recollection of every salient point, every _haus-mahrchen_; and never were husband and wife more in sympathy than the two who now snatched a short season of delight from a sojourn in the cradle of their race. another brilliant sunshiny day--which the brother princes spent together reviving old associations in the town, while the queen sketched at rosenau--closed with the last visit to the theatre, when the people again sang "god save the queen," adding to it some pretty farewell verses. the last day which the queen passed in coburg was, by a happy circumstance, the prince's birthday--the first he had spent at rosenau since he was a lad of fifteen, and, in spite of all changes, the day dawned full of quiet gladness. "to celebrate this dear day in my beloved husband's country and birthplace is more than i ever hoped for," wrote her majesty, "and i am so thankful for it; i wished him joy so warmly when the singers sang as they did the other morning." the numberless gifts had been arranged by no other hands than those of the queen and the prince's brother and sister-in-law on a table "dressed with flowers."' peasants came in gala dress, [footnote: the queen admired greatly many of the peasant costumes, often as serviceable and durable as they were becoming, which she saw in germany. she expressed the regret so often uttered by english travellers that english labourers and workers at handicrafts, in place of retaining a dress of their own, have long ago adopted a tawdry version of the fashions of the upper classes. unfortunately the practice is fast becoming universal.] with flowers, music, and dancing to offer their good wishes. in the afternoon all was quiet again, and the queen and the prince took their last walk together, for many a day, at rosenau, down into the hayfields where the friendly people exchanged greetings with them, drank the crystal clear water from the stream, and looked at the fortifications which two princely boys had dug and built, as partly lessons, partly play. the next day at half-past eight the travellers left "with heavy hearts," measuring the fateful years which were likely to elapse before coburg was seen again. the pain of parting was lessened by the presence of the duke and duchess of coburg, who accompanied their guests to the duke's other domain of gotha. the way led through queen adelaide's country of meiningen, and at every halting-place clergymen with addresses more or less discursive, and "white and green young ladies," literally bombarded the travellers with speeches, flowers, and poems. at last the duke of coburg's territory was again entered after it was dark; and the party reached the lovely castellated country-seat of reinhardtsbrunn, amidst forest and mountain scenery, with its lake in front of the house, set down in the centre of a mining population that came up in quaint costumes, with flaming torches, to walk in procession past the windows. the queen was charmed with reinhardtsbrunn, and would fain have lingered there, but time pressed, and she was expected in the course of the next afternoon at gotha, on a visit to the prince's aged grandmother who had helped to bring him up, and was so fondly attached to her former charge. the old lady at seventy-four years of age anticipated the visit. she travelled the distance of eight miles before breakfast, in order to take her grandchildren by surprise. "i hastened to her," is the queen's account, "and found albert and ernest with her. she is a charming old lady, and though very small, remarkably nice-looking, erect and active, but unfortunately very deaf.... she was so happy to see us, and kissed me over and over again. albert, who is the dearest being to her in the world, she was enraptured to see again, and kissed so kindly. it did one's heart good to see her joy." in the afternoon the travellers proceeded to gotha, which was in a state of festival and crowded with people. the queen and the prince resided at the old duchess's house of friedrichsthal, where the greatest preparations, including the hanging of all her pictures in their rooms, had been made for them. the first visit they paid in gotha was a solemn one, to the chapel which formed the temporary resting-place of the body of the late duke, till it could be removed to its vault in coburg. then the rooms in which the father had died were visited. these were almost equally melancholy, left as they had been, unchanged, with the wreaths that had decorated the room for his last birthday still there; "and there is that sad clock which stopped just before he died." who that has seen in germany these faded wreaths, with their crushed, soiled streamers of white riband, can forget the desolate aspect which they lend to any room in which they are preserved! there was a cabinet or museum here, too, to inspect, and the curious old spectacle of the popinjay to be witnessed, in company with the grand duke of weimar and his son. this kind of shooting was harmless enough, for the object aimed at was a wooden bird on a pole. the riflemen, led by the rifle-king (_schutzen-konig_), the public officials, and deputations of peasants marched past the platform where the queen stood, like a pageant of the middle ages. all the princes, including king leopold, fired, but none brought down the bird; that feat was left for some humbler hero. on the queen's return from the popinjay she had the happiness to meet baroness lehzen, her old governess, who had come from buckeburg to see her majesty. during the next few days the old friends were often together, and the queen speaks with pleasure of the baroness's "unchanged devotion," only she was quieter than formerly. it must have appeared like another dream to both, that "the little princess" of kensington, travelling with her husband, should greet her old governess, and tell her, under the shadow of the great thuringerwald, of the four children left behind in england. the next day the forest itself was entered, when "the bright blue sky, the heavenly air, the exquisite tints," gave a crowning charm to its beauties. the road lay through green glades which occasionally commanded views so remote as those of the hartz mountains, to _jagersruh_, a hunting-lodge on a height "among stately firs that look like cedars." here the late duke had excited all his skill and taste to make a hunter's paradise, which awoke again the regretful thought, "how it would have pleased him to have shown all this himself to those he loved so dearly!" but _jagersruh_ was not the goal of the excursion; it was a "deer-drive" or battue, which in germany at least can be classed as "a relic of mediaeval barbarism." a considerable space in the forest was cleared and enclosed with canvas. in the centre of this enclosure was a pavilion open at the sides, made of branches of fir-trees, and decorated with berries, heather, and forest flowers; in short, a sylvan bower provided for the principal company, outside a table furnished with powder and shot supplied a station for less privileged persons, including the chasseurs or huntsmen of the duke, in green and gold uniforms. easy-chairs were placed in the pavilion for the queen, the queen of the belgians, and the duchess alexandrina, while prince albert, king leopold, the prince of leiningen, and duke ferdinand of saxe-coburg, the prince's uncle, stood by the ladies. stags to the number of upwards of thirty, and other game, were driven into the enclosure, and between the performances of a band which played at intervals, the gentlemen loaded their rifles, and fired at the helpless prey in the presence of the ladies. her majesty records in her journal, "as for the sport itself, none of the gentlemen like this butchery." she turns quickly from the piteous slaughter to the beautiful, peaceful scenery. a quiet sunday was spent at gotha. monday was the _lieder fest_, or festival of song, to which, on this occasion, not only the townspeople and villagers from all the neighbouring towns and villages came with their banners and bands, but every small royalty from far and near flocked to meet the queen of england. these innumerable cousins repaired with the queen to the park opposite the schloss, and shared in the festival. the orchestra, composed of many hundreds of singers, was opposite the pavilion erected for the distinguished visitors. among the fine songs, rendered as only germans could render them, songs composed by prince albert and his brother, and songs written for the day, were sung. afterwards there was a state dinner and a ball. the last day had come, with its inevitable sadness. "i can't--won't think of it," wrote the queen, referring to her approaching departure. she drove and walked, and, with her brother-in-law and his duchess, was ferried over to the "island of graves," the burial-place of the old dukes of gotha when the duchy was distinct from that of coburg. an ancient gardener pointed out to the visitors that only one more flower-covered grave was wanted to make the number complete. when the duchess of gotha should be laid to rest with her late husband and his fathers, then the house of gotha, in its separate existence, would have passed away. one more drive through the hayfields and the noble fir-trees to the vast thuringerwald, and, "with many a longing, lingering look at the pine-clad mountains," the queen and the prince turned back to attend a ball given in their honour by the townspeople in the theatre. on the following day the homeward journey was begun. after partings, rendered still more sorrowful by the fact that the age of the cherished grandmother of the delightful "dear" family party rendered it not very probable that she, for one, would see all her children round her again, the duke and duchess of coburg went one stage with the travellers, and then there was another reluctant if less painful parting. the queen and the prince stopped at the quaint little town of eisenach, which helen of orleans was yet to make her home. they were received by the grand duke and hereditary duchess of saxe-weimar, with whom the strangers drove through the autumn woods to the famous old fortress of the wartburg, which, in its time, dealt a deadly blow to roman catholicism by sheltering, in the hour of need, the protestant champion, luther. like the good protestants her majesty and the prince were, they went to see the great reformer's room, and looked at the ink-splash on the wall--the mark of his conflict with the devil--the stove at which he warmed himself, the rude table at which he wrote and ate, and above all, the glorious view over the myriads of tree-tops with which he must have refreshed his steadfast soul. but if luther is the hero of the wartburg, there is also a heroine--the central figure of that "saint's tragedy" which charles kingsley was to give to the world in the course of the next two or three years--st. elizabeth of thuringia, the tenderest, bravest, most tortured soul that ever received the doubtful gain of canonization. there is the well by which she is said to have ministered to her sick poor, half-way up the ascent to the wartburg, and down in the little town nestling below, may be seen the remains of an hospital bearing her name. from fulda, where the royal party slept, they journeyed to goethe's town of frankfort, where ludwig i., who turned munich into a great picture and sculpture gallery, and built the costly valhalla to commemorate the illustrious german dead, dined with her majesty. at biberich the rhine was again hailed, and a steamer, waiting for the travellers, carried them to bingen, where their own little vessel, _the fairy_, met and brought them on to deutz, on the farther side from cologne. the queen says naively that the rhine had lost its charm for them all--the excitement of novelty was gone, and the thuringerwald had spoilt them. stolzenfels, ehrenbreitstein, and the sieben-gebirge had their words of praise, but sight-seeing had become for the present a weariness, and after bonn, with its memories, had been left behind, it was a rest to the royal travellers--as to most other travellers at times--to turn away their jaded eyes, relinquish the duty of alert observation, forget what was passing around them, and lose themselves in a book, as if they were in england. perhaps the home letters had awakened a little home-sickness in the couple who had been absent for a month. at least, we are given to understand that it was of home and children the queen and the prince were chiefly thinking when they reached antwerp, to which the king and queen of the belgians had preceded them, and re-embarked in the royal yacht _victoria and albert_, though it was not at once to sail for english waters. in gracious compliance with an urgent entreaty of louis philippe's, the yacht was to call, as it were in passing, at tréport. on the morning of the th of september the queen's yacht again lay at anchor off the french seaport. the king's barge, with the king, his son, and son-in-law, prince joinville, and prince augustus of saxe- coburg, and m. guizot, once more came alongside. after the friendliest greetings, the queen and prince albert landed with their host, though not without difficulty. the tide would not admit of the ordinary manner of landing, and louis philippe in the dilemma fell back on a bathing-machine, which dragged the party successfully if somewhat unceremoniously over the sands. the queen of the french was there as before, accompanied among others by her brother, the prince of salerno and his princess, sister to the emperor of austria. the crowd cheered as loudly as ever; there seemed no cloud on the horizon that bright, hot day; even the plague of too much publicity and formality had been got rid of at château d'eu. the queen was delighted to renew her intercourse with the large, bright family circle--two of them her relations and fast friends. "it put me so much in mind of two years ago," she declared, "that it was really as if we had never been away;" and the king had to show her his _galerie victoria_, a room fitted up in her honour, hung with the pictures illustrating her former visit and the king's return visit to windsor. although she had impressed on him that she wished as much as possible to dispense with state and show on this occasion, the indefatigable old man had been at the trouble and expense of erecting a theatre, and bringing down from paris the whole of the opéra comique to play before her, and thus increase the gaiety of the single evening of her stay. only another day was granted to château d'eu. by the next sunset the king was conducting his guests on board the royal yacht and seizing the last opportunity, when prince albert was taking prince joinville over the _fairy_, glibly to assure the queen and lord aberdeen that he, louis philippe, would never consent to montpensier's marriage to the infanta of spain till her sister the queen was married and had children. at parting the king embraced her majesty again and again. the yacht lay still, and there was the most beautiful moonlight reflected on the water. the queen and the prince walked up and down the deck, while not they alone, but the astute statesman aberdeen, congratulated themselves on how well this little visit had prospered, in addition to the complete success of the german tour. with the sea like a lake, and sky and sea of the deepest blue, in the early morning the yacht weighed anchor for england. under the hot haze of an autumn noonday sun the royal travellers disembarked on the familiar beach at osborne. the dearest of welcomes greeted them as they "drove up straight to the house, for there, looking like roses, so well and so fat, stood the four children." the queen referred afterwards to that visit to germany as to one of the happiest times in her life. she said when she thought of it, it made her inclined to cry, so pure and tender had been the pleasure. chapter iv. railway speculation--failure of the potato crop--sir robert peel's resolutions--birth of princess helena--visit of ibrahim pasha. one thousand eight hundred and forty-five had begun with what appeared a fresh impetus to national prosperity--a new start full of life and vigour, by which the whole resources of the country should be at once stirred up and rendered ten times more available than they had ever been before. this was known afterwards as "the railway mania," which, like other manias, if they are not mere fever-fits of speculation, but are founded on real and tangible gains, had its eager hopeful rise, its inflated disproportioned exaggeration, its disastrous collapse, its gradual recovery, and eventually its solid reasonable success. in the movement was hurrying on to the second stage of its history. the great man of was hudson the railway speculator, "the railway king." fabulous wealth was attributed to him; immense power for the hour was his. a seat in parliament, entrance into aristocratic circles, were trifles in comparison. we can remember hearing of a great london dinner at which the lions were the gifted prince, the husband of the queen, and the distorted shadow of george stephenson, the bourgeois creator of a network of railway lines, a bourse of railway shares; the winner, as it was then supposed, of a huge fortune. it was said that prince albert himself had felt some curiosity to see this man and hear him speak, and that their encounter on this occasion was prearranged and not accidental. the autumn of revealed another side to the country's history. the rainy weather in the summer brought to sudden hideous maturity the lurking potato disease. any one who recalls the time and the aspect of the fields must retain a vivid recollection of the sudden blight that fell upon acres on acres of what had formerly been luxuriant vegetation, under the sunshine which came late only to complete the work of destruction; the withering and blackening of the leaves of the plant, the sickening foetid odour of the decaying bulbs, which tainted the heavy air for miles; the dismay that filled the minds of the people, who, in the days of dear corn, had learnt more and more to depend upon the cultivation of potatoes, to whom their failure meant ruin and starvation. this was especially the case in ireland and the highlands of scotland, where the year closed in gloom and apprehension; famine stalked abroad, and doles of indian corn administered by government in addition to the alms of the charitable, alone kept body and soul together in fever-stricken multitudes. about this time also, like another feature of the spirit of adventure which sent franklin to the north pole, and operated to a certain extent in the flush of railway enterprise, england was talking half chivalrously, half commercially, and alas! more than half sceptically, of brook and borneo, and the new attempt to establish civilization and herald christianity under english influence in the far seas. all these conflicting elements of new history were felt in the palace as in other dwellings, and made part of queen victoria's life in those days. a great statesman closed his eyes on this changing world. earl grey, who had been in the front in advocating change in his time, died. a brave soldier fell in the last of his battles. sir robert sale, who had been the guest of his queen a year before, having returned to india and rejoined the army of the sutlej on fresh disturbances breaking out in the punjab, was killed at the battle of moodkee. something of the wit and humour of the country was quenched or undergoing a transformation and passing into other hands. two famous english humorists, sydney smith and tom hood the elder, went over to the great majority. by the close of it had become clear that a change in the corn laws was impending. in the circumstances sir robert peel, who, though he had been for some time approaching the conclusion, was not prepared to take immediate steps--who was, indeed, the representative of the conservative party--resigned office. lord john russell, the great whig leader, was called upon by the queen to summon a new ministry; but in consequence of difficulties with those who were to have been his colleagues, lord john was compelled to announce himself unable to form a cabinet, and sir robert peel, at the queen's request, resumed office, conscious that he had to face one of the hardest tasks ever offered to a statesman. he had to encounter "the coolness of former friends, the grudging support of unwilling adherents, the rancour of disappointed political antagonists." in february, , the royal family spent a week at osborne, glad to escape from the strife of tongues and the violent political contention which they could do nothing to quell. the prince was happy, "out all day," directing the building which was going on, and laying out the grounds of his new house; and the queen was happy in her husband and children's happiness. during this short absence sir robert peel's resolutions were carried, and his corn bill, which was virtually the repeal of the corn laws, passed. he had only to await the consequences. in the middle of the political excitement a single human tragedy, which sir robert peel did something to prevent, reached its climax. benjamin haydon, the painter, the ardent advocate, both by principle and practice, of high art, took his life, driven to despair by his failure in worldly success--especially by the ill-success of his cartoons at the exhibition in westminster hall. on the th of may a third princess was born, and on the th of june sir robert peel's old allies, the tories, who had but bided their time for revenge, while his new whig associates looked coldly on him, conspired to defeat him in a government measure to check assassination in ireland, so that he had no choice save to resign. he had sacrificed himself as well as his party for what he conceived to be the good of the nation. his reign of power was at an end; but for the moment, at least, he was thankful. to lord john russell, who was more successful than on an earlier occasion, the task of forming a new ministry was intrusted. the parting from her late ministers, on the th of july, was a trial to the queen, as the same experience had been previously. "yesterday," her majesty wrote to king leopold, "was a very hard day for me. i had to part from sir robert peel and lord aberdeen, who are irreparable losses to us and to the country. they were both so much overcome that it quite upset me. we have in them two devoted friends. we felt so safe with them. never during the five years that they were with me did they ever recommend a person or a thing that was not for my or the country's best, and never for the party's advantage _only_.... i cannot tell you how sad i am to lose aberdeen; you cannot think what a delightful companion he was. the breaking up of all this intercourse during our journeys is deplorable." in the separation the queen turned naturally to a nearer and dearer friend, whom only death could remove from her. "albert's use to me, and i may say to the country, by his firmness and sagacity in these moments of trial, is beyond all belief." and beyond all gainsaying must have been the deep satisfaction with which the uncle, who was like a father, heard the repeated assurance of how successful had been his work--what a blessing had rested upon it. here is a note of exultation on the political changes from the opposite side of the house. lord campbell wrote: "the transfer of the ministerial offices took place at buckingham palace on the th of july. i ought to have been satisfied, for i received two seals, one for the duchy of lancaster and one for the county palatine of lancaster. my ignorance of the double honour which awaited me caused an awkward accident, for, when the queen put two velvet bags into my hand, i grasped one only, and the other with its heavy weight fell down on the floor, and might have bruised the royal toes, but prince albert good-naturedly picked it up and restored it to me." in july the court again paid a short visit to osborne, that the queen's health might be recruited before the baptism of the little princess. her majesty earnestly desired that the queen of the belgians might be present, as the baby was to be the godchild of the young widow of queen louise's much-loved brother, the late duc d'orleans. unfortunately the wish could not be fulfilled. the child was christened at buckingham palace. she received the names of "helena augusta victoria." her sponsors were the duchesse d'orleans, represented by the duchess of kent; the duchess of cambridge; and the hereditary grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz. the illustration represents the charming little princess at rather a more advanced age. at the end of july prince albert was away from home for a few days. he visited liverpool, which he had greatly wished to see, in order to lay the foundation-stone of a sailors' home and open the albert dock. in the middle of the bustle and enthusiasm of his reception he wrote to the queen: "i write hoping these lines, which go by the evening post, may reach you by breakfast time to-morrow. as i write you will be making your evening toilette, and not be ready in time for dinner. [footnote: the queen dressed quickly, but sometimes she relied too much on her powers in this respect, and failed in her wonted punctuality.] i must set about the same task and not, let me hope, with the same result. i cannot get it into my head that there are two hundred and fifty miles between us.... i must conclude and enclose, by way of close, two touching objects--a flower and a programme of the procession." the same day the queen wrote to baron stockmar: "i feel very lonely without my dear master; and though i know other people are often separated for a few days, i feel habit could not make me get accustomed to it. this i am sure you cannot blame. without him everything loses its interest.... it will always be a terrible pang for me to separate from him even for two days." then she added with a ring of foreboding, "and i pray god never to let me survive him." she concluded with the true woman's proud assertion, "i glory in his being seen and heard." chapter v. autumn yachting excursions--the spanish marriages--winter visits. in the beginning of august the queen and the prince, accompanied by the king and queen of the belgians, went again to osborne. this autumn the queen, the prince and their two elder children, made pleasant yachting excursions, of about a week's duration each, to old admired scenes and new places. in one of these baron stockmar was with them, since he had come to england for a year's visit. he expressed himself as much gratified by the prince's interest and judgment in politics, and his opinion of the queen was more favourable than ever. "the queen improves greatly," he noted down as the fruits of his keen observation, "and she makes daily advances in discernment and experience. the candour, the tone of truth, the fairness, the considerateness with which she judges men and things, are truly delightful; and the ingenuous self-knowledge with which she speaks of herself is simply charming." the yachting excursions included babbicombe, with the red rocks and wooded hills, which gave the queen an idea of italy, where she had never been, "or rather of a ballet or play where nymphs are to appear;" and torbay, where william of orange landed. it was perhaps in reference to that event that her majesty made her little daughter "read in her english history." it seems to have been the queen's habit, in these yachting excursions, to take upon herself a part, at least, of the princess royal's education. "beautiful dartmouth" recalled--it might be all the more, because of the rain that fell there--the rhine with its ruined castles and its lurlei. plymouth harbour and the shore where the pines grew down to the sea, led again to mount edgcumbe, always lovely. but first the queen and the prince steamed up the st. germans and the tamar rivers, passing trematon castle, which belonged to the little duke of cornwall, and penetrated by many windings of the stream into lake-like regions surrounded by woods and abounding in mines, which made the prince think of some parts of the danube. the visitors landed at cothele, and drove up to a fine old house unchanged since henry vii.'s time. when they returned in the _fairy_ to the yacht proper, they found it in the centre of a shoal of boats, as it had been the last time it sailed in these waters. prince albert made an excursion to dartmoor, and could have believed he was in scotland, while her majesty contented herself with another visit to mount edgcumbe, the master of which, a great invalid, yet contrived to meet her near the landing-place at which his wife and sons, with other members of the family, had received the royal visitor. the drowsy heat and the golden haze were in keeping with the romantically luxuriant glories of the drive, which the queen took with her children and her hostess. the little people went in to luncheon while the queen sketched. after prince albert's return in the afternoon, the visit was repeated. "the finest and tallest chestnut-trees in existence," and the particularly tall and straight birch-trees, were inspected, and sir joshua reynolds's portraits examined. well might they flourish at mount edgcumbe, since plymouth was sir joshua's native town, and some of the edgcumbe family were among his first patrons, when english art stood greatly in need of such patronage. the next excursion was an impromptu run in lovely weather to guernsey, which had not been visited by an english sovereign since the days of king john. the rocky bays, the neighbouring islands, the half-foreign town of st. pierre, with "very high, bright-coloured houses," illuminated at night, pleased her majesty greatly. on the visitors landing they were met by ladies dressed in white singing "god save the queen," and strewing the path with flowers. general napier, a white- haired soldier, received the queen and presented her with the keys of the fort. the narrow streets through which she drove were "decorated with flowers and flags, and lined with the guernsey militia." the country beyond, of which she had a glimpse, was crowned with fine vegetation. whether or not it was to prevent jersey, with st. helier's, from feeling jealous, ten days later the queen and the prince, the prince of wales, and the princess royal, the usual suite, lord spencer, and lord palmerston, set out on a companion trip to the sister island. the weather was colder and the sea not so calm. indeed, the rolling of the vessel in alderney race was more than the voyagers had bargained for. after it became smoother the little prince of wales put on a sailor's dress made by a tailor on board, and great was the jubilation of the jack tars of every degree. the whole picturesque coast of jersey was circumnavigated in order to reach st. helier's, which was gained when the red rocks were gilded with the setting sun. a little later the yacht was hauled up under the glow of bonfires and an illumination. on a splendid september day, which lent to the very colouring a resemblance to naples, the queen passed between the twin towers of noirmont point and st. aubin, and approached elizabeth castle, with the town of st. helier's behind it. the queen landed amidst the firing of guns, the playing of military bands, and the roar of cheers, the ladies of the place, as before, strewing her path with flowers, and marshalling her to a canopy, under which her majesty received the address of the states and the militia. the demonstrations were on a larger and more finished scale than in guernsey, greater time having been given for preparation. the french tongue around her arrested the queen's attention. so did a seat in one of the streets filled with french women from granville, "curiously dressed, with white handkerchiefs on their heads." the queen drove through the green island, admiring its orchards without end, though the season of russet and rosy apples was past for jersey. the old tower of la hogue bie was seen, and the castle of mont orgueil was still more closely inspected, the queen walking up to it and visiting one of its batteries, with a view across the bay to the neighbouring coast of france. mont orgueil is said to have been occupied by robert of normandy, the unfortunate son of william the conqueror. her majesty heard that it had not yet been taken, but found this was an error, though it was true the island of guernsey had never been conquered. the close of the pleasant day was a little spoilt by the heat and glare, which sent the queen ill to her cabin. the next day saw the party bound for falmouth, where they arrived under a beautiful moon, with the sea smooth as glass--not an unacceptable change from the rolling swell of the first part of the little voyage. something unexpected and unwelcome had happened before the close of the excursion, while the french coast which the queen had hailed with so much pleasure was still full in sight. whether the news which arrived with the other dispatches had anything to do with the fit of indisposition that rendered the heat and glare unbearable, it certainly marred the enjoyment of the last part of her trip. before quitting jersey the queen was made acquainted with the fact that louis philippe's voluntary protestations with regard to the marriage of his son, the duc de montpensier, had been so many idle words. he had stolen a march both upon england and europe generally. the marriage of the due de montpensier with the infanta luisa of spain was announced simultaneously with the marriage of her sister, the queen of spain, to her cousin the due de cadiz. everybody knows at this date how futile were louis philippe's schemes for the aggrandisement of his family, and how he learnt by bitter experience, as louis xiv. had done before him, that a coveted spanish alliance, in the very fact of its attainment, meant disaster and humiliation for france. louis philippe had the grace, as we sometimes say, to shrink from writing to announce the double marriage against which he had so often solemnly pledged himself to the queen. he delegated the difficult task to queen amélie, who discharged it with as much tact as might have been expected from so devoted a wife and kind a woman. the queen of england's reply to this begging of the question is full of spirit and dignity:-- "osborne, september , . "madame,--i have just received your majesty's letter of the th, and i hasten to thank you for it. you will, perhaps remember what passed at eu between the king and myself. you are aware of the importance which i have always attached to the maintenance of our cordial understanding, and the zeal with which i have laboured towards this end. you have no doubt been informed that we refused to arrange the marriage between the queen of spain and our cousin leopold (which the two queens [footnote: the reference is to the young queen of spain and her mother the queen-dowager christina.] had eagerly desired) solely with the object of not departing from a course which would be more agreeable to the king, although we could not regard the course as the best. [footnote: the confining of the queen of spain's selection of a husband to a bourbon prince, a descendant of philip v.] you will therefore easily understand that the sudden announcement of this double marriage could not fail to cause us surprise and very keen regret. "i crave your pardon, madame, for speaking to you of politics at a time like this, but i am glad that i can say for myself that i have always been _sincere_ with you. begging you to present my respectful regards to the king, i am, madame, your majesty's most devoted friend, "victoria." the last yachting excursion of the season was to cornwall. the usual party accompanied the queen and the prince, the elder children, and the ladies and gentlemen in waiting, her majesty managing, as before, to hear her little daughter repeat her lessons. lizard point and land's end were reached. at penzance prince albert landed to inspect the copper and serpentine-stone works, while the queen sketched from the deck of the _fairy_. as the cornish boats clustered round the yacht, and the prince of wales looked down with surprise on the half- outlandish boatmen, a loyal shout arose, "three cheers for the duke of cornwall." the romantic: region of st. michael's mount, dear to the lovers of arthurian legends, was visited, the queen climbing the circuitous path up the hill to enter the castle, the prince mounting to the tower where "st michael's chair," the rocky seat for betrothed couples, still tests their courage and endurance. each man and woman races up the difficult path, and the winner of the race who first sits down in the chair claims the right to rule the future home. the illustration from a painting by stanfield represents the imposing pile of the "old religious house" crowning the noble rock, the royal yacht lying off the shore commanding st. michael's mount, the numerous spectators on shore and in boats haunting the royal footsteps--in short, the whole scene in the freshness and stir which broke in upon its sombre romance. on sunday service was held under the awning with its curtains of flags, lord spencer--a captain in the navy--reading prayers "extremely well." on monday there was an excursion to the serpentine rocks, where caves and creeks, cormorants and gulls, lent their attractions to the spot. at penryn the corporation came on board, "very anxious to see the duke of cornwall." the queen makes a picture in writing of the quaint interview. "i stepped out of the pavilion on deck with bertie. lord palmerston told them that that was the duke of cornwall, and the old mayor of penryn said he hoped 'he would grow up a blessing to his parents and his country.'" the party were rowed up the beautiful rivers truro and tregony, between banks covered with stunted oaks or woods of a more varied kind down to the water's edge, past charming pools, creeks, and ferries, with long strings of boats on the water and carts on the shore, and a great gathering of people cheering the visitors, especially when the little duke of cornwall was held up for them to see. the queen took delight in the rustic demonstration, so much in keeping with the place, and the simple loyalty of the people. her majesty went to fowey, and had the opportunity of driving through some of the narrowest, steepest streets in england, till she reached the hilly ground of cornwall, "covered with fields, and intersected with hedges," and at last arrived at her little son's possession, the ivy-covered ruin of the old castle of restormel, an appanage of the duchy of cornwall, in which the last earl of cornwall had resided five hundred years before. the queen also visited the restormel iron-mines. she was one of the comparatively few ladies who have ventured into the nether darkness of a pit. she saw her underground subjects as well as those above ground, and to the former no less than to the latter she bore the kindly testimony that she found them "intelligent good people." we can vouch for this that these hewers and drawers of ore, in their dark-blue woollen suits, the arms bare, and caps with the candles or lamps stuck in the front, lighting up the pallid grimy faces, would be fully conscious of the honour done them, and would yield to no ruddy, fustian-clad ploughman or picturesque shepherd, with his maud and crook in loyalty to their queen. the queen and the prince got into a truck and were drawn by the miners, the mineral agent for cornwall bringing up the rear, into the narrow workings, where none could pass between the truck and the rock, and "there was just room to hold up one's head, and not always that." as it is with other strangers in pluto's domains, her majesty felt there was something unearthly about this lit-up cavern-like place, where many a man spent the greater part of his life. but she was not deterred from getting out of the truck with me prince, and scrambling along to see the veins of ore, from which prince albert was able to knock off some specimens. daylight was dazzling to the couple when they returned to its cheerful presence. the last visit paid in cornwall was by very narrow stony lanes to "place," a curious house restored from old plans and drawings to a fac-simile of a cornwall house of the past as it had been defended by one of the ancestresses of the present family, the treffrys, against an attack made upon her, by the french during her husband's absence. the hall was lined with cornwall marble and porphyry. on the th of september the new part of osborne house was occupied for the first time by its owners. lady lyttelton chronicled the pleasant event and some ceremonies which accompanied it. "after dinner we were to drink the queen and prince's health as a 'house-warming.' and after it the prince said very naturally and simply, but seriously, 'we have a hymn' (he called it a psalm) 'in germany for such occasions. it begins'--and then he repeated two lines in german, which i could not quote right, meaning a prayer to 'bless our going out and coming in.' it was long and quaint, being luther's. we all perceived that he was feeling it. and truly entering a new house, a new palace, is a solemn thing to do, to those whose probable span of life in it is long, and spite of rank, and health, and youth, down- hill now." sir theodore martin, who quotes lady lyttelton's letters in the "life of the prince consort," gives such a hymn, which is a paraphrase of the st psalm, as it appears in the coburg _gesang-buch_, and supplies a translation of the verse in question. unsern ausgang segne gott, unsern erngang gleicher massen, segne unser taglich brod, segne unser thun und lassen. segne uns mit sel'gem sterben, und mach uns zu himmel's erben * * * * * by tre, con and pen, you may know the cornish men god bless our going out, nor less our coming in, and make them sure, god bless our daily bread, and bless whate'er we do, whate'er endure, in death unto his peace awake us, and heirs of his salvation make us "i forgot," writes lady lyttelton again, "much the best part of our breaking in, which was that lucy kerr (one of the maids of honour) insisted on throwing an old shoe into the house after the queen, as she entered for the first night, being a scotch superstition. it looked too strange and amusing. she wanted some melted lead and sundry other charms, but they were not forthcoming. i told her i would call her _luckie_, and not _lucy_." during the autumn the princess of prussia, who was on a visit to her aunt, queen adelaide, went to windsor castle, where madame bunsen met her. "i arrived here at six," writes madame bunsen "and at eight went to dinner in the great hall, hung round with waterloo pictures, the band playing exquisitely, so placed as to be invisible, so that what with the large proportions of the hall and the well-subdued lights, and the splendours of plate and decorations, the scene was such as fairy tales present; and lady canning, miss stanley, and miss dawson were beautiful enough to represent an ideal queen's ideal attendants. "the queen looked well and _rayonnante_, with the expression of countenance that she has when pleased with what surrounds her, and which you know i like to see. the old duke of cambridge failed not to ask after you. "this morning at nine we were all assembled at prayers in the private chapel, then went to breakfast, headed by lady canning, after which miss stanley took the countess haach and me to see the collection of gold plate. three works of benvenuto cellini, and a trophy from the armada, an immense flagon or wine-fountain, like a gigantic old- fashioned smelling-bottle, and a modern indian work--a box given to the queen by an indian potentate--were what interested me the most. then i looked at many interesting pictures in the long corridor. "i am lodged in what is called the devil's tower, and have a view of the round tower, of which i made a sketch as soon as i was out of bed this morning." in october the queen and the prince spent several days on a private visit to the queen-dowager at her country house of cashiobury. from cashiobury the royal couple went on, in bad weather, to hatfield house, which had once been a palace, but had long been the seat of the cecils, marquises of salisbury. here more than anywhere else queen victoria was on the track of her great predecessor, queen elizabeth, while the virgin queen was still the maiden princess, considerably oppressed by her stern sister queen mary. queen victoria inspected all the relics of the interesting old place, "the vineyard," the banqueting-room fallen down into a stable, and the oak still linked with the name of queen bess. at hatfield there was a laudable innovation on the usual round of festivities. from four to five hundred labourers were regaled on the lawn with a roasted ox and hogsheads of ale. on the st of december, the queen and prince, who had been staying at osborne, paid the duke of norfolk a visit at arundel. not only was the duke the premier duke and earl-marshal of england, but he held at this time the high office in the household of master of the horse. the old keep and tower at arundel were brilliantly illuminated in honour of the queen's presence, and bonfires lit up the surrounding country. the duke of wellington was here also, walking about with the queen, while the younger men shot with prince albert. on the second day of her stay her majesty received guests in the state drawing-room. the third day included the usual commemorative planting of trees in the little park. in the evening there was dancing, in which the queen joined. there were great changes, ominous of still further transitions, in the theatrical and literary world. liston, the famous comedian who had delighted a former generation, was dead, and amateur actors, led by authors in the persons of charles dickens, douglas jerrold, &c. &c., had come to the front, and were winning much applause, as well as solid benefits for individuals and institutions connected with literature requiring public patronage. a man and a woman unlike in everything save their cordial admiration for each other, bore down all opposition in the reading world: william makepeace thackeray, in , in spite of the discouragement of publishers, started his "vanity fair," and charlotte brontë, from the primitive seclusion of an old- fashioned yorkshire parsonage, took england by storm with her impassioned, unconventional "jane eyre." the fame of these two books, while the authors were still in a great measure unknown, rang through the country. art in england was still following the lines laid down for the last twenty or thirty years, unless in the case of turner, who had entered some time before on the third period of his work, the period marked by defiance and recklessness as well as by noble power. chapter vi. installation of prince albert as chancellor of cambridge. one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven began with the climax of the terrible famine in ireland, and the highlands, produced by the potato disease, which, commencing in , had reappeared even more disastrously in . in the queen's speech in opening parliament, she alluded to the famine in the land with a perceptibly sad fall of her voice. in spite of bad trade and bad times everywhere, two millions were advanced by the government for the relief of the perishing people, fed on doles of indian meal; yet the mortality in the suffering districts continued tremendous. in february, , lord campbell describes an amusing scene in the queen's closet. "i had an audience, that her majesty might prick a sheriff for the county of lancaster, which she did in proper style, with the bodkin i put into her hand. i then took her pleasure about some duchy livings and withdrew, forgetting to make her sign the parchment roll. i obtained a second audience, and explained the mistake. while she was signing, prince albert said to me, 'pray, my lord, when did this ceremony of pricking begin?' campbell. 'in ancient times, sir, when sovereigns did not know now to write their names.' queen, as she returned me the roll with her signature, 'but we now show we have been to school.'" in the course of the next month his lordship gives a lively account of dining along with his wife and daughter at buckingham palace. "on our arrival, a little before eight, we were shown into the picture gallery, where the company assembled. bowles, who acted as master of the ceremonies, arranged what gentlemen should take what lady. he said, 'dinner is ordered to be on the table at ten minutes past eight, but i bet you the queen will not be here till twenty or twenty-five minutes after. she always thinks she can dress in ten minutes, but she takes about double the time.' true enough, it was nearly twenty-five minutes past eight before she appeared; she shook hands with the ladies, bowed to the gentlemen, and proceeded to the _salle à manger_. i had to take in lady emily de burgh, and was third on her majesty's right, prince edward of saxe- weimar and my partner being between us. the greatest delicacy we had was some very nice oat-cake. there was a highland piper standing behind her majesty's chair, but he did not play as at state dinners. we had likewise some edinburgh ale. the queen and the ladies withdrawing, prince albert came over to her side of the table, and we remained behind about a quarter of an hour, but we rose within the hour from the time of our sitting down to dinner.... on returning to the gallery we had tea and coffee. the queen came up and talked to me. she does the honours of the palace with infinite grace and sweetness, and considering what she is both in public and domestic life, i do not think she is sufficiently loved and respected. prince albert took me to task for my impatience to get into the new house of lords, but i think i pacified him, complimenting his taste. a dance followed. the queen chiefly delighted in a romping sort of country-dance, called the _tempête_. she withdrew a little before twelve." the beginning of the season in london was marked by two events in the theatrical and operatic world. fanny kemble (mrs. pierce butler) reappeared on the stage, and was warmly welcomed back. jenny lind sang for the first time in london at the italian opera house in the part of "alice" in _roberto il diavolo_, and enchanted the audience with her unrivalled voice and fine acting. in the month of may, in the middle of the irish distress, the great agitator of old, daniel o'connell, died in his seventy-second year, on his way to rome. the news of his death was received in ireland as only one drop more in the full cup of national misery. in the same month of may another and a very different orator, dr. chalmers, the great impassioned scotch divine, philosopher, and philanthropist, one of the leaders in the disruption from the church of scotland, died in edinburgh, in his sixty-eighth year. prince albert had been elected chancellor of cambridge university--a well-deserved compliment, which afforded much gratification both to the queen and the prince. they went down to cambridge in july for the ceremony of the installation, which was celebrated with all scholarly state and splendour. "the hall of trinity was the scene of the ceremony for which the visit was paid. her majesty occupied a chair of state on a dais. the chancellor, the prince in his official robes, supported by the duke of wellington, chancellor of oxford, the bishop of oxford, the vice- chancellor of cambridge, and the heads of the houses entered, and the chancellor read an address to her majesty congratulatory on her arrival. her majesty made a gracious reply and the prince retired with the usual profound obeisances, a proceeding which caused her majesty some amusement," so says the _annual register_. this part of the day's proceedings seems to have made a lively impression on those who witnessed it. bishop wilberforce gives his testimony. "the cambridge scene was very interesting. there was such a burst of loyalty, and it told so on the queen and prince. e--- would not then have thought that he looked cold. it was quite clear that they both felt it as something new that he had earned, and not she given, a true english honour; and so he looked so pleased and she so triumphant. there was also some such pretty interludes when he presented the address, and she beamed upon him and once half smiled, and then covered the smile with a gentle dignity, and then she said in her clear musical voice, 'the choice which the university has made of its chancellor _has my most entire approbation_.'" the queen records in her diary, "i cannot say how it agitated and embarrassed me to have to receive this address and hear it read by my beloved albert, who walked in at the head of the university, and who looked dear and beautiful in his robes, which were carried by colonel phipps and colonel seymour. albert went through it all admirably, almost absurd, however, as it was for us. he gave me the address and i read the answer, and a few kissed hands, and then albert retired with the university." after luncheon a convocation was held in the senate house, at which the queen was present as a visitor. the prince, as chancellor, received her at the door, and led her to the seat prepared for her. "he sat covered in his chancellor's chair. there was a perfect roar of applause," which we are told was only tamed down within the bounds of sanity by the dulness of the latin oration, delivered by the public orator. besides the princes already mentioned, and several noblemen and gentlemen, sir george grey, sir harry smith (of indian fame), sir roderick murchison, and professor muller, received university honours. her majesty and the new chancellor dined with the vice-chancellor at catherine hall--probably selected for the honour because it was a small college, and could only accommodate a select party. after dinner her majesty attended a concert in the senate house--an entertainment got up in order to afford the cambridge public another opportunity of seeing their queen. later the prince went to the observatory, and her majesty walked in the cool of the evening in the little garden of trinity lodge, with her two ladies. the following day the royal party again went to the senate house, the prince receiving the queen, and conducting her as before to her seat. with the accompaniment of a tremendous crowd, great heat, and thunders of applause, the prize poems were read, and the medals distributed by the prince. then came the time for the "installation ode," written at the prince's request by wordsworth, the poet laureate, set to music, and sung in trinity hall in the presence of the queen and prince albert with great effect. poetry, of all created things, can least be made to order; yet the ode had many fine passages and telling lines, besides the recommendation claimed for it by baroness bunsen: "the installation ode i thought quite affecting, because the selection of striking points was founded on fact, and all exaggeration and humbug were avoided." the poem touched first on what was so prominent a feature in the history of europe in the poet's youth--the evil of unrighteous and the good of righteous war, identifying the last with the successes of england when napoleon was overthrown. such is albion's fame and glory, let rescued europe tell the story then the measure changes to a plaintive strain. but lo! what sudden cloud has darkened all the land as with a funeral pall? the rose of england suffers blight, the flower has drooped, the isle's delight flower and bud together fall, a nation's hopes he crushed in claremont's desolate hall hope and cheer return to the song. time a chequered mantle wears, earth awakes from wintry sleep, again the tree a blossom bears cease, britannia, cease to weep, hark to the peals on this bright may morn, they tell that your future queen is born a little later is the fine passage-- time in his mantle's sunniest fold uplifted on his arms the child, and while the fearless infant smiled her happy destiny foretold infancy, by wisdom mild, trained to health and artless beauty, youth by pleasure unbeguiled from the lore of lofty duty, womanhood, in pure renown seated on her lineal throne, leaves of myrtle in her crown fresh with lustre all their own, love, the treasure worth possessing more than all the world beside, this shall be her choicest blessing, oft to royal hearts denied. after a brief period of rest, which meant a little quiet "reading, writing, working, and drawing"--a far better sedative for excited nerves than entire idleness--the queen and the prince attended a flower-show in the grounds of downing college, walking round the gardens and entering into all the six tents, "a very formidable undertaking, for the heat was beyond endurance and the crowd fearful." in the evening there was a great dinner in trinity hall. "splendid did that great hall look," is baroness bunsen's admiring exclamation; "three hundred and thirty people at various tables ... the queen and her immediate suite at a table at the raised end of the hall, all the rest at tables lengthways. at the queen's table the names were put on the places, and anxious was the moment before one could find one's place." then the queen gave a reception in henry viii.'s drawing-room, when the masters, professors and doctors, with their wives, were presented. when the reception was over, at ten o'clock, in the soft dim dusk, a little party again stole out, to see with greater leisure and privacy those noble trees and hoary buildings. her majesty tells us the pedestrians were in curious costumes: "albert in his dress-coat with a mackintosh over it, i in my evening dress and diadem, and with a veil over my head, and the two princes in their uniforms, and the ladies in their dresses and shawls and veils. we walked through the small garden, and could not at first find our way, after which we discovered the right road, and walked along the beautiful avenues of lime-trees in the grounds of st. john's college, along the water and over the bridges. all was so pretty and picturesque, in particular the one covered bridge of st. john's college, which is like the bridge of sighs at venice. we stopped to listen to the distant hum of the town; and nothing seemed wanting but some singing, which everywhere but here in this country we should have heard. a lattice opened, and we could fancy a lady appearing and listening to a serenade." shade of quaint old fuller! thou who hast described with such gusto queen elizabeth's five days' stay at cambridge, what wouldst thou not have given, hadst thou lived in the reign of victoria, to have been in her train this night? shades more formidable of good queen bess herself, bluff king hal, margaret countess of richmond, and that other unhappy margaret of anjou, what would you have said of this simple ramble? in truth it was a scene from the world of romance, even without the music and the lady at the lattice. an ideal queen and an ideal prince, a thin disguise over the tokens of their magnificence, stealing out with their companions, like so many ghosts, to enjoy common sights and experiences and the little thrill of adventure in the undetected deed. on the last morning there was a public breakfast in the grounds of trinity college, attended by thousands of the county gentry of cambridge and lincolnshire. "at one the queen set out through the cloisters and hall and library of trinity college, to pass through the gardens and avenues, which had been connected for the occasion by a temporary bridge over the river, with those of st. john's." madame bunsen and her companions followed her majesty, and had the best opportunity of seeing everything, and in particular "the joyous crowd that grouped among the noble trees." the queen ate her _déjeuner_ in one of the tents, and on her return to trinity lodge, she and prince albert left cambridge at three o'clock for london. baroness bunsen winds up her graphic descriptions with the statement, "i could still tell much of cambridge-- of the charm of its 'trim gardens,' of how the queen looked and was pleased, and how well she was dressed, and how perfect in grace and movement." chapter vii. the queen's visit to the western islands op scotland and stay at ardverikie. on the th of august her majesty and prince albert, with the prince of wales, the princess royal, and the prince of leiningen, attended by a numerous suite, left osborne in the royal yacht for scotland. they followed a new route and succeeded, in spite of the fogs in the channel, in reaching the scilly isles. the voyage, to begin with, was not a pleasant one. there had been a rough swell on the sea as well as fogs off shore. the children, and especially the queen, on this occasion suffered from sea-sickness. however, her majesty landed on the tiny island of st. mary's. as the royal party approached wales the sea became calmer and the sailing enjoyable. the yacht and its companions lay in the great harbour of milford haven, under the reddish-brown cliffs. prince albert and the prince of leiningen went to pembroke, while the queen sat on the deck and sketched. on a beautiful sunday the queen sailed through the menai straits in the _fairy_, when the sight of "snowdon rising splendidly in the middle of the fields and woods was glorious." the "grand old castle of caernarvon" attracted attention; so did plas newydd, where her majesty had spent six weeks, when she had visited wales as princess victoria, in one of her girlish excursions with the duchess of kent. the isle of man, with the town of douglas, surmounted by bold hills and cliffs, a castle and a lighthouse, looked abundantly picturesque, but the landing there was reserved for the return of the voyagers, though it was on this occasion that a tripping manxman described prince albert, in a local newspaper, as leading the prince regent by the hand; a slip which drew from the prince the gay rejoinder that "usually one has a regent for an infant, but in man it seems to be precisely the reverse." the mull of galloway was the first scotch land that was sighted, and just before entering loch ryan the huge rock, ailsa craig, with its moving clouds of sea-fowl, rose to view. arran and goatfell, bute and the bay of rothesay, were alike hailed with delight. but the islands were left behind for the moment, till more was seen of the clyde, and greenock, of sugar-refining and boat- building fame, was reached. it was her majesty's first visit to the west coast of scotland, and glasgow poured "down the water" her magistrates, her rich merchants, her stalwart craftsmen, her swarms from the gorbels and the saut market, the candle-rigs and the guse- dibs. multitudes lined the quays. no less than forty steamers over- filled with passengers struggled zealously in the wake of royalty. "amidst boats and ships of every description moving in all directions," the little _fairy_ cut its way through, bound for dumbarton. on the queen's return to greenock she sailed past roseneath, and followed the windings of loch long, getting a good view of the cobbler, the rugged mountain which bears a fantastic resemblance to a man mending a shoe. at the top of the loch, ben lomond came in sight. "there was no sun, and twice a little mist; but still it was beautiful," wrote the queen. on "a bright fresh morning" in august, when the hills were just "slightly tipped with clouds," the queen sailed through the kyles of bute, that loveliest channel between overtopping mountains, and entered loch fyne, another fine arm of the sea, of herring celebrity. a highland welcome awaited the queen at the little landing-place of inverary, made gay and fragrant with heather. old friends, whom she was honouring by her presence, waited to receive her, the duke and duchess of argyle--the latter the eldest daughter of the duchess of sutherland, who was also present with her son, lord stafford, her unmarred daughter, lady caroline leveson-gower, and her son-in-law and second daughter, lord and lady blantyre. an innocent warder stood in front of the old feudal keep. in the course of the queen's visit to germany she had made the acquaintance, without dreaming of what lay concealed in the skirts of time, of one of her future sons-in-law in a fine little boy of eight years. now her majesty was to be introduced, without a suspicion of what would be the result of the introduction, to the coming husband of another daughter still unborn. here is the queen's description of the son and heir of the house of argyle, who was yet to win a princess for his bride. "outside, stood the marquis of lorne, just two years old--a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow, with reddish hair but very delicate features, like both his mother and father; he is such a merry, independent little child. he had a black velvet dress and jacket, with a 'sporran,' scarf, and highland bonnet." her majesty lunched at the castle, "the highland gentlemen standing with halberts in the room," and returned to the _fairy_, sailing down loch fyne when the afternoon was at its mellowest, and the long shadows were falling across the hillsides. at five lochgilphead was reached, when sir john orde lent his carriage to convey the visitors to the crinan canal. the next day's sail, in beautiful weather still, was through the clusters of the nearest of the western islands, up the sound of jura, amidst a flotilla of small boats crowned with flags. here were fresh islands and mountain peaks, until the strangers were within hail of staffa. it is not always that an approach to this northern marvel of nature is easy or even practicable; but fortune favours the brave. her majesty has described the landing. "at three we anchored close before staffa, and immediately got into the barge, with charles, the children, and the rest of our people, and rowed towards the cave. as we rounded the point the wonderful basaltic formation came into sight. the appearance it presents is most extraordinary, and when we turned the corner to go into the renowned fingal's cave the effect was splendid, like a great entrance into a vaulted hall; it looked almost awful as we entered, and the barge heaved up and down on the swell of the sea. it is very high, but not longer than two hundred and twenty-seven feet, and narrower than i expected, being only forty feet wide. the sea is immensely deep in the cave. the rocks under water were all colours-- pink, blue, and green, which had a most beautiful and varied effect. it was the first time the british standard, with a queen of great britain and her husband and children, had ever entered fingal's cave, and the men gave three cheers, which sounded very impressive there." on the following day the atlantic rains had found the party, though for the present the affliction was temporary. it poured for three hours, during which her majesty drew and painted in her cabin. the weather cleared in the afternoon; sitting on the deck was again possible, and loch linnhe, loch eil, and the entrance to loch leven were not lost. at fort william the queen was to quit the yacht and repair to the summer quarters of ardverikie. before doing so she recorded her regret that "this delightful voyage and tour among the western lochs and isles is at an end; they are so beautiful and so full of poetry and romance, traditions and historical associations." rain again, more formidable than before, on saturday, the st of august. it was amidst a hopeless drenching drizzle, which blots out the chief features of a landscape, that the queen went ashore, to find "a great gathering of highlanders in their different tartans" met to do her honour. frasers, forbeses, mackenzies, grants, replaced campbells, macdonalds, macdougals, and macleans. by a wild and lonely carriage-road, the latter part resembling glen tilt, her majesty reached her destination. ardverikie, which claimed to have been a hunting-seat of fergus, king of the scots, was a shooting lodge belonging to lord george bentinck, rented from him by the marquis of abercorn, and lent by the marquis to the queen. it has since been burnt down. it was rustic, as a shooting lodge should be, very much of a large cottage in point of architecture, the bare walls of the principal rooms characteristically decorated with rough sketches by landseer, among them a drawing of "the stag at bay," and the whole house bristling with stags' horns of great size and perfection. in front of the house lay loch laggan, eight miles in length. the queen remained at ardverikie for four weeks, and doubtless would have enjoyed the wilds thoroughly, had it not been for the lowest deep of persistently bad weather, when "it not only rained and blew, but snowed by way of variety." lord campbell heard and wrote down these particulars of the royal stay at ardverikie. "the queen was greatly delighted with the highlands in spite of the bad weather, and was accustomed to sally for a walk in the midst of a heavy rain, putting a great hood ever her bonnet, and showing nothing of her features but her eyes. the prince's invariable return to luncheon about two o'clock, in spite of grouse-shooting and deer-stalking, is explained by his voluntary desire to please the queen, and by the intense hunger which always assails him at this hour, when he likes, in german fashion, to make his dinner." in a continuance of the most dismally unpropitious weather, the queen and her children left ardverikie on the th of september, the prince having preceded her for a night that he might visit inverness and the caledonian canal. the storm continued, almost without intermission, during the whole of the voyage home. chapter viii. the french fugitives--the people's charter. long before the autumn of , the mischievous consequences of the railway mania, complicated by the failure of the potato crop, showed itself in great bankruptcies in the large towns all over the country. the new year came with trouble on its wings. the impending storm burst all over europe, first in france. louis philippe's dynasty was overthrown. in pairs or singly, sometimes wandering aside in a little distraction, so as to be lost sight of for days, the numerous brothers and sisters, with the parent pair, reached dreux and eu, and thence, with the exception of the duchesse d'orleans and her sons, straggled to england. one can guess the feelings of the queen and prince albert when they heard that their late hosts, doubly allied to them by kindred ties, were fugitives, seeking refuge from the hospitality of a foreign nation. and the first confused tidings of the french revolution which reached the queen and prince albert were rendered more trying, by the almost simultaneous announcement of the death of the old dowager- duchess of gotha, to whom all her grandchildren were so much attached. the ex-king and queen arrived at newhaven, louis philippe bearing the name of mr. smith. queen victoria had already written to king leopold on the st of march: "about the king and queen (louis philippe and queen amélie) we still know nothing.... we do everything we can for the poor family, who are, indeed, sorely to be pitied. but you will naturally understand that we cannot make common cause with them, and cannot take a hostile position to the new state of things in france. we leave them alone; but if a government which has the approbation of the country be formed, we shall feel it necessary to recognise it in order to pin them down to maintain peace and the existing treaties, which is of the greatest importance. it will not be pleasant to do this, but the public good and the peace of europe go before one's personal feelings." as soon as it could be arranged under the circumstances, the queen had an interview with the exiles. what a meeting after the last parting, and all that had come to pass in the interval! this interview took place on the th of march, when louis philippe came privately to windsor. the same intelligent chronicler, lady lyttelton, who gave such a graphic account of the citizen-king's first visit to windsor, had also to photograph the second. once more she uses with reason the word "historical." "to-day is historical, louis philippe having come from claremont to pay a private (_very_ private) visit to the queen. she is really enviable now, to have in her power and in her path of duty, such a boundless piece of charity and beneficent hospitality. the reception by the _people_ of england of all the fugitives has been beautifully kind." that day the queen wrote sadly to baron stockmar: "i am quite well; indeed, particularly so, though god knows we have had since the th enough for a whole life--anxiety, sorrow, excitement; in short, i feel as if we had jumped over thirty years' experience at once. the whole face of europe is changed, and i feel as if i lived in a dream." she added, with the tenderness of a generous nature, referring to the very different circumstances in which her regard for the orleans house had been established, and to the alienation which had arisen between her and some of its members: "you know my love for the family; you know how i longed to get of terms with them again ... and you said, 'time will alone, but will certainly, bring it about.' little did i dream that this would be the way we should meet again and see each other, all in the most friendly way. that the duchesse de montpensier, about whom we have been quarrelling for the last year, and a half, should be here as a fugitive and dressed in the clothes i sent her, and should come to thank _me for my kindness_, is a reverse of fortune which no novelist would devise, and upon which one could moralise for ever." it was a comfort to the queen and prince albert that belgium, which had at first appeared in the greatest danger, ended by standing almost alone on the side of its king and government. the tide of revolution, which swept over the greater states, did not spare the small. the duke of coburg-gotha's subjects, who had seemed so happily situated and so contented at the time of the queen's visit, were in a ferment like the rest of their countrymen. bellona's hot breath was in danger of withering the flowers of that arcadia. the princes of leiningen and hohenlohe, the queen's brother and brother- in-law, were practically dispossessed of seigneurial rights and lands, and ruined. the princess of hohenlohe wrote to her sister: "we are undone, and must begin a new existence of privations, which i don't care for, but for poor ernest" (her husband) "i feel it more than i can say." in the meantime, on the th of march a fourth english princess was born. there was more than usual congratulation on the safety and well- being of mother and child, because of the great shocks which had tried the queen previously, and the anxiety which filled all thoughtful minds for the result of the crisis in england. her majesty's courage rose to the occasion. she wrote to king leopold in little more than a fortnight: "i heard all that passed, and my only thoughts and talk were political. but i never was calmer or quieter, or less nervous. great events make one calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves." england had its own troubles and was in high excitement about an increased grant of money for the support of the army and navy, and the continuance of the income-tax. the chartists threatened to make a great demonstration on kennington common. the first threat in london, for the th of march, a few days before the birth of the little princess, ended in utter failure. the happy termination was assisted by the state of the weather, great falls of rain anticipating the work of large bodies of police prepared to scatter the crowd. but as another demonstration, with the avowed intention of walking in procession to present to the house of commons a monster petition, miles long, for the granting of the people's charter, was announced to take place on the th of april, great uncertainty, and agitation filled the public mind. it was judged advisable that the queen should go to the isle of wight for a short stay at osborne, though it was still not more than three weeks since her confinement. the second demonstration collapsed like the first. only a fraction-- not more than twenty-three thousand of the vast multitude expected to appear--assembled at the meeting-place, and the people dispersed quietly. but it is only necessary to mention the precautions employed to show how great had been the alarm. the duke of wellington devised and conducted the steps which were taken beforehand. on the bridges were massed bodies of foot and horse police, and special constables, of whom nearly two hundred thousand--one of them prince louis napoleon, the future emperor of the french--are said to have been sworn in. in the immediate neighbourhood of each bridge strong forces of military, while kept out of sight, were ready "for instant movement." two regiments of the line were at millbank penitentiary, twelve hundred infantry at deptford dockyard, and thirty pieces of heavy field ordnance at the tower prepared for transport by hired steamers to any spot where help might be required. bodies of troops were posted in unexpected quarters, as in the area of the untenanted rose inn yard, but within call. the public offices at somerset house and in the city were liberally supplied with arms. places like the bank of england were "packed" with troops and artillery, and furnished with sand-bag parapets for their walls, and wooden barricades with loopholes for firing through, for their windows. "thank god," her majesty wrote to the king of the belgians, "the chartist meeting and procession have turned out a complete failure. the loyalty of the people at large, has been very striking, and their indignation at their peace being interfered with by such wanton and worthless men immense." never was cheerfulness more wanted to lighten a burden of work and care. in this year of trouble "no less than twenty-eight thousand dispatches were received or sent out from the foreign office." all these dispatches came to the queen and prince albert, as well as to lord palmerston, the minister for foreign affairs. across the channel the inflammatory speeches and writings of messrs. mitchel, meagher, and smith o'brien became so treasonable in tone that, after the passing of a bill in parliament for the better repression of sedition, the three irish leaders were arrested and brought to trial, the jury refusing to commit in the case of meagher and smith o'brien, but in that of mitchel, who was tried separately, finding him guilty, and sentencing him to transportation for fourteen years. on the nd of may the court returned to buckingham palace, and the baptism of the infant princess took place on the th, in the private chapel of buckingham palace, when the archbishop of canterbury officiated. the sponsors were duke augustus of mecklenburg-schwerin, represented by prince albert, and the duchess of saxe-meiningen and the grand-duchess of mecklenburg-strelitz, represented by the queen- dowager and the duchess of cambridge. the names given to the child were, "louise caroline alberta," the first and last for the child's grandmother on the father's side and for the royal father himself. a chorale was performed, which the prince had adapted from an earlier composition written to the hymn-- in life's gay morn, ere sprightly youth by vice and folly is enslaved, oh! may thy maker's glorious name be on thy infant mind engraved; so shall no shades of sorrow cloud the sunshine of thy early days, but happiness, in endless round, shall still encompass all thy ways. bishop wilberforce describes the scene. "the royal christening was a very beautiful sight, in its highest sense of that word 'beauty.' the queen, with the five royal children around her, the prince of wales and princess royal hand-in-hand, all kneeling down quietly and meekly at every prayer, and the little princess helena alone, just standing, and looking round with the blue eyes of gazing innocence." when the statues of the royal children were executed by mrs. thornycroft, princess helena was modelled as peace. the engraving is a representation of the graceful piece of sculpture, in which a slender young girl, wearing a long loose robe and having sandalled feet, holds the usual emblematic branch and cluster--one in each hand. as one princess was born, another of a former generation, whose birth had been hailed with equal rejoicing, passed away, on the th of may, immediately after the birthday drawing-room. princess sophia, the youngest surviving daughter and twelfth child of george iii. and queen charlotte, died in her arm-chair in the drawing-room of her house at kensington, aged seventy-one. at her own request she was buried at kensal green, where the duke of sussex was interred. chapter ix. the queen's first stay at balmoral. from france, in june, came the grievous news of the three days' fighting in the streets of paris, because no government provision could secure work and bread for the artisans. the insurrection was only put down by martial law under the dictator, general cavaignac. in sardinia the king, charles albert, fighting gallantly against the austrian rule, was defeated once and again, and driven back. in england, though the most swaggering of the chartists still blustered a little, attention could be given to more peaceful concerns. in july prince albert went to york, though he could "ill be spared" from the queen's side in those days of startling events and foreign turmoil, to be present at a meeting of the royal agricultural society, of which he had been governor for half-a-dozen years. the acclamations with which the prince was received, were only the echo of the tempest of cheers which greeted and encouraged her majesty every time she appeared in public this year. in august strong measures had again to be taken in ireland. these included the gathering together of a great military force in the disturbed districts, and the assemblage of a fleet of war-steamers on the coast. as in the previous instance, little or no resistance was offered. in the course of a few days the former leaders, meagher, smith o'brien, and mitchel, were arrested. they were brought to trial in dublin, convicted of high treason, and sentenced to death--a sentence commuted into transportation for life. the queen had the pleasure of finding her brother, the prince of leiningen, appointed head of the department of foreign affairs in the short-lived frankfort assembly of the german states. it showed at least the respect in which he was held by his countrymen. on the th of september the queen went in person to prorogue parliament, which had sat for ten months. the ceremony took place in the new house of lords. there was an unusually large and brilliant company present on this occasion, partly to admire the "lavish paint and gilding," the stained-glass windows, with likenesses of kings and queens, and dyce's and maclise's frescoes, partly to enjoy the emphatically-delivered sentence in the royal speech, in which the queen acknowledged, "with grateful feelings, the many marks of loyalty and attachment which she had received from all classes of her people." the queen and the prince, with three of their children and the suite, sailed from woolwich for a new destination in scotland--a country- house or little castle, which they had so far made their own, since the prince, acting on the advice of sir james clark, the queen's physician, had acquired the lease from the earl of aberdeen. the royal party were in aberdeen harbour at eight o'clock in the morning of the th september. on the th balmoral was reached. the first impression was altogether agreeable. her majesty has described the place, as it appeared to her, in her journal. "we arrived at balmoral at a quarter to three. it is a pretty little castle in the old scottish style. there is a picturesque tower and garden in the front, with a high wooded hill; at the back there is a wood down to the _dee_, and the hills rise all around." during the first stay of the court at balmoral, the queen has chronicled the ascent of a mountain. on saturday, the th of september, as early as half-past nine in the morning, her majesty and prince albert drove in a postchaise four miles to the bridge in the wood of ballochbuie, where ponies and guides awaited them. macdonald, a keeper of farquharson of invercauld's and afterwards in the service of the prince, a tall, handsome man, whom the queen describes as "looking like a picture in his shooting-jacket and kilt," and grant, the head-keeper at balmoral, on a pony, with provisions in two baskets, were the chief attendants. through the wood and over moss, heather, and stones, sometimes riding, sometimes walking; prince albert irresistibly attracted to stalk a deer, in vain; across the stony little burn, where the faithful highlanders piloted her majesty, walking and riding again, when macdonald led the bridle of the beast which bore so precious a burden; the views "very beautiful," but alas! mist on the brow of loch-na-gar. prince albert making a detour after ptarmigan, leaving the queen in the safe keeping of her devoted guides, to whom she refers so kindly as "taking the greatest care of her." even "poor batterbury," the english groom, who seems to have cut rather a ridiculous figure in his thin boots and gaiters and non-enjoyment of the expedition, "was very anxious also" for the well-being of his royal lady, whose tastes must have struck him as eccentric, to say the least. the mist intensified the cold when the citadel mountain was reached, so that it must have been a relief to try a spell of walking once more, especially as the first part of the way was "soft and easy," while the party looked down on the two _lochans_, known as _na nian_. who that has any knowledge of the mountains cannot recall the effect of these solitary tarns, like well-eyes in the wilderness, gleaming in the sunshine, dark in the gloom? the prince, good mountaineer as he was, grew glad to remount his pony and let the docile, sure-footed creature pick its steps through the gathering fog, which was making the ascent an adventure not free from danger. everything not within a hundred yards was hidden. the last and steepest part of the mountain (three thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven feet from the sea-level) was accomplished on foot, and at two o'clock, after four hours' riding and walking, a seat in a little nook where luncheon could be taken was found; for, unfortunately, there was no more to be done save to seek rest and refreshment. there was literally nothing to be seen, in place of the glorious panorama which a mountain-top in favourable circumstances presents. this was that "dark loch-na-gar" whose "steep frowning glories" lord byron rendered famous, for which he dismissed with scorn, "gay landscapes and gardens of roses." no doubt the snowflakes, in corries on the mountain-side, do look deliciously cool on a hot summer day. but such a drizzling rain as this was the other side of the picture, which her majesty, with a shiver, called "cold, wet, and cheerless." in addition to the rain the wind began to blow a hurricane, which, after all, in the case of a fog was about the kindest thing the wind could do, whether or not the spirits of heroes were in the gale. at twenty minutes after two the party set out on their descent of the mountain. the two keepers, moving on as pioneers in the gloom, "looked like ghosts." when walking became too exhausting, the queen, "well wrapped in plaids," was again mounted on her pony, which she declared "went delightfully," though the mist caused the rider "to feel cheerless." in the course of the next couple of hours, after a thousand feet of the descent had been achieved, by one of those abrupt transitions which belong to such a landscape, the mist below vanished as if by magic, and it was again, summer sunshine around. but the world could not be altogether shut out at balmoral, and the echoes which came from afar, this year, were of a sufficiently disturbing character. among the most notable, sir theodore martin mentions the frankfort riots, in which two members of the german states union were assassinated, and the startling death of the conservative leader, lord george bentinck, who had suddenly exchanged the _rôle_ of the turf for that of parliament, and come to the front during the struggle over the abolition of the corn laws. a third strangely significant omen was the election of prince louis napoleon, by five different french departments, as a deputy to the new french chamber. the court left balmoral on the th of september, stayed one night in london, and then proceeded for ten days to osborne. on the return of the queen and the prince to windsor, on the th of october, a sad accident occurred in their sight. as the yacht was crossing on a misty and stormy day to portsmouth, she passed near the frigate _grampus_, which had just come back from her station in the pacific. in their eagerness to meet their relations among the crew on board, five unfortunate women had gone out in an open boat rowed by two watermen, though the foul-weather flag was flying. "a sudden squall swamped the boat" without attracting the attention of anyone on board the _grampus_ or the yacht. but one of the watermen, who was able to cling to the overturned boat, was seen by the men in a custom-house boat, who immediately aroused the indignation of lord adolphus fitzclarence and his brother-officers by steering, apparently without any reason, right across the bows of the _fairy_. prince albert, who was on deck, was the first to discover the cause of the inexplicable conduct of the men in the custom-house boat. "he called out that he saw a man in the water;" the queen hurried out of her pavilion, and distinguished a man on what turned out to be the keel of a boat. "oh dear! there are more!" cried prince albert in horror, "which quite overcame me," the queen wrote afterwards. "the royal yacht was stopped and one of its boats lowered, which picked up three of the women--one of them alive and clinging to a plank, the others dead." the storm was violent, and the responsibility of keeping the yacht exposed to its fury lay with lord adolphus. since nothing further could be attempted for the victims of their own rashness, he did not think it right that the yacht should stay for the return of the boat, as he held the delay unsafe, although both the queen and the prince, with finer instincts, were anxious this should be done. "we could not stop," wrote her majesty again, full of pity. "it was a dreadful moment, too horrid to describe. it is a consolation to think we were of some use, and also that, even if the yacht had remained, they could not have done more. still, we all keep feeling we might, though i think we could not.... it is a terrible thing, and haunts me continually." the magyar war under kossuth was raging in hungary. in the far-away punjab the sikh war, in which lieutenant edwardes had borne so gallant a part in the beginning of the year, was still prolonged, with mooltan always the bone of contention. in october all aristocratic england was excited by the sale of the art treasures of stowe, which lasted for forty days. mrs. gaskell made a fine contribution to literature in her novel of "mary barton," in which genius threw its strong light on manchester life. the queen had a private theatre fitted up this year in the rubens room, windsor castle. the first of the _dramatis personae_ in the best london theatres went down and acted before the court, giving revivals of shakespeare--which it was hoped would improve the taste for the higher drama--varied by lighter pieces. on the th of november the queen heard of the death of her former minister and counsellor william lamb, viscount melbourne. "truly and sincerely," her majesty wrote in her journal, "do i deplore the loss of one who was a most disinterested friend of mine, and most sincerely attached to me. he was, indeed, for the first two years and a half of my reign, almost the only friend i had, except stockmar and lehzen, and i used to see him constantly, daily. i thought much and talked much of him all day." chapter x. public and domestic interests--fresh attack upon the queen. the queen and the prince were now pledged--alike by principle and habit--to hard work. they were both early risers, but before her majesty joined prince albert in their sitting-room, where their writing-tables stood side by side, we are told he had already, even in winter, by the light of the green german lamp which he had introduced into england, prepared many papers to be considered by her majesty, and done everything in his power to lighten her labours as a sovereign. lord campbell describes an audience which he had from the queen in february. "i was obliged to make an excursion to windsor on saturday, and have an audience before prince albert's lunch. i was with the queen in her closet, _solus cum solâ_. but i should first tell you my difficulty about getting from the station at slough to the castle. when we go down for a council we have a special train and carriages provided for us. i consulted morpeth, who answered, 'i can only tell you how i went last--on the top of an omnibus; but the queen was a little shocked.' i asked how she found it out. he said he had told her himself to amuse her, but that i should be quite _en règle_ by driving up in a fly or cab. so i drove up in my one horse conveyance, and the lord-in-waiting announced my arrival to her majesty. i was shown into the royal closet, a very small room with one window, and soon she entered by another door all alone. my business was the appointment of a sheriff for the county palatine, which was soon despatched. we then talked of the state of the finances of the duchy, and i ventured to offer her my felicitations on the return of this auspicious day--her wedding-day. i lunched with the maids of honour, and got back in time to take a part in very important deliberations in the cabinet." in february, , the queen opened parliament in person. perhaps the greatest source of anxiety was now the sikh war, in which the warlike tribes were gaining advantages over the english troops, though mooltan had been reduced the previous month. a drawn battle was fought between lord gough's force and that of chuttar singh at chillianwallah. while the english were not defeated, their losses in men, guns and standards were sore and humiliating to the national pride. sir charles napier was ordered out, and, in spite of bad health, obeyed the order. but in the meantime lord gough had retrieved his losses by winning at goojerat a great victory over the sikhs and afghans, which in the end compelled the surrender of the enemy, with the restoration of the captured guns and standards. on the th of march the kingdom of the punjaub was proclaimed as existing no longer, and the state was annexed to british india; while the beneficial influence of edwardes and the lawrences rendered the wild sikhs more loyal subjects, in a future time of need, than the trained and petted sepoy mercenaries proved themselves. on the afternoon of the th of may, after the queen had held one of her most splendid drawing-rooms, when she was driving in a carriage with three of her children up constitution hill, she was again fired at by a man standing within the railings of the green park. prince albert was on horseback, so far in advance that he did not know what had occurred, till told of it by the queen when he assisted her to alight. but her majesty did not lose her perfect self-possession. she stood up, motioned to the coachman, who had stopped the carriage for an instant, to go on, and then diverted the children's attention by talking to them. the man who had fired was immediately arrested. indeed, he would have been violently assaulted by the mob, had he not been protected by the police. he proved to be an irishman, named hamilton, from limerick, who had come over from ireland five years before, and worked as a bricklayer's labourer and a navvy both in england and france. latterly he had been earning a scanty livelihood by doing chance jobs. there was this to distinguish him from the other dastardly assailants of the queen: he was not a half-crazed, morbidly conceited boy, though he also had no conceivable motive for what he did. he appears to have taken his measures, in providing himself with pistol and powder, from a mere impulse of stolid brutality. his pistol contained no ball, so that he was tried under the felon's act, which had been provided for such offences, and sentenced to seven years' transportation. the education of their children was a subject of much thought and care to the queen and prince albert. her majesty wrote various memoranda on the question which was of such interest to her. some of these are preserved in the life of the prince consort. she started with the wise maxim, "that the children should be brought up as simply and in as domestic a way as possible; that (not interfering with their lessons) they should be as much as possible with their parents, and learn to place their greatest confidence in them in all things." she dwelt upon a religious training, and held strongly the conviction that "it is best given to a child, day by day, at its mother's knee." it was a matter of tender regret to the queen when "the pressure of public duty" prevented her from holding this part of her children's education entirely in her own keeping. "it is already a hard case for me," was the pathetic reflection of the young mother in reference to the childhood of the princess royal, "that my occupations prevent me being with her when she says her prayers." at the same time the queen and the prince had strong opinions on the religious training which ought to be given to their children, and strove to have them carried out. the queen wrote, still of the princess royal, "i am quite clear that she should be taught to have great reverence for god and for religion, but that she should have the feelings of devotion and love which our heavenly father encourages his earthly children to have for him, and not one of fear and trembling; and that the thoughts of death and an after life should not be represented in an alarming and forbidding view, and that she should be made to know _as yet_ no difference of creeds, and not think that she can only pray on her knees, or that those who do not kneel are less fervent and devout in their prayers." surely these truly reverent, just, and liberal sentiments on the religion to be imparted to young children must recommend themselves to all earnest, thoughtful parents. in the accompanying engraving the girl-princesses, helena and louise, who are represented wearing lilies in the breasts of their frocks, look like sister-lilies--as fresh, pure, and sweet. in mr. birch, who had been head boy at eton, taken high honours at cambridge, and acted as one of the under masters at eton, was appointed tutor to the prince of wales when the prince was eight years of age. chapter xi. the queen's first visit to ireland. parliament was prorogued by commission, and the queen and the prince, with their four children, sailed on the st of august for ireland. lady lyttelton watching the departing squadron from the windows of osborne, wrote with something like dramatic emphasis, "it is done, england's fate is afloat; we are left lamenting. they hope to reach cork to-morrow evening, the wind having gone down and the sky cleared, the usual weather compliment to the queen's departure." the voyage was quick but not very pleasant, from the great swell in the sea. at nine o'clock, on the morning of the nd, land's end was passed, and at eight o'clock in the evening the cove of cork was so near that the bonfires on the hill and the showers of rockets from the ships in the harbour to welcome the travellers, were distinctly visible. unfortunately the next day was gray and "muggy"--a quality which the queen had been told was characteristic of the irish climate. the saluting from the various ships sent a roar through the thick air. the large harbour with its different islands--one of them containing a convict prison, another a military depot--looked less cheerful than it might have done. the captains of the war-steamers came on board to pay their respects; so did the lord-lieutenant, lord bandon, and the commanders of the forces at cork. prince albert landed, but the queen wrote and sketched till after luncheon. the delay was lucky, for the sun broke out with splendour in the afternoon. the _fairy_, with its royal freight, surrounded by rowing and sailing boats, went round the harbour, all the ships saluting, and then entered cove, and lay alongside the gaily-decorated crowded pier. the members, for cork, the clergymen of all denominations, and the yacht club presented addresses, "after which," wrote the queen, "to give the people the satisfaction of calling the place 'queenstown,' in honour of its being the first spot on which i set foot upon irish ground, i stepped on shore amid the roar of cannon (for the artillery was placed so close as quite to shake the temporary room which we entered), and the enthusiastic shouts of the people.". the _fairy_ lay alongside the pier of cork proper, and the queen received more deputations and addresses, and conferred the honour of knighthood on the lord mayor. the two judges, who were holding their courts, came on board in their robes. then her majesty landed and entered lord bandon's carriage, accompanied by prince albert and her ladies, lord bandon and general turner riding one on each side. the mayor went in front, and many people in carriages and on horseback joined the royal cortege, which took two hours in passing through the densely-crowded streets and under the triumphal arches. everything went well and the reception was jubilant. to her majesty cork looked more like a foreign than an english town. she was struck by the noisy but good-natured crowd, the men very "poorly, often-raggedly, dressed," many wearing blue coats and knee-breeches with blue stockings. the beauty of the women impressed her, "such beautiful dark eyes and hair, and such fine teeth; almost every third woman was pretty, and some remarkably so. they wear no bonnets, and generally long blue cloaks." re-embarking at cork, the visitors sailed to waterford, arriving in the course of the afternoon. the travellers sailed again at half-past eight in the morning, having at first a rough passage, with its usual unacceptable accompaniment of sea-sickness, but near wexford the sea became gradually smooth, and there was a fine evening. at half-past six dublin bay came in sight. the war-steamers, four in number, waiting for her majesty, were at their post. escorted by this squadron, the yacht "steamed slowly and majestically" into kingstown harbour, which was full of ships, while the quays were lined with thousands of spectators cheering lustily. the sun was setting as this stately "procession of boats" entered the harbour, and her majesty describes in her journal "the glowing light" which lit up the surrounding country and the fine buildings, increasing the beauty of the scene. next morning, while the royal party were at breakfast, the yacht was brought up to the wharf lined with troops. the lord-lieutenant, lord clarendon, and lady clarendon, prince george of cambridge, lords lansdowne and clanricarde, the archbishop of dublin, &c. &c., came on board, an address was presented from the county by the earl of charlemont, to which a written reply was given. at ten lord clarendon, bowing low, stepped before the queen on the gangway, prince albert led her majesty on shore, the youthful princes and princesses and the rest of the company following, the ships saluting so that the very ground shook with the heavy -pounders, the bands playing, the guard of honour presenting arms, the multitude huzzaing, the royal standard floating out on the breeze. along a covered way, lined with ladies and gentlemen, and strewn with flowers, the queen proceeded to the railway station, and after a quarter of an hour's journey reached dublin, where she was met by her own carriages, with the postillions in the ascot liveries. the queen and prince albert, the prince of wales and the princess royal, occupied one carriage, prince alfred and princess alice, with the ladies-in-waiting, another. the commander-in-chief of the soldiers in ireland, sir edward blakeney, rode on one side of the queen's carriage, prince george of cambridge on the other, followed by a brilliant staff and escort of soldiers. "at the entrance of the city a triumphal arch of great size and beauty had been erected, under which the civic authorities--lord mayor, town-clerk, swordbearer, &c. &c.-- waited on their sovereign." the lord mayor presented the keys and her majesty returned them. "it was a wonderful and stirring scene," she described her progress in her journal; "such masses of human beings, so enthusiastic, so excited, yet such perfect order maintained. then the number of troops, the different bands stationed at certain distances, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, the bursts of welcome that rent the air, all made it a never-to-be-forgotten scene when one reflected how lately the country had been under martial law." the queen admired dublin heartily, and gave to sackville street and merrion square their due meed of praise. at the last triumphal arch a pretty little allegory, like a bit of an ancient masque, was enacted. amidst the heat and dust a dove, "alive and very tame, with an olive- branch round its neck," was let down into the queen's lap. the viceregal lodge was reached at noon, and the queen was received by lord and lady clarendon and their household. on the th of august, a showery day, the queen drove into dublin with her ladies, followed by the gentlemen, but with no other escort. her majesty was loudly cheered as she proceeded to the bank, the old parliament house before the union, where curran and grattan and many a "monk of the screw" had debated, "bloody toler" had aroused the rage of the populace, and castlereagh had looked down icy cold on the burning commotion. the famous dublin schools were next visited. their excellent system of education and liberal tolerant code delighted the prince. at trinity college, with its memories of dean swift and "charley o'malley," the queen and the prince wrote their names in st. columba's book, and inspected the harp said to have belonged to "king o'brian." after their return to the lodge, when luncheon had been taken, and prince albert went into dublin again, the queen refreshed herself with a bit of home life. she wrote and read, and heard her children say some of their lessons. at five the queen drove to kilmainham hospital, lord clarendon accompanying her and her ladies, while the prince and the other gentlemen rode. the irish commander-in-chief and prince george received her majesty, who saw and no doubt cheered the hearts of the old pensioners, going into their chapel, hall, and governor's room. afterwards she drove again into dublin, through the older quarters, college green--where mrs. delany lived when she was yet mrs. pendarvis and the belle of the town, and where there still stands the well- known, often maltreated statue of william iii., stephen's green, &c. &c. the crowds were still tremendous. on the th of august, before one o'clock, the queen and her ladies in evening dress, and prince albert and the gentlemen in uniform, drove straight to the castle, where there was to be a levee the same as at st. james's. her majesty, seated on the throne, received numerous addresses--those of the lord mayor and corporation, the universities, the archbishop and bishops (protestant and catholic), the different presbyterians, and the quakers. no fewer than two thousand presentations took place, the levee lasting till six o'clock--some five hours. on the following day there was a review of upwards of six thousand soldiers and police in the phoenix park. the queen and the prince dined alone, but in the course of the evening they drove again into dublin, to the castle, that she might hold a drawing-room. two or three thousand people were there; one thousand six hundred ladies were presented. then her majesty walked through st. patrick's hall and the other crowded rooms, returning through the densely-filled, illuminated streets, and the phoenix park after midnight. on the th of august, the queen had a little respite from public duties in a private pleasure. she and prince albert, in company with lord and lady clarendon and the different members of the suite, went on a short visit to carton, the seat of "ireland's only duke," the duke of leinster. the party passed through woodlands, with its "beautiful lime-trees," and encountered a number of maynooth students near their preparatory college. at carton the queen was received by the duke and duchess and their eldest son, the marquis of kildare, with his young wife, lady caroline leveson-gower, one of the daughters of the duchess of sutherland. all the company walked, to the music of two bands, in the pretty quaint garden with its rows of irish yews. was it the same in , when a son of the leinster house, after thinking to be a king, was hunted down in a poor dublin lodging, fought like a lion for his life, was taken a wounded prisoner to the castle, and then to newgate to die? the duke led the queen round the garden, while prince albert conducted the duchess. her majesty wrote warmly of her host that "he was one of the kindest and best of men." after luncheon the country people danced jigs in the park, the men in their thick coats, the women in their shawls; one man, "a regular irishman, with his hat on, one ear," the music furnished by three old and tattered pipers. her majesty pronounced the steps of the dancers "very droll." the duke and duchess took their guests a drive, the people riding, running, and driving with the company, but continuing perfectly well- behaved, and ready to obey any word of the duke's. it must have been a curious scene, in which all ranks took part. the queen could not get over the spectacle of the countrymen running the whole way, in their thick woollen coats, in the heat. on the queen's departure from kingstown she was followed by the same enthusiasm that had greeted her on her arrival. "as the yacht approached the extremity of the pier near the lighthouse, where the people were most thickly congregated and were cheering enthusiastically, the queen suddenly left the two ladies-in-waiting with whom she was conversing, ran with agility along the deck, and climbed the paddle-box to join prince albert, who did not notice her till she was nearly at his side. reaching him and taking his arm, she waved her right hand to the people on the piers." as she stood with the prince while the yacht steamed out of the harbour, she waved her handkerchief in "a parting acknowledgment" of her irish subjects' loyalty. as another compliment to the enthusiastic farewells of the people, the queen gave orders "to slacken speed." the paddlewheels became still, the yacht floated slowly along close to the pier, and three times the royal standard was lowered by way of "a stately obeisance" made in response to the last ringing cheers of the irish. lord clarendon wrote afterwards, that "there was not an individual in dublin who did not take as a personal compliment to himself the queen's having gone upon the paddle-box and ordered the royal standard to be lowered three times." it was a happy thought of her own. the weather was thick and misty, and the storm which was feared came on in a violent gale before the yacht entered belfast harbour, early on the morning of the th of august. the mayor and other officials came on board to breakfast, and in the course of the forenoon the queen and the prince, with the ladies and gentlemen in attendance, entered the barge to row to the _fairy_. though the row was only of two minutes' duration, the swell on the water was so great that the embarkation in the _fairy_ was a matter of difficulty; and when the smaller yacht was gained the queen had to take shelter in the pavilion from the driving spray. in such unpropitious circumstances her majesty passed carrickfergus, the landing-place of william iii., and arrived at the capital of ulster just as the sun came out and lent its much-desired presence to the gala. lord londonderry and his wife and daughters, lord donegal, the proprietor of the greater part of ulster, &c. &c., came on board with various deputations, especially of presbyterians and members of the linen trade. the queen knighted the mayor, as she had knighted his brother-magistrate at cork. by an odd blunder the gangway, which had been carefully constructed for the queen's use, was found too large. some planks on board the yacht had to form an impromptu landing-stage; but the situation was not so awkward as when louis philippe had to press a bathing-machine into the royal service at tréport. the landing-place was covered in and decorated, the londonderry carriage in waiting, and her majesty's only regret was for lord londonderry, a big man, crowded on the rumble along with specially tall and large sergeant-footmen. the scotch-descended people of belfast had outdone themselves in floral arches and decorations. the galleries for spectators were thronged. there was no stint in the honest warmth of the reception. but the irish beauty, and doubtless also something of the irish spirit and glee, had vanished with the rags and the tumbledown cabins. the douce, comfortable people of ulster were less picturesque and less demonstrative. linen hall, the botanic gardens, and the new college were visited, and different streets driven through in returning to the place of embarkation at half-past six on an evening so stormy that the weather prevented the yacht from setting sail. as it lay at anchor there was an opportunity for seeing the bonfires, streaming in the blast, on the neighbouring heights. before quitting ireland the queen determined to create her eldest son "earl of dublin," one of the titles borne by the late duke of kent. chapter xii. scotland again--glasgow and dee-side. in the course of the afternoon the yacht sailed for loch ryan. the object of this second visit to the west of scotland was not so much for the purpose of seeing again the beautiful scenery which had so delighted the queen and the prince, as with the view of making up for the great disappointment experienced by the townspeople of glasgow on her majesty's having failed to visit what was, after london, one of the largest cities in her empire. the weather was persistently bad this time, squally and disagreeable. on august th the _fairy_, with the queen and prince on board, sailed for glasgow, still in pouring rain and a high wind. the storm did not prevent the people from so lining the banks that the swell from the steamer often broke upon them. happily the weather cleared at last, and the day was fine when the landing-place was reached. as usual, the lord provost came on board and received the honour of knighthood, after he had presented one of the many addresses offered by the town, the county, the clergy of all denominations, and the house of commerce. the queen landed, with the prince and all the children that had accompanied her. sheriff alison rode on one side of her carriage, the general commanding the forces in scotland on the other. the crowd was immense, numbering as many as five hundred thousand men, women, and children. the queen admired the streets, the fine buildings, the quays, the churches. at the cathedral she was received by a man who seemed as venerable as the building itself, principal macfarlane. he called her majesty's attention to what was then the highest chimney in the world, that of the chemical works of st. rollax. the inspection of the fine cathedral, which the old protestants of the west protected instead of pulling down, included the crypt. the travellers proceeded by railway to stirling and perth. early on the morning of the th the party started, the queen having three of the children in the carriage with herself and the prince, on the long drive through beautiful highland scenery to balmoral. this year her majesty made her first stay at alt-na-guithasach, the hut or bothie of "old john gordon," the situation of which had taken her fancy and that of the prince. they had another hut built for themselves in the immediate vicinity, so that they could at any time spend a day or a couple of days in the wilds, with a single lady-in- waiting and the most limited of suites. on the th of august the queen, the prince, and the honourable caroline dawson, maid of honour, set out on their ponies, attended only by macdonald, grant, another highlander, and an english footman. the rough road had been improved, and riding was so easy that prince albert could practise his gaelic by the way. the queen was much pleased with her new possession, which meant "a charming little dining-room, sitting-room, bedroom, and dressing-room all _en suite_; a little bedroom for miss dawson and one for her maid, and a pantry." in the other hut were the kitchen where the gordon family sat, a room where the servants dined, a storeroom, and a loft where the men slept. all the people in attendance on the small party were the queen's maid, miss dawson's maid, prince albert's german valet, a footman, and macdonald, together with the old couple, john gordon and his wife. after luncheon the visitors went to loch muich--a name which has been interpreted "darkness" or "sorrow"--and got into a large boat with four rowers, while a smaller boat followed, having a net. the excursion was to the head of the loch, which joins the _dhu_ or black loch. "real severe highland scenery," her majesty calls it, and to those who know the stern sublimity of such places, the words say a great deal. "the boat, the net, and the people in their kilts in the water and on the shore," called for an artist's pencil. seventy trouts were caught, and several hawks were seen. the sailing was diversified by scrambling on shore. the return in the evening was still more beautiful. at dinner the german valet and macdonald, the highland forester, helped the footman to wait on the company. whist, played with a dummy, and a walk round the little garden, "where the silence and solitude, only interrupted by the waving of the fir-trees, were very striking," ended the day. the queen and her family left balmoral on the th. travelling by edinburgh and berwick, they visited earl grey at howick. derby was the next halting-place. at reading the travellers turned aside for gosport, and soon arrived at osborne. already, on the th of september, a special prayer had been read in every church in england, petitioning almighty god to stay the plague of cholera which had sprung up in the east, travelled across the seas, and broken out among the people. but the dreaded epidemic had nothing to do with the sad news which burst upon the queen and prince albert within, a few days of their return to the south. both were much distressed by receiving the unexpected intelligence of the sudden death of mr. anson, who had been the prince's private secretary, and latterly the keeper of the queen's privy purse. the offices which mr. anson filled in succession were afterwards worthily held by colonel phipps and general grey. chapter xiii. opening of the new coal exchange--the death of queen adelaide. on the th of october the new coal exchange, opposite billingsgate, was to have been opened by the queen in person. a slight illness--an attack of chicken-pox--compelled her majesty to give up her intention, and forego the motherly pleasure of seeing her two elder children, the prince of wales and the princess royal, make their first appearance in public. prince albert, with his son and daughter, accompanied by the duke of norfolk as master of the horse, drove from buckingham palace at twelve o'clock, and embarked on the thames in the royal barge, "a gorgeous structure of antique design, built for frederic, prince of wales, the great-great-grandfather of the prince and princess who now trod its deck." it was rowed by twenty-seven of the ancient craft of watermen, restored for a day to the royal service, clad in rich livery for the occasion, and commanded by lord adolphus fitzclarence. commander eden, superintendent of woolwich dockyard, led the van in his barge. then came vice-admiral elliot, commander-in-chief at the nore; next the lord mayor's bailiff in his craft, preceding the lord mayor in the city barge, "rearing its quaint gilded poop high in the air, and decked with richly emblazoned devices and floating ensigns.... two royal gigs and two royal barges escorted the state barge, posted respectively on its port and starboard bow, and its port and starboard quarter. the queen's shallop followed; the barges of the admiralty and the trinity corporation barge brought up the rear." [footnote: annual register.] according to ancient custom one barge bore a graceful freight of living swans to do honour to the water procession. such a grand and gay pageant on the river had not been seen for a century back. it only wanted some of the "water music," which handel composed for george ii., to render the gala complete. it would be difficult to devise a scene more captivating for children of nine and ten, such as the pair who figured in it. happily the day, though it was nearly the last of october, was beautiful and bright, and from the position which the royal party occupied in their barge when it was in the middle of the river, "not only the other barges and the platformed steamers and lighters with their living loads, but the densely-crowded banks, must have formed a memorable spectacle. the very streets running down from the strand were so packed with spectators as to present each one a moving mass. half a million of persons were gathered together to witness the unwonted sight; the bridges were hung over with them like swarms of flies, and from the throng at intervals shouts of welcome sounded long and loud." between southwark and london bridge the rowers lay on their oars for a moment, in compliment to the ardent loyalty of the scholars of queen elizabeth's grammar school. the most picturesque point was "at the moment the vessels emerged from london bridge and caught sight of the amphitheatre of shipping in the upper pool--a literal forest of masts, with a foliage of flags more variously and brilliantly coloured than the american woods after the first autumn frost. here, too, the ear was first saluted by the boom of guns, the tower artillery firing as the procession swept by." the landing-place on the custom house quay was so arranged, by means of coloured canvas, as to form a covered corridor the whole length of the quay, to and across thames street, to the principal entrance to the coal exchange. prince albert and the young prince and princess passed down the corridor, "bowing to the citizens on either side," a critical ordeal for the simply reared children. when the grand hall of the exchange was reached, the city procession came up, headed by the lord mayor, and the recorder read aloud an address "with such emphatic solemnity," it was remarked, that the prince of wales seemed "struck and almost awed by his manner." lady lyttelton takes notice of the same comical effect produced on the little boy. prince albert replied. at two o'clock the _déjeuner_ was served, when the lord mayor and the lady mayoress, at prince albert's request, sat near him. the usual toasts were given; the health of the queen was drunk with "loudest cheers," that of the queen-dowager with "evident feeling," called forth by the fact that king william's good queen, who had for long years struggled vainly with mortal disease, was, as everybody knew, drawing near her end. the toast of the prince of wales and the princess royal was received with an enthusiasm that must have tended at once to elate and abash the little hero and heroine of the day. at three o'clock the royal party re-embarked in the _fairy_. as prince albert stepped on board, while expressing his gratification with the whole proceedings, he said to his children, with the gracious, kindly tact which was natural to him, "remember that you are indebted to the lord mayor for one of the happiest days of your lives." before december wound up the year it was generally known that the queen-dowager adelaide, who had in her day occupied a prominent place in the eyes of the nation, was to be released from the sufferings of many years. in november queen victoria paid her last visit to the queen-dowager. "i shall never forget the visit we paid to the priory last thursday,", the queen wrote to king leopold. "there was death written in that dear face. it was such a picture of misery, of complete prostration, and yet she talked of everything. i could hardly command my feelings when i came in, and when i kissed twice that poor dear thin hand.... i love her so dearly; she has ever been so maternal in her affection to me. she will find peace and a reward for her many sufferings." queen adelaide died quietly on the nd of december, at her country seat of bentley priory, in the fifty-eighth year of her age. her will, which reflected her genuine modesty and humility, requested that she should be conveyed to the grave "without any pomp or state;" that she should have as private a funeral as was consistent with her rank; that her coffin should be "carried by sailors to the chapel;" that, finally, she should give as little trouble as possible. the queen-dowager's wishes were strictly adhered to. there was no embalming, lying in state, or torchlight procession. the funeral started from the priory at eight o'clock on a winter morning, and reached windsor an hour after noon. there was every token of respect and affection, but an entire absence of show and ostentation. nobody was admitted to st. george's chapel except the mourners and those officially connected with the funeral. few even of the knights of the garter were present. among the few was the old duke of wellington, sitting silent and sad; prince albert and the duke of cambridge also occupied their stalls. the duchess of kent and the duchess of cambridge, with the duchess of saxe-weimar and two princesses of saxe- weimar, the late queen's sister and nieces, were in the queen's closet. the archbishop of canterbury officiated. ten sailors of the royal navy "gently propelled" the platform on which the coffin was placed to the mouth of the vault. among the supporters of the pall were lord adolphus and lord frederick fitzclarence. the chief mourner was the duchess of norfolk. prince george of cambridge and prince edward and prince gustaf of saxe-weimar, nephews of the late queen, followed. then came the gentlemen and ladies of her household. all the gentlemen taking part in the funeral were in plain black with black scarfs; each lady had a large black veil over her head. after the usual psalms and lessons, handel's anthem, "her body is buried in peace," was sung. the black velvet pall was removed and the crown placed on the coffin, which, at the appropriate time in the service, was lowered to the side of king william's coffin. sir charles young, king-at-arms, proclaimed the rank and titles of the deceased. the late queen's chamberlain and vice-chamberlain broke their staves of office amidst profound silence, and kneeling, deposited them upon the coffin. the organ played the "dead march in saul," and the company retired. long years after queen adelaide had lain in her grave, the publication of an old diary revived some foul-mouthed slanders, which no one is too pure to escape. but the coarse malice and gross falsehood of the accusations were so evident, that their sole result was to rebound with fatal effect on the memory of the man who retailed them. chapter xiv. preparation for the exhibition--birth of the duke of connaught--the blow dealt by fate--foreign troubles--english art. the first great public meeting in the interest of the exhibition was held in london in the february of this year, and on the st of march a banquet was given at the mansion house to promote the same cause. prince albert was present, with the ministers and foreign ambassadors; and the mayors and provosts of all the principal towns in the united kingdom were also among the guests. the prince delivered an admirable speech to explain his view of the exhibition. it was at this time that the duke of wellington made the gratifying proposal that the prince should succeed him as commander-in-chief of the army, urging the suggestion by every argument in his power, and offering to supply the prince with all the information and guidance which the old soldier's experience could command. after some quiet consideration the prince declined the proposal, chiefly on the ground that the many claims which the high office would necessarily make on his time and attention, must interfere with his other and still more binding duties to the queen and the country. on may-day, , her majesty's third son and seventh child was born. the prince, in announcing the event to the dowager-duchess of coburg, says: "the little boy was received by his sisters with _jubilates_. 'now we are just as many as the days of the week,' was the cry, and then a bit of a struggle arose as to who was to be sunday. out of well-bred courtesy the honour was conceded to the new-comer." the circumstance that the st of may was the birthday of the duke of wellington determined the child's name, and perhaps, in a measure, his future profession. the queen and the prince were both so pleased to show this crowning mark of friendship from a sovereign to a subject, that they did not allow the day to pass without intimating their intention to the duke. "it is a singular thing," the queen wrote to baron stockmar, "that this so much wished-for boy should be born on the old duke's eighty-first birthday. may that, and his beloved father's name, bring the poor little infant happiness and good fortune!" an amusing episode of the queen's visit to ireland had been the passionate appeal of an old irishwoman, "och, queen, dear! make one of them prince patrick, and all ireland will die for you!" whether or not her majesty remembered the fervent request, prince arthur had patrick for one of his names, certainly in memory of ireland, and william for another, partly in honour of one of his godfathers--the present emperor of germany--and partly because it would have pleased queen adelaide, whose sister, duchess ida of saxe-weimar, was godmother. prince albert's name wound up the others. the child was baptized on the nd of june at buckingham palace. the two godfathers were present; so were the duchesses of kent and cambridge (the duke of cambridge lay ill), prince george and princess mary of cambridge, the prince of leiningen, and prince edward of saxe-weimar, the ministers and foreign ambassadors. the archbishop of canterbury, the bishops of london and oxford, &c. &c., officiated. prince albert's chorale, "in life's gay morn," was performed again. after the christening there was a state banquet in the picture gallery. prince arthur was the finest of all the queen's babies, and the royal nurseries still retain memories of his childish graces. before the ceremony of the christening, and within a month of the birth of her child, her majesty was subjected to one of the most wanton and cowardly of all the attacks which half-crazed brains prompted their owners to make upon her person. she had driven out about six o'clock in the evening, with her children and lady jocelyn, to inquire for her uncle, the duke of cambridge, who was suffering from his last illness. while she was within the gates of cambridge house, a tall, gentlemanlike man loitered at the entrance, as it appeared with the by no means uncommon wish to see the queen. but when her carriage drove out, while it was leisurely turning the corner into the road, the man started forward, and, with a small stick which he held, struck the queen a sharp blow on the face, crushing the bonnet she wore, and inflicting a severe bruise and slight wound on the forehead. the fellow was instantly seized and the stick wrested from his grasp, while he was conveyed to the nearest police-station. the queen drove home, and was able to show herself the same evening at the opera, where she was received with the singing of the national anthem and great cheering. the offender was neither a boy nor of humble rank. he proved to be a man of thirty--a gentleman by birth and education. the prince wrote of the miserable occurrence to baron stockmar that its perpetrator was a dandy "whom you must often have seen in the park, where he has made himself conspicuous. he maintains the closest silence as to his motives, but is manifestly deranged. all this does not help to make one cheerful." the man was the son of a gentleman named pate, of wealth and position, who had acted as sheriff of cambridgeshire. the son had had a commission in the army, from which he had been requested to retire, on account of an amount of eccentricity that had led at least to one serious breach of discipline. he could give no reason for his conduct beyond making the statement that he had acted on a sudden uncontrollable impulse. he was tried in the following july. the jury refused to accept the plea of insanity, and he was sentenced, like his predecessor, to seven years' transportation. at the date of the attack the minds of the queen and the prince, and indeed of a large portion of the civilised world, were much occupied with a serious foreign embroilment into which the government had been drawn by what many people considered the restless and interfering policy of lord palmerston, the secretary of state for foreign affairs. he had gone so far as to send a fleet into greek waters for the protection of two british subjects claiming assistance, and in the act he had offended france and russia. much political excitement was aroused, and there were keen and protracted debates in both houses of parliament. in the house of lords something like a vote of censure of the foreign policy of the government was moved and carried. in the house of commons the debate lasted five nights, and the fine speech in which lord palmerston, a man in his sixty-sixth year, defended his policy, was continued "from the dusk of one day to the dawn of the next." apart from these troubles abroad, the country, on the whole, was in a prosperous and satisfactory condition. trade was flourishing. neither had literature fallen behind. perhaps it had rarely shown a more brilliant galaxy of contemporary names, including those of john stuart mill in logic, herbert spencer in philosophy, charles darwin in natural science, ruskin in art criticism, helps as an essayist. and in this year tennyson brought out his "in memoriam," and kingsley his "alton lock". it seemed but natural that the earlier lights should be dying out before the later; that lord jeffrey, the old king of critics, should pass beyond the sound of reviews; and wordsworth, after this spring, be seen no more among the cumberland hills and dales; and jane porter, whose innocent high-flown romances had been the delight of the young reading world more than fifty years before, should end her days, a cheerful old lady, in the prosaic town of bristol. in the academy's annual exhibition the same old names of landseer (with his popular picture of the duke of wellington showing his daughter-in-law, lady douro, the field of waterloo), maclise, mulready, stanfield, &c. &c., came still to the front. but a new movement, having a foreign origin, though in this case an english development, known as the pre-raphaelite theory, with millais, holman hunt, and rossetti as its leaders, was already at work. this year there was a picture by millais--still a lad of twenty-one--in support of the protest against conventionality in the beautiful, which did not fail to attract attention, though it excited as much condemnation as praise. the picture was "christ in the house of his parents," better known as "the carpenter's shop." chapter xv. the deaths of sir robert peel, the duke of cambridge, and louis philippe. the court had been at osborne for the whitsun holidays, and the prince had written to germany, "in our island home we are wholly given up to the enjoyment of the warm summer weather. the children catch butterflies, victoria sits under the trees, and i drink the kissingen water, ragotzky. to-day mamma-aunt (the duchess of kent) and charles (prince of leiningen) are come to stay a fortnight with us; then we go to town to compress the (so-called) pleasures of the season into four weeks. god be merciful to us miserable sinners." there was more to be encountered in town this year, than the hackneyed round of gaieties--from which even royalty, with all the will in the world, could not altogether free itself. the first shock was the violent opposition, got up alike by the press and in parliament, to hyde park as the site of the building required for the exhibition. following hard upon it came the melancholy news of the accident to sir robert peel, which occurred at the very door, so simply and yet so fatally. sir robert, who, was riding out on saturday, the th of june, had just called at buckingham palace and written his name in her majesty's visiting-book. he was going up constitution hill, and had reached the wicket-gate leading into the green park, when he met miss ellis, lady dover's daughter, with whom he was acquainted, also riding. sir robert exchanged greetings with the young lady, and his horse became restive, "swerved towards the rails of the green park," and threw its rider, who had a bad seat in the saddle, sideways on his left shoulder. it was supposed that sir robert held by the reins, so as to drag the animal down with its knees on his shoulder. he was taken home in a carriage, and laid on a sofa in his dining- room, from which he was never moved. at his death he was in his sixty- third year. the vote of the house of commons settled the question that hyde park should be the site of the exhibition, and _punch_'s caricature, which the prince enjoyed, of prince albert as "the industrious boy," cap in hand, uttering the petition-- "pity the troubles of a poor young price, whose costly scheme has borne him to your door," lost all its sting, when such a fund was guaranteed as warranted the raising of the structure according to sir joseph paxton's beautiful design. the queen and the prince had many calls on their sympathy this summer. on the th of july the duke of cambridge died, aged seventy-six. he was the youngest of george iii and queen charlotte's sons who attained manhood. he was one of the most popular of the royal brothers, notwithstanding the disadvantages of having been educated partly abroad, taken foreign service, and held appointments in hanover which caused him to reside there for the most part till the death of william iv. neither was he possessed of much ability. he had not even the scientific and literary acquirements of the duke of sussex, who had possessed one of the best private libraries in england. but the duke of cambridge's good-nature was equal to his love of asking questions-- a hereditary trait. he was buried, according to his own wish, at kew. the house of commons voted twelve thousand a year to prince george, on his becoming duke of cambridge, in lieu of the twenty-seven thousand a year enjoyed by the late duke. osborne was a more welcome retreat than ever at the close of the summer, but even osborne could not shelter the queen from political worry and personal sorrow. there were indications of renewed trouble from lord palmerston's "spirited foreign policy." the queen and the prince believed they had reason to complain of lord palmerston's carelessness and negligence, in not forwarding in time copies of the documents passing through his department, which ought to have been brought under the notice both of the sovereign and the prime minister, and to have received their opinion, before the over- energetic secretary for foreign affairs acted upon them on his own responsibility. in these circumstances her majesty wrote a memorandum of what she regarded as the duty of the secretary of state for foreign affairs towards the crown. the memorandum was written in a letter to lord john russell, which he was requested to show to lord palmerston. except the misunderstanding with sir robert peel about the dismissal of the ladies of her suite, which occurred early in the reign, this is the only difference on record between the queen and any of her ministers. during this july at osborne, lady lyttelton wrote her second vivid description, quoted in the "life of the prince consort," of prince albert's organ-playing. "last evening such a sunset! i was sitting, gazing at it, and thinking of lady charlotte proby's verses, when from an open window below this floor began suddenly to sound the prince's organ, expressively played by his masterly hand. such a modulation! minor and solemn, and ever changing and never ceasing. from a _piano_ like jenny lind's holding note up to the fullest swell, and still the same fine vein of melancholy. and it came on so exactly as an accompaniment to the sunset. how strange he is! he must have been playing just while the queen was finishing her toilette, and then he went to cut jokes and eat dinner, and nobody but the organ knows what is in him, except, indeed, by the look of his eyes sometimes." lady lyttelton refers to the prince's cutting jokes, and the queen has written of his abiding cheerfulness. people are apt to forget in their very admiration of his noble thoughtfulness, earnestness, and tenderness of heart that he was also full of fun, keenly relishing a good story, the life of the great royal household. the queen had been grieved this summer by hearing of the serious illness of her greatest friend, the queen of the belgians, who was suffering from the same dangerous disease of which her sister, princess marie, had died. probably it was with the hope of cheering king leopold, and of perhaps getting a glimpse of the much-loved invalid, that the queen, after proroguing parliament in person, sailed on the st of august with the prince and their four elder children in the royal yacht on a short trip to ostend, where the party spent a day. king leopold met the visitors--the younger of whom were much interested by their first experience of a foreign town. the queen had the satisfaction of finding her uncle well and pleased to see her, so that she could call the meeting afterwards a "delightful, happy dream;" but there was a sorrowful element in the happiness, occasioned by the absence of queen louise, whose strength was not sufficient for the journey to ostend, and of whose case sir james clark, sent by the queen to laeken, thought badly. the poor orleans family had another blow in store for them. on prince albert's thirty-first birthday, the th of august, which he passed at osborne, news arrived of the death that morning, at claremont, of louis philippe, late king of the french, in his seventy-seventh year. the queen and the prince had been prepared to start with their elder children for scotland the day after they heard of the death, and by setting out at six o'clock in the morning they were enabled to pay a passing visit to the house of mourning. we may be permitted to remark here, by what quiet, unconscious touches in letters and journals we have brought home to us the dual life, full of duty and kindliness, led by the highest couple in the land. whether it is in going with a family of cousins to take the last look at a departed kinsman, or in getting up at daybreak to express personal sympathy with another family in sorrow, we cannot fail to see, while it is all so simply said and done, that no painful ordeal is shirked, no excuse is made of weighty tasks and engrossing occupations, to free either queen or prince from the gentle courtesies and tender charities of everyday humanity; we recognise that the noblest and busiest are also the bravest, the most faithful, the most full of pity. chapter xvi. the queen's first stay at holyrood--life in the highlands--the death of the queen of the belgians. this year the queen went north by castle howard, the fine seat of the earl of carlisle, the duchess of sutherland's brother, where her majesty made her first halt. after stopping to open the railway bridges, triumphs of engineering, over the tyne and the tweed, the travellers reached edinburgh, where, to the gratification of an immense gathering of her scotch subjects, her majesty spent her first night in holyrood, the palace of her stewart ancestors. the place was full of interest and charm for her, and though it was late in the afternoon before she arrived, she hardly waited to rest, before setting out incognito, so far as the old housekeeper was concerned, to inspect the historical relics of the building. she wandered out with her "two girls and their governess" to the ruins of the chapel or old abbey, and stood by the altar at which mary stewart, the fair young french widow, wedded "the long lad darnley," and read the inscriptions on the tombs of various members of noble scotch houses, coming to a familiar name on the slab which marked the grave of the mother of one of her own maids of honour, a daughter of clanranald's. the queen then visited queen mary's rooms, being shown, like other strangers, the closet where her ancestress had sat at supper on a memorable night, and the stair from the chapel up which ruthven, risen from a sick-bed, led the conspirators who seized davie rizzio, dragged him from his mistress's knees, to which he clung, and slew him pitilessly on the boards which, according to old tradition, still bear the stain of his blood. after that ghastly token, authentic or non- authentic, which would thrill the hearts of the young princesses as it has stirred many a youthful imagination, darnley's armour and mary's work-table, with its embroidery worked by her own hand, must have fallen comparatively flat. the next morning the queen and the prince, with their children, took their first drive round the beautiful road, then just completed, which bears her name, and, encircling arthur's seat, is the goal of every stranger visiting edinburgh, affording as it does in miniature an excellent idea of scotch scenery. on this occasion the party alighted and climbed to the top of the hill, rejoicing in the view. "you see the beautiful town, with the calton hill, and the bay with the island of inchkeith stretching out before you, and the bass rock quite in the distance, rising behind the coast.... the view when we gained the carriage hear dunsappie loch, quite a small lake, overhung by a crag, with the sea in the distance, is extremely pretty.... the air was delicious." in the course of the forenoon the prince laid the foundation stone of the scotch national gallery, and made his first speech (which was an undoubted success) before one of those edinburgh audiences, noted for their fastidiousness and critical faculty. the afternoon drive was by the beautiful scott monument, the finest modern ornament of the city, donaldson's hospital, the high street, and the canongate, and the lower part of the queen's drive, which encloses the queen's park. "a beautiful park indeed," she wrote, "with such a view, and such mountain scenery in the midst of it." in the evening there was assembled such a circle as had not been gathered in royal old holyrood since poor prince charlie kept brief state there. her majesty wrote in her journal, "the buccleuchs, the roxburghs, the mortons, lord roseberry, principal lee, the belhavens, and the lord justice general, dined with us. everybody so pleased at our living at my old palace." the talk seems to have been, as was fitting, on old times and the unfortunate queen mary, the heroine of holyrood. sir theodore martin thinks it may have been in remembrance of this evening that lord belhaven, on his death, left a bequest to the queen "of a cabinet which had been brought by queen mary from france, and given by her to the regent mar, from whom it passed into the family of lord belhaven." the cabinet contains a lock of queen mary's golden hair, and a purse worked by her. on the following day the royal party left holyrood and travelled to balmoral. the queen, with the prince and her children, and the duchess of kent, with her son and grandson, were at the great gala of the district, the braemar gathering, where the honour of her majesty's presence is always eagerly craved. another amusement was the _leistering_, or spearing, of salmon in the dee. captain forbes of newe, and from forty to fifty of his clan, on their return to strathdon from the braemar gathering, were attracted by the fishing to the river's edge, when they were carried over the water on the backs of the queen's men, who volunteered the service, "macdonald, at their head, carrying captain forbes on his back." the courteous act, which was quite spontaneous, charmed the queen and the prince. the latter in writing to germany gave further details of the incident. "our people in the highlands are altogether primitive, true-hearted and without guile.... yesterday the forbeses of strath don passed through here. when they came to the dee our people (of strath dee) offered to carry them across the river, and did so, whereupon they drank to the health of victoria and the inmates of balmoral in whisky (_schnapps_), but as there was no cup to be had, their chief, captain forbes, pulled off his shoe, and he and his fifty men drank out of it." the forbeses got permission to march through the grounds of balmoral, "the pipers going, in front. they stopped and cheered three times three, throwing up their bonnets." the queen describes the characteristic demonstration, and she then mentions listening with pleasure "to the distant shouts and the sound of the pibroch." there were two drawbacks to the peace and happiness of balmoral this year. the one was occasioned by an unforeseen vexatious occurrence, and the complications which arose from it. general haynau, the austrian officer whose brutalities to the conquered and to women during the hungarian war had aroused detestation in england, happened to visit london, and was attacked by the men in barclay's brewery. austria remonstrated, and lord palmerston made a rash reply, which had to be recalled. the other care which darkened the balmoral horizon in was the growing certainty of a fatal termination to the illness of the queen of the belgians. immediately after the court returned to osborne the blow fell. queen louise died at ostend on the th of october, . she was only in her thirty-ninth year, not more than eight years older than queen victoria. she was the second daughter of louis philippe, princess marie having been the elder sister. chapter xvii. the papal bull--the great exhibition. in the winter of the whole of england was disturbed by the papal bull which professed to divide england afresh into roman catholic bishoprics, with a cardinal-archbishop at their head. protestant england hotly resented the liberty the pope had taken, the more so that the tractarian movement in the church seemed to point to treachery within the camp. lord john russell took this view of it, and the announcement of his opinion intensified the excitement which expressed itself, in meetings all over the county and numerous addresses to the queen, condemning the act of aggression and urging resistance. the protests of the universities of oxford and cambridge, and of the corporation of london, were presented to her majesty in st. george's hall, windsor castle, on the th of december. the oxford address was read by the chancellor of oxford, the duke of wellington, the old soldier speaking "in his peculiar energetic manner with great vigour and animation." the cambridge address was read by the chancellor of cambridge, prince albert, "with great clearness and well-marked emphasis." the queen replied "with great deliberation and with decided accents." her majesty, while repelling the invasion of her rights and the offence to the religious principles of the country, held, with the calmer judges of the situation, that no pretence, however loudly asserted, could constitute reality. the pope might call england what he liked, but he could not make it catholic. in january, , the court had a great loss in the retirement of lady lyttelton from her office of governess to the royal children, which she had filled for eight years; while her service at court, including the time that she had been a lady-in-waiting, had lasted over twelve years. thenceforth her bright sympathetic accounts of striking events in the life at windsor and osborne cease. the daughter of the second earl of spenser married, at twenty-six years of age, the third lord lyttelton. she was forty-two when she became a lady-in-waiting, and fifty-four when she resigned the office of governess to the queen's children. she desired to quit the court because, as she said, she was old enough to be at rest for whatever time might be left her. in the tranquillity and leisure which she sought, she survived for twenty years, dying at the age of seventy-four in . the parting in was a trial to all. "the queen has told me i may be free about the middle of january," wrote lady lyttelton, "and she said it with all the feeling and kindness of which i have received such incessant proofs through the whole long twelve years during which i have served her. never by a word or look has it been interrupted." neither could lady lyttelton say enough in praise of the prince, of "his wisdom, his ready helpfulness, his consideration for others, his constant kindness." "in the evening i was sent for to my last audience in the queen's own room," lady lyttelton wrote again, "and i quite broke down and could hardly speak or hear. i remember the prince's face, pale as ashes, and a few words of praise and thanks from them both, but it is all misty; and i had to stop on the private staircase and have my cry out before i could go up again." lady lyttelton was succeeded in her office by lady caroline barrington, sister of earl grey, who held the post for twenty-four years, till her death in . she too was much and deservedly esteemed by the queen and the royal family. the exhibition was the event in england of . from the end of march till the opening-day, for which may-day was fitly chosen, prince albert strove manfully day and night to fulfil his important part in the programme, and it goes without saying that the queen shared in much of his work, and in all his hopes and fears and ardent desires. already the building, with its great transept and naves, lofty dome, transparent walls and roof, enclosing great trees within their ample bounds, the _chef-d'-oeuvre_ of sir joseph paxton--who received knighthood for the feat--the admiration of all beholders, had sprung up in hyde park like a fairy palace, the growth of a night. ships and waggons in hundreds and thousands, laden by commerce, science and art, were trooping from far and near to the common destination. great and small throughout the country and across the seas were planning to make the exhibition their school of design and progress, as well as their holiday goal. it must be said that the dread of what might be the behaviour of the vast crowds of all nations gathered together at one spot, and that spot london, assailed many people both at home and abroad. but as those who are not "evil-doers" are seldom "evil-dreaders," the queen and the prince always dismissed the idea of such a danger with something like bright incredulous scorn, which proved in the end wiser than cynical suspicion and gloomy apprehension. the exhibition of , with its reverent motto, chosen by prince albert, "the earth is the lord's, and the fullness thereof; the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein," is an old story now, and only elderly people remember some of its marvels--like the creations of the "arabian nights'" tales--and its works of art, which, though they may have been excelled before and since, had never yet been so widely seen and widely criticised. the feathery palm-trees and falling fountains, especially the great central cascade, seemed to harmonize with objects of beauty and forms of grace on every side. the east contended with the west in soft and deep colours and sumptuous stuffs. huge iron machines had their region, and trophies of cobweb lace theirs; while "walking-beams" clanked and shuttles flew, working wonders before amazed and enchanted-eyes. especially never had there been seen, such modern triumphs in carved woodwork, in moulded iron, zinc, and bronze, in goldsmiths' work, in stoneware and porcelain, in designs for damasks in silk and linen. the largest diamond in the world, the koh-i-noor or "mountain of light," found in the mines of golconda, presented to the great mogul, having passed through the hands of a succession of murderous and plundering shahs, had been brought to england and laid at the feet of queen victoria as one of the fruits of her afghan conquests, the year before the exhibition. it was now for the first time publicly displayed. like many valuable articles, its appearance, marred by bad cutting, did not quite correspond with the large estimate of its worth, about two millions. in order to increase its effect, the precious clumsily-cut "goose's egg," relieved against a background of crimson velvet in its strong cage, was shown by gas-light alone. since those days, the jewel has been cut, so that its radiance may have full play when it is worn by her majesty on great occasions. to keep the koh-i-noor in company, one of the largest emeralds and one of the largest pearls in the world were in this exhibition. so were "_le saphir merveilleux_"--of amethystine colour by candle-light, once the property of egalité orleans, and the subject of a tale by madame genlis-and a renowned hungarian opal. hiram powers's "greek slave" from america more than rivalled monti's veiled statue from italy, while far surpassing both in majesty was kiss's grand group of the "mounted amazon defending herself from, the attack of a lioness," cast in zinc and bronzed. statues and statuettes of the queen abounded, and must have constantly met her eye, from mrs. thornycroft's spirited equestrian statue to the great pedestal and statue, in zinc, of her majesty, crowned, in robes of state, with the sceptre in one hand and the orb in the other, modelled by danton, which stood in the centre of the foreign nave. what enhanced the fascination of the scene to untravelled spectators was that without the deliberate contrivance brought to perfection in the great paris exhibition, real chinamen walked among their junks and pagodas, russians stood by their malachite gates, turks hovered about their carpets. women's quaint or exquisite work, whether professional or amateur, was not absent. it was notable in the magnificent covers for the head and footboard of a bed which had occupied thirty girls for many weeks, and in a carpet worked in squares by a company of ladies, and presented as a tribute of their respect and love for the most unremittingly diligent woman in england, her majesty the queen. chapter xviii. the queen's account of the opening of the exhibition. of all the many descriptions of the exhibition of , which survive after more than thirty years, the best are those written by the queen, which we gratefully borrow, as we have already borrowed so many of the extracts from her journal in the prince's "life." sir theodore martin has alluded to the special attraction lent to the exhibition on its opening day by the excitement of the glad ceremonial, the throng of spectators, the court element with "its splendid toilets" and uniforms, while thackeray has a verse for the chief figure. behold her in her royal place, a gentle lady, and the hand that sways the sceptre of this land, how frail and weak soft is the voice and fair the face; she breathes amen to prayer and hymn no wonder that her eyes are dim, and pale her cheek. but she has deigned to speak for herself, and no other speaks words so noble and tender in their simplicity. "may st. the great event has taken place, a complete and beautiful triumph, a glorious and touching sight, one which i shall ever be proud of for my beloved albert and my country.... yes, it is a day which makes my heart swell with pride and glory and thankfulness. "we began it with tenderest greetings for the birthday of our dear little arthur. at breakfast there was nothing but congratulations.... mamma and victor (the queen's nephew, son of the princess of hohenlohe, now well-known as count gleichen) were there, and all the children and our guests. our humble gifts of toys were added to by a beautiful little bronze _replica_ of the 'amazon' (kiss's) from the prince (of prussia), a beautiful paper-knife from the princess (of prussia), and a nice little clock from mamma. "the park presented a wonderful spectacle, crowds streaming through it, carriages and troops passing quite like the coronation day, and for me the same anxiety; no, much greater anxiety, on account of my beloved albert. the day was bright, and all bustle and excitement.... at half-past eleven the whole procession, in state carriages, was in motion.... the green park and hyde park were one densely crowded mass of human beings in the highest good-humour and most enthusiastic. i never saw hyde park look as it did, as far as the eye could reach. a little rain fell just as we started, but before we came near the crystal palace the sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the flags of all the nations were floating. we drove up rotten row and got out at the entrance on that side. "the glimpse of the transept through the iron gates--the waving palms, flowers, statues, myriads of people filling the galleries and seats around, with the flourish of trumpets as we entered, gave us a sensation which, i can never forget, and i felt much moved. we went for a moment to a little side-room, where we left our shawls, and where we found mamma and mary (now duchess of teck), and outside which were standing the other princes. in a few seconds we proceeded, albert leading me, having vicky at his hand, and bertie holding mine. the sight as we came to the middle, where the steps and chair (which i did not sit on) were placed, with the beautiful crystal fountain in front of it, was magical--so vast, so glorious, so touching. one felt, as so many did whom i have since spoken to, filled with devotion, more so than by any service i have ever heard. the tremendous cheers, the joy expressed in every face, the immensity of the building, the mixture of palms, flowers, trees, statues, fountains--the organ (with two hundred instruments and six hundred voices, which sounded like nothing), and my beloved husband the author of this peace festival, which united the industry of all nations of the earth--all this was moving indeed, and it was and is a day to live for ever. god bless my dearest albert, god bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so great to-day! one felt so grateful to the great god who seemed to pervade all and to bless all. the only event it in the slightest degree reminded me of was the coronation, but this day's festival was a thousand times superior. in fact it is unique and can bear no comparison, from its peculiarity, beauty, and combination of such different and striking objects. i mean the slight resemblance only as to its solemnity; the enthusiasm and cheering, too, were much more touching, for in a church naturally all is silent. "albert left my side after "god save the queen" had been sung, and at the head of the commissioners, a curious assemblage of political and distinguished men, read me the report, which is a long one, and to which i read a short answer; after which the archbishop of canterbury offered up a short and appropriate prayer, followed by the "hallelujah chorus," during which the chinese mandarin came forward and made his obeisance. this concluded, the procession began. it was beautifully arranged and of great length, the prescribed order being exactly adhered to. the nave was full, which had not been intended; but still there was no difficulty, and the whole long walk, from one end to the other, was made in the midst of continued and deafening cheers and waving of handkerchiefs. everyone's face was bright and smiling, many with tears in their eyes. many frenchmen called out "_vive la reine_!" one could, of course, see nothing but what was near in the nave, and nothing in the courts. the organs were but little heard, but the military band at one end had a very fine effect as we passed along. they played the march from _athalie_.... the old duke and lord anglesey walked arm in arm, which was a touching sight. i saw many acquaintances among those present. we returned to our own place, and albert told lord breadalbane to declare that the exhibition was opened, which he did in a loud voice: 'her majesty commands me to declare this exhibition open,' which was followed by a flourish of trumpets and immense cheering. all the commissioners, the executive committee, who worked so hard, and to whom such immense praise is due, seemed truly happy, and no one more so than paxton, who may be justly proud; he rose from being a common gardener's boy. everybody was astonished and delighted, sir george grey (home secretary) in tears. "the return was equally satisfactory, the crowd most enthusiastic, the order perfect. we reached the palace at twenty minutes past one, and went out on the balcony and were loudly cheered, the prince and princess (of prussia) quite delighted and impressed. that we felt happy, thankful, i need not say; proud of all that had passed, of my darling husband's success, and of the behaviour of my good people. i was more impressed than i can say by the scene. it was one that can never be effaced from my memory, and never will be from that of any one who witnessed it. albert's name is immortalised, and the wicked reports of dangers of every kind, which a set of people, viz. the _soi disant_ fashionables, the most violent protectionists, spread, are silenced. it is therefore doubly satisfactory, and that all should have gone off so well, and without the slightest accident or mishap.... albert's emphatic words last year, when he said that the feeling would be _that of deep thankfulness to the almighty for the blessings which he has bestowed on us here below_ this day realised.... "i must not omit to mention an interesting episode of this day, viz:-- the visit of the good old duke on this his eighty-second birthday to his little godson, our dear little boy. he came to us both at five, and gave him a golden cup and some toys, which he had himself chosen, and arthur gave him a nosegay. "we dined _en famille_, and then went to the covent garden opera, where we saw the two finest acts of the _huguenots_ given as beautifully as last year. i was rather tired, but we were both so happy, so full of thankfulness! god is indeed our kind and merciful father." in answer to lord john russell's statement, on the close of the exhibition, that the great enterprise and the spirit in which it had been conducted would contribute "to give imperishable fame to prince albert," the queen asserted that year would ever remain the happiest and proudest of her life. chapter xix. the queen's "restoration ball" and the "guildhall ball." the season of the first exhibition was full of movement and gaiety, in which the queen and prince albert joined. they had also the pleasure of welcoming their brother and sister, the duke and duchess of saxe coburg, who arrived to witness the prince's triumph. as usual he came forward on every occasion when his services, to which his position and personal gifts lent double value, were needed--whether he presided at an academy dinner, or at a meeting of the society for the propagation of the gospel, or laid the foundation of the hospital for consumption, or attended the meeting of the british association, and the queen delighted in his popularity and usefulness. on the th of may baroness bunsen was at stafford house "when her there," and thus describes the queen. "the queen looked charming, and i could not help the same reflection that i have often made before, that she is the only piece of _female royalty_ i ever saw who was also a creature such as almighty god has created. her smile is a _real_ smile, her grace is _natural_; although it has received a high polish from cultivation, there is nothing artificial about it. princes i have seen several whose first characteristic is that of being _men_ rather than princes, though not many. the duchess of sutherland is the only person i have seen, when receiving the queen, not giving herself the appearance of a visitor in her own house by wearing a bonnet." on the th of may the queen and the prince were at devonshire house, when lord lytton's comedy of "not so bad as we seem" was played by dickens, foster, douglas jerrold, on behalf of the new "guild of literature and art," in which hopes for poor authors were cheerfully entertained. on the rd of may lord campbell was anticipating the queen's third costume ball with as much complacency as if the eminent lawyer had been a young girl. "we are invited to the queen's fancy ball on the th of june," he wrote "where we are all to appear in the characters and costume of the reign of charles ii. i am to go as sir matthew hale, chief justice, and i am now much occupied in considering my dress, that is to say, which robe i am to wear--scarlet, purple, or black. the only new articles i shall have to order are my black velvet coif, a beard with moustaches, and a pair of shoes with red heels, and red rosettes." the period chosen for the restoration ball was the time midway between the dates of the plantagenet and the powder ball. as on former occasions, the court walked in procession to the throne- room, where each quadrille passed in turn before the queen and prince albert. her majesty's dress was of grey watered silk, trimmed with gold and silver lace, and ornamented with bows of rose-coloured riband fastened by bouquets of diamonds. the front of the dress was open, and the under-skirt was made of cloth of gold embroidered in a shawl pattern in silver. the gloves and shoes were embroidered alternately with roses and _fleurs-de-lys_ in gold. on the front of the body of the dress were four large pear-shaped emeralds of great value. the queen wore a small diamond crown on the top of her head, and a large emerald set in diamonds, with pearl loops, on one side of the head; the hair behind plaited with pearls. prince albert wore a coat of rich orange satin, brocaded with gold, the sleeves turned up with crimson velvet, a pink silk epaulette on one shoulder; a baldrick of gold lace embroidered with silver for the sword; the breeches of crimson velvet with pink satin bows and gold lace, the stockings of lavender silk, the sash of white silk, gold fringed. there were four national quadrilles. the english quadrille was led by the marchioness of ailesbury; the scotch quadrille was under the guidance of the young marchioness of stafford, daughter-in-law of the duke of sutherland; the french quadrille was led by countess flahault, the representative of the old barons keith, and the wife of a brilliant frenchman; the spanish quadrille was marshalled by countess granville. there were two more quadrilles, the one under the control of the countess of wilton, the other, called the "rose quadrille," led by countess grey. with all due deference to the opinion of the late mr. henry greville, the accounts of these quadrilles leave the impression not only that they were arranged with finer taste, but that a considerable advance had been made in artistic perception and sense of harmony. the ladies in each quadrille were dressed alike, so were the gentlemen; thus there were no harsh contrasts. in the english set the ladies wore blue and white silk gowns with trimmings of rose-colour and gold. the gentlemen were in scarlet and gold, and blue velvet. lady waterford was in this set, and lady churchill, daughter of the marquis of conyngham, long connected with the court. the duke of cambridge and prince edward of saxe weimar were among the gentlemen in the set. certainly it is a little hard to decide on what principle the exceedingly piquant costume of the ladies in the scotch quadrille was classed as scotch. the ladies wore riding-habits of pale green taffeta ornamented with bows of pink ribbon, and had on grey hats with pink and white feathers. lady stafford carried a jewelled riding-whip. the gentlemen were in highland costume. in the french quadrille the ladies wore white satin with bows of light blue ribbon opening over cloth of gold. the gentlemen were in the uniform of _mousquetaires_. in this quadrille danced lady clementina villiers, with her "marble-like beauty." she had ceased to be a watteau shepherdess, and she had lost her companion shepherdess of old, but her intellectual gifts and fine qualities were developing themselves more and more. in the same dance was lady rose lovell, the young daughter of the duke of beaufort, whose elopement at the age of seventeen with a gallant one-armed soldier had been condoned, so that she still played her part in the court gala. in the spanish quadrille the ladies wore black silk over grey damask, trimmed with gold lace and pink rosettes, and spanish mantillas. the gentlemen were in black velvet, with a spanish order embroidered in red silk on coat and cloak, grey silk stockings, and black velvet hats with red and yellow feathers. in this quadrille were the matronly beauties lady canning, lady jocelyn, and lady waldegrave. after the quadrilles had been danced, the ladies falling into lines, advanced to the throne and did reverence, the gentlemen forming in like manner and performing the same ceremony. her majesty, and prince albert then proceeded to the ballroom, where lady wilton's and lady grey's quadrilles were danced. in the rose quadrille the ladies wore rose-coloured skirts over white moire, with rose-coloured bows and pearls, rose colour and pearls in the hair. each lady wore a single red rose on her breast. after the quadrilles, the queen opened the general ball by dancing the _polonnaise_ with prince albert, the duke of cambridge, and prince edward of saxe weimar; prince albert dancing next with the duchess of norfolk, the premier peeress present. the queen danced after supper with the prince of leiningen. he was at the restoration as he had been at the powder ball, and wore black velvet and gold lace with orange ribbons. the characters seem to have been chosen with more point than before. the countess of tankerville personated a duchesse de grammont, in right of her mother-in-law, corisande de grammont, grand-daughter of marie antoinette's friend gabrielle de polignac. lady ashburton was madame de sevigné, whose fashion of curls beginning in rings on the forehead and getting longer and longer towards the neck, was as much in demand for the ladies, as philip leigh's lovelocks were for the gentlemen. lady hume campbell was "la belle duchesse de bourgogne;" lady middleton, lucy percy, countess of carlisle. mrs. abbot lawrence vindicated her american nationality by representing anna dudley, the wife of an early governor of massachusetts; mr. bancroft davies, secretary of the united states legation, figured as william penn. lady londonderry and miss burdett coutts were still remarkable for the splendour of their jewels. lady londonderry wore a girdle of diamonds, a diamond _berthe_, and a head-dress a blaze of precious stones, the whole valued roughly at a hundred and fifty thousand pounds. miss burdett coutts displayed a band of jewels, after the fashion of the gentlemen's baldricks, passing over one shoulder and terminating in a diamond clasp fastening back the upper skirt. after diamonds, which, like the blossom of the gorse, may be considered as always _à la mode_, the specialities of the restoration ball were honiton lace, which was reckoned in better keeping with falling collars than old point, and an enormous expenditure of ribbons. some of the magnificent collars, such as that of lord overton, were manufactured for the occasion. as for ribbons, not only did ladies' dresses abound in bows and rosettes, the gentlemen's doublets, "trunks," and sleeves, were profusely beribboned. the very shirt-sleeves, exposed by the coat- sleeves terminating at the elbow, were bound and festooned with ribbons; while from the ends of the waistcoat hung a waterfall of ribbons, like a highlander's philabeg. verily, the heart of coventry must have rejoiced; the restoration ball might have been got up for its special benefit. the duke of wellington was in the scarlet and gold uniform of the period, but he alone of all the gentlemen was privileged to wear his own scanty grey hair, which rendered him conspicuous. the old man walked between his two daughters-in-law, lady douro and lady charles wellesley. lord galway wore a plain cuirass and gorget so severely simple that it might have been mistaken for the guise of one of cromwell's officers, who were otherwise unrepresented. mr. gladstone was there as sir leoline jenkins, judge of the high court of admiralty in charles's reign. his dress was copied from an engraving in the british museum. it was quiet enough, but it is difficult to realise "the grand old man" of to-day in a velvet coat turned up with blue satin, ruffles and collar of old point, black breeches and stockings, and shoes with spreading bows. sir edwin landseer, whom miss thackeray has described as helping to dress some of the ladies for this very ball, was so studiously plain that it must have looked like a protest against the use of "properties" in his apparel. he wore a dress of black silk, with no cloak, no mantle, no skirts to his coat. round his neck was a light blue scarf, hanging low behind. he had on a grey wig, imitating partial baldness. there could have been no doubt of the historical correctness of the dress, though there might have been some question of its becomingness. there were changes of some importance in the royal household at this time, caused by the retirement of general, afterwards sir george bowles, the master of the household, and of mr. birch, tutor to the prince of vales. with the assistance of baron stockmar, fitting successors for those gentlemen were found in sir thomas biddulph and mr. frederick gibbes. the ball at guildhall had been fixed for the nd of july, but the day was changed when it was remembered that the nd was the anniversary of the death of sir robert peel. the entertainment was a very splendid affair. the city was continually progressing in taste and skill in these matters, and the times were so prosperous as to admit of large expenditure without incurring the charge of reckless extravagance. the queen, prince albert, and their suite left buckingham palace, in state carriages, at nine o'clock on the summer evening, and drove through brilliantly illuminated streets, densely crowded with large numbers of foreigners as well as natives. the great hall where the ball took place was magnificently fitted up, many ideas for the decoration being borrowed from the exhibition. thus there was a striking array of banners emblazoned with the arms of the nations and cities which had contributed to the exhibition. "above the centre shaft of each cluster of columns, shot up towards the roof a silver palm-tree, glittering and sparkling in the brilliant light so profusely shed around. on touching the roof these spread forth and ended in long branches of bright clustering broad leaves of green and gold, from which hung pendant rich bunches of crimson and ruby sparkling fruit." the compartments beneath the balconies were filled with pictures of the best known and most admired foreign contributions to the exhibition--such as the amazon group, the malachite gates, the greek slave; &c., &c. huge griffins had their places at the corners of the dais supporting the throne, while above it a gigantic plume of prince of wales's feathers reared itself in spun glass. the chambers and corridors of the mansion house were fitted up with "acres of looking-glass, statuary, flowers, &c., &c.," provided for the crowd of guests that could not obtain admittance to the hall, where little room was left for dancing. the supper, to which the queen was conducted, was in the crypt. it was made to resemble a baronial hall, "figures in mediaeval armour being scattered about as the bearers of the lights which illuminated the chamber." before leaving, in thanking the lord mayor (musgrove) for his hospitality, the queen announced her intention of creating him a baronet. her majesty and the prince took their departure at one o'clock, returning to buckingham palace through the lit streets and huzzaing multitude. chapter xx. royal visits to liverpool and manchester--close of the exhibition. on the th of august the court left for balmoral, travelling for the most part by the great northern railway, but not, as now, making a rapid night and day journey. on the contrary, the journey lasted three days, with pauses for each night's rest between. starting from osborne at nine, the royal party reached buckingham palace at half-past twelve. halting for an hour and a half, they set off again at two. they stopped at peterborough, where old dr. fisher, the bishop, was able to greet in his queen the little princess who had repeated her lessons to him in kensington palace. no longer a solitary figure but for the good mother, she was herself a wife and mother, the happiest of the happy in both relations. the train stopped again at boston and lincoln for the less interesting purpose of the presentation and reception of congratulatory addresses on the exhibition. the same ceremony was gone through at doncaster where the party stayed for the night at the angel inn. leaving before nine on the following morning, after changing the line of railway at york, and stopping at darlington and newcastle, edinburgh was reached in the course of the afternoon. her majesty and the prince, with their children, proceeded to holyrood, and before the evening was ended drove for an hour through the beautiful town. here, too, the exhibition bore its fruit in the honour of knighthood conferred on the lord provost. on the third morning the travellers left again at eight o'clock, and journeyed as far as stonehaven, where the royal carriages met them, and conveyed them to balmoral, which was reached by half-past six. the prince had now bought the castle and estate, seven miles in length, and four in breadth, and plans were formed for a new house more suitable for the accommodation of so large a household. on the day after the queen and prince albert's arrival in the highlands, he received the news of the death of his uncle, brother to the late duke of coburg and to the duchess of kent, duke ferdinand of saxe-coburg. there is little to record of the happy sojourn in the north this year, with its deer-stalking, riding and driving, except that hallam, the historian, and baron liebig, the famous chemist, visited sir james clark, the queen's physician, at birkhall, which he occupied, and were among the guests at balmoral. it had been arranged that the queen and the prince should visit liverpool and manchester on their way south, in order to give the great cities of lancashire the opportunity of greeting and welcoming their sovereign. it was the th of october before the royal party set out on their homeward journey, ending the first of the shortening days at holyrood. on the following day the strangers went on to the ancient dull little town of lancaster, and drove to the castle, where the keys were presented, and an address read under john o'gaunt's gateway. the tower stairs were mounted for the view over morcambe bay and the english lake country on the one hand, and away across level lands to the sea on the other. every native of the town "wore a red rose or a red rosette, as emblems of the house of lancaster." the queen and the prince then proceeded to prescot, where they left the railway, driving through lord derby's fine park at knowsley, to be the guests of the earl of sefton at croxteth. next morning, when liverpool was to be visited, a _contretemps_ occurred. the weather was hopelessly wet; the whole party had to go as far as possible in closed carriages; afterwards the downpour was so irresistible that the prince's large cloak had to be spread over the queen and her children to keep them dry. but her majesty's commiseration is almost entirely for the crowd on foot, "the poor people so wet and dirty." they spoil her pleasure in her enthusiastic reception and the fine buildings she passes. the royal party drove along the docks, and in spite of the rain got out at the appointed place of embarkation, went on board the _fairy_, accompanied by the mayor and other officials, and sailed along the quays round the mouth of the mersey, surveying the grand mass of shipping from the pavilion on deck as well as the dank mist would permit. on landing, the town hall and st. george's hall were visited in succession. in the first the queen received an address and knighted the mayor. she admired both buildings--particularly st. george's, which she called "worthy of ancient athens," and said it delighted prince albert. at both halls she presented herself on balconies in order to gratify the multitudes below. the queen left liverpool by railway, going as far as patricroft, where she was received by lady ellesmere and a party from worsley, including the duke of wellington, lord and lady westminster, and lord and lady wilton. her majesty was to try a mode of travelling new to her. she had arrived at the bridgewater canal, one of the greatest feats of engineering in the last century, constructed by the public-spirited, eccentric duke of bridgewater, and brindley the engineer. the queen went on board a covered barge drawn by four horses. she describes the motion as gliding along "in a most noiseless and dream-like manner, amidst the cheers of the people who lined the sides of the canal." thus she passed under the "beautifully decorated bridges" belonging to lord ellesmere's colliery villages. only at the hall-door of worsley were lord ellesmere, lame with gout, and lord brackley, his son, "terribly delicate" from an accident in the hunting-field, the husband of one of the beautiful cawdor campbells, able to meet their illustrious guests. henry greville says her majesty brought with her four children, two ladies-in-waiting, two equerries, a physician, a tutor, and a governess. men of mechanical science seem to belong to worsley, so that it sounds natural for the queen and the prince to have met there, during the evening, nasmyth, the inventor of the steam-hammer, and to have examined his maps of his investigations in the moon, and his landscape-drawings, worthy of his father's son. the queen and prince albert derived great pleasure from their passing intercourse with a man of varied gifts, whose sterling qualities they could well appreciate. the next morning, the th of october, the weather was all that could be wished, but another and even more unfortunate complication threatened the success of the arrangements, on which the comfort of a few and the gratification of many thousands of persons depended. prince albert, never strong, was always liable to trying attacks of sleeplessness and sickness. in the course of the night he had been "very unwell, very sick and wretched for several hours." "i was terrified for our manchester visit" wrote the queen in her journal. "thank god! by eight o'clock he felt much better, and was able to get up" indefatigable as ever. at ten the party started to drive the seven miles to manchester, escorted by yeomanry and a regiment of lancers, lord cathcart and his staff riding near the queen's carriage through an ever-increasing crowd. the queen was greatly interested in the rows of mill-workers between whom she passed, "dressed in their best, ranged along the streets, with white rosettes in their button-holes"--that patient, easily pleased crowd, which has an aspect half comical, half pathetic. her majesty admired the intelligent expression of both men and women, but was painfully struck with their puniness and paleness. in the peel park the visitors were greeted by a great demonstration, which her majesty calls "extraordinary and unprecedented," of no less than eighty-two thousand school children, of every denomination, jews as well as christians. the queen received and replied to an address, from her carriage, and the immense body of children sang "god save the queen." the party then drove through the principal streets of salford and manchester--the junction of the two being marked by a splendid triumphal arch, under which the mayor and corporation (dressed for the first time in robes of office--so democratic was manchester), again met the queen and presented her with a bouquet. at the exchange she alighted to receive another address, to which she read an answer, and knighted the mayor. her majesty missed "fine buildings," of which, with the exception of huge warehouses and factories, manchester had then none to boast; but she was particularly struck by the demeanour of the inhabitants, in addition to what she was pleased to call their "most gratifying cheering and enthusiasm." "the order and good behaviour of the people, who were not placed behind any barriers, were the most complete we have seen in our many progresses through capitals and cities--london, glasgow, dublin, edinburgh--for there never was a running crowd, nobody moved and therefore everybody saw well, and there was no squeezing...." the queen heard afterwards that she had seen a million of human beings that day. in the afternoon her majesty and the prince, returned to worsley. henry greville tells an almost piteous incident of this visit, in relation to the duke of wellington and his advanced age, with the infirmities that could no longer be repelled. after saying that in order to prevent the procession's becoming too large, no other guest at worsley was admitted into it, except the privileged old duke, whom the teller of the story describes as driving in the carriage with henry greville's sister, lady enfield, one of the ladies in attendance on the queen, he goes on to mention "he (the duke) was received with extraordinary enthusiasm; notwithstanding lady enfield had to nudge him constantly, to keep him awake, both going and coming, with very little success." lady enfield adds a note to her brother's narrative. "the whole scene was one of the most exciting i ever saw in my life. being carried away by the general enthusiasm, and feeling that the people would be disappointed if no notice was taken of their cheering, i at last exclaimed 'duke, duke, that's for _you_.' thereupon he opened his eyes, and obediently made his well-known salutation, two fingers to the brim of his hat." the next morning when the prince had started by seven o'clock to inspect a model factory near bolton, while there was a long and busy day before them, the queen made a little entry in her journal which will find a sorrowful echo in many a faithful heart, "this day is full of sad recollections, being the anniversary of the loss of my beloved louise (queen of the belgians), that kind, precious friend, that angelic being whose loss i shall ever feel." the same pleasant passage was made by the canal back to patricroft, where the railway carriages were entered and the train steamed to stockport. crewe, stafford--there another old soldier, lord anglesey, was waiting--rugby, weedon, wolverton, and watford, then at five o'clock the railway journey ended. the royal carriages were in attendance, and rest and home were near at hand. the day had been hot and fatiguing, but the evening was soft and beautiful with moonlight; a final change of horses at uxbridge, the carriage shut when the growing darkness prevented any farther necessity for seeing and being seen; at half-past seven, windsor, and the three little children still up and at the door "well and pleased." from windsor the court went for some days to london for the closing of the exhibition. the number of visitors had been six millions two hundred thousand, and the total receipts five hundred thousand pounds. there had not been a single accident, "we ought, indeed, to be thankful to god for such a success," the prince wrote reverently. on the th of october the queen paid a farewell visit to the place in which she had been so much interested, with the regret natural on such an occasion. "it looked so beautiful," she wrote in her journal, "that i could not believe it was the last time i was to see it." but already the dismantling had begun. the queen refers in the next breath to a heroine of the exhibition, an old cornish woman named mary kerlynack, who had found the spirit to walk several hundreds of miles to behold the wonder of her generation. this day she was at one of the doors to see another sight, the queen. "a most hale old woman" her majesty thought mary, "who was near crying at my looking at her." on the th, a cheerlessly wet day, in keeping with a somewhat melancholy scene, prince albert and his fellow commissioners closed the exhibition--a ceremony at which it was not judged desirable the queen should be present, though she grieved not to witness the end as well as the beginning. "how sad and strange to think this great and bright time has passed away like a dream," her majesty wrote once more in her diary. the day of the closing of the exhibition happened to be the twelfth anniversary of the queen's betrothal to the prince. the tidings arrived in the course of november of the death, in his eighty-first year, in the old palace of herrenhausen, on the th of the month, of the king of hanover, the fifth, and last surviving son of george iii and queen charlotte. he had been more popular as a king than as a prince. the arrival of kossuth in england in the autumn of had brought a disturbing element into international politics. but it was left for louis napoleon's _coup d'état_ in paris on the nd of december, when the blood shed so mercilessly on the boulevards was still fresh in men's minds, to get lord palmerston into a dilemma, from which there was no disentanglement but the loss of office on his part. an impetus, great though less lasting than it seemed, was given this year to emigration to australia, by the discovery in the colony of gold in quartz beds, under much the same conditions that the precious metal had been found in california. the diggings, with the chance of a large nugget, became for a time the favourite dream of adventurers. nay, the dream grew to such an absorbing desire, that men heard of it as a disease known as "the gold fever." and quiet people at home were told that it was hardly safe for a ship to enter some of the australian harbours, on account of the certainty of the desertion of the crew, under whatever penalties, that they might repair to the last el dorado. the successful ambition of louis napoleon and his power over the french army, began to excite the fears of europe with regard to french aggression, and a renewal of the desolating wars of the beginning of the century; before the talk about the exhibition and the triumphs of peace had well died on men's lips. the government was anxious to fall back on the old resource of calling out the militia, with certain modifications and changes--brought before parliament in the form of a militia bill. it did not meet with the approval of the members any more than of the duke of wellington, whose experience gave his opinion much weight. lord palmerston spoke with great ability against the measure. the end was that the government suffered a defeat, and the ministry resigned office in february, . this time lord derby was successful in forming a new cabinet, in which mr. disraeli was chancellor of the exchequer. a fresh militia bill was brought forward and carried by the new government, after it had received the warm advocacy of the duke of wellington. the old man spoke in its favour with an amount of vigour and clear-headedness which showed that however his bodily strength might be failing, his mental power remained untouched. chapter xxi. disasters--yachting trips--the death of the duke of wellington. the month of february, , was unhappily distinguished by three great english calamities, accompanied by extensive loss of life. the first was the destruction of the west india mail steamer _amazon_ by fire, as she was entering the bay of biscay, in which a hundred and forty persons perished, among them eliot warburton, the accomplished traveller and author. the second was the wreck of her majesty's troop-ship _birkenhead_ near the cape of good hope, with the loss of upwards of four hundred lives, in circumstances when the discipline and devotion of the men were of the noblest description. the third was the bursting of the bilberry reservoir in midland england, with the sacrifice of nearly a hundred lives and a large amount of property. when the season commenced, and it was this year, as last, particularly gay, a reflection of the general prosperity of the country, with the high hopes inspired by the australian gold-fields, the queen wrote to the king of the belgians in order to re-assure him with regard to a fear which seems to have arisen in the elderly man's mind, that she whom he remembered at the beginning of her reign as fond of pleasure and untiring in her amusements, might be swept away in the tide. "allow me just to say one word about the london season. the london season for us consists of two state balls and two concerts. (the state balls and concerts are given to this day, though her majesty, since her widowhood, has ceased to attend them. the queen's place and that of prince albert in these social gaieties, have been naturally taken by the prince and princess of wales.) we are hardly ever later than twelve o'clock at night, and our only dissipation is going three or four times a week to the play or opera, which is a great amusement and relaxation to us both. as for going out as people do here every night, to balls and parties, and to breakfasts and teas all day long besides, i am sure no one would stand it worse than i should; so you see, dearest uncle, that in fact the london season is nothing to us." so much higher, and more solid and lasting, as they should have been, were the pursuits and gratifications of the woman, the wife and mother, than of the young girl. the queen added that the only one who was fagged was the prince, and that from business and not pleasure, a result which made her often anxious and unhappy. indeed, this suspicion of precarious health on prince albert's part was the cloud the size of a man's hand that kept hovering on the horizon in the summer sky. parliament was prorogued and dissolved at the same time at an unusually early date, the first of july, so that the season itself came to a speedy end. before the queen left london, she was present at the baptism and stood sponsor for the young hindoo princess gouromma, the pale, dark, slender girl whose picture looks down on the visitor at buckingham palace. she had been brought to england by her father, the rajah of coorg, a high-caste hindoo, who desired that she should be brought up a christian. he was one of the princes of northern india, whose inheritance had become a british possession. he lived at benares under the control of the east india company, and had an allowance from government as well as a large private fortune. the little princess was the same age as the princess royal, eleven years. she was the daughter of the rajah's favourite wife, who had died immediately after the infant's birth. the ceremony took place in the private chapel of buckingham palace. the archbishop of canterbury officiated. besides the queen, the sponsors were lady hardinge, mr. drummond, and sir james weir hogg, the chairman of the east india company. the little girl received the name "victoria." the rajah returned soon afterwards to india. the court had longer time to enjoy the sea air and quiet of osborne, where, however, sorrow intruded in the shape of the news of the death of count mensdorff, the uncle by marriage both of the queen and prince albert, to whom they were warmly attached. though he had been no prince, only a french emigrant officer in the austrian service, when he married the sister of the duchess of kent, he was held in high esteem by his wife's family for the distinction with which he had served as a soldier, and for his many good qualities. princess hohenlohe, with a son and daughter, came to osborne as a stage to scotland and abergeldie, where she was to visit her mother, the duchess of kent, and where she could also best enjoy the queen's society. the poor princess, who made a stay of several months in this country, had need of a mother's and a sister's sympathy. a heavy sorrow had lately befallen her. the eldest daughter of the hohenlohe family, princess elise, a girl of great promise, had died at venice of consumption in her twenty-first year. yachting excursions were again made to devonshire and cornwall, to torquay and the often-visited beauties of mount edgcumbe and the banks of the tamar. there was a proposal of a visit to the king of the belgians, with the channel islands to be touched at on the way. one part of the programme had to be given up, on account of the tempestuous weather. the yacht, after waiting to allow prince albert to pay a flying visit--the last--to the duke of wellington at walmer, ran up the scheldt in one of the pauses in the storm, and the travellers reached antwerp at seven o'clock on the morning of the th of august, "in a hurricane of wind and rain." but the weather is of little consequence when friends meet. king leopold was waiting for his welcome guests, and immediately carried them off to his country palace, for their visit this time was to him and not to any of the old flemish towns. the queen and prince albert, with their children, stayed at laeken for three days, returning to antwerp in time for a visit to the cathedral and the museum, before sailing in the same unpropitious weather for flushing. the intention was still to cross on the following morning to the channel islands, but the wet, wild weather did not change, and the yacht remained where it was, the queen indemnifying herself for the disappointment by landing and going over an old dutch town and a farmhouse, with which she was much pleased. on the th of august the court went to balmoral by edinburgh. soon after her arrival the queen had the gratifying intelligence that a large legacy, about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, had been left to her and her heirs by one of her subjects--mr. campden nield-- a gentleman without near relatives, who had lived in the most penurious way, denying himself the very necessaries of life. the queen's comment on the bequest to king leopold was like her. "it is astonishing, but it is satisfactory to see that people have so much confidence that it will not be thrown away, and so it certainly will not be." baron stockmar held with some justice that it was "a monument reared to the queen during her life, in recognition of her simple, honourable, and constitutional career." her majesty and prince albert went on the th of september for their customary two days' stay by loch muich, though they had been startled in the morning by a newspaper report of the death of the duke of wellington at walmer. but the rumour had arisen so often during these many years that nobody believed it, now that it was true. the little party started in the course of the forenoon on a showery day. arrived at the loch, the queen walked up the side to alt-na- dearg, a "burn" and fall, then rode up the ravine hung with birch and mountain-ash, and walked again along the top of the steep hills to points which command a view of lord panmure's country, "mount keen and the ogilvie hills." a little farther on, while resting and looking down on the glassalt shiel and the head of the loch, the queen, by a curious coincidence, missed the watch which the duke of wellington had given her. her majesty sent back a keeper to inquire about her loss; in the meanwhile she walked on and descended by the beautiful falls of the glassalt, one hundred and fifty feet in height, which she compares to those of the bruar. the cottage or shiel of the glassalt had just been built for the queen, and offered accommodation in its dainty little dining- room and drawing-room for her to rest and refresh herself. after she had eaten luncheon, she set out again on a pony, passed another waterfall, called the burn of the spullan, and reached the wild solitary dhu loch. the queen had sat down to sketch when the keeper returned to tell her that the watch was safe at home; but that was not all. he brought a letter from lord derby with a melancholy confirmation of the report of the morning. the duke of wellington was dead. the queen calls the news "fatal," and with something of the fond exaggeration of a daughter, writes of the dead man as "england's--rather britannia's--pride, her glory, her hero, the greatest man she ever had produced." we can understand it, when we remember how closely connected he was with all her previous career, from her cradle till now. he had taken pride in her, advised her, obeyed her, with half a father's, half a servant's devotion. the king of the belgians was hardly more her second father than the duke of wellington had been. besides, the duke was not only a soldier; he had been a statesman, tried and true as far as his vision extended; brave here no less than in the stricken field, honest with an upright man's straightforwardness, wise with a practical man's sense of what could and could not be done, what must be yielded when the time came. the queen might well mourn for her grey-bearded captain, her faithful old councillor. there was one comfort, that the duke had reached a good old age, and died after a few hours illness, without suffering. he simply fell asleep, and awoke no more in this world. his old antagonist, marshal soult, had pre-deceased him only by a few months. the queen sums up the position: "one cannot think of this country without 'the duke,' our immortal hero." her majesty hastened down on foot to the head of loch muich, and rode back in the rain to alt-na-giuthasach to write to lord derby and lord charles wellesley, who had been with his father in his last hours. she wrote mournfully in her journal: "we shall soon stand sadly alone. aberdeen is almost the only personal friend of that kind left to us. melbourne, peel, liverpool, now the duke, all gone!...." invitations were countermanded, and the court went into mourning. the queen was right that the sorrow was universal. the ships in the thames and in all the english ports had their flags half-mast high, the church bells were tolled, business was done "with the great exchanges half-shuttered," garrison music was forbidden. the duke had left no directions with regard to his funeral, and it was fitting that it should receive the highest honour sovereign and people could pay. but the queen refrained from issuing an order, preferring that the country should take the initiative. it was necessary to wait till the th of november, when parliament must meet. in the meantime the body of the duke was placed under a guard of honour at walmer. viscount hardinge was appointed commander-in-chief. the court left balmoral on the th of october, about a month after the duke of wellington's death, and on the th--a day which the queen calls in her journal "a very happy, lucky, and memorable one"--her majesty and prince albert, with their family, household, tenants, servants, and poorer neighbours, ascended craig gowan, a hill near balmoral, for the purpose of building a cairn, which was to commemorate the queen and the prince's having taken possession of their home in the north. at the "moss house," half-way up, the queen's piper met her, and preceded her, playing as he went. not the least welcome among the company already collected were the children of the keepers and other retainers, with whom her majesty was familiar in their own homes. she calls them her "little friends," and enumerates them in a motherly way, "mary symons, and lizzie stewart, the four grants, and several others." the queen laid the first stone of the cairn, prince albert the next. their example was followed by the princes and princesses, according to their ages, and by the members of the household. finally every one present "came forward at once, each person carrying a stone and placing it on the cairn." the piper played, whiskey was handed round. the work of building went on for an hour, during which "some merry reels were danced on a flat stone opposite." all the old people danced, apparently to her majesty's mingled gratification and diversion. again the happy mother of seven fine children notices particularly the children and their performance. "many of the children--mary symons and lizzie stewart especially--danced so nicely, the latter with her hair all hanging down." there is another little paragraph which is very characteristic of the love of animals, and the faithful remembrance of old landmarks, well- known features in the queen's character. "poor dear old monk, sir robert gordon's (the former owner of balmoral) faithful old dog, was sitting there among us all." when the cairn ("seven or eight feet high") was all but finished, prince albert climbed to the top and deposited the last stone, when three cheers were given. the queen calls it "a gay, pretty, and touching sight," that almost made her cry. "the view was so beautiful over the dear hills; the day so fine, the whole so _gemüthlich_." she ends reverently, "may god bless this place, and allow us to see it and enjoy it many a long year." chapter xxii. the iron duke's funeral. on the th of november the parliament met and voted the duke a public funeral in the city cathedral of st. paul's, by the side of nelson, the great soldier and the great sailor bearing each other company in their resting-place, in the middle of the people whom they had saved from foreign dominion. the hearse with the body had left walmer at seven o'clock on the morning of the th, minute guns being fired in succession from the castles of walmer, deal, and sandown, startling the sea-mews hovering over the goodwin sands, causing the sailors in the foreign vessels in the downs to ask if england had gone to war. from the railway station in london, the coffin was escorted by life guards to chelsea, where it was received by the lord chamberlain and conducted to the great hall for the lying-in-state, which occupied four days. the fine old hospital, where so many of the duke's soldiers had found refuge, which wilkie had painted for him at the moment when the pensioners were listening to the reading of the gazette that announced the victory of waterloo, was carefully prepared for the last scene but one of a hero's life. corridors, vestibule, and hall were hung with black cloth and velvet, and lit with tall candles in silver candelabra. trophies of tattered banners, the spoils of the many victories of him who had just yielded to the last conqueror, were surmounted by the royal standard; grenadiers lined hall and vestibule, their heads bent over their reversed arms. a plumed canopy of black velvet and silver was raised over a dais, with a carpet of cloth of gold, on which rested the gilt and crimson coffin. at the foot of the bier hung the mace and insignia of the late duke's numerous orders of knighthood; and on ten pedestals, with golden lions in front, were the eight field-marshals' batons of eight different kingdoms, which had been bestowed on him. on the ninth and tenth pedestals were placed the great banner and the banner of wellesley. the queen and prince albert came privately with their children, early on the first day, a windy, rainy saturday in november, to view the lying-in-state. on the night before the funeral the coffin was removed to the horse guards, over which wellington had so long presided, where it is said that in the early days of his career he met nelson. early next morning the coffin was conveyed to a pavilion on the parade, whence it was lifted to the car which was to convey it to st. paul's. not later than six o'clock on the morning of the th, the troops in large numbers began to muster in hyde park, under the direction of the duke of cambridge. the streets and windows were lined with seats covered with black cloth. barriers were raised at the mouths of the side streets in the line of route, to prevent the danger of any side rush. in the dread of missing the sight, hundreds of people took up their position the night before, and kept it during the dark hours, in spite of wind and rain. all the richer classes were in mourning; indeed, whoever could bring out a scrap of black did so. there was a peculiar hush and touch of solemnity, which had its effect on the roughest in the million and a half of spectators. at a quarter before eight, nineteen minute guns were fired in the park, the walls of the pavilion were suddenly drawn up, revealing the funeral car and its sacred burden. instantly the troops presented arms for the last time to their late commander, and the drums beat "a long and heavy roll, increasing like the roll of thunder." the words "to reverse arms" were then given, and the funeral procession began to move. first came battalion after battalion of infantry, commencing with the rifles, the bands playing "the dead march in saul," the trumpets of the cavalry taking up "the wailing notes." "as the dark mass of the rifles appeared, and the solemn dead march was heard, the people were deeply affected, very many of both sexes to tears.... great interest was felt as the duke's regiment, the rd, passed." squadrons of cavalry were succeeded by seventeen guns; the chelsea pensioners, old men, like him whose remains they followed, to the number of eighty three--his years on earth; one soldier from every regiment in her majesty's service, to say that none had been left out, when their leader was borne to his grave; standards and pennons; deputations from public bodies--merchant taylors' company, east india company, and the deputation from the common council of london, joining the procession at temple bar; more standards, high officials, sheriffs, and knights of the bath; the judges, members of the ministry, and houses of parliament; the archbishop of canterbury; the lord mayor of london carrying the city sword; his royal highness prince albert, attended by the marquesses of exeter and abercorn-- lord chamberlain and groom of the stole; the great banner, borne by an officer, and supported by two officers on horseback; the field- marshals' batons--each carried by a foreign officer of high rank-- which every country in europe, except france and austria, had entrusted to the care of the great duke. to the imposing scene to-day france, like an honorable enemy, sent a representative; but austria, still smarting under the affront to haynau, was conspicuous by absence. the english field-marshal's baton was borne on its cushion by the duke's old comrade in arms, the marquis of anglesey. the duke's coronet followed. then the pall-bearers--eight generals in mourning coaches. at length the huge funeral car, heavily wrought and emblazoned and inscribed with the names of the duke's battles, drawn by twelve horses, with five officers on horseback, bearing the banneroles of the lineage of the deceased, riding on either side. on the car was placed the coffin, and on the coffin rested the hat and sword of the dead commander.... every emotion, save that of solemn awe, was hushed. the massive structure moved on its course with a steady pressure, and produced a heavy dull sound, as it ground its path over the road.... but the car, apart from its vast size, passed unnoticed, for on its highest stage rested a red velvet coffin, which contained all that was mortal of england's greatest son. it seemed that a thousand memories of his great and long career were awakened at the sight of that narrow tenement of so great a man.... the voice which had cried "up, guards, and at them!" at the critical moment on the afternoon of that rainy sunday at waterloo, thirty-seven years before, was silent for ever. the sagacious and skilled brain which had planned so well the defence of london from the threatened outbreak of the chartists, would plan no more for queen and country. no longer would the shouting crowd press round him on every gala, and strangers watch patiently near the horse guards for one of the sights of london-- the eagle face of the conqueror of him who conquered europe. "no more in soldier fashion would he greet, with lifted hand, the gazer in the street." wellington was making his way from the horse guards for the last time, attended by such a mighty multitude as seldom waits on the steps of kings, hardly ever with such mute reverence as they gave him that day. the "good grey head" of "the last great englishman" was about to be laid in the dust, and his best epitaph was tennyson's line-- "one that sought but duty's iron crown." behind the car came the chief mourner, accompanied by his younger brother, with cousins and relatives to the last degree of kindred, and friends filling a long train of mourning coaches. then followed what moved the people more than all the splendour, because it came like a touch of homely nature appealing to all, in a familiar part of the life that was gone, the late duke's horse, led by john mears, his aged groom. the horse might have been "copenhagen," which had borne the duke in the thick of his greatest battle, and died long since at strathfieldsaye, so eagerly did the crowds gaze on it. more carriages and troops closed the march. and she was not absent who had held the dead man in such high esteem, whom he had so loved and honoured. from two different points--as if she were reluctant to see the last of her old friend--from the balcony of buckingham palace, where the royal standard floated half-mast high, as the funeral passed up constitution hill, and again from the windows of st. james's palace, as the melancholy train went down st. james's street, the queen, surrounded by her children and her young cousins from belgium, looked down on the solemn pageant. nearly twenty thousand privileged persons--many of them of high rank, filled st. paul's, black-draped and gas-lit on the dark november day. after the funeral company were seated, the body, which had been received at the west entrance by the bishop of london and the other clergy of the cathedral, was carried up the nave to the chanting of "i am the resurrection and the life." the spurs were borne by one herald, the helmet and crest by another, the sword and target by a third, the surcoat by a fourth, the foreign batons by their foreign bearers, the english baton by lord anglesey. among the psalms and anthems, a dirge accompanied by trumpets was sung, "and the king said to all the people that were with him, rend your clothes and gird you with sackcloth and mourn. and the king himself followed the bier. and they buried him; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave, and all the people wept. and the king said unto his servants, know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in israel." an affecting incident occurred, when, at the conclusion of this dirge, the body was lowered into the crypt to the "intensely mournful" sound of "the dead march in saul." as the coffin with the coronet and baton slowly descended, and thus the great warrior departed from the sight of men, a sense of heavy depression came on the whole assembly. prince albert was deeply moved, and the aged marquess of anglesey, the octogenarian companion in arms of the deceased, by an irresistible impulse stepped forward, placed his hand on the sinking coffin that contained the remains of his chief in many battles, and burst into tears. "in the vast cathedral leave him; god accept him, christ receive him." chapter xxiii. the emperor napoleon iii. and the empress eugÉnie--fire at windsor-- the birth of prince leopold. at the close of mr. disraeli announced his budget in one famous speech, to which mr. gladstone replied in another, the first of those memorable speeches--at once a fine oration and a convincing argument-- so often heard since then. the derby ministry, already tottering to its fall on the ground of its opposition to free-trade principles, was defeated, and the same night lord derby resigned office, and lord aberdeen, who was able to unite the whigs and the followers of the late sir robert peel, took his place. on the nd of december, the anniversary of the _coup d'état_, the empire was declared in france, and louis napoleon entered paris as emperor on the following day. on the nd of january, , the emperor of the french made public his approaching marriage to the beautiful eugénie de montigo, comtesse de théba. a serious fire broke out at windsor castle on the night of the th of march, the very day that the court had come down for easter. it was the result of an accident from the over-heating of a flue, which might have been doubly disastrous. the scene of the fire was the upper stories of the prince of wales's tower, above the gothic dining-room, which is in the same suite with the crimson, green, and white drawing-rooms, in the last of which the queen and prince albert were sitting, at ten o'clock in the evening, when the smell of smoke and burning aroused an alarm. besides the suite of drawing-rooms, with their costly furniture, the plate-rooms were beneath the gothic dining-room; and on the other side--beyond a room known as the octagon-room--was the jewelled armoury. the fire had taken such hold that the utmost exertions were needed to keep it under, and prevent it from spreading, and it remained for hours doubtful whether the rest of the castle would escape. prince albert, the gentlemen of the household, and the servants, with seven hundred guards brought from the barracks and stationed in the avenues to prevent further disorder, strove to supplement the work of the fire-engines. the gothic dining-room was stripped of its furniture, including the gold vase or bath for wine, valued at ten thousand pounds. the crimson drawing-room and the octagon-room were dismantled. the plate-rooms were considered fireproof, but the jewelled armoury was emptied of its treasures, among them the famous peacock of tippoo sahib. more than five hours passed before the danger was over. the queen, in writing to reassure the king of the belgians, said, "though i was not alarmed, it was a serious affair, and an acquaintance with what a fire is, and with its necessary accompaniments, does not pass from one's mind without leaving a deep impression. for some time it was very obstinate, and no one could tell whether it would spread or not. thank god, no lives were lost." less than three weeks after the fire, the queen's fourth son, and eighth child, was born at buckingham palace on the th of april. within a fortnight her majesty was sufficiently recovered to write to the king of the belgians, and here the wound which had been felt so keenly bled afresh. "my first letter is this time, as last time, addressed to you. last time it was because dearest louise--to whom the first announcement had heretofore always been addressed, was with me, alas! now," she goes on to remind him affectionately, "stockmar will have told you that leopold is to be the name of our fourth young gentleman. it is a mark of love and affection which i hope you will not disapprove. it is a name which is the dearest to me after albert, one which recalls the almost only happy days of my sad childhood. to hear "prince leopold" [footnote: when prince leopold's title was merged into that of duke of albany, our readers may remember that some reluctance was expressed at the change, and that there was an attempt to preserve the earlier name, by arranging that his royal highness should be styled "prince leopold, duke of albany."] again will make me think of all those days. his other names will be george, duncan, albert, and the sponsors will be the king of hanover, ernest hohenlohe (the queen's brother-in-law), the princess of prussia, and mary of cambridge. george is after the king of hanover, and duncan is a compliment to dear scotland." in the royal academy this year one of the pre-raphaelites, who had been at first treated with vehement opposition and ridicule, came so unmistakably to the front as to stagger his former critics, and render his future success certain. even the previous year millais's "huguenot" had made a deep impression, and his "order of release" this year carried everything before it. in the same academy exhibition were sir edwin landseer's highly poetic "night" and "morning." on the court's return from osborne to london, the queen and prince albert were present with their guests, the king and queen of hanover, and the duke and duchess of coburg, on the st of june, in the camp at chobham, when a sham-fight and a series of military manoeuvres over broken ground were carried out with great spirit and exactness, to the admiration of a hundred thousand spectators. her majesty, as in the early years of her reign, wore a half-military riding-habit, and was mounted on a splendid black horse, on which she rode down the lines before witnessing the mock battle from an adjoining height. four days afterwards prince albert returned to the camp to serve for a couple of days with his brigade, the guards. the prince experienced something of the hardships of bivouacing in stormy weather, and suffered in consequence. he came back labouring under a bad cold, to be present at the baptism of his infant son on the th. all the sponsors were there in person. the lord chamberlain conducted the baby-prince to the font; the archbishop of canterbury performed the sacred rite. the usual state banquet and evening party followed. but illness, not very deadly, yet sufficiently prostrating, was hovering over the royal pair and their guests. the prince of wales was already sick of measles. prince albert, pre-disposed by the cold he had caught, got the infection from his son, had a sharp attack of the same disease, and we are told "at the climax of the illness showed great nervous excitement," symptomatic of a susceptible, highly-strung, rather fragile temperament. though the country was unaware of the extent of the prince's illness, we can remember the public speculation it excited, and the contradictory assertions that the queen would claim her wife's prerogative of watching by her husband's sick-bed, and that she would be forbidden to do so, for state reasons, her health or sickness, not to say the danger to her life, being of the utmost importance to the body politic. it is easy to see that if such a question had arisen, it would have been peculiarly trying to one who had been brought up to regard her duty to the country as a primary obligation, while at the same time every act of her life showed how precious and binding were her conjugal relations. but the matter settled itself. after the princess royal and princess alice had also been attacked by the epidemic, the queen was seized with it, happily in the mildest form, which was of short duration. but the mischief did not confine itself to the english royal family. the juvenile malady of measles became for a time the scourge of princes, a little to the diversion of the world, since no great harm was anticipated, or came to pass, while the ailment invaded a succession of courts. the guests at prince leopold's baptism carried the seeds of the disease to hanover, in the person of the little hanoverian cousin, king george's son, who had been a visitor in the english royal nurseries; to brussels, in the case of the duke and duchess of coburg, who unconsciously handed on the unwelcome gift to king leopold's sons, the due de brabant and the comte de flandres, the former on the eve of his marriage, before the illness was taken across germany to coburg. by the th of august, the birthday of prince alfred, the queen and the prince were sufficiently recovered to pay a second visit with their children to chobham, when a fresh series of manoeuvres were performed prior to the breaking up of the camp. a great cluster of royal visitors had arrived in england, making the season brilliant. it was, perhaps, significant that these visitors included three russian archduchesses, in spite of the fact that a war with russia was in the air, being only held back by the strenuous efforts of statesmen, against the wishes of the people. other visitors were the crown prince and princess of wurtemberg, near akin to russia, and the prince of prussia--the later came from ostend, on an invitation to witness a sight well calculated to recommend itself to his martial proclivities--a review, on the grandest scale, of the fleet at spithead, on the th of august. the weather was fine, and the spectacle, perfect of its kind, was seen by all the royal company, by what was in effect "the house of commons with the speaker at its head," and by multitudes in more than a hundred steamers, besides, the crowds viewing the scene from the shores of the isle of wight and hampshire. on the st of august, a french sailor whose name has become a household word in england, died far away amidst the horrors of the north seas, in a gallant effort to rescue sir john franklin and his crew. among the brave men who sailed on this perilous quest, none earned greater honour and love than young bellot. on the nd of august, a marriage of some interest to the queen was celebrated at brussels. king leopold's eldest son, the due de brabant, was married in st. gudule's to the archduchess marie henriette of austria. the bridegroom was only eighteen years of age, the bride as young; but it was considered desirable that the heir-apparent should marry, and queen louise's place had remained vacant while her daughter, princess charlotte, was still unfit to preside over the court in her mother's room. on the th of august, sir charles napier, the dauntless, eccentric conqueror of scinde, follows his old commander to the grave. though more than ten year's younger, sir charles's last public appearance was at the duke's funeral. he was the grandson of lord napier, and the son of the beautiful lady sarah lennox. a great art and industrial exhibition at dublin--the first of the numerous progeny of the great exhibition of two years before--was held this year. naturally, the queen and the prince were much interested in its fortunes, and had promised to be present at the opening, but were prevented by the outbreak of measles in june. it was possible, however, to visit the irish exhibition before its close, and this her majesty and prince albert did on their way to balmoral. proceeding by train to holyhead, where they were detained a day and a night by a violent storm, the travellers sailed on the th of august for kingstown, which was reached next morning. on landing they were received by the lord-lieutenant, lord st. germains and lady st. germains, the archbishop of dublin, the duke of leinster, &c., &c., together with an immense number of people, lining the dock walls and hailing her majesty's arrival with vociferous cheers, as on her last visit to ireland. enthusiasm, equal to what had been shown before, was displayed on the railway route and the drive through the thronged streets to the viceregal lodge. not long after her arrival, the queen, as energetic as ever, was seen walking in the phoenix park, and in the evening she took a drive in the outskirts of the city. at night dublin was illuminated. the next day the queen and the prince, with their two elder sons, paid a state visit to the exhibition, full to overflowing with eager gazers. the royal party were conducted to a dais, where the queen, seated on the throne prepared for her, received the address of the commissioners thanking her for the support she had lent to the undertaking by her presence, and by her contributions to the articles exhibited. the queen replied, expressing her satisfaction that the worthy enterprise had been carried out in a spirit of energy and self- reliance, "with no pecuniary aid but that derived from the patriotic munificence of one of her subjects." that subject, mr. dargan, who had erected the exhibition building at his own expense, was present, and kissed hands amidst the cheers of the assembly. the queen and the prince afterwards made the circuit of the whole place, specially commending the irish manufactures of lace, poplin, and pottery. in, the afternoon her majesty and prince albert, to the high gratification of the citizens of dublin, drove out through pouring rain to mount annville, the house of mr. dargan, saw its beautiful grounds, and conversed with the host and hostess. his manner struck the queen as "touchingly modest and simple," and she wrote in her journal, "i would have made him a baronet, but he was anxious it should not be done." every morning during their week's stay the royal pair returned unweariedly to the exhibition, and by their interest in its productions, stimulated the interest of others. the old engagements--a review, visits to the castle, and the national schools--occupied what time was left. on saturday, the rd of september, a beautiful day succeeding miserable weather, the queen drove slowly through the dublin streets, "unlined with soldiers," feeling quite sorry that it was the last day after what she called "such a pleasant, gay, and interesting tune in ireland." loyal multitudes waited at the station and at kingstown, cheering the travellers. lord and. lady st. germains went on board the yacht, and dined with hen majesty and prince albert. on the following morning, the _victoria and albert_ crossed to holyhead. a glad event at balmoral that year was the laying of the foundation- stone of the new house. the rite was done with all the usual ceremonies, mr. anderson, then the minister of crathie, praying for a blessing on the work. chapter xxiv. the eastern question--approaching war--gross injustice to prince albert--death of maria da gloria. the return of the court to england was hastened by what had disturbed the peace of the stay in the north. the beginning of a great war was imminent. the eastern question, long a source of trouble, was becoming utterly unmanageable. russia and turkey were about to take up arms. indeed, russia had already crossed the danube and occupied the principalities. turkey, in a fever-heat, declared war against russia, crossed the danube, and fought with desperate valour and some success at oltenitza and kalafat; but matters were brought to a crisis by the nearly utter destruction of the turkish fleet at sinope, one of the turkish ports on the shores of the black sea. the french and english governments uttered a practical protest by informing the czar, that if his fleet in the south made any further movement against the turks, the english and french fleets already in the dardanelles would immediately enter the black sea and take active steps in defence of their ally. in the meantime there had been some commotion in the english cabinet. lord palmerston suddenly resigned, and as quickly resumed office. the ostensible cause of difference between him and his colleagues was the new reform bill; but the real motive is believed to have been the government's tactics with regard to the threatened war. these changed all at once, the change coinciding with the return of lord palmerston to office, and suiting the fighting mood of the people. he was once more the favourite of the hour, and in the popular pride and confidence in him, a great injustice was done to another. startled and angered by lord palmerston's withdrawal from the government, the old clamour about court prejudice and intrigue, and german objections to liberal statesmen, broke out afresh, and raged more hotly than ever. prince albert was openly mentioned as the hostile influence "behind the throne," and in the cabinet of which he was a member, against the man who was prepared to assert the dignity of england in spite of all opposition; the man who had uniformly sided with the weak, and spoken the truth of tyrants, let them be in ever so high places; the man at the same time who had approved of the _coup d'état_. the most unfounded charges of unfaithfulness to english interests, and personal interference for the purpose of gaining his own ends, and working into the hands of foreign governments, were brought against the queen's husband. his birth as a german, and his connection with the king of the belgians and the orleans family, were loudly dwelt upon. it was treated as an offence on his part that he should attend the cabinet counsels of which he was a member, and be in the confidence of the queen, who was his loving wife. he was attacked alike by liberals and protectionists; assailed, with hardly an assumption of disguise, both in public and private, and in many of the principal newspapers. the man who little more than two years before, at the time of the great exhibition, had been hailed as a general benefactor, and praised as the worthiest of patriots, was now almost the best-abused man in england, pursued with false accusations and reproaches equally false. "one word more about the credulity of the public," wrote prince albert to baron stockmar; "you will scarcely credit that my being committed to the tower was believed all over the country; nay, even 'that the queen had been arrested!' people surrounded the tower in thousands to see us brought to it." all this ingratitude and stupidity must have been galling to its object, in spite of his forbearance, and, if possible, still more exquisitely painful to the queen, who had felt a natural and just pride, not merely in her husband's fine qualities, but in her people's appreciation of them. the prince wrote in the same letter, "victoria has taken the whole affair greatly to heart, and was exceedingly indignant at the attacks." and the queen wrote with proud tender pain to lord aberdeen, "in attacking the prince, who is one and the same with the queen herself, the throne is assailed; and she must say she little expected that any portion of her subjects would thus requite the unceasing labours of the prince." this unscrupulous accusation was grave enough to demand a refutation in parliament, which lord aberdeen and lord john russell were ready to give as soon as the house should meet. during this trying winter, the queen heard of the melancholy death of her sister queen and girlish acquaintance, who had become a kinswoman by marriage--maria da gloria. the two queens were the same in age-- thirty-four--and each had become the mother of eight children, but there the similarity ceased. at the birth of her last child--dead born--the queen of portugal ended a life neither long nor happy, though she had been fortunate in her second husband. queen maria da gloria lacked queen victoria's reasonableness and fairness. the queen of portugal started on a wrong course, and continued with it, notwithstanding the better judgment of her husband. she supported the cabrals--the members of a noble portuguese family, who held high offices under her government--in ruling unconstitutionally and corruptly. she consented to her people's being deprived of the liberty of the press, and burdened with taxes, till, though her private life was irreproachable, she forfeited their regard. in civil war broke out, and the cabrals were compelled to resign; the count of soldanha and his party took the place of the former ministers. but the insurrection spread until it was feared the queen and her husband would be driven out of the country. suddenly the tide turned; the better portion of the army declared for the queen, her cause was upheld by the english government, and peace and the royal authority were restored. but in spite of a pledge that the cabrals should be excluded from the government, the elder brother again became premier, with the old abuse of power. a second revolution was accomplished by soldanha, to whose control maria da gloria had to yield, much against the grain. she was succeeded by her eldest son, don pedro, still a minor, with the king-consort his father for regent, an arrangement which proved satisfactory to the distracted kingdom. a different event was the premature death of perhaps the most beautiful, and the most fortunate, in the eyes of the world, of the queen's fair bridesmaids. lady sarah villiers, who had become a princess by her marriage with the son of one of the richest, most aristocratic subjects in europe, prince nicholas esterhazy--of diamond notoriety, died at torquay in her thirty-second year. when parliament met in january, , the prince was triumphantly vindicated by the leaders on both sides, but it was not till his death that his character was done full justice to. in the meantime the cloud had broken, and the royal couple rejoiced unaffectedly. the queen wrote to baron stockmar that there was "an immense concourse" of people assembled, and they were very friendly when she went to the house of lords. the anniversary of the marriage was hailed with fresh gratitude and gladness, and with words written to germany that fall pathetically on our ears to-day. "this blessed day is full of joyful, tender emotions," are her majesty's words. "fourteen happy and blessed years have passed, and i confidently trust many more will, and find us in old age as we are now, happy and devotedly united. trials we must have; but what are they if we are together?" it was on this occasion that there was a family masque, of which baroness bunsen, who was present, has given a full description. she tells how, between five and six o'clock in the evening, the company followed the queen and the prince to a room where a red curtain was let down. they all sat in darkness till the curtain was drawn aside, "and the princess alice, who had been dressed to represent 'spring,' recited some verses taken from thomson's "seasons," enumerating the flowers which the spring scatters around, and she did it very well, spoke in a distinct and pleasing manner, with excellent modulation, and a tone of voice like that of the queen. then the curtain was drawn up, and the whole scene changed, and the princess royal represented 'summer,' with prince arthur lying upon some sheaves, as if tired with the heat of the harvest work; the princess royal also recited verses. then again there was a change, and prince alfred, with a crown of vine-leaves and a panther's skin, represented 'autumn,' and recited also verses and looked very well. then there was a change to a winter landscape, and the prince of wales represented 'winter,' with a white beard and a cloak with icicles or snow-flakes (or what looked like such), and the princess louise, warmly clothed, who seemed watching the fire; and the prince also recited well a passage altered from thomson.... then another change was made, and all the seasons were grouped together, and far behind, on high, appeared the princess helena, with a long veil hanging on each side down to her feet, and a long cross in her hand, pronouncing a blessing on the queen and prince in the name of all the seasons. these verses were composed for the occasion. i understood them to say that st. helena, remembering her own british extraction, came to utter a blessing on the rulers of her country; and i think it must have been so intended, because helena the mother of constantine, the first christian emperor, was said to have discovered the remains of the cross on which our saviour was crucified, and so when she is painted she always has a cross in her hand. but grandpapa understood that it was meant for britannia blessing the royal pair. at any rate, the princess helena looked very charming. this was the close; but when the queen ordered the curtain to be drawn back, we saw the whole royal family, and they were helped to jump down from their raised platforms; and then all came into the light and we saw them well; and the baby, prince leopold, was brought in by his nurse, and looked at us all with big eyes, and wanted to go to his papa, prince albert. at the dinner-table the princesses helena and louise and prince arthur were allowed to come in and stand by their mamma, the queen, as it a was festival day.... in the evening there was very fine music in st. george's hall, and the princess royal and princess alice, and the prince of wales and prince alfred, were allowed to stop up and hear it, sitting to the right and left of the chairs where sat the queen and prince albert and the duchess of kent." some of the graceful figures in the pretty masque were given, with modifications, by the sculptor's art. four are reproduced in the engravings in this book, that of the princess royal at page , that of princess alice at page , that of the prince of wales at page , and that of prince alfred at page , volume first. on the th of february baron brunnow, who had been russian ambassador in england for fifteen years, quitted london. notes were dispatched on the th from london and paris to st. petersburg, calling on russia to evacuate the principalities, a summons to which the czar declined to reply. war was declared in a supplemental gazette, and on the st of march the declaration was read, according to ancient usage, from the steps of the royal exchange by the sergeant-at-arms of the city of london, to a great crowd that wound up the ceremony by giving three cheers for the queen. part of the troops had already embarked, their marching and embarkation being witnessed by multitudes with the utmost interest and enthusiasm. the chief sight was the departure of the guards, the grenadiers leaving by gaslight on the winter morning, the fusiliers marching to buckingham palace, where at seven o'clock the queen and the prince, with their children, were ready to say good-bye. "they formed line, presented arms, and then cheered us very heartily, and went off cheering," the queen wrote to the king of the belgians.... "many sorrowing friends were there, and one saw the shake of many a hand. my best wishes and prayers went with them all." it was a famous scene, which is remembered to this day. another episode was that of the duchess of cambridge and her daughter, the princess mary, taking leave of the brigade with which the duke of cambridge, the only son and brother, left. her majesty and the prince started for osborne in the course of the next fortnight, to visit the superb fleet which was to sail from spithead under sir charles napier. "it will be a solemn moment," the queen wrote again to lord aberdeen; "many a heart will be very heavy, and many a prayer, including our own, will be offered up for its safety and glory." in spite of the bad weather, which marred the arrangements, the queen sailed from portsmouth in the _fairy_, and passing the _victory_, with its heroic associations, went through the squadron of twenty great vessels, amidst the booming of the guns, the manning of the yards, and the cheers of the sailors. the following day the little _fairy_, with its royal occupants, played a yet more striking part. at the head of the outward-bound squadron, it sailed with the ships for several miles, then stopped for the fleet to pass by, the queen standing waving her handkerchief to the flag-ship. her majesty was, as she said, "very enthusiastic" about her army and navy, and wished she had sons in both of them, though she foresaw how she would suffer when she heard of the losses of her brave men. if she had not sons in either service, her cousin, the duke of cambridge, was with the guards for a time, and her young nephews, prince victor of hohenlohe and prince ernest leiningen, were with their ships. the queen paid the same compliment of giving a farewell greeting to the second division of the fleet. when the address to the throne in reply to the queen's message announcing the declaration of war was presented, her majesty and the prince were accompanied to the house for the first time by the prince of wales, a boy of thirteen. in the middle of the worry, the season was gay as if no life-blood was drained in strong currents from the country; and varna, with its cholera swamps, where the troops had encamped on turkish soil, was not present to all men's minds. the queen set an example in keeping up the social circulation without which there would be a disastrous collapse of more than one department of trade. on may-day, prince arthur's birthday, there was a children's ball, attended by two hundred small guests, at buckingham palace. sir theodore martin quotes her majesty's merry note, inviting the premier to come and see "a number of happy little people, including some of his grandchildren, enjoying themselves." among the grandchildren of lord aberdeen were the young sons of lord haddo--sinking under a long wasting illness--george, sixth earl of aberdeen, who, when he came to man's estate, served as an ordinary seaman in a merchant ship, where his rank was unsuspected, and who perished by being washed overboard on a stormy night; and the honourable james gordon, who died from the bursting of his gun when he was keeping his terms at cambridge. the queen honoured count walewski, the french ambassador, by her presence at one of the most brilliant of costume balls. a great court ball was followed by a great court concert, at which lablache sang again in england after an interval of many years. among the visitors to london in june were poor maria da gloria's sons, coburgs on the father's side, young king pedro of portugal, and his brother, the duke of oporto, fine lads who were much liked wherever they went. the queen and the prince spent her majesty's birthday at osborne, and commemorated it to their children by putting them in possession of the greatest treasure of their happy childhood--the swiss cottage in the grounds, about a mile from the castle, in which youthful princes and princesses played at being men and women, practised the humbler duties of life, and kept natural history collections and geological specimens, as their father and uncle had kept theirs in the museum at coburg. another great resource consisted of the plots of ground--among which the princess royal's was a fair-sized garden, ultimately nine in number, where the amateur gardeners studied gardening in the most practical manner, and had their tiny tool-house, with the small spades and rakes properly grouped and duly lettered, "prince alfred" or "princess louise," as the case might be. a third idea, borrowed like the first from coburg, was the miniature fort, with its mimic defences, every brick of which was made and built, and the very cannon-balls founded, by the two sons destined to be soldiers--the prince of wales and prince arthur. before the end of the season cholera broke out in london. among its victims was lord jocelyn, eldest son of lord roden, and husband of lady fanny cowper. he had been on guard at the palace, and died after an illness of not more than two hours' duration in the drawing-room of his mother-in-law, lady palmerston. the queen came up to town to prorogue parliament in person. afterwards her majesty and the prince spent his birthday at osborne, when one of the amusements, no doubt with a view to the entertainment of the children as well as of the grown-up people, was albert smith's "ascent of mont blanc," which was then one of the comic sights of london. early in september prince albert, in compliment to the alliance between england and france, went, by the emperor's invitation, to visit the french camp at st. omer, and was absent four or five days. the prince's letters were as constant and lover-like as ever. on the th of september the court arrived at balmoral, and the same day the queen received the news of the sailing of the english and french soldiers for the crimea. an anxious but brief period of suspense followed. six days later came the tidings of the successful landing, without opposition, in the neighbourhood of eupatoria. lord aberdeen came on a visit to balmoral, and had just left when the glad tidings arrived of the victory of the alma, followed immediately by a false report of the fall of sebastopol. during this year's stay in the north, her majesty met for the first time a remarkable scotchman whom she afterwards honoured with her friendship. both the queen and dr. macleod describe the first sermon he preached before her, on christian life. he adds, "in the evening, after _daundering_ in a green field with a path through it which led to the high-road, and while sitting on a block of granite, full of quiet thoughts, mentally reposing in the midst of the beautiful scenery, i was roused from my reverie by some one asking me if i was the clergyman who had preached that day. i was soon in the presence of the queen and prince, when her majesty came forward and said with a sweet, kind, and smiling face, 'we wish to thank you for your sermon.' she then asked me how my father was, what was the name of my parish, &c.; and so, after bowing and smiling, they both continued their quiet evening walk alone." [footnote: life of dr. norman macleod.] the court returned from balmoral by edinburgh. at hull, and again at grimsby, the queen and the prince inspected the docks, of which he had laid the foundation stones. chapter xxv. the battle of inkermann--florence nightingale--the death of the emperor nicholas. in the beginning of november england heard with mingled triumph and pain of the repulsed attack on the english at balaclava on the th of october, and of the charge of the light brigade. the number of the english soldiers in the field fell lower and lower. the queen wrote to king leopold, "we have but one thought, and so has the nation, and that is--sebastopol. such a time of suspense, anxiety, and excitement, i never expected to see, much less to feel." on the th of november telegrams arrived with the news of the battle of inkermann, fought against terrible odds on the th. the queen wrote herself to lord raglan to tell of her "pride and joy" at receiving the intelligence of "the glorious, but alas! bloody victory of the th." she conferred upon him the baton of a field- marshal. her majesty also addressed a kind and sympathising letter to the widow of sir george cathcart. the queen wrote with high indignation to the king of the belgians after the battle of inkermann: "they (the enemy) behaved with the greatest barbarity; many of our poor officers who were only slightly wounded were brutally butchered on the ground. several lived long enough to say this. when poor sir g. cathcart fell mortally wounded, his faithful and devoted military secretary (colonel charles seymour) ... sprang from his horse, and with one arm--he was wounded in the other--supported his dying chief, when three wretches came and bayoneted him. this is monstrous, and requisitions have been sent by the two commanders-in-chief to menschikoff to remonstrate...." the winter of - was a sorrowful and care-laden time. little or no progress was made in the war, while in the meanwhile the sufferings of the soldiers from a defective commissariat, a rigorous climate, and the recurring ravages of cholera, were frightful. the very winds and waves seemed to fight against the allies and to side with "holy russia." never had the black sea been visited by such storms and wrecks. from the palace to the cottage, women's fingers worked eagerly and unweariedly knitting comforters and muffatees to protect the throats and wrists of the shivering men. we have heard that the greatest lady in the land deigned thus to serve her soldiers. we have been told of a cravat worked in crochet by a queen's fingers which fell to the share of a gallant young officer in the trenches--the same brave lad who had carried, unscathed, the colours of his regiment to the heights of the alma. the hospitals were in as disorganised a state as the commissariat, and mr. sydney herbert, well-nigh in despair, had the bright inspiration of sending to the seat of war florence nightingale, the daughter and co-heiress of a derbyshire squire, with a staff of nurses. such reformation of abuses was wrought by a capable devoted woman, such order brought out of disorder, such comfort and consolation carried to wounded and dying men, that the experiment became a triumphant success. many were the stories told of the soldiers' boundless reverence for the woman who had left country and friends and all the good things that wealth and rank can command to relieve her fellow-creatures; how one of them was seen to kiss her shadow on the wall of his ward as she passed; how the convalescents engaged in strange and wonderful manufactures of gifts to offer to her. a second large instalment of nurses was sent out after the first, the latter led by mary stanley, daughter of the bishop of norwich, and sister of the dean of westminster, who had already been a sister to the poor in her father's diocese. the queen wrote again to lord raglan, "the sad privations of the army, the bad weather, and the constant sickness, are causes of the deepest concern and anxiety to the queen and the prince. the braver her noble troops are, the more patiently and heroically they bear all their trials and sufferings, the more miserable we feel at their long continuance. the queen trusts that lord raglan will be _very strict_ in seeing that no unnecessary privations are incurred by any negligence of those whose duty it is to watch over their wants. "the queen heard that their coffee was given them green instead of roasted, and some other things of this kind, which have distressed her, as she feels so anxious that they should be as comfortable as circumstances can admit of. the queen earnestly trusts that the large amount of warm clothing sent out has not only reached balaclava, but has been distributed, and that lord raglan has been successful in procuring the means of hutting for the men. lord raglan cannot think how much we suffer for the army, and how painfully anxious we are to know that their privations are decreasing.... the queen cannot conclude without wishing lord raglan and the whole of the army, in the prince's name and her own, a happy and _glorious_ new year." no sooner had parliament reassembled than mr. roebuck brought forward his famous motion for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of the army and the management of the war department of the government. lord john russell resigned office, and there was a threatened resignation of the whole ministry, an ill-timed step, which was only delayed till mr. roebuck's motion was carried, by a large majority, not amidst the cheers, but to the odd accompaniment of the derisive laughter of the liberal members who had voted for the motion. lord aberdeen's ministry immediately resigned office; and after an abortive attempt on the part of lord derby, at the request of the queen, to form a new ministry, lord lansdowne and lord john russell were in succession asked to take the leadership, but each in his turn had to own his inability to get the requisite men to act under him. in summoning lord john russell to become premier, the queen had expressed a wish that lord palmerston--the man to whom the country looked as the only proper war minister--should take office. the wish, especially flattering and acceptable to lord palmerston, because it indicated that old differences were forgotten, was in marked keeping with a certain magnanimity and candour--excellent qualities in a sovereign-- which have been prominent features in her majesty's character. lord john russell having been as unsuccessful as his predecessors in forming a ministry, lord palmerston was sent for by the queen and offered the premiership, and the most popular minister of the day was soon able, to the jubilation of the country, to construct a cabinet. on the th of february, the anniversary of the queen's marriage-day, there was this year, as usual, a home festival, with the nursery drama of "little red riding hood" performed by the younger members of the family, and appropriate verses spoken by princess alice, who seems to have been the chosen declaimer among the princes and princesses. but beneath the rejoicing there were in the elders anxiety, sympathetic suffering, and the endurance of undeserved suspicion. the committee carrying out the inquiry proposed by mr. roebuck's motion, conceived most unjustly that the prince's hostile influence prevented them from obtaining the information they desired. the queen's health was suffering from her distress on account of the hardships experienced by her soldiers, so that when lord cardigan returned to england, repaired to windsor, and had the royal children upon his knee, they said, "you must hurry back to sebastopol and take it, else it will kill mamma!" on the nd of march the strange news burst upon europe, exciting rather a sense of solemnity than any less seemly feeling, of the sudden death of the emperor nicholas, former guest and fervent friend of the queen--for whom she seems to have retained a lingering, rueful regard--grasper at an increase of territory, disturber of the peace of europe, dogged refuser of all mediation. he had an attack of influenza, but the real cause of his death is said to have been bitter disappointment and mortification at his failure to drive the allies out of the crimea. the "generals, january and february," on whom he had counted to work his will, laid him low. chapter xxvi. inspection of the hospital at chatham--visit of the emperor and empress of the french--distribution of war medals. on the rd of march, the queen and the prince, with the prince of wales, prince alfred and the duke of cambridge, visited the hospital at chatham, to which many of the wounded and sick soldiers had been brought home. the whole of the invalids who were in a condition to leave their beds "were drawn up on the lawn," each having a card containing his name and services, his wounds, and where received. her majesty passed along the line, saying a few kind words to those sufferers who particularly attracted her notice, or to those whose services were specially commended. it is easy to imagine how the haggard faces would brighten and the drooping figures straighten themselves in that royal and gentle presence. in the course of the month, at an exhibition and sale of water-colour drawings and pictures by amateurs, in aid of a fund for the widows and orphans of officers in the crimea, the artistic talent of which there have been many proofs in the queen's and the prince's children, was first publicly shown. a water-colour drawing by the princess royal, already a fine girl of fifteen--whose marriage was soon to be mooted, in which she had represented a woman weeping over a dead grenadier, displayed remarkable merit and was bought for a large price. on the th of april the emperor and empress of the french arrived in england on a visit to the queen. the splendid suite of rooms in windsor castle which includes the rubens, zuccarelli, and vandyck rooms, were destined for the imperial guests. and we are told that, by the irony of fate, the emperor's bedroom was the same that had been occupied on previous occasions by the late emperor nicholas and king louis philippe. sir theodore martin refers to a still more pathetic contrast which struck the queen. he quotes from her majesty's journal a passage relating to a visit paid by the old queen amélie to windsor two or three days before. "it made us both so sad to see her drive away in a plain coach with miserable post-horses, and to think that this was the queen of the french, and that six years ago her husband was surrounded by the same pomp and grandeur which three days hence would surround his successor." prince albert received the travellers at dover in the middle of a thick mist which had delayed the _corvette_, hidden the english fleet, and somewhat marred what was intended to have been the splendour of the reception. after the train had reached london, the drive was through densely crowded streets, in which there was no lack of enthusiasm for the visitors. the strangers did not reach windsor till past seven. the queen had been waiting for them some time in one of the tapestry rooms near the guard-room. "the expectation and agitation grew more intense," her majesty wrote in her diary. "the evening was fine and bright. at length the crowd of anxious spectators lining the road seemed to move; then came a groom; then we heard a gun, and we moved towards the staircase. another groom came. then we saw the advanced guard of the escort; then the cheers of the crowd burst forth. the outriders appeared, the doors opened, i stepped out, the children and princes close behind me; the band struck up "partant pour la syrie," the trumpets sounded, and the open carriage, with the emperor and empress, albert sitting opposite to them, drove up, and they got out. "i cannot say what indescribable emotions filled me, how much all seemed like a wonderful dream. these great meetings of sovereigns, surrounded by very exciting accompaniments, are always very agitating. i advanced and embraced the emperor, who received two salutes on either cheek from me, having first kissed my hand. i next embraced the very gentle, graceful, and evidently very nervous empress. we presented the princes (the duke of cambridge and the prince of leiningen, the queen's brother) and our children (vicky, with very alarmed eyes, making very low curtsies); the emperor embraced bertie; and then we went upstairs, albert leading the empress, who in the most engaging manner refused to go first, but at length with graceful reluctance did so, the emperor leading me, expressing his great gratification at being here and seeing me, and admiring windsor." [footnote: life of the prince consort.] her majesty was pleased with the emperor; his low soft voice and quiet manner were very attractive. she was delighted with the empress, of whom she repeatedly wrote with admiration and liking. "she is full courage and spirit," the queen described her visitor, "yet so gentle, with such innocence and _enjouement_, that the _ensemble_ is most charming. with all her great liveliness, she has the prettiest and most modest manner." there were morning walks during the visitors' stay, and long conversations about the war. a deputation from the corporation of london came down to windsor, and presented the emperor with an address. there was a review of the household troops in the great park, to which the queen drove with the empress. the emperor, the prince, and the duke of cambridge rode. there was a tremendous enthusiastic crowd in the long walk, and considerable pushing at the gates. the queen was alarmed because of the spirited horse the emperor rode. the day ended with a ball in the waterloo room, when the queen danced a quadrille with the emperor, who, she wrote, "danced with great dignity and spirit. how strange" she added "to think that i, the grand-daughter of george iii., should dance with the emperor napoleon, nephew of england's great enemy, now my nearest and most intimate ally, in the waterloo room, and this ally only sixteen years ago living in this country in exile, poor and unthought of." a council of war was held the day after the emperor's arrival, at which the queen was not present. it was attended by the emperor, the prince, lords palmerston, panmure, hardinge, cowley (english ambassador in paris), count walewski (french ambassador in london), marshal vaillant, &c., &c. it met at eleven, and had not separated at two, the hour of luncheon, after which a chapter of the order of the garter--for which special toilettes were indispensable, was to be held. the empress went and told lord cowley how late it was, in vain. she advised the queen to go to them. "i dare not go in, but your majesty may; it is your affair." the queen passed through the emperor's bedroom, which was next to the council-room, knocked, and entered to ask what was to be done, perhaps a solitary instance of a queen having to go in search of her guests. both the emperor and the prince rose and said they would come, but business was so enchaining that still they delayed, and the ladies had to take luncheon alone. the emperor was invested with the order of the garter in the throne- room. the forms were the same as those followed in the investiture of louis philippe, and no doubt the one scene recalled the other vividly enough. bishop wilberforce was present and gives some particulars: "a very full chapter. the duke of buckingham (whose conduct had not been very knightly) came unsummoned, and was not asked to remain to dinner. the emperor looked exulting and exceedingly pleased." after the chapter, the emperor sent for the bishop, that he might be presented. his lordship's opinion was that louis napoleon was "rather mean- looking, small, and a tendency to _embonpoint_; a remarkable way, as it were, of swimming up a room, with an uncertain gait; a small grey eye, looking cunning, but with an aspect of softness about it too. the empress, a peculiar face from the arched eye-brows, blonde complexion; an air of sadness about her, but a person whose countenance at once interests you. the banquet was magnificent. at night," ends bishop wilberforce, "the queen spoke to me. 'all went off very well, i think; i was afraid of making some mistake; you would not let me have in writing what i was to say to him. then we put the riband on wrong, but i think it all went off well on the whole.'" the emperor and empress were invited to a banquet at guildhall. they went from buckingham palace, to which the queen and prince albert had accompanied them. the queen wrote in her journal that their departure from windsor made her sad. the passing through the familiar rooms and descending the staircase to the mournful strains of "partant pour la syrie" (composed by the emperor's mother, queen hortense, and heard by her majesty fourteen different times that april day), the sense that the visit about which there had been so much excitement was nearly over, the natural doubt how and when the group would meet again, touched her as with a sense of foreboding. the emperor and empress drove from buckingham palace to guildhall in six of the queen's state carriages, the first drawn by the famous cream-coloured horses. the whole route was packed with people, who gave the visitors a thorough ovation. the city hall was decorated with the flags of england, france, and turkey; and the lion and the eagle conjointly supported devices which bore the names "alma, balaclava, and inkermann." at the _déjeuner_ sherry was served which had reached the venerable age of one hundred and nine years, was valued at £ the butt, and had belonged to the great napoleon. the same evening, the queen and the prince, with their guests, went in state to the italian opera, where _fidelio_ was performed. "we literally drove through a sea of human beings, cheering and pressing near the carriage." the illuminated streets bore many devices--of n.e. and v.a., which the emperor remarked made the word "neva"--a coincidence on which he appears to have dwelt with his share of the superstition of the buonapartes. the opera-house and the royal box were richly decorated for the occasion. on entering, her majesty led the emperor, and prince albert the empress, to the front of the box, amidst great applause. the audience was immense, a dense mass of ladies and gentlemen in full dress being allowed to occupy a place behind the singers on the stage. the next day, a beautiful april day, the queen discovered was the forty-seventh birthday of the emperor; and when she went to meet him in the corridor, she wished him joy and gave him a pencil-case. he smiled and kissed her hand, and accepted with empressment two violets-- the buonapartes' flower--brought to him by prince arthur. all along the thronged road to sydenham, cries of "vive l'empereur!" and "vive l'impératrice!" alternated with cheers for the queen. the public were not admitted while the royal party were in the palace, but they gathered twenty thousand strong on the terrace; and when her majesty, with her guests, came out on the balcony to enjoy the beautiful view, such shouts of loyalty and welcome filled the spring air as struck even ears well accustomed to public greetings. after luncheon the queen and her visitors returned to the palace, having to pass through an avenue of people lining the nave, to reach the balcony from which the strangers were to see the fine spectacle of the fountains playing. the queen owned afterwards she was anxious; yet, she added, "i felt as i leant on the emperor's arm, that i was possibly a protection for him. all thoughts of nervousness for myself were lost. i thought only of him; and so it is, albert says, when one forgets oneself, one loses this great and foolish nervousness." a sentence worthy of him and of her. alas for fickle fortune and the changes which time brings! the present writer was accidentally present on the occasion of the emperor and empress's last visit to the crystal palace. they came from chislehurst without any announcement, when they were not expected, on an ordinary shilling day in autumn, the company happening to be few. a slight stir and one or two policemen coming to the front, suggested that some theft had been committed, and that the offender was about to be taken into custody and removed from the building. then an official walked bareheaded down the cleared nave, and behind him came a little yellow- skinned shrunken man in plain clothes, on whose arm a lady in a simple black silk walking-dress and country hat leant lightly, as if she were giving instead of receiving support. he made a slight attempt to acknowledge the faint greetings of the spectators, some of them ignorant of the identity of the visitors, all of them taken by surprise. she smiled and bowed from side to side, a little mechanically, as if anxious to overlook no courtesy and to act for both. it was not long after the battle of sedan and the imprisonment at wilhelmshohe, and the hand of death was already upon him. the couple hurried on, as if desirous of not being detained, and could not have tarried many minutes in the building when a few straggling cheers announced their departure. in the afternoon of the th of april a second council relating to the war in the crimea was held, at which the queen was present. with her large interest in public affairs, her growing experience, and her healthy appetite for the work of her life, she enjoyed it exceedingly. "it was one of the most interesting scenes i was ever present at," she wrote in her journal. "i would not have missed it for the world." on saturday, the st of april, the visitors left, after the emperor had written a graceful french sentence in the queen's album, and an admonitory verse in german, which had originally been written for himself, in the prince of wales's autograph book. the queen accompanied her visitors to the door, and parted from them with kindly regret. as they drove off she "ran up" to see the last of the travellers from the saloon they had just quitted. "the emperor and empress saw us at the window," she wrote, "turned round, got up, and bowed.... we watched them, with the glittering escort, till they could be seen no more...." the prince escorted the emperor and empress to dover. the queen wrote in a short memorandum her view of the emperor's character, and what she expected from the visit in a political light. through the good sense of the paper one can see how the confiding friendly nature had survived the rough check given to it by louis philippe's manoeuvres and dissimulation. on the st of may the academy opened with millais's "rescue of children from a burning house," and with a remarkable picture by a young painter who has long since vindicated the reception it met with. it was mr. f. leighton's "procession conveying cimabue's madonna through the streets of florence." on the th of may her majesty distributed medals to some of the heroes of the war still raging. the scene was both picturesque and pathetic, since many of the recipients of the honour were barely recovered from their wounds. the presentation took place in the centre of the parade of the horse guards, where a dais was erected for the ceremony, while galleries had been fitted up in the neighbouring public offices for the accommodation of members of the royal family and nobility. barriers shut off the actors in the scene, and a great gathering of officers, from the crowd which filled every inch of open space and flowed over into st. james's park. the queen, the prince, with many of the royal family, the court, the commander-in-chief, the secretary for war, and "a host of generals and admirals," arrived about eleven o'clock. the soldiers who kept the ground formed four deep, making three sides of a square, and the men to be decorated passed up the open space, until "the queen stood face to face with a mass of men who had suffered and bled in her cause." the deputy-adjutant-general read over the list of names, and each person, answering to the call, presented to an officer a card on which was inscribed his name, rank, wounds, and battles. as the soldiers passed in single file before the queen, lord panmure handed to her majesty the medal, which she gave in turn to the medal-holder. he saluted and passed to the rear, where friends and strangers gathered round him to inspect his trophy. the first to receive the medal were the queen's cousin and contemporary, the duke of cambridge, lords lucan, cardigan, major- general scarlett, sir john burgoyne, sir de lacy evans, and major- general torrens. it is needless to say how keenly the public were moved by the sight of their brave defenders, several of them scarred and mutilated, many tottering from weakness, some wearing on their sleeves bands of crape, tokens of mourning for kinsmen lying in russian earth. to every wounded man, officer or private, her majesty spoke, some of those addressed blushing like girls under their bronze, and the tears coming into their eyes. the idea of personally presenting the medals to the soldiers was the queen's own, and she must have been amply rewarded by the gratification she bestowed. three officers unable to walk were wheeled past her majesty in bath- chairs. among them was young sir thomas troubridge, both of whose feet had been carried off by a round shot, while he had continued commanding his battery till the battle was over, refusing to be taken away, only desiring his shattered limbs to be raised in order to check the loss of blood. the queen leant over sir thomas's chair and handed him his medal, while she announced to him his appointment as one of her aides-de-camp. he replied, "i am amply repaid for everything." chapter xxvii. death op lord raglan--visit of the queen and prince albert to the emperor and empress of the french--fall of sebastopol. a sardinian contingent had now, by a stroke of policy on the part of count cavour, the sardinian minister, joined the english and french in arms in the crimea; but an unsuccessful attack, made with heavy loss by the combined forces of the english and french on sebastopol, filled the country with disappointment and sorrow. the attack was made on the th of june, a day which, as the anniversary of waterloo, had been hitherto associated with victory and triumph. lord raglan had never approved of the assault, but he yielded to the urgent representations of general pelissier. the defeat was the last blow to the old english soldier, worn by fatigue and chagrin. he was seized with illness ending in cholera, and died in his quarters on the th of june, eleven days after the repulse. he was in his sixty- seventh year. the queen wrote to lady raglan the day after the tidings of the death reached england. during the summer the queen received visits from king leopold and his younger children, and from her portuguese cousins. during the stay of the former in england scarlet fever broke out in the royal nurseries. princess louise, prince arthur, prince leopold, and finally princess alice, were attacked; but the disease was not virulent, and the remaining members of the family escaped the infection. in the early morning of the th of august, the russians marched upon the french lines, and were completely routed in the battle of the tchernaya, which revived the allies' hopes of a speedy termination of the war. in the meantime, the queen and prince albert, accompanied by the prince of wales and the princess royal, paid a visit to the emperor and empress of the french, near paris. the palace of st. cloud was set apart for the use of the queen and the prince. her majesty landed at boulogne during the forenoon of the th of august. she was received by the emperor, who met her on the gangway, first kissed her hand, and then kissed her on both cheeks. he led her on shore, and rode by the side of her carriage to the railway station. paris, where no english sovereign had been since the baby henry vi. was crowned king of france, was not reached till evening. the city had been _en fête_ all day with banners, floral arches, and at last an illumination. amidst the clatter of soldiers, the music of brass bands playing "god save the queen," and endless cheering, her majesty drove through the gathering darkness by the bois de boulogne to st. cloud. to the roar of cannon, the beating of drums, and the echoing of _vivats_, she was greeted and ushered up the grand staircase by the empress and the princess mathilde. everybody was "most civil and kind," and in the middle of the magnificence all was "very quiet and royal." the next day was sunday, and after breakfast there was a drive with the emperor through the beautiful park, where host and guests were very cheerful over good news from sebastopol. the english church service was read by a chaplain from the embassy in one of the palace rooms. in the afternoon the emperor and the empress drove with their guests to the bois de boulogne, and to neuilly--so closely associated with the orleans family--lying in ruins. general canrobert, just returned from the crimea, was an addition to the dinner party. on monday the weather continued lovely. the emperor fetched his guests to breakfast, which, like luncheon, was eaten at small round tables, as in her majesty's residences in england. she remarked on the cookery that it was "very plain and very good." after breakfast the party started in barouches for paris, visiting the exposition des beaux arts and the palais d'industrie, passing through densely crowded streets, amidst enthusiastic shouts of "vive l'empereur!" "vive la reine d'angleterre!" at the elysée the _corps diplomatique_ were presented to the queen. in the meantime, the emperor himself drove the boy prince of wales in a curricle through paris. afterwards the queen and prince albert, in the company of the emperor, visited the beautiful sainte chapelle and the palais de justice. on the way the emperor pointed out the _conciergerie_ as the place where he had been imprisoned. nôtre dame, where the archbishop of paris and his clergy met the visitors, and the hôtel de ville, followed in the regular order of sightseeing. the queen dwells not only on the kindness but on the quietness of the emperor as a particular "comfort" on such an occasion. _les demoiselles de st. cyr_ was acted in the evening. in the salle de mars all the company passed before the queen, the empress presenting each in turn. the emperor and empress, preceded by their gentlemen, always took the queen and the prince to their rooms. on, tuesday versailles was the visitors' destination. they went in many carriages. troops and national guards, and especially gendarmes, were to be seen everywhere. the gardens and the fountains, with throngs of company, were much admired. the queen visited the two trianons. at the larger the emperor showed her the room and bed provided for her, in the expectation of her visiting paris, by "poor louis philippe;" madame maintenon's sedan- chair, by which louis xiv. was wont to walk; and the little chapel in which "poor marie (louis philippe's daughter) was married to alexander of wurtemberg in ," two years before the queen's marriage. at little trianon the empress (who had a passion for every relic of marie antoinette) joined the party, and luncheon was eaten in one of the cottages where princes and nobles were wont to play at being peasants. in the evening the emperor, with his guests, paid a state visit to the opera-house in the rue lepelletier. part of the performance was a representation of windsor castle, with the emperor's reception there, when "god save the queen" was splendidly sung, and received with acclamation. the emperor's happy animation, in contrast to his usual impassiveness, was remarked by the audience. wednesday's visit, in the continuously fine august weather, was to the french exhibition, which the queen and the prince were so well calculated to appreciate. they rejoiced in the excellent manner in which england was represented, particularly in pottery. the specially french productions of sèvres, goblins, and beauvais were carefully studied. the queen also examined the french crown jewels, the crown bearing the renowned regent diamond, which, though less large than the koh-i-noor, is more brilliant. the emperor presented the prince with a magnificent sèvres vase, a souvenir of the exhibition of . the tuileries was visited, and luncheon taken there in rooms containing pictures and busts or napoleon i., josephine, &c., &c. the queen received the prefect and consented to attend the ball to be given in her honour. after a visit to the british embassy, the queen and the prince, with the princess royal and one of the ladies of the suite, took a drive incognito through paris, which they enjoyed exceedingly. they went in an ordinary _remise_, the three ladies wearing common bonnets and mantillas, and her majesty having a black veil over her face. on thursday morning the queen rested, walking about the gardens with her young daughter, and sketching the zouaves at the gate. the afternoon was spent at the louvre, where the queen mentions the heat as "tropical." after dinner at the tuileries, the party stood laughing together at an old-fashioned imperial cafetière which would not let down the coffee, listening to the music, the carriages, and the people in the distance, and talking of past times; as how could people fail to talk at the tuileries! the emperor spoke of having known madame campan (to whose school his mother was sent for a time), and repeated some of the old court dresser's anecdotes of marie antoinette and the great revolution. in her majesty's full dress for the ball given to her by the city of paris, she wore a diadem in which the koh-i-noor was set. through the illuminated, crammed streets, the queen proceeded to the hotel de ville, and entered among flags, flowers, and statues, "like the arabian nights," the emperor said. the royal visitors occupied chairs on a dais. one quadrille and one valse were danced, the emperor being the queen's partner, while prince albert danced with princess mathilde (the empress was in delicate health); prince napoleon and madame haussman (the wife of the prefect of the seine), and prince adalbert of bavaria and lady cowley (wife of the english ambassador) completing the set. several arabs in long white burnouses were among the guests, and kissed the hands of the queen and the emperor. her majesty made the tour of the stately suite of rooms, lingering in the one in which "robespierre was wounded, louis philippe proclaimed, and from the windows of which lamartine spoke for so many hours in ." on friday there was a second visit to the exhibition, and in the afternoon a grand review of troops in the champ de mars, which the queen admired much, regretting that she had not been on horseback, though the day was not fine. from the champ de mars the visitors drove to the hôtel des invalides, and there occurred the most striking scene in the memorable visit, of which the passages from the queen's journal in the "life of the prince consort," give so many graphic, interesting details. passing between rows of french veterans, the queen and the prince went to look by torchlight at the great tomb, in which, however, all that was mortal of napoleon i. had not yet been laid. the coffin still rested in a side chapel, to which her majesty was taken by the emperor. the coffin was covered with black velvet and gold, and the orders, hat, and sword of "le petit caporal" were placed at the foot. the queen descended for a few minutes into the vault, the air of which struck cold on the living within its walls. the emperor took his guests in the evening to the opéra comique. it was not a state visit, but "god save the queen" was sung, and her majesty had to show herself in front of the emperor's private box. on saturday the royal party went to the forest of st. germain's, and a halt was made at the hunting-lodge of la muette. the _grand veneur_ and his officials in their hunting-dress of dark-green velvet, red waistcoats, high boots, and cocked hats, received the company. the dogs were exhibited, and a _fanfare_ sounded on the huntsmen's horns. the strangers repaired to the old palace of st. germain's, where her majesty saw the suite of rooms which had served as a home for her unhappy kinsman, james ii. it is said she went also to his tomb, and stood by it in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. on the return drive to st. cloud detours were made to malmaison, where the emperor remembered to have seen his grandmother, the empress josephine, and to the fortress of st. valérien. the same night there was a state ball at versailles. at the top of the grand staircase stood the empress--"like a fairy queen or nymph," her majesty writes, "in a white dress trimmed with bunches of grass and diamonds, ..." wearing her spanish and portuguese orders. the enamoured emperor exclaimed in the hearing of his guests, "comme tu es belle!" (how beautiful you are!) the long galerie de glaces, full of people, was blazing with light, and had wreaths of flowers hanging from the ceiling. from the windows the illuminated trellis was seen reflected in the splashing water of the fountains. the balconies commanded a view of the magnificent fireworks, among which windsor castle was represented in lines of light. the queen danced two quadrilles, with the emperor and prince napoleon, prince albert dancing with princess mathilde and the princess of augustenburg. among the guests presented to her majesty was count bismarck, prussian minister at frankfort. the queen waltzed with the emperor, and then repaired to the famous oeil-de-boeuf, hung with beauvais tapestry. after the company had gone to supper, the queen and the emperor's procession was formed, and headed by guards, officers, &c. &c, they passed to the theatre, where supper was served. the whole stage was covered in, and four hundred people sat in groups of ten, each presided over by a lady, at forty small tables. innumerable chandeliers and garlands of flowers made the scene still gayer. the boxes were full of spectators, and an invisible band was playing. the queen and prince albert, with their son and daughter, the emperor and the empress, prince napoleon, princess mathilde, and prince adalbert of bavaria, sat at a small table in the central box. her majesty seems to have been much struck with this versailles ball, which was designed and arranged by the empress from a plate of the time of louis xv. it was said there had been no ball at versailles since the time of louis xvi. the last must have been the ball in the orangery, on the night that the bastille fell. sunday was prince albert's birthday, which was not forgotten among these brilliant doings. loving hands laid out the flower-decorated table with its gifts. at luncheon the emperor presented the prince with a picture by meissonier. the empress gave a _pokal_, or mounted cup, carved in ivory. during a quiet drive with the emperor through the park in the morning, the queen, with her characteristic sincerity, courageously approached a topic which was a burden on her mind, on which baron stockmar had long advised her to act as she was prepared to do. she spoke of her intercourse with the orleans family, on which the french ambassador in london had laid stress as likely to displease the emperor. she said they were her friends and relations, and that she could not drop them in their adversity, but that politics were never touched upon between her and them. he professed himself perfectly satisfied, and sought in his turn to explain his conduct in the confiscation and forced sale of the orleans property. the english church service was read in a room at st. cloud as before. in the afternoon the emperor took his guests to the memorial chapelle de st. ferdinand, erected on the spot where the late duc d'orleans was killed. on monday, the th of august, the queen wrote in her diary her deep gratitude for "these eight happy days, for the delight of seeing such beautiful and interesting places and objects," and for the reception she had met with in paris and france. the emperor arrived to say the empress was ready, but could not bring herself to face the parting, and that if the queen would go to her room it would make her come. "when we went in," writes her majesty, "the emperor called her: 'eugénie, here is the queen,' and she came," adds her majesty, "and gave me a beautiful fan, and a rose and heliotrope from the garden, and vicky a beautiful bracelet, set with rubies and diamonds, containing her hair...." the morning was beautiful as the travellers, accompanied by the emperor and empress, drove for the last time through the town of st. cloud, with its zouaves and wounded soldiers from the crimea, under the arc de triomphe, where the ashes of the great napoleon had passed, to paris and the tuileries. there was talk of future meetings at windsor and fontainbleau. (and now of the places which the queen admired so much, st. cloud and the tuileries are in ruins like neuilly, while the hôtel de ville has perished by the hands of its own children.) leave was taken of the empress not without emotion; at the strasbourg railway station the ministers and municipal authorities were in attendance, and the cordiality was equal to the respect shown by all. boulogne, to which the emperor accompanied his guests, was reached between five and six in the afternoon. there was a review of thirty- six thousand infantry, besides cavalry, on the sands. the queen describes the beautiful effect of the background of calm, blue sea, while "the glorious crimson light" of the setting sun was gilding the thousands of bayonets, lances, &c. it was the spot where napoleon i. inspected the army with which he was prepared to invade england; while nelson's fleet, which held him in check, occupied the anchorage where the queen's squadron lay. before embarking, her majesty and prince albert drove to the french camps in the neighbourhood. at last, when it was only an hour from midnight, in splendid moonlight, through a town blazing with fireworks and illuminations, with bands playing, soldiers saluting, and a great crowd cheering as if it was noonday, the queen and the prince returned to their yacht, accompanied by the emperor. as if loth to leave them, he proposed to go with them a little way. the parting moment came, the queen and the emperor embraced, and he shook hands warmly with the prince, the prince of wales, and the princess royal. again at the side of the vessel, her majesty pressed her late host's hand, and embraced him with an, "adieu, sire." as he saw her looking over the side of the ship and watching his barge, he called out, "adieu, madame, au revoir," to which the queen answered, "je l'espère bien." on the th of september the court went to scotland, staying a night at holyrood, as usual in those years. on the queen's arrival she drove through the old castle of balmoral, the new house being habitable, though much of the building was still unfinished. an old shoe was thrown after her majesty, scotch fashion, for luck, as she entered the northern home, where everything charmed her. on the th of september the duchess of kent, who was staying at abergeldie, dined with the queen. at half-past ten despatches arrived for her majesty and lord granville, the cabinet minister in attendance. the queen began reading hers, which was from lord clarendon, with news of the destruction of russian ships. lord granville said, "i have still better news," on which he read, "'from general simpson. sebastopol is in the hands of the allies.'" "god be praised for it," adds the queen. great was the rejoicing. prince albert determined to go up craig gowan and light the bonfire which had been ready the year before, had been blown down on the day of the battle of inkermann, and was at last only waiting to be lit. all the gentlemen, in every species of attire, all the servants, and gradually the whole population of the little village, keepers and gillies, were aroused and started, in the autumn night, for the summit of the hill. the happy queen watched from below the blazing light above. numerous figures surrounded it, "some dancing, all shouting; ross (the queen's piper) playing his pipes (surely the most exultant of pibrochs), and grant and macdonald firing off guns continually," the late sir e. gordon's old alsatian servant striving to add his french contribution to the festivities by lighting squibs, half of which would not go off. when prince albert returned he described the health-drinking in whiskey as wild and exciting. chapter xxviii. betrothal of the princess royal--queen's speech to the soldiers returned from the crimea--balmoral. an event of great importance to the queen and her family was now impending. a proposal of marriage for the princess royal--still only fifteen years of age--had been made by the prince of prussia, the heir of the childless king, in the name of the prince's only son, prince frederick william, a young man of four-and-twenty, nearly ten years the princess's senior. from the friendship which had long existed between the queen and the prince and the princess of prussia, their son was well-known and much liked in the english royal family, and the youthful princess royal was favourably inclined to him. the proposal was graciously received, on certain conditions. of course the marriage of the young princess could not take place for some time. she had not even been confirmed. she ought to be allowed to know her mind fully. the couple must become better acquainted. it was agreed at first that nothing should be said to the princess royal on the subject till after her confirmation. but when the wooer arrived to pay a delightfully private visit to the family in their highland retreat, the last interdict was judged too hard, and he was permitted to plead his cause under the happiest auspices. we have pleasant little glimpses in her majesty's journal, and prince albert's letters, of what was necessarily of the utmost moment to all concerned; nay, as the contracting parties were of such high estate, excited the lively sympathies of two great nations. the prince writes in a half tender, half humorous fashion, of the young couple to baron stockmar, "the young man, 'really in love,' 'the little lady' doing her best to please him." the critical moment came during a riding party up the heathery hill of craig-na-ban and down glen girnock, when, with a sprig of white heather for "luck" in his hand, like any other trembling suitor, the lover ventured to say the decisive words, which were not repulsed. will the couple ever forget that spot on the scotch hillside, when they fill the imperial throne of charlemagne? they have celebrated their silver wedding-day with loud jubilees, may their golden wedding still bring welcome memories of craig-na-ban and its white heather. the court had travelled south to windsor, and in the following month, in melancholy contrast to the family circumstances in which all had been rejoicing, her majesty and the prince had the sorrowful intelligence that her brother, the prince of leiningen, while still only in middle age, just over fifty, had suffered from a severe apoplectic attack. in november the king of sardinia visited england. his warm welcome was due not only to his patriotic character, which made victor emmanuel's name a household word in this country, but to the fact that the sardinians were acting along with the french as our allies in the crimea. he was royally entertained at windsor, saw woolwich and portsmouth, received an address at guildhall, and was invested with the order of the garter. he left before five the next morning, when, in spite of the early hour, the intense cold, and a snowstorm, the queen took a personal farewell of her guest. in the beginning of the queen and the prince were again wounded by newspaper attacks on him, in consequence of his having signed his name, as colonel of the grenadier guards, among the other officers of the guards, to a memorial to the queen relating to the promotion and retirement of the officers. on the st of january her majesty opened parliament amidst much enthusiasm, in a session which was to decide the grave question of peace or war. in march the welcome news arrived that the empress of the french had given birth to a son. on the th of march the ceremony of the confirmation of the princess royal took place in the private chapel, windsor. the archbishop of canterbury and the bishop of oxford, lord high almoner, officiated, in the presence of the queen and the royal family, the ministers, officers of state, &c. prince albert led in the princess; her godfather, king leopold, followed with the queen. bishop wilberforce made a note of the scene in a few words. "to windsor castle. the confirmation of princess royal. interesting. she devout, composed, earnest. younger sister much affected. the queen and prince also." on the th of march peace was signed. london became aware of it by the firing of the park and the tower guns at ten o'clock at night. the next morning the lord mayor, on the balcony of the mansion house, read a despatch from the secretary of state, to a large crowd assembled in the street, who received the tidings with loud cheers. at noon his lordship, preceded by the civic functionaries, went on foot to the exchange and read the despatch there. the tower guns were again fired, the church-bells rang merry peals, flags were hung out from all the public buildings. a few days afterwards the queen conferred on lord palmerston the order of the garter--a frank and cordial acknowledgment of his services, which the high-spirited statesman received with peculiar pleasure. on the th of april her majesty and prince albert went to aldershot to commemorate the completion of the camp and review the troops, when the queen spent her first night in camp, in the pavilion prepared for her use. on one of the two days she wore a field-marshal's uniform, with the star and order of the garter, and a dark blue riding habit. within a week, in magnificent weather, her majesty and prince albert inspected a great fleet at spithead. after easter lord ellesmere, in his last appearance in the house of lords, moved the address to the queen on the peace, and spoke the feelings of the nation when he expressed in the words of a poet the country's deep debt of gratitude to florence nightingale. on the th of may the lords and commons went in procession to buckingham palace to present their addresses to the queen. the same evening she gave a state ball--the first in the new ball-room--to celebrate the peace. lord dalhousie returned in this month of may from india, where he had been governor-general. he was a hopeless invalid, while still only in his forty-fifth year. the moment the queen heard of his arrival, she wrote to him a letter of welcome, for which her faithful servant thanked her in simple and touching words, as for "the crowning honour of his life." he could not tell what the end of his illness might be, but he ventured to say that her majesty's most gracious words would be a balm for it all. on the th of may the queen laid the foundation of the military hospital at netley, which she had greatly at heart. in june a serious accident, which might have been fatal, occurred to the princess royal while her promised bridegroom was on a visit to this country. indeed he was much in england in those days, appearing frequently in public along with the royal family, to the gratification of romantic hearts that delighted to watch young royal lovers. she was sealing a letter at a table when the sleeve of her light muslin dress caught fire and blazed up in a moment. happily she was not alone. the princess's governess, miss hildyard, was at the same table, and princess alice was receiving a lesson from her music-mistress in the room. by their presence of mind in wrapping the hearthrug round the princess royal, who herself showed great self possession under the shock and pain of the accident, her life was probably saved. the arm was burnt from below the elbow to the shoulder, though not so as to be permanently disfigured. lady bloomfield has a pretty story about this accident. she has been describing the princess as "quite charming. her manners were so perfectly unaffected and unconstrained, and she was full of fun." the writer goes on to say, "when she, the princess, burnt her arm, she never uttered a cry; she said 'don't frighten mamma--send for papa first.'" she wrote afterwards to her music- mistress, dictating the letter and signing it with her left hand, to tell how she was, because she knew the lady, who had been present when the accident happened, would be anxious. king leopold, his younger son, and his lovely young daughter, princess charlotte, were among the queen's visitors this summer, and a little later came the prince and princess of prussia to improve their acquaintance with their future daughter-in-law. in july the queen and the prince were again at aldershott to review the troops returned from the crimea. but the weather, persistently wet, spoilt what would otherwise have been a joyous as well as a glorious scene. during a short break in the rain, the crimean regiments formed three sides of a square round the carriage in which the queen sat. the officers and four men of each of the troops that had been under fire "stepped out," and the queen, standing up in the carriage, addressed them. "officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, i wish personally to convey through you to the regiments assembled here this day my hearty welcome on their return to england in health and full efficiency. say to them that i have watched anxiously over the difficulties and hardships which they have so nobly borne, that i have mourned with deep sorrow for the brave men who have fallen in their country's cause, and that i have felt proud of that valour which, with their gallant allies, they have displayed on every field. i thank god that your dangers are over, while the glory of your deeds remains; but i know that should your services be again required, you will be animated with the same devotion which in the crimea has rendered you invincible." when the clear, sweet voice was silent, a cry of "god save the queen!" sprang to every lip. helmets, bearskins, and shakos were thrown into the air; the dragoons waved their sabres, and a shout of loyal acclamation, caught up from line to line, rang through the ranks. the next day, in summer sunshine, the queen and her city of london welcomed home the guards. in anticipation of a brilliant review in the park, she saw them march past from the central balcony of buckingham palace, as she had seen them depart on the chill february morning more than two years before: another season and another scene--not unchastened in its triumph, for many a once-familiar face was absent, and many a yearning thought wandered to russian hill and plain and turkish graveyard, where english sleepers rested till the great awakening. an old soldier figured before the queen and the prince in circumstances which filled them with sorrow and pity. lord hardinge, the commander-in-chief, was having an audience with the queen, when he was suddenly struck by paralysis. he resigned his post, to which the duke of cambridge was appointed. lord hardinge died a few months afterwards. after several yachting excursions, marred by stormy weather, the court went north, and reached balmoral on the th of august. the tower and the offices, with the terraces and pleasure-grounds, were finished, and every trace of the old house had disappeared. the balmoral of to- day, though it still lacked what has become some of its essential features, stood before the queen. we are fain to make it stand before our readers as it is now. the road to balmoral may be said to begin with the strath at aberdeen. the farther west the railway runs, the higher grow the mountains and the narrower waxes the valley. yet the highlands proper are held to commence only at ballater, the little northern town with its gray square, and its pleasant inn by the bridge over the rushing dee. the whole is set between the wooded hills of pannanich and craigendarroch, the last-named from the oak wood which crowns its summit. the prince of wales's house, birkhall, stands back from the road on a green eminence with the mountain rising behind, and in front the river muich running down to join the dee. at ballater the railway ends, and two picturesque roads follow the course of the river, one on each side, the first passing crathie, the other going through the fir and birch woods of abergeldie on the same side as balmoral. both command grand glimpses of the mountains, which belong to the three great ranges of the district--cairngorm, glengairn, and loch-na-gar. approaching on the crathie side, the stranger is struck with the frequent tokens of a life that was once the presiding genius of this place, which passing away in its prime, has left the shadow of a great grief, softened by the merciful touch of time. the haunting presence, mild in its manliness and gentle in its strength, of a princely benefactor common to all, has displaced the grim phantoms of old chieftains and reigns in their stead. it hovers over the dearly loved highland home with its fitting touch of stateliness in the middle of its simplicity, over the forest where a true sportsman stalked the deer, over the streams and lochs in which he fished, and the paths he trod by hill and glen. we are made to remember that balmoral was the prince consort's property, that he bought it for his possession, as osborne was the queen's, and that it was by a bequest in his will that it came, with all its memories, to his widow. three different monuments to the prince, on as many elevations above the castle, at once attract the eye. the highest and most enduring, seen from many quarters and at considerable distances, is a gable-like cairn on the summit of a hill. it is here that such of the prince's sons as are in the neighbourhood, and all the tenantry and dependents who can comply with the invitation, assemble on the prince consort's birthday and drink to his memory. lower down stands a representation of the noble figure of the prince, attended by his greyhound, eos. on another spur of the same hill is an obelisk, erected by the tenantry and servants to the master who had their interests so deeply at heart. the castle, like its smaller predecessor of which this pile of building has taken the place, stands in a haugh or meadow at the foot of a hill, within a circle of mountain-tops. the porter's ledge and gate might belong to the hunting-seat of any gentleman of taste and means; only the fact that, even when her majesty is not in residence, a constable of police is in attendance, marks the difference between sovereign and subject. within the gate the surroundings are still wild and rural, in keeping with nature free and unshackled, and have a faint flavour of german parks where the mowing-machine is not always at work, but a sweet math of wild flowers three or four feet high is supposed to cheat the dweller in courtly palaces into a belief that he too is at liberty to breathe the fresh air without thought or care, and roam where he will, free from the fetters of form and etiquette. great innocent moon-daises, sprightly harebells, sturdy heather, bloom profusely and seem much at home within these royal precincts, under the brow of the hills and within sight and sound of the flashing dee. gradually the natural birch wood shows more traces of cultivation, and is interspersed with such trees and shrubs as suit the climate, and the rough pasture gives place to the smooth lawn, with a knot of bright flower-beds on one side. the house is built of reddish granite in what is called the baronial style, with a sprinkling of peaked gables and pepper-box turrets, and a square tower with a clock which is said to keep the time all over the parish. above the principal entrance are the coats of arms, carved, coloured, and picked out with gold. there are two bas-reliefs serving to indicate the character of the building--a hunting-lodge under the patronage of st. hubert, supported by st. andrew of scotland and st. george of england, the stag between whose antlers the sacred cross sprang, forming part of the representation. the other bas-relief shows groups of men engaged in highland games. within doors many a relic of the chase appears in antlered heads surmounting inscriptions in brass of the date of the slaying of the stag and the name of the slayer. the engravings on the walls are mostly of mountain landscapes and sporting scenes, in which landseer's hand is prominent, and of family adventures in making this ascent or crossing that ford. the furniture is as scotch as may be--chairs and tables, with few exceptions, of polished birch hangings and carpets with the tartan check on the velvet pile, the royal "sets" in all their bewildering variety: "royal stewart," strong in scarlet; "victoria," with the check relieved on a white ground; "albert," on a deep blue, and "hunting stewart," which suddenly passes into a soft vivid green, crossed by lines of red and yellow. drawing-room, dining-room, billiard-room, and library are spacious enough for royalty, while small enough for comfort when royalty is in happy retreat in little more than a large family circle rusticating from choice. the corridors look brown and simple, like the rest of the house, and lack the white statuary of osborne, and the superb vases, cabinets, and pictures of buckingham palace and windsor. by the chimney-piece in the entrance hall rest the tattered colours once borne through flood and field by two famous regiments, one of them "the cameronians." in the drawing-room is a set of chairs with covers in needlework sewed by a cluster of industrious ladies-in-waiting. in the library hangs a richly wrought wreath of flowers in porcelain, an offering from messrs. minton to the queen. on the second story are the private rooms of her majesty and the different members of the royal family. perhaps the ballroom, a long hall, one story in height, running out from the building like an afterthought, is one of the most picturesque features of the place. the decorations consist of devices placed at intervals on the walls. these devices are made up of highland weapons, highland plaids, highland bonnets bearing the chief's feather or the badge of the clan. doubtless tufts of purple heather and russet bracken, with bunches of the coral berries of the rowan, will supplement other adornments as the occasion calls for them; and when the lights gleam, the pipers strike up, and the nimble dancers foot it with grace and glee through reel [footnote: "yesterday we had the gillies' ball, at which arthur distinguished himself and was greatly applauded in the highland reels. next to jamie gow, he was the 'favourite in the room.'"--extract from one of the prince consort's letters.] and sword- dance, the effect must be excellent of its kind. for long years the balls at balmoral have been mostly kindly festivals to the humble friends who look forward to the royal visits as to the galas of the year, the greater part of which is spent in a remote solitude not without the privations which accompany a northern winter. the parish church of crathie, a little, plain, white building, well situated on a green, wooded knoll, looks across the dee to balmoral. the church is notable for its wide, red-covered gallery seats, to which the few plain pews in the area below bear a small proportion. the queen's arms are in front of the gallery, which contains her seat and that of the prince of wales. opposite are two stained-glass windows, representing king david with his harp, and st. paul with the sword of the spirit and the word of god, gifts of the queen in memory of her sister, the princess of hohenlohe, and of dr. norman macleod. famous speakers and still more famous hearers have worshipped together in this simple little country church. macleod, tulloch, caird, macgregor--the foremost orators in the church of scotland--have taken their turn with the scholarly parish minister, while in the pews, bearing royalty company, have sat statesmen and men of letters of whom the world has heard: lord derby, mr. gladstone, dean stanley, sir arthur helps, &c., &c. the old churchyard in which john brown, the queen's trusty scotch servant, faithful as a squire of old, sleeps, lies down in the low land near the dee. john brown's house, solid and unpretending like the man himself, which he only occupied once, when his coffin lay for a night in the dining-room, is in the neighbourhood. the queen has white cottages not far from the castle gate, built on the model of the osborne cottages, pretty and convenient homes of keepers, keepers' widows, &c., &c., with the few artisans whose services are necessary for the small population. there are other cottages of the old, homely sort, containing no more than "the butt and the benn" of stereotyped scotch architecture, with the fire made of "peats" or of sticks on the hearth-floor. in some of these, the walls of the better rooms are covered with good plates and photographs of every member of the royal family, with whose lineaments we are familiar, from the widowed queen to the last royal couple among her grandchildren. these likenesses are much-valued gifts from the originals. as a nucleus to the cottages, there is _the_ shop or highland store with a wide door and a couple of counters representing two branches of trade in the ordinarily distinct departments of groceries and haberdashery. probably this is the one shop in her majesty's domains in which, as we have evidence in her journal, [footnote: "life in the highlands"--queen's journal. "albert went out with alfred for the day, and i walked out with the two girls and lady churchill, stopped at the shop and made some purchases for poor people and others. drove a little way, got out and walked up the hill to _balnacroft_, mrs. p. farquharson's, and she walked round with us to some of the cottages to show me where the poor people lived, and to tell them who i was.... i went into a small cabin of old kitty kear's, who is eighty-six years old, quite erect, and who welcomed us with a great air of dignity. she sat down and spun. i gave her, also, a warm petticoat; she said, 'may the lord ever attend ye and yours, here and hereafter, and may the lord be a guide to ye and keep ye from all harm.' ... we went into three other cottages--to mrs. symons's (daughter-in-law to the old widow living next door) who had an 'unwell boy,' then across a little burn to another old woman's, and afterwards peeped into blair's, the fiddler. we drove back and got out again to visit old mrs. grant (grant's mother), who is so tidy and clean, and to whom i gave a dress and a handkerchief; and she said, 'you're too kind to me, you're over kind to me, ye give me more every year, and i get older every year.' after talking some time to her, she said, 'i am happy to see ye looking so nice.' she had tears in her eyes, and speaking of vicky's going said, 'i'm very sorry, and i think she is sorry hersel'.'..."] she avails herself of the feminine privilege of shopping. for the queen can live the life of a private lady--can show herself the most considerate and sympathetic of noble gentlewomen in this primitive locality. she can walk or drive her ponies, or visit on foot her commissioner or her minister, or look in at her school, or call on her sick, aged, and poor, and take to them the comforts she has provided for them, the tokens of her remembrance they prize so much. she can enjoy their simple friendliness and native shrewdness. she can read to them words of lofty promise and tender consolation. she can do all as if she were not crowned queen and ruler of a great kingdom. in hardly any other part of her empire would such pleasant familiar intercourse and gentle personal charities be possible for her. the association has been deepened and strengthened by a duration of more than thirty years. the queen came while still a young wife to balmoral, and she has learnt to love and be loved by her neighbours in the long interval which leaves her a royal widow of threescore. her children were fair-haired little boys and girls, making holiday here, playing at riding and shooting, getting into scrapes like other children, [footnote: there is a story told of one of the little princes having chased an old woman's hen and been soundly scolded by her for the offence. her neighbours remonstrated with her, and her heart failed her when, a few days afterwards, she saw the prince consort coming up the path to her house leading the small offender. but the visit was one of courteous deprecation, in order that the little hunter of forbidden game might personally apologise for his delinquency.] prattling to the old women in "mutches" and "short gowns," whose houses were so charmingly queer and convenient, with the fires on the hearths to warm cold little toes, and the shadowy nooks ready for hide-and-seek. these children are now older than their mother was when she first came up dee-side, heads of houses in their turn, but they have not forgotten the friends of their youth. the rustic community is pervaded in an odd and fascinating manner with the fine flavour of a court. it has, as it were, a touch of arcady. among tales of the great storms and fragments of old legends, curious reflections of high life and gossip of lords and ladies crop up. not only are noble names and distinguished personages, everyday sounds and friendly acquaintances in this privileged region, but when the great world follows its liege lady here, it is to live in _villiagiatura_, to copy her example in adapting itself to the ways of the place and in cultivating the natives. courtiers are only courtly in being frankly at ease with the whole human race. ladies-in-waiting and maids of honour lose their pride of rank and worldly ambition--if they ever had any, stroll about, drop into this or that cottage at will, and have their cronies there as in loftier localities. we hear of this or that marriage, which has yet to be announced in the _morning post_; how a noble duke, who was conveniently in attendance on the prince, once walked with a fair and gentle lady, whose father was in waiting on the queen, through the birch woods and by the brawling dee, and a marriage, only too shortlived, came of it. and we end by listening to the piteous details of the swift fading away of the much-loved young duchess. other names, with which the court calendar has made us familiar, are constantly coming to the surface in the conversation, generally in association with some act of cheery good fellowship. the son of an earl found a dog for his mother at one of these cottage hearths, and never returned to the neighbourhood without punctually reporting himself to tell its old mistress how well her former pet was thriving--that it had its dinner with the family in the dining-room, and drove every day with the countess in her carriage. the fine old white house of abergeldie, with its single-turreted tower, has become the scotch home of a genial prince and a beautiful princess, who, we may remember, remained steadfastly settled there during the darkening, shortening days of a gloomy autumn, in devoted watch over her lady-in-waiting lying sick, nigh unto death with fever. abergeldie has another cherished memory, that of the good old duchess of kent, for whom prince albert first rented the castle, who often stayed in it, accompanied by her son, the prince of leiningen, her daughter, the princess of hohenlohe, or some member of their families. the peculiar cradle which used to be swung across the dee here, conveying passengers as well as parcels, has been removed in consequence of the last disaster which befell its progress. an earlier tragedy of a hapless bride and bridegroom who perished in making the passage is still remembered. remoter traditions, like that of the burning of a witch on craig-na-ban, linger in the neighbourhood. beyond balmoral, in the braemar direction, stretches the fine deer- forest--a great fir-wood on broken ground--of ballochbuie, a remnant of the old forest of mar, where a pretended hunting expedition meant a projected rebellion. it is said an earl of that name bestowed it on a farquaharson in exchange for so small a matter as a plaid. it is now part of the estate of balmoral. the hills of craig nortie and meal alvie lie not far off, while on the opposite side rise craig-na-ban and craig owsel. of all the queen's haunts, that which she has made most her own, where she has stayed for a day or two at a time, seeming to prefer to do so when the hills have received their first powdering of snow, [footnote: "a little shower of snow had fallen, but was succeeded by brilliant sunshine. the hills covered with snow, the golden birch-trees on the lower brown hills, and the bright afternoon sky, were indescribably beautiful"--extract from the queen's journal.] almost every year during her residence in aberdeenshire, is that which includes alt-na- giuthasach and the glassalt shiel. this retreat is now reached by a good carriage-road over a long tract of moorland among brown hills, opening now and then in different directions to show vistas closed in by the giant heads and shoulders--here of dark loch-na-gar, there of ben macdhui, both of them presenting great white splashes on their seamed and scarred sides--wide patches of winter snow on this july day, far more than usual at the season, which will not melt now while the year lasts. "burns," the girnoch and the muich, trot by turns along with us, singing their stories, half blythe, half plaintive. once or twice a lowly farmhouse has a few grass or oat-fields spread out round it, with the solitude of the hills beyond. a cross-road to such a house was so bad that a dog-cart brought up to it, had been unyoked and left by the side of the main road, while its occupants trudged to their destination on foot, leading with them the horse, which needed rest and refreshment still more than its masters. the blue waters of loch muich come in sight with bare precipitous hills round; a little wood clothes the mouth of the pass and the loch, and helps to shelter alt-na-ginthasach. the hut is now the prince of wales's small shooting-lodge. the modest blue stone building, with its brown wooden porch and its offices behind, is built on a knoll, and commands a beautiful view of the loch and the steep rocky crags to those who care for nature at the wildest. the only vestige of soft green is the knoll on which the hut stands. all the rest is bleak and brown, or purple when the heather is in bloom. the hills, torn by the winter torrents, are glistening after a summer shower with a hundred silver threads in the furrows of the watercourses. there are fences and gates to the royal domicile, but there is hardly an attempt to alter its character within, unless by a round plot of rhododendrons offering a few late blossoms. but all nature, however stern and savage, smiles on a july day. the purple heather-bell is in bloom, the tiny blue milkwort and the yellow rock-rose help to make a summer carpet which is rendered still gayer by many a pale peach- coloured orchis and by an occasional spray of wild roses, deeper in the rose than the same flower is in the low countries, or by a tall white foxglove. loch muich may be desolation itself when the heather and bracken are sere, when the lowering sky breathes nothing save gloom, and chill mist-wreaths creep round its precipices; but when the air is buoyant in its tingling sharpness, when the dappled white clouds are reflected in water--blue, not leaden, and there is enough sunshine to cast intermittent shadows on the hillsides and the loch, though a transient darkness and a patter of raindrops vary the scene, it has its day and way of blossoming. the queen's house or shiel of the glassalt stands near the head of the two miles long loch, just beyond the point where the glassalt burn comes leaping and dashing down the hillside. here, too, is a small sheltering fir and birch plantation, though not large enough to hide the full view of the sentinel hills. a "roundel" of _alpenrosen_, or dwarf rhododendrons, is the only break in the growth of moss and heather. the loch is so near the house that a stone thrown by a child's hand from the windows of the principal rooms would fall into the watery depths. the interior is almost as simple and limited in accommodation as alt- na-giuthasach was when the queen described it in her journal. the dining-room and drawing-room might, in old fashioned language, be called "royal closets"--cosy and sweet with chintz hangings and covers to chairs and couches, a small cottage piano, a book-tray in which hill burton's "history of scotland" and sir walter scott's "tales of a grandfather," find their place among scotch poetry old and new. the engravings on the walls tell of that fidelity to the dead which implies truth to the living. there are likenesses of the prince--who died before this house was built, as in the great palaces; the duchess of hesse--best known in the north as princess alice; the princess of hohenlohe, with her handsome matronly face, full of sense and kindness, and her young daughter, princess elise, who passed away in the springtime of her life. in these rustic sitting-rooms and the adjacent bedrooms and dressing-rooms we come again on many a portrait of the humble friends of the family--the dogs which we seem to know so well; the early group of little dash and big nero, and hector with the parrot lorey; cairnach, islay, deckel, &c. [footnote: an anecdote of the royal kennels states that when no notice has been given, the servants shall know of her majesty's presence in the vicinity, and will say among themselves, "the queen is at frogmore" by the actions of the dogs, the stir and excitement, the eager listening, sniffing of the air, wagging of tails, and common desire to break bounds and scamper away to greet their royal mistress.] behind the house a winding footpath leads up the hill to the rocky cleft from which issues in a succession of white and foamy twists and downward springs, the falls of the glassalt. turning round from the spectacle, the stranger looks down on the loch in its semicircle of mountains. gaining the crest of the hill and descending the edge on the opposite side, the foot of the grim giant loch-na-gar is reached. among the visitors at balmoral in was florence nightingale. the queen had before this presented her with a jewel in remembrance of her services in the crimea. the design was as follows: a field of white enamel was charged with a st. george's cross in ruby red enamel, from which shot rays of gold. this field was encircled by a black band bearing the scroll "blessed are the merciful." the shield was set in a framework of palm-branches in green enamel tipped with gold, and united at the bottom by a riband of blue enamel inscribed "crimea" in gold letters. the cypher v.r. surmounted by a crown in diamonds, was charged upon the centre of the cross. on the back was a gold tablet which bore an inscription from the hand of her majesty. while the queen was in scotland the marriage in germany of one of the daughters of the princess of hohenlohe took place. princess adelaide, like her sister princess elise, possessed of many attractions, became the wife of prince frederick of schleswig holstein sonderberg- augustenberg, the brother of prince christian, destined to become the husband of princess helena. chapter xxix. death of the prince of leiningen--birth of princess beatrice--bestowal of the victoria cross--indian mutiny. the court returned to windsor in october, and in november a severe blow struck the queen in the death of her brother, the prince of leiningen. a second fit of apoplexy ended his life while his sister, the princess of hohenlohe, watched by his death-bed. prince leiningen was fifty-two years of age. he had served in the bavarian army, and was a man of recognised influence among his countrymen in the german troubles of , which cost him his principality. he had married in , when he was twenty-seven years of age and when the queen was only a little girl of ten, marie (née) countess of kletelsberg. he left two sons, the eldest of whom, prince ernest, entered the english navy. her majesty's references to the death in her letters to king leopold are very pathetic. "oh! dearest uncle, this blow is a heavy one, my grief very bitter. i loved my dearest, only brother, most tenderly." and again, "we three were particularly fond of each other, and never felt or fancied that we were not real _geschwister_ (children of the same parents). we knew but one parent, _our_ mother, so became very closely united, and so i grew up; the distance which difference of age placed between us entirely vanished...." the aged duchess of kent was "terribly distressed, but calm and resigned." baron stockmar was with the royal family at this time. it was his last visit to england. his company, always earnestly coveted, especially by the prince, was apt to be bestowed in an erratic fashion characteristic of the man. some one of the royal children would unexpectedly announce, "papa, do you know the baron is in his room," which was the first news of his arrival. during the stay of the court at osborne in december, the graceful gift of the _resolute_ was made by the americans to the queen, and accepted by her majesty in person, with marked gratification. the _resolute_ was one of the english ships which had gone to the north seas in search of sir john franklin. it had been abandoned in the ice, found by an american vessel, taken across the atlantic, refitted, and by a happy thought offered as a suitable token to the queen. on the th of april, , the queen's fifth daughter and ninth and last child was born at buckingham palace. a fortnight afterwards the duchess of gloucester, the last of george the iii. and queen charlotte's children, died in her eighty-third year. the queen wrote of her to king leopold, who must have been well acquainted with her in his youth, "her age, and her being a link with bygone times and generations, as well as her great kindness, amiability, and unselfishness, rendered her more and more dear and precious to us all, and we all looked upon her as a sort of grandmother." sixty-two years before, when the venerable princess was a charming maiden of eighteen, she had gloried in the tidings of her princely cousin's laurels, won on the battlefields of flanders. more than twenty years afterwards, when princess charlotte descended the staircase of carlton house after her marriage with prince leopold, "she was met at the foot with open arms by the princess mary, whose face was bathed in tears." the first wedding had removed the obstacle to the second, which was celebrated a few weeks later. the duchess lived for eighteen years happily with her husband, then spent more than twenty years in widowhood. she ended her long life at gloucester house, park lane. at her earnest request, she was buried without pomp or show with her people in the family vault at windsor. before the late duchess of gloucester's funeral, prince albert, according to a previous pledge, opened, on the th of may, the great art exhibition at manchester, to which the queen contributed largely. on the announcement to parliament of the princess royal's approaching marriage, the house of commons voted in a manner gratifying to the queen and the prince a dowry of forty thousand, with an annuity of eight thousand a year to the princess. at osborne the queen had a flying visit from one of her recent enemies, the archduke constantine, the admiral-in-chief of the russian navy. on the th of june, the young archduke maximilian of austria arrived. he was an object of peculiar interest to the queen and the prince, as the future husband of their young cousin, princess charlotte of belgium. he seemed in every way worthy of the old king's careful choice for his only daughter. except in the matter of looks, he was all that could have been wished--good, clever, kind. but man proposes and god disposes; so it happened that the marriage attended by such bright and apparently well-founded hopes resulted in one of the most piteous tragedies that ever befell a noble and innocent royal pair. another bridegroom, prince frederick william, was in england to meet the archduke, and a third was hovering in the background in the person of don pedro of portugal, whose marriage with princess stephanie of hohenzollern prince albert had been requested to negotiate. marriage- bells were in the air, and that must indeed have been a joyous christening at which two of the bridegrooms were present. prince frederick william of prussia acted as godfather to his future little sister-in-law, while his betrothed bride was one of the godmothers. the infant was named as her majesty explained to king leopold: "she is to be called beatrice, a fine old name, borne by three of the plantaganet princesses, and her other names will be mary (after poor aunt mary), victoria (after mamma and vicky, who with fritz wilhelm are to be the sponsors), and feodore (the queen's sister)." her majesty's last baby was a beautiful infant, soon to exhibit bright and winning ways, the pet plaything of her brothers and sisters, and especially of her father. on the th of june the queen conferred on prince albert, by letters patent, the title of "prince consort." the change was desirable, to insure the proper recognition of his rank, as her majesty's husband, at foreign courts. on the following day, the th, the interesting ceremony of the first bestowal of the victoria cross took place in hyde park before many thousands of spectators. the idea was to provide a decoration which might be earned by officers and soldiers alike, as it should be conferred for a single merit--the highest a soldier could possess, yet in its performance open to all--devoted, unselfish courage. thus arose the most coveted and honourable of english orders, which confers more glory on its wearer than the jewelled star of the order of the garter gives distinction. in excellent keeping with the motive of the creation, the maltese cross is of the plainest material, iron from the cannon taken at sebastopol; in the centre is the crown, surmounted by the lion; below it the scroll "for valour." on the clasp are branches of laurel; the cross hangs suspended from it by the letter v--a red riband being for the army, a blue for the navy. the decoration includes a pension of ten pounds a year. the arrangements for the ceremony were similar to those at the distribution of the medals, except that her majesty was on horseback. she rode a grey roan, and wore a scarlet jacket with a black skirt. stooping from her seat on horseback, she pinned the cross on each brave man's breast, while the prince saluted him with "a gesture of marked respect." [footnote: "life of the prince consort."] prince frederick william was with the royal party. a few days afterwards, the queen, the prince, their two elder daughters and two elder sons and prince frederick william of prussia, a large party, paid a visit to manchester, staying two nights at worsley hall. they inspected the great picture exhibition, received addresses, and traversed the streets to peel park, where a statue to her majesty had been recently erected, the whole amidst much rejoicing. in the end of june, king leopold arrived with his daughter on a farewell visit before her marriage, so that there were two young brides comparing experiences and anticipating what the coming years would bring, under her majesty's wing. the princesses were nearly of an age, neither quite seventeen. they had been playmates and friends since childhood, but the fates in store for them were very different. in the second week of july the freedom of the city of london was presented to prince frederick william of prussia; the prince consort was sworn in master of the trinity house, and the queen and the prince visited the camp at aldershott. on the th the marriage of the princess charlotte of belgium and the archduke maximilian was celebrated at brussels. the prince went abroad for a few days, to make one in the group of friends and relations, among whom was the old french queen amélie, the grandmother of the bride. queen victoria wrote to king leopold, that she was present with them in spirit, and that she could not have given a greater proof of her love than she had shown in urging her husband to go. "you cannot think how much this costs me," she added, "or how completely forlorn i am and feel when he is away, or how i count the hours till he returns. all the numerous children are as nothing to me when he is away. it seems as if the whole life of the house and the home were gone." on the th of august, the emperor of the french's yacht, with the emperor and empress on board, arrived on the english coast, and a private visit of a few days' length was paid to the queen and the prince at osborne. on the th of august her majesty and the prince, with six of their children, in the royal yacht, paid an equally private visit to cherbourg, in the absence of the emperor and empress. during the short stay there was a long country drive to an old chateau, when darkness overtook the adventurous party, and all was agreeably fresh and foreign. by the beginning of september terrible tidings arrived from india. the massacre of the english women and children at cawnpore, after the surrender of the fort, and the perilous position of the garrison at lucknow, darkened the usually joyous stay at balmoral, to which the princess royal was paying her last visit. another source of distress to the queen and the prince, when the mutiny began to be put down, was the indiscriminate vengeance which a section of the rulers in india seemed inclined to take on the natives for the brutalities of the rebels. at length lucknow was relieved, and england breathed freely again, though the country had to mourn the death of havelock. sir colin campbell completed the defeat of the enemy, and the first steps were taken to put an end to the complications of government in india, by bringing the great colony directly under the rule of the queen, and causing the intermediate authority of the east india company to cease. chapter xxx. the marriage of the princess royal. in the end of there were many preparations for the marriage of the princess royal in the month of january in the coming year. in the interval a calamity occurred at claremont which revived the recollection of the great disaster in the early years of the century, and was deeply felt by the queen and the prince consort. the pretty and gentle victoire, duchesse de nemours, the queen and the prince consort's cousin, and his early playfellow, had given birth to a princess, and appeared to be recovering, in spite of her presentiment to the contrary. the queen had gone to see and congratulate her. the old queen amélie and the duc de nemours had been at windsor full of thankfulness for the happy event. the duchess was sitting up in bed, looking cheerfully at the new dress in which she was to rejoin the family circle next day, when in a second she fell back dead. another shock was the news of the orsini bomb, which exploded close to the emperor and empress of the french as they were about to enter the opera-house. the marriage of the princess royal was fixed for the th of january, . on the th the court left windsor for buckingham palace, when the queen's diary records the sorrow with which the young bride relinquished many of the scenes and habits of her youth. one sentence recalls vividly the kindly family ties which united the royal children. her majesty writes, "she slept for the last time in the same room with alice." in the course of the next few days all the guests had assembled, including, king leopold and his sons, the prince and princess of prussia, the duke of saxe coburg, with minor princes and princesses, to the number of nearly thirty, so that even buckingham palace was hardly large enough to hold the guests and their suites. at the nightly dinner party from eighty to ninety covers were laid. but one old friend was absent, to the regret of all, and not least so of the bride. baron stockmar was too ill to accept the invitation to be present at the ceremony. one of his sons was to accompany the princess to berlin as her treasurer. "such bustle and excitement," wrote the queen, and then she describes an evening party with a "very gay and pretty dance" on the th, when ernest, duke of coburg, said, "it seemed like a dream to him to see vicky dance as a bride, just as i did eighteen years ago, and i am still (so he said) looking very young. in poor dear papa (late duke of coburg) danced with me, as ernest danced with vicky." in truth, neither the father nor the mother of the bride of seventeen had reached the age of forty. the first of the public festivities were three of the four state visits to her majesty's theatre, "when the whole of the boxes on one side of the grand tier had been thrown into one" for the royal company gracing the brilliant audience--which, as on a former occasion, filled the back of the stage as well as the rest of the house. the plays and operas were, _macbeth_, in which helen faucit acted, [footnote: another great actress had just passed away in her prime. mademoiselle rachel had died in the beginning of this month, near cannes.] _twice killed, the rose of castille, somnambula_. at the first performance, the queen sat between the king of the belgians and the prince of prussia. after the play, "god save the queen" was sung with much enthusiasm. as when her own marriage had occurred, all the nation sympathised with her majesty. it was as if from every house a cherished young daughter was being sent with honour and blessing. the princess royal, always much liked, appealed especially to the popular imagination at this time because of her extreme youth, her position as a bride, and the circumstance that she was the first of the queen's children thus to quit the home-roof. but, indeed, we cannot read the published passages in the queen's journal that refer to the marriage without a lively realisation of the touch of nature which makes the whole world kin, without a sense that good true hearts beat alike everywhere, and that strong family affection--an elixir of life--is the same in the palace as in the cottage. in fine frosty weather, on saturday, the rd, the prince consort, after a walk in buckingham palace gardens with the queen and the child so soon to be parted from them, started to bring the bridegroom, who had landed in england that morning. he arrived in the middle of the day, and was received in the presence of the court. the queen found him looking pale and nervous, but no doubt alive to her warm greeting, at the bottom of the grand staircase. at the top a still sweeter reward awaited him, for the princess royal, with her fifteen years' old sister, princess alice, to keep her company, stood there. on the th, all the gifts to the young couple, which the queen calls "splendid," were shown in the large drawing-room--the queen's, the prince consort's, the duchess of kent's, &c., on one table; the prussian and other foreign gifts on another. of the bride-groom's gift--a single string of large pearls, said to have been worth five thousand pounds, her majesty remarks that they were the largest she ever saw. the queen gave a necklace of diamonds, the prince consort a set of diamonds and emeralds, the prince of wales a set of diamonds and opals, the king and queen of prussia a diamond tiara, the prince of prussia a diamond and turquoise necklace, king leopold a brussels lace dress, valued at a thousand pounds. on a third table were the candelabra which the queen and the prince gave to their son-in-law. the near relations of the bride and bridegroom brought the young couple into the room, and witnessed their pleasure at the magnificent sight. before the sunday service the princess royal gave the queen a brooch with the princess's hair, clasping her mother in her arms as she did so, and telling her--precious words for such a mother to hear, nobly fulfilled in the days to come--that she hoped to be worthy to be her child. wilberforce, bishop of oxford, preached an eloquent sermon. "very busy, interrupted and disturbed every instant," the record runs on. many can enter into the feelings which prompted the queen and the prince, after the duties of hospitality were discharged, to accompany their child to her room for the last time, and to kiss and bless her while she clung to them. it is necessary to remember that every rank has its privations. not the least penalty of such a station as that which the princess royal was to occupy arose from the fact that its many and weighty obligations precluded the hope of her returning frequently or for any length of time to the home where she had been so happy, which she was so grieved to quit, though social customs have improved in this respect, and royal marriages no longer mean, as a matter of course, banishment for life from the bride's native country. on the wedding morning, the queen declared very naturally that she felt as if she were being married over again herself, "only much more nervous," since now it was for another, and a dearer than herself, that her heart was throbbing. besides, she said, she had not "that blessed feeling, elevating and supporting, of giving herself up for life to him whom she loved and worshipped--then and ever." she was comforted by her daughter's coming to her while the queen was dressing, showing herself quiet and composed. the day was fine, with a winter sun shining brightly, as all england, especially all london knew, for many a pleasure-seeker was abroad betimes to enjoy the holiday. the marriage was to take place, like the queen's marriage, in the little chapel royal of st. james's. before setting out, a final daguerreotype was taken of the family group, father, mother, and daughter, "but i trembled so," the queen writes, "my likeness has come out indistinct." in the drive from buckingham palace to st james's, the princess royal in her wedding dress was in the carriage with her majesty, sitting opposite to her, when "the flourish of trumpets and the cheering of thousands" made the queen's motherly heart sink. in the bride's dressing-room, fitted up for the day, to which the queen took the princess, were the prince consort and king leopold, both in field- marshals' uniform, and carrying batons, and the eight bridesmaids, "looking charming in white tulle, with wreaths and bouquets of pink roses and white heather." her majesty left the bride and repaired to the royal closet, where she found the duchess of kent and the duchess of cambridge with her son and daughter. old and new relations were claiming the queen at the same time. her thoughts were perpetually straying back to that former wedding-day. she spared attention from her daughter to bestow it on her mother, "looking so handsome in violet velvet, trimmed with ermine and white silk and violets." and as the processions were formed, her majesty exclaimed, perhaps with a vague pang, referring to the good old duchess still with her, and still able to play her part in the joyful ceremony, "how small the _old_ royal family has become!" indeed, there were but two representatives--the duchesses of kent and cambridge. the princess mary of cambridge, the farthest removed from the throne, walked first of the english royal family, her train borne by lady arabella sackville west; then the duke of cambridge; the duchess of cambridge followed, her train borne by lady geraldine somerset. the duchess of kent, with her train borne the lady anna maria dawson, walked next to the present royal family. they were preceded by lord palmerston, bearing the sword of state. the prince of wales, and prince alfred, fresh from his naval studies, lads of sixteen and fourteen, in highland costumes, were immediately before the queen, who walked between prince arthur and prince leopold, children of eight and five years of age. her majesty's train was of lilac velvet, petticoat of lilac and silver moiré--antique, with a flounce of honiton lace; corsage ornamented with diamonds, the koh-i- noor as a brooch; head-dress, a magnificent diadem of diamonds and pearls. the three younger princesses--alice, helena, and louise, girls of fifteen, twelve, and ten--went hand-in-hand behind their mother. they wore white lace over pink satin, with daisies and blue cornflowers in their hair. most of the foreign princes were already in the chapel, which was full of noble company, about three hundred peers and peeresses being accommodated there. white and blue prevailed in the colours of the ladies dresses, blue in compliment to prussia. at the altar, set out with gold plate of queen anne's reign, were the archbishop of canterbury, the bishops of london, oxford, and chester, and the dean of windsor. as the queen entered, she and the princess of prussia exchanged profound obeisances. near her majesty were her young princes and princesses; behind her the duchess of kent; opposite her the princess of prussia, with the foreign princes behind her. the drums and trumpets and the organ played as the bridegroom's and the bride's processions approached, and the queen describes the thrilling effect of the music drawing nearer and nearer. the bridegroom entered between his supporters, his father and brother-in- law, the prince of prussia and prince william of baden. prince frederick william, soldierly and stately, wore the blue uniform of a prussian general, with the insignia of the black eagle, and carried in his hand his polished silver helmet. he looked pale and agitated, but was quite master of himself. he bowed low to the queen and to his mother, then knelt with a devotion which attracted attention. the bride walked as at her confirmation, between her father and godfather-- her grand-uncle king leopold. her blooming colour was gone, and she was pale almost as her white dress of moiré and honiton lace, with wreaths of orange and myrtle blossoms. her train was borne by eight bridesmaids--daughters of dukes, marquises, and earls--lady susan clinton, lady emma stanley, lady susan murray, lady victoria noel, lady cecilia gordon lennox, lady katherine hamilton, lady constance villiers, and lady cecilia molyneux. one can well conceive that the young princess looked "very touching and lovely, with such an innocent, confiding, and serious expression, her veil hanging back over her shoulders." as the princess advanced to the altar, she paused and made a deep obeisance to her mother, colouring high as she did so, and the same to the princess of prussia. the bridegroom when he took the bride's hand bent one knee. once more as the prince consort gave her daughter away, her majesty had a bright vision of her own happy marriage on that very spot; again she was comforted by her daughter's self-control, and she could realise that it was beautiful to see the couple kneeling there with hands joined, the bridesmaids "like a cloud of maidens hovering near her (the bride) as they knelt." when the ring was placed on the princess's finger cannon were fired, and a telegram was sent off to berlin that the same compliment might be paid to the pair there. the close of the "hallelujah chorus" was sung at the end of the ceremony. the usual congratulations followed. the bride flung herself into her mother's arms and was embraced by her again and again, then by her bridegroom and her father. prince frederick william kissed first the hand and then the cheek of his father and mother, saluted the prince consort and king leopold foreign fashion, and was embraced by the queen. princess frederick william would have kissed her father-in- law's hand, but was prevented by his kissing her cheek. the bride and bridegroom left the chapel hand-in-hand to the sound of mendelssohn's "wedding march." the register was signed in the throne-room first by the young couple, then by their parents, and afterwards by all the princes and princesses--including the maharajah duleep singh "resplendent in pearls." the newly wedded pair drove to buckingham palace, to which the queen and the prince consort followed, with the prince and princess of prussia, through an immense multitude, amidst ringing cheers. the whole party showed themselves on the balcony before the window over the grand archway, where the queen had appeared on so many memorable occasions. first her majesty with her children came out, then the queen led forward the bride, who stood hand-in-hand with her bridegroom; afterwards the rest of the circle joined them. it was a matter of lively satisfaction to her majesty and the prince consort to witness the loyal, affectionate interest which the people took in their daughter, and the queen and the prince were ready to gratify the multitude by what is dear to every wedding crowd, "a sight of the bride and bridegroom." the wedding cake was six feet high. the departure of the couple for windsor, where they were to spend their honeymoon, was no more than a foreshadowing of that worse departure a week later. the queen and the princess of prussia accompanied their children to the grand entrance; the prince consort escorted his daughter to her carriage. the bride wore a while _épinglé_ dress and mantle trimmed with grebe, a white bonnet with orange blossoms, and a brussel's lace veil. at the family dinner after the excitement and fatigue of the day were over, the queen felt "lost" without her eldest daughter. in the evening a messenger arrived from windsor, bringing a letter from the bride telling how the eton boys had dragged the carriage from the station to the castle, though she might not know that they, had flung up their hats in the air, many of them beyond recovery, the wearers returning bareheaded to their college. when the queen and the prince read this letter all london was illuminated, and its streets filled with huzzaing spectators. at the palace the evening closed quietly with a state concert of classic music. the princess royal's honeymoon so far as a period of privacy was concerned, did not last longer than the queen's. two days after the marriage the court followed the young couple to windsor, where a chapter of the order of the garter was held, and prince frederick william was created a knight, a banquet being held in the waterloo gallery. on the th of january, the court-including the newly married pair-returned to buckingham palace, and in the evening the fourth state visit was paid to her majesty's theatre, when _the rivals_ and _the spitalfields weaver_ were given. the bride was in blue and white, the prussian colours, and wore a wreath of sweet peas on her hair. on the th of january, the addresses from the city of london and other cities and towns of the empire, many of them accompanied by wedding gifts, were received, and there was a great and of course specially brilliant drawing-room, which lasted for four hours. on sunday the thought of the coming separation pressed heavily on those loving hearts, "but god will carry us through, as he did on the th," wrote the queen reverently, "and we have the comfort of seeing the dear young people so perfectly happy." on monday, the queen in noting that it was the last day of their dear child's being with them, admitted she was sick at heart, and the poor young bride confided to her mother, "i think it will kill me to take leave of dear papa." tuesday, the nd of february, was dark and cold, with snow beginning to fall, unpropitious weather for a long journey, unless in the scotch saying which declares that a bride is happy who goes "a white gate" (road:) all were assembled in the hall, not a dry eye among them, the queen believed. "i clasped her in my arms, and blessed her, and knew not what to say." the royal mother shared all good mother's burdens. "i kissed good fritz, and pressed his hand again and again. he was unable to speak, and the tears were in his eyes." one more embrace of her daughter at the door of the open carriage, into which the prince consort and the prince of wales went along with the prince and princess frederick william, the band struck up, and they were gone. the embarkation was at gravesend. the londoners assembled in crowds to see the last of their princess on her route to the coast by the strand, cheap, and london bridge. many persons recall to this day the sorrowful scene in the cheerless snowy weather. this was the reverse side of all the splendid wedding festivities-the bride of seventeen quitting family, home, and native country, sitting grave and sad beside her equally pale, and silent father--the couple so tenderly attached, on the eve of the final parting. at gravesend, where young girls, in spite of the snow, strewed flowers before the bride's steps, the prince waited to see the ship sail--not without risk in the snowstorm--for antwerp. but no daughter appeared for a last look; the passionate sorrow of youth hid itself from view. away at buckingham palace the queen could not bear to look at the familiar objects--all linked with one vanished presence. the very baby princess, so great a darling in the household, only brought the thought of how fond her elder sister had been of her; how but yesterday the two had played together. the princess wrote home from the steamer, and every telegram and letter, together with the personal testimony of lady churchill and lord sydney, who had accompanied the travellers to berlin, conveyed the most gratifying and consoling intelligence of the warm welcome the stranger had met with, and how well she bore herself in difficult circumstances. "quiet and dignified, but with a kind word to say of everybody; on the night of her public entry into berlin and reception at court, when she polonaised with twenty-two princes in succession." [footnote: lady bloomfield.] the princess frederick william continued to write "almost daily, sometimes twice a day," to her mother, and regularly once a week to her father. and another fair young daughter was almost ready to take the princess royal's place at the queen's side. from the date of her sister's marriage, the prince consort's letters and the queen's journal tell that the princess alice, with her fine good sense and unselfishness, almost precocious at her age, was a great help and comfort in the royal circle. chapter xxxi. death of the dutchess d'orleans--the prince consort's visit to germany--the queen and prince consort's visit to prince and princess frederick william at babelsberg. in february, lord palmerston's ministry resigned after a defeat on the conspiracy bill, and lord derby, at the queen's request, formed a short-lived cabinet. the prince of wales was confirmed on maundy thursday in the chapel at windsor. in april, the young queen of portugal, princess stéphanie of hohenzollern, visited england with her father on her way to her husband--to whom she had been married by proxy--and her future home. her charm and sweetness greatly attracted the queen and the prince. in may, only seven months after the death of victoire, duchesse de nemours, the sympathies of her majesty and the prince consort were awakened afresh for the orleans family. helene, duchesse d'orleans, died suddenly from the effects of influenza at cranbourne house, richmond. how many of the large family party with which the queen had been so delighted when she visited chateau d'eu had already passed away--the old king, queen louise, the duchesse de nemours, and now the duchesse d'orleans! her two young sons--the elder the comte de paris, not yet twenty--were specially adopted by queen amélie. in the end of may the prince started for a short visit to germany, with the double intention of getting a glimpse of his daughter, and revisiting his country for the first time after thirteen years absence. he accomplished both purposes, and heard "the watchman's horn" once more before he retired to rest in the old home. he sent many a loving letter, and tender remembrance to england in anticipation of his speedy return. on his arrival in london he was met by the queen at the bricklayers' arms station. in the course of a very hot june, the queen and the prince went to warwickshire, which she had known as a young girl, in order to pay a special visit to birmingham. they were the guests for two nights of lord and lady leigh, at stoneleigh. her majesty had the privilege of seeing birmingham without a particle of smoke, while a mighty multitude of orderly craftsmen, with their wives and children, stood many hours patiently under the blazing sun, admiring their banners and flags, and cheering lustily for their queen. one of the objects of the visit was that her majesty might open a people's museum and park at aston for the dwellers in the black country. the royal party drove next day to one of the finest old feudal castles in england--warwick castle, with its noble screen of woods, mirroring itself in the avon-- and were entertained at luncheon by lord and lady warwick. in the evening, in the middle of a violent thunderstorm, the queen and the prince returned to buckingham palace. this season as usual, there was a visit from the king of the belgians and several of his family. the first atlantic cable was laid, and lasted just long enough for the exchange of messages of proud congratulation on the wonderful annihilation of distance between europe and america, so far as the thoughts of men were concerned. after a month's stay at osborne, during one of the warmest julys ever known in this country, when the condition of the river thames threatened to drive the parliament from westminster, the queen and the prince consort, with the prince of wales and their suites, paid a state visit to cherbourg. the great fort was nearly completed, and the harbour was full of french war-vessels as her majesty steamed in, on the evening of the th of august, receiving such a salute from the ships and the fortress itself as seemed to shake earth and sky. the emperor and empress, who arrived the same day, came on board at eight o'clock, and were cordially received by the queen and the prince, though the relations between france and england were not quite so assured as when their soldiers were brothers-in-arms in the crimea. after the visitors left, the queen's journal records that she went below and read, and nearly finished "that most interesting book 'jane eyre.'" when the queen and the prince landed next day, which was fine, they were received by the emperor and empress, entered with them one of the imperial carriages, and drove through the town to the prefecture, where the party breakfasted or rather lunched. in the afternoon the fort with its gigantic ramparts and magnificent views was visited. there was a state dinner in the evening, in the french ship _bretagne_. the emperor received the queen at the foot of the ladder. the dinner was under canvas on deck amidst decorations of flowers and flags. the queen sat between the emperor and the duke of cambridge; the empress sat between the prince consort and the prince of wales. the speechmaking, to which one may say all europe was listening, was a trying experience. the emperor, though he changed colour, spoke well "in a powerful voice," proposing the health of the queen, the prince, and the royal family, and declaring his adherence to the french alliance with england. the prince replied. "he did it very well, though he hesitated once," the queen reported. "i sat shaking, with my eyes riveted to the table." the duty done, a great relief was felt, as the speechmakers, with the queen and the empress, retired to the privacy of the cabin, shook hands, and compared notes on their nervousness. a splendid display of fireworks was witnessed from the deck of the _bretagne_. in the middle of it the queen and the prince returned to the yacht, escorted by the emperor and empress, when they took their departure in turn. they were followed by showers of english rockets and rounds of english cheers. the next morning the emperor and empress paid a farewell visit on board the yacht, which sailed at last under "heavy salutes." at five o'clock in the afternoon the beach at osborne was reached. the sailor prince, whose fourteenth birthday it was, stood on the pier. all the children, including the baby, were at the door. the dogs added their welcome. the young prince's birthday-table was inspected. there was still time to visit the swiss cottage, to which princess alice and the queen drove the other members of the family. the children's castle, where they had lunched in honour of the day, was gay with flags. prince alfred with princess alice was promoted to join the royal dinner party. the little princes, arthur and leopold, appeared at dessert. "a band played," writes the queen, "and after dinner we danced, with the three boys and the three girls and the company, a merry country-dance on the terrace--a delightful finale to the expedition! it seemed a dream that this morning at twelve we should have been still at cherbourg, with the emperor and empress on board our yacht." on the th of august, the queen and the prince arrived in the yacht at antwerp, on their way to germany, to pay their first eagerly anticipated visit to the princess royal--then a wife of six months standing--in her prussian home. the travellers proceeded by railway to malines, where they were met by king leopold with his second son, and escorted to verviers in a progress which was to be as far as possible without soldiers, salutes, addresses; and at aix-la-chapelle the prince of prussia joined the party. the halt for the night was at dusseldorf, where the prince and princess of hohenzollern were waiting. the queen and the prince consort quitted their hotel to dine with the hohenzollern family, in whose members they were much interested. the queen made the acquaintance of a young son who is now prince of roumania, and a handsome girl-princess who has become the wife of the comte de flanders, king leopold's younger son. the next day, long looked forward to as that which was to bring about a reunion with the princess royal, was suddenly overclouded by the news of the sad, unexpected death of the prince's worthy valet, "cart," who had come with him to england, and been in his service twenty-nine years--since his master was a child of eight the prince entered the room as the queen was dressing, carrying a telegram, and saying "my poor cart is dead." both felt the loss of the old friend acutely. "all day long," wrote the queen, "the tears would rush into my eyes." she added, "he was the only link my loved one had about him which connected him with his childhood, the only one with whom he could talk over old times. i cannot think of my dear husband without cart." it was no day for sorrow, yet the noble, gentle hearts bled through all their joys. before seven the royal party, including the prince of prussia, were on their way through rhenish prussia. as the train rushed by the railway platform at buckeburg there stood the aged baroness lehzen, the queen's good old governess, waving her handkerchief. in the station at hanover were the king and queen of hanover, princess frederick charles of prussia, and her majesty's niece, the princess feodore of hohenlohe, a charming girl of nineteen, with her betrothed husband, the duke of saxe-meiningen, a widower of thirty-two. the queen then made the acquaintance of one of the cradles of her race, driving out to the country palace of herrenhausen, which had been the home of the electress sophia, and where george i. was residing when he was summoned to be king of england. at five o'clock, in the heat and the dust, her majesty resumed her journey, "with a racking headache." at magdeburg prince frederick william appeared, "radiant," with the welcome intelligence that his princess was at the wildpark station. "there on the platform stood our darling child, with a nosegay in her hand." the queen described the scene. "she stepped in, and long and warm was the embrace, as she clasped me in her arms; so much to say, and to tell, and to ask, yet so unaltered; looking well, quite the old vicky still! it was a happy moment, for which i thank god!" it was eleven o'clock at night before the party reached babelsberg--a pleasant german country house, with which her majesty was much pleased. it became her headquarters for the fortnight during which her visit lasted. in addition to enjoying the society of her daughter, the queen became familiar with the princess's surroundings. daily excursions were made to a succession of palaces connected with the past and present prussian royal family. in this manner her majesty learnt to know the king's palace in berlin, while the poor king, a wreck in health, was absent; frederick the great's schloss at potsdam; his whimsical sans souci with its orange-trees, the new palais, and charlottenburg with its mausoleum. the queen also attended two great reviews, gave a day to the berlin museum, and met old humboldt more than once. among the other guests at babelsberg were the duke of saxe- coburg and baron stockmar. the prince consort's thirty-ninth birthday was celebrated in his daughter's house. at last with struggling tears and a bravely said "_auf baldiges wiedersehn_" (to a speedy meeting again), the strongly attached family party separated. the peculiar pang of separation to the queen, she expressed in words which every mother will understand. "all would be comparatively easy were it not for the one thought, that i cannot be with her (the princess royal), at that very critical moment when every other mother goes to her child." the royal travellers stayed over the sunday at deutz, and again saw cologne illuminated, the cathedral like "a mass of glowing red fire." on reaching osborne on the st of august, the queen and the prince were met by prince alfred--who had just passed his examination and been appointed to a ship--"in his middy's jacket, cap, and dirk." on their way to scotland the queen and the prince consort, accompanied by the princesses alice and helena, visited leeds, for the purpose of opening the leeds town hall. the party stayed at woodley house, the residence of the mayor, who is described in her majesty's journal as a "perfect picture of a fine old man." in his crimson velvet robes and chain of office he looked "the personification of a venetian doge." the queen as usual made "the tour of the town amidst a great concourse of spectators." she remarked on the occasion, "nowhere have i seen the children's names so often inscribed. on one large arch were even 'beatrice and leopold,' which gave me much pleasure...." a result which, had they known it, would have highly gratified the loyal clothworkers. after receiving the usual addresses, the queen knighted the mayor, and by her command lord derby declared the hall open. while her majesty was at balmoral, the marriages of a niece and nephew of hers took place in germany--princess feodore, the youngest daughter of the princess of hehenlohe, married the duke of saxe-meiningen; and ernest, prince of leiningen, the eldest son of the late prince of leiningen, who was in the english navy, married princess marie amélie of baden. more of the english royal children were taking flight from the parent nest. mr. bruce, lord elgin's brother, was appointed governor to the prince of wales, and was about to set out with him on a tour in italy. prince alfred was with his ship at malta. chapter xxxii. birth of prince william of prussia--death of prince hohenlohe-- volunteer reviews--second visit to coburg--betrothal of princess alice. one of the beauties of the queen's early court, lady clementina villiers, daughter of the earl of jersey, died unmarried at her father's seat of middleton park in . she was as good and clever as she was beautiful. like her lovely sister, princess nicholas esterhazy, lady clementina died in the prime of life, being only thirty-four years of age. on the th of january, , the queen and the prince received the good news of the birth of their first grandchild, a fine boy, after great suffering on the part of the young mother. he had forty-two godfathers and godmothers. in april princess alice was confirmed. her majesty's estimate of her daughter's character was amply borne out in the years to come. "she is very good, gentle, sensible, and amiable, and a real comfort to me." without her sister, the princess royal's, remarkable intellectual power, princess alice had fine intelligence. she was also fair to see in her royal maidenhood. the two elder sons were away. the prince of wales was in italy, prince alfred with his ship in the levant. at home the volunteer movement, which has since acquired such large proportions, was being actively inaugurated. the war between austria and france, and a dissolution of parliament, made this spring a busy and an anxious time. the first happy visit from the princess royal, who came to join in celebrating her majesty's birthday at osborne, would have made the season altogether joyous, had it not been for a sudden and dangerous attack of erysipelas from which the duchess of kent suffered. the alarm was brief, but it was sharp while it lasted. in june her majesty opened the new parliament, an event which was followed in a fortnight by the resignation of lord derby's ministry, and lord palmerston became prime minister with a strong cabinet. at the close of the season the sad news arrived of the sudden death from diphtheria of the year-old wife, the young queen of portugal. in august the queen and the prince made one of their yachting excursions to the channel islands. the duchess of kent's seventy-third birthday was kept at osborne. during the autumn stay of the court at balmoral, the prince presided over the british association for the promotion of science, which met that year at aberdeen. he afterwards entertained two hundred members of the association, filling four omnibuses, in addition to carriages, at a highland gathering at balmoral. the day was cold and showery, but with gleams of sunshine. it is unnecessary to say that the attendance was large, and the games and dancing were conducted with much spirit. in honour of the country, the prince and his sons appeared in kilts, the queen and the princesses in royal stewart tartan skirts and shawls over black velvet bodices. in the queen made no less than three successful ascents of highland mountains, morvem, lochnagar, and at last ben macdhui, the highest mountain in scotland, upwards of four thousand feet. on the return of the royal party they went from edinburgh to loch katrine, in order to open the glasgow waterworks, the conclusion of a great undertaking which was marred not inappropriately by a very wet day. the queen and the prince made a detour on their homeward route, as they had occasionally done before, visiting wales and lord penryn at penryn castle. this year saw the publication of a memorable book, "adam bede," for which even its precursor, "scenes from clerical life," had not prepared the world of letters. the novel was much admired in the royal circle. in one of the rooms at osborne, as a pendant to a picture from the "faery queen," there hangs a representation from a very different masterpiece in english literature, of the young squire watching hetty in the dairy. in the beginning of winter the prince suffered from an unusually severe fit of illness. in november the princess royal again visited england, accompanied by her husband. there were cheery winter doings at osborne, when the great household, like one large family, rejoiced in the seasonable snow, in a slide "used by young and old," and in a "splendid snow man." the new year was joyously danced in, though the children who were wont to assemble at the queen's dressing-room door to call in chorus "_prosit neu jahr_," were beginning to be scattered far and wide. in january, , the queen opened parliament in person, when for the first time the princesses alice and helena were present. on the twentieth anniversary of the queen's wedding-day she wrote to baron stockmar, "i wish i could think i had made one as happy as he has made me." in april the prince of hohenlohe-langenberg, the queen's brother-in- law, who was now an old man, died at baden, after a long illness. he had been an upright, unlucky german prince, trusted by his contemporaries, a good husband and father--whose loss was severely felt by the widowed princess. her sorrow was reflected in the queen's sympathy for her sister. this year's academy exhibition contained millais's "black brunswicker," landseer's "flood in the highlands," and phillips's "marriage of the princess royal," now in the great corridor at windsor castle. "the idyls of the king," much admired by the prince, were the poems of the year. among the guests at windsor castle for ascot week, in addition to king leopold, who came to look once more on the old scene, were prince louis of hesse and his younger brother. in a letter of the prince consort's, written soon afterwards, he alludes to an apparent "liking" between prince louis and princess alice. sir arthur helps, whose subsequent literary relations with the queen were so friendly, was sworn in clerk of the council on the rd of june. the first great volunteer review took place in hyde park this summer. the queen was present, driving with princess alice, prince arthur, and king leopold, while the prince consort rode. the display of the twenty thousand citizen soldiers, at that time reckoned a large volunteer force, was in every respect satisfactory. as a sequel her majesty was also present during fine weather, in an exceptionally wet summer, at the first meeting of the national rifle association at wimbledon, when the first shot was fired by the queen, the rifle being so arranged that a touch to the trigger caused the bullseye to be hit, when the shooter scored three points. at the close of the season the prince of wales sailed for canada, after he had accepted the president of the united states' invitation to visit him at washington. at the same time another distant colony was to be graced by the presence of royalty; it was settled that prince alfred was to land at the cape of good hope. the queen's sons were to serve her by representing her race and rule in her far distant dominions. in july the princess royal became the medium, in a letter home, of the overtures of the hesse family for a marriage between prince louis and princess alice--overtures favourably received by the queen and the prince, who were much attracted by the young suitor. immediately afterwards came the intelligence of the birth of the princess royal's second child--a daughter. the eyes of all europe began to be directed to garibaldi as the champion of freedom in naples and sicily. in august the court went north, staying longer than usual in edinburgh for the purpose of holding a volunteer review in the queen's park, which was even a greater success than that in hyde park. the summer day was cloudless; the broken nature of the ground heightened the picturesqueness of the spectacle. there was much greater variety in the dress and accoutrements of the highland and lowland regiments, numbering rather more than their english neighbours. the martial bearing of many of the men was remarkable, and the spectators crowding arthur's seat from the base to the summit were enthusiastic in their loyalty. the queen rejoiced to have the duchess of kent by her side in the open carriage. the old duchess had not appeared at any public sight for years, and her presence on this occasion recalled former days. she was not venturing so far as abergeldie, but was staying at cramond house, near edinburgh. soon after the queen and the prince's arrival at balmoral the news reached them of the death of their aunt, the duchess of kent's only surviving sister, the widow of the grand- duke constantine of russia. this year the queen and the prince, with the princesses alice and helena, made, in fine weather, a second ascent of ben macdhui. the success of such an excursion led to a longer expedition, which meant a night spent on the way at what was little better than a village inn. such a step was only possible when entire secrecy, and even a certain amount of disguise, were maintained. indeed, the little innocent mystery, with all the amusement it brought, was part of the pleasure. the company consisted of the queen and the prince, lady churchill and general grey, with two keepers for attendants. their destination, reached by driving, riding, and walking through the shiel of the geldie, glen geldie, glen fishie, &c, was grantown, where the party spent the night, and were waited on, in all unconsciousness, by a woman in ringlets in the evening and in curl-papers in the morning. but before grantown was left, when the truth was known, the same benighted chambermaid was seen waving a flag from the window of the dining and drawing-room in one, which had been lately so honoured, while the landlady on the threshold made a vigorous use of her pocket- handkerchief, to the edification and delight of an excited crowd in the street. the court returned to osborne, and on the nd of september the queen, the prince, and princess alice, with the suite, sailed from gravesend for antwerp _en route_ for coburg, where the princess royal was to meet them with her husband and the child-prince, whom his grandparents had not yet seen. the king of the belgians, his sons and daughter-in-law met the travellers with the melancholy intelligence that the prince's stepmother, the duchess-dowager of coburg, who had been ill for some time, but was looking forward to this visit, lay in extremity. at verviers a telegram announced that she had died at five o'clock that morning--a great shock to those who were hastening to see her and receive her welcome once more. royal kindred met and greeted the party at each halting-place, as by aix-la-chapelle, frankfort, where they slept, the valley of the maine and the thuringen railway, the travellers approached coburg. naturally the queen grew agitated at the thought of the arrival, so different from what she had expected and experienced on her last visit, fifteen years before. at the station were the duke of saxe-coburg and prince frederick william of prussia, in deep mourning. everything was quiet and private. at the door of the palace, in painful contrast to the gala faces and dresses of her earlier reception, stood the grand duchess and the princess royal in the deepest german mourning, with long black veils, the point hanging over the forehead. around were the ladies and gentlemen of the suites. "a tender embrace, and then we walked up the staircase," wrote the queen; "i could hardly speak, i felt so moved, and quite trembled." her room was that which had formerly belonged to the duchess of kent when she was a young coburg princess. one of its windows looked up a picturesque narrow street with red roofs and high gables, leading to the market-place. his english nurse led in the queen's first grandchild, aged two years, "in a little white dress with black bows." he was charming to his royal grandmother. she particularised his youthful attractions--"a beautiful white soft skin, very fine shoulders and limbs, and a very dear face, ... very fair curly hair." the funeral of the dowager-duchess took place at seven o'clock on the morning of the th september, at gotha, and was attended by the gentlemen of the party, while the ladies in deep mourning, wearing the pointed veils, were present at a commemorative service in the schloss kirche at coburg. then followed a quiet happy time, among the pleasures of which were the daily visits from the little grandchild, the renewal of intercourse with baron stockmar, whom germans called the familiar spirit of the house of coburg; the acquaintance of the great novelist, auerbach; a visit to florrschutz, the prince's old tutor, in the pretty house which his two pupils had built for him. the holiday was alarmingly interrupted by what might have been a grave accident to the prince consort. he was driving alone in an open carriage with four horses, which took fright and dashed along at full gallop in the direction of the railway line, where a waggon stood in front of a bar, put up to guard a level crossing. seeing that a crash was inevitable, the prince leapt out, escaping with several bruises and cuts, while the driver, who had remained with the carriage, was thrown out when it came in contact with the railway-bar, and seriously hurt. one of the horses was killed, the others rushed along the road to coburg. they were met by the prince's equerry, colonel ponsonby, who in great anxiety procured a carriage and drove with two doctors to the spot, where he found the prince lending aid to the injured man. colonel ponsonby was sent to intercept the queen as she was walking and sketching with her daughter and sister-in-law, to tell her of the accident and of the prince's escape, before she could hear a garbled version of the affair from other quarters. in deep gratitude for the prince's preservation, her majesty afterwards set aside the sum deemed necessary--rather more than a thousand pounds--to found a charity called the "victoria stift," which helps a certain number of young men and women of good character in their apprenticeship, in setting them up in trade, and marriage. the royal party returned at the end of a fortnight by frankfort and mayence. at coblentz, where they spent the night, her majesty was attacked by cold and sore throat, though she walked and drove out next day, inspecting every object she was asked to see in suffering and discomfort. it was her last day with the princess royal and "the darling little boy," whom his grandmother was so pleased to have with her, running about and playing in her room. the following day was cold and wet, and the queen felt still worse, continuing her journey so worn out and unwell that she could only rouse herself before reaching brussels, where king leopold was at the station awaiting her. by the order of her doctor, who found her labouring under a feverish cold with severe sore throat, she was confined to her room, where she had to lie down and keep quiet. never in the whole course of her majesty's healthful life, save in one girlish illness at ramsgate, of which the world knew nothing, had she felt so ailing. happily a night's rest restored her to a great extent; but while a state dinner which had been invited in her honour was going on, she had still to stay in her room, with lady churchill reading to her "the mill on the floss," and the door open that the queen might hear the band of the guides. on the th of october the travellers left brussels, and on the th arrived at windsor, where they were met by the younger members of the family. on the th of october the great sea captain, lord dundonald, closed his chequered life in his eighty-fifth year. in december two gallant wooers were at the english court, as a few years before king pedro, the arch-duke maximilian, and prince frederick william were all young bridegrooms in company. on this occasion prince louis of hesse-darmstadt came to win princess alice, and the hereditary prince of hohenzollern seigmaringen was on his way to ask the hand of donna antoine, sister of king pedro. lord campbell paid a visit to windsor at this time, and made his comment on the royal lovers. "my stay at windsor was rather dull, but was a little enhanced by the loves of prince louis of hesse and the princess alice. he had arrived the night before, almost a stranger to her" (a mistake), "but as her suitor. at first they were very shy, but they soon reminded me of ferdinand and miranda in the _tempest_, and i looked on like old prospero." the betrothal of princess alice occurred within the week. her majesty has given an account in the pages of her journal, transferred to the "life of the prince consort," how simply and naturally it happened. "after dinner, whilst talking to the gentlemen, i perceived alice and louis talking before the fireplace more earnestly than usual, and when i passed to go to the other room both came up to me, and alice in much agitation said he had proposed to her, and he begged for my blessing. i could only squeeze his hand and say 'certainly,' and that we would see him in our room, later. got through the evening work as well as we could. alice came to our room ... agitated but quiet.... albert sent for louis to his room, went first to him, and then called alice and me in...." the bride was only seventeen, the bridegroom twenty-three years of age--but nearly two years were to elapse, with, alas! sad changes in their course, before the marriage thus happily settled was celebrated. this winter her majesty's old servant and friend, lord aberdeen, died. in december the empress of the french, who had recently lost her sister, the duchess of alba, in order to recover health and cheerfulness, paid a flying visit in private to england and scotland. from claridge's hotel she went for a day to windsor to see the queen and the prince. towards the close of the year the prince had a brief but painful attack of one of the gastric affections becoming so common with him. in january, , the queen received the news of the death of the invalid king of prussia at sans souci. his brother, the crown prince, who had been regent for years, succeeded to the throne, of which the husband of the princess royal was now the next heir. in the beginning of the year the prince of wales matriculated at cambridge. in february the queen opened parliament. the twenty-first anniversary of the royal wedding-day falling on a sunday, it was celebrated quietly but with much happiness. the queen wrote to her uncle, king leopold, "very few can say with me that their husband, at the end of twenty-one years, is not only full of the friendship, kindness, and affection which a truly happy marriage brings with it, but of the same tender love as in the very first days of our marriage." chapter xxxiii. death of the duchess of kent. the duchess of kent was now seventy-five years of age. for the last few years she had been in failing health, tenderly cared for by her children. when she had been last in town she had not gone to her own house, clarence house, but had stayed with her daughter in the cheerful family circle at buckingham palace. a loss in her household fell heavily on the aged duchess. sir george cooper, her secretary, to whose services she had been used for many years, a man three years her junior, died in february, . in march the duchess underwent a surgical operation for a complaint affecting her right arm and rendering it useless, so that the habits of many years had to be laid aside, and she could no longer without difficulty work, or write, or play on the piano, of which her musical talent and taste had made her particularly fond. the queen and the prince visited the duchess at frogmore on the th of march, and found her in a suffering but apparently not a dangerous condition. on the th good news, including the medical men's report and a letter from lady augusta bruce, the duchess of kent's attached lady-in- waiting, came from frogmore to buckingham palace, and the queen and the prince went without any apprehension on a visit to the gardens of the horticultural society at kensington. her majesty returned alone, leaving the prince to transact some business. she was "resting quite happily" in her arm-chair, when the prince arrived with a message from sir james clark that the duchess had been seized with a shivering fit-- a bad symptom, from which serious consequences were apprehended. in two hours the queen, the prince, and princess alice were at frogmore. "just the same," was the sorrowful answer given by the ladies and gentlemen awaiting them. the prince consort went up to the duchess's room and came back with tears in his eyes; then the queen knew what to expect. with a trembling heart she followed her husband and entered the bedroom. there "on a sofa, supported by cushions, the room much darkened," sat the duchess, "leaning back, breathing heavily in her silk dressing- gown, with her cap on, looking quite herself" for a second the sight of the dear familiar figure, so little changed, must have afforded a brief reprieve, and lent a sense of almost glad incredulity to the distress which had gone before. but the well-meant whisper of one of the attendants of "_ein sanftes ende_" destroyed the passing illusion. "seeing that my presence did not disturb her," the queen wrote afterwards, "i knelt before her, kissed her dear hand and placed it next my cheek; but though she opened her eyes, she did not, i think, know me. she brushed my hand off, and the dreadful reality was before me that for the first time she did not know the child she had ever received with such tender smiles. i went out to sob.... i asked the doctors if there was no hope; they said they feared none whatever, for consciousness had left her.... it was suffusion of water on the chest which had come on." the long night passed in sad watching by the unconscious sufferer, and in vain attempts at rest in preparation for the greater sorrow that was in store. a few months earlier, on the death of the king of prussia, the prince consort had written to his daughter that her experience exceeded his, for he had never seen any person die. the queen had been equally unacquainted with the mournful knowledge which comes to most even before they have attained mature manhood and womanhood. now the loving daughter knelt or stood by the mother who was leaving her without a sign, or lay painfully listening to the homely trivial sounds which broke the stillness of the night--the crowing of a cock, the dogs barking in the distance; the striking of the old repeater which had belonged to the queen's father, that she had heard every night in her childhood, but to which she had not listened for twenty-three years-- the whole of her full happy married life. she wondered with the vague piteous wonder--natural in such a case--what her mother, would have thought of her passing a night under her roof again, and she not to know it? in the march morning the prince took the queen from the room in which she could not rest, yet from which she could not remain absent. when she returned windows and doors were thrown open. the queen sat down on a footstool and held the duchess's hand, while the paleness of death stole over the face, and the features grew longer and sharper. "i fell on my knees," her majesty wrote afterwards, "holding the beloved hand which was still warm and soft, though heavier, in both of mine. i felt the end was fast approaching, as clark went out to call albert and alice, i only left gazing on that beloved face, and feeling as if my heart would break.... it was a solemn, sacred, never-to-be-forgotten scene. fainter and fainter grew the breathing; at last it ceased, but there was no change of countenance, nothing; the eyes closed as they had been for the last half-hour.... the clock struck half-past nine at the very moment. convulsed with sobs i fell on the hand and covered it with kisses. albert lifted me up and took me into the next room, himself entirely melted into tears, which is unusual for him, deep as his feelings are, and clasped me in his arms. i asked if all was over; he said, "yes." i went into the room again after a few minutes and gave one look. my darling mother was sitting as she had done before, but was already white. oh, god! how awful, how mysterious! but what a blessed end. her gentle spirit at rest, her sufferings over." by the prince's advice the queen went at once to the late duchess's sitting-room, where it was hard to bear the unchanged look of everything, "chairs, cushions ... all on the tables, her very work- basket with her work; the little canary bird which she was so fond of, singing!" in one of the recently published letters of princess alice to the queen, the former recalled after an interval of eight years the words which her father had spoken to her on the death of her grandmother, when he brought the daughter to the mother and said, "comfort mamma," a simple injunction which sounded like a solemn charge in the sad months to come. the melancholy tidings of the loss were conveyed by the queen's hand to the duchess's elder daughter, the princess of hohenlohe; to the duchess's brother, the king of the belgians--the last survivor of his family--and to her eldest grand-daughter, the crown princess of prussia. the moment the princess royal heard of the death she started for england, and arrived there two days afterwards. the unaffected tribute of respect paid by the whole country, led by the houses of parliament, to the virtues of the late duchess, was very welcome to the mourners. the duchess of kent by her will bequeathed her property to the queen, and appointed the prince consort her sole executor. "he was so tender and kind," wrote the queen, "so pained to have to ask me distressing questions, but spared me so much. everything done so quickly and feelingly." the funeral took place on the th of march, in the vault beneath st. george's chapel, windsor. the prince consort acted as chief mourner, and was supported by two of the grandchildren of the late duchess, the prince of wales and the prince of leiningen. the pallbearers were six ladies; among whom was lady augusta bruce. neither the queen nor her daughters were present. they remained, in the queen's words, "to pray at home together, and to dwell on the happiness and peace of her who was gone." on the evening of the funeral the queen and the prince dined alone; afterwards he read aloud to her letters written by her mother to a german friend, giving an account of the illness and death of the duke of kent more than forty years before. the queen continued the allowances which the duchess of kent had made to her elder daughter, the princess hohenlohe, and to two of the duchess's grandsons, prince victor hohenlohe and prince edward leiningen. her majesty pensioned the duchess's servants, and appointed lady augusta bruce, who had been like a daughter to the dead princess, resident bedchamber woman to the queen. frogmore had been much frequented by queen charlotte and her daughters, and was the place where they held many of their family festivals. it had been the country house of princess augusta for more than twenty years. on her death it was given to the duchess of kent. it is an unpretending white country house, spacious enough, and with all the taste of the day when it was built expended on the grounds, which does not prevent them from lying very low, with the inevitable sheet of water almost beneath the windows. yet it is a lovely, bowery, dwelling when spring buds are bursting and the birds are filling the air with music; such a sheltered, peaceful, home-like house as an ageing woman well might crave. on it still lingers, in spite of a period when it passed into younger hands, the stamp of the old duchess, with her simple state, her unaffected dignity, her affectionate interest in her numerous kindred. the place is but a bowshot from the old grey castle of windsor. it was a chosen resort of the royal children, to whom the noble, kind, grandame was all that gracious age can be. here the queen brought the most distinguished of her guests to present them to her mother, who had known so many of the great men of her time. here the royal daughter herself came often, leaving behind her the toils of government and the ceremonies of rank, where she could always be at ease, was always more than welcome. here she comes still, after twenty years, to view old scenes--the chair by which she sat when the duchess of kent occupied it, the piano she knew so well, the familiar portraits, the old-fashioned furniture, suiting the house admirably, the drooping trees on the lawn, under which the queen would breakfast in fine weather, according to an old kensington --an old german--custom. the long verandah was wont to contain vases of flowers and statues of the duchess's grandchildren, and formed a pleasant promenade for an old lady. within the smaller, cosier rooms, with the softly tinted pink walls covered with portraits, was led the daily life which as it advanced in infirmity necessarily narrowed in compass, while the state rooms remained for family and court gatherings. the last use made of the great drawing-room by its venerable mistress was after her death, when she lay in state there. half-length portraits of the duke and duchess of kent are in the place usually occupied by the likenesses of the master and mistress of the house. among the other pictures are full-length portraits of the queen and prince albert in their youth, taken soon after their marriage-- like the natural good end to the various pictures of her majesty in her fair english childhood and maidenhood, with the blonde hair clustering about the open innocent forehead, the fearless blue eyes, the frank mouth. the child, long a widow in her turn, a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, must look with strange mingled feelings on these shadows of her early, unconscious self. there are innumerable likenesses of the queen's children such as a loving grandmother would delight to accumulate, from the baby princess royal with the good dog eos curled round by her side, the child's tiny foot on the hound's nose, to the same princess a blooming girl-bride by the side of her bridegroom, prince frederick william of prussia. the duchess's other children and grandchildren are here on canvas, with many portraits of her brothers and sisters and their children. a full-length likeness of the former owner of frogmore, princess augusta, fanny burney's beloved princess, hangs above a chimneypiece; while on the walls of another room quaintly painted floral festoons, the joint work of the painter, mary moser, and the artistic princess elizabeth, are still preserved. frogmore was for some years the residence of princess christian of schleswig-holstein. when she removed to cumberland house, the furniture which had belonged to the duchess of kent was brought back, and the place restored as much as possible to the condition in which she had left it, which implies the presence of many cherished relics-- such as the timepiece which was the last gift of the queen and the prince, and a picture said to have been painted by both representing italian peasants praying beside a roadside calvary. there are numerous tokens of womanly tastes in the gay, bright fashion of the duchess's time, among them a gorgeously tinted inlaid table from the first exhibition, and elaborate specimens of berlin woolwork, offerings from friends of the mistress of the house and from the ladies of her suite. in one of the simply furnished bedrooms of quiet little frogmore, as it chanced, the heir of the prince of wales first saw the light. for here was born unexpectedly, making a great stir in the little household, prince victor albert of wales. chapter xxxiv. last visit to ireland--highland excursions--meeting of the prince of wales and the princess alexandra of denmark--death of the kino of portugal and his brothers in the retirement of osborne the queen mourned her mother with the tender fidelity which her people have learnt to know and reverence. in april the court returned to buckingham palace, when the queen announced the marriage of the princess alice to the privy council it was communicated to parliament, and was very favourably received. the princess had a dowry of thirty thousand, and an annuity of six thousand pounds from the country. the queen's birthday was celebrated at osborne without the usual festivities. during the whitsun holidays prince louis, who was with the family, had the misfortune to be attacked by measles, which he communicated to prince leopold. the little boy had the disease severely, and it left bad results. in june king leopold and one of his sons paid the queen a lengthened visit of five weeks. the princess royal, with her husband and children, arrived afterwards, and there was a happy family meeting, tinged with sorrow. in july the most exalted order of the star of india was instituted, and conferred first on the maharajah dhuleep singh, lord clyde, sir john lawrence, &c., &c. that summer saw the death of two statesmen who had been men of mark in the crimean war--count cavour, the sardinian prime minister, and lord herbert of lea. the royal visitors in london and at osborne included the archduke maximilian and his young wife, and the king of sweden and his son. towards the close of august the queen went to frogmore with the prince and princess alice, in order to keep the birthday of the late duchess of kent, whose remains had been already removed from st. george's chapel to the mausoleum prepared for them in the grounds of her former home. the queen wrote of the first evening at frogmore as "terribly trying;" but it comforted her in the beautiful morning to visit the grand simple mausoleum, and to help to place on the granite sarcophagus the wreaths which had been brought for the purpose. the day after the return of prince alfred from the west indies, the queen and the prince, their second son and the princesses alice and helena, sailed from holyhead in the _victoria and albert_ for kingstown. this visit to ireland meant also the royal presence on a field-day in the curragh camp, where the prince of wales was serving, and a run down to killarney in very hot weather. at the lakes the queen was the guest of lord castleross and mr. herbert. the wild luxuriant scenery, the size and beauty of the arbutus-trees, and the enthusiastic shriek of the blue-cloaked women, made their due impression. in a row on one of the lakes her majesty christened a point. the prince's birthday came round during the stay in ireland, and was marked by the usual loving tokens, though the queen noted sadly the difference between this and other anniversaries: the lack of festivities, the absence from home, the separation from the younger children, and the missing the old invariable gift from the duchess of kent. balmoral was reached in the beginning of september. prince louis came speedily, and another welcome guest, princess hohenlohe, who travelled north with lady augusta bruce. dr. norman macleod gives a glimpse of the circumstances and the circle. he preached to the queen, and she thanked him for the comfort he gave her. lady augusta bruce talked to him of "that noble, loving woman, the duchess of kent, and of the queen's grief." he found the queen's half-sister "an admirable woman" and prince alfred "a fine gentlemanly sailor." the queen's greatest solace this year was in long days spent on the purple mountains and by the sides of the brown lochs, and in a second private expedition, like that of the previous year to grantown, when she slept a night at the ramsay arms in the village of fettercairn, and prince louis and general grey were consigned to the temperance hotel opposite. the whole party walked out in the moonlight and were startled by a village band. the return was by blair, where the queen was welcomed by her former host and hostess, the duke and duchess of athole. her majesty had a look at her earlier quarters, at the room in which the little princess royal had been put to bed in two chairs, and saw sandy macara, grown old and grey. after an excursion to cairn glaishie, her majesty recorded in her journal, "alas! i fear our last great one." six years afterwards the sorrowful confirmation was given to words which had been written with a very different meaning, "it was our last one." the prince of wales was on a visit to germany, ostensibly to witness the manoeuvres of the prussian army, but with a more delicate mission behind. he was bound, while not yet twenty, to make the acquaintance of the princess alexandra of denmark, not quite seventeen, with the probability of their future marriage--a prospect which, to the great regret of the prince consort, got almost immediately into the newspapers. the first meetings of the young couple took place at speyer and heidelberg, and were altogether promising of the mutual attachment which was the desired result. on the th of october the king of prussia was crowned at könisburg--a splendid ceremonial, in which the princess royal naturally, as the crown princess, bore a prominent part. on the return of the court to windsor, prince leopold, then between eight and nine years of age, was sent, with a temporary household, to spend the winter in the south of france for the sake of his health. suddenly a great and painful shock was given to the queen and the prince by the news of the disastrous outbreak of typhoid fever in portugal among their royal cousins and intimate friends, the sons of maria de gloria. when the tidings arrived king pedro's brother, prince ferdinand, was already dead, and the king ill. two more brothers, the duke of oporto and the duke of beja, were in england, on their way home from the king of prussia's coronation. the following day still sadder news arrived--the recovery of the young king, not more than twenty-five, was despaired of. his two brothers started immediately for lisbon, but were too late to see him in life. the younger, the duke of beja, was also seized with the fatal fever and died in the course of the following month. the queen and the prince lamented the king deeply, finding the only consolation in the fact that he had rejoined the gentle girl-wife for whose loss he had been inconsolable. chapter xxxv. the death of the prince consort. the news of the terrible mortality in the portuguese royal family, especially the death of the king, to whom the prince was warmly attached, had seriously affected his health, never strong, and for the last few years gradually declining, with gastric attacks becoming more frequent and fits of sleeplessness more confirmed. at the same time the prince's spirit was so unbroken, his power of work and even of enjoyment so unshaken, while the patience and unselfishness which treated his own bodily discomfort as a matter of little moment had grown so much the habit of his mind, that naturally those nearest to him failed in their very love to see the extent of the physical mischief which was at work. nevertheless there is abundant evidence that the queen was never without anxiety on her husband's account, and baron stockmar expressed his apprehensions more than once. various causes of care troubled the prince, among them the indisposition contracted by the princess royal at the coronation of her father-in-law, the king of prussia, and the alarming illness at cannes of sir edward bowater, who had been sent to the south of france in charge of prince leopold. after a fortnight of sleeplessness, rheumatic pains, loss, of appetite, and increasing weakness, the prince drove in close wet weather to inspect the building of the new military academy at sandhurst, and it is believed that he there contracted the germs of fever. but he shot with the guests at the castle, walked with the queen to frogmore and inspected the mausoleum there, and visited the prince of wales at cambridge afterwards. then the affair of the _trent_ suddenly demanded the prince's close attention and earnest efforts to prevent a threatened war between england and america. in the course of the civil war raging between the northern and southern states the english steamer _trent_ sailed with the english mails from savannah to england, having on board among the other passengers several american gentlemen, notably messrs. mason and slidell, who had run the blockade from charlestown to cuba, and were proceeding to europe as envoys sent by the confederates to the courts of england and france. a federal vessel fired on the english steamer, compelling her to stop, when the american captain wilkes, at the head of a large body of marines, demanded the surrender of mason and slidell, with their companions. in the middle of the remonstrances of the english government agent at the insult to his flag and to the neutral port from which the ship had sailed, the objects of the officer's search came forward and surrendered themselves, thus delivering the english commander from his difficulty. but the feeling in england was very strong against the outrage which had been committed, and it was only the most moderate of any political party who were willing to believe--either that the american government might not be cognisant of the act done in its name, or that it might be willing to atone by honourable means for a violation of international law--enough to provoke the withdrawal of the english ambassador from washington, and a declaration of war between the two countries. cabinet councils were summoned and a dispatch prepared. a draft of the dispatch was forwarded to windsor to be read by the queen, when it struck both her and, the prince that it was less temperate and conciliatory than it might have been, while still consistent with perfect dignity. the prince consort's last public work for his queen and country was to amend this draft. he rose as usual at seven o'clock, and faint and ill as he was, scarcely able to hold a pen, drew out an improved version of the dispatch, which was highly approved of by the ministers and favourably received by the american government. as the world knows, the president, in the name of his countrymen, declared that captain wilkes had acted without official instructions, and ordered the release of the gentlemen who had been taken prisoners. in the meantime the shadows were darkening round the royal home which had been so supremely blest. the prince was worse. still he walked out on one of the terraces, and wrapped in a coat lined with fur he witnessed a review of the eton college volunteers, from which his absence would have been remarked. the ill-omened chilly feeling continued, but there were guests at the castle and he appeared at dinner. on sunday, the st of december, the prince walked out again on the terrace and attended service in the chapel, insisting "on going through all the kneeling," though very unwell. next morning something was said by the doctors of low fever. no wonder the queen was distressed after the recent calamity at lisbon, but concealing her feelings as such watchers must, she strove to soothe and amuse her sick husband. the members of the household who had been at lisbon arrived with the particulars of the young king of portugal's death. after listening to them the prince said "that it was well his illness was not fever, as that, he felt sure, would be fatal to him." one of the guests at the castle was lord palmerston. in spite of his natural buoyancy of temperament he became so much alarmed by what he heard that he suggested another physician should be called in. her majesty had not been prepared for this step, and when she appealed to the two medical men in attendance, sir james clark and dr. jenner, they comforted her by their opinion that there was nothing to alarm her, and that the low fever which had been feared might pass off. the next few days were spent in alternations of hope and fear. which of us is so happy as not to have known that desperate faith when to doubt would be to despair? the prince liked to be read to, but "no book suited him." the readers were the queen and princess alice, who sought to cheat themselves by substituting trollope for george eliot, and lever for trollop, and by speaking confidently of trying sir walter scott "to-morrow." to-morrow brought no improvement. sir james clark, though still sanguine, began to drop words which were not without their significance. he _hoped_ there would be no fever, which all dreaded, with too sure a presentiment of what would follow. the prince _must_ eat, and he was to be told so; his illness was likely to be tedious, and completely starving himself would not do. as if the whole atmosphere was heavy with sorrow, and all the tidings which came from the world without in these days only reflected the ache of the hearts within, the news came from calcutta of the death of the wife of the governor-general, beautiful, gifted lady canning, so long the queen's lady-in-waiting and close companion. the doctors began to sit up with the patient, another stage of the terrible illness. when her majesty came to the prince at eight in the morning she found him sitting up in his dressing-room, and was struck with "a strange wild look" which he had, while he talked in a baffled way, unlike him, of what his illness could be, and how long it might last. but that day there was a rally; he ate and slept a little, rested, and liked to be read to by princess alice. he was quite himself again when the queen came in with his little pet child, princess beatrice, in whom he had taken such delight. he kissed her, held her hand, laughed at her new french verses, and "dozed off," as if he only wanted sleep to restore him. the doctor in attendance was anxious that the prince should undress and go to bed, but this he would not do. throughout the attack, with his old habit of not giving way and of mastering his bodily feelings by sheer force of will, he had resisted yielding to his weakness and submitting to the ordinary routine of a sick-room. after it was too late the doctor's compliance with the prince's wishes in this respect was viewed by the public as rash and unwise. on this particular occasion he walked to his dressing-room and lay down there, saying he would have a good night--an expectation doomed to disappointment. his restlessness not only kept him from sleeping, it caused him to change his room more than once during the night. the morning found him up and seated in his sitting-room as before. but he was worse, and talked with a certain incoherence when he told the queen that he had been listening to the little birds, and they had reminded him of those he had heard at the rosenau in his childhood. she felt a quick recoil, and when the doctors showed that their favourable opinion of the day before had undergone a change, she went to her room and it seemed to her as if her heart would break. fever had now declared itself unmistakably. the fact was gently broken to the queen, and she was warned that the illness must run its course, while the knowledge of its nature was to be kept from the prince. she called to mind every thought that could give her courage; and princess alice, her father's true daughter, capable of rising to heights of duty and tenderness the moment she was put to the test, grew brave in her loving demotion, and already afforded the support which the husband and father was no longer fit to give. happily for her majesty, the daily duties of her position as a sovereign, which she could not lay aside though they were no longer shared by the friend of more than twenty years, still occupied a considerable portion of her time. but she wrote in her diary that in fulfilling her task she seemed to live "in a dreadful dream." do we not also know, many of us, this cruel double life in which the obligations which belong to our circumstances and to old habits contend for mastery with new misery? when she was not thus engaged the queen sat by her husband, weeping when she could do so unseen. on the th of december the prince appeared to be going on well, though the desire for change continued strong in him, and he was removed at his earnest request to larger and brighter rooms, adjoining those he had hitherto occupied. according to lady bloomfield one of the rooms-- certainly called "the kings' rooms"--into which the prince was carried, was that in which both william iv. and george iv. had died; and the fact was remembered and referred to by the new tenant, when he was placed where he too was destined to die. the queen had only once slept there, when her own rooms were being painted, and as it happened, that single occasion was on the night before the day when the duchess of kent had her last fatal seizure. the prince was pleased with the greater space and light and with the winter sunshine. for the first time since his illness he asked for music, "a fine chorale." a piano was brought into the room, and his daughter played two hymns--one of them "_ein fester burg ist unser gott_" to which he listened with tears in his eyes. it was sunday, and charles kingsley preached at the castle. the queen was present, but she noted sadly that she did not hear a word. the serious illness of the prince consort had become known and excited much alarm, especially among the cabinet ministers. they united in urging that fresh medical aid should be procured. dr. watson and sir henry holland were called in. these gentlemen concurred with the other doctors in their opinion of the case as grave, but not presenting any very bad symptoms. the increased tendency of the prince to wander in his mind was only what was to be expected. the listlessness and irritability characteristic of the disease gave way to pleasure at seeing the queen and having her with him, to tender caresses, such as stroking her cheek, and simple loving words, fondly cherished, "_liebes frauchen, gutes weibchen_." [footnote: "dear little wife, good little wife."] the changes rung on the relationship which had been so perfect and so satisfying. on the th and the th the prince was considered better. he was wheeled into the next room, when he called attention to a picture of the madonna of which he was fond; he said that the sight of it helped him through half the day. on the evening of the th a slight change in the prince's breathing was perceptible and occasioned uneasiness. on the th it was too evident the fever and shortness of breathing had increased, and on the th dr. jenner had to tell the queen the symptom was serious, and that there was a probability of congestion of the lungs. when the sick man was wheeled into the next room as before, he failed to notice his favourite picture, and in place of asking to be placed with his back to the light as he had hitherto done, sat with his hands clasped, gazing abstractedly out of the window. that night the prince of wales was summoned from cambridge, it was said by his sister, princess alice, who took upon her the responsibility of bringing him to windsor. all through the night at hourly intervals reports were brought to the queen that the prince was doing well. at six in the morning mr. brown, the windsor medical attendant of the family for upwards of twenty years, who was believed to be well acquainted with the prince's constitution, came to the queen with the glad tidings "that he had no hesitation in saying he thought the prince was much better, and that there was ground to hope the crisis was over." there are few experiences more piteous than that last flash of life in the socket which throws a parting gleam of hope on the approaching darkness of death. when the queen entered the sick-room at seven o'clock on a fine winter morning, she was struck with the unearthly beauty--another not unfamiliar sign--of the face on which the rising sun shone. the eyes unusually bright, gazing as it were on an unseen object, took no notice of her entrance. the doctors allowed they were "very, very anxious," but still they would not give up hope. the queen asked if she might go out for a breath of air, and received an answer with a reservation--"yes, just close by, for a quarter of an hour." she walked on one of the terraces with princess alice, but they heard a military band playing in the distance, and at that sound, recalling such different scenes, the poor queen burst into tears, and returned to the castle. sir james clark said he had seen much worse cases from which there had been recovery. but both the queen and the doctors remarked the dusky hue stealing over the hands and face, and there were acts which looked like strange involuntary preparations for departure--folding of the arms, arranging of the hair, &c. the queen was in great distress, and remained constantly either in the sick-room or in the apartment next to it, where the doctors tried still to speak words of hope to her, but could no longer conceal that the life which was as her life was ebbing away. in the course of the afternoon, when the queen went up to the prince, after he had been wheeled into the middle of the room, he said the last loving words, "_gutes frauchen_," [footnote: "good little wife."] kissed her, and with a little moaning sigh laid his head on her shoulder. he dozed and wandered, speaking french sometimes. all his children who were in the country came into the room, and one after the other took his hand, prince arthur kissing it as he did so, but the prince made no sign of knowing them. he roused himself and asked for his private secretary, but again slept. three of the gentlemen of the household, who had been much about the prince's person, came up to him and kissed his hand without attracting his attention. all of them were overcome; only she who sat in her place by his side was quiet and still. so long as enough air passed through the labouring lungs, the doctors would not relinquish the last grain of hope. even when the queen found the prince bathed in the death-sweat, so near do life and death still run, that the attendant medical men ventured to say it might be an effort of nature to throw off the fever. the queen bent over the prince and whispered "_es ist kleins frauchen_." he recognised the voice and answered by bowing his head and kissing her. he was quite calm, only drowsy, and not caring to be disturbed, as he had been wont to be when weary and ill. the queen had gone into the next room to weep there when sir james clark sent princess alice to bring her back. the end had come. with his wife kneeling by his side and holding his hand, his children kneeling around, the queen's nephew, prince ernest leiningen, the gentlemen of the prince's suite, general bruce, general grey, and sir charles phipps, the dean of windsor, and the prince's favourite german valet, lohlein, reverently watching the scene, the true husband and tender father, the wise prince and liberal-hearted statesman, the noble christian man, gently breathed his last. it was a quarter to eleven o'clock on the th of december, . he was aged forty-two years. chapter xxxvi. the withdrawal to osborne--the prince consort's funeral. the tolling of the great bell of st. paul's, borne on the wintry midnight air, thrilled many a heart with grief and dismay, as london was roused to the melancholy fact of the terrible bereavement which had befallen the queen and the country. to the prince indeed death had come without terror, even without recoil. some time before he had told the queen that he had not her clinging to life, that if he knew it was well with those he cared for, he would be quite ready to die to-morrow. he was perfectly convinced of the future reunion of those who had loved each other on earth, though he did not know under what circumstances it would take place. during one of the happy highland excursions in , the prince had remarked to one of the keepers when talking over with him the choice and planting of a deer-forest for the prince of wales, "you and i may be dead and gone before that." "he was ever cheerful, but ever ready and prepared," was the queen's comment on this remark. but for the queen, "a widow at forty-two!" was the lamenting cry of the nation which had been so proud of its young queen, of her love- match, of her happiness as a wife. now a subtler touch than any which had gone before won all hearts to her, and bowed them before her feet in a very passion of love and loyalty. it was her share in the common birthright of sorrow, with the knowledge that she in whose joy so many had rejoiced was now qualified by piteous human experience to weep with those who wept--that thenceforth throughout her wide dominions every mourner might feel that their queen mourned with them as only a fellow-sufferer can mourn. [footnote: "the queen wrote my mother, lady normanby, such a beautiful letter after normanby's death, saying that having drunk the dregs of her cup of grief herself, she knew how to sympathise with others."--lady bloomfield.] all hearts went out to her in the day of her bitter sorrow. prayers innumerable were put up for her, and she believed they sustained her when she would otherwise have sunk under the heavy burden. on the sunday which dawned on the first day of her majesty's widowhood, when the news of her bereavement--announced in a similar fashion in many a city cathedral and country church, was conveyed to the people in a great northern city by dr. norman macleod's praying for the queen as a widow, a pang of awe and pity smote every hearer; the minister and the congregation wept together. the disastrous tidings had to travel far and wide: to the princess royal, the daughter in whom her father had taken such pride, who had so grieved to part from him when she left england a happy young bride, who had been so glad to greet him in his own old home only a few months before; to the sailor son on the other side of the globe; to the delicate little boy so lately sent in search of health, whose natural cry on the sorrowful tale being told to him was, "take me to mamma." deprived in one year of both mother and husband, alone where family relations were concerned, save for her children; with her eldest son, the prince of wales, a lad of not more than twenty years, the devoted servants of the queen rallied round her and strove to support and comfort her. in the absence of the princess royal and the princess of hohenlohe, the duchess of sutherland, one of the queen's oldest friends, herself a widow, was sent for to be with her royal mistress. lady augusta bruce watched day and night by the daughter as she had watched by the mother. the queen's people did not know how sore was the struggle, how near they were to losing her. princess alice wrote years afterwards of that first dreadful night, of the next three terrible days, with a species of horror, and wondered again and again how she and her mother survived that time. the queen's weakness was so great that her pulse could hardly be felt. "she spoke constantly about god's knowing best, but showed herself broken-hearted," lady bloomfield tells us. it was a sensible relief to the country when it was made public that the queen had slept for some hours. the doctors urgently advised that her majesty should leave windsor and go to osborne, but she shrank unconquerably from thus quitting all that was mortal of the prince till he had been laid to rest. the old king of the belgians, her second father, afflicted in her affliction as he had gloried in her happiness, added his earnest entreaty to, the medical men's opinion, in vain, till the plea was brought forward that for her children's sake--that they might be removed from the fever- tainted atmosphere, the painful step ought to be taken. even then it was mainly by the influence of the princess alice that the queen, who had proved just and reasonable in all her acts, who had been confirmed by him who was gone in habits of self-control and self-denial, who was the best of mothers, gave up the last sad boon which the poorest might claim, and consented to go immediately with her daughters to osborne. but first her majesty visited frogmore, where the duchess of kent's mausoleum had been built, that she might choose the spot for another and larger mausoleum where the husband and wife would yet lie side by side. it was on the th of december that the queen, accompanied by princess alice, drove from the castle on her melancholy errand. they were received at frogmore by the prince of wales, prince louis of hesse, who had arrived in england, sir charles phipps, and sir james clark. her majesty walked round the gardens leaning on her daughter's arm, and selected the place where the coffin of the prince would be finally deposited. shortly afterwards the sad party left for osborne, where a veil must be drawn over the sorrow which, like the love that gave it birth, has had few parallels. the funeral was at windsor on the rd of december. shortly before twelve o'clock the cortège assembled which was to conduct the remains of the late prince consort the short distance from the state entrance of windsor castle, through the norman tower gate to st. george's chapel. nine mourning-coaches, each drawn by four horses, conveyed the valets, foresters, riders, librarian, and doctors; the equerries, ushers, grooms, gentlemen, and lords in waiting of his late royal highness; and the great officers of the household. one of the queen's carriages drawn by six horses contained the prince's coronet borne by earl spencer, and his baton, sword, and hat by lord george lennox. the hearse, drawn by six horses, was escorted by a detachment of life guards. the carriages of the queen, the prince of wales, the duke of cambridge, and the duchess of cambridge followed. the company which had received commands to be present at the ceremony, including the foreign ambassadors, the cabinet ministers, the officers of the household, and many of the nobility and higher clergy, entered st. george's chapel by the wolsey door and were conducted to seats in the choir. the knights of the garter occupied their stalls. the royal family, with their guests, came privately from the castle and assembled in the chapter-room. the members of the procession moved up the nave in the same order in which they had been driven to the south porch. among them were the representatives of all the foreign states connected by blood or marriage with the late prince, the choir, canons, and dean of windsor. after the baton, sword, and crown, carried on black velvet cushions, came the comptroller in the chamberlain's department, vice-chamberlain, and lord chamberlain, then the crimson velvet coffin, the pall borne by the members of the late prince's suite. garter-king-at-arms followed, walking before the chief mourner, the prince of wales, who was supported by prince arthur, a little lad of eleven, and the duke of saxe-coburg, and attended by general bruce. behind came the son-in-law, the crown prince of prussia, the cousins--the sons of the king of the belgians--with the duc de nemours, prince louis of hesse, prince edward of saxe-weimar, the queen's nephew, count gleichen, and the maharajah dhuleep singh. the gentlemen in waiting on the foreign princes wound up the procession. when the coffin arrived within the choir, the crown, baton, sword, and hat were placed on it. that morning a messenger had come from osborne with three wreaths and a bouquet. the wreaths were simple garlands of moss and violets woven by the three elder princesses; the bouquet of violets, with a white camellia in the centre, was from the queen. these were laid between the heraldic insignia. the prince of wales with his brother and uncle stood at the head, the lord chamberlain at the foot, the other mourners and the pallbearers around. minute-guns were fired at intervals by horse artillery in the long walk. a guard of honour of the grenadier guards, of which the prince consort had been colonel, presented arms on the coming of the body and when it was lowered into the grave. during the service the thirty-ninth psalm, luther's hymn, and two chorales were sung. the prince of wales bore up with a brave effort, now and then seeking to soothe his young brother, who, with swollen eyes and tear-stained face, when the long wail of the dirge smote upon his ear, sobbed as if his heart were breaking. at the words-- "to fall asleep in slumber deep, slumber that knows no waking," part of a favourite chant of the prince consort's, both his sons hid their faces and wept. the duke of coburg wept incessantly for the comrade of his youth, the friend of his mature years. garter-king-at-arms proclaimed the style and title of the deceased. when he referred to her majesty with the usual prayer, "whom god bless and preserve with long life, health, and happiness," for the first time in her reign the word "happiness" was omitted and that of "honour" substituted, and the full significance of the change went to the hearts of the listeners with a woeful reminder of what had come and gone. the prince of wales advanced first to take his last look into the vault, stood for a moment with clasped hands and burst into tears. in the end prince arthur was the more composed of the two fatherless brothers. as the company retired, the "dead march in saul" was pealed forth. the whole ceremony was modelled on the precedent of other royal funerals, but surely rarely was mourning so keen or sorrow so deep. chapter xxxvii. the first months of widowhood--marriage of the prince of wales, etc., etc. the princess of hohenlohe arrived in england on the th of december, and immediately joined the queen at osborne before the funeral of the prince. the old king of the belgians came to osborne on the th of december--one can imagine his meeting with the widowed queen. on the th of january, , occurred the terrible hartley colliery accident, by which upwards of two hundred miners perished. the queen's grief for the prince was not a month old when she telegraphed from osborne her "tenderest sympathy for the poor widows and mothers." the prince of wales left osborne on the th of february in strict privacy to accomplish the tour in the east projected for him by his father. the prince was accompanied by dean stanley, general bruce, &c. in the queen's solitude at osborne princess alice continued to be the great medium of communication between her majesty and her ministers. (_times_.) the opening of the second great exhibition in the month of may must have been full of painful associations. at the state ceremony on the first day the royal carriages with mourning liveries were empty, but for the crown prince of prussia, prince oscar of sweden, and the duchess of cambridge with her daughters. tennyson's ode was sung. it contained the pathetic lines-- "o silent father of our kings to be, mourned in this golden hour of jubilee, for this, for all we weep our thanks to thee." it was decided that the queen's birthday should be spent at balmoral, a practice which became habitual. dr. norman macleod was summoned north to give what consolation he could to his sorrowing queen. he has left an account of one of their interviews. "may th. after dinner i was summoned unexpectedly to the queen's room; she was alone. she met me, and, with an unutterable expression which filled my eyes with tears, at once began to speak about the prince.... she spoke of his excellences, his love, his cheerfulness, how he was everything to her; how all now on earth seemed dead to her...." on the th of june the prince of wales arrived in england from his eastern tour. a melancholy incident occurred on his return--general bruce, who had been labouring under fever, died soon after reaching england on the th of june. another sad death happened four days later--that of lord canning, governor-general of india. he had also just come back to england. he survived his wife only six months. princess alice's marriage, which had been delayed by her father's death, took place at osborne at one o'clock on the afternoon of the st of july, in strict privacy. the ceremony was performed by the archbishop of york in room of the sick archbishop of canterbury. the queen in deep mourning appeared only for the service. near her was the crown princess of prussia--already the mother of three children--and her majesty's four sons. the father and mother, brothers and sister of the bridegroom, and other relatives, were present. the duke of saxe-coburg in the prince consort's place led in the bride. her unmarried sisters, princesses helena, louise, and beatrice, and the bridegroom's only sister, princess anna of hesse, were the bridesmaids. prince louis was supported by his brother, prince henry. the guests were all gone by four o'clock. no contrast could be greater than that of the brilliant and glad festivities at the princess royal's wedding and the hush of sorrow in which her sister was married. the young couple went for three days to st. clare, near ryde, and left england in another week. the english people never forgot what princess alice had proved in the hour of need, and her departure was followed by prayers and blessings. in august the queen was at balmoral with all her children who were in this country. on the st she drove in a pony carriage, accompanied by the elder princes and princesses on foot and on ponies, to the top of craig lowrigan, and each laid a stone on the foundation of the prince consort's cairn. on the late prince's birthday another sad tender pilgrimage was made to the top of craig gowan to the earlier cairn celebrating the taking of the malakoff. her majesty, whose health was still shaken and weakened, sailed on the st of september for germany. she was accompanied by the prince of wales, prince arthur, and prince leopold, princesses helena, louise, and beatrice, and the princess hohenlohe. during the queen's stay with her uncle, king leopold, at laeken, in passing through belgium, she had her first interview with her future daughter-in-law, princess alexandra of denmark. the princess with her father and mother drove from brussels to pay a private visit to her majesty. the queen's destination in germany was reinhardtsbrunn, the lovely little hunting-seat among the thuringian woods and mountains, which had so taken her fancy on her first happy visit to germany. there she was joined by the crown prince and princess of prussia and their children, prince louis and princess alice, and prince alfred. her majesty could not quit germany without revisiting coburg, hard as the visit must have been to her. one of the chief inducements was to go to one who could no longer come to her, the aged baron stockmar, whose talk was still of "the dear good prince," and of how soon the old man would rejoin the noble pupil cut off in the prime of his gifts and his usefulness. prince and princess louis of hesse spent the winter with the queen in england, and in the month of november princess alexandra of denmark paid a short visit to her majesty, when the princess's youthful beauty and sweetness won all hearts. early in the morning on the th of december the prince consort's remains were removed from the entrance of the vault beneath st. george's chapel to the mausoleum already prepared for them at frogmore. the ceremony, which was attended by the prince of wales, prince arthur, prince leopold, and prince louis of hesse, was quite private. prince alfred had a severe attack of fever in the mediterranean. the duchess of sutherland presented the queen with a bible from "many widows of england," and to "all those kind sister widows" her majesty expressed the deep and heartfelt gratitude of "their widowed queen." as a consequence of the failure of the cotton crop in america, caused by the civil war rending the country asunder, the lancashire operatives were in a state of enforced idleness and famine, calling for the most strenuous efforts to relieve them. when parliament was opened by commission on the th of february, , the queen's speech announced the approaching marriage of the prince of wales. on the th of march princess alexandra, accompanied by her father and mother, brother and sister, arrived at gravesend, where the prince of wales met her. bride and bridegroom drove, on the chill spring day which ended in rain, through decorated and festive london, where great crowds congregated to do the couple honour. in the afternoon at windsor the queen was seen seated with her two younger daughters at a window of the castle which commanded the entrance drive. the little party waited there in patient expectation till it grew dark. on tuesday, the th of march, the marriage took place in st. george's chapel. the queen in her widow's weeds occupied the royal closet, from which she could look down on the actors in the ceremony. she was attended by the widow of general bruce. among the english royal family were prince and princess louis of hesse, and the crown princess of prussia leading her little son, prince william. the prince of wales, who wore a general's uniform with the star of the garter, was supported by the duke of saxe-coburg and the crown prince of prussia. princess alexandra came in the last carriage with her father, prince christian of denmark, and the duke of cambridge. the bride's dress was of white satin, and honiton lace, with a silver moiré train. she had a wreath of orange-blossoms and myrtle. she wore a necklace, earrings, and brooch of pearls and diamonds, the gift of the prince of wales, rivières of diamonds, the city of london's gift, an opal and diamond bracelet, presented by the queen, &c., &c. the bride's train was borne by eight unmarried daughters of english dukes, marquises, and earls. princess alexandra was in her nineteenth, the prince of wales in his twenty-second year. on reaching the _haut pas_, the bride made a deep reverence to the queen. during the service her majesty was visibly affected. indeed an interested spectator, dr. norman macleod, remarked as a characteristic feature of the marriage that all the english princesses wept behind their bouquets to see--not the prince of wales, not the future king, but their brother, their father's son, standing alone before the altar waiting for his bride. the bride and bridegroom on leaving the chapel occupied the second of the twelve carriages, and were preceded by the lord chamberlain, &c., &c. her majesty received her son and new daughter at the grand entrance. the wedding breakfast for the royal guests was in the dining-room, for the others in st. george's hall. at four the prince and princess of wales left in an open carriage drawn by four cream- coloured horses for the station, where the crown princess of prussia had already gone to bid her brother and his bride good-bye, as they started for osborne to spend their honeymoon. that night there were great illuminations in london and in all the towns large and small in the kingdom. thousands of hearts echoed the poet-laureate's eloquent words-- sea kings daughter from over the sea, alexandra. saxon and norman and dane are we, but all of us danes in our welcome to thee, alexandra. among the princess of wales's wedding presents was a parure of splendid opals and brilliants from a design by the late prince consort, given in his name as well as in the queen's. the town and country houses selected for the prince and princess of wales were marlborough house and sandringham. on the th of april princess alice's first child, a daughter, was born at windsor. on the th of may the queen paid a visit to the military hospital at netley, in which the prince consort had been much interested. her majesty left england on the th of august for belgium and germany. she was accompanied by the princes alfred and leopold and the princesses helena and beatrice. their destination was rosenau, near coburg, where the queen was again joined by the crown prince and princess of prussia and prince and princess louis of hesse. in the house which was so dear and so sad, the late prince's birthplace, his widow and children spent his birthday. during the queen's stay in coburg she went to see the widow of baron stockmar, and mr. florschütz, the late prince's tutor. the venerable superintendent meyer was still alive and able to preach to her. her majesty's health continued feeble, but she was able to receive visits at rosenau from the king of prussia and the emperor of austria. she quitted coburg on the th of september, spending the th at kranichstein, near darmstadt, the country house of princess alice and her husband. later on in autumn the queen with nearly the whole of her family was at balmoral and abergeldie. the cairn on craig lowrigan was finished. it formed a pyramid of granite thirty feet high, seen for many a mile. the inscription was as follows:-- "to the beloved memory of albert, the great and good, prince consort, raised by his broken-hearted widow, victoria b., august , . he being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time, for his soul pleased the lord, therefore hastened he to take him away from among the wicked. _wisdom of solomon, iv. , ._ the appropriate verse is said to have been suggested by the princess royal. immediately after her majesty's arrival at balmoral she went to blair to see the duke of athole, who was hopelessly ill with cancer in the throat. the poor duke bore up bravely. he had to receive the queen in his own room, "full of his rifles and other implements and attributes of sport now for ever useless to him." but he was able to present the white rose, the old tribute from the lords of athole to their sovereign, and he was gratified by the gracious and kindly mark of attention shown in her majesty's visit. he insisted on accompanying her to the station, where she gave him her hand, saying, "dear duke, god bless you." he had asked permission that the same men who had gone with the queen and the prince consort through the glen two years before might give her a cheer. "oh! it was so dreadfully sad," was the queen's comment in her journal. about three weeks afterwards, on the th of october, the queen had an alarming accident. she was returning from altnagiuthasach with two of her daughters in the darkness of an autumn evening, when the carriage was upset in the middle of the moorland. her majesty was thrown with her face on the ground, but escaped with some bruises and a hurt to one of her thumbs. no one else was injured. the ladies sat down in the overturned carriage after the traces had been cut and the coachman despatched for assistance. there was no water to be had, nothing but claret to bathe the queen's hand and face. in about half an hour voices and horses' hoofs were heard. it was the ponies which had been sent away before the accident, but the servant who accompanied them, alarmed by the non-appearance of the queen and by the sight of lights moving about, rode back to reconnoitre. her majesty and the princesses mounted the ponies, which were led home. at balmoral no one knew what had happened; the queen herself told the accident to her two sons-in- law who were at the door awaiting her. six days afterwards the queen made her first appearance in public since the prince's death a year and nine months before, at the unveiling of his statue in aberdeen. she was accompanied by the crown prince and princess of prussia, prince and princess louis of hesse, princesses helena and louise, and princes arthur and leopold. the day was one of pouring rain, and the long silent procession was sad and strange. the queen was trembling; she had no one as on former occasions to direct and support her. she received the provost's address, and returned a written reply. she conferred the honour of knighthood on the magistrate, the first time she had performed the ceremony "since all was ended." on the th of december the queen and her family visited the mausoleum, [footnote: dr. norman macleod describes an earlier visit in march, "i walked with lady augusta to the mausoleum to meet the queen. she was accompanied by princess alice. she had the key, and opened it herself, undoing the bolts, and alone we entered and stood in silence beside marochetti's beautiful statue of the prince. i was very much overcome. she was calm and quiet."] to which she went constantly on every return to windsor. princess alice in her published letters calls the sarcophagus--with the exquisite decorations which were in progress, and cost more than two hundred thousand pounds paid from her majesty's private purse--"that wonderfully beautiful tomb" by which her mother prayed. it became the practice to have a religious service celebrated there in the presence of the queen and the royal family on the anniversary of the prince's death. in december lady augusta bruce left the queen's service on her marriage with dean stanley. on the night of the rd of december thackeray died. prince albert victor of wales was born unexpectedly at frogmore, where the prince and princess of wales then resided occasionally, on the th of january, . the child was baptised in the chapel at buckingham palace on the first anniversary of his parents' marriage, as the princess royal had been baptised there on the first anniversary of the queen and prince albert's marriage. the queen and the old king of the belgians were present among the sponsors. when the queen went north this year she was accompanied by the duke and duchess of saxe-coburg. on the th of march, , her majesty visited the hospital for consumption at brompton, walking over the different wards and speaking to the patients. the news of the assassination of president lincoln reached england in april, when the queen became, as she has so often been, the mouthpiece of her subjects, writing an autograph letter expressing her horror, pity, and sympathy to mrs. lincoln. prince alfred on the th of august, his twenty-first birthday, was formally acknowledged heir to his childless uncle, the duke of saxe- coburg. two days later the queen embarked with prince leopold, the three younger princesses, the duchess of roxburgh, lady churchill, &c., &c., at woolwich for germany. she arrived at coburg on the th and went to rosenau. on the th, the birthday of the prince consort, perhaps the most interesting of all the inaugurations of monuments to his memory took place at coburg. a gilt-bronze statue ten feet high was unveiled with solemn ceremony in the square of the little town which prince albert had so often traversed in his boyhood. after the unveiling, the queen walked across the square at the head of her children and handed to the duke of saxe-coburg flowers which he laid on the pedestal. each of her sons and daughters followed her example, till "the fragrant mass" rose to the feet of the statue. princess alice writes of "the terrible sufferings" of the first three years of the queen's widowhood, but adds that after the long storm came rest, so that the daughter could tenderly remind the mother, without reopening the wound, of the happy silver wedding which might have been this year when the royal parents would have been surrounded by so many grandchildren in fresh young households. while the queen was in the highlands during the autumn, her journal, in its published portions, records a few days spent with the widowed duchess of athole at her cottage at dunkeld. this visit was something very different from the old royal progresses. it was a private token of friendship from the queen to an old friend bereaved like herself. there was neither show, nor gaiety, nor publicity. the life was even quieter than at balmoral. her majesty breakfasted with the daughter who accompanied her, lunched and dined with the princess, the duchess, and one or more ladies. there were long drives, rides, and rows on the lochs--sometimes in mist and rain, among beautiful scenery, like that which had been a solace in the days of deepest sorrow, tea among the bracken or the heather or in some wayside house, friendly chats, peaceful readings. this year princess helena was betrothed to prince christian of schleswig-holstein-sonderburg, a brother of the husband of her cousin, princess adelaide of hohenlohe. the family connection and the personal character of the bridegroom were high recommendations, while the marriage would permit the princess to remain in england near her mother. chapter xxxviii. deaths of lord palmerston and the king of the belgians--the queen again opens parliament in person, &c., &c. the prime minister so long connected with the queen, lord palmerston, energetic to the last, died at brockett hall on the th of october. a still greater loss befell her majesty in the month of december--a marked month in her history. king leopold died on the th at laeken, within a few days of attaining his seventy-sixth year, the last of a family of nine sons and daughters. he had been cured of a deadly disease by a painful and dangerous operation two years before. he had suffered afterwards from a slight shock of paralysis, which had not prevented him from coming to england to be present at the baptism of prince victor of wales, the fifth generation, counting that of george iii., which king leopold had known in connection with the english throne. in addition to his fine mental qualities, he was singularly active in his habits to the end. he walked thirty miles, and shot for six hours in winter snow, after he had entered his seventy-fifth year. though the queen must have been prepared for the event, and his death was peaceful, it was a blow to her--much of her early past perished with her life-long friend and counsellor. in the queen opened parliament in person for the first time since the death of the prince consort, and there was a great assemblage to hail her reappearance when she entered, not by the state, but by the peers' entrance. there were none of the flourishes of trumpets which had formerly announced her arrival--solemn silence prevailed. she did not wear the robes of state, they were merely laid upon the throne. her majesty was accompanied by the princesses helena and louise. when the queen was seated on the throne the prince of wales took his seat on her right, while the princesses stood on her left. behind the queen was the duchess of wellington, as mistress of the robes, and a lady in waiting. her majesty's dress was dark purple velvet bordered with ermine; she wore a tiara of diamonds with a white gauze veil falling down behind. the speech, which in one passage announced the coming marriage of princess helena and prince christian (who sat near the end of one of the ambassadors' benches) was read by the lord chancellor. the parliament granted to prince alfred an annuity of fifteen thousand pounds--voted in turn to each of his younger brothers on their coming of age--and to princess helena a dowry of thirty thousand and an annuity of six thousand pounds, similar to what had been granted to princess alice and was to be voted to princess louise. in march the queen instituted the "albert medal," as a decoration for those who had saved life from shipwreck and from peril at sea, and for the first time during five-years revisited the camp at aldershot and reviewed the troops. she was accompanied by princess helena and the princess hohenlohe, who was on a visit to england. queen amélie died at claremont on the th of march, aged eighty-three years. on the th of may prince alfred was created earl of ulster, earl of kent, and duke of edinburgh. the princess mary of cambridge was married to the prince of teck on the th of june, in the presence of the queen, in the parish church of kew, where the bride had been confirmed, "among her own people." parliament granted her an annuity of five thousand pounds. another marriage, that of princess helena, was celebrated in st. george's chapel, windsor, by the archbishop of canterbury and the bishop of london, on the th of july. the bridegroom was supported by prince frederick of schleswig-holstein and prince edward of saxe- weimar. the bride entered between her majesty and the prince of wales. the usual eight noble bridesmaids followed. prince christian was in his thirty-sixth, princess helena in her twenty-first year. their home has been first at frogmore and afterwards at cumberland lodge. while the german war which had schleswig-holstein for a bone of contention was still only threatening, the crown princess of prussia lost a fine child, prince sigismund. afterwards the queen had the pain of seeing her married children, with their unfailing family affection, inevitably ranged on different sides in the war. princess alice trembled before the fear of a widowhood like her mother's as the sound of the firing of the prussian army, which lay between the wife at home and the husband in the field, was heard in darmstadt. the quiet little town fell into the hands of the enemy, and was at once poverty and pestilence stricken, small-pox and cholera having broken out in the hospitals, where the princess was labouring devotedly to succour the wounded. in such circumstances, while the standard of her husband's regiment lay hidden in her room, princess louis's third daughter was both. happily peace was soon proclaimed. in honour of it the baby, princess irene, whose godfathers were the officers and men of her father's regiment, received her name. this year hanover ceased to be an independent state, and became annexed to prussia. dr. norman macleod has a bright little picture of an evening at balmoral in . "the queen sat down to spin at a nice scotch wheel while i read robert burns to her, 'tam o' shanter,' and 'a man's a man for a' that'--her favourite." her majesty sent her miniature with an autograph letter to the american citizen, mr. peabody, in acknowledgment of his magnificent gift of model lodging-houses to the working people of london. in the queen again opened parliament in person, her speech being read by the lord chancellor. the grievous accident of the breaking of the ice in regent's park, when it was covered with skaters and spectators, took place on the th of january. "the early tears of the prince consort," the first instalment of his "life," brought out under the direction of general grey, with much of the information supplied by the queen, was published, and afforded a nobler memorial to the prince than any work in stone or metal. on the th of may her majesty laid the foundation of the albert hall. she was accompanied by the princesses louise and beatrice, prince leopold, and prince christian, and received by the lord steward, the lord chamberlain, and the queen's elder sons. the latter presented her with a bouquet, which she took, kissing her sons. in reply to the prince of wales's speech her majesty spoke in accents singularly inaudible for her. she mentioned the struggle she had undergone before she had brought herself to take part in that day's proceedings, but said she had been sustained by the thought that she was thus promoting her husband's designs. in june and july the queen of prussia and the sultan of turkey came in turn to england. the latter was with her majesty in her yacht at a great naval review held in most tempestuous weather off spithead. in the end of july the empress of the french paid a short private visit to her majesty at osborne. on the th of august the queen left for balmoral. on her way north she spent a few days with the duke and duchess of roxburgh at fleurs, when her majesty visited melrose and abbotsford. after inspecting with great interest the memorials of sir walter scott, who had been presented to her when she was a little girl at kensington palace, she complied with a request that she should write her name in the great author's journal, adding the modest comment in her own journal that she felt it presumption in her to do so. during the autumn the queen paid an informal visit to the duke of richmond's shooting lodge in glen fiddich. on the first evening of her stay the break with the luggage failed to appear, and her majesty had to suffer some of the half-comical inconveniences of ordinary travellers. she had to dine in her riding skirt, with a borrowed black lace veil arranged as a head-dress, and she had to go to bed without the necessary accompaniments to her toilette. in the terrible news from mexico that the emperor maximilian (archduke of austria and husband of the queen's cousin, princess charlotte of belgium) had been shot by his rebel subjects, while his wife was hopelessly insane, rendered it a mercy to all interested in the family that old king leopold had not lived to see the wreck of so many hopes. in the queen gave to her people the first "leaves" from her journal in the highlands, which afforded most pleasant glimpses of the wonderfully happy family life, the chief holidays of which had been spent at balmoral. her majesty sent a copy to charles dickens, with the graceful inscription that it was the gift of "one of the humblest of writers to one of the greatest." on the th of may the queen laid the foundation stone of st. thomas's hospital, and on the th she held a great review of twenty-seven thousand volunteers in windsor park. instead of her mother or her little children, her daughter-in-law and grown-up daughters, the princess of wales, princess christian, and princess louise, were in the carriage with her, while in room of her husband and her brother or cousin, her two soldier sons rode one on each side of the carriage. on the th of july her majesty, whose health required change of air and scene, left for switzerland, which must have possessed a great attraction to so ardent an admirer of mountain scenery. she went incognito as countess of kent. she was accompanied by prince leopold and the princesses louise and beatrice. the queen travelled in her yacht to cherbourg, and thence by railway to paris, where she stayed all day in seclusion in the house of the english ambassador, receiving only a private visit from the empress eugénie--a different experience of paris from the last. the queen continued her journey in the evening to basle, and from basle to lucerne, where for nearly two months she occupied the pension wallis, delightfully situated on the hill gibraltar above the lake. she made numerous enjoyable excursions on her pony "sultan" to the top of the rhigi, and in the little steamboat _winkelried_ on the lovely lake of the four cantons, under the shadow of pilatus, to william tell's country--she even ventured as far as the desolate, snow-crowned precipices of the engelberg. her majesty returned by paris, driving out to st. cloud, and being much affected as she walked in the grounds, but not venturing to enter the house, where she had lived with the prince during her happy fortnight's visit to her ally in the crimean war. three days after her arrival in england the queen proceeded as usual to balmoral, where she took a lively interest in all the rural and domestic affairs which stood out prominently in the lives of her humbler neighbours. the passages from her journal in this and in subsequent years are full of graphic, appreciative descriptions of the stirring incidents of "sheep-juicing," "sheep-shearing," the torchlight procession on "hallowe'en," a "house-warming;" of the grave solemnity of a scotch communion, and the kindliness and pathos of more than one cottage "kirstenin," death-bed, and funeral, with the simple piteous tragedy of "a spate" in which two little brothers were drowned. considerable excitement was caused in the house of commons during the debate on the disestablishment of the irish church, by the premier, mr. disraeli, mentioning the queen's name in connection with an interview he had with her on his resignation of office and on the dissolution of parliament. the conduct of mr. disraeli was stigmatised as unconstitutional both in advising a dissolution of parliament and in apparently attempting to shift the responsibility of the situation from the government to the crown. the queen lost by death this year her old mistress of the robes, one of the earliest and most attached of her friends, harriet, duchess of sutherland. in september, , her majesty, with the princesses louise and beatrice, paid a ten days' visit to invertrosachs, occupying lady emily macnaghten's house, and learning to know by heart loch katrine, loch lomond, &c., &c. in november the queen was in the city after a long absence, for the double purpose of opening blackfriars bridge and the holborn viaduct. happily for the cheering multitudes congregated on the occasion the day was bright and fair though cold, so that she could drive in an open carriage accompanied by her younger daughters and prince leopold. the queen still wore deep mourning after eight years of widowhood, and her servants continued to have a band of crape on one arm. her majesty was received by the lord mayor, &c., &c. after blackfriars bridge had been declared open for traffic her carriage passed across it, followed by his. the same ceremony was performed at the holborn viaduct. this season the prince of wales revisited the east, accompanied by the princess. in the queen signed the order in council resigning the royal prerogative over the army. on the th may her majesty opened the university of london. she was received by earl granville and mr. grote. baboo keshub shunder sen was conspicuous among the company. the queen received an address, said in a clear voice "i declare this building open," and the silver trumpets sounded. charles dickens died on the th of june. the franco-german war, in which the crown prince of prussia and prince louis of hesse were both engaged with honour, happily this time on the same side, was filling the eyes of europe; and before many months had passed since "_die wacht am rhein_" had resounded through the length and breadth of germany, the empress of the french arrived in england as a fugitive, to be followed ere long by the emperor. in the autumn at balmoral, princess louise, with the queen's consent, became engaged to the marquis of lorne, eldest son of the duke of argyle. the proposal was made and accepted during a walk from the glassalt shiel to the dhu loch. in november the queen visited the empress at chislehurst. during the war, while the number of the french wounded alone in darmstadt amounted to twelve hundred, and princess alice was visiting the four hospitals daily, her second son was born. the death of sir james clark, at bagshot, was the snapping to the queen of another of the links which connected the present with the past. in the queen again opened parliament in person, with her speech read by the lord chancellor. as described by an eye-witness, her majesty sat "quite still, her eyes cast down, only a slight movement of the face." the approaching marriage of the princess louise was announced, and reference was made to the fact that the king of prussia had become emperor of germany. for the first time since the death of the prince consort, the queen spent the anniversary of their marriage-day at windsor. on the st of march princess louise was married in st george's chapel, windsor, to the marquis of lorne. the bridegroom was supported by earl percy and lord ronald leveson-gower. the bride walked between the queen and the duke of saxe-coburg. her majesty by a gesture gave away her daughter. princess louise was twenty-three, lord lorne twenty-six years of age. the princess has rooms in kensington palace for her london residence. eight days afterwards the queen opened the albert hall. on the rd of april her majesty visited the emperor of the french at chislehurst--a trying interview. on the st of june the queen opened st. thomas's hospital, knighting the treasurer. this summer the emperor and empress of brazil visited london, while the tichborne trial was running its long course. on the queen's return from balmoral in november, she was met by the alarming tidings that the prince of wales lay ill of typhoid fever at sandringham. the queen went to her son on the th and remained for a few days. the disease seemed progressing favourably, and she returned to windsor in the beginning of december, leaving the invalid devotedly nursed by the princess of wales and princess alice--who had been staying with her brother when the fever showed itself, and by the duke of edinburgh. on the th there was a relapse, when the queen and the whole of the royal family were sent for to sandringham. during many days the prince hovered between life and death. the sympathy was deep and universal. the reading of the bulletins at the mansion house was a sight to be remembered. a prayer was appointed by the archbishop of canterbury for "albert edward prince of wales, lying upon the bed of sickness," and for "victoria our queen and the princess of wales in this day of their great trouble." supplications were sent up alike in catholic churches and jewish synagogues. on the night of wednesday the th, a date which had been dreaded as that of the prince consort's death ten years before, a slight improvement took place, sleep at last was won, and gradual recovery established. the queen returned to windsor on the th, and wrote on the th of december to thank her people for their sympathy. on the th of february, , the governor-general of india, lord mayo, was assassinated. the th was the thanksgiving day for the prince of wales's recovery. no public sight throughout her majesty's reign was more moving than her progress with the prince and princess of wales and princess beatrice to and from st. paul's. the departure from buckingham palace was witnessed by the emperor and empress of the french, who stood on a balcony. the decorated streets were packed with incredible masses of people, the cheering was continuous. the queen wore white flowers in her bonnet and looked happy. the prince insisted on lifting his hat in return for the people's cheers. the royal party were met at temple bar by the lord mayor and a deputation from the common council. the city sword was presented and received back again, when the chief magistrate of london remounted and rode before the queen to st. paul's. thirteen thousand persons were in the city cathedral. the pew for the queen and the prince was enclosed by a brass railing. the _te deum_ was sung by a picked choir. there was a special prayer, "we praise and magnify thy glorious name for that thou hast raised thy servant albert edward prince of wales from the bed of sickness." the sermon was preached by the archbishop of canterbury. the return was led by the lord mayor and aldermen to the bounds of the city. when buckingham palace was reached the queen showed herself with the prince for a moment on the central balcony. there was an illumination in the evening. on the th of february, as the queen was returning from a drive in the park, having come down constitution hill and entered the courtyard, when about to alight, a lad with a paper in one hand and a pistol in the other rushed first to the left and then to the right side of the carriage, with arms extended to the queen, who sat quite unmoved. her majesty's attendant, john brown, seized the assailant. he was a half-witted irish lad, named arthur o'connor, about seventeen years of age, who had been a clerk to an oil and colour merchant. he had climbed over the railings. there was no ball in the pistol, which was broken. the paper was a petition for the fenians. the public indignation was great against the miserable culprit, who was dealt with as in former outrages of the kind, according to the nature of the offence and with reference to the mental condition of the offender. the queen, who had been about to institute a medal as a reward for long and faithful service among her domestics, gave a gold medal and an annuity of twenty-five pounds to john brown for his presence of mind and devotion on this occasion. her majesty had gone to balmoral for her birthday, and was still there on the th of june when she heard of the death of her valued friend, dr. norman macleod. he had preached to her and dined with her so recently as the th of may. what his loss was to her she has expressed simply and forcibly in a passage in her journal.... "when i thought of my dear friend dr. macleod and all he had been to me--how in , ' , ' , he had cheered and comforted and encouraged me--how he had ever sympathised with me ... and that this too like so many other comforts and helps was for ever gone, i burst out crying." on the st of july the queen, accompanied by the duke of edinburgh and prince leopold and the two younger princesses, visited the albert memorial, hyde park, which was complete save for the statue. three days afterwards, in very hot weather, her majesty was present at a great review at aldershot. chapter xxxix. stay at holyrood--deaths of princess hohenlohe and of prince frederick of darmstadt--marriage of the duke of edinburgh. the queen arrived at holyrood on the th of august, and made a stay of a few days in edinburgh for the first time during eleven years. a suite of rooms called the "argyle rooms" had been freshly arranged for her occupation. she went over queen mary's rooms again for the gratification of princess beatrice, and with the princess and prince leopold took the old drives to dalkeith and leith which her majesty had first taken thirty years before. a favourite project in the past had been that her majesty should go so far north as to visit dunrobin, and rooms had been prepared for her reception. when the visit was paid the castle was in the hands of another generation, and the queen laid the foundation stone of a cross erected to the memory of the late duchess. soon after her majesty's return to balmoral, on the rd september, she had the grief to receive a telegram announcing the death of her sister, princess hohenlohe. though not more than sixty-five years of age the princess had been for some time very infirm. she had received a great shock in the previous spring from the unexpected death by fever, at the age of thirty-three, of her younger surviving daughter, princess feodore, the second wife of the duke of saxe-meiningen. the emperor napoleon iii, who had long been labouring under sore disease, laid down his wearied and vanquished life at chislehurst on the th of january, . the coming marriage of the duke of edinburgh to the grand duchess marie of russia was announced to parliament. on the nd of april the queen was present at the opening of the victoria park. prince arthur was created duke of connaught. a fatal accident to the younger son of prince and princess louis of hesse happened at darmstadt on the th of may. the nurse had brought the children to see the princess while she was in bed, and had left the two little boys playing beside her. the windows of the bedroom and of a dressing-room beyond were open. princess louis, hearing prince ernest, the elder brother, go into the dressing-room, leapt out of bed and hurried after him. in her momentary absence prince frederick, between two and three years of age, leant out of one of the bedroom windows, lost his balance, and fell on the pavement below, receiving terrible injuries, from which he died in a few hours, to the great sorrow of his parents. in september the queen and princess beatrice, with lady churchill and general ponsonby, spent a week at inverlochy, occupying the house of lord abinger at the foot of ben nevis, among the beautiful scenery which borders the caledonian canal, and is specially associated with prince charlie--in pity for whom her majesty loved to recall the drops of stewart blood in her veins. this year more than one figure, well-known in different ways to the queen in former years, passed out of mortal sight--bishop wilberforce, landseer, macready. in january, , the duke of edinburgh was married at the winter palace, st. petersburg, to the grand duchess marie of russia. the duke was in his thirtieth, the grand duchess in her twenty-first year. the royal couple arrived at gravesend on march th, and entered london on march th in a heavy snowstorm. in spite of the weather the queen and the duchess, with the duke of edinburgh and princess beatrice seated opposite, drove slowly through the crowded streets in an open carriage drawn by six horses. the prince and princess of wales, princess louise, &c., were at the windows of buckingham palace. the queen went out with the duke and duchess on the balcony. the duke and duchess's town and country houses are clarence house and eastwell park. in march her majesty, accompanied by all her family in england, reviewed the troops returned from the ashantee war in windsor great park, and gave the orders of st. michael and st. george to sir garnet wolseley and the victoria cross to lord gifford. the first volume of the "life of the prince consort," by sir theodore martin, came out and made a deep impression on the general public. her majesty had for many years honoured with her friendship m. and madame van de weyer, who were the queen's near neighbours at windsor, the family living at the new lodge. in addition they had come for several seasons to abergeldie, when the court was at balmoral. m. van de weyer was not only the trusted representative of the king of the belgians, he was a man highly gifted morally and intellectually. this year the friendship was broken by his death. on the th of october the duke and duchess of edinburgh's son--was born. the news of livingstone's death reached england. early in prince leopold, then twenty-two years of age, suffered from typhoid fever. so great were the fears entertained for his life that the queen was prevented from opening parliament in person. already princess alice in her letters had referred to her youngest brother as having been three times given back to his family from the brink of the grave. during the spring the queen was deprived by death of her clerk to the council and literary adviser in her first book, sir arthur helps. charles kingsley, whose work was much admired by the prince consort, died also. on the th of august, when the queen was sitting on the deck of the royal yacht as it crossed from osborne to gosport, the yacht _mistletoe_ ran across its bows and a collision took place, the _mistletoe_ turning over and sinking. the sister-in-law of the owner of the yacht was drowned. the master, an old man, who was struck by a spar, died after he had been picked up. the rest of the crew were rescued. her majesty, who was greatly distressed, aided personally in the vain efforts to restore one of the sufferers to consciousness. in september the queen, in paying a week's visit to the duke and duchess of argyle at inverary, had the pleasure of seeing princess louise in her future home. it was twenty-eight years since her majesty had been in the house of maccallummore, and then her son-in-law of to- day had been a little fellow of two years, in black velvet and fair curls. towards the end of the year the prince of wales left for his lengthened progress through her majesty's dominions in india, which was accomplished with much éclat and success. in the queen opened parliament in person. on the th of february her majesty, accompanied by the princess of wales, princess beatrice, and prince leopold, and received by the duke of edinburgh, attended a state concert given in the morning at the albert hall. since the queen had been able gradually to hear and enjoy again the music in which she had formerly delighted, but she had taken the gratification in her domestic life. her royal duties had been only intermitted for the briefest space. every act of beneficence and gracious queenliness had been long ago resumed. but no place of public amusement had seen the face of the widowed queen. lady augusta stanley died, after a lingering illness, on the st of march. it was the close--much lamented from the highest to the lowest-- of a noble and beautiful life. the queen afterwards erected a memorial cross to lady augusta stanley's memory in the grounds at frogmore. on the th of march her majesty, accompanied by princess beatrice, opened a new wing of the london hospital. two days afterwards the statue of the prince consort in the albert memorial was unveiled without any ceremony. the whole memorial thus completed stood, as it stands to-day, one of the most splendid tokens --apart from its artistic merit--of a nation's gratitude and a queen's love. opinions may differ on the use of gilding and colours, as they have been rarely employed in this country, upon the towering facades and pinnacles, and on the choice of the central gilt figure of the prince, colossal, in robes of state. but there can hardly be a doubt as to the striking effect of the magnificent monument taken altogether, especially when it has the advantage of a blue sky and brilliant sunshine, and of the charm of the four white marble groups which surround the pedestal, seen in glimpses through the lavish green of kensington gardens. an engraving of the statue of the prince is given in vol. i., p. . in the end of the month the queen, travelling incognito as countess of kent, having crossed to cherbourg, arrived at baden-baden accompanied by princess beatrice. her majesty visited the princess hohenlohe's grave. she continued her journey to coburg. in passing through paris on her return to england towards the end of april, her majesty had an interview with the president of the french republic. on the st of may the queen was proclaimed empress of india. in the season the empress of germany and the ex-royal family of hanover visited england. on the th of august the queen, with the princes arthur and leopold and princess beatrice, stayed two nights at holyrood for the purpose of unveiling the equestrian statue to the late prince in charlotte square. her majesty recalled the coincidence that the last public appearances of both her husband and mother were in edinburgh--the prince consort in laying the foundation stone of the new post-office in october, , only six weeks before his death, the duchess of kent at the summer volunteer review in . the town was gay and bright and crowded with company. in charlotte square the duke of buccleuch, chairman of the committee, read the address, to which the queen read a reply. on her return to the palace she knighted the sculptor, sir john steel, and professor oakeley, the composer of the chorale which was sung on the occasion. in the evening there was once more a great dinner at holyrood--scotts, kerrs, bruces, primroses, murrays, &c., &c, being gathered round their queen. a month afterwards at ballater, amidst pouring rain, her majesty presented new colours to the th regiment, "royal scots," of which her father was colonel when she was born. she spoke a few kind words to the soldiers, and accepted from them the gift of the old colours, which are in her keeping. on the th december the queen and the princess beatrice paid a visit to lord beaconsfield at hughenden, lunched, and remained two hours, during which the royal visitors planted trees on the lawn. in consequence of fever in the isle of wight her majesty held her christmas at windsor for the first time since the death of the prince consort. on new year's day, , the queen was proclaimed empress of india at delhi. her majesty opened parliament on the th of february. in september, when the war between russia and turkey was raging, her majesty, princess beatrice, the duchess of roxburgh, &c., spent a week at loch maree hotel, enjoying the fine ross-shire scenery, making daily peaceful excursions, to which such a telegram as told of the bombardment of plevna must have been a curious accompaniment. in february, , the queen's grandchild, princess charlotte of prussia, was married at berlin to the hereditary prince of saxe- meiningen, at the same time that her cousin, princess elizabeth of prussia, was married to the hereditary grand duke of oldenburg. on the th june the queen's cousin, who had been the blind king of hanover, died in exile at paris. his body was brought to england and was buried in the royal vault below st. george's chapel, windsor. the queen saw a naval review off spithead in august. in the end of the month the queen, with princess beatrice and prince leopold, stopped at dunbar on the way north in order to pay a visit to the duke and duchess of roxburgh at broxmouth. during her majesty's stay she heard of the death of madame van de weyer at the new lodge, and wrote in her journal, "another link with the past gone! with my beloved one, with dearest uncle leopold, and with belgium." in september a terrible accident occurred in the thames off woolwich, when the _princess alice steamboat_ on a pleasure trip was run down by the _bywell castle_, and about six hundred passengers perished. in the end of the month the queen had the misfortune to lose her old and faithful servant sir thomas biddulph, who died at abergeldie mains. when she went to see him in his last illness and took his hand, he said, "you are very kind to me," to which she answered, pressing his hand, "you have always been very kind to me." the marquis of lorne had been appointed governor-general of canada, for which he and princess louise sailed, arriving at ottawa on the rd of november. already the queen, who was still at balmoral, had heard of the disastrous outbreak of diphtheria in the darmstadt royal family. it attacked every member in succession, the youngest, princess marie, a child of four years of age, dying on the th of november. it was supposed that the duchess had caught the infection from having once, in an abandonment of sorrow for the death of her little daughter, forgotten the necessary precautions, and rested her head on the duke's pillow. her case was dangerous from the first, and she gave orders lest she should die, but did not seem to expect death. in her sleep she was heard to murmur, "four weeks--marie--my father." on the morning before she died she read a letter from her mother. her last words when waking from sleep, she took the refreshment offered her, were, "now i will again sleep quietly for a longer time." then she fell back into the slumber from which she never awoke. she died on the th december, exactly four weeks from the death of her child, and seventeen years from the death of her father. she was thirty-five years of age. princess alice was a woman of rare qualities and remarkable benevolence. the prince of wales and prince leopold went to darmstadt and followed the funeral from the church to the rosenhöhe, where all that was mortal of princess alice rests beside the dust of her children. a fine figure in white marble of the princess, recumbent, clasping her little daughter to her breast, has been placed close to the spot as a token of the loving remembrance of her brothers and sisters. the engraving represents this beautiful piece of monumental sculpture. in the zulu war broke out. on the th of march princess louise of prussia arrived in england, and on the th she was married in st. george's chapel, windsor, in the presence of the queen and all the members of the royal family and the bride's father and mother, prince and princess frederick charles of prussia. the bridegroom was supported by his brothers, the prince of wales and the duke of edinburgh. the bride walked between her father and the crown prince of germany, and was followed by eight noble bridesmaids. the duke of connaught was in his twenty-ninth and princess louise of prussia in her nineteenth year. their residence is bagshot park. twelve days later the queen left with princess beatrice and, travelling by cherbourg and paris, reached lake maggiore on the th. immediately after their arrival the news came of the death, from diphtheria of one of the crown princess of germany's sons, prince waldemar of prussia, a fine boy of eleven years of age. her majesty left on the rd of april, and returned by milan, turin, paris, and cherbourg, to england. chapter xl. birth of the first great-grandchild--marriage of the duke of albany-- conclusion. the queen's first great-grandchild, the child of the princess of saxe- meiningen, was born on the th of may. on her majesty's arrival at balmoral on the nd of may she went to see the granite cross erected to the "dear memory" of alice, duchess of hesse, by her "sorrowing mother" the queen remained at balmoral till after the th of june, when the melancholy tidings arrived that the prince imperial had been killed in the zulu war. her majesty left on the th, and crossed over the tay bridge, which was destroyed in the terrible gale of the th december of the same year. in the queen opened parliament in person. her majesty, accompanied by princess beatrice, left windsor on the th of march for baden-baden and darmstadt. the queen was present at the confirmation of the princesses victoria and elizabeth, and visited the rosenhöhe, where their mother was buried. about the same time the ex-empress eugénie embarked at southampton for the cape of good hope, that she might see the place where her son fell on the anniversary of his death. on the th of april the princess frederica of hanover, elder daughter of the late king, was married to baron von pawel-rammingen, who had been equerry to her father, in st. george's chapel, windsor. the queen and several members of the royal family witnessed the ceremony. in september the duke of connaught and his bride were welcomed to balmoral, and a visit paid to the cairn erected in their honour when their healths were drunk with "three times three" in the presence of the queen, princess beatrice, and the ladies and gentlemen of the household. later in the autumn the childless widow, the empress eugénie, stayed for a little time at abergeldie. at the close of lord beaconsfield published his last novel of "endymion." george eliot died on the nd december, and in thomas carlyle died, on the th of february, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. her majesty's eldest grandson, prince william of prussia, was married at berlin on the th of february to princess augusta victoria of schleswig-holstein. the bride was the granddaughter of the queen's sister, princess hohenlohe, and the niece of prince christian. on march th the emperor of russia was assassinated. lord beaconsfield died on the th of april at his house in curzon street. ten days later the queen and princess beatrice visited hughenden while the vault was still open, and placed flowers on the coffin. in june prince leopold took his seat in the house of peers on his creation as duke of albany. on the th of september president garfield died, after a long struggle, with the effects of his assassination, when the queen wrote to mrs. garfield her indignation and pity as she had expressed them to the widow of president lincoln. in a monument was erected in hughenden church to lord beaconsfield "by his grateful and affectionate sovereign and friend, "victoria r. i. kings love him that speaketh right. proverbs xvi ." the queen's speech on the opening of parliament in announced the approaching marriage of the duke of albany to princess helen of waldeck. on the nd of march, as her majesty was entering her carriage at windsor station, she was fired at by a man named roderick maclean, the ball passing between her majesty and princess beatrice. the criminal, who proved to be of respectable antecedents, was arrested and committed for high treason. he was tried, found not guilty on the plea of insanity, and sentenced to be confined during her majesty's pleasure. much sympathy and indignation were felt, and addresses were voted by both houses of parliament. the queen left with princess beatrice, twelve days afterwards, by portsmouth, cherbourg, and paris for mentone, where her majesty stayed a fortnight. princess helen of waldeck, accompanied by her parents, arrived on the th of april. the king and queen of the netherlands, the bride's brother-in-law and sister, came next day, and the marriage was celebrated on the th of april in st. george's chapel, windsor, before the queen and the royal family. the duke of albany was in his twenty-ninth, and princess helen in her twenty-first year. claremont was assigned to the young couple as their future residence. eight days after the marriage a sad event broke in on the marriage rejoicings; the bride's sister, princess william of wurtemberg, died in childbirth at the age of twenty-three. on the th of may the queen, with princess beatrice, went in state to epping forest, where they were received by the lord mayor, the sheriffs, and the duke of connaught as ranger of the forest. after an address the queen declared the forest dedicated to the people's use. on the same day lord frederick cavendish and mr. burke were assassinated in the phoenix park, dublin. garibaldi died at caprera on the nd of june. the egyptian war broke out, and among the officers who sailed with the troops under sir garnet wolseley in august was the duke of connaught. the duchess and her little daughter were with the queen at balmoral, where anxious days were spent as mother and wife waited for the news of battle. successive telegrams announced that an attack was determined on, that the army had marched, that fighting was going on, and that the enemy had been routed with heavy loss at tel-el-kebir. the queen wrote in her journal "how anxious we felt i need not say, but we tried not to give way.... i prayed earnestly for my darling child, and longed for to-morrow to arrive. read korner's beautiful, '_gebet vor der schlacht_,' '_vater ich rufe dich_,' ('prayer before the battle,' 'father, i call on thee'). my beloved husband used to sing it often...." at last came the welcome telegram, "a great victory, duke safe and well," and a further telegram with details and the concluding sentence, "duke of connaught is well and behaved admirably, leading his brigade to the attack," and great was the joy and thankfulness. in the meantime the duke and duchess of albany had been expected on their first visit after their marriage, and were met at ballater. when their healths were drunk with highland honours, the happy queen asked her son to propose another toast "to the victorious army in egypt" coupled with the duke of connaught's name, and the health was drunk in the hearing of his proud wife and his unconscious infant in her nurse's arms. in november the queen reviewed the troops returned from egypt in st. james park, and afterwards distributed war medals to the officers and men. on the th december her majesty opened the new law courts. she was received by the judges and the representatives of the bar. lord chancellor selborne was raised to the rank of an earl, and knighthood was conferred on the governors of the inns of court. the duke of connaught, accompanied by the duchess, went to fill a military post in india. we have seen that prince leopold, duke of albany, her majesty's fourth and youngest son, who was born on the th of april, , had a delicate childhood and boyhood. he suffered from a tendency to haemorrhage on the slightest provocation. ailments in the joints are apt to accompany such constitutional weakness, and one of prince leopold's knees was affected. as he grew up he was again and again brought to the brink of the grave by sudden and violent fits of indisposition. it is hardly necessary to say that the precariousness of prince leopold's health, combined as it was with an amiable disposition and intellectual gifts, only served to endear him the more to his family and friends. the bodily weakness which set the duke of albany apart from his elder brothers and from lads of his age, which prevented his being regularly trained either as a soldier or a sailor, in the two professions which have been long held fit for princes, made him peculiarly the home-son of the queen, and caused him to be much longer associated with her than he might otherwise have been, in her daily life and in her public appearances during the later years of her reign. it did not follow from this circumstance that prince leopold relinquished an independent career or led an idle life. in , when he was in his twentieth year, he matriculated at oxford, where he kept his terms with credit alike to his original abilities and his conscientious diligence. his honourable and pleasant connection with his university remained a strong tie to the end of his short life, and it was doubtless in relation to oxford that he came sensibly under the influence of mr. buskin. on leaving college prince leopold continued to lead the quiet yet busy life of a scholarly and somewhat artistic young man to whom robust health has been denied. in addition to the many dignities of his rank, including four orders of knighthood, belonging to the garter, the thistle, the star of india, and the order of st. michael and st. george, he became a d.o.l. of oxford in , and in the following year a bencher of lincoln's inn. a less characteristic honour given him was the rank of a colonel in the army. it was a marked feature in prince leopold's individuality, as it had been in that of the prince consort, that he sought to turn all his gifts and pursuits to practical use, not only in the interests of science and art, but in order to improve the condition and increase the happiness of the queen his mother's people. his speeches on the increasing occasions when he took the chair at public meetings in aid of the objects he had at heart, were remarkable in so young a man, not only for good taste and for the amount of carefully acquired knowledge they displayed, but for the spirit of enlightened humanity and benevolence which breathed through them. gradually but surely prince leopold's graceful, well-considered, kindly utterances, with which he was ready whenever his services were required, were making a most favourable and permanent impression on the public which was too soon to mourn his loss. the extension of education and of innocent amusements through all classes, the kyrle society for the fostering of art among the homeliest surroundings, the higher and more general cultivation of music, the introduction of lessons in cookery into the poorest schools; were among the schemes which the duke of albany warmly advocated. the duke's marriage took place, as we have recorded, on the th of april, , and in a daughter was born to him, who received the dear and hallowed name of "alice." in march, , the duke of albany went to cannes in order to escape the spring east winds, leaving the duchess, who was in a delicate state of health, behind him at claremont. he appeared to profit by his stay of a few weeks in the south of france, was unusually well in health and in excellent spirits, entering generally into the society of the place. but on the th of march, in ascending a stair at the cercle nautique, he slipped and fell, injuring his ailing knee in a manner in which he had hurt it several times before. he was conveyed in a carriage to the villa nevada, at which he was residing, and no danger was apprehended, the duke writing with his own hand to the duchess, making light of the accident. during the following night, however, he was observed to breathe heavily, was found to be in a fit, and in a few minutes afterwards, early on the morning of the th of march, , he died in the arms of his equerry, captain perceval. the melancholy news was telegraphed to windsor, and broken to the queen by the master of her household, sir henry ponsonby. under the shock and grief, with which the whole country sympathised, her majesty's first and constant thought seems to have been for the young widow at desolate claremont. the prince of wales started for cannes, and accompanied the remains of his brother to england, the royal yacht _osborne_ landing them at portsmouth. on the arrival of the melancholy cavalcade at windsor, on friday, the th of april, the queen went with her daughters, princess christian and princess beatrice, to the railway station to meet the body of the beloved son who had been the namesake of king leopold, her second father, and the living image in character of the husband she had adored. the coffin was carried by a detachment of the seaforth highlanders through the room in which her majesty awaited the procession, and conveyed to the chapel, where a short service was afterwards held in the presence of the queen and the near relatives of the dead, and where the nearest of all, the widowed duchess, paid one brief last visit to the bier. on the following day, saturday, the th of april, towards noon, the funeral took place, with all the pomp of the late prince's rank, and all the sorrow which his untimely end and many virtues might well call forth. the prince of wales, as chief mourner, was supported by the crown prince of germany, the duke of hesse-darmstadt, prince christian of schleswig-holstein, prince albert victor of wales, and the duke of cambridge. the coffin, with its velvet pall nearly hidden by flowers, was again borne by a party of the seaforth highlanders to the solemn music of chopin's "funeral march" and the firing of the minute-guns, to the principal entrance of st. george's chapel. among the same company that had been assembled when the duke of albany had been married not two years before, were his father-in-law and sister-in- law, the prince of waldeck-pyrmont, and the queen of holland. while the dirge-like music and the booming of the cannon filled the air, the queen in deep mourning entered, leaning on the arm of the princess of wales, and followed by princess christian, the princesses louise and beatrice, and princess frederica of hanover, the royal party being conducted by the lord chamberlain to seats near the choir steps. the duchess of albany and the duchess of edinburgh were unable, from the state of their health, to attend the funeral. as the coffin, every movement of which was regulated by the word of command spoken by the officer appointed for the duty, passed through the screen and entered the choir, the queen and princesses rose as if to greet him who came thus for the last time among them. the rest of the company had remained standing from the moment of the queen's entrance. the dean of windsor read the funeral service. when the choir sang the anthem, "blessed are the departed," the queen again rose. lord brooke, a young man like the prince who was gone, who had been with him at oxford, was one of the most intimate of his friends, and had been named one of the executors of his will, threw, with evident emotion, the handful of earth on the coffin while the dean recited "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." after the singing of the hymn, "lead kindly light," during which her majesty stood, she and the princesses quitted the chapel. garter-king- at-arms having proclaimed the style and titles of the deceased, the coffin was lowered into the vault below st. george's chapel, the prince of wales gazing sadly on its descent. the queen, with her long discipline of sorrow, had in the middle of her affliction preserved her coolness throughout the trying ceremony. prince leopold, duke of albany, had almost completed his thirty-first year. the anniversary of his birthday was on the second day after his funeral. the queen has left her mark on the palaces and humbler houses which have been her homes. in indicating it we have nothing to do with grey windsor in its historical glories, or even in its more picturesque lights. we leave behind the waterloo gallery, the garter-room and the quaint cottages of the poor knights in order to point out the touches which are the tokens of queen victoria's presence. though she dwelt here principally in the bright days of her early reign, the chief signs which she will leave behind her are those of her widowhood and of the faithful heart which has never forgotten its kindred dead. the most conspicuous work of the queen's is the restoration and rechristening of the wolsey chapel. as the albert chapel, the beautiful little building is fall of the thought of him who was once master here. its rich mosaics, stained glass, "pictures for eternity" fretted in marble, scriptural allegories of all the virtues--the very medallions of his children which surmount these unfading pictures, are all in his honour. specially so is the pure white marble figure of the prince, represented as a knight in armour, lying sword in hand, his feet against the hound--the image of loyalty, while round the pedestal is carved his name and state, and the place of his burial, with the epitaph which fits him well, "i have fought the good fight, i have finished my course." in st. george's chapel her majesty has erected five monuments. a recumbent marble figure on an alabaster sarcophagus is to her father, who was so fond of the infant daughter whom he left a helpless baby. a white marble statue, larger than life, in royal robes, is to the man who took the duke of kent's place, leopold i., king of the belgians, of whom his niece could cause to be written with perfect truth "who was as a father to her, and she was to him as a daughter." this statue is reared near the well-known monument to the dead king's never forgotten first wife, princess charlotte of wales. [footnote: princess alice mentions in one of her published letters that king leopold had entertained a wish that he might be buried in england.] the third and fourth monuments are to the queen's aunt and cousin, the good duchess of gloucester and the late king of hanover. the last was executed by the queen's nephew, count gleichen (prince victor hohenlohe). the inscription has several pathetic allusions. "here has come to rest among his kindred, the royal family of england, george v., the last king of hanover." "receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved." "in this light he shall see light." the fifth monument has been raised to a young eastern prince, son of theodore, king of abyssinia, who came to england as a lad and died here "i was a stranger and ye took me in" is the epitaph. at the entrance to the fine corridor which runs round two sides of the quadrangle of the castle, and forms a matchless in-door promenade, is theed's beautiful group of the queen and the prince, conceived and worked out after his death, with the solemn parting of two hearts tenderly attached as the motive of the whole. the figures are not only ideally graceful while the likeness in each is carefully preserved, the expression is beyond praise. the wife clings, in devotion so perfect that impassioned hope contends with chill despair, to the arm of the husband who looks down on her whom he loves best, with fond encouragement and the peace of the blessed already settling on the stainless brow. the inscription is from goldsmith's "deserted village"-- "allur'd to brighter worlds and led the way," it is part of an exquisite passage:-- "and as a bird each fond endearment tries to tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the skies, he tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay, allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way." the corridor, among its innumerable vases, cabinets, and pictures of kings and great men--including a fine portrait of sir walter scott-- has a whole series of pictures illustrating, the leading events of her majesty's life, from her "first council," by wilkie, through her marriage, the baptisms of the princess royal and the prince of wales, the first reception of louis philippe, &c., &c., to the princess royal's marriage. the white drawing-room, said to be a favourite room of her majesty's, is not far from her private sitting-room on the south-east side of the quadrangle which looks out on the long walk and windsor forest, the white drawing-room commanding the home park. going down the stately double avenue of elms called the long walk, a lodge and side walk at no great distance lead to frogmore, with its mausoleum half hidden in luxuriant foliage. in the octagonal building, which forms a cross, and is richly decorated with coloured marbles, is the famous recumbent figure of the prince in white marble by baron marochetti. when the queen's time comes, which her people pray may still be far distant, she will rest by her husband's side, and a similar statue to his will mark where she lies. memorials of princess alice and of her majesty's dead grandchildren are also here. the late duchess of kent is buried in a separate vault beneath a dome supported by pillars of polished granite and surrounded by a parapet with balconies. in the upper chamber, lit from the top by stained glass, is a statue of the duchess, by theed. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the more than four hundred original illustrations and an audio illustration. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) transcriber's note: many of the images in the book have multi-line captions, and the first line of most of them contains attributions (credits) set off by unpaired curly braces. for example, j. a. vinter.} {national portrait gallery. sir rowland hill under a portrait tells us the the portrait of sir rowland hill was by j. a. vinter and hangs in the national portrait gallery. some illustrations have only an artist or only a location. sidenotes have been repositioned to immediately precede the paragraphs in which they occurred. inverted asterisms are indicated by three asterisks ***. table of contents added by transcriber. sixty years a queen. contents page preface iii part one: sixty years a queen chapter i. - . death of william iv.--princess alexandrina victoria summoned to the throne--ignorance of the public about the young queen--her early training--severance of the crown of great britain and hanover--prorogation of parliament--early railways--electric telegraph--the coronation--popular reception of wellington and soult--state of parties--result of general election--rebellion in canada--the earl of durham--debate on vote by ballot. chapter ii. - . lord melbourne's services and character--prevailing discontent of the working classes--its causes--the chartists--riots at newport and elsewhere--fall of the ministry--sir robert peel sent for--the "bedchamber question"--melbourne recalled to office--the penny post--its remarkable success--betrothal of the queen--character of prince albert--announcement to parliament--debates--marriage of the queen and prince albert--war declared with china--capture of chusan--bombardment of the bogue forts--peace concluded under the walls of nankin. chapter iii. - . unpopularity of the whigs--fall of the melbourne ministry--peel's cabinet--the afghan war--murder of sir a. burnes and sir w. macnaghten--the retreat from cabul--annihilation of the british force--the corn duties--the pioneers of free trade--failure of potato crop in ireland--lord john russell's conversion to free trade--peel and repeal--rupture of the tory party--the corn duties repealed--defeat and resignation of the government--review of peel's administration. chapter iv. - . the churches of england and scotland--"tracts for the times"--newman, keble, and pusey--"ten years' conflict" in scotland--disruption of the church--dr. chalmers--rise of the free church--affairs of british india--first sikh war--battles of meeanee, moodkee, ferozeshah, aliwal and sobraon--second sikh war--murder of vans agnew and anderson--battle of ramnuggur--siege and fall of mooltan--battles of chilianwalla and goojerat--annexation of the punjab. chapter v. - . the irish famine--smith o'brien's rebellion--widow cormack's cabbages--the special commission--revival of the chartist movement--the monster petition--its exposure and collapse of the movement--revolutionary movements in britain compared with those in other countries--growing affection for the queen--its causes--royal visit to ireland--the pacifico imbroglio--rupture with france imminent--_civis romanus sum_--lord palmerston's rise--sir robert peel's death--the invention of chloroform. chapter vi. - . prince albert's industry--his proposal for a great exhibition--adoption of the scheme--competing designs--mr. paxton's selected--erection of the crystal palace--colonel sibthorp denounces the scheme--papal titles in great britain--popular indignation--the ecclesiastical titles bill--defeat of ministers on the question of the franchise--difficulty in finding a successor to russell--he resumes office--opening of the great exhibition--its success and close. chapter vii. - . louis napoleon's coup d'État--condemned in the english press--lord palmerston's indiscretion rebuked by the queen--he repeats it and is removed from office--opening of the new houses of parliament--french invasion apprehended--russell's militia bill--defeat and resignation of ministers--the "who? who?" cabinet--death of the duke of wellington--his funeral--the haynau incident--general election--disraeli's first budget--defeat and resignation of ministers--the coalition cabinet--expansion of the british colonies--repeal of the transportation act. chapter viii. - . the "sick man"--position of the eastern question--projects of the emperor nicholas--the custody of the holy places--prince menschikoff's demand--russian invasion of moldo-wallachia--the vienna note--declaration of war by the porte--destruction of the turkish fleet--resignation of lord palmerston--great britain and france declare war with russia--state of the british armaments. chapter ix. - . mr. gladstone's war budget--humiliation and prayer--the invasion of the crimea--the battle of alma--a fruitless victory--effect in england--war correspondents--balaklava--cavalry charges by the heavy and light brigades--"our's not to reason why"--russian sortie--battle of inkermann--breakdown of transport and commissariat--hurricane in the black sea--florence nightingale--fall of the coalition cabinet--lord palmerston forms a ministry--victory of the turks at eupatoria--unsuccessful attack by the allies--death of lord raglan--his character--battle of tchernaya--evacuation of sebastopol--surrender of kars--conclusion of peace. chapter x. - . the lorcha _arrow_--war with china--defeat of the government--dissolution of parliament--palmerston returns to office--startling news from india--mutiny at meerut--the chupatties--loyalty of the sikhs--lord canning's presence of mind--disarmament of sepoys at meean meer--the rising at cawnpore--nana sahib's treachery--the massacre--siege of delhi--the relief of lucknow--death of havelock--sir hugh rose's campaign--the ranee of jhansi--capture and execution of tantia topee--end of the east india company's rule--marriage of the princess royal. chapter xi. - . commercial panic in london--suspension of the bank charter act--the orsini plot--the conspiracy to murder bill--defeat and resignation of the government--lord derby's second administration--disraeli's reform bill--vote of no confidence--defeat and resignation of the government--lord palmerston's second administration--threatened french invasion--the volunteers--the paper duty repealed by the commons and restored by the lords--a constitutional problem--its solution--war with china--british and french defeat at pei-ho--return of lord elgin to china--wreck of the _malabar_--capture of the tangku and taku forts--occupation of tien-tsin--murder of british officers and others--capitulation of pekin--destruction of the summer palace--treaty with china. chapter xii. - . the american civil war--recognition of confederate states as belligerents--english opinion in favour of the confederates--the _trent_ affair--dispatch of troops to canada--death of the prince consort--his last memorandum--the cruiser _alabama_--claims against great britain--arbitration--award unfavourable to great britain--public indignation--marriage of the prince of wales--the schleswig-holstein difficulty--neutrality observed by great britain--popular sympathy with denmark--dissolution of parliament--result of the elections--death of lord palmerston. chapter xiii. - . mr. gladstone's reform bill--the cave of adullam--defeat and resignation of the ministry--retirement of earl russell--lord derby's last administration--disturbance in hyde park--commercial panic--completion of the atlantic cable--mr. disraeli's reform bill--secessions from the cabinet--the fenians--war with abyssinia--retirement of lord derby--the irish state church--dissolution of parliament--liberal triumph--mr. gladstone's cabinet--disestablishment of the irish church--death of lord derby--irish land legislation--national education--army purchase--the ballot bill--adoption of secret voting. chapter xiv. - . the franco-german war--russia seizes her opportunity--the irish university bill--defeat and resignation of ministers--mr. gladstone resumes office--dissolution of parliament--conservative victory--the ashanti war--mr. disraeli's third administration--mr. gladstone retires from the leadership--annexation of the fiji islands--purchase of suez canal shares--visit of the prince of wales to india--the queen's new title--threatening action of russia--the bulgarian massacres--disraeli becomes earl of beaconsfield--the russo-turkish war--great britain prepares to defend constantinople--secession of lord carnarvon and lord derby--the "jingo" party--the berlin congress and treaty--"peace with honour"--massacre at cabul--war with afghanistan--the zulu war--disaster of isandhlana. chapter xv. - . the condition of egypt--mr. goschen's commission--ismail's _coup d'état_--his deposition by the sultan--establishment of the dual control--the first midlothian campaign--commercial and agricultural depression--sudden dissolution of parliament--lord derby joins the liberals--second midlothian campaign--great liberal victory--mr. gladstone's second administration--charles stuart parnell and the irish home rule party--war with afghanistan--battle of maiwand--general roberts's march--defeat of ayub khan and evacuation of cabul and candahar--revolt of the transvaal--battles of laing's nek and majuba hill--establishment of the boer republic--weakness of the conservative opposition--the fourth party--irish affairs--boycotting--a new coercion bill--the irish land bill--resignation of the duke of argyll--death of lord beaconsfield--military revolt in egypt--bombardment of alexandria--expedition against arabi--battles of kassassin and tel-el-kebir--overthrow of arabi. chapter xvi. - . imprisonment of irish members of parliament--assassination of lord frederick cavendish and mr. burke--prevalence of outrages in ireland--a new coercion bill--trial and execution of the phoenix park murderers--the dynamite conspiracy--corrupt practices act--the affairs of egypt--general gordon sent to khartoum--gordon besieged--inaction of the government--relief of khartoum undertaken--too late!--death of gordon--lord wolseley's campaign--abandonment of the soudan--mr. gladstone's reform bill--the question of redistribution of seats--the frontier question in afghanistan--defeat of ministers on the budget and their resignation--lord salisbury's first administration--dissolution of parliament--the irish party and the balance of power--mr. gladstone's third administration--his conversion to home rule--rupture of the liberal party--the home rule bill rejected--dissolution of parliament--unionist victory--lord salisbury's second administration--lord randolph churchill resigns--the round table conference. chapter xvii. - . adoption of the closure by the house of commons--the queen's jubilee--thanksgiving service in westminster abbey--the imperial institute--"parnellism and crime"--appointment of special commission of judges--their report--fall of parnell--disruption of the irish party--deaths of parnell and w. h. smith--the baring crisis--the local government bill--establishment of county councils--free education--death of the duke of clarence--general election--mr. gladstone's fourth midlothian campaign--the newcastle programme--victory of home rulers--the second home rule bill--its rejection by the lords--parish councils and employers' liability acts--mr. gladstone resigns the leadership--lord rosebery becomes prime minister--disunion of ministerialists--defeat and resignation of the government--lord salisbury's third administration--general election--unionist triumph--the eastern question--massacres in armenia--lord rosebery resigns the leadership--trouble in the transvaal--dr. jameson's raid--the german emperor's message--the venezuelan dispute--president cleveland's message. chapter xviii. material progress during the reign--modern locomotion--the bicycle--motor carriages--the proposed channel tunnel--steam navigation--ironclads--the telephone--the phonograph--electricity as an illuminant--photography--its effect on painting and engraving--victorian architecture--absence of principle in design--universal education--its effect on moral character and literary habits--the predominance of fiction--the growth and character of british journalism--the advance of natural science--surgery and medicine--vaccination--antiseptic and aseptic treatment--bacteriology--the röntgen rays--sanitary legislation--conclusion. part two: the diamond jubilee celebrations. chapter i. the central idea of the celebrations--the imperial character of the pageant--the colonial premiers invited--the decorations--influx of visitors--grand stands--precautions against accidents--thanksgiving services on accession day--the queen's arrival in london--night in the streets. chapter ii. the weather--a brilliant day for a brilliant pageant--the queen's message to her people--the colonial procession--the royal procession--loyal enthusiasm--the queen's reception at the city boundary--the service at the steps of st. paul's--the halt at the mansion house--in the borough--return to the palace--presents to the queen--congratulations from abroad--the royal dinner. chapter iii. illuminations in london--festivities in the provinces and the colonies--addresses of congratulation from the lords and commons--gathering of school children on constitution hill--state performance at the opera--the princess of wales's dinners to the poor--state reception--special performance at the lyceum--torchlight evolutions by etonians at windsor--naval review at spithead--the fleet illuminated--the colonial troops at the naval review. chapter iv. the queen's visit to kensington--garden party at buckingham palace--review at aldershot--gift of a battleship--the prince of wales's hospital fund--the jubilee medals--conclusion. the jubilee hymn. index. errata. footnotes. transcriber's notes. sixty years a queen. [illustration: her majesty the queen in her robes of state from the painting by f. winterhalter graciously lent by her majesty specially for "sixty years a queen."] [illustration: sixty years a queen the story of her majesty's reign told by sir herbert maxwell, bart, m.p. illustrated--chiefly from the royal collections by special permission. arranged & printed by eyre & spottiswoode, her majesty's printers, london. published by harmsworth bros. limited, , tudor street, e.c.] [illustration] preface an attempt has been made in the following pages to give a general view of the principal events in the reign of queen victoria and the changes resulting from the development of the means of travel and communication, the accumulation of wealth, the acquirement of political power by the people, and the spread of education among them. in making this attempt the author had to choose between compiling a dry chronicle, and placing before his readers the salient points in a period of rapid and successful progress. he chose the latter; but, in order to carry his purpose into effect within the limits assigned to him, he had to pass in silence over the names of many persons distinguished in politics, science, literature, art, and warfare. those, or the descendants of them, whose achievements entitle them to an honoured place in the annals of their age, will understand that it was possible only to find room for mention of a few of the illustrious band who have contributed to the great work of empire and civilisation. especially in regard to literature, it may be felt that the reference to that department is out of all proportion to its importance. but the subject is so vast that it is almost hopeless to deal with, to any good purpose, in two or three pages. attention has, however, been drawn in the concluding chapter to the effects of universal compulsory education on our national prosperity, moral character, and intellectual life. in respect of its action on the material well-being of the population, it is not unreasonable to attribute to its influence part of the marked decrease in pauperism in the last quarter of a century, even if the more equable diffusion of wealth be reckoned the principal factor in that process. if the results quoted cannot be proved to be the direct outcome of universal education, at all events they synchronise in a remarkable manner with the period of its existence. turning next to the literary habits of the people, it is not possible to doubt the important bearing which recreative reading has upon the national character. we are not, and probably never shall be, a nation of students, but we have become within the limits of the present reign a nation of readers. the press of the country is free--free in a sense that has never been tolerated in any other state. public men and measures are submitted to searching criticism in a degree that would be wholly intolerable but for the general high tone maintained in british journalism. there are few things more remarkable in our civilisation than the abundance of excellent writing supplied to the daily and weekly press, and the sound morality which pervades it. next to the newspaper press, and hardly inferior to it in influence, is the mass of fiction produced year after year in ever-increasing volume. to ascertain how vastly its attractions prevail over those of historical, poetic, philosophic, or scientific works, it is only necessary to consult the returns of any free library. for good or for ill, the thoughts of countless readers, old and young, are continually engaged on the fictitious fortunes, dilemmas, and vicissitudes of imaginary individuals. on the whole, the influence of this literature is harmless and in some degree salutary, though it is true that within recent years a school of novelists has arisen, containing some skilful and attractive writers, who rely on winning popularity by going as near as they dare to the worst kind of realism pursued by certain french authors. it will do incalculable damage, not only to english literature, but to the english character, if the public, in whose hands is the verdict, encourage perseverance in this line. hitherto, in the present century, fiction has been maintained in great britain at a higher level than it has ever touched before. the most popular writers of romance--scott, marryat, thackeray, dickens (not to mention any living authors)--dealt, indeed, with the foibles, crimes, and misfortunes of men and women, but they never failed to keep a high ideal before their readers. their favourite characters were depicted as at war with evil: not always successful, not without frailty, and even folly; but no religion ever preached a purer morality than did these masters in the story-teller's craft. it will be deplorable if people learn to employ their leisure, not in narratives of heroism, self-denial, and innocent love, but in studies of degradation and despair, and restless stirring of sexual problems. some of the most striking and valuable discoveries in physical science receive mention in the course of this narrative, as being among the more memorable features of the reign, but it has been impossible even to allude to countless others, almost as important to the welfare and progress of humanity. less obvious to the general public, but not less remarkable, has been the application of the exact and comparative method to intellectual research, so that, although students still differ, and are likely to continue to the end of time to differ on some of the conclusions at which they arrive, for the first time in the world's history they are of one mind about the right system of enquiry. there are still to be witnessed in the queen's realm those violent contrasts between vast wealth and grinding poverty, which must ever arise in every civilised state in periods of great commercial and productive activity. they are a standing perplexity and distress to philanthropists; but one of the brightest features in the reign of queen victoria, of infinitely deeper significance than the accumulation of riches by the nation and by individuals, is the degree to which that wealth has penetrated the middle and industrial classes. the effect of the application of steam to machinery, which coincided so nearly with the beginning of the present reign, was, indeed, injurious to certain limited industries, but the general result has been a continuous rise in the wages paid to artisans. the first few years of the factory system, coupled with a lamentable ignorance of, and indifference to, sanitary principles, brought a terrible increase of disease, squalor, and suffering in their train. this soon attracted the attention of philanthropists, among whom the leading place must be assigned to the earl of shaftesbury; and year by year the two rival political parties have vied with each other in applying remedial and protective legislation to the evils of overcrowding, insanitary dwellings, and other dangers besetting extraordinary industrial activity. there are slums still, but they must be hunted for, instead of forcing themselves on attention as was the case not long ago in almost every large town. artisans' dwellings, far exceeding in comfort, in solidity, and in sanitation anything that our forefathers may have dreamt of, are now the rule and not the exception. mere quotation of figures will not make clear the increased share of the national wealth which now finds its way into the pockets of the working classes, because the unprecedented cheapness of all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life (intoxicants alone excepted) has raised the buying power of wages in a degree which cannot be estimated. mr. w. h. mallock, a well-known writer on this subject, has recently devoted some close enquiry to it, and has brought out some remarkable results. he quotes the calculation of statisticians upon the income of the nation in , when it was estimated at £ , , , and in , when it was reckoned at £ , , , , having doubled itself in thirty years. he then deducts from these totals the amounts assessed to income-tax, arriving by this process at the total paid in wages (or the total of all incomes under £ ), which was £ , , in , and £ , , in . in those thirty years the wage-earning class had increased in number from , , to , , , or per cent., while the wages paid to them had increased by nearly per cent. in fact the income of the working classes in was about equal to that of the whole nation in , with largely increased purchasing power, owing to reduction in prices. but this does not exhaust the evidence of the diffusion of wealth which has been going on, a process which is apt to be overlooked in the attention attracted to the building up of a few colossal fortunes. mr. mallock shows, by taking the increase in the number of incomes between £ and £ , a year, how greatly the middle classes have increased in numbers. persons assessed for taxation on incomes between these limits have increased in number during the period under consideration from , to , , that is, in a ratio of nearly per cent. it is hardly possible to over-estimate the importance of these figures in their bearing on the prospects of the stability of the present social system in great britain. had this enormous increase in wealth been accumulated in a few hands, it must have given a great impetus to the revolutionary agencies always present under settled governments. but its dispersal among a multitude of owners broadens the foundations of authority, and at the same time acts as a powerful check upon legislation for a limited class. it must be admitted that, side by side with the advance in general welfare, certain less desirable incidents of our civilisation claim attention. one of these is the recurrence of disputes on a large scale between employers and workmen, resulting in industrial strikes far exceeding in extent and intensity anything of the sort that could be organised before the legislature relaxed the laws against conspiracy and combination. although labour disputes are conducted now with a general absence of the violence which almost invariably accompanied them in earlier days, they are not without deplorable results in the losses entailed on the working classes during their continuance, and in the damaging effect they sometimes bring upon the industries affected. but the principle of arbitration is gradually winning its way, and the fact that on several recent occasions recourse to this reasonable method has proved successful in averting a prolonged struggle, encourages the hope that employers and employed are beginning to recognise their common advantage in conciliation. it is less easy to prescribe a remedy for the admitted evil of the excessive aggregation of the people in centres of industry, and the corresponding depletion of the rural districts. this tendency has been at work ever since virgil wrote his-- "o fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, agricolas"-- and perhaps from long before. increased facilities of locomotion, and the stimulus lent by education to intellectual energy, have intensified the movement; but at all events the worst effects of it on the national physique are being mitigated by the attention directed to sanitary engineering. one of the results of general education has been to give greater breadth and accuracy to the popular aspirations for the empire. five and twenty years ago the british colonies were regarded, even by experienced statesmen, with a degree of indifference, which it is difficult for the present generation to realize. it seemed to be assumed that, sooner or later, each of them would throw off the bond attaching it to the mother country, and that nothing was to be gained by maintaining a union of which the value could not be shown in a profit and loss account. a complete change has come over public opinion in this respect. imperial federation is in the air; the precise means by which it is to be secured have not been formulated, but the sentiment is as strong in the general mind of the natives of these islands as it seems to be in that of the queen's subjects in india, in canada, and in australasia. although the presence of a large proportion of the dutch race in our south african colonies renders the feeling in that land less pronounced, it is not unreasonable to hope that even there just laws, wise administration, and the prestige of a mighty empire will prevail to dispel suspicion and establish a lasting harmony. the example of good government, which has been set forth at home during the present reign, is one in which every briton may take a just pride. party politics are as vehement as ever, and sometimes descend into acrimony; but the last traces of corruption have disappeared from public life, and all the acts of administration are open to the most searching scrutiny. not less remarkable is the change which has come over the habits of all classes in regard to alcoholic indulgence, which, throughout the last century and a considerable portion of the present one, remained as a reproach on our social life. formerly, though intemperance was looked on as undesirable, it was not thought discreditable, or, at least, not incompatible with the discharge of the most important offices. but at the present time indulgence in drink is regarded as a bar to all except ordinary manual labour, and even in that department the working man is steadily emancipating himself from the thraldom which, at no distant date, lay so heavily upon all classes. these, and many others such as these, are some of the features which distinguish the longest reign in our annals. so important are they, regarded as affecting the happiness of millions of human beings, that the remarkable length of the reign sinks into secondary moment compared with its character. it has been an age of material progress more swift and political change more permanent than any which preceded it, and there have not been wanting those who viewed each successive step in the movement with apprehension, predicting disaster to cherished institutions--to the monarchy itself. the result, so far, has been to falsify those predictions. the british monarchy reposes at present on surer foundations than military prowess or legislative sagacity can supply; it rests on the genuine affection of the people. power has been committed to them during these sixty years in no illiberal measure; in a very practical sense they are masters, under the almighty, of the destiny of the empire, for they can, by their votes, put those ministers in power who shall do their pleasure. how comes it that this power has been exercised with a moderation very different from that which there is plenty of historical precedent for anticipating? there are doubtless many contributory causes--an abundant employment owing to the expansion of industry, cheap food, the diffusion of wealth, the readiness of the british people to avail themselves of new lands, the hold which religious principles keep upon them, and the instinctive conservatism which affects, often unconsciously to themselves, all but those who adopt extreme views in politics. all these, and many more, must be taken into account in considering what has taken place; but there is one which a watchful observer will reckon more direct in its effect than any of them--namely, the personal character of the monarch. vigilant as she is known to have been in attention to public affairs, conscientious as she has shown herself in complying with the limitations of our constitution, queen victoria has set before her people a perfect court and a model home. not by design has this been done, not by laborious compliance with irksome rules or straining for public approval, but by the action of a true nature, guided by a vigorous intellect and resolute will. what might have been the result of the enormous development of popular power if the monarch had been one whose character had attracted no affection or respect, it is idle to speculate. it is enough that every true briton is able to say, with heartfelt gratitude: "thank heaven that throughout this critical period of change we have remained the subjects of victoria the great and good!" sixty years a queen: the story of victoria's reign told by sir herbert maxwell, bart., m.p. [illustration: _sir g. hayter, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty queen victoria in coronation robes.] [illustration: windsor castle.] sixty years a queen. chapter i. - . death of william iv.--princess alexandrina victoria summoned to the throne--ignorance of the public about the young queen--her early training--severance of the crown of great britain and hanover--prorogation of parliament--early railways--electric telegraph--the coronation--popular reception of wellington and soult--state of parties--result of general election--rebellion in canada--the earl of durham--debate on vote by ballot. at the present day, tidings, however fateful or momentous, flash silently over unconscious fells and floods to the uttermost limits of empire; but it was otherwise sixty years ago. throughout the brief night of june , , the land echoed to the furious galloping of horses and the ceaseless rattle of flying wheels; for william the king lay dying at windsor castle. [sidenote: death of william iv.] [sidenote: princess alexandrina victoria summoned to throne.] he drew his last breath before dawn on the th, and mounted messengers thronged the highways yet more thickly than before in the early hours of morning. among them were two of very high degree--dr. howley, archbishop of canterbury, and the marquis of conyngham, lord chamberlain--charged to proceed post haste to kensington palace in order to summon the princess victoria to the throne of great britain and ireland. leaving windsor shortly after two in the morning, they did not reach kensington till five o'clock. the palace was wrapped in silence; it was with great difficulty that even the gate-porter could be roused, and there was further delay inside the courtyard. at last the archbishop and the lord chamberlain obtained admission, were shown into a room, and left to themselves. after waiting some time they rang the bell, and desired the sleepy servant who answered it to convey to the princess their request for an immediate audience, on business of extreme urgency. again the impatient dignitaries were left alone, and once more they pealed the bell. this time they were informed by the princess's attendant that her royal highness was asleep, and must on no account be disturbed. "we are come," was their reply, "on business of state to the queen, and even _her_ sleep must give way to that." the attendant yielded, and then, to quote the simple but vivid description by miss wynn, "in a few minutes she (the queen) came into the room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap thrown off, and her hair falling on her shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified." [illustration: _sir w. beechy, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ h.r.h. victoria maria louisa, duchess of kent, and her majesty the queen at the age of three.] next, the prime minister, lord melbourne, was summoned, and charles greville has described in his diary how the young queen met the privy council at eleven o'clock. [sidenote: ignorance of public about the young queen.] "never was anything like the first impression she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration which is raised about her manner and behaviour, and certainly not without justice. it was very extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for. her extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of the world concerning her, naturally excited great curiosity to see how she would act on this trying occasion, and there was a considerable assemblage at the palace, notwithstanding the short notice that was given." [illustration: _r. westall, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen at the age of eleven.] bowing to the lords present, queen victoria, quite simply dressed in black, took her seat, and proceeded to read her speech in clear, calm accents. then, having taken the oath for the security of the church of scotland, she received the allegiance of the privy councillors present, the two royal dukes having precedence of the others. "as these two old men," wrote greville, "her uncles, knelt before her ... i saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil and natural relations." at noon the queen held a council, at which the excellent impression she had made already was confirmed. throughout the trying ceremonies of the first day of her reign she bore herself with a dignity and composure which amazed, as much as it delighted, her ministers. princess alexandrina victoria, upon whose young shoulders the weight of the empire had been laid so suddenly, was the only child of edward, duke of kent, fourth son of george iii., by her serene highness victoria maria louisa, daughter of the duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and widow of the prince of leiningen. william iv., third son of george iii., had left no children born in wedlock; on his death, therefore, the succession devolved on his niece, who was born on may , , and was therefore just over eighteen at her accession. nothing would have been more natural than that the character of the princess, as heiress to the crown, and the qualifications for rule of which she might have given promise even at that tender age, should have been widely and eagerly discussed, or, at least, that the late king's ministers should have formed some opinion of them; but this was not the case. the gossiping greville repeatedly lays stress on the seclusion in which her royal highness had been brought up, her inexperience, and the complete ignorance of the public about her character and even her appearance; so much so, that "not one of her acquaintance, none of the attendants at kensington, not even the duchess of northumberland, her governess, have any idea of what she is or promises to be." it may easily be imagined, therefore, how greatly the severity of the sudden ordeal to which the girl-queen was exposed was intensified by the anxious and curious interest of those who were present at her first council. [illustration: _sir d. wilkie, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty's first council, at kensington palace, june , .] [illustration: . her majesty. . duke of argyll, lord steward. . earl of albemarle, master of the horse. . the right honourable g. byng, comptroller. . c. c. greville, esq., clerk of the council. . marquess of anglesea. . marquess of lansdowne, president of the council. . lord cottenham, lord high chancellor. . lord howick, secretary at war. . lord john russell, secretary of state for the home department. . the right honourable t. spring rice, chancellor of the exchequer. . viscount melbourne, first lord of the treasury. . lord palmerston, secretary of state for foreign affairs. . the right honourable j. abercrombey, speaker of the house of commons. . earl grey. . the earl of carlisle. . lord denman, lord chief justice of the court of queen's bench. . the right honourable f. erskine, chief judge of the bankruptcy court. . lord morpeth, chief secretary for ireland. . the earl of aberdeen. . lord lyndhurst. . the archbishop of canterbury. . his majesty the king of hanover. . the duke of wellington. . the earl of jersey. . the right honourable j. w. croker. . the right honourable sir r. peel, bart. . h.r.h. the duke of sussex. . lord holland, chancellor of the duchy of lancaster. . sir j. campbell, her majesty's attorney-general. . marquess of salisbury. . lord burghersh. . the right honourable t. kelly, lord mayor of london. of all the illustrious personages here represented, her majesty is now the sole survivor.] [sidenote: her early training.] for the seclusion in which the princess victoria had been brought up, sufficient cause will be apparent to those who have studied the domestic annals of the court during the reigns of her uncles george iv. and william iv., which were, in truth, in accord with the worst traditions of royalty. the duke of kent had died shortly after the birth of his daughter, and his widow, over-anxious, perhaps, to screen the young life from contagion of evil, sought to protect the princess victoria by a training which, in most modern families, would be regarded as unnecessarily severe. but deep-rooted custom requires drastic treatment to remove it. on weak or light natures such discipline is too often seen to work disastrous reaction; happily, the young queen was inspired by an intellect of such fibre, and a spirit of such temper, that she responded to her early training by establishing and maintaining in her court such a high moral ideal as has never been known since the days of the mythical round table. [illustration: kensington palace. her majesty the queen was born in the ground-floor room occupying the farthest angle of the building on the extreme right of the picture. a tablet within the room records the fact.] [illustration: _s. p. denning._} {_from the dulwich gallery._ her majesty the queen at the age of four.] [sidenote: severance of the crown of great britain and hanover.] queen victoria's accession was the cause of the departure from england of a prince deservedly unpopular, whose signature stands first among those appended to the act of allegiance executed at kensington palace. hitherto, for more than one hundred and twenty years, succession to the throne of great britain had carried with it the crown of hanover; but, inasmuch as that crown was limited to the male line, it passed, on the death of king william, to his eldest surviving brother, the duke of cumberland. it is not necessary to discuss here the character of that prince--it is enough to say that his departure to take up his inheritance in hanover was probably cause of regret to very few persons in this country and reason for rejoicing to a great many. nor, in looking back over the history of the past sixty years, can any thoughtful person fail to recognise advantage in the severance of the monarchies of great britain and hanover. any loss of prestige or dignity which might have been anticipated has been amply outweighed by the freedom enjoyed by this country from continental complications. england, while she has forfeited no weight in the councils of europe, is in a far stronger position to enforce her will when necessary, and the development of rapid and easy transit have protected englishmen from any disadvantage that might have been apprehended from an exclusively insular court. [illustration: _w. fowler._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen as princess victoria.] one of the incidents of the ceremony of accession commented on with most interest was the fact that, in signing the oath for the security of the church of scotland, the queen wrote only "victoria," instead of her full name "alexandrina victoria." surely it was a happy inspiration which prompted the choice of the single name--prophetic, as it has turned out, of the character of the coming reign. probably not one in a thousand of her subjects are aware that her majesty has two baptismal names, though there is historic interest attached to their origin. the duke of kent gave his daughter the name of alexandrina in compliment to the empress of russia, intending her second name should be georgiana. the regent, however, objected to the name georgiana being second to any other in this country; so, as the princess's father was determined that alexandrina should be the first name, it was decided she should not bear the other one at all. [sidenote: prorogation of parliament.] on july the queen went in state to the house of lords to prorogue parliament. after listening to an address made by the speaker on behalf of the house of commons, and giving her consent to certain bills, her majesty proceeded to read her speech to parliament in clear and unfaltering accents. the concluding paragraph, viewed in the light of subsequent events, must be admitted to have been more amply fulfilled than most human promises, however sincerely spoken:-- "i ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility imposed on me; but i am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence on the protection of almighty god. it will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord. acting upon these principles, i shall, upon all occasions, look with confidence to the wisdom of parliament and the affection of my people, which form the true support of the dignity of the crown and ensure the stability of the constitution." [illustration: _w. behnes._} {_from the royal collection._ bust of her majesty the queen as princess victoria.] every opportunity which was afforded to parliament and the public of passing judgment on the queen's demeanour tended to deepen the favourable impression already created. greville--the "man in the street" of those days--he of whom lowe afterwards wrote-- "for forty years he listened at the door, he heard some secrets and invented more," is not an authority on which too much reliance should be placed, yet his diary is useful as a reflection of passing events. it is full of enthusiastic praise of the new monarch. "all that i hear of the young queen leads to the conclusion that she will some day play a conspicuous part, and that she has a great deal of character.... melbourne thinks highly of her sense, discretion, and good feeling; but what seems to distinguish her above everything are caution and prudence, the former in a degree which is almost unnatural in one so young, and unpleasing because it suppresses the youthful impulses which are so graceful and attractive.... with all her prudence and discretion she has great animal spirits, and enters into the magnificent novelties of her position with the zest and curiosity of a child.... the smallness of her stature is quite forgotten in the majesty and gracefulness of her demeanour." sixty years ago! it is the second and third generation from that time which now cries "god save the queen! long live victoria!" never before in the history of our nation has it fallen to the lot of any historian to tell the story of such a long reign, to chronicle such unbroken national progress, to trace such a series of peaceful changes, to record such accumulation of wealth and diffusion of comfort in a like period. [sidenote: early railways.] sixty years ago! the population of these islands was then some twenty-five millions; it amounts now to upwards of thirty-eight millions. the liverpool and manchester railway, about thirty miles long, had been open for eight years, causing far-sighted folk to predict an important change in the mode of travelling. the liverpool and birmingham railway was opened in the year of the queen's accession. in the line between london and birmingham was finished, and trains were timed to do the distance-- - / miles--at the average speed of twenty miles an hour. the london and croydon railway began running in , and in there were miles of railway open in the united kingdom. at the present time there are , miles open, owned by companies which in had an authorised capital of £ , , , , earning a gross revenue of £ , , , and a net profit of £ , , . [illustration: _sir g. hayter, r.a._} {_from the print published by messrs. graves._ her majesty taking the oath on her accession.] in order to convey the impressions of an educated traveller by the new mode of transit, the temptation to quote once more from the lively greville is irresistible. in july he became tired of hearing nothing in london except about the queen and the coming elections, so he resolved to see the new birmingham and liverpool railway. reaching birmingham in - / hours by coach, he "got upon the railroad at half-past seven in the morning. nothing can be more comfortable than the vehicle in which i was put, a sort of chariot with two places, and there is nothing disagreeable about it but the occasional whiffs of stinking air which it is impossible to exclude altogether. the first sensation is a slight degree of nervousness and a feeling of being run away with, but a sense of security soon supervenes, and the velocity is delightful." [illustration: stephenson's locomotive, "the rocket." this engine was constructed by messrs. stephenson & co. in , to compete in the trial of locomotive engines held at rainhill, on the liverpool and manchester railway in october of that year, where it gained the prize of £ . the "rocket" worked on the liverpool and manchester line till , when it was removed to the midgeholm railway, near carlisle. it ceased running in - , and was presented to the south kensington museum in .] [illustration: a modern express passenger engine. this engine, no. of the north eastern railway, was built in by the gateshead works. it is a "non-compound" engine, with the largest coupled driving wheels hitherto known, viz., ft. in. the diameter of the cylinders inside is in. a sister engine (no. ) was constructed at the same time, and the weight of each of them with tender fully loaded is over tons.] the "velocity" referred to was regulated to an average of about twenty miles an hour; but the diarist makes mention of a foolhardy driver who ventured to run forty miles an hour, and was promptly dismissed by the directors. [illustration: the great western railway broad gauge engine "north star." this engine was designed by sir daniel gooch in and built by robert stephenson & co. in . it was one of the first engines belonging to the great western railway company, and continued at work until , running a total distance of , miles.] [sidenote: electric telegraph.] the application of another of the forces of nature to the service of human intercourse has brought about a change in political, military, social, and commercial relations even more complete than that wrought by steam. the invention of the electric telegraph coincided very nearly with the beginning of queen victoria's reign. in mr. morse, an american citizen, produced a working model of an instrument designed to communicate alphabetical symbols by the interruption of the electric current, but he failed to persuade congress to furnish him with the funds necessary to the practical application of his discovery. next year he tried to take out a patent for it in this country; but, meanwhile, cooke and wheatstone had anticipated him with one instrument, and the brothers highton with another, both of which were soon in use on railways. the growth of this means of communication may be seen in the "post office annual," which shows that in the year - about seventy-nine million telegrams were delivered through the post office, besides those dealt with by certain public companies. [sidenote: the coronation.] the queen's coronation was deferred till june . it would be tedious to dwell on the splendour of the ceremonial. perhaps the most readable, and not the least truthful, account has been preserved in one of barham's _ingoldsby legends--mr. barney maguire's account of the coronation_, set to the tune of _the groves of blarney_, and beginning-- "och! the coronation, what celebration for emulation with it can compare? when to westminster the royal spinster and the duke of leinster all in order did repair. 'twas there ye'd see the new polishemen,[a] making a skrimmage at half afther four; and the lords and ladies, and the miss o'gradys all standing round before the abbey door." [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} {_"political sketches," ._ la belle alliance. this sketch represents marshal soult meeting his old antagonist, lord hill, at the duke of wellington's. "at last," he says, "i meet you, i, who have run after you so long!" "la belle alliance" is well known as the name of a particular spot, which was one of the points of attack at the battle of waterloo.] [illustration: _c. r. leslie, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ a. lord willoughby de eresby. b. the duke of norfolk. c. the marquis of conyngham. d. the archbishop of canterbury. e. her majesty the queen. f. lord melbourne. g. the bishop of london. h. the duke of wellington. j. the duchess of sutherland. her majesty the queen receiving the sacrament after her coronation in westminster abbey, june , . lord willoughby de eresby, as hereditary lord high chamberlain, held the crown, and lord melbourne as first lord of the treasury, the sword of state. the duke of norfolk was earl marshal, the marquis of conyngham lord chamberlain, the duke of wellington lord high constable of england, and the duchess of sutherland mistress of the robes.] [sidenote: popular reception of wellington and soult.] two personages in the procession, who had met under far different circumstances in earlier years, met with a tremendous ovation wherever they moved. one of these was the duke of wellington--our great duke--and the other was the veteran duke of dalmatia--the puissant maréchal soult of the peninsula and waterloo--once the redoubtable foe of england. mr. justin mccarthy has suggested that "the cheers of a london crowd on the day of the queen's coronation did something genuine and substantial to restore the good feeling between this country and france, and efface the bitter memories of waterloo." on the other hand, the anti-monarchical party in france attributed the popular reception of soult in london to the prevalence of sympathy with republican views. certain it is that when, in later years, soult championed the english alliance in the french assembly he referred with feeling to his reception at queen victoria's coronation: "i fought the english," he said, "down to toulouse, when i fired the last shot in defence of national independence; in the meantime i have been in london, and france knows how i was received. the english themselves cried 'vive soult!' they cried 'soult for ever!'" one may formulate rules of diplomacy and international courtesy, but who shall weigh the effect of sympathy between a generous people and a former gallant foe? [illustration: _sir g. hayter._} {_from the royal collection._ the coronation of her majesty the queen in westminster abbey, june , . the moment depicted is when the archbishop, having placed the crown on the head of the queen, and the emblems of sovereignty in her hands, has returned to the altar. it was at this time that the members of the royal family, the peers and the peeresses assumed their coronets. the whole abbey rang with cheers and cries of "god save the queen," and the animation of the scene reached its climax.] parliament had voted £ , for the expenses of george iv.'s coronation--perhaps the effect of a newly-extended franchise may be traced in the more economical figure of £ , , which sufficed for that of our present queen. [illustration: lord john russell, afterwards earl russell ( - ). sat in the house of commons for forty-seven years. he introduced the great reform bill in and was twice prime minister ( - , and - ). he was raised to the peerage in .] [sidenote: state of parties.] the battle of reform had been fought out in the country and in parliament five years before the accession, and there were, as yet, no signs--to quote sir robert peel's famous expression at tamworth--of the constitution being "trampled under the hoof of a ruthless democracy." on the whole, life--its business and pleasures--seemed to be going forward on much the same lines as before the great act, dreaded, as it had been, as intensely by one party, as it had been pressed forward and welcomed by the other. lord melbourne was the head of a whig administration, of which, as everybody knows, the late king had waited impatiently for the first decent opportunity to get rid. but melbourne and lord john russell (who, with the office of home secretary, was leader of the house of commons) had to reckon with an advance wing of their own party, already known as radicals, and were at least as profoundly averse from their projects as they were from the tory policy. melbourne and russell desired to put down radicalism and proceed with moderate and safe reforms, above all in ireland, where the chronic discontent was being fanned to eruption by the exertions of daniel o'connell. the king's death had relieved the whig cabinet from the adverse influence of the court; moreover, the reliance placed from the first by the young queen upon lord melbourne, and the intimate relations between them, brought about by the circumstances of the case, enabled the whigs to assume the peculiar rôle of their opponents--that of the special supporters of the throne. [illustration: _m. noble._} {_national portrait gallery._ sir robert peel ( - ). was appointed chief secretary for ireland in , home secretary in , and again in - under the duke of wellington. in he reconstructed the metropolitan police. he was prime minister in - , and again from to . his second administration was distinguished by the total abolition of the duty on corn.] the tories,[b] on the other hand, approached with much misgiving the general election, which, according to the law as it then stood, followed of necessity on the demise of the monarch. they knew that the duchess of kent had favoured whig principles in the education of the queen; they saw that melbourne's personal charm had secured for him complete ascendancy in the councils of the new sovereign, and they had nothing to expect in the country but reverse. [sidenote: result of general election.] however, the unpopularity of the new poor law told against ministers in the rural constituencies, and the elections left parties almost unchanged. when the first parliament of queen victoria assembled on november , , the whig government reckoned a majority of about thirty in the house of commons. "of power," wrote the contemporary compiler of the _annual register_, "in a political sense, they had none. they could carry no measure of any kind but by the sufferance of sir robert peel." one incident in the short winter session of , often as it has been recorded, retains a lasting interest because of the subsequent celebrity of the individual who gave rise to it. mr. benjamin disraeli, the son of a distinguished man of letters, had just entered parliament for the first time as member for maidstone. he chose a debate on irish election petitions as the opportunity for his maiden speech. "a bottle-green frock coat," writes an eye-witness, "and a waistcoat of white, of the dick swiveller pattern, the front of which exhibited a network of glittering chains; large, fancy pattern pantaloons, and a black tie, above which no shirt-collar was visible, completed the outward man. a countenance lividly pale, set out by a pair of intensely black eyes, and a broad but not very high forehead, overhung by clustering ringlets of coal-black hair, which, combed away from the right temple, fell in bunches of well-oiled ringlets over his left cheek." [illustration: an early signal cabin.] [illustration: a modern signal cabin. the cabin here represented is that at crow west junction, lancashire and yorkshire railway.] not a prepossessing personality in the eyes of the british house of commons, and when the young orator proceeded to launch into profuse and florid metaphor, accompanied by exaggerated theatrical gestures, the forbearance usually shown towards a new member's first appearance was overborne by impatience at disraeli's ludicrous affectation. he spoke amid incessant interruption and laughter. "at last, losing his temper, which until now he had preserved in a wonderful manner, he paused in the midst of a sentence, and looking the liberals indignantly in the face, raised his hands, and opening his mouth as widely as its dimensions would admit, said in a remarkably loud and almost terrific tone, 'i have begun several times many things, and i have often succeeded at last; ay, sir, and though i sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me.'" the contrast between the early manner of this statesman, and his peculiarly quiet and leisurely bearing in the debates of later years, betrays the close study which he devoted to outward effect. the prime minister, william lamb, second viscount melbourne, was a typical whig, genuinely disposed to moderate reform, but in the habit of meeting radical suggestions with the discouraging question, "why not leave it alone?" of similar political temperament was his lieutenant in the commons, lord john russell. it very soon became evident that the radicals, though diminished in numbers by the result of the elections, were likely to give ministers trouble in the new parliament. in the upper chamber, lord brougham, who had conceived a violent dislike to melbourne, began to employ his fiery energy and power of acrid invective against the government, and showed himself ready to place himself at the head of the radicals. in his first serious attack on ministers he allied himself with the tory lord lyndhurst. the opportunity arose out of events in canada, to which it is necessary briefly to refer. [illustration: {_from the "g.w.r. magazine."_ the first telegraph station (slough station, g.w.r., ).] [illustration: her majesty's state coach. this coach, used at her majesty's coronation, was designed by sir william chambers, and finished in the year . the paintings, of which the following are the most important, were executed by cipriani. _the front panel_:--britannia seated on a throne holding a staff of liberty, attended by religion, justice, wisdom, valour, fortitude, commerce, plenty, and victory, presenting her with a garland of laurel; in the background a view of st. paul's and the river thames. _the right door_:--industry and ingenuity giving a cornucopia to the genius of england, and on each side history recording the reports of fame, and peace burning the implements of war. _the back panel_:--neptune and amphitrite issuing from their palace in a triumphant car, drawn by sea-horses, attended by the winds, rivers, tritons, and naiads, bringing the tribute of the world to the british shore. _upper part of back panel_:--the royal arms, ornamented with the order of st. george; the rose, shamrock, and thistle entwined. _the left door_:--mars, minerva, and mercury supporting the imperial crown of great britain, and on each side the liberal arts and sciences protected. the design of the coach itself is in keeping with the above ideas. the length of the carriage is feet; width, feet inches; height, feet; length of pole, feet inches; weight, tons. the harness is made of red morocco leather. on state occasions eight cream-coloured horses, as here represented, are used.] [sidenote: rebellion in canada.] by the constitution of canada had been divided into two provinces, upper and lower canada, each with its separate governor, executive council (corresponding to a privy council), legislative council, appointed by the crown for life, and representative assembly. the bulk of the people of lower canada were of french descent, catholics, and intensely conservative of the mode of life and habits of france before the revolution. english law had been established there by proclamation in , but by the wise act of french civil law was restored, and free exercise of the roman catholic religion guaranteed. probably all would have gone tranquilly with the province had its french population been left to themselves. but they had restless neighbours in upper canada. englishmen, and especially scots and ulstermen, had settled there in large numbers, busy, pushing men of business, traders, and farmers, developing their land with energy, overflowing, as their children multiplied, into the territory of their french fellow-subjects, and there forming a british party, impatient of the antique legal procedure, the foreign law of land tenure, and the sleepy, unbusiness-like ways of the lower province. hence arose friction which soon became chronic. the legislative council, nominees of the crown, naturally favoured the british section, thereby finding themselves at issue with the representative assembly. discontent had been smouldering for many years, and at last matters came to a crisis. the representative assembly resolved to resist further encroachment. headed by louis papineau, a militia officer and member for montreal, they drew up a protest and laid their grievances before the governor, lord gosford. they complained of arbitrary infringement of the constitution and other matters, demanded that the legislative council should be made elective, and ended by refusing to vote supplies. public meetings were held, and addressed in inflammatory language by papineau, who dwelt on the example set by the united states in resisting tyranny. lord gosford met matters with a high hand. warrants were issued for the arrest of certain representatives; resistance to their execution resulted in violence, and the transition to rebellion was as speedy as probably it was involuntary. _proximus ardet_--the flame spread to upper canada, of which the people had grievances of their own, though of a different kind from those of their french neighbours, and a rising took place under the leadership of one mckenzie, a revolutionary journalist. but the chief danger arose from the sympathetic action of certain american citizens, who, to the number of several hundreds, assembled under a person named van rensselaer, and took possession of navy island in the niagara river, forming part of canadian territory. at the present day, with the dense population of the united states and rapid means of transit, such a position of affairs would undoubtedly prove extremely critical; happily the british authorities proved able to deal with it successfully. the rebels being ill-prepared for impromptu war, lord gosford put down the rising in lower canada, though not without considerable bloodshed. in upper canada, the governor, major head, better known afterwards as sir francis head, an amusing writer, sent every regular soldier at his command to the assistance of lord gosford, and, declaring he would rely on the loyal canadians to suppress the rebellion, handed over , stand of arms to the mayor of toronto. the people responded gallantly, delighted by this mark of confidence; ten or twelve thousand men assembled under arms, and a single encounter with mckenzie's force was enough to decide the fate of the revolt. desultory skirmishing took place with bodies of american "sympathisers" at various points along the frontier before the affair could be said to be over, and there can be no doubt that, had the united states government adopted a less friendly attitude, british rule in canada might have stood in very great jeopardy. [illustration: early telegraph instrument, from paddington station. on january , , the following message was received from slough by this instrument:--"a murder has just been committed at salt hill, and the suspected murderer was seen to take a first-class ticket for london by the train which left slough at . p.m. he is in the garb of a quaker, with a brown great coat on, which reaches nearly down to his feet. he is in the last compartment of the second first-class carriage." the murderer, tawell, was identified, apprehended, and convicted. this was the first occasion on which a telegraphic message overtaking a criminal led to his arrest.] [illustration: cooke and wheatstone's earliest needle telegraph, requiring five wires ( ).] [illustration: _from an old print_} {_at the south kensington museum._ trains on the liverpool and manchester railway, running at the time of her majesty's accession. the upper figure represents a first-class train, carrying her majesty's mails, and the lower one a second-class train with open carriages.] [illustration: old great western passenger carriage.] the imperial parliament was summoned to meet on january , , to consider the canadian situation. a bill was introduced suspending the constitution of lower canada, and empowering the queen to appoint a governor and special council, who should assume for the time all the functions of the legislature in that province. the duke of wellington, as leader of the opposition in the lords, and sir robert peel in the commons, supported the government, and the only opposition was offered by the radicals. brougham attacked the bill in a speech of which melbourne complained as "a most laboured and extreme concentration of bitterness." in the other house the chief point of interest to readers of the debate at this day lies in a speech by mr. w. e. gladstone, the tory member for newark, who taunted mr. joseph hume and the radicals with their failure to perform in session their boastful promises during the recess. [illustration: the queen's saloon carriage on the london and north-western railway. this is the carriage which has been used by her majesty for many years on her journeys to and from scotland. it contains sitting and sleeping compartments (the former having padded walls and ceiling, lined with watered silk), and accommodation for her majesty's personal attendants. it is about feet long.] [sidenote: the earl of durham.] the governor appointed under the act was the earl of durham, a man of remarkable ability, who had embraced radical principles with great ardour. this, however, did not prevent him interpreting his office as that of a practical dictator--he far exceeded the powers vested in him by the act. in dealing with offenders he would not stoop to the only way of obtaining convictions--that of packing juries--and adopted the arbitrary course of ordering into exile those connected with the late rebellion, on pain of death if they returned. looking back to the existing state of things, it is impossible to question the real clemency and wisdom of the new governor's ordinances; nevertheless, they were at once attacked in the imperial parliament, and vigorously denounced as tyrannical and unconstitutional. lord durham had made many enemies in both houses. lord lyndhurst and the tories joined forces with lord brougham and the radicals in pressing ministers to disallow the ordinances of which they had already approved. brougham perceived the opportunity of discomfiting the hated melbourne, and he pressed it. the ministry were not strong enough to resist. lord durham was recalled, and, though his recommendations were ultimately carried into effect by making canada a self-governing colony, he never recovered the unmerited disgrace he had suffered. proud, impetuous, and sensitive, he fell into ill-health, and died in at the age of forty-eight. his end must ever be regarded as one of those misfortunes arising out of party government, for his policy has been amply vindicated since, lying as it does at the foundation of the whole modern scheme of colonial government. [illustration: _photo by_} {_elliott & fry._ the right hon. charles pelham villiers. born . is a grandson of the first earl of clarendon, and has represented wolverhampton in parliament continuously from to the present day. he took part, with cobden and bright, in the free trade movement, and in the passing of the ballot act. he and mr. gladstone are the only survivors of those who sat in queen victoria's first parliament.] [sidenote: debate on vote by ballot.] one other debate in the commons during this session must be referred to, if it be only to mark the wide interval which separates the liberal party of the present day from the whig leaders at the beginning of the reign. on february mr. grote brought forward his annual motion in favour of the ballot in parliamentary elections. hitherto little interest had been attached to the project, owing to the disfavour with which it was regarded by all but extreme radicals. on this occasion, however, several ministers and many supporters of the government were known to have pledged themselves at the polls to the principle of secret voting. lord john russell had declared that to carry such a measure would be tantamount to a repeal of the reform act of ; that for the government to promote it would be a breach of faith to those who had supported the extension of the franchise, and he refused to be any party to "what neither his sense of prudence nor of honour would justify." sir robert peel supported the government in resisting the motion, and it was rejected by a majority of in a house of members. this was hailed as a moral victory by the supporters of the ballot. brougham was jubilant, and told the lords they must make up their minds to this fresh reform. a few days later he declared in greville's room that it would become law in five years from that time, and many people regarded it as paving the way to republican government. on the other hand greville quotes charles villiers, "one of the radicals with whom i sometimes converse," as declaring that it would prove a conservative measure, and that better men would be chosen. in effect, it took, not five years, but thirty-four, to reconcile englishmen to the practice of secret voting; and mr. villiers has lived to see that the protection thereby afforded to the voter has certainly not operated to the exclusion of conservatives from office. but it would be unphilosophic to argue that what was conceded in to an experienced and educated electorate, without evil consequences, might have been bestowed with equal safety in , only five years after the great measure of enfranchisement. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._")} {_political sketches_, . the three singles. lord brougham in had opposed the government measures relating to canada. for some time he stood alone, and it was not until the bill for abolishing the canadian legislature had made considerable progress, that he found himself supported by the earl of mansfield and lord ellenborough. but though acting together on this occasion, each had his own separate motive and argument, and perhaps there were not three members of the house of peers who better deserved to be acting singly and without party connection. lord brougham is here represented with the earl of mansfield on his right arm and lord ellenborough on his left.] [illustration: _sir f. grant, p.r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen in , attended by viscount melbourne, the marquis of conyngham, who raises his hat, the hon. george s. byng, the earl of uxbridge, and sir george quinton.] chapter ii. - lord melbourne's services and character--prevailing discontent of the working classes--its causes--the chartists--riots at newport and elsewhere--fall of the ministry--sir robert peel sent for--the "bedchamber question"--melbourne recalled to office--the penny post--its remarkable success--betrothal of the queen--character of prince albert--announcement to parliament--debates--marriage of the queen and prince albert--war declared with china--capture of chusan--bombardment of the bogue forts--peace concluded under the walls of nankin. the ardour and intelligence with which the queen applied herself to master the details of ceremony and business incident to her position at the head of a great empire, did not protect her from censorious and even malicious criticism. it was natural, perhaps, that the exclusive confidence reposed by her majesty in lord melbourne should excite the jealousy of others, whose exalted rank gave them what they considered a superior claim to access to the presence. [sidenote: lord melbourne's services and character.] lord melbourne's constant attendance at court had compelled him to change his demeanour in a very remarkable degree. hitherto, his affectation had been to conceal all traces of seriousness in transacting business; he would sprawl on a sofa, blow a feather about the room, balance a chair, or dandle a cushion while receiving deputations--the very incarnation of indolence--to the despair of those who anxiously desired to engage his attention, and who could scarcely be persuaded by those who knew him best that he had spent strenuous hours in getting up the subject under discussion, was perfectly acquainted with all its details, and was, besides, listening most attentively to all that was said. his physician, dr. copeland, knew how really hard the prime minister worked, and told bishop wilberforce that he (melbourne) used to transact business all day in his bedroom with his secretaries in order that bores might be dismissed with the information that "my lord had not yet left his bedroom." [illustration: the throne room at windsor castle.] but besides this tiresome frivolity of manner, there was another habit in regard to which melbourne had to put severe restraint on himself in the royal presence. it had been his custom to season his conversation with a multitude of indecorous oaths. mr. denison (afterwards speaker, and subsequently viscount ossington) spoke to him one day about some points in the poor law bill, then under consideration. melbourne was just going out for a ride, and referred denison to his brother george. "i have been with him," replied denison, "but he damned me, and damned the bill, and damned the paupers." "well, damn it! what more could he do?" quoth melbourne, and rode off. in spite of all his affectation and a degree of underlying weakness, this minister performed a singularly valuable public service to his country in the support and advice he afforded the queen at the most critical time of her life; a service that was explicitly and handsomely acknowledged in the house of lords by his chief opponent there, the duke of wellington, in . [illustration: _sir david wilkie, r.a._} {_by permission of the corporation of glasgow._ her majesty the queen in .] [sidenote: prevailing discontent of the working classes.] [sidenote: its causes.] there was a great deal of brooding discontent in the country at the opening of queen victoria's reign, which soon passed into a phase calling for active measures of repression. some have recognised in the chartist movement the chagrin of the working classes, who having imparted to the mills of state the impetus necessary to grind out political rights for their employers--the merchants, farmers, and middle class generally--found themselves no better equipped for political action than they were before. but such a suggestion finds no reflection in actual experience of popular movements. agitators might declaim in vain against the injustice of a restricted franchise if their hearers had no other cause for discontent. the real root of bitterness lay in the suffering and distress caused by the severe winter of - , the high price of bread,[c] and, on the top of all, detestation of the new poor law. it is genuine grievances such as these which, from time to time, force on the attention of those who suffer from them the glaring contrast between the privations of the many and the superfluities of the few. so, in , hungry crowds were easily persuaded to listen to denunciations of the privileged classes; to believe that the queen and a dilettante prime minister were insensible to their sufferings so long as their own tables were abundantly supplied; and that government was no more than a machine for enriching the classes at the expense of the masses. [illustration: _j. doyle_, "_h. b._"} {_political sketches_, . daniel o'connell, m.p., - . known as "the liberator." was an irish barrister. elected to the house of commons in , he was the principal advocate of catholic emancipation, and founder of the "loyal national repeal association." the sketch represents him on the watch for an opportunity to attack the government with the weapon of "repeal."] it has to be remembered, also, that during the development of crowded centres of population, consequent on the rapid increase in various industries, the artizan and mining classes found themselves at a great disadvantage in negotiating with their employers, owing to the stringent laws regulating trades unions. a whole generation was to pass away before, in , mr. (now viscount) cross should pass a measure abolishing criminal proceedings in cases of breach of engagement, placing employer and workman on equal terms before the law, and enacting that nothing which it was legal for a single workman to do should be illegal when done by a combination of workmen or a trades union. [sidenote: the chartists.] the whig leaders having declined to re-open the question of electoral reform, a document was drawn up at a conference between a few radical members of parliament and the representatives of the working men's association, formulating the demands made on behalf of the proletariate. universal male suffrage, annual parliaments, vote by ballot, abolition of the property qualification required at that time from a member of parliament, payment of members, and equal electoral districts, were the six points insisted on; of which three, it will be seen, have since been practically carried into effect. "there is your charter!" exclaimed o'connell, handing it to the secretary of the working men's association; "agitate for it, and never be content with anything less." the term took the popular fancy; the programme became known as the charter, and those who supported it were hereafter known as chartists. not a very formidable programme after all, nor one that might not be advanced by constitutional means, but one that, like many other popular agitations, fell into dangerous paths by the imprudent zeal of some of its advocates, and still more, by the violence of the discontented, unfortunate, or predatory waifs of civilisation, ever ready to promote any social change for the sake of what plunder it may bring within their reach. [sidenote: riots at newport and elsewhere.] in november the miners of the newport district of monmouthshire assembled to the number of , under a tradesman called frost and attempted to release from gaol one vincent, who had been imprisoned for using seditious language. the mayor and magistrates of newport, with a handful of soldiers, offered a gallant resistance; the rioters were dispersed with a loss of ten killed and fifty wounded, the mayor, mr. phillips, receiving two gunshot wounds. frost and two others were afterwards convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. but the dawn of milder methods of government had begun: the death sentence was commuted by the royal mercy to one of transportation for life: even that was subsequently relaxed, and frost was allowed to return to england some years later to find himself and the chartists an unquiet memory of the past. [illustration: steamer point, aden. the peninsula of aden was added to her majesty's dominions by conquest in . its situation at the mouth of the red sea, on the direct route to india and the east, makes it invaluable as a coaling-station both for naval and mercantile purposes. in this district rain falls only about once in three years. the town is supplied with wells and storage tanks cut in the solid rock, the construction of which cost over £ , , .] but in spite of the punishment of the newport rioters, and hundreds of others in different places, chartism continued to spread until it became merged in the more intelligent and fruitful agitation for the repeal of the corn laws. this great question was brought under the consideration of parliament, in the session of , by lord brougham in the lords on february , and the following day by mr. charles villiers in the commons; but the motion for inquiry was negatived without a division in the former and by a majority of in the latter. both parliament and country, however, were to hear plenty about the corn duties in the next few years. the whig ministry were now approaching the end of their second year of office, and steadily losing favour in the country. they had earned the enmity of the chartists by their apathy to further reform; and the novel advantage of royal confidence in and affection for a whig prime minister did not affect the general drift of middle-class opinion. meanwhile, peel was indefatigable on the platform securing popular support for the new conservatism. [illustration: _hume nisbet._} "william fawcett," the first p. & o. steamship, in the gut of gibraltar, . this was the first steamer employed in carrying mails to the peninsular ports in . tonnage, ; horse-power, .] [sidenote: fall of the ministry.] drifting thus helplessly in the doldrums of unpopularity the government suddenly foundered on april , the immediate cause being a bill for the suspension of the constitution of jamaica. the second reading was carried, indeed, by a majority of five; but the resignation of the ministry was immediately placed in her majesty's hands and accepted. it put an end to an intolerable situation. three days before the division greville wrote in his diary: "the government is at its last gasp: the result of the debate next week may possibly prolong its existence, as a cordial does that of a dying man, but it cannot go on. they are disunited, dissatisfied, and disgusted in the cabinet." [illustration: _w. w. lloyd._} a modern liner coming up the thames. the royal mail steamer "caledonia," belonging to the p. & o. company, is given as a contrast to the "william fawcett." tonnage, , , horse-power, , .] [sidenote: sir robert peel sent for.] [sidenote: the "bedchamber question."] the queen sent first for the duke of wellington, but he, having probably little relish for leading a government without a majority in the house of commons, excused himself on the grounds of his age and deafness, and advised her majesty to lay the task on sir robert peel. that statesman replied, that having been party to a vote of the house which brought about the situation, nothing should make him recoil from the obvious difficulty of it, and he formed a cabinet without delay. then arose a peculiar and unforeseen difficulty, known as "the bedchamber question." peel found no difficulty in filling up the important posts in the government, until it was explained to him that the court offices were vacated with the administrative ones, and that they also must be supplied. he took up a red book, as he afterwards explained in parliament, learnt from it for the first time what were the different appointments, and submitted to the queen a list of names to replace all except those below the rank of lady of the bedchamber. but her majesty had other views, and the reader will more readily understand her reluctance to part with those personal attendants, of whom she had grown fond, by remembering the singular isolation of her youth, and the very few acquaintances she possessed at the beginning of her reign. [sidenote: melbourne recalled to office.] a difficulty of such slender proportions seems one that might have been got round, but it was not to be. the queen was inflexible, and peel, on principle, resigned his office. lord melbourne and his colleagues were recalled; explanations followed in both houses, and the incident disappeared in a cloud of angry gossip. peel was relieved from a position the reverse of enviable, and melbourne had to stand the brunt of a tirade from the relentless brougham and resume the reins which he had allowed to slip from a somewhat reluctant hand. [illustration: early travelling postal van, london and birmingham railway.] as for the cause of dispute, it was not finally disposed of till after the queen's marriage, when, on the suggestion of prince albert, it was settled that on a change of ministry the queen should arrange for the voluntary resignation of any ladies whom, being relations or very intimate friends of leaders in opposition, it might, in the opinion of the prime minister, be inconvenient to retain in office. [illustration: travelling postal van on the london and north-western railway. interior, showing sorters at work, and exterior with net extended for taking in mails, and bag hung ready for delivery while the train is in motion.] [sidenote: the penny post.] it sometimes happens that ministries which are least conspicuous by the brilliancy of their career or the talents of those who compose them, nevertheless confer the most lasting benefits on the nation. the crowning achievement of the melbourne administration originated neither with a minister, nor with one of those permanent officials upon whom ministers rely to make up for their own inexperience of departmental work, but with a humble school teacher. nobody at this day connects penny postage with the name of mr. spring rice, the chancellor of the exchequer, who paved the way for it in the budget of , but it is inseparably associated with the memory of its inventor, sir rowland hill. the son of a schoolmaster, rowland had an extraordinary inborn love for arithmetic, and became mathematical master in his father's school. this natural talent, it is said, was directed to the study of post office statistics by an anecdote told of coleridge, who happened to see a poor woman in the lake district refuse to accept delivery of a letter from a postman because she could not afford to pay the postage--one shilling. coleridge, hearing that the letter was from her brother, good-naturedly insisted on paying the fee, notwithstanding the woman's reluctance; but no sooner was the postman's back turned than she showed him that the letter consisted of nothing but a blank sheet. it had been agreed between her and her brother that he should send her such a blank sheet once a quarter so long as things went well with him, marking the cover so that she should not require to accept delivery, and that in this way she should get his mute message without need to pay postage. hill detected the economic fallacy which opened the way to such innocent roguery, and rested not till he had devised means to remedy it. he published his design in pamphlet form in , advancing the bold proposition that the smaller the fee charged for carrying letters the greater would be the multiplication of correspondence, and the larger the profit to the department. he proposed an uniform charge upon letters of one penny a half ounce, irrespective of distance. it was the application to the public service of a commercial principle by which large fortunes have been repeatedly realised in private business, but the plan was unhesitatingly condemned by the post office authorities. the postmaster-general, lord lichfield, spoke of it in the house of lords as the wildest and most extravagant scheme of all the wild and extravagant ones he had ever listened to. colonel maberley, secretary to the post office, declared the experiment was certain to fail, though he was of opinion that no obstruction should be placed in the way of it, lest the government should afterwards be blamed for not giving it a trial. lastly, sydney smith may be quoted as representing educated public opinion: "a million of revenue is given up," he said, "to the nonsensical penny post scheme, to please my old, excellent, and universally dissentient friend, noah warburton. i admire the whig ministry, and think they have done more good things than all the ministries since the revolution; but these concessions are sad and unworthy marks of weakness, and fill reasonable men with alarm." [illustration: _j. a. vinter._} {_national portrait gallery._ sir rowland hill, - . originator of the system of uniform penny postage with prepayment by stamps.] [illustration: interior of the general post office at the time of the introduction of penny postage.] mr. warburton and mr. wallace were the two members of parliament who most warmly advocated the project of rowland hill. but credit is due to the courage shown by mr. spring rice, chancellor of the exchequer, who, in the face of a deficit of three-quarters of a million, was bold enough to adopt the scheme and make provision for it in his budget. sir robert peel and mr. goulbourn criticised the proposal mainly on the ground that it involved a risk of loss to the revenue which ought not to be incurred in the existing state of the finances; but on a division the resolution was carried by a majority of , and the bill carrying it into effect subsequently passed without a division. this reform, the offspring of the genius of an obscure mathematical teacher, and so modestly brought to light, has since been adopted by every civilised community in the world. to realise the boon thereby conferred on commercial and general intercourse it is only necessary to recall the postal regulations in force in great britain previous to . letters could not be prepaid; the charge for postage varied according to distance, and also according to the weight, shape, and size of letters. thus, a letter posted in london for brighton cost the recipient a fee of eightpence; the rate from london to aberdeen was _s._ - / _d._, and to belfast _s._ _d._ no wonder, then, that, in a time of expanding trade, the chancellor of the exchequer found himself supported in his proposal by countless petitions from commercial centres in favour of cheaper postage. but there was more than this: there was the flagrant injustice of the system of official franks. members of the government and of parliament had the privilege of free postage, not only for their own letters but for those of their friends by simply writing their names on the cover. this privilege had grown to the dimensions of a gross abuse; people who enjoyed the friendship of a minister were not the least shy of pestering him for franks; the revenue was defrauded, and those who were least able to bear the cost had to pay a high fee in order to recoup the department for the loss on letters written by wealthy people. [illustration: general post office, st. martin's le-grand, in . this building, erected in the reign of george iv., is still used as the central office for sorting and forwarding the mails.] [illustration: mail coaches leaving the general post office, . _from a print of that date._] such being the case for reform from a popular point of view, it was hardly less urgent from a departmental one. the post office had then, as it has now, a monopoly of conveying correspondence; but the high rates charged had driven people to various means of infringing that monopoly. there had arisen all sorts of illegal and clandestine enterprises for carrying letters at cheap rates. it had been proved before the committee which considered mr. hill's scheme that five-sixths of the correspondence between london and manchester had been smuggled for many years; one great firm having despatched sixty-seven letters by unlawful agency for every one that went through the post office. between and the population had increased by thirty per cent., and the stage-coach duty by per cent., yet the revenue of the post office had remained stationary. the proposed reduction from an average rate of sixpence farthing to one penny was certainly a startling one. the committee above referred to had recommended an uniform twopenny rate, but spring rice told the house of commons that he had become convinced that the loss to the revenue (for no practical man, except, perhaps, rowland hill himself, doubted that loss there must be) would be less from a penny rate. he estimated in his budget the sacrifice at about £ , . [sidenote: its remarkable success.] the wildest enthusiasts can never have contemplated what have been the actual results as revealed by the post office returns of - . in there were , letters and , newspapers delivered through the post office in the united kingdom--a total of , deliveries. in the twelve months of - the returns show that the deliveries (exclusive of telegrams) amounted to the stupendous figure of , , , , representing , times the volume of business transacted in , and producing a nett profit of £ , , . certain races of primitive savages, it is said, have never acquired the art of counting beyond two; everything beyond a pair being reckoned as "plenty." such figures as those quoted above baffle even ordinary civilised powers of calculation; very few persons are able to apprehend the idea of a million; much less can they grasp the reality of growth represented in thousands of millions. perhaps, the magnitude of the post office business at the present day can be best illustrated by its miscarriages. the value of property found in letters opened in the returned letter offices in amounted to £ , . [illustration: general post office--new north building. this building, completed in , is occupied by the official, financial, and clerical staffs of the post office.] [illustration: {_from an engraving._ her majesty the queen leaving windsor castle for the review, september , . the queen, who is in semi-military habit and rides a white horse, is attended by her uncle, the king of the belgians, on her right, with lord hill, commander of the forces, on her left, and the duke of wellington behind.] the penny post, then, endures as the single masterpiece of the melbourne ministry, affording another example, if one were wanting, how men become famous for the achievements on which they pride themselves least. macaulay, having returned from india at this time, had re-entered parliament as member for edinburgh, and joined the cabinet as secretary for war. greville quotes him as having declared that he wished he could destroy all that he had written up to that date, for he thought "his time had been thrown away upon _opuscula_ unworthy of his talents." he had resolved to apply himself to serious work--the history of england. but much of his literary renown rests on these _opuscula_: most people esteem macaulay the essayist far more highly than macaulay the historian or macaulay the minister. greville himself, in relating this anecdote, unconsciously illustrates the inability of men to judge of their own performances. speculating what macaulay might have been "if he had wasted his time and frittered away his intellect as i have done mine," the diarist proceeds, "if i had been carefully trained and subjected to moral discipline, i might have acted a creditable and useful part." possibly; but in that case the journal, by which alone greville is remembered, had never been written. [illustration: central postal telegraph office. this large building, officially known as the "g.p.o. west," occupies the corner of newgate street opposite to the general post office at st. martin's-le-grand. it was erected in - , and is entirely devoted to telegraphic business. the uppermost three floors are operating rooms, of the interior of one of which we give a view on page .] [sidenote: betrothal of the queen.] before the close of the year announcement was made of an event of the highest importance, which was to affect in a very large degree the material progress of the nation as well as the character and happiness of the monarch. on november the queen held a privy council at buckingham palace, and made known her intention to marry her cousin, the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. "about eighty privy councillors were present," writes greville, "the folding doors were thrown open and the queen came in, attired in a plain morning gown, but wearing a bracelet containing prince albert's picture. she read the declaration in a clear, sonorous, sweet-toned voice, but her hands trembled so excessively that i wonder she was able to read the paper which she held." [illustration: _w. c. ross, a.r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ his royal highness prince albert at the time of his marriage.] [sidenote: character of prince albert.] prince albert, the second son of ernest, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, by louisa, daughter of augustus, duke of saxe-gotha-attenburg, was very nearly the same age as the queen, having been born on august , . royal alliances are so often the outcome of purely political or prudential calculation that people are apt to assume that the deeper personal feelings are not allowed to weigh with the persons most concerned; but young men and women are not the less human because they are born in the purple, and queen victoria's marriage was as much a love match as that of any village maid. but she had set her affections on one of a disposition and habits not commonly to be found in any station of life. not only was prince albert remarkably handsome and amiable, but he had sedulously cultivated natural gifts of a very high order. he had made himself a good musician, he had penetrated far in natural science, made a special study of social politics, and was well read in general literature. he was known to have steered a clear course among the temptations which peculiarly beset a young man of princely rank and fortune. all this he might have been, and yet, had there not been something to balance it, he might have proved no fitting consort of the young queen of the english. but there was another side to his character. erudite, he was completely without the fastidious or shy manner which sometimes imparts a blemish to learning, for his manner in society was extremely fascinating; of artistic tastes, he was soon to prove himself capable in business. last, but not least, in view of an english public, he was an accomplished horseman, and devoted to field sports. [illustration: _w. a. knell._} {_from the royal collection._ the landing of prince albert at dover, february , . his royal highness experienced very bad weather in crossing the channel.] [sidenote: announcement to parliament.] the queen opened parliament in person on january , , and her speech included the formal announcement of her betrothal to prince albert. strangely enough the first criticism came from the duke of wellington, of all her subjects the least likely to question her majesty's decision. he complained that it ought to have been officially declared that prince albert was a protestant, and he moved to insert the word "protestant" in the address in reply to the speech from the throne. lord melbourne thought the amendment was superfluous, but it was agreed to without a division. [sidenote: debates.] less harmonious were the proceedings of the following week in the other house, when lord john russell moved for a grant of £ , a year to the queen's consort, to be paid out of the consolidated fund. colonel sibthorpe, a tory member, well-known for his eccentricity, moved an amendment to substitute £ , , which was supported by sir robert peel and the opposition. lord john resisted it with great warmth, declaring that "no sovereign of this country had been insulted in such a manner as her present majesty had been"; but the government were badly defeated by a combination of tories and radicals, and colonel sibthorpe's amendment was carried by a majority of . [illustration: _w. drummond._} {_from an engraving in the british museum._ her majesty the queen in her bridal dress.] [sidenote: a famous duel.] the fact is that people who have grown up familiar only with the present relations of the royal family with the public can hardly realise how prevalently censorious opinions were held regarding the queen, and how much prejudice prince albert had to live down. on the th of the very month in which these debates took place, a duel was fought between mr. horsman, whig member for cockermouth, and mr. bradshaw, who had used discourteous and disloyal language about the queen in a speech made at canterbury. horsman had said that bradshaw had the tongue of a traitor and the heart of a coward. after an exchange of shots, the seconds induced bradshaw to retract and apologise. it may be mentioned here that the abolition of duelling was one of the first objects to which prince albert devoted his efforts after his naturalisation. he proposed the substitution of courts of honour to arbitrate in quarrels between gentlemen, and though he did not prevail on the commander-in-chief to establish these, there can be no doubt that the prince's personal influence was greatly the cause of suppressing a system which was in full force during the early years of the reign. [illustration: _sir g. hayter, r.a._} {_from the royal collection_ (_by permission of messrs. graves, publishers of the engraving_). a. prince george of cambridge. b. duchess of cambridge. c. princess mary. d. prince ernest. e. duke of saxe-coburg and gotha. f. queen adelaide. g. prince albert. h. the queen. j. duke of sussex. k. archbishop of canterbury. l. duchess of kent. m. princess augusta of cambridge. n. duke of cambridge. p. princess sophia matilda. the marriage of the queen and prince albert at the chapel royal, st. james's, february , .] [sidenote: the queen fired at.] the queen's marriage to prince albert was celebrated on february , . during the summer of that year the queen was fired at by a lunatic potboy as she drove up constitution hill with the prince, but happily escaped all injury. one sometimes hears doubts expressed about the necessity for the elaborate precautions taken for the safety of royal personages, who, it is supposed by some people, might safely trust themselves more freely to the goodwill of their subjects. but there is nothing more certain than this--that, however popular or deserving a monarch may be, there are always crazed or desperate individuals with schemes of insult or violence, waiting an opportunity to carry them out. [sidenote: war declared with china.] the relations of great britain and the east india company with china had for some years been drifting into very unfriendly conditions, arising out of the opium trade. the chinese government had strictly prohibited the importation of opium--a measure commanding the sincere sympathy of those in this country who condemned all use of opium as an unmitigated physical and moral evil. but india derived enormous profits from the opium trade, and her traders used every device to evade the restrictions. it was suspected, and the foreign secretary, lord palmerston, endorsed the suspicion, that the policy of the chinese government had nothing to do with the morality of the trade, but was concerned only to protect the native opium industry. the wheels of diplomacy ran heavily between the "heavenly dynasty" and the british foreign office for many years, till at last they were brought to a stand by the sudden outbreak of war. lord palmerston had appointed three superintendents to look after the interests of british traders in chinese ports, and invested them with a semi-diplomatic character. thus it came to pass that when, after months of procrastination, her majesty's government at last announced that "they could not interfere for the purpose of enabling british subjects to violate the laws of the country with which they traded," thus practically forbidding the opium trade, captain elliott, the chief superintendent, read between the lines of the despatch, and, on the chinese authorities seizing a large quantity of opium in british vessels, requested the governor of india to send warships for the protection of englishmen trading in china. the request was promptly complied with by the despatch of two frigates, the _volage_ and the _hyacinth_, which attacked a chinese fleet of twenty-nine junks below hong kong, blew up one of them, sunk three, and knocked the rest about in fine style. [illustration: _w. h. overend._} {_from contemporary sketches._ the "volage" and "hyacinth" engaging twenty-nine chinese junks.] [sidenote: capture of chusan.] [sidenote: bombardment of the bogue forts.] a strong armament of fourteen warships and several transports was assembled at singapore, the command of which was given to admiral elliott. before his arrival, however, in the _melville_, , the second in command, commodore sir j. gordon bremer, captured the island of chusan, on july , with its capital--a walled city six miles in circumference. negotiations for peace were then opened, but the chinese authorities prolonged them on so many various pretexts, while busily erecting batteries at the bogue, near canton, that commodore bremer broke off the proceedings and prepared for action. the bogue forts were bombarded, and two of them were captured on january , ; after further fruitless parleying the bombardment was re-opened on february , and the whole chain of defences were taken. after each successive engagement, captain elliott, the civil superintendent, attempted to obtain a pacific settlement with the enemy; but forbearance was invariably interpreted by the mandarin as a sign of weakness, and it was not till the troops under sir hugh gough, had fought their way to the walls of canton that captain elliott was able to announce that terms of peace had been agreed to, just forty-five minutes before a general attack on canton was to have taken place. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} {_political sketches, ._ chinese jugglers. sir j. graham, who attacked the government with a motion in regard to the conduct of the chinese war in and nearly defeated them, is here represented as drawing forth reels of chinese papers and blue books from lord palmerston. john bull, in the background, is remarking, "what an enormous quantity of paper for any man to swallow!"] [illustration: signatures of the queen and prince consort in .] [sidenote: peace concluded under the walls of nankin.] once more peace negotiations broke down: hostilities were resumed; chusan was re-occupied; amoy, believed by the chinese to be impregnable, was taken by assault on august , ; the capture of chinghai and ningpo followed; and when sir h. gough appeared before nankin the chinese government finally agreed to accept the terms imposed as the conditions of peace. five millions and three-quarters sterling were exacted as an indemnity; the island of hong kong was ceded to great britain, and five principal chinese ports were thrown open to british trade. [illustration: _c. r. leslie, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ a. duchess of gloucester. b. duchess of kent. c. duke of sussex. d. queen adelaide. e. archbishop of canterbury christening f. the royal infant. g. archbishop of york. h. the queen. j. prince consort. the christening of the princess royal at buckingham palace, february , . her majesty's eldest child, the princess royal, was born november , , and christened victoria adelaide mary louisa.] chapter iii. - . unpopularity of the whigs--fall of the melbourne ministry--peel's cabinet--the afghan war--murder of sir a. burnes and sir w. macnaghten--the retreat from cabul--annihilation of the british force--the corn duties--the pioneers of free trade--failure of potato crop in ireland--lord john russell's conversion to free trade--peel and repeal--rupture of the tory party--the corn duties repealed--defeat and resignation of the government--review of peel's administration. [sidenote: unpopularity of the whigs] the closing months of the melbourne ministry afford melancholy matter for chronicle. the government went on steadily losing popularity in the country and forfeiting respect in parliament. the sword, long impending, descended at last. mr. baring, who had succeeded spring rice as chancellor of the exchequer, had to confess to a deficiency in his budget of nearly two millions, which he proposed to meet by a re-adjustment of the sugar and timber duties, which brought about the defeat of the government by a majority of thirty-six. still, ministers did not resign. russell had determined at length to make a bid for the free trade vote, and gave notice of his intention to propose a permanent reduction in the duty on corn. but the announcement fell flatly; people only saw in this sudden conversion another desperate effort to retain office, for the whigs hitherto had been inflexible in resistance to free trade demands. melbourne had sworn roundly that of all the mad projects he had ever heard of the surrender of duties was the maddest; and russell had been equally explicit, though employing fewer expletives. the duty on imported corn had been established by legislation in , and was on a sliding scale according to current prices. the impost was _s._ on each quarter of wheat when the price fell below _s._, and diminished in proportion as the price rose till it stood at _s._ when the price of the quarter was _s._ and upwards. [illustration: telegraph cable ship "monarch." this ship was built and is maintained by the post office specially for the laying and repairing of submarine telegraph cables. she is fitted with sheaves in the bows, over which the cables are led. the "alert" is another ship employed for the same purpose.] [illustration: a portion of a telegraphic operating room at the general post office, london. the number of telegraphic messages transmitted from the various london offices in the year - was , , , and the total for the united kingdom, , , . as many as six messages--three in each direction--are now transmitted along a single wire at the same time.] [sidenote: fall of the melbourne ministry.] the next move in parliament was a vote of no confidence, moved by sir robert peel, and then at last lord john russell announced that her majesty had been advised to dissolve parliament immediately. writs were made returnable on august , by which date the political tables had been completely turned. the conservatives who went to the country in a minority of thirty returned with a majority of seventy-six. it is notable that in recording this result the _annual register_ for the first time exchanges the title of whigs for that of liberals. [sidenote: peel's cabinet.] [sidenote: the afghan war.] before following the fortunes of the administration formed by sir robert peel, reference must be made to mournful news which, while people at home were crowding round the hustings and polling booths, were slowly approaching this country from central asia. the most serious reverse to british policy and the greatest disaster to british arms which have happened in the present century were the outcome of events which may thus briefly be recapitulated. in captain alexander burnes, orientalist and traveller, arrived as british agent at cabul, capital of the province of that name, in the north of afghanistan. the prince of that fragment of the ancient empire of ahmed shah was dost mahomed khan, an usurper, it is true, but a popular hero, a soldier of remarkable ability, and a sagacious and bold ruler. dost professed the friendliest feelings towards england, but, for some reasons now unknown, was profoundly distrusted by the foreign office. captain burnes thoroughly trusted dost, but his repeated assurance failed to convince his employers that in his disputes with neighbouring states, dost greatly preferred relying on english influence to accepting the advances continually made to him by russia and persia. burnes was instructed to regard dost as dangerously treacherous, and at last lord auckland, governor-general of india, made a treaty with runjeet singh, hostile to dost, and with the purpose of restoring shah soojah-ool-moolk, whom dost had deposed from the throne of cabul. a british force invaded cabul, overthrew the brave dost, and enthroned soojah, whom nobody wanted. but dost mahomed was a foe of no ordinary mettle. on november , , he encountered the allied force of the english and shah sooja at purwandurrah, and if he did not actually win the battle, the gallantry of his afghan cavalry caused it to be drawn. dost, however, was too wise to believe that he could resist for long the force of england. on the evening after the battle he rode into his enemy's camp and placed his sword in the hand of sir w. macnaghten, the british envoy at soojah's court. dost was honourably treated, his sword was returned to him, he was sent to india and provided with a residence and pension. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._"). lord auckland, - . governor-general of india, - .] [sidenote: murder of sir a. burnes and sir w. macnaghten.] but dost was the darling of his people. they hated soojah, whom the english had forced on them, and they rose in revolt against him. burnes was the earliest victim, for although, in truth, he had all along stood stoutly for dost, the insurgents believed him to have betrayed their ruler. he and his brother and all their party, man, woman, and child, were hacked to pieces. akbar khan, second and favourite son of dost mahomed, now put himself at the head of the insurrection, and the shameful part of the story began. hitherto, there had been blunders enough in english dealings with this brave people: but there is nothing to blush for in blunders provided they are clear of disgrace; one cannot, however, ignore the truth that, after a few weeks' fighting, british troops, having been repeatedly beaten, became so demoralised that their officers could not get them to stand before the fierce afghans. general elphinstone, the chief in command, was an experienced, able soldier; but his health had broken down before the insurrection began, and he had written to the governor-general begging to be relieved of his command, which he felt he was physically unfit to continue. unfortunately there was some delay in appointing his successor, and the trouble came before elphinstone could be relieved. against the personal courage of brigadier shelton, the second in command, no reflections have ever been made, but he proved lamentably supine at moments when prompt action was most required. affairs went from bad to worse with the british force in cantonments outside cabul, until at last elphinstone, grievously weakened by disease, could be brought to contemplate no course but abject surrender. abject surrender! not quite unconditional, it is true, but on most humiliating terms, including the release of dost mahomed and the immediate evacuation of cabul by the british. [illustration: _sir keith a. jackson._} {_from "sketches in afghanistan."_ cabul in . cabul, the seat of government of the ameer of afghanistan, is at the present time ( ) an open town, though it was formerly surrounded by walls of brick and mud. the only building of any importance is the bala hissar, or citadel, containing the apartments of the ameer. besides being a place of great strategic importance, cabul is the centre of the trade of central asia.] bad as this was there was darker disgrace to come. the evacuation was delayed--on the part of the british from a foolish "micawber" hope that "something would turn up"--on the part of the afghans, no doubt, in order that the advent of winter should make the passes impracticable. macnaghten, the british envoy, seems to have been infected by the prevailing demoralisation, and fell into a trap prepared for him by akbar khan. at the very moment when he (macnaghten) was negotiating openly with the chiefs in cabul he entered into a conspiracy with akbar to destroy them, to establish shah soojah as nominal monarch, and to secure the appointment of akbar as vizier. macnaghten's punishment made no long tarrying, for akbar was acting a subtle part. macnaghten, accompanied by three officers, rode out one morning to a conference with akbar on the west bank of the cabul river. it was a solitary place, as befitted the discussion of the contemplated treachery, but they had not been conferring long before they were surrounded by a crowd of armed country people. the british officers remonstrated with akbar; at that moment macnaghten and his companions were seized from behind; a scuffle took place; akbar drew a pistol, a gift from the envoy himself, and shot him in the body. macnaghten fell from his horse and was instantly hewn in pieces; captain trevor was killed also, and the other two officers, mackenzie and laurence, were carried off to the town. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} lord ellenborough, - . governor-general of india, - .] [illustration: _w. simpson, r.i._} {_from sketches and descriptions obtained on the spot._ the remnant of an army. the gate shown is the cabul gate of jellalabad. it was from the top of that gate that the sentry on duty first caught sight of the solitary figure, clad in sheepskin coat and riding a bay pony, lean, hungry, and tired, who alone survived the massacres in the khyber and jugdulluck passes. dr. brydon's form was bent from weakness, and he was so worn out with fatigue that he could scarcely cling to the saddle. the snow-covered mountain in the background is the ram koond.] [sidenote: the retreat from cabul.] [sidenote: annihilation of the british force.] deeper and deeper grows the horror--more profound the shame--as the story proceeds. general elphinstone and brigadier shelton lay in their cantonments with , fighting men, with guns, and camp followers to the number of , . macnaghten's bloody remains were dragged in triumph through the streets of cabul, yet not an arm was raised to avenge him. major eldred pottinger was for cutting their way out and dying on the field, but no one would listen to him: negotiations were opened with akbar khan, and the british force were allowed to march out, leaving all their guns except six, all their treasure and six officers as hostages. they started, upwards of , souls, to march through the stupendous khyber pass to jellalabad in the very depth of winter. akbar khan's safe-conduct proved the shadow of a shade; either he would not, or, as seems to have been the case, he could not, protect them from hordes of fanatic ghilzies, who hovered along the route--shooting, stabbing, mutilating the wretched fugitives. akbar, indeed rode with elphinstone, and probably it was true, as he declared, that he could do nothing with his handful of horse to keep off the infuriated hillmen. at last it became evident that a choice must be made of a few who might be saved either from a bloody death or from perishing of cold in the snow and searching wind. akbar proposed to take all the women and children into his own custody and convey them to peshawur. the awful nature of the dilemma may be imagined when such a proposal was agreed to. lady macnaghten was placed in charge of the assassin of her husband: with her went lady sale, mrs. trevor, and eight other englishwomen; and, as an extreme favour, a few married men were allowed to accompany their wives. general elphinstone and two other officers were also taken as hostages. the rest struggled on as far as the jugdulluck pass. then came the end: the hillsides were crowded with fierce mountaineers; the th regiment were ordered to the front; they mutinied and threatened to shoot their officers, broke their ranks, and were cut down in detail by the afghans. a general massacre followed. out of more than , souls who marched out of cabul, a sorry score of fugitives were all that left that horrible defile alive. sixteen miles from jellalabad, only six remained: still the murdering knife was plied, until, at last, one solitary haggard man, dr. brydon, rode into jellalabad to tell of the literal annihilation of the army of cabul, and announce to general sale, commanding in that place, that his wife was in the hands of akbar khan. there is little more to add. it had been part of elphinstone's shameful bargain with akbar khan that jellalabad and candahar should be evacuated before the army of cabul should reach the former place, and orders had been sent to general sale in jellalabad and general nott in candahar to abandon these towns. luckily, these officers were of the right british stamp, and they refused to obey. akbar khan besieged sale in jellalabad; sale not only held that place but gave battle to the afghans outside the fort, routed them, and made ready to co-operate with general nott at candahar for a forward movement on cabul. but the faculties of lord auckland, the governor-general, seemed paralysed. regardless of british prestige, the very keystone of our rule in india, he ordered the precipitate recall of all the troops in afghanistan. luckily, again, his term of office was just drawing to a close, and lord ellenborough came out to take the reins of government. at first he issued a proclamation endorsing the withdrawal from afghanistan, but more spirited counsel prevailed in the end. the re-conquest of cabul was accomplished by the entry of general pollock into the capital on september , , when it was found that the unfortunate shah soojah had paid the penalty of the greatness thrust on him by english diplomacy, and had been assassinated by the people he had been set to rule. of the english ladies and children who had been taken under the protection of akbar khan the story has been written in a once famous book, lady sale's _journal_. the husband of that lady, general sir robert sale, was sent to recover the captives, who had suffered innumerable hardships. general elphinstone had died--the best thing that could happen for his fame; the rest were found in a hill fort in the indian caucasus, in charge of a chief, who, having heard of akbar khan's defeat, was easily bribed to surrender his trust. the retreat from cabul had begun on january , but the news did not reach england till march . [illustration: _thomas sully._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ her majesty the queen in . this portrait was painted from life at buckingham palace by mr. sully, an american artist, whose daughter, about the same age as her majesty, took the queen's place and wore the jewels while these were being painted into the picture. her majesty came in while the young lady was thus attired and conversed with her.] [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ her majesty the queen, about . this illustration is from a very beautiful coloured lithograph prepared in in compliance with her majesty's kind suggestion that a portrait should be prepared which, in those days of expensive prints, might be sold at a price within the reach of her less well-to-do subjects.] [sidenote: the corn duties.] the tories--or, as they must in future be called, the conservatives--had been carried to power by a strong wave of reaction in , but it was the destiny of their leader, sir robert peel, to shake the fabric of the party to its base. there was a story current, of dubious authenticity, about this statesman, how that in his early days his father, also sir robert, warned lord liverpool that if the young man did not get office immediately he would go over to the whigs and be lost to his party, whereupon liverpool immediately appointed him irish secretary. no doubt peel was far more disposed for progress and reform than the average whig, and there was something paradoxical in the fate that made him leader of the tories. at first all went smoothly; the leader of the house of commons was chief of the ministerial forces and master of the opposition also. but the first note of approaching storm was sounded on the eve of the meeting of parliament in february, . the duke of buckingham, lord privy seal, resigned his office and seat in the cabinet on january . the reason for this, as the duke afterwards announced in parliament, lay in the following expression in the queen's speech:--"i recommend to your consideration the state of the laws which affect the importation of corn, and of other articles, the produce of foreign countries." this little sentence, wedged in among the usual ceremonial or occasional paragraphs, contained the kernel of the ministerial programme, and at once excited extraordinary interest in the country. on february , when peel was to propound his scheme, the delegates of the anti-corn law league marched down in procession to westminster, and it required all the force of the police on duty to keep them from taking possession of the lobby of the house of commons. [illustration: _lowes dickinson._} {_national portrait gallery._ richard cobden, - . the son of a yeoman farmer in sussex. entered parliament as member for stockport in and immediately took the lead in the house of commons of the party identified with the cause of free trade, a cause he had already done much to strengthen. he opposed the crimean war, and brought about the fall of the palmerston government in , by carrying a vote condemning their action in regard to the chinese war. he negotiated the commercial treaty with france in .] [illustration: _frank holl, r.a._} {_by permission of the birmingham liberal association._ john bright, - . he was the son of a rochdale cotton spinner; entered parliament as m.p. for durham in , and represented manchester - , and birmingham from that date to his death. he was appointed president of the board of trade in , and in and again in chancellor of the duchy of lancaster. he was a member of the society of friends, and one of the most eloquent and convincing speakers of the century. he is principally remembered for his advocacy of the repeal of the corn laws.] [sidenote: the pioneers of free trade.] [sidenote: failure of potato crop in ireland.] this league was a remarkable organisation under a no less remarkable leader. richard cobden, the son of a yeoman farmer, was employed in his youth in a london warehouse, and then became partner in a manchester cotton factory. he first attracted notice as a pamphleteer, attacking some of the most cherished traditions of british statesmanship. he travelled far and wide on the business of his firm, and in every country he visited his thoughtful mind gathered material for the doctrines inseparably associated with his name. he first entered parliament in , being recognised at that time as the leader of the movement in the country against the corn duties. mr. charles villiers had won for himself the position of parliamentary head of the free trade party; to him cobden came not as a rival but as a wise, resourceful ally. a third figure was soon to be added to this famous group in the person of john bright, a quaker manufacturer in rochdale. a notable trio, each supplying the complement of the other's qualities; villiers, of aristocratic birth and connections, well acquainted with the rules and peculiar temperament of the house of commons, ardent, industrious, and well informed; cobden, a man of the people, temperate, just, "the apostle of common-sense," and singularly persuasive; bright, intensely--sternly in earnest, possessing gifts of oratory denied to his colleagues, but exercising them with a discretion rare among fluent speakers. lastly, one attribute shared equally by each of the three men--absolute integrity and complete disinterestedness. they were radicals, but they dissociated themselves from all ties of political party, looking for no reward from either side, but ready to support any minister who would carry out their views. their appeal was addressed to the understanding, not to the passions, of men: their aim was to secure cheap food for the masses, but they never stooped to inflammatory tirades against the classes. hence the steady, rapid growth of the league, and its irresistible influence on the queen's ministers. mr. villiers had advocated for many years the total abolition of the corn duties, and nothing less would now satisfy the league. russell, who scouted the very idea of absolutely free imports, had yielded so far as to propose, in , a fixed duty on foreign corn, greatly less than the existing rate, which varied between _s._ and _s._ per quarter, according to the market price. peel came forward in with a more liberal remission of duty, but although his bill was passed by a very large majority, all it did was to make the country party behind him uneasy without conciliating the anti-corn law people. no one but men of the manchester school--"cobdenites," as they afterwards came to be called--no one, either whig or tory, dreamt of denying that protection was desirable, even necessary, for agriculture. peel's first measure was framed to protect wheat growers against a fall in the average price below _s._ a quarter, and also to protect the consumer against a higher price. but the corn duties had been fixed in : a whole generation had grown up under them: their outworks could not be tampered with without risking the stability of the whole structure. it required a momentum of extraordinary force to carry the movement against them to success. that impetus came, in the autumn of , from two sources equally unforeseen. first arrived news of a destructive disease, wasting the potato crop in ireland. potatoes had grown to be to the irish peasant what wheat is to english, what oats still were to scottish labourers. the government were informed that one-third of the food of the people was already destroyed, that the disease was still spreading, and no estimate could be formed of how much of the crop could be saved. deadly disaster was imminent, and the cabinet was summoned to many anxious deliberations. the prime minister advocated that in order to avert famine all ports should be thrown open to corn ships. he coupled this advice with the warning that, once the duties were suspended, he did not think it would be possible to re-establish them. the warning weighed more with the cabinet than the advice. three ministers only--lord aberdeen, sir james graham, and sidney herbert--supported peel's proposal. it was set aside, and a commission was appointed instead to take measures to mitigate the immediate necessity in ireland. [illustration: _designed by j. flaxman, r.a._} {_in the royal collection._ silver gilt bowl. this beautiful specimen of art workmanship was made for king george iv. when prince of wales; the gilding alone cost £ , . the ladle was made for the baptism of the present prince of wales.] [illustration: _h. g. hine._} {_from "punch."_ genuine agitation. _a scene from "julius cæsar," with wellington as ghost._ in reply to questions drawing attention to the repeal agitation in ireland, the duke of wellington in the lords, and sir robert peel in the commons, expressed (may , ) the resolution of the government to uphold the union at all costs, and hinted at the probable adoption of coercive measures. the artist has made o'connell himself the victim of agitation at this implied threat.] [illustration: _r. doyle._} {_from "punch."_ papa cobden taking master robert a free trade walk. the reference is to sir robert peel's gradual conversion to the views of the "manchester school."] [illustration: _sir g. hayter._} {_in the royal collection._ . her majesty the queen. . prince consort. . duke of cambridge. . duke ferdinand of saxe-coburg-saalfeld. . princess augusta of cambridge. . duchess of cambridge. . duchess of kent. . king of prussia. . earl delawarr, lord chamberlain. . earl of liverpool, lord steward. . duke of sussex. . duchess of buccleuch, mistress of the robes. . bishop of london. . archbishop of canterbury. . prince george of cambridge. the christening of the prince of wales in st. george's chapel, windsor, january , .] [sidenote: lord john russell's conversion to free trade.] the other source of impetus referred to was lord john russell's declaration at this juncture of his total conversion to the principle of free trade in corn. his proposed modification in of the duties had been less liberal than that of peel in . it had been a fixed duty instead of a sliding scale. but there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his conversion or to suspect him of merely desiring to gain a party advantage. the circumstances of the anti-corn law party at the moment were not such as to tempt the leader of the opposition to embrace their programme out of a mere desire to steal a march on his opponents. [illustration: . . , , , tonnage of colonial shipping. same scale as larger diagram.] [illustration: .-- , , tons. .-- , , tons. the growth of british commerce, as indicated by the tonnage of british ships in and in . the diagram illustrates at once the difference in type between the ships of the two dates, and the increase in tonnage of the whole mercantile marine, the latter being indicated by the comparative lengths of the ships. each dotted square represents a million tons.] [illustration: section of the "great eastern," the largest ship ever built. the "great eastern" was designed by mr. isambard k. brunel, and built by mr. scott russell of millwall, at a cost of £ , . her keel was laid in may and she was launched on january , . her length was feet; width between bulwarks, feet; height, feet; tonnage, , ; displacement when loaded, , tons; horse-power, , . , wrought-iron plates were used in her hulk. she was built on the "cellular" principle, with two skins feet apart, and driven by both paddle wheels and screw. as a passenger steamer she did not succeed; but she laid the first successful atlantic cable ( ) and picked up and repaired the earlier one which had parted in mid-ocean. she was afterwards purchased for public exhibition and finally broken up in .] [sidenote: peel and repeal.] [sidenote: rupture of the tory party.] the immediate effect of russell's conversion, coming on the top of alarming news from ireland, was to send peel forward on a course he had been contemplating for years. he read a memorandum to the cabinet on december recommending that parliament should be summoned early in january, and that he should submit a bill for the practical and immediate repeal of the corn laws. lord stanley and the duke of buccleuch refused their support to this policy. the duke of wellington said he was still in favour of maintaining the corn laws, but that if peel considered that their repeal was necessary for the maintenance of his position "in parliament and in the public view," he would support the measure. the cabinet adjourned till next day. by some accident--it was said that a lady was the means of it--the _times_ became possessed of the secret, and on december the startling announcement appeared in its columns that the cabinet had resolved on the repeal of the corn laws. the only modern parallel to the consternation ensuing in the clubs and the country may be found in that which took place when, in , it was made known that mr. gladstone's cabinet had decided to give home rule to ireland. many refused to believe the statement in the _times_, alleging that it was impossible that a cabinet secret could have leaked out in this way. the _standard_ published an emphatic, though not authoritative, contradiction of the story. excitement and dismay, delight and disgust, contended for mastery wheresoever a few men gathered together: in a few days all was known. lord stanley--the "rupert of debate," as disraeli afterwards called him--and the duke of buccleuch resigned their seats in the cabinet. peel would not consent to proceed without the unanimous consent of his colleagues; on december he went to osborne and tendered his resignation to the queen. lord john russell was at once sent for to form a ministry: he attempted to do so, but failed: lord grey's distrust of lord palmerston's foreign policy proving a fatal obstacle to it. peel, on being required to do so by the queen, withdrew his resignation and resumed the duties of office. the duke of buccleuch returned as privy seal, but lord stanley was not to be reconciled, and mr. gladstone entered the cabinet for the first time as colonial secretary. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} {_political sketches._ a contrast between the cares of office and the ease of opposition. lord aberdeen. lord palmerston.] [sidenote: the corn duties repealed.] parliament met on january , . expectation was at the boiling point; it was one of those rare occasions, happening not more than once or twice in an ordinary reign, when the ears of the whole country await an announcement of interest to every class in it. adopting an unusual, almost unprecedented, course, the prime minister rose immediately after the speeches of the mover and seconder of the address: he entered into no details of the measure foreshadowed in the queen's speech, but he removed all shadow of doubt that the ministry had resolved on the total repeal of the corn duties. those who know the ways of the house of commons will best understand the significance of a comment made by one who was present. "he did not get a solitary cheer from the people behind him except when he said that stanley had always been against him ... and then the whole of those benches rung with cheers." perhaps nothing in his speech gave deeper offence to his party than the concluding sentence, in which he declared that he found it "no easy task to ensure the harmonious and united action of an ancient monarchy, a proud aristocracy, and a reformed house of commons." [illustration: _j. doyle._ ("_h. b._").} {_political sketches, ._ an awkward situation. the irish famine of caused sir robert peel to embrace the principle of free trade; and his party, incensed at what they considered his "treason," rejected his coercion bill, and brought about the fall of his ministry.] [illustration: the growth of mail steamers represented by the cunard line fleet from to the present day. the year was the starting point of atlantic ocean racing. in that year the _great western_ and the _sirius_ crossed in days and days respectively. the first cunarder, the _britannia_, appeared in , and made the westward passage in days. the following year she crossed eastward in days. in the record was reduced to days hours westward by the _baltic_, and days hours min. eastward by the _pacific_. in the _scotia_, of the cunard line, crossed eastward in days hours, and in the following year returned in days hours min. five years later the _city of brussels_, of the inman line, travelled between new york and liverpool in days hours min., but the _baltic_, of the white star line, lowered this by hours four years later. the _arizona_ and _alaska_ improved the speed between and , the latter making the passage eastward in days hours. the ill-fated _oregon_ came eastward in days hours min. in , while the _etruria_ went westward in days hour min. in the _city of paris_ lowered the eastward and westward journeys to days hours min., and days hours min., respectively, while two years later the _teutonic_ reduced this still further by hours each way. finally the _campania_ and _lucania_ appeared in , the latter establishing the record eastwards of days hours min. and westwards of days hours min. mails have been carried per the _lucania_ between new york post office and the london central office in · hours.] the spokesman of the angry tories was one of whom much was to be heard in coming years. benjamin disraeli had done nothing as yet to redeem the apparently hopeless failure of his maiden speech in . outwardly, a remarkable figure enough, in a parliamentary sense he was no more than obscure when he rose from his seat on the government benches to lead the first attack on the new policy. he was bitter, he was personal, but he was adroitly opportune; and his fame as a statesman dates from that day. [sidenote: defeat and resignation of the government.] [illustration: _g. f. watts, r.a._} {_in the national portrait gallery._ the seventh earl of shaftesbury, - . the rt. hon. anthony ashley-cooper entered parliament, as m.p. for woodstock, in . he was then known as lord ashley. in he secured the exclusion of women and children from mines, and in the passing of the ten hours bill. he succeeded to the earldom in . his life was devoted to practical philanthropy.] the immediate result was a split--a secession. the house of commons ratified peel's policy by a majority of ninety-seven, but disraeli himself has put on record the feelings which animated peel's ancient supporters. "vengeance had succeeded in most breasts to the more sanguine sentiment: the field was lost, but at any rate there should be retribution for those who had betrayed it." the opportunity for vengeance was not long delayed. the corn bill left the house of commons on may . on june it passed the third reading in the house of lords, and the most momentous measure of queen victoria's reign awaited only the royal assent to complete it. on that very night the house of commons were to divide on one of those bills conferring extraordinary powers on the executive in ireland which it has been the fate of successive governments to introduce--coercion bills, as they are called for short. the protectionists perceived what lay in their power: if they threw their weight in with the regular opposition and o'connell's irish catholics, they could defeat their lost leader. about eighty of them did so: the rest stayed away and ministers were left in a minority of seventy-three. peel resigned: "he had lost a party but won a nation." he never returned to office, but, though he did not live to see it, the principles for which he fought and fell became those of the conservative party. [sidenote: review of peel's administration.] during the five years of his last administration he had restored equilibrium to the national finances. he turned the deficit of two millions to which he succeeded to a surplus of five millions in . he carried the grant to the roman catholic college of maynooth against the votes of half his own party, though it cost him the loss of his colleague, mr. w. e. gladstone. mr. gladstone himself lived to abolish the grant, for it was he who ruled the whirlwind that swept away the irish state church in , and the maynooth grants disappeared with it. peel's administration must also be credited with a marked advance in legislation for the working classes. lord ashley (better known in later years as earl of shaftesbury) had obtained the appointment of a commission to inquire into the employment of women in collieries: the horrible evils thereby brought to light, the infamous degradation of women and girls, harnessed like beasts of draught with a girdle round their waist--unclothed, unwashed, and sometimes hopelessly crippled--deeply moved the public mind, and the act of , prohibiting the employment of females in mines, passed almost without opposition. more prolonged was the resistance to the factory act of , regulating the hours of labour of youthful persons. this beneficent legislation should not be overlooked in the glare of conflict over the corn laws. [illustration: _sir e. landseer, r.a._} {_in the royal collection (by permission of messrs. graves)._ the queen, prince consort, and princess royal, at windsor castle, .] [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_in the royal collection._ her majesty receiving king louis philippe at windsor castle, october , . louis philippe was the first french monarch who ever set foot in the british islands on a visit of peace. the prince consort met him at portsmouth and accompanied him to windsor, where the queen awaited him. at the banquet "he talked to me," writes the queen, "of the time when he was in a school in the grisons, a teacher merely, receiving twenty pence a day, having to brush his own boots, and under the name of chabot." on the following day he was installed knight of the garter. he left england on the th.] chapter iv. - . the churches of england and scotland--"tracts for the times"--newman, keble, and pusey--"ten years' conflict" in scotland--disruption of the church--dr. chalmers--rise of the free church--affairs of british india--first sikh war--battles of meeanee, moodkee, ferozeshah, aliwal and sobraon--second sikh war--murder of vans agnew and anderson--battle of ramnuggur--siege and fall of mooltan--battles of chilianwalla and goojerat--annexation of the punjab. [sidenote: the churches of england and scotland.] the upheavals which took place simultaneously in the established churches of england and scotland, during the early years of victoria's reign, and so profoundly stirred religious sentiment in both countries, can scarcely have arisen from independent centres of disturbance, though the connection between them is not easy to trace. they were the outcome of an awaking from the condition of inactivity and routine into which both these protestant churches had passed after the agitating events of the seventeenth century, and an attempt on the part of the more active intellects, both in clergy and people, to restore ecclesiastical authority and discipline. [illustration: _g. richmond, r.a._} {_by permission of mr. mclean._ john henry newman, - . cardinal-deacon of the church of rome. was the son of a london banker. took orders in the anglican church in ; was appointed incumbent of st. mary's, oxford, in , and held that appointment until . he seceded to the church of rome in , and was created a cardinal in by leo xiii.] [illustration: _miss rosa corder._} {_in the pusey house, oxford._ dr. e. b. pusey, - . regius professor of hebrew at christ church college, oxford, . he wrote several of the "tracts for the times." on the secession of newman he became the virtual leader of the tractarian movement.] [sidenote: "tracts for the times." newman, keble, and pusey.] the movement in england has been reckoned by the late cardinal newman, himself one of the leading spirits in it before his secession to rome, as beginning with a sermon preached by john keble in the university pulpit, oxford, on july , , afterwards published under the title "national apostasy." about the same time began the publication of "tracts for the times," conducted by a group of earnest, active men, including newman, keble, pusey, and others, advocating a revival of high church observances as a means of quickening spiritual life and a restoration of the patristic doctrines and practice in church government and services. from these tracts the movement became known as "tractarian," till in their publication came to a sudden end by reason of the famous tract no. , written by newman, and deeply offensive to protestant feeling in england. newman joined the church of rome in , and thereafter the term "puseyite" was popularly used to designate this party. [illustration: _g. richmond, r.a._} the rev. john keble, - . one of the leaders of the tractarian movement. he is best known by his hymns published under the titles of "the christian year" ( ) and "lyra innocentium" ( ). he was professor of poetry at oxford, , and vicar of hursley, near winchester, - . keble college, oxford, was erected to his memory.] [illustration: _j. faed._} dr. thos. chalmers, - . as minister of the tron church, glasgow ( ), he obtained a great reputation. he was appointed professor of moral philosophy at st. andrew's, , of theology at edinburgh in , and led the great secession in . he was the first moderator of, and was elected principal and primarius professor of theology in, the free church of scotland.] [sidenote: the "ten years' conflict" in scotland.] [sidenote: disruption of the church.] [sidenote: dr. chalmers.] [sidenote: rise of the free church.] the corresponding movement in the established presbyterian church of scotland, commonly referred to as the ten years' conflict, arose out of a question of church government rather than one of theology. lay patronage had been imposed on the church of scotland by the act of . the revival of spiritual activity, which in england took the shape of the tractarian movement, was equally perceptible in scotland, and resulted in the general assembly of the church of scotland passing the veto act in , by which it was declared to be a fundamental law of the church that no pastor could be appointed to a parish against the will of the majority of the congregation. it was not long before this led to appeals from the ecclesiastical to the civil courts. in the general assembly presented to the queen a "claim, declaration, and protest," accompanied by an address praying for the abolition of patronage, to which the home secretary made reply that the government could not interfere. in march , the house of commons decided by votes to against attempting to redress the grievance, and on may following, the non-intrusion party withdrew from the general assembly and constituted the first assembly of the free church, under the leadership of dr. thomas chalmers. the action was all the more significant because chalmers, the most powerful and popular preacher in the scottish church of that day, and a distinguished leader of ecclesiastical thought, had hitherto been a powerful champion of the connection of church and state. but he had thrown himself with great earnestness into the work of reclaiming the masses and bringing them into direct relations with the church, and he felt convinced that this great work could not be carried to success unless the church were free to choose her own instruments. four hundred and seventy parish ministers resigned their livings and joined the free church. a sustentation fund was set up, based on a calculation made by chalmers that a penny a week from each member of a congregation would produce a stipend of £ a year for ministers. it amounted to no less than £ , in the first year of disruption. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} {_political sketches._ an old so'ger in marching order. general sir charles napier, - .] [illustration: _h. martens._} {_from a coloured engraving._ the battle of sobraon, february , . this illustration is reduced from a popular, but somewhat quaint, coloured print representing the st regiment, with major-general sir henry smith's division, in action at sobraon. it forms an instructive contrast with the military prints of the present day.] [sidenote: affairs of british india.] [sidenote: the first sikh war.] [sidenote: battles of meeanee, moodkee, ferozeshah, aliwal and sobraon.] the existence of british territory in india, side by side with territory under british protection and states wholly under native rule, was a condition of things neither conducive to peace nor likely to be of a permanent nature. a single spark dropped among the warlike races inhabiting that vast peninsula was often enough to cause wide-spreading conflagration; and, however agreeable it might be to british consciences, it would be unphilosophic in the highest degree to attribute the blame for such outbreaks exclusively to the native rulers and people. trouble broke out early in which led to the annexation by the british of scinde, a fine territory lying between the indian ocean and the cutch on the south, and southern afghanistan and the punjab on the north. scinde had been divided into three provinces--hyderabad, khyrpore, and meerpore--each ruled by a group of ameers or hereditary chiefs, descended from beloochee conquerors, who, it was said, most cruelly oppressed the people under them. successive treaties had been effected with these rulers by the indian government, but the disaster which fell on the british arms in cabul seems to have encouraged them to withhold some of the tribute due by them under the latest treaty, and they began warlike preparations. in lord ellenborough appointed sir charles napier commander-in-chief of the british troops in scinde, with instructions to inflict signal punishment on any chiefs detected in treachery, at the same time empowering him to make a fresh treaty, relieving the ameers from the payment of any subsidy for the support of british troops. this treaty was at length signed, though it must be confessed that the ameers were only induced to consent to it by the threatening display of napier's force. on february , , the british residency at hyderabad was attacked by , troops with six guns, led by one or more of the ameers, and the garrison of men under major outram was driven out after a gallant resistance. napier marched to muttaree the following day with a force of , , attacked the ameers, who had an army of , beloochees, on the morning of the th at meeanee, six miles from hyderabad, defeated them, and captured their whole artillery, ammunition, baggage, and considerable treasure. the british loss amounted to killed and wounded. hyderabad was occupied, but the ameer of meerpore was still under arms, holding a strong position at dubba, about four miles from hyderabad, with , men. napier attacked him, and a battle lasting for three hours ended in the complete defeat of shere mahomed and the occupation of meerpore by the british. sir charles napier continued warlike operations at intervals against the hill tribes north of shikarpore, and there can be but one opinion of the masterly way in which he handled the troops under his command. but the policy of the governor-general was open to some difference of opinion. he had carried things with a high hand in dealing with the ameers, and early in he was recalled by the unanimous vote of the court of directors of the east india company, and sir henry hardinge was appointed in his place. [illustration: _sir f. grant, p.r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves, pall mall._ sir henry, afterwards viscount, hardinge and his staff at ferozeshah.] hardinge applied himself to the peaceful preparation of railroad schemes for the development of india, but at the close of events again forced the government forward on the path of fresh conquest. at that time the punjab, a kingdom consisting both of independent sikh states and those under british protection, was under nominal rule of the boy-king, dhuleep singh, and his mother, the ranee; but his government at lahore was distracted by faction and lay at the mercy of his own powerful army. in december , the sikh forces, for some reason which has never been clearly explained, began massing on the british frontier, and crossed the sutlej, , or , strong, on the th. sir hugh gough advanced by forced marches to meet them, attacked them at moodkee and defeated them, capturing seventeen guns. the sikhs retired to a strongly-entrenched camp at ferozeshah, whither gough, reinforced by sir john littler's division from ferozepore, followed them on the st. the sikh army was now upwards of , strong, with heavy guns in fixed batteries. the british force consisted of , men and sixty-nine guns, chiefly horse artillery. there ensued one of the severest conflicts in the history of our indian empire. beginning on the st it lasted through part of the nd, and ended in the gallant sikhs being driven across the sutlej with the loss of many killed and wounded, and no less than seventy guns. the governor-general, sir henry hardinge, acted as a volunteer, second in command to sir hugh gough, in this memorable action. [illustration: _sir f. grant, p.r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ field marshal hugh, viscount gough, - . entered the army in and served at the cape of good hope and in the peninsular war. he commanded at the battles of moodkee, ferozeshah, and sobraon, and was raised to the peerage as a reward for these great victories. in the second sikh war in he commanded in the actions at chilianwalla and goojerat.] [sidenote: the second sikh war.] early in january , sirdar runjoor singh, again advancing towards the frontier, took up a strong position on the british side of the sutlej, threatening gough's line of communications with loodiana. major-general sir harry smith attacked him at aliwal on january , and, notwithstanding the great superiority in numbers of the enemy, obtained a brilliant victory over the sikhs, capturing their camp and fifty-two guns. but more fighting had to be done before the army of the punjab could be finally subdued. the sikhs still lay at sobraon with , of their best troops, defended by a triple line of breastworks, flanked by redoubts, and armed with seventy guns. here sir hugh gough attacked them on the morning of february , the governor-general again being present as second in command. at nine o'clock, after an hour's cannonade, brigadier stacey advanced to storm the entrenchments with four battalions, which behaved with splendid gallantry under a very heavy and well-directed fire. they stormed the position, and, being well supported, forced their way into the fortress. by eleven o'clock all was over. the sikhs were in full flight across the sutlej, leaving behind them piles of dead and wounded, sixty-seven guns, camel swivels, and all their baggage and ammunition. the british loss consisted of killed, including seventeen officers (among whom were major-general sir robert dick, general mclaren, and brigadier taylor), and , wounded, including officers. but the carnage among the sikhs was far more terrible. it is supposed that not less than eight or ten thousand of them perished in action or were drowned in crossing the river under the fire of the british artillery. on february gough occupied the citadel of lahore; the governor-general issued a proclamation from that place, and a treaty was subsequently concluded establishing dhuleep singh as maharajah, tributary to the british government. [sidenote: murder of vans agnew and anderson. battle of ramnuggur.] war broke out again in the punjab in . on april mr. vans agnew and lieutenant anderson, british agents at mooltan, were murdered. on august general whish besieged mooltan with , men. lord gough arrived on november , and took command of the entire british force. next day he advanced to attack the enemy at ramnuggur, where both banks of the river were held by the sikhs. by a most unfortunate piece of strategy the cavalry division, consisting of the rd dragoons and the th, th, and th light horse, supported by horse artillery, were ordered forward under general cureton to dislodge the enemy from the left bank of the river. this they accomplished with admirable gallantry, but not without suffering terrible loss, owing to the difficult nature of the ground. colonel havelock fell at the head of the th light dragoons; general cureton and captain fitzgerald were also killed. on december lord gough crossed the chenab, and the enemy, after exchanging a cannonade for several hours, retired towards the north-west. [sidenote: siege and fall of mooltan.] meantime, general whish was carrying on the siege of mooltan with an army of , men and guns. it is impossible to speak too highly of the splendid defence made by the sikhs under moolraj. by december the british siege guns were bombarding the city walls at eighty yards range. on the th the principal magazine in the citadel blew up with a terrific explosion, and the town was in flames. still the brave garrison fought on. the bombardment continued without intermission for fifty hours. on january , , the town, or the wreck of what had once been a town, was taken by assault; but the citadel still held out. from the th to the th it was incessantly bombarded, and mines were exploded at intervals under the walls, till at last, on the st, two wide breaches had been made, and a general assault was ordered for the following day. moolraj anticipated this by unconditional surrender. his garrison, less than , men, marched into the british lines to lay down their arms; the last man to leave the fort, in the heroic defence of which he had won undying glory, was moolraj, dressed in gorgeous silks, splendidly armed, riding a superb arab with a scarlet saddle-cloth. [sidenote: battles of chilianwalla and goojerat.] after the fall of mooltan general whish joined forces with lord gough, who, as described above, had driven the enemy from their encampment at ramnuggur on november . it was believed that the rebellion was broken, and that the sikhs would not again meet our army in the field. but our generals had still to learn the extraordinary resolution and resources of this fine race. chuttur singh and his son shere singh still commanded nearly , men with sixty-two guns, and had captured attock, a fort defended by major herbert. gough advanced to attack the chiefs on january , , in their position on the upper jhelum near the village of chilianwalla, a name of melancholy associations in british annals. the sikhs, indeed, withdrew, but they carried with them four british guns and five stand of colours. the british loss was terrible, amounting to twenty-six officers and men killed, and sixty-six officers and , men wounded. lord gough was blamed for bad generalship in this action: he was recalled from his command, and sir charles napier was appointed in his place. but fortune was kind to a brave soldier. before the orders from home could reach him, gough, having followed the enemy, retrieved the disaster of chilianwalla by inflicting on shere singh a crushing defeat at goojerat on february , pursuing him into the khoree pass. on march shere singh surrendered unconditionally, and on the th a proclamation was issued by the governor-general permanently annexing the punjab to the british empire. [illustration: _d. maclise, r.a._} {_from the original sketch in the south kensington museum._ charles dickens, - . with his wife and wife's sister. while the events recorded in these chapters were enacting, those books were appearing in rapid succession which have made dickens's name a household word. dickens was born at portsmouth, where his father held an appointment in the navy pay office. in early life he learned by experience what poverty meant; but his earliest writings, the "sketches by boz" ( ), brought him immediate celebrity. the "pickwick papers" appeared in , then in succession, "oliver twist," "nicholas nickleby," "the old curiosity shop," and "barnaby rudge." "david copperfield" appeared in , and "edwin drood" was in course of publication ( ) when its author died. he is buried in poet's corner, westminster abbey.] [illustration: _t. phillips, r.a._} {_in the national portrait gallery._ sir john franklin, - . entered the navy in , and was present at the battles of copenhagen and trafalgar. he conducted several expeditions to the arctic regions. in march he sailed in command of the _erebus_ and _terror_ in search of the "north-west passage." nothing was heard of them for years, but in the _fox_, fitted out by lady franklin and commanded by sir leopold mcclintock, found relics, now in greenwich hospital, which left no doubt of the total loss of the ships and all lives.] [illustration: _g. r. gilbert._} {_in the royal collection._ naval review of . her majesty and the prince consort in the royal yacht reviewing the experimental squadron at spithead, july , .] chapter v. - . the irish famine--smith o'brien's rebellion--widow cormack's cabbages--the special commission--revival of the chartist movement--the monster petition--its exposure and collapse of the movement--revolutionary movements in britain compared with those in other countries--growing affection for the queen--its causes--royal visit to ireland--the pacifico imbroglio--rupture with france imminent--_civis romanus sum_--lord palmerston's rise--sir robert peel's death--the invention of chloroform. [sidenote: the irish famine.] the condition of affairs in ireland, with which it had fallen to the russell ministry to deal on entering office in , had become truly appalling. nearly a million of money had been expended by peel's government in relief of the distress caused by the failure of the potato crop in , and the disease had reappeared with greater intensity in the following season. further measures of relief were brought forward by the prime minister; charitable subscriptions poured in from every town in england and scotland; nearly every country in europe, including even turkey, contributed help in the hour of need, and the united states government freighted some of their war vessels with grain for their starving cousins. [illustration: the first closed diving helmet. invented by a. siebe, . now in the patents museum. south kensington.] nevertheless, the situation was one of extraordinary perplexity. in the footprints of famine stalked sedition. agrarian murders rose to a frightful figure; secret societies grew apace; midnight drilling went on in almost every county; and that very peasantry whose destitution had touched the hearts of the whole civilised world, proved themselves able to buy enormous quantities of arms and ammunition. in clonmel alone, , stand of arms were sold in a few days, and everywhere, to quote a letter written at the time, "the peasantry are armed or are arming almost to a man. the stores of the armourer are more frequently exhausted than the provision stores." so brisk was the demand as to cause a revival of the gun trade in birmingham, where the existing stock of small arms was entirely cleared out. but there could be no doubt of the reality and severity of the distress. it was worst in the south and west; famine and famine-fever carried off thousands, and the population of ireland, which had stood at eight millions in , could only be reckoned at six millions in . the difference, however, was not entirely due to deaths by starvation or disease. the westward stream of emigration had set in, and tens of thousands of irish families sought and found the means of better existence in the land of plenty beyond the atlantic. [illustration: _j. doyle_ ("_h. b._").} {_political sketches, ._ an interesting group; or, "misfortune makes strange bedfellows." lord lincoln, sir robert peel, mr. goulbourne, mr. disraeli, lord george bentinck, and mr. o'brien. lord george bentinck's plan of relief works for ireland, which mainly took the form of railway extension, was at first opposed by the government, but afterwards adopted by them, thus bringing this "interesting group" of men into line.] but the ferment of rebellion was spreading swiftly among those who remained. all the misery of the famine was laid at the door of the land system; not unfrequently coroners' juries returned verdicts of wilful murder against the prime minister or lord lieutenant, holding them directly responsible for not averting the disasters of the country. once more the government had to undertake the hateful task of bringing forward a coercion bill, for the people seemed on the brink of civil war. technically that limit was actually transgressed, though the means were ludicrously inadequate to the end--repeal of the union. the "young ireland" party, inflamed by the successful revolution in france, separated from and plunged ahead of o'connor's repealers. o'connor had precipitated the rupture by endeavouring to induce his party to pledge themselves against any except constitutional means. his proposal was laughed to scorn. william smith o'brien, brother of lord inchiquin, claiming descent from brian boruibh, placed himself at the head of the "confederates," as the new party was called, with meagher, dillon, and others as his lieutenants; the _united irishman_ newspaper was started in opposition to the less inflammatory _nation_, the organ of the older party. it was managed by john mitchell, who filled its columns week by week with the most violent and acrid sedition. [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_in the royal collection._ his royal highness the prince of wales christmas .] [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_in the royal collection._ her majesty and the prince consort with the royal children, . the princess royal (born ), prince of wales ( ), princess alice ( ), prince alfred ( ), and princess helena ( ).] [sidenote: smith o'brien's rebellion.] [sidenote: widow cormack's cabbages.] [sidenote: the special commission.] it was impossible for the government to allow this sort of stuff to be circulated among an excitable peasantry, smarting under imaginary wrongs and real distress and armed to the teeth; but the existing law contained no provisions framed to stop it. the prime minister, therefore, introduced and passed what is known as the treason felony act, making written incitement to insurrection a crime punishable with transportation, and enabling the executive to imprison persons charged with contravention of it. mitchell was arrested at once, but smith o'brien continued to hold armed meetings in various parts of ireland: matters looked threatening, and there was grave apprehension in england as to the result. on the morning of august it was turned into mirth by the arrival in london from liverpool of one of the first telegraphic despatches of importance ever published in this country. rebellion had actually broken out: smith o'brien in person had led a considerable force to attack a body of fifty or sixty police, who defended themselves in the house of one widow cormack, near ballingarry, in tipperary. a good deal of firing took place but very little bloodshed; thanks, on the one hand, to the indifferent arms carried by the rebels, and, on the other, to the forbearance of the police, who could easily have shot o'brien, so theatrically did he expose himself during the brief contest. the chief damage was done to the poor widow's cabbages, which the confederates trampled to pieces in the garden adjoining the house. the affair was soon over: the patriots, not relishing a few rounds from the muskets of the police, melted quickly away, and the heroic o'brien was arrested in the act of taking his railway ticket at thurles station. it is unlucky for any cause--it is worse, it is fatal to it--when it becomes ridiculous, and people have never since been able to mention smith o'brien's cabbage garden without a grin. but the general state of ireland had grown to be no laughing matter. the number of persons arrested for complicity in seditions, or for the frequent murders of landlords, agents, and policemen far exceeded what the ordinary tribunals of the country could deal with, and a special commission of judges was appointed to try them. [illustration: the "spurn" lightship. the first light-vessel was moored at the nore in . since that date, to the untechnical eye, the change in the outward appearance of a lightship has not been great; but the efficiency of the light has been increased, since , from about , candles to about , candles. the _spurn_ lightship shows a light of the power just named, and in foggy weather sounds a powerful siren in place of the old-fashioned gong.] [illustration: the eddystone lighthouse. the present lighthouse was erected in , when smeaton's celebrated tower was removed to the hoe at plymouth, except the lowermost courses, which are shown in the picture and still remain on the rock. the lantern sends out a series of flashes of , candle-power.] [illustration: the smalls lighthouse in . with the exception of smeaton's tower at the eddystone and that on the bell rock, this was the only rock lighthouse on the coast of great britain in . it was built on oak piles, and in stormy weather rocked like a ship. its lantern was furnished with twenty-seven argand lamps with reflectors, giving a light of about , candle-power. it was superseded by the present granite tower in .] [sidenote: revival of the chartist movement.] the spirit of revolution was astir in many lands besides ireland in the year when louis philippe was forced from the throne of france. in england the chartist movement was sympathetically inflamed into renewed activity. a chartist convention assembled in london in spring and made arrangements for a monster demonstration to be held on kennington common on april . but the convention had hardly begun deliberating before disunion appeared in its councils. there were two parties among the chartists--the constitutional radicals and the physical force party. the latter were for assembling on kennington common under arms; but the venerable leader of the whole movement, feargus o'connor, would have nothing to do with unconstitutional or violent proceedings. the consequence of this was a rupture in the camp. every preparation was made by the authorities to protect london from the ravages of a mob: the troops were under arms: the police mustered in great force: thousands of special constables were sworn in, and the chartist procession was prohibited. but about , chartists did assemble on the common to listen to harangues by o'connor and others. o'connor then went to the home office, interviewed sir george grey, and told him the meeting had taken place without disorder. "are you going back to it?" asked grey. "no," replied o'connor, "i've had my toes trodden on till i'm lame: my pocket has been picked, and i'll have no more to do with them." [illustration: dioptric lantern. the series of circular glass prisms collects the rays from the lamp--usually an oil lamp with several concentric wicks--and concentrates them into a horizontal beam of great power. the lantern illustrated is that of the lighthouse at spurn point, and is the most powerful oil lantern yet made; it has a maximum intensity of , candles. but this power is greatly exceeded by the electric lights at st. catherine's, the lizard, and elsewhere.] [sidenote: the monster petition.] [sidenote: its exposure, and collapse of the movement.] it was ridicule--that universal solvent--which finally shattered this once formidable chartist league. a monster petition to parliament had been in course of signature for some months. feargus o'connor, in presenting it, declared that , , names were attached to it. it was remitted in the ordinary course to the committee on public petitions, who employed a number of clerks to examine the signatures. the result was speedily made known. instead of nearly six million names, less than two million were appended to it. whole sheets of these were found to have been written by the same hand. but the crowning exposure, which convulsed the whole nation with laughter, appeared from the analysis of the names themselves. those of the queen and prince albert, of ministers and leaders of opposition were of frequent occurrence; noted names in fiction, especially that of "cheeks the marine," a familiar character in marryat's novels, then very popular, appeared in every sheet, besides all sorts of ribaldries, indecencies, and buffooneries. chartism was a genuine and an earnest movement: it was an upheaval against class privileges, a revolt against class grievances. but these privileges and grievances were in course of removal; the extension of the franchise had brought about repeal of the corn laws, laid the foundation of free trade, and redressed some, at least, of the evils prevalent in factories and mines. much remained to be done, which has been done since, but chartism was to have no hand in the doing of it. as a political force it collapsed; as a social movement it crumbled away under the intolerable ridicule of the monster petition. [illustration: sections of the eddystone lighthouse, shewing the interior, and the method of morticing the stones for greater security. the lantern is a double dioptric one, and consists of two such arrangements as that shewn on the left of this page placed one above the other. the fog-signal is an explosive one of gun-cotton.] [sidenote: revolutionary movements in britain compared with those in other countries.] it will be long before english statesmen forget the lessons of - . during these years the whole of europe was convulsed by violent popular conflicts with authority. in france the bourbon dynasty collapsed with the abdication of louis philippe, and then, to repeat mr. justin mccarthy's happy phrase, "came a red republican rising against a republic that strove not to be red," to be drowned in blood by cavaignac. the pope was chased from rome, the emperor of austria from vienna, the italian princes from their duchies, the german rulers from their principalities; there were sanguinary struggles in poland, in naples, in sardinia; while great britain had only to blush for widow cormack's cabbages and the picking of feargus o'connor's pocket at kennington. yet there was no doubt of the earnestness of the leaders of agitation and insurrection in england: no question about the reality of the grievances. freedom of speech and freedom of the press, no ineffective safety valves in times of discontent, were tolerated in the united kingdom--then, as now--far beyond the limits of public security, as these were reckoned by every other european state. but the chief safety of england lay in the faith of the masses in the power of parliament to devise measures of redress, and their confidence that the sovereign would interpose no bar to remedial legislation. nor have that faith and confidence been betrayed. throughout all the years that have elapsed since the dissolution of the chartist league, parliament has been diligent in devising measures to meet the ever-changing and growing wants of the people, and the royal assent has always been cordially given to them. the queen and her consort do not appear very prominently or very often in the chronicles of these early years, but all the time there had been growing silently that popular affection for the sovereign which disappeared entirely from practical politics with the active reign of george iii. the qualities of prince albert, his industry, his untiring anxiety for the welfare of the people, his unobtrusive influence in favour of freedom, were becoming known: the crown was becoming more than the decorative centre of the court--the mere frontispiece of the aristocracy--it was becoming recognised as the actual head of the british people. [illustration: _j. d. francis._} {_from an engraving._ her majesty in the walking costume of .] [sidenote: growing affection for the queen. its causes.] [sidenote: royal visit to ireland.] the growing affection of the people for their queen was stimulated about this time by the act of a harebrained scamp who, on may , discharged a rusty pistol, loaded, it is believed, with no deadly missile, at her majesty as she was driving in constitution hill with three of her children. the fact that the wretch was an irishman was regarded rightly as being of no political significance, and it was a happy--it was more, it was a wise--project which was carried into effect by the visit of the queen and prince albert, with the prince of wales and princess royal, to ireland in august . the royal yacht was escorted by four warships, but the reception they met with at cork, at dublin, and at belfast proved that to be but a formal precaution. perhaps, had it been possible in later years that the monarch and her family should become more familiar to the warm-hearted irish, many subsequent misfortunes and misunderstandings might never have taken place. [illustration: a comparative view of the imports and exports of the united kingdom in and .] [sidenote: the pacifico imbroglio.] the parliamentary session of must ever be memorable for two events--the sudden rise of lord palmerston into fame and popularity, and the equally sudden removal of the most illustrious figure in the house of commons. the debate, which was the occasion of the first, and immediately preceded the second of these events, arose out of one of the most trivial and least creditable matters that ever agitated the councils and menaced the peace of a great nation. certain british subjects had suffered loss in the destruction of their property during the disturbances at athens in , and had lodged claims for compensation against the greek government. the principal sufferer was a portuguese jew, named pacifico, a british subject in virtue of having been born in gibraltar. the greeks were needy and delayed a settlement. then there was mr. finlay, too, the historian of greece, long resident at athens, who had a grievance of a different sort, arising out of a demand made by the greek government that he should surrender a piece of land at less than he considered its value. the strange thing was that palmerston took up these private claims as an international question, although neither of the claimants had tried the experiment of litigation in the greek courts. a british squadron was ordered to the piræus, all the greek vessels in that harbour were seized, and athens was blockaded. the greeks appealed to the governments of france and russia, who remonstrated with great britain touching this high-handed dealing with a weak state. russia was rudely outspoken and menacing: she was told bluntly by lord palmerston that it was none of her business. france was more conciliatory, and by her aid a convention in regard to the disputed claims was arranged in london. but there was so much delay in communicating the result to the british ambassador in athens, mr. wyse, that he was left in ignorance that a modified payment had been agreed on, and continued to press for payment of the full claims. thereupon arose serious misunderstanding between the british and french governments, england being accused of breach of faith. appearances were certainly against her; the french ambassador was recalled from london, and two great nations seemed on the brink of war. [illustration: _j. leech._} {_from "punch."_ the grecian difficulty. mr. punch: "why don't you hit one of your own size?"] [illustration: manners and customs of ye englyshe in . no. . ye commons ressolved into a commyttee of ye whole house. _richard doyle._} {_from "punch."_] [sidenote: rupture with france imminent.] [sidenote: civis romanus sum.] the government had a wretchedly bad case to defend in parliament; a case, too, which had been damaged by the introduction of that element which had told with such fatal effect against the chartists and smith o'brien's confederates--the element of ridicule. for the grasping jew pacifico had specified in his bill against the greek government various possessions strangely out of keeping with what had always been his modest household. among the articles alleged to have been destroyed by fire were a bedstead, valued at £ , sheets for the same at £ , and a pillow-case at £ . ministers already beaten in the upper house stood in a critical position in the lower. but lord palmerston rose to the occasion, and exhibited eloquence which hitherto he had not been suspected of possessing. he spoke with great vigour for nearly five hours, and wound up with a peroration which, spoken by a man of other mould than "old pam," might have savoured of claptrap, and read in cold blood at this day, seems to rise no higher than what americans call "spread-eagleism." "if," he asked, "a subject of ancient rome could hold himself free from indignity by saying _civis romanus sum_, shall not a british subject also, in whatever land he may be, feel confident that the watchful eye and strong arm of england will protect him against injustice and wrong?" _civis romanus_ carried the house and the country with the speaker: palmerston's appeal saved the government. [sidenote: lord palmerston's rise.] [sidenote: sir robert peel's death.] sir robert peel made his last speech in opposition to the vote of confidence: though, in referring to palmerston's defence of the government, he declared that "his speech made us all proud of the man who made it." he delivered his last vote on the fourth day of the debate, about four o'clock in the morning of june . next day at noon he attended a meeting of the royal commissioners of the great exhibition which was to be held the following year. after the meeting he mounted his horse, went to write his name in the queen's book at buckingham palace, and then rode up constitution hill. he stopped to talk to the hon. miss ellis, whom he met riding down from hyde park: something frightened his horse, which, by a sudden bound, unseated him. peel in falling kept hold of the reins and pulled the horse on the top of him. he was internally and fatally injured, one of his ribs having been broken and forced into the lung. he died on july , after terrible suffering. the doctors were unable to deal with the injuries owing to the intense agony caused by the slightest movement. it brings to one's apprehension what an incalculable boon to suffering humanity has since that time been discovered in the use of anæsthetics. chloroform had already been invented, it is true, in ; but its employment was little understood. three years earlier charles greville had witnessed one of the first operations under chloroform in st. george's hospital. how many suffering ones and friends of suffering ones have had cause to echo the feeling expressed in his journal: "i have no words to express my admiration for this invention, which is the greatest blessing ever bestowed on mankind, and the inventor of it the greatest of benefactors, whose memory ought to be venerated by countless millions for ages yet to come." in spite of this, it is greatly to be feared that the names of guthrie the american and soubeiran the frenchman, who simultaneously discovered chloroform in , and lawrence of london and simpson of edinburgh, who first employed it in our hospitals, have been almost forgotten by the many. [illustration: _c. j. staniland, r.i._} the lifeboat of . the form of lifeboat introduced by henry greathead in , having a curved keel, and rendered additionally buoyant by means of cork, was still the recognised form in , and boats built by him have been in use until quite recently. the lifeboat crews on the north and east coasts still prefer, and use, a boat of very similar shape.] [illustration: _from a photo by_} {_bennetto, newquay._ the lifeboat of . this is the standard self-righting boat of the royal national lifeboat institution, and is the outcome of innumerable experiments. the institution has a fleet of lifeboats, and has been the means of saving, since , no fewer than , lives. the illustration shews the newquay boat entering the water by means of the slip way.] [illustration: the great exhibition of , in hyde park.] chapter vi. - . prince albert's industry--his proposal for a great exhibition--adoption of the scheme--competing designs--mr. paxton's selected--erection of the crystal palace--colonel sibthorp denounces the scheme--papal titles in great britain--popular indignation--the ecclesiastical titles bill--defeat of ministers on the question of the franchise--difficulty in finding a successor to russell--he resumes office--opening of the great exhibition--its success and close. [sidenote: prince albert's industry.] reference has been made already to the wise restraint which prince albert imposed upon himself in respect to politics and legislation; but those would greatly misinterpret the motives and impulses of that active intellect who should attribute this reserve either to apathy or constitutional indolence. prince albert did not admit that, because he was withheld by recent developments of representative government from personal interference in legislation and diplomacy, it was the less incumbent upon him, as consort of the head of the state, to make himself thoroughly informed on all the leading political questions of the day, as well as on the special work of the public departments. added to this was the active part he took in schemes of social and commercial improvement, and in scientific and artistic progress. an early riser at all times, it was his custom, summer and winter, to dispose of a couple of hours' work before breakfast, and it is no figure of speech to say that few of the queen's subjects can have been more constantly or more laboriously employed than her husband. the prince had lived down any popular prejudice which he had to encounter in the early years of his married life; people had come to understand and appreciate his abilities and disposition, and the time had come when his genius and industry were to bear remarkable fruit. [illustration: _r. t. pritchett, f.s.a._} {_by permission of j. f. green, esq._ the first steam lifeboat, "duke of northumberland." built in ; is propelled by a turbine, driven by powerful steam engines, and is capable of being steered by means of the jets of water from the turbine, even if the rudder is disabled. she is feet long, feet inches extreme breadth, feet inches deep, and is built of steel in fifteen watertight compartments. she is stationed at new brighton, cheshire; a similar boat is at harwich; and a third is now being built.] [sidenote: his proposal for a great exhibition.] [sidenote: adoption of the scheme.] prince albert was president of the society of arts, a body which, dating from the middle of the eighteenth century, had, from time to time, offered prizes for specimens of british textile, ceramic, and other manufactures; but the project of holding a competitive exhibition on an international scale originated with the prince himself. in the course of july he had laid his proposals before some of the members of the society, and means were at once adopted to arouse the interest of manufacturers at home, abroad, and in the colonies, and to open negotiations with foreign governments. the idea caught on at once; the states of europe were at peace, and nothing could more surely tend to obliterate the recollection of recent disturbances than to join in friendly rivalry in the arts of peace. a royal commission was appointed to carry out the preparations, and the scheme was formally inaugurated on march , , at a banquet given by the lord mayor to the chief magistrates of all the towns in the united kingdom, to which prince albert and the foreign ambassadors were also invited. [illustration: _c. j. staniland, r.i._} {_from contemporary prints._ a. master. b. purser. c. clerk. d. midshipman. e. rear-admiral. f. petty officer. g. boatswain. h. carpenter. j. seaman. uniforms of the british navy, . in the early part of the reign there was no regulation dress for seamen, and even in the case of officers the regulations were not enforced as they are now.] [sidenote: competing designs.] [sidenote: mr. paxton's selected.] [sidenote: erection of the crystal palace.] somerset house had been placed at the disposal of the commissioners for the purposes of the exhibition, but the fervour with which all nations embraced the idea soon made it manifest that no permanent edifice could contain more than a small fraction of the exhibits. there was no time to be lost--the st of may had been fixed for the opening ceremony. the difficulty was not the cost, for a guarantee fund of £ , had been speedily subscribed; but the designs and specifications had to be submitted, the materials prepared, and the erection completed, all within the space of nine months. a site in hyde park was chosen, and the commissioners set to work to examine no fewer than designs and specifications sent in by architects all over the world. they had almost decided in favour of a design by a french architect, when a certain mr. joseph paxton--not a professional architect, but superintendent of the duke of devonshire's gardens at chatsworth--produced a scheme so original and simple that it was adopted at once in preference to all others. it was an enormous conservatory of glass and iron-- , feet long, feet broad, and feet high--with transepts constructed so as to contain some of the elms still growing in hyde park. the decision of the commissioners was not arrived at till july : not a single casting or piece of material had been prepared yet; but the contractors, messrs. fox, henderson & co., undertook to deliver the building ready for painting and fitting on december . the ground lying between albert gate and knightsbridge barracks on the east and west, between rotten row and st. george's place on the north and south, was handed over to them on july ; the first column was raised on september , and on the stipulated day messrs. fox and henderson handed over the structure of the crystal palace, as it was called, to the commissioners. though the great fabric vanished with the leaves of a single summer, yet this achievement of the contractors deserves record among the most famous exploits of industrial enterprise, affording, as it did, a practical illustration of the dominant object of the great exhibition, as prince albert had defined it in his speech at the mansion house; namely, "to give us a true test and living picture of the point of development at which the whole of mankind has arrived ... a new starting point from which all nations will be able to direct their further exertions." [illustration: _r. simkin._} a. seaman (full dress). b. first class petty officer, white (summer) full dress. c. chief petty officer. d. seaman (landing order). e. admiral. f. captain. g. midshipman. h. lieutenant. j. boatswain. uniforms of the british navy, .] [sidenote: colonel sibthorp denounces the scheme.] [sidenote: papal titles in great britain.] [sidenote: popular indignation.] there were _frondeurs_, of course, as there always are in the projection of any scheme involving novelty; and the _times_ lent its sonorous voice to swell the clamour raised against the desecration of hyde park by the introduction of a commercial speculation. it may appear to some that the british retain to this day some traces of insular prejudice against foreigners, but such a feeling was far more prevalent in than one is apt to realise now. it found fitting expression in the house of commons from the lips of colonel sibthorp, who declared that "when free trade had left nothing else wanting to complete the ruin of the empire, the devil had suggested the idea of the great exhibition, so that the foreigners who had first robbed us of our trade might now be enabled to rob us of our honour."[d] the circumstances of the moment secured the gallant colonel more sympathy than his grotesque speech and exaggerated fears would otherwise have won for him. the protestant spirit of england had taken alarm at a papal bull re-establishing in great britain a hierarchy of bishops deriving titles from the sees to which they were appointed. this might have seemed a higher compliment to great britain than the arrangement under which the roman catholic bishops, which had existed ever since the reformation, held their appointments, under fictitious titles in _partibus infidelium_. but a good deal had occurred in recent years to arouse protestant jealousy of papal aggression. the tractarian movement had resulted in the secession of newman, manning, and other conspicuous clergy and laymen to the church of rome; people both in london and rome had begun to prognosticate a general secession from the church of england, and there was something peculiarly startling in the appointment at this juncture of cardinal wiseman as archbishop of westminster. most englishmen greatly preferred that the pope should continue to regard and call them "infidels," than that he should be permitted to bring them under his immediate patronage in this formal and ostentatious manner; and the feeling of irritation was intensified by wiseman's pastoral letter to the english people on october , , in which the new archbishop announced that "your beloved country has received a place among the fair churches which, normally constituted, form the splendid aggregate of catholic communion." either the protestant reformation, for which great britain had paid so heavy a price, was a precious reality, in which case, so it appeared to most englishmen, this was an insolent and significant aggression by the court of rome, or it was an obsolete blunder, and rome was going to forgive it and resume her spiritual sway over our people. [illustration: _john leech._} {_from "punch."_ the boy who chalked up "no popery," and then ran away. lord john russell's ecclesiastical titles bill of february was materially modified and made much less stringent before it was reintroduced in march.] [sidenote: the ecclesiastical titles bill.] the prime minister lost no time in showing how the affair presented itself to his mind. within less than a month he had proclaimed that the pope's action was "a pretension of supremacy over the realm of england, and a claim to sole and undivided sway, which is inconsistent with the queen's supremacy, with the rights of our bishops and clergy, and with the spiritual independence of the nation as asserted even in roman catholic times"; and he vindicated the sincerity of these expressions by introducing, immediately after the meeting of parliament in february , a bill to prevent the assumption by roman catholics of titles taken from any place within the united kingdom. it was a hazardous measure to steer through the imperial parliament. outside popular passion was aflame; effigies of the pope and wiseman, sixteen feet high, had been dragged through the streets of london on the fifth of november instead of the usual guy faux. on the other hand, both the radicals and the irish catholics in the house might be counted on to offer fiercest opposition to the bill. ministers themselves dreaded enacting anything that savoured of religious intolerance, and the queen herself has left on record her feelings about the subject. "i would never have consented," she wrote to the duchess of gloucester, "to anything which breathed a spirit of intolerance. sincerely protestant as i have always been, and always shall be, and indignant as i am at those who call themselves protestants while they are, in fact, quite the contrary, i much regret the unchristian and intolerant spirit exhibited by many people at the public meetings. i cannot bear to hear the violent abuse of the catholic religion, which is so painful and so cruel towards the many good and innocent roman catholics. however, we must hope and trust this excitement will soon cease, and that the wholesome effect of it upon our own church will be lasting." [illustration: _sir j. e boehm, r.a._} {_national portrait gallery._ thomas carlyle, - . the son of a stonemason; born at ecclefechan, dumfries, and educated at edinburgh university. his essays and historical writings, set forth in virile and rugged english, have had a very great influence on literature and on popular thought, both in england and america. "sartor resartus" appeared in - ; the "french revolution" in ; "cromwell's letters and speeches" in ; "frederick the great" in - .] no wiser words have ever been written or spoken by a monarch. it was both necessary and desirable to give effect to the national repugnance to spiritual interference; but it was imperative that spiritual freedom should be left absolutely unfettered. the progress of the measure through the house of commons was like that of samson's foxes through the philistines' corn; it kindled every slumbering sentiment of acrimony and hatred. the radicals, through mr. roebuck, exclaimed against it as "one of the meanest, pettiest, and most futile measures that ever disgraced even bigotry itself." the irish employed all their inexhaustible resources in resistance; nor was their opposition modified in the least degree by the government agreeing to exclude ireland from the bill. nevertheless, after four nights' debate on the motion for leave to introduce the bill, the division list showed a majority of in favour of it. [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_in the royal collection._ the first of may, . the duke of wellington presenting a casket to his godson, prince arthur (duke of connaught). the prince consort holds a plan of the great exhibition, which is seen in the distance.] [sidenote: defeat of ministers on the question of the franchise.] [sidenote: lord russell resumes.] but just as peel fell on the morrow of his great victory on the corn laws, so within a week of the division on the ecclesiastical titles bill russell encountered defeat in resisting a motion to extend the franchise. he resigned office: the queen sent for lord stanley, who recommended that an attempt should be made by russell to form a coalition cabinet with the help of the party of the late robert peel. but the recent debate had raised implacable bitterness between the peelites and the whigs. next, lord aberdeen refused to attempt the formation of a ministry, on the ground that no ministry could stand which would not undertake to deal with papal aggression, which he was determined not to do. lord stanley then reluctantly tried his hand and failed. the situation was more embarrassing than any that had arisen since , when the lords wellesley, moira, grey, and grenville had successively failed to form a cabinet. the deadlock brought about a touching incident. her majesty resolved to ask the advice of her well-tried servant, the duke of wellington, then in his eighty-third year. he gave it in terms as concise as one of his own general orders: "that the party still filling the offices, till her majesty's pleasure shall be declared, is the one best calculated to carry on the government at the present moment." on march , therefore, lord john russell, on her majesty's invitation, returned to office. the ecclesiastical titles bill was resumed, but the more stringent clauses were withdrawn, and in the form in which it finally received the royal assent it did no more than declare the illegality of the english titles assumed by the roman catholic hierarchy.[e] [illustration: _h. c. selaus._} {_from an engraving._ the opening ceremony of the great exhibition of . the queen, prince consort, duchess of kent, and the royal children on the dais; members of the ministry on the left; foreign ambassadors on the right.] [sidenote: opening of the great exhibition.] while this agitation and these debates were in progress, it may be believed that many people were far from hospitably disposed towards the crowds of foreigners which the great exhibition was designed to draw to london. but all hostile criticism was reduced, first to whispers, by the marvellous success of the structure itself, and then to silence, by the splendour of the opening ceremony and of the display within the building. it is the poet's gift to store the essence of events in very small phials, and thackeray's _may day ode_ vividly reflects the feelings of the nation on that far-off spring morning: "but yesterday a naked sod, the dandies sneered from rotten row, and cantered o'er it to and fro; and see, 'tis done! as though 'twere by a wizard's rod, a blazing arch of lucid glass leaps like a fountain from the grass to meet the sun!" a generation has sprung up since that day, satiated with marvels and surprised by no achievement of hand and brain. but no such visible, tangible accomplishment in the arts of peace had ever been manifested up to that time; if prince albert's idea had been one of startling novelty, the celerity of its realisation was still more startling. [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_from the royal collection._ his royal highness the prince consort. from the portrait painted in .] "god bless my dearest albert!" wrote the queen with no feigned emotion, "god bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so great to-day! one felt so grateful to the great god, who seemed to pervade all and bless all." more than mere womanly emotion, this, in presence of an exciting scene. the may day poet put on it the same interpretation: "swell, organ, swell your trumpet blast! march, queen and royal pageant, march by splendid aisle and springing arch of this fair hall! and see! above the fabric vast god's boundless heaven is bending blue, god's peaceful sun is beaming through, and shining over all." one note of discord, and one only, was heard; rather, one note necessary to make the complete harmony was silent. it would have fulfilled the international character of the exhibition and emphasised it as an echo of the message of peace on earth and goodwill towards men had the corps diplomatique availed themselves of prince albert's invitation to present an address to the queen. but, strangely as it may sound at the present day, most of the great continental rulers held severely aloof from the whole project of the exhibition. they were apprehensive of the effect which contact with english institutions, so dangerously liberal, might have on their own subjects, and the foreign ambassadors agreed, by a majority of three, to decline to present an address. [sidenote: its success and close.] the success of the opening ceremony attended the exhibition to its close on october . between six and seven millions of persons visited it, and the surplus funds accruing to the commissioners, amounting to upwards of £ , , were afterwards applied, on prince albert's suggestion, to the purchase of the south kensington estate, now occupied by various institutions for the encouragement of science and art. as inaugurating an era of universal peace, which its most enthusiastic supporters expected it to do, the great exhibition of proved a failure; but as a means of diffusing among the people of great britain views about foreigners more enlightened than those they entertained before, as an impetus to commerce and manufacture and a stimulus to artistic production, the "crystal palace" has fully fulfilled the most sanguine anticipation. [illustration: _w. l. wyllie, a.r.a._} the white star line r.m.s. "teutonic" as an armed cruiser at the naval review, august , . addressing the members of the institute of naval architects on march , , upon the "merchant service and the royal navy," sir n. barnaby, late director of naval construction, referred to the arrangements which had then recently been completed between the admiralty and the white star and other companies for the retention of their steamers for war purposes, and pointed out that "this seed, for which we have to thank mr. ismay, was planted at the admiralty nine years ago; ... the outcome of proposals made by mr. ismay as far back as ," when he urged upon the attention of the admiralty that a fast mail or passenger steamer might be as efficient a factor in a naval war as an ordinary war cruiser, and offered to make an agreement to hold at the disposal of the admiralty, upon terms then specified, certain ships for the purposes of the state in time of war.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by frith & co._ buckingham palace. buckingham palace occupies the site of old buckingham house, which was altered and enlarged to fit it for a royal residence by john nash in the reigns of george iv. and william iv. it was altered again in for queen victoria, and the east front (that shown in the illustration) added in , when the marble arch was removed from the front of the palace to its present site at the north east corner of hyde park. the lake in the foreground is the ornamental water in st. james's park.] chapter vii. - . louis napoleon's coup d'État--condemned in the english press--lord palmerston's indiscretion rebuked by the queen--he repeats it and is removed from office--opening of the new houses of parliament--french invasion apprehended--russell's militia bill--defeat and resignation of ministers--the "who? who?" cabinet--death of the duke of wellington--his funeral--the haynau incident--general election--disraeli's first budget--defeat and resignation of ministers--the coalition cabinet--expansion of the british colonies--repeal of the transportation act. [sidenote: louis napoleon's coup d'État.] the great exhibition closed on october , , and hardly had the contractors begun to dismantle the glittering fabric, before the vision of universal peace, which some spirits had hailed in it, was rudely shattered by events in france. the _coup d'état_ whereby prince louis napoleon bonaparte seized on the government of the country and suspended the constitution took place on the morning of december . this event concerns the present narrative only in one respect. when the news came to england it caused an almost unanimous feeling of horror at the massacre of peaceful citizens. the queen, who was at osborne, was informed on december of what had taken place, and at once wrote to the prime minister, enjoining on him the necessity "that lord normanby (her ambassador at paris) should be instructed to remain entirely passive, and should take no part whatever in what is passing." these instructions were conveyed to lord normanby next day by the foreign minister, lord palmerston. but, in a despatch written by lord normanby to lord palmerston on december , informing him that he had made known to m. turgot, the french foreign minister, that he had received her majesty's commands to make no change in his relations with the french government in consequence of what had passed, the following startling passage occurred:--"monsieur turgot said that ... he had two days since heard from m. walewski (french ambassador in london) that your lordship had expressed to him your entire approbation of the act of the president, and the conviction that he could not have acted otherwise than he had done." [sidenote: lord palmerston's indiscretion.] on reading a statement attributed to her foreign minister so far at variance with her own opinion and the decision of her cabinet, the queen wrote to lord john russell, asking him if "he knew anything about the alleged approval, which, if true, would again expose the honour and dignity of the queen's government in the eyes of the world." [illustration: _j. leech._} {_from "punch"._ the "judicious bottle-holder," or downing street pet. "bless you! it's all chaff--won't came to a fight. old nick's got no constitution--and then, i'm bottle-holder on t'other side, too!"] [illustration: _from the silver model_} {_by r. hodd & son._ h.m.s. "britannia," . this, the most formidable line-of battle ship afloat at the time of her majesty's accession, was built in and carried guns. she was the flag ship at portsmouth from to . in she was converted into a training ship, and was finally broken up in . the silver model, from which this illustration was photographed, was presented to her majesty the queen, together with a similar one of the ill-fated _victoria_--the typical ship of --by the officers and men of the royal navy, royal marines, and auxiliary naval forces, and was exhibited amongst the jubilee presents.] [illustration: h.m.s. "jupiter," . this "first class battleship," which has but lately undergone her sea trials, is of the same size as the _majestic_ and the _magnificent_. she was built by the clydebank shipbuilding company, and may be taken as the representative ship of the year. displacement, , tons; horse-power, , ; speed, - / knots.] the word "again" used by the queen in this letter had reference to lord palmerston's action in regard to the visit of kossuth, the hungarian refugee, to england in the previous october. there had been much sympathy in england with the cause of hungarian independence; kossuth had been fêted in many towns as an illustrious patriot and exile, and palmerston consented to receive a visit from him. this was more than the susceptibilities of the austrian government could endure; russell having summoned a cabinet council to consider the intended reception by the foreign minister, palmerston reluctantly yielded to the opinion of his colleagues, and the reception was given up. but he consoled himself by receiving at the foreign office addresses from radical meetings, in which the emperors of russia and austria were described as "odious and detestable assassins" and "merciless tyrants and despots"; and, in expressing himself "extremely flattered and highly gratified" at the terms directed towards himself, he added that "it could not be expected that he should concur in some of the expressions which had been used in the addresses." it was in receiving the deputation conveying these addresses that this characteristically english minister earned one of his most-enduring nicknames. he said in the course of his speech that the conduct of foreign affairs required "a great deal of good generalship and judgment, and during the pending struggle a good deal of judicious bottle-holding was obliged to be brought into play." however much this allusion to the prize ring may have scandalised some of the "unco guid," it was just one of those sayings that tickle the popular fancy, and the "judicious bottle-holder" furnished the subject of one of _punch's_ lively cartoons. [illustration: h.m.s. "boxer," torpedo boat destroyer. the _boxer_, a twin-screw vessel, built by messrs. thornycroft, of chiswick, is one of the fastest ships in the world. her length is feet; speed, · knots. her sister-ship, the _desperate_, has steamed knots.] but it was necessary to put a check on the foreign secretary's recklessness. it was intimated to him that his conduct was calculated to place the sovereign in a most painful position towards her allies, and this rebuke, russell wrote to the queen, it was hoped would "have its effect on lord palmerston." this incident closed on december , only two days after the french _coup d'état_, and when it became apparent that the foreign secretary had perpetrated a further indiscretion, strong measures had to be taken. the dismissal of a minister is an extreme exertion of the royal prerogative, though it is one that was not uncommon in former reigns. nevertheless, it is the only expedient when a minister refuses to carry out the policy of the queen's government or enters upon an independent one of his own. [sidenote: dismissal of palmerston.] [illustration: h.m.s. "victoria" firing her -ton gun. the _victoria_ was built in by sir w. g. armstrong, mitchell. & co., and was one of three "first-class armourclads" which were armed with -ton guns--the heaviest ordnance ever made. she was of steel, , tons displacement. the loss of this magnificent ship, with the admiral, officers, and men out of a crew of , on the nd june , through colliding with h.m.s. _camperdown_ while executing manoeuvres off the syrian coast, is one of the most tragic events in recent history.] after some correspondence between russell and palmerston, the former wrote, on december , informing palmerston "that the conduct of foreign affairs could no longer be left in his hands with advantage to the country," and offering him the lord-lieutenancy of ireland. of course lord palmerston resigned, and the queen accepted the resignation. "the distinction," wrote her majesty to the prime minister, "which lord palmerston tries to establish between his personal and his official acts is perfectly untenable." [illustration: h.m.s. "terrible," . this is the latest of the "first class cruisers"; displacement, , tons; horse-power, , ; speed, knots. built by the clydebank shipbuilding company.] [sidenote: the new houses of parliament.] in this year ( ) the houses of lords and commons took possession of the new palace of westminster, built from the design of barry on the site of the old palace, destroyed by fire in . the style of architecture selected--the tudor-gothic--is not one which lends itself readily to grand or massive treatment, owing to the infinite repetition of detailed ornament; but it has this to recommend it, that it is exclusively indigenous to england, and the architect was successful in erecting on a very unpromising site a crowning example of that particular form of gothic building. the cost of the new palace as it stands amounted to about £ , , ; but it should be said that barry's design has never been completed. it was intended to extend the buildings to form a quadrangle round the court at the foot of the clock tower, to accommodate various public departments now housed in whitehall and downing street. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the houses of parliament.] [sidenote: french invasion apprehended.] [sidenote: resignation of ministers.] [sidenote: the "who? who?" cabinet.] the political convulsions in france were mildly reflected in great britain during the year --the year of three administrations. in the first-named country, louis napoleon bonaparte, prince-president of the republic which he had turned into a farce, had secured the good will of the army by restoring to them their napoleonic eagles, and then, with the whole armed force of the nation at his back, had issued an appeal to the people in the form of a plebiscite. by , , votes to , they had bestowed on him the title and dignity of emperor napoleon iii. such an appeal and such a response could only be interpreted as the resurrection of the napoleonic idea. in the forefront of the policy of the new emperor must surely be found vengeance for waterloo and the humiliation of england. if this was not expressed in so many words, there were frequent passages in the speeches of louis napoleon which could bear no other interpretation. england awoke to her danger; the "nation of shopkeepers" did not wait for legislative measures, but quietly began arming and drilling, encouraged by the authorities, thus laying the foundation of that splendid defensive force of artillery and infantry of which the volunteers are composed at this day. great britain possessed in a small army--about , infantry at home--absolutely without any reserve force. the cabinet devised a scheme for creating a local militia, to be drilled for fourteen days in each year, and to serve exclusively within their own counties. prince albert saw grave defects in the plan, and the duke of wellington liked it even less than he did; nevertheless lord john russell introduced his bill to give effect to it. then came palmerston's opportunity. he was a free agent now, and rendered good service in opposing an inadequate and almost wholly useless measure. on his motion the government were defeated by eleven votes on february , and next day the resignation of ministers was in the hands of the queen. the earl of derby (the irreconcilable lord stanley of peel's cabinet) undertook to form a ministry, which, inasmuch as it could only be drawn from protectionist ranks, was in a hopeless minority in the house of commons. lord malmesbury took the seals of the foreign office, and mr. disraeli became, _per saltum_, chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the house of commons--an instance unique in recent times of such a position being assumed by one who had never before held office. the rest of the cabinet was made up of men then untried and unknown, though some of them afterwards rose to distinction, and got the name of the "who? who?" ministry. the origin of the nickname was a conversation overheard in the house of lords between the prime minister and the duke of wellington, who was eagerly questioning lord derby about the composition of his new cabinet. the old duke had grown very deaf, and all his inquiries were plainly audible to the house, as well, of course, as the premier's replies. "who? who?" asked the old duke, as, hand to ear, he strove to identify the unfamiliar names, and "who? who?" became the title of the new government. weak as it was, however, and holding office as it did on sufferance only, the derby ministry was able to prepare and carry a militia bill which satisfied even so critical an expert as the iron duke himself. [illustration: _louis haghe._} {_from the royal collection._ the funeral of the duke of wellington passing apsley house, november , .] [sidenote: death of the duke of wellington.] brief as was the duration of the derby ministry it outlived the days of one of its warmest friends. the duke of wellington drew his last breath at walmer castle on september , . to say that he was the most popular individual in the united kingdom would be to apply a term which perhaps, of all others, he would have relished least; but without doubt "the duke" was the best beloved. the first soldier in europe, thirty-seven years of peace had not dimmed the lustre of his great renown in war, nor prevailed to make the nation forget his services in the hour of england's greatest need. if, as a statesman, he could not command the same unanimous meed of "well done!" he had established a standard of public life too often obscured in the heat of party strife. vittoria, salamanca, talavera, waterloo--the radiance from those far off conflagrations still glowed round that venerable head, but it was the honest purpose, bluntly spoken and fearlessly acted on, that won for wellington a place in the hearts of his countrymen far more enduring than the reward of any commander, however successful--of any orator, however powerful. [illustration: _j. leech._} {_from "punch."_ the protection giant. "fee, fi, fo, fum! i smell the blood of an englishman! be he alive or be he dead, i'll grind his bones to make my bread!" (mr. punch's idea of the policy of lord derby and mr. disraeli.)] [illustration: the wellington monument in st. paul's cathedral, as it is to be when completed. from a photograph taken in the cathedral, to which the statue has been added from the sculptor's model in the architectural court of the south kensington museum. the lower illustration represents the sarcophagus in the crypt which contains the body of the duke; the funeral car is also preserved in the crypt. the tomb in the background is that of nelson.] [sidenote: the haynau incident.] there was the precedent of the obsequies of nelson to justify the queen in commanding a funeral of the great duke at the public expense; but her majesty was desirous to associate her people with herself in doing honour to the memory of her greatest subject. the body of the duke, therefore, was put in charge of a guard of honour till the meeting of parliament in november, when the consent of both houses was immediately given to a funeral at the public expense and the interment of wellington in st. paul's cathedral, beside the tomb of nelson. all the great powers of europe, save one, sent representatives to the ceremony. it would have caused no surprise had france, with a napoleon once more in supreme power, refused to allow her ambassador to attend the funeral of her ancient foe, but louis napoleon told count walewski he wished to forget the past and to continue on the best of terms with england. it was not france, but austria, who was conspicuous by the absence of her ambassador from st. paul's on this november day; and the reason was found in an extraordinary circumstance which had occurred a few weeks previously. an austrian notable, general haynau, arrived in england early in september, on an unofficial visit. he had earned an unenviable reputation for cruelty in putting down insurrections in italy and hungary; ugly stories had been circulated about the flogging of hungarian women and other barbarities, enough, whether true or not, to make his name detested by all who sympathised with the national movement on the continent. one day he went to inspect barclay's brewery, and as soon as his identity with the "austrian butcher" became known to the workmen there, they rushed at him with loud cries, pelted him, tore his coat and tried to cut off his long moustaches. escaping from the brewery, he was assailed with equal fury in the street, and had to take refuge in a public house till the police came to his assistance. the austrian chargé d'affaires appealed for redress, and lord palmerston called in person to express the deep regret of her majesty's government at the outrage. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ weighing anchor on a modern warship. this photograph was taken on board h.m.s. _repulse_, off the isle of portland. a portion of the anchor, covered with mud, is seen just over the ship's side. the ships in the background are h.m.s. _resolution_ (on the left), and h.m.s. _royal sovereign_ (in the centre).] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symonds, portsmouth._ h.m.s. "warrior," the first english ironclad. the first ironclad built was the _gloire_, designed by m. dupuy-de-lôme for the french government. it was regarded by the english naval authorities as of doubtful practical value; but it soon became necessary for them to adopt the principle of defensive armour for our own ships. the _warrior_, built by private contract at a cost of £ , , was completed in october, . she has a length of feet, breadth feet, displacement , tons, horse-power , ; and, whilst she has the general form of a wooden ship, with overhanging bows and stern, she embodied many of the ideas--such as that of watertight compartments--which have been adopted in all the more recent warships.] [sidenote: disraeli's first budget.] parliament had been prorogued on july by the queen in person and dissolved immediately after by royal proclamation. the elections which followed left the relative strength of parties nearly the same as in the old parliament, that is, with no working majority on either side. the new parliament met on november , and on december mr. disraeli introduced his budget in a speech which lasted five hours. the debate which followed is memorable as the occasion of the first encounter between two men who, for a quarter of a century afterwards, were to be as conspicuously the protagonists of their respective parties as pitt and fox had been at the beginning of the century. disraeli--by this time fully conscious, and embittered by the consciousness, that he was fighting for a losing cause--concluded a speech full of stinging invective at two o'clock on the morning of december . to answer him rose one whom macaulay had described in as "the rising hope of those stern and unbending tories who follow reluctantly and mutinously a leader (peel) whose experience is indispensable to them, but whose cautious temper and moderate opinions they abhor." mr. gladstone had been a member of parliament for more than twenty years, and was already distinguished for power and poignancy in debate; but the moment had come when, for the first time, the house of commons was to come under the full influence of his superb command of language, his impressive use of gesture and his singularly resonant voice. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co., strand._ the great steam-hammer at woolwich arsenal. maximum striking power, , tons.] gladstone's speech closed the debate on disraeli's first budget, and it was decisive. the government suffered defeat by nineteen votes, and next day lord derby went to osborne to tender his resignation. her majesty laid her commands on the earl of aberdeen who, as a peelite conservative, assisted by the whig marquis of lansdowne, proceeded to form a coalition cabinet. [sidenote: expansion of british colonies.] before entering upon a review of the events which brought to a violent close the peace which great britain had maintained for thirty-nine years with the other european powers, the present seems a fitting place to give a sketch of salient points in the expansion of british colonies in various parts of the world--colonies which, for the greater part, had no existence before queen victoria came to the throne. it was in that the discoveries of gold in british territory, as well as in california, had begun to fill the channels of trade and enrich the manufacturers of the home country in a degree beyond all previous experience. the great continent of australia, discovered by captain cook in and by him named new south wales, was hardly known to people in england during the first forty years of the present century except as a penal settlement, although a number of british emigrants found their way there when the army and navy were reduced after the long european wars had come to an end in . but it was not until the gold-fields were discovered in that the full tide of immigration set in. the growth and development of the european community since that time have been immense. from the original settlement at botany bay in have arisen the states of new south wales, victoria, south australia, queensland, and western australia, each with its separate representative constitution and legislature, and a governor appointed by the queen. the population, rapidly increasing, already amounts to three millions and a quarter, with an annual export trade of more than £ , , . the gold-fields, since their discovery in , have added about £ , , to the wealth of the world, nor is there any near prospect of the supply failing. on the contrary, the newly-opened mines at coolgardie, in western australia, promise to prove the richest field in the whole island. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co., strand._ the south boring mill at woolwich arsenal. showing the machinery for boring and rifling heavy ordnance.] new zealand was first colonised in , though europeans had settled there as far back as , and in it was created by letters patent a colony distinct from new south wales. the chief wealth of this island is pastoral and agricultural, though new zealand contributes also to the pactolus flowing north, having exported gold to the value of more than a million sterling in . tasmania, formerly van diemen's land, is another insular possession of great britain in the south pacific, originally occupied in as a penal settlement; and the australasian dominions of the crown were completed by the annexation of the fiji group of islands in , and british new guinea in . this vast territory, with its almost inexhaustible mineral wealth and fertility, may be said with almost literal accuracy to be the peculiar creation of the reign of queen victoria. [illustration: _walker & boutall sc._ the british empire, . british possessions shaded or underlined. views of the principal colonial towns are given on subsequent pages. * egypt under british occupation since .] [sidenote: repeal of the transportation act.] in an important change in the penal code of great britain was effected by the act altering the punishment of transportation of convicts into that of penal servitude. the lord chancellor admitted, in moving the second reading of the bill, that transportation answered the end of punishment better than anything else which could be devised; it was the strongest deterrent, short of a capital sentence, which could be employed without the infliction of physical pain, and, had the united kingdom only been concerned, no alteration in the law would have been proposed. but the interests of the colonies must be taken into account also; the strong representations laid before the government by the colonists, coupled with the extraordinary discoveries of gold in australia, made it imperative that these growing communities should cease to be the slumping ground for the refuse of british civilisation, and other provision must be made for the disposal of criminals. the measure became law, and the australasian settlements, relieved from the slur which had become wellnigh intolerable, entered on a career of expansion and profitable industry of which no man can yet foretell the ultimate result. besides british india, of which the growth and consolidation is described elsewhere, the chief expansion of the empire and its protectorate during the present reign has taken place in south africa. the cape colony was ceded to the british crown in ; the colony of natal was added to it in , was erected into a separate colony in , and was made self-governing in . basutoland was annexed to the cape colony in , but in it was constituted a separate crown colony, and neither it nor bechuanaland, which, having been annexed in , is governed from the cape, have yet developed representative institutions. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co., strand._ torpedo stores at portsmouth. containing torpedoes to the value of £ , .] in dealing with its great dominion in south africa the british government is confronted with a problem which has never presented itself in australasia. there the aboriginal population has died out everywhere, except in new zealand, from the mere contact with civilisation, and, except in the island of new guinea of which the germans possess a moiety, british influence is not hampered by any competing european race. but it is far otherwise in south africa. there, also, what may be regarded as the aboriginal races, the hottentots and bushmen, have been crushed wellnigh out of existence, but they have been replaced on the one hand by the powerful bantu people, consisting of kaffirs, zulus, bechuanas, and other negroid tribes, and on the other by the boers, descended from dutch settlers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. the administration of south africa has to provide for the development of british enterprise and to secure peaceful relations between the diverse elements of the population. it cannot be doubted that south africa contains the material of enormous wealth. the climate of the high veldt, a wide belt of land ranging between , and , feet above sea-level, is exceedingly salubrious. diamonds and gold already have been worked in large quantities, though a few years ago their very existence was unsuspected. at the present time the yield of gold is equal to that of either australia or america, amounting to one-fifth of the total annual output of the world. should the gold ever be worked out there is abundant mineral wealth of other kinds, including an almost virgin coal-field, covering an area of nearly a thousand square miles between pretoria and delagoa bay. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ a landing-party of seamen. _punch_, at the time of the siege of sebastopol, depicted a couple of seamen, on board a man-of-war off that town, asking for a day's holiday "to go shooting with them soldiers." on the same principle of sharing the fun it has come to be the practice to include a party of bluejackets among the forces engaged in any of our "little wars."] in america, the most notable feature in the recent history of the british possessions is found in the growth of wealth and population in the dominion of canada. it has been shown how that colony rose in rebellion in the first year of the present reign, and how lord durham framed a constitution for it in his report. lord durham died, and his scheme lay in a pigeon-hole of the colonial office till , when it was virtually carried into effect by lord carnarvon's act for the confederation of the british north american provinces. upper and lower canada, the english and french territories of the rebellion, are now known as the provinces of ontario and quebec, and with them are confederated new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward island, british columbia, manitoba, and the north-west territories. the population of canada has risen from about one million and a half in to five millions at the present day, and progress in commerce and wealth has been equally rapid. [illustration: _carl haag, r.w.s._} {_from the royal collection._ evening at balmoral old castle--the stags brought home.--september .] chapter viii. - . the "sick man"--position of the eastern question--projects of the emperor nicholas--the custody of the holy places--prince menschikoff's demand--russian invasion of moldo-wallachia--the vienna note--declaration of war by the porte--destruction of the turkish fleet--resignation of lord palmerston--great britain and france declare war with russia--state of the british armaments. [sidenote: the "sick man."] "we have on our hands a sick man--a very sick man; it will be a great misfortune if one of these days he should slip away from us before the necessary arrangements have been made." this sentence, spoken on january , , by nicholas, czar of russia, to the british minister at st. petersburg, sir george hamilton seymour, supplied a phrase which has become historic, and remains as appropriate to the present state of turkey-in-europe as it was forty-four years ago. the ottoman empire in europe had become an anachronism, not because it was a heritage won by mediæval conquest, for that may be assigned as the origin of almost every european state, but because the turk maintained his rule in modern times by mediæval methods. in the days when nations were kept in subjection by the violence of their governors, the turk had been a standing menace to all europe, for he was as powerful as any christian monarch; but in proportion as the other nationalities acquired the solidarity which follows on the growth of constitutional rights and the limitation of absolute rule, he became a terror only to the subject races within the ottoman dominions. to the rising tide of western civilisation he opposed the breastwork of philosophic indifference, though the ancient saracen instinct for war still caused him to adopt eagerly the successive inventions in military armament. the weakest principality had nothing to fear in the nineteenth century from turkish invasion, but the most powerful states had realised that it would be a formidable task to make the porte comply with the concert of europe--such is the quality of genuine _vis inertiæ_. nevertheless the real guarantee for the integrity of the ottoman empire had come to be--not her army and fleet, nor the fervour of her moslem subjects--but the mutual jealousy and suspicion existing between other powers regarding the disposal of ottoman territory. it had come to this, then, that the christian states acquiesced in the continuance of the ottoman empire in europe as a kind of buffer state--a barrier against such a collision of interests and ambitions as might revive warfare on a napoleonic scale. the heirs of the "sick man" dreaded his death because of the conflict sure to ensue among his heirs. [illustration: _c. j. staniland, r.i._} the largest gun of . the illustration shows a gun's crew working the -cwt. gun, which was the largest in use in the early part of her majesty's reign. it threw a solid shot of lbs. weight. at the rotunda at woolwich there is a gun of this size which was used in the trenches at sebastopol, and had its trunnions shot away.] three european great powers were more closely affected than others by the eastern question--russia, by reason of her office as guardian of the eastern church, as well as by her hereditary policy of absorbing neighbouring territories--austria, on account of her claim to the danubian provinces of the porte--and england, because she could not suffer the advance of russia between her and her asiatic dominions. the interest of england may seem to have been less direct than that of the other powers; nevertheless, the continual encroachment of russia in asia, and the steady extension of the russian frontier towards that of british north-west india, had so powerfully impressed british statesmen with the danger of a collision in that quarter, that the integrity of the ottoman empire had become a cardinal principle in the continental diplomacy of england. [illustration: the largest gun of . the huge -ton guns of sir w. g. armstrong, mitchell, & co. are mounted in the _sanspareil_ and _benbow_, and the _victoria_ carried two of them to the bottom when she sank. there are considerable disadvantages attaching to the use of artillery so enormous, as will be understood when it is stated that the cost of each round fired with full charge and armour-piercing projectile is £ ; that the gun would become practically useless after firing rounds of this description (of course a much smaller charge is used when practising); and that the energy developed amounts to , foot-tons--about enough to lift the whole ship six feet in the air. for these and other reasons the -ton gun shown on next page is now being supplied in preference to the larger one. the ton gun is capable of piercing a solid mass of wrought iron - / inches thick, at a distance of , yards; the much smaller · -inch ( -ton) gun was tested in , and threw a shot nearly miles, its trajectory rising to a height greater, by , feet, than that of mont blanc.] [sidenote: projects of the emperor nicholas.] but the emperor nicholas of russia had convinced himself that the "sick man" was at the point of death, and that it was essential to the peace of europe that his heirs should divide the inheritance before his demise. the sentence at the head of this chapter was spoken by the czar when he revived proposals which he had made to the duke of wellington and lord aberdeen, then foreign secretary, on the occasion of his visit to england in . these proposals had been embodied in a celebrated memorandum drawn up by count nesselrode, to the effect that the turkish empire should be maintained in its integrity as long as possible, but that as soon as its fall could be averted no longer, england, austria, and russia should act on a common understanding and divide the dominion among themselves. nesselrode's memorandum had been received and placed in the archives of the foreign office, and no disclaimer of assent to the propositions therein had ever been made on the part of her majesty's government. silence is often assumed to indicate consent, so when nicholas, believing in that the porte was indeed on the point of dissolution, renewed his proposal for a partition of the turkish empire, it was at least excusable that he should reckon on the co-operation of great britain. lord aberdeen, who had been foreign secretary when the czar was in england in , was prime minister in . nicholas disclaimed any intention of a russian occupation of constantinople; he suggested that bulgaria and servia might be constituted independent states under russian protection, and declared that he would acquiesce in the annexation of egypt and candia by great britain. all this, and much more, he explained to sir hamilton seymour, assuring him that if great britain and russia came to an understanding on the subject, it mattered nothing to him how the other powers might view it. [illustration: _john leech._} {_from "punch."_ the old 'un and the young 'un. old nicholas (emperor of russia): "now then, austria; just help me to finish the port(e)." the emperor of russia, disappointed in his overtures to england, endeavoured to obtain the assistance of austria against turkey.] [sidenote: the custody of the holy places.] [sidenote: prince menschikoff's demand.] at this juncture a fresh controversy was stirred in connection with ottoman rule. in the sixteenth century a treaty was concluded between the sultan and françois i., king of france, whereby the custody of the holy places in palestine had been committed to the monks of the latin church, who were placed under the protection of the crown of france. subsequently firmans had been granted to the greek church, conferring rights at variance with the exclusive guardianship claimed by the latin church. incessant disputes arose on a ludicrously minute point, such as might have puzzled diplomatists in the era of the crusades, but one which seemed strangely out of keeping with statesmanship of the nineteenth century, namely, "whether, for the purpose of passing through the building into their grotto, the latin monks should have the key of the chief door of the church of bethlehem, and also one of the keys of each of the two doors of the sacred manger, and whether they should be at liberty to place in the sanctuary of the nativity a silver star adorned with the arms of france." the french republic, and afterwards the french empire, as heirs of the crown of france, championed the cause of the latin monks, even threatening to occupy jerusalem; until, in february , the porte issued a firman in order to reconcile in a reasonable way the conflicting claims of the two churches. but reason was the last influence to prevail in an unreasonable quarrel. russian forces, before the issue of the firman, had already begun massing on the frontiers of moldavia, and immediately after the issue of the firman, prince menschikoff arrived at constantinople with a numerous military suite, endeavoured to force on the porte an agreement establishing a russian protectorate of christians within turkish dominions, and threatened a rupture of diplomatic relations unless this was agreed to at once. reschid pasha asked for a delay of five or six days to consider such a momentous question; it was refused; whereupon the ottoman council promptly declined to become a party to the proposed convention. menschikoff immediately left constantinople; the russian government continued warlike preparations, which were met by similar measures on the part of the porte, as a simple measure of self-defence. [illustration: _photo by thiele._} {_chancery lane._ the largest gun of . the deck of h.m.s. _repulse_ cleared for action; the captain of the barbette is taking the enemy's distance. the -ton guns in the foreground are the largest which are now being built; they are lowered behind the steel shield by hydraulic machinery for charging.] [sidenote: russian invasion and the vienna note.] on july the russian army under prince gortchakoff crossed the pruth and occupied the turkish territory of moldavia and wallachia. of course this was an act of war, but no collision actually took place, and representatives of the four great powers--austria, france, great britain, and prussia--met at vienna in july and agreed on a note embodying terms for the peaceful settlement of the dispute. it were natural to expect that a document of such moment should have been framed in language of the utmost precision and incapable of bearing ambiguous interpretation. nevertheless this short note contained five passages so vague and ambiguous that they might have been construed into giving away the whole case of turkey, though this was undoubtedly far from the intention of the authors. russia, perceiving her advantage, accepted the note at once; but the ministers of the sultan declined to do so, unless the five objectionable passages were modified. nesselrode stated explicitly the reasons which prevented russia from agreeing to any modification. these reasons enlightened the british cabinet for the first time as to the construction put on the note by russia, which was directly contrary to that intended by the four powers. [illustration: _r. simkin._} a. th light dragoons. b. th lancers. c. th dragoon guards. d. st lifeguards. e. private, rifle brigade. f. private, line. g. private, grenadier guards. h. officer, infantry of the line. j. officer, th light dragoons. k. officer, nd dragoon guards. l. gunner, field battery, r.a. m. trooper, th hussars. uniforms of the british army in .] england, therefore, was compelled to acquiesce in turkey's refusal to sign the note, at the same time urging her not to regard the occupation of moldavia and wallachia as an act of war. the state of affairs towards the end of september is concisely described in a note written by prince albert to baron stockmar: "meyendorff is in the vienna cabinet; louis napoleon wishes for peace, enjoyment, and cheap corn; the king of prussia is a reed shaken by the wind; we are paralysed through not knowing what our agent in constantinople is or is not doing; the divan has become fanatically warlike and headstrong, and reminds one of prussia in ; the public here is furiously turkish and anti-russian." on october the porte issued a formal declaration of war. on the th the combined fleets of england and france, which were lying in besika bay, moved into the dardanelles on the invitation of the sultan. mediation was at an end. [sidenote: destruction of the turkish fleet.] a turkish squadron of twelve sail in the black sea were attacked on the th while lying at anchor at sinope and completely destroyed, with the loss of , men, leaving only about alive. the news of this massacre, enacted almost under the very guns of the allied fleet, spread like wildfire through france and great britain, and ignited every warlike spirit that still slumbered. it was alleged that the turkish admiral had hauled down his flag before the overwhelming force which attacked him, and that the russians had paid no attention to this signal of surrender. [sidenote: resignation of lord palmerston.] the cabinet was much more divided in opinion than the nation. lord palmerston, the home secretary, startled the nation by resigning office on december , not, however, as was generally assumed, on account of difference about the eastern question. "no one," wrote prince albert, "will believe the true cause of his retirement--his dislike of lord john's plan of reform, and treachery is everywhere the cry. it is the eastern question that has turned him out, and court intrigues!" everybody, in fact, believed that palmerston had left the cabinet rather than assent to abandoning turkey to the tender mercies of russia. prince albert was vehemently accused by a portion of the press of being favourable to the designs of russia: how far this was from the truth people afterwards came to learn from his own letters written while these events were in progress. the cry went forth that palmerston was the only man who could save the honour of england; in a few days he withdrew his resignation and confidence was restored. [illustration: _r. simkin._} a. trooper, th lancers. b. trooper, th hussars. c. trooper, nd life guards. d. private. coldstream guards. e. trooper. st royal dragoons. f. private, king's royal rifles. g. officer, royal artillery. h. officer, line. j. officer, black watch. k. gunner, royal horse artillery. l. private, line. uniforms of the british army in .] [sidenote: great britain and france declare war with russia.] on february the russian ministers left london and paris; the english minister left st. petersburg on the same day. on the th the ultimatum of england was despatched to count nesselrode. on march her majesty's formal declaration of war against the emperor of russia was read from the steps of the royal exchange, and the reasons for this act were published at length in the _london gazette_. england had been slow--culpably slow, declared derby and disraeli--in resorting to an appeal to arms, but, having made it, the spirit of her greatest poet pervaded the councils of her ministry:-- "beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear it, that the oppressor may beware of thee." [sidenote: state of british armaments.] before the actual declaration of war, large numbers of british troops had embarked for the east, and a powerful fleet had been assembled at spithead for service in the baltic under admiral sir charles napier. to prince albert's watchful influence must be attributed the degree to which the nation now found itself prepared for the coming struggle. for the warlike habits of our people had been lulled by the peace which, uninterrupted for nearly forty years, had prevailed between england and other european powers. it would be difficult to realise at this day how far the nation had lapsed into unreadiness. prince albert incessantly strove to arouse it from this perilous lethargy. one result of his efforts had been the establishment during the summer of of a temporary camp of exercise at chobham, a complete novelty to the generation of that time. aldershot, as a place of arms, had no existence then, but the system initiated at chobham has become part of our regular military organisation. another result had been the establishment of a permanent channel fleet, which was reviewed by the queen at spithead on august , , and described by prince albert as "the finest fleet, perhaps, which england ever fitted out; forty ships of war of all kinds, all moved by steam-power but three.... the gigantic ships of war, among them the _duke of wellington_ with guns (a greater number than was ever assembled before in one vessel), went, without sails and propelled only by the screw, _eleven miles an hour_, and this against wind and tide! this is the greatest revolution effected in the conduct of naval warfare which has yet been known ... and will render many fleets, like the present russian one, useless." speaking of men-of-war fitted with the auxiliary screw, he went on: "we have already sixteen at sea and ten in an advanced state. france has no more than two, and the other powers none.... i write all this, because last autumn we were bewailing our defenceless state, and because you know that, without wishing to be _mouche de coche_, i must rejoice to see that achieved which i had struggled so long and so hard to effect." [illustration: _j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ what it has come to. lord aberdeen holding back the british lion.] [illustration: _w. a. krell._} {_in the royal collection._ review of the channel squadron by her majesty, august , .] great britain, then, at the outbreak of the russian war, possessed a fleet stronger than the combined flotillas of any other three great powers. her land forces were far less satisfactory, for though they were perfectly disciplined and well-equipped according to the existing state of military science, they were few in numbers and almost totally without reserves, for the new militia could not count for much as yet. [illustration: gun shop at the elswick works. a few guns of ' in. and in. calibre awaiting inspection.] [illustration: _sir e. landseer, r. a._} {_from the royal collection. by permission of messrs. graves, pall mall._ royal sports.--the queen and prince consort, with the prince of wales, in the highlands, .] chapter ix. - . mr. gladstone's war budget--humiliation and prayer--the invasion of the crimea--the battle of alma--a fruitless victory--effect in england--war correspondents--balaklava--cavalry charges by the heavy and light brigades--"our's not to reason why"--russian sortie--battle of inkermann--breakdown of transport and commissariat--hurricane in the black sea--florence nightingale--fall of the coalition cabinet--lord palmerston forms a ministry--victory of the turks at eupatoria--unsuccessful attack by the allies--death of lord raglan--his character--battle of tchernaya--evacuation of sebastopol--surrender of kars--conclusion of peace. [sidenote: mr. gladstone's war budget.] when mr. gladstone introduced his war budget on may , he said that the prosperity of trade and elasticity of the revenue warranted him in meeting the expenses of the campaign out of current taxation. he calculated on this being possible by doubling the income tax and increasing the duty on malt and spirits. lord aberdeen, replying to lord roden in the house of lords, stated that a day of humiliation and prayer would be set apart for the success of british arms. the queen immediately wrote to the prime minister, reminding him that she had not been consulted about this, and objecting to the term "humiliation." "to say (as we probably should) that _the great sinfulness of the nation_ has brought about this war, when it is the selfishness and ambition and want of honesty of _one man_ and his servants which has done it, while our conduct throughout has been actuated by unselfishness and honesty, would be too manifestly repulsive to the feelings of everyone, and would be a mere bit of hypocrisy. let there be a prayer expressive of our great thankfulness for the immense benefits we have enjoyed, and for the immense prosperity of the country, and entreating god's help and protection in the coming struggle. in this the queen would join heart and soul. if there is to be a day set apart, let it be for prayer in this sense." the day of solemn fast, humiliation, and prayer was fixed, but, in accordance with the queen's feeling, there were no abject expressions used in the prayers prescribed, only a committal of the cause of england into the hands of the almighty to "judge between them and her enemies." [illustration: _r. thorburn, a.r.a._} {_from a miniature in her majesty's possession._ her majesty the queen, .] varna, a fortified seaport of bulgaria, on the shore of the black sea, half way between the bosphorus and the mouth of the danube, was the rendezvous appointed for the british and french forces. lord raglan, who, as lord fitzroy somerset, had lost an arm under the great duke at waterloo, was commander-in-chief of the british army; maréchal saint-arnaud that of the french; and the veteran omar pasha that of the turkish. the russian commanders had learnt that, whatever might be the incapacity of the sublime porte for rule, its troops were composed of excellent fighting material when well commanded. the turkish garrison of silistria, on the danube, maintained such a stubborn defence for many weeks under two english officers, captain butler, of the ceylon rifles, and lieutenant nasmyth, of the east india company's service, that at last the russians had to raise the siege, on june , after losing more than , men. at giurgevo, again, on july , general soimonoff (who afterwards fell at the battle of inkermann) was badly beaten, and soon afterwards the whole of the russian forces were withdrawn beyond the pruth, and turkish territory was free from invaders. this movement was due, no doubt, in some measure, to the action of austria, who had demanded the evacuation of the principalities, backed her demand by a threatening movement of troops, and actually concluded a convention with the porte on june . [illustration: _h. e. dawe._} {_from an engraving._ her majesty in the royal pew, st. george's chapel, windsor, .] the great arsenal and harbour of russia was sebastopol in the crimea, and it was on this point that the attention of ministers in london and paris was chiefly concentrated. there has been great variance in the accounts of how it came to be decided that the attack of the allies should be directed on that town. it is sufficient to state here that, on june , a despatch was sent to lord raglan, strongly urging the necessity of a prompt attack upon sebastopol and the russian fleet, but leaving the final decision to the discretion of the allied commanders. lord raglan did not read these instructions as leaving him any choice, but regarded them, as he afterwards stated, as "little short of an absolute order from the secretary of state," and prepared to obey it. he was a veteran soldier, it is true, but he had acquired his experience in campaigns before the days of steam and electricity, and the incessant and rapid interchange of despatches between downing street and the seat of war no doubt was somewhat bewildering. [illustration: _r. simkin._} {_from contemporary prints._ a. corporal. b. sergeant. c. officers--undress. d. full dress. e. privates. uniforms of the royal marines, .] [sidenote: the invasion of the crimea.] the french commander-in-chief, saint-arnaud, received similar injunctions from the emperor louis napoleon, who was as strongly in favour of the project as palmerston and the duke of newcastle; lord raglan, therefore, encountered no opposition from him on the score of strategy. after three months of inaction at varna, during which the troops suffered severely from cholera, the invasion of the crimea was undertaken; the allied forces set sail for eupatoria, and on september the duke of newcastle telegraphed to the queen that , english, , french, and , turks had safely disembarked at kalamita bay, near the mouth of the river alma, about eight miles north of sebastopol, without meeting any resistance. the advance on sebastopol began on september , and on the th the allies encountered the russian army, under prince menschikoff, strongly entrenched on the heights south of the river alma. menschikoff of deliberate purpose had allowed them to disembark unmolested; he had chosen what he believed to be an impregnable position, where he intended to keep them in play till the arrival of reinforcements should enable him to leave his entrenchments and overwhelm the invaders with superior numbers; he watched them crossing the stream below his position in full confidence that they were entering the trap prepared for them. but he had underrated the individual prowess of british and french soldiers. they had discipline, individual gallantry, and physique in a high degree, but these are often only so many contributions to the aggregate of disaster unless directed by sagacious generalship, and the tactics of the allied forces at the alma were of the headlong character of a schoolboy's playground. maréchal saint-arnaud was in an agony of illness of approaching death, as it turned out--and there was little cohesion or concert between the english on the left and the french on the right of the attacking line. only one thing was plain to the men of both armies--there were the russian batteries, on the heights beyond the river, with heavy columns of infantry hanging like a grey cloud along the crests--the one thing to do was to get at them. saint-arnaud, addressing his generals of division, canrobert and prince napoleon, said: "with such men as you i have no orders to give; i have but to point to the enemy!" [illustration: _r. simkin._} royal marine artillery-- a. company sergeant-major. b. gunner. c. officer. royal marine light infantry-- d. officer. e. drummer. f. sergeant. g. private. uniforms of the royal marines, .] [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ col. bell, of the royal welsh fusiliers, obtained the victoria cross for gallantry in the battle of the alma, when he seized upon, and captured, a gun which the enemy was carrying off the field.] [sidenote: the battle of the alma.] at two o'clock the allies crossed the river under a plunging fire, and advanced up the opposing slopes in face of the batteries and a searching fire of musketry; the great redoubt was carried by assault; the british battalions, deployed in double rank, according to the unique practice of english field drill, poured a withering fire into the solid columns of the enemy and plied the deadly bayonet at closer quarters. about four o'clock the russians wavered, fell back, and broke; the position was carried and the first european field since waterloo had been won. with pardonable emulation historians of both nations have claimed the chief glory of the day for their own people, nor does it profit now to weigh out the laurels to each with scrupulous precision. the brunt of the fighting no doubt fell to the english share; that was their good luck in what mr. mccarthy has termed a "heroic scramble"; theirs too was the heaviest loss. one thing is certain that the day was won by the allies, not by the skill of their generals, but by the valour and endurance of the troops, and that the two qualities which ensured success were those which chiefly distinguished the two nations respectively--the resolute steadiness and courage of the one, and the brilliant dash and fury of the other. [sidenote: a fruitless victory.] the battle of alma was won, but the fruits of victory--where were they? the english had lost , men in two hours' fighting, including twenty-six officers killed; the rd welsh fusiliers having suffered worst, with eight officers killed and five wounded and nearly casualties in their ranks. the french returned their loss at , . what was to be set to the credit of the account? menschikoff was in full retreat with his army in great confusion, which required only the pressure of pursuit to convert into a hopeless rout. raglan, the pupil of the great duke, surely had learned a sounder lesson than to allow the enemy time to reorganise his disordered divisions. raglan, of course, was for pursuit, but saint-arnaud, physically and mentally shattered, objected for the reason that he was weak in cavalry; the english commander hesitated, perhaps on good grounds, to proceed alone, and the opportunity was lost. the news of victory caused a great revulsion of feeling in england. people had become impatient during the summer months of inaction at varna, and disheartened by the failure of sir charles napier to carry all before him in the baltic. bomarsund, it is true, had been taken, but cronstadt and sweaborg had proved impregnable. complaints were general about the want of vigour displayed in carrying on the war, and dissatisfaction not only prevailed among the uninformed public, but even found expression from the lips of cabinet ministers. [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ col. lloyd lindsay, of the scots fusilier guards (now lord wantage, k.c.b.), seized the colours and rallied his men when thrown into disorder in the battle of the alma. for this act, and for gallantry at inkermann, he was awarded the victoria cross.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ mr. (now sir) wm. h. russell, ll. d. the first of war correspondents. born in ; joined the staff of the _times_ in , and has represented that paper in all the considerable wars which have occurred since.] [sidenote: war correspondents.] a novel feature in the expedition to the black sea was the presence with the army of war correspondents, representing the leading daily papers. this was a symptom of that growth of journalistic enterprise which was to receive such notable impetus in the following year by the abolition of the newspaper stamp duty. the name of mr. w. h. russell, representing the _times_, will be long remembered as that of the pioneer in this new and exciting form of literature. the vivid descriptions sent home of the splendid conduct of british troops in the field, and the excellent relations established between them and their ancient foes the french, were eagerly perused in england, and sent up the enthusiasm to fever heat. but if the war letters in the newspapers were of good service in allaying public impatience by reporting valorous exploits and heroic endurance, they tended to intensify the anxiety when the campaign became prolonged towards winter, without any decisive result. it had been expected that sebastopol would be carried by a _coup-de-main_; so it might have been, perhaps, had the victory of alma been followed up, even on the day after the action. but the views of maréchal saint-arnaud prevailed again; the project of assaulting sebastopol on the north side was abandoned; and the allies undertook the terribly hazardous, though, as it happened, successful flank march upon balaklava, which, with its convenient harbour, was selected as the english base and depôt, while the french chose kamiesch bay. the battle of alma took place on september ; on the rd general todleben, commanding the defences of sebastopol, sunk seven war vessels at the mouth of the harbour. the allied fleet, from which this operation was plainly visible, were thus effectually shut out; the golden opportunity of the speedy capture of the city by a combined land and sea attack had gone by. such an attack was made on october , but the fleet could only play at long bowls, and the french batteries were silenced in a few hours. the first attempt ended in failure. there was nothing for it but a prolonged siege, and the allied land forces were insufficient to invest the town effectively. moreover they were threatened by a russian army outside, constantly reinforced by fresh troops from the interior. the besiegers themselves had to stand on the defensive. [illustration: _w. simpson, r.i._} {_from colnaghi's "authentic series."_ in the batteries before sebastopol. sketched on the spot.] [sidenote: balaklava.] [sidenote: cavalry charges by the heavy and light brigades.] on october general liprandi attacked the english camp at balaklava with , or , men. it is a day to be much remembered in british war annals with profound but melancholy pride, because of the blunder which cost the british army the loss of two-thirds of its light cavalry. the action began by the capture by the russians of four redoubts held by the turks. then took place a cavalry encounter which, though it has been eclipsed in memory by the subsequent exploit of the light brigade, was, in truth, not less splendid and far more fruitful. the russian horse, numbering some , sabres advanced against the british heavy cavalry brigade under general scarlett. immensely outnumbered as they were, and hampered by tent ropes and enclosed ground, the scots greys and enniskillens charged them impetuously. for a minute or two it seemed as if these fine regiments must be swallowed up in the dense columns of the enemy, but the royals and th dragoon guards moving up on the left, and the th dragoon guards on the right, charged the enemy on either flank, and forced them to give way and fly. the whole affair was over in less than five minutes. lord raglan, who was anxiously waiting for infantry reinforcements, seeing the russians preparing to move the guns from the captured redoubts, sent an order to lord lucan to prevent them doing so. "try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns." what guns? captain nolan, who carried the order, pointed to a battery of eight russian guns at the end of the valley, supported by artillery on either flank. "there, my lord, is our enemy," said he, "and there are our guns." lord lucan hesitated at first, but the order seemed explicit, and he directed lord cardigan to form his light brigade into two lines. in the first line were four squadrons of the th light dragoons and th lancers; in the second were four squadrons of the th light dragoons and th hussars, with one squadron of the th hussars as a kind of reserve. the command was given, and it was obeyed. six hundred and seventy-three men rode down that valley of death straight for the guns, on a venture as hopeless and devoted as that of sir giles de argentine at bannockburn, and hardly less futile. only one hundred and ninety-five returned. [illustration: _stanley berkeley._} {_by permission of the publishers, messrs. s. hildesheimer & co., of london and manchester._ the charge of the heavy brigade at balaklava.] [sidenote: breakdown of transport and commissariat.] on the following day the russians made a sortie in force upon the english position at inkermann, and although they were repulsed by sir de lacy evans's division, there can be no possible doubt that the allied forces at this period were in imminent peril of a terrible disaster. five days before the cavalry action of balaklava, raglan had informed the war office that his army was reduced to , , and that he doubted if he could maintain it in the field during the winter, even if sebastopol should be taken first. week after week the condition of the troops was painted in gloomier colours by the war correspondents. the transport system had broken down; supplies of all sorts were running short; the hospital arrangements were miserably inadequate for the numerous wounded and the still more numerous sick. the turkish troops--men of the same race who had fought so well under english officers at silistria--proved useless--worse than useless, for they had to be fed--under their own pashas in the trenches before sebastopol. [illustration: _r. caton woodville._} {_by permission of the artist, and of messrs. graves, pall mall, publishers of the photogravure._ the charge of the light brigade at balaklava.] the french emperor took alarm. hitherto nearly all the fighting had fallen to the share of the british, and england had very few troops ready to send as reinforcements. louis napoleon proposed to send , french troops if england would supply the necessary transports. this was undertaken at once; huts, warm clothing, blankets, tinned meat, and other stores were sent out in ample quantities, but very few of the cargoes reached their destination. winter had burst upon the black sea with almost unexampled fury; the transports and cargo ships were scattered. two french men-of-war and twenty-four british transports went to the bottom in the hurricane; the elements seemed to combine with man's mismanagement for the annihilation of the allied forces. what our soldiers had to bear, half clothed, half starved, in those bitter trenches, may be read in kinglake's narrative. [sidenote: battle of inkermann.] while the authorities at home were straining every nerve to send succour to the fast-dwindling army in the field, news came to england of another great battle, far more sanguinary than any previous encounter, in which once more the brunt had fallen on the british. the grand dukes nicholas and michael, with the whole forces in sebastopol, reinforced by large bodies of troops newly arrived from the danubian provinces, in all not less than , men, had attacked the right of the english lines early in the dark morning of november . the fighting continued till late in the afternoon, the french being engaged also; but general canrobert (who had succeeded to the command vacated by the death of saint-arnaud), in his telegram to the emperor, chivalrously attributed the victory to "the remarkable solidity with which the english army maintained the battle, supported by a portion of general bosquet's division." the english loss in the battle of inkermann amounted to , killed and wounded, of which were officers, including four generals; the french lost , , while the russian casualties were made out in their official returns at , killed, wounded, and prisoners. [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ the battle of inkermann.] [sidenote: florence nightingale.] the allies paid a heavy price for this victory, but the carnage was not in vain. the power of russia was crippled for a moment, and time was given for the succour which busy hands and brains were preparing in london and paris. the most heartrending spectacle of all was the state of the hospitals at scutari. no sooner did a description of them reach london than a fund was opened to supply their wants. more than £ , was collected, and english women organised themselves as nurses, and placed themselves under the direction of miss florence nightingale. no commander so puissant--no statesman so powerful--that his name shall out-last that of this devoted englishwoman, whose services, in spite of the usual routine official objections, were accepted by mr. sidney herbert, the secretary at war.[f] miss nightingale arrived at scutari, with thirty-seven nurses, on the morning of the battle of inkermann, and so clearly did this devoted band prove their usefulness, that miss stanley, the dean of westminster's sister, followed not long after with forty additional assistants. to florence nightingale is due the glory of having initiated a movement which has extended far beyond the limits of the crimean campaign. no army now moves on active service without its train of skilled nurses, and the geneva convention has been the direct result of this first mission of mercy. [illustration: _w. simpson, r.i._} {_from colnaghi's "authentic series."_ miss florence nightingale in one of the wards of the hospital at scutari. from sketches made on the spot.] [sidenote: fall of the coalition cabinet.] it would be no pleasant task to retrace at length the sorrowful story of the siege. british army organisation had broken down hopelessly, and people in england were maddened by the descriptions in the press, perhaps in some instances exaggerated, how their brothers and sons were dying in the trenches, not by steel and shell, but from the starvation, disease, exposure, vermin, to which the culpable incapacity of british officials, as it was believed, had exposed them. it was the system, rather than its agents, which was to blame; but shoulders had to be found to bear the blame, and parliament took the only means in its power, by passing a vote of censure on ministers, who were defeated on a motion by mr. roebuck by the crushing majority of . the coalition government had collapsed. [sidenote: victory of the turks at eupatoria.] after an ineffective attempt by lord derby to form a cabinet, lord palmerston--the only possible man in the existing state of public opinion--became prime minister. things had begun already to go better with the allies before sebastopol. omar pasha, with his despised turks, defeated an army of , russians under general liprandi at eupatoria on february , being supported by an effective fire from the allied fleet. the news reached czar nicholas on march ; he was suffering at the time from the effects of influenza, but his health was not the subject of any alarm to his court. nevertheless he died on march ; peace negotiations were immediately opened at vienna, and the new czar consented to send a representative to the conference "in a sincere spirit of concord." great britain was represented by lord john russell and france by m. drouyn de lhuys, but the proceedings were rendered abortive by the refusal of russia to consent to the neutralisation of the black sea. [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ lieut.-colonel sir charles russell, bart., v.c. at the battle of inkermann, ammunition failing, both british and russians hurled stones at each other. in the midst of the mêlée, lieut.-colonel russell, of the grenadier guards, led a party into the midst of the enemy, and dislodged them from the sand-bag battery. he was nearly bayonetted; his life was saved by a private in the grenadiers named palmer.] [illustration: _sir f. grant, p.r.a._} {_by permission of messrs graves._ field-marshal lord raglan, - . lord fitzroy james henry somerset, created baron raglan in , was the eighth and youngest son of the fifth duke of beaufort. he was military secretary to the duke of wellington, - , master-general of ordnance, , and was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in the crimea, .] [sidenote: death of lord raglan.] the war went on; the allies being strengthened in a minute degree by the active adherence of the little kingdom of sardinia, of which the gallant and resolute monarch, victor emmanuel, perceived ultimate advantage to his designs on the throne of italy through alliance with great britain and france in a war which concerned him about as much as it did the queen of the sandwich islands. the bombardment of sebastopol was resumed on april , and great guns battered away without much result. but the trenches were drawing ever closer round the doomed city, and the allies made a successful expedition to kertch on may , where they destroyed immense stores provided for the russian army, as well as a convoy of cargo ships in the sea of azoff. on june a combined assault was delivered on the malakoff and redan forts, but the allies were repulsed with heavy loss. it had been undertaken against the judgment of lord raglan, who yielded reluctantly to general pelissier's urgent request. he took this reverse grievously to heart: harassed as he had been by the censures passed at home on his administration, his health gave way under this additional blow, and he succumbed to dysentery on the th. [illustration: _e. m. ward, r.a._} {_in the royal collection._ her majesty the queen investing the emperor napoleon iii. with the order of the garter at windsor castle, april , . the friendly feeling between england and france which sprang out of their common interests in the war against russia, found expression in an interchange of visits between the sovereigns of the two countries. the emperor napoleon iii. and his beautiful empress visited the queen at windsor in april . they were met at dover by the prince consort on the th, and remained at windsor until the st. one of the most impressive ceremonies of their visit was the installation of the emperor as a knight of the garter.] in assuming the chief command of the british army in this war, lord raglan had undertaken a task of peculiar and, in some respects, novel difficulty. he brought ripe experience, it is true, acquired under the greatest soldier of the century, but the lapse of years had brought about so many changes in military appliances and scientific inventions, that much of that experience was rendered obsolete. he was the first british general who had to conduct operations in the field advised, controlled, directed, censured by telegraphic despatches from the war office. he had, moreover, to act in concert with an ally, brave, indeed, but sensitive, and it was of the nature of things that their counsels should sometimes clash, at least, that their judgment should not always be identical. little reference has been made to the angry impatience expressed in the english press and parliament in regard to what was freely condemned as the incapacity and dilatoriness of lord raglan, because time and reflection have amply vindicated his renown. but it must have been galling to him at the time, and greatly aggravated the difficulties of his position. the best evidence of his genuine force of character is found in the patient courage with which he fulfilled his office to the last, and the enthusiastic devotion which he won from all ranks serving under him. [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ major (now general) christopher teesdale, c.b., r.a., at kars, september , . he was awarded the victoria cross for gallant conduct in throwing himself into the midst of the russians, who had penetrated under cover of night into the yuksek tabia redoubt; also for saving, at great personal risk, the enemy's wounded from the fury of the turks.] [illustration: _g. h. thomas._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen distributing medals to the heroes of the crimea, on the horse guards parade, may , .] [sidenote: battle of tchernaya.] the command of the british forces devolved upon general simpson. on august general liprandi made a formidable attempt to raise the siege by an attack on the french and sardinian position on the tchernaya, but was repulsed with tremendous slaughter. this was the last encounter in the open field. the final assault on the town was opened by a tremendous fire from the allied batteries on september , and the bombardment continued without intermission throughout the th and th. on the morning of the th the french made a splendid dash at the malakoff fort, the key of sebastopol, and captured it. the english fared not so well in an attempt to storm the redan and suffered severely in a repulse. but the defence was at an end. [illustration: _c. jacquand._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen and the prince consort landing at boulogne, august , . this was the first visit of an english sovereign to france since henry vi. was crowned in paris in . the royal visitors were received by the emperor on the landing stage at boulogne, and conveyed to the palace of st. cloud. during their stay in paris they paid several visits to the palais des beaux arts, a part of the exposition universelle in which they were greatly interested.] [illustration: _g. h. thomas._} {_from the royal collection._ review in the champs de mars at paris, august , . during their stay in paris, her majesty the queen and the prince consort were present at a grand review of troops held in the champs de mars. especial interest was attached to the spectacle, as at the moment the armies of france and england were fighting side by side in the final struggle in the crimea. canrobert, one of the heroes of the war, was present, and was decorated by the queen with the order of the bath. her majesty, with the empress and princess mathilde, are sitting together in the balcony, while the emperor and the prince consort are below watching the movements of the long series of battalions.] [sidenote: evacuation of sebastopol.] after repeated attempts to retake the malakoff, the russian commander resolved on evacuating the town. fortunately the wires connected with the magazine in the malakoff were discovered in time by the french and cut, for arrangements had been made for blowing up all the forts. one after another they went up with terrific din during the night; early on the morning of the th the russians executed a masterly evacuation across a floating bridge, leaving their town in flames and their fleet at the bottom of the harbour. sebastopol had fallen, but not into the hands of the allies; it had been erased from the face of the earth. [illustration: _e. m. ward, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty the queen visiting the tomb of napoleon i. in the invalides, paris, august , .] [sidenote: conclusion of peace.] the congress of paris met on february , , and a treaty of peace was signed by the plenipotentiaries of the great powers on march . the most important article was that which guaranteed the perpetual neutrality of the black sea; russia received back the ruins of sebastopol in exchange for the wreck of kars, and the eastern question was laid to rest, at least for a season. [illustration: the earl of rosse's great telescope at parsonstown. this great reflecting telescope, still the finest in the world, is feet long; the speculum or mirror of copper and tin at the bottom of the tube is feet in diameter and weighs nearly tons. its nominal magnifying power is , , and it reflects about , times as much light as the naked eye itself would receive. it was designed and constructed in by the late earl of rosse, and has rendered great service to science.] [illustration: [_from a photograph by the late mrs. cameron._ sir john f. w. herschel, bart. - . astronomer. son of sir frederick w. herschel. his first great work was his catalogue of double and triple stars; later on he catalogued the nebulæ, and made researches in sound and light. he discovered the solvent effects of hyposulphite of soda on silver salts--the basis of photographic processes. created a baronet in , master of the mint - . for many years he was among the most prominent of english scientists.] for this result england had to pay down four and twenty thousand lives and add forty-one millions to her national debt; but she learned in addition to take vigilant precaution against the enervating influence of prolonged peace. to this may be added the bracing moral effect which follows on the supreme and disciplined exercise of a nation's power. [illustration: _sir oswald brierly, r.w.s._} {_in the royal collection._ action at fatshan, china, june , . the chinese fleet of about ninety junks was completely destroyed in two severe engagements, in which the chinese fought their guns with unexampled constancy. owing to the shallowness of the water the british attacked in small boats.] chapter x. - . the lorcha _arrow_--war with china--defeat of the government--dissolution of parliament--palmerston returns to office--startling news from india--mutiny at meerut--the chupatties--loyalty of the sikhs--lord canning's presence of mind--disarmament of sepoys at meean meer--the rising at cawnpore--nana sahib's treachery--the massacre--siege of delhi--the relief of lucknow--death of havelock--sir hugh rose's campaign--the ranee of jhansi--capture and execution of tantia topee--end of the east india company's rule--marriage of the princess royal. it is well that the next chapter in british warfare is a short one, for it is one which britons can peruse with little pride. it is prefaced by a paragraph in the queen's speech at the opening of parliament on february , : "acts of violence, insults to the british flag, and infraction of treaty rights, committed by the local chinese authorities at canton, and a pertinacious refusal of redress, have rendered it necessary for her majesty's officers in china to have recourse to measures of force to obtain satisfaction." [illustration: _t. phillips, r.a._} {_from the "life of dr. arnold," by permission of mr. murray._ thomas arnold, d.d., - . appointed head master of rugby school in , he infused a new tone and spirit into english public school education. he was the first to introduce modern languages, modern history, and mathematics into the regular school course.] [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_in the royal collection._ her majesty the queen in the robes of the order of the garter. painted in .] [sidenote: the lorcha "arrow."] [sidenote: war with china.] a dispute had arisen out of circumstances even more trivial than the question of custody of the holy places, which led to the crimean war. a vessel termed a "lorcha," lying in the canton river in october , was boarded by chinese officials, who took away twelve men accused of piracy, although the lorcha _arrow_ was flying the british flag. the british consul at canton demanded the release of these men, according to the treaty of ; but the chinese governor yeh declared that the _arrow_ was not a british vessel but a chinese pirate, and refused to comply with the consul's demand. it was proved, however, that the _arrow_ had been duly registered as a british vessel, though her registration had actually expired ten days before the arrest of the men. mr. parkes, the british consul, appealed to sir john bowring, british minister at hongkong. bowring was determined to stand no nonsense from the chinaman: nor was he going to trouble himself whether the _arrow_ was entitled to fly the british ensign or not! as a matter of fact, he wrote to parkes that the expiry of the registration had deprived her owners of the right, but that as the chinese did not know that, they must be held responsible for insulting the flag. anyhow, it was enough for bowring that chinese officials had dared to take men by force from under that flag, whether it had been hoisted rightfully or wrongfully. he sent an ultimatum to yeh, demanding the release of the men and an ample apology within forty-eight hours, or he would begin hostilities. yeh released the men, and promised that greater caution should be observed in future, but he refused to apologise, maintaining that the _arrow_ was in fact a chinese vessel. incredible as it may seem that such powers should be vested in a british minister, and still more so, that he should employ them in such a miserable quarrel, nevertheless bowring ordered up the fleet and canton was severely bombarded for several days. yeh made the tactical blunder of offering a reward for the heads of englishmen. he got no heads, but he forfeited the respect which england always pays to an honourable foe. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ interior of the gun-cotton factory at waltham abbey. the picture represents the pulping and moulding room. gun-cotton consists of cotton-waste subjected to the action of nitric acid, washed, boiled, chopped into pulp, and pressed into blocks.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ barrel-room at the small arms factory, enfield.] [sidenote: defeat of the government, and dissolution.] [sidenote: palmerston returns to office.] there was considerable sensation when the news came to england. lord derby moved a vote of censure in the lords, and the only answer the lord chancellor could make to the enquiry whether, supposing a chinese owner of a chinese vessel bought a british ensign, that made her a british vessel, was that the chinese had no right to assume that the flag was hoisted illegally. the house of lords supported the government, but it went worse with them in the commons. on the motion of mr. cobden, ministers were defeated by a majority of sixteen. mr. disraeli had dared the government to go to the country on the question. "i should like," he had said, in the measured, biting accents of his later manner, "to see the proud leaders of the liberal party--no reform, new taxes, canton blazing, pekin invaded!" palmerston took up the gauntlet; he appealed to the country, and he put his policy--thorough "jingo," as it would be termed nowadays--before the constituencies in such sort that he was returned to power stronger than before. never was a minister more thoroughly justified in settling his plans for a long spell of office. but palmerston himself is said to have observed once that "the life of a ministry was never worth three months' purchase," of which the fate of his own second administration was a striking illustration. it lasted just long enough to enable him to announce to the house of commons in february that canton had fallen before a combined english and french force; for the french in the interval had managed to pick a quarrel with the chinese. a treaty was concluded securing access to the interior of china for englishmen and frenchmen, establishing diplomatic relations between england and france and the court of china, and securing the toleration of christianity. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ winding cordite in the government factory. cordite is composed of gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine. in the form of greasy cord it is wound on reels, and afterwards cut into lengths.] on june , , the queen issued letters patent conferring on prince albert the title of prince consort, a name which had been popularly applied to him for many years in england, and by which he was known henceforward to the world. the change may seem an unimportant one, but it created some unreasonable dissatisfaction at the time, and the press of the country betrayed no enthusiasm in its favour. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ machine-gun shop at the small arms factory, enfield.] [sidenote: startling news from india.] the transit of news had been greatly accelerated over large tracts of the globe by the use of electricity, but it still took many weeks to convey intelligence between great britain and her empire in india. little did the people who assembled in london on june , , to celebrate the centenary of the battle of plassey, by which bengal was added to the british dominions, imagine that at that very moment bengal was the scene of a conflict as mighty in scope as it was horrifying in detail. the story burst upon england with the suddenness of a tornado. the sepoy army had risen in revolt, murdered their officers, proclaimed the king of delhi emperor of india, and the whole peninsula was in rebellion. there had been awful massacres too; english men, women, and children had been slaughtered in hundreds; most hideous of all there were circumstantial stories of outrage, followed by torture, committed upon our women. a terrible moan for vengeance rose throughout the land. there were few families who had not relations, or at least friends and acquaintances, among the british communities in india; the suddenness of the news was not the most appalling part of it; it was the ghastly details of the story that so deeply moved the nation. black and bloody as the reality afterwards proved to be, the mutineers were not shown to have been guilty of the worst horrors imputed to them in the early days of the rising. englishwomen perished as women perished in the worst of mediæval massacres, but they were not subjected to outrage or torture, as was circumstantially affirmed and universally believed at first. [illustration: _photographed from examples_} {_in the tower armouries._ the fire-arms of the early years of her majesty's reign. . "brown bess" (smooth-bore flint-lock). . baker's rifle (flint-lock). . baker's rifle, with sword-bayonet. . brunswick rifle (percussion). . minié rifle ( ). the above were all in use at the time of the crimean war.] this great convulsion is always referred to as the indian mutiny, because of the violent revolt of so many native regiments in the british service; but it was far more than a mutiny; it was an insurrection of the indian races against the european conqueror, a common rising of hindoo and mahomedan against the christian power. disaffection to british rule had never ceased to smoulder: how should it, seeing that so many native rulers had been deposed, so many others placed in inglorious dependency or on pension? the misrule and oppression of these potentates had been forgotten by the people who once groaned under them, just as the jacobites who shouted for "the auld stuarts back again" forgot what the people had endured under the stuart kings. dost mahomed had shown an example how the feringhi could be dealt with, and there were a thousand grievances against english officers and magistrates to be wiped out. lord dalhousie had resigned the governor-generalship in march , and his eight years of rule had been regulated by a policy of annexation. deeply penetrated with the capacity of the indian races and their country for moral and material development, he perceived how fatal was the native system of rule to all progress. consequently he was not rigidly scrupulous in every case about the precise justice of the means by which one principality after another was added to the british dominions. the greatest happiness of the greatest number often involves disappointment and even direct injury to the few. dalhousie vindicated his policy by the splendid energy he showed in making roads, railways, and telegraphs, in reducing taxation, and in general measures for the good of the people; but he undoubtedly left a feeling of soreness and resentment that only waited a fitting opportunity to take effect. out of this discontent arose a widespread conspiracy against british rule in the beginning of . it is believed by some that the military rising was premature, and disconcerted the measures of those organising the general revolt. be that as it may, the earliest overt acts of rebellion took place among the troops. [illustration: _photographed from examples_} {_in the tower armouries._ the rifles of the later years of her majesty's reign. . enfield long rifle ( ). . snider-enfield rifle ( ). . martini-henry rifle ( ). . lee-metford magazine rifle, with short sword-bayonet (the present regulation weapon).] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ cyclist corps. the value of the bicycle in actual warfare has yet to be proved; but, like the field telegraph and the military balloon, it has already taken its place in the equipment of european armies. the corps represented is the nd v.b. west kent regiment.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ "trooping the colours" on her majesty's birthday. the annual "trooping of the colours" of the household troops on the horse guards parade is the prettiest military pageant to be seen nowadays in london.] [sidenote: rising at meerut.] the effect of the minié rifle, carried by some of the russian troops in the crimea, had been so remarkable, that the british military authorities had decided that the day of "brown bess"--the smooth-bore musket--had gone by. in common with the rest of the forces, therefore, the enfield rifle was served out to the indian troops in . now the paper of the cartridges used in this weapon was greased, and the idea was industriously circulated among the sepoys that the lubricant used was a mixture of the fat of cows and pigs--a most ingenious falsehood, if falsehood it were--a most unlucky fact, if fact it were--for the native troops were composed partly of mahomedans, to whom, of all animals, the hog is most loathsome, and partly of hindoos, by whom, of all animals, the cow is held most sacred. falsehood or fact, the story served a sinister purpose, for although the issue of the objectionable cartridges was stopped in january, and lord canning, the governor-general, issued a proclamation in may to the army of bengal, declaring that the story of an intentional affront to religion and caste on the part of the government was utterly groundless, the early months of witnessed repeated instances of military insubordination, and some of the native regiments had to be disbanded. on saturday, may , eighty-five men of the bengal cavalry were sentenced at meerut to long periods of imprisonment and hard labour for refusing to use the cartridges issued to them. next day, sunday, the whole native garrison at meerut, the largest military station in india, mutinied, killed several of their officers, massacred some europeans, and breaking open the gaol, released their imprisoned comrades. the european troops at meerut drove them out of their cantonments; but allowed the mutineers to march to delhi, where the octogenarian representative of the great mogul still held his court as a subject of queen victoria and pensioner of the east india company. this old man they proclaimed emperor of india, and the military mutiny assumed at once the character of national rebellion. all the patriotism that had been outraged, all the aspirations that had been crushed, all the private interests that had suffered by lord dalhousie's annexation of the punjab, of oude, of sattara, and of jhansi, found their outlet and opportunity in the mutiny of the garrison of meerut. the great koh-i-noor diamond, symbol of the sovereignty of lahore, had been displayed at the great exhibition of : the diamond might be gone beyond recall, but the tyranny of the sikh ameers had passed from memory also, and a resolute effort might restore them. there are known various modes of pre-historic telegraph. in the scottish highlands of old the fiery cross, passed from hamlet to hamlet, summoned the clansmen to arms; on the borders the bale-fires leapt from height to height to rouse the land: not less sure and hardly less swift was the symbol of "chupatties," little unleavened cakes, of which two were left with the head man of each village of northern india on an appointed morning, with directions to make similar cakes and pass them on. when the standard of rebellion was hoisted on the citadel of delhi, the train had been laid and all was in readiness for an explosion which should shatter to fragments british rule in india. [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ the battle of kooshab, february , . the persian war of - was undertaken to establish the independence of afghanistan, and the persians were defeated in an action at kooshab, about forty-four miles from bushire. when the rd bombay light cavalry charged the enemy's square, lieut. moore, who was foremost, leapt into the square and had his horse killed under him. lieut. malcolmson fought his way to his brother officer and rescued him. both officers were awarded the victoria cross.] [illustration: _chevalier l. w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ captain dighton probyn at agra. in the action against the mutineers at agra, in august , captain (now lieut.-general sir) dighton probyn distinguished himself by leading his squadron against an overwhelming mass of the enemy's infantry. he received the victoria cross for his gallantry on this occasion.] [sidenote: loyalty of the sikhs.] but there was one factor essential to making the convulsion complete, and that was the co-operation of the sikhs--the most warlike population of india--the people who, only eight years before, had inflicted on british arms what we must be honest enough to own as the defeat of chilianwalla. while the rebellion was spreading like wildfire through the whole of the rest of the north-west, and blazing through oude into lower bengal, while regiment after regiment was rising, shooting its officers, and joining the native population in pillage and massacre of christians, the sikhs never wavered in fidelity to british rule. that was what saved the british indian empire--that, and the way in which british officials behaved in the hour of trial. of course, severe reflections have been passed on those in command of european troops at meerut and in the neighbourhood of delhi for allowing the revolted regiments to pass unmolested from the former to the latter place. there was indecision shown, no doubt. the commandant at meerut telegraphed to delhi what had occurred, and did no more. next day the mahomedans of delhi rose and joined the sepoys, and the europeans in the residency could only blow up their magazine to prevent it falling into the hands of the rebels. it is easy to sit in an elbow chair and pronounce the opinion that if the authorities at meerut had showed presence of mind the rebellion might have been quashed at the outset; but it is a fearful thing for soldiers to have to turn their arms suddenly against their comrades; and any hesitation or weakness shown on that occasion may be forgotten in the tribute due to the whole body of military and civil officers for their conduct in what followed. [illustration: _g. richmond, r.a._} viscount canning, - . governor-general and first viceroy of india.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co., strand._ types of our indian cavalry. . guide cavalry. . st bengal cavalry. . st punjab cavalry. . major, th bengal lancers. . st contingent, india horse. . th bombay poonah horse. . st madras lancers. . th contingent, lancers (hyderabad).] [sidenote: lord canning's presence of mind.] lord canning played a splendid part. of all moods of the human creature there is none so ungovernable as fear. the suddenness of the outbreak, the rapidity of its spread, the atrocious massacres which marked its progress, created a wild panic in calcutta and other european communities. canning was assailed on all sides by the insane counsels of terror. he was urged to take the most savage methods of reprisal. the dethroned king of oude was living near calcutta. of all dalhousie's annexations perhaps that of oude was the one which most afflicted sensitive consciences; and the people of calcutta, convinced that the king of oude was preparing schemes of vengeance, besought the governor-general to seize his person. canning responded by receiving the king and his vizier to reside in his own house. the clamours against him rose to frenzy: people nicknamed him "clemency canning"; they shrieked for his recall; but through all the tumult this great man kept his head cool and his nerve steady. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by bourne & shepherd, calcutta._ state elephants of the viceroy of india. the elephant in the centre of the group was taken from the nawab of bengal at the battle of plassey in , and was years old when the photograph was taken.] happily there were other cool heads besides the governor-general's. on may information of the outbreak at meerut was telegraphed from calcutta to lahore, the capital of the punjab. the governor, sir john (afterwards lord) lawrence was absent at rawul pindee, having left full power in the hands of the judicial commissioner, mr. robert montgomery. four thousand sepoy troops lay at meean meer, five or six miles from lahore, and mr. montgomery had to decide on the instant whether these should be assumed to be contemplating mutiny. he came to a speedy decision. they must not be allowed the chance. there was a great ball in lahore that night; among the guests were the civil and military chiefs of the district. mr. montgomery consulted with them and it was resolved to disarm the native troops. a parade was ordered for daybreak at meean meer: twelve guns loaded with grape were placed along one side of the parade ground. the troops were formed up in line of contiguous columns facing the guns and ordered to pile arms. they obeyed, for to hesitate was death. the rifles were carried off in carts, and the station was left in possession of , european troops. this was perhaps the most critical moment of the mutiny. nothing short of mr. montgomery's firmness, supported by the military commanders, could have ensured the safety of the punjab. [illustration: _from a photograph by f. frith & co._} government house, calcutta. the official residence of the viceroy of india. built in - by lord wellesley at a cost of about £ , . calcutta is the seat of government of the empire of india; population ( ), , . the total population of india in was , , , of whom only , habitually spoke english, and of these less than half were british born.] [sidenote: the rising at cawnpore.] the darkest page of the book of mutiny is that which contains the story of cawnpore. in may there were , native troops at that place, and about europeans, under command of sir hugh wheeler, an old man of seventy-five. wheeler had reason to expect his force to mutiny, and appealed to nana sahib, a neighbouring prince representing the dethroned mahratta peishwah of poonah, to help him. nana had an undoubtedly genuine grievance against the government. on the death of the last peishwah, lord dalhousie had refused to continue the pension to his adopted son nana, thereby violating the hindoo principle that all the rights of sonship, material as well as spiritual, are conveyed by adoption. nana, whose real name was seereek dhoondoo punth, was rich and hospitable, and delighted in entertaining english officers and their ladies at his residence near cawnpore. he responded cordially to sir hugh's invitation, and came at once to cawnpore with men and two guns, to help to keep order. his arrival coincided with the revolt of the garrison, and he placed himself at once at the head of the mutineers. wheeler had taken refuge in an old hospital building with about , europeans, of whom were women and girls, with about the same number of children. a hasty entrenchment was thrown up, and wheeler refused nana's summons to surrender. for nineteen days, under the tropical sun of june, this handful of brave men maintained the defence of their crumbling mud wall against thousands of rebels. the assailants were reinforced by a contingent of oude men, who made a fierce assault on the place; but the english were fighting for more than their mere lives; the presence of their women and children made each man bear himself like a paladin. the attack was repulsed, and this prolonged resistance soon began to tell on the prestige of nana, for hindoos and mahomedans alike appreciate prowess in the field. he offered terms to the besieged: "all those who are in no way connected with the acts of lord dalhousie, and who are willing to lay down their arms, shall receive a safe passage to allahabad." [illustration: a. post and telegraph offices. b. high court. c. clock tower. d. university. e. secretariat. public buildings, bombay. bombay is for europeans the gate of india, the port of arrival and departure for both passengers and mails. it is in direct communication by railway with calcutta and madras. population ( ), , .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ native houses in the fort, bombay.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ statue of the queen and telegraph office, bombay. the statue, executed in white marble by noble, was unveiled by lord northbrook in . a native superstition ascribes the origin of the recent plague to vengeance for an insult offered to this statue, which was one morning found bedaubed with tar.] [sidenote: the massacre.] the terms were accepted. the little garrison had done all that flesh and blood and gallant souls could do. the survivors of the siege embarked in boats on the ganges, prepared by nana's orders. the women and children were all aboard, the men were following. at that moment a bugle sounded; instantly the straw awnings of the boats burst into flame, and the native rowers leaped out. a fire of grape and musketry poured down on the frail craft, and continued till tantia topee, nana's lieutenant, sounded the "cease fire!" then the survivors, englishwomen and children, many of them sorely wounded, were collected and driven back to the town. one only of the boats escaped, drifting down the ganges, a target for innumerable marksmen on both banks. a dozen men landed to drive off the assailants; in their absence the boat was captured, and those on board--sixty-five men, twenty-five women, and four children--were haled back to cawnpore. the men were shot on the spot; the women and children were crammed into the prison-house with the others. cholera and dysentery soon carried off eighteen women and seven children--more fortunate than their companions. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by bourne & shepherd, calcutta._ suttee chowra ghat. on the banks of the ganges; the scene of the first massacre of cawnpore.] [illustration: _baron marochetti, sc._} {_photo by bourne & shepherd._ the statue erected over the well at cawnpore into which the bodies of the english women and children were thrown after the massacre in the prison.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by bourne & shepherd._ benares from the ganges. benares is the sacred city of the hindoos. it contains innumerable temples and shrines, the most sacred being that of bisheswar, dedicated to the worship of shiva; its dome is overlaid with gold. to buddhists the stupa now called damek, three miles to the north of benares, erected on the spot where buddha first expounded his doctrine, is a place of pilgrimage. but the most prominent object from the river is the mohammedan mosque built by aurungzeb, son of shah jehan. its slender minarets are feet high.] nana's visions of rule were becoming overcast. the english had rallied from the first shock of the mutiny; troops, before which he knew his men dared not stand, were drawing near; havelock had already routed tantia topee, with , of nana's best fighting men, and neill was at allahabad. the rebellion was mastered, but nana's vengeance, if it was to be balked of its full scope, at least should be complete on those who were in his power. a company of sepoys was ordered up to the house where the englishwomen were imprisoned. unhappy creatures, their approaching fate cannot have caused them much concern; they were in every circumstance of suffering and misery already. for nearly four weeks they had not been able to change their tattered clothing, nor had a drop of water to wash in. the sepoys began firing through the windows, but there were traces of mercy in their hearts; they fired high and ineffectively, and were marched home again. in the evening five men were sent up and entered the house; awful sounds were heard within, and twice one of the butchers came out and exchanged his broken, bloody sword for a fresh weapon. at length all was still; the five men, weary with slaughter, came out and went off, locking the door behind them. next morning they returned with a fatigue party, cleared out that fearful house of blood, and flung the bodies down a dry well. [illustration: _photo by bourne & shepherd, calcutta._} the cashmere gate, delhi.] there is nothing in english history, at least during the last six centuries, approaching in horror to the massacre of cawnpore, and it is well that one is not often called on to witness--to share in--the fury, the wild cry for revenge, that rose from england when the tale came to be told there. nana sahib waited to encounter the victorious havelock on july ; he was completely defeated, fled from the field in the direction of nepaul, and has never since been heard of. of the twelve men who left the boat which floated down the ganges, four escaped after extraordinary adventures, by favour of a friendly rajah--the sole survivors of the european community at cawnpore. [illustration: _a. pearse._} blowing up of the cashmere gate, delhi. this was one of the most daring exploits in a campaign remarkable for deeds of gallantry. advancing across a broken drawbridge in broad daylight, in the face of the enemy's defences, lieutenants home and salkeld, with native sappers to carry the gunpowder, succeeded in laying eight bags of powder against the gate. home leaped into the ditch unhurt; salkeld, who held a lighted port fire, was badly wounded and fell back on the bridge, handing the port-fire as he fell to sergeant burgess, who was immediately shot dead. sergeant carmichael then advanced, picked up the port-fire, and lighted the fuse, but fell mortally wounded. the gate was blown in, killing all its defenders but one, and the british entered without opposition.] [sidenote: siege of delhi.] on june general wilson appeared before delhi, but his force was far too small to attempt to invest a city held by , insurgents. general nicholson reinforced him in august, and on september the place was taken by assault, nicholson falling dead at the head of the storming columns. [illustration: _sir f. grant, p.r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ field-marshal lord clyde, - . born at glasgow; entered the army in , and served with great distinction in the peninsula, china, the punjab, the crimea, and was commander-in-chief in the operations for the suppression of the indian mutiny. for his services in this campaign he was raised to the peerage. he is buried in westminster abbey.] seeing that it has been necessary to relate some of the many atrocities perpetrated by the rebel leaders, it would be unfair to keep regarding one that was enacted here by an english officer. a brave young fellow called hodson, commanding an irregular force well-known as hodson's horse, asked general wilson's permission to capture the king of delhi and his family. wilson consented, provided the old king's life should be preserved. the king and his sons had taken refuge in an immense enclosure, the tomb of the emperor hoomayoon, adjoining the city, where he was guarded by a strong armed force. hodson quietly rode up with a small escort and called on the troops to lay down their arms. believing, no doubt, that the english officer had ample force at hand to enforce his command, they instantly obeyed. the king's life was spared, according to orders, but, shameful to say, hodson summoned the three princes--the king's sons--before him, and shot them with his own hand. it was a horrible act, but in the spirit of vengeance then prevalent, many were found to justify it, and hodson was never brought to trial. he was killed in action at lucknow not long after. [illustration: _t. jones barker._} {_by permission of the corporation of glasgow._ . sir henry havelock. . sir james outram. . sir colin campbell. . sir john inglis. . sir hope grant. . major-general sir w. r. mansfield. . sir william peel. . brigadier hon. adrian hope. the relief of lucknow, november , . this picture represents the meeting of general sir henry havelock, sir james outram, and sir colin campbell at the mess house of the nd regiment, in lucknow, in november . it was executed from sketches taken on the spot by egron lundgren.] [illustration: _j. lucas._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ captain sir william peel, r.n., in command of the naval brigade at lucknow.] while these events were passing, general anson, commander-in-chief of the forces in india, died on june . it was decided to send out sir colin campbell to replace him. on being asked when he would be ready to start sir colin answered with characteristic promptitude: "to-morrow"; and he sailed the following day without waiting to prepare his outfit. [sidenote: the relief of lucknow.] sir henry lawrence,[g] chief commissioner of oude, had fortified and provisioned the residency of lucknow where, on july , he was besieged, having with him a single battalion of europeans and all the european inhabitants of the station. lawrence was killed at the opening of the siege, but the little garrison held out with magnificent resolution till, on september , they were relieved by havelock and outram. but these generals were in turn hemmed in by immense masses of rebel troops, and it was not until sir colin campbell fought his way to lucknow, on november , that the garrison with the women and children could be considered to be relieved. one of those who endured this long and painful siege was that dr. brydon, who had ridden alone into jellalabad after the awful retreat from cabul in . [illustration: _a. h. ritchie._} {_from an engraving._ sir henry havelock, - .] [illustration: _t. brigstocke._} {_from the national portrait gallery._ lieut.-general sir james outram, - .] [sidenote: death of havelock.] the residency was evacuated on the nd, and havelock, outworn with the heroic exertions of the past six months, died on the th. if lord canning's calm resolution and mr. montgomery's bold promptitude were the chief agents in checking the proportions of the rebellion, it was havelock's masterly generalship and cool courage in face of overwhelming numbers that first broke the military spirit of the insurgents. soon after havelock's death, sir colin was obliged to suspend operations at lucknow in order to repair a disaster which had overtaken general wyndham, who had been defeated by the gwalior rebel army at cawnpore. having done so, and captured that place of dreadful memory, he rejoined sir hope grant at lucknow, which was taken by assault on march , . [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by bourne & shepherd, calcutta._ ruins of the bailey guard, the residency, lucknow.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by bourne & shepherd, calcutta._ the taj mahal, agra. this building, erected in - to serve as the mausoleum of arjamand benu begam, wife of the emperor shah jehan, is reputed the most beautiful specimen of architecture in india, perhaps in the world. it is of white marble and precious stones, and possesses a feminine grace and charm which no photograph can reproduce.] it throws some light on the magnitude of what is usually called the indian mutiny, that upwards of , of the enemy were killed in the final attack, and of their guns taken. those who had begun by putting down a mutiny had to end by re-conquering the greater part of india. sir colin campbell (now lord clyde) continued the campaign in oude after the fall of lucknow, ably assisted by jang bahádur of nepál, until that province was entirely subdued by the end of . sir hugh rose (afterwards lord strathnairn) was opposed to the last in central india by the ranee of jhansi, a princess of extraordinary character, who rode in battle like a modern joan of arc, and fell, sabre in hand, at the head of her troops. tantia topee, the former lieutenant of nana, was the last to hold out, but at length he, too, was taken in april , and hanged for his share in the horrors of cawnpore. [illustration: the regalia. . imperial state crown, made for queen victoria, . it contains the ruby given to edward the black prince by the king of castile, , and , diamonds, besides pearls, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. . the old sceptre. . the queen consort's crown, made for mary of modena, queen of james ii. . top of salt cellar used at coronation banquet. . (in centre of picture.) monde of the old imperial crown. and . the sceptre with the cross, and the orb, both made for the coronation of charles ii. . st. edward's crown, used at the coronation of queen victoria. the total value of the regalia exceeds £ , , .] [sidenote: end of the east india company's rule.] it was not possible that such a convulsion should pass through the peninsula of hindostan without shaking down everything that could be shaken in its institutions. the english public--the average english parliament man--knew of the existence of british rule in india, and could lay finger on calcutta in the map. but that was about the utmost precise knowledge of indian affairs possessed by most people, until attention was violently forced to them by the great mutiny. then it dawned upon them that this mighty dominion was governed by the directors of a trading company, who exercised all the powers of empire, civil and military, deriving their authority from a charter signed by queen elizabeth. various limitations and reforms, indeed, had been imposed by parliament on "john company"; still, the whole system had become an archaism, as uncertain in practice as it was indefensible in theory. the time for sweeping changes had come, not because the directors of the east india company had abused their authority; but the safety of the empire required that the crown should enter now upon the heritage won by the commercial enterprise of its subjects. the act for the better government of india was framed on a series of resolutions laid before a committee of the whole house, and became law in the autumn of . it provided that the administration of india should pass wholly out of the hands of the company into those of the queen, governing through a secretary of state and a council of fifteen, seven of whom were to be nominated by the court of directors and eight by the crown. the governor-general was made a viceroy, the indian navy was discontinued, and the twenty-four european regiments in the company's service were amalgamated with the royal army. [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} her royal highness the princess royal at the time of her marriage.] [sidenote: marriage of the princess royal.] notice must be paid here to a happy event, which brought to a close the unpleasant feelings subsisting between the courts of great britain and prussia, owing to the unfriendly and insincere conduct of the king of prussia during the crimean campaign. on january , , the princess royal was married in the chapel royal, st. james's, to the crown prince of prussia, who, in later years, bore such a distinguished part as the emperor frederick william of germany. [illustration: _j. philip, r.a._} {_from the royal collection._ . her majesty the queen. . prince consort. . princess royal. . crown prince of prussia. . prince of wales. . prince alfred. . prince arthur. . prince leopold. . princess alice. . princess helena. . princess louise. . king of prussia. . queen of prussia. . duke of saxe-coburg. . archbishop of canterbury. . king of the belgians. . duchess of kent. . duke of cambridge. . duchess of cambridge. . princess mary of cambridge. . lady cecilia lennox. . lady villiers. . lady stanley. . lady murray. . lady molyneaux. . lady susan pelham clinton. . earl of st. germans. . marquess of breadalbane. . earl of clarendon. the marriage of t.r.h. the princess royal and the crown prince frederick william of prussia, january , .] [illustration: _photo by valentine, dundee._} balmoral castle. her majesty's highland residence was built in from designs by h.r.h. the prince consort. it is of white crathie granite. there are , acres of deer forest within the bounds of the royal demesne.] chapter xi. - . commercial panic in london--suspension of the bank charter act--the orsini plot--the conspiracy to murder bill--defeat and resignation of the government--lord derby's second administration--disraeli's reform bill--vote of no confidence--defeat and resignation of the government--lord palmerston's second administration--threatened french invasion--the volunteers--the paper duty repealed by the commons and restored by the lords--a constitutional problem--its solution--war with china--british and french defeat at pei-ho--return of lord elgin to china--wreck of the _malabar_--capture of the tangku and taku forts--occupation of tien-tsin--murder of british officers and others--capitulation of pekin--destruction of the summer palace--treaty with china. [sidenote: commercial panic.] palmerston's government, apparently one of the most popular that had ever been formed, had to bow under the adverse influence of events beyond its control. in addition to the commotion radiating from the centre of disturbance in india, there had been widespread commercial disaster at home, following on a period of excited speculation. on november the bank charter act had been suspended, and the bank of england received authority to exceed the statutory limits in meeting demands for discount and advances, because of the numerous failures and prevailing money-panic. [sidenote: the orsini plot.] [sidenote: government defeat and resignation.] but the squall that was to overturn the ministry came from a quarter which nobody could have foreseen. on january a murderous attack was made on the emperor and empress of the french in paris. an italian refugee, felice orsini, well known in england, waited, with a number of fellow-ruffians, at the door of the opera house in the rue lepelletier, and threw three bombs, charged with a powerful explosive, at the imperial carriage as it drew up. the effect was appalling: the intended victims escaped unhurt, but ten persons were blown to death among the bystanders, and no less than were wounded, of whom orsini himself was one. all this was dreadful enough, and yet the connection thereof with the stability of palmerston's administration might seem exceedingly remote. it was established in the following way. orsini, a man of good birth and attractive exterior, had been very well received in english society, and his appeals on behalf of the italian provinces of austria had received polite attention, and, among enthusiastic advocates of freedom, a great deal of sympathy. london was then, as it remains to this day, a sanctuary for political refugees from all the ends of the earth. palmerston, however, had enough common-sense and honesty to recognise that it was one thing to allow fugitives to shelter in england, and quite another to take no precautions as to their good behaviour, and he prepared and introduced a bill to strengthen the law dealing with conspiracy to murder. this was vehemently opposed on the first reading by lord john russell, but disraeli and the conservatives helped to carry that stage by a large majority. in the interval, however, before the second reading, public opinion had undergone a marked change. the tone of the french press had become intensely insulting towards great britain; people in london had got it in their heads that the conspiracy to murder bill had been prepared at the dictation of the french ambassador, and palmerston was suspected of being at his old game of truckling to louis napoleon. the suspicion was fatal to him. an amendment to the second reading, moved by mr. milner gibson, was supported by disraeli and conservatives, and carried against the government by a majority of nineteen. palmerston resigned at once, and lord derby began his second administration with his eldest son, lord stanley, at the colonial office, lord malmesbury at the foreign office, and disraeli leading the house of commons as chancellor of the exchequer. [illustration: _samuel lawrence._} {_from a crayon drawing._ william makepeace thackeray, - thackeray, whose father was in the indian civil service, was born at calcutta and educated at the charterhouse and cambridge. he studied in paris as an artist, but took to literature and wrote for _fraser's magazine_ and (from ) for _punch_. it was not until that, with the publication of "vanity fair," he became a serious competitor for popular favour with dickens. in he became the first editor of the _cornhill magazine_.] [illustration: _sir w. gordon._} {_from an engraving._ lord macaulay, - . thomas babington macaulay was the son of zachary macaulay the philanthropist. educated at trinity college, cambridge, he was called to the bar in . in he went to calcutta as a member of the supreme council; on his return he became secretary at war, and, in , paymaster to the forces. his "essays" began to appear in the _edinburgh review_ in ; his "lays of ancient rome" were published in . he was engaged on the final chapters of his "history of england" when he died, in . he was raised to the peerage in .] [illustration: kandy lake, ceylon. the island of ceylon has a population exceeding , , . its principal product is tea, of which in over , , lbs. were exported. the chief town is colombo. kandy, situated on a beautiful lake in the interior, was the capital of the native kingdom before its annexation by the british in .] [sidenote: disraeli's reform bill.] disraeli had once taunted palmerston with having no domestic policy. "his external system," he said, "was turbulent and aggressive, that his rule at home may be tranquil and unassailed." that was, in truth, the greater part of the secret of palmerston's popularity; he refrained from exciting apprehension and stirring combustible questions. he made no enemies at home, though he might be careless in giving offence abroad. but that was a rôle not at all suited to disraeli's ambition. he knew that at any moment something might happen to drive his party out of office, and he resolved to prepare a soft place to fall on. it would be a fine stroke to take lord john russell's favourite project out of his hands, to "dish the whigs" by lowering the franchise. john bright had returned to active politics and was stirring up the people in the north to agitate for reform. he would take the wind out of bright's sails too; and he persuaded lord derby to let him bring in a reform bill of his own. [illustration: _r. simkin._} a. gunner, artillery. b. sapper, engineers. c. officer queen's westminster. d. officer, victoria rifles. e. private, six-foot guards. f. private, artists. uniforms of volunteers, .] it was an unlucky device. the bill was not a very formidable one, but it disturbed a great question. two members of the cabinet, mr. walpole and mr. henley, threw up their offices rather than join in work which they, in common with most conservatives in the country, considered alien from conservative principles. the whigs and radicals would have no hand in such a measure, which they exposed as a sham, and russell persuaded the house to reject it by a majority of thirty-nine. neither did the bill serve its author's purpose in the country. when lord derby appealed to the constituencies, the response came, at the end of may , in the form of a feeble accession to conservative numbers, not strong enough to avert defeat by thirteen votes on a vote of want of confidence, moved by a young member put up by the combined whigs, radicals, and peelites--the marquis of hartington (now duke of devonshire). the only effects of disraeli's stratagem had been to disgust and disunite his own party, and to cause his opponents to sink their differences in united action. [illustration: _r. simkin._} a. private, london rifles. b. gunner, artillery. c. sapper, engineers. d. officer, st middlesex. e. officer, and v.b. royal fusiliers. f. private, artists. g. private, london scottish. uniforms of volunteer battalions, .] [sidenote: lord palmerston's second administration.] [sidenote: threatened french invasion.] [sidenote: the volunteers.] on lord derby's resignation, lord palmerston formed a strong cabinet, including lord granville, mr. gladstone, sir george cornewall-lewis, mr. sidney herbert, and mr. cardwell. lord john russell refused any post except that of foreign secretary, which shut out lord clarendon, who declined any other appointment. at the moment, as it happened, england was keeping scrupulously clear of the conflict between france and austria. the queen's speech to the new parliament had announced that "a strict and impartial neutrality" should be maintained, and this was done in spite of persistent attempts on the part of louis napoleon to secure the assistance of great britain in the deliverance of italy, in spite, too, of the strong sympathy entertained by mr. gladstone and others in the cabinet for the cause of italian nationality. there was, however, a shrewd distrust of the french emperor growing in the minds of the british public at this time, which made it easier than it had otherwise been for the government to steer clear of foreign complications. in fact, the development of the arsenal at cherbourg and the assembly there of a powerful fleet were interpreted, perhaps not without justice, as indicating a contemplated invasion of england. the volunteer movement first assumed important proportions in the year under this feeling of apprehension. "form, form, riflemen, form! ready--be ready, to meet the storm"-- sang the laureate, and the storm was expected to come from the french quarter. however, whatever aggressive intentions may have passed through the mind of napoleon iii. were dissipated by the formidable front assumed by the people of great britain. the immense improvement which had been recently effected in arms of precision caused irregular troops to assume far greater importance in the calculations of an intending invader than they ever had before; and the same cause, by encouraging fine marksmanship and developing competitive skill at the targets, has imparted to the volunteers of a permanence quite without precedent in the history of similar martial movements. [illustration: _h. edridge, a.r.a._} {_national portrait gallery._ robert southey, ll.d., - . poet laureate - .] [illustration: _h. w. pickersgill, r.a._} {_national portrait gallery._ william wordsworth, - . poet laureate - .] [illustration: _g. f. watts, r.a._} {_from photo by h. h. cameron._ lord tennyson, - . appointed poet laureate . his first published verses appeared in a volume of "poems by two brothers" in . he was created baron tennyson in .] [illustration: _g. f. watts, r.a._} {_national portrait gallery._ robert browning, - . poet. his last volume, "asolando," was published on the day of his death, december , . he and tennyson lie in adjoining graves in "poet's corner," westminster abbey.] [sidenote: question of the paper duty.] mr. gladstone's budget of contained a proposal which brought about his final rupture with the conservative party. he proposed to repeal the paper duty. now the burdens upon journalism, originally imposed with the deliberate intention of limiting the number and regulating the political character of newspapers, had already been greatly reduced since the beginning of the reign. the stamp duty had stood at a penny on each copy of a newspaper till , when it was abolished; but there remained still a pretty heavy tax on paper. mr. gladstone's proposal to abolish it was met with strong opposition from all sections of politicians, and, strangely enough, from paper manufacturers themselves, as well as from the proprietors of high-priced journals. there was, besides, a vague, but very general, dread of the effect on the public mind of the multiplication of cheap literature. nevertheless, the budget resolutions removing the paper tax passed through committee, though the last of them was only carried by a majority of nine votes. at the present day, the chancellor of the exchequer's proposals, having passed through that ordeal, would be regarded as impregnable. it was otherwise in . lord lyndhurst, then in his eighty-ninth year, and so frail in body that a rail had to be fixed opposite his seat to support him in speaking, joined the opposition raised in the house of lords to the repeal of the paper tax, and made a marvellously vigorous and effective attack on the proposal. the lords vetoed the repeal by a majority of eighty-nine. [illustration: _j. phillip, r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves, pall mall._ the house of commons in . . rt. hon. edward ellice. . rt. hon. sir francis t. baring. . lord h. g. vane. . richard cobden, esq. . john bright, esq. . lord elcho. . rt. hon. edward cardwell, chancellor of the duchy of lancaster. . sir roundell palmer. . rt. hon. milner gibson, president of board of trade. . rt. hon. charles pelham villiers, president of poor law board. . w. massey, esq. . viscount palmerston, first lord of the treasury. . sir denis le marchant, bart. . rt. hon. the speaker. . thomas erskine may, esq. c.b. . lord charles russell. . mr. lee. . rt. hon. sir john pakington. . sir hugh m'calmont cairns. . col. j. w. patten. . rt. hon. sotheron estcourt. . lord john manners. . sir edward lytton bulwer lytton, bart. . rt. hon. major-general j. peel. . lord stanley. . rt. hon. b. disraeli. . rt. hon. spencer h. walpole. . rt. hon. j. w. henley. . lord john russell. . rt. hon. w. e. gladstone, chancellor of the exchequer. . rt. hon. sir george grey, secretary of state. . rt. hon. sir charles wood, bart., secretary of state for india. . rt. hon. sir george cornewall lewis, bart., secretary of state for war.] [sidenote: a constitutional problem.] ministerialists were very indignant; the house of lords had violated the constitution; they had refused to sanction the repeal of a tax ordered by the house of commons, and thereby infringed the privileges of that chamber. the next step would be that the lords would claim the right of imposing taxation--the cherished monopoly of the house of commons. it was certainly an awkward question, but palmerston was equal to the occasion. he averted a popular storm by moving for a select committee to examine and report on the degree, if any, in which the lords had exceeded their powers. the committee sat for two months, and reported that no breach of privilege was involved in the refusal of the lords to ratify the repeal of a tax. it was not the re-imposition of a tax, for, although the lords have no power to impose taxation, a tax can neither be repealed or imposed without the concurrence of both houses. in the end the difficulty was got over by palmerston, who moved certain resolutions affirming the exclusive right of the house of commons to impose or remit taxation. [illustration: _commander a. t. thrupp._} {_from sketches made on the spot._ attack on forts on the pei-ho river, may , . the chinese had completed batteries and earthworks armed with eighty-seven guns, and had obstructed the river with junks chained together. the british and french squadrons forced a passage, and the plenipotentiaries (lord elgin and baron de gros) proceeded to tien-tsin and opened negotiations. the treaty then obtained was to be ratified at pekin within twelve months; but the plenipotentiaries appointed in accordance with this clause met, in june , a still more determined resistance.] [illustration: hongkong and its harbour. hongkong is the principal centre of british trade with china. ceded to great britain .] [sidenote: war with china.] serious trouble had broken out again between great britain and china. mr. bruce, brother to the earl of elgin, had set out for pekin as british plenipotentiary, in company with the french plenipotentiary, as provided by the treaty of tien-tsin. they were escorted by a squadron, chiefly consisting of gunboats, under admiral hope; but on arriving at the mouth of the pei-ho they found the passage obstructed by booms and defended by recent fortifications. as the authorities at tien-tsin returned evasive answers to the admiral's remonstrances, he determined to force a passage. the gunboats advanced up the pei-ho on june , when suddenly a tremendous fire was opened on them from masked batteries in the forts. the _kestrel_ was sunk, the _lee_ had to be run ashore to avoid sinking, the _plover_, which carried the admiral's flag, was disabled, so that he had to shift his flag to the _cormorant_, and the admiral himself, being severely wounded, had to hand over the command to captain shadwell. it was determined to make an immediate attempt to carry the forts by assault. a body of , men, including sixty french, were landed at p.m., but, owing to the mud, which was knee, and even waist-deep, only about fifty men succeeded in reaching the furthest of three ditches surrounding the south fort. their ammunition was wet, all the scaling ladders, except one, either had been broken by the tremendous fire from the fort or had stuck in the mud. ten brave fellows rushed forward with this one, but three of them were shot dead at once, and five were desperately wounded. there was nothing for it but retreat. the loss in this disastrous affair was eighty-nine officers and men killed and wounded. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by notman & sons, montreal._ montreal. this is the largest town in canada; population ( ), , . on the extreme right of the picture can be seen three or four spans of the victoria tubular bridge, nearly two miles long, crossing the st. lawrence river.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by notman & sons, montreal._ quebec. the capital of the former province of lower canada is largely inhabited by people of french descent, and french is currently spoken.] [illustration: the canadian houses of parliament, ottawa. the government of canada is (under the sovereign) vested in a governor-general and a privy council, and the legislative power is exercised by a parliament of two houses, called the "senate" and "house of commons." canada has an area of , , square miles, and a population of over , , ( , , in ).] [sidenote: wreck of the "malabar."] [sidenote: occupation of tien-tsin.] [sidenote: murder of british officers and others.] of course such a treacherous act could not go unpunished. an ultimatum was sent demanding an apology and the fulfilment of the treaty of tien-tsin, including the payment of the war indemnity of , , taels. lord elgin and baron gros, the plenipotentiaries who acted for the allies in the treaty of tien-tsin, proceeded to hongkong to enforce the demands of england and france, supported by an army under sir hope grant, in which several sikh regiments volunteered to serve, and a french contingent under general cousin de montauban, afterwards distinguished as comte palikao. the plenipotentiaries came near to perishing on the voyage out. the _malabar_ frigate, which conveyed them, was totally wrecked on a reef at point de galle, in ceylon, those on board escaping with great difficulty, and with the loss of many valuable papers and much property. however, lord elgin and baron de gros arrived at hongkong in another vessel on july . they found that the chinese council had returned an insolent answer to mr. bruce's ultimatum, which left no alternative but immediate action. the allied forces advanced on july , the english from chefow, and the french from tah-lien-hwan; they captured the tangku forts, with forty-five guns, on august , and the taku forts, containing about guns, on the th, the english loss on the latter occasion amounting to seventeen killed and wounded. sir hope grant's despatches contain cordial references to the gallantry displayed by his french allies in the assault. tien-tsin was next occupied on august , and preparations were made for an immediate advance on pekin. the chinese forces had disappeared, but the government, anxious at all hazards to keep the "barbarians" from approaching the capital, opened negotiations for peace, and on september lord elgin's secretaries, mr. parkes and mr. loch, with mr. bowlby, the times' correspondent, and some british and french officers, rode on to tungchow a town within twelve miles of pekin, to arrange the preliminaries of an interview between the plenipotentiaries of the allies and the chinese. a camping ground was allotted for the allied forces about five miles short of tungchow, but before grant and de montauban could occupy it, a large chinese army had surrounded the position. mr. parkes, mr. loch, and their party, protected by a flag of truce, went back to tungchow to remonstrate against this dangerous violation of the agreement; they were treacherously seized and thrust into loathsome dungeons, crowded with filthy chinese prisoners, where thirteen out of twenty-six of them died from savage ill-treatment by their captors. captain brabazon, r.a., lieutenant anderson, and mr. bowlby were among these victims, their hands and feet having been so tightly bound with cords that the flesh burst and fatal mortification ensued. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by notman & sons, montreal._ toronto. capital of ontario, and the second largest town in canada.] [illustration: emerald lake, in the canadian rocky mountains. the canadian pacific railway, in passing over the "rockies," opens up some of the finest scenery in america.] [illustration: vancouver harbour, british columbia. the western terminus of the canadian pacific railway, and the principal port on the pacific coast of british north america.] [sidenote: capitulation of pekin.] the allied army resumed its march on pekin; the emperor's summer palace, a magnificent collection of buildings, treasure-houses, and gardens, was taken on october ; on the th everything was ready for the bombardment of the capital, and it was made known to the chinese government that this would begin the following day at noon, unless the city were surrendered previously. the emperor had fled, but on the morning of october the governor of pekin capitulated. the allies entered, and before noon the english and french ensigns were flying side by side on the citadel. [sidenote: destruction of the summer palace.] not till then did lord elgin learn the horrible fate of the captives. he decided at once that exemplary vengeance must be inflicted, but not according to the traditional custom of reprisals, by inflicting torture and death on the persons of individuals. no doubt the chinese officials would have handed over to him as many vicarious victims as he chose to demand, but lord elgin decreed such a monumental act of indignation as should never be effaced from the memory of the people of china. the summer palace was the most precious possession of the heavenly dynasty. therein had been stored the best of the art treasures of many generations; the ingenuity of architects, gardeners, and craftsmen of all kinds had been exhausted in erecting and decorating its courts and pagodas and laying out the fantastic grounds. lord elgin ordered its total destruction. the french and english soldiers were allowed to plunder it first; jewellery, plate, and other costly articles were "looted" in immense quantity, and then the whole vast edifice was delivered to the flames. a monument was set up on the site, bearing an inscription that this was done as the punishment for national cruelty and treachery. a convention between the british and chinese plenipotentiaries was concluded on october , and pekin was evacuated by the allied troops on november . [illustration: the city hall, winnipeg. manitoba is a district of enormous farms. the capital, winnipeg--known as fort garry until its incorporation in --is one of the "newest" cities in the british empire. its population in was ; in , , . it is the centre for the distribution of the produce of western canada.] [illustration: _g. h. thomas._} {_from the royal collection._ her majesty and the prince consort at a review at aldershot, june . on the left is general knollys, afterwards comptroller of the household to the prince of wales, in command of the troops.] [illustration: _carl haag, r.w.s._} {_from the royal collection._ the queen and prince consort fording the poll tarff, october , . the story of this, the last excursion taken by the queen in company with the prince consort, is told in a very interesting chapter of her majesty's "leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands." on the previous night the royal party had stayed, unexpected and unrecognised, at the inn of balwhinnie, "where," says her majesty, "there was hardly anything to eat; only tea and two miserable starved highland chickens, without any potatoes; no pudding, and no _fun_." but in this last particular the succeeding day's exploits certainly cannot have been deficient.] chapter xii. - . the american civil war--recognition of confederate states as belligerents--english opinion in favour of the confederates--the _trent_ affair--dispatch of troops to canada--death of the prince consort--his last memorandum--the cruiser _alabama_--claims against great britain--arbitration--award unfavourable to great britain--public indignation--marriage of the prince of wales--the schleswig-holstein difficulty--neutrality observed by great britain--popular sympathy with denmark--dissolution of parliament--result of the elections--death of lord palmerston. [sidenote: the american civil war.] the election of abraham lincoln as president of the united states, and the consequent decree abolishing slavery, brought about the secession of the southern states and the outbreak of civil war on a vast scale early in . it was not to be expected that such a convulsion among people of british speech and descent could run its course without taking effect on a country so intimately associated with the united states as great britain was in commerce, literature, and social relations. the first difficulty arose out of the question whether the southern states--the confederates, as they were designated--should receive recognition as belligerents, or whether they should be regarded as rebels against the federal government. lord john russell, having consulted the law officers of the crown, announced on may that the government had decided to recognise the belligerency of the southern confederation, and a proclamation of neutrality was issued on may . this act was interpreted as unfriendly by the federal government, who claimed that no state in the union had a constitutional right to secede, that it could only rebel, and that the british government had unduly favoured the rebels by prohibiting her majesty's subjects from enlisting in the service of either federals or confederates. on the other hand, the northern or federal government had proclaimed the blockade of the southern ports, thereby implying that confederates were belligerents and not rebels, for no government can _blockade_ its own ports, it can only _close_ them. so far, therefore, from favouring the confederate cause by recognising its belligerency, her majesty's government adopted the only course enabling them to respect the federal blockade and to restrain english traders from breaking it. but for some occult reason, the federal cause was unpopular in this country from the beginning; the initial reverses sustained by the armies of the north were hailed with satisfaction in the english press; and this, combined with a rash expression used in public by lord palmerston about the "unfortunate rapid movements" of federal troops in the action at bull's run, caused a very sore feeling against great britain among both leaders and people in the northern states. [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_from the royal collection._ h.r.h. victoria maria louisa, duchess of kent. h.r.h. the duchess of kent was the daughter of h.s.h. francis, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld; married july , , edward, duke of kent, fourth son of george iii., and was the mother of her majesty queen victoria. died march , . her majesty, therefore, lost both mother and husband within nine months.] [illustration: _f. winterhalter._} {_from the royal collection._ h.r.h. edward, duke of kent, - . fourth son of king george iii., and father of her majesty queen victoria.] [sidenote: the "trent" affair.] an unfortunate incident arose early in the war to intensify this feeling, and the corresponding unpopularity of the federals in england. jefferson davis, president of the confederate states, being anxious to obtain recognition by european courts, sent two envoys, mr. mason to represent him at the court of st. james's, and mr. slidell at the court of the tuileries. these two gentlemen, escaping by night from charleston, then under blockade, embarked at havana in the english mail steamer _trent_. a federal sloop-of-war was cruising about in search of the confederate privateer _sumter_, and her commander, captain wilkes, on hearing about the confederate envoys, resolved to get possession of them. intercepting the _trent_ in the bahama channel, he hailed her to heave to, fired a couple of shots across her bows, boarded her, and carried off messrs. mason and slidell. of course this act was wholly unjustifiable by international law, and president lincoln at once directed mr. seward to reply by complying with earl russell's demand for the surrender of the confederate envoys. they were liberated accordingly on january , , and sailed for europe. but unluckily lord palmerston had no reason to calculate on this ready compliance with british demands. captain wilkes had received approval of his conduct from the federal secretary to the navy, a vote of thanks to him had been passed by the washington house of representatives, and he had been fêted wherever he went. all this was taken as indicating president lincoln's intention to defend the action of his officer: indeed, but for what was going on in england, lincoln's best intentions might have been overborne by the tide of public opinion. simultaneously with the despatch of lord john russell's demand for the surrender of the prisoners, , troops were embarked in england for service in canada, and every preparation was made for immediate war. this not only cost great britain about a million of money, but also deprived president lincoln's act of all grace in the eyes of english people. [illustration: sydney town and harbour, from palace gardens. the colony of new south wales, originally comprising the eastern half of the continent of australia and the island of tasmania, was formally founded by an expedition under the command of capt. arthur phillip. the first landing was effected at botany bay, and the city of sydney was founded on january , . new south wales became a self-governing colony in . population ( ), , , ; imports ( ), £ , , ; exports ( ), £ , , .] [sidenote: death of the prince consort.] the _trent_ difficulty was the last public question in which the prince consort was to take part. a memorandum dated december , , written by him and conveying to lord russell the queen's remarks on the drafts of despatches he was about to forward to lord lyons, was the last state paper to which the prince consort set his hand. he had been ill for some days previously, and soon afterwards gastric fever developed itself. in spite of the tender attention of the queen and the princesses, the malady continued, not much worse, apparently, but no better. congestion of the lungs set in, and at midnight on saturday, december , the tolling of the great bell of st. paul's cathedral announced to the people of london that the monarch's consort was no more--that their queen was a widow. [illustration: the hawkesbury bridge, new south wales. on the railway between adelaide and brisbane; the largest work of the kind south of the equator. opened may , .] [illustration: the town hall, centennial hall, and cathedral, sydney.] the prince died in his forty-third year. it is pretty well understood by this time how well he had discharged the duties of a difficult station as consort of the crown, how true was the love which united him to the queen, how deep was her sorrow at parting with him after twenty-one years of wedded life. he had lived down the prejudice which undoubtedly was prevalent at the time of, and for some years after, the marriage. without appearing in political affairs with such prominence as might have aroused the susceptibilities of a self-governing people, his attention to public affairs was as incessant as that of any cabinet minister. the writing tables of the queen and the prince stood side by side; he was ever at hand to advise her majesty in her correspondence with ministers; many of her letters and memoranda to the cabinet are in the prince's handwriting. when the final solution of the _trent_ dispute was communicated to her majesty on january , , she wrote to the prime minister: "lord palmerston cannot but look on this peaceful issue of the american quarrel as greatly owing to her beloved prince, who wrote the observations on the draft to lord lyons, in which lord palmerston so entirely concurred. it was the last thing he ever wrote." [illustration: _w. theed._} {_at windsor castle._ the queen and prince consort.] the only danger to the prince consort's place in the affections of the british people in his later years was of the nature of that which over-took aristides. there is a certain monotony in virtue, like that of uninterrupted serene weather, which weighs upon natures of a less lofty tenour. but no sooner was the prince departed than the nation realised the value of the part he had performed, and it has never since ceased to be grateful for the energy he displayed in promoting every scheme of social or intellectual advancement, and stimulating the growth of commercial and industrial enterprise. [sidenote: the cruiser "alabama."] the next controversy endangering friendly relations between the governments of queen victoria and president lincoln arose out of confederate privateering. many of the private dockyards of great britain were turning out vessels as fast as they could to sell to the confederate leaders. one of these ships, the _alabama_, built in messrs. laird's yard at birkenhead, became the terror of federal commerce, having captured between sixty and seventy merchantmen in two years. at last she was sunk by the federal ship-of-war _kearsarge_, but her fame did not perish with her; it was the cause of an important alteration in international law. the fact is, the _alabama_ was, for all intents and purposes, an english pirate. built and armed in england, most of her crew and all her gunners were english, some of the latter being actually in english pay, as belonging to the royal naval reserve. she approached her prizes flying the british colours at her peak, and only hauled them down when her prey could not escape. she was constantly in english harbours, and never in a confederate one. while she was being built at birkenhead, the american minister appealed in vain to the british government to detain her under the foreign enlistment act; she was allowed to go to sea. later on, two ironclads were on the point of leaving the mersey for the confederate service. again mr. adams, the american minister, demanded their detention, adding in his letter to lord russell, "it would be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that _this is war_." the ironclads were detained, but president lincoln, earl russell, and lord palmerston had all passed away before the dispute about the _alabama_ was brought to a close. the american civil war had ended, general grant was president of the united states, and mr. gladstone prime minister of england, when the question came up for final settlement. when it had been raised first, lord palmerston's government had refused to admit any responsibility; then followed lord derby's third administration in , and lord stanley as foreign secretary consented to the proposal for arbitration. but the introduction of various claims on the part of private individuals, arising out of events long antecedent to the civil war caused the postponement of any agreement until the year . each nation then appointed a commission to meet at washington to discuss all the subjects of international controversy, of which the _alabama_ claims were the principal. the british commissioners were earl de grey (the present marquis of ripon), sir stafford northcote (afterwards earl of iddesleigh), mr. montague bernard, sir edward thornton, british ambassador at washington, and sir john macdonald, prime minister of the canadian parliament. the conference resulted in the treaty of washington, of which the opening clause gave occasion to considerable resentment in the minds of the british public. it was no less than an apology--dignified but explicit--on the part of the queen's government, for having permitted the escape of the _alabama_ and other cruisers from british ports, to the injury of american commerce. england, it was loudly protested, had never apologised to any other power; she would never had been so humiliated had "old pam" remained at the head of affairs; the whole british case had been given away before the matter got to the stage of arbitration. so said the british press, and so said a large section of the public. however, great britain having professed herself ready to pay something to secure the friendship of president grant's government, the claims went before a tribunal of five arbitrators, of whom one was appointed by queen victoria, and one each by president grant, the king of italy, the emperor of brazil, and the president of the swiss confederation. this tribunal assembled at geneva in , and decreed that great britain should pay an indemnity of £ , , for the acts of the _alabama_ and other confederate cruisers. the fine was paid, but the impression produced on the minds of the british people cannot be said to have been favourable to the doctrine of arbitration. it was felt that john bull had been made to "knuckle down" to brother jonathan, and the amicable intentions of the british commissioners at washington of promoting cordial relations between the british and american peoples were frustrated almost as thoroughly as they might have been had the dispute been fought out in the ordinary way. [illustration: royal albert hall, kensington gore. so named in memory of the prince consort, whose memorial it faces. it was opened by the queen in . the hall itself is oval, feet by feet, and feet high to the dome. it accommodates , persons, and cost £ , .] [illustration: albert memorial, kensington gardens. this monument, which is of marble, gold, bronze, and mosaic work, was designed by sir g. gilbert scott, r.a., and is feet high. the statue of the prince, of bronze gilt, is by foley. above the arches runs this inscription: "queen victoria and her people to the memory of albert, prince consort, as a tribute of their gratitude for a life devoted to the public good." the cost of the memorial exceeded £ , .] [illustration: _g. h. thomas._} {_from the royal collection._ marriage of h.r.h. princess alice to h.r.h. prince louis of hesse in the drawing room at osborne, july , . on the left are her majesty the queen, the prince of wales, prince alfred, and prince leopold, and ernest, duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, attended by the duchess of wellington and the duchess of athole. on the right are the parents and brother of the bridegroom. the bridesmaids were princesses helena, louise, and beatrice, and princess anna of hesse.] [sidenote: marriage of the prince of wales.] on march , , took place the marriage of albert edward, prince of wales, to the princess alexandra[h], eldest daughter of prince christian of schleswig-holstein-sonderburg-glucksburg, heir to the throne of denmark. the announcement of the betrothal had been favourably received in great britain, but, on the arrival of the bride-elect in london, her exceeding personal beauty, her charm of manner and amiability, produced a remarkable effect, and public feeling rose to a very high degree of enthusiastic approval. london hastened to cover up the dingy traces of an english winter with gay bunting; the lively danish national colours, scarlet and white, draped all the thoroughfares; and everywhere might be seen the dannebrog--the national ensign of denmark--streaming side by side with the british standard in the keen wind and bright sunshine of march. [illustration: _g. w. thomas._} {_from the royal collection._ the marriage of h.r.h. the prince of wales to h.r.h. princess alexandra of denmark in st. george's chapel, windsor, march , . her majesty the queen occupies the royal closet above the group of bridesmaids. next the prince of wales are his supporters, the duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, and the crown prince of prussia. the archbishop of canterbury and dean wellesley officiate. the bridesmaids were the ladies victoria scott, diana beauclerk, elena bruce, victoria howard, emily villiers, agneta yorke, feodore wellesley, and emily hare. the english princes and princesses are to the left of the bridal group; the mother and sisters of the bride to the right.] the course of events on the continent at this time gave to the royal marriage an appearance of political significance which, in reality, it did not possess. in olden times, no doubt, the espousal of the heir of england to the daughter of denmark would have implied a political and military alliance, offensive and defensive, between the two crowns. but in europe of the nineteenth century it is peoples, not princes, who hold the decrees of peace and war. it was this very fact which, shortly after the prince of wales's marriage, seemed likely to precipitate a conflict between great britain and denmark on the one side, and austria and prussia on the other. englishmen had grown proud of their beautiful princess, and were chivalrously disposed to take up the cause of her little country. they forgot or did not know that it was only the adopted country of her family. [sidenote: the schleswig-holstein difficulty.] the crisis arose on the death of frederick vii., king of denmark. the succession, as had been decreed by the great powers in , devolved on the father of the princess of wales, who became king christian ix. of denmark. there had existed between germany and denmark a long-standing dispute about the possession of the duchies of schleswig, holstein, and lauenburg. the king of denmark was also duke of holstein and lauenburg, just as, previous to queen victoria's accession, the king of england had been also king of hanover. but the vast majority of the population of these duchies was purely german, and the german confederation had been anxious for a long time to admit them to their common nationality. the danish government, on the other hand, desired to incorporate these provinces in the kingdom of denmark. prince frederick of schleswig-holstein-augustenburg disputed the succession of christian ix. to the duchies in question. the germanic diet, under the influence of herr von bismarck, supported prince frederick's claim, and an allied army, provided by austria and prussia, crossed the frontiers of holstein and schleswig to enforce it. the danish army was mobilised, and denmark entered upon a hopeless contest--hopeless, seeing that she, one of the weakest of european states, was pitted against two of the most powerful. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by mayall, piccadilly._ a. princess helena. b. prince and princess of wales. c. the queen. d. princess beatrice. e. prince arthur. f. princess royal. g. princess alice and prince louis of hesse. a royal family group. photographed from life on the day of the wedding of the prince and princess of wales.] [illustration: _r. lauchert._} {_from the royal collection._ h.r.h. the princess of wales at the time of her marriage.] it must be confessed that the danes had not unreasonable grounds for believing they would not be left to meet such odds single-handed. lord russell had often warned the danish government that unless it respected the liberty of its german subjects, denmark must look for no help from england in a conflict with the germanic powers. the danes protested that they had scrupulously followed this advice, and there can be no doubt that they had been encouraged to look for the support of great britain if any attempt were made to infringe legitimate danish authority, and that both lord russell and lord palmerston contemplated armed intervention between denmark and her possible aggressors as a duty which great britain might have to undertake. but great britain had too much at stake to risk a conflict single-handed with austria and prussia, who, as lord palmerston wrote to lord russell, "could bring , or , men into the field." england was not more bound by the treaty of vienna than france was; france refused to act, and england adopted the prudent, but apparently cold-blooded, part of looker-on. public opinion in great britain ran pretty high in favour of the danes, and many englishmen felt ashamed of the part their country was made to play. they could not understand how palmerston, of all men, could act so unhandsomely, and perhaps the only thing that saved the government from defeat on a vote of censure, was that disraeli, who moved it, shrank from advocating the only logical alternative to their policy--a declaration of war. [illustration: government house, melbourne.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre and spottiswoode._ the parliament house, melbourne. the first settlement on the site of the present city of melbourne was made in ; it is now the largest city in australia, with a population ( ) of , . the colony of victoria, of which it is the capital, was separated from new south wales in , and received a self-governing constitution in . population ( ), , , . imports ( ), £ , , . exports ( ), £ , , .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre and spottiswoode._ the town hall, and part of collins street, melbourne.] [sidenote: dissolution of parliament.] the sixth parliament of queen victoria was dissolved on july , , having attained the unusual age of six years and thirty-six days. the chief feature of the general election which followed was the number of seats gained by the radicals at the expense of the remnants of the whig party or moderate liberals. mr. gladstone, reckoned as a liberal-conservative up to this time, though well known to be inclining more and more to the policy typified by john bright, was unseated for oxford university by mr. gathorne-hardy (now earl of cranbrook), and the last tie which attached him to the conservatives was severed by his subsequent election for south lancashire. palmerston's appeal to the country had been answered by an expression of confidence in him, but that confidence was of a very complex kind. the radicals voted for him, because, as long as he was in parliament, no other man could lead the liberal party; but they distrusted his foreign policy, and chafed at his indifference to questions of reform. the liberals voted for him, because he represented exactly the views of moderate liberalism; and the attitude of many conservatives was accurately expressed in a letter written by mr. w. h. smith, liberal-conservative candidate for westminster, to colonel taylor, the whip of the conservative party, thanking him for the support he had received from conservatives in his unsuccessful contest against mr. mill. "i believe in lord palmerston," he said, "and look forward ultimately to a fusion of the moderate men following lord derby and lord palmerston into a strong liberal-conservative party." [illustration: houses of parliament, brisbane.] [sidenote: death of lord palmerston.] but the strong link which for so long had bound the present to the past, and acted as a check on precipitate legislation, snapped at last. palmerston died on october , , aged eighty-one years, less two days, having sat in the house of commons for fifty-eight years, which, as mr. cardwell observed, was just one-tenth of its whole existence. the feeling in the country was more profound than any which had been manifested since the death of wellington. in the course of these pages no attempt has been made to palliate or conceal some of the errors of judgment, the faults of statesmanship, even the occasional want of sincerity to parliament and the public which formed blemishes in his career, especially in the earlier part of the queen's reign. in spite of these blots--and some of them were far from venial--he had lived to secure the confidence of his sovereign and the affection of her people. a great deal of this was owing to his personal character and manner and his kindly humour. it is no slight upon scotsmen or irishmen to say that the chief secret of his universal popularity was that he was such a thorough englishman. some of his sayings had a much deeper meaning than their tone of levity implied. two of them will bear repetition here, seeing how accurately the lapse of years has fulfilled the prediction contained in them. palmerston was known to be opposed to any further extension of the franchise. somebody once observed to him that it really would not make much difference, for the same class of member would be returned as before. "yes," replied palmerston, "the same men will get in as before, but they will play to the shilling gallery instead of to the boxes." the late earl of shaftesbury put on record one of palmerston's latest sayings. palmerston always distrusted mr. gladstone as a politician, and made no secret of it. but he always was extremely anxious for mr. gladstone's return for oxford university. "he is a dangerous man," he said to lord shaftesbury: "keep him in oxford, and he is partially muzzled, but send him elsewhere, and he will run wild." this came to mr. gladstone's ears, so, after his defeat at oxford in , he opened his campaign in south lancashire by saying to the electors assembled in the free trade hall of manchester: "at last, my friends, i have come amongst you.... i am come among you unmuzzled." [illustration: brisbane. the population of brisbane increased between and from , to , . queensland, of which it is the capital, was separated from new south wales and constituted a self-governing colony in . it had in a population of , . imports ( ), £ , , . exports, £ , , .] [illustration: _sir e. landseer, r.a._} {_by permission of messrs. graves, publishers of the large engraving._ the queen at osborne, . on the seat are the princesses helena and louise. her majesty is attended by john brown.] chapter xiii. - . mr. gladstone's reform bill--the cave of adullam--defeat and resignation of the ministry--retirement of earl russell--lord derby's last administration--disturbance in hyde park--commercial panic--completion of the atlantic cable--mr. disraeli's reform bill--secessions from the cabinet--the fenians--war with abyssinia--retirement of lord derby--the irish state church--dissolution of parliament--liberal triumph--mr. gladstone's cabinet--disestablishment of the irish church--death of lord derby--irish land legislation--national education--army purchase--the ballot bill--adoption of secret voting. [illustration: _j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ retiring into private life. lord brougham: "eh, johnny, ye'll find it mighty dull here!" lord john russell was raised to the peerage in .] [sidenote: the cave of adullam.] the only changes in the old cabinet, consequent on the death of its great chief, were the advance of earl russell to the premiership and the appointment of lord clarendon to the foreign office. but the change in the house of commons was as momentous as it was abrupt. the place of its old leader--the safe, the leisurely, the unemotional palmerston--was filled by the restless and ardent, the uncertain gladstone. the conservatives were dispirited and anxious; they were afraid of what the new house of commons might be led to do; party feeling began to acquire a new bitterness, the offspring of fear, which was to grow more and more intense until the final retirement of mr. gladstone in . the radicals, on the other hand, were sanguine and jubilant. reinforced in numbers, and relieved from the restraint which the irresistible prestige of palmerston had imposed on their aspirations, they felt that the moment for action had come; they had got a leader after their own hearts, and the first thing to do was to extend the franchise. but there was disappointment in store for them. mr. gladstone introduced his bill on march ; it pleased nobody. the radicals detected in it the frigid hand of the whigs, and the moderate liberals, secretly detesting all schemes for a democratic franchise, began by viewing it coldly, and gradually drifted into opposition with the conservatives. its most formidable opponent rose from the ministerial benches. mr. robert lowe, whom an intimate acquaintance with australasian politics had imbued with profound distrust for democratic institutions, made a brilliant and fearless onslaught on the measure, and received all that rapturous applause which is the invariable reward of a strong man turning his weapons against his own party. gradually he drew to himself a compact band of malcontents, whose memory might have passed into oblivion long ere this but for a happy metaphor employed by mr. john bright, who likened them to the men who gathered to david in the cave of adullam. "every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him." people were tickled with the illustration: straightway the liberal dissentients were dubbed adullamites, and "a cave" has remained ever since the recognised term for a group of men combining to act against their own party. [illustration: king william street, adelaide, south australia. in point of size, adelaide holds the third place among australian cities with a population ( ) of , . south australia now stretches right across the continent, and has an area of million acres and a population ( ) of , . it was first colonised in , and constituted a self-governing colony in . imports ( ), £ , , ; exports, £ , , .] mr. lowe's band proved strong enough to kill the measure. it passed the second reading, indeed, by a majority of five, but it perished in committee, and the ministry resigned. it was the closing scene of earl russell's long career, which somehow had missed the success which his achievements seemed to have earned. born in the very holiest of holies of the whig sanctuary, with natural abilities far more varied, with acquired culture far more extensive, with greater advantages from family connection than palmerston could boast, and without palmerston's headstrong tendencies, he never attained more than a fraction of the influence and popularity which palmerston had so fully secured. indispensable for more than a generation to every whig or liberal cabinet, he had become associated more with the failures than the successes of his party, and people ungratefully remembered him rather as the betrayer of denmark than as the pioneer of reform. [illustration: perth, western australia. the swan river settlement was founded in , and made a separate colony, under the name of western australia, in . it remained a crown colony until , when it became a self-governing community. population ( ), , (estimated). imports ( ), £ , , ; exports, £ , , .] [sidenote: lord derby's last administration.] [sidenote: disturbance in hyde park.] once more it was lord derby's fate to form a stop-gap administration, and no sooner was the new ministry complete, early in july, than the country suddenly threw off the indifference it had shown to mr. gladstone's offer of an extended franchise, and public meetings were held all over the country vehemently demanding reform. it was too late in the session, of course, to do anything that year in parliament, but the agitation sufficed to show that there was at least one weak man in the cabinet. the reform league summoned a meeting in hyde park for the evening of july , which it was decided to prohibit, and amiable, gentle mr. walpole, the home secretary, issued a notice that the park gates would be closed at p.m. notwithstanding this announcement, processions with bands and banners arrived at the appointed hour, and mr. beales, president of the league, demanded admittance, which was refused. mr. beales was an experienced barrister, and knew very well what he was about. he was of opinion that in denying the right of public meeting in hyde park, the home secretary was acting beyond his powers, and, content with asserting this right in a formal way, he intended to adjourn the meeting and claim redress by constitutional means. but a meeting in hyde park, no matter for what purpose, invariably attracts thousands of idlers and roughs, who have no part and no interest in the question to be discussed. mr. beales and the earnest reformers adjourned to trafalgar square and passed resolutions to their hearts' content; but the rough and idle part of the crowd remained about hyde park. the gates were strong enough to resist any pressure, but the railings were old and frail. people climbing on them felt them shake and creak; half a dozen fellows gave a push together in park lane--the railings gave way; in an instant the whole length from hamilton gardens to the marble arch went down, and the park was filled with a tumultuous, rollicking mob. the grass and the flower-beds were the only property that suffered; the police took a few prisoners, and the crowd dispersed peacefully at nightfall. mr. beales took a small deputation to the home secretary next day, urging him to withdraw the troops and police, and trust the people to take care of the town. mr. walpole consented; it may have been prudent to do so, but the manner of doing it was unfortunate. it is a dangerous precedent for a home secretary to show himself afraid of the consequence of carrying out his own decrees. [illustration: _g. magnussen._} {_from the royal collection._ the marriage of princess helena and prince christian of schleswig-holstein-sonderburg-augustenburg, in the private chapel at windsor castle, july , .] [sidenote: commercial panic.] the summer of will be remembered long in the city of london by reason of the commercial disaster and monetary panic which followed sharply on a period of speculative inflation, the combined result of active trade and the new law of limited liability. the suspension early in may of the great discount firm of overend and gurney, with liabilities figured at £ , , , was followed within the same week by the failure of several banks and the suspension of the bank charter act. on may the bank rate was raised to per cent. and continued at that point till august . the shock was one from which the credit of the country took a long time to recover, and the amount of private misfortune and loss of income reacted on almost every department of trade, though the public revenue maintained a surprising degree of elasticity. [illustration: a. private, queensland mounted infantry. b. trooper, south australian cavalry. c. trooper, new south wales cavalry. d. trooper, bodyguard, canada. e. trooper, canadian dragoons (winter dress). f. private, cape mounted infantry. g. sergeant, cape town highlanders. h. officer, th battalion active militia of canada. j. officer, royal malta artillery. k. trooper, canadian dragoons. l. gunner, royal canadian artillery (winter dress). _r. simkin._} types of colonial troops, .] [sidenote: the atlantic cable.] a brighter passage in the record of is that which commemorates the completion of telegraphic communication between great britain and america. attempts had been made in , , and to lay a cable across the atlantic, all of which ended in failure; but mr. cyrus field would not abandon his dream. the _great eastern_ steamship sailed from berehaven on july , and on july the first messages were exchanged between the old and new worlds. a feat hardly less inspiring was performed later in the same season, in the recovery of the broken cable of , which was spliced, thereby effecting a second connection between the two continents. [sidenote: "a leap in the dark."] mr. disraeli, as has been said, had undertaken the task in which mr. gladstone had failed, and brought in a reform bill early in the session of . it cost the government a heavy price at the outset: lord carnarvon, lord cranbourne (now marquis of salisbury), and general peel resigned their seats in the cabinet because they disapproved of it. the bill went forward, and, after undergoing many changes, finally passed in a form conferring household suffrage in boroughs and a £ franchise in counties. "no doubt," said lord derby on the third reading of the bill in the lords, quoting a remark made by lord cranbourne in the other house, "no doubt we are making a great experiment and 'taking a leap in the dark,' but i have the greatest confidence in the sound sense of my fellow-countrymen." but another saying by lord derby gives a truer insight into the real object of a conservative government in doing work so repugnant to its accredited principles. somebody having observed to him that the measure was dangerously democratic--"we have dished the whigs!" was all that derby replied. mr. disraeli, in reference to the same subject, made use of a phrase which gave bitter offence to some of his party, and deepened the distrust with which the old school of conservatives regarded him almost to the end of his life. on october , , he was entertained at a banquet by the conservatives of edinburgh, and when passing in review the events of the session, and especially his reform act, he said: "i had to prepare the mind of the country, and to educate--if it be not arrogant to use such a phrase--to educate our party." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by beattie, hobart._ hobart, tasmania. tasmania, formerly known as van diemen's land, was taken possession of by the british in . it was governed from sydney until , when it became an independent province; and it received its existing constitution in . population ( ), , ; imports, £ , , ; exports, £ , , .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by beattie, hobart._ launceston, tasmania.] [sidenote: the fenians.] the stream of emigration westward which set in after the irish famine in had resulted in creating a very large irish population in the united states. all these emigrants had brought with them a bitter hatred of england, on whom they laid the blame of all the sufferings of their own people. they had found in america the true remedy for their wrongs, which, had they realised it, arose not so much from political, as from physical causes. by moving to a spacious land where labour was in demand, they escaped from the evils which must always press upon a congested population with no proper outlet for its energy. but still they loved old ireland and hated england, and, finding themselves of political importance in the new land, for the irish vote soon became indispensable to the democratic party, they busied themselves with projects for the deliverance of their country. they found plenty of encouragement from americans, for the feeling in the northern states was very bitter against england after the close of the civil war. thousands of irishmen had learnt the art of war and the use of weapons in the federal armies; a military organisation was set on foot in the belief that great britain and the united states were on the point of going to war. this organisation, which adopted the title of fenian, had for its leader a man of great ability and experience, james stephens. the government received due warning of what was in preparation; in fact, the leaders of the movement in ireland openly proclaimed their intention of restoring by force of arms the independence of ireland. they had plenty of funds: every irish man and maid in america contributed something to such a glorious purpose. a steady stream of american-irish, most of them old soldiers of the civil war, set in from across the atlantic, and scattered themselves among the towns and villages of ireland. at last stephens himself arrived, who, having been mixed up in the rising of , was promptly arrested and lodged in richmond prison, dublin, in november, . all ireland was convulsed with delight when, a few days later, he was found to have escaped. the absence of stephens from america had evil results to the fenians there. one party was for invading canada, a project which stephens had never favoured. no sooner was his back turned, than a party of fenians actually crossed the niagara river, occupied a fort, and defeated a force of canadian volunteers. just as in , when the canadians were in revolt, the united states government had saved the position for great britain by enforcing the neutrality of their frontier, so now it acted a similar part, and put an end to what might have become a highly dangerous state of affairs. stephens never reappeared, but the preparations he had started were continued. with the pathetic hero-worship of the celt, the irish peasantry were confident that their lost leader would return among them soon and lead them to victory. but one brief taste of prison discipline had been enough for this doughty champion, and he is believed to have spent the rest of his life abroad in comparative affluence, derived from the subscriptions collected from his dupes. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ wellington, new zealand. the first body of immigrants arrived at port nicholson in . in the same year the whole of the islands were annexed by great britain, and wellington and auckland were founded. constitutional government was conferred in . in wellington became the seat of government. the population of the islands in was , ; imports, £ , , ; exports, £ , , .] in february the government frustrated a fenian plot to seize chester castle; there was an attempt at a general rising in ireland, which ended in the loss of a few lives in harebrained and disconnected attacks on police barracks in cork, limerick, louth, and elsewhere, and a number of american-irish were arrested. two of these prisoners were being conveyed across manchester in a prison van, when it was suddenly attacked by a party of armed fenians. a policeman was shot dead, the prisoners were rescued and were never recaptured. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the pink terraces, rotomahana, new zealand. the water from the hot springs, on its way to lake rotomahana ("warm lake"), left a deposit which gradually assumed the forms shown in the illustration. the water was exquisitely blue; the terraces on one side of the lake were white, on the other a transparent pink. both were completely destroyed in the great eruption of .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the white terraces, rotomahana, new zealand.] the only other serious act of the fenians was an attempt to release two prisoners confined in clerkenwell gaol, who, considering the means adopted, might very well pray to be delivered from their friends. a barrel of gunpowder, placed against the outer wall, was exploded at four in the afternoon, throwing down about sixty yards of masonry and wrecking several houses in the street. but for a warning received by the governor of the gaol that an attempt was to be made to blow it up, the prisoners would have been at exercise in the yard at the time of the explosion, and almost certainly must have been killed. as it was, twelve persons were killed and were wounded. [illustration: sir robert napier, afterwards lord napier of magdala, - . born in ceylon. commander-in-chief of bombay, , and of india, . raised to the peerage, , for his services in abyssinia.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by g. w. wilson & co., aberdeen._ parliament house and table mountain, cape town. see historical notes on cape colony, page . area, including dependencies (estimated), , square miles; population, , , , of whom , are british born; imports ( ), £ , , ; exports, £ , , , including diamonds, £ , , ; gold, £ , , ; wool, £ , , .] [sidenote: war with abyssinia.] the arms of a great and growing empire are seldom allowed to rust from disuse, no matter how pacific the intentions of its rulers may be. parliament was called together in november to vote supplies for an expedition which it had been found necessary to send out to abyssinia, under the command of sir robert napier. theodore, king of abyssinia, a passionate and semi-barbarous despot, had cultivated amicable relations with great britain for a number of years, chiefly on account of his friendship for mr. plowden, formerly english consul at massowah. but mr. plowden was dead--killed in an encounter between theodore and his rebellious subjects; and captain cameron, who succeeded to the consulate at massowah, had not succeeded in ingratiating himself with the king. theodore appealed to queen victoria to help him against the turks, and on receiving no immediate reply to his letter, lost his temper and threw all the british subjects he could catch into the cavernous dungeons of his capital, magdala. among these captives was captain cameron. mr. rassam was sent on an embassy to remonstrate with theodore, who, however, was not inclined to listen to reason. on the contrary, he had the envoy seized, with his companions, lieutenant prideaux and dr. blane, loaded with chains, and thrust into prison. lord stanley now sent to demand the release of the prisoners within three months, and declared that immediate invasion would follow if this were refused. it was a delicate business to convey despatches to the tyrant in his rock fortress, and theodore never received the ultimatum. the expedition set out: miles of very mountainous country had to be traversed, but everything had been admirably prepared in the matter of transport and commissariat, and napier was an experienced commander. the ease of the victory which awaited him has done something to diminish the fame which is really his due for accomplishing a very difficult task. he encountered the abyssinian army under the walls of magdala on april , ; the king's soldiers fought with headlong gallantry, and fell in heaps before the terrible fire of british infantry. charge after charge was repelled, until napier found that his enemy had vanished, leaving some , dead and wounded on the field, while in his own force the casualties amounted to no more than nineteen wounded. the fierce old king so far bowed under chastisement that the captives were released, but he refused to surrender. it then became necessary to enforce the lesson that, if great britain does not take up arms lightly, neither does she lay them down without exacting all her demands. napier determined to take magdala by assault. perched high on a precipitous rock, it occupied a position which, in old times and without modern appliances, must have been pronounced inaccessible. but there are few places to which courage equipped by science can be denied admission: the northern gate was stormed, and lying within it was found the old lion king. preferring death to dishonour he had perished by his own hand. lord derby's health had given him repeated warning that the time had come when he must seek release from public duties. he retired from office in february , and mr. disraeli became prime minister. "the time will come when you _will_ hear me." few--very few--who had heard that vaunt shouted across the house in were there to witness its complete fulfilment in . it was a position of the highest honour, but not one of great power to which disraeli had succeeded, and he was not called on to occupy it long. he could not reckon on a majority on any question upon which the opposition should act together under a resolute leader. such a question and such a leader were soon found. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by g. w. wilson & co., aberdeen._ searching tables at the de beers' diamond mine, kimberley, south africa.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by j. h. murray, pietermaritzburg._ town hall, durban. durban, the largest town in natal, had a population in of , . natal has an estimated area of , square miles, and a population ( ) of , . imports, from great britain ( ), £ , , ; exports, to great britain, £ , .] [sidenote: the irish state church.] [sidenote: liberal triumph.] [sidenote: mr. gladstone's cabinet.] [sidenote: death of lord derby.] in choosing the established protestant church of ireland for attack, mr. gladstone selected the weakest spot in the constitution; one, nevertheless, which the conservative party were bound to defend to their last man. the irish peasantry, except those of the greater part of ulster, were roman catholics, and roman catholics of a peculiarly devout and enthusiastic kind. the protestant establishment was an alien church, and could never be anything else; a monument of conquest which it had been unwise to set up. it presented itself to mr. gladstone as the very core and pillar of disaffection, and it was very easy to make out a strong case for its abolition. in march he brought forward three resolutions, declaring that it was the opinion of the house of commons that the established church of ireland should cease to exist, and the first division showed a majority of sixty-one in favour of the project and against the government. in consequence of this disraeli advised the queen to dissolve parliament, which was done in july. writs were made returnable in november, and the interval was spent in such canvassing and platform work as the country had never experienced before. mr. gladstone was beaten in lancashire, mr. w. h. smith ousted mr. mill from westminster, and mr. roebuck lost his seat at sheffield; nevertheless, the general result of the polls was an immense gain to the liberals, showing a majority for them of in the new parliament. mr. gladstone, having found a seat at greenwich, set to work to obey the queen's bidding in forming a ministry. the most notable accession to the cabinet was that of mr. bright, who became secretary of state for india, thus marking an epoch in parliamentary history by the formal recognition of the extreme radicals as a party in the state. the great business of the session of was, of course, the bill to disestablish and disendow the irish church. no irish question can be touched without releasing the springs of oratory of a quality beside which the most impassioned appeals of average english or scottish speakers seem tame and halting. in the commons the fight was a foregone conclusion; but the irish church was an exceedingly wealthy corporation, and the disposal of its possessions, to the value of sixteen millions sterling, afforded matter for long and complicated debates in committee. the lords could not be persuaded even to delay the act on which the country and the house of commons had spoken with so much decision. the bill passed its second reading by a majority of thirty-three, and received the royal assent on july , . lord derby had made his last speech on the second reading of this measure, which he resisted with much of his ancient vigour and all his splendid eloquence. he died in october of the same year, and, in the opinion of most men qualified to form one, parliament lost in him its most polished orator. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by annan & sons, glasgow._ david livingstone, - . african missionary and explorer. born at blantyre, near glasgow, and in his youth worked in cotton-mills in that town. sent to africa by the london missionary society in , he thenceforth spent his life in exploring and evangelizing that continent. in and expeditions were sent in search of him. he died at ilala. his body was brought to england, and buried in westminster abbey.] [illustration: _j. ballantyne, r.s.a._} {_in the national portrait gallery._ sir edwin landseer, r.a., - . this distinguished animal painter was born in london. he was knighted in , and in was offered and declined the office of president of the royal academy. the picture represents him in the studio of baron marochetti, at work on one of the lions for the nelson column. these were cast in bronze, and placed in position in january .] [sidenote: irish land legislation.] the irish people at first showed few signs of gratitude for the disestablishment of their state church. the fenians were giving fresh signs of activity, agrarian crime was of frightful frequency during the winter of - , and the virulence of the anti-british press became day by day more intense. troops were poured into the country to repress disturbance, and mr. gladstone set about preparing fresh measures of conciliation. the irish land system, theoretically almost identical in general principles to that of great britain, not only differed from it in important details, but had come to be worked on wholly different lines from those pursued by english and scottish landlords. in great britain the tendency had been to throw small unprofitable holdings into substantial farms which should be worth the efforts of energetic men of means to cultivate. the landlord, as a rule, equipped the farm with suitable buildings and fences, and frequently lived on his estates during most of the year. in ireland, with few exceptions, buildings and improvements of every sort were executed by the tenant, who was allowed to subdivide his holding into mere patches of land, with a hovel run up at the expense of the occupant. the peasantry were bound to their holdings by the capital they had sunk in them; they could not in every season wring the rent out of the land; huge masses of arrears accumulated, often ending in eviction, which meant practical confiscation of such permanent improvements as had been effected. all the evil effects and bitter feelings arising out of this decrepid mode of tenure were intensified by the ever-increasing tendency of landowners to absenteeism, and by the prevailing difference in the religion of proprietors and peasantry. [illustration: _w. h. mason._} {_from a print at the oval._ cricket in the early years of the reign. sussex _v._ kent, at brighton, .] in ulster, indeed, the conditions were different. not only was there a large protestant element in the farming and labouring class, but the custom of tenant-right had grown up, protecting the tenant against disturbance as long as he paid his rent, securing his right to compensation on leaving for improvements executed by himself, and, most important of all, giving him a saleable property in the goodwill of the tenancy. the ulster tenantry, as a rule, were prosperous. mr. gladstone refused to see in their prosperity only the result of their greater industry and capacity for business: he set it down to the system of dual ownership involved in the recognition of tenant-right, and this system he resolved to apply to every part of ireland by creating a statutory partnership between landlord and tenant. it is hardly possible to conceive a reform more vital than that initiated by this measure in the social fabric of ireland; for, except in the north-east of ulster, agriculture forms the sole important industry of that country. yet the conservative opposition, led by mr. disraeli, made no attempt to resist it; the case for legislation was too clamant. [illustration: _j. leech._} {_from "punch."_ fashions in . the safest way to take a lady down!] [sidenote: national education.] [sidenote: army purchase.] far-reaching as the irish land bill has proved in its effects, it was hardly of greater moment than a measure introduced two days later by mr. w. e. forster, establishing a scheme of elementary education. the government had been not more than two years in office, and had amply fulfilled the first part of an ambitious programme by passing three measures of extraordinary importance, dealing with the irish church, irish land tenure, and national education; yet the tide of popular favour which had carried them into power began to show unmistakeable signs of ebbing. the legislation of , actual and proposed, served to add to the number of malcontents. the first step taken was against the system of purchase in the army. it was the recognised practice in all except a few special corps in the british army for an officer to purchase his first commission, as well as every subsequent step in regimental promotion. there was a regulation scale of prices, but there was also an extra regulation payment, winked at by the authorities. an officer's commission thus became a valuable property to him, which he could dispose of on leaving the service. it was a system which few people could defend successfully in theory, but it was one that had worked well in practice; and the project to sweep it away created a vigorous opposition. but what makes the parliamentary fight over army purchase of moment in history is the means by which mr. gladstone carried his purpose in the teeth of the house of lords. the abolition of purchase had been part only of a sweeping measure of army re-organisation brought in by mr. cardwell. in order to save part of the bill, the government threw overboard every section of it except the purchase clauses. the lords, desiring to defeat what was left of the original bill, declared they would not accept the purchase clauses until the whole scheme of army reform was before them. a sigh of relief escaped from military men; the system endeared to them by custom and association had been saved by the action of the upper house. but they had to learn how resolute and adroit was he with whom they had to reckon. mr. gladstone had a theatrical surprise in store for everyone. he gave the go-by to parliament by announcing that, whereas army purchase had been created by royal warrant, it could be rendered illegal by the same means; and, therefore, he had advised the queen to cancel the old warrant and issue a new one. it was a complete victory over the house of lords; they were forced to pass the bill so obnoxious to them, otherwise the officers of the army would have been deprived of the compensation provided for the sums they had paid for their commissions. but the victory was very damaging to mr. gladstone's government. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ cricket in the later years of the reign. england _v._ australia at lords, june , , , . dr. grace is at the further wicket.] [illustration: _g. du maurier._} {_from "punch."_ fashions in . he: "shall we--a--sit down?" she: "i should like to, but my dressmaker says i mustn't."] [sidenote: the ballot bill.] most educated people were tired, and perhaps ashamed, of the uproar and scandal inseparable from the old system of elections, and the government brought in a bill to abolish the hustings and make the proceedings more orderly, against which few voices would have been raised, had it not contained provisions for voting by ballot. the idea of secret voting was repugnant to the national sense of what is fair and above-board; but the bill eventually got through the house of commons, though shorn, at the instance of mr. vernon harcourt and mr. james (now lord james of hereford), of the provisions for throwing the expenses of elections on the rates. the measure was rejected by the house of lords, but the government succeeded in passing it during the session of . the result upon the balance of parties in the house of commons has been singularly small, and certainly the conservatives, who had most reason to dread the effect of secret voting on the fortunes of their party, have had no reason to complain of the result. [illustration: _sydney p. hall._} {_from the royal collection._ marriage of her royal highness the princess louise to the marquis of lorne, k.t., at st. george's chapel, windsor, march , . the officiating clergy are the bishop of london, the bishop of oxford, and the dean of windsor. next the bride on the left is the queen, then the prince of wales, the duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, the princess of wales and her two sons, and other members of the royal family. the bridegroom is supported by earl percy and lord ronald gower, behind whom are the duke and duchess of argyll, his parents. mr. disraeli is in the right hand corner of the picture, and mr. gladstone sits in the centre of the same row.] chapter xiv. - . the franco-german war--russia seizes her opportunity--the irish university bill--defeat and resignation of ministers--mr. gladstone resumes office--dissolution of parliament--conservative victory--the ashanti war--mr. disraeli's third administration--mr. gladstone retires from the leadership--annexation of the fiji islands--purchase of suez canal shares--visit of the prince of wales to india--the queen's new title--threatening action of russia--the bulgarian massacres--disraeli becomes earl of beaconsfield--the russo-turkish war--great britain prepares to defend constantinople--secession of lord carnarvon and lord derby--the "jingo" party--the berlin congress and treaty--"peace with honour"--massacre at cabul--war with afghanistan--the zulu war--disaster of isandhlana. [sidenote: the franco-german war.] [sidenote: russia seizes her opportunity.] the hurricane which, breaking over western europe in the summer of , had swept away the imperial dynasty of france before the close of the year, was not felt in great britain with any alarming effect. nothing occurred seriously to endanger her neutrality; she was enjoying a period of commercial prosperity strangely in contrast to the savage strife beyond the sea, until a sudden and ominous act on the part of the russian government redoubled the anxious vigilance of her majesty's government. the treaty of paris had established the neutrality of the black sea, throwing open its waters to the mercantile marine of all nations, and interdicting them to the flag of war, "either of the powers possessing its coasts, or of any other power." by this provision russia now proclaimed she would no longer be bound. she could not have chosen a better opportunity for her own purpose. the western alliance was dislocated; two of the signatories to the treaty of paris were engaged in mortal strife; a third--austria--could not be expected to take action independently of prussia; was it incumbent on great britain--the fourth power--to vindicate, single-handed, the sanctity of the treaty? few responsible people could be found to contemplate seriously such a course; yet it was peculiarly galling to the national pride to have to acquiesce in the action of russia. lord granville proposed a conference of the powers to be held in london, and the proposal was accepted. the conference met on january , , and solemnly proceeded to abrogate that which they were in no position to maintain--the neutralisation of the black sea. reflection on the situation of europe at that time can lead to no other conclusion but that great britain was sagaciously steered without loss of honour through a very difficult channel; but none the less unfavourable to the government was the impression created at the time, that the country had suffered a degree of humiliation in permitting a treaty which had cost her so dear to be torn up. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by hughes & mullins, ryde._ her majesty with the princess beatrice. april .] [sidenote: the irish university bill.] [sidenote: defeat and resignation of ministers.] but mr. gladstone, full of serious purpose, was blind to the symptoms of failing prestige--indifferent to the warning conveyed by loss of successive seats at by-elections. he had dealt with two limbs of the upas-tree; there remained the third--that of irish education, and he bared his arms to attack it. on february he introduced a bill dealing with the irish universities. it was a masterly measure, a scheme of extraordinary complexity, dealing with a very complicated and unsatisfactory state of things. it is not necessary to examine its details at this time; it is, perhaps, enough to say that the prime minister's plan was one that, while it offended and alarmed every one deriving benefit from the existing state of things, failed to satisfy any of the religious bodies--protestant, catholic, or nonconformist--which desired a change. disraeli's words spoken on the second reading came home to many hearts on both sides of the house. "you have now had four years of it," he said. "you have despoiled churches; you have threatened every corporation and endowment in the country. you have examined into everybody's affairs. you have criticised every profession and vexed every trade. no one is certain of his property, and nobody knows what duties he may have to perform to-morrow. i believe that the people of this country have had enough of confiscation." the bill was rejected by a majority of three votes, and mr. gladstone resigned office; but, on the queen sending for mr. disraeli, he declined to form "a weak and discredited administration," and the government resumed its functions. [illustration: _sir j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ critics. mr. gladstone: "h'm, flippant!" mr. disraeli: "ha, prosy!" mr. disraeli's "lothair" and mr. gladstone's "juventus mundi" appeared almost simultaneously in .] [sidenote: general election.] ministers were in an unenviable position. the increasing bitterness of parties had brought about a disregard of those unwritten laws which had contributed so much in the past to the amenity of public life and to earning for the house of commons the character of being "the best club in london." there were bitter dissensions among ministers themselves, of which lord ripon and mr. childers gave evidence by leaving the cabinet. in four years the conservatives had gained fifteen seats in by-elections, against which ministerialists could only set two captured from the enemy. still, the government could reckon on a majority of ninety in the house of commons, and no one dreamt of their appealing to the country while all the omens remained adverse. nevertheless, mr. gladstone startled everybody by issuing a manifesto, in january , announcing the dissolution of parliament. never did a politician play more completely into his opponent's hands, though the conservatives went to the polls full of misgiving about the effect of the new-fangled ballot. the result proved that their fears were unfounded. the followers of mr. disraeli in the new parliament outnumbered those of mr. gladstone by half a hundred. [illustration: _n. chevalier._} {_from the royal collection._ the procession on the occasion of the thanksgiving service at st. paul's for the recovery of h.r.h. the prince of wales passing ludgate circus, february . his royal highness had been seized with typhoid fever in november , and for several days in the early part of december his life was despaired of. her majesty and the other members of the royal family were twice summoned to sandringham, where he was being nursed by the princess of wales and princess alice of hesse.] [sidenote: the ashanti war.] the closing months of mr. gladstone's administration were marked by a short war on the gold coast, arising out of a dispute with koffee calcalli, king of ashanti, who had claimed a tribute formerly paid to him by the dutch for some territory which they sold to great britain in . failing to obtain acknowledgment of his claim, the king of ashanti attacked the fantis, a tribe under british protection, and it became necessary to chastise him. the difficulty of doing so lay, not in the character of the people of ashanti, for, though brave and warlike, they could not stand before modern arms of precision, but in the nature of the climate and the difficulty of transport. the campaign had to be limited to the cool season; it was entrusted to sir garnet wolseley, who well sustained the reputation he had earned in the red river expedition in . the expedition left england on september , , and returned on march , , having in the interval captured and destroyed coomassie, the capital, brought the king to terms, and laid a perpetual interdict on the hideous human sacrifices which formed one of his most cherished institutions. the ashanti warriors defended their forest roads gallantly, and the british loss was heavy in proportion to the numbers engaged. the total cost of this expedition was reckoned at a little short of one million sterling. [illustration: _orlando norrie_} {_from the royal collection._ the ashanti war: the nd highlanders crossing the omdali.] [sidenote: mr. disraeli's third administration.] the new ministry was formed with unexampled celerity. mr. gladstone, accepting the verdict of the country, did not attempt to meet the new parliament, but resigned on february , . three days later the queen had approved of the names submitted to her by mr. disraeli for all the offices in the government, both in the cabinet and outside it. lord salisbury, sometimes known then as "the terrible marquis," and lord carnarvon, both of whom had seceded in on the question of the franchise, resumed their former seats at the india and colonial offices respectively. the liberal party were languishing in that political anæmia which follows on overwhelming defeat, when they received an additional blow in the retirement of mr. gladstone from the leadership. some hard things were said about one who thus abandoned his party at the lowest ebb of their fortunes, and uncomplimentary contrasts were drawn between him and disraeli, who had cheered his followers by his constant presence in adversity which seemed irredeemable. after some months of indecision, during which the liberal leadership was administered by a kind of _junta_, the marquis of hartington assumed the thankless task of leading the deserted and dispirited opposition, an office made all the more difficult by the occasional raids upon the debates made by mr. gladstone as often as some subject which specially interested him turned up, such as the public worship bill, and the bill abolishing patronage in the church of scotland. [illustration: _orlando norrie_} {_from the royal collection._ the ashanti war: the entry into coomassie, february , .] [illustration: _n. chevalier._} {_from the royal collection._ marriage of h.r.h. the duke of edinburgh and the grand-duchess marie of russia at the winter palace, st. petersburg, january , . view of the interior of the chapel of the winter palace. the bride and bridegroom are standing before the altar, and over them the metropolitan of st. petersburg elevates the cross. the emperor and empress of russia stand together against the great piers supporting the dome, and near them are the czarewitch with his wife, the princess dagmar, and the princess of wales, her sister. in the foreground are the prince of wales and the crown prince of prussia, and among others present are the crown princess of prussia, the crown prince of denmark, prince arthur, the duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, and a long train of grand dukes and nobles.] [sidenote: annexation of the fiji islands.] mr. disraeli was not new to office, but he found himself in power for the first time. with a good working majority behind him in the house of commons, a helpless opposition before him, and a surplus of six millions at the treasury, the natural question in everybody's mouth was "what will he do with it?" there were still many of his own party who mistrusted his love of display and his magnificent conception of empire as likely to impel him along some hazardous course of conquest abroad or legislation at home, but their apprehensions were soon allayed. in leading the house, disraeli exchanged his formidable gifts of invective for a manner and speech conciliatory to men of all parties. the domestic programme of the government for the sessions of and was unambitious but useful, and the only extension of british dominion abroad was the peaceful annexation of the fiji islands at the request of king cakobau and his council. [illustration: _hon. john collier._} {_by permission of the linnean society._ charles r. darwin, ll.d., - . naturalist. born at shrewsbury; educated there and at edinburgh and cambridge. his researches into the "origin of species," "the descent of man," &c., have revolutionized modern ideas on these subjects.] [illustration: _from a photograph by mayall, piccadilly._ professor sir richard owen, - . naturalist, and one of the greatest authorities on comparative anatomy and osteology. first hunterian professor of the royal college of surgeons ( ), and first superintendent ( - ) of the natural history department of the british museum, now housed in the building here shown, in the arrangement of which he was greatly interested. it was said of him that he could describe any animal from a single bone.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the natural history museum, south kensington. built in - from designs by mr. alfred waterhouse, r.a., at a cost of £ , .] [sidenote: suez canal shares.] but towards the end of there came the occasion for the display of some spirit, in which may be traced the beginning of reaction against the "little britain" school of politicians. when a singular opportunity presented itself of strengthening our communications with the east, disraeli fearlessly seized it. the suez canal had been open since , and great britain, though she was the power which made most use of it, had no pecuniary interest in it. the funds necessary for the work had been subscribed almost entirely by the egyptian government and by private speculators in france. of the , original shares, the khedive of egypt held , ; but the khedive's expenditure had been for years far beyond his revenues, and his shares were thrown upon the market in . disraeli was struck by the proposition advanced by mr. greenwood, a journalist of some note, that these shares should be bought by the british government, and the purchase was completed on november , the price paid being £ , , . sir stafford northcote, on whom fell the duty of asking parliament for the money, was opposed to his chief's policy in this matter, and must have felt some misgiving in repelling the attacks made upon it by the liberals, but he did so effectively. mr. gladstone emerged from his retirement to fling himself into the debate, and declared that to spend the national funds in such an object was "an unprecedented thing";--"so is the canal!" retorted northcote. it is only just to disraeli's statesmanship to notice what an excellent investment, in a monetary sense, was made for great britain by the purchase of these shares. the original sum of four millions has been entirely paid off out of income derived from the shares, which, for a number of years, have been paying from to per cent. the shares purchased have risen in value from four to eighteen millions, and the proportion of british tonnage to the whole tonnage of all nations using the canal is per cent. it would, however, be claiming too much for disraeli's commercial acumen to suppose that he realised what should become the ultimate monetary value of these shares. what he perceived was the importance of great britain acquiring a voice in the management of the new and dominant highway to india. the public had received recently the means of estimating the stupendous responsibility resting on the shoulders of those charged with the administration of british india. the results of the first census ever taken there were published in , showing the total population of the british dominion in india to consist of twenty-three distinct nationalities, amounting to , , souls--nearly five times that of the united kingdom. this did much to dispel an idea dimly present in the minds even of educated persons, that the queen's indian subjects consisted of one dusky race, speaking one language and divided into two religions--mahomedan and hindoo. [sidenote: the prince of wales visits india.] [sidenote: the queen's new title.] it was a congenial duty for the prime minister, entertaining these lofty views of the burden and glory of empire, to ask the house of commons to vote £ , to defray the expenses of a visit about to be paid by the prince of wales to india. his royal highness had already visited the principal colonies, but the customs of oriental courts, the ceremony and display considered indispensable, and, above all, the necessity for exchanging costly presents with the various princes, rendered the expenses far beyond what any ordinary tour would involve. the money was cheerfully voted, for the public approved of the energy shown by the heir to the crown in acquiring a personal acquaintance with all parts of the british empire. there was less unanimity in the reception of the next important proposal of the government, made after the prince's return from india in , namely, to supply such addition to the titles of the sovereign as had been rendered appropriate by her assumption, in , of the direct government of india. [illustration: _a. stuart worthy._} {_by permission of messrs. graves._ h.r.h. the prince of wales, k.g.] [illustration: _g. f. watts, r.a._} {_in the national portrait gallery._ edward robert, first earl of lytton, - . only son of lord lytton, the novelist. viceroy of india, - ; ambassador to france, - . known in literature as "owen meredith."] [sidenote: the bulgarian massacres.] [sidenote: the russo-turkish war.] meanwhile, the eastern question had burst out again. insurrections in the turkish provinces of bulgaria, servia, and montenegro had been suppressed by the porte with that ferocity so characteristic of turkish misrule; russia had begun moving troops towards the danube, and a large section of the english public avowed sympathy with her, or with any other power that would put an end to the sickening brutalities in bulgaria. mr. gladstone threw homer and theology to the winds, and the country rang with his denunciations of "the unspeakable turk." those who accuse disraeli of undue solicitude for popularity should study the course he steered in the storm that was raging round him. but before it came to its height, he had spoken his last words in the house of commons. on august , , mr. evelyn ashley charged the government with negligence and the british ambassador at constantinople with mischievous and dilatory tactics, in their dealings with the porte and their toleration of massacres. disraeli replied in one of the most effective speeches he ever delivered, concluding with the words: "what our duty is at this critical moment is to maintain the empire of england. nor will we ever agree to any step, though it may obtain for a moment comparative quiet and a false prosperity, that hazards the existence of that empire." next morning the prime minister's place on the treasury bench was filled by sir stafford northcote; a well-kept secret was revealed; mr. disraeli, on whose health the stress of forty years of active parliamentary life had told with serious effect, had accepted a peerage, and gone to the house of lords as earl of beaconsfield. not, however, to escape responsibility. throughout that autumn and winter the government was vehemently denounced in the country for their toleration of turkish misdeeds, but lord beaconsfield remained firm in his resolution to refrain from embarrassing the porte or countenancing the designs of russia. before parliament met, cooler counsels had begun to prevail, and when the czar declared war against the sultan, on april , the bulgarian atrocities faded out of sight, and british sympathy flowed out towards the weaker combatant. the gallantry of osman pasha's troops, his double victory over the russians at plevna in july, and the heroic defence of the shipka pass, brought our old crimean allies into high favour; but it was when the tide of victory had turned, when the turkish armies had been crushed under the resistless preponderance of the northern power, when russia was at the gates of constantinople, and the porte forced to accept an armistice, sent a circular note to the great powers, and a special appeal to great britain, praying for help in her extremity, that the policy of beaconsfield was brought to the test. [illustration: _val. c. prinsep, r.a._} {_from the royal collection. reproduced from photographs by mr. hollyer, by permission of the artist._ the imperial durbar at delhi, january , : proclamation of her majesty as empress of india. the viceroy (lord lytton) is seated on the dais, with lady and the hon. miss lytton behind him, and surrounded by his secretaries and aides-de-camp. major burns, chief herald, stands on the steps, and a group of heralds occupies the centre. in the circle, amongst the native princes, sit sir r. h. davies (lieut-governor of the punjab, immediately to the left of the chief herald, and sir r. temple, lieut-governor of bengal), and the duke of buckingham (governor of madras) to his right. the two native princesses are the begum of bhopal and the rana of dholepore; of the latter only the head is seen, on the extreme right.] [sidenote: secession of lord carnarvon and lord derby.] parliament was summoned hastily on january , , and northcote gave notice that a vote of credit for £ , , would be moved for immediately, for the cabinet had decided to defend the sultan's capital against the czar. the british fleet was ordered, on january , to enter the dardanelles, a step which caused the instant resignation by lord carnarvon of his seat in the cabinet, followed a couple of months later, by that of a far more important minister--the foreign secretary. to send warships into the dardanelles would have been an empty menace unless it had been supported by corresponding preparation of land forces, but calling out the army reserve, the occupation of cyprus by a british force, and the dispatch of , indian troops to the mediterranean, proved too much for the nerves of lord derby; he resigned his office, and two years later severed his connection with the conservative party and accepted office in mr. gladstone's second administration. [illustration: _sir j. tenniel._ [_from "punch."_ the pas-de-deux, from the scène de triumph in the grand anglo turkish ballet d'action, executed by the earl of beaconsfield and the marquis of salisbury.] the resolute attitude of the queen's government found an echo in the country, and the chorus of a popular music hall ditty supplied a nickname, the exact equivalent of the french term _chauviniste_. everybody at this day understands what is meant by the "jingo party" or the "jingo policy," though perhaps the origin of the phrase may come to be forgotten. it is found in the lines shouted by enthusiastic audiences in the early months of : "we don't want to fight, but, by jingo! if we do, we've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too." [sidenote: the berlin congress and treaty.] it was the policy of england in a nutshell, and it had its effect abroad. the russians had suffered heavily in the war: they were in no spirit to renew it with a powerful, wealthy, and fresh enemy. they agreed not to occupy gallipoli, provided the english fleet withdrew from the sea of marmora. both nations were disposed to accept prince bismarck's proffered mediation, and it was agreed to submit the treaty of san stefano to a congress of the powers at berlin. this famous congress, at which great britain was represented by her prime minister and foreign secretary--lord beaconsfield and lord salisbury--effected a re-arrangement of the danubian provinces, a rectification of the frontier of greece, the cession to russia of batoum and kars, with that part of bessarabia which had been taken from her by the treaty of paris, and the occupation by great britain of the island of cyprus, coupled with an obligation to defend turkey in the possession of her asiatic dominions. if it was not a settlement containing the elements of durability, nor conveying much direct advantage to great britain, at least it prohibited that which great britain was determined not to allow--the handing over to russia of the key of the mediterranean, the highway to india--and beaconsfield was entitled to claim, as he did on his return before a rapturous crowd in downing street, that her majesty's plenipotentiaries had succeeded in securing "peace with honour." [illustration: _sir j. e. millais, bart., p.r.a._} {_by permission of the garrick club._ sir henry irving. henry irving was born at keinton, near glastonbury, in . he made his first appearance on the stage at sunderland in . his connection with the lyceum dates from , and his management of that theatre from december . he was knighted in .] [sidenote: massacre at cabul.] but terrible news arrived before the close of the year. history--the disastrous history of --repeated itself with extraordinary exactness. sir louis cavagnari had been sent as envoy to cabul early in to watch and, if possible, counteract the effect of the persistent advance of russia towards the frontier of british india. he was lodged with a small escort, in comfortable, but defenceless, quarters in the bala hissar or citadel of cabul. the amir yakoob soon began to show impatience at the presence of the british in his capital. he was in difficulties also with his own troops, who were clamorous for arrears of pay. on september a riotous mob collected in front of the british embassy; blows were struck and shots fired, and soon cavagnari and his household were closely besieged. he had with him a secretary, a surgeon, and lieutenant hamilton, commanding the escort of twenty-six troopers and fifty men of the corps of guides. these made a brave defence, but at last the buildings were set on fire, and the envoy and every soul with him perished in the flames. the amir represented to the viceroy that this was the result of a mutiny against his own authority, and this seems to have been the case; he was powerless to prevent what perhaps he did not greatly deplore. not the less necessary was it to exact punishment for the massacre. general stewart, who had just evacuated candahar under provisions of the recent treaty, re-occupied it; general baker advanced by the shutar gardan and seized kushi. on october general roberts (now lord roberts), acting in concert with general baker, defeated a large force of ghilzais, with artillery, on the heights of chardeh, and then fought his way to cabul, which he entered on the th. [illustration: _w. parrott._} {_from a lithograph._ waterloo bridge and the northern bank of the thames in . this bank is now occupied by the victoria embankment and charing cross station.] all this time yakoob khan had been making friendly professions, and remained with the british field force during its operations. but there was reason to suspect his complicity in the massacre; he tendered his abdication to general roberts, and was sent as a state prisoner to india. then followed painful scenes in cabul, the assassins of cavagnari's party being hunted out and many of them publicly hanged. the townspeople remained sullen: the afghan warriors left cabul and collected at ghazni, where an aged mollah was preaching a holy war. by the beginning of december the whole country was under arms, burning to reenact the scenes of . but they had a different man from general elphinstone to deal with in general roberts. he continued to receive reinforcements from india, and made such good use of them that, after much hard fighting, the insurgent tribes under mohamed jan were completely dispersed. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co., reigate._ the royal courts of justice, begun in and opened in by her majesty, were designed by g. e. street, r.a. the cost of the buildings was about £ , , and of the land upon which they stand £ , , . the clock-tower and the "griffin" in the middle of the road mark the site of temple bar.] [illustration: _from an engraving._} temple bar in . this, the western gate of the city of london, was built by sir christopher wren in . above it, on iron spikes, used to be displayed the heads and limbs of executed traitors. up to it was the custom to close the gates when the sovereign was to enter the city in state, until a herald had knocked upon them with his bâton, when the procession, after some parley, was admitted. the bar was removed in .] but there were many claimants to the throne of the amir. among these was abdurrahman, who lived in turkestan, subsidised and protected by russia. this prince appeared in northern afghanistan in march , and a formidable rising took place in support of his claim. on april general stewart encountered a force, about , strong, at ahmed kel, and a fierce encounter took place. for some time it seemed as if the furious onslaught of the afghans must prevail; the british infantry were driven back; it was only by means of his artillery that stewart saved the day and the enemy was routed in the end. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lawrence, dublin._ sackville street, dublin, in . in the foreground is the statue, by foley, of daniel o'connell; beyond the bridge is the monument of sir john gray, and, seen just behind it, the general post office. in the distance is the nelson column.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ princes street, edinburgh, in . the scott monument was erected in - from designs by george kemp; the statue is by steele. between it and the castle are seen the royal institution (built in ) and the national gallery ( - ).] [sidenote: the zulu war.] [sidenote: disaster of isandhlana.] in this position affairs in afghanistan must be left, in order to trace the momentous course of events at home, which wrought a remarkable change on the character and object of the war. but before reverting to the fortunes of the beaconsfield ministry, it is necessary to make mention of another and more lamentable war which took place in another quarter of the globe simultaneously with the afghan campaign. the river tugela formed the boundary between the british colony of natal and the territory of the zulus, the most powerful nationality in south africa. land disputes between the zulus and the dutch boers of the transvaal republic had been brewing for many years, and at last hostilities broke out between them. the boers were badly beaten by a young zulu chief called sikukuni, and both sides appealed to the british government to intervene. sir theophilus shepstone was sent into the transvaal to adjudicate between them, and sought to solve the problem by annexing the whole territory, not without the consent of the republican leaders, the disputed land being handed over to the zulus. this settlement might have proved effective but for the outrageous behaviour of cetchwayo, king of the zulus, who suddenly developed a most violent temper, probably arising from a growing taste for british rum. even then, had matters been left in the hands of sir henry bulwer, the governor of natal, matters might have been maintained on a friendly footing. unfortunately, sir bartle frere, the queen's high commissioner in south africa, saw grounds for apprehension in the immense force maintained by cetchwayo on the frontier, and began moving troops from cape colony into natal. he endeavoured to exact guarantees from the zulu king of an extremely onerous nature, fixing january , , as the limit for their acceptance. sir bartle frere's action can only be justified by the supposition that war was, sooner or later, inevitable, a belief which neither sir henry bulwer nor the colonial office entertained. cetchwayo allowed the prescribed day to pass without complying with the high commissioner's demands. on the very next day british troops under lord chelmsford invaded zululand, the force advancing in three columns, under colonel glyn, colonel pearson, and colonel durnford. colonel durnford's column occupied a camp at isandhlana on january ; and the following day, being attacked by about , zulus, were almost annihilated. the st battalion of the th foot was destroyed, thirty officers and men being slain. colonel durnford and colonel pulleine were killed, and immense quantities of stores fell into the hands of the enemy. it was a terrible retribution for having underrated the resources and numbers of the enemy and for imperfectly reconnoitring his position. a similar disaster very nearly befell colonel pearson's column. on the day after the tragedy at isandhlana he was beleaguered at the mission station of ekowe. for more than two months his little garrison of , held out against incessant assaults by immense numbers of zulus, till, in the last days of march, provisions had run dangerously low. on april lord chelmsford, having received reinforcements from england, advanced with , british troops and , friendly natives, defeated the besiegers, and raised the siege. the invasion of zululand had now assumed the proportions of a great campaign. about , british and , colonial troops were in the field. the government, dissatisfied with lord chelmsford's initial want of success and subsequent hesitation, sent out sir garnet wolseley to supersede him. but before he arrived a decisive victory had been fought on july , whereby the power of the zulus was hopelessly broken. lord chelmsford's reputation, endangered at isandhlana, was redeemed at ulundi, just as lord gough's disaster at chilianwalla had been repaired at goojerat before sir charles napier came to supersede him. the native chiefs now crowded in to make submission. cetchwayo was a fugitive with a handful of followers, and a force of cavalry scoured the country in pursuit of him, till, on august , the war was brought to an end by the capture of the unhappy king by lord gifford's party. it had cost great britain dearly in lives and money; one of the most tragic incidents in it was the death of prince napoleon, eldest son of the late emperor of the french, who served on lord chelmsford's staff as a volunteer. he was slain on june , when employed on surveying duty, having ridden into an ambush of zulus. [illustration: _lady butler._} {_from the royal collection. reproduced by permission of the artist._ rorke's drift. this post was held by lieut. chard, r.e., and lieut. bromhead with eighty men of the th regiment. having heard of the disaster at isandhlana, they hastily improvised defences of bags and biscuit-tins, and were almost immediately attacked by about , zulus. during the night the enemy six times obtained a foothold within the defences, and even burnt the hospital; but they were again and again repulsed at the bayonet's point. in the morning, when the little garrison was relieved, zulus lay dead around the entrenchments.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co., reigate._ osborne house. built by her majesty in , largely from designs by h.r.h. the prince consort. it is surrounded by a park of about , acres. the queen's apartments are in the wing to the right of the picture.] chapter xv. - . the condition of egypt--mr. goschen's commission--ismail's _coup d'état_--his deposition by the sultan--establishment of the dual control--the first midlothian campaign--commercial and agricultural depression--sudden dissolution of parliament--lord derby joins the liberals--second midlothian campaign--great liberal victory--mr. gladstone's second administration--charles stuart parnell and the irish home rule party--war with afghanistan--battle of maiwand--general roberts's march--defeat of ayub khan and evacuation of cabul and candahar--revolt of the transvaal--battles of laing's nek and majuba hill--establishment of the boer republic--weakness of the conservative opposition--the fourth party--irish affairs--boycotting--a new coercion bill--the irish land bill--resignation of the duke of argyll--death of lord beaconsfield--military revolt in egypt--bombardment of alexandria--expedition against arabi--battles of kassassin and tel-el-kebir--overthrow of arabi. [sidenote: the condition of egypt.] the position and condition of egypt had grown to be a matter of anxiety to the powers of western europe, owing to events which it is only possible to recapitulate here in the briefest terms. ruled by the khedive as an autonomous state, egypt was also technically a province of the ottoman empire and paid an annual tribute of £ , to the sultan of turkey. but the creation of the suez canal, the investment of european capital therein, and the importance to maritime nations of that highway, rendered the good government of egypt a subject of international concern. the khedive, ismail pasha, actuated, no doubt, in part, by a resolve to develop the resources of his country, but also by aims of personal indulgence and aggrandisement, had launched into schemes of such scale and cost that the egyptian treasury was virtually bankrupt in . a commission of inquiry, presided over by mr. goschen, resulted in the appointment of mr. rivers wilson and m. de blignières, representing great britain and france respectively, as members of the khedive's cabinet. the plan failed to work smoothly; the khedive became leader of the opposition to his own government, and in february he was compelled to submit to conditions imposed by the cabinets of great britain and france, excluding him from cabinet councils, appointing his son tewfik president of the council, and vesting in the english and french ministers absolute power of veto upon all measures. ismail pasha accepted these conditions, but on april he suddenly dismissed the cabinet and appointed one entirely composed of natives of egypt. on june , in consequence of representations from the governments of germany, austria, great britain, france, and russia, the sultan deposed ismail and created his son tewfik khedive in his place. a new scheme of government was adopted, whereby tewfik appointed his own cabinet, and the dual control of great britain and france was established by the appointment of two controllers, mr. baring (now lord revelstoke) and m. de blignières, with full powers to regulate expenditure, with seats in the cabinet, not removable except by their own governments, and with power to appoint and dismiss all subordinate officials. by the close of the credit of egypt, which had been apparently hopelessly shattered by ismail's decree in may , suspending payment and unifying the general debt, was restored by the liquidation of all debts due by the state. this, then, was the state of affairs in egypt towards the close of lord beaconsfield's last administration. the country had been redeemed from insolvency by the joint action of great britain and france, the arbitrary action of her rulers had been put under control, and her internal affairs had been started on such a footing as should protect the people from oppression and grievous taxation. [illustration: _h. m. sinclair._} {_from the royal collection._ old osborne house ( ).] [illustration: _sydney p. hall._} {_from the royal collection._ the marriage of h.r.h. the duke of connaught and princess louise margaret of prussia at st. george's chapel, windsor, march , . [sidenote: the first midlothian campaign.] the bridegroom, attended by the prince of wales and the duke of edinburgh, waits at the altar; her majesty, with the princess beatrice, and the princess of wales with her children, are included in the royal group. the bride is escorted by the crown prince of germany on her right, and her father, prince frederick charles, on her left. the foremost figures on the left are the king and queen of the belgians; next them are prince william (now the german emperor) and his mother, the princess royal, and to her left princess frederick charles, mother of the bride.] meanwhile the course of domestic politics in great britain claimed the immediate attention of statesmen. on november , , mr. gladstone, once more the actual, though not the nominal, leader of the opposition, started from liverpool on a memorable tour. the earl of dalkeith was then member for midlothian. he was the eldest son of the duke of buccleuch, at that time the most notable scottish peer, of immense influence north of the tweed and leader of the conservative party in the north. mr. gladstone had conceived the chivalrous idea of doing battle with this doughty chief on his own ground. the first "midlothian campaign" lasted till december , and it took the country by storm. the failure of the city of glasgow bank in the previous year had not only brought disaster to thousands of persons in the north, but it had emphasised in a peculiar manner the end of a period of prosperity. agriculture, especially, began to feel the full effects of foreign competition; farmers, whose rents had been gradually increasing as the value of land rose with favourable markets, now found it impossible to meet their obligations out of income. there was the usual tendency to lay the blame of individual misfortune on the government, and mr. gladstone, though his attacks on the policy of the cabinet were based principally on their foreign policy, which he denounced as aggressive, evoked an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement from those who listened to him or read his speeches. [illustration: _g. richmond, r.a._} {_from the "life of archbishop tait," by permission of messrs. macmillan._ archibald c. tait, archbishop of canterbury, - . was of presbyterian descent. went to balliol college, oxford, in , and was one of the four tutors who publicly protested against newman's "tract xc." (see page ). head master of rugby, ; dean of carlisle, ; bishop of london, ; archbishop of canterbury, .] [illustration: _from a photograph by h. h. hay cameron._ benjamin jowett, d.d., master of balliol, - . educated at st. paul's school, he went to balliol college, oxford, in as scholar; became a fellow in ; tutor in ; regius professor of greek, ; master, ; vice-chancellor of oxford university, . he was one of the authors of "essays and reviews" ( ) and a leader in university reform. his influence upon modern thought has been very great.] [sidenote: sudden dissolution of parliament.] ministers had still a year more to exist before an appeal to the country should be necessary, and all was going quietly in parliament, when, on march , people were taken by surprise on hearing it announced that the dissolution was to take place at once, and a manifesto from the prime minister, in the form of a letter to the duke of marlborough, lord lieutenant of ireland, was published in the newspapers, setting forth the imminence of trouble from irish sedition, and calling on the nation to be on its guard. [illustration: a carding room at messrs. j. and p. coats's ferguslie mills. these works, originated in in a small factory employing a score of operatives, now give employment to about , , and cover between fifty and sixty acres. the sewing machine--itself an invention of the period covered by these pages--has enormously increased the demand for thread. the total imports of cotton into the united kingdom, which were , , lbs. in , had grown to , , , lbs. during .] [sidenote: second midlothian campaign.] the country neither realised the magnitude of the crisis, nor did it perceive grounds for relying more on the conservatives to deal with it than on the liberals. the opposition was greatly strengthened at this juncture by the accession of lord derby to the liberal party, and the veteran gladstone, forgetting his resolution, six years before, to spend the rest of his years in retirement, went forth exulting on his second midlothian campaign. the walls of the tory jericho of the north went down before the blast of his trumpet; the buccleuch was defeated; only nine conservatives were returned from scotland. the irish vote, an important element in all the great towns, went solid for the liberals in obedience to parnell's order "to vote against benjamin disraeli as they should vote against the enemy of their country and their race." instead of the majority of fifty which they counted in the old parliament, the conservatives returned to the new one in a minority of forty-six. [illustration: _from the collection of_} {_c. wentworth wass, esq._ royal plates: specimens of services made for her majesty the queen. . royal worcester plate, emblazoned with the royal arms, border of light blue and gold. . royal worcester plate, with openwork border, gilt, and having turquoise panels. enamelled by thomas bott. exhibited at the international exhibition of . . plate, richly gilt, ornamented with the royal crown and the arms of the city of london. used by her majesty at the civic banquet celebrating her accession, .] there was much speculation as to whom the queen would send for to form a ministry. lord granville and lord hartington were the nominal leaders of the victorious party in either house, but the victory was due to mr. gladstone's crusades--everybody agreed in that. on april her majesty sent for lord hartington; next day he and lord granville were received to an audience, and thereafter all doubts were set at rest by mr. gladstone receiving the royal commands. [illustration: _from the collection of_} {_c. wentworth wass, esq._ royal dessert plates. . from a service made for the prince of wales shortly before his marriage. it has the prince's initials in gold, entwined with the princess's in flowers. . from a service made for the duke of edinburgh on his marriage. turquoise and gold border, with painted panels. . from a service made for the duke of albany on his marriage. turquoise, with monogram, birds and flowers painted in white.] [sidenote: irish home rule.] after the fenian movement, partly owing to vigorous measures on the part of the executive and partly to dissension among its own leaders, had collapsed, irish disaffection to british rule took the form of a constitutional agitation for the establishment of a separate legislature for ireland. "home rule for ireland" became the watchword and goal of a determined group of members of parliament, acting under mr. isaac butt, an able and successful lawyer and powerful speaker, who began political life as a conservative. this third party acted together throughout the parliament of - . it was practically the creation of mr. butt, but it soon carried its aims far beyond what he considered legitimate, and adopted methods of obstructing parliamentary business, against which he protested in vain. a stronger man than butt came to the front in the person of a protestant irish landlord, charles stuart parnell, one of the most remarkable figures in recent political life. though not gifted with the native richness of rhetoric which distinguishes so many of his countrymen, parnell quickly acquired an ascendancy in the home rule party in virtue of his genius for strategy, his resolute will, and a kind of hauteur which lifted him above petty jealousy and interference. from the first he discerned that the true way to attain home rule, if it might be attained at all, was to maintain scrupulous independence of both conservatives and liberals, to raise every possible obstruction in the way of legislation, and, in short, to render the irish party so intolerable to all governments, that home rule should be granted as the only means of getting out of an impossible situation. in a debate took place on the circumstances of the murder of the earl of leitrim, and butt was obliged to dissociate himself from all sympathy with the sentiments expressed by some of his colleagues, and he resigned the leadership in favour of parnell. after the general election the home rulers in parliament numbered sixty, perfect in discipline and devotion to their new chief. [sidenote: war with afghanistan.] [illustration: _g. d. giles._} {_by permission of mr. t. turner, carlton galleries, pall mall, owner of the copyright._ saving the guns at maiwand. the e/b battery of royal horse artillery, assisted by a few native sappers, whilst limbering up, fought the ghazis with hand-spikes and other improvised weapons. they lost heavily both in officers and men, but succeeded in carrying off the guns, and were specially thanked by the viceroy and the commander-in-chief.] the pacification of afghanistan by general roberts was not of long duration. after those concerned in the massacre of cavagnari's party had been punished with exemplary, if not excessive, severity, attempts were made to conciliate the people, and the conservative government offered to recognise any amir at cabul who might be elected, except yakub khan. candahar was to be separated from cabul, becoming an independent state under british protection, with shir ali as amir. then came the change of government in england, bringing about an important modification in british policy towards afghanistan. it was resolved to evacuate both cabul and candahar, resigning the country to the claimant abdurrahman. the advance, however, of a rival claimant from herat, in the person of ayub khan, caused the government of india to direct general burrows to defend the passage of the river helmund. beyond that river lay the territory of the wali of zamindawir, an ally of the british in resisting ayub khan's invasion. but the wali's army mutinied and deserted to ayub, and general burrows decided to retire to kushk-i-nakhud, thirty miles in rear of the helmund. ayub then crossed the river, and directed his march to maiwand, a pass over the hills twelve miles north of burrows's camp. general burrows, in total ignorance of the real strength of the enemy, resolved to march there and clear the pass. on july he started with a force of , men, six nine-pounders, and some smooth-bores. unfortunately, instead of keeping to his purpose of occupying maiwand, which lay on his right, general burrows made the fatal mistake of attacking a column of the enemy which appeared on his left. he found himself engaged with ayub's whole army, variously estimated at from , to , of all arms. the british troops fought gallantly, but some blunders, of a nature never clearly explained, made their position untenable. the order was given to retreat, not before some of the indian troops had broken and fled. next day the broken remnants of general burrows's brigade struggled into candahar, having fought their way through hordes of armed villagers along the route, who rose in excitement at the news of the defeat of the british. all that mortal man could do to atone for his want of generalship was done by general burrows, who fought with desperate gallantry at maiwand; but half his brigade perished, and probably it would have been annihilated but for the steadiness of the horse artillery in action and in covering the retreat. [illustration: lord roberts of candahar. frederick sleigh roberts is the son of the late general sir a. roberts. born in , and educated at eton, sandhurst, and woolwich. gained the v.c. for rescuing a standard at khodagunj, in the indian mutiny.] [illustration: _chevalier louis w. desanges._} {_in the victoria cross gallery, crystal palace._ march of general sir f. roberts, g.c.b., v.c., from cabul to candahar: crossing the zamburak kotal.] [sidenote: general roberts's march.] general primrose was in command at candahar, where he was besieged by ayub on august . he was relieved by general sir frederick roberts, who left cabul on august with a flying column, nearly , strong, and performed a march which has become celebrated in british war annals, arriving at candahar on the st, having covered miles in twenty-three days. on september he attacked and completely routed ayub khan, who fled to herat. the war was over: it had cost £ , , ; lord ripon, who had succeeded lord lytton as viceroy, was directed by the india office to abandon the purpose with which it had been undertaken, and by the end of the british had evacuated both cabul and candahar. [illustration: _stanley berkeley._} {_by permission of the publishers, messrs. s. hildesheimer & co., of london and manchester._ the victory of candahar.] [sidenote: revolt of the transvaal.] the trouble which broke out in the british dominion of south africa in must be regarded as the direct effect of the system of british party politics. forasmuch as, taking their cue from mr. gladstone, the opposition had vehemently denounced the annexation of the transvaal, on the overthrow of the conservatives the "patriot" section of the boers not unnaturally expected the restoration of their independence. but these hopes were dispelled by mr. gladstone and lord kimberley, the colonial secretary, in the debate on the queen's speech to the new parliament. they declared that great britain was under pledges to the native population which made it impossible for her to recede. the effect of this was to exasperate the boers to the last degree. they rose in armed revolt, and proclaimed an independent republic on december , . detachments of british troops were beleaguered by the insurgents at several places, and a detachment of the th regiment, under colonel anstruther, marching to the relief of pretoria, suffered defeat, all of them being slain or captured. the whole dutch population of the transvaal were under arms by the beginning of , and their skill as riflemen rendered them a foe far more formidable than might have been expected from their numbers. [sidenote: establishment of the boer republic.] it is a painful duty to record faithfully the events of the succeeding weeks. on january , sir george colley, governor of natal, entered the transvaal with , troops, attacking the boers at laing's nek on the th, when he was repulsed with the loss of seven officers and eighty men killed and wounded. on february colley was attacked on the ingogo river, and, though the enemy retired at sunset, the british loss amounted to six officers and sixty-two men killed and sixty-four wounded. on february general colley returned to the attack on the boers' camp at laing's nek. he decided on occupying majuba hill, overlooking the enemy's position; and, owing to the great fatigue endured during the ascent, in which his men were occupied for eight hours of darkness, he neglected to intrench the ground. the position was naturally an exceedingly strong one, yet on the following morning, the th, it was stormed by the boers. the british force, strong, was routed, with very heavy loss, and sir george colley was among the slain. sir evelyn wood, who had arrived in the neighbourhood with reinforcements, now succeeded to the chief command, and entered into negotiations with the boer commander, joubert. these resulted in the conclusion of peace on march , the terms including recognition of the queen's suzerainty over the transvaal, but securing complete self-government to the boer republic. [illustration: _lady butler._} {_by permission of the artist, and of messrs. graves, pall mall._ "floreat etona!" an eye-witness of the attack on laing's nek thus describes the incident depicted: "poor elwes fell among the th. he shouted to another eton boy (adjutant of the th, whose horse had been shot): 'come along, monck! floreat etona! we must be in the front rank,' and he was shot immediately."] [sidenote: the fourth party.] the task of the government within the walls of the house of commons was rendered an easy one during and , by reason of the spiritless and disorganised condition of the opposition under the mild and forbearing generalship of sir stafford northcote. the conservatives, moreover, found themselves under the obligation of voting continually in the same lobby as their natural opponents, in resistance to the demands of the parnellite party and in support of measures for the protection of life and property in ireland. little resistance, indeed, would have been encountered by ministers, but for the spirited action of a small knot of members below the gangway. this group, led by lord randolph churchill, and comprising mr. arthur balfour, sir john gorst, and sir henry drummond wolff, allowed no subject to be dealt with without the closest and most persistent scrutiny. their diligence, their individual and varied ability, and their permanent presence on the same bench, soon caused them to be known as the fourth party; and the intrepidity of their attacks on the government was not more remarkable than the freedom with which they taunted the tory leaders for their inaction, especially northcote, cross, and smith. more and more did the irish question absorb the attention of parliament and the public. parnell was busy at the work of land agitation, and explained the means by which landlords were to be driven from ireland. speaking at ennis, he exclaimed, "what is to be done with a tenant bidding for a farm from which another tenant has been evicted?" "shoot him!" cried a voice in the crowd. "no," said parnell, "i do not say shoot him; there is a more christian and charitable way of dealing with him. let him be shunned in the street, in the shop, in the market-place--even in the places of worship--as if he were a leper of old." [sidenote: boycotting.] one of the earliest cases in which this advice was carried into effect was that of captain boycott, the earl of erne's agent. the land league issued orders that he was to be treated "as a leper of old"; his men deserted him on the eve of harvest; tradesmen refused to supply goods; not a soul in the district dared to be known to have intercourse with him. captain boycott was a man of spirit: he brought a hundred ulstermen to gather the crops on his large farm; the irish government massed , troops and police to protect them, and henceforth the verb "to boycott" became the recognised expression for a system which brought infinite suffering on many poor people. [illustration: _sir j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ the irish frankenstein. mr. parnell is regarding with amazement the monster whom he has evoked.] but a terrible era of violence and crime, inaugurated by the murder of viscount mountmorres on september , , proved that the old methods of terrorising were far from obsolete, and that the "more christian and charitable" boycotting was only a supplement to them. the transparency of the veil thrown over the connection of the land league with atrocious crimes made it necessary to strengthen the hands of the executive by the introduction of a fresh coercion bill, with clauses specially framed to deal with the new system of intimidation known as boycotting. mr. forster, by a merciful instruction to substitute buckshot for ball in the cartridges of the irish police, earned for himself from the irish party the nickname of "buckshot" forster. the debates on this measure are memorable for the resistance offered to it by the parnellite party, which led to the adoption of the " o'clock rule" and of the closure. [sidenote: the irish land bill.] [sidenote: resignation of the duke of argyll.] no sooner had the new coercion bill received the royal assent, on march , than mr. gladstone announced another great measure dealing with ireland, framed to conciliate disaffection and redress the complaints of irish farmers. the irish land bill occupied the house of commons during four months of . its introduction caused the secession of the duke of argyll from the cabinet, because, as he explained to the lords, though in favour of increasing the number of landowners in ireland, he would have no hand in destroying ownership altogether. [sidenote: death of lord beaconsfield.] the earl of beaconsfield died on april , . if sir robert peel must be reckoned the founder of the conservative party, benjamin disraeli must be claimed as its architect. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ lord beaconsfield's statue. the statue erected to the memory of the earl of beaconsfield in parliament square is annually decorated, on "primrose day" (april ) with palms and flowers, and vendors of primroses drive a busy trade in "button-holes" amongst the onlookers. a similar tribute is annually paid to the memory of general gordon, whose statue stands in the centre of trafalgar square; and for the last two years the nelson column itself has, on "trafalgar day," been hung with festoons of evergreens.] [sidenote: military revolt in egypt.] for some time previous to this, affairs in egypt had not been running smoothly under the dual control. a military party had been formed, under the lead of ahmed arabi bey, calling itself national, but really military, aiming at the effacement of the khedive and the fulfilment of the shadowy purpose of "egypt for the egyptians." various disturbances took place in alexandria during , but in may matters wore such a threatening aspect that the allied english and french fleets were sent to anchor off that city. the khedive, in his extremity, had promoted arabi to be war minister, who used his power to put the fortifications of alexandria in a thorough state of defence and began massing troops in the town. on july admiral sir beauchamp seymour, commanding the british fleet, warned arabi that unless these warlike preparations were discontinued, he should be obliged to open fire. no notice being taken of this, ships were provided for the safety of european inhabitants, and on the th the british ultimatum was sent, demanding the instant cessation of the works of defence and their surrender to the british flag. arabi having failed to comply with this also, the british ships, consisting of eight powerful ironclads and five gun-vessels, cleared for action and took up their positions, the french fleet retiring to port said. the bombardment began on the morning of july , briskly replied to by the guns in the forts, and continued all day till . p.m. resumed next day, it was continued at intervals till the afternoon, when it was found that, under cover of a flag of truce, arabi had withdrawn his troops and abandoned the forts and town. a frightful scene began directly military authority was withdrawn: the populace broke loose, pillaging and firing the shops and houses, and massacring about , europeans who had not availed themselves of the opportunity to escape. arabi, the khedive's war minister, was at the head of the khedive's army, yet great britain assumed the task of dispersing this army in order to re-conquer the country for the khedive. [illustration: _sir j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ a "self-denying" policy! françois (our ally): "c'est tres bien fait, mon cher jean! you 'ave done ze vork! voyons, mon ami; i shall share viz you ze glory!"] [sidenote: battles of kassassin and tel-el-kebir.] to the unofficial mind the reasons for the destruction of alexandria and the invasion of egypt remain somewhat vague; mr. gladstone, however, found little difficulty in persuading the house of commons to entrust him with a vote of credit for £ , , ; and towards the end of august an army, consisting of about , of all arms and ranks, landed on the mediterranean shores of egypt; subsequently reinforced by , more. in addition to these, there was an indian contingent landed from the south, consisting of nearly , men, making the total strength of the british land forces in egypt , men, under the command-in-chief of sir garnet wolseley. it was found on landing, on august , that the enemy had placed dams across the canal to cut off the water supply, and it became necessary to dislodge him from his position at tel-el-mahuta. this was effected without much difficulty on august , the egyptian troops, about , strong, showing little inclination for fighting. general graham then advanced, on the th, with , men, to seize kassassin lock, which controlled the supply of fresh water. here he was attacked, on the th, by a greatly superior force, and for a time the british were in a critical position. general graham, however, managed to hold his own, and heliographed for reinforcements, which arrived in good time. the egyptians fought well during the afternoon, but at sunset sir baker russell led up the household cavalry, the th dragoon guards, and horse artillery, with four guns, and a brilliant charge of these fine troops threw the enemy into confusion, causing him to break and fly from the field. the total british loss was only eleven killed and sixty-eight wounded. [illustration: _j. richards._} {_from the collection of sir henry ewart._ kassassin: the charge of the household cavalry.] arabi held a strongly-fortified position at tel-el-kebir. on september he attempted a reconnaissance, with , men and twenty-four guns, but was driven back with the loss of some of his guns. tel-el-kebir offered a front to the british advance of about four miles of earthworks, with redoubts at intervals carrying guns. the flanks were protected by similar works. wolseley struck his camp on the evening of september , and advanced during the night with , cavalry, , infantry, and sixty guns. at dawn on the th general graham's brigade on the right, and sir archibald alison's highland brigade on the left, were within a quarter of a mile of the egyptian lines. an irregular fire was opened upon them; they dashed forward to the assault, scaled the outer defences, bayonetted the gunners, paused to re-form, and advanced against the inner and stronger works. it remains a question of honourable rivalry which were first inside the egyptian position, the highlanders on the left or graham's infantry on the right. at all events, within half an hour the whole of arabi's defences were captured, his army was routed and flying under pressure of the british cavalry. the british loss in this well-managed affair was very slight, considering the strength of the position and the strength of arabi's army, supposed to amount to about , men. eleven officers and forty-three men were killed, and twenty-two officers and men wounded. the egyptian loss was believed to be about , ; of prisoners, , were taken, with sixty guns. the campaign was practically over. arabi's troops disbanded themselves, and arabi himself was arrested in cairo. being brought to trial as a rebel, he pleaded guilty, and sentence of death was passed on him. this sentence was commuted immediately by the khedive for one of perpetual banishment from egypt. [illustration: _linley sambourne._} {_from "punch."_ field marshal viscount wolseley. son of major garnet wolseley. born near dublin in . commanded the red river expedition of and the ashanti expedition of , and was sent out in as governor of natal and the transvaal, and high commissioner. he commanded the forces in egypt in and again in - .] [illustration: _r. caton woodville._} {_from the royal collection. reproduced by permission of the artist._ the duke of connaught at the battle of tel-el-kebir.] the net result of these events was the withdrawal of the _condominium_ or dual control by england and france, the restoration of the khedive's authority, and the reconstruction of the administrative and social system. but the british continued to occupy egypt as security for the pacific fulfilment of the reforms insisted on by the english plenipotentiary, lord dufferin. [illustration: _lady butler._} {_by permission of the artist, and of messrs. graves, publishers of the large engraving._ after the battle: arrival of lord wolseley and staff at the bridge of tel-el-kebir.] chapter xvi. - . imprisonment of irish members of parliament--assassination of lord frederick cavendish and mr. burke--prevalence of outrages in ireland--a new coercion bill--trial and execution of the phoenix park murderers--the dynamite conspiracy--corrupt practices act--the affairs of egypt--general gordon sent to khartoum--gordon besieged--inaction of the government--relief of khartoum undertaken--too late!--death of gordon--lord wolseley's campaign--abandonment of the soudan--mr. gladstone's reform bill--the question of redistribution of seats--the frontier question in afghanistan--defeat of ministers on the budget and their resignation--lord salisbury's first administration--dissolution of parliament--the irish party and the balance of power--mr. gladstone's third administration--his conversion to home rule--rupture of the liberal party--the home rule bill rejected--dissolution of parliament--unionist victory--lord salisbury's second administration--lord randolph churchill resigns--the round table conference. [sidenote: imprisonment of irish members.] the effort made by the government to conciliate the hostility of the people of ireland by the land act did not at first offer much prospect of success. there was no diminution in the tyranny of the land league or in the number of cruel outrages traceable to that organisation. a cabinet council was summoned hurriedly early in october , the result of which was the arrest of mr. parnell and two other members of parliament under the protection of life and property act, and their imprisonment in kilmainham. they remained in confinement as "suspects" until may , , when they were released unconditionally, a step which led to the immediate resignation of earl cowper, the lord lieutenant of ireland, and his chief secretary, mr. forster. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ herbert spencer. born in derby . educated as a civil engineer, but abandoned that profession in favour of literature and philosophy. he was one of the earliest exponents of the doctrine of evolution.] [sidenote: assassination of lord frederick cavendish and mr. burke.] there was great jubilation over this among the nationalists. it was a distinct surrender on the part of the government to the party of separation: and the suppressed land league was revived openly under the name of the national league. the response to the new policy of conciliation and condonement came in terrible fashion. earl cowper and mr. forster had been succeeded in the lord lieutenancy and chief secretaryship by earl spencer and lord frederick cavendish. on may the last-named gentleman, a brother of the present duke of devonshire, after attending the installation of his chief, took a car to drive out to the chief secretary's lodge. overtaking mr. burke, a permanent official at the castle, lord frederick dismissed his car and walked on with him through the phoenix park. it was a fine spring evening, between seven and eight o'clock; just as they were passing an opening in the trees on their right, giving a view of the viceregal lodge, two men came along the path to meet them. one of them, brady, a man of immense size and strength, stooped down as if to tie his shoe-lace. as the two gentlemen passed him, he sprang erect, gripped mr. burke by the waist, and stabbed him in the back. the other ruffian, kelly, slashed burke across the throat as he fell. lord frederick, attempting to defend his friend with an umbrella, received a fatal thrust in the breast from brady's knife, and fell dead also. [illustration: _orlando norrie._} {_from the royal collection._ distribution of egyptian war medals by her majesty the queen at windsor, november , .] on the th of the following month a gentleman called walter bourke, riding with a soldier as escort near gort, was shot at, and both were killed; and in like manner, on the th, mr. blake, a land agent, and his steward, mr. keene, were murdered by concealed assassins near lough rea. ireland had come to a desperate condition; it was garrisoned with not less than , cavalry and infantry and , mounted constabulary, yet the executive seemed powerless to cope with an almost universal conspiracy against life and property. the murdered cavendish was succeeded as chief secretary by mr. g. o. trevelyan, and the first act of the government was to introduce a fresh coercion bill, of extraordinary severity, creating special tribunals for the trial of suspects and criminals, conferring rights of search on the police, and giving further powers for dealing with incitement to crime. the bill was vehemently opposed by mr. parnell and his party; nevertheless, the government pursued their apparently hopeless policy of conciliation by introducing and carrying through the arrears of rent bill, whereby about two millions of money was applied to release irish tenants of a moiety of the liabilities which the land league had forbidden them to fulfil, and the balance of arrears was wiped out at the expense of landlords. [illustration: _sir j. d. linton, p.r.i._} {_from the royal collection._ . the queen. , . the bride and bridegroom. . prince of wales. . grand duke of hesse. . princess beatrice. . princess of wales with her three daughters. , . duke and duchess of edinburgh. , . duke and duchess of teck. . duke of cambridge. . prince edward of saxe-weimar. . princess victoria of hesse. . archbishop of canterbury. . dean wellesley. . king of the netherlands. , . the bride's parents. . queen of the netherlands. the marriage of the duke of albany and princess helen of waldeck and pyrmont at st. george's chapel, windsor, april , .] [sidenote: trial and execution of the phoenix park murderers.] the additional powers conferred on the police by the crimes act of resulted in the capture of the gang who had planned and carried out the murders in the phoenix park. in january seventeen persons were arrested in dublin, and on one of them, farrell, turning informer, it came out that they were members of a secret society. their principal object had been to make away with mr. w. e. forster when he was chief secretary, and on various occasions he had escaped assassination by what seemed the narrowest chances. among those arrested was james carey, who had given the signal for the murder of burke by raising a white handkerchief, and who turned queen's evidence. he was allowed to go free after the trial, while five of his gang were hanged, the remainder being sentenced to various terms of penal servitude. finally, this bloody chapter was brought to a close in the murder of carey himself, by a man named o'donnell, who had travelled in the same ship with him to cape town. o'donnell was brought home to england and hanged early in december. [sidenote: the dynamite conspiracy.] while the trial of the phoenix park assassins was proceeding, another formidable conspiracy was brought to light. a gang of irish-americans had come to this country with the object of terrorising the government by a series of explosions of nitro-glycerine. on the evening of march , , part of the local government board offices in whitehall was wrecked by the explosion of a canister of dynamite placed inside one of the balustrades. simultaneously, another explosion took place at the office of the _times_, in printing house square. by the help of informers, the police were enabled to arrest a number of persons in london, birmingham, and glasgow, all of whom were brought to trial, and most of them proved to be active agents in a heinous conspiracy against life and property. the formidable power which modern explosives had brought within the reach of secret societies made it necessary to make the law dealing with such crimes more stringent, and sir william harcourt, the home secretary, on april , introduced a bill to cope with what he termed "the pirates of the human race." he assured the house that the danger was so grave and imminent that the bill must pass through all its stages on that day. it was read a first, a second time, passed through committee, and was read a third time, all within little more than an hour. taken up to the lords on the same evening, it was dispatched there with equal promptitude, and received the royal assent next day--an example of rapid legislation almost without parallel. [sidenote: corrupt practices act.] a much-needed boon was conferred this year ( ) upon parliamentary candidates in the passage of the corrupt practices at elections bill. the old and evil electioneering traditions were put an end to now by the statutory measure introduced by the attorney-general, sir henry james (now lord james of hereford); a statutory and moderate limit to candidates' expenses, based on the number of electors in each constituency, was fixed, which might not be exceeded on pain of voiding the election. [sidenote: the affairs of egypt.] the government were called upon early in to realise the full weight of the responsibility they had assumed in regard to egyptian affairs. the mahomedan arabs of the soudan had been brought under egyptian rule in ; gross misgovernment had brought about bitter disaffection, and the troubles of lower egypt before and during arabi's revolt, afforded these wild tribes an opportunity for throwing off the yoke. mohamed ahmed appeared among them as the mahdi, or redeemer, who, besides being a religious enthusiast, was a daring and skilful commander in the field. in the egyptian government sent an army of about , men under command of colonel hicks, a retired officer of the indian army, to restore the khedive's authority in the equatorial provinces. this force was attacked on november in a rocky defile; for three days they defended themselves; on the fourth their ammunition was all spent, and every man in the egyptian army, with many british officers, perished. of course, this tremendous victory was accepted by the arabs as complete proof of the mahdi's divine mission: the insurrection spread like wildfire, and the khedive, acting under advice of the british government, decided not to attempt the re-conquest of these provinces. [illustration: marine engines in the erecting shop at clydebank. the clydebank works cover an area of acres, and employ , workmen.] [sidenote: general gordon sent to khartoum.] but the relief of sinkat, tokar, khartoum, and other stations, garrisoned by egyptian troops under command of european officers, was imperative. expeditions to the relief of the two places first named were attacked by the arabs and cut to pieces, and instructions were telegraphed for the immediate evacuation of khartoum. but in khartoum there were not less than , persons, many of them christians and many in the egyptian civil service, and to transport these safely down the nile would be an operation of exceeding difficulty and hazard. general gordon, commonly called "chinese gordon," a man of remarkable character, happened to be in london at the time, preparing to start for the congo in the service of the king of the belgians. he had been governor of the soudan in , under ismail, and to him the british government appealed in their perplexity. he readily consented to throw up his engagement under the king of the belgians, and to proceed to khartoum, telegraphing to the garrison of that place: "you are men, not women. be not afraid. i am coming." meanwhile, the mahdi had scored another signal success. baker pasha, formerly a well-known officer in the english cavalry, advanced in january, with a force of , , to the relief of tokar and sinkat; he was attacked near trinkitat and overwhelmed; his half-trained egyptians fled, and were cut down to the number of , , and sixteen european officers perished. then sinkat fell, the throats of all the garrison being cut, and tokar surrendered. [illustration: shears for cutting hot slabs of steel. these shears, photographed at the works of the glasgow iron and steel company, are capable of cutting through solid steel slabs feet wide and inches thick. the slabs travel over the "live rollers" in the floor to and from the shears. the use of steel in large quantities, both for shipbuilding and for the making of rails, was rendered possible by the introduction of the "bessemer process" (named after its inventor, sir henry bessemer) in . steel which had hitherto cost £ or £ a ton, now cost but £ or £ , and rapidly superseded iron. the bessemer "converter" has, however, itself given place to the siemens open-hearth furnace.] the safety of lower egypt being threatened by the mahdi's continued success, the british government undertook the defence of a frontier line drawn through souakim. general graham ascended the nile with about , troops, and inflicted a severe defeat on the arabs, under osman digna, at el teb, on february . again, on march , graham attacked osman digna's camp at tamai, captured, and gave it to the flames. [illustration: launching an atlantic liner at messrs. harland and wolff's, belfast.] [illustration: framing and plating sheds, showing machinery for drilling holes in steel plates for shipbuilding. the works of messrs. harland and wolff, which, some forty years ago covered two or three acres, and employed a couple of hundred men, now cover nearly eighty acres, and pay wages amounting to £ , to £ , per week. the tonnage of the vessels built during amounted to , tons, considerably more than the output of all the five government yards.] [sidenote: gordon besieged.] general gordon reached khartoum on february . finding that things were even worse than he expected, he decided to avail himself of the services of zebehr pasha, and telegraphed to cairo for the government to allow him to come. sir evelyn baring strongly advised that consent should be given, but zebehr was of evil repute as a slave-driving chief; stringent instructions were sent from london that he was on no account to be employed, and that if he attempted to join gordon he was to be detained by force. the mahdi's forces invested khartoum on march . gordon, who had to contend with treachery inside the walls, as well as the open enemy outside, displayed extraordinary energy and ingenuity in defence, continuing to send urgent appeals for assistance, both for khartoum and for berber, which was also beleaguered. berber fell before the end of may; still the british government turned a deaf ear to gordon's messages. at last the gallant general appealed from the government to the "millionaires of england and america" to send him money enough to raise , or , turkish troops to save khartoum. it is, perhaps, well that by the beginning of may the enemy had gathered so closely round khartoum that lord granville's response never reached gordon. it was to the effect that her majesty's government was not prepared to supply either turkish or any other troops for military expeditions, and gordon was reminded that the mission he had undertaken was of a pacific nature! but the spirit of the british people was galled by the indifference shown by the government to the fate of their devoted servant; expressions of indignation grew louder and more frequent both in parliament and in the press, and, at last, early in august, a vote of credit for £ , was obtained for the purpose of "preparations, as distinct from operations," for a possible expedition to khartoum. lord wolseley went out to view the military aspect of affairs, and before long a strong force was ascending the nile. [illustration: a. col. frank rhodes. b. general sir herbert stewart (mortally wounded). c. col. talbot. _r. caton woodville._} {_from the royal collection, by permission of the artist._ too late! after a gallant dash across the desert, the small force under general stewart arrived within striking distance of khartoum only to find that gordon was dead.] [sidenote: too late!] too late! help had been withheld too long. on the last day of the year a tiny scrap of paper reached the british head-quarters on the nile--"khartoum all right. c. g. gordon. december , "; but on february , , arrived a telegram in london announcing that the place had fallen. when parliament opened, on the th, mr. gladstone endeavoured to excuse the government for their undoubted share in the disaster. "general gordon contentedly forbore," he said, "indeed more than contentedly--he determinedly forebore--to make use of the means of personal safety which were at all times open to him." the words seemed to be swept from the prime minister's lips by a hurricane of indignant exclamations, and he withdrew them. they meant that gordon might have escaped down the river in a steamer, leaving the loyal egyptians in khartoum to their fate. he was not that kind of man. party discipline prevailed to protect the government from overthrow on a vote of censure: they managed to put into their lobby against . khartoum fell on january , , after a siege of days, and after the garrison and townsfolk had endured extreme privations for several weeks. gordon was shot down near the palace, and a horrible massacre followed, in which it was reckoned about , people were butchered. [illustration: _lowes dickinson._} {_by permission of the artist._ general charles g. gordon, - . served in the crimean war, and in china in - . in he took command of a small and heterogeneous force which, as "the ever-victorious army," suppressed the tai-ping rebellion and saved the chinese empire. the story of his mission to khartoum in is told in these pages.] [sidenote: abandonment of the soudan.] lord wolseley's expeditionary force, amounting to about , men, inflicted several defeats on the mahdi's troops, notably at abu klea and gubat. but the british losses were exceptionally severe, not only on account of the invincible courage of the arabs and their desperate mode of fighting, but because of sickness and climate. for example, out of general stewart's desert force of , , no less than thirty officers, including general stewart himself and men perished. the mahdi died of fever in july, and the government decided on withdrawing from the soudan and fixing the frontier of egypt at the second nile cataract. [sidenote: mr. gladstone's reform bill.] it is necessary at this point to revert to the session of . mr. gladstone had resolved on a further extension of the parliamentary electorate by carrying out the equalisation of the county and borough franchise. his bill was received by the conservative opposition with that half-hearted resistance which comes of inward disapproval, tempered by dread of alienating the new electors, whom they were not strong enough to exclude. in the end they took their stand on the ground that no such reform bill should pass without a corollary measure redistributing seats. it passed the commons, but the house of lords declined to consider it until they had the redistribution scheme before them. in vain lord granville pledged the government to introduce a redistribution bill the following year, if their lordships would allow the franchise bill to pass at once. lord salisbury declared that he was not going to discuss redistribution with a rope round his neck. at last, after much wrangling, after the usual denunciations of the house of lords on public platforms, and after sundry processions and demonstrations in london, it was agreed to hang up the franchise bill, prorogue parliament, and call it together in the autumn to consider the complete scheme. this was done accordingly; the franchise bill was passed, and the redistribution bill read a second time, and the committee stage postponed till after the christmas recess. [illustration: _baron h. von angeli._} {_from the royal collection, by permission of mr. franz hanfstaengl._ her majesty the queen wearing the small imperial crown, .] [sidenote: the afghan frontier.] but before that subject could be taken up again, the troubles of the government had multiplied. not only had khartoum fallen, thereby rendering the nile expedition as fruitless as it was costly, but the violation by the russians of the afghan frontier, seemed to render war with russia all but inevitable, if our treaty engagements were to be held sacred. "the house will not be surprised," said the prime minister, referring to the defeat of the amir's troops by general komaroff, "when i say, speaking with measured words in circumstances of great gravity, that to us ... this attack bears the appearance of an unprovoked aggression." still more profound grew the conviction that the country was on the eve of a great war when, on april , mr. gladstone came down to the house to ask for a vote of credit for £ , , . but he did not tell the house, in the course of a magnificent and most stirring speech, that the government practically had averted the danger by recalling sir peter lumsden, the british commissioner in afghanistan, thereby condoning the offence of the russians which he (mr. gladstone) had denounced already as "unprovoked aggression." [sidenote: defeat and resignation of ministers.] all parliamentary business, it was understood, including, the redistribution of seats, was to be speedily disposed of in order to make an early appeal to the constituencies under the new franchise. but, in an unlucky hour for his colleagues, the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. childers, decided to include in his budget provision for increasing the duties on beer and spirits. there is no more perfectly organised body than the licensed victuallers; none whom ordinary members are more unblushingly anxious to conciliate on the eve of a general election. early in june the government were beaten on mr. childers' proposal by a majority of twelve votes, and resigned. [illustration: _r. caton woodville._} {_from the royal collection._ marriage of the princess beatrice to prince henry of battenberg, at whippingham church, july , . the queen and the bride are accompanied on either side by the prince and princess of wales. the bridegroom is supported by prince francis joseph of battenberg and prince alexander of bulgaria. the bridesmaids are the princesses louise, victoria and maud of wales, princesses marie, victoria and alexandra of edinburgh, princesses irene and alix of hesse, and princesses victoria and louise of schleswig-holstein. the archbishop (benson) of canterbury and canon prothero officiate.] [sidenote: lord salisbury's first administration.] the queen accepted mr. gladstone's resignation by telegram, and entrusted lord salisbury with the task of forming a new cabinet. no easy duty on the brink of a general election, even had the conservative party been at peace within itself. but it was far from being so: a determined revolt was being conducted by lord randolph churchill and his sympathisers--the "rapier and rosette" tories--against sir stafford northcote's ineffective leadership. amiable, cultivated, experienced, and sagacious as he was, northcote had failed to gain the confidence of the combative spirits in his party, who recognised their real captain in the brilliant but erratic churchill. lord salisbury solved the difficulty of uniting these discordant elements by removing northcote to the lords, with the title of earl of iddesleigh and the office of first lord of the treasury, placing churchill in the cabinet as secretary of state for india, and committing the leadership of the commons to sir michael hicks-beach as chancellor of the exchequer. [illustration: representative coins of the reign. , . sovereign, first issue. . florin, first issue. . crown piece, . , . "godless" florin (the words "dei gratiâ" being omitted from the legend). . sovereign, second issue. . £ piece, jubilee issue. , , . double florin, half-crown and shilling, jubilee issue. , . half-crown, new issue. , . florin and shilling, new issue. . maundy fourpenny piece. . bronze penny, . *** the queen's head is the same (except in scale) on all coins of the same issue.] this "cabinet of caretakers" had but a short existence. the new ministry met parliament on july , and finished the necessary work of the session in six weeks. it was understood that parliament was to be dissolved in time for a general election in november. it proved a restless autumn. in almost every constituency canvassing and speech-making went on without intermission for three months, mr. gladstone leading the van with his third midlothian campaign. he gave no countenance to the demand for irish home rule; on the contrary, he implored the british electors to return such a liberal majority as should render his party independent of the irish vote in parliament. in response to this flashed out a general order from parnell, directing irishmen in english and scottish constituencies to vote solid against the liberals, who had "coerced ireland and deluged egypt with blood." the irish leader's policy was to keep the two great parties balanced by the home rule vote, and the result of the elections was as nicely adjusted as that skilled tactician could have desired; liberals returned to the new parliament were exactly balanced by conservatives and home rulers. [illustration: a coin no longer seen. the copper penny of the early years of the reign.] [sidenote: mr. gladstone's third administration.] of course, when parliament re-assembled in february , it was merely a question of how many weeks or days should precede the downfall of a ministry in such a hopeless minority in the commons. meanwhile strange rumours had been in circulation that mr. gladstone had decided to accept the doctrine of home rule for ireland, against which he and his party had fought hitherto with as much obstinacy as the conservatives. on december the sketch of a scheme attributed to him appeared in some of the newspapers, and, in spite of an ambiguous disclaimer from himself, people gradually became aware that mr. gladstone had resolved to extricate his party from their subjection to the irish party in parliament by the astounding expedient of granting the essence of their demands. [illustration: the britannia tubular bridge across the menai straits. designed by robert stephenson and sir william fairbairn, and opened in . it is , feet in length, and feet above the water. the widest spans are each feet.] lord salisbury's government fell on january : mr. gladstone became prime minister, and in his cabinet were included some of his colleagues who had pronounced most emphatically and most recently against home rule, although the lords hartington, derby, and selborne stood significantly aloof. the mine was laid: the only indication of the coming explosion was the resignation, on march , by mr. chamberlain and mr. trevelyan of their seats in the cabinet. the train was fired on april , when mr. gladstone introduced his bill for the better government of ireland. the permanent furniture of the house of commons does not permit of more than some out of its members being seated within its walls. an attempt was made to admit the presence of a larger number to hear the explanation of this most momentous measure; even so, only seventy or eighty additional seats could be provided by filling the floor of the chamber with chairs. probably there never was such a scene of anxious expectation in the modern history of parliament. [sidenote: dissolution of parliament.] the division on the second reading was taken on june , the corresponding monday to that on which mr. gladstone's previous administration had fallen in . ninety-three liberals voted against the bill, and ministers were left in a minority of thirty. the liberal party was rent from summit to base, not less completely than the conservatives had been torn asunder by the action of their leader in . the prime minister advised the queen to dissolve parliament. sudden and sharp was the appeal; firm and not to be misunderstood was the response. mr. gladstone went out on his fourth midlothian campaign, and encountered no difficulty in retaining his own seat, as no opponent came forward to challenge it. but the country turned a deaf ear to his appeal. it preferred to listen to lord randolph churchill's characteristic denunciation of the home rule bill, than which he vowed that "the united and concentrated genius of bedlam and colney hatch would strive in vain to produce a more striking tissue of absurdities." he declared that the real reason they were asked to accept such a measure was only, "to gratify the ambition of an old man in a hurry." the result of the elections showed conservatives, liberal unionists, official liberals, and parnellites: or a majority in the new house of against mr. gladstone's irish policy. [sidenote: lord salisbury's second administration.] when the queen sent for lord salisbury, he invited lord hartington to join him in forming a coalition cabinet; but the time for that was not yet--a purely conservative ministry, therefore, was formed. everything promised fair for the endurance of lord salisbury's second administration, but a rude shock was in store for it almost on the threshold of its career. [illustration: the forth bridge. this bridge, rather more than a mile in length (the principal spans being , feet each), was designed by sir john fowler and sir benjamin baker. it was commenced in , and opened by the prince of wales in . it contains about , tons of siemens steel, and cost over £ , , .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ the tower bridge: the raising of the bascules on the opening day. the bridge, which cost over £ , , was commenced in , and opened by the prince of wales, june , . the bascules each weigh , tons.] [sidenote: lord randolph churchill resigns.] [sidenote: the round table conference.] by far the most striking figure in the conservative ranks of the house of commons was lord randolph churchill. he became chancellor of the exchequer in the new cabinet and leader of the house of commons. right well he led it through the six weeks of autumn session following on the elections. his admirers were delighted--his critics reconciled--by his adroit exchange of the manners of a political bravo for those of a responsible statesman; and that, too, without sacrifice of power in debate or pungency in retort. what was the dismay of ministerialists when, in a moment of caprice, impatient because he could not get exactly his own way on a question of military and naval expenditure, churchill threw up his office and left the cabinet! this happened in december ; active negotiations were going on at the time for the redintegration of the old liberal party. mr. chamberlain and sir george trevelyan, as unionists, had consented to confer with sir william harcourt and mr. john morley, as home rulers, at a "round table," under the presidency of lord herschell (also a home ruler). in the opinion of most people, the return of at least half the liberal unionists to their former allegiance might be expected, as the outcome of this conference. the stability of the ministry, therefore, was peculiarly jeopardised by any appearance of internal disunion at this juncture. the crisis passed over in safety. mr. goschen, an old colleague of mr. gladstone, having been first lord of the admiralty in his first administration, now determined to throw in his lot with the unionists, and accepted the office vacated by lord randolph. the round table conference separated without having found a basis of agreement, and the main body of liberal unionists remained staunch in support of ministers. the question still remained--who was to lead the house of commons? the answer was a remarkable one. mr. w. h. smith, in spite of the mediocrity of his powers of oratory, had risen to very high office in successive conservative cabinets. as a man of business his reputation was unsurpassed, and he had secured the respect and confidence of all sections of the house of commons by his well-known indifference to office and independence of its emoluments. upon him the choice fell; he exchanged the post of secretary for war for that of first lord of the treasury, and justified his appointment by leading the house of commons with admirable temper and judgment during five trying sessions. [illustration: _from photograph_} {_by e. ward._ manchester ship canal and barton aqueduct. the canal, - / miles long, which has made manchester practically a sea-port, was commenced in and opened by her majesty the queen in . it cost - / million pounds. the bridgwater canal is carried across it in a swinging aqueduct at barton. the lower illustration shows the aqueduct partially swung open; the ends of the water-way are of course closed and a barge may be seen therein, whilst the horse drawing it is on the tow path above. the ship canal is seen beneath.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by e. ward, manchester._ barton aqueduct.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the royal procession on jubilee day passing hyde park corner.] chapter xvii. - . adoption of the closure by the house of commons--the queen's jubilee--thanksgiving service in westminster abbey--the imperial institute--"parnellism and crime"--appointment of special commission of judges--their report--fall of parnell--disruption of the irish party--deaths of parnell and w. h. smith--the baring crisis--the local government bill--establishment of county councils--free education--death of the duke of clarence--general election--mr. gladstone's fourth midlothian campaign--the newcastle programme--victory of home rulers--the second home rule bill--its rejection by the lords--parish councils and employers' liability acts--mr. gladstone resigns the leadership--lord rosebery becomes prime minister--disunion of ministerialists--defeat and resignation of the government--lord salisbury's third administration--general election--unionist triumph--the eastern question--massacres in armenia--lord rosebery resigns the leadership--trouble in the transvaal--dr. jameson's raid--the german emperor's message--the venezuelan dispute--president cleveland's message. the session of was an exceedingly laborious one in the house of commons. the debate on the address, prolonged by all the arts of obstruction to inordinate length, furnished a convincing argument that further changes in the rules of procedure were indispensable if the house were to retain any control whatever over its own business, and these rules, including that regulating the application of the closure, were remodelled and adopted after long and heated discussion. [sidenote: the queen's jubilee.] [sidenote: thanksgiving service in westminster abbey.] in pleasing contrast to the heat and rancour of proceedings within the walls of parliament were those organised throughout the country to celebrate the completion of the fiftieth year of queen victoria's reign. the weather throughout the summer months was of exceptional splendour, as if to give emphasis to the popular term "queen's weather." london lay for weeks under a cloudless sky, and no day in the year was more perfect than jubilee day, june . on that morning the queen went in procession from buckingham palace to westminster abbey to attend a thanksgiving service, accompanied by a number of european monarchs, princes, and distinguished persons, as well as by many indian potentates, gorgeously attired in many-coloured silks and jewels. temporary galleries, fitted up in the abbey church, afforded seats for peers and members of parliament and officers of the army, navy, and civil service, and, as the wearing of uniforms was obligatory, the display of bright colour was such as may very seldom be seen in great britain. the coronation chair was set on a daïs covered with red cloth, between the sacrarium and the choir, and here the queen took her seat with the robes of state placed on her shoulders while the service, which lasted just an hour, was performed. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ the jubilee procession passing down regent street. the escort of princes in the foreground: the indian escort immediately precedes the royal carriage.] [sidenote: the imperial institute.] it would be impossible, within reasonable limits, even to mention the various schemes started, institutions founded, or funds set on foot to commemorate the royal jubilee of . of these the most conspicuous outwardly has taken the form of that pile of architecture in south kensington, known as the imperial institute, in the foundation, permanent organisation, and direction of which the prince of wales has taken as energetic a part as his father had done in the temporary exhibition of . [illustration: _t. s. c. crowther._} the jubilee service in westminster abbey, june , . the most conspicuous figures on the queen's right are the prince of wales and the crown prince of germany (afterwards the emperor frederick), and to her left the crown princess and the princess of wales.] [sidenote: "parnellism and crime."] [sidenote: appointment of special commission of judges.] during this year a series of events took their rise out of the publication in the _times_ of a number of articles headed "parnellism and crime," in which mr. parnell and his colleagues were charged with active complicity in the long prevalence of outrage and terrorism in ireland. the _facsimile_ of a letter, purporting to be written by parnell, was published on april , containing the following sentence, referring to the phoenix park murders:--"though i regret the accident of lord f. cavendish's death, i cannot refuse to admit that burke got no more than his deserts." this letter was repudiated by parnell in his place in the house of commons; but the government resisted a motion to the effect that the _times_, in publishing these articles, had been guilty of breach of privilege. mr. gladstone then moved for a select committee to enquire into the truth of the charges, but this also was refused by the government. the request for a select committee was renewed in the following year by mr. parnell, in order to enquire into the authenticity of certain letters produced in an action for libel brought against the proprietors of the _times_ by mr. o'donnell, one of mr. parnell's followers. mr. w. h. smith stated, in reply (july ), that, in the opinion of the government, a select committee of the house of commons was not a suitable tribunal to try charges arising out of the action of political parties, but that the government were willing to appoint a special commission of judges to enquire into the whole allegations. unfortunately, the debates on the bill necessary to constitute this commission were excessively heated. the fact, an infelicitous one, it must be allowed, that the attorney-general, a member of the government, had acted as leading counsel for the _times_ in the late trial, gave colour to the unfounded charge that the government had been acting all along in collusion with the _times_. [illustration: _s. t. dadd._} {_from photographs by russell & sons, baker street._ the opening of the imperial institute by her majesty the queen, may , : the royal procession.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ the imperial institute.] [illustration: _l. tuxen._} {_from the royal collection, by permission of mr. mendoza, st. james's gallery, king street, st. james's, owner of the copyright._ her majesty the queen and the royal family. painted on the occasion of her majesty's jubilee in . . her majesty the queen. . the prince of wales. . the princess of wales. . prince albert victor. . prince george of wales. . princess louise of wales. . princess victoria of wales. . princess maud of wales. . crown princess of germany. . crown prince of germany. . prince william of prussia. . princess william of prussia. . prince frederick william of prussia. . the hereditary princess of saxe-meiningen. . the hered. prince of saxe-meiningen. . princess theodore of saxe-meiningen. . prince henry of prussia. . princess irene of hesse. . princess victoria of prussia. . princess sophie of prussia. . princess margaret of prussia. . the grand duke of hesse. . princess louis of battenberg. . prince louis of battenberg. . princess alice of battenberg. . the grand duchess eliza of russia. . the grand duke serge of russia. . the hereditary grand duke of hesse. . princess alix of hesse. . the duke of edinburgh. . the duchess of edinburgh. . prince alfred of edinburgh. . princess marie of edinburgh. . princess victoria melita of edinburgh. . princess alexandra of edinburgh. . princess beatrice of edinburgh. . princess christian of schleswig-holstein, princess helena of great britain and ireland. . prince christian of schleswig-holstein. . prince christian victor of schleswig-holstein. . prince albert of schleswig-holstein. . princess victoria of schleswig-holstein. . princess louise of schleswig-holstein. . princess louise, marchioness of lorne. . the marquis of lorne. . the duke of connaught. . the duchess of connaught. . princess margaret of connaught. . prince arthur of connaught. . princess victoria beatrice patricia of connaught. . the duchess of albany. . princess alice of albany. . prince charles edward, duke of albany. . princess beatrice, princess henry of battenberg. . prince henry of battenberg. . prince alexander albert of battenberg.] [sidenote: their report.] the commission consisted of sir james hannen, sir j. c. day, and sir a. l. smith. once more the attorney-general appeared as leading counsel for the _times_, and from the outset the enquiry had all the appearance of a ministerial impeachment of certain irish members. the exposure of the atrocious character of pigott, one of the chief witnesses relied on by the _times_, and his subsequent suicide, caused that part of the charge which depended on the authenticity of certain letters attributed to parnell to be abandoned. the judgment of the commission was not delivered until february , . while exonerating the irish members from some of the heaviest charges made against them by the _times_, and pronouncing the _facsimile_ letter to be a forgery, it was to the effect, _inter alia_, that ( ) they had joined a conspiracy to promote by coercion and intimidation an agrarian agitation against the payment of rent, in order to expel "the english garrison" of landlords from ireland; ( ) that they had disseminated newspapers tending to incite to the commission of crime; ( ) that although some of the respondents did express _bonâ fide_ disapproval of crime and outrage, they all persisted in the system of intimidation which led to crime, with knowledge of its effect; ( ) that they made payments to procure the escape of criminals from justice and to compensate persons injured in the commission of crime, and ( ) that they invited and obtained assistance and subscriptions from known advocates of crime and dynamite. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ the speaker of the house of commons, with his train-bearer.] on the whole, the prestige of the government was greatly compromised by its connection with this great trial, and the _times_ paid £ , solatium to mr. parnell on account of the libel. parliament was prorogued early, on august , , in order to meet again before christmas to take up the irish land bill and the tithes bill, which had been sacrificed for want of time. the prospects of a discredited government in meeting an exhilarated opposition were far from auspicious, but an unexpected event in the interval altered the whole scene. a divorce suit was brought against mr. parnell by captain o'shea, formerly one of his party in parliament, but latterly known to have departed from his allegiance, and the co-respondent in the suit allowed judgment to go against him without offering any defence. [sidenote: fall of parnell.] in no other country, perhaps, has the private misconduct of a public man such fatal effect on his career as in great britain, where flagrant immorality proved against a statesman puts an immediate end to his reputation and influence. parnell fell; parnell, who for sixteen years had led the irish party with unswerving will and undisputed authority; parnell, whose sagacious leadership had brought the vision of home rule to the very brink of accomplishment. mr. gladstone wrote that, in his opinion, mr. parnell's "continuance at the present moment in the leadership would be productive of consequences disastrous in the highest degree to the cause of ireland." the ecclesiastical authorities in ireland pronounced against him, and the weight of priestly authority in the political affairs of that country can hardly be overestimated. the irish party in parliament was divided. the majority of forty-five, henceforth known as anti-parnellites, renounced their old chief at a stormy meeting in committee room of the house of commons; but the minority of twenty-six remained staunch. the crisis saved the government. [illustration: _g. f. watts._} {_photographed by f. hollyer._ lord leighton, p.r.a., - . frederick leighton was born at scarborough. painter, sculptor, musician, and polished orator, he will long be remembered as the ideal president of the royal academy. the portrait represents him in his robes as d. c. l.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ sir john everett millais, p.r.a., - . born at southampton; exhibited his first picture in , and in became a member of the "pre-raphaelite brotherhood" with rossetti, holman hunt, f. madox brown, and others. elected president of the royal academy on the death of lord leighton, he survived him only six months.] [sidenote: deaths of parnell and w. h. smith.] parnell died on october , . on the same day the queen lost one of her most devoted servants, and the house of commons its leader, in the person of william henry smith, whose health had broken down under the strain of constant attention to the ever-increasing work of parliament. added to this anxiety came the financial crisis brought about by the failure, in november , of the great house of the barings to meet their enormous liability of £ , , . the stability of the whole of british finance was threatened, but the governors of the bank of england came to the rescue, undertaking the liquidation of the concern and opening a guarantee fund, which was subscribed readily, and thus the disaster was averted. [sidenote: county councils.] the two measures by which lord salisbury's second administration will remain distinguished in the memory of most people were immediate and exceedingly far-reaching in their effect; that, namely, which revolutionised the whole system of local government by the creation of county councils, and that which rendered elementary education free of payment of school fees. of the first of these measures, mr. ritchie, president of the local government board, was the author, and it was produced during the session of . member though he was of a conservative cabinet, the most ardent radical could not complain that mr. ritchie had not dealt with ancient institutions in a sweeping manner. the levying of county rates, the maintenance of roads and bridges, asylums, the conduct of registrations, and nearly all the duties hitherto reposed in country gentlemen in their capacity of members of quarter sessions, were transferred to purely elective councils chosen by the ratepayers. london, as defined by the metropolis management act, was constituted a county, and the old metropolitan board of works ceased to exist. [sidenote: free education.] free education was given a place in the government programme of , and the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. goschen, was able to produce a surplus of £ , , in his budget--just about the sum estimated as the cost of remitting school fees out of the public funds; half of it was taken in order to render elementary education free from september following. [sidenote: death of the duke of clarence.] the mysterious epidemic which, for want of a more precise term, is known by the italian one of influenza, carried off a very large number of persons in the winter and spring months of , , and . of these the most distinguished by position was the duke of clarence, eldest son of the prince of wales, and consequently ultimate heir to the throne of great britain. he died on january , , shortly before the date fixed for his marriage with the princess may of teck. [illustration: _baron h. von angeli._} {_from the royal collection, by permission of the artist._ her majesty the queen, .] [sidenote: mr. gladstone's fourth midlothian campaign.] the summer of was a period of great political agitation, in preparation for the general election, which was fixed to take place in july. mr. gladstone, notwithstanding his fourscore and two years, set out with no manifestation of failing vigour on his fourth midlothian campaign. the object nearest to his heart was clearly the concession of home rule to ireland; but there was put forward also on behalf of the gladstonian liberal party a scheme of general social legislation, known as the newcastle programme, containing a long list of measures, some of them of a very drastic nature, calculated to attract the support of the labouring classes. the indifference felt by the bulk of english and scottish electors to the establishment of an irish parliament was overborne by the hopes excited among disestablishers, prohibitionists, eight-hours'-day men, land-law reformers, and other enthusiasts, and their votes went to secure the victory for the cause of home rule. the unionists, who had entered office in with a majority of in the house of commons, had suffered so many losses by defection and in by-elections that they could only reckon a majority of sixty-six when parliament was dissolved. this was changed by the general election, into a minority of forty, which was the exact figure by which was carried, when parliament re-assembled in august, a vote of no confidence in lord salisbury's administration, after which mr. gladstone proceeded to form his fourth and last cabinet. [sidenote: the second home rule bill.] on february , , the prime minister proceeded to fulfil his chief pledge to the electorate by introducing his second home rule bill. mr. gladstone's speech lasted two hours and a quarter, a marvellous performance for an octogenarian; and although he failed to excite the same enthusiasm among his followers as was so remarkable on the former occasion, the bill eventually passed the second reading by votes against . but the opposition in committee was so vigorous and sustained, that the government resolved to force the bill through by applying the closure at fixed dates to groups of clauses, so that the whole bill should be through committee by the end of july; and this was effected, after animated resistance had been offered to what was denounced as the "gag." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons, baker street._ the albert memorial chapel, windsor, on the occasion of the funeral of h.r.h. the duke of clarence, january . the duke's coffin stands between the tomb of the prince consort at the further end and that of the duke of albany (who died in ) at this end of the chapel.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by hughes & mullins, ryde._ bringing home the body of h.r.h. prince henry of battenberg. prince henry had volunteered for the expedition to coomassie in the autumn of ; he was taken ill with fever on the march and died on his way home. he was buried in whippingham church, near osborne, february , . the picture represents the transference of the body from h.m.s. _blenheim_ to the royal yacht _alberta_.] [sidenote: its rejection by the lords.] [sidenote: mr. gladstone resigns the leadership.] it was september before the measure reached the upper house, whence it was thrown out by the unprecedented proportion of to votes. among the majority were numbered no less than sixty-two peers whom the queen had created on mr. gladstone's own recommendation. the attention of the ministerial party was then directed to stirring up popular indignation against the house of lords on account of their resistance to the popular will. but it has to be confessed that this appeal evoked remarkably little response. on the other hand, considerable impatience was manifested on the part of many supporters of the government at the general election, on account of the neglect to carry out the multiform promises contained in the newcastle programme. accordingly, parliament was summoned together for a winter session in november in order to consider the parish councils and employers' liability bills. these important measures, which went through the successive stages to completion in the course of , remain the principal achievement of mr. gladstone's last year in the public service. early in his withdrawal from active politics was announced; the leadership of the house of commons devolved upon sir william harcourt, and, although mr. gladstone did not resign his seat for midlothian, he brought to a close a period of sixty-two years' attendance in the house of commons. his last utterance from the treasury bench was a vehement denunciation of the action of the house of lords in dealing with the bills last referred to. [illustration: _r. ponsonby staples._} {_by permission of messrs. graves & co., pall mall._ the house of commons: mr. gladstone introducing the home rule bill, february , . mr. gladstone stands at the table: on the seat behind him are mr. john morley, sir w. harcourt, mr. marjoribanks (now lord tweedmouth), mr. mundella and sir c. russell (lord russell), and mr. herbert gladstone sits in the "gangway." mr. asquith can be seen between mr. gladstone and the clerk at the table. on the front opposition bench, beginning at the further end, are: sir e. clarke, sir r. webster (leaning forward), mr. goschen, mr. balfour, lord randolph churchill, and mr. edward carson.] [sidenote: lord rosebery becomes prime minister.] the removal of such a puissant personality from their head could not but have a serious effect on the ministerial array, composed as it was of such old liberals as had embraced home rule out of confidence in mr. gladstone, new liberals of an extremely democratic type under the nominal lead of mr. labouchere, the labour representatives, parnellites and anti-parnellites (the last-named being further split into sections at war among themselves). on no single subject were these various groups united save in a desire to get home rule out of the way. home rule, indeed, had been disposed of, but not in the only way to satisfy its advocates. the difficulty of the situation was intensified by the successor to mr. gladstone chosen by her majesty. in sending for her foreign minister, the earl of rosebery, she was acting, doubtless, on the advice of mr. gladstone himself, but in the choice of a peer there was abundant cause of dissatisfaction to most of the ministerialists in the house of commons, who had placed the "mending or ending"--preferably the ending--of the house of lords in the forefront of their programme. besides, it was considered by very many that sir william harcourt had done more to earn the leadership of the party than lord rosebery, and it soon became apparent, not only that this appointment was a cause of further disunion in the home rule ranks, but that lord rosebery and sir william harcourt were far from cordial in their official relations. on june , , a listless debate was in progress on the army estimates, the house was far less than half full, when mr. brodrick moved a reduction of £ in the salary of the secretary for war, mr. campbell-bannerman, in order to call attention to the alleged deficiency in the stores of small-arms ammunition. mr. campbell-bannerman offered his personal assurance that the amount in store was adequate, but the opposition declined to accept it in view of the official figures laid before the house. a division was called; there was nothing to indicate the critical nature of it till mr. ellis, the chief ministerial whip, to whom the clerk at the table had handed the paper automatically, passed it on to mr. douglas, the chief opposition whip, when it was found that the government were in a minority of eight-- votes to . [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by hughes & mullins, ryde._ her majesty the queen, january, .] [sidenote: lord salisbury's third administration.] a mishap like this might have passed without immediate effect on the fortunes of the government, had it not been that the form of the amendment carried was one reflecting on the departmental administration of one of the secretaries of state. lord rosebery tendered his resignation, and the queen sent for lord salisbury, who commenced at once to form his third administration. the liberal unionist contingent, with the duke of devonshire as their chief, elected to maintain their organisation independent of their conservative allies; but the ministry was formed by a coalition of the two wings of the unionist party. they approached the general election in july with such confidence of success as very rarely can be entertained under a system of household suffrage; but the result far exceeded their most sanguine calculations. sir william harcourt lost his seat for derby on the first day's polling, the prelude of such discomfiture as has scarcely any parallel in the history of a political party. reckoning the gladstonian or home rule majority in the previous parliament at forty-three, it was converted at the polls of into an unionist majority of . the new ministry, in entering office, found domestic affairs in a very tranquil state; but troubles had been gathering for some time, endangering the peaceful relations of great britain with several foreign powers, which called for the exercise of all lord salisbury's experience and foresight in undertaking once more the administration of foreign affairs. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by hughes & mullins, ryde._ her majesty with her great-grandson prince edward of york, third in the direct line of succession to the throne.] [illustration: _l. tuxen._} {_from the royal collection, by permission of mr. mendoza, st. james's gallery, king street, st. james's, proprietor of the copyright._ the marriage of t.r.h. the duke of york and princess victoria mary (may) of teck, at the chapel royal, st. james's, july , . next the bridegroom is his father, the prince of wales, and the tall figure of the king of denmark is seen between him and the princess of wales. her majesty the queen has on her right the young prince alexander of battenberg and his mother the princess henry; and behind her majesty's chair are prince henry of battenberg and the duke of cambridge. following the line to the right from the duke, we see the duchess of fife, the grand duke of hesse, the duke of fife, prince waldemar of denmark, prince edward of saxe-weimar, prince philip of saxe-coburg and gotha, the lord steward, lord chamberlain, and other officials. the first two bridesmaids are the princesses victoria and maud of wales, then princesses victoria melitia of edinburgh and victoria of schleswig-holstein, and behind them princesses alexandra of edinburgh and victoria patricia of connaught, and on the extreme right of the picture, princesses beatrice of edinburgh and margaret of connaught. the princesses victoria eugenie and alex of battenberg are nearest the spectator, and seated in front is the duchess of teck. in the foreground to the left stands the czarewitch--now czar of russia--with princess louis of battenberg seated on his right, and princess henry of prussia to his left. before him are seated the grand duke and duchess of mecklenburg-strelitz. immediately behind the bride's head is seen the duke of edinburgh; next him, towards the left of the picture, the duchess of edinburgh and the duke of connaught; and towards the right the duchess of connaught and prince christian (next the prince of wales). archbishop benson of canterbury performs the ceremony, the bishop of rochester stands behind him, and nearer the foreground, between the archbishop and the czar, are the duke of teck and two of his sons; the third son, prince alexander george, is seen just behind the czar's shoulder. on the extreme left is prince henry of prussia, and next him prince louis of battenberg, and the sub-dean of the chapels royal.] [sidenote: the eastern question.] the eastern question had passed once more into an acute stage. the incorrigible vices of the government of turkey had led to a series of horrible massacres of the christian subjects of the sultan in armenia. sympathy with the sufferers was readily aroused in this country; mr. gladstone, though no longer in parliament, responded to appeals made to him by various individuals, and wrote a number of letters, in which, though at first he was careful to use no expression to increase lord salisbury's difficulties, he gradually glided into his accustomed vehemence, and indicated his desire that england should take vengeance on the "assassin of europe," single-handed, if need be. in the course of he appeared on a public platform in liverpool, and supported this view with great energy. this precipitated a further calamity on the liberal party, for, in the course of , lord rosebery announced that he differed so strongly from the views expressed by mr. gladstone, and was, besides, so sensible of the want of cordiality in the support given to him by some of his followers, that he felt compelled to resign his leadership. it would be premature to attempt more than brief allusion to events which are still in progress. the insurrection of the cretan subjects of the porte, the invasion of the island by greece, and the war which ensued between turkey and greece, in which the latter so quickly collapsed, have proved, thus far, to be disturbances severely localised by means of the concert established among the great powers, who, while resolved to compel the sultan's government to administer his realm with humanity and even justice, have resisted the attempt made by the greeks to wrest away part of his territory by violence. [illustration: _sir j. tenniel._} {_from "punch."_ who said "atrocities"?] [illustration: _from a photograph by russell & sons._} the state dining-room at buckingham palace. the tables set for the wedding breakfast of princess maud of wales. princess maud, youngest daughter of the prince and princess of wales, was married to prince carl, second son of the crown prince of denmark, july , .] [sidenote: trouble in the transvaal.] the affairs of the transvaal rose into prominent notice towards the close of . commercial enterprise had for some time been actively directed towards south africa, notably by the british south africa company, at the head of which was mr. cecil rhodes, the premier of the cape colony, who had been sworn a member of her majesty's privy council. miners and settlers in general poured into the transvaal to the number of , , converting the quiet village of johannesburg into a large and busy town. the transvaal government viewed this movement with no favour; the industry of the boer population was chiefly a pastoral one, and president krüger steadily refused to comply with the claim of the new-comers to rights of citizenship. the uitlanders, as the new settlers were called, numbered three to one of the native boers, and were paying nine-tenths of the taxation: meetings, summoned to protest against the action of the president and volksraad, were prohibited; a deaf ear was turned to all petitions for redress, and, at last, a movement was started to obtain by compulsion what was refused by law. a force of all arms, commanded by dr. jameson, and comprising several officers in the british service, invaded the transvaal in the expectation of a concerted rising in johannesburg. this did not take place: after a smart encounter with the boers, the english force surrendered on january , . the principal officers were put on their trial under the foreign enlistment act, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, and, in some instances, to forfeiture of their commissions. the claim for indemnity put forward by the government of the south african republic has not yet been settled. a select committee of the house of commons was appointed to investigate the origin and conduct of what has become known as the "johannesburg movement," and its enquiry is still proceeding. perhaps the most important result of the transvaal raid will prove to be the insight suddenly afforded into the true sentiments of the german government towards great britain. the numerous bonds uniting the german and british courts, added to the racial sympathies existing between the two nations, had given rise to the belief that the policy of germany was more friendly towards great britain than that of some of the other great powers. this belief was rudely dispelled by a message from the german emperor to president krüger encouraging him in resistance in any dispute that might arise with the british government. [illustration: a. major white. b. dr. jameson. c. capt. coventry. d. sir j. willoughby. _r. caton woodville._} {_by permission of the artist, and of messrs. graves, publishers of the photogravure._ dr. jameson's raid: the last stand of the invaders, near krugersdorp, january , .] [sidenote: the venezuelan dispute.] while the trouble with the transvaal was still pending, there came a still more formidable surprise from a quarter whence it was little expected. a controversy between great britain and the insignificant south american republic of venezuela had been dragging its course for many years on the subject of a disputed frontier between the latter country and british guiana. suddenly, on december , president cleveland startled the world by a message to congress declaring that the action of the british government in this matter was an infringement of the monroe doctrine; that it was the duty of congress to resist the infringement of that doctrine, and that a commission should be appointed by the executive to examine and report on the rights of the case. then, continued the president, it would be "the duty of the united states to resist by every means in its power, as a wilful aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by great britain of any lands which, after investigation, may be determined of right to belong to venezuela." this was open menace, and it required the utmost forbearance on the part of the british cabinet to avoid precipitating a conflict. finally, the question of the venezuelan frontier was referred to arbitration, and diplomacy seems in a fair way to earn one of its best merited triumphs. [illustration: _chevalier de martino._} {_from the royal collection._ three generations afloat. to the right is the queen's steam yacht _victoria and albert_; in the centre the prince of wales's _britannia_; and to the left the german emperor's _meteor_.] chapter xviii. material progress during the reign--modern locomotion--the bicycle--motor carriages--the proposed channel tunnel--steam navigation--ironclads--the telephone--the phonograph--electricity as an illuminant--photography--its effect on painting and engraving--victorian architecture--absence of principle in design--universal education--its effect on moral character and literary habits--the predominance of fiction--the growth and character of british journalism--the advance of natural science--surgery and medicine--vaccination--antiseptic and aseptic treatment--bacteriology--the röntgen rays--sanitary legislation--conclusion. [sidenote: material progress during the reign.] allusion has been made in earlier chapters to the development during the reign of queen victoria of the powers of steam applied to locomotion, of electricity applied to the conveyance of news, to the institution of the penny post, and to the invention of anæsthetics in surgery. but no survey, however brief, would be satisfactory which took no note of a few other stages in the progress of applied knowledge--progress which, up to the present moment, shows no sign of slackening. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. w. burgess, ringmer._ an early bicycle. this is probably the earliest bicycle seen in england; it was made in by mr. w. f. martin.] [sidenote: modern locomotion.] first, as to locomotion: when sir walter scott was writing the opening chapters of the "heart of midlothian," in , he referred to the wonderful development of facilities for travel, and may have thought he was exceeding the limits of the probable when he penned the sentence: "perhaps the echoes of ben nevis may soon be awakened by the bugle, not of a warlike chieftain, but of the guard of a mail coach." scott was by no means deficient in imaginative power, but the maximum speed he can have contemplated was ten miles an hour, for the standard of speed in those days was the pace of a horse (we still reckon the strength of our engines at so many "horse" power). what would he think now, were it possible for him to take his seat in a luxurious saloon and be whirled round the flanks of ben nevis, along the west highland railway? eleven years after the publication of the "heart of midlothian" a competition of locomotives was held on the liverpool and manchester railway, and the prize was taken by messrs. stephenson's "rocket." weighing tons cwts., this engine was able to draw a load of tons cwts. at an average speed of thirteen miles an hour. one of the first-class express engines on the london and north-western line at the present day weighs tons cwts., and draws a load of tons, at an average speed of forty-seven miles an hour. [sidenote: the bicycle.] but it is not only by steam that the standard of speed in locomotion has been displaced. the invention and constant improvement of the bicycle has not only caused the rise of a most important industry in their manufacture (about half a million cycles are being turned out of the factories annually, representing a value of at least £ , , ), but it has supplied a means of locomotion of incalculable convenience to persons of all classes and of both sexes. this invention must be reckoned a great boon, not only as a means of recreation to persons in crowded towns, to whom the cycle affords easy access to the country, but also to working-men living at a distance from their employment. [sidenote: motor carriages.] with respect to the mechanical propulsion of carriages along ordinary streets and highways, stringent regulations were in force until , under which such carriages were not permitted to travel at a higher speed than four miles an hour. but the invention of "motor" carriages, propelled by steam, gas, oil, or electricity, convinced the authorities that these restrictions should be relaxed. this accordingly was done by act of parliament, and their removal was celebrated, on november , , by the excursion of a number of horseless carriages from london to brighton. evil weather marred the display, nevertheless large numbers of persons turned out to witness it. it is too early to predict the extent to which horses may be displaced by motor carriages, but it can scarcely be doubtful that their obvious imperfections will yield to the ingenuity of inventors, so as to render them at least dangerous rivals to the old kind of equipage. [illustration: george stephenson, - . railway engineer. born at wylam, northumberland. son of a colliery fireman. constructed his first locomotive in . planned and constructed the first railways--stockton and darlington, - , liverpool and manchester, - . was chief engineer to most of the lines constructed until , when he retired, leaving his business to his son robert.] [sidenote: the proposed channel tunnel.] before leaving the subject of terrestrial locomotion, allusion must be made to the project of carrying a tunnel under the straits of dover to the french coast, to enable trains to be run without interruption from great britain to the continent. the tunnel, the favourite scheme of sir edward watkin, chairman of the south-eastern railway, was begun some years ago, and was actually carried for several hundred yards under the sea. but the strategic advantages of an island realm are too substantial to be sacrificed by the creation of a highway, command of which would certainly be insisted on by any power or combination of powers which, in the future, might overcome great britain in arms. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by permission of curzon, robey & co._ the motor-car parade, november , : the start from the hotel metropole.] [sidenote: steam navigation.] [sidenote: ironclads.] turning now to locomotion by sea, or navigation, steam had been applied to the propulsion of vessels as early as , and its use had been gradually extended till, in , the first steamer with mails for egypt and india was despatched from falmouth; but it was not until the second year of the present reign, , that the first vessel entirely propelled by steam crossed the atlantic. greatly as the appearance and strength of our mercantile marine fleet has been altered to meet the requirement of speed, a still greater contrast is presented in the construction of warships since the invention of rifled ordnance. when our queen ascended the throne, the famous wooden walls of old england were moved by sails alone. greater speed was subsequently secured by the introduction of engine room to vessels of the old type, with paddles or screw-propellers. but experience proved how easily engines might be thrown out of gear by a single shot, a danger which grew more imminent with every fresh improvement in guns. then began the long contest between armour-plating and projectiles: the armour had to be made thicker and ever thicker to resist the increasing weight and velocity of projectiles, until, by the reduction of masts and spars to the bare necessities of signalling, the submergence of the hull to reduce the vulnerable surface, the increase of engine space, and the reduction of the armament to a few pieces of great power, our battleships have lost almost all semblance of the fabrics which used to move in such stately manner under towers of canvas, and have acquired the character of floating forts. still, britannia rules the waves; her seamen, of whom it was predicted that the adoption of steam would deprive of their superiority, have no equals in the world; and her people have proved, by their enthusiasm in furnishing the necessary funds, that they will endure almost any sacrifice rather than suffer the british navy to be second in power to any other. [illustration: _j. c. horsley, r.a._} {_national portrait gallery._ isambard k. brunel, - . son of sir marc isambard brunel, engineer of the thames tunnel. designed the clifton suspension bridge, the _great western_ (the first great ocean steamer) and the _great eastern_ (see page ), and was engineer of the great western railway.] [sidenote: the telephone.] the revolution in intercourse between distant places effected by the electric telegraph has been noticed already, but even that has been outdone in rapidity by later applications of the electric current; for, just as spoken language is swifter than written words, so the telephone has overcome the limits hitherto imposed by space on conversation. it was a great marvel when, in , the completion of a cable under the channel rendered communication possible between london and paris by means of a code of signals; but now statesmen and commercial men may discuss affairs confidentially by telephone; nay, a lover in paris may listen with rapture to the very accents of his beloved lingering in london. [sidenote: the phonograph.] one of the most remarkable modifications of the telephone is edison's phonograph, whereby the human voice and other sounds are recorded on a delicate membrane, which afterwards, for an indefinite period, is capable of being made to repeat or transmit these sounds. future generations will be able thereby to listen to the actual voice and accents of the departed. [illustration: driving the tunnel for the waterloo and city railway. the illustration represents the shield which protects the excavators. this is from time to time driven forward, and another section of the iron lining of the tunnel is inserted piece by piece between it and the sections already completed. compressed air is used in that portion of the tunnel which is beneath the river to prevent the water entering. the blackwall tunnel, opened by the prince of wales, may , , was constructed similarly.] [sidenote: electricity as an illuminant.] not the least important of the recent modes of employing electricity is its use as an illuminant. at the beginning of the reign the streets of london and other towns, as well as many of the houses, were lit by gas; though as late as fifteen years ago it was still the custom in some old-fashioned hotels to charge half-a-guinea for the use of a pair of wax candles. but the invention of an illuminant which neither exhausts nor pollutes the air breathed by human beings, nor involves risk of accidental conflagration, which is easily manageable and throws off no smoke and very little heat, has been one of the benefits conferred by science so characteristic of this age. [illustration: the building of a warship: a first-class cruiser in progress at the thames ironworks. these works occupy about acres, and employ between three and four thousand workmen.] [sidenote: photography.] the researches of daguerre and nicéphore de niepce had established, before queen victoria ascended the throne, the possibility of obtaining permanent images by the action of light on silver-plated copper, but the first notable advance in the new art of photography was the invention of the calotype by fox talbot, who applied iodide of silver to paper, which was rendered sensitive to light by further treatment. then, in , came the collodion process, and the subsequent discovery of dry-plate processes brought photography within easy compass of amateurs, and greatly enhanced the value of photography as an aid to science. the exposure of thirty minutes, required under the daguerrotype process, has been reduced to one-fifteenth of a second by the use of gelatine emulsion. the latest manifestation of photographic skill is certainly very marvellous, namely, the kinematograph. by a rapid succession of instantaneous exposures a series of plates is obtained so closely consecutive that when the images are reflected in equally rapid succession upon a screen, men and animals may be seen the size of life in natural movement. [illustration: the building of a warship. finishing the upper works of h.m.s. _jupiter_ at clydebank. in the dock are also five torpedo-boat destroyers.] [sidenote: its effect on painting and engraving.] photography has had a powerful effect on the art of painting, not only by the cheap reproduction of acknowledged masterpieces, which is not without risk of encouraging conventionalism in design, but by creating a more exacting standard of fidelity to nature. while it has caused some painters to seek after intense realism, it has led others to a reactionary course which they term impressionism. judging roughly from the vast numbers of pictures painted and exhibited each year, and from the immense prices given for the works of favourite masters, both living and dead, it is difficult to believe that, however great may be the aggregate expenditure by the purchasing public on photographs, it has interfered appreciably with the sale of pictures. one branch of art certainly has suffered by the rivalry of sun pictures, namely, the various kinds of engraving. wood-engraving, indeed, had already run to seed during the present century, from the affectation of craftsmen to a freedom and rapidity of which the material was not really capable: but engraving on copper and steel, etching, lithography, and, above all, mezzotint engraving (said to have been the joint invention of prince rupert and one of his officers named siegen), had lost none of their delicacy and power when photography invaded their province. excellent results are obtained from the best methods of photogravure and photolithography, and, where absolute accuracy of detail is required, they leave little to be desired; but the extent to which cheap "process" plates have supplanted the older arts of book illustration affords much to deplore from an artistic standpoint. [illustration: the first self exciting dynamo. made by mr. s. a. varley in . the principle of the dynamo was discovered also, and almost simultaneously, by sir charles wheatstone and dr. werner siemens.] [illustration: _d. maclise, r.a._} {_from the original sketch in the dyce and forster collection, south kensington._ michael faraday, - . son of a blacksmith, and apprenticed to a bookseller, he developed a passion for science which ultimately led to most important discoveries in electricity and magnetism. the sketch represents him lecturing as fullerian professor at the royal institution.] [sidenote: victorian architecture.] in one respect the reign of queen victoria offers a strange and rather melancholy contrast to all that have preceded it, inasmuch as it is the first during which the architects of this country have been totally destitute of any peculiar style of building. never were builders more ingenious or more skilful, never was there such vast expenditure in the erection of private or public buildings, but never before were architects so completely reliant on the past for design. is it proposed to build a church, a public institution, or a dwelling-house? if you have the money you shall have one as well built as human hands can accomplish. but you must name your style--greek, palladian, norman, early english, tudor, jacobean, or georgian--your architect will carry out a masterpiece in any one of them; but if you say victorian, or the style of the day, he will give you françois ier to-day, queen anne to-morrow, and pericles the day after. buildings grow apace, and they are soundly and tastefully constructed, but british architecture is dead. the same may be said of design in general. people of taste look with horror upon the fashions of the early years of the reign; the heavy mahogany furniture, the flowered wall-papers, the tapestry, the plate, the ornaments, are all condemned as barbarous; and the mode consists of chippendale and sheraton furniture and so-called "art" fabrics and papers. but how little this depends on more than fleeting fancy may be seen when it is considered how the taste has changed within a few years in the matter of table-glass. ten years ago nothing would please but blown glass of the thinnest; mr. ruskin convinced us that the two qualities of glass which should be emphasised in the design were transparency and ductility. but we have thrown that doctrine to the winds now, and a visit to one of the leading warehouses will show how completely we have reverted to the brilliant, many-facetted bottles and glasses of fifty years ago. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ electric lighting station, davies street, westminster.] [sidenote: universal education.] it is natural, in considering the phenomenon of a great nation wholly without any stable principles to guide it in art, to ask what has the state done during sixty years in the matter of public education? ask rather, what it has left undone! certainly our rulers cannot be charged either with negligence or parsimony in this respect. five years before the accession of queen victoria not a shilling of money was voted by parliament towards elementary education. in , for the first time, a grant of £ , was made for that purpose; at the present day the vote annually made for education, science, and art exceeds ten millions. even this is not enough to satisfy some people, as was made plain by the question addressed by an elector to a candidate for a scottish constituency at a recent election. "is maister wilson," asked this enthusiast, "in favour of spending £ , , a year on the airmy, and only £ , , on eddication? that's to say, twelve millions for pittin' brains into folks' heads, and thirty-six millions for blawin' them oot." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co., reigate._ manchester town hall. during the present reign most of our leading towns have built handsome and commodious town halls. that of manchester, designed by mr. alfred waterhouse, r.a., is a well-known example. it was opened in . its clock-tower is feet high; the interior of the hall is decorated with historical paintings by ford madox brown.] a generation has grown up under universal compulsory education, and it is possible already to calculate some of the effects of that far-reaching measure on the material prosperity, moral character, and literary habits of our people. in regard to the first two, statistics go to show that, notwithstanding an increase of nearly per cent. in the population since the introduction of compulsory education in , there had been a decrease between that year and of nearly per cent. in the number of paupers, from , , to , . the convictions for crime showed a corresponding diminution from , to , , or rather more than per cent.; while, during a similar period, the number of "juvenile offenders" had been reduced to the enormous extent of over - / per cent. [sidenote: the predominance of fiction.] as to the impulse given to the demand for literature by the extension of education, there need be no doubt whatever; the enormous supply continually pouring from the press of the country is sufficient proof of that. in respect of books, the returns from the numerous public libraries in the country show that works of fiction are in request far beyond all the other branches of literature put together. some sinister conclusions have been drawn from that fact, but it is not always remembered that most of those who frequent free libraries are hard-working people, who turn to books for recreation rather than instruction. on the whole, english fiction remains wholesome, a result which, notwithstanding the democratic nature of our constitution, is owing, undoubtedly, in large measure to the tone maintained in her court by our present monarch. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ truro cathedral. this is the only anglican cathedral built in england during the queen's reign. the foundation-stone was laid by the prince of wales, may , , and the cathedral was opened in his royal highness's presence, november , . a portion of the nave and the central tower have yet to be built. the architect is mr. j. l. pearson, r.a.] [sidenote: the growth of journalism.] that ephemeral, but not the less potent, form of literature known as the press, may be said almost truly to be the creation of the victorian age. newspapers, as we know them, are the outcome of two circumstances, the removal of the paper tax in and the spread of telegraphic communication. every industry, every sect, every amusement, every shade of opinion, now has its special organs in the press; and perhaps nothing is more remarkable than the enterprise and high quality of the provincial journals, as distinguished from those published in the metropolis. british journalism differs in several important respects from that of all other european countries. in the first place, it is absolutely free: there is nothing approaching a censorship of the press, and in those rare instances in which, during the present reign, publishers have been interfered with by the state, as has occasionally happened in ireland, the offence has not been a political one, but such incitement to crime or disorder as would be punishable in any private individual. it is matter for just pride that this liberty is exceedingly seldom abused. another point of difference is that the british government has no official or semi-official organ in the press. official announcements are communicated, when necessary, to press agencies, and through them find their way into journals of all shades of politics. lastly, the british press has maintained, as a rule, its impersonality. there has been a slight tendency of recent years to exchange the editorial "we" for a more familiar style, but this has been confined so far to journals of little influence. leading articles and critical reviews are almost invariably anonymous, whereas in france the weight attached to these is proportioned to the repute of the name by which they are signed. in order to give some idea of the daily output of the newspaper press in london alone the following instance may be given:--on monday, february , , mr. gladstone introduced his second home rule bill in the house of commons. on the following morning there were despatched from a single establishment, that of w. h. smith and son, , newspapers, weighing upwards of tons. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ central parcels post office, mount pleasant. this spacious but unimposing building occupies the site on which, a few years ago, stood the clerkenwell house of correction. parcel postage was first introduced on august , , and the number of parcels forwarded between post offices in the united kingdom during the succeeding twelve months was about , , . during twelve months of - the number of "inland" parcels despatched reached the enormous total of , , .] [illustration: _l. tuxen._} {_from the royal collection._ the marriage of the czar of russia to princess alix of hesse, granddaughter of the queen, at st. petersburg, november , .] [sidenote: the advance of natural science.] it would be impossible within due limits to pass in review, even in the most sketchy fashion, the advance made in natural science, especially as each province of the whole realm of knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into sections, each the peculiar department of specialists. three hundred years ago it was possible for francis bacon to survey the entire firmament of human understanding, but in the nineteenth century the task accomplished in the _advancement of learning_ and the _novum organum_ has developed to a scale only to be compassed in such a prodigious publication as the "encyclopædia britannica," of which the latest edition consists of twenty-five volumes in quarto, containing upwards of , pages printed in double columns, contributed by no less than , different writers, besides translators and revisers. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by r. milne, aboyne._ her majesty the queen, the prince of wales, the czar and czarina and their infant daughter. photographed at balmoral, november .] [sidenote: surgery and medicine.] in no department of science, perhaps, has progress brought such immediate benefit to the people as in that of surgery and medicine. the introduction of anæsthetics has been mentioned in an earlier chapter; the present year, , is the jubilee anniversary of that blessed event. the vaccination laws were consolidated in , and universal vaccination insisted on, with the result that a loathsome disease, which formerly brought unspeakable misery upon all civilised nations has been practically vanquished. the deaths from small-pox in england, which, at the close of the last century, were reckoned at , per million, had sunk in the decade from - to per million. attempts have been made persistently by a small minority to resist compulsory vaccination. persons inclined to listen to arguments against this legislation on the score of undue interference with liberty, should study the report of the local government board upon an outbreak of small-pox in sheffield in - . of , persons attacked died; among children under ten years of age, per , of those vaccinated were attacked and · per , died; of the unvaccinated, per , were attacked and per , died. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by miss acland._ professor ruskin. john ruskin was born in london in , and matriculated at christ church, oxford, in . he published the first volume of "modern painters" in , and was elected first slade professor of art in the university of oxford, .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ lord lister, p.r.s. born . discovered the antiseptic method in surgery. created a baronet in , and a baron in .] although it is the name of a frenchman, the late m. pasteur, which is most conspicuously associated with recent progress in pathology, it was sir joseph (now lord) lister who was led by pasteur's researches into the theory of fermentation to discover the antiseptic system of surgery. he employed carbolic acid, previously known as little more than a laboratory product, in destroying microbes which had found access to a wound, and thereby first made surgery scientific. but lister did more than that; the antiseptic treatment was superseded in turn by the aseptic, in which, by sterilising everything that might come in contact with wounds, access was refused altogether to microbes, and henceforward operations surpassing the most ambitious dreams of the old school of surgery were rendered possible. from the work of pasteur and lister has arisen the science of bacteriology, which, in the hands of professor koch, of berlin, and others, is being developed into the systematic "cultivation" of the germs of specific diseases. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by w. & d. downey._ her majesty the queen, . the authorized diamond jubilee portrait.] british surgeons have not been slow to avail themselves of the discovery, by professor röntgen, of certain non-luminous rays beyond the spectrum, which are capable of penetrating substances hitherto considered impermeable. by laying such a structure as a human limb upon a properly sensitised surface, and exposing it to these rays thrown from a tube excited by electricity, a permanent image is obtained of the bones and denser portions of the structure. by this means the exact position of any foreign substance, such as a bullet or needle, or the nature of a dislocation or fracture, may be ascertained with precision; and already it has been found possible to examine the condition of the internal organs of a living person. [sidenote: sanitary legislation.] mr. disraeli was once greatly laughed at for announcing that the policy of his administration was _sanitas sanitatum, omnia sanitas_. since then the two great political parties have vied with each other in framing legislation for the sanitation of cities and all human dwellings. it may be difficult to decide which has had most hand in the good result already shown in the mortality returns, legislators or men of science; at all events, they are worthy rivals. the annual death-rate in england during the first ten years of the present reign was · per , ; it was a shade higher in the decade from - , standing at · per , . then came the age of sanitation and the dawn of bacteriology; the death-rate sank in - to · per , , and in - to · per , . [illustration: _by permission of_} {_g. houghton & son, high holborn._ radiograph of the hand of h.r.h. the prince of wales.] in bringing to a close this brief survey of the reign of twelve lustres--the longest reign in the history of great britain--we may note with gratitude that not one of the many influences that have contributed to the moral or material well-being of the subjects of the empire shows any sign of abating in force. it is a task of no little difficulty and complexity to reconcile the rival, and sometimes conflicting, interests arising in a vast population, and, at the same time, to maintain our lead in the competitive industry of nations; yet it is one which the personal character of the monarch, in conjunction with the constitutional development of the last sixty years justify the legislature in undertaking with courage and good hope. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by h. n. king._ buckingham palace: the garden front and the lake.] sixty years a queen. the diamond jubilee celebrations. by alfred c. harmsworth. chapter i. the central idea of the celebrations--the imperial character of the pageant--the colonial premiers invited--the decorations--influx of visitors--grand stands--precautions against accidents--thanksgiving services on accession day--the queen's arrival in london--night in the streets. we have traced the history of our great queen down to the point where her record reign reaches its culmination in the festivities of june, . nothing now remains but to give some account of these imperial celebrations--imperial in the truest sense of the word, because faithful subjects of her majesty, of every colour and every creed, came from the four corners of the most majestic empire that has ever existed to pay homage to the lady ruler over all. pen and pencil must necessarily fail to do justice to so unique a demonstration of an empire's love and devotion, but the reader of these words may rely upon it that our account is true in every detail. such a record will be found useful not only by those who actually took part in the diamond jubilee festivities and who wish to refresh their memories, but also by those to whom they will be matter of history. the possibilities of a great celebration in were first discussed after the jubilee of , although it was not until that public interest was thoroughly aroused in the great event. men felt vaguely that the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of the best-beloved of all british sovereigns demanded an especial effort on the part of all loyal subjects; but as to the manner in which the event should be celebrated, opinions were as various as the men who gave utterance to them. one only definite desire was in everybody's heart--that the queen should come down among her people and receive their congratulations in person. this was the central idea round which all schemes clustered, and this was the idea to which the queen gave her sanction. in march of it was officially proclaimed that her majesty would go in procession to st. paul's to offer up her thanks to the supreme being for all the blessings of her long reign. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ the right hon. joseph chamberlain. born in london in . he was educated at university college school, and afterwards joined his father, who was a member of the firm of nettlefold and chamberlain, screw manufacturers, of birmingham. he was elected chairman of the birmingham education league in , member of the town council in the same year, and of the school board in ; of the last he became chairman in . he was mayor of birmingham during the years - - , and has represented that town in parliament since . he accepted the presidency of the board of trade with a seat in mr. gladstone's cabinet in , and in the presidency of the local government board, but resigned in march of that year when his political chief declared in favour of home rule for ireland. after the general election of he became secretary of state for the colonies in lord salisbury's administration. he is the leader in the house of commons of the liberal wing of the unionist party. he married (as his third wife) miss endicott, an american lady, in .] [sidenote: colonial premiers invited.] and here let honour be rendered to whom honour is due. from the colonial secretary, mr. chamberlain, emanated the action which gave the event its imperial character--the invitation of the colonial premiers and the representative detachments of men from the various forces of colonial and other troops serving under her throughout our world-wide empire. a brilliant military pageant might have been effected by the employment only of the troops of our regular army; but we have other forces across the seas, small it may be in numbers, but magnificent in physique and all that constitutes martial efficiency, whose presence on such an occasion would add lustre and a peculiar significance to the great function. meanwhile our grey old london set about adorning itself for the great event. to transform a working city like london into a temporary fairyland is a task of herculean proportions, but it was done! the corporation voted £ , to a decoration fund, and the most moderate estimate fixes the cost of london's holiday garb at £ , . venetian masts appeared suddenly in all the streets along which the procession was to make its way; and as the fateful day drew near, festoons of flowers and loyal inscriptions were suspended from these. cunningly concealed in the hanging bouquets of flowers were electric lamps destined to make the streets even more brilliant at night than they were in the daytime. [sidenote: the decorations.] the actual route literally blazed with colour. flags were at a premium and so were coloured stuffs and flowers, for the jubilee had asked more than the supply, and in many cases the north country mills were working day and night to make good the deficiency. when at last the great city had finished her toilet, not even her own children recognized her. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by york & son._ the decorations in st. james's street.] st. james's street sat at the head of all, a perfect poem of decorative beauty. there were two massive corinthian pillars at either end, their capitals of gold surmounted by large globes, their bases adorned with choice growing palms and flowers. forty venetian masts capped with the imperial crown stood on each side of the street, and from mast to mast were laced festoons of evergreens, from which hung baskets of rare flowers, birds in flight, and globes of red, white, and blue glass, which sparkled in the sunlight and turned the roadway into a pathway of quivering light. other thoroughfares vied with st. james's street. in the strand the omnibuses ran under swaying lines of many-coloured globes hanging across the roadway from one flower-bedecked venetian mast to another. round the pillars of the mansion house and the royal exchange were serpentine trails of tiny gas jets winding far up under the dark eaves of the roof, and from buckingham palace to st. paul's vast buildings were literally outlined with tiny gas and electric light lamps. the fire monument and other public monuments came in for special decorative attention, and in some cases hundreds of pounds were spent in beautifying them for the great show. [illustration: the decorations at the carlton club.] in victoria street the offices of the various colonies were alive with colour, and even the south side of the river, where loyalty is more abundant than money, was gay with its decorations, in the form of golden eagles with outstretched wings, and lines of real flowers stretched across the thoroughfares on invisible wires. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by york & son._ the decorations in the west strand. showing on the right a portion of the grand stand at charing cross station.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by york & son._ the decorations at the bank of england.] but the generous efforts of civic and parish authorities were not a whit more remarkable than those of private individuals. many of the houses along the route of the procession were covered with decorations from cellar to attic. the colour generally chosen was red, but in some instances costly materials of delicate shades were used. draperies of brilliant hues were hung from almost every window, so that some of the streets resembled theatres rather than the busy thoroughfares of a busy city. nor were the decorations confined to the streets. every errand boy wore his jubilee favour days before the event. from every whip fluttered a little pennant of the national colour. scarcely a bicycle passed that had not on its handle-bar gay streamers of red, white, and blue, and even the practical top-hatted city man sported in his button-hole the colours which rule the world. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the rt. hon. sir wilfrid laurier, premier of canada. born at st. lin, quebec, . educated for the law, and called to the bar at montreal in . in he entered the legislature of quebec, and, three years later, the dominion parliament. up to this time his speeches had been delivered in french; he now spoke in english with equal eloquence. he became minister of inland revenue in , and premier in july . he is of french descent, a roman catholic, and a strong supporter of imperial unity.] [sidenote: influx of visitors.] long before these preparations were completed, the invasion of london by visitors from the country, from america, and from the continent had commenced. the streets, always pretty-well congested with the great press of traffic, were now almost impassable. vast good-humoured crowds surged up and down the principal thoroughfares, and travelling from one part of the town to another became a matter of increasing difficulty. where all the people were accommodated it would be difficult to say. certain it is, that all the rooms in the better-known hotels were taken weeks beforehand, and the landladies of bloomsbury reaped a rich harvest. [illustration: _photographed at the crown studios, sydney._ the rt. hon. g. h. reid, premier of new south wales. was born at johnstone, renfrewshire, in , and is the son of a presbyterian minister. he began life in sydney in the civil service, but studied law and entered the new south wales legislature in . he became minister of education, ; leader of the opposition, ; premier, . he is a strong advocate of australian federation.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the rt. hon. sir g. turner, premier of victoria. born in melbourne; he is by profession a solicitor. entered the victorian parliament in , and became prime minister and treasurer in . he is between forty and fifty years of age.] [illustration: _from a photograph by talma, melbourne._ the rt. hon. r. j. seddon, premier of new zealand. born at st. helens, lancashire, in ; went to victoria in . he has been for twenty-five years in the new zealand parliament, and has been premier since . he is also colonial treasurer, commissioner of customs, postmaster-general, minister of labour, and minister of native affairs.] [sidenote: grand stands.] in addition to the vast amount of accommodation afforded by the houses lying along the route, every available coign of vantage was seized upon for the erection of a stand. churches were lost to view beneath vast tiers of red upholstered seats reaching half way up their towers, and what had been known as charing cross station was buried from sight under a mammoth thousand-seated stand. "can our city princes not have noticed," asks a writer in the _daily mail_ with quaint humour, "that somebody has stuck a lot of carpentry on the very pediment of the royal exchange? somebody else has boarded up the law courts, and barristers and solicitors stoop and dive in as if they were going to clean out their chicken houses. the houses of parliament are all scaffolding too, and at first, seeing no reports in the papers, i thought they had been abolished while i was away.... even to take a penny boat at westminster you have to go under a sort of triumphal arch of joinery.... they are actually changing all london from building into furniture." one of the largest stands was in whitehall opposite the horse guards.[i] a large number of carpenters were employed for more than six weeks in its erection; £ , was paid to the woods and forests department for the rent of the site, and its construction cost another £ , . it contained some , seats, which were advertised at from four to twenty guineas. it was built into foundations of solid concrete from three feet to six feet thick, and contained tons of timber and fifteen tons of forty-five feet steel girders; , chairs were specially purchased for its equipment and, besides the seats, it contained promenades, reception rooms, a luncheon room for the accommodation of people, ladies' rooms, telephones, and a smoking gallery. another huge stand was that erected in the churchyard of st. martin's church, charing cross. this also contained , seats, ranging in price from one to fifteen guineas. its erection engaged the labour of men for some five weeks. it contained , cubic feet of timber and twenty tons of ironwork. the rent of the site was £ , . [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by j. de souza._ the procession of imperial and colonial troops, june . what was in effect a dress rehearsal of the jubilee procession took place on the saturday preceding that event, when the life guards, the dragoon guards, horse and field artillery, and colonial mounted troops assembled at victoria park, and marched by grove road, mile end road, and whitechapel, to the mansion house. the picture represents the south australian lancers leaving the park. the troops, and particularly the colonials, were received with the greatest enthusiasm by the immense crowds which lined the route. it was a happy idea to give the east end this opportunity of welcoming the colonists.] there were many other stands of colossal size, but that which represented the most enterprising speculation of the celebration was undoubtedly the colossal stand on the north side of st. paul's churchyard.[j] for the purpose of its erection one of the most valuable city properties was purchased and pulled down. the seats in these various stands were offered at fabulous prices, but the public refused to purchase, and the venture resulted in a heavy loss to its promoters, as indeed did most of the speculations in seats. however, very large sums indeed were paid to witness the procession, £ , being offered and accepted for the use of a building in st. paul's churchyard for the day. in some cases the vendors offered prizes ranging from £ downwards to purchasers of their seats. on june the official programme was published, and henceforth the sole topic in men's minds was jubilee day and its doings. previous to this, however, the most elaborate precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of the multitude of sightseers, and to guard against any hitch occurring in the actual procession. meanwhile the guests of the nation began to arrive from every part of the world. the prime ministers of our great dependencies in australasia, in south africa, and canada, were lodged in the palatial hotel cecil; the foreign princes and their suites were accommodated in the royal palaces and in private mansions rented or lent for the occasion, while the detachments of troops from the various self-governing and crown colonies were billeted at chelsea hospital, at hounslow, and at woolwich. the indian officers composing the deputation from the imperial service troops, and the british officers in charge, were lodged at the "star and garter" hotel at richmond. it is impossible to convey any impression of the hospitality that was now lavished on our honoured guests. while the troopers of the colonial forces were being fêted by tommy atkins and the volunteers of london, the colonial premiers were the lions of the great houses of the metropolis. "he died from the effects of british hospitality" is the humorous epitaph composed for himself, in the event of that casualty, by the right honourable g. h. reid, premier of new south wales. royal carriages and royal servants were placed at the disposal of visitors of high rank; but it is certain that the genuine enthusiasm of their reception among the millions of london was even more highly valued by our distinguished visitors than these marks of royal favour. [illustration: the royal train on the great western railway, specially fitted up for the jubilee occasion.] [illustration: interior of the royal train. the smaller picture shows the break-van and kitchen, with the gas stove at which refreshments are prepared for her majesty's use while travelling. the larger illustration represents the interior of the queen's saloon; in the picture at the top of this page it is the third carriage from the engine. this saloon is lined, and its furniture covered, with blue silk; it communicates by an enclosed gangway with that of her majesty's personal attendants.] [sidenote: precautions against accidents.] while the good citizens of london were entertaining the guests of the nation and getting their houses in order for the culminating function of june , there was ever present in their minds a fear lest the great festival would be marred by a catastrophe such as that which threw a black shadow over the coronation of the czar. it was vaguely felt that the vast multitudes that would throng the streets on that day might become unmanageable--that some of the temporary stands would collapse, or that the great pressure of the massed crowds at certain points would result in disaster. it is due entirely to the sagacity and foresight of the authorities that the streets were never more safe than they were on june , and that not a single life was lost in consequence of the jubilee arrangements. temporary stands were examined--and where faulty condemned--again and again by the officials of the london county council and of the corporation, and the most scrupulous care was taken that there should not be gathered at any one point a larger number of persons than could be easily controlled. at an early stage in the proceedings the police decided to close the great bridges connecting the north of london with the south. london bridge was closed at midnight on jubilee eve, the other bridges were closed a few hours later, the idea being to prevent a possible great and dangerous rush from north to south of the thames to view the procession both on the middlesex and surrey sides. to make assurance doubly sure several rehearsals of the great service at st. paul's, and the business of taking up and setting down at buckingham palace were held; and so complete were these rehearsals, that every item of the procession was fully represented, mounted grooms taking the places of the princes and equerries who were to ride on horseback in the procession. in the final rehearsals many of those who were destined to high places in the procession were present, and there was a large demand for seats to view in st. paul's churchyard. so that the day might be one of universal rejoicing all over the country, it had been declared, on march , a public holiday by her majesty in the following proclamation:--"victoria, r.--we, considering that it is desirable that tuesday, the twenty-second day of june next, should be observed as a bank holiday throughout the united kingdom, do hereby, by and with the advice of our privy council, and in pursuance of the provisions of 'the bank holidays act, ,' appoint tuesday, the twenty-second day of june next, as a special day to be observed as a bank holiday throughout the united kingdom, and every part thereof, and we do by this our royal proclamation command the said day to be so observed, and all our loving subjects to order themselves accordingly." [illustration: _lucien davis, r.i._} the special thanksgiving service at westminster abbey, june . procession of the lord chancellor and peers.] [sidenote: thanksgiving services.] the actual celebrations may be said to have commenced on sunday, june . this, being accession day, was marked by a universal service of thanksgiving throughout the empire, in addition to the four special services, which must ever be memorable in british history: the royal service at st. george's chapel, windsor, the great national service at st. paul's, and the services at westminster abbey and st. margaret's, westminster, at which the peers and commons were present. the service at windsor was of the simplest description. the queen drove from the victoria tower at o'clock to the entrance to the dean's cloister. thence she was taken in a wheel-chair to the north-east door of the chapel. she entered the north door of the choir leaning on the arm of an indian attendant. the queen's chair was placed on the broad step at the foot of the beautiful altar, which she faced throughout the impressive service. besides members of the royal family and suites, there were but few privileged visitors. the service was arranged and conducted by dean eliot, and it began with the hymn, "now thank we all our god." the te deum was sung according to a very striking setting composed by the late prince consort, one which is not often used, but which was given on this occasion by special command of her majesty. the service concluded with "god save the queen," sung by the choir and congregation. the very simplicity of the scene was its impressiveness. it required a great effort of the imagination to fully comprehend it all--that the little old lady sitting there in quiet black before the altar was she who, sixty years ago, was awakened from her sleep in kensington palace to wear the crown of a world-wide empire. [sidenote: the queen arrives.] on monday, june , the queen travelled up to london from windsor. at half-past twelve the royal train glided gently into paddington station with the royal standard proudly waving at the front of the engine, and the royal coat of arms on either side. extraordinary arrangements had been made to secure her majesty's comfort and safety, and had there been an accident it would not have been due to the absence of competent officers, for besides the royal party the train contained the head and front of the great western railway, from the chairman, viscount emlyn, and the directors downward. the queen was dressed in black except for the white egret plumes in her bonnet, and it was noticeable that, notwithstanding her great age, she seemed in the best of health and spirits, and fully equal to the strain of the morrow. a halt was made while marylebone's loyal address was presented, and then the queen moved on to buckingham palace amid the delighted shouts of her subjects who lined the whole route. it was a brilliant morning and a brilliant reception--a foretaste of the morrow. while the crowds of sightseers spent the rest of the day in wandering through the gaily-bedecked streets, buckingham palace was the scene of receptions, banqueting, and rejoicing. [illustration: _photo by_} {_w. j. brunell._ triumphal arch at paddington (between oxford and cambridge terraces), through which her majesty passed immediately after quitting paddington station. it may be mentioned that it was by her majesty's express desire that no arches were built on the route of the jubilee procession.] during the day the queen graciously accepted a sunshade which was presented to her by mr. villiers, the doyen of the house of commons. it was entirely covered with costly flounces of the finest black chantilly lace; it was mounted upon an ebony stick, with gold top, and a knob handle of gun-metal set with her majesty's cypher and v.r.i, in diamonds, and had a suitable inscription in gold letters inlaid round the handle, thus:--"presented to her majesty on the occasion of her diamond jubilee, by her oldest parliamentary member, c. villiers." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by underwood & underwood._ her majesty passing through the triumphal arch in edgware road on her arrival from windsor.] [illustration: _photo by_} {_j. s. lee._ how the queen looked: a snap-shot of her majesty and the princess christian, taken in edgware road, june .] [sidenote: night in the streets.] at nightfall, an inhabitant of london who had known it in more prosaic times might well have been pardoned for thinking the whole nation were mad and had turned the metropolis into bedlam. vast armies of excited people invaded the streets and, in spite of the fatigues that must have been endured, comported themselves most admirably. there was little prospect of their getting home. but no one cared. why should they? they had come to see the jubilee, some of them from the uttermost ends of the earth, and see the jubilee they would, though they spent the night in the streets--and thousands of them did so spend the night. some possibly had been unable to secure sleeping accommodation, others evidently thought it scarcely worth while to return to distant suburbs when it would be necessary for them to be up and doing early the next morning. as the short night broke into day clusters of people were seen grouped round the base of the arch, on constitution hill, at hyde park corner, and in trafalgar square. hundreds took their stand on the kerb all along the route, and waited patiently. if they had but known it these loyal souls might have saved themselves so much trouble--for if there was one thing about jubilee day more remarkable than another, it was the complete absence of undue crowding in the streets. those who strolled down to piccadilly, st. james's street, fleet street, or the strand two or three hours before the procession started, were as well able to witness the most impressive pageant that london has ever seen as those whose eagerness led them to take up their positions four or five hours earlier. the route was long, and the spectators, except at points of convergence like hyde park corner and ludgate circus, well distributed throughout its entire length, while many hundreds of thousands were accommodated in the houses; but this only partially explains the complete immunity from uncomfortable crushing enjoyed by those who lined the streets. the fact is, that a very large number of londoners fearing the crowd, and apprehensive perhaps of extreme fatigue and even of actual danger, migrated from the metropolis and spent the day in the country or at the seaside. it is beyond doubt, moreover, that london crowds grow more orderly and manageable year by year. [illustration: morning on the line of route. these two illustrations are copies of actual photographs taken for this volume in the early morning of the great day. the upper one represents the steps beneath the duke of york's column in waterloo place, and was taken at half-past five. the other is the fountain near st. mary-le-strand church at six o'clock. a policeman with his horse is already stationed in the roadway beyond the fountain, and many spectators have taken their places for the day.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by york & son, notting hill._ the colonial procession: arrival of the canadian premier (the hon. wilfrid laurier) at hyde park corner. the canadian premier's carriage was preceded by canadian troops, and followed by the new south wales rifles and lancers. the procession is just emerging from constitution hill by the great gates of the arch which are opened only for royalty. the crowd at this point was, perhaps, the biggest on the route, and stretched away down grosvenor place, down knightsbridge, into hyde park (there were thousands of people in the park who had given up all hope of seeing the procession), and choked all the streets leading into piccadilly.] chapter ii. the weather--a brilliant day for a brilliant pageant--the queen's message to her people--the colonial procession--the royal procession--loyal enthusiasm--the queen's reception at the city boundary--the service at the steps of st. paul's--the halt at the mansion house--in the borough--return to the palace--presents to the queen--congratulations from abroad--the royal dinner. the weather in the week before jubilee week had been broken and stormy. the most sanguine feared that "queen's weather" was not to be looked for on the most momentous day in the great little lady's life. as a matter of fact, the sky on the morning of june was dull and overcast; and it was not until the scarlet coats of the soldiers lined each side of the roadway along the seven-mile route with warm colour that the expectant, buzzing multitude gave itself up to an unqualified enjoyment of the day. but the very elements conspired to add splendour to the great festival of the queen. it is a curious circumstance that at "the very moment when the head of the queen's procession came through the archway into the courtyard of buckingham palace the sun, which until then had been waiting its opportunity behind the clouds, tried an experimental shine. at a quarter-past eleven precisely, at the very moment when the first gun of the royal salute boomed out in hyde park to announce that her majesty herself was leaving the palace, the experiment developed into an achievement. the light haze that had hung in the air seemed instantaneously to melt away, and the sunshine burst out bright and clear over the jubilant city. it seemed as though the sunshine was one of the prearranged items of the programme, and had been carried out with the absolute punctuality which marked the carrying out of all the arrangements." [illustration: in the above map the route of the procession is indicated by the thick outline; it lay up constitution hill, along piccadilly, st. james's street, pall mall, the strand, and fleet street to st. paul's; thence by cheapside, king william street, london bridge, the borough, westminster bridge, parliament street, horse guards' parade, and the mall, back to buckingham palace.] [sidenote: the queen's message to her people.] before leaving buckingham palace, the queen gave the signal for the transmission to all parts of the empire of that gracious message which is now engraven on the hearts of her people. a private telegraph wire had been erected between the palace and the central telegraph office. her majesty touched a button attached to a small telegraphic instrument in connection with this wire, thereby giving the signal to the officials at the telegraph office; and before the royal carriage had passed through the palace gates, the royal message was being flashed along ten thousand thousand miles of wire to the farthest outposts of british civilization. characteristic alike of the monarch and of her people were the simple words:-- "from my heart i thank my beloved people. "may god bless them. "v. r. and i." several replies from distant colonies were found awaiting her majesty when she returned to her palace. thus the witchcraft of science added another touch of splendour to these unique festivities. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co., reigate._ the pipers of the london scottish volunteers escorting colonial troops. the stand on the right, in front of the national gallery, is occupied by peers and their ladies and friends. the whole of the north side of trafalgar square (from the steps on the left of the picture to the corresponding steps at the other end of the terrace) was occupied by the london county council stand, one of the largest on the route. at this spot the roadway was lined by bluejackets and marines.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by a. h. brunell._ the colonial procession: zaptiehs from cyprus passing ludgate circus.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by the london stereoscopic co._ the hong kong police and other troops from the crown colonies passing down king william street.] [sidenote: the colonial procession.] soon after nine o'clock the first part of the procession left buckingham palace. it consisted of the colonial contingent, headed by field-marshal lord roberts, v.c., supporting a field-marshal's bâton on his right thigh, and mounted on a grey pony. all along the route the gallant soldier was greeted with mighty cheers, and it was universally thought that the choice of so popular a general to command the colonial troops while they were in this country was a singularly felicitous one. immediately behind the field-marshal rode the canadian hussars, nd canadian dragoons, and the mounted police--a magnificent group of men, who excited universal admiration--preceding the carriage of the premier of canada, the right hon. sir wilfrid laurier. this gentleman was received with thunders of applause by the spectators, as were the other colonial premiers; and if anything were needed to convince our illustrious visitors that the heart of the old country is warm for her children, their welcome on this day of days amply fulfilled the need. then came the new south wales mounted rifles, the new south wales lancers, and the victorian mounted rifles--superb horsemen these, and singularly effective-looking in their slouch hats fastened up at the side and khaki uniforms--and after them the carriage in which rode the premiers of new south wales and victoria. but it is impossible to give an account of each group. the actual spectators of the beautiful colonial procession could but feast their eyes on each body of splendid warriors as it passed, and cherish a vain wish that the pageant might be repeated again and again until every individual horseman and foot-soldier had received a due meed of admiration. only too quickly came into view and passed away new zealand mounted troops--among them a few giant maoris--queensland mounted rifles, riflemen from the cape and south australian lancers, natal carabiniers and umvoti, natal and border mounted rifles, and then troops from the crown colonies; trinidad mounted rifles, and zaptiehs from cyprus; "upstanding sikhs, tiny little malays and dyaks; chinese with a white basin turned upside down on their heads; grinning hausas, so dead black that they shone like silver in the sun--white men, yellow men, brown men, black men, every colour, every continent, every race, every speech--and all in arms for the british empire and the british queen." after the cypriotes came a handful of the rhodesian horse, headed by the hon. maurice gifford, carrying one pathetic empty sleeve across his breast--a group that evoked almost frantic cheering. "up they came, more and more," says mr. g. w. steevens, in the _daily mail_ of june , "new types, new realms at every couple of yards, an anthropological museum--a living gazetteer of the british empire. with them came their english officers, whom they obey and follow like children. and you began to understand, as never before, what the empire amounts to. not only that we possess all these remote outlandish places, and can bring men from every end of the earth to join us in honouring our queen, but also that all these people are working, not simply under us, but with us that we send out a boy here and a boy there, and the boy takes hold of the savages of the part he comes to, and teaches them to march and shoot as he tells them, to obey him and believe in him, and die for him and the queen. a plain, stupid, uninspired people, they call us, and yet we are doing this with every kind of savage man there is. and each one of us--you and i, and that man in his shirt-sleeves at the corner--is a working part of this world-shaping force. how small you must feel in face of the stupendous whole, and yet how great to be a unit in it!" [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by valentine & sons, dundee._ the colonial procession: the carriages of the premiers crossing london bridge.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. downer, watford._ the colonial procession: the rhodesian horse in the mall, headed by the hon. maurice gifford.] [sidenote: the royal procession.] ten minutes after the last of the colonial contingent had passed, the advance guard of the royal procession proper came into sight. the first man in that gorgeous company rode the giant guardsman, captain oswald ames, seeming not so very much taller than the splendid fellows who followed him, in spite of his six feet eight inches. close following these came a naval gun detachment who passed away through the avenues of enthusiastic civilians amidst a tumult of acclaim. then, in quick succession, life guards, dragoon guards, hussars, lancers, and batteries of the royal horse artillery--the finest artillery in the world. more quickly almost than these words are read the various component parts of the resplendent cavalcade came into view and vanished again. the populace waved its handkerchiefs and roared itself hoarse in a chorus of approval that was too whole-hearted to discriminate. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co., reigate._ the royal procession: officers of the head-quarters staff leaving buckingham palace. on the balcony are the three children of the duke of york; little prince edward in the centre. after the return of the procession, when the people were allowed within the space outside the palace railings, his royal highness frequently acknowledged their cheers by saluting in military style.] as a grand ceremonial figure the crown prince, afterwards the emperor frederick of germany, had attracted more personal notice in the procession of than was accorded to any visitor in that of , but the _personnel_ of the latter function was, in general, far more distinguished. as regards the procession of carriages, which followed immediately after the glittering deputation of officers of the imperial service troops in india, those containing the royal children--her majesty's grandchildren and great-grandchildren--were most enthusiastically received by the crowd. the gravity with which the tiny princes and princesses acknowledged the greetings of the spectators occasioned great delight among the people, and the military salutes of the young duke of albany and prince arthur of connaught, were the signals for fresh outbursts of applause. the empress frederick, the duchesses of york, of teck, of connaught, and of albany, the princesses louise and henry of battenberg, were each and all cheered and cheered again. the princes and other illustrious persons representing the states of almost every kingdom and republic in the world, who rode in threes close before the queen's carriage, made up a group of almost unparalleled interest and importance. in recognition of his exalted rank as commander-in-chief of the army, lord wolseley, in the uniform and carrying the bâton of a field-marshal, rode immediately in front of the queen's carriage. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co._ captain ames, nd life guards. the tallest officer in the british army, who headed the royal procession.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symmons & co., chancery lane._ the royal procession: aides-de-camp passing the united service club. probably every officer had friends on the club stands; the picture shows all heads turned that way.] to quote again from mr. g. w. steevens, who witnessed the procession from st. paul's:--"the eye was filled with splendour, but fresh splendour came crowding in on it. the advancing pageant shifted and loosened and came up in opener order. but as the mass of colour became less massive, it became more wonderfully coloured. here, riding three and three, came a kaleidoscope of dazzling horsemen--equerries and aides-de-camp and attachés, ambassadors and princes, all the pomp of all the nations of the earth. scarlet and gold, azure and gold, purple and gold, emerald and gold, white and gold--always a changing tumult of colours that seemed to list and gleam with a light of their own, and always blinding gold. it was enough. no eye could bear more gorgeousness; no more gorgeousness could be, unless princes are to clothe themselves in rainbows and the very sun. the prelude was played, and now the great moment was at hand. already the carriages were rolling up full of the queen's kindred, full of her children and children's children. but we hardly looked at them. down there, through an avenue of eager faces, through a storm of white waving handkerchiefs, through roaring volleys of cheers, there was approaching a carriage drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. the roar surged up the street, keeping pace with the eight horses. the carriage passed the barrier; it entered the churchyard; it wheeled left and then right; it drew up at the very steps of the cathedral; we all leaped up; cheers broke into screams, and enthusiasm swelled to delirium; the sun, watery till now, shone out suddenly clear and dry, and there--and there-- "and there was a little, quiet, flushed old lady. all in black,[k] a silver streak under the black bonnet, a simple white sunshade, sitting quite still, with the corners of her mouth drawn tight, as if she were trying not to cry. but that old lady was the queen, and you knew it. you didn't want to look at the glittering uniforms now, nor yet at the bright gowns and the young faces in the carriages, nor yet at the stately princes--though by now all these were ranged in a half circle round her. you couldn't look at anybody but the queen. so very quiet, so very grave, so very punctual, so unmistakably and every inch a lady and a queen. almost pathetic, if you will, that small black figure in the middle of these shining cavaliers, this great army, this roaring multitude; but also very glorious. when the other kings of the world drive abroad, the escort rides close in at the wheels of the carriage; the queen drove through her people quite plain and open, with just one soldier at the kerbstone between her and them." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symmons & co., chancery lane._ the royal procession: the "death-or-glory boys" ( th lancers) in pall mall.] but we must go back a little. at the griffin, which marks the spot where temple bar once stood, the lord mayor (the right hon. sir george faudel-phillips) had arrived about . , bearing the city sword of state. while waiting for the queen the lord mayor was entertained, in accordance with ancient custom, at childs' bank. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by a. h. brunell._ the crowd waiting for the queen at ludgate circus. her majesty was visibly moved at the sight of the immense concourse of people at this point; little princess eva of battenberg on the contrary waved her hand in delighted acknowledgment of their cheers. in the foreground is the lord mayor, who headed the procession from temple bar to the mansion house.] [sidenote: the queen's reception at the city boundary.] "just before mid-day," says a writer in the _times_ of june , "a loud roar of cheering announced the approach of the queen, and soon the state carriages drew up at the griffin, where the lord mayor and his deputation, on foot, bareheaded, were awaiting her majesty. the interesting ceremony of the presentation of the sword did not occupy a minute. this handsome sword, in its pearl-covered scabbard, which has been presented by successive lord mayors at this very spot to many sovereigns, from queen elizabeth's time to the present day, was handed to the lord mayor by the city sword-bearer with a low obeisance. sir george faudel-phillips held the hilt towards her majesty, who merely touched it, and ordered him to lead the way into the city. the lord mayor with considerable alacrity hurried to the spot south of the griffin where he had left his horse, mounted it, and rode off eastward bareheaded, holding the sword aloft." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by e. p. robson, old broad street._ her majesty's reception at the city boundary. her majesty, in her carriage, is seen on the right, with the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge (whose head is seen between those of the scotch attendants) immediately behind. in the background are the officers of the royal household and others. just in front of the city griffin the lord mayor is seen preparing to mount his horse, an operation in which the police and some officials exhibit an anxious interest.] so the magnificent cortège passed on up fleet street and ludgate hill to st. paul's. at the steps of the west front of the great cathedral was to take place that religious ceremony which was to be the central point in the great celebration. on either side of the portico was erected a huge stand, set apart for ambassadors and other officials who had no place in the procession. the right-hand stand facing ludgate hill was occupied by a splendid company of indian rajahs and other oriental notabilities. on the steps themselves were choristers, and bands. soon after the queen left buckingham palace the archbishops and other officiating clergy took their stand upon the cathedral steps. the archbishops of york and canterbury wore purple coronation copes, the bishop of london a splendid new yellow cope, the dean and chapter copes of green, gold, and white, while the bishop of winchester, as prelate of the order of the garter, wore the dark blue robes of that order. the marquis of salisbury, the right hon. a. j. balfour, and the right hon. joseph chamberlain were the most noticeable figures in the great assemblage of distinguished laymen collected at this point. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ lord roberts superintending the arrangements in st. paul's churchyard. the two sheriffs are seen in the immediate foreground, followed by the officers representing the yeomanry, militia, and volunteers, and by equerries, gentlemen-in-waiting, and attachés. lord roberts stands in the centre of the open space. on the right is the pavilion erected on the site of a demolished warehouse.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by t. c. turner & co., barnsbury._ her majesty's arrival in st. paul's churchyard. the photograph was taken from the front of the cathedral, looking down ludgate hill, and shows the princes and representatives of foreign sovereigns in the foreground, some of whom are just taking up their positions within the enclosure. the carriages containing the princesses are parked in the open space beyond.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ the ceremony at st. paul's the photograph was taken immediately after the conclusion of the service, when her majesty (whose face is clearly seen) turned to receive the congratulations of the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge. the latter is in the act of addressing the queen; the prince is close behind him. the princess of wales and princess christian are the other occupants of the carriage; the latter holds her fan to screen her face from the sun. the archbishop of canterbury (dr. temple) stands directly above the queen.] the religious ceremony was short. it commenced with the intonation of the te deum by the assembled choristers, and ended with the benediction, pronounced by the archbishop of canterbury. the old hundredth was then sung, followed by the national anthem, the strains being taken up by the general public all round the cathedral, and then the archbishop, acting on a sudden and most happy impulse, called for three cheers for the queen. it is not too much to say that her majesty has never been greeted with a more enthusiastic salvo from the throats of her people than she received on this occasion. on the conclusion of this most impressive ceremony the colonial contingent, who had hitherto led the procession, and who had been stationed at the north side of the cathedral meanwhile, fell into position behind the gallant royal irish constabulary men and the squadron of royal horse guards, who had until now formed the rear escort of the royal procession. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by the london stereoscopic co._ the royal procession: equerries, gentlemen-in-waiting, and military attachÉs passing the eastern end of cheapside. the boys of christ's hospital ("blue-coat school") occupy the open space between the mansion house and the opposite corner of queen victoria street.] [sidenote: at the mansion house.] at a quarter to one the queen's carriage halted outside the mansion house. the lady mayoress presented her majesty with an exquisite bouquet of orchids in a beautiful silver basket. "the queen," says a writer in the _times_, "was graciously pleased to accept the gift, and twice said to her ladyship, 'i am too grateful,' at the same time extending her hand to the lady mayoress, who kissed it." it is needless to trace the progress of the empress-queen through the districts inhabited by her poorer, but no less affectionate, people--from the city to london bridge, in southwark, in lambeth, and on over westminster bridge. everywhere her reception was the same--a magnificent outburst of love and devotion. [illustration: _g. f. watts, r. a._} {_photo by f. hollyer._ the marquis of salisbury, k.g. lord robert cecil, eldest surviving son of the second marquis, was born at hatfield in , and educated at eton and christchurch, oxford. m.p. for stamford, - , when he succeeded to the marquisate. secretary of state for india, - , and - . minister plenipotentiary at the constantinople conference, ; foreign secretary, - . with lord beaconsfield he represented england at the berlin conference in . leader of the conservative party in the house of peers since ; premier - , - , and since .] the stand that had been erected for the members of parliament at westminster occupied almost the whole space between the clock tower and the river, and was crowded in every corner. places had been balloted for and conservatives and radicals were found seated together in the utmost harmony, differences of political opinion being entirely forgotten in the universal desire to see the procession, and to do honour to the great lady who was the centre and cynosure of all. when the queen's carriage came in sight the members rose in one body and cheered as they had never cheered even their chosen leaders in the house itself. this assuredly is a testimony to the universal esteem in which her majesty is held by the nation at large. there were about members, representing every shade of political feeling throughout the three kingdoms, rivalling one another in their eagerness to display their devotion to the hereditary head of the state. it is safe to say that no popularly-elected president of any existing republic would be greeted in the streets of his capital by all classes of his fellow-citizens with a tithe of the respect, admiration, and affection accorded to our constitutional monarch on this day of her jubilee. the sovereigns of the other european states--some of whom are wont to exact loyalty at the point of the sword--may well have envied the happy lot of a queen whose chief protection is her people's love. [sidenote: return to the palace.] at a quarter to two the queen re-entered buckingham palace. right nobly had she borne herself throughout the trying ordeal. some there were who said they had never seen her majesty looking better in her life; others, keener of sight, perhaps, fancied that under that cheerful exterior traces of great emotion were clearly to be detected. certain it is that on more than one occasion the queen nearly broke down, "and once, as the tears rolled down her face, the princess of wales leant forward, and sympathetically pressed her hand." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by the london stereoscopic co._ the royal procession: the carriages passing down king william street. in the nearest carriage are the duchess of york, princess victoria of wales, princess henry of prussia, and the grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by the london stereoscopic co._ the naval contingent crossing london bridge into southwark. both processions on jubilee day--the colonial and the royal--were headed by a few life guards and a strong naval detachment. in the case of the royal procession the bluejackets dragged after them six naval guns--no light labour, but performed with an ease and smartness which won universal admiration.] more than human must she have been had she been able to pass without emotion through those millions of loving men and women shouting themselves hoarse in the exuberance of their loyalty. sixty years a queen, with such a celebration to mark the sixtieth year! not when solomon reigned in all his glory--not when the roman conqueror rode in triumph along the appian way to receive the plaudits of imperial rome--not when napoleon the great snatched the emperor's diadem from the pope and placed it on his own brows--had a single human being been the centre of so much earthly splendour before. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by c. bertschinger._ the royal procession: the royal horse artillery passing st. george's circus, borough.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ the royal procession: the queen's colonial escort, consisting of representatives of each of the colonial cavalry detachments, passing westminster bridge. the photograph is taken from the clock tower of the house of commons. owing to the winding of the river, the dome of st. paul's cathedral can be seen on the extreme left, over the warehouses on the surrey side.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ the royal procession: the bands of the st life guards and dragoon guards passing the houses of parliament.] [sidenote: presents to the queen.] some mention should be made of the presents given to the queen by her royal kinsmen and her household. the princes and princesses more nearly related to the head of the house of hanover had prepared a pleasant surprise in the shape of a copy of mr. holmes's authorised "life of the queen," bound in covers of purest gold. two hundred ounces of gold were used, and the only ornaments consisted of the imperial monogram surmounted by a crown, and having at its base a scroll bearing the legend, " : june : ." these were composed of diamonds, with rubies and emeralds set in red enamel. on the back cover were engraved facsimiles of the signatures of the various royal subscribers. a magnificent brooch of diamonds and pearls was presented to her majesty by the princess of wales, her children, the duchess of york, and the duke of fife. from her household the queen received a bracelet of beautiful workmanship composed of round medallions set in brilliants, with large rubies and sapphires at intervals. on the medallions were engraved the rose, shamrock, and thistle, the lotus-flower representing the colonies. the queen was highly pleased with this token of the affection of her household, and wore it at all the state dinners. the design was the work of h.r.h. princess henry of battenberg. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons._ the royal procession: the escort of princes and representatives of foreign powers.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by f. frith & co._ return of the royal procession: the escort of officers of imperial service troops entering the palace yard.] [sidenote: congratulations from abroad.] in addition to the innumerable addresses which the queen received from every part of her dominions, an immense number of congratulatory messages was sent from foreign countries. the quaintest of all was that of the united states. it was delivered to her majesty by the honourable whitelaw reid, the special ambassador, who was conspicuous in the jubilee procession as the only man partaking in it in everyday attire. he wore evening dress and an opera hat. the text of the address was as follows:-- "to her majesty victoria, queen of great britain and ireland, empress of india. "great and good friend, in the name and on behalf of the people of the united states, i present their sincere felicitations upon the sixtieth anniversary of your majesty's accession to the crown of great britain. "i express the sentiments of my fellow-citizens in wishing for your people the prolongation of a reign which has been illustrious and marked by advance in science, arts, and popular well-being. on behalf of my countrymen i wish particularly to recognise your friendship for the united states and your love of peace exemplified upon important occasions. "it is pleasing to acknowledge the debt of gratitude and respect due to your personal virtues. "may your life be prolonged, and peace, honour, and prosperity bless the people over whom you have been called to rule. may liberty nourish throughout your empire under just and equal laws, and your government continue strong in the affections of all who live under it. and i pray that god may have your majesty in his holy keeping. "your good friend, "william m'kinley. "done at washington this th day of may, a.d. , by the president. "john sherman, secretary of state." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by russell & sons, baker street._ the royal procession: her majesty's carriage in whitehall. on the right is seen a portion of the banqueting hall of the former royal palace of whitehall, and next to it a grand stand seating , persons. the queen's carriage is turning to pass through the horse guards' gate into the mall.] [sidenote: the royal dinner.] in the evening of the great day the queen entertained an illustrious company of foreign princes at dinner in buckingham palace. here is the menu:--potages--bernoise à l'impératrice, parmentier; poissons--whitebait, filets de saumon à la norvégienne; entrées--timbales à la monte carlo, cailles à la d'uxelle; relevés--poulets à la demidon, roast beef; roti--poulardes farcies; entremets--pois sautés au beurre, pouding cambaceres, pain d'oranges à la cintra, canapés à la princesse; side table--hot and cold roast, fowls, tongue, cold beef, salade. a great bouquet of orchids was placed on the dining-table immediately opposite where her majesty sat. [illustration: brooch of diamonds and pearls presented to the queen by the members of her household, and worn by her majesty on state occasions during the jubilee. the original is much larger than this engraving; it measures - / inches across.] [sidenote: jubilee honours.] the list of jubilee honours published in the newspapers of june presented some features of great interest. the most popular elevations were those of the eleven colonial prime ministers to the dignity of privy councillors. it was felt that the nucleus of the long-dreamed-of pan-britannic council had been formed. the elevation of mr. w. e. h. lecky, one of the members for the dublin university, to the same dignity was recognised as a graceful compliment to the world of learning. the baronetcy conferred on the lord mayor of london was well-deserved, for no lord mayor had done so much in the present century to enhance the reputation of the mansion house for philanthropic enterprise and lavish hospitality. two new lord mayoralties, those of sheffield and leeds, were created; and three towns, nottingham, bradford, and kingston-upon-hull, were raised to the importance of cities. in late years peerages have generally been bestowed on men who have achieved greatness in the commercial world, and no choice could have been happier than that of sir john burns, bart., the head of the cunard steamship company, while that conferred on the right hon. sir donald smith, g.c.m.g., was held to be as much a compliment to the man himself as to the dominion of canada, of which he was high commissioner. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the right hon. sir hugh m. nelson, premier of queensland. born at kilmarnock in scotland in , educated at edinburgh high school and university. settled in moreton bay district in , entered the legislative assembly , became minister for railways - , leader of opposition , minister without portfolio , colonial treasurer , premier in november of the same year.] generally speaking, a more ample recognition of the claims of the colonial empire, as well as of art and science at home, marked the diamond jubilee honours list. [illustration: _by permission of_} {_f. sanders & co., florists, st. albans._ diamond jubilee orchid trophy. this beautiful bouquet adorned the royal dinner table on june . it stood feet inches high and measured feet through, and was arranged in a gilded wicker basket. the upper portion took the form of a royal crown, beneath which were the letters v. r. i., each a foot in length, composed of epidendrum vitellinum on a ground of odontoglossum citrosmum. orchids from australia, south africa, new guinea, burmah, british guiana, the west indies, and other parts of her majesty's dominions were among the , to , flowers employed in this, the most magnificent bouquet ever constructed.] it was hoped by many that advantage would have been taken of this unique occasion to extend the sovereign dignity of the queen, so that it might include not only the united kingdom and india but also the english-speaking colonies. the addition of the names of the colonies to the legend on the coinage would have followed this step as a natural corollary, and there can be no doubt it would have found favour with the great majority of the queen's subjects at home and abroad. reasons of state may have interfered, but they cannot be insuperable, and we may look forward with confidence to the time when parliament will decorate the queen with this splendid honour. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ the right hon. sir j. gordon sprigg, premier of cape colony. son of the late rev. j. sprigg, of ipswich; born in . he worked on the hansard staff of the house of commons; went to africa for his health in and settled there. entered the cape parliament in . he has been thrice prime minister; also finance minister under mr. rhodes, - .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symonds & co., portsmouth._ the naval review, june , : the fleet saluting.] chapter iii. illuminations in london--festivities in the provinces and the colonies---addresses of congratulation from the lords and commons--gathering of school children on constitution hill--state performance at the opera--the princess of wales's dinners to the poor--state reception--special performance at the lyceum--torchlight evolutions by etonians at windsor--naval review at spithead--the fleet illuminated--the colonial troops at the naval review. [sidenote: illuminations in london.] on the evening of june , and for two or three days following, london was ablaze with illuminations. in the city especially these were on a scale of unparalleled magnificence. the bank of england was fringed and festooned with myriads of many-coloured lamps, while from the parapet of the corner which looks towards cheapside there glowed and scintillated a dazzling fan-shaped device of huge size. over the chief entrance appeared the following inscription in letters of living fire: "she wrought her people lasting good." the pillars of the mansion house and the royal exchange were entwined with bands of light, and every detail of their architecture was accentuated by rows of tiny lamps. in this, the very heart of london, it was as light as day. it may be mentioned that , gas jets were used in decorating the mansion house alone. [illustration: st. paul's illuminated.] [illustration: _e. h. fitchew._} the monument illuminated.] moving westward with the vast throng of well-behaved sightseers, the next point of great interest was the dome of st. paul's. it had been suggested that the cathedral should be illuminated, as were the other important buildings in the city, but the possibility of danger from fire acted as a deterrent. instead of this, powerful electric search-lights were focussed on the dome and west front with wonderful effect. the dome stood up clear against the dark sky, and the stonework supporting and crowning it glowed like whitest marble. it is said that the expense of this installation was at the rate of £ , a night. on every side of the route down ludgate hill, fleet street, and the strand, and more westward still, through pall mall, st. james's, and mayfair, iridescent stars and crowned monograms glowed like titanic jewels from a thousand buildings. fleet street and the strand were garlanded across with festoons of many-coloured globes, and the streets of this part of the town resembled nothing so much as an unending triumphal arch of rainbow-hued fire. observed from waterloo place, pall mall seemed literally ablaze with general conflagration, so lavishly were the clubs illuminated. the beautiful floral arches which crossed st. james's street at every few feet were beaded with numberless electric glow-lamps, and these were to have been set alight by the princess of wales touching a button in marlborough house. but on the previous day some unexplained defect in the electric circuit had resulted in the ignition of a portion of the illuminations, and it was considered unsafe to try the experiment again. marlborough house had over the entrance gates a branch of laurel of various natural tints, interspersed with red berries, forming one main arch over the gateway, and two side arches over the doors. the main laurel arch supported an oval medallion, surmounted by a crown, and bore the monogram "v.r.i." surrounded by a garter. the side arches carried a prince of wales's plume and badge. the whole of this was in cut crystal. the residence of the duke of york had a pretty wreath of white rose and pink may (the former the emblem of the royal house of york, the latter prettily suggestive of the duchess's name), with the monogram, "v.r.i." in the centre. this device was carried out in gas jets. piccadilly, regent street, and oxford street were not so generally illuminated as those thoroughfares we have already mentioned, but individual establishments approached very closely to the high level attained elsewhere. [illustration: a. shot tower. b. whitehall court. c. hotel metropole. d. hotel cecil. e. savoy hotel. f. embankment. london illuminated: the view westward from blackfriars bridge.] [illustration: _holland tringham, r.b.a._} the mansion house illuminated.] [illustration: _holland tringham, r.b.a._} the bank of england illuminated.] and everywhere through the most richly-decorated streets there moved an enormous throng of admirably-behaved people. well into the small hours of the night the millions of london strolled leisurely along the principal highways of their great city. disorder and riot were conspicuous by their absence. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by g. temple._ jubilee day at sandringham: the children's tea.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by g. temple._ outdoor service at sandringham on jubilee day.] [sidenote: provincial and colonial celebrations.] it is safe to say that every town and village in england and scotland had its own miniature celebration, its own procession, its own feast for the poor, its sports, or its firework display. at sandringham a service was held on the hill outside the church. about , children from the various parts of the prince of wales' estate had tea in tents in the cricket ground. in liverpool the principal streets were lavishly decorated, and about midday there was a procession of trades and friendly societies, in which about , persons took part. on the river there was a grand display of mercantile vessels dressed from stem to stern in flags. the corporation of manchester had generously voted £ , towards the jubilee festivities. the streets were gaily decorated, and in the morning , children were entertained at breakfast and presented with jubilee medals. in birmingham there was a great historical procession, and in the evening displays of fireworks in three of the public parks. many places commemorated the event by building new hospitals or by placing those already existing on a sound financial basis. the generosity of the citizens of newcastle-on-tyne was such that a fund of £ , was raised for the purpose of establishing a new infirmary. in the city of york the round of gaieties commenced at the mansion house, where the lord mayor and lady mayoress entertained to breakfast the members of the corporation and the jubilee committee. at noon a thanksgiving service was held in the minster. to the young people of the city the occasion was made an eventful one, for , of them, along with , teachers, assembled at . p.m. at their respective schools, where each was presented with a medal commemorative of the occasion. at night various points of the city were illuminated; a powerful search-light lit up the country for miles around, this being fixed on the central tower of the cathedral, the west front of which was also illuminated with coloured fires. all over the country the occasion was made one of real rejoicing for the poor and needy, public and private enterprise co-operating to entertain them in the most hospitable manner. there was a great bonfire display in scotland. for a fortnight ten highland ponies had been carrying materials up ben nevis. the brush-wood came chiefly from the neighbouring deer forest in glen nevis, and many loads of peat from the distillery mosses. a shower of "may" rockets gave the signal to the bonfires on the neighbouring hills to make ready, and a few seconds before . mrs. cameron campbell of monzie touched the wire at the foot of the hill, and on the stroke of time the huge beacon burst into a brilliant sheet of flame, and was answered from hill after hill throughout scotland. at the same time the following telegrams were despatched:-- "to big ben, westminster:--'our highland hills in blazing bonfires join with london's illuminations in honour of our queen.'" "to the lord mayor, london:--'o'er loch and glen our bonfires shine to greet with you our queen.'" [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the right hon. chas. c. kingston, premier of south australia. son of the late sir george s. kingston, speaker of the south australian house of assembly. born at adelaide in ; studied law, and is a q.c. and attorney-general for the colony. entered the colonial parliament in , and has represented the same constituency (west adelaide) ever since. he became prime minister in , and is president of the federal convention.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ the right hon. sir william v. whiteway, q.c., premier of newfoundland. younger son of the late thomas whiteway, of buckyett, devon; born . he went as a boy to newfoundland, and, studying law, became a barrister at st. john's in , and q.c. in . appointed speaker of the house of assembly in - ; he has since held every ministerial office in the gift of the newfoundland government, which he has also represented on numerous delegations and commissions. attorney general and premier of the colony, - , - , and since .] in all two thousand five hundred bonfires that had been erected on as many eminences throughout the united kingdom were set alight at about half-past ten o'clock at night, and as the fires of these great beacons died down there faded away into history the greatest day of rejoicing the anglo-saxon has known since the glad news arrived that the conqueror of europe had been overthrown at waterloo. [illustration: the jubilee in high latitudes: elmwood, franz josef land. it is characteristic of our nation and our times that at this, the most northerly outpost of civilized man--the head-quarters of the jackson-harmsworth polar expedition--the jubilee was celebrated "with all the ardour of big englanders."] the colonies were as enthusiastic as the old country in their celebrations of the jubilee. in ottawa there was a gathering of , school children on parliament hill. each of the children carried a union jack, and when these were waved together, while the national anthem was being sung, the effect is described as having been very remarkable. at night the parliament house was ablaze with , incandescent lamps, an inscription on the right or senate wing reading "god save the queen," while on the left or commons wing the device read "dieu sauve la reine." quebec, montreal, toronto, and winnipeg had each its own well-arranged festivities. in melbourne, sydney, and adelaide, and in the cities of new zealand, the day was kept as a general holiday, the decorations and illuminations being splendid in every case. in cape town there was a review of troops and a huge procession headed by the naval brigade. in egypt, at lagos, sierra leone, and at mauritius, in the far east at singapore, at hong kong, and at shanghai, in the east indies and the west indies, in british honduras and british guiana--everywhere where the union jack flies her majesty's subjects gathered together to do her honour. save only in her empire of india, where the hearts of men were hardly in tune with the festive spirit of the day. yet, in spite of the recent earthquake, which had shaken calcutta to its foundations; in spite of the plague, now happily only lingering in bombay, and the devastations of the recent famine, india was not without her joyful celebrations, these appropriately taking the form, for the most part, of acts of charity and mercy. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ the speaker in his state coach bearing the commons' address to her majesty.] [sidenote: addresses from lords and commons.] on wednesday, june , the lord chancellor (lord halsbury) carried the address of congratulation of the upper house to buckingham palace, and presented it to the queen. this address had been moved in the house of lords by the marquis of salisbury on monday, june , in the following terms:-- "that a humble address be presented to her majesty on the auspicious completion of the sixtieth year of her happy reign, and to assure her majesty that this house proudly shares the great joy with which her people celebrate the longest, the most prosperous, and the most illustrious reign in their history, joining with them in praying earnestly for the continuance during many years of her majesty's life and health." mr. speaker gully, arrayed in his handsome robes of state, went in his great old gilded state coach to the palace with a similar message from the commons. [sidenote: gathering of school children.] the same day the queen left town for windsor. a touching ceremony marked the occasion. at her majesty's special request, the stands on constitution hill were filled with , children from the board schools and voluntary schools of all denominations. by four o'clock in the afternoon the children were in their places, and were regaled with buns, milk, and sweets. at about a quarter to five her majesty--with whom were the empress frederick, princess henry of battenberg, and the duke of connaught--drove up from buckingham palace. the children rose in their places and cheered their queen to the echo, and immediately afterwards they sang the national anthem, the band of the grenadier guards leading. "while the voices filled the air with the grand old melody, her majesty turned upon the singers a face radiant with love and happiness. those who think of her majesty as 'the queen-mother' should have looked upon her then to have found a realisation of the ideal." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by eyre & spottiswoode._ her majesty and the school children: the royal procession passing up constitution hill. the carriage nearest the spectator contains the duke and duchess of york, prince edward of york, and prince henry of prussia.] a state performance at the opera was, however, the principal feature in the jubilee programme of june . with the exception of the queen herself, almost every royal personage who had taken part in the jubilee procession of the day before was present, and a special box on the right of the royal box was reserved for the colonial prime ministers and their wives. the house was decorated from floor to ceiling with roses of every shade--some , blossoms being used for this purpose. boxes on the grand tier, which had been sold by the management for £ for the evening, were sold again at prices ranging up to £ , while the stalls realised £ at least in every case. famous as covent garden is for splendid "houses," the brilliant assemblage on this evening quite eclipsed all previous gatherings. it is not too much to say that the whole social world of the country was there. the handsome uniforms of the men, the beauty, diamonds, and dresses of the ladies, set in a frame of so much floral magnificence, made up a scene the splendour of which was never likely to fade from the memory of anyone who witnessed it. in all that gorgeous company none attracted as much admiration as the princess of wales. simply dressed in white satin, with the red sash of some order across her shoulders, and wearing a crown of diamonds, her royal highness was, by universal consent, the queen of beauty in a house full of the most beautiful women in the three kingdoms. it was only to have been expected, perhaps, that the most generally-approved jubilee celebration should have been inaugurated by the same most charming princess. this was nothing less than the entertaining at dinner of , of the london poor. the feast took place in different large buildings all over the poorer parts of the metropolis. the princess, accompanied by his royal highness and the princesses victoria of wales and charles of denmark, drove round and was personally present at as many as possible of the dining halls. at the people's palace, in the mile end road, where , crippled children feasted, her royal highness went in and out among the children, bestowing here and there a smile, and here and there a few words of kindly encouragement. [illustration: _from a photograph taken for this work_} {_by t. c. hepworth._ the princess of wales's dinners: the dinner to crippled children at the people's palace. the princess of wales stands in the centre of the platform with the prince of wales on her right. the photograph was taken during the "silence for grace."] [sidenote: state reception.] a state reception at buckingham palace, where her majesty was represented by the prince and princess of wales, brought the festivities of june to a close. [sidenote: special performance at the lyceum.] friday, the th, was marked by an afternoon performance of "the bells" and "the story of waterloo" at the lyceum theatre, to which the men of the colonial contingent had been kindly invited by sir henry irving. sir henry was uproariously cheered on his first appearance and at every interval during the afternoon, and after the splendid presentation of "the bells" he was called again and again before the curtain, and finally compelled to make a speech. he said:-- "ladies and gentlemen--i will say my dear comrades--for your greeting to-day proves that we are comrades, one and all--i cannot tell you how great a delight and pleasure it has been to us to have the honour, the privilege, and the pride of making you welcome here to-day, and i hope--i can but hope--that centuries hence our children will hold very dear to them the spirit which gives us the opportunity of meeting you; that spirit of love for our queen and our country--that great nation which you typify--which is the strength and glory and power of it; and of that sweet and gracious lady, that beloved queen of ours, for whom your swords will flash and our hearts will pray. i thank you with all my heart and soul for your welcome, and i thank you on behalf of one and all behind this curtain, and we send our most cordial greeting to one and all in front." [sidenote: torchlight evolutions by etonians.] eton college has always enjoyed the favour of royalty, and on the evening of saturday, june , the boys furnished one of the most picturesque celebrations of jubilee time. in the morning the queen had entertained, in the home park at windsor, five or six thousand children. after that a grand review of firemen from all parts of the country took place. at ten o'clock in the evening the queen took up her place in a window in the east corridor, and the eton boys filed into the quadrangle (many of them in the uniform of their volunteer corps) each boy carrying a torch or a lantern. a beautiful effect was produced when the boys went through a variety of intricate evolutions. [illustration: _lucien davis, r.i._} the state reception at buckingham palace: entrance of the prince and princess of wales.] [sidenote: the naval review.] all this time the naval review at spithead had been a-preparing. every nation that boasts a navy had sent a ship, and the streets of portsmouth were filled with our own bluejackets and those belonging to the foreign ships. all the world had come to see for herself what the british fleet was like, and we were able to provide such a naval spectacle as has never been witnessed before. just as on june we had furnished forth an imperial pageant demonstrating the scope and strength of our dominion over the land surface of the globe, so now, on saturday, june , we showed that our sovereignty over the seas is as far reaching and even more absolute. without taking one single vessel from the mediterranean, from the chinese seas, from australia, india, or north america, we displayed at spithead such a congregation of ships of war as filled with amazement and despair those representatives of alien powers who knew our sea-going prowess only by repute. in all about ships of our navy rode at ease, in four long lines and two short ones in the narrow strait, and they were manned by , officers and men. the length of the lines of british ships aggregated nearly thirty miles! the commander-in-chief, admiral sir nowell salmon, g.c.b., v.c., flew his flag on the _renown_. [illustration: _from a photograph taken for this work_} {_by t. c. hepworth._ the royal visit to the people's palace. the photograph shows the princess of wales with her two daughters, the princess victoria and princess charles of denmark (princess maud), who have just entered the carriage after seeing the crippled children at dinner. the princess's bouquet is being handed to her. the prince is approaching the carriage. the lord mayor is seen standing by the pillar over the centre of the carriage.] painful, indeed, must have been the reflections of those strangely-constituted britons--if any were present--whose interest in public affairs is limited to the squalid area of parochial politics, as their eyes ranged over the water in the direction of this mighty fleet. with what vain regret must such as these have looked back on the days, some ten or a dozen years since, when british naval supremacy was but a name--when we had few ships, and those out of date, and few men to man them. alas! for the fond anticipations of those who were looking forward to the time when britain should throw away her empire and sink to the prosperous unimportance of a belgium, the cheerful mediocrity of a holland. there, at spithead, was overwhelming proof that such views are not shared by the great bulk of british people, whether liberals, radicals, or conservatives; that power is still sweet to the ruling race; that that empire which has been bought with the blood of the anglo-saxon will be maintained in its integrity at any cost. here they lay in serried ranks on the moving waters, orderly as soldiers on a parade ground--the steel-clad champions of a nation's honour--as powerful to compel peace as to put the issue of war out of question if war must come. [illustration: [_fred t. jane._ torchlight evolutions by the eton boys in the quadrangle of windsor castle.] exactly at eight o'clock the combined fleet began to decorate itself with a million flags, taking time from the commander-in-chief's flagship. the unnumbered merchant and pleasure craft of all kinds that dotted the waters and lay still at moorings by the quays were already gay with streaming pennants, nor were the fourteen battleships of the foreign powers behindhand in embellishing themselves for the great review. some time before two o'clock the business of clearing the lines for the procession commenced, and at two precisely a royal salute of guns on shore announced that the royal yacht was under way. not long afterwards the _victoria and albert_, with the prince of wales on board, preceded by the trinity house yacht _irene_, approached the head of the lines. royal salutes and the cheers of bluejackets marked the passage of the royal yacht along and through the lines. the _victoria and albert_ was followed by a train of vessels--the peninsular and oriental company's liner, the _carthage_, carrying those royal guests for whom there was no accommodation on the _victoria and albert_; then another royal yacht, the _alberta_; then the _enchantress_, with the lords of the admiralty and their friends; next the _danube_, carrying the members of the house of lords; after her the _wildfire_, with the colonial prime ministers and their suites and the right hon. joseph chamberlain, secretary of state for the colonies, on board; then again the superb cunard liner, the _campania_, carrying the house of commons; and lastly the _eldorado_, with the foreign ambassadors. the procession occupied two hours in traversing the lines. before the proceedings terminated the _victoria and albert_ anchored abreast of the flagship _renown_ and the prince of wales received all flag officers, british and foreign, on board, after this ceremony the royal yacht weighed anchor and returned to portsmouth, receiving, as she departed, three cheers from every ship in the fleet. simultaneously with the arrival of the prince of wales in portsmouth harbour the following signal was made to the fleet by admiral sir nowell salmon:--"i am commanded by the prince of wales, as representing the queen, to express his entire satisfaction with the magnificent naval display at spithead and the perfect manner in which all the arrangements were carried out, and at his request i order the main-brace to be spliced." splicing the main-brace, it should be explained, involves the serving out of an extra allowance of grog, and is still a very popular order with our man-o'-war's men. almost immediately after this a thunderstorm burst, accompanied by a deluge of rain, and for some hours the "city of ships" was lost in an impenetrable haze. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by gregory & co._ admiral sir nowell salmon, v.c. in command of the fleet during the jubilee review.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by west, southsea._ the naval review: the royal yacht passing between the lines of british and foreign ships. the united states cruiser, _brooklyn_, painted white, is a conspicuous object in the line of foreign men-of-war. the battleship in the foreground is h.m.s. _victorious_.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by west, southsea._ the naval review: the royal yacht anchored abreast of h.m.s. "renown."] [illustration: _charles dixon._} the naval review: bird's-eye view of the fleet at anchor in spithead, june , . the line e consists of merchant vessels, anchored on the south or isle of wight side of spithead. line a consists of foreign men-of-war. the total number of british war ships occupying stations in spithead was . of these lines b and c comprised fifty-nine battleships and cruisers in the following order, starting from the left or eastward end:-- line b-- , _magnificent_; , _royal sovereign_; , _repulse_; , _resolution_; , _empress of india_; , _majestic_; , _prince george_; , _mars_; , _jupiter_; , _victorious_; , _renown_ (commander-in-chief); , _powerful_; , _blake_; , _blenheim_; , _royal arthur_; , _theseus_; , _thetis_; , _flora_; , _naiad_; , _tribune_; , _terpsichore_; , _sirius_; (station not occupied); , _hermione_; , _andromache_; , _sappho_; , _spartan_; , _latona_; , _brilliant_; , _charybdis_. line c-- , _sans pareil_; , _howe_; , _benbow_; , _collingwood_; , _inflexible_; , _alexandra_; , _edinburgh_; , _colossus_; , _devastation_; , _thunderer_; , _warspite_; , _terrible_; , _australia_; , _galatea_; , _aurora_; , _edgar_; , _melampus_; , _endymion_; , _diana_; , _isis_; , _juno_; , _doris_; , _venus_; , _minerva_; , _dido_; , _apollo_; , _Æolus_; , _phaeton_; , _leander_; , _bonaventure_. line d (thirty-eight third-class cruisers, gun-vessels, and torpedo gunboats)-- , _mersey_; , _pelorus_; , _magicienne_; , _medea_; , _medusa_; , _barracouta_; , _curlew_; , _landrail_; , _speedy_; , _alarm_; , _antelope_; , _jaseur_; , _circe_; , _gossamer_; , _jason_; , _hazard_; , _leda_; , _niger_; , _onyx_; , _rattlesnake_; , _renard_; , _sharpshooter_; , _skipjack_; , _sheldrake_; , _spanker_; , _gleaner_; , _raven_; , _cockchafer_; , _starling_; , _active_; , _volage_; , _calypso_; , _champion_; , _cailiope_; , _curacoa_; , _northampton_; , _agincourt_; , _minotaur_. line f (forty-eight destroyers and gunboats)-- , _halcyon_; , _lightning_; , _havock_; , _daring_; , _hornet_; , _hardy_; , _whiting_; , _hasty_; , _hunter_; , _fame_; , _foam_; , _spitfire_; , _ranger_; , _research_; , _triton_; , _vivid_; , _firequeen_; , _albacore_; , ----; , _jackal_; , ----; , _decoy_; , _quail_; , _ferret_; , _rocket_; , _opossum_; , _sparrowhawk_; , _lynx_; , _thrasher_; , _skate_; , _virago_; , _sunfish_; , _haughty_; , _desperate_; , _contest_; , _janus_; , _salmon_; , _snapper_; , _sturgeon_; , _spider_; , ----; , _wanderer_; , _liberty_; , _martin_; , _nautilus_; , _pilot_; , _seaflower_; , _sealark_. twenty torpedo boats were anchored further to the right, near the spit fort, and beyond them, in stokes bay, as well as on the opposite side, off osborne, accommodation was found for a very large number of yachts and other vessels.] it was not destined, however, that the hundreds of thousands of spectators who were afloat in the pleasure boats and who lined southsea beach and the shores of the isle of wight overlooking spithead, were to lose the most beautiful spectacle of all. as daylight faded so faded the storm, and at a quarter-past nine o'clock, when the signal for lighting up the ships was given by a single gun, the conditions for viewing the illuminations were as perfect as possible. to quote again a writer, mr. g. w. steevens, to whom we are already much indebted:--"the thunderstorm was only an episode. having done its business, it went dutifully away, and left the field clear for the illuminations. out on the sea front you could see the lights of the fleet like glow-worms in the dark. then suddenly there sounded a gun; and as i moved along southsea common there appeared in the line a ship of fire. a ship all made of fire--hull and funnels and military masts with fighting tops. and then another, and another, and another. the fleet revealed itself from behind the castle, ship after ship traced in fire against the blackness. from the head of southsea they still came on--fresh wonders of grace and light and splendour, stretching away, still endlessly as in the daytime, till they became a confused glimmer six miles away. it was the fleet and yet not the fleet. you could recognise almost any ship by her lines and rig--just as if it had been in day, only transmuted from steel and paint into living gold. the admirals still flew their flags as in the day, only to-night the flags were no longer bunting, but pure colour. the heavy hard fleet vanished, and there came out in its stead a picture of it magically painted in pure light. "for three hours this miracle of brightness shone wondrously at spithead. at half-past eleven or so the prince returned the second time as before, and the golden fleet sent a thunder of salute after him. then, as i stood on the high roof of the central hotel, the clock struck twelve, and before my eyes the golden fleet vanished--vanished clean away in a moment. you could just see it go. "here half a ship broken off, there masts and funnels hanging an instant in the air; it all vanished, and nothing at all was left except the rigging lights, trembling faintly once more on the dark sea." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symonds & co._ the japanese battleship "fuji." japan having so recently had experience of actual naval warfare, her representative at spithead came in for a considerable amount of attention. some of her officers had, indeed, taken part in the battle of the yalu.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by symonds & co., portsmouth._ the united states' cruiser "brooklyn." this vessel attracted considerable attention on account of her peculiar shape and up-to-date equipment. she is fitted with non-inflammable wooden decks, and carries eight -inch guns in four turrets, forward, aft, and on each beam. she is painted white, a fact which led the irreverent tars to christen her "the cement factory."] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by west & son, southsea._ the naval review: the fleet, looking west. photographed from the flagship of the commander-in-chief, the _renown_. the nearest vessel is h.m.s. _powerful_; the next beyond is the _blake_. in the other line are the _galatea_, _aurora_, _edgar_, _melampus_, &c.] [illustration: _fred. t. jane_} the fleet illuminated: as seen from the water.] the naval review of was over. it had provided a sublime spectacle for our colonial and foreign visitors, and it had taught a lesson that was meant to be learned by the whole world, and was actually so learned. a great military power we might not be, but on the seas our dominion was, and must ever be, unquestionable. the chorus of admiration that arose from the continental and american press showed that the necessity for this pre-eminence was recognised and allowed. if we had not known it long ourselves, our foreign critics, both friendly and hostile, had been aware that a great navy was the paramount condition of our national existence. [sidenote: the colonial troops at the naval review.] a circumstance that concerned the gallant men of the colonial contingent who had taken part in the jubilee procession must here be touched on. strange as it may seem, there had been originally no provision made for the representation at the naval review of the colonial contingent. this remissness on the part of the authorities occasioned a good deal of surprise, which found its expression in the columns of the london _daily mail_; but it was not until the newspaper in question took the matter up in right good earnest that the authorities bestirred themselves. it was then proposed to charter a vessel and send the colonials down to portsmouth some two or three days after the review--it being somewhat artlessly explained that as the fleet would still be in position and the review well over, our visitors would enjoy a better opportunity of examining the ships in detail! needless to say this line of argument found little favour with the _daily mail_, the _globe_, and the other newspapers which were now strenuously advocating the claims of our visitors. they raised their voices once more, with the result that at the eleventh hour the responsible officials announced that the difficulties--whatever they were--had been surmounted, and that the colonial contingent were to see the imperial fleet on the actual day of review in all its majesty and splendour. the fleet was again dressed and illuminated on the following monday--coronation day. mention should be made of a little vessel, first seen at the review, which marks a new departure in marine engineering. this is the _turbinia_ torpedo-boat, driven by steam turbines at , revolutions, accomplishing or knots per hour. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by a. t. crane._ the fleet illuminated: as seen from the shore. owing to the necessity for a prolonged exposure, fireworks and search-lights do not leave any trace upon the photographic negative.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by argent archer, kensington._ the queen's visit to her birthplace: the scene outside st. mary's church, kensington. in the carriage with her majesty are the grand duke and grand duchess serge of russia and princess henry of battenberg. on the pavement stands the princess louise, marchioness of lorne, with a bouquet in her hands; the marquis stands on her left. opposite the carriage door is miss beatrice leete, daughter of the vestry clerk, from whom the queen graciously accepted a magnificent basket of carnations.] chapter iv. the queen's visit to kensington--garden party at buckingham palace--review at aldershot--gift of a battleship--the prince of wales's hospital fund--the jubilee medals--conclusion. on the monday after the review the queen returned from windsor to the metropolis. she was received everywhere with enthusiastic greetings of loyalty and affection. it was no mere conventional reception this. the nation had realised lately, as never before, the part their queen had played in the building of the empire, and one and all flocked out to do her honour. her majesty had returned to london to attend the garden party which was to be held in the grounds of buckingham palace in the afternoon. on her way from paddington station she visited kensington, the place of her birth. [sidenote: the queen's visit to kensington.] in front of st. mary abbott's church, kensington high street, the queen stopped and received a splendid bouquet of roses at the hands of the princess louise. then the marquis of lorne presented the chairman of the vestry, who handed her majesty a loyal address, in which kensington recalled with pride its long and many royal associations. the queen's reply was characteristic and particularly interesting in view of recent events:-- "i thank you for your loyal and kind address. it gives me great pleasure to receive the assurance of devotion and goodwill from the inhabitants of kensington, and i gladly renew my associations with a place which, as the scene of my birth and of my summons to the throne, has ever had, and will ever have, with me solemn and tender recollections." the queen then drove on to the palace, , school children singing the national anthem as she passed through kensington gardens. [illustration: _lucien davis, r.i._} {_partly from a photograph specially taken for this work by h. n. king._ her majesty's garden party: indian visitors.] [sidenote: garden party at buckingham palace.] the subsequent garden party in the gardens of buckingham palace was one of the most brilliant functions on record. the weather was beautifully fine, and there was a unique attendance of royal and other guests; the colonial premiers were present, and the whole of the special envoys of foreign powers and other distinguished jubilee guests. the grounds were opened at four o'clock, and in a very short time the dresses of the ladies and the brilliant uniforms of men transformed them into a moving blaze of colour. her majesty's guests amused themselves in a variety of ways--a favourite form of diversion being a row on the palace lake, on which were a large number of boats in charge of picturesquely-attired queen's watermen. when her majesty had traversed the lawn, and lord lathom had pointed many of the people out to her, she moved to the entrance of her own tent, and sat sipping tea and eating strawberries, with a white apron--the strings of which passed over her shoulders--spread on her lap in the homeliest fashion. [illustration: mr. chamberlain. sir w. laurier. _a. fairfax muckley._} {_from a photo by w. & d. downey._ her majesty's garden party: the secretary for the colonies and the canadian premier.] [sidenote: review at aldershot.] the naval review had been an exhibition of our first line of defence, and though there was nothing in the nature of boastfulness or arrogance about it, it was such a demonstration as could have been made by no other power--perhaps, by no two foreign powers in combination. the military review at aldershot on july was, of course, a much more modest affair, but the quality of the troops employed imparted a distinction to the function which went far to compensate for their smallness in numbers. judged by continental standards our army is insignificant in size, but it must always command respect. its traditions are splendid, and its recent achievements completely satisfactory. some of the foreign princes who were present with the queen at aldershot on july had seen ten times as many soldiers in review, but it is safe to say that not one of them had ever seen a finer body, man for man, than the , british troops gathered together on laffan's plain. the presence among these of detachments from so many british colonies added a significance to the proceedings that could not have been paralleled at a military review anywhere else in the world. about a quarter-past four o'clock the queen drove up in a carriage. the troops were arranged in the shape of three sides of a great rectangle, her majesty occupying the centre of the vacant side. a royal salute was given, and then commenced the march past. the honour of marching in the van had been assigned very properly to the colonial troops, consisting of cavalry, artillery and engineers, and infantry. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by h. n. king._ her majesty planting a tree in the grounds of buckingham palace as a memorial of the jubilee, june , .] the troops which followed represented almost every branch of the regular army and made a splendid show. but here, as in the jubilee procession itself, the colonial contingent attracted the greatest share of attention. to see gallant horsemen and steady marching infantry in picturesque unfamiliar uniforms from every continent all following the same flag and serving the same queen was to receive a new and inspiring impression of the empire. the red spaces on the map of the earth's surface we had known from childhood's day to represent portions of our own empire--but the impression was a vague one until we saw canadian, australian, and south african, actually under arms in defence of their and our queen, as much as of their own distant homes. it was then brought home to us, with startling effect, how great is the birthright of every briton, how great the privileges attaching to such citizenship--and how great the responsibilities. these men came to us, not in gratitude for any priceless advantages we have bestowed upon them--for we have done nothing of the kind--but simply because their blood is the same as ours, their traditions the same, and their sympathies. we are still well able to take care of ourselves; but who shall say that the old country may not one day need the strong, right arms of her children across the seas? [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by h. n. king._ her majesty's watermen.] that our colonial troops are not merely ornamental soldiers their shooting at bisley, at the meeting which ended on july , amply proved, if their splendid horsemanship and marching had not proved it before. though for the most part entirely unused to the new lee-metford rifle, they secured the kolapore cup, and, in a year which produced record scores, held their own against the picked marksmen of our regulars and volunteer army. the review was brought to an end with the defiling past of the infantry. a splendid effect was produced when the infantry gave the royal salute, and then burst with one accord into shouts of cheering--bonnets and busbies being thrown up into the air or waved frantically on bayonet points. the queen returned to windsor the same evening, and the jubilee celebrations proper were over. [illustration: _from a photograph_} her majesty's carriage. {_by argent archer, kensington._ the aldershot review: march past of the colonial troops.] [sidenote: gift of a battleship.] on saturday, july , a dinner was given at the st. george's club, hanover square, in honour of the colonial premiers, five of whom were present. a distinguished company assembled; but the occasion would not have merited mention in a history of the queen's reign, had it not been for a speech made by the right hon. g. j. goschen, first lord of the admiralty. in language, the very simplicity of which riveted attention from the first--coming as it did from the most eloquent member of lord salisbury's cabinet--mr. goschen announced that he had that day received a battleship from sir j. gordon sprigg, representing the government of cape colony! his actual words were:-- "to-day i have had an interesting scene, a simple scene, but one which will come home to all of you. i received the present of an ironclad at the hands of a british colony. (loud cheers.) there was no ceremonial, there was no great reception, there was no blare of trumpets; but sir gordon sprigg simply came to the first lord of the admiralty and told him that the cape colony was prepared to place an ironclad of the first-class at the disposal of the empire. (cheers.) i thank him on behalf of the english nation, i thank him on behalf of the government, and i thank him also on behalf of the empire at large, of which the cape colony is so distinguished a part. that offer of a first-class battleship is accompanied by no conditions; but it is proposed that that ship shall take its place side by side with those sister ships, paid for by the british taxpayer, which many of you have seen at spithead. (hear, hear.) no conditions attach to it; it is a free gift intended to add to the power of the british empire." (cheers.) this statement evoked expressions of great enthusiasm from the gentlemen who dined at the st. george's club that night; the next morning it thrilled the entire nation. the zenith of the jubilee celebrations of was reached; a self-governing colony had come forward and presented to the crown the most magnificent gift of which history has any record! jewels and gold and the richest products of oriental looms have been showered on our empress-queen until her palaces have become museums of priceless offerings; but that of the government and people of cape colony outvalued these as much as they outvalue the treasures of ordinary men. not so much the gift itself, however, but the spirit of the givers touched the heart of the british people. not in their most visionary dreams had imperialists contemplated such a consummation as this. sentiment, so often and so thoughtlessly derided, had triumphed over the cold calculations of the "practical" politician, and the foundation-stone of a united anglo-saxon empire had been laid. [illustration: a. prince of wales. b. duke of coburg. c. duke of connaught. d. princess of wales. e. duke of cambridge. _s. begg._} {_by permission of the proprietors of the "illustrated london news."_ presentation of jubilee medals by h.r.h. the prince of wales to the colonial troops in the grounds of buckingham palace, july ; the new south wales lancers filing past the royal party.] [sidenote: the prince of wales's hospital fund.] there are a few other features of the jubilee celebrations which demand notice before this narrative is brought to a close. chief among these is the prince of wales's scheme for establishing the london hospitals on a firm financial basis--the greatest charitable project in a year made memorable by many such undertakings. so far back as february , when a thousand jubilee plans were being discussed, a statement of the prince's own wishes in the matter had appeared in the newspapers. his royal highness began by saying that the queen herself had no wish to express an opinion as to the form any celebrations might take. in the absence of any declaration on the part of her majesty, his royal highness felt at liberty to lay before the inhabitants of london a scheme very dear to his heart. briefly explained, they were that such a sum of money should be secured, in the form preferably of annual donations, as should suffice to free the london hospitals of debt for ever. an additional annual income of from £ , to £ , was necessary. at the time of sending these pages to press, it is not known how far his royal highness's wishes have been realised; but it is stated that a sufficient amount has been collected to relieve the hospitals permanently of some of their more pressing needs. a device, characteristic of the age, was resorted to to swell the proceeds of the fund. two hospital stamps were issued under authority, and sold at _s._ _d._ and _s._ each, the more expensive one being of a red colour and the less expensive blue. an artistic group representing charity, after sir joshua reynolds, occupies the centre of each stamp. the legend " : the queen's commemoration, " runs along the top, and at the bottom appear the words, "prince of wales's hospital fund, albert edward, prince," the signature being a facsimile of his royal highness's handwriting. the sale of these must have been prodigious, but until the hospital fund's accounts are made up it will be impossible to judge how far philatelists all over the world availed themselves of the opportunity to add these unique specimens to their collections. the dies from which the hospital stamps were printed were subsequently destroyed in the presence of the duke of york at the bank of england. another happy idea was the publication of an official programme, authorised by the prince of wales, of the jubilee procession. the programme, which was sold at a shilling a copy, was admirably illustrated. the entire profits were devoted to the hospital fund. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by thiele, chancery lane._ defenders of the empire. the following forces are represented by the above group: borneo dyak police, sierra leone force, victoria mounted rifles, hausas (sergeant of).] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the right hon. sir john forrest, premier of west australia. born near bunbury, w.a., , educated at perth, entered survey department , and has commanded several expeditions into the interior besides surveying much of the colony. commissioner of crown lands, surveyor-general and member of executive and legislative councils - , premier and treasurer of the first ministry under responsible government .] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by elliott & fry._ the right hon. sir edward braddon, premier of tasmania, is a cornishman. born in , and educated at university college. in his eighteenth year he went to calcutta and made himself famous as a tiger-hunter. in the mutiny he served with a regiment he had himself raised, and was mentioned in despatches. he held many offices in india, and in retired on a pension and went to tasmania, where, twelve months later, he entered the colonial house of assembly. he was leader of the opposition in - , and minister of lands, works, and education, - . he was for six years agent-general for tasmania, and in became premier of that colony. miss m. e. braddon, the novelist, is his sister.] [sidenote: the jubilee medals.] the commemoration medals struck to celebrate the diamond jubilee were eagerly bought up by all classes of her majesty's subjects. they were, perhaps, the most artistic things ever issued from the royal mint, though the small size of some of them interfered sadly with the effect of the design. the prices were as follows:--large gold, £ ; small gold, £ ; large silver, _s._; small silver, _s._; and large bronze, _s._ it was a happy idea to give on the reverse of the medals the queen's head, by w. wyon, as it appeared on the coinage for to . the choice of the motto--"longitudo dierum in dextera ejus et in sinistra gloria"--could not have been bettered if the whole of literature had been searched through. the head, by brock, on the obverse, first used in , is undoubtedly the most satisfactory likeness of the queen that has appeared on the coinage. in the gold medals the metal was unpolished, and the large silver ones were covered with a thin coating of platinum, the burnished appearance of newly-stamped coinage being thus avoided, much to the advantage of the design. in both cases the metal was of the purest quality, and it is interesting to note that there was actually £ _s._ worth of gold in the £ medal. innumerable publications relating to the jubilee were issued from the press. the _illustrated london news_' special number was a triumph of colour-printing; the "golden number" of the london _daily mail_ was, as its name indicates, printed entirely in gold, and found a ready sale at _d._ a copy. [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by hughes & mullins, ryde._ her majesty the queen in the dress worn by her in the diamond jubilee procession.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by h. n. king._ the throne room, buckingham palace.] [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by h. n. king._ the white drawing room, buckingham palace.] reviewing the jubilee celebrations as a whole it is impossible not to be struck by the leading characteristic of them all--their complete success. the sovereign lady in whose honour everything was done, was delighted with all; her subjects throughout the empire enjoyed themselves hugely; not a single accident dimmed the happiness of jubilee day in london; the procession was the most splendid ever witnessed; the review at spithead transcended in magnificence anything of the kind recorded in the annals of our navy; and the review at aldershot was a triumph for our brave little army. almost as remarkable was the exaltation of national sentiment manifested at this time. it seemed as if we had suddenly discovered that we belonged to a very great empire, and were overjoyed at the thought of it. when we saw the colonial premiers and the colonial soldiers, we realized for the first time that we were co-heirs with them to a hundred empires, and our imaginations were kindled. our political views widened out to the furthest horizon and we were conservatives and liberals no longer, but imperialists. we wanted but a sign from the colonies themselves to declare ourselves imperialists for ever, and we received a hundred signs. the offer of a battleship from the cape colony was the greatest of these signs, but it was only one of many. the colonial prime ministers came to us bearing messages of affection from the great new britains they represented, and in one or two instances their proposals shadowed forth measures of great advantage to us and to them. canada, in particular, offered a considerable reduction of the tariff in return for the reception of canadian goods on terms which have hitherto been rendered impossible by the existence of commercial treaties between this country and germany and belgium. she asked, in fact, for liberty to trade with this country on terms specially advantageous to both ourselves and canada; and in promptly giving notice to terminate the treaties referred to, lord salisbury's government accorded to canada the honour of taking the first practical step towards solving the fiscal difficulties which stand in the way of imperial federation. the exhortation of the great bard who represents so strongly the spirit of the victorian age seemed now for the first time to have come right home to the heart of the nation: "sons, be welded each and all, into one imperial whole; one with britain, heart and soul! one life, one flag, one fleet, one throne." [illustration: _from a photograph_} {_by lafayette._ the right hon. h. escombe, q.c., premier of natal. born in london in and educated at st. paul's school. he went to natal in , and entered the colonial parliament in ; nominated to executive council, . attorney-general, . prime minister, attorney-general, and minister of education, .] [illustration: _from photo_} {_by h. n. king._ a black v.c. sergeant w. j. gordon, st west india regiment, obtained the victoria cross for interposing his body and receiving a bullet intended for his superior officer.] it is well that this first great reunion of the anglo-saxon race should have taken place on the occasion of the queen's diamond jubilee commemoration. let us hope that she may live to see another and even greater jubilee, another gathering together of the scattered members of her empire! god save the queen. [illustration: the jubilee medal (full size).] [illustration: o king of kings. the jubilee hymn. appointed to be used in all churches and chapels _on sunday june , ._ _written by the late bishop of wakefield._ _set to music by sir arthur sullivan. (facsimile of the original ms._) king of kings, whose reign of old hath been from everlasting, before whose throne their crowns of gold the white-rob'd saints are casting; while all the shining courts on high with angel songs are ringing, oh let thy children venture nigh, their lowly homage bringing. for every heart, made glad by thee, with thankful praise is swelling; and every tongue, with joy set free, its happy theme is telling. thou hast been mindful of thine own, and lo! we come confessing-- 'tis thou hast dower'd our queenly throne with sixty years of blessing. oh royal heart, with wide embrace for all her children yearning! oh happy realm, such mother-grace with loyal love returning! where england's flag flies wide unfurl'd, all tyrant wrongs repelling; god make the world a better world for man's brief earthly dwelling! lead on, o lord, thy people still, new grace and wisdom giving, to larger love, and purer will, and nobler heights of living. and, while of all thy love below they chant the gracious story, oh teach them first thy christ to know, and magnify his glory. _amen._ _the portraits of author and composer are from photographs by window and grove, london, and kilpatrick, belfast._] index _the asterisk (*) indicates an illustration or a footnote to an illustration._ aberdeen, lord, * , , * , . abyssinia, war with, . adelaide, * . adelaide, queen, * . aden, * . adullam, cave of, . afghanistan, affairs of, , * , , - , . africa, british, , * , * , . agra, taj mahal, * ; mutiny at, * . akbar khan, . alabama claims, . albany, duke of. _see_ leopold, prince. albert, prince, portraits of, * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * ; betrothal, ; character, , ; landing of, * ; marriage, * ; grant to, ; prejudice against, ; opposition to duelling, ; his industry, ; projects the great exhibition, , * ; on russo-turkish war, ; efforts for national defence, ; official title, ; at aldershot, * ; in the highlands, * ; death, ; memorial, * . albert memorial, * ; hall, * ; chapel, * . alexandria, bombardment of, . alfred, prince, * , * , * ; marriage, * . alice, princess, * , * , * ; marriage, * . aliwal, battle of, . allegiance, act of, . alma, battle of, , . america. _see_ canada, united states. anæsthetics, introduction of, . anti-corn law league, . arabi pasha, , . architecture, victorian, . arms, small, * , * , * . army, purchase, ; uniforms of, * , * . arnold, dr., * . arthur, prince, portraits, * , * , * ; presentation to, by his god-father, * ; marriage, * ; at tel-el-kebir, * . ashanti war, , * . ashley, lord. _see_ shaftesbury, earl of. atlantic cable, * , . atrocities, turkish, in bulgaria, ; in armenia, , * . auckland, lord, * . australia, , * , * , * , * . awkward situation, an, * . balaklava, battle of, , * , * . balfour, rt. hon. a. j., . ballot bill, the, , ; effect of, . balmoral, * , * . bank charter act, suspension of, , . barings, failure of, . beaconsfield, earl of. _see_ disraeli. beales, mr., . beatrice, princess (princess henry of battenberg), * , * , * ; marriage, * . bedchamber question, . belgians, king of, * , * . belle alliance, la, * . benares, * . bentinck, lord g., * . berlin congress and treaty, . bessemer, sir h., * . bicycle, early, * . bogue forts, bombardment of, . bombay, views in, * . bottle-holder, the judicious, * , . bowl, silver gilt, used at christening of prince of wales, * . bowring, sir j., . _boxer_, h.m.s., * . boycotting, . bread, scarcity of, . bright, john, * , , * ; included in cabinet, . brisbane, * . britannia bridge, * . _britannia_, h.m.s., * . _britannia_ yacht, * . brougham, lord, * ; attacks melbourne's government, * ; motion on the corn duties, . browning, robert, * . brunel, i. k., * , * . brydon, dr., * , . buckingham palace, * ; state dining-room, * . burnes, capt., at cabul, . butt, mr., . cabul, * ; burnes at, ; retreat from, ; massacre at, ; evacuation of, - . calcutta, government house, * . _caledonia_ steamship, * . cambridge, duke of, * , * ; duchess of, * , * . canada, constitution of, ; rebellion in, ; attempted invasions of, , ; growth of, ; views in, and statistics, * , * , * . candahar, march to, * ; victory at, * . canning, viscount, * . cape colony, , * , * . cardwell, rt. hon. e., * , . carlyle, thomas, * . carnarvon, lord, , . cartridges, greased, in the indian mutiny, . cavendish, lord frederick, , , . cawnpore, mutiny at, - ; views in, * . ceylon, * . chalmers, dr. thos., * . channel tunnel, . charge of the heavy brigade, * ; of the light brigade, * . charter, the people's, . chartist movement, , . chelmsford, lord, . chilianwalla, battle of, * . china, wars with, , * , * , - . chinese jugglers, * . chloroform, introduction of, . church of england, religious movements in, . church of scotland, secession from, . churchill, lord randolph, , , . chusan, capture of, . civis romanus sum, . clarence, duke of, * ; death of, , * . closure, the, , , . clyde, lord (sir colin campbell), * , , . coach, state, * . coaches, mail, . coalition government, . coats's, j. and p., carding room, * . cobden, richard, * , * , , * . coins, * . colonial troops, * . colonies, the, expansion of, ; views in. _see_ canada, australia, &c. commerce, british, growth of, * , * . commons, house of, in committee, * ; new building, * ; pictures of, * , * . connaught, duke of. _see_ arthur, prince. conservatives, origin of name, . conyngham, marquis of, * . coomassie, * . cordite, manufacture of, * . cormack, widow, her cabbage garden, . corn laws, , . coronation, the, , * . corrupt practices act, . cotton imports, * . council, the queen's first, * . county councils bill, . crete, insurrection in, . cricket, * , * . crimean war, , - . critics, * . cruisers, armed, * . crystal palace, the, . cunard fleet, * . cyclist corps, * . cyprus occupied, . czar of russia (nicholas i.), - , ; (nicholas ii.), * , * ; marriage of, * . dalhousie, lord, his policy, , , , . dardanelles, fleet ordered to, . darwin, charles, * . delhi, mutiny at, ; siege of, ; cashmere gate of, * . denison, speaker, . denmark, popular feeling regarding, , ; war with prussia and austria, . derby, th earl, * ; forms a ministry, ; second administration, ; reform bill, , ; last administration, ; "leap in the dark," ; retires, ; death, . derby, th earl, secedes from beaconsfield's cabinet, ; joins liberal party, . devonshire, duke of, . _see also_ hartington, marquis of. dickens, charles, * . disraeli, benjamin, portraits, * , * , * , * , * ; statue, * ; maiden speech of, ; speaks on corn laws, ; chancellor of exchequer, , ; on the chinese war, ; on conspiracy to murder bill, ; on palmerston's domestic policy, ; reform bill, , ; educates his party, ; attacks gladstone's government, ; declines office, ; third administration, ; purchases suez canal shares, ; refuses to coerce turkey, ; accepts the earldom of beaconsfield, ; at berlin congress, ; appeals to the country, ; death of, . diving helmet, * . dost mohamed khan, . dublin, * . durban, * . durham, earl of, . dynamite conspiracy, . dynamos, * . ecclesiastical titles bill, . edinburgh, * ; duke of. _see_ alfred, prince. education, national, , ; free, . egypt, proposed annexation of, ; condition of, , ; arabi's revolt, ; british occupation, ; war medals, * ; annihilation of col. hicks' army, . elections, general, . electric telegraph, . electricity, , * . elephants of the viceroy, * . elgin, lord, , . ellenborough, lord, * , * , . elswick works, * , * . emerald lake, canada, * . empire, the british, map of, * . employers' liability bill, . engines, locomotive, * ; marine, * . exhibition, the great, * , * , . exports from united kingdom, . faraday, michael, * . fashions, * , * , * . fenians, , , , . ferozeshah, battle of, . fiji annexed, , . "floreat etona," . forster, rt. hon. w. e., , , . forth bridge, * . fourth party, the, . france, revolutions in, , ; threatened rupture with, , , . franchise. _see_ reform bill. franco-german war, . franklin, sir john, * . free trade, . geneva arbitration award, . germany, unfriendly action of, . gladstone, rt. hon. w. e., portrait, * ; speech on canadian constitutions bills, ; enters peel's cabinet, ; on maynooth grants, ; attacks disraeli's budget, ; war budget, ; sympathy with italy, ; on paper duty, ; unseated for oxford, ; "unmuzzled," ; leader of house, ; franchise bill, ; first administration, - ; defeat, ; resumes office, ; appeals to country, ; retires, ; first midlothian campaign, ; second ditto, ; second administration, ; defeat, ; third midlothian campaign, ; third administration, ; accepts home rule, , ; appoints parnell commission, ; fourth midlothian campaign, ; second home rule bill, , * , ; retirement, ; on armenia, , . goojerat, battle of, . gordon, general, . gough, sir hugh (lord), * ; in china, ; in india, . goulbourne, mr., * . grant, sir hope, * , , . granville, lord, , . _great eastern_ steamship, * , . greece, difficulty with, ; war with turkey, . greville, chas., , * ; quotations from, , , , , , . grey, sir george, * . gun-cotton factory, * , * . guns, heavy, * , * , * ; machine, * . hanover, king of, , * , ; severance of crown of from that of great britain, . harcourt, sir w., home secretary, ; leader of house, ; defeat at derby, . hardinge, viscount, * , . hartington, marquis of, , . _see also_ devonshire, duke of. havelock, sir henry, , , * , * . haynau, general, mobbed, . head, sir f., . helena, princess, * , * , * , * ; marriage, * . henry, prince, of battenberg, marriage, * ; death, * . herschel, sir john f. w., * . hill, lord, * , * . hill, sir rowland, * . hobart town, * . holy land, turkish position in, . home rule movement, , , , . hongkong, * . hyde park, riot in, . hyderabad, attack on, . imperial institute, , * . imports of united kingdom, . india, affairs of, ; expansion of british dominion in, ; mutiny, - ; government passes to crown, ; population, * , ; views in, * -* ; queen proclaimed empress, , * . indian cavalry, types of, * . influenza, . inkermann, battle of, , * . ireland, famine in, , , ; queen's visit to, ; discontent in, ; crime in, , . _see also under_ home rule. irish church, disestablishment of, , . irish land league, . irish land legislation, , . irish members, imprisonment of, . irish party, split in, . irish university bill, . ironclads. _see_ navy. irving, sir henry, * . isandhlana, . jameson, dr., , * . jellalabad, brydon's arrival at, * . "jingo," origin of the term, . jowett, benjamin, * . jubilee procession, * ; service, * . junks, engagements with, * , * . _jupiter_, h.m.s., * . justice, royal courts of, * . kandy lake, ceylon, * . kassassin, battle of, * . keble, rev. j., * . kensington palace, , * , * . kent, duchess of, * , , * , * , * , * ; duke of, , , * . khartoum, siege of, ; expedition to relieve, * . kimberley diamond mine, * . knollys, general, * . kooshab, battle of, * . laing's nek, , * . landseer, sir e., * . lantern, dioptric, * . launceston, tasmania, * . launch of a liner, * . leighton, lord, * . leopold, prince, duke of albany, * ; marriage, * , * . lewis, sir g. cornewall, * . liberals, first mention of, . lifeboats, * , * . lighthouses, * , * . lightship, the spurn, * . lincoln, abraham, , , . lincoln, lord, * . lister, sir j., * . literature, victorian, . livingstone, david, * . locomotion, modern, , , * . lords, the house of, disagreement with commons on paper duty, ; on home rule, . lorne, marquis of, * ; marchioness. _see_ louise, princess. louis philippe visits windsor, * ; abdication, . louise, princess, marchioness of lorne, * , * , * , * . lowe, robert, viscount sherbrooke, . lucknow, relief of, * ; ruins of residency, * . lyndhurst, lord, * , , . lytton, sir edward bulwer, * . lytton, lord, * , * . macaulay, lord, * ; on his own writings, . macnaghten, sir w., . magdala, capture of, . mahdi, the, , , . maiwand, action at, * , . majuba hill, . _malabar_ frigate, wreck of, . manchester ship canal, * ; town hall, * . mansfield, earl of, . marines, royal, uniforms of, * . mary, princess of cambridge, * . maud of wales, princess, marriage of, * . may, first of, * . may of teck, princess, * , , * . meeanee, battle of, . meerut, rising at, . melbourne, lord, , * , , * ; character of, ; attacked by brougham, ; fall of his ministry, . melbourne, views in, * . menschikoff, prince, . militia, plans for, , . millais, sir j. everett, * . _monarch_, telegraph ship, * . monroe doctrine, the, . montgomery, mr. robert, action at meean meer, . montreal, * . moodkee, battle of, . mooltan, siege of, . motor carriages, . nana sahib, - . nankin, treaty of, . napier, sir charles, * , , . napier, lord, of magdala, * . napoleon, louis, _coup d'état_, ; visit to england, * ; plot against, ; seeks british aid for deliverance of italy, . napoleon, prince, death of, . natal, * . natural history museum, * . naval actions, * , * , * . naval reviews, * , * . navy island seized by americans, . navy, uniforms of, * , * ; battleships, &c., * , * , * , , * ; moves into dardanelles, ; compared with foreign navies, . newman, john henry, cardinal, * . newport, riot at, . new south wales, views in, and statistics of, * . new zealand, ; views in, and statistics of, * . nightingale, miss florence, , * . northcote, sir stafford, , . "north star" railway engine, * . oath on accession, , ; at coronation, * . o'brien, w. smith, , . o'connell, daniel, , * , * . o'connor, feargus, , . operating room at central telegraph office, * . opium war, . orsini plot, . osborne house, * , * . ottawa, houses of parliament, * . outram, sir j., * , * . overend and gurney, failure of, . owen, sir richard, * . pacifico, the jew of athens, . palmerston, lord, * , * , * ; on action of chinese government, ; rises to fame, , ; indiscretions, , , ; resignation of, , ; again prime minister, ; defeat of, on chinese war, ; returns to office, ; defeat, ; second administration, ; action respecting schleswig-holstein, ; why supported, ; death, ; character of, . papal titles, . paper, the duty on, . parish councils bill, . parliament, houses of, * . parnell, charles s., , , , * , ; imprisoned, ; fall of, ; death, . parnell commission, , . party government, evils arising from, . _pas-de-deux_, beaconsfield and salisbury, * . peel, sir robert, * , * , * ; resigns on the bedchamber question, ; on grant to prince albert, ; forms a cabinet, ; accepts free trade, , * ; resumes office, ; defeat of, ; last speech of, ; death, . peel, capt. sir w., * . pei-ho forts, attack on, * . pekin, capitulation of, . p. and o. steamers, * . perth, west australia, * . petition, monster, . phoenix park murders, , . phonograph, the, . photography, , * . plates, royal, * . police, origin of the nickname "peelers," . poll tarff, fording the, * . poor law, detestation of, . post, the penny, . post office, , * , * , * , * , * , * . postal vans, * . potato famine in ireland, , . press, the, . primrose day, * . prince consort. _see_ albert, prince. princess royal, portraits of, * , * , * , * , * ; christening of, * ; marriage, , * . probyn, capt. dighton, * . proclamation of queen as empress of india, , * . prussia, king of, * ; queen of, * ; crown prince of, , * . pusey, dr. e. b., * . quebec, * . queen, her majesty the. _see_ victoria, queen. queen's name, story of the, ; speech, . queensland, views in, and statistics of, * . raglan, lord, , , * . railway carriage, the queen's, * . railways, early, , * , * , * , * . ramnuggur, battle of, . reform bills, , , ; league, . regalia, the, * . remnant of an army, * . repeal of corn laws, , . _repulse_, h.m.s., * , * . rice, rt. hon. spring, . rifles, examples of, * ; manufacture, * . roberts, general lord, , , * , . "rocket," the, * . röntgen rays, * . rorke's drift, * . rosebery, lord, premiership of, ; resigns office, ; resigns leadership of party, . round table conference, . royal family, portraits of, * , * . _royal sovereign_, h.m.s., * . runjeet singh, . ruskin, professor, , * . russell, lord john, * , * , , * ; moves grant to prince albert, ; proposes fixed duty on corn, ; attempts to form a ministry, ; action respecting papal titles, ; defeat of, ; resumes office, ; defeated on militia bill, ; on conspiracy to murder bill, ; on disraeli's reform bill, ; action respecting schleswig-holstein, ; raised to peerage, * ; becomes premier, . russell, sir w. h., * . russia, political action of czar, , , * , ; invasion of turkey, ; death of nicholas i., ; repudiates treaty of berlin, ; invades turkey, ; anticipated war with, . sacrament, queen receiving, * . sale, general, . salisbury, lord, portrait, * ; in disraeli's third administration, ; at berlin congress, ; on redistribution bill, ; first administration, ; second, ; third, . saloon, the queen's, * . sanitation, . schleswig-holstein, war in, . science, advances in, - . seamen, landing party of, * . sebastopol, siege of, , , * , , , . self-denying policy, * . shaftesbury, earl of, * . shah soojah-ool-moolk, , . shears for cutting steel, * . sibthorpe, colonel, , . sick man of europe, the, . signal cabins, * . sikh wars, , ; sikh loyalty, . smallpox, decline of, . smith, mr. w. h., , ; death, . sobraon, battle of, * , . soudan, war in, , . soult, marshal, * , . south australia, statistics of, * . southey, robert, * . speaker, the, * , * . spencer, herbert, * . sports, royal, * , * . state coach, the, * . steam-hammer, * . steamships, * , * , * , * , * , * , . _see also_ navy. stephens, james, . stephenson, george, * . stewart, general, . suez canal shares, purchase of, . summer palace, destruction of, . surgery, antiseptic, . sussex, duke of, , * , * , * . sydney, views in, * . tait, archbishop, * . tantia topee, , . tasmania, ; views in, and statistics of, * . tchernaya, battle of, . telegraph instruments, early, * . telegraph office, central, * . telegraphs, , * , * , * . telephone, the, . telescope, lord rosse's, * . tel-el-kebir, battle of, , * , * . temple bar, * . tennyson, lord, * . _terrible_, h.m.s., * . _teutonic_ steamship, * . thackeray, * ; may-day ode, , . thames, the, * . thanksgiving service for recovery of prince of wales, * ; for jubilee of her majesty, , * . three generations afloat, * . throne room, windsor, * . tien-tsin, treaty of, * , ; occupation of, . too late! * . toronto, * . torpedo boats, * ; stores, * . tower bridge, * . tractarian movement, , . tracts for the times, . trade unions, . trafalgar square, meetings in, . transportation act repealed, . transvaal, the, war with, ; dr. jameson invades, , * . treason felony act, . trent affair, the, . trooping the colours, * . truro cathedral, * . tunnel, channel, ; southwark, * ; blackwall, * . turkey, proposed division of, ; custody of holy places, ; invasion by russia, , ; destruction of fleet, ; atrocities in bulgaria, ; in armenia, ; war with greece, . united states, friendly action of, , ; civil war in, , ; threatened rupture with, , , . vancouver harbour, * . venezuela, dispute as to boundary of, . victoria, princess, , * , * , * . victoria, queen, portraits of, * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * , * ; accession, , , * ; first council, ; youth of, ; her name, ; prorogues parliament ( ), ; impressions as to her character, ; coronation, ; confidence in lord melbourne, ; sends for duke of wellington, ; bedchamber question, ; attends review at windsor, * ; betrothal, ; opens parliament ( ), ; marriage, * ; fired at, , ; receives louis philippe, * ; growing popularity, ; visits ireland, ; on papal titles, ; on opening of great exhibition, ; on napoleon's _coup d'état_, ; invests napoleon with garter, * ; distributes medals, * ; visits france, * , * ; at aldershot, * ; in the highlands, * ; on prince consort's last writings, ; at osborne, * ; proclaimed empress of india, , * ; jubilee, , * ; opens imperial institute, * ; influence of character, , . _victoria_, h.m.s., * . victoria cross pictures, * , * , * , * . victoria, australia, views in, and statistics of, * . vienna, conferences of ambassadors at, . villiers, rt. hon. c. p., * , , , * . volunteer movement, ; uniforms, * . wales, prince of, portraits, * , * , * , * , * , * , * ; christening of, * ; marriage, , * ; illness, recovery, and thanksgiving, * ; visits india, ; organizes jubilee institute, ; hand of, * . wales, princess of, * , * ; marriage, , * . war correspondents, . _warrior_, h.m.s., * . war-ships. _see_ navy. waterloo bridge, * . wellington, duke of, * , * ; at the coronation, ; declines premiership, ; moves amendment to address on queen's betrothal, ; as cæsar's ghost, * ; on corn laws, ; advises recall of lord russell, ; presents casket to prince arthur, * ; death, ; funeral, * , * . west australia, statistics of, * . who? who? ministry, . william iv., death of, . _william fawcett_ steamship, * . windsor castle, * ; throne room, * . winnipeg city hall, * . wolseley, sir garnet, afterwards viscount, portrait, * ; in ashanti, ; in south africa, ; in egypt, , * , . wood, sir charles, * . woolwich arsenal, * . wordsworth, william, * . york, duke of, * ; marriage of, * . york, prince edward of, * . zulu war, . *** _all the illustrations in this work are copyright._ errata. _the following corrections have been made in a portion of the issue of this work._ pp. , , date of closing of great exhibition _should be_ "october ." p. , fifth line from bottom, date of fire at houses of parliament _should be_ " ." p. , last line, _for_ "died out" _read_ "almost died out" p. , sixth line from bottom, _for_ "oppressor" _read_ "opposer" p. , first line of note beneath upper illustration _should read_ "first visit of an english sovereign to paris since henry vi. was crowned there," &c. p. , title to first illustration _should read_ "sydney harbour, from palace garden." footnotes: [a] who had recently taken the place of the old watchmen, and were nicknamed peelers after sir robert peel. [b] the tory party had by this time adopted the title of conservatives, a term first applied to them by wilson croker in the _quarterly review_ for january , wherein he mentions his attachment to "what is called the tory, but which might, with more propriety, be called the conservative party." the charter of conservatism was never more clearly defined than by sir robert peel, who, speaking at merchant taylors' hall in , said: "my object for some years past has been to lay the foundations of a great party which, existing in the house of commons, and deriving its strength from the popular will, should diminish the risk and deaden the shock of collisions between the two branches of the legislature." [c] during eight months of wheat was upwards of _s._ a quarter. last year ( ) it was _s._ [d] daniel o'connell's parody referring to colonel sibthorp, who was member for lincoln, and two other colonels in parliament, is too witty to be forgotten:-- "three colonels in three distant counties born, sligo, armagh, and lincoln did adorn, the first in matchless impudence surpassed the next in bigotry--in both, the last. the force of nature could no further go: to beard the third, she shaved the other two." colonel sibthorp was distinguished, in days when shaven chins were all but universal, by an immense beard and moustache. [e] this act was repealed in . [f] there were at that time two offices in the government, that of the secretary of state for war, who was the duke of newcastle, and that of the secretary at war, mr. sidney herbert. [g] sir henry lawrence was brother of sir john lawrence, afterwards lord lawrence, governor-general of india. [h] her royal highness's full baptismal names are alexandra caroline maria charlotte louisa julia. [i] see page . [j] see page . [k] dress of black moiré silk with panels of pale grey silk, embroidered in silver; cape of black chiffon, with white lace insertion and silver embroidery. black bonnet, ornamented with jet and silver, trimmed with white acacia and ostrich feathers, and diamond aigrette. * * * * * * transcriber's note: simple typographical errors were corrected. punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. the first letter of each chapter, including the preface, was printed as an illustrated drop-cap. this version of this ebook uses simple printed letters instead, and does not indicate the presence of an illustration. identifying names in some captions have been replaced by letter keys and corresponding explanations; when the original book used numeric keys, they have been retained. footnotes have been moved to the end of this ebook. the index only covers pages - . in the original book, it appeared immediately after the preface, but has been moved to the end of this ebook. in the original book, the errata section appeared immediately after the index, and has been moved, with the index, to the end of this ebook. index entry for "press, the" refers to non-existent page . changed to . table of contents added by transcriber. page , second illustration: plates numbered in original sequence. page : some numbers in the key are unclear in the original. page : in illustration caption, "victoria melitia" should be "victoria melita," as it is in the illustration caption on page . page : the "er" in "françois ier" was superscripted. page : the " " in "about members" was printed poorly in the source. this file was produced from images generously made available by the canadian institute for historical microreproductions. queen victoria. her girlhood and womanhood. by grace greenwood a dedicatory letter to camilla toulmin (mrs. newton crosland), linton lodge, blackheath park: permit me, my dear friend, to inscribe to you this very imperfect life of your beloved queen, in remembrance of that dear old time when the world was brighter and more beautiful than it is now (or so it seemeth to me) and things in general were pleasanter;--when better books were written, especially biographies, and there were fewer of them;--when the "gentle reader" and the "indulgent critic" were extant;--when realism had not shouldered his way into art;--when there were great actors and actresses of the fine old school, like macready and the elder booth--helen faucit and charlotte cushman; and real orators, like daniel o'connell and daniel webster;--when there was more poetry and more romance in life than now;-- when it took less silk to make a gown, but when a bonnet was a bonnet;-- when there was less east-wind and fog, more moonlight to the month, and more sunlight to the acre;--when the scent of the blossoming hawthorn was sweeter in the morning, and the song of the nightingale more melodious in the twilight;--when, in short, you and i, and the glorious victorian era, were young. grace greenwood. preface. i send this book out to the world with many misgivings, feeling that it is not what i would like it to be--not what i could have made it with more time. i have found it especially difficult to procure facts and incidents of the early life of the queen--just that period which i felt was of most interest to my younger readers. so much was i delayed that for the actual arrangement and culling of my material, and the writing of the volume, i have had less than three months, and during that time many interruptions in my work--the most discouraging caused by a serious trouble of the eyes. i am aware that the book is written in a free and easy style, partly natural, and partly formed by many years of journalistic work--a style new for the grave business of biographical writing, and which may be startling in a royal biography,--to my english readers, at least. i aimed to make a pleasant, simple fireside story of the life and reign of queen victoria--and i hope i have not altogether failed. unluckily, i had no friend near the throne to furnish me with reliable, unpublished personal anecdotes of her majesty. i have made use of the labor of several english authors; first, of that of the queen herself, in the books entitled, "leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands," and "the early years of his royal highness the prince-consort"; next, of that of sir theodore martin, k.c.b., in his "life of the prince-consort." for this last appropriation i have sir theodore martin's gracious permission. i am much indebted to hon. justin mccarthy, in his "history of our own times." i have also been aided by various compilations, and by lord ronald gower's "reminiscences." i have long felt that the wonderful story of the life of the queen of england--of her example as a daughter, wife and mother, and as the honored head of english society could but have, if told simply, yet sympathetically, a happy and ennobling influence on the hearts and minds of my young countrywomen. i have done my work, if lightly, with entire respect, though always as an american and a republican. i could not do otherwise; for, though it has made me in love with a few royal people, it has not made me in love with royalty. i cannot but think that, so far from its being a condition of itself ennobling to human character, those born into it have often to fight to maintain a native nobility,--as queen victoria has fought, as prince albert fought,--for i find the "blameless prince" saying: "to my mind the exaltation of royalty is only possible through the personal character of the sovereign." it suits england, however, "excellent well," in its restricted constitutional form; she has all the venerable, splendid accessories--and i hope "albert the good" may have founded a long race of good kings; but it would not do for us;--a race cradled in revolution, and nurtured on irreverence and unbelief, as regards the divine right of kings and the law of primogeniture. to us it seems, though a primitive, an unnatural institution. we find no analogies for it, even in the wildest venture of the new world. it is true the buffalo herd has its kingly commander, who goes plunging along ahead, like a flesh-and-blood locomotive; the drove of wild horses has its chieftain, tossing his long mane, like a banner, in advance of his fellows; even the migratory multitudes of wild-fowl, darkening the autumn heavens, have their general and engineer,--but none of these leaders was born, or hatched into his proud position. they are undoubtedly chosen, elected, or elect themselves by superior will or wisdom. entomology does, indeed, furnish some analogies. the sagacious bees, the valiant wasps, are monarchists,--but then, they have only queens. g. g. london, _october th_, . contents. part i. childhood and girlhood part ii. womanhood and queenhood part iii. wifehood and motherhood part iv. widowhood illustrations . the princess victoria. . queen victoria at the age of . . the duchess of kent, mother of the queen. . the queen at the age of . . prince albert, husband of the queen. part i. childhood and girlhood. chapter i. sketch of the princess charlotte--her love for her mother--anecdotes--her happy girlhood--her marriage with prince leopold--her beautiful life at claremont--baron stockmar, the coburg mentor--death of the princess charlotte. it seems to me that the life of queen victoria cannot well be told without a prefacing sketch of her cousin, the princess charlotte, who, had she lived, would have been her queen, and who was in many respects her prototype. it is certain, i think, that charlotte augusta of wales, that lovely miracle-flower of a loveless marriage, blooming into a noble and gracious womanhood, amid the petty strifes and disgraceful intrigues of a corrupt court, by her virtues and graces, by her high spirit and frank and fearless character, prepared the way in the loyal hearts of the british people, for the fair young kinswoman, who, twenty-one years after her own sad death, reigned in her stead. through all the bright life of the princess charlotte--from her beautiful childhood to her no less beautiful maturity--the english people had regarded her proudly and lovingly as their sovereign, who was to be; they had patience with the melancholy madness of the poor old king, her grandfather, and with the scandalous irregularities of the prince regent, her father, in looking forward to happier and better things under a good woman's reign; and after all those fair hopes had been coffined with her, and buried in darkness and silence, their hearts naturally turned to the royal little girl, who might possibly fill the place left so drearily vacant. england had always been happy and prosperous under queens, and a queen, please god, they would yet have. the princess charlotte was the only child of the marriage of the prince regent, afterwards george iv., with the princess caroline of brunswick, her childhood was overshadowed by the hopeless estrangement of her parents. she seems to have especially loved her mother, and by the courage and independence she displayed in her championship of that good- hearted but most eccentric and imprudent woman, endeared herself to the english people, who equally admired her pluck and her filial piety--on the maternal side. they took a fond delight in relating stories of rebellion against her august papa, and even against her awful grandmamma, queen charlotte. they told how once, when a mere slip of a girl, being forbidden to pay her usual visit to her poor mother, she insisted on going, and on the queen undertaking to detain her by force, resisted, struggling right valiantly, and after damaging and setting comically awry the royal mob-cap, broke away, ran out of the palace, sprang into a hackney-coach, and promising the driver a guinea, was soon at her mother's house and in her mother's arms. there is another--a court version of this hackney-coach story--which states that it was not the queen, but the prince regent that the princess ran away from--so that there could have been no assault on a mob-cap. but the common people of that day preferred the version i have given, as more piquant, especially as old queen charlotte was known to be the most solemnly grand of grandmammas, and a personage of such prodigious dignity that it was popularly supposed that only kings and queens, with their crowns actually on their heads, were permitted to sit in her presence. as a young girl, the princess charlotte was by no means without faults of temper and manner. she was at times self-willed, passionate, capricious, and imperious, though ordinarily good-humored, kindly, and sympathetic. a court lady of the time, speaking of her, says: "she is very clever, but at present has the manners of a hoyden school-girl. she talked all sorts of nonsense to me, but can put on dignity when she chooses." this writer also relates that the royal little lady loved to shock her attendants by running to fetch for herself articles she required--her hat, a book, or a chair--and that one summer, when she stayed at a country-house, she would even run to open the gate to visitors, curtsying to them like a country lassie. the earl of albemarle, who was her playmate in childhood, his grandmother being her governess, relates that one time when they had the prince regent to lunch, the chop came up spoiled, and it was found that her royal highness had descended into the kitchen, and, to the dismay of the cook, insisted on broiling it. albemarle adds that he, boy-like, taunted her with her culinary failure, saying: "_you_ would make a pretty queen, wouldn't you?" at another time, some years later, she came in her carriage to make a morning-call at his grandmother's, and seeing a crowd gathered before the door, attracted by the royal liveries, she ran out a back-way, came round, and mingled with the curious throng unrecognized, and as eager to see the princess as any of them. not being allowed the society of her mother, and that of her father not being considered wholesome for her, the princess was early advised and urged to take a companion and counsellor in the shape of a husband. the prince of orange, afterwards king of the netherlands, was fixed upon as a good _parti_ by her royal relatives, and he came courting to the english court. but the princess did hot altogether fancy this aspirant, so, after her independent fashion, she declined the alliance, and "the young man went away sorrowing." one of the ladies of the princess used to tell how for a few minutes after the prince had called to make his sad _adieux_, she hoped that her royal highness had relented because she walked thoughtfully to the window to see the last of him as he descended the palace steps and sprang into his carriage, looking very grand in his red uniform, with a tuft of green feathers in his hat. but when the princess turned away with a gay laugh, saying, "how like a radish he looks," she knew that all was over. it is an odd little coincidence, that a later prince of orange, afterwards king of the netherlands, had the same bad luck as a suitor to the princess or queen victoria. charlotte's next lover, leopold, of saxe-coburg, an amiable and able prince, was more fortunate. he won the light but constant heart of the princess, inspiring her not only with tender love, but with profound respect. her high spirit and imperious will were soon tamed to his firm but gentle hand; she herself became more gentle and reasonable, content to rule the kingdom of his heart at least, by her womanly charms, rather than by the power of her regal name and lofty position. this royal love- marriage took place in may, , and soon after the prince and princess, who had little taste for court gaieties, went to live at claremont, the beautiful country residence now occupied by the young duke of albany, a namesake of prince leopold. here the young couple lived a life of much domestic privacy and simplicity, practicing themselves in habits of study, methodical application to business, and wise economy. they were always together, spending happy hours in work and recreation, passing from law and politics to music and sketching, from the study of the british constitution to horticulture. the princess especially delighted in gardening, in watering with her own hands her favorite plants. this happy pair had an invaluable aid and ally in the learned baron stockmar, early attached to prince leopold as private physician, a rare, good man on whom they both leaned much, as afterwards did victoria and albert and their children. indeed the baron seems to have been a permanent pillar for princes to lean upon. from youth to old age he was to two or three royal households the chief "guide, philosopher, and friend"--a coburg mentor, a guelphic oracle. so these royal lovers of claremont lived tranquilly on, winning the love and respect of all about them, and growing dearer and dearer to each other till the end came, the sudden death of the young wife and mother,-- an event which, on a sad day in november, , plunged the whole realm into mourning. the grief of the people, even those farthest removed from the court, was real, intense, almost personal and passionate. it was a double tragedy, for the child too was dead. the accounts of the last moments of the princess are exceedingly touching. when told that her baby boy was not living, she said: "i am grieved, for myself, for the english people, but o, above all, i feel it for my dear husband!" taking an opportunity when the prince was away from her bedside, she asked if she too must die. the physician did not directly reply, but said, "pray be calm." "i know what _that_ means," she replied, then added, "tell it to my husband,--tell it with caution and tenderness, and be sure to say to him, from me, that i am still the happiest wife in england." it seems, according to the queen, that it was stockmar that took this last message to the prince, who lacked the fortitude to remain by the bedside of his dying wife--that it was stockmar who held her hand till it grew pulseless and cold, till the light faded from her sweet blue eyes as her great life and her great love passed forever from the earth. yet it seems that through a mystery of transmigration, that light and life and love were destined soon to be reincarnated in a baby cousin, born in may, , called at first "the little may-flower," and through her earliest years watched and tended as a frail and delicate blossom of hope. chapter ii. birth of the princess victoria--character of her father--question of the succession to the throne--death of the duke of kent--baptism of victoria --removal to woolbrook glen--her first escape from sudden death--picture of domestic life--anecdotes. after the loss of his wife, prince leopold left for a time his sad home of claremont, and returned to the continent, but came back some time in , to visit a beloved sister, married since his own bereavement, and become the mother of a little english girl, and for the second time a widow. lovingly, though with a pang at his heart, the prince bent over the cradle of this eight-months-old baby, who in her unconscious orphanage smiled into his kindly face, and though he thought sorrowfully of the little one whose eyes had never smiled into his, had never even opened upon life, he vowed then and there to the child of his bereaved sister, the devoted love, the help, sympathy, and guidance which never failed her while he lived. this baby girl was the daughter of the duke of kent and of the princess victoire marie louise of saxe-coburg saalfield, widow of prince charles of leiningen. edward, duke of kent, was the fourth and altogether the best son of george iii. making all allowance for the exaggeration of loyal biographers, i should say he was an amiable, able, and upright man, generous and charitable to a remarkable degree, for a royal prince of that time--perhaps too much so, for he kept himself poor and died poor. he was not a favorite with his royal parents, who seem to have denied him reasonable assistance, while lavishing large sums on his spendthrift brother, the prince of wales. george was like the prodigal son of scripture, except that he never repented--edward like the virtuous son, except that he never complained. on the death of the princess charlotte the duke of york had become heir- presumptive to the throne. he had no children, and the duke of clarence, third son of george iii., was therefore next in succession. he married in the same year as his brother of kent, and to him also a little daughter was born, who, had she lived, would have finally succeeded to the throne instead of victoria. but the poor little princess stayed but a little while to flatter or disappoint royal hopes. she looked timidly out upon life, with all its regal possibilities, and went away untempted. still the duchess of clarence (afterwards queen adelaide) might yet be the happy mother of a prince, or princess royal, and there were so many probabilities against the accession of the duke of kent's baby to the throne that people smiled when, holding her in his arms, the proud father would say, in a spirit of prophecy, "look at her well!--she will yet be queen of england." one rainy afternoon the duke stayed out late, walking in the grounds, and came in with wet feet. he was urged to change his boots and stockings, but his pretty baby, laughing and crowing on her mother's knee, was too much for him; he took her in his arms and played with her till the fatal chill struck him. he soon took to his bed, which he never left. he had inflammation of the lungs, and a country doctor, which last took from him one hundred and twenty ounces of blood. then, as he grew no better, a great london physician was called in, but he said it was too late to save the illustrious patient; that if he had had charge of the case at first, he would have "bled more freely." such was the medical system of sixty years ago. the duke of kent's death brought his unconscious baby's feet a step--just his grave's width--nearer the throne; but it was not till many years later--till after the death of her kindly uncle of york, and her "fine gentleman" uncle, george iv., and the accession of her rough sailor- uncle, the duke of clarence, william iv., an old man, and legally considered childless--that the princess victoria was confidently regarded as the coming sovereign, and that the momentous truth was revealed to her. she was twelve years old before any clear intimation had been allowed to reach her of the exceptional grandeur of her destiny. till then she did not know that she was especially an object of national love and hope, or especially great or fortunate. she knew that she was a "royal highness," but she knew also, the wise child!--that since the guelphs came over to rule the english, royal highnesses had been more plentiful than popular; she knew that she was obliged to wear, most of the time, very plain cotton gowns and straw hats, and to learn a lot of tiresome things, and that she was kept on short allowance of pin-money and ponies. the wise duchess of kent certainly guarded her with the most jealous care from all premature realization of the splendid part she might have to play in the world's history, as a hope too intoxicating, or a responsibility too heavy, for the heart and mind of a sensitive child. i wonder if her serene highness kept fond motherly records of the babyhood and childhood of the queen? if so, what a rich mine it would be for a poor bewildered biographer like me, required to make my foundation bricks with only a few golden bits of straw. i have searched the chronicles of the writers of that time; i have questioned loyal old people, but have found or gained little that is novel, or peculiarly interesting. victoria was born in the sombre but picturesque old palace of kensington, on may , , and on the th of the following june was baptized with great pomp out of the splendid gold font, brought from the tower, by the archbishop of canterbury, assisted by the bishop of london. her sponsors were the prince regent and the emperor of russia (the last represented by the duke of york), the queen dowager of würtemburg (represented by the princess augusta) and the duchess dowager of coburg (represented by the duchess dowager of gloucester), and her names were _alexandrina victoria_, the first in honor of the emperor alexander of russia. she came awfully near being alexandrina georgiana, but the prince regent, at the last moment, declared that the name of georgiana should be second to no other; then added, "give her her mother's name--after that of the emperor." the queen afterwards decided that her mother's name should be second to no other. yet as a child she was often called "little drina." the baby's first move from her stately birthplace was to a lovely country residence called woolbrook glen, near sidmouth. here victoria had the first of those remarkable narrow escapes from sudden and violent death which have almost seemed to prove that she bears a "charmed life." a boy was shooting sparrows in vicinity of the house, and a charge from his carelessly-handled gun pierced the window by which the nurse was sitting, with the little princess in her arms. it is stated that the shot passed frightfully near the head of the child. but she was as happily unconscious of the deadly peril she had been in as, a few months later, she was of the sad loss she sustained in the death of her father, who was laid away with the other guelphs in the windsor royal vault, never again to throne his little "queen" in his loyal, loving arms. the princess victoria seems to have been always ready for play, dearly loving a romp. one of the earliest mentions i find of her is in the correspondence of bishop wilberforce. after stating that he had been summoned to the presence of the duchess of kent, he says: "she received me with her fine, animated child on the floor by her side busy with its playthings, of which i soon became one." this little domestic picture gives a glimpse of the tender intimacy, the constant companionship of this noble mother with her child. it is stated that, unlike most mothers in high life, the duchess nursed this illustrious child at her own breast, and so mingled her life with its life that nothing thenceforth could divide them. the wee princess passed happily through the perils of infantile ailments. she cut her teeth as easily as most children, with the help of her gold-mounted coral--and very nice teeth they were, though a little too prominent according to the early pictures. if the infant prince albert reminded his grandmamma of a "weasel," his "pretty cousin" might have suggested to her a squirrel by "a little something about the mouth." an old newspaper writer gave a rather rapturous and pompous account of the princess victoria when she was about three years old. he says: "passing through kensington gardens a few days since, i observed at some distance a party consisting of several ladies, a young child, and two men-servants, having in charge a donkey, gayly caparisoned with blue ribbons, and accoutred for the use of the infant." he soon ascertained that the party was the duchess of kent and her daughter, the princess feodore of leiningen, and the princess alexandrina victoria. on his approaching them the little one replied to his "respectful recognition" with a pleasant "good-morning," and he noted that she was equally polite to all who politely greeted her--truly one "to the manner born." this writer adds: "her royal highness is remarkably beautiful, and her gay and animated countenance bespeaks perfect health and good temper. her complexion is excessively fair, her eyes large and expressive, and her cheeks blooming. she bears a striking resemblance to her royal father." a glimpse which leigh hunt gives of his little liege lady, as she appeared to him for the first time in kensington gardens, is interesting, as revealing the child's affectionate disposition. "she was coming up a cross-path from the bayswater gate, with a little girl of her own age by her side, whose hand she was holding as though she loved her." and why not, mr. poet? princesses, especially princesses of the bread-and-butter age, are as susceptible to joys of sympathy and companionship as any of us--untitled poets and title-contemning republicans. lord albemarle, in his autobiography, speaks of watching, in an idle hour, from the windows of the old palace, "the movements of a bright, pretty little girl, seven years of age, engaged in watering the plants immediately under the window. it was amusing to see how impartially she divided the contents of the watering-pot between the flowers and her own little feet. her simple but becoming dress--a large straw hat and a white cotton gown--contrasted favorably with the gorgeous apparel now worn by the little damsels of the rising generation. a colored fichu round the neck was the only ornament she wore. the young lady i am describing was the princess victoria, now our gracious sovereign." queen victoria dressed her own children in the same simple style, voted quaint and old-fashioned by a later generation. i heard long ago a story of a fashionable lady from some provincial town taking a morning walk in windsor park, in the wild hope of a glimpse of royalty, and meeting a lady and gentleman, accompanied only by two or three children, and all so plainly dressed that she merely glanced at them as they passed. some distance further she walked in her eager quest, when she met an old scotch gardener, of whom she asked if there was any chance of her encountering the queen anywhere on the domain. "weel, ye maun, turn back and rin a good bit, for you've passed her _mawjesty_, the prince, and the royal bairns." ah, wasn't she spited as she looked back and saw the joyous family party in the dim distance, and realized what she had lost in not indulging herself in a good long british stare, and what a sin she had committed in not making a loyal british obeisance. chapter iii. victoria's early education--anecdote--routine of life at kensington palace--character and circumstances of the duchess of kent--anecdote-- simple mode of life--visits. queen victoria tells little of her childhood, but speaks of it as rather "dull." it seems, however, to have never been empty or idle. all her moments were golden--for study, or for work, or healthful exercise and play. she was taught, and perhaps was inclined, to waste no time, and to be careful not to cause others to waste it. a dear english friend contributes the following anecdote, slight, but very significant, obtained long ago from a lady whose young daughters, then at school at hammersmith, had the same writing-master as the princess victoria: "of course," says my friend, "every incident connected with the little princess was interesting to the school-girls, and all that this master (i think his name was steward) had to tell went to prove her a kind-hearted and considerate child. "she always mentioned to him in advance the days on which she would not require a lesson, saying: 'i thought, perhaps, you would like to know.' sometimes she would say, 'we are going to windsor to see uncle king,' or she would name some other important engagement. by 'uncle king' she meant george iv. mr. steward, of course, availed himself of the liberty suggested by the little princess, then about eight years old, by whose thoughtful kindness he was saved much time and trouble." lord campbell, speaking of the princess as a little girl, says: "she seems in good health, and appears lively and good-humored." it may be that the good-humor was, in great part, the result of the good health. the princess was brought up after the wisest, because most simple, system of healthful living: perfect regularity in the hours of eating, sleeping, and exercise; much life in the open air, and the least possible excitement. she was taught to respect her own constitution as well as that of the british government, and to reverence the laws of health as the laws of god. an account which i judge to be authoritative of the daily routine of the family life in kensington, runs thus: "breakfast at o'clock in summer, the princess victoria having her bread and milk and fruit put on a little table by her mother's side. after breakfast the princess feodore studied with her governess, and the princess victoria went out for an hour's walk or drive. from to her mother instructed her, after which she could amuse herself by running through the suite of rooms which extended round two sides of the palace, and in which were many of her toys. at a plain dinner, while her mother took her luncheon. lessons again till ; then would come a visit or drive, and after that a walk or donkey ride in the gardens. at the time of her mother's dinner the princess had her supper, still at the side of the duchess; then, after playing with her nurse (mrs. brock, whom she called 'dear, dear boppy'), she would join the party at dessert, and at she would retire to her bed, which was placed at the side of her mother's." we see regular study, regular exercise, simple food, plenty of outdoor air, plenty of play, plenty of sleep. it seems that when this admirable mother laid her child away from her own breast, it was only to lay it on that of nature, and very close has victoria, with all her state and grandeur, kept to the heart of the great all-mother ever since. the duchess of kent was left not only with very limited means for a lady of her station, but also burdened by her husband's debts, which, being a woman with a fine sense of honor, she felt herself obliged to discharge, or at least to reduce as far and fast as possible. had it not been for help from her generous brother, leopold, she could hardly have afforded for her daughter the full and fitting education she received. so, had not her taste and her sense of duty towards her child inclined her to a life of quiet and retirement, the lack of fortune would have constrained her to live simply and modestly. as it was, privacy was the rule in the life of the accomplished duchess, still young and beautiful, and in that of her little shadow; very seldom did they appear at court, or in any gay court circle; so, at the time of her accession to the throne, victoria might almost have been a fairy-princess, emerging from some enchanted dell in windsor forest, or a water-nymph evoked from the serpentine in kensington gardens by some modern merlin, for all the world at large--the world beyond her kingdom at least--knew of her young years, of her character and disposition. now few witnesses are left anywhere of her fair happy childhood, or even of her girlhood, which was like a silvery crescent, holding the dim promise of full-orbed womanhood and queenhood. as the princess grew older, she found loving and helpful companionship in her half-brother and sister, prince charles and the princess feodore of leiningen, the three children and their mother forming a close family union, which years and separations and changes of fortune never destroyed. they are all gone from her now; the queen, as daughter and sister, stands alone. a kind friend and a well-known english writer, f. aiken kortright, for many years a resident of kensington, tells some pleasant little local stories of the princess victoria. she says: "in her childhood the princess victoria was frequently seen in a little carriage, drawn over the gravel-walks of the then rural kensington gardens, accompanied by her elder and half-sister, the princess feodore, and attended by a single servant. many elderly people still remember the extreme simplicity of the child's attire, and the quiet and unpretentious appearance and manners of her sister, who was one day seen to stop the tiny carriage to indulge the fancy of an unknown little girl by allowing her to kiss her future queen." that "unknown little girl" was an elder sister of miss kortright. my friend also says that the duchess of kent and her daughters frequently on summer afternoons took tea on the lawn, "in sight of admiring promenaders, with a degree of publicity which now sounds fabulous." it was then safe and agreeable for that quiet, refined family, only because the london "rough"--that ugly, unwholesome, fungous growth on the fine old oak of english character--had not made his unwelcome appearance in all the public parks of the metropolis. our friend also states that so simple and little-girlish was the princess in her ways that, later on, she was known to go with her mother or sister to a kensington milliner's to buy a hat, stay to have it trimmed, and then carry it (or more likely the old one) home in her hand. i should like to see a little miss vanderbilt do a thing of that kind! the kents and leiningens--if i may speak so familiarly of royal and serene highnesses--when away from the quiet home in kensington, spent much time at lovely claremont as guests of the dear brother and uncle leopold. they seem also to have travelled a good deal in england, visiting watering-places and in houses of the nobility, but never to have gone over to the continent. the duchess probably felt that the precious life which she held in trust for the people of england might possibly be endangered by too long journeys, or by changes of climate; but what it cost to the true german woman to so long exile herself from her old home and her kindred none ever knew--at least none among her husband's unsympathetic family--for she was, as a princess, too proud to complain; as a mother, cheerful in her devotion and self-abnegation. chapter iv. queen-making not a light task--admirable discipline of the duchess of kent--foundation of the character and habits of the future queen--curious extract from a letter by her grandmamma--a children's ball given by george iv. to the little queen of portugal--a funny mishap--death of george iv.--character of his successor--victoria's first appearance at a drawing-room--her absence from the coronation of william iv. queen-making is not a light task. it is no fancywork for idle hours. it is the first difficult draft of a chapter, perhaps a whole volume, of national history. no woman ever undertook a more important labor than did the widowed duchess of kent, or carried it out with more faithfulness, if we may judge by results. the lack of fortune in the family was not an unmixed evil; perhaps it was even one of those disagreeable "blessings in disguise," which nobody welcomes, but which the wise profit by, as it caused the duchess to impress upon her children, especially the child victoria, the necessity of economy, and the safety and dignity which one always finds in living within one's income. frugality, exactitude in business, faithfulness to all engagements, great or small, punctuality, that economy of time, are usually set down among the minor moralities of life, more humdrum than heroic; but under how many circumstances and conditions do they reveal themselves as cardinal virtues, as things on which depend the comfort and dignity of life! it seems that these things were so impressed on the mind and heart of the young victoria by her careful, methodical german mother, that they became a part of her conscience, entered so deeply into the rule of her life that no after-condition of wealth, or luxury, or sovereign independence; no natural desire for ease or pleasure; no passion of love or grief; no possible exigencies of imperial state have been able to overcome or set them aside. the danger is that such rigid principles, such systematic habits, adopted in youth, may in age become, from being the ministers of one's will, the tyrants of one's life. it seems to be somewhat so in the case of the queen, for i hear it said that the sun, the moon, and the tides are scarcely more punctual and regular in their rounds and mighty offices, in their coming and going, than she in the daily routine of her domestic and state duties and frequent journeyings; and that the laws of the medes and persians are as naught in inexorableness and inflexibility to the rules and regulations of windsor and balmoral. but the english people, even those directly inconvenienced at times by those unbending habits and irrevocable rules, have no right to find fault, for these be the right royal results of the admirable but somewhat unyouthful qualities they adored in the young queen. they have no right to sneer because a place of honor is given in her majesty's household to that meddlesome, old-fashioned german country cousin, economy; for did not they all rejoice in the early years of the reign to hear of this same dame being introduced by those clever managers, prince albert and baron stockmar, into the royal palaces, wherein she had not been seen for many a year? but to return to the little princess. the duchess, her mother, seems to have given her all needful change of air and scene, though always maintaining; habits of study, and an admirable system of mental and moral training; for the child's constitution seems to have strengthened year by year, and in spite of one or two serious attacks of illness, the foundation was laid of the robust health which, accompanied by rare courage and nerve, has since so marked and blessed her life. a writer of the time speaks of a visit paid by her and her mother to windsor in , when the child was about seven years old, and states that george iv., her "uncle king," was delighted with her "charming manners." it was about this visit that her maternal grandmamma at coburg wrote to her mamma: "i see by the english papers that her royal highness the duchess of kent went on virginia water with his majesty. the little monkey must have pleased and amused him, she is such a pretty, clever child." to think of the great victoria, queen of great britain and ireland, and empress of india, being called "a little monkey"! grandmammas will take such liberties. three or four years later, according to that spicy and irreverent chronicler, charles greville, the little princess was not pretty. but she was just entering on that ungracious period in which few little girls are comely to look upon, or comfortable to themselves. greville saw her at a children's ball, given by the king in honor of his little guest, the child-queen of portugal, donna maria ii., da gloria, whom the king seated at his right hand, and was very attentive to. greville says she was fine-looking and very finely dressed, "with a ribbon and order over her shoulder," and she must have seemed very grand to the other children while she sat by the king, but when she came to dance she "fell down and hurt her face, was frightened and bruised, and went away." then he adds: "our little princess is a short, plain child, not so good-looking as the portuguese. however, if nature has not done so much, fortune is likely to do a great deal more for her." victoria did not know that, but like any other little girl she may, perhaps, have comforted herself by thinking, "well, if i'm not so handsome and grand and smartly dressed as that maria, i'm less awkward. i was able to keep my head and not lose my feet." as for her small majesty of portugal, she was at that time a queen without a crown and without a kingdom. she had come all the way from brazil to take her grandfather's throne, a little present from her father, dom pedro i., the rightful heir, but only to find the place filled by a wicked uncle, don miguel. she had a long fight with the usurper, her father coming over to help her, and finally ousted miguel and got into that big, uneasy arm-chair, called a throne, where she continued to sit, though much shaken and heaved up and about by political convulsions, for some dozen years, when she found it best to step down and out. it is said she did not gain, but lost in beauty as she grew to womanhood; so finally the english princess had the advantage of her in the matter of good looks even. king george iv., though he was fond of his amusing little niece, did not like to think of her as destined to rule in his place. he is said to have been much offended when, as he was proposing to give that ball, his chief favorite, a gay, court lady, exclaimed: "oh, do! it will be so nice to see the _two little queens_ dancing together." yet he disliked the duchess of kent for keeping the child as much as possible away from his disreputable court, and educating her after her own ideas, and often threatened to use his power as king to deprive her of the little girl. the country would not have stood this, yet the duchess must have suffered cruelly from fear of having her darling child taken from her by this crowned ogre, and shut up in the gloomy keep of his castle at windsor. but it was the ogre-king who was taken, a little more than a year after the children's ball--and not a day too soon for his country's good--and his brother, the duke of clarence, reigned in his stead. william iv. had some heart, some frankness and honesty, but he was a bluff, rough sailor, and when excited, oaths of the hottest sort flew from his lips, like sparks from an anvil. because of his roughness and profanity, and because, perhaps, of the fact of his surrounding himself with a lot of natural children, the duchess was determined to persevere in her retirement from the court circle, and in keeping her innocent little daughter out of its unwholesome atmosphere, as much as possible. she was, however, most friendly with queen adelaide, who, when her last child died, had written to her: "my children are dead, but yours lives, and she is mine too." the good woman meant this, and her fondness was returned by victoria, who manifested for her to the last, filial affection and consideration. the first drawing-room which the princess attended was one given in honor of her majesty's birthday. she went with her mother and a suite of ladies and gentlemen in state carriages, escorted by a party of life guards. the princess was on that occasion dressed entirely in materials of british manufacture, her frock being of english blonde, very simple and becoming. she stood at the left of her aunt, the queen, and watched the splendid ceremony with great interest, while everybody watched her with greater interest. but if the presence of the "heir-presumptive to the throne" created a sensation at the queen's drawing-room, her absence from the king's coronation created more. some said it was because a proper place in the procession--one next to the king and queen--had not been assigned to her; others, that the duchess had kept her away on account of her delicate health, and nobody knew exactly the truth of the matter. perhaps the great state secret will be revealed some day with the identity of "junius" and the "man in the iron mask." chapter v. king william jealous of public honors to victoria--anecdote--the unusual studies of the princess--her visits to the isle of wight--laughable incident at wentworth house--anecdote related by her music-teacher-- unwholesome adulation of the princess--reflections upon the curious isolation of her social position--extract from one of her later letters. the indifference of the duchess of kent to the heavy pomps and heavier gayeties of his court so offended his unmajestic majesty, that he finally became decidedly inimical to the duchess. though he insisted on seeing the little princess often, he did not like the english people to see too much of her, or to pay her and her mother too much honor. he objected to their little journeys, calling them "royal progresses," and by a special order put a stop to the "poppings," in the way of salutes, to the vessel which bore them to and from the isle of wight--a small piece of state- business for a king and his council to be engaged in. the king's unpopular brother, the duke of cumberland, was also supposed to be unfriendly to the widow of a brother whom he had not loved, and to the child whom, according to that brother, he regarded from the first as an "intruder," and who certainly at the last, stood between his royal grossness and the throne--the throne which would have gone down under him. yet, in spite of enmity and opposition from high quarters, and jealousy and harsh criticism from court ministers and minions, the duchess of kent, who seems to have been a woman of immense firmness and resolution, kept on her way, rearing her daughter as she thought best, coming and going as she felt inclined. victoria's governess was for many years the accomplished baroness lehzen, who had also been the chief instructress of her sister, feodore. until she was twelve years old, her masters were also german, and she is said to have spoken english with a german accent. after that time her teachers, in nearly all branches, were english. miss kortright tells me a little anecdote of the princess when about twelve years old, related by one of these teachers. she had been reading in her classical history the story of cornelia, the mother of the gracchi--how she proudly presented her sons to the ostentatious and much-bediamonded roman dame, with the words, "these are _my_ jewels." "she should have said my _cornelians_," said the quick-witted little girl. victoria was instructed in some things not in those days thought proper for young ladies to learn, but deemed necessary for a poor girl who was expected to do a man's work. she was well grounded in history, instructed in latin--though she did not fancy it, and later, in the british constitution, and in law and politics. nor were light accomplishments neglected: in modern languages, in painting and music, she finally became singularly proficient. gifted with a remarkably sweet voice and a correct ear, she could not well help being a charming singer, under her great master, lablache. she danced well, rode well, and excelled in archery. as i said, the brave duchess, as conscientious as independent, kept up the life of retirement from court pomps and gayeties, and of alternate hard study and social recreation, which she thought best for her child. she quietly persevered in the "progresses" which annoyed the irascible and unreasonable old king, even visiting the isle of wight, though the royal big guns were forbidden to "pop" at sight of the royal standard, which waved over her, and the young hope of england. perhaps recollections of those pleasant visits with her mother at norris castle have helped to render so dear the queen's own beautiful sea-side home, osborne house. i remember a pretty little story, told by a tourist, who happened to be stopping at the village of brading during one of those visits to the lovely island. one afternoon he strolled into the old church-yard to search out the grave of elizabeth wallbridge, the sweet heroine of leigh richmond's beautiful religious story, "the dairyman's daughter." he found seated beside the mound a lady and a young girl, the latter reading aloud, in a full, melodious voice, the touching tale of the christian maiden. the tourist turned away, and soon after was told by the sexton that those pilgrims to that humble grave were the duchess of kent and the princess victoria. i am told by a yorkshire lady another story of the princess, of not quite so serious a character. she was visiting with her mother, of course, at wentworth house, the seat of earl fitzwilliam in yorkshire, and while at that pleasant place delighted in running about by herself in the gardens and shrubberies. one wet morning, soon after her arrival, she was thus disporting herself, flitting from point to point, light-hearted and light-footed, when the old gardener, who did not then know her, seeing her about to descend a treacherous bit of ground from the terrace, called out, "be careful, miss; it's slape!"--a yorkshire word for slippery. the incautious, but ever-curious princess, turning her head, asked, "what's slape?" and the same instant her feet flew from under her, and she came down. the old gardener ran to lift her, saying, as he did so, "_that's_ slape, miss." there is nothing remarkable, much less incredible, in these stories of the young victoria, nor in the one related by her music-teacher, of how she once rebelled against so much practice, and how, on his telling her that there was no "royal road" in art, and that only by much practice could she become "mistress of the piano," she closed and locked the obnoxious instrument and put the key in her pocket, saying playfully, "now you see there _is_ a royal way of becoming `mistress of the piano.'" but not so simple and natural and girlish are all the things told of the queen's young days. loyal english people have said to me, "you will find few stories of her majesty's childhood, but those few will all be good." yes, too good. the chroniclers of forty and fifty years ago--the same in whose loyal eyes the fifteen children of george iii. were all "children of light"--could find no words in which to paint their worship for this rising star of sovereignty. according to them, she was not only the pearl of princesses for piety and propriety, for goodness and graciousness, but a marvel of unchildlike wisdom, a prodigy of cleverness and learning; in short, a purely perfect creature, loved of the angels to a degree perilous to the succession. the simplest little events of her daily life were twisted into something unnaturally significant, or unhealthily virtuous. if she was taken through a cotton-mill at manchester, and asked a score or two of questions about the machinery and the strange processes of spinning and weaving, it was not childish curiosity--it was a love of knowledge, and a patriotic desire to encourage british manufactures. if she gave a few pennies to a blind beggar at margate, the amiable act was heralded as one, of almost divine beneficence, and the beggar pitied, as never before, for his blindness. the poor man had not beheld the face of the "little angel" who dropped the coin into his greasy hat! if, full of "high spirits," she took long rides on a donkey at ramsgate, and ran races with other children on the sands, it was a proof of the sweetest human condescension--the donkey's opinion not being taken. of course all this is false, unwholesome sentiment, quite incomprehensible to nineteenth century americans, though our great- grandfathers understood this sort of personal loyalty very well, and gloried in it, till george the third drove them to the wall; and our great-grandmothers cherished it as a sacred religious principle till their tea was taxed. i dare say that if the truth could be got at, we should find that little victoria was at times trying enough to mother, masters, and attendants; that she was occasionally passionate, perverse, and "pestering," like all children who have any great and positive elements in them. i dare say she was disposed, like any other "only child," to be self-willed and selfish, and that she required a fair amount of wholesome discipline, and that she got it. had she been the prim and pious little precocity which some biographers have painted her, she would have died young, like the "dairyman's daughter"; we might have had an edifying tract, and england a revolution. one of her biographers speaks with a sort of ecstatic surprise of the fact that the princess was "affable--even gay," and that she "laughed and chatted like other little girls." and yet she must early have perceived that she was not quite like other little girls, but set up and apart. though reared with all the simplicity practicable for a princess royal, she must have been conscious of a magic circle drawn round her, of a barrier impalpable, but most real, which other children could not voluntarily overpass. she must have seen that they could not call out to her to "come and play!" that however shy she might feel, she must propose the game, or the romp, as later she had to propose marriage. she even was obliged to quarrel, if quarrel she did, all alone by herself. any resistance on the part of her playmates would have been a small variety of high treason. she must sometimes, with her admirable good sense, have been wearied and disgusted by so much concession, conciliation, and consideration, and may have envied less fortunate or unfortunate mortals who can give and take hard knocks, for whom less is demanded, and of whom less is expected. she may have tired of her very name, with its grand prefixes and no affix, and longed to be victoria kent, or _something_--jones, brown, or robinson. she seems to have been a child of simple, homely tastes, for in , when queen, she writes to her uncle leopold from claremont, where she is visiting, with her husband and little daughter: "this place brings back recollections of the happiest days of my otherwise dull childhood--days when i experienced such kindness from you, dearest uncle; victoria plays with my old bricks, and i see her running and jumping in the flower- garden, as old (though i feel still _little_) victoria of former days used to do." chapter vi. the princess opens the victoria park at bath--becoming used to public curiosity--secret of her destiny revealed to her--royal ball on her thirteenth birthday--at the ascot races--picture by n. p. willis-- anecdotes--painful scene at the king's last birthday dinner. when she was eleven years old, the princess opened the victoria park at bath. she began the opening business thus early, and has kept it up pretty diligently for fifty years--parks, expositions, colleges, exchanges, law courts, bridges, docks, art schools, and hospitals. her sons and daughters are also kept busy at the same sort of work. indeed these are almost the only openings for young men of the royal family for active service, now that crusades and invasions of france have gone out of fashion. it seems to me that the english people get up all sorts of opening and unveiling occasions in order to supply employment to their princes and princesses, who, i must say, never shirk such monotonous duties, however much they may be bothered and bored by them. occasionally the duchess of kent and her daughter visited brighton, and stopped in that grotesque palace of george iv., called the pavilion. i have seen a picture of the demure little princess, walking on the esplanade, with her mother, governesses, and gentlemen attendants, the whole elegant party and the great crowd of brightonians following and staring at them, wearing the absurd costumes of half a century ago--the ladies, big bonnets, big mutton-leg sleeves, big collars, heelless slippers, laced over the instep; the gentlemen, short-waisted coats, enormous collars, preposterous neckties, and indescribably clumsy hats. by this time the princess had learned to bear quietly and serenely, if not unconsciously, the gaze of hundreds of eyes, admiring or criticising. she knew that the time was probably coming when the hundreds would increase to thousands, and even millions--when the world would for her seem to be made up of eyes, like a peacock's tail. small wonder that in her later years, especially since she has missed from her side the splendid figure which divided and justified the mighty multitudinous stare, this eternal observation, this insatiable curiosity has become infinitely wearisome to her. several accounts have been given of the manner in which the great secret of her destiny was revealed to the princess victoria, and the manner in which it was received, but only one has the queen's indorsement. this was contained in a letter, written long afterwards to her majesty by her dear old governess, the baroness lehzen, who states that when the regency bill (an act naming the duchess of kent as regent, in case of the king dying before his niece obtained her majority) was before parliament, it was thought that the time had come to make known to the princess her true position. so after consulting with the duchess, the baroness placed a genealogical table in a historical book, which her pupil was reading. when the princess came upon this paper, she said: "why, i never saw that before." "it was not thought necessary you should see it," the baroness replied. then the young girl, examining the paper, said thoughtfully: "i see i am nearer the throne than i supposed." after some moments she resumed, with a sort of quaint solemnity: "now many a child would boast, not knowing the difficulty. there is much splendor, but there is also much responsibility." "the princess," says the baroness, "having lifted up the forefinger of her right hand while she spoke, now gave me that little hand, saying: 'i will be good. i understand now why you urged me so much to learn, even latin. my aunts, augusta and mary, never did, but you told me latin was the foundation of english grammar, and all the elegant expressions, and i learned it, as you wished it; but i understand all better now,' and the princess again gave me her hand, repeating, 'i will be good.'" god heard the promise of the child of twelve years and held her to it, and has given her strength "as her day" to redeem it, all through the dazzling brightness and the depressing shadows, through the glory and the sorrow of her life, as a queen and a woman. the queen says that she "cried much" over the magnificent but difficult problem of her destiny, but the tears must have been april showers, for in those days she was accounted a bright, care-free little damsel, and was ever welcome as a sunbeam in the noblest houses of england--such as eaton hall, the seat of the duke of westminster; wentworth house, belonging to earl fitzwilliam; alton towers, the country house of the earl of shrewsbury; and chatsworth, the palace of the duke of devonshire, where such royal loyal honors were paid to her that she had a foretaste of the "splendor," without the "responsibility," of queenhood. the king and queen gave a brilliant ball in honor of "the thirteenth birthday of their beloved niece, the princess victoria," and somewhat later, the little royal lady appeared at a drawing-room, when she is said to have charmed everybody by her sweet, childish dignity--a sort of quaint queenliness of manner and expression. she was likewise most satisfactory to the most religiously inclined of her subjects who were to be, in her mien and behavior when in the royal chapel of st. james, on the interesting occasion of her confirmation. she is said to have gone through the ceremony with "profound thoughtfulness and devout solemnity." the next glimpse i have of her is at a very different scene--the ascot races. a brilliant american author, n. p. willis, who then saw her for the first time, wrote: "in one of the intervals, i walked under the king's stand, and saw her majesty the queen, and the young princess victoria, very distinctly. they were leaning over the railing listening to a ballad-singer, and seeming as much interested and amused as any simple country-folk could be. the queen is undoubtedly the plainest woman in her dominions, but the princess is much better-looking than any picture of her in the shops, and for the heir to such a crown as that of england, quite unnecessarily, pretty and interesting. she will be sold, poor thing! bartered away by those great-dealers in royal hearts, whose grand calculations will not be much consolation to her if she happens to have a taste of her own." little did the wise american poet guess that, away in a little fairy principality of deutschland, there was a beautiful young fairy prince, being reared by benevolent fairy godmother-grandmothers, especially to disprove all such doleful prophecies, and reverse the usual fate of pretty young princesses in the case of the "little english mayflower." greville relates a little incident which shows that the princess, when between sixteen and seventeen, and almost in sight of the throne, was still amenable to discipline. he describes a reception of much pomp and ceremony, given to the duchess and the princess by the mayor and other officers of the town of burghley, followed by a great dinner, which "went off well," except that an awkward waiter, in a spasm of loyal excitement, emptied the contents of a pail of ice in the lap of the duchess, which, though she took it coolly, "made a great bustle." i am afraid the princess laughed. then followed a magnificent ball, which was opened by the princess, with lord exeter for a partner. after that one dance she "went to bed." doubtless her good mother thought she had had fatigue and excitement enough for one day; but it must have been hard for such a dance-loving girl to take her quivering feet out of the ball-room so early, and for such a grand personage as she already was, just referred to in the mayor's speech, as "destined to mount the throne of these realms," to be sent away like a child, to mount a solemn, beplumed four- poster, and to try to sleep, with that delicious dance-music still ringing in her ears. greville also relates a sad court story connected with the young princess, and describes a scene which would be too painful for me to reproduce, except that it reveals, in a striking manner, victoria's tender love for and close sympathy with her mother. it seems that the king's jealous hostility to the duchess of kent had grown with his decay, and strengthened with his senility, till at last it culminated in a sort of declaration of war at his own table. the account is given by greville _second-hand_, and so, very likely, over-colored, though doubtless true in the main. the king invited the duchess and princess to windsor to join in the celebration of his birthday, which proved to be his last. there was a dinner-party, called "private," but a hundred guests sat down to the table. the duchess of kent was given a place of honor on one side of the king, and opposite her sat the princess victoria. after dinner queen adelaide proposed "his majesty's health and long life to him," to which that amiable monarch replied by a very remarkable speech. he began by saying that he hoped in god he might live nine months longer, when the princess would be of age, and he could leave the royal authority in her hands and not in those of a regent, in the person of a lady sitting near him, etc. afterwards he said: "i have particularly to complain of the manner in which that young lady (the princess victoria) has been kept from my court. she has been repeatedly kept from my drawing-rooms, at which she ought always to have been present, but i am resolved that this shall not happen again. i would have _her_ know that i am _king_, and am determined to make my authority respected, and for the future i shall insist and command that the princess do, upon all occasions, appear at my court, as it is her duty to do." this pleasant and hospitable harangue, uttered in a loud voice and an excited manner, "produced a decided sensation." the whole company "were aghast." queen adelaide, who was amiable and well-bred, "looked in deep distress"; the young princess burst into tears at the insult offered to her mother; but that mother sat calm and silent, very pale, but proud and erect--duchess of duchesses! chapter vii. victoria's first meeting with prince albert--she comes of age--ball in honor thereof--illness of king william--his death--his habits and character--the archbishop of canterbury and the lord chancellor inform victoria that she is queen--her beautiful bearing under the ordeal. in may, , the princess saw, for the first time, her cousins, ernest and albert, of saxe-coburg. these brothers, one eighteen and the other seventeen, are described as charming young fellows, well-bred and carefully educated, with high aims, good, true hearts, and frank, natural manners. in personal appearance they were very prepossessing. ernest was handsome, and albert more than handsome. they were much beloved by their uncle leopold, then king of belgium, and soon endeared themselves to their aunt kent and their cousin victoria. they spent three weeks at kensington in daily intercourse with their relatives, and with their father, the duke of coburg, were much _fêted_ by the royal family. they keenly enjoyed english society and sights, and learned something of english life and character, which to one of them, at least, proved afterwards useful. indeed this admirable young prince, albert, seemed always learning and assimilating new facts and ideas. he had a soul athirst for knowledge. on may , , the princess victoria came of age. she was awakened early by a matutinal serenade--a band of musicians piping and harping merrily under her bedroom windows. she received many presents and congratulatory visits, and had the pleasure of knowing that the day was observed as a grand holiday in london and throughout england. boys were let out of school, and m.p.'s out of parliament. at night the metropolis was "brilliantly illuminated"--at least so thought those poor, benighted, ante-electrical-light londoners--and a grand state ball was given in st. james' palace. here, for the first time, the princess took precedence of her mother, and we may believe she felt shy and awkward at such a reversal of the laws of nature and the habits of years. but doubtless the stately duchess fell back without a sigh, except it were one of joy and gratitude that she had brought her darling on so far safely. this could hardly have been a very gay state ball, for their majesties were both absent. the king had that very day been attacked with hayfever, and the queen had dutifully stayed at home to nurse him. he rallied from this attack somewhat, but never was well again, and in the small hours of june d the sailor king died at royal windsor, royally enough, i believe, though he had never been a very royal figure or spirit. of course after he was gone from his earthly kingdom, the most glowing eulogies were pronounced upon him in parliament, in the newspapers, and in hundreds of pulpits. even a year later, the bishop of london, in his sermon at the queen's coronation, lauded the late king for his "unfeigned religion," and exhorted his "youthful successor" to "follow in his footsteps." ah, if she had done so, i should not now be writing her majesty's life! it must be that in a king a little religion goes a long way. the good bishop and other loyal prelates must have known all about the fitz- clarences--those wild "olive branches about the table" of his majesty; and they were doubtless aware of that little unfortunate habit of profanity, acquired on the high-seas, and scarcely becoming to the head of the church; but they, perhaps, considered that his majesty swore as the sailor, not as the sovereign. he certainly made a good end, hearing many prayers, and joining in them as long as he was able, and devoutly receiving the communion; and what is better, manifesting some tender anxiety lest his faithful wife and patient nurse should do too much and grieve too much for him. when he saw her like to break down, he would say: "bear up; bear up, adelaide!" just like any other good husband. william was not a bad king, as kings went in those days; he was, doubtless, an orthodox churchman, and we may believe he was a good christian, from his charge to the new bishop of ely when he came to "kiss hands" on his preferment: "my lord, i do not wish to interfere in any way with your vote in parliament, except on one subject--the jews. i trust i may depend on your always voting against them!" when the solemn word went through the old castle of windsor, "the king is dead!" his most loyal ministers, civil and religious, added under their breath: "long live the queen!" and almost immediately the archbishop of canterbury and the lord chamberlain left windsor and travelled as fast as post-horses could carry them, to kensington palace, which they reached in the gray of the early dawn. everybody was asleep, and they knocked and rang a long time before they could rouse the porter at the gate, who at last grumblingly admitted them. then they had another siege in the court- yard; but at length the palace door yielded, and they were let into one of the lower rooms, "where," says miss wynn's account, "they seemed forgotten by everybody." they rang the bell, called a sleepy servant, and requested that the special attendant of the princess victoria should inform her royal highness that they desired an audience on "very important business." more delay, more ringing, more inquiries and directions. at last the attendant of the princess came, and coolly stated that her royal mistress was "in such a sweet sleep she could not venture to disturb her." then solemnly spoke up the archbishop: "we are come on business of state, to _the queen_, and even her sleep must give way." lo it was out! the startled maid flew on her errand, and so effectually performed it, that victoria, not daring to keep her visitors waiting longer, hurried into the room with only a shawl thrown over her night- gown, and her feet in slippers. she had flung off her night-cap (young ladies wore night-caps in those queer old times), and her long, light- brown hair was tumbling over her shoulders. so she came to receive the first homage of the church and the state, and to be hailed "queen!" and she was queen of great britain and ireland, of india and the mighty colonies! it seems to me that the young girl must have believed herself at that moment only half awake, and still dreaming. the grand, new title, "your majesty," must have had a new sound, as addressed to her,-- something strange and startling, though very likely she may have often said it over to herself, silently, to get used to it. the first kiss of absolute fealty on her little hand must have thrilled through her whole frame. some accounts say that as full realization was forced upon her, she burst into tears; others dwell on her marvellous calm and self- possession. i prefer to believe in the tears, not only because the assumption of the "dangerous grandeur of sovereignty" was a solemn and tremendous matter for one so young, but because something of awe and sorrow on hearing of the eternal abdication of that sovereignty, by her rough but not to her unloving old uncle, was natural and womanly, and fitting. i believe that it has not been questioned that the first words of the queen were addressed to the primate, and that they were simply, "i beg your grace to pray for me," which the archbishop did, then and there. doubtless, also, as related, the first act of her queenly life was the writing of a letter of condolence to queen adelaide, in which, after expressing her tender sympathy, she begged her "dear aunt" to remain at windsor just as long as she might feel inclined. this letter she addressed to "her majesty, the queen." some one at hand reminded her that the king's widow was now only queen dowager. "i am quite aware of that," replied victoria, "but i will not be the first person to remind her of it." i cannot say how much i like that. wonderful is the story told by many witnesses of the calmness and gentle dignity of her majesty, when a few hours later she met the high officers of the church and state, princes and peers, received their oaths of allegiance and read her first speech from an improvised throne. the royal princes, the dukes of cumberland and sussex, her majesty's uncles, were the first to be sworn, and greville says: "as they knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand, i saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil and their natural relations; and this was the only sign of emotion which she evinced." when she first entered the room she had kissed these old uncles affectionately, walking toward the duke of sussex, who was very feeble. greville says that she seemed rather bewildered at the multitude of men who came to kiss her hand and kneel to her, among them the conqueror of napoleon--soldier of soldiers--_the_ duke!--but that she did not make any difference in her manner, or show any especial respect, or condescension in her countenance to any individual, not even to the premier, lord melbourne, for whom she was known to have a great liking, and who was long her trusted friend and favorite minister. the queen was also called upon to take an oath, which was for "the security of the church of scotland." this she has most faithfully kept; indeed, she has now and then been reproached by jealous champions of the english establishment for undue graciousness towards the kirk and its ministers. for this grand but solemn ceremony at kensington--rendered the more solemn by the fact that while it was going on the great bell of st. paul's was tolling for the dead king,--the young queen was dressed very simply, in mourning. she seems to have thought of everything, for she sent for lord albemarle, and after reminding him that according to law and precedent she must be proclaimed the next morning at o'clock, from a certain window of st. james' palace, requested him to provide for her a suitable conveyance and escort. she then bowed gravely and graciously to the princes, archbishops and cabinet ministers, and left the room, as she had entered it--alone. chapter viii. the last day of victoria's real girlhood--proclaimed queen from st. james' palace--she holds her first privy council--comments upon her deportment by eye-witnesses--fruits of her mother's care and training. it seems to me that the momentous day just described was the last of victoria's real girlhood; that premature womanhood was thrust upon her with all the power, grandeur, and state of a queen regnant. i wonder if, weary and nervously exhausted as she must have been, she slept much, when at last she went to bed, probably no longer in her mother's room. i wonder if she did not think, with a sort of fearsome thrill that when the summer sun faded from her sight, it was only to travel all night, lighting her vast dominions and her uncounted millions of subjects; and that, like the splendor of that sun, had become her life--hers, the little maiden's, but just emerging from the shadow of seclusion, and from her mother's protecting care and wise authority, and stepping out into the world by herself! the next day she went in state to st. james palace, accompanied by great lords and ladies, and escorted by squadrons of the life guards and blues, and was formally proclaimed from the window of the presence chamber, looking out on the court-yard. a court chronicle states that her majesty wore a black silk dress and a little black chip bonnet, and that she looked paler than usual. miss martineau, speaking of the scene, says: "there stood the young creature, in simplest mourning, her sleek bands of brown hair as plain as her dress. the tears ran down her cheeks, as lord melbourne, standing by her side, presented her to the people as their sovereign. ... in the upper part of the face she is really pretty, and with an ingenuous, sincere air which seems full of promise." after the ceremony of proclamation was over, the "little queen" remained for a few moments at the window, bowing and smiling through her tears at that friendly and enthusiastic crowd of her subjects, and listening to the national anthem played for the first time for her, then retired, with her mother, who had not been "prominent" during the scene, but who had been observed "to watch her daughter with great anxiety." at noon the queen held a privy council, at which it was said, "she presided with as much ease as though she had been doing nothing else all her life." at p.m. she returned to kensington palace, there to remain in retirement till after the funeral of king william. it is certain that the behavior of this girl-queen on these first two days of her reign "confounded the doctors" of the church and state. greville, who never praises except when praise is wrung out of him, can hardly say enough of her grace and graciousness, calmness and self- possession. he says, also, that her "agreeable expression, with her youth, inspire an excessive interest in all who approach her, and which," he is condescending enough to add, "i can't help feeling myself." he quotes peel as saying he was "amazed at her manner and behavior; at her apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, and at the same time her firmness. she appeared to be awed, but not daunted." the duke of wellington paid a similar tribute to her courage. now, if these great men did not greatly idealize her, under the double glamour of gallantry and loyalty, victoria was a most extraordinary young woman. a few days before the death of the king, greville wrote: "what renders speculation so easy and events so uncertain is the absolute ignorance of everybody of the character, disposition, and capacity of the princess. she has been kept in such jealous seclusion by her mother (never having slept out of her bedroom, nor been alone with anybody but herself and, the baroness lehzen), that not one of her acquaintance, none of the attendants at kensington, not even the duchess of northumberland, her governess, can have any idea what she is, or what she promises to be." the first day of victoria's accession he writes: "she appears to act with every sort of good taste and good feeling, as well as good sense, and nothing can be more favorable than the impression she has made, and nothing can promise better than her manner and conduct do... william iv. coming to the throne at the mature age of sixty-five, was so excited by the exaltation that he nearly went mad... the young queen, who might well be either dazzled or confounded with the grandeur and novelty of her situation, seems neither the one nor the other, and behaves with a propriety and decorum beyond her years." doubtless nature was kind to victoria in the elements of character, but she must have owed very much of this courage, calmness, modesty, simplicity, candor, and sterling good sense to the peculiar, systematic training, the precept and example of her mother, the much-criticised duchess of kent, so unpopular at the court of the late king, and whom mr. greville had by no means delighted to honor. ah, the good, brave duchess had her reward for all her years of patient exile, all her loving labor and watchful care, and rich compensation for all criticisms, misrepresentations, and fault-finding, that june afternoon, the day of the proclamation, when she rode from the palace of st. james to kensington with her daughter, who had behaved so well--her daughter and her _queen!_ part ii. womanhood and queenhood. chapter ix. the sovereignty of england and hanover severed forever--funeral of king william iv. at windsor--the queen and her household remove to buckingham palace--she dissolves parliament--glowing account of the scene by a contemporary journal--charles sumner a spectator--his eulogy of the queen's reading. ever since the accession to the throne of great britain of the house of brunswick, the kings of england had also been kings of hanover. to carry on the two branches of the royal business simultaneously must have been a little difficult, at least perplexing. it was like riding a "two-horse act," with a wide space between the horses, and a wide difference in their size. but the salic law prevailed in that little kingdom over there; so its crown now gently devolved on the head of the male heir- apparent, the duke of cumberland, and the quaint old principality parted company with england forever. that is what her majesty, victoria, got, or rather lost, by being a woman. a day or two after her accession, king ernest called at kensington palace to take leave of the queen, and she dutifully kissed her uncle and brother-sovereign, and wished him god- speed and the hanoverians joy. there is no king and no kingdom of hanover now. when kaiser william was consolidating so many german principalities into his grand empire, gaily singing the refrain of the song of the old sexton, "_i gather them in! i gather them in!_" he took hanover, and it has remained under the wing of the great prussian eagle ever since. it is said that the last king made a gallant resistance, riding into battle at the head of his troops, although he was blind--too blind, perhaps, to see his own weakness. when his throne was taken out from under him, he still clung to the royal title, but his son is known only as the duke of cumberland. this prince, like other small german princes, made a great outcry against the kaiser's confiscations, but the inexorable old man still went on piecing an imperial table-cover out of pocket-handkerchiefs. the young queen's new household was considered a very magnificent and unexceptionable one--principally for the rank and character and personal attractions of the ladies in attendance, chief among whom, for beauty and stateliness, was the famous duchess of sutherland--certainly one of the most superb women in england, or anywhere else, even at an age when most women are "falling off," and when she herself was a grandmother. the funeral of king william took place at windsor in due time, and with all due pomp and ceremony. after lying in state in the splendid waterloo chamber, under a gorgeous purple pall, several crowns, and other royal insignia, he was borne to st. george's chapel, followed by prelates, peers, and all the ministers of state, and a solemn funeral service was performed. but what spoke better for him than all these things was the quiet weeping of a good woman up in the royal closet, half hidden by the sombre curtains, who looked and listened to the last, and saw her husband let down into the royal vault, where, in the darkness, his--their baby- girl awaited him, that princess with the short life and the long name-- poor little elizabeth georgina adelando, whom the childless queen once hoped to hear hailed "elizabeth second of england." in midsummer the queen, the duchess of kent, and their grand household moved from kensington to buckingham palace, then new, and an elegant and luxurious royal residence internally, but externally neither beautiful nor imposing. but with the exception of windsor castle, none of the english royal palaces can be pointed to as models of architectural beauty, or even sumptuous appointments. the palaces of some of our railway kings more than rival them in some respects, while those of many of the english nobility are richer in art-treasures and grander in appearance. kensington palace was not beautiful, but it was picturesque and historic, which was more than could be said of any of the georgian structures; there was about it an odor of old royalty, of poetry and romance. the literature and the beauty of queen anne's reign were especially associated with it. queen victoria was, when she left it, at an age when memories count for little, and doubtless the flitting "_out of the old house into the new_" was effected merrily enough; but long afterwards her orphaned and widowed heart must often have gone back tenderly and yearningly to the scene of many tranquilly happy years with her mother, and of that first little season of companionship with her cousin albert. hardly had she got unpacked and settled in her new home when she had to go through a great parade and ceremony. she went in state to dissolve parliament. the weather was fine and the whole route from buckingham palace to the parliament house was lined with people, shouting and cheering as the magnificent procession and that brilliant young figure passed slowly along. a london journal of the time gave the following glowing account of her as she appeared in the house of lords: "at minutes to precisely, her majesty, preceded by the heralds and attended by the great officers of state, entered the house--all the peers and peeresses, who had risen at the flourish of the trumpets, remaining standing. her majesty was attired in a splendid white satin robe, with the ribbon of the garter crossing her shoulder and a magnificent tiara of diamonds on her head, and wore a necklace and a stomacher of large and costly brilliants. having ascended the throne, the royal mantle of crimson velvet was placed on her majesty's shoulders by the lords in waiting." and this was the same little girl who, six years before, had bought her own straw hat and carried it home in her hand! i wonder if her own mother did not at that moment have difficulty in believing that radiant and royal creature was indeed her little victoria! the account continues: "her majesty, on taking her seat, appeared to be deeply moved at the novel and important position in which she was placed, the eyes of the assembled nobility, both male and female, being riveted on her person." i would have wagered a good deal that it was the 'female' eyes that she felt most piercingly. then it goes on: "her emotion was plainly discernible in the heavings of her bosom, and the brilliancy of her diamond stomacher, which sparkled out like the sun on the swell of the ocean as the billows rise and fall." so disconcerted was she, it seems, by all this silent, intense observation, that she forgot, nicely seated as she was, that all those peers and peeresses were standing, till she was reminded of it by lord melbourne, who stood close at her side. then she graciously inclined her head, and said in rather a low tone, 'my lords, be seated!' and they sat, and eke their wives and daughters. "she had regained her self-possession when she came to read her speech, and her voice also, for it was heard all over the great chamber." and it is added: "her demeanor was characterized by much grace and modest self- possession." among the spectators of this rare royal pageant was an american, and a stiff republican, a young man from boston, called charles sumner. he was a scholar, and scholar-like, undazzled by diamonds, admired most her majesty's reading. in a letter to a friend he wrote: "i was astonished and delighted. her voice is sweet and finely modulated, and she pronounced every word distinctly, and with a just regard to its meaning. i think i never heard anything better read in my life than her speech, and i could but respond to lord fitz-william's remark to me when the ceremony was over, 'how beautifully she performs!'" how strange it now seems to think of that slight girl of eighteen coming in upon that great assembly of legislators, many of them gray and bald, and pompous and portly, and gravely telling them that they might go home! chapter x. comments upon the young queen by a contemporaneous writer in _blackwood_--a new throne erected for her in buckingham palace--a touching anecdote related by the duke of wellington--the queen insists on paying her father's debts--the romantic and passionate interest she evoked--her mad lover--attempts upon her life--she takes possession of windsor castle. a writer in _blackwood_, speaking of the queen about this time, said: "she is 'winning golden opinions from all sorts of people' by her affability, the grace of her manners, and her prettiness. she is excessively like the brunswicks and not like the coburgs. so much the more in her favor. the memory of george iii. is not yet passed away, and the people are glad to see his calm, honest, and english physiognomy renewed in his granddaughter." her majesty's likeness to the obstinate but conscientious old king, whose honest face is fast fading quite away from old english half-crowns and golden guineas, has grown with her years. the same writer, speaking of her personal appearance, says: "she is low of stature, but well formed; her hair the darkest shade of flaxen, and her eyes large and light-blue." a friend who saw her frequently at the time of her accession, said to me the other day: "it is a great mistake to suppose that the queen owed all the charming portraits which were drawn of her at this time, to the fortunate accident of her birth and destiny. she was really a very lovely girl, with a fine, delicate, rose- bloom complexion, large blue eyes, a fair, broad brow, and an expression of peculiar candor and innocence." a few days later there was a sensation in buckingham palace, at the setting up in the throne-room of a very magnificent new piece of furniture--a throne of the latest english fashion, but gorgeous enough to have served for the queen of sheba, zenobia, cleopatra, or semiramis. it was all crimson velvet and silk, with any amount of gold embroideries, gold lace, gold fringe, ropes, and tassels. the gay young queen tried it, and said it would do; that she had never sat on a more comfortable throne in all her life. two stories of the young queen have touched me especially--one was related by the duke of wellington. a court-martial death sentence was presented by him to her, to be signed. she shrank from the dreadful task, and with tears in her eyes, asked: "have you nothing to say in behalf of this man?" "nothing; he has deserted three times," replied the iron duke. "o, your grace, think again!" "well, your majesty, he certainly is a bad soldier, but there was somebody who spoke as to his good character. he may be a good fellow in civil life." "o, thank you!" exclaimed the queen, as she dashed off the word, "pardoned," on the awful parchment, and wrote beneath it her beautiful signature. this was not her last act of the kind, and at length parliament so arranged matters that this fatal signing business could be done by royal commission, ostensibly to "relieve her majesty of a painful duty," but really because they could not trust her soft heart. she might have sudden caprices of commiseration which would interfere with stern military discipline, and the honest trade of mr. marwood. the other incident was told by lord melbourne. soon after her accession, in all the dizzy whirl of the new life of splendor and excitement, the young queen, in an interview with her prime minister, said: "i want to pay all that remain of my father's debts. i _must_ do it. i consider it a sacred duty." this was, of course, done--the queen also sending valuable pieces of plate to the largest creditors, as a token of her gratitude. lord melbourne said that the childlike directness and earnestness of that good daughter's manner when she thus expressed her royal will and pleasure, brought the tears to his eyes. it seems to me it was almost mission enough for any young woman, to move the hearts of hard old soldiers like wellington, and _blasé_ statesmen like melbourne-- mighty dealers in death and diplomacy, and to bring something like a second youth of romance and chivalrous feeling into worn and worldly hearts everywhere. i suppose it is impossible for young people of this day, especially americans, to realize the intense, enthusiastic interest felt forty-six years ago by all classes, and in nearly all countries, in the young english queen. the old wondered and shook their heads over the mighty responsibility imposed upon her--the young dreamed of her. she almost made real to young girls the wildest romances of fairy lore. she called out such chivalrous feelings in young men that they longed to champion her on some field of battle, or in some perilous knightly adventure. she stirred the hearts and inspired the imaginations of orators and poets.-- the great o'connell, when there was some wild talk of deposing "the all but infant queen," and putting the duke of cumberland in her place, said in his trumpet-like tones, which gave dignity to brogue: "if necessary, i can get , brave irishmen to defend the life, the honor, and the person of the beloved young lady by whom england's throne is now filled." ah, the difference between then and now. "brave irishmen" of this day, men who know not o'connell, are more disposed to blow up the english queen's palaces, throne and all. charles dickens, who was then full of romance and fancy, was, it is said, possessed by such unresting, wondering thoughts of the fair maiden sovereign, and her magnificent destiny, that for a time his more prosaic friends regarded his enthusiasm as a sort of monomania. other imaginative young men with heads less "level" (to use an american expression) than that of the great novelist, actually went mad--"clean daft"--the noble passion of loving loyalty ending in an infatuation as absurd as it was unhappy. before the queen left kensington palace she was much annoyed by the persistent attentions of a provincial admirer, a respectable gentleman, who labored under the hallucination that it was his destiny and his duty to espouse the queen. he may have felt a preference for private life and rural pleasures, but as a loyal patriot he was ready to make the sacrifice. he drove in a stylish phaeton every morning to the palace to inquire after her majesty's health; and on several days he bribed the men who had charge of the gardens to allow him to assist them in weeding about the piece of water opposite her apartments, in the fond hope of seeing her at the windows, and of her seeing him. every evening, however, he put on the gentleman of fortune and phaetons, and followed the queen and the duchess in their airings. drove they fast or drove they slow, he was just behind them. on their last drive before removing from kensington, they alighted in the harrow road for a little walk, and were dismayed at seeing this mr. ---- spring from his phaeton, and come eagerly forward. the duchess sent a page to meet him and beg of him not to annoy her majesty by accosting her; but the page was "no let" to him-- a whole volume of remonstrance would not have availed. he pressed on, and the august ladies were obliged to re-enter their carriage, and return to kensington. when on the next morning they removed from the old home, mr. ---- was at the gate in his phaeton, and drove before them to buckingham palace, and was there to give them a gracious welcome. he haunted pimlico for a time, but his friends finally got possession of him and suppressed him, and so ended his "love's young dream." it is likely that the merry young queen laughed at the absurd demonstrations and amatory effusions of her demented admirers; but when, after her marriage, and her appearing always in public with the handsomest prince in christendom at her side, such monomaniacs grew desperate and took to shooting, the matter became serious. then no more gentlemen in phaetons menaced her peace; her demented followers were poor wretches--so poor that sometimes, after investing in pistols, they had not a six-pence left for ammunition. one, a distraught fenian, pointed at her a broken, harmless weapon, charged with a scrap of red rag. another, a humpbacked lad, named bean, loaded his with paper and a few bits of an old clay pipe. bean escaped for a time, and it is said that for several days there were "hard lines" for all the poor humpbacks of london. scores of them were arrested. no unfortunate thus deformed, could appear in the streets without danger of a policeman smiting him on the shoulders, right in the tender spot, with a rough, "you are my prisoner." life became a double burden to the poor fellows till bean was caught. but to return to the young queen, in her happy, untroubled days. in august she took possession of windsor castle, amid great rejoicing. the duchess, her mother, came also; this time not to be reproached or insulted. they soon had company--a lot of kings and queens, among them "uncle leopold" and his second wife, a daughter of louis philippe of france. the royal young house-keeper seems keenly to have enjoyed showing to her visitors her new home, her little country place up the thames. she conducted them everywhere, "up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber," peeping into china and silver closets, spicy store-rooms, and huge linen chests smelling of lavender. soon after came a triumphal progress to brighton, during which the royal carriage passed under an endless succession of triumphal arches, and between ranks on ranks of schoolchildren, strewing roses and singing pæans. at brighton there was an immense sacrifice of the then fashionable and costly flower, the dahlia, no fewer than twenty thousand being used for decorative purposes. but a sadder because a vain sacrifice on this occasion, was of flowers of rhetoric. an address, the result of much classical research and throes of poetic labor, and marked by the most effusive loyalty, was to have been presented to her majesty at the gates of the pavilion, but by some mistake she passed in without waiting for it. about this time the lunatic asylums began to fill up. within one week two mad men were arrested, proved insane, and shut up for threatening the life of the queen and the duchess of kent. so victoria's life was not all arched over with dahlia-garlands, and strewn with roses, nor were her subjects all sunday-school scholars. chapter xi. banquet in guildhall--victoria's first christmas at windsor castle as queen--mrs. newton crosland's reminiscences--coolness of actors and quakers amid the general enthusiasm--issue of the first gold sovereigns bearing victoria's head. on lord mayor's day, the queen went in state to dine with her brother- monarch, the king of "great london town." it was a memorable, magnificent occasion. the queen was attended by all the great ladies and gentlemen of her court, and followed by an immense train of members of the royal family, ambassadors, cabinet ministers and nobility generally--in all, two hundred carriages of them. the day was a general holiday, and the streets all along the line of the splendid procession were lined with people half wild with loyal excitement, shouting and waving hats and handkerchiefs. it may have been on this day that lord albemarle got off his famous pun. on the queen saying to him, "i wonder if my good people of london are as glad to see me as i am to see them?" he replied by pointing to the letters "v. r." "your majesty can see their loyal cockney answer-'_ve are_.'" one account states that, "the young sovereign was quite overcome by the enthusiastic outbursts of loyalty which greeted her all along the route," but a description of the scene sent me by a friend, mrs. newton crosland, the charming english novelist and poet, paints her as perfectly composed. my friend says: "i well remember seeing the young queen on her way to dine with the lord mayor, on the th of november, , the year of her accession. the crowd was so great that there were constant stoppages, and, luckily for me, one of them occurred just under the window of a house in the strand, where i was a spectator. i shall never forget the appearance of the maiden-sovereign. youthful as she was, she looked every inch a queen. seated with their backs to the horses were a lady and gentleman, in full court-dress--(the duchess of sutherland, mistress of the robes--and the earl of albemarle, master of the horse), and in the centre of the opposite seat, a little raised, was the queen. all i saw of her dress was a mass of pink satin and swan's-down. i think she wore a large cape or wrap of these materials. the swan's-down encircled her throat, from which rose the fair young face--the blue eyes beaming with goodness and intelligence--the rose-bloom of girlhood on her cheeks, and her soft, light brown hair, on which gleamed a circlet of diamonds, braided as it is seen in the early portraits. her small, white-gloved hands were reposing easily in her lap. "on this occasion not only were the streets thronged, but every window in the long line of the procession was literally filled, while men and boys were seen in perilous positions on roofs and lamp-posts, trees and railings. loud and hearty cheers, so unanimous they were like one immense multitudinous shout, heralded the royal carriage. "a little before this date, a story was told of the lamentations of the queen's coachman. he declared that he had driven her majesty for six weeks, without once being able to see her. of course he could not turn his head or his eyes from his horses." at temple bar--poor, old temple bar, now a thing of the past!--the queen was met by the lord mayor, who handed her the city keys and sword, which she returned to his keeping--a little further on, the scholars of christ's hospital--the "blue-coat boys," offered her an address of congratulation, saying how glad they were to have a woman to rule over them, which was a good deal for boys to say, and also sung the national anthem with a will. the drawing-room of guildhall was fitted up most gorgeously. here the address of the city magnates was read and replied to,--and here in the midst of princes and nobles, her majesty performed a brave and memorable act. she knighted sheriff montefiore, the first man of his race to receive such an honor from a british sovereign, and sir moses montefiore, now nearly a centenarian, has ever since, by a noble life and good works, reflected only honor on his queen. but ah, what would her uncle, the late king, have said, had he seen her profaning a christian sword by laying it on the shoulders of a jew! he would rather have used it on the unbeliever's ears, after peter's fashion. after this ceremony, they all passed into the great hall, which had been marvellously metamorphosed, by hangings and gildings, and all sorts of magnificent decorations, by mirrors and lusters, and the display of vast quantities of gold and silver plate--much of it lent for the occasion by noblemen and private gentlemen, but rivalled in splendor and value by the plate of the corporation and the city companies. from the roof hung two immense chandeliers of stained glass and prisms, which with the flashing of innumerable gas-jets, lighting up gorgeous court-dresses, and the most superb old diamonds of the realm, made up a scene of dazzling splendor, of enchantment, which people who were there go wild over to this day. poets say it was like a vision of fairyland, among the highest circles of that most poetic kingdom--and they know. i think a poet must have managed the musical portion of the entertainment, for when victoria appeared sweet voices sang-- "at oriana's presence all things smile!" and presently-- "oh happy fair! your eyes are lode-stars and your tongue's sweet air, more tunable than lark to shepherd's ear, when wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear." there was a raised platform at the east end of the hall, and on it the throne, a beautiful state-chair, of dainty proportions, made expressly for that fairy princess, who took her seat thereon amid the most joyous acclamations. on the platform before her, was placed the royal table, decorated with exquisite flowers, and covered with a costly, gold-fringed damask cloth, on which were served the most delicate viands and delicious fruits, in season and out of season. ah, as the young queen, seated up there, received the homage of the richly-robed aldermen, and the resplendent sheriffs, and that effulgent lord mayor, she must have fancied herself something more than a fairy princess,--say, an oriental goddess being adored and sacrificed to by gorgeous oriental princes, sultans and satraps, pashas, padishas, and the grand-panjandrum himself. after the dinner, an imposing personage, called the common crier, strode into the middle of the hall, and solemnly cried out: "the right honorable the lord mayor gives the health of our most gracious sovereign, queen victoria!" this, of course, was drunk with all the honors, and extra shouts that made the old hall ring. the queen rose and bowed her thanks, and then the common crier announced--her majesty's toast: "the lord mayor, and prosperity to the city of london." the queen, it is stated, honored this toast in sherry one hundred and twenty years old--liquid gold! very gracious of her if she furnished the sherry. i hope, at all events, she drank it with reverence. why, when that old wine was bottled, her majesty's grandfather lacked some twenty years of being born, and the american colonies were as loyal as london;--then the trunk of the royal old bourbon tree, whose last branch death lopped away but yesterday at frohsdorf, seemed solid enough, though rotten at the core; and, the great french revolution was undreamed of, except in the seething brain of some wild political theorist, or in some poor peasant's nightmare of starvation. when that old wine was bottled, temple bar, under the garlanded arch of which her majesty had just passed so smilingly, was often adorned with gory heads of traitors, and long after that old wine was bottled, men and women could be seen of a friday, dangling from the front of newgate prison, and swinging in the morning air, like so many ghastly pendulums. this year , victoria spent her first christmas as a queen at windsor, right royally i doubt not, and i think it probable she received a few presents. a few days before, she had gone in state to parliament, to give her assent to the new civil list act-not a hard duty for her to perform, it would seem, as that act settled on her for life an annual income of £ , . let americans who begrudge our president his $ , , and wail over our taxation, just put that sum into dollars. the english people did not grumble at this grant, as they had grumbled over the large sums demanded by her majesty's immediate predecessors. they knew it would not be recklessly and wickedly squandered, and they liked to have their bonnie young queen make a handsome appearance among crowned heads. she had not then revealed those strong and admirable traits of character which later won their respect and affection,--but they were fond of her, and took a sort of amused delight in her, as though they, were all children, and she a wonderful new doll, with new-fashioned talking and walking arrangements. the friend from whom i have quoted--mrs. crosland-- writes me: "i consider that it would be impossible to exaggerate the enthusiasm of the english people on the accession of queen victoria to the throne. to be able at all to understand it, we must recollect the sovereigns she succeeded--the sailor-king, a most commonplace old man, with 'a head like a pine-apple'; george iv., a most unkingly king, extremely unpopular, except with a small party, of high tories; and poor george iii., who by the generation victoria followed, could only be remembered as a frail, afflicted, blind old man--for a long period shut up at kew, and never seen by his people. it was not only that victoria was a really lovely girl, but that she had the _prestige_ of having been brought up as a liberal, and then she kept the hated duke of cumberland from the throne. possibly he was not guilty of half the atrocious sins attributed to him, but i do not remember any royal personage so universally hated." it was fear of this bogie of a cumberland that made the english people anxious for the early marriage of the queen, and yet caused them to dread it, for the fate of poor princess charlotte had not been forgotten. but i do not think that political or dynastic questions had much to do with the popularity of the young queen. it was the resurrection of the dead dignity of the royal house of brunswick, in her fair person--the resuscitation of the half-dead principle of loyalty in the hearts of her people. of her majesty's subjects of the better class, actors and quakers alone seem to have taken her accession with all its splendid accessions, coolly,--the former, perhaps, because much mock royalty had somehow cheapened the real thing, and the latter because trained from infancy to disregard the pomps and show of this world. macready jots down among the little matters in his "diary," the fact of her majesty coming to his theatre, and waiting awhile after the play to see him and congratulate him. he speaks of her as "a pretty little girl," and does not seem particularly "set up" by her compliments. joseph sturge, the eminent and most lovable philanthropist of birmingham,--a "friend indeed" to all "in need,"--waited on her majesty, soon after her accession, as one of a delegation of the society of friends. some years after, he related the circumstance to me, and simply described her to me as "a nice, pleasant, modest young woman,--graceful, though a little shy, and on the whole, comely." "did you kiss her hand?" i asked. "o yes, and found that act of homage no hardship, i assure thee. it was a fair, soft, delicate little hand." i afterwards regretted that i had not asked him what he did with his broad-brimmed hat when he was about to be presented, knowing that the principles of fox and penn forbade his removing that article in homage to any human creature; but i have just discovered in a volume of court records, that "the deputation from the society of friends, commonly called quakers, were uncovered, according to custom, by the yeoman of the guard." as they were all non-resistants, they doubtless bore the indignity passively and placidly. moreover, they all bowed, if they did not kneel, before the throne on which their queen was seated, and as i said kissed her hand, in token of their friendly fealty. in june, , were issued the first gold sovereigns, bearing the head of the queen--the same spirited young head that we see now on all the modern gold and silver pieces of the realm. that on the copper is a little different, but all are pretty--so pretty that her majesty's loyal subjects prefer them to all other likenesses, even poor men feeling that they cannot have too many of them. chapter xii. the coronation. the coronation was fixed for june , a little more than a year from the accession. the, queen had been slightly troubled at the thought of some of the antiquated forms of that grand and complicated ceremony--for instance, the homage of the peers, spiritual and temporal. as the rule stood, they were all required after kneeling to her, and pledging their allegiance, to rise and kiss her on the left cheek. she might be able to bear up under the salutes of those holy old gentlemen, the archbishops and bishops--but the anticipation of the kisses of all the temporal peers, old and young, was enough to appall her--there were six hundred of them. so she issued a proclamation excusing the noble gentlemen from that onerous duty, and at the coronation only the royal dukes, sussex and cambridge, kissed the queen's rosy cheek, by special kinship privilege. the others had to be content with her hand. the other omitted ceremony was one which formerly took place in westminster hall--consisting chiefly of the appearance of a knight armed, mailed and mounted, who as royal champion proceeded to challenge the enemies of the new sovereign to mortal combat. this, which had appeared ridiculous in the case of the burly george iv., would have been something pretty and poetic in that of the young maiden-queen, but she doubtless felt that as every englishman was disposed to be her champion, the old form would be the idlest, melodramatic bravado. the crown which had fitted george and william was too big and heavy for their niece--so it was taken to pieces, and the jewels re-set in a way to greatly reduce the size and weight. a description now before me, of the new crown is too dazzling for me to transcribe. i must keep my eyes for plainer work; but i can give the value of the bauble--£ , !--and this was before the acquisition of the koh-i-noor. of the coronation i will try to give a clear, if not a full account. it was a wonderful time in london when that day of days was ushered in, by the roar of cannon from the grim old tower, answered by a battery in st. james' park. such a world of people everywhere! all great britain and much of the continent seemed to have emptied themselves into this metropolis, which overflowed with a surging, murmuring tide of humanity. ah me, how much of that eager, noisy life is silent and forgotten now! there may have before been coronations surpassing that of victoria in scenic splendor, if not in solid magnificence-that of the first napoleon and his empress, perhaps-but there has been nothing so grand as a royal pageant seen since, until the crowning of the present russian emperor at moscow, where the almost intolerable splendor was seen against a dark background of tragic possibilities. this english coronation was less brilliant, perhaps, but also less barbaric than that august, overpowering ceremony over which it seemed there might hover "perturbed spirits" of men slain in mad revolts against tyranny--of youths and women done to death on the red scaffold, in dungeons, in midnight mines, and siberian snows; and about which there surely lurked the fiends of dynamite. but this pure young girl, trusting implicitly in the loving loyalty of her subjects--relying on heaven for help and guidance, lifted to the throne by the constitution and the will of a free people, as conquerors have been upborne on shields, what had she to fear? a very different and un- nihilistic "cloud of witnesses" was hers, we may believe. if ever there was a mortal state-occasion for the immortals to be abroad, it was this. the great procession started from buckingham palace at about o'clock. the first two state carriages, each drawn by six horses, held the duchess of kent and her attendants. the queen's mother, regally attired, was enthusiastically cheered all along the way. the queen was, of course, in the grand state coach, which is mostly gilding and glass--a prodigiously imposing affair. it was drawn by eight cream-colored horses--great stately creatures--with white flowing manes, and tails like mountain cascades. many battalions and military bands were stationed along the line, presenting arms and playing the national anthem, "and the people, o the people!" every window, balcony, and door-step was swarming, every foot of standing room occupied--even on roofs and chimneys. ladies and children waved handkerchiefs and dropped flowers from balconies, and the shouts from below and the shouts from above seemed to meet and break into joyous storm-bursts in the air. accounts state that her majesty "looked exceedingly well, and that she seemed in excellent spirits, and highly delighted with the imposing scene and the enthusiasm of her subjects." one would think she might have been. she had a great deal to go through with that day. she must have rehearsed well, or she would have been confused by the multiform ceremonials of that grand spectacular performance. the scene, as she entered westminster abbey, might well have startled her out of her serene calm, but it didn't. on each side of the nave, reaching from the western door to the organ screen, were the galleries, erected for the spectators. these were all covered with crimson cloth fringed with gold. underneath them were lines of foot-guards, very martial-looking, fellows. the old stone floor, worn with the tread of kings' coronations and funeral processions, was covered with matting, and purple and crimson cloth. immediately under the central tower of the abbey, inside the choir, five steps from the floor, on a carpet of purple and gold, was a platform covered with cloth of gold, and on it was the golden "chair of homage." within the chancel, near the altar, stood the stiff, quaint old chair in i which all the sovereigns of england since edward the confessor have been crowned. cloth of gold quite concealed the "chunk of old red sandstone," called the "stone of scone," on which the ancient scottish kings were crowned, and which the english seem to keep and use for luck. there were galleries on galleries upholstered in crimson cloth, and splendid tapestries, wherein sat members of parliament and foreign princes and embassadors. in the organ loft were singers in white, and instrumental performers in scarlet --all looking very fine and festive; and up very high was a band of trumpeters, whose music, pealing over the heads of the people, produced, at times, a wonderful effect. fashionable people had got up early for once. many were at the abbey doors long before o'clock, and when the queen arrived at : , hundreds of delicate ladies in full evening-dress, had been waiting for her for seven long hours. the foreign princes and embassadors were in gorgeous costumes; and there was the lord mayor in all his glory, blinding to behold. his most formidable rival was prince esterhazy, who sparkled with costly jewels from his head down to his boots-looking as though he had been snowed upon with pearls, and had also been caught out in a rain of diamonds, and had come in dripping. all these grand personages and the peers and peeresses were so placed as to have a perfect view of the part of the minster in which the coronation took place-called, in the programme, "the theatre." the queen came in about the middle of the splendid procession. in her royal robe of crimson velvet, furred with ermine, and trimmed with gold lace, wearing the collars of her orders, and on her head a circlet of gold-her immense train borne by eight very noble young ladies, she is said to have looked "truly royal," though so young, and only four feet eight inches in height. as she entered the abbey, the orchestra and choir broke out into the national anthem. they performed bravely, but were scarcely heard for the mighty cheers which went up from the great assembly, making the old minster resound in all its aisles and arches and ancient chapels. then, as she advanced slowly towards the choir, the anthem, "_i was glad_" was sung, and after that, the sweet-voiced choir-boys of westminster chanted like so many white-gowned, sleek-headed angels, "_vivat victoria regina!_" ah, then she felt very solemnly that she was queen; and moving softly to a chair placed between the chair of homage and the altar, she knelt down on the "faldstool" before it, and meekly said her prayers. when the boys had finished their glad anthem, the archbishop of canterbury, with several high officers of state, moved to the east side of the theatre, when the primate, in a loud voice, said: "i here present unto you queen victoria, the undoubted queen of this realm, wherefore all you who are come this day to your homage, are you willing to do the same?" it seems a little confused, but the people understood it, and shouted, "god save queen victoria!" this "recognition," as it was called, was repeated at the south, west, and north sides of the "theatre," and every time was answered by that joyous shout, and by the pealing of trumpets and the beating of drums. the queen stood throughout this ceremony, each time turning her head towards the point from which the recognition came. one may almost wonder if all those loyal shouts and triumphant trumpetings and drum-beatings did not trouble somewhat the long quiet of death in the dusky old chapels in which sleep the fair queen eleanor, and the gracious philippa, and valiant elizabeth, and hapless mary stuart. then followed a great many curious rites and ceremonies of receiving and presenting offerings; and many prayers and the reading of the litany, and the preaching of the sermon, in which the poor queen was exhorted to "follow in the footsteps of her predecessor"--which would have been to walk "sailor-fashion" morally. then came the administration of the oath. after having been catechised by the archbishop in regard to the established church, her majesty was conducted to the altar, where kneeling, and laying her hand on the gospels in the great bible, she said, in clear tones, silvery yet solemn: "the things which i have here before promised, i will perform and keep. so help me god!" she then kissed the book, and after that the hymn, "_come, holy ghost, our souls inspire_" was sung by the choir, the queen still kneeling. i read the other day that the duke of connaught (prince arthur), on visiting norwich cathedral, was shown the very bible on which his mother took her well-kept coronation oath, forty-five years ago. it was a most solemn pledge, and yet it was all comprehended in the little girl victoria's promise to her governess, "i will be good." her majesty next seated herself in st. edward's chair; a rich cloth of gold was held over her head, and the archbishop anointed her with holy oil, in the form of a cross. then followed more prayers, more forms and ceremonies, the presentation of swords and spurs, and such like little feminine adornments, the investing with the imperial robe, the sceptre and the ring, the consecration and blessing of the new crown, and at last the crowning. in this august ceremony three archbishops, two bishops, a dean, and several other clergymen were somehow employed. the task was most religiously performed. it was the primate of all england who reverently placed the crown on that reverent young head. the moment this was done all the peers and peeresses, who, with their coronets in their hands, or borne by pages at their sides, had been intently watching the proceedings, crowned themselves, shouting, "god save the queen!" while again trumpets pealed forth, and drums sounded, and the far-off tower and park guns, fired by signal, boomed over the glad capital. it is stated that the most magically beautiful effect of all was produced by the peeresses, in suddenly and simultaneously donning their coronets. it was as though the stars had somehow kept back their radiance till the young moon revealed herself in all her silver splendor. then came the exhortation, an anthem, and a benediction, and after a few more forms and pomps, the queen was conducted to the chair of homage. before the next long ceremony began, the queen handed her two sceptres to two of the lords in attendance, to keep for her, as quietly as any other girl might hand over to a couple of dangling young gentlemen her fan and bouquet to hold for her, while she drew on her gloves. the lords spiritual, headed by the primate, began the homage by kneeling, and kissing the queen's hand. then came the dukes of sussex and cambridge, who, removing their coronets, and touching them to the crown, solemnly pledged their allegiance, and kissed their niece on the left cheek. her manner to them was observed to be very affectionate. then the other dukes, and peers on peers did homage by kneeling, touching coronet to crown, and kissing that little white hand. when the turn of the duke of wellington came, the entire assembly broke into applause; and yet he was not the hero of the day, but an older and far more infirm peer, lord rolle, who mounted the steps with difficulty, and stumbling at the top, fell, and rolled all the way back to the floor, where "he lay at the bottom of the steps, coiled up in his robes." at sight of the accident the queen rose from her throne, and held out her hands as though to help him. it was a pretty incident, not for the poor peer, but as showing her majesty's impulsive kindness of heart. the old nobleman was not hurt, but quickly unwound himself, rose, mounted the steps, and tried again and again to touch the crown with the coronet in his weak, uncertain hand, every plucky effort being hailed with cheers. at length the queen, smiling, gave him her hand to kiss, dispensing with the form of touching her crown. miss martineau, who witnessed the scene, states that a foreigner who was present was made to believe by a wag that this ludicrous tumble was a part of the regular programme, and that the lords rolle held their title on condition of performing that feat at every coronation, rolle meaning roll. this most tedious ceremony over, finishing up with more anthems, trumpets, drums, and shouts, the sacrament was administered to the queen --she discrowning herself, and kneeling while she partook of the holy elements. then a re-crowning, a re-enthronement, more anthems, and the blessed release of the final benediction. passing into king edward's chapel, the queen changed the imperial for the royal robe of purple velvet, and passed out of the abbey, wearing her crown, bearing the sceptre in her right hand, and the orb in her left, and so got into her carriage, and drove home through the shouting multitude. it is stated that her majesty did not seem exhausted, though she was observed to put her hand to her head frequently, as though the crown was not, after all, a very comfortable fit. after reigning more than a year, she had been obliged to spend nearly five fatiguing hours in being finished as a queen. how strange it all seems to us american republicans, who make and unmake our rulers with such expedition and scant ceremony. chapter xiii. pictures and descriptions of the queen--her love of pets--her passion for horseback exercise--her spirited behavior in the first change of her ministers. in the hall of the st. george's society of philadelphia there is a very interesting picture by the late mr. sully of queen victoria in her coronation robes. it is life-size, and represents her as mounting the steps of the throne, her head slightly turned, and looking back over the left shoulder. it seems to me that her majesty should own this picture, for it is an exquisite specimen of mr. sully's peculiar coloring, and a very lovely portrait. here is no rigidity, no constraint, no irksome state. there is a springy, exultant vitality in the bearing of the graceful figure, and the light poise of the head, while in the complexion there is a tender softness and a freshness of tints belonging only to the dewy morning of life. the princeliness of youth, the glow of joy and hope overtop and outshine the crown which she wears as lightly as though it were a may-queen's coronal of roses; and the dignity of simple girlish purity envelops her more royally than velvet and ermine. the eyes have the softness of morning skies and spring violets, and the smile hovering about the red lips, a little parted, is that of an unworn heart and an eager, confident spirit. this was the first portrait of the young queen i ever saw, and still seems to me the loveliest. another american artist, mr. leslie, painted a large picture of the coronation, which her majesty purchased. as he was to paint the scene, he was provided with a very good seat near the throne--so near that he said he could plainly see, when she came to sign her coronation oath, that she wrote a large, bold hand, doing credit to her old writing master, mr. steward. in his recollections he says: "i don't know why, but the first sight of her in her robes of state brought tears into my eyes, and it had this effect upon many people; she looked almost like a child." campbell, the poet, is related to have said to a friend: "i was at her majesty's coronation in westminster abbey, and she conducted herself so well during the long and fatiguing ceremony that i shed tears many times." carlyle said at the time, with a shake of his craggy, shaggy head: "poor little queen! she is at an age at which a girl can hardly be trusted to choose a bonnet for herself, yet a task is laid upon her from which an archangel might shrink.": and yet, according to earl russell, this "poor little queen," over whom the painters and poets wept, and the great critic "roared gently" his lofty commiseration, informed her anxious mother that she "ascended the throne without alarm." victoria, if reminded of this in later years, might have said, "they who know nothing, fear nothing"; and yet the very vagueness, as well as vastness, of the untried life would have appalled many spirits. the queen was certainly a very valiant little woman, but there would have been something unnatural, almost uncanny, about her had the regal calm and religious seriousness which marked her mien during those imposing rites, continued indefinitely, and it is right pleasant to read in the reminiscences of leslie, how the child in her broke out when all the magnificent but tiresome parade, all the grand stage-business with those heavy actors, was over. the painter says: "she is very fond of dogs, and has one favorite little spaniel, who is always on the lookout for her return when she is from home. she had, of course, been separated from him on that day longer than usual, and when the state-coach drove up to the palace steps she heard him barking joyously in the hall, and exclaimed, 'there's dash,' and was in a hurry to doff her crown and royal robe, and lay down the sceptre and the orb, which she carried in her hands, and go and give dash his bath." i hope this story is literally true, for i have a strong impression that it was this peculiar love of pets, this sense of companionship with intelligent, affectionate animals, especially dogs and horses, that with an ever-fresh delight in riding and dancing, healthful sports and merry games, was the salvation of the young queen. without such vents, the mighty responsibility of her dizzy position, the grandeur, the dignity, the decorum, the awful etiquette would have killed her--or at least, puffed her up with pride, or petrified her with formality. sir john campbell wrote of her at this time: "she is as merry and playful as a kitten."--i hope she loved kittens! again he says: "the queen was in great spirits, and danced with more than usual gaiety, a romping, country-dance, called the tempest." in addition to this girlish gaiety, victoria seems always to have had a vein of un-guelph-like humor, a keen sense of the ludicrous, a delicious enjoyment of fun, which are among heaven's choicest blessings to poor mortals, royal or republican. prince albert's sympathy with her love of innocent amusement, and her delight in the absurdities and drolleries of animal as well as of human life and character, was one and perhaps not the weakest of the ties which bound her to him. with the young queen equestrian exercise was more than a pastime, it was almost a passion. she rode remarkably well, and in her gratitude for this beautiful accomplishment,--rarer even in england than people think--she wished as soon as she came to the throne, to give her riding-master, fozard, a suitable position near her person, something higher than that of a groom. she was told that there was no situation vacant that he could fill. "then i will create one," she said, and dubbed him "her majesty's stirrup holder." i would have done more for him--made him master of the horse, in place of lord albemarle, who always rolled along in the royal carriage, or created for him the office of lord high equerry of the realm. n. p. willis, in his delightful "pencilings by the way," gives a bright glimpse of the queen on horseback. it was in hyde park, and he saye the party from the palace came on so fast that the scarlet-coated outriders had difficulty in clearing the track of the other equestrians. her majesty has always liked to go fast by horse or steam-power, as though determined not to let time get ahead of her, for all his wings. the poet then adds: "her majesty rides quite fearlessly and securely. i met her party full gallop near the centre of rotten row. on came the queen, on a dun-colored, highly-groomed horse, with her prime minister on one side of her, and lord byron on the other; her _cortège_ of maids of honor, and lords and ladies of the court checking their spirited horses, and preserving always a slight distance between themselves and her majesty. ... victoria's round, plump figure looks exceedingly well in her dark green riding-dress. ... she rode with her mouth open, and seemed exhilarated with pleasure." this was in . some years later, a young american writer, who shall be nameless, but who was as passionate a lover of horses as the queen herself, wrote a sort of pæan to horseback-riding. she began by telling her friends, all whom it might concern, that when she was observed to be low in her mind--when she seemed "weary of life," and to "shrink from its strife"--when, in short, things didn't go well with her generally, they were not to come to her with the soft tones or the tears of sympathy; then she went on thus, rather pluckily, i think: "no counsel i ask, and no pity i need, but bring me, o bring me, my gallant young steed, with his high-arched neck and his nostril spread wide; his eye full of fire, and his step full of pride. as i spring to his back, as i seize the strong rein, the strength to my spirit returneth again, the bonds are all broken that fettered my mind, and my cares borne away on the wings of the wind,-- my pride lifts its head, for a season, bowed down, and the queen in my nature now puts on her crown." now if the simple american girl prepared for a lonely gallop through the woods, could so have thrilled with the fulness, joy, and strength of young life; could have felt so royal, mounted on a half-broken, roughly- groomed western colt (for that's what the "steed" really was), with few fine points and no pedigree to speak of--what must the glorious exercise have been to that great little queen, re-enthroned on thoroughbred, "highly-groomed," magnificent english horse-flesh? her majesty has always been constant in her equine loves. six of her saddle-horses, splendidly caparisoned, walked proudly, as so many archbishops, in the coronation procession; and in the royal stables of london and windsor, her old favorites have been most tenderly cared for. when she could no longer use them, she still petted them, and never reproached them for having "outlived their usefulness." another writer from america, james gordon bennett, sent home, this coronation year, some very pleasant descriptions of the queen. at the opera he had his first sight of her. "about ten o'clock, when the opera was half through, the royal party entered. 'there! there! there!' exclaimed a young girl behind me--'there's the queen!' looking eagerly up to the royal box. i looked too, and saw a fair, light-haired little girl, dressed with great simplicity, in white muslin, with hair plain, a blue ribbon at the back, enter the box and take her seat, half hid in the red drapery at the corner remote from the stage. the queen is certainly very simple in her appearance; but i am not sure that this very simplicity does not set off to advantage her fair, pretty, pleasant, little round dutch face. her bust is extremely well-proportioned, and her complexion very fair. there is a slight parting of the rosy lips, between which you can see little nicks of something like very white teeth. the expression of her face is amiable and good-tempered. i could see nothing like that awful majesty, that mysterious something which doth hedge a queen. ... during the performance, the queen would now and then draw aside the curtain and gaze back at the audience, with that earnestness and curiosity which any young girl might show." mr. bennett gave other descriptions of the queen as he saw her driving in the park. he wrote: "i had been taking a walk over the interior of the park, gazing listlessly at the crowd of carriages as they rolled by. just as i was entering the arched gateway to depart, a sensation spread through the crowd which filled that part of the promenade. 'the queen! the queen!' flew from lip to lip. in an instant two outriders shot through the gate; near apsley house, followed by a barouche and four, carrying the queen and three of her suite. she sat on the right hand of the back seat, leaning a good deal back. she was, as usual, dressed very simply, in white, with a plain straw, or leghorn bonnet, and her veil was thrown aside. she carried a green parasol." ah, why _green_, o queen? later that afternoon he saw her again, going at a slower rate, holding up that green parasol, bowing right and left and smiling, as the crowd saluted and cheered. the queen does not bow and smile so much nowadays, but then she no longer carries a green parasol. n. p. willis also saw the young sovereign at the opera, and dashes off a poet's vivid sketch of her: "in her box to the left of me sat the queen, keeping time with her fan to the singing of pauline garcia, her favorite minister, lord melbourne, standing behind her chair, and her maids of honor grouped around her-- herself the youthful, smiling, admired sovereign of the most powerful nation on earth. the queen's face has thinned and grown more oval since i saw her four years ago as the princess victoria. she has been compelled to think since then, and such exigencies in all stations in life work out the expression of the face. she has now what i should pronounce a decidedly intellectual countenance, a little petulant withal when she turns to speak, but on the whole quite beautiful enough for a virgin queen. she was dressed less gaily than many others around her." i have given much space to these personal descriptions of queen victoria as she appeared in those first two years of her queenhood, because they are still to the world--the world of young people, at least--the most interesting years of all her glorious reign. there was great poetry about that time, and, it must be confessed, some peril. mrs. oliphant, in her excellent little life of the queen, says: "the immediate circle of friends around the young sovereign fed her with no flatteries." it is difficult to believe such a statement of any mortal court-circle. but if gross adulation was not offered--a sort of moral pabulum, which the queen's admirable good sense would have rejected, there was profound homage in the very attitude of courtiers and in the etiquette of court life. the incense of praise and admiration, "unuttered or exprest," was perpetually and inevitably rising up about her young footsteps wherever they strayed; it formed the very air she breathed--about as healthful an atmosphere to live and sleep in as would be that of a conservatory abounding in tuberoses, white lilies, and jessamine. still, that she did not grow either arrogant or artificial, seems proved by the pleasant accounts given of her simple and gracious ways by the painters of whom i have spoken--thomas sully and charles leslie. i remember particularly, hearing from a friend of mr. sully, of the generous interest she took in his portrait of her, which, i think, was painted at windsor. she gave him all the sittings, or rather standings, her busy life would allow; giving him free use of all the splendid paraphernalia necessary for his work. between whiles the painter's young daughter stood for the picture, being, of course, obliged to don the royal robes and even the tiara. one day, while thus engaged and arrayed, the queen came suddenly into the room. miss sully much confused was about to descend from the steps of the throne, when the queen exclaimed, laughing: "pray stay as you are; i like to see how i look!" leslie, whose picture of the coronation was painted at windsor, gave a pleasant account of the queen's kindly and easy ways. "she is now," he says, "so far satisfied with the likeness that she does not wish me to touch it again. she sat five times--not only for the face, but for as much as is seen of the figure, and for the hands, with the coronation- ring on the finger. her hands, by the by, are very pretty--the backs dimpled and the fingers delicately shaped. she was particular to have her hair dressed exactly as she wore it at the ceremony every time she sat." the queen in her writings says very little of this portion of her "strange, eventful history,"--a time so filled with incident, so gilded with romance, so bathed in poetry, so altogether splendid in the eyes of all the world; for to her, life--or all which was most "happy and glorious" in life--began and ended with prince albert. she even speaks with regret of that period of single queenliness, and says: "a worse school for a young girl--one more detrimental to all natural feelings and affections--cannot well be imagined than the position of a queen at eighteen without experience and without a husband to guide and support her. this the queen can state from painful experience, and she thanks god that none of her own dear daughters are exposed to such danger." human nature is rash and young-woman-nature ambitious and ill-disposed to profit by the costly experience of eld, and i doubt not the clever princess royal or the proud and fair princess louise would have mounted any throne in christendom "without alarm." most of her majesty's loyal subjects deny that any harm came to her from her unsupported position as queen regnant, or that she was capable of being thus harmed--but the queen knows best. the princess victoria was a proud, high-spirited girl, and it were no treason to suppose that at the first she had a sense of relief when the leading-strings, in which she had been so long held, were cut, though by the scissors of atropos, and she was free to stand and go alone. her good mother, becoming at once an object of political jealousy, removed herself from the old close companionship, though retaining in her heart the old tender solicitude--perhaps feeling herself more than ever necessary to her daughter. mothers are so conceited. it is small wonder if after her life of studious and modest seclusion and filial subordination, the gaiety, the splendor, and the supremacy of the new existence intoxicated the young sovereign somewhat. the pleasures of her capital and the homage of the world captivated her imagination, while the consciousness of power and wealth and personal loveliness inclined her to be self-indulgent and self-willed. in spite of the good counsel of the family mentor, baron stockmar, and of her sagacious uncle, leopold, she must have committed some errors of judgment--fallen into some follies; she was so young and impulsive--so very human. her first independent political act seems to have been a mistake, founded on a misunderstanding. it was at all events an act more georgian than victorian. the whig party, to which she was attached, had by a series of blunders and by weak vacillation lost strength and popularity, and lord melbourne's ministry found itself so hard-pressed that it struck colors and resigned. then the queen was advised by the duke of wellington to invite the conservative leader, sir robert peel, to form a new ministry. she did so, but frankly told that gentleman that she was very sorry to lose lord melbourne and his colleagues, whom she liked and approved--which must have been pleasant talk to sir robert. however, he went to work, but soon found that objections were made by his colleagues to certain whig ladies in personal attendance on the queen, and likely to influence her. so it was proposed to her majesty to make an important change in her household. i believe that the duchess of sutherland and lady normandy--the first the sister and the second the wife of a prominent liberal--were especially meant; but the queen took it that she was called on to dismiss all her ladies, and flatly refused, saying that to do so would be "repugnant to her feelings"--forgetting that feeling was no constitutional argument. she had got used to those ladies of the bed-chamber, and they to her. they knew just where everything was, what colors became her, and what gossip and games amused her. doubtless she loved them, and doubtless also she loved her own way. surely the right of her constitutional advisers to dictate to her must have a limit somewhere, and she drew the line at her bed-chamber door. then, as sir robert would not yield the point, she recalled melbourne and went on as before. the affair created immense excitement. non-political people were amused at the little queen's spirit of independence. liberals applauded her patriotism and pluck in defeating the "wicked bed-chamber plot," and for her loyalty to her friends; but the defeated tories were very naturally incensed, and, manlike, paid her majesty back, when measures which she had much at heart came before parliament a year or so later--as we shall see. many years later the queen appears to have thought that she was beginning to drift on to rocks of serious political mistakes and misfortunes as well as into rapids of frivolity, when the good, wise pilot came to take the helm of her life-craft. this pilot was, of course, the "prince charming," selected and reared for her away in saxe-coburg--that handsome cousin albert, once in a letter to the good uncle leopold tacitly accepted by her in girlish thoughtlessness, as she would have accepted a partner in a joyous country-dance, and afterwards nearly as thoughtlessly thrown over and himself sent adrift. chapter xiv. prince albert. if the princess charlotte was the prototype of her cousin victoria, prince leopold was in some respects the prototype of his beloved nephew albert, who was born in august, , at rosenau, a charming summer residence of his father, the reigning duke of saxe-coburg-saalfield. the little prince's grandmother, the dowager-duchess of saxe-coburg, in writing to her daughter, the duchess of kent, to announce the happy event, says: "the little boy is to be christened to-morrow, and to have the name of albert." when the christening came off it appeared that "albert" was only one and the simplest of several names, but he was always known and always will be known by that name. it has been immortalized by his upright character, his rare intellectual gifts, his goodness and grace; by the affection of his countrymen and his noble life-work in england; by the genius of england's greatest living poet, and by the love and sorrow of england's queen. while the prince was yet a baby, his mother wrote of him: "albert is superb,--remarkably beautiful, with large blue eyes, a delicate mouth, a fine nose, and dimpled cheeks. he is lively and always gay." albert was the second son of the duke and duchess. ernest, a year or two older, is thus described by his mother: "ernest is very strong and robust, but not half so pretty as his brother. he is handsome, though; with black eyes." prince leopold spent some time with his brother at coburg when albert was about two years old, and then began the tender, life-long mutual affection which led to such happy and important results. the young mother wrote: "albert adores his uncle leopold; never quits him for a moment; looks sweetly at him; is constantly embracing him; and is never happy except when near him." the grandmother also wrote: "leopold is very kind to the little boys. bold _albertinchen_ drags him constantly about by the hand. the little fellow is the pendant to the pretty cousin (princess victoria); very handsome, but too slight for a boy; lively, very funny, all good nature, and full of mischief. the other day he did not know how to make enough of me, because i took him with me in the carriage. he kept saying, 'albert is going with grandmamma!' and gave me his little hand to kiss. 'there, grandmamma, kiss!'" the little princes were not long to enjoy the care and society of their loving and lovely mother. an unhappy estrangement between their parents, followed by a separation and a divorce, left them at seven and five years old half-orphaned; for they never saw their mother again. she died at st. wendel, in switzerland, while still young and beautiful; but doubtless weary enough of life, which had brought her such happiness, only to take it away. two words as holy as her prayers, were on her dying lips-- "ernest!" "albert!" but the boys were rich in grandmothers--having two of the very tenderest and dearest of dowager-duchesses to watch over them (watching each other, perhaps, the while) and to minister to them for many a year. according to these venerable ladies, albert, who was certainly a delicate, nervous child, was one of those "little angels" who are destined not to survive the dimpled, golden-curled, lisping, and croupy period; being too good and sweet and exquisite for this wicked and rough world. but, according to certain entries in the prince's own diary--his first, begun in his sixth year--he at that age happily revealed some hopeful signs of saving naughtiness and healthful "original sin." " th _february_, . "i was told to recite something, but did not wish to do so. that was not right--naughty!" " th _february_. "i had left all my lesson books lying about in the room, and i had to put them away; then i cried." " th _february_. "i cried at my lesson to-day because i could not find a verb, and the rath (tutor) pinched me, to show me what a verb was. i cried about it." " th _april_. "i got up well and happy; afterward i had a fight with my brother." " th _april_. "i had another fight with my brother; that was not right." this almost baby-prince seems to have been a valorous little fellow. when his blood was up he seems to have given little thought to the superior age or strength of his opponents, but to have been always ready to "pitch in"; or, to use the more refined and courtly language of his tutor, m. florschütz, "he was not, at times, indisposed to resort to force, if his wishes were not at once complied with." for several years the young princes, devoted to each other, passed studious, yet active and merry lives at the coburg palace, and in the dear country home of rosenau. they seem to have corresponded with their cousin victoria, whom, it seems, the lad albert was led by his grandmamma coburg to regard with an especially romantic and tender interest. that grandmamma, the mother of prince leopold and the duchess of kent, and who seems to have been a very able and noble woman, died when her darling albert was about twelve years old; but the hope of her heart did not die with her, and without doubt prince albert was educated with special and constant reference to a far more important and brilliant destiny than often falls to the lot of the young sons of even grand ducal houses. he was well instructed in many branches of science, in languages, in music and literature, in politics, and what seems a contradiction, in ethics,-- his moral development being most carefully watched over, while his physical training was a pendant to that which made his cousin victoria one of the healthiest and hardiest of modern englishwomen. with a delicate constitution and a sensitive, nervous temperament, prince albert would scarcely have lived to manhood, except for that admirable physical training. as a child, he was braced up by much life in the open air, simple diet, a good deal of rough play--while as to sleep, he was allowed to help himself, which he did plentifully, being much given to somnolency. as a lad and youth, he hardened himself by all healthful manly sports and exercises; in short, made a boy of mamma's "angel," a man of grandmamma's golden-haired darling. nor was that great element of a liberal education, travel, wanting. the brothers paid visits to their uncle leopold, now king of belgium, and after tours in germany, austria, and holland, visited england, and their aunt kent and their cousin victoria, to whom they were most warmly commended by their uncle. according to the queen's books, with this visit of three weeks began the personal acquaintance of the cousins; yet old kensingtonians have a legend which they obstinately cling to, that prince albert, when much younger, spent three years in the old brick palace with his aunt and cousin, in pursuance of the matrimonial plans of the duchess of kent and prince leopold; and i have seen in a quaint old juvenile book a wood-cut representing the little victoria in a big hat, riding on a pony in the park, and little albert in a visored cap and short jacket running along at her side. but, of course, it was all a mistake; there was no such period of childish courtship, and the boy in the queer dutch cap was an optical illusion, or a "double," in german a _doppel-gänger_. during the real visit, occurred the seventeenth birthday of the princess, and there were public rejoicings and court-festivities, preceded and followed for the cousins by days of pleasant companionship, in walking and riding, and evenings of music and dancing. but if the lad albert, remembering the promise of his garrulous nurse, and the prophecy of his fond grandmamma, and the wish of his father and uncle leopold, sought to read his destiny in the baffling blue eyes of the gay young girl, he seems to have failed, for he could only write home: "our cousin is most amiable." perhaps victoria's own wonderful destiny, now drawing near, left little room in her heart or thought for lesser romances; perhaps the crown of england suspended over her head as by a single hair, the frail life of an old man, outdazzled even the graces and merits of her handsome but rather immature kinsman. besides, "prince charming" at that time was short and stout, and he spoke our language too imperfectly to make love (which he would have pronounced _luf_) in the future queen's english; and so he went away without any exchange of vows, or rings, or locks of fair hair or miniatures, and returned to his studies, principally at the university of bonn. it is true that the princess wrote to her "dearest uncle leopold" soon after this visit, begging him to take special care of one now so dear to her, adding: "i hope and trust that all will go on prosperously and well on this subject now of so much importance to me." yet king leopold was a wise man, and did not build too securely on the fancy of a girl of seventeen, though he kept to work, he and the baron, on their prince-consort making, in spite of the opposition of old king william, and all his brothers, and the candidates favored by them. it was from quaint, quiet old bonn that prince albert wrote, on his cousin's accession to the throne, his famous letter of congratulation, in which there appeared not one word of courtier-like adulation--not a thought calculated to stir the heart of the young girl suddenly raised to that giddy height overlooking the world, with a thrill of exultation or vain-gloriousness. thus wrote this boy-man of eighteen: "now you are queen of the mightiest land of europe; in your hand lies the happiness of millions. may heaven assist you, and strengthen you with its strength in the high, but difficult task." after leaving the university prince albert traveled in switzerland and italy with baron stockmar--everywhere winning the admiration and respect of the best sort of people by the rare princeliness of his appearance, his refined taste, his thoughtful and singularly receptive mind. and so three years went by. they were three years of uncertainty in regard to the great projects formed for him, of happiness, and a noble and useful, if subordinate career. king leopold, the good genius of the two families, had not suffered his cousin to forget him, but though she declared she cared for no one else, she was not disposed to enter into any positive engagement, even with albert. she enjoyed intensely her proud, independent position as queen regnant. she was having such a glorious swing at life, and very naturally feared the possible restraints, and the inevitable subordination of marriage. she was "too young to marry," and albert was still younger--full three months. she would remain as she was, the gay, untrammeled maiden-queen of england, for at least three or four years longer, and then think about it. the prince was made, aware by his uncle leopold of his royal cousin's state of feeling, or unfeeling, and was in a very doubtful and despondent state of mind when, polished by study and travel, grown tall and graceful, and "ideally beautiful," a veritable "prince charming," he came over the sea, out of fairyland, via rotterdam, to seek his fortune--to attempt, at least, to wake the grandeur-enchanted princess from her passionless dream of lonely, loveless sovereignty. he came, was seen, and conquered! but not at once; ah, no; for this charming royal idyll had its changing strophes, marking deepening degrees of sentiment--admiration, interest, hope, assurance, joyous certainty. the queen had resolved to receive both the princes with cousinly affection and royal honors, but as though they had come on an ordinary visit. as for albert, she meant probably to reason with him frankly, till he should be convinced that they were "ower young to marry yet"--till he should realize his own exceeding youthfulness. then, as he must go away, and "wait a little longer," she would see as much of him as possible--he was such a good, constant fellow. but she must give due attention to her other guests; and then the state had some claim on her time. but when the coburg princes arrived at windsor, and the queen, with her mother, met them at the head of the grand staircase, somehow she had only eyes for the younger brother; he had grown so manly, so tall, quite out of the old objectionable stoutness; he had so improved in his english; he was so handsome--so every way presentable! so, in spite of the gaieties and forms, and the comings and goings of windsor, so very much did the royal maiden, hitherto so gay and "fancy-free" see of her cousin albert preparatory to bidding him an indefinite adieu, that on the second day even, cause for jealousy was given to aspiring courtiers by smiles and words, especially sweet and gracious, bestowed on the fair saxon knight. on that second day the queen wrote to her uncle leopold: "albert's beauty is most striking, and he is most amiable and unaffected; in short, very fascinating." she then added, with an exquisite touch of maiden coyness: "the young men are _both_ amiable, delightful companions, and i am glad to have them here." when a few more days had passed in familiar intercourse, in singing and walking, in dancing and driving, and best of all, in riding together (for there is no cradle to rock young love in like the saddle), the poor little queen forsworn, found she had no longer the courage to propose to that proud young prince to wait indefinitely on her will--to tarry at coburg for more wisdom and beard. at the thought of it she seemed to see something of noble scorn about his lips, and such grave remonstrance in his gentle, pensive, forget-me-not eyes, that--the words of parting were never spoken, or not till after many happy years. alas for this fairy-prince in an unfairylike kingdom! he could only declare his love, and sound the heart of his beloved, with his eyes. etiquette put a leaden seal on his lips till from hers should come the sweet avowal and the momentous proffer to rule the ruler--to assume love's sovereignty over the sovereign. after five days of troubled yet joyous waiting, it came--the happy "climax," as the prince called it in a letter to baron stockmar--and then that perfectest flower of human life, whether in palace or cottage, a pure and noble love, burst into full and glorious bloom in each young heart. one cannot, even now, read without a genuine heart-thrill, and a mistiness about the eyes, the simple touching story of that royal romance of royal old windsor. more than two-score years have passed, and yet how fresh it seems! it has the dew and the bloom of paradise upon it. what in all this story seems to me most beautiful and touching, because so exquisitely womanly, is the meekness of the young queen. though as queen she offered the prince her coveted hand--that hand that had held the sceptre of sceptres, and which princes and peers and the representatives of the highest powers on earth, had kissed in homage, it was only as a poor little woman's weak hand, which needed to be upheld and guided in good works, by a stronger, firmer hand; and her head, when she laid it on her chosen husband's shoulder, had not the feel of the crown on it. indeed, she seems to have felt that his love was her real coronation, his faith her consecration. to the beloved stockmar, to whom but a little while before she had communicated her unalterable determination not to marry any one for ever so long the newly betrothed wrote: "i do feel so guilty i know not how to begin my letter; but i think the news it will contain will be sufficient to ensure your forgiveness. albert has completely won my heart, and all was settled between us this morning. i feel certain he will make me happy. i wish i could feel as certain of my making him happy, but i will do my best." among the entries in the queen's journal are many like this: "how i will strive to make albert feel as little as possible the great sacrifice he has made. i told him it _was_ a great sacrifice on his part, but he would not allow it." of course the prince had too much manly feeling and practical good sense to "allow it." he knew he was the most envied, not only of all poor german princes about that time, but of all young scions of royalty the world over; and besides, he loved his cousin. there is no record or legend or hint of his having ever loved any other woman, except his good grandmothers. to her of gotha he wrote: "the queen sent for me alone to her room the other day, and declared to me in a genuine outburst of affection that i had gained her whole heart, and would make her intensely happy if i would make her the sacrifice of sharing her life with her, for she said she looked on it as a sacrifice; the only thing which troubled her was that she did not think she was worthy of me. the joyous openness with which she told me this enchanted me, and i was quite carried away by it." still, and always the thought of "sacrifice!" this sentiment of tender humility, of deference and reverence the queen never lost. indeed, it seems to have grown with years, and as the character of the prince- consort unfolded more and more in beauty, strength, dignity, and uprightness. a month was passed by the lovers, in such happiness as comes but once in life to the most fortunate human beings--to some, alas! never. then the prince returned to coburg, to settle his affairs and to take leave of his old home and his kindred. those partings seem to have pulled hard on his heart-strings, and are distressing to read about. one would think he was bound for the "under-world," to wed the queen of madagascar. these germans are such passionate lovers of the fatherland, that one wonders how they can ever bring themselves to leave it, to make grand marriages in england, or fortunes in america, to start a royal house, or a kindergarten--to become a field marshal or a united states senator. but all that grief at coburg and gotha showed how dearly prince albert was loved, and how he loved. it seems that the fair cousin at windsor was scarcely gay, for the prince, writing to her mother, says: "what you say of my poor little bride, sitting all alone in her room, silent and sad, has touched my heart. oh, that i might fly to her side to cheer her!" but she could not have much indulged in this solitary, idle brooding, for she had work to do, and must be up and doing. first, she had to summon a privy council, which met at buckingham palace;--more than eighty peers, mostly solemn old fellows, who had outlived their days of romantic sentiment, if they ever had any, yet to whom the queen had to declare her love for her cousin albert, and her intention to marry him, being convinced, she said, that this union would "secure her domestic felicity, and serve the interests of her country." it was a little hard, yet a certain bracelet, containing a certain miniature, which she wore on her arm, gave her "courage," she said. then came a yet more trying ordeal, for a modest young lady--the announcement of her intended marriage, in a speech from the throne, in the house of lords. with the utmost dignity and calmness, and with a happiness which sparkled in her eyes and glowed in her blushes, and made strangely beautiful her young face, she read the announcement in the clear, musical tones so peculiar to her, and with an, almost religious solemnity. the glory of pure maidenly trust and devotion resting on her head, outshone the jewels of her tiara; love was enthroned at her side. all was not sunshine, rose-bloom and soft airs before the young german husband of the queen. much doubt and jealousy and some unfriendliness were waiting for him in high places. the disappointed tory party, and some radicals, opposed hotly the proposed grant for the prince of £ , , and at last cut it down to £ , . then came a discussion over a clause in the bill for the naturalization of the prince, empowering the husband of the queen to take precedence over even the royal princes, and to be ever at her side, where he belonged, which, though finally assented to by these most interested in england--the dukes of sussex and cambridge--was stoutly opposed by their elder brother, the duke of cumberland, for heaven and hanover had not relieved the english government of "the bogie." in support of his rights, wellington and brougham stood out, and the clause was dropped. but the queen, by the exercise of her prerogative, gave the prince the title of royal highness, and made him a field marshal in the british army; and about a month later, she settled the precedence question, as far as concerned england, by proclaiming that by her royal will and pleasure her husband should "enjoy place, pre-eminence and precedence, next to her majesty." the amiable prince is said never to have cherished resentment towards sir robert peel and others who had voted to cut down his allowance, or the duke of wellington, and lord brougham, who had argued that those tiresome old gentlemen, the royal dukes, should have the right to walk and sit next to _his_ wife on state occasions; but victoria confesses that she long felt "most indignant." she was hurt not only in her wifely love, but in her queenly pride. greville says of kings: "the contrast between their apparent authority and the contradictions which they practically meet with, must be peculiarly galling--more especially to men whose minds are seldom regulated by the beneficial discipline of education, and early collision with their equals." it must be yet more "galling" for queens, because they always have been more flattered, and are imaginative enough to fancy that in grasping the symbols they hold the power. but i do not believe that the royal lovers took deeply to heart these disagreeable matters at this time. i hope they didn't mourn much over the £ , they didn't get. i hope that love lifted them far above the murky air of party strife and petty jealousy into a clear, serene atmosphere of its own. they knew--and it was a great thing to know--that they had the sympathy of all the true hearts of the realm, whether beating under the "purple and fine linen" of the rich and noble, or the rough and simple garments of the poor and humble. on the th of february, , prince albert, always tenderly thoughtful of the dear old dowager of saxe-gotha, his "_liebe grosmama_" who, when he had parted from her last, had stood at her window, weeping, stretching out her arms and so desolately calling after him, "albert! albert!" sat down and wrote as no beautifulest prince of poetry or romance ever wrote to a feeble, old female relative on his wedding-day: "dear grandmamma: in less than three hours, i shall stand at the altar, with my dear bride. in these solemn moments, i must once more ask your blessing, which i am well assured i shall receive, and which will be my safeguard and future joy. i must end. god be my stay! "your faithful "albert." this letter may seem a little too solemn and ill-assured, but it shows in what a serious and devout spirit this young prince, not yet of age, entered on that auspicious and splendid union, whose wedding-bells rang round the world. moreover, the young man's position was a rather trying one. as yet, he was little known in england, while it was well known that the royal family had been from the first opposed to his marriage with victoria. though the land of the teutons had so long been the nursery of english kings and queens, the english common people were jealous of teutonic princes--regarding them for the most part as needy adventurers, for whom england was only the great milch-cow of germany. prince albert had a host of prejudices to live down; and he did live down most of them, but some have died hard over his grave. the queen's wedding was second only to the coronation, as a grand and beautiful pageant for the privileged few who could witness it, for of course the old royal chapel of st. james was a much narrower stage for the great scene than the abbey. still, royalty and nobility turned out in force, and all the greatest of the great were there. the sombre chapel was made to look very gay and gorgeous with hangings and decorations; even before the ladies in rich dresses and with all their costliest jewels on, and the gentlemen in brilliant uniforms and court-costumes arrived. the bridegroom, when he walked up the aisle, between his father and his brother, bowing affably right and left, drew forth murmurs of admiration by his rare beauty and grace--princeliest of princes. the queen is described as looking unusually pale, but very lovely, in a magnificent robe of lace over white satin trimmed with orange blossoms, and with a most exquisite honiton veil. in the midst of her twelve bridesmaids, her face radiant with happiness, she seemed like the whitest of diamonds set in pearls--or so they say. her majesty is also described as bearing herself with great dignity and composure, and to have gone through the service very solemnly. and yet i have heard a little story that runs thus: when prince albert, in this last act of "_le jeune homme pauvre_" came to repeat, as he placed the ring on her finger, the words, "with all my worldly goods i thee endow," the merry girl-queen was unable to suppress an arch smile. the duchess of kent is described as looking "tearful and distressed." ah, why will mothers always cry at their daughters' weddings, even when they have hoped and schemed for that very match; and why will brides, though ever so much in love, weep, first or last, on the wedding morning? lady lyttleton, in her correspondence, said of the queen--"her eyes were swollen with tears; but," she adds, "there was great happiness in her countenance, and her look of confidence and comfort at the prince, when they walked away, as man and wife, was very pleasant to see." ah, "when they walked away as man and wife"--now simply and for always to each other, "albert" and "victoria," the separate life of our "prince charming" closed. thenceforth, the two bright life-streams seemed to flow on together, completely merged, indistinguishable, indivisible, but only _seemed_--for, alas, one has reached the great ocean before the other. part iii. wifehood and motherhood. chapter xv. the first months of marriage--incidents and anecdotes--the adoption of penny postage--the inauguration of steam railway travel--the duchess of kent takes a separate residence--prince albert presides at a meeting favoring the abolition of the slave trade. in this mere sketch of the great life of the queen of england, i can give little space to the political questions and events of her reign, important and momentous as some of them were, even for other lands and other people than the english. for a clear and concise account of those questions and events, i refer my readers to "a history of our own times," by justin mccarthy, m.p. i know nothing so admirable of its kind. but mine must be something less ambitious--a personal and domestic history-- light, gossipy, superficial, as regards the profound mysteries of politics; in short, "pure womanly." i shall not even treat of the great wars which stormed over the continent, and upset and set up thrones, except as they affected the life of my illustrious subject. at first they seemed to form a lurid background to the bright pictures of peace and love presented by her happy marriage and maternity, and afterwards in the desolation and mourning they brought, seemed in keeping with the sorrow of her widowhood. happily all was quiet and peace in the united kingdom, and in the world at large, when the honeymoon began for that august but simple-hearted pair of lovers, victoria and albert; or, as she would have preferred to write it, albert and victoria. the fiery little spurt of revolt in canada, called rather ambitiously, "the canadian rebellion," had ended in smoke, and the outburst of chartism, from the spontaneous combustion of sullen and long-smothered discontent among the working classes, had been extinguished, partly by a fog of misapprehension and misdirection, partly by a process of energetic stamping out. the shameful chinese opium war, the cabul disasters, and the fearful sepoy rebellion were, as yet, only slow, simmering horrors in the black caldron of the fates. irish starvation had not set in, in its acute form, and irish sedition was, as yet, taking only the form of words--the bold, eloquent, magnificent, but not malignant and scarcely menacing words of daniel o'connell in the infernal council chamber below, the clock whose hours are epochs of crime, had not yet struck for the era of political assassination. france was resting and cooling from the throes and fires of revolution, and growing the vine over its old lava courses. the citizen-king and his family were setting an example of domestic affection and union, of morality, thrift, and forehandedness--diligently making hay while the fickle sun of french loyalty was shining. italy was lying deathly quiet under the mailed foot of austria, and under the paternal foot of the old pope, shod with a velvet slipper, cross-embroidered, but leaden-soled; garibaldi was fighting for liberty in "the golden south americas"; mazzini was yet dreaming of liberty--so was kossuth. russia was quietly gathering herself up for new leaps of conquest tinder her most imperial, inflexible autocrat--the inscrutable, unsmiling nicholas. in england and america it was, though a peaceful, a stirring and an eventful time. english manufacturers, not content with leveling mountains of american cotton bales, converting them into textile fabrics and clothing the world therewith, were reaching deep and deeper into the bowels of the earth, and pulling up sterner stuff to spin into gigantic threads with which to lace together all the provinces and cities of the realm. that captive monster, steam, though in the early days of its servitude, was working well in harness, while in america morse was after the lightning, lassoing it with his galvanic wires. in england the steam- dragon had begun by killing one of his keepers, and was distrusted by most english people, who still preferred post-horses and stage-coaches-- all the good old ways beloved by hostel-keepers, tony welters, postilions and pot-boys. there was something fearful, supernatural, almost profane and providence-defying in this new, swift, wild, and whizzing mode of conveyance. churchmen and tories were especially set against it; yet i have been told that later, that prince of conservatives, f. m., the duke of wellington, did, on the occasion of one of her majesty's _accouchements_ travel from london to windsor, at the rate of seventy-five miles an hour, in order to be in at the birth! what were the perils of waterloo to this daring, dizzying journey? just a month before the queen's marriage there occurred in london a union yet more auspicious, not alone for england, but for all christendom. it was the wedding, by act of parliament, of knowledge and humanity in the cheap postage reform--carried through with wonderful ability, energy, persistence, and pluck by rowland hill; blessed be his memory. the queen afterwards knighted him, but he did not need the honor, though i doubt not it was pleasant, coming from her hands. the simple name of the dear old man was full of dignity, and long before had been stamped--penny- stamped, on the heart of the world. so it seemed that life smiled on and around the royal wedded pair on that winter afternoon, so unwintry to them, when they took leave of relations and wedding guests at buckingham palace, and set out for windsor castle. even the heavens which had wept in the morning with those who wept, changed its mood, and smiled on bride and bridegroom, as they drove forth in an open carriage and four, followed by other open carriages containing a picked suite of friends and attendants--all with favor-decked postilions and footmen in the royal red liveries, and everything grand and gay. the queen was dressed in a white satin _pelisse_, profusely trimmed with swan's-down. she seems, in those days, to have been very fond of nestling down under that soft, warm, dainty sort of a wrap. how like a white dove she must have looked that day, for her bonnet was white, trimmed with white, plumes. prince albert wore a fur-trimmed coat, with a high collar, and had a very high hat, which for the most part was in his hand, so much saluting was he obliged to do to the saluting multitude. all the world was abroad that day--great was the flow of good feeling, and mighty was the flow of good ale, while the whole air of the kingdom was vibrating with the peal of merry marriage-bells. all through the land free dinners were provided for the poor--good roast beef, plum-pudding-- 'alf and 'alf fare--and i am afraid the queen's pauper-subjects would have been unwilling to have the occasion indefinitely repeated, with such observances,--would not have objected to her majesty proving a female henry viii. victoria and albert drove that afternoon more than twenty miles between ranks of frantically loyal, rejoicing people,--past countless festive decorations, and a world of "_v_"s and "_a_"s--under arches so gay that one wondered where and how at that season all the flowers and foliage were produced,--if nature had not hurried up her spring work, so as to be able to come to the wedding. the queen turned now and then her happy face on her shouting subjects, in graceful acknowledgment of their sympathy with her happiness; but much of the time she was observed to be regarding her husband, intently or furtively. so she had betrayed her heart during she marriage ceremony, when, as an eye-witness records, she "was observed to look frequently at prince albert,--in fact, she scarcely ever took her eyes off him." i suppose she found him "goodly to look upon." it is certain that she worshiped him with her eyes, as well as with her heart and soul,--then and ever after. for the world, even for the court, he grew, as the pitiless, pilfering years went by, a little too stout, and somewhat bald, while his complexion lost something of its fine coloring and smoothness, and his eyes their fulness,--but for her, he seems to have always kept the grace and glory of his youth. even when he was dying-when the gray twilight of the fast-coming night was creeping over his face, clouding the light of his eyes, chilling the glow of his smile--his beauty was still undimmed for her. she says in her pathetic account of those sad moments--"his beautiful face, more beautiful than ever, is grown so thin." but on this their wedding-day, death and death-bed partings were far enough from the thoughts of the royal lovers. life was theirs,--young life, in all its fulness and richness of health, and hope, and joy, and that "perfect, love, which casteth out fear." so essentially young and so light-hearted were they, that they laughingly welcomed the crowd of shouting, leaping, hat-waving, mad eton boys, who as they neared windsor, turned out to receive them. the queen jotted down this jolly incident in her journal thus: "the boys in a body accompanied the carriage to the castle, cheering and shouting as only schoolboys can. they swarmed up the mound, as the carriage entered the quadrangle, and, as the queen and the prince descended at the grand entrance, they made the old castle ring again with their acclamations." what would queen charlotte, or any of the stiff, formal dutch queens of any of the georges have thought of such a boisterous wedding escort,--of such a noisy welcome to stately windsor? they would very likely have said, "go away, naughty _pays_! how dare you!" alas, this royal pair, natural, joyous, girl-like and boy-like as they were still were slaves to, their station. they could not long hide themselves from the million-eyed world. in a few days the court came down upon them from london. "mamma" came with them--and i hope that she, at least, was welcome. then followed show and ceremony, and amusements of the common, unpoetic, unparadisiacal, courtly order. there were "fiddling and dancing every night," and feasting, and full-dressing, and all that. still nothing seems to have interfered much with the queen's happiness and content, for lady lyttleton wrote of her about this time,--"i understand she is in extremely high spirits. such a new thing for her to dare to be unguarded in conversing with anybody, and with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she has hitherto been under, from one reason or another, with everybody, must have been most painful." only the day after her marriage, the queen wrote to baron stockmar: "there cannot exist a purer, dearer, nobler being in the world than the prince." she never took those words back--she never had cause to take them back, to lie heavy on her heart. but such utter adoration persisted in year after year, with cheerful obstinacy, even against the modest protests of the object, would have spoiled any man who was spoilable. her majesty was soon obliged to return to london, in order to hold courts, to receive addresses of congratulation on her marriage. it seemed that half the men of the kingdom of any standing, had formed themselves into delegations. so numerous were they, that prince albert was obliged to "come up to the help of the queen against the mighty"--bore, for she records that he in one day received and personally answered no less than twenty-seven addresses! in fact, he was nearly addressed to death. the queen after receiving many members of both houses of parliament, bearing addresses--received large delegations from the state church--the general assembly of the church of scotland--the english non-conformists, and the society of friends--all walking peacefully enough together to the throne of victoria, but having widely different ways to the "throne of grace;"--all uniting in loyal prayers for the divine blessing on the fair head of their sovereign, and in the hope that the comely young man of her choice might do virtuously, and walk humbly, and gingerly by her side-- but a little in the rear, as became him; not, of course, as a husband, scripturally regarded, but as the german consort of an english queen _regnant_. this subordinate view of her husband's place the queen did not fully accept from anybody, at any time. at that period, it is probable she would have gladly taken off the crown, to place it on his dear head, and doffed the ermine mantle to put it on his manly shoulders, and would have been the first to swear allegiance to "king albert." she thought that he might, at least, have the title of "king-consort," and perhaps because of this hope, she deferred for years--till -- conferring on him, by royal letters patent, the title of prince-consort. doubtless the english people, if they had been on the lookout for a king, might have gone farther and fared worse,--but the four georges had somehow got them out of conceit with the word "king," and william, the sailor, had not quite reconciled them to it;--then they were jealous of foreigners, and last, but not least, there were apprehensions that the larger title would necessitate a larger grant. but the prince did not need the empty honor, which in his position would have been "a distinction without a difference." i do not believe he cared much for it, though titles are usually dear to the teutonic soul, determined, as he always so wisely was, to "sink his individuality in that of the queen," and when at last, the second best title of prince-consort, that by which the people already named him, was made his legal right, by his fond wife, grieved to have kept --"the best man under the sun, so many years from his due," he was well content, because it pleased her. the queen certainly did all she constitutionally could to confer honors on her husband, who after all outdid her, and best honored himself. before their marriage, she had invested him with the noble order of the garter, and given him the star, and the badge, and the garter itself set in diamonds. she now invested him with the insignia of a knight grand cross of the order of the bath. it amused her, this investing--she would have liked to invent a few orders, for royal albert's sake--he became the insignia so well! she also made him colonel of the th regiment of light dragoons--he rode so well!--and she had the name changed to "prince albert's own hussars." everywhere the queen and prince appeared together--at reviews and art exhibitions, at church and at the theatre (for the queen was very fond of the drama in those days), at drawing-rooms and at races--and everywhere the people delighted in their beauty and their happiness. early in april, the duchess of kent, in pursuance of what she deemed her duty, and best for the young people, parted from her darling daughter, and took up her residence in a separate home in london--ingestrie house. she afterwards occupied clarence house, the present residence of the duke of edinburgh. when the court was at windsor, the duchess resided at frogmore, a very lovely place, belonging to the royal estate, and so near the castle that she was able to dine and lunch with victoria almost daily. still the partial separation was a trial for a mother and daughter so closely and tenderly attached, and they both took it hard,--as did, about that time, prince albert his separation from his brother ernest, whose long visit was over. the queen's account of the exceeding sorrowfulness of that parting must now bring to the lips of the most sentimental reader, though "a man and a brother," an unsympathetic smile-- unless he happens to remember that those were the earliest days of steam on sea and land, and that journeys from england to any part of the continent were no light undertakings. so the brothers sung together a mournful college song, and embraced, kissing one another on both cheeks, doubtless, after the german fashion,--"poor albert being pale as a sheet, and his eyes full of tears." ah, what would he have said could his "prophetic soul" have beheld his son, albert edward, skipping from london to paris in eight hours--dashing about the continent, from copenhagen to cannes, from brussels to berlin--from homburg to st. petersburg--taking it all as lightly and gaily as a school-boy takes a "jolly lark" of a holiday trip to brighton or margate! that was not the day of peregrinating princes. now they are as plenty as commercial travelers. early in june the queen and prince and their court left busy, smoky london for a few days of quiet and pure air at lovely claremont. they spent part of that restful time in going to the derby, in four carriages and four with outriders and postilions--a brave sight to see. on the first of june, prince albert was invited to preside at a great public meeting in exeter hall, for the abolition of the slave trade--and he did preside, and made a good speech, which he had practiced over to the queen in the morning. that was an ordeal, for he spoke in english for the first time, and before a very large and distinguished audience. it was a very young "daniel come to judgment" on an ancient wrong--for the prince was not yet of age. that sweet quakeress, caroline fox, thus speaks of the prince on this interesting occasion, in her delightful "memories":--"prince albert was received with tremendous applause, but bore his honors with calm and modest dignity. he is certainly a very beautiful man,--a thorough german, and a fine poetical specimen of the race." ah, what would that doughty champion of the slave trade, william iv., have said, could he have seen his niece's husband giving royal countenance to such a fanatical, radical gathering! it was enough to make him stir irefully in his coffin at windsor. but for that matter, could our ancestors generally, men and women who devoutly believed in the past, and died in the odor of antiquity, know of our modern goings-on, in political and humanitarian reforms--know of our "science so called," and social ethics, there would be "a rattling among the dry bones," not only in royal vaults, but in country churchyards, where "_the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep._" chapter xvi. death passes by--life comes. on the th of june, , occurred the first mad attempt to assassinate queen victoria--made as she and prince albert were driving up constitution hill, near buckingham palace, in a small open phaeton. prince albert, in a letter to his grandmamma, gives the clearest account of it. he says: "we had hardly proceeded a hundred yards from the palace, when i noticed, on the foot-path on my side, a little, mean-looking man, holding something toward us, and, before i could distinguish what it was, a shot was fired, which almost stunned us both, it was so loud--barely six paces from us. ... the horses started, and the carriage stopped. i seized victoria's hands and asked if the fright, had not shaken her, but she laughed." almost immediately the fellow fired a second shot, from which the queen was saved probably by the presence of mind of the prince, who drew her down beside him. he states that the ball must have passed just over her head. the wretch was at once arrested and taken away, and soon after committed for trial, on the charge of high treason. the queen was seen to be very pale, but calm. she rose in the carriage to show the excited people that she was not hurt, and then ordered the postilions to drive at once to ingestrie house, that the duchess of kent might hear of the startling incident first from her and not be frightened by wild rumors. it was a thoughtful and filial act, and brave, moreover, for there were those about her who suspected that there might be a revolutionary conspiracy, and that oxford was only one of many banded assassins. these alarmists advised her and her husband to show themselves abroad as little as possible. how they heeded this advice is shown in another passage of prince albert's letter: "we arrived safely at aunt kent's. from thence we took a drive through the park, to give victoria a little air,--also to show the people that we had not, on account of what had happened, lost confidence in them." the prince does not mention a very pretty incident which i find recorded elsewhere. as the queen's carriage reached the park, it was received with enthusiastic cheers, smiles, and tears by crowds of people, equestrians and pedestrians, and the gay world on wheels; and as they neared the marble arch, the gentlemen and ladies on horseback followed them as with one impulse--all rotton row turned out, and escorted them to buckingham palace. it is said, too, that for several days this was repeated--that whenever the queen and prince drove out they were escorted by this singular volunteer body-guard. of course, the whole country was excited, and the queen, whose life had been menaced, was more popular than ever. they say that her first visit to the opera after this shocking attempt was a most memorable occasion. her reception was something almost overwhelming. the audience were all on their feet, cheering and shouting, and waving handkerchiefs and hats, and there was no quieting them till the national anthem was sung--and even then, they broke in with wild cheers at the close of every verse. her majesty stood throughout these demonstrations, bowing and smiling, her heart melted within her, i doubt not. of course there was no conspiracy, and oxford the pot-boy, "a pot-boy was, and, nothing more." he was acquitted on the ground of insanity, but ordered to be confined "during her majesty's pleasure," which he was in bedlam for some years. then he was sent to australia as cured, and where he went into better business than shooting queens, and earned an honest living, they say. he always declared that he was not insane, except from a mad passion for notoriety--which he got. the five or six successors of oxford who have shot at her majesty, and that wretched retired officer, robert pate, who waylaid her in , and struck her a cruel blow across the face with a walking-stick, were pronounced insane, and confined in mad-houses merely. the english are too proud and politic to admit that a sane man can lift his hand against the constitutional sovereign of england. when there arrived in london the news of the shooting of president garfield, a distinguished english gentleman said to me, "i think we will not be annexed to the united states while you shoot your presidents." i replied by reminding him of the many attempts on the life of his beloved queen, adding, "i believe the homicidal mania is a monarchical as well as a republican affliction,--the difference only is that, unhappily for us, our madmen are the better shots." it must be that for monarchists born and bred, an anointed head, whether covered by a silk hat or a straw bonnet, is circled by a _simulacrum_ of a crown, which dazzles the aim of the would-be regicide, they are so almost certain to miss, at long or short range. alas there is no halo of sovereignty or "hedge of divinity" about our poor presidents! it is, perhaps, because of this unsteadiness of nerve and aim, that continental regicides are taking to sterner and surer means--believing that no thrice blessed crown can dazzle off dynamite, and that no most imperial "divinity" is bomb-proof. in july an act which was the shadow of a coming event, was passed by parliament, and received the royal assent. it provided that prince albert should be regent in case that the queen should die before her next lineal descendant should attain the age of eighteen years. in august the queen prorogued parliament for the first time since her marriage, and she brought her handsome husband to show to all the lords and gentlemen--bravely attired in his field-marshal's uniform, with his collars of the garter and the bath, and diamond stars--and she had him seated only a little lower than herself and very near, in a splendid chair, gilded, carved, and velvet-cushioned. the prince wrote to his father as a piece of good news, "the prorogation of parliament passed off very quietly." he had had reason to fear that his right to sit in that lofty seat would be disputed--that the old duke of sussex might come hobbling up to the throne, calling out, "i object! i object!" but nothing of the kind happened. the queen, by her wit and her courage, had circumvented all the royal old sticklers for precedence--who put etiquette before nature. the queen's mother, and her uncle and aunt, the king and queen of belgium, were present,--so it was quite a family-party. the good uncle leopold was observed to smile benignly on both victoria and albert, as though well pleased with his work. the queen was most magnificently attired with all her glories on, in the shape of diamonds and orders, and looked very proud and happy,--and yet there was a dreamy, half-troubled expression in her eyes at times, which was not usual, but which her mother understood. on this day, prince albert's _status_ was fixed. he had taken a ride with his wife, in the state-carriage, with the twelve cream-colored, long-tailed state horses, and the gorgeous footmen, and he had sat higher, and nearer the throne than any other man in the house of lords, prince or peer. the next thing the queen did for him was to make him a member of the privy council. but a little later, he had a higher promotion than that; for, on the st of november, the princess royal was born in buckingham palace, in the early afternoon. during the morning the duchess of kent had been sent for--and came hurrying over. they also sent for the duke of sussex, the archbishop of canterbury, the bishop of london, the lord chancellor, lord melbourne, lord palmerston, lord errol, lord albemarle--lord john russell, and other privy councillors, whose constitutional duty it is to be present at the birth of an heir to the throne of england,--and they came bustling in, as old ladies come together on a like occasion in country places in new england. it is probable they all looked for a boy. the girl was an extraordinary baby, however, for when she was barely two days old, her papa wrote to her grandpapa at coburg, "the little one is very well and very merry." the prince welcomed her in a fatherly way, though, as he confesses, sorry that she was the same sort of a human creature as her mother,--that is, a daughter instead of a son. he wrote to his father very frankly, "i should certainly have liked it better if she had been a son, as would victoria also," and so, strangely enough, would the english people--unfortunate as they had often been with their kings, and fortunate as they had always been with their queens. the great officers of the church and state went away probably saying, "only a girl!" dear "little pussie," as she was often called, wouldn't have been so "merry" if she had known how it was. she was looked upon as a temporary stop-gap- -something to keep out cumberland, and naturally she did not have so many silver cups and gold spoons as she would have had if she had been a boy-- nor so many guns, poor thing! when the firing ceased at the feminine limit, people all over the city said, "only a girl!" some years later, when, at the birth of one of her brothers, the guns were booming away, douglas jerrold exclaimed to a friend at dinner: "how they do powder these royal babies!" the queen in her journal gives a beautiful account of her husband's devotion to her during her illness. she says, always speaking of herself in the third person: "during the time the queen was laid up, his care and devotion were quite beyond expression. he refused to go to the play, or anywhere else; generally dining alone with the duchess of kent, till the queen was able to join them, and was always on hand to do anything in his power for her comfort. he was content to sit by her in a darkened room, to read to her or write for her. no one but himself ever lifted her from her bed to her sofa, and he always helped to wheel her on her sofa into the next room. for this purpose he would come instantly when sent for from any part of the house. as years went on, and he became overwhelmed with work, this was often done at much inconvenience to himself (for his attentions were the same in all the queen's subsequent confinements), but he always came with a sweet smile on his face. in short," the queen adds, "his care of her was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder, wiser, or more judicious nurse." the prince also during the queen's illness, conferred with her ministers, and transacted all necessary business for her. there were nine of these natural illnesses. i commend the example of the prince-consort to the husbands of america, to husbands all over the world. it was a glad and grateful christmas which they spent in windsor that year--the first after their marriage,--the first since their union, so pompously and piously blessed by priests and people, had been visibly blessed by heaven. the next month the queen opened parliament in person, and gave the lords and gentlemen another elocutionary treat in her admirable reading of her speech,--that "most excellent thing in woman," a sweet voice, telling even on the tories. prince albert was with her, of course, and she looked even prouder and happier than usual. she had found yet new honors for herself and for him,--the most noble and ancient orders of maternity and paternity,--exceeding old, and yet always new. that day the young prince may have felt glowing in his heart a sweet prescience of the peculiar comfort and joy he afterwards found in the loving devotion and noble character of his firstborn, that little blessing that _would_ come, though "only a girl." that day the queen wore in her diadem a new jewel, a "pearl of great price,"--a pure little human soul. that faithful stand-by, king leopold, came over to stand as chief sponsor at the christening of the princess royal,--which took place at buckingham palace, on the anniversary of her mother's marriage. the little girl, who received the names of victoria adelaide mary louisa, is said by her father to have behaved "with great propriety and like a christian." so ended the first year of queen victoria's married life. to say it had been a happy year would seem, after the records we have, to put a very inadequate estimate on its degree of harmony and content--and yet it were much to say of any marriage, during the trying period in which many of the tastes and habits of two separate lives must be harmonized, and some heroically abandoned. it is a period of readjustment and sacrifice. redundant and interfering growths of character must be pruned away, and yet if the lopping process is carried too far, character itself must suffer, the juices of its life and power, individuality and will, are wasted. the queen always contended that it was the prince who made all the sacrifices--unselfishly adjusting his life and character to suit hers, and her position--yet not long after her marriage she records the fact that she was beginning to sympathize with him in his peculiar tastes, particularly in his love for a quiet country life. she says: "i told albert that formerly i was too happy to go to london, and wretched to leave it; and now since the blessed hour of my marriage, and still more since the summer, i dislike and am unhappy to leave the country, and could be content and happy never to go to town. this pleased him." i am afraid that there are those of her majesty's subjects who bless not the memory of "albert the good," for this metamorphose of their once gay and thoughtless, ball-giving, riding, driving, play-going queen. these malcontents are londoners proper, mostly tradesmen, newspaper men, milliners, and hyde park idlers. i think american visitors and cook's tourists are among those who hold that the queen's proper place is in her capital--at least during the season while _they_ are here. upon the whole, i should say of that first year of queen victoria's married life, that the honeymoon lasted throughout those twelve bright and busy (perhaps bright because busy) months. or, it would seem that some fairy godmother had come to that wedding, in homely guise, bringing as her humble gift, a jar of honey--but a miraculous jar, the honey gathered from arcadian flowers, and which perpetually renewed itself, like the poor widow's blessed cruse of oil. chapter xvii. the boy "jones" and his singular pranks--a change in the ministry--sir robert peel becomes premier--prince albert made chairman of the fine arts commission--birth of the prince of wales--the queen commemorates the event by a beautiful act. the next sensation in connection with the court was the discovery of the famous "boy jones" in buckingham palace. this singular young personage was by no means a stranger in the palace. he had made himself very familiar with, and at home in that august mansion, about two years before. he was then arrested, and had lived an exceedingly retired life ever since. on that first occasion he was discovered by one of the porters, very early one morning, leisurely surveying one of the apartments. he was caught and searched; nothing of any consequence was found on him, but in a hall was a bundle, evidently made up by him, containing such incongruous articles as old letters, a sword, and a pot of bear's grease. he had he appearance of a sweep, being very sooty, but disclaimed the chimney-cleaning profession. he had occupied, for a while, the vacant room of one of the equerries, leaving in the bed the impress of his sooty figure. he declared that he had not entered the palace for the purpose of theft, but only to gratify his curiosity, as to how royal people and "great swells" like royal footmen, lived. the young rascal's examination before the magistrate caused much amusement. in answer to questions, he admitted, or boasted that he had been in the palace previously, and for days at a time--in fact, had "put up" there--adding, "and a very comfortable place i found it. i used to hide behind the furniture and up the chimneys, in the day-time; when night came, i walked about, went into the kitchen, and got my food, i have seen the queen and her ministers in council, and heard all they had to say." magistrate: "do you mean to say you have worn but one shirt all the time?" prisoner: "yes; when it was dirty, i washed it out in the kitchen. the apartment i like best is the drawing-room." magistrate: "you are a sweep, are you?" prisoner: "oh, no; it's only my face and hands that are dirty; that's from sleeping in the chimneys.... i know my way all over the palace, and have been all over it, the queen's apartments and all. the queen is very fond of politics." he was such an amusing vagabond, with his jolly ways and boundless impudence, and so young, that no very serious punishment was then meted out to him, nor even on his second "intrusion," as it was mildly denominated, when he was found crouched in a recess, dragged forth, and taken to the police-station. this time he said he had hidden under a sofa in one of the queen's private apartments, and had listened to a long conversation between her and prince albert. he was sent to the house of correction for a few months, in the hope of curing him of his "palace- breaking mania"; but immediately on his liberation, he was found prowling about the palace, drawing nearer and nearer, as though it had been built of loadstone. but finally he was induced to go to australia, where, it is said, he grew up to be a well-to-do colonist. perhaps he met the house- painter oxford there, and they used to talk over their exploits and explorations together, after the manner of heroes and adventurers, from the time of ulysses and Ã�neas. we can imagine the _man_ jones being a particularly entertaining boon companion, with his reminiscences of high life, not only below, but above stairs, in buckingham palace. that he ever made an entrance into those august precincts, and was so long undiscovered, certainly speaks not well for the police and domestic arrangements of the household; and it is little wonder that baron stockmar was finally sent for to suggest some plan for the better regulation of matters in both the great royal residences. and he did work wonders,--though mostly by inspiring others, the proper officers, to work. this extraordinary man seemed to have a genius for order, discipline, economy, and dispatch. he found the palaces grand "circumlocution offices,"--with, in all the departments, an entangling network of red-tape, which needed to be swept away like cobwebs. he himself entered the royal nursery finally with the besom of reform. it is said in his "memoirs"--"the organization and superintendence of the children's department occupied a considerable portion of stockmar's time"; and he wrote, "the nursery gives me more trouble than the government of a king would do." very likely the english nurses and maids questioned among themselves the right of an old german doctor to meddle with their affairs, and dictate what an english princess royal should eat, drink, and wear; but they lived to see the baron's care and skill make of a delicate child--"a pretty, pale, erect little creature," as she is described, a ruddy and robust little girl, of whom the baron wrote: "she is as round as a little barrel"; of whom the mother wrote: "pussy's cheeks are on the point of bursting, they have grown so red and plump." after the domestic reforms in the palace, no such adventure could have happened to a guest as that recorded by m. guizot, who having been unable to summon a servant to conduct him to his room at night, wandered about the halls like poor mr. pickwick at the inn, and actually blundered into her majesty's own dressing-room. the boy jones, too, had had his day. at the very time of the "intrusions" into buckingham palace, there was in london another young man, with a "mania for palace-breaking," of a somewhat different sort. he, too, was "without visible means of support," but nobody called him a vagabond, or a burglar, but only an adventurer, or a "pretender." he had his eye particularly on royal windsor, and once a cruel hoax was played off upon him, in the shape of a forged invitation to one of the queen's grand entertainments at the castle. he got himself up in court costume, with the aid of a friend, and went, to be told by the royal porter that his name was not down on the list, and afterwards by a higher officer of the household that really there must be some mistake, for her majesty had not the honor of knowing him, so could not receive him. we shall see how it was when he came again, nine or ten years later. but after all, the french royal palaces were more to this young man's taste, for he was french. he longed to break into the tuileries--not to hide behind, or under any furniture, but to sit on the grandest piece of furniture there. he had a strange longing for st. cloud, and fontainebleau, and even stately versailles. said of him one english statesman to another, "did you ever know such a fool as that fellow is? why, he really believes he will yet be emperor of france." that "fellow" was louis napoleon bonaparte. in august of this year, the whig ministry finding themselves a minority in the new parliament, resigned, and a conservative one was formed, with sir robert peel as premier. it came hard for the queen to part with her favorite minister and faithful friend, lord melbourne, but she soon became reconciled to his tory successor, and things went on very harmoniously. the benign influence and prudent counsels of prince albert, with some lessons of experience, and much study of her constitutional restrictions, as well as obligations, had greatly modified her majesty's strong partisan prejudices, and any proclivities she may have had toward personal and irresponsible government. one great thing in favor of the new minister, was that he thoroughly appreciated prince albert. one of his early acts was to propose a fine arts commission--having for its chief, immediate object, the superintendence of the artistic work on the new houses of parliament. this was formed--composed of some of the most eminent artists and _connaisseurs_ in the kingdom, and prince albert was the chairman. he used to speak of this as his "initiation into public life." the queen rejoiced in it, as in every stage of her husband's advance--which it is only just to say was the advance of the liberal arts in england, as well as of social and political reforms. i believe it is not generally known that to the humane influence of the prince-consort with the duke of wellington, was owing the new military regulation which finally put an end to duelling in the english army. lord, keep his memory green! the second year of the queen's marriage wore on to november, and again the archbishops and bishops, the statesmen and "medicine men," the good mother-in-law, and the nurses were summoned by the anxious prince to buckingham palace. this time it was a boy, and the holy men and wise men felt that they had not come out so early in the morning and waited four hours in an ante-room for nothing. prince albert was overjoyed. everybody at the palace was wild with delight, so wild that there was great confusion. messengers were dispatched right and left to royal relatives. it is said that no less than three arrived within as many minutes, at marlborough house, to acquaint the queen dowager of the happy event. as they came in breathless, one after another, her majesty might have supposed that victoria and albert had been blessed with triplets. the biggest guns boomed the glad tidings over london,--the privy council assembled to consider a form of prayer and thanksgiving, to relieve the overcharged hearts of the people; the bells in all the churches rang joyous peals. so was little albert edward ushered into the kingdom he is to rule in god's own time. no such ado was made over the seven brothers and sisters who came after; but they were made welcome and comfortable, as, alas! few children can be made, even by loving hearts and willing hands. the queen may have thought of this, and of what a sorry chance some poor little human creatures have, from the beginning, for she did a beautiful thing on this occasion. she notified the home secretary that all those convicts who had behaved well, should have their punishment commuted, and that those deserving clemency, on the horrible prison-hulks, should have their liberty at once. she had a right to be happy, and that she was happy, a beautiful picture in her journal shows: "albert brought in dearest little pussy, in such a smart, white morino dress, trimmed with blue, which mama had given her, and a pretty cap, and placed her on my bed, seating himself next to her, and she was very dear and good, and as my precious invaluable albert sat there, and our little love between us, i felt quite moved with happiness and gratitude to god.". the next month she wrote from windsor castle to her uncle leopold: "i wonder very much whom our little boy will be like. you will understand how fervent are my prayers, and i am sure everybody's must be, to see him resemble his father, in every respect, both in mind and body." later still she writes: "we all have our trials and vexations--but if _one's home is happy_, then the rest is comparatively nothing." they had an unusually merry christmas-time at windsor, and they danced into the new year, in the old english style--only varying it by a very poetic and impressive german custom. as the clock struck twelve, a flourish of trumpets was blown. the prince of wales was christened in the royal chapel, at windsor, with the greatest state and splendor, king frederick william of prussia, who had come over for the purpose, standing as chief sponsor. then followed all sorts of grand festivities and parades--both at windsor and in london. the queen did honor to her "brother of prussia" in every possible way--in banquets and balls, in proroguing parliament, in holding a chapter of the garter, and investing him with the splendid insignia of the order, and in having a grand inspection for him, of "prince albert's own hussars," he being a little in the military line himself. among the suite of the prussian king was baron alexander von humboldt. the great _savant_ was treated by the queen and the prince with distinguished consideration, then and ever after. the prince, on hearing of his death in , wrote to the crown princess: "what a loss is the excellent humboldt! you and berlin will miss him greatly. people of this kind do not grow on every bush, and they are the glory and the grace of a country and a century." when the baron's private correspondence was published, and found to contain certain slurs and sarcasms regarding him, and, as he affirmed, misrepresentations--probably based on misunderstandings of his political opinions--the prince showed no resentment, though he must have been wounded. i know nothing more sensible and charitable in all his admirable private writings, than his few words on this unpleasant incident. he says: "the matter is really of no consequence, for what does not one write or say to his intimate friends, under the impulse of the moment. but the publication is a great indiscretion. how many deadly enemies may be made if publicity be given to what one man has said of another, or perhaps has _not_ said!" but what does it matter to the dead, how many "deadly enemies" are made? they have us at unfair advantage. we may deny, we may cry out, but we cannot make them apologize, or retract, or modify the cruel sarcasm, or more cruel ridicule. they seem to stealthily open the door of the tomb, to shoot parthian arrows at the very mourners who have just piled wreaths before it. carlyle fired a perfect _mitrailleuse_ from his grave. the prince's english biographer calls the humboldt publication "scandalous." yet the english, who sternly condemn the most kindly personalities of living authors (especially american authors), seem to have rather a relish for these peppery posthumous revelations of genius, --often saddening post-mortem exhibitions of its own moral weaknesses and disease. no great english author dies nowadays, without his most attached, faithful and familiar friends being in mortal terror lest they be found spitted on the sharp shafts of his, or worse, _her_ satire. during those windsor festivities, the little prince of wales was shown to the people at an upper window and pronounced satisfactory. a court lady described him at the time, as "the most magnificent baby in the kingdom." and perhaps he was. he was fair and plump, with pleasant blue eyes. it seems to me that after all the years, he must look to-day, with his fresh, open face, a good deal as he did on the day when his nurse dandled him at the castle window. he still has the fairness, the plumpness, the pleasant blue eyes. it is true he has not very abundant hair now, but he had not much then. tytler, the historian, gives a charming picture of him. as he appeared some two years later. he was waiting one morning in the corridor at windsor with others to see the queen, who came in bowing most graciously, and having by the hand the prince of wales, "trotting on, looking happy and merry." when she came to where mr. tytler stood, and saw him "bowing and looking delightedly" at the little prince and her, she bowed and said to the little boy, "make a bow, sir!" "when the queen said this, the duke of cambridge and the rest stood still, and the little prince, walking straight up to me, made a bow, smiling all the while, and holding out his hand, which i immediately took, and bowing low, kissed it." the queen, he added, "smiled affectionately on the little prince, for the gracious way in which he deported himself." chapter xviii. miscreants and monarchs--a visit from mendelssohn--the queen's first visit to scotland--anecdote--a trip to france and belgium--death of the duke of sussex and of prince albert's father--the dwarf and the giant. this year of was not all joy and festivity. it was the year of the massacres of the british forces in cabul; there was financial distress in england, which a charitable masked ball at buckingham palace did not wholly relieve; and in may occurred the second attempt on the life of the queen--that of john francis. the queen behaved with her own wonderful courage on this occasion--which was expected by her and prince albert, from their having a strong impression that the same wretch had the day before pointed at them, from the midst of a crowd, a pistol which had missed fire. they drove out alone together, keeping a pretty sharp lookout for the assassin--and at last, they saw him just as he fired. the ball passed under the carriage, and francis was at once arrested. lady bloomfield, who was then maid of honor, gives an account of the excitement at the palace that evening, and quotes some words of the queen, very beautiful because revealing her rare consideration for others. she says that sir robert peel was there, and showed intense feeling about the risk her majesty had run, and that the queen, turning to her, said: "i dare say, georgy, you were surprised at not driving with me to-day--but the fact was, that as we were returning from church yesterday, a man presented a pistol at the carriage window. it flashed in the pan, and we were so taken by surprise that he had time to escape. i knew what was hanging over me to-day, and was determined not to expose any life but my own." francis was tried and sentenced to death, but through the queen's clemency the sentence was commuted to transportation for life, and the very day after, bean, the hunchback, essayed to shoot her majesty with a charge of paper and bits of clay-pipe. he was such a miserable, feeble- minded creature, that they only gave him eighteen months' imprisonment. soon after, the queen was called to mourn with her aunt of belgium, and the rest of the family of louis philippe of france, for the death of the duke of orleans, who was killed by being thrown from his carriage. if he had lived, louis napoleon would hardly have been emperor of france. so it was hardly a gay summer for the queen, though she had some pleasure, especially in receiving prince albert's brother, ernest, duke of saxe-coburg, and his bride, who came to england for their honeymoon. they had also a pleasant visit from the great composer, mendelssohn, who thus wrote from windsor to his mother, "add to this the pretty and most charming queen victoria, who looks so youthful, and is so gently courteous and gracious, who speaks such good german, and knows all my music so well,"--great praise from a teutonic and mendelssohnian point of view. in the autumn, the queen and prince made their first visit to scotland--were received with immense enthusiasm everywhere, and had a charming and health-bracing tour. they took edinburgh by surprise-- entering the city from the sea, so early in the morning, that the authorities, who had made great preparations to receive them, and rain flowers and speeches upon them, were still in bed. still the queen made up for it, by afterwards making a grand state-procession through the grand old town. all the country for many miles about, poured into the city on that day, and among some amusing anecdotes of the occasion, i find this: "a gentleman living near edinburgh, said to his farm-servant, 'well, john, did you see the queen?' 'troth did i that, sir.' 'well, what did you think of her?' 'in truth, sir, i was terrible 'feared afore she came forrit--my heart was maist in my mouth, but whan she did come forrit, i was na feared at a'; i just lookit at her, and she lookit at me, an' she bowed her heid at me, an' i bowed my heid at her.'" the queen traveled then with a much larger court than she takes with her nowadays, and to this were added the escorts of honor which the great scottish nobles and highland chiefs furnished her, till it grew to be a monster of a caravan. among the items, i find that in conveying her majesty and suite from dalkeith to taymouth, and from taymouth back to dalkeith, horses were employed. yet this was nothing to the number of animals engaged on the royal progresses of former times. it is stated that , horses were in all employed in conveying marie antoinette, her enormous suite and cumbrous belongings, from vienna to paris. poor woman!--it took all those horses to bring her into her kingdom, but only one to carry her out of her kingdom, _via_ the place de la revolution. in the spring of the year following this tour, another princess was born in buckingham palace, and christened alice maud mary. the summer went by as usual, or even more pleasantly, for every new baby seemed to make this family happier and gayer. lady bloomfield gives some charming pictures of the happy home-life at windsor--of the children, pretty, merry, healthy, and well-bred; tells very pleasant things of the queen, and of the sweet and noble duchess of kent--but gives only now and then, a glimpse of that gracious and graceful presence, prince albert. her majesty made the life of her maids of honor almost too easy. no long, tiresome waiting on their poor, tired feet--no long hours of reading aloud, such as poor miss burney had to endure, in the time of old queen charlotte. lady bloomfield--then georgiana ravensworth--had little to do but to hand the queen her bouquet at dinner--to ride out with her and sing with her. in the summer of , the queen and prince made their first visit to the king and queen of france, at the chateau d'eu, near treport, on the coast. the king and several of his sons came off in the royal barge to meet their yacht, which they boarded. one account says that louis philippe, most unceremonious of monarchs, caught up the little queen, kissed her on both cheeks, and carried her bodily on to his barge. two queens--marie amélie of france and her daughter, louise of belgium, and two of her daughters-in-law--were at the landing to receive the first sovereign of england who had ever come to their shores on a friendly, neighborly visit. it was a visit "of unmixed pleasure," says the queen, and the account of it is very pleasant reading now; but i have not space to reproduce it. one little passage, in reference to the widowed duchesse d'orleans, strikes my eye at this moment: "at ten, dear hélène came to me with little paris, and stayed till the king and queen came to fetch us to breakfast." "little paris" is the present bourbon-orleanist bugbear of the french republic--a very tame and well-behaved _bête noir_, but distrusted and dreaded all the same. after this french visit, the queen and prince went over to see their uncle and aunt, at brussels, and had a very interesting tour through belgium. prince albert, writing to the baron soon after, said: "we found uncle and aunt well. ... the children are blooming. little charlotte is quite the prettiest child you ever saw." this "little charlotte" afterwards married maximilian of austria, the imperial puppet of louis napoleon in mexico. so charlotte was for a brief, stormy time an empress --then came misfortune and madness. she is living yet, in that world of shadows so much sadder than "the valley of the shadow of death." in the spring of this year, the duke of sussex died, and at the next prorogation of parliament i read that the queen, no longer fearing to wound the susceptibilities of her proud old uncle, said to her husband, "come up higher!"--and had a chair for him, precisely like her own, on a level with her own. it was on her left. the smaller chair, on her right, belonged to "little bertie," who was not yet quite ready to occupy it. in the autumn, came a visit to the university of cambridge, where the queen had the delight of seeing the degree of ll.d. conferred on her husband. so he mounted, step by step, into the honorable position which belonged to him. in this year also, he won laurels which he cared little for, but which counted much for him among a class of englishmen who lightly esteemed his literary, artistic, and scientific taste and knowledge. in a great hunting-party he carried off the honors by his fearless and admirable riding. sporting men said: "why, there really is something in the man beside good looks and german music and metaphysics. he can take hedges and ditches as well as degrees." i do not think prince albert did justice to the english people, when, after his father's death, in the following year, he wrote in the first gush of his grief, to the baron: "here we sit together, poor mama, victoria and i, and weep, with a great, cold public around us, insensible as stone." i cannot believe that the british public is ever insensible to royal sorrow. the prince-consort went over to coburg on a visit of condolence. some passages in his letters to the queen, who took this first separation from him hard, are nice reading for their homely and husbandly spirit. from the yacht, before sailing, he wrote: "i have been here an hour, and regret the lost time which i might have spent with you. poor child! you will, while i write, be getting ready for luncheon, and you will find a place vacant where i sat yesterday. in your heart, however, i hope my place will not be vacant. i at least, have you on board with me in spirit. i reiterate my entreaty, 'bear up! and don't give way to low spirits, but try to occupy yourself as much as possible.'" ... "i have got toys for the children, and porcelain views for you." ... "oh! how lovely and friendly is this dear old country. how glad i should be to have my little wife beside me, to share my pleasure." miss mitford, speaking of a desire expressed by the queen, to see that quaint old place, strawberry hill and all its curiosities, says: "nothing can tend more to ensure popularity than that her majesty should partake of the national amusements and the natural curiosity of the more cultivated portion of her subjects." in such directions, certainly, the queen was never found wanting in those days. in "natural curiosity" she was a veritable daughter of eve, and granddaughter of george the third. she was interested not only in the scientific discoveries, new mechanical inventions, and agricultural improvements which so interested her husband, but in odd varieties of animals and human creatures. she accepted with pleasure the gift of a liliputian horse, supposed to be the smallest in the world--over five years old, and only twenty-seven and a half inches high--brought from java, by a sea-captain, who used to take the gallant steed under his arm, and run down-stairs with him; and she very graciously received and was immensely entertained with the distinguished young american, who should have been the alexander of that bucephalus--general tom thumb. this little _lusus naturæ_, under the masterly management of mr. barnum, had made a great sensation in london--which, after the queen had summoned him two or three times to windsor, grew into a fashionable furor. mr. barnum's description of those visits to the royal palaces is very amusing. they were first received in the grand picture-gallery by the queen, the duchess of kent, prince albert, and the usual court ladies and gentlemen. mr. barnum writes: "they were standing at the farther end of the room when the doors were thrown open, and the general walked in, looking like a wax-doll gifted with the powers of locomotion. surprise and pleasure were depicted on the faces of the royal circle, at beholding this remarkable specimen of humanity, so much smaller than they had evidently expected to see him. the general advanced with a firm step, and as he came within hailing distance, made a graceful bow, and said, 'good- evening, ladies and gentlemen!' "a burst of laughter followed this salutation. the queen then took him by the hand, and led him about the gallery, and asked him many questions, the answers to which kept the party in continual merriment. the general informed the queen, that her picture-gallery was 'first-rate,' and said he should like to see the prince of wales. the queen replied that the prince had gone to bed, but that he should see him on a future occasion." the general then gave his songs, dances, and imitations; and after an hour's talk with prince albert and the rest, departed as coolly as he had come, but not as leisurely, as the long backing-out process being too tedious, he varied it with little runs, which drew from the queen, prince, and court peels of laughter, and roused the ire of the queen's poodle, who attacked the small yankee stranger. the general defended himself with his little cane, as valiantly as the original tom thumb with his mother's darning-needle. on the next visit, he was introduced to the prince of wales, whom he addressed with a startling, "how are you, prince?" he then received a costly souvenir from the queen, and, each time he performed, generous pay in gold. the queen dowager was also much taken with him, and presented him with a beautiful little watch. she called him "dear little general," and took him on her lap. the time came (when this "full-grown" dwarf was fuller-grown) that the most powerful queen dowager would have found it difficult to dandle him, charles stratton, esq., a husband and father, on her knee: the fact is the general was a bit of a humbug, being considerably younger than he was given out to be. but he was an exceedingly pretty, amusing little humbug, so it was no matter then. but when the truth came out, the queen's faith in yankee showmen must have suffered a shock, as must that of the honest old duke of wellington, who used to drop in at egyptian hall so often to see the tiny creature assume the dress and the pensive pose of napoleon "thinking of the loss of the battle of waterloo," and looking so like his old enemy, seen through a reversed field-glass. very likely the queen's "full-grown" java horse turned out to be a young colt. after the dwarf, came the giant--the tallest and grandest of the sovereigns of europe, nicholas, the emperor of all the russias. he came on one of his war-ships, but with the friendliest feelings, and "just dropped in" on the queen, with only a few hours' notice. it was a pleasant little way he had of surprising his friends. however, he was made welcome, and everything possible was done to entertain and do him honor during his stay. he had visited england before, when he was much younger and handsomer. baron stockmar met him at claremont, in the time of the princess charlotte and prince leopold, and quotes a compliment paid him by a court lady, in the refined language of the regency: "what an amiable creature! he is devilish handsome! he will be the handsomest man in europe." and so he might have been, had he possessed a heart and soul. but his expression was always, if not actually bad, severe and repellant. the look his large, keen eyes, which had very pale lashes, and every now and then showed the white all round the iris, is said to have been quite awful. he was a soldier above all things, and told the queen he felt very awkward in evening-dress, as though in leaving off his uniform he had "taken off his skin." he must have been rather a discommoding guest, from a little whim he had of sleeping only on straw. he always had with him a leathern case, which at every place he stopped, was filled with fresh straw from the stables. he was an excessively polite man--this towering czar; but for all that, a very cruel man--a colossal embodiment of the autocratic principle-- selfish and cold and hard--though he did win upon the queen's heart by praise of her husband. he said: "nowhere will you find a handsomer young man; he has such an air of nobility and goodness." it was a mystery how he could so well appreciate that pure and lovable character, for the prince consort must always have been a mystery to men like the czar nicholas. chapter xix. old homes and new--a visit from the king of france--the queen and prince albert make their first visit to germany--incidents of the trip--a new seaside home on the isle of wight--repeal of the corn laws--prince albert elected chancellor of cambridge university--benjamin disraeli. this year-- --there was a death in the household at windsor, and a birth. the death was that of eos, the favorite greyhound of prince albert. "dear eos," as the queen called her, was found dead one morning. the prince wrote the next day to his grandmother, "you will share my sorrow at this loss. she was a singularly clever creature and had been for eleven years faithfully devoted to me. how many recollections are linked with her." this beautiful and graceful animal, almost human in her love, and in something very like intellect and soul, appears in several of landseer's pictures. i will not apologize for keeping a royal prince waiting while i give this space to her. this prince, born at windsor, in august, was the present duke of edinburgh. he was christened alfred ernest albert. the queen in her journal wrote: "the scene in the chapel was very solemn. ... to see those two children there too" (the princess royal and the prince of wales), "seemed such a dream to me. may god bless them all, poor little things!" her majesty adds that all through the service she fervently prayed that this boy might be "as good as his beloved father." how is it, your royal highness? this year they went again to the highlands for a few weeks. the queen's journal says: "mama came to take leave of us. alice and the baby were brought in, poor little things! to bid us good-bye. then good bertie came down to see us, and vicky appeared as _voyageuse_, and was all impatience to go." "bertie" is the family name for the prince of wales. i believe that at heart he is still "good bertie." "vicky" was the princess royal. the queen further on remarks: "i said to albert i could hardly believe that our child was traveling with us; it put me so in mind of myself when i was the little princess.'" this year louis philippe came over to return the visit of the queen and the prince, and there were great festivities and investings at windsor with all possible kindness and courtesy, and i hope the wily old king went home with gratitude in his heart, as well as the garter on his leg. this year too the queen and prince made their first visit to germany together. the picture the queen paints of the morning of leaving and the parting from the children is very domestic, sweet, and motherly: "both vicky and darling alice were with me while i dressed. poor dear puss wished much to go with us and often said, 'why am i not going to germany?' most willingly would i have taken her. i wished much to take one of dearest albert's children with us to coburg; but the journey is a serious undertaking and she is very young still." ... "it was a painful moment to drive away with the three poor little things standing at the door. god bless them and protect them--which he will." the english queen and the prince-consort were received with all possible royal honors and popular respect at aix-la-chapelle and cologne, and at the royal palace at brühl. it was past midnight when they reached that welcome resting-place, and yet, as an account before me states, they were regaled by a military serenade "in which seven hundred performers were engaged!" a german friend of ours from that region supplements this story by stating that five hundred of those military performers were drummers; that they were accompanied by torch-bearers; that they came under the queen's windows, wakened her out of her first sleep, and almost drove her wild with fright. with those tremendous trumpetings and drum-beatings, "making night hideous" with their storm of menacing, barbaric sound, and with the fierce glare of the torchlight, it might have seemed to her that doomsday had burst on the world, and that the savage old huns of attila were up first, ready for war. the next day they all went up the rhine to the king's palace of stolzenfels. never perhaps was even a rhine steamer so heavily freighted with royalty--a cargo of kings and queens, princes and archdukes. it was all very fine, as were the royal feasts and festivals, but the queen and prince were happiest when they had left all this grandeur and parade behind them and were at coburg amid their own kin--for there, impatiently awaiting them, were the mother of victoria and the brother of albert, and "a staircase full of cousins," as the queen says. they stopped at lovely rosenau, and the queen, with one of her beautiful poetic impulses, chose for their chamber the room in which her husband was born. she wrote in her journal, "how happy, how joyful we were, on awaking, to find ourselves here, at the dear rosenau, my albert's birth-place, the place he most loves. ... he was so happy to be here with me. it was like a beautiful dream." the account of the rejoicings of the simple coburg people, and especially of the children, over their beloved prince, and over the visit of his august wife, is really very touching. their offerings and tributes were mostly flowers, poems and music--wonderfully sweet chorales and gay _réveils_ and inspiriting marches. there was a great _fête_ of the peasants on prince albert's birthday, with much waltzing, and shouting, and beer-quaffing, and toast-giving. the whole visit was an arcadian episode, simple and charming, in the grand royal progress of victoria's life. but the royal progress had to be resumed--the state called back its bond-servants; and so, after a visit to the dear old grandmother at gotha--the parting with whom seemed especially hard to prince albert, as though he had a presentiment it was to be the last-- they set out for home. they took their yacht at antwerp, and after a flying visit to the king and queen of france at eu, were soon at osborne, where their family were awaiting them. the queen wrote: "the dearest of welcomes greeted us as we drove up straight to the house, for there, looking like roses, so well and so fat, stood the four children, much pleased to see us!" ah, often the best part of going away is coming home. during this year the royal family were very happy in taking possession of their new seaside palace on the isle of wight, and i believe paid no more visits to brighton, which was so much crowded in the season as to make anything like the privacy they desired impossible. during her last stay at the pavilion the queen was so much displeased at the rudeness of the people who pressed about her and prince albert, when they were trying to have a quiet little walk on the breezy pier, that i read she appealed to the magistrates for protection. there was such a large and ever-growing crowd of excited, hurrying, murmuring, staring brightonians and strangers about them that it seemed a rallying cry had gone through the town, from lip to lip: "the queen and prince are out! to the pier! to the pier!" the pavilion was never a desirable marine palace, as it commanded no good views of the sea; so her majesty's new home in the isle of wight had for her, the prince and the children every advantage over the one in brighton except in bracing sea-air. osborne has a broad sea view, a charming beach, to which the woods run down--the lovely woods in which are found the first violets of the spring and to which the nightingales first come. the grounds were fine and extensive, to the great delight of the prince consort, who had not only a peculiar passion, but a peculiar talent for gardening. indeed, when this many-sided german was born a prince, a masterly landscape-gardener was lost to the world--that is, the world outside the grounds of windsor, osborne and balmoral, which indeed "keep his memory green." the queen writing from osborne says: "albert is so happy here--out all day planting, directing, etc., and it is so good for him. it is a relief to get away from the bitterness which people create for themselves in london."--but i am not writing the life of prince albert;--i often forget that. the year of was gloriously marked by the repeal of the corn laws; a measure of justice and mercy, the withholding of which from the people had for several years produced much distress and commotion. some destructive work had been done by mobs on the houses of the supporters of the old laws; they had even stoned the town residence of the duke of wellington, apsley house. the stern old fighter would have been glad at the moment to have swept the streets clear with cannon, but he contented himself with putting shutters over his broken windows, to hide the shame. i believe they were never opened again while he lived. the great leaders in this corn laws agitation were mr. cobden and mr. bright. these great- hearted men could not rest for the cries which came up to them from the suffering people. there were sore privations and "short commons" in england, and in ireland, starvation, real, honest, earnest starvation. the poverty of the land had struck down into the great irish stand-by, the potato, a deadly blight. a year or two later the evil took gigantic proportions; the news came to us in america, and an alarm was sounded which roused the land. we sent a divine armada against the grim enemy which was wasting the green isle; ships, which poured into him broadsides of big bread-balls, and grape-shot of corn, beans and potatoes. it is recorded that "in one irish seaport town the bells were kept ringing all day in honor of the arrival of one of these grain-laden vessels." i am afraid these bells had a sweeter sound to the poor people than even those rung on royal birthdays. strangely enough, after the passage of measures which immortalized his ministerial term, sir robert peel was ejected from power. the queen parted from him with great regret, but quietly accepted his successor, lord john russell. six years had now gone by since the marriage of victoria and albert, and the family had grown to be six, and soon it was seven, for in may the princess helena augusta victoria was born. her godmother was hélène, the widowed duchess of orleans, the mother of the gallant young men, the count de paris and the duke de chartres, who during our great war came over to america to see service under general mcclellan. about this time the prince-consort was called to liverpool to open a magnificent dock named after him, which duty he performed in the most graceful manner. the next day he laid the foundation-stone for a sailors' home. the queen, who was not able to be with him on these occasions, wrote to the baron: "i feel very lonely without my dear master, and though i know other people are often separated, i feel that i could never get accustomed to it. ... without him everything loses its interest. it will always cause a terrible pang for me to be separated from him even for two days, and i pray god not to let me survive him. i glory in his being seen and loved." in september they went into the new marine palace at osborne. on the first evening, amid the gaieties of the splendid house-warming festival, the prince very solemnly repeated a hymn of luther's, sung in germany on these occasions. translated it is: "god bless our going out, nor less our coming in, and make them sure; god bless our daily bread, and bless whate'er we do--whate'er endure; in death unto his peace awake us, and heirs of his salvation make us." they were very happy amid all the political trouble and perplexity-- almost too happy, considering how life was going on, or going off in poor ireland. doubtless the cries of starving children and the moans of fever- stricken mothers must often have pierced the tender hearts of the queen and prince; but the calamity was so vast, so apparently irremediable, that they turned their thoughts away from it as much as possible, as we turn ours from the awful tragic work of volcanoes in the far east and tornadoes in the west. it was a sort of charmed life they lived, with its pastoral peace and simple pleasures. lady bloomfield wrote: "it always entertains me to see the little things which amuse her majesty and the prince, instead of their looking bored, as people so often do in english society." one thing, however, did "bore" him, and that, unfortunately, was riding--"for its own sake." so it was not surprising that after a time the queen indulged less in her favourite pastime. she still loved a romping dance now and then, but she was hardly as gay as when guizot first saw and described her. writing from windsor to his son he gives a picture of a royal dinner party: "on my left sat the young queen whom they tried to assassinate the other day, in gay spirits, talking a great deal, laughing very often and longing to laugh still more; and filling with her gaiety, which contrasted with the already tragical elements of her history, this ancient castle which has witnessed the career of all her predecessors." the political affairs which tried and troubled the queen and the prince were not merely english. they were much disturbed and shocked by the unworthy intrigues and the unkingly bad faith shown by louis philippe in the affair of the "spanish marriages"--a complicated and rather delicate matter, which i have neither space nor desire to dwell upon here. it had a disastrous effect on the orleans family, and perhaps on the history of france. it has been mostly interesting to me now for the manner in which the subject was, handled by the queen, whose letters revealed a royal high spirit and a keen sense of royal honor. she regretted the heartless state marriage of the young queen of spain, not only from a political but a domestic point of view. she saw poor isabella forced or tricked into a distasteful union, from which unhappiness must, and something far worse than unhappiness might, come. many and great misfortunes did come of it and to the actors in it. in the spring of the prince-consort was elected chancellor of the university of cambridge--a great honor for so young a man. the queen was present at the installation, and there was a splendid time. wordsworth wrote an ode on the occasion. it was not quite equal to his "ode on the intimations of immortality." in truth, mr. wordsworth did not shine as poet laureate. mr. tennyson better earns his butt of malmsey. seated on the throne in the great hall of trinity, the queen received the new chancellor, who was beautifully dressed in robes of black and gold, with a long train borne by two of his officers. he read to her a speech, to which she read a reply, saying that on the whole she approved of the choice of the university. "i cannot say," writes the queen, "how it agitated and embarrassed me to have, to receive this address, and hear it read by my beloved albert, who walked in at the head of the university, and who looked dear and beautiful in his robes." happy woman! when ordinary husbands make long, grave speeches to their wives, they do not often look "dear and beautiful!" this year a new prima-donna took london by storm and gave the queen and prince "exquisite enjoyment." her majesty wrote: "her acting alone is worth going to see, and the _piano_ way she has of singing, lablache says, is unlike anything he ever heard. he is quite enchanted. there is a purity in her singing and acting which is quite indescribable." that singer was jenny lind. about this time lovers of impassioned oratory felt the joy which the astronomer knows "_when a new comet swims into his ken_" in the appearance of a brilliant political orator, of masterly talent and more masterly will. this still young man of hebraic origin, rather dashing and flashing in manner and dress, had not been thought to have any very serious purpose in life, and does not seem to have much impressed the queen or prince albert at first; but the time came when he, as a minister and friend, occupied a place in her majesty's respect and regard scarcely second to the one once occupied by lord melbourne. this orator was benjamin disraeli. chapter xx. a troublous time--louis philippe an exile--the purchase of balmoral--a letter of prince albert's--another attempt on the queen's life--the queen's instructions to the governess of her daughters--a visit to ireland--death of dowager queen adelaide. at last came --a year packed with political convulsions and overthrows. the spirit of revolution was rampant, bowling away at all the thrones of europe. england heard the storm thundering nearly all round the horizon, for in the sister isle the intermittent rebellion broke out, chiefly among the "young ireland" party, led by mitchel, meagher and o'brien. this plucky little uprising was soon put down. the leaders were brave, eloquent, ardent young men, but their followers were not disposed to fight long and well--perhaps their stomachs were too empty. the chartists stirred again, and renewed their not unreasonable or treasonable demands; but all in vain. there is really something awful about the strength and solidity and impassivity of england. when the french monarchy went down in the earthquake shock of that wild winter, and a republic came up in its place, it surely would have been no wonder if a vast tidal-wave of revolution caused by so much subsidence and upheaving had broken disastrously on the english shores. but it did not. the old sea-wall of loyalty and constitutional liberty was too strong. there were only floated up a few waifs, and among them a "_forlorn and shipwrecked brother_," calling himself "john smith," and a poor, gray- haired, heart-broken woman, "mrs. smith," for the nonce. when these came to land they were recognized as louis philippe and marie amélie of france. afterwards most of their family, who had been scattered by the tempest, came also, and joined them in a long exile. the english asylum of the king and queen was claremont, that sanctuary of love and sorrow, which the queen, though loving it well, had at once given over to her unfortunate old friends, whom she received with the most sympathetic kindness, trying to forget all causes of ill-feeling given her a year or two before by the scheming king and his ambitious sons. in the midst of the excitement and anxiety of that time, a gentle, loving, world-wearied soul passed out of our little mortal day at gotha, and a fresh, bright young soul came into it in london. the dear old grandmother of the prince died, in her palace of friedrichsthal, and his daughter, louise caroline alberta, now marchioness of lorne, was born in buckingham palace. among those ruined by the convulsions in germany were the queen's brother, prince leiningen, and her brother-in-law, prince hohenlohe. so the thunderbolt had struck near. at one time it threatened to strike still nearer, for that spring the chartists made their great demonstration, or rather announced one. it was expected that they would assemble at a given point and march, several hundred thousand strong, on parliament, bearing a monster petition. what such a mighty body of men might do, what excesses they might commit in the capital, nobody could tell. the queen was packed off to osborne with baby louise, to be out of harm's way, and , men enrolled themselves as special constables. among these was louis napoleon, longing for a fight of some sort in alliance with england. he did net get it till some years after. there was no collision, in fact no large compact procession; the chartists, mostly very good citizens, quietly dispersed and went home after presenting their petition. the great scare was over, but the special constables were as proud as wellington's army after waterloo. when the chartist leaders had been tried for sedition and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, and the irish leaders had been transported, things looked so flat in england that the young french prince turned again to france to try his fortune. it was his third trial. the first two efforts under louis philippe to stir up a revolt and topple the citizen king from the throne had ended in imprisonment and ridicule; but now he would not seem to play a napoleonic game. he would fall in with republican ideas and run for the presidency, which he did, and won. but as the countryman at the circus, after creating much merriment by his awkward riding in his rural costume, sometimes throws it off and appears as a spangled hero and the very prince of equestrians; so this "nephew of his uncle," suddenly emerging from the disguise of a republican president, blazed forth a full-panoplied warrior-emperor. but this was not yet. in september of this year the queen and prince first visited a new property they had purchased in the heart of the highlands. the prince wrote of it: "we have withdrawn for a short time into a complete mountain solitude, where one rarely sees a human face, where the snow already covers the mountain-tops and the wild deer come creeping stealthily round the house. i, naughty man, have also been creeping stealthily after the harmless stags, and today i shot two red deer." ... "the castle is of granite, with numerous small turrets, and is situated on a rising-ground, surrounded by birchwood, and close to the river dee. the air is glorious and dear, but icy cold." what a relief it must have been to them to feel themselves out of the reach of runaway royalties, and "surprise parties" of emperors and grand dukes. in march, , the prince laid the foundation-stone for the great grimsby docks, and made a noble speech on the occasion. from that i will not quote, but i am tempted to give entire a charming note which he wrote from brocklesby, lord yarborough's place, to the queen. it runs thus: "your faithful husband, agreeably to your wishes, reports: . that he is still alive. . that he has discovered the north pole from lincoln cathedral, but without finding either captain ross or sir john franklin. . that he arrived at brocklesby and received the address. . that he subsequently rode out and got home quite covered with snow and with icicles on his nose. . that the messenger is waiting to carry off this letter, which you will have in windsor by the morning. . last, but not least, that he loves his wife and remains her devoted husband." we may believe the good, fun-loving wife was delighted with this little letter, and read it to a few of her choicest friends. a few months later, while the queen was driving with her children in an open carriage over that assassin-haunted constitution hill, she was fired at by a mad irishman--william hamilton. she did not lose for a moment her wonderful self-possession, but ordered the carriage to move on, and quieted with a few calm words the terror of the children. we have seen that at the time of oxford's attempt she "laughed at the thing"; but now there had been so many shootings that "the thing" was getting tiresome and monotonous, and she did not interfere with the carrying out of the sentence of seven years' transportation. this was not the last. in a fenian tried his hand against his widowed sovereign, and we all know of the shocking attempt of two years ago at windsor. in truth, her majesty has been the greatest royal target in europe. _messieurs les assassins_ are not very gallant. all this time the prince-consort was up to his elbows in work of many kinds. that which he loved best, planning and planting the grounds of osborne and balmoral and superintending building, he cheerfully sacrificed for works of public utility. he inaugurated and urged forward many benevolent and scientific enterprises, and schools of art and music. this extraordinary man seemed to have a prophetic sense of the value and ultimate success of inchoate public improvements, and when he once adopted a scheme allowed nothing to discourage him. he engineered the holborn viaduct enterprise, and i notice that at a late meeting of the brave channel tunnel company, sir e. w. watkin claimed that "the cause had once the advocacy of the great prince-consort, the most sagacious man of the century." with all these things he found time to carefully overlook the education of his children. the prince of wales was now thought old enough to be placed under a tutor, and one was selected--a mr. birch (let us hope the name was not significant), "a young, good-looking, amiable man," who had himself taken "the highest honors at cambridge";--doubtless a great point those highest cambridge honors, for the instructor of an eight-years-old boy. for all the ability and learning of his tutor, it is said that the prince of wales never took to the classics with desperate avidity. he was never inclined to waste his strength or dim his pleasant blue eyes over the midnight oil. prince albert never gave the training of his boys up wholly to the most accomplished instructors. his was still, while he lived, the guiding, guarding spirit. the queen was equally faithful in the discharge of her duties to her children--especially to her daughters. in her memoranda i find many admirable passages which reveal her peculiarly simple, domestic, affectionate system of home government. the religious training of her little ones she kept as much as possible in her own hands, still the cares of state and the duties of royal hospitality would interfere, and, writing of the princess royal, in , she says: "it is a hard case for me that my occupations prevent me from being with her when she says her prayers." some instructions which she gave to this child's governess should be printed in letters of gold: "i am quite clear that she should be taught to have great reverence for god and for religion, but that she should have the feeling of devotion and love which our heavenly father encourages his earthly children to have for him, and not one of fear and trembling; and that thoughts of death and an after life should not be represented in an alarming and forbidding view; and that she should be made to know as yet no difference of creeds, and not think that she can only pray on her knees, or that those who do not kneel are less fervent or devout in their prayers." in august of this year the queen and prince sailed in their favorite yacht, the _victoria and albert_, for ireland, taking with them their three eldest children, the better to show the irish people that their sovereign had not lost confidence in them for their recent bit of a rebellion, which she believed was one-half popery and the other half potato-rot. the irish people justified that faith. at the cove of cork, where the royal party first landed, and which has been queenstown ever since, their reception was most enthusiastic, as it was also in dublin, so lately disaffected. the common people were especially delighted with the children, and one "stout old woman" shouted out, "oh, queen, dear, make one o' thim darlints patrick, and all ireland will die for ye!" they afterwards got their "patrick" in the little duke of connaught, but i fear were none the more disposed to die for the english queen. perhaps he came a little too late. the queen on this trip expressed the intention of creating the prince of wales earl of dublin, by way of compliment and conciliation, and perhaps she did, but still fenianism grew and flourished in ireland. the passage from belfast to loch ryan was very rough--a regular rebellion against, "the queen of the seas," as the emperor of france afterwards called victoria. she records that, "poor little affie was knocked down and sent rolling over the deck, and was completely drenched." the poor little fellow, prince alfred, duke of edinburgh, the bold mariner of the family, probably cried out then that he would "never, never be a sailor." in a letter from balmoral, written on his thirtieth birthday, the prince- consort says: "victoria is happy and cheerful--the children are well and grow apace; the highlands are glorious." i do not know that the fact has anything to do with her majesty's peculiar love for scotland, but she came very near being born in that part of her dominions--the duke of kent having proposed a little while before her birth to take a place in lanarkshire, belonging to a friend. had he done so his little daughter would have been a highland lassie. i don't think the queen would have objected. she said to sir archibald alison, "i am more proud of my scotch descent than of any other. when i first came into scotland i felt as if i were coming home." with the occupation of balmoral this home feeling increased: the queen was ever impatient to seek that mountain retreat and regretful to leave it. she loved above all the outdoor life there--the rough mountaineering, the deer hunts, the climbing, the following up and fording streams, the picnics on breezy hill-sides; she loved to get out from under the dark purple shadow of royalty and nestle down among the brighter purple of the heather; she loved to go off on wild incognito expeditions and be addressed by the simple peasants without her awesome titles; even loved to be at times like the peasants in simplicity and naturalness, to feel with her "guid mon," like a younger mistress anderson with her "jo john." she seemed to enjoy all weathers at balmoral. i am told that she used to delight in walking in the rain and wind and going out protected only by a thick water-proof, the hood drawn over her head; and that she liked nothing better than driving in a heavy snow-storm. after the return from scotland, the queen was to have opened the new coal exchange in london, but was prevented by an odd and much-belated ailment, an attack of chicken-pox. prince albert went in her place and took the princess royal and the prince of wales, who, lady lyttelton writes: "behaved very civilly and nicely." there was an immense crowd, all shouting and cheering, and smiling kindly on the children. some official of immense size, with a big cloak and wig, and a big voice, is described as making a pompous speech to little albert edward, looking down on him and addressing him as "your royal highness, the pledge, and promise of a long race of kings." lady lyttelton adds: "poor princey did not seem to guess at all what he meant." soon after this grand affair, a very _grand personage_ came not unwillingly to the end of all earthly affairs. adelaide, dowager queen of england, died after a long and painful illness. she had lived a good life; she was a sweet, charitable, patient, lovable woman. the queen and prince-consort were deeply grieved. the queen wrote: "she was truly motherly in her kindness to us and our children. ... poor mama is very much cut up by this sad event. to her the queen is a great and serious loss." queen adelaide left directions that her funeral should be as private as possible, and that her coffin should be carried by sailors--a tribute to the memory of the sailor-king. from an english gentleman, who has exceptional opportunities of knowing much of the private history of royalty, i have received an anecdote of this good woman and wife, when duchess of clarence--something which our friend thinks does her more honor than afterwards did her title of queen. when she was married she knew, for everybody knew, of the left-hand marriage of the duke with the beautiful actress, mrs. jordan, from whom he was then separated. the duke took his bride to bushey park, his residence, for the honeymoon, and himself politely conducted her to her chamber. she looked about the elegant room well pleased, but was soon struck by the picture of a very lovely woman, over the mantel. "who is that?" she asked. the poor duke was aghast, but he had at least the kingly quality of truth-telling, and stammered out: "that, my dear adelaide, is a portrait of mrs. jordan. i humbly beg your pardon for its being here. i gave orders to have it removed, but those stupid servants have neglected to do it. i will have it done at once--only forgive me." the duchess took her husband's hand and said: "no, my dear william, you must not do it! i know what mrs. jordan has been to you in the past--that you have loved her--that she is the mother of your children, and i wish her portrait to remain where it is." and it did remain. this was very noble and generous, certainly; but i cannot help thinking that the duchess was not very much in love. chapter xxi the great exhibition--birth of the duke of connaught--death of sir robert peel and louis philippe--prince albert's speech before the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts. early in this year of , prince albert, though not in his usual health, began in deadly earnest on his colossal labors in behalf of the great "world's exhibition." england owed that magnificent manifestation of her resources and her enterprise far more to him than to any other man. he met with much opposition from that conservative class who, from the start, denounce all new ideas and innovations, shrinking like owls from the advancing day; and that timid class who, while admitting the grandeur of the idea, feared it was premature. "the time has not come," they said; "wait a century or two." some opposed it on the ground that it would bring to london a host of foreigners, with foreign ideas and perilous to english morals and religion. in the garden of a certain grand english country-place there is a certain summer-house with a closed door, which, if a curious visitor opens, lets off some water-works, which give him a spray-douche. so the prince received, at door after door, a dash of cold water for his "foreign enterprise." but he persevered, letting nothing dishearten him--toiling terribly, and inspiring others to toil, till at last the site he desired for the building was granted him, and the first crystal palace--the first palace for the people in england--went slowly up, amid the sun-dropped shades of hyde park. temporary as was that marvelous structure, destined so soon to pass away, like "the baseless fabric of a vision," i can but think it the grandest of the monuments to the memory of the prince- consort, though little did he so regard it. to his poetic yet practical mind it was the universal temple of industry and art, the valhalla of the heroes of commerce, the fane of the gods of science--the caravansery of the world. that exhibition brought together the ends of the earth,--long- estranged human brethren sat down together in pleasant communion. it was a modern babel, finished and furnished, and where there was almost a fusion, instead of, a confusion, of tongues. the "barbarous turk" was there, the warlike russ, the mercenary swiss, the passionate italian, the voluptuous spaniard, the gallant frenchman,--and yet foreboding english citizens did not find themselves compelled to go armed, or to lock up their plate, or their wives and daughters. in fact, this beautiful realized dream, this accomplished fact, quickened the pulses of commerce, the genius of invention, the soul and the arm of industry, the popular zeal for knowledge, as nothing had ever done before. to go back a little to family events:--on may st, , prince albert, in writing to his step-mother at coburg, told a bit of news very charmingly: "this morning, after rather a restless night (being walpurgis night, that was very appropriate), and while the witches were careering on the blocksberg, under ernst augustus' mild sceptre, a little boy glided into the light of day and has been received by the sisters with _jubilates_. 'now we are just as many as the days of the week!' was the cry, and a bit of a struggle arose as to who was to be sunday. of well-bred courtesy the honor was conceded to the new-comer. victoria is well, and so is the child." this prince was called arthur william patrick albert. the first name was in honor of the duke of wellington, on whose eighty-first birthday the boy was born; william was for the prince of prussia, now emperor of germany; patrick was for ireland in general, and the "stout old woman" of dublin in particular. this year both the queen and the country lost a great and valued friend in sir robert peel, who was killed by being thrown from his horse. there was much mourning in england among all sorts of people for this rarely noble, unennobled man. the title of baronet he had. inherited; it is said he declined a grander title, and he certainly recorded in his will a wish that no one of his sons should accept a title on account of _his_ services to the country--which was a great thing for a man to do in england; and after his death, his wife was so proud of bearing his name that she declined a peerage offered to her--which was a greater thing for a woman to do in england. not long after, occurred the death of the ex-king of france, at claremont. mccarthy sums up his character very tersely, thus: "the clever, unwise, grand, mean old man." louis philippe's meanness was in his mercenary and plotting spirit, when a rich man and a king--his grand qualities were his courage and cheerfulness, when in poverty and exile. the royal family again visited edinburgh, and stopped for a while at holyrood--that quaint old palace of poor mary stuart, whose sad, sweet memory so pervades it, like a personal atmosphere, that it seems she has only gone but for a little walk, or ride, with her four maries, and will soon come in, laughing and talking french, and looking passing beautiful. queen victoria had then a romantic interest in the hapless queen of scots. she said to sir archibald alison, "i am glad i am descended from mary; i have nothing to do with elizabeth." from edinburgh to dear balmoral, from whence the prince writes: "we try to strengthen our hearts amid the stillness and solemnity of the mountains." the queen's heart especially needed strengthening, for she was dreading a blow which soon fell upon her in the death of her dearest friend, her aunt, the queen of the belgians. she mourned deeply and long for this lovely and gifted woman, this "angelic soul," as baron stockmar called her. on april , , the queen paid a private visit to the exhibition, and wrote: "we remained two hours and a half, and i came back quite beaten, and my head bewildered from the myriads of beautiful and wonderful things which now quite dazzle one's eyes. such efforts have been made, and our people have shown such taste in their manufactures. all owing to this great exhibition, and to albert--all to _him_!" may st, which was the first anniversary of little arthur's birth, was the great opening-day, when princes and people took possession of that mighty crystal temple, and the "festival of peace" began. the queen's description in her diary is an eloquent outpouring of pride and joy, and gratitude. one paragraph ends with these words: "god bless my dearest albert. god bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so great to-day! one felt so grateful to the great god, who seemed to pervade and bless all." her majesty wrote that the scene in the park as they drove through--the countless carriages, the vast crowd, the soldiers, the music, the tumultuous, yet happy excitement everywhere, reminded her of her coronation day; but when she entered that great glass house, over which floated in the sunny air the flags of all nations, within which were the representatives of all nations, and when she walked up to her place in the centre, conducted by the wizard who had conjured up for the world that magic structure, and when the two stood there, with a child on either hand, before the motley multitude, cheering in all languages-- then, victoria _felt her name_, and knew she had come to her real coronation, as sovereign, wife, and mother. shortly after this great day, prince albert distinguished himself by a remarkably fine speech at an immense meeting of the "society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts." such shoals of foreigners being then in london, the society felt that they must be casting in their nets. lord john russell wrote to congratulate the queen, who, next to the heathen, was most interested in the success of this speech. her reply was very characteristic. after saying that she had been quite "sure that the prince would say the right thing, from her entire confidence in his tact and judgment," she added, "the queen at the risk of not appearing sufficiently modest (and yet why should a woman ever be modest about her husband's merits?) must say that she thinks lord john will admit now that the prince is possessed of very extraordinary powers of mind and heart. she feels so proud of being his wife, that she cannot refrain from paying herself a tribute to his noble character." ah, english husbands should be loyal beyond measure to the illustrious lady, who has set such a matchless example of wifely faith, pride and devotion. but it will be a pity if in preaching up to their wives her example, they forget the no less admirable example of the prince-consort. chapter xxii close of the great exhibition-anecdote--louis kossuth--napoleon iii.--the writer's first visit to england--description of a prorogation of parliament. the great exhibition was closed about the middle of october, on a dark and rainy day. the last ceremonies were very solemn and impressive. it had not remained long enough for people to be wearied of it. the queen, the prince and their children seemed never to tire of visiting it, and the prospect of a sight of them was one of the greatest attractions of the place to other visitors, especially to simple country-folk--though these were sometimes disappointed at not beholding the whole party wearing crowns and trailing royal robes. i remember a little anecdote of one of her majesty's visits to the crystal palace. among the american manufactures were some fine soaps, and among these a small head, done in white castile, and so exactly like marble that the queen doubted the soap story, and in her impulsive, investigating way was about to test it with a scratch of her shawl-pin, when the yankee exhibitor stayed her hand, and drew forth a courteous apology by the loyal remonstrance--"pardon, your majesty,--_it is the head of washington_!" soon after the princes and kings went home, there arrived in london a man whose heroism and eloquence had thrilled the hearts and filled the thoughts of the world as those of no monarch living had ever done. he was not received with royal honors, though with some generous enthusiasm, by the people. he was looked upon, in high places as that most forlorn being, an unsuccessful adventurer;--so he turned his face, his sad eyes wistful with one last hope, towards the setting sun. alas, his own political sun had already set! this man was louis kossuth. about the same time another man, without heroism, without eloquence, but with almost superhuman audacity, struck a famous political blow, in paris, called a _coup d'état_. he exploded a secret mine, which shattered the republic and heaved him up on to an imperial throne. of course this successful adventurer was louis napoleon. i cannot find that, as the prince-president of that poor, poetic, impracticable thing, the french republic, much notice had been taken of him by the english government;--but "emperor" was a more respectable title, even worn in this way, snatched in the twinkling of an eye by a political _prestidigitateur_, and it was of greater worth--it had cost blood. so napoleon iii. was recognized by england, and at last by all great powers--royal and republican. still, for a while, they showed a wary coldness towards the new emperor; and he was unhappy because all the great european sovereigns hesitated to concede his equality to the extent of addressing him as "_mon frère_" (my brother). he seemed to take this so to heart that, after this solemn declaration that his empire meant peace and not war, the queen of england put out her friendly little hand and said frankly, "mon frère"; and the king of prussia and the emperor of austria followed her example; but the czar of russia, put his iron-gloved hand behind his back and frowned. louis napoleon did not forget that ever--but remembered it "excellent well" a few years later, when he was sending off his noble army to the crimea. i find two charming domestic bits, in letters of the queen and prince, written in may, , from osborne. after saying that her birthday had passed very happily and peacefully, her majesty adds: "i only feel that i never can be half grateful enough for so much love, devotion and happiness. my beloved albert was, if possible, more than usually kind and good in showering gifts on me. mama was most kind, too; and the children did everything they could to please me." it is pleasant to see that the dear mother and grandmother never forgot those family anniversaries, and never was forgotten. prince albert writes, in a letter to the dowager duchess of saxe-coburg: "the children are well. they grow apace and develop new virtues daily, and also new naughtinesses. the virtues we try to retain, and the naughtinesses we throw away." this year was a memorable one for the writer of this little book, for it was that of her first visit to england,--of her first sight of london and charles dickens, of westminster abbey and the duke of wellington, windsor castle and queen victoria. i had brought a letter, from one of his most esteemed american friends, to the earl of carlisle, and from that accomplished and amiable nobleman i received many courtesies,--chief among them a ticket, which he obtained from her majesty direct, to one of her reserved seats in the peeresses' gallery of the house of lords, to witness the prorogation of parliament. i trust i may be pardoned if i quote a portion of my description of that wonderful sight,--written, ah me! so long ago: ... "i found that my seat was one most desirable both for seeing the brilliant assembly and the august ceremony; it was near the throne, yet commanded a view of every part of the splendid chamber. "the gallery was soon filled with ladies, all in full-dress, jewels, flowers and plumes. many of the seats of the peers were also filled by their noble wives and fair daughters, most superbly and sweetly arrayed... among those conspicuous for elegance and loveliness were the young duchess of northumberland and lady clementina villiers, the famous court beauty. "toward one o'clock the peers began to come in, clad in their robes of state. taken as a whole they are a noble and refined-looking set of men. but few eyes dwelt on any of these, when there slowly entered, at the left of the throne, a white-haired old man, pale and spare, bowed with years and honors, the hero of many battles in many lands, the conqueror of conquerors,--the duke! leaning on the arm of the fair marchioness of douro, he stood, or rather tottered, before us, the grandest ruin in england. he presently retired to don his ducal robes and join the royal party at the entrance by the victoria tower. ... the pious bishops, in their sacerdotal robes, made a goodly show before an ungodly world. the judges came in their black gowns and in all the venerable absurdity of their enormous wigs. mr. justice talfourd the poet, a small, modest- looking man, was quite extinguished by his. the foreign ministers assembled, nation after nation, making, when standing or seated together, a most peculiar and picturesque group. they shone in all colors and dazzled with stars, orders and jewel-bitted swords. ... "next to me sat the eleven-year-old princess gouromma, daughter of the rajah of coorg. the day before she had received christian baptism, the queen standing as godmother. she is a pretty, bright-looking child, and was literally loaded with jewels. opposite her sat an indian prince--her father, i was told. he was magnificently attired--girded about with a superb india shawl, and above his dusky brow gleamed star-like diamonds, for the least of which many a hard-run christian would sell his soul. ... "at last, the guns announced the royal procession, and in a few moments the entire house rose silently to receive her majesty. the queen was conducted by prince albert, and accompanied by all the great officers of state. the long train, borne by ladies, gentlemen and pages, gave a certain stateliness to the short, plump little person of the fair sovereign, and she bore herself with much dignity and grace. prince albert, it is evident, has been eminently handsome, but he is growing a little stout and slightly bald. yet he is a man of right noble presence. her majesty is in fine preservation, and really a pretty and lovable- looking woman. i think i never saw anything sweeter than her smile of recognition, given to some of her friends in the gallery--to the little indian princess in especial. there is much in her face of pure womanliness and simple goodness; yet it is by no means wanting in animated intelligence. in short, after seeing her, i can well understand the loving loyalty of her people, and can heartily join in their prayer of 'god save the queen!' "her majesty wore a splendid tiara of brilliants, matched by bracelets, necklace and stomacher. her soft brown hair was dressed very plainly. her under-dress was of white satin, striped with gold; her robe was, of course, of purple velvet, trimmed with gold and ermine." "the queen desired the lords to be seated, and commanded that her 'faithful commons' should be summoned. when the members of. the lower house had come in, the speaker read a speech, to which, i have recorded, her majesty listened, in a cold, quiet manner, sitting perfectly motionless, even to her fingers and eyelids. the iron duke standing at her left, bent, and trembled slightly--supporting with evident difficulty the ponderous sword of state. prince albert, sitting tall and soldier- like, in his handsome field-marshal's uniform, looked nonchalant and serene, but with a certain far-away expression in his eyes. the earl of derby held the crown on its gorgeous-cushion gracefully, like an accomplished waiter presenting a tray of ices. on a like occasion, some time ago, i hear the duke of argyle had the ill-luck to drop this crown from the cushion, when some of the costly jewels, jarred from their setting, flew about like so many bits of broken glass. but there was no need to cry, 'pick up the pieces!' "after the reading of this speech, certain bills were read to her majesty, for her assent, which she gave each time with a gracious inclination of the head, shaking sparkles from her diamond tiara in dew- drops of light. at every token of acquiescence a personage whom i took for a herald, bowed low towards the queen, then performed a similar obeisance towards the commons--crying '_la reine le veut!_'" "why he should say it in french--why he did not say "the queen wills it," in her own english, i don't yet know." i went on: "this ceremony gone through with, the lord chancellor, kneeling at the foot of the throne, presented a copy of the royal speech to the queen (i had supposed she would bring it in her pocket), which she proceeded to read, in a manner perfectly simple, yet impressive, and in a voice singularly melodious and distinct. finer reading i never heard anywhere; every syllable was clearly enunciated, and the emphasis fell with unerring precision, though gently, on the right word. "the lord chancellor having formally announced that parliament stood prorogued until the th of august, her majesty rose as majestically as could be expected from one more remarkable for rosy plumptitude than regal altitude; prince albert took his place at her side; the crown and sword bearers took theirs in front, the train-bearers theirs in the rear, and the royal procession swept slowly forth, the brilliant house broke up and followed, and so the splendid pageant passed away--faded like a piece of fairy enchantment." that's the way they do it,--except that nowadays the queen does not read her own speech. chapter xxiii. death of the duke of wellington--birth of the duke of albany--the crimean war--slanders upon prince albert--the prince of wales takes a place for the first time upon the throne--incidents of domestic life--prince albert visits the emperor of france--incidents of the war. at balmoral the following autumn, the queen heard of the death of her most illustrious subject--the duke of wellington, and green are those "leaves" in the journal of her "life in the highlands," devoted to his memory. she wrote of him as a sovereign seldom writes of a subject,-- glowingly, gratefully, tenderly. "one cannot think of this country, without 'the duke,' our immortal hero"--she said. there was a glorious state and popular funeral for the grand old man, who was laid away with many honors and many tears in the crypt of st. paul's cathedral, where his brother hero, nelson, was waiting to receive him. when early in , the news came to windsor castle that the french emperor had selected a bride, not for her wealth, or high birth, or royal connections, but for her beauty, and grace, and because he loved her, victoria and albert, as truly lovers as when they entered the old castle gates, as bride and bridegroom, felt more than ever friendly to him, and desirous that he should have a fair field, if no favor, to show what he could do for france. i am afraid they half forgot the _coup d'état_, and the widows, orphans and exiles it had made. in april, the queen's fourth son, who was destined to "carry weight" in the shape of names,--leopold george duncan albert--now duke of albany, was born in buckingham palace. during this year "the red planet mars" was in the ascendant. the ugly eastern trouble, which finally culminated in the crimean war, began to loom in the horizon, and england to stir herself ominously with military preparations. drilling and mustering and mock combats were the order of the day, and the sound of the big drum was heard in the land. they had a grand battle-rehearsal at chobham, and the queen and prince went there on horseback; she wearing a military riding-habit, and accompanied by the duke of coburg and her cousin george, king of hanover. the weather was genuine "queen's weather," bright and warm; but prince albert, who returned a few days later, to rough it, in a season of regular camp-life, was almost drowned out of his tent by storms. in fact, the warrior bold went home with a bad cold, which ended in an attack of measles. there was enough of this disease to go through the family, queen and all. even the guests took it, the crown prince of hanover and the duke and duchess of coburg, who on going home gave it to the duke of brabant and the count of flanders. i suppose there never was known such a royal run of measles. this year the queen and prince went again to ireland, to attend the dublin industrial exhibition, and were received with undiminished enthusiasm. it is remarkable that in ireland the queen was not once shot at, or struck in the face, or insulted in any way, as in her own capital. all the most chivalric feeling of that mercurial, but generous people, was called out by the sight of her frank and smiling face. she trusted them, and they proved worthy of the trust. after their return to balmoral, the prince wrote: "we should be happy here were it not for that horrible eastern complication. a european war would be a terrible calamity. it will not do to give up all hope; still, what we have is small." it daily grew smaller, as the war-clouds thickened and darkened in the political sky. during those troublous times, when some men's hearts were failing them for fear, and some men's were madly panting for the fray, asking nothing better than to see the lion of england pitted against the bear of russia, the prince was in some quarters most violently and viciously assailed, as a designing, dangerous "influence behind the throne"--treacherous to england, and so to england's queen. so industriously was this monstrous slander spread abroad, that the story went, and by some simple souls was believed, that "the blameless prince" had been arrested for high treason, and lodged in the tower! some had it that he had gone in through the old traitors' grate, and that they were furbishing up the old axe and block for his handsome head! then the rumor ran that the queen had also been arrested, and was to be consigned to the grim old fortress, or that she insisted on going with her husband and sharing his dungeon. thousands of english. people actually assembled about the tower to see them brought in,--and yet this was not on all- fools' day. poor baron stockmar was also suspected of dark political intrigues and practices detrimental to the peace and honor of england. he was, in fact, accused of being a spy and a conspirator--which was absurdity itself. he was, it seems to me, a high-minded, kindly old man, a political philosopher and moralist--rather opinionated always, and at times a little patronizing towards his royal pupils; but if they did not object to this, it was no concern of other people. he certainly had a shrewd, as well as a philosophic mind--was a sagacious "clerk of the weather" in european politics,--and i suppose a better friend man or woman never had than the prince and the queen found in this much distrusted old german baron. though prince albert wrote at this time about having "a world of torment," he really took matters very patiently and philosophically. in the devotion of his wife, in the affection of his children, in his beloved organ, "the only instrument," he said, "for expressing one's feelings," he found consolation and peace. he wrote,--"victoria has taken the whole affair greatly to heart, and is excessively indignant at the attacks." but a triumphant refutation, in both houses of parliament, of all these slanders, consoled her much; and on the anniversary of her marriage she was able to write--"this blessed day is full of joyful and tender emotions. fourteen happy years have passed, and i confidently trust many more will pass, and find us in old age, as we are now, happily and devotedly united! trials we must have; but what are they if we are together?" in march, , the queen and prince went to osborne to visit the magnificent fleet of vessels which had been assembled at spithead. her majesty wrote to lord aberdeen--"we are just starting to see the fleet, which is to sail at once for its important destination. it will be a solemn moment! many a heart will be very heavy, and many a prayer, including our own, will be offered up for its safety and glory!" ah! when those beautiful ships went sailing away, with their white sails spread, and the royal colors flying, death sat "up aloft," instead of the "sweet little cherub" popularly supposed to be perched there, and winds from the long burial-trenches of the battle-field played among the shrouds. king frederick william of prussia seemed to think that he could put an end to this little unpleasantness, and wrote a long letter to the queen of england, paternally advising her to make some concessions to the emperor of russia, which concessions she thought would be weak and unworthy. her reply reveals her characteristic high courage. one quotation, which she makes from shakspeare, is admirable: "beware of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, bear't, that the opposed may beware, of thee." still, as we look back, it does seem as though with the wit of the queen, the wisdom of prince albert, the philosophy of baron stockmar,--the philanthropy of exeter hall, and the piety of the bench of bishops, some sort of peaceful arrangement might have been effected, and the crimean war left out of history. but then we should not have had the touching picture of the lion and the unicorn charging on the enemy together, not for england or france, but all for poor turkey; and mr. tennyson could not have written his "charge of the light brigade," which would have been a great loss to elocutionists. there were in parliament a few poor- spirited economists and soft-hearted humanitarians who would fain have prevented that mighty drain of treasure and of the best blood of england- holding, with john bright, that this war was "neither just nor necessary"; but they were "whistling against the wind." there was one rich english quaker, with a heart like a tender woman's and a face like a cherub's, who actually went over to russia to labor with "friend nicholas" against this war. all in vain! the czar was deeply moved, of course, but would not give in, or give up. on the d of march the queen went to parliament to receive the address of both houses in answer to her message which announced the opening of the war. on this important occasion the young prince of wales took a place for the first time with his mother and father on the throne. he looked taller and graver than usual. his heart glowed with martial fire. his voice, too, if he had been allowed to speak, would have been all for war. a few days before this, the queen, after seeing off the first division of troops for the baltic, had so felt the soldier-blood of her father tingling in her veins, that she wrote: "i am very enthusiastic about my dear army and navy, and i wish i had two sons in both now." but in later years the widowed queen is said to have been not eager to have any of her sons, _his_ sons, peril their lives in battle. though the prince of wales now had assigned to him a more honorable place on the british throne than the british constitution permitted his father, to occupy, he was still perfectly amenable to that father's authority. an english gentleman lately told me of an instance of the wise exercise of that authority. the prince-consort and his son were riding across a london toll-bridge, the keeper of which, on receiving his toll, respectfully saluted them. prince albert courteously inclined his head, touching his hat, but prince albert edward dashed carelessly on, yet only to return a minute after, laughing and blushing, to obey his father's command--"my son, go back and return that man's salute." the queen was so enthusiastic that she with pleasure saw launched-- indeed, christened herself--a war-vessel bearing the name and likeness of her "dearest albert"--that humane, amiable, peace-loving man! there was something incongruous in it, as there is in all associations between war and good peace-lovers and christ-lovers. amid these wars and rumors of wars, it is comforting to read in that admirable and most comprehensive work, "the life of his royal highness, the prince-consort, by sir theodore martin, k.c.b.," of pleasant little domestic events, like a children's may-day ball at buckingham palace, given on prince arthur's birthday, when two hundred children were made happy and made others happier. then there were great times at osborne for the royal children on their mother's birthday, when a charming house--the swiss cottage--and its grounds, were made over to them, to have and to hold, as their very own. it was not wholly for a play-house and play- ground, but partly as a means of instruction in many things. in the perfectly-appointed kitchen of the cottage the little princesses learned to perform many domestic tasks, and to cook different kinds of plain dishes as well as cakes and tarts--in short, to perform the ordinary duties of housekeepers; while in the grounds and gardens the young princes used to work two or three hours a day under the direction of a gardener, getting regular certificates of labor performed, which they presented to their father, who always paid them as he would have paid any laborer for the same amount and quality of work--never more, never less. each boy had his own hoe and spade, which not a princeling among them all considered it _infra-dig._ to use. the two eldest boys, albert edward and alfred, also constructed under their father's directions a small fortress perfect in all its details. all the work on this military structure, even to the making of the bricks, was done by the princes. the little princesses also worked in the gardens, each having her own plot, marked with her own name, from victoria to beatrice. there was a museum of natural history attached to the cottage, and we can easily imagine the wonderful specimens of entomology and ornithology there to be found. ah! have any of the grown-up royal highnesses ever known the comfort and fun in their grand palaces that they had in the merry old swiss cottage days? in the autumn of prince albert went over to boulogne for a little friendly visit to england's chief ally, taking with him little arthur. he seems to have found the french emperor a little stiff and cold at first, as he wrote to the queen, "the emperor thaws more and more." in the sunshine of that genial presence he had to thaw. the prince adds: "he told me one of the deepest impressions ever made upon him was when he arrived in london shortly after king william's death and saw you at the age of eighteen going to open parliament for the first time." the prince made a deep impression on the emperor. two men could not be more unlike. the character of the one was crystal clear, and deeper than it appeared--the character of the other was murky and mysterious, and shallower than it seemed. this must have been a season of great anxiety and sadness for the queen. the guns of alma and sebastopol echoed solemnly among her beloved mountains. in her journal there is this year only one balmoral entry--not the account of any highland expedition or festivity, but the mention of an eloquent sermon by the rev. norman mcleod, and of his prayer, which she says was "very touching," and added, "his allusions to us were so simple, saying after his mention of us, 'bless their children.' it gave me a lump in my throat, as also when he prayed for the dying, the wounded, the widow, and the orphan." there came a few months later a ghastly ally of the russians into the fight--cholera--which, joined to the two terrible winter months, "generals january and february," as the czar called them, made sad havoc in the english and french forces, but did not redeem the fortunes of the russians. much mal-administration in regard to army supplies brought terrible hardships upon the english troops, and accomplished the impossible in revealing in them new qualities of bravery and heroic endurance. it was an awful war, and it lasted as long as, and a little longer than, the czar, who died in march, . "of pulmonary apoplexy," it was announced, though the rumor ran, that, resolved not to survive sebastopol, he had taken his own unhappy life. with his death the war was virtually ended, and his son alexander made peace as soon as he decently could with the triumphant enemies of his father. through all this distressful time the queen and the prince-consort manifested the deepest sympathy for, as well as pride in, the english soldiers. they had an intense pity for the poor men in the trenches, badly clad and half starved, grand, patient, ill-used, uncomplaining fellows! "my heart bleeds to think of it," wrote the prince, of the army administration. he corresponded with florence nightingale, and encouraged her in her brave and saintly mission. when the sick and wounded began to arrive, in england both he and the queen were faithful in visiting them in the hospitals, and her majesty had a peculiar sad joy in rewarding the bravest of the brave with the gift of the crimean medal. in a private letter she gives a description of the touching scene. she says: "from the highest prince of the blood to the lowest private, all received the same distinction for the bravest conduct in the severest actions.... noble fellows! i own i feel for them as though they were my own children.... they were so touched, so pleased! many, i hear, cried, and they won't hear of giving up their medals to have their names engraved upon them for fear that they may not receive the identical ones put into their hands by me. several came by in a sadly mutilated state." one of these heroes, young sir thomas trowbridge, who had had one leg and the foot of the other carried away by a round shot at inkermann, was dragged in a bath-chair to the queen, who, when she gave him his medal, offered to make him one of her _aides-de-camp_, to which the gallant and loyal soldier replied, "i am amply repaid for everything." poor fellow! i wonder if he continued to say that all his mutilated life? whenever during this war there was a hitch, or halt, in the victorious march of english arms, any disaster or disgrace in the crimea, the attacks upon the prince-consort were renewed,--there were even threats of impeachment;--but when the "cruel war was over," the calumnies were over also. they were always as absurd as unfounded. aside from his manly sense of honor the prince had by that time, at least, ten good reasons for being loyal to england--an english wife and nine english children. chapter xxiv. the emperor and empress of france visit windsor--they are entertained by the city of london--scene at the opera--the queen returns the emperor's call--splendor of the imperial hospitality. the queen's kind heart was really pained by the sudden death of the czar, her sometime friend and "brother"--whose visit to windsor was brought by the startling event vividly to her mind--yet she turned from his august shade to welcome one of his living conquerors, the emperor napoleon, who, with his beautiful wife, came this spring to visit her and the prince. she had had prepared for the visitors the most splendid suite of apartments--among them the very bedroom once occupied by the emperor nicholas. it was the best "spare room" of the castle, and the one generally allotted to first-class monarchs--louis philippe had occupied it. what stuff for ghosts for the bedside of louis napoleon did he and the czar supply! a few days before the emperor and empress arrived, the queen had a visit from the poor ex-queen, marie amélie. there is a touching entry in her majesty's diary, regarding this visit. by the way, i would state that whenever i quote from her majesty's diary, it is through the medium of sir theodore martin's book, and by his kind permission. the queen wrote: "it made us both so sad to see her drive away in a plain coach, with miserable post-horses, and to think that this was the queen of the french, and that six years ago her husband was surrounded by the same pomp and grandeur which three days hence would surround his successor." there is something exquisitely tender and pitiful in this. most people, royal or republican, would "consider it not so deeply." the world has grown so familiar with the see-saw of french royalty, that a fall or a flight, exile or abdication moves it but little. in the old _guillotine_ times, there _were_ sensations. england's great ally, and his lovely wife, eugénie,--every inch an empress,--were received with tremendous enthusiasm. their passage through london was one long ovation. the times of that date gives allowing account of the crowds and the excitement. it states also, that as they were passing king street, the emperor "was observed to draw the attention of the empress to the house which he had occupied in former days,"-- respectable lodgings, doubtless, but how different from the tuileries! the queen gives an interesting account of what seemed a long, and was an impatient waiting for her guests, whom the prince-consort had gone to meet. at length, they saw "the advanced guard of the escort--then the cheers of the crowd broke forth. the outriders appeared--the doors opened, i stepped out, the children close behind me; the band struck up '_partant pour la syrie_,' the trumpets sounded, and the open carriage, with the emperor and empress, albert sitting opposite them, drove up and they got out... i advanced and embraced the emperor, who received two salutes on either cheek from me--having first kissed my hand." the english queen did not do things by halves, any more than the english people. she then embraced the empress, whom she describes as "very gentle and graceful, but evidently very nervous." the children were then presented, "vicky, with alarmed eyes, making very low curtsies," and bertie having the honor of an embrace from the emperor. then they all went up-stairs, prince. albert conducting the empress, who at first modestly declined to precede the queen. her majesty followed on the arm of the emperor, who proudly informed her that he had once been in her service as special constable against those unstable enemies, the chartists. the queen and prince soon came to greatly like the emperor and admire the empress. the queen wrote of the former: "he is very quiet and amiable, and easy to get on with... nothing can be more civil and well-bred than the emperor's manner--so full of tact." of eugenie she wrote: "she is full of courage and spirit, and yet so gentle, with such innocence; ... with all her great liveliness, she has the prettiest and most modest manner." later, her majesty, with a rare generosity, showing that there was not room in her large heart even, for any petty feeling, wrote in her private diary, of that beautiful and brilliant woman: "i am delighted to see how much albert likes and admires her." there was a state-ball at windsor, at which eugénie shone resplendent. the queen danced with the emperor--and with her imaginative mind, found cause for wondering reflection in the little circumstance, for she says: "how strange to think that i, the granddaughter of george iii., should dance with the emperor napoleon iii.--nephew of england's greatest enemy, now my dearest and most intimate ally--in the _waterloo room_, and this ally only six years ago, living in this country an exile, poor and unthought of!" the queen, of course, invested the emperor with the order of the garter. it has been in its time bestowed on monarchs less worthy the honor. it is true, he did not come very heroically by his imperial crown--but when crowns are lying about loose, who can blame a man for helping himself? the city gave the emperor and empress a great reception and banquet at guildhall, and in the evening there was a memorable visit to the opera. the imperial and royal party drove from buckingham palace through a dense crowd and illuminated streets. arrived at the royal box, the queen took the emperor by the hand, and smiling her sweetest--which is saying a good deal--presented him to the audience. immense enthusiasm! then prince albert led forward the lovely empress, and the enthusiasm was unbounded. it must be that this still beautiful, though sorrowful woman, on whose head a fierce tempest of misfortune has beaten--the most piteous, discrowned, blanched head since marie antoinette--sometimes remembers those happy and glorious days, and that the two august widows talk over them together. at last came the hour of farewells, and the emperor departed with his pretty, tearful wife--the band playing his mother's air, _partant pour la syrie_, and his heart full of pride and gratitude. in a letter which he addressed to the queen, soon after reaching home, is revealed one cause of his gratitude. after saying many pleasant things about the kind and gracious reception which had been accorded him, and the impression which the sight of the happy home-life of windsor had made upon him, he says: "your majesty has also touched me to the heart by the delicacy of the consideration shown to the empress; for nothing pleases more than to see the person one loves become the object of such flattering attention." that summer there appeared among the royal children at osborne a sudden illness, which soon put on royal livery, and was recognized as scarlet fever. there was, of course, great alarm--but nothing very serious came of it. the two elder children escaped the infection, and were allowed to go to paris with their parents, who in july returned the visit of the emperor and empress. they went in their yacht to boulogne, where the emperor met them and escorted them to the railway on horseback. he looked best, almost handsome, on horseback. arrived at paris, they found the whole city decorated, as only the french know how to decorate, and gay, enthusiastic crowds cheering, as only the french know how to cheer. they drove through splendid boulevards, through the bois de boulogne, over the bridge, to the palace of st. cloud--and everywhere there were the imperial troops, artillery, cavalry and zouaves, their bands playing "god save the queen." those only who knew paris under the empire, can realize what that reception was, and how magnificent were the _fêtes_ and how grand the reviews of the next ten days. of the arrival at st. cloud the queen writes: "in all the blaze of light from lamps and torches, amidst the roar of cannon and bands and drums and cheers, we reached the palace. the empress, with the princess mathilde and the ladies, received us at the door, and took us up a beautiful staircase, lined with the splendid _cent-guardes,_ who are magnificent men, very like our life guards... we went through the rooms at once to our own, which are charming... i felt quite bewildered, but enchanted, everything is so beautiful." this palace we know was burned during the siege. the last time i visited the ruins, i stood for some minutes gazing through a rusty grating into the noble vestibule, through which so many royal visitors had passed. its blackened walls and broken and prostrate marbles are overspread by a wild natural growth--a green shroud wrapping the ghastly ruin;--or rather, it was like an incursion of a mob of rough vegetation, for there were neither delicate ferns, nor poetic ivy, but democratic grass and republican groundsel and communistic thistles and nettles. in place of the splendid _cent-guardes_ stood tall, impudent weeds; in place of courtiers, the supple and bending briar; while up the steps, which the queen and empress and their ladies ascended that night, pert little _grisettes_ of _marguerites_ were climbing. so perfect was the hospitality of the emperor that they had things as english as possible at the palace-even providing an english chaplain for sunday morning. in the afternoon, however, he backslid into french irreligion and natural depravity, and they all went to enjoy the fresh air, the sight of the trees, the flowers and the children in the bois de boulogne. the next day they went into the city to the _exposition des beaux arts,_ and to the _elysée_ for lunch and a reception--then they all drove to the lovely _sainte chapelle_ and the _palais de justice_. there the emperor pointed out the old _conciergerie_, and said--"there is where i was imprisoned." doubtless he thought that was a more interesting historical fact than the imprisonment of poor marie antoinette, in the same grim building. there was also a visit to the italian opera, where a very pretty surprise awaited the guests. at the close of the ballet, the scene suddenly changed to a view of windsor--including the arrival of the emperor and empress. "_god save the queen_" was sung superbly, and rapturously applauded. one day the queen, prince, and princess royal, dressed very plainly, took a hired carriage and had a long _incognito_ drive through paris. they enjoyed this "lark" immensely. then there was a grand ball at the _hotel de ville_, and a grand review on the _champ de mars_, and a visit by torchlight to the tomb of _the_ napoleon, under the dome of the _invalides_, with the accompaniment of solemn organ- playing within the church, and a grand midsummer storm outside, with thunder and lightning. the french do so well understand how to manage these things! the grandest thing of all was a state ball in versailles;--that magnificent but mournful, almost monumental pile, being gaily decorated and illuminated--almost transformed out of its tragic traditions. what a charming picture of her hostess the queen gives us: "the empress met us at the top of the staircase, looking like a fairy queen, or nymph, in a white dress, trimmed with grass and diamonds,--a beautiful _tour de corsage_ of diamonds round the top of her dress;--the same round her waist, and a corresponding _coiffure_, with her spanish and portuguese orders." she must have been a lovely vision. the emperor thought so, for (according to the queen) forgetting that it is not "good form" for a man to admire or compliment his own wife, he exclaimed, as she appeared: "_comme tu es belle! _" ("how beautiful you are!") i am afraid he was not always so polite. during her first season at the tuileries, which she called "a beautiful prison," and which is now as much a thing of the past as the bastile, she often in her gay, impulsive way offended against the stern laws of court etiquette, and was reproved for a lack of dignity. once at a reception she suddenly perceived a little way down the line an old school-friend, and, hurrying forward, kissed her affectionately. it was nice for the young lady, but the emperor frowned and said, in that cold marital tone which cuts like an east wind: "madame, you forget that you are the empress!" in a letter from the prince to his uncle leopold i find this suggestive sentence in reference to the ball at versailles: "victoria made her toilette in marie antoinette's boudoir." it would almost seem the english queen might have feared to see in her dressing-glass a vision of the french queen's proud young head wearing a diadem as brilliant as her own, or perhaps that cruel crown of silver--her terror-whitened hair. the parting was sad. the empress "could not bring herself to face it"; so the queen went to her room with the emperor, who said: "eugénie, here is the queen." "then," adds her majesty, "she came and gave me a beautiful fan and a rose and heliotrope from the garden, and vicky a bracelet set with rubies and diamonds containing her hair, with which vicky was delighted." the emperor went with them all the way to boulogne and saw them on board their yacht; then came embracings and _adieux_, and all was over. the next morning early they reached osborne and were received at the beach by prince alfred and his little brothers, to whom albert edward, big with the wonders of paris, was like a hero out of a fairy book. near the house waited the sisters, helena and louise, and in the house the invalid--"poor, dear alice!"--for whom the joy of that return was almost too much. chapter xxv. betrothal of the princess royal--birth of the prince imperial of france-- more visitors and visitings--the emperor and empress of mexico--marriage of the princess royal--the attendant festivities. at balmoral, where they took possession of the new castle, the queen and prince received the news of the approaching fall of sebastopol, for it was not down yet. it finally fell amid a scene of awful conflagration and explosions--the work of the desperate russians themselves. the peace-rejoicings did not come till later, but in the new house at balmoral there was a new joy, though one not quite unmixed with sadness, in the love and happy betrothal of the princess victoria. in her journal the queen tells the old, old story very quietly: "our dear victoria was this day engaged to prince frederick william of prussia. he had already spoken to us of his wishes, but were uncertain, on account of her extreme youth, whether he should speak to her or wait till he should come back again. however, we felt it was better he should do so, and, during our ride up craig-na-ban this afternoon; he picked a piece of white heather (the emblem of good luck), which he gave to her." this it seems broke the ice, and so the poetic prince (all german princes, except perhaps bismarck, are poetic and romantic) told his love and offered his hand, which was not rejected. then came a few weeks of courtship, doubtless as bright and sweet to the royal pair of lovers as was a similar season to robert burns and "highland mary"--for love levels up and levels down-- and then young fritz returned to germany, leaving behind him a fond heart and a tearful little face round and fair. from this time till the marriage of the princess royal, which was not till after her seventeenth birthday in , the prince-consort devoted himself more and more to the education of this beloved daughter--in history, art, literature, and religion. he conversed much and most seriously with her in preparation for her confirmation. he found that this work of mental and moral development was "its own exceeding great reward." the character of the princess royal seems to have been in some respects like that of the princess charlotte of wales. she was as high-spirited, strong-willed, gay, free, and fearless; but with infinitely better and purer domestic and social influences, she grew up into a nobler and more gracious young womanhood. intellectually and morally, she was her father's creation; intellectually and morally, poor princess charlotte was worse than fatherless. but i must hurry on with the hurrying years. the prince, writing to baron stockmar in march, , says: "the telegraph has just brought the news of the empress having been safely delivered of a son. great will be the rejoicing in the tuileries." this baby born in the purple was the prince imperial, whose fate beggars tragedy; who went to gather laurels on an african desert and fell a victim to a savage ambuscade--his beautiful body stuck almost as full of cruel darts as that of the martyred young st. sebastian. on march st the long-delayed treaty of peace was signed. after all the waste, the agony, the bloodshed, the prince wrote: "it is not such as we could have wished." but he had learned to bear these little disappointments. prince alfred began his studies for the navy. fritz of prussia came over on a visit to his betrothed, and his father and mother soon followed-- coming to get better acquainted with their daughter-in-law to be. then into the royal circle there came another royal guest, all unbidden--the king whose name is death. the prince of leiningen--the queen's half- brother in blood, but whole brother in heart--died, to her great grief; and soon after there passed away her beloved aunt, the duchess of gloucester, a good and amiable woman, and the last of the fifteen children of george the third and queen charlotte. but here life balanced death, for on april th another daughter was born in buckingham palace. the prince in a letter to his step-mother speaks of the baby as "thriving famously, and prettier than babies usually are." he adds, "mama--aunt, vicky and her bridegroom are to be the little one's sponsors, and she is to receive the historical, romantic, euphonious, and melodious names of beatrice mary victoria feodora." that summer there came two very interesting royal visitors to windsor-- the young princess charlotte of belgium and her betrothed husband, the archduke maximilian of austria. prince albert wrote of the young girl: "charlotte's whole being seems to me to have been warmed and unfolded by the love which is kindled in her heart." to his uncle leopold he wrote:" i wish you joy at having got such a husband for dear charlotte, as i am sure he is quite worthy of her and will make her happy." just ten years from that time the emperor maximilian, standing before a file of mexican soldiers at queretaro, took out his watch, which he would never more need, and, pressing a spring, revealed in its case a miniature of the lovely empress charlotte, which he kissed tenderly. then, handing the watch to the priest at his side, he said: "carry this souvenir to my dear wife in europe, and if she ever be able to understand you, say that my eyes closed with the impression of her image, which i shall carry with me above." she never did understand. she lives in a phantom court, believing herself still empress of mexico, and that the emperor will soon come home from the wars to her and the throne. there was this summer a memorable show in hyde park, when queen victoria on horseback, in her becoming military dress, pinned with her own hands on to the coats of a large number of heroes of the great war the coveted victoria cross. ah! they were proud and she was prouder. she is a true soldier's daughter; her heart always thrills at deeds of valor and warms at sight of a hero, however humble. the prince went over to his cousin charlotte's wedding, and the queen, compelled to stay behind, wrote to king leopold that her letting her husband, go without her was a great proof of her love for her uncle. "you cannot think," she said, "how completely forlorn i feel when he is away, or how i count the hours till he returns. all the children are as nothing when he is away. it seems as if the whole life of the house and home were gone." again, how like a loving scotch peasant wife: "there's na luck about the house, there's na luck at a'-- there's little pleasure in the house, when my guid mon's awa'." in august the emperor and empress made a flying visit in their yacht to osborne and talked over the latest political events, the new phases of affairs, and, doubtless, the new babies; and, a little later, the queen and prince ran over to cherbourg in their yacht, taking six of the children. there was a perfect nursery of the little ones, "rocked in the cradle of the deep." this was such a complete "surprise party," that the emperor and empress away in paris, knew nothing about it. they all took a pleasant little excursion into the lovely country of normandy in _chars-à-bancs_, with bells on the post-horses, doubtless, and everything gay and delightful and novel to the children,--especially french sunshine. this year the balmoral stay was greatly saddened by the news of the sepoy rebellion, of the tragedies of cawnpore, and the unspeakable atrocities of nana sahib. young people nowadays know little about that ghastly war, except as connected with the pretty poetical story of the relief of lucknow, and jessie brown; but, at the time, it was an awfully real thing, and not in the least poetical or romantic. the marriage of the princess royal was fixed for january , . her father wrote from balmoral hi the autumn; "vicky suffers under the feeling that every spot she visits she has to greet for the last time as home... the departure from here will, be a great trial to us all, especially to vicky, who leaves it for good and all; and the good, simple highlanders, who are very fond of us, are constantly saying to her, and often with tears, 'i suppose we shall never see you again?' which naturally makes her feel more keenly." at last the wedding day approached and the royal guests began to arrive at buckingham palace, and they poured in till on fair days a king or queen, a prince or princess looked out of nearly every window; and when there was a fog, collisions of crowned heads occurred in the corridors. on the day the court left windsor the queen wrote: "went to look at the rooms prepared for vicky's honeymoon; very pretty... we took a short walk with vicky, who was dreadfully upset at this real break in her life; the real separation from her childhood." these be little things perhaps, but beautiful little human things, showing the warm love and tender sympathy which united this family, supposed to be lifted high and dry above ordinary humanity, among the arid and icy grandeurs of royalty. there was a gay little ball one evening with highnesses and serenities dancing and whirling and chasséing, and a "_grande chaine_" of half of the sovereigns of europe--all looking very much like other people. the queen wrote: "ernest (duke of coburg) said it seemed like a dream to see vicky dance as a bride, just as i did eighteen years ago, and i still (so he said) looking very young. in , poor dear papa (late duke of coburg) danced with me as ernest danced with vicky." afterwards there was a grand ball, attended by over a thousand of the elect, and for the multitude there were dramatic and musical entertainments. at her majesty's theatre one night the famous tragedian, mr. phelps, and the great actress, miss helen faucit, in the tragedy of _macbeth_, froze the blue blood of a whole tier of royal personages and made them realize what crowns were worth, and how little they had earned theirs, by showing what men and women will go through with to secure one. the emperor and empress of france were not among the guests. they had been a little upset by an event more tragic than are most marriages--the attempt of orsini to blow up their carriage, by the explosion of hand-grenades near the entrance of the italian opera. they had been only slightly hurt, but some eighty innocent people in the crowd had been either killed or wounded. the white dress of the empress was sprinkled with blood, yet she went to her box and sat out the performance. what nerve these imperial people have! the queen's account of this glad, sad time of the marriage is very natural, moving and maternal. first, there was the domestic and court sensation of the arrival of the bridegroom, prince "fritz," whom the prince-consort had gone to meet, and all the court awaited. "i met him," says the queen, "at the bottom of the staircase, very warmly; he was pale and nervous. at the top of the staircase vicky received him, with alice." that afternoon all the royal people witnessed a grand dramatic performance of "taming the horse," with mr. rarey as "leading man." in the evening they went to the opera. the next day, sunday, the presents were shown--a marvelous collection of jewels, plate, lace and india shawls, and they had service and listened to a sermon. it is wonderful what these great people can get through with! coming in from a walk they found a lot of new presents added to the great pile. the queen writes: "dear vicky gave me a brooch, a very pretty one, containing her hair, and clasping me in her arms, said,' i hope to be worthy to be your child.'" from all i hear i should say that fond hope has been realized in a noble and beneficent life. the crown princess of germany is a woman greatly loved and honored. on the wedding day the queen wrote: "the second most eventful day of my life, as regards feelings; i felt as if i were being married over again myself... while dressing, dearest vicky came in to see me, looking well and composed." the princess royal, like her mother, was married in the chapel of st. james' palace, and things went on very much as on that memorable wedding day--always spoken of by the queen as "blessed." she now could describe more as a spectator the shouting, the bell-ringing, the cheering and trumpetings, and the brave sight of the procession. prince albert and king leopold and "the two eldest boys went first. then the three girls (alice, helena and louise), in pink satin, lace and flowers." there were eight bridesmaids in "white tulle, with wreaths and bouquets of roses and white heather." that was a pretty idea, using the simple betrothal flower of the prince and princess-for "luck." the queen speaks of "mama looking so handsome in violet velvet; trimmed with ermine." ah, the young victoria was the only daughter of _her_ victoria, who as a bride was to receive on her brow that grandmother's kiss--dearer and holier than any priestly benediction. i like to read that immediately after the ceremony the bride "kissed her grandmama." after the wedding breakfast at the palace the bridal pair, victoria and frederick william, drove away just as eighteen years before victoria and albert had driven away--the same state, the same popular excitement, in kind if not in degree, and, let us trust, a like amount of love and joy. but this happy pair did not drive all the way to windsor. the waiting train, the iron horse snorting with impatience, showed how the world had moved on since that other wedding; but the perennial eton boys were on hand for these lovers also, wearing the same tall hats and short jackets, cheering in the same mad way, so that the queen herself would hardly have suspected them to be the other boys' sons, or younger brothers. they "scored one" above their honored predecessors by dragging the carriage from the windsor station to the castle. the court soon followed to windsor with thirty-five of the royal guests, and there were banquets and more investings, till it would seem that the queen's stock of jeweled garters must be running low. then back to town for more presents and operas and plays, and addresses of congratulation, and at last came the dismal morning of separation. the day before, the queen had written: "the last day of our dear child being with us, which is incredible, and makes me feel at times quite sick at heart." she records that that poor child exclaimed, "i think it will kill me to take leave of dear papa!" the next morning, she writes," vicky came with a very sad face to my room. here we embraced each other tenderly, and our tears flowed fast." then there were leave-takings from the loving grandmama and the younger brothers and sisters ("bertie" and alfred going with their father to gravesend, to see the bridal party embarked), and hardest of all, the parting of the child from the mother. to quote again: "a dreadful moment and a dreadful day! such sickness came over me--real heart-ache,--when i thought of our dearest child being gone, and for so long... it began to snow before vicky went, and continued to do so without intermission all day." in spite of the dreary weather, i am told that thousands of london people were assembled in the streets to catch a last glimpse of the popular princess royal. they could hardly recognize her pleasant, rosy, child- like face--it was so sad, so swollen with weeping. they did not then look with much favor on the handsome prussian prince at her side--and one loyal briton shouted out, "if he doesn't treat you well, come back to us!" that made her laugh. i believe he did treat her well, and that she has been always happy as a wife, though for a time she is said to have fretted against the restraints of german court etiquette, which bristled all round her. she found that the straight and narrow ways of that princely paradise were not hedged with roses, as at home, but with briars. some she respected, and some she bravely broke through. the little bride was most warmly received in her new home, and about the anniversary of her own marriage-day, the queen had the happiness of receiving from her new son this laconic telegram: "the whole royal family is enchanted with my wife. f. w." afterwards, in writing to her uncle, of her daughter's success at the prussian court, and of her happiness, the queen says: "but her heart often yearns for home and those she loves dearly--above all, her dear papa, for whom she has _un culte_ (a worship) which is touching and delightful to see." her father returned this "worship" by tenderness and devotion unfailing and unwearying. his letters to the crown princess are perhaps the sweetest and noblest, most thoughtful and finished of his writings. they show that he respected as well as loved his correspondent, of whom, indeed, he had spoken to her husband as one having "a man's head and a child's heart." his letters to his uncle and the baron are full of his joy, intellectual and affectional, in this his first-born daughter; but the last-born was not forgotten. in one letter he writes: "little beatrice is an extremely attractive, pretty, intelligent child; indeed, the most amusing baby we have had." again--"beatrice on her first birthday looks charming, with a new light-blue cap. her table of birthday gifts has given her the greatest pleasure; especially a lamb." i know these are little, common domestic bits--that is just why i cull them out of grave letters, full of great affairs of state. chapter xxvi. visiting and counter-visiting--charming domestic gossip--the queen's first grandchild--the prince of wales' trip to america--another love- affair--death of the duchess of kent. in may, prince albert ran over to germany to visit his old home, and his new son, and his darling daughter, whom he found well and happy. in one of his letters to the queen from gotha, he says: "i enclose a forget-me- not from grandmama's grave." there is in that simple sentence an exquisite indication of his affectionate and constant nature. this was a hurried visit, with many interests and excitements, and yet the grave of that infirm, deaf, old dowager duchess, who had, as practical people say, "outlived her usefulness," was not found "out of the way." there was little need of the dear grandmama calling softly through that tender blue flower-- "_vergiss mein nicht, mein engel albert!_" he never forgot. in july, the queen and prince took to their yacht again, for a visit to the emperor and empress, at cherbourg, and had a grand reception, and there was a great _fête_, and fireworks and bombs and rockets; but the account is not half so interesting to me as the one given by her majesty, of their return to osborne; an exquisite picture that, which i feel i must reproduce almost entire: ... "at twenty minutes to five, we landed at our peaceful osborne. ... the evening was very warm and calm. dear affie was on the pier, and we found all the other children, including baby, standing at the door. deckel (a favorite dog), and our new charming kennel-bred dachs 'boy,' also received us with joy." i like that bringing in of the dogs to complete the-picture. the queen continues: "we went to see affie's (alfred's) table of birthday presents--entirely nautical. ... we went with the children, alice and i driving, to the swiss cottage, which was all decked out with flags in honor of affie's birthday. ... i sat (at dinner) between albert and affie. the two little boys (princes arthur and leopold) appeared. a band played, and after dinner we danced, with the three boys and three girls, a merry country dance on the terrace." a little later, the queen and prince made a visit to their daughter in germany. her majesty's description of the happy meeting is very sweet. "there on the platform stood our darling child, with a nosegay in her hand. she stepped in, and long and warm, was the embrace. ... so much to say and to tell and ask, yet so unaltered--looking well--quite the old vicky still." from beautiful babelsberg, she wrote: "vicky came and sat with me. i felt as if she were my own again." this was not a long, but a very happy visit; the queen and prince had received many courteous attentions from the prussian court, and had found their beloved daughter proud and content. from osborne, in a letter to his daughter, the prince-consort writes: "alfred looks very nice and handsome in his new naval cadet's uniform--the round-jacket and the long- tailed coat, with the broad knife by his side." the next month the prince went to spithead, to see this son off on a two-years' cruise--and felt that his family had indeed begun to break up. the next exciting public matter was the news of louis napoleon's alliance with king victor emmanuel in the war against austria. and this was the emperor who, had given out that his empire was "peace"--that the only clang of arms henceforth to be heard therein would be a mighty beating of swords and spears into plow-shares and pruning-hooks. the next domestic excitement was caused by a telegram from berlin, announcing the birth of a son to the crown prince and princess, and that mother and child were doing well. queen victoria was a grandmother, and prouder, i doubt not, than when afterwards she was made empress of india. for her mother's birthday, in may, , the crown princess came over and made a delightful little visit. the queen wrote of her: "dear vicky is a charming companion." of the princess alice she had before written: "she is very good, sensible and amiable, and a real comfort to me." mothers know how much there is in those words--"a real comfort to me." the crown princess found most change in baby--beatrice--and after her return home, her father often wrote to her of this little sister: "the little aunt," he says, "makes daily progress, and is really too comical. when she tumbles, she calls out, in bewilderment, 'she don't like it! she don't like it!'--and she-came into breakfast a short time ago, with her eyes full of tears, moaning, 'baby has been so naughty,--poor baby so naughty!' as one might complain of being ill, or of having slept badly." later in the year the prince writes: "alice comes out admirably, and is a great support to her mother. lenchen (the princess helena) is very distinguished, and little arthur amiable and full of promise as ever." in november, prince frederick william and his princess came over on a visit--and the fond father wrote: "vicky has developed greatly of late-- and yet remains quite a child; of such, indeed, 'is the kingdom of heaven.'" of the prince he said: "he has quite delighted us." so all was right then. about this time he said of his daughter, alice, that she had become "a handsome young woman, of graceful form and presence, and is a help and stay to us all in the house." what a rich inheritance such praise! in the queen's diary there was, on july , , an interesting entry: "soon after we sat down to breakfast came a telegram from fritz--vicky had got a daughter, at : , and both doing well! what joy! children jumping about, every one delighted--so thankful and relieved." the prince wrote to his daughter as only _he_ could write--wisely and thoughtfully, yet tenderly and brightly. there was in this letter a charming passage about his playfellow, beatrice. after saying of his new grandchild, "the little girl must be a darling," he adds, "little girls are much prettier than boys. i advise her to model herself after her aunt beatrice. that excellent lady has now not a moment to spare. 'i have no time,' she says, when she is asked for anything, 'i must write letters to my niece.'" shortly after his first little niece was born, the prince of wales made his first acquaintance with the new world. he went over to america to visit the vast domain which was to be his, some day, and the vaster domain which might have been his, but for the blind folly of his great- grandfather, george iii. and his ministers, who, like the rash voyagers of the "arabian nights' entertainment," kindled a fire on the back of a whale, thinking it "solid land," till the leviathan "put itself in motion," and flung them and their "merchandise" off into the sea. he was a fine young fellow, the prince, and was received with loyal enthusiasm, and heartily liked in the canadas. i believe we of the states treated him very well, also--and that he had what americans call "a good time," dancing with pretty girls in the eastern cities, and shooting prairie- chickens on the western plains. i think we did not overdo the matter in fêting and following the son of the beloved queen of england. we had other business on hand just then--a momentous presidential election--the election of abraham lincoln. in our capital he was treated to a ball, a visit to the patent-office and the tomb of washington, and such like gaieties. president buchanan entertained him as handsomely as our national palace, the white house, would allow; and afterwards wrote a courtly letter to queen victoria, congratulating her on the charming behavior of her son and heir--"_the expectancy and rose of the fair state_." the queen replied very graciously and even gratefully, addressing mr. buchanan as "my good friend." that was the most she could do, according to royal rules. the elected temporary ruler of our great american empire, even should it become greater by the annexation of cuba and mexico, can never expect to be addressed as "_mon frère_" by regularly born, bred, crowned and anointed sovereigns--or even by a reigning prince or grand duke; can never hope to be embraced and kissed on both cheeks by even the prince of monaco, the king of the sandwich islands, or the queen of madagascar. we must make up our minds to that. in the early autumn of , the queen, prince, and princess alice went over to germany for another sight of their dear ones. it was the last visit that the queen was to pay with the prince to his beloved fatherland. they were delighted with their grandson, and i hope with their granddaughter also. of baby wilhelm the queen writes: "such a little love. ... he is a fine, fat child, with a beautiful, soft white skin, very fine shoulders and limbs, and a very dear face. ... he has fritz's eyes and vicky's mouth, and very fair, curling hair." afterwards she wrote: "dear little william came to me, as he does every morning. he is such a darling, so intelligent." i believe this darling grandchild was the "little love" who gave to the queen her first great-grandchild. at coburg the prince-consort came frightfully near being killed by the running away of his carriage-horses. the accident was a great shock to the queen, and the escape an unspeakable joy. at mayence her majesty confided a family secret to her discreet diary. during a visit from the prince and princess charles of hesse-darmstadt it was settled that the young prince louis should come to england to get better acquainted with the princess alice, whom he already greatly admired. so everything was arranged and the way smoothed for these lovers, and in this case the union proved as happy as though brought about in the usual hap-hazard way of marriages in common life. the next november the prince wrote from windsor: "the prince louis of hesse is here on a visit. the young people seem to like each other. he is very simple, natural, frank and thoroughly manly." the next day the queen jotted down in her diary the simple story of the betrothal in a way to reveal how fresh in her own heart was the romance of her youth: "after dinner, while talking to the gentlemen, i perceived alice and louis talking before the fireplace more earnestly than usual, and when i passed to go to the other room both came up to me, and alice in much agitation said he had proposed to her, and he begged for my blessing. i could only squeeze his hand and say 'certainly,' and that we would see him in my room later. got through the evening, working as well as we could. alice came to our room. ... albert sent for louis to his room, then called alice and me in. ... louis has a warm, noble heart. we embraced our dear alice and praised her much to him. he pressed and kissed my hand and i embraced him." the queen was right, as she generally was in her estimate of character. this son-in-law, of whom she has always been especially fond, is a prince of amiable and noble disposition, good ability and remarkable cultivation; not exactly a second prince albert-- _he_ was a century plant. at this christmas time the queen's two eldest sons were at home and full of strange stories of strange lands. soon after, the prince of wales went to cambridge and prince alfred joined his ship. before that cruise was over a deeper, darker sea rolled between the sailor lad and his father. on february , , prince albert wrote baron stockmar: "to-morrow our marriage will be twenty-one years old. how many storms have swept over it, and still it continues green and fresh." the anniversary occurring on sunday was very quietly observed, chiefly by the performance in the evening of some fine sacred music, the appropriateness of which was scarcely realized at the time. in a very sweet letter to the duchess of kent, such a letter as few married men write to their mothers-in-law, the prince says: ... "to-day our marriage comes of age, according to law. we have faithfully kept our pledge for better and for worse,' and have only to thank god that he has vouchsafed so much happiness to us. may he have us in his keeping for the days to come! you have, i trust, found good and loving children in us, and we have experienced nothing but love and kindness from you." this dear "mama-aunt" had been in delicate health for some time, and once or twice seriously ill, but she seemed better, her physicians were encouraging and all were hopeful till the th of march, when the queen and prince were suddenly summoned from london to frogmore by the news of a very alarming relapse. they went at once with all speed, yet the queen says "the way seemed so long." when they readied the house, the queen writes: "albert went up first, and when he returned with tears in his eyes, i saw what awaited me. ... with a trembling heart i went up the staircase and entered the bedroom, and here on a sofa, supported by cushions, sat leaning back my beloved mama, breathing rather heavily, but in her silk dressing-gown, with her cap on, looking quite herself. ... i knelt before her, kissed her dear hand and placed it next my cheek; but though she opened her eyes she did not, i think, know me. she brushed my hand off, and the dreadful reality was before me that for the first time, she did not know the child she had ever received with such tender smiles." the further description given by the queen of this first great sorrow of her life, is exceedingly pathetic and vivid. it is the very poetry of grief. i cannot reproduce it entire, nor give that later story of incalculable loss as related by her in that diary, through which her very heart beats. it is all too unutterably sad. there are passages in this account most exquisitely natural and touching. when all was over, the poor daughter tried to comfort herself with thoughts of the blessed rest of the good mother, of the gentle spirit released from the pain-racked body, but the heart would cry out: "but i--i, wretched child, who had lost the mother i so tenderly loved, from whom for these forty-one years i had never been parted, except for a few weeks, what was my case? my childhood, everything seemed to crowd upon me at once... what i had dreaded and fought--off the idea of, for years, had come, and must be borne... oh, if i could nave been with her these last weeks! how i grudge every hour i did not spend with her! ... what a blessing we went on tuesday. the remembrance of her parting blessing, of her dear, sweet smile, will ever remain engraven on my memory." during all this time, the queen received the most tender sympathy and care from her children, and prince albert, was--_prince albert_;-- weeping with her, yet striving to comfort her, full of loving kindness and consideration. the queen's grief was perhaps excessive, as her love had been beyond measure, but he was not impatient with it, though he writes from osborne, some weeks after the funeral of the duchess: "she (the queen) is greatly upset, and feels her childhood rush back upon her memory with the most vivid force. her grief is extreme... for the last two years her constant care and occupation have been to keep watch over her mother's comfort, and the influence of this upon her own character has been most salutary. in body she is well, though terribly nervous, and the children are a great disturbance to her. she remains almost entirely alone." how true to nature! when the first love of a life is suddenly uprooted, all the later growths, however strong, seem to have been torn up with it. when the mother goes, only the child seems to remain. victoria, tender mother as she herself was, and adoring wife, was now the little girl of kensington and claremont, whose little bed was at the side of her mother's, and who had waked to find that mother's bed empty, and forever empty! and yet she said in her first sense of the loss: "i seemed to have lived through a life; to have become old." we may say that with the coming of that first sorrow went out the youth of the queen; for it seems that while her mother lives, a woman is always young, that there is something of girlhood, of childhood even, lingering in her life while she can lay her tired head on her mother's knee, or hide her tearful face against her mother's breast, that most sweet and restful refuge from the trials and weariness of life. her majesty's sister, feodore, strove to comfort her; the dear daughter victoria came to her almost immediately; her people's tears and prayers were for her, and amid the quiet and seclusion of osborne she slowly regained her cheerfulness; but the old gladness and content never came back. the children, too, with all the natural gayety of their years, found that something of sweetness and comfort had dropped out of life-- something of the charm and dearness of home was gone with "grandmama," from the palace, the castle, the seaside mansion, as well as from pleasant frogmore, where they were always so welcome. not till then, perhaps, had they known all she was to them--what a blessed element in their lives was her love, so tender and indulgent. age is necessary to the family completeness. we do not even in our humbler condition, always realize, this--do not see how the quiet waning life in the old arm-chair gives dignity and serenity to the home, till the end comes--till the silver-haired presence is withdrawn. part iv. widowhood. chapter xxvii. failing health of prince albert--his last visit to balmoral--his influence upon the policy of england in the _trent_ difficulty with the united states--strange revolution in english sentiment in respect to american slavery--the setting of the sun. all this time while the queen was absorbed by anxious care, or passionate grief for her mother, the health of the prince-consort was slowly but surely failing. the keen blade of his active mind was wearing out its sheath. his vital forces must have begun to give out long before actual illness, or he would not so easily have resigned himself to the thought of the long rest,--still young as he was, with so much to enjoy in life, and so much to do. it is said that he had premonitions of early death, and tried to prepare the queen for his going first--but the realization of a loss so immense could not find lodgment in her mind. yet though often feeling weak and languid, he did not relax his labors--spurring up his flagging powers. he never lost his interest in public affairs, or in his children's affairs of the heart. he was happy in contemplating the happiness of his daughter alice, and followed with his heart the journey of his son, albert edward, in his visit to the country of the fierce old vikings, to woo the daughter of a king of another sort--a princess so fair and fresh that she could --"_with lilies boast, and with the half-blown rose_." that summer his daughter victoria, with her husband (now crown prince) and their children, came again, for a long visit, and there were many other guests, and much was done to cheer the queen; but her first birthday in orphanage was hopelessly sad, and when that of the prince came round, his last--though she wrote to her uncle, "this is the dearest of days, and one which fills my heart with love and gratitude," she murmured, because her "beloved mama" was not there to wish him joy. ah, what an acting, unreasoning thing is the human heart! yet the queen seems to have had a brief return of happiness--to have been upborne on a sudden tide of youthful joyance, during their autumn stay at balmoral. she wrote: "being out a good deal here and seeing new and fine scenery does me good." of their last great highland excursion, she said: "have enjoyed nothing so much, or felt so much cheered by anything since my great sorrow." because of this intense love of nature--not the holiday, dressed-up nature, of english parks, streams and lakes--but as she appears in all her wildness, ruggedness, raggedness and simple grandeur, in the glorious land of scott and burns, the queen's journal, though a little clouded at the last, by that "great sorrow," is very pleasant, breezy reading. it gives one a breath of heather, and pine and peat-smoke. after coming from balmoral, and its bracing outdoor avocations and amusements, the prince-consort's health seemed to decline again. he suffered from rheumatic pains and sleeplessness, and he began to feel the chill shadows of the valley he was nearing, creeping around him. the last work of his beneficent life was one of peculiar interest to americans. it was the amicable arrangement, in conjunction with the queen, of the ugly affair of the _trent_. that was a trying time for americans in england, unless they were of the south, southerly. we of the north, in the beginning of our war for the union, found to our sad surprise that the sympathies of perhaps the majority of the english were on the side of our opponents. these very people had been ever before, so decidedly and ardently anti-slavery in their sentiments--had counseled such stern and valiant measures for the removal of our "national disgrace," that their new attitude amazed us. we could not understand what sort of a moral whirlwind it was that had caught them up, turned them round, borne them off and set them down on the other side of mason and dixon's line. it was strange, but with the exception of a few such clear-headed, steadfast "friends of humanity" as cobden and bright, and such heroes as those glorious operatives of lancashire, all seemed changed. even the sentiments of prominent. exeter hall, anti-slavery philanthropists had suffered a secession change, "into something new and strange," especially after the battle of bull run--that fortunate calamity for us, as it proved. most people here were captivated by the splendid qualities of the confederates--their gallantry, their enthusiasm, their bravery. before these practical revolutionists, those "moral suasion" agitators, the northern abolitionists, made no great show. garrison with his logic, burritt with his languages, douglas with his magnificent eloquence, were as naught to jefferson davis and robert e. lee, and that soldier of the fine old cromwellian type--stonewall jackson. the "institution" was pronounced in parliament "not so bad a thing, after all," and the pathetic "am-i-not-a-man-and-a-brother" of clarkson, became the sambo of christie and the "quashee" of carlyle. in the midst of this ill-feeling on one side, and sore-feeling on the other, the rash act of a u. s. naval officer, in boarding the british steamer _trent_ and seizing the confederate envoys, mason and slidell, gave england cause, had our government endorsed that act, for open hostility. so ready, so eager did the english government seem for a war with america, that it did not wait for an apology, before making extensive military preparations. with that brave but cool-headed captain on our ship of state, abraham lincoln, and that prudent helmsman, william h. seward, we could not easily have been driven into a war with england at this time; but we might have been humiliated even more than we were, by the peremptory demands of lord palmerston--might have been obliged to eat a piece of "humble pie," so big, hot, and heavy, that it would have remained undigested to this day-- had it not been for the prudence, the courtesy, good sense, and admirable tact of the queen and prince-consort in modifying and softening the tone of that important state paper, the demand for an official apology, and the liberation of the confederate envoys. it is for this that americans of the north, and i believe of the south, love queen victoria, and not alone for her sake, bless the memory of "albert the good." i know of nothing in literature so exquisite in its pathos and childlike simplicity, as the queen's own account, in the diary kept faithfully at the time, of the last illness of the prince-consort. in it we see the very beatings of her heart, in its hope and fear, love and agony--can mark all the stages of the sacred passion of her sorrow. it is a wonderful psychological study. that illness in its serious phases, lasted about two weeks. it was a low, slow fever, which at first was not recognized as fever at all, but only a heavy cold. i have been told that the prince himself had from the first, an impression that he should not recover, and that he talked of his probable death very calmly with his noble daughter alice, saying: "your mother cannot bear to hear me speak of it yet." the queen, though very restless and distressed, and at times shaken with wild alarms, could not face the coming calamity; could not admit the possibility that the sands of that precious life--golden sands, were running out. the alternations of hope and fear, must have been terrible. one morning the queen records that on going to the prince she found him looking very wretched: "he did not smile, or take much notice of me. his manner all along was so unlike himself, and he had sometimes, such a strange, wild look." in the evening she writes: "i found my albert most dear and affectionate and quite himself, when i went in with little beatrice, whom he kissed. he laughed at some of her new french verses which i made her repeat, then he. held her little hand in his for some time, and she stood looking, at him." for several days he wished to be read to, and the queen and faithful alice read his favorite authors; he also asked for music, and alice played for him some fine german airs. he even wished often to look at a favorite picture, one of raphael's madonnas, saying, "it helps me through the day." at length the fever took on a typhoid form, congestion of the lungs set in, and there was no longer reason for hope,--though they did hope, till almost the last hour. now, it seems that from the first, even when he did not apparently suffer, except from mortal weariness, there were little fatal indications. one morning he told the queen that as he lay awake he heard the little birds outside, and "thought of those he used to hear at the rosenau, in his childhood"; and on the last morning the queen writes that he "began arranging his hair just as he used to do when well and he was dressing." it seemed to the poor queen as though he were "preparing for another and a greater journey" than they had ever taken together. his tenderness towards her through all this sad fortnight, was very touching. it was not calculated to loosen the detaining, clinging clasp of her arms; but it must be very sweet for her to remember. after the weariness of watching, the prostration of fever, he welcomed always the good-morning caress of his "dear little wife." through the gathering mists of unconsciousness, through the phantom-shades of delirium, his love for her struggled forth, in a tender word, a wistful look, a languid smile, a feeble stroking of the cheek. it was "wondrous pitiful," but it was very beautiful. even at the last, when he knew no one else, he knew her; and when she bent over him and whispered, "tis your own little wife," he bowed his head and kissed her. after she knew that all hope must be given up, the queen still was able to sit calmly by his bedside, and not trouble with the sound of weeping the peace of that loving, passing soul. occasionally she felt that she must leave the room and weep, or her suppressed grief would kill her. but she counted the moments and stayed her soul with prayer, to go back to her post. it was on the night of december , , that the beloved prince-consort passed away,--quietly and apparently painlessly, from the station he had ennobled, from the home he had blessed. unconsciously he drifted out on the unknown, mysterious sea, nor knew that loving feet followed him to the strand, and that after him were stretched yearning arms. that death-bed scene passed in a solemn hush, more mournful than any outcry of passionate grief could be. on one side, knelt the queen, holding her husband's hand, trying to warm it with kisses and tears; on the other, knelt the princess alice. at the foot of the bed, the prince of wales and the princess helena were kneeling together. it is probable that all the younger children were sleeping in quiet unconsciousness of the presence of the dread angel in the castle. the dean of windsor, prince ernest leiningen,--secretaries, physicians and attached attendants were grouped around. all was silent, save that low, labored breathing, growing softer and softer, and more infrequent, and then--it ceased forever. i have been told by a lady who had had good opportunities of knowing about the sad circumstances of that death, that the queen retained perfect possession of herself to the last, and that after the lids had been pressed down over the dear eyes whose light had passed on, she rose calmly, and courteously thanked the physicians in attendance, saying that she knew that everything which human skill and devotion could accomplish, had been done for her husband, whom god had taken. then she walked out of the death-chamber, erect,--still the queen, wearing "sorrow's crown of sorrow," and went to her chamber, and shut herself in--her soul alone with god, her heart alone for evermore. ah, we may not doubt that this royal being, in whose veins beats the blood of a long, long race of kings, was brought low enough then,--to her knees, to her face, "_for grief is proud and makes his owner stoop_." so absorbing and unwavering had been the love of the queen for her husband, who to her, was "nobler than the noblest"; such a proud homage of the soul had there been--such a dear habit of the heart, in one with whom habit counted for much, that her people were filled with the most intense anxiety on her behalf. they feared that this cruel stroke which lopped off the best part of her life, would kill her, or plunge her into a depth of melancholy, sadder than death. for some time she was not able to sleep. the thought of that chamber, so lately the scene of all the anxious activity of the sickroom, wherein softly moved troubled physicians and nurses, tearful attendants and awe-struck children, but where now there were shadowed lights, and solemn silence, and where lay that beautiful, marble-like shape, so familiar, yet so strange--that _something_ which was not _he_, yet was inexpressibly dear, kept her awake, face to face with her sorrow,--and when at last, the bulletin from windsor announced, "the queen has had some hours' sleep," her people all in mourning as they were, felt like ringing joy-bells. the friend from whom i have before quoted, mrs. crosland, a most loyal lady, wrote on this text a very sweet poem, from which i am tempted to give a few verses: "sleep, far the night is round thee spread, thou daughter of a line of kings; sleep, widowed queen, white angels' wings make canopy above thy head! "sleep, while a million prayers rise up to him who knew all earthly sorrow, that day by day, each soft to-morrow may melt the bitter from thy cup. . . . . . . . . "long life ask for thee, dear queen, and moonlight peace, since joy is set. and time's soft touch on dark regret. and memories calm of what has been! "long life for thee--for our best sake. to be our stay 'mid hopes and fears. through many far-off future years, till thou by albert's side shall wake!" it seems her majesty could not bear the thought of her beloved albert, whose nature was so bright and joyous, and beauty-loving, resting amid the darkness and heavy silence and "cold obstruction" of the royal vault; so, as early as the th of december, she drove with the princess alice to frogmore, where they were-received by the prince of wales, prince louis of hesse, and several officers of the royal household. then, leaning on the arm of her noble daughter, the queen walked about the pleasant gardens, till she fixed upon the spot, where now stands the magnificent mausoleum, which, splendid and beautiful as art can make it, is like a costly casket, for the dust, infinitely more precious to her than all the jewels of her crown. it was sweet for her to feel that thus under the shadow of her mother's dear home, the two most sacred loves and sorrows of her life would be forever associated. there was great and sincere mourning in england among all classes, not alone for the queen's sake, but for their own, for the prince-consort had finally endeared himself to this too long jealous and distrustful people. they had named him "alien," at first; they called him "angel," at last. he was not _that_, but a most rare man, of a nature so sweet and wholesome, of a character so well-balanced and symmetrical, of a life so pure and blameless, that the english cannot reasonably hope to "look upon his like again," not even among his own sons. some of his contemporaries, while admitting his grace and elegance, were blind to his strength of character, forgetting that a shining column of the parthenon may be as strong as one of the dark rough-hewn columns of pæstum. morally, i believe, the prince-consort stands alone in english royal history. what other youth of twenty-one, graceful, beautiful and accomplished, has ever forborne what he forbore?--ever fought such a good fight against temptations manifold? he was the sir galahad of princes. being human, he must have been tempted,--if not to a life of sybaritic pleasure, to one of ease, through his delicate organization,--and, through his refined tastes, to one of purely artistic and esthetic culture, which for him, where he was, would have been but splendid selfishness. though my estimate of the prince-consort is based on his own good words and works, to which i have paid tribute of sincerest praise, it is strengthened and justified by a knowledge of the loving reverence in which his name is held to this day, by the english people of the better class, who honor the queen for her love stronger than death, and love her the better for it; for i hold, ----"the soul must cast all weakness from it, all vain strife, and tread god's ways through this sad life, to be thus grandly mourned at last." chapter xxviii. the twilight life after--marriage of the princess alice--incidents of the queen's life at balmoral--john brown--a letter from the queen to the duchess of sutherland. "there is no one near me to call me 'victoria' now!" is said to have been the desolate cry of the queen, when, on waking from that first sleep, the cruel morning light, smote upon her with a full consciousness of her bereavement, and a new sense of her royal isolation. she was on a height where the storm beat fiercest and there was the least shelter. her sacred grief was the business of the world;--she could not long shut herself up with it, and fold her hands in "blameless idleness"; but as the widowed mother and housekeeper in humble life struggles up from the great stroke, and staggers on, resolutely driving back the tears which "hinder needle and thread," and choking down her sobs, to go wearily about her household tasks,--so victoria, after a little time, rose trembling to her feet, and went through with such imperative state duties as could be delegated to no one. to a near friend, who expressed joy to find her more calm than at the time of her mother's death, she said simply, "i have had god's teaching, and learned to bear all he lays upon me." there is a record by lord beaconsfield of her faithful discharge of such duties a few years later; but what was true of her then, was almost as true an account of the routine of her official life, during a large part of the first years of her widowhood. in a public speech, beaconsfield said: "there is not a dispatch received from abroad, or sent from this country abroad, which is not submitted to the queen. the whole of the internal administration of this country greatly depends upon the sign- manual of our sovereign, and it may be said that her signature has never been placed to any public document of which she did not know the purpose and of which she did not approve. those cabinet councils of which you all hear, and which are necessarily the scene of anxious and important deliberation, are reported, on their termination, by the minister to the sovereign, and they often call from her critical remarks requiring considerable attention; and i will venture to say that no person likely to administer the affairs of this country would be likely to treat the suggestions of her majesty with indifference, for at this moment there is probably no person living who has such complete control over the political condition of england as the sovereign herself." i have come upon few incidents of that first sad year. the princess alice was married very quietly at osborne, and went away to her german home, where she lived for seventeen happy years, a noble and beneficent life. in character she was very like her father--to whose soul hers was so knit, that, when in her last illness, the anniversary of his death came round, she seemed to hear his call, and went to him at once in child- like obedience. she took that fatal illness--the diphtheria--from a dear child in a kiss, "the kiss of death," as lord beaconsfield called it. the rev. norman mcleod has left a record of the widowed queen's first visit to balmoral. it seems he thought she was too unreconciled to her loss, and felt it his duty to preach what he believed to be "truth in god's sight, and that which i believe she needed," he said, "though i felt it would be very trying for her to receive it." she did receive it very sweetly, and wrote him "a kind, tender letter of thanks for it," she afterwards summoned him to the castle, and to her own room. he writes: "she was alone. she met me with an unutterably sad expression, which filled my eyes with tears, and at once began to speak about the prince. ... she spoke of his excellencies--his love, his cheerfulness; how he was everything to her. she said she never shut her eyes to trials, but liked to look them in the face; how she would never shrink from duty, but that all was at present done mechanically; that her highest ideas of purity and love were obtained from him, and that god could not be displeased with her love." no, we cannot love enough to displease the god of love, who is not, whatever men may preach, a "jealous god," in that small way; but perhaps we may grieve too much to please the master of life, of which, in his eyes, what we call death, is the immortal blossom and crowning. it seems to me that in her loving tribute to the prince, the queen was a little unjust to her mother, to whose precepts and example she owed very high "ideas of purity" and that strong sense of duty, and that fortitude, essentially a womanly, not a manly, virtue, which preserved her through the temptations of a glad and splendid youth--through the trials and sorrows of maturer years, and which, when that time of bitterest trial came, braced up her shattered forces, and held together her broken heart. balmoral--the dear mountain-home, so entirely her husband's creation--now became more than ever dear to the queen, and has never lost its charm for her. her life there has been, from the first, almost pastoral in its simplicity. the highlanders about them, a primitive, but very proud people, regarded their sovereign and her husband with no servile awe. with them, even respect begins, like charity, at home; what there is left, they give loyally to their superiors in rank. to the queen and her family they have given more,--love and free-hearted devotion. her majesty has always gone about among the poorer tenants of the estate, like any laird's wife, in an unpretending, neighborly way; and they, thanks to their good scotch sense and highland pride, never take advantage of the uncondescending condescension, to offend her by too great familiarity, or shock her by servility. taking up her "journal," i have chanced upon an account given by her majesty of a round of visits to the cottages of certain "poor old women," and here is an entry or two: "before we went into any, we met a woman who was very poor, and eighty- eight years old. i gave her a warm petticoat, and the tears rolled down her old cheeks, and she shook my hands and prayed god to bless me: it was very touching. "i went into a small cabin of old kitty kear's, who is eighty-six years old, quite-erect, and who welcomed us with a great air of dignity. she sat down and spun. i gave her, also, a warm petticoat. she said, 'may the lord ever attend ye and yours, here and hereafter; and may the lord be a guide to ye, and keep ye fra all harm.'" now, some readers, whose ideas of royal charities are derived from the kings and queens of melodrama, who fling about golden largess, or "chuck" plethoric purses at their poor subjects, may be amused at these entries in a great queen's journal, but "let them laugh who win"--the flannel petticoats. during a later visit to the widowed queen at balmoral, dr. mcleod writes: "after dinner, the queen invited me to her room, where i found the princess helena and the marchioness of ely. the queen sat down to spin on a fine scotch wheel, while i read burns to her--'_tam o'shanter_,' and '_a man's a man for a' that_'--her favorites." in the queen's book i find frequent pleasant mention of the young highlander, john brown--a favorite personal attendant, first of prince albert, and afterwards of her majesty. she had the misfortune to lose this "good and faithful servant," in the early part of this year. in a foot-note in her "journal," she paid a grateful tribute to his "attention, care and faithfulness"--to his rare devotion to her, especially during a period of physical weakness and nervous prostration, when such service as his was invaluable. she also says of him, "he has all the independence and elevation of feeling peculiar to the highland race, and is singularly straightforward, simple- minded, kind-hearted and disinterested." if there is something touching in the nearly life-long service and devotion of the highlander, almost always seen so close behind his liege lady, when she appeared in public, that he was named "the queen's shadow"--there is something admirable in her grateful appreciation of that service, in her frank acknowledgment of all she has owed of comfort, in a constant sense of security, to this man's steadfast faithfulness; and now that the "shadow" has gone before, i hold it is only fitting and loyal in her to acknowledge for him, as she does, "friendship," and even "affection"--not only to lay flowers on his grave, but to pay more enduring tribute to his honest memory. he was a highland gillie, of simple highland ways and words but "_a man's a man for a' that._" if byron could nurse his dying dog, _boatswain_, and erect a monument to his memory, and not lose, but gain, our respect by so doing, we surely might let pass, unquestioned, the queen's grief for a faithful human creature-- for thirty-four years devoted to her--ever at her call--looking up to her, yet watching over her; a friend, whose humble good sense and canny bits of counsel must often, in the simpler, yet not simple, affairs of her complex life, be sorely missed. that is how it strikes an american, of democratic tendencies. about a year after the death of prince albert, the duchess of sutherland presented to the queen a richly-bound bible, the offering of loyal "english widows." in her letter of acknowledgment, her majesty gives very strong and clear expression to her faith, not only in the happy continued existence of her beloved husband, but in his "unseen presence" with her--a faith which she has often expressed. the letter runs thus: "my dearest duchess:--i am deeply touched by the gift of a bible 'from many widows,' and by the very kind and affectionate address which accompanied it. ... pray express to all these kind sister-widows the deep and heartfelt gratitude of their widowed queen, who can never feel grateful enough for the universal sympathy she has received, and continues to receive, from her loyal and devoted subjects. but what she values far more is their appreciation of her adored and perfect husband. to her, the only sort of consolation she experiences is in the constant sense of his unseen presence and the blessed thought of the eternal union hereafter, which will make the bitter anguish of the present appear as naught. that our heavenly father may impart to 'many widows' those sources of consolation and support, is their broken-hearted queen's earnest prayer ... believe me ever yours most affectionately, victoria." dean stanley is reported as telling of a touching little circumstance which he received from the princess hohenlohe (feodore), from which it seems that her majesty was for a long time in the habit of going every morning to look at the cows on prince albert's model farm, because "_he_ had been used to do so," feeling, perhaps, that the gentle creatures might miss him--that somewhere in their big dull brains, they might wonder where their friend could be, and why he did not come. the princess also said that her poor sister found her only comfort in the belief that her husband's spirit was close beside her--for he had promised her that it should be so. chapter xxix. arrival in england of the princess alexandra to wed the prince of wales-- garibaldi's visit to london--the queen's first public appearance after her widowhood--marriage of the princess louise--illness of the prince of wales--disaffection in ireland--the queen's sympathy during the illness of president garfield. on the th of march, , all london and nearly all england went mad over the coming of the princess alexandra, from denmark, to wed the prince of wales. lord ronald gower, a son of the beautiful duchess of sutherland, gives in his "reminiscences" a fine description of her arrival in london, and of the wedding at windsor three days after. he says: "probably since the day in paris when marie antoinette was acclaimed in the gardens of the tuileries, no princess ever had so enthusiastic a reception, or so quickly won the hearts of thousands by the mere charm of her presence." this writer gives a very vivid description of the crowd which waited patiently for hours, of a cold, wretched day, for the sight of that sweet face whose sweetness has never yet cloyed upon them. at last, there came a small company of life guards, escorting an open carriage-and-four, containing the young danish princess and his royal highness albert edward, looking very happy and very conscious. the smiling, blushing, appealing face of the princess warmed as well as won all hearts. there were few flowers at that season to scatter on her way, except flowers of poetry, of which there was no jack. tennyson's pretty ode has not been forgotten, but all as noble and sweet was the greeting of her from whom i have before quoted; mrs. crosland. the most touching, though not the strongest verse in that poem, is this: "she comes another child to be to that crowned widow of the land, whose sceptre weighs more heavily since one has ceased to hold her hand." the queen did not feel herself equal to taking any part in the marriage ceremony, but looked down upon the scene of grandeur and gayety from the royal gallery of st george's chapel. the duchess of sutherland attended her then for the last time. she had been with her at her coronation and marriage; to-day they were both widows, and must have been at the moment living intensely and sorrowfully in the past. with the exception of the crown princess of germany and the duke of edinburgh, all the queen's children, down to little beatrice, were present. the bride, it is stated, "looked lovely; she did not raise her eyes once in going into, and but little in going out of, the chapel on her husband's arm." this first daughter-in-law soon made a place for herself in the queen's heart, by her grace and amiability. i have heard a pretty little story of an attempt of hers to lighten somewhat her majesty's heavy cloud of mourning. millinery being one of her accomplishments, she prevailed upon the queen to let her remodel her bonnet, which she did, principally by removing a small basketful of sombre weeds. the queen saw through her little _ruse_ and shook her head mournfully,--but wore the bonnet. the next year london went still more mad over garibaldi. his enthusiastic admirers almost mobbed stafford house, at which he was entertained by the young duke of sutherland lord ronald gower describes that memorable visit and the popular excitement very vividly. the italian hero entered that beautiful palace, where a grand company of the nobility were waiting to receive him, attired in a rough gray overcoat and trousers, a large pork-pie hat, a loose black neck-tie, and a red flannel shirt. this he never changed--i mean his style of dress, not the shirt--but garibaldi would have been quite un-garibaldi-ed in an english evening suit. lord ronald gower writes that his noble, liberty- loving mother was very devoted to their guest, but does not add that by so doing she shocked the sensibilities of footmen and housemaids. one of the latter once told to another guest, a moving story of the strange habits of "italian brigand": "why, marm," she said, "he was such a common-looking person, and he would get up so awful early and go hobbling about in the garden. one morning at six o'clock, i looked out of my window, and there he was walking up and down, and the duchess with him-- _my_ duchess, walking and talking with the likes of him!" the first public appearance of the widowed queen was at the opening of parliament, in . i do not know whether the splendid chair of state she had provided for prince albert, in the happy old time, had been left in its place, to smite her eyes with its gilding and her heart with its emptiness; i do not know whether its presence or its absence would have grieved her most; but every sorrowing widow knows what it is to look on her husband's vacant chair. it does not matter whether it is made of rude, unpainted wood and woven rushes, or is a golden and velvet- cushioned chair of state,--it was _his_ seat, and he is gone! queen victoria must have felt that day, in her lonely grandeur, like crying out with constance, "_here i and sorrow sit. _" lady bloomfield gives a very touching account of her first visit to the widowed mistress, whom, nearly twenty years before, she had so gladly and proudly served--for true service is in the spirit, though the act may be limited to taking a part in a duet, or handing the daily bouquet. she wrote: "the queen is dreadfully changed--most sad, but with the gentlest, most benevolent smile. even when the tears rolled down her cheeks, she tried to smile." i think it was about this time that the queen presented to our george peabody her portrait, expressly painted for him, in recognition of his more than princely munificence in the gift of model lodging-houses to the london poor. it was a small portrait--enameled, i believe. i do not think it was an idealized picture, though the pencil was evidently guided by a delicate and reverential loyalty, "doing its spiriting gently," in marking the tracings of time and sorrow. in a description which i wrote at the tune of its exhibition in philadelphia, i said: "with the exception of a touching expression of habitual sadness, this face is very like the one i looked down upon from the gallery of the house of lords fifteen years ago. there is the same roundness of outline, only 'a little more so'--almost the same freshness of tints in the fair complexion. the soft brown hair is unchanged in color, if somewhat thinner; and the clear blue eyes have the same steady outlook. the whole figure is marked by a sort of regal rigidity. the face, if not positively unhappy in expression, is quite empty of happiness. there is about it an atmosphere of lonely state and absolute widowhood. the mary stuart cap is very becoming to her majesty, but the black dress mars the picturesque effect of the portrait. the neck and arms have all the roundness of youth, and are exquisitely painted. i remember hearing the late mr. gibson, who made several statues of the queen, say that loyalty itself need not to flatter her arms or bust; in sculpture or painting, as they were really remarkably beautiful." in the queen had the misfortune to lose her "dearest duchess"--that grandest daughter of the grand house of howard, _the_ duchess of sutherland. she floated all unconsciously out on the waves that wash against the restful palm-crowned shore, her last words being, "i think i shall sleep now--i am so tired." the princess louise was married with really royal pomp and a brave attempt at the old gayety, in st. george's chapel, windsor, in march, , to the marquis of lome. the bride, who, according to lord ronald gower, was. "very pale, but handsome as she always is," was accompanied by the prince of wales; her uncle, the grand duke of coburg; and, to the great joy of all the assembly, by her mother, the queen. the wedded pair went to claremont for their honeymoon. as they drove away, "rice and white satin slippers were sent after them, and john brown threw a new broom, highland fashion." the people were much comforted at this appearance of the queen once more in the great gay world. they had begun to think that her social seclusion would never end. when she went down into the "valley of the shadow of death" with her beloved, though she struggled bravely up alone, she brought the shadow with her; it enveloped her and wrapped her away from her subjects--even the most loving and sympathetic. now they took heart, believing that royalty was finally coming out from under its eclipse of mourning, that the court would be re-established in buckingham palace, and things generally, go on as in the good old days. they never did, however, and never will, under her reign. it is too much to ask of her, it seems. whether it is true, as i hear, that the air of london is hurtful to her, giving her severe headaches, or that the scenes of her childhood and early queenhood, and of her marriage, are too much for her, and heart- ache is the matter, i know not; but it is undeniable that the queen prefers any one of her other homes to buckingham palace. she only comes to it when absolute compelled by the duties of state. it is hard for london tradesmen and pleasure-seekers, who think her majesty's mourning immoderate, and doubt whether their wives would fret so long for them; but when, in the first year of her, reign, the pretty, wilful victoria said to lord melbourne: "what is the use of being a queen if one cannot do as one likes!" her people laughed and applauded. surely, with years and trouble, and much faithful care and labor, and has not lost the right to have a mind of her own, or the will to maintain it. of late years i have seen her majesty some half dozen times; once on her way to prorogue parliament, seated in the grand state coach, drawn by the superb, cream-colored state horses, in all imaginable splendor of trappings--escorted by the dashing life guards, and all the royal carriages, each with its resplendent coachman and footmen, most gorgeous of human creatures, and inside, very nice and respectable-looking people, with no particular air of pride or elation. the queen wore a cloak of ermine, a tiara of diamonds, and a long, cloud-like veil of tulle, floating back from her face, which that day had a very pleasant, genial expression. she is changed,--of course she is; but she has even more of the old calm dignity, and when she smiles, the effect is magical; her youth flashes over her face, and quite the old look--the look _he_ knew her by, comes back for a little while. at other times i have had glimpses of her as her carriage dashed through the gateway to marlborough house, on a garden-party day, or through the park, as she was fleeing with all speed from the city, after a drawing- room. sometimes, she has bowed right and left, and smiled, as though pleased by the cheers of the people; but at other times she has scarcely inclined her head, and worn a look of unsmiling, utter weariness--proving that a woman may have much worldly goods, many jewels, and brave velvet gowns, and heaps of india shawls, and half a dozen grand mansions, with a throne in every one, and yet at times feel that this brief life of ours is "all vanity and vexation of spirit." the queen, though she had not kept up her intimate relations with the emperor and empress, was shocked at the utter ruin to them and their son, which resulted from the french and prussian war, and she was not wanting in tender sympathy, when the poor frightened refugee, eugenie, hid a tearful face against her sisterly breast, and sobbed out, "i have been too favorable to war." to the emperor she granted an asylum and a grave. i know not whether france will ever demand his dust, to give it sepulture under the dome of the invalides; but he has already on the banks of the seine the grandest of monuments--_paris_. his memory stands fair and firm in stately buildings and massive bridges, and is renewed every year in the plane tree of noble boulevards, those green _longas vias_, grander than the military highways of the caesars. in the prince of wales fell grievously ill, with the same fearful malady that had deprived him of his father. intense was the anxiety not only of the royal family, but of all the english people the world over. soon the sympathy of other nations was aroused, and prayers began to ascend to heaven for the preservation of that precious life, not only from all christian peoples, but from hebrews, mohammedans and buddhists; in heathen lands the missionaries prayed, and in heathen portions of christian cities the mission-children prayed, while on the high seas the sailors responded fervently when the captain. read in the service the "prayer for the sick," meaning their prince, "sick unto death." the fine old boast of england's power, that "her morning drum beats round the world," how poor it seems beside the thought, of this zone of prayer! there had been nothing like this in english history, and there was nothing like it in ours, till that heart-breaking time of the mortal illness of president garfield. o, worthy should be, the life and manifold the good works of that man for whom so many peoples and tongues have given surety to heaven by fervent intercessions and supplications. this long sad time of anxiety and peril drew the queen out of her sorrow as nothing had done before. she watched tenderly by the bedside of her son, and when he was recovered, and went to st. paul's to return thanks, she sat by his side, and wore a white flower in her bonnet, and her grateful smile showed that there was a rift in the cloud of her mourning, and that god's sunlight was striking through. lord ronald gower quotes a letter from his sister, the duchess of westminster, describing the prince and princess of wales as she saw them about this time. she said: "he is much thinner and his head shaved, but little changed in his face, and looking so grateful. she looks thin and worn, but so affectionate--tears in her eyes when talking of him, and his manner to her so gentle." surely convalescence is a "state of grace." would that it might always last a lifetime with us! during this year, irish disaffection broke out very seriously in the great fenian movement. an upheaval this, from the lowest stratum of society, with no gentlemen, or eloquent orators, for leaders, but all the more appalling for that. these rough, desperate men meant, as they said, "business." this movement <was suppressed, driven under the surface, but only to break out more appallingly than ever some ten or twelve years later, in brutal assassinations, which have curdled the blood of the world. ah, must it always be so? will this tiresome old celtic enceladus never lie quiet, and be dead, though the mountain sit upon him ever so solidly, and smoke ever so placidly above him? where now, we sadly ask, is the ireland of tom moore, father prout, lover and lever? not enough left of it to furnish a new drama for mr. boucicault. donnybrook fair has given place to midnight conspirations. fox-hunts to the stalking of landlords--all the jolly old customs extinct, except the "wake." peasant-life, over there, sometimes seems, at the best, one protracted "wake." i suppose it is too late now, yet i can but think that if the queen had built years ago, a palace in ireland, at killarney, or in lovely wicklow, or in dublin itself, and resided there a part of every year, things might have been better. she was so popular in that "distressful country" when, by frequent visits, she testified an interest in it, and her gentle, motherly presence might have had a more placating influence than any "coercion bill." the money she would have spent there,--the very crumbs that would have fallen from her table, would have been a benefaction to that poor people. the fenian drama had its ghastly closing _tableau_ in the hanging of the ringleaders, and the explosion at clerkenwell. the hanging of those fenians must have been about the last of that sort of a public entertainment, as a law was soon passed making all future executions strictly private. among a certain class of her majesty's subjects this was a most unpopular measure. pot-house politicians and gin-palace courtiers, both ladies and gentlemen, discussed it hotly and denounced it sternly, as an infringement on the sacred immemorial rights of british freemen and a blow to the british constitution. in mr. disraeli had become prime minister. he died in --lord beaconsfield, sincerely lamented by the queen, who was much attached to him as a friend, and greatly admired him as a man of genius. he was a brilliant novelist and a famous statesman; but the best things i know of him are the tender love and manly gratitude he always testified towards his devoted wife, and his pathetic mourning for her loss. he might have adopted for her tombstone the quaint, terse epitaph of an american husband--"think what a wife should be, and she was that." through his means, the title of "empress of india" was conferred on the queen by act of parliament. some english people opposed it as superfluous, a sort of anti-climax of dignity, as "gilding the refined gold" of english sovereignty with baser metal, as "painting the lily" of the noblest of english royal titles with india-ink; but it did no harm. it did not hurt the radicals and it pleased the rajahs. then came the zulu war, with its awful disasters in the inglorious slaughter of some thousands of gallant young soldiers, among which, because of the power of romantic, historic associations, the death of the young prince imperial stands out in woful relief. this was a severe personal shock to the queen. with all her tender sympathy she tried to console the inconsolable empress, and with her sons paid funeral honors to the memory of the prince, who had been almost as one of her family. the only time i ever saw him he was in their company, driving away from a royal garden-party. the prince of wales visited india, traveled and hunted extensively, was fêted after the most gorgeous oriental style, and brought home rich presents enough to set up a grand eastern bazaar in marlborough house, and animals enough to start a respectable menagerie. everywhere he went he inclined the hearts of the people to peace and loyalty, by his frank and genial ways. does his royal highness ever propose such a tour in ireland? he would not probably receive as tribute so much jewelry and gorgeous merchandise--so many tigers, pythons and other little things; but there is a fine chance for giving over there, and we read: "it is more blessed to give, than to receive." i come now to that period of our national history with which the queen of england so kindly, so "gently and humanly" associated herself--i mean the illness and death of president garfield. to this day, that association is a drop of sweetness in the bitter cup of our sorrow and humiliation. from the d of july, , the date of her first telegram of anxious inquiry addressed to our minister, to the th of the following september, when she telegraphed her tender solicitude as to the condition of "the late president's mother," not a week went by that she did not send to mr. lowell sympathetic messages, asking for the latest news--congratulating or condoling, as the state of "the world's patient" fluctuated between life and death--and when all was over, she at once telegraphed directly to mrs. garfield in these words of tenderest commiseration, so worthy of her great heart: "words cannot express the deep sympathy i feel with you at this terrible moment. may god support and comfort you as he alone can." she afterwards sent an autograph letter to mrs. garfield, and also asked for a photograph of the president. no american who was in london at that time, especially on the day of or president's funeral, so universally observed throughout great britain, can ever forget the generous, whole-souled sympathy of the english people, in part at least, inspired by the words 'and acts of the english queen. the intense interest with which she had watched that melancholy struggle between "the two angels," over that distant death-bed, and the grief with which she beheld the issue were known and responded to, and so the noble contagion spread. it was not needed, perhaps, that signs of mourning should be shown in her palace windows, to have them appear as they did, all over the vast city, but it was something strange and affecting to see those blinds of a proud royal abode lowered out of respect for the memory of a republican ruler, and sympathy for an untitled "sister-widow." we respected all those signs of mourning about us then--were grateful for them all, from the flag at half-mast and the tolling bell, to the closing of the shop of the small tradesman, and the bit of crape on the whip of the cabman. chapter xxx. my reasons for honoring the queen--anecdotes--some democratic reflections upon the queen's position and her subjects' loyalty--the royal children-- last words. my reasons for admiring and honoring queen victoria are, perhaps, amply revealed in this little book, but i will briefly recapitulate them: first, is her great power of loving, and tenacity in holding on to love. next is her loyalty--that quality which makes her stand steadfastly by those she loves, through good and evil report, arid not afraid to do honor to a dead friend, be he prince or peasant--that quality which in her lofty position, makes her friendship for the unfortunate exile "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." next i place her sincerity, her downright honesty, which makes falsehood and duplicity in those she has to do with, something to be wondered over as well as scorned. next, is her courage, so abundantly shown in the many instances in which her life has been menaced. i do not believe that a braver woman lives than queen victoria. i admire her also for the respect and delicate consideration which she has always had for the royalty of intellect, for the pride and sensitiveness of genius. this peculiarity dates far back to when, as the young princess victoria, she timidly asked that such men as the poets moore and rogers, and the actors charles kemble and macready might be presented to her. thomas campbell used to relate an incident showing what charming compliments she knew how to pay to poets. wishing to witness the coronation, he wrote to the earl marshal, saying: "there is a place in the abbey called 'the poets' corner,' which suggests the possibility of there being room in it for living poets also." this brought him a ticket of admission. his admiration of the young queen's behavior was unbounded, and he says: "on returning home, i resolved out of pure esteem and veneration, to send her a copy of all say works. accordingly i had them, bound up and went personally with them to sir henry wheatley, who, when he understood my errand, told me that her majesty made it a rule to decline presents of this kind, as it placed her under obligations which were not pleasant to her. 'say to her majesty, sir henry,' i replied, 'that there is nothing which the queen can touch with her sceptre in any of her dominions which i covet; and i therefore entreat you to present them with my devotion as a subject.' but the next day they were returned. i hesitated to open the parcel, but on doing so i found to my inexpressible joy a note enclosed, desiring my autograph on them. having complied with this wish, i again transmitted the books to her majesty, and in the course of a day or two, received in return this elegant portrait engraving, with her majesty's autograph, as you see, below." the queen was the friend of charles kingsley, and of charles dickens, in his later days. in presenting the latter with her. book, "_leaves from a journal of our life in the highlands_" she spoke of herself as "the humblest of writers," and as almost ashamed to offer it, even with her priceless autograph, to "one of the greatest." mr. tennyson she delights to honor with her friendship. i have read a little story of her calling on him at his place, on the isle of wight. it seems he had not received due notice, or that, absorbed in writing, he had forgotten the hour. at all events, he was taken by surprise, and was obliged to run out to receive her majesty in his dressing-gown and slippers, and with his hair disheveled, as it had become in the fine frenzy of composition. just think of mr. tennyson with his hair more than usually disheveled! of course it was all right, as far as the queen was concerned,--but then the footmen! in her youth, the queen was very fond of the drama, and did honor to its representations, as we have seen. rachel used to show, with especial pride, a costly bracelet, within which was the inscription, "_victoria à rachel._" when the beautiful english actress, mrs. warner, was slowly dying of cancer, the queen, i am told, used to send daily one of her carriages to take her out for a drive--as the actress could not afford herself such a luxury. of americans distinguished for talent, her majesty has never failed to show, when in her power, a generous appreciation. as long ago as , she invited to buckingham palace, daniel webster and mrs. webster. to our great statesman--who miss mitford, at the time, said was "the grandest- looking man" she had ever beheld, and whom sydney smith called, more tersely than elegantly, "a steam-engine in breeches"--the queen was especially attentive, talking much with him; and he pronounced her "very intelligent." to longfellow, purest of poets and sweetest of spirits, she showed a respect which was almost homage; and i am told that in mr. lowell, she respects the poet and the scholar, even more than the minister. ah, he is one whose poetic genius, whose scholarship, keen wit, and, above all, exquisite humor, the prince-consort would have appreciated and delighted in. artists and men of letters have never been behindhand in tributes to the queen. every sculptor and painter to whom she has sat, has had the same story as gibson and leslie to tell of her kindness, taste and intelligence. miss fox, writing of landseer, says, "he deeply admires the queen's intellect, which he thinks superior to any woman's in europe. her memory is so remarkable that he has known her recall exact words of speeches, made years ago, which the speakers themselves had forgotten." that was saying too much, i think, when mrs. somerville, miss martineau, and elizabeth barrett were living, and working, in england. in the things pertaining to her station and vocation, victoria doubtless was, and is, superior to any woman in europe. the duke of wellington, who thought at fink that he could not get on with her, because he had "no small talk," finally enjoyed conversing with her on the most serious matters of state. sir archibald alison, in describing an evening with her and prince albert, says: "the queen took her full share in the conversation, and i could easily see, from her quickness of apprehension. and the questions she put to those around her, that she possessed uncommon talent, a great desire for information, and, in particular, great rapidity of thought--a faculty often possessed by persons of her rank, and arising not merely from natural ability, but from the habit of conversing with the first men of the age." ah, i wonder if her majesty has ever realized her blessed privilege in being able to converse freely with "the first men of the age"; to avow her interest in politics, which is history flowing by; in statesmanship, that cunning tapestry-work of empire, without fearing to be set down as "a strong-minded female out of her sphere." much has been told me of the queen's shrewdness and perspicacity. an english gentleman, who has opportunities of knowing much of her, lately said to me: "her majesty has an eagle-eye; she sees everything--sees everybody--sees through everybody." and this reminded me of a little anecdote, told me many years before, by an english fellow-traveler,--the story of a little informal interview, which amusingly revealed not only the queen's quickness of perception, but directness of character. my informant was a young gentleman of very artistic tastes--a passionate picture-lover. he had seen all the great paintings in the public galleries of london, and had a strong desire to see those of buckingham palace, which, that not being a show-house, are inaccessible to an ordinary connoisseur. fortune favored him at <last. he was the brother of a london carpet merchant, who had an order to put down new carpets in the state apartments of the palace; and so it chanced that the temptation came to my friend to put on a workman's blouse and thus enter the royal precincts, while the flag, indicating the presence of the august family, floated defiantly over the roof. so he effected an entrance, and, when once within the royal halls, dropped his assumed character and devoted himself to the pictures. it happened that he remained in one of the apartments after the workmen had left, and, while quite alone, the queen came tripping in, wearing a plain white morning-dress, and followed by two or three of her younger children, dressed with like simplicity. she approached the supposed workman and, said: "pray can you tell me when the new carpet will be put down in the privy council chamber?" and he, thinking he had no right to appear to recognize the queen under the circumstances, replied: "really, madam--i cannot tell--but i will enquire." "stay," she said abruptly, but not unkindly; "who are you? i perceive that you are not one of the workmen." mr. w----, blushing and stammering somewhat, yet made a clean breast of it, and told the simple truth. the queen seemed much amused with his _ruse_, and, for the sake of his love for art, forgave it; then added, smiling, "i knew, for all your dress, that you were a gentleman, because you did not address me as 'your majesty.' pray look at the pictures as long as you will. good-morning! come, chicks, we must go." i hear that a distinguished american friend has expressed a fear that i shall "idealize queen victoria." i do not think i have done so. i leave that to her english biographers and eulogists. in my researches, i have come upon curious things, in the way of pompous panegyric, which would have made minerva the wise, feel foolish, and which juno the superb, would have pronounced "a little too strong, really." i have not, it is true, pointed out faults--i have not been near enough to "the queen's most excellent majesty" to become acquainted with them. i presume she has them--i hope she has. i think all writers who deny her human weaknesses, or betray surprise at any exhibition of ordinary human feeling, pay the queen a very poor compliment. there is in england a good deal of exaggerated expression of loyalty. such words as "gracious" and "condescending" are habits and forms of speech. of the real sentiment of loyalty, i do not think there is an excess--at least not toward the queen. when her majesty gives way to natural emotion over the death of a friend, or over a great public calamity, i do not believe she likes to have the fact made a circumstance of. for instance, when that dreadful tragedy occurred in the victoria hall, at sunderland, when hundreds of children perished, by being trampled underfoot and suffocated, the court intelligence, which seemed to deepen the sadness in many minds, was that "her majesty was observed to weep on reading the account." this item went the rounds, and called forth such expressions of sympathy that one would have supposed that it was the august _mater patriæ_ at windsor, who had been bereaved, and not those poor distracted mothers at sunderland. why should the queen not weep over such a "massacre of the innocents," like any other good, sympathetic, motherly woman? she has not wept away all her tears for herself. i remember at the time of the death of lady augusta stanley, who had formerly been one of her majesty's maids of honor, much was said of the queen's sympathy with the dean. she attended the funeral, and afterwards, it is said, "led the widowed mourner into his desolate home." this act, so simple and sweet in a friend, was, i know, looked upon' by some as "condescension," in a sovereign; but how could one sorrowing human soul condescend to another--and that other arthur stanley? sorrow is as great a leveler as death. tears wash away all poor human distinctions. we also took the queen's sympathy with us, in our great national- bereavement, too much as though it were something quite super-royal, if not superhuman. it was the exquisite wording of those telegrams which touched, melted our hearts; but we should have been neither surprised, nor overcome. it was beautiful, but it was natural. _she_ could not have said less, or said it differently. it was very sweet of her to send that floral offering, known and dear to us all as "the queen's wreath," but she sacrificed no dignity in so doing, as her flowers were to lie on the coffin of the ruler of a great empire--a ruler who had been as much greater than an ordinary monarch as election is greater than accident. of course, as the queen is the most interesting personage in all england, the least little things connected with her have an interest which americans can hardly understand. in a handsome semi-official work called "a diary of royal events," i find gravely related the story of an osborne postman, who once lent the queen and prince albert his umbrella, and was told to call for it at the great house, when he received it back, and with it a five-pound note. i see nothing very note-worthy in this, except the fact, honorable to humanity, of a borrowed umbrella being promptly returned, the owner calling for it. the five-pound note, though, was an "event" to the postman. a few concluding words about the queen's children, who with many grandchildren "rise up to call her blessed." victoria, the crown princess of germany, is a fine-looking woman, with the same peculiarly german face, "round as an apple," which she had as a child. she is very clever, especially in art, and her character, formed under her father's hand, very noble. the prince of wales is a hard- working man in his way, which means in many ways, for the public benefit- -industrial, artistic, scientific and social. the people seem bent on making him true to his old saxon motto--"_ich dien_" (i serve). he is exceedingly popular, being very genial and affable--not jealous, it is said, of his dignity as a prince, but very jealous of his dignity as a gentleman--and that is right; for kings may come, and kings may go, but the fine type of the english gentleman goes on forever. no revolution can depose it; no commune can destroy it--it is proof against dynamite. a handsome man is the duke of edinburgh (prince alfred), who no longer follows the sea, but is settled down in england, with his wife, a daughter of the late czar, who testified by this alliance his wish to let crimean "by-gones be by-gones"--till the next time, at least. the duke resembles his father in his love for and cultivation of music. there does not seem to be any opening for him to play a part like that of alfred the great, but he can probably play the violin better than that monarch ever did. they drew another sort of a bow in those old days. the princess christian of schleswig-holstein (princess helena) is in appearance most like her mother, and perhaps in character and tastes, as she lives a life of quiet retirement, is a devoted wife and-mother, yet often giving her time and energies to a good work, or an artistic enterprise. she also is exceedingly fond of music and is an accomplished pianist. a passion for music belongs to this family by a double inheritance. even poor, old, blind george the third consoled himself at his organ, for the loss of an empire and the darkening of as world. the duke of connaught, whom we so pleasantly remember in america as prince arthur, is the soldier of the family--a real one, since he won his spars in egypt. he has something of the grave, gentle look of his father, and is much liked and respected. the princess louise (marchioness of lome) is a beautiful woman, but with a somewhat cold and proud expression, a veritable _grande dame_. she is remarkably clever and accomplished, especially in art--modeling admirably well--for a princess. prince leopold (duke of albany) is the scholar of the family-- intellectually and morally more like prince albert, it is said, than any of his brothers. i was once told by the eminent dr. james martineau, who had met and conversed with him, that he was a young man of a very thoughtful mind, high aims, and quite remarkable acquirements. as dr. martineau is not of _the_ church, being a unitarian divine, he cannot be suspected, in pronouncing such eulogies on the queen's darling son, of having an eye to preferment-of working for a "living." on the whole, her majesty's sons are a decided improvement on her six royal uncles, on the paternal side. we come now to the youngest, the darling and delight of her father, the little one who "stood and looked at him," when he lay ill, marveling at the mysterious change in his dear face;--the princess beatrice--as closely associated, as constantly with her mother as was the princess victoria with the duchess of kent. she also is accomplished and clever, nor appears in any way to "unbeseem the promise of her spring." she also has the love of music which marks her race. she was little more than a baby when her father went away, and her innocent wonder and questioning must often have pierced her mother's wounded heart anew; and yet those little loving hands must have helped to draw that mother from the depths of gloom and despair in which she was so nearly engulfed. though the youngest of all, her father seems to have delegated to her much of his dearest earthly care, and she the good daughter, is, it may be, led by unseen hands, and inspired by unspoken words of counsel and acceptance. so, though the life of the princess beatrice is not abounding in the court gayeties and excitements which usually fall to the lot of a princess, "young, and so fair," none, can question its happiness, for it is a life of duty and devotion. * * * * * and now my little biography is finished--"would it were worthier!"--and i must take leave of my illustrious subject, "kissing hands" in imagination, with profound respect. if i back out of the presence, it is not in unrepublican abasement, but because i am loath to turn my eyes away, from the kindly and now familiar face of the good woman, and the good queen--victoria. the end. [the words between equals signs (=) appear in old english type in the original. a few typographical errors have been made; a list follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber.)] =kensington palace: the birthplace of the queen.= =illustrated.= [illustration: this miniature represents the queen at the age of eight] may th [illustration: h.r.h. the princess victoria at the age of four. (from a painting by denning.)] =kensington palace= the birthplace of the queen _illustrated_ being an historical guide to the state rooms, pictures, and gardens by =ernest law, b.a.= barrister-at-law _author of "the history of hampton court palace;" "the royal gallery of hampton court;" "vandyck's pictures at windsor castle," etc._ [illustration: colophon] _notice._--this catalogue and guide are copyright, and immediate proceedings in chancery will be taken against any infringers thereof. london george bell and sons [illustration: decoration] =notice to visitors.= the state rooms of kensington palace, and likewise queen anne's orangery, will be open to the public every day in the week throughout the year, except wednesdays, unless notice be, at any time, given to the contrary. the hours of opening will be o'clock in the morning on week days, and o'clock in the afternoon on sundays. the hours of closing will be o'clock in the evening from the st of april to the th of september, both days inclusive, and o'clock during the winter months. they will be closed on christmas day and good friday. [illustration: decoration] [illustration: kensington palace and gardens in the reign of queen anne.] [illustration: decoration] =contents.= page frontispiece. h.r.h. the princess victoria at the age of four notice to visitors _plate_--kensington palace and gardens in the reign of queen anne preface =historical sketch.= early history of kensington building of the palace deaths of queen mary and king william queen anne at kensington palace death of prince george of denmark death of queen anne george i. at kensington palace george ii. at kensington palace kensington in george iii.'s reign birth of queen victoria _plate_--the duchess of kent with princess victoria (aged two years) queen victoria's early years at kensington the queen's childhood at kensington palace _plate_--the princess victoria in princess victoria becomes heiress to the throne queen victoria's accession queen victoria's first council kensington palace in recent years restoration of the state rooms methods of restoration arrangement of the pictures associations with queen victoria =descriptive and historical guide.= old kensington palace gardens queen anne's gardens queen anne's orangery terrace of queen anne's orangery exterior of queen anne's orangery interior of queen anne's orangery the alcoves of queen anne's orangery restoration of queen anne's orangery kensington gardens queen caroline's improvements in kensington gardens kensington gardens in the nineteenth century _plate_--south front of kensington palace in --after westall south front of the palace wren's domestic style east front of the palace _plate_--plan of the state rooms public entrance to the palace queen's staircase old oak wainscoting of the staircase window sashes of the staircase queen mary's gallery wainscoting and carvings of queen mary's gallery pictures in queen mary's gallery. portraits of the time of william and mary to george ii queen's closet pictures of "old london" queen anne's private dining room pictures in queen anne's private dining room queen mary's privy chamber pictures in queen mary's privy chamber queen caroline's drawing room painted ceiling of the queen's drawing room contemporary french and german portraits the cupola or cube room the painted ceiling of the cube room _plate_--the cupola or cube room as it was when the queen was baptized in it painted walls of the cube room general appearance of the cupola room king's drawing room painted ceiling of the king's drawing room william kent, the royal and fashionable decorator _plate_--king's drawing room kent the father of modern gardening west's pictures in the king's drawing room king's privy chamber portraits of george iii.'s time the nursery pictures and prints illustrative of the queen's life and reign ante-room prints illustrative of the life and reign of the queen queen victoria's bedroom prints of the life and reign of the queen mementoes and relics of the queen's childhood collected in "queen victoria's bedroom" king's gallery decorative carvings in the "king's gallery" chimney-piece, map and dial _plate_--the king's gallery painting of the ceiling and wainscot of the king's gallery naval pictures in the king's gallery king's grand staircase kent's alterations in the king's grand staircase _plate_--the king's grand staircase painted walls of the king's grand staircase painted ceiling of the king's grand staircase presence chamber painted ceiling of the presence chamber ceremonial pictures of queen victoria's reign [illustration: decoration] [illustration: decoration] =preface.= the following pages, compiled under the sanction of the lord chamberlain of her majesty's household and the first commissioner of her majesty's works and buildings, are intended to meet the requirements of visitors to the state rooms of kensington palace, now open by command of the queen to the inspection of the public during her majesty's pleasure. this little book, therefore, is to be understood as aiming only at a descriptive and historical account of the particular parts of the building on view--not, in any sense, as attempting a general history of the palace. nevertheless, the author may, perhaps, be permitted to say that, as far as his object extends, he has endeavoured to render the information here given as accurate and complete as possible, by devoting the same amount of time and labour to research and verification, as though he had been writing a book of a critical nature for a restricted circle of readers, instead of a mere handbook for ordinary sightseers. in this way, the writer conceives, can he best promote the object which, it may be assumed, the queen and her majesty's government have had in view in restoring and opening these state rooms to the public--namely, that they should serve as an object-lesson in history and art, and a refining influence of popular culture and education. in pursuance of this design the author has had recourse not only to such well-known standard authorities on his subject as pyne's "history of royal residences," ; faulkner's "history of kensington," ; leigh hunt's "old court suburb," ; and mr. loftie's "kensington--picturesque and historical," ; but also to a large number of earlier and less known historical and topographical works, which have served to illustrate many things connected with the history of this interesting old building. his main sources of information, however, have been the old manuscripts, parchment rolls, and state papers, preserved in the british museum and record office--especially the "declared accounts" and "treasury papers," containing the original estimates, accounts and reports of sir christopher wren and his successors, relating to the works and buildings at kensington. none of these have ever before been examined or published; and they throw much light on the art and decoration of this palace, while also, for the first time, setting at rest many hitherto debatable points. the author must here once again--as in works of a similar nature elsewhere--express his obligations for the kind assistance he has received from all those who have charge of the queen's palaces--the hon. sir spencer ponsonby fane, g.c.b., comptroller of her majesty's household; the hon. reginald brett, c.b., secretary of her majesty's board of works and buildings; sir john taylor, k.c.b., consulting architect and surveyor to the board; and mr. philip, clerk of the works at kensington palace. at the same time he wishes to make it clear that for the information contained herein, and for the opinions and views expressed, he himself is alone responsible. here also the author must make his acknowledgments to the editor of "the gentlewoman," who has kindly lent him the blocks for the portraits of the queen. it may be as well to take this opportunity of emphasizing what is more fully insisted on in subsequent pages, that kensington palace, as a public resort, is not to be considered in the light of an art gallery, but as a palace with historical pictures in it. the clear understanding of this may prevent misapprehension as to the scheme followed in restoring the state rooms to their original state, where the pictures--and their frames--are arranged on the walls as a part only of their furniture and decoration. finally, it may be observed that though the outline of the history of the palace, prefixed to the description of the state rooms, has necessarily been brief, the queen's early life, and the interesting events that took place here in june , seemed to require a fuller treatment. these, therefore, have been described in detail, mainly in the words of eye-witnesses, which, though they have often been printed before, may, being repeated here, acquire--the compiler has thought--a new vividness and interest, when read on the very spot where they were enacted; and thus insure for these famous scenes an even wider popularity than before. [illustration: decoration] [illustration: decoration] historical sketch. =early history of kensington.= kensington palace, built by william and mary, occupied by queen anne as one of her favourite residences, enlarged by george i. and greatly appreciated by george ii. and his queen, caroline, has received a greater renown and more interesting associations from having been the birthplace and early home of queen victoria. in celebration of the eightieth anniversary of that ever-memorable and auspicious event, her majesty decided on opening the state apartments free to the public on the th of may, , during her majesty's pleasure. before recapitulating the events of the queen's early life here, we must give a brief outline of the history of the palace since it became a royal residence. the original building, of which it is probable that a good deal still stands, was erected mainly by sir heneage finch, lord chancellor and earl of nottingham, who acquired the estate, including some hundred and fifty acres of meadow and park--now kensington gardens--from his brother sir john finch. hence it was known as nottingham house; and under that title it was bought from daniel finch, the second earl, for the sum of , guineas, in the summer or autumn of , by king william iii., who was anxious to have a convenient residence near enough to whitehall for the transaction of business, and yet sufficiently far to be out of the smoky atmosphere, in which he found it impossible to breathe. the king, assisted by his queen, at once set about enlarging and embellishing the mansion, and laying out new gardens. =building of the palace.= the works seem to have been begun on or very soon after the st of october, . we learn this from the enrolled account of "thomas lloyd, paymaster of their majesties workes and buildinges," made up from "paybookes subscribed with the handes of sir christopher wren, knight surveyor of the workes; william talman, comptroller; john oliver, master mason; and matthew bankes, master carpenter, and with the hand of nicolas hawkesmore, clerke of the said workes, according to the ancient usual and due course of the office of their majesties workes." in the second week of november a news-letter informs us that the new apartment, then being built, "suddenly fell flat to the ground, killing seven or eight workmen and labourers. the queen had been in that apartment but a little while before." by february th, , they were sufficiently advanced for evelyn to record in his diary: "i went to kensington, which king william has bought of lord nottingham, and altered, but was yet a patched building, but with the garden, it is a very sweete villa, having to it the park, and a straight new way through this park." the making of this new road cost just about £ , . building operations were continued during the king's absence in ireland; and the day before the news of the battle of the boyne reached queen mary she spent a few quiet hours in the gardens here, writing the same evening, july th, to william: "the place made me think how happy i was there when i had your dear company." until his return she continued to overlook the building, and on august th following, writes again as to the progress of the building: "the outside of the house is fiddling work, which takes up more time than can be imagined; and while the _schafolds_ are up, the windows must be boarded up, but as soon as that is done, your own apartment may be furnished." and a week after: "i have been this day to kensington, which looks really very well, at least to a poor body like me, who have been so long condemned to this place (whitehall) and see nothing but water and wall." the work of improving kensington house continued for another year or more, costing during this period £ , . it was, however, far from finished, when, in november, , a serious fire occurred, necessitating re-building at a cost of upwards of £ , . from the year to another £ , was spent in further "altering the old house," and in additional works of decoration in the galleries and other rooms--details as to which will be given in our description of those apartments. extensive alterations and improvements were also in progress at the same time in the gardens, which at this period were confined to the ground east and south of the palace, as to which we shall refer again. =deaths of queen mary and king william.= ere the work, however, was completed, queen mary was taken ill at kensington with small pox in december, . on learning the nature of her illness she locked herself in her closet, burned some papers, and calmly awaited her fate, which quickly came a few days after, the th of december. evelyn visited kensington again in , and speaks of it then as "noble but not greate," commending especially the king's gallery, which was then filled with the finest pictures in the royal collection, "a greate collection of porcelain, and a pretty private library. the gardens about it very delicious." peter the great's visit to william iii. in this same gallery is referred to in our description of it below. the next event of moment is william iii.'s own death at kensington palace, after his accident in hampton court park. "je tirs vers ma fin," said he to albemarle, who had hurried from holland to his master's bedside; and to his physician: "i know that you have done all that skill and learning could do for me; but the case is beyond your art, i must submit." "can this," he said soon after, "last long?" he was told that the end was approaching. he swallowed a cordial, and asked for bentinck. those were his last articulate words. "bentinck instantly came to the bedside, bent down, and placed his ear close to the king's mouth. the lips of the dying man moved, but nothing could be heard. the king took the hand of his earliest friend and pressed it tenderly to his heart. in that moment, no doubt, all that had cast a slight passing cloud over their long pure friendship was forgotten. it was now between seven and eight in the morning. he closed his eyes, and gasped for breath. the bishops knelt down and read the commendatory prayer. when it ended william was no more. when his remains were laid out, it was found that he wore next to his skin a small piece of black silk ribbon. the lords in waiting ordered it to be taken off. it contained a gold ring and a lock of the hair of mary." =queen anne at kensington palace.= fond as william and mary had been of kensington, queen anne was even more attached to it still;--and it became her usual residence whenever it was necessary for her to be near the great offices of state. she seems to have remained satisfied with the palace as it had been finished by her predecessors, except for the addition of one or two small rooms "in the little court behind the gallery," perhaps because king william bequeathed to her a debt of upwards of £ , for his buildings at kensington. she devoted, however, a great deal of care and expense to the improving and enlarging of the palace gardens--as to which we shall have more to say when we come to describe them. queen anne, indeed, was, in this respect, thoroughly english. she loved her plants and flowers, and would spend hours pottering about her gardens at kensington. the appearance of her gardens will best be seen from our reduced facsimile of kip's large engraving, published about in his "britannia illustrata." in the right distance is seen that most beautiful building called the "orangery" or green-house, erected by her orders--which we shall fully describe on a subsequent page. besides enlarging the gardens round about the palace, queen anne greatly extended the area of the park-like enclosed grounds attached to kensington palace. mr. loftie has declared that "neither queen anne nor queen caroline took an acre from hyde park." but this we have found not to be the fact. in an old report on the "state of the royal gardens and plantations at ladyday, ," among the treasury papers in the record office, there is a distinct reference to "the paddock joyning to the gardens, _taken from hyde park in _, and stocked with fine deer and antelopes;" and again in another document, dated may th in the same year, being a memorial to the lord high treasurer from henry portman, ranger of hyde park, it is stated that "near acres had been enclosed from the park of kensington, whereby the profits he had by herbage were much reduced." later on, in george ii.'s reign, in , we find a grant of £ made to william, earl of essex, ranger of hyde park, "in consideration of loss of herbage of that part of the said park which is laid into his majesty's gardens at kensington." =death of prince george of denmark.= it was at kensington palace that anne's husband, prince george of denmark, at length succumbed, in , to a prolonged illness of gout and asthma. during his last sickness and death, anne had the "consolation" of the duchess of marlborough's "sympathy." her grace's deportment, according to an eye-witness, "while the prince was actually dying, was of such a nature that the queen, then in the height of her grief, was not able to bear it." she actually forced her way, as mistress of the robes, to the poor prince's deathbed, and only drew into the background when peremptorily ordered by the heart-broken wife to leave the room. after prince george had breathed his last, she stepped forward again, and when all the others had left, insisted on remaining with poor anne, who was "weeping and _clapping_ her hands together, and swaying herself backwards and forwards" in an agony of grief. the queen was at length induced to accede to the duchess's advice to leave "_that dismal body_" and remove to st. james's. two years later, in these very same state rooms of kensington palace took place the famous final interview between the queen and her whilom favourite, also subsequently noticed in our description of "queen anne's private dining room." =death of queen anne.= in the summer of the year queen anne was seized, at kensington palace, with apoplexy, brought on by political worries. she had been failing in health for some time; and on july th had an attack of blood to the head, while presiding at her cabinet council, and was carried in a dead faint to her bed. four days after, charles ford, an official of the government and a correspondent of swift, wrote: "i am just come from kensington, where i have spent these two days. at present the queen is alive, and better than could have been expected; her disorder began about eight or nine yesterday morning. the doctors ordered her head to be shaved; while it was being done, the queen fell into convulsions, or, as they say, a fit of apoplexy, which lasted two hours, during which she showed but little sign of life." at six in the evening of the same day, another anxious watcher within the palace walls, says miss strickland, wrote to swift: "at the time i am writing, the breath is _said_ to be in the queen's nostrils, but that is all. no hopes of her recovery,"--and in effect she breathed her last the following day, in the fiftieth year of her age. "her life would have lasted longer," wrote roger coke, in his "detection," "if she had not eaten so much.... she supped too much chocolate, and died monstrously fat; insomuch that the coffin wherein her remains were deposited was almost square, and was bigger than that of the prince, her husband, who was known to be a fat, bulky man." =george i. at kensington palace.= the day after the death of queen anne, king george was proclaimed her successor; and soon after his accession he entered into possession of kensington palace. taking, on his part, also, a fancy to the place, he decided, about the year , to erect a new and additional suite of state rooms, the building of which was intrusted to william kent, as we shall fully explain in our description of the new state rooms constructed by him. otherwise, we hear scarcely anything of george i. in connection with kensington. he lived here, indeed, in the greatest seclusion with his german favourites, and was scarcely ever seen, even in the gardens, which in his reign first became the fashionable promenade, where, in the words of tickell, who wrote a poem on the subject, in imitation of pope's "rape of the lock"-- "the dames of britain oft in crowds repair to groves and lawns, and unpolluted air, here, while the town in damps and darkness lies, they breathe in sunshine, and see azure skies." =george ii. at kensington palace.= in the reign of george ii. kensington became more than ever the favourite residence of the court, and much insight into life within the walls of the palace at this time is afforded us by such books as lady suffolk's "memoirs," lady sundon's "letters," walpole's "reminiscences," and, above all, of course, by lord hervey's "memoirs." here is a malignant little sketch drawn by that treacherous, satiric hand: "his majesty stayed about five minutes in the gallery; snubbed the queen, who was drinking chocolate, for being always 'stuffing;' the princess emily for not hearing him; the princess caroline for being grown fat; the duke of cumberland for standing awkwardly; lord hervey for not knowing what relation the prince of sultzbach was to the elector palatine; and then carried the queen to walk, and be re-snubbed, in the garden." it was the princess emily just mentioned who played a practical joke one evening at kensington on lady deloraine, by drawing her chair from under her just as she was going to sit down to cards, thus sending her sprawling on the floor. the king burst out laughing, and, to revenge herself, lady deloraine played his august majesty the same trick soon after, which not unnaturally led to her being forbidden the court for some time. although queen caroline had to put up with a good deal of snubbing, she managed, at the same time, usually to get her own way. she was very fond of art; and it was she who discovered, stowed away in a drawer at kensington palace, the famous series of holbein's drawings. these she had brought out, and she arranged all the pictures in the state rooms according to her liking. her substituting good pictures for bad in the great drawing-room during one of the king's absences in hanover, led to the famous and oft-quoted scene between lord hervey and his majesty, who, nevertheless, did not interfere with the queen's alterations. caroline was also devoted to the then fashionable craze of gardening, and was continually planning and altering at kensington. it was at her instance--as we shall see presently in greater detail--that the large extent of land, formerly the park of old nottingham house, and also a portion of hyde park, was laid out, planted, and improved into what we now know as "kensington gardens." queen caroline died in , while george ii. survived her twenty-three years, expiring at kensington palace on the morning of the th of october, , at the age of seventy-eight. his end was extremely sudden. he appeared to be in his usual health, when a heavy fall was heard in his dressing-room after breakfast. the attendants hurried in, to find the king lying on the floor, with his head cut open by falling against a bureau. the right ventricle of his heart had burst. =kensington in george iii.'s reign.= george ii. was the last sovereign to occupy kensington palace, which thenceforth, during the long reign of george iii., was left almost entirely neglected and deserted. several members of the royal family, however, occupied, at various periods, suites of apartments in the palace. among others, caroline of brunswick, when princess of wales, lived for a short time here with her mother. her behaviour greatly scandalized the sober-minded inhabitants of the old court suburb. "she kept a sort of open house, receiving visitors in a dressing-gown, and sitting and talking about herself with strangers, on the benches in the garden, at the risk of being discovered." another but more worthy occupant of the palace in george iii.'s reign was our present queen's uncle, the duke of sussex, who collected a magnificent library here of nearly fifty thousand volumes, which he spent the last years of his life in arranging and cataloguing. destined, however, to invest kensington palace with associations and memories far transcending any that have gone before, was the advent here of the duke and duchess of kent, seven months after their marriage. they occupied most of the old state rooms on the first and second floors of the easternmost portion of the palace. three lives then stood between the duke and the throne, and little could the newly-married pair have imagined that from their union would spring the future queen and empress of such a vast and mighty empire as now owns the sway of their first and only child. =birth of queen victoria.= the queen was born on the th of may, , at a quarter past four in the morning. "some doubt," says mr. loftie, "has been thrown on the identification of the room in which the future queen was born; but the late lamented dr. merriman, whose father attended the duchess, had no doubt that a spacious chamber, which has been marked with a brass plate, was that in which the happy event took place." this room, which is on the first floor, exactly under the "king's privy chamber"--the state rooms being on the second floor--has a low ceiling, and three windows, facing east, looking into the "private gardens." it has been identified by the queen as the one her majesty was always told she was born in. the brass plate, put up at the time of the first jubilee, in , states: _in this room queen victoria was born, may th, _. [illustration: the duchess of kent with princess victoria (aged two years). (after a picture by sir william beechey.)] faulkner, writing the year after the event, confirms this identification, insomuch that he says: "_the lower apartments_ in the south-east part of the palace, beneath the king's gallery, have been for some years occupied by his royal highness the duke of kent, whose premature decease--eight months after the birth of his daughter--this nation has so recently and deeply lamented; and they are still the residence of her royal highness the duchess." this is how the event was noticed in the "memoirs" of baron stockmar: "a pretty little princess, plump as a partridge, was born. the duke of kent was delighted with his child, and liked to show her constantly to his companions and intimate friends with the words: 'take care of her, for she will be queen of england.'" an interesting letter of the duke of kent's, written a few weeks after to his chaplain, dr. thomas prince, who had addressed a letter of congratulation to him while, at the same time, somewhat condoling with him that a daughter and not a son had been born to him, was published in the "times" at the time of the jubilee of . in it the duke remarked: "as to the circumstance of that child not proving to be a son instead of a daughter, i feel it due to myself to declare that such sentiments are not in unison with my own; for i am decidedly of opinion that the decrees of providence are at all times wisest and best." =queen victoria's early years at kensington.= the next reference we have found to the future queen, is in a letter, written on st of july, , when, consequently, her majesty was a little more than a year old, by mr. wilberforce, who mentions being received at kensington palace by the duchess of kent that morning. "she received me with her fine animated child on the floor, by her side, with its playthings, of which i soon became one." most of the future queen's early years were passed at kensington palace in great privacy and retirement. she was often seen, however, in kensington gardens, her constant companion in her walks being miss, afterwards baroness lehzen. leigh hunt, referring to this period, mentions in his "old court suburb," having seen her "coming up a cross path from the bayswater gate, with a girl of her own age by her side"--probably the princess feodore, her beloved half-sister and constant companion of her girlhood--"whose hand she was holding, as if she loved her.... a magnificent footman in scarlet came behind her." the youthful princess was sometimes driven in a goat or donkey carriage in the park and gardens, and, as she grew older, in a small phæton, drawn by two diminutive ponies. the following gives a little glimpse of our queen at this early period of her life: "a party consisting of several ladies, a young child, and two men servants, having in charge a donkey gaily caparisoned with blue ribbons, and accoutered for the use of the infant ... who skipped along between her mother and sister, the princess feodore, holding a hand of each." =the queen's childhood at kensington palace.= in further illustration of the queen's life as a little girl with her mother at kensington palace, we cannot do better than quote what mr. holmes, writing with authority as the queen's librarian at windsor castle, tells us in his interesting work, "queen victoria," which, as he remarks, presents for the first time an accurate account of the childhood of the queen. "during these early years, and before a regular course of studies had been attempted, the family life at the palace was simple and regular. breakfast was served in summer at eight o'clock, the princess victoria having her bread and milk and fruit on a little table by her mother's side. after breakfast the princess feodore studied with her governess, miss lehzen, and the princess victoria went out for a walk or drive. it has been repeatedly said that at this time she was instructed by her mother; but this is not the case, as the duchess never gave her daughter any lessons. at two there was a plain dinner, when the duchess had her luncheon. in the afternoon was the usual walk or drive. at the time of her mother's dinner the princess had her supper laid at her side. at nine she was accustomed to retire to her bed, which was placed close to her mother's...." [illustration: the princess victoria in . (after a picture by g. fowler.)] "it was not till the princess had entered her fifth year that she began to receive any regular instruction.... in this determination not to force her daughter's mind, the duchess of kent acted on the counsel of her mother, who had advised her 'not to tease her little puss with learning while she was so young.' the advice was justified by results, for the princess made rapid progress." the earl of albemarle, who was in attendance on the duke of sussex at kensington, thus describes in his "recollections" the appearance of the princess when seven years old: "one of my occupations on a morning, while waiting for the duke, was to watch from the window the movements of a bright, pretty little girl, seven years of age. she was in the habit of watering the plants immediately under the window. it was amusing to see how impartially she divided the contents of the watering pot between the flowers and her own little feet. her simple but becoming dress contrasted favourably with the gorgeous apparel now worn by the little damsels of the rising generation--a large straw hat and a suit of white cotton; a coloured _fichu_ round the neck was the only ornament she wore." her education was now conducted on a regular system. writing, arithmetic, singing lessons, dancing lessons by madam bourdin, "to whose teaching may be due in some measure the grace of gesture and dignity of bearing which have always distinguished her majesty," drawing, and the french language. "german was not allowed to be spoken; english was always insisted upon, though a knowledge of the german language was imparted by m. barez. the lessons, however, which were most enjoyed were those in riding, which has always been since one of the queen's greatest pleasures." =princess victoria becomes heiress to the throne.= the death of the duke of york, and the remote probability of the duke and duchess of clarence having any offspring, drew increasing attention to the movements of the duchess of kent and her daughter. "many stories are current," continues mr. holmes, "of the behaviour and appearance of the young princess. the simplicity of her tastes was particularly noticed and admired. it was this simplicity of living and careful training in home life, which endeared not only the princess, but her mother also, to the hearts of the whole nation." charles knight, as well as leigh hunt, whom we have already quoted, has recorded the pleasing impression made upon him by the young princess. in his "passages of a working life" he says: "i delighted to walk in kensington gardens. as i passed along the broad central walk, i saw a group on the lawn before the palace.... the duchess of kent and her daughter, whose years then numbered nine, were breakfasting in the open air.... what a beautiful characteristic, it seemed to me, of the training of this royal girl, that she should not have been taught to shrink from the public eye; that she should not have been burdened with a premature conception of her probable high destiny; that she should enjoy the freedom and simplicity of a child's nature; that she should not be restrained when she starts up from the breakfast table and runs to gather a flower in the adjoining pasture; that her merry laugh should be fearless as the notes of the thrush in the groves around her. i passed on and blessed her; and i thank god that i have lived to see the golden fruits of such a training." the queen was just on the eve of her ninth birthday when, on may th, , sir walter scott dined at kensington palace with the duchess of kent. he records in his diary: "i was very kindly received by prince leopold, and presented to the little princess victoria, the heir-apparent to the crown, as things stand.... this little lady is educated with much care, and watched so closely, that no busy maid has a moment to whisper, 'you are heir of england.' i suspect, if we could dissect the little heart, we should find some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter." sir walter's surmise, mr. holmes informs us, was not altogether without foundation; and two years later, when, by the death of her uncle, george iv., only the life of william iv. stood between her and the throne, she was formally made acquainted with her position. "the early part of the year was passed at kensington. there the course of study was kept up as before, but the princess now went out more into society and was seen more in public.... the princess's amusements were her pets, and her walks and drives, and during the spring and summer she much enjoyed riding." it was at kensington, in the summer of , that the queen first saw her future husband. the prince in his diary recorded that his aunt, the duchess of kent, "gave a brilliant ball here at kensington palace, at which the gentlemen appeared in uniform and the ladies in so-called fancy dresses. we remained until four o'clock.... dear aunt is very kind to us, and does everything she can to please us, and our cousin also is very amiable." the princess victoria was at kensington when she attained her majority, on the th of may, . she was awakened by a serenade; she received many presents, and the day was kept as a general holiday at kensington. =queen victoria's accession.= less than a month after, king william iv. died at windsor at twelve minutes past two on the morning of june th. as soon as possible the archbishop of canterbury, with lord conyngham (the lord chamberlain), started to convey the news to kensington, where they arrived at five o'clock in the morning. "they knocked, they rang, they thumped," says "the diary of a lady of quality," "for a considerable time before they could rouse the porter at the gate; they were again kept waiting in the courtyard; they hurried into one of the lower rooms, where they seemed forgotten by everybody. they rang the bell, desired that the attendant of the princess victoria might be sent to inform her royal highness that they requested an audience on business of importance. after another delay, and another ringing to inquire the cause, the attendant was summoned, who stated that the princess was in such a sweet sleep, she could not venture to disturb her. then they said, 'we are come to the _queen_ on business of state, and her sleep must give way to that.'" "in a few minutes she came into the room," says mr. holmes, "a shawl thrown over her dressing-gown, her feet in slippers, and her hair falling down her back. she had been awakened by the duchess of kent, who told her majesty she must get up; she went alone into the room where lord conyngham and the archbishop were waiting. the lord chamberlain then knelt down, and presented a paper, announcing the death of her uncle, to the queen; and the archbishop said he had come by desire of queen adelaide, who thought the queen would like to hear in what a peaceful state the king had been at the last." =queen victoria's first council.= at nine o'clock the prime minister was received in audience alone; and soon afterwards an informal gathering of privy councillors, including the queen's uncle, the duke of sussex, the duke of wellington, and a dozen or so of ministers, prelates, and officials, was held in the anteroom to the council chamber, when an address of fealty and homage was read aloud and signed by those present. after this the doors were opened, "disclosing"--to quote the words of mr. barrett lennard, now the sole survivor of the scene, except the queen herself--"a large state saloon, close to whose threshold there stood unattended a small, slight, fair-complexioned young lady, apparently fifteen years of age. she was attired in a close-fitting dress of black silk, her light hair parted and drawn from her forehead; she wore no ornament whatever on her dress or person. the duke of sussex advanced, embraced and kissed her--his niece the queen. lord melbourne and others kissed hands in the usual form, and the usher taking the address, closed the doors, and the queen disappeared from our gaze. no word was uttered by her majesty or by any present, and no sound broke the silence, which seemed to me to add to the impressive solemnity of the scene." the room where this took place is low and rather dark and gloomy, with pillars in it, supporting the floor of the "cube room" above. the subsequent meeting of the queen's first council, which took place at eleven o'clock, is familiar to everyone from wilkie's well-known picture--"though, at the expense of truth he has emphasized the principal figure by painting her in a white dress instead of the black which was actually worn." her majesty was introduced to the council chamber by her uncles, the dukes of cumberland and sussex, and at once took her seat on a chair at the head of the table. in describing this famous scene, it is useless to attempt anything beyond quoting once more--often as it has been quoted--the admirable account given by charles greville, clerk of the council: "never was anything like the first impression she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration which is raised about her manner and behaviour, and certainly not without justice. it was very extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for. her extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of the world concerning her, naturally excited intense curiosity to see how she would act on this trying occasion, and there was a considerable assemblage at the palace, notwithstanding the short notice which was given.... she bowed to the lords, took her seat, and then read her speech in a clear, distinct and audible voice, and without any appearance of fear or embarrassment. she was quite plainly dressed and in mourning. "after she had read her speech, and taken and signed the oath for the security of the church of scotland, the privy councillors were sworn, the two royal dukes (of cumberland and sussex) first, by themselves; and as these two old men, her uncles, knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand, i saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil and their natural relations, and this was the only sign of emotion she evinced. her manner to them was very graceful and engaging: she kissed them both, and rose from her chair and moved towards the duke of sussex, who was farthest from her and too infirm to reach her. she seemed rather bewildered at the multitude of men who were sworn, and who came one after the other to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to anybody, nor did she make the slightest difference in her manner, or show any in her countenance, to any individual of any rank, station or party. i particularly watched her when melbourne and the ministers and the duke of wellington and peel approached her. she went through the whole ceremony--occasionally looking at melbourne for instruction when she had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred--with perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same time with a graceful modesty and propriety particularly interesting and ingratiating. when the business was done she retired as she had entered. "peel said how amazed he was at her manner and behaviour, at her apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, and at the same time her firmness. she appeared, in fact, to be awed, but not daunted, and afterwards the duke of wellington told me the same thing, and added that if she had been his own daughter he could not have desired to see her perform her part better." this description of charles greville's, whose pen was given to anything but flattery, is confirmed by the testimony of many others present. earl grey wrote to princess lieven: "when called upon for the first time to appear before the privy council, and to take upon herself the awful duties with which at so early an age she has been so suddenly charged, there was in her appearance and demeanour a composure, a propriety, an _aplomb_, which were quite extraordinary. she never was in the least degree confused, embarrassed or hurried; read the declaration beautifully; went through the forms of business as if she had been accustomed to them all her life." lord palmerston says in a letter to lord granville: "the queen went through her task with great dignity and self-possession; one saw she felt much inward emotion, but it was fully controlled. her articulation was particularly good, her voice remarkably pleasing." next day, the st of june, at ten o'clock in the morning, her majesty was formally proclaimed queen of great britain and ireland at st. james's palace, when a salute was fired in the park, and she appeared at the window of the presence chamber, returning afterwards to kensington palace. on the th of july the queen, accompanied by her mother, the duchess of kent, took her final departure from the place of her birth and the home of her childhood. =kensington palace in recent years.= since the accession of the queen, kensington palace has had a quiet and uneventful history--though her majesty has frequently, in the course of her reign, privately revisited her old home, where the duchess of kent retained her rooms until her death in ; and where, soon after that date, princess mary and the duke of teck also came to reside for a period. here their daughter, princess may, now the duchess of york, was born in the state room called "the nursery," in . in the meanwhile, the apartments in the south-west corner of the palace, occupied by the duke of sussex until his death in , were afterwards tenanted by his widow, the duchess of inverness, who died in , when they were granted by the queen to princess louise and the marquis of lorne, who still reside in them. during all these sixty years the palace had been suffered gradually more and more to fall into a deplorable state of disrepair. the walls were bulging in many places, and merely remained standing by being shored up; the rafters of the roof were beginning to rot away, tiles and slates were broken and slipping off, so that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the rain and wind at bay. the floors, also, were everywhere deteriorating, the old panelled walls and painted ceilings of the grand reception rooms slowly, but surely, crumbling to decay. "more than once," said a leading article in "the times" of january th, , "it has been seriously proposed to pull the whole building down, and to deal otherwise with the land, and her majesty's subjects ought to be grateful to her for having strenuously resisted such an act of vandalism, and for having declared that, while she lived, the palace in which she was born should not be destroyed." =restoration of the state rooms.= the queen, it is believed, had long desired that her people's wish to be admitted to inspect the palace of her ancestors, and her own birthplace and early home, should be gratified; and it seemed a fitting memorial of the diamond jubilee that this should be done. an obdurate treasury, which, as we have hinted, had looked forward rather to demolition than restoration, was at length induced to recommend the expenditure necessary to prepare the state rooms for the admission of the public, and thus, on the th of january, , it was possible to make the following gratifying announcement in the press: "her majesty, in her desire to gratify the wishes of her people, has directed that the state rooms at kensington palace, in the central part of the building, which have been closed and unoccupied since , together with sir christopher wren's banqueting room, attached to the palace, shall after careful restoration be opened to the public, during her pleasure; and the government will forthwith submit to parliament an estimate of the cost of restoration." accordingly the board of works proceeded to prepare estimates and on march th following, the first commissioner, mr. akers douglas, m.p., submitted a vote of £ , for the purpose. by a unanimous vote of the house of commons on april st, the amount required was at once agreed to, and great gratification was on all sides expressed that so happy solution had at length been arrived at. forthwith, the restorations were put in hand--the most pressing repairs having, indeed, been begun in anticipation, previous to the passing of the vote--and for many months they consisted entirely in solid structural works, which scarcely seemed to affect the appearance of the building at all. it was found necessary to rebuild and underpin walls, to reslate practically the whole of the roof over the state apartments and renew the timbers that carried it; and also almost all the floors. after these heavy works, and those consequent on the installation of the hot-water warming apparatus, were completed, the more interesting, but much more difficult, business involved in the restoration of the old decorative ironwork, woodwork, and paintings of the state rooms was taken in hand. the more substantial but less salient work having been carried out, the decorative works were next proceeded with, under the constant supervision of sir john taylor, k.c.b., consulting architect and surveyor to h.m.'s board of works, and the continual and immediate control of mr. philip, temporary clerk of the works for kensington palace. moreover, the hon. reginald brett, c.b., secretary of the board, to whose initiative the whole scheme of the restoration, we may say, has been mainly due, has given a constant close personal attention to everything that has been done. nor has any trouble, labour, or research been spared to render everything as historically and archæologically correct as possible. =methods of restoration.= the principles on which the restorations have been carried out will more fully appear, in the description we give in our subsequent pages, in regard to every detail of the work. here we need only say that the most studied care has been taken never to renew any decoration where it was possible to preserve it--least of all ever to attempt to "improve" old work into new. on the contrary, repairing, patching, mending, piecing, cleaning, have been the main occupations of the decorators, to an extent that would render some impatient, slapdash builders and surveyors frantic. yet it has been all this minute--though no doubt sometimes costly--attention to details, this laborious piecing together of old fragments, this reverential saving of original material and work, this almost-sentimental imitation of the old style and taste where patching in by modern hands was inevitable, which has produced a result and effect likely, we think, to arouse the admiration of all who relish the inimitable charm of antique time-mellowed work. never before, we may safely say, has the restoration of any historic public building been carried out with quite the same amount of loving care as has been lavished on kensington palace. the spirit has been rather that of a private owner reverentially restoring his ancestral home, than that of an ordinary public official, with an energy callous to all sentiment, sweeping away the old to replace it with a spick-and-span new building. this method of treatment has nowhere been applied more scrupulously, and we venture to think with greater success, than in the treatment of the old oak panelling and the beautiful carving, all of which had been covered over with numerous coats of paint, so long ago--we have discovered from the old accounts in the record office--as . in the cleaning off of these dirty incrustations, various processes have been resorted to, as they suited the nature of the work, and so thoroughly has this been done that the closest inspection would give us no inkling that any part, either of the flat surface or of the most delicate carving, had ever been painted at all. equal pains were taken in finishing the surface with oil and wax polish--no stain whatever being used on the panelling, doors or cornices--so that the real true colour of the wood is seen, varying only with its natural variation, and exhibiting all its richness of tone, and its fullness of grain. it makes one almost glad it should have suffered so many years of long neglect--that when at last it has been taken in hand, it should have been done when the historical significance and the technical and artistic value of such things are more truly appreciated than formerly. there can be little doubt that if an early nineteenth century upholsterer had got hold of this palace, most of the beautiful old work would have been cleared out to make way for vulgar plaster-work of white and gold. substantially the same principles have been followed in the cleaning and restoration of the painted walls and ceilings, which work has been executed with the utmost sympathy for the old work, and the most careful efforts to preserve it. there has not been a touch of paint applied except to make good portions absolutely destroyed, so that these ceilings--whatever their merits or demerits--remain exactly as they were when first completed, save for the more subdued and modulated tone they have taken on from the softening hand of time. =arrangement of the pictures.= a word should now be said about the pictures, which have been brought from various royal residences to furnish these state apartments, and to illustrate the history of this palace. the bulk of them have come from hampton court, and a large number are pieces which were removed when the state rooms were dismantled by george iv. and william iv., from the very walls where they now once again hang. their return here from hampton court, in the overcrowded galleries of which it has been impossible ever properly to display them, has been a most auspicious thing for that palace, and has rendered feasible many long-desired rearrangements and improvements. in selecting the pictures which seemed most suitable for hanging at kensington, the principle has been followed of restricting them almost entirely to portraits and historical compositions belonging to the epoch with which the palace is connected--the reigns of william and mary, queen anne, and the georges, and, finally, of course that of queen victoria. in the carrying out of this plan an endeavour has been made to group the pictures together in the various apartments as far as possible according to the periods to which they belong--making separate collections, at the same time, of the curious topographical subjects relating to "old london," in the queen's closet; of the interesting series of georgian sea-pieces, sea-fights, and dockyards, in the king's gallery--where for the first time they may now at last be really seen and examined--and the ceremonial and other pictures, relating to the queen's reign, in the "presence chamber" and the actual rooms originally occupied by her majesty in her youth. having given these general indications as to the arrangements, it will not be necessary to do more than refer to our subsequent pages for the details of the scheme. nor need we dwell on what will at once be only too obvious to the connoisseur, that anyone who expects to behold in this palace a fine collection of choice works of art will certainly be disappointed. kneller and zeeman, paton and pocock, huggins and serres, west and beechey, are not exactly names to conjure with--nor even, indeed, scott, monamy, drouais, or hoppner, in their somewhat second-rate productions here. moreover, it is to be clearly understood, that it is not as an art gallery that these rooms are opened to the inspection of the public, but as a royal palace, with pictures hung in it illustrative of its history and associations, and as furniture to its walls. nevertheless, it is not high art only, nor great imaginative works, which can interest and instruct; and, historically, these bewigged, ponderous, puffy personages of the unromantic eighteenth century, whose portraits decorate these walls, are more in accord with their setting, than would be the finer, simpler, and nobler creations of the great epochs of art. =associations with queen victoria.= on the other hand, the victorian pictures, and the apartments in which they are arranged, stand apart on a different footing of their own. it is to the three small, plain and simple rooms, with their contents, in the south-eastern corner of the building, that all visitors to the palace will turn with the liveliest interest, and with the keenest, the most thrilling emotion. romance, and all the thoughts and feelings of tender, natural affection, which appear to have been smothered in the preceding century and a half of powder and gold-lace, seem to awaken and revive once more with the child born in this palace eighty years ago, in the little girl playing about in these rooms and in these gardens, in the youthful queen, who stepped forth from her simple chamber here to take possession of the greatest throne in the world! it is as the scene of such memorable events that kensington palace possesses, and will hereafter ever possess, abiding interests and engrossing charms altogether its own; and that it will ever inspire, among those who come to visit it, thoughts and memories moving and deep. and not to us only in these islands; not to us only of this age; but to thousands and thousands likewise across the seas; to countless millions yet unborn, will this ancient structure become, now and in the ages yet to be, a revered place of loving pilgrimage as the birthplace and early home of queen victoria. [illustration: decoration] [illustration: decoration] descriptive and historical guide. =old kensington palace gardens.= before making our way to the public entrance to the state rooms of the palace, let us take a glance at the history of the gardens lying round it, and the exterior of the building; and first as to the gardens on the east and south of the building. the whole ground here down to the highway was laid out quite early in the reign of william and mary; but its present uninteresting appearance gives us but little idea of how it looked at that time. we find from the old accounts that large sums, amounting to several thousands of pounds, were expended on garden works--for levelling, gravelling, and planting, all in the formal dutch style, with figured beds and clipped trees--and also much ornamental work, such as urns, stone vases, statues, and seats. there are, for instance, many items such as these: "to edward pearce for carving a chaire for the garden with a canopy of drapery, £ _s._; more for carving chairs and seats with dolphins, scollop shells, etc., and other works done about the said gardens, £ _s._ _d._--in both £ _s._ _d._" we have also a contemporary account of the gardens as formed by william and mary, in a "view of the gardens near london," dated december, : "kensington gardens are not great, nor abounding with fine plants. the orange, lemon, myrtle, and what other trees they had there in summer, were all removed to mr. london's and mr. wise's greenhouse at brompton park, a little mile from them. but the walks and grass laid very fine; and they were digging up a flat of four or five acres to enlarge the garden." the northern boundary of king william's gardens is marked by two piers of excellent red brickwork, evidently erected by wren at that time. they are surmounted by very fine vases of carved portland stone; and are perhaps two of the "four great fflower-pots of portland stone, richly carved," for which, we find from the old bills, the statuary gabriel cibber, the father of colley cibber, was paid £ _s._ between these piers, which stand feet apart, there was probably, in old days, a screen and gates of fine wrought iron. they stand at the south end of what was called "brazen face walk," and between them the visitor passes to the public entrance to the palace. the fencing in of this part of the gardens is perhaps referred to in the following entry belonging to the years - : "william wheatley for makeing and setting up pallizadoes and gates in and about the said palace--£ _s._ _d._" to the north of these piers lies the north-west corner of the now so-called "kensington gardens," where were formerly situated that part of the old gardens appurtenant to the palace, laid out by queen anne. the present bare uninteresting appearance of the ground round about is now entirely different from what it then was. [illustration: decoration] =queen anne's gardens.= bowack, in his "antiquities of middlesex," writing in the reign of queen anne, in , tells us of her improvements: "there is a noble collection of foreign plants and fine neat greens, which makes it pleasant all the year, and the contrivance, variety, and disposition of the whole is extremely pleasing, and so frugal have they been of the room they had, that there was not an inch but what is well improved, the whole with the house not being above twenty-six acres. her majesty has been pleased lately to plant near thirty acres more towards the north, separated from the rest by a stately green-house, not yet finished; upon this spot is near one hundred men daily at work, and so great is the progress they have made, that in less than nine months the whole is levelled, laid out, and planted, and when finished will be very fine. her majesty's gardener had the management of this." of queen anne's "stately green-house" we shall speak in a moment. addison, also, in no. of the "spectator," expatiated on the beauties of the gardens: "wise and london are our heroick poets; and if, as a critic, i may single out any passage of their works to commend, i shall take notice of that part in the upper garden, at kensington, which was at first nothing but a gravel pit. it must have been a fine genius for gardening, that could have thought of forming such an unsightly hollow into so beautiful an area, and to have hit the eye with so uncommon and agreeable a scene as that which it is now wrought into." the cost of these improvements amounted to several thousands of pounds--in levelling, planting, turfing, gravelling. the appearance of the east and south gardens in the reign of queen anne will, as we have already said, best be conveyed by kip's plate; the general plan of the new enclosed garden to the north, north-east, and north-west, by rocque's engraving, published in . from this we see that queen caroline, who embarked in so many gardening enterprises, left queen anne's new gardens substantially intact; though she made a clean sweep of all the old fantastic figured flower beds and formal walks of william iii.'s _parterres_ to the south and east of the palace; substituting therefor bare and blank expanses of lawn and wide gravel paths. during the reigns of george iii. and george iv. all the gardens were allowed to become more and more uncared for; and at last those to the north of the palace were destroyed altogether. the "old wilderness" and "old gravel pit" of queen anne and the early georges now exist no longer--converted by an insane utilitarianism partly into park land, the rest into meadow. the old gardens to the east, already flattened out and spoilt by queen caroline, now exist but in part; the small portion, which has not been covered with hideous forcing houses and frames, is, however, to a certain extent nicely shrubbed, and closed in by trees and hedges. the site of the old south gardens, curtailed now to a small enclosure, which retains little of the old english picturesque air, might with advantage, we think, be less stiff and bare. there is here little more than a clump or two of trees and shrubs, a wide gravel path, and two large vacant lawns, separated from the public walk by a wire fence, and between this and high street mere expanses of grass. fortunately, the devastating notions of the "landscape gardener" whose one idea was so to arrange the ground surrounding a house as to look as if it stood plump in the middle of a park--for all the world like a lunatic asylum--are not quite so much in favour as they were. the blankness and barrenness of all the ground between the south front and the street was even more painfully apparent in leigh hunt's time, who in his "old court suburb" drew attention to this salient defect nearly fifty years ago. "the house," he remarked, "nominally possesses 'gardens' that are miles in circumference.... there is room enough for very pleasant bowers in the spaces to the east and south, that are now grassed and railed in from the public path; nor would the look of the palace be injured with the spectator, but rescued from its insipidity." his suggestion has been acted on to a certain extent in recent times, but too partially in our view. =queen anne's orangery.= queen anne is the sovereign to whom we owe the erection of this exceedingly fine specimen of garden architecture--one of the most beautiful examples of the art of the renaissance in london, if not in england. if we could say with truth that there ever was a "queen anne style," this would, indeed, be a representative and unrivalled example of it--as it certainly is of sir christopher wren's, which, developing in the reign of charles ii., was definitely formed and fixed in that of william and mary. to an artist like wren to beautify the ordinary and useful was to give expression to one of the highest functions of architecture; and therefore in this mere store-house for the queen's treasured plants and flowers, probably also a place where queen anne liked to sit and have tea, we have a building--unimportant though its object may be considered--which attains the very acme of his art, exhibiting all his well-balanced judgment of proportion, all the richness of his imagination in design. the building of this greenhouse was begun in the summer of the year . a plan, prepared by sir christopher at queen anne's express orders, was submitted to and approved by her, and the original estimate, which is still in the record office, dated june th, --probably drawn up by richard stacey, master bricklayer, and entitled: "for building a greenhouse at kensington" at a cost of £ , _s._ _d._--was accordingly laid before the officers of her majesty's works, sir christopher wren, john vanbrugh, benjamin jackson, and matthew bankes, for a report thereon. their opinion, after "considering the measures and prices," was that "it may be finished soe as not to exceed the sum therein expressed, viz., £ , ;" and the lord treasurer was accordingly prayed "to pay £ , into the office of works that it may be covered in before winter, according to her majesties expectation." the work was consequently put in hand forthwith, but there is some reason to suspect that wren's original intentions were departed from, and that the estimate approved by the board of works was afterwards cut down by the treasury by a thousand pounds or so. this appears probable from the fact that richard stacey, the bricklayer who contracted for the work, and who, in a petition dated september th, was clamouring for payment of £ , on account of money then already disbursed by him, referred to that sum as part of a total of £ , , "lately altered from the first estimate." whether this is so or not, the details of the original estimate are interesting. the bricklayer's charges came to £ ; mason's, to £ ; "glass windows, doors, and the window shutters, £ ; glazier for crowne glass, £ ; carpenter, £ ," etc.; added to which was: "more to be laid out the next year: the mason to pave it with stone fine-sanded, £ ; more for stone steps to go up into it, £ ; more for wainscoting and painting the inside up to the top, £ ." the last item is especially noteworthy, proving, as it does, that the woodwork was originally painted. the beauty of wren's masterpiece of garden architecture seems to have been thoroughly appreciated in the time immediately succeeding its erection; but with the steady decline in taste during the georgian epoch, it fell more and more into disregard, until, when the court deserted kensington in , it was abandoned to complete neglect. britton and brayley, writing in in their "beauties of england," refer to it regretfully: "the whole is now sinking into a state of unheeded decay." soon after this, however, it seems to have undergone some sort of repair, so, at least, wrote faulkner, ten years after, who added: "it is now filled with a collection of his majesty's exotic plants." he called it a "superb building," and clearly regarded it with a much more appreciative eye than did its official guardians, who probably about this time perpetrated the barbarism of cutting windows in the north wall, right through the fine panelling and cornice! faulkner, nevertheless, was of course quite wrong in declaring, as he did, that "it was originally built by queen anne for a banqueting house, and frequently used by her majesty as such." there is absolutely no foundation whatever for either part of this statement, though it has often been repeated and was improved upon by leigh hunt, who asserted that "balls and suppers certainly took place in it." funny "balls" they must have been on the old brick floor! hunt has nothing more to say of it than rather scornfully to call it "a long kind of out-house, never designed for anything else but what it is, a greenhouse." in so great contempt, indeed, does it appear to have been held about this time, that it is said the idea was once seriously entertained by some official wiseacre of pulling it down and carting it away as rubbish! and this while the state was annually devoting hundreds of thousands of pounds to art education, art schools, art teachers, and art collections, leaving one of our most precious monuments to perish from decay! "out-house" and "greenhouse" though it be, we would rather see it preserved than half the buildings of recent times. =terrace of queen anne's orangery.= before examining the orangery in detail, let us stand a moment in front of it, on the terrace, platform, or _estrade_--by whichever name we may call it--of portland stone, with steps going down from it in front and at both ends. here formerly stood, in the summer, some of queen anne's choicest exotics; and here her majesty doubtless often sat to have tea, gossiping with the duchess of marlborough or abigail hill. in front the steps led down into a formal parterre. now, however, the most prominent objects to the eye here, are the glass-houses, and the tops of the forcing frames, in which the whole stock for the bedding out in the park and gardens has been reared for the last thirty or forty years. it is truly an amazing thing that a piece of ground, situated as this is, close under the windows of the palace, and opposite this orangery, should have been appropriated to so grossly disfiguring a use. this particular spot is the very last, one would have supposed, which would have been pitched on for the purpose. it will not be long, we trust, before the whole ground will be cleared, and devoted once more to an old-fashioned sunk formal garden, with such quaint devices as clipped shrubs, trimmed box, figured beds, sundials, leaden vases--such as still survive in many an old country house. nor do we see why such restorations should stop here, nor why much of the ground around the palace should not be laid out in the old english style, with some, at any rate, of the many embellishments for which evelyn pleaded as suitable for a royal garden: "knots, trayle work, parterres, compartments, borders, banks, embossments, labyrinths, dædals, cabinets, cradles, close walks, galleries, pavilions, porticoes, lanthorns, and other _relievos_ of topiary and horticulan architecture, fountaines, jettes, cascades, pisceries, rocks, grottoes, cryptæ, mounts, precipices, and ventiducts; gazon theatres, artificial echoes, automate and hydraulic music!" barring the last half dozen items, something in the antique formal style would, indeed, be a relief from the tedious monotony of modern "landscape" gardening. =exterior of queen anne's orangery.= as a specimen of an unaffectedly ornamented exterior of brick, this elevation to the south, aiming rather at simplicity and plain dignity than magnificence or grandeur, is to our view admirable. in the centre is a compartment, more decoratively treated than the rest, with four rusticated piers or pillars of brick, supporting an entablature of the doric order, mainly in stone. the cornice, though probably modelled on the original, must be modern, for it is in roman cement, a material which did not come into use in england until about a hundred years ago; and it so happens that the date, , has been found on part of the woodwork adjoining. above the cornice, over the central window, or rather doorway, is a semi-circular window, apparently to give light into the roof. on each side of the central compartment are four high windows, with sashes filled with small panes; and at each end are slightly projecting wings, or bays, with window-doors, extra high, and reaching to the floor level, to admit tall-grown oranges and other plants. these are flanked by plain rusticated piers of bright red brick; beyond which are plain brick niches, with small brackets above them. a very similar arrangement of windows and niches is repeated at the east and west return ends of the building; where, however, the large window is surmounted by a small semi-circular recess or panel, and the whole overhung by the deep, wide eave of the gable of the roof. the total exterior length of the building is feet, the width feet. =interior of queen anne's orangery.= it is not, however, the exterior of this building, but the interior, which will arouse in those who behold it the greatest admiration, for it is here that we can appreciate wren's imaginative and constructive genius at its very best. the longer we know and contemplate it, the more supremely beautiful does it strike us, both in the mass and in its details. we will not describe it with any minuteness; but content ourselves with recording that the central portion of each wall, is treated more elaborately than the rest, being ornamented with corinthian columns, supporting a richly carved entablature. the rest of the walls, both between the windows on the south side, and on the unbroken surface of the opposite north side, are panelled in deal wood, with beautiful carved cornices above. at each end, both east and west, there is an arch, flanked with panelled niches, and surmounted by festoons of gibbons' carving. these, we may observe in passing, proved, after being cleaned, to be so worm-eaten, as to necessitate their being repainted--mere staining not being sufficient to prevent their falling to pieces. they are now in fact, held together by the coatings of new paint. the dimensions of this main portion of the interior are: feet long and feet wide between the brick walls, three inches less each way between the woodwork. the height to the ceiling is feet inches, and to the top of the cornice feet inches. =the alcoves of queen anne's orangery.= fine, however, as is the main and central portion of this interior, the alcoves, into which we pass through the arches at each end of it, impress us still more with their admirable proportions, their supreme grace of design, the exquisite beauty of their decorative detail. their shape is circular, with fluted corinthian columns, supporting highly-carved architraves and cornices, and flanking the entrances, the windows opposite these and on the south, and the panelled spaces on the north wall. there are also intervening niches with semicircular heads, springing from richly carved imposts. the ceilings, which are circular, rising in coves from behind the cornices, are "saucer-domed." the dimensions of these alcoves are: east one, diameter, feet, west one, feet - / inches; height to the centre of the dome, feet inches, to the top of the cornice feet. =restoration of queen anne's orangery.= the whole of this beautiful interior, however, now presents a very different appearance from what it did when taken in hand about a year ago. this is how it was described in an interesting article in "the times" on the th of january, : "the exquisite interior has been the victim not merely of neglect, but of chronic outrage. for, as the little garden between this and the palace has been found a convenient place on which to put up the glasshouses, frames and potting-sheds necessary for the park gardeners, what more natural, to the official eye, than that the orangery close by should be pressed into the same service? accordingly, at some time or other, which cannot have been very many years ago, more than half the beautiful high panelling of this building was torn down and has disappeared, the gardeners' stands have been let into the walls, and there the daily work has proceeded with no thought that it was daily desecration." the work of restoring all these beautiful carvings, which has been in progress during the last fifteen months, has now put an entirely different aspect on this interior, and not in vain has every piece of old carving been treasured up, cleaned, repaired, and patched in, with scrupulous care. when this work was completed, the question arose, whether the woodwork was to be all painted over white, as it doubtless originally was, or merely lightly stained. white painting would, perhaps, have been artistically, as well as archæologically, the preferable course. but it was thought that white paint, in the smoky, foggy atmosphere of modern kensington, and with the clouds of dust particles from the tread of numberless visitors, would soon take on the dirty tinge of london mud; and thus have required such frequent renewal as eventually to choke up again all the sharpness of the delicate chiselling of the foliated capitals, architraves and cornices. the decision eventually come to, therefore, was to stain it, with a tone of colour like oak, which gives full prominence and clearness to the carved surfaces. this staining alone, apart from the previous cleaning, has involved no less than eight distinct processes: ( ) washing down; ( ) vinegaring over to take out lime stains; ( ) the same repeated; ( ) sizing to keep the stain from penetrating the wood; ( ) the same repeated; ( ) staining; ( ) varnishing; ( ) flat-varnishing. [illustration: decoration] =kensington gardens.= the modern so-called "kensington gardens" are, as we have already explained, identical with the original domain of old nottingham house, increased by the addition of some hundred acres or more taken from hyde park. when william iii. first acquired the nottingham estate he appointed his favourite, bentinck, earl of portland, "superintendent of their majesties' gardens and plantations within the boundary lines of their majesties' said house at kensington"--an office distinct from that of ranger of hyde park--and some planting and other improvements seem to have been carried out at that time in these "plantations." queen anne's inclosure of a hundred acres from hyde park to form a paddock for deer we have already noted. faulkner's exaggerated statement that nearly three hundred acres were taken in and added to kensington gardens by queen caroline has been confuted by mr. loftie; but he has gone to the other extreme in declaring that no alteration whatever was, at any time, made in the boundary between the park and the gardens. nevertheless, it is still doubtful whether queen caroline is to be held responsible for any "rectification" of these frontiers. the reference already quoted, in the treasury papers of the year , for an allowance of £ to the ranger "in consideration of loss of herbage of that part of the said park, which is laid into his majesty's gardens at kensington," may of course refer to the portion previously taken in by queen anne. =queen caroline's improvements in kensington gardens.= to queen caroline, however, is certainly due the main credit of the creation of kensington gardens, as we now know them; for it was her reforming and transforming zeal which made the great "basin" or "round pond;" turned a string of small ponds, in the course of the "west bourne," into the serpentine; laid out the "broad walk," and designed the diverging and converging vistas and avenues of trees intersecting the grounds in all directions. in all these extensive works of improvement charles bridgeman, the king's gardener, was employed; and we find from the old treasury minute book that in no less a sum than £ , was due to him "for works in the paddock and gardens at kensington." about the same date, queen caroline, during one of george ii.'s absences in hanover, issued an order that: "the king's ministers being very much incommoded by the dustiness of the road leading through hyde park, now they are obliged to attend her majesty at kensington, it was her pleasure that the whole of the said road be kept constantly watered, instead of the ring in the park; and that no coaches other than those of the nobility and gentry be suffered to go into or pass through the park." kensington gardens in the nineteenth century. at that period the gardens were opened to the public only on saturdays, when the company appeared in full dress. this was the time of the great fashionable promenade. during the reign of george iii. they were opened every day in the week, summer and winter, under certain regulations, "and the number of the gatekeepers," says faulkner, writing in , "have lately been increased, who are uniformly clothed in green." he adds: "the great south walk, leading to the palace, is crowded on sunday mornings in the spring and summer with a display of all the beauty and fashion of the great metropolis, and affords a most gratifying spectacle, not to be equalled in europe." in the middle of this century the tide of fashion set back towards rotten row and hyde park corner; and kensington gardens have, for the last sixty or eighty years, been very little frequented by the "world." their attractions, however, have not suffered on this account in the view of the poet, the artist, and the lover of nature. "here in kensington," wrote haydon the painter, "are some of the most poetical bits of trees and stump, and sunny brown and green glens and tawny earth." but it is not within the scope of these pages, confined as they are to topics directly connected with kensington palace as a new public resort, to describe these two hundred and fifty acres of delightful verdant lawns, sylvan glades, and grassy slopes. we must resist the temptation, therefore, to wander away into the attractive prospect, which unfolds itself beneath our gaze when looking out from the windows of the state rooms, or into which we can saunter when we quit the palace. moreover, their charms, as they were and are, have been drawn by too many master hands--by tickell, leigh hunt, thackeray, disraeli--to encourage any attempt at their description here. in our own day they have still been the favourite resort of many a jaded londoner, in which to snatch a few hours of quiet and repose, out of the whirl of the great city around. matthew arnold's charming poem, "lines written in kensington gardens," will occur to many, especially that stanza: "in this lone open glade i lie, screen'd by deep boughs on either hand; and at its end to stay the eye, those black-crown'd, red-boled pine trees stand." [illustration: decoration] [illustration: south front of kensington palace in . (after westall.)] =south front of the palace.= we may look upon this façade as architecturally the most interesting portion of the existent palace of kensington, for it shows us the exterior almost exactly as finished by wren for william and mary, about the year . while unpretentious and plain, it is well and solidly built, and altogether appropriate to the purpose which it was intended to serve, namely, that of a comfortable, homely, suburban residence for the king and queen and the court. the long lower building of two main storeys, in deep purple-red brick, to the left, forms the south range of the chief courtyard; and there is every reason to believe that it is a part of the original nottingham house, altered and improved by wren. the loftier building, to the right, of three storeys, in bright red brick, is unquestionably entirely wren's, and in the old accounts is referred to as "the new gallery building." all the windows on the top or second floor here, except the two on the extreme right, are those of the "king's gallery" (described on page ). the floor beneath consisted, and consists, of the sovereign's private apartments. the four fine carved vases of portland stone, surmounting the four pilasters of the same, are probably those mentioned in the old accounts as carved by gabriel cibber for _£_ _s._ wren's domestic style. those who are at all acquainted with wren's style and inclinations will not be surprised at the marked plainness of his work here--so little accordant with ordinary pompous preconceived notions of what befits a regal dwelling-house. in planning habitable buildings we find he always mainly considered use and convenience--adapting his external architectural effects to the exigencies of his interiors. ever ready, indeed, to devote the full range of his great constructive genius to the commonest works, rendering whatever he designed a model for the use to which it was to be put, he was, in these respects, essentially a "builder" before all; not only a designer of elevations and a drawer of plans, but a practical worker, thinking nothing useful beneath his notice. there was, in fact, nothing of the lofty, hoity-toity architect about him; on the contrary, absorbed with questions of adaptability and convenience; searching into details of material and workmanship; we find him in his seat at the head of the board of works rigorously testing, sifting and discussing estimates, values, specifications and "quantities." it is due to this side of his mind that so much of his work has endured intact to this day; while we owe it to his positive intuitive genius for rendering his creations well-proportioned and dignified, as well as convenient and comfortable; to his wonderful skill in arranging positions, sizes, and shapes to meet the exigencies of light and air, that his houses still remain so habitable, and are distinguished by so homelike an air. =east front of the palace.= this aspect of kensington palace, which we almost hesitate to dignify with the name of "front" consists mainly of two distinct portions: first, the "return" or end of wren's "gallery building," on the left, distinguished by its fine red brickwork and its deep cornice, similar to the same on the south side; and on the right, the building tacked on to it, built for george i. by kent, as already mentioned on page , and further referred to on pages , , and . we must frankly say--and few are likely to differ from us--that kent's building here is about as ugly and inartistic as anything of the sort could be. it is not alone the common, dirty, yellow, stock brick with which it is built, but the whole shape and design, with its pretentious pediment, ponderous and hideous, the prototype of acres upon acres of ghastly modern london structures in the solid "workhouse" style. it is amazing that kent, with so excellent a model of plainness and simplicity in wren's buildings on each side, should have stuck in this ill-formed, abortive block between them. fortunately, his taste as a decorator was greatly superior to his powers as an architect, so that the interior portions of this building of his, which consists of additional state-rooms, are not entirely deficient in merit, as we shall see. the three central windows are those of the "king's drawing room," (see page ). [illustration: plan of the state rooms kensington palace.] to the north-west of the structure comprising kent's state apartments lies another of the older parts of the palace, a low building of two storeys, in deep russet brick, of uniform appearance, with fifteen windows in a row on the first floor. this range, built, or, at any rate, altered and improved by wren, and forming the east side of princess's court, comprises the state and habitable rooms of queen mary and queen anne. at its extreme north end is the "queen's staircase," now the public entrance to the state rooms. =public entrance to the palace.= access to the state rooms open to the public being by way of the "queen's" or "denmark staircase," situated in the northernmost angle of the building, visitors approach it from the north-west corner of "kensington gardens," where, as we have already explained, were formerly situated those parts of the old formal gardens attached to the palace, which were laid out by queen anne, called the "old gravel pit," the "wilderness," etc. the path here, leading straight up to the present public entrance, was then known as "brazen-face walk." going along it southwards, we pass between a pair of fine gate-posts of red brick, surmounted by richly-carved vases of portland stone, evidently designed by wren, already referred to in our account of "old kensington palace gardens" on page ; and then between a privet hedge and a wire fence up to the public doorway into the "queen's staircase." this doorway, on the north wall, is very commonplace; with a porch in the later georgian style, consisting of a couple of pillars of portland stone, glazed between, and supporting a hood above. round the corner, however, on the east wall, is a very different doorway, both interesting and picturesque. it is the one which originally gave access to the staircase, and was designed and built by sir christopher wren, probably in the year . the space within the hood or circular pediment above the door is filled with beautiful stone carving, in the centre of which is a shield or panel bearing the initials w. m. r. above this is a brick niche with a bracket, on which stands an old urn or flower-pot. something very similar probably stood here formerly, and was thus charged for in the old parchment accounts for the years - : "henry long for a large vase of earth (terra-cotta) wrought with handles and festoons painted with gilt £ _s._" =queen's staircase.= this forms the entrance by which the public are admitted into the state rooms. built by sir christopher wren for queen mary on the "queen's side" of the palace, it was called the "queen's staircase," while being situated in that part of the palace which was at one time occupied by queen anne and her husband, prince george of denmark, it has also been occasionally known as the "denmark staircase," as this portion of the building itself has been called the "denmark wing." * * * * * in the view of the ordinary londoner, with eye too much dazzled and demoralized by the tawdry vulgarities of the over-gilded, over-looking-glassed, blazing, modern "restaurant" style of decoration, this beautiful staircase, in its just proportions and its subdued simplicity, may appear plain, if not mean. yet as an example of the genuine, unaffected old english treatment of oak wainscoting, as a cover and ornament to large wall spaces, nothing could be more pleasing and more appropriate. the deep rich, almost ruddy, tone of colour of the wood, the admirable proportion and balance of the stiles and rails to the sizes of the panels, their adjustment to the rise of the stairs, and their fitment to the various spaces on the walls, produce an effect of soundness and comfort, most admirable and nowhere to be matched. old oak wainscoting of the staircase. when the work of cleaning down this woodwork was taken in hand last autumn, it was, as the phrase is, "as black as your hat;" and it was then supposed to have been smeared over, at some time or other, with a black stain. it proved, however, to be only ingrained with dirt and dust, which had been coated over with red-lead and boiled oil, and which quickly yielded to cleansing. nevertheless, the oak is not english, but probably norwegian, which seems to be richer in the grain than our own native tree. it is clear that the wood must have been carefully cut in such a way as to show as much "figure" as possible--the cuttings being, with this distinct object, as nearly as possible radiating from the centre of the trunk of the tree--the "medullary rays" of the wood being, in fact, sliced through, instead of intersected transversely. this has the effect of displaying the largest amount of the grain. window sashes of the staircase. the visitor should notice the difference in the sashes of the two windows on the left-hand side of the stairs as you go up, as compared with the other two on the landing at the top. the first two windows have had large panes of glass-- feet inch high by foot - / inches wide--and thin bars, substituted for the original smaller panes-- - / inches high by - / inches wide--and the thick moulded bars, which still remain in the landing windows. this side by side comparison enables us to estimate how deplorable and stupid was the want of taste, which led to the destruction here, as elsewhere in this palace, of the picturesque, well-proportioned spacings of the window panes, to insert instead ill-proportioned panes and thin bars. not until the time of george ii. did this foolish, inartistic fancy come into vogue. wren, of course, knew what he was about when he selected the sizes of the spaces and bars. he determined them on definite principles of scale and proportion, according to the sashes they were intended to fill, and according, also, to the dimensions of the room, and the plan and shape of the surrounding wainscot. he had, in fact, eight or ten different types of sashes--the mouldings, as well as the widths and sizes of the bars varying, and the shapes of the panes--square or upright--varying also; not like your ingenious modern builder, who runs out "mouldings" at so much a foot, mitres them up into equal spaces, and, regardless of scale and proportion, sticks in the same sized sashes, panes, and bars everywhere, in large lofty rooms or small low ones--all alike. the dimensions of this staircase are feet inches long by feet inches wide, and feet high. =queen mary's gallery.= queen mary and queen anne are the sovereigns with whom this gallery is mainly associated; and indeed, it is now--since the restorations of the last twelve months, which have mainly consisted in repairing the panelling, and removing the paint with which it was all smeared over in the reign of george i.--to be seen for the first time for a hundred and seventy-four years, exactly as it appeared in their time. it remains, indeed, more intact than any other room in the palace; and with its beautiful deep-toned oak panelling, its richly-carved cornice, its low-coved ceiling, and its closely-spaced, thick-barred window-sashes, it has a most comfortable, old-fashioned air. there is no storey above this gallery, but only a span roof; and it was originally--we do not know exactly when--a true "gallery" in the old english meaning of the word, that is, a long chamber with windows on both sides. the window spaces or recesses, on the right or west side, still remain behind the panelling, and are exactly opposite the existent windows on the left or east side. we may observe, also, that the room seems at one time to have terminated just beyond the sixth window, reckoning from the entrance, the line of the wall behind the wainscot on the right, setting back at this point about a foot; while on the left side, both inside and out, there is a straight joint in the brickwork, and a break in the line of the wall. wainscoting and carvings of queen mary's gallery. the wainscoting, as we have already indicated, was fixed here in the early years of the reign of queen mary. the panels, which are very thin and of unusual breadth, nevertheless have remained but little twisted or buckled to this day, owing to wren's particular and invariable insistence that only the best seasoned wood should be used in all the work under his charge. in the course of the restorations, it has, however, been necessary to take it all to pieces in order to repair the injuries of nearly two centuries of misusage and neglect. here, as in the staircase, are to be noticed the extreme richness in grain of the old oak, and its deep warm tone of colour. from the old enrolled parchment accounts of the years - , we find that henry hobb and alexander forst were the joiners who made the wainscoting, as well as the "shashes," shutters, window-boards, chimney-pieces, picture frames, shelves, etc.; while nicolas alcocke, william emet, and grinling gibbons carved " , feet ionick medallion and hollow cornish; feet of picture frame over the doors and chimneys, and feet of astragall moulding, about the glasses in the chimneys." another item of payment in the same accounts, also relating to the work here, is the following: "to gerard johnson, cabinet maker, for severall pannells of wainscot, covered with looking-glass for chimney pieces in the king's dining-roome, the gallerie, and over the doors, and for putting them up--£ ." among others here referred to were doubtless =the looking-glasses= over the two chimney-pieces in this gallery. these are particularly fine and worthy of notice. when the restorations were begun last summer, they were literally dropping to pieces, falling in shreds, we might say. the greatest care has been taken to piece the bits together; and to replace the missing portions. only such patched and added parts have been regilt; the old gilding still remaining almost as bright and untarnished as when these glasses were first put up, two hundred years ago, by gerard johnson, cabinet maker, and robert streeter, serjeant painter. honour to their names, as two good old english handicraftsmen, whose honest work thus survives to this day! over each of the four doors are long richly-carved brackets of oak, similar to those on which rest the looking-glasses over the chimney-pieces. we know from pyne's drawing in , that these brackets over the doors then still supported looking-glasses, with richly carved frames. unfortunately, all trace of them has now disappeared. =the chimney-piece= of the first fire-place on the right as you enter the gallery is the original one of wren's design, of marble streaked and veined blue-grey. the second, of white marble streaked with red, technically known as "breche-violett-antico," is new--copied from the first. this fire-place was, until last summer, filled with a common cooking range, inserted many years ago for the use of the soldiers, when this gallery was used as a barrack! =the window-sashes= in this gallery are of the charming old-fashioned type, divided by thick, deeply moulded bars, into small rectangular spaces. through these windows we have a pleasant view eastward of the private gardens of the palace, and of kensington gardens beyond. the dimensions of this gallery are: feet inches long by feet broad by feet - / inches high to the top of the cornice, and feet inches high to the highest part of the ceiling. =pictures in queen mary's gallery. portraits of the time of william and mary to george ii.= queen mary . . . . . kneller. full-length, standing, in royal robes; her left hand lifting her ermine cloak; her right holding the orb on the table by her side, on which also is the crown on a cushion. in the right distance is seen the parapet of the roof of wren's building at hampton court. this and its companion piece of king william, at the other end of this gallery, were painted by kneller about , in which year he was knighted. george ii. (_ _) . . . . . _by shackleton, after_ kneller. seated, in robes of the garter, facing to the left. _unassigned._ frederick, prince of wales (_ _) . . . . . vanloo. full-length, face turned to the right. his right hand is extended, his left holds back his crimson and ermine cloak. his dress is blue with rich gold lace. he has a short wig. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. vanloo came to england in , and this portrait was probably painted about two years after. he became a very popular artist, and made a great deal of money, for, as his french biographer observes:--"l'angleterre est le pays où il se fait le plus de portraits et où ils sont mieux payés." engraved by baron. this picture, therefore, dates from the time when the prince was about thirty-one years of age, and had been expelled from st. james's palace, and was in declared enmity with his father. his insignificant character, which excited contempt rather than dislike, is very happily satirized in the famous epitaph: "here lies fred, who was alive and is dead; had it been his father, i had much rather; had it been his brother, still better than another; had it been his sister, no one would have missed her; had it been the whole generation, still better for the nation; but since 'tis only fred, who was alive and is dead, there's no more to be said." _unassigned._ caroline, queen of george ii. (_ _) . . . . . zeeman? full-length, standing, figure to the left, face a little to the right. her left hand holds up her cloak, her right is on a table, on which is a crown and sceptre. she wears a blue velvet dress trimmed with broad gold braid, and a white satin skirt, richly worked with gold and jewels. her hair is short and powdered. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. this was formerly attributed to kneller, but it cannot be by him, as she is represented as queen, while kneller died four years before her accession. caroline was forty-five when her husband became king. "her levées," says coxes, "were a strange picture of the motley character and manners of a queen and a learned woman. she received company while she was at her toilette; prayers and sometimes a sermon were read; learned men and divines were intermixed with courtiers and ladies of the household; the conversation turned on metaphysical subjects, blended with repartees, sallies of mirth, and the tittle-tattle of a drawing-room." _unassigned._ portrait of george i. (_ _) . . . . . kneller. seated, facing in front. he is in the robes of the order of the garter. his left hand on the arm of the chair, his right on a table, whereon are a crown and a plumed helmet. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. george i. was the tenth sovereign who sat to kneller, and for this portrait, which was painted soon after his accession, the king made him baronet. addison refers to it in his "lines to sir godfrey kneller on his picture of the king," beginning: "kneller, with silence and surprise we see britannia's monarch rise, a godlike form, by thee displayed in all the force of light and shade; and, awed by thy delusive hand, as in the presence chamber stand." william iii. when prince of orange (_ _) . . . . . kneller. half-length, facing to the right, with his right hand extended. george ii. in his old age (_ _) . . . . . _by shackleton, after_ pine. full-length; in a rich dress, with the order of the garter, his left hand on his sword, his right in his bosom. his eyes are cast upwards. peter the great, czar of russia (_ _) . . . . . kneller. full-length, in armour, with a truncheon in his left hand, and his right hand on his hip. from his shoulders hangs a mantle lined with ermine and embroidered with the double eagle. to the left is a table, on which is the crown imperial. the background, which shows some ships, is said to be signed by _w. vandevelde_, but no trace of this exists. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. there is also an inscription, of which i can only make out the words: "_petrus alexander magnus domimus cæsar & magnus dux moscouiæ ... eques. pinxit _." engraved by smith. this picture was painted for william iii. during peter the great's visit to england, in the early part of , and probably in the house in norfolk street, where he took up his residence and lived in close seclusion. it is considered one of the best portraits of the czar extant, and well portrays "his stately form, his intellectual forehead, his piercing black eyes, and his tartar nose and mouth." his age was then twenty-six years. he naturally excited the greatest curiosity, and became the principal topic of conversation. every one was full of stories of him; "of the immense quantities of meat which he devoured, the pints of brandy which he drank, the fool who jabbered at his feet, the monkey which grinned at the back of his chair," and last, but not least, of his filthy habits. when he went to stay at evelyn's house, sayes court, at deptford, in order to more conveniently indulge in his favourite pursuit of shipbuilding, evelyn's servant writes to him:--"there is a house full of people, and right nasty. the czar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour next your study. he dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very seldom home a whole day, very often in the king's yard or by water, dressed in several dresses." evelyn himself afterwards remarked "how miserably the czar had left his house, after three months making it his court." peter visited king william in kensington palace, as we have noted in our "historical sketch," and as we shall notice again in our account of the king's gallery. king william iii . . . . . kneller. full-length, in royal garter robes; his left hand by his sword, his right on his hip. the crown and orb are on a table on his left; pillars and a curtain behind. this is a companion piece to the portrait of queen mary at the other end of this gallery. portrait of mrs. elliott . . . . . john riley. half-length, seated; turned to the left, but facing in front. she is dressed in black; her right hand rests on the arm of the chair; she holds a handkerchief on her lap in her left. this was in queen anne's catalogue, no. :--"mrs. elliott at half-length." it is a good specimen of a portrait-painter who flourished in the time of charles ii. and james ii., and whose talents have hardly had justice done them. mrs. elliott was the wife of mr. elliott, gentleman of the bedchamber to charles ii., and sister to secretary craggs. two daughters of george ii . . . . . maingaud. the eldest is to the left, standing, her right arm clasping a stem of tree, round which twines a vine; her left hand giving a rose to her younger sister; she is dressed in white. her sister is kneeling to the right, facing in front, and takes the rose with her left hand; her right rests on a lictor's fasces. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. [illustration: decoration] =queen's closet.= this small room, which is but feet inches long by feet wide, and feet inches high, is called in pyne's drawing, published in , "the queen's closet,"--and this most probably is its correct designation, though in faulkner's "history of kensington," published but three years after, it is described as the "queen's dressing room." its walls were at that time still entirely panelled with the oak wainscot with which wren had covered them. afterwards all this was removed and the walls plastered and distempered, the room being used as a kitchen. the existent oak chair-rail and cornice, inserted during the last few months, are copied from old models in this palace. * * * * * across the angle, where was originally the fire-place, is temporarily fixed a very beautiful =stone chimney-piece=, formerly in westminster palace, in one of the rooms on the north side of westminster hall. when the old law-courts on that side were removed, this chimney-piece was preserved by the office of works. it is one of the finest specimens extant of a late tudor domestic chimney-piece work, bearing the initial and crown of queen elizabeth. pictures of old london. in this chamber are collected various pictures of old london, moved from hampton court and other royal palaces. few of them, excepting one or two attributed to scott, have much artistic merit, but they are interesting as representations of the topography of london, and especially of the banks of the thames. view of the horse guards from st. james's park (_ _) . . . . . james. the buildings of the horse guards are seen on the right, and in the centre distance, westminster. view on the thames--old london bridge and fishmongers' hall (_ _) . . . . . james. the view is taken eastward; and right across the picture is the old bridge, with the houses built on it. on the left are fishmongers' hall and the column on fish street hill. these are two of a series of views of old london from the thames, by william james, an imitator and probably a pupil of canaletti's, though he resembles him in little except his mechanical precision. his works, however, are interesting to the antiquarian, as they are almost photographic in their accuracy. view on the thames--old somerset house and temple gardens (_ _) . . . . . james. the north bank of the thames is seen, looking eastward, from about the position of the middle of the present waterloo bridge. on the extreme left is old somerset house, with its landing-stairs, next comes the temple, and in the distance st. paul's. behind are seen the spires of st. mary-le-strand, st. clement danes, st. bride's, fleet street, etc. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. view on the thames--the savoy, the temple, &c. (_ _) . . . . . james. on the left is the old savoy palace with its curious chequered brickwork; more in the middle old somerset house, the temple, etc. on the right is seen a portion of the south bank of the thames. view on the thames--old fleet ditch (_ _) . . . . . james. the mouth of the fleet ditch is in the centre of the picture, crossed by a stone foot-bridge of a single arch. on both sides of it are large buildings. view on the thames--the adelphi, whitehall, and westminster (_ _) . . . . . james. the view is of the north bank looking westward, and shows, on the right, inigo jones' water-gate; next the octagonal tower of the waterworks, then whitehall, and beyond, westminster abbey and the old bridge. view on the thames--greenwich hospital (_ _) . . . . . james. the view is taken eastward, and shows greenwich hospital on the left, and the church to the right. view on the thames--old savoy palace (_ _) . . . . . scott? the view is the same as no. . in an old inventory there is an entry relating to it:--"rec^{d}. ^{rd} march . view of the savoy, with old somerset house, on the banks of the thames, painted by scott, the english canaletti. bought of colnaghi, £ ." samuel scott, the marine painter, is the artist referred to. he was a companion of hogarth's, and a jovial one too--but he was also much more, being an admirable painter of marine and topographical subjects. there are three characteristic views of london by him in the national gallery, where is also his own portrait by hudson. the thames from the hill above greenwich (_ _) . . . . . danckers. to the left is the observatory rising high up. below is greenwich and the hospital, and the river winding round the "isle of dogs," and london seen in the distance. though hitherto unnamed, this is doubtless:--"the landscape of greenwich, the prospect to london; by danckers," in james ii.'s catalogue, no. . (_royal catalogue._) [illustration: decoration] =queen anne's private dining room.= this picturesque little room remains almost exactly in the same state as it was when finished about for queen mary, who, perhaps, as well as queen anne, used it as a private dining room. it is, indeed, a very characteristic example of one of wren's comfortable and eminently habitable rooms. the protruding doorway in the right-hand corner, the picturesque recess on the left-hand side of the fireplace, and the porch-like treatment of the similar recess on the other side--where is the doorway into the queen's closet--all show how the accidents of construction and convenience may be so judiciously laid hold of, as to render what would otherwise have been a mere uninteresting commonplace room, a charmingly homelike and picturesque one. such an example as this of wren's artistic adaptability should be a most valuable "object-lesson" to modern builders, who, when not planning exactly rectangular rooms, go to the other extreme of straining after a designed and artificial "quaintness." the coved ceiling, rising from behind the oak cornice, adds greatly to the apparent height of the room. the dimensions are: feet inches long by feet wide. it was in this and the similar adjoining rooms that took place those many curious intimate conversations between queen anne and the duchess of marlborough, both when "mrs. morley" and her "dear mrs. freeman," were all in all to each other, and also when "atossa" vainly endeavoured by fury, invective, and torrents of reproaches and tears, to regain her fast-waning influence over the dull and feeble, but stolid and obstinate, mind of the queen. it was at kensington palace too, and perhaps in this very room, that took place their famous interview, one april afternoon in the year , when the only reply which the great duchess sarah could get to her inquiring entreaties was the phrase "you desired no answer and you shall have none,"--reiterated with exasperating and callous monotony by her whilom friend and mistress. pictures in queen anne's private dining room. installation of knights of the garter at kensington palace, on august th, , by queen anne . . . . . peter angelis. there has been some question as to the exact ceremony, which is depicted here, but there can be but little doubt that it represents the chapter of the order of the garter, held by queen anne at kensington palace on august th, , when henry grey, duke of kent, robert harley, first earl of oxford, charles mordaunt, third earl of peterborough, and john, earl poulett, were installed as knights of the garter. the chapter was the last held by queen anne, and was held at kensington, and not at windsor, owing to her physical infirmities. two of these noblemen kneel on the lowest step of the throne, and have already been invested with the mantle and collar of the order and the garter itself. the queen places her hand upon the joined hand of the two knights of the garter. it is uncertain which of the noblemen are represented here, but the knight kneeling on the right of the picture would appear to represent harley. one of these noblemen is attended by a page boy in grey silk, and the other has two black boys supporting his long blue mantle. among the knights of the garter in attendance, and they all wear their full robes and collars, one figure is prominent holding a long slender wand. this is probably charles talbot, duke of shrewsbury, who was lord chamberlain of the household, lord lieutenant of ireland, and for a brief period lord high treasurer. two yeoman of the guard, in the well-known costume, but without ruffs or rosettes to their shoes, holding halberds, stand prominently forth on the extreme left. through a wide door, in the distant apartments, may be seen a crowd of courtiers waiting for admission, and through the large square panes of the window in a garden are seen clustered various persons in dark and formal attire, peering anxiously through the glass as if to obtain a sight of the ceremonial. on canvas, ft. - / in. high by ft. - / in. wide. lent by the trustees of the national portrait gallery. william, duke of gloucester, son of queen anne (_ _) . . . . . kneller. bust; in an oval turned to the left, face seen in full. he is in armour, and has a blue ermine-lined cape. on canvas, - / ft. high, by ft. wide. the young duke, though of feeble constitution, was not deficient in martial spirit. when but a boy of six years old, he came to meet his uncle william of orange, who had just returned from a campaign, with a little musket on his shoulder, and presented arms, saying, "i am learning my drill, that i may help you beat the french." the king was so pleased that he made him a knight of the garter a few days after. many men have received that honour for less. he died in july . prince george of denmark, husband of queen anne (_ _) . . . . . dahl. in an oval, to the shoulders; in armour.--his death in this palace has been mentioned on page . john churchill, st duke of marlborough . . . . . jan wyck. three-quarters length, in armour; face turned three-quarters to the left. his left hand is on his hip, his right on a table by his side, on which is a plumed helmet. a battle scene is shown in the lower right background. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. lent by the trustees of the national portrait gallery. this portrait would seem to represent him as a comparatively young man--about twenty-three--after he had distinguished himself at maestricht, when he was nicknamed by turenne "the handsome englishman." it was the period of his famous _liaison_ with the duchess of cleveland, who had fallen a willing victim to his beauty and his charm of manner. lord wolseley, in his "life of marlborough," describes his appearance at this period as: "strikingly handsome, with a profusion of fair hair, strongly-marked, well-shaped eyebrows, long eyelashes, blue eyes, and refined, clearly-cut features. a wart on his right upper-lip though large, did not detract from his good looks. he was tall, and his figure was remarkably graceful, although a contemporary says: 'il avait l'air trop indolent, et la taille trop effilé.'" =queen mary's privy chamber.= except for the oak panelling, which covered the walls of this room as late as the beginning of this century, but which was removed now many years ago, we see it exactly as it was finished for queen mary. her initial, with that of her husband, king william, appears in the fine carved oak cornice. the ceiling is coved. at one time this room was called "the admiral's gallery," on account of the series of copies of portraits of british admirals by kneller and dahl, which formerly hung here--until their removal in to hampton court, whence they have now been brought back to decorate again the walls of these state rooms at kensington. they are now hung, as we shall see, in "the king's gallery." the dimensions of this room are: feet long by feet inches wide, by feet inches high to the top of the cornice, feet inches to the highest part of the ceiling. pictures in queen mary's privy chamber. queen mary, when princess of orange (_ _) . . . . . w. wissing. seated, nearly full length. she is dressed in blue in the costume of a lady of the time, and with a crimson mantle edged with ermine. her left hand rests on a table, over which her mantle falls. engraved by john verkolje. this picture is signed on the left-hand side, and is the original of many replicas or copies at st. james's palace, at burley-on-the-hill, woburn, the grove, etc. it was painted for james ii., who sent wissing over to the hague for the purpose. his popularity as a portrait-painter was great, and was partly due no doubt to his making such flattering likenesses. "when any lady came to sit to him whose complexion was any ways pale, he would commonly take her by the hand and dance her about the room till she became warmer." william iii. when prince of orange . . . . . w. wissing. three-quarters length, standing; facing to the right, in a rich dress. this is the companion piece to the foregoing. portrait of james stuart the pretender (_ _) . . . . . b. luti. half-length; facing in front, inclined to the right; his right hand only is seen. he is in the robes of the order of the garter, of which the jewel hangs on his breast, and has a long full-bottomed wig, a lace cravat and cuffs. on his left is a table on which is the royal crown of england. the background is gray, with a red curtain. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. the canvas is new. behind was formerly this inscription:--"_james son of james ii.; by the cavaliere benedetto luti, from the cardinal of york's collection at frascati._" (note in the _royal inventory_.) this picture and no. were bequeathed to george iii. by cardinal york, the old pretender's son, and the last of the stuarts, who died in . it was no doubt painted at rome, some time between the year , when prince james accepted the asylum in the eternal city offered him by the pope, and the year , when luti died there. in he was married to the princess sobieski, and at the end of the same year the young pretender was born. the pretender's countenance has that heavy, sodden appearance, and that weak dejected look, which were due partly to his inert character, partly to his misfortunes, and not less to the debauched and indolent life he led. his person, indeed, was never impressive; and even an adherent, writing of the events at perth in , admits:--"i must not conceal, that when we saw the man, whom they called our king, we found ourselves not at all animated by his presence, and if he was disappointed in us, we were tenfold more so in him. we saw nothing in him that looked like spirit. he never appeared with cheerfulness and vigour to animate us. our men began to despise him; some asked him if he could speak." gray the poet gives a similar account of him some years after:--"he is a thin, ill-made man, extremely tall and awkward, of a most unpromising countenance, a good deal resembling king james ii., and has extremely the air and look of an idiot, particularly when he laughs or prays; the first he does not do often, the latter continually." horace walpole observed that "enthusiasm and disappointment have stamped a solemnity on his person, which rather creates pity than respect." frederick, prince of wales, at a party (_ _) . . . . . m. laroon? the prince is at the head of the table, round which eight ladies and gentlemen are seated. he is pouring wine into a glass. some thirteen persons, attendants, and a clergyman, are also in the room. most of them are probably portraits. altogether twenty-three small figures. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. this picture, though long labelled "vanderbank," is probably by marcellus laroon, the younger, to whom it is attributed in an old catalogue. the likelihood that he is the painter is greatly strengthened by the close resemblance in style between it and the similar piece that follows--the personages evidently being the same. it is not certain what is the subject represented; though it has borne the above title for many years. in one of the lord chamberlain's old inventories it is stated to represent "a fête in honour of the marriage of the duke of wharton." a royal assembly in kew palace . . . . . marcellus laroon. this represents some royal assembly, apparently augusta of saxe-gotha, the wife of frederick, prince of wales, and her friends, in kew palace. the princess in blue is pouring out the tea; a lady in white is singing; handel is at the harpsichord, and "orator" henley close by. the equestrian portrait on the wall appears to be george ii. signed _mar. laroon_, and dated _ _. lent by mr. humphry ward. matthew prior . . . . . _by thomas hudson, after_ jonathan richardson. half-length, seated, almost in profile to the right. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. lent by the trustees of the national portrait gallery. prior--poet, statesman, and diplomatist--published with charles montagu, afterwards earl of halifax, in , "the city mouse and the country mouse," intended to ridicule dryden's "hind and panther." he was patronized by dorset, who introduced him to the court; and he was often employed in diplomatic offices. flower-piece--_over the mantelpiece_ (_ _) . . . . . baptiste. a green glass vase with chrysanthemums, poppies, honeysuckles, etc. baptiste was a _protégé_ of queen mary, and painted a great number of flower-pieces to decorate kensington and hampton court. portrait of robert boyle the philosopher (_ _) . . . . . kerseboom. nearly full-length, seated in a big armchair; turned to the right, but facing in front. he leans his right arm on the chair; his left is turning over the leaves of a book on a table in front of him. he wears a large full-bottomed wig. this picture has been engraved by baron several times. boyle, the famous chemist and experimental philosopher, was the seventh son of the first lord cork, and from him received a fortune of _£_ , a year, which he devoted in a great measure to scientific research and the promotion of the christian religion. he was never married, being of opinion that "a man must have very low and narrow thoughts of happiness or misery who can expect either from a woman's conduct." for his life, see his _philaretus_. frederic kerseboom was a native of germany, who worked at paris and rome under le brun and poussin. he was in england during william iii.'s reign, and painted a few indifferent portraits. portrait of john locke (_ _) . . . . . kneller. half-length, standing; turned to the right, but facing in front. he rests his left hand on a table, on which are an inkstand and a pen; his right hand in front of him. he wears a plain black coat, with part of his shirt showing; and he is without his wig, and shows his long white hair. this is one of kneller's best portraits. it was evidently painted in the philosopher's later years, for he looks here on the point of dying of the asthma to which he succumbed in . "pray," said locke in a letter to collins, "get sir godfrey to write on the back of my picture 'john locke;' it is necessary to be done, or else the pictures of private persons are lost in two or three generations." sir isaac newton (_ _) . . . . . kneller. three-quarters length; turned to the left, facing in front. his right arm is by his side, his left leans on a table, on which are a globe and a book. he wears a dark, loose robe, and a large wig. on the left is inscribed: "_i newton esq^{re} Ã�tatis_ . ." there is a similar portrait to this at petworth, which is engraved in lodge. newton was at this time member of the convention parliament, for the university of cambridge. a king william iii. (_ _) . . . . . kneller. three-quarters length in armour, directed to the right; face turned round to the left. he wears a blue and gold sash. in the left background is a black servant, perhaps the one whose marble bust is now in this palace. =queen caroline's drawing room.= in entering this room we pass from the portion of the palace built in by sir christopher wren for william and mary, to that constructed by william kent about for george i. the visitor has thus a good opportunity of comparing the styles and tastes of the two architects and of gauging their relative powers. wren had been driven from his office, in , by a shameful backstair intrigue; and two years afterwards, kent, doubtless by the influence of his patron, the earl of burlington, was commissioned to build a set of new state rooms. how very mediocre were his talents, the exterior of his addition to wren's work will, as we have already said, ever remain a palpable proof; and though for internal construction he shows less incapacity, still this room exhibits all his false ideas of pseudo-classicism--developed, as we shall see, to a most extravagant extent in the adjoining "cube or cupola room." examining the decoration in detail, we perceive everywhere evidences of his awkward, graceless style. the doorways, for instance, are unnecessarily lofty and gaunt, and with their heavy cumbrous architraves, flat moulded, with little light and shade, greatly impair the proportions of the room. in the tall semi-circular headed central window also, surmounted by a purposeless oak bracket--even in such details as the mouldings of the panelling and of the framing of the doors, and the flatness of the raised panels and their relative sizes to the width of the rails and "stiles,"--we detect his marked inferiority to wren in the designing of such fittings. the =chimney-piece=, which is one of kent's plainer and less ponderous ones, is of a choice marble, veined black and gold. the dimensions of this room are: feet - / inches long, feet inches wide, and feet inches high to the top of the cornice, feet to the ceiling. painted ceiling of queen caroline's drawing room. but it is by the ceiling especially, with its great heavy oval frame of plasterwork, and its appearance of overhanging crushing weight, that we can most accurately appreciate kent. the central recessed panel, containing an allegorical representation of minerva, attended by history and the arts, gives us a measure of his powers as a pictorial artist. the decorative painting of the cove of the ceiling, above the oaken cornice, is more satisfactory. in the four angles, and in the middle of each side, are classical pediments with volutes. besides, the workmanship of the wainscoting being very good, and the original rawness of the ceiling somewhat faded, this room, with its new oak floor, its gorgeous paper, its georgian furniture, probably designed by kent, and the magnificent frames of some of the pictures on its walls, presents a fine and stately appearance. contemporary french and german portraits. madame de pompadour (_ _) . . . . . drouais. half-length, seated, turned to the left. she wears a dress of figured brocade, worked with coloured flowers and foliage on a white ground, and trimmed with white ribbons; her sleeves are short and edged with lace. on her head is a sort of mob cap, or headdress of lace, tied under the chin with a striped ribbon; her hair is short and powdered. in front of her is a frame of embroidery called tambour-work, which she is working, her right hand being above, and her left under the canvas. the background is grey, with a red curtain to the right. painted in an oval. on canvas, ft. - / in. high, by ft. wide. this picture has been attributed, but quite unwarrantably, to greuze, who does not appear to have painted louis xv.'s mistress at all, and certainly could not have done so when she was as young as she is here represented. it is in fact a replica (and by no means a bad one) of a portrait by drouais, of which a great many repetitions are extant, and of which the original--a full-length--is now at mentmore, lord rosebery's. the mentmore picture was purchased for £ , . drouais was an indifferent artist whose name would long have passed into oblivion, had he not painted princes and princesses. diderot drew this just estimate of his works:--"tous les visages de cet homme-là ne sont que le rouge vermillon le plus précieux, artistement couché sur la craie la plus fine et la plus blanche.... il n'y en a pas une de laide, et pas une qui ne déplût sur la toile. ce n'est pas de la chair; car, où est la vie, l'onctueux, le transparent, les tons, les dégradations, les nuances?" and larousse endorses this view with the following remarks:--"toutes ces peintures, habilement traitées d'ailleurs comme métier, n'ont rien de saillant, aucune puissance, aucune originalité. les têtes sont banales, ternes, sans physionomie. l'allure est gauche et pénible. les personnages sont fort mal habillés, bien que les draperies soient exécutées en trompe-l'oeil et avec magnificence." madame de pompadour is here represented at about the age of thirty-five, a period when, having lost the influence of a lover over the debauched and fickle louis xv., she endeavoured to retain her power by ministering to his pleasures and vices. her appearance completely tallies with the account given of her:--"elle était assez grande, bien faite, les cheveux, châtain clair, tres-beaux, avec une peau d'une grande finesse et d'une blancheur éclatante. mais elle avait un genre de beauté qui se fane vite: ses chairs molles s'infiltraient, s'enflammaient aisément; elle avait des langueurs et des pâleurs maladives." the tambour-work at which she is engaged was one of her favourite occupations; and it is pleasant to remember, with the shocking record of her extraordinary career, that she created that style in decoration, furniture, dress, literature, and even art, which is known by the name of louis xv., a style which, wanting as it is in the simplicity of mediævalism, and stamped though it be with the character of its meretricious inventor, is yet always pleasing from a certain refinement and artificial beauty. mademoiselle de clermont (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ half-length, facing in front, hands not seen. she is dressed in a white dress, with a garland of flowers across it from under her left arm to her right shoulder. behind her she has a blue scarf. her hair is powdered and done high up. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. behind is written:--"_marianne. de. bourbon. nommeo. mademoiselle. de. clermont._" she was born in paris in october, , and was the daughter of louis, the third duke of bourbon, and his wife louise françoise de bourbon, mademoiselle de nantes, a natural daughter of louis xv. in she was appointed "surintendante de la maison de la reine." the story of her and her lover, m. de melun, and his tragic end, forms the basis of madame de genlis' charming little novel, "mademoiselle de clermont." this portrait is painted in the style of nattier. louis xvi. in his coronation robes (_ _) . . . . . callet. full-length, standing, facing to the left. his left hand holds his hat by his side, his right leans on his sceptre. he is attired in the royal robes of france, a purple mantle embroidered with fleurs-de-lys, and an ermine tippet, etc. he has a small wig; his face is shaven. behind him is his throne, with a figure of justice. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. this is the original presentation frame, decorated with fleurs-de-lys. though formerly labelled "greuze," it is really a replica of callet's well-known portrait, of which, besides the original at versailles, there are other repetitions at madrid and elsewhere, distributed to the various courts of europe on the king's accession. the original was engraved by bervic, the greatest of french engravers, the plate being lettered with the painter's name, "callet peintre du roi." portrait of louis xv. when young (_ _) . . . . . rigaud. half-length, turned to the left; his left hand is in his sash, his right holds a marshal's bâton. his dress is a fawn-coloured doublet with a cuirass, a blue sash, and a blue mantle embroidered with a fleur-de-lys over it. short hair, beardless face. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. this portrait was painted by rigaud, as the contemporary mezzotint engraving by j. simon proves, and not, as has been said, by mignard, who had been dead thirty years. he is considered one of the best french portrait-painters of that period. louis xv. conferred several favours on him, and decorated him with the order of st. michael, in , soon after this portrait was painted. this distinction was given, as he said, "tant en considération de la réputation acquise dans son art, que pour avoir peint la famille royalle jusqu'à la quatrième génération." marianne, duchess of bourbon (_ _) . . . . . santerre? half-length, facing in front; her hands not seen. her hair is dark, and dressed high, with a blue ribbon fastened over with a red jewel, and carried to the front. her dress is yellow brocade with red drapery. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. behind is written in ink:--"_marianne. de. bourbon. fille. de. monsieur. le. prince. de. conty. famme. de. monsieur. le. duc. de. bourbon._" she married, in , louis henri de bourbon, brother of mademoiselle de clermont (see no. ), and died in . there is a portrait of her husband at paris, by drouais. the portrait before us is very possibly by jean baptiste santerre, a good painter whose works are rare. he died in . the emperor paul of russia (_ _) . . . . . ----? bust, turned to the left, eyes looking at the spectator. he is in a green uniform with red facing; and on his breast three stars and a green ribbon across from his right shoulder to his left. his hair is curled and powdered. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. - / in. wide. behind the picture is inscribed:--"_kopal t. ep. k. e._ (?) " and "_catalogue no. , emperor paul of russia._." this portrait represents the emperor in the forty-fifth year of his age, three years after his accession, and two years before his assassination. louis xiv., when young (_ _) . . . . . mignard? three-quarters length, facing in front. his left hand hangs by his side, right is on his hip. he is clad in armour, over which is a purplish robe, lined with yellow. he has a long brown wig. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in. wide. if this is really by mignard, it must, on account of the age of the king, be one of the first pictures he painted in , on his introduction to the french court. stanislaus, king of poland (_ _) . . . . . lampi. bust, turned slightly to the left. he is dressed in a purple velvet coat, across which is a light blue sash, and on the left side of his breast a star. he wears a small wig and pigtail; his face is shaven. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft - / in. wide. behind in ink is written:--"cavalieri lampi de vienna." in an old inventory, dated , is this entry:--"half-length portrait of the king of poland, purple velvet coat, etc., painted by lampi, member of the academy of vienna. bought of colnaghi for £ ." stanislaus-augustus poniatowski was proclaimed king of poland on the th of september, , having owed his election to his lover the empress catherine. it was during his reign that the infamous partition of poland was perpetrated, to which he lent a passive assistance. he died in . queen of prussia (_ _) . . . . . anton graff? seated in a high-backed armchair covered with blue velvet; she is turned to the left, but faces in front. her right hand rests on a table beside her, and points to a book; her left hangs by her side. she is dressed in black trimmed with ermine, and her head is covered with a black lace veil. her hair is white. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. this is attributed in the _royal inventory_ to graff, a german painter who flourished at the end of the last century. is she sophia dorothea, sister of george ii., who married, in , william i., king of prussia, and who died in ? frederick, prince of wales (_ _) . . . . . zeeman? small full-length; turned to the right. his right hand pointing in front of him, his left on his breast. he wears a red coat, leather boots to the knees, and a long wig. though this has long been known as frederick, prince of wales, there are reasons to suspect that it is really his brother william, duke of cumberland. louis xiv. on horseback (_ _) . . . . . charles le brun? he is shown the size of life, on a cream-coloured charger, rising on its hind legs, and turned to the left. his dress is an embroidered coat, with jack boots and scarlet breeches. in his right hand he holds a bâton. on his head is a black laced hat; he has long flowing hair and curls. in the distance under the horse's forelegs an attack of cavalry is seen. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. this has been attributed to van der meulen, but there is a similar picture at versailles by charles le brun of which this is perhaps a replica. frederick the great (_ _) . . . . . antoine pesne. full-length, standing, turned to the left, but facing round to the front. his left hand points to a battle in the distance; his right holds a marshal's truncheon. he is in armour, over which is a crimson ermine-lined mantle; he has a small close-curled wig; his helmet is on the ground in front of him. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. "to this admirable painter (_i.e._ pesne) i am inclined to attribute the portrait of frederick the great. the king, who is still in youthful years, is pointing to a battlefield in the background, probably in allusion to the silesian war. a picture of considerable merit."--_waagen._ the painter is well remembered by the following couplet by frederick the great:-- "quel spectacle étonnant vient de frapper mes yeux, cher pesne, ton pinceau t'égale au rang des dieux," which voltaire interpreted thus:--"le roi ne regardant jamais le peintre, ce dernier était pour lui invisible comme dieu." pesne, who was a frenchman and studied in paris, was in england in . he afterwards went to berlin, where he became court painter to frederick the great. he died in , the year of the battle of prague. the frame is doubtless a presentation one. frederick the great (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ bust, turned to the left, facing in front; his hands not seen. he wears a small wig and a dark-blue coat, with the star of the order of the black eagle. charles xii. of sweden (_ _) . . . . . magnus du blaire? bust; wearing a blue coat and a black choker; grey hair, and a beardless face. a small whole length, in. by in., of which this appears to be an enlarged copy of part, was in the hamilton palace collection, no. , attributed to magnus du blaire, and inscribed: "in fatum scandici die xxx nov. mdccxvii." "david krafft, a swedish painter, born in , painted the portrait of charles xii. at the command of his sister, afterwards queen ulrica eléanora; but this monarch, who objected to being portrayed, was so displeased at the accuracy of the picture, that he cut out the head. it had, however, already been transferred to copper, and also etched by several engravers."--_bryan._ flower piece . . . . . baptiste. flower piece . . . . . baptiste. flower piece . . . . . baptiste. =the cupola or cube room.= in this sumptuous and gorgeous chamber, with its marble-pillared doorways, its painted and gilded walls, its niches, brackets, slabs, and pediments of white marble, its gilt antique statues, its gaudy domed ceiling of blue and gold, we have the very acme and essence of the style and art of william kent, triumphant and rampant. after our remarks on his work in the foregoing room, we shall not be expected to lose ourselves in admiration over this masterpiece of his pseudo-classic design and decoration. yet little as we may agree with his theories of art, little as we may admire the way he carried them into practice, it is not to be denied that, viewed as a whole, there is considerable grandeur and stateliness, and a certain degree of fine proportion, about this highly-emblazoned saloon. though called the "cube" room, its dimensions are not exactly of that mathematical figure, the walls being only feet inches high, to the top of the cornice, and feet inches to the centre of the ceiling, though each side is feet long. the painted ceiling of the cube room. the ceiling seems to have been the first portion of the work undertaken by kent, and to have been finished by him by the spring of the year . that he was employed to do this work occasioned much very justifiable heart-burning. sir james thornhill was at that time serjeant-painter to the king, and in virtue of his office was entitled to receive the commission for painting this ceiling. indeed, it appears from a "memorial of sir thomas hewett, knt., surveyor-general of his majesties works," addressed to the lords of the treasury, dated th february, - , and "relating to the painting of the large square room at kensington," that in the foregoing autumn the king had commanded hewett's attendance at kensington "about finishing the three large rooms in the new building," and that hewett then showed the king "several sketches of mosaic work, etc., for painting the ceiling of the great square room." the memorial proceeds to state: "his majesty chose one of them; and after i ordered a model to be made, and sir james thornhill painted it, which his majesty saw and approved of; and commanded me to tell the vice-chamberlain he should treat with sir james thornhill for the price, and that it should be done out of hand, which is all i know of the matter." nevertheless, for some reason or other--probably owing to some backstair intrigue--kent was employed to do the work instead. but before he had half finished it the officers of works were directed by the treasury "to view and take care that the particulars of mr. kent's proposal for painting the ceiling of the great chamber at kensington be well answer'd, and the work in the best manner performed with l'ultra-marine." they accordingly commissioned several of the best artists of the day "to view and carefully to consider the same and report in writing." [illustration: the cupola or cube room, as it was when the queen was baptized in it.] the artists, or rather critics as they became--and trust an artist to be no too lenient a critic of a fellow artist's work--were john van vaart, alex^{r} nisbett, and jacob rambour. their report is dated may nd, , and in it they state as follows: "we have been to kensington and carefully view'd and considered the said painting, which we did find better than half done: but having examin'd the particulars thereof, we have observed, and 'tis our opinion, that the perspective is not just; that the principal of the work, which consists in ornaments and architecture, is not done as such a place requires. mr. nesbot adds that the boys, masks, mouldings, etc., far from being well, he has seen very few worse for such a place: and mr. rambour affirms that the said work, far from being done in the best manner, as mentioned in your letter, it is not so much as tolerably well perform'd. as for the quality of the blew used in the work, mr. vandewart and mr. rambour declare that they can't judge whether it is true ultramarine, because it does not look fine enough, but mr. nesbot's opinion is that it is nothing but prussian blew, in which perhaps there may be some ultra-marine mixt." nevertheless, the colours have endured unfaded until to-day; and the gilding also, both on the ceiling and the walls, has required but little renewing, only cleaning and an occasional application of modern leaf gold, and retouching with the paint brush, where the old surface had been injured. much of the woodwork, however, had to be repaired, especially the capitals of the pilasters, some of which had to be renewed. the shape of the ceiling is slightly domed, the four coved sides terminating above in a flat centre, painted with a gigantic star of the order of the garter. the coved sides themselves are painted with octagonal panels, diminishing upwards to simulate a lofty pierced dome. kent himself seems to have been so well satisfied with the work, that he made use of almost exactly the same design when painting the queen's staircase at hampton court some twelve years after. across, part of the north cove of the ceiling is painted a deep shadow, to indicate that cast by the wall and cornice above the windows. the painted walls of the cube room. kent, after finishing the ceiling, proceeded to decorate the walls with painting and gilding. there is a letter in the record office, from lord grafton, to the lords of the treasury, dated th of may, , ordering payment of "£ _s._ _d._ to mr. kent, for painting the sides of the cube room at kensington with ornaments enriched with gold." these walls, including the four pilasters on each, are of oak, painted with a light olive-green colour as a ground, embellished with niches of white marble, surmounted by brackets of the same, let into the woodwork. in the =six niches= are well-designed statues of classical deities--ceres, mercury, venus, minerva, bacchus, apollo, in cast lead, somewhat under life-size. these were so dirty and tarnished as to necessitate their being entirely new-gilt. above them, standing on brackets in flat rectangular niches, were formerly busts representing roman poets, now unfortunately no longer to be found. the two =doorways= opposite each other are likewise of the same fine polished marble, with pilasters and pillars of the ionic order, supporting heavy entablatures, on the apexes of which are antique busts. the =chimney-place= is of the same design in miniature, of polished "dove-coloured" white-veined marble, similar to that at marlborough house. on the apex was formerly a gilt bust of cleopatra, now missing. within the fireplace itself are very fine panelled and moulded "covings" or sides, of the same "dove-coloured" marble, discovered during the progress of the restorations. above the chimney-piece is a large =bas-relief= in statuary marble representing a roman marriage, sculptured by the statuary rysbach. it is a fine work, but one feels rather as if standing in front of a sepultural monument in some foreign _campo santo_ than before an english fireside. rysbach, who was a native of antwerp, came over to england in , four or five years before he executed this work. his talents were for some time--as have been those of many an unsuspecting foreigner--exploited by a commercializing british impresario, gibbs. two-thirds of the prices paid for his work found its way into the pockets of the unscrupulous intermediary, until rysbach, at last shaking himself free from this bondage, took commissions on his own account, and, becoming the rage, he was able to exact great prices for his work. it is possible that he designed the gilt statues in the niches, which seem too good for kent's narrow invention. general appearance of the cupola room. such was the decoration of this famous cupola or cube room when finished by kent, such it appeared in , when pyne's drawing, from which our illustration is taken, was made, and such it appears to this day, save for the large musical clock which then stood in its centre, for the console tables against the walls, and the four large chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. these last were most essential features in this saloon, for its windows, abutting northwards on the private gardens, admit but very insufficient light; and only when illuminated by a blaze of candlelight can full justice have been done to the extravagant glories of its walls and ceilings. it was, in fact, intended essentially as a room for grand evening entertainments, and kent evidently bore this in mind when he constructed it; for he contrived a very ingenious method, whereby the double doors in the doorways between it and the two drawing-rooms, with which it communicates, fold back, when opened, into the door jambs, in which they lie flush, offering no projecting hindrance to the movement of guests passing either way. this is a point never thought of by modern architects, who might do worse, when designing great reception rooms, than take a hint in this matter from the much contemned kent, and so obviate the usual "crush" at the too narrow doorways. * * * * * it seems to have been in this cupola room that took place, on the th of june, , the baptism of the infant princess victoria. faulkner records that "the royal gold font was brought from the tower and fitted up in the grand saloon, with crimson velvet covering from the chapel royal, st. james's. the ceremony was performed by the archbishop of canterbury, assisted by the bishop of london.... the prince regent and nearly all the royal family were present at the ceremony, or at the dinner in the evening." exactly underneath this room is the famous pillared "council chamber" in which, as we have already stated, the queen held her first council. =king's drawing room.= built at the same time as the two preceding rooms by command of king george i., william kent here again reigns supreme in the design and decoration. "it was on the walls of this drawing-room," we are told by pyne, writing in , "that the then new art of paper-hangings, in imitation of the old velvet flock, was displayed, with an effect that soon led to the adoption of so cheap and elegant a manufacture, in preference to the original rich material from which it was copied." the paper that now covers the walls is a copy of an old pattern, and has been supplied by messrs. bertram, the decorators. we may again notice here the five lofty doorways, surmounted by flat architraves, and the oak pilasters in the dado as characteristic of kent. there was originally one of his great massive marble chimney-pieces in this room, long since replaced by the present plain insignificant one. the dimensions of this room are feet inches long (from east to west), feet wide, and feet inches high to the top of the cornice. painted ceiling of the king's drawing room. this is another of kent's artistic efforts. there is in the record office a letter from lord grafton dated june th, , conveying his majesty's commands that "their lordships of the treasury would give orders to mr. william kent to paint the ceilings, etc. in the new apartments at kensington"--including this one. the cove of the ceiling, or portion nearest the cornice, is elaborately decorated with scroll-work and architectural ornaments, richly gilt and painted, and with medallions in the middle of each side supported by female figures. in the centre is a large projecting heavy oval frame of plaster, with the panel within it recessed about three feet. this is painted with the story of jupiter and semele, the god appearing in a thunder-cloud, and semele, in a ridiculous attitude, on a couch. no painting could be worse. the signature of the artist, "_william kent pinxit_, ," has been found a little to the left of the right foot of semele. when the restoration of this room was taken in hand last winter, the ceiling was so begrimed with the dirt, dust, smoke, and smuts of upwards of a hundred and fifty years of london atmosphere, as to be nearly black. the cleaning was carried out with the most scrupulous care, and practically no re-painting or re-gilding has been necessary. william kent, the royal and fashionable decorator. the whole effect of this ceiling _if you do not look at it_ is rich and striking, and with the fine paper and the pictures on the walls will pass muster as a suitable decorative treatment of a grand state reception room. george i. and george ii. at any rate had no hesitation in extending an unqualified approval to kent's work. after having finished this suite he grew into greater favour than ever. he was soon after appointed "master carpenter, architect, keeper of the pictures, and principal painter to the crown, the whole, including a pension of £ a year, which was given him for his works at kensington, producing--according to walpole--£ a year." from the court his vogue extended to a large circle of patrons and votaries. "he was not only consulted for furniture, as frames of pictures, glasses, tables, chairs, etc., but for plate, for a barge, for a cradle; and so impetuous was fashion, that two great ladies prevailed on him to make designs for their birthday gowns. the one he dressed in a petticoat decorated with columns of the five orders; the other like a bronze, in a copper-coloured satin, with ornaments of gold!" [illustration: king's drawing room.] kent, the "father of modern gardening." kent also had a great reputation as a horticulturist, and was generally designated, at the end of last century, as the "father of modern gardening"--his ghastly progeny consisting of the destructive and desolating "landscape-gardening" enterprises of "capability brown," repton, and their followers. his hand doubtless fell heavy on the old queen anne formal gardens about kensington palace. we can see the influence of his taste, which was followed with enthusiasm by queen caroline and her gardener bridgman, in the barrenness and commonplace appearance of the grounds that lie immediately below in front of us, as we look out of the windows of this room, and in the entire absence of planting or gardening in the large expanse surrounding the "round pond." this =round pond=, or "=the basin=" as it used to be called, is, by the bye, not round at all, but of a geometrical figure, more of an oval form than circular, and with the four sides flattened and the intermediate portions of the circumference bent into "ogees." in thus shaping this basin the designer, whether kent or bridgman, has overstepped artistic discretion; for from no point of view, neither in kensington gardens, from the ground beside it, nor even from this window is its real shape to be made out--only from rocque's plan or bird's-eye view, of , can it be seen to be so eccentric. the distant =view=, however, beyond the private gardens, across the round pond and kensington gardens, over grassy slopes and ancient trees to hyde park, a mile away, is one of the pleasantest in the metropolis. not a street, not a road, not a house, not a roof is to be seen. in the spring and early summer, when the foliage is fresh and green, one might imagine oneself in the depths of the country, in some old house overlooking midland pastures and woods. west's pictures in the king's drawing room. in this room are hung the paintings of west, all of which were executed for george iii., who greatly admired them, and extended to him a most liberal patronage. he was equally in favour with the public, who lauded his performances to the skies, and with his fellow-artists, who made him president of the royal academy. we now hardly know which to wonder at most--an obscure lad in the wilds of pennsylvania, who took his earliest lessons in painting from a tribe of cherokees, accomplishing what he did; or the english fetish, public opinion, having been so deluded as to regard his efforts as masterpieces of art. the depreciation which has overtaken him may be judged when we hear that an "annunciation," for which £ was originally paid, was knocked down in for £ ! his portraits, nevertheless, are interesting. the death of general wolfe (_ _) . . . . . west. wolfe lies in the centre, to the right, supported by three officers. in front of him is a wounded officer, standing, supported by others, to hear his dying injunctions. at his feet is an indian warrior in his war-paint, gazing at him to see how an english chief will die. on the extreme left is a messenger running, and on the left ships with soldiers disembarking. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. wide. wolfe was killed on the th september, , in the moment of victory before quebec. "the fall of wolfe was noble indeed. he received a wound in the head, but covered it from his soldiers with his handkerchief. a second ball struck him in the belly, but that too he dissembled. a third hitting him in the breast, he sank under the anguish, and was carried behind the ranks. yet, fast as life ebbed out, his whole anxiety centred on the fortune of the day. he begged to be borne nearer to the action, but his sight being dimmed by the approach of death, he entreated to be told what they who supported him saw: he was answered, that the enemy gave ground. he eagerly repeated the question, heard the enemy was totally routed, cried 'i am satisfied,' and expired." (walpole's _memoirs_.) "in this picture, which was painted in , west introduced the sensible innovation of dressing the characters in their proper costume; previous to that time it was the common practice with painters to dress their figures in historical compositions of any kind, in the greek or roman costume. sir joshua reynolds was one of those who were averse to the innovation, but when the picture was finished, he changed his opinion. after a careful examination of the picture, he observed to the archbishop of york, who was with him at the time, 'west has conquered; he has treated his subject as it ought to be treated; i retract my objections. i foresee that this picture will not only become one of the most popular, but will occasion a revolution in the art.' when west related this to the king, he said, 'i wish i had known all this before, for the objection has been the means of lord grosvenor getting the picture, but you shall make a copy for me.'" this is the copy ordered by george iii., for which the painter received £ . the original is at grosvenor house, and has been finely engraved by woollett. there are several other repetitions of it. prince of wales (george iv.), and duke of york (_ _) . . . . . west. the prince is on the left, in yellow satin, his right hand on his hip, his left on his brother's shoulder, who leans against a table. they are both in the robes of the garter and st. andrew. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. wide. the prince of wales was born on august th, ; frederick, duke of york, on august th, . this picture represents them when they were about fifteen and fourteen years old, therefore, about . soon afterwards the duke of york proceeded to prussia for the purpose of being educated as a soldier. dukes of cumberland, sussex, and cambridge, and the princesses augusta-sophia, elizabeth, and mary (_ _). the duke of cumberland is on the left, standing; the duke of sussex is lying down near his sister elizabeth, who holds on her lap the infant princess mary (?). kneeling by them is the duke of cambridge, and behind is the princess augusta-sophia. signed and dated . on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. prince ernest augustus, afterwards duke of cumberland and king of hanover, and grandfather of her royal highness princess frederica, was born june th, ; prince augustus frederick, duke of sussex, on january th, ; and prince adolphus frederick, duke of cambridge, on february th, . princess augusta-sophia was born on november th, ; princess elizabeth, on may nd, ; and princess mary, on april th, . the princesses have long been wrongly called, charlotte, augusta, and sophia; the correct names, as given above, are derived from the contemporary mezzotint by v. green; besides, when this picture was painted the princess sophia was not born. queen charlotte, aged , with her thirteen children in the background (_ _) . . . . . west. standing; dressed in white, her hair powdered and piled up high. the thirteen children are seen in the distance to the left, in a picture which is now at windsor castle. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. george iii.; lords amherst and lothian behind (_ _) . . . . . west. he is standing, facing to the right, in full regimentals. he holds a scroll of paper in his hands in front of him. behind him is his crown and sceptre; and in the background the two peers, and a view of coxheath camp. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. it appears from west's own memoranda that this picture was painted before , consequently the king cannot have been more than forty. duke of cambridge, and princesses charlotte and augusta (_ _) . . . . . west. the duke, in a maroon-coloured suit, is standing on the right. princess charlotte is sitting on a stool, with her sister on her lap. in the background are a curtain, a column, and kew gardens with the pagoda. signed on the top in the left hand corner; and dated . on canvas, ft. high, by ft. wide. princess charlotte, george iii.'s eldest daughter, afterwards queen of wirtemburg, was born on september th, ; and princess augusta, on november th, . it is doubtful whether the names are correct. =apotheosis of the infant princes octavius and alfred= (_ _). alfred, the younger of the two, is seated on clouds, with his hands out-stretched to his brother, who is being conducted up to him by an angel. prince octavius was born on february rd, , and prince alfred on september nd, . alfred died on august th, . "i am very sorry for alfred," said the king, "but had it been octavius i should have died too." octavius followed his brother to the grave on may nd, . for this picture west received £ . engraved by sir robert strange. =queen charlotte and the princess royal= (_ _) . . . . . west. the queen is sitting on a sofa, with embroidery on her lap. the princess stands on the right, by her side, and holds the embroidery. dated . on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. duke of clarence (william iv.), and duke of kent (_ _) . . . . . west. the duke of clarence is on the left, dressed in a blue coat with a white vest; he has his right hand on a globe, his left on his hip. the duke of kent is in red turned full to the front, but looking at his brother; his right hand is on his brother's left hand, his left is pointing upwards. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. prince william henry, duke of clarence, afterwards william iv., was born august st, . prince edward, duke of kent, father of her present most gracious majesty, was born november nd, . this picture was painted when they were about thirteen and eleven years. in , the duke of clarence went to sea as a midshipman. west received guineas for the picture. george iii. reviewing the tenth dragoons in hyde park in (_ _) . . . . . beechey. the king is in front on a white horse, whose head is turned to the left. he is in full regimentals, with a cocked hat. just behind him is the prince of wales, in the uniform of the th, holding up his sword and giving the word of command. to the left of the king is the duke of york, with generals goldsworthy and sir david dundas; sir william fawcett is standing in front of them. the king is turning round to speak to them, and points with his right hand to the cavalry charge in the left distance. on canvas, ft. in. high, by - / ft. wide. the th light dragoons (now the th hussars) were frequently reviewed by george iii. in company with the prince of wales, who entered the army as brevet-colonel, november th, , and after whom the regiment was called "the prince of wales's own," on michaelmas day, . in he was appointed colonel-commandant of the corps, and succeeded as colonel on july th, . the review commemorated here took place not long after that date, for the picture is mentioned in a biographical sketch of sir william beechey in _the london monthly mirror_ for july, , where we are told that the king rewarded him for it with the honour of knighthood. the names of the officers were derived from an account of a review, which took place in , and which this picture was formerly supposed to represent; it is therefore doubtful whether they are quite correct. (see _notes and queries_.) this picture is regarded as beechey's masterpiece, and was very much admired at the time. but "although a clever and showy group of portraits, it has little of real nature, and is full of the painter's artifices. thus the king's white horse forms the principal light, and comes off the prince of wales's dark horse, and so on; the light and shadow of all the heads being the light and shadow of the studio, and not of the field."--(redgrave's _century of painters_.) the king had several copies taken of it; in one, which he gave to lord sidmouth, the figure of the prince was omitted by the king's own desire, a curious proof of his dislike of his son. when the prince became king he hinted that it should be restored, but this was evaded. benjamin smith engraved the portrait of george iii. from this picture. =king's privy chamber.= although this room formed part of the state apartments built by kent, it was much transformed in the reign of george iii., so that it bears little trace of its original decoration. indeed, it is so commonplace in appearance, that, except for the pictures which now hang on its walls, it looks more like an ordinary bedroom in an old-fashioned country inn than a king's chamber in a palace. the plain deal dado, the common chimney-piece of black veined marble, the wood and plaster cornice, the shutters and windows, are all of the most ordinary and inartistic pattern. the dimensions of this room are feet long, feet wide, and feet high. =portraits of the time of george iii.= portrait of francis, th duke of bedford (_ _) . . . . . j. hoppner. full-length, turned to the left, looking to the front. he is dressed in a peer's full robes. his left hand is on his hip, his right holds a scroll of paper. he is bareheaded, face close-shaven, and his hair short. behind him is a red curtain, and in the distance on the left a statue of hercules. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. behind is written:--"received, th april, , from mrs. hoppner." the duke, who was born in , died on march nd, . "more dignified and well painted than the similar one at woburn."--_sir george scharf._ francis hastings, earl of moira (_ _) . . . . . hoppner. full-length, figure slightly to the right, but the face turned round to the left. dressed in uniform, with the ribbon and star of the garter. his right hand holds a scroll of paper by his side; his left rests on a document on a table. background, a green curtain, and sky on the right. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. behind is painted "r.a. ," the year of hoppner's election, and "the star and garter added ," in june of which year lord moira, after failing to form a ministry, accepted the garter, "but," says lord spencer in a letter to lord buckingham, "whether as a calm to his honour or his understanding, it is not for me to say." this picture was received from hoppner's widow, in june, , a few months after his death. portrait of john hely, lord hutchinson (_ _) . . . . . phillips, r.a. three-quarters length, seated, turned to the left, and looking downwards. his left leg is crossed over his right, and in his left hand he holds a map of egypt; his right holds an eyeglass on his breast. he is in his uniform. in front of him on a table are writing materials. on canvas, ft. high, by - / ft. wide. john hely was born in , and in went into the army. in the expedition to egypt in he was appointed second in command to sir ralph abercrombie; on whose death the chief command devolved on hely, then a major-general. for his admirable conduct of the campaign, in which he drove the french from egypt, he received the thanks of both houses, and was raised to the peerage in . in he succeeded his brother to the earldom of donoughmore. he died in . christian vii. of denmark (_ _) . . . . . dance. a head, in an oval, turned to the right; dressed in a red uniform trimmed with gold; on his breast a blue ribbon. his hair is powdered and brushed back. this was formerly unnamed, but the mezzotint engraving after it by fisher shows it to have been painted by dance; doubtless when the king was over here in for his marriage to princess matilda. he was then eighteen years old. their domestic life was not happy. in politics he distinguished himself by granting liberty of the press to his subjects; in reward for which voltaire addressed the famous lines to him, in which he tells him: "je me jette à tes pieds au nom du genre humain." he afterwards went out of his mind, and died in . he was the son of princess louisa, the daughter of george ii., and succeeded to the throne in . the engraving after this picture by g. fisher is dated . portrait of richard brinsley sheridan (_ _) . . . . . k. a. hickel? bust; face turned slightly to the right. he has a blue coat and a yellow waistcoat. his face is close-shaven. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. in wide. "whatever sheridan has done, or chosen to do, has been _par excellence_ always the best of its kind. he has written the best comedy, the best farce, and the best address ('monologue on garrick'), and, to crown all, delivered the very best oration (the famous begum speech) ever conceived or heard in this country."--_byron._ this appears to be the study for, or a replica of, the head of sheridan in the picture of the interior of the old house of commons in , painted by karl anton hickel, and now in the national portrait gallery. portrait of spencer perceval (_ _) . . . . . joseph. half-length, turned to the left. in his left hand he holds a paper. he wears a blue coat and a white waistcoat. his face is shaven, his hair grey, and his head bald in front. on canvas, - / ft. high, by ft. wide. behind is written:--"received from mrs. joseph, th june, ." this is a posthumous likeness, taken from a mask after death, but considered by all who knew him to be a faithful resemblance. when queen charlotte went to see it, and the curtain which covered it was withdrawn, she was so struck with its truth, that she burst into tears. many copies with slight variations were executed; one of them is now in the national portrait gallery. it is engraved in mezzotint by turner. it is a fair specimen of george francis joseph, an indifferent artist, who was elected an associate of the royal academy after painting this portrait. he died in . perceval, who became prime minister in october, , was assassinated in the lobby of the house of commons by bellingham, on may th, . the official documents he holds in his hand remind us that his state papers were not at all to the taste of the prince regent, who remarked, "that it was a great misfortune to mr. perceval to write in a style which would disgrace a respectable washerwoman." mary granville, mrs. delany (_ _) . . . . . opie. bust, turned to the left. she is dressed in a black silk dress, trimmed with lace, and having a hood over her white widow's cap. round her neck is a locket. on canvas, ft. in. high. this portrait represents her as a very old woman, and was probably painted not many years before her death, in , at the age of eighty-eight. she was the eldest daughter of bernard granville, grandson of sir bevil granville, the royalist leader, and was born in . she was educated under the care of her uncle, lord lansdowne, and married in alexander pendarves. she was intimate with swift, through whom she became acquainted with her second husband, dr. delany. after his death she spent most of her time with her friend, the duchess of portland, and when she died, george iii., who, with the queen, became very intimate with the old lady, gave her a pension and a house at windsor. she occupied her declining years in copying flowers in paper, and executed as many as . she died in . her autobiography was published in ; it contains a great many reminiscences of the court and family of george iii. this picture first brought opie into notice. a replica painted for the countess of bute is in the national portrait gallery. brownlow north, bishop of winchester (_ _) . . . . . _after_ dance. bust, nearly a full face, slightly inclined to the right. he is seated in a purple-covered chair, in the robes of a chancellor of the garter, with the chain of the order on his breast. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. he was a half-brother of lord north, the prime minister; was born in ; and was successively appointed bishop of lichfield and coventry, worcester and winchester, and died in . portrait of hurd, bishop of worcester (_ _) . . . . . gainsborough. bust, turned to the left, facing and looking in front. dressed in a bishop's canonicals, with a small, but full, curly wig. painted in an oval. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. compare no. . richard hurd, bishop of worcester (_ _) . . . . . gainsborough. bust, to the right, looking to the front his left hand is on his breast, holding his gown. dressed in canonicals, with a bushy wig. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. he was the son of a farmer at congreve, staffordshire, and was born in . he was appointed preceptor to the prince of wales and the duke of york, and was nominated bishop of worcester in ; but declined the primacy offered by george iii., with whom he was a great favourite. he wrote many moral and religious works, long since relegated to the limbo of insipid mediocrities. engraved by holl in ? perhaps the picture exhibited in . a rabbi (_ _) . . . . . _after rembrandt, by_ gainsborough. bust, to the right. he wears a dark dress, and cap with flaps; his beard is long. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. this was in gainsborough's possession at his death, and was exhibited at schomberg house, . portrait of c. f. abel, the musician (_ _) . . . . . robineau. half-length; seated at a piano or spinet, turned towards the right, but his face looking behind him, over his shoulder to the left. he is dressed in a red coat and has a small wig. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. signed on the left-hand side:--"_c. robineau ._" charles frederick abel was a pupil of bach's, and at one time belonged to the royal band at dresden. he came to england about , and was appointed master of queen charlotte's band. although he wrote music, he was more celebrated for his playing than his compositions. abel was a very passionate man, and much addicted to the bottle,--peculiarities which the visitor would suspect him of, from his flushed face and red nose. he died in , after being three days in a sort of drunken torpor. robineau was a portrait-painter who practised in paris and london. duchess of brunswick, sister of george iii . . . . . a. kauffman. full-length, turned to the right. she holds a child in her arms on an altar in front of her. she is dressed in white with an orange-coloured mantle, lined with light blue; she wears sandals. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. on the left at the foot of the column is the signature:--"_angelica pinx aº_. ." to the left, on a vase, the inscription:-- _carol._ ille _de bruns. & priñ. hered_. a. mdcclx m. _jul. apud enisdorff_ victoria. _et_ a. mdcclxiv m. _jan. apud lond._ amore. _coron._ augusta, the eldest daughter of frederick, prince of wales, was born on the st of july, , and was married to the duke of brunswick on the th of january, . by him she became the mother, among other children, of caroline, princess of wales, and of duke william frederick, "brunswick's fated chieftain," who fell at quatre-bras. in , when this portrait was painted, she was in england on a visit. the child in her arms must be her eldest son charles george augustus, who was born th february, , and died in . . frederick, prince of wales (_ _) . . . . . vanloo? bust, turned to the left, facing in front. he wears a blue sash over his coat. see _ante_, no. . . george iii., when prince of wales, aged , and prince edward augustus, duke of york and albany, aged . . . . . richard wilson, r.a. seated figures, on a couch by a table, the prince of wales on the left. on canvas, feet - / inches high, by feet - / inches wide. lent by the trustees of the national portrait gallery. the duke of york was born in , became an admiral in , and died at monaco in . =the nursery.= the designation of "the nursery" has been for many years applied to this room, having, it appears, been so used at one time by queen victoria, whose doll-house is now placed here. it was afterwards occupied by the late duchess of teck, and it was here that princess may, now duchess of york, was born, on may th, . its associations are, therefore, exclusively victorian, with which its decoration--so far as it can be said to have any--accords. the "shell" of the room, however, is part of kent's addition to the state rooms. the dimensions of this room are feet inches long by feet inches wide, and feet high to the highest point of the ceiling, feet inches to the top of the cornice. pictures and prints illustrative of the queen's life and reign. a collection is here being formed by mr. holmes, the queen's librarian, of various prints, illustrative of her majesty's life and reign. among them are old prints of the queen as a child, and as the young princess victoria, heiress to the throne; also of the marriage of the prince of wales in st. george's chapel, the baptism of the princess royal, etc.; and also the jubilee celebration of in westminster abbey, from the painting by w. e. lockhart, r.s.a. the queen's first council in the pillared council chamber at kensington palace on th of june, . . . . . _after_ wilkie. for an account of this famous scene, _see_ page . =ante-room.= as we go through the door of "the nursery" into this ante-room, we pass from the portion of the palace built by kent, to the original block erected by wren, this ante-room being a part of what was formerly one of william iii.'s state rooms. through this lobby it was that the queen passed to the adjoining staircase when she went downstairs to receive the news of her accession. the dimensions of this room are: feet inches long, feet inches wide, and feet high. prints illustrative of the life and reign of the queen. the wall space here will be devoted to further prints illustrative of the queen's life and reign. [illustration: decoration] =queen victoria's bedroom.= to future ages, if not indeed already to the present one, this plain, modestly-decorated chamber must have an interest far transcending that of the more gorgeous georgian saloons, which we have just traversed. for, it was for many years the bedroom of our own queen, when as a little girl of tender age she lived in quiet simplicity at kensington palace with her mother, the duchess of kent. from the windows of this room we can imagine the little princess, when she rose in the morning, gazing out over the gardens and the park beyond, as the beams of the eastern sun struggled through the mists and smoke of distant london, musing on the mighty destiny awaiting her; or in the evening hour, when the flower-scented air of the garden beneath floated in at the casement, looking out where the far-off lights of the great town twinkled among the trees, her mind filled with solemn thoughts of the awful responsibility that was to be hers. even now, when the building octopus, with its stucco tentacles, has clutched and sucked in so many a fair surrounding green field, from these windows not a roof, not a chimney meets the eye; not an echo, even, of the ceaseless roar of the traffic strikes the ear. it was in this room that the queen was sleeping on the memorable morning of the th of june, , when she was awakened by her mother, the duchess of kent, to go to the drawing room downstairs, where lord conyngham and the archbishop of canterbury were awaiting to inform her of her accession to the throne. the dimensions of this room are: feet inches long, feet inches wide, and feet high. prints of the life and reign of the queen. prints in continuation of the series commenced in "the nursery," are in process of being arranged in this room. mementoes and relics of the queen's childhood, collected in "queen victoria's bedroom." here also will be arranged some of the queen's toys, with which she played as a little girl in these rooms; and perhaps other similar objects of interest. labels will, doubtless, be affixed to explain, what these are. [illustration: decoration] =king's gallery.= this magnificent gallery, the finest of all the state rooms at kensington palace, was designed and built by sir christopher wren for william iii. about the year . it owes much of its architectural effect to the great architect's wonderful knowledge and appreciation of proportion--an element too often disregarded in buildings of modern times. its length is feet, its breadth feet inches, and its height feet to the top of the cornice, and feet inches to the highest point of the ceiling. it is, therefore, feet longer than the already-described queen mary's gallery, feet higher, but of the same width. compared with it, the "king's or cartoon gallery" at hampton court, built by wren almost exactly at the same time, it is feet less long, feet less wide, and feet less high. in relation to it the following items from the old accounts, dating from about the year , are interesting: "item to richard hawkesmore, clerk of the workes, for making up an account [an estimate?] of the king's new gallery at kensington--£ ." "more to him for pasteboard and other materialls for making a modell of the said gallery for the king--£ _s._" "cha: houghton for rating, casting up, and engrossing the books of the said building for the auditor--£ ." decorative carvings in "the king's gallery." the oak cornice and the oak doors of this gallery, especially the beautiful architraves of the doors, are among the finest specimens anywhere existing of wren's decorative art, designed by him and carried out under the superintendence of gibbons. relating to this work we find the following item in the accounts for the years to : "to grinling gibbons, carver, for worke done in the new gallery building, in the king's great and little closet, in three roomes under the king's apartment, in the king's gallery, and other places about the said pallace--£ _s._ _d._" in other respects the appearance of this room has been much altered; for the oak panelling, which appears originally to have entirely covered its walls was removed, it would seem, in the reign of george i. or of george ii.; when also the ceiling, which was originally plain, was painted as we see it now. chimney-piece, map and dial. at the same time a new chimney-piece was inserted. part of the original over-mantel, however, of the time of william iii., still remains, especially a very curious map of the north-west of europe, showing the names of various towns, especially in the north of france, the netherlands, and the british isles. relating to it we have discovered, in the course of our researches among the old parchment rolls in the record office, the following entry, dating from about, the year : "to rob^{t} norden for his paines in drawing a map for the chimney-piece and for attending the painters--£ ." round the circumference of the map are the points of the compass; and an old =dial-hand= or pointer, still remains, which was actuated by an iron rod connected with a vane, still existing above the roof. this enabled king william to know from which quarter the wind was blowing; whether, therefore, it was safe for him, with his asthma, to venture out of doors, or whether the wind was favourable for wafting him away from this hated climate to his own dearly-loved country of holland. it was this dial which so greatly interested peter the great, when he privately visited william iii. in this palace in , being admitted by a back door. "it was afterwards known," says macaulay, but unfortunately without giving his authority, "that he took no notice of the fine pictures, with which the palace was adorned. but over the chimney in the royal sitting-room was a plate which, by an ingenious machinery, indicated the direction of the wind; and with this plate he was in raptures." [illustration: the king's gallery.] this old dial is fixed in a square carved and gilt frame, probably the one referred to in the following item in the old accounts of the years - : "to rene cousins gilder for a large frame carved and gilt with burnished gold--£ ." the outer frame of deal wood surrounding this gilt one is, on the other hand, of a later date, evidently designed by kent, as was also the decorated panel above it, itself surmounted by a pediment, richly carved, doubtless by men trained in the school of wren and gibbons. in the centre of this fine "kentian" panel is a medallion picture of the "virgin and child," painted in fresco, of the school of raphael, and inscribed behind with the date, . all this over-mantel was, in the time of george i., painted over white with enrichments of gold. it so remained until last winter, when the thick coats of filthy paint were cleaned off. it has been thought best to leave the deal wood in its natural state, unpainted, only applying a little stain to tone it into harmony with the colour of the surrounding oak carvings. although this carved over-mantel is an addition, and as far as the pediment is concerned, very out of place so close to the cornice, yet it is very beautiful and of much interest as being one of the finest examples of decorative design executed in england during the reigns of the first two georges. in it we trace the influence of the lighter french taste of louis xv., which kent had no doubt become acquainted with when travelling abroad. the marble chimney-piece below, on the other hand, is in that architect's regular massive, heavy style. * * * * * almost at once, after this gallery was finished by wren, it became the receptacle of some of the finest works of art in the royal collection. among the manuscripts in the british museum is the original list of william iii.'s pictures, placed "in kensington house, "--some seventy pieces being mentioned as then hanging on its walls. it was in the year following that peter the great was in england; when, besides his private interview with the king, mentioned above, he was a spectator at a ball given in this same gallery on the birthday of princess anne, not publicly, however, but peeping through one of the doors, in a closet prepared for him on purpose. in this room, king william, in the month of march, , after his accident, and a few days before his death, "took several turns" to exercise himself; but soon becoming fatigued, he reclined upon a couch and fell asleep, "but soon to awake in a shivering fit, which was the beginning of a fever, attended with serious symptoms, from which he never recovered." painting of the ceiling and wainscot of the king's gallery. this gallery was also a favourite sitting-room of queen anne and her husband, and of george i. it was by command of the latter monarch that kent, about the year , undertook the painting of the ceiling, his charge for which, with similar work in "the little closets," amounted to _£_ . although the richness of the colouring and gilding give it a gorgeous appearance, neither the design nor the ornaments, least of all the panels, painted with mythological subjects, are interesting. it is divided into seven compartments, surrounded by elaborate classic scroll and arabesque work, and allegorical figures. the centre medallion is oval, the other six oblong or lozenge shaped. the officers of works in their report, dated th of september, , to the "lords commissioners of his majesty's treasury," on this work, added: "we have caused an estimate to be made of the charge of painting the wainscot of the sd. gallery and little closets in the same manner as the bedchamber and closets are already painted, amounting to £ : : gilding the same--£ : : providing scaffolds for the painters and covering the floors with boards to prevent their being damaged, etc., £ : :" they further added: "we crave leave to lay before your lordships a letter that we have received from sir james thornhill, serj^{t} painter to his majesty, in which he complains that the gilding of the cornishes, which hath hitherto been done by himself, and his predecessors, is by my lord chamberlain's letter directed to be done by another person, which letter we have hereunto annexed." on october th, accordingly, an order was made to the board of works to commission sir j. thornhill to do the gilding of the cornices. on the barbarity of painting the beautiful oak work in this gallery, and especially the exquisitely carved oak architraves and cornices, we need not dwell. they remained painted until last autumn, when with infinite trouble and pains, the paint was cleaned off, and all the delicate chiselling of gibbons and his assistants revealed to the eye, after being obscured for a hundred and seventy-four years. the visitor can judge for himself with what success this has been accomplished. no stain has been used in this restoration; and only after repeated experiments was the method adopted of treating it simply with wax polish. the old panelling of wren's time was probably removed in the time of george ii., in order to afford more wall-space for hanging pictures on--which was queen caroline's great hobby. an even worse barbarism was perpetrated in this superb gallery at the beginning of the century--when it was divided by partitions into three distinct rooms--in which state it remained until the restorations were begun last year. one of these subdivisions was used by queen victoria, when a little girl, for her toys. naval pictures in the king's gallery. in this gallery have now been collected a large number of sea-pieces, sea-fights, dockyards, and admirals, mainly of the time of the georges, to illustrate the history of the british navy. though but very few--for instance, those by monamy and scott--can be considered fine works of art, yet all of them will be found interesting and curious; and no one, who has known them only when hanging in bad lights on dark screens in the overcrowded rooms at hampton court, would have suspected how much there is to be studied in them, now that they are at length properly displayed. the dockyard at sheerness (_ _) . . . . . r. paton. the dock is on the left, terminated by a fort in the centre of the picture. on the left are a large man-of-war and a disabled ship towed by a barque. this and nos. , , , and are pieces of dockyards, painted by paton more than a hundred years ago. they are each on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. close of the action, november th, , sir r. strachan's victory (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . n. pocock. on the left are three french vessels,? the formidable, scipion, mont blanc, or duguay trouin, two of them utterly dismantled; to the right is the english fleet. the engagement took place off ferrol, about a fortnight after trafalgar, the french ships being under the command of rear-admiral dumanoir, who had escaped from that battle. george iii. reviewing the fleet at portsmouth (_ _). [see no. .] . . . . . d. serres. in the centre is a large man-of-war, the "barfleur": near it the "worcester" firing a salute, and beyond a line of men-of-war, the "royal oak" and "lennox" being distinguishable on the right. on canvas, ft. in. high, by ft. wide. signed "d. serres, ." the dockyard at deptford (_ _). [see no. ] . . . . . r. paton. greenwich is seen in the background; the dock buildings on the right; and on the left various ships, one firing a salute. ships in a dockyard (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ a sea-piece (_ _) . . . . . d. serres. a large vessel is seen broadside, and in front an officer's gig; other vessels are behind. signed in lower right-hand corner, "d. serres, ." action between the "arethusa" and "belle poule" (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ the "arethusa," with its stern to the spectator, is to the left; "la belle poule" is on the right. they are discharging heavy broadsides at each other. the moon is seen in the distance between them. the action took place on the th of july, , off the lizard, and lasted two hours at close quarters without intermission. the "belle poule" got away, though the english had got the best of the fight. sea piece (_ _) . . . . . brooking. on the right is an english frigate bearing away; on the left one coming in. a fair specimen of this good marine painter. george iii. reviewing the fleet at portsmouth (_ _). [see no. .] . . . . . d. serres. a large man-of-war in the centre; smaller craft on each side. the royal yacht which brought queen charlotte to england in , to be married to george iii., in a storm (_ _) . . . . . wright. the royal yacht is in the centre of the picture, attended by a convoy of twelve vessels. it had been re-named "the royal charlotte," and was newly ornamented with a profusion of carving and gilding for the occasion. they embarked at stade on the th of august, and landed at harwich on september th. richard wright was a painter of marine subjects. a small sea-piece (_ _) . . . . . p. monamy. in the centre, towards the left, is an english man-of-war firing a salute; other smaller craft are to the right and left. ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. this is an excellent specimen of peter monamy, an imitator, and probably pupil, of the vandeveldes. though much cracked, it is beautifully painted, "showing a fine quality of texture, with great precision of touch; the calm plane of the ocean level receding into the extreme distance, without that set scenic effect of passing cloud-shadows, which even the best masters have used to obtain the appearance of recession and distance; this work well deserves notice, and might puzzle the best painters of such subjects to rival."--(redgrave's _century of painters_.) his majesty's yacht in portsmouth harbour (_ _) . . . . . j. t. serres. she has twenty-six guns, and lies across the picture; other craft are to the right and left. behind is seen portsmouth. signed "_j. t. serres_, ." shipping . . . . . _unnamed._ on the thames--the tower of london (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ a man-of-war engaged with two vessels (_ _) . . . . . monamy. a man-of-war is on the left engaged with two of the enemy's vessels; behind are others shown in action. (see no. .) rear-admiral sir charles knowles's squadron attacking port louis in st. domingo (? hispaniola) march th, (_ _) . . . . . r. paton? to the left is an english vessel, the "cornwall," firing at a fort in the centre of the picture. more to the left is a small ship burning; on the right are other vessels attacking the fort. the fire-ship of the enemy was towed clear of the squadron by the boats, and left to burn and blow up at a distance from the fleet. the fort surrendered in the evening, and was blown up. the english lost seventy men. battle of trafalgar--close of the action (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . huggins. in the centre is a large vessel (? the "victory") with rigging much shot away and torn. others are seen behind in action. these are two of three pictures, painted for william iv.; the third is now at st. james's palace. rear-admiral sir charles knowles's action with a spanish squadron off the havannah, october st, (_ _) . . . . . r. paton? in the background is the battle-line of the enemy, under vice-admiral reggio, against which the british fleet is bearing. the action began at two o'clock. although defeated, nearly all the spaniards got into port; they lost eighty-six men. knowles, when he came home, was tried by court-martial for not pursuing the enemy with more vigour, and was reprimanded. sea fight--a man-of-war attacked by boats (_ _) . . . . . monamy. the vessel is surrounded by boats, and is responding to their musketry by a fierce cannonade. ft. in. high, by ft. in. wide. admiral viscount keith . . . . . t. phillips, r.a. half length, in robes, turned to the left. his right hand holds up his cloak, his left is seen underneath. his hair is gray. he commanded the fleet which, in , captured the cape of good hope, and performed other brilliant services. he died in . shipping on the thames--temple gardens (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ sea-piece--the british fleet (_ _) . . . . . elliot. in front are some eight large vessels, some with the yards manned, others with their sails partly set; other ships are seen behind. on the frame in front is written:--"_to the r^{t}. hon^{ble}. w^{m}. pitt this view of the british fleet, which secured to england the uninterrupted navigation of the southern ocean is dedicated_." william elliot was a bad marine painter in the style of serres. battle of camperdown--close of the action (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . j. t. serres. in the centre is a british flag-ship, shown at the end of a long line of vessels. on the right is one of the enemy on fire, to which boats are hastening. on the left is a ship with the name "wassanaer." the day after the battle of trafalgar (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . huggins. it represents the storm which separated the squadron the day after the battle. on the right is a dismantled vessel rolling over; on the left is the "victory." on canvas, ft. high, by ft. wide. battle of camperdown--lord duncan's victory (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . j. t. serres. the english fleet is ranged in three lines about to begin the action by breaking the line of the enemy ranged beyond them. the enemy have already opened fire. on canvas, ft. high, by ft. wide. signed, "j. t. serres, ." john thomas serres was the son of dominic serres, who brought him up as a marine painter. in the year in which this picture was painted he succeeded, on his father's death, to the office of marine painter to the king, and one of his duties in this post was to make sketches of the harbours on the enemy's coast. he married the _soi-disant_ princess olive of cumberland, who lost him his appointment, and brought him to misery, destitution, imprisonment, and madness. (redgrave's _dict. of artists_.) equipment of the english fleet in (_ _) . . . . . elliott. three full-rigged men-of-war and others partially rigged are in front; beyond is a port. in front is a label:--"_to the earl of chatham this view of the expeditious equipment of the british fleet in is dedicated_." a man-of-war going out to sea (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ crossing the picture to the left, following another going into the picture. admiral lord anson (_ _) . . . . . _after hudson by_ bockman. this appears to be a copy of a picture in lord lichfield's possession at shugborough in staffordshire, by thomas hudson, a portrait painter, who flourished from to , and who is chiefly remembered now as the master of reynolds. anson was a victorious admiral in the reign of george ii., well known for his famous voyage round the world in the years - , and for his great exploit of capturing, in , the spanish galleon "manilla," which had a cargo on board valued at £ , . he was created a peer in for his victory over the french fleet, and was first lord of the admiralty during the seven years' war. he is here represented in peer's robes, which approximately fixes the date of the picture. bockman, by profession a mezzotint engraver, was in england about - , when he executed copies of various portraits of admirals, which had been painted by kneller for james ii., and g. dahl, a swedish painter, for william iii. the originals were presented by william iv. in to greenwich hospital. . shipping (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ . a ship (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ george iii. reviewing the fleet at portsmouth (_ _). [see no. .] . . . . . d. serres. in the centre is a large three-masted vessel, with the union jack flying, and the royal party on board. many others are behind. the dockyard at portsmouth (_ _). [see no. .] . . . . . r. paton. on the left is a large vessel about to be launched; the dock buildings are behind. the dockyard at chatham (_ _). [see no. .] . . . . . r. paton. the dock is on rising ground to the right; on the left is seen the medway. various ships are on the river. commencement of sir robert calder's action, july nd, (_ _). [see companion piece, no. .] . . . . . n. pocock. a small english ship is engaging two french vessels on the left. on the th of july, calder had received despatches from nelson stating that the combined franco-spanish fleet was on its return from the west indies, and he cruised about off cape finisterre in the hope of intercepting it. though both sides lost heavily, the action had no very decided result. the small english ship is probably the "hero," the van-ship of the british, which began the attack. nicholas pocock, like d. serres, acquired his knowledge of the sea in the navy, which he gave up to adopt marine painting as a profession. george iii. reviewing the fleet at portsmouth (_ _) . . . . . d. serres. to the right is a large line-of-battle ship firing a salute. several yachts with officers and spectators on board are seen. this, and nos. , , and pieces were painted by dominic serres, a native of gascony, who, after running away from home, becoming a sailor, and then master of a trading vessel, and being captured by an english frigate, settled in england and took to painting marine pieces to earn a living. he was one of the original members of the royal academy, and frequently exhibited. he is to be distinguished from his son, j. t. serres (see no. ). the dockyard at woolwich (_ _) . . . . . [see no. .] r. paton. woolwich church is seen in the centre background; the dock buildings are on the right. admiral sir john jennings (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. knighted by queen anne in , died in , and is buried in westminster abbey. admiral john benbow . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. he was given the command of a ship by james, duke of york, for his bravery. in , when in command of the west india squadron, he sustained, almost alone, the fire of the whole french fleet under du casse; his cowardly officers, two of whom were afterwards tried by court-martial and shot, having basely deserted him. he died at jamaica very soon afterwards from a wound received in the action. admiral george churchill (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. a brother of the duke of marlborough's. he died in . admiral sir g. bing, viscount torrington (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. the celebrated admiral of the reigns of queen anne and george i. he was especially distinguished for his services against the pretender, and for his great victory over the spanish off sicily in . his son was the famous admiral byng, who was shot, as voltaire said, "pour encourager les autres." admiral edward russell, earl of orford (_ _) . . . . . sir g. kneller. half length, to the right; in blue. his left hand is on his hip, his right has a bâton. this is the famous admiral in the reign of william and mary, who gained the victory of la hogue against the french fleet under tourville. this portrait is one of the series of admirals painted for william iii. portrait of general spalken (_ _) . . . . . _unnamed._ three-quarters in length. bareheaded, with grey hair. his right arm rests on a table, on which is his cocked hat; his left is in his belt. he wears a general's uniform, a red coat with blue facings, a long white waistcoat with brass buttons, and white breeches. i can find nothing about spalken. admiral sir thomas dilks (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. this is the hero of a brilliant action in cancalli bay in , when a small english squadron attacked a fleet of forty-three french merchantmen with three men-of-war, and captured them all. admiral sir stafford fairbourne (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. lived in the reigns of william iii. and anne. admiral sir john gradin (_ _) . . . . . _after kneller by_ bockman. served in the reign of queen anne, and was dismissed for over-caution. admiral beaumont (_ _) . . . . . _after dahl by_ bockman. he perished on the goodwin sands in the great storm "such as of late o'er pale britannia passed," in . =king's grand staircase.= sir christopher wren was the original builder of this staircase, although kent's name has usually alone been associated with it. to the great architect, however, we certainly owe the "shell" of the building, its proportions, the black marble steps, the black and white chequered marble on the landings, and the fine balustrade of wrought iron. this ironwork was doubtless designed by jean tijou, whose name we have found in the contemporary accounts relating to this palace, and in whose style the design certainly is. as to the stair-treads, it is worthy of note that in an estimate of wren's for the completion of the king's great staircase at hampton court, in , he proposed that they should be made "of irish stone such as are at kensington, but longer and easier," which, in fact, they are. in king william's time the windows must have been of a different type to those now here, which are in the style of kent. as to the walls, they were then probably painted with simple ornaments. among the kensington accounts for the year , we have found the following record of a payment relating to such work: "to robt. streeter, serg^{t} painter, for japanning, gilding and painting several roomes and lodgings in the said pallace, painting severall staircase, and the guard chamber, and other places in and about the said pallace--£ , ." kent's alterations in the king's grand staircase. kent's improvements, which must have been carried out about , included--besides the painting of the walls and ceiling--the alteration of the approach to the staircase on the ground floor, where he inserted, in the area or "well," an arcade of two plain arches, which support, or rather appear to support, the landing above. under the first arch begins the wide flight of black marble steps, with two landings in the ascent, paved with alternate squares of black and white marble, as is also the long top landing or balcony. the balusters are now painted blue, their original colour, found under successive coats of more recent paint. the hand-rail of oak has had its dirty paint cleaned off. [illustration: the king's grand staircase.] no one who did not see this staircase before the restorations were begun can conceive the woeful state of dust, filth, decay and rot which it then presented. with the fine iron balusters broken, damp oozing from the walls, the paintings indistinguishable from incrustations of smoke, and strips of the painted canvas hanging from the walls in shreds--it seemed impossible that it could ever be restored to its pristine splendour. the visitor must judge for himself whether this result has not been triumphantly accomplished. the painted walls of the king's grand staircase. opposite the balustrade, on the right side as one goes down the stairs, is a low wainscot of plain moulded panelling; and above this, level with the top of the second landing, is painted a large vitruvian scroll. the square space thus formed beside the first landing, and the spandril space beside the rise of the stairs, are filled with representations, in chiaro-oscuro, of sea-horses, armorial trophies and other devices, and scroll-work, heightened by gilding. these, as well as similar paintings on the arcade, opposite and under the stairs, show that kent's taste and skill as a decorative artist were by no means contemptible, whereas as a painter of subjects or figures he was no artist at all. the two walls of the staircase above the vitruvian scroll are painted to represent a gallery, behind a colonnade of the scamozzian ionic order, supporting a corresponding entablature, with a frieze embellished with unicorns' heads, masks of lions, and festoons of foliage, divided by fleurs-de-lys, richly heightened with gold. between these columns is painted a balustrade; with numerous figures of personages of george i.'s court, looking over it. in =the first and second compartments= on the left are yeomen of the guard and various ladies and gentlemen; and a young man in a polish dress representing a certain mr. ulric, a page of the king's, "and admired by the court," says pyne, "for the elegance and beauty of his person;" while the youth standing on the plinth outside the balcony is a page of lady suffolk's. in the third or right-hand compartment on the same wall are seen, among many other unidentified persons, a quaker and an old man in spectacles. two other servants of the court appear in this group, mahomet and mustapha, who were taken prisoners by the imperialists in hungary. at the raising of the siege of vienna in , george i., then elector of hanover, was wounded, and was attended by these two turks, who had been retained in his service, and who were said to have saved his life. mahomet apostatized from the faith of his fathers and became a christian; married a hanoverian woman and had several children. king george, on his accession to the british throne, brought these two faithful servants with him to england in his suite. they were constantly about his person, and were credited with obtaining large sums of money from persons who purchased their influence to obtain places about the court. mahomet, however, in whatever way he may have obtained his wealth, made a noble and benevolent use of it; for among many other recorded acts of benevolence, he released from prison about three hundred poor debtors by paying their harsh creditors. pope, at any rate, believed in mahomet's integrity, for he mentions him in his epistle to martha blount in these lines: "from peer or bishop 'tis no easy thing to draw the man who loves his god or king. alas! i copy (or, my draught would fail,) from honest mahomet or plain parson hale." mahomet died of dropsy in , just after these walls were painted. mustapha, after the death of george i., continued in the service of his successor, and is supposed to have died in hanover. in the same group are also a highlander, and a youth known as "peter the wild boy." he was found in the woods of hamelin, near hanover, in , and when first discovered was walking on his hands and feet, climbing trees with the agility of a squirrel, and feeding upon grass and moss of trees. he was supposed to be about thirteen years of age. he was presented to george i., then in hanover, when at dinner, and the king made him taste of the different dishes at table. we get this information from pyne, who adds: "he was sent over to england in april, , and once more brought before his majesty and many of the nobility. he could not speak, and scarcely appeared to have any idea of things, but was pleased with the ticking of a watch, the splendid dresses of the king and princess, and endeavoured to put on his own hand a glove that was given to him by her royal highness. he was dressed in gaudy habiliments, but at first disliked this confinement, and much difficulty was found in making him lie on a bed: he, however, soon walked upright, and often sat for his picture. he was at first entrusted to the care of the philosophical dr. arbuthnot, who had him baptized peter; but notwithstanding all the doctor's pains, he was unable to bring him to the use of speech, or to the pronunciation of words.... he resisted all instruction, and existed on a pension allowed in succession by the three sovereigns in whose reigns he lived. he resided latterly at a farmer's near berkhampstead in hertfordshire, till february, , where he died, at the supposed age of nearly ninety." the =east wall= of the staircase is painted as far as the width of the second landing with a continuation of the arcade, showing a fourth compartment, in which are again figures of yeomen of the guard and ladies--one holding an infant in her arms over the balustrade. further up, on the same wall, is painted a pedimented niche, with a figure of a roman emperor; and higher up still, on the top landing or balcony, are figures of hercules, diana, apollo, and minerva. all these paintings are on canvas, stretched on battens fixed to the wall. painted ceiling of the king's grand staircase. the ceiling of the staircase being square and flat, it did not afford much scope for the exercise of imaginative design, and kent was obliged to content himself with a very commonplace pattern--sufficiently apparent in the accompanying plate. in the four corners are a sort of double oblong panels, with similar square ones intervening between them. the ground colour is gray. the oblongs are painted with ornamental scroll-work and horses' heads, the squares with human heads. these panels are bordered with very heavy projecting frames of plaster work, white and gilt, as is also the great square compartment in the middle. the panel of this last is painted with a representation of a circle, within which are four semicircular spaces or apertures, apparently intended to portray a pierced dome with galleries--but they are all in quite impossible perspective. in three of these spaces are seen musicians playing on various instruments, and spectators looking down upon the company below. in the fourth "the painter," says pyne, "has introduced his own portrait, holding a palette and pencils, with two of his pupils, who assisted him in the decoration of the walls, and a female of a very pleasing countenance, which is supposed to be a resemblance of an actress with whom he lived in the habits of peculiar friendship, and to whom he left a part of his fortune." all these decorations--including "the female of a very pleasing countenance"--the visitor can make out, if he thinks it worth while to incur a stiff neck in doing so; but, in truth, the figures, as well as the perspective, are all so badly drawn and painted, that the less they are examined the better. they prove to us once more that kent, as a pictorial artist, was beneath contempt. if, however, we are content to look on his paintings on this staircase as mere formless colour decoration, the general effect is rich and sumptuous enough. the paintings of the staircase were finished, as we have said, about . three years after we find among the records the following warrant: "for the delivery of the following for the king's service at kensington, viz. for the great staircase lanthorns, inches square and high, with a shade over each, an iron scroll and flat sockets for candles, lanthorn for a pattern inches square and - / inches high, with scrolls, etc." our illustration, taken from pyne's drawing dated , shows these lanthorns still in it. except for these, which disappeared a long time ago, and the tall german stove, which was only removed a few months ago, the staircase appears exactly the same to-day. =presence chamber.= in this room we have a blending of the style of wren, who originally built and designed it, and of kent, who redecorated it for george i. the chimney-piece and over-mantel, with its fine gibbons carving of foliage, fruit, and flowers, the beautifully designed and richly carved oak cornice and the panelled dado are wren's; whereas the painted ceiling and the doors are kent's. it was, doubtless, he also who altered the spacing of the window sashes, and substituted the present ugly large panes for the originally picturesque small ones. there is record of this being done in , among the old accounts. the walls appear originally to have been entirely lined, like most of wren's rooms, with oak wainscot, but this had entirely disappeared long before the beginning of this century, when they were covered with tapestry, over which were nailed a great quantity of pictures--among them several which have now been brought back here from hampton court. at the same period, in , there was still hanging between the windows "a looking-glass of large dimensions, tastefully decorated with festoons of flowers, painted with great truth and spirit by jean baptiste monnoyer.... queen mary sat by the painter during the greatest part of the time he was employed in painting it." this looking-glass has disappeared. =gibbons' fine carving=, however, over the chimney-piece, of foliage, fruit, and flowers in lime wood fortunately remains. when recently cleaned and repaired, it was found to be so fragile and friable as to necessitate its being all painted over in order to hold the fragments together. an oaken colour, "flatted," in accord with the prevailing tone of the panelling in the room was thought most suitable. the two windows of this room, the sashes of which were altered by kent, look into a small courtyard. the dimensions of the room are feet inches long, feet inches wide, by feet inches high to the top of the cornice, feet to the highest part of the ceiling. we presume it to have been in this room that william iii. in may, , received the count de bonde, ambassador extraordinary from the court of sweden, when he returned to the king the insignia of the order of the garter, which had belonged to charles xi., king of sweden. "the sovereign assembled the knights companions upon this occasion in the presence chamber, and all appeared in their mantles, caps, and feathers, attended by the officers of the order in their mantles, and the heralds in their coats." painted ceiling of the presence chamber. the ceiling of this room, like most of those in the state apartments built by wren, is "coved" or "saucer-domed," and was no doubt originally quite plainly-coloured, with a light cream-tinted wash. as we see it now, it gives the idea of an attempt by kent to imitate raphael's loggie in the vatican. the paintings have been stated to be in imitation of those "then recently discovered on the ruined walls of herculaneum and pompeii," but these were not unearthed until twenty-five years after. kent has, however, carefully followed what indications he could get of the decorative treatment of roman classic art. the colours are bright-reds and blues, enriched with gilding on a white ground. the ceiling, or rather the plaster behind the cornice, bears the date, . faulkner, in his "history of kensington," considers that "a proof of his liberal zeal for the interest of his profession is clearly evinced by his adopting this antique ornament rather than his own historical compositions." why this should be the case, however, he does not deign to explain. ceremonial pictures of the queen's reign. in this room are arranged the ceremonial pictures of the reign of the queen, copied from well-known pictures by british artists. they afford most accurate representations of the events depicted, and no doubt will live to remotest history, as interesting and curious specimens of early victorian art. the scenes, and the participants in them are all too well known to require explanation. perhaps later on the numbered "key-plans" will be put up to assist in the identification of each personage. coronation of the queen in westminster abbey, june th, . her majesty taking the sacrament . . . . . _after_ c. r. leslie, r.a. when the queen had been formally invested with the insignia of her sovereignty, and had received the homage of the peers, she laid aside the crown and sceptre, and following the archbishop, advanced to the altar to receive the sacrament. marriage of the queen and prince albert at the chapel royal, st. james's, th february, . . . . . _after_ hayter. christening of the princess royal at buckingham palace, th february, . . . . . _after_ c. r. leslie, r.a. marriage of the princess royal to prince frederick william of prussia in the chapel royal, st. james's, th january, . . . . . _after_ j. phillip, r.a. christening of the prince of wales in st. george's chapel, windsor castle, th of january, . . . . . _after_ hayter. marriage of the prince of wales and the princess alexandra of denmark in st. george's chapel, windsor castle, th march, . . . . . _after_ w. p. frith, r.a. a sketch of the queen leaving westminster abbey after her coronation . . . . . _by_ camille roqueplan. camille roqueplan was a french artist sent over by louis philippe to make sketches at the queen's coronation. the marriage of h.r.h. the duke of connaught and strathearn and h.r.h. princess louise margaret of prussia in st. george's chapel, windsor, th march, . . . . . _after_ sidney p. hall. [illustration: decoration] [illustration: decoration] chiswick press:--charles whittingham and co. tooks court, chancery lane, london. * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: william talman, comptroler=> william talman, comptroller {pg } his exernal architectural effect=> his external architectural effect {pg } being situate=> being situated {pg } his face his shaven=> his face is shaven {pg } prince octavious was born on february rd, => prince octavius was born on february rd, {pg } [frontispiece: queen victoria, prince albert and the royal family. _from the picture by f. winterhalter_.] queen victoria by lytton strachey london chatto & windus to virginia woolf contents chapter toc i. antecedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii. lord melbourne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv. marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v. lord palmerston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi. last years of the prince consort . . . . . . vii. widowhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii. mr. gladstone and lord beaconsfield . . . . . ix. old age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x. the end . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . zzz bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . etoc illustrations queen victoria, prince albert and the royal family. from the picture of f. winterhalter, at buckingham palace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _frontispiece_ princess victoria in . from a print after the picture by f. winterhalter lord melbourne. from the portrait by sir edwin landseer, r.a., in possession of the earl of rosebery queen victoria in . from the portrait by e. corbould prince albert in . from the portrait by john partridge, at buckingham palace queen victoria and the prince consort in queen victoria in queen victoria in . from the portrait by von angeli, in possession of coningsby disraeli, esq. presented by her majesty to the earl of beaconsfield queen victoria in _for facilities afforded in regard to the reproduction of certain of the above, thanks are due to mr. john murray_. _authority for every important statement of fact in the following pages will be found in the footnotes. the full titles of the works to which reference is made are given in the bibliography at the end of the volume_. _the author is indebted to the trustees of the british museum for their permission to make use of certain unpublished passages in the manuscript of the greville memoirs_. { } queen victoria chapter i antecedents i on november , , died the princess charlotte, only child of the prince regent, and heir to the crown of england. her short life had hardly been a happy one. by nature impulsive, capricious, and vehement, she had always longed for liberty; and she had never possessed it. she had been brought up among violent family quarrels, had been early separated from her disreputable and eccentric mother, and handed over to the care of her disreputable and selfish father. when she was seventeen, he decided to marry her off to the prince of orange; she, at first, acquiesced; but, suddenly falling in love with prince augustus of prussia, she determined to break off the engagement. this was not her first love affair, for she had previously carried on a clandestine correspondence with a captain hess. prince augustus was already married, morganatically, but she did not know it, and he did not tell her. while she was spinning out the negotiations with the prince of orange, the allied sovereigns--it was june, --arrived in london to celebrate their victory. among them, in the suite of the { } emperor of russia, was the young and handsome prince leopold of saxe-coburg. he made several attempts to attract the notice of the princess, but she, with her heart elsewhere, paid very little attention. next month the prince regent, discovering that his daughter was having secret meetings with prince augustus, suddenly appeared upon the scene and, after dismissing her household, sentenced her to a strict seclusion in windsor park. 'god almighty grant me patience!' she exclaimed, falling on her knees in an agony of agitation: then she jumped up, ran down the backstairs and out into the street, hailed a passing cab, and drove to her mother's house in bayswater. she was discovered, pursued, and at length, yielding to the persuasions of her uncles, the dukes of york and sussex, of brougham, and of the bishop of salisbury, she returned to carlton house at two o'clock in the morning. she was immured at windsor, but no more was heard of the prince of orange. prince augustus, too, disappeared. the way was at last open to prince leopold of saxe-coburg.[ ] this prince was clever enough to get round the regent, to impress the ministers, and to make friends with another of the princess's uncles, the duke of kent. through the duke he was able to communicate privately with the princess, who now declared that he was necessary to her happiness. when, after waterloo, he was in paris, the duke's aide-de-camp carried letters backwards and forwards across the channel. in january he was invited to england, and in may the marriage took place.[ ] { } the character of prince leopold contrasted strangely with that of his wife. the younger son of a german princeling, he was at this time twenty-six years of age; he had served with distinction in the war against napoleon; he had shown considerable diplomatic skill at the congress of vienna;[ ] and he was now to try his hand at the task of taming a tumultuous princess. cold and formal in manner, collected in speech, careful in action, he soon dominated the wild, impetuous, generous creature by his side. there was much in her, he found, of which he could not approve. she quizzed, she stamped, she roared with laughter; she had very little of that self-command which is especially required of princes; her manners were abominable. of the latter he was a good judge, having moved, as he himself explained to his niece many years later, in the best society of europe, being in fact 'what is called in french _de la fleur des pois_.' there was continual friction, but every scene ended in the same way. standing before him like a rebellious boy in petticoats, her body pushed forward, her hands behind her back, with flaming cheeks and sparkling eyes, she would declare at last that she was ready to do whatever he wanted. 'if you wish it, i will do it,' she would say. 'i want nothing for myself,' he invariably answered; 'when i press something on you, it is from a conviction that it is for your interest and for your good.'[ ] among the members of the household at claremont, near esher, where the royal pair were established, was a young german physician, christian friedrich stockmar. he was the son of a minor magistrate in { } coburg, and, after taking part as a medical officer in the war, he had settled down as a doctor in his native town. here he had met prince leopold, who had been struck by his ability, and, on his marriage, brought him to england as his personal physician. a curious fate awaited this young man; many were the gifts which the future held in store for him--many and various--influence, power, mystery, unhappiness, a broken heart. at claremont his position was a very humble one; but the princess took a fancy to him, called him 'stocky,' and romped with him along the corridors. dyspeptic by constitution, melancholic by temperament, he could yet be lively on occasion, and was known as a wit in coburg. he was virtuous, too, and observed the royal _ménage_ with approbation. 'my master,' he wrote in his diary, 'is the best of all husbands in all the five quarters of the globe; and his wife bears him an amount of love, the greatness of which can only be compared with the english national debt.' before long he gave proof of another quality--a quality which was to colour the whole of his life--cautious sagacity. when, in the spring of , it was known that the princess was expecting a child, the post of one of her physicians-in-ordinary was offered to him, and he had the good sense to refuse it. he perceived that his colleagues would be jealous of him, that his advice would probably not be taken, but that, if anything were to go wrong, it would be certainly the foreign doctor who would be blamed. very soon, indeed, he came to the opinion that the low diet and constant bleedings, to which the unfortunate princess was subjected, were an error; he drew the prince aside, and begged him to communicate this opinion to the english doctors; but it was useless. the { } fashionable lowering treatment was continued for months. on november , at nine o'clock in the evening, after a labour of over fifty hours, the princess was delivered of a dead boy. at midnight her exhausted strength gave way. then, at last, stockmar consented to see her; he went in, and found her obviously dying, while the doctors were plying her with wine. she seized his hand and pressed it. 'they have made me tipsy,' she said. after a little he left her, and was already in the next room when he heard her call out in her loud voice 'stocky! stocky!' as he ran back the death-rattle was in her throat. she tossed herself violently from side to side; then suddenly drew up her legs, and it was over. the prince, after hours of watching, had left the room for a few moments' rest; and stockmar had now to tell him that his wife was dead. at first he could not be made to realise what had happened. on their way to her room he sank down on a chair while stockmar knelt beside him: it was all a dream; it was impossible. at last, by the bed, he, too, knelt down and kissed the cold hands. then rising and exclaiming, 'now i am quite desolate. promise me never to leave me,' he threw himself into stockmar's arms.[ ] ii the tragedy at claremont was of a most upsetting kind. the royal kaleidoscope had suddenly shifted, and nobody could tell how the new pattern would arrange itself. the succession to the throne, which had seemed so satisfactorily settled, now became a matter of urgent doubt. { } george iii was still living, an aged lunatic, at windsor, completely impervious to the impressions of the outer world. of his seven sons, the youngest was of more than middle age, and none had legitimate offspring. the outlook, therefore, was ambiguous. it seemed highly improbable that the prince regent, who had lately been obliged to abandon his stays, and presented a preposterous figure of debauched obesity,[ ] could ever again, even on the supposition that he divorced his wife and re-married, become the father of a family. besides the duke of kent, who must be noticed separately, the other brothers, in order of seniority, were the dukes of york, clarence, cumberland, sussex, and cambridge; their situations and prospects require a brief description. the duke of york, whose escapades in times past with mrs. clarke and the army had brought him into trouble, now divided his life between london and a large, extravagantly ordered and extremely uncomfortable country house where he occupied himself with racing, whist, and improper stories. he was remarkable among the princes for one reason: he was the only one of them--so we are informed by a highly competent observer--who had the feelings of a gentleman. he had been long married to the princess royal of prussia, a lady who rarely went to bed and was perpetually surrounded by vast numbers of dogs, parrots, and monkeys.[ ] they had no children. the duke of clarence had lived for many years in complete obscurity with mrs. jordan, the actress, in bushey park. by her he had had a large family of sons and daughters, and had { } appeared, in effect, to be married to her, when he suddenly separated from her and offered to marry miss wykeham, a crazy woman of large fortune, who, however, would have nothing to say to him. shortly afterwards mrs. jordan died in distressed circumstances in paris.[ ] the duke of cumberland was probably the most unpopular man in england. hideously ugly, with a distorted eye, he was bad-tempered and vindictive in private, a violent reactionary in politics, and was subsequently suspected of murdering his valet and of having carried on an amorous intrigue of an extremely scandalous kind.[ ] he had lately married a german princess, but there were as yet no children by the marriage. the duke of sussex had mildly literary tastes and collected books.[ ] he had married lady augusta murray, by whom he had two children, but the marriage, under the royal marriages act, was declared void. on lady augusta's death, he married lady cecilia buggin; she changed her name to underwood; but this marriage also was void. of the duke of cambridge, the youngest of the brothers, not very much was known. he lived in hanover, wore a blonde wig, chattered and fidgeted a great deal, and was unmarried.[ ] besides his seven sons, george iii had five surviving daughters. of these, two--the queen of würtemberg and the duchess of gloucester--were married and childless. the three unmarried princesses--augusta, elizabeth, and sophia--were all over forty. { } iii the fourth son of george iii was edward, duke of kent. he was now fifty years of age--a tall, stout, vigorous man, highly-coloured, with bushy eyebrows, a bald top to his head, and what hair he had carefully dyed a glossy black. his dress was extremely neat, and in his whole appearance there was a rigidity which did not belie his character. he had spent his early life in the army--at gibraltar, in canada, in the west indies--and, under the influence of military training, had become at first a disciplinarian and at last a martinet. in , having been sent to gibraltar to restore order in a mutinous garrison, he was recalled for undue severity, and his active career had come to an end. since then he had spent his life regulating his domestic arrangements with great exactitude, busying himself with the affairs of his numerous dependents, designing clocks, and struggling to restore order to his finances, for, in spite of his being, as someone said who knew him well, '_réglé comme du papier à musique_,' and in spite of an income of £ , a year, he was hopelessly in debt. he had quarrelled with most of his brothers, particularly with the prince regent, and it was only natural that he should have joined the political opposition and become a pillar of the whigs. what his political opinions may actually have been is open to doubt; it has often been asserted that he was a liberal, or even a radical; and, if we are to believe robert owen, he was a necessitarian socialist. his relations with owen--the shrewd, gullible, high-minded, wrong-headed, illustrious and preposterous father of socialism and co-operation--were curious { } and characteristic. he talked of visiting the mills at new lanark; he did, in fact, preside at one of owen's public meetings; he corresponded with him on confidential terms, and he even (so owen assures us) returned, after his death, from 'the sphere of spirits' to give encouragement to the owenites on earth. 'in an especial manner,' says owen, 'i have to name the very anxious feelings of the spirit of his royal highness the late duke of kent (who early informed me there were no titles in the spiritual spheres into which he had entered), to benefit, not a class, a sect, a party, or any particular country, but the whole of the human race through futurity.' 'his whole spirit-proceeding with me has been most beautiful,' owen adds, 'making his own appointments; and never in one instance has this spirit not been punctual to the minute he had named.' but owen was of a sanguine temperament. he also numbered among his proselytes president jefferson, prince metternich, and napoleon; so that some uncertainty must still linger over the duke of kent's views. but there is no uncertainty about another circumstance: his royal highness borrowed from robert owen, on various occasions, various sums of money which were never repaid and amounted in all to several hundred pounds.[ ] after the death of the princess charlotte it was clearly important, for more than one reason, that the duke of kent should marry. from the point of view of the nation, the lack of heirs in the reigning family seemed to make the step almost obligatory; it was also likely to be highly expedient from the point of view of the duke. to marry as a public duty, for the { } sake of the royal succession, would surely deserve some recognition from a grateful country. when the duke of york had married he had received a settlement of £ , a year. why should not the duke of kent look forward to an equal sum? but the situation was not quite simple. there was the duke of clarence to be considered; he was the elder brother, and, if he married, would clearly have the prior claim. on the other hand, if the duke of kent married, it was important to remember that he would be making a serious sacrifice: a lady was involved. the duke, reflecting upon all these matters with careful attention, happened, about a month after his niece's death, to visit brussels, and learnt that mr. creevey was staying in the town. mr. creevey was a close friend of the leading whigs and an inveterate gossip; and it occurred to the duke that there could be no better channel through which to communicate his views upon the situation to political circles at home. apparently it did not occur to him that mr. creevey was malicious and might keep a diary. he therefore sent for him on some trivial pretext, and a remarkable conversation ensued. after referring to the death of the princess, to the improbability of the regent's seeking a divorce, to the childlessness of the duke of york, and to the possibility of the duke of clarence marrying, the duke adverted to his own position. 'should the duke of clarence not marry,' he said, 'the next prince in succession is myself, and although i trust i shall be at all times ready to obey any call my country may make upon me, god only knows the sacrifice it will be to make, whenever i shall think it my duty to become a married man. it is now seven-and-twenty years that madame st. laurent { } and i have lived together: we are of the same age, and have been in all climates, and in all difficulties together, and you may well imagine, mr. creevey, the pang it will occasion me to part with her. i put it to your own feelings--in the event of any separation between you and mrs. creevey.... as for madame st. laurent herself, i protest i don't know what is to become of her if a marriage is to be forced upon me; her feelings are already so agitated upon the subject.' the duke went on to describe how, one morning, a day or two after the princess charlotte's death, a paragraph had appeared in the _morning chronicle_, alluding to the possibility of his marriage. he had received the newspaper at breakfast together with his letters, and 'i did as is my constant practice, i threw the newspaper across the table to madame st. laurent, and began to open and read my letters. i had not done so but a very short time, when my attention was called to an extraordinary noise and a strong convulsive movement in madame st. laurent's throat. for a short time i entertained serious apprehensions for her safety; and when, upon her recovery, i enquired into the occasion of this attack, she pointed to the article in the _morning chronicle_.' the duke then returned to the subject of the duke of clarence. 'my brother the duke of clarence is the elder brother, and has certainly the right to marry if he chooses, and i would not interfere with him on any account. if he wishes to be king--to be married and have children, poor man--god help him! let him do so. for myself--i am a man of no ambition, and wish only to remain as i am.... easter, you know, falls very early this year--the nd of march. if the duke of clarence does not take any step before that { } time, i must find some pretext to reconcile madame st. laurent to my going to england for a short time. when once there, it will be easy for me to consult with my friends as to the proper steps to be taken. should the duke of clarence do nothing before that time as to marrying it will become my duty, no doubt, to take some measures upon the subject myself.' two names, the duke said, had been mentioned in this connection--those of the princess of baden and the princess of saxe-coburg. the latter, he thought, would perhaps be the better of the two, from the circumstance of prince leopold being so popular with the nation; but before any other steps were taken, he hoped and expected to see justice done to madame st. laurent. 'she is,' he explained, 'of very good family, and has never been an actress, and i am the first and only person who ever lived with her. her disinterestedness, too, has been equal to her fidelity. when she first came to me it was upon £ a year. that sum was afterwards raised to £ , and finally to £ ; but when my debts made it necessary for me to sacrifice a great part of my income, madame st. laurent insisted upon again returning to her income of £ a year. if madame st. laurent is to return to live amongst her friends, it must be in such a state of independence as to command their respect. i shall not require very much, but a certain number of servants and a carriage are essentials.' as to his own settlement, the duke observed that he would expect the duke of york's marriage to be considered the precedent. 'that,' he said, 'was a marriage for the succession, and £ , for income was settled, in addition to all his other income, purely on that account. i shall be contented with the same arrangement, without making any demands grounded { } on the difference of the value of money in and at present. as for the payment of my debts,' the duke concluded, 'i don't call them great. the nation, on the contrary, is greatly my debtor.' here a clock struck, and seemed to remind the duke that he had an appointment; he rose, and mr. creevey left him. who could keep such a communication secret? certainly not mr. creevey. he hurried off to tell the duke of wellington, who was very much amused, and he wrote a long account of it to lord sefton, who received the letter 'very apropos,' while a surgeon was sounding his bladder to ascertain whether he had a stone. 'i never saw a fellow more astonished than he was,' wrote lord sefton in his reply, 'at seeing me laugh as soon as the operation was over. nothing could be more first-rate than the royal edward's ingenuousness. one does not know which to admire most--the delicacy of his attachment to madame st. laurent, the refinement of his sentiments towards the duke of clarence, or his own perfect disinterestedness in pecuniary matters.'[ ] as it turned out, both the brothers decided to marry. the duke of kent, selecting the princess of saxe-coburg in preference to the princess of baden, was united to her on may , . on june , the duke of clarence followed suit with a daughter of the duke of saxe-meiningen. but they were disappointed in their financial expectations; for though the government brought forward proposals to increase their allowances, together with that of the duke of cumberland, the motions were defeated in the house of commons. at this the duke of wellington was not surprised. 'by god!' he said, 'there is a great deal to be said about that. they are the damnedest { } millstones about the necks of any government that can be imagined. they have insulted--personally insulted--two-thirds of the gentlemen of england, and how can it be wondered at that they take their revenge upon them in the house of commons? it is their only opportunity, and i think, by god! they are quite right to use it.'[ ] eventually, however, parliament increased the duke of kent's annuity by £ . the subsequent history of madame st. laurent has not transpired. iv the new duchess of kent, victoria mary louisa, was a daughter of francis, duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, and a sister of prince leopold. the family was an ancient one, being a branch of the great house of wettin, which since the eleventh century had ruled over the march of meissen on the elbe. in the fifteenth century the whole possessions of the house had been divided between the albertine and ernestine branches: from the former descended the electors and kings of saxony; the latter, ruling over thuringia, became further subdivided into five branches, of which the duchy of saxe-coburg was one. this principality was very small, containing about , inhabitants, but it enjoyed independent and sovereign rights. during the disturbed years which followed the french revolution, its affairs became terribly involved. the duke was extravagant, and kept open house for the swarms of refugees, who fled eastward over germany as the french power advanced. among these was the { } prince of leiningen, an elderly beau, whose domains on the moselle had been seized by the french, but who was granted in compensation the territory of amorbach in lower franconia. in he married the princess victoria, at that time seventeen years of age. three years later duke francis died a ruined man. the napoleonic harrow passed over saxe-coburg. the duchy was seized by the french, and the ducal family were reduced to beggary, almost to starvation. at the same time the little principality of amorbach was devastated by the french, russian, and austrian armies, marching and counter-marching across it. for years there was hardly a cow in the country, nor enough grass to feed a flock of geese. such was the desperate plight of the family which, a generation later, was to have gained a foothold in half the reigning houses of europe. the napoleonic harrow had indeed done its work; the seed was planted; and the crop would have surprised napoleon. prince leopold, thrown upon his own resources at fifteen, made a career for himself and married the heiress of england. the princess of leiningen, struggling at amorbach with poverty, military requisitions, and a futile husband, developed an independence of character and a tenacity of purpose which were to prove useful in very different circumstances. in , her husband died, leaving her with two children and the regency of the principality. after her brother's marriage with the princess charlotte, it was proposed that she should marry the duke of kent; but she declined, on the ground that the guardianship of her children and the management of her domains made other ties undesirable. the princess charlotte's death, however, altered the case; and when the duke of kent renewed his offer, she { } accepted it. she was thirty-two years old--short, stout, with brown eyes and hair, and rosy cheeks, cheerful and voluble, and gorgeously attired in rustling silks and bright velvets.[ ] she was certainly fortunate in her contented disposition; for she was fated, all through her life, to have much to put up with. her second marriage, with its dubious prospects, seemed at first to be chiefly a source of difficulties and discomforts. the duke, declaring that he was still too poor to live in england, moved about with uneasy precision through belgium and germany, attending parades and inspecting barracks in a neat military cap, while the english notabilities looked askance, and the duke of wellington dubbed him the corporal. 'god damme!' he exclaimed to mr. creevey, 'd'ye know what his sisters call him? by god! they call him joseph surface!' at valenciennes, where there was a review and a great dinner, the duchess arrived with an old and ugly lady-in-waiting, and the duke of wellington found himself in a difficulty. 'who the devil is to take out the maid of honour?' he kept asking; but at last he thought of a solution. 'damme, freemantle, find out the mayor and let him do it.' so the mayor of valenciennes was brought up for the purpose, and--so we learn from mr. creevey--'a capital figure he was.' a few days later, at brussels, mr. creevey himself had an unfortunate experience. a military school was to be inspected--before breakfast. the company assembled; everything was highly satisfactory; but the duke of kent continued for so long examining every detail and asking meticulous question after meticulous question, that mr. creevey at last could bear it no longer, and { } whispered to his neighbour that he was damned hungry. the duke of wellington heard him, and was delighted. 'i recommend you,' he said, 'whenever you start with the royal family in a morning, and particularly with _the corporal_, always to breakfast first.' he and his staff, it turned out, had taken that precaution, and the great man amused himself, while the stream of royal inquiries poured on, by pointing at mr. creevey from time to time with the remark, 'voilà le monsieur qui n'a pas déjeuné!'[ ] settled down at last at amorbach, the time hung heavily on the duke's hands. the establishment was small, the country was impoverished; even clock-making grew tedious at last. he brooded--for in spite of his piety the duke was not without a vein of superstition--over the prophecy of a gipsy at gibraltar who had told him that he was to have many losses and crosses, that he was to die in happiness, and that his only child was to be a great queen. before long it became clear that a child was to be expected: the duke decided that it should be born in england. funds were lacking for the journey, but his determination was not to be set aside. come what might, he declared, his child must be english-born. a carriage was hired, and the duke himself mounted the box. inside were the duchess, her daughter feodora, a girl of fourteen, with maids, nurses, lap-dogs, and canaries. off they drove--through germany, through france: bad roads, cheap inns, were nothing to the rigorous duke and the equable, abundant duchess. the channel was crossed, london was reached in safety. the authorities provided a set of rooms in kensington palace; and there, on may , , a female infant was born.[ ] [ ] greville, ii, - ; stockmar, chap. i, ; knight, i, chaps. xv-xviii and appendix, and ii, chap. i. [ ] grey, , - ; _letters_, ii, , [ ] grey, - . [ ] _letters_, i, , - ; ii, - ; stockmar, - . [ ] stockmar, _biograpische skizze_, and cap. iii. [ ] creevey, i, , : 'prinny has let loose his belly, which now reaches his knees; otherwise he is said to be well,' . [ ] greville, i, - . [ ] greville, iv, . [ ] stockmar, ; creevey, i, ; greville, i, ; lieven, - . [ ] crawford, . [ ] _ibid._, , . [ ] stockmar, - ; _letters_, i, ; crawford, - ; owen, - , - , , . [ ] creevey, i, - . [ ] creevey, i, - . [ ] _letters_, i, - : grey, - , ; crawford, - ; stockmar, . [ ] creevey, i, - . [ ] crawford, , - . { } chapter ii childhood i the child who, in these not very impressive circumstances, appeared in the world, received but scant attention. there was small reason to foresee her destiny. the duchess of clarence, two months before, had given birth to a daughter; this infant, indeed, had died almost immediately; but it seemed highly probable that the duchess would again become a mother; and so it actually fell out. more than this, the duchess of kent was young, and the duke was strong; there was every likelihood that before long a brother would follow, to snatch her faint chance of the succession from the little princess. nevertheless, the duke had other views: there were prophecies.... at any rate, he would christen the child elizabeth, a name of happy augury. in this, however, he reckoned without the regent, who, seeing a chance of annoying his brother, suddenly announced that he himself would be present at the baptism, and signified at the same time that one of the godfathers was to be the emperor alexander of russia. and so when the ceremony took place, and the archbishop of canterbury asked by what name he was to baptise the child, the regent replied 'alexandrina.' at this the duke ventured to suggest that another name might be { } added. 'certainly,' said the regent; 'georgina?' 'or elizabeth?' said the duke. there was a pause, during which the archbishop, with the baby in his lawn sleeves, looked with some uneasiness from one prince to the other. 'very well, then,' said the regent at last, 'call her after her mother. but alexandrina must come first.' thus, to the disgust of her father, the child was christened alexandrina victoria.[ ] [illustration: princess victoria in . _from the portrait by f. winterhalter._] the duke had other subjects of disgust. the meagre grant of the commons had by no means put an end to his financial distresses. it was to be feared that his services were not appreciated by the nation. his debts continued to grow. for many years he had lived upon £ a year; but now his expenses were exactly doubled; he could make no further reductions; as it was, there was not a single servant in his establishment who was idle for a moment from morning to night. he poured out his griefs in a long letter to robert owen, whose sympathy had the great merit of being practical. 'i now candidly state,' he wrote, 'that, after viewing the subject in every possible way, i am satisfied that, to continue to live in england, even in the quiet way in which we are going on, _without splendour, and without show, nothing short of doubling the seven thousand pounds will do_, reduction being impossible.' it was clear that he would be obliged to sell his house for £ , : if that failed, he would go and live on the continent. 'if my services are useful to my country, it surely becomes _those who have the power_ to support me in substantiating those just claims i have for the very extensive losses and privations i have experienced, during the very long period of my professional servitude in the colonies; and if this is not { } attainable, _it is a clear proof to me that they are not appreciated_; and under that impression i shall not scruple, in due time, to resume my retirement abroad, when the duchess and myself shall have fulfilled our duties in establishing the _english_ birth of my child, and giving it maternal nutriment on the soil of old england; and which we shall certainly repeat, if providence destines to give us any further increase of family.'[ ] in the meantime, he decided to spend the winter at sidmouth, 'in order,' he told owen, 'that the duchess may have the benefit of tepid sea bathing, and our infant that of sea air, on the fine coast of devonshire, during the months of the year that are so odious in london.'[ ] in december the move was made. with the new year, the duke remembered another prophecy. in , a fortune-teller had told him, two members of the royal family would die. who would they be? he speculated on the various possibilities: the king, it was plain, could not live much longer; and the duchess of york had been attacked by a mortal disease. probably it would be the king and the duchess of york; or perhaps the king and the duke of york; or the king and the regent. he himself was one of the healthiest men in england.[ ] 'my brothers,' he declared, 'are not so strong as i am; i have lived a regular life. i shall outlive them all. the crown will come to me and my children.'[ ] he went out for a walk, and got his feet wet. on coming home, he neglected to change his stockings. he caught cold, inflammation of the lungs set in, and on january he was a dying man. by a curious chance, young dr. stockmar was staying in the house at the time; two { } years before, he had stood by the death-bed of the princess charlotte; and now he was watching the duke of kent in his agony. on stockmar's advice, a will was hastily prepared. the duke's earthly possessions were of a negative character; but it was important that the guardianship of the unwitting child, whose fortunes were now so strangely changing, should be assured to the duchess. the duke was just able to understand the document, and to append his signature. having inquired whether his writing was perfectly clear, he became unconscious, and breathed his last on the following morning.[ ] six days later came the fulfilment of the second half of the gipsy's prophecy. the long, unhappy, and inglorious life of george the third of england was ended. ii such was the confusion of affairs at sidmouth, that the duchess found herself without the means of returning to london. prince leopold hurried down, and himself conducted his sister and her family, by slow and bitter stages, to kensington. the widowed lady, in her voluminous blacks, needed all her equanimity to support her. her prospects were more dubious than ever. she had £ a year of her own; but her husband's debts loomed before her like a mountain. soon she learnt that the duchess of clarence was once more expecting a child. what had she to look forward to in england? why should she remain in a foreign country, among strangers, whose language she could not speak, whose customs she could not understand? surely it would be best to { } return to amorbach, and there, among her own people, bring up her daughters in economical obscurity. but she was an inveterate optimist; she had spent her life in struggles, and would not be daunted now. and besides, she adored her baby. 'c'est mon bonheur, mes délices, mon existence,' she declared; the darling should be brought up as an english princess, whatever lot awaited her. prince leopold came forward nobly with an offer of an additional £ a year; and the duchess remained at kensington.[ ] the child herself was extremely fat, and bore a remarkable resemblance to her grandfather. 'c'est l'image du feu roi!' exclaimed the duchess. 'c'est le roi georges en jupons,' echoed the surrounding ladies, as the little creature waddled with difficulty from one to the other.[ ] before long, the world began to be slightly interested in the nursery at kensington. when, early in , the duchess of clarence's second child, the princess elizabeth, died within three months of its birth, the interest increased. great forces and fierce anatgonisms seemed to be moving, obscurely, about the royal cradle. it was a time of faction and anger, of violent repression and profound discontent. a powerful movement, which had for long been checked by adverse circumstances, was now spreading throughout the country. new passions, new desires, were abroad; or rather, old passions and old desires, reincarnated with a new potency: love of freedom, hatred of injustice, hope for the future of man. the mighty still sat proudly in their seats, dispensing their ancient tyranny; but a storm was gathering out of the darkness, and already there was { } lightning in the sky. but the vastest forces must needs operate through frail human instruments; and it seemed for many years as if the great cause of english liberalism hung upon the life of the little girl at kensington. she alone stood between the country and her terrible uncle, the duke of cumberland, the hideous embodiment of reaction. inevitably, the duchess of kent threw in her lot with her husband's party; whig leaders, radical agitators, rallied round her; she was intimate with the bold lord durham, she was on friendly terms with the redoubtable o'connell himself. she received wilberforce--though, to be sure, she did not ask him to sit down.[ ] she declared in public that she put her faith in 'the liberties of the people.'[ ] it was certain that the young princess would be brought up in the way that she should go; yet there, close behind the throne, waiting, sinister, was the duke of cumberland. brougham, looking forward into the future in his scurrilous fashion, hinted at dreadful possibilities. 'i never prayed so heartily for a prince before,' he wrote, on hearing that george iv had been attacked by illness. 'if he had gone, all the troubles of these villains [the tory ministers] went with him, and they had fred. i [the duke of york] their own man for his life.... he (fred. i) won't live long either; that prince of blackguards, "brother william," is as bad a life, so we come in the course of nature to be _assassinated_ by king ernest i or regent ernest [the duke of cumberland].'[ ] such thoughts were not peculiar to brougham; in the seething state of public feeling, they constantly leapt to the surface; and, even so late as the year previous to her accession, the radical newspapers were full of { } suggestions that the princess victoria was in danger from the machinations of her wicked uncle.[ ] but no echo of these conflicts and forebodings reached the little drina--for so she was called in the family circle--as she played with her dolls, or scampered down the passages, or rode on the donkey her uncle york had given her[ ] along the avenues of kensington gardens. the fair-haired, blue-eyed child was idolised by her nurses, and her mother's ladies, and her sister feodora; and for a few years there was a danger, in spite of her mother's strictness, of her being spoilt. from time to time, she would fly into a violent passion, stamp her little foot, and set everyone at defiance; whatever they might say, she would not learn her letters--no, she _would not_; afterwards, she was very sorry, and burst into tears; but her letters remained unlearnt. when she was five years old, however, a change came, with the appearance of fräulein lehzen. this lady, who was the daughter of a hanoverian clergyman and had previously been the princess feodora's governess, soon succeeded in instilling a new spirit into her charge. at first, indeed, she was appalled by the little princess's outbursts of temper; never in her life, she declared, had she seen such a passionate and naughty child. then she observed something else; the child was extraordinarily truthful; whatever punishment might follow, she never told a lie.[ ] firm, very firm, the new governess yet had the sense to see that all the firmness in the world would be useless, unless she could win her way into little drina's heart. she did so, and there were no more difficulties. drina learnt her letters like an angel; and she learnt other things as well. the { } baroness de späth taught her how to make little cardboard boxes and decorate them with tinsel and painted flowers;[ ] her mother taught her religion. sitting in the pew every sunday morning, the child of six was seen listening in rapt attention to the clergyman's endless sermon, for she was to be examined upon it in the afternoon.[ ] the duchess was determined that her daughter, from the earliest possible moment, should be prepared for her high station in a way that would commend itself to the most respectable; her good, plain, thrifty german mind recoiled with horror and amazement from the shameless junketings at carlton house; drina should never be allowed to forget for a moment the virtues of simplicity, regularity, propriety, and devotion. the little girl, however, was really in small need of such lessons, for she was naturally simple and orderly, she was pious without difficulty, and her sense of propriety was keen. she understood very well the niceties of her own position. when, a child of six, lady jane ellice was taken by her grandmother to kensington palace, she was put to play with the princess victoria, who was the same age as herself. the young visitor, ignorant of etiquette, began to make free with the toys on the floor, in a way which was a little too familiar; but 'you must not touch those,' she was quickly told, 'they are mine; and i may call you jane, but you must not call me victoria.'[ ] the princess's most constant playmate was victoire, the daughter of sir john conroy, the duchess's major-domo. the two girls were very fond of one another; they would walk hand in hand together in kensington gardens. but little drina was perfectly aware for which of them { } it was that they were followed, at a respectful distance, by a gigantic scarlet flunkey.[ ] warm-hearted, responsive, she loved her dear lehzen, and she loved her dear feodora, and her dear victoire, and her dear madame de späth. and her dear mamma ... of course, she loved her too; it was her duty; and yet--she could not tell why it was--she was always happier when she was staying with her uncle leopold at claremont. there old mrs. louis, who, years ago, had waited on her cousin charlotte, petted her to her heart's content; and her uncle himself was wonderfully kind to her, talking to her seriously and gently, almost as if she were a grown-up person. she and feodora invariably wept when the too short visit was over, and they were obliged to return to the dutiful monotony and the affectionate supervision of kensington. but sometimes when her mother had to stay at home, she was allowed to go out driving all alone with her dear feodora and her dear lehzen, and she could talk and look as she liked, and it was very delightful.[ ] the visits to claremont were frequent enough; but one day, on a special occasion, she paid one of a rarer and more exciting kind. when she was seven years old, she and her mother and sister were asked by the king to go down to windsor. george iv, who had transferred his fraternal ill-temper to his sister-in-law and her family, had at last grown tired of sulking, and decided to be agreeable. the old rip, bewigged and gouty, ornate and enormous, with his jewelled mistress by his side and his flaunting court about him, received the tiny creature who was one day to hold in those same halls a very different state. 'give me your little { } paw,' he said; and two ages touched. next morning, driving in his phaeton with the duchess of gloucester, he met the duchess of kent and her child in the park. 'pop her in,' were his orders, which, to the terror of the mother and the delight of the daughter, were immediately obeyed. off they dashed to virginia water, where there was a great barge, full of lords and ladies fishing, and another barge with a band; and the king ogled feodora, and praised her manners, and then turned to his own small niece. 'what is your favourite tune? the band shall play it.' 'god save the king, sir,' was the instant answer. the princess's reply has been praised as an early example of a tact which was afterwards famous. but she was a very truthful child, and perhaps it was her genuine opinion.[ ] iii in the duke of york, who had found some consolation for the loss of his wife in the sympathy of the duchess of rutland, died, leaving behind him the unfinished immensity of stafford house and £ , worth of debts. three years later george iv also disappeared, and the duke of clarence reigned in his stead. the new queen, it was now clear, would in all probability never again be a mother; the princess victoria, therefore, was recognised by parliament as heir-presumptive; and the duchess of kent, whose annuity had been doubled five years previously, was now given an additional £ , for the maintenance of the princess, and was appointed regent, in case of the death of the king before the majority of her daughter. at the same time a great convulsion took { } place in the constitution of the state. the power of the tories, who had dominated england for more than forty years, suddenly began to crumble. in the tremendous struggle that followed, it seemed for a moment as if the tradition of generations might be snapped, as if the blind tenacity of the reactionaries and the determined fury of their enemies could have no other issue than revolution. but the forces of compromise triumphed: the reform bill was passed. the centre of gravity in the constitution was shifted towards the middle classes; the whigs came into power; and the complexion of the government assumed a liberal tinge. one of the results of this new state of affairs was a change in the position of the duchess of kent and her daughter. from being the _protégées_ of an opposition clique, they became assets of the official majority of the nation. the princess victoria was henceforward the living symbol of the victory of the middle classes. the duke of cumberland, on the other hand, suffered a corresponding eclipse: his claws had been pared by the reform act. he grew insignificant and almost harmless, though his ugliness remained; he was the wicked uncle still--but only of a story. the duchess's own liberalism was not very profound. she followed naturally in the footsteps of her husband, repeating with conviction the catchwords of her husband's clever friends and the generalisations of her clever brother leopold. she herself had no pretensions to cleverness; she did not understand very much about the poor law and the slave trade and political economy; but she hoped that she did her duty; and she hoped--she ardently hoped--that the same might be said of victoria. her educational conceptions were { } those of dr. arnold, whose views were just then beginning to permeate society. dr. arnold's object was, first and foremost, to make his pupils 'in the highest and truest sense of the words, christian gentlemen'; intellectual refinements might follow. the duchess felt convinced that it was her supreme duty in life to make quite sure that her daughter should grow up into a christian queen. to this task she bent all her energies; and, as the child developed, she flattered herself that her efforts were not unsuccessful. when the princess was eleven, she desired the bishops of london and lincoln to submit her daughter to an examination, and report upon the progress that had been made. 'i feel the time to be now come,' the duchess explained, in a letter obviously drawn up by her own hand, 'that what has been done should be put to some test, that if anything has been done in error of judgment it may be corrected, and that the plan for the future should be open to consideration and revision.... i attend almost always myself every lesson, or a part; and as the lady about the princess is a competent person, she assists her in preparing her lessons, for the various masters, as i resolved to act in that manner so as to be her governess myself.... when she was at a proper age she commenced attending divine service regularly with me, and i have every feeling that she has religion at her heart, that she is morally impressed with it to that degree, that she is less liable to error by its application to her feelings as a child capable of reflection.' 'the general bent of her character,' added the duchess, 'is strength of intellect, capable of receiving with ease, information, and with a peculiar readiness in coming to a very just and benignant decision on any point her opinion is asked on. her adherence to { } truth is of so marked a character that i feel no apprehension of that bulwark being broken down by any circumstances.' the bishops attended at the palace, and the result of their examination was all that could be wished. 'in answering a great variety of questions proposed to her,' they reported, 'the princess displayed an accurate knowledge of the most important features of scripture history, and of the leading truths and precepts of the christian religion as taught by the church of england, as well as an acquaintance with the chronology and principal facts of english history remarkable in so young a person. to questions in geography, the use of the globes, arithmetic, and latin grammar, the answers which the princess returned were equally satisfactory.' they did not believe that the duchess's plan of education was susceptible of any improvement; and the archbishop of canterbury, who was also consulted, came to the same gratifying conclusion.[ ] one important step, however, remained to be taken. so far, as the duchess explained to the bishops, the princess had been kept in ignorance of the station that she was likely to fill. 'she is aware of its duties, and that a sovereign should live for others; so that when her innocent mind receives the impression of her future fate, she receives it with a mind formed to be sensible of what is to be expected from her, and it is to be hoped, she will be too well grounded in her principles to be dazzled with the station she is to look to.'[ ] in the following year it was decided that she should be enlightened on this point. the well-known scene followed: the history lesson, the genealogical table of the kings of england slipped beforehand by the { } governess into the book, the princess's surprise, her inquiries, her final realisation of the facts. when the child at last understood, she was silent for a moment, and then she spoke: 'i will be good,' she said. the words were something more than a conventional protestation, something more than the expression of a superimposed desire; they were, in their limitation and their intensity, their egotism and their humility, an instinctive summary of the dominating qualities of a life. 'i cried much on learning it,' her majesty noted long afterwards. no doubt, while the others were present, even her dear lehzen, the little girl kept up her self-command; and then crept away somewhere to ease her heart of an inward, unfamiliar agitation, with a handkerchief, out of her mother's sight.[ ] but her mother's sight was by no means an easy thing to escape. morning and evening, day and night, there was no relaxation of the maternal vigilance. the child grew into the girl, the girl into the young woman; but still she slept in her mother's bedroom; still she had no place allowed her where she might sit or work by herself.[ ] an extraordinary watchfulness surrounded her every step: up to the day of her accession, she never went downstairs without someone beside her holding her hand.[ ] plainness and regularity ruled the household. the hours, the days, the years passed slowly and methodically by. the dolls--the innumerable dolls, each one so neatly dressed, each one with its name so punctiliously entered in the catalogue--were laid aside, and a little music and a little dancing took their place. taglioni came, to give grace and dignity to the figure,[ ] and lablache, to train the piping treble upon his own { } rich bass. the dean of chester, the official preceptor, continued his endless instruction in scripture history, while the duchess of northumberland, the official governess, presided over every lesson with becoming solemnity. without doubt, the princess's main achievement during her schooldays was linguistic. german was naturally the first language with which she was familiar; but english and french quickly followed; and she became virtually trilingual, though her mastery of english grammar remained incomplete. at the same time, she acquired a working knowledge of italian and some smattering of latin. nevertheless, she did not read very much. it was not an occupation that she cared for; partly, perhaps, because the books that were given her were all either sermons, which were very dull, or poetry, which was incomprehensible. novels were strictly forbidden. lord durham persuaded her mother to get her some of miss martineau's tales, illustrating the truths of political economy, and they delighted her; but it is to be feared that it was the unaccustomed pleasure of the story that filled her mind, and that she never really mastered the theory of exchanges or the nature of rent.[ ] it was her misfortune that the mental atmosphere which surrounded her during these years of adolescence was almost entirely feminine. no father, no brother, was there to break in upon the gentle monotony of the daily round with impetuosity, with rudeness, with careless laughter and wafts of freedom from the outside world. the princess was never called by a voice that was loud and growling; never felt, as a matter of course, a hard rough cheek on her own soft one; never climbed a wall with a boy. the visits to claremont--delicious { } little escapes into male society--came to an end when she was eleven years old and prince leopold left england to be king of the belgians. she loved him still; he was still 'il mio secondo padre--or, rather, _solo_ padre, for he is indeed like my real father, as i have none'; but his fatherliness now came to her dimly and indirectly, through the cold channel of correspondence. henceforward female duty, female elegance, female enthusiasm, hemmed her completely in; and her spirit, amid the enclosing folds, was hardly reached by those two great influences, without which no growing life can truly prosper--humour and imagination. the baroness lehzen--for she had been raised to that rank in the hanoverian nobility by george iv before he died--was the real centre of the princess's world. when feodora married, when uncle leopold went to belgium, the baroness was left without a competitor. the princess gave her mother her dutiful regards; but lehzen had her heart. the voluble, shrewd daughter of the pastor in hanover, lavishing her devotion on her royal charge, had reaped her reward in an unbounded confidence and a passionate adoration. the girl would have gone through fire for her '_precious_ lehzen,' the 'best and truest friend,' she declared, that she had had since her birth. her journal, begun when she was thirteen, where she registered day by day the small succession of her doings and her sentiments, bears on every page of it the traces of the baroness and her circumambient influence. the young creature that one sees there, self-depicted in ingenuous clarity, with her sincerity, her simplicity, her quick affections and pious resolutions, might almost have been the daughter of a german pastor herself. her enjoyments, her admirations, her _engouements_ were of the kind that { } clothed themselves naturally in underlinings and exclamation marks. 'it was a _delightful_ ride. we cantered a good deal. sweet little rosy went beautifully!! we came home at a ¼ past .... at minutes to we went out to the opera.... rubini came on and sang a song out of "anna boulena" _quite beautifully_. we came home at ½ past .'[ ] in her comments on her readings, the mind of the baroness is clearly revealed. one day, by some mistake, she was allowed to take up a volume of memoirs by fanny kemble. 'it is certainly very pertly and oddly written. one would imagine by the style that the authoress must be very pert, and not well bred; for there are so many vulgar expressions in it. it is a great pity that a person endowed with so much talent, as mrs. butler really is, should turn it to so little account and publish a book which is so full of trash and nonsense which can only do her harm. i stayed up till minutes past .' madame de sévigné's letters, which the baroness read aloud, met with more approval. 'how truly elegant and natural her style is! it is so full of _naïveté_, cleverness, and grace.' but her highest admiration was reserved for the bishop of chester's 'exposition of the gospel of st. matthew.' 'it is a very fine book indeed. just the sort of one i like; which is just plain and comprehensible and full of truth and good feeling. it is not one of those learned books in which you have to cavil at almost every paragraph. lehzen gave it me on the sunday that i took the sacrament.'[ ] a few weeks previously she had been confirmed, and she described the event as follows: 'i felt that my confirmation was one of the most solemn and important events and acts in my life; and that i trusted that it might have a { } salutary effect on my mind. i felt deeply repentant for all what i had done which was wrong and trusted in god almighty to strengthen my heart and mind; and to forsake all that is bad and follow all that is virtuous and right. i went with the firm determination to become a true christian, to try and comfort my dear mamma in all her griefs, trials, and anxieties, and to become a dutiful and affectionate daughter to her. also to be obedient to _dear_ lehzen, who has done so much for me. i was dressed in a white lace dress, with a white crape bonnet with a wreath of white roses round it. i went in the chariot with my dear mamma and the others followed in another carriage.'[ ] one seems to hold in one's hand a small smooth crystal pebble, without a flaw and without a scintillation, and so transparent that one can see through it at a glance. yet perhaps, after all, to the discerning eye, the purity would not be absolute. the careful searcher might detect, in the virgin soil, the first faint traces of an unexpected vein. in that conventual existence visits were exciting events; and, as the duchess had many relatives, they were not infrequent; aunts and uncles would often appear from germany, and cousins too. when the princess was fourteen she was delighted by the arrival of a couple of boys from würtemberg, the princes alexander and ernst, sons of her mother's sister and the reigning duke. 'they are both _extremely tall_,' she noted; 'alexander is _very handsome_, and ernst has a _very kind expression_. they are both extremely _amiable_.' and their departure filled her with corresponding regrets. 'we saw them get into the barge, and watched them sailing away for some time on the beach. they were so amiable and so pleasant to have { } in the house; they were always _satisfied, always good-humoured_; alexander took such care of me in getting out of the boat, and rode next to me; so did ernst.'[ ] two years later, two other cousins arrived, the princes ferdinand and augustus. 'dear ferdinand,' the princess wrote, 'has elicited universal admiration from all parties.... he is so very unaffected, and has such a very distinguished appearance and carriage. they are both very dear and charming young men. augustus is very amiable too, and, when known, shows much good sense.' on another occasion, 'dear ferdinand came and sat near me and talked so dearly and sensibly. i do _so_ love him. dear augustus sat near me and talked with me, and he is also a dear good young man, and is very handsome.' she could not quite decide which was the handsomer of the two. on the whole, she concluded, 'i think ferdinand handsomer than augustus, his eyes are so beautiful, and he has such a lively clever expression; _both_ have such a sweet expression; ferdinand has something _quite beautiful_ in his expression when he speaks and smiles, and he is _so_ good.' however, it was perhaps best to say that they were 'both very handsome and _very dear_.'[ ] but shortly afterwards two more cousins arrived, who threw all the rest into the shade. these were the princes ernest and albert, sons of her mother's eldest brother, the duke of saxe-coburg. this time the princess was more particular in her observations. 'ernest,' she remarked, 'is as tall as ferdinand and augustus; he has dark hair, and fine dark eyes and eyebrows, but the nose and mouth are not good; he has a most kind, honest and intelligent expression in his countenance, and has a very good figure. albert, who is just as tall { } as ernest but stouter, is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful; _cest à la fois_ full of goodness and sweetness, and very clever and intelligent.' 'both my cousins,' she added, 'are so kind and good; they are much more _formés_ and men of the world than augustus; they speak english very well, and i speak it with them. ernest will be years old on the st of june, and albert on the th of august. dear uncle ernest made me the present of a most delightful _lory_, which is so tame that it remains on your hand and you may put your finger into its beak, or do anything with it, without its ever attempting to bite. it is larger than mamma's grey parrot.' a little later, 'i sat between my dear cousins on the sofa and we looked at drawings. they both draw very well, particularly albert, and are both exceedingly fond of music; they play very nicely on the piano. the more i see them the more i am delighted with them, and the more i love them.... it is delightful to be with them; they are so fond of being occupied too; they are quite an example for any young person.' when, after a stay of three weeks, the time came for the young men and their father to return to germany, the moment of parting was a melancholy one. 'it was our last happy happy breakfast, with this dear uncle and those _dearest_ beloved cousins, whom i _do_ love so very very dearly; _much more dearly_ than any other cousins in the _world_. dearly as i love ferdinand, and also good augustus, i love ernest and albert more than them, oh yes, much _more_.... they have both learnt a good deal, and are very clever, naturally clever, { } particularly albert, who is the most reflecting of the two, and they like very much talking about serious and instructive things and yet are so _very very_ merry and gay and happy, like young people ought to be; albert always used to have some fun and some clever witty answer at breakfast and everywhere; he used to play and fondle dash so funnily too.... dearest albert was playing on the piano when i came down. at dear uncle, my _dearest beloved_ cousins, and charles, left us, accompanied by count kolowrat. i embraced both my dearest cousins most warmly, as also my dear uncle. i cried bitterly, very bitterly.'[ ] the princes shared her ecstasies and her italics between them; but it is clear enough where her secret preference lay. 'particularly albert'! she was just seventeen; and deep was the impression left upon that budding organism by the young man's charm and goodness and accomplishments, and his large blue eyes and beautiful nose, and his sweet mouth and fine teeth. iv king william could not away with his sister-in-law, and the duchess fully returned his antipathy. without considerable tact and considerable forbearance their relative positions were well calculated to cause ill-feeling; and there was very little tact in the composition of the duchess, and no forbearance at all in that of his majesty. a bursting, bubbling old gentleman, with quarter-deck gestures, round rolling eyes, and a head like a pineapple, his sudden elevation to the throne after fifty-six years of utter insignificance had almost sent him crazy. his natural { } exuberance completely got the better of him; he rushed about doing preposterous things in an extraordinary manner, spreading amusement and terror in every direction, and talking all the time. his tongue was decidedly hanoverian, with its repetitions, its catchwords--'that's quite another thing! that's quite another thing!'--its rattling indomitability, its loud indiscreetness. his speeches, made repeatedly at the most inopportune junctures, and filled pell-mell with all the fancies and furies that happened at the moment to be whisking about in his head, were the consternation of ministers. he was one part blackguard, people said, and three parts buffoon; but those who knew him better could not help liking him--he meant well; and he was really good-humoured and kind-hearted, if you took him the right way. if you took him the wrong way, however, you must look out for squalls, as the duchess of kent discovered. she had no notion of how to deal with him--could not understand him in the least. occupied with her own position, her own responsibilities, her duty, and her daughter, she had no attention to spare for the peppery susceptibilities of a foolish, disreputable old man. she was the mother of the heiress of england; and it was for him to recognise the fact--to put her at once upon a proper footing--to give her the precedence of a dowager princess of wales, with a large annuity from the privy purse.[ ] it did not occur to her that such pretensions might be galling to a king who had no legitimate child of his own, and who yet had not altogether abandoned the hope of having one. she pressed on, with bulky vigour, along the course she had laid out. sir john conroy, an irishman with no { } judgment and a great deal of self-importance, was her intimate counsellor, and egged her on. it was advisable that victoria should become acquainted with the various districts of england, and through several summers a succession of tours--in the west, in the midlands, in wales--were arranged for her. the intention of the plan was excellent, but its execution was unfortunate. the journeys, advertised in the press, attracting enthusiastic crowds, and involving official receptions, took on the air of royal progresses. addresses were presented by loyal citizens; the delighted duchess, swelling in sweeping feathers and almost obliterating the diminutive princess, read aloud, in her german accent, gracious replies prepared beforehand by sir john, who, bustling and ridiculous, seemed to be mingling the rôles of major-domo and prime minister. naturally the king fumed over his newspaper at windsor. 'that woman is a nuisance! that woman is a nuisance!' he exclaimed. poor queen adelaide, amiable though disappointed, did her best to smooth things down, changed the subject, and wrote affectionate letters to victoria; but it was useless. news arrived that the duchess of kent, sailing in the solent, had insisted that whenever her yacht appeared it should be received by royal salutes from all the men-of-war and all the forts. the king declared that these continual poppings must cease; the premier and the first lord of the admiralty were consulted; and they wrote privately to the duchess, begging her to waive her rights. but she would not hear of it; sir john conroy was adamant. 'as her royal highness's _confidential adviser_,' he said, 'i cannot recommend her to give way on this point.' eventually the king, in a great state of excitement, issued a special order in { } council, prohibiting the firing of royal salutes to any ships except those which carried the reigning sovereign or his consort on board.[ ] when king william quarrelled with his whig ministers the situation grew still more embittered, for now the duchess, in addition to her other shortcomings, was the political partisan of his enemies. in he made an attempt to prepare the ground for a match between the princess victoria and one of the sons of the prince of orange, and at the same time did his best to prevent the visit of the young coburg princes to kensington. he failed in both these objects; and the only result of his efforts was to raise the anger of the king of the belgians, who, forgetting for a moment his royal reserve, addressed an indignant letter on the subject to his niece. 'i am really _astonished_,' he wrote, 'at the conduct of your old uncle the king; this invitation of the prince of orange and his sons, this forcing him on others, is very extraordinary.... not later than yesterday i got a half-official communication from england, insinuating that it would be _highly_ desirable that the visit of your relatives _should not take place this year_--qu'en dites-vous? the relations of the queen and the king, therefore, to the god-knows-what degree, are to come in shoals and rule the land, when _your relations_ are to be _forbidden_ the country, and that when, as you know, the whole of your relations have ever been very dutiful and kind to the king. really and truly i never heard or saw anything like it, and i hope it will a little _rouse your spirit_; now that slavery is even abolished in the british colonies, i do not comprehend _why your lot alone should be to be kept a white little slavey in england_, for the pleasure of the { } court, who never bought you, as i am not aware of their ever having gone to any expense on that head, or the king's ever having _spent a sixpence for your existence_.... oh, consistency and political or _other honesty_, where must one look for you!'[ ] shortly afterwards king leopold came to england himself, and his reception was as cold at windsor as it was warm at kensington. 'to hear dear uncle speak on any subject,' the princess wrote in her diary, 'is like reading a highly instructive book; his conversation is so enlightened, so clear. he is universally admitted to be one of the first politicians now extant. he speaks so mildly, yet firmly and impartially, about politics. uncle tells me that belgium is quite a pattern for its organisation, its industry, and prosperity; the finances are in the greatest perfection. uncle is so beloved and revered by his belgian subjects, that it must be a great compensation for all his extreme trouble.'[ ] but her other uncle by no means shared her sentiments. he could not, he said, put up with a water-drinker; and king leopold would touch no wine. 'what's that you're drinking, sir?' he asked him one day at dinner. 'water, sir.' 'god damn it, sir!' was the rejoinder. 'why don't you drink wine? i never allow anybody to drink water at my table.'[ ] it was clear that before very long there would be a great explosion; and in the hot days of august it came. the duchess and the princess had gone down to stay at windsor for the king's birthday party, and the king himself, who was in london for the day to prorogue parliament, paid a visit at kensington palace in their absence. there he found that the duchess { } had just appropriated, against his express orders, a suite of seventeen apartments for her own use. he was extremely angry, and, when he returned to windsor, after greeting the princess with affection, he publicly rebuked the duchess for what she had done. but this was little to what followed. on the next day was the birthday banquet; there were a hundred guests; the duchess of kent sat on the king's right hand, and the princess victoria opposite. at the end of the dinner, in reply to the toast of the king's health, he rose, and, in a long, loud, passionate speech, poured out the vials of his wrath upon the duchess. she had, he declared, insulted him--grossly and continually; she had kept the princess away from him in the most improper manner; she was surrounded by evil advisers, and was incompetent to act with propriety in the high station which she filled; but he would bear it no longer; he would have her to know he was king; he was determined that his authority should be respected; henceforward the princess should attend at every court function with the utmost regularity; and he hoped to god that his life might be spared for six months longer, so that the calamity of a regency might be avoided, and the functions of the crown pass directly to the heiress-presumptive instead of into the hands of the 'person now near him,' upon whose conduct and capacity no reliance whatever could be placed. the flood of vituperation rushed on for what seemed an interminable period, while the queen blushed scarlet, the princess burst into tears, and the hundred guests sat aghast. the duchess said not a word until the tirade was over and the company had retired; then in a tornado of rage and mortification, she called for her carriage and announced her immediate return to { } kensington. it was only with the utmost difficulty that some show of a reconciliation was patched up, and the outraged lady was prevailed upon to put off her departure till the morrow.[ ] her troubles, however, were not over when she had shaken the dust of windsor from her feet. in her own household she was pursued by bitterness and vexation of spirit. the apartments at kensington were seething with subdued disaffection, with jealousies and animosities virulently intensified by long years of propinquity and spite. there was a deadly feud between sir john conroy and baroness lehzen. but that was not all. the duchess had grown too fond of her major-domo. there were familiarities, and one day the princess victoria discovered the fact. she confided what she had seen to the baroness, and to the baroness's beloved ally, madame de späth. unfortunately, madame de späth could not hold her tongue, and was actually foolish enough to reprove the duchess; whereupon she was instantly dismissed. it was not so easy to get rid of the baroness. that lady, prudent and reserved, maintained an irreproachable demeanour. her position was strongly entrenched; she had managed to secure the support of the king; and sir john found that he could do nothing against her. but henceforward the household was divided into two camps.[ ] the duchess { } supported sir john with all the amplitude of her authority; but the baroness, too, had an adherent who could not be neglected. the princess victoria said nothing, but she had been much attached to madame de späth, and she adored her lehzen. the duchess knew only too well that in this horrid embroilment her daughter was against her. chagrin, annoyance, moral reprobation, tossed her to and fro. she did her best to console herself with sir john's affectionate loquacity, or with the sharp remarks of lady flora hastings, one of her maids of honour, who had no love for the baroness. the subject lent itself to satire; for the pastor's daughter, with all her airs of stiff superiority, had habits which betrayed her origin. her passion for caraway seeds, for instance, was uncontrollable. little bags of them came over to her from hanover, and she sprinkled them on her bread and butter, her cabbage, and even her roast beef. lady flora could not resist a caustic observation; it was repeated to the baroness, who pursed her lips in fury; and so the mischief grew.[ ] v the king had prayed that he might live till his niece was of age; and a few days before her eighteenth birthday--the date of her legal majority--a sudden attack of illness very nearly carried him off. he recovered, however, and the princess was able to go through her birthday festivities--a state ball and a drawing-room--with unperturbed enjoyment. 'count { } zichy,' she noted in her diary, 'is very good-looking in uniform, but not in plain clothes. count waldstein looks remarkably well in his pretty hungarian uniform.'[ ] with the latter young gentleman she wished to dance, but there was an insurmountable difficulty. 'he could not dance quadrilles, and, as in my station i unfortunately cannot valse and galop, i could not dance with him.'[ ] her birthday present from the king was of a pleasing nature, but it led to a painful domestic scene. in spite of the anger of her belgian uncle, she had remained upon good terms with her english one. he had always been very kind to her, and the fact that he had quarrelled with her mother did not appear to be a reason for disliking him. he was, she said, 'odd, very odd and singular,' but 'his intentions were often ill interpreted.'[ ] he now wrote her a letter, offering her an allowance of £ , a year, which he proposed should be at her own disposal, and independent of her mother. lord conyngham, the lord chamberlain, was instructed to deliver the letter into the princess's own hands. when he arrived at kensington, he was ushered into the presence of the duchess and the princess, and, when he produced the letter, the duchess put out her hand to take it. lord conyngham begged her royal highness's pardon, and repeated the king's commands. thereupon the duchess drew back, and the princess took the letter. she immediately wrote to her uncle, accepting his kind proposal. the duchess was much displeased; £ a year, she said, would be quite enough for victoria; as for the remaining £ , it would be only proper that she should have that herself.[ ] { } king william had thrown off his illness, and returned to his normal life. once more the royal circle at windsor--their majesties, the elder princesses, and some unfortunate ambassadress or minister's wife--might be seen ranged for hours round a mahogany table, while the queen netted a purse, and the king slept, occasionally waking from his slumbers to observe 'exactly so, ma'am, exactly so!'[ ] but this recovery was of short duration. the old man suddenly collapsed; with no specific symptoms besides an extreme weakness, he yet showed no power of rallying; and it was clear to everyone that his death was now close at hand. all eyes, all thoughts, turned towards the princess victoria; but she still remained, shut away in the seclusion of kensington, a small, unknown figure, lost in the large shadow of her mother's domination. the preceding year had in fact been an important one in her development. the soft tendrils of her mind had for the first time begun to stretch out towards unchildish things. in this king leopold encouraged her. after his return to brussels, he had resumed his correspondence in a more serious strain; he discussed the details of foreign politics; he laid down the duties of kingship; he pointed out the iniquitous foolishness of the newspaper press. on the latter subject, indeed, he wrote with some asperity. 'if all the editors,' he said, 'of the papers in the countries where the liberty of the press exists were to be assembled, we should have a _crew_ to which you would _not_ confide a dog that you would value, still less your honour and reputation.'[ ] on the functions of a monarch, his views were unexceptionable. 'the business of the highest in a state,' he wrote, 'is { } certainly, in my opinion, to act with great impartiality and a spirit of justice for the good of all.'[ ] at the same time the princess's tastes were opening out. though she was still passionately devoted to riding and dancing, she now began to have a genuine love of music as well, and to drink in the roulades and arias of the italian opera with high enthusiasm. she even enjoyed reading poetry--at any rate, the poetry of sir walter scott.[ ] when king leopold learnt that king william's death was approaching, he wrote several long letters of excellent advice to his niece. 'in every letter i shall write to you,' he said, 'i mean to repeat to you, as a _fundamental rule, to be courageous, firm, and honest, as you have been till now_.' for the rest, in the crisis that was approaching, she was not to be alarmed, but to trust in her 'good natural sense and the truth' of her character; she was to do nothing in a hurry; to hurt no one's _amour-propre_, and to continue her confidence in the whig administration.[ ] not content with letters, however, king leopold determined that the princess should not lack personal guidance, and sent over to her aid the trusted friend whom, twenty years before, he had taken to his heart by the death-bed at claremont. thus, once again, as if in accordance with some preordained destiny, the figure of stockmar is discernible--inevitably present at a momentous hour. on june , the king was visibly sinking. the archbishop of canterbury was by his side, with all the comforts of the church. nor did the holy words fall upon a rebellious spirit; for many years his majesty had been a devout believer. 'when i was a young man,' he once explained at a public banquet, 'as well { } as i can remember, i believed in nothing but pleasure and folly--nothing at all. but when i went to sea, got into a gale, and saw the wonders of the mighty deep, then i believed; and i have been a sincere christian ever since.'[ ] it was the anniversary of the battle of waterloo, and the dying man remembered it. he should be glad to live, he said, over that day; he would never see another sunset. 'i hope your majesty may live to see many,' said dr. chambers. 'oh! that's quite another thing, that's quite another thing,' was the answer.[ ] one other sunset he did live to see; and he died in the early hours of the following morning. it was june , . when all was over, the archbishop and the lord chamberlain ordered a carriage, and drove post-haste from windsor to kensington. they arrived at the palace at five o'clock, and it was only with considerable difficulty that they gained admittance.[ ] at six the duchess woke up her daughter, and told her that the archbishop of canterbury and lord conyngham were there, and wished to see her. she got out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and went, alone, into the room where the messengers were standing. lord conyngham fell on his knees, and officially announced the death of the king; the archbishop added some personal details. looking at the bending, murmuring dignitaries before her, she knew that she was queen of england. 'since it has pleased providence,' she wrote that day in her journal, 'to place me in this station, i shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; i am very young, and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but i am sure, that very few have more real good will and more real desire to do what is fit and { } right than i have.'[ ] but there was scant time for resolutions and reflections. at once, affairs were thick upon her. stockmar came to breakfast, and gave some good advice. she wrote a letter to her uncle leopold, and a hurried note to her sister feodora. a letter came from the prime minister, lord melbourne, announcing his approaching arrival. he came at nine, in full court dress, and kissed her hand. she saw him alone, and repeated to him the lesson which, no doubt, the faithful stockmar had taught her at breakfast, 'it has long been my intention to retain your lordship and the rest of the present ministry at the head of affairs'; whereupon lord melbourne again kissed her hand and shortly after left her. she then wrote a letter of condolence to queen adelaide. at eleven, lord melbourne came again; and at half past eleven she went downstairs into the red saloon to hold her first council.[ ] the great assembly of lords and notables, bishops, generals, and ministers of state, saw the doors thrown open and a very short, very slim girl in deep plain mourning come into the room alone and move forward to her seat with extraordinary dignity and grace; they saw a countenance, not beautiful, but prepossessing--fair hair, blue prominent eyes, a small curved nose, an open mouth revealing the upper teeth, a tiny chin, a clear complexion, and, over all, the strangely mingled signs of innocence, of gravity, of youth, and of composure; they heard a high unwavering voice reading aloud with perfect clarity; and then, the ceremony over, they saw the small figure rise and, with the same consummate grace, the same amazing dignity, pass out from among them, as she had come in, alone.[ ] [ ] murray, - ; lee, - . [ ] owen, journal, no. , february, , - . [ ] _ibid._, . [ ] croker, i, . [ ] stockmar, . [ ] stockmar, - . [ ] _letters_, i, , - ; grey, app. a. [ ] granville, i, - . [ ] _wilberforce, william_, v, - . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] creevey, i, - . [ ] jerrold, _early court_, - . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _ibid._, i, ; _girlhood_, i, . [ ] crawford, . [ ] smith, - . [ ] _cornhill magazine_, lxxv, . [ ] hunt, ii, - . [ ] _letters_, i, , . [ ] _letters_, i, - ; lee, . [ ] _letters_, i, - . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] martin, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] crawford, . [ ] martineau, ii, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, , . [ ] _ibid._, i, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] greville, ii, - [ ] greville, iii, , . [ ] _letters_, i, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] greville, iii, . [ ] greville, iii, - . [ ] _ibid._, iv, ; and august , (unpublished). 'the cause of the queen's alienation from the duchess and hatred of conroy, the duke [of wellington] said, was unquestionably owing to her having witnessed some familiarities between them. what she had seen she repeated to baroness spaeth, and spaeth not only did not hold her tongue, but (he thinks) remonstrated with the duchess herself on the subject. the consequence was that they got rid of spaeth, and they would have got rid of lehzen, too, if they had been able, but lehzen, who knew very well what was going on, was prudent enough not to commit herself, and she was, besides, powerfully protected by george iv and william iv, so that they did not dare to attempt to expel her.' [ ] greville, iv, ; crawford, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] greville, iii, - . [ ] creevey, ii, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, - . [ ] torrens, . [ ] huish, . [ ] wynn, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] _ibid._, i, - . [ ] greville, iii, - . [illustration: lord melbourne. _from the portrait by sir edwin landseer, r.a._] { } chapter iii lord melbourne i the new queen was almost entirely unknown to her subjects. in her public appearances her mother had invariably dominated the scene. her private life had been that of a novice in a convent: hardly a human being from the outside world had ever spoken to her; and no human being at all, except her mother and the baroness lehzen, had ever been alone with her in a room. thus it was not only the public at large that was in ignorance of everything concerning her; the inner circles of statesmen and officials and high-born ladies were equally in the dark.[ ] when she suddenly emerged from this deep obscurity, the impression that she created was immediate and profound. her bearing at her first council filled the whole gathering with astonishment and admiration; the duke of wellington, sir robert peel, even the savage croker, even the cold and caustic greville--all were completely carried away. everything that was reported of her subsequent proceedings seemed to be of no less happy augury. her perceptions were quick, her decisions were sensible, her language was discreet; she performed her royal duties with extraordinary facility.[ ] among the outside public there was a great wave of enthusiasm. { } sentiment and romance were coming into fashion; and the spectacle of the little girl-queen, innocent, modest, with fair hair and pink cheeks, driving through her capital, filled the hearts of the beholders with raptures of affectionate loyalty. what, above all, struck everybody with overwhelming force was the contrast between queen victoria and her uncles. the nasty old men, debauched and selfish, pig-headed and ridiculous, with their perpetual burden of debts, confusions, and disreputabilities--they had vanished like the snows of winter, and here at last, crowned and radiant, was the spring. lord john russell, in an elaborate oration, gave voice to the general sentiment. he hoped that victoria might prove an elizabeth without her tyranny, an anne without her weakness. he asked england to pray that the illustrious princess who had just ascended the throne with the purest intentions and the justest desires might see slavery abolished, crime diminished, and education improved. he trusted that her people would henceforward derive their strength, their conduct, and their loyalty from enlightened religious and moral principles, and that, so fortified, the reign of victoria might prove celebrated to posterity and to all the nations of the earth.[ ] very soon, however, there were signs that the future might turn out to be not quite so simple and roseate as a delighted public dreamed. the 'illustrious princess' might perhaps, after all, have something within her which squared ill with the easy vision of a well-conducted heroine in an edifying story-book. the purest intentions and the justest desires? no doubt; but was that all? to those who watched closely, for instance, there might be something ominous in the { } curious contour of that little mouth. when, after her first council, she crossed the ante-room and found her mother waiting for her, she said, 'and now, mamma, am i really and truly queen?' 'you see, my dear, that it is so.' 'then, dear mamma, i hope you will grant me the first request i make to you, as queen. let me be by myself for an hour.'[ ] for an hour she remained in solitude. then she reappeared, and gave a significant order: her bed was to be moved out of her mother's room. it was the doom of the duchess of kent. the long years of waiting were over at last; the moment of a lifetime had come; her daughter was queen of england; and that very moment brought her own annihilation. she found herself, absolutely and irretrievably, shut off from every vestige of influence, of confidence, of power. she was surrounded, indeed, by all the outward signs of respect and consideration; but that made the inward truth of her position only the more intolerable. through the mingled formalities of court etiquette and filial duty, she could never penetrate to victoria. she was unable to conceal her disappointment and her rage. 'il n'y a plus d'avenir pour moi,' she exclaimed to madame de lieven; 'je ne suis plus rien.' for eighteen years, she said, this child had been the sole object of her existence, of her thoughts, her hopes, and now--no! she would not be comforted, she had lost everything, she was to the last degree unhappy.[ ] sailing, so gallantly and so pertinaciously, through the buffeting storms of life, the stately vessel, with sails still swelling and pennons flying, had put into harbour at last; to find there nothing--a land of bleak desolation. within a month of the accession, the realities of { } the new situation assumed a visible shape. the whole royal household moved from kensington to buckingham palace, and, in the new abode, the duchess of kent was given a suite of apartments entirely separate from the queen's. by victoria herself the change was welcomed, though, at the moment of departure, she could afford to be sentimental. 'though i rejoice to go into b.p. for many reasons,' she wrote in her diary, 'it is not without feelings of regret that i shall bid adieu _for ever_ to this my birthplace, where i have been born and bred, and to which i am really attached!' her memory lingered for a moment over visions of the past: her sister's wedding, pleasant balls and _delicious_ concerts ... and there were other recollections. 'i have gone through painful and disagreeable scenes here, 'tis true,' she concluded, 'but still i am fond of the poor old palace.'[ ] at the same time she took another decided step. she had determined that she would see no more of sir john conroy. she rewarded his past services with liberality: he was given a baronetcy and a pension of £ a year; he remained a member of the duchess's household, but his personal intercourse with the queen came to an abrupt conclusion.[ ] ii it was clear that these interior changes--whatever else they might betoken--marked the triumph of one person--the baroness lehzen. the pastor's daughter observed the ruin of her enemies. discreet and victorious, she remained in possession of the field. more closely than ever did she cleave to the side of her { } mistress, her pupil, and her friend; and in the recesses of the palace her mysterious figure was at once invisible and omnipresent. when the queen's ministers came in at one door, the baroness went out by another; when they retired, she immediately returned.[ ] nobody knew--nobody ever will know--the precise extent and the precise nature of her influence. she herself declared that she never discussed public affairs with the queen, that she was concerned with private matters only--with private letters and the details of private life.[ ] certainly her hand is everywhere discernible in victoria's early correspondence. the journal is written in the style of a child; the letters are not so simple; they are the work of a child, rearranged--with the minimum of alteration, no doubt, and yet perceptibly--by a governess. and the governess was no fool: narrow, jealous, provincial, she might be; but she was an acute and vigorous woman, who had gained, by a peculiar insight, a peculiar ascendancy. that ascendancy she meant to keep. no doubt it was true that technically she took no part in public business; but the distinction between what is public and what is private is always a subtle one; and in the case of a reigning sovereign--as the next few years were to show--it is often imaginary. considering all things--the characters of the persons, and the character of the times--it was something more than a mere matter of private interest that the bedroom of baroness lehzen at buckingham palace should have been next door to the bedroom of the queen. but the influence wielded by the baroness, supreme as it seemed within its own sphere, was not unlimited; { } there were other forces at work. for one thing, the faithful stockmar had taken up his residence in the palace. during the twenty years which had elapsed since the death of the princess charlotte, his experiences had been varied and remarkable. the unknown counsellor of a disappointed princeling had gradually risen to a position of european importance. his devotion to his master had been not only whole-hearted but cautious and wise. it was stockmar's advice that had kept prince leopold in england during the critical years which followed his wife's death, and had thus secured to him the essential requisite of a _point d'appui_ in the country of his adoption.[ ] it was stockmar's discretion which had smoothed over the embarrassments surrounding the prince's acceptance and rejection of the greek crown. it was stockmar who had induced the prince to become the constitutional sovereign of belgium.[ ] above all, it was stockmar's tact, honesty, and diplomatic skill which, through a long series of arduous and complicated negotiations, had led to the guarantee of belgian neutrality by the great powers.[ ] his labours had been rewarded by a german barony and by the complete confidence of king leopold. nor was it only in brussels that he was treated with respect and listened to with attention. the statesmen who governed england--lord grey, sir robert peel, lord palmerston, lord melbourne--had learnt to put a high value upon his probity and his intelligence. 'he is one of the cleverest fellows i ever saw,' said lord melbourne--'the most discreet man, the most well-judging, and most cool man.'[ ] and lord palmerston cited baron stockmar as the only absolutely disinterested { } man he had come across in life.[ ] at last he was able to retire to coburg, and to enjoy for a few years the society of the wife and children whom his labours in the service of his master had hitherto only allowed him to visit at long intervals for a month or two at a time. but in he had been again entrusted with an important negotiation, which he had brought to a successful conclusion in the marriage of prince ferdinand of saxe-coburg, a nephew of king leopold's, with queen maria ii of portugal.[ ] the house of coburg was beginning to spread over europe; and the establishment of the baron at buckingham palace in was to be the prelude of another and a more momentous advance.[ ] king leopold and his counsellor provide in their careers an example of the curious diversity of human ambitions. the desires of man are wonderfully various; but no less various are the means by which those desires may reach satisfaction: and so the work of the world gets done. the correct mind of leopold craved for the whole apparatus of royalty. mere power would have held no attractions for him; he must be an actual king--the crowned head of a people. it was not enough to do; it was essential also to be recognised; anything else would not be fitting. the greatness that he dreamt of was surrounded by every appropriate circumstance. to be a majesty, to be a cousin of sovereigns, to marry a bourbon for diplomatic ends, to correspond with the queen of england, to be very stiff and very punctual, to found a dynasty, to bore ambassadresses into fits, to live, on the highest pinnacle, an exemplary life devoted to the public service--such { } were his objects, and such, in fact, were his achievements. the 'marquis peu-à-peu,' as george iv called him,[ ] had what he wanted. but this would never have been the case if it had not happened that the ambition of stockmar took a form exactly complementary to his own. the sovereignty that the baron sought for was by no means obvious. the satisfaction of his essential being lay in obscurity, in invisibility--in passing, unobserved, through a hidden entrance, into the very central chamber of power, and in sitting there, quietly, pulling the subtle strings that set the wheels of the whole world in motion. a very few people, in very high places, and exceptionally well-informed, knew that baron stockmar was a most important person: that was enough. the fortunes of the master and the servant, intimately interacting, rose together. the baron's secret skill had given leopold his unexceptionable kingdom; and leopold, in his turn, as time went on, was able to furnish the baron with more and more keys to more and more back doors. stockmar took up his abode in the palace partly as the emissary of king leopold, but more particularly as the friend and adviser of a queen who was almost a child, and who, no doubt, would be much in need of advice and friendship. for it would be a mistake to suppose that either of these two men was actuated by a vulgar selfishness. the king, indeed, was very well aware on which side his bread was buttered; during an adventurous and chequered life he had acquired a shrewd knowledge of the world's workings; and he was ready enough to use that knowledge to strengthen his position and to spread his influence. but then, the firmer his position and the wider his influence, the { } better for europe; of that he was quite certain. and besides, he was a constitutional monarch; and it would be highly indecorous in a constitutional monarch to have any aims that were low or personal. as for stockmar, the disinterestedness which palmerston had noted was undoubtedly a basic element in his character. the ordinary schemer is always an optimist; and stockmar, racked by dyspepsia and haunted by gloomy forebodings, was a constitutionally melancholy man. a schemer, no doubt, he was; but he schemed distrustfully, splenetically, to do good. to do good! what nobler end could a man scheme for? yet it is perilous to scheme at all. with lehzen to supervise every detail of her conduct, with stockmar in the next room, so full of wisdom and experience of affairs, with her uncle leopold's letters, too, pouring out so constantly their stream of encouragements, general reflections, and highly valuable tips, victoria, even had she been without other guidance, would have stood in no lack of private counsellors. but other guidance she had; for all these influences paled before a new star, of the first magnitude, which, rising suddenly upon her horizon, immediately dominated her life. iii william lamb, viscount melbourne, was fifty-eight years of age, and had been for the last three years prime minister of england. in every outward respect he was one of the most fortunate of mankind. he had been born into the midst of riches, brilliance, and power. his mother, fascinating and intelligent, had been a great whig hostess, and he had been bred up as a { } member of that radiant society which, during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, concentrated within itself the ultimate perfections of a hundred years of triumphant aristocracy. nature had given him beauty and brains; the unexpected death of an elder brother brought him wealth, a peerage, and the possibility of high advancement. within that charmed circle, whatever one's personal disabilities, it was difficult to fail; and to him, with all his advantages, success was well-nigh unavoidable. with little effort, he attained political eminence. on the triumph of the whigs he became one of the leading members of the government; and when lord grey retired from the premiership he quietly stepped into the vacant place. nor was it only in the visible signs of fortune that fate had been kind to him. bound to succeed, and to succeed easily, he was gifted with so fine a nature that his success became him. his mind, at once supple and copious, his temperament, at once calm and sensitive, enabled him not merely to work but to live with perfect facility and with the grace of strength. in society he was a notable talker, a captivating companion, a charming man. if one looked deeper, one saw at once that he was not ordinary, that the piquancies of his conversation and his manner--his free-and-easy vaguenesses, his abrupt questions, his lollings and loungings, his innumerable oaths--were something more than an amusing ornament, were the outward manifestation of an individuality peculiar to the core. the precise nature of this individuality was very difficult to gauge: it was dubious, complex, perhaps self-contradictory. certainly there was an ironical discordance between the inner history of the man and his apparent fortunes. he owed all he had to his birth, { } and his birth was shameful; it was known well enough that his mother had passionately loved lord egremont, and that lord melbourne was not his father.[ ] his marriage, which had seemed to be the crown of his youthful ardours, was a long, miserable, desperate failure: the incredible lady caroline, ... 'with pleasures too refined to please, with too much spirit to be e'er at ease, with too much quickness to be ever taught, with too much thinking to have common thought,' was very nearly the destruction of his life. when at last he emerged from the anguish and confusion of her folly, her extravagance, her rage, her despair, and her devotion, he was left alone with endless memories of intermingled farce and tragedy, and an only son who was an imbecile. but there was something else that he owed to lady caroline. while she whirled with byron in a hectic frenzy of love and fashion, he had stayed at home in an indulgence bordering on cynicism, and occupied his solitude with reading. it was thus that he had acquired those habits of study, that love of learning, and that wide and accurate knowledge of ancient and modern literature, which formed so unexpected a part of his mental equipment. his passion for reading never deserted him; even when he was prime minister he found time to master every new important book.[ ] with an incongruousness that was characteristic, his favourite study was theology. an accomplished classical scholar, he was deeply read in the fathers of the church; heavy volumes of commentary and exegesis he examined with scrupulous diligence; and at any odd moment he might be found turning over { } the pages of the bible.[ ] to the ladies whom he most liked he would lend some learned work on the revelation, crammed with marginal notes in his own hand, or dr. lardner's 'observations upon the jewish errors with respect to the conversion of mary magdalene.' the more pious among them had high hopes that these studies would lead him into the right way; but of this there were no symptoms in his after-dinner conversation.[ ] the paradox of his political career was no less curious. by temperament an aristocrat, by conviction a conservative, he came to power as the leader of the popular party, the party of change. he had profoundly disliked the reform bill, which he had only accepted at last as a necessary evil; and the reform bill lay at the root of the very existence, of the very meaning, of his government. he was far too sceptical to believe in progress of any kind. things were best as they were--or rather, they were least bad. 'you'd better try to do no good,' was one of his dictums, 'and then you'll get into no scrapes.' education at best was futile; education of the poor was positively dangerous. the factory children? 'oh, if you'd only have the goodness to leave them alone!' free trade was a delusion; the ballot was nonsense; and there was no such thing as a democracy. nevertheless, he was not a reactionary; he was simply an opportunist. the whole duty of government, he said, was 'to prevent crime and to preserve contracts.' all one could really hope to do was to carry on. he himself carried on in a remarkable manner--with perpetual compromises, with fluctuations and { } contradictions, with every kind of weakness, and yet with shrewdness, with gentleness, even with conscientiousness, and a light and airy mastery of men and of events. he conducted the transactions of business with extraordinary nonchalance. important persons, ushered up for some grave interview, found him in a towselled bed, littered with books and papers, or vaguely shaving in a dressing-room; but, when they went downstairs again, they would realise that somehow or other they had been pumped. when he had to receive a deputation, he could hardly ever do so with becoming gravity. the worthy delegates of the tallow-chandlers, or the society for the abolition of capital punishment, were distressed and mortified when, in the midst of their speeches, the prime minister became absorbed in blowing a feather, or suddenly cracked an unseemly joke. how could they have guessed that he had spent the night before diligently getting up the details of their case? he hated patronage and the making of appointments--a feeling rare in ministers. 'as for the bishops,' he burst out, 'i positively believe they die to vex me.' but when at last the appointment was made, it was made with keen discrimination. his colleagues observed another symptom--was it of his irresponsibility or his wisdom? he went to sleep in the cabinet.[ ] probably, if he had been born a little earlier, he would have been a simpler and a happier man. as it was, he was a child of the eighteenth century whose lot was cast in a new, difficult, unsympathetic age. he was an autumn rose. with all his gracious amenity, his humour, his happy-go-lucky ways, a deep disquietude possessed him. a sentimental cynic, a sceptical believer, { } he was restless and melancholy at heart. above all, he could never harden himself; those sensitive petals shivered in every wind. whatever else he might be, one thing was certain: lord melbourne was always human, supremely human--too human, perhaps.[ ] and now, with old age upon him, his life took a sudden, new, extraordinary turn. he became, in the twinkling of an eye, the intimate adviser and the daily companion of a young girl who had stepped all at once from a nursery to a throne. his relations with women had been, like everything else about him, ambiguous. nobody had ever been able quite to gauge the shifting, emotional complexities of his married life; lady caroline vanished; but his peculiar susceptibilities remained. female society of some kind or other was necessary to him, and he did not stint himself; a great part of every day was invariably spent in it. the feminine element in him made it easy, made it natural and inevitable for him to be the friend of a great many women; but the masculine element in him was strong as well. in such circumstances it is also easy, it is even natural, perhaps it is even inevitable, to be something more than a friend. there were rumours and combustions. lord melbourne was twice a co-respondent in a divorce action; but on each occasion he won his suit. the lovely lady brandon, the unhappy and brilliant mrs. norton ... the law exonerated them both. beyond that hung an impenetrable veil. but at any rate it was clear that, with such a record, the prime minister's position in buckingham palace must be a highly delicate one. however, he was used to delicacies, and he met the situation with consummate success. his behaviour was from the first moment { } impeccable. his manner towards the young queen mingled, with perfect facility, the watchfulness and the respect of a statesman and a courtier with the tender solicitude of a parent. he was at once reverential and affectionate, at once the servant and the guide. at the same time the habits of his life underwent a surprising change. his comfortable, unpunctual days became subject to the unaltering routine of a palace; no longer did he sprawl on sofas; not a single 'damn' escaped his lips. the man of the world who had been the friend of byron and the regent, the talker whose paradoxes had held holland house enthralled, the cynic whose ribaldries had enlivened so many deep potations, the lover whose soft words had captivated such beauty and such passion and such wit, might now be seen, evening after evening, talking with infinite politeness to a schoolgirl, bolt upright, amid the silence and the rigidity of court etiquette.[ ] iv on her side, victoria was instantaneously fascinated by lord melbourne. the good report of stockmar had no doubt prepared the way; lehzen was wisely propitiated; and the first highly favourable impression was never afterwards belied. she found him perfect; and perfect in her sight he remained. her absolute and unconcealed adoration was very natural; what innocent young creature could have resisted, in any circumstances, the charm and the devotion of such a man? but, in her situation, there was a special influence which gave a peculiar glow to all she felt. after years of emptiness and dullness and suppression, she had come suddenly, in { } the heyday of youth, into freedom and power. she was mistress of herself, of great domains and palaces; she was queen of england. responsibilities and difficulties she might have, no doubt, and in heavy measure; but one feeling dominated and absorbed all others--the feeling of joy. everything pleased her. she was in high spirits from morning till night. mr. creevey, grown old now, and very near his end, catching a glimpse of her at brighton, was much amused, in his sharp fashion, by the ingenuous gaiety of 'little vic.'--'a more homely little being you never beheld, _when she is at her ease_, and she is evidently dying to be always more so. she laughs in real earnest, opening her mouth as wide as it can go, showing not very pretty gums.... she eats quite as heartily as she laughs, i think i may say she gobbles.... she blushes and laughs every instant in so natural a way as to disarm anybody.'[ ] but it was not merely when she was laughing or gobbling that she enjoyed herself; the performance of her official duties gave her intense satisfaction. 'i really have immensely to do,' she wrote in her journal a few days after her accession; 'i receive so many communications from my ministers, but i like it very much.'[ ] and again, a week later, 'i repeat what i said before that i have so many communications from the ministers, and from me to them, and i get so many papers to sign every day, that i have always a _very great deal_ to do. i _delight_ in this work.'[ ] through the girl's immaturity the vigorous predestined tastes of the woman were pushing themselves into existence with eager velocity, with delicious force. one detail of her happy situation deserves particular mention. apart from the splendour of her { } social position and the momentousness of her political one, she was a person of great wealth. as soon as parliament met, an annuity of £ , was settled upon her. when the expenses of her household had been discharged, she was left with £ , a year of her own. she enjoyed besides the revenues of the duchy of lancaster, which amounted annually to over £ , . the first use to which she put her money was characteristic: she paid off her father's debts. in money matters, no less than in other matters, she was determined to be correct. she had the instincts of a man of business; and she never could have borne to be in a position that was financially unsound.[ ] with youth and happiness gilding every hour, the days passed merrily enough. and each day hinged upon lord melbourne. her diary shows us, with undiminished clarity, the life of the young sovereign during the early months of her reign--a life satisfactorily regular, full of delightful business, a life of simple pleasures, mostly physical--riding, eating, dancing--a quick, easy, highly unsophisticated life, sufficient unto itself. the light of the morning is upon it; and, in the rosy radiance, the figure of 'lord m.' emerges, glorified and supreme. if she is the heroine of the story, he is the hero; but indeed they are more than hero and heroine, for there are no other characters at all. lehzen, the baron, uncle leopold, are unsubstantial shadows--the incidental supers of the piece. her paradise was peopled by two persons, and surely that was enough. one sees them together still, a curious couple, strangely united in those artless pages, under the magical illumination of that dawn of eighty years ago: the polished high fine gentleman with the whitening { } hair and whiskers and the thick dark eyebrows and the mobile lips and the big expressive eyes; and beside him the tiny queen--fair, slim, elegant, active, in her plain girl's dress and little tippet, looking up at him earnestly, adoringly, with eyes blue and projecting, and half-open mouth. so they appear upon every page of the journal; upon every page lord m. is present, lord m. is speaking, lord m. is being amusing, instructive, delightful, and affectionate at once, while victoria drinks in the honeyed words, laughs till she shows her gums, tries hard to remember, and runs off, as soon as she is left alone, to put it all down. their long conversations touched upon a multitude of topics. lord m. would criticise books, throw out a remark or two on the british constitution, make some passing reflections on human life, and tell story after story of the great people of the eighteenth century. then there would be business--a despatch perhaps from lord durham in canada, which lord m. would read. but first he must explain a little. 'he said that i must know that canada originally belonged to the french, and was only ceded to the english in , when it was taken in an expedition under wolfe; "a very daring enterprise," he said. canada was then entirely french, and the british only came afterwards.... lord m. explained this very clearly (and much better than i have done) and said a good deal more about it. he then read me durham's despatch, which is a very long one and took him more than ½ an hour to read. lord m. read it beautifully with that fine soft voice of his, and with so much expression, so that it is needless to say i was much interested by it.'[ ] and then the talk would take a more personal turn. lord { } m. would describe his boyhood, and she would learn that 'he wore his hair long, as all boys then did, till he was ; (_how_ handsome he must have looked!).'[ ] or she would find out about his queer tastes and habits--how he never carried a watch, which seemed quite extraordinary. '"i always ask the servant what o'clock it is, and then he tells me what he likes," said lord m.'[ ] or, as the rooks wheeled about round the trees, 'in a manner which indicated rain,' he would say that he could sit looking at them for an hour, and 'was quite surprised at my disliking them.... lord m. said, "the rooks are my delight."'[ ] [illustration: queen victoria in . _from the painting by e. corbould_.] the day's routine, whether in london or at windsor, was almost invariable. the morning was devoted to business and lord m. in the afternoon the whole court went out riding. the queen, in her velvet riding-habit and a top-hat with a veil draped about the brim, headed the cavalcade; and lord m. rode beside her. the lively troupe went fast and far, to the extreme exhilaration of her majesty. back in the palace again, there was still time for a little more fun before dinner--a game of battledore and shuttlecock perhaps, or a romp along the galleries with some children.[ ] dinner came, and the ceremonial decidedly tightened. the gentleman of highest rank sat on the right hand of the queen; on her left--it soon became an established rule--sat lord melbourne. after the ladies had left the dining-room, the gentlemen were not permitted to remain behind for very long; indeed, the short time allowed them for their wine-drinking formed the subject--so it was rumoured--of one of the very few disputes between the queen and her prime { } minister[ ]; but her determination carried the day, and from that moment after-dinner drunkenness began to go out of fashion. when the company was reassembled in the drawing-room the etiquette was stiff. for a few minutes the queen spoke in turn to each one of her guests; and during these short uneasy colloquies the aridity of royalty was apt to become painfully evident. one night mr. greville, the clerk of the privy council, was present; his turn soon came; the middle-aged, hard-faced _viveur_ was addressed by his young hostess. 'have you been riding to-day, mr. greville?' asked the queen. 'no, madam, i have not,' replied mr. greville. 'it was a fine day,' continued the queen. 'yes, madam, a very fine day,' said mr. greville. 'it was rather cold, though,' said the queen. 'it was rather cold, madam,' said mr. greville. 'your sister, lady frances egerton, rides, i think, doesn't she?' said the queen. 'she does ride sometimes, madam,' said mr. greville. there was a pause, after which mr. greville ventured to take the lead, though he did not venture to change the subject. 'has your majesty been riding to-day?' asked mr. greville. 'oh yes, a very long ride,' answered the queen with animation. 'has your majesty got a nice horse?' said mr. greville. 'oh, a very nice horse,' said the queen. it was over. her majesty gave a smile and an inclination of the head, mr. greville a profound bow, and the next conversation began with the next gentleman.[ ] when all the guests { } had been disposed of, the duchess of kent sat down to her whist, while everybody else was ranged about the round table. lord melbourne sat beside the queen, and talked pertinaciously--very often _à propos_ to the contents of one of the large albums of engravings with which the round table was covered--until it was half-past eleven and time to go to bed.[ ] occasionally, there were little diversions: the evening might be spent at the opera or at the play. next morning the royal critic was careful to note down her impressions. 'it was shakespeare's tragedy of _hamlet_, and we came in at the beginning of it. mr. charles kean (son of old kean) acted the part of hamlet, and i must say beautifully. his conception of this very difficult, and i may almost say incomprehensible, character is admirable; his delivery of all the fine long speeches quite beautiful; he is excessively graceful and all his actions and attitudes are good, though not at all good-looking in face.... i came away just as _hamlet_ was over.'[ ] later on, she went to see macready in _king lear_. the story was new to her; she knew nothing about it, and at first she took very little interest in what was passing on the stage; she preferred to chatter and laugh with the lord chamberlain. but, as the play went on, her mood changed; her attention was fixed, and then she laughed no more. yet she was puzzled; it seemed a strange, a horrible business. what did lord m. think? lord m. thought it was a very fine play, but to be sure, 'a rough, coarse play, written for those times, with exaggerated characters.' 'i'm glad you've seen it,' he added.[ ] but, undoubtedly, the evenings which she enjoyed most were those on { } which there was dancing. she was always ready enough to seize any excuse--the arrival of cousins--a birthday--a gathering of young people--to give the command for that. then, when the band played, and the figures of the dancers swayed to the music, and she felt her own figure swaying too, with youthful spirits so close on every side--then her happiness reached its height, her eyes sparkled, she must go on and on into the small hours of the morning. for a moment lord m. himself was forgotten. v the months flew past. the summer was over: 'the pleasantest summer i ever passed in _my life_, and i shall never forget this first summer of my reign.'[ ] with surprising rapidity, another summer was upon her. the coronation came and went--a curious dream. the antique, intricate, endless ceremonial worked itself out as best it could, like some machine of gigantic complexity which was a little out of order. the small central figure went through her gyrations. she sat; she walked; she prayed; she carried about an orb that was almost too heavy to hold; the archbishop of canterbury came and crushed a ring upon the wrong finger, so that she was ready to cry out with the pain; old lord rolle tripped up in his mantle and fell down the steps as he was doing homage; she was taken into a side chapel, where the altar was covered with a tablecloth, sandwiches, and bottles of wine; she perceived lehzen in an upper box and exchanged a smile with her as she sat, robed and crowned, on the confessor's throne. 'i shall ever remember this day as the _proudest_ { } of my life,' she noted. but the pride was soon merged once more in youth and simplicity. when she returned to buckingham palace at last she was not tired; she ran up to her private rooms, doffed her splendours, and gave her dog dash its evening bath.[ ] life flowed on again with its accustomed smoothness--though, of course, the smoothness was occasionally disturbed. for one thing, there was the distressing behaviour of uncle leopold. the king of the belgians had not been able to resist attempting to make use of his family position to further his diplomatic ends. but, indeed, why should there be any question of resisting? was not such a course of conduct, far from being a temptation, simply _selon les régles_? what were royal marriages for, if they did not enable sovereigns, in spite of the hindrances of constitutions, to control foreign politics? for the highest purposes, of course; that was understood. the queen of england was his niece--more than that--almost his daughter; his confidential agent was living, in a position of intimate favour, at her court. surely, in such circumstances, it would be preposterous, it would be positively incorrect, to lose the opportunity of bending to his wishes by means of personal influence, behind the backs of the english ministers, the foreign policy of england. he set about the task with becoming precautions. he continued in his letters his admirable advice. within a few days of her accession, he recommended the young queen to lay emphasis, on every possible occasion, upon her english birth; to praise the english nation; 'the established church i also recommend strongly; you cannot, without _pledging_ yourself to anything _particular, say too much on the subject_.' and then 'before you { } decide on anything important i should be glad if you would consult me; this would also have the advantage of giving you time'; nothing was more injurious than to be hurried into wrong decisions unawares. his niece replied at once with all the accustomed warmth of her affection; but she wrote hurriedly--and, perhaps, a trifle vaguely too. '_your_ advice is always of the _greatest importance_ to me,' she said.[ ] had he, possibly, gone too far? he could not be certain; perhaps victoria _had_ been hurried. in any case, he would be careful; he would draw back--_pour mieux sauter_, he added to himself with a smile. in his next letters he made no reference to his suggestion of consultations with himself; he merely pointed out the wisdom, in general, of refusing to decide upon important questions off-hand. so far, his advice was taken; and it was noticed that the queen, when applications were made to her, rarely gave an immediate answer. even with lord melbourne, it was the same; when he asked for her opinion upon any subject, she would reply that she would think it over, and tell him her conclusions next day.[ ] king leopold's counsels continued. the princess de lieven, he said, was a dangerous woman; there was reason to think that she would make attempts to pry into what did not concern her; let victoria beware. 'a rule which i cannot sufficiently recommend is _never to permit_ people to speak on subjects concerning yourself or your affairs, without you having yourself desired them to do so.' should such a thing occur, 'change the conversation, and make the individual feel that he has made a mistake.' this piece of advice was also taken; for it fell out as the king had predicted. madame de { } lieven sought an audience, and appeared to be verging towards confidential topics; whereupon the queen, becoming slightly embarrassed, talked of nothing but commonplaces. the individual felt that she had made a mistake.[ ] the king's next warning was remarkable. letters, he pointed out, are almost invariably read in the post. this was inconvenient, no doubt; but the fact, once properly grasped, was not without its advantages. 'i will give you an example: we are still plagued by prussia concerning those fortresses; now to tell the prussian government many things, which we _should not like_ to tell them officially, the minister is going to write a despatch to our man at berlin, sending it _by post_; the prussians _are sure_ to read it, and to learn in this way what we wish them to hear.' analogous circumstances might very probably occur in england. 'i tell you the _trick_,' wrote his majesty, 'that you should be able to guard against it.' such were the subtleties of constitutional sovereignty.[ ] it seemed that the time had come for another step. the king's next letter was full of foreign politics--the situation in spain and portugal, the character of louis-philippe; and he received a favourable answer. victoria, it is true, began by saying that she had shown the _political part_ of his letter to lord melbourne; but she proceeded to a discussion of foreign affairs. it appeared that she was not unwilling to exchange observations on such matters with her uncle.[ ] so far, so good. but king leopold was still cautious; though a crisis was impending in his diplomacy, he still hung back; at last, however, he could keep silence no longer. it { } was of the utmost importance to him that, in his manoeuvrings with france and holland, he should have, or at any rate appear to have, english support. but the english government appeared to adopt a neutral attitude; it was too bad; not to be for him was to be against him--could they not see that? yet, perhaps, they were only wavering, and a little pressure upon them from victoria might still save all. he determined to put the case before her, delicately yet forcibly--just as he saw it himself. 'all i want from your kind majesty,' he wrote, 'is, that you will _occasionally_ express to your ministers, and particularly to good lord melbourne, that, as far as it is _compatible_ with the interests _of your own_ dominions, you do _not_ wish that your government should take the lead in such measures as might in a short time bring on the _destruction_ of this country, as well as that of your uncle and his family.'[ ] the result of this appeal was unexpected: there was dead silence for more than a week. when victoria at last wrote, she was prodigal of her affection--'it would, indeed, my dearest uncle, be _very wrong_ of you, if you thought my feelings of warm and devoted attachment to you, and of great affection for you, could be changed--_nothing_ can ever change them'--but her references to foreign politics, though they were lengthy and elaborate, were non-committal in the extreme; they were almost cast in an official and diplomatic form. her ministers, she said, entirely shared her views upon the subject; she understood and sympathised with the difficulties of her beloved uncle's position; and he might rest assured 'that both lord melbourne and lord palmerston are most anxious at all times for the prosperity and welfare of belgium.' that was all. the king in his reply { } declared himself delighted, and re-echoed the affectionate protestations of his niece. 'my dearest and most beloved victoria,' he said, 'you have written me a _very dear_ and long letter, which has given me _great pleasure and satisfaction_.' he would not admit that he had had a rebuff.[ ] a few months later the crisis came. king leopold determined to make a bold push, and to carry victoria with him, this time, by a display of royal vigour and avuncular authority. in an abrupt, an almost peremptory letter, he laid his case, once more, before his niece. 'you know from experience,' he wrote, 'that i _never ask anything of you_.... but, as i said before, if we are not careful we may see serious consequences which may affect more or less everybody, and _this_ ought to be the object of our most anxious attention. i remain, my dear victoria, your affectionate uncle, leopold r.'[ ] the queen immediately despatched this letter to lord melbourne, who replied with a carefully thought-out form of words, signifying nothing whatever, which, he suggested, she should send to her uncle. she did so, copying out the elaborate formula, with a liberal scattering of 'dear uncles' interspersed; and she concluded her letter with a message of 'affectionate love to aunt louise and the children.' then at last king leopold was obliged to recognise the facts. his next letter contained no reference at all to politics. 'i am glad,' he wrote, 'to find that you like brighton better than last year. i think brighton very agreeable at this time of the year, till the east winds set in. the pavilion, besides, is comfortable; that cannot be denied. before my marriage, it was there that i met the regent. charlotte afterwards came with old queen charlotte. { } how distant all this already, but still how present to one's memory.' like poor madame de lieven, his majesty felt that he had made a mistake.[ ] nevertheless, he could not quite give up all hope. another opportunity offered, and he made another effort--but there was not very much conviction in it, and it was immediately crushed. 'my dear uncle,' the queen wrote, 'i have to thank you for your last letter, which i received on sunday. though you seem not to dislike my political sparks, i think it is better not to increase them, as they might finally take fire, particularly as i see with regret that upon this one subject we cannot agree. i shall, therefore, limit myself to my expressions of very sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of belgium.'[ ] after that, it was clear that there was no more to be said. henceforward there is audible in the king's letters a curiously elegiac note. 'my dearest victoria, your _delightful_ little letter has just arrived and went like _an arrow to my heart_. yes, my beloved victoria! i do love you tenderly ... i love you _for yourself_, and i love in you the dear child whose welfare i tenderly watched.' he had gone through much; yet, if life had its disappointments, it had its satisfactions too. 'i have all the honours that can be given, and i am, politically speaking, very solidly established.' but there were other things besides politics; there were romantic yearnings in his heart. 'the only longing i still have is for the orient, where i perhaps shall once end my life, rising in the west and setting in the east.' as for his devotion to his niece, that could never end. 'i never press my services on you, nor my councils, though i may say with some truth that from the extraordinary fate which the higher powers { } had ordained for me, my experience, both political and of private life, is great. i am _always ready_ to be useful to you _when and where_ it may be, and i repeat it, _all i want in return is some little sincere affection from you_.'[ ] vi the correspondence with king leopold was significant of much that still lay partly hidden in the character of victoria. her attitude towards her uncle had never wavered for a moment. to all his advances she had presented an absolutely unyielding front. the foreign policy of england was not his province; it was hers and her ministers'; his insinuations, his entreaties, his struggles--all were quite useless; and he must understand that this was so. the rigidity of her position was the more striking owing to the respectfulness and the affection with which it was accompanied. from start to finish the unmoved queen remained the devoted niece. leopold himself must have envied such perfect correctitude; but what may be admirable in an elderly statesman is alarming in a maiden of nineteen. and privileged observers were not without their fears. the strange mixture of ingenuous light-heartedness and fixed determination, of frankness and reticence, of childishness and pride, seemed to augur a future perplexed and full of dangers. as time passed the less pleasant qualities in this curious composition revealed themselves more often and more seriously. there were signs of an imperious, a peremptory temper, an egotism that was strong and hard. it was noticed that the palace etiquette, far from relaxing, grew ever more and more inflexible. by some, this was attributed to { } lehzen's influence; but, if that was so, lehzen had a willing pupil; for the slightest infringements of the freezing rules of regularity and deference were invariably and immediately visited by the sharp and haughty glances of the queen.[ ] yet her majesty's eyes, crushing as they could be, were less crushing than her mouth. the self-will depicted in those small projecting teeth and that small receding chin was of a more dismaying kind than that which a powerful jaw betokens; it was a self-will imperturbable, impenetrable, unreasoning; a self-will dangerously akin to obstinacy. and the obstinacy of monarchs is not as that of other men. within two years of her accession, the storm-clouds which, from the first, had been dimly visible on the horizon, gathered and burst. victoria's relations with her mother had not improved. the duchess of kent, still surrounded by all the galling appearances of filial consideration, remained in buckingham palace a discarded figure, powerless and inconsolable. sir john conroy, banished from the presence of the queen, still presided over the duchess's household, and the hostilities of kensington continued unabated in the new surroundings. lady flora hastings still cracked her malicious jokes; the animosity of the baroness was still unappeased. one day, lady flora found the joke was turned against her. early in , travelling in the suite of the duchess, she had returned from scotland in the same carriage with sir john. a change in her figure became the subject of an unseemly jest; tongues wagged; and the jest grew serious. it was whispered that lady flora was with child.[ ] the state of her { } health seemed to confirm the suspicion; she consulted sir james clark, the royal physician, and, after the consultation, sir james let his tongue wag, too. on this, the scandal flared up sky-high. everyone was talking; the baroness was not surprised; the duchess rallied tumultuously to the support of her lady; the queen was informed. at last, the extraordinary expedient of a medical examination was resorted to, during which sir james, according to lady flora, behaved with brutal rudeness, while a second doctor was extremely polite. finally, both physicians signed a certificate entirely exculpating the lady. but this was by no means the end of the business. the hastings family, socially a very powerful one, threw itself into the fray with all the fury of outraged pride and injured innocence; lord hastings insisted upon an audience of the queen, wrote to the papers, and demanded the dismissal of sir james clark. the queen expressed her regret to lady flora, but sir james clark was not dismissed. the tide of opinion turned violently against the queen and her advisers; high society was disgusted by all this washing of dirty linen in buckingham palace; the public at large was indignant at the ill-treatment of lady flora. by the end of march, the popularity, so radiant and so abundant, with which the young sovereign had begun her reign, had entirely disappeared.[ ] there can be no doubt that a great lack of discretion had been shown by the court. ill-natured tittle-tattle, which should have been instantly nipped in the bud, had been allowed to assume disgraceful proportions; and the throne itself had become involved in the personal { } malignities of the palace. a particularly awkward question had been raised by the position of sir james clark. the duke of wellington, upon whom it was customary to fall back, in cases of great difficulty in high places, had been consulted upon this question, and he had given it as his opinion that, as it would be impossible to remove sir james without a public enquiry, sir james must certainly stay where he was.[ ] probably the duke was right; but the fact that the peccant doctor continued in the queen's service made the hastings family irreconcilable and produced an unpleasant impression of unrepentant error upon the public mind. as for victoria, she was very young and quite inexperienced; and she can hardly be blamed for having failed to control an extremely difficult situation. that was clearly lord melbourne's task; he was a man of the world, and, with vigilance and circumspection, he might have quietly put out the ugly flames while they were still smouldering. he did not do so; he was lazy and easy-going; the baroness was persistent, and he let things slide. but doubtless his position was not an easy one; passions ran high in the palace; and victoria was not only very young, she was very headstrong, too. did he possess the magic bridle which would curb that fiery steed? he could not be certain. and then, suddenly, another violent crisis revealed more unmistakably than ever the nature of the mind with which he had to deal. vii the queen had for long been haunted by a terror that the day might come when she would be obliged { } to part with her minister. ever since the passage of the reform bill, the power of the whig government had steadily declined. the general election of had left them with a very small majority in the house of commons; since then, they had been in constant difficulties--abroad, at home, in ireland; the radical group had grown hostile; it became highly doubtful how much longer they could survive. the queen watched the development of events in great anxiety. she was a whig by birth, by upbringing, by every association, public and private; and, even if those ties had never existed, the mere fact that lord m. was the head of the whigs would have amply sufficed to determine her politics. the fall of the whigs would mean a sad upset for lord m. but it would have a still more terrible consequence: lord m. would have to leave her; and the daily, the hourly, presence of lord m. had become an integral part of her life. six months after her accession she had noted in her diary 'i shall be very sorry to lose him _even_ for _one_ night';[ ] and this feeling of personal dependence on her minister steadily increased. in these circumstances it was natural that she should have become a whig partisan. of the wider significance of political questions she knew nothing; all she saw was that her friends were in office and about her, and that it would be dreadful if they ceased to be so. 'i cannot say,' she wrote when a critical division was impending, '(though i feel _confident of our success_) how _low_, how _sad_ i feel, when i think of the possibility of this excellent and truly kind man not _remaining_ my minister! yet i trust fervently that _he_ who has so wonderfully protected me through such manifold difficulties will not _now_ desert me! i should { } have liked to have expressed to lord m. my anxiety, but the tears were nearer than words throughout the time i saw him, and i felt i should have choked, had i attempted to say anything.'[ ] lord melbourne realised clearly enough how undesirable was such a state of mind in a constitutional sovereign who might be called upon at any moment to receive as her ministers the leaders of the opposite party; he did what he could to cool her ardour; but in vain. with considerable lack of foresight, too, he had himself helped to bring about this unfortunate condition of affairs. from the moment of her accession, he had surrounded the queen with ladies of his own party: the mistress of the robes and all the ladies of the bedchamber were whigs. in the ordinary course, the queen never saw a tory; eventually she took pains never to see one in any circumstances. she disliked the whole tribe, and she did not conceal the fact. she particularly disliked sir robert peel, who would almost certainly be the next prime minister. his manners were detestable, and he wanted to turn out lord m. his supporters, without exception, were equally bad; and as for sir james graham, she could not bear the sight of him; he was exactly like sir john conroy.[ ] the affair of lady flora intensified these party rumours still further. the hastings were tories, and lord melbourne and the court were attacked by the tory press in unmeasured language. the queen's sectarian zeal proportionately increased. but the dreaded hour was now fast approaching. early in may the ministers were visibly tottering; on a vital point of policy they could only secure a majority of five in { } the house of commons; they determined to resign. when victoria heard the news she burst into tears. was it possible, then, that all was over? was she indeed about to see lord m. for the last time? lord m. came; and it is a curious fact that, even in this crowning moment of misery and agitation, the precise girl noted, to the minute, the exact time of the arrival and the departure of her beloved minister. the conversation was touching and prolonged; but it could only end in one way--the queen must send for the duke of wellington. when, next morning, the duke came, he advised her majesty to send for sir robert peel. she was in 'a state of dreadful grief,' but she swallowed down her tears, and braced herself, with royal resolution, for the odious, odious interview. peel was by nature reserved, proud, and shy. his manners were not perfect, and he knew it; he was easily embarrassed, and, at such moments, he grew even more stiff and formal than before, while his feet mechanically performed upon the carpet a dancing-master's measure. anxious as he now was to win the queen's good graces, his very anxiety to do so made the attainment of his object the more difficult. he entirely failed to make any headway whatever with the haughty hostile girl before him. she coldly noted that he appeared to be unhappy and 'put out,' and, while he stood in painful fixity, with an occasional uneasy pointing of the toe, her heart sank within her at the sight of that manner, 'oh! how different, how dreadfully different, to the frank, open, natural, and most kind warm manner of lord melbourne.' nevertheless, the audience passed without disaster. only at one point had there been some slight hint of a disagreement. peel had decided that a change would be necessary in { } the composition of the royal household: the queen must no longer be entirely surrounded by the wives and sisters of his opponents; some, at any rate, of the ladies of the bedchamber should be friendly to his government. when this matter was touched upon, the queen had intimated that she wished her household to remain unchanged; to which sir robert had replied that the question could be settled later, and shortly afterwards withdrew to arrange the details of his cabinet. while he was present, victoria had remained, as she herself said, 'very much collected, civil and high, and betrayed no agitation'; but as soon as she was alone she completely broke down. then she pulled herself together to write to lord melbourne an account of all that had happened, and of her own wretchedness. 'she feels,' she said, 'lord melbourne will understand it, amongst enemies to those she most relied on and most esteemed; but what is worst of all is the being deprived of seeing lord melbourne as she used to do.' lord melbourne replied with a very wise letter. he attempted to calm the queen and to induce her to accept the new position gracefully; and he had nothing but good words for the tory leaders. as for the question of the ladies of the household, the queen, he said, should strongly urge what she desired, as it was a matter which concerned her personally; 'but,' he added, 'if sir robert is unable to concede it, it will not do to refuse and to put off the negotiation upon it.' on this point there can be little doubt that lord melbourne was right. the question was a complicated and subtle one, and it had never arisen before; but subsequent constitutional practice has determined that a queen regnant must accede to the wishes of her prime minister as to the _personnel_ of the female part of her { } household. lord melbourne's wisdom, however, was wasted. the queen would not be soothed, and still less would she take advice. it was outrageous of the tories to want to deprive her of her ladies, and that night she made up her mind that, whatever sir robert might say, she would refuse to consent to the removal of a single one of them. accordingly, when, next morning, peel appeared again, she was ready for action. he began by detailing the cabinet appointments, and then he added 'now, ma'am, about the ladies'--when the queen sharply interrupted him. 'i cannot give up _any_ of my ladies,' she said. 'what, ma'am!' said sir robert, 'does your majesty mean to retain them _all_?' '_all_,' said the queen. sir robert's face worked strangely; he could not conceal his agitation. 'the mistress of the robes and the ladies of the bedchamber?' he brought out at last. '_all_', replied once more her majesty. it was in vain that peel pleaded and argued; in vain that he spoke, growing every moment more pompous and uneasy, of the constitution, and queens regnant, and the public interest; in vain that he danced his pathetic minuet. she was adamant; but he, too, through all his embarrassment, showed no sign of yielding; and when at last he left her nothing had been decided--the whole formation of the government was hanging in the wind. a frenzy of excitement now seized upon victoria. sir robert, she believed in her fury, had tried to outwit her, to take her friends from her, to impose his will upon her own; but that was not all: she had suddenly perceived, while the poor man was moving so uneasily before her, the one thing that she was desperately longing for--a loophole of escape. she seized a pen and dashed off a note to lord melbourne. { } 'sir robert has behaved very ill,' she wrote; 'he insisted on my giving up my ladies, to which i replied that i _never_ would consent, and i never saw a man so frightened.... i was calm but very decided, and i think you would have been pleased to see my composure and great firmness; the queen of england will not submit to such trickery. keep yourself in readiness, for you may soon be wanted.' hardly had she finished when the duke of wellington was announced. 'well, ma'am,' he said as he entered, 'i am very sorry to find there is a difficulty.' 'oh!' she instantly replied, '_he_ began it, not me.' she felt that only one thing now was needed: she must be firm. and firm she was. the venerable conqueror of napoleon was outfaced by the relentless equanimity of a girl in her teens. he could not move the queen one inch. at last, she even ventured to rally him. 'is sir robert so weak,' she asked, 'that even the ladies must be of his opinion?' on which the duke made a brief and humble expostulation, bowed low; and departed. had she won? time would show; and in the meantime she scribbled down another letter. 'lord melbourne must not think the queen rash in her conduct.... the queen felt this was an attempt to see whether she could be led and managed like a child.' the tories were not only wicked but ridiculous. peel, having, as she understood, expressed a wish to remove only those members of the household who were in parliament, now objected to her ladies. 'i should like to know,' she exclaimed in triumphant scorn, 'if they mean to give the _ladies_ seats in parliament?' the end of the crisis was now fast approaching. sir robert returned, and told her that if she insisted upon retaining all her ladies he could not form a { } government. she replied that she would send him her final decision in writing. next morning the late whig cabinet met. lord melbourne read to them the queen's letters, and the group of elderly politicians were overcome by an extraordinary wave of enthusiasm. they knew very well that, to say the least, it was highly doubtful whether the queen had acted in strict accordance with the constitution; that in doing what she had done she had brushed aside lord melbourne's advice; that, in reality, there was no public reason whatever why they should go back upon their decision to resign. but such considerations vanished before the passionate urgency of victoria. the intensity of her determination swept them headlong down the stream of her desire. they unanimously felt that 'it was impossible to abandon such a queen and such a woman.' forgetting that they were no longer her majesty's ministers, they took the unprecedented course of advising the queen by letter to put an end to her negotiation with sir robert peel. she did so; all was over; she had triumphed. that evening there was a ball at the palace. everyone was present. 'peel and the duke of wellington came by looking very much put out.' she was perfectly happy; lord m. was prime minister once more, and he was by her side.[ ] { } viii happiness had returned with lord m., but it was happiness in the midst of agitation. the domestic imbroglio continued unabated, until at last the duke, rejected as a minister, was called in once again in his old capacity as moral physician to the family. something was accomplished when, at last, he induced sir john conroy to resign his place about the duchess of kent and leave the palace for ever; something more when he persuaded the queen to write an affectionate letter to her mother. the way seemed open for a reconciliation, but the duchess was stormy still. she didn't believe that victoria had written that letter; it was not in her handwriting; and she sent for the duke to tell him so. the duke, assuring her that the letter was genuine, begged her to forget the past. but that was not so easy. 'what am i to do if lord melbourne comes up to me?' 'do, ma'am? why, receive him with civility.' well, she would make an effort.... 'but what am i to do if victoria asks me to shake hands with lehzen?' 'do, ma'am? why, take her in your arms and kiss her.' 'what!' the duchess bristled in every feather, and then she burst into a hearty laugh. 'no, ma'am, no,' said the duke, laughing too. 'i don't mean you are to take _lehzen_ in your arms and kiss _her_, but the queen.'[ ] the duke might perhaps have succeeded, had not all attempts at conciliation been rendered hopeless by a tragical event. lady flora, it was discovered, had been suffering from a terrible internal malady, which now grew rapidly worse. there could be little doubt { } that she was dying. the queen's unpopularity reached an extraordinary height. more than once she was publicly insulted. 'mrs. melbourne,' was shouted at her when she appeared at her balcony; and, at ascot, she was hissed by the duchess of montrose and lady sarah ingestre as she passed. lady flora died. the whole scandal burst out again with redoubled vehemence; while, in the palace, the two parties were henceforth divided by an impassable, a stygian, gulf.[ ] nevertheless, lord m. was back, and every trouble faded under the enchantment of his presence and his conversation. he, on his side, had gone through much; and his distresses were intensified by a consciousness of his own shortcomings. he realised clearly enough that, if he had intervened at the right moment, the hastings scandal might have been averted; and, in the bedchamber crisis, he knew that he had allowed his judgment to be overruled and his conduct to be swayed by private feelings and the impetuosity of victoria.[ ] but he was not one to suffer too acutely from the pangs of conscience. in spite of the dullness and the formality of the court, his relationship with the queen had come to be the dominating interest in his life; to have been deprived of it would have been heart-rending; that dread eventuality had been--somehow--avoided; he was installed once more, in a kind of triumph; let him enjoy the fleeting hours to the full! and so, cherished by the favour of a sovereign and warmed by the adoration of a girl, the autumn rose, in those autumn months of , came to a wondrous blooming. the petals expanded, beautifully, for the last time. for the last time in this unlooked-for, this { } incongruous, this almost incredible intercourse, the old epicure tasted the exquisiteness of romance. to watch, to teach, to restrain, to encourage the royal young creature beside him--that was much; to feel with such a constant intimacy the impact of her quick affection, her radiant vitality--that was more; most of all, perhaps, was it good to linger vaguely in humorous contemplation, in idle apostrophe, to talk disconnectedly, to make a little joke about an apple or a furbelow, to dream. the springs of his sensibility, hidden deep within him, were overflowing. often, as he bent over her hand and kissed it, he found himself in tears.[ ] upon victoria, with all her impermeability, it was inevitable that such a companionship should have produced, eventually, an effect. she was no longer the simple schoolgirl of two years since. the change was visible even in her public demeanour. her expression, once 'ingenuous and serene,' now appeared to a shrewd observer to be 'bold and discontented.'[ ] she had learnt something of the pleasures of power and the pains of it; but that was not all. lord melbourne with his gentle instruction had sought to lead her into the paths of wisdom and moderation, but the whole unconscious movement of his character had swayed her in a very different direction. the hard clear pebble, subjected for so long and so constantly to that encircling and insidious fluidity, had suffered a curious corrosion; it seemed to be actually growing a little soft and a little clouded. humanity and fallibility are infectious things; was it possible that lehzen's prim pupil had caught them? that she was beginning to listen to siren voices? that the secret impulses of self-expression, of { } self-indulgence even, were mastering her life? for a moment the child of a new age looked back, and wavered towards the eighteenth century. it was the most critical moment of her career. had those influences lasted, the development of her character, the history of her life, would have been completely changed. and why should they not last? she, for one, was very anxious that they should. let them last for ever! she was surrounded by whigs, she was free to do whatever she wanted, she had lord m.; she could not believe that she could ever be happier. any change would be for the worse; and the worst change of all ... no, she would not hear of it; it would be quite intolerable, it would upset everything, if she were to marry. and yet everyone seemed to want her to--the general public, the ministers, her saxe-coburg relations--it was always the same story. of course, she knew very well that there were excellent reasons for it. for one thing, if she remained childless, and were to die, her uncle cumberland, who was now the king of hanover, would succeed to the throne of england. that, no doubt, would be a most unpleasant event; and she entirely sympathised with everybody who wished to avoid it. but there was no hurry; naturally, she would marry in the end--but not just yet--not for three or four years. what was tiresome was that her uncle leopold had apparently determined, not only that she ought to marry, but that her cousin albert ought to be her husband. that was very like her uncle leopold, who wanted to have a finger in every pie; and it was true that long ago, in far-off days, before her accession even, she had written to him in a way which might well have encouraged him in such a notion. she had told him then that albert possessed { } 'every quality that could be desired to render her perfectly happy,' and had begged her 'dearest uncle to take care of the health of one, now _so dear_ to me, and to take him under _your special_ protection,' adding, 'i hope and trust all will go on prosperously and well on this subject of so much importance to me.'[ ] but that had been years ago, when she was a mere child; perhaps, indeed, to judge from the language, the letter had been dictated by lehzen; at any rate, her feelings., and all the circumstances, had now entirely changed. albert hardly interested her at all. in later life the queen declared that she had never for a moment dreamt of marrying anyone but her cousin;[ ] her letters and diaries tell a very different story. on august , , she wrote in her journal: 'to-day is my _dearest_ cousin albert's th birthday, and i pray heaven to pour its choicest blessings on his beloved head!' in the subsequent years, however, the date passes unnoticed. it had been arranged that stockmar should accompany the prince to italy, and the faithful baron left her side for that purpose. he wrote to her more than once with sympathetic descriptions of his young companion; but her mind was by this time made up. she liked and admired albert very much, but she did not want to marry him. 'at present,' she told lord melbourne in april , '_my_ feeling is quite against ever marrying.'[ ] when her cousin's italian tour came to an end, she began to grow nervous; she knew that, according to a long-standing engagement, his next journey would be to england. he would probably arrive in the autumn, and by july her uneasiness was intense. she determined to write to her uncle, in order to make her position clear. it must be understood, she { } said, that 'there is _no engagement_ between us.' if she should like albert, she could 'make _no final promise this year_, for, at the _very earliest_, any such event could not take place till _two or three years hence_.' she had, she said, 'a _great_ repugnance' to change her present position; and, if she should not like him, she was '_very_ anxious that it should be understood that she would _not_ be guilty of any breach of promise, for she never gave any.'[ ] to lord melbourne she was more explicit. she told him that she 'had no great wish to see albert, as the whole subject was an odious one'; she hated to have to decide about it; and she repeated once again that seeing albert would be 'a disagreeable thing.'[ ] but there was no escaping the horrid business; the visit must be made, and she must see him. the summer slipped by and was over; it was the autumn already; on the evening of october albert, accompanied by his brother ernest, arrived at windsor. albert arrived; and the whole structure of her existence crumbled into nothingness like a house of cards. he was beautiful--she gasped--she knew no more. then, in a flash, a thousand mysteries were revealed to her; the past, the present, rushed upon her with a new significance; the delusions of years were abolished, and an extraordinary, an irresistible certitude leapt into being in the light of those blue eyes, the smile of that lovely mouth. the succeeding hours passed in a rapture. she was able to observe a few more details--the 'exquisite nose,' the 'delicate moustachios and slight but very slight whiskers,' the 'beautiful figure, broad in the shoulders and a fine waist.' she rode with him, danced with him, talked with him, and it was all perfection. she had no shadow of a doubt. he had { } come on a thursday evening, and on the following sunday morning she told lord melbourne that she had 'a good deal changed her opinion as to marrying.' next morning, she told him that she had made up her mind to marry albert. the morning after that, she sent for her cousin. she received him alone, and 'after a few minutes i said to him that i thought he must be aware _why_ i wished them to come here--and that it would make me _too happy_ if he would consent to what i wished (to marry me).' then 'we embraced each other, and he was _so_ kind, _so_ affectionate.' she said that she was quite unworthy of him, while he murmured that he would be very happy 'das leben mit dir zu zubringen.' they parted, and she felt 'the happiest of human beings,' when lord m. came in. at first she beat about the bush, and talked of the weather, and indifferent subjects. somehow or other she felt a little nervous with her old friend. at last, summoning up her courage, she said, 'i have got well through this with albert.' 'oh! you have,' said lord m.[ ] [ ] greville, iii, . [ ] _ibid._, iv, , , - . [ ] walpole, i, . [ ] crawford, - . [ ] greville, iv, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] greville, iv, . [ ] greville, iv, - . [ ] stockmar, - ; maxwell, - . [ ] stockmar, - . [ ] _ibid._, - . [ ] _ibid._, chaps. viii, ix, x, and xi. [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] stockmar, . [ ] _ibid._, chap. xv, pt. . [ ] _ibid._, chap. xvii. [ ] stein, vi, . [ ] greville, vi, ; torrens, ; hayward, i, . [ ] greville, vi, . [ ] greville, iii, ; vi, ; haydon, iii, : 'march , . called on lord melbourne, and found him reading the acts, with a quarto greek testament that belonged to samuel johnson.' [ ] greville, iii, ; torrens, . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, ; torrens, , , ; greville, iv, ; viii, . [ ] greville, vi, - ; torrens, . [ ] greville, iv, , ; _girlhood_, i, . [ ] creevey, ii, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] lee, - . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] _ibid._, ii, , . [ ] lee, . [ ] the duke of bedford told greville he was 'sure there was a battle between her and melbourne.... he is sure there was one about the men's sitting after dinner, for he heard her say to him rather angrily, "it is a horrid custom"--but when the ladies left the room (he dined there) directions were given that the men should remain _five minutes_ longer.' greville, feb. , (unpublished). [ ] greville, march , (unpublished). [ ] greville, iv, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, - . [ ] martineau, ii, - ; _girlhood_, ii, - . [ ] _girlhood_, i, [ ] _girlhood_, i, - ; leslie, ii, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _ibid._, i, ; greville, iv, . [ ] _letters_, i, - ; greville, iv, . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] _ibid._, i, - . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, - . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, - , . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] greville, iv, - ; crawford, - . [ ] greville, iv, , and august , (unpublished). [ ] 'nobody cares for the queen, her popularity has sunk to zero, and loyalty is a dead letter.' greville, march , ; _morning post_, sept. , . [ ] greville, august , (unpublished). [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] _girlhood_, i, . [ ] greville, august , (unpublished); _girlhood_, ii, , . [ ] _letters_, i, - ; _girlhood_, ii, - ; greville, iv, - , and unpublished passages; broughton, v, ; clarendon, i, . the exclamation 'they wished to treat me like a girl, but i will show them that i am queen of england!' often quoted as the queen's, is apocryphal. it is merely part of greville's summary of the two letters to melbourne, printed in _letters_, and . it may be noted that the phrase 'the queen of england will not submit to such trickery' is omitted in _girlhood_, ; and in general there are numerous verbal discrepancies between the versions of the journal and the letters in the two books. [ ] greville, june , june , june , august , (unpublished). [ ] greville, june and july , (unpublished); crawford, . [ ] greville, vi, - . [ ] greville, vi, ; _girlhood_, i, , ; ii, . [ ] martineau, ii, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] grey, - . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] _letters_, i, - . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, - . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, - . greville's statement (nov. , ) that 'the queen settled everything about her marriage herself, and without consulting melbourne at all on the subject, not even communicating to him her intention,' has no foundation in fact. the queen's journal proves that she consulted melbourne at every point. [illustration: prince albert in . _from the portrait by john partridge._] { } chapter iv marriage i it was decidedly a family match. prince francis charles augustus albert emmanuel of saxe-coburg-gotha--for such was his full title--had been born just three months after his cousin victoria, and the same midwife had assisted at the two births. the children's grandmother, the dowager duchess of coburg, had from the first looked forward to their marriage; as they grew up, the duke, the duchess of kent, and king leopold came equally to desire it. the prince, ever since the time when, as a child of three, his nurse had told him that some day 'the little english may flower' would be his wife, had never thought of marrying anyone else. when eventually baron stockmar himself signified his assent, the affair seemed as good as settled.[ ] the duke had one other child--prince ernest, albert's senior by one year, and heir to the principality. the duchess was a sprightly and beautiful woman, with fair hair and blue eyes; albert was very like her and was her declared favourite. but in his fifth year he was parted from her for ever. the ducal court was not noted for the strictness of its morals; the duke was a man of gallantry, and it was rumoured that the duchess followed her husband's example. there were { } scandals: one of the court chamberlains, a charming and cultivated man of jewish extraction, was talked of; at last there was a separation, followed by a divorce. the duchess retired to paris, and died unhappily in . her memory was always very dear to albert.[ ] he grew up a pretty, clever, and high-spirited boy. usually well-behaved, he was, however, sometimes violent. he had a will of his own, and asserted it; his elder brother was less passionate, less purposeful, and, in their wrangles, it was albert who came out top. the two boys, living for the most part in one or other of the duke's country houses, among pretty hills and woods and streams, had been at a very early age--albert was less than four--separated from their nurses and put under a tutor, in whose charge they remained until they went to the university. they were brought up in a simple and unostentatious manner, for the duke was poor and the duchy very small and very insignificant. before long it became evident that albert was a model lad. intelligent and painstaking, he had been touched by the moral earnestness of his generation; at the age of eleven he surprised his father by telling him that he hoped to make himself 'a good and useful man.' and yet he was not over-serious; though, perhaps, he had little humour, he was full of fun--of practical jokes and mimicry. he was no milksop; he rode, and shot, and fenced; above all did he delight in being out of doors, and never was he happier than in his long rambles with his brother through the wild country round his beloved rosenau--stalking the deer, admiring the scenery, and returning laden with specimens for his natural history collection. he was, besides, passionately fond of music. in one particular it was observed { } that he did not take after his father: owing either to his peculiar upbringing or to a more fundamental idiosyncrasy he had a marked distaste for the opposite sex. at the age of five, at a children's dance, he screamed with disgust and anger when a little girl was led up to him for a partner; and though, later on, he grew more successful in disguising such feelings, the feelings remained.[ ] the brothers were very popular in coburg, and, when the time came for them to be confirmed, the preliminary examination, which, according to ancient custom, was held in public in the 'giants' hall' of the castle, was attended by an enthusiastic crowd of functionaries, clergy, delegates from the villages of the duchy, and miscellaneous onlookers. there were also present, besides the duke and the dowager duchess, their serene highnesses the princes alexander and ernest of würtemberg, prince leiningen, princess hohenlohe-langenburg, and princess hohenlohe-schillingsfürst. dr. jacobi, the court chaplain, presided at an altar, simply but appropriately decorated, which had been placed at the end of the hall; and the proceedings began by the choir singing the first verse of the hymn, 'come, holy ghost.' after some introductory remarks, dr. jacobi began the examination. 'the dignified and decorous bearing of the princes,' we are told in a contemporary account, 'their strict attention to the questions, the frankness, decision, and correctness of their answers, produced a deep impression on the numerous assembly. nothing was more striking in their answers than the evidence they gave of deep feeling and of inward strength of conviction. the questions put by the examiner were not such as to be { } met by a simple "yes" or "no." they were carefully considered in order to give the audience a clear insight into the views and feelings of the young princes. one of the most touching moments was when the examiner asked the hereditary prince whether he intended steadfastly to hold to the evangelical church, and the prince answered not only "yes!" but added in a clear and decided tone: "i and my brother are firmly resolved ever to remain faithful to the acknowledged truth." the examination having lasted an hour, dr. jacobi made some concluding observations, followed by a short prayer; the second and third verses of the opening hymn were sung; and the ceremony was over. the princes, stepping down from the altar, were embraced by the duke and the dowager duchess; after which the loyal inhabitants of coburg dispersed, well satisfied with their entertainment.[ ] albert's mental development now proceeded apace. in his seventeenth year he began a careful study of german literature and german philosophy. he set about, he told his tutor, 'to follow the thoughts of the great klopstock into their depths--though in this, for the most part,' he modestly added, 'i do not succeed.' he wrote an essay on the 'mode of thought of the germans, and a sketch of the history of german civilisation,' 'making use,' he said, 'in its general outlines, of the divisions which the treatment of the subject itself demands,' and concluding with 'a retrospect of the shortcomings of our time, with an appeal to every one to correct those shortcomings in his own case, and thus set a good example to others.'[ ] placed for some months under the care of king leopold at brussels, he came under the influence of adolphe quetelet, a mathematical { } professor, who was particularly interested in the application of the laws of probability to political and moral phenomena; this line of inquiry attracted the prince, and the friendship thus begun continued till the end of his life.[ ] from brussels he went to the university of bonn, where he was speedily distinguished both by his intellectual and his social activities; his energies were absorbed in metaphysics, law, political economy, music, fencing, and amateur theatricals. thirty years later his fellow-students recalled with delight the fits of laughter into which they had been sent by prince albert's mimicry. the _verve_ with which his serene highness reproduced the tones and gestures of one of the professors who used to point to a picture of a row of houses in venice with the remark, 'that is the ponte realte,' and of another who fell down in a race and was obliged to look for his spectacles, was especially appreciated.[ ] after a year at bonn, the time had come for a foreign tour, and baron stockmar arrived from england to accompany the prince on an expedition to italy. the baron had been already, two years previously, consulted by king leopold as to his views upon the proposed marriage of albert and victoria. his reply had been remarkable. with a characteristic foresight, a characteristic absence of optimism, a characteristic sense of the moral elements in the situation, stockmar had pointed out what were, in his opinion, the conditions essential to make the marriage a success. albert, he wrote, was a fine young fellow, well grown for his age, with agreeable and valuable qualities; and it was probable that in a few years he would turn out a strong, handsome man, of a kindly, simple, yet dignified demeanour. { } 'thus, externally, he possesses all that pleases the sex, and at all times and in all countries must please.' supposing, therefore, that victoria herself was in favour of the marriage, the further question arose as to whether albert's mental qualities were such as to fit him for the position of husband of the queen of england. on this point, continued the baron, one heard much to his credit; the prince was said to be discreet and intelligent; but all such judgments were necessarily partial, and the baron preferred to reserve his opinion until he could come to a trustworthy conclusion from personal observation. and then he added: 'but all this is not enough. the young man ought to have not merely great ability, but a _right_ ambition, and great force of will as well. to pursue for a lifetime a political career so arduous demands more than energy and inclination--it demands also that earnest frame of mind which is ready of its own accord to sacrifice mere pleasure to real usefulness. if he is not satisfied hereafter with the consciousness of having achieved one of the most influential positions in europe, how often will he feel tempted to repent his adventure! if he does not from the very outset accept it as a vocation of grave responsibility, on the efficient performance of which his honour and happiness depend, there is small likelihood of his succeeding.'[ ] such were the views of stockmar on the qualifications necessary for the due fulfilment of that destiny which albert's family had marked out for him; and he hoped, during the tour in italy, to come to some conclusion as to how far the prince possessed them. albert on his side was much impressed by the baron, whom he had previously seen but rarely; he also became acquainted, for the first time in his life, with a young { } englishman, lieut. francis seymour, who had been engaged to accompany him, whom he found _sehr liebenswürdig_, and with whom he struck up a warm friendship. he delighted in the galleries and scenery of florence, though with rome he was less impressed. 'but for some beautiful palaces,' he said, 'it might just as well be any town in germany.' in an interview with pope gregory xvi, he took the opportunity of displaying his erudition. when the pope observed that the greeks had taken their art from the etruscans, albert replied that, on the contrary, in his opinion, they had borrowed from the egyptians: his holiness politely acquiesced. wherever he went he was eager to increase his knowledge, and, at a ball in florence, he was observed paying no attention whatever to the ladies, and deep in conversation with the learned signor capponi. 'voilá un prince dont nous pouvons être fiers,' said the grand duke of tuscany, who was standing by: 'la belle danseuse l'attend, le savant l'occupe.'[ ] on his return to germany, stockmar's observations, imparted to king leopold, were still critical. albert, he said, was intelligent, kind, and amiable; he was full of the best intentions and the noblest resolutions, and his judgment was in many things beyond his years. but great exertion was repugnant to him; he seemed to be too willing to spare himself, and his good resolutions too often came to nothing. it was particularly unfortunate that he took not the slightest interest in politics, and never read a newspaper. in his manners, too, there was still room for improvement. 'he will always,' said the baron, 'have more success with men than with women, in whose society he shows too little { } _empressement_, and is too indifferent and retiring.' one other feature of the case was noted by the keen eye of the old physician: the prince's constitution was not a strong one.[ ] yet, on the whole, he was favourable to the projected marriage. but by now the chief obstacle seemed to lie in another quarter. victoria was apparently determined to commit herself to nothing. and so it happened that when albert went to england he had made up his mind to withdraw entirely from the affair. nothing would induce him, he confessed to a friend, to be kept vaguely waiting; he would break it all off at once. his reception at windsor threw an entirely new light upon the situation. the wheel of fortune turned with a sudden rapidity; and he found, in the arms of victoria, the irrevocable assurance of his overwhelming fate.[ ] ii he was not in love with her. affection, gratitude, the natural reactions to the unqualified devotion of a lively young cousin who was also a queen--such feelings possessed him, but the ardours of reciprocal passion were not his. though he found that he liked victoria very much, what immediately interested him in his curious position was less her than himself. dazzled and delighted, riding, dancing, singing, laughing, amid the splendours of windsor, he was aware of a new sensation--the stirrings of ambition in his breast. his place would indeed be a high, an enviable one! and then, on the instant, came another thought. the teaching of religion, the admonitions of stockmar, his { } own inmost convictions, all spoke with the same utterance. he would not be there to please himself, but for a very different purpose--to do good. he must be 'noble, manly, and princely in all things,' he would have 'to live and to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his new country,' to 'use his powers and endeavours for a great object--that of promoting the welfare of multitudes of his fellow-men.' one serious thought led on to another. the wealth and the bustle of the english court might be delightful for the moment, but, after all, it was coburg that had his heart. 'while i shall be untiring,' he wrote to his grandmother, 'in my efforts and labours for the country to which i shall in future belong, and where i am called to so high a position, i shall never cease _ein treuer deutscher, coburger, gothaner zu sein_.' and now he must part from coburg for ever! sobered and sad, he sought relief in his brother ernest's company; the two young men would shut themselves up together, and, sitting down at the pianoforte, would escape from the present and the future in the sweet familiar gaiety of a haydn duet.[ ] they returned to germany; and while albert, for a few farewell months, enjoyed, for the last time, the happiness of home, victoria, for the last time, resumed her old life in london and windsor. she corresponded daily with her future husband in a mingled flow of german and english; but the accustomed routine reasserted itself; the business and the pleasures of the day would brook no interruption; lord m. was once more constantly beside her; and the tories were as intolerable as ever. indeed, they were more so. for { } now, in these final moments, the old feud burst out with redoubled fury.[ ] the impetuous sovereign found, to her chagrin, that there might be disadvantages in being the declared enemy of one of the great parties in the state. on two occasions, the tories directly thwarted her in a matter on which she had set her heart. she wished her husband's rank to be fixed by statute, and their opposition prevented it. she wished her husband to receive a settlement from the nation of £ , a year; and, again owing to the tories, he was allowed only £ , . it was too bad. when the question was discussed in parliament, it had been pointed out that the bulk of the population was suffering from great poverty, and that £ , was the whole revenue of coburg; but her uncle leopold had been given £ , , and it would be monstrous to give albert less. sir robert peel--it might have been expected--had had the effrontery to speak and vote for the smaller sum. she was very angry, and determined to revenge herself by omitting to invite a single tory to her wedding. she would make an exception in favour of old lord liverpool, but even the duke of wellington she refused to ask. when it was represented to her that it would amount to a national scandal if the duke were absent from her wedding, she was angrier than ever. 'what! that old rebel! i won't have him,' she was reported to have said. eventually she was induced to send him an invitation; but she made no attempt to conceal the { } bitterness of her feelings, and the duke himself was only too well aware of all that had passed.[ ] nor was it only against the tories that her irritation rose. as the time for her wedding approached, her temper grew steadily sharper and more arbitrary. queen adelaide annoyed her. king leopold, too, was 'ungracious' in his correspondence; 'dear uncle,' she told albert, 'is given to believe that he must rule the roast everywhere. however,' she added with asperity, 'that is not a necessity.'[ ] even albert himself was not impeccable. engulfed in coburgs, he failed to appreciate the complexity of english affairs. there were difficulties about his household. he had a notion that he ought not to be surrounded by violent whigs; very likely, but he would not understand that the only alternatives to violent whigs were violent tories; and it would be preposterous if his lords and gentlemen were to be found voting against the queen's. he wanted to appoint his own private secretary. but how could he choose the right person? lord m. was obviously best qualified to make the appointment; and lord m. had decided that the prince should take over his own private secretary--george anson, a staunch whig. albert protested, but it was useless; victoria simply announced that anson was appointed, and instructed lehzen to send the prince an explanation of the details of the case. then, again, he had written anxiously upon the necessity of maintaining unspotted the moral purity of the court. lord m.'s pupil considered that dear albert was strait-laced, and, in a brisk anglo-german missive, set forth her own views. 'i like lady a. very much,' she told him, 'only she is { } a little _strict and particular_, and too severe towards others, which is not right; for i think one ought always to be indulgent towards other people, as i always think, if we had not been well taken care of, we might also have gone astray. that is always my feeling. yet it is always right to show that one does not like to see what is obviously wrong; but it is very dangerous to be too severe, and i am certain that as a rule such people always greatly regret that in their youth they have not been so careful as they ought to have been. i have explained this so badly and written it so badly, that i fear you will hardly be able to make it out.'[ ] on one other matter she was insistent. since the affair of lady flora hastings, a sad fate had overtaken sir james clark. his flourishing practice had quite collapsed; nobody would go to him any more. but the queen remained faithful. she would show the world how little she cared for its disapproval, and she desired albert to make 'poor clark' his physician in ordinary. he did as he was told; but, as it turned out, the appointment was not a happy one.[ ] the wedding-day was fixed, and it was time for albert to tear himself away from his family and the scenes of his childhood. with an aching heart, he had revisited his beloved haunts--the woods and the valleys where he had spent so many happy hours shooting rabbits and collecting botanical specimens; in deep depression, he had sat through the farewell banquets in the palace and listened to the _freischütz_ performed by the state band. it was time to go. the streets were packed as he drove through them; for a short space his { } eyes were gladdened by a sea of friendly german faces, and his ears by a gathering volume of good guttural sounds. he stopped to bid a last adieu to his grandmother. it was a heart-rending moment. 'albert! albert!' she shrieked, and fell fainting into the arms of her attendants as his carriage drove away. he was whirled rapidly to his destiny. at calais a steamboat awaited him, and, together with his father and his brother, he stepped, dejected, on board. a little later, he was more dejected still. the crossing was a very rough one; the duke went hurriedly below; while the two princes, we are told, lay on either side of the cabin staircase 'in an almost helpless state.' at dover a large crowd was collected on the pier, and 'it was by no common effort that prince albert, who had continued to suffer up to the last moment, got up to bow to the people.' his sense of duty triumphed. it was a curious omen: his whole life in england was foreshadowed as he landed on english ground.[ ] meanwhile victoria, in growing agitation, was a prey to temper and to nerves. she grew feverish, and at last sir james clark pronounced that she was going to have the measles. but, once again, sir james's diagnosis was incorrect. it was not the measles that was attacking her, but a very different malady; she was suddenly prostrated by alarm, regret, and doubt. for two years she had been her own mistress--the two happiest years, by far, of her life. and now it was all to end! she was to come under an alien domination--she would have to promise that she would honour and obey ... someone, who might, after all, thwart her, oppose her--and how dreadful that would be! why had she embarked on this hazardous experiment? why { } had she not been contented with lord m.? no doubt, she loved albert; but she loved power too. at any rate, one thing was certain: she might be albert's wife, but she would always be queen of england.[ ] he reappeared, in an exquisite uniform, and her hesitations melted in his presence like mist before the sun. on february , , the marriage took place. the wedded pair drove down to windsor; but they were not, of course, entirely alone. they were accompanied by their suites, and, in particular, by two persons--the baron stockmar and the baroness lehzen. iii albert had foreseen that his married life would not be all plain sailing; but he had by no means realised the gravity and the complication of the difficulties which he would have to face. politically, he was a cipher. lord melbourne was not only prime minister, he was in effect the private secretary of the queen, and thus controlled the whole of the political existence of the sovereign. a queen's husband was an entity unknown to the british constitution. in state affairs there seemed to be no place for him; nor was victoria herself at all unwilling that this should be so. 'the english,' she had told the prince when, during their engagement, a proposal had been made to give him a peerage, 'are very jealous of any foreigner interfering in the government of this country, and have already in some of the papers expressed a hope that you would not interfere. now, though i know you never would, still, if you were a peer, they would all say, the prince meant to play a political part.'[ ] 'i know you never would!' in { } reality, she was not quite so certain; but she wished albert to understand her views. he would, she hoped, make a perfect husband; but, as for governing the country, he would see that she and lord m. between them could manage that very well, without his help. but it was not only in politics that the prince discovered that the part cut out for him was a negligible one. even as a husband, he found, his functions were to be of an extremely limited kind. over the whole of victoria's private life the baroness reigned supreme; and she had not the slightest intention of allowing that supremacy to be diminished by one iota. since the accession, her power had greatly increased. besides the undefined and enormous influence which she exercised through her management of the queen's private correspondence, she was now the superintendent of the royal establishment and controlled the important office of privy purse.[ ] albert very soon perceived that he was not master in his own house.[ ] every detail of his own and his wife's existence was supervised by a third person: nothing could be done until the consent of lehzen had first been obtained. and victoria, who adored lehzen with unabated intensity, saw nothing in all this that was wrong. nor was the prince happier in his social surroundings. a shy young foreigner, awkward in ladies' company, unexpansive and self-opinionated, it was improbable that, in any circumstances, he would have been a society success. his appearance, too, was against him. though in the eyes of victoria he was the mirror of manly beauty, her subjects, whose eyes were of a less teutonic cast, did not agree with her. to them--and particularly to the high-born ladies and { } gentlemen who naturally saw him most--what was immediately and distressingly striking in albert's face and figure and whole demeanour was his un-english look. his features were regular, no doubt, but there was something smooth and smug about them; he was tall, but he was clumsily put together, and he walked with a slight slouch. really, they thought, this youth was more like some kind of foreign tenor than anything else. these were serious disadvantages; but the line of conduct which the prince adopted from the first moment of his arrival was far from calculated to dispel them. owing partly to a natural awkwardness, partly to a fear of undue familiarity, and partly to a desire to be absolutely correct, his manners were infused with an extraordinary stiffness and formality. whenever he appeared in company, he seemed to be surrounded by a thick hedge of prickly etiquette. he never went out into ordinary society; he never walked in the streets of london; he was invariably accompanied by an equerry when he rode or drove. he wanted to be irreproachable and, if that involved friendlessness, it could not be helped. besides, he had no very high opinion of the english. so far as he could see, they cared for nothing but fox-hunting and sunday observances; they oscillated between an undue frivolity and an undue gloom; if you spoke to them of friendly joyousness they stared; and they did not understand either the laws of thought or the wit of a german university. since it was clear that with such people he could have very little in common, there was no reason whatever for relaxing in their favour the rules of etiquette. in strict privacy, he could be natural and charming; seymour and anson were devoted to him, and he returned their affection; but they were subordinates--the { } receivers of his confidences and the agents of his will. from the support and the solace of true companionship he was utterly cut off.[ ] a friend, indeed, he had--or rather, a mentor. the baron, established once more in the royal residence, was determined to work with as whole-hearted a detachment for the prince's benefit as, more than twenty years before, he had worked for his uncle's. the situations then and now, similar in many respects, were yet full of differences. perhaps in either case the difficulties to be encountered were equally great; but the present problem was the more complex and the more interesting. the young doctor, unknown and insignificant, whose only assets were his own wits and the friendship of an unimportant prince, had been replaced by the accomplished confidant of kings and ministers, ripe in years, in reputation, and in the wisdom of a vast experience. it was possible for him to treat albert with something of the affectionate authority of a father; but, on the other hand, albert was no leopold. as the baron was very well aware, he had none of his uncle's rigidity of ambition, none of his overweening impulse to be personally great. he was virtuous and well-intentioned; he was clever and well-informed; but he took no interest in politics, and there were no signs that he possessed any commanding force of character. left to himself, he would almost certainly have subsided into a high-minded nonentity, an aimless dilettante busy over culture, a palace appendage without influence or power. but he was not left to himself: stockmar saw to that. for ever at his pupil's elbow, the hidden baron pushed him forward, with tireless pressure, { } along the path which had been trod by leopold so many years ago. but, this time, the goal at the end of it was something more than the mediocre royalty that leopold had reached. the prize which stockmar, with all the energy of disinterested devotion, had determined should be albert's was a tremendous prize indeed. the beginning of the undertaking proved to be the most arduous part of it. albert was easily dispirited: what was the use of struggling to perform in a rôle which bored him and which, it was quite clear, nobody but the dear good baron had any desire that he should take up? it was simpler, and it saved a great deal of trouble, to let things slide. but stockmar would not have it.[ ] incessantly, he harped upon two strings--albert's sense of duty and his personal pride. had the prince forgotten the noble aims to which his life was to be devoted? and was he going to allow himself, his wife, his family, his whole existence, to be governed by baroness lehzen? the latter consideration was a potent one. albert had never been accustomed to giving way; and now, more than ever before, it would be humiliating to do so. not only was he constantly exasperated by the position of the baroness in the royal household; there was another and a still more serious cause of complaint. he was, he knew very well, his wife's intellectual superior, and yet he found, to his intense annoyance, that there were parts of her mind over which he exercised no influence. when, urged on by the baron, he attempted to discuss politics with victoria, she eluded the subject, drifted into generalities, and then began to talk of something else. she was treating him as she had once treated their uncle leopold. { } when at last he protested, she replied that her conduct was merely the result of indolence; that when she was with _him_ she could not bear to bother her head with anything so dull as politics. the excuse was worse than the fault: was he the wife and she the husband? it almost seemed so. but the baron declared that the root of the mischief was lehzen: that it was she who encouraged the queen to have secrets; who did worse--undermined the natural ingenuousness of victoria, and induced her to give, unconsciously no doubt, false reasons to explain away her conduct.[ ] minor disagreements made matters worse. the royal couple differed in their tastes. albert, brought up in a régime of spartan simplicity and early hours, found the great court functions intolerably wearisome, and was invariably observed to be nodding on the sofa at half-past ten; while the queen's favourite form of enjoyment was to dance through the night, and then, going out into the portico of the palace, watch the sun rise behind st. paul's and the towers of westminster.[ ] she loved london and he detested it. it was only in windsor that he felt he could really breathe; but windsor too had its terrors: though during the day there he could paint and walk and play on the piano, after dinner black tedium descended like a pall. he would have liked to summon distinguished scientific and literary men to his presence, and after ascertaining their views upon various points of art and learning, to set forth his own; but unfortunately victoria 'had no fancy to encourage such people'; knowing that she was unequal to taking a part in their conversation, she insisted that the evening routine should remain unaltered; the regulation interchange of platitudes with { } official persons was followed as usual by the round table and the books of engravings, while the prince, with three of his attendants, played game after game of double chess.[ ] it was only natural that in so peculiar a situation, in which the elements of power, passion, and pride were so strangely apportioned, there should have been occasionally something more than mere irritation--a struggle of angry wills. victoria, no more than albert, was in the habit of playing second fiddle. her arbitrary temper flashed out. her vitality, her obstinacy, her overweening sense of her own position, might well have beaten down before them his superiorities and his rights. but she fought at a disadvantage; she was, in very truth, no longer her own mistress; a profound preoccupation dominated her, seizing upon her inmost purposes for its own extraordinary ends. she was madly in love. the details of those curious battles are unknown to us; but prince ernest, who remained in england with his brother for some months, noted them with a friendly and startled eye.[ ] one story, indeed, survives, ill-authenticated and perhaps mythical, yet summing up, as such stories often do, the central facts of the case. when, in wrath, the prince one day had locked himself into his room, victoria, no less furious, knocked on the door to be admitted. 'who is there?' he asked. 'the queen of england,' was the answer. he did not move, and again there was a hail of knocks. the question and the answer were repeated many times; but at last there was a pause, and then a gentler knocking. 'who is there?' came once more the relentless question. but this time the reply was different. 'your wife, albert.' and the door was immediately opened.[ ] { } very gradually the prince's position changed. he began to find the study of politics less uninteresting than he had supposed; he read blackstone, and took lessons in english law; he was occasionally present when the queen interviewed her ministers; and at lord melbourne's suggestion he was shown all the despatches relating to foreign affairs. sometimes he would commit his views to paper, and read them aloud to the prime minister, who, infinitely kind and courteous, listened with attention, but seldom made any reply.[ ] an important step was taken when, before the birth of the princess royal, the prince, without any opposition in parliament, was appointed regent in case of the death of the queen.[ ] stockmar, owing to whose intervention with the tories this happy result had been brought about, now felt himself at liberty to take a holiday with his family in coburg; but his solicitude, poured out in innumerable letters, still watched over his pupil from afar. 'dear prince,' he wrote, 'i am satisfied with the news you have sent me. mistakes, misunderstandings, obstructions, which come in vexatious opposition to one's views, are always to be taken for just what they are--namely, natural phenomena of life, which represent one of its sides, and that the shady one. in overcoming them with dignity, your mind has to exercise, to train, to enlighten itself; and your character to gain force, endurance, and the necessary hardness.' the prince had done well so far; but he must continue in the right path; above all, he was 'never to relax.'--'never to relax in putting your magnanimity to the proof; never to relax in logical separation of what is great and essential from what is trivial and of no moment; never to relax in keeping { } yourself up to a high standard--in the determination, daily renewed, to be consistent, patient, courageous.' it was a hard programme, perhaps, for a young man of twenty-one; and yet there was something in it which touched the very depths of albert's soul. he sighed, but he listened--listened as to the voice of a spiritual director inspired with divine truth. 'the stars which are needful to you now,' the voice continued, 'and perhaps for some time to come, are _love, honesty, truth_. all those whose minds are warped, or who are destitute of true feeling, will _be apt to mistake you_, and to persuade themselves and the world that you are not the man you are--or, at least, may become.... do you, therefore, be on the alert betimes, with your eyes open in every direction.... i wish for my prince a great, noble, warm, and true heart, such as shall serve as the richest and surest basis for the noblest views of human nature, and the firmest resolve to give them development.'[ ] before long, the decisive moment came. there was a general election, and it became certain that the tories, at last, must come into power. the queen disliked them as much as ever; but, with a large majority in the house of commons, they would now be in a position to insist upon their wishes being attended to. lord melbourne himself was the first to realise the importance of carrying out the inevitable transition with as little friction as possible; and with his consent, the prince, following up the _rapprochement_ which had begun over the regency act, opened, through anson, a negotiation with sir robert peel. in a series of secret interviews, a complete understanding was reached upon the difficult and complex question of the bedchamber. it was agreed that the constitutional point { } should not be raised, but that, on the formation of the tory government, the principal whig ladies should retire, and their places be filled by others appointed by sir robert.[ ] thus, in effect, though not in form, the crown abandoned the claims of , and they have never been subsequently put forward. the transaction was a turning-point in the prince's career. he had conducted an important negotiation with skill and tact; he had been brought into close and friendly relations with the new prime minister; it was obvious that a great political future lay before him. victoria was much impressed and deeply grateful. 'my dearest angel,' she told king leopold, 'is indeed a great comfort to me. he takes the greatest interest in what goes on, feeling with and for me, and yet abstaining as he ought from biassing me either way, though we talk much on the subject, and his judgment is, as you say, good and mild.'[ ] she was in need of all the comfort and assistance he could give her. lord m. was going; and she could hardly bring herself to speak to peel. yes; she would discuss everything with albert now! stockmar, who had returned to england, watched the departure of lord melbourne with satisfaction. if all went well, the prince should now wield a supreme political influence over victoria. but would all go well? an unexpected development put the baron into a serious fright. when the dreadful moment finally came, and the queen, in anguish, bade adieu to her beloved minister, it was settled between them that, though it would be inadvisable to meet very often, they could continue to correspond. never were the inconsistencies of lord melbourne's character shown more clearly than in what followed. so long as he was { } in office, his attitude towards peel had been irreproachable; he had done all he could to facilitate the change of government; he had even, through more than one channel, transmitted privately to his successful rival advice as to the best means of winning the queen's good graces.[ ] yet, no sooner was he in opposition than his heart failed him. he could not bear the thought of surrendering altogether the privilege and the pleasure of giving counsel to victoria--of being cut off completely from the power and the intimacy which had been his for so long and in such abundant measure. though he had declared that he would be perfectly discreet in his letters, he could not resist taking advantage of the opening they afforded. he discussed in detail various public questions, and, in particular, gave the queen a great deal of advice in the matter of appointments. this advice was followed. lord melbourne recommended that lord heytesbury, who, he said, was an able man, should be made ambassador at vienna; and a week later the queen wrote to the foreign secretary urging that lord heytesbury, whom she believed to be a very able man, should be employed 'on some important mission.' stockmar was very much alarmed. he wrote a memorandum, pointing out the unconstitutional nature of lord melbourne's proceedings and the unpleasant position in which the queen might find herself if they were discovered by peel; and he instructed anson to take this memorandum to the ex-minister. lord melbourne, lounging on a sofa, read it through with compressed lips. 'this is quite an apple-pie opinion,' he said. when anson ventured to expostulate further, suggesting that it was unseemly in the leader of the opposition to maintain an intimate { } relationship with the sovereign, the old man lost his temper. 'god eternally damn it!' he exclaimed, leaping up from his sofa, and dashing about the room. 'flesh and blood cannot stand this!' he continued to write to the queen, as before; and two more violent bombardments from the baron were needed before he was brought to reason. then, gradually, his letters grew less and less frequent, with fewer and fewer references to public concerns; at last, they were entirely innocuous. the baron smiled; lord m. had accepted the inevitable.[ ] the whig ministry resigned in september, ; but more than a year was to elapse before another and an equally momentous change was effected--the removal of lehzen. for, in the end, the mysterious governess was conquered. the steps are unknown by which victoria was at last led to accept her withdrawal with composure--perhaps with relief; but it is clear that albert's domestic position must have been greatly strengthened by the appearance of children. the birth of the princess royal had been followed in november by that of the prince of wales; and before very long another baby was expected. the baroness, with all her affection, could have but a remote share in such family delights. she lost ground perceptibly. it was noticed as a phenomenon that, once or twice, when the court travelled, she was left behind at windsor.[ ] the prince was very cautious; at the change of ministry, lord melbourne had advised him to choose that moment for decisive action; but he judged it wiser to wait.[ ] time and the pressure of inevitable circumstances were for him; every day his { } predominance grew more assured--and every night. at length he perceived that he need hesitate no longer--that every wish, every velleity of his had only to be expressed to be at once victoria's. he spoke, and lehzen vanished for ever. no more would she reign in that royal heart and those royal halls. no more, watching from a window at windsor, would she follow her pupil and her sovereign, walking on the terrace among the obsequious multitude, with the eye of triumphant love.[ ] returning to her native hanover she established herself at bückeburg in a small but comfortable house, the walls of which were entirely covered by portraits of her majesty.[ ] the baron, in spite of his dyspepsia, smiled again: albert was supreme. iv the early discords had passed away completely--resolved into the absolute harmony of married life. victoria, overcome by a new, an unimagined revelation, had surrendered her whole soul to her husband. the beauty and the charm which so suddenly had made her his at first were, she now saw, no more than the outward manifestation of the true albert. there was an inward beauty, an inward glory which, blind that she was, she had then but dimly apprehended, but of which now she was aware in every fibre of her being--he was good--he was great! how could she ever have dreamt of setting up her will against his wisdom, her ignorance against his knowledge, her fancies against his perfect taste? had she really once loved london and late hours and dissipation? she who now was { } only happy in the country, she who jumped out of bed every morning--oh, so early!--with albert, to take a walk, before breakfast, with albert alone! how wonderful it was to be taught by him! to be told by him which trees were which; and to learn all about the bees! and then to sit doing cross-stitch while he read aloud to her hallam's constitutional history of england! or to listen to him playing on his new organ ('the organ is the first of instruments,' he said); or to sing to him a song by mendelssohn, with a great deal of care over the time and the breathing, and only a very occasional false note! and, after dinner, too--oh, how good of him! he had given up his double chess! and so there could be round games at the round table, or everyone could spend the evening in the most amusing way imaginable--spinning counters and rings.[ ] when the babies came it was still more wonderful. pussy was such a clever little girl ('i am not pussy! i am the princess royal!' she had angrily exclaimed on one occasion); and bertie--well, she could only pray _most_ fervently that the little prince of wales would grow up to 'resemble his angelic dearest father in _every, every_ respect, both in body and mind.'[ ] her dear mamma, too, had been drawn once more into the family circle, for albert had brought about a reconciliation, and the departure of lehzen had helped to obliterate the past.[ ] in victoria's eyes, life had become an idyll, and, if the essential elements of an idyll are happiness, love and simplicity, an idyll it was; though, indeed, it was of a kind that might have disconcerted theocritus. 'albert brought in { } dearest little pussy,' wrote her majesty in her journal, 'in such a smart white merino dress trimmed with blue, which mamma had given her, and a pretty cap, and placed her on my bed, seating himself next to her, and she was very dear and good. and as my precious, invaluable albert sat there, and our little love between us, i felt quite moved with happiness and gratitude to god.'[ ] the past--the past of only three years since--when she looked back upon it, seemed a thing so remote and alien that she could explain it to herself in no other way than as some kind of delusion--an unfortunate mistake. turning over an old volume of her diary, she came upon this sentence--'as for "the confidence of the crown," god knows! no _minister, no friend_ ever possessed it so entirely as this truly excellent lord melbourne possesses mine!' a pang shot through her--she seized a pen, and wrote upon the margin--'reading this again, i cannot forbear remarking what an artificial sort of happiness _mine_ was _then_, and what a blessing it is i have now in my beloved husband _real_ and solid happiness, which no politics, no worldly reverses _can_ change; it could not have lasted long as it was then, for after all, kind and excellent as lord m. is, and kind as he was to me, it was but in society that i had amusement, and i was only living on that superficial resource, which i _then fancied_ was happiness! thank god! for me and others, this is changed, and i _know what_ real _happiness_ is--v.r.'[ ] how did she know? what is the distinction between happiness that is real and happiness that is felt? so a philosopher--lord m. himself perhaps--might have inquired. but she was no philosopher, and lord m. was a phantom, and albert was beside her, and that was enough. { } happy, certainly, she was; and she wanted everyone to know it. her letters to king leopold are sprinkled thick with raptures. 'oh! my dearest uncle, i am sure if you knew _how_ happy, how blessed i feel, and how _proud_ i feel in possessing _such_ a perfect being as my husband...' such ecstasies seemed to gush from her pen unceasingly and almost of their own accord.[ ] when, one day, without thinking, lady lyttelton described someone to her as being 'as happy as a queen,' and then grew a little confused, 'don't correct yourself, lady lyttelton,' said her majesty. 'a queen _is_ a very happy woman.'[ ] but this new happiness was no lotus dream. on the contrary, it was bracing, rather than relaxing. never before had she felt so acutely the necessity for doing her duty. she worked more methodically than ever at the business of state; she watched over her children with untiring vigilance. she carried on a large correspondence; she was occupied with her farm--her dairy--a whole multitude of household avocations--from morning till night. her active, eager little body hurrying with quick steps after the long strides of albert down the corridors and avenues of windsor,[ ] seemed the very expression of her spirit. amid all the softness, the deliciousness of unmixed joy, all the liquescence, the overflowings of inexhaustible sentiment, her native rigidity remained. 'a vein of iron,' said lady lyttelton, who, as royal governess, had good means of observation, 'runs through her most extraordinary character.'[ ] sometimes the delightful routine of domestic existence had to be interrupted. it was necessary to { } exchange windsor for buckingham palace, to open parliament, or to interview official personages, or, occasionally, to entertain foreign visitors at the castle. then the quiet court put on a sudden magnificence, and sovereigns from over the seas--louis philippe, or the king of prussia, or the king of saxony--found at windsor an entertainment that was indeed a royal one. few spectacles in europe, it was agreed, produced an effect so imposing as the great waterloo banqueting hall, crowded with guests in sparkling diamonds and blazing uniforms, the long walls hung with the stately portraits of heroes, and the tables loaded with the gorgeous gold plate of the kings of england.[ ] but, in that wealth of splendour, the most imposing spectacle of all was the queen. the little _hausfrau_, who had spent the day before walking out with her children, inspecting her livestock, practising shakes at the piano, and filling up her journal with adoring descriptions of her husband, suddenly shone forth, without art, without effort, by a spontaneous and natural transition, the very culmination of majesty. the tsar of russia himself was deeply impressed. victoria on her side viewed with secret awe the tremendous nicholas. 'a great event and a great compliment _his_ visit certainly is,' she told her uncle, 'and the people _here_ are extremely flattered at it. he is certainly a _very striking_ man; still very handsome. his profile is _beautiful_, and his manners _most_ dignified and graceful; extremely civil--quite alarmingly so, as he is so full of attentions and _politeness_. but the expression of the _eyes_ is _formidable_, and unlike anything i ever saw before.'[ ] she and albert and 'the good king of saxony,' who happened { } to be there at the same time, and whom, she said, 'we like much--he is _so_ unassuming'--drew together like tame villatic fowl in the presence of that awful eagle. when he was gone, they compared notes about his face, his unhappiness, and his despotic power over millions. well! she for her part could not help pitying him, and she thanked god she was queen of england.[ ] when the time came for returning some of these visits, the royal pair set forth in their yacht, much to victoria's satisfaction. 'i do love a ship!' she exclaimed, ran up and down ladders with the greatest agility, and cracked jokes with the sailors.[ ] the prince was more aloof. they visited louis philippe at the château d'eu; they visited king leopold in brussels. it happened that a still more remarkable englishwoman was in the belgian capital, but she was not remarked; and queen victoria passed unknowing before the steady gaze of one of the mistresses in m. héger's _pensionnat_. 'a little, stout, vivacious lady, very plainly dressed--not much dignity or pretension about her,' was charlotte brontë's comment as the royal carriage and six flashed by her, making her wait on the pavement for a moment, and interrupting the train of her reflections.[ ] victoria was in high spirits, and even succeeded in instilling a little cheerfulness into her uncle's sombre court. king leopold, indeed, was perfectly contented. his dearest hopes had been fulfilled; all his ambitions were satisfied; and for the rest of his life he had only to enjoy, in undisturbed decorum, his throne, his respectability, the table of precedence, and the punctual discharge of his irksome duties. but unfortunately the felicity of those who { } surrounded him was less complete. his court, it was murmured, was as gloomy as a conventicle, and the most dismal of all the sufferers was his wife. 'pas de plaisanteries, madame!' he had exclaimed to the unfortunate successor of the princess charlotte, when, in the early days of their marriage, she had attempted a feeble joke. did she not understand that the consort of a constitutional sovereign must not be frivolous? she understood, at last, only too well; and when the startled walls of the state apartments re-echoed to the chattering and the laughter of victoria, the poor lady found that she had almost forgotten how to smile. another year, germany was visited, and albert displayed the beauties of his home. when victoria crossed the frontier, she was much excited--and she was astonished as well. 'to hear the people speak german,' she noted in her diary, 'and to see the german soldiers, etc., seemed to me so singular.' having recovered from this slight shock, she found the country charming. she was fêted everywhere, crowds of the surrounding royalties swooped down to welcome her, and the prettiest groups of peasant children, dressed in their best clothes, presented her with bunches of flowers. the principality of coburg, with its romantic scenery and its well-behaved inhabitants, particularly delighted her; and when she woke up one morning to find herself in 'dear rosenau, my albert's birthplace,' it was 'like a beautiful dream.' on her return home, she expatiated, in a letter to king leopold, upon the pleasures of the trip, dwelling especially upon the intensity of her affection for albert's native land. 'i have a feeling,' she said, 'for our dear little germany, which i cannot describe. i felt it at rosenau so much. it is a something which touches me, and which goes { } to my heart, and makes me inclined to cry. i never felt at any other place that sort of pensive pleasure and peace which i felt there. i fear i almost like it too much.'[ ] v the husband was not so happy as the wife. in spite of the great improvement in his situation, in spite of a growing family and the adoration of victoria, albert was still a stranger in a strange land, and the serenity of spiritual satisfaction was denied him. it was something, no doubt, to have dominated his immediate environment; but it was not enough; and, besides, in the very completeness of his success, there was a bitterness. victoria idolised him; but it was understanding that he craved for, not idolatry; and how much did victoria, filled to the brim though she was with him, understand him? how much does the bucket understand the well? he was lonely. he went to his organ and improvised with learned modulations until the sounds, swelling and subsiding through elaborate cadences, brought some solace to his heart. then, with the elasticity of youth, he hurried off to play with the babies, or to design a new pigsty, or to read aloud the 'church history of scotland' to victoria, or to pirouette before her on one toe, like a ballet-dancer, with a fixed smile, to show her how she ought to behave when she appeared in public places.[ ] thus did he amuse himself; but there was one distraction in which he did not indulge. he never flirted--no, not with the prettiest ladies of the court. when, during their engagement, the queen had remarked with pride to { } lord melbourne that the prince paid no attention to any other woman, the cynic had answered 'no, that sort of thing is apt to come later'; upon which she had scolded him severely, and then hurried off to stockmar to repeat what lord m. had said. but the baron had reassured her; though in other cases, he had replied, that might happen, he did not think it would in albert's. and the baron was right. throughout their married life no rival female charms ever gave cause to victoria for one moment's pang of jealousy.[ ] what more and more absorbed him--bringing with it a curious comfort of its own--was his work. with the advent of peel, he began to intervene actively in the affairs of the state. in more ways than one--in the cast of their intelligence, in their moral earnestness, even in the uneasy formalism of their manners--the two men resembled each other; there was a sympathy between them; and thus peel was ready enough to listen to the advice of stockmar, and to urge the prince forward into public life. a royal commission was about to be formed to enquire whether advantage might not be taken of the rebuilding of the houses of parliament to encourage the fine arts in the united kingdom; and peel, with great perspicacity, asked the prince to preside over it. the work was of a kind which precisely suited albert: his love of art, his love of method, his love of coming into contact--close yet dignified--with distinguished men--it satisfied them all; and he threw himself into it _con amore_. some of the members of the commission were somewhat alarmed when, in his opening speech, he pointed out the necessity of dividing the subjects to be considered into { } 'categories'--the word, they thought, smacked dangerously of german metaphysics; but their confidence returned when they observed his royal highness's extraordinary technical acquaintance with the processes of fresco-painting. when the question arose as to whether the decorations upon the walls of the new buildings should, or should not, have a moral purpose, the prince spoke strongly for the affirmative. although many, he observed, would give but a passing glance to the works, the painter was not therefore to forget that others might view them with more thoughtful eyes. this argument convinced the commission, and it was decided that the subjects to be depicted should be of an improving nature. the frescoes were carried out in accordance with the commission's instructions, but unfortunately before very long they had become, even to the most thoughtful eyes, totally invisible. it seems that his royal highness's technical acquaintance with the processes of fresco-painting was incomplete.[ ] the next task upon which the prince embarked was a more arduous one: he determined to reform the organisation of the royal household. this reform had been long overdue. for years past the confusion, discomfort, and extravagance in the royal residences, and in buckingham palace particularly, had been scandalous; no reform had been practicable under the rule of the baroness; but her functions had now devolved upon the prince, and in he boldly attacked the problem. three years earlier, stockmar, after careful enquiry, had revealed in an elaborate memorandum an extraordinary state of affairs. the control of the household, it appeared, was divided in the strangest manner between a number of authorities, { } each independent of the other, each possessed of vague and fluctuating powers, without responsibility and without co-ordination. of these authorities, the most prominent were the lord steward and the lord chamberlain--noblemen of high rank and political importance, who changed office with every administration, who did not reside with the court, and had no effective representatives attached to it. the distribution of their respective functions was uncertain and peculiar. in buckingham palace, it was believed that the lord chamberlain had charge of the whole of the rooms, with the exception of the kitchen, sculleries, and pantries, which were claimed by the lord steward. at the same time, the outside of the palace was under the control of neither of these functionaries--but of the office of woods and forests; and thus, while the insides of the windows were cleaned by the department of the lord chamberlain--or possibly, in certain cases, of the lord steward--the office of woods and forests cleaned their outsides. of the servants, the housekeepers, the pages, and the housemaids were under the authority of the lord chamberlain; the clerk of the kitchen, the cooks, and the porters were under that of the lord steward; but the footmen, the livery-porters, and the under-butlers took their orders from yet another official--the master of the horse. naturally, in these circumstances the service was extremely defective and the lack of discipline among the servants disgraceful. they absented themselves for as long as they pleased and whenever the fancy took them; 'and if,' as the baron put it, 'smoking, drinking, and other irregularities occur in the dormitories, where footmen, etc., sleep ten and twelve in each room, no one can help it.' as for her majesty's { } guests, there was nobody to show them to their rooms, and they were often left, having utterly lost their way in the complicated passages, to wander helpless by the hour. the strange divisions of authority extended not only to persons but to things. the queen observed that there was never a fire in the dining-room. she enquired why. the answer was, 'the lord steward lays the fire, and the lord chamberlain lights it'; the underlings of those two great noblemen having failed to come to an accommodation, there was no help for it--the queen must eat in the cold.[ ] a surprising incident opened everyone's eyes to the confusion and negligence that reigned in the palace. a fortnight after the birth of the princess royal the nurse heard a suspicious noise in the room next to the queen's bedroom. she called to one of the pages, who, looking under a large sofa, perceived there a crouching figure 'with a most repulsive appearance.' it was 'the boy jones.' this enigmatical personage, whose escapades dominated the newspapers for several ensuing months, and whose motives and character remained to the end ambiguous, was an undersized lad of seventeen, the son of a tailor, who had apparently gained admittance to the palace by climbing over the garden wall and walking in through an open window. two years before he had paid a similar visit in the guise of a chimney-sweep. he now declared that he had spent three days in the palace, hiding under various beds, that he had 'helped himself to soup and other eatables,' and that he had 'sat upon the throne, seen the queen, and heard the princess royal squall.' every detail of the strange affair was eagerly canvassed. _the times_ reported that the boy { } jones had 'from his infancy been fond of reading,' but that 'his countenance is exceedingly sullen.' it added: 'the sofa under which the boy jones was discovered, we understand, is one of the most costly and magnificent material and workmanship, and ordered expressly for the accommodation of the royal and illustrious visitors who call to pay their respects to her majesty.' the culprit was sent for three months to the 'house of correction.' when he emerged, he immediately returned to buckingham palace. he was discovered, and sent back to the 'house of correction' for another three months, after which he was offered £ a week by a music hall to appear upon the stage. he refused this offer, and shortly afterwards was found by the police loitering round buckingham palace. the authorities acted vigorously, and, without any trial or process of law, shipped the boy jones off to sea. a year later his ship put into portsmouth to refit, and he at once disembarked and walked to london. he was re-arrested before he reached the palace, and sent back to his ship, the _warspite_. on this occasion it was noticed that he had 'much improved in personal appearance and grown quite corpulent'; and so the boy jones passed out of history, though we catch one last glimpse of him in falling overboard in the night between tunis and algiers. he was fished up again; but it was conjectured--as one of the _warspite's_ officers explained in a letter to _the times_--that his fall had not been accidental, but that he had deliberately jumped into the mediterranean in order to 'see the life-buoy light burning.' of a boy with such a record, what else could be supposed?[ ] { } but discomfort and alarm were not the only results of the mismanagement of the household; the waste, extravagance, and peculation that also flowed from it were immeasurable. there were preposterous perquisites and malpractices of every kind. it was, for instance, an ancient and immutable rule that a candle that had once been lighted should never be lighted again; what happened to the old candles nobody knew. again, the prince, examining the accounts, was puzzled by a weekly expenditure of thirty-five shillings on 'red room wine.' he enquired into the matter, and after great difficulty discovered that in the time of george iii a room in windsor castle with red hangings had once been used as a guard-room, and that five shillings a day had been allowed to provide wine for the officers. the guard had long since been moved elsewhere, but the payment for wine in the red room continued, the money being received by a half-pay officer who held the sinecure position of under-butler.[ ] after much laborious investigation, and a stiff struggle with the multitude of vested interests which had been brought into being by long years of neglect, the prince succeeded in effecting a complete reform. the various conflicting authorities were induced to resign their powers into the hands of a single official, the master of the household, who became responsible for the entire management of the royal palaces. great economies were made, and the whole crowd of venerable abuses was swept away. among others, the unlucky half-pay officer of the red room was, much to his surprise, given the choice of relinquishing his weekly emolument or of performing the duties of an under-butler. even the irregularities among the footmen, { } etc., were greatly diminished. there were outcries and complaints; the prince was accused of meddling, of injustice, and of saving candle-ends; but he held on his course, and before long the admirable administration of the royal household was recognised as a convincing proof of his perseverance and capacity.[ ] at the same time his activity was increasing enormously in a more important sphere. he had become the queen's private secretary, her confidential adviser, her second self. he was now always present at her interviews with ministers.[ ] he took, like the queen, a special interest in foreign policy; but there was no public question in which his influence was not felt. a double process was at work; while victoria fell more and more absolutely under his intellectual predominance, he, simultaneously, grew more and more completely absorbed by the machinery of high politics--the incessant and multifarious business of a great state. nobody any more could call him a dilettante; he was a worker, a public personage, a man of affairs. stockmar noted the change with exultation. 'the prince,' he wrote, 'has improved very much lately. he has evidently a head for politics. he has become, too, far more independent. his mental activity is constantly on the increase, and he gives the greater part of his time to business, without complaining.' 'the relations between husband and wife,' added the baron, 'are all one could desire.'[ ] long before peel's ministry came to an end, there had been a complete change in victoria's attitude towards him. his appreciation of the prince had softened her heart; the sincerity and warmth of his { } nature, which, in private intercourse with those whom he wished to please, had the power of gradually dissipating the awkwardness of his manners, did the rest.[ ] she came in time to regard him with intense feelings of respect and attachment. she spoke of 'our worthy peel,' for whom, she said, she had 'an _extreme_ admiration' and who had shown himself 'a man of unbounded _loyalty, courage_, patriotism, and _high-mindedness_, and his conduct towards me has been _chivalrous_ almost, i might say.'[ ] she dreaded his removal from office almost as frantically as she had once dreaded that of lord m. it would be, she declared, a _great calamity_. six years before, what would she have said, if a prophet had told her that the day would come when she would be horrified by the triumph of the whigs? yet there was no escaping it; she had to face the return of her old friends. in the ministerial crises of and , the prince played a dominating part. everybody recognised that he was the real centre of the negotiations--the actual controller of the forces and the functions of the crown. the process by which this result was reached had been so gradual as to be almost imperceptible; but it may be said with certainty that, by the close of peel's administration, albert had become, in effect, the king of england.[ ] vi with the final emergence of the prince came the final extinction of lord melbourne. a year after his loss of office, he had been struck down by a paralytic seizure; he had apparently recovered, but his old { } elasticity had gone for ever. moody, restless, and unhappy, he wandered like a ghost about the town, bursting into soliloquies in public places, or asking odd questions, suddenly, _à propos de bottes_, 'i'll be hanged if i'll do it for you, my lord,' he was heard to say in the hall at brooks's, standing by himself, and addressing the air after much thought. 'don't you consider,' he abruptly asked a fellow-guest at lady holland's, leaning across the dinner-table in a pause of the conversation, 'that it was a most damnable act of henri quatre to change his religion with a view to securing the crown?' he sat at home, brooding for hours in miserable solitude. he turned over his books--his classics and his testaments--but they brought him no comfort at all. he longed for the return of the past, for the impossible, for he knew not what, for the devilries of caro, for the happy platitudes of windsor. his friends had left him, and no wonder, he said in bitterness--the fire was out. he secretly hoped for a return to power, scanning the newspapers with solicitude, and occasionally making a speech in the house of lords. his correspondence with the queen continued, and he appeared from time to time at court; but he was a mere simulacrum of his former self; 'the dream,' wrote victoria, 'is _past_.' as for his political views, they could no longer be tolerated. the prince was an ardent free trader, and so, of course, was the queen; and when, dining at windsor at the time of the repeal of the corn laws, lord melbourne suddenly exclaimed, 'ma'am, it's a damned dishonest act!' everyone was extremely embarrassed. her majesty laughed and tried to change the conversation, but without avail; lord melbourne returned to the charge again and again with--'i say, ma'am, it's damned dishonest!'--until { } the queen said 'lord melbourne, i must beg you not to say anything more on this subject now'; and then he held his tongue. she was kind to him, writing him long letters, and always remembering his birthday; but it was kindness at a distance, and he knew it. he had become 'poor lord melbourne.' a profound disquietude devoured him. he tried to fix his mind on the condition of agriculture and the oxford movement. he wrote long memoranda in utterly undecipherable handwriting. he was convinced that he had lost all his money, and could not possibly afford to be a knight of the garter. he had run through everything, and yet--if peel went out, he might be sent for--why not? he was never sent for. the whigs ignored him in their consultations, and the leadership of the party passed to lord john russell. when lord john became prime minister, there was much politeness, but lord melbourne was not asked to join the cabinet. he bore the blow with perfect amenity; but he understood, at last, that that was the end.[ ] for two years more he lingered, sinking slowly into unconsciousness and imbecility. sometimes, propped up in his chair, he would be heard to murmur, with unexpected appositeness, the words of samson:-- 'so much i feel my general spirit droop, my hopes all flat, nature within me seems in all her functions weary of herself, my race of glory run, and race of shame, and i shall shortly be with them that rest.'[ ] a few days before his death, victoria, learning that there was no hope of his recovery, turned her mind for { } a little towards that which had once been lord m. 'you will grieve to hear,' she told king leopold, 'that our good, dear, old friend melbourne is dying.... one cannot forget how good and kind and amiable he was, and it brings back so many recollections to my mind, though, god knows! i never wish that time back again.'[ ] she was in little danger. the tide of circumstance was flowing now with irresistible fullness towards a very different consummation. the seriousness of albert, the claims of her children, her own inmost inclinations, and the movement of the whole surrounding world, combined to urge her forward along the narrow way of public and domestic duty. her family steadily increased. within eighteen months of the birth of the prince of wales the princess alice appeared, and a year later the prince alfred, and then the princess helena, and, two years afterwards, the princess louise; and still there were signs that the pretty row of royal infants was not complete. the parents, more and more involved in family cares and family happiness, found the pomp of windsor galling, and longed for some more intimate and remote retreat. on the advice of peel they purchased the estate of osborne, in the isle of wight. their skill and economy in financial matters had enabled them to lay aside a substantial sum of money; and they could afford, out of their savings, not merely to buy the property but to build a new house for themselves and to furnish it at a cost of £ , .[ ] at osborne, by the sea-shore, and among the woods, which albert, with memories of rosenau in his mind, had so carefully planted, the royal family spent every { } hour that could be snatched from windsor and london--delightful hours of deep retirement and peaceful work.[ ] the public looked on with approval. a few aristocrats might sniff or titter; but with the nation at large the queen was now once more extremely popular. the middle-classes, in particular, were pleased. they liked a love-match; they liked a household which combined the advantages of royalty and virtue, and in which they seemed to see, reflected as in some resplendent looking-glass, the ideal image of the very lives they led themselves. their own existences, less exalted, but oh! so soothingly similar, acquired an added excellence, an added succulence, from the early hours, the regularity, the plain tuckers, the round games, the roast beef and yorkshire pudding of osborne. it was indeed a model court. not only were its central personages the patterns of propriety, but no breath of scandal, no shadow of indecorum, might approach its utmost boundaries.[ ] for victoria, with all the zeal of a convert, upheld now the standard of moral purity with an inflexibility surpassing, if that were possible, albert's own. she blushed to think how she had once believed--how she had once actually told _him_--that one might be too strict and particular in such matters, and that one ought to be indulgent towards other people's dreadful sins. but she was no longer lord m.'s pupil: she was albert's wife. she was more--the embodiment, the living apex of a new era in the generations of mankind. the last vestige of the eighteenth century had disappeared; cynicism and subtlety were shrivelled into powder; and duty, industry, morality, and domesticity triumphed over { } them. even the very chairs and tables had assumed, with a singular responsiveness, the forms of prim solidity. the victorian age was in full swing. vii only one thing more was needed: material expression must be given to the new ideals and the new forces, so that they might stand revealed in visible glory before the eyes of an astonished world. it was for albert to supply this want. he mused, and was inspired: the great exhibition came into his head. without consulting anyone, he thought out the details of his conception with the minutest care. there had been exhibitions before in the world, but this should surpass them all. it should contain specimens of what every country could produce in raw materials, in machinery and mechanical inventions, in manufactures, and in the applied and plastic arts. it should not be merely useful and ornamental; it should teach a high moral lesson. it should be an international monument to those supreme blessings of civilisation--peace, progress, and prosperity. for some time past the prince had been devoting much of his attention to the problems of commerce and industry. he had a taste for machinery of every kind, and his sharp eye had more than once detected, with the precision of an expert, a missing cog-wheel in some vast and complicated engine.[ ] a visit to liverpool, where he opened the albert dock, impressed upon his mind the immensity of modern industrial forces, though in a letter to victoria describing his experiences, he was careful to retain his customary lightness of touch. 'as { } i write,' he playfully remarked, 'you will be making your evening toilette, and not be ready in time for dinner. i must set about the same task, and not, let me hope, with the same result.... the loyalty and enthusiasm of the inhabitants are great; but the heat is greater still. i am satisfied that if the population of liverpool had been weighed this morning, and were to be weighed again now, they would be found many degrees lighter. the docks are wonderful, and the mass of shipping incredible.'[ ] in art and science he had been deeply interested since boyhood; his reform of the household had put his talent for organisation beyond a doubt; and thus from every point of view the prince was well qualified for his task. having matured his plans, he summoned a small committee and laid an outline of his scheme before it. the committee approved, and the great undertaking was set on foot without delay.[ ] two years, however, passed before it was completed. for two years the prince laboured with extraordinary and incessant energy. at first all went smoothly. the leading manufacturers warmly took up the idea; the colonies and the east india company were sympathetic; the great foreign nations were eager to send in their contributions; the powerful support of sir robert peel was obtained, and the use of a site in hyde park, selected by the prince, was sanctioned by the government. out of plans for the exhibition building, the prince chose that of joseph paxton, famous as a designer of gigantic conservatories; and the work was on the point of being put in hand when a series of unexpected difficulties arose. opposition to the whole scheme, which had long been smouldering { } in various quarters, suddenly burst forth. there was an outcry, headed by _the times_, against the use of the park for the exhibition; for a moment it seemed as if the building would be relegated to a suburb; but, after a fierce debate in the house, the supporters of the site in the park won the day. then it appeared that the project lacked a sufficient financial backing; but this obstacle, too, was surmounted, and eventually £ , was subscribed as a guarantee fund. the enormous glass edifice rose higher and higher, covering acres and enclosing towering elm trees beneath its roof: and then the fury of its enemies reached a climax. the fashionable, the cautious, the protectionists, the pious, all joined in the hue and cry. it was pointed out that the exhibition would serve as a rallying point for all the ruffians in england, for all the malcontents in europe; and that on the day of its opening there would certainly be a riot and probably a revolution. it was asserted that the glass roof was porous, and that the droppings of fifty million sparrows would utterly destroy every object beneath it. agitated nonconformists declared that the exhibition was an arrogant and wicked enterprise which would infallibly bring down god's punishment upon the nation. colonel sibthorpe, in the debate on the address, prayed that hail and lightning might descend from heaven on the accursed thing. the prince, with unyielding perseverance and infinite patience, pressed on to his goal. his health was seriously affected; he suffered from constant sleeplessness; his strength was almost worn out. but he remembered the injunctions of stockmar and never relaxed. the volume of his labours grew more prodigious every day; he toiled at committees, presided over public meetings, made speeches, and carried on { } communications with every corner of the civilised world--and his efforts were rewarded. on may , , the great exhibition was opened by the queen before an enormous concourse of persons, amid scenes of dazzling brilliancy and triumphant enthusiasm.[ ] victoria herself was in a state of excitement which bordered on delirium. she performed her duties in a trance of joy, gratitude, and amazement, and, when it was all over, her feelings poured themselves out into her journal in a torrential flood. the day had been nothing but an endless succession of glories--or rather, one vast glory--one vast radiation of albert. everything she had seen, everything she had felt or heard, had been so beautiful, so wonderful, that even the royal underlinings broke down under the burden of emphasis, while her remembering pen rushed on, regardless, from splendour to splendour--the huge crowds, so well-behaved and loyal--flags of all the nations floating--the inside of the building, so immense, with myriads of people and the sun shining through the roof--a little side-room, where we left our shawls--palm-trees and machinery--dear albert--the place so big that we could hardly hear the organ--thankfulness to god--a curious assemblage of political and distinguished men--the march from 'athalie'--god bless my dearest albert, god bless my dearest country!--a glass fountain--the duke and lord anglesey walking arm in arm--a beautiful amazon, in bronze, by kiss--mr. paxton, who might be justly proud, and rose from being a common gardener's boy--sir george grey in tears, and everybody astonished and delighted.[ ] { } a striking incident occurred when, after a short prayer by the archbishop of canterbury, the choir of voices burst into the 'hallelujah chorus.' at that moment a chinaman, dressed in full national costume, stepped out into the middle of the central nave, and, advancing slowly towards the royal group, did obeisance to her majesty. the queen, much impressed, had no doubt that he was an eminent mandarin; and, when the final procession was formed, orders were given that, as no representative of the celestial empire was present, he should be included in the diplomatic cortège. he accordingly, with the utmost gravity, followed immediately behind the ambassadors. he subsequently disappeared, and it was rumoured, among ill-natured people, that, far from being a mandarin, the fellow was a mere impostor. but nobody ever really discovered the nature of the comments that had been lurking behind the matchless impassivity of that yellow face.[ ] a few days later victoria poured out her heart to her uncle. the first of may, she said, was 'the _greatest_ day in our history, the most _beautiful_ and _imposing_ and _touching_ spectacle ever seen, and the triumph of my beloved albert.... it was the _happiest, proudest_ day in my life, and i can think of nothing else. albert's dearest name is immortalised with this _great_ conception, _his_ own, and my _own_ dear country _showed_ she was _worthy_ of it. the triumph is _immense_.'[ ] it was. the enthusiasm was universal; even the bitterest scoffers were converted, and joined in the { } chorus of praise.[ ] congratulations from public bodies poured in; the city of paris gave a great _fête_ to the exhibition committee; and the queen and the prince made a triumphal progress through the north of england. the financial results were equally remarkable. the total profit made by the exhibition amounted to a sum of £ , , which was employed in the purchase of land for the erection of a permanent national museum in south kensington. during the six months of its existence in hyde park over six million persons visited it, and not a single accident occurred. but there is an end to all things; and the time had come for the crystal palace to be removed to the salubrious seclusion of sydenham. victoria, sad but resigned, paid her final visit. 'it looked so beautiful,' she said, 'i could not believe it was the last time i was to see it. an organ, accompanied by a fine and powerful wind instrument called the sommerophone, was being played, and it nearly upset me. the canvas is very dirty, the red curtains are faded and many things are very much soiled, still the effect is fresh and new as ever and most beautiful. the glass fountain was already removed ... and the sappers and miners were rolling about the little boxes just as they did at the beginning. it made us all very melancholy.' but more cheerful thoughts followed. when all was over, she expressed her boundless satisfaction in a dithyrambic letter to the prime minister. her beloved husband's name, she said, was for ever immortalised, and that this was universally recognised by the country was a source to her of immense happiness and gratitude. 'she feels grateful to providence,' her majesty concluded, 'to have permitted her to be united to so great, so noble, { } so excellent a prince, and this year will ever remain the proudest and happiest of her life. the day of the closing of the exhibition (which the queen regretted much she could not witness), was the twelfth anniversary of her betrothal to the prince, which is a curious coincidence.'[ ] [ ] martin, i, - ; grey, - . [ ] grey, - ; crawford, - ; panam, - . [ ] grey, chaps. i to vi; ernest, i, - . [ ] grey, app. b. [ ] _ibid._, - . [ ] gossart; ernest, i, - [ ] grey, - , [ ] stockmar, . [ ] grey, , , , . [ ] stockmar, - . [ ] grey, . [ ] grey, - ; _letters_, i, . [ ] 'i had much talk with lady cowper about the court. she lamented the obstinate character of the queen, from which she thought that hereafter great evils might be apprehended. she said that her prejudices and antipathies were deep and strong, and her disposition very inflexible. her hatred of peel and her resentment against the duke for having sided with him rather than with her in the old quarrel are unabated.' greville, nov. , (unpublished). [ ] greville, jan. , feb. , (unpublished). [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, - ; _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] _dictionary of national biography_, art. sir james clark; _letters_, i. . [ ] grey, - . [ ] greville, feb. , (unpublished). [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] martin, i, , . [ ] grey, - . [ ] greville, april , (unpublished); grey, - ; ernest, i, - . [ ] stockmar, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] blomfield, i, . [ ] grey, ; _letters_, i, . [ ] ernest, i, . [ ] jerrold, _married life_, . [ ] grey, - , - . [ ] stockmar, - . [ ] martin, i, - . [ ] _letters_, i, - , - . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, ; greville, v, - . [ ] _letters_, i, - , , - , - , - , - , . [ ] _ibid._, i, , . [ ] _ibid._, i, . [ ] lyttelton, - . [ ] bloomfield, i, . [ ] grey, - ; bloomfield, i, , ; lyttelton, , , - , , - ; martin, i, ; _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _ibid._, iii, . [ ] martin, i, . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] _letters_, i, , - , , etc. [ ] lyttelton, . [ ] crawford, [ ] lyttelton, . [ ] _letters_, ii, ; bunsen, ii, ; bloomfield, i, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, - . [ ] martin, i, . [ ] lyttelton, ; bloomfield, i, - . [ ] gaskell, i, . [ ] martin, i, , . [ ] lyttelton, , , . [ ] clarendon, i, - ; _girlhood_, ii, , . [ ] martin, i, - , ; stockmar, . [ ] stockmar, - ; martin, i, - . [ ] _the times_, dec., : march, july, dec., ; feb., oct., ; july, . [ ] _the times_ 'life,' . [ ] stockmar, - ; martin, i, . [ ] greville, vii, . [ ] stockmar, - . [ ] disraeli, ; greville, vi, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, . [ ] greville, v, - . [ ] torrens, , chap. xxxiii; _letters_, i, ; ii, ; greville, v, ; vi, . [ ] greville, vi, . [ ] _letters_, ii, . [ ] greville, vi, - . [ ] martin, i, - ; grey, . [ ] stockmar, ; martin, i, . [ ] martin, ii, . [ ] martin, i, . [ ] _ibid._, ii, - . [ ] martin, ii, , - , , - , - ; _dictionary of national biography_, art. 'joseph paxton'; bloomfield, ii, - . [ ] martin, ii, - . [ ] martin, ii, and note. [ ] _letters_, ii, - . [ ] greville, vi, . [ ] martin, ii, - , - , - . { } chapter v lord palmerston i in the prince's fortunes reached their highwater mark. the success of the great exhibition enormously increased his reputation and seemed to assure him henceforward a leading place in the national life. but before the year was out another triumph, in a very different sphere of action, was also his. this triumph, big with fateful consequences, was itself the outcome of a series of complicated circumstances which had been gathering to a climax for many years. the unpopularity of albert in high society had not diminished with time. aristocratic persons continued to regard him with disfavour; and he on his side withdrew further and further into a contemptuous reserve. for a moment, indeed, it appeared as if the dislike of the upper classes was about to be suddenly converted into cordiality; for they learnt with amazement that the prince, during a country visit, had ridden to hounds and acquitted himself remarkably well. they had always taken it for granted that his horsemanship was of some second-rate foreign quality, and here he was jumping five-barred gates and tearing after the fox as if he had been born and bred in leicestershire. they could hardly believe it; was it possible that they had made a mistake, and that albert was a { } good fellow after all? had he wished to be thought so he would certainly have seized this opportunity, purchased several hunters, and used them constantly. but he had no such desire; hunting bored him, and made victoria nervous. he continued, as before, to ride, as he himself put it, for exercise or convenience, not for amusement; and it was agreed that though the prince, no doubt, could keep in his saddle well enough, he was no sportsman.[ ] this was a serious matter. it was not merely that albert was laughed at by fine ladies and sneered at by fine gentlemen; it was not merely that victoria, who before her marriage had cut some figure in society, had, under her husband's influence, almost completely given it up. since charles the second the sovereigns of england had, with a single exception, always been unfashionable; and the fact that the exception was george the fourth seemed to give an added significance to the rule. what was grave was not the lack of fashion, but the lack of other and more important qualities. the hostility of the upper classes was symptomatic of an antagonism more profound than one of manners or even of tastes. the prince, in a word, was un-english. what that word precisely meant it was difficult to say; but the fact was patent to every eye. lord palmerston, also, was not fashionable; the great whig aristocrats looked askance at him, and tolerated him only as an unpleasant necessity thrust upon them by fate. but lord palmerston was english through and through; there was something in him that expressed, with extraordinary vigour, the fundamental qualities of the english race. and he was the very antithesis of the prince. by a curious chance it so happened that this typical { } englishman was brought into closer contact than any other of his countrymen with the alien from over the sea. it thus fell out that differences which, in more fortunate circumstances, might have been smoothed away and obliterated, became accentuated to the highest pitch. all the mysterious forces in albert's soul leapt out to do battle with his adversary, and, in the long and violent conflict that followed, it almost seemed as if he was struggling with england herself. palmerston's whole life had been spent in the government of the country. at twenty-two he had been a minister; at twenty-five he had been offered the chancellorship of the exchequer, which, with that prudence which formed so unexpected a part of his character, he had declined to accept. his first spell of office had lasted uninterruptedly for twenty-one years. when lord grey came into power he received the foreign secretaryship, a post which he continued to occupy, with two intervals, for another twenty-one years. throughout this period his reputation with the public had steadily grown, and when, in , he became foreign secretary for the third time, his position in the country was almost, if not quite, on an equality with that of the prime minister, lord john russell. he was a tall, big man of sixty-two, with a jaunty air, a large face, dyed whiskers, and a long, sardonic upper lip. his private life was far from respectable, but he had greatly strengthened his position in society by marrying, late in life, lady cowper, the sister of lord melbourne, and one of the most influential of the whig hostesses. powerful, experienced, and supremely self-confident, he naturally paid very little attention to albert. why should he? the prince was interested in foreign affairs? very well, then; let the prince { } pay attention to _him_--to him, who had been a cabinet minister when albert was in the cradle, who was the chosen leader of a great nation, and who had never failed in anything he had undertaken in the whole course of his life. not that he wanted the prince's attention--far from it: so far as he could see, albert was merely a young foreigner, who suffered from having no vices, and whose only claim to distinction was that he had happened to marry the queen of england. this estimate, as he found out to his cost, was a mistaken one. albert was by no means insignificant, and, behind albert, there was another figure by no means insignificant either--there was stockmar. but palmerston, busy with his plans, his ambitions, and the management of a great department, brushed all such considerations on one side; it was his favourite method of action. he lived by instinct--by a quick eye and a strong hand, a dexterous management of every crisis as it arose, a half-unconscious sense of the vital elements in a situation. he was very bold; and nothing gave him more exhilaration than to steer the ship of state in a high wind, on a rough sea, with every stitch of canvas on her that she could carry. but there is a point beyond which boldness becomes rashness--a point perceptible only to intuition and not to reason; and beyond that point palmerston never went. when he saw that the case demanded it, he could go slow--very slow indeed; in fact, his whole career, so full of vigorous adventure, was nevertheless a masterly example of the proverb, 'tout vient à point à qui sait attendre.' but when he decided to go quick, nobody went quicker. one day, returning from osborne, he found that he had missed the train to london; he ordered a special, but the station-master told him that to put a special { } train upon the line at that time of day would be dangerous, and he could not allow it. palmerston insisted, declaring that he had important business in london, which could not wait. the station-master, supported by all the officials, continued to demur; the company, he said, could not possibly take the responsibility. 'on my responsibility, then!' said palmerston, in his off-hand, peremptory way; whereupon the stationmaster ordered up the train, and the foreign secretary reached london in time for his work, without an accident.[ ] the story is typical of the happy valiance with which he conducted both his own affairs and those of the nation. 'england,' he used to say, 'is strong enough to brave consequences.'[ ] apparently, under palmerston's guidance, she was. while the officials protested and shook in their shoes, he would wave them away with his airy '_my_ responsibility!' and carry the country swiftly along the line of his choice, to a triumphant destination,--without an accident. his immense popularity was the result partly of his diplomatic successes, partly of his extraordinary personal affability, but chiefly of the genuine intensity with which he responded to the feelings and supported the interests of his countrymen. the public knew that it had in lord palmerston not only a high-mettled master, but also a devoted servant--that he was, in every sense of the word, a public man. when he was prime minister, he noticed that iron hurdles had been put up on the grass in the green park; he immediately wrote to the minister responsible, ordering, in the severest language, their instant removal, declaring that they were 'an intolerable nuisance,' and that the purpose of the grass was 'to be walked upon freely and without restraint by the people, { } old and young, for whose enjoyment the parks are maintained.'[ ] it was in this spirit that, as foreign secretary, he watched over the interests of englishmen abroad. nothing could be more agreeable for englishmen; but foreign governments were less pleased. they found lord palmerston interfering, exasperating, and alarming. in paris they spoke with bated breath of 'ce terrible milord palmerston'; and in germany they made a little song about him-- 'hat der teufel einen sohn, so ist er sicher palmerston.'[ ] but their complaints, their threats, and their agitations were all in vain. palmerston, with his upper lip sardonically curving, braved consequences, and held on his course. the first diplomatic crisis which arose after his return to office, though the prince and the queen were closely concerned with it, passed off without serious disagreement between the court and the minister. for some years past a curious problem had been perplexing the chanceries of europe. spain, ever since the time of napoleon a prey to civil convulsions, had settled down for a short interval to a state of comparative quiet under the rule of christina, the queen mother, and her daughter isabella, the young queen. in , the question of isabella's marriage, which had for long been the subject of diplomatic speculations, suddenly became acute. various candidates for her hand were proposed--among others, two cousins of her own, another spanish prince, and prince leopold of saxe-coburg, a first cousin of victoria's and albert's; for different reasons, however, none of these young men { } seemed altogether satisfactory. isabella was not yet sixteen; and it might have been supposed that her marriage could be put off for a few years more; but this was considered to be out of the question. 'vous ne savez pas,' said a high authority, 'ce que c'est que ces princesses espagnoles; elles ont le diable au corps, et on a toujours dit que si nous ne nous hâtions pas, l'héritier viendrait avant le mari.'[ ] it might also have been supposed that the young queen's marriage was a matter to be settled by herself, her mother, and the spanish government; but this again was far from being the case. it had become, by one of those periodical reversions to the ways of the eighteenth century, which, it is rumoured, are still not unknown in diplomacy, a question of dominating importance in the foreign policies both of france and england. for several years, louis philippe and his prime minister guizot had been privately maturing a very subtle plan. it was the object of the french king to repeat the glorious _coup_ of louis xiv, and to abolish the pyrenees by placing one of his grandsons on the throne of spain. in order to bring this about, he did not venture to suggest that his younger son, the duc de montpensier, should marry isabella; that would have been too obvious a move, which would have raised immediate and insurmountable opposition. he therefore proposed that isabella should marry her cousin, the duke of cadiz, while montpensier married isabella's younger sister, the infanta fernanda; and pray, what possible objection could there be to that? the wily old king whispered into the chaste ears of guizot the key to the secret; he had good reason to believe that the duke of cadiz was incapable of having children, and therefore the offspring { } of fernanda would inherit the spanish crown. guizot rubbed his hands, and began at once to set the necessary springs in motion; but, of course, the whole scheme was very soon divulged and understood. the english government took an extremely serious view of the matter; the balance of power was clearly at stake, and the french intrigue must be frustrated at all hazards. a diplomatic struggle of great intensity followed; and it occasionally appeared that a second war of the spanish succession was about to break out. this was avoided, but the consequences of this strange imbroglio were far-reaching and completely different from what any of the parties concerned could have guessed. in the course of the long and intricate negotiations there was one point upon which louis philippe laid a special stress--the candidature of prince leopold of saxe-coburg. the prospect of a marriage between a coburg prince and the queen of spain was, he declared, at least as threatening to the balance of power in europe as that of a marriage between the duc de montpensier and the infanta; and, indeed, there was much to be said for this contention. the ruin which had fallen upon the house of coburg during the napoleonic wars had apparently served only to multiply its vitality, for that princely family had by now extended itself over europe in an extraordinary manner. king leopold was firmly fixed in belgium; his niece was queen of england; one of his nephews was the husband of the queen of england, and another the husband of the queen of portugal; yet another was duke of würtemberg. where was this to end? there seemed to be a coburg trust ready to send out one of its members at any moment to fill up any vacant place among the ruling families of europe. and even beyond europe there { } were signs of this infection spreading. an american who had arrived in brussels had assured king leopold that there was a strong feeling in the united states in favour of monarchy instead of the misrule of mobs, and had suggested, to the delight of his majesty, that some branch of the coburg family might be available for the position.[ ] that danger might, perhaps, be remote; but the spanish danger was close at hand; and if prince leopold were to marry queen isabella the position of france would be one of humiliation, if not of positive danger. such were the asseverations of louis philippe. the english government had no wish to support prince leopold, and, though albert and victoria had had some hankerings for the match, the wisdom of stockmar had induced them to give up all thoughts of it. the way thus seemed open for a settlement: england would be reasonable about leopold, if france would be reasonable about montpensier. at the château d'eu, the agreement was made, in a series of conversations between the king and guizot on the one side, and the queen, the prince, and lord aberdeen on the other. aberdeen, as foreign minister, declared that england would neither recognise nor support prince leopold as a candidate for the hand of the queen of spain; while louis philippe solemnly promised, both to aberdeen and to victoria, that the duc de montpensier should not marry the infanta fernanda until after the queen was married and had issue. all went well, and the crisis seemed to be over, when the whole question was suddenly reopened by palmerston, who had succeeded aberdeen at the foreign office. in a despatch to the english minister at madrid, he mentioned, in a list of possible candidates { } for queen isabella's hand, prince leopold of coburg; and at the same time he took occasion to denounce in violent language the tyranny and incompetence of the spanish government. this despatch, indiscreet in any case, was rendered infinitely more so by being communicated to guizot. louis philippe saw his opportunity and pounced on it. though there was nothing in palmerston's language to show that he either recognised or supported prince leopold, the king at once assumed that the english had broken their engagement, and that he was therefore free to do likewise. he then sent the despatch to the queen mother, declared that the english were intriguing for the coburg marriage, bade her mark the animosity of palmerston against the spanish government, and urged her to escape from her difficulties and ensure the friendship of france by marrying isabella to the duke of cadiz and fernanda to montpensier. the queen mother, alarmed and furious, was easily convinced. there was only one difficulty: isabella loathed the very sight of her cousin. but this was soon surmounted; there was a wild supper-party at the palace, and in the course of it the young girl was induced to consent to anything that was asked of her. shortly after, and on the same day, both the marriages took place. the news burst like a bomb on the english government, who saw with rage and mortification that they had been completely outmanoeuvred by the crafty king. victoria, in particular, was outraged. not only had she been the personal recipient of louis philippe's pledge, but he had won his way to her heart by presenting the prince of wales with a box of soldiers and sending the princess royal a beautiful parisian doll with eyes that opened and shut. and now insult was { } added to injury. the queen of the french wrote her a formal letter, calmly announcing, as a family event in which she was sure victoria would be interested, the marriage of her son, montpensier--'qui ajoutera à notre bonheur intérieur, le seul vrai dans ce monde, et que vous, madame, savez si bien apprécier.'[ ] but the english queen had not long to wait for her revenge. within eighteen months the monarchy of louis philippe, discredited, unpopular, and fatally weakened by the withdrawal of english support, was swept into limbo, while he and his family threw themselves as suppliant fugitives at the feet of victoria.[ ] ii in this affair both the queen and the prince had been too much occupied with the delinquencies of louis philippe to have any wrath to spare for those of palmerston; and, indeed, on the main issue, palmerston's attitude and their own had been in complete agreement. but in this the case was unique. in every other foreign complication--and they were many and serious--during the ensuing years, the differences between the royal couple and the foreign secretary were constant and profound. there was a sharp quarrel over portugal, where violently hostile parties were flying at each other's throats. the royal sympathy was naturally enlisted on behalf of the queen and her coburg husband, while palmerston gave his support to the progressive elements in the country. it was not until , however, that the strain became really serious. in that year of revolutions, when, in all directions and with alarming { } frequency, crowns kept rolling off royal heads, albert and victoria were appalled to find that the policy of england was persistently directed--in germany, in switzerland, in austria, in italy, in sicily--so as to favour the insurgent forces. the situation, indeed, was just such an one as the soul of palmerston loved. there was danger and excitement, the necessity of decision, the opportunity for action, on every hand. a disciple of canning, with an english gentleman's contempt and dislike of foreign potentates deep in his heart, the spectacle of the popular uprisings, and of the oppressors bundled ignominiously out of the palaces they had disgraced, gave him unbounded pleasure, and he was determined that there should be no doubt whatever, all over the continent, on which side in the great struggle england stood. it was not that he had the slightest tincture in him of philosophical radicalism; he had no philosophical tinctures of any kind; he was quite content to be inconsistent--to be a conservative at home and a liberal abroad. there were very good reasons for keeping the irish in their places; but what had that to do with it? the point was this--when any decent man read an account of the political prisons in naples his gorge rose. he did not want war; but he saw that without war a skilful and determined use of england's power might do much to further the cause of the liberals in europe. it was a difficult and a hazardous game to play, but he set about playing it with delighted alacrity. and then, to his intense annoyance, just as he needed all his nerve and all possible freedom of action, he found himself being hampered and distracted at every turn by ... those people at osborne. he saw what it was; the opposition was systematic and informed, and the queen alone would { } have been incapable of it; the prince was at the bottom of the whole thing. it was exceedingly vexatious; but palmerston was in a hurry, and could not wait; the prince, if he would insist upon interfering, must be brushed on one side. albert was very angry. he highly disapproved both of palmerston's policy and of his methods of action. he was opposed to absolutism; but in his opinion palmerston's proceedings were simply calculated to substitute for absolutism, all over europe, something no better and very possibly worse--the anarchy of faction and mob violence. the dangers of this revolutionary ferment were grave; even in england chartism was rampant--a sinister movement, which might at any moment upset the constitution and abolish the monarchy. surely, with such dangers at home, this was a very bad time to choose for encouraging lawlessness abroad. he naturally took a particular interest in germany. his instincts, his affections, his prepossessions, were ineradicably german; stockmar was deeply involved in german politics; and he had a multitude of relatives among the ruling german families, who, from the midst of the hurly-burly of revolution, wrote him long and agitated letters once a week. having considered the question of germany's future from every point of view, he came to the conclusion, under stockmar's guidance, that the great aim for every lover of germany should be her unification under the sovereignty of prussia. the intricacy of the situation was extreme, and the possibilities of good or evil which every hour might bring forth were incalculable; yet he saw with horror that palmerston neither understood nor cared to understand the niceties of this momentous problem, but rushed on blindly, dealing blows to right { } and left, quite--so far as he could see--without system, and even without motive--except, indeed, a totally unreasonable distrust of the prussian state. but his disagreement with the details of palmerston's policy was in reality merely a symptom of the fundamental differences between the characters of the two men. in albert's eyes palmerston was a coarse, reckless egotist, whose combined arrogance and ignorance must inevitably have their issue in folly and disaster. nothing could be more antipathetic to him than a mind so strangely lacking in patience, in reflection, in principle, and in the habits of ratiocination. for to him it was intolerable to think in a hurry, to jump to slapdash decisions, to act on instincts that could not be explained. everything must be done in due order, with careful premeditation; the premises of the position must first be firmly established; and he must reach the correct conclusion by a regular series of rational steps. in complicated questions--and what questions, rightly looked at, were not complicated?--to commit one's thoughts to paper was the wisest course, and it was the course which albert, laborious though it might be, invariably adopted. it was as well, too, to draw up a reasoned statement after an event, as well as before it; and accordingly, whatever happened, it was always found that the prince had made a memorandum. on one occasion he reduced to six pages of foolscap the substance of a confidential conversation with sir robert peel, and, having read them aloud to him, asked him to append his signature; sir robert, who never liked to commit himself, became extremely uneasy; upon which the prince, understanding that it was necessary to humour the singular susceptibilities of englishmen, with great tact dropped that particular memorandum { } into the fire. but as for palmerston, he never even gave one so much as a chance to read him a memorandum; he positively seemed to dislike discussion; and, before one knew where one was, without any warning whatever, he would plunge into some hare-brained, violent project, which, as likely as not, would logically involve a european war. closely connected, too, with this cautious, painstaking reasonableness of albert's, was his desire to examine questions thoroughly from every point of view, to go down to the roots of things, and to act in strict accordance with some well-defined principle. under stockmar's tutelage he was constantly engaged in enlarging his outlook and in endeavouring to envisage vital problems both theoretically and practically--both with precision and with depth. to one whose mind was thus habitually occupied, the empirical activities of palmerston, who had no notion what a principle meant, resembled the incoherent vagaries of a tiresome child. what did palmerston know of economics, of science, of history? what did he care for morality and education? how much consideration had he devoted in the whole course of his life to the improvement of the condition of the working-classes and to the general amelioration of the human race? the answers to such questions were all too obvious; and yet it is easy to imagine, also, what might have been palmerston's jaunty comment. 'ah! your royal highness is busy with fine schemes and beneficent calculations--exactly! well, as for me, i must say i'm quite satisfied with my morning's work--i've had the iron hurdles taken out of the green park.' the exasperating man, however, preferred to make no comment, and to proceed in smiling silence on his inexcusable way. the process of 'brushing on one { } side' very soon came into operation. important foreign office despatches were either submitted to the queen so late that there was no time to correct them, or they were not submitted to her at all; or, having been submitted, and some passage in them being objected to and an alteration suggested, they were after all sent off in their original form. the queen complained; the prince complained; both complained together. it was quite useless. palmerston was most apologetic--could not understand how it had occurred--must give the clerks a wigging--certainly her majesty's wishes should be attended to, and such a thing should never happen again. but, of course, it very soon happened again, and the royal remonstrances redoubled. victoria, her partisan passions thoroughly aroused, imported into her protests a personal vehemence which those of albert lacked. did lord palmerston forget that she was queen of england? how could she tolerate a state of affairs in which despatches written in her name were sent abroad without her approval or even her knowledge? what could be more derogatory to her position than to be obliged to receive indignant letters from the crowned heads to whom those despatches were addressed--letters which she did not know how to answer, since she so thoroughly agreed with them? she addressed herself to the prime minister. 'no remonstrance has any effect with lord palmerston,' she said.[ ] 'lord palmerston,' she told him on another occasion, 'has as usual pretended not to have had time to submit the draft to the queen before he had sent it off.'[ ] she summoned lord john to her presence, poured out her indignation, and afterwards, on the advice of albert, noted down what had passed in a memorandum: 'i said that i { } thought that lord palmerston often endangered the honour of england by taking a very prejudiced and one-sided view of a question; that his writings were always as bitter as gall and did great harm, which lord john entirely assented to, and that i often felt quite ill from anxiety.'[ ] then she turned to her uncle. 'the state of germany,' she wrote in a comprehensive and despairing review of the european situation, 'is dreadful, and one does feel quite ashamed about that once really so peaceful and happy country. that there are still good people there i am sure, but they allow themselves to be worked upon in a frightful and shameful way. in france a crisis seems at hand. _what_ a very bad figure we cut in this mediation! really it is quite immoral, with ireland quivering in our grasp and ready to throw off her allegiance at any moment, for us to force austria to give up her lawful possessions.[ ] what shall we say if canada, malta, etc., begin to trouble us? it hurts me terribly.'[ ] but what did lord palmerston care? lord john's position grew more and more irksome. he did not approve of his colleague's treatment of the queen. when he begged him to be more careful, he was met with the reply that , despatches passed through the foreign office in a single year, that, if every one of these were to be subjected to the royal criticism, the delay would be most serious, that, as it was, the waste of time and the worry involved in submitting drafts to the meticulous examination of prince albert was almost too much for an overworked minister, and that, as a matter of fact, the postponement of important decisions owing to this cause had already { } produced very unpleasant diplomatic consequences.[ ] these excuses would have impressed lord john more favourably if he had not himself had to suffer from a similar neglect. as often as not palmerston failed to communicate even to him the most important despatches. the foreign secretary was becoming an almost independent power, acting on his own initiative, and swaying the policy of england on his own responsibility. on one occasion, in , he had actually been upon the point of threatening to break off diplomatic relations with france without consulting either the cabinet or the prime minister.[ ] and such incidents were constantly recurring. when this became known to the prince, he saw that his opportunity had come. if he could only drive in to the utmost the wedge between the two statesmen, if he could only secure the alliance of lord john, then the suppression or the removal of lord palmerston would be almost certain to follow. he set about the business with all the pertinacity of his nature. both he and the queen put every kind of pressure upon the prime minister. they wrote, they harangued, they relapsed into awful silence. it occurred to them that lord clarendon, an important member of the cabinet, would be a useful channel for their griefs. they commanded him to dine at the palace, and, directly the meal was over, 'the queen,' as he described it afterwards, 'exploded, and went with the utmost vehemence and bitterness into the whole of palmerston's conduct, all the effects produced all over the world, and all her own feelings and sentiments about it.' when she had finished, the prince took up the tale, with less excitement, but with equal force. lord clarendon found himself { } in an awkward situation; he disliked palmerston's policy, but he was his colleague, and he disapproved of the attitude of his royal hosts. in his opinion, they were 'wrong in wishing that courtiers rather than ministers should conduct the affairs of the country,' and he thought that they 'laboured under the curious mistake that the foreign office was their peculiar department, and that they had the right to control, if not to direct, the foreign policy of england.' he, therefore, with extreme politeness, gave it to be understood that he would not commit himself in any way.[ ] but lord john, in reality, needed no pressure. attacked by his sovereign, ignored by his foreign secretary, he led a miserable life.[ ] with the advent of the dreadful schleswig-holstein question--the most complex in the whole diplomatic history of europe--his position, crushed between the upper and the nether millstones, grew positively unbearable. he became anxious above all things to get palmerston out of the foreign office. but then--supposing palmerston refused to go? in a memorandum made by the prince, at about this time, of an interview between himself, the queen, and the prime minister, we catch a curious glimpse of the states of mind of those three high personages--the anxiety and irritation of lord john, the vehement acrimony of victoria, and the reasonable animosity of albert--drawn together, as it were, under the shadow of an unseen presence, the cause of that celestial anger--the gay, portentous palmerston. at one point in the conversation lord john observed that he believed the foreign secretary would consent to a change of offices; { } lord palmerston, he said, realised that he had lost the queen's confidence--though only on public, and not on personal, grounds. but on that, the prince noted, 'the queen interrupted lord john by remarking that she distrusted him on _personal_ grounds also, but i remarked that lord palmerston had so far at least seen rightly; that he had become disagreeable to the queen, not on account of his person, but of his political doings--to which the queen assented.' then the prince suggested that there was a danger of the cabinet breaking up, and of lord palmerston returning to office as prime minister. but on that point lord john was reassuring: he 'thought lord palmerston too old to do much in the future (having passed his sixty-fifth year).' eventually it was decided that nothing could be done for the present, but that the _utmost secrecy_ must be observed; and so the conclave ended.[ ] at last, in , deliverance seemed to be at hand. there were signs that the public were growing weary of the alarums and excursions of palmerston's diplomacy; and when his support of don pacifico, a british subject, in a quarrel with the greek government, seemed to be upon the point of involving the country in a war not only with greece but also with france, and possibly with russia into the bargain, a heavy cloud of distrust and displeasure appeared to be gathering and about to burst over his head. a motion directed against him in the house of lords was passed by a substantial majority. the question was next to be discussed in the house of commons, where another adverse vote was not improbable, and would seal the doom of the minister. palmerston received the attack with complete nonchalance, and then, at the last possible moment, he struck. { } in a speech of over four hours, in which exposition, invective, argument, declamation, plain talk and resounding eloquence were mingled together with consummate art and extraordinary felicity, he annihilated his enemies. the hostile motion was defeated, and palmerston was once more the hero of the hour. simultaneously, atropos herself conspired to favour him. sir robert peel was thrown from his horse and killed. by this tragic chance, palmerston saw the one rival great enough to cope with him removed from his path. he judged--and judged rightly--that he was the most popular man in england; and when lord john revived the project of his exchanging the foreign office for some other position in the cabinet, he absolutely refused to stir.[ ] great was the disappointment of albert; great was the indignation of victoria. 'the house of commons,' she wrote, 'is becoming very unmanageable and troublesome.'[ ] the prince, perceiving that palmerston was more firmly fixed in the saddle than ever, decided that something drastic must be done. five months before, the prescient baron had drawn up, in case of emergency, a memorandum, which had been carefully docketed, and placed in a pigeon-hole ready to hand. the emergency had now arisen, and the memorandum must be used. the queen copied out the words of stockmar, and sent them to the prime minister, requesting him to show her letter to palmerston. 'she thinks it right,' she wrote, 'in order _to prevent any mistake for the future_, shortly to explain _what it is she expects from her foreign secretary_. she requires: ( ) that he will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the queen may know as distinctly to _what_ she has given her royal sanction; ( ) having _once given_ her sanction { } to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister; such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that minister.'[ ] lord john russell did as he was bid, and forwarded the queen's letter to lord palmerston. this transaction, which was of grave constitutional significance, was entirely unknown to the outside world. if palmerston had been a sensitive man, he would probably have resigned on the receipt of the queen's missive. but he was far from sensitive; he loved power, and his power was greater than ever; an unerring instinct told him that this was not the time to go. nevertheless, he was seriously perturbed. he understood at last that he was struggling with a formidable adversary, whose skill and strength, unless they were mollified, might do irreparable injury to his career. he therefore wrote to lord john, briefly acquiescing in the queen's requirements--'i have taken a copy of this memorandum of the queen and will not fail to attend to the directions which it contains'--and at the same time, he asked for an interview with the prince. albert at once summoned him to the palace, and was astonished to observe, as he noted in a memorandum, that when palmerston entered the room 'he was very much agitated, shook, and had tears in his eyes, so as quite to move me, who never under any circumstances had known him otherwise than with a bland smile on his face.' the old statesman was profuse in protestations and excuses; the young one was coldly polite. at last, after a long and inconclusive conversation, the prince, drawing himself up, said that, in order to give lord { } palmerston 'an example of what the queen wanted,' he would 'ask him a question point-blank.' lord palmerston waited in respectful silence, while the prince proceeded as follows:--'you are aware that the queen has objected to the protocol about schleswig, and of the grounds on which she has done so. her opinion has been overruled, the protocol stating the desire of the great powers to see the integrity of the danish monarchy preserved has been signed, and upon this the king of denmark has invaded schleswig, where the war is raging. if holstein is attacked also, which is likely, the germans will not be restrained from flying to her assistance, and russia has menaced to interfere with arms, if the schleswigers are successful. what will you do, if this emergency arises (provoking most likely an european war), and which will arise very probably when we shall be at balmoral and lord john in another part of scotland? the queen expects from your foresight that you have contemplated this possibility, and requires a categorical answer as to what you would do in the event supposed.' strangely enough, to this point-blank question, the foreign secretary appeared to be unable to reply. the whole matter, he said, was extremely complicated, and the contingencies mentioned by his royal highness were very unlikely to arise. the prince persisted; but it was useless; for a full hour he struggled to extract a categorical answer, until at length palmerston bowed himself out of the room. albert threw up his hands in shocked amazement: what could one do with such a man?[ ] what indeed? for, in spite of all his apologies and all his promises, within a few weeks the incorrigible reprobate was at his tricks again. the austrian { } general haynau, notorious as a rigorous suppressor of rebellion in hungary and italy, and in particular as a flogger of women, came to england and took it into his head to pay a visit to messrs. barclay and perkins's brewery. the features of 'general hyæna,' as he was everywhere called--his grim thin face, his enormous pepper-and-salt moustaches--had gained a horrid celebrity; and it so happened that among the clerks at the brewery there was a refugee from vienna, who had given his fellow-workers a first-hand account of the general's characteristics. the austrian ambassador, scenting danger, begged his friend not to appear in public, or, if he must do so, to cut off his moustaches first. but the general would take no advice. he went to the brewery, was immediately recognised, surrounded by a crowd of angry draymen, pushed about, shouted at, punched in the ribs, and pulled by the moustaches until, bolting down an alley with the mob at his heels brandishing brooms and roaring 'hyaena!' he managed to take refuge in a public-house, whence he was removed under the protection of several policemen. the austrian government was angry and demanded explanations. palmerston, who, of course, was privately delighted by the incident, replied regretting what had occurred, but adding that in his opinion the general had 'evinced a want of propriety in coming to england at the present moment'; and he delivered his note to the ambassador without having previously submitted it to the queen or to the prime minister. naturally, when this was discovered, there was a serious storm. the prince was especially indignant; the conduct of the draymen he regarded, with disgust and alarm, as 'a slight foretaste of what an unregulated mass of illiterate people is capable'; and palmerston { } was requested by lord john to withdraw his note, and to substitute for it another from which all censure of the general had been omitted. on this the foreign secretary threatened resignation, but the prime minister was firm. for a moment the royal hopes rose high, only to be dashed to the ground again by the cruel compliance of the enemy. palmerston, suddenly lamb-like, agreed to everything; the note was withdrawn and altered, and peace was patched up once more.[ ] it lasted for a year, and then, in october , the arrival of kossuth in england brought on another crisis. palmerston's desire to receive the hungarian patriot at his house in london was vetoed by lord john; once more there was a sharp struggle; once more palmerston, after threatening resignation, yielded. but still the insubordinate man could not keep quiet. a few weeks later a deputation of radicals from finsbury and islington waited on him at the foreign office and presented him with an address, in which the emperors of austria and russia were stigmatised as 'odious and detestable assassins' and 'merciless tyrants and despots.' the foreign secretary in his reply, while mildly deprecating these expressions, allowed his real sentiments to appear with a most undiplomatic _insouciance_. there was an immediate scandal, and the court flowed over with rage and vituperation. 'i think,' said the baron, 'the man has been for some time insane.' victoria, in an agitated letter, urged lord john to assert his authority. but lord john perceived that on this matter the foreign secretary had the support of public opinion, and he judged it wiser to bide his time.[ ] { } he had not long to wait. the culmination of the long series of conflicts, threats, and exacerbations came before the year was out. on december , louis napoleon's _coup d'état_ took place in paris; and on the following day palmerston, without consulting anybody, expressed in a conversation with the french ambassador his approval of napoleon's act. two days later, he was instructed by the prime minister, in accordance with a letter from the queen, that it was the policy of the english government to maintain an attitude of strict neutrality towards the affairs of france. nevertheless, in an official despatch to the british ambassador in paris, he repeated the approval of the _coup d'état_ which he had already given verbally to the french ambassador in london. this despatch was submitted neither to the queen nor to the prime minister. lord john's patience, as he himself said, 'was drained to the last drop.' he dismissed lord palmerston.[ ] victoria was in ecstasies; and albert knew that the triumph was his even more than lord john's. it was his wish that lord granville, a young man whom he believed to be pliant to his influence, should be palmerston's successor; and lord granville was appointed. henceforward, it seemed that the prince would have his way in foreign affairs. after years of struggle and mortification, success greeted him on every hand. in his family, he was an adored master; in the country, the great exhibition had brought him respect and glory; and now in the secret seats of power he had gained a new supremacy. he had wrestled with the terrible lord palmerston, the embodiment of { } all that was most hostile to him in the spirit of england, and his redoubtable opponent had been overthrown.[ ] was england herself at his feet? it might be so; and yet ... it is said that the sons of england have a certain tiresome quality: they never know when they are beaten. it was odd, but palmerston was positively still jaunty. was it possible? could he believe, in his blind arrogance, that even his ignominious dismissal from office was something that could be brushed aside? iii the prince's triumph was short-lived. a few weeks later, owing to palmerston's influence, the government was defeated in the house, and lord john resigned. then, after a short interval, a coalition between the whigs and the followers of peel came into power, under the premiership of lord aberdeen. once more, palmerston was in the cabinet. it was true that he did not return to the foreign office; that was something to the good; in the home department it might be hoped that his activities would be less dangerous and disagreeable. but the foreign secretary was no longer the complacent granville; and in lord clarendon the prince knew that he had a minister to deal with, who, discreet and courteous as he was, had a mind of his own. these changes, however, were merely the preliminaries of a far more serious development. events, on every side, were moving towards a catastrophe. suddenly the nation found itself under the awful shadow of imminent war. for several months, amid the { } shifting mysteries of diplomacy and the perplexed agitations of politics, the issue grew more doubtful and more dark, while the national temper was strained to the breaking-point. at the very crisis of the long and ominous negotiations, it was announced that lord palmerston had resigned. then the pent-up fury of the people burst forth. they had felt that in the terrible complexity of events they were being guided by weak and embarrassed counsels; but they had been reassured by the knowledge that at the centre of power there was one man with strength, with courage, with determination, in whom they could put their trust. they now learnt that that man was no longer among their leaders. why? in their rage, anxiety, and nervous exhaustion, they looked round desperately for some hidden and horrible explanation of what had occurred. they suspected plots, they smelt treachery in the air. it was easy to guess the object upon which their frenzy would vent itself. was there not a foreigner in the highest of high places, a foreigner whose hostility to their own adored champion was unrelenting and unconcealed? the moment that palmerston's resignation was known, there was a universal outcry; and an extraordinary tempest of anger and hatred burst, with unparalleled violence, upon the head of the prince. it was everywhere asserted and believed that the queen's husband was a traitor to the country, that he was a tool of the russian court, that in obedience to russian influences he had forced palmerston out of the government, and that he was directing the foreign policy of england in the interests of england's enemies. for many weeks these accusations filled the whole of the { } press; repeated at public meetings, elaborated in private talk, they flew over the country, growing every moment more extreme and more improbable. while respectable newspapers thundered out their grave invectives, halfpenny broadsides, hawked through the streets of london, re-echoed in doggerel vulgarity the same sentiments and the same suspicions.[ ] at last the wildest rumours began to spread. in january , it was whispered that the prince had been seized, that he had been found guilty of high treason, that he was to be committed to the tower. the queen herself, some declared, had been arrested, { } and large crowds actually collected round the tower to watch the incarceration of the royal miscreants.[ ] these fantastic hallucinations were the result of the fevered atmosphere of approaching war. the cause of palmerston's resignation, indeed, remains wrapped in obscurity, and it is possible that it was brought about by the continued hostility of the court.[ ] but the supposition that albert's influence had been used to favour the interests of russia was devoid of any basis in actual fact. as often happens in such cases, the government had been swinging backwards and forwards between two incompatible policies--that of non-interference and that of threats supported by force--either of which, if consistently followed, might well have had a successful and peaceful issue, but which, mingled together, could only lead to war. albert, with characteristic scrupulosity, attempted to thread his way through the complicated labyrinth of european diplomacy, and eventually was lost in the maze. but so was the whole of the cabinet; and, when war came, his anti-russian feelings were quite as vehement as those of the most bellicose of englishmen. nevertheless, though the gravest of the charges levelled against the prince were certainly without foundation, there were underlying elements in the situation { } which explained, if they did not justify, the popular state of mind. it was true that the queen's husband was a foreigner, who had been brought up in a foreign court, was impregnated with foreign ideas, and was closely related to a multitude of foreign princes. clearly this, though perhaps an unavoidable, was an undesirable, state of affairs; nor were the objections to it merely theoretical; it had in fact produced unpleasant consequences of a serious kind. the prince's german proclivities were perpetually lamented by english ministers; lord palmerston, lord clarendon, lord aberdeen,[ ] all told the same tale; and it was constantly necessary, in grave questions of national policy, to combat the prepossessions of a court in which german views and german sentiments held a disproportionate place. as for palmerston, his language on this topic was apt to be unbridled. at the height of his annoyance over his resignation, he roundly declared that he had been made a victim to foreign intrigue.[ ] he afterwards toned down this accusation; but the mere fact that such a suggestion from such a quarter was possible at all showed to what unfortunate consequences albert's foreign birth and foreign upbringing might lead. but this was not all. a constitutional question of the most profound importance was raised by the position of the prince in england. his presence gave a new prominence to an old problem--the precise definition of the functions and the powers of the crown. those functions and powers had become, in effect, his; and { } what sort of use was he making of them? his views as to the place of the crown in the constitution are easily ascertainable; for they were stockmar's; and it happens that we possess a detailed account of stockmar's opinions upon the subject in a long letter addressed by him to the prince at the time of this very crisis, just before the outbreak of the crimean war. constitutional monarchy, according to the baron, had suffered an eclipse since the passing of the reform bill. it was now 'constantly in danger of becoming a pure ministerial government.' the old race of tories, who 'had a direct interest in upholding the prerogatives of the crown,' had died out; and the whigs were 'nothing but partly conscious, partly unconscious republicans, who stand in the same relation to the throne as the wolf does to the lamb.' there was a rule that it was unconstitutional to introduce 'the name and person of the irresponsible sovereign' into parliamentary debates on constitutional matters; this was 'a constitutional fiction, which, although undoubtedly of old standing, was fraught with danger'; and the baron warned the prince that 'if the english crown permit a whig ministry to follow this rule in practice, without exception, you must not wonder if in a little time you find the majority of the people impressed with the belief that the king, in the view of the law, is nothing but a mandarin figure, which has to nod its head in assent, or shake it in denial, as his minister pleases.' to prevent this from happening, it was of extreme importance, said the baron, 'that no opportunity should be let slip of vindicating the legitimate position of the crown.' 'and this is not hard to do,' he added, 'and can never embarrass a minister where such straightforward loyal personages as the queen and { } the prince are concerned.' in his opinion, the very lowest claim of the royal prerogative should include 'a right on the part of the king to be the permanent president of his ministerial council.' the sovereign ought to be 'in the position of a permanent premier, who takes rank above the temporary head of the cabinet, and in matters of discipline exercises supreme authority.' the sovereign 'may even take a part in the initiation and the maturing of the government measures; for it would be unreasonable to expect that a king, himself as able, as accomplished, and as patriotic as the best of his ministers, should be prevented from making use of these qualities at the deliberations of his council.' 'the judicious exercise of this right,' concluded the baron, 'which certainly requires a master mind, would not only be the best guarantee for constitutional monarchy, but would raise it to a height of power, stability, and symmetry, which has never been attained.'[ ] now it may be that this reading of the constitution is a possible one, though indeed it is hard to see how it can be made compatible with the fundamental doctrine of ministerial responsibility. william iii presided over his council, and he was a constitutional monarch; and it seems that stockmar had in his mind a conception of the crown which would have given it a place in the constitution analogous to that which it filled at the time of william iii. but it is clear that such a theory, which would invest the crown with more power than it possessed even under george iii, runs counter to the whole development of english public life since the revolution; and the fact that it was held by stockmar, and instilled by him into albert, was of very serious { } importance. for there was good reason to believe not only that these doctrines were held by albert in theory, but that he was making a deliberate and sustained attempt to give them practical validity. the history of the struggle between the crown and palmerston provided startling evidence that this was the case. that struggle reached its culmination when, in stockmar's memorandum of , the queen asserted her 'constitutional right' to dismiss the foreign secretary if he altered a despatch which had received her sanction. the memorandum was, in fact, a plain declaration that the crown intended to act independently of the prime minister. lord john russell, anxious at all costs to strengthen himself against palmerston, accepted the memorandum, and thereby implicitly allowed the claim of the crown. more than that; after the dismissal of palmerston, among the grounds on which lord john justified that dismissal in the house of commons he gave a prominent place to the memorandum of . it became apparent that the displeasure of the sovereign might be a reason for the removal of a powerful and popular minister. it seemed indeed as if, under the guidance of stockmar and albert, the 'constitutional monarchy' might in very truth be rising 'to a height of power, stability, and symmetry, which had never been attained.' but this new development in the position of the crown, grave as it was in itself, was rendered peculiarly disquieting by the unusual circumstances which surrounded it. for the functions of the crown were now, in effect, being exercised by a person unknown to the constitution, who wielded over the sovereign an undefined and unbounded influence. the fact that this person was the sovereign's husband, while it { } explained his influence and even made it inevitable, by no means diminished its strange and momentous import. an ambiguous, prepotent figure had come to disturb the ancient, subtle, and jealously guarded balance of the english constitution. such had been the unexpected outcome of the tentative and faint-hearted opening of albert's political life. he himself made no attempt to minimise either the multiplicity or the significance of the functions he performed. he considered that it was his duty, he told the duke of wellington in , to 'sink his _own individual_ existence in that of his wife ... --assume no separate responsibility before the public, but make his position entirely a part of hers--fill up every gap which, as a woman, she would naturally leave in the exercise of her regal functions--continually and anxiously watch every part of the public business, in order to be able to advise and assist her at any moment in any of the multifarious and difficult questions or duties brought before her, sometimes international, sometimes political, or social, or personal. as the natural head of her family, superintendent of her household, manager of her private affairs, sole _confidential_ adviser in politics, and only assistant in her communications with the officers of the government, he is, besides, the husband of the queen, the tutor of the royal children, the private secretary of the sovereign, and her permanent minister.'[ ] stockmar's pupil had assuredly gone far and learnt well. stockmar's pupil!--precisely; the public, painfully aware of albert's predominance, had grown, too, uneasily conscious that victoria's master had a master of his own. deep in the darkness the baron loomed. another foreigner! decidedly, there were elements { } in the situation which went far to justify the popular alarm. a foreign baron controlled a foreign prince, and the foreign prince controlled the crown of england. and the crown itself was creeping forward ominously; and when, from under its shadow, the baron and the prince had frowned, a great minister, beloved of the people, had fallen. where was all this to end? within a few weeks palmerston withdrew his resignation, and the public frenzy subsided as quickly as it had arisen. when parliament met, the leaders of both the parties in both the houses made speeches in favour of the prince, asserting his unimpeachable loyalty to the country and vindicating his right to advise the sovereign in all matters of state. victoria was delighted. 'the position of my beloved lord and master,' she told the baron, 'has been defined for once and all and his merits have been acknowledged on all sides most duly. there was an immense concourse of people assembled when we went to the house of lords, and the people were very friendly.'[ ] immediately afterwards, the country finally plunged into the crimean war. in the struggle that followed, albert's patriotism was put beyond a doubt, and the animosities of the past were forgotten. but the war had another consequence, less gratifying to the royal couple: it crowned the ambition of lord palmerston. in , the man who five years before had been pronounced by lord john russell to be 'too old to do much in the future,' became prime minister of england, and, with one short interval, remained in that position for ten years. [ ] martin, i, - ; _letters_, i, - . [ ] bunsen, ii, . [ ] dalling, i, . [ ] dalling, iii, - . [ ] ashley, ii, . [ ] greville, vi, . [ ] _letters_, i, . [ ] _letters_, ii, - . [ ] dalling, iii, chaps. vii and viii; stockmar, cap. xxi. [ ] _letters_, ii, . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] _letters_, ii, . [ ] venice and lombardy. [ ] _letters_, ii, . [ ] _letters_, ii, ; ashley, ii, - . [ ] greville, vi, - . [ ] greville, vi, - ; clarendon, i, . [ ] clarendon, i, , . [ ] _letters_, ii, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, - . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] _letters_, ii, and . [ ] martin, ii, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, - ; martin, ii, - ; ashley, ii, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, - ; martin, ii, - ; spencer walpole, ii, - ; stockmar, ; greville, vi, - . [ ] _letters_, ii, - ; martin, ii, - ; ashley, ii, - ; walpole, ii, - ; clarendon, i, . [ ] ernest, iii, . [ ] 'the turkish war both far and near has played the very deuce then, and little al, the royal pal, they say has turned a russian; old aberdeen, as may be seen, looks woeful pale and yellow, and old john bull had his belly full of dirty russian tallow. _chorus_. 'we'll send him home and make him groan, oh, al! you've played the deuce then; the german lad has acted sad and turned tail with the russians. * * * * 'last monday night, all in a fright, al out of bed did tumble. the german lad was raving mad, how he did groan and grumble! he cried to vic, "i've cut my stick: to st. petersburg go right slap." when vic, 'tis said, jumped out of bed, and wopped him with her night-cap.' from _lovely albert!_ a broadside preserved at the british museum; martin, ii, - ; greville, vii, - . [ ] martin, ii, , . 'you jolly turks, now go to work, and show the bear your power. it is rumoured over britain's isle that a---- is in the tower; the postmen some suspicion had, and opened the two letters, 'twas a pity sad the german lad should not have known much better.' _lovely albert!_ [ ] kinglake, ii, - . [ ] 'aberdeen spoke much of the queen and prince, of course with great praise. he said the prince's views were generally sound and wise, with one exception, which was his violent and incorrigible german unionism. he goes all lengths with prussia.'--greville, vi, . [ ] ashley, ii, . [ ] martin, ii, - . [ ] martin, ii, - . [ ] martin, ii, - . [illustration: queen victoria and the prince consort in .] { } chapter vi last years of the prince consort i the weak-willed youth who took no interest in politics and never read a newspaper had grown into a man of unbending determination whose tireless energies were incessantly concentrated upon the laborious business of government and the highest questions of state. he was busy now from morning till night. in the winter, before the dawn, he was to be seen, seated at his writing-table, working by the light of the green reading-lamp which he had brought over with him from germany, and the construction of which he had much improved by an ingenious device. victoria was early too, but she was not so early as albert; and when, in the chill darkness, she took her seat at her own writing-table, placed side by side with his, she invariably found upon it a neat pile of papers arranged for her inspection and her signature.[ ] the day, thus begun, continued in unremitting industry. at breakfast, the newspapers--the once hated newspapers--made their appearance, and the prince, absorbed in their perusal, would answer no questions, or, if an article struck him, would read it aloud. after that there were ministers and secretaries to interview; there was a vast correspondence to be carried on; there were numerous { } memoranda to be made. victoria, treasuring every word, preserving every letter, was all breathless attention and eager obedience. sometimes albert would actually ask her advice. he consulted her about his english: 'lese recht aufmerksam, und sage wenn irgend ein fehler ist,'[ ] he would say; or, as he handed her a draft for her signature, he would observe 'ich hab' dir hier ein draft gemacht, lese es mal! ich dächte es wäre recht so.'[ ] thus the diligent, scrupulous, absorbing hours passed by. fewer and fewer grew the moments of recreation and of exercise. the demands of society were narrowed down to the smallest limits, and even then but grudgingly attended to. it was no longer a mere pleasure, it was a positive necessity, to go to bed as early as possible in order to be up and at work on the morrow betimes.[ ] the important and exacting business of government, which became at last the dominating preoccupation in albert's mind, still left unimpaired his old tastes and interests; he remained devoted to art, to science, to philosophy; and a multitude of subsidiary activities showed how his energies increased as the demands upon them grew. for whenever duty called, the prince was all alertness. with indefatigable perseverance he opened museums, laid the foundation-stones of hospitals, made speeches to the royal agricultural society, and attended meetings of the british association.[ ] the national gallery particularly interested him: he drew up careful regulations for the arrangement of the pictures according to schools; and he attempted--though { } in vain--to have the whole collection transported to south kensington.[ ] feodora, now the princess hohenlohe, after a visit to england, expressed in a letter to victoria her admiration of albert both as a private and a public character. nor did she rely only on her own opinion. 'i must just copy out,' she said, 'what mr. klumpp wrote to me some little time ago, and which is quite true.--"prince albert is one of the few royal personages who can sacrifice to any principle (as soon as it has become evident to them to be good and noble) all those notions (or sentiments) to which others, owing to their narrow-mindedness, or to the prejudices of their rank, are so thoroughly inclined strongly to cling."--there is something so truly religious in this,' the princess added, 'as well as humane and just, most soothing to my feelings which are so often hurt and disturbed by what i hear and see.'[ ] victoria, from the depth of her heart, subscribed to all the eulogies of feodora and mr. klumpp. she only found that they were insufficient. as she watched her beloved albert, after toiling with state documents and public functions, devoting every spare moment of his time to domestic duties, to artistic appreciation, and to intellectual improvements; as she listened to him cracking his jokes at the luncheon-table, or playing mendelssohn on the organ, or pointing out the merits of sir edwin landseer's pictures; as she followed him round while he gave instructions about the breeding of cattle, or decided that the gainsboroughs must be hung higher up so that the winterhalters might be properly seen--she felt perfectly certain that no other wife had ever had such a husband. his mind was apparently capable of everything, and she was hardly { } surprised to learn that he had made an important discovery for the conversion of sewage into agricultural manure. filtration from below upwards, he explained, through some appropriate medium, which retained the solids and set free the fluid sewage for irrigation, was the principle of the scheme. 'all previous plans,' he said, 'would have cost millions; mine costs next to nothing.' unfortunately, owing to a slight miscalculation, the invention proved to be impracticable; but albert's intelligence was unrebuffed, and he passed on, to plunge with all his accustomed ardour into a prolonged study of the rudiments of lithography.[ ] but naturally it was upon his children that his private interests and those of victoria were concentrated most vigorously. the royal nurseries showed no sign of emptying. the birth of the prince arthur in was followed, three years later, by that of the prince leopold; and in the princess beatrice was born. a family of nine must be, in any circumstances, a grave responsibility; and the prince realised to the full how much the high destinies of his offspring intensified the need of parental care. it was inevitable that he should believe profoundly in the importance of education; he himself had been the product of education; stockmar had made him what he was; it was for him, in his turn, to be a stockmar--to be even more than a stockmar--to the young creatures he had brought into the world. victoria would assist him; a stockmar, no doubt, she could hardly be; but she could be perpetually vigilant, she could mingle strictness with her affection, and she could always set a good example. these considerations, of course, applied pre-eminently to the education of the prince of wales. how tremendous was the significance { } of every particle of influence which went to the making of the future king of england! albert set to work with a will. but, watching with victoria the minutest details of the physical, intellectual, and moral training of his children, he soon perceived, to his distress, that there was something unsatisfactory in the development of his eldest son. the princess royal was an extremely intelligent child; but bertie, though he was good-humoured and gentle, seemed to display a deep-seated repugnance to every form of mental exertion. this was most regrettable, but the remedy was obvious: the parental efforts must be redoubled; instruction must be multiplied; not for a single instant must the educational pressure be allowed to relax. accordingly, more tutors were selected, the curriculum was revised, the time-table of studies was rearranged, elaborate memoranda dealing with every possible contingency were drawn up. it was above all essential that there should be no slackness: 'work,' said the prince, 'must be work.' and work indeed it was. the boy grew up amid a ceaseless round of paradigms, syntactical exercises, dates, genealogical tables, and lists of capes. constant notes flew backwards and forwards between the prince, the queen, and the tutors, with inquiries, with reports of progress, with detailed recommendations; and these notes were all carefully preserved for future reference. it was, besides, vital that the heir to the throne should be protected from the slightest possibility of contamination from the outside world. the prince of wales was not as other boys; he might, occasionally, be allowed to invite some sons of the nobility, boys of good character, to play with him in the garden of buckingham palace; but his father presided, with alarming precision, over their sports. in short, every { } possible precaution was taken, every conceivable effort was made. yet, strange to say, the object of all this vigilance and solicitude continued to be unsatisfactory--appeared, in fact, to be positively growing worse. it was certainly very odd: the more lessons that bertie had to do, the less he did them; and the more carefully he was guarded against excitements and frivolities, the more desirous of mere amusement he seemed to become. albert was deeply grieved and victoria was sometimes very angry; but grief and anger produced no more effect than supervision and time-tables. the prince of wales, in spite of everything, grew up into manhood without the faintest sign of 'adherence to and perseverance in the plan both of studies and life'--as one of the royal memoranda put it--which had been laid down with such extraordinary forethought by his father.[ ] ii against the insidious worries of politics, the boredom of society functions, and the pompous publicity of state ceremonies, osborne had afforded a welcome refuge; but it soon appeared that even osborne was too little removed from the world. after all, the solent was a feeble barrier. oh, for some distant, some almost inaccessible sanctuary, where, in true domestic privacy, one could make happy holiday, just as if--or at least very, very, nearly--one were anybody else! victoria, ever since, together with albert, she had visited scotland in the early years of her marriage, had felt that her heart was in the highlands. she had { } returned to them a few years later, and her passion had grown. how romantic they were! and how albert enjoyed them too! his spirits rose quite wonderfully as soon as he found himself among the hills and the conifers. 'it is a happiness to see him,' she wrote. 'oh! what can equal the beauties of nature!' she exclaimed in her journal, during one of these visits. 'what enjoyment there is in them! albert enjoys it so much; he is in ecstasies here.' 'albert said,' she noted next day, 'that the chief beauty of mountain scenery consists in its frequent changes. we came home at six o'clock.' then she went on a longer expedition--up to the very top of a high hill. 'it was quite romantic. here we were with only this highlander behind us holding the ponies (for we got off twice and walked about) .... we came home at half past eleven,--the most delightful, most romantic ride and walk i ever had. i had never been up such a mountain, and then the day was so fine. the highlanders, too, were such astonishing people. they 'never make difficulties,' she noted, 'but are cheerful, and happy, and merry, and ready to walk, and run, and do anything.' as for albert he 'highly appreciated the good-breeding, simplicity, and intelligence, which make it so pleasant and even instructive to talk to them.' 'we were always in the habit,' wrote her majesty, 'of conversing with the highlanders--with whom one comes so much in contact in the highlands.' she loved everything about them--their customs, their dress, their dances, even their musical instruments. 'there were nine pipers at the castle,' she wrote, after staying with lord breadalbane; 'sometimes one and sometimes three played. they always played about breakfast-time, again during the { } morning, at luncheon, and also whenever we went in and out; again before dinner, and during most of dinner-time. we both have become quite fond of the bag-pipes.'[ ] it was quite impossible not to wish to return to such pleasures again and again; and in the queen took a lease of balmoral house, a small residence near braemar in the wilds of aberdeenshire. four years later she bought the place outright. now she could be really happy every summer; now she could be simple and at her ease; now she could be romantic every evening, and dote upon albert, without a single distraction, all day long. the diminutive scale of the house was in itself a charm. nothing was more amusing than to find oneself living in two or three little sitting-rooms, with the children crammed away upstairs, and the minister in attendance with only a tiny bedroom to do all his work in. and then to be able to run in and out of doors as one liked, and to sketch, and to walk, and to watch the red deer coming so surprisingly close, and to pay visits to the cottagers! and occasionally one could be more adventurous still--one could go and stay for a night or two at the bothie at alt-na-giuthasach--a mere couple of huts with 'a wooden addition'--and only eleven people in the whole party! and there were mountains to be climbed and cairns to be built in solemn pomp. 'at last, when the cairn, which is, i think, seven or eight feet high, was nearly completed, albert climbed up to the top of it, and placed the last stone; after which three cheers were given. it was a gay, pretty, and touching sight; and i felt almost inclined to cry. the view was so beautiful over the dear hills; the day so fine; the { } whole so _gemüthlich_.'[ ] and in the evening there were sword-dances and reels. but albert had determined to pull down the little old house, and to build in its place a castle of his own designing. with great ceremony, in accordance with a memorandum drawn up by the prince for the occasion, the foundation-stone of the new edifice was laid,[ ] and by it was habitable. spacious, built of granite in the scotch baronial style, with a tower feet high, and minor turrets and castellated gables, the castle was skilfully arranged to command the finest views of the surrounding mountains and of the neighbouring river dee. upon the interior decorations albert and victoria lavished all their care. the walls and the floors were of pitch-pine, and covered with specially manufactured tartans. the balmoral tartan, in red and grey, designed by the prince, and the victoria tartan, with a white stripe, designed by the queen, were to be seen in every room: there were tartan curtains, and tartan chair-covers, and even tartan linoleums. occasionally the royal stuart tartan appeared, for her majesty always maintained that she was an ardent jacobite. water-colour sketches by victoria hung upon the walls, together with innumerable stags' antlers, and the head of a boar, which had been shot by albert in germany. in an alcove in the hall stood a life-sized statue of albert in highland dress.[ ] victoria declared that it was perfection. 'every year,' she wrote, 'my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise, and so much more so now, that _all_ has become my dear albert's _own_ creation, own work, own { } building, own laying-out; ... and his great taste, and the impress of his dear hand, have been stamped everywhere.'[ ] and here, in very truth, her happiest days were passed. in after years, when she looked back upon them, a kind of glory, a radiance as of an unearthly holiness, seemed to glow about these golden hours. each hallowed moment stood out clear, beautiful, eternally significant. for, at the time, every experience there, sentimental, or grave, or trivial, had come upon her with a peculiar vividness, like a flashing of marvellous lights. albert's stalkings--an evening walk when she lost her way--vicky sitting down on a wasps' nest--a torchlight dance--with what intensity such things, and ten thousand like them, impressed themselves upon her eager consciousness! and how she flew to her journal to note them down! the news of the duke's death! what a moment!--when, as she sat sketching after a picnic by a loch in the lonely hills, lord derby's letter had been brought to her, and she had learnt that '_england's_, or rather _britain's_ pride, her glory, her hero, the greatest man she had ever produced, was no more!' for such were her reflections upon the 'old rebel' of former days. but that past had been utterly obliterated--no faintest memory of it remained. for years she had looked up to the duke as a figure almost superhuman. had he not been a supporter of good sir robert? had he not asked albert to succeed him as commander-in-chief? and what a proud moment it had been when he stood as sponsor to her son arthur, who was born on his eighty-first birthday! so now she filled a whole page of her diary with panegyrical regrets. 'his position was the highest a subject ever { } had--above party,--looked up to by all,--revered by the whole nation,--the friend of the sovereign ... the crown never possessed,--and i fear never _will_--so _devoted_, loyal, and faithful a subject, so staunch a supporter! to us his loss is _irreparable_ ... to albert he showed the greatest kindness and the utmost confidence ... not an eye will be dry in the whole country.'[ ] these were serious thoughts; but they were soon succeeded by others hardly less moving--by events as impossible to forget--by mr. macleod's sermon on nicodemus,--by the gift of a red flannel petticoat to mrs. p. farquharson, and another to old kitty kear.[ ] but, without doubt, most memorable, most delightful of all were the expeditions--the rare, exciting expeditions up distant mountains, across broad rivers, through strange country, and lasting several days. with only two gillies--grant and brown--for servants, and with assumed names ... it was more like something in a story than real life. 'we had decided to call ourselves _lord and lady churchill and party_--lady churchill passing as _miss spencer_ and general grey as _dr. grey_! brown once forgot this and called me "your majesty" as i was getting into the carriage, and grant on the box once called albert "your royal highness," which set us off laughing, but no one observed it.' strong, vigorous, enthusiastic, bringing, so it seemed, good fortune with her--the highlanders declared she had 'a lucky foot'--she relished everything--the scrambles and the views and the contretemps and the rough inns with their coarse fare and brown and grant waiting at table. she could have gone on for ever and ever, absolutely happy with albert beside her and brown at { } her pony's head. but the time came for turning homewards; alas! the time came for going back to england. she could hardly bear it; she sat disconsolate in her room and watched the snow falling. the last day! oh! if only she could be snowed up![ ] iii the crimean war brought new experiences, and most of them were pleasant ones. it was pleasant to be patriotic and pugnacious, to look out appropriate prayers to be read in the churches, to have news of glorious victories, and to know oneself, more proudly than ever, the representative of england. with that spontaneity of feeling which was so peculiarly her own, victoria poured out her emotion, her admiration, her pity, her love, upon her 'dear soldiers.' when she gave them their medals her exultation knew no bounds. 'noble fellows!' she wrote to the king of the belgians. 'i own i feel as if these were _my own children_; my heart beats for _them_ as for my _nearest and dearest_. they were so touched, so pleased; many, i hear, cried--and they won't hear of giving up their medals to have their names engraved upon them for fear they should _not_ receive the _identical one_ put into _their hands by me_, which is quite touching. several came by in a sadly mutilated state.'[ ] she and they were at one. they felt that she had done them a splendid honour, and she, with perfect genuineness, shared their feeling. albert's attitude towards such things was different; there was an austerity in him which quite prohibited the expansions of emotion. when general williams returned { } from the heroic defence of kars and was presented at court, the quick, stiff, distant bow with which the prince received him struck like ice upon the beholders.[ ] he was a stranger still. but he had other things to occupy him, more important, surely, than the personal impressions of military officers and people who went to court. he was at work--ceaselessly at work--on the tremendous task of carrying through the war to a successful conclusion. state papers, despatches, memoranda, poured from him in an overwhelming stream. between and fifty folio volumes were filled with the comments of his pen upon the eastern question.[ ] nothing would induce him to stop. weary ministers staggered under the load of his advice; but his advice continued, piling itself up over their writing-tables, and flowing out upon them from red box after red box. nor was it advice to be ignored. the talent for administration which had reorganised the royal palaces and planned the great exhibition asserted itself no less in the confused complexities of war. again and again the prince's suggestions, rejected or unheeded at first, were adopted under the stress of circumstances and found to be full of value. the enrolment of a foreign legion, the establishment of a depôt for troops at malta, the institution of periodical reports and tabulated returns as to the condition of the army at sebastopol--such were the contrivances and the achievements of his indefatigable brain. he went further: in a lengthy minute he laid down the lines for a radical reform in the entire administration of the army. this was premature, but his proposal that 'a camp of evolution' should be created, in which troops should { } be concentrated and drilled, proved to be the germ of aldershot.[ ] meanwhile victoria had made a new friend: she had suddenly been captivated by napoleon iii. her dislike of him had been strong at first. she considered that he was a disreputable adventurer who had usurped the throne of poor old louis philippe; and besides he was hand-in-glove with lord palmerston. for a long time, although he was her ally, she was unwilling to meet him; but at last a visit of the emperor and empress to england was arranged. directly he appeared at windsor her heart began to soften. she found that she was charmed by his quiet manners, his low, soft voice, and by the soothing simplicity of his conversation. the good-will of england was essential to the emperor's position in europe, and he had determined to fascinate the queen. he succeeded. there was something deep within her which responded immediately and vehemently to natures that offered a romantic contrast with her own. her adoration of lord melbourne was intimately interwoven with her half-unconscious appreciation of the exciting unlikeness between herself and that sophisticated, subtle, aristocratical old man. very different was the quality of her unlikeness to napoleon; but its quantity was at least as great. from behind the vast solidity of her respectability, her conventionality, her established happiness, she peered out with a strange delicious pleasure at that unfamiliar, darkly-glittering foreign object, moving so meteorically before her, an ambiguous creature of wilfulness and destiny. and, to her surprise, where she had dreaded antagonisms, she discovered only sympathies. he was, she said, 'so quiet, so simple, _naïf_ even, so pleased to be informed { } about things he does not know, so gentle, so full of tact, dignity, and modesty, so full of kind attention towards us, never saying a word, or doing a thing, which could put me out ... there is something fascinating, melancholy, and engaging, which draws you to him, in spite of any _prévention_ you may have against him, and certainly without the assistance of any outward appearance, though i like his face.' she observed that he rode 'extremely well, and looks well on horseback, as he sits high.' and he danced 'with great dignity and spirit.' above all, he listened to albert; listened with the most respectful attention; showed, in fact, how pleased he was 'to be informed about things he did not know'; and afterwards was heard to declare that he had never met the prince's equal. on one occasion, indeed--but only on one--he had seemed to grow slightly restive. in a diplomatic conversation, 'i expatiated a little on the holstein question,' wrote the prince in a memorandum, 'which appeared to bore the emperor as "très-compliquée"'[ ] victoria, too, became much attached to the empress, whose looks and graces she admired without a touch of jealousy. eugénie, indeed, in the plenitude of her beauty, exquisitely dressed in wonderful parisian crinolines which set off to perfection her tall and willowy figure, might well have caused some heartburning in the breast of her hostess, who, very short, rather stout, quite plain, in garish middle-class garments, could hardly be expected to feel at her best in such company. but victoria had no misgivings. to her it mattered nothing that her face turned red in the heat and that her purple pork-pie hat was of last year's fashion, while eugénie, cool and modish, floated in an infinitude of { } flounces by her side. she was queen of england, and was not that enough? it certainly seemed to be; true majesty was hers, and she knew it. more than once, when the two were together in public, it was the woman to whom, as it seemed, nature and art had given so little, who, by the sheer force of an inherent grandeur, completely threw her adorned and beautiful companion into the shade.[ ] there were tears when the moment came for parting, and victoria felt 'quite wehmüthig,' as her guests went away from windsor. but before long she and albert paid a return visit to france, where everything was very delightful, and she drove incognito through the streets of paris in 'a common bonnet,' and saw a play in the theatre at st. cloud, and, one evening, at a great party given by the emperor in her honour at the château of versailles, talked a little to a distinguished-looking prussian gentleman, whose name was bismarck. her rooms were furnished so much to her taste that she declared they gave her quite a home feeling--that, if her little dog were there, she should really imagine herself at home. nothing was said, but three days later her little dog barked a welcome to her as she entered the apartments. the emperor himself, sparing neither trouble nor expense, had personally arranged the charming surprise.[ ] such were his attentions. she returned to england more enchanted than ever. 'strange indeed,' she exclaimed, 'are the dispensations and ways of providence!'[ ] the alliance prospered, and the war drew towards a conclusion. both the queen and the prince, it is true, were most anxious that there should not be a premature { } peace. when lord aberdeen wished to open negotiations albert attacked him in a '_geharnischten_' letter, while victoria rode about on horseback reviewing the troops. at last, however, sebastopol was captured. the news reached balmoral late at night, and 'in a few minutes albert and all the gentlemen in every species of attire sallied forth, followed by all the servants, and gradually by all the population of the village--keepers, gillies, workmen--up to the top of the cairn.' a bonfire was lighted, the pipes were played, and guns were shot off. 'about three-quarters of an hour after albert came down and said the scene had been wild and exciting beyond everything. the people had been drinking healths in whisky and were in great ecstasy.'[ ] the 'great ecstasy,' perhaps, would be replaced by other feelings next morning; but at any rate the war was over--though, to be sure, its end seemed as difficult to account for as its beginning. the dispensations and ways of providence continued to be strange. iv an unexpected consequence of the war was a complete change in the relations between the royal pair and palmerston. the prince and the minister drew together over their hostility to russia, and thus it came about that when victoria found it necessary to summon her old enemy to form an administration she did so without reluctance. the premiership, too, had a sobering effect upon palmerston; he grew less impatient and dictatorial; considered with attention the suggestions of the crown, and was, besides, { } genuinely impressed by the prince's ability and knowledge.[ ] friction, no doubt, there still occasionally was, for, while the queen and the prince devoted themselves to foreign politics as much as ever, their views, when the war was over, became once more antagonistic to those of the prime minister. this was especially the case with regard to italy. albert, theoretically the friend of constitutional government, distrusted cavour, was horrified by garibaldi, and dreaded the danger of england being drawn into war with austria. palmerston, on the other hand, was eager for italian independence; but he was no longer at the foreign office, and the brunt of the royal displeasure had now to be borne by lord john russell. in a few years the situation had curiously altered. it was lord john who now filled the subordinate and the ungrateful rôle; but the foreign secretary, in his struggle with the crown, was supported, instead of opposed, by the prime minister. nevertheless the struggle was fierce, and the policy, by which the vigorous sympathy of england became one of the decisive factors in the final achievement of italian unity, was only carried through in face of the violent opposition of the court.[ ] towards the other european storm-centre, also, the prince's attitude continued to be very different from that of palmerston. albert's great wish was for a united germany under the leadership of a constitutional and virtuous prussia; palmerston did not think that there was much to be said for the scheme, but he took no particular interest in german politics, and was ready { } enough to agree to a proposal which was warmly supported by both the prince and the queen--that the royal houses of england and prussia should be united by the marriage of the princess royal with the prussian crown prince. accordingly, when the princess was not yet fifteen, the prince, a young man of twenty-four, came over on a visit to balmoral, and the betrothal took place.[ ] two years later, in , the marriage was celebrated. at the last moment, however, it seemed that there might be a hitch. it was pointed out in prussia that it was customary for princes of the blood-royal to be married in berlin, and it was suggested that there was no reason why the present case should be treated as an exception. when this reached the ears of victoria, she was speechless with indignation. in a note, emphatic even for her majesty, she instructed the foreign secretary to tell the prussian ambassador 'not to _entertain_ the _possibility_ of such a question.... the queen _never_ could consent to it, both for public and for private reasons, and the assumption of its being _too much_ for a prince royal of prussia to come over to marry _the princess royal of great britain_ in england is too _absurd_ to say the least.... whatever may be the usual practice of prussian princes, it is not _every_ day that one marries the eldest daughter of the queen of england. the question must therefore be considered as settled and closed.'[ ] it was, and the wedding took place in st. james's chapel. there were great festivities--illuminations, state concerts, immense crowds, and general rejoicings. at windsor a magnificent banquet was given to the bride and bridegroom in the waterloo room, at which, victoria noted in her diary, 'everybody was most friendly and kind { } about vicky and full of the universal enthusiasm, of which the duke of buccleuch gave us most pleasing instances, he having been in the very thick of the crowd and among the lowest of the low.' her feelings during several days had been growing more and more emotional, and when the time came for the young couple to depart she very nearly broke down--but not quite. 'poor dear child!' she wrote afterwards. 'i clasped her in my arms and blessed her, and knew not what to say. i kissed good fritz and pressed his hand again and again. he was unable to speak and the tears were in his eyes. i embraced them both again at the carriage door, and albert got into the carriage, an open one, with them and bertie.... the band struck up. i wished good-bye to the good perponchers. general schreckenstein was much affected. i pressed his hand, and the good dean's, and then went quickly upstairs.'[ ] albert, as well as general schreckenstein, was much affected. he was losing his favourite child, whose opening intelligence had already begun to display a marked resemblance to his own--an adoring pupil, who, in a few years, might have become an almost adequate companion. an ironic fate had determined that the daughter who was taken from him should be sympathetic, clever, interested in the arts and sciences, and endowed with a strong taste for memoranda, while not a single one of these qualities could be discovered in the son who remained. for certainly the prince of wales did not take after his father. victoria's prayer had been unanswered, and with each succeeding year it became more obvious that bertie was a true scion of the house of brunswick. but these evidences of { } innate characteristics served only to redouble the efforts of his parents; it still might not be too late to incline the young branch, by ceaseless pressure and careful fastenings, to grow in the proper direction. everything was tried. the boy was sent on a continental tour with a picked body of tutors, but the results were unsatisfactory. at his father's request he kept a diary which, on his return, was inspected by the prince. it was found to be distressingly meagre: what a multitude of highly interesting reflections might have been arranged under the heading: 'the first prince of wales visiting the pope!' but there was not a single one. 'le jeune prince plaisait à tout le monde,' old metternich reported to guizot, 'mais avait l'air embarrassé et très triste.' on his seventeenth birthday a memorandum was drawn up over the names of the queen and the prince informing their eldest son that he was now entering upon the period of manhood, and directing him henceforward to perform the duties of a christian gentleman. 'life is composed of duties,' said the memorandum, 'and in the due, punctual and cheerful performance of them the true christian, true soldier, and true gentleman is recognised.... a new sphere of life will open for you in which you will have to be taught what to do and what not to do, a subject requiring study more important than any in which you have hitherto been engaged.' on receipt of the memorandum bertie burst into tears. at the same time another memorandum was drawn up, headed 'confidential: for the guidance of the gentlemen appointed to attend on the prince of wales.' this long and elaborate document laid down 'certain principles' by which the 'conduct and demeanour' of the gentlemen were to be regulated 'and which it { } is thought may conduce to the benefit of the prince of wales.' 'the qualities which distinguish a gentleman in society,' continued this remarkable paper, 'are:-- ( ) his appearance, his deportment and dress. ( ) the character of his relations with, and treatment of, others. ( ) his desire and power to acquit himself creditably in conversation or whatever is the occupation of the society with which he mixes.' a minute and detailed analysis of these sub-headings followed, filling several pages, and the memorandum ended with a final exhortation to the gentlemen: 'if they will duly appreciate the responsibility of their position, and taking the points above laid down as the outline, will exercise their own good sense in acting _upon all occasions_ upon these principles, thinking no point of detail too minute to be important, but maintaining one steady consistent line of conduct, they may render essential service to the young prince and justify the flattering selection made by the royal parents.' a year later the young prince was sent to oxford, where the greatest care was taken that he should not mix with the undergraduates. yes, everything had been tried--everything ... with one single exception. the experiment had never been made of letting bertie enjoy himself. but why should it have been? 'life is composed of duties.' what possible place could there be for enjoyment in the existence of a prince of wales?[ ] the same year which deprived albert of the princess royal brought him another and a still more serious loss. the baron had paid his last visit to england. for twenty years, as he himself said in a letter to the { } king of the belgians, he had performed 'the laborious and exhausting office of a paternal friend and trusted adviser' to the prince and the queen. he was seventy; he was tired, physically and mentally; it was time to go. he returned to his home in coburg, exchanging, once for all, the momentous secrecies of european statecraft for the tittle-tattle of a provincial capital and the gossip of family life. in his stiff chair by the fire he nodded now over old stories--not of emperors and generals, but of neighbours and relatives and the domestic adventures of long ago--the burning of his father's library--and the goat that ran upstairs to his sister's room and ran twice round the table and then ran down again. dyspepsia and depression still attacked him; but, looking back over his life, he was not dissatisfied. his conscience was clear. 'i have worked as long as i had strength to work,' he said, 'and for a purpose no one can impugn. the consciousness of this is my reward--the only one which i desired to earn.'[ ] apparently, indeed, his 'purpose' had been accomplished. by his wisdom, his patience, and his example he had brought about, in the fullness of time, the miraculous metamorphosis of which he had dreamed. the prince was his creation. an indefatigable toiler, presiding, for the highest ends, over a great nation--that was his achievement; and he looked upon his work and it was good. but had the baron no misgivings? did he never wonder whether, perhaps, he might have accomplished not too little but too much? how subtle and how dangerous are the snares which fate lays for the wariest of men! albert, certainly, seemed to be everything that stockmar could have { } wished--virtuous, industrious, persevering, intelligent. and yet--why was it?--all was not well with him. he was sick at heart. for in spite of everything he had never reached to happiness. his work, for which at last he came to crave with an almost morbid appetite, was a solace and not a cure; the dragon of his dissatisfaction devoured with dark relish that ever-growing tribute of laborious days and nights; but it was hungry still. the causes of his melancholy were hidden, mysterious, unanalysable perhaps--too deeply rooted in the innermost recesses of his temperament for the eye of reason to apprehend. there were contradictions in his nature, which, to some of those who knew him best, made him seem an inexplicable enigma: he was severe and gentle; he was modest and scornful; he longed for affection and he was cold.[ ] he was lonely, not merely with the loneliness of exile but with the loneliness of conscious and unrecognised superiority. he had the pride, at once resigned and overweening, of a doctrinaire. and yet to say that he was simply a doctrinaire would be a false description; for the pure doctrinaire rejoices always in an internal contentment, and albert was very far from doing that. there was something that he wanted and that he could never get. what was it? some absolute, some ineffable sympathy? some extraordinary, some sublime success? possibly, it was a mixture of both. to dominate and to be understood! to conquer, by the same triumphant influence, the submission and the appreciation of men--that would be worth while indeed! but, to such imaginations, he saw too clearly how faint were the responses of his actual environment. who was there who appreciated { } him, really and truly? who _could_ appreciate him in england? and, if the gentle virtue of an inward excellence availed so little, could he expect more from the hard ways of skill and force? the terrible land of his exile loomed before him a frigid, an impregnable mass. doubtless he had made some slight impression: it was true that he had gained the respect of his fellow workers, that his probity, his industry, his exactitude, had been recognised, that he was a highly influential, an extremely important man. but how far, how very far, was all this from the goal of his ambitions! how feeble and futile his efforts seemed against the enormous coagulation of dullness, of folly, of slackness, of ignorance, of confusion that confronted him! he might have the strength or the ingenuity to make some small change for the better here or there--to rearrange some detail, to abolish some anomaly, to insist upon some obvious reform; but the heart of the appalling organism remained untouched. england lumbered on, impervious and self-satisfied, in her old intolerable course. he threw himself across the path of the monster with rigid purpose and set teeth, but he was brushed aside. yes! even palmerston was still unconquered--was still there to afflict him with his jauntiness, his muddle-headedness, his utter lack of principle. it was too much. neither nature nor the baron had given him a sanguine spirit; the seeds of pessimism, once lodged within him, flourished in a propitious soil. he 'questioned things, and did not find one that would answer to his mind; and all the world appeared unkind.' he believed that he was a failure and he began to despair. { } yet stockmar had told him that he must 'never relax,' and he never would. he would go on, working to the utmost and striving for the highest, to the bitter end. his industry grew almost maniacal. earlier and earlier was the green lamp lighted; more vast grew the correspondence; more searching the examination of the newspapers; the interminable memoranda more punctilious, analytical, and precise. his very recreations became duties. he enjoyed himself by time-table, went deer-stalking with meticulous gusto, and made puns at lunch--it was the right thing to do. the mechanism worked with astonishing efficiency, but it never rested and it was never oiled. in dry exactitude the innumerable cog-wheels perpetually revolved. no, whatever happened, the prince would not relax; he had absorbed the doctrines of stockmar too thoroughly. he knew what was right, and, at all costs, he would pursue it. that was certain. but alas! in this our life what are the certainties? 'in nothing be over-zealous!' says an old greek. 'the due measure in all the works of man is best. for often one who zealously pushes towards some excellence, though he be pursuing a gain, is really being led utterly astray by the will of some power, which makes those things that are evil seem to him good, and those things seem to him evil that are for his advantage.'[ ] surely, both the prince and the baron might have learnt something from the frigid wisdom of theognis. victoria noticed that her husband sometimes seemed to be depressed and overworked. she tried to cheer him up. realising uneasily that he was still regarded as a foreigner, she hoped that by conferring upon him the title of prince consort ( ) she would improve his { } position in the country. 'the queen has a right to claim that her husband should be an englishman,' she wrote.[ ] but unfortunately, in spite of the royal letters patent, albert remained as foreign as before; and as the years passed his dejection deepened. she worked with him, she watched over him, she walked with him through the woods at osborne, while he whistled to the nightingales, as he had whistled once at rosenau so long ago.[ ] when his birthday came round, she took the greatest pains to choose him presents that he would really like. in , when he was thirty-nine, she gave him 'a picture of beatrice, life-size, in oil, by horsley, a complete collection of photographic views of gotha and the country round, which i had taken by bedford, and a paper-weight of balmoral granite and deers' teeth, designed by vicky.'[ ] albert was of course delighted, and his merriment at the family gathering was more pronounced than ever: and yet ... what was there that was wrong? no doubt it was his health. he was wearing himself out in the service of the country; and certainly his constitution, as stockmar had perceived from the first, was ill-adapted to meet a serious strain. he was easily upset; he constantly suffered from minor ailments. his appearance in itself was enough to indicate the infirmity of his physical powers. the handsome youth of twenty years since with the flashing eyes and the soft complexion had grown into a sallow, tired-looking man, whose body, in its stoop and its loose fleshiness, betrayed the sedentary labourer, and whose head was quite bald on the top. unkind critics, who had once compared albert to an operatic tenor, might { } have remarked that there was something of the butler about him now. beside victoria, he presented a painful contrast. she, too, was stout, but it was with the plumpness of a vigorous matron; and an eager vitality was everywhere visible--in her energetic bearing, her protruding, enquiring glances, her small, fat, capable, and commanding hands. if only, by some sympathetic magic, she could have conveyed into that portly, flabby figure, that desiccated and discouraged brain, a measure of the stamina and the self-assurance which were so pre-eminently hers! but suddenly she was reminded that there were other perils besides those of ill-health. during a visit to coburg in , the prince was very nearly killed in a carriage accident. he escaped with a few cuts and bruises; but victoria's alarm was extreme, though she concealed it. 'it is when the queen feels most deeply,' she wrote afterwards, 'that she always appears calmest, and she could not and dared not allow herself to speak of what might have been, or even to admit to herself (and she cannot and dare not now) the entire danger, for her head would turn!' her agitation, in fact, was only surpassed by her thankfulness to god. she felt, she said, that she could not rest 'without doing something to mark permanently her feelings,' and she decided that she would endow a charity in coburg. '£ , , or even £ , , given either at once, or in instalments yearly, would not, in the queen's opinion, be too much.' eventually, the smaller sum having been fixed upon, it was invested in a trust, called the 'victoria-stift,' in the names of the burgomaster and chief clergyman of coburg, who were directed to distribute the interest yearly among a certain number { } of young men and women of exemplary character belonging to the humbler ranks of life.[ ] shortly afterwards the queen underwent, for the first time in her life, the actual experience of close personal loss. early in the duchess of kent was taken seriously ill, and in march she died. the event overwhelmed victoria. with a morbid intensity, she filled her diary for pages with minute descriptions of her mother's last hours, her dissolution, and her corpse, interspersed with vehement apostrophes, and the agitated outpourings of emotional reflection. in the grief of the present the disagreements of the past were totally forgotten. it was the horror and the mystery of death--death present and actual--that seized upon the imagination of the queen. her whole being, so instinct with vitality, recoiled in agony from the grim spectacle of the triumph of that awful power. her own mother, with whom she had lived so closely and so long that she had become a part almost of her existence, had fallen into nothingness before her very eyes! she tried to forget it, but she could not. her lamentations continued with a strange abundance, a strange persistency. it was almost as if, by some mysterious and unconscious precognition, she realised that for her, in an especial manner, that grisly majesty had a dreadful dart in store. for indeed, before the year was out, a far more terrible blow was to fall upon her. albert, who had for long been suffering from sleeplessness, went, on a cold and drenching day towards the end of november, to inspect the buildings for the new military academy at sandhurst. on his return, it was clear that the { } fatigue and exposure to which he had been subjected had seriously affected his health. he was attacked by rheumatism, his sleeplessness continued, and he complained that he felt thoroughly unwell. three days later a painful duty obliged him to visit cambridge. the prince of wales, who had been placed at that university in the previous year, was behaving in such a manner that a parental visit and a parental admonition had become necessary. the disappointed father, suffering in mind and body, carried through his task; but, on his return journey to windsor, he caught a fatal chill.[ ] during the next week he gradually grew weaker and more miserable. yet, depressed and enfeebled as he was, he continued to work. it so happened that at that very moment a grave diplomatic crisis had arisen. civil war had broken out in america, and it seemed as if england, owing to a violent quarrel with the northern states, was upon the point of being drawn into the conflict. a severe despatch by lord john russell was submitted to the queen; and the prince perceived that, if it were sent off unaltered, war would be the almost inevitable consequence. at seven o'clock on the morning of december , he rose from his bed, and with a quavering hand wrote a series of suggestions for the alteration of the draft, by which its language might be softened, and a way left open for a peaceful solution of the question. these changes were accepted by the government, and war was averted. it was the prince's last memorandum.[ ] he had always declared that he viewed the prospect of death with equanimity. 'i do not cling to life,' he had once said to victoria. 'you do; but i set no { } store by it.' and then he had added: 'i am sure, if i had a severe illness, i should give up at once, i should not struggle for life. i have no tenacity of life.'[ ] he had judged correctly. before he had been ill many days, he told a friend that he was convinced he would not recover.[ ] he sank and sank. nevertheless, if his case had been properly understood and skilfully treated from the first, he might conceivably have been saved; but the doctors failed to diagnose his symptoms; and it is noteworthy that his principal physician was sir james clark. when it was suggested that other advice should be taken, sir james pooh-poohed the idea: 'there was no cause for alarm,' he said. but the strange illness grew worse. at last, after a letter of fierce remonstrance from palmerston, dr. watson was sent for; and dr. watson saw at once that he had come too late. the prince was in the grip of typhoid fever. 'i think that everything so far is satisfactory,' said sir james clark.[ ] the restlessness and the acute suffering of the earlier days gave place to a settled torpor and an ever-deepening gloom. once the failing patient asked for music--'a fine chorale at a distance'; and a piano having been placed in the adjoining room, princess alice played on it some of luther's hymns, after which the prince repeated 'the rock of ages.' sometimes his mind wandered; sometimes the distant past came rushing upon him; he heard the birds in the early { } morning, and was at rosenau again, a boy. or victoria would come and read to him 'peveril of the peak,' and he showed that he could follow the story, and then she would bend over him, and he would murmur 'liebes frauchen' and 'gutes weibchen,' stroking her cheek. her distress and her agitation were great, but she was not seriously frightened. buoyed up by her own abundant energies, she would not believe that albert's might prove unequal to the strain. she refused to face such a hideous possibility. she declined to see dr. watson. why should she? had not sir james clark assured her that all would be well? only two days before the end, which was seen now to be almost inevitable by everyone about her, she wrote, full of apparent confidence, to the king of the belgians: 'i do not sit up with him at night,' she said, 'as i could be of no use; and there is nothing to cause alarm.'[ ] the princess alice tried to tell her the truth, but her hopefulness would not be daunted. on the morning of december , albert, just as she had expected, seemed to be better; perhaps the crisis was over. but in the course of the day there was a serious relapse. then at last she allowed herself to see that she was standing on the edge of an appalling gulf. the whole family was summoned, and, one after another, the children took a silent farewell of their father. 'it was a terrible moment,' victoria wrote in her diary, 'but, thank god! i was able to command myself, and to be perfectly calm, and remained sitting by his side.' he murmured something, but she could not hear what it was; she thought he was speaking in french. then all at once he began to arrange his hair, 'just as he used to do when well and he was { } dressing.' 'es ist kleines frauchen,' she whispered to him; and he seemed to understand. for a moment, towards the evening, she went into another room, but was immediately called back: she saw at a glance that a ghastly change had taken place. as she knelt by the bed, he breathed deeply, breathed gently, breathed at last no more. his features became perfectly rigid. she shrieked--one long wild shriek that rang through the terror-stricken castle--and understood that she had lost him for ever.[ ] [ ] martin, ii, . [ ] 'read this carefully, and tell me if there are any mistakes in it.' [ ] 'here is a draft i have made for you. read it. i should think this would do.' [ ] martin, v, - . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] martin, iv, - , . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] martin, ii, - ; bloomfield, ii, . [ ] _d.n.b._, second supplement, art. 'edward vii'; _quarterly review_, ccxiii, - , . [ ] _leaves_, , , , , - , _n_. [ ] _leaves_, - , - ; greville, vi, - . [ ] _leaves_, - . [ ] _private life_, - ; _quarterly review_, cxciii, . [ ] _leaves_, , . [ ] _leaves_, - . [ ] _ibid._, , - . [ ] _leaves_, , , . [ ] _letters_, iii, . [ ] private information. [ ] martin, iii, v. [ ] martin, iii, - , - , - , [ ] martin, iii, , , ; iv, . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, - ; _spinster lady_, . [ ] crawford, - . [ ] martin, iii, . [ ] _leaves_, - . [ ] martin, ii, . [ ] _letters_, iii, especially july-december ; martin, iv, - ; v, . [ ] _leaves_, . [ ] _letters_, iii, . [ ] martin, iv, - . [ ] _d.n.b._, second supplement, ; _quarterly review_, ccxiii, - , ; greville, viii, . [ ] stockmar, , . [ ] ernest, i, - . [ ] theognis, ff. [ ] _letters_, iii, . [ ] grey, _n_. [ ] martin, iv, . [ ] martin, v, - , - . [ ] _d.n.b._, second supplement, . [ ] martin, v, - . [ ] martin, v, . [ ] bloomfield, ii, . [ ] martin, v, - ; clarendon, ii, - : 'one cannot speak with certainty; but it is horrible to think that such a life _may_ have been sacrificed to sir j. clark's selfish jealousy of every member of his profession.'--the earl of clarendon to the duchess of manchester, dec. , . [ ] _letters_, iii, - . [ ] martin, v, - ; hare, ii, - ; _spinster lady_, - . { } chapter vii widowhood i the death of the prince consort was the central turning-point in the history of queen victoria. she herself felt that her true life had ceased with her husband's, and that the remainder of her days upon earth was of a twilight nature--an epilogue to a drama that was done. nor is it possible that her biographer should escape a similar impression. for him, too, there is a darkness over the latter half of that long career. the first forty-two years of the queen's life are illuminated by a great and varied quantity of authentic information. with albert's death a veil descends. only occasionally, at fitful and disconnected intervals, does it lift for a moment or two; a few main outlines, a few remarkable details may be discerned; the rest is all conjecture and ambiguity. thus, though the queen survived her great bereavement for almost as many years as she had lived before it, the chronicle of those years can bear no proportion to the tale of her earlier life. we must be content in our ignorance with a brief and summary relation. [illustration: queen victoria in .] the sudden removal of the prince was not merely a matter of overwhelming personal concern to victoria; it was an event of national, of european importance. he was only forty-two, and in the ordinary course of { } nature he might have been expected to live at least thirty years longer. had he done so it can hardly be doubted that the whole development of the english polity would have been changed. already at the time of his death he filled a unique place in english public life; already among the inner circle of politicians he was accepted as a necessary and useful part of the mechanism of the state. lord clarendon, for instance, spoke of his death as 'a national calamity of far greater importance than the public dream of,' and lamented the loss of his 'sagacity and foresight,' which, he declared, would have been 'more than ever valuable' in the event of an american war.[ ] and, as time went on, the prince's influence must have enormously increased. for, in addition to his intellectual and moral qualities, he enjoyed, by virtue of his position, one supreme advantage which every other holder of high office in the country was without: he was permanent. politicians came and went, but the prince was perpetually installed at the centre of affairs. who can doubt that, towards the end of the century, such a man, grown grey in the service of the nation, virtuous, intelligent, and with the unexampled experience of a whole lifetime of government, would have acquired an extraordinary prestige? if, in his youth, he had been able to pit the crown against the mighty palmerston and to come off with equal honours from the contest, of what might he not have been capable in his old age? what minister, however able, however popular, could have withstood the wisdom, the irreproachability, the vast prescriptive authority, of the venerable prince? it is easy to imagine how, under such a ruler, an attempt might have been made to convert england into a state as exactly { } organised, as elaborately trained, as efficiently equipped, and as autocratically controlled, as prussia herself. then perhaps, eventually, under some powerful leader--a gladstone or a bright--the democratic forces in the country might have rallied together, and a struggle might have followed in which the monarchy would have been shaken to its foundations. or, on the other hand, disraeli's hypothetical prophecy might have come true. 'with prince albert,' he said, 'we have buried our sovereign. this german prince has governed england for twenty-one years with a wisdom and energy such as none of our kings have ever shown.... if he had outlived some of our "old stagers" he would have given us the blessings of absolute government."[ ] the english constitution--that indescribable entity--is a living thing, growing with the growth of men, and assuming ever-varying forms in accordance with the subtle and complex laws of human character. it is the child of wisdom and chance. the wise men of moulded it into the shape we know; but the chance that george i could not speak english gave it one of its essential peculiarities--the system of a cabinet independent of the crown and subordinate to the prime minister. the wisdom of lord grey saved it from petrifaction and destruction, and set it upon the path of democracy. then chance intervened once more; a female sovereign happened to marry an able and pertinacious man; and it seemed likely that an element which had been quiescent within it for years--the element of irresponsible administrative power--was about to become its predominant characteristic and to change completely the direction of its growth. but what chance gave, chance took away. the consort perished { } in his prime; and the english constitution, dropping the dead limb with hardly a tremor, continued its mysterious life as if he had never been. one human being, and one alone, felt the full force of what had happened. the baron, by his fireside at coburg, suddenly saw the tremendous fabric of his creation crash down into sheer and irremediable ruin. albert was gone, and he had lived in vain. even his blackest hypochondria had never envisioned quite so miserable a catastrophe. victoria wrote to him, visited him, tried to console him by declaring with passionate conviction that she would carry on her husband's work. he smiled a sad smile and looked into the fire. then he murmured that he was going where albert was--that he would not be long.[ ] he shrank into himself. his children clustered round him and did their best to comfort him, but it was useless: the baron's heart was broken. he lingered for eighteen months, and then, with his pupil, explored the shadow and the dust. ii with appalling suddenness victoria had exchanged the serene radiance of happiness for the utter darkness of woe. in the first dreadful moments those about her had feared that she might lose her reason, but the iron strain within her held firm, and in the intervals between the intense paroxysms of grief it was observed that the queen was calm. she remembered, too, that albert had always disapproved of exaggerated manifestations of feeling, and her one remaining desire was to do nothing but what he would have wished. yet there were moments when her royal anguish would { } brook no restraints. one day she sent for the duchess of sutherland, and, leading her to the prince's room, fell prostrate before his clothes in a flood of weeping, while she adjured the duchess to tell her whether the beauty of albert's character had ever been surpassed.[ ] at other times a feeling akin to indignation swept over her. 'the poor fatherless baby of eight months,' she wrote to the king of the belgians, 'is now the utterly heart-broken and crushed widow of forty-two! my _life_ as a _happy_ one is _ended_! the world is gone for _me_! ... oh! to be cut off in the prime of life--to see our pure, happy, quiet, domestic life, which _alone_ enabled me to bear my _much_ disliked position, cut off at forty-two--when i _had_ hoped with such instinctive certainty that god never _would_ part us, and would let us grow old together (though _he_ always talked of the shortness of life)--is _too awful_, too cruel!'[ ] the tone of outraged majesty seems to be discernible. did she wonder in her heart of hearts how the deity could have dared? but all other emotions gave way before her overmastering determination to continue, absolutely unchanged, and for the rest of her life on earth, her reverence, her obedience, her idolatry. 'i am anxious to repeat one thing,' she told her uncle, 'and _that one_ is _my firm_ resolve, my _irrevocable decision_, viz. that _his_ wishes--_his_ plans--about everything, _his_ views about _every_ thing are to be _my law_! and _no human power_ will make me swerve from _what he_ decided and wished.' she grew fierce, she grew furious, at the thought of any possible intrusion between her and her desire. her uncle was coming to visit her, and it flashed upon her that _he_ might try to interfere with her and seek to 'rule the roost' as of old. she would give him a hint. 'i { } am _also determined_,' she wrote, 'that _no one_ person--may he be ever so good, ever so devoted among my servants--is to lead or guide or dictate _to me_. i know _how he_ would disapprove it ... though miserably weak and utterly shattered, my spirit rises when i think any wish or plan of his is to be touched or changed, or i am to be _made to do_ anything.' she ended her letter in grief and affection. she was, she said, his 'ever wretched but devoted child, victoria r.' and then she looked at the date: it was the th of december. an agonising pang assailed her, and she dashed down a postscript--'what a xmas! i won't think of it.'[ ] at first, in the tumult of her distresses, she declared that she could not see her ministers, and the princess alice, assisted by sir charles phipps, the keeper of the privy purse, performed, to the best of her ability, the functions of an intermediary. after a few weeks, however, the cabinet, through lord john russell, ventured to warn the queen that this could not continue.[ ] she realised that they were right: albert would have agreed with them; and so she sent for the prime minister. but when lord palmerston arrived at osborne, in the pink of health, brisk, with his whiskers freshly dyed, and dressed in a brown overcoat, light grey trousers, green gloves, and blue studs, he did not create a very good impression.[ ] nevertheless, she had grown attached to her old enemy, and the thought of a political change filled her with agitated apprehensions. the government, she knew, might fall at any moment; she felt she could not face such an eventuality; and therefore, six months after the death of the prince, she took the unprecedented { } step of sending a private message to lord derby, the leader of the opposition, to tell him that she was not in a fit state of mind or body to undergo the anxiety of a change of government, and that if he turned the present ministers out of office it would be at the risk of sacrificing her life--or her reason. when this message reached lord derby he was considerably surprised. 'dear me!' was his cynical comment. 'i didn't think she was so fond of them as _that_.'[ ] though the violence of her perturbations gradually subsided, her cheerfulness did not return. for months, for years, she continued in settled gloom. her life became one of almost complete seclusion. arrayed in thickest _crêpe_, she passed dolefully from windsor to osborne, from osborne to balmoral. rarely visiting the capital, refusing to take any part in the ceremonies of state, shutting herself off from the slightest intercourse with society, she became almost as unknown to her subjects as some potentate of the east. they might murmur, but they did not understand. what had she to do with empty shows and vain enjoyments? no! she was absorbed by very different preoccupations. she was the devoted guardian of a sacred trust. her place was in the inmost shrine of the house of mourning--where she alone had the right to enter, where she could feel the effluence of a mysterious presence, and interpret, however faintly and feebly, the promptings of a still living soul. that, and that only, was her glorious, her terrible duty. for terrible indeed it was. as the years passed her depression seemed to deepen and her loneliness to grow more intense. 'i am on a dreary sad pinnacle of solitary grandeur,' she said.[ ] again and again she felt that she { } could bear her situation no longer--that she would sink under the strain. and then, instantly, that voice spoke: and she braced herself once more to perform, with minute conscientiousness, her grim and holy task. above all else, what she had to do was to make her own the master-impulse of albert's life--she must work, as he had worked, in the service of the country. that vast burden of toil which he had taken upon his shoulders it was now for her to bear. she assumed the gigantic load; and naturally she staggered under it. while he had lived, she had worked, indeed, with regularity and application; but it was work made easy, made delicious, by his care, his forethought, his advice, and his infallibility. the mere sound of his voice, asking her to sign a paper, had thrilled her; in such a presence she could have laboured gladly for ever. but now there was a hideous change. now there were no neat piles and docketings under the green lamp; now there were no simple explanations of difficult matters; now there was nobody to tell her what was right and what was wrong. she had her secretaries, no doubt: there were sir charles phipps, and general grey, and sir thomas biddulph; and they did their best. but they were mere subordinates: the whole weight of initiative and responsibility rested upon her alone. for so it had to be. 'i am _determined_'--had she not declared it?--'that no one person is to lead or guide or dictate _to me_'; anything else would be a betrayal of her trust. she would follow the prince in all things. he had refused to delegate authority; he had examined into every detail with his own eyes; he had made it a rule never to sign a paper without having first, not merely read it, but made notes on it too. she { } would do the same. she sat from morning till night surrounded by huge heaps of despatch-boxes, reading and writing at her desk--at her desk, alas! which stood alone now in the room.[ ] within two years of albert's death a violent disturbance in foreign politics put victoria's faithfulness to a crucial test. the fearful schleswig-holstein dispute, which had been smouldering for more than a decade, showed signs of bursting out into conflagration. the complexity of the questions at issue was indescribable. 'only three people,' said palmerston, 'have ever really understood the schleswig-holstein business--the prince consort, who is dead--a german professor, who has gone mad--and i, who have forgotten all about it.'[ ] but, though the prince might be dead, had he not left a vicegerent behind him? victoria threw herself into the seething embroilment with the vigour of inspiration. she devoted hours daily to the study of the affair in all its windings; but she had a clue through the labyrinth: whenever the question had been discussed, albert, she recollected it perfectly, had always taken the side of prussia. her course was clear. she became an ardent champion of the prussian point of view. it was a legacy from the prince, she said.[ ] she did not realise that the prussia of the prince's days was dead, and that a new prussia, the prussia of bismarck, was born. perhaps palmerston, with his queer prescience, instinctively apprehended the new danger; at any rate, he and lord john were agreed upon the necessity of { } supporting denmark against prussia's claims. but opinion was sharply divided, not only in the country but in the cabinet. for eighteen months the controversy raged; while the queen, with persistent vehemence, opposed the prime minister and the foreign secretary. when at last the final crisis arose--when it seemed possible that england would join forces with denmark in a war against prussia--victoria's agitation grew febrile in its intensity. towards her german relatives she preserved a discreet appearance of impartiality; but she poured out upon her ministers a flood of appeals, protests, and expostulations. she invoked the sacred cause of peace. 'the only chance of preserving peace for europe,' she wrote, 'is by not assisting denmark, who has brought this entirely upon herself.... the queen suffers much, and her nerves are more and more totally shattered.... but though all this anxiety is wearing her out, it will not shake her firm purpose of resisting any attempt to involve this country in a mad and useless combat.' she was, she declared, 'prepared to make a stand,' even if the resignation of the foreign secretary should follow.[ ] 'the queen,' she told lord granville, 'is completely exhausted by the anxiety and suspense, and misses her beloved husband's help, advice, support, and love in an overwhelming manner.' she was so worn out by her efforts for peace that she could 'hardly hold up her head or hold her pen.'[ ] england did not go to war, and denmark was left to her fate; but how far the attitude of the queen contributed to this result it is impossible, with our present knowledge, to say. on the whole, however, it seems probable that the determining factor in the situation was the { } powerful peace party in the cabinet rather than the imperious and pathetic pressure of victoria. it is, at any rate, certain that the queen's enthusiasm for the sacred cause of peace was short-lived. within a few months her mind had completely altered. her eyes were opened to the true nature of prussia, whose designs upon austria were about to culminate in the seven weeks' war. veering precipitately from one extreme to the other, she now urged her ministers to interfere by force of arms in support of austria. but she urged in vain.[ ] her political activity, no more than her social seclusion, was approved by the public. as the years passed, and the royal mourning remained as unrelieved as ever, the animadversions grew more general and more severe. it was observed that the queen's protracted privacy not only cast a gloom over high society, not only deprived the populace of its pageantry, but also exercised a highly deleterious effect upon the dress-making, millinery, and hosiery trades. this latter consideration carried great weight. at last, early in , the rumour spread that her majesty was about to go out of mourning, and there was much rejoicing in the newspapers; but unfortunately it turned out that the rumour was quite without foundation. victoria, with her own hand, wrote a letter to _the times_ to say so. 'this idea,' she declared, 'cannot be too explicitly contradicted.' 'the queen,' the letter continued, 'heartily appreciates the desire of her subjects to see her, and whatever she _can_ do to gratify them in this loyal and affectionate wish, she _will_ do.... but there are other and higher duties than those of mere representation which are now thrown upon the queen, alone { } and unassisted--duties which she cannot neglect without injury to the public service, which weigh unceasingly upon her, overwhelming her with work and anxiety.'[ ] the justification might have been considered more cogent had it not been known that those 'other and higher duties' emphasised by the queen consisted for the most part of an attempt to counteract the foreign policy of lord palmerston and lord john russell. a large section--perhaps a majority--of the nation were violent partisans of denmark in the schleswig-holstein quarrel; and victoria's support of prussia was widely denounced. a wave of unpopularity, which reminded old observers of the period preceding the queen's marriage more than twenty-five years before, was beginning to rise. the press was rude; lord ellenborough attacked the queen in the house of lords; there were curious whispers in high quarters that she had had thoughts of abdicating--whispers followed by regrets that she had not done so.[ ] victoria, outraged and injured, felt that she was misunderstood. she was profoundly unhappy. after lord ellenborough's speech, general grey declared that he 'had never seen the queen so completely upset.' 'oh, how fearful it is,' she herself wrote to lord granville, 'to be suspected--uncheered--unguided and unadvised--and how alone the poor queen feels!'[ ] nevertheless, suffer as she might, she was as resolute as ever; she would not move by a hair's-breadth from the course that a supreme obligation marked out for her; she would be faithful to the end. and so, when schleswig-holstein was forgotten, { } and even the image of the prince had begun to grow dim in the fickle memories of men, the solitary watcher remained immutably concentrated at her peculiar task. the world's hostility, steadily increasing, was confronted and outfaced by the impenetrable weeds of victoria. would the world never understand? it was not mere sorrow that kept her so strangely sequestered; it was devotion, it was self-immolation; it was the laborious legacy of love. unceasingly the pen moved over the black-edged paper. the flesh might be weak, but that vast burden must be borne. and fortunately, if the world would not understand, there were faithful friends who did. there was lord granville, and there was kind mr. theodore martin. perhaps mr. martin, who was so clever, would find means to make people realise the facts. she would send him a letter, pointing out her arduous labours and the difficulties under which she struggled, and then he might write an article for one of the magazines. it is not, she told him in , 'the queen's _sorrow_ that keeps her secluded.... it is her _overwhelming work_ and her health, which is greatly shaken by her sorrow, and the totally overwhelming amount of work and responsibility--work which she feels really wears her out. alice helps was wonder-struck at the queen's room; and if mrs. martin will look at it, she can tell mr. martin what surrounds her. from the hour she gets out of bed till she gets into it again there is work, work, work,--letter-boxes, questions, &c., which are dreadfully exhausting--and if she had not comparative rest and quiet in the evening she would most likely not be _alive_. her brain is constantly overtaxed.'[ ] it was too true. { } iii to carry on albert's work--that was her first duty; but there was another, second only to that, and yet nearer, if possible, to her heart--to impress the true nature of his genius and character upon the minds of her subjects. she realised that during his life he had not been properly appreciated; the full extent of his powers, the supreme quality of his goodness, had been necessarily concealed; but death had removed the need of barriers, and now her husband, in his magnificent entirety, should stand revealed to all. she set to work methodically. she directed sir arthur helps to bring out a collection of the prince's speeches and addresses, and the weighty tome appeared in . then she commanded general grey to write an account of the prince's early years--from his birth to his marriage; she herself laid down the design of the book, contributed a number of confidential documents, and added numerous notes; general grey obeyed, and the work was completed in . but the principal part of the story was still untold, and mr. martin was forthwith instructed to write a complete biography of the prince consort. mr. martin laboured for fourteen years. the mass of material with which he had to deal was almost incredible, but he was extremely industrious, and he enjoyed throughout the gracious assistance of her majesty. the first bulky volume was published in ; four others slowly followed; so that it was not until that the monumental work was finished.[ ] mr. martin was rewarded by a knighthood; and { } yet it was sadly evident that neither sir theodore nor his predecessors had achieved the purpose which the queen had in view. perhaps she was unfortunate in her coadjutors, but, in reality, the responsibility for the failure must lie with victoria herself. sir theodore and the others faithfully carried out the task which she had set them--faithfully put before the public the very image of albert that filled her own mind. the fatal drawback was that the public did not find that image attractive. victoria's emotional nature, far more remarkable for vigour than for subtlety, rejecting utterly the qualifications which perspicacity, or humour, might suggest, could be satisfied with nothing but the absolute and the categorical. when she disliked she did so with an unequivocal emphasis which swept the object of her repugnance at once and finally outside the pale of consideration; and her feelings of affection were equally unmitigated. in the case of albert her passion for superlatives reached its height. to have conceived of him as anything short of perfect--perfect in virtue, in wisdom, in beauty, in all the glories and graces of man--would have been an unthinkable blasphemy: perfect he was, and perfect he must be shown to have been. and so sir arthur, sir theodore, and the general painted him. in the circumstances, and under such supervision, to have done anything else would have required talents considerably more distinguished than any that those gentlemen possessed. but that was not all. by a curious mischance victoria was also able to press into her service another writer, the distinction of whose talents was this time beyond a doubt. the poet laureate, adopting, either from complaisance or conviction, the tone of his sovereign, joined in the chorus, and endowed the royal formula { } with the magical resonance of verse. this settled the matter. henceforward it was impossible to forget that albert had worn the white flower of a blameless life. the result was doubly unfortunate. victoria, disappointed and chagrined, bore a grudge against her people for their refusal, in spite of all her efforts, to rate her husband at his true worth. she did not understand that the picture of an embodied perfection is distasteful to the majority of mankind. the cause of this is not so much an envy of the perfect being as a suspicion that he must be inhuman; and thus it happened that the public, when it saw displayed for its admiration a figure resembling the sugary hero of a moral story-book rather than a fellow man of flesh and blood, turned away with a shrug, a smile, and a flippant ejaculation. but in this the public was the loser as well as victoria. for in truth albert was a far more interesting personage than the public dreamed. by a curious irony an impeccable waxwork had been fixed by the queen's love in the popular imagination, while the creature whom it represented--the real creature, so full of energy and stress and torment, so mysterious and so unhappy, and so fallible, and so very human--had altogether disappeared. iv words and books may be ambiguous memorials; but who can misinterpret the visible solidity of bronze and stone? at frogmore, near windsor, where her mother was buried, victoria constructed, at the cost of £ , , a vast and elaborate mausoleum for herself and her husband.[ ] but that was a private and domestic { } monument, and the queen desired that wherever her subjects might be gathered together they should be reminded of the prince. her desire was gratified; all over the country--at aberdeen, at perth, and at wolverhampton--statues of the prince were erected; and the queen, making an exception to her rule of retirement, unveiled them herself. nor did the capital lag behind. a month after the prince's death a meeting was called together at the mansion house to discuss schemes for honouring his memory. opinions, however, were divided upon the subject. was a statue or an institution to be preferred? meanwhile a subscription was opened; an influential committee was appointed, and the queen was consulted as to her wishes in the matter. her majesty replied that she would prefer a granite obelisk, with sculptures at the base, to an institution. but the committee hesitated: an obelisk, to be worthy of the name, must clearly be a monolith; and where was the quarry in england capable of furnishing a granite block of the required size? it was true that there was granite in russian finland; but the committee were advised that it was not adapted to resist exposure to the open air. on the whole, therefore, they suggested that a memorial hall should be erected, together with a statue of the prince. her majesty assented; but then another difficulty arose. it was found that not more than £ , had been subscribed--a sum insufficient to defray the double expense. the hall, therefore, was abandoned; a statue alone was to be erected; and certain eminent architects were asked to prepare designs. eventually the committee had at their disposal a total sum of £ , , since the public subscribed another £ , , while £ , was voted by parliament. some years later a joint-stock company { } was formed and built, as a private speculation, the albert hall.[ ] the architect whose design was selected, both by the committee and by the queen, was mr. gilbert scott, whose industry, conscientiousness, and genuine piety had brought him to the head of his profession. his lifelong zeal for the gothic style having given him a special prominence, his handiwork was strikingly visible, not only in a multitude of original buildings, but in most of the cathedrals of england. protests, indeed, were occasionally raised against his renovations; but mr. scott replied with such vigour and unction in articles and pamphlets that not a dean was unconvinced, and he was permitted to continue his labours without interruption. on one occasion, however, his devotion to gothic had placed him in an unpleasant situation. the government offices in whitehall were to be rebuilt; mr. scott competed, and his designs were successful. naturally, they were in the gothic style, combining 'a certain squareness and horizontality of outline' with pillar-mullions, gables, high-pitched roofs, and dormers; and the drawings, as mr. scott himself observed, 'were, perhaps, the best ever sent in to a competition, or nearly so.' after the usual difficulties and delays the work was at last to be put in hand, when there was a change of government and lord palmerston became prime minister. lord palmerston at once sent for mr. scott. 'well, mr. scott,' he said, in his jaunty way, 'i can't have anything to do with this gothic style. i must insist on your making a design in the italian manner, which i am sure you can do very cleverly.' mr. scott was appalled; the style of the italian renaissance was not { } only unsightly, it was positively immoral, and he sternly refused to have anything to do with it. thereupon lord palmerston assumed a fatherly tone. 'quite true; a gothic architect can't be expected to put up a classical building; i must find someone else.' this was intolerable, and mr. scott, on his return home, addressed to the prime minister a strongly-worded letter, in which he dwelt upon his position as an architect, upon his having won two european competitions, his being an a.r.a., a gold medallist of the institute, and a lecturer on architecture at the royal academy; but it was useless--lord palmerston did not even reply. it then occurred to mr. scott that, by a judicious mixture, he might, while preserving the essential character of the gothic, produce a design which would give a superficial impression of the classical style. he did so, but no effect was produced upon lord palmerston. the new design, he said, was 'neither one thing nor t'other--a regular mongrel affair--and he would have nothing to do with it either.' after that mr. scott found it necessary to recruit for two months at scarborough, 'with a course of quinine.' he recovered his tone at last, but only at the cost of his convictions. for the sake of his family he felt that it was his unfortunate duty to obey the prime minister; and, shuddering with horror, he constructed the government offices in a strictly renaissance style. shortly afterwards mr. scott found some consolation in building the st. pancras hotel in a style of his own.[ ] and now another and yet more satisfactory task was his. 'my idea in designing the memorial,' he wrote, 'was to erect a kind of ciborium to protect a statue of { } the prince; and its special characteristic was that the ciborium was designed in some degree on the principles of the ancient shrines. these shrines were models of imaginary buildings, such as had never in reality been erected; and my idea was to realise one of these imaginary structures with its precious materials, its inlaying, its enamels, &c. &c.'[ ] his idea was particularly appropriate since it chanced that a similar conception, though in the reverse order of magnitude, had occurred to the prince himself, who had designed and executed several silver cruet-stands upon the same model. at the queen's request a site was chosen in kensington gardens as near as possible to that of the great exhibition; and in may the first sod was turned. the work was long, complicated, and difficult; a great number of workmen were employed, besides several subsidiary sculptors and metal-workers under mr. scott's direction, while at every stage sketches and models were submitted to her majesty, who criticised all the details with minute care, and constantly suggested improvements. the frieze, which encircled the base of the monument, was in itself a very serious piece of work. 'this,' said mr. scott, 'taken as a whole, is perhaps one of the most laborious works of sculpture ever undertaken, consisting, as it does, of a continuous range of figure-sculpture of the most elaborate description, in the highest _alto-relievo_ of life-size, of more than feet in length, containing about figures, and executed in the hardest marble which could be procured.' after three years of toil the memorial was still far from completion, and mr. scott thought it advisable to give a dinner to the workmen, 'as a substantial recognition of his appreciation of their { } skill and energy.' 'two long tables,' we are told, 'constructed of scaffold planks, were arranged in the workshops, and covered with newspapers, for want of table-cloths. upwards of eighty men sat down. beef and mutton, plum-pudding and cheese, were supplied in abundance, and each man who desired it had three pints of beer, gingerbeer and lemonade being provided for the teetotalers, who formed a very considerable proportion.... several toasts were given and many of the workmen spoke, almost all of them commencing by "thanking god that they enjoyed good health"; some alluded to the temperance that prevailed amongst them, others observed how little swearing was ever heard, whilst all said how pleased and proud they were to be engaged on so great a work.' gradually the edifice approached completion. the one hundred and seventieth life-size figure in the frieze was chiselled, the granite pillars arose, the mosaics were inserted in the allegorical pediments, the four colossal statues representing the greater christian virtues, the four other colossal statues representing the greater moral virtues, were hoisted into their positions, the eight bronzes representing the greater sciences--astronomy, chemistry, geology, geometry, rhetoric, medicine, philosophy, and physiology--were fixed on their glittering pinnacles, high in air. the statue of physiology was particularly admired. 'on her left arm,' the official description informs us, 'she bears a new-born infant, as a representation of the development of the highest and most perfect of physiological forms; her hand points towards a microscope, the instrument which lends its assistance for the investigation of the minuter forms of animal and vegetable organisms.' at last the gilded cross crowned the { } dwindling galaxies of superimposed angels, the four continents in white marble stood at the four corners of the base, and, seven years after its inception, in july , the monument was thrown open to the public. but four more years were to elapse before the central figure was ready to be placed under its starry canopy. it was designed by mr. foley, though in one particular the sculptor's freedom was restricted by mr. scott. 'i have chosen the sitting posture,' mr. scott said, 'as best conveying the idea of dignity befitting a royal personage.' mr. foley ably carried out the conception of his principal. 'in the attitude and expression,' he said, 'the aim has been, with the individuality of portraiture, to embody rank, character, and enlightenment, and to convey a sense of that responsive intelligence indicating an active, rather than a passive, interest in those pursuits of civilisation illustrated in the surrounding figures, groups, and relievos.... to identify the figure with one of the most memorable undertakings of the public life of the prince--the international exhibition of --a catalogue of the works collected in that first gathering of the industry of all nations, is placed in the right hand.' the statue was of bronze gilt and weighed nearly ten tons. it was rightly supposed that the simple word 'albert,' cast on the base, would be a sufficient means of identification.[ ] [ ] clarendon, ii, . [ ] vitzthum, ii, . [ ] stockmar, ; ernest, iv- [ ] clarendon, ii, , . [ ] _letters_, iii, - . [ ] _letters_, iii, . [ ] lee, - ; crawford, . [ ] clarendon, ii, . [ ] clarendon, ii, - . [ ] martin, _queen victoria_, . [ ] clarendon, ii, ; lee, ; martin, _queen victoria_, . [ ] robertson, . [ ] morley, ii, ; ernest, iv, : 'i know that our dear angel albert always regarded a strong prussia as a necessity, for which, therefore, it is a sacred duty for me to work.'--queen victoria to the duke of saxe-coburg-gotha, august , . [ ] fitzmaurice, i, , . [ ] _ibid._, i, - . [ ] clarendon, ii, - . [ ] _the times_, april , ; clarendon, ii, . [ ] clarendon, ii, - . [ ] fitzmaurice, i, , . [ ] martin, _queen victoria_, - . [ ] martin, _queen victoria_, - . [ ] lee, [ ] _national memorial_. [ ] scott, - , . [ ] scott, . [ ] _national memorial_; dafforne, - . { } chapter viii mr. gladstone and lord beaconsfield i lord palmerston's laugh--a queer metallic 'ha! ha! ha!' with reverberations in it from the days of pitt and the congress of vienna--was heard no more in piccadilly;[ ] lord john russell dwindled into senility; lord derby tottered from the stage. a new scene opened; and new protagonists--mr. gladstone and mr. disraeli--struggled together in the limelight. victoria, from her post of vantage, watched these developments with that passionate and personal interest which she invariably imported into politics. her prepossessions were of an unexpected kind. mr. gladstone had been the disciple of her revered peel, and had won the approval of albert; mr. disraeli had hounded sir robert to his fall with hideous virulence, and the prince had pronounced that he 'had not one single element of a gentleman in his composition.'[ ] yet she regarded mr. gladstone with a distrust and dislike which steadily deepened, while upon his rival she lavished an abundance of confidence, esteem, and affection such as lord melbourne himself had hardly known. [illustration: queen victoria in . _from the portrait by von angeli_.] her attitude towards the tory minister had suddenly { } changed when she found that he alone among public men had divined her feelings at albert's death. of the others she might have said 'they pity me and not my grief'; but mr. disraeli had understood; and all his condolences had taken the form of reverential eulogies of the departed. the queen declared that he was 'the only person who appreciated the prince.'[ ] she began to show him special favour; gave him and his wife two of the coveted seats in st. george's chapel at the prince of wales's wedding, and invited him to stay a night at windsor. when the grant for the albert memorial came before the house of commons, disraeli, as leader of the opposition, eloquently supported the project. he was rewarded by a copy of the prince's speeches, bound in white morocco, with an inscription in the royal hand. in his letter of thanks he 'ventured to touch upon a sacred theme,' and, in a strain which re-echoed with masterly fidelity the sentiments of his correspondent, dwelt at length upon the absolute perfection of albert. 'the prince,' he said, 'is the only person whom mr. disraeli has ever known who realised the ideal. none with whom he is acquainted have ever approached it. there was in him an union of the manly grace and sublime simplicity, of chivalry with the intellectual splendour of the attic academe. the only character in english history that would, in some respects, draw near to him is sir philip sidney: the same high tone, the same universal accomplishment, the same blended tenderness and vigour, the same rare combination of romantic energy and classic repose.' as for his own acquaintance with the prince, it had been, he said, 'one of the most satisfactory incidents of his life: full of refined and beautiful { } memories, and exercising, as he hopes, over his remaining existence, a soothing and exalting influence.' victoria was much affected by 'the depth and delicacy of these touches,' and henceforward disraeli's place in her affections was assured.[ ] when, in , the conservatives came into office, disraeli's position as chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the house necessarily brought him into a closer relation with the sovereign. two years later lord derby resigned, and victoria, with intense delight and peculiar graciousness, welcomed disraeli as her first minister.[ ] but only for nine agitated months did he remain in power. the ministry, in a minority in the commons, was swept out of existence by a general election. yet by the end of that short period the ties which bound together the queen and her premier had grown far stronger than ever before; the relationship between them was now no longer merely that between a grateful mistress and a devoted servant: they were friends. his official letters, in which the personal element had always been perceptible, developed into racy records of political news and social gossip, written, as lord clarendon said, 'in his best novel style,' victoria was delighted; she had never, she declared, had such letters in her life, and had never before known _everything_.[ ] in return, she sent him, when the spring came, several bunches of flowers, picked by her own hands. he despatched to her a set of his novels, for which, she said, she was 'most grateful, and which she values much.' she herself had lately published her 'leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands,' and it was observed that the prime minister, in conversing { } with her majesty at this period, constantly used the words 'we authors, ma'am.'[ ] upon political questions, she was his staunch supporter. 'really there never was such conduct as that of the opposition,' she wrote. and when the government was defeated in the house she was 'really shocked at the way in which the house of commons go on; they really bring discredit on constitutional government.'[ ] she dreaded the prospect of a change; she feared that if the liberals insisted upon disestablishing the irish church, her coronation oath might stand in the way.[ ] but a change there had to be, and victoria vainly tried to console herself for the loss of her favourite minister by bestowing a peerage upon mrs. disraeli. mr. gladstone was in his shirt-sleeves at hawarden, cutting down a tree, when the royal message was brought to him. 'very significant,' he remarked, when he had read the letter, and went on cutting down his tree. his secret thoughts on the occasion were more explicit, and were committed to his diary. 'the almighty,' he wrote, 'seems to sustain and spare me for some purpose of his own, deeply unworthy as i know myself to be. glory be to his name.'[ ] the queen, however, did not share her new minister's view of the almighty's intentions. she could not believe that there was any divine purpose to be detected in the programme of sweeping changes which mr. gladstone was determined to carry out. but what could she do? mr. gladstone, with his daemonic energy and his powerful majority in the house of commons, was irresistible; and for five years ( - ) victoria found herself condemned { } to live in an agitating atmosphere of interminable reform--reform in the irish church and the irish land system, reform in education, reform in parliamentary elections, reform in the organisation of the army and the navy, reform in the administration of justice. she disapproved, she struggled, she grew very angry; she felt that if albert had been living things would never have happened so; but her protests and her complaints were alike unavailing. the mere effort of grappling with the mass of documents which poured in upon her in an ever-growing flood was terribly exhausting. when the draft of the lengthy and intricate irish church bill came before her, accompanied by an explanatory letter from mr. gladstone covering a dozen closely-written quarto pages, she almost despaired. she turned from the bill to the explanation, and from the explanation back again to the bill, and she could not decide which was the most confusing. but she had to do her duty: she had not only to read, but to make notes. at last she handed the whole heap of papers to mr. martin, who happened to be staying at osborne, and requested him to make a précis of them.[ ] when he had done so, her disapproval of the measure became more marked than ever; but, such was the strength of the government, she actually found herself obliged to urge moderation upon the opposition, lest worse should ensue.[ ] in the midst of this crisis, when the future of the irish church was hanging in the balance, victoria's attention was drawn to another proposed reform. it was suggested that the sailors in the navy should henceforward be allowed to wear beards. 'has mr. childers ascertained anything on the subject of the beards?' the queen wrote anxiously to the first lord { } of the admiralty. on the whole, her majesty was in favour of the change. 'her own personal feeling,' she wrote, 'would be for the beards without the moustaches, as the latter have rather a soldierlike appearance; but then the object in view would not be obtained, viz. to prevent the necessity of shaving. therefore it had better be as proposed, the entire beard, only it should be kept short and very clean.' after thinking over the question for another week, the queen wrote a final letter. she wished, she said, 'to make one additional observation respecting the beards, viz. that on no account should moustaches be allowed without beards. that must be clearly understood.'[ ] changes in the navy might be tolerated; to lay hands upon the army was a more serious matter. from time immemorial there had been a particularly close connection between the army and the crown; and albert had devoted even more time and attention to the details of military business than to the processes of fresco-painting or the planning of sanitary cottages for the deserving poor. but now there was to be a great alteration: mr. gladstone's fiat had gone forth, and the commander-in-chief was to be removed from his direct dependence upon the sovereign, and made subordinate to parliament and the secretary of state for war. of all the liberal reforms this was the one which aroused the bitterest resentment in victoria. she considered that the change was an attack upon her personal position--almost an attack upon the personal position of albert. but she was helpless, and the prime minister had his way. when she heard that the dreadful man had yet another reform in contemplation--that he was about to abolish the purchase of military { } commissions--she could only feel that it was just what might have been expected. for a moment she hoped that the house of lords would come to the rescue; the peers opposed the change with unexpected vigour; but mr. gladstone, more conscious than ever of the support of the almighty, was ready with an ingenious device. the purchase of commissions had been originally allowed by royal warrant; it should now be disallowed by the same agency. victoria was faced by a curious dilemma: she abominated the abolition of purchase; but she was asked to abolish it by an exercise of sovereign power which was very much to her taste. she did not hesitate for long; and when the cabinet, in a formal minute, advised her to sign the warrant, she did so with a good grace.[ ] unacceptable as mr. gladstone's policy was, there was something else about him which was even more displeasing to victoria. she disliked his personal demeanour towards herself. it was not that mr. gladstone, in his intercourse with her, was in any degree lacking in courtesy or respect. on the contrary, an extraordinary reverence permeated his manner, both in his conversation and his correspondence with the sovereign. indeed, with that deep and passionate conservatism which, to the very end of his incredible career, gave such an unexpected colouring to his inexplicable character, mr. gladstone viewed victoria through a haze of awe which was almost religious--as a sacrosanct embodiment of venerable traditions--a vital element in the british constitution--a queen by act of parliament. but unfortunately the lady did not appreciate the compliment. the well-known complaint--'he speaks to me as if i were a public meeting'--whether authentic or no--and the turn of the sentence { } is surely a little too epigrammatic to be genuinely victorian--undoubtedly expresses the essential element of her antipathy. she had no objection to being considered as an institution; she was one, and she knew it. but she was a woman too, and to be considered only as an institution--that was unbearable. and thus all mr. gladstone's zeal and devotion, his ceremonious phrases, his low bows, his punctilious correctitudes, were utterly wasted; and when, in the excess of his loyalty, he went further, and imputed to the object of his veneration, with obsequious blindness, the subtlety of intellect, the wide reading, the grave enthusiasm, which he himself possessed, the misunderstanding became complete. the discordance between the actual victoria and this strange divinity made in mr. gladstone's image produced disastrous results. her discomfort and dislike turned at last into positive animosity, and, though her manners continued to be perfect, she never for a moment unbent; while he on his side was overcome with disappointment, perplexity, and mortification.[ ] yet his fidelity remained unshaken. when the cabinet met, the prime minister, filled with his beatific vision, would open the proceedings by reading aloud the letters which he had received from the queen upon the questions of the hour. the assembly sat in absolute silence while, one after another, the royal missives, with their emphases, their ejaculations, and their grammatical peculiarities, boomed forth in all the deep solemnity of mr. gladstone's utterance. not a single comment, of any kind, was ever hazarded; and, after a fitting pause, the cabinet proceeded with the business of the day.[ ] { } ii little as victoria appreciated her prime minister's attitude towards her, she found that it had its uses. the popular discontent at her uninterrupted seclusion had been gathering force for many years, and now burst out in a new and alarming shape. republicanism was in the air. radical opinion in england, stimulated by the fall of napoleon iii and the establishment of a republican government in france, suddenly grew more extreme than it had ever been since . it also became for the first time almost respectable. chartism had been entirely an affair of the lower classes; but now members of parliament, learned professors, and ladies of title openly avowed the most subversive views. the monarchy was attacked both in theory and in practice. and it was attacked at a vital point: it was declared to be too expensive. what benefits, it was asked, did the nation reap to counterbalance the enormous sums which were expended upon the sovereign? victoria's retirement gave an unpleasant handle to the argument. it was pointed out that the ceremonial functions of the crown had virtually lapsed; and the awkward question remained whether any of the other functions which it did continue to perform were really worth £ , per annum. the royal balance-sheet was curiously examined. an anonymous pamphlet entitled 'what does she do with it?' appeared, setting forth the financial position with malicious clarity. the queen, it stated, was granted by the civil list £ , a year for her private use; but the rest of her vast annuity was given, as the act declared, to enable her 'to defray the expenses of her royal household and to support the honour and dignity of the crown.' now it was obvious that, since { } the death of the prince, the expenditure for both these purposes must have been very considerably diminished, and it was difficult to resist the conclusion that a large sum of money was diverted annually from the uses for which it had been designed by parliament, to swell the private fortune of victoria. the precise amount of that private fortune it was impossible to discover; but there was reason to suppose that it was gigantic; perhaps it reached a total of five million pounds. the pamphlet protested against such a state of affairs, and its protests were repeated vigorously in newspapers and at public meetings. though it is certain that the estimate of victoria's riches was much exaggerated, it is equally certain that she was an exceedingly wealthy woman. she probably saved £ , a year from the civil list, the revenues of the duchy of lancaster were steadily increasing, she had inherited a considerable property from the prince consort, and she had been left, in , an estate of half a million by mr. john neild, an eccentric miser. in these circumstances it was not surprising that when, in , parliament was asked to vote a dowry of £ , to the princess louise on her marriage with the eldest son of the duke of argyll, together with an annuity of £ , , there should have been a serious outcry.[ ] in order to conciliate public opinion, the queen opened parliament in person, and the vote was passed { } almost unanimously. but a few months later another demand was made: the prince arthur had come of age, and the nation was asked to grant him an annuity of £ , . the outcry was redoubled. the newspapers were filled with angry articles; bradlaugh thundered against 'princely paupers' to one of the largest crowds that had ever been seen in trafalgar square; and sir charles dilke expounded the case for a republic in a speech to his constituents at newcastle. the prince's annuity was ultimately sanctioned in the house of commons by a large majority; but a minority of fifty members voted in favour of reducing the sum to £ , . towards every aspect of this distasteful question, mr. gladstone presented an iron front. he absolutely discountenanced the extreme section of his followers. he declared that the whole of the queen's income was justly at her personal disposal, argued that to complain of royal savings was merely to encourage royal extravagance, and successfully convoyed through parliament the unpopular annuities, which, he pointed out, were strictly in accordance with precedent. when, in , sir charles dilke once more returned to the charge in the house of commons, introducing a motion for a full enquiry into the queen's expenditure with a view to a root-and-branch reform of the civil list, the prime minister brought all the resources of his powerful and ingenious eloquence to the support of the crown. he was completely successful; and amid a scene of great disorder the motion was ignominiously dismissed. victoria was relieved; but she grew no fonder of mr. gladstone.[ ] { } it was perhaps the most miserable moment of her life. the ministers, the press, the public, all conspired to vex her, to blame her, to misinterpret her actions, to be unsympathetic and disrespectful in every way. she was 'a cruelly misunderstood woman,' she told mr. martin, complaining to him bitterly of the unjust attacks which were made upon her, and declaring that 'the great worry and anxiety and hard work for ten years, alone, unaided, with increasing age and never very strong health,' were breaking her down, and 'almost drove her to despair.'[ ] the situation was indeed deplorable. it seemed as if her whole existence had gone awry; as if an irremediable antagonism had grown up between the queen and the nation. if victoria had died in the early seventies, there can be little doubt that the voice of the world would have pronounced her a failure. iii but she was reserved for a very different fate. the outburst of republicanism had been in fact the last flicker of an expiring cause. the liberal tide, which had been flowing steadily ever since the reform bill, reached its height with mr. gladstone's first administration; and towards the end of that administration the inevitable ebb began. the reaction, when it came, was sudden and complete. the general election of changed the whole face of politics. mr. gladstone and the liberals were routed; and the tory party, for the first time for over forty years, attained an unquestioned supremacy in england. it was obvious that their surprising triumph was pre-eminently { } due to the skill and vigour of disraeli. he returned to office no longer the dubious commander of an insufficient host, but with drums beating and flags flying, a conquering hero. and as a conquering hero victoria welcomed her new prime minister. then there followed six years of excitement, of enchantment, of felicity, of glory, of romance. the amazing being, who now at last, at the age of seventy, after a lifetime of extraordinary struggles, had turned into reality the absurdest of his boyhood's dreams, knew well enough how to make his own, with absolute completeness, the heart of the sovereign lady whose servant, and whose master, he had so miraculously become. in women's hearts he had always read as in an open book. his whole career had turned upon those curious entities; and the more curious they were, the more intimately at home with them he seemed to be. but lady beaconsfield, with her cracked idolatry, and mrs. brydges-williams, with her clogs, her corpulence, and her legacy, were gone: an even more remarkable phenomenon stood in their place. he surveyed what was before him with the eye of a past-master; and he was not for a moment at a loss. he realised everything--the interacting complexities of circumstance and character, the pride of place mingled so inextricably with personal arrogance, the superabundant emotionalism, the ingenuousness of outlook, the solid, the laborious respectability, shot through so incongruously by temperamental cravings for the coloured and the strange, the singular intellectual limitations, and the mysteriously essential female element impregnating every particle of the whole. a smile hovered over his impassive features, and he dubbed victoria 'the faery.' the name delighted him, for, with that epigrammatic { } ambiguity so dear to his heart, it precisely expressed his vision of the queen. the spenserian allusion was very pleasant--the elegant evocation of gloriana; but there was more in it than that: there was the suggestion of a diminutive creature, endowed with magical--and mythical--properties, and a portentousness almost ridiculously out of keeping with the rest of her make-up. the faery, he determined, should henceforward wave her wand for him alone. detachment is always a rare quality, and rarest of all, perhaps, among politicians; but that veteran egotist possessed it in a supreme degree. not only did he know what he had to do, not only did he do it; he was in the audience as well as on the stage; and he took in with the rich relish of a connoisseur every feature of the entertaining situation, every phase of the delicate drama, and every detail of his own consummate performance. the smile hovered and vanished, and, bowing low with oriental gravity and oriental submissiveness, he set himself to his task. he had understood from the first that in dealing with the faery the appropriate method of approach was the very antithesis of the gladstonian; and such a method was naturally his. it was not his habit to harangue and exhort and expatiate in official conscientiousness; he liked to scatter flowers along the path of business, to compress a weighty argument into a happy phrase, to insinuate what was in his mind with an air of friendship and confidential courtesy. he was nothing if not personal; and he had perceived that personality was the key that opened the faery's heart. accordingly, he never for a moment allowed his intercourse with her to lose the personal tone; he invested all the transactions of state with the charms of familiar conversation; she was always the royal lady, { } the adored and revered mistress, he the devoted and respectful friend. when once the personal relation was firmly established, every difficulty disappeared. but to maintain that relation uninterruptedly in a smooth and even course, a particular care was necessary: the bearings had to be most assiduously oiled. nor was disraeli in any doubt as to the nature of the lubricant. 'you have heard me called a flatterer,' he said to matthew arnold, 'and it is true. everyone likes flattery; and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.'[ ] he practised what he preached. his adulation was incessant, and he applied it in the very thickest slabs. 'there is no honor and no reward,' he declared, 'that with him can ever equal the possession of your majesty's kind thoughts. all his own thoughts and feelings and duties and affections are now concentrated in your majesty, and he desires nothing more for his remaining years than to serve your majesty, or, if that service ceases, to live still on its memory as a period of his existence most interesting and fascinating.'[ ] 'in life,' he told her, 'one must have for one's thoughts a sacred depository, and lord beaconsfield ever presumes to seek that in his sovereign mistress.'[ ] she was not only his own solitary support; she was the one prop of the state. 'if your majesty is ill,' he wrote during a grave political crisis, 'he is sure he will himself break down. all, really, depends upon your majesty.' 'he lives only for her,' he asseverated, and works only for her, and without her all is lost.'[ ] when her birthday came he produced an elaborate confection of hyperbolic compliment. 'to-day lord beaconsfield ought fitly, perhaps, to congratulate a powerful sovereign on her { } imperial sway, the vastness of her empire, and the success and strength of her fleets and armies. but he cannot, his mind is in another mood. he can only think of the strangeness of his destiny that it has come to pass that he should be the servant of one so great, and whose infinite kindness, the brightness of whose intelligence and the firmness of whose will, have enabled him to undertake labours to which he otherwise would be quite unequal, and supported him in all things by a condescending sympathy, which in the hour of difficulty alike charms and inspires. upon the sovereign of many lands and many hearts may an omnipotent providence shed every blessing that the wise can desire and the virtuous deserve!'[ ] in those expert hands the trowel seemed to assume the qualities of some lofty masonic symbol--to be the ornate and glittering vehicle of verities unrealised by the profane. such tributes were delightful, but they remained in the nebulous region of words, and disraeli had determined to give his blandishments a more significant solidity. he deliberately encouraged those high views of her own position which had always been native to victoria's mind and had been reinforced by the principles of albert and the doctrines of stockmar. he professed to a belief in a theory of the constitution which gave the sovereign a leading place in the councils of government; but his pronouncements upon the subject were indistinct; and when he emphatically declared that there ought to be 'a real throne,' it was probably with the mental addition that that throne would be a very unreal one indeed whose occupant was unamenable to his cajoleries. but the vagueness of his language was in itself an added stimulant to victoria. skilfully confusing the woman { } and the queen, he threw, with a grandiose gesture, the government of england at her feet, as if in doing so he were performing an act of personal homage. in his first audience after returning to power, he assured her that 'whatever she wished should be done.'[ ] when the intricate public worship regulation bill was being discussed by the cabinet, he told the faery that his 'only object' was 'to further your majesty's wishes in this matter.'[ ] when he brought off his great _coup_ over the suez canal, he used expressions which implied that the only gainer by the transaction was victoria. 'it is just settled,' he wrote in triumph; 'you have it, madam ... four millions sterling! and almost immediately. there was only one firm that could do it--rothschilds. they behaved admirably; advanced the money at a low rate, and the entire interest of the khedive is now yours, madam.'[ ] nor did he limit himself to highly-spiced insinuations. writing with all the authority of his office, he advised the queen that she had the constitutional right to dismiss a ministry which was supported by a large majority in the house of commons; he even urged her to do so, if, in her opinion, 'your majesty's government have from wilfulness, or even from weakness, deceived your majesty.'[ ] to the horror of mr. gladstone, he not only kept the queen informed as to the general course of business in the cabinet, but revealed to her the part taken in its discussions by individual members of it.[ ] lord derby, the son of the late prime minister and disraeli's foreign secretary, viewed these developments with grave mistrust. 'is there not,' he ventured to write to his chief, 'just a risk of encouraging her in too large ideas of her personal power, and too great { } indifference to what the public expects? i only ask; it is for you to judge.'[ ] as for victoria, she accepted everything--compliments, flatteries, elizabethan prerogatives--without a single qualm. after the long gloom of her bereavement, after the chill of the gladstonian discipline, she expanded to the rays of disraeli's devotion like a flower in the sun. the change in her situation was indeed miraculous. no longer was she obliged to puzzle for hours over the complicated details of business, for now she had only to ask mr. disraeli for an explanation, and he would give it her in the most concise, in the most amusing, way. no longer was she worried by alarming novelties; no longer was she put out at finding herself treated, by a reverential gentleman in high collars, as if she were some embodied precedent, with a recondite knowledge of greek. and her deliverer was surely the most fascinating of men. the strain of charlatanism, which had unconsciously captivated her in napoleon iii, exercised the same enchanting effect in the case of disraeli. like a dram-drinker, whose ordinary life is passed in dull sobriety, her unsophisticated intelligence gulped down his rococo allurements with peculiar zest. she became intoxicated, entranced. believing all that he told her of herself, she completely regained the self-confidence which had been slipping away from her throughout the dark period that followed albert's death. she swelled with a new elation, while he, conjuring up before her wonderful oriental visions, dazzled her eyes with an imperial grandeur of which she had only dimly dreamed. under the compelling influence, her very demeanour altered. her short, stout figure, with its folds of black velvet, its muslin streamers, its heavy pearls at the heavy neck, { } assumed an almost menacing air. in her countenance, from which the charm of youth had long since vanished, and which had not yet been softened by age, the traces of grief, of disappointment, and of displeasure were still visible, but they were overlaid by looks of arrogance and sharp lines of peremptory hauteur. only, when mr. disraeli appeared, the expression changed in an instant, and the forbidding visage became charged with smiles.[ ] for him she would do anything. yielding to his encouragements, she began to emerge from her seclusion; she appeared in london in semi-state, at hospitals and concerts; she opened parliament; she reviewed troops and distributed medals at aldershot.[ ] but such public signs of favour were trivial in comparison with her private attentions. during his hours of audience, she could hardly restrain her excitement and delight. 'i can only describe my reception,' he wrote to a friend on one occasion, 'by telling you that i really thought she was going to embrace me. she was wreathed with smiles, and, as she tattled, glided about the room like a bird.'[ ] in his absence, she talked of him perpetually, and there was a note of unusual vehemence in her solicitude for his health. 'john manners,' disraeli told lady bradford, 'who has just come from osborne, says that the faery only talked of one subject, and that was her primo. according to him, it was her gracious opinion that the government should make my health a cabinet question. dear john seemed quite surprised at what she said; but you are more used to these ebullitions.'[ ] she often sent him presents; an illustrated album arrived for him regularly from windsor on christmas day.[ ] but her most valued gifts were { } the bunches of spring flowers which, gathered by herself and her ladies in the woods at osborne, marked in an especial manner the warmth and tenderness of her sentiments. among these it was, he declared, the primroses that he loved the best. they were, he said, 'the ambassadors of spring,' 'the gems and jewels of nature.' he liked them, he assured her, 'so much better for their being wild; they seem an offering from the fauns and dryads of osborne.' 'they show,' he told her, 'that your majesty's sceptre has touched the enchanted isle.' he sat at dinner with heaped-up bowls of them on every side, and told his guests that 'they were all sent to me this morning by the queen from osborne, as she knows it is my favourite flower.'[ ] as time went on, and as it became clearer and clearer that the faery's thraldom was complete, his protestations grew steadily more highly coloured and more unabashed. at last he ventured to import into his blandishments a strain of adoration that was almost avowedly romantic. in phrases of baroque convolution, he delivered the message of his heart. the pressure of business, he wrote, had 'so absorbed and exhausted him, that towards the hour of post he has not had clearness of mind, and vigour of pen, adequate to convey his thoughts and facts to the most loved and illustrious being, who deigns to consider them.'[ ] she sent him some primroses, and he replied that he could 'truly say they are "more precious than rubies," coming, as they do, and at such a moment, from a sovereign whom he adores.'[ ] she sent him snowdrops, and his sentiment overflowed into poetry. 'yesterday eve,' he wrote, 'there appeared, in whitehall gardens, a delicate-looking case, with a royal superscription, which, when { } he opened, he thought, at first, that your majesty had graciously bestowed upon him the stars of your majesty's principal orders. and, indeed, he was so impressed with this graceful illusion, that, having a banquet, where there were many stars and ribbons, he could not resist the temptation, by placing some snowdrops on his heart, of showing that he, too, was decorated by a gracious sovereign. 'then, in the middle of the night, it occurred to him, that it might all be an enchantment, and that, perhaps, it was a faery gift and came from another monarch: queen titania, gathering flowers, with her court, in a soft and sea-girt isle, and sending magic blossoms, which, they say, turn the heads of those who receive them.'[ ] a faery gift! did he smile as he wrote the words? perhaps; and yet it would be rash to conclude that his perfervid declarations were altogether without sincerity. actor and spectator both, the two characters were so intimately blended together in that odd composition that they formed an inseparable unity, and it was impossible to say that one of them was less genuine than the other. with one element, he could coldly appraise the faery's intellectual capacity, note with some surprise that she could be on occasion 'most interesting and amusing,' and then continue his use of the trowel with an ironical solemnity; while, with the other, he could be overwhelmed by the immemorial panoply of royalty, and, thrilling with the sense of his own strange elevation, dream himself into a gorgeous phantasy of crowns and powers and chivalric love. when he told victoria that 'during a somewhat romantic and imaginative life, nothing has ever occurred to him so interesting as this confidential correspondence with one so exalted and so { } inspiring,'[ ] was he not in earnest after all? when he wrote to a lady about the court, 'i love the queen--perhaps the only person in this world left to me that i do love,'[ ] was he not creating for himself an enchanted palace out of the arabian nights, full of melancholy and spangles, in which he actually believed? victoria's state of mind was far more simple; untroubled by imaginative yearnings, she never lost herself in that nebulous region of the spirit where feeling and fancy grow confused. her emotions, with all their intensity and all their exaggeration, retained the plain prosaic texture of everyday life. and it was fitting that her expression of them should be equally commonplace. she was, she told her prime minister, at the end of an official letter, 'yours aff'ly v.r. and i.' in such a phrase the deep reality of her feeling is instantly manifest. the faery's feet were on the solid earth; it was the _rusé_ cynic who was in the air. he had taught her, however, a lesson, which she had learnt with alarming rapidity. a second gloriana, did he call her? very well, then, she would show that she deserved the compliment. disquieting symptoms followed fast. in may , the tsar, whose daughter had just been married to victoria's second son, the duke of edinburgh, was in london, and, by an unfortunate error, it had been arranged that his departure should not take place until two days after the date on which his royal hostess had previously decided to go to balmoral. her majesty refused to modify her plans. it was pointed out to her that the tsar would certainly be offended, that the most serious consequences might follow; lord derby protested; lord salisbury, the secretary of state for india, was much perturbed. but { } the faery was unconcerned; she had settled to go to balmoral on the th, and on the th she would go. at last disraeli, exercising all his influence, induced her to agree to stay in london for two days more. 'my head is still on my shoulders,' he told lady bradford. 'the great lady has absolutely postponed her departure! everybody had failed, even the prince of wales; ... and i have no doubt i am not in favour. i can't help it. salisbury says i have saved an afghan war, and derby compliments me on my unrivalled triumph.'[ ] but before very long, on another issue, the triumph was the faery's. disraeli, who had suddenly veered towards a new imperialism, had thrown out the suggestion that the queen of england ought to become the empress of india. victoria seized upon the idea with avidity, and, in season and out of season, pressed upon her prime minister the desirability of putting his proposal into practice. he demurred; but she was not to be baulked; and in , in spite of his own unwillingness and that of his entire cabinet, he found himself obliged to add to the troubles of a stormy session by introducing a bill for the alteration of the royal title.[ ] his compliance, however, finally conquered the faery's heart. the measure was angrily attacked in both houses, and victoria was deeply touched by the untiring energy with which disraeli defended it. she was, she said, much grieved by 'the worry and annoyance' to which he was subjected; she feared she was the cause of it; and she would never forget what she owed to 'her kind, good, and considerate friend.' at the same time, her wrath fell on the opposition. their conduct, she declared, was 'extraordinary, incomprehensible, and mistaken,' and, in an emphatic sentence which seemed to contradict { } both itself and all her former proceedings, she protested that she 'would be glad if it were more generally known that it was _her_ wish, as people _will_ have it, that it has been _forced upon her!_'[ ] when the affair was successfully over, the imperial triumph was celebrated in a suitable manner. on the day of the delhi proclamation, the new earl of beaconsfield went to windsor to dine with the new empress of india. that night the faery, usually so homely in her attire, appeared in a glittering panoply of enormous uncut jewels, which had been presented to her by the reigning princes of her raj. at the end of the meal the prime minister, breaking through the rules of etiquette, arose, and in a flowery oration proposed the health of the queen-empress. his audacity was well received, and his speech was rewarded by a smiling curtsey.[ ] these were significant episodes; but a still more serious manifestation of victoria's temper occurred in the following year, during the crowning crisis of beaconsfield's life. his growing imperialism, his desire to magnify the power and prestige of england, his insistence upon a 'spirited foreign policy,' had brought him into collision with russia; the terrible eastern question loomed up; and, when war broke out between russia and turkey, the gravity of the situation became extreme. the prime minister's policy was fraught with difficulty and danger. realising perfectly the appalling implications of an anglo-russian war, he was yet prepared to face even that eventuality if he could obtain his ends by no other method; but he believed that russia in reality was still less desirous of a rupture, and that, if he played his game with sufficient boldness and { } adroitness, she would yield, when it came to the point, all that he required without a blow. it was clear that the course he had marked out for himself was full of hazard, and demanded an extraordinary nerve; a single false step, and either himself, or england, might be plunged in disaster. but nerve he had never lacked; he began his diplomatic egg-dance with high assurance; and then he discovered that, besides the russian government, besides the liberals and mr. gladstone, there were two additional sources of perilous embarrassment with which he would have to reckon. in the first place there was a strong party in the cabinet, headed by lord derby, the foreign secretary, which was unwilling to take the risk of war; but his culminating anxiety was the faery. from the first, her attitude was uncompromising. the old hatred of russia, which had been engendered by the crimean war, surged up again within her; she remembered albert's prolonged animosity; she felt the prickings of her own greatness; and she flung herself into the turmoil with passionate heat. her indignation with the opposition--with anyone who ventured to sympathise with the russians in their quarrel with the turks--was unbounded. when anti-turkish meetings were held in london, presided over by the duke of westminster and lord shaftesbury, and attended by mr. gladstone and other prominent radicals, she considered that 'the attorney-general ought to be set at these men'; 'it can't,' she exclaimed, 'be constitutional.'[ ] never in her life, not even in the crisis over the ladies of the bedchamber, did she show herself a more furious partisan. but her displeasure was not reserved for the radicals; the { } backsliding conservatives equally felt its force. she was even discontented with lord beaconsfield himself. failing entirely to appreciate the delicate complexity of his policy, she constantly assailed him with demands for vigorous action, interpreted each finesse as a sign of weakness, and was ready at every juncture to let slip the dogs of war. as the situation developed, her anxiety grew feverish. 'the queen,' she wrote, 'is feeling terribly anxious lest delay should cause us to be too late and lose our prestige for ever! it worries her night and day.'[ ] 'the faery,' beaconsfield told lady bradford, 'writes every day and telegraphs every hour; this is almost literally the case.'[ ] she raged loudly against the russians. 'and the language,' she cried, 'the insulting language--used by the russians against us! it makes the queen's blood boil!'[ ] 'oh,' she wrote a little later, 'if the queen were a man, she would like to go and give those russians, whose word one cannot believe, such a beating! we shall never be friends again till we have it out. this the queen feels sure of.'[ ] the unfortunate prime minister, urged on to violence by victoria on one side, had to deal, on the other, with a foreign secretary who was fundamentally opposed to any policy of active interference at all. between the queen and lord derby he held a harassed course. he gained, indeed, some slight satisfaction in playing off the one against the other--in stimulating lord derby with the queen's missives, and in appeasing the queen by repudiating lord derby's opinions; on one occasion he actually went so far as to compose, at victoria's request, a letter bitterly attacking his colleague, { } which her majesty forthwith signed, and sent, without alteration, to the foreign secretary.[ ] but such devices gave only a temporary relief; and it soon became evident that victoria's martial ardour was not to be side-tracked by hostilities against lord derby; hostilities against russia were what she wanted, what she would, what she must, have. for now, casting aside the last relics of moderation, she began to attack her friend with a series of extraordinary threats. not once, not twice, but many times she held over his head the formidable menace of her imminent abdication. 'if england,' she wrote to beaconsfield, 'is to kiss russia's feet, she will not be a party to the humiliation of england and would lay down her crown,' and she added that the prime minister might, if he thought fit, repeat her words to the cabinet.[ ] 'this delay,' she ejaculated, 'this uncertainty by which, abroad, we are losing our prestige and our position, while russia is advancing and will be before constantinople in no time! then the government will be fearfully blamed and the queen so humiliated that she thinks she would abdicate at once. be bold!'[ ] 'she feels,' she reiterated, 'she cannot, as she before said, remain the sovereign of a country that is letting itself down to kiss the feet of the great barbarians, the retarders of all liberty and civilisation that exists.'[ ] when the russians advanced to the outskirts of constantinople she fired off three letters in a day demanding war; and when she learnt that the cabinet had only decided to send the fleet to gallipoli she declared that 'her first impulse' was 'to lay down the thorny crown, which she feels little satisfaction in retaining if the position of this country is { } to remain as it is now.'[ ] it is easy to imagine the agitating effect of such a correspondence upon beaconsfield. this was no longer the faery; it was a genie whom he had rashly called out of her bottle, and who was now intent upon showing her supernal power. more than once, perplexed, dispirited, shattered by illness, he had thoughts of withdrawing altogether from the game. one thing alone, he told lady bradford, with a wry smile, prevented him. 'if i could only,' he wrote, 'face the scene which would occur at headquarters if i resigned, i would do so at once.'[ ] he held on, however, to emerge victorious at last. the queen was pacified; lord derby was replaced by lord salisbury; and at the congress of berlin _der alte jude_ carried all before him. he returned to england in triumph, and assured the delighted victoria that she would very soon be, if she was not already, the 'dictatress of europe.'[ ] but soon there was an unexpected reverse. at the general election of the country, mistrustful of the forward policy of the conservatives, and carried away by mr. gladstone's oratory, returned the liberals to power. victoria was horrified, but within a year she was to be yet more nearly hit. the grand romance had come to its conclusion. lord beaconsfield, worn out with age and maladies, but moving still, an assiduous mummy, from dinner-party to dinner-party, suddenly moved no longer. when she knew that the end was inevitable, she seemed, by a pathetic instinct, to divest herself of her royalty, and to shrink, with hushed gentleness, beside him, a woman and nothing more. 'i send some osborne primroses,' she wrote to him with touching simplicity, 'and i meant to pay you a little { } visit this week but i thought it better you should be quite quiet and not speak. and i beg you will be very good and obey the doctors.' she would see him, she said, 'when we come back from osborne, which won't be long.' 'everyone is so distressed at your not being well,' she added; and she was, 'ever yours very aff'ly, v.r.i.' when the royal letter was given him, the strange old comedian, stretched on his bed of death, poised it in his hand, appeared to consider deeply, and then whispered to those about him: 'this ought to be read to me by a privy councillor.'[ ] [ ] adams, . [ ] clarendon, ii, . [ ] buckle, iv, . [ ] buckle, iv, - . [ ] _ibid._, iv, . [ ] clarendon, ii, . [ ] buckle, v, . [ ] _ibid._, v, . [ ] _ibid._, v, . [ ] morley, ii, , . [ ] martin, _queen victoria_, - . [ ] tait, ii, chap. i. [ ] childers, i, - . [ ] morley, ii, - . [ ] morley, ii, - ; crawford, , - . [ ] private information. [ ] in it was officially stated that the queen's total savings from the civil list amounted to £ , , but that out of this sum much had been spent on special entertainments to foreign visitors (lee, ). taking into consideration the proceeds from the duchy of lancaster, which were more than £ , a year (lee, ), the savings of the prince consort, and mr. neild's legacy, it seems probable that, at the time of her death, victoria's private fortune approached two million pounds. [ ] morley, ii, - ; lee, - , - ; jerrold, _widowhood_, - , - , - . [ ] martin, _queen victoria_, - . [ ] buckle, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, , . [ ] _ibid._, vi, - . [ ] buckle, vi, . [ ] buckle, v, . [ ] _ibid._, v, . [ ] _ibid._, v, - . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] morley, ii, - . [ ] buckle, v, . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, . [ ] lee, - . [ ] buckle, v, . [ ] _ibid_., v, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] buckle, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, - . [ ] buckle, vi, - . [ ] buckle, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] buckle, v, - . [ ] _ibid._, v, - ; vi, - . [ ] buckle, v, - , . [ ] hamilton, ; _quarterly review_, cxxxix, . [ ] buckle, vi, - . [ ] buckle, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] buckle, vi, - . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] _ibid._, vi, . [ ] buckle, vi, - . [ ] _ibid._. vi, . [ ] lee, - . [ ] buckle, vi, - . { } chapter ix old age i meanwhile in victoria's private life many changes and developments had taken place. with the marriages of her elder children her family circle widened; grandchildren appeared; and a multitude of new domestic interests sprang up. the death of king leopold in had removed the predominant figure of the older generation, and the functions he had performed as the centre and adviser of a large group of relatives in germany and in england devolved upon victoria. these functions she discharged with unremitting industry, carrying on an enormous correspondence, and following with absorbed interest every detail in the lives of the ever-ramifying cousinhood. and she tasted to the full both the joys and the pains of family affection. she took a particular delight in her grandchildren, to whom she showed an indulgence which their parents had not always enjoyed, though, even to her grandchildren, she could be, when the occasion demanded it, severe. the eldest of them, the little prince wilhelm of prussia, was a remarkably headstrong child; he dared to be impertinent even to his grandmother; and once, when she told him to bow to a visitor at osborne, he disobeyed her outright. this would not do: the order was sternly repeated, and the naughty boy, noticing { } that his kind grandmama had suddenly turned into a most terrifying lady, submitted his will to hers, and bowed very low indeed.[ ] [illustration: queen victoria in .] it would have been well if all the queen's domestic troubles could have been got over as easily. among her more serious distresses was the conduct of the prince of wales. the young man was now independent and married; he had shaken the parental yoke from his shoulders; he was positively beginning to do as he liked. victoria was much perturbed, and her worst fears seemed to be justified when in he appeared as a witness in a society divorce case. it was clear that the heir to the throne had been mixing with people of whom she did not at all approve. what was to be done? she saw that it was not only her son that was to blame--that it was the whole system of society; and so she despatched a letter to mr. delane, the editor of _the times_, asking him if he would 'frequently _write_ articles pointing out the _immense_ danger and evil of the wretched frivolity and levity of the views and lives of the higher classes.' and five years later mr. delane did write an article upon that very subject.[ ] yet it seemed to have very little effect. ah! if only the higher classes would learn to live as she lived in the domestic sobriety of her sanctuary at balmoral! for more and more did she find solace and refreshment in her highland domain; and twice yearly, in the spring and in the autumn, with a sigh of relief, she set her face northwards, in spite of the humble protests of ministers, who murmured vainly in the royal ears that to transact the affairs of state over an interval of six hundred miles added considerably to the cares of government. her ladies, too, { } felt occasionally a slight reluctance to set out, for, especially in the early days, the long pilgrimage was not without its drawbacks. for many years the queen's conservatism forbade the continuation of the railway up deeside, so that the last stages of the journey had to be accomplished in carriages. but, after all, carriages had their good points; they were easy, for instance, to get in and out of, which was an important consideration, for the royal train remained for long immune from modern conveniences, and when it drew up, on some border moorland, far from any platform, the high-bred dames were obliged to descend to earth by the perilous foot-board, the only pair of folding steps being reserved for her majesty's saloon. in the days of crinolines such moments were sometimes awkward; and it was occasionally necessary to summon mr. johnstone, the short and sturdy manager of the caledonian railway, who, more than once, in a high gale and drenching rain with great difficulty 'pushed up'--as he himself described it--some unlucky lady blanche or lady agatha into her compartment.[ ] but victoria cared for none of these things. she was only intent upon regaining, with the utmost swiftness, her enchanted castle, where every spot was charged with memories, where every memory was sacred, and where life was passed in an incessant and delightful round of absolutely trivial events. and it was not only the place that she loved; she was equally attached to 'the simple mountaineers,' from whom, she said, 'she learnt many a lesson of resignation and faith.'[ ] smith and grant and ross and thompson--she was devoted to them all; but, beyond the rest, she was devoted to john brown. the { } prince's gillie had now become the queen's personal attendant--a body servant from whom she was never parted, who accompanied her on her drives, waited on her during the day, and slept in a neighbouring chamber at night. she liked his strength, his solidity, the sense he gave her of physical security; she even liked his rugged manners and his rough unaccommodating speech. she allowed him to take liberties with her which would have been unthinkable from anybody else. to bully the queen, to order her about, to reprimand her--who could dream of venturing upon such audacities? and yet, when she received such treatment from john brown, she positively seemed to enjoy it. the eccentricity appeared to be extraordinary; but, after all, it is no uncommon thing for an autocratic dowager to allow some trusted indispensable servant to adopt towards her an attitude of authority which is jealously forbidden to relatives or friends: the power of a dependant still remains, by a psychological sleight-of-hand, one's own power, even when it is exercised over oneself. when victoria meekly obeyed the abrupt commands of her henchman to get off her pony or put on her shawl, was she not displaying, and in the highest degree, the force of her volition? people might wonder; she could not help that; this was the manner in which it pleased her to act, and there was an end of it. to have submitted her judgment to a son or a minister might have seemed wiser or more natural; but if she had done so, she instinctively felt, she would indeed have lost her independence. and yet upon somebody she longed to depend. her days were heavy with the long process of domination. as she drove in silence over the moors she leaned back in the carriage, oppressed and weary; but what a relief!--john brown was behind { } on the rumble, and his strong arm would be there for her to lean upon when she got out. he had, too, in her mind, a special connection with albert. in their expeditions the prince had always trusted him more than anyone; the gruff, kind, hairy scotsman was, she felt, in some mysterious way, a legacy from the dead. she came to believe at last--or so it appeared--that the spirit of albert was nearer when brown was near. often, when seeking inspiration over some complicated question of political or domestic import, she would gaze with deep concentration at her late husband's bust. but it was also noticed that sometimes in such moments of doubt and hesitation her majesty's looks would fix themselves upon john brown. eventually, the 'simple mountaineer' became almost a state personage. the influence which he wielded was not to be overlooked. lord beaconsfield was careful, from time to time, to send courteous messages to 'mr. brown' in his letters to the queen, and the french government took particular pains to provide for his comfort during the visits of the english sovereign to france. it was only natural that among the elder members of the royal family he should not have been popular, and that his failings--for failings he had, though victoria would never notice his too acute appreciation of scotch whisky--should have been the subject of acrimonious comment at court. but he served his mistress faithfully, and to ignore him would be a sign of disrespect in her biographer. for the queen, far from making a secret of her affectionate friendship, took care to publish it to the world. by her orders two gold medals were struck in his honour; on his death, in , a long and eulogistic obituary notice { } of him appeared in the _court circular_; and a brown memorial brooch--of gold, with the late gillie's head on one side and the royal monogram on the other--was designed by her majesty for presentation to her highland servants and cottagers, to be worn by them on the anniversary of his death, with a mourning scarf and pins. in the second series of extracts from the queen's highland journal, published in , her 'devoted personal attendant and faithful friend' appears upon almost every page, and is in effect the hero of the book. with an absence of reticence remarkable in royal persons, victoria seemed to demand, in this private and delicate matter, the sympathy of the whole nation; and yet--such is the world!--there were those who actually treated the relations between their sovereign and her servant as a theme for ribald jests.[ ] ii the busy years hastened away; the traces of time's unimaginable touch grew manifest; and old age, approaching, laid a gentle hold upon victoria. the grey hair whitened; the mature features mellowed; the short firm figure amplified and moved more slowly, supported by a stick. and, simultaneously, in the whole tenour of the queen's existence an extraordinary transformation came to pass. the nation's attitude towards her, critical and even hostile as it had been for so many years, altogether changed; while there was a corresponding alteration in the temper of victoria's own mind. many causes led to this result. among them were the repeated strokes of personal misfortune which befell { } the queen during a cruelly short space of years. in the princess alice, who had married in the prince louis of hesse-darmstadt, died in tragic circumstances. in the following year the prince imperial, the only son of the empress eugénie, to whom victoria, since the catastrophe of , had become devotedly attached, was killed in the zulu war. two years later, in , the queen lost lord beaconsfield, and, in , john brown. in the prince leopold, duke of albany, who had been an invalid from birth, died prematurely, shortly after his marriage. victoria's cup of sorrows was indeed overflowing: and the public, as it watched the widowed mother weeping for her children and her friends, displayed a constantly increasing sympathy. an event which occurred in revealed and accentuated the feelings of the nation. as the queen, at windsor, was walking from the train to her carriage, a youth named roderick maclean fired a pistol at her from a distance of a few yards. an eton boy struck up maclean's arm with an umbrella before the pistol went off; no damage was done, and the culprit was at once arrested. this was the last of a series of seven attempts upon the queen--attempts which, taking place at sporadic intervals over a period of forty years, resembled one another in a curious manner. all, with a single exception, were perpetrated by adolescents, whose motives were apparently not murderous, since, save in the case of maclean, none of their pistols was loaded. these unhappy youths, who, after buying their cheap weapons, stuffed them with gunpowder and paper, and then went off, with the certainty of immediate detection, to click them in the face of royalty, present a strange problem to the psychologist. but, though { } in each case their actions and their purposes seemed to be so similar, their fates were remarkably varied. the first of them, edward oxford, who fired at victoria within a few months of her marriage, was tried for high treason, declared to be insane, and sent to an asylum for life. it appears, however, that this sentence did not commend itself to albert, for when, two years later, john francis committed the same offence, and was tried upon the same charge, the prince pronounced that there was no insanity in the matter. 'the wretched creature,' he told his father, was 'not out of his mind, but a thorough scamp.' 'i hope,' he added, 'his trial will be conducted with the greatest strictness.' apparently it was; at any rate, the jury shared the view of the prince, the plea of insanity was set aside, and francis was found guilty of high treason and condemned to death; but, as there was no proof of an intent to kill or even to wound, this sentence, after a lengthened deliberation between the home secretary and the judges, was commuted for one of transportation for life. as the law stood, these assaults, futile as they were, could be treated only as high treason; the discrepancy between the actual deed and the tremendous penalties involved was obviously grotesque; and it was, besides, clear that a jury, knowing that a verdict of guilty implied a sentence of death, would tend to the alternative course, and find the prisoner not guilty but insane--a conclusion which, on the face of it, would have appeared to be the more reasonable. in , therefore, an act was passed making any attempt to hurt the queen a misdemeanour, punishable by transportation for seven years, or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding three years--the misdemeanant, at the discretion of the court, { } 'to be publicly or privately whipped, as often, and in such manner and form, as the court shall direct, not exceeding thrice.'[ ] the four subsequent attempts were all dealt with under this new law; william bean, in , was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment; william hamilton, in , was transported for seven years; and, in , the same sentence was passed upon lieutenant robert pate, who struck the queen on the head with his cane in piccadilly. pate, alone among these delinquents, was of mature years; he had held a commission in the army, dressed himself as a dandy, and was, the prince declared, 'manifestly deranged.'[ ] in arthur o'connor, a youth of seventeen, fired an unloaded pistol at the queen outside buckingham palace; he was immediately seized by john brown, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment and twenty strokes of the birch rod. it was for his bravery upon this occasion that brown was presented with one of his gold medals. in all these cases the jury had refused to allow the plea of insanity; but roderick maclean's attempt in had a different issue. on this occasion the pistol was found to have been loaded, and the public indignation, emphasised as it was by victoria's growing popularity, was particularly great. either for this or for some other reason the procedure of the last forty years was abandoned, and maclean was tried for high treason. the result was what might have been expected: the jury brought in a verdict of 'not guilty, but insane'; and the prisoner was sent to an asylum during her majesty's pleasure.[ ] their verdict, however, produced a remarkable consequence. victoria, who doubtless carried in her mind { } some memory of albert's disapproval of a similar verdict in the case of oxford, was very much annoyed. what did the jury mean, she asked, by saying that maclean was not guilty? it was perfectly clear that he was guilty--she had seen him fire off the pistol herself. it was in vain that her majesty's constitutional advisers reminded her of the principle of english law which lays down that no man can be found guilty of a crime unless he be proved to have had a criminal intention. victoria was quite unconvinced. 'if that is the law,' she said, 'the law must be altered': and altered it was. in an act was passed changing the form of the verdict in cases of insanity, and the confusing anomaly remains upon the statute book to this day.[ ] but it was not only through the feelings--commiserating or indignant--of personal sympathy that the queen and her people were being drawn more nearly together; they were beginning, at last, to come to a close and permanent agreement upon the conduct of public affairs. mr. gladstone's second administration ( - ) was a succession of failures, ending in disaster and disgrace; liberalism fell into discredit with the country, and victoria perceived with joy that her distrust of her ministers was shared by an ever-increasing number of her subjects. during the crisis in the sudan, the popular temper was her own. she had been among the first to urge the necessity of an expedition to khartoum, and, when the news came of the catastrophic death of general gordon, her voice led the chorus of denunciation which raved against the government. in her rage, she despatched a fulminating telegram to mr. gladstone, not in the usual cypher, but open;[ ] and { } her letter of condolence to miss gordon, in which she attacked her ministers for breach of faith, was widely published. it was rumoured that she had sent for lord hartington, the secretary of state for war, and vehemently upbraided him. 'she rated me,' he was reported to have told a friend, 'as if i'd been a footman.' 'why didn't she send for the butler?' asked his friend. 'oh,' was the reply, 'the butler generally manages to keep out of the way on such occasions.'[ ] but the day came when it was impossible to keep out of the way any longer. mr. gladstone was defeated, and resigned. victoria, at a final interview, received him with her usual amenity, but, besides the formalities demanded by the occasion, the only remark which she made to him of a personal nature was to the effect that she supposed mr. gladstone would now require some rest. he remembered with regret how, at a similar audience in , she had expressed her trust in him as a supporter of the throne; but he noted the change without surprise. 'her mind and opinions,' he wrote in his diary afterwards, 'have since that day been seriously warped.'[ ] such was mr. gladstone's view; but the majority of the nation by no means agreed with him; and, in the general election of , they showed decisively that victoria's politics were identical with theirs by casting forth the contrivers of home rule--that abomination of desolation--into outer darkness, and placing lord salisbury in power. victoria's satisfaction was profound. a flood of new unwonted hopefulness swept over her, stimulating her vital spirits with a surprising force. her habit of life was suddenly altered; abandoning the long seclusion which disraeli's persuasions { } had only momentarily interrupted, she threw herself vigorously into a multitude of public activities. she appeared at drawing-rooms, at concerts, at reviews; she laid foundation-stones; she went to liverpool to open an international exhibition, driving through the streets in her open carriage in heavy rain amid vast applauding crowds. delighted by the welcome which met her everywhere, she warmed to her work. she visited edinburgh, where the ovation of liverpool was repeated and surpassed. in london, she opened in high state the colonial and indian exhibition at south kensington. on this occasion the ceremonial was particularly magnificent; a blare of trumpets announced the approach of her majesty; the 'national anthem' followed; and the queen, seated on a gorgeous throne of hammered gold, replied with her own lips to the address that was presented to her. then she rose, and, advancing upon the platform with regal port, acknowledged the acclamations of the great assembly by a succession of curtseys, of elaborate and commanding grace.[ ] next year was the fiftieth of her reign, and in june the splendid anniversary was celebrated in solemn pomp. victoria, surrounded by the highest dignitaries of her realm, escorted by a glittering galaxy of kings and princes, drove through the crowded enthusiasm of the capital to render thanks to god in westminster abbey. in that triumphant hour the last remaining traces of past antipathies and past disagreements were altogether swept away. the queen was hailed at once as the mother of her people and as the embodied symbol of their imperial greatness; and she responded to the double sentiment with all the ardour of her spirit. { } england and the people of england, she knew it, she felt it, were, in some wonderful and yet quite simple manner, _hers_. exultation, affection, gratitude, a profound sense of obligation, an unbounded pride--such were her emotions; and, colouring and intensifying the rest, there was something else. at last, after so long, happiness--fragmentary, perhaps, and charged with gravity, but true and unmistakable none the less--had returned to her. the unaccustomed feeling filled and warmed her consciousness. when, at buckingham palace again, the long ceremony over, she was asked how she was, 'i am very tired, but very happy,' she said.[ ] iii and so, after the toils and tempests of the day, a long evening followed--mild, serene, and lighted with a golden glory. for an unexampled atmosphere of success and adoration invested the last period of victoria's life. her triumph was the summary, the crown, of a greater triumph--the culminating prosperity of a nation. the solid splendour of the decade between victoria's two jubilees can hardly be paralleled in the annals of england. the sage counsels of lord salisbury seemed to bring with them not only wealth and power, but security; and the country settled down, with calm assurance, to the enjoyment of an established grandeur. and--it was only natural--victoria settled down too. for she was a part of the establishment--an essential part as it seemed--a fixture--a magnificent, immovable sideboard in the huge saloon of state. without her the heaped-up banquet of would have lost its distinctive quality--the comfortable order of the { } substantial unambiguous dishes, with their background of weighty glamour, half out of sight. her own existence came to harmonise more and more with what was around her. gradually, imperceptibly, albert receded. it was not that he was forgotten--that would have been impossible--but that the void created by his absence grew less agonising, and even, at last, less obvious. eventually victoria found it possible to regret the bad weather without immediately reflecting that her 'dear albert always said we could not alter it, but must leave it as it was'; she could even enjoy a good breakfast without considering how 'dear albert' would have liked the buttered eggs.[ ] and, as that figure slowly faded, its place was taken, inevitably, by victoria's own. her being, revolving for so many years round an external object, now changed its motion and found its centre in itself. it had to be so: her domestic position, the pressure of her public work, her indomitable sense of duty, made anything else impossible. her egotism proclaimed its rights. her age increased still further the surrounding deference; and her force of character, emerging at length in all its plenitude, imposed itself absolutely upon its environment by the conscious effort of an imperious will. little by little it was noticed that the outward vestiges of albert's posthumous domination grew less complete. at court the stringency of mourning was relaxed. as the queen drove through the park in her open carriage with her highlanders behind her, nursery-maids canvassed eagerly the growing patch of violet velvet in the bonnet with its jet appurtenances on the small bowing head. { } it was in her family that victoria's ascendancy reached its highest point. all her offspring were married; the number of her descendants rapidly increased; there were many marriages in the third generation; and no fewer than thirty-seven of her great-grandchildren were living at the time of her death. a picture of the period displays the royal family collected together in one of the great rooms at windsor--a crowded company of more than fifty persons, with the imperial matriarch in their midst. over them all she ruled with a most potent sway. the small concerns of the youngest aroused her passionate interest; and the oldest she treated as if they were children still. the prince of wales, in particular, stood in tremendous awe of his mother. she had steadily refused to allow him the slightest participation in the business of government; and he had occupied himself in other ways. nor could it be denied that he enjoyed himself--out of her sight; but, in that redoubtable presence, his abounding manhood suffered a miserable eclipse. once, at osborne, when, owing to no fault of his, he was too late for a dinner party, he was observed standing behind a pillar and, wiping the sweat from his forehead, trying to nerve himself to go up to the queen. when at last he did so, she gave him a stiff nod, whereupon he vanished immediately behind another pillar, and remained there until the party broke up. at the time of this incident the prince of wales was over fifty years of age.[ ] it was inevitable that the queen's domestic activities should occasionally trench upon the domain of high diplomacy; and this was especially the case when the interests of her eldest daughter, the crown princess of prussia, were at stake. the crown prince held { } liberal opinions; he was much influenced by his wife; and both were detested by bismarck, who declared with scurrilous emphasis that the englishwoman and her mother were a menace to the prussian state. the feud was still further intensified when, on the death of the old emperor ( ), the crown prince succeeded to the throne. a family entanglement brought on a violent crisis. one of the daughters of the new empress had become betrothed to prince alexander of battenberg, who had lately been ejected from the throne of bulgaria owing to the hostility of the tsar. victoria, as well as the empress, highly approved of the match. of the two brothers of prince alexander, the elder had married another of her grand-daughters, and the younger was the husband of her daughter, the princess beatrice; she was devoted to the handsome young men; and she was delighted by the prospect of the third brother--on the whole the handsomest, she thought, of the three--also becoming a member of her family. unfortunately, however, bismarck was opposed to the scheme. he perceived that the marriage would endanger the friendship between germany and russia, which was vital to his foreign policy, and he announced that it must not take place. a fierce struggle between the empress and the chancellor followed. victoria, whose hatred of her daughter's enemy was unbounded, came over to charlottenburg to join in the fray. bismarck, over his pipe and his lager, snorted out his alarm. the queen of england's object, he said, was clearly political--she wished to estrange germany and russia--and very likely she would have her way. 'in family matters,' he added, 'she is not used to contradiction'; she would 'bring the parson with her in her travelling-bag and the bridegroom in her trunk, and the marriage would { } come off on the spot.' but the man of blood and iron was not to be thwarted so easily, and he asked for a private interview with the queen. the details of their conversation are unknown; but it is certain that in the course of it victoria was forced to realise the meaning of resistance to that formidable personage, and that she promised to use all her influence to prevent the marriage. the engagement was broken off; and in the following year prince alexander of battenberg united himself to fräulein loisinger, an actress at the court theatre of darmstadt.[ ] but such painful incidents were rare. victoria was growing very old; with no albert to guide her, with no beaconsfield to enflame her, she was willing enough to abandon the dangerous questions of diplomacy to the wisdom of lord salisbury, and to concentrate her energies upon objects which touched her more nearly and over which she could exercise an undisputed control. her home--her court--the monuments at balmoral--the livestock at windsor--the organisation of her engagements--the supervision of the multitudinous details of her daily routine--such matters played now an even greater part in her existence than before. her life passed in an extraordinary exactitude. every moment of her day was mapped out beforehand; the succession of her engagements was immutably fixed; the dates of her journeys--to osborne, to balmoral, to the south of france, to windsor, to london--were hardly altered from year to year. she demanded from those who surrounded her a rigid precision in details, and she was preternaturally quick in detecting the slightest deviation from the rules which she had laid down. such was the irresistible potency of her { } personality, that anything but the most implicit obedience to her wishes was felt to be impossible; but sometimes somebody was unpunctual; and unpunctuality was one of the most heinous of sins. then her displeasure--her dreadful displeasure--became all too visible. at such moments there seemed nothing surprising in her having been the daughter of a martinet.[ ] but these storms, unnerving as they were while they lasted, were quickly over, and they grew more and more exceptional. with the return of happiness a gentle benignity flowed from the aged queen. her smile, once so rare a visitant to those saddened features, flitted over them with an easy alacrity; the blue eyes beamed; the whole face, starting suddenly from its pendulous expressionlessness, brightened and softened and cast over those who watched it an unforgettable charm. for in her last years there was a fascination in victoria's amiability which had been lacking even from the vivid impulse of her youth. over all who approached her--or very nearly all--she threw a peculiar spell. her grandchildren adored her; her ladies waited upon her with a reverential love. the honour of serving her obliterated a thousand inconveniences--the monotony of a court existence, the fatigue of standing, the necessity for a superhuman attentiveness to the minutiae of time and space. as one did one's wonderful duty one could forget that one's legs were aching from the infinitude of the passages at windsor, or that one's bare arms were turning blue in the balmoral cold. what, above all, seemed to make such service delightful was the detailed interest which the queen took in the circumstances of those around her. her absorbing passion for the comfortable commonplaces, { } the small crises, the recurrent sentimentalities, of domestic life constantly demanded wider fields for its activity; the sphere of her own family, vast as it was, was not enough; she became the eager confidante of the household affairs of her ladies; her sympathies reached out to the palace domestics; even the housemaids and scullions--so it appeared--were the objects of her searching inquiries, and of her heartfelt solicitude when their lovers were ordered to a foreign station, or their aunts suffered from an attack of rheumatism which was more than usually acute.[ ] nevertheless the due distinctions of rank were immaculately preserved. the queen's mere presence was enough to ensure that; but, in addition, the dominion of court etiquette was paramount. for that elaborate code, which had kept lord melbourne stiff upon the sofa and ranged the other guests in silence about the round table according to the order of precedence, was as punctiliously enforced as ever. every evening after dinner, the hearth-rug, sacred to royalty, loomed before the profane in inaccessible glory, or, on one or two terrific occasions, actually lured them magnetically forward to the very edge of the abyss. the queen, at the fitting moment, moved towards her guests; one after the other they were led up to her; and, while duologue followed duologue in constraint and embarrassment, the rest of the assembly stood still, without a word.[ ] only in one particular was the severity of the etiquette allowed to lapse. throughout the greater part of the reign the rule that ministers must stand { } during their audiences with the queen had been absolute. when lord derby, the prime minister, had an audience of her majesty after a serious illness, he mentioned it afterwards, as a proof of the royal favour, that the queen had remarked 'how sorry she was she could not ask him to be seated.' subsequently, disraeli, after an attack of gout and in a moment of extreme expansion on the part of victoria, had been offered a chair; but he had thought it wise humbly to decline the privilege. in her later years, however, the queen invariably asked mr. gladstone and lord salisbury to sit down.[ ] sometimes the solemnity of the evening was diversified by a concert, an opera, or even a play. one of the most marked indications of victoria's enfranchisement from the thraldom of widowhood had been her resumption--after an interval of thirty years--of the custom of commanding dramatic companies from london to perform before the court at windsor. on such occasions her spirits rose high. she loved acting; she loved a good plot; above all, she loved a farce. engrossed by everything that passed upon the stage, she would follow, with childlike innocence, the unwinding of the story; or she would assume an air of knowing superiority and exclaim in triumph, 'there! you didn't expect _that_, did you?' when the _dénouement_ came. her sense of humour was of a vigorous though primitive kind. she had been one of the very few persons who had always been able to appreciate the prince consort's jokes; and, when those were cracked no more, she could still roar with laughter, in the privacy of her household, over some small piece of fun--some oddity of an ambassador, or some ignorant { } minister's _faux pas_. when the jest grew subtle she was less pleased; but, if it approached the confines of the indecorous, the danger was serious. to take a liberty called down at once her majesty's most crushing disapprobation; and to say something improper was to take the greatest liberty of all. then the royal lips sank down at the corners, the royal eyes stared in astonished protrusion, and in fact the royal countenance became inauspicious in the highest degree, the transgressor shuddered into silence, while the awful 'we are not amused' annihilated the dinner table. afterwards, in her private entourage, the queen would observe that the person in question was, she very much feared, 'not discreet'; it was a verdict from which there was no appeal.[ ] in general, her æsthetic tastes had remained unchanged since the days of mendelssohn, landseer, and lablache. she still delighted in the roulades of italian opera; she still demanded a high standard in the execution of a pianoforte duet. her views on painting were decided; sir edwin, she declared, was perfect; she was much impressed by lord leighton's manners; and she profoundly distrusted mr. watts. from time to time she ordered engraved portraits to be taken of members of the royal family; on these occasions she would have the first proofs submitted to her, and, having inspected them with minute particularity, she would point out their mistakes to the artists, indicating at the same time how they might be corrected. the artists invariably discovered that her majesty's suggestions were of the highest value. in literature her interests were more restricted. she was devoted to lord { } tennyson; and, as the prince consort had admired george eliot, she perused 'middlemarch': she was disappointed. there is reason to believe, however, that the romances of another female writer, whose popularity among the humbler classes of her majesty's subjects was at one time enormous, secured, no less, the approval of her majesty. otherwise she did not read very much.[ ] once, however, the queen's attention was drawn to a publication which it was impossible for her to ignore. 'the greville memoirs,' filled with a mass of historical information of extraordinary importance, but filled also with descriptions, which were by no means flattering, of george iv, william iv, and other royal persons, was brought out by mr. reeve. victoria read the book, and was appalled. it was, she declared, a 'dreadful and really scandalous book,' and she could not say 'how _horrified_ and _indignant_' she was at greville's 'indiscretion, indelicacy, ingratitude towards friends, betrayal of confidence and shameful disloyalty towards his sovereign.' she wrote to disraeli to tell him that in her opinion it was '_very important_ that the book should be severely censured and discredited.' 'the tone in which he speaks of royalty,' she added, 'is unlike anything one sees in history even, and is most reprehensible.' her anger was directed with almost equal vehemence against mr. reeve for his having published 'such an abominable book,' and she charged sir arthur helps to convey to him her deep displeasure. mr. reeve, however, was impenitent. when sir arthur told him that, in the queen's opinion, 'the book degraded royalty,' he replied: 'not at all; it elevates it by the contrast it offers { } between the present and the defunct state of affairs.' but this adroit defence failed to make any impression upon victoria; and mr. reeve, when he retired from the public service, did not receive the knighthood which custom entitled him to expect.[ ] perhaps if the queen had known how many caustic comments upon herself mr. reeve had quietly suppressed in the published memoirs, she would have been almost grateful to him; but, in that case, what would she have said of greville? imagination boggles at the thought. as for more modern essays upon the same topic, her majesty, it is to be feared, would have characterised them as 'not discreet.' but as a rule the leisure hours of that active life were occupied with recreations of a less intangible quality than the study of literature or the appreciation of art. victoria was a woman not only of vast property but of innumerable possessions. she had inherited an immense quantity of furniture, of ornaments, of china, of plate, of valuable objects of every kind; her purchases, throughout a long life, made a formidable addition to these stores; and there flowed in upon her, besides, from every quarter of the globe, a constant stream of gifts. over this enormous mass she exercised an unceasing and minute supervision, and the arrangement and the contemplation of it, in all its details, filled her with an intimate satisfaction. the collecting instinct has its roots in the very depths of human nature; and, in the case of victoria, it seemed to owe its force to two of her dominating impulses--the intense sense, which had always been hers, of her own personality, and the craving which, growing with the years, had become in her old age almost an obsession, for fixity, for solidity, for { } the setting up of palpable barriers against the outrages of change and time. when she considered the multitudinous objects which belonged to her, or, better still, when, choosing out some section of them as the fancy took her, she actually savoured the vivid richness of their individual qualities, she saw herself deliciously reflected from a million facets, felt herself magnified miraculously over a boundless area, and was well pleased. that was just as it should be; but then came the dismaying thought--everything slips away, crumbles, vanishes; sèvres dinner-services get broken; even golden basins go unaccountably astray; even one's self, with all the recollections and experiences that make up one's being, fluctuates, perishes, dissolves ... but no! it could not, should not be so! there should be no changes and no losses! nothing should ever move--neither the past nor the present--and she herself least of all! and so the tenacious woman, hoarding her valuables, decreed their immortality with all the resolution of her soul. she would not lose one memory or one pin. she gave orders that nothing should be thrown away--and nothing was. there, in drawer after drawer, in wardrobe after wardrobe, reposed the dresses of seventy years. but not only the dresses--the furs and the mantles and subsidiary frills and the muffs and the parasols and the bonnets--all were ranged in chronological order, dated and complete. a great cupboard was devoted to the dolls; in the china-room at windsor a special table held the mugs of her childhood, and her children's mugs as well. mementoes of the past surrounded her in serried accumulations. in every room the tables were powdered thick with the photographs of relatives; their portraits, revealing { } them at all ages, covered the walls; their figures, in solid marble, rose up from pedestals, or gleamed from brackets in the form of gold and silver statuettes. the dead, in every shape--in miniatures, in porcelain, in enormous life-size oil-paintings--were perpetually about her. john brown stood upon her writing-table in solid gold. her favourite horses and dogs, endowed with a new durability, crowded round her footsteps. sharp, in silver-gilt, dominated the dinner-table; boy and boz lay together among unfading flowers, in bronze. and it was not enough that each particle of the past should be given the stability of metal or of marble: the whole collection, in its arrangement, no less than its entity, should be immutably fixed. there might be additions, but there might never be alterations. no chintz might change, no carpet, no curtain, be replaced by another; or, if long use at last made it necessary, the stuffs and the patterns must be so identically reproduced that the keenest eye might not detect the difference. no new picture could be hung upon the walls at windsor, for those already there had been put in their places by albert, whose decisions were eternal. so, indeed, were victoria's. to ensure that they should be the aid of the camera was called in. every single article in the queen's possession was photographed from several points of view. these photographs were submitted to her majesty, and when, after careful inspection, she had approved of them, they were placed in a series of albums, richly bound. then, opposite each photograph, an entry was made, indicating the number of the article, the number of the room in which it was kept, its exact position in the room and all its principal characteristics. the fate of every object which had undergone this process was henceforth { } irrevocably sealed. the whole multitude, once and for all, took up its steadfast station. and victoria, with a gigantic volume or two of the endless catalogue always beside her, to look through, to ponder upon, to expatiate over, could feel, with a double contentment, that the transitoriness of this world had been arrested by the amplitude of her might.[ ] thus the collection, ever multiplying, ever encroaching upon new fields of consciousness, ever rooting itself more firmly in the depths of instinct, became one of the dominating influences of that strange existence. it was a collection not merely of things and of thoughts, but of states of mind and ways of living as well. the celebration of anniversaries grew to be an important branch of it--of birthdays and marriage days and death days, each of which demanded its appropriate feeling, which, in its turn, must be itself expressed in an appropriate outward form. and the form, of course--the ceremony of rejoicing or lamentation--was stereotyped with the rest: it was part of the collection. on a certain day, for instance, flowers must be strewn on john brown's monument at balmoral; and the date of the yearly departure for scotland was fixed by that fact. inevitably it was around the central circumstance of death--death, the final witness to human mutability--that these commemorative cravings clustered most thickly. might not even death itself be humbled, if one could recall enough?--if one asserted, with a sufficiently passionate and reiterated emphasis, the eternity of love? accordingly, every bed in which victoria slept had attached to it, at the back, on the right-hand side, above the pillow, a photograph of the head and shoulders of albert { } as he lay dead, surmounted by a wreath of immortelles.[ ] at balmoral, where memories came crowding so closely, the solid signs of memory appeared in surprising profusion. obelisks, pyramids, tombs, statues, cairns, and seats of inscribed granite, proclaimed victoria's dedication to the dead. there, twice a year, on the days that followed her arrival, a solemn pilgrimage of inspection and meditation was performed. there, on august --albert's birthday--at the foot of the bronze statue of him in highland dress, the queen, her family, her court, her servants, and her tenantry, met together and in silence drank to the memory of the dead. in england the tokens of remembrance pullulated hardly less. not a day passed without some addition to the multifold assemblage--a gold statuette of ross, the piper--a life-sized marble group of victoria and albert, in medieval costume, inscribed upon the base with the words: 'allured to brighter worlds and led the way'--a granite slab in the shrubbery at osborne, informing the visitor of 'waldmann: the very favourite little dachshund of queen victoria; who brought him from baden, april ; died, july , .'[ ] at frogmore, the great mausoleum, perpetually enriched, was visited almost daily by the queen when the court was at windsor.[ ] but there was another, a more secret and a hardly less holy shrine. the suite of rooms which albert had occupied in the castle was kept for ever shut away from the eyes of any save the most privileged. within those precincts everything remained as it had been at the prince's death; but the mysterious preoccupation of victoria had commanded that her husband's clothing should be laid afresh, each { } evening, upon the bed, and that, each evening, the water should be set ready in the basin, as if he were still alive; and this incredible rite was performed with scrupulous regularity for nearly forty years.[ ] such was the inner worship; and still the flesh obeyed the spirit; still the daily hours of labour proclaimed victoria's consecration to duty and to the ideal of the dead. yet, with the years, the sense of self-sacrifice had faded; the natural energies of that ardent being discharged themselves with satisfaction into the channel of public work; the love of business which, from her girlhood, had been strong within her, reasserted itself in all its vigour, and, in her old age, to have been cut off from her papers and her boxes would have been, not a relief, but an agony to victoria. thus, though toiling ministers might sigh and suffer, the whole process of government continued, till the very end, to pass before her. nor was that all; ancient precedent had made the validity of an enormous number of official transactions dependent upon the application of the royal sign-manual; and a great proportion of the queen's working hours was spent in this mechanical task. nor did she show any desire to diminish it. on the contrary, she voluntarily resumed the duty of signing commissions in the army, from which she had been set free by act of parliament, and from which, during the years of middle life, she had abstained. in no case would she countenance the proposal that she should use a stamp. but, at last, when the increasing pressure of business made the delays of the antiquated system intolerable, she consented that, for certain classes of documents, her oral sanction should be sufficient. each paper was read aloud to her, and she said at the end 'approved.' { } often, for hours at a time, she would sit, with albert's bust in front of her, while the word 'approved' issued at intervals from her lips. the word came forth with a majestic sonority; for her voice now--how changed from the silvery treble of her girlhood!--was a contralto, full and strong.[ ] iv the final years were years of apotheosis. in the dazzled imagination of her subjects victoria soared aloft towards the regions of divinity through a nimbus of purest glory. criticism fell dumb; deficiencies which, twenty years earlier, would have been universally admitted, were now as universally ignored. that the nation's idol was a very incomplete representative of the nation was a circumstance that was hardly noticed, and yet it was conspicuously true. for the vast changes which, out of the england of , had produced the england of , seemed scarcely to have touched the queen. the immense industrial development of the period, the significance of which had been so thoroughly understood by albert, meant little indeed to victoria. the amazing scientific movement, which albert had appreciated no less, left victoria perfectly cold. her conception of the universe, and of man's place in it, and of the stupendous problems of nature and philosophy remained, throughout her life, entirely unchanged. her religion was the religion which she had learnt from the baroness lehzen and the duchess of kent. here, too, it might be supposed that albert's views would have influenced her. for albert, in matters of religion, { } was advanced. disbelieving altogether in evil spirits, he had had his doubts about the miracle of the gadarene swine.[ ] stockmar, even, had thrown out, in a remarkable memorandum on the education of the prince of wales, the suggestion that while the child 'must unquestionably be brought up in the creed of the church of england,' it might nevertheless be in accordance with the spirit of the times to exclude from his religious training the inculcation of a belief in 'the supernatural doctrines of christianity.'[ ] this, however, would have been going too far; and all the royal children were brought up in complete orthodoxy. anything else would have grieved victoria, though her own conceptions of the orthodox were not very precise. but her nature, in which imagination and subtlety held so small a place, made her instinctively recoil from the intricate ecstasies of high anglicanism; and she seemed to feel most at home in the simple faith of the presbyterian church of scotland.[ ] this was what might have been expected; for lehzen was the daughter of a lutheran pastor, and the lutherans and the presbyterians have much in common. for many years dr. norman macleod, an innocent scotch minister, was her principal spiritual adviser; and, when he was taken from her, she drew much comfort from quiet chats about life and death with the cottagers at balmoral.[ ] her piety, absolutely genuine, found what it wanted in the sober exhortations of old john grant and the devout saws of mrs. p. farquharson. they possessed the qualities, which, as a child of fourteen, she had so sincerely admired in the bishop of chester's 'exposition of the gospel of st. matthew'; they were 'just plain and comprehensible { } and full of truth and good feeling.' the queen, who gave her name to the age of mill and of darwin, never got any further than that. from the social movements of her time victoria was equally remote. towards the smallest no less than towards the greatest changes she remained inflexible. during her youth and middle-age smoking had been forbidden in polite society, and so long as she lived she would not withdraw her anathema against it. kings might protest; bishops and ambassadors, invited to windsor, might be reduced, in the privacy of their bedrooms, to lie full-length upon the floor and smoke up the chimney--the interdict continued.[ ] it might have been supposed that a female sovereign would have lent her countenance to one of the most vital of all the reforms to which her epoch gave birth--the emancipation of women--but, on the contrary, the mere mention of such a proposal sent the blood rushing to her head. in , her eye having fallen upon the report of a meeting in favour of women's suffrage, she wrote to mr. martin in royal rage--'the queen is most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of "woman's rights," with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety. lady ---- ought to get a _good whipping_. it is a subject which makes the queen so furious that she cannot contain herself. god created men and women different--then let them remain each in their own position. tennyson has some beautiful lines on the difference of men and women in "the princess." woman would become the most hateful, heartless, and disgusting of human beings were she allowed to { } unsex herself; and where would be the protection which man was intended to give the weaker sex? the queen is sure that mrs. martin agrees with her.'[ ] the argument was irrefutable; mrs. martin agreed; and yet the canker spread. in another direction victoria's comprehension of the spirit of her age has been constantly asserted. it was for long the custom for courtly historians and polite politicians to compliment the queen upon the correctness of her attitude towards the constitution. but such praises seem hardly to be justified by the facts. in her later years victoria more than once alluded with regret to her conduct during the bedchamber crisis, and let it be understood that she had grown wiser since.[ ] yet in truth it is difficult to trace any fundamental change either in her theory or her practice in constitutional matters throughout her life. the same despotic and personal spirit which led her to break off the negotiations with peel is equally visible in her animosity towards palmerston, in her threats of abdication to disraeli, and in her desire to prosecute the duke of westminster for attending a meeting upon bulgarian atrocities. the complex and delicate principles of the constitution cannot be said to have come within the compass of her mental faculties; and in the actual developments which it underwent during her reign she played a passive part. from to the power of the crown steadily increased in england; from to it steadily declined. the first process was due to the influence of the prince consort, the second to that of a series of great ministers. during the first victoria was in effect a mere accessory; during the second the threads of power, which albert had so laboriously collected, inevitably fell { } from her hands into the vigorous grasp of mr. gladstone, lord beaconsfield, and lord salisbury. perhaps, absorbed as she was in routine, and difficult as she found it to distinguish at all clearly between the trivial and the essential, she was only dimly aware of what was happening. yet, at the end of her reign, the crown was weaker than at any other time in english history. paradoxically enough, victoria received the highest eulogiums for assenting to a political evolution which, had she completely realised its import, would have filled her with supreme displeasure. nevertheless it must not be supposed that she was a second george iii. her desire to impose her will, vehement as it was, and unlimited by any principle, was yet checked by a certain shrewdness. she might oppose her ministers with extraordinary violence; she might remain utterly impervious to arguments and supplications; the pertinacity of her resolution might seem to be unconquerable; but, at the very last moment of all, her obstinacy would give way. her innate respect and capacity for business, and perhaps, too, the memory of albert's scrupulous avoidance of extreme courses, prevented her from ever entering an _impasse_. by instinct she understood when the facts were too much for her, and to them she invariably yielded. after all, what else could she do? but if, in all these ways, the queen and her epoch were profoundly separated, the points of contact between them also were not few. victoria understood very well the meaning and the attractions of power and property, and in such learning the english nation, too, had grown to be more and more proficient. during the last fifteen years of the reign--for the short liberal administration of was a mere { } interlude--imperialism was the dominant creed of the country. it was victoria's as well. in this direction, if in no other, she had allowed her mind to develop. under disraeli's tutelage the british dominions over the seas had come to mean much more to her than ever before, and, in particular, she had grown enamoured of the east. the thought of india fascinated her; she set to, and learnt a little hindustani; she engaged some indian servants, who became her inseparable attendants, and one of whom, munshi abdul karim, eventually almost succeeded to the position which had once been john brown's.[ ] at the same time, the imperialist temper of the nation invested her office with a new significance exactly harmonising with her own inmost proclivities. the english polity was in the main a common-sense structure; but there was always a corner in it where common-sense could not enter--where, somehow or other, the ordinary measurements were not applicable and the ordinary rules did not apply. so our ancestors had laid it down, giving scope, in their wisdom, to that mystical element which, as it seems, can never quite be eradicated from the affairs of men. naturally it was in the crown that the mysticism of the english polity was concentrated--the crown, with its venerable antiquity, its sacred associations, its imposing spectacular array. but, for nearly two centuries, common-sense had been predominant in the great building, and the little, unexplored, inexplicable corner had attracted small attention. then, with the rise of imperialism, there was a change. for imperialism is a faith as well as a business; as it grew, the mysticism in english public life grew with it; and simultaneously a new importance began to attach to the crown. the { } need for a symbol--a symbol of england's might, of england's worth, of england's extraordinary and mysterious destiny--became felt more urgently than ever before. the crown was that symbol: and the crown rested upon the head of victoria. thus it happened that while by the end of the reign the power of the sovereign had appreciably diminished, the prestige of the sovereign had enormously grown. yet this prestige was not merely the outcome of public changes; it was an intensely personal matter, too. victoria was the queen of england, the empress of india, the quintessential pivot round which the whole magnificent machine was revolving--but how much more besides! for one thing, she was of a great age--an almost indispensable qualification for popularity in england. she had given proof of one of the most admired characteristics of the race--persistent vitality. she had reigned for sixty years, and she was not out. and then, she was a character. the outlines of her nature were firmly drawn, and, even through the mists which envelop royalty, clearly visible. in the popular imagination her familiar figure filled, with satisfying ease, a distinct and memorable place. it was, besides, the kind of figure which naturally called forth the admiring sympathy of the great majority of the nation. goodness they prized above every other human quality; and victoria, who, at the age of twelve, had said that she would be good, had kept her word. duty, conscience, morality--yes! in the light of those high beacons the queen had always lived. she had passed her days in work and not in pleasure--in public responsibilities and family cares. the standard of solid virtue which had been set up so long ago amid the domestic happiness of osborne had never been lowered for an instant. for { } more than half a century no divorced lady had approached the precincts of the court. victoria, indeed, in her enthusiasm for wifely fidelity, had laid down a still stricter ordinance: she frowned severely upon any widow who married again.[ ] considering that she herself was the offspring of a widow's second marriage, this prohibition might be regarded as an eccentricity; but, no doubt, it was an eccentricity on the right side. the middle classes, firm in the triple brass of their respectability, rejoiced with a special joy over the most respectable of queens. they almost claimed her, indeed, as one of themselves; but this would have been an exaggeration. for, though many of her characteristics were most often found among the middle classes, in other respects--in her manners, for instance--victoria was decidedly aristocratic. and, in one important particular, she was neither aristocratic nor middle-class: her attitude toward herself was simply regal. such qualities were obvious and important; but, in the impact of a personality, it is something deeper, something fundamental and common to all its qualities, that really tells. in victoria, it is easy to discern the nature of this underlying element: it was a peculiar sincerity. her truthfulness, her single-mindedness, the vividness of her emotions and her unrestrained expression of them, were the varied forms which this central characteristic assumed. it was her sincerity which gave her at once her impressiveness, her charm, and her absurdity. she moved through life with the imposing certitude of one to whom concealment was impossible--either towards her surroundings or towards herself. there she was, all of her--the queen of england, complete and obvious; the world might take her or { } leave her; she had nothing more to show, or to explain, or to modify; and, with her peerless carriage, she swept along her path. and not only was concealment out of the question; reticence, reserve, even dignity itself, as it sometimes seemed, might be very well dispensed with. as lady lyttelton said: 'there is a transparency in her truth that is very striking--not a shade of exaggeration in describing feelings or facts; like very few other people i ever knew. many may be as true, but i think it goes often along with some reserve. she talks all out; just as it is, no more and no less.'[ ] she talked all out; and she wrote all out, too. her letters, in the surprising jet of their expression, remind one of a turned-on tap. what is within pours forth in an immediate, spontaneous rush. her utterly unliterary style has at least the merit of being a vehicle exactly suited to her thoughts and feelings; and even the platitude of her phraseology carries with it a curiously personal flavour. undoubtedly it was through her writings that she touched the heart of the public. not only in her 'highland journals,' where the mild chronicle of her private proceedings was laid bare without a trace either of affectation or of embarrassment, but also in those remarkable messages to the nation which, from time to time, she published in the newspapers, her people found her very close to them indeed. they felt instinctively victoria's irresistible sincerity, and they responded. and in truth it was an endearing trait. the personality and the position, too--the wonderful combination of them--that, perhaps, was what was finally fascinating in the case. the little old lady, with her white hair and her plain mourning clothes, in her wheeled chair or her donkey-carriage--one saw her so; { } and then--close behind--with their immediate suggestion of singularity, of mystery, and of power--the indian servants. that was the familiar vision, and it was admirable; but, at chosen moments, it was right that the widow of windsor should step forth apparent queen. the last and the most glorious of such occasions was the jubilee of . then, as the splendid procession passed along, escorting victoria through the thronged re-echoing streets of london on her progress of thanksgiving to st. paul's cathedral, the greatness of her realm and the adoration of her subjects blazed out together. the tears welled to her eyes, and, while the multitude roared round her, 'how kind they are to me! how kind they are!' she repeated over and over again.[ ] that night her message flew over the empire: 'from my heart i thank my beloved people. may god bless them!' the long journey was nearly done. but the traveller, who had come so far, and through such strange experiences, moved on with the old unfaltering step. the girl, the wife, the aged woman, were the same: vitality, conscientiousness, pride, and simplicity were hers to the latest hour. [ ] hallé, . [ ] _notes and queries_, may , . [ ] neele, - , . [ ] _more leaves_, _v_. [ ] _more leaves_, passim; crawford, - ; private information. [ ] martin, i, , - . [ ] _ibid._, ii, . [ ] _the times_, april , . [ ] letter from sir herbert stephen to _the times_, december , . [ ] morley, iii, . [ ] private information. [ ] morley, iii, - . [ ] jerrold, _widowhood_, ; private information. [ ] lee, . [ ] _more leaves_, , . [ ] eckardstein, i, - . [ ] grant robertson, - ; busch, iii, - ; lee, - . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, - , - . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, - ; miss ethel smyth, _london mercury_, nov. ; private information. [ ] _ibid._, cxciii, ; miss ethel smyth, _london mercury_, nov. . [ ] buckle, v, ; morley, iii, , . [ ] quarterly review, cxciii, , - , - , ; _spinster lady_, - ; lee, - . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, - ; martin, _queen victoria_, - ; private information. [ ] buckle, v, - ; laughton, ii, . [ ] _private life_, , , , - , , . [ ] _private life_, . [ ] _ibid._, , . [ ] _ibid._, . [ ] private information. [ ] lee, - ; crawford, - . [ ] wilberforce, samuel, ii, . [ ] martin, ii, - . [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, - . [ ] crawford, . [ ] eckardstein, i, . [ ] martin, queen victoria, - . [ ] _girlhood_, ii, . [ ] lee, ; private information. [ ] lee, . [ ] lyttelton, [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, . { } chapter x the end the evening had been golden; but, after all, the day was to close in cloud and tempest. imperial needs, imperial ambitions, involved the country in the south african war. there were checks, reverses, bloody disasters; for a moment the nation was shaken, and the public distresses were felt with intimate solicitude by the queen. but her spirit was high, and neither her courage nor her confidence wavered for a moment. throwing herself heart and soul into the struggle, she laboured with redoubled vigour, interested herself in every detail of the hostilities, and sought by every means in her power to render service to the national cause. in april , when she was in her eighty-first year, she made the extraordinary decision to abandon her annual visit to the south of france, and to go instead to ireland, which had provided a particularly large number of recruits to the armies in the field. she stayed for three weeks in dublin, driving through the streets, in spite of the warnings of her advisers, without an armed escort; and the visit was a complete success. but, in the course of it, she began, for the first time, to show signs of the fatigue of age.[ ] for the long strain and the unceasing anxiety, brought by the war, made themselves felt at last. { } endowed by nature with a robust constitution, victoria, though in periods of depression she had sometimes supposed herself an invalid, had in reality throughout her life enjoyed remarkably good health. in her old age, she had suffered from a rheumatic stiffness of the joints, which had necessitated the use of a stick, and, eventually, a wheeled chair; but no other ailments attacked her, until, in , her eyesight began to be affected by incipient cataract. after that, she found reading more and more difficult, though she could still sign her name, and even, with some difficulty, write letters. in the summer of , however, more serious symptoms appeared. her memory, in whose strength and precision she had so long prided herself, now sometimes deserted her; there was a tendency towards aphasia; and, while no specific disease declared itself, by the autumn there were unmistakable signs of a general physical decay. yet, even in these last months, the vein of iron held firm. the daily work continued; nay, it actually increased; for the queen, with an astonishing pertinacity, insisted upon communicating personally with an ever-growing multitude of men and women who had suffered through the war.[ ] by the end of the year the last remains of her ebbing strength had almost deserted her; and through the early days of the opening century it was clear that her dwindling forces were kept together only by an effort of will. on january , she had at osborne an hour's interview with lord roberts, who had returned victorious from south africa a few days before. she inquired with acute anxiety into all the details of the war; she appeared to sustain the exertion successfully; but, when the audience was over, there was a collapse. on the { } following day her medical attendants recognised that her state was hopeless; and yet, for two days more, the indomitable spirit fought on; for two days more she discharged the duties of a queen of england. but after that there was an end of working; and then, and not till then, did the last optimism of those about her break down. the brain was failing, and life was gently slipping away. her family gathered round her; for a little more she lingered, speechless and apparently insensible; and, on january , , she died.[ ] when, two days previously, the news of the approaching end had been made public, astonished grief had swept over the country. it appeared as if some monstrous reversal of the course of nature was about to take place. the vast majority of her subjects had never known a time when queen victoria had not been reigning over them. she had become an indissoluble part of their whole scheme of things, and that they were about to lose her appeared a scarcely possible thought. she herself, as she lay blind and silent, seemed to those who watched her to be divested of all thinking--to have glided already, unawares, into oblivion. yet, perhaps, in the secret chambers of consciousness, she had her thoughts, too. perhaps her fading mind called up once more the shadows of the past to float before it, and retraced, for the last time, the vanished visions of that long history--passing back and back, through the cloud of years, to older and ever older memories--to the spring woods at osborne, so full of primroses for lord beaconsfield--to lord palmerston's queer clothes and high demeanour, and albert's face under the green lamp, and albert's first stag at balmoral, and albert in his blue and silver uniform, and the baron coming in through { } a doorway, and lord m. dreaming at windsor with the rooks cawing in the elm-trees, and the archbishop of canterbury on his knees in the dawn, and the old king's turkey-cock ejaculations, and uncle leopold's soft voice at claremont, and lehzen with the globes, and her mother's feathers sweeping down towards her, and a great old repeater-watch of her father's in its tortoise-shell case, and a yellow rug, and some friendly flounces of sprigged muslin, and the trees and the grass at kensington. [ ] _quarterly review_, cxciii, , - . [ ] lee, - ; private information. [ ] lee, - ; _quarterly review_, cxciii, . { } bibliography and list of references in the notes, arranged alphabetically adams. _the education of henry adams: an autobiography_. london, . ashley. _the life and correspondence of h. j. temple, viscount palmerston_. by a. e. m. ashley. vols. . bloomfield. _reminiscences of court and diplomatic life_. by georgiana, lady bloomfield. vols. . broughton. _recollections of a long life_. by lord broughton. edited by lady dorchester. vols. - . buckle. _the life of benjamin disraeli, earl of beaconsfield_. by w. f. monypenny and g. e. buckle. vols. - . bÜlow. _gabriele von bülow_, - . berlin. . bunsen. _a memoir of baron bunsen_. by his widow, frances, baroness bunsen. vols. . busch. _bismarck: some secret pages of his history_. by dr. moritz busch. (english translation.) vols. . childers. _the life and correspondence of the rt. hon. hugh c. e. childers_. vols. . clarendon. _the life and letters of the fourth earl of clarendon_. by sir herbert maxwell. vols. . _cornhill magazine_, vol. . crawford. _victoria, queen and ruler_. by emily crawford. . creevey. _the creevey papers_. edited by sir herbert maxwell. vols. . croker. _the croker papers_. edited by l. j. jennings. vols. . dafforne. _the albert memorial: its history and description_. by j. dafforne. . dalling. _the life of h. j. temple, viscount palmerston_. by lord dalling. vols. - . _dictionary of national biography_. disraeli. _lord george bentinck: a political biography_. by b. disraeli. . { } eckardstein. _lebens-erinnerungen u. politische denkwürdigkeitten_. von freiherrn v. eckardstein. vols. leipzig. . ernest. _memoirs of ernest ii, duke of saxe-coburg-gotha_. vols. . (english translation.) fitzmaurice. _the life of earl granville_. by lord fitzmaurice. vols. . gaskell. _the life of charlotte brontë_. by mrs. gaskell. vols. . girlhood. _the girlhood of queen victoria_. edited by viscount esher. vols. . gossart. _adolphe quetelet et le prince albert de saxe-cobourg_. académie royale de belgique, bruxelles. . granville. _letters of harriet, countess granville_. vols. . greville. _the greville memoirs_. vols. (silver library edition.) . grey. _early years of the prince consort_. by general charles grey. . hallÉ. _life and letters of sir charles hallé_. edited by his son. . hamilton. _parliamentary reminiscences and reflections_. by lord george hamilton. . hare. _the story of my life_. by augustus j. c. hare. vols. - . haydon. _autobiography of benjamin robert haydon_. vols. . hayward. _sketches of eminent statesmen and writers_. by a. hayward. vols. . huish. _the history of the life and reign of william the fourth_. by robert huish. . hunt. _the old court suburb: or memorials of kensington, regal, critical, and anecdotal_. vols. . jerrold, early court. _the early court of queen victoria_. by clare jerrold. . jerrold, married life. _the married life of queen victoria_. by clare jerrold. . jerrold, widowhood. _the widowhood of queen victoria_. by clare jerrold. . kinglake. _the invasion of the crimea_. by a. w. kinglake. vols. (cabinet edition.) - . knight. _the autobiography of miss cornelia knight_. vols. . laughton. _memoirs of the life and correspondence of henry reeve_. by sir john laughton. vols. . leaves. _leaves from the journal of our life in the highlands, from to _. by queen victoria. edited by a. helps. . { } lee. _queen victoria: a biography_. by sidney lee. . leslie. _autobiographical recollections by the late charles robert leslie, r.a._ edited by tom taylor. vols. . letters. _the letters of queen victoria_. vols. . lieven. _letters of dorothea, princess lieven, during her residence in london, - _. edited by lionel g. robinson. . _the london mercury_. _lovely albert!_ a broadside. lyttelton. _correspondence of sarah spencer, lady lyttelton, - _. edited by mrs. hugh wyndham. . martin. _the life of his royal highness the prince consort_. by theodore martin. vols. - . martin, queen victoria. _queen victoria as i knew her_. by sir theodore martin. . martineau. _the autobiography of harriet martineau_. vols. maxwell. _the hon. sir charles murray, k.c.b.: a memoir_. by sir herbert maxwell. . more leaves. _more leaves from the journal of a life in the highlands, from to _. by queen victoria. . morley. _the life of william ewart gladstone_. by john morley. vols. . murray. _recollections from to _. by the hon. amelia murray. . national memorial. _the national memorial to h.r.h. the prince consort_. . neele. _railway reminiscences_. by george p. neele. . owen. _the life of robert owen_, written by himself. . owen, journal. _owen's rational quarterly review and journal_. panam. _a german prince and his victim_. taken from the memoirs of madame pauline panam. . private life. _the private life of the queen_. by one of her majesty's servants. . _the quarterly review_, vols. and . robertson. _bismarck_. by c. grant robertson. . scott. _personal and professional recollections_. by sir george gilbert scott. . smith. _life of her majesty queen victoria_. compiled from all available sources. by g. barnett smith. . spinster lady. _the notebooks of a spinster lady_. . stein. _denkschriften über deutsche verfassungen_. herausgegeben von g. h. pertz. vols. . { } stockmar. _denkwürdigkeiten aus den papieren des freiherrn christian friedrich v. stockmar_, zusammengestellt von ernst freiherr v. stockmar. braunschweilg. . tait. _the life of archibald campbell tait, archbishop of canterbury_. vols. . _the times_. _the times_ life. _the life of queen victoria_, reproduced from _the times_. . torrens. _memoirs of william lamb, second viscount melbourne_. by w. m. torrens. (minerva library edition.) . vitzthum. _st. petersburg und london in den jahren - _. carl friedrich graf vitzthum von eckstadt. stuttgart. . walpole. _the life of lord john russell_. by sir spencer walpole. vols. . wilberforce, samuel. _life of samuel wilberforce, bishop of oxford_. by his son, r. g. wilberforce. vols. . wilberforce, william. _the life of william wilberforce_. vols. . wynn. _diaries of a lady of quality_. by miss frances williams wynn. . printed by spottiswoode, ballantyne & co. ltd. colchester, london & eton, england _some opinions on 'eminent victorians'_ _now in its ninth edition_ 'mr. lytton strachey's "eminent victorians" has had, i suppose, the most instant success that any book of account has won in this generation. some of mr. strachey's incidental portraits are of astonishing brilliancy--notably that of mr. gladstone, and the book is sure of long life. this it will owe to its felicity of style and its finish and delicacy of moulding, no less than to its cynical wit and its perfectly serious and critical intention.'--_the nation_. 'a brilliant and extraordinarily witty book. mr. strachey's method of presenting his characters is both masterly and subtle. his purpose is to penetrate into the most hidden depths of his sitters' characters. there is something almost uncanny in the author's detachment.'--_the times_. 'an unusually interesting volume in a department of literature which, in england, has fallen to a grievously low level.'--_manchester guardian_. 'four short biographies which are certainly equal to anything of the kind which has been produced for a hundred years. he elucidates with consummate dexterity--the book is a masterpiece of its kind.'--mr. j. c. squire, in _land and water_. 'a brilliant book has recently appeared which illustrates in very vigorous and striking fashion the interval which seems to divide the twentieth century from the nineteenth. mr. lytton strachey's book has attained a celebrity quite remarkable for literary work produced in times of war. there is no doubt as to its literary merits.'--leading article in _the daily telegraph_. 'this book is brilliant and witty and iconoclastic enough, but it has also something in it which gives it greatness. regarded as an example of the manner in which biography can be written, it is almost unparalleled in english; and many readers will be rejoiced if mr. strachey can be induced to become a plutarch of the modern world.'--_westminster gazette_. 'it is impossible here even to outline the precise, vivid, and witty essays which mr. strachey has devoted to his four characters. but he has certainly done something to redeem english biography from the reproach under which it suffers when compared with the art as practised in france; and he comes close to the standard which he sets himself when he speaks of the "fontenelles and condorcets."'--_new statesman_. 'mr. strachey's subtle and suggestive art.'--_mr. asquith's romanes lecture at oxford_. london: chatto & windus note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h.zip) great britain and her queen by anne e. keeling author of "general gordon: hero and saint," "the oakhurst chronicles," "andrew golding," etc. second edition. revised and enlarged, [illustration: queen victoria] [illustration: claremont] contents chapter i. the girl queen and her kingdom chapter ii. storm and sunshine chapter iii. france and england chapter iv. the crimean war chapter v. india chapter vi. the beginnings of sorrows chapter vii. changes good and evil chapter viii. our colonies chapter ix. intellectual and spiritual progress chapter x. progress of the empire from to chapter xi. progress of wesleyan methodism under queen victoria, - conclusion list of illustrations. queen victoria claremont the coronation of queen victoria kensington palace duchess of kent elizabeth fry rowland hill father mathew george stephenson wheatstone st. james's palace prince albert the queen in her wedding-dress sir robert peel daniel o'connell richard cobden john bright lord john russell thomas chalmers john henry newmann balmoral buckingham palace napoleon iii the crystal palace, lord ashley earl of derby duke of wellington florence nightingale lord canning sir colin campbell henry havelock sir john lawrence windsor castle prince frederick william princess royal charles kingsley lord palmerston abraham lincoln and his son princess alice the mausoleum dr. norman macleod prince of wales princess of wales osborne house sir robert napier mr. gladstone lord beaconsfield lord salisbury general gordon duke of albany duchess of albany sydney heads robert southey william wordsworth alfred tennyson robert browning charles dickens w. m. thackeray charlotte brontë lord macaulay thomas carlyle william whewell, d.d. sir david brewster sir james y. simpson michael faraday david livingstone sir john franklin john ruskin dean stanley "i was sick, and ye visited me" duke of connaught the imperial institute duke of clarence duke of york duchess of york princess henry of battenberg prince henry of battenberg the czarina of russia h. m. stanley dr. fridtjof nansen miss kingsley j. m. barrie richard jefferies rev. j. g. wood dean church professor huxley professor tyndall c. h. spurgeon dr. horatius bonar sir j. e. millais, p.r.a. sir frederick leighton, p.r.a. wesley preaching on his father's tomb group of presidents:--no. centenary meeting at manchester key to centenary meeting wesleyan centenary hall group of presidents:--no. sir francis lycett the methodist settlement, bermondsey. london, s.e. theological institution, richmond theological institution, didsbury theological institution, headingley theological institution, handsworth kingswood school, bath the north house, leys school, cambridge queen's college, taunton wesley college, sheffield children's home, bolton westminster training college and schools group of presidents:--no. [illustration: the coronation of queen victoria] great britain and her queen. [illustration: kensington palace] chapter i. the girl-queen and her kingdom. rather more than one mortal lifetime, as we average life in these later days, has elapsed since that june morning of , when victoria of england, then a fair young princess of eighteen, was roused from her tranquil sleep in the old palace at kensington, and bidden to rise and meet the primate, and his dignified associates the lord chamberlain and the royal physician, who "were come on business of state to the queen"--words of startling import, for they meant that, while the royal maiden lay sleeping, the aged king, whose heiress she was, had passed into the deeper sleep of death. it is already an often-told story how promptly, on receiving that summons, the young queen rose and came to meet her first homagers, standing before them in hastily assumed wrappings, her hair hanging loosely, her feet in slippers, but in all her hearing such royally firm composure as deeply impressed those heralds of her greatness, who noticed at the same moment that her eyes were full of tears. this little scene is not only charming and touching, it is very significant, suggesting a combination of such qualities as are not always found united: sovereign good sense and readiness, blending with quick, artless feeling that sought no disguise--such feeling as again betrayed itself when on her ensuing proclamation the new sovereign had to meet her people face to face, and stood before them at her palace window, composed but sad, the tears running unchecked down her fair pale face. that rare spectacle of simple human emotion, at a time when a selfish or thoughtless spirit would have leaped in exultation, touched the heart of england deeply, and was rightly held of happy omen. the nation's feeling is aptly expressed in the glowing verse of mrs. browning, praying heaven's blessing on the "weeping queen," and prophesying for her the love, happiness, and honour which have been hers in no stinted measure. "thou shalt be well beloved," said the poetess; there are very few sovereigns of whom it could be so truly said that they _have_ been well beloved, for not many have so well deserved it. the faith of the singer has been amply justified, as time has made manifest the rarer qualities joyfully divined in those early days in the royal child, the single darling hope of the nation. once before in the recent annals of our land had expectations and desires equally ardent centred themselves on one young head. much of the loyal devotion which had been alienated from the immediate family of george iii. had transferred itself to his grandchild, the princess charlotte, sole offspring of the unhappy marriage between george, prince of wales, and caroline of brunswick. the people had watched with vivid interest the young romance of princess charlotte's happy marriage, and had bitterly lamented her too early death--an event which had overshadowed all english hearts with forebodings of disaster. since that dark day a little of the old attachment of england to its sovereigns had revived for the frank-mannered sailor and "patriot king," william iv; but the hopes crushed by the death of the much-regretted charlotte had renewed themselves with even better warrant for victoria. she was the child of no ill-omened, miserable marriage, but of a fitting union; her parents had been sundered only by death, not by wretched domestic dissensions. people heard that the mortal malady which deprived her of a father had been brought about by the duke of kent's simple delight in his baby princess, which kept him playing with the child when he should have been changing his wet outdoor garb; and they found something touching and tender in the tragic little circumstance. and everything that could be noticed of the manner in which the bereaved duchess was training up her precious charge spoke well for the mother's wisdom and affection, and for the future of the daughter. it was indeed a happy day for england when edward, duke of kent, the fourth son of george iii, was wedded to victoria of saxe-coburg, the widowed princess of leiningen--happy, not only because of the admirable skill with which that lady conducted her illustrious child's education, and because of the pure, upright principles, the frank, noble character, which she transmitted to that child, but because the family connection established through that marriage was to be yet further serviceable to the interests of our realm. prince albert of saxe-coburg was second son of the duchess of kent's eldest brother, and thus first cousin of the princess victoria--"the mayflower," as, in fond allusion to the month of her birth, her mother's kinsfolk loved to call her: and it has been made plain that dreams of a possible union between the two young cousins, very nearly of an age, were early cherished by the elders who loved and admired both. [illustration: duchess of kent. from an engraving by messrs. p. & d. colnaghi & co., pall mall east.] the princess's life, however, was sedulously guarded from all disturbing influences. she grew up in healthy simplicity and seclusion; she was not apprised of her nearness to the throne till she was twelve years old; she had been little at court, little in sight, but had been made familiar with her own land and its history, having received the higher education so essential to her great position; while simple truth and rigid honesty were the very atmosphere of her existence. from such a training much might be hoped; but even those who knew most and hoped most were not quite prepared for the strong individual character and power of self-determination that revealed themselves in the girlish being so suddenly transferred "from the nursery to the throne." it was quickly noticed that the part of queen and mistress seemed native to her, and that she filled it with not more grace than propriety. "she always strikes me as possessed of singular penetration, firmness, and independence," wrote dr. norman macleod in ; acute observers in took note of the same traits, rarer far in youth than in full maturity, and closely connected with the "reasoning, searching" quality of her mind, "anxious to get at the root and reality of things, and abhorring all shams, whether in word or deed." [footnote] [footnote: "life of norman macleod, d.d." vol. ii.] it was well for england that its young sovereign could exemplify virile strength as well as womanly sweetness; for it was indeed a cloudy and dark day when she was called to her post of lonely grandeur and hard responsibility; and to fill that post rightly would have overtasked and overwhelmed a feebler nature. it is true that the peace of europe, won at waterloo, was still unbroken. but already, within our borders and without them, there were the signs of coming storm. the condition of ireland was chronically bad; the condition of england was full of danger; on the continent a new period of earth-shaking revolution announced itself not doubtfully. it would be hardly possible to exaggerate the wretched state of the sister isle, where fires of recent hate were still smouldering, and where the poor inhabitants, guilty and guiltless, were daily living on the verge of famine, over which they were soon to be driven. their ill condition much aggravated by the intemperate habits to which despairing men so easily fall a prey. the expenditure of ireland on proof spirits alone had in the year attained the sum of £ , , . in england many agricultural labourers were earning starvation wages, were living on bad and scanty food, and were housed so wretchedly that they might envy the hounds their dry and clean kennels. a dark symptom of their hungry discontent had shown itself in the strange crime of rick-burning, which went on under cloud of night season after season, despite the utmost precautions which the luckless farmers could adopt. the perpetrators were not dimly guessed to be half-famished creatures, taking a mad revenge for their wretchedness by destroying the tantalising stores of grain, too costly for their consumption; the price of wheat in the early years of her majesty's reign and for some time previously being very high, and reaching at one moment ( ) the extraordinary figure of a hundred and two shillings per quarter. there was threatening distress, too, in some parts of the manufacturing districts; in others a tolerably high level of wages indicated prosperity. but even in the more favoured districts there was needless suffering. the hours of work, unrestricted by law, were cruelly long; nor did there exist any restriction as to the employment of operatives of very tender years. "the cry of the children" was rising up to heaven, not from the factory only, but from the underground darkness of the mine, where a system of pitiless infant slavery prevailed, side by side with the employment of women as beasts of burden, "in an atmosphere of filth and profligacy." the condition of too many toilers was rendered more hopeless by the thriftless follies born of ignorance. the educational provision made by the piety of former ages was no longer adequate to the needs of the ever-growing nation; and all the voluntary efforts made by clergy and laity, by churchmen and dissenters, did not fill up the deficiency--a fact which had only just begun to meet with state recognition. it was in that government first obtained from parliament the grant of a small sum in aid of education. under a defective system of poor-relief, recently reformed, an immense mass of idle pauperism had come into being; it still remained to be seen if a new poor law could do away with the mischief created by the old one. looking at the earliest years of her majesty's rule, the first impulse is to exclaim: "and all this trouble did not pass, but grew." it seemed as if poverty became ever more direful, and dissatisfaction more importunate. a succession of unfavourable seasons and failing crops produced extraordinary distress; and the distress in its turn was fruitful first of deepened discontent, and then of political disturbances. the working classes had looked for immediate relief from their burdens when the reform bill should be carried, and had striven hard to insure its success: it had been carried triumphantly in , but no perceptible improvement in their lot had yet resulted; and a resentful feeling of disappointment and of being victims of deception now added bitterness to their blind sense of misery and injury, and greatly exasperated the political agitation of the ten stormy years that followed. no position could well be more trying than that of the inexperienced girl who, in the first bloom of youth, was called to rule the land in this wild transitional period. her royal courage and gracious tact, her transparent truthfulness, her high sense of duty, and her precocious discretion served her well; but these young excellences could not have produced their full effect had she not found in her first prime minister a faithful friend and servant, whose loyal and chivalrous devotion at once conciliated her regard, and who only used the influence thus won to impress on his sovereign's mind "sound maxims of constitutional government, and truths of every description which it behoved her to learn." the records of the time show plainly that lord melbourne, the eccentric head of william iv's last whig administration, was not generally credited with either the will or the ability to play so lofty a part. his affectation of a lazy, trifling, indifferent manner, his often-quoted remonstrance to impetuous would-be reformers, "can't you let it alone?" had earned for him some angry disapproval, and caused him to be regarded as the embodiment of the detested _laissez-faire_ principle. but under his mask of nonchalance he hid some noble qualities, which at this juncture served queen and country well. considered as a frivolous, selfish courtier by too many of the suffering poor and of their friends, he was in truth "acting in all things an affectionate, conscientious, and patriotic part" towards his sovereign, "endeavouring to make her happy as a woman and popular as a queen," [footnote] telling her uncourtly truths with a blunt honesty that did not displease her, and watching over her with a paternal tenderness which she repaid with frank, noble confidence. he was faithful in a great and difficult trust; let his memory have due honour. [footnote: c. c. f. greville: "a journal of the reign of queen victoria."] under melbourne's pilotage the first months of the new reign went by with some serenity, though the political horizon remained threatening enough, and the temper of the nation appeared sullen. "the people of england seem inclined to hurrah no more," wrote greville of one of the queen's earliest public appearances, when "not a hat was raised nor a voice heard" among the coldly curious crowd of spectators. but the splendid show of her coronation a half-year later awakened great enthusiasm--enthusiasm most natural and inevitable. it was youth and grace and goodness, all the freshness and the infinite promise of spring, that wore the crimson and the ermine and the gold, that sat enthroned amid the ancient glories of the abbey to receive the homage of all that was venerable and all that was great in a mighty kingdom, and that bowed in meek devotion to receive the solemn consecrating blessing of the primate, according to the holy custom followed in england for a thousand years, with little or no variation since the time when dunstan framed the order of coronation, closely following the model of the communion service. some other features special to _this_ coronation heightened the national delight in it. its arrangements evidently had for their chief aim to interest and to gratify the people. instead of the banquet in westminster hall, which could have been seen only by the privileged and the wealthy, a grand procession through london was arranged, including all the foreign ambassadors, and proceeding from buckingham palace to westminster abbey by a route two or three miles in length, so that the largest possible number of spectators might enjoy the magnificent pageant. and the overflowing multitudes whose dense masses lined the whole long way, and in whose tumultuous cheering pealing bells and sounding trumpets and thundering cannon were almost unheard as the young queen passed through the shouting ranks, formed themselves the most impressive spectacle to the half-hostile foreign witnesses, who owned that the sight of these rejoicing thousands of freemen was grand indeed, and impossible save in that england which, then as now, was not greatly loved by its rivals. an element which appealed powerfully to the national pride and the national generosity was supplied by the presence of the duke of wellington and of marshal soult, his old antagonist, who appeared as french ambassador. soult, as he advanced with the air of a veteran warrior, was followed by murmurs of admiring applause, which swelled into more than murmurs for the hero of waterloo bending in homage to his sovereign. a touch of sweet humanity was added to the imposing scene within the abbey through what might have been a painful accident. lord rolle, a peer between seventy and eighty years of age, stumbling and falling as he climbed the steps of the throne, the queen impulsively moved as if to aid him; and when the old man, undismayed, persisted in carrying out his act of homage, she asked quickly, "may i not get up and meet him?" and descended one or two steps to save him the ascent. the ready natural kindliness of the royal action awoke ecstatic applause, which could hardly have been heartier had the applauders known how true a type that act supplied of her majesty's future conduct. she has never feared to peril her dignity by descending a step or two from her throne, when "sweet mercy, nobility's true badge," has seemed to require such a descent. and her queenly dignity has never been thereby lessened. "she never ceases to be a queen," says greville _a propos_ of this scene, "and is always the most charming, cheerful, obliging, unaffected queen in the world." [illustration: elizabeth fry] that "the people" were more considered in the arrangements for this coronation than they had been on any previous occasion of the sort was a circumstance quite in harmony with certain other signs of the times. "the night is darkest before the dawn," and amid all the gloom which enshrouded the land there could be discerned the stir and movement that herald the coming of the day. men's minds were turning more and more to the healing of the world's wounds. already one great humane enterprise had been carried through in the emancipation of the slaves in british colonies; already the vast work of prison reform had been well begun, through the saintly elizabeth fry, whose life of faithful service ended ere the queen had reigned eight years. the very year of her majesty's accession was signalised by two noteworthy endeavours to put away wrong. we will turn first to that which _seems_ the least immediately philanthropic, although the injustice which it remedied was trivial in appearance only, since in its everyday triviality it weighed most heavily on the most numerous class--that of the humble and the poor. [illustration: rowland hill] how would the englishman of to-day endure the former exactions of the post office? the family letters of sixty years ago, written on the largest sheets purchasable, crossed and crammed to the point of illegibility, filled with the news of many and many a week, still witness of the time when "a letter from london to brighton cost eightpence, to aberdeen one and threepence-halfpenny, to belfast one and fourpence"; when, "if the letter were written on more than one sheet, it came under the operation of a higher scale of charges," and when the privilege of franking letters, enjoyed and very largely exercised by members of parliament and members of the government, had the peculiar effect of throwing the cost of the mail service exactly on that part of the community which was least able to bear it. the result of the injustice was as demoralising as might have been expected. the poorer people who desired to have tidings of distant friend or relative were driven by the prohibitory rates of postage into all sorts of curious, not quite honest devices, to gratify their natural desire without being too heavily taxed for it. a brother and sister, for instance, unable to afford themselves the costly luxury of regular correspondence, would obtain assurance of each other's well-being by transmission through the post at stated intervals of blank papers duly sealed and addressed: the arrival of the postman with a missive of this kind announced to the recipient that all was well with the sender, so the unpaid "letter" was cheerfully left on the messenger's hands. such an incident, coming under the notice of mr. rowland hill, impressed him with a sense of hardship and wrong in the system that bore these fruits; and he set himself with strenuous patience to remedy the wrong and the hardship. his scheme of reform was worked out and laid before the public early in ; in the third year of her majesty's reign it was first adopted in its entirety, with what immense profit to the government we may partly see when we contrast the seventy-six or seventy-seven millions of _paid_ letters delivered in the united kingdom during the last year of the heavy postage with the number exceeding a thousand millions, and still increasing--delivered yearly during the last decade; while the population has not doubled. that the queen's own letters carried postage under the new regime was a fact almost us highly appreciated as her majesty's voluntary offer at a later date to bear her due share of the income tax. it is well to notice how later postmasters general, successors of rowland hill in that important office, have striven further to benefit their countrymen. in particular, henry fawcett's earnest efforts to encourage and aid habits of thrift are worthy of remembrance. again, it is during the first year of her majesty's reign that we find father mathew, the irish capuchin friar, initiating his vast crusade against intemperance, and by the charm of his persuasive eloquence and unselfish enthusiasm inducing thousands upon thousands to forswear the drink-poison that was destroying them. in two years he succeeded in enrolling two million five hundred thousand persons on the side of sobriety. the permanence of the good father's immediate work was impaired by the superstitions which his poor followers associated with it, much against his desire. not only were the medals which he gave as badges to his vowed abstainers regarded as infallible talismans from the hand of a saint, but the giver was credited with miraculous powers such as only a divine being could exercise, and which he disclaimed in vain--extravagances too likely to discredit his enterprise with more soberly judging persons than the imaginative celts who were his earliest converts. but, notwithstanding every drawback, his action was most important, and deserves grateful memory. we may see in it the inception of that great movement whose indirect influence in reforming social habits and restraining excess had at least equalled its direct power for good on its pledged adherents. though it is still unhappily true that drunkenness slays its tens of thousands among us, and largely helps to people our workhouses, our madhouses, and our gaols, yet the fiend walks not now, as it used to do, in unfettered freedom. it is no longer a fashionable vice, excused and half approved as the natural expression of joviality and good-fellowship; peers and commoners of every degree no longer join daily in the "heavy-headed revel" whose deep-dyed stain seems to have soaked through every page of our last-century annals. and it would appear as though the vice were not only held from increasing, but were actually on the decrease. the statistics of the last decade show that the consumption of alcohol is diminishing, and that of true food-stuffs proportionally rising. [illustration: father mathew] there were other enterprises now set on foot, by no means directly philanthropic in their aim, which contemplated utility more than virtue or justice--enterprises whose vast effects are yet unexhausted, and which have so modified the conditions of human existence as to make the new reign virtually a new epoch. as to the real benefit of these immense changes, opinion is somewhat divided; but the majority would doubtless vote in their favour. the first railway in england, that between liverpool and manchester, had been opened in , the day of its opening being made darkly memorable by the accident fatal to mr. huskisson, as though the new era must be inaugurated by a sacrifice. three years later there was but this one railway in england, and one, seven miles long, in scotland. but in the liverpool and birmingham line was opened; in the london and birmingham and the liverpool and preston lines, and an act was passed for transmitting the mails by rail; in there was the opening of the london and croydon line. the ball was set fairly rolling, and the supersession of ancient modes of communication was a question of time merely. the advance of the new system was much accelerated at the outset by the fact that railway enterprise became the favourite field for speculation, men being attracted by the novelty and tempted by exaggerated prospects of profit; and the mania was followed, like other manias, with results largely disastrous to the speculators and to commerce. but through years of good fortune and of bad fortune the iron network has continued to spread itself, until all the land lies embraced in its ramifications; and it is spreading still, like some strange organism the one condition of whose life is reproduction, knitting the greatest centres of commerce with the loneliest and remotest villages that were wont to lie far out of the travelled ways of men, and bringing _ultima thule_ into touch with london. [illustration: george stephenson] meanwhile the steam service by sea has advanced almost with that by land. in three steamships crossed the atlantic between this country and new york, the _great western_, sailing from bristol, and _sirius_, from cork, distinguished themselves by the short passages they made,--of fifteen days in the first case, and seventeen days in the second,--and by their using steam power _alone_ to effect the transit, an experiment that had not been risked before. it was now proved feasible, and in a year or two there was set on foot that regular steam communication between the new world and the old, which ever since has continued to draw them into always closer connection, as the steamers, like swift-darting shuttles, weave their multiplying magic lines across the liquid plain between. the telegraph wires that run beside road and rail, doing the office of nerves in transmitting intelligence with thrilling quickness from the extremities to the head and from the head to the extremities of our state, are now so familiar an object, and their operations, such mere matters of every day, that we do not often recall how utterly unfamiliar they were sixty years ago, when wheatstone and cooke on this side the atlantic, and morse on the other, were devising their methods for giving signals and sounding alarms in distant places by means of electric currents transmitted through metallic circuits. submarine telegraphy lay undreamed of in the future, land telegraphy was but just gaining hearing as a practicable improvement, when the crown was set on her majesty's head amid all that pomp and ceremony at westminster. a modern english imagination is quite unequal to the task of realising the manifold hindrances that beset human intercourse at that day, when a journey by coach between places as important and as little remote from each other as leeds and newcastle occupied sixteen mortal hours, with changes of horses and stoppages for meals on the road, and when letters, unless forwarded by an "express" messenger at heavy cost, tarried longer on the way than even did passengers; while some prudent dwellers in the country deemed it well to set their affairs in order and make their wills before embarking on the untried perils of a journey up to town. these days are well within the memory of many yet living; but if the newer generations that have arisen during the present reign would understand what it is to be hampered in their movements and their correspondence as were their fathers, they must seek the remoter and more savage quarters of europe, the less travelled portions of america or of half-explored australia; they must plunge into asian or african wilds, untouched by civilisation, where as yet there runs not the iron horse, worker of greater marvels than the wizard steeds of fairy fable, that could, transport a single favoured rider over wide distances in little time. the subjugated, serviceable nature-power steam, with its fellow-servant the tamed and tutored lightning, has wonderfully contracted distance during these fifty years, making the earth, once so vast to human imagination, appear as a globe shrunken to a tenth of its ancient size, and bringing nations divided by half the surface of that globe almost within sound of each other's speech. [illustration: wheatstone.] that there is damage as well as profit in all these increased facilities of intercourse must be apparent, since there is evil as well as good in the human world, and increased freedom of communication implies freer communication of the evil as of the good. but we may well hope that the cause of true upward progress will be most served by the vast inevitable changes which, as they draw all peoples nearer together, must deepen and strengthen the sense of human brotherhood, and, as they bring the deeds of all within the knowledge of all, must consume by an intolerable blaze of light the once secret iniquities and oppressions abhorrent to the universal conscience of mankind. the public conscience in these realms at least is better informed and more sensitive than it was in the year of william iv's death and of victoria's accession. chapter ii. storm and sunshine. [illustration: st. james's palace.] the beneficent changes we have briefly described were but just inaugurated, and their possible power for good was as yet hardly divined, when the young queen entered into that marriage which we may well deem the happiest action of her life, and the most fruitful of good to her people, looking to the extraordinary character of the husband of her choice, and to the unobtrusive but always advantageous influence which his great and wise spirit exercised on our national life. the marriage had been anxiously desired, and the way for it judiciously prepared, but it was in no sense forced on either of the contracting parties by their elders who so desired it. prince albert of saxe-coburg, second son of the duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld, the queen's maternal uncle, was nearly of an age with his royal cousin; he had already, young as he was, given evidence of a rare superiority of nature; he had been excellently trained; and there is no doubt that leopold, king of the belgians, his uncle, and the queen's, did most earnestly desire to see the young heiress of the british throne, for whom he had a peculiar tenderness, united to the one person whose position and whose character combined to point him out as the fit partner for her high and difficult destinies. what tact, what patience, and what power of self-suppression the queen of england's husband would need to exercise, no one could better judge than leopold, the widowed husband of princess charlotte; no one could more fully have exemplified these qualities than the prince in whom leopold's penetration divined them. the cousins had already met, in , when their mutual attraction had been sufficiently strong; and in , when prince albert, with his elder brother ernest, was again visiting england, the impression already produced became ineffaceably deep. the queen, whom her great rank compelled to take the initiative, was not very long in making up her mind when and how to act. her favoured suitor himself, writing to a dear relative, relates how she performed the trying task, inviting him to render her intensely happy by making "the _sacrifice_ of sharing her life with her, for she said she looked on it as a sacrifice. the joyous openness with which she told me this enchanted me, and i was quite carried away by it." this was on october th; nearly six weeks after, on november rd, she made to her assembled privy council the formal declaration of her intended marriage. there is something particularly touching in even the driest description of this scene; the betrothed bride wearing a simple morning dress, having on her arm a bracelet containing prince albert's portrait, which helped to give her courage; her voice, as she read the declaration clear, sweet, and penetrating as ever, but her hands trembling so excessively that it was surprising she could read the paper she held. it was a trying task, but not so difficult as that which had devolved on her a short time before, when, in virtue of her sovereign rank, she had first to speak the words of fate that bound her to her suitor. [illustration: prince albert.] endowed with every charm of person, mind, and manner that can win and keep affection, prince albert was able, in marrying the queen, who loved him and whom he loved, to secure for her a happiness rare in any rank, rarest of all on the cold heights of royalty. this was not all; he was the worthy partner of her greatness. himself highly cultivated in every sense, he watched with keenest interest over the advance of all cultivation in the land of his adoption, and identified himself with every movement to improve its condition. his was the soul of a statesman--wide, lofty, far-seeing, patient; surveying all great things, disdaining no small things, but with tireless industry pursuing after all necessary knowledge. add to these intellectual excellences the moral graces of ideal purity of life, chivalrous faithfulness of heart, magnanimous self-suppression, and fervent piety, and we have a slight outline of a character which, in the order of providence, acted very strongly and with a still living force on the destinies of nineteenth-century england. the queen had good reasons for the feeling of "confidence and comfort" that shone in the glance she turned on her bridegroom as they walked away, man and wife at last, from the altar of the chapel royal, on february th, . the union she then entered into immeasurably enhanced her popularity, and strengthened her position as surely as it expanded her nature. not many years elapsed before sir robert peel could tell her that, in spite of the inroads of democracy, the monarchy had never been safer, nor had any sovereign been so beloved, because "the queen's domestic life was so happy, and its example so good." only the searcher of hearts knoweth how great has been the holy power of a pure, fair, and noble example constantly shining in the high places of the land. [illustration: the queen in her wedding-dress. _after the picture by_ drummond.] it was hinted by the would-be wise, in the early days of her majesty's married life, that it would be idle to look for the royally maternal feeling of an elizabeth towards her people in a wedded constitutional sovereign. the judgment was a mistake. the formal limitations of our queen's prerogative, sedulously as she has respected them, have never destroyed her sense of responsibility; wifehood and motherhood have not contracted her sympathies, but have deepened and widened them. the very sorrows of her domestic life have knit her in fellowship with other mourners. no great calamity can befall her humblest subjects, and she hear of it, but there comes the answering flash of tender pity. she is more truly the mother of her people, having walked on a level with them, and with "love, who is of the valley," than if she had chosen to dwell alone and aloof. [illustration: sir robert peel.] for some years after her marriage the queen's private life shows like a little isle of brightness in the midst of a stormy sea. within and without our borders there was small prospect of settled peace at the very time of that marriage. we have said that lord melbourne was still premier; but he and his ministry had resigned office in the previous may, and had only come back to it in consequence of a curious misunderstanding known as "the bedchamber difficulty." sir robert peel, who was summoned to form a ministry on melbourne's defeat and resignation, had asked from her majesty the dismissal of two ladies of her household, the wives of prominent members of the departing whig government; but his request conveyed to her mind the sense that he designed to deprive her of all her actual attendants, and against this imagined proposal she set herself energetically. "she could not consent to a course which she conceived to be contrary to usage, and which was repugnant to her feelings." peel on his part remained firm in his opinion as to the real necessity for the change which he had advocated. from the deadlock produced by mere misunderstanding there seemed at the time only one way of escaping; the defeated whig government returned to office. but ministers who resumed power only because, "as gentlemen," they felt bound to do so, had little chance of retaining it. in september , lord melbourne was superseded in the premiership by sir robert peel, and then gave a final proof how single-minded was his loyal devotion by advising the new prime minister as to the tone and style likely to commend him to their royal mistress--a tone of clear straightforwardness. "the queen," said melbourne--who knew of what he was speaking, if any statesman then did--"is not conceited; she is aware there are many things she cannot understand, and likes them explained to her elementarily, not at length and in detail, but shortly and clearly." the counsel was given and was accepted with equal good feeling, such as was honourable to all concerned; and the sovereign learned, as years went on, to repose a singular confidence in the minister with whom her first relations had been so unpropitious, but whose real honesty, ability, and loyalty soon approved themselves to her clear perceptions, which no prejudice has long been able to obscure. we are told that in later years her majesty referred to the disagreeable incident we have just related as one that could not have occurred, if she had had beside her prince albert "to talk to and employ in explaining matters," while she refused the suggestion that her impulsive resistance had been advised by any one about her. "it was entirely my own foolishness," [footnote] she is said to have added--words breathing that perfect simplicity of candour which has always been one of her most strongly marked characteristics. [footnote: "greville memoirs," third part, vol. i.] though the matter caused a great sensation at the time, and gave rise to some dismal prophesyings, it was of no permanent importance, and is chiefly noted here because it throws a strong light on her majesty's need of such an ever-present aid as she had now secured in the husband wise beyond his years, who well understood his constitutional position, and was resolute to keep within it, avoiding entanglement with any party, and fulfilling with equal impartiality and ability the duties of private secretary to his sovereign-wife. the melbourne ministry had had to contend with difficulties sufficiently serious, and of these the grimmest and greatest remained still unsettled. at the outset of the reign a rebellion in canada had required strong repression; and we had taken the first step on a bad road by entering into those disputes as to our right to force the opium traffic on china, which soon involved us in a disastrously successful war with that country. on the other hand, our indian government had begun an un-called-for interference with the affairs of afghanistan, which, successful at first, resulted in a series of humiliating reverses to our arms, culminating in one of the most terrible disasters that have ever befallen a british force--the wholesale massacre of general elphinstone's defeated and retreating army on its passage through the terrible mountain gorge known as the pass of koord cabul. it was on january th, , that the single survivor of this massacre appeared, a half-fainting man, drooping over the neck of his wearied pony, before the fort of jellalabad, which general sale still held for the english. he only was "escaped alone" to tell the hideous tale. the ill-advised and ill-managed enterprise which thus terminated had extended over more than three years, had cost us many noble lives, in particular that of the much-lamented alexander burnes, had condemned many english women and children to a long and cruel captivity among the savage foe, and had absolutely failed as to the object for which it was undertaken--the instalment of shah soojah, a mere british tool, as ruler of afghanistan, in place of the chief desired by the afghan people, dost mahomed. when the disasters to our arms had been retrieved, as retrieved they were with exemplary promptness, and when the surviving prisoners were redeemed from their hard captivity, it was deemed sound policy for us to attempt no longer to "force a sovereign on a reluctant people," and to remain content with that limit which "nature appears to have assigned" to our indian empire on its north-western border. later adventures in the same field have not resulted so happily as to prove that these views were incorrect. our prestige was seriously damaged in hindostan by this first afghan war, and was only partially re-established in the campaign against the sikhs several years later, despite the dramatic grandeur of that "piece of indian history" which resulted in our annexation of the punjaub in --a solid advantage balanced by the unpleasant fact that english soldiers had been proved not invincible by natives. it will thus appear that there was not too much that was glorious or encouraging in our external affairs in these early years; but the internal condition of the country was never less reassuring. the general discontent of the english lower orders was taking shape as chartism--a movement which could not have arisen but for the fierce suspicion with which the working classes had learnt to regard those who seemed their superiors in wealth, in rank, or in political power, and which the higher orders retaliated in dislike and distrust of the labouring population, whom they considered as seditious enemies of order and property. the demon of class hatred was never more alive and busy than in the decade which terminated in . "the charter," which was the watchword of hope to so many, and the very war-note of discord to many more, comprised six points, of which some at least were sufficiently absurd, while others have virtually passed into law, quietly and naturally, in due course of time; and if the universal age of gold which ignorant chartists looked for has not ensued, at least the anarchy and ruin which their opponents associated with the dreaded scheme are equally non-existent. so fast has the time moved that there is now a little difficulty in understanding the passionate hopes with which the charter was associated on the one side, and the panic which it inspired on the other; and there is much to move wondering compassion in the profound ignorance which those hopes betrayed, and the not inferior misery amid which they were cherished. few persons are now so credulous as to expect that annual parliaments or stipendiary members would insure the universal reign of peace and justice; the people have already found that vote by ballot and suffrage all but universal have neither equalised wealth nor abrogated greed and iniquity; and though there be some dreamers in our midst to-day who look for wonderful transformations of society to follow on possible reforms, there is not even in these dreamy schemes the same amazing disproportion of means to be employed and end to be attained as characterised the chartist delusion. [illustration: daniel o'connell.] in ireland men were reposing unbounded faith in another sort of political panacea for every personal and social evil--the repeal of the union with england, advocated by daniel o'connell, with all the power of his passionate celtic eloquence, and supported by all his extraordinary personal influence. apparently he hoped to carry this agitation to the same triumphant issue as that for catholic emancipation, in which he had taken a conspicuous part; but the new movement did not, like the old one, appeal immediately and plausibly to the english sense of fair play and natural justice. a competent and not unfriendly observer has remarked that o'connell's "theory and policy were that ireland was to be saved by a dictatorship entrusted to himself." whether any salvation for the unhappy land did lie in such a dictatorship was a point on which opinion might well be divided. english opinion was massively hostile to it; but for years all the political enthusiasm of ireland centred in o'connell and the cause he upheld. the country might be on the brink of ruin and starvation, but the peril seemed forgotten while the dream lasted. the agitator was wont to refer to the queen in terms of extravagant loyalty, and it would seem that the feeling was largely shared by his followers. however futile and vainglorious his scheme and methods may appear, we must not deny to him a distinction, rare indeed among irish agitators, of having steadily disclaimed violence and advocated orderly and peaceable proceedings. he thought his cause would be injured, and not advanced, by such outrages as before and since his day have too often disgraced party warfare in ireland. his favourite maxim was that "the man who commits a crime gives strength to the enemy." this opinion was not heartily endorsed by all his followers. when it became clear that his dislike of physical force was real, when he did not defy the government, at last stirred into hostile action by the demonstrations he organised, there was an end of his power over the fiercer spirits whom he had roused against the rule of "the saxon"--luckless phrase with which he had enriched the anglo-irish controversy, and misleading as luckless. o'connell died, a broken and disappointed man, on his way to rome in ; but the spirit he had raised and could not rule did not die with him, and the younger, more turbulent leaders, who had outbid him for popular approval, continued their anti-english warfare with growing zeal until the year of fate . even the principality of wales had its own peculiar form of agitation, sometimes accompanied by outrage, during these wild opening years. the farmers and labourers in wales were unprosperous and poor, and in the season of their adversity they found turnpikes and tolls multiplying on their public roads. they resented what appeared a cruel imposition with wrathful impatience, and ere long gave expression to their anger in wild deeds. a text of scripture suggested to them a fantastic form of riot. they found that it was said of old to rebecca, "let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them," and ere long "rebecca and her children," men masking in women's clothes, made fierce war by night on the "gates" they detested, destroying the turnpikes and driving out their keepers. these raids were not always bloodless. the government succeeded in repressing the rioting, and then, finding that a real grievance had caused it, did away with the oppressive tolls, and dealt not too hardly with the captured offenders; leniency which soon restored wales to tranquillity. [illustration: richard cobden.] [illustration: john bright.] a peaceful, strictly constitutional, and finally successful agitation ran its steady course in england for several years contemporaneously with those we have already enumerated. the anti-corn-law league, with which the names of cobden and bright are united as closely as those two distinguished men were united in friendship, had in found a centre eminently favourable to its operations in manchester. its leaders were able, well-informed, and upright men, profoundly convinced that their cause was just, and that the welfare of the people was involved in their success or failure. they were men of the middle class, acquainted intimately with the needs and doings of the trading community to which they belonged, and therefore at once better qualified to argue on questions affecting commerce, and less directly interested in the prosperity of agriculture, than the more aristocratic leaders of the nation. both persuasive and successful speakers, one of them supremely eloquent, they were able to interest even the lowest populace in questions of political economy, and to make free trade in corn the idol of popular passion. their mode of agitation was eminently reasonable and wise; but it _was_ an agitation, exciting wild enthusiasm and fierce opposition, and must be reckoned not among the forces tending to quiet, but among those that aroused anxious care in the first nine years of the reign. and it was a terrible calamity that at last placed victory within their grasp. the blight on the potato first showed itself in --a new, undreamed-of disaster, probably owing to the long succession of unfavourable seasons. and the potato blight meant almost certainly famine in ireland, where perhaps three-fourths of the population had no food but this root. the food supply of a whole nation seemed on the point of being cut off. a loud demand was made for "the opening of the ports." by existing laws the ports admitted foreign grain tinder import duties varying in severity inversely with the fluctuating price of home-grown grain; thus a certain high level in the cost of corn was artificially maintained. these regulations, though framed for the protection of the native producer, did not bear so heavily on the consumer as the law of which they replaced; and the principle represented by them had a large following in the country. but now the argument from famine proved potent to decide the wavering convictions of some who had long been identified with the cause of protection. the champions of free trade were sure of triumph when sir robert peel became one of their converts; and the corn bill which he carried in the june of , granting with some little reserve and delay the reforms which the anti-corn-law league had been formed to secure, brought that powerful association to a quiet end. but the threatening irish famine and the growing irish disturbances remained, to embarrass the ministry of lord john russell, which came into power within less than a week of that great success of the tory minister, defeated on a question of irish polity on the very day when his corn bill received the assent of the house of lords. [illustration: lord john russell.] we must not omit, as in passing we chronicle this singular fortune of a great minister, to notice the grief with which her majesty viewed this turn of events. amid all the anxiety of the period, amid her distress at the cruel sufferings of her servants in india, in britain, in ireland, and her care for their relief, she had had two sources of consolation: the pure and simple bliss of her home-life, and the assistance of two most valued counsellors--her husband and her prime minister. one was inseparably at her side, but one must now leave it; and she and the prince met their inevitable loss with the dignified outward acquiescence that was fitting, but with sorrow not less real. the queen would have bestowed on peel as distinguished an honour as she could confer--the order of the garter; peel deemed it best to decline it gratefully. "he was from the people and of the people," and wished so to remain, content if his queen could say, "you have been a faithful servant, and have done your duty to the country and to myself." in hapless ireland, torn by agitation and scourged by pestilence and famine, the general misery had reached a point where no fiscal measures, however wise, could at once alleviate it. the potato famine held on its dreadful way, and the darkest moment of irish history seemed reached in the year when one hundred and seventy thousand persons perished in that island by hunger or hunger-bred fever. the new plague affected great britain also; but its suffering was completely overshadowed by the enormous bulk of irish woe, which the utmost lavishness of charity seemed scarcely to lessen. that there should be turbulence and even violence accompanying all this wretchedness was no way surprising; but in most men's minds the wretchedness held the larger place, and deservedly so, for the sedition, when ripe enough, was dealt with sharply, though not mercilessly, in such a way that ere long all reasonable dread of a civil war being added to the other horrors, had passed away; and the country had leisure for such recovery as was possible to a land so desolate. [illustration: thomas chalmers.] there was contemporaneous distress enough and to spare in great britain: failures in lancashire alone to the amount of £ , , ; failures equally heavy in birmingham, glasgow, and other great towns; capital was absorbed by the mad speculations in railway shares; and even heaven's gift of an abundant harvest, by at once lowering the price of corn, helped to depress commerce. many banks stopped payment, and even the bank of england seemed imperilled, saving itself only by adopting a bold line of policy advised by government. at the same time, the chartist movement was gathering the strength which was to expend itself in the futile demonstrations of . [illustration: john henry newman. _from a photograph by_ mr. h. j. whitlock, _birmingham_.] but as if it were not enough for every department of political or commercial life to be so seriously affected, there was now arising within the english national church itself a singular movement, destined to affect the religious history of the land as powerfully, if not as beneficially, as did the evangelical revival of the last century; and the national kirk of scotland, after long and stern contention on the crucial point of civil control in things spiritual, was ready for that rending in twain from which arose the free kirk; while other religious bodies were torn by the same keen spirit of strife, the same revolt against ancient order, as that which was distracting the world of politics. the bitterness of the disruption in scotland is well-nigh exhausted, though the controversy enlisted at the time all the fervid power of a chalmers; men honour the memory of the champions, while hoping to see the once sharp differences composed for ever. but the "catholic revival," initiated under the leadership of newman, pusey, and keble, has proved to be no transient disturbance: and no figure has in relation to the church history of the half-century the same portentous importance as that of john henry newman, whose powerful magnetism, as it attracted or repelled, drew men towards romanism or drove them towards rationalism, his logical art, made more impressive by the noble eloquence with which he sometimes adorned it, seeming to leave those who came under his spell no choice between the two extremes. when he finally decided on withdrawing himself from the anglican and giving in his adhesion to the roman communion, he set an example that has not yet ceased to be imitated, to the incalculable damage of the english establishment. happily the massive nonconformity of the country was hardly touched either by his influence or his example. it is pleasant to turn from scenes of doubt and discord, of strife and sorrow, to that bright domestic life which was now vouchsafed to the sovereign, as if in direct compensation for the storms that raved and beat outside her home--a home now brightened by the presence of five joyous, healthy children. it is a charming picture of the royal pair and of the manner of life in the palace--styled by one foreigner "the one really pleasant, comfortable english house, in which one feels at one's ease "--that is given us by the finely discerning mendelssohn, invited by the prince to "come and try his organ" before leaving england in , on which occasion the queen joined her husband and his guest at the instrument, enjoying and aiding in their musical performance, and singing, "quite faultlessly and with charming feeling and expression," a song written by the great master who was now paying a farewell visit, with nothing of ceremony in it, to english royalty. with a few touches mendelssohn makes us see the delightful ease and comfort of this royal interior, the queen gathering up the sheets of music strewn by the wind over the floor--the prince cleverly managing the organ-stops so as to suit the master while he played--the mighty rocking-horse and the two birdcages beside the music-laden piano in the queen's own sitting-room, beautiful with pictures and richly-bound books--the pretty difficulty about her finding some of mendelssohn's own songs to sing to him, since her music was packed up and taken away to claremont--her naïve confession that she had been "so frightened" at singing before the master,--all are chronicled with not less zest and affection than the graceful gift of a valuable ring "as a remembrance" to the artist from the queen, through prince albert. it is a much more pleasing impression that we thus obtain than can be given by details of state ceremonial and visits from other sovereigns. of these last there was no lack, and the princely visitors were entertained with all due pomp and splendour; but neither on account of these costly entertainments nor on behalf of the royal children did the sovereign ask the nation for so much as a shilling, the civil list sufficing for every unlooked-for outlay, now that prince albert, by dint of persevering effort, had succeeded in putting the arrangements of the royal household on a satisfactory footing, sweeping away a vast number of time-honoured, thriftless expenses, and rendering a wise and generous economy possible. [illustration: balmoral.] formerly the great officers of the crown were charged with the oversight of the commonest domestic business of the palace. being non-resident, these overseers did no overseeing, and the actual servants were practically masterless. hence arose numberless vexations and extravagant hindrances. in this objectionable form of the division of labour was brought to an end, and one master of the household who did his work replaced the many officials who, by a fiction of etiquette, had been formerly supposed to do everything while they did and could do nothing. the long-needed reform could not but be pleasing to the queen, being quite in harmony with the upright principles that had always ruled her conduct, she having begun her reign by paying off the debts of her dead father--debts contracted not in her lifetime nor on her account, and which a spirit less purely honourable might therefore have declined to recognise. [illustration: osborne house.] thanks to the prince's able management, the royal pair found it in their power to purchase for themselves the estate of osborne, in the isle of wight--a charming retreat all their own, which they could adorn for their delight with no thought of the thronging public; where the prince could farm and build and garden to his heart's content, and all could escape from the stately restraints of their burdensome rank, and from "the bitterness people create for themselves in london." before very long they found for themselves that highland holiday home of balmoral which was to be so peculiarly dear, and in which her majesty--whose first visit to the _then_ discontented scotland was deemed quite a risky experiment--was so completely to win for herself the admiring love of her scottish subjects. at balmoral mr. greville saw them some little time after their acquisition of the place, and witnesses to the "simplicity and ease" with which they lived, to the gay good humour that pervaded their circle--"the queen running in and out of the house all day long, often going out alone, walking into the cottages, sitting down and chatting with the old women," the prince free from trammels of etiquette, showing what native charm of manner and what high, cultivated intelligence were really his. the impression is identical with that conveyed by her majesty's published journal of that highland life; and, though lacking the many graceful details of that record, the testimony has its own value. happy indeed was the sovereign for whom the black cloud of those years showed such a silver lining! other potentates were less happy, both as regarded their private blessings and their public fortunes. it would be agreeable to english feelings, but not altogether consonant with historic truth, if we could leave unnoticed the scandalous attempts on the queen's life which marked the earliest period of her reign and have been renewed in later days. the first attacks were by far of the most alarming character, but her majesty, whose escape on one occasion seemed due only to her husband's prompt action, never betrayed any agitation or alarm; and her dauntless bearing, and the care for others which she manifested by dispensing with the presence of her usual lady attendants when she anticipated one of these assaults, immensely increased the already high esteem in which her people held her. the first assailant, a half-crazy lad of low station named oxford, was shut up in a lunatic asylum. for the second, a man named francis, the same plea could not be urged; but the death-sentence he had incurred was commuted to transportation for life. almost immediately a deformed lad called bean followed the example of francis. her majesty, who had been very earnest to save the life of the miserable beings attacking her, desired an alteration in the law as to such assaults; and their penalty was fixed at seven years' transportation, or imprisonment not exceeding three years, to which the court was empowered to add a moderate number of whippings--punishments having no heroic fascination about them, like that which for heated and shallow brains invested the hideous doom of "traitors." the expedient proved in a measure successful, none of the later assaults, discreditable as they are, betraying a really murderous intention. it has been remarked as a noteworthy circumstance that popular english monarchs have been more exposed to such dangers than others who were cordially disliked. it is not hatred that has prompted these assassins so much as imbecile vanity and the passion for notoriety, misleading an obscure coxcomb to think "his glory would be great according to _her_ greatness whom he quenched." chapter iii. france and england. [illustration: buckingham palace.] it is necessary now to look at the relations of our government with other nations, and in particular with france, whose fortunes just at this time had a clearly traceable effect on our own. for several years the court of england had been on terms of unprecedented cordiality with the french court. the queen had personally visited king louis philippe at the château d'eu--an event which we must go back as far as the days of henry viii to parallel--and had contracted a warm friendship for certain members of his family, in particular for the queen, marie amélie, for the widowed duchess of orleans, a maternal cousin of prince albert, and for the perfect louise, the truthful, unselfish second wife of leopold, king of the belgians, and daughter of the king of the french. it was a rude shock to all the warm feelings which our queen, herself transparently honest, had learnt to cherish for her royal friends when the french king and his minister, guizot, entered into that fatal intrigue of theirs, "the spanish marriages." isabella, the young queen of spain, and her sister and heiress presumptive, louisa, were yet unmarried at the time of the visit to the château d'eu; and about that time an undertaking was given by the french to the english government that the infanta louisa should not marry a french prince until her sister, the actual queen, "should be married and have children." the possible union of the crowns of france and spain was known for a dream of french ambition, and was equally well known to be an object of dislike and dread to other european powers. the engagement which the french king had now given seemed therefore well calculated to disarm suspicion and promote peace; but the one was reawakened and the other endangered when it became known that he had so used his power over the spanish court as to procure that the royal sisters of spain should be married on one day--isabella, the queen, to the most unfit and uncongenial of all the possible candidates for her hand; louisa to king louis philippe's son, the duke of montpensier. the transaction on the face of it was far from respectable, since the credit and happiness of the young spanish queen seemed to have hardly entered into the consideration of those who arranged for her the _mariage de convenance_ into which she was led blindfold; but when regarded as a violation of good faith it was additionally displeasing. queen victoria, to whom the scheme was imparted only when it was ripe for execution, through her personal friend louise, queen of the belgians, replied to the communication in a tone of earnest, dignified remonstrance; but apparently the king was now too thoroughly committed to his scheme to be deterred by any reasoning or reproaches, and the tragical farce was played out. it had no good results for france; england was chilled and alienated, but the spanish crown never devolved on the duchess of montpensier. within two little years from her marriage that princess and all the french royal family fled from france, so hastily that they had scarcely money enough to provide for their journey, and appeared in england as fugitives, to be aided and protected by the queen, who forgot all political resentment, and remembered only her personal regard for these fallen princes. the overthrow of the orleans dynasty in was a complete surprise, and men have never ceased to see something disgraceful in its amazing suddenness. here was a great king, respected for wisdom and daring, and supposed to understand at every point the character of the land he ruled, his power appearing unshaken, while it was known to be backed with an army one hundred thousand strong. and almost without warning a whirlwind of insurrection against this solid power and this able ruler broke out, and in a few wild hours swept the whole fabric into chaos. nothing caused more surprise at the moment than the extreme bitterness of animosity which the insurgents manifested towards the king's person, unless it were the tameness with which he submitted to his fate and the precipitancy of his flight. there was something rotten in the state of things, men said, which could thus dissolve, crushed like a swollen fungus by a casual foot. and indeed, whether with perfect justice or not, louis philippe's administration had come to be deemed corrupt some time ere his fall. the free-spoken parisians had openly flouted it as such: witness a mock advertisement placarded in the streets: "_a nettoyer, deux chambres et une cour_": "two _chambers_ and a _court_ to clean." a french government that had been crafty, but not crafty enough to conceal the fact, that was rather contemned for plotting than dreaded for unscrupulous energy, was already in peril. the still unsubdued revolutionary spirit, working under the smooth surface of french society, was the element which accomplished the destruction of this discredited government. the outbreak in france acted like a spark in a powder magazine; ere long great part of europe was shaken by the second great revolutionary upheaval, when potentates seemed falling and ancient dynasties crumbling on all sides--a period of eager hope to many, followed by despair when the reaction set in, accompanied in too many places by repressive measures of pitiless severity. the contemptuous feeling with which many englishmen were wont to view such continental troubles is well embodied in the lines which tennyson put into the mouth of one of his characters, speaking of france: "yonder, whiff! there comes a sudden heat, the gravest citizen seems to lose his head, the king is scared, the soldier will not fight. the little boys begin to shoot and stab, a kingdom topples over with a shriek like an old woman, and down rolls the world in mock-heroics-- revolts, republics, revolutions, most no graver than a schoolboy's barring out; too comic for the solemn things they are, too solemn for the comic touches in them." in this wild year , which saw revolution running riot on the continent, england too had its share of troubles not less painfully ridiculous; the insurrection headed by smith o'brien, a chief of the "young ireland" party, coming to an inglorious end in the affray that took place at "the widow mccormick's cabbage-garden, ballingarry," in the month of july; the greatly dreaded chartist demonstration at kennington common on april th by its conspicuous failure having done much to damp the hopes and spirits of the party of disorder generally. it would be easy now to laugh at the frustrated designs of the chartist leaders and at the sort of panic they aroused in london: the vast procession, which was to have marched in military order to overawe parliament, resolving itself into a confused rabble easily dispersed by the police, and the monster petition, that should have numbered six million signatures, transported piecemeal to the house, and there found to have but two million names appended, many fictitious; the chartist leader, completely cowed, thanking the home office for its lenient treatment; or, on the other hand, london and its peaceful inhabitants, distracted with wild rumours of combat and bloodshed, apprehending a repetition of parisian madnesses, and unaware how thoroughly the duke of wellington, entrusted with the defence of the capital and its important buildings, had carried out all needful arrangements. the two hundred thousand special constables sworn in to aid in maintaining law and order on that day were visible enough, and had their utility in conveying a certain impression of safety; the troops whom the veteran commander held in readiness were kept out of sight till wanted. these rebellious spirits imagining themselves formidable and free, when caught in an invisible iron network--these terrified citizens, protected all unconsciously to themselves against the impotent foe whom they dreaded--might furnish food for mirth if we did not remember the real, deep, and widespread misery which found inarticulate but piteous expression in the movement now coming to confusion under the firm assertion of necessary authority. the disturbances must needs be quieted; but hitherto it has been the glory of our victorian statesmen to have understood that the grievances which caused them must also be dealt with. now that all which could be deemed wise and good in chartist demands has been conceded, orderly and quietly, the name "chartism" has utterly lost its dread significance. [illustration: napoleon iii.] no cruelly vindictive measures of reprisal followed the collapse of the agitation; none indeed were needed. the revolutionary epidemic, which had spread hitherward from france, found our body politic in too sound a condition, and could not fasten on it; and the subsequent convulsions which shook our great neighbour hardly called forth an answering thrill in england. the strange transactions of december , by means of which louis napoleon bonaparte, prince-president of the new french republic, succeeded in overthrowing that republic and replacing it by an empire of which he was the head, did indeed excite displeasure and distrust in many minds; and though it was believed that his high-handed proceedings had averted much disorder, the english government was not prepared at once to accept all the proffered explanations of french diplomacy; but the then foreign secretary, lord palmerston, by the rash proclamation of his individual approval, committed the ministry of which he was one to a recognition of the _de facto_ monarch of france. this step was but the last of many instances in which palmerston had acted without due reference to the premier's or the sovereign's opinion--a course of conduct which had justly displeased the queen, and had drawn from her grave and pointed remonstrances. the final transgression led to his resignation; but its effects on our relations with france remained. meanwhile the emperor's consistent and probably sincere display of goodwill towards england, the apparent complacency with which the french nation acquiesced in his rule, and the outward prosperity accompanying it, did their natural work in conciliating approval, and in making men willing to forget the obscure and tortuous steps by which he had climbed to power. one day he and france were to pay for these things; but meanwhile he was a popular ruler, accepted and approved by the nation he governed, anxious for its prosperity, and earnest in keeping it friendly with great britain, which he had found a hospitable home in the days of his obscurity, which was again to offer an asylum to him in a day of utter disaster and overthrow, and where his life, chequered by vicissitudes stranger than any known to romance, was to come to a quiet close. it has been the singular fortune of her majesty to receive into the sacred shelter of her realm two dethroned monarchs, two fallen fortunes, two dynasties cast out from sovereign power, while her own throne, "broad-based upon her people's will, and compassed by the inviolate sea," has stood firm and unshaken, even by a breath. and it has been her special honour to cherish with affection, even warmer in their adversity, the friends who had gained her regard when their prosperity seemed as bright and their great position as assured as her own. visiting the emperor napoleon in his splendid capital, fêted and welcomed by him and his empress with every flattering form of honour that his ingenuity could devise or his power enable him to show, she did not forget the orleans family and their calamities, but frankly urged on her host the injustice of the confiscations with which he had requited the supposed hostility of those princes, and endeavoured to persuade him to milder measures. she visited in his company the tomb of the lamented duke of orleans; and her first care on returning to england was to show some kindly attention to the discrowned royalties who were now her guests. in the same spirit, in after years, she extended a friendly hand to the exiled empress eugénie, escaping from new revolutionary perils to english safety, and altogether declined to consider her personal regard for the lady, whose attractions had deservedly gained it in brighter days, as being in any sense complicated with matters political. the resolute loyalty with which she at once maintained her private friendships and kept them entirely apart from her public action compelled toleration from the persons most inclined to take umbrage at it. an instance of successful and courageous enterprise on her majesty's part may well close this brief notice of the internal and external convulsions which for a time shook, though they did not shatter, the peace of our realm. in the late summer of a royal visit to ireland, now just reviving from its misery, was planned and carried out with complete success; the wild irish enthusiasm blazed up into raptures of a loyal welcome, and the sovereign, who played her part with all the graceful perfection that her compassionate heart and quick intelligence suggested, was delighted with the little tour, from which those who shared in it prophesied "permanent good" for ireland. at least it had a healing, beneficial effect at the moment; and perhaps more could not have been reasonably hoped. later royal visits to the sister isle have been less conspicuous, but all fairly successful. chapter iv. the crimean war. [illustration: the crystal palace, .] the "exhibition year," , appears to our backward gaze almost like a short day of splendid summer interposed between two stormy seasons; but at the time men were more inclined to regard it as the first of a long series of halcyon days. indeed, the unexampled number and success of the various efforts to redress injury and reform abuses, which had signalised the new reign, might almost justify those sanguine spirits, who now wrote and spoke as though wars and oppression were well on their way to the limbo of ancient barbarisms, and who looked to unfettered commerce as the peace-making civiliser, under whose influence the golden age--in more senses than one might revisit the earth. [illustration: lord ashley.] we have already referred to certain of the new transforming forces whose action tended to heighten such hopes; there are two reforms as yet unnamed by us, distinguishing these early years, which are particularly significant; though one at least was stoutly opposed by a special class of reformers. we refer to the legislation dealing with mines and factories and those employed therein, with which is inseparably connected the venerable name of the late lord shaftesbury; and to the abolition of duelling in the army, secured by the untiring efforts of prince albert, who had enlisted on his side the immense influence of the duke of wellington. that peculiar modern survival of the ancient trial by combat, the duel, was still blocking the way of english civilisation when her majesty assumed the sceptre. a palpable anachronism, it yet seemed impossible to make men act on their knowledge of its antiquated and barbarous character; legislation was fruitless of good against a practice consecrated by false sentiment and false ideas of honour; but when dislodged from its chief stronghold, the army, it became quickly discredited everywhere, with the happy result noted by a contemporary historian, that _now_ "a duel in england would seem as absurd and barbarous as an ordeal by touch or a witch-burning." militarism, that mischievous counterfeit of true soldierly spirit, could not thrive where the duel was discountenanced; and the friends of peace might rejoice with reason. but those peaceful agitators, the sagacious, energetic cobden and his allies, resented rather sharply the interference of the lord ashley of that day with the "natural laws" of the labour market--laws to whose operation some of the party attributed the cruelly excessive hours of work in factories, and the indiscriminate employment of all kinds of labour, even that of the merest infants. undeterred by these objections, convinced that no law which sanctioned and promoted cruelty did so with true authority, lord ashley persisted in the struggle on which he had entered ; in he scored his first great success in the passing of an act that put an end to the employment of women and children in mines and collieries; in the government carried their factories act, which lessened and limited the hours of children's factory labour, and made other provisions for their benefit. it was not all that he had striven for, but it was much; he accepted the compromise, but did not slacken in his efforts still further to improve the condition of the children. his career of steady benevolence far outstretched this early period of battle and endurance; but already his example and achievement were fruitful of good, and his fellow-labourers were numerous. nothing succeeds like success: people had sneered at the mania for futile legislation that possessed the "humanity-monger" who so embarrassed party leaders with his crusade on behalf of mere mercy and justice; they now approved the practical philanthropist who had taken away a great reproach from his nation, and glorified the age in which they lived because of its special humaneness, while they exulted not less in the brightening prospects of the country. sedition overcome, law and order triumphant, the throne standing firm, prosperity returning--all ministered to pride and hope. in there had been some painful incidents; the death by an unhappy accident of sir robert peel, and the turbulent excitement of what are known as the "no popery" disturbances, being the most notable: and of these again incomparably the most important was the untimely loss to the country of the great and honest statesman who might otherwise have rendered still more conspicuous services to the sovereign and the empire. the sudden violent outburst of popular feeling, provoked by a piece of rash assumption on the part of the reigning pope, was significant, indeed, as evidencing how little alteration the "catholic revival" had worked in the temper of the nation at large; otherwise its historic importance is small. at the time, however, the current of agitation ran strongly, and swept into immediate oblivion an event which three years before would have had a european importance--the 'death of louis philippe, whose strangely chequered life came to an end in the old palace of claremont, just before the "papal aggressions"--rash, impolitic, and mischievous, as competent observers pronounced it, but powerless to injure english protestantism--had thrown all the country into a ferment, which took some months to subside. we are told that her majesty, though naturally interested by this affair, was more alive to the quarter where the real peril lay than were some of her subjects; but in the universal distress caused by the death of peel none joined more truly, none deplored that loss more deeply, than the sovereign, who would willingly have shown her value for the true servant she had lost by conferring a peerage on his widow--an honour which lady peel, faithful to the wishes and sharing the feeling of her husband, felt it necessary to decline. [illustration: earl of derby.] amid these agitations, inferior far to many that had preceded them, the year ran out, and opened--the year in which prince albert's long-pursued project of a great international exhibition of arts and industries was at last successfully carried out. the idea, as expounded by himself at a banquet given by the lord mayor, was large and noble. "it was to give the world a true test, a living picture, of the point of industrial development at which the whole of mankind had arrived, and a new starting-point from which all nations would be able to direct their further exertions." the magnificent success, unflawed by any vexatious or dangerous incident, with which the idea was carried out, had made it almost impossible for us to understand the opposition with which the plan was greeted, the ridicule that was heaped upon it, the foolish fears which it inspired; while the many similar exhibitions in this and other countries that have followed and emulated, but never altogether equalled, the first, have made us somewhat oblivious of the fact that the scheme when first propounded was an absolute novelty. it was a fascination, a wonder, a delight; it aroused enthusiasm that will never be rekindled on a like occasion. paxton's fairy palace of glass and iron, erected in hyde park, and canopying in its glittering spaces the untouched, majestic elms of that national pleasure-ground as well as the varied treasures of industrial and artistic achievement brought from every quarter of the globe, divided the charmed astonishment of foreign spectators with the absolute orderliness of the myriads who thronged it and crowded all its approaches on the great opening day. perhaps on that day the queen touched the summit of her rare happiness. it was the st of may--her own month--and the birthday of her youngest son, the godchild and namesake of the great duke. she stood, the most justly popular and beloved of living monarchy, amid thousands of her rejoicing subjects, encompassed with loving friends and happy children, at the side of the beloved husband whose plan was now triumphantly realised; and she spoke the words which inaugurated that triumph and invited the world to gaze on it. "the sight was magical," she says, "so vast, so glorious, so touching...god bless my dearest albert! god bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so great to-day! one felt so grateful to the great god, who seemed to pervade all and to bless all. the only event it in the slightest degree reminded me of was the coronation, but this day's festival was a thousand times superior. in fact, it is unique, and can bear no comparison, from its peculiar beauty and combination of such striking and different objects. i mean the slight resemblance only as to its solemnity; the enthusiasm and cheering, too, were much more touching, for in a church naturally all is silent." the exhibition remained open from the st of may to the th of october, continuing during all those months to attract many thousands of visitors. it had charmed the world by the splendid embodiment of peace and peaceful industries which it presented, and men willingly took this festival as a sign bespeaking a yet longer reign of world-tranquillity. it proved to be only a sort of rainbow, shining in the black front of approaching tempest. when opened, the third year from the exhibition year, we were already committed to war with russia; and the forty years' peace with europe, finally won at waterloo, was over and gone. [illustration: duke of wellington.] in the interval another great spirit had passed away. the duke of wellington died, very quietly and with little warning, at walmer castle, on the th of september, , "full of years and honours." he was in his eighty-fourth year, and during the whole reign of queen victoria he had occupied such a position as no english subject had ever held before. at one time, before that reign began, his political action had made him extraordinarily unpopular, in despite of the splendid military services which no one could deny; now he was the very idol of the nation, and at the same time was treated with the utmost respect and reverent affection by the sovereign--two distinctions how seldom either attained or merited by one person! but in wellington's case there is no doubt that the popular adoration and the royal regard were worthily bestowed and well earned. he had never seemed stirred by the popular odium, he never seemed to prize the popular praise, which he received; it was not for praise that he had worked, but for simple duty; and his experience of the fickleness of public favour might make him something scornful of it. to the honours which his sovereign delighted to shower on him--honours perhaps never before bestowed on a subject by a monarch--he _was_ sensitive. the queen to him was the noblest personification of the country whose good had ever been, not only the first, but the only object of his public action: and with this patriotic loyalty there mingled something of a personal feeling, more akin to romance in its paternal tenderness than seemed consistent with the granite-hewn strength and sternness of his general character. a thorough soldier, with a soldier's contempt for fine-spun diplomacy, he had been led into many a blunder when acting as a chief of party and of state; but his absolute single-minded honesty had more than redeemed such errors; "integrity and uprightness had preserved him," and through him the land and its rulers, amid difficulties where the finest statecraft might have made shipwreck of all. he had his human failings; yet the moral grandeur of his whole career cast such faults into the shade, and justified entirely the universal grief at his not untimely death. the queen deplored him as "our immortal hero"--a servant of the crown "devoted, loyal, and faithful" beyond all example; the nation endeavoured by a funeral of unprecedented sumptuousness to show its sense of loss; the poet laureate devoted to his memory a majestic ode, hardly surpassed by any in the language for its stately, mournful music, and finely faithful in its characterisation of the dead hero-- "the man of long-enduring blood, the statesman-warrior, moderate, resolute, whole in himself, a common good;... ...the man of amplest influence, yet clearest of ambitious crime, our greatest yet with least pretence, great in council and great in war, foremost captain of his time, rich in saving common-sense. and, as the greatest only are. in his simplicity sublime;... who never sold the truth to serve the hour, nor paltered with eternal god for power; who let the turbid streams of rumour flow through either babbling world of high and low; whose life was work, whose language rife with rugged maxims hewn from life; who never spoke against a foe; whose eighty winters freeze with one rebuke all great self-seekers trampling on the right: truth-teller was our england's alfred named; truth-lover was our english duke; whatever record leap to light he never shall be shamed." when, within so short a period after wellington's death, the nation once more found itself drawn into a european war, there were many whose regret for his removal was quickened into greater keenness. "had we but the duke to lead our armies!" was the common cry; but even _his_ military genius might have found itself disastrously fettered, had he occupied the position which his ancient subordinate and comrade, lord raglan, was made to assume. it may be doubted if wellington could have been induced to assume it. whether there ever would have been a crimean war if no special friendliness had existed between france and england may be fair matter for speculation. the quarrel issuing in that war was indeed begun by france; but it would have been difficult for england to take no part in it. the apple of discord was supplied by a long-standing dispute between the greek and latin churches as to the holy places situated in palestine--a dispute in which france posed as the champion of the latin and russia of the greek right to the guardianship of the various shrines. the claim of france was based on a treaty between francis i and the then sultan, and related to the holy places merely; the russian claim, founded on a treaty between turkey and catherine ii, was far wider, and embraced a protectorate over all christians of the greek church in turkey, and therefore over a great majority of the sultan's european subjects. such a construction of the treaty in question, however, had always been refused by england whenever russia had stated it; and its assertion at this moment bore an ominous aspect in conjunction with the views which the reigning czar nicholas had made very plain to english statesmen, both when he visited england in and subsequently to that visit. to use his own well-known phrase, he regarded turkey as "a sick man"--a death-doomed man, indeed--and hoped to be the sick man's principal heir. he had confidently reckoned on english co-operation when the turkish empire should at last be dismembered; he was now to find, not only that co-operation would be withheld, but that strong opposition would be offered to the execution of the plan, for which it had seemed that a favourable moment was presenting itself. the delusion under which he had acted was one that should have been dispelled by plain english speech long before; but now that he found it to be a delusion, he did not recede from his demands upon the porte: he rather multiplied them. the upshot of all this was war, in spite of protracted diplomatic endeavours to the contrary; and into that war french and english went side by side. once before they had done so, when philip augustus and richard coeur de lion united their forces to wrest the holy places from the saracens; that enterprise had been disgraced by particularly ugly scandals from which this was free; but in respect to glory of generalship, or permanent results secured, the crimean campaign has little pre-eminence over the fourth crusade. recent disclosures, which have shown that lord aberdeen's ministry was not rightly reproached with "drifting" idly and recklessly into this disastrous contest, have also helped to clear the english commander's memory from the slur of inefficiency so liberally flung on him at the time, while it has been shown that his action was seriously hampered by the french generals with whom he had to co-operate. from whatever cause, such glory as was gained in the crimea belongs more to the rank and file of the allied armies than to those highest in command. the first success won on the heights of the alma was not followed up; the charge of the six hundred, which has made memorable for ever the russian repulse at balaklava, was a splendid mistake, valuable chiefly for the spirit-stirring example it has bequeathed to future generations of english soldiers, for its illustration of death-defying, disciplined courage; the great fight at inkerman was only converted from a calamitous surprise into a victory by sheer obstinate valour, not by able strategy; and the operations that after lord raglan's death brought the unreasonably protracted siege of sebastopol to a close did but evince afresh how grand were the soldierly qualities of both french and english, and how indifferently they were generalled. if the allies came out of the conflict with no great glory, they had such satisfaction as could be derived from the severer losses and the discomfiture at all points of the foe. the disasters of the war had been fatal to the czar nicholas, who died on march nd, , from pulmonary apoplexy--an attack to which he had laid himself open, it was said, in melancholy recklessness of his health. his was a striking personality, which had much more impressed english imaginations than that of czar or czarina since the time of peter the great; and the queen herself had regarded the autocrat, whose great power made him so lonely, with an interest not untouched with compassion at the remote period when he had visited her court and had talked with her statesmen about the imminent decay of turkey. at that time the austere majesty of his aspect, seen amid the finer and softer lineaments of british courtiers, had been likened to the half-savage grandeur of an emperor of old rome who should have been born a thracian peasant. it proved that the contrast had gone much deeper than outward appearance, and that his views and principles had been as opposed to those of the english leaders, and as impossible of participation by such men as though he had been an imperfectly civilised contemporary of constantine the great. since then he had succeeded in making himself more heartily hated, by the bulk of the english nation, than any sovereign since napoleon i; for the war, into which the government had entered reluctantly, was regarded by the people with great enthusiasm, and the foe was proportionately detested. many anticipated that the death of the czar would herald in a triumphant peace; but in point of fact, peace was not signed until the march of . its terms satisfied the diplomatists both of france and england; they would probably have been less complacent could they have foreseen the day when this hard-won treaty would be torn up by the power they seemed to be binding hand and foot with sworn obligations of perdurable toughness; least of all would that foresight have been agreeable to lord palmerston, premier of england when the peace was signed, and quite at one with the mass of the people of england in their deep dislike and distrust of russia and its rulers. the political advantages which can be clearly traced to this war are not many. privateers are no longer allowed to prey on the commerce of belligerent nations, and neutral commerce in all articles not contraband of war must be respected, while no blockade must be regarded unless efficiently and thoroughly maintained. such were the principles with which the plenipotentiaries who signed the treaty of paris in enriched the code of international law; and these principles, which are in force still, alone remain of the advantages supposed to have been secured by all the misery and all the expenditure of the crimean enterprise. [illustration: florence nightingale.] but other benefits, not of a political nature, arose out of the hideous mismanagement which had disgraced the earlier stages of the war. it is a very lamentable fact that of the , good englishmen who left their bones in the crimea, scarce , had fallen in fair fight or died of wounds received therein. bad and deficient food, insufficient shelter and clothing, utter disorganisation and confusion in the hospital department, accounted for the rest. these evils, when exposed in the english newspapers, called forth a cry of shame and wrath from all the nation, and stirred noble men and women into the endeavour to mitigate at least the sufferings of the unhappy wounded. miss florence nightingale, the daughter of a wealthy english gentleman, was known to take a deep and well-informed interest in hospital management; and this lady was induced to superintend personally the nursing of the wounded in our military hospitals in the east. entrusted with plenary powers over the nurses, and accompanied by a trained staff of lady assistants, she went out to wrestle with and overcome the crying evils which too truly existed, and which were the despair of the army doctors. her success in this noble work, magnificently complete as it was, did indeed "multiply the good," as sidney herbert had foretold: we may hope it will continue so to multiply it "to all time." the horrors of war have been mitigated to an incalculable extent by the exertions of the noble men and women who, following in the path first trodden by the crimean heroines, formed the geneva convention, and have borne the red cross, its most sacred badge, on many a bloody field, in many a scene of terrible suffering--suffering touched with gleams of human pity and human gratitude; for the courageous tenderness of many a soft-handed and lion-hearted nursing sister, since the days of florence nightingale, has aroused the same half-adoring thankfulness which made helpless soldiers turn to kiss that lady's shadow, thrown by her lamp on the hospital wall. the horrors thus mitigated have become more than ever repugnant to the educated perception of christendom, because of the merciful devotion which, ever toiling to lessen them, keeps them before the world's eye. in every great war that has shaken the civilised world since the strife in the crimea broke out, the ambulance, its patients, its attendants, have always been in the foreground of the picture. never have the inseparable miseries of warfare been so well understood and so widely realised, thanks in part to that new literary force of the victorian age, the _war correspondent_, and chiefly, perhaps, to the new position henceforth assumed by the military medical and hospital service. to the same source we may fairly attribute the great improvements wrought in the whole conduct of that distinctively christian charity, unknown to heathenism, the hospital system: the opening of a new field of usefulness to educated and devoted women of good position, as nurses in hospitals and out; and the vast increase of public interest in and public support of such agencies. even the female medical mission, now rising into such importance in the jealous lands of the east, may be traced not very indirectly to the same cause. the queen, whose enthusiasm for her beloved army and navy was very earnest, and frankly shown, who had suffered with their sufferings and exulted in their exploits, followed with a keen, personal, unfaltering interest the efforts made for their relief. "tell these poor, noble wounded and sick men that _no one_ takes a warmer interest, or feels more for their sufferings, or admires their courage and heroism more than their queen. so does the prince," was the impulsive, heart-warm message which her majesty sent for transmission through miss nightingale to her soldier-patients. her deeds proved that these words were words of truth. not content with subscribing largely to the fund raised on behalf of those left orphaned and widowed by the war, she took part in the work of providing fitting clothing for the men exposed to all the terrors of a russian winter; and her daughters, enlisted to aid in this pious work, began that career of beneficence which two of them were to pursue afterwards to such good purpose, amid the ravages of wars whose colossal awfulness dwarfed the crimean campaign in the memories of men. many of the injured being invalided home while the war was in progress, her majesty embraced the opportunity to testify her sympathy and admiration, giving to them in public with her own hands the medals for service rendered at alma, at balaklava, and at inkerman. it would not be easy to say whether the sovereign or the soldiers were more deeply moved on this occasion. conspicuous among the maimed and feeble heroes was the gallant young sir thomas troubridge, who, lamed in both feet by a russian shot at inkerman, had remained at his post, giving his orders, while the fight endured, since there was none to fill his place. he appeared now, crippled for life, but declared himself "amply repaid for everything," while the queen decorated him, and told him he should be one of her aides-de-camp. her own high courage and resolute sense of duty moved her with special sympathy for heroism like this; and she obeyed the natural dictates of her heart in conspicuously rewarding it. with a similar impulse, on the return of the army, she made a welcoming visit to the sick and wounded at chatham, and testified the liveliest appreciation of the humane services of miss nightingale, to whom a jewel specially designed by the prince was presented, in grateful recognition of her inestimable work. the new decoration of the victoria cross, given "for valour" conspicuously shown in deeds of self-devotion in war time, further proved how keenly the queen and her consort appreciated soldierly virtue. it was the prince who first proposed that such a badge of merit should be introduced, the queen who warmly accepted the idea, and in person bestowed the cross on its first wearers, thereby giving it an unpurchasable value. chapter v. india. lord aberdeen, who did not hope very great things from the war which had initiated during his ministry, had yet deemed it possible that eastern europe might reap from it the benefit of a quarter of a century's peace. he was curiously near the mark in this estimate; but neither he nor any other english statesman was unwary enough to risk such a prophecy as to the general tranquillity of the continent. in fact, the peace of europe, broken in , has been unstable enough ever since, and from time to time tremendous wars have shaken it. into none of these, however, has great britain been again entrapped, though the sympathies of its people have often been warmly enlisted on this side and that. a war with china, which began in , and cannot be said to have ended till , though in the interim a treaty was signed which secured just a year's cessation of hostilities, was the most important undertaking in which the allied forces of france and england took part after the crimea. in this war the allies were victorious, as at that date any european power was tolerably certain to be in a serious contest with china. the closing act of the conflict--the destruction of the summer palace at pekin, in retaliation for the treacherous murder of several french and english prisoners of distinction--was severely blamed at the time, but defended on the ground that only in this way could any effectual punishment of the offence be obtained. that act of vengeance and the war which it closed have an interest of their own in connection with the late general gordon, who now entered on that course of extraordinary achievement which lacks a parallel in this century, and which began, in the interests of chinese civilisation, shortly after he had taken a subordinate officer's part in the work of destruction at pekin. from this date england did not commit itself to any of the singular series of enterprises which our good ally, the french emperor, set on foot. a feeling of distrust towards that potentate was invading the minds of the very englishmen who had most cordially hailed his successes and met his advances. "the emperor's mind is as full of schemes as a warren is full of rabbits, and, like rabbits, his schemes go to ground for the moment to avoid notice or antagonism," were the strong words of lord palmerston in a confidential letter of ; and when he could thus think and write, small wonder if calmer and more unprejudiced minds saw need for standing on their guard. amid all the flattering demonstrations of friendship of which the french court had been lavish, and which had been gracefully reciprocated by english royality, the prince consort had retained an undisturbed perception of much that was not quite satisfactory in the qualifications of the despotic chief of the french state for his difficult post. thus it is without surprise that we find the queen writing in , as to a plan suggested by the emperor: "the whole scheme is the often-attempted one, that england should take the chestnuts from the fire, and assume the responsibility of making proposals which, if they lead to war, we should be in honour bound to support by arms." the emperor had once said of louis philippe, that he had fallen "because he was not sincere with england"; it looked now as though he were steering full on the same rock, for his own sincerity was flawed by dangerous reservations. england remained an interested spectator, but a spectator only, while the french ruler played that curiously calculated game of his, which did so much towards insuring the independence of italy and its consolidation into one free monarchy. it was no disinterested game, as the cession of nice and savoy to france by piedmont would alone have proved. it was daring to the point of rashness; for as a french general of high rank said, there needed but the slightest check to the french arms, and "it was all up with the dynasty!" yet the "idea" which furnished the professed motive for the emperor's warlike action was one dear to english sympathies, and many an english heart rejoiced in the solid good secured for italy, though without our national co-operation. there was a proud compensating satisfaction in the knowledge that, when a crisis of unexampled and terrible importance had come in our own affairs, england had perforce dealt with it single-handed and with supreme success. those who can remember the fearful summer of can hardly recall its wild events without some recurrence of the thrill of horror that ran through the land, as week after week the indian news of mutiny and massacre reached us. it was a surprise to the country at large, more than to the authorities, who were informed already that a spirit of disaffection had been at work among our native troops in bengal, and that there was good reason to believe in the existence of a conspiracy for sapping the allegiance of these troops. later events have left little doubt that such a conspiracy did exist, and that its aim was the total subversion of british power. our advance in hindostan had been rapid, the changes following on it many, and not always such as the oriental mind could understand or approve. early in the reign, in , an energetic governor-general, lord dalhousie, went out to india, who introduced railways, telegraphs, and cheap postage, set on foot a system of native education, and vigorously fought the ancient iniquities of suttee, thuggee, and child-murder. perhaps his aggressive energy worked too fast, too fierily; perhaps his peremptory reforms, not less than his high-handed annexations of the punjaub, oude, and other native states, awakened suspicion in the mind of the hindoo, bound as he was by the immemorial fetters of caste, and dreading with a shuddering horror innovations that might interfere with its distinctions; for to lose caste was to be outlawed among men and accursed in the sight of god. [illustration: lord canning.] lord canning, the successor of lord dalhousie, entered on his governor-generalship at a moment full of "unsuspected peril"; for the disaffected in hindostan had so misread the signs of the times as to believe that england's sun was stooping towards its setting, and that the hour had come in which a successful blow could be struck, against the foreign domination of a people alien in faith as in blood from mohammedan and buddhist and brahmin, and apt to treat all alike with the scorn of superiority. a trivial incident, which was held no trifle by the distrustful sepoys, proved to be the spark that kindled a vast explosion. the cartridges supplied for use with the enfield rifle, introduced into india in , were greased; and the end would have to be bitten off when the cartridge was used. a report was busily circulated among the troops that the grease used was cow's fat and hog's lard, and that these substances were employed in pursuance of a deep-laid design to deprive every soldier of his caste by compelling him to taste these defiling things. such compulsion would hardly have been less odious to a mussulman than to a hindoo; for swineflesh is abominable to the one, and the cow a sacred animal to the other. whoever devised this falsehood intended to imply a subtle intention on the part of england to overthrow the native religions, which it was hoped the maddened soldiery would rise to resist. the mischief worked as was desired. in vain the obnoxious cartridges were withdrawn from use; in vain the governor-general issued a proclamation warning the army of bengal against the falsehoods that were being circulated. mysterious signals, little cakes of unleavened bread called _chupatties_, were being distributed, as the spring of went on, throughout the native villages under british rule, doing the office of the _fiery cross_ among the scotch highlanders of an earlier day; and in may the great mutiny broke out. some of the bengal cavalry at meerut had been imprisoned for refusing to use their cartridges; their comrades rose in rebellion, fired on their officers, released the prisoners, and murdered some europeans. the british troops rallied and repulsed the mutineers, who fled to delhi, unhappily reached it in safety, and required and obtained the protection of the feeble old king, the last of the moguls, there residing. him they proclaimed their emperor, and avowed the intention of restoring his dynasty to its ancient supremacy. the native troops in the city and its environs at once prepared to join them; and thus from a mere mutiny, such as had occurred once and again before, the rising assumed the character of a vast revolutionary war. for a moment it seemed that our hard-won supremacy in the east was disappearing in a sea of blood. the foe were numerous, fanatical, and ruthless; we ourselves had trained and disciplined them for war; the sympathies of their countrymen were very largely with them. yet, with incredible effort and heroism more than mortal, the small and scattered forces of england again snatched the mastery from the hands of the overwhelming numbers arrayed against them. [illustration: sir colin campbell.] one name has obtained an immortality of infamy in connection with this struggle--that of the nana sahib, who by his hideous treachery at cawnpore took revenge on confiding englishmen and women for certain wrongs inflicted on him in regard to the inheritance of his adopted father by the last governor-general. but many other names have been crowned with deathless honour, the just reward of unsurpassed achievement, of supreme fidelity and valour, at a crisis under which feeble natures would have fainted and fallen. of these are lord canning himself, the noble brothers john and henry lawrence, the generals havelock, outram, and campbell, and others whom space forbids us even to name. the governor-general remained calm, resolute, and intrepid amidst the panic and the rage which shook calcutta when the first appalling news of the mutiny broke upon it. he disdained the cruel counsels of fear, and steadily refused to confound the innocent with the guilty among the natives; but he knew where to strike, and when, and how. on his own responsibility he stayed the british troops on their way to the scene of war in china, and made them serve the graver, more immediate need of india, doing it with the concurrence of lord elgin, the envoy responsible for the chinese business; and he poured his forces on delhi, the heart of the insurrection, resolving to make an end of it there before ever reinforcement direct from england could come. after a difficult and terrible siege, the place was carried by storm on september th, --an achievement that cost many noble lives, and chief among them that of the gallant nicholson, a soldier whose mind and character seem to have made on all who knew him an impression as of supernatural grandeur. five days later general havelock and his little band of heroes--some one thousand englishmen who had marched with him from allahabad, recaptured by neill for england, and on to ghastly cawnpore--arrived at lucknow, and relieved the slender british force which since may had been holding the residency against the fierce and ever-renewed assaults of the thousands of rebels who poured themselves upon it. he came in time to save many a brave life that should yet do good service; but the noblest englishman of them all, the gentle, dauntless, chivalrous sir henry lawrence, governor of oude, had died from wounds inflicted by a rebel shell many weeks before, and lay buried in the stronghold for whose safe keeping he had continued to provide in the hour and article of death. his spirit, however, seemed yet to actuate the survivors. havelock's march had been one succession of victories won against enormous odds, and half miraculous; but even he could work no miracle, and his troops might merely have shared a tragic fate with the long-tried defenders of lucknow, but for the timely arrival of sir colin campbell with five thousand men more, to relieve in his turn the relieving force and place all the europeans in lucknow in real safety. the news was received in england with a delight that was mingled with mourning for the heroic and saintly havelock, who sank and died on november th. a soldier whose military genius had passed unrecognised and almost unemployed while men far his inferiors were high in command, he had so more than profited by the opportunity for doing good service when it came, that in a few months his name had become one of the dearest in every english home, a glory and a joy for ever. it is rarely that a career so obscured by adverse fortune through all its course blazes into such sunset splendour just at the last hour of life's day. [illustration: henry havelock.] those months which made the fame of havelock had been filled with crime and horror. the first reports of sepoy outrages which circulated in england were undoubtedly exaggerated, but enough remains of sickening truth as to the cruelties endured by english women and children at the hand of the mutineers to account for the fury which filled the breasts of their avenging countrymen, and seemed to lend them supernatural strength and courage, and, alas! in some instances, to merge that courage in ferocity. delhi had been deeply guilty, when the mutineers seized it, in respect of inhuman outrage on the helpless non-combatants; but the story of cawnpore is darker yet, and is still after all these years fresh in our memories. a peculiar blackness of iniquity clings about it. that show of amity with which the nana sahib responded to the summons of sir hugh wheeler, the hard-pressed commanding officer in the city, only that he might act against him; those false promises by which the little garrison, unconquerable by any force, was beguiled to give itself up to mere butchery; the long captivity of the few scores of women and children who survived the general slaughter, only, after many dreary days of painful suspense, to be murdered in their prison-house as havelock drew near the gates of cawnpore: all these circumstances of especial horror made men regard their chief instigator rather as one of the lower fiends masquerading in human guise than as a fellow-creature moved by any motives common to men. it was perhaps well for the fair fame of englishmen that the nana never fell into their hands, but saved himself by flight before the soldiers of havelock had looked into the slaughter-house all strewn with relics of his victims and grimly marked with signs of murder, or had gazed shuddering at the dreadful well choked up with the corpses of their countrywomen. it required more than common courage, justice, and humanity, to withstand the wild demand for mere indiscriminating revenge which these things called forth. happily those highest in power did possess these rare qualities. lord canning earned for himself the nickname of "clemency canning" by his perfect resoluteness to hold the balance of justice even, and unweighted by the mad passion of the hour. sir john (afterwards lord) lawrence, the chief commissioner of the punjaub, who, with his able subordinates, had saved that province at the very outset, and thereby in truth saved india, was equally firm in mercy and in justice. the queen herself, who had very early appreciated the gravity of the situation and promoted to the extent of her power the speedy sending of aid and reinforcement from england, thoroughly endorsed the wise and clement policy of the governor-general. replying to a letter of lord canning's which deplored "the rabid and indiscriminate vindictiveness abroad," her majesty wrote these words, which we will give ourselves the pleasure to quote entire:-- [illustration: sir john lawrence.] "lord canning will easily believe how entirely the queen shares his feelings of sorrow and indignation at the unchristian spirit, shown, alas! also to a great extent here by the public, towards indians in general, and towards sepoys _without discrimination!_ it is, however, not likely to last, and comes from the horror produced by the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated against the innocent women and children, which make one's blood run cold and one's heart bleed! for the perpetrators of these awful horrors no punishment can be severe enough; and sad as it is, _stern_ justice must be dealt out to all the guilty. "but to the nation at large, to the peaceable inhabitants, to the many kind and friendly natives who have assisted us, sheltered the fugitive, and been faithful and true, there should be shown the greatest kindness. they should know that there is no hatred to a brown skin--none; but the greatest wish on their queen's part to see them happy, contented, and flourishing." these words well became the sovereign who, by serious and cogent argument, had succeeded in inducing her ministers to strike strongly and quickly on the side of law and order, they having been at first inclined to adopt a "step-by-step" policy as to sending out aid, which would not have been very grateful to the hard-pressed authorities in india; while the queen and the prince shared lord canning's opinion, that "nothing but a long continued manifestation of england's might before the eyes of the whole indian empire, evinced by the presence of such an english force as should make the thought of opposition hopeless, would re-establish confidence in her strength." the necessary manifestation of strength was made; the reputation of england--so rudely shaken, not only in the opinion of ignorant hindoos, but in that of her european rivals--was re-established fully, and indeed gained by the power she had shown to cope with an unparalleled emergency. the counsels of vengeance were set aside, in spite of the obloquy which for a time was heaped on the true wisdom which rejected them. we did not "dethrone christ to set up moloch"; had we been guilty of that sanguinary folly, england and india might yet be ruing that year's doing. on the contrary, certain changes which did ensue in direct consequence of the mutiny were productive of undoubted good. it was recognised that the "fiction of rule by a trading company" in india must now be swept away; one of the very earliest effects of the outbreak had been to open men's eyes to the weak and sore places of that system. in an "act for the better government of india" was passed, which transferred to her majesty all the territories formerly governed by the east india company, and provided that all the powers it had once wielded should now be exercised in her name, and that its military and naval forces should henceforth be deemed her forces. the new secretary of state for india, with an assistant council of fifteen members, was entrusted with the care of indian interests here; the viceroy, or governor-general, also assisted by a council, was to be supreme in india itself. the first viceroy who represented the majesty of england to the queen's indian subjects was the statesman who had safely steered us through the imminent, deadly peril of the mutiny, and whom right feeling and sound policy alike designated as the only fit wearer of this honour. under the new regime race and class prejudices have softened, education is spreading swiftly, native oppression is becoming more difficult, as improved communications bring the light of day into the remoter districts of the immense peninsula. the public mind of england has never quite relapsed into its former scornful indifference to the welfare of india; rather, that welfare has been regarded with much keener interest, and the nation has become increasingly alive to its duty with regard to that mighty dependency, now one in allegiance with ourselves. there was much of happy omen in the reception accorded by loyal hindoos to the queen's proclamation when it reached them in . while the mass of the people gladly hailed the rule of the "empress," by whom they believed the company "had been hanged for great offences," there were individuals who were intelligent enough to recognise with delight that noble character of "humanity, mercy, and justice," which was impressed by the queen's own agency on the proclamation issued in her name. we may say that the joy with which such persons accepted the new reign has been justified by events, and that the same great principles have continued to guide all her majesty's own action with regard to india, and also that of her ablest representatives there. we may not leave out of account, in reckoning the loss and gain of that tremendous year, the extraordinary examples of heroism called forth by its trials, which have made our annals richer, and have set the ideal of english nobleness higher. the amazing achievements and the swiftly following death of the gallant havelock did not indeed eclipse in men's minds the equal patriotism and success of his noble fellows, but the tragic completeness of his story and the antique grandeur of his character made him specially dear to his countrymen; and the fact that he was already in his grave while the queen and parliament were busy in assigning to him the honours and rewards which his sixty years of life had hitherto lacked, added something like remorse to the national feeling for him. but the heart of the people swelled high with a worthy pride as we dwelt on his name and those of the lawrences, the neills, the outrams, the campbells, and felt that all our heroes had not died with wellington. other anxieties and misfortunes had not been lacking while the fate of british india still hung in the balance. the attitude of some european powers, whom the breaking forth of the mutiny had encouraged in the idea that england's power was waning, was full of menace, especially in view of what the prince consort justly called "our pitiable state of unpreparedness" for resisting attack. prompted by him, the queen caused close inquiry to be made into the state of our home defences and of the navy--the first step towards remedying the deficiencies therein existing. also a "cold wave" seemed to be passing over the commercial community in england; the year being marked by very great financial depression, which affected more or less every department of our industries. in connection with this calamity, however, there was at least one hopeful feature: the very different temper which the working classes, then, as always, the greatest sufferers by such depression, manifested in the time of trial. they showed themselves patient and loyal, able to understand that their employers too had evils to endure and difficulties to surmount; they no longer held all who were their superiors in station for their natural enemies: a happy change, testifying to the good worked by the new, beneficent spirit of legislation and reform. it is under the date of this year that we find mr. greville, on the authority of lord clarendon, thus describing the very thorough and "eminently useful" manner in which the queen, assisted by the prince, was exercising her high functions:-- "she held each minister to the discharge of his duty and his responsibility to her, and constantly desired to be furnished with accurate and detailed information about all important matters, keeping a record of all the reports that were made to her, and constantly referring to them; _e.g._, she would desire to know what the state of the navy was, and what ships were in readiness for active service, and generally the state of each, ordering returns to be submitted to her from all the arsenals and dockyards, and again, weeks or months afterwards, referring to these returns, and desiring to have everything relating to them explained and accounted for, and so throughout every department....this is what none of her predecessors ever did, and it is, in fact, the act of prince albert." we turn from this picture of the sovereign's habitual occupations to her public life, and we find it never more full of apparently absorbing excitements--splendid hospitalities exchanged with other powers, especially with imperial france, alternating with messages of encouragement, full of cordiality and grace, to her successful commander-in-chief in india, sir colin campbell, with plans for the conspicuous rewarding of the indian heroes at large, with public visits to various great english towns, and with preparations for the impending marriage of the princess royal; and we realise forcibly that even in those sunny days, when the queen was surrounded with her unbroken family of nine blooming and promising children, and still had at her right hand the invaluable counsellor by whose aid england was governed with a wisdom and energy all but unprecedented, her position was so far from a sinecure that no subject who had his daily bread to gain by his wits could have worked much harder. chapter vi. the beginnings of sorrows. [illustration: windsor castle.] it has been the queen's good fortune to see her own true-love match happily repeated in the marriages of her children. one would almost say that the conspicuous success of that union, the blessing that it brought with it to the nation, had set a new fashion to royalty. there is quite a romantic charm about the first marriage which broke the royal home-circle of england--that of the queen's eldest child and namesake, victoria, princess royal, with prince frederick william, eldest son of the then prince of prussia, whose exaltation to the imperial throne of germany lay dimly and afar--if not altogether undreamed of by some prophetic spirits--in the future. the bride and bridegroom had first met, when the youth was but nineteen and the maiden only ten, at the great peace festival, the opening of the first exhibition. already the charming grace and rare intelligence of the princess had attracted attention; and it is on record that at this early period some inkling of a possible attraction between the two had entered one observer's mind, who also notes that the young prince, greatly interested by all he saw of free england and its rulers, was above all taken with the "perfect domestic happiness which he found pervading the heart, and core, and focus of the greatest empire in the world." four years later the prince was again visiting england, a guest of the royal family in its scottish retreat of balmoral, where they had just been celebrating with beacon fires and highland mirth and music the glad news of the fall of sebastopol. he had the full consent of his own family for his wooing, but the parents of his lady would have had him keep silence at least till the fifteen-year-old maiden should be confirmed. the ease and unconstraint of that mountain home-life, however, were not very favourable to reserve and reticence; a spray of white heather, offered and received as the national emblem of good fortune, was made the flower symbol of something more, and words were spoken that effectually bound the two young hearts, though the formal betrothal was deferred until some time after the princess, in the following march, had received the rite of confirmation; and "the actual marriage," said the prince consort, "cannot be thought of till the seventeenth birthday is past." "the secret must be kept _tant bien que mal_," he had written, well knowing that it would be a good deal of an open secret. [illustration: prince frederick william.] [illustration: princess royal.] the engagement was publicly announced in may, , and though, when first rumoured, it had been coldly looked on by the english public, now it was accepted with great cordiality. the prince was openly associated with the royal family; he and his future bride appeared as sponsors at the christening of our youngest princess, beatrice; he rode with the prince consort beside the queen when she made the first distribution of the victoria cross, and was a prominent and heartily welcomed member of the royal group which visited the art treasures exhibition of manchester. the marriage, which was in preparation all through the grim days of , was celebrated with due splendour on january th, , and awakened a universal interest which was not even surpassed when, five years later, the heir to the throne was wedded. "down to the humblest cottage," said the prince consort, "the marriage has been regarded as a family affair." and not only this splendid and entirely successful match, but every joy or woe that has befallen the highest family in the land, has been felt as "a family affair" by thousands of the lowly. this is the peculiar glory of the present reign. [illustration: charles kingsley. _from a photograph by_ elliott & fry.] happy and auspicious as this marriage was, it was nevertheless the first interruption to the pure home bliss that hitherto had filled "the heart of the greatest empire in the world." the princess royal, with her "man's head and child's heart," had been the dear companion of the father whose fine qualities she inherited, and had largely shared in his great thoughts. nor was she less dear to her mother, who had sedulously watched over the "darling flower," admiring and approving her "touching and delightful" filial worship of the prince consort, and who followed with longing affection every movement of the dear child now removed from her sheltering care, and making her own way and place in a new world. there she has indeed proved herself, as she pledged herself to do, "worthy to be her mother's child," following her parents in the path of true philanthropy and gentle human care for the suffering and the lowly. so far the ancient prophecy has been well fulfilled which promised good fortune to prussia and its rulers when the heir of the reigning house should wed a princess from sea-girt britain. but the wedding so propitious for germany seemed almost the beginning of sorrows for english royalty. other betrothals and marriages of the princes and princesses ensued; but the still lamented death of the prince consort intervened before one of those betrothals culminated in marriage. another event which may be called domestic belongs to the year following this marriage--the coming of age of the prince of wales, fixed, according to english use and wont, when the heir of the crown completes his eighteenth year. every educational advantage that wisdom or tenderness could suggest had been secured for the prince. we may note in passing that one of his instructors was the rev. charles kingsley, whom prince albert had engaged to deliver a series of lectures on history to his son. this honour, as well as that of his appointment as one of her majesty's chaplains, was largely due to royal recognition of the practical christianity, so contagious in its fervour, which distinguished mr. kingsley, not less than his great gifts; of his eagerness "to help in lifting the great masses of the people out of the slough of ignorance and all its attendant suffering and vice"--an object peculiarly dear to the queen and to the prince, as had been consistently shown on every opportunity. when the time came that the youth so carefully trained should be emancipated from parental control, it was announced to him by the queen in a letter characterised by mr. greville or his informant as "one of the most admirable ever penned. she tells him," continues the diarist, "that he may have thought the rule they adopted for his education a severe one, but that his welfare was their only object; and well knowing to what seductions of flattery he would eventually be exposed, they wished to prepare and strengthen his mind against them; that he was now to consider himself his own master, and that they should never intrude any advice upon him, although always ready to give it him whenever he thought fit to seek it. it was a very long letter, all in that tone; and it seems to have made a profound impression on the prince.... the effect it produced is a proof of the wisdom that dictated its composition." we have chosen this as a true typical instance of the blended prudence and tenderness that have marked the relations between our sovereign and her children. aware what a power for good or evil the characters of those children must have on the fortunes of very many others, she and her husband sedulously surrounded them with every happy and healthy influence, never forgetting the supreme need of due employment for their energies. "without a vocation," said the prince consort, "man is incapable of complete development and real happiness": his sons have all had their vocation. it was the same period, marked by these domestic passages of mingled joy and sorrow, that became memorable in another way, through the various troublous incidents which gave an extraordinary impetus to our national volunteer movement, which were not remotely connected with the war of italian independence, and for a short time overthrew the popular ministry of lord palmerston, who was replaced in office by lord derby. the futile plot of felice orsini, an italian exile and patriot, against the life of louis napoleon, provoked great anger among the imperialists of france against england, the former asylum of orsini. a series of violent addresses from the french army, denouncing great britain as a mere harbour of assassins, did but give a more exaggerated form to the representations of french diplomacy, urging the amendment of our law, which appeared incompetent to touch murderous conspirators within our borders so long as their plots regarded only foreign powers. the tone of france was deemed insolent and threatening; lord palmerston, who, in apparent deference to it, introduced a rather inefficient measure against conspiracy to murder, fell at once to the nadir of unpopularity, and soon had no choice but to resign; and the volunteer movement in england--which had been begun in , owing to the sinister changes that then took place in the french government--now at once assumed the much more important character it has never since lost. the immense popularity of this movement and its rapid spread formed a significant reply to the insensate calls for vengeance on england which had risen from the french army, and which seemed worthy of attention in view of the vast increase now made in the naval strength of france, and of other preparations indicating that the emperor meditated a great military enterprise. that enterprise proved to be the war with austria which did so much for italy, and which some observers were disposed to connect with the plot of orsini--a rough reminder to the emperor, they said, that he was trifling with the cause of italian unity, to which he was secretly pledged. but englishmen were slow to believe in such designs on the part of the french ruler. "how should a despot set men free?" was their thought, interpreted for them vigorously enough by an anonymous poet of the day; and they enrolled themselves in great numbers for national defence. with this movement there might be some evils mixed, but its purely defensive and manly character entitles it on the whole to be reckoned among the better influences of the day. [illustration: lord palmerston.] palmerston's discredit with his countrymen was of short duration, as was his exile from office; he was premier again in the june of , and was thenceforth "prime minister for life." his popularity, which had been for some time increasing, remained now quite unshaken until his death in . before lord derby's government fell, however, a reform had been carried which could not but have been extremely grateful to mr. disraeli, then the ministerial leader of the house of commons. the last trace of the disabilities under which the jews in england had laboured for many generations was now removed, and the baron lionel de rothschild was able quietly to take his seat as one of the members for the city of london. the disabilities in question had never interfered with the ambition or the success of mr. disraeli, who at a very early age had become a member of the christian church. but his sympathies had never been alienated from the own people, with whom indeed he had always proudly identified himself by bold assertion of their manifold superiority. there are still, undoubtedly, persons in this country whose convictions lead them to think it anything but a wholesome change which has admitted among our legislators men, however able and worthy, who disclaim the name of _christian_. but the change was brought about by the conviction, which has steadily deepened among us, that oppression of those of a different faith from our own, either by direct severities or by the withholding of civil rights, is a singularly poor weapon of conversion, and that the adversaries of christianity are more likely to be conciliated by being dealt with in a christlike spirit; further, that religious opinion may not be treated as a crime, without violation of god's justice. on the point as to the claim of _irreligious_ opinion to similar consideration, the national feeling cannot be called equally unanimous. in the case of the english jews, it may be said that the tolerant and equal conduct adopted towards them has been well requited; the ancient people of god are not here, as in lands where they are trampled and trodden down, an offence and a trouble, the cause of repeated violent disturbance and the object of a frenzied hate, always deeply hurtful to those who entertain it. other changes and other incidents that now occurred engrossed a greater share of the public attention than this measure of relief. the rapid march of events in italy had been watched with eager interest, divided partly by certain ugly outbreaks of turkish fanaticism in syria, and by our proceedings in the ionian islands, which finally resulted in the quiet transfer of those isles to the kingdom of greece. the commercial treaty with france effected, through the agency of mr. cobden, on free trade lines, and mr. gladstone's memorable success in carrying the repeal of the paper duty, and thereby immensely facilitating journalistic enterprise, were hailed with great delight as beneficial and truly progressive measures. but events of a more gigantic character now took place, which at the moment affected our prosperity more directly than any fiscal reform, and appealed more powerfully to us than the savagery of our turkish _protégés_ or even than the union of italy under victor emmanuel into one free and friendly state. the long-smouldering dissensions between the northern and southern states of the american union at last broke into flame, and war was declared between them, in . the burning question of slavery was undoubtedly at the bottom of this contest, which has been truly described as a struggle for life between the "peculiar institution" and the principles of modern society. the nobler and more enthusiastic spirits in the northern states beheld in it a strife between michael and satan, the spirit of darkness hurling himself against the spirit of light in a vain and presumptuous hope to overpower him; and their irritation was great when an eminent english man of letters was found describing it scornfully as "the burning of a dirty chimney," and when english opinion, speaking through very many journalists and public men, appeared half hostile to the northern cause. indeed, it might have been thought that opinion in england--england, which at a great cost had freed its own slaves, and which had never ceased by word and deed to attack slavery and the slave-trade--would not have faltered for a moment as to the party it would favour, but would have declared itself massively against the slave-holding south. but the contest at its outset was made to wear so doubtful an aspect that it was possible, unhappily possible, for many englishmen of distinction to close their eyes to the great evils championed by the southern troops. the war was not avowedly made by the north for the suppression of slavery, but to prevent the southern states from withdrawing themselves from the union: the southerners on their side claimed a constitutional right so to withdraw if it pleased them, and denounced the attempt to retain them forcibly as a tyranny. [illustration: abraham lincoln and his son.] this false colouring at first given to the contest had mischievous results. english feeling was embittered by the great distress in our manufacturing districts, directly caused up the action of the northern states in blockading the southern ports, and thus cutting off our supply of raw material in the shape of cotton. on its side the north, which had calculated securely on english sympathy and respect, and was profoundly irritated by the many displays of a contrary feeling; and the exasperation on both sides more than once reached a point which made war appear almost inevitable--a war above all others to be deprecated. first came the affair of the _trent_--the english mail-steamer from which two southern envoys were carried off by an american naval commander, in contempt of the protection of the british flag. the action was technically illegal, and on the demand of the english government its illegality was acknowledged, and the captives were restored; but the warlike and threatening tone of england on this occasion was bitterly resented at the north, and this resentment was greatly increased when it became known that various armed cruisers, in particular the notorious _alabama_, designed to prey on the northern commerce, were being built and fitted by english shipbuilders in english dockyards under the direction of the southern foe, while the english government could not decide if it were legally competent for her majesty's ministers to interfere and detain such vessels. the tardy action at last taken just prevented the breaking out of hostilities. out of these unfortunate transactions a certain good was to ensue at a date not far distant, when, after the restoration of peace, america and england, disputing as to the compensation due from one to the other for injuries sustained in this matter, gave to the world the great example of two nations submitting a point so grave to peaceful arbitration, instead of calling in the sword to make an end of it--an example more nearly pointing to the possible extinction of war than any other event of the world's history. yet another hopeful feature may be noted in connection with this time of trouble. while the secession war lasted, "the cotton famine" had full sway in lancashire; unwonted and unwelcome light and stillness replaced the dun clouds of smoke and the busy hum that used to tell of fruitful, well-paid industry; and the patient people, haggard and pale but sadly submissive, were kept, and just kept, from starving by the incessant charitable effort of their countrymen. never had the attitude of the suffering working classes shown such genuine nobility; they understood that the calamity which lay heavy on them was not brought about by the careless and selfish tyranny of their worldly superiors, but came in the order of god's providence; and their conduct at this crisis proved that an immense advance had been made in kindliness between class and class, and in true intelligence and appreciation of the difficulties proper to each. it was significant of this new temper that when at last peace returned, bringing some gleam of returning prosperity, the workers, who greeted with joyful tears the first bales of cotton that arrived, fell on their knees around the hopeful things and sang hymns of thanksgiving to the author of all good. such were the fruits of that new policy of care and consideration for the toilers and the lowly which had increasingly marked the new epoch, and which had been sedulously promoted by the queen, in association with her large-thoughted and well-judging husband. it was in the midst of the troubles which we have just attempted to recall that a new and greater calamity came upon us, affecting the royal family indeed with the sharpest distress, but hardly less felt, even at the moment, by the nation. the year had already been darkened for her majesty by the death in the month of march, of her mother, the duchess of kent, to whose wise guardianship of the queen's youth the nation owed so much, and who had ever commanded the faithful affection of this her youngest but greatest child, and of all her descendants. this death was the first stroke of real personal calamity to the queen; it was destined to be followed by another bereavement, even severer in its nature, before the year had closed. the prince consort's health, though generally good, was not robust, and signs had not been wanting that his incessant toils were beginning to tell upon him. there had been illnesses, transitory indeed, but too significant of "overwork of brain and body." in addition to personal griefs, such as the death of the duchess of kent and of a beloved young coburg prince and kinsman, the king of portugal, which had been severely felt, there were the unhappy complications arising out of "the affair of the _trent_," which the prince's statesmanlike wisdom had helped to bring to a peaceful and honourable conclusion. that wisdom, unhappily, was no longer at the service of england when a series of negligences and ignorances on the part of england's statesmen had landed us in the _alabama_ difficulty. all these agitations had told upon a frame which was rather harmoniously and finely than vigorously constituted. "if i had an illness," he had been known to say, "i am sure i should not struggle for life. i have no tenacity of life." and in the november of an illness came against which he was not able to struggle, but which took all the country by surprise when, on december th, it terminated in death. very many had hardly been aware that there was danger until the midnight tolling of the great bell of st. paul's startled men with an instant foreboding of disaster. _what_ disaster it was that was thus knelled forth they knew not, and could hardly believe the tidings when given in articulate words. at first it had been said, the prince had a feverish cold; presently the bulletin announced "fever, unattended with unfavourable symptoms." it was gastric fever, and before long there _were_ unfavourable symptoms--pallid changes in the aspect, hurried breathing, wandering senses--all noted with heart-breaking anxiety by the loving nurses, the queen and princess alice--the daughter so tender and beloved, the "dear little wife," the "good little wife," whose ministerings were so comfortable to the sufferer overwearied with the great burden of life. he was released from it at ten minutes to eleven on the night of saturday, december th; and there fell on her to whom his last conscious look had been turned, his last caress given, a burden of woe almost unspeakable, and for which the heart of the nation throbbed with well-nigh unbearable sympathy. seldom has the personal grief of a sovereign been so keenly shared by subjects. indeed, they had cause to lament; the removal of the prince consort, just when his faculties seemed ripest and his influence most assured, left a blank in the councils of the nation which has never been filled up. "we have buried our _king_" said mr. disraeli, regretting profoundly this national loss; but for once the english people forgot the public deprivation in compassionating her who was left more conspicuously lonely, more heavily burdened, than even the poor bereaved colliers' wives in the north for whom _her_ compassion was so quick and so sharply sympathetic. something remorseful mingled then, and may mingle now, with the affection felt for this lost benefactor, who had not only been somewhat jealously eyed by certain classes on his first coming, but who had suffered much silently from misunderstanding and also from deliberate misrepresentation, and only by patient continuance in well-doing had at last won the favour which was his rightful due. "that which we have we prize not to the worth while we enjoy it; but being lacked and lost, why, then we rack the value, then we find the virtue that possession would not show us while it was ours." a peculiar tenderness was ever after cherished for princess alice, who in this dark hour rose up to be her mother's comforter, endeavouring in every way possible to save her all trouble--"all communications from the ministers and household passed through the princess's hands to the queen, then bowed down with grief.... it was the very intimate intercourse with the sorrowing queen at that time which called forth in princess alice that keen interest and understanding in politics for which she was afterwards so distinguished. the gay, bright girl suddenly developed into a wise, far-seeing woman, living only for others." [illustration: princess alice.] this ministering angel in the house of mourning had been already betrothed, with her parents' full approval, to prince louis of hesse; and to him she was married on july st, , at osborne, very quietly, as befitted the mournful circumstance of the royal family. many a heartfelt wish for her happiness followed "england's england-loving daughter" to her foreign home, where she led a beautiful, useful life, treading in her father's footsteps, and continually cherished by the love of her mother; and the peculiarly touching manner of her death, a sort of martyrdom to sweet domestic affections, again stirred the heart of her own people to mournful admiration. a cottager's wife might have died as princess alice died, through breathing in the poison of diphtheria as she hung, a constant, loving nurse, over the pillows of her suffering husband and children. this beautiful _homeliness_ that has marked the lives of our sovereign and her children has been of inestimable value, raising simple human virtues to their proper pre-eminence before the eyes of the english people of to-day, who are very materially, if often unconsciously, swayed by the example set them in high places. in the may after prince consort's death the second international exhibition was opened, amid sad memories of the first, so joyful in every way, and a certain sense of discouragement because the golden days of universal peace seemed farther off than ten years before. "is the goal so far away? far, how far no tongue can say; let us dream our dream to-day." far indeed it seemed, with the fratricidal contest raging in america, and shutting out all contributions to this world's fair from the united states. [illustration: the mausoleum.] the queen had betaken herself that may to her highland home, whose joy seemed dead, and where her melancholy pleased itself in the erection of a memorial cairn to the prince on craig lorigan, after she had returned from princess alice's wedding. but in may she had sent for dr. norman macleod, who was not only distinguished as one of her own chaplains, but was also a friend already endeared to the prince and herself; and she found comfort in the counsels of that faithful minister and loyal man, who has left some slight record of her words. "she said she never shut her eyes to trials, but liked to look them in the face; she would never shrink from duty, but all was at present done mechanically; her highest ideas of purity and love were obtained from the prince, and god could not be displeased with her love.... there was nothing morbid in her grief.... she said that the prince always believed he was to die soon, and that he often told her that he had never any fear of death." it seemed that in this persuasion the prince had made haste to live up to the duties of his difficult station to the very utmost, and "being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time [footnote]." [footnote: inscription on the cairn on craig lorigan.] "the more i learn about the prince consort," continues dr. macleod, "the more i agree with what the queen said to me about him: 'that he really did not seem to comprehend a selfish character, or what selfishness was.' and on whatever day his public life is revealed to the world, i feel certain this will be recognised." [illustration: dr. norman macleod.] the queen, by revealing to the world, with a kind of holy boldness, what the prince's public and private life was, has justified this confidence of her faithful friend. early in , dr. macleod was led by the queen into the mausoleum she had caused to be raised for her husband's last resting-place. calm and quiet she stood and looked on the beautiful sculptured image of him she had lost: having "that within which passeth show," her grief was tranquil. "she is so true, so genuine, i wonder not at her sorrow; it but expresses the greatest loss that a sovereign and wife could sustain," said the deeply moved spectator. an event was close at hand which was to mingle a little joy in the bitter cup so long pressed to our sovereign's lips. the prince of wales had formed an attachment to the princess alexandra of denmark, a singularly winning and lovely lady, whose popularity, ever since her sweet face first shone on the surging crowds that shouted her welcome into london, has seemed always at flood-tide. faithful to her experience and convictions, the queen smiled gladly on the marriage of affection between this gentle princess and the heir to the throne, and was present as a spectator, though still wearing her sombre weeds, at the splendid show of her son's wedding on march th, . "two things have struck me much," writes dr. macleod, from whose journal we again quote: "one was the whole of the royal princesses weeping, though concealing their tears with their bouquets, as they saw their brother, who was to them but their 'bertie' and their dear father's son, standing alone waiting for his bride. the other was the queen's expression as she raised her eyes to heaven while her husband's _chorale_ was sung. she seemed to be with him alone before the throne of god." [illustration: prince of wales. _from a photograph by w. & d. downey, ebury street, w._] "no possible favour can the queen grant me, or honour bestow," said the manly writer of these words, "beyond what the poor can give the poor--her friendship." it is rarely that one sitting amid "the fierce light that beats upon the throne" has been able to enjoy the simple bliss of true, disinterested friendship with those of kindred soul but inferior station. such rare fortune, however, has been the queen's; and it is worthy of note that her special regard has been won by persons distinguished not less by loftiness and purity of character than by mental power or personal charm. she has not escaped the frequent penalty of strong affection, that of being bereaved of its objects. she has outlived earlier and later friends alike--lady augusta stanley and her husband, the beloved dean of westminster; the good and beautiful duchess of sutherland; the two eminent scotchmen, principal tulloch and dr. macleod himself; and the archbishop of canterbury, dr. tait, with his charming wife. to these might be added, among the more eminent objects of her regard, the late poet laureate, who shared with macaulay the once unique privilege of having been raised to the peerage more for transcendent ability than for any other motive--a distinction that never would have been so bestowed by our early hanoverian kings, and which offers a marked contrast to the sort of patronage with which later sovereigns have distinguished the great writers of their time. a new spirit rules now; of this no better evidence could be given than this recently published testimony to the relations between queen and poet: "mrs. tennyson told us that the poet laureate likes and admires the queen personally very much, and enjoys conversation with her. mrs. tennyson generally goes too, and says the queen's manner towards him is childlike and charming, and they both give their opinions freely, even when those differ from the queen's, which she takes with perfect good humour, and is very animated herself [footnote]." [footnote: "anne gilchrist: her life and writings." london: .] [illustration: princess of wales. _from a photograph by walery._] chapter vii. changes good and evil. with the death of lord palmerston in , a sort of truce in the strife of parties, which his supremacy had secured, came to an end. that supremacy had been imperilled for a moment when the government declined to make an armed intervention in the struggle between denmark and the german powers in . such an intervention would have been very popular with the english people, who could hardly know that "all germany would rise as one man" to repel it if it were risked. but the english premier's rare command of his audience in parliament enabled him to overcome even this difficulty; and the gigantic series of contests on the continent which resulted in the consolidation of the german empire, the complete liberation of italy, the overthrow of imperialism in france and of the temporal power of the pope even in rome itself, went on its way without our interference also, which would hardly have been the case had we intermeddled in the ill-understood contention between denmark and its adversaries as to the schleswig-holstein succession. [illustration: sir robert napier.] that strange crime, the murder of president lincoln, in america just when the long contest between north and south had ended and the cause of true freedom had triumphed, was actually fruitful of good as regarded this country and the united states. a cry of horror went up from all england at the news of that "most accursed assassination," which seemed at the moment to brand the losing cause, whose partisan was guilty of it, with the very mark of cain. expressions of sympathy with the outraged country and of admiring regret for its murdered head were lavished by every respectable organ of opinion; while the queen, by writing in personal sympathy, as one widow to another, to the bereaved wife of lincoln, made herself, as she has often done, the mouthpiece of her people's best feeling. again and again has it been manifested that america and england are in more cordial relations with each other since the tremendous civil war than before it. it is no matter of statecraft, but a better understanding between two great english-speaking peoples, drawn into closer fellowship by far more easy communication than of old. a little war with ashantee, not too successful, a difficulty with japan, some more serious troubles with new zealand, exhaust the list of the warlike enterprises of england in the last years of palmerston. in a year or two after his death we were engaged in a brief and entirely successful campaign against the barbaric king theodore of abyssinia, "a compound of savage virtue and more than savage ambition and cruelty," who, imagining himself wronged and slighted by england, had seized a number of british subjects, held them in hard captivity, and treated them with such capricious cruelty as made it very manifest that their lives were not worth an hour's purchase. it fell to the ministry of mr. disraeli, premier on the resignation of his colleague lord derby, who had displaced earl russell in that office, to bring this strange potentate to reason by force of arms. under sir robert napier's management the work was done with remarkable precision; no english life was lost; and but few of our soldiers were wounded; magdala, the mountain eyrie of king theodore, was stormed and destroyed, and the captives, having been surrendered under dread of the british arms, were restored to freedom and safety. the honour of our land, imperilled by the oppression of our subjects was triumphantly vindicated; other good was not achieved. theodore, unwilling to survive defeat, was found dead by his own hand when magdala was carried, and he was afterwards succeeded on the abyssinian throne by a chief who had more than all his predecessor's vices and none of his virtues. for this well-managed campaign sir robert napier was raised to the peerage as lord napier of magdala. the swift success, the brilliant promptitude, of his achievement are almost painful to recall to-day, in face of another enterprise for the rescue of a british subject, conducted by a commander not less able and resolute, at the head of troops as daring and as enthusiastic, which was turned into a conspicuous failure by unhappy delayings on the part of the civil authorities, in the fatal winter of - . [illustration: mr. gladstone.] turning our eyes from foreign matters to the internal affairs of the united kingdom, we see two great leaders, mr. disraeli and mr. gladstone--whose "long parliamentary duel" had begun early in the fifties of this century--outbidding each other by turns for the public favour, and each in his different way ministering to the popular craving for reform. with mr. disraeli's first appearance as leader of the house of commons, this rivalry entered on its most noticeable stage; it only really ceased with the life of the brilliant, versatile, and daring _litterateur_ and statesman who died as earl beaconsfield, not very long after his last tenure of office expired in . in mr. disraeli, as leader of the lower house, carried a measure for the reform of the franchise in england, and the year following similar measures with regard to ireland and scotland. in it was mr. gladstone's turn, and he introduced and carried two remarkable bills--one for the disestablishment of the irish church, and one for the amendment of land tenure in ireland, the latter passing into law in august, . it had long been felt as a bitter grievance by the mass of irishmen that the church established in their country should be one which did not command the allegiance of one-sixth of its people and though opinion in england was sharply divided as to the question of irish disestablishment, the majority of englishmen undoubtedly considered the grievance to be something more than a sentimental one, and deserving of removal. another startling measure of reform was the abolition of purchase in the army, carried in the face of a reluctant house of lords by means of a sudden exercise of royal prerogative under advice of the government; the premier announcing "that as the system of purchase was the creation of royal regulation, he had advised the queen to take the decisive step of cancelling the royal warrant which made purchase legal"--a step which, however singular, was undoubtedly legal, as was proved by abundant evidence. a measure which may not improbably prove to have affected the fortunes of this country more extensively than any of those already enumerated was the education bill introduced by mr. forster in , and designed to secure public elementary education for even the humblest classes throughout england and wales. hitherto the teaching of the destitute poor had been largely left to private charity or piety, and in the crowded towns it had been much neglected, with the great exception of the work done in ragged schools--those gallant efforts made by unpaid christian zeal to cope with the multitudinous ignorance and misery of our overgrown cities. it was very slowly that the national conscience was aroused to the peril and sin of allowing the masses to grow up in heathen ignorance; but at last the english state shook off its sluggish indifference to the instruction of its poor, and became as active as it had been supine. mr. forster's bill is the measure which indicates this turning of the tide. we do not propose now to discuss the provisions of this act, which were sharply canvassed at the time, and which certainly have not worked without friction; but we may say that the stimulus then given to educational activity, if judged by subsequent results, must be acknowledged to have been advantageous. the system of schools under the charge of various religious bodies, which existed before the education act, has not been superseded; that indeed would have been a deep misfortune, for it is more needed than ever; the masses of the population have been, to an appreciable extent, reached and instructed; and we shall not much err in connecting as cause and effect the wider instruction with the diminution of pauperism and crime which the statistics of recent years reveal. the same member who honoured himself and benefited his country by this great effort to promote the advance of the "angel knowledge" also introduced, in , the ballot bill, designed to do away with all the violence and corruption that had long disgraced parliamentary elections in this free land, and that showed no symptom of a tendency to reform themselves. the new system of secret voting which was now adopted has required, it is true, to be further purified by the recent corrupt practices bill and its stringent provisions; but no one, whose memory is long enough to recall the tumultuous and discreditable scenes attendant on elections under the old system, will be inclined to deny that much that was flagrantly disgraceful as well as dishonest has been swept away by the reforming energy of our own day. it is to the same period, made memorable by these internal reforms, that we have to refer the final settlement of the long-standing controversy between great britain and the united states as to the _alabama_ claims. we have already referred to these claims and the peaceful though very costly manner of their adjustment. that the award on the whole should go against us was not very grateful to the english people; but when the natural irritation of the hour had time to subside, the substantial justice of the decision was little disputed. while england was thus busied in strengthening her walls and making straight her ways, her great neighbour and rival was passing through a very furnace of misery. the colossal-seeming empire, whose head was rather of strangely mingled corinthian metal than of fine gold, and whose iron feet were mixed with miry clay, was tottering to its overthrow, and fell in the wild days of with a world-awakening crash. again it was a dispute concerning the throne of spain which precipitated the fall of a french sovereign. it would seem as if interference with the affairs of its southern neighbour was ever to be ominous of evil to france. the first great napoleon had had to rue such interference; it had been disastrous to louis philippe; now louis napoleon, making the candidature of leopold of hohenzollern for the spanish crown a pretext for war with prussia, forced on the strife which was to dethrone himself, to cast down his dynasty, and to despoil france of two fair provinces, alsace and lorraine, once taken from germany, now reconquered for united germany. with that strife, which resulted in the exaltation of the prussian king, our princess royal's father-in-law, as german emperor, england had absolutely nothing to do, except to pity the fallen and help the suffering as far as in her lay; but it awakened profoundest interest, especially while the long siege of paris dragged on through the hard winter of - ; hardly yet is the interest of the subject exhausted. a certain fleeting effect was produced in england by the erection of a new republic in france in place of the fallen empire, while the family of the defeated ruler--rejected by his realm more for lack of success than for his bad government--escaped to the safety of this country from the angry hatred of their own. a few people here began to talk republicanism in public, and to commend the "logical superiority" of that mode of government, oblivious of the fact that practical britain prefers a system, however illogical, that actually works well, to the most beautifully reasoned but untested paper theory. but the wild excesses of the commune in paris, outdoing in horror the sufferings of the siege, quickly produced the same effect here that was wrought in the last century by the french reign of terror, and english republicanism relapsed into the dormant state from which it had only just awakened. the dangerous illness that attacked the prince of wales in the last days of , calling forth such keen anxiety throughout the land that it seemed as if thousands of families had a son lying in imminent peril of death, showed at once that the nation was yet loyal to the core. true prayers were everywhere offered up in sympathy with the mother, the sister, the wife, who watched at the bedside of the heir to the throne; and when, on the very anniversary of the prince consort's death, the life that had seemed ebbing away turned to flow upward again; a sort of sob of relief rose from the heart of the people, who rejoiced to be able, at a later day, to share with their queen her solemn act of thanksgiving for mercy shown, as she went with her restored son, her son's wife, and her son's sons, to worship and give praise in the great cathedral of st. paul's. princess alice, who had shared and softened the grief of her mother ten years before, had been again at her side during all the protracted anxiety of this winter, and had helped to nurse her brother. the princess's experience of nursing had been terribly increased during the awful wars, when she had been incessantly busied in hospital organisation and work, suffering from the sight of suffering as a sensitive nature must, but ever toiling to lighten it; and she had come with her children to recover a little strength in her mother's highland home. thus it was that she was found at sandringham when her brother's illness declared itself, "fulfilling the same priceless offices" of affection as in her maiden days, and endearing herself the more to the english people, who grieved for her when, in the ensuing year, a mournful accident robbed her of one darling child, and who felt it like a personal domestic loss when in the beautiful life ended. other royal marriages have from time to time awakened public interest, and one, celebrated between the princess louise and the marquis of lorne, heir of the dukedom of argyll, had just preceded the illness of the prince and was regarded with much more attention because no british subject since the days of george ii's legislation as to royal alliances had been deemed worthy of such honour. but not even the more outwardly splendid match between the queen's sailor son, alfred, duke of edinburgh, and the daughter of the czar alexander, could eclipse in popularity the quiet marriage, overclouded with sorrow, and the tranquil, hard-working life of the good and gifted lady who was to die the martyr of her true motherly and wifely devotion. [illustration: lord beaconsfield.] [illustration: lord salisbury.] from these glimpses of the joys and troubles affecting the household that is cherished in the heart of england, we return to the more stormy records of our public doings. a sort of link between the two exists in the long and very successful tour which the prince of wales, some time after his restoration to health, made of the vast indian dominions of the crown. extensive travels and wide acquaintance with the great world to which britain is bound by a thousand ties have entered largely into the royal scheme of education for the future king. no princes of england in former days have seen so much of other lands as the sons of queen victoria; and this particular journey is understood to have had an excellent political effect. mr. gladstone's five years' lease of power, which had been signalised by so many important changes, came to an end in , just before the time when sir garnet wolseley, sent to bring the savage king of ashantee to reason, returned successful to england, having snatched a complete victory "out of the very jaws of approaching sun and fever" on the pestilent west coast of africa in the early days of . the last ministry of mr. disraeli, who now assumed office, was marked by several noticeable events: the proclamation of the queen as "empress of india," in formal definite recognition of the new relation between little england and the gigantic, many-peopled realm which through strange adventure has come directly under our sovereign's sway; the russo-turkish war, following on the evil doings in turkey known as the "bulgarian atrocities," and terminating in a peace signed at berlin, with which the english premier, now known as lord beaconsfield, had very much to do; and the acquisition by england of the , shares in the suez canal originally held by the khedive of egypt--a transaction to which france, also largely interested in the canal, was a consenting party. to this period belong the distressful afghan and zulu wars, the latter unhappily memorable by the tragic fate that befell the young son of louis napoleon, a volunteer serving with the english army. deep sympathy was felt for his imperial mother, widowed since , and now bereaved of her only child; and by none was her sorrow more keenly realised than by the queen, who herself had to mourn the loss of the beloved princess alice, the first of her children to follow her father into the silent land. the death of the prince louis napoleon at the hands of savage zulus was severely felt by the still strong bonapartism of france; but englishmen, remembering the early melancholy death of the heir of the first napoleon, were struck by the fatal coincidence, while they could honestly deplore the premature extinction of so much youth, gallantry, and hope-fulness, cast away in our own ill-starred quarrel. an agitation distinctly humanitarian and domestic had been going on during the early years of this ministry, which resulted in the passing of the merchant shipping bill, intended to remedy the many wrongs to which our merchant seamen were subject, a measure almost entirely procured by the fervent human sympathy and resoluteness of one member of parliament, samuel plimsoll; and other measures belonging to this period, and designed to benefit the toilers of the land principally, were initiated by the energy of the home secretary, mr. cross. but neither the imposing foreign action of lord beaconsfield's government, nor the domestic improvements wrought during its period of power, could maintain it in public favour. there was great and growing distress in the country; depression of trade, severe winters, sunless summers, all produced suffering, and suffering discontent. an appeal to the country, made in the spring of , shifted the parliamentary majority from the conservative to the liberal side. lord beaconsfield resigned, and mr. gladstone returned to power. the history of the gladstone ministry does not come well within the scope of this work. certain very memorable events must be touched upon; there are dark chapters of our national story, stains and blots on our great name, which force themselves upon us. but to follow the government through its years of struggle with the ever-growing bulk of irish difficulty, and to track it through its various enactments designed still further to improve the condition of the english people, would require a small volume to itself. england still remembers the thrill, half fury, half anguish, which ran through her at the tidings that the new chief secretary for ireland, charged with a message of peace and conciliation, had been stabbed to death within twenty-four hours of his landing on that unhappy shore. she cannot forego the deep instinctive feeling--so generally manifested at the time of lincoln's murder--that the lawless spilling of life for any cause dishonours and discredits that cause; nor have various subsequent efforts made to terrorise public opinion here been differently judged. but it was a far more cruel shock that was inflicted through the series of ill-advised proceedings that brought about the great disaster of khartoum. before we deal with these, we must glance at the african and afghan troubles, again breaking out and again quieted, the first by a peace with the boers of the transvaal that awakened violent discussion not yet at an end, and the second, after some successes of the british arms, by a judicious arrangement designed to secure the neutrality of afghanistan, interposed by nature as a strong, all but insurmountable, barrier between india and central asia. these transactions, the theme of sharp contention at the time, were cast into the shade by events in which we were concerned in egypt, our newly acquired interests in the suez canal making that country far more important to us than of yore. its condition was very wretched, its government at once feeble and oppressive, and, despite the joint influence which france and england had acquired in egyptian councils, an armed rebellion broke out, under the leadership of arabi pasha. france declining to act in this emergency, the troops and fleet of england put down this revolt single-handed; and in their successes the queen's third son, arthur, duke of connaught, took his part, under the orders of sir garnet (afterwards lord) wolseley. there were again rejoicings in balmoral, where the queen, with her soldierly son's young wife beside her, was preparing to receive another bride--princess helen of waldeck, just wedded to our youngest prince, leopold, duke of albany. but this gleam of brightness was destined to be followed by darker disaster far than that which seemed averted for the moment. a mightier rebellion was arising in the soudan, a vast tract of country annexed by the ambition of ismail, the former khedive of egypt, to be ill governed by his officials and ravaged by the slave-trade. these evils were checked for a few years by the strong hand of charles george gordon, already famous through his achievements in china, and invested with unlimited power by ismail; but, that potentate being overthrown, the great englishman left his thankless post, no longer tenable by him. then it seemed that chaos had come again; and a bold and keen, though probably hypocritical, dervish, self-styled the _mahdi_, or mohammedan messiah, was able to kindle new flames of revolt, which burned with the quenchless fury of oriental fanaticism. his arab and negro soldiers made short work of the poor egyptian fellaheen sent to fight them, though these were under the command of englishmen. the army led by hicks pasha utterly vanished in the deserts, as that of cambyses did of old. the army under baker pasha did not, indeed, disappear in the same mysterious manner, but it too was routed with great slaughter. the english government, willing to avoid the vast task of crushing the revolt, had counselled the abandonment of the soudan, and the khedive's ministers reluctantly acquiesced. but there were egyptian garrisons scattered throughout the soudan which must not be abandoned with the country. above all, there was khartoum, an important town at the junction of the blue and the white nile, with a large european settlement and an egyptian garrison, all in pressing danger, loyal as yet, but full of just apprehension. these troops, these officials, these women and children, who only occupied their perilous position through the action of the khedive's government, had a right to protection--a right acknowledged by her majesty's ministers; but they wished to avoid hostilities. general graham, left in command on the red sea littoral, was allowed to take action against the mahdi's lieutenant who was threatening suakim, and who was driven back with heavy loss; but he might not follow up the victory. [illustration: general gordon.] the english government hoped to withdraw the garrisons in safety, without force of arms. they had been for some time urging on the khedive that the marvellous influence which gordon was known to have acquired in his old province should now be utilised, and that to _him_ should be entrusted the herculean task of tranquillising the soudan, by reinstating its ancient dynasties of tribal chiefs and withdrawing all egyptian and european troops and officials. their plan was at last accepted; then gordon, hitherto unacquainted, like the public at large, with the government designs, was informed of them and invited to carry them out. he consented; and, with the chivalric promptitude which essentially belonged to his character, he departed the same night on his perilous errand. passing through cairo, he received plenary powers from the khedive, and went on almost alone to khartoum, where he was received with an overflowing enthusiasm. but, with all his eager haste, he was too late to bring about the desired results by peaceful means. "he should have come a year ago," muttered his native well-wishers. week after week and month after month, his position in khartoum became more perilous; the mahdi's power waxed greater, and his hordes drew round the city, which long defied them, while garrison after garrison fell into their hands elsewhere. it was in vain that general gordon urged the despatch of british troops, a few hundred of whom would at one time have sufficed to turn the tide, and insure success in his enterprise. they were still withheld; and he would not secure his own safety by deserting the people whom his presence had induced to stand out against the impostor and his hosts. the city endured a long, cruel siege, and fell at last, reduced by hunger and treachery, just as a tardily despatched british force was making its way to relieve it--a force commanded by lord wolseley, who half a year before had been protesting against the "indelible disgrace" of leaving gordon to his fate. he was not able even to bury his friend and comrade, slain by the fanatic enemy when they broke into the city in the early morning of january th, . [illustration: duke of albany. _from a photograph by a. bassano, bond street, w._] "i have done my best for the honour of our country," were the parting words of the dead hero. his country felt itself profoundly dishonoured by the manner in which it had lost this its famous son--a man distinguished at once by commanding ability, unsullied honour, heroic valour; a man full of tenderest beneficence towards his fellows, and of utter devotion to his god; "the grandest figure," said an american admirer, "that has crossed the disc of this planet for centuries." him england had fatally delayed to help, withheld by the dread of costly and cruel warfare; and then just failed to save him by a war enormously costly and cruelly fatal indeed. a general lamentation, blent with cries of anger, rose up from the land. her majesty shared the common sorrow, as her messages of sympathy to the surviving relations of gordon testified. various charitable institutions, modelled on the lines which he had followed in his work among the poor, rose to keep his memory green; and thus the objects of his christlike care during his life are now profiting by the world-famous manner of his death. but there is still a deep feeling that even time itself can hardly efface the stain that has been left on our national fame. an english expedition, well commanded, full of ardour and daring, sent to accomplish a specific object, and failing in that object; its commander, entirely guiltless of blame, having to abandon the scene of his triumphs to a savage, fanatic foe as was now the case--this was evil enough; but that our beloved countryman, a true knight without fear and without reproach, should have been betrayed to desertion and death through his own magnanimity and our sluggishness, added a rankling, poisonous sense of shame to our humiliation. that the same year saw further electoral privileges extended to the humble classes in england, beyond what even the last reform bill had conferred, which might prove of advantage afterwards, but was an imperfect consolation at the time. another grief fell upon the queen in this year in the early death of leopold, duke of albany, a prince whose intellectual gifts were nearly allied to those of his father, but on whom lifelong delicacy of health had enforced a life of comparative quietude. his widowed bride and infant children have ever since been cared for tenderly by his royal mother. [illustration: duchess of albany. _from a photograph by a. bassano, bond street, w._] chapter viii. our colonies. [illustration: sydney heads.] if now we turn our eyes a while from the foreign and domestic concerns of great britain proper, and look to the greater britain beyond the seas, we shall find that its progress has nowise lagged behind that of the mother isle. to lord durham, the remarkable man sent out in to deal with the rebellion in lower canada, we owe the inauguration of a totally new scheme of colonial policy, which has been crowned with success wherever it has been introduced. it has succeeded in the vast canadian dominion, now stretching from ocean to ocean, and embracing all british north america, with the single exception of the isle of newfoundland. in this federation was first formed, uniting then only the two canadas with new brunswick and nova scotia, under a constitution framed on lord durham's plan, and providing for the management of common affairs by a central parliament, while each province should have its own local legislature, and the executive be vested in the crown, ruling through its governor general. it had been made competent for the other provinces of british north america to join this federation, if they should so will; and one after another has joined it, with the one exception mentioned above, which may or may not be permanent. the population of the dominion has trebled, and its revenues have increased twenty-fold, since its constitution was thus settled. the same system, it may be hoped, will equally succeed in that wonderful australasia where our colonists now have the shaping of their destinies in their own hands, amid the yet unexplored amplitude of a land where "in the softest and sweetest air, and in an unexhausted soil, the fable of midas is reversed; food does not turn to gold, but the gold with which the land is teeming converts itself into farms and vineyards, into flocks and herds, into crops of wild luxuriance, into cities whose recent origin is concealed and compensated by trees and flowers." in such terms does a recent eye-witness describe the splendid prosperity attained within the last two or three decades by that australia which our fathers thought of chiefly as a kind of far-off rubbish-heap where they could fling out the human garbage of england, to rot or redeem itself as it might, well out of the way of society's fastidious nostril, and which to our childhood was chiefly associated with the wild gold-fever and the wreck and ruin which that fever too often wrought. the transportation system, so far as australia was concerned, came virtually to an end with the discovery of gold in the region to which we had been shipping off our criminals. the colonists had long been complaining of this system, which at first sight had much to recommend it, as offering a fair chance of reformation to the convict, and providing cheap labour for the land that received him. but it was found, as a high official said, that convict labour was far less valuable than the uncompelled work of honest freemen; and the contagious vices which the criminal classes brought with them made them little welcome. when to these drawbacks were added the difficulties and dangers with which the presence of the convict element in the population encumbered the new gold-mining industry, the question reached the burning stage. the system was modified in , and totally abolished in . transports whose sentence were unexpired lingered out their time in tasmania, whence the aborigines have vanished under circumstances of cruelty assuredly not mitigated by the presence of convicts in the island; but australia was henceforth free from the blight. the political life of these colonies may be said to have begun in the same year-- --when the importation of criminals received its first check. new south wales, the eldest of the australian provinces, received a genuine constitution of its own; victoria followed in --victoria, which is not without its dreams of being one day "the chief state in a federated australia," an australia that may then rank as "a second united states of the southern hemisphere." western australia, south australia, queensland, tasmania, and new zealand, one after another, attained the same liberties; all have now representative governments, modelled on those of the mother country, but inevitably without the aristocratic element. such an aristocracy as that of england is the natural growth of many centuries and of circumstances hardly likely to be duplicated--a fact which the prince consort once had occasion to lay very clearly before louis napoleon, anxious to surround himself with a similar nobility, if only he could manage it. but though the aristocratic element be lacking, the patriotic passion and the sentiment of loyalty are abundantly present; nor has the mother country any intellectual pre-eminence over her colonies, drawn immeasurably nearer to her in thought and feeling as communication has become rapid and easy. there is something almost magical at first sight in the transformation which the australian colonies have undergone in a very limited space of time; yet it is but the natural result of the untrammelled energy of a race sovereignly fitted to "subdue the earth." it is curious to read how in the convict settlement at botany bay--name of terror to ignorant home criminals, shuddering at the long, dreadful voyage and the imagined horrors of a savage country--was almost entirely nourished on imported food, now that the vast flocks and herds of australia and new zealand contribute no inconsiderable proportion of the food supply of britain. the record of new zealand is somewhat less brilliant than that of its gigantic neighbour. this is due to somewhat less favourable circumstances, to a nobler and less manageable race of aborigines; the land perhaps more beautiful, is by the very character of its beauty less subduable. its political life is at least as old as that of the old australian colony, its constitution being granted about the same time; but this colony has needed, what australia has not, the armed interference of the home government in its quarrels with the natives--a race once bold and warlike, able to hold their own awhile even against the english soldiers, gifted with eloquence, with a certain poetic imagination, and no inconsiderable intelligence. it seemed, too, at one moment as if these maoris would become generally christianised; but the kind of christianity which they saw exemplified in certain colonists, hungry for land and little scrupulous as to the means by which they could gratify that hunger, largely undid the good effected through the agency of missionaries, the countrymen of these oppressors, whose evil deeds they were helpless to hinder. a superstition that was nothing christian laid hold of many who had once been altogether persuaded to embrace the teachings of jesus, and the relapsed maoris doubtless were guilty of savage excesses; yet the original blame lay not chiefly with them; nor is it possible to regard without deep pity the spectacle presented at the present day of "the noblest of all the savage races with whom we have ever been brought in contact, overcome by a worse enemy than sword and bullet, and corrupted into sloth and ruin, ...ruined physically, demoralised in character, by drink." nobler than other aborigines, who have faded out before the invasion of the white man, as they may be, their savage nobility has not saved them from the common fate; they too have "learned our vices faster than our virtues," aided by the speculative traders in alcoholic poison, who have followed on the track of the colonist, and who, devil's missionaries as they are, have counteracted too quickly the work of the christian evangelists who preceded them. the extraordinary natural fertility of the country, whose volcanic nature was very recently terribly demonstrated, is yet very far from being utilised to the utmost, the population of the islands, not inferior in extent to great britain, being yet a long way below that of london. probably this "desert treasure-house of agricultural wealth" may, under wise self-government, yet rise to a position of magnificent importance. of all our colonies that in southern africa has the least reason to be proud of its recent history, which has not been rendered any fairer by the discovery of the great diamond fields, and the rush of all sorts and conditions of men to profit thereby. into the entangled history of our doings in relation to cape colony--originally a dutch settlement--and all our varied and often disastrous dealings with the dutch-descended boers and the native tribes in its neighbourhood, we cannot well enter. our missionary action has the glory of great achievement in southern africa; of our political action it is best to say little. a more encouraging scene is presented if we turn to the fijian isles, whose natives, once a proverb of cannibal ferocity, have been humanised and christianised by untiring missionary effort, and by their own free-will have passed under british domination and are ruled by a british governor. the extraordinary change worked in the people of these isles, characterised now, as even in their heathen days, by a certain bold manliness, that hitherto has escaped the usual deterioration, is so great and unmistakable that critics predisposed to unfriendliness do not try to deny it. in consequence of the immensely increased facilities of communication that we now enjoy, our own great food-producing dependencies and the vast corn-growing districts of other lands can pour their stores into our market--a process much aided by the successive removal of so many restrictions on commerce, and by the practical science which has overcome so many difficulties connected with the transport of slain meat and other perishable commodities. england seems not unlikely to become a wonderfully cheap country to live in, unless some new turn of events interferes with the processes which during the last two decades have so increased the purchasing power of money that, as is confidently stated, fifteen shillings will now buy what it needed twenty shillings to purchase twenty years ago. to this result, as a matter of course, the enormous development of our manufacturing and other industries has also contributed. there is another side to the medal, and not so fair a one. the necessaries of life are cheaper; wages are actually higher, when the greater value of money is taken into account; more care is taken as to the housing of the poor; the workers of the nation have more leisure, and spend not a little of it in travelling, being now by far the most numerous patrons of the railway; the altered style of the conveyances provided for them is a sufficient testimony to their higher importance. all this is to the good; so, too, is the diminution in losses by bankruptcy and in general pauperism, the increasing thrift shown by the records of savings banks, the lengthening of life, the falling off in crime, which is actually--not proportionally--rarer than ten years ago, to go no further back. against this we have to set the facts that the terrible malady of insanity is distinctly on the increase--whether due to mere physical causes, to the high pressure at which modern society lives, or to the prevalent scepticisms which leave many wretched men so little tranquillising hope or faith, who shall say?--that all trades and professions are more or less overcrowded; and that there is a terrible amount, not of pauperism, but of hard-struggling poverty, massed up in the crowded, wretched, but high-priced tenements of great towns, and maintaining a forlorn life by such incessant, cruel labour as is not exacted from convicted criminals in any english prison. london, where this kind of misery is inevitably at its height, receives every week an accession of a thousand persons, who doubtless, in a great majority of cases, simply help to glut the already crowded labour market and still further lower the wages of the workers; and the other great towns in like manner grow, while the rural population remains stagnant or lessens. agricultural distress, which helps to keep the tide of emigration high, also accounts in part for this singular, undesirable displacement of population; while recent testimony points to the fact that the terribly unsanitary and inefficient housing of the rural poor does much to drive the best and most laborious members of that class away from the villages and fields which might otherwise be the homes of happy and peaceful industry. for this form of evil, in town and country, private greed--frequently shown by small proprietors, who have never learnt that property has duties as well as rights--is very largely responsible; for how many other of the evils we have to deplore is not the greed of gain responsible? the sins of the age are still much the same sins that the laureate roughly arraigned when the crimean war broke our long peace; denouncing the race for riches which turned men into "pickpockets, each hand lusting for all that is not its own;" denouncing the cruel selfishness of rich and poor as the vilest kind of civil war, being "underhand, not openly bearing the sword." we had made the blessings of peace a curse, he told us, in those days, "when only the ledger lived, and when only not all men lied; when the poor were hovelled and hustled together, each sex, like swine; when chalk and alum and plaster were sold to the poor for bread, and the spirit of murder worked in the very means of life." yet those very days saw the uprising of a whole generation of noble servants of humanity, resolute to tight and overcome the rampant evils that surrounded them. and though we would avoid the error of praising our own epoch as though it alone were humane, as though we only, "the latest seed of time, have loved the people well," and shown our love by deeds; though we would not deny that to-day has its crying abuses as well as yesterday; yet it is hardly possible to survey the broad course of our history during the past sixty years, and not to perceive, amid all the cross-currents--false ambitions, false pretences, mammon-worship, pitiless selfishness, sins of individuals, sins of society, sins of the nation--an ever-widening and mastering stream of beneficent energy, which has already wonderfully changed for the better many of the conditions of existence, and which, since its flow shows no signs of abating, we may hope to see spreading more widely, and bearing down in its great flood the wrecks of many another oppression and iniquity. chapter ix. intellectual and spiritual progress. [illustration: robert southey.] "man doth not live by bread alone." the enormous material progress of this country during the last sixty years--imperfectly indicated by the fact that during the last forty years the taxable income of the united kingdom has been considerably more than doubled--would be but a barren theme of rejoicing, if there were signs among us of intellectual or spiritual degeneracy. the great periods of english history have been always fruitful in great thinkers and great writers, in religious and mental activity. endeavouring to judge our own period by this standard, and making a swift survey of its achievements in literature, we do not find it apparently inferior to the splendours of "great elizabeth" or of the augustan age of anne. our fifth queen-regnant, whose reign, longer than that of any of her four predecessors, is also happier than that of the greatest among them, can reckon among her subjects an even larger number of men eminent in all departments of knowledge, though perhaps we cannot boast one name quite equal to newton in science, and though assuredly neither this nor any modern nation has yet a second imaginative writer whose throne may be set beside that of shakespeare. [illustration: william wordsworth.] [illustration: alfred tennyson. _from a photograph by elliott & fry_] we excel in quantity, indeed; for while, owing to the spread of education, the number of readers has been greatly increased, the number of writers has risen proportionately; the activity of the press has increased tenfold. journalism has become a far more formidable power in the land than in the earlier years when, as our domestic annals plainly indicate, the _times_ ruled as the napoleon of newspapers. this result is largely due to the removal of the duties formerly imposed both on the journals themselves and on their essential paper material; and it would indeed "dizzy the arithmetic of memory" should we try to enumerate the varied periodicals that are far younger than her majesty's happy reign. of these a great number are excellent in both intention and execution, and must be numbered among the educating, civilising, christianising agencies of the day. they are something more and higher than the "savoury literary _entremets_" designed to please the fastidious taste of a cultured and leisured class, which was the just description of our periodical literature at large not so very long ago. the number of our imaginative writers--poets and romancers, but especially the latter--has been out of all proportion great. we give the place of honour, as is their due, to the singers rather than to the story-tellers, the more readily since the popular taste, it cannot be denied, chooses its favourites in inverse order as a rule. [illustration: robert browning. _from a photograph by elliott & fry_.] when her majesty ascended the throne, one brilliant poetical constellation was setting slowly, star by star. keats and shelley and byron, none of them much older than the century, had perished in their early prime between and ; scott had sunk under the storms of fortune in ; the fitful glimmer of coleridge's genius vanished in , and a year later "the gentle elia" too was gone. southey, who still held the laureate-ship in , had faded out of life in , and was succeeded in his once-despised office by william wordsworth, who, with rogers and leigh hunt and moore, lived far into the new reign, uniting the georgian and the victorian school of writers. thomas hood, the poet of the poor and oppressed, whose too short life ended in , gives in his serious verse such thrilling expression to the impassioned, indignant philanthropy, which has actuated many workers and writers of our own period, that it is not easy to reckon him with the older group. his song rings like that of charles kingsley, poet, novelist, preacher, and "christian socialist," who did not publish his "saint's tragedy" till three years after hood was dead. there has, indeed, been no break in the continuity of our great literary history; while one splendid group was setting, another as illustrious was rising. tennyson, who on wordsworth's death in received at queen victoria's hand the "laurel greener from the brows of him that uttered nothing base," had published his earliest two volumes of poems some years before her majesty's accession; and of that rare poetic pair, the brownings, each had already given evidence of the great powers they possessed, robert browning's tragedy of "strafford" being produced on the stage in , while his future wife's translation of the "prometheus bound" saw the light four years earlier. the victorian period can boast no greater poetic names than these, each of which is held in highest reverence by its own special admirers. the patriotic fervour with which lord tennyson has done almost all his laureate work, the lucid splendour of his style, the perfect music of his rhythm, and the stinging sharpness with which he has sometimes chastised contemporary sins, have all combined to win for him a far wider popularity than even that accorded to the fine lyrical passion of mrs. browning, or to the deep-thoughted and splendid, but often perplexing and ruggedly phrased, dramatic and lyric utterances of her husband. all three have honoured themselves and their country by a majestic purity of moral and religious teaching--an excellence shared by many of their contemporaries, whose powers would have won them a first place in an age and country less fruitful of genius; but not so conspicuous in some younger poets, later heirs of fame, whose lot it may be to carry on the traditions of victorian greatness into another reign. there are not a few writers of our day whose excellent prose work has won more of popular favour than their verse, which notwithstanding is of high quality. such was the "unsubduable old roman," walter savage landor, a contemporary of byron and wordsworth, who long outlived them, dying in . such--to bring two extremes together--are the critic and poet matthew arnold, the poet and theologian john henry newman. intimately associated in our thought with the latter, who has enriched our devotional poetry with one touching hymn, is keble, the singer _par excellence_ of the "catholic revival," and the most widely successful religious poet of the age, though only very few of his hymns have reached the heart of the people like the far more direct and fervent work of the wesleys and their compeers. he is even excelled in simplicity and passion, though not in grace and tenderness, by two or three other workers in the same field, who belong to our day, and whose verse is known more widely than their names. we have several women-poets who are only less beloved and less well known than mrs. browning; but so far the greatest literary distinction gained by the women of our age and country, notwithstanding the far wider and higher educational advantages enjoyed by them to-day, has been won, as of yore, in the field of prose fiction. more than a hundred years ago a veteran novelist, whose humour and observation, something redeeming his coarseness, have ranked him among classic english authors, referred mischievously to the engrossing of "that branch of business" by female writers, whose "ease, and spirit, and delicacy, and knowledge of the human heart," have not, however, availed to redeem their names from oblivion. for some of their nineteenth-century successors at least we may expect a more enduring memory. numerous as are our poets, they are far outnumbered by the novelists, whose works are poured forth every season with bewildering profusion; but as story-tellers have always commanded a larger audience than grave philosophers or historians, and as our singers deal as much in philosophy as in narrative, perhaps in seeking for the cause of this overrunning flood of fiction we need go no further than the immensely increased number of readers--a view in which the records of some english public libraries will bear us out. we may therefore be thankful that, on the whole, such literature has been of a vastly purer and healthier character than of yore, reflecting that higher and better tone of public feeling which we may attribute, in part at least, to the influence of the "pure court and serene life" of the sovereign. [illustration: charles dickens. _from a photograph by elliott & fry_.] [illustration: w.m. thackeray. _from a drawing by samuel lawrence_.] this nobler tone is not least perceptible in the eldest of the great masters of fiction whom we can claim for our period--dickens, who in first won by his "pickwick papers" that astonishing popularity which continued widening until his death; thackeray, who in that year was working more obscurely, having not yet found a congenial field in the humorous chronicle that reflects for us so much of the victorian age, for _punch_ was not started till , and thackeray's first great masterpiece of pathos and satire, "vanity fair," did not begin to appear till five years later. each of these writers in his own way held "the mirror up" to english human nature, and showed "the very age and body of the time his form and pressure," with manly boldness indeed, but with due artistic reticence also; each knew how to be vivid without being vicious, to be realistic without being revolting; and despite the sometimes offensive caricature in which the one indulged, despite the seeming cynicism of the other their influence must be pronounced healthy. thackeray did not, like dickens, use his pen against particular glaring abuses of the time, nor insist on the special virtues that bloom amid the poor and lowly; but he attacked valiantly the crying sins of society in all time--the mammon-worship and the mercilessness, the false pretences and the fraud--and never failed to uphold for admiration and imitation "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever thing are pure, whatsoever things are lovely." and though both writers were sometimes hard on the professors of religion, neither failed in reverence of tone when religion itself was concerned. [illustration: charlotte brontë.] the sudden death of both these men, in the very prime of life and in the fulness of power, was keenly felt at the time: each had a world-wide fame, and each awakened a blank, distressful sense of personal loss in his many admirers as he was suddenly called away from incomplete work and faithful friendship. contemporary literature has not benefited by the removal of these two men and the gradual diminishing of the influence they so strongly exerted while yet they "stood up and spoke." the work of charlotte brontë--produced under a fervent admiration for "the satirist of vanity fair," whom she deemed "the first social regenerator of his day"--is, with all its occasional morbidness of sensitive feeling, far more bracing in moral tone, more inspiring in its scorn of baseness and glorifying of goodness, than is the work of recent positivist emulators of the achievements of george eliot. some romances of this school are vivid and highly finished pictures of human misery, unredeemed by hope, and hardly brightened by occasional gleams of humour, of the sardonic sort which may stir a mirthless smile, but never a laugh. herein they are far inferior to their model, whose melancholy philosophy is half hidden from her readers by the delightful freshness and truth of her "dutch painter's" portraying of every-day humanity, by her delicately skilful reproduction of its homely wit and harmless absurdity. happily neither these writers, nor the purveyors of mere sensation who cannot get on without crime and mystery, exhaust the list of our romancers, many of whom are altogether healthful, cheerful, and helpful; and it is no unreasonable hope that these may increase and their gloomier rivals decrease, or at least grow gayer and wiser. [illustration: lord macauley.] there are many other great writers, working in other fields, whom we may claim as belonging altogether or almost to the victorian age. within that period lies almost entirely the brilliantly successful career of macaulay, essayist, poet, orator, and historian. for the last-named _rôle_ macaulay seemed sovereignly fitted by his extraordinary faculty for assimilating and retaining historical knowledge, and by the vividness of imagination and mastery of words which enabled him to present his facts in such attractive guise as made them fascinating far beyond romance. his "history of england from the accession of james ii," whereof the first volumes appeared in , remains a colossal fragment; the fulness of detail with which he adorned it, the grand scale on which he worked, rendered its completion a task almost impossible for the longest lifetime; and macaulay died in his sixtieth year. despite the defects of partisanship and exaggeration freely and not quite unjustly charged upon his great work, it remains a yet unequalled record of the period dealt with, just as his stirring ballads, so seemingly easy of imitation in their ringing, rolling numbers, hold their own against very able rivals and are yet unequalled in our time. [illustration: thomas carlyle.] macaulay was not the first, and he is not the last, of our picturesque historians. it was in that carlyle, who four years before had startled the english-reading public by his strangely worded, bewildering "sartor resartus," brought out his astonishing "history of the french revolution"--a prose poem, an epic without a hero, revealing as by "flashes of lightning" the ghastly tragedy and comedy of that tremendous upheaval; and in he followed up the vein thus opened by his lifelike study of "oliver cromwell," which was better received by his english readers than the later "history of friedrich ii," marvel of careful research and graphic reproduction though it be. to carlyle therefore and to macaulay belongs the honour of having given a new and powerful impulse to the study they adorned; dissimilar in other respects, they are alike in their preference for and insistent use of original sources of information, in their able employment of minute detail, and in the graphic touch and artistic power which made history very differently attractive in their hands from what it had ever been previously. mr. froude and mr. green may be ranked as their followers in this latter respect; hardly so mr. freeman or the philosophic buckle, grote, and lecky, who by their style and method belong more to the school of hallam, however widely they may differ from him or from each other in opinion. but in thoroughness of research and in resolute following of the very truth through all mazes and veils that may obscure it, one group of historians does not yield to the other. [illustration: william whewell, d.d.] [illustration: sir david brewster.] and the same zealous passion for accuracy that has distinguished these and less famous historians and biographers has shown itself in other fields of intellectual endeavour. our queen in her desire "to get at the root and reality of things" is entirely in harmony with the spirit of her age. in scientific men we look for the ardent pursuit of difficult truth; and it would be thankless to forget how numerous beyond precedent have been in the victorian period faithful workers in the field of science. though some of our _savants_ in later years have injured their renown by straying outside the sphere in which they are honoured and useful and speaking unadvisedly on matters theological, this ought not to deter us from acknowledging the value of true service rendered. the queen's reign can claim as its own such men as john herschel, worthy son of an illustrious father, airy, adams, and maxwell, whewell and brewster and faraday, owen and buckland and lyell, murchison and miller, darwin and tyndall and huxley, with wheatstone, one of the three independent inventors of telegraphy, and the stephensons, father and son, to whose ability and energy we are indebted for the origination and perfection of our method of steam locomotion; it can boast such masters in philosophy as hamilton and whately and john stuart mill, each a leader of many. it has also the rare distinction of possessing one lady writer on science who has attained to real eminence--eminence not likely soon to be surpassed by her younger sister-rivals--the late mrs. mary somerville, who united an entirely feminine and gentle character to masculine powers of mind. [illustration: sir james simpson.] [illustration: michael faraday.] only to catalogue the recent discoveries and inventions we owe to men of science, from merciful anæsthetics to the latest applications of electric power, would occupy more space than we ought here to give. all honour to these servants of humanity! we rejoice to find among them many who could unite the simplest childlike faith with a wide and grand mental outlook; we exult not less to find in many biblical students and commentators the same patience, thoroughness, and resolute pursuit of the very truth as that exemplified by the devotees of physical science. god's word is explored in our day--the same clay which has seen the great work of the revised version of the scriptures begun and completed--with no less ardour than god's world. and what vast additions have been made to our knowledge of this earth! we have seen nineveh unburied, the north-west passage explored, and the mysterious nile stream at last tracked to its source. to compare a fifty-years-old map of africa with one of the present day will a little enable us to estimate the advances made in our acquaintance with the dark continent alone; similar maps including the polar regions of north america will testify also to a large increase of hard-won knowledge. [illustration: david livingstone.] [illustration: sir john franklin.] exploration--arctic, african, oriental and occidental--has had its heroic devotees, sometimes its martyrs. witness franklin, burke and wills, and livingstone. the long uncertainty overhanging the fate of the gallant franklin, after he and the expedition he commanded had vanished into the darkness of arctic winter in , and the unfaltering faithfulness with which his widow clung to the search for her lost husband, form one of the most pathetic chapters of english story. the veil was lifted at last and the secret of the north-west passage, to which so many lives had been sacrificed, was brought to light in the course of the many efforts made to find the dead discoverer. as franklin had disappeared in the north, so livingstone was long lost to sight in the wilds of africa, and hardly less feverish interest centred round the point, so long disputed, of his being in life or in death--interest freshly awakened when the remains of the heroic explorer, who had been found only to be lost again, were brought home to be laid among the mighty dead of england. the fervent christian philanthropy of livingstone endeared him yet more to the national heart; and we may here note that very often, as in his case, the missionary has served not only christianity, as was his first and last aim, but also geographical and ethnological science and colonial and commercial development. we have briefly referred already to some of the struggles, the sufferings, and the triumphs of missionary enterprise in our day: to chronicle all its effort and achievement would be difficult, for these have been world-wide, and often wonderfully successful. nor has much less success crowned other agencies for meeting the ever-increasing need for religious knowledge, which multiply and grow in number and in power. witness, among many that might be named, the continuous development of the sunday school system and the immensely extended operations of the unsectarian bible society. [illustration: john ruskin. _from a photograph by elliott & fry_.] great advances have been made during this reign in english art and art-criticism, and more particularly in the extension of real artistic education to classes of the community who could hardly attain it before, though it was perhaps more essential to them than to the wealthy and leisurely who had previously monopolised it. the multiplication of schools of design over the country, intended to promote the tasteful efficiency of those engaged in textile manufactures and in our decorative and constructive art generally, is one remarkable feature of the time, and the sedulous cultivation of music by members of all classes of society is another, hardly less hopeful. in all these efforts for the benefit and elevation of the community the prince consort took deep and active interest, and the royal family themselves, from her majesty downwards, highly cultured and accomplished, have not failed to act in the same spirit. but the history of english nineteenth-century art would be incomplete indeed without reference to two powerful influences--the rise and progress of the new art of photography, which has singularly affected other branches of graphic work; and the career, hitherto unexampled in our land, of the greatest art-critic of this, perhaps of any, age--john ruskin, the most eminent also of the many writers and thinkers who have been swayed by the magic spell of carlyle, whose fierce and fervid genius, for good or for evil, told so strongly on his contemporaries. ruskin is yet more deeply imbued with his master's philosophy than those other gifted and widely influential teachers, maurice and kingsley; and yet perhaps he is more strongly and sturdily independent in his individuality than either, while the unmatched english of his prose style differs not less widely from the rugged strength of carlyle than from the mystical involution of maurice and the vehement and, as it were, breathless, yet vivid and poetic, utterance of kingsley. when every defect has been admitted that is chargeable against one or all of this group of sincere and stalwart workers, it must be allowed that their power on their countrymen has been largely wielded for good. particularly is this the case with ruskin, whose influence has reached and ennobled many a life that, from pressure of sordid circumstances, was in great need of such help as his spirituality of tone, and deeply felt reverential belief in the giver of all good and maker of all beauty, could afford. [illustration: dean stanley.] [illustration: "i was sick, and ye visited me."] we have preferred not to dwell on one department of literature which, like every other, has received great additions during our period--that of religious controversy. a large portion of such literature is in its very nature ephemeral; and some of the disputes which have engaged the energies even of our greatest masters in dialectics have not been in themselves of supreme importance; but many points of doctrine and discipline have been violently canvassed among professing christians, and attacks of long-sustained vigour and virulence have been made on almost every leading article of the christian creed by the avowed enemies or the only half-hostile critics of the church, which the champions of scripture truth have not been backward to repel. amid all this confusion and strife of assault and resistance one thing stands out clearly: christianity and its progress are more interesting to the national mind than ever before. it has been well, too, that through all those fifty years a large-minded and fervent but most unobtrusive and practical piety has been enthroned in the highest places of the land--a piety which will escape the condemnation of the king when he shall come in his glory, and say to many false followers, "i was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; i was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; i was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." these dread words are not for those who have cared as our sovereign lady and her beloved ones have cared for the sick and the suffering and the sad; who have bound up the heart-wounds of the widow and the orphan and ministered to their earthly needs; who, like our lost princess alice and her royal elder sister, have tended the victims of war, shrinking from no ghastliness or repulsiveness, no horrors of the hospital where victor and vanquished lay moaning in common misery; or, like their queenly mother, have shed the sunshine of royal smiles and soothing words and helpful alms upon the obscurer but hardly less pitiable patients who crowd our english infirmaries. in her northern and southern "homes" of osborne and balmoral the queen, too, has been able to share a true, unsophisticated friendship with her humble neighbours, to rejoice in their joys and lighten their griefs with gentle, most efficient sympathy. it was of a highland cottage that dr. guthrie wrote that "within its walls the queen had stood, with her kind hands smoothing the thorns of a dying man's pillow. there, left alone with him at her own request, she had sat by the bed of death--a queen ministering to the comfort of a saint." it was in a cottage at osborne that the same gentle and august almsgiver was found reading comfortable scripture words to a sick and aged peasant, quietly retiring upon the entrance of the clerical visitant, that _his_ message of peace might be freely given, and thus allowing the sufferer to disclose to the pastor that the lady in the widow's weeds was victoria of england. these are examples, which it would be easy to multiply, of that true oneness of feeling between the lofty and the lowly which is the special, the unique glory of christ's kingdom. may our land never lack them; may they multiply themselves to all time. the best evidence of the truth of the gospel is admittedly its unequalled power of lifting up humanity to higher and yet higher levels. in many and mighty instances of that power our age is not barren. and in despite of the foes without and within that have wrought her woe--of the pharisaism that is a mask for fraud, of the mammon-worship cloaked as respectability, of scepticism lightly mocking, of the bolder enmity of the blasphemer--we cannot contemplate the story of christianity throughout our epoch, even in these islands and this empire, without seeing that the advance of the faith is real and constant, the advance of the rising tide, and that her seeming defeats are but the deceptive reflux of the ever-mounting waves. chapter x. progress of the empire from to . [illustration: duke of connaught.] resuming our pen after an interval of ten years, we have thought it well, not only to carry on our story of the sovereign and her realm to the latest attainable point, but also to give some account of the advance made and the work accomplished by the methodist church, which, youngest of the greater nonconformist denominations, has acted more powerfully than any other among them on the religious and social life, not only of the united kingdom and the empire, but of the world. this account, very brief, but giving details little known to outsiders, will form a valuable pendant to the sketch of the general history of victoria's england that we are now about to continue. [illustration: the imperial institute.] many thousands who rejoiced in the queen's jubilee of are glad to-day that the close of the decade should find the beloved lady of these isles, true woman and true queen, still living and reigning. on september , , queen victoria had reigned longer than any other english monarch, and the desire was general for some immediate celebration of the event; but, by the queen's express wish, all recognition of the fact was deferred until the sixtieth year should be fully completed, and the nation prepared to celebrate the "diamond jubilee" on june , , with a fervour of loyalty that should far outshine that of the jubilee year of . in the personal history of our queen during those ten years we may note with reverent sympathy some events that must shadow the festival for her. the calm and kindly course of her home-life has again been broken in upon by bereavement. all seemed fair in the jubilee year itself, and the queen was appearing more in public than had been her wont--laying the foundations of the imperial institute; unveiling in windsor park a statue of the prince consort, jubilee gift of the women of england; taking part in a magnificent naval review at spithead. but a shadow was already visible to some; and early in sinister rumours were afloat as to the health of the crown prince of germany, consort of the queen's eldest daughter. too soon those rumours proved true. even when the prince rode in the splendid jubilee procession, a commanding figure in his dazzling white uniform, the cruel malady had fastened on him that was to slay him in less than a year, proving fatal three months after the death of his aged father had called him to fill the imperial throne. the nation followed the course of this tragedy with a feverish interest never before excited by the lot of any foreign potentate, and deeply sympathised with, the distress of the queen and of the bereaved empress. [illustration: duke of clarence. _from a photograph by lafayette, dublin_.] but the year held in store a blow yet more cruelly felt. the english people were still rejoicing with the queen over the betrothal of the duke of clarence, eldest son of the prince of wales, to his kinswoman princess may of teck, when the death of the bridegroom elect in january plunged court and people into mourning. that the queen was greatly touched by the universal sympathy with her and hers was proved by the pathetic letter she wrote to the nation, and by the frank reliance on their affection which marked the second letter in which, eighteen months later, she asked them to share her joy in the wedding of the duke of york, now heir-presumptive, to the bride-elect of his late brother. this union has been highly popular, and the queen's evident delight in the birth of the little prince edward of york in june, , touched the hearts of her subjects, who remembered the deep sorrow of . [illustration: duke of york. _from a photograph by russell & sons, baker street, w_.] [illustration: duchess of york. _from a photograph by russell & sons, baker street, w_.] once more they were called to grieve with her, when the husband of her youngest daughter beatrice, prince henry of battenberg, who for years had formed part of her immediate circle, died far from home and england, having fallen a victim to fever ere he could distinguish himself, as he had hoped, in our last expedition to ashanti. the pathos of such a death was deeply felt when the prince's remains were brought home and laid to rest, in the presence of his widow and her royal mother, in the very church at whippingham that he had entered an ardent bridegroom. not all gloom, however, has been her majesty's domestic life in these recent years; she has taken joy in the marriages of many of her descendants; and the visits of her grandchildren--of whom one, princess alice of hesse, daughter of the well-beloved alice of england, became czarina of russia only the other day--are a source of keen interest to her. [illustration: princess henry of battenberg. _from a photograph by hughes & mullins, ryde, isle of wight_.] [illustration: prince henry of battenberg. _from a photograph by hughes & mullins, ryde, isle of wight_.] [illustration: the czarina of russia.] but there is no selfish absorption in her own family affairs, no neglect of essential duty. the prince of wales and "the princess" relieve the queen of many irksome social functions; but she does not shun these when it is clear to her that her people wish her to undertake them. witness her willingness to take part in the jubilee thanksgiving services and pageant, despite the feebleness of her advanced age. we need not dwell long on the rather stormy parliamentary history of the last decade, on the divisions and disappointments of the irish home rule party, once so powerful, or on the various attacks aimed at the welsh and scottish church establishments and at the principle of "hereditary legislation" as embodied in the house of lords. some useful legislation has been accomplished amid all the strife. we may instance the act in creating the new system of county councils, the parish councils act, the factory and workshops amendment act, and the education act of --measures designed to protect the toiling millions from the evils of "sweating," and to assure their children of practically free education. substantial good has been done, whether the reins of power have been held by mr. gladstone or by lord salisbury--whose long tenure of office expiring in , the veteran statesman whom he had displaced again took the helm--or by lord rosebery, in whose favour the great leader finally withdrew in into private life, weary of the burden of state. in we again see lord salisbury directing the destinies of the mighty empire--a task of exceptional difficulty, now that the gravest complications exist in europe itself and in africa. the horrors suffered by the armenian subjects of the turk have called for intervention by the great powers; but no sooner had turkish reforms been promised in response to the joint note of great britain, france, and russia, than new troubles began in crete, its people rising in arms to shake off the turkish yoke. meanwhile our occupation of egypt is compelling us to use armed force against the wild, threatening dervishes in the soudan, and well-grounded uneasiness is felt as to the position and action of our countrymen in southeastern africa in connexion with the boer republic of the transvaal. the british south africa chartered company, formed in , adventurous and ambitious, loomed large in men's eyes during , when the historic and disastrous raid of dr. jameson and his followers startled the civilised world. the whole story of that enterprise is yet to unfold; but it has added considerably to the embarrassments of the british government. hopes were entertained in that the british east africa company, by the pressure it could put on the sultan of zanzibar, had secured the cessation of the slave trade on the east african shore; these hopes are not yet fulfilled, but it may be trusted that a step has been taken towards the mitigation of the evil--the "open sore of the world." if we turn to india, we see it in - still in the grip of a cruel famine, aggravated by an outbreak of the bubonic plague too well known to our fathers, which, appearing three years ago at hong-kong, has committed new ravages at bombay. government is making giant efforts to meet both evils, and is aided by large free-will offerings of money, sent not only from this country, but also from canada. "ten years ago such a manifestation would have been unlikely. the sense of kinship is stronger, the imperial sentiment has grown deeper, the feeling of responsibility has broadened." kinship with a starving race is felt and shown by the empress on her throne, and her subjects learn to follow her example. but the sense of brotherhood seems somewhat deficient when we look at the continual labour wars that mark the period in our own land. from the hyde park riots of socialists and unemployed, in the end of , to the railway strikes of , the story is one of strikes among all sorts and conditions of workers, paralysing trade, and witnessing to strained relations between labour and capital; the great london strike of dock labourers, lasting five weeks, and keeping , men out of work, may yet be keenly remembered. there seems an imperative need for the wide diffusion of a true, practical christianity among employers and employed; some signs point to the growth of that healing spirit: and we may note with delight that while never was there so much wealth and never such deep poverty as during this period, never also were there so many religious and charitable organisations at work for the relief of poverty and the uplifting of the fallen; while not a few of the wealthy, and even one or two millionaires, have shown by generous giving their painful sense of the contrast between their own wealth and the destitution of others. it has been a period of sharp religious disputes, and every religious and benevolent institution is keenly criticised; but great good is being done notwithstanding by devoted men and women. the centenary of the baptist missionary society, observed in , recalled to mind the vast work accomplished by missions since that pioneer society sent out the apostolic "shoemaker" carey, to labour in india, and reminds us of the great change wrought in public opinion since he and his enterprise were so bitterly attacked. the heroic missionary spirit is still alive, as is proved by the readiness of new evangelists to step into the place of the missionaries to china, cruelly murdered at ku-cheng in by heathen fanatics. the immense development of our colonies during the reign has already been noticed; some of them have made surprising advances during the last ten years. in southern and eastern africa british enterprise has done much to develop the great natural wealth of the land; but the frequent troubles in matabeleland and the complications with the transvaal since the discovery of gold there may be regarded as counterbalancing the material advantages secured. ceylon has a happier record, having more than regained her imperilled prosperity through the successful enterprise of her settlers in cultivating the fine tea which has almost displaced china tea in the british market, ceylon exporting , , lbs. in as against , , lbs. ten years previously. canada also now takes rank as a great maritime state, and the fortunes of australia, though much shaken a few years ago by a great financial crisis, are again brilliant; in the world of social progress and democracy it is still the colonial marvel of our times. [illustration: h. m. stanley.] the last census, taken in , in great britain and ireland showed a vast increase of population, sixty-two towns in england and wales returning more than , inhabitants, and the total population of the united kingdom being , , . alarmists warned us that, with the ratio of increase shown, neither food nor place would soon be found for our people; and a great impetus being given to emigration, our colonies benefited. but despite such alarms, articles of luxury were in greater demand than ever, the tobacco duty reaching in the sum of £ , , , half a million, more than in the previous year; and the consumption of tea and spirits increased in due proportion. the same year saw great improvements in sanitation put into practice as the result of an alarm of cholera, that plague ravaging hamburg. [illustration: dr. fridtjof nansen.] [illustration: miss kingsley.] vast engineering works, of which the manchester ship canal is the most familiar instance, have been carried on. this great waterway, thirty-five miles long, and placing an inland town in touch with the sea, was begun in and finished in . numerous exhibitions, at home and abroad, have stimulated industrial and æsthetic progress; and science has continued to advance with bewildering rapidity, developing chiefly in practical directions. the bacteriologist has unveiled much of the mystery of disease, showing that seed-germs produce it; the photographer comes in aid of surgery, for the discovery of the x or röntgen rays, by the german professor whose name is associated with them, now enables the surgeon to discover foreign bodies lodged within the human frame, and to decide with authority their position and the means of removing them. burial reforms, in the interests of health and economy, have been introduced, and nursing, elevated into a science, has become an honourable profession for cultured women. in that eminent _savant_ lord rayleigh brought before the british association his discovery of a hitherto unknown constituent in the atmosphere. the use of steam as a motive power, almost contemporaneous with the queen's reign, has bound our land in a network of railways: now it is electricity which is being utilised in the same sense, and to the telephone and the telegraph as means of verbal communication is added the motorcar as a means of rapid progression, seeing its use in streets sanctioned by parliament. it may not yet supersede the bicycle, which in ten years has greatly increased in favour. electric lighting, in the same period, has become very general; and further adaptations of this mysterious force to man's service are in the air. [illustration: j. m. barrie.] [illustration: richard jefferies.] this is an age of great explorers. stanley has succeeded to livingstone, nansen to franklin; but it has been only within comparatively recent years that women have emulated men in penetrating to remote regions. within the decade we have seen mrs. bishop a veteran traveller, visiting south-west persia; mrs. french sheldon has shown how far beyond the beaten track a woman's adventurous spirit may lead her; and miss mary kingsley, a niece of the late charles kingsley, has intrepidly explored the interior of africa, her scientific observations being welcomed by british _savants_. in women, who had long sought the privilege, were permitted to compete for the diploma of the royal college of surgeons, and in many other walks of usefulness the barriers excluding women have been removed, with benefit to all concerned. it is not other than natural that under the reign of a noble woman there should arise women noble-minded as herself, cherishing ideas of life and duty lofty as her own, and that their greatest elevation of purpose should tent to raise the moral standard among the men who work with them for the uplifting of their fellow subjects. such signs of the times may be noticed now, more evident than even ten years ago. [illustration: professor huxley. _from a photograph by the london stereoscopic co_.] [illustration: professor tyndall. _from a photograph by alexander bassano, ltd_.] the educational progress of the last decade has been very great, especially as regards the instruction of women; yet the period has not been noticeably fruitful of literature in the highest sense. in the world of fiction there is much that looks like degeneration; the lighter magazines and serials have multiplied past computation, and form all the reading of not a few persons. to counteract the unhealthy "modern novel" has arisen the scottish school, the "literature of the kailyard," as it has been termed in scorn; yet a purer air breathes in the pages of j. m. barrie, "ian maclaren," and crockett. their many imitators are in some danger of impairing the vogue of these masters, but still the tendency of the school is wholesome. other artists in fiction assume the part of censors of society, and write of its doings with a bitterness that may or may not profit; the unveiling of cancerous sores is of doubtful advantage to health. [illustration: c. h. spurgeon.] [illustration: dr. horatius bonar.] the death-roll from to is exceptionally heavy; in every department of science, art, literary and religious life, the loss has been great. many musicians have been taken from us since the well-beloved jenny lind goldschmidt; canon sir e. a. gore ouseley, sir g. macfarren, principal of the royal academy of music, rubinstein, carrodus, and others. [illustration: rev. j. g. wood.] [illustration: dean church.] english letters have suffered by the removal of many whose services in one way or another have been great: the prose-painter richard jefferies; the pure and beneficent mrs. craik, better known as miss muloch; matthew arnold, poet, educationalist, critic, whose verse should outlive his criticisms; the noble astronomer richard proctor; gustave masson, the careful biographer of milton; laurence oliphant, gifted and eccentric visionary; the naturalist j. g. wood; the explorer and orientalist burton; the historians kinglake, froude, and freeman; the great ecclesiastics bishop lightfoot, canon liddon, archbishop magee of york, dean church, dean plumptre, and the cardinals newman and manning; tennyson and browning, poets whose mantle has yet fallen on none; huxley and tyndall, eminent in science; the justly popular preacher and writer charles h. spurgeon; the orator and philanthropist john bright, whose speeches delight many in book-form; and robert louis stevenson, novelist, essayist, poet. to these we may add eliza cook and martin tapper, widely popular a generation ago, and surviving into our own day; lord lytton, known as "owen meredith," a literary artist, before he became viceroy of india and british ambassador at paris; and professor henry drummond, dead since began, and widely known by his "natural law in the spiritual world." even so our list is far from complete. [illustration: j. e. millais, p.r.a. _from a photograph by elliott & fry_.] of painters and sculptors we have lost since frank holl; sir edgar boehm, buried in st. paul's by express wish of the queen; edwin long; john pettie; sir noel paton; sir frederick leighton; and sir j. e. millais. the last two illustrious painters were successively presidents of the royal academy, millais, who followed leighton in that office, surviving him but a short time. sir frederick had been raised to the peerage as lord leighton only a few days before he died, the patent arriving too late for him to receive it. [illustration: sir frederick leighton, p.r.a. _from a photograph by j. r. mayall, piccadilly, w_.] the english world is the poorer for these many losses, some of which took place under tragic circumstances; yet hope may well be cherished that amongst us are those, not yet fully recognised, who will nobly fill the places of the dead. some hymn-writer may arise whose note will be as sweet as that of the much loved singer, dr. horatius bonar, some painter as spiritual and powerful as paton, some poet as grandly gifted as the late laureate and his compeer browning. we do not at once recognise our greatest while they are with us; therefore we need not think despairingly of our age because the good and the great pass away, and we see not their place immediately filled. nor, though there be great and crying evils in our midst, need we tremble lest these should prevail, while there is so much earnest and energetic endeavour to cope with and overcome them. chapter xi. progress of wesleyan methodism under queen victoria, - . [footnote] part i. [illustration: wesley preaching on his father's tomb.] when the queen ascended the throne wesleyan methodism in this country was recovering from the effects of the agitation occasioned by dr. warren, who had been expelled from its ministry; the erection of an organ in a leeds chapel had caused another small secession. but the conference of , assembled in leeds under the presidency of the rev. edmund grindrod, with the rev. robert newton as secretary, had no reason to be discouraged. faithful to the loyal tradition of methodism, it promptly attended to the duty of congratulating the young sovereign who had ascended the throne on june , a few weeks before. [footnote: the writer desires to acknowledge special obligation to the rev. j. wesley davies for invaluable aid rendered by him in collecting and arranging the material embodied in this chapter.] we may read in its minutes of the vote in favour of an address, which should assure the queen of the sincere attachment cherished by her methodist subjects for her person and government, and of their fervent prayers to almighty god "for her personal happiness and the prosperity of her reign." by a singular coincidence, it will probably be one of the first acts of a leeds conference in to forward another address, congratulating her majesty on the long and successful reign which has realised these aspirations of unaffected devotion. the address of had gracious acknowledgment, conveyed through lord john russell. [illustration: group of presidents number one] at this time methodism had spread throughout the world. its membership in great britain and ireland numbered , ; in foreign mission stations , ; in upper canada , ; while the american conferences had charge of , members; thus the total for the world, exclusive of ministers, was , , . of ministers there were , in the united kingdom and , elsewhere. it will be obvious that british and irish methodism even then formed a body whose allegiance was highly valuable. the conference had to discuss the subject of the approaching centenary of methodism, which had for years been anticipated with great interest. with mr. butterworth--a member of parliament and a loyal methodist and generous supporter of our funds--originated the idea of commemorating god's goodness in a fitting manner, not in a boastful spirit; a committee which had been appointed reported to the next conference "that the primary object of the said celebration should be the religious and devotional improvement of the centenary"; and that there should also be "thank-offering to almighty god" in money contributions for some of the institutions of the church. the conference approved these suggestions, and appointed a day of united prayer in january, , "for the outpouring of the holy spirit" on the connexion during the year. [illustration: centenary meeting at manchester.] there had been some difficulty in fixing the date of the birth of methodism; but was determined on, because then the first class-meetings were held, the first chapel at bristol was opened, the first hymn-book published; then the united societies were formed, then field-preaching began, and then whitefield, charles wesley, and others held that historic lovefeast in fetter lane when the holy spirit came so mightily on them that all were awed into silence, some sank down insensible, and on recovering they sang with one voice their te deum of reverent praise. the centenary year being decided, a three days' convention of ministers and laymen was held at manchester to make the needful arrangements; its proceedings were marked by a wonderful enthusiasm and liberality. the centenary conference assembled at liverpool in . it could report an increase of , members. on august it suspended its ordinary business for the centenary services--a prayer-meeting at six in the morning being followed by sermons preached by the rev. thomas jackson and the president, the rev. theophilus lessey. a few weeks later came the festal day, october , morning prayer-meetings and special afternoon and evening services being held throughout the country. never had there been such large gatherings for rejoicing and thanksgiving; there were festivities for the poor and for the children of the day and sunday schools. these celebrations, in which the whole methodist church joined, aroused the interest of the nation, and called forth appreciative criticism from press and pulpit. [illustration: wesleyan centenary hall.] when the idea of this first great thanksgiving fund was originally contemplated, the most hopeful only dared look for £ , ; but when the accounts were closed the treasurers were in possession of £ , , one meeting at city road having produced £ , ; and the effort was made at a time of great commercial depression. this remarkable liberality drew the attention of the pope, who said in an encyclical that _the heretics were putting to shame the offerings of the faithful_. not a few meetings took the form of lovefeasts, where generous giving proved the reality of the religious experiences; for there has ever been an intimate connexion between the fellowship and the finance of methodism. part of the great sum raised went to the theological institution, part to foreign missions; wesleyan education was helped by a grant, £ , were paid over to the british and foreign bible society; and the laymen desiring to help the worn-out ministers and their widows and children, £ , were set aside to form the auxiliary fund for this purpose. it was now that the missionary committee were enabled to secure the centenary hall, the present headquarters of the missionary society. the remaining sums were given to other useful purposes. methodism in in all its branches [footnote] reckoned more than , , members, with , itinerant preachers and missionaries; , pupils were instructed in the mission schools, and there were upwards of , communicants and at least , hearers of the gospel in methodist mission chapels. in england alone the wesleyan methodists owned , chapels, and had many other preaching places; there were , sunday schools, , scholars, and , local preachers. these figures, when, compared with those given at the end of our sketch, will furnish some idea of the numerical advance of methodism throughout the world during the queen's reign. [footnote: "methodism in all its branches" must be understood of _all_ bodies bearing the name of methodist, including the new connexion and the primitive methodists. the membership of wesleyan methodism alone throughout the world, according to the _minutes of conference_ for , was , , ; and the total ministry, including missionaries, , .] the centenary celebrations marked the high flood-tide of spiritual prosperity for many ensuing years, for a time of great trial followed. gladly would we forget the misunderstandings of our fathers; yet this sketch would be incomplete without reference to unhappy occurrences which caused the loss of , members, and allowance must be made for this terrible loss in estimating the progress of wesleyan methodism. the troubles began when certain anonymous productions, known as "fly sheets," severely criticised the administration of methodism and libellously assailed the characters of leading ministers, especially dr. bunting, who stood head and shoulders above all others in this methodist war. he was chosen president when only forty-one, and on three other occasions filled the chair of the conference. he became an authority on methodist government and policy. dr. gregory says, "as an administrator, he was unapproached in sagacity, aptitude, personal influence, and indefatigability... his character was spotless." he was a born commander. the "liverpool minutes," describing the ideal methodist preacher, are his work. dr. bunting volunteered to be tried by the conference as to the anonymous charges against him, but no one came forward with proofs to sustain them. three ministers, messrs. everett, dunn, and griffiths, supposed to be the chief movers of this agitation, refused to be questioned on the matter, and defying the conference, were expelled. thereafter the agitation was kept up, and caused great disaffection in the societies, resulting in the loss we have referred to. the seceders called themselves "reformers"; many of them eventually joined similar bodies of seceders, forming with them the "united methodist free churches." these in reported a membership of , , less than half that which was lost to wesleyan methodism. but now they may be congratulated on better success, the statistics for showing, at home and abroad, a total of nearly , members, with , chapels, ministers, , local preachers, , sunday schools, and , scholars. it may be noted with pleasure that the leaders of the movement outlived all hostility to the mother church; one of them attended the ecumenical conference of , and took the sacrament with the other delegates. with great regret we speak of this painful disruption, now that so much better feeling animates the various methodist churches. practically there is no difference of doctrine among them. it has been well said, "our articles of faith stand to-day precisely as in the last century, which makes us think that, like minerva from the brain of jupiter, they were born full-grown and heavily armoured." an influential committee has been appointed to ascertain how concerted action may be taken by the methodist churches; and the hope is cherished that their suggestions may lead to the adoption of methods which will prevent strife and friction and unworthy rivalry. the new connexion and methodist free church conferences also appointed a joint committee to consider the same subject. the brotherly desire for spiritual fellowship and mutual help and counsel thus indicated must be held as a very hopeful token of something better than numerical advance. [illustration: group of presidents number two.] the bitter experiences through which the church passed called attention to the need for modification and expansion of wesleyan methodist polity. the conference of appointed a committee of ministers to consider the question; laymen were invited to join them. their recommendations led conference to adopt resolutions defining the proper constitution of the quarterly meeting, and to provide for special circuit meetings to re-try cases of discipline, which had been brought before the leaders' meeting, when there was reason to think that the verdict had been given in a factious spirit. the chairman of the district, with twelve elected by the quarterly meeting, formed a tribunal to re-try the case. from this decision there was an appeal to the district synods, and also to the conference. provision was made for the trial of trustees, so that every justice should be done them. local church meetings were guaranteed the right of appeal to conference, and circuits were allowed to memorialise conference on connexional subjects, within proper limits. the quarterly meetings, having considered these resolutions, gave them a cordial reception, and they were confirmed by the conference of . no new rule is enforced by conference until opportunity is given to bring it before all the quarterly meetings, and it is not likely to become methodist law if the majority object. the enlarged district synods are an additional safeguard for the privileges of the people. by ballot the circuit quarterly meetings may now elect one, or in some cases two gentlemen, who, with the circuit steward, shall represent the circuit in the district synod. in , conference sanctioned the formation of methodist councils, composed of ministers and laymen, to consult on matters pertaining to methodist institutions in the towns. their decisions of course do not bind any particular society. the disaffection so fruitful of suffering had been due to a suspicion that men were retained in departmental offices when they no longer had the confidence of the people. now such officials are only elected for six years, though eligible for re-election. one-sixth of the laymen on connexional committees retire yearly; they may be re-elected, but must receive a four-fifths vote. visitors may be present when the president is inducted into office, and during the representative session, when also reporters other than ministers are now allowed to take notes. it was the year which witnessed that most important development of methodist economy, the introduction of lay representatives to take part with ministers in the deliberations of conference. this was no sudden revolution; laymen had long had their share in the work of quarterly meetings, district synods, and great connexional committees; in they were admitted to the committees of review, which arranged the business of conference; they sat in the nomination committee each year, and had power to scrutinise, and even to alter, the lists of names for the various committees. now in natural sequence they were to be endowed with legislative as well as consultative functions; it might be said they had been educated to this end. the committee appointed to consider the matter having done its work, the report was submitted to the district synods and then to conference. long, earnest, animated, but loving was the debate that ensued; the assembled ministers, by a large majority, determined that the laity should henceforth share in their deliberations on all questions not strictly pastoral. it was resolved that there should be a representative session of ministers and laymen. the ministerial quota was to consist of president and secretary, members of the legal hundred, assistant secretary, chairmen of districts not members of the hundred, and representatives of the great departments; six ministers stationed in foreign countries, but visiting england at the time; and the remainder elected by their brethren in the district synods; the laymen to be elected in the synods by laymen only. a small proportion at one conference is chosen to attend the next. such were the new arrangements that came into force in , causing no friction, since they secured "a maximum of adaptation with a minimum of change"; there was no difficulty in deciding what business should belong to either session of conference. it is needless to dwell here on minor alterations, introduced in the past, or contemplated for the future, as to the order of the sessions; it may amply suffice us to remark that wesleyan methodism, thanks to the modifications of its constitution which we have briefly touched upon, is one of the most truly popular church systems ever devised. for, as the pastoral address of puts it, "methodism gives every class, every member, all the rights which can be reasonably claimed, listens to every complaint, asserts no exclusive privilege, but insures that all things are done 'decently and in order.'" the great change just described, being the work of the ministers themselves, and accomplished by them before there was any loud demand for it, was effected with such moderation and discretion as not to entail the loss of a single member or minister. this was justly held a cause for great thankfulness; and it was determined to raise a thanksgiving fund for the relief of the various departments. great central meetings, extending over two years ( -- ), were held throughout the country, and were characterised by enthusiasm and wonderful generosity. at a time when the country was suffering almost unheard of commercial depression, the sum of £ , was raised, to be apportioned between foreign missions, the extension of methodism in great britain, education, home missions, methodism in scotland, the sunday-school union, a new theological college, the "children's home," the welsh and german chapels in london, a chapel at oxford, the relief of necessitous local preachers, and the promotion of temperance. the missionary debt was paid, and the buildings for soldiers and sailors at malta and aldershot were cleared of debt. such work could not be done if the circuits acted independently; but united as they are, and forming one vast connexion, much which would otherwise be impossible can be achieved by means of the great connexional funds. of these funds not a few have been established since ; but the most important among them, the foreign mission fund, can boast an earlier origin. wesleyanism, indeed, is essentially missionary in spirit, her original aim being to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world. "the world is my parish," said wesley though he himself could never visit the whole of that parish, his followers have at least explored the greater part of it, causing the darkness to flee before the radiance of the lamp of truth. british methodism has now missions in almost every quarter of the globe--in asia, in africa, on the continent of europe, in the western hemisphere. her mission agencies include medical missions, hospitals, schools for the blind, homes for lepers, orphanages, training and industrial schools, etc. in europe we have set on foot missions in countries that are nominally christian, where the people are too often the victims of ignorance, wickedness, vice, scepticism, and superstition; france, germany, austria, italy, spain, and portugal have all been objects of our missionary enterprise during the present reign, and in some instances conspicuous success has been attained. witness the good work still going on in italy, and the independent position attained by the _conférence, méthodiste de france_. in india, ceylon, china, and burma, our agents are working amongst races in which they have to combat heathenism strong in its antiquity. the progress is necessarily slow, but a point has been reached where great success may be prophesied, as the result largely of the work of the pioneers. the schools are turning out many who, if they do not all become decided christians, are intellectually convinced that christianity is right, and will put fewer difficulties in the way of their children than they themselves had to contend with. this educational work prepares the way for the gospel; observers declare that nearly all converts in ceylon have been trained in our schools. the important missions in southern and western africa must not be forgotten, nor those in honduras and the bahamas. the present policy throughout our actual mission-field is as far as possible to raise up native agents. probably the heathen lands will be won for the great captain of salvation by native soldiers; but for a long time they will need officers trained in countries familiar for generations with the blessings of the gospel. the number of our missionaries may be stated at , more than half being native agents; there are , other mission workers, , church members; , children and young people having instruction in the schools. but these figures would give a false idea of the progress of the work if compared with the statistics of ; for _then_ our missions included vast regions that have now their own conferences. when the queen ascended the throne fiji was a nation of cannibals. two years before her accession our missionary society commenced operations in those islands. john hunt laboured with apostolic zeal, and died breathing the prayer, "god, for christ's sake, bless fiji, save fiji." the prayer is already answered. all these islands have been won for christ, and are trophies of wesleyan missionary toil. there are , native preachers under the care of nine white missionaries; , chapels, , members and catechumens, and more than , scholars. fiji has become almost a nation of methodists. but it were vain to look for traces of this vast achievement in the "minutes of conference" of ; for a special feature of our missionary policy is the establishment of affiliated conferences, which in course of time become self-supporting. in all the branches of the canadian methodists united to form one canadian conference. the first french conference met in . in the conference of eastern british america was formed. the same year the first australian conference met, and took charge of the missions in fiji, the friendly isles, and new zealand. the first south african conference met in , and the two west indian conferences in . although more or less independent of the mother conference, they still retain the characteristics of methodism. a distinct branch of mission work, known as the women's auxiliary, has been established, and sends forth ladies to engage in educational, zenana, and medical work. they are doing good service in india, china, and other parts of the world. in they expended more than £ , . the total expenditure last year ( ) was £ , , incurred by our own mission work and by grants to the affiliated conferences. it is satisfactory to note that in the districts helped, including those covered by these conferences, an additional £ , was raised. we have magnificent opportunities; and with full consecration of our people's wealth there would be glorious successes in the future. foreign missions have been the chief honour of methodism, and it is to be hoped the same affection for them will be maintained; for wherever methodism is found throughout the world, it is the result of mission work. meanwhile there has been no sacrificing of home interests. never were greater efforts made by methodism for the evangelisation of the masses in great britain. the home mission fund, first instituted in , was remodelled in . its business is to assist the dependent circuits in maintaining the administration of the gospel, to provide means for employing additional ministers, and to meet various contingencies with which the circuits could not cope unassisted. our needs as a connexion demand such a contingent fund. one-third of the amount raised by the juvenile home and foreign missionary association is devoted to home missions. the income, which in was less than £ . , is now more than £ , ; an increase witnessing to a spirit of aggression and enterprise in modern methodism. this fund provides for the support of the connexional evangelists and district missionaries. in the year , under the head "home missions," there was a new and important departure, by the appointment of the first "connexional evangelists," of whom there are now four; they have already been the means of great blessing throughout the country, showing that the old gospel, preached as in the old days, is still mighty to awaken and convert. under the direction of the home mission committee, commissioners visit certain districts, to give advice and discover the best methods for improving the condition of methodism where it appears to be low. special attention is given to the villages. the "out-and-out band" subscribed for four gospel mission vans, each carrying two evangelists, and a large quantity of literature, to the villages; the evangelists in charge conducting services in the village chapels and in the open air. the sale of books and the voluntary contributions of the people help to defray the expenses. this agency is now under the direction of the home mission committee, and the gospel cars will be known as "wesleyan home mission cars." another new movement, helpful to village methodism, is the "joyful news" mission, originating with the rev. thomas champness, who has been set free from ordinary circuit work to manage it. he trains lay agents, for whose services there is a great demand in villages where the people are too poor to maintain additional ministers, and where the supply of local preachers is deficient. some of these agents are at work abroad. the energetic home mission committee has also set on foot missions where methodism was feeble. nor are those forgotten who "go down to the sea in ships, and do business in great waters." as far as means permit, efforts are made for the spiritual benefit of our sailors in all the great ports of the world; our soldiers, too, are equally cared for. methodism has always been interested in the army, in which some of wesley's best converts were found; yet there was no systematic work in it before , when an order by the commander-in-chief permitted every soldier to attend the church of his choice. some years afterwards, the rev. dr. rule strove hard to secure the recognition of the rights of wesleyans, and after much struggle the war office recognised wesleyan chaplains. the work and position of wesleyan methodism are now thoroughly organised throughout the world. the government allows a capitation grant for all declared wesleyans, and it amounts to a large sum of money every year. in there were, including the militia, , declared wesleyans in the army and , church members. there are sailors' and soldiers' homes, providing beds, and these homes have been established at a cost of £ , . in them are coffee bars, libraries, lecture halls, and, what is most appreciated by christian soldiers, rooms for private prayer. the officiating ministers, who give the whole or part of their time to the soldiers and their families, number . there are many local preachers among the soldiers, and at least two have left the ranks to become ministers. on the mission field, soldiers render valuable aid to the missionary in building chapels, distributing tracts, and often teaching and preaching to the natives and others. thus, whilst helping to hold the empire for their queen, they are hastening on the day when all the kingdoms of the world shall be the kingdom of our lord and of his christ. this deeply interesting work in the army and royal navy is appropriately mentioned in connexion with our home and foreign missions, both intimately concerned in its maintenance and management. it is right to mention that the soldiers' and sailors' homes described are free to all members of h.m.'s sea and land forces, irrespective of religious denomination. part ii. one great event in methodist history since now calls for notice--the assembling of the first oecumenical conference in wesley's chapel, city road, london, in . this idea was in strict keeping with the spirit wesley discovered when, five weeks before his death, he wrote to his children in america: "see that you never give place to one thought of separating from your brethren in europe. lose no opportunity of declaring to all men that the methodists are one people in all the world, and that it is their full determination so to continue, "'though mountains rise, and oceans roll, to sever us in vain.'" the growing affection among methodists of all branches made the idea of an oecumenical conference practicable. [illustration: sir francis lycett.] the suggestion took form at the joint conference of the methodist episcopal church of america in . the american methodists sent a delegate to the british conference, proposing a united conference which should demonstrate to the world the essential oneness in doctrine, spirit, and principle of all the churches which historically trace their origin to john wesley; such a manifestation, it was hoped, would strengthen and perpetuate that unity. further, the conference was to discover how to adjust our mission work so as to prevent waste and friction; suggesting also modes and agencies for the most successful work of evangelisation. nor was this all; its promoters trusted to gain light on the relation of universal methodism to education, civil government, other christian bodies, and missionary enterprise at large, and looked for a vast increase in spiritual power and intelligent, enthusiastic activity among the various branches of methodism, whose gathering together might well draw "the attention of scholars and reformers and thinkers to the whole methodist history, work, and mission," while a new impulse should be given to every good work, and a more daring purpose of evangelisation kindled. the british conference pointed out the need of frankly recognising the not unimportant differences amongst the various methodist bodies, so as to rule out of discussion any points which had a suggestion of past controversies. the american conference accepted this. [illustration: the methodist settlement, bermondsey, london, s.e.] the smaller methodist bodies being invited to join, the four hundred delegates were sent up by the various branches of the methodist church as nearly as possible in proportion to their numerical strength; seven sections of british methodism and thirteen from the united states and the mission fields, numbering probably twenty millions, were represented. it was fitting that the first oecumenical conference should meet in city road, the cathedral of methodism. bishop simpson preached the opening sermon; the delegates then partook of the sacrament together, and dr. osborn, president of the conference, gave the opening address. the oecumenical conference did not aim at determining any debated condition of church membership, or at defining any controverted doctrine, or settling any question of ritual; it met for consultative, not legislative purposes. as such, the gathering brought about the thing which is written: "thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing... then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged." by a happy coincidence, that largehearted son of methodism, the late sir william m'arthur, was then lord mayor of london, and he gave a congratulatory welcome to the delegates at a magnificent reception in the mansion house. the next important event in methodist history during the queen's reign is the rise and progress of the great wesleyan missions in the towns--a vast beneficent movement, in which some at least of the aspirations cherished by the promoters of the first oecumenical conference appeared to have been realised. the tendency of our day is towards a steady flow of population from the villages to the towns, especially to london. in , there was only one london district, covering a very wide area, and including six circuits, whose total membership was only , , after a hundred years of methodism. the various branches of the recently established london mission report more than a third of this number after less than ten years' labour. [illustration: theological institution, richmond.] the success of london methodism in late years is largely due to the establishment of the metropolitan chapel building fund in . the late sir francis lycett gave £ , , on condition that an equal amount should be raised throughout the country, and that ten chapels, each seating at least a thousand persons, should in ten years be built in the metropolitan area. the noble challenge called forth a fit response. in his will he left a large sum to the same fund, so the committee could offer an additional £ pounds to every chapel commenced before the end of , with a proportionate grant to smaller chapels; aid will also be given by the committee in securing additional ministerial supply. such offers should stimulate chapel building for the two years. already, since the establishment of the fund, more than ninety chapels have been built in london at a cost of £ , , towards which the fund contributed in grants and loans £ , . before , there were only three important chapels south of the thames, and now there are thirty-seven. during the last ten or twelve years unprecedented prosperity has been shown, not only in chapel building, but in chapel filling, and the establishment of successful missions. in the earnest attention of the churches was directed to "outcast london." the deepest interest was aroused, especially in methodist circles; and that year great meetings were held in city road, to initiate a movement that should benefit london's outcasts. a large sum of money was raised, and the london mission formed. the west london mission at st. james's hall, the east end branch, and the almost deserted chapel in clerkenwell became notable centres. thus at one time efforts were put forth to reach the rich, the artisans, and the outcasts. the success has abundantly justified the enterprise. in addition to evangelistic work, the missions make strenuous efforts to improve the social condition of the people, for methodism realises that she is called to minister not only to the souls, but also to the bodies of men. already, as a result of the london mission, a new, fully organised circuit has grown up; the west london mission alone reporting a membership which is one-tenth of the whole membership of london in . the latest and most novel branch of the work is the "bermondsey settlement," established six years ago in the poorest district of south-east london. in this hall of residence live devoted workers who have been trained in our universities or in our high-class schools, and who spend their leisure in benefiting their poor neighbours by religious, educational, and social effort. a home for women, in which about ten ladies reside, is connected with the settlement, which is in special connexion with wesleyan schools throughout the country. the programme of work is extensive, and in addition the settlement takes an increasing part in local administration and philanthropy, many non-resident workers assisting. [illustration: theological institution, didsbury.] to support the london mission, appeal is made to methodists throughout the country and the world. the meetings held on its behalf in the provinces have greatly blessed the people, stimulating them to fresh efforts in their own localities. similar agencies had previously been established in various great trading centres, where the tendency is for the people who can afford it to leave the towns and to live in the suburbs. thus many chapels have become almost deserted. the conference decided that the best method of filling these chapels would be to utilise them as mission halls, for aggressive evangelistic and social effort; which has been done with surprising success in manchester, leeds, hull, birmingham, and many other large towns. in manchester there are from ten to twelve thousand people reached by the mission agencies, and already a new circuit has been formed, the members of its society having been gathered in from the army of distress and destitution. it would be impossible here to enumerate the thousand ways in which the mission workers toil for the redemption of the downfallen, or to tell half the tale of their success. but all this work could not be so well carried on without the assistance of another important department. the wesleyan chapel building committee, instituted in , was reconstituted in ; it meets monthly in manchester to dispose of grants and loans, to consider cases of erections, alterations, purchases, and sales of wesleyan trust property, and to afford advice in difficult cases. it has also to see that all our trust property is duly secured to the connexion. the erection of the central hall in manchester, to be at once the headquarters of our chapel committee and of the great mission, marked a most important era in methodist aggressive enterprise. the income of the chapel fund from all sources last year was £ , . it was reported that the entire debt discharged or provided for during the last forty-one years was £ , , , and the total debt remaining on trust property is not more than £ , ; while £ , , had been expended on chapel buildings during the thirty years preceding . [illustration: theological institution, headingley.] the extension of methodism fund was established in , to supplement the ordinary funds of the connexion and the local resources of the people, by aiding in the increase of chapel accommodation throughout the country, and in the extension of methodism by home mission and similar agencies. at first the building of a thousand chapels was contemplated; but already , cases have been helped, with grants and loans amounting to £ , . in a fund was started for the relief and extension of methodism in scotland; a chapel fund for the north wales district was instituted in , and for south wales in . there are now in great britain , wesleyan chapels, which will accommodate , , hearers, more than four times the number of members returned; for there is something misleading, as far as the general public is concerned, in the published statistics of methodism, which take account of class-meeting membership only. estimating the other methodist bodies at the same rate, methodist chapels provide accommodation for , , people; so that the united methodist church in this country is second only to the established church of england. the wesleyan methodist trust assurance company was established in , for the insurance of methodist trust property only. the board of trustees for chapel purposes was formed in , which undertakes to invest money intended for the chapel trust and for methodist objects. seeing that there are so many funds in methodism, and that while some have a balance, others might be obliged to borrow at a high rate of interest, it was suggested that a common cash fund should be established, making it possible for the committees to borrow from and lend to one another, the borrowers paying the ordinary bank rate of interest, and the profits being equally divided among the funds. [illustration: theological institution, handsworth.] a passing reference must be made to another committee, instituted in --the committee of privileges and exigency: and in an acting special committee for cases of great emergency was formed. between the sessions of the conference this committee often renders great service, safeguarding methodist interests when they would be endangered by proposed government measures, or in any other way. at present it is engaged in trying to get through parliament several measures in the interests of nonconformity generally. the subject of education drew the anxious attention of wesley; his followers were less alive to its importance, until just before the queen came to the throne. the training of the ministry was neglected, and the young ministers had to educate themselves. though wesley approved the idea of a seminary for his preachers, it was only three years before the queen's accession that the first theological institution was opened at hoxton. the centenary fund provided for one such institution at richmond, and another at didsbury. the headingley branch was opened in , and the birmingham branch, built with part of the thanksgiving fund, in . our ministers are now far better trained than were the old methodist preachers, and, taking them as a whole, they do not come short of their predecessors in any necessary qualification for their work. [illustration: kingswood school, bath.] their culture must not be judged by the scantiness of their literary production. the empress catherine once said to a french _savant_, "my dear philosopher, it is not so easy to write on human flesh as on paper." much more difficult is the task of our ministers, whose religious, social, and financial work leaves them little of that learned leisure enjoyed by anglican divines, who by their masterly works have made the entire christian church their debtor. but in the period we are reviewing, despite the demands made on the time of the ministers, many have written that which will not easily be forgotten. the church that nurtured dr. moulton, whose edition of winer's "greek grammar" is a standard work, used by all the greatest greek new testament scholars, need not be ashamed of her learning. dr. moulton and dr. geden were on the revision committee which undertook the fresh translation of the old and new testaments. other wesleyan ministers have made their mark as commentators, apologists, scholars, and scientists in the last few decades. the _fernley lectures_ have proved the ability of many methodist preachers; we lack space to refer to the many able writers who have ceased from their labours. the _london quarterly review_ has kept up the literary reputation of methodism: nor are we behind any nonconformist church in journalistic matters. two newspapers represent the varying shades of opinion in methodism, and give full scope to its expression. a high level of excellence is seen in the publications of the book room, and our people when supporting it are also helping important connexional funds, to which the profits are given. [illustration: the north house, leys school, cambridge.] while increasing care has been taken with the training of the ministry, lay education has not been neglected. kingswood school, founded by wesley, continues, as in his day, to give excellent instruction to ministers' sons. in a methodist school, wesley college, was opened at sheffield, and a few years later one at taunton, well known as queen's college. the leys school at cambridge, under the head-mastership of dr. moulton, was opened in , and has shown "the possibility of reconciling methodist training with the breadth and freedom of english public school life." there are in ireland excellent colleges at belfast and dublin. in , a scheme for establishing middle-class schools was adopted, resulting in the opening of such schools at truro, jersey, bury st. edmunds, woodhouse grove, congleton, canterbury, folkestone, trowbridge, penzance, camborne, and queenswood; all report satisfactorily. elementary education, which has made such great progress during the queen's reign, engaged the anxious attention of our authorities long before the initiation of the school board system, under which the average attendance in twenty-five years increased almost fourfold. methodism has been in the forefront of the long battle with ignorance. the establishment of "week-day schools" in connexion with this great church owed its origin to the declaration of the conference in . that "such institutions, placed under an efficient spiritual control, cannot fail to promote those high and holy ends for which we exist as a religious community." the object was to give the scholars "an education which might begin in the infant school and end in heaven," thus subserving the lofty aim of methodism, "to fill the world with saints, and paradise with glorified spirits"; a more ambitious idea than that expressed by huxley when he said, "we want a great highway, along which the child of the peasant as well as of the peer can climb to the highest seats of learning." [illustration: queen's college, taunton.] in the attention of the conference was directed to education in general, and especially to wesleyan day schools; the pastoral address of , regretting that children had to be trained outside the church or be left untaught, expressed the hope that soon, in the larger circuits, schools might be established which would give a scriptural and wesleyan education. already some schools had been commenced; and the plan was devised which has been the basis of all subsequent methodist day-school work. in it was decided to spend the interest of the £ , given from the centenary fund for the training of teachers, work which was at first carried on at glasgow. the determination of conference to perfect its plan of wesleyan education was quickened when an unfair education bill, not the last of its kind, was introduced into parliament in , proposing to hand over the children in factory districts to the church of england. an education fund was established. government, in , offered grants for the training of elementary school teachers; and in the westminster training college was opened, with room for men students. in , in response to an increased demand for wesleyan teachers, a separate college for mistresses was opened at southlands, battersea. already four thousand have been trained in these institutions. many hold positions in board schools. in the number in wesleyan and board schools was , . the system thus inaugurated met a great and real need, and under it excellent work has been done on the lines laid down by the department at whitehall; for, receiving state aid, the training colleges and all the schools, like other similar denominational institutions on the same footing, are inspected and in a measure controlled by the national educational authority. in there were only wesleyan day schools; to-day there are school departments, and on their books , scholars. but the introduction of free education has made it difficult for the methodist church to maintain her schools, efficient though they be. since , when school boards were introduced, the number of wesleyan day schools has only increased by , while , board schools have arisen, and the church of england schools have increased from , to , ; the roman catholic schools actually trebling in number and attendance. [illustration: wesley college, sheffield.] in view of these changed conditions, conference has expressed itself anxious for such a complete national system of education as might place a christian unsectarian school within reasonable distance of every family, especially in rural districts, with "adequate representative public management"; it has most earnestly deprecated the exclusion of the bible, and suitable religious instruction therefrom by the teachers, from the day schools; but, so long as denominational schools form part of the national system, it is resolved to maintain our schools and training colleges, in full vigour. difficulties, undreamed of sixty years ago, surround this great question; but assuredly methodism will be true to its trust and its traditions. the cost of wesleyan schools last year was £ , , and was met by school fees, subscriptions, and a government grant of £ , . the education fund of , amounting to £ , , was spent on the training colleges, grants to necessitous schools, etc. wesley approved of sunday schools as means of giving religious instruction to the children of the poor, and hannah ball at high wycombe, a good methodist, and silas told, teaching at the foundery, both anticipated the work of raikes by several years. in there were already , sunday schools, with , scholars. today the schools number , , the officers and teachers , , and there are in the schools , children and young people. the formation in of the circuit sunday-school union, and in of the connexional sunday-school union, has done much for the schools, in providing suitable literature for teachers and scholars, and in organising their work. an additional motive to scripture study is furnished by the "religious knowledge examinations" instituted by conference; certificates, signed by the president, being granted to teachers and scholars who succeed in passing the examinations. in recognition of the value of so important a department of the church, adequate representation at the quarterly meetings is now accorded to the sunday schools. it is not in our day only that the pastoral oversight of the young has been deemed worthy of attention; the duty has always been enforced on ministers; but in there were first formed junior society classes, to prepare children for full membership. there are now seventy-two thousand in such classes. in we note a new effort to bring young people into the kingdom, in the foundation of the "wesley guild," of which the president of conference is the head, with four vice-presidents, two being laymen. the guild is "a union of the young people of a congregation. its keynote is comradeship, and its aim is to encourage the young people of our church in the highest aims of life." the story of its origin may be briefly told. the rev. charles h. kelly introduced the subject in the london methodist council, and then brought the matter before the plymouth conference of , dwelling on the desire existing to form a wesley guild that should do for britain what the epworth league does for american methodism, and secure the best advantages not only of that league, but of the boys' brigade, bands of hope, christian endeavour and mutual improvement societies, which it should federate. the liverpool conference of therefore sanctioned the formation of the "wesley guild." its three grades of members include young people already attached to the church, with others not yet ripe for such identification, and "older people young in heart," who all join in guild friendship, and aid in forming this federation of the existing societies interesting to young people. by periodical meetings, weekly if possible, for devotional, social, and literary purposes, a healthy common life and beneficent activity are stimulated, and the rising generation is happily and usefully drawn into relation with the older church workers, whom it aids by seeking out the young, lonely, and unattached, and bringing them into the warm circle of youthful fellowship. such in brief is the programme of the guild, which may yet greatly enrich the church with which it is connected. we turn now to one of the most notable changes in methodism during the queen's reign--the wonderful advance in the temperance movement. wesley himself was an ardent temperance reformer, but his preachers were slow to follow him. a few prominent men strove long to induce conference to institute a temperance branch of our work, and finally succeeded, their efforts having effected a great change in opinion. for many years our theological students, though not compelled thereto, have almost all been pledged abstainers. saw conference appoint a temperance committee "to promote legislation for the more effectual control of the liquor traffic--and in general for the suppression of intemperance." in a scheme was sanctioned for the formation of methodist bands of hope and circuit temperance unions; and a special sunday, the last in november, is devoted to considering "the appalling extent and dire result" of our national sin, one of the greatest obstacles to that "spread of scriptural holiness" which is the aim of the true wesleyan methodist, whose chosen church, with its manifold organisation, has unequalled facilities for temperance work. in the report showed , temperance societies, with , members--figures that do not include all the abstainers in methodism; some societies have no temperance association, and some methodists are connected with other than our own temperance work. the , bands of hope count , members. [illustration: children's home, bolton.] we have already spoken of the growth and development of social philanthropic work in connexion with the great methodist missions in towns; there remains one most important movement in this direction to notice--the establishment of the "children's home," which, begun in by dr. stephenson, received conference recognition in . it has now branches in london, lancashire, gravesend, birmingham, and the isle of man, and an emigration depot in canada. over girls and boys are in residence, while more than , have been sent forth well equipped for the battle of life; some of them becoming ministers, local preachers, sunday-school workers, and in many ways most useful citizens. the committee of management has the sanction of conference. this "powerful arm of christian work" not only rescues helpless little ones from degradation and misery; it undertakes the special training of the workers amongst the children in industrial homes and orphanages; and hence has arisen the institution in of the order of methodist deaconesses, which is recommended by conference to connexional sympathy and confidence, the deaconesses rendering to our church such services as the sisters of mercy give to the church of rome. one example may suffice. a london superintendent minister describes the work of one of the sisters during the past twelvemonth as "simply invaluable. she has visited the poor, nursed the sick, held services in lodging-houses, met society classes and bible-classes, gathered round her a godly band of mission-workers, and in a hundred ways has promoted the interests of god's work." two events made memorable for methodists, the centenary of wesley's death and its commemoration being the first. the conference decided that suitable memorial services should be held, and an appeal made to methodists everywhere for funds to improve wesley's chapel and the graveyard containing his tomb. universal interest was aroused; all branches of methodism were represented; the leading ministers of nonconformist churches also shared in the services. crowded and enthusiastic congregations assembled in city road when on sunday, march , the rev. charles h. kelly, ex-president, preached on "the man, his teaching, and his work," and when the rev. dr. moulton delivered the centenary sermon. on march , a statue of wesley was unveiled--exactly one hundred years after his death--dean farrar and sir henry h. fowler addressing the meeting. [illustration: westminster training college.] the allan library, the gift of the late thomas r. allan, containing more than , books and dissertations, was opened by the president; it has since been enriched by gifts of modern books from the fernley trustees and others, and a circulating library is now connected with it. accessible on easy terms to ministers and local preachers, and within the reach of many others, this library should be a useful stimulus to the taste for study among ministers and people. the other event of the year was the meeting of the second oecumenical conference in october, at washington, in the country where methodism obtained great triumphs. the conference lasted twelve days, like its predecessor; the opening sermon, prepared by the rev. william arthur, was read for him, mr. arthur's voice being too weak to be heard; and the president of the united states gave a reception at the executive mansion, and also visited the conference. many topics of deep interest were discussed on this occasion, and not the least attractive subject was the statistical report presented. the difficulty of estimating the actual strength and influence of methodism is very great. in the present year the membership of the wesleyan methodists, for great britain and ireland, is estimated at , ; of other methodist bodies in the united kingdom at , ; the affiliated conferences of wesleyan methodists in france, south africa, the west indies, and australasia at , , being , for france, , for south africa, , for the two west indian, and , for the australasian conferences. american methodism in all its branches, white and coloured, returns a membership of , , , while the united methodism of canada shows , , and the foreign missions of british wesleyan methodism , members. these figures, giving a total of , , members, exclusive of the ministers, estimated at , , are sufficiently gratifying; yet they do not represent the real strength of the church at large, and give only a faint idea of its influence. the oecumenical report gave the number of methodist "adherents" as , , , intending, by the term _adherents_, those whose religious home is the methodist chapel, though their visits to it be irregular. for the british wesleyans the two millions of sittings were supposed to represent the number of adherents (yet should all the occasional worshippers wish to attend at once, it may be doubted if they could be accommodated); for the other branches of methodism in the united kingdom, four additional persons were reckoned to each member reported. the statistics for ireland and canada were checked by the census returns. probably in the case of missions the adherents would be more than four times the membership. varying principles were adopted for the united states, and the adherents reckoned at less than four times the members reported. should we to-day treat the returns of membership on the same principle (sunday scholars being now as then included in the term "adherents "), we should find nearly thirty millions of persons in immediate touch with methodism and strongly bound to it. compare these figures with those of , and we must exclaim, "what hath god wrought!" estimating the increase of british methodism, we have to remember that the population has almost doubled in the sixty years, while british wesleyan methodism has not doubled; but the great losses occasioned by the agitations must be taken into account, and also the curious fact that the ratio of increase for methodism at large, in the ten years between the two oecumenical conferences, was thirty per cent--twice as great as the increase of population in the countries represented; the methodist church in ireland actually increasing thirteen per cent, while the population of the country was diminishing and the other protestant churches reported loss. if the increase in great britain be proportionally smaller, this need not cause surprise, in view of that vast development of energy in the established church which is really due to the reflex action of methodism itself; that church, with all the old advantages of wealth and prestige and connexion with the universities and grammar schools which she possessed in the days of her comparative supine-ness, with her clergy roll of , , and her many voluntary workers, having in twenty-seven years almost doubled the number of her elementary schools, largely attended by methodist children. but the indirect influence of methodism is such as cannot be represented in our returns; figures cannot show us the true spiritual status of a church. the total cost of the maintenance of our work in all its branches can be estimated; and so able an authority as the rev. dr. h. j. pope stated it at from £ , , to £ , , pounds annually, a sum more than equal to a dividend on fifty millions of consols; but it is impossible to compute the profit to the human race from that expenditure and the work it maintains. this may be said with certainty, that other churches have been greatly enriched thereby. we may just refer to that remarkable religious movement, the salvation army, of methodist origin, though working on new lines; doing such work, social and evangelistic, as methodism has chosen for its own, and absorbing into its ranks many of our own trained workers. "the salvationists, taught by wesley," said the late bishop of durham, "have learned and taught to the church again the lost secret of the compulsion of human souls to the saviour." "the methodists themselves," says john richard green, "are the least result of the methodist revival"; the creation of "a large and powerful and active sect," numbering many millions, extending over both hemispheres, was, says lecky, but one consequence of that revival, which exercised "a large influence upon the established church, upon the amount and distribution of the moral forces of the nation, and even upon its political history"; an influence which continues, the sons of methodism taking their due part in local and imperial government. eloquent tributes to the work of wesley are frequent to-day, the _times_, in an article on the centenary of his death, saying: "the evangelical movement in the church of england was the direct result of his influence and example, and since the movements and ideas which have moulded the church of england to-day could have found no fitting soil for their development if they had not been preceded by the evangelical movement, it is no paradox to say that the church of england to-day is what it is because john wesley lived and taught in the last century.... he remains the greatest, the most potent, the most far-reaching spiritual influence which anglo-saxon christianity has felt since the days of the reformation." so far the _times_, of him whom it styles "the restorer of the church of england." many impartial writers, some being ardent friends of the english church, have also recognised a gracious overflow from methodism which has blessed that church, the nonconformist bodies, and the nation at large. if a man would understand "the religious history of the last hundred years," that "most important ecclesiastical fact of modern times," the rise and progress of methodism, must be studied in relation to the anglican and the older nonconformist churches, and the general "missionary interests of christianity": so we are taught by dr. stoughton, who has traced the influence of methodism in the general moral condition of the country and the voluntary institutions of our age. the doctrines once almost peculiar to wesley and his followers--such as entire sanctification--are now accepted and taught by many churches, and the religious usages of methodism are imitated, watchnight services being held, and revival mission services and prayer-meetings being conducted, in anglican churches; while the hymns of charles wesley, sung by all english-speaking protestants, and translated into many languages, enrich the devotional life of the christian world. it was a fit tribute to the benefits which the english church has derived from the methodist movement, when the memorial tablet to the brothers john and charles wesley was unveiled in westminster abbey by the late dean stanley, in . "the bracing breezes," said dr. stoughton, "came sweeping down from the hills of methodism on baptist meadows as well as upon independent fields." we may give some few instances that will show what blessings have come to nonconformist churches by the agency of methodism. a remarkable incident that occurred in was recorded in the _wesleyan methodist magazine_. dr. jobson had invited five eminent ministers to meet the president of conference at his house. after breakfast their conversation quite naturally took the form of a lovefeast, all being familiar with methodist custom; when dr. allon, dr. raleigh, and dr. stoughton all said they were converted in methodist chapels, and began christian work as methodists. thomas binney said that "the direct instrumentality in his conversion was wesleyan," and dr. fraser was induced to enter the ministry by a wesleyan lady. charles h. spurgeon was converted through the instrumentality of a primitive methodist local preacher; william jay of bath was converted at a methodist service; john angell james caught fire among the methodists; and thomas raffles was a member of the wesleyan society; dr. parker began his ministrations as a methodist local preacher; while dr. dale has shown the indebtedness of nonconformity to methodism. in france and germany methodist agency has been one of the strongest forces in re-awakening the old protestant churches; the services held by our connexional evangelists send many converts to swell the fellowship of churches not our own. and the same effects followed the great methodist revival in america; out of , converts, joined the presbyterian and other denominations. but while calling attention to the spiritual wealth and the beneficent overflow of methodism, we would not be unmindful of the debt which methodism owes to other churches, and in special of its obligations to those anglican divines of our day who have enriched the whole church of christ by their scholarly contributions to sacred literature; and we would ascribe all the praise of methodist achievement to the almighty author of good, whom the spirit of ostentation and vain glorifying must displease, while it would surely hinder his work. the great desire of methodism to-day--its great need, as dr. handles expressed it in his presidential address--is "fulness of spiritual life." if this be attained, the actual resources of the church will amply suffice to carry on its glorious future mission; it will not fail in its primary duties of giving prominence to the spirituality of religion, of maintaining strict fidelity to scriptural doctrine, of giving persevering illustration of the fellowship of believers, nor in upholding the expansion of home and foreign missions, nor in ceaseless efforts to promote social advancement. "there is no rigid system of church mechanism, nor restraining dogma," to hinder missions. [illustration: group of presidents number three.] at present four-sevenths of the human race are in heathen darkness. to win the world for christ demands that methodists should unite with all his true soldiers. wesley said: "we have strong reason to hope that the work he hath begun he will carry on until the day of the lord jesus; that he will never intermit this blessed work of his spirit until he has fulfilled all his promises, until he hath put a period to sin and misery, infirmity and death, re-established universal holiness and happiness, and caused all the inhabitants of the earth to sing, 'alleluia: for the lord god omnipotent reigneth.'" if methodism be faithful to her mission, this prophecy may be fulfilled. when the second temple was built, haggai exhorted zerubbabel and joshua to be strong, and all the people to be strong, and to work, for the lord was with them. let methodists be strong in god's strength, and work with the consciousness that the lord of hosts is with them, and they will insure success to the great mission of their church. we will conclude with the last paragraph of the rev. charles h. kelly's sermon at the celebration of the centenary of wesley's death in . "surely the lesson to the methodists of to-day is clear enough. let us cherish the memory of our forefathers, let us emulate their spirit, let us cling to their god-given doctrines, let us cultivate, as they did, communion with the master and fellowship with each other. let us aim to be one, to do our duty. let us strive to make our church a greater power for evangelism among the people of the earth than ever, let us look to the holy spirit for the richer baptism of grace, and methodism, so blest of the lord in the past, will yet be blest. her mission is not accomplished, her work is not done; long may she live and prosper. peace be within her walls, and prosperity within her palaces. for my brethren and companions' sake, the faithful living and the sainted dead, i will now say, peace be within her; peace be within her." conclusion. the last days of the half-century are fleeting fast as we write, and we are yet at peace with europe, as when victoria's reign began. how long that peace shall last, who shall say? who can say how long it may be ere the elements of internal discord that have threatened to wreck the prosperity of the empire, shall be composed to a lasting peace, and leave the nation free to follow its better destiny? but foes within and foes without have many times assailed us in vain in past years; many times has the political horizon been shadowed with clouds portending war and strife no less gloomily than those which now darken it, and as yet the crimean war is the only war on which we have entered that can be called european; many times have grave discontents broken our domestic peace, but wise statesmanship has found a timely remedy. we need not, if we learn the lessons of the past aright, fear greatly to confront the future. not to us the glory or the praise, but to a merciful overruling providence, ever raising up amongst us noble hearts in time, that we are found to-day "a nation yet, the rulers and the ruled," not quite bankrupt in heart or hope or faith, but possessing "some sense of duty, something of a faith, some reverence for the laws ourselves have made, some patient force to change them when we will;" and we may justly acknowledge, in thankfulness not vainglorious, the happier fate that has been ours above many another land, that may still be ours, "if england to itself do rest but true." we have seen during these sixty years the map of europe remodelled to an undreamed of extent. fair italy, though still possessing her fatal gift of beauty, though still suffering many things, is no longer the prey of foreign unloved rulers, but has become a nation, a mere "geographical expression" no longer; germany, whose many little princedoms were once a favourite theme of british mockery, is now one great and formidable empire; the power of russia has, despite the crimean check, continued to expand, while desperate internal struggles have shaken that half-developed people, proving fatal to the gentle successor of nicholas, the emancipator of the russian serfs, and often threatening the life of _his_ successors; and the once formidable american slave-system has been swept away, with appalling loss of human life; a second president of the united states has fallen by the hand of an assassin; and new difficulties, scarce inferior to those connected with slavery, have followed on its abolition. our record shows no calamity comparable to the greatest of these, if we set aside the indian horrors so terribly avenged at the moment, but by their teaching resulting ultimately in good rather than evil. besides the furious strife and convulsion that have rent other lands, how inconsiderable seem the disturbances that disfigure our home annals, how peaceful the changes in our constitutional system, brought about orderly in due form of law, how purely domestic the saddest events of our internal history! we wept with our sovereign in her early widowhood, a bereavement to the people as well as to the queen; we trembled with her when the shadow of death hung over her eldest son, rejoicing with her when it passed away; we shared her grief for two other of her children, inheritors of the noble qualities of their father, and for the doom which took from us one whom we had loved to call "our future king"; we deplored the other bereavements which darkened her advancing years; we have lamented great men taken from us, some, like the conqueror of waterloo, "the great world-victor's victor," in the fulness of age and honour, others with their glorious work seemingly half done, their career of usefulness mysteriously cut short; we have shuddered when the hateful terrorism, traditional pest of ireland through centuries of wrong and outrage, has once and again lifted its head among ourselves; we have suffered--though far less severely than other lands, even than some under our own rule--from plague, pestilence, and famine, from dearth of work and food. but what are these woes compared to those that other peoples have endured, when it has been said to the sword, "sword, go through the land," and the dread word has been obeyed; when war has slain its thousands, and want its tens of thousands; or when terrible convulsions of nature have shaken down cities, and turned the fruitful land into a wilderness? events have moved fast since the already distant day when the colonial and industrial exhibition was ministering exultation to many a british heart by its wonderful display of the various wealth of our distant domains and their great industrial resources. we were even then tempted--as have been nations that are no more--to pride ourselves on having reached an unassailable height of grandeur. since then our territory has expanded and our wealth increased; but with them have increased the evils and the dangers inseparable from great possessions, and the responsibilities involved in them. we can only "rejoice with trembling" in this our second year of jubilee. remembering with all gratitude how we have been spared hitherto, and mindful of the perils that wait on power and prosperity, let it be ours to offer such sacrifices of thanksgiving as can be pleasing to the almighty ruler of the ways of men, whom too often in pride of power, in selfish satisfaction with our own achievements, we forget. many are the works of mercy, well pleasing in his sight, with which we can associate ourselves, even in this favoured land, whose ever increasing wealth is balanced by terrible poverty, and its affluence of intellectual and spiritual light by grossest heathen darkness. day by day, as our brief account has shown, are increasing efforts put forth by our christian men and women to overcome these evils; and through such agencies our country may yet be saved, and may not perish like other mighty empires, dragged down by its own over-swollen greatness, and by neglect of the eternal truth that "righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."