^^JUBILEE 
 
 G. HOLDEN
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 1 
 
 presented to the 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 by 
 Dr. Helen S. Nicholson
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 
 
 LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA
 
 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. 
 
 Front a recent f-Jiotografh by MESSRS. W. & D. DOWNHV.
 
 VICTORIA 
 
 QUEEN AND EMPRESS 
 
 Julnfrc QQcmoir 
 
 G. HOLDENJJMJ1 
 
 AUTHOR OF "SHAFTESBURY : HIS LIFE AND WORK;" " CHARLES HADDON 
 
 SPURGEON : PREACHER, AUTHOR, AND PHILANTHROPIST," 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 S. W. PARTRIDGE AND CO. 
 9 PATERNOSTER ROW
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 HAZELL, WATSON, AND VINEY, LD., 
 LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK 
 
 PACE 
 
 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT THE QUEEN'S 
 
 INFANCY 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION . . 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ACCESSION OPENING OF THE QUEEN'S REIGN STATE 
 
 OF THE COUNTRY 36
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE . . -45 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL ........ 59 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS ...... 70 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE ERA OF PROGRESS 9 2
 
 A 
 
 VICTORIA : 
 
 QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 
 
 PERHAPS it will enable the reader better to understand 
 the following story about the most illustrious reign of 
 which historians of England have to tell, if we briefly refer 
 to the past history of the House of Brunswick and Hanover, 
 and show how its heirs inherited the British crown. 
 
 Brunswick itself is a state and duchy, included in the 
 present German empire, covering an area of 1,424 square 
 miles, and having a population of between three and four 
 hundred thousand, of whom the main bulk are Lutherans ; 
 the Romanists mustering about 7,000, and the Jews about 
 1,200.
 
 8 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 Hanover, with an area of 14,548 square miles, was 
 formerly an electorate, but is now included in the Prussian 
 empire. In 1875 tne population was 2,017,393, the main 
 body of whom are also Lutheran, 233,633 being Romanists, 
 and 12,790 Jews. George III. really became the first 
 king in 1815, and until the year 1837 this territory con- 
 tinued to be a province of Great Britain ; but as the 
 national constitution did not allow the Crown to be worn by 
 a female, the little kingdom passed from William IV. to his 
 brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and fifth 
 son of George III. The King does not seem to have been 
 a very successful ruler ; and this probably arose from his 
 not being able to appreciate the progressive forces which 
 surrounded him, so different from the older world in which 
 he had spent his earlier days. The King died at the age of 
 eighty in 1851 ; and his blind son, George V., was the last 
 independent King of Hanover. The territory was annexed 
 to Prussia in 1866, and George died in 1878, leaving an 
 heir, Ernest Augustus, who, without avail, still claimed the 
 ancient inheritance of his family. 
 
 The reigning family of Hanover trace their origin to the 
 marriage of the Marquess d'Este, who lived in the eleventh 
 century, and a Princess of Bavaria. Their children assumed 
 the surname of Guelph, which our Queen retains. Henry 
 the Lion, but more properly Guelph a hero of the 
 Crusades was the first of his name who became Duke of 
 Brunswick. This chivalrous Guelph became son-in-law of 
 the English Henry II. ; and thus he is a chief ancestor of 
 the House of Brunswick and Luneburg. In later times 
 Ernest Augustus of Brunswick married Sophia, a grand- 
 daughter of James I., and their son became George I. of 
 England. 
 
 Ernest Augustus, the father of George, appears to have 
 been a popular patriot who did the best that was possible to 
 raise his family ; while, as a soldier, he used his arms in 
 what he ever believed to be the cause of right. He fought 
 against the Turks; he was a courageous ally of our own 
 William III. in that great patriot's gigantic contest with 
 France ; and his men were found fighting with Marlborough 
 at Blenheim. His son did not receive the best education
 
 THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 
 
 for his future lot that might have been imparted ; for when 
 he came to England he was unable to speak English, and 
 as his ministers were equally ignorant of German, the King 
 stayed away from the Cabinet meetings, and naturally lost 
 interest in English politics. The unhappy misunderstanding 
 with his wife, which led to long years of separation, and 
 even resulted in the imprisonment of that lady the unfor- 
 tunate Sophia of Zell did not contribute to the King's 
 popularity. 
 
 The King was between fifty and sixty years of age when 
 he inherited the crown. As he was some years older than 
 the Queen whom he had succeeded, it is possible that 
 George may not really have anticipated coming into such 
 an inheritance ; but whether he did so or not, he found that 
 England, with its constitution guarding against any abuse of 
 power on the part of the monarch, presented a very 
 different outlook from the state of things which obtained 
 in Hanover. " This is a strange country," remarked his 
 Majesty soon after he was housed in London. " The first 
 morning after my arrival at St. James's, I looked out of the 
 window and saw a park, with canals, etc., which they told 
 me were mine. The next day, Lord Chetwynd, the ranger 
 of my park, sent me a fine brace of carp out of my canal ; 
 and I was told I must give five guineas to Lord Chetwynd's 
 servant for bringing me my own carp, out of my own canal 
 in my own park." 
 
 George II. succeeded his father in 1727, or at a time 
 when the Jacobites were disposed to make another attempt 
 to restore the proscribed Stuarts. Born in 1683, the King 
 was between forty and fifty years of age at the time of his 
 accession. On Wednesday, the i2th of October, he was 
 crowned in Westminster Abbey, attended by his consort the 
 Princess Caroline, daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg. 
 His father from the first had been far fonder of Hanover 
 than of his adopted country ; and it happened, during the 
 time that the prince was left guardian of the empire while 
 his father was absent, that an assassin attempted his life at 
 Drury Lane Theatre, July 6th, 1716. Soon after, a violent 
 quarrel between the father and son brought much scandal 
 to both sides ; but this at length came to an end through
 
 10 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 the intervention of some eminent personages, although the 
 reconciliation is supposed never to have been very cordial. 
 " A story is told by Horace Walpole, which appears to 
 show that the King's animosity lasted to the end of his 
 life," one writer remarks. "After having destroyed two 
 wills which he had made in favour of his son, he had 
 entrusted a third, supposed to have been of an opposite 
 character, to the keeping of Wake, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, who, on the accession of George II., presented it to 
 the new king. To the surprise of every one present, his 
 Majesty, putting it in his pocket, stalked out of the room, 
 and the will was never heard of more. Lord John Russell, 
 in relating this story, observes that ' by the law of England 
 the will would not have been valid : all property, real as 
 well as personal, of the king, descends with the crown.' 
 It does not appear to be now understood that this is law." 
 In turn George II. and his son fell out, and formed two 
 parties in the State, all of course tending to excite the 
 now dying hopes of the Jacobites. The King had military 
 proclivities, and was fond of meddling in the affairs of Europe 
 to preserve what he thought to be the balance of power, and 
 hence he was fond of war. When only fifteen years of age 
 he had been presented to our own William III., who is said 
 to have received him "with the fondness of a parent; " and 
 perhaps he may have caught some of the war fever from that 
 accomplished and heroic veteran. 
 
 The King died on Saturday, October 251' , 1760, in the 
 seventy-seventh year of his age ; a contemporary chronicler 
 thus refers to the manner of his departure : " His late 
 Majesty rose in the morning at his usual hour, without any 
 apparent signs of indisposition. He called his page, drank 
 his chocolate, and inquired about the wind, as if anxious for 
 the arrival of the mails. He opened his window, and looking 
 out of it and seeing it a fine day, said he would walk in the 
 gardens. This passed while the page attended him at break- 
 fast ; but on leaving the room he heard a deep sigh, immedi- 
 ately followed by a noise like the falling of a billet of wood 
 from the fire, and returning hastily, found the King dropped 
 from his seat, as if attempting to ring the bell, who said faintly, 
 ' Call Amelia,' and then expired. He was instantly raised
 
 THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 
 
 and laid upon the bed, the Princess was called, who was 
 told he was dead upon her entering the room ; but being 
 a little deaf, and her spirits being hurried by the alarm, 
 she did not understand what was said ; and ran up to the 
 bedside, and stooping tenderly over her father, as thinking 
 he might speak to her in a low voice, she then first dis- 
 covered he was dead." 
 
 In a very brief space the heir-apparent, who was staying 
 at Kew, heard of what had happened at Kensington ; and 
 the next day being Sunday, he was formally proclaimed in 
 London. 
 
 Frederick, Prince of Wales, and father of George III., 
 was born in Hanover in 1706, and died at Leicester House, 
 London, in 1751, at the comparatively early age of forty-five. 
 The Princess of Wales, who was a daughter of Frederick II. 
 of Saxe-Gotha, showed much maternal solicitude to preserve 
 her son, who became George III., from the fashionable pro- 
 fligacy of the times, and in the main she no doubt 
 succeeded. 
 
 When he came to the throne the life of George III. was 
 that of a Christian country gentleman who was interested in 
 agriculture and fond of doing gracious deeds. Thus we 
 find him visiting the land of a farmer at Petersham in 
 1769 to see some improved ploughs. In 1792, while in 
 Dorsetshire, he accepted the petition of a farmer who had 
 been imprisoned for seven years on account of a debt of 
 ^220, and ordered the money to be paid. He had a 
 strong abhorrence of gaming, and summarily put down the 
 practice of gambling in his palaces. He was an early riser, 
 and was strictly temperate in eating and drinking; and 
 although not a great reader, the King seems to have in- 
 herited from his German ancestors a passionate love of 
 music. When the heir to the throne was born, the infant, 
 who afterwards reigned as George IV., was shown in his 
 cradle to all who chose to call at the palace, and all visitors 
 were served with cake and caudle. The charities of the 
 King were abundant, and wisely bestowed. As regards his 
 own dependants, however, the King was probably too parsi- 
 monious in money matters. 
 
 In his youth George IV. was handsome and accom-
 
 12 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 plished ; but he was unfortunate in having his lot cast in a 
 selfish and licentious age. All who look into the matter 
 impartially will have to admit that, as Prince of Wales, 
 George IV. was not educated in the happiest manner. 
 The discipline to which he was subjected by his parents is 
 thought to have been too strict or monastic-like in its rigour, 
 so that when he attained the legal age of freedom at eighteen, 
 he was too much disposed to turn his new-found liberty 
 into license. As one remarked at the time of the King's 
 death in 1830 : " His tutors and governors had scarcely 
 loosened the rein, before they were required altogether to 
 drop it ; numbers of a perfectly opposite character were in 
 waiting to celebrate his freedom, and administer to his 
 gratification and delight. Among them were certain indivi- 
 duals, celebrated for the splendour of their talents and vices, 
 and in their earliest intercourse with the Prince, much more 
 ready to corrupt his morals by the one, than to enlarge and 
 elevate his mind by the other." 
 
 Key to the Queen's first Council. 
 
 1. HER MAJESTY. 
 
 2. The Duke of Argyll, Lord Steward. 
 
 3. The Earl of Albemarle. Master of the Horse. 
 
 4. The Right Hon. G. Byng, Comptroller. 
 i, C. C. Greville, Esq.. Clerk of the Council. 
 
 6. The Marquess of Anglesea. 
 
 7. The Marquees of Lansdowne, President of Ibe 
 
 Council. 
 
 8. Lord CoUenhan), Lord High Chancellor. 
 
 9. Lord Howick, Secretary at War. 
 
 10. Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the 
 
 Hume Department. 
 
 11. The Right. Hon. T. Spring Rice. Chancellor 
 
 of the Exchequer. 
 
 13. Viscount Melbourne. First Lord of the 
 Treasury. 
 
 13. Lord Palmerston, Secretary of State for 
 
 Foreign Affairs. 
 
 14. The Right Hon. J. Abercromby, Speaker of 
 
 the House of Commons. 
 15; Earl Grey. 
 
 16. The Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 17 Lord Denman. Ifcrd Chief Justice of the Court 
 
 of Queen's Bench. 
 
 18 The Eight Hon. T. Erskine. Chief Judge of the 
 
 Bankruptcy Court. 
 
 19. Lord Morpeth, Chief Secretary for Ireland. 
 
 20. The Earl of Aberdeen. 
 
 21 . Lord LyndbnrsL 
 
 22. The Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 23. His Majesty the King of Hanover. 
 
 24. The Duke of Wellington, 
 
 25. The Earl of Jersey. 
 
 26. The Right Hon. J. W. Croker. 
 
 27. The Right Hon. Sir R. Feel, Bstt. 
 
 28. H.R.H. The Duke cf Sussex. 
 
 29. Lord Holland, Chancellor of the Duchy of 
 
 Lancaster. 
 
 30. Sir J. Campbell. Attorney-General. 
 
 31. The Marquess of Salisbury. 
 
 32. Lord Burghersh. 
 
 33. The fit Hon. T. Kelly. Lard Mayor of London.
 
 14 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 The amiable Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince 
 Regent, and of course " England's Hope " as next heir to 
 the throne, died in child-bed on November the 5th, 1817, 
 when she was about twenty-three years of age. She was in 
 her taste and manners quite an Englishwoman ; it was there- 
 fore anticipated, with good reason, that she would make an 
 admirable queen. She was pious, a pattern of womanly 
 virtue in private life, and the shock sustained by the 
 country at the time of her unexpected death was severe 
 and lasting. 
 
 George IV. survived his daughter nearly thirteen years, 
 and died June 26th, 1830. Though he has been accused 
 of many faults, the King had his redeeming qualities. The 
 news of his death spread a gloom throughout London, which 
 was only equalled by that which was occasioned by the 
 departure of his estimable daughter. 
 
 William IV. died on Tuesday, June the 2oth, at two 
 o'clock a.m. On the previous Sunday, which was the anni- 
 versary of the battle of Waterloo, he said to Dr. Chambers : 
 " Let me live over this memorable day ; I shall never live 
 to see another sunset." 
 
 When the news arrived in London, orders were given for 
 the assembling of the privy council, which accordingly met 
 just before noon at the old palace, Kensington. Nearly 
 a hundred persons attended this meeting, which included 
 the princes, state officers, the chief municipal officers of 
 London, as well as the cabinet ministers. Orders were 
 given for proclaiming Queen Victoria ; and the first to sign 
 the act of allegiance was Ernest, King of Hanover. As 
 already intimated, a female sovereign could not reign over 
 that country, so that after a century and a quarter it was 
 separated from England. This called forth little remark, 
 however, either public or private, the territory not having 
 been a source either of wealth or strength to the British 
 empire.
 
 THE QUEEN, AGE IO. 
 
 By permission ^/"MESSRS. H. GRAVES & Co. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT THE QUEEN'S 
 INFANCY. 
 
 ON November the 2nd, 1887, it will be one hundred and 
 twenty years since the Queen's father, the late Duke 
 of Kent, was born. The fourth son and the fifth child of 
 George III., the Duke was educated partly in England and 
 partly in Germany and Geneva ; but his early days were 
 darkened by many trials and perplexities in consequence of 
 the mistaken notions of George III. and that King's unac- 
 countable parsimony. The Prince's early sojourn with Baron 
 YVangenheim, among the Hanoverian marshes at Luneburg, 
 in order to learn the profession of arms, was not a good 
 beginning; while the shortness of his supplies until after 
 his marriage frequently obliged him to run into debt. In
 
 1 6 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 1790 he went to reside for a time at Gibraltar, as colonel 
 of the yth Fusiliers ; there he won the character of being 
 a very strict military disciplinarian. In 1791 he pro- 
 ceeded to Canada. In 1793 he passed through the United 
 States to the West Indies, where, under the late Lord 
 Grey, he was present at the reduction of St. Lucie on 
 April the 4th, 1794. In the last named year the Duke 
 returned to Canada; but after serving successfully as Major- 
 General and Lieutenant-General at Halifax until 1798, he 
 was compelled to return to England in consequence of a 
 dangerous fall from his horse. 
 
 An anecdote is told of the Duke while travelling in 
 Canada which shows that even royal persons cannot always 
 travel without some suspicions of their social status enter- 
 ing into the minds of those with whom they come in 
 contact. A travelling companion thus tells the story : 
 
 " We arrived rather late one evening at the little inn of 
 The Cedars on the St. Lawrence. The landlord was very 
 attentive, for he saw that he had under his roof no ordinary 
 personage, but who it was he could not possibly guess. 
 He repeatedly entered his Royal Highness's sitting-room. 
 The first time he said, ' I think, Captain, you rang the table- 
 bell. What did you please to want ? ' The second time he 
 brought in a plate of fine raspberries, and said, ' We have 
 found in the woods, Major, a few raspberries. Will you 
 please to taste them ? ' He invented a third and fourth 
 excuse for entering, and saluted His Highness first as colonel, 
 and then as general. The last time, just before leaving the 
 room, he returned from near the door, fell upon his knees, 
 and cried out, ' May it please your Majesty to pardon us if 
 we don't behave suitable. I know you are not to be 
 known. I mean no offence in calling you captain and 
 colonel. What must I call you ? For anything I can tell 
 you may be a king's son.' To this the Duke would have 
 given a kind answer but for an universal and irrepressible 
 explosion of laughter. If you had seen the scared old inn- 
 keeper on his knees, you would have laughed too." 
 
 He was created Duke of Kent and Strathern and Earl of 
 Dublin in 1799, and, immediately afterwards, he was pro- 
 moted to the rank of General, and became commander-in-
 
 THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT. 
 
 chief of the forces in North America until compelled once 
 more by ill-health to return to England in 1800. 
 
 In the early part of 1802, the Duke undertook the post 
 of Governor of Gibraltar ; and on proceeding to the fortress 
 to reside there in person, he nobly distinguished himself in 
 the cause of reform ; but unhappily the royal philanthropist 
 proved to be before his time. The Duke's aim, as a 
 certain chronicler tells us, was " to suppress the licentious- 
 ness and dissi- 
 pation of the 
 win e-houses. 
 The honour- 
 able attempt 
 was made ; but 
 with doubtful 
 success. The 
 wine-licenses 
 wer e wit h- 
 drawn, and for 
 a time the 
 peaceful in- 
 habitants of 
 Gibraltar could 
 carry on their 
 business, walk 
 the streets, and 
 repose within 
 their dwellings 
 at less risk of 
 insult, or out- 
 rage, than be- 
 fore ; drunken- 
 ness disappeared from among the soldiers ; cleanliness and 
 discipline were restored, while military punishments were 
 reduced in frequency, the hospitals emptied of their 
 numerous inmates, and the sexton disappointed of his daily 
 work. But the liquor-merchants were driven from the 
 enjoyment of their enormous profits, and instigated the 
 unreflecting soldiery to vengeance for the loss of those 
 indulgences which devoured their pay and destroyed their 
 
 After a portrait by G. E. DAWE.
 
 1 8 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 health. Insubordination broke out on all sides; the 
 Governor was not supported by the local authorities ; and 
 after receiving the grateful and unanimous acknowledgments 
 of the civil population of Gibraltar, he returned from a post 
 in which his efforts for the public good were more zealous 
 than fortunate." 
 
 Thus in various extremes of climate, amid the fatigues of 
 travel and the dangers of war, the Duke's course in life was 
 a chequered one ; but his hopeful, cheerful disposition bore 
 him through trials which might otherwise have soured his 
 nature. After his return to England in 1803 he appears 
 chiefly to have resided on the continent, and he probably 
 did so for the sake of economy, poverty and unavoidable 
 debt having been the crosses of his life almost till the very 
 last. 
 
 It happened that Leopold, husband of the Princess 
 Charlotte of Wales, had a sister who was widow of Prince 
 Leiningen, and to whom she had been not very happily 
 married very early in life. During a continental tour 
 undertaken in 1816, the Duke of Kent became acquainted 
 with this lady, who at that time was about thirty years of 
 age, while her royal suitor was forty-nine. If not actually a 
 case of love at first sight, the match was destined to be one 
 of ardent affection on both sides. The character of each 
 was such as the other could respect ; and there seemed to 
 be no obstacle in the way of wedded happiness but the 
 usual one, so far as the Duke was concerned want of 
 means. The Princess possessed an annuity of ,5,000 ; 
 but, because this would have to be surrendered on her 
 marriage, she was herself virtually poor. When, however, 
 the Princess Charlotte of Wales was early and suddenly 
 carried off by death, the marriage which the amiable 
 Princess herself had ardently desired to see brought about, 
 became more than it had previously been a necessity of State. 
 Parliament at length voted them a modest income of ^6,000 
 a year ; and thus, after being married on the Continent, the 
 happy couple were reunited according to the Anglican form 
 on July i3th, 1818. 
 
 The scene, as pictured by contemporary chroniclers, must 
 have been one of the pleasantest that had graced the long
 
 THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT. 19 
 
 and not altogether auspicious reign of George III. The 
 Duke of Clarence and the Princess Adelaide of Saxe 
 Meiningen were married at the same time, the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury and the Bishop of London officiating, A 
 temporary altar was put up in the Queen's drawing-room 
 overlooking Kew Gardens. The Prince Regent gave the 
 brides away ; and when the ceremony was finished, or at 
 five o'clock in the afternoon, His Royal Highness and the 
 rest of the company sat down to a grand banquet. Then 
 followed a tea at " the cottage in Kew Gardens, near the 
 Pagoda," after which the Duke and Duchess retired to 
 Claremont, while the other royal couple drove to St. 
 James's. A little later, the Duke and Duchess of Kent 
 retired to their continental home the castle of Amorbach, 
 belonging to the Leiningen family. In the spring of the 
 following year they returned to England, the Princess 
 Victoria having been born at Kensington Palace on 
 May 24th, 1819. 
 
 In the autumn of the year just named, the Duke, Duchess, 
 and infant daughter went into Devonshire for change of air 
 and scene ; and there, to the great grief of all who knew 
 him, the Duke died almost suddenly a few weeks sub- 
 sequently. A contemporary writer says : " His Royal 
 Highness, in a long walk on Thursday the i3th of 
 January (1820), with Captain Conroy in the beautiful 
 environs of Sidmouth, had his boots soaked through with 
 the wet. On their return to Woodbrook Cottage, Captain 
 Conroy, finding hirnself wet in the feet, advised His Royal 
 Highness to change his boots and stockings; but this he 
 neglected till he dressed for dinner, being attracted by the 
 smiles of his infant princess, with whom he sat for a con- 
 siderable time in fond parental play." The chill which 
 ensued developed into inflammation of the lungs ; and, 
 further weakened by the loss of one hundred and twenty 
 ounces of blood, which was taken from him in accordance 
 with the disastrous medical custom of that day, the Duke 
 passed away at ten o'clock on the morning of Sunday, 
 January 23rd, 1820. The grief of the widow was inde- 
 scribable, very much resembling in its intensity the anguish 
 which was destined to overtake the then infant princess
 
 20 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 some forty-one years later, when the Prince Consort died. 
 Referring to the loss of the Duke of Kent a contemporary 
 chronicler says : " His amiable and afflicted Duchess was 
 most indefatigable in her attentions, and performed all the 
 offices of his sick bed with the most tender and affectionate 
 anxiety. She did not even take off her clothes for five 
 successive nights, and all the medicines were administered 
 by her own hands. She yet struggled to prevent his seeing 
 the agony of her apprehensions, and never left his bedside 
 but to give vent to her bursting sorrow." 
 
 The Duke of Kent appears to have exemplified those 
 accomplishments and predilections which render a man in 
 such a high position popular. We are assured that " there 
 
 Key to the Engraving of "The Coronation of Queen Victoria." 
 
 1. Her Majesty the Queen. 
 
 2. H.R.H. tha Princess Augusta. 
 
 3. H.R.H. the Princess Augusta 
 
 of Cambridge. 
 
 4. H.S.H. the Princess Hohenlohe. 
 
 5. H.R.H. the Duchess of Cam- 
 
 bridge. 
 
 6. H.K.H. the Duchess of Kent. 
 
 7. H.R.H. the Duchess of Glou- 
 
 2-1. The Marquis of Lansdowne. 
 
 24. The Duke of Roxburgh. 
 
 25. The Marquess of Westminster. 
 
 26. The Duke of Sutherland 
 
 27. The Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 28. The Duke of Wellington. 
 
 29. The Marquess of Stafford. 
 H.S.H. the Reigning Duke i 30. The Page to Viscount Mel- 
 
 of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. bourne. 
 
 H.R.H. the Duke of Nemours. 31. The Viscount Melbourne. 
 H R.H. the Duke of Sussex. 32. The late Duke of Norfolk. 
 H.R.H. the Duke of Cam- 33 . Lady Mary Pelham. 
 
 brdge. ' 34. Sir Benjamin Stephenson. 
 
 H.R.H. Prince George of Cam- 35. H.S.H. the Prince of Lein- 
 
 bridge. ingen. 
 
 Bishop of Lichfield. 36. Lady Caroline Campbell. 
 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury. 37. Viscount Villiers. 
 Garter King-at-Arms. 38. Lady Flora Hastings. 
 
 39. Viscount Morpeth. 
 
 40. Lady Caroline Legge. 
 
 41. Viscount Emlyn: 
 
 42. H.S.H. the Duke of Nassau. 
 
 43. H.S.H. Prince Ernest of 
 
 Philipstall. 
 
 44. Bishop of Durham 
 
 chbishop of Armagh. 
 
 Bishop of London. 
 
 Archbishop of York. 
 
 Lord George Thynne, Sub- 
 dean of Westminster. 
 
 Earl of Surrey, now Duke of 
 Norfolk. 
 
 45. Bishop of Bath and Wells. 
 
 46. The Duke of Richmond. 
 
 47. Lord Willoughby D'Eresby. 
 
 48. The Duchess of Sutherland. 
 
 49. The Viscountess Jocelyn. 
 
 50. Lady Caroline Lennox. 
 
 51. Lady Mary Grimston. 
 
 52. The Countess of Gainsborough. 
 
 53. The Marchioness of Nor- 
 
 manby. 
 
 54. The Marchioness of Laps- 
 
 downe. 
 
 55. Lady Portman. 
 
 56. The Duchess of Bedford. 
 
 57. The Marquess of Anglesey. 
 
 58. The Marquess of Normanby. 
 
 59. The Duke of Hamilton. 
 
 60. Household Trumpeter. 
 
 61. 62. Trumpeters and assistants. 
 
 63. Peers in the Transept. 
 
 64. Spectators' gallery. 
 
 65. 66. Pages to the Duke of 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 67. 68. Pages to the Ladies in 
 Waiting. 
 
 69. The Marquess of Conyngham. 
 
 70. Her Majesty's Robing Room.
 
 22 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 was no want nor misery which he did not endeavour to 
 relieve to the extreme limits of his embarrassed fortune. 
 There was no public charity to which his purse, his time, 
 his presence, his eloquence, were not willingly devoted, 
 nor to the ends of which they did not powerfully conduce." 
 Tall, and of a commanding presence, his manners were such 
 as became a prince ; and he is said to have resembled his 
 father, George III., in several characteristics. He had 
 large stores of information, he was fond of society, he rose 
 early, carefully husbanded his time, and was always strictly 
 temperate in eating and drinking. At the time of the 
 
 WOODBROOK COTTAGE. 
 
 Duke's death, the sorrowing widow found a friend in need 
 in her brother Prince Leopold, who hastened to Sidmouth, 
 whence in his own carriage he brought his sister and niece 
 to Kensington. A writer of the time remarks : " His 
 Royal Highness took every possible care of the infant 
 Princess Alexandrina. . . . Prince Leopold was unremitting 
 in his attentions to his royal sister and niece." 
 
 The Duke of Kent was undoubtedly the best of the 
 sons of George III. One of his acquaintances, Mr. G. 
 Hardinge, a Welsh judge, left a sketch of the Duke in 
 which he says, " He improved at close quarters. . . . The 
 manly character of his good sense, and the eloquence of
 
 THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT. 23 
 
 his expression, were striking. But even they were not so 
 enchanting as that grace of manner which distinguishes 
 him. Compared with it, in my honest opinion, Lord 
 Chesterfield, whom I am old enough to have heard and 
 seen, was a dancing master." The judge adds that the 
 Duke "opened himself very much to me in detail, with 
 disclosures in confidence, and political ones too, which 
 interested as well as enlightened me very much, but which 
 as a man of honour I cannot reveal. . . . He is no gamester, 
 he is no huntsman, he never goes to Newmarket, but he 
 loves riding upon the road, a full swing trot of nine miles 
 an hour." 
 
 From a speech made by Lord Teignmouth as President 
 of the British and Foreign Bible Society, we learn that the 
 Duke of Kent had been a friend of that great and noble 
 institution, and had anxiously endeavoured to promote its 
 general prosperity by attending local and other meetings. 
 
 Indeed, the Duke was a lover of good men in general 
 the most satisfactory evidence of the man himself being 
 good and while he was an occasional hearer of the eccen- 
 tric but pious Rowland Hill of Surrey Chapel, he had 
 a principal hand in establishing the infirmary for children 
 in Waterloo Road. The Duke would enjoy a talk with the 
 witty pastor in the parlour of the chapel-house after the 
 service, when he would mention the pleasure which the 
 singing, and the service altogether, had afforded him. 
 
 The Queen was greatly favoured by God in having such 
 a father ; a man who left really a fragrant memory, whose 
 enlightened views were in advance of his own times, while 
 his example lived after him. He held that religious liberty 
 should be complete and universal, that education should 
 be extended to the whole population, that political po>ver 
 ought to be used for the benefit of all, and that religious 
 tests were inimical to the caus^ of true religion. He was 
 thus far in advance of his own times ; but was it not 
 singular that the Queen, whose reign has been characterised 
 by progress beyond anything ever before -paralleled in 
 history, should have had a father of such enlightened 
 views and patriotic aspirations? 
 
 When left a widow, the Duchess of Kent thoroughly well
 
 24 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 acquitted herself in her trying situation. The child destined 
 to become the monarch of a great empire could hardly have 
 had a more loving or conscientious guardian. On one 
 occasion she explained how, at great inconvenience to the 
 Duke, and at considerable risk to herself, they hastened to 
 England in order that their child might be born on British 
 soil. " In a few months afterwards," continues the Duchess, 
 " my infant and myself were awfully deprived of father and 
 husband. We stood alone, almost friendless and unknown 
 in this country ; I could not even speak its language." 
 There is something really pathetic in such a confession, 
 when we remember that at the time of his death in January, 
 1820 the same week that also saw the departure of his 
 father George III. the Duchess had been married to the 
 Duke only just over nineteen months. To live among 
 strangers in a foreign country in order to devote herself 
 to the highest mission that could devolve upon a woman, 
 required tact as well as self-sacrifice ; the more so in this 
 instance, when the guardian of the nation's hope was fre- 
 quently treated with even something less than scant courtesy 
 by those occupying places of highest authority in the State.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION. 
 
 THE inhabitants of the picturesque little town of 
 Sidmouth will never forget that it was there that 
 the Duke of Kent passed the closing days of an honoured 
 course, and there spent his latest breath in praying for the 
 welfare of his infant daughter and sorrowing widow. The 
 church of St. Nicholas was restored in 1861; and in 1866 
 an elegant stained-glass window was presented by the 
 Queen as a lasting memorial of her father. 
 
 Leaving Devonshire, the Duchess of Kent and her family 
 were lodged in the old palace at Kensington ; and there, 
 as a stranger in a strange country, the resolute woman 
 undertook the superintendence of the education of her 
 interesting charge. We can pretty well imagine what the 
 daily routine of life must have been in the old court suburb 
 before the shadow of old time customs had passed from 
 the world ; but the following sketch by an anonymous 
 author, published many years ago, will enable us vividly 
 to realise the surroundings of the family when the Queen 
 and her half-sister were children together. 
 
 " The regularity which pervaded the Duchess of Kent's 
 household, and particularly everything which related to the 
 royal infant, enables us to give a slight sketch of the 
 manner in which her days were chiefly passed. The whole
 
 26 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 family were early risers, and the Duchess, her daughters, 
 the Baroness de Spaedth, and Miss Lehzen, the governess 
 of the Princess Feodore, met in the breakfast-room at eight 
 o'clock in the summer, and in very hot weather even 
 earlier. 
 
 " In this pretty room, ornamented with paintings of all 
 her children, the Duchess and her family, having paid their 
 morning tribute of prayer and thanksgiving, partook to- 
 gether of their first social meal, the Princess Victoria being 
 seated beside the Duchess, in her elegant little rose-wood 
 chair, and having before her a small round table to corre- 
 spond, upon which her bread, milk, and fruit were placed, 
 whilst her nurse attended upon her. 
 
 " Immediately after breakfast the Princess Feodore retired 
 with her governess to her study, and the little Princess, 
 generally from nine to ten o'clock, mounted her donkey 
 and rode round the gardens. If the weather was unfavour- 
 able, a carriage airing, at about twelve o'clock, was sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 " From ten to twelve the Duchess devoted herself to the 
 instruction of her infant daughter, and much of general, 
 useful, and most important knowledge did the royal pupil 
 imbibe from the lips of her amiable and pious mother. 
 When the morning tasks were over, the Duchess would 
 retire to her private sitting-room, in which she pursued her 
 own occupations, Turnerilli's bust of her darling child 
 at two years old surmounting the writing-desk at which 
 she usually sat ; and the little Princess, always accompanied 
 by her affectionate nurse, Mrs. Brock, whom she would 
 frequently clasp round the neck, and call her * dear, dear 
 Boppy,' amused herself with running to and fro through 
 the spacious suite of rooms extending round two sides of 
 the palace. In each of these rooms were to be seen some 
 of her toys carriages, horses, cows, dolls, baby-houses, 
 models of ships, etc. 
 
 " At two o'clock exactly the Princess always dined, 
 upon the plainest and most wholesome fare, the Duchess 
 and her elder daughter taking their luncheon at the same 
 time. After dinner, the lessons were again resorted to till 
 about four o'clock, when the Duchess would either take her
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION. 27 
 
 two children to visit some members of the royal family, or 
 some favoured friend amongst the nobility ; or they would 
 take a lengthened airing in a carriage ; after which the 
 infant Princess would come out with her little chair, to ride 
 or walk alternately in Kensington Gardens. Sometimes, 
 indeed, when the weather was very fine, the family party 
 would spend the whole afternoon under the trees upon the 
 lawn, and seldom return to the house till near the Duchess's 
 dinner hour, which 
 was seven o'clock. 
 "When Her 
 Royal Highness 
 sat down to din- 
 ner, the Princess 
 Victoria was seated 
 in her little chair 
 at her right hand, 
 and took her bread 
 and milk for sup- 
 per the nurse 
 standing behind 
 her. When she 
 
 had completed her 
 meal, she was 
 allowed to leave 
 the table, and 
 Mrs. Brock played 
 with her in the 
 same room, till 
 the Duchess's din- 
 ner was over, when 
 the Princess re- 
 turned to partake of the dessert ; and this was always the 
 case whether the Duchess had company or not. 
 
 " The Princess Sophia frequently joined the party in the 
 evening ; and about nine o'clock the royal child was taken 
 to her beautiful little French bed, on one side of her 
 mother's larger one. The Princess Feodore occupied a 
 third, at the other side ; the nurse sleeping in a small room 
 immediately adjoining." 
 
 THE DUCHESS OF KENT.
 
 28 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 Another writer describes what he saw at Ramsgate, when 
 the Princess Victoria was in her early youth. 
 
 " When first I saw the pretty and pale daughter of the 
 Duke of Kent, she was fatherless. Her fair light form was 
 sporting, in all the redolence of youth and health, on the 
 noble sands of Old Ramsgate. It was a fine summer day, 
 not so warm as to induce languor, but yet warm enough to 
 render the passing breezes from the laughing tides, as they 
 broke gently on the sands, agreeable and refreshing. Her 
 dress was simple, a plain straw bonnet, with a white ribbon 
 round the crown ; a coloured muslin frock, looking gay and 
 cheerful, and as pretty a pair of shoes on as pretty a pair 
 of feet as I ever remember to have seen from China to 
 Kamschatka. Her mother was her companion, and a 
 venerable man whose name is graven on every human 
 heart that loves its species, and whose undying fame is 
 recorded in that Eternal Book where the actions of men are 
 written with the pen of truth walked by her parent's side, 
 and doubtless gave that counsel and offered that advice 
 which none were more able to offer than himself for it was 
 William Wilberforce. His kindly eyes followed, with 
 parental interest, every footstep of the young creature, as 
 she advanced to, and retreated from, the coming tide ; and 
 it was evident that his mind and his heart were full of the 
 future, whilst they were interested in the present." 
 
 Pedestrians who happened to pass through Kensington 
 Gardens in those days were accustomed to the sight of the 
 Duchess of Kent's household as they took their airing in 
 the grounds. When the weather permitted, the Princess 
 Victoria would ride on a donkey given her by her uncle the 
 Duke of York ; and although this gaily-clothed animal was 
 in charge of two servants, the Duchess and her elder 
 daughter were sure to be not far away. The future Queen 
 would say " Good morning " with great cordiality to such as 
 recognised her. The Princess is described by a con- 
 temporary journalist as possessing an animated countenance 
 which spoke health and good-temper, while there was a 
 striking resemblance to her father and the Princess Charlotte. 
 
 No account of the Princess Victoria, as she appeared in the 
 third decade of this century, would be complete without the
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION. 29 
 
 reminiscence which Charles Knight gives in his Passages of 
 a Working Life, as follows : 
 
 " In the early morning, when the sun was scarcely high 
 enough to have dried up the dews of Kensington's green 
 alleys, as I passed along the broad central walk, I saw a 
 group on the lawn before the palace, which, to my mind, 
 was a vision of exquisite loveliness. The Duchess of Kent 
 and her daughter, whose years then numbered nine, are 
 breakfasting in the open air, a single page attending them at 
 a respectful distance ; the matron looking on with eyes of 
 love, whilst the fair, soft English face is bright with smiles. 
 The world of fashion is not yet astir. Clerks and mechanics, 
 passing onward to their occupation, are few ; and they 
 exhibit nothing of that vulgar curiosity which I think is more 
 commonly found in the class of the merely rich than in the 
 ranks below them in the world's estimation. What a 
 beautiful characteristic it seemed to me of the training of 
 this royal girl, that she should not have been taught to 
 shrink from the public eye ; that she should not have been 
 burdened with a premature conception of her probable high 
 destiny ; that she should enjoy the freedom and simplicity 
 of a child's nature ; that she should not be restrained when 
 she starts up from the breakfast-table and runs to gather a 
 flower in the adjoining parterre; that her merry laugh should 
 be as fearless as the notes of the thrush in the groves around 
 her. I passed on and blessed her ; and I thank God that I 
 lived to see the golden fruits of such training." 
 
 The training thus referred to was doubtless as a whole 
 about as perfectly complete as a wise and conscientious 
 mother could make it. The governess, who afterwards 
 became known as the Baroness Lehzen, and Mr. Davys, 
 who in due time became Bishop of Peterborough, wert, both 
 highly competent instructors ; and it was to the former of these 
 that the royal pupil remarked, when for the first time she 
 learned that she was actually the heiress of Great Britain, 
 " I will be good." It was a child's resolve ; but in the 
 course of the good providence of God, it was a resolve 
 that the Queen has been enabled to keep. Thus early was 
 she taught that character rose higher than ratik in the 
 popular esteem.
 
 30 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 When the future Queen was eleven years of age, her 
 grandmother wrote to the Duchess of Kent : 
 
 " My blessings and good wishes for the day which gave 
 you the sweet blossom of May ! May God preserve and 
 protect the valuable life of that lovely flower from all the 
 dangers that will beset her mind and heart ! The rays of 
 the sun are scorching at the height to which she may one 
 day attain. It is only by the blessing of God that all the 
 fine qualities He has put into that young soul can be kept 
 pure and untarnished. How well I can sympathise with 
 the feelings of anxiety that must possess you when that 
 time comes ! God, Who has helped you through so many 
 bitter hours of grief, will be your help still. Put your trust 
 in Him." 
 
 When the Duchess of Kent was appointed to become 
 Regent if need be, during the Queen's minority, the same 
 writer said : 
 
 " I should have been very sorry if the Regency had been 
 given into other hands than yours. It would not have been 
 a just return for your constant devotion and care to your 
 child if this had not been done. May God give you 
 wisdom and strength to do your duty if called upon to 
 undertake it ! May God bless and protect our little darling ! 
 If I could but once see her again ! The print you sent 
 me of her is not like the picture I have. The quantity of 
 curls hide the well-shaped head, and make it look too large 
 for the lovely little figure." 
 
 In those days of happy childhood the Duchess of Kent 
 and her daughter travelled a good deal about England, and 
 were familiar visitors at several of the leading watering- 
 places. They met with many interesting adventures, of 
 which the following may be taken as a sample. 
 
 At a certain place on the Kentish coast there was a light- 
 house of which the keeper was a godly widow, who made 
 a point of putting by in a box all that was given to her on 
 Monday mornings, for the cause of God. She inwardly 
 resolved that all money which might be given to her before 
 noon on Mondays should be gi-ven to the cause of Missions. 
 
 The week after she had formed this resolution a gentleman 
 who called to see the lighthouse gave the widow a sovereign
 
 32 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 quite an unexpected amount, and one which, if expended 
 judiciously, would relieve her mind of some pressing 
 anxieties. The widow turned the matter over in her mind ; 
 she asked advice of friends; she prayed to be directed 
 aright. The result of all was that the money was placed 
 in the missionary collecting-box. 
 
 Later on that same day a lady, who appeared to be a 
 widow of distinguished rank, and who was accompanied by 
 her daughter and several attendants, also called to see the 
 lighthouse, and on leaving gave the widow a handsome 
 donation. About two days later a messenger called upon 
 the widow to say that the lady and her daughter had 
 become interested in her case, and consequently asked her 
 acceptance of ^25, together with ^5 from the younger 
 lady. These friends of the lonely lighthouse widow were 
 the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria. 
 
 One day, when the Queen was enjoying a cruise in the 
 Solent, an old sailor who watched the vessel from the shore 
 remarked to a friend : " I mind how that brave lady, ever 
 from her childish days, has had a kind heart for poor Jack 
 Tar. Why, in her walk about the coast years agone, with 
 the Duchess of Kent, many's the time she's listened to a 
 poor sailor's yarn about his shipwrecks, his troubles, ay, and 
 his joys, for there's fair weather as well as rough. My old 
 comrade. Timber Tough, as we call him, now in Greenwich 
 Hospital, told me that once upon a time, when the Princess 
 Victoria was at Dover, and used to walk about the cliffs, he 
 and his son Jim the fisherman were mending their nets in a 
 sheltered cove, when all of a sudden a grand lady, and a 
 bright-looking little Missy, and another lady, and two men- 
 servants at a distance, came round the point of the cliff 
 right afore them. A campstool was brought for the lady 
 with the grand I6ok, and Timber Tough, who knew a bit of 
 manners, made a sign for his son to gather up the nets, and 
 meant to go away, but the lady said very sweetly, ' Don't 
 let us disturb you,' and the little Missy added, ' You need 
 not go away ; ' and somehow they got to asking about nets 
 and fishing, and then about the sea, and p'raps the young 
 lady had been reading about the perils of the great deep, 
 for she asked, ' Have you ever been shipwrecked ? '
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION. 33 
 
 ' Yes, miss ! that I have,' says Timber Tough, ' upon a 
 desolate island, too.' 
 
 " Indeed ! where ? ' ' 
 
 In reply to this question, the old man told how he had 
 been wrecked and cast upon the island of Anticosti in 
 1814. The mishap occurred partly through a double 
 allowance of grog having been served out in honour of a 
 royal birthday. They were imprisoned on the island for 
 four weeks. On the day following that on which he had 
 told his story, Timber Tough found that his auditors had 
 been the Princess Victoria and the Duchess of Kent. 
 
 In the memoirs of Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Parry, 
 there occurs this reminiscence of the Princess Victoria. 
 
 " Claremont is a charming place, and I enjoyed myself 
 extremely. I must not forget the little Princess Victoria. 
 She is what you would call a very dear and lovable child, 
 with manners so lady-like and superior, that you would 
 know her at once to be something more than an ordinary 
 girl, and yet possessing all the innocent playfulness and 
 simplicity of a child. She and her mother sat down quietly 
 to the piano after breakfast, and sang with remarkable 
 sweetness and taste some beautiful German duets and 
 some Tyrolese airs which I had not heard before." 
 
 There are several references to the Princess Victoria in 
 the Greville Memoirs, and one under date of May agth, 
 1829, relates to her appearance at Court at the age of ten. 
 A State dinner was given to two French visitors, the Dukes 
 of Orleans and Chartres, while the young Queen of Portugal, 
 ablaze with jewels, was among the visitors. The foreign 
 beauty had a fall, however, and retired in some confusion, 
 probably being the more disconcerted on account of the 
 splendour of her costume. Our own Princess was less 
 brilliantly dressed ; but she presented a taking example of 
 maidenly modesty and simplicity. 
 
 It was not very long before his death, that the King at 
 the royal dinner-table proposed the health of the heiress 
 to the throne in his most graceful manner, and in the 
 following words : 
 
 " ' And now, having given the health of the oldest, I will 
 give that of the youngest member of the Royal Family.
 
 34 
 
 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 I know the interest which the public feel about her, and 
 although / have not seen so much of her as I could have 
 wished, I take no less interest in her, and the more I do 
 see of her, both in public and in private, the greater 
 pleasure it will give me.' The whole thing was so civil 
 and gracious that it could hardly be taken ill; but the 
 young Princess sat opposite, and hung her head with not 
 unnatural modesty at being thus talked of in so large a 
 company." 
 
 The same writer, however, gives particulars of an extra- 
 
 THE PAVILION, BRIGHTON. 
 
 ordinary scene which took place at Windsor, on August 
 2ist, 1836, when the King, displeased at the Duchess of 
 Kent having taken possession of rooms at Kensington 
 Palace, and having, as he thought, kept the Princess 
 Victoria from Court, rebuked her in a tone of great 
 asperity at a dinner party. 
 
 But the days of childhood were passing, and great 
 changes were coming on. When the Princess of Kent, 
 as she was at first called, was born at Kensington, it had 
 not seemed very probable that the babe would ever become 
 queen of the great British Empire, as several sons of the
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND HER EDUCATION. 35 
 
 King were then living. One day the infant providentially 
 escaped from being shot, a boy carelessly firing his gun 
 through a window of the nursery. Gradually, however, 
 as the hope of any other succession became more remote, 
 the people began to regard the Princess as England's heir. 
 It is interesting to trace the movements of mother and 
 daughter about the country. For a time they are found 
 staying at the Pavilion at Brighton; in 1822 and 1823 
 they visited Ramsgate, where they appear to have become 
 well known. When she was seven years of age the 
 Princess paid a visit to her uncle George IV. at Windsor ; 
 and though he had years before been suspected of betraying 
 some symptoms of jealousy on account of the Duke of 
 Kent's popularity, the King appears to have been wonder- 
 fully well-pleased on this occasion. Then, in 1830, a visit 
 was paid to Malvern, where the royal tourists won the 
 esteem of the poor. In the following year they spent 
 some time at Norris Castle, Isle of Wight ; and about a 
 year later they visited several seats of the English nobility 
 Eaton Hall, Alton Towers, and Chatsworth. While in 
 Derbyshire the mother and child looked over the cotton- 
 mills of Messrs. Strutt at Belper, where they were very 
 cordially received by the people. In 1834 they were at 
 Tunbridge Wells, where an old peasant woman won some 
 distinction by handing the Princess a glass of water. Sub- 
 sequently they wintered at St. Leonards. In 1836 a visit 
 was paid to Ramsgate. At the age of eighteen, in May 1837, 
 the heiress to the British Crown came of age ; twenty- 
 seven days later the King died, and Victoria took posses- 
 sion of her inheritance. The youthful Queen had been 
 carefully educated ; and now, as the time of her accession 
 drew near, she had the joy of seeing the country enter upon 
 a new and a more auspicious era, although at first the 
 outlook was too dark to allow of any one perceiving that a 
 new era of progress was about to open.
 
 WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ACCESSION OPENING OF THE QUEEN'S REIGN STATE OF 
 THE COUNTRY. 
 
 AS a king, and as a man, William IV. had many redeem- 
 ing qualities ; but as he belonged to an older world 
 than that in which, in the course of God's providence, he 
 reigned, he may have made many mistakes, chiefly through 
 error of judgment ; but at heart he wished well to all men, 
 while he was ever desirous of being the benefactor of 
 his country. Having passed his earlier days in the navy, 
 when a seafaring life had few features save such as were 
 repellent, he naturally carried with him through life some 
 remnants of the brusque manners of the Georgian sailor ; 
 and thus, when people looked for reserve in a monarch, his 
 excessive outspokenness would sometimes be regarded as 
 actual rudeness. Then neither his education nor early 
 associations enabled him either to understand or to value 
 those forces of progress which were making themselves
 
 ACCESSION OPENING OF THE QUEEN'S REIGN. 37 
 
 more and more manifest in every direction in the King's last 
 days. The old order of things was passing away ; a grander 
 era of philanthropic effort, of education, of religious equality, 
 and of extended commerce was coming on. It is not usual 
 for aged persons to think that the present is in any wise 
 an improvement on the days of their youth. Their inward 
 thought is that the old was better. 
 
 But although William IV. may not have been perfect as a 
 ruler, a king whose last official act was to pardon a con- 
 demned malefactor must have had much kindness of heart. 
 He must have possessed also a vein of wit, which enabled 
 him to give or take a joke with royal good-humour. One 
 anecdote, which he was accustomed to tell with much glee, 
 may be given as a sample of the King's table-talk in his 
 lighter moments. " I was riding in the park the other day 
 on the road between Teddington and Hampton Wick, when 
 I was overtaken by a butcher's boy on horseback, with a 
 tray of meat under his arm," said the King, referring 
 to days when, as Duke of Clarence, he would ride out un- 
 attended. " ' Nice pony that of yours, old gentleman,' said 
 the boy. ' Pretty fair,' was my reply. ' Mine's a good 'un 
 too,' rejoined he, ' and I'll trot you to Hampton Wick for 
 a pot o' beer.' I declined the match ; and the butcher's 
 boy, as he struck his single spur into his horse's side, 
 exclaimed with a look of contempt, ' I thought you were 
 only a muff ! ' " 
 
 When the coming of age of the Princess Victoria was 
 celebrated on May 24th, 1837, the King, who had nearly 
 completed his seventy-second year, was in the last stage of 
 life ; and as the symptoms of his illness developed, he 
 became conscious of the fact, while he seemed to be quite 
 resigned to the Divine will. Neither the King nor the Queen 
 was able to take part in the festivities, although they were of 
 course interested in the welfare of their youthful niece. 
 We find that at six o'clock a.m. the Union Jack was hoisted 
 on the tower of Kensington Church, and above this was 
 one of pure white silk, bearing in letters of ethereal blue 
 the name VICTORIA. The chief houses in the High-street 
 exhibited flags of large dimensions ; and when the palace 
 gardens were thrown open, a throng of well-dressed persons
 
 38 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 entered, it having been understood that a serenade would 
 be performed beneath the Princess's apartments. The 
 royal entertainment of the evening was exceptionally brilliant, 
 the one serious drawback having been the unavoidable 
 absence of the King and Queen. Four weeks later 
 William IV. breathed his last. 
 
 What happened in the early morning of June 2oth, 1837, 
 has been variously described ; but probably the account by 
 Greville, Clerk of the Council, is nearest to the actual 
 truth. 
 
 " On the morning of the King's death, the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury and Lord Conyngham arrived at Kensington at 
 five o'clock, and immediately desired to see the ' Queen.' 
 They were ushered into an apartment, and in a few minutes 
 the door opened and she came in, wrapped in a dressing- 
 gown, and with slippers on her naked feet. Conyngham, 
 in a few words, told her their errand, and as soon as he 
 uttered the words ' Your Majesty,' she instantly put out her 
 hand to him, intimating that he was to kiss hands before he 
 proceeded. He dropped on one knee, kissed her hand, 
 and then went on to tell her of the late King's death. She 
 presented her hand to the Archbishop, who likewise kissed 
 it, and when he had done so, addressed to her a kind of 
 pastoral charge, which she received graciously, and then 
 retired." 
 
 The new reign commenced auspiciously, when the Queen 
 and her early visitors knelt together on the floor of the 
 apartment, Dr. Howley, as archbishop, offering a prayer for 
 the Divine guidance and blessing. A few hours later the 
 first council of the Queen assembled, an ever memorable 
 historical scene which has been depicted to the life by 
 the pencil of Sir David Wilkie. There were the Royal 
 dukes, the Queen's uncles, the archbishops, a brilliant array 
 of statesmen, and the Lord Mayor of London bringing 
 up the rear. When the voice of the young monarch was 
 heard, she spoke of the loss which she and the country had 
 sustained by the death of the King in no tones of affected 
 grief, and of the responsibility which the situation involved. 
 " This awful responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly," 
 it was added, "and at so early a period of my life, that I
 
 H.M. THE yUbEN IN THE IMPERIAL DALMATIC ROBES, SEATED ON THE THRONE 
 OF HOMAGE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 After the picture by SIR GEORGE HAYTER. By Permission <T/"MKSSRS. HENRY 
 GRAVES & Co.
 
 40 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden, were 
 I not sustained by the hope that Divine Providence, which 
 has called me to this work, will give me strength for the 
 performance of it, and that I shall find in the purity of my 
 intentions, and in my zeal for the public welfare, that support 
 and those resources which usually belong to a more mature 
 age, and to long experience." The not very amiable diarist, 
 Greville, who certainly entertained a better opinion of 
 himself than he did of anyone else, would have it inferred 
 that the young Queen was at first received with indifference ; 
 but England would hardly have been herself had it really 
 been so. In point of fact, the public read the newspaper 
 accounts of what was happening, and of the new sovereign's 
 becoming demeanour in her trying situation, with keenest 
 interest; while the cheers which greeted her when she 
 appeared before the crowd which gathered beneath a 
 balcony at St. James's Palace, looking pale, and attired in 
 mourning, are described as having been such as could not 
 have been surpassed. The age was not an enthusiastic 
 one ; the people had been subjected to long periods of war 
 and gross misgovernment ; but to many the accession of the 
 young Queen must have been an event of hopeful augury. 
 
 The Queen was thus on the throne, what was the prospect? 
 We complain of hard times, and are ever tempted to think our 
 own exceptional in their badness ; or we trace the sufferings 
 we endure to causes which are quite foreign. In June 1837 
 Free Trade had not triumphed in these islands, as it has 
 since done ; but what was the general outlook ? 
 
 Our first witness may be The Manchester Courier of that 
 day, which remarked : " We are sorry to say that trade in 
 this district continues in a very depressed state, and the 
 consequence is a scarcity of employment and low wages for 
 the operatives, amongst whom, we regret to observe, distress 
 prevails to a most deplorable extent." 
 
 Our second witness shall be The Morning Chronicle, which 
 at the very beginning of the summer of 1837 said: "At 
 Manchester it is stated there are 50,000 hands out of 
 employ, and most of the large establishments are working 
 only half-time. At Wigan, which is not a large place, there 
 are 4,000 weavers totally unable to get work. Unless a
 
 ACCESSION OPENING OF THE QUEEN'S REIGN. 41 
 
 stimulus is shortly given to commerce, persons who have the 
 means of forming the most correct opinions say that half a 
 million of hands, at least, will be idle in the manufacturing 
 districts in the very worst time of the year." 
 
 The Birmingham Journal of the same time had this para- 
 graph on the " state of the country " : " A meeting convened 
 by the circular of several gentleman was held on Friday, at 
 the Public Office, for the purpose of considering what mea- 
 sures could be adopted sufficient to remove the present 
 appalling state of commercial distress. At this meeting it 
 was universally admitted that the number of unemployed 
 workmen, and the consequent distress which prevails, call 
 for the adoption of prompt and efficient measures ; and re- 
 solutions were passed expressive of the deep sympathy felt 
 by the meeting for their suffering fellow-townsmen and their 
 families." 
 
 The Nottingham Review bore equally doleful testimony, 
 saying : " The number of operatives employed by public sub- 
 scription on the roads is nearly 1,000. The relief committee 
 after anxious deliberation came to the decision, on Monday 
 evening, that in future the wages allowed could be only 
 eight shillings a week on day work." 
 
 Even The Fifeshire Journal joined in the universal outcry 
 by declaring : " The pressure u[on manufactures and com- 
 merce has at length reached our county." Thus from end 
 to end of the empire there was one ominous testimony to 
 the prevalence of acute distress. The general tendency for 
 at least forty years has been in the direction of free trade, 
 and the above allusions do not make it appear that a return 
 to protection would make periodical distress impossible. 
 
 The outlook soon brightened ; for in The Edinburgh Review 
 for July 1837 we read : 
 
 " The new reign is beginning well. The temporary 
 clouds, lately impending over us, have been lifted up as on 
 its approach. It is scarcely two months since the farmer 
 was threatened with a second 1816, the merchant with 
 another 1825. Providentially the cornfields and Mark Lane 
 agree in the brightness of our actual prospects. The 
 political spectres which, for the last six years, have been 
 stalking and gibbering in our streets, have also disappeared.
 
 42 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 During all that period we could hear nothing but one ever- 
 lasting cry of ' Wolf.' The horrors of the French Revolution 
 were daily knocking at our doors. At present, not only has 
 the revolutionary alarm subsided, but most persons admit 
 that history presents few national spectacles more encourag- 
 ing than the manliness and moderation which marked the 
 conduct of the English people throughout this stirring crisis, 
 their honest consciousness of the rectitude of their purpose, 
 and their just reliance on the stability of the institutions which 
 they loved. With what vigour did they shift the helm and 
 put about when they saw that the vessel of the State was 
 almost on the breakers ! How instinctively, as it were, did the 
 good ship seem to right itself, in spite of mutineers aboard ! 
 And ever since, how steady and gallant has been its bearing 
 over the open sea, the proof of adverse winds from opposite 
 quarters of the heavens only serving to keep it true to its 
 determined course." 
 
 The Queen thus came into her great inheritance at a time 
 when the outlook was anything but inviting or reassuring; 
 but to the shrewdly observant it was a time of transition 
 from the old world of the Georges and William IV. to 
 the Victorian era. 
 
 In connection with the Queen's accession we ought to 
 make honourable mention of William Lamb, second Lord 
 Melbourne, the first Premier of the new reign, and who, as 
 a veteran then verging on sixty years of age, became the 
 young Queen's instructor in matters of State, and in things 
 pertaining to her duty as a sovereign. Lord Melbourne 
 was not a great statesman nor a man of exceptionally 
 brilliant parts in any sense ; but he is generally supposed to 
 have performed this part of his delicate office with great 
 tact and wisdom, and with genuine solicitude for the welfare 
 of both sovereign and people. " I have no doubt he is 
 passionately fond of her," remarks Greville, " as he might 
 be of his daughter if he had one ; and the more because he 
 is a man with a capacity for loving, without having anything 
 in the world to love. It is become his province to educate, 
 instruct, and form the most interesting mind and character 
 in the world. No occupation was ever more engrossing, or 
 involved greater responsibility. I have no doubt that
 
 ACCESSION OPENING OF THE QUEEN'S REIGN. 43 
 
 Melbourne is both equal to and worthy of the task, and 
 that it is fortunate she has fallen into his hands, and that he 
 discharges this great duty wisely, honourably, and conscien- 
 tiously." Indeed, such lessons as were needed to be 
 learned were learned thoroughly well. The minister had 
 an apt pupil, who, in a surprising manner, rose to the 
 requirements of the situation and her high office. The 
 Duchess of Kent all at once found her office of guardian 
 gone ; the daughter who had hitherto leaned on her mother 
 having suddenly developed into the self-reliant monarch. 
 
 The events which took place in rapid succession all 
 tended to show the Queen's popularity. In the second 
 week of July she removed to Buckingham Palace, which 
 hundreds of workmen had made ready for her reception. 
 On Lord Mayor's Day, November Qth, she dined at the 
 Guildhall with the chief magistrate of the city and the civic 
 dignitaries, when the spectacle was one of rare brilliance 
 an historical event to be remembered for ever. On the 
 2oth of November the new Parliament was opened ; and 
 then on the 28th of the following June came the magni- 
 ficent pageant of the coronation. The year which had 
 passed since her accession had increased the Queen's 
 popularity ; and the interest now shown by the public was 
 probably without a parallel. So great was the influx of 
 country people into the metropolis that lodgings rose to 
 a fabulous price ; while the prices charged by cabmen and 
 others, who had conveyances for hire, were correspondingly 
 extravagant. It was a holiday long to be remembered, and 
 the Queen's bearing throughout was worthy of the occasion. 
 So, at least, thought Lord Ashley, who afterwards became 
 Lord Shaftesbury the philanthropist. "An idle pageant, 
 forsooth ? " he wrote in his diary, quoted by Mr. Edwin 
 Hodder. " As idle as the coronation of King Solomon, 
 or the dedication of his temple. . . . Many, very many, were 
 deeply impressed. The crowds were immense; perhaps 
 half a million of people assembled in admiring affection and 
 loyalty to witness the royal procession. Both during the 
 day and the night such order and good-humour were observed 
 as would have done honour to a private family. Even 
 the fair in Hyde Park has been quiet, decent, respectful,
 
 44 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 and safe. What a nation is this ! What materials for happi- 
 ness and power ! What seeds of honour to God and service 
 to man ! " 
 
 Greville has this anecdote, which in some measure helps 
 us to realise the scene : 
 
 " Lord Rolle, who was between eighty and ninety, fell 
 down as he was getting up the steps of the throne. Her 
 first impulse was to rise. When, afterwards, he came again to 
 do homage, she said, ' May I not get up and meet him ? ' and 
 then rose from the throne and advanced down one or two 
 of the steps to prevent his coming up an act of gracious- 
 ness and kindness which made a great sensation. It is, 
 in fact, the remarkable union of naivete, kindness, nature, 
 good-nature, with propriety and dignity, which make her 
 so admirable and so endearing to those about her as she 
 certainly is. I have been repeatedly told that they are all 
 warmly attached to her, but that all feel the impossibility 
 of for a moment losing sight of the respect which they owe 
 her. She never ceases to be a queen, but is always the 
 most charming, cheerful, obliging, unaffected queen in the 
 world." 
 
 While we read of things like these, and of the difficult 
 part which the maiden Queen had to act, one must bear 
 well in mind how different in many respects was that older 
 world of fifty years ago from the one in which we are now 
 celebrating the Royal Jubilee. Few, indeed, are the states- 
 men who were then living that have survived to see this 
 auspicious time. The conditions of life were then very 
 different from what they are now. In the main, travelling 
 had still to be accomplished by coach ; and the people, who 
 were suffering from commercial depression, were in all re- 
 spects in a backward condition. Sanitary science had made 
 but little headway, philanthropic work had not yet developed, 
 the children of the poor were generally uneducated. They 
 were hard times, and the people were sighing for better 
 days.
 
 WINDSOR CASTLE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 
 
 SCATTERED notices of what the young Queen was like, 
 what were her immediate surroundings, and what was the 
 character of the social and political outlook, appear in various 
 works ; and some of these, written by persons who actually 
 witnessed the scenes they described, enable us better than 
 anything else to obtain glimpses into the home life of the 
 maiden Queen at the beginning of her reign. A few weeks 
 after her accession on October 4th, 1837 the Court was 
 at the Pavilion, Brighton ; and we have met with this re- 
 miniscence of the occasion by Mr. Gutteridge, who was then 
 organist of the royal establishment : 
 
 " I waited the approach of Her Majesty in the music-room, 
 as she was inspecting the various rooms after her arrival, 
 thinking she might like to hear the noble organ . . . not the 
 one there now but a much larger one, and a very superior 
 instrument, which was removed to Osborne when the Pavi- 
 lion was dismantled. The Queen, on being informed who 
 I was, said she would like to hear the organ in the evening, 
 and I was requested to attend. During the evening, H.R.H.
 
 46 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 the Duchess of Kent, who, with several of the ladies-in- 
 waiting, stood by my side, expressed a wish to sing something 
 to the accompaniment of the organ. The well-known duet 
 from ' Nortna ' ' Mira Nonna ' was selected, which the 
 Duchess sang with the Hon. Miss Dillon. The Duchess 
 then turned and said to the Queen, ' Now, my dear, you 
 try something.' Her Majesty approached almost timidly, 
 and selected a song from Costa's opera of 'Malek Adel,' 
 which she sang in a pure, unaffected, correct, and charming 
 manner. It is a composition which requires more expression 
 than execution, but it was very perfectly rendered, nicely in 
 tune, and with excellent taste. Her Majesty then wished me 
 to play the ' Preghiera ' from Mehul's opera of ' Joseph,' but 
 I could not recollect it without the notes. She immediately 
 sent for her own music-book. I had the honour of holding 
 one side of the book while Her Majesty turned over the 
 leaves of the other until she came to the object of her search. 
 She seemed pleased at hearing it played, and requested me 
 to attend every evening during her stay in Brighton." 
 
 In the diary of the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury for 
 October 1838, as given by Mr. Edwin Hodder, when the 
 Queen was in her twentieth year, there is a charming picture 
 of home-life at Court at that early and interesting period. 
 
 " i \th. Windsor Castle. Here for a few days by desire of 
 Her Majesty, unquestionably a great honour, which demands 
 all gratitude and loyalty from us. We have the mornings 
 to ourselves, and the beauty and magnificence of the place, 
 the fineness of the weather, and the comfort of the apart- 
 ments, enable us to pass the time very agreeably. 
 
 " \2th. A noble ride yesterday through the park with Her 
 Majesty and train. The order of the ride and the arrange- 
 ments at dinner the same as usual ; in fact, the same since 
 Her Majesty mounted the throne. No ride to-day, the 
 Queen had a bad cold. 
 
 " I should be most ungrateful did I not feel and speak of 
 her condescension and kindness with the warmest affection 
 and loyalty ; from the hour she became queen to the present 
 day, I and mine have received one invariable succession of 
 friendly and hospitable acts, bestowed with a degree of ease, 
 good-humour, and considerateness which would be captivat-
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 47 
 
 ing in any private person. She manifests a desire to make 
 her favours as pleasant as they are honourable; and in most 
 instances (strange to be said of a Court) she is successful. 
 
 " i$th. Weather has been very bad. Cold in the extreme. 
 Yesterday (Sunday) Queen did not attend chapel, nor walk 
 on the terrace. The difference of the day was marked in 
 the evening by the absence of music at dinner and afterwards, 
 and no whist for the Duchess of Kent. I am agreeably 
 surprised here by the civility of the servants, the ready 
 attendance, the ease with which everything is procured ; 
 above all, the comfort of the house : it has, conjoined with 
 all its magnificence, the arrangements and convenience of a 
 private dwelling. Let me see, the hours were ten o'clock 
 for breakfast, unless it was preferred to breakfast in one's 
 own room ; two o'clock for luncheon ; a ride, or a drive, at 
 three o'clock for two hours or so ; dinner at half-past seven. 
 A military band at dinner, and the Queen's band after 
 dinner, filled up, and very necessarily, the pauses of con- 
 versation. We sat till half-past eleven at a round table, and 
 then went to bed." 
 
 From the first the Queen has shown a regard for the 
 Sabbath which produced a very wholesome effect on the 
 public mind ; for, as was shown in the reactionary days of 
 Charles II., the open desecration of the Sabbath at Court 
 encouraged loose habits among humbler folks, until the 
 people were demoralised in a manner which strangely 
 contrasted with their condition in Puritan times. The 
 reference just made to the music which necessarily enlivens 
 the solemn occasion of a State dinner becomes the more 
 interesting when taken in connection with an anecdote 
 which we have not met with in any life of the Queen. On 
 a certain day, guests more than ordinarily distinguished were 
 expected to dine at Windsor Castle ; and as the music on 
 such an occasion equals in importance other arrangements, 
 the special pieces selected in this instance required to be 
 patiently rehearsed by the band. Because the music was 
 difficult and Sunday intervened in the brief space of time 
 at his disposal, the conductor decided to appropriate that 
 day for practice, not dreaming that any difficulties would 
 present themselves. The men were ordered to attend ; and
 
 48 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 two German Wesleyans who had scruples of conscience in 
 the matter, were threatened with dismissal if they refused 
 to attend. The two Methodists were firm, however ; they 
 stayed away throughout the Sabbath ; and when they 
 appeared on Monday morning they were greeted with 
 violent language and told to go about their business. They 
 walked away somewhat downcast at losing their situations, 
 but soon after leaving the Castle they happened to meet the 
 Bishop of London, who stopped his carriage, and, after 
 hearing all about the affair, the Bishop promised to mention 
 it to the Queen herself. Soon afterwards the leader was 
 summoned into the royal presence ; and on being asked as 
 to what had become of the two players, he explained how 
 their " absurd religious scruples '' had led to their discom- 
 fiture. The Queen at once decided the matter for herself 
 by giving commands that the discharged players should at 
 once be restored to their places, adding, with emphasis 
 worthy of the occasion, " I will have no more persecution 
 in my service for conscience' sake, and / will have no more 
 rehearsals on Sunday" 
 
 After the young Queen had reigned about two years, the 
 nation which had welcomed her to the throne with true 
 English enthusiasm became desirous of seeing the sovereign 
 happily married. About three months after the birth of the 
 Princess Victoria there was born at Rosenau, Francis 
 Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel whose father was 
 brother to the Duchess of Kent the future husband of 
 the Queen of England. The young Prince, who was 
 brought up with his brother Ernest, was so far unfortunate 
 in his early years that the union of his parents was an 
 unhappy one. When he was about five years old, or in 
 1824, a separation took place between the Prince's father 
 and mother, and two years later they were divorced. The 
 Duchess died at the early age of thirty-two in 1832, after 
 a severe illness. Her children appear never to have seen 
 their mother after 1826 ; but the Prince Consort always 
 treasured very loving memories of his mother. 
 
 Even when he was a little child, those who attended on 
 Prince Albert would indulge in day-dreams about his future 
 happiness with an English bride. When the children of
 
 HER MAJESTY IN ST. GBOEGB's CHAPEL, WINDSOR, 1846. 
 
 From the painting ty H. K. DAWK
 
 SO VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 the Duke and Duchess of Clarence died early, and it became 
 more and more certain that the Princess Victoria would 
 come to the throne, there were those who thought that it 
 would be advantageous to both sides if she were to marry 
 her cousin Albert. From the first the royal pair were 
 greatly attached to each other ; but the preliminaries of so 
 momentous a business were not to be hastily settled. Of 
 course until the Queen showed her partiality and declared 
 her wishes on the subject there were other suitors and some 
 Court intrigues. 
 
 The Prince, accompanied by his father and brother, 
 visited the Duchess of Kent and the Princess at Kensington 
 in 1836. Between that date and the time of his second 
 visit to England in the autumn of 1839, King Leopold and 
 the faithful court physician, Baron Stockmar, had many 
 serious talks together on the subject ; and it may have 
 been quite evident to some other observers in what direction 
 things were tending. Prince Albert was virtually educated 
 for the high position he afterwards occupied ; and to which 
 he at once so nicely adapted himself. When at length 
 the Queen opened her heart, and confessed that her choice 
 had fallen upon him Court etiquette not allowing one of 
 inferior rank to ask the hand of the sovereign his prospects 
 occasioned Prince Albert intensest joy. " My prevailing 
 feeling is, What am I that such happiness should be mine ? " 
 he wrote. " For excess of happiness it is for me to know 
 that I am so dear to you." A more thorough love-match, 
 and one that continued such until the end, was never 
 heard of either before or since, either in palace or cottage. 
 
 Not even in castle or palace, however, with all the 
 resources of royalty at its command, may the course of 
 true love be expected to run quite smooth. The royal lovers 
 were as happy as they could be in each other; but there 
 were many little annoyances, incident to the situation, which 
 could not fail to occasion irritation. All the matters relative 
 to the Prince's household had to be arranged ; and in some 
 respects the arrangements were contrary to his own desires. 
 His annuity, which the Government fixed at ^50,000, gave 
 rise to a not very amiable debate in Parliament, when the 
 figures were reduced to ^30,000, after an unsuccessful
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 51 
 
 endeavour had been made to make the amount ^21,000. 
 These things could not fail to cause much annoyance ; 
 and until he better understood the tactics of political 
 parties, the Prince naturally thought that he was possibly 
 unpopular in England. 
 
 When he really landed on the 7th of February, 1840, 
 the Prince at once saw that the heart of the nation was 
 in sympathy with him. " Our reception has been most 
 satisfactory," he wrote to the Queen. " There were thou- 
 sands of people on the quays, and they saluted us with 
 loud and uninterrupted cheers." 
 
 February is perhaps the most uncertain month of the 
 year as regards weather ; and the crowds who thronged the 
 approaches to St. James's Palace on the morning of 
 February loth, 1840, perforce braved fog and cold for the 
 sake of seeing the wedding procession. No mist or rain 
 could damp the people's ardour, however the loyal 
 enthusiastic multitude which itself contributed to make up 
 such a spectacle as had never before been witnessed in 
 England. The bride, as her carriage passed from Bucking- 
 ham Palace to St. James's, was greeted by a tremendous 
 roar of applause. Unveiled, so that the populace should 
 not be denied the pleasure of looking upon her fair young 
 face, the Queen, who had her mother by her side, looked 
 pale and a little excited ; but this all passed away when 
 the ceremony was over, and on her return the bride was 
 able to acknowledge the still deafening cheers with right 
 royal winsome smiles. The scene was certainly without 
 a parallel in English history ; and then, later in the day, 
 the weather brightened into what all at once looked like 
 early spring. Then followed the twenty two miles' drive 
 to Windsor ; and nearly the entire length of that long 
 route was lined with spectators, who continued the round 
 after round of cheers which the Londoners had commenced 
 in the chill damp atmosphere of the early morning. The 
 Eton boys turned out to add what eclat they could to' the 
 occasion ; while the town of Windsor itself was bright with 
 illuminations. 
 
 One of the ladies-in-waiting at Court at that time was 
 Lady Lyttelton, whose remarks on the occasion are given
 
 52 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 in the " Life of the Prince Consort." " The Queen's look 
 and manner were very pleasing," she says ; " her eyes much 
 swollen with tears, but great happiness in her countenance ; 
 and her look of confidence and comfort at the Prince, when 
 they walked away as man and wife, was very pleasing to me. 
 I understand she is in extremely high spirits since. Such a 
 new thing for her to dare to be unguarded in conversing 
 with anybody ; and with her frank and fearless nature, the 
 restraints she has hitherto been under, from one reason 
 or another, with everybody, must have been most painful." 
 
 This was so far well ; but while the royal pair were happy 
 in each other's love, many things occurred to prevent the 
 course of life from running smoothly on. Though occupy- 
 ing so high a position, the Prince was really nothing more 
 in the eye of the law than he was before his marriage. 
 Hence the difficulties and worries which from time to time 
 arose in regard to precedence. " When I was first married," 
 says the Queen in a memorandum inserted in the " Prince 
 Consort's Life," "we had much difficulty on this subject, 
 much bad feeling was shown, several members of the Royal 
 Family showed bad grace in giving precedence to the 
 Prince, and the late King of Hanover positively resisted 
 doing so. ... When the Queen was abroad, the Prince's 
 position was always a subject of negotiation and vexation : 
 the position accorded to him the Queen always had to 
 acknowledge as a grace and favour bestowed on her by 
 the sovereigns whom she visited. While, in 1856, the 
 Emperor of the French treated the Prince as a royal 
 personage, his uncle declined to come to Paris, because 
 he would not give precedence to the Prince ; and on the 
 Rhine, in 1845, the King of Prussia would not give the 
 place to the Queen's husband which common civility 
 required, because of the presence of an archduke, the third 
 son of an uncle of the reigning Emperor of Austria, who 
 would not give the pas, and whom the King would not 
 offend. The only legal position in Europe, according to 
 international law, which the husband of the Queen enjoyed, 
 was that of a younger brother of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, 
 and this merely because the English law did not know of 
 him." Parliament might probably have settled the matter - }
 
 54 
 
 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 but showed no disposition to do so until the year 1857, 
 
 when by royal letters patent the title of Prince Consort 
 
 was conferred. 
 
 Still, in spite of every drawback, the wedded life of the 
 
 Queen and her large-hearted as well as gifted Consort 
 
 passed on- 
 ;;\*s; ward, one year 
 
 ,^'^**^ ; seeming to 
 
 ^SLr-- excel its pre- 
 
 decessor in 
 happiness. 
 
 The child- 
 ren who were 
 given to the 
 royal pair 
 added to the 
 delights of life. 
 " For a mo- 
 ment only was 
 the Prince dis- 
 appointed at 
 its being a 
 daughter and 
 not a son," 
 writes the 
 Queen her- 
 self, when the 
 PrincessRoyal 
 was born on 
 November 
 2 i st, 1840. 
 
 The PrinCCSS 
 
 From a photograph by Messrs. TURNER AND DRINKWATER. was married 
 
 to the Crown 
 
 Prince of Prussia on January 25th, 1858. The Prince of 
 Wales was born on November gth in the year 1841. "I 
 wonder very much whom our little boy will be like," wrote 
 the Queen to her Uncle Leopold. "You will understand 
 hou> fervent are my prayers, and I am sure everybody's 
 must be, to see him resemble his father in every, every 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES.
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 55 
 
 respect, both in body and mind." The Prince was married 
 to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, March loth, 1863. 
 On April 25th, 1843, came a second daughter ; and the 
 Queen wrote, " Our little baby is to be called Alice, an old 
 English name." The Princess married the Grand Duke of 
 Hesse in 1862, and died on the seventeenth anniversary of 
 her father's death, December i4th, 1878. There is no 
 exaggeration in saying that she was one of the most 
 exemplary royal women to be met with in all history a 
 sincere Christian whose philanthropic self-denial was only 
 surpassed by her patriotism. Prince Alfred, Duke of 
 Edinburgh, was born on August 6th, 1844 ; and on January 
 23rd, 1874, he was married to the Grand Duchess Marie of 
 Russia. The Princess Helena, born May 25th, 1846, was 
 married July 5th, 1866, to Prince Christian of Schleswig- 
 Holstein. Princess Louise, born March i8th, 1848, was 
 married March 2ist, 1871, to the Marquis of Lome. Prince 
 Arthur, Duke of Connaught, born on May Day, 1850, was 
 married to the Princess Marguerite of Prussia on March 
 i3th, 1879. On April 7th, 1853, another son was born. 
 " Leopold is to be the name of our fourth young gentleman," 
 wrote the Queen to her uncle of the same name. " It is a 
 mark of love and affection which I hope you will not dis- 
 approve. It is a name which is the dearest to me after 
 Albert's, and one which recalls the almost only happy days 
 of my sad childhood." On April 27th, 1882, the Prince 
 who was of an extremely amiable disposition, and promised 
 to become the scholar of the Royal Family was married to 
 Princess Helene of Waldeck; but he died suddenly at Cannes, 
 March 28th, 1884. Lastly comes Princess Beatrice, who was 
 born April i4th, 1857, and on July 23rd, 1885, was married 
 to Prince Henry of Battenberg. Thus out of this household 
 the beloved father and husband, and a son, and a daughter, 
 are already numbered among those who have gone before. 
 
 We will now give two anecdotes picturing the Queen as 
 she was during the days of early married life. Mr. James 
 Parton, an American writer, says it came to him " from 
 one who witnessed the occurrence." We learn from it how 
 kind, and yet how strict, was the home discipline of the 
 royal household :
 
 56 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 " One day, when the Queen was present in her carriage at 
 a military review, the Princess Royal, then rather a wilful 
 girl of about thirteen, sitting on the front seat, seemed 
 disposed to be rather familiar and coquettish with some 
 young officers of the escort. Her Majesty gave several 
 reproving looks at her, without avail. At length, in flirting 
 her handkerchief over the side of the carriage, she dropped 
 it, too evidently not accidentally. Instantly two or three 
 young heroes sprang from their saddles to return it to her 
 fair hand ; but the awful voice of Royalty stayed them. 
 
 " ' Stop, gentlemen ! " exclaimed the Queen. ' Leave it 
 just where it lies. Now, my daughter, get down from the 
 carriage and pick up your handkerchief.' 
 
 " There was no help for it. The royal footmen let down 
 the steps for the little royal lady, who proceeded to lift from 
 the dust the pretty piece of cambric and lace. She blushed 
 a good deal, though she tossed her head saucily, and she 
 was doubtless angry enough. But the mortifying lesson 
 may have nipped in the bud her first impulse towards 
 coquetry. It was hard, but it was wholesome. How many 
 mothers would be equal to such a piece of Spartan 
 discipline ? " 
 
 The other anecdote, by Grace Greenwood, relates to an 
 adventure which could hardly have happened in any other 
 European Court. 
 
 " My friend, Mr. W , is a person of very artistic 
 
 tastes, a passionate picture-lover. He had seen all the 
 great paintings in the public galleries of London, and had 
 a strong desire to see those of Buckingham Palace, which, 
 that not being a ' show-house,' was inaccessible to an 
 ordinary connoisseur. Fortune favoured him at last. He 
 was the brother of a London carpet-merchant, who had 
 orders to put down carpets in the state apartments of the 
 palace. And it so chanced that the temptation came to 
 my friend to put on a workman's blouse, and thus enter the 
 royal precincts, while the flag indicating the presence of the 
 august family floated defiantly over the roof. 
 
 "So he effected an entrance ; and when once within the 
 royal halls, dropped his assumed character, and devoted 
 himself to the pictures. It happened that he remained in
 
 58 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 one of the apartments after the workmen had left, and 
 while quite alone, the Queen came tripping in, wearing a 
 plain white morning dress, and followed by two or three 
 of her younger children, dressed with like simplicity. She 
 approached the supposed workman and said, ' Pray can 
 you tell me when the new carpet will be put down in the 
 Privy Council chamber ? ' 
 
 " And he, thinking that he had no right to recognize the 
 Queen under the circumstances, replied, ' Really, Madam, 
 I cannot tell, but I will inquire.' 
 
 " ' Stay,' she said, abruptly, but not unkindly ; ' who are 
 you? I perceive that you are not one of the workmen.' 
 
 " Mr. W , blushing and stammering somewhat, yet made 
 
 a clean breast of it and told the simple truth. The Queen 
 seemed much amused with his ruse, and for the sake of 
 his love for art forgave it ; then added smiling, ' I knew for 
 all your dress that you were a gentleman, because you did 
 not ' Your Majesty ' me. Pray look at the pictures as long 
 as you will. Good morning. Come, chicks, we must go ! " : 
 
 In their home life the Queen and the Prince Consort set 
 an example of domestic virtue to the nation which was far- 
 reaching in its influence ; and comparatively small incidents 
 frequently showed how punctiliously great principles were 
 respected. 
 
 Thus, on one occasion, when an English nobleman was 
 dining with the Queen, a lady who belonged to the royal 
 family challenged him to take wine with her. As, however, 
 the nobleman was a total abstainer, the compliment had to 
 be declined ; but the Duchess turned to the Queen and 
 remarked, in a good-humoured tone, " Please your Majesty, 
 
 here is Lord , who declines to take wine at your 
 
 Majesty's table." Of course all eyes were turned in one 
 direction to see what would be the sequel of such an indict- 
 ment ; but the Queen smiled graciously as she made the 
 reply, " There is no compulsion at my table." 
 
 Such things as these, which reveal to us the home life 
 of the Queen, and bring into view her social qualities, are 
 all of true worth ; for they prove that the better our 
 Sovereign is known the higher will she rank in the estima- 
 tion of her people.
 
 BALMORAL CASTLE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL. 
 
 BALMORAL CASTLE, the beautiful Highland resi- 
 dence of the Queen, occupies a commanding site on 
 the river Dee. It was purchased by the Prince Consort in 
 1852 for ^32,000. Four years previously the old house 
 had been rented by the Prince, and when the property 
 finally came into his hands he had the present castle erected, 
 which is in the Scotch baronial style. 
 
 The old castle is said to have been built by a Highland 
 chief; but in the seventeenth century it was hardly more 
 than a hunting station in the wilds. It was there that 
 Robert Gordon, brother of the Earl of Aberdeen, and for 
 some years British Ambassador at Constantinople, died in 
 1848, the worthy baronet having hired the house from the 
 Earl of Fife. 
 
 Soon after the death of this tenant, or on September 8th, 
 1848, the Royal Family visited the house ; and the Queen's 
 " First Impressions " are given in the first volume of her 
 Journal, thus : 
 
 " We arrived at Balmoral at a quarter to three. It is 
 a pretty little castle in the old Scottish style. There is a
 
 60 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 picturesque tower and garden in front, with a high wooded 
 hill ; at the back there is a wood down to the Dee, and the 
 hills rise all round. We lunched almost immediately, and 
 at half-past four we walked out, and went up to the top of 
 the wooded hill opposite our windows, where there is a 
 pretty winding path. The view from here, looking down 
 upon the house, is charming. To the left you look towards 
 the beautiful hills surrounding Loch-na-Gar, and to the right, 
 towards Ballater, to the glen (or valley) along which the 
 Dee winds, with beautiful wooded hills, which remind us 
 very much of Thiiringerwald. It was so calm and so 
 solitary, it did one good as one gazed around ; and the pure 
 mountain air was most refreshing. All seemed to breathe 
 freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and 
 its sad turmoils." 
 
 It was about this time that the Duke of Wellington sent 
 a number of Highland soldiers to Mar Castle to act as 
 a Guard of the Royal Family ; but the Queen dispensed 
 with their services, retaining only a few policemen to prevent 
 strangers from intruding into the grounds. This confidence 
 in the people became a better protection than armed bands. 
 With the adjoining estates of Birkhall and Abergeldie, 
 which have been added, there is an area of 30,000 acres ; 
 and we find that both the Queen and the Prince Consort, 
 on coming into possession, did their utmost to improve the 
 condition of the cottars. Schools were established ; the 
 cottages were improved, or new ones were erected ; the 
 parish school, which was inaccessible on account of distance 
 by many families, was supplemented by others ; a library for 
 the district was provided at the Castle ; and the Queen 
 herself visited many of the people in their own homes. 
 A great improvement in the estate, and in the condition 
 of the people, soon became apparent. The Prince was the 
 most liberal of landlords ; he was ever more solicitous for 
 the welfare of the tenants than for .his own emolument. 
 This trait in the character of the Prince was apparent 
 throughout his life and in all his dealings. When the 
 erection of the present castle commenced both wages and 
 building materials in the Highlands were at a low figure ; 
 but they soon advanced ; and the contractor would have
 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL. 61 
 
 suffered heavily had not the Prince relieved his fears by 
 insuring him against loss. A fire occurred while the works 
 were in progress ; the workmen's huts were burned, and 
 the main building was in danger. It was then that the 
 Prince was seen working like a common fireman in helping 
 to subdue the flames. The workmen's losses were made 
 good by the Queen. 
 
 As a lover of fine scenery the Queen has frequently been 
 seen busy with her sketch-book in the near neighbourhood 
 of the Castle ; and, before she was as well known as at 
 present, amusing incidents would sometimes happen. On 
 one occasion a boy with a flock found that his sheep were 
 timid of what looked like an amateur artist sketching by 
 the wayside. " Get out of the road, lady, and let the sheep 
 gang by," he shouted ; but although the peremptory order 
 was obeyed, the animals were still afraid to go forward. 
 " I say, gang back, will you ? and let the sheep pass," 
 again called out the boy. " Do you know, boy, who you 
 are speaking to ? " asked an attendant. " I dinna know 
 and I dinna care," replied the young shepherd with rural 
 brusqueness. " That's the sheep's road and she has no 
 business to stand there." " But that's the Queen," said 
 the other. " The Queen ? Is it the Queen ? " cried the 
 lad, somewhat discomfited, until he asked, "Well, but why 
 don't she put on clothes so that folks would know her" 
 The boy thus excused himself, and, in a way that he was not 
 aware of, complimented the monarch. 
 
 On September 28th, 1853, the Queen laid the foundation- 
 stone of the great tower ; the formalities partook of the 
 character of a religious service Mr. Anderson, the 
 minister of Crathie at that time, having prayed and were 
 followed by festivities. It was a memorable day ; but how 
 many loved forms, belonging to the Royal Family, who were 
 then present, have been removed by death ! 
 
 Some particulars about the Queen's life at Balmoral have 
 come to us from persons living on the estate. 
 
 Between the Keiloch and the Bridge of Dee there is a 
 great stone locally known as the " Devil's puttin' stone ; " and 
 on the south side of this, which has trees hanging over it, 
 is a wide piece of greensward on which the ueen halts for
 
 62 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 tea when she drives through the Glen of Aberarder. 
 During these drives various kinds of adventures are met 
 with, some of which serve to draw out the royal sympathy. 
 Thus, on one occasion, while it was raining hard, a man 
 the worse for drink was found lying in a ditch ; and before 
 proceeding, the royal servants had to remove him to a place 
 of safety. 
 
 Some four' or five years ago the coach from Ballater to 
 Braemar broke down some distance below the Bridge of 
 Dee, when a number of the passengers were injured. The 
 Queen, who happened to be passing, at once did what 
 was possible to lessen the sufferings of the people. She 
 drove to one of her own lodges and ordered the keeper 
 to go at once to the scene of the accident with refresh- 
 ments, and whatever might be necessary. 
 
 In September, 1885, a fatal accident befel James B , 
 
 a retired gamekeeper on the Balmoral estate who lived 
 in a cottage with his two sisters. This man went one day 
 to the Ballachbuie forest to cut some white heather, and 
 while endeavouring to get over an unusually high wire 
 fence he fell; but as his feet became entangled in the 
 top wires he hung where he was for twenty hours, all through 
 the night until 10 a.m. the next morning, when one of 
 his sisters and a friend found him. When the news reached 
 Balmoral a physician was sent off immediately, the Queen 
 herself following as quickly as possible, the royal carriage 
 being laden with a number of things which it was thought 
 might be of service. The Queen went into the room and 
 saw the sufferer ; but the man died that same night. The 
 cottage in which this poor family lived is of the picturesque 
 old-fashioned Highland pattern, square, with a chimney 
 in the centre serving for all the rooms. Thither drove the 
 Queen again on the day of the funeral to speak a word of 
 comfort to the bereaved sisters. 
 
 Many years ago a mother who lived at Monaltrie, Crathie, 
 left two children in her cottage while she went to visit some 
 friends. One was much older than the other ; and they 
 would have fared well had they not been tempted to fish 
 in a neighbouring burn which was much swollen by recent 
 rains. The younger fell into the water ; the elder bravely
 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL. 63 
 
 jumped in to save his brother, and both were drowned. 
 This distressing accident created a great sensation in the 
 district, and awakened great sympathy at the Castle. The 
 body of the younger boy was found where the burn enters the 
 Dee ; and when she heard of the accident the Queen sent 
 out her own men, and all the boats that could be got, to 
 search for the other body, while she herself drove along 
 the side of the river watching their efforts. * It was not 
 until the next day that the body of the elder lad was found 
 below Ballater. It was then that the Queen vistte.l the 
 family to express her sympathy, and to give them ^"10. 
 At or about Michaelmas, 1886, the father of these drowned 
 brothers died somewhat suddenly ; and on hearing of this, 
 the Queen drove to the cottage to express sympathy with 
 the widow. On learning that the Queen was coming to 
 see her the woman came out of her cottage towards the 
 road ; but a servant requested her to return indoors, as Her 
 Majesty desired to have some talk with her. The widow 
 also received a substantial gift. It was noticed on this 
 occasion that the sovereign had on a long black cloak, 
 which completely covered her dress, and an old-fashioned 
 black hat. 
 
 Some time ago the Queen had a house built in Balloch- 
 buie Forest, near the Falls of Garrawalt ; and this is occu- 
 pied by the forester, Mr. M , and his family. One room 
 
 in this house is the Queen's own apartment, having been 
 specially furnished and set apart for the royal party whenever 
 they pass by that way. The forester has a son called 
 Victor, a daughter somewhat younger of the name of 
 Beatrice, while a third child is Henry, after Prince Henry 
 of Battenberg. At the christening of this latter, the Queen, 
 Prince and Princess of Battenberg, Dr. Profit, and others 
 were present, when the Prince gave his namesake a suitably 
 inscribed silver jug. Victor and Beatrice were even more 
 fortunate ; for having been present at their christening, the 
 Queen herself gave to each a silver mug as a souvenir of her 
 royal regard. 
 
 The servants of the Castle have no cause to complain of 
 the treatment they receive ; for in life no less than in death 
 their royal Mistress seems to be solicitous for their welfare.
 
 64 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 Thus, in the autumn ot 1886, the pantryman at Balmoral 
 died, when his widow was brought to London free of expense, 
 and asked whether she would prefer the funeral to take 
 place in London or at Crathie. The interment took place 
 in Scotland, and the widow receives a yearly allowance 
 sufficient for her maintenance. 
 
 On her birthday, the Queen herself distributes presents to 
 her household servants. As one by one they come forward 
 each receives from the hands of the sovereign some pretty 
 or useful keepsake in memory of the occasion. At Balmoral 
 a footman and a dressing-maid are despatched with a 
 carriage filled with presents for the cottars, each needy 
 woman for five miles round receiving a dress, a pound of 
 tea, and two pounds of sugar. There is also a daily dis- 
 tribution of food, the remainders of dishes, etc., which will 
 not be required again by the household. Five poor persons, 
 each carrying a pitcher and a basket, are seen walking to- 
 wards the Castle every week-day morning when the Queen 
 is in residence, to fetch away beef, bread, dripping, etc., and 
 as each five go only once a week, the remains are thus dis- 
 tributed among thirty families of the district. In addition 
 to this, all the poor people of the estate, that is to say all 
 for miles around, are desired, in case of any sickness, to send 
 freely to the Castle for soup, beef-tea, grapes, lemons, wine, 
 or anything that an invalid can require. The Queen also 
 keeps a qualified nurse at an hospital near the house, more 
 especially for servants or tenants ; but the nurse's services 
 are by no means confined to such ; she is freely sent to any- 
 one in the neighbourhood who may need her attention. 
 
 Indeed, the Queen herself will sometimes discover some 
 aged or ailing creature who requires some extra attention. 
 Thus, on a certain windy day, when it was also raining hard, 
 Her Majesty noticed, while out in her carriage, that the thatch 
 of a certain cottage had been blown away. The horses were 
 stopped; the Queen alighted and entered the cottage, to 
 find a woman in bed, with sundry basins distributed over the 
 coverlet to catch the copious drippings from the roof. A 
 message was despatched to a certain official to have the house 
 thatched at once, and the invalid made comfortable, a 
 peremptory order that was very quickly obeyed.
 
 66 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 The Queen is devotedly fond of the grand Highland 
 scenery around Balmoral; when the more remote districts 
 are visited the Sovereign is often not recognised. On 
 one occasion, when the Queen came to a very secluded 
 spot, she left the carriage and walked on alone. Presently 
 a number of children were seen at play ; but when spoken 
 to these ran off to tell their mother, who came out and 
 held a conversation with the strange lady. The Queen 
 asked the names of the children, and on hearing one of 
 these, asked if it had not been given after a lady in the 
 neighbourhood, which turned out to be the fact. When 
 the visitor departed the cottager was sorely puzzled, and 
 would have been glad to know her name. 
 
 When another year had passed the same visitor ap- 
 peared again to ask kindly after the welfare of the family, 
 and specially to inquire about the children. The lady 
 talked about various things, not forgetting to ask if the 
 potatoes were good, because the disease was about the 
 country. The woman spoke without restraint, not suspect- 
 ing the quality of her visitor ; but in a Highland neighbour- 
 hood such a secret cannot be long kept. When the husband 
 returned soon after, he remarked that he had seen the 
 Queen pass in a certain direction, so that when the strange 
 lady again appeared the Highland woman addressed her 
 as "Your Majesty." 
 
 As regards the treatment of tenants and servants, the 
 Queen is an exemplar which all Highland proprietors might 
 imitate with credit to themselves and profit to their depend- 
 ants. Occasionally the kindness of the Sovereign may be 
 found reproving those who are less generous. Thus, some 
 years ago, there lived a poor man near to Balmoral who 
 had notice to quit his home ; but being attached to the 
 place he refused to obey until both he and his wife were 
 forcibly turned out into the road, their furniture, meanwhile, 
 being exposed to the rain, no shelter of any kind being 
 available. Old Willie, as the man was called, had plenty 
 of sympathy; for, besides being well liked by his neigh- 
 bours, he was something of a " character " in a local sense. 
 Happily for Old Willie and his afflicted spouse, however, 
 the Queen happened to pass just at that time, when, of
 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL. 67 
 
 course, the unusual spectacle of a man and wife with their 
 possessions being out in the road naturally excited some 
 curiosity. The Queen ordered inquiry to be made, and 
 on learning the truth about the state of affairs, she imme- 
 diately provided the old couple with a house on the 
 Balmoral estate. Even much more than that was done ; 
 for the man, who had no regular work before, was installed 
 into a permanent situation. Old Willie considers that the 
 eviction was one of the most fortunate things that ever 
 happened to him. His enemies intended to do him an 
 ill turn, but they did him good beyond all power of calcula- 
 tion. When in the grounds Prince Leopold would some- 
 times converse with this man whose domestic adventures 
 had been of almost tragic interest. 
 
 The Queen and Princess Beatrice manifest a genuine 
 royal interest in the Sunday-school at Crathie ; and every 
 Christmastide a treat is provided for the children at Bal- 
 moral. Several Christmas-trees are set up, and these are 
 hung with a plentiful supply of such presents as the boys 
 and girls will appreciate. As they advance in life these 
 children are otherwise befriended; for the profits of the 
 Queen's "Journal in the Highlands" have been devoted to 
 the founding of several bursaries for the education of boys 
 residing in Crathie. Three of these bursaries are for the 
 University of Aberdeen, and each winner receives ,30 a 
 year for four years. The people regard them as a great 
 boon. 
 
 When the Queen leaves Balmoral for England, the 
 gardeners, ghillies, and gamekeepers stand near the door of 
 the castle to say good-bye, while their wives and families 
 take up a position a little farther down the road for the 
 same purpose. It is on these occasions that the Queen 
 takes with her for distribution among poor persons in 
 England knitted socks, stockings, gloves, as well as petticoats 
 and other things, which the cottars around Balmoral have 
 been well paid for making. Many of these cottars naturally 
 feel that their Sovereign is a personal friend. By way of 
 showing what kind relationship exists between the castle 
 and the cottage we may quote just one passage from the 
 second volume of the Queen's "Journal" :
 
 68 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 "On Sunday, August 22nd, 1869, I went to see old 
 Mrs. Grant, whom I was grieved to see sitting in her chair 
 supported by pillows, and her poor feet raised upon 
 cushions, very much altered in her face, and, I fear, dying 
 of dropsy. On August 26th I again saw her, and gave her 
 a shawl and a pair of socks, and found the poor old soul in 
 bed, looking very weak and very ill, but bowing her head, 
 and thanking me in her usual way. I took her hand and 
 held it. On the 27th she died. On the 28th I stopped at 
 her cottage and went in with Louise and Leopold. We 
 found all so clean and tidy, but all so silent. Mrs. Gordon, 
 her daughter, was there, having arrived j ust in time to spend 
 the last evening and night with her ; and then she lifted the 
 sheet, and there the poor old woman, whom we had known 
 and seen from the first here, these twenty-one years, lay 
 on a bier in her shroud, with her usual cap on, peaceful and 
 little altered, her dark skin taking away from the usual 
 terrible pallor of death. She had on the socks I gave her 
 the day before yesterday. She was in her eighty-ninth 
 year." 
 
 We cannot refrain from quoting a passage from the diary 
 of Dr. Norman Macleod, as given in his memoir, which gives 
 a picture of life at Balmoral a quarter of a century ago, in 
 the sad early days of the Queen's widowhood : 
 
 " May 14^. . . . After dinner I was summoned unexpect- 
 edly to the Queen's room. She was alone. She met me, 
 and with an unutterably sad expression which filled my eyes 
 with tears, at once began to speak about the Prince. It 
 is impossible for me to recall distinctly the sequence or 
 substance of that long conversation. She spoke of his 
 excellences his love, his cheerfulness, how he was every- 
 thing to her ; how all now on earth seemed dead to her. 
 She said she never shut her eyes to trials, but liked to look 
 them in the face ; how she would never shrink from duty, 
 but that all was at present done mechanically ; that her 
 highest ideas of purity and love were obtained from him, 
 and that God could not be displeased with her love. But 
 there was nothing morbid in her grief. I spoke freely to 
 her about all I felt regarding him the love of the nation 
 and their sympathy ; and took every opportunity of bringing
 
 LIFE AT BALMORAL. 69 
 
 before her the reality of God's love and sympathy, her 
 noble calling as a Queen, the value of her life to the nation, 
 the blessedness of prayer. 
 
 " Sunday, the whole household, Queen and Royal Family, 
 were assembled at i o. 1 5. A temporary pulpit was erected. 1 
 began with a short prayer, and then read Job xxiii., Psalm xlii., 
 beginning and end of John xiv., and end of Revelation vii. 
 After the Lord's Prayer I expounded Hebrews x. 1-12, 
 and concluded with prayer. The whole service was less 
 than an hour. I then at twelve preached at Crathie on 
 ' All things are ours.' In the evening at Crathie on ' Awake, 
 thou that sleepest.' The household attended both services. 
 
 "On Monday I had another long interview with the 
 Queen. She was much more like her old self cheerful, 
 and full of talk about persons and things. She, of course, 
 spoke of the Prince. She said that he always believed that 
 he was to die soon, and that he often told her that he had 
 never any fear of death." 
 
 The writer of these passages was deservedly a great 
 favourite with the Queen, who herself says in one place, 
 " No one ever raised and strengthened one's faith more than 
 Dr. Macleod." 
 
 Such is the kind of life which the Queen has led in the 
 past, or still lives, during her annual visits at Balmoral. It 
 is the favourite royal dwelling-place a "dear paradise," 
 where memories of former happy days occur at every turn. 
 The Prince Consort had much to do with planning the 
 house and laying out the grounds a fact never forgotten by 
 her dependants, but especially kept well in remembrance by 
 the Queen herself. 
 
 While congratulating the Queen in this Jubilee year, let 
 us also accord her our sympathy. The Viscountess Folke- 
 stone lately said at a meeting : " I was talking to Princess 
 Christian not very long ago, and she said to me, ' You do 
 not know how lonely mamma is. She feels as if all her 
 old friends were dying off one by one. All her daughters 
 are married and have left her except Beatrice, and she is so 
 lonely ! ' One cannot be astonished at this who looks back 
 to the time when the Prince Consort was all in all to her."
 
 OSBORNE HOUSE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 
 
 r I ^HE half century of the Queen's reign has been beyond 
 J_ all comparison the most interesting period of English 
 history ; it is crowded with what might well call for more 
 than a passing notice ; but as space is necessarily limited, 
 we shall not do more than allude to some of the principal 
 events which have occurred during the fifty years. 
 
 First, allusions may be made to the attempts which have 
 been made on the Queen's life. The first of these occurred 
 on June loth, 1840, while the Queen and Prince were 
 driving up Constitution Hill in a low open carriage. The 
 would-be assassin's name was Edward Oxford, a barman, 
 and only seventeen years of age. He fired twice, happily 
 without effect ; but the Prince, who occupied a place in 
 the carriage at the time, was extremely anxious lest the 
 occurrence should have an injurious effect on Her Majesty's 
 health in her condition at that time. Oxford was supposed 
 to be insane although there is little probability that he 
 was so : and hence was sentenced to confinement for life. 
 After a long confinement he was released on condition that
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 71 
 
 he went to Australia, where he may possibly be living at 
 the present time. 
 
 The second attempt, by John Francis, took place on 
 May 29th and 3oth, 1842, under very similar circumstances. 
 "On Sunday the 29th, as we were returning from the Chapel 
 Royal, St. James's Palace, at two o'clock, as we drove along 
 the Mall, there was as usual a crowd of spectators under 
 the trees on our left, who bowed and cheered," wrote the 
 Prince to his father. "When we were nearly opposite 
 Stafford House, I saw a man step out from the crowd, and 
 present a pistol full at me. He was some two paces from 
 us. I heard the trigger snap, but it must have missed fire. 
 I turned to Victoria, who was seated on my right, and asked 
 her, ' Did you hear that ? ' She had been bowing to the 
 people on the right, and had observed nothing. I said, 
 ' 1 may be mistaken, but I am sure I saw some one take 
 aim at us.'" The footmen had not noticed anything 
 unusual ; but a boy who had witnessed the whole thing, 
 and had heard Francis exclaim, " Fool that I was not to 
 fire ! " came forward to give evidence. The Queen and 
 the Prince felt quite assured that their adventure was only 
 preliminary to a more determined attempt which would 
 certainly "le made ; but, notwithstanding, they went out for 
 a drive, with the confident expectation of again having to 
 encounter the assassin. What followed was best told by 
 the Prince himself in the letter already mentioned : " We 
 drove out at four, gave orders to drive faster than usual, and 
 for the two equerries, Colonel Wylde and Colonel Arbuth- 
 not, to ride close to the carriage. You may imagine that 
 our minds were not very easy. We looked behind every tree, 
 and I cast my eyes round in search of the rascal's face. We, 
 however, got safely through the Parks, and drove towards 
 Hampstead. The weather was superb, and hosts of people 
 were on foot. On our way home, as we were approach- 
 ing the Palace, between the Green Park and the garden 
 wall, a shot was fired at us about five paces off. It was 
 the fellow with the same pistol a little, swarthy, ill-looking 
 rascal. The shot must have passed under the carriage, for 
 he lowered his hand. We felt as if a load had been taken 
 oft our hearts, and we thanked the Almighty for having
 
 72 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 preserved us a second time from so great a danger." A 
 danger indeed ; for the Prince felt convinced that if the 
 pistol had not missed fire on the day before he would have 
 been hit in the head. It should be noted, also, that the 
 Queen did not allow her ladies in waiting to attend her 
 during that dangerous drive, as she said to Miss Liddell, 
 afterwards Lady Bloomfield, " I was determined to expose 
 no life but my own." Francis was sentenced to death ; 
 but was afterwards reprieved and transported for life. 
 
 On June 27th, 1850, Robert Pate struck the Queen on 
 the forehead with a cane while she was leaving Cambridge 
 House ; and, notwithstanding the plea of insanity, was 
 sentenced to seven years' transportation. 
 
 On the 3rd of July, in the same year, a deformed man 
 named Bean fired at the Queen, the pistol missing fire ; 
 and this led to some alteration in the law. Some other 
 things of a similar character have also occurred. On 
 February 29th, 1872, Arthur O'Connor, a youth of eighteen, 
 presented an unloaded pistol at the Queen while she was 
 entering Buckingham Palace, and was at once apprehended. 
 
 Then in December, 1878, Edward Bryne Madden, who 
 was supposed to be insane, threatened to attack the Queen. 
 Lastly, Roderick Maclean, aged twenty-seven, fired at Her 
 Majesty at Windsor on March loth, 1882. 
 
 The Chartist movement was among the most striking of 
 the phenomena which characterised the first ten years of 
 the Queen's reign. Large numbers of the industrial classes 
 who were not enfranchised by the first Reform measure 
 became dissatisfied; and their dissatisfaction was heightened 
 by the trade depression, with its consequent suffering, which 
 followed after the death of William IV. The " People's 
 Charter " was a programme which has long since ceased to 
 be thought revolutionary ; and, indeed, Chartism would 
 hardly have attained to the ephemeral importance it did, 
 had not persons with old-time notions magnified its dangers. 
 The promoters gained the ear of large numbers of operatives 
 in manufacturing districts ; and The Northern Star, as chief 
 organ of the movement, attained a circulation of 50,000. 
 The state of affairs in Manchester, and other places, is 
 alluded to in the Prince Consort's Life. " Disorderly mobs
 
 74 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 traversed the country, forcing their way into mills and 
 manufactories, destroying their machinery, and compelling, 
 by threats and intimidation, those who were willing to work 
 to leave working, and join in their riotous demonstrations." 
 There were monster petitions to Parliament, but many of 
 the signatures were forgeries ; and some of the leaders 
 showed that they were hardly reformers at heart, by opposing 
 the Anti-Corn Law League. Chartism reached its climax in 
 1848, a year of European revolution, and of trade depres- 
 sion and in that year it also died of inanition. The 
 military had to put down riots at Glasgow ; and in other 
 towns there were disturbances ; but the chief alarm of all 
 was caused by threatened monster processions in London, 
 and the assembling of half a million persons on Kennington 
 Common. Some 170,000 special constables were sworn, 
 the late Emperor of the French being one and the 
 Duke of Wellington had his troops- in readiness ; but, mean- 
 while, Chartism had collapsed. Only about 50,000, instead 
 of half a million, assembled at Kennington, the procession 
 to Westminster did not take place, and the much-talked- 
 about monster petition was found in some degree to be an 
 imposture. Industrial prosperity returned, and Chartism 
 became a thing of the past. 
 
 The Queen was from the first so popular with the great 
 body of the people, that the visits paid to distant parts of 
 the empire were certain to arouse considerable enthusiasm. 
 One of the most enjoyable and profitable of these tours was 
 that taken into Scotland in 1842. The Queen and the 
 Prince appear to have been more charmed with the North, 
 ( its people and its associations, than with anything they had 
 'yet seen, the change of scene having been the more grateful 
 on account of the anxieties which had pressed upon their 
 minds during the previous months. " The country is full 
 of beauty, of a severe and grand character," wrote the 
 Prince ; " perfect for sport of all kinds, and the air remark- 
 ably pure and bright in comparison with what we have 
 here." 
 
 After the rising of Parliament in the following year, 1843, 
 the Queen and Prince crossed the Channel in their new 
 yacht Victoria and Albert for the purpose of visiting the
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 75 
 
 royal family of France. The Duke of Sussex, one of the 
 Queen's aged uncles, had died in the spring, otherwise the 
 year, with its brightening commercial prospects, was happier 
 than its predecessor. King Louis Philippe had been a 
 friend of the Duke of Kent; while the family of Orleans 
 and that of Coburg were related by marriage. The visit 
 lasted from August 28th to the yth of September; and while 
 the enthusiasm of the French people seems to have been 
 aroused, the visit was something more than a mere State 
 ceremonial to those more immediately concerned. The 
 meeting gave intense pleasure to both families, our own 
 Sovereign having been very warmly attached to both the 
 King and Queen of France. The visit also had an excellent 
 effect in bringing about a better understanding between the 
 two countries. Still, there was sadness mingled with the 
 festivities ; for the young Duchess of Orleans was in widow's 
 weeds, her accomplished husband, and heir to the French 
 throne, having been killed in a carriage accident in July of 
 the preceding year. Then, as regarded the King himself, 
 who in turn became the guest of Victoria as an exile after 
 the Revolution of 1848, he died at Claremont, apparently 
 of a broken heart, just about seven years later in August, 
 1850. 
 
 Immediately afterwards a visit was paid to the chief 
 cities of Belgium, the King being the brother of the 
 Duchess of Kent, the Uncle Leopold who from her 
 earliest years had shown great solicitude for the welfare 
 of the Princess Victoria. " It was such a joy to me," wrote 
 the Queen, " to be once more under the roof of one who 
 has ever been a father to me." The Prince himself added, 
 " Never have I seen such enthusiasm as the Belgians showed 
 us at every step. Victoria was greatly interested and 
 impressed ; and the cordiality and friendliness which met 
 us everywhere could not fail to attract her towards the 
 Belgian people." 
 
 In the following year, 1844, it became the turn of other 
 crowned heads to visit -the English Court. The King of 
 Saxony came at the beginning of June, and a day or two 
 later there came Nicholas I., Emperor of Russia, whose 
 sudden appearance was something of a surprise. Born in
 
 76 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 1796, he was the third son of Paul I. who was murdered by 
 some of his own people in the first year of this century, and 
 brother to the good Alexander I., who did so much to pro- 
 mote the circulation of the Scriptures in Russia. Nicholas 
 was an eccentric man, who loved to do strange things ; 
 but Christian charity will make some allowances for the 
 adverse circumstances of his early years. Wherever he 
 went he, carried with him a leathern case, on which he 
 always slept ; and not even the etiquette of the English 
 Court could prompt him to alter his practice. Baron 
 Stockmar tells us that " the first thing that his valets did, on 
 being shown his bedroom at Windsor Castle, was to send 
 to the stable for some trusses of clean straw, to stuff the 
 Emperor's leathern case." Twenty-eight years previously, 
 in the lifetime of the Princess Charlotte, Nicholas, when 
 only Grand Duke, had visited England and the Court, where 
 his good looks and manners had produced a favourable 
 impression, especially among the Princess Charlotte's ladies. 
 The object in visiting England a second time was doubtless 
 political. The Emperor appears to have been more than 
 pleased with much that he saw ; at times he was even affected 
 by the kindness he received, or by the domestic happiness he 
 witnessed at our Court ; and this makes it all the more to be 
 regretted that only ten years later his country and our own 
 should have been at war a strife which brought nothing but 
 disaster to all concerned. 
 
 In one of her letters to her Uncle Leopold, the Queen 
 gives the impressions which this visitor made upon her 
 mind : " There is much about him I cannot help liking, and 
 I think his character is one which should be understood, 
 and looked upon for once as it is. He is stern and severe, 
 with strict principles of duty which nothing on earth can 
 make him change. Very clever I do not think him, and 
 his mind is not a cultivated one. His education has been 
 neglected. Politics and military concerns are the only 
 things he takes great interest in ; the arts and all softer 
 occupations he does not care for*; but he is sincere, I am 
 certain, sincere even in his most despotic acts, from a 
 sense that it is the only way to govern. . . . He is, I 
 should say, too frank, for he talks so openly before people,
 
 THH QUERN IN A COTTAOH HOMIi. 
 
 'age 60.
 
 78 VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 which he should not do, and with difficulty restrains him- 
 self. His anxiety to be believed is very great, and I must 
 say his personal promises I am inclined to believe. Then 
 his feelings are very strong. He feels kindness deeply, and 
 his love for his wife and children, and for all children, is 
 very great. He has a strong feeling for domestic life, 
 saying to me, when our children were in the room, ' These 
 are the sweet moments of our life ! ' One can see, by the 
 way he takes them up and plays with them, that he is very 
 fond of children." 
 
 Still, all could see that the Emperor was not a happy 
 man ; there was melancholy in his countenance which 
 saddened his royal entertainers. He never drank wine. 
 He spoke of the terrible strictness with which he had been 
 reared, and how he had lived in continual fear of his mother. 
 His position was not an enviable one ; but on the whole he 
 made a good impression on the English people. He also 
 took care, as Stockmar intimates, to distribute " number- 
 less snuff-boxes and handsome presents" among the 
 courtiers. 
 
 On the 8th of October following there was another 
 royal visitor at Windsor, Louis Philippe, the aged King of 
 the French. " What numbers of emotions and thoughts 
 must fill his heart on coming here!" wrote the, Queen. 
 " He is the first King of France who comes on a visit to 
 the Sovereign of this country. A very eventful epoch 
 indeed, and one which will surely bring forth good fruits." 
 The King had in former years lived in England as an exile, 
 and now it occasioned him rare delight to visit old scenes, 
 especially when at every point he was cordially greeted by 
 the people. He did not visit London, because when in 
 France our own Queen had not gone to Paris ; but the cor- 
 poration of London went down to Windsor in full civic state 
 to present the King with an address. Louis departed on 
 the 1 4th ; his visit, having been exceedingly well-timed, did 
 much in the way of cementing the friendship of two nations 
 which had previously been regarded as hereditary foes. 
 
 It was at this time that the Tractarian or Puseyite con- 
 troversy broke out, while the An ti- Corn-Law agitation was 
 reaching its height, the tax on the poor man's loaf having
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 79 
 
 been abolished in June, 1846, or nine years after the 
 Queen's accession. 
 
 In August, 1845, the Queen and Prince paid a memor- 
 able visit to Germany, where in the course of a lengthened 
 tour they saw the scenery of the Rhine, the chief cities of 
 the country, and especially the home scenes of the Prince 
 and his brothei at Rosenau. In towns and villages the 
 royal party was received with great enthusiasm ; they were 
 welcomed by maidens dressed in green and white; showers 
 of flowers were thrown at them without mercy; numberless 
 speeches were made by the clergy and others; and the Queen 
 was pleased at having presented to her some associates of 
 her husband's college days. The quiet of Rosenau was more 
 enjoyed than all the brilliant pageantry elsewhere. After 
 church on August 24th, it was noticed that "the peasants, 
 in their smart dress, with its bright colours, looked remark- 
 ably well. The men, when in their best clothes, wear 
 jackets with steel buttons, leather breeches and stockings, 
 and a fur cap." The Queen adds: "I sketched a lovely 
 housemaid there is here in her costume, and three good 
 little peasant girls mere children. They are quite poor 
 children, and yet so well dressed in nice clean things (their 
 Sunday dress ) ; and this is because they are peasants, and 
 do not aspire to be more. Oh, if our people w ould 
 only dress like peasants, and not go about in flimsy faded 
 silk bonnets and shawls ! " In the quiet of evening the 
 Queen also wrote : " I cannot think of going away from 
 here. I count the hours for I have a feeling here which I 
 cannot describe a feeling as if my childhood also had 
 been spent here." The absence from England was about a 
 month ; and that autumn which followed saw the railway 
 mania, which was worthy of being compared with the South 
 Sea Bubble excitement of a century and a quarter before. 
 In the succeeding spring there was a commercial panic, 
 after which came the repeal of the corn laws. 
 
 The estate of Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, was 
 purchased in 1845 ; and the present house having been 
 erected by Mr. Cubitt, the household began to reside there 
 in September, 1846. In one of her letters, quoted by Sir 
 T. Martin, the Dowager Lady Lyttelton says : " Our first
 
 So VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 night in this house is well past. Nobody smelt paint or 
 caught cold, and the worst is over. It is a most amusing 
 event coming here to dinner. Everything in the house is 
 quite new, and the drawing-room looked very handsome ; 
 the windows lighted by the brilliant lamps in the room must 
 have been seen far out at sea. I was pleased by one little 
 thing. After dinner we were to drink the Queen and 
 Prince's health as a house-warming. And after it the Prince 
 said, very naturally and simply, but seriously : ' We have a 
 hymn,' he called it a psalm, ' in Germany for such 
 occasions : it begins,' and then he repeated the lines in 
 German, which I could not quote right, meaning a prayer to 
 ' bless our going out and our coming in : ' it was dry and 
 quaint, being Luther's we all perceived that he was 
 feeling it." The poor of the locality surrounding the 
 Queen's residence in the Isle of Wight receive much kind- 
 ness from the Royal Family. Our picture, on page 77, 
 represents Her Majesty, as she is often found, paying a 
 visit to a cottage home. 
 
 The Irish famine of 1847 was an unparalleled national 
 calamity ; and in spite of the great efforts made to meet 
 the emergency by the English people, the deaths in Ireland 
 during the year amounted to nearly a quarter of a million. 
 The scarcity was felt on all sides. The price of wheat rose to 
 between five and six pounds a quarter ; economy had to be 
 practised even in the palaces, the Queen herself remarking : 
 " The price of bread is of an unparalleled height; we have 
 been obliged to reduce everyone to a pound a day, and 
 only secondary flour is to be used in the royal kitchen." 
 The grants made by the English Parliament amounted to 
 ten millions sterling ; and after a time of dreadful trade 
 depression and suffering, the prospect brightened with an 
 abundant harvest, which had the effect of reducing bread to 
 less than half its former price. 
 
 The visit of the Queen, Prince, and elder children to 
 Ireland in the summer of 1848 was also a time of great 
 rejoicing ; and seemed to show that at heart the Irish 
 people are not disaffected, or that they need not have 
 remained so if proper means had been taken in past times 
 to ensure their loyalty. The tour is well described in the
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 81 
 
 Queen's "Journal." It was by way of compliment to the 
 Irish that the Prince of Wales became Earl of Dublin one 
 of the titles of the Duke of Kent while the Cove of Cork, 
 where the Sovereign landed, was henceforth called Queens- 
 town. A second visit was made to Ireland in 1853, on the 
 occasion of the Dublin Great Exhibition. 
 
 After the return of the Royal Family to England, Adelaide, 
 the Queen Dowager, died, December 2nd, 1849. Then in 
 1850 the deaths of Wordsworth the poet, aged eighty, Sir 
 Robert Peel, aged sixty-two, and the Duke of Cambridge, 
 occurred within a few weeks of each other. It was at this 
 time that people first began to talk about the forthcoming 
 first Great Exhibition the famous World's Fair in Hyde 
 Park, which was the event of 1851. This was also the time 
 when % the public excitement rose to fever heat over the 
 papal aggression, or the parcelling out of England into 
 dioceses by the Pope. The Great Exhibition of 1851, 
 which the Prince worked so hard to make a success, brought 
 an immense influx of foreigners into England ; and in spite 
 of all that has been said against it, one cannot but believe 
 that much was done to teach mankind the grand fact, that 
 God has made of one blood all nations of the earth. In 
 the following year the public were affected by the death 
 of the poet Thomas Moore, and the Duke of Wellington ; 
 and shortly after the complicated Eastern Question was in 
 the front, the outcome having been the unnecessary and 
 disastrous Crimean War. 
 
 The great event of the spring of 1855 was the visit of the 
 Emperor and Empress of the French to Windsor ; and as 
 Louis Napoleon was then our ally in the war, every effort 
 was made to give him and his wife a fitting reception. The 
 party arrived on the i6th of April, having been met at 
 Dover by Prince Albert ; and three days before the widowed 
 ex-Queen of the French, Marie Amelie, -made a call at 
 Windsor Castle. " It made us both so sad," wrote our 
 own Queen, as quoted by Sir T. Martin, " to see her drive 
 away in a plain coach with miserable post-horses, and to 
 think that this was the Queen of the French, and that six 
 years ago her husband was surrounded by the same pomp 
 and grandeur that three days hence would surround his 
 
 6
 
 82 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 successor. The contrast was painful in the extreme," It 
 was impossible then to foresee that the man about to be 
 welcomed was merely running through the course of an 
 adventurer, who a few years later would also die in inglorious 
 exile on English soil. 
 
 , On their arrival in London the French visitors were well 
 received by the people, the heartiest cheers coming from 
 vast concourses who had turned out to see their progress. 
 "In passing King-street," says a newspaper report, "the 
 Emperor was observed to draw the attention of the Empress 
 to the house which he had occupied in former days ; and 
 in him at least the sight of this house under such altered 
 circumstances must have raised some strange emotions." 
 
 Referring to her reception of her guests at Windsor 
 the Queen writes : " I cannot say what indescribable 
 emotions filled me how much all seemed like a wonderful 
 dream. These great meetings of sovereigns, surrounded by 
 very exciting accompaniments, are always very agitating ! 
 I advanced and embraced the Emperor, who received two 
 salutes on either cheek from me, having first kissed my 
 hand. I next embraced the very gentle, graceful, and 
 evidently very nervous Empress. We presented the Princes 
 (the Duke of Cambridge, and the Prince of Leiningen, the 
 Queen's brother) and our children (Vicky with very alarmed 
 eyes making very low courtesies) ; the Emperor embraced 
 Bertie ; and then we went upstairs, Albert leading the 
 Empress, who, in the most engaging manner, refused to go 
 first, but at length with graceful reluctance did so, the 
 Emperor leading me, expressing his great gratification at 
 being here and seeing me, and admiring Windsor." A 
 number of presentations took place in the throne-room, 
 after which the royal visitors were conducted to their 
 apartments a suite of rooms adorned with some of the 
 best works of Rubens, Vandyck, and other masters. 
 
 The visit lasted from the i6th to the 2ist of April, and 
 everything passed off without a hitch. State visits were 
 paid to the City of London, to the Crystal Palace, and 
 elsewhere ; and notwithstanding the depression naturally 
 caused by war, the public enthusiasm never flagged. When 
 all was over the Queen wrote : " It is a dream, a brilliant,
 
 84 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 successful, pleasant dream, the recollection of which is 
 firmly fixed in my mind. ... I am glad to have known this 
 extraordinary man, whom it is certainly impossible not to 
 like when you live with him, and not, even to a considerable 
 extent, to admire." The Emperor occupied the bedroom 
 at Windsor in which Nicholas of Russia and Louis Philippe 
 had slept. In the month preceding this visit the Emperor 
 of Russia had died ; just a year later peace was proclaimed. 
 In August, 1855, the Queen, the Prince, and some of 
 their children visited the Emperor and Empress at Paris ; 
 most interesting details of this visit have been given to the 
 people by the Queen herself. They were most magnificently 
 entertained ; and the more interest is now attached to the 
 occasion because the splendid palaces of the Tuileries and 
 St. Cloud are at present in ruins. Referring to the former 
 the Queen says : " The Emperor took us into his apart- 
 ments up a short flight of steps which consist of a suite 
 of rooms, six in number, opening one into the other. In 
 his bedroom are busts of his father and uncle, and an old 
 glass case, which he had with him in England, containing 
 relics of all sorts, that are peculiarly valuable to him." 
 Wearing a common bonnet, and veiled, the Queen with the 
 Prince and the Princess Royal drove through the principal 
 parts of Paris without being recognised. Amid all the 
 brilliance and the cheering of the people, however, the 
 English monarch felt how uncertain everything really was, 
 since the old dynasty had been so recently swept away. 
 " How little security one feels for the future ! " she 
 remarked. Then, when the tomb of Napoleon I. was 
 visited, it was added: "There I stood, at the arm of 
 Napoleon III., his nephew, before the coffin of England's 
 bitterest foe ; I, the grand-daughter of that King who hated 
 him most, and who most vigorously opposed him, and this 
 very nephew, who bears his name, being my nearest and 
 dearest ally." 
 
 This visit thus went off well in all respects, and un- 
 doubtedly had much to do in drawing the two countries into 
 closer alliance. The regard of the Queen for the Emperor 
 was increased. " I felt I do not know how to express it 
 safe with him," remarks the Sovereign. " His society is
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 85 
 
 particularly agreeable and pleasant ; there is something 
 fascinating, melancholy, and engaging, which draws you 
 to him, in spite of any prejudice you may have against 
 him, and certainly without the assistance of any outward 
 advantages of appearance, though I like his face." 
 
 In the autumn of 1856 England was again at war with 
 both China and Persia ; and then, in the following year, 
 the Mutiny in India horrified the entire civilised world. 
 Meetings for relief of sufferers were held, and upwards of 
 a quarter of a million sterling was collected. One good 
 result came out of this rising the East India Company, 
 which had ruled for its own emolument rather than the 
 welfare of the country, came to an end. This was also 
 the year of the Manchester Fine Arts Exhibition, about a 
 week before the opening of which the old Duchess of 
 Gloucester the last of the children of George III. died 
 at the age of eighty-one. 
 
 The great event of the opening of 1858 was the marriage 
 of the Princess Royal. Speaking of the actual ceremony 
 the Queen wrote in her Diary : " It was beautiful to see 
 her kneeling with Fritz, their hands joined, and the train 
 borne by the eight young ladies, who looked like a cloud 
 of maidens hovering round her, as they knelt near her. 
 Dearest Albert took her by the hand to give her away 
 my beloved Albert (who, I saw, felt so strongly) which 
 reminded me vividly of having in the same way, proudly, 
 tenderly, confidently, most lovingly knelt by him, on this 
 very same spot, and having our hands joined there. . . . 
 The music was very fine, the Archbishop very nervous ; 
 Fritz spoke very plainly, Vicky too. The Archbishop 
 omitted some of the passages." 
 
 In the following August the Queen and Prince went to 
 Cherbourg, a more private visit having been paid in the 
 summer of 1857. This was more of a state occasion, when 
 the royal party were received by the Emperor and the 
 Empress themselves. As it was also in some measure a 
 public occasion speeches had to be made both by the 
 Emperor and the Prince ; and, from a curious passage in 
 the Queen's " Journal," we are enabled vividly to realise the 
 sufferings of persons of high rank who have to speak when
 
 86 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 the eyes of the world are upon them, e.g. : " The Emperor 
 unbent, and talked in his usual frank way to me during 
 dinner. But he was not in good spirits, and seemed 
 sensitive about all that has been said of him in England 
 and elsewhere. At length, dinner over, came the terrible 
 moment of the speeches. The Emperor made an admirable 
 one, in a powerful voice, proposing my health and those of 
 Albert and the Royal Family. Then, after the band had 
 played, came the dreadful moment for my dear husband, 
 which was terrible to me, and which I should never wish 
 to go through again. He did it very well, though he 
 hesitated once. I sat shaking, with my eyes riveted to 
 the table. However, the speech did very well. This over, 
 we got up, and the Emperor in the cabin shook Albert by 
 the hand, and we all talked of the terrible ' emotion ' we 
 had undergone, the Emperor himself having ' changed 
 colour,' and the Empress having also been very nervous. 
 I shook so I could not drink my cup of coffee." 
 
 The tour was extended to Berlin, where the Queen visited 
 her eldest daughter. The effect on the royal visitors of the 
 immense naval and military resources of Cherbourg was not 
 altogether pleasing, especially as a change in the manners 
 of Louis Napoleon himself was observed. At all events, the 
 authorities began to realise, as had not been done before, 
 that our own country was in a comparatively unprotected con- 
 dition; and not very long after, the income-tax was increased 
 in order to provide for its better defence, while the volunteer 
 forces were organised. 
 
 Thus far the life-course of the Queen had been one of 
 great domestic happiness, overshadowed, it is true, by 
 occasional clouds of trial incident to human life, notwith- 
 standing rank and influence; but in 1861 death began to 
 claim his own among the members of the royal household. 
 In March, 1861, the Duchess of Kent died at the age of 
 seventy-five. The Queen could hardly realise that the 
 friend of her childhood and youth had really gone. " My 
 childhood everything seemed to crowd upon me at once," 
 she remarked. " I seemed to have lived through a life, 
 and to have become old." In the Duchess's sitting-room 
 all was "unchanged, chairs, cushions, everything, all on
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 87 
 
 the tables, her very work-basket with her work, the little 
 canary bird, which she was so fond of, singing ! " Thus 
 death visits palace and cottage alike with terrible im- 
 partiality. 
 
 This great trial was followed by a greater, when a few 
 months later the good Prince Consort himself passed away, 
 at the early age of forty-two. During the year his labours 
 had greatly increased. Though unable to devote so much 
 attention to the work of organising the Great Exhibition, 
 which was to be held in 1862, he still aided the promoters 
 with advice ; and while he still did all that was possible to 
 save the Queen, the burden of work became much heavier 
 through his having been appointed sole executor by the 
 Duchess of Kent. What he had to do was evidently too 
 much for his strength ; but this was not realised as it should 
 have been until the Prjnce broke down beneath the strain. 
 The circumstances attending the Prince's illness in December, 
 1 86 1, will be too familiar with the reader to need recapitu- 
 lation ; but we quote what Sir T. Martin says about his 
 last hour on earth, on Saturday evening, December i4th, 
 1861: 
 
 " In the solemn hush of that mournful chamber there was 
 such grief as has rarely hallowed any death-bed. A great 
 light, which had blessed the world, and which the mourners 
 had but yesterday hoped might long bless it, was waning 
 fast away. A husband, a father, a friend, a master, endeared 
 by every quality by which man in such relations can win 
 the love of fellow-men, was passing unto the silent land, 
 and his loving glance, his wise counsels, his firm manly 
 thought should be known among them no more. The 
 Castle clock chimed the third quarter after ten. Calm and 
 peaceful grew the beloved form ; the features settled into 
 the beauty of a perfectly serene repose ; two or three long 
 but gentle breaths were drawn ; and that great soul had fled, 
 to seek a nobler scope for its aspirations in the world within 
 the veil, for which it had often yearned, where there is rest 
 for the weary, and where the spirits of the just are made 
 perfect" 
 
 The accounts, as given by the Queen herself in her Diary, 
 of the Prince's last hours make up one of the most affecting
 
 88 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 passages to be found in English history ; but by such art 
 irreparable loss alone could the monarch of this great 
 empire learn the intensity of the public sympathy. 
 
 The chief events of the following year were the marriage 
 of the Princess Alice to the Prince Louis of Hesse ; the 
 opening of the second Great Exhibition, the offer of the 
 crown of Greece to Prince Alfred ; and the distress in the 
 cotton districts. 
 
 The great pageant of 1863 was the entry of Princess 
 Alexandra into London on the yth of March, as bride- 
 elect of the Prince of Wales, when the decorations of the 
 streets equalled, if they did not surpass, anything of a similar 
 kind that had ever been attempted before. The crowds 
 were very enthusiastic in their greetings, and the illumina- 
 tions on the loth, the day of the marriage, were exceed- 
 ingly magnificent, the only damper having been that several 
 persons lost their lives owing to the density of the crowds. 
 
 In 1866 the Atlantic telegraph was successfully completed 
 between Great Britain and America. Though not seen in 
 public so often as of old, the Queen still favoured her 
 people by occasionally appearing among them. In the year 
 just named she opened the new waterworks at Aberdeen; 
 in February, 1867, she opened Parliament in person ; and 
 having gone through the ceremony of laying the memorial- 
 stone of the additional buildings of St. Thomas's Hospital in 
 May, 1868, in November of the following year the Sovereign 
 opened the new Blackfriars Bridge and the Holborn Viaduct. 
 In March, 1871, the Queen also opened the Royal Albert 
 Hall, the building having cost ^200,000. 
 
 The illness of the Prince of Wales, which occurred at the 
 end of the year, just after the return of the Queen from 
 Balmoral, greatly distressed the nation. It seemed to be 
 singularly providential that the Princess Alice was in 
 England, for having ten years before nursed her father in 
 his last illness, the Princess now again acted as a minister- 
 ing angel in the sick room of her brother. With true 
 motherly solicitude the Queen hastened to the afflicted 
 household, but again returned to Windsor when all seemed 
 to be progressing favourably. When, however, a relapse 
 occurred on December 8th, Her Majesty again went down
 
 PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE STATUE IN WINDSOR CASTLE. 
 Inscription : 
 
 " HE POINTS TO HEAVEN AND LEADS THE WAV."
 
 90 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 to Sandringham. For a time many were hourly expecting 
 to hear of the Prince's death ; but on the i4th of December, 
 the tenth anniversary of his father's departure, he began to 
 amend. The scene presented in London on Thanksgiving- 
 Day, the 27th of February, 1872, was in away unparalleled. 
 The Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the 
 Princess Beatrice attended service in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 
 THANKSGIVING DAY AT ST. PAUL'S. 
 
 where 13,000 people were congregated, the sermon being 
 preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury from Romans 
 xii. 5. London was illuminated, and the Queen addressed 
 a letter to her people, in which she showed how greatly she 
 appreciated their sympathy. 
 
 Just seven years after the recovery of the Prince of 
 Wales, or on the seventeenth anniversary of her father's
 
 SOME NOTABLE EVENTS. 91 
 
 death, the good and amiable Princess Alice also passed 
 away. As her letters prove, this Princess was an earnest 
 Christian philanthropist, and one who worked for the good 
 of the poor both in England and Germany. In the early 
 spring of 1884, her brother Leopold also died suddenly at 
 Cannes, so that the circle of the Royal Family now shows 
 three vacant places the father, a son, and a daughter all 
 of whom were really royal exemplars for more humble 
 people. 
 
 The Duke of Albany's brief lifework is commemorated 
 by the church of St. George at Cannes, opened on 
 February i2th, 1887, by the Bishop of Gibraltar, in presence 
 of the Prince of Wales and other distinguished personages. 
 A newspaper report tells us that the preacher of the day 
 founded his discourse on Gen. xxxv. 14, 15. Refer- 
 ring to Prince Leopold, the Bishop drew attention to the 
 fact that the edifice was erected close to the spot where 
 the youngest son of the Queen died suddenly three years 
 ago in the very flower and promise of a bright and useful 
 life. It had been hoped, from the proof of a thoughtful 
 intelligence given by the Prince in his public utterances, 
 that he would one day fill a conspicuous place in the 
 intellectual life of the nation. God willed otherwise ; just 
 as life, with all its golden opportunities, opened before him 
 he was taken away, to the inconsolable sorrow of his 
 youthful consort and of our beloved Queen. The Bishop 
 detailed the growth of the Memorial from its inception to 
 its dedication that day to the service of God, adding that 
 the church was also a token of Christian faith and a 
 national acknowledgment erected on a foreign shore. The 
 service closed with a hymn and the benediction. 
 
 Thus, through the eventful decades we have come to the 
 time of jubilee one of the most memorable years in the 
 history of England, and one that will see many new land- 
 marks set up in different parts of the country.
 
 BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE ERA OF PROGRESS. 
 
 IN a sense that is not true of any other modern period, 
 the fifty years of the Queen's reign have been an era of 
 progress. In 1837 the country was in a transition state, 
 and even shrewd and far-seeing people did not altogether 
 understand the outlook. At the death of George IV. the 
 order of things which had obtained in the older world of 
 our fathers passed away, the Reform Bill era, inaugurated 
 by exciting controversy, riots, and iconoclasm, having com- 
 menced. On all sides there was talk of new inventions and 
 enterprises, which were destined to have their share in 
 working a social revolution. Some hundreds of miles of 
 railway were already laid down ; but the great main lines 
 had yet to be constructed. Other things, which had at- 
 tracted only little notice during the long period of exhaus- 
 tive wars which had characterised the end of the old, and 
 the beginning of the new century, were courting some 
 attention. It was beginning to be understood that epi- 
 demics of disease were not mere freaks of nature, but were 
 preventable calamities. The development of sanitary 
 science, and the extension of philanthropic enterprise, were
 
 THE ERA OF PROGRESS. 93 
 
 destined to confer untold blessings on the people, especially 
 on the poor. In a word, by following the arts of peace, 
 instead of pursuing the false glories of war, the country 
 was gradually but surely going forward towards something 
 better than had yet been known. It is true that there were 
 darkening clouds on the horizon of both the industrial and 
 political world ; but these, as a result of past folly and 
 misgovernment, would in time pass away. To those who 
 were sufficiently far-seeing, the outlook was one of hope 
 and promise. The stagnation of trade, the lack of employ- 
 ment and consequent suffering, became, however, for the 
 time a chief means of keeping alive the Chartist agitation 
 of the succeeding eleven years. 
 
 In briefly referring to the general progress made in half 
 a century, we will look first at the wonderful expansion of 
 the British Empire itself. Our Home Islands embrace an 
 area of 121,000 square miles, but this territory, when 
 supplemented by the other sixty-five countries and islands 
 over which our Queen sways her sceptre, represents a fifth 
 part of the whole world. One of our smallest possessions is 
 Gibraltar, which is under two square miles ; the largest is 
 Canada, which extends over the ample area of 3,500,000 
 square miles ; the next largest possession being Australasia, 
 which measures 3,173,000 square miles. 
 
 In 1837 the total number of persons in the United 
 Kingdom was 25,648,008, which in 1885 had increased to 
 36,331,300. Fifty years ago the population of the whole 
 Dominion of Canada, including Newfoundland, was under 
 a million and a half; it is now not far short of four millions 
 and three quarters. Quite as notable has been the 
 growth of the Australasian Colonies, which half a century 
 ago amounted to 134,059, but is now 3,278,934. These are 
 the principal figures ; we need not enter into minor details. 
 
 The raising of coal alone represents one of our greatest 
 industries, the number of persons employed being now 
 between five and six hundred thousand. Before the Acts 
 were passed, prohibiting women and children from working 
 in mines and collieries, a system prevailed which allowed 
 wrongs to be practised which were a disgrace to our common 
 civilisation : girls and children, who in many instances
 
 94 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 were little more than infants, worked like beasts of burden 
 in the pits ; and the alteration of the law represents one of 
 the most beneficent reforms of the Queen's reign. * The 
 increase in the amount of coal raised since the pits have 
 been properly regulated has been enormous. In 1837 the 
 total brought to the surface was about 20,000,000 tons ; but 
 at present more than that amount is required for export alone, 
 the entire output of 1886 having been about 160,000,000 
 tons. There has been a fall in price since 1881 ; but with 
 the revival of trade the markets are sure to rise. 
 
 Closely allied with this is the iron trade, for only by the 
 consumption of vast quantities of fuel can iron be produced. 
 In the old days of the early Georges wood was used for 
 smelting in the South of England ; but a few thousand tons 
 sufficed for the national demand. In 1840 the total was 
 under fourteen hundred thousand tons, and in 1882 this 
 had increased to between eight and nine million tons. 
 There has been a time of depression ; but during this 
 jubilee year this great industry also begins to present a 
 more hopeful outlook. 
 
 The figures relating to the extension of trade and 
 commerce are too great for their full significance to be 
 grasped by one effort of the mind. In 1837 our total 
 imports amounted in round numbers to ^66,000,000, of 
 which a little less than a quarter would be re-exported ; but 
 at present our total annual imports are in value ^3 74,000,000, 
 of which the value of ^58,000,000 is re-exported. In other 
 words, the imports for home consumption have increased 
 from fifty millions to three hundred and sixteen millions a 
 year. In 1837 our total annual exports amounted in value 
 to ^58,000,000 ; but they are now ^271,000,000^ 
 
 If we ask whence comes this wonderful growth, we shall 
 find that it has arisen from many causes. The legislation 
 which has removed the artificial barriers that obstructed 
 the progress of trade is thought by many to have been one 
 
 * For further information on this subject see the Author's " Shaftes- 
 bury : His Life and Work." (S. W. Partridge & Co.) 
 
 f For many of our facts and figures in this chapter, we are indebted 
 to the National Federation League, which has issued carefully compiled 
 statistics.
 
 THE ERA OF PROGRESS. 95 
 
 cause ; the development of steam-power on sea and land, 
 providing a cheap and more rapid transit of goods, has 
 been another cause, while the large yield of gold in the 
 Australasian mines has also exercised some influence. 
 
 Having interests so vast and so widely scattered, any 
 social economists would tell us that the army and navy 
 needed to be much more efficient than was the case in 
 1837. In that year the annual charge for our army and 
 navy, exclusive of India, was something over ^8,000,000 ; 
 but now it exceeds ^3 1,000,000 ; and there are more than 
 a quarter of a million of volunteers. While maintaining 
 the vast naval and military forces which are now at our 
 command, we are becoming growingly reluctant to engage 
 in wanton wars after the manner of our forefathers. 
 
 Then in regard to one of our greatest institutions the 
 Post Office the Queen's reign has been a period of reform 
 and of rapid expansion. It was in 1837, or the very year 
 of her Majesty's accession, that the late Rowland Hill first 
 suggested the reforms which were afterwards adopted ; and 
 these changes directly and indirectly stimulated trade and 
 commerce. In 1839 the gross annual revenue of the Post 
 Office was a little over two and a half millions sterling, but 
 it is now not far short of eight millions. The yearly number 
 of letters and packets sent through the post has also in- 
 creased during the reign from under 83 millions to over 
 2,000 millions. To accommodate this increased business, 
 a new General Post Office on a grand scale is about to be 
 erected in Aldersgate-street. 
 
 The growth of religious denominations is also a sign of 
 our times ; never before was there such an era of church and 
 chapel building, of extension of mission work abroad, and 
 of philanthropic enterprise at home. Fifty years ago, little 
 was attempted in the way of raising the degraded ; but now 
 every town seems to have its own special mission to the 
 poor, the suffering, and the ignorant. The vast increase in 
 the incomes of the principal missionary societies is also the 
 best indication of extension of enterprise abroad. 
 
 Next look at the progress we have made in education. 
 Prior to the Victorian era charity and other schools were 
 thinly scattered over the face of the country, but there was
 
 96 VICTORIA : QUEEN AND EMPRESS. 
 
 no system of national education. Queen Anne had been 
 a warm-hearted friend of the poor in the matter of charity 
 schools ; and after her death the Society for Promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge became instrumental in founding a large 
 number of primary schools in England and Ireland. Still, 
 when in 1780 Raikes commenced his celebrated crusade, the 
 Sunday-school presented the only opportunity of an educa- 
 tion which many children enjoyed. Then, a few years later, 
 the Quaker, Joseph Lancaster, began the system which bears 
 his name ; and this was followed in 1811 by the National 
 School Society of the Established Church. Annual grants 
 by the Government were commenced in 1834, and the 
 work was continued by the Committee of the Privy Council 
 on Education. We might go on and show how, step by 
 step, progress was made until the national system of educa- 
 tion was accomplished by the Act of 1870, and those which 
 succeeded it. 
 
 In 1837 Scotland showed an attendance of 200,000 
 scholars out of a population of 2,500,000 ; England was in 
 a similar plight ; while out of the 8,000,000 who then 
 crowded Ireland, only about 400,000 attended school. 
 The character of the contrast between the old times and 
 the new will be seen in the different amounts voted on 
 account of education. In 1851, the year of the first great 
 Exhibition, it was ^150,000; in 1884-5 the amount ex- 
 pended by the London School Board in the maintenance of 
 elementary schools alone exceeded a million sterling. In 
 this matter of education the Colonies are following in the 
 wake of the mother country; and not until one or two 
 generations have passed through the schools will the full 
 results of the system be fully seen. 
 
 Such has been the general progress made ; and now, in 
 this Jubilee year, we are cheered by a general decrease of 
 crime ; and our prison population is decreasing. While, 
 then, we rejoice, let us thank God for His goodness to us as 
 a nation, and from our hearts congratulate the Sovereign on 
 her happy reign. 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
 
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 Lilies; or, Letters to Schoolgirls. By well-known 
 
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 . W. PARTRIDGE AND CO.'S 
 
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 9d. each. 
 
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 Grandmother's Child. By Annie S. Swan. Royal i6mo. 
 
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 Herbert Dalton : A Tale of Fame and Fortune By Mary 
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 CATALOGUE OF NEW AND POPULAR WORKS. 13 
 
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 Into the Light. By Jennie Perrett. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth. 
 
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 14 A W. PARTRIDGE AND CO.'S 
 
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 CATALOGUE OF NEW AND POPULAR WORKS. 15 
 
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 "5 
 125 
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 16 S. IV. PARTRIDGE AND CO.'S CATALOGUE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED MONTHLIES. 
 
 The Yearly Volume for 1886, cloth, plain, 75. 6d. ; gilt edges, IDS. 6d. 
 
 THE WELCOME. With numerous Engravings by first-class Artists. 
 Monthly Parts, Sixpence. The Articles are by popular Authors, and are suitable 
 for the entertainment of both youth and old age. A Page of Music appears in every 
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 THE BRITISH WORKMAN. An Illustrated Paper for Pro- 
 
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 THE FAMILY FRIEND. With Costly Illustrations. One 
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 THE CHILDREN'S FRIEND. One Penny Monthly (16 pages), 
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 THE INFANT'S MAGAZINE. Printed in clear, bold type.. 
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 THE MOTHER'S COMPANION. A New Monthly Illustrated 
 
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