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diff --git a/39603-8.txt b/39603-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc69b0a --- /dev/null +++ b/39603-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6305 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Public Life of Queen Victoria, by John +McGilchrist + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Public Life of Queen Victoria + + +Author: John McGilchrist + + + +Release Date: May 3, 2012 [eBook #39603] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PUBLIC LIFE OF QUEEN +VICTORIA*** + + +E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://archive.org/details/publiclifeofquee00mcgi + + + + + +THE PUBLIC LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA. + +by + +JOHN MCGILCHRIST. + + + + + + + +Felt and Dillingham, +455, Broome Street, New York. + + + + +CONTENTS. + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + + ANCESTRY. + + Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the Protector of + Luther--Staunch Protestantism of the Queen's Saxon + Forefathers--House of Saxe-Coburg--A Saxon Desperado of the + Middle Ages--A Fighting Hero of the Eighteenth Century--The + Queen's Grandmother a Woman of Extraordinary Excellence-- + Great Alliances in the Marriages of her Uncles and Aunts 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE GREATEST OF THE MODERN COBURGS. + + Romantic Career of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the Queen's + Uncle--His Continuous, Kind, and Fatherly Care of his + Orphaned Niece--The Duchy of Coburg held by Napoleon-- + Sufferings of the Ducal Family--A Temptation resisted--The + Tide turned--Leopold's Popularity in England--Betrothal and + Marriage to the Princess Charlotte of Wales 8 + + + CHAPTER III. + + PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF QUEEN VICTORIA. + + How the Princess Victoria came to be Heiress Presumptive to + the Throne--Death of the Princess Charlotte--Marriages of the + Royal Dukes--Of the Duke of Kent--Birth of the Princess + Alexandrina Victoria--Prediction of George IV.--Death of the + Duke of Kent--His Character--His Liberal Opinions--Public + Condolence with the Widow and Orphan--Early Life of the + Duchess of Kent 14 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + FIRST YEARS OF CHILDHOOD. + + Old Memories of Kensington Palace--Enlargements of the + Structure by William III., Anne, Queen Caroline, and the Duke + of Sussex--Maids of Honour--Rank and Beauty in the Gardens-- + Wilberforce and the Infant Princess--Victoria at Ramsgate--A + Picture of Victoria when Five Years Old--Her Physical + Training--Popularity as a Child--Her Youthful Charities--A + Narrow Escape from Death--Early Development of Quick + Intelligence--Anecdotes--Love of Nature--Proneness to + Self-Will--But Counterbalanced by Candour--Waggishness--A + Portrait of the Child-Princess by Leigh Hunt 23 + + + CHAPTER V. + + EDUCATION OF THE PRINCESS VICTORIA. + + Additional Grant by Parliament for the Maintenance and + Education of the Princess--Wise Lessons learned at her + Mother's Knee--A Visit to George IV. at Windsor--Assiduous + Pursuit of Knowledge--Accession of William IV.--Victoria + becomes next in Succession to the Crown--Regency Bill-- + Satisfaction of the Good Grandmother at Coburg--Her Death-- + Joy of Victoria at the Elevation of her Uncle to the Belgian + Throne--Parliamentary Inquiry into the Progress of her + Education--Satisfactory Report in Response--Presented at + Court--Great Ball on her Twelfth Birthday at St. James's + Palace--Court Scandal and Baseless Rumours--The Duchess of + Northumberland appointed Governess--The Princess and the + Poet Southey 37 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE PRINCESS IN HER TEENS. + + Visits paid to many parts of England--Love of Cathedrals and + Church Music--Trip to North Wales and the Midland Counties-- + Visit to a Cotton Mill--To Oxford--Gala Day at Southampton-- + Interview with the Young Queen of Portugal--Confirmation of + the Princess--Tour to the North--York Musical Festival--At + Ramsgate with the King of the Belgians--A Noble Deed at + Tunbridge Wells 47 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + EARLY DAYS OF PRINCE ALBERT. + + Birth--Melancholy Story of his Mother--Brought up under the + Care of his Two Excellent Grandmothers--His Winning Ways as + a Child--His Tutor, Florschütz--The Brothers, Ernest and + Albert--Visit to Brussels, and its Beneficial Effects--Hard + Study--Tour through Germany, &c.--First Visit to England, + and Meeting with Victoria--Studies at Brussels--Enters the + University of Bonn--Tour to Switzerland and Italy--Public + Announcement of Betrothal--Leaves Coburg and Gotha for his + Marriage 52 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE PRINCESS VICTORIA BECOMES QUEEN REGNANT. + + First Meeting of the Princess Victoria and Prince Albert-- + Coming of Age--Festivities on the Occasion--Death of William + IV., and Accession of Victoria--The Queen holds her First + Privy Council--Her Address--Proclamation as Queen at St. + James's Palace--Beautiful Traits of Character displayed by + the Queen--Stirring and Gorgeous Scene--Delight of the + People at the Queen's Accession 61 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE MAIDEN QUEEN. + + Removal to Buckingham Palace--First Levée--Dissolves + Parliament--Beauty of her Elocution--Splendid Reception by + the City of London--Settlement of the Queen's Income--Her + Daily Life--Her Admirable Knowledge of, and Devotion to, the + Business of the State--Reverence for the Lord's Day 69 + + + CHAPTER X. + + THE QUEEN CROWNED. + + Novel Features in the Coronation--Its Cost--Large Amount of + Money Circulated--Splendour of the Procession--Enormous + Crowds--The Scene within the Abbey--Arrival of the Queen-- + The Regalia and Sacred Vessels--Costume of the Queen-- + Astonishment of the Turkish Ambassador at the Scene--The + Coronation Ceremony--The Queen's Oath--The Anointing--The + Crown placed on her Head--The Homage--An Aged Peer--The + Queen's Crown--The Illuminations and General Festivities-- + Fair in Hyde Park--The Duke of Wellington and Marshal Soult + at the Guildhall 75 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE BEDCHAMBER PLOT. + + Resignation of Lord Melbourne's Cabinet--Sir Robert Peel + sent for--Fails to form a Cabinet--His Explanation--The + Queen refuses to Dismiss her Ladies of the Bedchamber-- + Supported by her late Ministers--Sir Robert Peel's + Objections--The Queen will not give way--The Whigs recalled + to Power--Public Opinion on the Dispute--The Whig Ministers + blamed, and the Queen exculpated 84 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + COURTSHIP AND BETROTHAL. + + Desire of the Coburg Relatives for a Marriage between + Victoria and Albert--Favourable Impressions mutually made by + Victoria and Albert--Prince Albert's Letter on the Queen's + Accession--Opposition of King William IV. to the Marriage-- + Correspondence between the Cousins--King Leopold Urges on + the Marriage--The Queen's Reluctance to become Betrothed-- + Her subsequent Regret at this--The Prince craves a definite + Determination--His Second Visit to England--Betrothed at + Last--Returns to Germany to say Farewell 91 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + THE QUEEN WEDDED. + + Announcement of the Intended Marriage to the Privy Council + and Parliament--Parliamentary Settlement of the Prince's + Rank, &c.--Annoying Circumstances--The Prince's + Protestantism--His Income--Arrival of the Bridegroom-- + Receives a National Welcome--The Wedding--Honeymoon Spent at + Windsor 100 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + EARLY YEARS OF MARRIED LIFE. + + Difficulties and Delicacy of Prince Albert's Position--Early + Married Life--Studies continued--Attempts on the Queen's + Life--Courage of the Queen--Birth of the Princess Royal-- + Parting from the Whig Ladies of the Bedchamber--Dark Days + for England--Birth of the Prince of Wales--The Queen + Described by M. Guizot--A Dinner at Buckingham Palace--State + Dinner at Windsor 110 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE QUEEN IN SCOTLAND. + + Christening of the Prince of Wales--Manufacturing Distress-- + The Queen's Efforts to alleviate it--Assesses Herself to the + Income Tax--Resolves to Visit Scotland--Embarks at Woolwich-- + Beacon Fires in the Firth of Forth--Landing on Scottish + Soil--A Disappointment--Formal Entry into Edinburgh--Richness + of Historical and Ancestral Associations--The Queen on the + Castle Rock--A Highland Welcome--Departure from Scotland 126 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + WHAT ENGLAND OWES TO PRINCE ALBERT. + + The Prince's Study of our Laws and Constitution--Two + Misconceptions Outlived--His Versatility--His First Speech + an Anti-Slavery one--His Appreciation and Judicious Criticism + of Art--Scientific Side of his Mind--As an Agriculturist 141 + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + FOREIGN TRAVEL AND HOME VISITS. + + Visit to King Louis Philippe at Eu--A Loyal Corporation-- + Splendid Reception of the Queen in France--Anecdote of the + Queen's Regard for Prince Albert--Visit of the Czar + Nicholas--Home Life in Scotland--Visit to Germany-- + Illuminations of the Rhine--A Rural Fête at Coburg 149 + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE QUEEN IN IRELAND. + + First Visit to Ireland--Rapturous Reception at Cork-- + Queenstown so denominated--Enthusiasm at Dublin--Its + Graceful Recognition by the Queen--Visit to the Dublin + Exhibition--Encouragement of Native Industry--Visit to the + Lakes of Killarney--The Whirligig of Time 157 + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + THE WORLD'S CONGRESS OF INDUSTRY. + + Prince Albert the Inaugurator of International Exhibitions-- + Proposes, Unsuccessfully, his Scheme to the Government--To + the Society of Arts, Successfully--First Steps towards + Realisation--Objections to be Met--Perseverance of the + Prince--The Royal Commission--The Prince's Speech at York-- + The Opening Ceremony--The Royal Procession 164 + + + CHAPTER XX. + + THE WAR CLOUD. + + Bright Hopes of Peace Dispelled--An Era of War all over the + World--The Russian War--The Queen's Visits to the Wounded + Soldiers--Presentation of the War Medals--Crimean Heroes--The + Volunteer Movement 172 + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + THE QUEEN IN HER HIGHLAND HOME. + + The Queen as an Author--"The Early Years of the Prince + Consort"--"Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the + Highlands"--Love for Children of all Ranks--Mountain Ascents + on Pony-back--In Fingal's Cave--"The Queen's Luck"-- + Salmon-spearing, and a Catastrophe attending it--Erection of + a Memorial Cairn--Freedom of Intercourse with Humble + Highlanders--Visits to Cottagers--"Mrs. Albert"--Travelling + Incognito--Highland Dinners--"A Wedding-Party frae + Aberdeen"--A Disguise Detected 186 + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + THE WIDOWED QUEEN. + + Unbroken Happiness of the Queen's Life up to 1861--Death of + the Duchess of Kent--The Prince Consort slightly Ailing-- + Catches Cold at Cambridge and Eton--The Malady becomes + Serious--Public Alarm--Rapid Sinking, and Death--Sorrow of + the People--The Queen's Fortitude--Avoidance of Court + Display--Good Deeds--Sympathy with all Benevolent Actions-- + Letter of Condolence to the Widow of President Lincoln--The + "Albert Medal"--Conclusion 194 + + + + +LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ANCESTRY. + + Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the Protector of + Luther--Staunch Protestantism of the Queen's Saxon Forefathers--House + of Saxe-Coburg--A Saxon Desperado of the Middle Ages--A Fighting Hero + of the Eighteenth Century--The Queen's Grandmother a Woman of + Extraordinary Excellence--Great Alliances in the Marriages of her + Uncles and Aunts. + + +Queen Victoria is, through her mother, descended--and her children are +descended by the double line of both their parents--from the great, good, +and glorious Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony early in the sixteenth +century, who was one of the first to embrace the principles of Luther's +Reformation, and whose name still stands out so nobly and brightly as the +staunch and courageous protector of the great Reformer. The Ernestine +branch of this great Saxon house, from which the Queen and the Prince +Consort both derived their descent, have ever, though at great cost and +injury to themselves at many periods of their history, remained true to +the principles thus early adopted by their common ancestor; and they have +ever considered it as the brightest glory of their race, that they can +proudly point to this unquestionable fact. When one of the most +distinguished members--if, indeed, he was not the most illustrious +scion--of this family, the Queen's maternal uncle, Leopold, King of the +Belgians, made a journey into Scotland, to allay the pangs of the +bereavement which he had suffered in the untimely death of his young wife, +the Princess Charlotte, he paid a visit of a few days' duration to Sir +Walter Scott at Abbotsford. While there, an aged and reverend Scottish +divine was presented to the Prince. The clergyman, in the course of the +interview, made complimentary reference to this fact in the descent of the +Prince. Prince Leopold, in reply, stated that this was the first notice +which had been taken of the circumstance in his presence since the day of +his first arrival in England, and that he felt more honoured by it than by +any other tribute which had been paid to him and his family. + +[Sidenote: "A GLIMPSE OF SAXON HISTORY."] + +The curious in such matters, those for whom the minute particularity of +authenticated genealogical detail possesses a charm, with which the +compiler of these pages acknowledges that he is himself affected, but +which it would be unfair to such of his readers as do not share this taste +to minister to at excessive length--such we refer to the Reverend Edward +Tauerschmidt's "Brief Historical Account of the Dukedom and Ducal House of +Saxe-Coburg and Gotha." There they will find the full pedigree, with no +link wanting, which connects Her Majesty, and equally her first cousin and +spouse, by the links of twenty-five generations, with the Saxon Earl +Theodoric, or Dideric, of the House of Bucizi, who is recorded to have +died in the year of our Lord 982. We content ourselves with proceeding at +a leap to the reign of Frederick the Benignant, Elector of Saxony, who +was thirteenth in descent from Earl Theodoric, and died in 1464. In a most +fascinating article which was contributed by Mr. Carlyle to the January +number of the _Westminster Review_ for the year 1855, entitled, "A Glimpse +of Saxon History," a most romantic incident of this Elector's reign is +narrated with the writer's customary graphic power. This potentate had a +"fighting captain" in his employ, by name Kunz von Kaufungen. Fighting for +his master, he was captured, and being a warrior of importance, was +amerced in the heavy ransom of a sum equal to 2,000 English pounds. This +he paid, but expected to be indemnified by Frederick. This expectation, +for some reason, was not fulfilled. Kunz, exasperated, swore to be +avenged. On the 7th of July, 1455, Kunz entered the town of Altenburg, at +the head of a party of thirty men. Having bribed one of the servants to +treachery, they obtained admission into the Electoral castle, from which +they carried off Frederick's two sons, the Princes Ernest and Albert. The +Electress soon discovered her loss, and the desperadoes had not proceeded +far on their several ways (they had divided into two bands, each having +one of the children), ere they were hotly pursued. Kunz himself headed +that moiety of his force who bore with them Ernest, the elder boy and the +more valuable hostage. The pursuers caused alarms to be rung from the +village spires, and amongst others of the peasantry who were aroused, was +a rough charcoal-burner, who, encountering the party of Kunz, "belaboured +him with the poking-pole" which he used in his vocation, and to such +effect that he vanquished the abductor, rescued the boy, and had the +happiness of restoring him to the arms of his agonised mother. When +asked, wonderingly and admiringly, how he dared to attack so formidable a +foe, he replied to his fair and grateful querist, "Madam, I _drilled_ him +soundly with my poking-pole." From that day he was known by no other name +than the Driller--_der Triller_. Kunz was consigned to the block, while +the Driller, and deliverer, was offered any reward he chose to name. This +true man--a mediæval "Miller of the Dee"--asked no other recompense than +"only liberty to cut, of scrags and waste wood, what will suffice for my +charring purposes." This was at once granted, along with the freehold of a +snug farm, and an annual and ample allowance of corn from the barns of the +Electors. All was secured to him and his posterity by formal deed, and his +descendants to this day enjoy the privileges so valiantly earned by their +ancestor four centuries ago. From the two princes so rescued, descended +respectively the Ernestine and the Albertine branches of the Saxon house. +The Queen is--as her husband was--twelfth in descent from the little +Prince Ernest, who became the progenitor of the former line. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S SAXON ANCESTORS.] + +The parent stock had boasted among other meritorious or distinguished +representatives the names of Conrad the Great, Otho the Rich, Henry the +Illustrious, three Fredericks, dubbed respectively the Serious, the +Warlike, and the Benignant; whilst, as disparaging sets-off, either +demerit or misfortune was indicated, in the instance of other Electors, by +these sobriquets--the Oppressed, the Degenerate, the Severe, and, +strangest of all, Frederick-with-the-Wounded-Cheek. This habit of +designating the successive Electors by their moral or other +peculiarities, or by the incidents or accidents of their careers, was +continued but for a few generations of the Ernestine branch of the +bifurcated line. It contained a Magnanimous Frederick, and a Fiery Ernest, +after whose death, in 1675, this pleasing plan of picturesque designation +no longer meets the eye of the student. + +The chivalrous protection which Frederick the Magnanimous--or the Wise, as +he is sometimes also denominated--spread as a buckler over Luther and the +Lutherans cost him his birthright. The bigoted Charles V. diverted, in +1547, the Electoral dignity from the Ernestine to the Albertine branch, +and the fortunes of the house cannot be said to have been fully restored +until the Treaty of Tilsit, in 1807, ratified as its main provisions were +by that of Vienna, seven years later. + +Coming down to more recent times, and to the Queen's more immediate +ancestry, we find the old spirit which these brave Saxon princes +represented in the stirring mediæval and Reforming days, abundantly +maintained in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and notably so on +the field of battle, in the great wars with which the names of Frederick +the Great, Maria Theresa, Suwarow, and Napoleon are associated. +Francis Josias was twenty-second of the line, and the Queen's +great-great-grandfather. His great-grandson, the late King Leopold, says +of him, that he was "much looked up to." He was a tall and powerful man, +but disfigured by having lost an eye at tennis, a game then very popular +on the Continent. One of his grandsons, a Prince Frederick Josias, served +with distinction in the Seven Years' War, in one of the battles of which +he was shot through the hand. He was subsequently employed in high +positions by the Empress Maria Theresa, and made a great name for himself +against the Turks. Suwarow and he extricated the Emperor Joseph, the son +of the Empress, from utter failure, and conquered the Principalities. He +afterwards fought against Dumouriez in the Netherlands, and gained the +battle of Neerwinden, in 1793, near Tirlemont; "one of the greatest +battles of modern history," says his nephew, King Leopold, a most +competent authority on the subject. He says that, but for the inaction of +the Dutch contingent, and the insane attempt of the Duke of York to +conquer Dunkirk, the allies, after this victory, which cleared the +Netherlands of the French, might as easily have marched upon Paris as the +forces of Wellington and Blucher did after Waterloo. + +The Queen's grandfather, suffering early in life from exceedingly bad +health, was cast in a much less energetic mould, but his character was +eminently benevolent and loveable, and he had a knowledge and love of the +fine arts, which Prince Albert, in the highest degree of all his +descendants, inherited. The Queen's grandmother, who was of the +Reuss-Ebersdorff family, was equally warm-hearted, possessed a powerful +mind, and "loved her grandchildren most tenderly." We shall have much to +say of her in subsequent pages. + +[Sidenote: THE HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG.] + +Of the Queen's aunts, one, after declining many eligible offers in her own +princely rank, married Count Mensdorff-Pouilly, a French emigrant of the +Revolution, who entered the Austrian service, and became the father of the +well-known Austrian statesman, Count Arthur Mensdorff, who was the bosom +friend of Prince Albert from his earliest infancy until his untimely +death. A second married the reigning Duke of Wurtemburg, and occupied for +many years a very influential position in Russia, her husband being +brother of the Empress Catherine (the second of that name), and maternal +uncle of the Emperors Alexander and Nicholas. The third daughter of the +house herself became a Russian Grand Duchess; she was wedded at the age of +fifteen to the Grand Duke Constantine. The marriage was an inharmonious +one, and in 1802 the young pair agreed to separate. Both husband and wife +were acquitted of all blame; Leopold, the brother of the latter, +attributes the sad event to "the shocking hypocrisy of the +Empress-mother," in the absence of which "things might have gone on." The +Queen's mother, who was christened Victoire (or Victoria) Marie Louise, +was the youngest of the four sisters. Besides Duke Ernest, the father of +Prince Albert, the Queen had two other maternal uncles. One was Frederick +George, who married a great heiress, the Hungarian Princess of Kohary. His +son became the consort of Donna Maria II. of Portugal; his grandson, the +present King of Portugal, is the Queen's first cousin once removed, and +the second cousin of her children. Her other uncle was the late King of +the Belgians, whose career is a portion of the history of our +grandfathers', our fathers', and our own times, and is so intimately +associated with the life and fortunes of Her Majesty as to merit separate +treatment in a succeeding chapter, and elsewhere incidentally in the +course of our narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GREATEST OF THE MODERN COBURGS. + + Romantic Career of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the Queen's + Uncle--his Continuous, Kind, and Fatherly Care of his Orphaned + Niece--The Duchy of Coburg held by Napoleon--Sufferings of the Ducal + Family--A Temptation resisted--The Tide turned--Leopold's Popularity + in England--Betrothal and Marriage to the Princess Charlotte of Wales. + + +[Sidenote: PRINCE LEOPOLD OF SAXE-COBURG.] + +Born in the year 1790, Prince Leopold was a soldier and in the saddle when +he was fifteen years of age. In 1805, that war broke out between Napoleon +and Austria, in which the power of the Kaiser was so near being destroyed. +The health of the Duke Francis, Leopold's father, was fast failing him, +and the tremendous sorrows and sufferings inflicted by the victorious +French upon Germany, hastened the rapidity of his descent to the grave. +Ernest, the eldest son, and Leopold hurriedly left Coburg to join the +Russian army in Moravia. Their only other brother was already in an +Austrian regiment of Hussars. Ere Leopold could flesh his sword, +Austerlitz had been fought and lost, and Austria was thoroughly crippled. +He returned to Coburg to witness his father's death. The French were in +possession of the town and Duchy, and when they learned that the new Duke +was with their Prussian foe, they appointed a military intendant, a M. +Vilain--in nature as well as in name, so Leopold afterwards recorded. The +Ducal family were reduced to such straits, that they depended for their +very sustenance upon the clandestine benefactions of the Governmental +subordinates, surlily winked at by their French masters. The Duchess set +off on a journey to Warsaw to endeavour to propitiate Napoleon; but she +was permitted to proceed no farther than Berlin, as Napoleon hated such +visits. She returned baffled to Coburg, which remained "une possession +Française." The Peace of Tilsit, among its other provisions, +"reintegrated" Coburg; but, through the greed and treachery of Prussia, +the stipulated arrangements were never fulfilled. On the ratification of +the Peace, Duke Ernest came to Coburg for the first time to assume his +Ducal power and dignity. + +As a matter of policy, Leopold, with other German Princes, now visited +Napoleon at Paris, where he was courteously received. On his return from +Paris, early in 1808, he nearly died of scarlet fever. After a very tardy +and painful recovery, he went, at the end of the year, to the Congress of +Erfurth, to which he had been summoned by the Czar Alexander. He tried +there to secure to his brother his undiminished territorial possessions, +and succeeded in making such a favourable impression upon Napoleon that he +would have done so, but for the impolitic excessiveness of his brother's +claims, and the apathetic manner in which the Czar supported them. The war +with Russia came on, in which he eagerly desired to serve against the +French; but Napoleon caused it to be known that if he did so his brother +would be held responsible; so he had to abide in inglorious and detested +ease. Napoleon made him tempting offers to enter his service, and would +have been more incensed at his persistent refusal than he was, but for +the friendly intercession of Josephine and Queen Hortense, her daughter, +who were both very friendly to the young Prince. + +Meanwhile he turned his eminent talents for diplomacy to good account. He +persuaded Bavaria to return to his brother portions of Coburg territory +which that state unjustly held, and removed the galling pain of the +Bavarian flag floating over villages within four English miles of the town +of Coburg itself. + +[Sidenote: THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE.] + +In 1812 Napoleon's frightful war with Russia broke out. Napoleon summoned +the subject and enfeebled German Princes to Dresden. Duke Ernest was +compelled to go, and Leopold also was cited to the gathering, but he went +to Vienna, and then to Italy, to keep out of the way. It would have been +now most dangerous to decline the French service, and he was determined at +all costs not to enter it. "Germany," said he, "was, at the beginning of +1812, in the lowest and most humiliating position; Austria and Prussia +sunk to be auxiliaries; everybody frightened and submissive, except Spain, +supported by England." But Napoleon's reverses in Russia soon followed, +and they electrified all Germany into new courage. The Duke of Coburg +posted off to Berlin to endeavour to stimulate the perplexed, vacillating, +and timorous Prussian King into manly and decided action. The other +brother, Ferdinand, went to Vienna on a similar errand. Leopold hied him +to Munich to stir up the Crown Prince of Bavaria, afterwards King Louis. +They were all moderately successful, and Leopold hastened to Kalisch, in +Poland, being the first German Prince to join the Army of Liberation. He +was equally honoured and gratified by being appointed a Major-General by +the Czar. He was present at the hard-fought but indecisive battles of +Lutzen and Bautzen. There followed an armistice, and a conference at +Prague, with a view to a definite settlement. This the Prince attended. He +was the only person admitted to the presence of the Emperor of Austria, +and spent much of his time with the plenipotentiaries Metternich, +Humboldt, Ansted, Gentz, and others. The negotiations broke off, and +hostilities were resumed. At the decided defeat which the French general +Vandamme sustained, shortly before the crowning victory of Leipsic, +Leopold commanded all the allied cavalry, and distinguished himself the +more that he was the only general in the field who knew the country. He +was present, and in high command, at Leipsic, where Germany was finally +freed. After the fight, the Grand Duke Constantine accompanied him to +Coburg, visiting the relatives of the wife from whom he was now separated, +and who lived and died in retirement in Switzerland. Amongst others they +visited the future Duchess of Kent, then Princess of Leiningen, her first +husband being still alive. Shortly afterwards Constantine and Leopold +rejoined the army in Switzerland, where Leopold tried hard, but +ineffectually, to effect a reconciliation between his sister and her +husband. Leopold subsequently entered Paris at the head of the cavalry; +his eldest brother procured the evacuation of Mayence by its French +garrison. The three brothers all met in Paris, from which Leopold +proceeded, in the suite of the Czar, to the great triumphant gathering of +the Allied Sovereigns in London. Now for the first time he met his future +bride, the Princess Charlotte, only child of the Prince Regent, and heir +to the throne. His splendid continental career already propitiated her, +as it did all the British people, in his favour. The project of a +matrimonial union between the gallant young general and the still more +youthful princess was warmly taken up by the leading men in power, +including Wellington, his brothers, and Castlereagh. The Prince Regent +alone was opposed to the project. He was irritated by his daughter's +repugnance to the Prince of Orange, who was destined by him to be his +son-in-law, and by her recent flight from Carlton House to the residence +of her mother. Leopold, however, decidedly succeeded in winning the +affections of the lady herself, and the nation was delighted at the +project. The Dukes of York and Kent, too, warmly encouraged his suit. On +his return home he found that his youngest sister had been unexpectedly +left a widow, and he arranged the guardianship and pecuniary affairs of +the future mother of England's Queen. At the Congress of Vienna, whither +he went to plead the cause of his brother, his amazing sagacity and tact +induced the negotiators to make a very satisfactory arrangement of +frontier. This he settled, to the great chagrin of Humboldt, the Prussian +envoy, who, with the Prussian Court and people generally, seems to have +been extremely spiteful towards the little principality, their near +neighbour. + +[Sidenote: A ROYAL MARRIAGE.] + +Leopold was not at Waterloo--fought so near the capital of his future +kingdom. He was posted in Alsace in command of an army of observation, +which, of course, was never needed for action. Leopold went alone to +Paris, with the leave of the Czar, still animated by the purpose of +advancing his brother's pretensions; Prussia having failed to carry out +the rectifications of frontier enacted at Vienna the year before. He +succeeded in this object, and hopes of the highest nature were engendered +about an affair still nearer to his heart. Wellington and Castlereagh +treated him with marked and significant deference. And through the kind +intervention of the good-hearted and simple-minded Duke of Kent, he +received from his ladye-love some pleasant tokens of continued affection +and renewed pledges of staunch fidelity. He was strongly recommended to +repair to England and renew and prosecute his wooing in person; but he +very astutely declined, thinking it unwise to "brave" the Prince Regent. +He went, instead, to Vienna, to act as groomsman at the wedding of his +brother Ferdinand with the great Hungarian heiress whose love he had won; +and from thence to Berlin, persistently to enforce his brother's twice +recognised and sanctioned rights. At Berlin he received a welcome +invitation to England from the Regent, and a most satisfactory letter of +"explanation" from Lord Castlereagh. He arrived in London in February, +1816. Castlereagh at once took him to Brighton, where the Regent was. He +received his daughter's wooer most graciously. The old queen and her three +daughters posted after Leopold from London, and in a family council the +marriage was definitely agreed on. The young couple were married in May, +amid the joyful acclamations of the whole nation. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF QUEEN VICTORIA. + + How the Princess Victoria came to be Heiress Presumptive to the + Throne--Death of the Princess Charlotte--Marriages of the Royal + Dukes--Of the Duke of Kent--Birth of the Princess Alexandrina + Victoria--Prediction of George IV.--Death of the Duke of Kent--His + Character--His Liberal Opinions--Public Condolence with the Widow and + Orphan--Early Life of the Duchess of Kent. + + +[Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF KENT.] + +On the 6th of November, 1817, the hopes of the nation, which had so fondly +rested upon the happy union between the Princess Charlotte and Prince +Leopold, were fatally blasted by Her Royal Highness's death, shortly after +her delivery of a still-born child. Never in our history was a blow felt +more deeply and personally by all the nation, than this bereavement. The +death of the Princess Charlotte severely and most painfully disappointed +the nation in its general expectation with regard to the much desired +succession to the throne in the person of herself and her heirs. The Duke +of Cumberland, who was hated by all, was the only married younger son of +the king, and there was a general desire that the other royal princes, +especially the popular and estimable Dukes of Kent and Sussex, should seek +out suitable partners. The Duke of Kent rightly felt that the House of +Brunswick was dear to the English people, that the nation had a very +strong desire that the question of succession should be placed beyond +doubt, and that, considering the uncertainty of the chances of life, and +of leaving offspring, it was clearly his duty to marry. Indeed, he had +already, ere the untimely death of his niece, offered his hand and heart +to the widowed Princess of Leiningen. The Princess Charlotte tenderly +loved her uncle Kent, who had done so much to promote the attainment of +the wishes of her own heart, and she did all she could to promote the +marriage of her uncle with the sister of her husband. But the position of +the Princess of Leiningen as guardian of her two children occasioned +delays; and no unimportant matter was the fact that if she re-married, she +would sacrifice a jointure of nearly £5,000 a year, while the Duke of Kent +was punished by the Court for his free and outspoken Liberal opinions by +being restricted to a very meagre pecuniary allowance from the Tory +Parliament. At last, however, all minor difficulties were smoothed over. +On the 13th of May, a message was brought down to Parliament, announcing +that "the Prince Regent had given his consent to a marriage between the +Duke of Kent and Her Serene Highness Mary Louisa Victoria, daughter of the +Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, widow of Enrich Charles, Prince of +Leiningen, and sister of Prince Leopold." Of all the royal marriages, this +was the one which the heart of the country went most thoroughly along +with. The Duke of Kent never disguised--indeed, he openly proclaimed--his +attachment to the principles of the popular party; and the fact of the +close relationship of his intended wife to Prince Leopold was another +strong recommendation. The marriage was celebrated, first according to the +Lutheran rites in Germany, on the 29th May, 1818, and, on the 13th of +July following, by the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Prince Regent, on the +latter occasion, giving away the bride. In the same summer, the Dukes of +Clarence and Cambridge had married. The Duke of Sussex, whose affections +and sympathies were otherwise engaged, declined to contract a foreign +alliance; but he took the liveliest interest in the marriage of his +favourite brother Kent, as he also did in the future welfare and +prosperity of his niece. + +[Sidenote: CHRISTENING OF THE PRINCESS VICTORIA.] + +After the English marriage, the young couple sojourned for a brief period +at Claremont, the residence which had been selected by the Princess +Charlotte, and which Prince Leopold continued to occupy. They then, guided +chiefly by motives of economy, for their means were very small, travelled +on the Continent, from which they returned for the accouchement of the +Duchess. Both prospective parents were desirous that their child should be +"born a Briton." They arrived at Dover on the 23rd of April, 1819, and on +the 24th of May the Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born at Kensington +Palace. She was born in the presence of the Dukes of Sussex and +Wellington, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl +Bathurst, Mr. Canning, Mr. Vansittart, and the Bishop of London. The Duke +of Kent wept for joy, and the fact that his infant was a daughter did not +in the least degree diminish his delight. The Duchess rapidly recovered, +and the beauty and symmetry of the infant Princess were spoken of with +admiration by all who had an opportunity of observing her. Shortly after +this happy event, the Duke of Kent attended a drawing-room, from which, +and similar Court ceremonies, the estrangement between himself and the +Regent had for some time kept him away. His brother was most affable, and +invited him to dine the next day, when he predicted that his little niece +would be Queen some time. This certainly seemed improbable shortly +afterwards, for Clarence, who was nearer in succession than Kent, became +the father of two daughters by his wife, Adelaide. But they both died +young, thereby opening the succession to the child of the Duke of Kent, +and verifying the Regent's prophecy. The child was christened with great +privacy, on the 24th of June, in the Palace of Kensington. The royal gold +font was fetched from the Tower, and fitted up in the grand saloon of the +palace. Under the direction of the Lord Chamberlain, the draperies were +removed from the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Archbishop of Canterbury, +assisted by the Bishop of London, administered the holy office; the Prince +Regent, the members of the Royal Family, and other illustrious visitors +were present. The sponsors were the Prince Regent, the Czar Alexander +(represented by the Duke of York as proxy), the Queen Dowager of +Wurtemberg (represented by the Princess Augusta), and the Duchess Dowager +of Coburg (represented by the Duchess of Gloucester). A brilliant evening +party filled the saloons of the happy parents. + +The Duke and Duchess still made Claremont their chief home. But the winter +of 1819-20 set in with unusual severity, and they went to Sidmouth, in the +hope of escaping its trying severity. From Sidmouth the Duke made an +excursion to visit Salisbury Cathedral, where he caught a slight cold. On +his return to Sidmouth it became alarming, and the Duchess sent off in +haste to her brother, who was visiting at Lord Craven's. Soon after his +arrival, the Duke breathed his last. While his cold still slightly +affected him, he had gone for a long walk, on the 13th of January, with +Captain Conroy, and had his boots soaked through with wet. He neglected to +change his boots and stockings until he dressed for dinner, being +attracted by the smiles of his infant princess, with whom he sat for some +time playing. Before night he had a sensation of cold and hoarseness, but +the doctors were not alarmed, and merely prescribed mild medicaments and a +good night's rest. But the symptoms of fever rapidly increased, and, in +spite of much blood-letting, he died ten days from the date of the +recurrence of his cold. He met his death with pious resignation. The +Duchess was most indefatigable in her attentions, and personally performed +all the offices of the sick-bed. For five successive nights she never took +off her clothes, and she struggled to prevent his seeing the agony of her +apprehensions, never leaving the bed-side but to give vent to her bursting +sorrow. The presence of her brother was a great comfort to her, both +before and after the moment of death. It was fortunate, indeed, that +Leopold was in this country, "as the poor Duke had left his family +deprived of all means of existence." So did Leopold himself testify many +years afterwards. + +[Sidenote: THE DUKE OF KENT.] + +The Duke of Kent, although unpopular in his youth on account of his +strictness as a military disciplinarian, became in later days much +beloved. His stature was tall, and his appearance noble and manly. His +manner was engaging, and his conversation animated. He possessed an exact +memory, varied information, a quick and masculine intellect. In many of +his tastes and habits he closely resembled his father. He was an early +riser, and a close economist of time; temperate in eating; though fond of +society, indifferent to wine; a kind master, punctual correspondent, and +exact man of business; a steady friend, and an affectionate brother. He +was peculiarly exempt in his youth from those extravagances and vices with +which the names of some of his brothers were so painfully associated. He +was in his early life, which he spent in active and laborious military +service, a pattern of prudence, economy, and industrious habits. He +incurred no unnecessary expenses, and made few debts, although his annual +allowance was only £1,000 for some years after he had attained his +majority. He delighted in books, education, charity, and the promotion of +all useful arts, and was a model son, husband, and father. He was a +staunch and uncompromising advocate of those liberal opinions which it is +so well known that his daughter inherits, which she displayed so +unreservedly early in her reign, but the prominent expression of which +prudence and constitutional restraints convinced her that it was advisable +to keep in the background, as her mind grew and ripened. The Duke of +Kent's political views will be gathered from the following extract from a +speech at a banquet, in which he replied to the toast of the junior +members of the Royal Family:--"I am a friend of civil and religious +liberty, all the world over. I am an enemy to all religious tests. I am a +supporter of a general system of education. All men are my brethren; and I +hold that power is only delegated for the benefit of the people. These are +the principles of myself and of my beloved brother, the Duke of Sussex. +They are not popular principles just now; that is, they do not conduct to +place or office. _All_ the members of the Royal Family do not hold the +same principles. For this I do not blame them; but we claim for ourselves +the right of thinking and acting as we think best, and we proclaim +ourselves, with our friend Mr. Tierney, 'members of His Majesty's loyal +Opposition.'" These words give a precise and definite idea of the +character of this clear-headed, good-hearted, shrewd, practical, and +unpretending man. + +Prince Leopold accompanied his widowed sister and the little orphan from +Sidmouth to Kensington Palace. The weather was most severe, and the +journey a trying one. The Houses of Parliament remembered, with respectful +solicitude, the widowed and isolated state of the Duchess. Both Houses +voted addresses of condolence. That from the Commons was presented by +Lords Morpeth and Clive. She appeared in person, though unable to suppress +her grief, with the infant Victoria in her arms, to receive the +deputation. She presented the babe to the deputed Members, and pointed to +her as the treasure to whose preservation and improvement she was resolved +to dedicate her best energies and fondest love. The interview was +exceedingly touching. A true woman, the Duchess could not conceal the +intensity of her widowed grief; but that did not overshadow her maternal +affection, and she recognised and spoke courageously of her duties, her +responsibilities, and her high resolves. Public feeling and national +anxiety accompanied her into her domestic privacy, and all classes of +society took the deepest interest in all her movements. + +[Sidenote: THE DUCHESS OF KENT.] + +The Queen, indeed, owes much to her mother, who lived long enough to see +her daughter's grandchildren. The Duchess of Kent had been brought up +under the immediate care and superintendence of her illustrious mother, +whose character we have already described. She had shared the youthful +lessons of her brother Leopold--a source, doubtless of great intellectual +profit. In 1802, when she was but sixteen, much against her own wish, and +only in compliance with the entreaties of her beloved father--who wished +to see his only surviving daughter married, in such troublesome times, ere +the end of his precarious and sickly life came--she became the wife of the +Prince of Leiningen, a man eight-and-twenty years her senior. The union +was most inappropriate and unwise. Her husband was repugnant in person and +manners. He failed either to secure her confidence or contribute to her +happiness. Yet she fulfilled her duties as a wife and mother in so +exemplary a manner, from her marriage to her husband's death, in 1814, +that the breath of slander never sullied her fair fame. Indeed, by the +purity of her life, the manner in which she discharged her maternal +duties, and the graceful suavity of her manners, she did much to ennoble +the character of the House of Leiningen, which her husband had done much +to lower. Her marriage with the Duke of Kent was one of unmistakable +affection, and was a very happy one. Their tastes were similar; but her +meekness and tact had a beneficial influence in mitigating a certain stern +and abrupt brusqueness which he partly inherited from his father, and +partly derived from the camps and garrison towns in which his youth was +spent. The simplicity and tender unaffectedness of her manners--a +peculiarity distinctive of the highest class of well-bred German +women--and her fascinating combination of gentleness with gaiety, not +only won and bound, by daily increasing ties, the affections of her +husband, but of all those who had the good fortune to become personally +acquainted with her admirable life and disposition. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +FIRST YEARS OF CHILDHOOD. + + Old Memories of Kensington Palace--Enlargements of the Structure by + William III., Anne, Queen Caroline, and the Duke of Sussex--Maids of + Honour--Rank and Beauty in the Gardens--Wilberforce and the Infant + Princess--Victoria at Ramsgate--A Picture of Victoria when Five Years + old--Her Physical Training--Popularity as a Child--Her Youthful + Charities--A Narrow Escape from Death--Early Development of Quick + Intelligence--Anecdotes--Love of Nature--Proneness to Self-will--But + Counterbalanced by Candour--Waggishness--A Portrait of the + Child-Princess by Leigh Hunt. + + +The infancy, girlhood, and budding womanhood of the Princess Victoria were +chiefly spent at the Royal Palace of Kensington. It was her mother's fixed +residence, but the family were much at Claremont, where the Queen +testifies that she spent the happiest days of her childhood. There were +frequent trips made, too, to various watering-places; and, as the Princess +grew in years, visits were paid at the country houses of some of the +nobility. Leigh Hunt, in his exquisite book of gossip entitled "The Old +Court Suburb," thus happily describes the more salient and prominent +features of the somewhat sombre region of the Queen's up-bringing:-- + + In vain we are told that Wren is supposed to have built the south + front, and Kent (a man famous in his time) the east front. We can no + more get up any enthusiasm about it as a building, than if it were a + box or a piece of cheese. But it possesses a Dutch solidity; it can + be imagined full of English comfort; it is quiet; in a good air; and, + though it is a palace, no tragical history is connected with it: all + which considerations give it a sort of homely, fireside character, + which seems to represent the domestic side of royalty itself, and thus + renders an interesting service to what is not always so well + recommended by cost and splendour. Windsor Castle is a place to + receive monarchs in; Buckingham Palace to see fashion in; Kensington + Palace seems a place to drink tea in: and this is by no means a state + of things in which the idea of royalty comes least home to the good + wishes of its subjects. The reigns that flourished here, appositely + enough to this notion of the building, were all tea-drinking + reigns--at least on the part of the ladies; and if the present Queen + does not reign there, she was born and bred there, growing up quietly + under the care of a domestic mother; during which time, the + pedestrian, as he now goes quietly along the gardens, fancies no + harsher sound to have been heard from the Palace windows than the + "tuning of the tea-things," or the sound of a pianoforte. + +[Sidenote: KENSINGTON PALACE.] + +The associations of Kensington Palace are almost entirely with the earlier +Hanoverian reigns; the later Georges neglected it. Rumour hath it that +this royal domain originated in the establishment of a nursery for the +children of Henry VIII. If it were so, Elizabeth and Victoria must have +been brought up on the same spot; but the tradition is not well supported. +Its first ascertained proprietor was Heneage Finch, Speaker of the House +of Commons at the accession of the First Charles, who built and occupied +only a small nucleus of the present structure, which was enlarged from +time to time by most of its successive occupants, but with no pretension, +and without much plan. From the second Earl of Nottingham, the grandson of +Finch, William III. bought the house and grounds. The latter he enlarged +to the extent of twenty-six acres. To these Anne added thirty, and to +these in turn Queen Caroline, wife of George II., added three hundred. +The house had been the while proportionately growing. Its last expansion +was contributed by the Duke of Sussex. + +The gardens were pedantically squared to Dutch uniformity by William of +Orange, and the semblance of a Court which he held in this Palace was +correspondingly gloomy and dismal. The most singular visitor ever received +by William was the Czar Peter, who drove hither _incognito_ in a hackney +coach, on his arrival in London, and was afterwards entertained here with +some slight show of state. In Anne's time, the palace and gardens were +little livelier than in William's. The Queen hedged herself in behind +absurd _chevaux-de-frise_ of etiquette, and the court chroniclers of the +period record little else than eating and drinking. Swift and Prior, +Bolingbroke and Marlborough, Addison and Steele, nevertheless, lent +occasional gleams of brightness and dignity to the otherwise sombre scene. + +The most fascinating and memorable association of Kensington Palace is in +connection with the Courts of the first two Georges, and of the son of the +latter, Frederick Prince of Wales. These associations are specially +connected with the bevies of frolicsome, and sometimes frail, maids of +honour, who now live in the pages of Pope and Gay, of Hervey and Walpole. +Chief among them was the gay, sprightly, and irresistible Molly Leppell, +who resisted, in a manner equally indignant and comical, the degrading +overtures of the coarse-souled George II. She married Hervey, the most +effeminate and egregious dandy of his time. Chesterfield thus toasted her +in a ballad on the beauties of the Court;-- + + Oh! if I had Bremen and Varden, + And likewise the Duchy of Zell, + I'd part with them all for a farden, + To have my dear Molly Leppell. + +Caroline of Anspach, consort of Frederick, Prince of Wales, introduced the +habit of promenading in gorgeous costume in the gardens, first on +Saturday, then on Sunday, afternoons. By degrees the quality were admitted +as well as the royal family and their immediate attendants. The liberty +was gradually extended to the general public. Hence it was that Kensington +Gardens became in time as open to all comers as are the royal parks. These +gorgeous promenades ceased with the commencement of the last malady of +George III. It was in allusion to the stately train of attendant beauties +who accompanied the Princess Caroline of Wales, that Tickell wrote-- + + Each walk, with robes of various dyes bespread, + Seems from afar a moving tulip bed, + Where rich brocades and glossy damasks glow, + And chintz, the rival of the showery bow. + Here England's Daughter, darling of the land, + Sometimes, surrounded with her virgin band, + Gleams through the shades. She, towering o'er the rest, + Stands fairest of the fairer kind confess'd; + Form'd to gain hearts that Brunswick's cause denied, + And charm a people to her father's side. + +With the death of George II., the glory departed from Kensington. No +future English King favoured or frequented it. George III. never resided +in the Palace, and it was altogether too dull and homely for his eldest +son. He was willing enough that his bookish brother Sussex, and his steady +brother Kent, should abide in it; and, as one writer puts it, depicting +the "first gentleman in Europe" in a light far from pleasing, but for the +use of which we fear there was too much foundation--"He was well content +to think that the staid-looking house and formal gardens rendered the spot +a good out-of-the-way sort of place enough, for obscuring the growth and +breeding of his niece and probable heiress, the Princess Victoria, whose +life, under the guidance of a wise mother, promised to furnish so +estimable a contrast to his own." + +[Sidenote: WILBERFORCE AND THE PRINCESS.] + +It was in the rooms, rich with such varied associations as those, some few +of which we have cited, and surrounded by the remarkable collection of +pictures, chiefly by Byzantine and early German painters--that England's +future Queen grew up from babyhood to womanhood. Amongst the very earliest +notices of the infant Princess is the following, which we cite from a +letter written by Wilberforce to his friend, Hannah More, on the 21st +July, 1820. He says:-- + + In consequence of a very civil message from the Duchess of Kent, I + waited on her this morning. She received me with her fine animated + child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which I soon + became one. She was very civil; but, as she did not sit down, I did + not think it right to stay above a quarter of an hour; and there being + but a female attendant and footman present, I could not well get up + any topic, so as to carry on a continued discourse. She apologised for + not speaking English well enough to talk it; but intimated a hope that + she might talk it better and longer with me at some future time. She + spoke of her situation [this was, probably, in reference to the cold + treatment of her and hers by George IV.], and her manner was quite + delightful. + +Four years later, the Duchess and the little Princess paid one of many +visits to Ramsgate: and it would appear that the Duchess of Kent had +already succeeded in being able to talk English "better and longer" with +Wilberforce "at some future time;" for an eye-witness, who was familiar +with all the group, witnessed the following scene. It was a fine summer +day: too warm anywhere but on the shore of the sea, the breeze from which +sufficiently moderated the temperature. A little girl, with a fair, light +form, was sporting on the sands in all the redolence of youth and health. +Her dress was simple--plain straw bonnet, with a white riband round the +crown, a coloured muslin frock, 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"--so testifies the authority from whom we quote. The child had +two companions--her mother and William Wilberforce. The latter looked as +lovingly on the child as did her mother. His kindly eye followed with +tender interest her every footstep, and he was evidently meditating on the +great destiny which was in store for her, when her mother, less +meditative, more concerned with the affairs of the present, suddenly +observed that her daughter had got her shoe's wetted by a breaker. She +waved her hand, and Victoria, obedient to the signal, at once rejoined her +mother and her friend. Perhaps another motive might have been at work in +the mother's breast; for immediately the child had joined the elders, +Wilberforce took her hand in both of his, and addressed to her some kindly +words, doubtless of excellent counsel, for the blue eyes of the girl +looked fixedly at her venerable instructor, and the devoted mother glanced +from one to the other, evidently interested and affected by the contrast. +Wilberforce was no wearisome restrainer of the buoyancy of youth; a few +minutes later, he and his young companion were standing at the margin of +the tide, watching the encroachments of each new breaker, and the +dexterity with which a pet Newfoundland dog brought bits of stick out of +the waves. + +[Sidenote: MORAL TRAINING.] + +During the earliest years of her childhood, Victoria does not seem to have +been harassed with book-learning--a most wise and excellent omission. In +1823, the Dowager Duchess of Coburg wrote to her daughter--"Do not yet +tease your little puss with learning; she is so young still." The Queen's +mother followed the good advice; it was the cultivation of the heart of +her child at which she first strove. Above everything, any approach to +pride or hauteur was discouraged. The convictions equally with the natural +temperament of the Duchess, led her to regard such a quality as specially +to be avoided. She was trained to be courteous, affable, lively, and to +put social inferiors perfectly at their ease. In her juvenile sea-side and +other excursions, it was constantly observed by every one that the faces +of the bathing-women, and others of the same class, whose services were +needed, lighted up with genuine, unaffected gladness whenever the young +Princess appeared. The following little picture deserves to be reproduced, +without tampering with the colours of its portrayer:--"As she proceeded up +the High Street from the sands, there sat on the low step of a closed shop +an aged Irishwoman, pale, wan, dejected, sorrowful, her head bent forward, +and whilst all nature was gay, she looked sickly, sad, and famishing. +Whether she was too depressed to beg, or too exhausted at that moment to +make the effort, I cannot tell, but she asked for no alms, and even +looked not at the passers-by. The young Princess was attracted by her +appearance, and spoke to the Duchess: 'I think not,' were the only words I +heard from her mamma; and, 'Oh, yes, indeed!' was all I could catch of the +youthful reply. I have no doubt the Duchess thought the old woman was not +in need of relief, or would be offended by the offer of alms; but the +Princess had looked under her bonnet, and gained a better insight into her +condition. There was a momentary pause; the Princess ran back a few steps +most nimbly, and with a smile of heartfelt delight placed some silver in +the hands of the old Irishwoman. Tall and stately was the poor creature, +and as she rose slowly with clasped hands and riveted features, she +implored the blessing of Heaven on the 'English lady.' She was so taken by +surprise by this unexpected mark of beneficence on the part of she knew +not whom, that she turned over her sixpences again and again, thanked the +Virgin, as well as the 'young lady,' a thousand times, and related to +those who stopped to hear her exclamations, the 'good luck' that had come +upon her." + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S CHILDHOOD.] + +While still not a year old, and ere her father's death, the intensity of +interest which the people took in the safety and welfare of the Princess +had been strongly displayed in the universal satisfaction which was +expressed at her providential escape from being wounded, if not killed, in +consequence of some boys shooting at birds near the temporary residence of +the Duke at Sidmouth. Some of the shots penetrated the window of the +nursery, and passed very near the child's head. This universal interest +became yet deeper, when, after the lapse of two or three years, both of +the daughters of the Duke of Clarence having died, and there being no +probability of any issue in the line of either the Dukes of York or +Clarence, she became the eventual successor to the throne, in the event of +the deaths of these two elder brothers of her father. It was now learned +with delight that she passed through the ordinary maladies of childhood +favourably, and that her recovery from them was speedy. The public had +ample opportunities afforded them of observing her growing and healthful +strength; and all commented with pleasure upon the circumstance that she +was not kept secluded from the view and observation of the people, that +her rides and walks were generally in public, that she was growing up +towards maturity in the sight of the nation, and as the child of the +country. It was further a matter of great general rejoicing that those who +were selected, even from the earliest period, to surround her person were +of the most irreproachable character, and that moral worth was sought for +in her preceptors even more than brilliant attainments. + +It is especially worthy of notice that the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, +their hearts not being made in the slightest degree callous or soured by +their own melancholy bereavements and the disappointment of their fondest +hopes, formed and displayed for their niece a sincere and warm attachment. +They took from the very first the warmest interest in all her vicissitudes +and illnesses; and when they became King and Queen their elevated +positions only seemed to increase the warmth of their regard, and the +copious flow of their practical kindness. It was, therefore, no wonder +that when, under Providence, Victoria became Queen she treated the Queen +Dowager with most unequivocal respect and esteem, regarding her +suggestions with deference, and her wishes with loving compliance. + +Spite of many sinister rumours, the Princess grew up strong and vigorous. +Her mother was especially careful to fortify her constitution, and so to +prepare it to encounter the hard work and manifold anxiety which are the +inevitable lot of a British sovereign. Many there were--some of them with +ends of their own to gain--who kept prophesying that "the daughter of the +Duke of Kent would never attain her legal majority;" or, that "she would +never marry;" again, that "she could never become the mother of a family." +Much alarm was caused by these prognostications. For one thing was above +all others ardently desired by the nation--that the Duke of Cumberland, +who stood next in succession after the Princess, should never become King +of England. Even if he had not been an object of something more than +suspicion, it was universally desired that England should never again +(after King William's death) be united with Hanover under one monarch. But +as facts became known by degrees about the Princess, as her healthy face +and agile frame became familiar in London, and in many parts of the land, +the apprehensions died away, and the "frail, delicate, sickly child," +whose fabricated ailments had been made the subject of so much sham +sympathy, was looked upon as a fabulous invention. + +[Sidenote: LEARNING TO READ.] + +It soon became known that her physical and mental characteristics were of +a nature directly the opposite of what had been so industriously reported. +She was extremely active, and had a healthy love of sports and games. She +had an inquiring mind, not only restless in the pursuit, but clear in the +comprehension of knowledge. She soon developed, too, much decision of +character. Seemingly incapable of fatigue, she was the first to begin, and +the last to leave off, a study, a romp, a game, a new duty, and equally +eager to resume an old occupation. This peculiarity, it was gladly +observed, was an inheritance from her father; but her mother also set her +a congenial example of industry and perseverance. Such stories as the +following were gleefully passed throughout the land from lip to lip. While +she was learning her alphabet, she, doubtful of the utility of being so +tormented, ejaculated--"What good this?--what good this?" She was told +that "mamma could know all that was contained in the great book on the +table because she knew _her_ letters, whilst the little daughter could +not." This was quite enough, and the young acolyte of the alphabet cried +out, "I learn, too--I learn, too--very quick." And she did become rapidly +mistress of her letters. Her mother sought to teach her to be satisfied +with simple pleasures, and here she was a most apt pupil. Once, when she +was so young that she could not express what she felt, she dragged her +uncle Clarence to the window to observe a beautiful sunset. To her uncle +Leopold, too, she was constantly pointing out objects of natural beauty, +on which he invariably improved the opportunity by giving her prompt and +clear explanations of the phenomena which evoked her admiration. Her +engrossing passion, indeed--as was that of her future husband--was for +cabinets of natural history, menageries, museums, &c. For pictures she had +an equal love, and one of the first acquirements in which she became +proficient was sketching from nature. + +Perhaps the greatest danger she incurred, and the one which her mother had +to take the greatest pains to avert, was the likelihood that her +independent decision of character, which she derived from the Hanoverian +half of her ancestry, might degenerate into stubbornness and self-will. +But her natural sense of justice, and ready openness to clear conviction, +proved an admirable counterpoise. With peculiar ingenuousness of +character, she unreservedly admitted an error the very instant she +perceived it. Once, for example, when on a visit to Earl Fitzwilliam, a +bosom friend of her father, the party were walking in the grounds, and she +had run on in advance. An under-gardener cautioned her not to go down a +certain walk, as, said he, in his provincial dialect, the rain had made +the ground "slape." "Slape! slape!" cried she, rapidly, and in the true +George III. style; "and pray, what is 'slape?'" "Very slippery, miss--your +Royal Highness--ma'am," replied he. "Oh! that's all," she replied; "thank +you," and at once proceeded. She had not advanced many yards, when she +came down heavily to the ground. The Earl had been observing all that had +passed, from a few yards' distance, and he cried out, "There! now your +Royal Highness has an explanation of the term 'slape,' both theoretically +and practically." "Yes, my lord," she somewhat meekly said, "I think I +have. I shall never forget the word 'slape.'" On a similar occasion, when +cautioned not to frolic with a dog whose temper was not very reliable, she +persisted in doing so, and he made a snap at her hand. Her cautioner ran +solicitously, believing that she had been bitten. "Oh, thank you! thank +you!" said she. "You're right, and I am wrong; but he didn't bite me--he +only warned me. I shall be careful in future." + +[Sidenote: JUVENILE ANECDOTES.] + +The following incident shows that at least on some occasions a keen spirit +of waggishness entered strongly into her self-will. When first she took +lessons on the piano, she objected strongly to the monotonous fingering, +as she had formerly done to A B C. She was, of course, informed that all +success as a musician depended upon her first becoming "mistress of the +piano." + +"Oh, I am to be mistress of my piano, am I?" asked she. To that the reply +was a repetition of the statement. + +"Then what would you think of me if I became mistress at once?" + +"That would be impossible. There is no royal road to music. Experience and +great practice are essential." + +"Oh, there is no royal road to music, eh? No royal road? And I am not +mistress of my pianoforte? But I will be, I assure you; and the royal road +is this"--at the same time closing the piano, locking it, and taking the +key--"There! that's being mistress of the piano! and the royal road to +learning is, never to take a lesson till you're in the humour to do it." + +After the laugh which her joke had provoked in herself and others had +subsided, she at once volunteered to resume the lesson. + +We cannot more fitly conclude this chapter, ere we proceed to travel an +important stage further in our attempt to trace the youthful days of the +Queen, than by presenting a picture of her, as she appeared at this period +of her life to the genial eyes of Leigh Hunt, to whom we have been +already indebted at the commencement of this chapter:-- + + We remember well the peculiar kind of personal pleasure which it gave + us to see the future Queen, the first time we ever did see her, coming + up a cross path from the Bayswater Gate, with a girl of her own age by + her side, whose hand she was holding, as if she loved her. It brought + to our mind the warmth of our own juvenile friendships, and made us + fancy that she loved everything else that we had loved in like + measure--books, trees, verses, Arabian tales, and the good mother who + had helped to make her so affectionate. A magnificent footman, in + scarlet, came behind her, with the splendidest pair of calves, in + white stockings, that we had ever beheld. He looked somehow like a + gigantic fairy, personating, for his little lady's sake, the grandest + footman he could think of; and his calves he seemed to have made out + of a couple of the biggest chaise-lamps in the possession of the + godmother of Cinderella. As the Princess grew up, the world seemed + never to hear of her except as it wished to hear--that is to say, in + connection with her mother; and now it never hears of her but in + connection with children of her own, and her husband, and her mother + still [this was written in 1855], and all good household pleasures and + hospitalities, and public virtues of a piece with them. May life ever + continue to appear to her what, indeed, it really is to all who have + eyes for seeing beyond the surface--namely, a wondrous fairy scene, + strange, beautiful, mournful too, yet hopeful of being "happy ever + after," when its story is over; and wise, meantime, in seeing much + where others see nothing, in shedding its tears patiently, and in + doing its best to diminish the tears around it. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +EDUCATION OF THE PRINCESS VICTORIA. + + Additional Grant by Parliament for the Maintenance and Education of + the Princess--Wise Lessons learned at her Mother's Knees--A Visit to + George IV. at Windsor--Assiduous Pursuit of Knowledge--Accession of + William IV.--Victoria becomes next in succession to the Crown--Regency + Bill--Satisfaction of the good Grandmother at Coburg--Her Death--Joy + of Victoria at the Elevation of her Uncle to the Belgian + Throne--Parliamentary Inquiry into the Progress of her + Education--Satisfactory Report in Response--Presented at Court--Great + Ball on her Twelfth Birthday at St. James's Palace--Court Scandal and + Baseless Rumours--The Duchess of Northumberland appointed + Governess--The Princess and the Poet Southey. + + +The time had now arrived when, in the opinion, not only of the private +friends of the Duchess of Kent, but of the Ministers of the Crown, it was +held that a more liberal provision should be made for the increasing cost +of the training of the Princess, than the very moderate annual allowance +which the Duchess of Kent had as yet received. This matter was formally +brought before Parliament on the occasion of the Princess attaining her +sixth birthday. Up to this date, and for some little time subsequently to +it, King George IV. seems to have hardly paid the slightest heed to his +niece and ultimate successor. On her fifth birthday, Prince Leopold, who +throughout filled a true father's place, gave a banquet in her honour, at +which most of the members of the English Royal Family, and the Prince +Leiningen, son of the Duchess of Kent and half-brother of Victoria, were +present. On this occasion, the child was much admired for her frankness, +quickness, and talent, but especially for her deep attachment to her +mother. Her mother took occasion to impress upon her the consideration +that such attentions as those which were then shown her were rendered in +the hope that she would cultivate the qualities and graces which alone +could make her a worthy and acceptable ruler of the British empire. "It is +not you," said she, "but your future office and rank which are regarded by +the country; and you must so act as never to bring that office and that +rank into disgrace or disrespect." And when the Duchess took her child to +see for the first time the statue which had just been erected at the top +of Portland Place to her father's memory, she was careful to make her know +and feel that "dear papa's likeness was placed there, not merely because +he was a prince, but because he was a good man, was kind to the poor, +caused little boys and girls to be taught to read and write, helped to get +money from good people to cure the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, +and did all he could to make bad people good." + +In May, 1825, the sixth birthday of the Princess arrived. It became +desirable, not merely to extend the sphere of her knowledge, but to +introduce her to society at unavoidable expense; and, when she appeared in +public and took trips in the country, to surround her with some of the +splendour which properly belonged to her position. Accordingly, Lord +Liverpool, the Premier, presented a Message from the King, requesting that +some provision should be made for the Princess. His lordship spoke in the +highest terms of the Duchess of Kent; eulogised her for having supported +and educated her daughter without making any application to Parliament; +and demonstrated, that her education must, from that date, be much more +wide and costly. He proposed an additional grant of £6,000 per annum to +the Duchess, to continue throughout the minority of her daughter. The +House of Lords cordially acquiesced in the proposal. In the Lower House, +Mr. Brougham, although uniting mother and daughter in one common eulogy, +objected to the amount proposed. Mr. Hume supported him, suggesting an +annuity increasing from year to year; but, on a division, the original +proposal was carried by a majority of fifty. + +[Sidenote: GEORGE IV. AND THE PRINCESS VICTORIA.] + +Only after this formal act of national recognition does it appear that the +King deigned to turn his personal attention in the direction of his niece. +The year after, we find the Duchess of Coburg writing to her daughter, and +referring to the fact that she had seen by the English papers, that "His +Majesty, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and the Princess +Victoria, went on Virginia Water." "The little monkey," she writes, "must +have pleased him. She is such a pretty, clever child." It was reported at +the time that the King, on the occasion of this visit to Windsor, shared +the general delight at the intelligence and sprightliness of his charming +little niece. He caused her to dine in state with him, and when he asked +her what tune she would like the band to play during dinner, she +courteously and naïvely replied, "God save the King." + +The years intervening until 1830 were passed in almost complete quietude +and seclusion by the Princess; her education being now most assiduously +pursued. + +The year 1830 made an important difference in the position of the +Princess. By the death of George IV., the Duke of Clarence became King, +and--the Duke of York having died in 1827--she now stood next in direct +succession to the throne. In the last month of the year a Regency Bill was +passed, of which these were the chief provisions:--In the event of Queen +Adelaide bearing a posthumous child, Her Majesty should be guardian and +Regent during the minority. If that event should not occur, the Duchess of +Kent was to be guardian and Regent during the minority of her daughter, +the Princess Victoria, the heiress-presumptive. That Princess should not +marry while a minor, without the consent of the King; or, if he died, +without the consent of both Houses. When the Report of the Regency Bill +was brought up, Lord Lyndhurst moved and carried a clause to the effect +that in case the Duchess of Kent should marry a foreigner in the lifetime +of His Majesty, but without his consent, she should, by that act, forfeit +all pretensions to the Regency. + +The Duke of Buckingham, in his "Courts and Cabinets of William IV. and +Victoria," thus remarked on this proviso:-- + + The position of the Princess attracted towards her Royal Highness the + solicitude and sympathy of all classes of the people. A proper + consideration of her chance of succeeding to the throne showed that + there was much at stake, and the bitter disappointment caused by the + untimely fate of the last female heiress presumptive, gave deeper + feeling to the interest with which she was regarded. It was desirable + that her youth should be, as much as possible, watched over to protect + it from all evil contingencies, and though there could not be a better + guardian for the Princess than the one nature had provided her with, + the anxiety of a nation demanded precautions that, under other + circumstances, would have been considered totally unnecessary. We can + now (1861) afford to smile on the jealous affection with which Her + Royal Highness was fenced round thirty years ago. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S GRANDMOTHER.] + +The satisfactory settlement of the Regency question gave great +satisfaction to the good grandmother at Coburg. She wrote to her daughter, +on receipt of the news-- + + I should have been 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 my little darling!--If I + could but once see her again! The print you have sent to me is not + like the dear picture I have; the quantity of curls hide the + well-shaped head, and make it look too large for the lovely little + figure. + +It was not fated that the Duchess of Coburg should ever see her +granddaughter again; she died within a twelvemonth of writing the above. +Her latest letters to her daughter were characterised by a peculiar warmth +of affection for the Princess. Writing in the summer of 1830, on the +occasion of Victoria's birthday, she said-- + + 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! + +And when the news of the death of George IV. reached her, she wrote-- + + God bless Old England, where my beloved children live, and where the + sweet Blossom of May may one day reign! May God yet for many years + keep the weight of a crown from her young head, and let the + intelligent, clever child grow up to girlhood, before this dangerous + grandeur devolves upon her! + +England owes a deep debt of gratitude to this excellent and intelligent +woman, for to her we are indebted for that training of her daughter, which +fitted that daughter to train in turn, for us and for our advantage, Queen +Victoria. + +An event of considerable influence upon the well-being and happiness of +the Queen we must not omit to chronicle, ere we pass onwards in the course +of our narrative. Prince Leopold had been designated by the great +guaranteeing Powers as the ruler of the newly emancipated state of Greece. +He was prepared to accept the position. This distressed his niece, who had +been brought up under his kindly tutelage from her birth; but +circumstances which it does not concern our purpose to dwell upon, induced +Leopold to break off the Greek negotiation. Shortly after, to the great +delight of Victoria, he was nominated by the Powers, and accepted by his +future subjects, as King of the Belgians. This ensured his being +constantly comparatively near to his niece. How frequent were his visits +to England, as long as his life lasted, no resident in London needs to be +informed; up till within the last few years, his face was almost as +familiar in the parks as those of the members of the Queen's own family. +He often appeared in London suddenly, and without announcement, having +been summoned, it was generally believed, on such occasions, to consult +with the Queen on some point of imminent moment. Such summonses he always +responded to with instant alacrity. + +[Sidenote: ABSURD RUMOURS.] + +In the year 1831, the public became anxious to know how the education of +the heiress-presumptive to the throne progressed; what was the nature of +her studies, and which she preferred and most diligently pursued. Prompt, +responsive, and satisfactory statements were rendered. It appeared that +since the accession of King William, her tuition had been almost entirely +entrusted to English teachers. Mr. Amos instructed her in the principles +of the English Constitution, Mr. Westall in drawing; she had made +considerable progress in Latin, and could read Horace with fluency. It was +further stated that her love of music was enthusiastic, and that it was +the orchestral rather than the dramatic attraction that caused her to +frequent the theatres so much as she did. It was remarked that, on the +occasion of the coronation of William IV., which took place on the 8th of +September, neither the Princess nor her mother were present. Their absence +was explained by the announcement, that the health of the Princess +rendered a sojourn in the Isle of Wight necessary. Prudent persons held +that, even had it been otherwise, her tender years and peculiar position +rendered her absence preferable to her presence. She was but twelve years +old, and it was commonly stated that only a year before had it been deemed +wise _fully_ to make her aware of the regal destiny which was before her. +Gossip-mongers--a whole host of whom circulated the most absurd rumours +about the Princess from her most tender years until long after she had +become Queen--alleged that the real reason of her absence was the fact +that her proper place in the ceremony was not assigned to her. The real +truth we believe to have been as follows. Since the accession of her uncle +Clarence, Victoria had been plunged into a round of gaiety which did not +at all comport either with her years or a certain fragility of health, +which now for a short time succeeded the fine animal power and spirits of +the years preceding. She had been presented at the first drawing-room held +by Queen Adelaide, the most magnificent that had been held since the +presentation of Charlotte, Princess of Wales, on the occasion of her +marriage. This was her first appearance in state. She arrived with her +mother, attended by the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Charlotte St. +Maur, Lady Catherine Jenkinson, the Honourable Mrs. Cust, Lady Conroy, the +Baroness Lehzen, Sir J. Conroy, and General Wetherall. Her dress was made +entirely of articles manufactured in Great Britain, and consisted of a +simple, modest, and becoming blonde frock. She was the great object of +interest present, stood on the left of the King, and contemplated the +_élite_ of her future subjects with a dignified amiability which charmed +every one. On her twelfth birthday, in the same year, she was overwhelmed +with presents; amongst others, two beautiful ponies, presented by the +Duchess of Gordon, which became especial pets. The Queen gave a juvenile +ball in her honour, which Queen Victoria has often talked of in later +times, as the scene which of all others made the deepest impression on her +childish imagination. Spite of all this, and of the notorious and profuse +kindness with which the King and Queen Adelaide had always treated her, +many were found to believe that they were jealous of, and meant to slight +her. The truth was, that the Duchess of Northumberland, who, at the +suggestion of the King himself, had been appointed to the high and +important office of governess to the Princess, began to be alarmed at the +consequences of so much festivity and excitement. She objected to her +frequent attendance at drawing-rooms, and also recommended absence from +the fatiguing coronation ceremony. + +[Sidenote: THE PRINCESS AND SOUTHEY.] + +The selection of this lady for the important office which she filled was a +wise one, and the public judgment approved it. She possessed great +personal attractions, mental powers of unusual range, and the highest +rank. The appointment was by no means a nominal one, or one merely of +state. Her visits to Kensington Palace were constant, and she frequently +remained there all day. On one occasion, while her Grace was instructing +her pupil, Southey called, and was greeted by the Princess and the +_gouvernante_ very warmly. He conversed for some time with the ladies; +first on poetry, then on history. He afterwards used to state with pride, +that the Princess told him that she read his prose and poetical +compositions with equal delight. The "Life of Nelson" especially charmed +her. "That," she said, "is a delightful book indeed; and I am sure I could +read it half a dozen times over." The gossip-mongers also alleged that the +Duchess endeavoured to give a political bias to the education of the +Princess. Some uneasiness was created at this. But when the matter was +properly inquired into, it was ascertained that, neither in the selection +of books to be studied, nor in the remarks made upon their text, was the +slightest party colour given to the education of the royal pupil of the +Duchess. It was while under the care of this lady that the Princess +acquired her well-known admirable horsemanship. To Fozard, the best +riding-master of the day, was entrusted her tuition in riding. She soon +became distinguished by the ease of her carriage, and her truly royal air +and demeanour. This was a common subject of admiring remark by +distinguished foreigners; amongst others, by Count Orloff, to whom, in +1832, the Duchess of Kent gave a splendid banquet. The Princess, after she +was removed from the active care of the Duchess of Northumberland, gave +the best proof of her gratitude and sense of the services she had rendered +her, by keeping up with her Grace a constant epistolary correspondence. +Wherever she went, in the many tours through England which she made while +passing through her teens, she wrote letters to the Duchess describing +whatever interested and instructed her in what she saw. This +correspondence was really a voluntary continuation of her education. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE PRINCESS IN HER TEENS. + + Visits paid to many parts of England--Love of Cathedrals and Church + Music--Trip to North Wales and the Midland Counties--Visit to a Cotton + Mill--To Oxford--Gala Day at Southampton--Interview with the Young + Queen of Portugal--Confirmation of the Princess--Tour to the + North--York Musical Festival--At Ramsgate with the King of the + Belgians--A Noble Deed at Tunbridge Wells. + + +In the year subsequent to the coronation of King William, the Duchess of +Kent and her daughter spent much time in making visits to various parts of +England. We have already seen that they were in the Isle of Wight at the +date of the coronation. The same year, they spent some time at Worthing, +and visited Lord Liverpool and his daughters at Buxted Park, whence they +proceeded to Malvern, where their liberal relief of distress caused them +to be much beloved. While at Malvern, they visited the cathedral at +Worcester. Cathedrals were especial favourites with the Princess, and +Church music gratified her as much as ecclesiastical architecture. To the +public institutions of the cathedral cities which she visited she was an +invariable benefactress, and willingly beggared herself of all her +pocket-money that she might be the better able to meet the demands of art, +science, literature, and poverty upon her benevolence. This year they also +visited Hereford and Bath, and were magnificently entertained by the Earls +Somers and Beauchamp, at Eastnor Castle and Maddresfield Court. + +[Sidenote: AN AUTUMNAL TOUR.] + +In 1831, they sojourned for a time at Claremont, in the Isle of Wight, and +at Weymouth. The next year chronicled a more extensive autumnal tour than +any hitherto undertaken. To North Wales they repaired first. Having seen +its romantic beauties, they reached the ancient city of Chester on the +17th of October and on entering the cathedral were respectfully received +and courteously addressed by the Bishop. The Duchess of Kent thus replied +to the welcome of the Prelate:--"I cannot better allude to your good +feeling towards the Princess than by joining fervently in the wish that +she may set an example in her conduct of that piety towards God, and +charity towards man, which is the only sure foundation either of +individual happiness or national prosperity." From Chester they proceeded +to Eaton Hall, the palatial residence of the Grosvenors and thence to +Chatsworth, the still more splendid abode of the Cavendish family. From +Chatsworth they went to Belper, where they examined the cotton mills of +the Messrs. Strutt, and were most cordially received by the numerous +factory hands. Mr. James Strutt, by means of a model, explained to the +Princess the several processes of cotton-spinning, which she listened to +with keen attention and ready apprehension. The Queen retained a lively +and fragrant recollection of this visit; and, years after, she created the +son of her _cicerone_ a peer, by the title of Lord Belper. The week +following they visited Hardwicke Hall, Chesterfield, and Matlock. Thence +they proceeded to Shugborough, the seat of the Earl of Lichfield. Their +next honoured entertainer was the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Alton Towers. +While there, they visited Lichfield Cathedral and graciously received +congratulatory addresses from the clergy and corporation. Their next stage +was the seat of Lord Liverpool, who was one of the staunchest friends of +the Duchess of Kent, of whom his daughter, Lady Catherine Jenkinson, was +one of the Ladies-in-waiting. Proceeding homewards, they honoured with +successive visits Earl Powis, the Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P., the Earls of +Plymouth and Abingdon. From the seat of the latter they went to Oxford, +which city they entered with an escort of yeomanry. The Vice-Chancellor +presented an appropriate address in the Theatre, which was crowded with +the celebrities of the University. The Duchess of Kent made the following +answer:-- + + We close a most interesting journey by a visit to this University, + that the Princess may see, as far as her years will allow, all that is + interesting in it. The history of our country has taught her to know + its importance by the many distinguished persons who, by their + character and talents, have been raised to eminence by the education + they have received in it. Your loyalty to the King, and recollection + of the favour you have enjoyed under the paternal sway of his house, + could not fail, I was sure, to lead you to receive his niece with all + the disposition you evince to make this visit agreeable and + instructive to her. It is my object to insure, by all means in my + power, her being so educated as to meet the just expectation of all + classes in this great and free country. + +Their Royal Highnesses returned to Kensington on the 9th of November. + +In 1833, the rambles of mother and daughter did not extend beyond the +south coast; Portsmouth, Weymouth, and the Isle of Wight being the +respective halting-places. While residing at Norris, East Cowes, they +attended the ceremony of opening the new landing-pier at the fast rising +port of Southampton. A steamer towed the Royal yacht from Cowes into +Southampton Water, where were waiting a deputation, representing the +corporation of the town, in an eight-oared barge, with one of the +town-sergeants standing with the silver oar in the leads. The deputation +having stated the object of the day's ceremonial, the Duchess of Kent +replied to the effect that she desired her daughter early to become +attached to works of utility. They were then rowed ashore, amid the cheers +of 25,000 spectators, and entertained at luncheon; subsequently, being +requested to name the pier, the Duchess designated it the "Royal Pier." +Countless festivities followed in the evening, and "the townspeople were +almost as proud of the presence of the Princess, as of the completion of +their pier." + +[Sidenote: THE PRINCESS AND A WIDOWED ACTRESS.] + +The year 1834 was that in which the Princess was confirmed. This holy rite +was administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Chapel Royal, St. +James's, in July. Next month, mother and daughter visited Tunbridge Wells; +the month following they went northwards, visited the Archbishop of York +at Bishopsthorpe, and attended the grand musical festival in his +cathedral. On their homeward route, they were entertained by the Earls of +Harewood and Fitzwilliam, and the Duke of Rutland; passed some time with +the King and Queen of the Belgians, at Ramsgate, and finally visited the +Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle. An incident which occurred during +their stay at Tunbridge, must not be omitted from our biography. The +husband of one of the actresses in the small theatre of the place died, +leaving an impoverished wife, who was just about to become a mother. The +fact came to the knowledge of the Princess, and she applied to her mother +for aid. She at once gave £10 to her daughter, who added an equal sum from +her own purse; she became her own almoner, hastened to the afflicted +woman, conversed with her, and continued to make inquiries about her +condition. Nor did this end her care. When she came to the throne, three +years later, she at once sent to the poor woman a kindly intimation that +an annuity of £40 would be paid to her for life. + +Another series of visits, and renewed intercourse with the much-loved +uncle and his young Orleanist wife at Ramsgate, filled the autumnal months +of 1835. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +EARLY DAYS OF PRINCE ALBERT. + + Birth--Melancholy Story of his Mother--Brought up under the Care of + his two Excellent Grandmothers--His Winning Ways as a Child--His + Tutor, Florschütz--The Brothers, Ernest and Albert--Visit to Brussels, + and its Beneficial Effects--Hard Study--Tour through Germany, + &c.--First Visit to England, and Meeting with Victoria--Studies at + Brussels--Enters the University of Bonn--Tour to Switzerland and + Italy--Public Announcement of Betrothal--Leaves Coburg and Gotha for + his Marriage. + + +[Sidenote: THE INFANT COUSINS VICTORIA AND ALBERT.] + +Albert, the second son of Duke Ernest I. of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his +wife, the Princess Louise, daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, +was born at the Rosenau, a charming summer residence belonging to the +Duke, about four miles from Coburg, on the 26th of August, 1819. His +mother is described as handsome, though of very diminutive proportions, +fair, with blue eyes; and her son Albert, whom she idolised, closely +resembled her. She was clever and entertaining; yet her marriage was an +unhappy one, and a separation took place by mutual consent in 1824, after +which date the Duchess never saw her children. Two years later the +separation was turned into a divorce. The Prince never forgot her, but +spoke of her to his dying day with much tenderness, and the very first +gift which he ever made to the Princess Victoria was a little pin which +his mother had given him. Not until the Prince was almost a young man did +his mother die. When she died her race became extinct, save in the +persons of her two sons. Many years later, her remains were brought to +Coburg, and laid in the family mausoleum beside the Duke and his second +wife. This mausoleum was not completed until 1860, in which year Queen +Victoria deposited a votive wreath on the tomb of the mother of her +husband. Prince Albert's paternal grandmother, the Duchess Dowager of +Coburg, in writing to her daughter, the Duchess of Kent, announcing +Albert's birth, lauded his beauty, and--little thinking how the fortunes +of the two infant cousins were to be intertwined hereafter--thus concluded +her communication:--"How pretty the _May Flower_ (the Princess Victoria, +born the preceding May) will be when I see it in a year's time. Siebold +cannot sufficiently describe what a dear little love it is. Une bonne +fois, adieu! Kiss your husband and children." Siebold was an accoucheuse +who had attended at the births of both the children. On the 19th of +September the Prince was christened, and thus named:--Francis Charles +Augustus Albert Emmanuel. + +The young Prince seems to have been adored as a child by all, whether +relatives or others, who came in contact with him. "He leads captive," +said his fond mother, when he was two years old, "all hearts by his beauty +and gentle grace." After the sad separation of his father from his mother, +the Prince was brought up largely under the care of his father's mother, +whom the Queen describes, from personal recollection, as "a most +remarkable woman, with a most powerful, energetic, almost masculine mind, +accompanied with great tenderness of heart, and extreme love for nature." +Of an evening she used to tell to her two grandchildren, Ernest and +Albert, the stories of Sir Walter Scott's novels, and, when they were old +enough, employed them in writing letters to her dictation. She fondly +described Albert, when he was not yet two years old, by the pet, +diminutive name, "Alberinchen." And she says--"With his large blue eyes +and dimpled cheeks, he is bewitching, forward, and quick as a weasel. He +can already say everything." The step-maternal grandmother of the Prince +too, second wife of his maternal grandfather, was sensible, kindly, and +good, and took an interest in the children by no means inferior to that +displayed by their own grandmother. With the former lady they spent very +much of their time in their early years, at Gotha, and at her mansion in +the vicinity of that town. + +When Albert was not yet four years old he, with his brother, was removed +to the care of a tutor, Herr Florschütz, who most admirably discharged his +duties, which he continued to fulfil until his pupils had become young +men. With the assistance of masters for special subjects, he conducted the +whole of their early educational training, and continued to control their +studies until they left the University of Bonn. The two brothers, spite of +the difference of about a twelvemonth in their ages, pursued all studies +in common, and the closest brotherly love and amity united them from first +to last. + +[Sidenote: BOYHOOD OF PRINCE ALBERT] + +The younger Prince was not nearly so robust as his brother, but his +intellect was more vigorous, and his force of will decidedly greater; "he +always held," said his uncle Leopold, "accordingly, a certain sway over +his elder brother, who rather kindly submitted to it." The Princes were +not much, in their early years, with their father, who was much from home, +especially when settling the junction of the duchy of Gotha with his own +of Coburg. The former he succeeded to partly in right of his wife, and +partly by a mutual compact of exchange of territory, entered into with +other reigning princes of the old Saxon stock. This period was passed by +the Princes at Rosenau, with their tutor, varied by visits to the mansions +of the two grandmothers. + +In a memorandum drawn up by Count Arthur Mensdorff, cousin of the Prince, +he describes the young Albert when about ten years of age, at which period +the cousins contracted a friendship which lasted unimpaired until the +Prince's death. His disposition was mild and benevolent; nothing could +make him angry, except anything unjust or dishonest. He was never wild or +noisy, and his favourite study was natural history. He was a good mimic, +and had a keen sense of the ludicrous; but he never pushed a joke to the +extent of hurting one's feelings. His moral purity was as conspicuous as +the meekness of his disposition. + +In November of 1831, the Princes suffered a great bereavement in the death +of their admirable grandmother, the Duchess Dowager of Coburg; she died in +the arms of her two eldest sons. She had, from an early period, formed the +wish that a marriage should be contracted between her two grandchildren, +Albert and Victoria. + +In 1832, the young Princes, in their turn, accompanied their father in a +journey to visit their uncle, King Leopold. This was a most important +event in the Prince's life; for, though the visit was of but short +duration, the spectacle which he then saw, of a nation which had freed +itself, and worked out its own destiny, had the strongest effect upon his +mind and conscience, which thence grew in attachment to liberal +principles. His deeply-rooted love of art, too, received a strong stimulus +from the splendid architectural and artistic treasures of the old Belgian +city. On his return from Brussels, being now about thirteen years old, he +became remarkably studious, and vigorously set himself to the pursuit of +an unusually comprehensive circle of subjects. + +The only recreation which he pursued with vigour was deer-stalking, and +this most beneficially promoted the robustness of a frame as yet +distinguished by delicacy. On Palm Sunday, 1835, he was confirmed, and his +heart seems, at and from this period, to have come under the influence of +religious convictions of peculiar depth and sincerity, though of singular +freedom from all traces of bigotry. + +The confirmation of the Princes was immediately followed by a series of +visits to various of their imperial, regal, princely, and noble relatives +and friends throughout Germany and the provinces on the Danube. They +visited in succession Mecklenburg, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Pesth, +and Ofen. In May, 1836, the Princes came to England, on a visit to their +aunt Kent. It was on this occasion that Albert and Victoria first met. + +On his return to the Continent from this his first and most gratifying +visit to England, the Duke of Coburg placed Albert and his elder brother +for a time under the care of their uncle at Brussels. A private house was +taken for them, in which they pursued their studies under Dr. Drury, an +English clergyman, who had been appointed their tutor. This gentleman +recorded this testimony of his pupil, when, shortly afterwards, he was +removed from his tutelage, and before any idea was entertained about his +distinguished future position:--"His attainments are various, and solid +too; his abilities are superior; his disposition amiable; his conduct +unexceptionable; and, above all, his belief in, and his attachment to, the +Protestant religion is sincere." + +[Sidenote: PRINCE ALBERT AT COLLEGE.] + +In the summer following (1837) the two brothers were entered as students +of law, or, more correctly, of jurisprudence (_juris studiosi_), at the +University of Bonn, the Oxford of Germany in respect to the high rank of +some of its students, and standing in the very first place in point of +intrinsic efficiency. The tutor Florschütz still accompanied the young +men; and they benefited by the prelections of such men as Fichte, Perthes, +and Augustus Schlegel. Prince Albert studied classics, mathematics, mental +philosophy, political economy, history, and statistical science. In the +last subject he had been well grounded at Brussels by the distinguished M. +Quetelet, who formed the highest opinion of his pupil's powers and +assiduity. He had, besides, private tutors for music and drawing, in both +of which arts he was already well advanced. In the second stage of his +curriculum his studies were specially devoted to jurisprudence and civil +history. While at Bonn he displayed at once a talent for poetry and a +benevolent heart, by the publication for the benefit of the poor of a +collection of songs, which his brother set to meritorious musical +accompaniments. He visited only among his princely fellow-students, and at +the houses of the professors. His brother and he, though they occasionally +gave courtly entertainments to their friends, lived in private a +temperate and frugal life. He assiduously sought out the society of +_savans_ and men of letters, especially loving to associate with +Professors Welcker and Schlegel. The latter, though he detested the +ordinary run of "princelings," was quite charmed by Albert, of whom he +thought and spoke most highly. The Prince kept only three academical +terms, and finally left the University, in September, 1838, leaving golden +opinions everywhere behind him. Not the least hearty of his eulogists in +after years was Peter Stamm, an hotel-keeper, who acted as gamekeeper to +him on his shooting excursions, and who for years after pointed to English +visitors the portrait of Prince Albert in his sitting-room, his eyes the +while brimming over with glad tears. The University, after his marriage, +conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and in the +diploma pointed reference was made to his "summæ fortunæ magnitudinem ac +gravitatem, summâ comitate, amabilique morum suavitate et humanitate." + +The winter of 1838-9 was passed by the Prince in a tour through +Switzerland and Italy. After pursuing his journey as far as Naples, and +omitting no locality of interest on the way, he came home by way of +Vienna, and returned to the Castle of Ehrenberg in the summer of 1839. It +has been stated that he found, on the wall of his room, a miniature of +Queen Victoria, by Chalon, which she had sent to him as a gift in his +absence; but we have not discovered any very reliable authority for the +anecdote. In August, having completed his twentieth year, he was formally +declared of age. He inherited from his mother landed estates amounting to +£2,400 yearly value. These lands, we have reason to believe, he +transferred to his brother upon the formal announcement of his engagement +to Queen Victoria, subject only to pensions and allowances to certain +persons who had belonged to his modest household. + +[Sidenote: PRINCE ALBERT'S BETROTHAL.] + +On the 8th of December, 1839, his betrothal was formally and publicly +announced at Coburg. In the morning the Ducal family, with the Court +officials, attended Divine service in the chapel of the Castle; in the +afternoon, in the presence of the same dignitaries, with the deputies of +the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha, the Chief Minister formally read the +announcement of the betrothal; the while the booming of cannon from the +fortress announced the tidings to the people of the town and the +neighbouring country. About three hundred persons in all were present at +the ceremony within the Castle, including bearers of congratulatory +addresses, not only from the two duchies, but from Austria, Prussia, +Hesse, Saxony, and other German states. From the report of an English +gentleman of high social position, who was present on this important +occasion, we extract, in conclusion, these fuller details:-- + + When the Minister (Baron de Carlowitz) had read the proclamation, the + Duke embraced his son, and the Duchess next imprinted a kiss upon his + forehead, while in every eye might be read the heartfelt wish that all + the parents' fondest, proudest hopes might be fully realised. More + than one hundred and sixty persons partook of the hospitalities of the + Duke's table, in the "Riesen Saal," or "Giant's Hall," and a more + sumptuous or splendid entertainment could not be imagined. The loud + and cordial cheers which the health of England's Queen called forth, + and which burst out with an enthusiasm which all the forms of + etiquette and courtly ceremony could not restrain, were almost too + affecting; and when the band struck up "God save the Queen," the tears + of joy flowed freely. I must not omit to mention a circumstance + characteristic of the Prince. By his order, the people were admitted + into the "Riesen Saal," to see the assembled company. Peasants from + the hills, old and young, walked about without the smallest restraint, + to their evident enjoyment; and their hearty exclamations--the + blessings they invoked on their beloved Prince and his august + parents--were a more eloquent and stirring panegyric than volumes + could express. To describe the universal attachment of all classes to + the Prince were impossible. I have never heard other than the most + enthusiastic praise--not one dissenting voice from one end of + Thuringia to the other. If I have remarked the personal beauty of the + Prince, the general reply has been, "Ah! yes, he is certainly + handsome, but so good; he is truly a most amiable prince, as good as + he is handsome." Persons attached to his suite, and the older members + of the Court, cannot speak of him without tears, and are quite + distressed at the thought of his leaving his native land.... On the + 28th of December the Prince, accompanied by his father, quitted his + paternal residence for a short sojourn at Gotha; and as he bade a last + adieu to the stately castle of Ehrenberg, the abode of his fathers, + and the happy scene of his infancy, the tenderest emotions of his + nature for a moment almost overwhelmed him. A few days prior to his + departure, a ball was given him by the nobles, at which he was + received by twelve young ladies, attired in white, and wearing + fresh-gathered roses; the Philosophic Society gave him a serenade, and + all classes joined in affectionate expression of sympathy in their + young Prince's feelings on this momentous occasion. + +Lord Viscount Torrington and Colonel the Honourable Charles Grey, who were +charged with the two-fold mission of investing the Prince with the +insignia of the Order of the Garter, and escorting him and his suite to +England, arrived at Gotha early in January, 1840, and the investiture took +place on the 24th, with imposing ceremony. The jewels, which were of +diamonds and of rare workmanship, were a present from the Queen. After a +series of hospitable festivities in honour of the English envoys, Prince +Albert set out for England on the 28th of the month. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE PRINCESS VICTORIA BECOMES QUEEN REGNANT. + + First Meeting of the Princess Victoria and Prince Albert--Coming of + Age--Festivities on the Occasion--Death of William IV., and Accession + of Victoria--The Queen holds her First Privy Council--Her + Address--Proclamation as Queen at St. James's Palace--Beautiful Traits + of Character displayed by the Queen--Stirring and Gorgeous + Scene--Delight of the People at the Queen's Accession. + + +The marriage of Prince Albert with the Princess Victoria was desired, if +not planned, by certain of their common relatives, especially the Duchess +Dowager of Coburg and her son Prince Leopold, almost from the period when +the cousins were in their cradles. After his betrothal, the Prince himself +told the Queen that his mother, who died in 1831, wished earnestly that he +should marry her. He first saw his future wife in the month of May, 1836, +when he and his brother came to England on a visit to their aunt. He +greatly enjoyed this visit to England, and the youthful guests were +treated by the authorities and the inhabitants of the metropolis with the +utmost courtesy and attention. They were sumptuously entertained at +Windsor by the King and Queen Adelaide, and were conducted to all the +great sights of the town by their aunt and cousin. + +On the 24th of May, 1837, the Princess Victoria having attained her +eighteenth year, was declared legally of age, according to the provisions +of a recent Act of Parliament. Amongst the first to congratulate her on +the happy event was Prince Albert. This happy day was kept as a general +holiday, and the night made brilliant by an illumination. It was +celebrated with demonstrations of excessive joy at Kensington. At six +o'clock in the morning the union-jack was hoisted on the steeple of the +old church, as also on the green sward opposite the Palace. That edifice +was surmounted by a splendid flag of pure white silk, on which was +inscribed, in letters of ethereal blue, the single word "Victoria." From +the houses of the principal inhabitants in the High Street waved a +profusion of other flags. The gates of the Gardens were thrown open at six +o'clock for the admission of the public; and it having got wind the +previous evening that a serenade would be performed at seven o'clock, at +which hour Victoria first drew breath eighteen years before, the portion +of the Gardens next the Palace was thronged by an assemblage of +well-dressed persons, including several ladies. Congratulatory addresses +and innumerable presents--amongst the latter, a splendid piano from the +King--poured in from all quarters. At night a magnificent ball in honour +of the occasion was given at St. James's Palace. + +During these festivities, although it was known that the King's health was +seriously enfeebled, no one imagined that within a month from the +attainment of her majority the young Princess would become Queen of +England. The anniversary of Waterloo was always a great day with King +William. The Duke of Wellington, in consideration of the declining state +of the King's health, proposed not to have the usual banquet at Apsley +House; but, the day before, William, sent a message desiring that the +banquet should take place, and wishing the host and guests a pleasant day. +By two o'clock on the morning of the 20th he was no more. + +[Sidenote: ACCESSION TO THE THRONE.] + +Shortly after the demise of the Sovereign, three carriages, conveying the +Primate, the Earl of Albemarle and Sir Henry Halford, the Royal physician, +started from Windsor, and arrived at Kensington Palace shortly before five +o'clock. The doors were thrown open before them, and in the early morning +sunshine stood the Queen of England and her mother, prepared for the news, +and ready to receive them. At nine o'clock, Lord Melbourne, the Premier, +arrived at the Palace, and had an interview of half an hour with his new +mistress. Before noon came the Lord Mayor and other members of the +Corporation. Next to appear was the Duke of Cumberland. Miss Martineau +thus describes the quick succession of incidents which now crowded one +upon the other with rapid haste:-- + + On the meeting of the princes, peers, and other councillors, they + signed the oath of allegiance; and the first name on the list was that + of Ernest, King of Hanover. The Queen caused them all to be sworn in + Members of the Council, and then addressed them; after which they + issued orders for the Proclamation of Her Majesty. If the millions who + longed to know how the young Sovereign looked and felt could have + heard her first address, it would have gone far to satisfy them. The + address was, of course, prepared for her; but the manner and voice + were her own, and they told much. Her manner was composed, modest, and + dignified; her voice firm and sweet; her reading, as usual, beautiful. + She took the necessary oaths, and received the eager homage of the + thronging nobility without agitation or any awkwardness. The + declaration contained an affectionate reference to the deceased King; + an assertion of her attachment to the constitution of the country, and + of her intention to rule in accordance with it; a grateful allusion to + her mother's educational care of her; an avowal that, under + circumstances of such eminent responsibility as hers, she relied for + support and guidance in Divine Providence, and a pledge that her life + should be devoted to the happiness of her people. The Ministers + returned into her hands, and received again, the seals of their + respective offices; the stamps in official use were ordered to be + altered, as also the prayers of the Church which related to the Royal + Family; the Proclamation was prepared and signed by the Privy + Councillors, and the Queen appointed the next day, Wednesday, for the + ceremony. The first use of the Great Seal, under the new reign, was to + authenticate the official Proclamation, which was gazetted the same + evening. During the whole morning, carriages were driving up rapidly, + bringing visitors eager to offer their homage. What a day of whirl and + fatigue for one in a position so lonely, at such tender years. How + welcome must have been the night, and the quiet of her pillow, + whatever might be the thoughts that rested upon it. The next morning + she appeared "extremely pale and fatigued," and no wonder, for she had + passed through a day which could never be paralleled. + +The following is the text of her Majesty's speech delivered on this +occasion to the Privy Council:-- + + The severe and afflicting loss which the nation has sustained by the + death of His Majesty, my beloved uncle, has devolved upon me the duty + of administering the Government of this empire. This awful + responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a + period, that I 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 longer experience. I place my + firm reliance upon the wisdom of Parliament, and upon the loyalty and + affection of my people. I esteem it also a peculiar advantage that I + succeed to a sovereign whose constant regard for the rights and + liberties of his subjects, and whose desire to promote the + amelioration of the laws and institutions of the country, have + rendered his name the object of general attachment and veneration. + Educated in England, under the tender and affectionate care of a most + affectionate mother, I have learned from my infancy to respect and + love the constitution of my native country. It will be my unceasing + study to maintain the reformed religion as by law established, + securing, at the same time, to all the full enjoyment of religious + liberty; and I shall steadily protect the rights, and promote to the + utmost of my power the happiness and welfare of all classes of my + subjects. + +[Sidenote: PROCLAMATION AS QUEEN.] + +The next day, the 21st of June, the Queen was publicly proclaimed, under +the title of Alexandrina Victoria I.; but since that day she has disused +the Russian name bestowed upon her by her Muscovite godfather, preferring +to retain simply "Victoria." The Queen arrived at the Palace at ten +o'clock, where she was received by most of the members of the Royal +Family, the Officers of the Household, and Ministers of State. Long before +ten all the avenues to the Palace were crowded, every balcony, window, and +housetop being crammed with the better class of spectators. The space in +the quadrangle in front of the window where Her Majesty was to appear, was +crowded with ladies and gentlemen, and even the parapets above were filled +with people. + +At ten o'clock the guns in the Park fired a salute, and immediately after +the Queen made her appearance at the window of the tapestried ante-room +adjoining the audience chamber, and was received with deafening +cheers--cheers all the more hearty that her appearance was a surprise, for +few had known that she was to be there present. She was dressed in deep +mourning, with a white tippet, white cuffs, and a border of white lace +under a small black bonnet, which was placed far back on her head, +exhibiting her light brown hair simply parted in front. She viewed the +proceedings with intense interest, standing during the whole rehearsal of +the Proclamation; and although she looked pale and fatigued, she returned +the repeated rounds of cheers with great grace and dignity. All were +touched to very tenderness of soul by the pale face, wet with tears, calm +and simply grave, the gravity being enhanced by the plain black dress and +bands of brown hair, giving an aspect of Quaker-like neatness. On either +side stood Lords Melbourne and Lansdowne, in their state dresses and blue +ribbons, and close to her was her mother, who was dressed similarly to the +Queen. + +In the court-yard were Garter King-at-Arms, with Heralds and Pursuivants +in their robes of office, and eight Officers-of-Arms on horseback, bearing +massive silver maces; Sergeants-at-Arms, with their maces and collars; the +Sergeant-Trumpeter, with his mace and collar; the trumpets, drum-major and +drums, and Knights Marshal and men. On Her Majesty showing herself at the +Presence Chamber window, Garter Principal King-at-Arms, having taken his +station in the court-yard under the window, accompanied by the Duke of +Norfolk as Earl Marshal of England, read the Proclamation, containing the +formal and official announcement of the demise of King William IV., and of +the consequent accession of Queen Alexandrina Victoria to the rule of +these realms. The Proclamation was brief, and to the point:-- + + Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to call to His mercy our late + Sovereign Lord, King William IV., of blessed memory, by whose decease + the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland + is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Princess + Alexandrina Victoria, we therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal + of this Realm, being here assisted with these of his late Majesty's + Privy Council, with numbers of other principal gentlemen of quality, + the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and citizens of London, do now hereby with + one voice and consent of tongue, proclaim that the High and Mighty + Princess Alexandrina Victoria is now, by the death of our late + Sovereign William IV., of happy memory, become our only lawful and + rightful Liege Lady, Alexandrina Victoria I., Queen of Great Britain + and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, ... to whom we acknowledge all + faith and constant obedience, with all humble and hearty affection, + beseeching God, by whom Kings and Queens do reign, to bless the Royal + Princess Alexandrina Victoria with long and happy years to reign. God + Save the Queen. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN AND THE DUKE OF SUSSEX.] + +At the termination of this Proclamation, the band struck up the National +Anthem, and a signal was given for the Park and Tower guns to fire, in +order to announce the fact of the Proclamation being made. Amid the +booming of the guns, the air was rent with cheers by those within the +area, which were taken up by the tens of thousands outside. The enthusiasm +of the comparative few who could see Victoria rose to rapture when, the +moment she was proclaimed Queen, she turned round, threw her arms round +her mother's neck, and wept without restraint. And when her loved uncle, +the Duke of Sussex, presented himself, the day before, to take the oath of +allegiance, and was about to kneel in her presence to kiss her hand, she +gracefully prevented him, kissed his cheek affectionately, and said, "Do +not kneel, my uncle, for I am still Victoria, your niece." + +The feelings of gratification with which the people welcomed the accession +of Victoria cannot be depicted in terms too strong. To most, the course of +years seemed very short during which they had been eagerly watching the +growth and training of the Princess. It seemed--at least, to all but the +young--but a matter of yesterday that the newspapers had informed them of +the birth of the Royal babe; of the Duke of Kent's illness: how he had +come home from a walk with wet boots, and, "beguiled by the smiles of his +infant Princess," had played with her, instead of changing his clothes, +and thus caught the cold of which he died. And here she was now, a woman, +and the sovereign ruler of a hundred million of souls. All they had heard +of her was favourable. Sinister rumours and alarms there had been, but +they had been dissipated and dispersed like the morning's mist before the +rising god of day. Her morals were pure, her conduct spotless, and in all +arts and accomplishments she had been carefully trained. From her earliest +days she had been abroad in all weathers; having been often seen, when it +was stormy, on a windy common, with a warm cloak and thick boots. She kept +early hours, and was so exactly and proverbially punctual, that it was +mentioned as a marvel that she once had to apologise for being half a +minute late in an appointment. She had never been known to exceed her +pocket-money in her personal expenditure, or to be sixpence in debt--an +extraordinary novelty in a descendant of George III. + +In the first year of her reign the people were delighted to find that she +had paid her father's debts, including considerable sums advanced by his +warm friends, Lords Fitzwilliam and Dundas. Next she paid her mother's +debts--debts unavoidably contracted, as she knew and acknowledged, on her +account. She provided with royal munificence for the whole family of the +late sovereign, and honoured them with courtesies and kindnesses, which +almost obliterated the pain arising from their dubious position. Yet she +lived within her income, and paid as she purchased. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE MAIDEN QUEEN. + + Removal to Buckingham Palace--First Levée--Dissolves + Parliament--Beauty of her Elocution--Splendid Reception by the City of + London--Settlement of the Queen's Income--Her Daily Life--Her + admirable Knowledge of, and Devotion to, the Business of the + State--Reverence for the Lord's Day. + + +Greatly to the regret of the inhabitants of Kensington, the Queen, with +her mother, took her final departure from the abode where she was born, +and in which she had spent so many happy days, and proceeded to Buckingham +Palace, on July 13th. The Queen, on this occasion, looked pale, and her +countenance had a very natural, and easily accounted for, aspect of deep +regret. Immediately afterwards she held a Court Levée. It was, of course, +thronged by her loyal subjects who had the privilege of entrée; but there +was no appearance of fatigue in her face, voice, or manner, and the day +passed off with spirit and brilliancy. She seemed to have acquired (so say +the court chroniclers of the period), if possible, increased grace and +dignity. She wore a rich lama dress, her head glittered with diamonds, and +her breast was covered with the insignia of the Garter and other orders. A +pair of embroidered velvet slippers covered feet which, resting on the +cushion, were observed and admired by all as "exquisitely small." + +On the 17th of July she went in state to the House of Lords to dissolve +the Parliament, in accordance with constitutional usage and enactment on +the demise of the Crown. After thanking both Houses for their expressions +of condolence on the death of her uncle, and for the zeal and assiduity +with which they had discharged their duties, especially for their efforts +to mitigate the severity of the penal code, she concluded by saying:-- + + I ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is + imposed upon me; but I am supported by the consciousness of my own + right intentions, and by my dependence upon the protection of Almighty + God. It will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil and + ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is + required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and + discord. Acting upon these principles, I shall, upon all occasions, + look with confidence to the wisdom of Parliament and the affections of + my people, which form the true support of the dignity of the Crown, + and ensure the stability of the Constitution. + +The admirable manner in which the speech was read--her singularly musical +voice being heard, without the slightest appearance of effort, in every +corner of the House of Lords--was the subject of the admiration of all who +heard it. It was, indeed, known that she was a fine singer, and frequently +entertained her mother's guests by singing to them, her mother +accompanying her on the piano; nevertheless, the lucidity of her tones, +and the entire absence of any discomposure to disturb them, surprised +every one, and no one more so than her mother. + +[Sidenote: STATE VISIT TO THE CITY.] + +The Queen went in great state to the City on Lord Mayor's Day, November 9. +This royal entry was one of the greatest sights which had ever been beheld +in the City. The Queen, looking remarkably well, magnificently attired in +pink satin shot with silver, was greeted with deafening cheers from a +crowd far denser than any she had ever seen, along her whole route from +Marlborough House (her temporary residence until Buckingham Palace was +completed for her occupation) to the Guildhall. The houses along the +thoroughfares by which the cavalcade passed were hung with bright-coloured +cloths, with green boughs, and with what flowers the earth could afford at +the late season of the year. Flags and heraldic banners darkened the dim +November light across the Strand, Fleet Street, and Cheapside; and every +pedestal that could be improvised supported a bust of Queen Victoria. At +Temple Bar the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, mounted on artillery horses from +Woolwich, each of the steeds being held by the head by the soldier who was +accustomed to bestride him, awaited their distinguished guest. The Lord +Mayor, dismounting and taking the City Sword in his hand, delivered the +keys, which were graciously returned, while more vociferous cheers than +ever rent the air. On which, the Lord Mayor, re-mounting and holding the +City Sword aloft, rode before Her Majesty through the City, the cortége of +mounted Aldermen following her carriage. The open space before St. Paul's +was occupied by hustings, crowded by the Liverymen of the City Companies +and the Christ's Hospital boys. One of these, in conformity with an old +usage, having presented an address to the Queen, and the whole of the boys +having sung "God save the Queen," the procession went on its way. At the +Guildhall, which, with all its adjacent chambers, was sumptuously fitted +up, a loyal address was read by the Recorder, and suitably acknowledged. +After this came a sumptuous banquet, from which Her Majesty retired, to +see on her way back the whole line of the route brilliantly illuminated. + +The first message which the Queen sent to Parliament when it re-assembled, +was a truly characteristic one: it asked for a suitable provision for her +royal mother. This provision was loyally made, and in the same short +winter session her own civil list was settled. William IV. had enjoyed a +civil list amounting to £510,000, while, from the accession of George III. +to the death of his eldest son, it had been fixed at £1,030,000. Her +Majesty's civil list was fixed at £385,000 per annum, and her privy purse, +being the only sum over which she had complete personal control, and from +which her private charities had to be disbursed, was fixed at £60,000. Out +of the £385,000 the calculation, based by order of Parliament upon the +accounts of the late reign, was that £131,260 would go for salaries of the +Household, from the Master of the Horse and Mistress of the Robes, down to +the humblest scullion and stable-helper; and £172,500 in tradesmen's +bills. + +During the early days of her maiden reign, the Queen rose at eight, +occupied a remarkably short time in dressing, and then discharged such +routine business as signing despatches until the breakfast hour, which was +invariably a quarter before ten. At that hour, she without fail sent one +of her attendants to _invite_ the Duchess of Kent to breakfast. From the +day of her ascending the throne, to remove the slightest ground for +suspicion as to any undue influence, the strictest etiquette was preserved +between mother and daughter; the former never approaching the latter +unless specially summoned, and carefully abstaining from conversing about +the business of the State. Twelve o'clock was the time appointed for +conferences with her Ministers. After the usual complimentary salutation, +she at once proceeded to the business of the day. If a document were +handed to her, she read it without comment, and no remark passed her own +lips or those of the Ministers present, until its perusal was concluded. +After retiring from the Council-room, the interval was passed until dinner +in riding or walking. At dinner, the first Lord-in-waiting took the head +of the table; opposite to him, the chief Equerry-in-waiting. Her Majesty's +chair was half way down on the right, the various guests being seated +according to their ranks. Next to Her Majesty, on the right hand, was the +nobleman of highest degree; next to him, the Duchess of Kent, and so on. +On Her Majesty's left, the same rule was observed, the Baroness Lehzen, +who acted as Secretary to the Queen, being always near her. The Queen left +the table early for the drawing-room, where her musical tastes were +regaled almost invariably, and her own proficiency very frequently +displayed. + +[Sidenote: REVERENCE FOR SUNDAY.] + +The following incident, which was made public during the first year of the +Queen's reign, made a very pleasing impression upon the well-conditioned +portion of the public. A certain noble Minister arrived at Windsor at a +late hour on Saturday night. On being introduced, he said, "I have brought +down for your Majesty's inspection some documents of great importance; +but, as I shall be obliged to trouble you to examine them in detail, I +will not encroach on the time of your Majesty to-night, but will request +your attention to-morrow morning." "To-morrow morning?" repeated the +Queen; "to-morrow is Sunday, my lord." "True, your Majesty, but business +of the State will not admit of delay." "I am aware of that," replied the +Queen, "and, as your lordship could not have arrived earlier at the Palace +to-night, I will, if those papers are of such pressing importance, attend +to their contents after church to-morrow morning." So to church went the +Queen and the Court, and to church went the noble lord; when, much to his +surprise, the discourse was on the duties and obligations of the Christian +Sabbath. "How did your lordship like the sermon?" asked the Queen. "Very +much indeed, your Majesty," replied the nobleman. "Well, then," retorted +Her Majesty, "I will not conceal from you that, last night, I sent the +clergyman the text from which he preached. I hope we shall all be improved +by the sermon." The Sunday passed without a single word being said +relative to the State papers, and at night, when Her Majesty was about to +withdraw--"To-morrow morning, my lord, at any hour you please," said the +Queen, turning to the nobleman--"as early as seven, my lord, if you like, +we will look into the papers." The nobleman said that he could not think +of intruding on Her Majesty at so early an hour; he thought nine o'clock +would be quite soon enough. "No, no, my lord," said the Queen; "as the +papers are of importance, I wish them to be attended to very early. +However, if you wish it to be nine, be it so." And accordingly, the next +morning at nine, Her Majesty was seated ready to receive the nobleman and +his papers. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE QUEEN CROWNED. + + Novel Features in the Coronation--Its Cost--Large Amount of Money + Circulated--Splendour of the Procession--Enormous Crowds--The Scene + within the Abbey--Arrival of the Queen--The Regalia and Sacred + Vessels--Costume of the Queen--Astonishment of the Turkish Ambassador + at the Scene--The Coronation Ceremony--The Queen's Oath--The + Anointing--The Crown placed on her Head--The Homage--An Aged Peer--The + Queen's Crown--The Illuminations and general Festivities--Fair in Hyde + Park--The Duke of Wellington and Marshal Soult at the Guildhall. + + +The great event of the year 1838 was the Coronation, which took place on +the 28th of June. It was conducted after the abridged model of that of the +Queen's immediate predecessor. The Coronation of George IV. had cost +£243,000; that of William IV., £50,000. The charges on the occasion of the +crowning of Queen Victoria amounted to about £70,000. This slight excess +over the cost of the last Sovereign's solemn investiture with regal power +was explained by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as having been in no +sense occasioned by any part of the ceremonial peculiarly connected with +the Sovereign, but it had been incurred with a view of enabling the great +mass of the people to participate in this national festivity. The great +novelty on the occasion was the omission of the walking procession of all +the estates of the realm, and the banquet in Westminster Hall, with the +feudal services attendant thereon. Many of the upper classes grumbled not +a little at these omissions; but the general public were more than +proportionately gratified. For in lieu of the disused ceremonies, a public +procession through the streets was substituted. This enabled all to +witness the splendid pageant, and induced a very large private expenditure +and circulation of money. It was estimated that no less than £200,000 were +paid for the use of windows and other positions of vantage in the line of +the procession. The price of single seats ranged from five shillings to +ten guineas; and the Duke of Buckingham, in his "Courts and Cabinets of +William IV. and Victoria," alleges that single windows in Pall Mall and +St. James's Street produced no less than £200. Persons of distinction +behaved with a becoming liberality and splendour. Marshal Soult, the old +opponent of Wellington, who specially represented on the occasion the +Court of the Tuileries, and who was received by the crowds with great +enthusiasm, appeared in a splendid state carriage that had been used by +the Prince of Condé. The Russian Ambassador purchased for £1,600 a similar +chariot, which had already done the same duty for the Duke of Devonshire, +at St. Petersburg, on a like occasion. Another diplomat gave £250 for the +loan for the day of a vehicle befitting his rank; while many more had to +content themselves with carriages whose normal function it was to minister +to the state of the civic magnates, and which were hastily repainted and +decorated for the auspicious occasion. + +The day was one of the brightest on which the Queen, with her proverbial +good fortune in this respect, has ever appeared amongst her subjects. At +early morn, the first rays of the blazing Midsummer sun slanted down +through the windows of Westminster Abbey upon the jewels of whole rows of +peeresses, and the illuminations which turned night into day remained in +full magnificence until the dawn of the succeeding morning. At dawn, a +salvo of artillery from the Tower caused all the population to be astir, +and the population was on this day increased by the importation of four +hundred thousand visitors. The behaviour of the enormous multitude which +first lined the streets and then spread itself over the town, was beyond +all praise. Courtesy and mutual forbearance were conspicuous, and no +accident or offence occurred to mar the pleasing impressions of the +ceremonial. + +[Sidenote: ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.] + +The route of the procession was as follows:--From Buckingham Palace, up +Constitution Hill, along Piccadilly, St. James's Street, Pall Mall, +Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, Whitehall, and Parliament Street, to the +great west door of Westminster Abbey. The most novel feature of the +procession was the carriages of the Foreign Ambassadors, to which we have +already alluded, with their jägers in gorgeous or grotesque uniforms. +These came in the order in which they had arrived on their special +missions to this country; the carriages of the regular resident +Ambassadors came in their ordinary order of precedence. Next followed the +members of the Royal Family, the Duchess of Kent preceding the carriages +of the surviving sons of George III. To the Queen's Barge Master, with +forty-eight watermen, succeeded twelve of the Royal carriages, containing +the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Household. Next came mounted, three and +three, the high functionaries of the Army. And after Royal huntsmen, +yeomen, prickers, marshalmen, foresters, and a host of other minor +functionaries--the whole of the mounted Household Troops being here and +there interspersed at intervals in the cavalcade--came the grand state +coach, containing Her Majesty the Queen, with the Duchess of Sutherland, +Mistress of the Robes. On either side of the carriage rode Lord +Combermere, Gold Stick in Waiting, and the Earl of Ilchester, Captain of +the Yeomen of the Guard. The Earl of Albemarle, as Master of the Horse, +and the Duke of Buccleuch, as Captain-General of the Royal Scottish +Archers, rode behind. A squadron of Life Guards brought up the rear. + +Meanwhile, within the Abbey, a painful sleepiness had oppressed those who +had sat so many hours in cramped positions; many of them in galleries +perched up high under the roofs of the aisles. Suddenly, a burst of music, +rushing among the arches and ringing from the roof, aroused and entranced +all, who peered eagerly down upon the procession of small figures; the +central one looking the slightest and most fragile of all. At half-past +eleven, the Queen reached the door of the Abbey, where she was received by +the great officers of State, the noblemen bearing the Regalia, and the +bishops carrying Patina, Chalice, and Bible. Having retired to her +Robing-room, the procession formed and proceeded towards the altar, which +was laden with magnificent gold plate, and beside which stood St. Edward's +Chair. Besides the elements which are common to all great English regal +processions, and which it is, therefore, not requisite to recapitulate, +the Regalia, which only appear on such occasions, were thus +distributed:--St. Edward's Staff, the Golden Spurs, the Sceptre with the +Cross, the Curtana, and two Swords of Investiture, were borne respectively +by the Duke of Roxburgh, Lord Byron, Duke of Cleveland, Duke of +Devonshire, Marquis of Westminster, and Duke of Sutherland. The coronets +of the princes of the blood were borne by noblemen; their trains by +knights or peers' sons. Next came the Earl Marshal, Duke of Norfolk, with +his staff, Lord Melbourne with the Sword of State, and the Duke of +Wellington, with his staff, as Lord High Constable; the Dukes of Richmond, +Hamilton, and Somerset bore the Sceptre and Dove, St. Edward's Crown, and +the Orb; the Bishops of Bangor, Winchester, and London carried the Patina, +Chalice, and Bible. The Queen, who was supported on one side by the Bishop +of Bath and Wells, on the other by the Bishop of Durham, wore a royal robe +of crimson velvet, furred with ermine and broidered with gold lace. She +wore the collars of her orders, and on her head a circlet of gold. Eight +peers' daughters bore her train, most, if not all of them, old friends of +her happy childish tours to the mansions of the aristocracy, and +distinguished by their personal attractions. About fifty ladies of rank, +occupying various positions in the household, succeeded, and the +procession was concluded by Officers of State and Yeomen of the Guard. + +[Sidenote: THE CORONATION.] + +The chief and most picturesque incidents in the Coronation ceremony must +be briefly narrated. The Queen looked extremely well, and "had a very +animated countenance;" but perhaps the splendid attire of some of the +foreign ambassadors attracted more attention than even the Sovereign to +whose court they were accredited. The costume of the Prince Esterhazy was +by far the most gorgeous; his dress, even to his boot-heels, sparkled with +diamonds. The Turkish Ambassador seemed specially bewildered at the +general splendour of the scene: for some moments he stopped in +astonishment, and had to be courteously admonished to move to his allotted +place. + +As the Queen advanced slowly to the centre of the choir, she was received +with hearty plaudits, and the musicians sang the anthem, "I was glad." At +its close, the boys of Westminster School, privileged of old to occupy a +special gallery, chanted "Vivat Victoria Regina." On this the Queen moved +to a chair, midway between the Chair of Homage and the altar; and there, +after a few moments' private devotion, kneeling on a fald-stool, she sat +down, and the ceremony proper began. First came the "recognition." The +Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by some half-dozen of the greatest +civil dignitaries, advanced and said, "Sirs, I here present unto you Queen +Victoria, the undoubted Queen of this realm; wherefore, all you who have +come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?" On this, +all Her Majesty's subjects present shouted, "God Save Queen Victoria!" the +Archbishop turning in succession to the north, south, and west sides of +the Abbey, and the Queen doing the same. The bishops who bore them, then +placed the Patina, Chalice, and Bible on the altar; the Queen, kneeling, +made her first offering, a pall, or altar-cloth, of gold. The Archbishop +having offered a prayer, the Regalia were laid on the altar; the Litany +and Communion services were read, and a brief sermon preached, by various +prelates. The preacher was the Bishop of London, and his text was from the +Second Book of Chronicles, chapter xxxiv., verse 31--"And the king stood +in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, +and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with +all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant +which are written in this book." + +After the sermon, the Queen swore--the Archbishop of Canterbury putting +the oath--that she would maintain the law and the established religion. +Then Her Majesty--the Sword of State being carried before her--went to the +altar, and laying her right hand upon the Gospel, said, kneeling, "The +things which I have here-before promised, I will perform and keep. So help +me, God!" Having kissed the book, and signed a transcript of the oath +presented to her by the Archbishop, she knelt upon her fald-stool, while +the choir sang, "Veni, Creator, Dominus." + +[Sidenote: THE HOMAGE OF THE PEERS.] + +Now, sitting in King Edward's Chair, four Knights of the Garter holding +the while over her head a canopy of cloth of gold, her head and hands were +anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury; after which he said his prayer, +or blessing, over her. In quick succession followed the delivery of the +Spurs, Sword of State, &c. The Dean of Westminster, having taken the crown +from the altar, handed it to the Archbishop, who reverently placed it on +the Queen's head. This was no sooner done, than there arose from every +part of the edifice a tremendous shout--"God save the Queen!" accompanied +with lusty cheers and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. At the same +moment, the Peers and Peeresses put on their coronets, the Bishops their +caps, and the Kings of Arms their crowns; the trumpets sounded, the drums +were beat, and volleys fired from the Tower and Park guns. After the +Benediction and Te Deum, the Queen was "enthroned," or "lifted," as the +formulary has it, from the chair in which she had first sat into the Chair +of Homage, where she delivered the sceptre, &c., to noblemen, while she +received fealty of her more distinguished subjects. The Archbishop first +knelt and did homage for himself and all the spiritual peers; next came +the Princes of the blood, who merely touched the crown, kissed her left +cheek, swore the oath of homage, and retired without kneeling; then the +Peers in succession came--seventeen dukes, twenty-two marquises, +ninety-four earls, twenty viscounts, and ninety-two barons. Each Peer +knelt bareheaded, and kissed Her Majesty's hand. Lord Rolle, who was +upwards of eighty, stumbled and fell in going up the steps; the Queen at +once stepped forward, and held out her hand to assist him. While the Peers +were doing homage, the Earl of Surrey, Treasurer of the Household, threw +silver coronation medals about the choir and lower galleries; and when the +homage was completed the Members of the House of Commons, who occupied a +special gallery, indicated their loyalty by giving nine lusty cheers. It +was almost a quarter to four when the procession came back along the nave. +The return cavalcade along the streets was even more attractive than that +of the morning, for the royal and noble personages now wore their +coronets, and the Queen her crown. The crown was especially admired. That +which had been made for George IV. weighed upwards of seven pounds, and as +it was considered too heavy for the Queen, a new one was constructed by +Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, of less than half the weight. It was formed of +hoops of silver, covered with precious stones, over a cap of rich blue +velvet, surmounted with a ball enriched by diamonds. Amongst its other +gems was a large heart-shaped ruby, which had been worn by the Black +Prince; this was set in front. + +[Sidenote: CORONATION FESTIVITIES.] + +In the evening the Queen entertained a hundred guests to dinner at +Buckingham Palace, and at a late hour witnessed from the roof the +fireworks in the Green Park. At Apsley House, the Duke of Wellington gave +a ball, to which two thousand guests were invited. All the Cabinet +Ministers gave state dinners. A fair was held in Hyde Park on the day of +the coronation--Thursday--and until the end of the week. The area allotted +comprised nearly one-third of the Park. On Friday, the Queen visited the +fair, which was studded with theatres, refreshment booths, and stalls for +the sale of fancy articles. The illuminations and fireworks gave great +satisfaction, as did the fact that the whole of the theatres were opened +gratuitously at the Queen's express desire. Among other festivities, at +home and abroad, which succeeded and were held in honour of the coronation +of Victoria, may be mentioned a grand review by Her Majesty in Hyde Park; +a magnificent banquet at the Guildhall, at which the old Waterloo +antagonists, Wellington and Soult, were toasted in combination; the +feasting of 13,000 persons on one spot at Cambridge; the laying of the +first stone of the St. George's Hall, at Liverpool, and at Leghorn of an +English Protestant Church; and a great public dinner, in Paris, presided +over by Sir Sidney Smith, the hero of St. Jean d'Acre. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BEDCHAMBER PLOT. + + Resignation of Lord Melbourne's Cabinet--Sir Robert Peel sent + for--Fails to Form a Cabinet--His Explanation--The Queen Refuses to + Dismiss her Ladies of the Bedchamber--Supported by her late + Ministers--Sir Robert Peel's Objections--The Queen will not give + way--The Whigs recalled to Power--Public Opinion on the Dispute--The + Whig Ministers blamed, but the Queen exculpated. + + +In April, 1839, Lord Melbourne's administration, which had been rapidly +losing its once great popularity, obtained only the small and nominal +majority of five, in a very important matter connected with the government +of Jamaica. The Ministers accordingly tendered their resignations early in +May, and Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept them. As usual under +such circumstances, the Parliament was prorogued for a few days. After the +lapse of a week, the Houses re-assembled, and Lord John Russell, who had +been the Whig leader of the House, immediately rose and said that since he +had last addressed them, Sir Robert Peel had received authority from Her +Majesty to form a new Administration, and that the attempt of the Right +Honourable Baronet having failed, Her Majesty had been graciously pleased +to permit that gentleman to state the circumstances which had led to that +failure. + +On her accession, the Queen had left the selection of the Ladies of the +Household entirely to her uncle Sussex, and Lord Melbourne--the one of +whom had been a Whig all his life, and the other, though but a +comparatively recent convert, was the head of the Whig party. They had +somewhat indiscreetly selected at least all the important female members +of the Household, those to whom a young girl would be likely to look up +confidingly for information and guidance, from the ranks of the Whig +aristocracy. On Tuesday, the 29th of May, the resignations of the +Melbourne Cabinet were announced to Parliament. The next day, at two +o'clock, in answer to her summons, Sir Robert Peel waited upon the Queen. +She had first sent for the Duke of Wellington, but he recommended his +former lieutenant and future leader as premier. The Queen, with +characteristic truthfulness, which was none the less admirable that it was +too girlishly outspoken to be judicious, or at all in accordance with the +spirit of the constitution, at once greeted Sir Robert with an avowal that +she was much grieved to part with her late Ministers, whose conduct she +entirely approved. This was rather an awkward beginning. Nevertheless, he +proceeded with the formation of his Cabinet, and the next day submitted a +list of names to the Queen, including the Duke of Wellington, Lords +Lyndhurst, Aberdeen, Ellenborough, Stanley, Sir James Graham, and Mr. +Goulburn. As to the Household, he had hardly thought about it, and indeed +he said he did not know who constituted the female part of it. He took the +Red Book to learn who they were, and was at once struck with the +completeness of the arrangements for surrounding the Queen with the +nearest relations of the Whig Ministers. For example, he afterwards put +this point most strongly to the House:-- + + Sir, let me take that particular question on which my difficulty would + arise. Who can conceal from himself that my difficulties were not + Canada; that my difficulties were not Jamaica; that my difficulties + were Ireland? (ironical cheers). I admit it freely, and thank you for + the confirmation of my argument which these cheers afford. And what is + the fact? I, undertaking to be a Minister of the Crown, and wishing to + carry on public affairs through the intervention of the present House + of Commons, in order that I might exempt the country from the + agitation, and, possibly, the peril of a dissolution--I, upon that + very question in a minority of upwards of twenty members. A majority + of twenty-two had decided in favour of the policy of the Irish + Government [that is, of the Irish policy of Lord Melbourne]. The chief + members of the Irish Government, whose policy was so approved of, were + the Marquis of Normanby, and the noble lord opposite, the member for + Yorkshire [Lord Morpeth, afterwards the Earl of Carlisle]. By whom are + the chief offices in the Household at this moment held? By the sister + of Lord Morpeth [the Duchess of Sutherland], and the wife of the + Marquis of Normanby. But the question is--Would it be considered by + the public that a Minister had the confidence of the Crown, when the + relatives of his immediate political opponents held the highest + offices about the person of the Sovereign? My impression decidedly was + that I should not appear to the country to be in possession of that + confidence; and that impression I could not overcome; and upon that + impression I resolved to act. Who were my political opponents? Why, of + the two I have named, one, the Marquis of Normanby, was publicly + stated to be a candidate for the very same office which it was + proposed I should fill--namely, the office of Prime Minister. The + other noble lord has been designated as the leader of this House; and + I know not why his talents might not justify his appointment, in case + of the retirement of his predecessor. Is it possible--I ask you to go + back to other times; take Pitt, or Fox, or any other Minister of this + proud country, and answer for yourselves this question--is it fitting + that one man shall be the Minister, responsible for the most arduous + charge that can fall to the lot of man, and that the wife of the + other--that other his most formidable political enemy--shall, with his + express consent, hold office in immediate attendance on the + Sovereign? Oh no! I felt it was impossible--I could not consent to + this. Yes, feelings more powerful than reasoning on those precedents + told me that it was not for my own honour or the public interests that + I should consent to be Minister of England. The public interests may + suffer nothing by my abandonment of that high trust; the public + interests may suffer nothing by my eternal exclusion from power; but + the public interests would suffer, and I should be abandoning my duty + to myself, my country, and, above all, to the Queen my sovereign, if I + were to consent to hold power on conditions which I felt to be--which + I had the strongest conviction were--incompatible with the authority + and with the duty of a Prime Minister. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN AND SIR ROBERT PEEL.] + +Sir Robert had informed Her Majesty that he did not propose any change in +the offices in question below the grade of Ladies of the Bedchamber. He +took it for granted that the ladies who held higher offices would save him +any appearance of want of courtesy by voluntarily resigning. Ere this, +however, had been stated, the Queen having expressed a desire that her own +and her mother's old friend, Lord Liverpool (who, it may be remarked, was +of the Tory party), should be appointed to some office, Sir Robert at once +requested the Queen's permission to offer him the office of Lord Steward, +or any other which he might select. The only other names which he +submitted to her were those of Lords Ashley (now Shaftesbury), and Sydney. +So far all was well. But when he went on to say that he was most ready to +apply a similar principle to, and consult Her Majesty's wishes in, the +selection of her ladies, the Queen remarked that she should reserve all +these appointments, and indeed did not intend to make any present change. +In a subsequent interview with the Duke of Wellington, the Queen +reiterated the same desire and intention. Meanwhile, after her interviews +with Peel and Wellington, Her Majesty sent for Lord John Russell, and put +the direct question to him, Was she right in her determination? He at once +replied that she was right; on which she naïvely asked him to support her +now, as she had supported the Cabinet of which he had been a member. Lord +John having consulted Lord Melbourne, they called their ex-colleagues +together, and advised the Queen to send the following note to Sir Robert +Peel, which she did:-- + + Buckingham Palace, May 10, 1839. + + The Queen, having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by Sir + Robert Peel, to remove the Ladies of her Bedchamber, cannot consent to + adopt a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage and + repugnant to her feelings. + +On receipt of this, Sir Robert Peel, acting in perfect concert with the +Duke of Wellington, communicated with Her Majesty in a remarkably +courteous letter, of which this was the concluding and decisive +paragraph:-- + + Having had the opportunity, through your Majesty's gracious + consideration, of reflecting upon this point, he humbly submits to + your Majesty that he is reluctantly compelled, by a sense of public + duty and of the interest of your Majesty's service, to adhere to the + opinion which he ventured to express to your Majesty. He trusts he may + be permitted, at the same time, to express to your Majesty his + grateful acknowledgments for the distinction which your Majesty + conferred upon him, by requiring his advice and assistance in the + attempt to form an Administration, and his earnest prayers that + whatever arrangements your Majesty may be enabled to make for that + purpose, may be most conducive to your Majesty's personal comfort and + happiness, and to the promotion of the public welfare. + +[Sidenote: WELLINGTON AND LORD MELBOURNE.] + +It was generally believed at the time, as Sir Archibald Alison himself +confesses, that Peel did not regret this royal rebuff; for "he was by no +means sanguine," says the Tory historiographer, "as to the success of his +mission, nor annoyed at the failure of the attempt to fulfil it." The +_pro_ and _con_ were put with equal terseness and skill by Lord Melbourne +and the Duke of Wellington. The words of the latter were:--"It is +essential that the Minister should possess the entire confidence of Her +Majesty, and with that view should exercise the usual control permitted to +the Minister by the Sovereign in the construction of the Household. There +is the greatest possible difference between the _Household of the Queen +Consort and the Household of the Queen Regnant_--that of the former, who +is not a political personage, being comparatively of little importance." + +Lord Melbourne, on the other hand, thus justified the advice which his +Royal Mistress had received from him and adopted:--"I frankly declare that +I resume office unequivocally and solely for this reason, that I will not +abandon my Sovereign in a situation of difficulty and distress, and +especially when a demand is made upon Her Majesty with which, I think, she +ought not to comply--a demand inconsistent with her personal honour, and +which, if acquiesced in, would render her reign liable to all the changes +and variations of political parties, and render her domestic life one +constant scene of unhappiness and discomfort." + +The public at large, even those who thought her _action_ wrong, accorded +to the Queen sympathy rather than blame. It was well known that she had +been dexterously surrounded by the wives and sisters and daughters of the +great Whigs, and that on these ladies all her ardent and girlish +affections were bestowed. This made the people all the more angry that +the male heads of the Whig houses now gave her unconstitutional advice. +Not only her youth and inexperience, but the very warmth of the affection +which she had displayed, and, above all, the fact that she was the chief +sufferer on the occasion, all pleaded for her. Indeed, it may be said that +the quickly-forgotten "Bedchamber Plot" rather endeared the Sovereign to +her subjects than otherwise. Both of her uncles who preceded her on the +throne had been exceedingly capricious and disloyal to their ministers. +Under these reigns there was a constant sense, in the breasts of ministers +and in the breasts of the people, of the precariousness of the existence +of even the most popular cabinets. It certainly cannot be said that in the +early summer of 1839 Lord Melbourne's cabinet was popular. Nevertheless, +though the ministers were blamed, the people were charmed by the Queen's +ingenuousness, bravery, and steadiness of attachment. It is but just to +state that on every future occasion of the change of an Administration, +the Queen has, without the slightest demur, conceded the point, the +consideration of which we now dismiss. And with the transparent candour of +her nature, Her Majesty has caused it to be made known that the Prince +Consort had much to do with producing this result. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +COURTSHIP AND BETROTHAL. + + Desire of the Coburg Relatives for a Marriage between Victoria and + Albert--Favourable Impressions mutually made by Victoria and + Albert--Prince Albert's Letter on the Queen's Accession--Opposition of + King William IV. to the Marriage--Correspondence between the + Cousins--King Leopold urges on the Marriage--The Queen's Reluctance to + become Betrothed--Her subsequent Regret at this--The Prince craves a + definite Determination--His Second Visit to England--Betrothed at + last--Returns to Germany to say Farewell. + + +We have already seen that the marriage of Prince Albert with his cousin +was strongly desired by their common relatives from a very early period of +their lives. It was the "ardent wish" of their grandmother, and she freely +communicated that wish to her son and daughter, Prince Leopold and the +Duchess of Kent. There are strong indications that the astute King Leopold +never lost sight of this end from the date of his mother's death in 1831. +Soon after the visit of the brothers to their "aunt Kent" in 1836, the +rumour began to prevail in England that Prince Albert was the _fiancé_ of +the future Queen. The idea, however, was premature. So we know on the +Queen's authority, who has caused it to be stated that "nothing was then +settled." + +In the letters which the Prince sent to his father and others, during his +stay at Brussels and elsewhere, immediately after his first visit to +England, he made frequent reference to the general impressions thence +derived, and especially to his young cousin. Of such allusions, this is a +fair specimen:--"A few days ago I received a letter from aunt Kent, +enclosing one from our cousin. She told me I was to communicate its +contents to you, so I send it on with a translation of the English. The +day before yesterday I received a second and yet kinder letter from my +cousin, in which she thanks me for my good wishes on her birth-day. You +may easily imagine that both these letters gave me great pleasure." And +when the news of the death of King William and the accession of Victoria +arrived, he informed his father, on the authority of his uncle Leopold, +that the new reign had commenced most successfully (this, perhaps, in +allusion to the anticipated attempt at a _coup d'état_ by the Duke of +Cumberland), that his cousin Victoria had shown astonishing +self-possession, although English parties were violently excited, and that +the Duchess of Kent had found strenuous support against "violent attacks +in the newspapers." This last statement we have, however, good reasons for +saying had reached the young Prince in a somewhat exaggerated form; we +mean, so far as the "violence" of the attacks was concerned. + +To the Queen herself the Prince wrote a letter, consolatory in her +bereavement, and congratulatory on her accession. This was the first +letter which he sent her written in English. He prayed Heaven to assist +her now that she was "Queen of the mightiest land in Europe," with the +happiness of millions in her hand, and asked her "to think sometimes of +her cousins in Bonn [where they were then pursuing their University +studies], and to continue that kindness you favoured them with till now." + +[Sidenote: RUMOURS ABOUT MARRIAGE.] + +On the accession of the Queen, the rumour of her marriage with Prince +Albert became ten times more prevalent. The judicious King Leopold thought +it wise, for a time at least, to discourage this expectation, and to +withdraw the attention of the English from the Prince. Hence it was that +he counselled those journeys into Austria, South Germany, Switzerland, and +Italy, in which we have already traced the steps of the Prince. This was +chiefly dictated by the distracted state of parties in England, which the +King of the Belgians thought it better to permit time to allay ere the +matrimonial project was brought specifically forward. "United as all +parties are," wrote Prince Albert to his father, from the inspiration of +his uncle, "in high praise of the young Queen, the more do they seem to +manoeuvre and intrigue with and against each other. On every side there is +nothing but a network of cabals and intrigues, and parties are arrayed +against each other in a most inexplicable manner." + +Whilst making his "grand tour," the Prince kept up an occasional +correspondence with his cousin. From Switzerland he sent her an album of +the places which he visited, from the top of the Rigi a dried Alpine rose, +and from Ferney an autographic scrap of Voltaire, which he received from +an old servant of the great philosopher. + +By the early part of 1839, the tour was concluded, and we find the Prince +once more at Brussels with his uncle. Leopold now spoke to him more fully +and definitely than he had hitherto done about his prospects in life and +the state of his affections. It very clearly appears that the marriage +with the Queen had been gradually becoming more and more an understood +thing. It appears equally clear that the Queen was averse, as yet, to +committing herself to a distinct and final engagement. She was willing to +marry, but wished to defer the contraction of the union. She thought both +herself and her cousin too young; and the interests of her people, rather +than any personal backwardness, influenced her wish that both she and her +husband should be older ere they became man and wife. She regretted +afterwards this delay, and felt that the harassments of the Bedchamber +Plot and other still more painful incidents which we have thought it +preferable not to rake up and reproduce in these pages, would have been +borne by her with more equanimity had she had the natural protection of a +husband six months or a year ere the date of her marriage. It was probably +this postponement of any definite settlement that occasioned Prince +Albert's absence from England at the Coronation, in June, 1838. His father +was invited, and received at the hands of his niece the honour of the +Order of the Garter. The Dowager Duchess of Gotha was very proud of this, +and proud also to recollect that her son-in-law possessed the noblest +knightly order of Christendom, which her own father of Hesse-Cassel, and +her father-in-law of Gotha, had also worn and treasured. + +[Sidenote: OBJECTIONS TO THE MARRIAGE.] + +In more than one quarter the marriage, which all members of the Coburg +family felt to be so eligible, and in which their feelings were so much +involved, met with a considerable amount of opposition. By a curious +coincidence, a Prince of Orange had been the suitor favoured by George IV. +for the hand of his daughter; but she selected the man of her own +choice--Leopold, a Coburg Prince. And a Prince of Orange (nephew of the +rejected aspirant to the hand of the Princess Charlotte) was the man +thought by William IV., as long as he lived, to be the best future husband +of his niece and successor; and his niece, too, selected, like her cousin +Charlotte, as the man of her choice, a Prince of the House of Coburg. King +William did all in his power to discourage the attachment between Victoria +and Albert. He was so strongly set against this match that he did all that +he could even to prevent Prince Albert's visit to England in 1836; and +although he never spoke to his young niece on the subject himself, she +afterwards learned that he had devised no fewer than five matrimonial +alternatives for her selection--that of the late Prince Alexander of the +Netherlands always having the preference and priority. In justice to the +memory of King William it must, however, be stated that the Dowager Queen +Adelaide afterwards told her niece that her uncle would never have striven +to control or restrain her affections if he had had any idea that they had +been strongly bestowed in any particular quarter. + +It was in the early part of 1839, that King Leopold first wrote seriously +to his niece on the subject--about the same time that we have seen that he +made a similar verbal communication to his nephew. He received a +favourable response from both, but with this difference, that the lady +craved an indefinite delay. This idea of delay the Prince dealt with in a +very honest and manly manner. He had, he said, no objections to +postponement; but, nevertheless, thought he had a fair right, if he were +to keep himself free, and thereby be compelled to decline any other career +or line of life which might open itself out to him, to have some definite +assurance or understanding that the engagement would be without doubt +contracted. This concession, however, the equally natural bashfulness of +the Queen would not suffer her to make. However, all came right in the +end, and the Queen has very candidly confessed in her riper years, that if +she had known as a girl what she afterwards learned as a woman, that she +even seemed to be _playing_ with her somewhat undemonstrative but not the +less devoted lover, she would not have exacted the semi-sacrifice which +the Prince's self-respect caused him to feel uneasy at, but to which the +true courtesy of his nature induced him to submit. He _did_ wait till +1839, but the Queen afterwards learned that he came to England in that +year prepared to declare that, in the case of further postponement, he +must decline to consider himself bound in any way for the future. + +[Sidenote: FIRST MEETING WITH PRINCE ALBERT.] + +In October, 1839, Prince Albert, with his brother, set out from Brussels +to England, to urge his final suit. Ere leaving Germany, he had spent a +very pleasant time with his cousin, Count Albert Mensdorff, who was doing +military duty with the garrison of Mayence. They then made a short journey +together, in the course of which the one cousin confided the great secret +to the other. "During our journey," writes the Count, "Albert confided to +me, under the seal of the strictest confidence, that he was going to +England to make your acquaintance, and that if you liked each other you +were to be engaged. He spoke very seriously about the difficulties of the +position he would have to occupy in England, but hoped that dear uncle +Leopold would assist him with his advice." The Princes--Albert bearing +with him a shrewd and significant letter to the Queen from King +Leopold--arrived at Windsor on the 10th of October, where they were +cordially received by their cousin and aunt. The Queen was much struck +with the greatly improved appearance of the Prince, in the interval of +three years since she had last seen him. Gay and festive entertainments +had been arranged in their honour immediately upon their arrival. The +Queen became more and more charmed with her cousin, and within a week +after his arrival, she informed her Premier, Lord Melbourne, that she had +made up her mind to the marriage. In reply, he indicated his own perfect +satisfaction, and added that the nation was getting anxious that its +sovereign should be married; and then he said, in a kindly way, "You will +be much more comfortable; for a woman cannot stand alone for any time, in +whatever position she may be." + +The following we present, without professing either to confirm or question +its accuracy, but simply as being the commonly-received report, at the +time, of the manner in which the engagement was finally effected between +the parties directly interested:-- + + The Prince, in his turn, played the part of a royal lover with all the + grace peculiar to his house. He never willingly absented himself from + the Queen's society and presence, and her every wish was anticipated + with the alacrity of an unfeigned attachment. At length Her Majesty, + having wholly made up her mind as to the issue of this visit, found + herself in some measure embarrassed as to the fit and proper means of + indicating her preference to the Prince. This was a perplexing task, + but the Queen acquitted herself of it with equal delicacy and tact. At + one of the Palace balls she took occasion to present her bouquet to + the Prince at the conclusion of a dance, and the hint was not lost + upon the polite and gallant German. His close uniform, buttoned up to + the throat, did not admit of his placing the Persian-like gift where + it would be most honoured; so he immediately drew his penknife and cut + a slit in his dress in the neighbourhood of his heart, where he + gracefully deposited the happy omen. Again, to announce to the Privy + Council her intended union was an easy duty in comparison to that of + intimating her wishes to the principal party concerned; and here, too, + it is said that our Sovereign Lady displayed unusual presence of mind + and female ingenuity. The Prince was expressing the grateful sense + which he entertained of his reception in England, and the delight + which he experienced during his stay from the kind attentions of + royalty, when the Queen, very naturally and very pointedly, put to him + the question upon which their future fates depended: "If, indeed, your + Highness is so much pleased with this country, perhaps you would not + object to remaining in it, and making it your home?" No one can doubt + the reply. + +[Sidenote: THE BETROTHAL.] + +The day after the Queen's communication to her Premier, she caused an +intimation to be conveyed to her lover that she desired to see him in +private. The Prince at once waited upon her, and after a few minutes' +general conversation, the Queen told him why she had sent for him, and +modestly but plainly said that she was quite willing now to undertake the +bond of betrothal. Of course, there was only one possible response, and +the Prince joyously wrote the next day to his trusty friend and tried +counsellor, Baron Stockmar, "on one of the happiest days of his life, to +give him the most welcome news." The betrothal was at once communicated to +Prince Ernest, to King Leopold, and to the Duke of Coburg. From these and +other relatives to whom the news, as yet to be kept a family secret, was +sent, the warmest felicitations quickly poured in. Leopold wrote, +commending Albert in the highest terms, and emphatically congratulating +Victoria on having secured an unmistakably good husband, concluding with +the prayer, "May Albert be able to strew roses without thorns on the +pathway of life of our good Victoria!" + +The Queen had intended to make her first formal announcement of her +intended marriage to her Parliament; but on second thoughts, she altered +her resolve, and selected her Privy Council as the first official +recipients of the tidings. Of course, the Ministers had been already +confidentially informed of the Queen's purpose; and they strongly +counselled an early union, and both Queen and Prince acquiesced in the +proposal. After happy and rapturous days of undoubted and now +freely-acknowledged attachment, the Princes returned to Germany, on the +14th of November, after a visit lasting just five weeks; Ernest to return +to his military duties, Albert to say farewell to friends and fatherland, +ere finally returning to the region of his new life and love. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE QUEEN WEDDED. + + Announcement of the intended Marriage to the Privy Council and + Parliament--Parliamentary Settlement of the Prince's Rank, + &c.--Annoying Circumstances--The Prince's Protestantism--His + Income--Arrival of the Bridegroom--Receives a National Welcome--The + Wedding--Honeymoon spent at Windsor. + + +On the day after the departure of the Princes, the Queen wrote letters to +the Queen Dowager, and the other members of the Royal Family, informing +them of her intended marriage, and received kind letters in return from +all. A few days later she and her mother came from Windsor to Buckingham +Palace, where Lord Melbourne submitted the draft of the proposed +Declaration to the Privy Council. His Lordship told the Queen that the +Cabinet had unanimously agreed that £50,000 would be an appropriate annual +allowance for the Prince, and that they anticipated no Parliamentary +opposition to that amount. He also stated that there had been a stupid +attempt to make it out that he was a Roman Catholic, and that "he was +afraid to say anything about his religion," and accordingly had not +touched upon it in the Declaration. This turned out, as we shall see, a +very unwise omission; it actually gave colour and consistency to the +absurd report. + +[Sidenote: ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BETROTHAL.] + +On the 23rd of November, eighty-three members of the Privy Council met in +Buckingham Palace. Precisely at two the Queen entered. She evinced much +natural agitation, but was considerably reassured by a kindly and paternal +look from her staunch friend, Lord Melbourne; whereupon she read the +Declaration, which ran thus:-- + + I have caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that I + may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns + the welfare of my people, and the happiness of my future life. It is + my intention to ally myself in marriage with the Prince Albert of + Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Deeply impressed with the solemnity of the + engagement which I am about to contract, I have not come to this + decision without mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong + assurance that, with the blessing of Almighty God, it will at once + secure my domestic felicity and serve the interests of my country. I + have thought fit to make this resolution known to you at the earliest + period, in order that you may be apprised of a matter so highly + important to me and to my kingdom, and which, I persuade myself, will + be most acceptable to all my loving subjects. + +The moment the Queen had read the Declaration, Lord Lansdowne rose and +asked, in the name of the Council, that "this most gracious and most +welcome communication might be printed." Leave was granted, and Her +Majesty left the room, the whole ceremony having occupied only two or +three minutes. The Duke of Cambridge followed his niece into the +ante-room, and warmly congratulated her. The Declaration appeared in the +next _Gazette_, whence it was copied into all the newspapers, and was +joyfully read and received over the whole land. + +There were now important questions to be settled, in Parliament, in the +Council, and by the exercise of the Royal prerogative, as to the future +rank and station of the Prince. Such were--Should he be made a peer? as +had been the last consort of an English Queen, Prince George of Denmark, +the husband of Queen Anne, of whom the only good thing that can be said +is, that he accidentally made Arbuthnot, Pope's great friend and +fellow-labourer, his Court physician. The idea of being made a peer was +strenuously, sensibly, and successfully resisted by the Prince. Then there +were the practical questions of his naturalisation, the selection of his +Household, his position in the scale of precedence, and his income. So far +as the Prince legitimately could and did meddle with the solution of these +knotty points, he showed, when necessary, great sagacity, and a firmness +very wondrous in one so young. From the very moment of his betrothal, he +regarded himself as the custodian and guardian of his future wife's, +rather than his own, independent position and unfettered dignity. It was +not himself, but the husband of the Queen on behalf of whom he took a firm +line. + +The Queen wished to give her husband precedence next after herself. Some +difficulty was experienced in procuring the consent of the Royal Dukes, +but at last their scruples were removed. Only the King of Hanover +stubbornly held out, and the Duke of Wellington, in the House of Peers, +declined on behalf of his party to consent. The proposal was, therefore, +withdrawn from Parliament, but shortly after the Queen conferred a patent +of precedence by the exercise of her own prerogative. On a similar matter +of dispute, it was not until the Prince himself had pointed out the +unaccountably overlooked precedent of the privilege as enjoyed by Prince +Leopold in the life-time of the Princess Charlotte, that Garter +King-at-Arms could be induced to withdraw his opinion adverse to Prince +Albert quartering the Royal Arms of England with his own. + +In the matter of his Household, the Prince's own admirable judgment solved +the difficulty with the clear adroitness of honest simplicity. He +stipulated that considerations of party should have nothing to do with +these appointments; that they should be filled by men of undoubted probity +and purity of character; and he indicated his decided wish that they +should be men of some kind of eminence; either very rich, very clever, or +men who had deserved well of their country in the field of science or of +arms. These wishes, to the Prince's considerable annoyance, were not all +closely followed out. + +[Sidenote: ANNOUNCEMENT TO PARLIAMENT.] + +The Queen was tremendously cheered when, in January, 1840, she went to +open Parliament, and no doubt was left in her mind as to the thorough +popularity of the proposed union. The announcement of her intention +contained in the Speech was a virtual repetition of that already made to +the Council. From both sides of both Houses she was personally +congratulated, and her choice approved, but the Duke of Wellington +strongly objected to the omission of the statement that the Prince was a +Protestant, with some shrewdness attributing its absence to Melbourne's +reluctance to irritate his Irish Catholic supporters. The Duke at the same +time repeated again and again his own perfect personal conviction in the +thorough fidelity of the Prince to the historic and heroic Protestantism +of his race. Lord Brougham spoke on this point, and very pertinently: "I +may remark," he said, "that my noble friend (Lord Melbourne) is mistaken +as to the law. There is no prohibition as to marriage with a Catholic. It +is only attended with a penalty, and that penalty _is merely the +forfeiture of the Crown_." In spite of this, a sentence asserting the fact +of the Prince's Protestantism was, at the Duke of Wellington's instance, +inserted in the Address agreed to in answer to the Speech from the Throne. + +There remained only the question of the Prince's annuity. Ministers +proposed £50,000. A very large majority negatived a proposal by Mr. Hume +to reduce it to £20,000. But the Tory leaders supported a proposal of +Colonel Sibthorpe's to reduce it to £30,000, and by a considerable +majority this was carried. The Queen, and her uncle Leopold, were +extremely angry at the time at what they conceived to be the personal +slight conveyed in this fact. But the Queen, under the wise and placable +guidance of the Prince, afterwards learned to attribute it to the then +heat of party rancour, still unallayed after the Bedchamber dispute; and +the Prince at an early period of his residence in England contracted warm +and abiding friendships with many of the men who had most strongly +resisted Ministers on each of the above contested points. + +On the 28th of January, Prince Albert, accompanied by Lord Torrington and +Colonel (now General) Grey, who had been sent to invest him with the +insignia of the Garter and conduct him in due state to England, set out +from Gotha, as we have already seen at a previous page. He was also +accompanied by his father and brother. After a passing visit to King +Leopold at Brussels, they were met at Calais by Lord Clarence Paget, who +commanded the _Firebrand_, and escorted the distinguished visitors to the +shores of England, at which they arrived on the 6th of February. After +magnificent and most hearty receptions at Dover and Canterbury, they +reached Buckingham Palace in the afternoon of Saturday, the 8th of +February, where the Prince found his bride standing with her mother at +the door, ready to be the first to meet and to greet him. Half an hour +later, the Lord Chancellor administered the oath of naturalisation, and +the Prince became a subject of Queen Victoria. A grand dinner to the +Prince, the Ministers, and the great officers of State succeeded in the +evening. The next day the Prince drove out, amid the cheers of immense +crowds, to pay formal visits to all the members of the Royal Family. + +[Sidenote: THE WEDDING.] + +Monday, the 10th, was the day appointed for the wedding, which was +magnificently celebrated in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace. On the +morning of that day a larger crowd assembled in St. James's Park and its +approaches than had been collected together in the metropolis since the +rejoicings at the visit of the Allied Sovereigns in 1814. Not even the +extreme inclemency of the weather abated either the patience or enthusiasm +of the multitude. After the ladies and gentlemen of the Households of the +Queen and the Prince had been driven along the Mall from the palace of +residence to the palace of state, and the carriages which conveyed them +had returned, the bridegroom was notified that all was in readiness for +his departure. He set out, dressed as a British field-marshal, and with +all the insignia of the Garter, the jewels of which had been a personal +present from the Queen, having on one side his father and on the other his +brother, both in military uniforms. He entered his carriage amid +tremendous cheers, and the enthusiastic waving of handkerchiefs by a bevy +of ladies privileged to stand in the grand lobbies of the palace, and was +escorted to the chapel by a squadron of the Life Guards. On the return of +the carriages which carried the Prince and his company, Her Majesty was +in turn apprised that all was in readiness for her departure. She, too, +was enthusiastically received, "but her eye was bent principally upon the +ground." In the same carriage with the Queen rode the Duchesses of Kent +and Sutherland. It was noticed as she drove along that she was extremely +pale, and looked very anxious, though two or three incidents in the crowd +caused her to smile. + +On her arrival at her palace of St. James's, the Queen was conducted to +the Presence Chamber, where she remained with her maids-of-honour and +trainbearers, awaiting the Lord Chamberlain's summons to the altar. +Meanwhile, the colonnade within the palace, along which the bridal +procession had to pass and repass, had been filled since early morn by the +élite of England's rank and beauty. Each side of the way was a parterre of +white robes, white relieved with blue, white and green, amber, crimson, +purple, fawn, and stone colour. All wore wedding favours of lace, +orange-flower blossoms, or silver bullion, some of great size, and many in +most exquisite taste. Most of the gentlemen were in court dress; and the +scene during the patient hours of waiting was made picturesque by the +passing to and fro in various garbs of burly yeomen of the guard, armed +with their massive halberts, slight-built gentlemen-at-arms, with +partisans of equal slightness; elderly pages of state, and pretty pages of +honour; officers of the Lord Chamberlain, and officers of the Woods and +Forests; heralds all embroidery, and cuirassiers in polished steel; +prelates in their rochets, and priests in their stoles, and singing boys +in their surplices of virgin white. + +Within the chapel, in which the altar was magnificently decorated and +laden with a profusion of gold plate, four state chairs were set, varying +in splendour according to the rank of the destined occupants, respectively +for Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Queen Dowager, and the Duchess of +Kent. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishop of London, +having taken their places within the altar-rails, a flourish of trumpets +announced the procession of the bridegroom. As the Prince passed along, +the gentlemen greeted him with loud clapping of the hands, and the ladies +waved their handkerchiefs with at least equal enthusiasm. + +[Sidenote: THE BRIDESMAIDS.] + +In a few minutes the procession of the bride was announced by trumpets and +drums. It was of six or seven times the numerical strength of the +bridegroom's, and the beauty of the twelve bridesmaids, all daughters of +peers of the three highest grades, was specially commended. The Duchess of +Cambridge led by the hand her then child-daughter, the Princess Mary, "and +the mother of so beautiful a child was certainly not to be seen without +much interest." The Duchess of Kent appeared "disconsolate and +distressed;" while the Duke of Sussex, who was to give away the bride, was +"in excellent spirits." The Queen herself looked "anxious and excited, and +paler even than usual." She was dressed in a rich white satin, trimmed +with orange-flower blossoms. She wore a wreath of the same, over which was +a veil of rich Honiton lace, worn so as not to conceal her face. She wore +as jewels the Collar of the Order of the Garter, with a diamond necklace +and earrings. The bridesmaids were the Ladies Adelaide Paget, Sarah +Villiers, Frances Cowper, Elizabeth West, Mary Grimston, Eleanor Paget, +Caroline Lennox, Elizabeth Howard, Ida Hay, Catherine Stanhope, Jane +Bouverie, and Mary Howard. + +After the conclusion of the marriage rite, the Queen hastily crossed to +the opposite side of the altar, and kissed the Queen Dowager, who was +standing there. She then took Prince Albert's hand, and passed down the +aisle. On the return to Buckingham Palace, it was observed that the +Prince, still retaining the Queen's hand in his own, whether by accident +or design, held it in such a way as to display the wedding-ring, which was +more solid than is usual in ordinary weddings. When the Queen had been led +into the palace by her husband, it was observed that her morning paleness +had entirely passed off, and that she entered her own halls with an open, +joyous, and slightly flushed countenance. + +After the wedding breakfast the young couple departed, at a quarter before +four, for Windsor, amid the cheers of the undiminished multitude. Her +Majesty's travelling dress was a white satin pelisse, trimmed with +swansdown, with a white satin bonnet and feather. As the cortége passed +rapidly up Constitution Hill, the Queen bowed in return to the cheers of +her applauding subjects with much earnestness of manner. When the Queen +and Prince arrived at Windsor, they found the whole town illuminated, and +received a rapturous welcome from the citizens and the Eton boys, all +wearing favours. + +[Sidenote: THE WEDDING-CAKE.] + +We shall conclude this chapter, which we shall not desecrate by devoting +to any other deity than Hymen, by a brief description of the Queen's +wedding-cake, which, fortunately for our enterprise, we have succeeded in +disinterring from the contemporary records. It was described by an +eye-witness as consisting of all the most exquisite compounds of all the +rich things with which the most expensive cakes can be composed, mingled +and mixed together with delightful harmony by the most elaborate science +of the confectioner. It weighed 300 pounds, was three yards in +circumference, and fourteen inches in depth. On the top was a device of +Britannia blessing the bride and bridegroom, who were dressed, somewhat +incongruously, in the costume of ancient Rome. At the foot of the +bridegroom was the figure of a dog, intended to denote fidelity; at the +feet of the Queen a pair of turtle-doves. A host of gamboling Cupids, one +of them registering the marriage in a book, and bouquets of white flowers +tied with true-lovers' knots, completed the decorations. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +EARLY YEARS OF MARRIED LIFE. + + Difficulties and Delicacy of Prince Albert's Position--Early Married + Life--Studies continued--Attempts on the Queen's Life--Courage of the + Queen--Birth of the Princess Royal--Parting from the Whig Ladies of + the Bedchamber--Dark Days for England--Birth of the Prince of + Wales--The Queen described by M. Guizot--A Dinner at Buckingham + Palace--State Dinner at Windsor. + + +The Queen was now married to the husband of her choice. "It is that," said +Lord Melbourne to her, "which makes your Majesty's marriage so popular, as +they know it is not for state reasons." A few months after the +wedding-day, the Prince wrote to an old college associate--"I am very +happy and contented." After the wedding, the young couple stayed for four +days at Windsor, reading, riding, walking together, and giving small +dinner parties in the evening. They then returned to Buckingham Palace, +where a large crowd had collected to welcome them, and fairly commenced +the common duties of their married life. At first it would appear that +jealousies, in quarters which need not be specified, prevented the Prince +taking his proper position as the head of his home and household. He wrote +to his friend, Prince Löwenstein, in May, 1840--"I am only the husband, +not the master in the house." But the common sense of the Queen, and the +dignity of the Prince, soon set this matter to rights. When urged that +she, as being Sovereign, must be the head of the house, she quietly +rejoined that she had sworn to obey, as well as love and honour, her +husband, and that she was determined to keep all her bridal troth. She +communicated all foreign despatches to him, and frequently he made +annotations on them, which were communicated to the Minister whose +department they affected. He had often the satisfaction of discovering +that the Minister, though he might say nothing on the subject, +nevertheless acted upon his suggestions. His correspondence to Germany +soon bore a very different tone and complexion. To use his own words, and +slightly expand them, he "endeavoured to be of as much use to Victoria as +possible." The Queen now, having received the approval of the Duke of +Wellington, whom she consulted as a confidential friend, for the first +time put her husband in his proper place, by giving him, by Royal Letters +Patent, to which Parliamentary sanction is not required, rank and +precedence next to herself, except in Parliament and the Privy Council. + +[Sidenote: EARLY MARRIED DAYS.] + +Frequent levées, and "dinners followed by little dances," formed the chief +amusements of the young couple in the earliest stage of their married +life. They went much, too, to the play, both having an especial relish for +and admiration of Shakespeare. The Queen, although now a married woman, by +no means neglected useful or solacing and refining studies. She took +singing lessons from Lablache, and frequently sang and played with the +Prince, sometimes using the piano, sometimes the organ as accompaniment. +They went to Claremont, the Queen's favourite youthful haunt, to celebrate +her birthday, and continued to do so, even after the purchase of Osborne, +until 1848, when Claremont was given as a residence to the ex-Queen of the +French. Both Queen and Prince were extremely glad to get away from the +smoke and grime of London. In fact, these constituted a peculiar source of +physical oppression to both; and they were always glad to retire to the +rural quiet and seclusion of Claremont. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN SHOT AT.] + +The first alarming incident of the Queen's wedded life occurred on the +10th of June, 1840. In her first early days of maiden queenhood, she had +been annoyed by madmen wanting to marry her. On more than one occasion her +saddle-horse was attempted to be stopped in the Park by one of such +maniacs, as she was attended by an equerry; and in two instances similar +attempts were made by innocent lunatics to force their way into Windsor +Castle, in each case armed with nothing more deadly than a proposal of +marriage. But what we are about to narrate was a much more serious matter. +There is no denying the fact, that, after the first two years of her +reign, the Queen was, for a time, by no means so popular as she had been. +Her ministers were eminently unpopular, and to no slight extent she shared +their unpopularity. Appalling distress prevailed, and Chartism and other +more dangerous forms of sedition were rife. The poor asked how so much +money could be spent on the Queen's hospitable entertainments, while they +were starving; and inquired how it was that the name of Lord Melbourne, +who should be supposed to have work enough to do looking after the affairs +of the distressed nation, should appear in the newspapers almost every day +as attending some of Her Majesty's banquets. Occasionally during the +summer she was received in public in silence, and once or twice, in +theatres and elsewhere, disagreeable cries were heard. More than once +during this and one or two succeeding years, pistol-shots were fired at +her. We select one, and the first attack upon her, as a type of the +others. A youth named Oxford, some seventeen or eighteen years of age, +either a fool or a madman, fired two pistol-shots at her, as she and her +husband were driving in a phaeton up Constitution Hill. He was at once +arrested, and it being impossible to assign any conceivable cause for the +act, he was declared insane, and doomed to incarceration for life. Neither +the Queen nor the Prince were injured, and both showed the utmost +self-possession. + +Perhaps the best proof of her bravery on the occasion of this outrage, as +it was an unquestionable proof of her tenderness of heart, was the fact +that within a minute or two after the shot of Oxford had been fired, she +had the horses' heads turned towards her mother's house, that her mother +should see her sound and uninjured, ere an exaggerated or indiscreetly +communicated report of the occurrence could reach her. Immediately after, +she drove to Hyde Park, whither she had been proceeding before the outrage +occurred, to take her usual drive before dinner. An immense concourse of +persons of all ranks and both sexes had assembled, and the enthusiasm of +her reception almost overpowered her. Prince Albert's face, alternately +pale and flushed, betrayed the strength of his emotions. They returned to +Buckingham Palace attended by a most magnificent escort of the rank and +beauty of London, on horseback and in carriages. A great crowd of a +humbler sort was at the Palace gates to greet her, and it was said that +she did not lose her composure until a flood of tears relieved her +pent-up excitement in her own chamber. "God save the Queen" was demanded +at all the theatres in the evening, and in the immediately succeeding days +the Queen received, seated on her throne, loyal and congratulatory +addresses from the Peers in their robes, and wearing all their +decorations; from the Commons, from the City Corporation, and many other +public bodies. + +Oxford was incarcerated in Bethlehem Hospital, one of the great +metropolitan lunatic asylums, in which he remained many years, and of +which he was made one of the chief "sights" by its visitors. Perhaps it +was this circumstance that induced the authorities to order his removal to +Broadmoor, the state prison in which persons charged with felonious +crimes, whose lunacy has been established, have within recent years been +confined. There he remained until the commencement of the winter months of +1867. During all the weary period which intervened between the +perpetration of his offence and that date his conduct was exemplary, and +no evidence of mental aberration appeared. At various times appeals were +made in his behalf by influential persons who had the opportunity of +watching his demeanour and judging his character. His own representation +from first to last ever was that the pistol which he fired was not loaded. +He attributed the act which so nearly cost him his life and which wasted +the best years of his existence, to inordinate vanity, fostered by a +variety of trivial circumstances in his domestic life, on which it is not +necessary to dwell, and which led to a senseless desire--similar to that +which has perpetuated the name of Erostratus, the incendiary who fired the +Temple of Diana at Ephesus--to gain notoriety by whatever means. To a +certain extent he educated himself during his confinement, and became a +tolerable linguist. He also taught himself that branch of the +house-painter's trade termed "graining," sufficiently well to enable him +to earn a decent livelihood. At last, late in 1867, he received a free +pardon and release, subject only to the very proper provision that he +should expatriate himself and never return to British shores. The same +mania, or silly senselessness, might break out again, and it is manifestly +right that the person of the Sovereign should be protected from the vanity +of a man who, at however distant a period, could commit the cowardly +outrage of which he was the author. + +When, a year or two later, the Queen was again providentially saved from +similar felonious attempts, their character being of the same nature as +that of Oxford's, a strong feeling animated the general public mind that +some special deterrent should be devised to prevent or reduce the +likelihood of such maniacal or quasi-maniacal deeds. An Act of Parliament +was accordingly passed, ere the close of the Session of 1843, by which +severe flogging was imposed as part punishment in all such cases. It had +the desired effect. From the period of its enactment until now, attempts +to take the Queen's life, and minor assaults upon her person, have been +almost entirely unknown. + +[Sidenote: BIRTH OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.] + +On the afternoon of the 21st of November, the country was gladdened by the +birth of the Queen's first-born, the Princess Royal, now Crown Princess of +Prussia. The event occurred considerably before the period anticipated by +the Queen's medical and other attendants, and preparations had to be made +in a hurry. Nevertheless, the Queen soon regained her accustomed health, +and so rapidly that we find it recorded that on the day before that +appointed for the christening, she and a lady of the Court, exercising +their strength and preserving their presence of mind, rescued the Prince +from a most perilous if not fatal position. He had been skating, +accompanied only by the Queen and one Lady-in-waiting, and had fallen +through the ice in such a position that he could not possibly have +extricated himself. + +Two days after the Princess was born, Mr. Selwyn, a gentleman with whom +Prince Albert was reading English law and constitutional history, came to +give his pupil his accustomed lesson. The Prince said to him, "I fear I +cannot read any law to-day, there are so many constantly coming to +congratulate; but you will like to see the little Princess." He took his +tutor into the nursery, as he found that the child was asleep. Taking her +hand, he said, "The next time we read, it must be on the rights and duties +of a Princess Royal." + +In 1841 Lord Melbourne was no longer Prime Minister. Sir Robert Peel, who +had gained the largest Parliamentary majority which had been known for +many years, reigned in his stead. The Queen made no difficulty about the +Ladies of the Household now. Her tastes and feelings were consulted with +great delicacy and consideration by the Premier, and the selection of the +Duchess of Buccleuch in the first instance as Mistress of the Robes, which +post may be termed the female Premiership of the Household, was especially +gratifying to Her Majesty. But her heart was, nevertheless, loth to part +with the constant female companions of the first four years of her reign. +Thursday, September the 2nd, was the last evening she spent with them. At +the dinner-table she could scarcely trust herself to speak, and she is +reported to have shed bitter tears when she retired with her ladies. +Everybody pitied the young Sovereign, and saw and felt the hardship +involved. But it was an inevitable accompaniment of her high position. + +[Sidenote: BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.] + +The heir to the throne adorned by Queen Victoria was born in the midst of +one of the very darkest periods of English history. In 1841 the condition +of the people had been declining from the beginning of the year. +Operatives were on half time--at last they had no work at all--and the few +who had had the means or the will to be provident, were living on their +savings. Public meetings were being held to consider what was to be done, +and public subscriptions were opened. Then the idle hands commenced to +meet in large numbers, with a sullen look of despair, waiting for death or +alms--a comparatively small number being employed at the expense of +municipal and other recognised bodies, in road making or road mending. +Crime, which follows pauperism as surely and almost as rapidly as the +obscene vulture pounces upon the carrion which is not yet cold, was rife; +murders came in multitudes, poisonings by wholesale; murders by trades +unionists, murders by thieves. It was when this dark cloud lowered over +England--a cloud never completely dispelled until the rise of the great +and glorious Free Trade sun, five years later--that the Prince of Wales +first breathed. A _London Gazette_ extraordinary, which appeared on +Tuesday evening, November the 9th, ran as follows:-- + + Buckingham Palace, Nov. 9th. + + This morning, at twelve minutes before eleven o'clock, the Queen was + happily delivered of a Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Albert, Her + Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, several Lords of Her Majesty's + Most Honourable Privy Council, and the Ladies of Her Majesty's + Bedchamber, being present. + + This great and important news was immediately made known to the town + by the firing of the Tower and Park guns; and the Privy Council being + assembled as soon as possible thereupon, at the Council Chamber, + Whitehall, it was ordered that a Form of Thanksgiving be prepared by + His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be used in all churches and + chapels throughout England and Wales and the town of + Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Sunday, the 14th of November, or the Sunday + after the respective ministers shall receive the same. + + Her Majesty and the infant Prince are, God be praised, both doing + well. + +The joy of the nation at the succession to the crown in the progeny of the +Queen and Prince Albert being thus secured, was excessive. Upon the +announcement of the happy accouchement, the nobility and gentry crowded to +the Palace to tender their dutiful inquiries as to the Sovereign's +convalescence. Amongst others, came the Lord Mayor and civic dignitaries +in great state. They felt peculiarly proud that the Prince should have +been born on Lord Mayor's day; in fact, just at the very moment when the +time-honoured procession was starting from the City for Westminster. In +memory of the happy coincidence, the Lord Mayor of the year, Mr. Pirie, +was created Sir John Pirie, Baronet. On the 4th of December, the Queen +created her son by Letters Patent, Prince of Wales and Earl of +Chester:--"And him, our said and most dear son, the Prince of the United +Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as has been accustomed, we do +ennoble and invest with the said Principality and Earldom, by girding him +with a sword, by putting a coronet on his head, and a gold ring on his +finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into his hand, that he may +preside there, and direct and defend those parts." By the fact of his +birth as Heir-Apparent, the Prince indefeasibly inherited, without the +necessity of patent or creation, these dignities--the titles of Duke of +Saxony, by right of his father; and, by right of his mother, Duke of +Cornwall, Duke of Rothsay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the +Isles, and Great Steward of Scotland. + +[Sidenote: AN EMBASSY FROM FRANCE.] + +In the early spring of 1840, the distinguished French statesman, M. +Guizot, came over to England, being sent hither by the French Premier, +Marshal Soult, on a special mission with reference to those complications +in the East, which culminated the following year in that war between the +Sultan Mahmoud and his vassal Mehemet Ali, in which British tars under +Stopford and "Charley Napier" played so conspicuous a part. His pacific +mission was a failure, and from its failure dates, first the loosening, +and then the severance, of the close relations which subsisted for eleven +years after 1830 between the Courts of St. James's and the Tuileries. + +King Louis Philippe had conveyed to M. Guizot his desire that he should +take the first opportunity of recalling to the Queen the intimacy which he +had maintained with her father, the Duke of Kent; and Guizot resolved to +remind Her Majesty of the circumstance when he was received by her on +presenting his letters of credence. He prudently, however, asked Lord +Palmerston, on whom, as Foreign Secretary, devolved the duty of presenting +him, whether such a communication would be agreeable. Lord Palmerston +instantly replied in the negative. He stated that the reception would be +a purely official formality, and gave him to understand that the Queen +would much prefer not having to reply to any speech. He therefore +determined to abstain from making one. On the last day of February, he +received a note at ten minutes past one from Lord Palmerston, stating that +the Queen would be glad to receive him that day at one o'clock. Guizot +immediately sent to Palmerston "to explain the delay, and his own +innocence." He then dressed with all speed, and reached Buckingham Palace +a little before two. Precisely at the moment of his arrival, Lord +Palmerston's carriage also drove up. He told Guizot that the Queen's +orders had been forwarded to him (Palmerston) too late. Luckily, the Queen +had other audiences to give, which occupied her fully until the appearance +of the two astute and rival diplomats. But another difficulty arose. There +was no Master of Ceremonies at hand to introduce him. Sir Robert Chester, +who held that post, had received his summons, as tardily as that which had +been sent to Lord Palmerston. That gentleman had not hastened his +movements so rapidly as the active Frenchman. Although a breach of form, +Lord Palmerston, therefore, undertook and performed the office of Sir +Robert. The Queen received Guizot "with a gracious manner at once youthful +and serious." He remarked that the dignity of her manner caused one to +forget the smallness of her stature. On entering, he said, "I trust, +Madam, that your Majesty is aware of my excuse, for of myself [that is, if +the blame of unpunctuality rested with me] I should be inexcusable." She +smiled in return, as if little surprised at, and quite used to, the want +of punctuality. After all, in spite of Lord Palmerston's instructions to +him, the Queen did grant him, in the strict and literal sense of the term, +an audience. Though short, it was long enough to enable the Queen to chat +with him, and inquire about his Sovereign, his consort, and their family. +The Queen, of course, was warmly interested about the Orleans family, for +one of the daughters of its head was the second wife of her uncle, King +Leopold, and, therefore, her matrimonial aunt. So that Guizot _did_ find +and embrace the opportunity of reminding the Queen of the intimacy between +his royal master and her father. + +[Sidenote: M. GUIZOT AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] + +As he was retiring, Lord Palmerston, who remained a moment or two with the +Queen, after she had bid M. Guizot adieu, said hastily to him, "There is +something more; I am going to introduce you to Prince Albert and the +Duchess of Kent; you could not otherwise be presented to them, except at +the next levée, on the 6th of March, but it is necessary, on the contrary, +that on that day you should be already old friends." These further +presentations were, accordingly, made; Guizot being struck with the +political intelligence which the conversation of the Prince, in spite of +his constitutional reserve, displayed. Guizot left the palace greatly +pleased with his reception. As he passed through the hall, he saw the +Master of Ceremonies in hot haste descending from his carriage, and +"anxious to apologise to him, with temper somewhat ruffled, for his +involuntary uselessness." + +An invitation to dinner at Buckingham Palace for five days after quickly +reached him at his residence, Hertford House. He remarked on the want of +animation and interest in the conversation, whether at the dinner-table or +in the drawing-room. Politics of any kind, home or foreign, were, +apparently to his surprise, strictly avoided. When the gentlemen joined +the ladies, which, throughout the Queen's reign, has been at a very short +interval after the departure of the latter from the dining-room, they all +sat on chairs round a circular table set before the Queen, who occupied a +sofa. Two or three of her ladies engaged themselves in fancy work; Prince +Albert challenged some one to a game at chess. Lady Palmerston and M. +Guizot, "with some effort," carried on a flagging dialogue. The +conversation being thus flat, M. Guizot took to looking at the pictures on +the walls, of which there were but three, hung over the different doors of +the apartment. He was very much astonished at the extraordinary contrasts +in the subjects of these pictures. They certainly were most incongruous. +One was Fénélon, the second the Czar Peter, and the third Anne Hyde, the +discarded wife of James II. He asked one of his fellow-guests whether the +combination was intentional or an accident? But he could get no +satisfaction on the subject. No one had remarked the combination, and no +one could tell the reason for it. + +At the levée which he attended the day following, he was still more +astounded and perplexed. He thought its presentations and other +paraphernalia "a long and monotonous ceremony." Yet it inspired this keen +and philosophic student of men and manners with "real interest." We shall +allow M. Guizot, ere we finally leave his companionship, to express his +views on this peculiarly English institution in his own words:--"I +regarded with excited esteem the profound respect of that vast +assembly--courtiers, citizens, lawyers, churchmen, officers, military and +naval, passing before the Queen, the greater portion bending the knee to +kiss her hand, all perfectly solemn, sincere, and awkward. The sincerity +and seriousness were both needed to prevent those antiquated habits, wigs, +and bags, those costumes which no one in England now wears except on such +occasions, from appearing somewhat ridiculous. But I am little sensible to +the outward appearance of absurdity when the substance partakes not of +that character." + +[Sidenote: FANCY BALL AT COURT.] + +As a companion picture of the Queen at home at this epoch of her reign, +for the lineaments of which we have acknowledged our indebtedness to M. +Guizot, we present these recollections of the Queen in her young married +days, which we condense from a gossiping work by Lord William Lennox. The +Queen had a splendid new ballroom built in Buckingham Palace, and nothing +could exceed the brilliancy of the entertainments which she gave there. To +one of these, in 1842, Lord Lennox received an invitation. It was a _bal +costumé_, the first, he believed, which had ever been given in England by +a Prince of the House of Brunswick. A second ball, in which, unlike the +former, the dresses were confined to the reigns of George II. and III., +was given in the same year. All had to appear in powder--a somewhat trying +ordeal to such ladies and gentlemen as did not possess fine features. + +[Sidenote: A STATE BANQUET AT WINDSOR.] + +Somewhat about the same time, Lord Lennox dined at Windsor Castle, at the +great banquet given on the Ascot Cup day. A magnificent déjeuner had been +served for luncheon on the course in Tippoo Sahib's tent. At the dinner in +the evening, the first thing which struck one who was a guest for the +first time on such an occasion, was the exact punctuality of the Queen +and Prince. Although necessarily fatigued with the bustle and excitement +of the day, they were in the drawing-room some minutes before the dinner +was announced, and after a courteous greeting to all the guests, proceeded +at once to dinner. Another observable peculiarity was that the Prince left +the table twenty minutes after the ladies. The banqueting-room on this +great occasion was St. George's Hall, splendid with its ceiling emblazoned +with the arms of the Knights of the Garter from the institution of the +order, and the portraits of our kings from James I. to George IV. At each +end of the hall, buffets, seventeen feet high and forty broad, were set. +They were of rich fretted Gothic framework, covered with crimson cloth, +and brilliant with massive gold plate. Immediately opposite the Queen was +set a pyramid of plate, its apex being the tiger's head captured at +Seringapatam, and comprising the "Iluma" of precious stones which Lord +Wellesley, the Governor-General of India, presented to George IV. The +table, which was laid for a hundred guests, extended the whole length of +the hall. All down the centre, epergnes, vases, cups, and candelabra were +ranged, the celebrated St. George's candelabrum being opposite Her +Majesty. The hall was splendidly illuminated, and two bands of the Guards +discoursed sweet music from a balcony. The Yeomen of the Guard stood on +duty at the entrance. The repast, which did ample justice to the merits of +the Queen's renowned _cuisiniér_, Francatelli, was entirely served in gold +plate, and the attendance was so faultless that there was less bustle and +confusion than usually attend a repast shared by a party of ten or a +dozen. At a quarter to nine grace was said; and after the dessert and wine +had been placed on the table, the Lord Steward rose and proposed, without +remark, "The Queen." The Queen simply, when the toast had been drunk, +bowed her acknowledgments. After a brief pause, the health of Prince +Albert was drunk standing, as the Queen's had been, the band playing the +"Coburg March." At half-past nine the Queen rose, and, accompanied by the +Duchess of Kent, was followed by all the ladies to the drawing-room. In +about twenty minutes all the gentlemen followed. The Waterloo Chamber was +thrown open, and its rich historical and pictorial treasures were keenly +inspected by groups of the guests. Amongst others of its chief ornaments, +attention was concentrated on the swords of the Pretenders James and +Charles, Prince Rupert's coat of mail, and the magnificent shield, by +Cellini, presented by Francis I. to King Henry VIII., at the Field of the +Cloth of Gold. But the great treat of the evening was the appearance of +Madame Rachel, who, with two or three French actors, gave _morceaux_ from +her principal impersonations. The success of her performance was the more +conspicuous that it was entirely unaided by scenery, dress, or other +histrionic accompaniment. A little before twelve the Queen, after +addressing with the utmost grace some words of courteous appreciation to +the great _tragedienne_, and bowing to the assembled guests, retired, +leaning on her husband's arm. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE QUEEN IN SCOTLAND. + + Christening of the Prince of Wales--Manufacturing Distress--Queen's + Efforts to alleviate it--Assesses Herself to the Income Tax--Resolves + to Visit Scotland--Embarks at Woolwich--Beacon Fires in the Firth of + Forth--Landing on Scottish Soil--A Disappointment--Formal Entry into + Edinburgh--Richness of Historical and Ancestral Associations--The + Queen on the Castle Rock--A Highland Welcome--Departure from Scotland. + + +The Session of 1842 was opened by the Queen in person with unusual +splendour, which was enhanced by the presence of the King of Prussia, who +had come over to stand sponsor to the Prince of Wales. The christening was +performed on the 25th of January, and was attended with all due +magnificence, and succeeded by a splendid banquet. Mr. Raikes, in his +amusing, valuable journal, thus records the event:-- + + _Tuesday, 25th._--The day of the Royal christening at Windsor. The + Prince of Wales is named Albert Edward. All who have been there say + that the scene was very magnificent, and the display of plate at the + banquet superb. After the ceremony a silver-embossed vessel containing + a whole hogshead of mulled claret was introduced, and served in + bucketfuls to the company, who drank the young Prince's health. Very + few ladies were invited. + +[Sidenote: NATIONAL DISTRESS AND ROYAL SYMPATHY.] + +The Queen's speech of this year noticed with deep regret the continued +distress in the manufacturing districts of the country, and bore testimony +to the exemplary patience and fortitude with which it had been borne. +Many people began once more to murmur at the continued flow of gaiety at +Windsor where the young parents still seemed to experience the first +thrills of transport at the birth of a son and heir. Some of the lowest +class of seditious newspapers began the practice of printing in parallel +columns the description of the fancy dresses at the Queen's balls (the +purchase and preparation of which must certainly have tended to alleviate +the distress), &c., and reports from the pauperised districts, records of +deaths from starvation, and the like. Among the unthinking classes such +disloyal practices produced a very deep feeling of dissatisfaction. In the +course of the year two attempts were reported as having been made upon the +Queen's life: one, however, being merely the freak of an ill-natured boy, +but the other was of a much more serious description, and cost its author +transportation for life. Sir Robert Peel felt it his duty to discharge the +part of a faithful Minister, and to counsel his Royal mistress to lessen +the gaieties of the Court, even if it were only in deference to the +prejudices of the starving and maddened poor. He neither roused nor +augmented her fears, but gave her the counsel which the time required. The +Queen at once acted, and without taking offence, upon the Minister's +advice. At the christening of the Prince of Wales all the ladies of the +Court appeared in Paisley shawls, English lace, and other articles of home +manufacture. And when the christening was over a marked sobriety settled +down over the Court, and continued during all the summer of 1842. Even the +most querulous speedily granted that they had no reason to complain. + +This change in the sentiments of the public, especially its lower and more +distressed portions, was promoted and accelerated by an act, equally +tasteful and touching, of Her Majesty during this year. In the spring of +1842, Sir Robert Peel, now thoroughly warm in his seat as Premier, +commanding a large working majority, and not yet having awakened the +hostility of the decidedly Protectionist section of his followers, +inaugurated that splendid series of bravely devised measures in the +direction of Free Trade, of which the great Anti-Corn Law Act of four +years later was, so far as he was concerned, the culmination. In 1842, +Peel proposed and carried a Budget which considerably lessened the burden +of Customs imposts, but the chief merit and recommendation of which +consisted in the fact that it relieved the nation of the incubus of a host +of very galling excise duties on such articles of common use as glass, +leather, bricks, and soap. These beneficial remissions of taxation could +not have been effected by him--for they entailed a heavy cost upon the +revenue, already inadequate to meet the annual expenditure--but for the +re-imposition of an Income Tax, a means of raising revenue which had been +long disused, to the extent of sevenpence in the pound on all incomes +above £150 of annual value. This, of course, did not affect the allowance +made to the Sovereign. Nevertheless, Her Majesty evinced her sympathy at +once with the prevailing distress and with the daring fiscal expedient of +the Premier, by coming forward unsolicited to offer to receive an +abatement of her income, based upon the precise scale of that imposed by +Parliament upon her subjects. + +Up to the Queen's reign, the members of the House of Brunswick had never +been peripatetic in their tendencies. The first two Georges had made +frequent visits to their patrimonial German electorate, but they evinced +no desire to visit England beyond the immediate environs of London. George +III. never passed out of England; George IV. visited Ireland and Scotland +each on one occasion; but with these exceptions, hardly any British +highways were traversed by his wheels during his reign, whether as +Sovereign Regent or Regnant, except the great roads connecting his capital +with Windsor, Brighton, and Newmarket. William IV. was too old when he +came to the throne to make it at all probable that he would evince any +taste to visit any of the outlying portions of his dominions; nor did he +do so. Queen Victoria, as we have copiously seen in earlier chapters, was +from her very infancy habituated to moving about from place to place, and +all along she has proved herself as proud as Queen Elizabeth herself of +mingling with and showing herself to her people. + +[Sidenote: FIRST VISIT TO SCOTLAND.] + +For some time the Queen was understood to have contemplated a journey to +the land of those Stuart ancestors by virtue of whose Tudor blood they, +and the Brunswick line through them, and she through it, inherited the +British crown. In the autumn of this year all seemed propitious for the +journey, and it was undertaken accordingly by herself and her young +husband. Their first destination was the Scottish capital, and as the +railway system connecting the southern and northern extremities of the +island was yet far from complete, the journey was made by water from the +Thames to the Forth, the port of embarkation being Woolwich, and of +debarkation, Granton, a minor harbour in the immediate neighbourhood of +Edinburgh. + +The expected visit was awaited and prepared for in the North with the +utmost eagerness of expectancy. Half Scotland seemed to have emptied +itself into the metropolis to do her honour. In their preparations, +burgher vied with noble, tartan-clad Highlanders with Lowlanders in their +more sombre blue bonnets and hodden grey. On the 29th of August, the Queen +left Windsor, and proceeded to Woolwich, where she embarked amid the +acclamations of her metropolitan and Kentish subjects at an early hour of +the same day. In a Royal yacht, towed by a steam ship of war, the voyage +was safely effected in the fine weather and on the placid wave of early +autumn. In due time the Royal squadron arrived off Dunbar, which, with the +Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle, form together a fine _coup-d'oeil_ of +romantic coast scenery and middle age antiquity, at the mouth of the Firth +of Forth. Here it was met by large steamers filled by welcomers from +Edinburgh and its neighbourhood, who greeted their illustrious visitors +with loud huzzahs, and the strains of that National Anthem, which, though +of English birth, was chaunted right lustily by Scottish lungs and lips. +It was observed that Her Majesty, who came on board and acknowledged the +vivas of her subjects, had paid the Scots the compliment of enveloping +herself in a Paisley shawl; and when, a day or two later, she made her +formal entry past the church sanctified by the preaching of John Knox, to +the Castle, in a narrow chamber of which her unfortunate ancestor Queen +Mary bore her son King James, she wore, with even more conspicuously +appropriate taste, a shawl of Stuart tartan. + +[Sidenote: LANDING ON SCOTTISH SOIL.] + +As she passed up the Firth, under cover of the gathering night, every peak +on either side of the estuary, from St. Abb's Head, which she had left +behind, away westwards to the Pentlands, the Lomonds, and the Ochils, was +surmounted by a blazing beacon--a splendid sight, and stimulative by +contrast to the imaginations of those who recollected to what different +uses beacon-fires on Scottish hills and Scottish Border Keeps had been put +in earlier days of the international relations of England and Scotland. +The fiery welcome was returned from the Royal yacht, by the letting off of +rockets, and the burning of blue lights. + +At last the squadron came in sight in the roads before Leith, the anchor +being let down--"a welcome sound," wrote the Queen--at a quarter to one +o'clock on the morning of Thursday, September the 1st. Every one of the +heights on or under the domination of which Edinburgh stands, had been +crowded all the previous day with tens of thousands of spectators. All at +once two guns from the castle, and a signal flag hoisted from the summit +of Nelson's column, some 400 feet above the level of the sea, announced +the arrival. The Queen slept and rested herself after the fatigues of her +voyage on board the Royal yacht; and she took her good but inalert +subjects by surprise, by effecting her landing at an hour so early on the +succeeding morning, that many of them, wearied by their recent vigils, had +not yet left their couches, and even the corporate dignitaries were +subject to the mortification of not having the honour to receive and +welcome their Queen as her foot first touched Scottish soil. In their +absence, that pleasurable duty was discharged by Sir Robert Peel, and the +Duke of Buccleuch, whose guest she was about to be at his palace of +Dalkeith, and who had ridden immediately after her carriage, as +Captain-General of her body-guard of Scottish Archers, on the day on which +she was crowned queen at Westminster. Sir Robert Peel told the Queen that +the people were all in the highest glee and good humour, though a little +disappointed at the non-arrival of the squadron the day before, as had +been expected. + +With the extraordinarily auspicious fatality which has made "Queen's +weather" so trite and proverbial an expression, the sun splendidly burst +forth at the moment of her landing, and continued to shine throughout her +progress through a portion of the New Town of Edinburgh; its bright +freestone streets and terraces sparkling in the clear, sunlit air--past +her ancient Palace of Holyrood, and so through fertile Lothian to the +mansion of the princely head of the old Border House of the Scotts. When +the customary ensign was hauled down from the top of the rugged Castle +Rock, and the Royal Standard was hoisted in its place, the streets at once +filled, and the loyal shouts of the crowds, who hastily assembled in no +small force, sufficiently atoned for the absence of those whom the +somewhat unexpected arrival balked for this one day of the delight of +expressing their devotion. + +[Sidenote: FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SCOTLAND.] + +The impression which her first view of Edinburgh made upon the Queen was +very striking and most favourable. She thought it "beautiful, totally +unlike anything else she had seen." Even Prince Albert, a great traveller +while yet in his teens, and who had visited very many great and renowned +cities, also said it was unlike anything which he had witnessed. The +massive stone buildings, with not a solitary brick used in their +construction; the great dorsal fin of the High Street; the magnificent +situation of the Castle; the Calton Hill, guarded by mediæval battlements +and crowned by Choragic temples, with the noble back-ground of Arthur's +Seat overtopping the whole, together impressed the youthful tourists as +"forming altogether a splendid spectacle." + +As the carriages drove through the city, the Earl of Wemyss, who marched +by the Queen's side in his green uniform of a Scottish Archer of the +Guard, pointed out to Her Majesty the varied objects of interest on the +line of route through the eastern portions of the city to the Duke of +Buccleuch's palace of Dalkeith. When they got into the open country, she +was further astonished to find that not only all the cottages, but even +the fences dividing field from field, were also built of stone. The +peasants by the wayside were equally objects of curiosity and interest, as +they had "quite a different character from England and the English." The +close caps--_Scottice_, "mutches"--of the old women, and the long, flowing +hair, frequently red, of the handsome girls and children, were equal +novelties to the royal "Southrons." The Prince was struck with the +resemblance of the country people to Germans. Other Scottish specialties +appeared at the breakfast-table at Dalkeith, in the form of oatmeal +porridge and "Finnan Haddies"--the first of which, at least, found +immediate favour with Her Majesty. + +The grand ceremonial of entering the ancient city in state was reserved +for the Saturday after the arrival; the interval having been devoted by +the royal party to quiet and repose in the magnificent domain of +Buccleuch, and drives to objects of interest in its neighbourhood. The +line of the cavalcade, on this red-letter day, was up the steep ascent of +the Canongate, High Street, and Lawnmarket, from the Palace of Holyrood +(which the Queen rightly pronounced "a royal-looking old place") to the +Castle which the Black Douglas scaled, where George Buchanan's pedantic +Stuart pupil was born, and from the parapets of which various and shifting +prospects are to be descried, which may be equalled, but cannot be +surpassed, in any portion of Her Majesty's dominions. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN IN EDINBURGH CASTLE.] + +It was indeed historic ground along which the Queen passed this day. Every +one of the stupendous houses of eight, ten, or even more stories, which +formed a mighty avenue of stone on either side of the ancient causeway +along which the steeds which drew her carriage slowly and deliberately +proceeded, had some tale of long gone days to tell, many of them being +most intimately associated with the fortunes of her Stuart ancestors. On +her way she passed the site of that tower in which Darnley, her ancestor, +was blown into eternity. Ere she left her Palace of Holyrood and the +adjacent ruins of the abbey which was erected by that Scottish king who +built and endowed so many abbeys that his subjects piteously exclaimed +that he was a "saur saunt for the Croon," she may have seen the +blood-stains of Rizzio, and the somewhat mythical portraits of the Kings +of the Houses of Kenneth, Bruce, and the Stuarts. On one side of her was +the old mansion of the Regent Moray, on the other the spot where, for the +first and only time, the boy Francis Jeffrey set eyes upon Robert Burns. +Here was the ancient oaken hall where the Scottish Parliament sate, there +the office of that Scottish journal of which Daniel Defoe, the staunch and +loyal friend of William III., was the first editor. Here was the house in +which John Knox lived and died, there the church in which he preached with +such fervour for that Protestant faith, with the establishment of which in +Europe both lines of her ancestors were so intimately identified. And when +she arrived on the esplanade of the Castle itself, she could look across +the Forth on the one side to the minor mountain which casts its morning +shadow into Loch Leven, from her captivity on an islet of which Scottish +Catholic gentlemen so gallantly rescued her Stuart ancestress; while +immediately beneath her lay the Grassmarket--at once the Tower and the +Smithfield of Scotland--where Montrose and Argyll expiated respectively +their loyalty to the Stuart race, and to freedom of soul and speech. + +As the cortège passed up the streets along which Prince Charlie had passed +when he held court at Holyrood just ninety-seven years before, as she +received at the site of the old Tolbooth the keys of the city from the +Lord Provost, bending the knee beside his fellow-burghers, clad in the old +costumes of the Trades, and close beside a guard of honour of Highlanders +headed by the present Duke of Argyll; or as she stood surveying from the +topmost battery of the citadel her fair ancestral domains of Lothian and +Fife, and the distant mountains which tower o'er Loch Lomond and the +Trossachs, some such proud and pathetic recollections as these must have +occupied and touched the heart of the youngest and the mightiest monarch +in Europe. Their closer acquaintance with Edinburgh increased the mingled +amazement and delight of the Queen and Prince. Prince Albert pronounced +the view of it from the margin of the Firth of Forth as "fairy-like," +"what you would imagine as a thing to dream of, or to see in a picture." +He said he felt sure the Acropolis could not be finer, and the Queen at +once recognised the appropriateness of the idealised metamorphosis of +"Auld Reekie" (_Anglice_, "Old Smoky") into "the Modern Athens." The Leith +ticket-porters, mounted on flower-decked horses, with broad, +ribbon-decorated Kilmarnock bonnets, and the pretty Newhaven fishwives, +with their clear, peachy complexions and Danish costumes, were objects of +peculiar interest. + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN IN THE HIGHLANDS.] + +Space fails us to enter into details of the further incidents of this, the +Queen's first visit to her Scottish dominion. Enough to say that she +received in the Highlands, where she visited in succession not a few of +her oldest nobles of Gaelic and Norman descent, receptions as rapturous as +that which she experienced in the Modern Athens. The welcome, if it could +not be more hearty, was at least attended with more picturesque +accessories in the romantic region where the dialect and the "garb of Old +Gael" still to a large extent prevail. At Dupplin Castle, at Scone Palace, +where her ancestors were crowned, at Blair Athole, at Taymouth, and at +Drummond Castle, she was entertained with equal splendour, and with the +true and special elements of "Highland Welcome." She may be almost said to +have passed through a continuous succession of triumphal arches. Every +chieftain brought out all his available clansmen, all in kilts, claymores, +and Glengarry bonnets, to act as guards of honour. Balls, in which the +national dances, performed by the best born cadets of the noble houses of +whom she was the guest, constituted the chief feature, alternated with +deer-stalking, for the especial behoof of the Prince; processions of boats +on the lake through which rolls the Tay, a river only less rapid than the +Spey; and visits to places of historic interest or romantic beauty. + +The Queen was especially charmed with the beautiful situation of the +ancient city of Perth, and the enthusiastic reception which the multitudes +there assembled gave to her. Prince Albert, too, was delighted, and +likened the appearance of the place to Basle. At Scone Palace, which is +within two miles of Perth, a very natural object of peculiar interest was +the mound on which all the Scottish kings had been crowned. At Dunkeld the +Highlands were fairly entered; and here the Royal party were met and +escorted by a guard of Athole Highlanders, armed with halberts, and headed +by a piper. One of them danced the sword dance, with which the travellers +were greatly amused, and others of them figured in a reel. + +The longest sojourn made in the Highlands was at Taymouth, the seat of the +Marquis of Breadalbane. The scenery here again revived recollections of +Switzerland in the memory of Prince Albert, who was particularly prone, in +this and subsequent visits to the North, to trace resemblances between its +scenery and localities which he had visited in the tours of his bachelor +days. The reception at Taymouth was magnificent, and quite captivated the +illustrious guests. The Queen wrote in her journal-- + + The _coup d'oeil_ was indescribable. There were a number of Lord + Breadalbane's Highlanders, all in the Campbell tartan, drawn up in + front of the house, with Lord Breadalbane himself in a Highland dress + at their head; a few of Sir Niel Menzies' men (in the Menzies red and + white tartan), a number of pipers playing, and a company of the 92nd + Highlanders, also in kilts. The firing of the guns, the cheering of + the great crowd, the picturesqueness of the dresses, the beauty of the + surrounding country, with its rich back-ground of wooded hills, + altogether formed one of the finest scenes imaginable. It seemed as if + a great chieftain in olden feudal times was receiving his Sovereign. + It was princely and romantic. + +Wherever the Queen rambled during her stay by the shores of Loch Tay, she +was guarded by two Highlanders, and it recalled to her mind "olden times, +to see them with their swords drawn." Walking one day with the Duchess of +Norfolk, the Queen and her noble companion met "a fat, good-humoured +little woman." She cut some flowers for the ladies, and the Duchess handed +to her some money, saying, "From Her Majesty." The poor woman was +perfectly astounded, but, recovering her wits, came up to the Queen, and +said naïvely that "her people were delighted to see the Queen in +Scotland." Wherever the royal visitors were, or went, the inevitable +strains of the bagpipes were heard. They played before the Castle at +frequent intervals throughout the day, from breakfast till dinner-time, +and invariably when they went in or out of doors. When rowed in boats on +the lake, two pipers sat in the bows and played; and the Queen, who had +grown "quite fond" of the bagpipes, was reminded of the lines of Scott, +with whose poems she had, from an early age, possessed the most intimate +familiarity:-- + + "See the proud pipers in the bow, + And mark the gaudy streamers flow + From their loud chambers down, and sweep + The furrow'd bosom of the deep, + As, rushing through the lake amain, + They plied the ancient Highland strain." + +[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM SCOTLAND.] + +On the 13th of September the return journey from the Highlands by +Stirling, the ancient Castle of which was visited, to Dalkeith Palace, had +been completed. Two days later the Queen and Prince re-embarked at +Granton, _en route_ for Woolwich and Windsor. + +Although a by no means excessive quantity of time--but a fortnight--was +consumed in the tour, some idea of the rapidity with which distances were +traversed, and the extent of ground covered, may be gathered from the fact +that no fewer than 656 post-horses were employed. The Queen touched the +hearts of the Highlanders--among whom Jacobitism remained, not as an +element of personal devotion to a fallen house, but not the less as a deep +chord of pathos and poetry--by commanding a Scottish vocalist, at a +concert given in her honour at Blair Athole, to sing two of the most +beloved of Jacobite songs--"Cam' ye by Athole," and "Wae's me for Prince +Charlie." When she once more embarked at Granton on her homeward route, +she left memories of pleasure and affection which far exceeded the +intensely ardent excitement which had preceded and greeted her landing. On +the last day which she spent in Scotland, the Queen wrote in her +journal--"This is our last day in Scotland; it is really a delightful +country, and I am very sorry to leave it." And the day after, watching its +vanishing coast--"As the fair shores of Scotland receded more and more +from our view, we felt quite sad that this very pleasant and interesting +tour was over; but we shall never forget it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT ENGLAND OWES TO PRINCE ALBERT. + + The Prince's Study of our Laws and Constitution--Two Misconceptions + Outlived--His Versatility--First Speech an Anti-Slavery One--His + Appreciation and Judicious Criticism of Art--Scientific Side of his + Mind--As an Agriculturist. + + +It will not be undesirable at this stage of our narrative to interpose a +summary compendium of some indications of the manner in which Prince +Albert, or the "Prince Consort," as he was designated by Royal Letters +Patent, after 1857, discharged the high, onerous, and important duties to +which his position called him. If the conduct and career of a husband be +an integral and large part of a woman's life, it is tenfold more so in the +case of a woman who is also a queen, and especially a queen-regnant in and +by her own right. The large and enlarging breadth of mind which the Prince +soon began to display; the abundant tenderness of heart, which found at +once indication and exercise in the admirable and diverse modes in which +he advanced all agencies of public utility and associated benevolence; the +excellent mode in which, equally as a father and a husband, he evinced the +warm glow of domestic virtue which animated his bosom, and the absolute +and much-wanted scientific and artistic lessons which he taught more than +any other man, during his life in England, to the somewhat uncouth people +of whom he became a part--all these, and other elements of character and +conduct, indirectly increased the growing esteem in which the Queen was +held, on her own merits, by her people; for we might have had to look +forward to a different national future, so far as a national future can be +moulded in the sense of either making or marring, had the "father of our +future kings" been other and lesser than what he was. Such a man as the +Prince Consort must necessarily have wielded a very large and weighty +influence upon the character of the royal lady whom he married. The +history of her life, therefore, even if it were traced within narrower +limits than those within whose compression our task must be discharged, +would be insufficiently delineated without the introduction of such +episodical but most relevant matter as that to which this chapter is +briefly dedicated. + +Almost the first task which the Prince Consort undertook when he came +amongst us was to set himself to an assiduous study of our laws and +institutions. He secured the services of a most competent instructor in +themes so important to one who stood so near the throne, in the person of +the late Mr. William Selwyn, Q.C. Mr. Selwyn was a sound jurist, and under +his guidance the Prince read such works as Blackstone, De Lolme, Hallam, +Bentham, and Mill. He proved himself an apt student, for he had the +capacity for study eminently developed; and, besides, his position was one +of singular difficulty and delicacy. He stood so near to the throne, +amongst a people, too, traditionally jealous of aliens, and especially of +aliens in high places, that any utterance he might be called upon to make +would be considered as almost, if not quite, emanating from the throne +itself. Although a certain cabinet intrigue, and one rare expression of +his own--not so much unguarded in itself, as wanting in explicitness, and +capable of a certain misconstruction--did, on two several occasions, +provoke in certain quarters something approaching to national disfavour, +he soon outlived the misconception; and the universal sentiment of the +people came round to the conviction that the Prince was faithful and loyal +to the constitution to which he had sworn fidelity; nay more, that he had +fairly caught, apprehended, and absorbed into his being the very genius +and spirit of the English race. + +[Sidenote: PRINCE ALBERT S FIRST SPEECH.] + +The first speech the Prince made in England was at an anti-slavery +meeting; the last at the opening of an international statistical congress. +The former was delivered during the first summer of his married life. It +is so brief, and it gives, as it were, so thoroughly the key-note of his +character, that our readers will thank us for giving it entire:-- + + I have been induced to preside at the meeting of this society from a + conviction of its paramount importance to the great interests of + humanity and justice. I deeply regret that the benevolent and + persevering exertions of England to abolish that atrocious traffic in + human beings (at once the desolation of Africa and the blackest stain + upon civilised Europe) have not as yet led to any satisfactory + conclusion. But I sincerely trust that this great country will not + relax in its efforts until it has finally, and for ever, put an end to + a state of things so repugnant to the spirit of Christianity and the + best feelings of our nature. Let us, therefore, trust that Providence + will prosper our exertions in so holy a cause, and that (under the + auspices of our Queen and her Government) we may, at no distant + period, be rewarded by the accomplishment of the great and humane + object for the promotion of which we have this day met. + +We have already remarked the wide range of Prince Albert's endeavours, +study, devotion, and consequent usefulness. He presided at dinners of the +Literary Fund, and of the Royal Academy; at the Trinity House most +frequently, and at many agricultural meetings. Two of the best and most +pregnant with good of his addresses, were delivered at the meetings of +associations designed respectively for the better housing of labourers, +and in behalf of the large and sorely tempted class of domestic servants. +Now he presided at the Bicentenary of the Corporation of the Sons of the +Clergy; again at the two hundredth anniversary of one of our most +illustrious regiments of Foot Guards. On art, as all were prepared to +expect, he delivered ripe words of wisdom at the Royal Academy in +Trafalgar Square, and in laying the foundation in the capital of his +wife's Stuart ancestors of a new National Gallery for her Scottish +subjects. Against the expectation, and to the loudly expressed surprise of +all, save those who knew him thoroughly, he made a most admirable survey +of the sciences and their uses, at one of the last meetings held ere his +death, of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Of art +he was a judicious critic, as well as a munificent patron. It was at his +special wish and option that the _savant_ Lyon Playfair was made one of +his Equerries; and that a residence in Hampton Court Palace was put at the +disposal of Michael Faraday. + +How much of mingled love for art and artists, and at the same time of +criticism most kindly and sagacious, is to be found in these brief +sentences, extracted from his great speech at the Royal Academy dinner:-- + + An unkind word of criticism passes like a cold blast over their tender + shoots, and shrivels them up, checking the flow of the sap, which was + rising to produce, perhaps, multitudes of flowers and fruits. But + still criticism is absolutely necessary to the development of art, + and the injudicious praise of an inferior work becomes an insult to + superior genius. In this respect, our times are peculiarly favourable + when compared with those when Madonnas were painted in the seclusion + of convents; for we have now on the one hand the eager competition of + a vast array of artists of every degree of talent and skill, and on + the other, as judge, a great public, for the greater part wholly + uneducated in art, and thus led by professional writers who often + strive to impress the public with a great idea of their own artistic + knowledge, by the merciless manner in which they treat works which + cost those who produced them the highest efforts of mind or feeling. + +And again, as a companion and worthy picture--which is none the less, but +all the more, worthy of hanging along with that we have just presented, +that the great truth it teaches is presented with such lucid +simplicity--take these sentences explanatory of the scope and end of such +institutions as the British Association for the Advancement of Science, +delivered by him as its President, at the 1859 Congress at Aberdeen:-- + +[Sidenote: THE PRINCE'S EULOGY ON HUMBOLDT.] + + If the activity of this Association ever found, or could find its + personification in one individual--its incarnation as it were--this + had been found in that distinguished and revered philosopher who has + been removed from amongst us in his ninetieth year, within the last + few months. Alexander Von Humboldt ever strove after dominion over + that universality of human knowledge which stands in need of + thoughtful government and direction to preserve its integrity. He + strove to tie up the fasces of scientific knowledge, to give them + strength in unity. He treated all scientific men as members of one + family, enthusiastically directing, fostering, and encouraging + inquiry, where he saw either the want of or the willingness for it. + His protection of the young and ardent student led many to success in + their pursuits. His personal influence with the courts and governments + of most countries in Europe, enabled him to plead the cause of science + in a manner which made it more difficult to refuse than to grant what + he requested. All lovers of Science deeply mourn for the loss of such + a man. Gentlemen, it is a singular coincidence, that this very day on + which we are here assembled, and are thus giving expression to our + admiration of him, should be the anniversary of his birth. + +The Queen, who was staying at Balmoral, was very anxious about the manner +in which her husband should pass the very severe ordeal of delivering an +address to the assembled men of science. She recorded her high +gratification at learning by telegram that "Albert's reception was +admirable, and that all was going off as well as possible. Thank God!" She +invited the _savans_, to a fête at her Highland home; they accepted the +invitation in great numbers; and "the philosophers," of whom Her Majesty +was not a little, and rather comically, afraid, were not only entertained +with creature comforts, but the somewhat novel combination was presented +of Owen, Brewster, Sabine, and Murchison, with their brethren of lesser +renown, standing as spectators of contests of strength between athletes of +the Grant, Farquharson, Duff, and other clans. Some of the more +distinguished guests remained over night, and at dinner they rejoiced the +Queen's heart by "speaking in very high terms of my beloved Albert's +speech, the good it had done, and the general satisfaction it had caused." + +[Sidenote: THE PRINCE AS AN AGRICULTURIST.] + +Probably the capacity of all others in which the Prince became most +generally familiar to the nation, was that of a practical, improving, +scientific agriculturist; and we use this word in its twofold sense, as +embracing the growing of crops and the rearing of live stock. Almost from +the outset of his career amongst us he commenced a series of scientific +agricultural experiments on the farms in Windsor Park. He renovated the +agriculture of the Park, as much as he confessedly did its landscape +gardening. He became a constant and most successful exhibitor of live +domestic edible animals at the great agricultural shows; his example in +this field having been followed since his death, to the great +gratification of the agricultural interest, both by his widow and his +eldest son; and, especially in the case of Her Majesty, with marked +success. As a high and eminent authority on the subject has admirably put +it-- + + His was no merely idle, passing patronage or casual aid, but it was + rather a pursuit he delighted in, and one he followed out with equal + energy and advantage. The most practical man could not go that + pleasant round from the Flemish farm to the Norfolk, and so back again + by the Home and the Dairy, without learning something wherever he + went. + +We must deny ourselves the pleasure of aught but passing reference to the +admirable manner in which he discharged his academic duties as Chancellor +of the University of Cambridge, which post he held from 1845 till his +death, and about which we say enough when we remind or inform the reader +that it was such men as Professor Sedgwick, the Vice-chancellor, who spoke +of the exercise of his duties in this capacity in terms of the highest +honour and estimation. Similar were his services to such noble +institutions as Eton and Wellington Colleges, in both of which he offered +prizes expressly calculated to encourage the pursuit of those studies +which had been, or were most likely to be, ignored in their several cases. +Horticulture, art exhibitions, the National Portrait Gallery, the Society +of Arts, societies for improving the general condition and the housing of +the labouring classes, mechanics' institutions--each of these constitutes +a theme most pregnant and suggestive in connection with the Prince's name +and memory. But we can do no more than recite and dismiss the bald +catalogue of topics. Reserving for the appropriate chronological occasion +some brief remarks upon the character of the Prince as a private man, as +contrasted with his aspects of character as a citizen and public +benefactor, to which we have at present confined ourselves, we feel that +we cannot better conclude than by condensing his opinions delivered in an +address to the annual meeting of the Servants' Provident Benevolent +Society, in 1849, in which the whole plan and doctrine by which he +believed all really useful associated benevolence ought to be regulated +was summed up. His view was that no such organisation was founded upon a +right principle which did not require every man, by personal exertion, and +by his own choice, to work out his own happiness. Benevolence he held to +be not really such unless it stimulated providence, self-denial, and +perseverance. He used special words of warning against those so frequent +lotteries of uncertain and precarious advantages--"really a species of +gambling"--expensive convivial meetings, balloting for prizes, and +electioneering contests on a small scale. "Let them always bear in mind," +he proceeded to say, "that their savings are capital, that capital will +only return a certain interest, and that any advantage offered beyond that +interest has to be purchased at a commensurate risk of the capital +itself." + +Such is a view, but all too summary and inadequate, of some of the +obligations which the English, as his fellow-citizens, owed to that Prince +whose life was so intertwined with and influential on that of their +Sovereign. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FOREIGN TRAVEL AND HOME VISITS. + + Visit to King Louis Philippe at Eu--A Loyal Corporation--Splendid + Reception of the Queen in France--Anecdote of the Queen's Regard for + Prince Albert--Visit of the Czar Nicholas--Home Life in + Scotland--Visit to Germany--Illuminations of the Rhine--A Rural Fête + at Coburg. + + +In August, 1843, the Queen and Prince Albert made a yachting excursion +round portions of the south coast and the Isle of Wight. Thence they +steamed over to Treport, on the French coast, the nearest port to the +Chateau d'Eu, a rural residence of Louis Philippe. On the arrival of the +Queen and Prince from Windsor at Southampton, they were met at the end of +the pier by the Duke of Wellington and other noble and official +personages. It rained heavily, and as there was not sufficient covering +for the stage intended to run on to the yacht _Victoria and Albert_, the +members of the Corporation, like so many Raleighs, stripped off their red +gowns in a moment, and the pathway was covered for Her Majesty's use, so +that Queen Victoria, like Queen Elizabeth, walked dry-footed to her +vessel. The undergraduates at Cambridge acted precisely similarly on the +occasion of a visit in wet weather by the Queen and Prince to that +university in this year. + +[Sidenote: VISIT TO FRANCE.] + +The subsequent visit to France was wholly unexpected in England; and it +was even said, and with some show of truth, that the Ministers were +unaware of the intention. Of course we cannot speak with any certainty, +but it seems but too likely that Louis Philippe intrigued to secure the +aid, or at least the condonation, of the Queen of England in those astute +enterprises which his busy brain was even now concocting, with which the +phrases "Pritchard and Tahiti," and the "Spanish Marriages" will ever +remain associated, and which ultimately, and retributively, cost him his +throne. Mr. Raikes, who, be it remembered, was the intimate and bosom +friend of the Duke of Wellington, then a Minister of England, has at this +date the following entry in his Journal, which was published in 1857, and +is an acknowledged, and if not absolutely an indisputable, yet a most +weighty authority:-- + + _Tuesday, 19th._--Much conversation after dinner about the Queen's + visit to Eu. I said, that the day before I left Paris, Kisseleff, the + Russian Minister, scouted the idea of this visit, and betted that it + would never take place. Lord Canning remarked, as a singular + coincidence, that Brunow, the Russian Minister in London, asserted + positively, on the very morning that the Queen embarked at + Southampton, that she had no intention of going to Eu. They both + spoke, I suppose, as they wished. + +This, it may be said, is mere club gossip. Not so what we are about to +quote, and which was written under the Duke of Wellington's roof:-- + + _Saturday, 23rd._--I went down to Walmer Castle, and found the Duke + walking with Mr. Arbuthnot on the ramparts, or, as it is called, the + platform, which overlooks the sea.... After the company had departed + at ten o'clock, I sat up with the Duke and Arbuthnot till twelve + o'clock, talking on various topics.... I see that the Government was + evidently opposed to the Queen's visit to Eu. It was a wily intrigue, + managed by Louis Philippe, through the intervention of his daughter, + the Queen of the Belgians, during her frequent visits to Windsor with + King Leopold, and was hailed by him with extreme joy, as the first + admission of the King of the Barricades within the pale of legitimate + sovereigns. The Duke said, "I was never let into the secret, nor did I + believe the report then in circulation, till at last they sent to + consult my opinion as to forming a regency during the Queen's absence. + I immediately referred to precedents as the only proper guide. I told + them that George I., George II. (George III. never went abroad), and + George IV. had all been obliged to appoint councils of regency; that + Henry VIII., when he met Francis I. at Ardres, was then master of + Calais, as also when he met Charles V. at Gravelines; so that, in + these instances, Calais being a part of his dominions, he hardly did + more than pass his frontier--not much more than going from one county + to the next. Upon this I decided that the Queen could not quit this + country without an Act of Regency. But she consulted the crown + lawyers, who decided that it was not necessary, as courtiers would + do." I myself (resumes Raikes) did not believe in her going till two + days before she went. Peel persisted afterwards that he had told me of + it; but I knew I never heard it, and it was not a thing to have + escaped me if I had. + +As for the reception at the Château d'Eu itself, it was of the most +splendid character. One state ceremonial, however, is so very like +another, that after those, the descriptions of which we have already +furnished, a recital of the gay doings at Eu would hardly be palatable. +The purport of the whole may be summed up very briefly. The French monarch +endeavoured to allure the Queen into compliance with his wishes, by every +seduction which nature and art, and the most refined and gallant courtesy, +could supply. Everything that wealth, luxury, and taste could furnish was +to be found amid scenes of more than royal magnificence, o'ershadowed by +elms that dated back to the times of Henri Quatre. + +But there was business to be done, and the Queen was fortunate in having +with her such trusty counsellors as Lords Aberdeen and Liverpool. A +compact about the Spanish marriages was then and there made between France +and England; a compact for the terms of which we are dependent, not alone +upon English state papers, but upon the unimpeachable testimony of MM. +Guizot and Regnault. As the starting-point of the one court was that the +Queen of Spain should marry a Prince of the House of Coburg, and of the +other that she should marry a Prince of the reigning French house, of +course no settlement could be come to except by an unequivocal compromise. +Thus did Lord Aberdeen and M. Guizot arrange it:--The King of France +renounced all pretensions, on the part of any of his sons, to the hand of +the Queen of Spain. It was stipulated that the Queen should choose her +husband from the princely descendants of Philip V.; this stipulation +excluding the dreaded competition of a Coburg. As to the projected +marriage of the Duc de Montpensier, the son of Louis Philippe, with the +Infanta Donna Maria, sister of the Queen of Spain, Louis Philippe agreed +that it should not take place "till the Queen was married and had had +children." On these conditions, the Queen of England and her counsellors +waived all objections to the marriage of the Duc de Montpensier. Louis +Philippe kept his word by having his son married to the Infanta on the +very same day, and at the same altar, as that on which her elder sister +the Queen was married. + +In the summer of this year, the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, the Queen's +first cousin, was married to the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The +following extract from the diary of Mr. Raikes will be admitted to be far +from the least amusing and characteristic anecdote of the Queen which we +present in these pages:-- + + _Tuesday, 26th September._--This morning at breakfast, the Duke said + to me, "Did you hear what happened at the wedding?" [meaning that of + the Princess Augusta of Cambridge]. Replying in the negative, he + continued, "When we proceeded to the signatures, the King of Hanover + was very anxious to sign before Prince Albert, and when the Queen + approached the table, he placed himself by her side, watching his + opportunity. She knew very well what he was about, and just as the + Archbishop was giving her the pen, she suddenly dodged around the + table, placed herself next to the Prince, then quickly took the pen + from the Archbishop, signed and gave it to Prince Albert, who also + signed next, before it could be prevented. The Queen was also very + anxious to give the precedence at Court to King Leopold before the + King of Hanover, and she consulted me about it, and how it should be + arranged. I told Her Majesty that I supposed it should be settled as + we did at the congress of Vienna. "How was that," said she, "by first + arrival?" "No ma'am," said I, "alphabetically, and then, you know, B + comes before H." This pleased her very much, and it was done. + +[Sidenote: THE CZAR NICHOLAS.] + +In June, 1844, the Queen was visited by her handsome and colossal +godfather, the Czar Nicholas of All the Russias. The Queen received him +with great magnificence, and there was a splendid series of entertainments +at Windsor. The Czar made himself immensely popular with the female sex, +by his magnificent gifts of jewels to the ladies of the Court; with the +sterner sex, by the gift of a cup of uncommon splendour, to be annually +run for at Ascot. "Every one who approached him," says Sir Archibald +Alison, "was struck by the manly dignity of his figure, his noble and +serene countenance, and the polished courtesy of his manner, which threw a +lustre even over the stately halls of Windsor." + +In September of the same year the Queen renewed her acquaintance with +Scotland and the Scots; this time again enjoying the ducal hospitality of +Blair Athole. This visit was entirely dissociated from all State +paraphernalia. The Queen was up before the sun. The mists were hardly +cleared away ere she and the Prince were to be seen walking in the +grounds. They were generally accompanied by the Princess Royal, mounted on +a Shetland pony. The Queen's piper played under her bed-room window at +dawn, and every morning a bunch of heather, with some icy-cold water from +the celebrated spring in Glen Tilt, was laid on her dressing-table. One +morning a lady, plainly dressed, left the Castle; who, though observed by +the Highland guard on duty, was allowed to pass unnoticed, until after she +had proceeded a considerable distance. But somebody having discovered that +it was the Queen, a party of Highlanders turned out as a royal body-guard. +She, however, signified her wish to dispense with their services, and they +all returned to their stations. The Queen, meanwhile, moved onward through +the Castle grounds alone, until she reached the lodge, the temporary +residence of Lord and Lady Glenlyon, where, upon calling, with the +intention, it was understood, of making some arrangements as to a +preconcerted excursion to the Falls of Bruar, she was informed that his +lordship had not yet arisen. The surprise of the servant may be conceived +when Her Majesty announced who was to be intimated as having called upon +his lordship. On her return, having taken a different route, and finding +herself bewildered by the various roads which intersect the grounds in +every direction, she asked some reapers to direct her to the Castle by the +nearest way. They, not being aware to whom they spoke, immediately did so, +by directing her to go through one of the parks, and across a paling which +lay before her, and which she at once passed, and reached the Castle, a +good deal amused, doubtless, with her morning's excursion. In 1847 the +Queen visited, for the first time, the Western Isles and Hebrides. In 1848 +she rented Balmoral, which she shortly afterwards purchased, and from the +date of its acquisition it has been her place of regular resort for at +least one period of every year. + +On the 9th of August, 1845, the Queen and Prince Albert embarked at +Woolwich to visit the land of her maternity and his natal spot. In the +Belgian and Prussian territories, and in the Duchy of Coburg itself, they +were rapturously welcomed. At Bonn, they were serenaded by a monster +orchestra, consisting of no fewer than sixty military bands. At the same +city they assisted at the inauguration of the statue of Beethoven. The +same evening they witnessed at Cologne an illumination and pyrotechnic +display which turned the Rhine into a _feu-de-joie_. As darkness closed +in, the dim and fetid city began to put forth buds of light; lines of +twinkling brightness darted, like liquid gold and silver, from pile to +pile, then along the famous bridge of boats, across the river, up the +masts of the shipping, and all abroad on the opposite bank. Rockets now +shot from all parts of the horizon. The royal party embarked in a steamer +at St. Tremond, and glided down the river; as they passed, the banks +blazed with fireworks and musketry. At their approach they glared with +redoubled light; and, being suspended, let the vessel pass to Cologne, +whose cathedral burst forth a building of light, every detail of the +architecture being made out in delicately coloured lamps--pinkish, with an +underglow of orange. A few days afterwards the Queen steamed up the Rhine. +At Stoltzenfelz there was another magnificent illumination and display of +fireworks. The whole river, both its banks, its crags, ravines, and ruins, +were simultaneously lighted up; showers of rockets and other fireworks +besprinkled the firmament, while repeated salvoes of artillery called the +grandeur of resonant sound to the aid of visible beauty. + +[Sidenote: VISIT TO COBURG.] + +At Coburg the Queen, as might be supposed, was still more cordially +welcomed than at any of her previous stopping places. She and the Prince +stopped at the Castle of Rosenau, and they occupied the room in which he +had been born. A magnificent stag-hunt was got up for their entertainment; +but what pleased the Queen most was being present at a festival entitled +"The Feast of Gregorius." This was a species of carnival, in which the +burghers and rustics, their wives and children, disguised in masks, +indulged in innocent and exuberant gaiety. The Queen and her relatives +freely mixed with the revellers. She talked to the children, to their +great astonishment, "in their own language." Tired of dancing and +processions, and freed from all awe by the ease of their illustrious +visitors, the children took to romps, "thread-my-needle," and other +pastimes, and finally were well pelted by the royal circle with bon-bons, +flowers, and cakes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE QUEEN IN IRELAND. + + First Visit to Ireland--Rapturous Reception at Cork--Queenstown so + Denominated--Enthusiasm at Dublin--Its Graceful Recognition by the + Queen--Visit to the Dublin Exhibition--Encouragement of Native + Industry--Visit to the Lakes of Killarney--The Whirligig of Time. + + +For twelve years after her accession to the throne, the Queen was a +personal stranger to the shores of Erin. Amongst the numerous fruits of +the tranquillity restored to Ireland, after the disturbances and sedition +which had culminated in the "Young Ireland" rising of 1848, was a visit +paid by the Queen to her subjects on the west of St. George's Channel in +the autumn of 1849. Immediately after the prorogation of Parliament, the +Queen and Prince Albert proceeded to Cowes, where a Royal squadron was +ready to receive them. Under its escort, and being accompanied by their +two eldest children, they steered for Cork. The Queen selected as the +first spot of Irish ground on which to land, the port which, up to the +date of her disembarkation, had been known as the Cove of Cork. She gave a +command that, in commemoration of the circumstance, the Cove should +thenceforth be designated Queenstown. Having re-embarked, the Royal party +steamed up the beautiful bay to the city of Cork itself, where a +magnificent reception awaited them. The squadron proceeded at a slow +rate. In spite of its arrival at a much earlier date than had been +anticipated, the news spread like wildfire, and the country people +assembled in prodigious numbers on the shores of the Cove, which were +crowded with multitudes of excited Celts, whose wild shouts, mingled with +the firing of cannon and small arms, and the ringing of bells, made the +whole scene animated beyond description. From Cork, the Queen proceeded to +Dublin. There her reception was described by an eye-witness as "a sight +never to be forgotten." + +[Sidenote: FIRST VISIT TO IRELAND.] + +The Queen, turning from side to side, bowed low repeatedly. Prince Albert +shared in and acknowledged the plaudits of the people; while the Royal +children were objects of universal attention and admiration. Her Majesty +seemed to feel deeply the warmth of her reception. She paused at the end +of the platform for a moment, and again making her acknowledgments, was +hailed with a tremendous cheer as she entered the terminus of the short +railway line which connects Kingston with Dublin. On her departure, a few +days later, an incident still more gratifying to the Irish people +occurred. As the Royal yacht approached the extremity of the pier near the +lighthouse, where the people were most thickly congregated, and who were +cheering enthusiastically, the Queen suddenly left the two +Ladies-in-waiting with whom she was conversing, ran with agility along the +deck, and climbed the paddle-box to join Prince Albert, who did not notice +her till she was nearly at his side. Reaching out to him, and taking his +arm, she waved her hand to the people on the piers. She appeared to give +some order to the captain: the paddles immediately ceased to move, and +the vessel merely floated on. The Royal Standard was lowered in courtesy +to the thousands cheering on shore, and this stately obeisance was +repeated five times. + +This gracious and well-timed visit to Ireland was a very significant proof +of the Royal confidence in the unshaken allegiance of the bulk of the +Irish people; and it likewise showed a just appreciation of the prudent +energy and humane moderation with which her Ministers had so fortunately +composed the recent unhappy tumults. Nearly thirty years had elapsed since +a British sovereign had appeared in Ireland; and between the visit of +George IV. and that of Queen Victoria, there was in common only the +circumstance that both were royal visits. George, as King of Ireland, in +1821, was not the king of a free nation; the victory of civil and +religious liberty had yet to be achieved for and by the Irish; a minority +engrossed the national Government and monopolised its emoluments of every +degree; the very existence of the people as a people had not been +recognised, and the King himself was peculiarly and bitterly identified +with the faction which held the race and their creed in thraldom. Thus, in +1821, the Crown of England possessed for Ireland little lustre or utility, +nor did it evoke any well-grounded loyalty and devotion from its people. + +Queen Victoria and her visit, on the contrary, represented those popular +principles and sympathies which are the brightest jewels of the British +Crown, and are now set firmly in it for ever. Her visit, at once august +and affectionate, was a visit to a nation which was not only loyal but +free. "And joy came well in such, a needful time." The joy was exuberant +and universal. As the loyalty was rendered to a young Queen, it partook of +the romantic and strictly national nature of gallantry. To witness that +joy must have been the fittest punishment for the disaffected. + +"We do not remember," says an authority not given to rhapsody or +exaggeration, "in the chronicles of royal progresses, to have met with any +description of a scene more splendid, more imposing, more joyous, or more +memorable, than the entry of the Queen into the Irish capital." The houses +were absolutely roofed and walled with spectators. They were piled throng +above throng, till their occupants clustered like bees about the vanes and +chimney tops. The noble streets of Dublin seemed to have been removed, and +built anew of Her Majesty's lieges. The squares resembled the interiors of +crowded amphitheatres. Facades of public buildings were formed for the day +of radiant human faces. Invention exhausted itself in preparing the +language of greeting, and the symbols of welcome. For miles the chariot of +the gay and gratified Sovereign passed under parti-coloured (not +_party_-coloured) streamers, waving banners, festal garlands, and +triumphal arches. The latter seemed constructed of nothing else than solid +flowers, as if the hands of Flora herself had reared them. At every +appropriate point jocund music sent forth strains of congratulation; but +banners, flowers, arches, and music were all excelled by the jubilant +shouts which tore the empyrean, loud, clear, and resonant, not only above +drum and trumpet, but above even the saluting thunders of the fleet. + +[Sidenote: VISIT TO AN IRISH NATIONAL SCHOOL.] + +Perhaps, apart from the mere loyal enthusiasm of the occasion, the most +important and significant incident of the visit was the following. It did +not fail to be remarked that the first institution which Her Majesty +visited in the capital was the central establishment of the Irish National +Schools--the first-fruits of Irish liberty, and the noblest possession of +the Irish people. The Queen knew that in these excellent schools the youth +of all persuasions were trained together, not in the love and pursuit of +knowledge alone, but in the habit of tolerance and the spirit of charity. +The Queen, by this visit, passed her personal approval and sanction upon a +system which is equally the antithesis of sectarian discord and the +promoter of religious independence. Here, also, she discovered (or already +knew, as was much more likely) that there was imparted the most useful, +solid, and practical instruction, one of a character most precisely +adapted to the wants, pursuits, interests, and occupations of the classes +in whose behalf it was devised. In her survey and inspection of the Normal +Schools, the Queen was attended by the Protestant and the Romanist +Archbishops, and the representatives of other Christian denominations, +friendly to the great scheme, stood beside and around her. That quite as +much importance and significance as we have accorded to it was assigned to +this visit of the Queen to the Normal National Schools, sufficiently +appears from these closing sentences of the Report of the Irish Education +Commissioners for 1849:-- + + We cannot conclude our Report for 1849 without alluding with pride and + gratitude to the visit with which our Model Schools were honoured on + the 7th of August, by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and by her Royal + Consort, Prince Albert, accompanied by your Excellency. We are + convinced that this visit, so promptly and cordially made, has left an + indelible impression upon the hearts of the poor of Ireland, for whose + benefit our system has been established; and that they will ever + regard the compliment as the most appropriate and decisive that could + have been paid by Her Majesty to themselves. All reflecting men, + whether friends or opponents of our institution, have not failed to + see the importance of the step. By the country at large it has been + hailed as an eminent proof of Her Majesty's wisdom and goodness, and + as peculiarly worthy of the daughter of that illustrious Prince who + was the ardent advocate of the education of the poor, when denounced + by many as a dangerous novelty; and of their united education on just + and comprehensive principles, when most men regarded it as + impracticable. + +[Sidenote: VISIT TO THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY.] + +Four years later, when the first International Exhibition was held at +Dublin, the Queen renewed her acquaintance with her Irish subjects. Making +a somewhat lengthened stay at the vice-regal residence, she charmed the +people by the freedom with which she mingled amongst them, and by the +special attention and the bounteous patronage which she bestowed upon the +little-developed but beautiful specimens of their indigenous textile +industries in the Exhibition building. A third and a much more prolonged +visit was made in the autumn of 1861, the Queen having honoured Lord +Castlerosse and Mr. Herbert of Muckross, two gentlemen whose seats and +demesnes are situate on the shores of the beauteous Lakes of Killarney, by +accepting their hospitable invitations. Over the lakes, their islets, and +their surrounding mountains and mountain passes, the Queen roved as freely +and unrestrainedly as was her wont in the retreats in which she had year +after year sojourned, after the turmoil of the London season, in the +Scottish Highlands. It was observed with pleasure that, amongst other +indications of change which the whirligig of time had brought round, Mr. +James O'Connell, the brother of the "Liberator," dined more than once with +Her Majesty at the tables of her noble and gentle hosts; and the hounds +that forced a stag to take to the Lake--one of the immemorial sports +associated with Killarney--formed a portion of the pack which belonged to +his two sons. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE WORLD'S CONGRESS OF INDUSTRY. + + Prince Albert the Inaugurator of International Exhibitions--Proposes, + Unsuccessfully, his Scheme to the Government--To the Society of Arts, + Successfully--First Steps towards Realisation--Objections to be + Met--Perseverance of the Prince--The Royal Commission--The Prince's + Speech at York--The Opening Ceremony--The Royal Procession. + + +As early as 1848 Prince Albert submitted to the Government a proposal to +establish an exhibition of works of industry in this country; but the +members of the Government could not be induced to afford to it any of that +encouragement which it was sought to obtain. Despairing of acquiring +assistance in this quarter, but hopeful, courageous, and unbaffled, the +Prince, who was President of the Society of Arts, in the following year +betook himself to that more likely and congenial quarter. Not content, +however, with following in the wake of previous Expositions which had been +held in Paris and elsewhere, he suggested the happy idea of so extending +its range as to include within it the works of industry and the art +treasures of all lands. He convened on his own responsibility a meeting at +Buckingham Palace, on the 30th of June, 1849, where he proposed that the +Exhibition should be divided into four sections: the first being raw +materials and produce illustrative of the natural productions in which +human industry is employed; the second, machinery for agricultural, +manufacturing, engineering, and other purposes, and mechanical inventions +illustrative of the agents which human ingenuity brings to bear upon the +products of nature; the third, manufactures illustrative of the results +produced by the operation of human industry upon natural produce; the +fourth, sculpture, models, and the plastic arts generally, illustrative of +the skill displayed in such applications of human industry. + +When this proposal of a display so novel was first made, there existed no +public enthusiasm to welcome the daring scheme, and all were in utter +ignorance of those mechanical means of accomplishing it which to the +present generation are so simple and obvious. It was met by countless +cavils and objections without end. But the Prince had insight enough to +discriminate between the real body of public opinion, lethargic and slow +to move, yet ductile and malleable, and the artificial clamour of the +marplots. Fortunately for the success of the great enterprise, the Prince +possessed within himself the happiest combination of the highest station +with those indomitable qualities of hopeful perseverance which were +necessary to overcome the innumerable impediments which threatened more +than once to mar the success of the great work. He succeeded in getting +associated with him an active body of Commissioners, who, encouraged by +the untiring industry which their illustrious President displayed, +persevered in their work; and one by one the practical difficulties +disappeared before the clear and vigorous intellect which the Prince +brought to bear upon their discussions. + +[Sidenote: THE GREAT EXHIBITION.] + +But he remained, indeed, the _facile princeps_ in maturing, as he had been +in designing, the scheme. This is no mere language of eulogy, for the +records of the Commissioners of the Exhibition have placed in print +undoubted proofs that equally the completion with the progress, and the +progress quite as much as the origin, of the Exhibition of 1851, were +mainly due to the large conception and wise foresight of the Prince +Consort. The public at the time knew but little, and many of its +constituent atoms know but little to this day, of the amount of anxious +thought and labour which he devoted to the success of the great +undertaking that made the year 1851 memorable as a new starting-point in +the industrial and social history of the world. One important point, apart +altogether from his personal merits, must never be lost sight of. His own +high name and his close relation to the Sovereign, added a lustre to the +Royal Commission which would otherwise have been totally lacking, and gave +ground for that confidence to foreign powers which they displayed so +signally and with so little stint. + +[Sidenote: PRINCE ALBERT AT YORK.] + +At a banquet held at York about six months before the Exhibition opened, +the Prince in a long address, in which he replied to the toast of his +health, indicated, though most modestly and unconsciously, at once the +arduous nature of his preliminary labours and the zeal with which he +pursued them. In the name of the Commissioners, who had been invited to +the banquet _en masse_, he thanked his hosts for the proof thereby made +plain of their earnest and combined zeal in the cause of the approaching +Exhibition. He rejoiced that it was not a mere impulse of momentary +enthusiasm which they evinced, but a spirit of steady perseverance and +sustained effort, and he assured his auditors that the spirit of active +preparation and hopeful faith was abroad in the country. Of this, he said, +he was confident, on the ground of information which reached him from all +quarters. And he added, and the event proved him to be right, his own +personal conviction that the works in preparation would be such as to +dispel any apprehension about the position which British industry would +maintain. Of his brother Commissioners he spoke with loyal and chivalrous +fervour. He thanked, in their name, the public for their uninterrupted +confidence in those who were responsible for the management of the scheme; +and stated that there had been no difference of opinion between the +central and the local committees, which had not, upon personal +consultation and open discussion vanished, and given way to agreement and +identity of purpose. So much for hope: the test of fruition had yet to +come. + +At length the great event to which the whole civilised world had been +looking forward for eighteen months with mingled interest and +curiosity--the opening of the great congress of industry and art--was +accomplished with a pomp and solemnity of ceremonial suitable to the +dignity of the occasion, and the important social interests which it +involved. Spite of all predictions to the contrary--spite of the +faint-hearted forebodings which the wild confusion of the interior of the +building in the last days of April excused, if it did not justify--the +building was ready and furnished with the world's wares at the appointed +time. At two o'clock on the last day of April the building was cleared by +police and guardsmen of all exhibitors and their assistants, and the +preparations for the opening day, already partially made, were pursued +with the utmost zeal and vigour. + +Never dawned a brighter morning than that of the May Day which succeeded. +The sky was clear and blue, the air as cool, crisp, and genial as a poet +or artist could wish, and the sun came forth in undimmed splendour. +London, reinforced by a multitude of visitors, was early astir and afoot. +At six the Park gates were opened, and through them at once commenced to +pour carriages from all parts of the metropolis and its neighbourhood, +filled with gaily attired courtiers, cits, and provincials. The line of +route was kept by mounted soldiers and police; but their task was rendered +almost perfunctory, so fully did all appear animated with the one desire +to signalise this truly popular ceremonial with generous and kindly +feeling, and a respect for the rights and duties of one another. The only +houses from which a sight could be got of the royal procession were those +at Grosvenor Gate and at Hyde Park Corner. These were crowded with +well-dressed persons, of whom ladies formed the majority, up to the very +roofs. The roofs of Apsley House and the park-keeper's lodge were +similarly tenanted. The windows of Buckingham Palace, which had recently +been new fronted, were filled with eager spectators, chiefly members of +the Household, their relatives and friends. The centre balcony was +occupied by the younger princes and princesses, attended by several +ladies. + +Precisely at eleven the Life Guards commenced to widen the path for the +procession. At half-past eleven, the band of the regiment playing "God +save the Queen," the royal cortège set forth, amid the cheers of the vast +assembled multitude. The procession was of anything but an ostentatious +character. The eight carriages of which it was composed were drawn by but +two horses each. There were no Gentlemen-Ushers, Grooms, or Yeomen of the +Guard. Trumpeters there were, but their trumpets were silent. At a quarter +to twelve the procession reached the northern entrance of the Palace, and +the Queen alighted amid the strains of the National Anthem, a salvo of +artillery, and the lusty cheers of enormous multitudes on both sides of +the Serpentine. + +[Sidenote: OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION.] + +Meanwhile, from nine o'clock, the appointed hour of opening, the building +had been rapidly filling, all the visitors being remarkably well dressed, +and a large majority of them ladies. "The first _coup d'oeil_ of the +building, on entering the nave, was grand and gorgeous in the extreme; the +vast dimensions of the structure, the breadth of light, partially subdued +and agreeably mellowed in the nave by the calico coverings placed over the +roof, whilst the arched transept soared boldly into the clear arch of +heaven, courting, admitting, and distributing the full effulgence of the +noon-day sun; the bright and striking colours and forms of the several +articles in rich manufactured goods, works in sculpture, and other objects +displayed by the exhibitors, dissimilar and almost incongruous in their +variety, were blent into an harmonious picture of immense grandeur by the +attendant circumstances of space and light to which we have just alluded; +and the busy hum and eager and excited movements of the assembled +thousands infused the breath of life into a picture, which, at the period +of the crowning incident of the day, became truly sublime." + +By eleven o'clock, after which hour none of the general public could be +admitted, the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, in their gay +uniforms, had taken up their places in the rear of the dais set for the +Queen. This dais was covered with a splendid carpet, which had been +specially worked for the occasion by 150 ladies, and on this was placed a +magnificent chair of state, covered with a cloth of crimson and gold. High +over head was suspended an octagon canopy, trimmed with blue satin, and +draperies of blue and white. The trumpeters and heralds were in readiness +to proclaim the arrival of the Queen, and Sir George Smart stood, baton in +hand, perched up in a small rostrum, "ready to beat time to 'God save the +Queen' for the five hundredth time in his life." The Commissioners of the +Exhibition and the foreign ambassadors stood in the entrance hall, +prepared to pay their respects to Her Majesty on her arrival. The Queen +entered, leaning on her husband's arm, and being also accompanied by the +Princess Royal and Prince of Wales. The Queen wore a dress of pink satin, +brocaded with gold; Prince Albert a Field-Marshal's uniform; the Prince of +Wales was in a Highland dress, while the Princess was clad in white satin, +with a wreath of flowers round her head. A tremendous burst of cheering, +renewed and prolonged from all parts of the building, greeted the +announcement of the arrival of the Queen. + +[Sidenote: THE ADDRESS OF THE PRINCE.] + +Her Majesty was conducted to her chair of state by the Commissioners, +Cabinet, and Foreign Ministers. As they stood around her chair, in their +bright Court dresses and brilliant uniforms, a choir of nearly a thousand +voices sang "God save the Queen." At the conclusion of its last strain, +Prince Albert descended from the dais, and taking his place with his +brother Commissioners, read a long address to Her Majesty, in which he +recited the history, plan, and intent of the magnificent and magnanimous +scheme which was so largely the product of his own heart and brain. These +and other less important particulars having been enumerated, the Prince +thus concluded:-- + + It affords us much gratification that, notwithstanding the magnitude + of this undertaking, and the great distances from which many of the + articles now exhibited have had to be collected, the day on which your + Majesty has graciously pleased to be present at the inauguration of + the Exhibition is the same day that was originally named for its + opening, thus affording a proof of what may, under God's blessing, be + accomplished by good-will and cordial co-operation amongst nations, + aided by the means which modern science has placed at our command. + + Having thus briefly laid before your Majesty the results of our + labours, it now only remains for us to convey to your Majesty our + dutiful and loyal acknowledgments of the support and encouragement + which we have derived throughout this extensive and laborious task + from the gracious favour and countenance of your Majesty. It is our + heartfelt prayer that this undertaking, which has for its end the + promotion of all branches of human industry, and the strengthening of + the bonds of peace and friendship among all the nations of the earth, + may, by the blessing of Divine Providence, conduce to the welfare of + your Majesty's people, and be long remembered among the brightest + circumstances of your Majesty's peaceful and happy reign. + +The Queen read a short reply, the tenor of which was warmly to re-echo the +hopes and sentiments contained in the address of the Prince. The +Archbishop of Canterbury then offered up a consecratory prayer, which was +followed by the performance of the "Hallelujah Chorus," under the +direction of Sir Henry Bishop. A very long procession, in which the Queen +went hand in hand with her son, and Prince Albert with his daughter, was +then marshalled, and having marched round the interior of the building, it +was declared formally opened. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE WAR CLOUD. + + Bright Hopes of Peace Dispelled--An Era of War all over the World--The + Russian War--The Queen's Visits to the Wounded Soldiers--Presentation + of the War Medals--Crimean Heroes--The Volunteer Movement. + + +Fair and peaceful to all seeming were the prospects of humanity and the +world when the doors of the Hyde Park Exhibition were closed for the last +time, and while its materials were being removed to be erected in more +than their pristine beauty on the summit of one of the finest heights +which environ the sloping basin on which the British metropolis is built. +But a cloud, it might be no bigger than a man's hand, but pregnant with +ill, was on the horizon. The Exhibition closed a long era of peace in +Europe and the world, an era which had been marred, so far as we were +concerned, only by wars in our most distant Oriental dependencies; and, so +far as the Continent was concerned, only by the aggressions of the +potentates who constituted the Holy Alliance, by the revolutionary +movements of 1848, and their sanguinary repression in the year following. +Against the hopes of all, and the belief of most, good men and women, the +Exhibition inaugurated one of the most martial terms of time which have +formed a part of purely modern history. A year had hardly gone by ere +Napoleon effected his _coup d'état_, that fertile source of future +evils--evils which are by no means yet exhausted. Then came the Russian +War, which cost us in England a hundred thousand lives and at least a +hundred millions of pounds. We had hardly celebrated, and rejoiced over, +and illuminated our dwellings and public buildings in celebration of, the +Peace of Paris, ere in India we had to put forth the utmost might of our +imperial power to vindicate our "Raj" over Moslem and Hindoo, and to +avenge the foul deeds done at Cawnpore. When Prince Albert was, in the +mystery of providential rule, stricken down in his prime, Italy and +Austria were just beginning to recover from the effects of the contests +waged between trained troops at the Voltorno and by the Garibaldian +guerillas in the Valteline. The first message which was conveyed by the +new-laid Atlantic cable was a message of good-will from the grand-daughter +of George III. to him who sat in the seat of the rebel Washington. The +first experimental cable had hardly been destroyed by the potency of old +ocean, churlish and jealous of the invasion of his domain, ere that great +contest broke out across the Atlantic, which brought about the abolition +of slavery throughout the United States. Hardly had our young Prince +brought home his bonny bride ere the subjects who owed her father +allegiance were called upon to hold their own against the mighty force +wielded by a power, of which the queenly diadem must ere long be worn by +England's dear and best-beloved daughter. The Danish War was hardly +concluded ere the aggressor, returning victorious from his northern +confines, turned his face to the south, and inflicted a catastrophe quite +as telling and decisive upon that ancient dynasty, which has been more +frequently allied with England in the great martial embroglios of the +past than any other power of Europe. + +[Sidenote: AN ERA OF WAR.] + +We have said that Napoleon's _coup d'état_ of December, 1852, sounded the +tocsin of that period of war which has lasted without sensible +intermission from then until now. With that _coup d'état_ Victoria found +herself by an accident somewhat closely allied. Some time after the close +of the parliamentary session of 1851, all England was startled by the +sudden announcement of the resignation by Lord Palmerston of the seals of +the Foreign Office, which he held in the first Administration of Lord John +Russell. On the meeting of Parliament in 1852, questions were at once +addressed to the Treasury Benches in both Houses soliciting explanations +of the circumstances. In the Lower House the querist was Sir Benjamin +Hawes. Lord John Russell declared his perfect readiness to answer the +question which had been put to him by Sir Benjamin Hawes, though he said +he could not do so without entering into some details. These "details" +were in the main as follows:--He commenced with a full and frank +acknowledgment of the energy, the ability, and the extensive knowledge of +the interests of England in all parts of the world which preeminently +distinguished Lord Palmerston, and said that he the more regretted, on +that account, that circumstances had occurred which prevented his acting +any longer with him as a colleague. He laid down at starting what he +conceived to be the correct doctrine as to the position which a Secretary +of State holds as regards the Crown in the administration of foreign +affairs. He held that when the Crown, in consequence of a vote of the +House of Commons, places its constitutional confidence in a minister, +that minister is, on the other hand, bound to afford the Crown its full +liberty--a liberty which the Crown must possess--of saying that the +minister no longer possesses its confidence. This was the general +doctrine; but it so happened that with regard to Lord Palmerston +individually, the precise terms were laid down, in 1850, in a +communication on the part of Her Majesty with respect to the transaction +of business between the Crown and the Foreign Secretary. Lord John said he +had been the organ of that communication, and therefore assumed its +responsibility. Its chief passage thus ran:-- + + The Queen requires, first, that Lord Palmerston will distinctly state + what he proposes in a given case, in order that the Queen may know as + distinctly to what she is giving her Royal sanction. Secondly, having + once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily + altered or modified by the Minister. Such an act she must consider as + failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited by + the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that Minister. + She expects to be kept informed of what passes between him and the + Foreign Ministers, before important decisions are taken based upon + that intercourse; to receive the foreign despatches in good time, and + to have the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to + make herself acquainted with their contents before they must be sent + off. The Queen thinks it best that Lord John Russell should show this + letter to Lord Palmerston. + +[Sidenote: DISMISSAL OF LORD PALMERSTON.] + +Lord John went on to say that, in his view, Lord Palmerston had violated +this explicit understanding, at least in two instances--one of a +comparatively trifling, but the other of a most important character--since +the conclusion of the session of the year previous (1851). The former had +reference to some incautious remarks which were said to have fallen from +the lips of the Foreign Secretary on the occasion of receiving a +deputation of sympathisers with Hungary. The other related to Napoleon's +_coup d'état_ of the 2nd of December previous. The instructions given to +our Ambassador at Paris by the Queen's Government were to abstain from all +interference with the internal affairs of France. Lord John had been +informed of an alleged conversation between Lord Palmerston and the French +Minister in London, the tenor of which was repugnant to those +instructions. He had therefore at once written to him, but his +communication had been treated with disdainful silence. Meanwhile Lord +Palmerston, without the knowledge of his colleagues, wrote a despatch to +Lord Normanby, our Minister at Paris, in which, however, he evaded the +question whether he approved the act of the President. He considered +altogether that Lord Palmerston had put himself in the place and assumed +the prerogative of the Crown; that he had "passed by" the Crown, while he +gave the moral approbation of England to the acts of Louis Napoleon, in +direct opposition to the policy which the Government had hitherto pursued. +Under these circumstances, he had no alternative but to declare that, +while he was Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston could not hold the seals of +office; for he had "forgotten and neglected what was due to the Crown and +his colleagues." + +[Sidenote: THE WAR IN THE CRIMEA.] + +On the 27th of March, 1854, the following message from the Crown was read +to the Peers by the Lord Chancellor. It explains itself. Nor is it +necessary for us to re-write here a single line of one of the brightest +and freshest pages of the recent history of England. We had long been +"drifting into war," to use Lord Clarendon's memorable phrase, and at +last the die was irrevocably, though reluctantly, cast. + + VICTORIA R. + + Her Majesty thinks it proper to acquaint the House that the + negotiations in which Her Majesty, in concert with her allies, has for + some time past been engaged with His Majesty the Emperor of All the + Russias, have terminated, and that Her Majesty feels bound to afford + active assistance to her ally the Sultan against unprovoked + aggression. + + Her Majesty has given directions for laying before the House copies of + such papers, in addition to those already communicated to Parliament, + as will afford the fullest information with regard to the subject of + these negotiations. It is a consolation to reflect that no endeavours + have been wanting on her part to preserve to her subjects the + blessings of peace. + + Her Majesty's just expectations have been disappointed, and Her + Majesty relies with confidence on the zeal and devotion of the House + of Lords, and the exertions of her brave and loyal subjects to support + her in her determination to employ the power and resources of the + nation for protecting the dominions of the Sultan against the + encroachments of Russia. + +Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman had been fought and won, and the horrid +winter in the trenches had not yet passed away. These days and nights of +constant fighting had left us many fell remembrances of their grievous +coming and going. The Eastern hospitals, at Scutari and within the lines +of our camp, were choke-full of the wounded. Some few who could bear the +pain of transit were brought home, and no one in England was more +solicitous of their welfare and wise and kindly tending than England's +Queen. Her visits to the hospitals were as welcome as they were frequent. + +On the 8th of March, 1855, the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, and by +the Duke of Cambridge, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, visited the +military hospitals at Fort Pitt and Brompton, Chatham. Fort Pitt was then +the only general military hospital in England. As this hospital and that +of Brompton contained together only 361 patients, it could not be +considered that the royal visit was elicited by the peculiar calamities of +the place. But the immense extent of the hospitals in the East, and the +sufferings of the poor wounded soldiers lying within these vast +lazar-houses, had raised in the breast of all England a feeling of pity +and horror. In this feeling the Queen most deeply participated. While her +visit to the only hospital in this country in which the sufferers by the +war were received, was a gratification to her own kindly sympathies, and +most cheering and solacing to the inmates, it could not fail to convey to +the thousands of sufferers in the East, and to the kinsmen and kinswomen +whose hearts bled for them at home, that no heart was fuller of pity than +that of her under whose flag they had fought and fallen. + +The whole of the wounded who were in a condition to leave their beds were +drawn up in chairs on the lawn, each having written upon it a card +containing the name and services of the occupant, the nature of his +wounds, and where they were received. The Queen passed along the line, +saying a few kind words to those sufferers who particularly attracted her +notice, or to those whose services were specially commended. She visited +every ward, except that containing fever cases. A few days after, the +Queen reviewed some cavalry and artillery at Woolwich. After the review, +she visited the hospital, and saw the wounded artillery-men who had +returned from the Crimea. Nor were these isolated exhibitions of sentiment +or emotion. Upon every occasion during the continuance of the war, the +Queen showed the most heartfelt sympathy with her brave soldiers; visited +their hospitals and transport ships; received the wounded at her palace, +and suggested and liberally assisted in the establishment of permanent +means of relief for them and their families. A beautiful letter of the +Queen, which was accidentally made public about this time, showed that in +the privacy of domestic life Her Majesty never forgot these sufferers. +Indeed, she complained that she was not kept sufficiently informed of the +needs of those who had returned wounded to their country. + +[Sidenote: DISTRIBUTION OF WAR MEDALS.] + +It was equally the Queen's duty and pleasure to reward conspicuous merit, +as it was to do all that lay within the limits of her human and regal +power to soothe the pangs of woe. One scene in which she discharged this +high queenly function will never be forgotten by those who were privileged +to witness it. The Queen determined to present with her own hand, to the +officers of the Crimean army, and to a portion of the non-commissioned +officers and privates, who had returned to their country disabled by their +wounds, the medals which they had so dearly won. This act of grace and +kindness deeply touched a sentiment that rested deep in the bosom of the +nation, that had, indeed, there rested ever since--nay, long +before--Elizabeth thrilled the heroic hearts of her people at Tilbury by +saying, "I myself will be your general and judge, and the rewarder of +every one of your victories in the field." + +The presentation took place on the 18th of May, 1855. A royal dais was +erected in the centre of the parade of the Horse Guards, and the public +offices which surround it were filled up with galleries for the royal +family and nobility. Within an area enclosed by barriers, were the +intended recipients of the decorations. Without was a dense mass of +spectators. When the Queen had reached the ground, the Guards, who had +hitherto been in line, were formed four deep, and through the intervals +thus opened the Crimean heroes passed, and in a few moments the Queen +stood face to face with them. Each then passed singly, receiving his medal +at the hands of Her Majesty, who presented them with a grace and kindness +which brought tears to many an eye long unused to their effusion. The +first to receive his medal was the Duke of Cambridge, who was +enthusiastically received. Then followed other General officers, then the +staff, and then in order, without distinction of regimental rank, came +cavalry, artillery, engineers, and the line. + +The sight was one of the most thrilling ever seen in our metropolis, or in +our times. The gaunt and pallid forms, scarred features, and maimed and +mutilated limbs, brought home to the heart of the least sympathetic the +ravages of war, and the cost and guerdon of bravery. Many of those who +hobbled upon crutches, or walked painfully with the assistance of a stick, +wore upon their arms the emblems of mourning for some brother or near +relative, now reposing by the waters of the Euxine or the Bosphorus. To +each one of the wounded, whether officer or private, the Queen said some +kind word or asked some kindly question of him. Many of the poor fellows +were quite overcome by the tenderness of her compassion. Those officers +whose wounds rendered them unable to walk, were wheeled past in Bath +chairs. Sir Thomas Troubridge, who lost both feet at Inkerman, and who +has since died, was the first of these. The Queen, leaning over his chair, +handed him his medal with the most gracious gesture, and conferred upon +him the post of aide-de-camp to herself. Captains Sayer and Currie, who +were also wheeled past, received similar sympathy. + +After the soldiers, came 450 sailors and marines, under Admiral Dundas, +who was the first to be decorated. The ceremony over, the non-commissioned +officers and men of all services dined in the riding-school, where they +were visited by the Queen, her husband, and their children. + +[Sidenote: THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.] + +Closely and intimately allied with the intense warlike feeling which +prevailed throughout the period which we have been traversing, was the +rise, or rather the revival from our grandfathers' times, of the Volunteer +movement, in the winter of 1858-9. This very notable phenomenon of modern +days was entirely of spontaneous origin and popular outgrowth. At first +the authorities looked but coldly upon it--wisely so, we think--until it +evinced inherent elements of vitality and reality of purpose, and until it +appeared that it was something more than a mere passing impulse. It was +not until the 15th of May, 1859, that a circular from the Secretary for +War gave to the movement official sanction, in the form of an +authoritative permission by the Queen for the formation of volunteer +corps. Ere a twelvemonth had elapsed, 70,000 men had enrolled themselves +in England and Scotland; and before the end of the summer of 1860, that +number had swollen into 170,000. In many other and more emphatic modes the +Queen graciously accorded her own personal sanction and her warm and +approving recognition to the movement. At a special levée, held in March, +1859, all volunteer officers had the opportunity of being presented. At +the first meeting at Wimbledon of the National Rifle Association, in July, +1860, Her Majesty founded an annual prize, in value £250. At the same +meeting she fired the first shot, discharging a rifle, which had been +carefully adjusted to a target 400 yards distant. The cheers of the +assembled thousands welcomed the impact of the bullet within a quarter of +an inch of the bull's eye, and one of many Swiss gentlemen, who were +present as competitors, felicitously remarked that Queen Victoria was now +_la première carabinière de l'Angleterre_. + +[Sidenote: THE HYDE PARK REVIEW.] + +The 23rd of June in this year was a still greater day for the volunteer +army, and for the country, for it proved how earnestly the riflemen had +devoted themselves to training and to discipline. Her Majesty having +expressed her desire to review the young force on that day, arrangements +were made by the War Office, whereby every corps that had attained a +certain excellence might be represented by its efficient members. The +numbers and strength of the corps that presented themselves for inspection +caused great surprise. Not only London and Westminster, and the densely +populated metropolitan counties, sent ample contingents, but the energies +of the railway companies were taxed to the utmost to bring up bodies of +men from the west of England, the Midlands, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and +East Anglia--even from distant Northumbria. The authorities ultimately +found that they would have to make arrangements for placing 20,000 men in +review order. The review became a national spectacle, a general holiday +was arranged, and an immense assemblage, provincial as well as +metropolitan, was assembled in Hyde Park. The Queen's stand was placed in +the centre of a long line of galleries erected for the accommodation of +about 17,000 privileged spectators, its situation being indicated by the +Royal Standard planted before it. At different hours of the morning, the +provincial corps, some of which must have travelled all night, were landed +at the railway termini--the Durham Artillery, which had travelled +farthest, being the first to reach King's Cross. The river steam-boats +landed their freights at convenient piers: the suburban bodies mustered at +their appointed stations. The whole operation of marching the respective +battalions and brigades, amalgamated as agreed on, was performed with +unerring precision and perfect ease, thanks to the intelligent zeal of the +men and the clear heads of their officers. By two o'clock, 21,000, formed +in one long line, extended completely across the park. The space of time +which intervened between the successive arrivals of the corps and the +commencement of the review, offered one of the most picturesque spectacles +witnessed in our days. + +Exactly at four o'clock the Queen arrived on the ground in an open +carriage. Accompanying her were the King of the Belgians, the Princess +Alice, and Prince Arthur. The Prince Consort and the Prince of Wales were +on horseback. The Queen was attended by a magnificent following of general +officers, aides-de-camp, staff officers, foreign military men of +distinction, and the Lords-Lieutenant of the counties which furnished +contingents to the force on the ground. There were also in attendance on +the Sovereign the Duke of Cambridge and Mr. Sidney Herbert, the official +heads of the army. Remarkable amongst the group was Field-Marshal Lord +Combermere, who had counted no fewer than seventy years of military duty. +As the cortège swept on to the ground the volunteers stood to arms, their +bands playing the National Anthem. The scene now presented was in truth a +magnificent one. On one side, from north to south, stood the thick lines +of the volunteers, their somewhat sombre ranks varied by masses of dark +uniforms, with here and there a mass of scarlet, the whole thrown into +relief by the background of the trees of Kensington Gardens. From west to +east, dense lines of people extended, many being raised head over head by +the most precarious and illusory elevations. From north to south, at the +eastern end of the park, and facing the line of volunteers, a glittering +line of military uniforms of officers and the gay dresses of ladies who +accompanied them gave a varied and rich fringe to the human masses of the +_élite_ of the land who occupied the galleries above them. The green space +so enclosed was dotted and animated by the bright scarlet, glittering +cuirasses, snowy plumes, and jet-black steeds of the Life Guardsmen, who +kept the ground. + +The Queen, followed by the whole of her brilliant Court, drove to the +extreme left of the volunteer line, and thence slowly passed along the +whole front to where the extreme right came close up to the lofty houses +at Albert Gate. Then turning, she drew up on the open ground, the Royal +Standard proudly waving above her. The bands of the Household Brigade +being placed opposite her, the volunteers now began to defile past, +between Her Majesty and the bands. The march was commenced by the mounted +corps, few in number, but admirably equipped and with remarkably fine +horses. The infantry were headed by the Artillery Company, to whom, as +the oldest volunteer body existing, not only in England but in Europe, the +priority has always been accorded. For an hour and a half corps after +corps marched past, until the long succession was closed by a regiment +from Cheshire. When the whole had passed, and all had returned to their +original positions, the whole line advanced in columns of battalions, and, +by signal, cheered Her Majesty with vociferous earnestness. After +expressing her high satisfaction with what she had seen, the Queen left +the ground about six o'clock. Before eight o'clock all the volunteers had +been marched out of the park, and there remained within its gates only +meagre remnants of the enormous crowd of spectators. + +[Sidenote: THE REVIEW AT EDINBURGH.] + +The opinions of competent authorities on the creditable manner in which +this experimental review passed off were of the highest character. The +Commander-in-Chief issued a general order, by command of the Queen, in +which His Royal Highness spoke in the highest terms of the efficiency +displayed by the various corps, and of Her Majesty's appreciation of the +loyalty and devotion exhibited by the volunteer movement. Later in the +season the Queen, when on her customary autumnal route to Balmoral, +reviewed in the Queen's Park, at Edinburgh, the volunteers of her northern +kingdom, to the number of 12,000. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE QUEEN IN HER HIGHLAND HOME. + + The Queen as an Author--"The Early Years of the Prince + Consort"--"Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands"--Love + for Children of all Ranks--Mountain Ascents on Pony-back--In Fingal's + Cave--"The Queen's Luck"--Salmon-spearing, and a Catastrophe attending + it--Erection of a Memorial Cairn--Freedom of Intercourse with Humble + Highlanders--Visits to Cottagers--"Mrs. Albert"--Travelling + Incognito--Highland Dinners--"A Wedding-Party frae Aberdeen"--A + Disguise Detected. + + +Early in January of the year 1868, Queen Victoria added her name to the +distinguished roll of Royal authors. In the year preceding, there had been +published a work entitled, "The Early Years of the Prince Consort," in +which the life of her revered and lamented husband is traced from its +beginning, down to the first period of their common wedded life. On the +title-page of this work appears the name, as author, of General the +Honourable Charles Grey, a gentleman who accompanied the Prince in a tour +to Italy before his marriage, and who has ever since remained attached, in +high capacities, to the Royal Household. This book, to which we have been +indebted for important materials reproduced by us at certain of the +earlier stages of our narrative, was published with the sanction of Her +Majesty, and its compiler received from his Royal Mistress most, if not +all, of the materials which he very tastefully combined. But the Queen +did not appear in it as author _in propriâ personâ_, save in the instance +of certain occasional notes and addenda to which her imprint is attached. +The work published in 1868, on the other hand, "Leaves from the Journal of +Our Life in the Highlands," is entirely, save a brief editorial +introduction, from the Queen's pen. It is precisely, as its name imports, +a series of extracts from a journal kept from day to day, and extended +from Her Majesty's earliest married days far into those of her widowhood. +Special passages are, in addition, given from similar diaries, which +recorded yacht trips to the beautiful estuary of the Tamar, to the Duchy +of Cornwall, and to the Channel Islands. There is also furnished a very +sparkling and vivacious record of the Queen's first visit to Ireland, in +1849, which will be found duly recorded by us in a previous chapter. + +Nothing charms more in these pages than the love displayed for all young +people--for the writer's own sons and daughters, who are described by +their home pet names; "Vicky," and "Bertie," standing, for example, for +Victoria and Albert--for the infant child of a ducal entertainer, depicted +as "a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow," and "such a merry, +independent little child"--or for the children of humble cottagers at +Balmoral, for "Mary Symons and Lizzie Stuart dancing so nicely; the latter +with her hair all hanging down." When the Queen and Prince and the +children land at Dundee, what charms the fond young mother most is, that +"Vicky" behaves like a grown-up person, and is "not put out, nor +frightened, nor nervous." And when a little grandchild of Lord Camperdown +presented the youthful Princess Royal with a nosegay, the reflection that +rose to the mother's mind was, that she could hardly believe that she was +travelling as a wife and a mother; for it seemed but as yesterday that +she, as a child, in the tours taken with _her_ mother through England, +used to receive similar childish tokens. She was at once put in mind of +the time when _she_ had been "the little Princess." + +[Sidenote: HAPPY DAYS IN THE HIGHLANDS.] + +Accounts of rides on shaggy Highland ponies to the tops of mountains, and +more lengthened _incognito_ excursions in whatever vehicles could be +procured at third-rate country inns, are thickly scattered over the pages +of the "Journal." + +The Western Islands, as well as the Highlands, were at least on one +occasion visited. Anchoring close by wondrous Staffa, the Queen +disembarked, and was rowed in a barge into Fingal's Cave. This was the +first time that the British standard, with a Queen of Great Britain and +her husband and children, had ever entered the portals of this wondrous +freak of nature, and the Gaelic oarsmen gave three cheers, the echoes of +which from the inmost recesses of the cave were most impressive. + +On another mountain ramble, the Queen seated herself calmly, the youthful +Prince of Wales lying among the heather by her side, while Prince Albert +went to stalk a deer. He brought down a "royal," that is, a stag which has +over a certain number of "tines" to his horns; on which the somewhat +superstitious Highland keeper at once said that "it was Her Majesty's +coming out that had brought the good luck." The Highlanders all believed +that the Queen had "a lucky foot." + +[Sidenote: SALMON-SPEARING IN SCOTLAND.] + +Amongst other Highland sports which curiosity and great love of adventure +led her to witness, was salmon spearing, or "leistering." While the +keepers were beating the waters, the Highland gentlemen wading in the +stream, and Prince Albert watching, spear in hand, on a boulder, the Queen +watched from the brink this, the most exciting of all river sports, save, +perhaps, otter hunting. Suddenly she was alarmed, and with most abundant +cause. Two of the men imprudently went into a very deep pool. One of them +could not swim, and he sank to the bottom. There was a cry for help, and a +general rush by the Prince and others to the spot. The Queen was much +frightened, and grasped the arm of the minister in attendance, Lord +Carlisle, in great agony. But Dr. Robertson, the Queen's "factor," or +agent over the Balmoral estate, swam in and got the too venturesome Gael +out safely. The Queen, after this "horrid moment," had the satisfaction of +seeing eight salmon speared or netted; and was further amused by a curious +piece of Highland courtesy--her own "men" carrying all the "men" of +Colonel Forbes, a neighbour, dry shod on their backs through the water. +They had come to see the sport, and the Queen's gillies at once insisted +on their conveying them to the most favourable side of the stream. + +A great day was that on which a cairn was erected on one of the heights +overlooking Balmoral to celebrate the building of the new castle, which +the Queen raised in lieu of the mansion which had stood on the estate when +she was its tenant, and ere by its purchase she entered into proprietary +possession. The morning was a fine one, and at eleven o'clock the Royal +party started for the ascent of Craig Cowan, where already nearly all the +dependants were assembled. The Royal children, and all the ladies and +gentlemen, accompanied the Queen and Prince. All the children of the +Queen's neighbouring tenants, and of her servants, were already on the +top. The Queen laid the first stone, and the Prince the second, and then +their children according to their ages. Then all the ladies and gentlemen +of the Court placed a stone each. The pipers played the while, and whisky +was served out to every one. It took an hour to build the cairn, and +dancing and merry revels went on without intermission until its +completion; the very oldest of the women danced, and the youngsters were +wild with glee. An old favourite dog sat reflectively contemplating a +scene to which his veteran gravity prevented his indulging in any +responsive and sympathetic gambols. At last when the cairn, having +attained to the respectable height of some eight feet, was pronounced all +but complete, the Prince climbed to its summit and placed the last stone, +and three hearty cheers announced to the dwellers below the completion of +the enterprise and edifice. The Queen concludes her chronicle of its +erection in these words:--"It was a gay, pretty, and touching sight, and I +felt almost inclined to cry. The view was so beautiful over the dear +hills, the day so fine, the whole so _gemüthlich_. May God bless this +place, and allow us yet to see it and enjoy it many a long year!" + +The Queen and her family have always made it a practice to enter into the +freest and most unrestrained conversation with the dignified, independent, +courteous, and truly well-bred Highlanders. As she rode along a hill-side +one day, "Alice and Bertie" accompanying her on foot, Prince Albert was +conversing very gaily with one of the gillies, upon which the one who led +the Queen's pony observed, "It's very pleasant to walk with a person who +is always content." And when the Queen, following up her attendant's +remark, said that he was never cross after bad sport, the gillie rejoined, +"Every one on the estate says there never was so kind a master; our only +wish is to give satisfaction." The Queen replied that that wish they +certainly succeeded in fulfilling. And at a future date the Queen thus +annotated that passage in her journal from which we have been +borrowing:--"We were always in the habit of conversing with the +Highlanders, with whom we came so much in contact in the Highlands. The +Prince highly appreciated the good breeding, simplicity, and intelligence +which makes it so pleasant, and even instructive, to talk to them." + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN AND SCOTTISH COTTAGERS.] + +The Queen takes especial pleasure in visiting the old women's cottages, by +some of whom, we have been told, she is not unfrequently addressed--or at +least was so, when she was yet new to the north and the northerners new to +her--as "Mrs. Albert." One old dame of eighty-six, erect and dignified as +she sat at her spinning-wheel, received personally from Her Majesty the +gift of a warm flannel petticoat. This was her pious and eloquent form of +thanks: "May the Lord ever attend you and yours, here and hereafter, and +may the Lord be a guide to ye, and keep ye from all harm!" Another aged +pensioner, who was quite friendly, and shook hands with all her party of +visitors, chose this form of benediction: "May the Lord attend you with +mirth and with joy; may He ever be with you in this world, and when ye +leave it!" + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN IN DISGUISE.] + +The Queen's mode of travelling as an _incognita_ has never gone beyond a +journey of three or four days' duration to some Highland district, in +which the very amplitude of her retinue, even when abridged of its usual +proportions, prevented her passing otherwise than as a person of +distinction, but in which it was possible to keep her _queenly_ rank +undiscovered. Sometimes the mask was successfully worn to the end of the +trip, to the great enjoyment of the Queen, her "gentle" attendants, and +her servants. On one or two occasions, recognitions, unfortunate for the +success of the very innocent plot, were made by persons to whom the +Queen's face was familiar. On one of these trips, two shabby vehicles +contained the whole party, which consisted of the Royal pair, Sir George +Grey, Lady Churchill, and a small complement of servants. It had been +arranged that the tourists should pass as Lord and Lady Churchill (the +Queen and Prince assuming these _rôles_), Lady Churchill becoming Miss +Spencer, and Sir George Grey becoming "Dr." Grey. Once or twice the +servants, who were of necessity in the plot, forgot their instructions, +and blurted out "your Majesty," and "your Royal Highness;" but, luckily, +no one heard the _faux pas_. After a very long and fatiguing drive through +a district remarkably denuded of habitations, they arrived, at nightfall, +at an inn of very small pretensions. They alighted, Sir George Grey and +Lady Churchill, faithful to the necessities of the situation, giving no +indication, by any deference of manner, of the quality of their +fellow-travellers. Being ushered into small but tidy sleeping and dressing +apartments, they had their travel-stains removed, and sat down to such a +dinner as the resources of the establishment afforded. The two gillies in +attendance were to have waited at table, but their bashfulness prevented +their undertaking duties so entirely out of their line; so a damsel in +ringlets, attached to the inn, performed the necessary duties. The repast +consisted of a very delicate and delicious Scottish soup, known as +"hodge-podge"--which, to be tasted to perfection, however, must be +partaken of in early summer, when vegetables (of many kinds of which it is +composed) are young and tender--mutton broth, fowls, "good" roast lamb, +and "very good" potatoes. A bottle of wine the travellers had taken care +to bring with them. They were less fortunate on the occasion of another +similar trip, when all that could be procured was a couple of remarkably +small and lean fowls, the remnants of which were sent down to the +servants, with appetites rendered voracious by the keen mountain air. On +this latter trip, a commercial traveller was much annoyed at his exclusion +from the "commercial room," which was reserved for the servants. In answer +to his remonstrance, the landlady pacified him by stating that the guests, +who occupied her whole house, were "a wedding-party frae Aberdeen." + +When the cavalcade of the two "shabby vehicles" drove away, on the next +morning, it was evident that "the murder was out," and that the inmates of +the inn had discovered the quality of their guests, and communicated it to +the scanty population of the village; for "all the people were in the +street, and the landlady waved a pocket-handkerchief, and the ringletted +maid a flag, from the window." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE WIDOWED QUEEN. + + Unbroken Happiness of the Queen's Life up to 1861--Death of the + Duchess of Kent--The Prince Consort slightly Ailing--Catches Cold at + Cambridge and Eton--The Malady becomes Serious--Public Alarm--Rapid + Sinking, and Death--Sorrow of the People--The Queen's + Fortitude--Avoidance of Court Display--Good Deeds--Sympathy with all + Benevolent Actions--Letter of Condolence to the Widow of President + Lincoln--The Albert Medal--Conclusion. + + +Until 1861 the Queen had never known bereavement in the circle of her own +immediate family. Nine children had been born to her, and, although it is +understood that certain of her younger offspring do not possess that +robustness of health which their elder brothers and sisters enjoy, yet not +one had been snatched from their loving parents by the hand of the Great +Destroyer. Early in 1861 came the first pang of bereavement. The Duchess +of Kent, ripe in years, one of the best of mothers and one of the best of +grandmothers, a lady to whose memory all Britons now and hereafter owe an +incalculable debt of gratitude, passed peacefully away with her +descendants gathered around her bedside. + +[Sidenote: LAST DAYS OF PRINCE ALBERT.] + +When the Royal Family returned from Balmoral in October, it was observed +that the Prince Consort was not in his usual health and vigour, but he had +no pronounced ailment, and nothing approaching to serious alarm was for +many weeks apprehended. In the course of the succeeding month he went to +Cambridge, to visit the Prince of Wales, who was a student at that +University, as he had previously been for a short time at Oxford. He went +out shooting while there, got wet, and, as the Duke of Kent had done, was +so imprudent as to sit down without removing his wet clothes. +Nevertheless, on his return to Windsor, he pursued his usual daily +avocations. About the beginning of December he appeared in public with the +Queen, and reviewed the volunteer corps raised among the Eton boys. The +rain fell fast, and the Prince was seized on the review ground with acute +pains in the back. Feverish symptoms supervened, and the doctors ordered +confinement to his room. Still no alarm was entertained, and it was +believed that he suffered only from a passing malady. The general public +knew nothing of the ailment until some solicitude was caused by a +bulletin, which appeared in the _Court Circular_ of the 8th December:-- + + His Royal Highness the Prince Consort has been confined to his + apartments for the past week, suffering from a feverish cold, with + pains in his limbs. Within the last few days the feverish symptoms + have rather increased, and are likely to continue for some time + longer, but there are no unfavourable symptoms. The party which had + been invited by Her Majesty's command to assemble at Windsor Castle on + Monday has been countermanded. + +Not until the 13th was any bulletin issued which caused real anxiety and +alarm. On the day following, the morning papers contained the ominous +announcement that he had "passed a restless night, and the symptoms had +assumed an unfavourable character during the day." The _Times_, in a +leading article, while hoping for the best, startled all by its statement +that "the fever which has attacked him is a weakening and wearying +malady." On the morning of Saturday there was a favourable turn, but which +was soon followed by a most serious relapse. About four p.m. the fever +assumed a malignant typhoid type, and he began to sink with such rapidity +that all stimulants failed to check the quick access of weakness. At nine +o'clock a telegram was received in the City that the Prince was dying +fast, and at a few minutes before eleven all was over. "On Saturday night +last," said one of the daily journals of the succeeding Monday, "at an +hour when the shops in the metropolis had hardly closed, when the theatres +were delighting thousands of pleasure-seekers, when the markets were +thronged with humble buyers seeking to provide for their Sunday +requirements, when the foot-passengers yet lingered in the half-emptied +streets, allured by the soft air of a calm, clear evening, a family in +which the whole interest of this great nation is centred were assembled, +less than five-and-twenty miles away, in the Royal residence at Windsor, +in the deepest affliction around the death-bed of a beloved husband and +father. In the prime of life, without--so to speak--a longer warning than +that of forty-eight hours, Prince Albert, the Consort of our Queen, the +parent of our future Monarchs, has been stricken down by a short but +malignant disorder." Shortly after midnight, the great bell of St. Paul's, +which is never tolled except upon the death of a member of the Royal +Family, boomed the fatal tidings over a district extending, in the +quietude of the early Sabbath morn, for miles around the metropolis. + +[Sidenote: DEATH OF PRINCE ALBERT.] + +The Queen, the Princess Alice, and the Prince of Wales, who had been +hastily summoned from Cambridge, sat with the dying good man until the +last. After the closing scene the Queen supported herself nobly, and +after a short burst of uncontrollable grief, she is said to have gathered +her children around her, and addressed them in the most solemn and +affectionate terms. "She declared to her family that, though she felt +crushed by the loss of one who had been her companion through life, she +knew how much was expected of her, and she accordingly called on her +children to give her their assistance, in order that she might do her duty +to them and the country." The Duke of Cambridge and many gentlemen +connected with the Court, with six of the Royal children, were present at +the Prince's death. In answer to some one of those present who tenderly +offered condolence, the Queen is reported to have said: "I suppose I must +not fret too much, for many poor women have to go through the same trial." + +The sad news became generally known in the metropolis and in the great +cities of the empire early on Sunday. Unusually large congregations filled +the churches and chapels at morning service. "There was a solemn eloquence +in the subdued but distinctly perceptible sensation which crept over the +congregations in the principal churches when, in the prayer for the Royal +family, the Prince Consort's name was omitted. It was well remarked, if +ever the phrase was permissible, it might then be truly said that the name +of the departed Prince was truly conspicuous by its absence, for never was +the gap that this event has made in our national life, as well as in the +domestic happiness of the Palace, more vividly realised than when the name +that has mingled so familiarly in our prayers for the last twenty years +was, for the first time, left out of our public devotions." Many +thousands of mute pious petitions were specially addressed to Heaven for +the bereaved widow and orphans when the prayer of the Litany for "all who +are desolate and oppressed" was uttered, and in the chapels of +Nonconformists the extemporaneous prayers of the ministers gave articulate +expression to the heartfelt orisons of the silent worshippers. Every one +thought of and felt for the Queen, and during the week intervening between +the death and the funeral, the question on every one's lips in all places +of resort, and where men and women congregated, was, "How will the Queen +bear it?" + +Prince Albert sleeps the long sleep at Frogmore, to which his mortal +remains were borne reverently, and without ostentation, as he himself +would have wished. The inscription on his coffin ran thus:-- + + DEPOSITUM + ILLUSTRISSIMI ET CELSISSIMI ALBERTI, + PRINCIPIS CONSORTIS, + DUCIS SAXONIÆ, + DE SAXE-COBURG ET GOTHA PRINCIPIS, + NOBILISSIMI ORDINIS PERISCELIDIS EQUITIS, + AUGUSTISSIMÆ ET POTENTISSIMÆ VICTORIÆ REGINÆ, + CONJUGIS PERCARISSIMI, + OBIIT DIE DECIMO QUARTO DECEMBRIS, MDCCCLXI. + ANNO ÆTATIS SUÆ XLIII. + + [Here lies the most illustrious and exalted Albert, Prince Consort, + Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Knight of the Most + Noble Order of the Garter, the most beloved husband of the most august + and potent Queen Victoria. He died on the fourteenth day of December, + 1861, in the forty-third year of his age.] + +Thus died and was buried a great and a good man, one of the most useful +men of his age, one to whom England owes much. + + "For that he loved our Queen, + And, for her sake, the people of her love, + Few and far distant names shall rank above + His own, where England's cherish'd names are seen." + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN IN HER WIDOWHOOD.] + +The Queen has ever since her great bereavement most constantly and piously +revered the Prince's memory. Her reverence has taken the practical form of +the deepest sympathy with the woes and sorrows of the poorest and humblest +of her subjects. She has eschewed the pomp and ceremony of State, and +deliberately set herself to discover and soothe sorrow, and to recognise +all good deeds of the same character performed by others. When the noble +Peabody bestowed his princely act of munificence on the poor of London, no +recognition was made of his generosity more signal than that made by the +Queen. She has been among the first to help by loving words and by +practical aid the sufferers by any great national calamity--a Lancashire +famine, a shipwreck or railway accident, a colliery explosion, a +catastrophe caused by mad and futile sedition. Ready and sympathetic +condolence has especially flowed from her to those bereaved like herself, +and when President Lincoln perished at his post, the Queen sent to his +widow a long letter which her son described as "the outgushing of a +woman's heartfelt sympathy," and which, with rare and commendable good +taste, has never been exposed to the public eye. Most fitly has she +specially commemorated her husband's memory by the institution of a fit +companion and complement to the Victoria Cross, the "Albert Medal," which +is bestowed on brave men who save lives from the "Peril of the Sea or +Shipwreck." + +Many consolations have been vouchsafed by Heaven to the widowed Queen. +Since she lost her great stay and support her realm has for the most part +been prosperous and contented. Though environed by many troubles, and +though the clang of battle has shaken the world, the dove of peace has +benignantly hovered o'er Britain. Much advance has been made in those +fields of social, moral, political, and educational improvement which were +so dear to Albert's heart, as they have always been to her own. And +shortly before the period when these pages are first given to the public, +the political progress of the nation has received a great stimulus, such +as is given in a people's history only at rare and long intervals. Her +children grow up from youth to maturity, and from maturity to maternity +and paternity, without a slur upon their fair names, and are, with those +to whom the elder of them have united themselves in wedlock, all that a +proud mother's heart could wish. God has stricken her; but He has proved +also an Infinite Healer and Solacer. Ours be it to add to the ordinary +motives of patriotism, those more tender and touching influences which +arise from the recollection that our Queen is now, as said that Queen of +England whose subjects were Shakespeare and Bacon, Spenser and +Sidney--"Married to her People." + + +THE END. + + +CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, BELLE SAUVAGE WORKS, LONDON, E.C. + + + + +CASSELL'S REPRESENTATIVE BIOGRAPHIES. + + +VOL. I. _Life of John Bright_ 50 cents. + +VOL. II. _Life of W. E. Gladstone_ 50 cents. + +VOL. III. _Life of B. Disraeli_ 50 cents. + +VOL. 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