Royal Occupations An Attempt On The Queen's Life
The family arrangements in the marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert
appear to have been made with the kindest, most judicious consideration
for what was due to former ties, that all the relations of life might be
settled gradually and naturally, on the footing which it was desirable
they should assume. The connection between the Queen and the Duchess of
Kent was very close. It was that of a mother and child who had been nearly
all in all to each other, who, till Queen Victoria's marriage, had not
been separated for a day. Since the Duchess of Kent's arrival in England,
she had never dwelt alone. It was now deemed advisable that she should
have a separate house, which was, however, to be in constant communication
with the Queen's, the intercourse between the two continuing to be of the
most intimate character, mother and daughter meeting daily and sharing the
most of their pleasures. In April, two months after the marriage, the
Duchess removed to Ingestrie House, Belgrave Square.
In another month, on the 7th of May, Prince Ernest left England. The
parting between the brothers was a severe trial to both. They bade
farewell, German student fashion, singing together beforehand the parting
song Abschied.
The young couple were now left in a greater measure to themselves to form
their life, and lead it to noble conclusions. They spent the Queen's
birthday in private at Claremont--a place endeared to her by the happiest
associations of her childhood, and very pleasant to him because of its
country attractions. There the pair could wander about the beautiful
grounds and neighbourhood, as another royal pair had wandered before them,
and do much as they pleased, like simple citizens or great folks living
in villeggiatura. The custom was then established of thus keeping
the real birthday together in retirement, while another day was set apart
for public rejoicing.
There is a story told of the Queen and Prince Albert's early visits to
Claremont--a story certainly not without its parallel in the lives of
other popular young sovereigns in their honeymoons, but probable enough in
this case. The couple were caught in a shower, during one of their longer
rambles, and took refuge in a cottage--the old mistress of which was
totally unacquainted with the high rank of her guests. She entertained
them with many extraordinary anecdotes of Princess Charlotte and Prince
Leopold, the original heroine and hero of Claremont. At last the dame
volunteered to give her visitors the loan of her umbrella, with many
charges to Prince Albert that it should be taken care of and returned to
its owner. The Queen and the Prince started on their homeward way under
the borrowed shelter, and it was not for some time that the donor knew
with whom she had gossipped, and to whom she had dealt her favours.
The Prince's first appearance as an art patron took place in connection
with the Ancient Music Concerts. He had already been named one of the
directors who arrange in turn each concert. He made the selections for his
concert on the 29th of April, and both he and the Queen appeared at the
rehearsal on the 27th. Perhaps the gentle science was what he loved above
every other, being a true German in that as in all else. At this time he
played and sang much with the Queen; the two played together often on the
organ in one of his rooms. Lady Lyttelton has described the effect of his
music. "Yesterday evening, as I was sitting here comfortably after the
drive by candlelight, reading M. Guizot, suddenly there arose from the
room beneath, oh, such sounds! It was Prince Albert, dear Prince Albert,
playing on the organ; and with such master skill, as it appeared to me,
modulating so learnedly, winding through every kind of bass and chord,
till he wound up with the most perfect cadence, and then off again, louder
and then softer. No tune, as I was too distant to perceive the execution
or small touches so I only heard the harmony, but I never listened with
much more pleasure to any music. I ventured at dinner to ask him what I
had heard. 'Oh! my organ, a new possession of mine. I am so fond of the
organ! It is the first of instruments; the only instrument for expressing
one's feelings' (I thought, are they not good feelings that the organ
expresses?), 'and it teaches to play; for on the organ a mistake, oh! such
misery;' and he quite shuddered at the thought of the sostenuto
discord."
But while the Prince was an enthusiastic musician, he was likewise fond of
painting; his taste and talent in this respect also having been carefully
cultivated. In these sunshiny early days, sunshiny in spite of their
occasional clouds, he still possessed a moderate amount of leisure,
notwithstanding the late hours night and morning, of which the Queen took
the blame, declaring it was her fault that they breakfasted at ten,
getting out very little--a practice quite different from their later
habits. He seized the opportunity of starting various pursuits which
formed afterwards the chief recreation of his and the Queen's laborious
days. He tried etching, which afforded the two much entertainment, and he
began his essays in landscape gardening, developing a delightful faculty
with which she had the utmost sympathy.
On the 1st of June the Prince took the initiatory step in identifying
himself with moral and social progress, and in placing himself, as the
Queen's representative, at the head of those humane and civilising
movements which recommended themselves to his good judgment and
philanthropic spirit. He complied with the request that he should be
chairman at a meeting to promote the abolition of the slave trade, and
made his first public speech in advocacy of justice between man and man.
This speech was no small effort to a young foreigner, who, however
accomplished, was certainly not accustomed to public speaking in a foreign
tongue. It was like delivering a maiden speech under great difficulties,
and as it was of importance that he should produce a good impression, he
spared no preparation for the task. He composed the speech himself, learnt
it by heart, and repeated it to the Queen in the first instance.
Among the crowd present was the young Quaker lady, Caroline Fox, whose
"Memories" have been given to the world. She wrote at the time: "The
acclamations attending his (the Prince's) entrance were perfectly
deafening, and he bore them all with calm, modest dignity, repeatedly
bowing with considerable grace. He certainly is a very beautiful young
man, a thorough German, and a fine poetic specimen of the race. He uttered
his speech in a rather low tone and with the prettiest foreign accent."
On the 18th of the same month great horror and indignation were excited by
the report of an attempt to assassinate the Queen. About six o'clock on
the June evening, her Majesty was driving, according to her usual custom,
with Prince Albert. The low open phaeton, attended by two equeries, was
proceeding up Constitution Hill, on its way first to the house of the
Duchess of Kent in Belgrave Square and afterwards to Hyde Park. Suddenly a
little man leaning against the park railing drew a pistol from under his
coat and fired at her Majesty, who was sitting at the farther side from
him. He was within six yards of the phaeton--so near, in fact, that the
Queen, who was looking another way, neither saw him nor comprehended for a
moment the cause of the loud noise ringing in her ears. But Prince Albert
had seen the man hold something towards them, and was aware of what had
occurred. The horses started and the carriage stopped. The Prince called
to the postillions to drive on, while he caught the Queen's hands and
asked if the fright had not shaken her, but the brave royal heart only
made light of his alarm. He looked again, and saw the same man still
standing in a theatrical attitude, a pistol in each hand. The next instant
the fellow pointed the second pistol and fired once more. Both the Queen
and the Prince saw the aim, as well as heard the shot, on this occasion,
and she stooped, he pulling her down that the ball might pass over her
head. In another moment the man, who still leant against the railing,
pistols in hand, with much bravado and without any attempt to escape, was
seized by a bystander. In the middle of the consternation and wrath of the
gathering crowd, the Queen and the Prince went on to the Duchess of Kent
that they might be the first to tell her what had happened and assure her
of the safety of her daughter. A little later, in order to show the people
that the Queen had not lost her confidence in them, the couple carried out
their original intention of taking a drive in Hyde Park. There they were
received with a perfect ovation, a crowd of nobility and gentry in
carriages and on horseback forming a volunteer escort on the way back to
Buckingham Palace, where another multitude awaited them, vehemently
cheering, as the Queen, pale but smiling and bowing, re-entered her
palace. The wretched lad who was the author of the attack did not deny it,
but seemed rather sorry that it had failed to inflict any injury, though
he had no motive to allege for such a crime. In spite of the strictest
search no ball could be found, which left the question doubtful whether or
not the pistols had been loaded. On further examination it proved that the
lad, Edward Oxford--not above eighteen years of age, was a discharged
barman from a public-house in Oxford Street. His father, who was dead, had
been a working jeweller in Birmingham.
"It would be difficult to describe the state of loyal excitement into
which the Metropolis has been thrown by this event," says the Annual
Register. "It seems as if only the dastardly deed had been wanted to
bring out the full love and devotion of the people to their young Queen,"
the happy wife and expectant mother, whose precious life might have been
cut short by the unlooked-for shot of an assassin. At the different
theatres and concerts that evening "God save the Queen" was sung with
passionate fervour. When the Queen and Prince Albert drove out the next
afternoon in the same phaeton, at the same hour, in Hyde Park, the
demonstration of the previous day was repeated with effusion. The crowd
was immense, the cheering was again vociferous. An improvised body-guard
of hundreds of gentlemen on horseback surrounded the couple. "The line of
carriages (calling at Buckingham Palace to make inquiries) extended a
considerable way down the Mall." The calls were incessant till the
procession from the Houses of Parliament arrived. Thousands of people
assembled to witness it. The Sheriffs of London came first in four
carriages. Then the Grenadier Guards with their band marched through the
gateway, on which the royal standard was hoisted, and took up their
position in the entrance court. The Cabinet Ministers and chief Officers
of the Household followed. The State carriage of the Speaker led the
hundred and nine carriages filled with Members of the House of Commons.
The Peers' carriages were upwards of eighty in number. The occupants,
beginning with the Barons, rose in rank till they reached the Royal Dukes,
and wound up with the Lord Chancellor. "Many of the Lords wore splendid
uniforms and decorations and various orders; the Duke of Wellington
especially was attired with much magnificence.... The terrace in front of
the house was crowded with distinguished persons in grand costume," as on
a gala-day. The Queen received the address of congratulation on her escape
seated on the throne. What a strange contrast between the scene and its
origin--the emphatically stately and dignified display, and the miserable
act which gave rise to it! What blended feelings cause and effect must
have produced in the principal performers--the inevitable pain and shame
for the base reason, the well-warranted pride and pleasure in the
honourable result!
The first time the Queen went to the opera afterwards she wrote in her
Journal that the moment she and the Prince entered the box "the whole
house rose and cheered and waved hats and handkerchiefs, and went on so
for some time. 'God save the Queen' was sung.... Albert was called for
separately and much cheered."
The trial of Oxford came on during the following month. The question of
bullets or no bullets in the pistols was transferred to the jury. Evidence
of symptoms of insanity and of confirmed insanity in the prisoner, his
father, and grandfather, was shown, and after some difficulty in dealing
with the first question the jury found the prisoner guilty, while he was
at the same time declared insane. Therefore Oxford, like every other
prisoner shielded by the irresponsibility of madness, was delivered up to
be dealt with according to her Majesty's pleasure, which signified his
imprisonment so long as the Crown should see fit.
The sole reason for the outrage on the Queen proved to be the morbid
egotism of an ill-conditioned, ignorant, half-crazy lad; showing that one
more danger exists for sovereigns--a peril born entirely of their high and
solitary rank with its fascination for envious, irritable, distempered
minds.
The following routine of the Queen's life at this time is given in the
"Early Years of the Prince Consort": "They breakfasted at nine, and took a
walk every morning soon afterwards."
In London, their walks were in Buckingham Palace gardens, fifty acres in
extent, part of which was once the pleasant "Mulberry Gardens" of James I.
The lake, not far from the palace, covers five acres. Looking across the
velvet sward away to the masses of shady trees, it is hard to realise that
one is still in London. The Prince had already enlivened these gardens
with different kinds of animals and aquatic birds, a modified version of
the Thier-Garten so often found in connection with royal residences
in Germany.
The Queen mentions that, "in their morning walks in the gardens, it was a
great amusement to the Prince to watch and feed these birds. He taught
them to come when he whistled to them from a bridge connecting a small
island with the rest of the gardens.
"Then came the usual amount of business (far less heavy, however, then
than now), besides which they drew and etched a great deal together, which
was a source of great amusement, having the plates bit in the house.
Luncheon followed at the usual hour of two o'clock. Lord Melbourne, who
was generally staying in the house, came to the Queen in the afternoon,
and between five and six the Prince usually drove her out in a pony
phaeton. If the Prince did not drive the Queen he rode, in which case she
drove with the Duchess of Kent or the ladies. The Prince also read aloud
most days to the Queen. The dinner was at eight o'clock, and always with
the company. In the evening the Prince frequently played at double chess,
a game of which he was very fond, and which he played extremely well."
The Prince would return "at a great pace" from his morning rides, which
took him into all the districts of London where improvements were going
on, and "would always come through the Queen's dressing-room, where she
generally was at that time, with that bright loving smile with which he
ever greeted her, telling her where he had been, what new buildings he had
seen, what studios he had visited."
Her Majesty objected to the English custom of gentlemen remaining in the
dining-room after the ladies had left the table. But, by the advice of
Lord Melbourne, in which the Prince concurred, no direct change was made
in what was almost a national institution. The hour when the whole party
broke up, however, was seldom later than eleven.
The story got into circulation that the Queen's habit was to stand
conversing with the ladies till the gentlemen joined them, and that
knowing her practice, the dining-room was soon left empty. Lord Campbell
gives his experience of this portion of a royal dinner some years after
the Queen's marriage. "The Queen and the ladies withdrawing, Prince Albert
came over to her side of the table, and we remained behind about a quarter
of an hour, but we rose within the hour from the time of our sitting down.
A snuff-box was twice carried round and offered to all the gentlemen.
Prince Albert, to my surprise, took a pinch."
The Prince, who was an exceedingly temperate man at table, rather grudged
the time spent in eating and drinking, just as he disliked riding for mere
exercise, without any other object. Yet he was a bold and skilled rider,
and could, without any privilege of rank, come in first in the
hunting-field. It amused the Queen and her husband to find that this
accomplishment, more than any other, was likely to make him popular among
English gentlemen. But though he liked hunting as a recreation, he did not
understand how it or any other sport could be made the business of a man's
life.
By the month of July, the prospect of an heir to the throne rendered it
advisable that provision should be made for the Queen's possible death, or
lengthened disqualification for reigning. The Regency Bill was brought
forward with more caution and better success than had attended on the
Prince's Annuity Bill. In accordance with the prudent counsels of Baron
Stockmar, the Opposition as well as the Ministry were taken into account
and consulted. The consequence was that the Duke of Wellington, the
mouthpiece of the Tories on the former occasion, was altogether propitious
in the name of himself and his party, and it was agreed that the Prince
was the proper person to appoint as Regent in case of any unhappy
contingency. The Bill was passed unanimously and without objection in both
Houses, except for a speech made by the Duke of Sussex in the House of
Lords.
This conclusion was gratifying in all respects, not the least so in its
testimony to the respect which the Prince's conduct had already called
forth. "Three months ago they would not have done it for him," Lord
Melbourne told the Queen. "It is entirely his own character." It was also
a pleasant proof of the goodwill of the Tories, whom the Prince had done
everything in his power to conciliate, employing his influence to impress
upon the young Queen the constitutional attitude of impartiality and
neutrality towards all political parties.
There was a corresponding withdrawal of the absurd opposition to Prince
Albert's taking his place by the Queen's side on all State occasions. "Let
the Queen put the Prince where she likes and settle it herself, that is
the best way," said the Duke of Wellington cordially. A lively example of
the great Duke's want of toleration for the traditions of Court etiquette
is given in a note to the "Life of the Prince Consort." The late Lord
Albemarle, when Master of the Horse, was very sensitive about his right in
that capacity to sit in the sovereign's coach on State occasions. "The
Queen," said the Duke, when appealed to for his opinion, "can make Lord
Albemarle sit at the top of the coach, under the coach, behind the coach,
or wherever else her Majesty pleases."
On the 11th of August the Queen prorogued Parliament, accompanied by her
husband for the first time. The following day the Court left for Windsor.
The Prince was very fond of the country, and gladly went to it. The Queen,
in her early womanhood, had been, as she said, "too happy to go to London,
and wretched to leave it." But from the time of her marriage she shared
her husband's tastes, and could have been "content and happy never to go
to town." How her Majesty has retained the love of nature, which is a
refuge of sorrow as well as a crown of happiness, we all know.
In the mornings at Windsor there were shooting in the season, and a wider
field for landscape gardening for the Prince before he took to farming. In
the evening there were occasional great dinners and little dances as in
London. The young couple dispensed royal hospitality to a succession of
friendly visitors, who came to see with their own eyes the bright palace
home. The King and the Queen of the Belgians rejoiced in the fruits of his
work. The Princess of Hohenlohe, herself a happy wife and mother, arrived
with her children to witness her sister's felicity. Queen Adelaide did not
shrink from revisiting Windsor, and seeing a beloved niece fill well King
William and his consort's place.
Prince Albert's birthday was celebrated in England for the first time;
there were illuminations in London; down at Windsor the day was kept, for
the most part, in the simple family fashion, which is the best. The Prince
was awakened by a musical reveille; a German chorale, chosen with loving,
ungrudging care, as the first thing which was to greet him, was most
certain, on that day of all others, to carry him back in spirit to his
native country.
The family circle breakfasted by themselves in a favourite cottage in the
park. Princess Feodora's children were in masquerade as Coburg peasants,
doubtless hailing the Coburg Prince with an appropriate greeting. In the
afternoon, in the fine weather, the Prince drove out the Queen; in the
evening, "there was rather a larger dinner than usual."
On the 11th of September the Prince was formally sworn a member of her
Majesty's Privy Council. And so conscientiously anxious was he to
discharge worthily every duty which could be required of him, that, in the
greater leisure of Windsor, he not only read "Hallam's Constitutional
History" with the Queen, he began to read English law with a barrister.
In the meantime, an old historical figure, Princess Augusta of England,
who had appeared at the Queen's marriage, lay terribly ill at Clarence
House. She died on the 22nd of September, having survived her sister,
Princess Elizabeth, the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, only eight months.
Princess Augusta carried away with her many memories of the Court of
George III. By a coincidence, the lady who may almost be called the
Princess's biographer, at least whose animated sketches and affectionate
praises of her "dear Princess Augusta" were destined to give the world of
England its principal knowledge of an amiable princess, died at a great
age the same year. Madame D'Arblay, as Miss Burney, the distinguished
novelist, had been appointed in 1786, in a somewhat whimsical
acknowledgement of her talents and services to the reading world, one of
the keepers of Queen Charlotte's wardrobe. In this office she resided at
Court for five years, and she has left in her diary the most graphic
account which we have of the English royal life of the day. "Evelina" and
"Cecilia" were old stories even in 1840; it was more than fifty years
since Madame D'Arblay had taken royal service, and now her best-beloved
young patroness had passed away an aged woman, only a few months later
than the gifted and vivacious little keeper of the robes, whose duties, to
be sure, had included reading habitually to the Queen when she was
dressing, and sometimes to the Court circle. Princess Augusta's funeral
went from her house of Frogmore at seven o'clock in the evening of the 2nd
of October, one of the last of the night funerals of a past generation,
and she was buried with the customary honours in St. George's Chapel,
Windsor. Frogmore became from that time the country residence of the
Duchess of Kent.
In November the Court returned to Buckingham Palace for the Queen's
accouchement. Baron Stockmar, at the Prince's earnest entreaty, came to
England for the event, though he remained then as always in the
background. On the 21st of November the Princess Royal was born, the good
news being announced to London by the firing of the Tower guns. The
Cabinet Ministers and Officers of State were in attendance in an adjoining
room, and the new-born child, wrapped in flannel, was carried by the
nurse, escorted by Sir James Clark, into the presence of those who were to
attest her birth, and laid for a moment on a table before them. Both
mother and child were well, and although a momentary disappointment was
felt at the sex of the infant, it did not detract from the general
rejoicing at the Queen's safety with a living successor to the throne. It
was said at the time, kindly gossips dwelling on the utterance with the
utmost pleasure, that on the Prince expressing a fear that the people
might be disappointed, the Queen reassured him in the most cheerful
spirit, "Never mind, the next shall be a boy," and that she hoped she
might have as many children as her grandmother, Queen Charlotte.
A fresh instance of a diseased appetite for notoriety, grafted on vagrant
youthful curiosity and restless love of mischief, astonished and
scandalised the English world. On the day after the birth of the Princess
Royal a rascally boy named Jones was discovered concealed under a sofa in
a room next to the Queen's. The offender was leniently dealt with in
consideration of his immature years, but again and again, at intervals of
a few months, the flibbertigibbet turned up in the most unlooked-for
quarters, impudently asserting, on being questioned, that he had entered
"the same way as before," and that he could, any time he pleased, find his
way into the palace. It was supposed that he climbed over the wall on
Constitution Hill and crept through one of the windows. But he could
hardly have done so if it had not been for the confused palace management,
for which nobody was responsible, with its inevitable disorder, that had
not yet been overcome. The boy had to be committed to the House of
Correction as a rogue and vagabond for three months. Afterwards he served
on board one of her Majesty's ships, where his taste for creating a
sensation seems to have died a natural death.
In the Queen's weakness the young husband and father was continually
developing new traits of manly tenderness. "His care and devotion were
quite beyond expression." He declined to go anywhere, that he might be
always at hand to do anything in his power for her comfort "He was content
to sit by her in a darkened room, to read to her and write for her." "No
one but himself ever lifted her from her bed to her sofa, and he always
helped to wheel her on her bed or sofa into the next room. For this
purpose he would come instantly when sent for from any part of the house."
"His care for her was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder,
wiser, more judicious nurse." Happy Queen!
The Queen made an excellent recovery, and the Court was back at Windsor
holding Christmas and New Year relieved from all care and full of
thankfulness. The peace and goodwill of the season, with the interchange
of kindly gifts, were celebrated with pleasant picturesque German, in
addition to old English customs. We have all heard wonderful tales of the
baron of beef, the boar's head, the peacock with spread tail, the plum
soup for which there is only one recipe, and that a royal one. There were
fir-trees in the Queen's and the Prince's rooms and in humbler chambers.
There was a great gathering of the household in a special corridor, where
the Queen's presents were bestowed.
A new year dawned with bright promise on an expectant world. This last
year had been so good in one sense that it could hardly be surpassed. What
had it not done for the family life! It had given a good and loving wife
to a good and loving husband, and a little child, with undreamt-of
possibilities in its slumbering eyes and helpless hands. The public
horizon was tolerably clear. The Welsh riots had been quelled and other
acts of insubordination in the manufacturing districts put down--not
without the use of force--but there was room for trust that such mad
tumults would not be repeated. Father Matthews was reforming Ireland.
There were far-away wars both with China and Afghanistan, certainly, but
the wars were far away in more respects than one, distant enough to have
their origin in the English protection of the opium trade, and
interference--now with a peaceful, timidly conservative race--and again
with fiercely jealous and warlike tribes, slurred over and forgotten, and
only the successes of the national arms dwelt upon with pride and
exultation.
Across "the silver streak" of the Channel there were more remarkable
events, marked by a curious inconsistency, than the suitable marriage of
the Duc de Nemours. Prince Louis Napoleon Buonaparte landed on the French
coast with a handful of men prepared to invade the country, and was
immediately overpowered and arrested. He was tried and condemned to
imprisonment in the fortress of Ham, from which he escaped in due time,
having earned for himself during long years the sobriquet of "the madman
of Boulogne." The very same year Prince de Joinville, Louis Philippe's
sailor son, was commissioned to bring the ashes of Napoleon from St.
Helena to France. The coffin was conveyed in the Prince's frigate, La
Belle Poule, to Cherbourg, whence a steamboat sailed with the solemn
freight up the Seine to Paris. The funeral formed a splendid pageant,
attended by the royal family, the ministers, and a great concourse of
spectators. The dust of le petit caporal was deposited in a
magnificent tomb in the Hotel des Invalides, before the eyes of a few
survivors of his Old Guard.
Spain and Portugal were still the theatres of civil wars--now smouldering,
now leaping up with brief fury. In Spain the Queen Regent, Christina, was
driven from the kingdom, and had to take refuge in France for a time. In
Portugal, in the middle of a political crisis, Maria da Gloria gave birth
to a daughter, which died soon after its birth, while for days her own
life was despaired of.
More
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On the 30th of May a renewed attempt to assassinate the Queen, almost identical in the circumstances and the motive--or no motive, save morbid vanity--with the affair of Oxford, awoke the same disgust and condemnation. This was a double attack, for ... Friends And Advisers
Possibly the person to whom the Queen owed most--next to her husband--was Lord Melbourne. His position at the time when the young Queen came to the throne was a unique one. Victoria was just eighteen years of age--that is to say, if she had been a... He Queen And Prince Albert Make Their First Visit To Germany-
This year--1844--there was a death in the household at Windsor, and a birth. The death was that of Eos, the favorite greyhound of Prince Albert. "Dear Eos," as the Queen called her, was found dead one morning. The Prince wrote the next day to his ... Housekeeping In A Palace
Common people may make a wedding tour, but kings and queens are too fully occupied to afford such luxuries. The sovereign of England could spend her honeymoon in Windsor Castle, but it must be a honeymoon of only four days. Those four days, howeve... Husband And Wife
After four short days the Queen and her husband returned to London, and from this time onward the Prince acted as his wife's secretary, attending to every little detail of the mass of correspondence and State documents which grew larger with every... King William Jealous Of Public Honors To Victoria
The indifference of the Duchess of Kent to the heavy pomps and heavier gayeties of his Court so offended his unmajestic Majesty, that he finally became decidedly inimical to the Duchess. Though he insisted on seeing the little Princess often, he d... Last Years Of The Prince Consort
I The weak-willed youth who took no interest in politics and never read a newspaper had grown into a man of unbending determination whose tireless energies were incessantly concentrated upon the laborious business of government and the highest qu... Lord Melbourne
I The new queen was almost entirely unknown to her subjects. In her public appearances her mother had invariably dominated the scene. Her private life had been that of a novice in a convent: hardly a human being from the outside world had ever ... Lord Palmerston
I In 1851 the Prince's fortunes reached their highwater mark. The success of the Great Exhibition enormously increased his reputation and seemed to assure him henceforward a leading place in the national life. But before the year was out another... Louis Philippe's Visit
The Queen and the Prince returned to Windsor to receive a visit from Louis Philippe. The King, who had spent part of his exiled youth in England, had not been back since 1815, when he took refuge there again during "the Hundred Days," after Napole... Marriage
I It was decidedly a family match. Prince Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha--for such was his full title--had been born just three months after his cousin Victoria, and the same midwife had assisted at the two births.... Marriage And Delicacy Of The Prince's Position
Nowhere does the genuine unselfishness and sweet womanliness of the Queen show more than in her record of those days. She did not, like too many brides, think of herself as the only or even the principal person to be considered. She did not grudge... Marriage Of The Princess Royal
Meanwhile a domestic incident had made a great change in the royal family. The Princess Royal had become engaged to Prince Frederick-William of Prussia (for three months Emperor of Germany), and the marriage came off on the 25th of January 1858. I... Ministering Women
Honour to those whose words or deeds Thus help us in our daily needs; And by their overflow Raise us from what is low! LONGFELLOW No account of the reign of Queen Victoria would be complete witho... Mother And Empress
While the German wars were going on the Queen was thinking for her country as a sovereign and feeling for her children as a mother. In the midst of all the claims upon her, she had one aim that she never forgot, and that was to make her country un... Mr Gladstone And Lord Beaconsfield
I Lord Palmerston's laugh--a queer metallic 'Ha! ha! ha!' with reverberations in it from the days of Pitt and the Congress of Vienna--was heard no more in Piccadilly; Lord John Russell dwindled into senility; Lord Derby tottered from the stage. ... My Reasons For Honoring The Queen
My reasons for admiring and honoring Queen Victoria are, perhaps, amply revealed in this little book, but I will briefly recapitulate them: First, is her great power of loving, and tenacity in holding on to love. Next is her loyalty--that quality ... Nis! Nis! Nis! Hurrah!
Few men in England worked as hard as Prince Albert, the uncrowned King. If a corner stone of a school, a hospital, or a public building was to be laid, a missionary society to be formed, some new docks to be founded, a museum to be opened, Prince ... Old Age
I Meanwhile in Victoria's private life many changes and developments had taken place. With the marriages of her elder children her family circle widened; grandchildren appeared; and a multitude of new domestic interests sprang up. The death of ... Pictures And Descriptions Of The Queen And Her Love Of Pets-
In the Hall of the St. George's Society of Philadelphia there is a very interesting picture by the late Mr. Sully of Queen Victoria in her coronation robes. It is life-size, and represents her as mounting the steps of the throne, her head slightly... Prince Albert
If the Princess Charlotte was the prototype of her cousin Victoria, Prince Leopold was in some respects the prototype of his beloved nephew Albert, who was born in August, 1819, at Rosenau, a charming summer residence of his father, the reigning D... Queen And Empire
What should they know of England who only England know? The England of Queen Elizabeth was the England of Shakespeare: This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, dem... Queen Victoria Absence From The Coronation Of William Iv
Queen-making is not a light task. It is no fancywork for idle hours. It is the first difficult draft of a chapter, perhaps a whole volume, of national history. No woman ever undertook a more important labor than did the widowed Duchess of Kent,... Rebellion In Canada
The Queen had been only a few months on the throne when tidings arrived of a rebellion in Canada. The colonists had long been dissatisfied with the way in which the government was conducted by the mother-country. In the year 1840 Upper and Lower C... Reign Of Queen Victoria
The reign of Queen Victoria may be aptly described as a period of progress in all that related to the well-being of the subjects of her vast empire. In every department of science, literature, politics, and the practical life of the nation, there ... Royal Occupations An Attempt On The Queen's Life
The family arrangements in the marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert appear to have been made with the kindest, most judicious consideration for what was due to former ties, that all the relations of life might be settled gradually and naturally... Royal Visitors And The Birth Op Prince Alfred
The year 1844 may be instanced as rich in royal visitors to England. On the 1st of June the King of Saxony arrived and shortly after him a greater lion, the Emperor of Russia. The King of Saxony came as an honest friend and sightseer, entering hea... Second Attempt On The Queen's Life
At last came 1848--a year packed with political convulsions and overthrows. The spirit of revolution was rampant, bowling away at all the thrones of Europe. England heard the storm thundering nearly all round the horizon, for in the sister isle th... Sixty-three Years Since
The 24th of May, 1819, was a memorable and happy day for England, though like many such days, it was little noticed at the time. Sixty-three years since! Do many of us quite realise what England was like then; how much it differed from the England... Sketch Of The Princess Charlotte
It seems to me that the life of Queen Victoria cannot well be told without a prefacing sketch of her cousin, the Princess Charlotte, who, had she lived, would have been her Queen, and who was in many respects her prototype. It is certain, I think,... Stress And Strain
Forward, forward let us range, Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change. TENNYSON The greatest Revolutions are not always those which are accompanied by riot and bloodshed. Engl... Strife
"Two men I honour, and no third. First, the toilworn Craftsman that with earth-made Implement laboriously conquers the Earth, and makes her man's. . . . A second man I honour, and still more highly: Him who is seen toiling for the spiritually indi... The Accession
On the day after that on which Princess Victoria celebrated her majority. Baron Stockmar arrived at Kensington. He came from the King of the Belgians to assist King Leopold's niece in what was likely to be the great crisis of her life. During Baro... The Betrothal
The Queen's remaining unmarried was becoming the source of innumerable disturbing rumours and private intrigues for the bestowal of her hand. To show the extent to which the public discussed the question in every light, a serious publication like ... The Children Of England
"From the folding of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. . . . They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. . . . 'They are Man's,' sa... The Closing Years
One autumn day in 1896 vast numbers of telegrams were sent to Queen Victoria, not only from the English colonies, but from almost all the countries of the world. They were full of congratulations on the length of her reign; for now she had been on... The Coming Of The Prince
The coronation ceremonies in Westminster Abbey were, indeed, magnificent, but it must not be supposed that England was satisfied with no further celebration of so joyful an event. Throughout the realm there were for several days fairs, balls, and ... The Condemnation Of The English Duel
On the 1st of July, 1843, duelling received its death-blow in England by a fatal duel--so unnatural and so painful in its consequences that it served the purpose of calling public attention to the offence--long tolerated, even advocated in some qu... The Coronation
The coronation was fixed for June 28, 1838 a little more than a year from the accession. The, Queen had been slightly troubled at the thought of some of the antiquated forms of that grand and complicated ceremony--for instance, the homage of th... The Coronation
When the young Queen awoke on the morning after her accession, she must have fancied for a moment that she had dreamed all the events of the previous day. She had gone to bed expecting a quiet morning of study; she had been aroused to hear that sh... The Emperor And Empress Of France Visit Windsor
The Queen's kind heart was really pained by the sudden death of the Czar, her sometime friend and "brother"--whose visit to Windsor was brought by the startling event vividly to her mind--yet she turned from his august shade to welcome one of his li... The End
The evening had been golden; but, after all, the day was to close in cloud and tempest. Imperial needs, imperial ambitions, involved the country in the South African War. There were checks, reverses, bloody disasters; for a moment the nation was s... The First Christening The Season Of 1841
The Queen was able to open Parliament in person at the end of January. The first christening in the royal household had been fixed to take place on the 10th of February, the first anniversary of the Queen's wedding-day, which was thus a double g... The First Months Of Marriage
In this mere sketch of the great life of the Queen of England, I can give little space to the political questions and events of her reign, important and momentous as some of them were, even for other lands and other people than the English. For a ... The Great Exhibition
The idea of a "great exhibition of the Works and Industries of all Nations" was Prince Albert's. The scheme when first proposed in 1849 was coldly received in this country. It was intended, to use the Prince's own words, "To give us a true test an... The Indian Mutiny
Exactly one hundred years after Clive had laid the foundation of our empire in India by the victory of Plassey, events occurred in that country which completely cast into the shade the tragic incident of the 'Black Hole' of Calcutta. During the ce... The Jubilee Season
With the exception of Prince Alfred, the Queen's children had married according to the German proverb, "The oldest must leave the house first." The next in age was Prince Arthur, or the Duke of Connaught. He married in 1879 Princess Louise of Prus... The Last Day Of Victoria's Real Girlhood
It seems to me that the momentous day just described was the last of Victoria's real girlhood; that premature womanhood was thrust upon her with all the power, grandeur, and state of a Queen Regnant. I wonder if, weary and nervously exhausted as s... The Little Folk
In the midst of all the royalties that were present at the wedding of the Prince of Wales were the two great novelists of the realm, Thackeray and Dickens; but Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, was not there. Again "someone had blundered," and his invi... The Maiden Queen
When the great event of the coronation was over the Queen was left to fulfil the heavy demands of business and the concluding gaieties of the season. It comes upon us with a little pathetic shock, to think of one whom we have long known chiefly in... The Marriage
The 10th of February rose dark and foggy, with a lowering sky discharging at frequent intervals heavy showers. But to many a loyal heart far beyond the sound of Bow bells the date brought a thrill of glad consciousness which was quite independent ... The Prince Of Wales' Trip To America
In May, Prince Albert ran over to Germany to visit his old home, and his new son, and his darling daughter, whom he found well and happy. In one of his letters to the Queen from Gotha, he says: "I enclose a forget-me- not from grandmama's grave." ... The Princess Opens The Victoria Park At Bath
When she was eleven years old, the Princess opened the Victoria Park at Bath. She began the opening business thus early, and has kept it up pretty diligently for fifty years--parks, expositions, colleges, exchanges, law courts, bridges, docks, art... The Proroguing Of Parliament The Visit To Guildhall And The Coronation
Buckingham Palace had been a seat of the Duke of Buckingham's, which was bought by George II., and in the next reign was settled on Queen Charlotte instead of Somerset House, and called the "Queen's House." It was rebuilt by George IV. but not occ... The Queen And The Children
There had been only one drawback to the Queen's happiness during the Jubilee rejoicings, and that was the poor health of her favorite son-in-law, the Crown Prince of Germany. In the procession he had looked superbly well and strong, but his throat... The Queen As An Artist And Author
The Prince-Consort, as we have seen, was accomplished in music and painting, and knew much about many subjects. The Queen is not only an author, but an artist, and takes a great interest in art. To an exhibition under the auspices of the Royal Ang... The Queen In Mourning
Henceforth the great Queen was 'written widow,' and while striving nobly in her loneliness to fulfil those public functions, in which she had hitherto been so faithfully companioned, she shrank at first from courtly pageantry and from the gay whir... The Queen In Sorrow
It had certainly become clear to all her Ministers that Victoria was no mere figurehead, for while she yielded if their judgment was against her, yet she never failed to have an opinion and a reason for her opinion. In 1861, the fact that both she... The Queen's First Visit To Scotland
The Queen had never been abroad. It was still well-nigh an unconstitutional step for a sovereign of England to claim the privilege, enjoyed by so many English subjects, of a foreign tour, let it be ever so short. However, this year the proposal of... The Queen's First Visit To Scotland
This year of 1842 was not all joy and festivity. It was the year of the massacres of the British forces in Cabul; there was financial distress in England, which a charitable masked ball at Buckingham Palace did not wholly relieve; and in May occur... The Queen's Sympathy During The Illness Of President Garfield
On the 7th of March, 1863, all London and nearly all England went mad over the coming of the Princess Alexandra, from Denmark, to wed the Prince of Wales. Lord Ronald Gower, a son of the beautiful Duchess of Sutherland, gives in his "Reminiscences...