It is impossible in one short chapter to tell about all the things that made Queen Victoria’s reign famous, and I am only going to tell something about her own life and to try to show what kind of a woman she was. Her father was the Duke of Kent, son of King George III., and her mother was a German princess. The Princess Victoria was their only child, and she was born in 1819 in Kensington Palace. It was possible that the little princess might some day be Queen of England, but at her birth she had three uncles living, older than her father, who would all have a right to the throne before her. She was only a few months old when her father and grandfather died and her eldest uncle became king as George IV. Her mother, a German lady, was very lonely in England. Her chief adviser was her brother Leopold, then living in England; he made the Duchess of Kent feel how important her position was as mother of the child who might be queen some day. He said that she must be brought up in England; so the duchess consented to live on at Kensington Palace and devoted herself to the education of her child. In after years the Queen, writing about her childhood, said that her chief pleasure was visiting her uncle Leopold, who lived at Claremont, near Esher. She was brought up very simply and always slept in her mother’s bedroom. When she stayed at Claremont or by the seaside, where they often went, she did her lessons in her governess’s bedroom. She was not fond of learning, and did not know her letters till she was five. George IV. had quarrelled with her father, and did not like her mother, and took very little notice of them; but she went as a child to see him at Windsor, and remembered how he took her by the hand, saying, “Give me your little paw.” Next day he met her driving in the park and stopped his carriage and said, “Pop her in,” and she was very pleased to drive by his side in the carriage with its servants in scarlet liveries.

When she was thirteen her mother gave her a small red morocco book in which to write her diary, and from that day till a few days before her death, she used to write down every night the events of the day. As a little girl she wrote down the hours of her lesson, when she went out riding, or was taken to the theatre or to hear music, and when she washed Dash, her pet dog.

The princess’s governess was a German lady, FrÄulein Lehzen, whom she adored, though she was greatly in awe of her; she spoke German before she learned English, but her mother took care that she should learn English well. When she was eight a clergyman, Mr. Davys, was appointed to direct her education. He chose a number of teachers for her, and himself taught her religion and history. Her life was strict and dull, and in after years she did not look back to her childhood as a happy time. George IV. died when she was six and was succeeded by his brother, William IV., who had no children, so that Princess Victoria was now heir to the throne. Her mother did not get on with William IV. and did not like her to go to court, and this made the King very angry, though he was always very kind to the little princess when she visited him privately. She was not allowed to go to his coronation, because the King and her mother could not agree as to the place she should take in the procession. This was a great disappointment and she wept bitterly—nothing could console her, not even her dolls.

It was a great grief to the princess when her uncle Leopold left England to become King of Belgium. She was devotedly attached to him and he to her, and she always looked to him for advice and guidance. They wrote to one another constantly in terms of the deepest affection. He recommended her books to read and discussed the affairs of Europe with her. As part of her education her mother used to take her on tours through different parts of England, when they visited the great nobles and some of the chief sights and most important cities. She was sometimes a little tired by all the stiff ceremonies she had to go through, though she liked seeing people. She was very fond of music and dancing, spent much of her time in singing, and learnt to play the harp.

When she was sixteen, she was confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and he spoke to her so seriously about the duties of her position that she was drowned in tears and frightened to death. One of her uncle Leopold’s most cherished plans was that the princess should marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg; and when she was seventeen, he arranged that Prince Albert, who was a few months younger, should visit England with his father and elder brother. The visit was a great success. The princess wrote to her uncle: “They are both very amiable, very good and kind, and extremely merry, just as young people should be. Albert is extremely handsome ... they are excessively fond of music, like me.” A fortnight later she wrote: “I must thank you, my beloved uncle, for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me in the person of dear Albert. Allow me, then, my dearest uncle, to tell you how delighted I am with him, and how much I like him in every way. He possesses every quality that could be desired to make me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has, besides, the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see.” Prince Albert thought his cousin very amiable and wonderfully self-possessed. Nothing was, however, said about marriage during this visit and the prince returned to Germany.

Just after the princess was eighteen, her uncle, King William IV., died, on June 20, 1837. She herself described in her journal what happened afterwards: “I was awoke at six o’clock by Mama, who told me that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed, and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing-gown) and alone, and saw them.” They told her that the King was dead, and, kneeling to kiss her hand, greeted as Queen the slim young girl just roused from sleep. A couple of hours later, Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, came to see her, and she wrote: “I saw him in my room and, of course, quite alone, as I shall always do all my ministers.” She who had been so carefully guarded by mother and governess had now to act alone, and it seems, from the way she notes it in her journal, as if she was glad. She held her first Council that morning, and again writes that she went to it quite alone. There she read the speech that Lord Melbourne had prepared for her to the ministers and privy-councillors. Every one was struck with the way in which she bore herself. Though she was very short, not five feet tall, her movements were dignified and graceful. Her voice, which was very beautiful, was clear and untroubled and thrilled her hearers. The blush on her cheek added to the interest and charm of her appearance. Lord Wellington said, “She not merely filled her chair, she filled the room.” She was quite composed; she wrote in after years that she took things as they came, as she knew they must be. What she was feeling she wrote that night in her diary: “Since it has pleased Providence to place me in this station, I shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; I am very young, and perhaps in many, though not in all, things inexperienced, but I am sure that very few have more real good will and more real desire to do what is fit and right than I have;” she wrote, too, in large letters, “I AM QUEEN.”

She was delighted with the kindness of Lord Melbourne, her Prime Minister, and he from the first felt deeply the charm of the girl-queen, whose steps he guided like a father. After the quiet, dull life she had led hitherto, it was an amazing change for her, and she enjoyed it to the full. She loved meeting people and enjoyed the large dinners at which she presided. She loved her long rides with the ladies and gentlemen of her court; she enjoyed the court balls, at which she used to dance all night. But she was also determined from the first to do her work as Queen. She felt that the country was hers, that the ministers were hers, and that the people were her people, whom she had to govern. From the first she showed that as Queen she was going to be independent of her mother. The duchess lived with her but she had a separate set of rooms, and was allowed no share in public business. Long hours were spent by the Queen with Lord Melbourne, talking over public affairs, that she might learn to understand them. He constantly dined with her, and when he did always sat next her, and often talked to her of books and of people whom he had known. She wrote in her diary: “He has such stores of knowledge, such a wonderful memory; he knows about everybody and everything, and he imparts all his knowledge in such a kind and agreeable manner.”

Another friend and adviser was Baron Stockmar, a German friend of the Queen’s uncle, Leopold, whom he had sent to England to help her to understand politics. He was a wise man, of great knowledge, and taught the Queen how she must keep out of party politics, and what were the limits of her power. It was difficult to know exactly what was the power of the sovereign in England. The monarchy was not popular when Victoria became Queen. Neither George IV. nor William IV. had been much respected, and they had had little influence on affairs. Victoria had a high idea of her position as well as of her duties as Queen, but she had to learn exactly how much she was able to do. Sometimes she was deeply vexed when she could not get her own way, and she made some mistakes at first. But her strong sense of duty kept her in the right way, and showed her the kind of influence she could use. Her ministers might change, but she was always there, and as she took the greatest trouble to know all that was going on, and read all the most important dispatches written by her ministers, she soon got a very wide understanding of affairs, particularly of foreign politics. It was a strange life for a girl. All the morning she read dispatches, or signed her name to papers, or talked to her ministers. Then came her long rides, her music and singing, a game of battledore and shuttlecock with some of her ladies, a dinner, followed by dancing, music, cards, or wise talk with her ministers. She enjoyed it all, the power and the freedom, and the attention paid to her by the waiting crowds when she rode out.

Shortly after her accession, she went to live at Buckingham Palace. It had been built in the reign of George IV., but neither he nor William IV. had lived there; it was not at all a convenient house, and afterwards the Queen improved it very much. She at first thought Windsor a very melancholy place, but she learnt to like it when in the summer her uncle Leopold stayed there with her, and she wrote after his visit: “I have passed such a pleasant time here, the pleasantest summer I have ever passed in my life.” She was very hospitable, and invited many relations and other guests to stay at Windsor, and liked to show them all over the castle, even into the kitchen.

The Queen’s first public appearance of importance was when, the month after her accession, she dissolved Parliament, and herself read her speech from the throne. Her voice was said to be exquisite, and her manner of speaking quite perfect. Next year came her coronation. She seems to have enjoyed the great day immensely. As she drove through the enthusiastic crowds on her way to Westminster Abbey, she felt proud to be the Queen of such a nation. When she got back to the palace, ten hours after she had set out, she did not really feel tired, and after dinner felt much gratified when Lord Melbourne said to her, with tears in his eyes, “You did it beautifully—every part of it with so much taste.” Later, from her mother’s balcony, she watched the fireworks.

The idea of her marriage with Prince Albert was still cherished; but she was in no hurry, and meanwhile was very anxious about his education. She wrote to her uncle that it was her great desire to see “Albert a very good and distinguished young man.” In 1839 he again visited England with his brother, and it was not long before the two young people fell genuinely in love with one another. It was the Queen who had to make the proposal. She called him to her room and, feeling it a very nervous moment, told him of her wish. She wrote to her uncle: “The warm affection he showed me on learning this gave me great pleasure.... I love him more than I can say.... I do feel very, very happy.” They were married the following February, and the Queen found in Prince Albert all the happiness she had hoped for. In after years when she looked back, she felt that the years of her reign before their marriage were the least sensible and satisfactory parts of her whole life, “because of the constant amusement and flattery and mere politics” in which she had lived. Now she had the joy of a companion to help her in all her work and to share her life with her. But at first there were difficulties. Prince Albert was not popular; he was too German for English people to understand him. The Queen bitterly resented the attacks made on him. The ministers did not like him to take any part in affairs, and his position was very uncomfortable. But in time he showed how much he could help the Queen, and came to share all her work. They had nine children, and the Queen was a devoted mother, so it was well that she had the prince’s help in her public life. Her love and admiration for him were unbounded. After three years of married life, she wrote to her uncle: “I am grateful for possessing (really without vanity or flattery or blindness) the most perfect being as a husband in existence, or who ever did exist; and I doubt whether anybody ever did love or respect another as I do my dear angel.”

In 1842 they paid their first visit to Scotland, and enjoyed it immensely. So much did the Queen love the quiet and liberty of her life in Scotland, that after several visits she rented Balmoral House in Aberdeenshire that she might have a Scotch home of her own; and after a while was able to buy the estate and build a new house on it. She did not like London after her marriage, and wanted a place where she and her family could live undisturbed by too many officials, so she also bought a place in the Isle of Wight and built Osborne House there. At both Osborne and Balmoral life was very simple. The Queen would run in and out of the house as she liked, and walked about alone, visiting the cottagers and enjoying her talks with them.

The Queen and Prince Albert gave much attention to the education of their children. Lady Lyttelton was named royal governess and superintended the nursery. The children were brought up very simply; the Queen spent as much time as she could with them, played with them, and interested herself in their friends and their pets, and they were encouraged to act little plays and recite poetry to their parents. Prince Albert, like the Queen, was very musical, and they often sang together. When the famous composer, Mendelssohn, visited England, he was invited to Buckingham Palace, and they both sang to his accompaniment. He said that the Queen sang “really quite faultlessly and with charming feeling and expression.” They also loved the theatre, and plays were often acted at Windsor.

Several times the Queen visited Germany with Prince Albert, and they also went to Ireland. But wherever they were they never failed in their attention to public business. It was a great grief to the Queen when a change in the government came, and Lord Melbourne had to resign. But she always remained friends with him and wrote to him constantly. At first she dreaded having to do with his successor, Sir Robert Peel, but she grew to like and admire him very much. With nearly all her ministers her relations were most cordial; only with Lord Palmerston did she find it difficult to get on, and she never was quite easy with Gladstone. They all alike admired her industry and strong sense of duty, and her great knowledge of public affairs.

In 1851 the first International Exhibition was held in London. The idea of such an exhibition was Prince Albert’s, and at first it met with great opposition, both at home and abroad. But it turned out a triumphant success. Many foreign princes came to the opening ceremony. The Queen described it to her uncle as “the greatest day in our history, the most beautiful and imposing and touching spectacle ever seen, and the triumph of my beloved Albert.” People hoped that this great gathering of all nations would prove a festival of peace. But it was only a very few years afterwards that the Crimean War broke out. In this war England took part as the ally of Napoleon III. who had just made himself Emperor of France. The Queen followed the war with the deepest anxiety. She felt proud of the conduct of her troops, as she always called them; she welcomed them on their return, presented them with medals with her own hands, and did all in her power to show sympathy with their sufferings. Before the war was over, she paid her first visit to Paris to show her friendship for the Emperor, whose personal charm at that time attracted her very much; later she learnt to distrust him. She was received with immense enthusiasm, and wrote that she was “delighted, enchanted, amused, and interested, and had never seen anything more beautiful and gay than Paris.”

When the Crimean War was over, the Queen visited Aldershot, and reviewed the troops herself. She started a new order, called the Victoria Cross, to be given to those soldiers who had done some specially brave act, and gave it herself to fifty-two men at a review in Hyde Park.

In 1856 her eldest daughter was betrothed to the Crown Prince of Prussia. The Queen was delighted, and showed her high spirits by dancing vigorously at all the balls given in honour of the betrothal. She even danced a Scottish reel to the bagpipes. The next year came the great anxiety of the Indian mutiny. The Queen felt it much more distressing than the Crimean War, “where there was glory and honourable warfare, and where the poor women and children were safe.” It was also a sorrow to part from her eldest daughter when she married, but she rejoiced in her happiness and visited her in Germany. In 1859, at the age of thirty-nine, she became a grandmother when her first grandchild, the present Emperor of Germany, was born. Her family were an ever-growing joy to her, and life was full or interest and happiness.

But in the year 1861 a sudden end came to her happiness. In the spring her mother died; and she wrote as a broken-hearted child to her uncle, saying that she could not imagine life without her. A greater blow was awaiting her. Before the end of the year, Prince Albert fell ill, and, almost before his illness was known to be serious, he died. The Queen was utterly crushed. In her first broken-hearted letter to her uncle, she said: “My life as a happy one is ended, the world is gone for me.” It was indeed a terrible loss for her. She had absolutely depended on him and leant on his advice, and she had loved him and looked up to him as a perfect being. Ten years before, she had written about his wonderful fitness for business and politics, and added: “I grow daily to dislike them both, more and more. We women are not made for governing—and if we are good women, we must dislike these masculine occupations.” Now she was left to govern alone, bereft of what had been the joy of her home life. Immense sympathy was shown to her and she was much touched by it. She determined to take her husband’s example as her guide, and to give the same minute care as he had given to public affairs. But she shut herself up in absolute seclusion, seeing no one but her family and those whom she had to see for business.

At first, people accepted the Queen’s seclusion as natural and respected her grief. But as the years passed and she made no change, many complaints were made of her neglect of the duties of her position. The newspapers published criticisms of her conduct, which deeply wounded her. She made no change, and spoke of herself as a cruelly misunderstood woman. At first, her only public appearances were to unveil statues of her husband, and occasionally she opened Parliament. She worked as hard as ever at public business, and was much taken up with family affairs and with the arrangements for the marriage of her children. She liked best to be at Balmoral, and felt Windsor a sad and gloomy place. During these years her seclusion led to her being decidedly unpopular, and it may rightly be considered the one serious mistake in her life.

The serious illness of the Prince of Wales in 1871 roused much sympathy and helped to make the Crown again more popular. When Mr. Disraeli became Prime Minister the Queen began to find public business more interesting. He was not only clever, but he took much trouble to be agreeable to her and to amuse her, so that she became really fond of him. She was delighted with his Indian policy, which ended in her being proclaimed Empress of India in 1876. She much enjoyed this new honour, and showed her feeling for India by having Indian servants to attend upon her, and by beginning to learn Hindustani.

As the years passed, many sorrows came to the Queen through the death of relations and friends; especially she felt the death of her second daughter, Princess Alice. She continued to exert much influence on public affairs, and always did all in her power to help to keep the peace in Europe. In 1879 she visited Italy for the first time, and she often repeated her visit and travelled also in other countries, always in a very quiet and simple way.

In 1887 the Queen had been on the throne for fifty years, and she was persuaded to keep her Jubilee publicly. On the Jubilee Day, June 21, 1887, she went in procession, preceded by thirty-two princes of her own family, sons, sons-in-law, and grandsons, to a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey. Representatives of all the countries of Europe, of India, and the colonies followed her. The immense crowds who gathered to see her pass received her with an enthusiasm which deeply touched her. She said on her return to Buckingham Palace that she was very tired but very happy. The same enthusiasm attended other celebrations in connection with the Jubilee. In her old age the Queen was as popular, perhaps even more popular, than she had been in her youth. People in all the wide lands which made up the British Empire felt that she was the outward sign of the unity of the Empire. They venerated her for her long and blameless life, devoted to duty. In far distant lands, black and savage people honoured the great white Queen and trusted in her justice.

After the Jubilee, she went about a little more and saw more people; she visited Berlin, and spent some time in the south of Europe each year. She received many royal visitors, and once more there were concerts and dramatic performances at court. In spite of her age she still gave as much attention as ever to business, and would spend two or three hours a day going through papers, and signing her name to public documents.

In 1897 when she had reigned sixty years, her second, or diamond, Jubilee was celebrated. This time a great state procession was made all through London, and on reaching St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Queen’s carriage paused at the bottom of the steps for a brief service of thanksgiving.

Her last years were clouded by the war in South Africa. Amidst all the gloom that followed on the news of the disasters suffered there by the English troops, the Queen never despaired of ultimate success. She took every opportunity of showing her sympathy with her soldiers, and telling them of her gratitude for their exertions. The war was not over when she began to show signs of failing health. One of the last things she did was to receive Lord Roberts to hear from him about the state of things in Africa. Little more than a week afterwards she died, at the age of eighty-one.

When we think over her long life and the great position she filled, we find that she owed her influence more to the strong sense of duty she always had, and to her constant determination to do what she felt to be right, than to any special gifts or talents she possessed. She was a wonderful woman because she was always true to the best that she knew, and it is this that makes her an example for us all.