Queen Victoria, her girlhood and womanhood
Greenwood, Grace, [pseud.], 1823-1904
English
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QUEEN VICTORIA.
HER GIRLHOOD AND WOMANHOOD.
BY GRACE GREENWOOD
A DEDICATORY LETTER
TO CAMILLA TOULMIN (MRS. NEWTON CROSLAND), LINTON LODGE, BLACKHEATH PARK:
Permit me, my dear friend, to inscribe to you this very imperfect Life of
your beloved Queen, in remembrance of that dear old time when the world
was brighter and more beautiful than it is now (or so it seemeth to me)
and things in general were pleasanter;--when better books were written,
especially biographies, and there were fewer of them;--when the "gentle
reader" and the "indulgent critic" were extant;--when Realism had not
shouldered his way into Art;--when there were great actors and actresses
of the fine old school, like Macready and the elder Booth--Helen Faucit
and Charlotte Cushman; and real orators, like Daniel O'Connell and Daniel
Webster;--when there was more poetry and more romance in life than now;--
when it took less silk to make a gown, but when a bonnet was a bonnet;--
when there was less east-wind and fog, more moonlight to the month, and
more sunlight to the acre;--when the scent of the blossoming hawthorn was
sweeter in the morning, and the song of the nightingale more melodious in
the twilight;--when, in short, you and I, and the glorious Victorian era,
were young.
GRACE GREENWOOD.
PREFACE.
I send this book out to the world with many misgivings, feeling that it
is not what I would like it to be--not what I could have made it with
more time. I have found it especially difficult to procure facts and
incidents of the early life of the Queen--just that period which I felt
was of most interest to my younger readers. So much was I delayed that
for the actual arrangement and culling of my material, and the writing of
the volume, I have had less than three months, and during that time many
interruptions in my work--the most discouraging caused by a serious
trouble of the eyes.
I am aware that the book is written in a free and easy style, partly
natural, and partly formed by many years of journalistic work--a style
new for the grave business of biographical writing, and which may be
startling in a royal biography,--to my English readers, at least. I aimed
to make a pleasant, simple fireside story of the life and reign of Queen
Victoria--and I hope I have not altogether failed. Unluckily, I had no
friend near the throne to furnish me with reliable, unpublished personal
anecdotes of Her Majesty.
I have made use of the labor of several English authors; first, of that
of the Queen herself, in the books entitled, "Leaves from the Journal of
Our Life in the Highlands," and "The Early Years of His Royal Highness
the Prince-Consort"; next, of that of Sir Theodore Martin, K.C.B., in his
"Life of the Prince-Consort." For this last appropriation I have Sir
Theodore Martin's gracious permission. I am much indebted to Hon. Justin
McCarthy, in his "History of Our Own Times." I have also been aided by
various compilations, and by Lord Ronald Gower's "Reminiscences."
I have long felt that the wonderful story of the life of the Queen of
England--of her example as a daughter, wife and mother, and as the
honored head of English society could but have, if told simply, yet
sympathetically, a happy and ennobling influence on the hearts and minds
of my young countrywomen. I have done my work, if lightly, with entire
respect, though always as an American and a republican. I could not do
otherwise; for, though it has made me in love with a few royal people, it
has not made me in love with royalty. I cannot but think that, so far
from its being a condition of itself ennobling to human character, those
born into it have often to fight to maintain a native nobility,--as Queen
Victoria has fought, as Prince Albert fought,--for I find the "blameless
Prince" saying: "To my mind the exaltation of royalty is only possible
through the personal character of the sovereign."
It suits England, however, "excellent well," in its restricted
constitutional form; she has all the venerable, splendid accessories--and
I hope "Albert the Good" may have founded a long race of good kings; but
it would not do for us;--a race cradled in revolution, and nurtured on
irreverence and unbelief, as regards the divine right of kings and the
law of primogeniture. To us it seems, though a primitive, an unnatural
institution. We find no analogies for it, even in the wildest venture of
the New World. It is true the buffalo herd has its kingly commander, who
goes plunging along ahead, like a flesh-and-blood locomotive; the drove
of wild horses has its chieftain, tossing his long mane, like a banner,
in advance of his fellows; even the migratory multitudes of wild-fowl,
darkening the autumn heavens, have their general and engineer,--but none
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