In the earlier chapters of this little book an attempt was made to indicate the formative influences on the Queen’s character, and a chief place was given, in this connection, to Baron Stockmar and to the Prince Consort. The bed-rock of the character of all three is the value they put on Love and Duty. Stockmar, towards the close of his life, wrote:—

“Were I now to be asked by any young man just entering into life, ‘What is the chief good for which it behooves a man to strive?’ my only answer would be, ‘Love and Friendship!’ Were he to ask me, ‘What is a man’s most priceless possession?’ I must answer, ‘The consciousness of having loved and sought the truth, of having yearned for the truth for its own sake!’ All else is either vanity or a sick man’s dream.”

With a similar unconscious self-revelation, the Prince Consort wrote to his eldest daughter, almost immediately after her marriage, counselling her not to think of herself, but to think of duty and service. “If,” he said, “you have succeeded in winning people’s hearts by friendliness, simplicity, and courtesy, the secret lay in this, that you were not thinking of yourself. Hold fast this mystic power; it is a spark from heaven.” The Queen’s nature was full of responsive sympathy with these “spirits finely touched to fine issues.” In her correspondence she too gives her conception of the secret of happiness. Characteristically enough, she finds her illustration in the person of her husband, and says how people are struck, not only by his great power and energy, but also by his great self-denial, and constant wish to work for others. And “this,” adds the Queen, “is the happiest life. Pining for what one cannot have, and trying to run after what is pleasantest, invariably end in disappointment.”

This is the spirit which has enabled Her Majesty to fill her great position so worthily, and to have been, therefore, of untold service to the country she has loved so well.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS.

1819.Birth of Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace, May 24th.
1820.Death of Duke of Kent.—Death of George III.—Accession ofGeorge IV.—Trial of Queen Caroline begun in House of Lords inOctober; abandoned in November.
1822.Suicide of Lord Londonderry (Castlereagh).—Canning becomesForeign Secretary.
1826. General Election.—Lord Liverpool Prime Minister.
1827. Death of Lord Liverpool.—Canning becomes Prime Minister, anddies in August of same year.—Lord Goderich succeeds him.
1828. Duke of Wellington Prime Minister.
1829. Catholic Emancipation.
1830. Death of George IV.—Accession of William IV.—Regency Billpassed.—Revolution in Paris.—Charles X. deposed.—Louis Philippe,King of the French.—General Election.—Whig majority.—Earl GreyPrime Minister.
1831. Prince Leopold (widower of Princess Charlotte) becomes Kingof the Belgians.—First Reform Bill defeated—Dissolution.—Largemajority in favor of Reform, and Bill immediately reintroduced.
1832. Reform Bill carried.
1833. Abolition of Slavery in British Dominions; £20,000,000 voted tocompensate West Indian slave-owners.
1834. New Poor Law passed.
1835. The Orange Plot.—Lord Melbourne Prime Minister.
1836. First meeting between Princess Victoria and Prince Albert ofCoburg.
1837. Death of William IV.—Accession of Queen Victoria, June20th.—Insurrection in Canada.
1838. Coronation.
1839. Sir Robert Peel’s unsuccessful attempt to form aMinistry.—Bedchamber question.—Queen’s betrothal to Prince Albert.
1840. Queen’s marriage.—Oxford’s attempt on her life.—Birth ofPrincess Royal.
1841. General Election.—Tory majority.—Sir R. Peel PrimeMinister.—Birth of Prince of Wales.
1842. Afghan War.—Queen’s first visit to Scotland.—Second and thirdattempts on her life.
1843. Birth of Princess Alice.—Queen’s visit to Louis Philippe atChâteau d’Eu.
1844. Visit of the Czar Nicholas to the Queen at Windsor.—Birth ofPrince Alfred.—Louis Philippe’s visit to Windsor.
1845. The Queen’s first visit to Germany.—Peel resigns, but isrecalled.—Purchase of Osborne.
1846. Birth of Princess Helena.—Spanish marriages.—IrishFamine.—Repeal of the Corn Laws.—Fall of Peel’s Government.—LordJohn Russell becomes Prime Minister, and Lord Palmerston ForeignSecretary.—Lord George Bentinck the leader of Protectionist party.
1847. Irish famine.—General Election.—Whig majority.
1848. Revolution in Paris.—Fall of Louis Philippe, who takes refugein England.—Chartist movement in England.—Irish Rebellion.—Birth ofPrincess Louise.—Purchase of Balmoral.
1849. The Queen’s first visit to Ireland.—Enthusiastic reception.—
1850. Birth of Prince Arthur.—Death of Sir Robert Peel.
1851. Opening of Great Exhibition.—Coup d’État inParis—Dismissal of Lord Palmerston.
1852. Fall of John Russell’s Ministry.—Earl of Derby formsGovernment, which lasts ten months.—General Election.—Earl ofAberdeen, Prime Minister.—Death of Duke of Wellington.—Recognitionof Louis Napoleon as Emperor of the French.
1853. Birth of Prince Leopold.—Second visit to Ireland.—Outbreak ofunpopularity against Prince Albert.—Marriage of Louis Napoleon.
1854. Alliance with Louis Napoleon.—Crimean War.
1855. Fall of Lord Aberdeen’s Government.—Lord Palmerston PrimeMinister.—Death of the Czar.—Visits exchanged between English andFrench Courts.—Fall of Sebastopol.—Betrothal of Princess Royal toPrince Frederick William of Prussia.—Visit of Victor Emmanuel toWindsor.
1856. Death of Queen’s half-brother.—Birth of Prince Imperial.
1857. Birth of Princess Beatrice.—Title of Prince Consort conferredon Prince Albert.—Indian Mutiny.—General Election.—Palmerstontriumphant.
1858. Marriage of Princess Royal.—State visit of Queen toCherbourg.—Visit to Germany to Princess Royal.—Orsini’s attempt toassassinate French Emperor.—Fall of Lord Palmerston’s Governmenton Conspiracy Bill.—Earl of Derby’s Second Administration, lastingsixteen months.
1859. Birth of Queen’s first grandchild, now Emperor William II. ofGermany.—Volunteer Movement.—General Election.—Lord Palmerstonagain Prime Minister.—War between France and Austria on ItalianQuestion.
1860. Betrothal of Princess Alice to Prince Louis of Hesse.—TriumphalEntry of Garibaldi into Naples.—Abdication of King of Naples.
1861. Death of Duchess of Kent.—Visit of the Queen to Coburg.—Thirdvisit of Queen to Ireland.—Victor Emmanuel proclaimed King of UnitedItaly.—Death of the Prince Consort.—American Civil War.—TheTrent Incident.
1862. Marriage of Princess Alice.—Crown of Greece offered to PrinceAlfred.
1863. Marriage of Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandraof Denmark.—Grandchild born (Princess Alice’s child) atWindsor.—Unveiling of Prince Consort’s statue in Aberdeen.
1864. Birth of a son to the Prince and Princess of Wales, heir to thethrone in the second generation.—Schleswig-Holstein.—War betweenDenmark and Germany.
1865. Death of King Leopold of Belgium.—Death of LordPalmerston.—General Election.—Lord John Russell Prime Minister.
1866. Queen opens Parliament in person for first time since herwidowhood.—Marriage of Princess Helena to Prince Christian ofSchleswig-Holstein.—Fall of Lord Russell’s Government.—Earl of Derbysucceeds him.—War between North and South Germany.
1867. Publication of “Early Years of the Prince Consort.”—Openingof Albert Hall.—The Passing of Mr. Disraeli’s Reform Bill, givingHousehold Suffrage in towns.
1868. Mr. Disraeli Prime Minister.—General Election.—LiberalMajority.—Mr. Gladstone becomes Prime Minister.—AttemptedAssassination of Duke of Edinburgh.
1869. Disestablishment of Irish Church.
1870. Franco-German War.—Fall of Louis Napoleon.—English EducationAct.
1871. German Unity accomplished.—King William of Prussia declaredGerman Emperor at Versailles.—Illness and recovery of the Prince ofWales.—Marriage of Princess Louise to Marquis of Lorne.
1872. Thanksgiving Service for recovery of the Prince of Wales.—Deathof the Queen’s half-sister, Princess Feodore of Hohenlohe.
1873. Fatal accident to Princess Alice’s little boy.
1874. Marriage of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to the GrandDuchess Marie of Russia.—General Election.—First ConservativeMajority since 1841.—Lord Beaconsfield (Disraeli) Prime Minister.
1876. Royal Titles Bill passed.—Bulgarian atrocities.—Servia andMontenegro declare war against Turkey.
1877. Russia declares war against Turkey.
1878. Death of Princess Alice.—Marriage of the Queen’s eldestgranddaughter, Princess Charlotte of Prussia.—Treaty ofBerlin.—Death of Lord Russell.
1879. Marriage of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, to Princess Louiseof Prussia.—Birth of the Queen’s first great-grandchild.—Death ofthe Prince Imperial in South Africa.
1880. —General Election.—Large Liberal majority.—Mr. Gladstone PrimeMinister.
1881. War in Egypt.—Tel-el-Kebir.
1882. Marriage of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, to Princess Helen ofWaldeck.—The Queen fired at by a Lunatic.
1884. Death of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.—Birth of hisposthumous son.—Passing of Mr. Gladstone’s Reform Bill givingHousehold Suffrage in Counties.
1885. Marriage of Princess Beatrice to Prince Henry ofBattenberg.—Death of General Gordon at Khartoum.—Fall of Mr.Gladstone’s Ministry.—Marquis of Salisbury Prime Minister.—GeneralElection.—Parties very nearly balanced.—Mr. Gladstone declareshimself in favor of Home Rule.
1886. Lord Salisbury’s Government defeated.—Mr. Gladstone formsGovernment and introduces First Home Rule Bill, defeated in theHouse of Commons, June.—General Election, July.—Large UnionistMajority.—Lord Salisbury Prime Minister.
1887. The Jubilee.
1888. Death of German Emperor, William I., March.—Accession of theQueen’s son-in-law, the Emperor Frederick.—His death, June 15th.
1892. Death of the Queen’s heir in the second generation, the Duke ofClarence.—Death of her son-in-law, Prince Louis of Hesse.—GeneralElection.—Liberal majority.—Mr. Gladstone Prime Minister.
1893. Betrothal and marriage of Duke of York to Princess Victoria Maryof Teck.—Second Home Rule Bill defeated in the House of Lords.
1894. Birth of Prince Edward of York.—Death of the Czar, AlexanderII.—Accession of the young Czar, Nicholas II.—His marriage to theQueen’s granddaughter, Princess Alix of Hesse.—Mr. Gladstone retires,and is succeeded in the Premiership by the Earl of Rosebery.

BOOKS OF REFERENCE.