W. Behnes.] [From the Royal Collection.
BUST OF HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AS PRINCESS VICTORIA.
“I ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility imposed on me; but I am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence on 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 affection of my people, which form the true support of the dignity of the Crown and ensure the stability of the Constitution.”
Every opportunity which was afforded to Parliament and the public of passing judgment on the Queen’s demeanour tended to deepen the favourable impression already created. Greville—the “Man in the Street” of those days—he of whom Lowe afterwards wrote—
“For forty years he listened at the door,
He heard some secrets and invented more,”
is not an authority on which too much reliance should be placed, yet his diary is useful as a reflection of passing events. It is full of enthusiastic praise of the new Monarch.
“All that I hear of the young Queen leads to the conclusion that she will some day play a conspicuous part, and that she has a great deal of character.... Melbourne thinks highly of her sense, discretion, and good feeling; but what seems to distinguish her above everything are caution and prudence, the former in a degree which is almost unnatural in one so young, and unpleasing because it suppresses the youthful impulses which are so graceful and attractive.... With all her prudence and discretion she has great animal spirits, and enters into the magnificent novelties of her position with the zest and curiosity of a child.... The smallness of her stature is quite forgotten in the majesty and gracefulness of her demeanour.”
