BOOKS.

THE LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA.—I.* IT is difficult to find a phrase which will shortly and accurately express the nature of this most remarkable book. It records with singular truth and vividness the character, the thoughts, and the actions of Queen Victoria as displayed in her private letters and memoranda, and illustrated by the letters of her husband, of her friends and relations among the Royal families of Europe, of her brother Sovereigns, of the great statesmen of her day, and finally of her private and confidential advisers such as Baron Stockmar. Besides providing an intimate portrait of the Queen's mind, it gives a fascinating picture of her times, and incidentally of the chief figures of the Victorian epoch. In our opinion, not a little of the success of the book—and from the historical and literary point of view it is a very great success —is due to the fact that the documents are as a rule quoted entire, and we are not put off with scrappy extracts and excerpts from letters. We realise, of course, that it is exceedingly difficult in an ordinary book of biography to print documents entire owing to reasons of space. At the same time, it cannot be doubted that a letter is a living thing with an individuality of its own, and if the head and tail are cut off and two or three pieces taken out of the body that individu- ality is destroyed. For example, we open the book literally at random and find the following at the end of a short letter addressed by the Queen in 1841 to the King of the Belgians, giving an account of her visit, accompanied by Prince Albert, to Archbishop Harcourt at Nuneham :—" My Coiffeur will be quite at Louise's disposal, and he can caller in any way she likes, if her dresser tells him how she wishes it." That is not a very momentous remark; and yet the "extreme characteristic expression" of the letter, which gives vent to the Queen's indignation that the Oxford undergraduates, or " students " as she calls them, " had had the bad taste to show their party feeling in groans and hisses when the name of a Whig was mentioned, which they ought not to have done in my husband's presence," would have been spoilt by the omission. The mixture of domesticity and high politics is one of the most interesting and human things about the Queen's letters. Again, we think it was exceedingly wise of the editors, Mr. A. C. Benson and Lord Ether—whom we congratulate not merely on their discretion, but also upon their literary tact and good sense—not to abridge letters from the Queen's correspondents. No doubt a great deal of space might have been saved by giving only extracts from these memoranda, and by leaving out the oft-recurring " Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty," or " Lord Melbourne will have the honour of waiting upon your Majesty to-morrow at — o'clock." But even here the saving would have been dearly purchased, for it is amusing to notice how the official formulae vary a little in moments of pressure or excitement.

The first result of a study of these three volumes of letters is to raise the opinion, high as it has always been, of the Queen's character, good sense, and devotion to duty. One realises, of course, how exceedingly fortunate the Queen was in her advisers, and in the direct training which she received in the art of being a Queen from her cousin by marriage, the King of the Belgians. Again, she was fortunate in the political and social atmosphere prevailing at the time of her ascent of the throne.

* The .Letters of Queen Victoria: a Selection from her Majesty. Correspondence, 1887-1861. Edited by Arthur Christopher Benson and Viscount Esher. G.C.V.O. With numerous Photogravures. S volt. London; Jelin Murray. net.]

The land was weary of the regime of the Georges, and even of .bluff, good-tempered William IV. There was an instinctive desire abroad to turn over a new leaf in the matter of king- ship, and make a new start on better lines. But in spite of these favourable conditions, nothing would have been achieved had not the Queen possessed a personality, not only good all through, but braced by great firmness and great truthfulness. John Bright's historic saying that the Queen was the most absolutely truthful human being he had ever encountered clearly applies to the girl quite as readily as to the woman of matnrer age. Yet though the Queen had these high qualities, she was anything but a copybook Sovereign. She bad strong prejudices, and there was a very great deal of human nature in her composition. She was probably a very much better Sovereign than Marcus Aurelius ; but she could lay no claim to the Imperial Stoic's icy imperturbability and passionless rectitude. No one could describe her as " Heartless, but always in the right." The Queen was very much a woman.

When persons have so many of the good qualities possessed by the Queen, and especially loyalty, truthfulness, modera- tion, caution, and a willingness to abide by wise counsel, there is always a certain tendency to regard them as possessed of the qualities of the heart rather than of the head. The letters contained in the volumes before us show how mistaken is this view in the case of Queen Victoria.

We do not mean to say that the Queen is depicted here as a

woman of genius, or anything approaching it, or even as a woman of remarkable intellectual capacity. At the same time, it is quite evident that the Queen would in any rank of life have been called a clever and capable woman, and that her mental capacity was quite equal to dealing on terms of reasonable equality with the very able and shrewd men of the world with whom her wits were matched, even when she was a girl in her teens. It was not possible for any one to boast that they had refrained out of chivalry from taking in, or taking advantage of, the Queen. She was perfectly well able to take care of herself, and her excellent judgment enabled her to know instinctively whom she might trust and of whom she ought to beware. No doubt she made a very considerable mistake in her estimate of Peel, and allowed his extreme reticence and embarrassment of manner to prejudice him in her eyes, at any rate for a time. When, however, her prejudices against the Tories and in favour of the Whigs had worn off a little, she very soon came to do Peel complete justice, and to rely upon him almost as much as in earlier days she had relied upon Lord Melbourne.

To sum up, there is no need to regard the splendid achieve- ment of the Queen in the region of sovereignty—for a splendid achievement it unquestionably was—as due to happy accident or to a series of lucky influences "in high Cabal." In noble words Fletcher has told us that " a man is his own star."

Unquestionably the Queen was her own star, and of her it was true, as Wordsworth wrote of the Happy Warrior :—

"He labours good on good to fix, and owes To virtue every triumph that he knows."

We shall deal on a subsequent occasion with some of the internal politics contained in these volumes. To-day we would dwell rather upon the Queen's personality. With such a wealth of material at hand it is difficult to know what to quote, but perhaps we cannot do better than give the passage from the Queen's Journal written by her on the evening of Tuesday, June 20th, 1837, the day of her accession :—

" I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, 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. Lord Conyngham (the Lord Chamberlain) then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen. Lord Conyngham knelt down and kissed my hand, at the same time delivering to me the official announcement of the poor King's demise. The Archbishop then told me that the Queen was desirous that he should come and tell me the details of the last moments of my poor good Uncle; he said that ho bad directed his mind to religion, and had died in a perfectly happy, quiet state of mind, and was quite prepared for his death. He added that the King's sufferings at the last wore not very great, but that there was a good deal of uneasiness. Lord Conyngham, whom I charged to express my feelings of condolence and sorrow to the poor Queen, returned directly to Windsor. I then went to my room and dressed. 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. Breakfasted, during which time good, faithful Stockmar came and talked to me. Wrote a letter to dear Uncle Leopold and a few words to dear good Feodore Received a letter from Lord Melbourne

in which he said he would wait upon me at a little before 9. At 9 came Lord Melbourne, whom I saw in my room, and of course quite alone, as I shall always do all my Ministers. He kissed my

hand, and I then acquainted him that it had long been my inten- tion to retain him and the rest of the present Ministry at the head of affairs, and that it could not be in better hands than his.

He again then kissed my hand. He then read to me the Declara- tion which I was to read to the Council, which he wrote himself,

and which is a very fine one. I then talked with him some little .time longer, after which he left me. He was in full dress. I like him very much, and feel confidence in him. He is a very straight- forward, honest, clever and good man. I then wrote a letter to the Queen. At about 11 Lord Melbourne came again to me, and spoke to me upon various subjects. At about half-past 11 I went downstairs and hold a Council in the red saloon. I went in of course quite alone, and remained seated the whole time. My two Uncles, the Dukes of Cumberland and Sussex, and Lord Melbourne conducted me. The Declaration, the various forms, the swearing in of the Privy Councillors, of which there were a great number present, and the reception of some of the Lords of the Council, previous to the Council, in an adjacent room (likewise alone) I subjoin here. I was not at all nervous, and had the satisfaction of hearing that people were satisfied with what I had done and how I had done it. Received after this, audiences of Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell, Lord Albemarle (Master of the Horse), and the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, all in my room and alone. Saw Stockmar. Saw Clark, whom I named my Physician. Saw Mary. Wrote to Uncle Ernest. Saw Ernest Hohenlohe, who brought me a kind and very feeling letter from the poor Queen. I feel very much for her, and really feel that the poor good King was always so kind personally to me, that I should be ungrateful were I not to recollect it and feel grieved at his death. The poor Queen is wonderfully composed now, I hear. Wrote my journal. Took my dinner upstairs alone. Went downstairs. Saw Stockmar. At about twenty minutes to 9 came Lord Melbourne and remained till 10. I bad a very important and a very comfortable conversa- tion with him. Each time I see him I feel more confidence in him; I find him very kind in his manner too. Saw Stockmar. Went down and said goodnight to Mamma, etc. My dear Lohzon will always remain with me as my friend, but will take no situation about me, and I think she is right."

The passage we have just quoted might almost be described as an epitome of the Queen's attitude towards her life, expressed in girlish language. There is something delight- fully quaint in the dignified confidence and kindly reserve dis- played by the girl of eighteen towards the veteran statesman who soon came to love her as a father and whom she regarded almost with the feelings of a daughter.

The often-told tale of the Queen's love-making, retold here at first hand, is as charming an idyll as ever. There is a fine touch of maidenly reluctance displayed in the letter to the King of the Belgians dated July 15th, 1839, from which we must quote a part :—

" I shall send this letter by a courier, as I am anxious to put several questions to you, and to mention some feelings of mine upon the subject of my cousins' visit, which I am desirous should not transpire. First of all, I wish to know if Albert is aware of the wish of his Father and you relative to me ? Secondly, if he knows that there is no engagement between us ? I am anxious that you should acquaint Uncle Ernest, that if I should like Albert, that I can make no final promise this year, for, at the very earliest, any such event could not take place till two or three years hence. For, independent of my youth, and my great repugnance to change my present position, there is no anxiety evinced in this country for such an event, and it would be more prudent, in my opinion, to wait till some such demonstration is shown– else, if it were hurried, it might produce discontent. Though all the reports of Albert are most favourable, and though I have little doubt I shall like him, still one can never answer beforehand for feelings, and I may not have the feeling for him which is requisite to ensure happiness. I may like him as a friend, and as a cousin, and as a brother, but not more; and should this be the case (which is not likely) I am very anxious that it should be understood that I am not guilty of any breach of promise, for I never gave any. I am sure you will understand my anxiety, for I should otherwise, were this not completely under- stood, be in a very painful position. As it is, I am rather nervous about the visit, for the subject I allude to is not an agreeable one to me. I have little else to say, dear Uncle, as I have now spoken openly to you, which I was very, very anxious to do."

Finally, we must draw attention to the equally charming letter of October 15th, 1839, in which the Queen writes to tell her " uncle " that she is not to wait two or three years, but is to be married practically at once. As she naively remarks, "seeing Albert has changed all this."

Before we close our extracts dealing with the Queen's

private character, we cannot refrain from quoting the following letter to Lord Melbourne :- "The Queen is very anxious to hear that Lord Melbourne has not suffered from the ball last night, as it was very hot at first. The beginning was rather dull and heavy, but after supper it got very animated, and we kept it up till a quarter past three; the Queen enjoyed herself very much and isn't at all tired ; she felt much the kindness of many of her kind friends, who are her only real friends. Lady Cowper and Lord and Lady Minto, the Duchess of Somerset, and Lord Anglesey were particularly kind. On the other hand, there were some gloomy faces to be seen, and the Duchess of Gloucester was very cross. The Queen is ashamed to say it, but she has forgotten when she appointed the Judge Advocate ; when will the Cabinet be over ? The Queen danced the first and the last dance with the Grand Duke, made him sit near her, and tried to be very civil to him, and I think we are great friends already and get on very well ; I like him exceedingly."

Passages such as "the Queen enjoyed herself very much and isn't at all tired " are a proof of the delightfully cordial relations that existed between the girl Sovereign and her Prime Minister. But if the Queen was charming, there is no doubt that she had a most attractive Prime Minister in Lord Melbourne. Without ever presuming or wounding his girl Sovereign's sense of 'dignity, he contrived to amuse her with the most fascinating of dry sallies and quaint sayings. We may note that the Grand Duke of the letter we have just quoted was destined as the Emperor Alexander IL to become during the Crimean War the Queen's enemy.