CHAPTER III
EXAMINATION DAY
When Queen Victoria was a tiny child, she is said to have asked hermother one day, "Mamma, why is it that when Feodore and I are walkingall the gentlemen raise their hats to me and not to her?" In 1830, whenshe was nearly eleven years old, her mother and her teachers thoughtthat it was time for her question to be answered. The King was so illthat everyone knew he could not live many months. The Duke of York haddied three years earlier; therefore at the King's death William, Dukeof Clarence, would ascend the throne, and Victoria would succeed him.
It seems quite probable that the bright little girl had before thistime answered the question for herself. There are stories that if shefailed in a lesson a certain teasing boy cousin of hers used to say,"Yes, a pretty queen you will make!" and then he would suggest thatwhen a queen did not rule well her head was likely to be cut off.Another story is that when the child was reading aloud to her motherabout the Princess Charlotte, she suddenly looked up from her book andasked, "Mamma, shall I ever be a queen?" Tradition says that theDuchess replied: "It is very possible. I want you to be a good woman,and then you will be a good queen." Whether there is any truth in thesestories or not, the child was too observing not to have noticed whenvery young that she was treated differently from other children, evenher sister Feodore. She lived very simply, and Miss Lehzen was alwaysat hand to correct the least approach to a fault; but she could nothave failed to see that she was watched wherever she went and that farmore attention was paid to her than to her mother. Indeed, she herselfsaid long afterwards that the knowledge of her position came to hergradually and that she "cried much" at the thought of ever having to bea queen.
The little girl kept these thoughts to herself, and even her mother didnot know that she was dreading a future on a throne. There are severalaccounts of just how she was finally told that she would some day wearthe crown, but a version which may be trusted comes from Mr. Davys.
"Princess," he said, "to-morrow I wish you to give me a chart of thekings and queens of England."
When morning came, she gave him the chart, and he read it carefully.Then he said:
"It is well done, but it does not go far enough. You have put down'Uncle King' as reigning, and you have written 'Uncle William' as theheir to the throne, but who should follow him?"
The little girl hesitated, then she said, "I hardly liked to put downmyself."
One story of the way the announcement was made to the Princess waswritten--nearly forty years after the event--by her strict and adoringgoverness, but it makes her out such a priggish, Pharisaical littlemoralizer that one cannot help fancying that the devoted womanunconsciously put into the mouth of her idol the speeches that seemedto her appropriate, not to the child, but to the occasion. She saysthat when the Princess was told of her position, she declared: "Many achild would boast, but they don't know the difficulty. There is muchsplendor, but there is more responsibility." Then the governessreminded her that if her Aunt Adelaide should have children they wouldbe the ones to ascend the throne. According to this account, the childanswered: "If it were so, I should be very glad, for I know by the loveAunt Adelaide bears me how fond she is of children." It seems probablethat after the Princess had been told what lay before her, Miss Lehzenmade speeches somewhat like these, and that the conscientious,tender-hearted little girl assented to them.
Mr. Davys told the Duchess about the chart, and she wrote at once tothe Bishop of London that the Princess now understood her position. Theletter ended, "We have everything to hope from this child."
The Princess Victoria at the age of eleven.]
It must have given the little girl of eleven years a strange feeling toread a chart of sovereigns of her country and know that her own namewould be written in the next vacant place. She had seen the deferencepaid to "Uncle King," she knew that his will was law, and it must havemade the child's brain whirl to think "Some day I shall be in hisplace." She had always been trained to the most strict obedience, butshe knew that some day whatever order she chose to give would beobeyed. She seems to have thought more of the responsibility of thethrone than of its glories; but if she had felt ever so much inclinedto boast, she would soon have realized that after all she was only alittle girl who must obey rather than command, for the firstconsequence of her queenly prospects was an examination in her lessonsbefore two learned bishops.
The Duchess believed that the training of the future queen was the mostimportant matter in the country. She could hardly have helped feelingthat she had been most successful in her efforts to make the child whatshe ought to be, but after all, she herself was a German, her child wasto rule an English realm, and the careful mother wished to make surethat the little girl was having the kind of instruction that would bestprepare her for the difficult position she would have to fill. Sheselected two bishops as her advisers, men of much learning and finecharacter, and wrote them a long letter about the Princess. She toldthem what masters had been chosen for her and in what branch each onehad instructed her. She enclosed a list of the books the Princess hadread, a record of every lesson she had taken, and the schedule of herstudy hours. She said that she herself had been present at almost everylesson, and that Miss Lehzen, whose special task it was to assist thelittle girl in preparing her work for the different masters, was alwaysin attendance.
With this letter went a report from each instructor, stating not onlywhat books she had used but what his opinion was of her progress andability. Although there was so much temptation to use flattery, thesereports seem to have been written with remarkable sincerity andtruthfulness. The writing master said that his pupil had "a peculiartalent" for arithmetic, but he was apparently not quite satisfied withher handwriting, for he closed with the sentence, "If the Princessendeavors to imitate her writing examples, her success is certain." Theteacher of German wrote, "Her orthography is now tolerably correct,"but he did not show the least enthusiasm over his statement, "There isno doubt of her knowing the leading rules of the German language quitewell," though surely this was no small acquisition for a child ofeleven. The French teacher declared that her pronunciation was perfect,that she was well advanced in knowledge of French grammar and couldcarry on a conversation in French, but that she spoke better than shewrote. He added: "The Princess is much further advanced than is usuallythe case with children of her age." Mr. Davys, with his great love forhis little pupil, seems to have had a struggle with himself to keepfrom speaking of her as warmly as he longed to speak, but he did allowhimself to say at the close of his report:
"It is my expectation that the disposition and attainments of thePrincess will be such as to gratify the anxious wishes, as well as toreward the earnest exertions, with which your Royal Highness haswatched over the education of the Princess."
These honest, straightforward reports were sent to the two bishops. TheDuchess asked them to read the papers carefully and then examine the"singularly situated child," as she called the Princess, to see whethershe had made as much progress as she should have done, and in whatrespects they would suggest any change of method and teaching.
Three weeks after the letter was written the two bishops went toKensington and examined the little maiden in "Scripture, catechism,English history, Latin, and arithmetic." Both were gentle, kindly men,and both had little children of their own. Evidently they knew how toquestion the royal child in such a fashion that she was not startled ormade too nervous to do her best, for one of them wrote in his journalabout the examination, "The result was very satisfactory." The bishopswent home from Kensington and three days later they sent the anxiousmother a report of the interview. They wrote that they had asked thePrincess "a great variety of questions," and that her answers showedshe had learned "with the understanding as well as with the memory."They were so well pleased with the results of their visit, they said,that they had no change to recommend in the course which had beenpursued. So it was that the little girl began her public life, not bycongratulations and entertainments and
rejoicings, but by a thoroughexamination in her studies before two learned men.
Two months after the bishops' visit to Kensington the Princess passedher eleventh birthday. One month later "Uncle King" died, and "UncleWilliam" became sovereign, with the title of William IV. At William'sdeath Victoria would become queen, and as that event might occur beforeshe was eighteen and capable of ruling for herself, it was necessary tohave a guardian appointed at once, so that, if it should come to pass,there would be no delay in matters of state.
A law was proposed in Parliament called the Regency Bill. As it waspossible that William would have a child, Victoria was spoken of as the"heir presumptive"--that is, the one who is presumed or expected to bethe heir, although with a possibility of changes that would put someoneelse before her. The bill provided that if she should come to the crownbefore she was eighteen, her mother should be her guardian and shouldrule the country in her name until she was of age. This bill became alaw, and few laws have been so pleasing to both houses of Parliamentand to the whole country. Speeches were made by prominent statesmenpraising the Duchess of Kent and her manner of training her littledaughter. The grandmother in Coburg wrote, "May God bless and protectour little darling," and the whole country echoed the prayer.
When Parliament was prorogued, or closed until the next session, thePrincess was with her Aunt Adelaide, who was now the Queen. They stoodtogether at one of the palace windows watching the procession, whilethe people shouted, "Hurrah for Queen Adelaide! Long live the Queen!"Then the loving aunt took the little girl by the hand and led her outon the balcony so that all might see her. The people cheered louderthan before, not only for the Princess, but for the generous woman whohad not a thought of jealousy because it was the child of her friendand not one of her own little girls that stood by her side.
King William was fond of the child, but he did not like the mother. TheDuchess always spoke of him with respect and kindness, but shecontrived to have her own way in bringing up her daughter, and she wasso quick-witted that she could usually prove, though in a mostcourteous and deferential manner, that he was in the wrong. He was veryindignant that Victoria was not allowed to spend time at court, butthere was nothing for him to say when the mother quietly took theground that the little girl was not strong enough for the excitementsof court life. Soon after his accession he sent the Prime Minister tothe Duchess to express his opinion that the education of the heirpresumptive ought to be in charge of some clergyman of high rank in thechurch, and not in that of the minister of a little country parish. TheDuchess replied with the utmost courtesy. "Convey to his Majesty mygratitude," she said to the Prime Minister, "for the interest that hehas manifested. Say to him that I agree with him perfectly that theeducation of the Princess ought to be intrusted to a dignitary of thechurch." Then she added: "I have every ground for being satisfied withMr. Davys, and I think there can be no reason why he should not beplaced in as high a position as his Majesty could wish." King Williammust have raged when he received the message, but he was helpless, andthere was really nothing to do but to follow the suggestion of theDuchess. This was done, and Mr. Davys became Dean of Chester.
One other official was, however, added to the household of thePrincess, a "state governess," the Duchess of Northumberland. Herbusiness was to attend the royal child on all state occasions and toteach her the details of court etiquette that were to be observed. Thislady had nothing to do with the education of the Princess in any otherrespect, and Miss Lehzen remained her governess as before.
Miss Lehzen, or Baroness Lehzen, for King George had made her a Germanbaroness, was a finely educated woman, the daughter of a Germanclergyman. She had come to England with the Duchess of Kent asgoverness to the Princess Feodore, and she had performed her duties sosatisfactorily that the Duchess was glad to be able to place thePrincess Victoria in her charge. She was a woman of keen, sagaciousjudgment, with the ability to see everything that was going on abouther, and not at all afraid to express her opinions. One day when anaide-de-camp of one of the royal dukes was presented to her, shegreeted him with the frank speech: "I can see that you are not a fop ora dandy, as most of your Guardsmen are." She was severe in her manner,but her bluntest speeches were made with such a friendly glance of hershrewd and kindly eyes that most people who met her became, like theaide-de-camp, her loyal friends. Many years later her former pupil saidof her: "I adored her, though I was greatly in awe of her. She reallyseemed to have no thought but for me."
The education of the schoolgirl Princess went on in much the same wayas during the previous years. Her study hours were observed with suchstrictness that even when a favored guest at Kensington was about totake his departure, she was not allowed to leave her work for a momentto say good-by. Occasionally, however, an interruption came, and threemonths before she was twelve years of age the books had to be closedfor one day that she might make her first appearance at QueenAdelaide's drawing room. She wore a white dress, hardly more elaboratethan her ordinary gowns, but a diamond ornament was in her hair, andaround her neck was a string of pearls. She stood beside the Queen, andalthough the ceremonies were almost as unwonted to her as they wouldhave been to any other child of her age, she did not appearembarrassed, but seemed to enjoy her new experience. Baroness Lehzenwrote a letter to a friend about this time describing the little girl.She said:
"My Princess will be twelve years old to-morrow. She is not tall, butvery pretty; has dark blue eyes, and a mouth which, though not tiny, isvery good-tempered and pleasant; very fine teeth, a small but gracefulfigure, and a very small foot. Her whole bearing is so childish andengaging that one could not desire a more amiable child." The Baronessseems to have just returned from some absence when she wrote theletter, for she adds, "She was dressed to receive me in white muslin,with a coral necklace."
During this year, 1831, while the glories of Victoria's brilliantfuture were beginning to shine faintly about her, the first sorrows ofher life came to her in the death of her grandmother of Coburg and thedeparture of her Uncle Leopold for Belgium. The year before, he hadbeen asked to become king of Greece, but had refused. Now the throne ofBelgium was offered him, and he accepted it. The happiest days of thelittle niece had been spent with him, and the child, who, in spite ofher royal birth, had so few pleasures was sadly grieved at hisdeparture. All her life he had been her devoted friend, always near,and always ready to do anything to please her. Child as she was, sheknew enough of thrones and sovereigns to understand that the visits ofkings and queens must be few and far between, and that she could neveragain have the delightful times of her earlier years.
The coronation of King William took place in September, but neither theDuchess nor the Princess was present. No one knew the reason of theirabsence, and, therefore, all sorts of stories were spread abroad. "ThePrincess is not strong enough to attend so long and wearisome aceremonial," said one. "Her mother keeps her away to spite the King,"declared another; and yet another reason assigned--and this wasprobably the true one--was that the Princess was not allowed to gobecause the King had refused to give her the place in the processionwhich her rank and position demanded.
Whatever reason may have been the correct one, the Princess remained athome, but she did some little traveling during the summer. It was onlyaround the western part of the Isle of Wight, but to the child whosejourneys until the previous season had been hardly more than fromKensington to London or to Claremont these little trips were full ofinterest.
The following summer brought much more of travel. Not only the King butthe people of the kingdom in general were beginning to feel somewhataggrieved that so little was seen of the Princess. The Duchess believedthat the best way for the future Queen to know her realm was to see it,and that the best way to win the loyalty of her future subjects was forthem to see her. She thought that her daughter was now old enough toenjoy and appreciate journeys through the country. These journeys werenot lengthy, for the travelers did not leave England except for a shortstay at Anglesey, but they could hard
ly fail to be of interest to awide-awake girl of thirteen who wanted to "see things and know things."
The general course of their travel was from Kensington to thenorthwest, and its limit was the little island of Anglesey. Of coursethe child who had not been allowed to leave a haycock unfinished lestshe should develop a tendency to leave things incomplete was notpermitted to make an expedition like this without a vast amount ofinstruction. She was required to keep a journal, and she was seldomallowed to look upon the manufacture of any article without listeningto an explanation of the process. It speaks well for her intelligenceand her wish to learn that she seems to have been genuinely interestedin these explanations. She found a tiny model of a cotton loom asfascinating as most children would find a new toy, and she was neverweary of watching the manufacture of nails. As a memento of the visitto the nail-makers she carried away with the greatest delight a littlegold box that they had presented to her. Within the box was a quill,and in the quill was a vast number of nails of all varieties, but sotiny that they could hardly be seen without a magnifying glass. Othergifts were made her. At the University Press she was presented with arichly bound Bible and a piece of white satin, on which was printed aglowing account of her visit. Here in Oxford she was enthusiastic inher enjoyment of the Bodleian Library. One thing in this libraryinterested her especially, a book of Latin exercises in which QueenElizabeth wrote when she was thirteen, just the age of the Princess. Ofcourse the little visitor compared her own handwriting with that ofElizabeth, and the thought must have passed through her mind that someday her exercises and copybooks would perhaps be put into libraries tobe looked at as she was looking at Queen Elizabeth's.
Other events than receiving gifts and studying manufactures came intothose weeks of travel. The Princess laid the corner stone of a boys'school; she planted a little oak tree on the estate of one of herentertainers; in Anglesey she presented the prizes at the NationalEisteddfod, a musical and literary festival which had been celebratedannually from ancient times; she listened to addresses without numberfrom mayors and vice chancellors, and she was present at the formalopening of the new bridge over the Dee, which for this reason was namedthe Victoria Bridge. One thing which seems to have made a specialimpression upon the child's mind, and which she noted particularly inher journal, was that she was allowed to dine with her mother and theguests at seven o'clock.
Traveling in those days was quite a different matter from making ajourney to-day. One or two short railroads had been built in England,but it was many years too early for the comfortable, rapid expresstrains of the present time, and the journeys of the Princess were madeentirely by carriage. She had set off for Kensington with a littlecompany of attendants, very few, indeed, considering her position asheir presumptive, but it was hardly possible, without offending theloyal people of the places through which they passed, to refuse thehonors which were shown to her and her mother and the requests of theyeomanry of various counties that begged the privilege of escortingthem. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, that lover of gorgeousness usedto make journeys about her kingdom that were regarded as an excuse forall magnificence and lavishness. These were called progresses, and nowKing William often jested about "little Victoria's royal progresses."He was not exactly pleased, however, and he kept a somewhat jealouswatch of the honors that were paid to her.
The next year the Princess and her mother spent considerable time intheir yacht, and the King had a fresh cause of annoyance in the factthat now they were greeted not only with addresses but with the firingof guns. He could not endure that anyone but himself should receive theroyal salutes. "The thing is not legal," he said to the navalauthorities. "Stop those poppings." The naval authorities respectfullyinsisted that the thing _was_ legal. The King had not learned wisdomfrom his previous encounters with the Duchess of Kent, and in hisdilemma he actually tried to compel her to refuse to accept thesalutes. The dignified lady replied with all courtesy: "If the Kingwishes to offer me a slight in the face of the people, he can offer itso easily that he should not ask me to make the task easier." KingWilliam was fairly worsted, but he would not yield. He called the PrivyCouncil and ordered them to pass an order that even the royal flagshould not be saluted unless the vessel flying it bore either the Kingor the Queen.
To turn from royal salutes and mayors' addresses and the laying ofcorner-stones to playing with dolls is a little startling, but such wasthe course of the Princess' life. She was heir to the throne, and shecould bestow prizes and receive delegations and meet the eager gaze ofthousands without being at all troubled or embarrassed, but she was achild for all that; she was not allowed to sit at the table when hermother gave an elaborate dinner party for the King, and she stillretained her liking for the dolls that her lack of playmates had madeso dear to her. There is now in existence a little copybook on which iswritten "List of my dolls." By their number and their interest, theycertainly deserve the honor of being catalogued, even at the presenttime, for there were 132 of them, and they were often dressed toimitate noted persons of the day. Most of them were little woodencreatures from three to nine inches high, with sharply pointed noses,cheeks red as a cherry in some one spot--wherever the brush of themaker had chanced to hit--jet black hair, and the most convenientjoints, that enabled the small bodies to be arranged in many attitudes.The men dolls had small black mustaches, and the women dolls weredistinguished by little yellow "back-combs" painted on the black dabwhich represented their hair. The baby dolls were made of rags, uponwhich comical little faces were painted.
The fascination of these dolls does not lie in their beauty, but intheir wardrobes. Most of them were dressed between 1831 and 1833, orwhen the Princess was from twelve to fourteen years old. One grouprepresents the play of Kenilworth, which she had evidently seen. TheEarl of Leicester is gorgeous in knee-breeches of pink satin, withslashes of white silk. His tunic reverses the order and is of whitesatin slashed with pink. He wears the blue ribbon of the Order of theGarter and a wide black velvet hat swept with yellow and white plumes.Queen Elizabeth appears in cloth of gold with enormous puffed sleeves.From her shoulders hangs a long train lined with bright crimson plushand trimmed with ermine. She wears crimson plush shoes and a heavygirdle of gold beads.
There are all sorts of characters among these little wooden people.There are court ladies, actors, and dandified young gallants. Perchedon a table is a merry little ballet-dancer in blue satin trimmed withpink and yellow roses. There are mothers with their babies, and thereis "Mrs. Martha," a buxom housekeeper, with a white lawn frock, fullsleeves, and purple apron pinked all around. She wears a white lace capadorned with many frills and tied under her small wooden chin with pinkribbons. She stands beside a home-made dressing table of cardboardcovered with white brocade.
The conscientious little owner of these dolls marked carefully whichones she herself dressed and in which she was helped by the BaronessLehzen. The wardrobes of thirty-two were made entirely by the fingersof the little girl, and, remembering the schedule of studies, it is awonder how she found the time; one hopes that at least the hour marked"Needlework and learning poetry by heart" was sometimes devoted to thispurpose, though how any dress-maker, old or young, could learn poetrywith a court costume on her hands is a mystery.
It is equally a mystery how even the most skillful of childish fingerscould manufacture such tiny ruffles and finish two-inch aprons withmicroscopic pockets whereon were almost invisible bows. Handkerchiefshalf an inch square have drawn borders and are embroidered with coloredsilk initials. Little knitted stockings beautify the pointed woodenfeet; bead bracelets adorn the funny little wooden arms that hang fromthe short sleeves; coronets and crowns and wreaths glorify the smallwooden heads.
The Princess had a long board full of pegs into which the feet of theselittle favorites of hers fitted, and here she rehearsed dramas andoperas and pantomimes. Even in her play with dolls, however, she couldnot be entirely free from the burden of her destiny, for sometimes theywere used by the state governess to explain cou
rt ceremonials and teachthe etiquette of various occasions. When the Princess was fullyfourteen, the dolls were packed away, though no one guessed how soonthe little owner would be called upon to decide, not the color of adoll's gown, but the fate of men and women and the weighty questions ofa nation.
In the Days of Queen Victoria Page 4
