Produced by Anne Soulard, Juliet Sutherland
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.This file was produced from images generously made available by theCanadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.
Permit me, my dear friend, to inscribe to you this very imperfect Life ofyour beloved Queen, in remembrance of that dear old time when the worldwas 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 "gentlereader" and the "indulgent critic" were extant;—when Realism had notshouldered his way into Art;—when there were great actors and actressesof the fine old school, like Macready and the elder Booth—Helen Faucitand Charlotte Cushman; and real orators, like Daniel O'Connell and DanielWebster;—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, andmore sunlight to the acre;—when the scent of the blossoming hawthorn wassweeter in the morning, and the song of the nightingale more melodious inthe twilight;—when, in short, you and I, and the glorious Victorian era,were young.
I send this book out to the world with many misgivings, feeling that itis not what I would like it to be—not what I could have made it withmore time. I have found it especially difficult to procure facts andincidents of the early life of the Queen—just that period which I feltwas of most interest to my younger readers. So much was I delayed thatfor the actual arrangement and culling of my material, and the writing ofthe volume, I have had less than three months, and during that time manyinterruptions in my work—the most discouraging caused by a serioustrouble of the eyes.
I am aware that the book is written in a free and easy style, partlynatural, and partly formed by many years of journalistic work—a stylenew for the grave business of biographical writing, and which may bestartling in a royal biography,—to my English readers, at least. I aimedto make a pleasant, simple fireside story of the life and reign of QueenVictoria—and I hope I have not altogether failed. Unluckily, I had nofriend near the throne to furnish me with reliable, unpublished personalanecdotes of Her Majesty.
I have made use of the labor of several English authors; first, of thatof the Queen herself, in the books entitled, "Leaves from the Journal ofOur Life in the Highlands," and "The Early Years of His Royal Highnessthe 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 SirTheodore Martin's gracious permission. I am much indebted to Hon. JustinMcCarthy, in his "History of Our Own Times." I have also been aided byvarious compilations, and by Lord Ronald Gower's "Reminiscences."
I have long felt that the wonderful story of the life of the Queen ofEngland—of her example as a daughter, wife and mother, and as thehonored head of English society could but have, if told simply, yetsympathetically, a happy and ennobling influence on the hearts and mindsof my young countrywomen. I have done my work, if lightly, with