FIRST YEARS OF CHILDHOOD.
Old Memories of Kensington Palace--Enlargements of the Structure by
William III., Anne, Queen Caroline, and the Duke of Sussex--Maids of
Honour--Rank and Beauty in the Gardens--Wilberforce and the Infant
Princess--Victoria at Ramsgate--A Picture of Victoria when Five Years
old--Her Physical Training--Popularity as a Child--Her Youthful
Charities--A Narrow Escape from Death--Early Development of Quick
Intelligence--Anecdotes--Love of Nature--Proneness to Self-will--But
Counterbalanced by Candour--Waggishness--A Portrait of the
Child-Princess by Leigh Hunt.
The infancy, girlhood, and budding womanhood of the Princess Victoria were
chiefly spent at the Royal Palace of Kensington. It was her mother's fixed
residence, but the family were much at Claremont, where the Queen
testifies that she spent the happiest days of her childhood. There were
frequent trips made, too, to various watering-places; and, as the Princess
grew in years, visits were paid at the country houses of some of the
nobility. Leigh Hunt, in his exquisite book of gossip entitled "The Old
Court Suburb," thus happily describes the more salient and prominent
features of the somewhat sombre region of the Queen's up-bringing:--
In vain we are told that Wren is supposed to have built the south
front, and Kent (a man famous in his time) the east front. We can no
more get up any enthusiasm about it as a building, than if it were a
box or a piece of cheese. But it possesses a Dutch solidity; it can
be imagined full of English comfort; it is quiet; in a good air; and,
though it is a palace, no tragical history is connected with it: all
which considerations give it a sort of homely, fireside character,
which seems to represent the domestic side of royalty itself, and thus
renders an interesting service to what is not always so well
recommended by cost and splendour. Windsor Castle is a place to
receive monarchs in; Buckingham Palace to see fashion in; Kensington
Palace seems a place to drink tea in: and this is by no means a state
of things in which the idea of royalty comes least home to the good
wishes of its subjects. The reigns that flourished here, appositely
enough to this notion of the building, were all tea-drinking
reigns--at least on the part of the ladies; and if the present Queen
does not reign there, she was born and bred there, growing up quietly
under the care of a domestic mother; during which time, the
pedestrian, as he now goes quietly along the gardens, fancies no
harsher sound to have been heard from the Palace windows than the
"tuning of the tea-things," or the sound of a pianoforte.
[Sidenote: KENSINGTON PALACE.]
The associations of Kensington Palace are almost entirely with the earlier
Hanoverian reigns; the later Georges neglected it. Rumour hath it that
this royal domain originated in the establishment of a nursery for the
children of Henry VIII. If it were so, Elizabeth and Victoria must have
been brought up on the same spot; but the tradition is not well supported.
Its first ascertained proprietor was Heneage Finch, Speaker of the House
of Commons at the accession of the First Charles, who built and occupied
only a small nucleus of the present structure, which was enlarged from
time to time by most of its successive occupants, but with no pretension,
and without much plan. From the second Earl of Nottingham, the grandson of
Finch, William III. bought the house and grounds. The latter he enlarged
to the extent of twenty-six acres. To these Anne added thirty, and to
these in turn Queen Caroline, wife of George II., added three hundred.
The house had been the while proportionately growing. Its last expansion
was contributed by the Duke of Sussex.
The gardens were pedantically squared to Dutch uniformity by William of
Orange, and the semblance of a Court which he held in this Palace was
correspondingly gloomy and dismal. The most singular visitor ever received
by William was the Czar Peter, who drove hither _incognito_ in a hackney
coach, on his arrival in London, and was afterwards entertained here with
some slight show of state. In Anne's time, the palace and gardens were
little livelier than in William's. The Queen hedged herself in behind
absurd _chevaux-de-frise_ of etiquette, and the court chroniclers of the
period record little else than eating and drinking. Swift and Prior,
Bolingbroke and Marlborough, Addison and Steele, nevertheless, lent
occasional gleams of brightness and dignity to the otherwise sombre scene.
The most fascinating and memorable association of Kensington Palace is in
connection with the Courts of the first two Georges, and of the son of the
latter, Frederick Prince of Wales. These associations are specially
connected with the bevies of frolicsome, and sometimes frail, maids of
honour, who now live in the pages of Pope and Gay, of Hervey and Walpole.
Chief among them was the gay, sprightly, and irresistible Molly Leppell,
who resisted, in a manner equally indignant and comical, the degrading
overtures of the coarse-souled George II. She married Hervey, the most
effeminate and egregious dandy of his time. Chesterfield thus toasted her
in a ballad on the beauties of the Court;--
Oh! if I had Bremen and Varden,
And likewise the Duchy of Zell,
I'd part with them all for a farden,
To have my dear Molly Leppell.
Caroline of Anspach, consort of Frederick, Prince of Wales, introduced the
habit of promenading in gorgeous costume in the gardens, first on
Saturday, then on Sunday, afternoons. By degrees the quality were admitted
as well as the royal family and their immediate attendants. The liberty
was gradually extended to the general public. Hence it was that Kensington
Gardens became in time as open to all comers as are the royal parks. These
gorgeous promenades ceased with the commencement of the last malady of
George III. It was in allusion to the stately train of attendant beauties
who accompanied the Princess Caroline of Wales, that Tickell wrote--
Each walk, with robes of various dyes bespread,
Seems from afar a moving tulip bed,
Where rich brocades and glossy damasks glow,
And chintz, the rival of the showery bow.
Here England's Daughter, darling of the land,
Sometimes, surrounded with her virgin band,
Gleams through the shades. She, towering o'er the rest,
Stands fairest of the fairer kind confess'd;
Form'd to gain hearts that Brunswick's cause denied,
And charm a people to her father's side.
With the death of George II., the glory departed from Kensington. No
future English King favoured or frequented it. George III. never resided
in the Palace, and it was altogether too dull and homely for his eldest
son. He was willing enough that his bookish brother Sussex, and his steady
brother Kent, should abide in it; and, as one writer puts it, depicting
the "first gentleman in Europe" in a light far from pleasing, but for the
use of which we fear there was too much foundation--"He was well content
to think that the staid-looking house and formal gardens rendered the spot
a good out-of-the-way sort of place enough, for obscuring the growth and
breeding of his niece and probable heiress, the Princess Victoria, whose
life, under the guidance of a wise mother, promised to furnish so
estimable a contrast to his own."
[Sidenote: WILBERFORCE AND THE PRINCESS.]
It was in the rooms, rich with such varied associations as those, some few
of which we have cited, and surrounded by the remarkable collection of
pictures, chiefly by Byzantine and early German painters--that England's
future Queen grew up from babyhood to womanhood. Amongst the very earliest
notices of the infant Princess is the following, which we cite from a
letter written by Wilberforce to his friend, Hannah More, on the 21st
July, 1820. He says:--
In consequence of a very civil message from the Duchess of Kent, I
waited on her this morning. She received me with her fine animated
child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which I soon
became one. She was very civil; but, as she did not sit down, I did
not think it right to stay above a quarter of an hour; and there being
but a female attendant and footman present, I could not well get up
any topic, so as to carry on a continued discourse. She apologised for
not speaking English well enough to talk it; but intimated a hope that
she might talk it better and longer with me at some future time. She
spoke of her situation [this was, probably, in reference to the cold
treatment of her and hers by George IV.], and her manner was quite
delightful.
Four years later, the Duchess and the little Princess paid one of many
visits to Ramsgate: and it would appear that the Duchess of Kent had
already succeeded in being able to talk English "better and longer" with
Wilberforce "at some future time;" for an eye-witness, who was familiar
with all the group, witnessed the following scene. It was a fine summer
day: too warm anywhere but on the shore of the sea, the breeze from which
sufficiently moderated the temperature. A little girl, with a fair, light
form, was sporting on the sands in all the redolence of youth and health.
Her dress was simple--plain straw bonnet, with a white riband round the
crown, a coloured muslin frock, and "as pretty a pair of shoes, on as
pretty a pair of feet, as I ever remember to have seen from China to
Kamschatka"--so testifies the authority from whom we quote. The child had
two companions--her mother and William Wilberforce. The latter looked as
lovingly on the child as did her mother. His kindly eye followed with
tender interest her every footstep, and he was evidently meditating on the
great destiny which was in store for her, when her mother, less
meditative, more concerned with the affairs of the present, suddenly
observed that her daughter had got her shoe's wetted by a breaker. She
waved her hand, and Victoria, obedient to the signal, at once rejoined her
mother and her friend. Perhaps another motive might have been at work in
the mother's breast; for immediately the child had joined the elders,
Wilberforce took her hand in both of his, and addressed to her some kindly
words, doubtless of excellent counsel, for the blue eyes of the girl
looked fixedly at her venerable instructor, and the devoted mother glanced
from one to the other, evidently interested and affected by the contrast.
Wilberforce was no wearisome restrainer of the buoyancy of youth; a few
minutes later, he and his young companion were standing at the margin of
the tide, watching the encroachments of each new breaker, and the
dexterity with which a pet Newfoundland dog brought bits of stick out of
the waves.
[Sidenote: MORAL TRAINING.]
During the earliest years of her childhood, Victoria does not seem to have
been harassed with book-learning--a most wise and excellent omission. In
1823, the Dowager Duchess of Coburg wrote to her daughter--"Do not yet
tease your little puss with learning; she is so young still." The Queen's
mother followed the good advice; it was the cultivation of the heart of
her child at which she first strove. Above everything, any approach to
pride or hauteur was discouraged. The convictions equally with the natural
temperament of the Duchess, led her to regard such a quality as specially
to be avoided. She was trained to be courteous, affable, lively, and to
put social inferiors perfectly at their ease. In her juvenile sea-side and
other excursions, it was constantly observed by every one that the faces
of the bathing-women, and others of the same class, whose services were
needed, lighted up with genuine, unaffected gladness whenever the young
Princess appeared. The following little picture deserves to be reproduced,
without tampering with the colours of its portrayer:--"As she proceeded up
the High Street from the sands, there sat on the low step of a closed shop
an aged Irishwoman, pale, wan, dejected, sorrowful, her head bent forward,
and whilst all nature was gay, she looked sickly, sad, and famishing.
Whether she was too depressed to beg, or too exhausted at that moment to
make the effort, I cannot tell, but she asked for no alms, and even
looked not at the passers-by. The young Princess was attracted by her
appearance, and spoke to the Duchess: 'I think not,' were the only words I
heard from her mamma; and, 'Oh, yes, indeed!' was all I could catch of the
youthful reply. I have no doubt the Duchess thought the old woman was not
in need of relief, or would be offended by the offer of alms; but the
Princess had looked under her bonnet, and gained a better insight into her
condition. There was a momentary pause; the Princess ran back a few steps
most nimbly, and with a smile of heartfelt delight placed some silver in
the hands of the old Irishwoman. Tall and stately was the poor creature,
and as she rose slowly with clasped hands and riveted features, she
implored the blessing of Heaven on the 'English lady.' She was so taken by
surprise by this unexpected mark of beneficence on the part of she knew
not whom, that she turned over her sixpences again and again, thanked the
Virgin, as well as the 'young lady,' a thousand times, and related to
those who stopped to hear her exclamations, the 'good luck' that had come
upon her."
[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S CHILDHOOD.]
While still not a year old, and ere her father's death, the intensity of
interest which the people took in the safety and welfare of the Princess
had been strongly displayed in the universal satisfaction which was
expressed at her providential escape from being wounded, if not killed, in
consequence of some boys shooting at birds near the temporary residence of
the Duke at Sidmouth. Some of the shots penetrated the window of the
nursery, and passed very near the child's head. This universal interest
became yet deeper, when, after the lapse of two or three years, both of
the daughters of the Duke of Clarence having died, and there being no
probability of any issue in the line of either the Dukes of York or
Clarence, she became the eventual successor to the throne, in the event of
the deaths of these two elder brothers of her father. It was now learned
with delight that she passed through the ordinary maladies of childhood
favourably, and that her recovery from them was speedy. The public had
ample opportunities afforded them of observing her growing and healthful
strength; and all commented with pleasure upon the circumstance that she
was not kept secluded from the view and observation of the people, that
her rides and walks were generally in public, that she was growing up
towards maturity in the sight of the nation, and as the child of the
country. It was further a matter of great general rejoicing that those who
were selected, even from the earliest period, to surround her person were
of the most irreproachable character, and that moral worth was sought for
in her preceptors even more than brilliant attainments.
It is especially worthy of notice that the Duke and Duchess of Clarence,
their hearts not being made in the slightest degree callous or soured by
their own melancholy bereavements and the disappointment of their fondest
hopes, formed and displayed for their niece a sincere and warm attachment.
They took from the very first the warmest interest in all her vicissitudes
and illnesses; and when they became King and Queen their elevated
positions only seemed to increase the warmth of their regard, and the
copious flow of their practical kindness. It was, therefore, no wonder
that when, under Providence, Victoria became Queen she treated the Queen
Dowager with most unequivocal respect and esteem, regarding her
suggestions with deference, and her wishes with loving compliance.
Spite of many sinister rumours, the Princess grew up strong and vigorous.
Her mother was especially careful to fortify her constitution, and so to
prepare it to encounter the hard work and manifold anxiety which are the
inevitable lot of a British sovereign. Many there were--some of them with
ends of their own to gain--who kept prophesying that "the daughter of the
Duke of Kent would never attain her legal majority;" or, that "she would
never marry;" again, that "she could never become the mother of a family."
Much alarm was caused by these prognostications. For one thing was above
all others ardently desired by the nation--that the Duke of Cumberland,
who stood next in succession after the Princess, should never become King
of England. Even if he had not been an object of something more than
suspicion, it was universally desired that England should never again
(after King William's death) be united with Hanover under one monarch. But
as facts became known by degrees about the Princess, as her healthy face
and agile frame became familiar in London, and in many parts of the land,
the apprehensions died away, and the "frail, delicate, sickly child,"
whose fabricated ailments had been made the subject of so much sham
sympathy, was looked upon as a fabulous invention.
[Sidenote: LEARNING TO READ.]
It soon became known that her physical and mental characteristics were of
a nature directly the opposite of what had been so industriously reported.
She was extremely active, and had a healthy love of sports and games. She
had an inquiring mind, not only restless in the pursuit, but clear in the
comprehension of knowledge. She soon developed, too, much decision of
character. Seemingly incapable of fatigue, she was the first to begin, and
the last to leave off, a study, a romp, a game, a new duty, and equally
eager to resume an old occupation. This peculiarity, it was gladly
observed, was an inheritance from her father; but her mother also set her
a congenial example of industry and perseverance. Such stories as the
following were gleefully passed throughout the land from lip to lip. While
she was learning her alphabet, she, doubtful of the utility of being so
tormented, ejaculated--"What good this?--what good this?" She was told
that "mamma could know all that was contained in the great book on the
table because she knew _her_ letters, whilst the little daughter could
not." This was quite enough, and the young acolyte of the alphabet cried
out, "I learn, too--I learn, too--very quick." And she did become rapidly
mistress of her letters. Her mother sought to teach her to be satisfied
with simple pleasures, and here she was a most apt pupil. Once, when she
was so young that she could not express what she felt, she dragged her
uncle Clarence to the window to observe a beautiful sunset. To her uncle
Leopold, too, she was constantly pointing out objects of natural beauty,
on which he invariably improved the opportunity by giving her prompt and
clear explanations of the phenomena which evoked her admiration. Her
engrossing passion, indeed--as was that of her future husband--was for
cabinets of natural history, menageries, museums, &c. For pictures she had
an equal love, and one of the first acquirements in which she became
proficient was sketching from nature.
Perhaps the greatest danger she incurred, and the one which her mother had
to take the greatest pains to avert, was the likelihood that her
independent decision of character, which she derived from the Hanoverian
half of her ancestry, might degenerate into stubbornness and self-will.
But her natural sense of justice, and ready openness to clear conviction,
proved an admirable counterpoise. With peculiar ingenuousness of
character, she unreservedly admitted an error the very instant she
perceived it. Once, for example, when on a visit to Earl Fitzwilliam, a
bosom friend of her father, the party were walking in the grounds, and she
had run on in advance. An under-gardener cautioned her not to go down a
certain walk, as, said he, in his provincial dialect, the rain had made
the ground "slape." "Slape! slape!" cried she, rapidly, and in the true
George III. style; "and pray, what is 'slape?'" "Very slippery, miss--your
Royal Highness--ma'am," replied he. "Oh! that's all," she replied; "thank
you," and at once proceeded. She had not advanced many yards, when she
came down heavily to the ground. The Earl had been observing all that had
passed, from a few yards' distance, and he cried out, "There! now your
Royal Highness has an explanation of the term 'slape,' both theoretically
and practically." "Yes, my lord," she somewhat meekly said, "I think I
have. I shall never forget the word 'slape.'" On a similar occasion, when
cautioned not to frolic with a dog whose temper was not very reliable, she
persisted in doing so, and he made a snap at her hand. Her cautioner ran
solicitously, believing that she had been bitten. "Oh, thank you! thank
you!" said she. "You're right, and I am wrong; but he didn't bite me--he
only warned me. I shall be careful in future."
[Sidenote: JUVENILE ANECDOTES.]
The following incident shows that at least on some occasions a keen spirit
of waggishness entered strongly into her self-will. When first she took
lessons on the piano, she objected strongly to the monotonous fingering,
as she had formerly done to A B C. She was, of course, informed that all
success as a musician depended upon her first becoming "mistress of the
piano."
"Oh, I am to be mistress of my piano, am I?" asked she. To that the reply
was a repetition of the statement.
"Then what would you think of me if I became mistress at once?"
"That would be impossible. There is no royal road to music. Experience and
great practice are essential."
"Oh, there is no royal road to music, eh? No royal road? And I am not
mistress of my pianoforte? But I will be, I assure you; and the royal road
is this"--at the same time closing the piano, locking it, and taking the
key--"There! that's being mistress of the piano! and the royal road to
learning is, never to take a lesson till you're in the humour to do it."
After the laugh which her joke had provoked in herself and others had
subsided, she at once volunteered to resume the lesson.
We cannot more fitly conclude this chapter, ere we proceed to travel an
important stage further in our attempt to trace the youthful days of the
Queen, than by presenting a picture of her, as she appeared at this period
of her life to the genial eyes of Leigh Hunt, to whom we have been
already indebted at the commencement of this chapter:--
We remember well the peculiar kind of personal pleasure which it gave
us to see the future Queen, the first time we ever did see her, coming
up a cross path from the Bayswater Gate, with a girl of her own age by
her side, whose hand she was holding, as if she loved her. It brought
to our mind the warmth of our own juvenile friendships, and made us
fancy that she loved everything else that we had loved in like
measure--books, trees, verses, Arabian tales, and the good mother who
had helped to make her so affectionate. A magnificent footman, in
scarlet, came behind her, with the splendidest pair of calves, in
white stockings, that we had ever beheld. He looked somehow like a
gigantic fairy, personating, for his little lady's sake, the grandest
footman he could think of; and his calves he seemed to have made out
of a couple of the biggest chaise-lamps in the possession of the
godmother of Cinderella. As the Princess grew up, the world seemed
never to hear of her except as it wished to hear--that is to say, in
connection with her mother; and now it never hears of her but in
connection with children of her own, and her husband, and her mother
still [this was written in 1855], and all good household pleasures and
hospitalities, and public virtues of a piece with them. May life ever
continue to appear to her what, indeed, it really is to all who have
eyes for seeing beyond the surface--namely, a wondrous fairy scene,
strange, beautiful, mournful too, yet hopeful of being "happy ever
after," when its story is over; and wise, meantime, in seeing much
where others see nothing, in shedding its tears patiently, and in
doing its best to diminish the tears around it.