MANY years ago, in a big airy schoolroom, a little girl of eleven
sat with her governess. The little girl had many lessons to learn,
far more it seemed to her than other little girls of the same
age, and sometimes they were terribly dull and uninteresting.
But to-day they were not so, for she had found in her history
book a page which showed how kings were descended from each other.
This was very interesting. The little girl read the page carefully,
then, looking up into the face of her governess, she said gravely,
"So I shall be Queen of Britain one day." Then slipping
her hand into that of her governess, "I will be good,"
she added, "I will be good. I see now why I have to learn
so many lessons."
This little girl was Princess Victoria, the daughter of the Duke
of Kent, younger brother of William IV. William IV. had two children,
but they died while they were babies. The Princess Victoria's
father had died when she was a baby, so she was the heir to the
throne.
When William lay still and quiet in the great palace at Windsor,
the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain stepped
into a carriage and drove fast to the palace of Kensington, where
the Princess lived with her mother. It was five o'clock in the
morning when they arrived there. They knocked and hammered for
a long time before they could rouse the sleepy porter, but at
last they did so and got into the palace. But it seemed as if
they were not to see the Princess, and that was what they had
come for.
At last, after they had waited for a long time, a lady came to
them. "The Princess is sleeping so peacefully," she
said, "I cannot wake her."
"We have come to see the Queen on affairs of state,"
said the Archbishop. "Even her sleep must give way to that."
The Queen! That was a very different matter.
In a few minutes the new-made Queen came into the room. Her brown
hair was hanging over her shoulders, a shawl covered her nightdress,
and only slippers were on her little bare feet. She was hardly
awake, and she wondered, perhaps, if she might not still be dreaming.
And there, in the early morning sunshine, these two grave gentlemen,
the Archbishop and the Lord Chamberlain, knelt to kiss the hand
of this girl of eighteen who was their Queen.
Since the time of George I., the kings of Britain had also been
kings of Hanover. But in Hanover there was a law that no woman
could ascend the throne. Victoria could not be Queen of Hanover,
so the crown passed to the Duke of Cumberland, another of the
brothers of William IV. The British people were not very sorry
to be rid of Hanover, and they were quite glad to be rid of the
Duke of Cumberland, for no one loved him.
Not long after Queen Victoria came to the throne she married
her cousin, Prince Albert of Coburg Gotha. Very often kings and
queens cannot choose whom they will marry as other people can.
They have to do as they are advised, and marry for the good of
their country and people. But it is pleasant to know that this
Queen and Prince really loved each other, and that they were happy
together with their children, just like ordinary people.
Britain had been long at peace, and I wish I had no more wars
to tell about. But, unfortunately, during the reign of Victoria
there were many wars, although wise men did all they could to
avoid them, for we see now more and more clearly how cruel and
terrible a thing war is.
I cannot tell you about all these wars and their reasons; indeed,
I cannot tell you about nearly all the important events which
have happened since Victoria began to reign. Things happen and
changes come now much more quickly than they used to do, and to
tell of all the wonderful events of the nineteenth century would
fill a whole book, and much of it would not interest you.
