Queen Victoria | Page 8

great consolation and security in the reflection that he leaves
Your Majesty in a situation in which Your Majesty has the inestimable
advantage of such advice and assistance." The Queen was exceedingly
proud of these words of praise, coming as they did unasked from a
minister of such long experience.
It was in the same year that the Prince was appointed Head of the Royal
Commission which had been formed to encourage the study of the Fine
Arts throughout the kingdom. This was work of a kind which he
especially loved, and he was now in a position to influence the
movement which led to the Great Exhibition of 1851.
[Illustration: Prince Albert F.X. Winterhalter Photo Emery Walker
Ltd.]
But all was not plain sailing for the Prince, who was still regarded, if
not with dislike, at any rate with some mistrust, as being a foreigner.
For a long time yet he felt himself a stranger, the Queen's husband and
nothing more. Still, "all cometh to him who knoweth how to wait," and
he set himself bravely to his uphill task. To use his own words, "I
endeavour to be as much use to Victoria as I can,"--this was the
keynote of his whole life.
The Prince took sides with neither of the political parties, and first of
all by careful economy he lessened the enormous household expenses
and proved that it was possible for royalty to live without always being
in debt. He established model farms at Osborne and Windsor,
introduced different and better breeds of cattle, and even made a profit
on the undertaking. He persuaded his wife to give up the late hours
which were still usual, and gradually, by kindness and sympathy, won
the household staff over to his way of thinking.
The Prince's life was an extremely full one. Soon after six o'clock was
his time for rising. Until nine he read and answered letters. He then
looked through all the principal newspapers and gave the Queen a
summary of the most important news. He found time also to work and

play with his children during his short intervals of leisure.
Consultations with ministers, reading and writing dispatches followed,
and then a short time was devoted to open-air exercise. After lunch he
often accompanied the Queen on a drive. More reading and writing
took up his time until dinner, after which there was either a social
evening or a visit to a theatre. He was "complete master in his house,
and the active centre of an Empire whose power extends to every
quarter of the globe. . . . No British Cabinet minister has ever worked
so hard during the session of Parliament, and that is saying a good deal,
as the Prince Consort did for 21 years. . . . The Prince had no holidays
at all, he was always in harness."[1]
[Footnote 1: Miss C.M. Yonge, _Life of H.R.H. the Prince Consort_.]
Louis Philippe, the first French king who had ever visited this country,
except King John, wrote of him: "Oh, he will do wonders; he is so wise;
he is not in a hurry; he gains so much by being known. He will always
give you good advice. Do not think I say so in flattery. No! No! It is
from my heart. He will be like his uncle, equally wise and good. . . . He
will be of the greatest use to you, and will keep well at your side if a
time of vicissitude should come, such as I hope may never be--but,
after all, no one can tell."
CHAPTER V
: _Family Life
"Upon the good education of princes, and especially of those who are
destined to govern, the welfare of the world in these days very greatly
depends."
The love of children was always a strong connecting link between the
Queen and her people. No trouble was ever spared by her to obtain the
best possible advice on the training of her own family. The nursery was
as well governed as her kingdom.
Acting upon the advice of Baron Stockmar, the Queen determined to
have some one at the head on whom she could thoroughly rely, as her

many occupations prevented her from devoting so much time to these
duties as she could have wished. Lady Lyttelton, who had been a
lady-in-waiting, was appointed governess to the Royal Family in 1842,
and for eight years she held this post, winning the affection and respect
of her young pupils and the gratitude of the Queen and her husband.
From time to time the Queen wrote her views upon the subject. "The
greatest maxim of all is," she declared, "that the children should be
brought up as simply, and in as domestic a way as possible; that (not
interfering with their