Queen Victoria | Page 9

lessons) they should be as much as possible with
their parents, and learn to place their greatest confidence in them in all
things."
Training in religion, to be of real and lasting value, must be given by
the mother herself, and in 1844 the Queen noted with regret that it was
not always possible for her to be with the Princess Royal when the
child was saying her prayers.
"I am quite clear," she said, "that she ought to be taught to have great
reverence for God and for religion, but that she should have the feeling
of devotion and love which our Heavenly Father encourages His
earthly children to have for Him, and not one of fear and trembling; and
that the thoughts of death and an after-life should not be represented in
an alarming and forbidding view, and that she should be made to know
as yet no difference of creeds, and not think that she can only pray on
her knees, or that those who do not kneel are less fervent and devout in
their prayers."
On November 21, 1840, the Queen's first child, Victoria Adelaide Mary
Louisa, the Princess Royal, was born. The Prince's care of his wife
"was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder, wiser, or more
judicious nurse." Only for a moment was he disappointed that his first
child was a daughter and not a son.
The children were all brought up strictly and were never allowed to
appear at Court until a comparatively late age. They were all taught to
use their hands as well as their heads, and at Osborne, in the Swiss
cottage, the boys worked at carpentering and gardening, while the girls

were employed in learning cooking and housekeeping. Christmas was
always celebrated in splendid fashion by the family, and the royal
children were always encouraged to give as presents something which
they had made with their own hands. Lessons in riding, driving, and
swimming also formed part of their training, for the Queen was wise
enough to realize that open-air exercise was very necessary for the
health of her children.
In 1846 the question arose as to who should educate the Prince of
Wales (born 1841). A pamphlet on the subject had been published and
created general interest. Baron Stockmar was again consulted, and gave
it as his opinion that the Prince's education should be one "which will
prepare him for approaching events"--that is, he was to be so educated
that he would be in touch with the movements of the age and able to
respond sympathetically to the wishes of the nation. The rapid growth
of democracy throughout Europe made it absolutely necessary that his
education should be of a different kind. The task of governing well was
becoming more and more difficult, and reigning monarchs were
criticized in an open fashion, such as had not hitherto been possible.
After much thought the post was given to Mr Henry Birch (formerly a
master at Eton College, and at that time rector of Prestwich, near
Manchester), who had made a very favourable impression upon the
Queen and her husband.
Plain people as well as princes must be educated, and this fact was
never lost sight of by the Queen and her husband. In 1857 the Prince
called attention to the fact that there were at that time no fewer than
600,000 children between the ages of three and fifteen absent from
school but known to be employed in some way; he pointed out
also--and this seems in these days difficult to believe--that no less than
two million children were not attending school, and were, so far as
could be ascertained, not employed in any way at all.
[Illustration: BUCKINGHAM PALACE]
The most interesting visitors whom the Queen entertained during her
early married life were the Emperor Nicholas of Russia and Louis
Napoleon of France. The Emperor Nicholas came to England, as he

told the Queen, to see things with his own eyes, and to win, if he could,
the confidence of English statesmen. "I esteem England highly; but as
to what the French say of me, I care not."
He was, however, undoubtedly jealous of this country's growing
friendship with her old enemy, France, but any attempt to weaken this
met with no encouragement.
The Queen, in writing to her uncle Leopold, said, "He gives Albert and
myself the impression of a man who is not happy, and on whom the
burden of his immense power and position weighs heavily and
painfully. He seldom smiles, and when he does, the expression is not a
happy one. He is very easy to get on with." In a further letter she
continued, "By living in the same house together quietly and
unrestrainedly (and this Albert, and with great