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Important Historical Books for the Young
_Makers of England Series_

By EVA MARCH TAPPAN, Ph.D.

  _In the Days of Alfred the Great_
    Cloth. Illustrated. _Net_ $1.00

  _In the Days of William the Conqueror_
    Cloth. Illustrated. _Net_ $1.00

  _In the Days of Queen Elizabeth_
    Cloth. Illustrated. _Net_ $1.00

  _In the Days of Queen Victoria_
    Cloth. Illustrated. _Net_ $1.00


By CALVIN DILL WILSON

  _The Story of the Cid Young People_
    Cloth. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. $1.25


Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston



[Illustration: Her Majesty the Queen in her state robes.
(_From painting by Alfred F. Chalon, R.A., 1838._)]



Makers of England Series



IN THE DAYS

OF

QUEEN VICTORIA



By

EVA MARCH TAPPAN, Ph.D.

AUTHOR OF "IN THE DAYS OF ALFRED THE GREAT," "IN THE DAYS OF
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR," "IN THE DAYS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH," ETC.

_ILLUSTRATED FROM FAMOUS PAINTINGS AND ENGRAVINGS AND FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS_



BOSTON:
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

Published, August, 1903

COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
_All rights reserved_

IN THE DAYS OF QUEEN VICTORIA




PREFACE


To her own people Queen Victoria was England itself, the emblem of the
realm and of the empire. To millions who were not her people the words
"the Queen" do not bring even yet the thought of the well-beloved woman
who now shares the English throne, but rather of her who for nearly
sixty-four years wore the crown of Great Britain and gave freely to her
country of the gift that was in her.

Other women have been controlled by devotion to duty, other women
have been moved to action by readiness of sympathy, but few have
united so harmoniously a strong determination to do the right with
a never-failing gentleness, a childlike sympathy with unyielding
strength of purpose.

Happy is the realm that can count on the list of its sovereigns one
whose career was so strongly marked by unfaltering faithfulness, by
honesty of aim, and by statesmanlike wisdom of action.

EVA MARCH TAPPAN.

WORCESTER, MASS.
_February, 1903._




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                           PAGE

   I. BABY DRINA,                                    1

  II. THE SCHOOLDAYS OF A PRINCESS,                 21

 III. EXAMINATION DAY,                              43

  IV. A QUEEN AT EIGHTEEN,                          68

   V. THE CORONATION,                               89

  VI. THE COMING OF THE PRINCE,                    114

 VII. HOUSEKEEPING IN A PALACE,                    138

VIII. A HOME OF OUR OWN,                           163

  IX. NIS! NIS! NIS! HURRAH!                       186

   X. THE ROYAL YOUNG PEOPLE,                      212

  XI. THE QUEEN IN SORROW,                         235

 XII. THE LITTLE FOLK,                             259

XIII. MOTHER AND EMPRESS,                          278

 XIV. THE JUBILEE SEASON,                          299

  XV. THE QUEEN AND THE CHILDREN,                  319

 XVI. THE CLOSING YEARS,                           338




ILLUSTRATIONS


Her Majesty the Queen in her state robes. (_From painting
by Alfred E. Chalon, R.A., 1838_)                     _Frontispiece_

                                                       _Facing page_

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria
(_From painting by Sir W. Beechey, R.A._)                        16

The Princess Victoria at the age of eleven                       46

The coronation of Queen Victoria. (_From painting by Sir
George Hayter_)                                                 110

Albert, Prince Consort, in the uniform of a field marshal       136

The Queen in 1845. (_From a painting by John Partridge_)        158

Queen Victoria; Prince Albert; Victoria, Princess Royal;
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales; Prince Alfred; Princess
Alice; Princess Helena. (_From a painting by F. Winterhalter,
1848_)                                                          188

Westminster Abbey                                               216

Balmoral Castle                                                 244

Houses of Parliament                                            274

Windsor Castle                                                  302

Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. (_From a photograph by
A.Bassano_)                                                    338




In the Days of Queen Victoria




CHAPTER I

BABY DRINA


"Elizabeth would be a good name for her," said the Duke of Kent.
"Elizabeth was the greatest woman who ever sat on the throne of
England. The English people are used to the name, and they like it."

"But would the Emperor Alexander be pleased?" asked the Duchess. "If he
is to be godfather, ought she not to be named for him?"

"Alexandra--no; Alexandrina," said the Duke thoughtfully. "Perhaps you
are right. 'Queen Alexandrina' has a good sound, and the day may come
when the sovereign of England will be as glad of the friendship of the
Emperor of Russia as the Regent is to-day."

"Are you so sure, Edward, that she will be a sovereign?" asked his wife
with a smile.

"Doesn't she look like a queen?" demanded the Duke. "Look at her golden
hair and her blue eyes! There, see how she put her hand out, just as if
she was giving a command! I don't believe any baby a week old ever did
that before. The next time I review the troops she shall go with me.
You're a soldier's daughter, little one. Come and see the world that
you are to conquer." He lifted the tiny baby, much to the displeasure
of the nurse, and carried her across the room to the window that looked
out upon Kensington Garden. "Now, little one," he whispered into the
baby's ear, "they don't believe us and we won't talk about it, but
you'll be queen some day."

"Is that the way every father behaves with his first baby?" asked the
Duchess.

"They're much alike, your Grace," replied the nurse rather grimly, as
she followed the Duke to the window with a blanket on her arm. The Duke
was accustomed to commanding thousands of men, and every one of them
trembled if his weapons and uniform were not spotless, or if he had
been guilty of the least neglect of duty. In more than one battle the
Duke had stood so firmly that he had received the thanks of Parliament
for his bravery and fearlessness. He would never have surrendered a
city to a besieging army, but now he had met his match, and he laid the
baby in the nurse's arms with the utmost meekness.

The question of a name for the child was not yet decided, for the
wishes of someone else had to be considered, and that was the Prince
Regent, the Duke's older brother, George. He thought it proper that his
niece should be named Georgiana in honor of himself.

"Georgiana let it be," said the Duke of Kent, "her first name shall be
Alexandrina."

"Then Georgiana it shall _not_ be," declared the Prince Regent. "No
niece of mine shall put my name second to any king or emperor here in
my