e, in fact, a book for
British citizens and British subjects, rather than a book for
students of political history. That the inner working of the unwritten
constitution of the country; that some of the unrealised checks and
balances; that the delicate equipoise of the component parts of our
executive machinery, should stand revealed, was inevitable. We have
thought it best, throughout, to abstain from unnecessary comment and
illustration. The period is so recent, and has been so often traversed
by historians and biographers, that it appeared to us a waste of
valuable space to attempt to reconstruct the history of the years
from which this correspondence has been selected, especially as Sir
Theodore Martin, under the auspices of the Queen herself, has dealt so
minutely and exhaustively with the relations of the Queen's innermost
circle to the political and social life of the time. It is tempting,
of course, to add illustrative anecdotes from the abundant Biographies
and Memoirs of the period; but our aim has been to infringe as little
as possible upon the space available for the documents themselves,
and to provide just sufficient comment to enable an ordinary reader,
without special knowledge of the period, to follow the course of
events, and to realise the circumstances under which the Queen's
childhood was passed, the position of affairs at the time of her
accession, and the personalities of those who had influenced her in
early years, or by whom she was surrounded.

The development of the Queen's character is clearly indicated in the
papers, and it possesses an extraordinary interest. We see one of
highly vigorous and active temperament, of strong affections, and with
a deep sense of responsibility, placed at an early age, and after a
quiet girlhood, in a position the greatness of which it is impossible
to exaggerate. We see her character expand and deepen, schooled by
mighty experience into patience and sagacity and wisdom, and yet never
losing a particle of the strength, the decision, and the devotion with
which she had been originally endowed. Up to the year 1861 the
Queen's career was one of unexampled prosperity. She was happy in her
temperament, in her health, in her education, in her wedded life, in
her children. She saw a great Empire grow through troubled times in
liberty and power and greatness; yet this prosperity brought with it
no shadow of complacency, because the Queen felt with an increasing
depth th