s a woman of a deeply affectionate disposition,
sensible, sympathetic, and religious. She had a very definite ideal of
the duties of a wife and a Queen; she made it her pleasure to meet and
anticipate, as far as possible, her husband's wishes; and her husband,
hasty and choleric though he was, repaid her with tender affection. To
such an extent did the Queen merge her views in those of her husband,
that she passed at one time through a period of general unpopularity.
It was believed that she was adverse to Reform, and used her influence
against it. She was mobbed in the streets at the time when the Reform
agitation was at its height; and it is said that when the Melbourne
Ministry of 1834 was dismissed, London was (owing to an unjustifiable
communication of Lord Brougham to the _Times_) placarded with posters
bearing the words, "The Queen has done it all!"

It is a pathetic instance of the irony of fate that Queen Adelaide
should have thus been supposed to desire to take an active part in
politics. It is obvious, from her letters, that she had practically
no political views at all, except a gentle distrust of all proposed
changes, social or political. Her one idea of her position as Queen
was to agree with any expression of opinion that fell from the King.
She was fond of music, and took a deep interest in her religious
duties and in all that concerned the welfare of the Protestant
communion. But apart from this, her interests were entirely domestic
and personal, and her letters reveal her character in the most
amiable light. Her devotion to the King, and the tender and respectful
diffidence with which she welcomed her niece to the Throne, show a
very sweet nature.

The rest of her life, after King William's death, was passed to a
great extent under invalid conditions, though she was only forty-four
at the time of her niece's accession. She travelled a good deal in
search of health, and lived a quiet life in England, surrounded by
a small but devoted circle of friends and relations. Her personal
popularity with the nation became very great, not only for the simple
kindliness of her life, but for her splendid munificence; it is said
that her public subscriptions often exceeded L20,000 a year. She died
in December 1849. Queen Victoria was very much attached to her gentle,
simple-minded, and tender-hearted aunt, and treated her with the
utmost consideration and an almost daughterly affection.

[Pageheading: BARONESS L