most eminent men of the
Victorian era have not fallen into some of the unhappy habits of their
predecessors at the beginning of the last century. Mrs. Baillie
entertained me with lively descriptions of Sir Walter Scott, and of her
old friend, Mr. Wordsworth, who was her guest whenever he came up to
London. She expressed the warmest admiration for the moral and
political, though not all of the religious, writings of our Dr.
Channing, whom she pronounced the finest essayist of the time. She also
felt a curious interest (which I discovered in many other notable people
in England) to learn what she could in regard to our American Indians,
and expressed much admiration when I gave her some quotations from the
picturesque eloquence of our sons of the forest.

Every American who visited London in those days felt a laudable
curiosity to see the young Queen, who had been crowned but four years
before. I went up to Windsor Castle, and after inspecting it, joined a
little group of people who were standing at the gateway which leads out
to the Long Drive and Virginia Water. They were waiting to get a look at
the young Queen, who always drove out at four o'clock. Presently the
gate opened and a low carriage, preceded by three horsemen, passed
through. It contained a plump baby, nearly two years of age, wrapped in
a buff cloak and held up in the arms of its nurse. That baby became the
Empress Dowager of Germany, the mother of the present Kaiser and of
Prince Henry, who has lately been our guest. In a few minutes afterwards
a pony phaeton, with two horses, passed through the gate and we all
doffed our hats. It was driven by handsome young Prince Albert, dressed
in a gray overcoat and silk hat. To this day I think of him as about the
most captivating young husband that I have ever seen. By his side sat
his young wife, dressed in a small white bonnet with pink feather and
wrapped in a white shawl. Her complexion was exceedingly fresh and fair.
Her light brown hair was dressed in the "Grecian" style, and as she
bowed gracefully I observed the peculiarity of her smile--that she
showed her teeth very distinctly. This resulted from the shortness of
her upper lip. "A pretty girl she is too" was the remark I heard from
the visitors as the carriage went on down the drive. That was my first
glimpse of royalty, and I little dreamed that she was to be the longest
lived sovereign that ever sat on the British throne, and the most
popular woman in