to the labor of
examining into the claims of the numberless petitions addressed to
her, among other duties to which her time of privacy is devoted."

The Queen's name and that of Prince Albert occur often in these memoirs,
and a few of Bunsen's remarks and observations may be of interest, though
they contain little that can now be new to the readers of the "Life of the
Prince Consort" and of the "Queen's Journal."

First, a graphic description, from the hand of Baroness Bunsen, of the
Queen opening Parliament in 1842:--

"Last, the procession of the Queen's entry, and herself, looking
worthy and fit to be the converging point of so many rays of
grandeur. It is self-evident that she is not tall; but were she
ever so tall, she could not have more grace and dignity, a head
better set, a throat more royally and classically arching; and one
advantage there is in her not being taller, that when she casts a
glance, it is of necessity upwards and not downwards, and thus the
effect of the eyes is not thrown away,--the beam and effluence not
lost. The composure with which she filled the throne, while
awaiting the Commons, was a test of character,--no fidget and no
apathy. Then her voice and enunciation could not be more perfect.
In short, it could not be said that _she did well_, but she _was_
the Queen,--she was, and felt herself to be, the acknowledged chief
among grand and national realities." (Vol. II. p. 10.)

The next is an account of the Queen at Windsor Castle on receiving the
Princess of Prussia, in 1842:--

"The Queen looked well and _rayonnante_, with that expression that
she always has when thoroughly pleased with all that occupies her
mind, which you know I always observe with delight, as fraught
with that truth and reality which so essentially belong to her
character, and so strongly distinguish her countenance, in all its
changes, from the _fixed mask_ only too common in the royal rank
of society." (Vol. II. p. 115.)

After having spent some days at Windsor Castle, Bunsen writes in 1846:--

"The Queen often spoke with me about education, and in particular
of religious instruction. Her views are very serious, but at the
same time liberal and comprehensive. She (as well as Prince
Albert) hates all formalism. The Queen reads a great deal, and has
done my book on 'The Church of the Future'