of England, because there were other
persons between her and the throne; but they died one by one, so that at
last every one knew that Princess Victoria would one day be Queen of
England. But no one ever guessed what a long and glorious reign she
would have--longer than any other English Sovereign who has reigned; and
not only longer, but better. Her uncle, King William, who reigned
before her, was an old man, while she was still quite young, and he died
very suddenly in the night; so the Archbishop of Canterbury and one of
the most important Ministers of State rode off at once to Kensington
Palace to tell Victoria that she was now Queen. They arrived about five
in the morning, and, of course, everyone in the palace was asleep. So
they knocked and rang and thumped, and at last they made the porter
hear. But when they told him to tell the attendants they must see
Princess Victoria, her maid was sent for, and she told them she had not
the heart to wake the Princess, for she was in such a sweet sleep. So
then they said: 'We have come to the QUEEN on business, and even her
sleep must give way to that.' So the maid went away again and woke
Princess Victoria. Fancy being awakened out of your sleep to be told
that you were Queen of England! Victoria was told she must not keep the
lords waiting, and so she threw a shawl round her nightdress and slipped
her feet into slippers, and went through into another large room with
all her long hair hanging down; and when they saw her those two great
lords fell on their knees and kissed her hand. She was only eighteen
then, and she had before her such a wonderful life. It is said that she
had known for a little time before this that if anything happened to her
uncle she would be Queen. So she was not quite unprepared, and when she
had been warned of this, her first exclamation was; 'Oh, I will be
good!' Which showed she was good, for I think most people would have
been rather proud about it, and would not have thought just at that
moment of being good.

Kensington Gardens is one end of a great park, and the other end is
called Hyde Park, where the fashionable people drive in the afternoons.
There are now many who prefer to drive in motor-cars, but there are a
few who still use open carriages, with the fine horses tossing their
heads proudly as they trot. It is a great pity to see that so many
people will put the rein, called a bearing-rein, upon their horses. This
forces the poor animal'