The Project Gutenberg EBook of Queen Victoria, by E. Gordon Browne

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Title: Queen Victoria

Author: E. Gordon Browne

Release Date: October 30, 2005 [EBook #16965]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUEEN VICTORIA ***

Produced by Ron Swanson

[Frontispiece: QUEEN VICTORIA]

QUEEN VICTORIA

_BY_
E. GORDON BROWNE, M.A.

_WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS_

LONDON
GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY
2 & 3 PORTSMOUTH STREET KINGSWAY W.C.
MCMXV

_Turnbull & Spears, Printers, Edinburgh, Great Britain_

_Contents_

CHAPTER
I. A LOOK BACK
II. CHILDHOOD DAYS
III. EARLY YEARS
IV. HUSBAND AND WIFE
V. FAMILY LIFE
VI. STRIFE
VII. THE CHILDREN OF ENGLAND
VIII. MINISTERING WOMEN
IX. BALMORAL
X. THE GREAT EXHIBITION
XI. ALBERT THE GOOD
XII. FRIENDS AND ADVISERS
XIII. QUEEN AND EMPIRE
XIV. STRESS AND STRAIN
XV. VICTORIA THE GREAT

_Illustrations_

QUEEN VICTORIA
THE QUEEN'S FIRST COUNCIL AT KENSINGTON PALACE
KENSINGTON PALACE
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE QUEEN'S ACCESSION
PRINCE ALBERT
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
QUEEN VICTORIA IN THE HIGHLANDS
THE ALBERT MEMORIAL
SIR ROBERT PEEL, LORD MELBOURNE, AND BENJAMIN DISRAELI
THE SECRET OF ENGLAND'S GREATNESS
THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

CHAPTER I: _A Look Back_

In the old legend of Rip Van Winkle with which the American writer
Washington Irving has made us so familiar, the ne'er-do-weel Rip
wanders off into the Kaatskill Mountains with his dog and gun in order
to escape from his wife's scolding tongue. Here he meets the spectre
crew of Captain Hudson, and, after partaking of their hospitality,
falls into a deep sleep which lasts for twenty years. The latter part
of the story describes the changes which he finds on his return to
his native village: nearly all the old, familiar faces are gone;
manners, dress, and speech are all changed. He feels like a stranger
in a strange land.

Now, it is a good thing sometimes to take a look back, to try to count
over the changes for good or for evil which have taken place in this
country of ou