He almost alone among the poets gave
expression to the inarticulate loyalty of the ordinary Englishman, and he
did it without being either servile or sycophantic. If it were only for
his dedication to the Queen and Prince-Consort, he would have repaid a
thousand times over the value of all the bottles of sherry and the annual
stipends the poet-laureates have received since the days of Ben Jonson.'
Mrs Gilchrist writes: 'Tennyson likes and admires the Queen personally
much, enjoys conversation with her. Mrs Tennyson generally goes too, and
says the Queen's manner towards him is childlike and charming, and they
both give their opinions freely, even when these differ from the Queen's,
which she takes with perfect humour, and is very animated herself.' The
Prince-Consort, to whom Tennyson dedicated his _Idylls of the King_,
Since he held them dear,
Perchance as finding there unconsciously
Some image of himself,
had his copy inscribed with the poet's autograph.
One most characteristic feature of the Queen's reign was the inauguration,
in 1851, of that system of International Exhibitions which has infused a
new and larger spirit into commerce, and whose influence as yet only
begins to work. The idea came from the Prince-Consort, and was carried out
by his unfailing industry, energy, and perseverance. Sir Joseph Paxton's
genius raised a palace of crystal in Hyde Park, inclosing within it some
of the magnificent trees, few, if any, of which were destroyed by the
undertaking.
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