In
advanced life, too, the Queen began to study Hindustani.
In her _Leaves from Her Journal_ (1869) and _More Leaves_ (1884), and
letters printed in the Life of the Prince-Consort, the Queen took the
public into her confidence, and afforded a glimpse of the simplicity and
purity of the court in our era. In the extracts from her Journals
(1842-82), we have homely records of visits and holiday excursions, with
descriptions of picturesque scenery, simply and faithfully set down, the
writer expressing with directness the feelings of the moment.
Deprived by her high rank of friends--as we understand them in ordinary
life--Her Majesty seems to have borne an affection for her husband and her
offspring even above the common. With her devotion to the late
Prince-Consort we are all acquainted; but her books show us that it was an
attachment by no means owing any of its intensity to regret. While he yet
lived and gladdened her with the sunshine of his presence, there are no
words she can use too strong to express her love and admiration for him;
and it is easy to see, before it happened, how desolate his loss would
leave her. Then the Prince of Wales was always 'Bertie,' and the Princess
Royal 'Vicky,' and the family circle generally a group as loving and
united--without a trace of courtly stiffness--as was to be found round any
hearth in Britain.
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