Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey (sites to read books for free TXT) ๐
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The publication of Lytton Stracheyโs Eminent Victorians in 1918 was a tremendous success. In it, Strachey looked at four iconic figures of the Victorian Age and punctured the hagiographical illusions surrounding them. It seems only fitting that he should follow up in 1921 with a similarly unsentimental but fair biography of the person at the pinnacle of that era, Queen Victoria herself.
Thoroughly researched, with his references documented in hundreds of footnotes, Strachey looks at the life of the young woman who, when she was born, was by no means certain to become the British monarch. He also spends considerable time on her consort, Prince Albert, who, in Stracheyโs telling, develops from a careless youth to becoming a truly remarkable and effective figure in British society, while continuing to be generally perceived as an outsider.
Stracheyโs sardonic and witty style makes this account of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert an entertaining and very informative read.
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- Author: Lytton Strachey
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Lord Melbourne replied with a very wise letter. He attempted to calm the Queen and to induce her to accept the new position gracefully; and he had nothing but good words for the Tory leaders. As for the question of the Ladies of the Household, the Queen, he said, should strongly urge what she desired, as it was a matter which concerned her personally, โbut,โ he added, โif Sir Robert is unable to concede it, it will not do to refuse and to put off the negotiation upon it.โ On this point there can be little doubt that Lord Melbourne was right. The question was a complicated and subtle one, and it had never arisen before; but subsequent constitutional practice has determined that a Queen Regnant must accede to the wishes of her Prime Minister as to the personnel of the female part of her Household. Lord Melbourneโs wisdom, however, was wasted. The Queen would not be soothed, and still less would she take advice. It was outrageous of the Tories to want to deprive her of her Ladies, and that night she made up her mind that, whatever Sir Robert might say, she would refuse to consent to the removal of a single one of them. Accordingly, when, next morning, Peel appeared again, she was ready for action. He began by detailing the Cabinet appointments, and then he added โNow, maโam, about the Ladiesโ โโ when the Queen sharply interrupted him. โI cannot give up any of my Ladies,โ she said. โWhat, maโam!โ said Sir Robert, โdoes your Majesty mean to retain them all?โ โAll,โ said the Queen. Sir Robertโs face worked strangely; he could not conceal his agitation. โThe Mistress of the Robes and the Ladies of the Bedchamber?โ he brought out at last. โAll,โ replied once more her Majesty. It was in vain that Peel pleaded and argued; in vain that he spoke, growing every moment more pompous and uneasy, of the constitution, and Queens Regnant, and the public interest; in vain that he danced his pathetic minuet. She was adamant; but he, too, through all his embarrassment, showed no sign of yielding; and when at last he left her nothing had been decidedโ โthe whole formation of the Government was hanging in the wind. A frenzy of excitement now seized upon Victoria. Sir Robert, she believed in her fury, had tried to outwit her, to take her friends from her, to impose his will upon her own; but that was not all: she had suddenly perceived, while the poor man was moving so uneasily before her, the one thing that she was desperately longing forโ โa loophole of escape. She seized a pen and dashed off a note to Lord Melbourne.
โSir Robert has behaved very ill,โ she wrote, โhe insisted on my giving up my Ladies, to which I replied that I never would consent, and I never saw a man so frightenedโ โโ โฆ I was calm but very decided, and I think you would have been pleased to see my composure and great firmness; the Queen of England will not submit to such trickery. Keep yourself in readiness, for you may soon be wanted.โ Hardly had she finished when the Duke of Wellington was announced. โWell, Maโam,โ he said as he entered, โI am very sorry to find there is a difficulty.โ โOh!โ she instantly replied, โhe began it, not me.โ She felt that only one thing now was needed: she must be firm. And firm she was. The venerable conqueror of Napoleon was outfaced by the relentless equanimity of a girl in her teens. He could not move the Queen one inch. At last, she even ventured to rally him. โIs Sir Robert so weak,โ she asked, โthat even the Ladies must be of his opinion?โ On which the Duke made a brief and humble expostulation, bowed low, and departed.
Had she won? Time would show; and in the meantime she scribbled down another letter. โLord Melbourne must not think the Queen rash in her conductโ โโ โฆ The Queen felt this was an attempt to see whether she could be led and managed like a child.โ131 The Tories were not only wicked but ridiculous. Peel, having, as she understood, expressed a wish to remove only those members of the Household who were in Parliament, now objected to her Ladies. โI should like to know,โ she exclaimed in triumphant scorn, โif they mean to give the Ladies seats in Parliament?โ
The end of the crisis was now fast approaching. Sir Robert returned, and told her that if she insisted upon retaining all her Ladies he could not form a Government. She replied that she would send him her final decision in writing. Next morning the late Whig Cabinet met. Lord Melbourne read to them the Queenโs letters, and the group of elderly politicians were overcome by an extraordinary wave of enthusiasm. They knew very well that, to say the least, it was highly doubtful whether the Queen had acted in
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