A very interesting feature in the personal records of Queen Victoria is the striking continuity of her character. It is almost astounding to find how closely and in how many respects she who died in 1901 as the aged mother of her people resembled the girl-Queen of 1837. Sixty-four years developed, but did not change, her character. The sweetness combined with dignity which so impressed her Court at the beginning of her reign was reflected till its very close in her unfailing, loving sympathy and tenderness of heart.
Her strength of will can only heighten the admiration which all the world has felt for the strictly constitutional limits within which the Queen moved. The true understanding of the duties of a constitutional monarch, and the resolve to observe them faithfully, have in her case kept any instincts of self-will in check. A weak Sovereign might more easily endure constitutional trammels. The Queen, a strong Sovereign, not without a strain of peremptoriness in her character, must many a time have been sorely tried by the trammels imposed on her Royal will, but Ministers never had to complain that, directly or indirectly, she endeavoured to break through their toils.
On the great ability of the Queen it is needless to dilate. Men of all classes who have been brought into contact with her have borne testimony to it. But strong common sense was, no doubt, one of the dominant characteristics of her mind, which was clear rather than subtle. On many subjects she would take what may be described as a feminine view; on some, like many strong men, she no doubt had prejudices, but her opinions were always valuable and well-expressed, while her immense experience and wonderful memory gave her an advantage over nearly all the statesmen with whom she had to deal. A reign of 64 years yet the capacity of recalling all its main incidents vividly and clearly to last!
Much has been written about the family life of the Queen - a life almost patriarchal in many respects. Her own graphic description of her joys and sorrows in the days when her husband still gave brightness and gladness to her existence will recur to all who have followed her personal history. And her own delight in the joys of family life infused into her affectionate heart a very tender and womanly interest in the homes and happiness of all to whom she was attached. Nothing could be more pathetic or more touching than her consoling, soothing words - free from all false sentiment and exaggeration, yet profoundly human - for those on whom sorrow had fallen by the death of those they loved. She understood the depths of grief, the gaps in families, and would write as the friend who had suffered similarly herself. There was infinite pathos in her own life, and she felt with the truest insight what was pathetic in those of others. Never was there a simpler, more womanly, more human Queen, and yet a Queen with unrivalled powers of statesmanship, and a real strength of character in which no King has surpassed her.
